Jun 23 2022
View Album
Electric Warrior
T. Rex
Up-close vocals and laid back instrumentation make this effortlessly cool in the way Roxy Music could never pull off. The tracks that don't sound like Bowie are better than the Bowie-esque ones and the album as a whole is yet to be thoroughly mined for 21st Century Hipster Cinema soundtracks.
3
Jun 24 2022
View Album
Tres Hombres
ZZ Top
Music for a blue collar bar in a suburban strip mall. Hot, Blue and Righteous stands out as a sweet song to end side A on an otherwise greasy collection.
2
Jun 27 2022
View Album
B-52's
The B-52's
Listening to this album feels like I am consuming all of what became "alternative rock" in the decades that follow its release. I hope that if I was a teenager in 1979 I would have been cool enough to like The B-52's. The kitsch dial is turned up near maximum on this recording but the songs and performances are just too fun to ignore. If the vocal harmonies don't make your spine tingle, do you even like music?
5
Jun 28 2022
View Album
Metallica
Metallica
You can't deny these riffs. The songs and sounds on this album share a lot more in common with the grunge bands I believed were far superior as a teen. As timeless as the music may be at times the lyrics get a little too "on the nose". The earnestness of grunge is its legacy rather than the fashion or even the sound.
The production on the remastered version sounds great but Side B is hiding some real clunkers. For one reason or another I think I prefer Megadeth. Ye-yeah!
3
Jun 29 2022
View Album
In Utero
Nirvana
The songs are loud, poppy, urgent, timeless. The collection is as artistic as it is consumable making it the pinnacle of the bands career. You could even argue this was the pinnacle of punk rock.
Listen to the Albini version unless you're a Radio Friendly Unit Shifter.
5
Jun 30 2022
View Album
Nighthawks At The Diner
Tom Waits
It's jazz, I guess? Many of the tracks are film noir sketches between lush piano, bass, and drum numbers that highlight Waits' voice which sounds great on this live recording. The lyrics are poetic and very clever. "Purina checkerboard slacks" from Nighthawk Postcards (From Easy Street) recalls the funny parts of Alice's Restaurant but in a much hipper presentation.
Evocative stories taking place in the gritty parts of LA. Cars, tough personalities, drugs and booze. This should have been a hip-hop album.
3
Jul 01 2022
View Album
The Contino Sessions
Death In Vegas
Whatever this album is, it's one aspect of Cool Britannia that never made it across the Atlantic. And it's for a good reason. The duo are not The Chemical Brothers, Massive Attack, Orbital, or even Sneaker Pimps. I guess you had to be there.
1
Jul 04 2022
View Album
Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Red Hot Chili Peppers
What can be said that Yasi Salek hasn't already explored? The episode of Bandsplain about RHCP really did change my view of the Peppers but this album is a solid work from a band that has evolved so much over the decades.
3
Jul 05 2022
View Album
The Slim Shady LP
Eminem
Cringe-worthy pop rap. The Slim Shady persona is that disruptive kid you knew in eighth grade who tried to come off edgy by telling tall tales on the bus. He was annoying and nobody's friend but unexpectedly shined in the one class he cared about.
This record might be a victim of the aggressive posture that popular performers took in the late 90s. I wonder what persona Eminem would have created had he come up in the Soundcloud/emo rap era. Maybe he could have painted with colors other than "Fred Durst backward red baseball hat" red.
1
Jul 06 2022
View Album
This Is Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Fats has a great voice and his creations provided enough material for groups to mine well into the next decade or more. The songs are not corny like Elvis and more danceable than Buddy Holly. All in all there isn't enough to grab the attention of modern listeners but it's still a cool nostalgia trip.
3
Jul 07 2022
View Album
Your New Favourite Band
The Hives
When this album came out, rock music was in a bad place. Groups like The Hives emerged to bring rock 'n' roll back to its roots by mining early garage rock and punk sounds while adding better songwriting and cleaner dirty production.
This is a compilation album which gives me mixed feelings but if Singles Going Steady and Hatful of Hollow can get away with it, so can Your New Favourite Band.
3
Jul 08 2022
View Album
KE*A*H** (Psalm 69)
Ministry
Aggressive. Sounds like video game music. Very danceable grooves. Must have been a genre-defining album upon its release.
4
Jul 11 2022
View Album
Sound Affects
The Jam
I have so many questions. Where does this album fit between punk and The Kinks? Is this New Wave? Are these guys working class (Oasis) or not quite (Blur)?
The album exhibits top notch production; the recording sounds great and highlights how tight the band is. Set the House Ablaze is a standout track.
The album verges on earning a 5-star mark but the lyrics leave me wanting just a little more.
4
Jul 12 2022
View Album
Joan Armatrading
Joan Armatrading
Instrumentation and production adds a filmy 1970s residue that obscures the songs and performances a bit but not in a delicious Stevie Wonder kind of way. On subsequent listens it may fade away but hearing this recording for the first time, I can't help but get distracted by it. Fortunately that is the only criticism I have.
4
Jul 13 2022
View Album
I'm Your Man
Leonard Cohen
I LOL'd.
Then I tried to give myself a chance to "get" it and never did. When Jazz Police came on, I LOL'd again.
The backing tracks are certainly stylized but they are interesting in the way Ween's tracks are interesting. I don't find the lyrics particularly poetic or deep, however. I must be missing something but I won't be back to find it.
2
Jul 14 2022
View Album
The Gilded Palace Of Sin
The Flying Burrito Brothers
cowboy music. longing vocals. twanging guitars. I much prefer Willie Nelson.
2
Jul 15 2022
View Album
Pacific Ocean Blue
Dennis Wilson
I love The Beach Boys. At least three of the songs on this album sound like The Eagles. I hate the fuckin' Eagles, man. "Thoughts of You" kind of reminds me of Eels which was interesting at least.
2
Jul 18 2022
View Album
...And Justice For All
Metallica
When I first picked up the guitar, I didn't know anything about technique. Early on I stumbled my way into palm muting and said to myself, "that's the Metallica chug-chug thing!" The riffs on this album have a harmony and beauty that isn't found as much on The Black Album. The production hides the lyrics a little better on this release, too, which is an overall benefit. (For what it's worth, I listened to the remastered version.)
3
Jul 19 2022
View Album
My Generation
The Who
The most punk of the British Invasion bands (except for maybe The Kinks) though you can't really hear it on this album of mostly R&B inspired songs. Not the strongest collection of tunes.
3
Jul 20 2022
View Album
Fever Ray
Fever Ray
This was the sound of the times in which is was released. Alarmingly quotidian lyrics delivered with a highly-stylized affect create a contrast with the futuristic electronic track reminiscent of Kraftwerk.
See also/instead: Grimes, Santigold, Karen O.
3
Jul 21 2022
View Album
Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Upon hearing the first song, I thought maybe this was the missing link between VU and Devo! I should love this, right? The rest of the songs kind of sound like Sparks.
I like the use of synthesizer and Mellotron. There are interesting sounds and a pleasant variation of tunes but nothing here quite sticks to my palate for longer than the length of each song. On occasion it veers into Rocky Horror Picture Show territory and that's where I begin to lose my appetite.
3
Jul 22 2022
View Album
Rising Above Bedlam
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
I'm going to tell my kids this was The Police.
I really wanted to give it 4 stars. The diversity of styles is simultaneously a strength and a weakness. The quality of tunes is steady across the album but the sounds are disjointed in a way that keeps me from getting fully absorbed.
3
Jul 25 2022
View Album
Off The Wall
Michael Jackson
Quincy Jones production. Absolutely stacked with hits. I have to give it top marks even if it is a disco record.
5
Jul 26 2022
View Album
21
Adele
"Vocal" albums are at the bottom of my list of popular music interests. The production on the vocals is over the top for my taste but she sounds great. Because she is great.
The tracks take old sounds and make them sound modern. I didn't care for the cover song.
4
Jul 27 2022
View Album
Post Orgasmic Chill
Skunk Anansie
This is an album for people who adopted Fight Club as their whole personality. The songs and performances give off the "international band opening for the group you actually came to see" vibe. It's not bad but nothing really sticks on a first shallow listen.
I have to give it two stars because -- while I didn't hate it -- I did find myself hoping the set would end soon so they could get their crap off the stage already.
2
Jul 28 2022
View Album
Slipknot
Slipknot
The production is pretty bad. The record-scratching noises are totally unnecessary and the album is missing the art of other heavy bands like System of a Down and Deftones. Also missing: Korn's grooves or Nine Inch Nails' lyricism.
I believe these guys do have something to say and came up with a new sound. There are fragments of songs that wander -- maybe accidentally -- into interesting territory.
3
Jul 29 2022
View Album
Nowhere
Ride
It's "medium loud" shoegaze. Great sixties-inspired vox, muscular bass, jangly guitar. There's a little bit of The Smiths in here and possibly some Stone Roses. Very pretty arrangements and some really catchy moments in as well.
The sounds on the record are great but the cover of this album put it over the top. Incredible!
4
Aug 01 2022
View Album
Dig Your Own Hole
The Chemical Brothers
A couple of massive singles among a collection of genre-defining dance numbers.
4
Aug 02 2022
View Album
Ágætis Byrjun
Sigur Rós
Dreamy but not dream-pop. Orchestral but it doesn't sound like an orchestra.
Ágætis Byrjun is easier to describe in terms of what it isn't than to describe what it is. I can say that it is a wonderful piece of art but as an album -- a listenable collection of tunes that you want to hear on repeat -- I'm left looking for something to grab onto. Perhaps this is better consumed as a score than a pop music album.
3
Aug 03 2022
View Album
Heartbreaker
Ryan Adams
Funny that the album opens with some banter about Morrissey. Heartbreaker shares some jangly-Americana influences with Mozza's early solo albums. In addition, both vocalists have exhibited some behaviors that force fans to separate the tunes from the performers' personalities offstage.
It's an alright album if you like Bruce Springsteen. The quiet songs are OK when they sound like Sufjan Stevens or Elliott Smith.
3
Aug 04 2022
View Album
Bayou Country
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Remember the first Kings of Leon album? That was like a modern reboot of the original Creedence universe.
This album isn't the strongest collection of songs which makes me wonder why it's included in the book. The production, however, is incredible. It really sounds great and keeps me chooglin'.
4
Aug 05 2022
View Album
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
3
Aug 08 2022
View Album
Paranoid
Black Sabbath
I don't know if this album defined metal but it certainly took metal to the masses. The 2012 remastered version sounds great and highlights the album's tunes and performances.
I find that I have a lot of similar opinions as Robert Christgau but I don't get his distaste for Black Sabbath. Sure, some of the lyrics are a little naff, but they don't deserve the roasting he gave them.
3
Aug 09 2022
View Album
Lady In Satin
Billie Holiday
Her voice sounds weak - almost to a point of distraction. The songs sound old fashioned and sleepy -- like the songs that we only listen to during Christmas. This music isn't really my thing.
2
Aug 10 2022
View Album
A Hard Day's Night
Beatles
So many great Lennon vocals on this album! I love two minute long songs as well. The 2009 remaster sounds so good.
5
Aug 11 2022
View Album
New Boots And Panties
Ian Dury
This isn't a three star review. It's a blended four star / two star review.
The two stars come from the weird sex songs. I'll admit to being slightly prudish about this kind of stuff but they stand out to me as an unpleasant listen.
On the other hand I enjoyed the rockers and especially the "slice of life" numbers that sound like a barely-literate Billy Bragg or working class Kinks.
3
Aug 12 2022
View Album
Raw Power
The Stooges
5
Aug 16 2022
View Album
KIWANUKA
Michael Kiwanuka
I liked it. It sounds really new.
4
Aug 17 2022
View Album
Bad Company
Bad Company
sucks
1
Aug 18 2022
View Album
The Doors
The Doors
This album still sounds cool more than a half-century after its release. Like a west coast Velvet Underground.
4
Aug 19 2022
View Album
Beauty And The Beat
The Go-Go's
Practically flawless. A solid collection of songs with some real standouts.
5
Aug 22 2022
View Album
Born To Run
Bruce Springsteen
More songs about cars and working.
Overly emotive vocals usually turn me off. So do incessant honking horn sections and dorky glockenspiel parts.
2
Aug 23 2022
View Album
Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
PJ Harvey
Awesome performances; great production; varied songs that kept me interested throughout the whole album. But I'm left wishing for something more.
"You Said Something" is my favorite track.
4
Aug 24 2022
View Album
Band On The Run
Paul McCartney and Wings
Beatle-based mid-70s soft rock. This album sounds like a Time Warner "AM Radio Gold" collection.
2
Aug 25 2022
View Album
The Real Thing
Faith No More
I have a theory that Faith No More, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Fishbone are actually the same band but they originated in different dimensions than ours.
4
Aug 26 2022
View Album
In The Court Of The Crimson King
King Crimson
The lyrics are not great. The oboe is a welcome contribution on the second track and the Mellotron sounds divine.
I ended up liking this more than I thought I would. Robert Christgau called it "ersatz shit" which I love but don't really agree with.
3
Aug 29 2022
View Album
If You're Feeling Sinister
Belle & Sebastian
I was not familiar with this album before today though I have listened to newer Belle & Sebastian albums a lot. I don't think this is their best material but if this is the record named in the book then we'll just go with it. 5 stars for the album because it is representing an amazing band.
5
Aug 30 2022
View Album
The Stranger
Billy Joel
It's OK. The title track gives me Steely Dan vibes. I also get some McCartney-esque pastiche vibes. Nothing here is as offensive as Springsteen but I'm not really inspired by the characters Joel creates.
3
Aug 31 2022
View Album
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
The Smashing Pumpkins
This album made no sense when it came out but the singles were huge hits. I listened to this when it was first released and but didn't dig much deeper than the singles. There are some good tunes here but its a little too long.
Typical Billy Corgan production that seems to be improved on the 2012 remaster.
4
Sep 01 2022
View Album
Kimono My House
Sparks
Absolute madness. Sounds like Art Rock that actually kind of rocks. "Amateur Hour" is a great tune and the whole album has aged remarkably well for something that came out in the mid 70s.
4
Sep 02 2022
View Album
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Elton John
Great recording. The novelty songs are kinda weird (what the hell is "Jamaica Jerk-Off"?) and the sappy songs ("Candle in the Wind") aren't my thing at all.
More mid-70s pastiche. What was happening with pop music during this time? More than a few of the filler songs on this double record sound way older than the release date suggest. Billy Joel did it. Paul McCartney did it. But why?
3
Sep 05 2022
View Album
Tidal
Fiona Apple
Fiona has a great voice that never waivers through the whole album. The backing tracks are lush with great keyboard arrangements (piano, mellotron, etc.) The production on the whole record is top-notch though I don't like whatever effect is on the vocal track for Criminal.
The singles from this album are amazing. If the whole album had tunes that good, it's an easy five star record. The lower tier cuts are still solid three-star material. I was debating between a three star review and four stars. Considering this was her debut and recorded when she was a teenager, I'll give it the edge toward the higher score.
4
Sep 06 2022
View Album
Coles Corner
Richard Hawley
I don't like crooners. It's not that I don't like modern music that sounds like old music. I really dig lots of bands that do new tunes that sound like music from my parents and grandparents generation. But there's something about crooners that turns me off -- even if they sound a little bit like Mark Lanegan.
Hotel Room stands out a decent track. Born Under a Bad Sign is a sweet tune reminiscent of Petula Clark swinging 60s pop.
2
Sep 07 2022
View Album
xx
The xx
Super cool hipster music with dual vocalists. I'm not a fan of Croft's stilted cursive singing style and not a single lyric stands out enough for me to know what they are singing about. The spartan, atmospheric tracks are begging for a more evocative vocal performance but we never get a chance to hear one. I'm begging to hear Kele Okereke's voice and words here.
All of the songs sound the same.
2
Sep 08 2022
View Album
Punishing Kiss
Ute Lemper
WTF is this? Lush, orchestral pop songs about sexual violence? It's certainly a unique concept and the performances are solid. It's exactly what I expect to be included in a list of 1001 Albums. There are a variety of songwriters on the album and Ute's skill as an actress is put to good use. She fits her voice to styles of Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, and others.
If this album was meant to have a single, "Split" might be it. Ute's voice sounds great and it's upbeat.
4
Sep 09 2022
View Album
Searching For The Young Soul Rebels
Dexys Midnight Runners
Does working class New Wave exist? If so, this might be the album that defines the genre. A temporary stop on the evolutionary timeline between The Specials and Fun Boy Three.
The production isn't great. I find the lyrics hard to make out and Rowland's vocal delivery doesn't help. The record has its moments with a few good tunes that are held back by the rough sound and a dodgy singer.
3
Sep 12 2022
View Album
The Queen Is Dead
The Smiths
Smiths records always sounded bad to me but the 2011 remaster goes a long way to improve that.
In my mind The Smiths are a singles band to the detriment of their albums. The Queen is Dead is a good enough album with about half of it being singles-worthy cuts.
5
Sep 13 2022
View Album
Cheap Thrills
Big Brother & The Holding Company
Combination of the Two: great groove
I Need a Man to Love: blues, I guess
Summertime: more blues - bad vocal
Piece of My Heart: the single
Turtle Blues: oof. blues.
Oh, Sweet Mary: some psychedelia
Ball and Chain: BLUES
2
Sep 14 2022
View Album
Are You Experienced
Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix recordings have always sounded otherworldly and chaotic - much like the tunes themselves.
5
Sep 15 2022
View Album
american dream
LCD Soundsystem
"It's got a good beat and you can dance to it"
Do you love a massive synth bass sound? I fucking do and this album starts with one a great one. However... the rest of the album sounds like LCD Soundsystem. "i used to" has some more cool synth sounds that remind me of the artists and albums that the band seems to draw inspiration from: British character-driven-post-human rock from Bowie and Numan and German robot bands like Can and Kraftwerk. What I find missing in this album -- and other work by LCD Soundsystem -- is a compelling narrator for the trip we are taken on throughout the course of the record. Maybe I'm distracted by the music and the way all of the instrumentation is mixed so carefully to create lush tracks that demand attention. The final song is the exception to this rule and fits well as an album closer.
3
Sep 16 2022
View Album
Closer
Joy Division
Still haunting after so many listens. A chilling work of art for the ages. Can I give this one six stars?
5
Sep 19 2022
View Album
Maxinquaye
Tricky
sexy vocals - genre-defining. perhaps multiple genres. talented songwriter with a unique vision and lyrics that have something to say. does something absolutely post-modern before anyone was ready.
4
Sep 20 2022
View Album
Daydream Nation
Sonic Youth
Sounds like Sonic Youth but more pop. Another foundation of alternative rock. How many albums would not exist if these songs weren't recorded? A lot, probably.
5
Sep 21 2022
View Album
Chicago Transit Authority
Chicago
I liked it more than I thought I would. The lyrics are pretty bad throughout and the whole production sounds like the 1970s. There are moments that make me really excited but nothing here is edited in a way that keeps the album moving forward.
Seven minutes of tuneless guitar noise is perhaps excessive but I prefer it over a blues jam of the same length so there's that.
2
Sep 22 2022
View Album
Take Me Apart
Kelela
Sounds kinda old and kinda new at the same time. Kelela has a great voice which sounds mercifully natural for an album recorded in the last decade.
Stylistically the album doesn't fit well in any category. You can imagine these songs getting remixed into any number of electronic genres. For my tastes I think I would like to see the material contorted even further into rougher electronic versions but I understand why the choices were made to let Kelela's songs retain their origins in R&B.
4
Sep 23 2022
View Album
Another Music In A Different Kitchen
Buzzcocks
It's Buzzcocks. What else can you ask for?!
5
Sep 26 2022
View Album
First Band On The Moon
The Cardigans
"Been It" fucking slaps. The vocal and the lead guitar sound so good together. There's also a bouncy, melodic bass which I fall for so easily. This could be a Jellyfish song. "Losers" is another strong tune. The tumbling vocal and drums in the chorus contrast with the dreamy verses. The "Iron Man" cover is weird.
I bought this album when it was first released after becoming enchanted by the song "Carnival" from their previous record. I never gave this album too deep of a listen back then and I'm surprised to see it on this list.
All in all, it's a solid alternative rock/pop album that captures where popular music went after grunge yielded to other sounds.
4
Sep 27 2022
View Album
The Hour Of Bewilderbeast
Badly Drawn Boy
Major Elliott Smith vibes and really bad cover art. Even the sounds of the instrumentation makes it sound like he sat down in the room where an Elliott Smith recording had just taken place to put down a few of his own tunes.
That being said, I still like it.
4
Sep 28 2022
View Album
The Man Who
Travis
It's hard to have a strong opinion about this one. There are a lot of really pretty songs on this one and its hard to get mad about that but some tunes do lack a little bit of substance. They can't all be singles but you also don't expect filler on a record with ten tracks.
3
Sep 29 2022
View Album
Orbital 2
Orbital
5
Sep 30 2022
View Album
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme
Simon & Garfunkel
I just really like it.
5
Oct 03 2022
View Album
Van Halen
Van Halen
Cringe vox and songs. Sounds like Kiss without the disco.
The guitar brings amazing melody, harmony, and rhythm to some otherwise lame toolbox rock tunes.
2
Oct 04 2022
View Album
The Velvet Underground & Nico
The Velvet Underground
So cool. The coolest. 😎
The recording is crappy, the performances aren't super tight and Nico's voice is hard to listen to but does that really matter?
5
Oct 05 2022
View Album
Darklands
The Jesus And Mary Chain
I like the aesthetic a lot but nothing here stands out as a classic. If only it was just a little more... something. Anything. Louder, quieter, sadder, prouder.
4
Oct 06 2022
View Album
Surrealistic Pillow
Jefferson Airplane
Hippie music generally gets a "pass" from me, but this is just too poppy to for me to ignore. It's really, really good.
5
Oct 07 2022
View Album
All Directions
The Temptations
The rhythm section on the opening track is next level. The rest of the songs didn't spark much interest.
3
Oct 10 2022
View Album
1989
Taylor Swift
An album following the Big Swedish Pop Tunes (tm) formula.
Listen to the highly processed vocals. Each song employs a melange of trendy and modern sounds. Lyrics engineered to engage listeners in the target demographic.
3
Oct 11 2022
View Album
Armed Forces
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Name a better lyricist than Elvis Costello. Pro-tip: you can't. The way he blends interpersonal strife with world politics is on great display here as evidenced by the title of the record.
New wave music brought new sounds but this album does not depart from The Attractions sound: chirpy keyboard, muscular bass, and tight, anxious drums.
5
Oct 12 2022
View Album
Astral Weeks
Van Morrison
Sounds like 1968. Bluesy acoustic guitar and flute. It's OK, I guess. I file this under "Sunday morning household chores" music. There are a lot of stories here - not unlike a Bruce Springsteen album I was forced to endure earlier in this project.
3
Oct 13 2022
View Album
Cloud Nine
The Temptations
The recording sounds great and the vocal harmonies are as good as they get but I find the lyricism and songcraft lacking.
3
Oct 14 2022
View Album
Catch A Fire
Bob Marley & The Wailers
Peter Tosh's songs stand out along with "High Tide Or Low Tide" on the expanded version.
5
Oct 17 2022
View Album
Hybrid Theory
Linkin Park
Sounds like Limp Bizkit.
2
Oct 18 2022
View Album
With The Beatles
Beatles
Never gets old. OK - the covers are actually a little tiresome.
4
Oct 19 2022
View Album
Locust Abortion Technician
Butthole Surfers
Is this really an album? Definitely.
Are these songs? More or less.
Is it art? For sure, but not really pop/rock in the usual form. There are some catchy moments and the noise experiments are interesting.
3
Oct 20 2022
View Album
Let's Get Killed
David Holmes
Sounds like a hip-hop record without rhymes. The only MCs on this tape are in the form of recordings of conversation which set a mood of real street level humanity.
The sounds are all over the place but cohesive enough to make a good album. At first I thought this might be a house album but I was pleasantly treated with some synth tunes, jazzy beats, etc.
More Moby than Aphex Twin but still an enjoyable listen.
3
Oct 21 2022
View Album
Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes
This might be the first "alternative" album I ever heard. I thought it was the weirdest thing I had ever heard. Was this guy serious? Is he actually angry or not? I hadn't heard punk before so the attitudes and forthright emotion confused my 12 year old brain.
I thought a lot about the lyrics in a way that I had never analyzed the records I liked from C+C Music Factory and Culture Club. When I was exposed to this record I also heard Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. The vocals on those records were hard to make out at times but the vocals on Violent Femmes are so clear.
5
Oct 24 2022
View Album
Virgin Suicides
Air
Cool sounds. Evocative in a way that fulfills the mission to be both a film score and a standalone album.
3
Oct 25 2022
View Album
Play
Moby
Downtempo electronica with blues and gospel samples. It was a pretty novel idea in the 90s - especially to mainstream American audience who didn't listen to any of these genres much.
The way Moby as producer puts his own vocals on tracks between the gospel ones keeps the collection interesting throughout the hour-plus runtime.
I thought the Mission of Burma cover was going to be on this one.
3
Oct 26 2022
View Album
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Wilco
There was mega hype when this came out and to me it signaled the end of the "first wave of indie rock." I wasn't too thrilled with the songs back then but I closer listen two decades later and I get the attraction. There is something about the vocal performances that turn me off still but the instrumentation and songs are solid.
4
Oct 27 2022
View Album
Mothership Connection
Parliament
Terrific production. Especially the drums.
What can you say about the grooves on this record? Anything but the highest praise is short shrift to what the P-Funk collaboration created for these songs.
5
Oct 28 2022
View Album
evermore
Taylor Swift
I don't know what these songs are about. I cannot identify with them at all. Is there some Taylor Swift lore that I need some background on or are they purposely obtuse? The lyrics remind me of those AI-generated bro-country anthems from the radio.
The duets sound artificial. This album is just bad.
2
Oct 31 2022
View Album
Music For The Jilted Generation
The Prodigy
Frenetic breakbeats. Samples from metal songs and TV shows.
The first side is a little bit monotonous for my tastes. The second side has some great variety.
4
Nov 01 2022
View Album
Surf's Up
The Beach Boys
Beach Boys tunes recorded to sound like The Velvet Underground.
3
Nov 02 2022
View Album
Jack Takes the Floor
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
This must have been a pretty wild recording back in 1958. I really like the guitar.
4
Nov 03 2022
View Album
No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith (Live)
Motörhead
The recording quality is more than listenable for a live album from the early 80s. Solid performances and a good selection of songs.
4
Nov 04 2022
View Album
Go Girl Crazy
The Dictators
Some of the tunes border on novelty song territory and that turns me off. Other songs are tuneful punk singalongs that I can totally get down with.
4
Nov 07 2022
View Album
Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd
1/5. There's very little on this record that I can enjoy.
All of the songs have the same plodding, druggy tempo with a somniferous vocal delivery to match. Synthesizers are used in a basic way: neither mixed low enough to just add depth to the sound or distinctive enough to make the arrangements richer. Guitars are bluesy and noodle across many of the numbers - even giving some parts a west coast desert vibe that reminds me of The Eagles. The lyrics are pretty crappy which is surprising since your average boomer will call modern hip-hop a trash medium and then defend their position with Pink Floyd... a band who rhymes "school" with "fool" or "guitar", "steak bar" and "Jaguar".
1
Nov 08 2022
View Album
Like A Prayer
Madonna
Madonna's voice has never been the main attraction but the top tier production on the album brings out the best of it.
The singles are all massive songs. Pop perfection. The rest of the album is a mix of solid synth pop and softer ballads.
All in all its a great collection at an important junction in Madonna's career.
4
Nov 09 2022
View Album
The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
The Incredible String Band
This album could benefit from some tighter focus. The medieval or renaissance-sounding instrumentation is really cool but there is some folky Dylan-esque guitar as well. The lyrics also switch time and place with references to Christian themes as well as pagan and Hinduism.
It's an interesting melange and it kept my interest throughout but nothing stood out as amazing. Other artists have taken influences from early music and done more with it.
The Wicker Man album art is 5/5. For the tunes, it's a solid 3/5.
3
Nov 10 2022
View Album
Peggy Suicide
Julian Cope
This is one of the albums ever made. There's a song about a motorcycle.
3
Nov 11 2022
View Album
Sincere
Mj Cole
3
Nov 14 2022
View Album
Power In Numbers
Jurassic 5
Great beats and the MCs put on a rhyme clinic throughout. The mix of tempos, sounds, and flows keep the album moving and interesting for the whole hour.
4
Nov 15 2022
View Album
The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
Pink Floyd
Sounds like a 60s rock album with vocal harmonies, plenty of production effects, and mystical lyrics.
3
Nov 16 2022
View Album
Beautiful Freak
Eels
sad songs. Some of the lyrics come off a tad overemotional. Even The Smiths threw us a fun one every once in a while.
There is something about the effects on the instruments -- guitar and organ I guess -- that creates really harmonious, beautiful, emotional sounds.
4
Nov 17 2022
View Album
Hunky Dory
David Bowie
My second favorite Bowie record. The arrangement on Life on Mars sounds like a Beach Boys song. The words to Kooks are so sweet. Queen Bitch might be the crunchiest three-chord tune ever recorded.
Songs 5/5.
Performances 5/5.
Recording 5/5.
5
Nov 18 2022
View Album
Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1
George Michael
Vocal pop isn't my thing. I imagine this is similar to Barbra Streisand? The production on the remastered version sounds very crisp and expensive like a modern Christmas song.
Freedom 90 is funny. It's one of those songs that plastic pop superstars eventually deliver as fan service to tell the adoring crowds that their new persona is finally the "real" person.
There are some parallels between this album and the Taylor Swift albums on this list. There is some skillful songwriting on the record but the lyrics just do not offer me anything I can identify or empathize with.
Final thought: Wouldn't an acoustic cover of Heal the Pain by Alice in Chains sound amazing?
2
Nov 21 2022
View Album
Ten
Pearl Jam
Before there was post-grunge, there was grunge.
5
Nov 22 2022
View Album
The Marshall Mathers LP
Eminem
Slim Shady does not give a shit. So edgy.
Is it supposed to be funny? If it is, then maybe it’s not just my kind of jokes. If it’s real then it’s super cringy for an adult to stick with the same character for a second record and keep up with the same childish, angry verses. The beats sound pretty childish too.
This is a time capsule of the MTV TRL era and it sucks.
1
Nov 23 2022
View Album
Pearl
Janis Joplin
3
Nov 24 2022
View Album
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
I used to ask my parents what the Sixties were like but I never got a satisfying answer. This album is what I was looking for.
5
Nov 25 2022
View Album
Public Image: First Issue
Public Image Ltd.
This must have been a seriously groundbreaking sound in 1978. At this point there were still 15 years or more of solid punk records to make but PiL were ready to move on. Lydon is so pissed off and I love it.
“Theme” could be an unfinished Nirvana song. “Public Enemy” sounds a little like the Pixies. This album must have been a big post-rock influence of the alternative bands who would make it big decades later.
3
Nov 28 2022
View Album
Songs In The Key Of Life
Stevie Wonder
The keyboards on this record sound great and Stevie's distinctive voice does as well. Top-tier songcraft is supported by lush arrangements that keep revealing more complexity after repeated listens.
5
Nov 29 2022
View Album
Woodface
Crowded House
I'm so annoyed. This is not for me at all.
I actually like music so this album was a chore to get through. Everything about it is absolutely "mid" except for the lyrics which are awful. Like Squeeze awful. Like Chicago awful.
Note to self: when you need to reset your rating gauge, consider returning to this album as it is the ultimate two star clunker.
2
Nov 30 2022
View Album
Scott 2
Scott Walker
60s orchestral vocal pop with naughty lyrics. I still don't like crooners.
2
Dec 01 2022
View Album
Bringing It All Back Home
Bob Dylan
I didn't know Bob Dylan had a sense of humor.
4
Dec 02 2022
View Album
Aladdin Sane
David Bowie
4
Dec 05 2022
View Album
Axis: Bold As Love
Jimi Hendrix
Crisp production and catchy, tight songs. Castles Made of Sand, Wait Until Tomorrow and Little Wing are almost pop songs.
5
Dec 06 2022
View Album
(What's The Story) Morning Glory
Oasis
Achingly poetic lyrics and totally original song structure and arrangements... are not what you will find on this album. What you will find are the vibes that will make you believe that Cool Britannia was a real thing.
4
Dec 07 2022
View Album
Warehouse: Songs And Stories
Hüsker Dü
This album is from an era -- that might only exist in my head -- where American bands competed with each other to see who could create the most EARNEST songs. Earnestness is a feeling that I get a lot when I listen to Husker Du and it's what attracts me the most to their tunes. Maybe it's Bob's plain voice or his first-person lyrics. I'm not sure but I know that I'll never not like anything that sounds like this record.
There's a lot of Husker Du songs I love but they aren't on this one.
3
Dec 08 2022
View Album
Rid Of Me
PJ Harvey
Great songs and blistering performances highlighted by Steve Albini's engineering.
5
Dec 09 2022
View Album
Licensed To Ill
Beastie Boys
I heard this album a decade before I'd ever heard a Led Zeppelin song so it was surprising to discover the original cuts when I get around to Led Zep's catalog.
I really like hip hop and The Beasties but this one is just OK. While it was a landmark release at the time, the beats and rhymes don't hold up.
3
Dec 12 2022
View Album
Celebrity Skin
Hole
Solid lyrics. The production is lush and buries Love's vocals in some cases. (We're talking ELO level of production on this one.) These are her songs and I would have preferred to hear more of her performances. Auf der Maur's bass sounds great.
All in all, as good as the singles are the rest of the album is pretty generic.
3
Dec 13 2022
View Album
Beggars Banquet
The Rolling Stones
The song selection sounds like its a B-Sides compilation instead of a proper album. We get one inventive, artistic song in Sympathy for the Devil and then some odds n sods blues/country rock tunes. I guess at the time of its release, this album would stand out because of its straight-forward acoustic guitar and piano sounds.
I kind of like Jigsaw Puzzle but Salt of the Earth is truly shit.
2
Dec 14 2022
View Album
Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
Mudhoney
Great production that balances the fuzz with clear vocals and punchy drums. "Good Enough" is my favorite track. The songs are average. There is some variation in instrumentation which is cool but I find the collection as a whole to be somewhat monotonous.
3
Dec 15 2022
View Album
Seventeen Seconds
The Cure
The sounds are all here but the songs are not quite developed to the heights that The Cure would eventually achieve. "A Forest" is really the only standout track from Seventeen Seconds. The album that came out a year later is the real masterpiece of early Cure.
4
Dec 16 2022
View Album
Ill Communication
Beastie Boys
Great rhymes and the classic Beastie flow with three MCs trading lines like they have been doing this since they were teenagers. Musically, Ill Communication fits so well between Check Your Head and Hello Nasty in the continuing evolution of the group's sound. At the time, this record sounded like the end game for the Beastie's style - especially because it would be four years until they released a follow up album.
When this record first came out I thought the noisy/scratchy beat samples sounded so cool. In 2022 they still sound cool. Ill Communication also mixes in jazz instrumentals and hardcore tracks which would be completely out of place on a hip hop record but somehow they work.
5
Dec 19 2022
View Album
Mama's Gun
Erykah Badu
There are a handful of five star songs and a couple of two or three star numbers. The production balances a lush full band with Badu’s vocal performances to make a great sounding headphone record.
4
Dec 20 2022
View Album
Music for the Masses
Depeche Mode
One massive single with some solid synth-pop after. I don’t particularly like the dramatic parts. I might listen to the record again but synth pop isn’t really about albums, is it?
3
Dec 21 2022
View Album
Fire Of Love
The Gun Club
Pretty good. I liked the parts that sounded like The Angry Samoans and The Velvet Underground.
3
Dec 22 2022
View Album
3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days In The Life Of...
Arrested Development
The beats are very typical of the time but aren’t as abrasive as what the Bomb Squad did on the Public Enemy albums. The lyrics are still evocative of Afro-centric cultural revolution. There are a couple of notable songs on here and the rest of the album is worth a listen.
4
Dec 23 2022
View Album
Vauxhall And I
Morrissey
Call me emo but this whole record fucking slaps. Now My Heart Is Full is one of a very few songs that can give me a lump in my throat. The production on the solo Morrissey albums outshines anything he recorded with The Smiths too.
4
Dec 26 2022
View Album
A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Various Artists
4
Dec 27 2022
View Album
Elvis Is Back
Elvis Presley
This ain’t it.
2
Dec 28 2022
View Album
Live And Dangerous
Thin Lizzy
I like the parts that sound like Van Morrison. I don’t like the parts that sound like Kiss.
This whole record is pretty standard toolbox rock but Lynott’s voice stands out as something unique among the standard 70s hard rock sounds.
3
Dec 29 2022
View Album
Figure 8
Elliott Smith
Top talent, too songs.
5
Dec 30 2022
View Album
If I Should Fall From Grace With God
The Pogues
Pirate rock 🏴☠️
3
Jan 02 2023
View Album
Rattus Norvegicus
The Stranglers
Like Elvis Costello meets The Damned. Great bass tone on the whole record.
4
Jan 03 2023
View Album
Clandestino
Manu Chao
4
Jan 04 2023
View Album
Fuzzy Logic
Super Furry Animals
SFA would reach heights beyond this record later in their career but this is still a 5 star from me. Ffa Coffi Pawb am byth.
5
Jan 05 2023
View Album
Thriller
Michael Jackson
Paul McCartney really lost his shit in the 80s. The duet here is lame but when Thriller starts it is all forgotten.
5
Jan 06 2023
View Album
Fear and Whiskey
Mekons
Kinda cute. Like in a Belle and Sebastian way.
4
Jan 09 2023
View Album
2112
Rush
2112 is not for everyone. Listen to the last 30 seconds of the opening track as that tells you everything you need to know.
5
Jan 10 2023
View Album
Exodus
Bob Marley & The Wailers
I'm a big reggae fan so this album gets a 5 from me. I do wish the genre could be represented by acts that are not Bob Marley. Confidentially, I'm not that much of a Marley fan.
5
Jan 11 2023
View Album
Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water
Limp Bizkit
Cheap sounding production. Cheap references to other music acts -- and Macromedia Shockwave (wtf). Cheap dick jokes. If I was a wrestler looking for a new entrance song for an upcoming heel turn, this is the album I would start with.
I like when the vocalist goes into his weird falsetto whine raps -- especially on the hokey-pokey sections of "Rollin'."
There's a part of "The One" where the bass kind of sounds like The Cure. That's my favorite part of this record which I will never listen to again.
"Boiler" gives some Deftones vibes but the vocals, again, are just really not good.
A pile of crap at the intersection of Eminem and Linkin Park.
1
Jan 12 2023
View Album
Oar
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
2
Jan 13 2023
View Album
Seventh Tree
Goldfrapp
I like the vocal and instrumentation but the songs are not interesting.
3
Jan 16 2023
View Album
Graceland
Paul Simon
I love the Zulu-style tracks. Since these songs are written or co-written by Paul Simon, they are as perfect as a pop song can get.
5
Jan 17 2023
View Album
Shake Your Money Maker
The Black Crowes
Performances are good, especially the vocals. Recording is solid. If only the Led Zeppelin albums were engineered this well.
It's a great collection of songs with a couple of standout singles. After all, though, it's pastiche.
3
Jan 18 2023
View Album
Songs Of Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
A little Simon and Garfunkel, a little bit of The Bee-Gees, too. I bet Elliott Smith was really into this record.
The music is OK and the vocal performance is a lot better than I was expecting. I don't take too much away from the lyrics at all.
In summary, I regard this record in the way I take that one cottage-core Taylor Swift album.
2
Jan 19 2023
View Album
A Grand Don't Come For Free
The Streets
I was a big fan of this record when it first came out.
5
Jan 20 2023
View Album
Rejoicing In The Hands
Devendra Banhart
coffee shop
2
Jan 23 2023
View Album
Melodrama
Lorde
A dance pop album with solid production that sounds great in headphones.
There are a couple of major points that prevent the album from keeping my interest. The otherwise solid vocal performance suffers from trendy cursive singing style. Further, there is not much to distinguish the music from Billie Eilish or Lady Gaga.
3
Jan 24 2023
View Album
White Blood Cells
The White Stripes
The performances are honestly not great. Not that it matters. This duo were on a mission to save rock music from the dire condition it was left in at the turn of the millennium.
5
Jan 25 2023
View Album
A Love Supreme
John Coltrane
As a smooth-brained popular music enthusiast, I don't know how to listen to this. I've watched a lot of Adam Neely videos, too, and I still can't crack the code.
3
Jan 26 2023
View Album
Let England Shake
PJ Harvey
An incredible concept and brilliantly executed. "Written on the Forehead" is a bop and the whole record is flawless. This is a 5+/5.
5
Jan 27 2023
View Album
The Sun Rises In The East
Jeru The Damaja
Hip hop music can mean a lot of different things but at its core its beats and lyrics. This album is just that.
4
Jan 30 2023
View Album
Live Through This
Hole
This record really holds up.
5
Jan 31 2023
View Album
Step In The Arena
Gang Starr
The album sounds like a product of its time but the beats and rhymes are 5/5.
5
Feb 01 2023
View Album
Want Two
Rufus Wainwright
Beautiful opening track. Very lush instrumentation that supports Rufus' intriguing vocal melodies. (I almost called them unique but they do remind me of Thom Yorke's and Thom Yorke wanna-be Matt Bellamy.) Evocative lyrics tell personal stories.
I feel the album wanders a little in the second half. More focus on the particular sounds on some of the earlier songs would make this one perfect.
4
Feb 02 2023
View Album
Purple Rain
Prince
There's a couple of good songs and a bunch of weird ones. It sounds like a Prince album. It's a bummer that the best song on the record is the shortest one.
3
Feb 03 2023
View Album
James Brown Live At The Apollo
James Brown
The band sounds great and the album captures what must have been a very exciting night for those who attended.
3
Feb 06 2023
View Album
All Things Must Pass
George Harrison
you: "Mom, can we get The Beatles?"
mom: "No. We have The Beatles at home."
The Beatles at home:
2
Feb 07 2023
View Album
The Visitors
ABBA
I can take an ABBA single every now and then but omfg this is rough.
Every instrumental part and vocal part is engineered to be overly corny. I don't know how a high hat can sound corny as fuck but, damn, they achieved it here. I had to disassociate to get through the middle of this record.
I will say that for 1981, the instrumentation does sound pretty forward-thinking. Synthpop was still pretty early then and this album sounds pretty mature for being a forerunner.
2
Feb 08 2023
View Album
Something Else By The Kinks
The Kinks
As an Anglophile, the music of The Kinks lets me live out my lad fantasies. These songs are little sketches of life that are not particularly evocative. I do like the pop style of the backing tracks quite a bit.
3
Feb 09 2023
View Album
Floodland
Sisters Of Mercy
Am I crazy to call this a fun record? I'm not the type to go out to dance but this is something that would get me on the floor.
The instrumentation and production is very 80s but it holds up. Solid songs, too. Everything is accented by the vocal performances of a 400 year old vampire.
4
Feb 10 2023
View Album
Gentlemen
The Afghan Whigs
kinda creepy
3
Feb 13 2023
View Album
Be
Common
Backpack rap. I love it. It sounds like early Kanye West and is a successor to the first Talib Kweli solo record.
5
Feb 14 2023
View Album
Rocks
Aerosmith
Back in the Saddle: A middle-of-the-road blues rocker with horse sound effects at the end.
Last Child: "sweet sassafrassy" The near-funk rhythm almost saves this one
Rats in the Cellar: I would prefer the Judas Priest version (if there was one)
Combination: More riffs. The bass part is pretty rocking.
Sick As A Dog: Sorta poppy in a Spinal Tap way
Nobody's Fault: The Led Zeppelin one
Get the Lead Out: Possibly the worst riff on the album
Lick and a Promise: The Motley Crue one
Home Tonight: of course it ends with a ballad
Not really that bad but not good at all. It's safely a two-star record but its only saved because it has fewer references to carnal knowledge of teenagers than a Kiss album.
2
Feb 15 2023
View Album
Throwing Muses
Throwing Muses
major Sleater-Kinney vibes but weirder songs and lyrics and a decade ahead of time
3
Feb 16 2023
View Album
Murmur
R.E.M.
"The singer, he had long hair
And the drummer, he knew restraint
And the bass man had all the right moves
And the guitar player was no saint"
(portions of the review are originally found in Unseen Power of the Picket Fence. © 1993 Pavement)
5
Feb 17 2023
View Album
Vol. 4
Black Sabbath
The songs are kind of all over the place on this album. Supernaut rules. I've always liked Sabbath's extremely plain and matter of fact lyricism which shines on Changes. Further, I appreciate a Mellotron in any capacity so the songs that feature this instrument stand out.
Beyond those three sparsely related highlights, this album is OK. The cover art is awesome as well. For me, this is a 3.99 rounded down to a 3.
3
Feb 20 2023
View Album
Elephant Mountain
The Youngbloods
Boring. In fact its so inoffensive that I have to deduct one star for being so close to Ed Sheeran on the boring scale. Also the lyrics to Sunlight are gross. There are some parts where the electric piano sounds kind of cool I guess.
2
Feb 21 2023
View Album
Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Wu-Tang Clan
FLAWLESS VICTORY. This is a six star record for me along with In Utero, Hunky Dory, and Closer.
5
Feb 22 2023
View Album
Hunting High And Low
a-ha
This is more sophisti-pop than I was expecting. I need to give this album low marks for those tracks. Take On Me is an incredible single that I never tire of. The instrumentation and overall feel of these songs are a great representation of 1980s synth pop but other than the lead single nothing stands out. This could have been replaced by a Culture Club or Cyndi Lauper album that both had much more impact.
3
Feb 23 2023
View Album
Sunday At The Village Vanguard
Bill Evans Trio
I wish I knew what this music meant. "Waltz for Debby" was my favorite on this record.
3
Feb 24 2023
View Album
Liege And Lief
Fairport Convention
🌼 ✌️ 🙂
I like the folky vocal melodies a lot -- the guitar noodling not so much. Leaning a little bit more into the folk thing or more into the crunchy, raw rock thing would have made the album more intriguing.
3
Feb 27 2023
View Album
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Arctic Monkeys
This record ushered in a new sound and aesthetic so it gets an extra star for that.
4
Feb 28 2023
View Album
Queen II
Queen
Brian's side sounds like Black Sabbath. Freddie's side is really, really fun.
3
Mar 01 2023
View Album
Superfuzz Bigmuff
Mudhoney
Spotify only has the Deluxe Edition so I'm listening to that release.
Nailing down what grunge bands sound like isn't easy but this album sounds more grunge than most. The guitars sound so good!
4
Mar 02 2023
View Album
The Soft Bulletin
The Flaming Lips
"Oh, Yoshimi, they don't believe me." No? Its the previous record? In any case, its a record by The Flaming Lips. The lyrics are naff and the tracks are sleepy. After the first four songs, they all start to sound the same.
3
Mar 03 2023
View Album
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
3
Mar 06 2023
View Album
Bossanova
Pixies
My first trip through Bossanova had me thinking: "This sounds like Pixies but its not weird enough! Two stars." I had to listen to the album twice before I understood how weird it is and I like it very much.
5
Mar 07 2023
View Album
Ocean Rain
Echo And The Bunnymen
Theatrical.
4
Mar 08 2023
View Album
Foxbase Alpha
Saint Etienne
Question: Is this sixties lounge/pop revival or nineties house?
Answer: Yes.
I had to listen to this album twice before I decided if I liked it. I do like it but its hard to decide if its a three or a four bagger.
4
Mar 09 2023
View Album
Birth Of The Cool
Miles Davis
Wow! Venus De Milo. I think I'm starting to get this jazz thing.
5
Mar 10 2023
View Album
Remedy
Basement Jaxx
annoying
2
Mar 13 2023
View Album
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Kind of a weird pastiche record. It's especially for 1976 -- the year that punk happened. In any case, the tunes are fine and the performances are tasteful. The closing track is a gem.
3
Mar 14 2023
View Album
Close To You
Carpenters
The songs are good but the arrangements are schmaltzy. The performances from Karen and Richard are solid. I don't know why I like this. I really shouldn't.
4
Mar 15 2023
View Album
Liquid Swords
GZA
another easy five star album
5
Mar 16 2023
View Album
Konnichiwa
Skepta
4
Mar 17 2023
View Album
Hotel California
Eagles
I fail to find what anyone enjoys on this record. I have to be thankful that this shitty arena rock inspired early punks to tear it all down.
1
Mar 20 2023
View Album
Eagles
Eagles
I believe we can chug all night
I believe we could hug all night
The band is loose and the groove is right
You're so much woman
Believe we could chug all night
oof - the finger-picky guitars and vocal harmonies are just on the wrong side of whatever sound this record is trying for. Absolutely shitty lyrics throughout. The production does sound great for what its worth.
I don't know what I did to deserve two Eagles records in a row followed by Dire Straits of all things. I'm pretty sure my dad owns multiple copies of all of these albums.
1
Mar 21 2023
View Album
Brothers In Arms
Dire Straits
Great performances and top-tier production longing for better material.
2
Mar 22 2023
View Album
Tuesday Night Music Club
Sheryl Crow
Because I have the time, I'll do another track-by-track review:
1. Run, Baby, Run: pretty generic radio blues rock. OK vocal. Nothing else of note.
2. Leaving Las Vegas: Painfully 90s production but the song is good.
3. Strong Enough: The track is sweet but I get "Midnight Train to Georgia" vibes which bums me out.
4. Can't Cry Anymore: This one feels really manufactured for the Adult Contemporary radio format.
5. Solidify: 😐 what
6. The Na-Na Song: OK side two is taking on a totally different flavor. I can't say I hate this one actually.
7. No One Said It Would Be Easy: my favorite number so far - despite my trashing of those two Eagles records I had last week.
8. What I Can Do for You: Kind of a pulled punch when Courtney Love and Alanis Morrisette were making angrier and better songs at the same time. The vocal refrain is bad.
9. All I Wanna Do: This is the big one. This song was everywhere back then. For good reason, too. The lyric and vocal performance are 5/5. The track really does sound like that one Stealers Wheel jam from Reservoir Dogs though!
10. We Do What We Can: the muted trumpet sounds cool? idk I'm kind of getting tired already.
11. I Shall Believe: Another adult contemporary one.
3
Mar 23 2023
View Album
Tommy
The Who
So good. It's a long record that sounds much shorter due to the short songs, varied characters and themes. I was surprised to find out that Tommy came so early in The Who's career.
5
Mar 24 2023
View Album
Moon Safari
Air
Middle of the road electronic mood music. Not as weird as Stereolab and not even approaching the bombast of Daft Punk, this record is more like a serious Moog Cookbook. Enjoyable enough sounds but nothing you'll go back to again and again.
3
Mar 27 2023
View Album
Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple makes good records. This is one is endlessly unique -- challenging and catchy at the same time.
5
Mar 28 2023
View Album
American IV: The Man Comes Around
Johnny Cash
This is kind of a rough listen. It comes off as a dying man singing songs about dying. "Sam Hall", placed right in the middle of the record, comes in like the first breath of fresh air after being bedridden with the flu.
2
Mar 29 2023
View Album
Bluesbreakers
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
Shitty record. I was looking forward to the Ray Charles cover but its mostly a dumb ass drum solo. Eric Clapton Sucks
1
Mar 30 2023
View Album
Ready To Die
The Notorious B.I.G.
Puff Daddy is too corny. Before I listened to this album I was prepared to give it a low score. All of the Puffy produced hits in the 90s were super corny. After the first few tracks of Ready to Die I was prepared to change my opinion but the album detours into some corny territory near the middle. Juicy stands out but Combs has to put his dumb vocal all over it.
The beats are enjoyable enough, if a little bit predictable. There isn't much production on them -- rather many songs are instrumental tracks from 60s and 70s soul records.
3
Mar 31 2023
View Album
...Baby One More Time
Britney Spears
This is music for kids. The producers did a good job making the best of Britney's vocal but the backing tracks are absolutely mental if you listen hard enough. The guitar solo and the unnecessary record scratching on "(You Drive Me) Crazy" is almost too much. And the reggae one? I'm dead. The Euro-House "Deep In My Heart" probably spawned a million remixes that never made it to the US.
The whole thing is super plastic and manufactured. There's nothing I can really fault since this kind of record is a bridge between Kidz Bop and grownup music.
[post-script: On "Thinkin' About You" there are a couple of lines where Britney harmonizes with herself. Not sure what the interval is (Beato) but it sounds like the same effect used on more than a few Sublime songs.]
2
Apr 03 2023
View Album
Sweet Baby James
James Taylor
The blues songs don't do a lot for me -- no surprise there -- but his folky and jazz numbers do.
4
Apr 04 2023
View Album
Django Django
Django Django
I went in totally ignorant of this record and artist. At first I was getting Kraftwerk vibes but then the harmonized vocals kicked in which remind me of some sixties groups like The Hollies, The Association, or The Byrds.
All said, I find myself drawn to records that successfully fuse cold/mechanical machine noises with warm/human musicality. Django Django certainly scratches that itch but when it veers into the longer, jammier songs I admit to getting bored. I love Stereolab but they are guilty of the same tendency. I think some editing of the longer tunes would be an improvement.
3
Apr 05 2023
View Album
Country Life
Roxy Music
The album is pretty rockin and the production sounds great. However, I don't find anything here that stands out in the way other art rock groups do. Both Sparks and Of Montreal come to mind. The songs and performances are solid so I can't call myself a detractor. It's almost a four but just not enough.
3
Apr 06 2023
View Album
Siembra
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
I've read the wikipedia article for tumbao. I've watched a dozen videos about clave rhythms. My limited musical experience means that I only barely understand the basic structure of salsa but the more I listen and study the more I appreciate it.
5
Apr 07 2023
View Album
Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D'Arby
Terence Trent D'Arby
Wikipedia categorizes this record as "funk rock." In my opinion its not funk if it hasn't been sampled on any hip hop record in the last forty years. Also, TTd'A refers to himself as a genius which throws some red flags.
He has a great voice. That's undeniable. However the songs and instrumentation are a little too serious. All in all its not a bad record. Ultimately its a couple of Top 40 sounding singles with some filler and a Miracles cover.
2
Apr 10 2023
View Album
Double Nickels On The Dime
Minutemen
What a trio these guys were. Blue collar thinking man's punk that couldn't be constrained by the typical LA punk sound.
5
Apr 11 2023
View Album
All Mod Cons
The Jam
It's great but there are groups who did it better: The Who, Elvis Costello, The Kinks. The final track sounds like The Clash.
3
Apr 12 2023
View Album
O.G. Original Gangster
Ice T
O.G. is a listenable rap record with all of the hallmarks from this era of hip-hop. The beats are not as hard as the Public Enemy records and the flow isn't as smooth as other contemporary MCs but the album has some solid features and great samples.
4
Apr 13 2023
View Album
Lost In The Dream
The War On Drugs
British Sea Power meets Bruce Springsteen
3
Apr 14 2023
View Album
Funeral
Arcade Fire
Sounds like an indie album from the early 2000s. To be fair, this album probably popularized the sound. Big production, emotional vocals, varied instrumentation. There are some strong singles but the rest of the album feels a little same-y.
3
Apr 17 2023
View Album
Time Out
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
OK, look. I can barely keep common time. I don't know what the fuck a mode is or why a song becomes a standard. What I do know is that these guys sound damn cool on this recording. The melodies are pretty and the compositions are vaguely classical to my ear. It's nice. I like it.
4
Apr 18 2023
View Album
Loveless
My Bloody Valentine
The waviness of the grooves on Loveless give me a seasick feeling. In a good way. Great tunes that defined a new genre that continues to evolve even into the 2020's.
4
Apr 19 2023
View Album
The Dark Side Of The Moon
Pink Floyd
What is this? Some kind of concept album? It sounds like Dire Straits on dope.
The sounds are too much at once -- like a kitschy disco record or some Dave Matthews type shit. Tell me you like that soul vocal on The Great Gig in the Sky with a straight face.
This one isn't as bad as Wish You Were Here (1 star) but its dorkier than The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (3 stars) so the rating I'm giving it nestles it rightfully between the two. And hopefully this is the last Pink Floyd record I have to listen to for a while.
2
Apr 20 2023
View Album
Like Water For Chocolate
Common
Great production makes the band sound great. Common's flow and verses sound as good as ever but I think I'd like the featured artists to have a bigger impact on this album.
The grooves are exemplar of the "turn of the millennium conscious rap" sound that was just emerging. For that reason it deserves its spot on the list but there are other albums that did it better -- including albums by Common himself.
3
Apr 21 2023
View Album
Gorillaz
Gorillaz
A couple of earworms on the big singles but a lot of filler.
2
Apr 24 2023
View Album
Strangeways, Here We Come
The Smiths
The Smiths were a singles band. I'll fight anyone who says otherwise. That being said, this is as good an album as they ever made. The 2011 remaster cleans up a lot of the gunk from the original release.
4
Apr 25 2023
View Album
Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black
Public Enemy
Can’t Truss It, By the Time I Get to Arizona, 1 Million Bottlebags. These might not be the biggest singles from PE but they are as good as anything they released. The production on this album isn’t as hard as the other albums but it flows really well track to track.
4
Apr 26 2023
View Album
Head Hunters
Herbie Hancock
4
Apr 27 2023
View Album
A Wizard, A True Star
Todd Rundgren
Psychedelia without the burden of trying to be cool. The keyboards sound good and I liked "Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel" which reminded me of a plainspoken, angsty Brian Wilson song like I Just Wasn't Made for These Times.
The tone of the whole album had me wondering if this guy is trying to be serious or not but there was a single lyric that made everything clear: "My voice goes so high you would think I was gay /
But I play my guitar in such a man-cock way" Amazing.
3
Apr 28 2023
View Album
Stand!
Sly & The Family Stone
If the drum breaks, bass lines, and in-your-face horn sections couldn't push the revolution to victory, nothing was going to do it.
5
May 01 2023
View Album
Hot Fuss
The Killers
Trying hard to be cool is fine if you achieve it but this album misses. The production is great and the instrumental performances are good but everything else is mediocre or worse. The lyrics are bad and the vocal performance is Simon-LeBon-tweaked-to-sound-good-on-early-millennium-pop-radio. The corny moments happen too frequently to ignore. Any band committing these sins can be absolved by creating terrific songs but they just aren't here.
2
May 02 2023
View Album
Private Dancer
Tina Turner
This is a "rock" record in the same way Rod Stewart made "rock" records. To me this is a soul album that is overproduced, overwrought, overthought, and dated. She's giving it her all with the vocal performances but they don't do enough to save this one.
2
May 03 2023
View Album
Dear Science
TV On The Radio
Tunde's vocals sound great on this record. Top production, performances, tunes.
5
May 04 2023
View Album
Winter In America
Gil Scott-Heron
Lovely performances and enjoyable songs.
The Bottle felt like the first chapter of a trilogy including 1 Million Bottle Bags (Public Enemy) and Swimming Pools (Kendrick Lamar).
3
May 05 2023
View Album
Kenya
Machito
As exciting as the percussion is, the rest is some instrumental big band jazz. I would have appreciated some vocals to break up the horns.
3
May 10 2023
View Album
Truth
Jeff Beck
I liked it more than I thought I would. At least it’s not Eric Clapton. And Rod Stewart isn’t especially annoying here either.
3
May 11 2023
View Album
Hounds Of Love
Kate Bush
Tasteful eighties synth production. Great vocal performance and solid songs.
3
May 12 2023
View Album
Heavy Weather
Weather Report
“All operators are busy. We appreciate your call so please remain on the line and we will speak with you shortly.”
2
May 15 2023
View Album
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Simon & Garfunkel
flawless
5
May 16 2023
View Album
Superunknown
Soundgarden
Emblematic of popular rock at the time: blending sludgy production with addictive hooks and melodies. "The Day I Tried To Live" is my personal anthem.
5
May 17 2023
View Album
Back to Mystery City
Hanoi Rocks
In an effort to keep my reviews consistent, I keep these attributes in mind when I choose an album's rating: recording, performances, and songs. The performances and recording of this album are fine but the songs are not good. Say what you want about Motley Crue and Poison, they had song craft figured out.
3
May 18 2023
View Album
Shaft
Isaac Hayes
Interesting jams, pleasant instrumentals but it's not P-Funk by a long shot.
3
May 19 2023
View Album
Reggatta De Blanc
The Police
Top performances and production on this album. There are a few fantastic songs and quite a bit of middling tunes.
3
May 22 2023
View Album
Let's Stay Together
Al Green
Wow!
4
May 23 2023
View Album
Guero
Beck
5/5 songs and 5/5 production. The performances are fine but like much of Beck's work there isn't much here to provide an emotional attachment that a 5/5 album has.
4
May 24 2023
View Album
Another Green World
Brian Eno
Too much fretless bass and the singing reminds me of Pink Floyd. It's a shame. I really wanted to love this one. I don't consider these songs to be minimal or even really ambient, either. Perhaps at the time of the album's release they were? For me the songs with vocals sound too druggy and the instrumentals veer into new age whale sounds territory.
2
May 25 2023
View Album
The Genius Of Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray's voice sounds great.
3
May 26 2023
View Album
Harvest
Neil Young
Obvious influence on Doug Martsch from Built to Spill lyrically and stylistically. Neil's guitar playing also had an effect on Elliott Smith.
On Harvest, Neil portrays a lonely character full of yearning for something real and permanent. The themes on the album remind me of James Taylor a little but something about the lyrics or delivery on this record seem a less genuine that Taylor's albums. Chock it up to Canadian aloofness?
Old Man is the best song on the album.
4
May 29 2023
View Album
My Aim Is True
Elvis Costello
There's only one album whose title is tattooed on my body and its this one. 5/5 obvs
5
May 30 2023
View Album
Neon Bible
Arcade Fire
Hipster anthems from the mid-aughts. It's a fine collection of songs. No more and no less.
3
May 31 2023
View Album
The Wall
Pink Floyd
I went into this album wanting to hate it. By the end of the nearly hour and a half running time I still hated it.
Was Another Brick In The Wall ghost-written by The Bee Gees because it's a disco song. Young Lust sounds like The Eagles.
Like the other Pink Floyd records this one has druggy vocals and squealing guitars. It's a concept album with a lame concept but it does have some tolerable parts so I can't give this a total failing grade in good faith. We'll put this in the two-star pile next to Dark Side of the Moon and the Terence Trent D'Arby album.
2
Jun 01 2023
View Album
Faith
George Michael
I can't believe I find myself analyzing this album so deeply. George Michael really tried to combine the sounds on big pop records of the time by Michael Jackson and Prince. It sounds cheap to my ears. There are monkey noises at the end of "Monkey."
The songs themselves are fuckin weird. Is he singing about being naked with his dad?? Maybe I'm a prude -- OK, I am for sure -- but these songs give me the ick like a Tim & Eric sketch.
2
Jun 02 2023
View Album
The Rising
Bruce Springsteen
Background noise. A dial tone.
It's the same thing as other Springsteen albums. The performances can't be faulted but the songs are all the same. The guy never met a road he didn't write a song about.
2
Jun 05 2023
View Album
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
A Tribe Called Quest
RIP Phife
The moments where the MCs take a chance to boast up the other members of the group is the most wholesome thing ever.
5
Jun 06 2023
View Album
Appetite For Destruction
Guns N' Roses
I love this album. I hate this album.
Appetite for Destruction came into my life at a crucial point. I was probably 11 years old and just starting to discover my own masculinity. Being an overtly masculine group Guns n' Roses had an immediate appeal to me along with Motley Crue and Def Leppard. This was a drastic shift from my early pop obsessions like Boy George, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Paula Abdul, and Michael Jackson reflecting my newfound identity. For a whole summer loud, macho bands were all I wanted to hear.
It was only another year or so before the hair metal era ended and my tastes changed again. Nirvana, The B-52s, Pearl Jam, and The Violent Femmes challenged notions of portrayals of masculinity in popular music. This was a deeper thing and I moved on from GnR's overt butchness. I cringed at how cool I thought Def Leppard looked and strutted. But isn't that what adolescence is? Cringing at the person you were only six months ago?
Revisiting this album now I am able to reconcile all of this art that I liked. Appetite For Destruction is over the top with masculinity but it also has everything that makes a great record: well-crafted songs, brilliant performances, listenable production. I hate this album. I love this album.
5
Jun 07 2023
View Album
Eliminator
ZZ Top
What if Devo rocked out to the Texas blues?
"Elements of the past and the future combining to make something not quite as good as either..." Finally, the drums sound bad on this album.
2
Jun 08 2023
View Album
A Northern Soul
The Verve
Really pretty songs. Huge production on the remastered version.
3
Jun 09 2023
View Album
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo
Devo
5
Jun 12 2023
View Album
OK Computer
Radiohead
5
Jun 13 2023
View Album
Let's Get It On
Marvin Gaye
Sex jams. It's OK. I didn't think I would like it but it's not bad. There isn't much here, honestly.
3
Jun 14 2023
View Album
Siamese Dream
The Smashing Pumpkins
I am finally ready to admit that this is a grunge album.
4
Jun 15 2023
View Album
1984
Van Halen
ChatGPT prompt: "Generate a hard rock album that sounds like the early Reagan Years."
Production: 5/5 (2015 Remaster)
Performances: 5/5
Songs: 1/5
The songs are so corny. I was hoping maybe the deep cuts would have been interesting but they're just like the single without good hooks.
Album art: 10/5
3
Jun 16 2023
View Album
Teenage Head
Flamin' Groovies
It's a guitar band and I like guitar bands so this is fine. If I didn't like rock music then this is nothing special. The Sonics were better.
3
Jun 19 2023
View Album
On The Beach
Neil Young
I like the melancholy hippy folk ones. I don't care for the blues ones. The production on the 2016 Remaster I found on YouTube sounds great.
3
Jun 20 2023
View Album
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
If the organ part on What Goes On doesn't give you chills then you need to seek professional help.
The choice of songs and their order on this album is so hopeful it is a joy to listen to as a complete record.
5
Jun 21 2023
View Album
Here, My Dear
Marvin Gaye
"It's me against the world"-era Kanye but also disco.
3
Jun 22 2023
View Album
Ritual De Lo Habitual
Jane's Addiction
Very engaging lyrics and powerful, varied musical accompaniment.
4
Jun 23 2023
View Album
The Undertones
The Undertones
5
Jun 26 2023
View Album
Bitches Brew
Miles Davis
Experimental for sure and always interesting. Occasionally the band stumbles into a groove. If that was the intent of the recording then the mission was achieved.
3
Jun 27 2023
View Album
Rock 'N Soul
Solomon Burke
They don't make them like they used to.
5
Jun 28 2023
View Album
Low
David Bowie
My favorite David Bowie album.
5
Jun 29 2023
View Album
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite
Maxwell
this album is more about vibes than songs
3
Jun 30 2023
View Album
Songs From The Big Chair
Tears For Fears
Three stellar tracks and some rather good synth pop in between.
4
Jul 03 2023
View Album
Pretzel Logic
Steely Dan
Terrific production and compact songs make this collection more palatable than other Steely records.
3
Jul 04 2023
View Album
Here's Little Richard
Little Richard
These recordings sound great and the performances capture what must have been absolutely mental energy of Richard and his band.
5
Jul 05 2023
View Album
Rust In Peace
Megadeth
4
Jul 06 2023
View Album
Natty Dread
Bob Marley & The Wailers
Do you ever encounter rock music fans who say they don't really like The Beatles? I have and it's weird. But... I am a reggae fan who isn't really a fan of Bob Marley. The title track and Bend Down Low stand out on this album but the rest of the songs don't really do it for me.
5
Jul 07 2023
View Album
The Bends
Radiohead
The Bends aged remarkably well over 25 years. Six out of five stars.
5
Jul 10 2023
View Album
The Clash
The Clash
It's not the most amazing collection of songs but it's The Clash, so...
5
Jul 11 2023
View Album
Talking Heads 77
Talking Heads
This album must have been a big influence on some favorites of mine: Devo and They Might Be Giants. David Byrne has a unique voice that I find very appealing. Talking Heads is punk for clean cut kids.
4
Jul 12 2023
View Album
461 Ocean Boulevard
Eric Clapton
This music feels really inauthentic. The type of person who listens to Eric Clapton doesn't really care about authenticity but I do.
Vocals are bad all over the album. Please Be With Me is sweet. Let It Grow is some awful hippie shit.
2
Jul 13 2023
View Album
The Score
Fugees
Massive singles and some solid features. The beats are from the sample-heavy 90s but the references are on point. The rhymes are real hip hop and the three MCs voices sound great together.
5
Jul 14 2023
View Album
MTV Unplugged In New York
Nirvana
The song choices for this performance are incredible. Krist plays the accordion. Kurt solos Pennyroyal Tea and his voice sounds amazing throughout the whole record.
5
Jul 17 2023
View Album
Brilliant Corners
Thelonious Monk
Lovely melodies, engaging instrumentation, compact songs
4
Jul 18 2023
View Album
25
Adele
The production is like an email where the entire contents are in bold, italics, and underlined. It's a well-crafted cocktail that's a little too bitter, too sour, too sweet, too fizzy, and too strong. Compared to 21, Adele's vocal sounds powerful and clear but the music is a bit forward on 25. Some tracks are worse than others and the B-side does sound better.
Besides the complaints about the shiny backing tracks, the songs are great and the lyrics are emotional but not overwrought. The album closer is a banger.
5
Jul 19 2023
View Album
Slanted And Enchanted
Pavement
5
Jul 20 2023
View Album
The Poet
Bobby Womack
This was released in 1981??
3
Jul 21 2023
View Album
Rum Sodomy & The Lash
The Pogues
Are you allowed to make punk songs in waltz time?
3
Jul 24 2023
View Album
The Age Of The Understatement
The Last Shadow Puppets
Glad to have heard it. The music and performances are not mind-blowing but I appreciate the bands restraint in not trying to sound too cool while making really cool music. Owen Pallet rules.
3
Jul 25 2023
View Album
So
Peter Gabriel
As you would expect from a Peter Gabriel project this album features aloof vocals, songs, and performances. The backing tracks are interesting but they sound like the test track that your Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 would play when you finish installing the drivers.
In Your Eyes isn't bad.
2
Jul 26 2023
View Album
Marquee Moon
Television
5
Jul 27 2023
View Album
Quiet Life
Japan
Duran Duran with bad vocals. This must have been unique in 1979 - before the whole New Romantic thing went mainstream.
And maybe it's just because of the band name, I can't help but draw a dotted line between this record and Japanese visual kei.
3
Jul 28 2023
View Album
Parachutes
Coldplay
You have to understand the state of popular music when this was released. American alternative/indie had already peaked and that tiresome macho, aggro thing was at its height. Music production had fallen victim to the loudness war which made listening to a whole album in one sitting a fairly unpleasant experience. It was time for the pendulum to swing back toward the opposite pole. It was time for sad British guys to make their return.
The production on Parachutes sounds great. It's clean and clear with plenty of breathing room for the performances to shine. Maybe the lyrics are a little bit obvious but that's not what this is about.
4
Jul 31 2023
View Album
Doolittle
Pixies
Frank Black's vocals are absolutely unhinged while Kim Deal's are as sweet as ever. This album is another part of the foundation of alternative rock.
5
Aug 01 2023
View Album
Rumours
Fleetwood Mac
Another track by track review:
1. Awful lyric with an especially annoying chorus.
2. The instrumental is kind of a hippie version of 70s soft rock. Stevie's vocal and lyrics are the only enjoyable thing here.
3. Another Lindsey Buckingham song. This guy is trying to be Paul Simon but he sounds like a shitty backup singer for The Eagles. And the words are really trash. He's got nothing to say.
4. The radio hit. It's not bad except it has that "honky-tonk" 1970s thing that turns me off.
5. Yecch. The rhythm section does sound good here despite the rest.
6. And a ballad to close out the first side. Perfect. It's OK I guess. I like it the way I like The Carpenters.
7. Kinda bluesy like a softer Led Zeppelin or Heart but without any edge whatsoever.
8. On a very white album this might be the only number with any kind of soul. Unfortunately it has that gross 70s way of writing about romance and sex that gives me the ick. Is this what set the mood for the conception of millions of people my age? I can't let myself even entertain the thought.
9. I really like Nicks' voice. I really do not like Buckingham's voice. I know this band was basically a polycule before that even existed but Stevie and Christine should have started their own thing.
10. The fuck? OK I take it back. Stevie Nicks is the only good thing in this group.
11. I could have sworn Kiss had a song by this same name.
2
Aug 02 2023
View Album
Highway to Hell
AC/DC
File under: Toolbox Rock.
It's like KISS but slightly less gross. But only slightly.
2
Aug 03 2023
View Album
Skylarking
XTC
I listened to it twice. I want to have an opinion but I just can't make myself form one.
2
Aug 04 2023
View Album
The Gershwin Songbook
Ella Fitzgerald
Musicals are very not my thing. Stuffing weird narrative dialog into a song feels false.
With that out of the way, the songs on this album are tolerable enough. I like the slower, crooning ones best. Regardless of the naff lyrics Ella seems to posses several difference voices across all of these tunes. Artists like Elvis Costello have tried to pull this off but I've never heard anyone do it as well as she does on this recording. Also, the band sounds great and the recording does both the vocals and backing tracks justice.
4
Aug 07 2023
View Album
I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
Aretha Franklin
It's OK, I guess. To me it's kind of like that Ray Charles record only a decade newer. It's a foundation of later work but it's not as interesting as what came after.
3
Aug 08 2023
View Album
The Köln Concert
Keith Jarrett
I don't know what this is.
There is something about it that is deeply appealing in the same way that other experimental artists like Battles, Silver Apples, and Can are. But this has soul in a way that those groups do not. The live, acoustic nature of this recording makes it so human.
4
Aug 09 2023
View Album
Porcupine
Echo And The Bunnymen
Is this goth-rock or rock that goths like? Anyway, it's solid 80s dark, atmospheric guitar music.
3
Aug 10 2023
View Album
Dog Man Star
Suede
I think I understand what they are going for and I do find it interesting. (Let's call it "Nineties T-Rex" for short.) The songs are also good. Beyond that I can't find myself latching on to anything in particular. It's fine. There was better alternative rock in the 90s and nobody out T's the Rex.
3
Aug 11 2023
View Album
The Colour Of Spring
Talk Talk
Mid. Not sure why it's on the list.
3
Aug 14 2023
View Album
Toys In The Attic
Aerosmith
"Camel Cigarettes: The Album"
Sweet Emotion is Aerosmith's only good song.
2
Aug 15 2023
View Album
Ace of Spades
Motörhead
heavy but melodic, fast but under control, plodding but groovy
3
Aug 16 2023
View Album
Aqualung
Jethro Tull
4
Aug 17 2023
View Album
Maggot Brain
Funkadelic
I'm not sure the diarrhea noises add much to the record but overall its great.
4
Aug 18 2023
View Album
Halcyon Digest
Deerhunter
Not bad. Definitely a specimen of the indie rock sound from this time. The production and instrumentation sound great. I didn’t listen close enough to get a feel for the song quality but it does make me want to listen more.
4
Aug 21 2023
View Album
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
No other record sounds like this. To me it's hard to categorize but it somehow fits with some of the other post-grunge-power-pop-rock albums that came out around the same time.
These songs have always been mysterious to me. It's probably the muffled vocals. What could have become if the group maintained some of the mystery instead of going for all out rock radio fame?
4
Aug 22 2023
View Album
Abbey Road
Beatles
Remember when you were in the Beatles and you did that album Abbey Road and at the very end of the song, it went: 'And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make'. You remember that?
5
Aug 23 2023
View Album
Bright Flight
Silver Jews
kinda sad, kinda pretty
3
Aug 24 2023
View Album
Vincebus Eruptum
Blue Cheer
The riffs aren't great and it all comes off like a Hendrix ripoff. I don't see how this album birthed heavy metal when Black Sabbath (and even Steppenwolf!) exists.
2
Aug 25 2023
View Album
Songs The Lord Taught Us
The Cramps
Pretty rockin' and I appreciated The Sonics cover
3
Aug 28 2023
View Album
The Fat Of The Land
The Prodigy
4
Aug 29 2023
View Album
Pet Sounds
The Beach Boys
The sentiments in Brian Wilson's lyrics are plain and juvenile and epitomize pop music. For some reason they hit me in a deep way that other pop lyrics are not able to.
The production, instrumentation, performances, vocal harmonies are all first rate. This is another 6 out of 5.
5
Aug 30 2023
View Album
Pump
Aerosmith
A is for Anachronism. This band keeps revisiting the same sound that was exciting in the 70s.
E is for Easy. Lyrics about chasing girls and rockin hard.
R is for Repetitive. Same beat, same solo, same dumb album art.
O is for Oafish. Aerosmith is the first band listed under "toolbox rock" for a reason.
S is for Sleaze. Ten songs about flesh and drugs.
M is for MTV. Remember those videos with Alicia Silverstone? It was all too much.
I is for Innuendo. These guys are geniuses when it comes to writing dirty songs but keeping them PG-rated.
T is for TOO MUCH. This is third Aerosmith album I've had to suffer as I progress through this project.
H is for Hits. Some how these guys had hits for multiple decades.
2
Aug 31 2023
View Album
Trio
Dolly Parton
This is the kind of country music that is meant to break your heart. I suppose if I allowed myself to get caught up in it, it may be effective even on me. Parton, Ronstadt, and Harris have great voices and are amazing performances but I'm not sure about the song choices. My general unfamiliarity with country music may be limiting my appreciation of the songs but I have a suspicion that this album's late 80s release date has something to do with it. I compare these tunes with the original songs on Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose from 2004.
I do like The Pain of Loving You, Wildflowers, and Those Memories of You. I don't like the dead hobo one.
3
Sep 01 2023
View Album
Larks' Tongues In Aspic
King Crimson
"Easy Money" dips dangerously close to Pink Floyd territory but the rest of the album is compelling.
4
Sep 04 2023
View Album
Blackstar
David Bowie
David Bowie never lost his touch. What an amazing body of work he left us with. I don't know if I would regard this album the way I do if it was by an unknown performer.
4
Sep 05 2023
View Album
Exile On Main Street
The Rolling Stones
The rockers sound great and there are some really pretty moments. The blues and gospel stuff I am not really into. Having to sit through a whole Stones double album made me realize that it's Mick that bums me out about the band.
3
Sep 06 2023
View Album
GI
Germs
classic
5
Sep 07 2023
View Album
Come Away With Me
Norah Jones
You can't say the sounds or songs are particularly original. You can say that Norah Jones' voice sounds great on the recording and the tunes are pleasant.
3
Sep 08 2023
View Album
At Newport 1960
Muddy Waters
got my mojo workin
3
Sep 11 2023
View Album
Talking Book
Stevie Wonder
Some records come up in this project that you can rate right away and this is one of them. Stevie Wonder is a genius.
5
Sep 12 2023
View Album
Henry's Dream
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
The term Southern gothic comes to mind. This is a theatrical album with big songs that have pop hooks. It's OK. The band sounds good but I don't care for Cave's vocal performances.
2
Sep 13 2023
View Album
Signing Off
UB40
4
Sep 14 2023
View Album
Time Out Of Mind
Bob Dylan
This Bob's "Jakob Dylan's dad" era and it is the Bob Dylan sound that I was most familiar with before I started the 1001 Albums project.
Can't say I enjoyed much on this one. "Standing In the Doorway" was a good sad song but the rest of the album is sad songs that aren't so good. Also the production is very... noticeable? and seemed out of place for Dylan's style.
Gotta give it two stars. That is the rating I give albums that have me calculating how much time I have to listen before I can put another album on.
2
Sep 15 2023
View Album
What's Going On
Marvin Gaye
Introspective sounds of the revolution. A totally different energy from Sly's Stand! album. It's a compact statement with amazing songs, production, and performances.
5
Sep 18 2023
View Album
Morrison Hotel
The Doors
The Doors sound is distinctive but nothing else on Morrison Hotel stands out.
3
Sep 19 2023
View Album
Abraxas
Santana
se acabo
4
Sep 20 2023
View Album
It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
Public Enemy
MCs have been biting rhymes from this record for decades. "Party for Your Right to Fight" is the perfect phrase and track to summarize this album.
The Bomb Squad's production found its balance between abrasive sampling and listenable tracks on this recording.
5
Sep 21 2023
View Album
Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul
Otis Redding
Great vocal performance. Song choice is solid. The band sounds great.
5
Sep 22 2023
View Album
Disintegration
The Cure
🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤
5
Sep 25 2023
View Album
Automatic For The People
R.E.M.
5
Sep 26 2023
View Album
The Chronic
Dr. Dre
Classic G-Funk beats. The guest MCs add a lot as far as the rhymes go. Not every song is great but I have to give The Chronic its due for its place in history. This album is the archetype for Southern California rap and the sounds live on today in the works of artists like Kendrick Lamar.
5
Sep 27 2023
View Album
Swordfishtrombones
Tom Waits
Wacky like a Danny Elfman score with storytelling like Sufjan Stevens. This record has a lot of acclaim but I'm missing something because I find it interesting but not appealing.
3
Sep 28 2023
View Album
Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
As lovely as anything he did in the groups he belonged to in the sixties.
4
Sep 29 2023
View Album
L.A. Woman
The Doors
Way too much blues. Two stars for being Clapton-adjacent. The songs are unpleasant and don't build on the unique sound that the Doors established on the five previous records.
2
Oct 02 2023
View Album
Fragile
Yes
I liked it a lot more than I thought I would.
3
Oct 03 2023
View Album
Made In Japan
Deep Purple
Worse than Aerosmith.
The first track is pretty rockin but "Child In Time" has too much guitar noodling, bad vocals, and the lyric "I want to be inside of you." Dumb lyrics continue on Smoke On The Water which also includes some Clapton-esque guitar chugging. Once that ends you are treated to a dull drum solo. This is the closest I have come to skipping a track in the over 300 albums I've listened to in this project so far.
There is a part in the middle of "Strange Kind of Woman" where a guitar is trading licks with someone making dumb mouth noises. That is the exact moment I decided to give this record one star. "Lazy" includes some harp that gives me major "Honkin On Bobo" douche chills. This sucks.
1
Oct 04 2023
View Album
Reign In Blood
Slayer
I'm a metal neophyte but I can see how this is an archetype for so much of what came after.
3
Oct 05 2023
View Album
Caetano Veloso
Caetano Veloso
Quite exotic to my ears. Veloso's voice is perfect for this style. Alegria, Alegria is a masterpiece.
5
Oct 06 2023
View Album
Duck Stab/Buster & Glen
The Residents
The Residents walked so Ween and Primus could run.
3
Oct 09 2023
View Album
Pink Moon
Nick Drake
Finding this album in my college days would have fucked me up. Back then I was really into contemporary sad-boy artists like Elliott Smith, Galaxie 500, and Pedro the Lion. Even if this album was unknown to those guys it certainly touches the same parts of the psyche as the best of their work. The spartan, clear production and concise confessional songs make the whole album feel very near and honest. The rare hooks highlight engaging melodies that are just enough to hang Drake's bedroom vocals on.
5
Oct 10 2023
View Album
American Idiot
Green Day
The production is too much. It sounds hot, bright, and overly sweet. The songs are decent. These Bush-era protest songs are not nearly as good as the Thatcher-era produced but the rock opera format is honored by this album -- for whatever that's worth.
2
Oct 11 2023
View Album
Safe As Milk
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
The production is so bad its good - like a Velvet Underground album. The tunes are bouncy and raw like ? and the Mysterians. There's a little Motown soul in here, too. It's weird but I like weird.
4
Oct 12 2023
View Album
Bookends
Simon & Garfunkel
5
Oct 13 2023
View Album
Bitte Orca
Dirty Projectors
Backing tracks are interesting: math rock guitar shreds, super odd drum beats, weird squeaks... I'm into it. The lyrics and vocal performances throw me. It is also unfortunate that this album is 14 years old, putting it squarely in that trough between nostalgia and novelty. The whole presentation and sound of this record is very "Anthropologie-core".
2
Oct 16 2023
View Album
One Nation Under A Groove
Funkadelic
The title track has it all: sing-along vocals, banging rhythm track, funky synth. Even though its seven and a half minutes long it feels as compact as a pop song.
The rest of the album is varied in song quality and feel.
3
Oct 17 2023
View Album
Tusk
Fleetwood Mac
The production is really late 70s/early 80s but it still sounds good on the 2015 Remaster. (btw... curse Spotify and/or the labels for replacing the original mixes with endless remasters)
As usual, I like the Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks numbers and loathe anything by Buckingham. All in all, for a Fleetwood Mac album I find this one more tolerable than the others. I might even say I liked it.
3
Oct 18 2023
View Album
Idlewild
Everything But The Girl
The lyrics are echoes of The Smiths who had a way of expressing quotidian British maudlinism. The sophistipop backing tracks would have chased me off but I almost appreciate how carefully they are crafted. I listened through the album almost twice and the tunes started to blend together to form what sounds like an hour long ending credits song for an ITV-produced family drama series from 1988 taking place in a town with a name like Grimsby or Sowerby Bridge.
I can't find much to love or hate here. Three stars, I guess.
3
Oct 19 2023
View Album
Mr. Tambourine Man
The Byrds
The title track is a 6 out of 5 for lyrics, production, and performance.
The rest of the album is similar sixties pop/folk. The sound of this record really speaks to me and I feel sixties pop could still be mined for inspiration for new music.
4
Oct 20 2023
View Album
Blood And Chocolate
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Some enjoyable tunes -- especially on the B side -- that regrettably lack what makes Elvis' lyrics special. "I Want You" is totally unhinged and is the standout song on this collection.
4
Oct 23 2023
View Album
Crime Of The Century
Supertramp
sounds like some Pink Floyd shit but with harmonica
2
Oct 24 2023
View Album
The Atomic Mr Basie
Count Basie & His Orchestra
Mrs-Maisel-core
4
Oct 25 2023
View Album
Kala
M.I.A.
Like an updated version of The Clash's Combat Rock, Kala addresses an ever-shrinking globe and the tension between the rich nations and rest of the world. The sounds are bombastic and modern. The rhymes are a great example of grime in the early 2000s.
5
Oct 26 2023
View Album
Untitled (Black Is)
SAULT
Fantastic sounds and performances. I enjoyed every track. Lyrically the album doesn't say much that hasn't been said before but every word on this record needed to be spoken in 2020.
4
Oct 27 2023
View Album
Third
Soft Machine
The production on the remastered version is fun. The stereo separation and sub-bass sounded great on my bookshelf speaker system.
Overall there are some interesting parts but it is long and I found myself losing interest by the middle of the third track. Better editing could have made this a four-star record for me.
3
Oct 30 2023
View Album
The Low End Theory
A Tribe Called Quest
It sounds exactly like the 90s and it sounds exactly like today. RIP Phife Dawg
5
Oct 31 2023
View Album
Get Behind Me Satan
The White Stripes
The White Stripes album with the big production. Terrific tunes as usual.
4
Nov 01 2023
View Album
The Notorious Byrd Brothers
The Byrds
Not as good as Mr. Tambo/Urine Man but still terrific.
4
Nov 02 2023
View Album
Faust IV
Faust
This is what it would sound like if the Velvets did a year of study abroad in Germany and lived in the same dorm as Kraftwerk.
4
Nov 10 2023
View Album
The Predator
Ice Cube
Cube has great flow and rhymes as usual. The thing that stuck out to me is how race relations are discussed on this record versus the discourse that we hear today. Today's language around racism and equality issues is so academic compared to the real talk on The Predator.
The beats don't stand out too much here.
3
Nov 13 2023
View Album
Live!
Fela Kuti
3
Nov 14 2023
View Album
Meat Is Murder
The Smiths
The performances are great and the production on the 2011 remaster sounds great. But the tunes. Meat is Murder doesn't have the quality of other releases from the band. If you want to be a purest and exclude "How Soon Is Now?" then you're only really left with "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" and maybe "Barbarism Begins at Home". RIP Andy
4
Nov 15 2023
View Album
This Nation’s Saving Grace
The Fall
file under: Your Favorite Band's Favorite Band.
file under: One of the Groups Created After Seeing Sex Pistols in Manchester
3
Nov 16 2023
View Album
Let Love Rule
Lenny Kravitz
Performances: solid.
Songs: kinda OK; kinda not.
Concept: 90s radio rock with 60s nostalgia.
Question: Why is this on the list?
Rating: a very soft three stars
3
Nov 17 2023
View Album
Hot Shots II
The Beta Band
I'll agree that it doesn't sound like anything else. What it does sound like is a little bit dated. It's OK.
3
Nov 20 2023
View Album
That's The Way Of The World
Earth, Wind & Fire
Proto-disco-soul-funk-trip. This album doesn't hit me like some of its predecessors. I miss Sly's world weariness and anguish. I miss Eddie Hazel's and Bootsie Collins' shredding. The edge of those records are worn down and polished smooth on "That's The Way Of The World". It's not necessarily bad but it doesn't grab me and thrust me back in time the way I was by Sly and P-Funk.
3
Nov 21 2023
View Album
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Bruce Springsteen
A seven minute long ballad about a fuckin car. CHECK.
Lots of groaning. CHECK.
Glockenspiel. CHECK.
A song about going to work. CHECK.
Yep... it's another Springsteen album.
2
Nov 22 2023
View Album
Here Are the Sonics
The Sonics
I found a stack of my dad's old 45s in an old bowling ball bag left up in the attic. That is when I heard The Sonics for the first time. The raw power and excitement sticks with me today. Five stars for almost inventing punk a decade before it happened.
5
Nov 23 2023
View Album
Live At Leeds
The Who
It's fine. The songs are great, of course, and the performances are solid. The stage banter is a little out of place and upsets the excitement of a live recording.
3
Nov 24 2023
View Album
Arular
M.I.A.
I love this album. More than Kala. I don't know why but it just bumps so hard from start to finish. Sunshowers, Bucky Done Gun, Galang... all classics.
5
Nov 28 2023
View Album
Channel Orange
Frank Ocean
At ten years old this album the sounds on this album are not as common today as they were in 2012. Channel Orange is a solid representative of the new soul sound: kinda druggy, kinda sad, kinda horny. Frank's voice sounds good and the songs -- though numerous -- keep my interest through the whole record.
4
Nov 29 2023
View Album
Pelican West
Haircut 100
Mostly throwaway songs - especially the ones that sound like XTC. This album would be totally uninteresting if not for what other groups did and continue to do with the sound.
2
Nov 30 2023
View Album
Mott
Mott The Hoople
High concept and self-referential. I do like the 70s production and appreciate the restraint in "fixing" it for the digital age. The songs are kinda dumb.
2
Dec 01 2023
View Album
Phaedra
Tangerine Dream
Mellotron-heavy songs that sound like a film score. This record must have influenced many artists I admire but this one doesn't do much for me. It gets too noodley for my taste and does not evoke much more than "futuristic robot space music" vibes.
I'm giving this one a soft three because I do love electronic music.
3
Dec 04 2023
View Album
Cosmo's Factory
Creedence Clearwater Revival
I listened to this one twice. On the second trip through I found myself listening to more of the pretty parts. Ramble Tamble could be a mid 90s indie rock song. Some of the other songs are a little weak. Travelin' Band is some kind of 50s boogie woogie pastiche that makes me think of Sha-Na-Na. Between songs like this there are some real bangers. The handclaps on Up Around The Bend highlight the strong sing-along melody and steady rhythm groove. CCR's version of I Heard It Through The Grapevine moves the song's origins much further south than Detroit re-imagining it as a Delta Blues song. (The additional white guy noodly jamming doesn't improve it. Perhaps its too Clapton adjacent for my tastes.) The album closer - Long As I Can See The Light - is as solid of a final track as any album I've heard.
All in all this is a genre-defining record with some solid singles. And there's a guy on a bike on the cover.
4
Dec 05 2023
View Album
Grace
Jeff Buckley
Possibly the most 90s record I have ever heard. More than Alanis, more than Stone Temple Pilots, more than the Singles soundtrack.
Jeff's got a great voice. Many of the songs don't exactly stand out and the production is a little sappy for my taste -- especially here where the singer has more than enough emotion to deliver what's required.
All said, this is a grunge record however its influences differ from the big grunge records of the day. I found the songs that showed those difference influences more interesting than the others.
2
Dec 06 2023
View Album
Spy Vs. Spy: The Music Of Ornette Coleman
John Zorn
When I first started the record I thought to myself, "this isn't jazz. This is a hardcore album". Upon reading the wikipedia article, it became clear that it's not an accident. In fact it's the whole concept of Spy vs Spy. The production is exciting throughout. The drums sound killer!
I have no familiarity with the originals so my enjoyment of the versions on this album are not what they could be, but I still loved the thrash and frenetic energy of the recording.
3
Dec 07 2023
View Album
The Libertines
The Libertines
The songs are not as good as they are on Up The Bracket (a six-star album in my opinion) but everything you love about The Libertines is here on the S/T record.
5
Dec 08 2023
View Album
Pornography
The Cure
4
Dec 11 2023
View Album
Cross
Justice
too much disco
2
Dec 12 2023
View Album
Music From Big Pink
The Band
Not bad for hippie music. Some songs are real gems; some songs are just songs.
3
Dec 13 2023
View Album
Me Against The World
2Pac
Me Against The World is a solid example of rap in the mid-90s. At the time Tupac was a phenomenon. He was on MTV constantly in his own videos and featuring in other artists videos. His movies were crazy popular, too. Media loved to talk about his life and he relished the attention.
On this album I find his flow to be monotonous but unique. Other rappers bit his style at the end of the 90s. His rhymes are his signature: the sensitive side of a thug. I like the beats on the album. It's G-Funk but not as bumpin as other albums from the time.
3
Dec 14 2023
View Album
Actually
Pet Shop Boys
My review echoes what the Boys probably heard from every record executive ever:
"Have you got more songs like West End Girls?"
3
Dec 15 2023
View Album
Roger the Engineer
The Yardbirds
Blues rock. Mostly boring but occasionally sounds like The Kinks.
3
Dec 18 2023
View Album
Californication
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Production is bad. Songs are OK as are the performances.
What listeners should realize is that this album is where the band became its own genre. Previous Red Hot Chili Peppers records represented the bands unique mix of its influences: hip hop, funk, jazz, blues-rock. Californication is dad rock for guys born in the 1980s.
The last song sounds like Elliott Smith.
3
Dec 19 2023
View Album
Teen Dream
Beach House
Pretty songs. The words would probably break my heart if I could make any of them out from the reverb.
3
Dec 20 2023
View Album
Le Tigre
Le Tigre
Real punk
3
Dec 21 2023
View Album
Dr. Octagonecologyst
Dr. Octagon
3
Dec 22 2023
View Album
Goo
Sonic Youth
4
Dec 25 2023
View Album
London Calling
The Clash
5
Dec 26 2023
View Album
Coat Of Many Colors
Dolly Parton
Great songs, performances, and production. I can't fault this one even though it isn't something I would normally listen to. There are some solid Nashville country tunes between gospel numbers and even some almost-rock-n-roll hippie bops.
4
Dec 27 2023
View Album
Tago Mago
Can
Upon starting Tago Mago my first thought was that this sounds like it could veer into some musical territory that is dangerously close to Pink Floyd. Thankfully it never does.
My second thought was that this record isn’t especially interesting in a world with bands like Tame Impala, Kraftwerk, Deerhoof, Aphex Twin and Public Image Ltd. Obviously those bands would not sound like they do if Can hadn’t made this record so for that I give them credit.
3
Dec 28 2023
View Album
Duck Rock
Malcolm McLaren
This is an album in line with the direction some English punks rockers went after punk blew up: Jah Wobble, PiL, Big Audio Dynamite. It's an awful mess of genres but I like it and I think its fun.
3
Jan 01 2024
View Album
Songs For Swingin' Lovers!
Frank Sinatra
Lame. Zero edge or energy.
This record makes me thankful that the year it was released is the same year that rock 'n' roll came along.
2
Jan 02 2024
View Album
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Very pretty songs. It’s obvious to me how much Neil Young had an influence on the musicians of the early 90s who brought his approach to songwriting and performance into their styles.
4
Jan 03 2024
View Album
Music in Exile
Songhoy Blues
Blues isn't my jam usually but Music in Exile is something fresh. I find the production a little bit elaborate but the 11 songs on the album are all interesting enough to keep me engaged.
3
Jan 04 2024
View Album
Here Come The Warm Jets
Brian Eno
Sounds like Roxy Music but a little bit weirder. I like it. There are some really beautiful moments on the record.
4
Jan 05 2024
View Album
Second Toughest In The Infants
Underworld
This is one of a few albums that required me to listen twice before I felt confident giving it a rating. I appreciate it more on a second listen now that I'm settling in to the vibe. The listening mode is more Boards of Canada than Kraftwerk. I'm listening as if it's a live DJ set and not an album as a collection of pop tunes. That approach gives a look into a time and place and a scene. Second Toughest In The Infants is not timeless but a touchstone to its era of electronic music.
3
Jan 08 2024
View Album
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
OutKast
I was ready to call this album a 5+ but I will agree with the other critics who said that The Love Below does take some odd turns. It's a double album so its bound to have some filler but do we really need a free jazz/breakcore version of a song from The Sound of Music? I know I don't. That inclusion of that track and some of the other clunkers knock this down to a solid five.
5
Jan 09 2024
View Album
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady
Charles Mingus
I do enjoy avant-garde music but I believe context is required to get the most out of records like this. Unfortunately I don't understand the world this record comes from.
3
Jan 10 2024
View Album
Fred Neil
Fred Neil
What a record! Like Dylan meets Lou Reed but they get a baritone to sing it.
5
Jan 11 2024
View Album
If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears
The Mamas & The Papas
Pretty songs. I love sixties pop. Beautiful vocal harmonies and absolute classic Wrecking Crew backing tracks.
5
Jan 12 2024
View Album
Odessa
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees really know how to turn tragedy into song and it's obvious how much they put into songcraft. (Also low-key this album art is 10/10.)
As a whole I find the album kind of odd but I like it. The overwrought emotion of some numbers get to me a little and bum me out but the gall of the Brothers Gibb to make an album like this in a world where Jimi Hendrix was still fucking shit up is respectable.
3
Jan 15 2024
View Album
Rio
Duran Duran
One of the many things I have learned doing the 1001 Albums project is that 80s synth pop didn't just come out of nowhere. Duran Duran was not a result of spontaneous generation but is proof of intelligent design. Listening to these songs again with that context makes Rio that much more interesting.
(Another 10/10 album art score for this masterpiece.)
5
Jan 16 2024
View Album
Kind Of Blue
Miles Davis
This is the kind of music I think of when I hear the word "jazz". I don't know a damn thing about jazz but I like this record. I'm giving it a 5 because I think that's what music nerds are supposed to do and I'm a music nerd.
5
Jan 17 2024
View Album
Crooked Rain Crooked Rain
Pavement
A perfect example of post-grunge indie/alternative rock.
5
Jan 18 2024
View Album
Nixon
Lambchop
Halfway through the first song I had convinced myself that the vocalist was Gibby Haynes and that Lambchop was a side project he had started. It made me excited because I assumed the album would start getting REAL WEIRD soon. After the fourth track no weirdness had revealed itself. At this point I started to settle in and my mind wandered into the territory of those Scott Walker records. The music on them was OK but they also got weird.
Now we come to Nixon. It's not a Butthole Surfers off-shoot. The songs are not meant to shock uptight 60s music consumers. Instead this was probably a hallmark of the alternative country or New Weird America or whatever scene was popping at the time. It's OK. Not really my thing, honestly. I wasn't into Wilco 20 years ago. Maybe if I was then Nixon would be a revelation.
3
Jan 19 2024
View Album
Rubber Soul
Beatles
Let's do another track-by-track review of The Beatles lamest long player:
1. Rubber Soul starts off with a typical Paul pop ditty. The rhythm section sounds great but the guitar solo is really weak. It's OK.
2. Norwegian Wood is one of John's best songs. A masterpiece.
3. I've obviously heard this song before but I have no recollection of "You Won't See Me". It's a wonder John Cena never used this one.
4. John mope. Plenty of la-la-las but it's a bit more mature than the love songs the group had been making previously.
5. George complains about the government. Like "You Won't See Me" I must have heard this song before but I've got no memory of it. The fuzzy guitar is fun.
6. Hippie stuff. Dig that organ, though!
7. Michelle is a pretty song. I bet a lot of girls named Michelle had suitors dedicate this one to them in the sixties. The backing track is terrific. The acoustic plucking sounds great.
8. The Ringo One
9. Is this the horniest Beatles song?? Like Norwegian Wood the instrumentation has a slight Eastern thing going on.
10. Great track - especially the percussion and organ. Shout out to Ringo.
11. In My Life is probably the best song the Beatles ever recorded. What a track!
12. Wait is filler.
13. The other George one. It's OK.
14. Produced like an older Beatles song and the lyrics are wack.
4
Jan 22 2024
View Album
It's A Shame About Ray
The Lemonheads
I'm a sucker for these early 90s alternative rock albums.
The vocal on Confetti sounds like it could have been on one of Elvis Costello's first two records. And the Mrs. Robinson cover is iconic now.
4
Jan 23 2024
View Album
Jazz Samba
Stan Getz
5
Jan 24 2024
View Album
S.F. Sorrow
The Pretty Things
All of the songs sound like Paperback Writer.
S.F. Sorrow can be filed under "first of its kind but later eclipsed by albums with better songs, production, and performances".
3
Jan 25 2024
View Album
Southern Rock Opera
Drive-By Truckers
Some moments are a little too Bryan Adams. I like the story though it is told in a rather obvious, on-the-nose way. I bet these songs rip at a live show, however.
3
Jan 26 2024
View Album
Hail To the Thief
Radiohead
Hail To The Thief doesn't hit in 2024 the way it did when it was first released. We Suck Young Blood still haunts me just as much. Wow - what a performance.
10/10 album art
3
Jan 29 2024
View Album
The Infotainment Scan
The Fall
The vibes are cool. The songs are very minimal. I can't decide if its a punk dance album or a dance album with punk sounds. The second half really picks up the dance groove which I think is the best part.
3
Jan 30 2024
View Album
G. Love And Special Sauce
G. Love & Special Sauce
Unique sounds and some real head bopping grooves.
3
Jan 31 2024
View Album
Sea Change
Beck
Pretty mopey. Or occasionally pretty and completely mopey. The arrangement on "It's All In Your Mind" is a treat but the rest of the record is too moody for my taste.
2
Feb 01 2024
View Album
The Number Of The Beast
Iron Maiden
I don't know if I'm allowed to say this but The Number of the Beast has all of the melody and songwriting of a Queen record. The songs aren't all just riffs and verse / chorus / verse. Some songs are actually surprisingly melodic and are more Iommi than Mustaine.
4
Feb 02 2024
View Album
Dusty In Memphis
Dusty Springfield
White soul. Terrific songs and performances.
4
Feb 05 2024
View Album
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
Ray Charles
Songs from the primordial ooze of modern popular music. A little sleepy for my taste honestly but Ray is a great performer.
3
Feb 06 2024
View Album
Heaux Tales
Jazmine Sullivan
R&B brought back the album after streaming threatened to make it irrelevant. I don't know if the sounds on Heaux Tales will age well but the concept is unique.
3
Feb 07 2024
View Album
There's No Place Like America Today
Curtis Mayfield
Sounds like seven remixes of Superfly but I'm OK with that.
3
Feb 08 2024
View Album
Dirty
Sonic Youth
Alternative rock as art. I like it.
4
Feb 09 2024
View Album
Zombie
Fela Kuti
As a jazz album, I really have no context for this. If this was pop I would probably love it.
3
Feb 12 2024
View Album
Queen Of Denmark
John Grant
"Chicken Bones" is perfect.
Songs: The music is beautiful and the lyrics are odd. Personal and aloof at the same time. There is something engaging about the vocal melodies on this album that remind me of songs from the classic rock era.
Production: The flange/chorus effect on the vocals make everything sound like John Lennon's vocal on Across the Universe. The backing tracks sound authentic and are absent of whatever ugliness was happening with recording in 2010.
Performances: Solid.
4
Feb 13 2024
View Album
The Only Ones
The Only Ones
Cousins of Buzzcocks, strung out neighbors of Elvis Costello, and the uncles of The Libertines. I found this album to be instantly engaging. Great pop songs and shambolic performances.
5
Feb 14 2024
View Album
System Of A Down
System Of A Down
Aggressive and melodic.
4
Feb 15 2024
View Album
Heartattack And Vine
Tom Waits
Why?
It's a cute presentation and the songs are fine I guess but they sound very sappy and overwrought like a sad movie.
2
Feb 16 2024
View Album
D.O.A. the Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle
Throbbing Gristle
I think this is great.
Fuck it -- five stars.
5
Feb 19 2024
View Album
Haut de gamme / Koweït, rive gauche
Koffi Olomide
5 / 5 songs. 5 / 5 album art.
5
Feb 20 2024
View Album
I’ve Got a Tiger By the Tail
Buck Owens
This kind of music used to make me cringe but "I've Got a Tiger By the Tail" demonstrates how much country music contributed to rock 'n' roll.
Thankfully rock vocals evolved away from this vocal style that is still present in modern country music. I have to say that the instrumental was my favorite track from this album. Act Naturally goes hard, too, of course.
3
Feb 21 2024
View Album
Now I Got Worry
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
This album is way more punk than I remember. It's closer to Mudhoney and Gas Huffer than I gave it credit for.
3
Feb 22 2024
View Album
Countdown To Ecstasy
Steely Dan
It's a disservice to the songs on Countdown To Ecstasy to call it a rock recording. Rock has guts. "The Boston Rag" has a guitar solo and a driving drum beat which makes it rock adjacent but the rest of the album is... mild? "1970s mellow gold AM radio background noise" is what I would call it. Put this next to your Bread and Looking Glass records so you can put them on when your lame neighbors come over for mayonnaise sandwiches.
Pearl Of The Quarter is the best song on the record.
2
Feb 23 2024
View Album
Younger Than Yesterday
The Byrds
4
Feb 26 2024
View Album
Lady Soul
Aretha Franklin
Songs: 5, Performances: 5, Production: 5.
This one is all-killer, no-filler. I listened to it twice in a row.
5
Feb 27 2024
View Album
The Downward Spiral
Nine Inch Nails
The Downward Spiral is possibly the most unlikely commercial success of 1994. It's not metal or dance or industrial.
This album was my whole personality in ninth grade. The lyrics might tend toward "edgelord" but as a kid in his early teens they really spoke to me. Thirty years later I still appreciate the themes though the words are maybe too obvious.
As with all of the NIN albums the production and songcraft is top notch. As with many other albums from this era (the mass adoption of the compact disc) the length is too long. Trimming some of the tracks from the tail end would make this absolutely killer.
5
Feb 28 2024
View Album
Planet Rock: The Album
Afrika Bambaataa
4
Feb 29 2024
View Album
Ramones
Ramones
All of the albums on this list are significant but this is the only one that matters.
5
Mar 01 2024
View Album
Ambient 1/Music For Airports
Brian Eno
I really wanted to love this one but its sterility does not leave me enough to latch onto. The experience of listening to Music For Airports through headphones while I sit at a desk feels like only half of what could be. What would this sound like at high volume? Or in a totally black room? Maybe in a sensory deprivation float tank... or an airport?
4
Mar 04 2024
View Album
Butterfly
Mariah Carey
The hip-hop tracks are solid late 90s singles. The Top 40 vocal pop songs are rough. The vocal performances are great, of course, but suffer because they are accompanied by middle of the road instrumentals.
3
Mar 05 2024
View Album
Sunshine Superman
Donovan
Another sixties pop record with a couple of standout singles. The remainder of the collection is pretty good. Not Byrds good, but it passes the vibe check.
4
Mar 06 2024
View Album
Violator
Depeche Mode
Two and a half good songs and the balance of the record is bad songs.
2
Mar 07 2024
View Album
Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Pretty voice and pretty songs.
4
Mar 08 2024
View Album
Aja
Steely Dan
sounds like Steely Dan... ?
They used to play that De La Soul song that samples Peg during timeouts at Sonics games in the 90s.
3
Mar 11 2024
View Album
Sign 'O' The Times
Prince
Did Prince invent Bedroom Soul?
Listen... I get it. There is no other artist in popular music who has a more singular style than Prince. Its so singular that I find myself needing to re-tune my ear to it any time I listen to his albums. And Sign 'O' The Times is a good album. To me its more mature in content and style than his other records but I'm not blown away by the tunes... there's no I Would Die 4 U and no 7 here but as an album its fine.
10/10 album art
3
Mar 12 2024
View Album
Definitely Maybe
Oasis
Hook-laden post-grunge Britpop displaying its influences obviously. The production is massive and the tunes are instantly infectious.
I was too cool to like this in 1994 but looking back I think it's great.
5
Mar 13 2024
View Album
Horses
Patti Smith
Horses is cool. Horses is unique. Horses is groundbreaking.
4
Mar 14 2024
View Album
We Are Family
Sister Sledge
Tasteful disco with rock solid performances and engaging songs.
3
Mar 15 2024
View Album
Billion Dollar Babies
Alice Cooper
Mom, can we have David Bowie?
No. We have David Bowie at home.
David Bowie at home:
-----
Memes aside, there are some really good rock songs on Billion Dollar Babies. The concept is executed well and must have been a huge influence on many groups for decades after its release.
3
Mar 18 2024
View Album
Drunk
Thundercat
Is it hyperbole to call this a modern masterpiece? Probably. But I really like it a lot. To my ear the music is challenging and unexpected but the songs are engaging throughout. The performances are next level without any virtuoso wankery.
5
Mar 19 2024
View Album
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
Iron Butterfly
Decent sixties psychedelia even if its over the top.
3
Mar 20 2024
View Album
Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo
MC Solaar
Flow: 5/5. Beats: 3/5. Rhymes: no idea/5.
3
Mar 21 2024
View Album
The Seldom Seen Kid
Elbow
Coldplay-core. Pretty generic record that sounds like 2008.
3
Mar 22 2024
View Album
Live At The Regal
B.B. King
Incredible recording and super tight performances by the band and B.B. especially.
3
Mar 25 2024
View Album
Sex Packets
Digital Underground
I would have loved this back in sixth grade but I'm not sure it has the staying power of De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, etc.
3
Mar 26 2024
View Album
The White Album
Beatles
Terrific collection of songs from The Beatles Maharishi era. Superfans will enjoy the album knowing the stories behind the songs but casual listeners can appreciate the tunes all the same.
5
Mar 27 2024
View Album
Surfer Rosa
Pixies
5
Mar 28 2024
View Album
Kid A
Radiohead
Kid A reaches toward the artistic white it retains Radiohead's deft abilities in creating emotional pop, rock, and ambient songs. After the acclaim and success of OK Computer this was seen as a departure and challenged a lot of listeners at the time.
4
Mar 29 2024
View Album
Songs From A Room
Leonard Cohen
This would be good music for a child's funeral. 1/5
1
Apr 01 2024
View Album
Blue
Joni Mitchell
Pretty good for hippie music
3
Apr 02 2024
View Album
1999
Prince
Good funk and R&B tunes. The title track absolutely rips but the songs on the rest of the album are hard to distinguish.
3
Apr 03 2024
View Album
Penthouse And Pavement
Heaven 17
I'm down with this album's concept for sure - especially looking back on the early 80s this far into the future and realizing that yuppies still exist in the 21st Century.
The synth grooves and hooks are solid but many of the songs don't quite hit for me. LCD Soundsystem fans will probably love Penthouse and Pavement.
3
Apr 04 2024
View Album
Revolver
Beatles
Revolver is the "not-quite-Sgt-Peppers" album. The melodies on this record are off the charts perfect. The acid tracks that close out each side (She Said She Said and Tomorrow Never Knows) are among the best work The Beatles ever did.
5
Apr 05 2024
View Album
Ragged Glory
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Am I hearing things or is Neil having FUN on this album? Some of these tunes sound like pop songs. Maybe there's a little bit of Matthew Sweet grunge-power-pop going on?
3
Apr 08 2024
View Album
Tragic Songs of Life
The Louvin Brothers
4
Apr 09 2024
View Album
Back In Black
AC/DC
Back In Black appeals to the prurient interest in the same way as Kiss and Aerosmith. A couple of songs have hooky riffs.
2
Apr 10 2024
View Album
Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor
Lupe Fiasco
Conscious early millennium rhymes with huge beats. On Lupe's debut I don't hear a unique flow but the raps are solid.
3
Apr 11 2024
View Album
Deserter's Songs
Mercury Rev
sounds like Wilco. two stars
2
Apr 12 2024
View Album
Dummy
Portishead
sexy
3
Apr 15 2024
View Album
A Little Deeper
Ms. Dynamite
Ms. Dynamite has a great voice and a smooth flow. The reggae beats sound really cool on all of the songs. I just wish this went a little bit harder: bigger beats, more powerful emotions in the lyrics, stronger feature artists.
3
Apr 16 2024
View Album
The Scream
Siouxsie And The Banshees
The Scream is proto-post-punk, proto-goth, proto-alternative-dance. The vibe is heavy and Siouxsie's vocal performance is perfect. The only thing I find lacking is strong songs. These aren't the Sex Pistols twisted pop songs. Nor are they The Cure's dark ballads.
4
Apr 17 2024
View Album
Giant Steps
The Boo Radleys
It's like a britpop Pet Sounds. Cutting this down to ten tight tracks would have made it a contender for the Five Star Club. Oh, well. It's a 4+ for me.
4
Apr 18 2024
View Album
Apocalypse Dudes
Turbonegro
pretty fun and I'm not always the biggest fan of fun albums
3
Apr 19 2024
View Album
Pretenders
Pretenders
5
Apr 22 2024
View Album
AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
Ice Cube
5
Apr 23 2024
View Album
Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs
Derek & The Dominos
There are some surprisingly sweet love songs on the album yet the songs' catchy rhythms struggle to exist under waaaaay too much squealing blues guitar noodling and unfortunate vocal performances.
Layla sucks and Eric Clapton sucks.
1
Apr 24 2024
View Album
Club Classics Vol. One
Soul II Soul
This sound was so exciting as a kid in the early 90s. This album doesn't have many deep cuts but the singles are amazing.
4
Apr 25 2024
View Album
The Pleasure Principle
Gary Numan
Easy 5/5 for this vampire alien robot with a Moog collection. Terrific songs and inventive instrumentation.
5
Apr 26 2024
View Album
Real Life
Magazine
I never wondered what Buzzcocks would sound like without Pete Shelley but now I know.
3
Apr 29 2024
View Album
Who Killed...... The Zutons?
The Zutons
Yecch. Very bad songs.
1
Apr 30 2024
View Album
Isn't Anything
My Bloody Valentine
I know I'm supposed to love everything about this but honestly it is completely mid. I even listened twice. Cupid Come and Several Girls Galore are cute but everything is OK. Good for mbv for making exploring new sounds and having the courage to go even further afield to define a completely new genre on the next record.
3
May 01 2024
View Album
Smile
Brian Wilson
Like a B-sides collection from the Pet Sounds era. I was WAY into this era of Beach Boys when this came out and listened to it a lot. It's good but the songs feel like sketches instead of those perfect little three minute radio tunes that the group is known for.
3
May 02 2024
View Album
Yeezus
Kanye West
Kanye is rich.
Kanye is horny.
Kanye is pissed off.
3
May 03 2024
View Album
Born In The U.S.A.
Bruce Springsteen
The Boss does disco. Now I've heard it all. Thankfully he sticks to songs about driving around. Running low on material, Springsteen combines his usual themes of roads and working into a single track about "Workin on the Highway." On "I'm Goin' Down" he works driving into a song about a failing romantic relationship.
2
May 06 2024
View Album
Pieces Of The Sky
Emmylou Harris
Great voice, solid performances, OK songs. The sappy 70s soft rock production makes this hard to listen to in some places.
3
May 07 2024
View Album
Ananda Shankar
Ananda Shankar
This album isn't particularly ground-breaking today. Maybe it was back in 1970? It sounds awesome, though.
3
May 08 2024
View Album
More Specials
The Specials
More Specials is a great mood with terrific songs. Stylistically its a little bit of a mixed bag but I liked taking the journey.
3
May 09 2024
View Album
Autobahn
Kraftwerk
Side A is great. Side B is great.
5
May 10 2024
View Album
Bert Jansch
Bert Jansch
3
May 13 2024
View Album
Psychocandy
The Jesus And Mary Chain
pop rock songs emerging from goopy noise
5
May 14 2024
View Album
Walking Wounded
Everything But The Girl
Walking Wounded has extremely nineties production that aged quite well. The songs are good, too. This was a surprisingly pleasant listen.
3
May 15 2024
View Album
The ArchAndroid
Janelle Monáe
It might be stylistically unfocused and maybe the themes are a little bit light but the songs and performances are top notch.
5
May 16 2024
View Album
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
It's just a bunch of blues shuffles with Mick Jagger singing.
2
May 17 2024
View Album
Street Life
The Crusaders
This is the kind of music that plays when the doctor's office puts me on hold.
2
May 20 2024
View Album
Bryter Layter
Nick Drake
Beautiful songs but the production is unnecessary.
4
May 21 2024
View Album
Talking Timbuktu
Ali Farka Touré
It's OK. The nine minute long plodding blues number in the middle of the record bums me out.
3
May 22 2024
View Album
Smash
The Offspring
Time to Relax: wow, a skit.
Nitro (Youth Energy): a decent skate punk song
Bad Habit: Orange County punk band writes a song about driving
Gotta Get Away: a bad grunge rip-off (About A Girl, anyone?)
Genocide: another skate punk song. It's OK but at this point in the album the overly compressed guitar overdubs give me ear fatigue.
Something to Believe In: Here's where I admit that I don't really like The Offspring and the vocal effect employed on every recording they ever did is a major part of why I never listen to their records. It overpowers everything like alfalfa sprouts on an otherwise delicious sandwich.
Come Out and Play: novelty song
Self Esteem: the other grunge song
It'll Be a Long Time: the other skate punk Pennywise song
Killboy Powerhead: the cover
What Happened to You?: the ska punk number? ROFL
So Alone: filler song
Not the One: the angsty song trying to be Bad Religion
Smash: I LOL'd at the half-time breakdown at the end
Nice little skit and hidden track at the end because it was the nineties.
2
May 23 2024
View Album
m b v
My Bloody Valentine
3
May 24 2024
View Album
Soul Mining
The The
Soul Mining has a bop or two and the instrumentation, production, and vocal performances are certainly unique and engaging. It's OK.
3
May 27 2024
View Album
Chore of Enchantment
Giant Sand
What in the "Give Me a Leonard Cohen Afterworld" is this shit?
1
May 28 2024
View Album
From Elvis In Memphis
Elvis Presley
Elvis does Motown? This record was released in the same year as Altamont, David Bowie's Space Oddity, and The Beatles last concert. The songs are typical for Presley and the backing tracks are good but I can't see why this is an important recording. In 1969 this music must have felt like a relic of the malt-shoppe-going-steady-poodle-skirt days.
3
May 29 2024
View Album
At San Quentin
Johnny Cash
Half live record / half comedy record
3
May 30 2024
View Album
Talk Talk Talk
The Psychedelic Furs
If all of the songs on Talk Talk Talk were Pretty In Pink this would be an easy five. But they aren't.
3
May 31 2024
View Album
Sticky Fingers
The Rolling Stones
Did the Stones ever do anything interesting? By the time Sticky Fingers came out both The Beatles and The Velvet Underground had come and gone. Black Sabbath was releasing music by this time.
The songs are well-crafted but to my ears they are all so obvious: bluesy dude rock with lush instrumentation. It's just not for me.
2
Jun 03 2024
View Album
A Walk Across The Rooftops
The Blue Nile
When you go shopping at the expensive hifi store, this is the kind of record they use to demo the $5000 bookshelf speakers. The production is crystal clear with soft instrumental parts and distinctive vocals over the top. The piano sounds just like a piano and the synth bass fills the room with low frequency sound. And with all recordings used for this purpose, the songs take a back seat to the enjoyment of the mechanical process of recording sound and playing it back.
2
Jun 04 2024
View Album
Destroyer
KISS
Destroyer is a weird album. It has some very melodic sing-a-long tunes, the expected posturing of a sexual predator, and the New York Philharmonic orchestra. There are many songs about "guys in a hard workin' band" that I find to be very lazy in the songwriting department.
Kiss isn't a good band.
2
Jun 05 2024
View Album
Endtroducing.....
DJ Shadow
5
Jun 06 2024
View Album
Fuzzy
Grant Lee Buffalo
I don't think the songs are very good and the vocals have too much "performance" in them. I bet this guy is really into John Lennon.
2
Jun 07 2024
View Album
Moby Grape
Moby Grape
Grateful Dead x The Mamas and the Papas hybrid
3
Jun 10 2024
View Album
New York Dolls
New York Dolls
4
Jun 11 2024
View Album
Murder Ballads
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Morose. Maudlin. Murder Ballads.
This was a slog. Are these songs? Dude is just talking over some movie score type beats. It's a great album to put on during your Agatha Christie cosplay event.
1
Jun 12 2024
View Album
Yank Crime
Drive Like Jehu
4
Jun 13 2024
View Album
The United States Of America
The United States Of America
I think these kids were on acid.
3
Jun 14 2024
View Album
Hard Again
Muddy Waters
3
Jun 17 2024
View Album
Technique
New Order
A collection of attention grabbing synth sounds punctuated by occasional greatness lack a pop hit like Blue Monday.
3
Jun 18 2024
View Album
Born To Be With You
Dion
WTF why?
Your Own Back Yard is a little bit of Velvet Underground smack music which is cool, I guess.
2
Jun 19 2024
View Album
Two Dancers
Wild Beasts
oh its one of those post-Coldplay-core bands
1
Jun 20 2024
View Album
Ray Of Light
Madonna
Dance albums don't usually age as well after 25 years as Ray of Light.
4
Jun 21 2024
View Album
Dry
PJ Harvey
What a debut!
5
Jun 24 2024
View Album
Screamadelica
Primal Scream
Melange
3
Jun 25 2024
View Album
Music Has The Right To Children
Boards of Canada
Listening to an electronic album with music so natural and organic feels like scratching an itch deep in my brain. This album includes sounds I remember from early childhood programs that aired on public television when I was a kid making it even more of a satisfying listen.
5
Jun 26 2024
View Album
69 Love Songs
The Magnetic Fields
What an opus. There are some amazing melodies among the 69 tracks. I tried to review each song on its own but I was worn about before I reached the end of the first disc.
4
Jun 27 2024
View Album
Music
Madonna
The second album in Madonna's maturity phase. We've got some millennium pop optimism going on but it has actually aged better than some of the other albums from this era. A few solid songs make this a good collection.
3
Jun 28 2024
View Album
The Specials
The Specials
5
Jul 01 2024
View Album
Destroy Rock & Roll
Mylo
If Daft Punk had bad taste.
2
Jul 02 2024
View Album
In It For The Money
Supergrass
There were a lot of albums like this in the late 90s but this was among the best.
5
Jul 03 2024
View Album
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
TV On The Radio
The sounds are all here but the songs don't hit like later TVOTR albums. Still a great release from 2004.
4
Jul 04 2024
View Album
Penance Soiree
The Icarus Line
Great production. That bass tone! Good songs and a fun mix of styles. Bonus points for the sick album cover.
3
Jul 05 2024
View Album
Underwater Moonlight
The Soft Boys
4
Jul 08 2024
View Album
The Band
The Band
These Canucks made the most American rock album ever.
5
Jul 09 2024
View Album
Moondance
Van Morrison
I hear where Elvis Costello got his white guy Irish soul inspiration from.
5
Jul 11 2024
View Album
Illinois
Sufjan Stevens
I'm still blown away by the songs and the performances on Illinois.
5
Jul 12 2024
View Album
Aha Shake Heartbreak
Kings of Leon
5
Jul 15 2024
View Album
En-Tact
The Shamen
En-Tact is certainly a time capsule of a record. Is it distinguishable from other work in the same style? I'm not sure. Did I enjoy it? Yes.
3
Jul 16 2024
View Album
Djam Leelii
Baaba Maal
I'm with Christgau: it's exotic background music.
3
Jul 17 2024
View Album
Time (The Revelator)
Gillian Welch
It's OK. I kept waiting for the tunes to really get going but they never did.
3
Jul 18 2024
View Album
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
Genesis
2
Jul 19 2024
View Album
Sweetheart Of The Rodeo
The Byrds
4
Jul 22 2024
View Album
Trans Europe Express
Kraftwerk
I love the optimism on Trans Europe Express. There wasn't a lot to be optimistic about as a European in 77.
5
Jul 23 2024
View Album
Rapture
Anita Baker
Sounds like 80s R&B. The instrumentation doesn't age well but the songs and vocal performances are solid.
3
Jul 24 2024
View Album
Damaged
Black Flag
Damaged doesn't have the sleaze of Angry Samoans nor the absolute chaos of The Germs. Bad Brains had shredding that Black Flag avoids and nothing can replace Fugazi's bop. That being said the performances and songs on this album are still fantastic. The raw angst and energy of Rise Above, What I See, and Depression make these the top tunes on this record.
4
Jul 25 2024
View Album
E.V.O.L.
Sonic Youth
How much Sonic Youth is in this book? They're cool but I never thought of them as critical darlings.
3
Jul 26 2024
View Album
Sister
Sonic Youth
This Sonic Youth album sounds like a Sonic Youth album.
3
Jul 29 2024
View Album
Connected
Stereo MC's
Connected is a good sample of some of the sounds of early 90s clubs in Great Britain. There was one hit from this record and good vibes throughout. Like many records on this list it doesn't exactly stand the test of time but I enjoyed it all the same.
3
Jul 30 2024
View Album
Tonight's The Night
Neil Young
What the hell is this? Normally I like Neil but these songs make me think of a bar band saying, "now we are going to play some originals" between Pink Floyd and AC/DC covers.
2
Jul 31 2024
View Album
Master Of Puppets
Metallica
I don’t know. It’s OK. I was hoping this would be Ride The Lightning II. There’s some thrashing going on but some songs go hard into the head banging chugga-chugga stuff too. Orion veers into Eric Johnson guitar harmony territory. Master of Puppets is a mixed bag.
3
Aug 01 2024
View Album
The White Room
The KLF
I listened to both the original North American release and the director's cut version. These sound like very different works with the same name. I preferred the original release. Acid synths and soul vocals work well on these numbers. I could dance to this.
4
Aug 02 2024
View Album
Madman Across The Water
Elton John
Like many of Elton John's albums there are absolute masterpieces (Tiny Dancer) among some really cringey numbers (Indian Sunset). As a stalwart of the rock album era I have always struggled with how bad his albums actually are despite his excellent singles.
3
Aug 05 2024
View Album
Maverick A Strike
Finley Quaye
Great production on Quaye's Caribbean-tinted pop songs. I really enjoyed the first half or so but the songs do get weaker toward the end of the album.
4
Aug 06 2024
View Album
All Hope Is Gone
Slipknot
Aggressive sounds with origins in 90s alternative metal with better production than the band's debut combine with some fairly generic angry poetry on All Hope Is Gone.
3
Aug 07 2024
View Album
I Against I
Bad Brains
5
Aug 08 2024
View Album
Basket of Light
Pentangle
It's some kind of hippie folk church music or something. Not my usual thing but I still like it.
4
Aug 09 2024
View Album
There's A Riot Goin' On
Sly & The Family Stone
Incredible instrumental and vocal performances but the songs don't exactly get the point across that there is a riot in progress.
4
Aug 12 2024
View Album
Survivor
Destiny's Child
I'm not into it. I think it's for kids.
1
Aug 13 2024
View Album
Straight Outta Compton
N.W.A.
5
Aug 14 2024
View Album
McCartney
Paul McCartney
Cute but not precious. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
3
Aug 15 2024
View Album
Hysteria
Def Leppard
Hysteria's production has a very modern radio feel. I can hardly make out many of the lyrics. I imagine Ibanez dropped off a create of Tube Screamers and the engineer plugged every vocal mic, instrument cable, and drum mic into one of them. Each part is overdubbed and compressed within an inch of its life.
The songs are good. This is a radio ready pop-rock record. Catchy songs with massive choruses and memorable hooks are a requirement.
3
Aug 16 2024
View Album
Make Yourself
Incubus
I liked it more than I thought it would. This album is like a poppier Deftones or a sober 311. The turntable stuff didn't age well -- not that anyone would think that it could.
3
Aug 19 2024
View Album
Ogden's Nut Gone Flake
Small Faces
This is what Jimi Hendrix would sound like if he wasn't cool.
3
Aug 20 2024
View Album
Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim
Frank Sinatra
Sinatra stinks. This is so boring. I stopped paying attention after the third song.
2
Aug 21 2024
View Album
Atomizer
Big Black
dark. like joy division dark.
4
Aug 22 2024
View Album
Aftermath
The Rolling Stones
The Stones made a lot of records and Aftermath is one of them. I listened to the UK version which puts that 11 minute long blues dork jam at the end of the first side.
3
Aug 23 2024
View Album
A Nod Is As Good As A Wink To A Blind Horse
Faces
nah
2
Aug 26 2024
View Album
S&M
Metallica
The orchestra arrangement works well with most of the songs on S&M.
3
Aug 27 2024
View Album
It's Too Late to Stop Now
Van Morrison
The quality of the numbers varies across four sides - some of the covers are terrific, some are OK.
3
Aug 28 2024
View Album
Vespertine
Björk
It's sexy but all of the songs sound the same.
3
Aug 29 2024
View Album
Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin
4
Aug 30 2024
View Album
Teenager Of The Year
Frank Black
It's long but the songs vary enough that its not fatiguing. An icon of alternative rock releasing a record in 1994 was a risk but 30 years later it sounds right at home among contemporary albums.
4
Sep 02 2024
View Album
We're Only In It For The Money
The Mothers Of Invention
avant-pop with political commentary
3
Sep 03 2024
View Album
Stardust
Willie Nelson
5/5 songs
5/5 performances
5/5 production
About the songs... I know many of these because they are old standards but I don't really care for how they have been performed before. Willie's voice is perfect.
5
Sep 04 2024
View Album
The New Tango
Astor Piazzolla
please-come-to-my-dance-recital-core
3
Sep 05 2024
View Album
Midnight Ride
Paul Revere & The Raiders
It's OK. It reminds me of my mom. I love the style but the song selection could be better.
3
Sep 06 2024
View Album
Myths Of The Near Future
Klaxons
All of the songs sound the same and this is what everything sounded like in 2007. Wannabe Bloc Party.
3
Sep 09 2024
View Album
So Much For The City
The Thrills
mid. A lot of records sounded like this at the time.
3
Sep 10 2024
View Album
Wild Wood
Paul Weller
I don't like it. The vocals and some of the blues noodling is Clapton-adjacent. I think I know what it feels like for Elvis Costello haters to listen to Elvis Costello now.
2
Sep 11 2024
View Album
La Revancha Del Tango
Gotan Project
La Revancha del Tango is cool music to play in the background of your wine party but it doesn't leave a lasting impression.
3
Sep 12 2024
View Album
You're Living All Over Me
Dinosaur Jr.
5
Sep 13 2024
View Album
Unhalfbricking
Fairport Convention
I trash a lot of blues records on here but I found myself enjoying this recording a lot. I don't know what that means.
4
Sep 16 2024
View Album
Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby
Girls Against Boys
Terrific production with the occasional bop. It could have been more with better songwriting.
3
Sep 17 2024
View Album
Movies
Holger Czukay
When the Rock is Extra-Krauty 👌
3
Sep 18 2024
View Album
The La's
The La's
Pretty music. Some pretty good songs and some pretty OK songs.
3
Sep 19 2024
View Album
16 Lovers Lane
The Go-Betweens
Damn this was hella boring. And I usually love this sad boy dreary day mopecore stuff.
2
Sep 20 2024
View Album
Home Is Where The Music Is
Hugh Masekela
I don’t have the knowledge of the context this record was released into but the playing certainly sounds capable and the tunes are tight and enjoyable. Minus one star for the saxophone solos.
4
Sep 23 2024
View Album
Amnesiac
Radiohead
3
Sep 24 2024
View Album
Playing With Fire
Spacemen 3
Playing With Shit
2
Sep 25 2024
View Album
American Gothic
David Ackles
Neil Diamond type beat. Pirates-of-Penzance-core.
2
Sep 26 2024
View Album
Supa Dupa Fly
Missy Elliott
A perfect time-capsule from the mid 90s.
3
Sep 27 2024
View Album
Heaven Or Las Vegas
Cocteau Twins
Terrific production that ages so well. Otherworldly vocal performances and instrumentation that is solid and lilting at the same time.
5
Sep 30 2024
View Album
The Healer
John Lee Hooker
John Lee is a lot better solo than with the dorky collabs.
2
Oct 01 2024
View Album
Pictures At An Exhibition
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
"There are simply too many notes."
It might be progressive but this isn't rock.
2
Oct 02 2024
View Album
Timeless
Goldie
While the music may be Timeless, the album art surely is not.
4
Oct 03 2024
View Album
Innervisions
Stevie Wonder
I can't give Little Stevie less than five stars. I just can't do it.
5
Oct 04 2024
View Album
Wild Gift
X
Punk for people who don't like punk?
3
Oct 07 2024
View Album
C'est Chic
CHIC
10/10 album art
C'est Chic endures because of its production and performances.
5
Oct 08 2024
View Album
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
Sinead O'Connor
Good songs but there's something about the production that stifles what could be a great record. The album lands in a non-specific zone between pop and rock that I find unsatisfying.
3
Oct 09 2024
View Album
Shleep
Robert Wyatt
I shouldn't like this at all but in fact I enjoyed the whole thing quite a bit.
4
Oct 10 2024
View Album
I’m a Lonesome Fugitive
Merle Haggard
Great voice and good performances but the songs don't pull me in. Let me be clear that these songs are vastly superior to modern country pop songs that try to do what these songs do. I just don't get any kind of feeling when I hear them. "Someone Told My Story" is my favorite of the collection.
3
Oct 11 2024
View Album
World Clique
Deee-Lite
You can't help but love those vocals and house piano chords.
5
Oct 14 2024
View Album
Chris
Christine and the Queens
OK, sure it's got a real eurotrash vibe but the instrumentals sound really good.
4
Oct 15 2024
View Album
The Suburbs
Arcade Fire
Just like the suburbs this album is too expansive, dull, monotonous, full of angst, and not worth returning to.
2
Oct 16 2024
View Album
Tical
Method Man
4
Oct 17 2024
View Album
Os Mutantes
Os Mutantes
what a masterpiece - how have I not come across "Os Mutantes" before?
5
Oct 18 2024
View Album
Street Signs
Ozomatli
The clave beat and the salsa piano chords get me every time.
Oye! Chica! Tirate! Que Tirate!
5
Oct 21 2024
View Album
Repeater
Fugazi
Our Band Could Be Your Life
5
Oct 22 2024
View Album
Led Zeppelin IV
Led Zeppelin
Great tunes but I have to dock IV a star for the production. It probably sounded great on an AM radio but there are many other recordings from the era that sound so much better.
4
Oct 23 2024
View Album
Will The Circle Be Unbroken
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
One of the best parts of Will The Circle Be Unbroken is the banter between some of the songs. It's terrific.
I think this album would be way better without most of the vocals and more solos by the instruments. I found myself engaged much more in the instrumentals than the songs with a singer. The songs are stifling the band.
3
Oct 24 2024
View Album
Emergency On Planet Earth
Jamiroquai
Solid disco band featuring a white guy who sounds like Stevie Wonder. Unnecessary didgeridoo.
3
Oct 25 2024
View Album
Colour By Numbers
Culture Club
The first 7 inch record I remember owning was Karma Chameleon so I really wanted to like this one. The production is overly sweet and more than a few songs edge a little too close to George Michael territory.
3
Oct 28 2024
View Album
Hypnotised
The Undertones
10/10 album art
Feargal Sharkey's voice somehow conveys the desperation of a lovesick teenager more than even Buddy Holly.
5
Oct 29 2024
View Album
Imperial Bedroom
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
This is one of my favorite records. Easy five stars. Elvis' scathing lyrics about his continuing interpersonal and romantic struggles are front and center on Imperial Bedroom. "Men will literally write five albums full of the cleverest turns of phrase about romantic strife instead of going to therapy."
5
Oct 30 2024
View Album
Black Monk Time
The Monks
3
Oct 31 2024
View Album
Fishscale
Ghostface Killah
5/5 for beats, hooks, themes, verses, and features
5
Nov 01 2024
View Album
Shaka Zulu
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Terrific production and amazing performances. I admit that I struggle to appreciate a cappella music and as good as these songs are it does color my opinion. The group's sound is striking at first but I get lost before the first side ends.
3
Nov 05 2024
View Album
Cupid & Psyche 85
Scritti Politti
Just read what Christgau wrote about this album. It's all that needs to be said.
4
Nov 06 2024
View Album
Raw Like Sushi
Neneh Cherry
I don't get it.
2
Nov 07 2024
View Album
The Trinity Session
Cowboy Junkies
Pretty vocals -- but yowza -- the rest of it just isn't my thing.
1
Nov 08 2024
View Album
Jagged Little Pill
Alanis Morissette
Jagged Little Pill is poppy and alternative. It's no wonder that this one was so massive. Alanis' performances are 10/10 and the songs feel very authentic. I think Head Over Feet is gorgeous and features some very tasteful harmonica.
4
Nov 11 2024
View Album
Eternally Yours
The Saints
The saxophone that starts the first side threw me at first but I ended up loving the record.
5
Nov 12 2024
View Album
Tigermilk
Belle & Sebastian
NINETEEN-NINETIES SAD BOY CLASSIC
10/10 album art, too.
5
Nov 13 2024
View Album
Veckatimest
Grizzly Bear
Amazing production, infinitely interesting songs, lights out performances.
5
Nov 14 2024
View Album
Parklife
Blur
The lives explored in Parklife seemed exotic to me as an American teenager. Britpop itself was exploding after grunge and the sounds from Blur appealed to me when this came out. I still listen every once in a while and I still like it. Nostalgia trip? Maybe.
4
Nov 15 2024
View Album
They Were Wrong, So We Drowned
Liars
Just because its challenging doesn't mean its good. They Were Wrong, So We Drowned was probably more fun to make than it was to listen to. At least its short.
2
Nov 18 2024
View Album
The Sounds Of India
Ravi Shankar
It sounds cool and I guess it's a good introduction to this kind of music but its so strange to my ears that I don't have the context to judge it.
3
Nov 19 2024
View Album
Frampton Comes Alive
Peter Frampton
I shouldn't like this...
and I don't.
For a live album, the production is incredible. The tunes have an occasional 70s groove and most of the record is pretty laid back. Lots of "ooooooh I love you, girl" themes. There was an acoustic song that sounds a little like Zeppelin. Some songs veer into the Jimmy Buffet zone.
I was wavering between a two-star review and three stars. Shine On had me thinking that I could round up to three stars. I told myself, "the production is great and some of these songs are OK!"
Then the Jumpin' Jack Flash cover kicks in! That finally relegates Frampton Comes Alive to the two-star tier.
2
Nov 20 2024
View Album
Being There
Wilco
the boring songs are boring and the upbeat ones sound like Springsteen
2
Nov 21 2024
View Album
A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Coldplay
It's a Coldplay record. They pretty much define the middle-of-the-road, three-star album, don't they?
3
Nov 22 2024
View Album
Suicide
Suicide
Super unique sounds. I like it and I don't know why but I also don't love it.
3
Nov 25 2024
View Album
Bad
Michael Jackson
Well, it's not Thriller. I like the Stevie Wonder song. It's a good counterpoise to the tough guy songs that follow the overall theme of the record.
3
Nov 26 2024
View Album
Nothing's Shocking
Jane's Addiction
5
Nov 27 2024
View Album
Better Living Through Chemistry
Fatboy Slim
Exciting sounds from the days of future passed
4
Nov 28 2024
View Album
Green Onions
Booker T. & The MG's
I really wanted to love this one but it did not grab me in the way I thought it would. It's fun and novel but that's about it. Bummer.
3
Nov 29 2024
View Album
Done By The Forces Of Nature
Jungle Brothers
5
Dec 04 2024
View Album
The Rise & Fall
Madness
It's a funny coincidence that this album was generated back-to-back with The Village Green Preservation Society. Blur's Parklife came up only a few weeks ago. I like The Rise & Fall but I don't think it's as good as either of those albums.
3
Dec 05 2024
View Album
The Village Green Preservation Society
The Kinks
The Village Green Preservation Society is the biggest five that ever fived a five.
5
Dec 06 2024
View Album
Youth And Young Manhood
Kings of Leon
5
Dec 09 2024
View Album
Brutal Youth
Elvis Costello
One of EC's pop-rock records. I kind of lost touch with Elvis in the 90s but Brutal Youth follows in the line from his 80s classics to his 21st century return to loud music with When I Was Cruel.
Brutal Youth is a good record but is it something you MUST hear? I'm not sure.
4
Dec 10 2024
View Album
Apple Venus Volume 1
XTC
absolutely not
1
Dec 11 2024
View Album
John Prine
John Prine
sad songs
3