User Albums Journey
Exploring beyond the book, one album at a time
View 1001 Albums Summary329
Albums Rated
2.88
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Taste Profile
1970
Favorite Decade
Hip-hop
Favorite Genre
other
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
29
5-Star Albums
42
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Zaireeka
The Flaming Lips
|
5 | 2.83 | +2.17 |
|
Zuckerzeit
Cluster
|
5 | 2.84 | +2.16 |
|
The Italian Flag
Prolapse
|
5 | 2.9 | +2.1 |
|
Live in San Francisco
Thee Oh Sees
|
5 | 2.94 | +2.06 |
|
Yeti
Amon Düül II
|
5 | 2.98 | +2.02 |
|
You'd Prefer an Astronaut
Hum
|
5 | 3.03 | +1.97 |
|
The Monitor
Titus Andronicus
|
5 | 3.06 | +1.94 |
|
Chocolate & Cheese
Ween
|
5 | 3.12 | +1.88 |
|
Take It From The Man
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
|
5 | 3.14 | +1.86 |
|
Things We Lost In The Fire
Low
|
5 | 3.15 | +1.85 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
August And Everything After
Counting Crows
|
1 | 3.32 | -2.32 |
|
10,000 Days
TOOL
|
1 | 3.26 | -2.26 |
|
In Between Dreams
Jack Johnson
|
1 | 3.24 | -2.24 |
|
Blink-182
blink-182
|
1 | 3.07 | -2.07 |
|
Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
Arctic Monkeys
|
1 | 3.06 | -2.06 |
|
Fear Inoculum
TOOL
|
1 | 3.05 | -2.05 |
|
Emotion
Carly Rae Jepsen
|
1 | 3.03 | -2.03 |
|
God Shuffled His Feet
Crash Test Dummies
|
1 | 3.02 | -2.02 |
|
Cleopatra
The Lumineers
|
1 | 3.01 | -2.01 |
|
People Watching
Sam Fender
|
1 | 3.01 | -2.01 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | 2 | 5 |
| Daft Punk | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| The 1975 | 2 | 1.5 |
| blink-182 | 2 | 1.5 |
| Bon Iver | 2 | 1.5 |
| Alexisonfire | 2 | 1.5 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| TOOL | 4, 1, 4, 1 |
5-Star Albums (29)
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Popular Reviews
Bo Burnham · 9 likes
1/5
That’s it, I’m putting the albums I recorded during lockdown up on bandcamp.
Boredoms · 6 likes
3/5
I appreciate this submission. You’re wild for submitting it - people here are going to hate it - but I appreciate it.
I’m more of a fan of the drone-y, metaphysical psych of Super Æ or Vision Creation Newsun-era Boredoms, but I’m also a firm believer that people should listen to music that is outside of their comfort zone from time to time and pretty much any record by Boredoms is going to be about as far out as you can get.
Pearl Jam · 5 likes
5/5
This was the first CD I bought, back when I was 12 and it was brand new. It wasn’t the first CD I had, but it was the first that wasn’t a gift and the first that I asked my parents take me to the mall to buy. My Aunt Pam gave me 20 bucks for Christmas in ‘93 and wrote in the card “buy yourself a CD, I hear the new Pearl Jam record is good”.
So, that’s exactly what I did.
My music taste at that point wasn’t really formed and even though I knew Pearl Jam and liked them, the thought of buying one of their CD’s (or any other artist’s albums) hadn’t really occurred to me. I wasn’t a music obsessive at 12 and was kind of content just to listen to the radio and whatever came out of the speakers there.
That changed pretty quickly after I bought Vs. I started buying Import Pearl Jam CD singles, so I could have the b-sides and rarities and they were probably the first band where I felt a need to be a completist. That obsession soon followed to other bands and even today, there are a bunch of bands I am a bit an obsessive completist for: Guided By Voices, Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth…
The Pearl Jam obsession was pretty short-lived, as I kind of lost interest after Vitalogy, but they were the cornerstone for future behavior, I suppose.
It’s kind of interesting to have taken that trip back through the past and kind of pinpoint the genesis of a piece of my personality.
When listening today, I had a similar response to this record as I did with the Beastie Boys’ “Ill Communication”, where I started to think about how that era in America felt so promising, like it was the dawn of something new, but that promise has now completely evaporated.
Ironic and infuriating that some of the songs here tackle the same issues that we are still struggling with today: Police Brutality (WMA), Gun Violence and Gun Control (Glorified G), Inequality (Rats, even if the metaphor is a little muddy).
Nothing changes, we’ve been singing the same songs for 30 years and then some. And we’ll probably be singing them for another 30 years.
Well, that’s bleak.
Let’s see if I can turn this around and end on a more positive note…
One thing that also hasn’t changed over the last 30 years is that I still think Rearview Mirror is Pearl Jam’s best song. Combine that with this being one of the most formative albums of my life and you’ve got an easy 5 from me, even if I still don’t like “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town”.
The Upsetters · 5 likes
5/5
This is a record that I’ve seen talked about a lot, but never really bothered to check out because I’m not a big Reggae fan, but as I’m listening to it now (and loving it) all I can think is:
How is this record not on the original list? It seems like a pretty egregious omission, if you take into account influence and the excellent music here.
Kudos to the user who submitted it, an excellent choice.
Paco de Lucía · 4 likes
4/5
Wait…we can add albums that aren’t emo or indie folk?!??
1-Star Albums (42)
All Ratings
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
5/5
Back in May of 2016, I had the pleasure of seeing King Gizzard, on tour for this record, at the Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan. I had been a fan of theirs for about a year at that point and this record had only come out a few weeks prior.
It was, hands down, one of the best shows I’ve ever seen and as I describe the show, I’m going to try not to sound like the type of guy who is like “you missed out on something special if you didn’t see this era of the band”, but I’m afraid it might come off like that. Apologies in advance, I still think they are a great live band, but I’ve never seen another band play with the intensity they had on this tour.
They came out, started with Robot Stop and then continued through their set, song after song, with hyper-focused intensity and barely a break in between songs. The way the songs go from one right into the next on this record, they were doing that onstage, but also incorporating songs from their other albums as well. They were an unstoppable juggernaut in this era, channeling NEU! and Hawkwind’s propulsive energy into their high octane garage-psych. They were intent on bowling you over and unless you didn’t have a pulse, it knocked you right on your ass. It was, pardon the pun, like getting hit by a train.
The only time they took a break for more than 30 seconds or so that night was when they paused the show in the middle of The River to stop a security guard from ejecting a fan from the show for vaping. They stopped playing, asked the guard why the guy was being tossed out, and then told him bring the fan back in. The guard acquiesced, let the fan back in and then got on stage, bowed before the band, in an effort to make peace with the band and the crowd.
(Video here: https://youtu.be/3Xxkac158Bg?si=KpNKK3ERQbtZQ3mv)
Like I said, no one was getting in their way that night.
For the next 3 years, whenever they came to New York, I was there to see them and they did not disappoint. Their show at Central Park in 2019 during the Infest the Rats Nest tour was the peak of the hyper-focused live energy I first saw in 2016. During that time, they were absolutely the greatest live band I’ve ever seen, though I know King Gizzard fans will argue that they’ve only gotten better live since then.
For me, I’ve begun to sour on them as they’ve embraced a more “jammy” sound and their albums have become, to my ears, less memorable. They are still a great live band, I’ll often watch their live streams to keep up and see what the shows are like these days, but as they’ve grown more exploratory in the live setting, I feel like they may have lost some of the intensity that drew me in a decade ago.
…and that’s ok. Bands change, people’s taste change. It’s the way of the world.
It’s just that for me, from 2014 - 2019 (during which they released 11 albums, I think), this band felt unstoppable, like they consistently hit the mark and couldn’t miss.
The Upsetters
5/5
This is a record that I’ve seen talked about a lot, but never really bothered to check out because I’m not a big Reggae fan, but as I’m listening to it now (and loving it) all I can think is:
How is this record not on the original list? It seems like a pretty egregious omission, if you take into account influence and the excellent music here.
Kudos to the user who submitted it, an excellent choice.
The 1975
2/5
How on earth did we get to the point where music that sounds like fucking Phil Collins is considered “Alternative”?
INXS
3/5
Yeah, this should probably be on the list, I remember it being massive when I was a kid in late 80’s. Need You Tonight and New Sensation were everywhere.
On the other hand, is that enough to warrant inclusion on the list?
When compared to other entries on the official list, it’s more than enough, especially considering some of the odd choices that were made (the Triffids record, for instance). But also, then, why not include Huey Lewis and the News’ “SPORTS” which was wildly successful and contained a ton of hits…?
From my personal perspective, I’m not sure “Kick” is the most groundbreaking or influential record, and it feels very much tied to its era. All the songs are good, though, and there’s a definite variety of styles/sounds here, so I’m going to give it some points for that.
I can see the arguments for including it on the list and also get why it might not have been included. I’m gonna split the difference with a 3.
4/5
Feels a bit like two different records at times and though I prefer the parts that tilt towards odd, lo-fi indie (like on “Little Things and “Simulation Swarm”) to the more traditional Americana sound, I found “Dragon…” to be engaging, unique and worth revisiting.
THE SPORTS
3/5
Pretty decent Power-Pop(ish?) collection of songs. Enjoyed it more as the record went on and there’s some pretty great musicianship on this record.
Vocally, I was reminded of Elvis Costello a bunch and my PTSD from his records on the main list might have kicked in a bit and impacted my enjoyment.
As a form of recompense to the user who submitted this album for letting that sully my rating, I have a song recommendation that I think you might enjoy: “Starry Eyes” by The Records (the version on the Power Pop Heroes compilation is the one to listen to).
Jellyfish
4/5
Really appreciated the craftsmanship and production on this record. Great sounding, with a ton of layers and interesting instrumentation.
The music isn’t always 100% for me, but there were enough unexpected twists and turns to keep my attention throughout. It’s a pretty wild and enjoyable record.
Jimmy Buffett
1/5
“Yes, I wish that we could sit upon a bed in some motel
Listen to the stories it could tell”
Gross.
Gang of Youths
3/5
I, too, am a fan of Bruce Springsteen.
Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera
2/5
Typically, I am a sucker for an under-appreciated/overlooked sixties psych. This fits the bill, but I’m not sure it does much that wasn’t done by others.
In a way, this feels a little like it’s trying check off the requisite boxes to be a “psych” record.
Backmasking/reversed instrumentation? Check
Mellotron? Check
Fuzz Guitars? Check
Sitar? Check
Overuse of Flange? Check
Whimsical Band Name? Check
A solid effort, one that fits in with the sound of late sixties psych, but does little to differentiate itself from the pack.
Wishbone Ash
4/5
First off, awesome album cover.
Argus is kind of a prog record, but also kind of not, in that it isn’t as overtly reliant on technical prowess and crazy time signatures as a Yes or ELP record might be. In fact, if you’ll excuse the odd comparison (and my forthcoming denigration of Crosby, Stills and Nash), in a way, Argus kind of feels like what a CSN record might be if they made cooler music. Sorry, CSN fans (and Wishbone Ash fans, if you take issue with my CSN comparison).
Anyway, that was a really roundabout way of saying, “I like this record a lot.”
Roger Waters
2/5
If the content of this record is any indication, Roger Waters might be the worst lay on earth.
Cluster
5/5
[To be read in Werner Herzog’s voice]
There’s a beauty in the repetition of Krautrock and Cluster’s take on it is no exception. At its core, repetition is the base of the song, but on top of it, layers get added in, one after another. The layers interweave with the base, fading in and out of focus, building up and breaking down…they breathe life into the base and it becomes something more: a sort of pulsating, self-sustaining, auditory organism.
That same repetition is found in our day to day lives, our routines: We get up, go to work, have lunch, finish the workday, go home and have dinner, relax and then go to sleep to do it again. Despite that repetition, every day is not the same. Each day, there are different layers, no matter how minuscule they seem, that weave in and out, moving our days forward and changing their trajectory in various ways.
This is the music of life
Garmarna
3/5
I have a little bit of familiarity with Swedish rock that incorporates Swedish folk music, from listening to Dungen (and maybe to a lesser extent, Träd, Gräs och Stenar)
By comparison, Garmarna seems a bit like the inverse to those to acts, in that they incorporate rock (and other styles) into music that is more traditionally folk. It was nice to kind of see the other side of that coin, if you will.
I liked this record and a few of the more brooding songs, like “Nio år”, reminded me of the music in the German television show Dark, which I love.
Always glad to listen to more non-English music. A nice inclusion on the user list.
Madvillain
5/5
A *glaring* omission from the original list.
I remember buying this when it came out in 2004 and thinking after the first listen that it was a classic record. You could tell it was something special and my mind hasn’t changed on it in the 21 years since.
Madlib and DOOM were already in a class of their own. Together, Madvillian is unstoppable. One of the greatest hip hop albums of all time, easy.
Refused
5/5
Radical in almost every sense of the word.
Chloe x Halle
2/5
This thing’s got more ratcheted drum beats than an Einstürzende Neubauten record.
Damn, I’m funny.
Shudder To Think
2/5
Anti-melodic and oddly structured at times, especially at the start. Feels a bit like a jigsaw puzzle whose pieces were forced together without concern for whether they actually could be connected, but if you were to to the take the time to rearrange the pieces, there’s a cohesive image that could be formed.
That said, it gets better and starts to make more sense as it goes on.
Teenage Fanclub
4/5
Lacks the bombast and maybe some of the overt hookiness of Bandwagonesque, but makes up for it with more consistent and fleshed out songwriting.
Screeching Weasel
3/5
Reminded me of going to punk shows in the 90’s, I remember of few of these songs from those days.
A nostalgic 3.
HELLYEAH
2/5
Sounds like it should’ve been released maybe 7 or 8 years earlier than it was…like it was already a little behind the curve when it was released.
Going to add an additional star for the review here that, I’m pretty sure, coined the phrase “The Panteraverse”. Without this record being added to this list, that phrase might not have entered the lexicon and I wouldn’t be here thinking about the things that make up the Panteraverse and how it’s kind of fitting that “Ride My Rocket”, the first track on Metal Magic (Pantera’s first album), actually kind of makes a great creation point/big bang event for the start of the Panteraverse.
Mylène Farmer
2/5
Talk Talk
3/5
I don’t remember their album on the main list being as Peter Gabriel-ish.
blink-182
2/5
Music to refuse to clean your room by.
Ian McDonald
3/5
I liked parts of this way more than I thought I would. It’s a very pretty record in a lot of places.
The parts I didn’t like, well, I disliked those exactly as much as I thought I would.
If you love the first King Crimson record, there’s a lot to like here. It’s a little too ornate for my tastes at times and a bit too poppy, but not a bad record by any means.
Beyoncé
3/5
I’m probably the worst person to make a judgement on a record like this. The MC5’s “High Time” has been in constant rotation for me over the last two weeks and, in general, I don’t really understand the appeal of a lot of popular culture, but I enjoyed the breadth of variety on Lemonade and I recognized the one song from all the Kamala Harris rallies last year. This was good for a listen, but I’m not the right person to tell you if it’s great or important or whatever.
Maldita Vecindad Y Los Hijos Del 5to. Patio
3/5
Margot & The Nuclear So And So's
3/5
First things first, this man (I’m assuming it was Richard Edwards) wrote a song called “Hello Vagina”. As someone who has a (probably) unhealthy obsession with songs with terrible/bizarre/borderline gross or inappropriate titles, this album is, in fact, one I need to hear before I die. That song will go on the playlist next to Stephen Stills’ “Can’t Get No Booty”, without a doubt.
Next, I find it interesting that there are (kind of) two versions of this album and that the one chosen here is the one that their record label preferred. It’s interesting because this record definitely feels like a record that a major record label would throw their weight behind. There are quite a few genre touchpoints to late 2000’s alternative/indie here: Radiohead-esque electronic experimentation and vocals, Americana, garage/surf rock, Beach Boys harmonies and chamber pop…they really ran the gamut to try and capture that era’s indie zeitgeist.
Maybe at some point, I’ll check out the other disc to see which is better. Or maybe it was all just a ploy by a major label to drum up sales/help the band keep their “indie cred”.
Either way, this was a pretty good album, even if it wasn’t the most original thing I’ve ever heard.
Johnny Winter
2/5
I like his brother, Frankenstein, better.
Charli xcx
2/5
Fontaines D.C.
4/5
Liked this quite a bit - instrumentally, a little more melodic than a lot of post punk, with jangly guitars that reminded of The Feelies “Crazy Ryhthms” or some of the Flying Nun bands like The Chills, The Verlaines and The Clean.
Will definitely revisit this one.
Jimmy Eat World
3/5
By the time emo started taking off nationally, I was an adult - but I had familiarity with a lot of emo from hanging out in the punk/hardcore scene in New Jersey, which was one of the epicenters of emo in the 90’s, with bands like Lifetime, Saves the Day, Midtown, Thursday and countless others.
It was never really a scene I was super interested in, but I definitely ended up seeing (and enjoying) more than a few emo bands in those days.
When this record came out I was in college and I had a friend who liked these guys. In fact, when “Sweetness” came on, I nearly fell out of my chair. This was a song that we’d play on our college radio show when this record came out, but I haven’t thought about it in almost 25 years.
Crazy how that happens. Like, I 100% forgot about that song and 3 seconds in, it was like those years hadn’t passed by at all.
[two hours later]
…actually, now that I’m really thinking about it, my familiarity with the song couldn’t have been from my college radio days: When this album was released I was just out of college and I must be conflating it with something from their prior album, Clarity, as my friend would have definitely played something from that album based off of the timing.
So, I’m not sure what synapse was triggered by hearing that song - I know my younger brother was a fan of these guys and his band might have covered it and maybe that’s where I know it from? I also saw them on the warped tour in the summer of 2001, so maybe there? I don’t think it’s from radio play, because I didn’t really listen to much mainstream radio back then and my response to it was more impactful than “Hey, I remember this song from the radio”. It was more nostalgia based, like I’ve got positive memories associated with this song, but I can’t put my finger on what they are.
Weird.
Getting old sucks, kids.
Anyway, Thanks to the user who suggested this record - the opening vocals of that song hit hard and really sent me back to some place and time that isn’t exactly clear to me, but still had a strong impact…Great song.
Roky Erickson
4/5
Always liked this record a lot, but never realized there were so many different versions/tracklists. There are definitely additional songs here compared to the vinyl copy I have - just titled Rocky Erickson and the Aliens. Nice to hear some additional tracks on this one, because it’s a fucking awesome record.
The Cure
3/5
Since I’m in my mid-40’s and reside in the United States, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how the world I knew growing up has changed completely and a new world, that seems to be kind of awful, has taken its place. So sentimentally, i can relate to this album, particularly when Robert Smith sings that his “world has grown old”. Not only has it grown old, but for me, that old world seems farther away with every passing day.
From an aesthetic standpoint, I’m not sure I like the mixing of this record - everything sounds very compressed and thin, brittle and trebly, lacking depth. It’s better on my AirPods in Dolby Atmos than it was in my car, but even still, it feels very harsh, cold and unforgiving. Perhaps that is an intentional stylistic metaphor, considering the album is titled “Songs of a Lost World”.
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
3/5
The coolest thing Bob Seger ever did was contribute percussion to the MC5’s “Skunk (Sonically Speaking)” from their 1971 album, High Time.
The second coolest thing Bob Seger ever did was give permission for ALF to dance around to “Old Time Rock and Roll” in the third episode of season one, “Looking for Lucky”.
I would say this album probably ranks as the seventh or eighth coolest thing Bob Seger ever did.
Marillion
1/5
Crash Test Dummies
1/5
Wasn’t much of a fan of this in the 90’s, when friends of mine would play this record, and, over the last 32 years, that hasn’t changed.
It always kind of sounded like church music to me in a way.
Modest Mouse
3/5
One of the most disappointing concerts I’ve ever seen was Modest Mouse on the Unlimited Sunshine Tour in 2002. Unlimited Sunshine was a tour that Cake put together for the summer of 2002 with The Flaming Lips, De La Soul, Modest Mouse and a band from Mexico called Kinky.
When we arrived at the Mann Music center in Philadelphia, Modest Mouse had just began playing and my girlfriend and I made our way to our seats to catch the show. They were playing pretty sloppy, but I didn’t put much stock in it as we walked to our seats, because they weren’t exactly known for having Steely Dan-like precision: Sloppy playing was part of the charm.
Once we sat down, and had a chance to focus on the stage, you could tell it wasn’t going well. They were pretty clearly intoxicated, to the point of stumbling around and falling on stage. They played maybe one or two songs before he swore at the audience and they walked off stage early. I’d say we heard/saw them play maybe three songs before they called it quits.
I’d see them again 8 years later at the Pitchfork Music Fest. They had massive success in the intervening years and this was shortly after Johnny Marr had left the band. Their performance that night was the polar opposite of the one I caught in 2002. The band was tight, but extremely sedate, lacking almost any enthusiasm or energy. It was pretty damn boring, if I’m being honest.
I’m sure there’s a happy medium to be found with their concerts where they’re energetic and lively, but not falling-down-fucked-up. I don’t think I’d buy a ticket on the hope that the third time will be the charm, however. Built to Spill is more my cup of tea when it comes to that sort of Pacific North West indie, but I enjoy Modest Mouse’s earlier records, even if the concerts I’ve seen of theirs have been memorable for the wrong reasons.
The Posies
4/5
Only really knew The Posies as the band that made up part of Big Star in the 90’s and 00’s and I guess that this album sort of intersects with that timeline. Never gave them a real listen until today, which was probably a mistake.
This is an album that is right up my alley. Fuzzy power pop with restrained guitar noise a la Neil Young? Yes, please.
It sounds a bit of-its-time in parts, but if you paired it with Teenage Fanclub’s “Bandwagonesque” and Sloan’s “Twice Removed”, you have a pretty great afternoon of power pop to listen to.
Sufjan Stevens
3/5
Jason Isbell
2/5
The Beautiful South
1/5
Instantly put-off by the album cover. I hate it so much.
They call this sophisti-pop, but from a lyrical perspective, it seems intellectually stunted.
“Imagine a mirror bigger than the room it was placed in”
Ok - it’s a huge mirror that has decimated the walls of the room it was placed in. In its reflection, you not only see yourself, but you see the collapsed and crumbled ruins of the walls that used to make up a room - which no longer exists because a gigantic mirror was placed on it. Additionally, the mirror is now jutting out into the hallway and causing a tripping hazard. You’re gonna have to call facilities and get the hallway cordoned off so no one gets accidentally injured and sues the company you work for - which could cause you to lose your job in a time of unprecedented economic uncertainty.
Now what?
Oh, you want me to “imagine a rod that cannot hold a fish?”
Fucking why? It’s pointless.
This is some thought experiment for burnouts where, at the end, you’re going to tell me, “yeah, but, like, imagine if it did exist, maaaaan,” isn’t it?
Sorry to the user who submitted this, I realize I’m being an asshole here and I shouldn’t get all snotty about not liking a record. I try to keep it in check, but my genetic make up is faulty.
Steven Wilson
3/5
Boy, 1001 albums generator users really love their prog, huh?
So, I’ve tried over the years to get Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree and kind of always leave his records feeling a little unimpressed.
Don’t get me wrong, they sound great and he is talented.
It’s just that the music, a lot of the time, feels a little generic, or maybe too referential towards his influences. It’s almost a paradox: is it actually *progressive* rock, if the music is clearly indebted to and playing off of works in the genre that have come before it?
I’m not saying this is a Genesis rip off or something like that - it’s not - just that you can definitely hear the influences of “classic prog” in his work and I’m not sure that musically enough is going on to make the music unique or challenging.
I will say, I liked some of his mixes of the classic Yes albums, though.
Porter Robinson
2/5
Hey, that’s me on the cover. I died after being exposed to all the pollen in that field.
Just kidding, I survived, but I’m still paying off the medical bills.
America, am I right?
Anyway.
I quite liked some of the music on this record, there’s a sort minimalist/ambient streak to some of it that really works for me. I’m not a huge fan of the songs that have traditional vocals / lean closer to pop music, as they start to veer into a kind of cheesy territory.
Igorrr
3/5
Frenetic insanity. I made it to the end, but I was hanging on by a thread.
That said, I wish this was on the main list, just so I could see the general user base’s reaction.
TOOL
4/5
I saw Tool 3 times on the tour for this record.
First time was at Madison Square Garden a month after the September 11 attacks.
Holy fuck, was that a weird time/place to go see a concert. There was still a real uneasy and uncertain vibe in the city at that point, with a high police/military/security presence in and outside of MSG that night. I know I wasn’t the only person thinking “is it a great idea to be in a huge crowd at a New York City cultural landmark a month after they flew planes into the World Trade Center?”
In retrospect, it was probably a really safe time to go to a concert in the city at that point, with everyone on high alert, but at the time, who knew - everyone was freaked out still.
Speaking of, remember how they had a color coded Terror Alert system back then so they could tell you exactly how scared you should be at any given time?
Boy, those were the good old days, huh?
I saw them again a few weeks later on Halloween at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. It was fine, exact same show, just on Halloween and in Long Island, which was a pain in the ass to get to from New Jersey.
Third time was at Radio City Music Hall the following year, August ‘02. Apparently, this show is considered legendary - at least by the Tool subreddit. I remember them covering the Ramones and that it was a really great show, but outside of the fact that they were playing Radio City, I’m not sure what makes it “legendary”. Don’t get me wrong, it was the best show I saw them put on and they had a really awesome stage setup for the occasion, but I guess the locational backdrop matters, too, and I didn’t really give that consideration its deserved weight before.
So yeah, apparently I’ve seen a legendary Tool concert and I’m just finding out about today.
All of this to say that I know this record really well. I think there’s a pretty good case to be made for it as their best album and it is definitely the last time they put out an album that was a clear progressional step forward from the album that preceded it. 10,000 Days and Fear Innoculum, for the most part, feel like extensions of the ideas on this record and, to me, are not as vital, inspired or interesting as this record or Ænima.
It is a really long record, though - something that both 10,000 Days and Fear Innoculum also suffer from. They do a lot with 79 minutes here, but also, by the end of the record, it might start to feel like you’ve heard it all before. Then, it just kind of peters out, rather than making a statement to close out the proceedings.
Ween
5/5
I grew up, in the early 90’s, within a 30 minute drive of New Hope, Pennsylvania and had no idea Ween existed until I went to college 300 miles away in Upstate NY in the late 90’s.
I remember being told that they were from New Hope by my friend who introduced them to me and just couldn’t get over that I had never heard a thing about them. It’s crazy how something incredibly cool might be happening in your proverbial backyard and you have no idea about it.
In a way, Ween changed my life - at least when it comes to appreciating music. I was pretty die hard metalhead and hardcore fan before Ween came along. Ween was a band that probably shouldn’t have made sense to me then, but it did and I’m pretty sure that listening to Pure Guava on acid - specifically, “The Stallion Part 3” - permanently rewired my brain. I could feel that song vibrating throughout my entire body, as though I was experiencing a new, previously inaccessible dimension of music. I would end up chasing down music that could replicate that sensation, or that would tickle my brain in a similar sort of way. Metal didn’t cut it anymore - in fact, I began to find it limiting and boring.
26 years later, I’m not as much of a fan of Ween as I was then, but I am happy to have Chocolate and Cheese recommended today. I think it is probably the correct choice for a Ween record, since it runs the stylistic gamut in a way that some of their other records don’t. Personally, I would choose “The Mollusk”, but I’m happy it’s not “quebec” - which I think is kind of overrated by Ween’s fanbase.
Chocolate and Cheese is a no-brainer, 5 star record for me. It’s great from start to finish, nearly every song is a Ween classic and it was the start of a run of records that are Ween’s best - Chocolate & Cheese, 12 Golden Country Greats and The Mollusk. Plus, it has my absolute favorite Ween song on it, “What Deaner Was Talking About”. I’d also recommend checking out the version from the Live In Toronto record, which is a really beautiful rendition.
Anaïs Mitchell
2/5
Off the bat, this has got a couple strikes against it for me: Justin Vernon, Ani DiFranco (because of an ex-girlfriend, not a reflection on Ani DiFranco’s talent) and it’s a musical.
The Hayden sisters are a plus.
Overall, a well done record, but one I don’t see myself returning to.
The Burning Hell
3/5
Huh…I didn’t realize Reddit started a Cake cover band.
Os Mundi
3/5
Pretty weird and rocking German psych. To make a solely Krautrock based comparison, it’s a bit like if Florian Fricke (Popol Vuh) wrote a concept album, but gave it to Guru Guru to perform.
Overall, an enjoyable psych record.
Jai Paul
2/5
Scraping Foetus off the Wheel
2/5
The Groundhogs
4/5
Great band name, great album title.
I know Steve Malkmus from Pavement is a fan of The Groundhogs and listening to this record, I can definitely hear their influence on his music - particularly on his albums with The Jicks, like Real Emotional Trash or Pig Lib.
Overall this is a pretty fucking rad album with a unique, proggy blues vibe and some white hot guitar solos. An easy 4 on first listen, gonna give it a few more listens to see if it should be upped up to a 5.
Bloc Party
2/5
Tori Amos
4/5
Going to have to agree with the general consensus that this record should have been included on the list in lieu of / in addition to Little Earthquakes.
To my ear, which is not super familiar with Tori Amos’ catalog, the songs, music and production here gel in a way that wasn’t as present on Little Earthquakes. Or, at least, it worked better for me here than there.
They Might Be Giants
2/5
Sorry, this is a little too nerdy for me.
Boards of Canada
4/5
[inner dialogue:
“Would it be cliche of me to say that Boards of Canada’s music is like the soundtrack to a vintage educational film from an alternate reality?”
Yes, that’s probably the most unoriginal thing you could say about their music at this point. You probably stole that from a pitchfork review or something.
“Ok, how about if I talk about how there’s an argument to be made that Geogaddi is as good of an album as Music Has the Right to Children, and in certain aspects it’s even better?”
Also not the most original thing you could say about this record - there’s gotta be thousands of threads about that on Reddit alone.
“Hmm…in that case, I’ll probably do a straight forward review and, after a paragraph or two, start talking about Tomorrow’s Harvest because I’ve got a short span of attention and that’s my favorite Boards of Canada record.”
Yeah…uh, you already did that in your review of Music Has the Right To Children.
“…Fuck”]
Baroness
3/5
Appreciate their stylistic adventurousness. Had this been a straight “metal” record, I don’t think it would’ve kept my interest for its 75 minute runtime.
It ends up being kind of an indie/metal hybrid, which was good, but somehow it feels like it didn’t offer up too many surprises.
Daft Punk
5/5
Since it’s a holiday weekend and I got some time to kill, I figured I’d break out my copy of this album and listen on vinyl today.
I remember buying this in 2014 when it was issued on vinyl. Within a minute or two of getting home from the record store, I accidentally dropped the record on the hardwood floor and it landed spine up, causing a decent-size (about two inches) seam split on the top of the jacket. I hadn’t even opened the record yet - what a putz. Luckily, only the jacket was damaged and not the records, so it’s really only a cosmetic annoyance.
Alive 2007 is more or less a greatest hits record, but remixed and mashed with high intensity. There are a couple stylistic choices that are maybe a little underwhelming - like foregoing the instrumental section of “Face To Face” in favor of mixing it with “Harder, Better, Faster Stronger” - but that’s a small complaint and one that is rooted solely in my opinion that the sample work in “Face To Face” might be the greatest thing Daft Punk ever did (more on that when Discovery gets recommended). In fact, thinking about it, the intricacy of the sampling on that song might be why they didn’t attempt recreate it live. That, or the sample clearances/payouts that would ensue. Either way, it is a really impressive cut and paste job on that one.
That said, when the mixes really click, which is the majority of the record - but specifically on “Around the World/Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” or “One More Time/Aerodynamic” - I don’t think you could ask for a better live performance. That they were able to capture the energy of their performance and transfer that to record in a vibrant and tangible way makes it an even more impressive feat.
Personally, I’d rank this among the greatest live albums of all time, even if some may think an EDM record would be an unlikely choice for that type of list.
Streetlight Manifesto
3/5
I knew these guys were from NJ, but I didn’t realize that the singer was originally in Catch 22 in their early days/Keasbey Nights era. Catch 22 was sort of a local band for me back in those days and I saw them a couple times back then at local venues/vfw halls, though that may have been after he left the band, which actually might make this kind of a pointless anecdote.
Anyway, as you can tell by the fact that I’m just finding out that about the Catch 22 connection, I was never very invested in the ska scene, but the scene in NJ at that time was cross-pollinated with punk, hardcore and ska - so you might see a show where there were punk, ska and hardcore bands sharing a bill and it usually worked out pretty well. I was more attuned to the punk/hardcore side of things, but it was a fun scene to be a part of. In a lot of ways, it still informs me as person today.
This is a nostalgic 3 for me - not necessarily my thing, but it was well done and reminded me of some fun times.
Boredoms
3/5
I appreciate this submission. You’re wild for submitting it - people here are going to hate it - but I appreciate it.
I’m more of a fan of the drone-y, metaphysical psych of Super Æ or Vision Creation Newsun-era Boredoms, but I’m also a firm believer that people should listen to music that is outside of their comfort zone from time to time and pretty much any record by Boredoms is going to be about as far out as you can get.
Wussy
4/5
First things first, I love that this was put out by Shake It Records. They’re a great record store in Cincinnati, and I bought the last two 7” singles I needed to complete complete my Yo La Tengo collection on vinyl there several years ago when I was in town on business, and I had no idea that they also were a record label at one point.
Second, Funeral Dress checks a lot of boxes on my list of things that make a great indie rock record…it’s got a DIY feel, it’s a little ramshackle, it’s got personality and individuality, none of the songs feel like retreads of the others and it doesn’t over stay its welcome.
This was a great submission.
Extrechinato y Tu
2/5
John Mayer
2/5
Not a huge fan of this guy’s voice/vocal affectations, he’s a pretty good, technical guitar player, though.
This first track sounds *a lot* like Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” - to the point of “Marvin Gaye should probably get a writing credit on this one”.
When this record gets soulful or funky, it’s in a very safe, Steely Dan-ish way, so ultimately, it ends up feeling kind of sterile and not very engaging. They’re kind of like fruit from the same adult-contemporary tree, if you will.
I disliked that in the cover of “Bold as Love”, he inserted a major chord change into the chorus, which took a great (and underrated) song and made it feel hokey. His soloing on the song also feels a little too busy and lacking the visceral emotion and energy of Hendrix’s original.
I feel like this record probably could’ve/should’ve been included in the main list, but its lack of inclusion won’t sway my rating here.
Pink Floyd
4/5
Arguably their last “great” record - For me, The Wall is a bloated, self-important and nihilistic mess of an album and even if Animals is preview of where Roger Waters’ bleak and cynical worldview would take the band, it succeeds because the band is still (mostly) working as a cohesive unit.
On “Dogs” in particular, Animals falls into a similar trap as the first “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” from Wish You Were Here, where the tempo is so languid that its 17 minutes feel like they just drag on and on, even if the pay-off at the end makes the glacial pace worth the trip.
By comparison to “Dogs”, “Pigs (Three Different Ones)” and “Sheep” feel concise, energetic and to the point, which is kind of a funny thing to say about songs that both clock in at over 10 minutes. It may seem like I am shitting on “Dogs” a lot, I do like the song, but you can feel every minute of its 17 minute run time.
Finally, the two versions of Pigs on the Wing pretty much only serve as intros and outros to the album, but offer a somewhat more positive outlook than the venomous, cynical worldview that is sandwiched in between.
On the whole, Animals, along with Meddle, is one of my preferred Pink Floyd records, though I suspect that it’s due in no small part to the fact they are less overplayed in the mainstream.
Carly Rae Jepsen
1/5
Bon Iver
2/5
Sorry, I just can’t take his voice and there are so many layers of it. It is really distracting to me.
I can see the argument for this being on the list, but I find his music really off putting because of the vocals, whether they are densely layered like on this record or treated with vocoder or auto-tune like on his later records. Musically, I think it is fine - the instrumentation is not really outside of the norm for late 2000’s indie, and as a result, the vocals feel like the sole focus. This just isn’t for me.
Adam Green
1/5
Excruciating quirk-core
Courtney Barnett
5/5
Australia seems hellbent on saving rock music and I love them for it.
The Tragically Hip
3/5
Wait is the version on Apple Music ripped from vinyl? You hear the needle drop at the start of “Boots or Hearts” and if it’s a sample/sound effect, it’s really well done.
That’s all I got, really…the music is fine. This sort of heartland rock isn’t really for me, but it had some very enjoyable moments.
Amadou & Mariam
4/5
Screaming Females
5/5
As a life-long New Jerseyan, I’m happy to see the number of albums that have been added to the user list by artists from New Jersey. This is third or fourth I’ve had and that’s not including the Springsteen live record that was added.
On Rose Mountain, and in general, Screaming Females embody a nice cross-section of the DIY/underground music scenes in New Jersey - punk, hardcore, indie, maybe even a little metal at times - and meld them together seamlessly, while adding their own distinct style. I don’t know if I can describe it in any other way except for saying that they capture an ethos that is familiar and “like home” to me - and that might only make sense to a certain type of person from New Jersey…I don’t know.
The band’s playing is really tight and even when they stretch out with an extended instrumental or solo passage, the songs don’t lose any steam.
Finally, Marissa fucking rips. The guitars on this record are electrifying and enthralling.
An A+ addition to the user list.
Salif Keita
3/5
The Tragically Hip
3/5
Took a bit for it to hit its stride, about midway through for me, but once it did, Phantom turned out to be a good rock record. Particularly liked Escape Is At Hand for the Travellin’ Man.
Slowdive
4/5
I’m sorry, but the inspiration for this album title has me cracking up.
This record, which is ethereal, dreamy, often quite beautiful and is generally regarded as one of the all-time-classics of its genre…
…is named after a prank phone call dick joke.
I’m dyin’ over here, Jerky.
The Mountain Goats
4/5
This one’s got a lot going for it in my book:
DIY/Lo-fi spirit, songs with sparse, but captivating instrumentation. Lyrically, it’s humorous and poignant in the right ways.
My biggest gripe about the main list was how much American indie rock from the mid 90’s and early 2000’s was overlooked. I think if you’re telling the story of that era of American indie rock, The Mountain Goats are an excellent inclusion.
Hail Satan.
of Montreal
3/5
A good mix of glam, psych and a bunch of other genres, but…it’s a bit much, if I’m being honest.
5/5
Whether intentionally or not (I suspect it’s intentional), many of the additions to the user list underscore just how poorly the main list covers indie and alternative music from the mid 90’s and early part of this century.
I don’t know enough Low to say whether this is the best choice for the list, but “Things We Lost in the Fire” was such an excellent record I’m going to I’m going to dive in and explore it further.
This is a great record for an early fall evening near a campfire: with its slow tempo, it creates a haunting, meditative atmosphere to get lost in.
The Lumineers
1/5
Rodríguez
4/5
Arctic Monkeys
1/5
It’s gotta be a generational thing. I’ve tried and I just do not get the appeal of this band.
Like, if I’m in the mood for space age lounge music, I’m picking up a Stereolab record and, musically, I don’t think anything on this record comes close to competing with them.
It may be due in part to Alex Turner’s vocal style. His songs are always very busy vocally and the music doesn’t feel like it has a chance to breathe. That works when you’re aping Gang Of Four on your debut, not as much here. The music here seems to just be a bed to lay his voice on top of and not much more - a complaint I also had about his Last Shadow Puppets record.
Arca
2/5
Childish Gambino
4/5
One of the things I appreciate about Donald Glover is the depth and attention to detail he brings to his work. Whether it’s here, as a musician, or on Atlanta, as the creator and also an actor, he strikes me as being meticulous in pursuing his vision - which makes the things he creates worth revisiting over and over.
I’m giving this a four, with the very distinct possibility that I change my rating to a 5 after a few more listens.
Descendents
4/5
I was pretty sure I saw Descendents on the warped tour in the late 90’s or early 2000’s, but now that I’m thinking about it, it was ALL, the band they formed when Milo went to graduate school. Correct me if my Descendents history is incorrect, thanks.
Anyway, Milo Goes to College is a classic California punk record, highly influential on pop punk and, at 22 minutes, it’s succinct and to the point. If you were to compile a less Anglocentric version of the main list, this should be a no-brainer for inclusion.
Protomartyr
3/5
Nuyorican Soul
3/5
Malibu
3/5
I’ve been listening to a lot of ambient music lately.
I’m finding that it works as an effective salve to treat the soul crushing and unrelenting barrage of bullshit that constitutes life in America in 2025.
It’s a warm and enveloping escape from reality - an audio narcotic, if you will.
I enjoyed this EP quite a bit. It washed over and temporarily quieted my racing mind on yet another Monday that’s come too soon.
Quicksand
2/5
3/5
I can’t decide if he sounds like Beck or if Beck sounds like him.
The Church
3/5
Not gonna lie, this is beginning to feel like 1001 Prog Albums to Hear Before You Die.
That said, I didn’t dislike this record. Solid instrumentation and good songwriting, even if it feels a little one-note tonally. Reminded me a little of the music The Dream Syndicate has put out in recent years following their reformation.
Amyl and The Sniffers
4/5
I’m telling ya, Australia is going to single-handedly save rock and roll.
Shpongle
2/5
Josh Ritter
3/5
Alexisonfire
2/5
Daft Punk
5/5
Yeah, yeah…It’s an all time classic, should have been on the list instead of Homework, et cetera, et cetera, ad nauseam…it’s fucking great.
…but what we really need to talk about is the sampling that’s going on in Face to Face, which was a collaboration between Todd Edwards and Daft Punk.
(As a New Jersey resident, I am contractually obligated to mention that Todd Edwards is from Bloomfield, New Jersey)
There are nearly 30 samples going on to make that song: They’re chopped and sliced - literal slivers of songs - pitched, bent and tweaked to make something completely new and incredible.
If you have anyone in your life who doesn’t think sampling is a legitimate art form, or if you yourself feel that way, listen to Face To Face, then watch this video which recreates each sample, shows how they were modified and how they all fit together:
https://youtu.be/fd7zDp35zBI?si=Fb6ZGFu5oLpPb4Md
That song is a masterclass.
Lift To Experience
3/5
When Texas gets weird, they get fucking *weird*, man. (See also: Butthole Surfers, 13th Floor Elevators, Tripping Daisy/Polyphonic Spree)
This was an ethereal and noisy post-rock record. It dragged on a bit, as post-rock records often do, and at 90 minutes, it was a lot to take in, but was interesting enough.
The concept of the record - that Texas is the Promised Land following the second coming of Christ - kind of makes this record feel like it could have been found audio that survived the raid of the Branch Davidian Compound in Waco…if, you know…David Koresh was really in to My Bloody Valentine.
Brand New
2/5
Al Stewart
3/5
Haley Heynderickx
2/5
Jaco Pastorius
3/5
Procol Harum
2/5
My phone keeps auto-correcting “Procol Harum” to Provolone Harum.
Hikaru Utada
1/5
Weezer
4/5
If Weezer hadn’t reunited after this album, I’m pretty sure they’d be fondly remembered as one of the greatest bands of all time.
Arthur Russell
4/5
Kaizers Orchestra
2/5
Yeasayer
3/5
Started really strong, to the point that I was questioning whether I’ve been too hard on Brooklyn indie for the last 15 or 20 years.
By the midway point, it started feeling less individualistic, and more like another piece of the 2000’s Brooklyn indie puzzle. Not that it’s a bad record, but it definitely carries some of the hallmarks of that scene - funky world music, electronics, sing-along vocals and Beach Boys harmonies…
Guess what I’m saying is: a little bit of Brooklyn goes a long way for me
Killswitch Engage
2/5
Earth, Wind & Fire
2/5
I was so sure that “That’s the Way of the World” was going to be my last album on the original list. When I got towards the end of the list, I did all the math, compiled a list of remaining albums and the day before I finished, I was 99% sure that it was going to be the last one generated.
Imagine my surprise when it was actually the Mamas and the Papas.
You see, “That’s the Way of the World” left such a small impact on me that I forgot I listened to it in the first 100 records. I didn’t even write a review for it. In one ear and out the other, I suppose.
So when I saw the reviews here saying that this is the album that should’ve been on the list, I was cautiously optimistic.
Well, my cautious optimism soured pretty quickly, sorry to say. Not because it’s disco(ish), but because it’s slick and glossy - which is a hallmark of disco, I suppose - but there’s more to it than just that…it comes across as tepid.
Maybe I’ve been influenced by George Clinton’s assessment of the band on the Funkadelic track “Let’s Take it to the Stage”: “Earth, Hot Air and No Fire”.
Maybe that’s unfair, but outside of one track, “Let Your Feelings Show”, the heat just wasn’t there for me. I get that they’re different bands; that Earth, Wind and Fire was probably catering to a more mainstream audience than Clinton and that might account for the less aggressive attitude in their brand of Funk.
…and don’t get me started on “Rock That!”, which feels like it might possibly be an answer song to “Who Says a Funk Band Can’t Play Rock” from Funkadelic’s 1978 LP, One Nation Under A Groove?
Am I just inventing beef between these two bands at this point? I think I might be.
I guess my point is, this record didn’t really move me in the way I would hope a funk record would.
Sam Fender
1/5
What in the Don Henley is this?
Built To Spill
5/5
I’ve been thinking that it wouldn’t be too hard to correct the main list’s glaring blindspot(s) when it comes to American alternative and indie from the 90’s: drop the 4 Morrissey solo records, cut back on some of the multiple submissions from The Verve and Blur and the like and there’s plenty of room to better tell the story of American indie in the 90’s. I really don’t think it would take too much.
Luckily, the user base here has been pretty spot-on with their choices from this era and Keep It Like a Secret is no exception.
Built To Spill dials up the bombastic guitar heroics another notch here, even if its predecessor “Perfect From Now On” was not lacking in that department in the slightest. Where “Perfect…” might have felt insular and close, Keep it Like a Secret sounds huge and wide open. Just 40 seconds into the record, when the chiming guitars and wordless “ahhh” vocal harmony hits, it’s like the sound of a new world unfurling itself for you, a veritable playground for the guitar wizardry of Doug Martsch. His lead guitar is languid and melodically beautiful, but not without the ability to turn on a dime and melt face…and there are layers and layers of it, with plenty of twists and turns, to enjoy here.
5 easy stars.
Hamilton Leithauser
2/5
Another fine addition to the 1001 Indie-Folk Albums You Must Hear Before You Die list.
5/5
On the surface, this should be an easy 5 for me: Noisy, drone-y, disaffected 90’s alternative/indie rock…
…and musically, I really like it.
I’m not really sold on the vocals, is the thing. I mean, I love pavement, I love sonic youth, dinosaur jr….you don’t have to have a great voice, or even be interested in what you are singing for me to love your record, so it’s not that, not at all. I think those bands might have more of a knack for melody, no matter how unconventional, that works for me in a way that I’m not sure is working for me with Hum. On my second listen, it’s not as much of a noticeable issue, so maybe I just need to become attuned their idiosyncrasies.
Rating this a 4, as a placeholder for a potential 5, if I can come to terms with the vocals.
Edit: I don’t know what I was thinking…this is a *great* record. 5 stars.
Various Artists
3/5
I guess that here, under the umbrella of anonymity that the 1001 Albums Generator community provides, would be as good a place as any to admit that in my 44 years on this planet, I’ve never seen The Rock Horror Picture Show.
…at least not in full.
I’ve definitely seen portions of it, but I’ve never had the theatre experience or sat down with friends to watch the entire movie.
So I know a few of these songs - how can anyone not know “Time Warp” - but mostly through passing or reference from people who know the film.
Listening to the soundtrack is kind of odd, then, since I don’t have the full frame of reference for it to really make sense. So in that sense, it was exactly what I was expecting: an over-the-top, campy glam musical.
It was enjoyable, I like some glam and some camp, but I think that having some experience with the film is required to push this into “must hear” territory.
Jimmy Eat World
2/5
Phish
1/5
Have you ever heard that song by Sloan, “Coax Me”? In it, there’s a line that goes, “It’s not the band I hate, it’s their fans”. I would say that sums up my feelings about Phish, except…I really don’t like the band either.
Don’t get me wrong, there were moments here, however fleeting, where I thought to myself, “this isn’t so bad”, but those moments were pretty quickly dashed away by Phish’s tendency to cluster-wank.
I get it, these guys are good at their instruments. The Ramones weren’t, but their songs are a lot more fun.
…and the thing is, I know Trey Anastasio listens to good music. Over the years, he’s been vocal about bands that he loves, like Pavement, Ween or King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Phish has covered full albums by The Velvet Underground or Talking Heads…For whatever reason, he’s not able to take his love of good music and infuse into his own music, but it is what is.
On the topic of Ween and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, here’s where I get to the “it’s the fans” part of the equation: I’m old enough (and cool enough, thank you) to have been a fan of both of these bands before they experienced an influx of phish fans, who would eventually take over their fanbases. Both bands had relatively chill indie or alt fanbases and then, Trey Anastasio opens his yap (or, in the case of Ween, covers one of their songs) and every Phish head on earth starts turning up to tell you how Ween and King Gizzard are actually jam bands. They start setting up a lot scene at shows to sell their bootleg merch that offers about as much creativity as those “Hey Lois, remember that time…” moments from Family Guy and soon all the other trappings of phish fandom follow.
They will try and remake every band that Trey turns them onto into a replica of Phish’s scene. They’re like the fucking Borg, if the Borg’s highest ambition for assimilation was getting a spot on the rail and flipping posters so that they could travel from show to show.
All I’m saying is you don’t have turn everything else into the one thing you love, phish fans.
On a more humorous note, my favorite part of this record was on the second track, “Stash”, where the audience tries to clap twice in time with the song (at the :32 second mark - you don’t have to listen very far into it). The band breaks for the clap and everyone in the audience claps at slightly different intervals and it sounds more like someone crumpling a paper bag than a bunch of people clapping in unison - lmfao.
The same people who will tell you that these four dudes are the greatest musicians on their respective instruments are the same people who struggle to clap on beat - just some food for thought.
Look, this is a really long and negative review, and I’m sorry to the person who submitted this for implying that all phish fans share the same traits, but I’ve had my fair share of encounters with phans over the years and have been forced to listen to enough of Phish’s music by friends and acquaintances that I’ve got very little patience for it.
In closing, if you’re like me and can’t stand this band, maybe you should check out the “Whose Got My Goo Balls?” episode of Harris Wittels’ “Analyze Phish” podcast, where he tried to convince Tom Scharpling to like Phish and failed almost immediately…
It’s one hour shorter than this record.
The Chats
3/5
The Breeders
3/5
This list is really hammering home how poorly the main list handled alternative music in 90’s by being so UK-centric.
I’m not really 100% that this is an album you need to hear before you die, but it’s pretty damn good and works really well as a counterpoint to the main list - like, the main list has The Auteurs’ record from 1993, but not this one?
Biffy Clyro
2/5
Metric
4/5
Electric Callboy
1/5
FUKKNO
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
5/5
I wish I enjoyed Rolling Stones records as much as I enjoy the mid-90’s BJM records - which are pretty clearly and heavily indebted to the Stones, but, imo, end up being much more than mere facsimiles of the Rolling Stones.
Take It From the Man is a great garage/psych record. I also would recommend “Their Satanic Majesties Second Request” (also from 1996), if this one piqued your interest.
Paul McCartney
3/5
Future Islands
3/5
I keep picturing Orson Welles singing these songs.
New Model Army
2/5
2 Stars, but only because the bassist is called “Moose”.
Actually, as it goes on, this record ain’t so bad - 3 stars.
It’s pretty fucking long, though, and there’s a song that contains a lyric that proudly proclaims “this is the 1980’s”, so maybe back to 2 stars.
Olivia Rodrigo
2/5
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
2/5
My phone’s keyboard has been acting up all day, glitching out and typing multiple letters even though I only press a key once…something is messed up with it, but it’s working ok now, so I’m going to try and be quick and to the point with this review:
“Whipped Cream & Other Delights” - or, as I know it, “Perennial Occupant of the Dollar Bin at Every Record Store I’ve Ever Been To” - was a massive success for Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass and a deviation from their previous records, which focused primarily on Mexican themed mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmuuuussssssiii—
AARGH - Th is ddamn phone….Son of a fu—
[”Spanish Flea” by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass starts playing]
TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
PLEASE STAND BY
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
3/5
My first thought about this record is that it seems odd to call this a Kenny Wayne Shepard record when he’s not the vocalist or star performer on these songs.
So when I went to allmusic.com to read their review, and they concurred, I cracked up a little. Here’s the opening sentence of their review:
“10 Days Out may well be Kenny Wayne Shepherd's most important and intriguing album, even though the guitarist is hardly the featured artist on any of these tracks, working instead more as a sideman and facilitator for the impressive cast of venerable blues players who get a chance to shine here.”
A bit of a back-handed compliment, no?
The most important and intriguing record of Kenny Wayne Shepard’s career is one where he is not the focus? Ouch.
I get their point, though. This record is more of an attempt to record and preserve the history of the blues and of the players featured on it, rather than a spotlight for Kenny Wayne Shepard.
Fair enough.
In that regard, it succeeds. The songs and performances are all fantastic. If you are into the Blues, I suspect this could be an important record - I don’t know for sure, though: I’m not really in tune with the intricacies of that musical scene and, maybe more importantly, Kenny Wayne Shepard’s status within it.
So yeah, it was enjoyable for a blues outsider such as myself, but with in the realm of “must-hear” blues records, I’m not the person to give it a thumbs up or thumbs down.
I did enjoy the version of “The Thrill is Gone” included here - it was nice to hear a different take on the song than I’m used to. The band was cooking on that one, damn.
Korn
2/5
When I was in high school, in the back half of the 90’s, the band I was in played at the school’s music showcase, where students with bands could perform for the entire school on the football field. It was like an afternoon long high school band festival that the school threw with two stages, but it wasn’t really a battle of the bands. Everyone got 3 songs/15 minutes to play and that was that, which was cool with us, since we had hardly played anywhere before this.
Anyway, we made the decision to open our 3 song set with “Blind” from this album. I don’t recall what other songs we were going to play, probably an original and another cover…
…because we never got the chance. We got about 90 seconds into “Blind” (after the “Are You Ready?!” part) and the students who were watching us started a mosh pit and the school pulled power to the stage without any warning.
Those square school administrators couldn’t handle the power of our rock.
Well, that and they probably didn’t want a lawsuit if someone got hurt in a mosh pit…
…but, mostly they couldn’t handle the power of us rocking the fuck out. Yep, that’s it, 100%.
Anyway, I’m giving this a 2 because I do think this should have been on the list instead of Follow the Leader, but I also think the music kind of sucks, sorry. What can I say? People change over the course of 30 years.
1/5
Bo Burnham
1/5
That’s it, I’m putting the albums I recorded during lockdown up on bandcamp.
Calibro 35
3/5
Funky and enjoyable, with a Tortoise/Stereolab-ish kind of vibe at times, but definitely its own thing.
3/5
I don’t know, this modern iteration of post-punk really doesn’t do much for me. Appreciate it and there were definitely a few highlights here, but I haven’t really found a band that really does it for me - I’m not sure that a lot of it is offering up something new…I might just throw on a Jesus Lizard record instead, you know what I mean?
Agalloch
3/5
This was a lot better than I expected, if I’m being honest. You see Black Metal and you think it’s going to be one thing, but this was a lot more expansive and interesting than I anticipated, even if it felt like it kind of repeated a few of the same motifs and tricks as the record went on.
In a way, this album feels like the work of a band that kind of doesn’t want to be a metal band anymore, but is still trying to shed its vestigial metal limbs. I don’t know if that is the case, since I have zero familiarity with any of their other work, but as an example, the growling metal vocals felt out of place and (to me) unnecessary in a more mellow track like “In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion”.
This very much feels like a post-rock album in a lot of ways. Instrumentally, the music leans more towards the cinematic, with repetitive, sort of psychedelic guitar leads rather than grinding metal dirges. In fact, some of the more droning distorted guitar parts felt a little reminiscent of Sonic Youth at times, which is a comparison I’m sure Black Metal fans might hate. Vocally, the growl, not just here but in metal in general, is kind of a turn off, but not enough for me to abandon listening to this record.
3 stars: maybe I’ll revisit, maybe I won’t.
Vampire Weekend
2/5
Not a huge fan of this record. Feels very indebted to Paul Simon’s 80’s work, which I’ve never been a fan of. Not to say that there isn’t talent here, that they don’t have their own identity, or they aren’t bringing anything new to the table, but stylistically it doesn’t do much for me.
Q65
3/5
Pedro The Lion
3/5
I’m really confused by all the comparisons to Pearl Jam I’m seeing here, but I pretty much stopped listening to Pearl Jam after Vitalogy came out, so maybe I have a different understanding of their catalog than others.
Not sure if that’s a “me problem” or if others just don’t have the same frame reference for a record like this.
It really doesn’t sound like Pearl Jam to me - like, at all - but it also doesn’t sound like The Promise Ring, either, which is what I kind of figured Pedro The Lion sounded like, because, well…Jade Tree records.
Musically, this is definitely more indie than emo, I think, even if lyrically, it’s right in that vein. Kind of a Low vibe, if I’m being honest, but not quite as interesting to me. Or maybe kind of like a Robert Pollard solo album, but without the hooks.
I don’t know…it was good, but not great.
3 stars, right down the middle.
Mary Chapin Carpenter
2/5
Oh shit, I just remembered that I’m out of Bartles and Jaymes.
3/5
I absolutely love M83’s 2003 record, “Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts” - like, to the point that I considered it for my submission on the user list. It was kind of a long-shot candidate, but it was a contender nonetheless.
On that record, M83 strike a very interesting balance to me. Their marriage of droning, arpeggiated synths and swirling, distorted guitars might not have been the most world-changing idea, but it hits a unique sweet-spot for me. It’s a bit like if you gave Sonic Youth some synths and sequencers and told them to go to town and record an album. It’s a beautiful, intense and occasionally sinister record and I don’t think very many (if any) other bands have made a record that sounds like it.
It’s really such a great record, I love it and highly recommend it.
The follow up, “Before the Dawn Heals Us” does expand upon that sound (“Don’t Save Us From the Flames”, “*”, “Teen Angst”, “Car Chase Terror!”), but also introduces a pretty unabashed love for 80’s synth-pop into the M83 fold.
While I enjoyed some of that record, I could tell M83 was moving in a direction that wasn’t necessarily for me.
It happens.
So, I kind of lost track and didn’t really keep up with their releases. I mean, I knew that this record and “Saturdays = Youth” were critical successes and topped a lot of year-end lists, but I never bothered listening, because what I was reading about them kind of reinforced how I felt about the band - that the things I loved about “Dead Cities…” weren’t really integral to their music anymore.
So, listening to this record today, I’m having a bit of culture shock, even though I could kind of see it coming. This feels like a completely different band…because it is, but also because it sounds like a band that is chasing something (a more contemporary/pop-oriented sound or more mainstream audience), rather than a band that is creating their own path.
There was a song on this record (“New Map”), where I thought to myself, “What is this, a Broken Social Scene record?”…and I love Broken Social Scene, but it feels like a weird fit for what I know M83 to be.
So now I feel like I should revisit the records between “Dead Cities…” and this one, to find out how they got here.
I’m not saying this is a bad record. Not at all. It does retain the cinematic grandeur that was a part of the reason I loved M83 in the first place. It’s just…I wasn’t expecting this. I know bands change, but in a way, it feels like the band I love is barely present here. I mean, usually bands kind of retain a seed of who they were as they age and maybe the loss of Nicolas Fromageau from the band was much more impactful than I suspected years ago.
I don’t know, this record has me thrown for a loop.
Childish Gambino
3/5
I enjoyed this record, but it’s a little too on-the-nose with its nods to its influences at times. The Parliament-Funkadelic influence is strong, there’s an interpolation of “Strawberry Letter #23”, the track “Baby Boy” kind of feels like Sly and the Family Stone’s “Just like a Baby” from There’s a Riot Goin’ On…
It’s well done homage, no doubt about it and the talent is fully evident.
…but if you know the references, I suspect it might not hit the same way as it does for those who don’t.
Magdalena Bay
2/5
Better than I expected based off the cover. Sort of gauzy throwback synth pop/chillwave with a bit of a Prince influence at times. Kind of wore out it’s welcome for me after about 6 or 7 songs.
Eric B. & Rakim
4/5
I don’t think the original list did too bad with early hip-hop, but this is a glaring omission, I think. A landmark record for hip-hop and highly influential; seems like it should have been a no brainer for inclusion.
Billy Strings
2/5
Oh good, another double album out of the jam band scene. Excuse me for a moment while I do the hippy shake…
[dances arthymically, then twirls around with arms out and face towards the sun, with no awareness or care for his surroundings]
This dude is super talented, but most of the music isn’t really for me and his fanbase, I’ve found in my interactions on the subreddit for a popular Australian psych band, is kind of insufferable sometimes.
I can’t deny the talent, though, and there was enough variety to keep things sort of interesting - even if the experimental/atmospheric/psych excursions fall flat for me and a couple of these songs kind of sound like “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” rewrites.
I was going to give this 3 stars, but then I heard “MORBUD4ME”. Oof.
Joe Jackson
3/5
Do you think Joe Jackson intentionally put a pair of shoes on the cover of this record in order to differentiate himself from disgraced baseball player “Shoeless” Joe Jackson from the 1919 Chicago White Sox?
(The hundred and twenty year olds and baseball historians in the audience will appreciate that joke)
Michael Hurley
4/5
While I was listening to this on my ride home from work tonight, I thought, “You know, this kind of sounds like music Yo La Tengo might cover”.
Well, when I got home and had a chance to do a little research, it turns it’s exactly the type of music Yo La Tengo would cover - they covered Michael Hurley’s song “Polynesia” on their 2018 LP, “There’s a Riot Going On”. Not only that, but I saw them cover that song at one of their Hanukkah shows in 2018. They were joined on stage for the performance by Peter Stampfel of the Holy Modal Rounders.
Suffice to say, I enjoyed this record. It’s a fun folk record that doesn’t take it self too seriously, with excellent instrumentation and a bit of a psychedelic side to it.
Also, I am obligated to point out that Michael Hurley, like so many of the great artists on this user list, is from New Jersey and that is just another point in the “Michael Hurley is cool” column.
Daft Punk
3/5
I have the feeling I’m going to listen to every Daft Punk album except for Human After All because of these two lists.
Avenged Sevenfold
1/5
I’m sorry, but the way this dude sings “I can’t trust anyone…” (at 2:04) in the second track, “Burn it Down” sent me. That might be the whiniest voice I’ve ever heard on a Metal album. Like, who let Poindexter front this band?
I’m laughing so hard at it and I’m sorry, OP. It’s not fair, but I can’t handle it.
Guy Clark
2/5
Times New Viking
3/5
A bit like listening to The Clean through two tin cans connected by a piece of string.
Stromae
2/5
Fall Out Boy
1/5
Yellowcard
2/5
Sunny Day Real Estate
3/5
STARSET
1/5
You can’t fool me with high-concept sci-fi and distorted guitars…I know pop music when I hear it.
R.E.M.
3/5
…and here I thought I would be able to get through both of these lists without having to listen to “Shiny Happy People”.
Mac Miller
2/5
Chico Science
3/5
Courteeners
1/5
I’m actually kind of surprised this wasn’t on the original list.
Mustafa
4/5
Louis Armstrong
3/5
Bohren & Der Club Of Gore
2/5
Like listening to the Twin Peaks Soundtrack on quaaludes.
Ornatos Violeta
3/5
I always enjoy hearing some non-English rock music and I enjoyed the healthy doses of (what I assume is) analog synth, even if it was a bit OK Computer-y for me.
The Hold Steady
4/5
There’s some Guided By Voices influence, or, maybe it’s more like shared DNA, with The Hold Steady, so I’m enjoying this quite a bit. It’s big, hooky guitar rock, ideally paired with some domestic lager in a crowded indie rock club.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
The band is on fire and the performances are electric here. Springsteen is pretty well represented on the main list, however. Since I enjoyed those records, it was fun to hear the band live, at the peak of their powers, but im not surprised that users who dislike the Boss are balking at this suggestion.
Ornette Coleman
4/5
The Civil Wars
3/5
This type of americana/indie doesn’t really do anything for me. Feels a little too polished or cosmopolitan, if I’m being honest. It’s not really a “must hear” to my ears, but it’s well performed and sung and I didn’t really have a visceral dislike for any of it, so I’ll give it a three. I think that’s only fair, right?
Chucklehead
2/5
Gurrumul
4/5
Kashmir
3/5
Ethereal and sometimes brooding indie rock. Sort of like a cross between Interpol and Radiohead in a way. Started to overstay its welcome after about 30 minutes, but mostly enjoyable.
Jóhann Jóhannsson
4/5
Thoroughly enjoyed this, and I agree with the submitting user that this type of music is underrepresented (actually, it’s really not represented at all) on the main list.
However, I also find it somewhat odd to choose an album that you’re not convinced is a 5 star record. If you think minimalism/modern classical is not represented well on the list, why not choose an album that is a cornerstone of the genre, like Steve Reich’s “Music for 18 Musicians”?
Opinions of the user base be damned - the influence of that piece on modern music, whether on the likes of David Bowie and Brian Eno, Tortoise and Stereolab, or Bjork and a host of electronic music, is pretty profound. I highly recommend it, though it is quite different from the music here on Englabörn.
Apologies to the submitting user, I don’t mean to question your motives too much - this was a very good, but somewhat puzzling, choice for the list.
Alexisonfire
1/5
You know, while I was listening, I was like, “I wonder if it’s Alex Is On Fire or Alexis On Fire”, but after a while, I was like “it’s gotta be Alex Is On Fire” and kind of let it go.
Later in the day, I had to know, so I googled it and apparently it’s “Alexis On Fire”, which goes to show you that using spaces is pretty important when it comes to the written word.
Pearl Jam
5/5
This was the first CD I bought, back when I was 12 and it was brand new. It wasn’t the first CD I had, but it was the first that wasn’t a gift and the first that I asked my parents take me to the mall to buy. My Aunt Pam gave me 20 bucks for Christmas in ‘93 and wrote in the card “buy yourself a CD, I hear the new Pearl Jam record is good”.
So, that’s exactly what I did.
My music taste at that point wasn’t really formed and even though I knew Pearl Jam and liked them, the thought of buying one of their CD’s (or any other artist’s albums) hadn’t really occurred to me. I wasn’t a music obsessive at 12 and was kind of content just to listen to the radio and whatever came out of the speakers there.
That changed pretty quickly after I bought Vs. I started buying Import Pearl Jam CD singles, so I could have the b-sides and rarities and they were probably the first band where I felt a need to be a completist. That obsession soon followed to other bands and even today, there are a bunch of bands I am a bit an obsessive completist for: Guided By Voices, Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth…
The Pearl Jam obsession was pretty short-lived, as I kind of lost interest after Vitalogy, but they were the cornerstone for future behavior, I suppose.
It’s kind of interesting to have taken that trip back through the past and kind of pinpoint the genesis of a piece of my personality.
When listening today, I had a similar response to this record as I did with the Beastie Boys’ “Ill Communication”, where I started to think about how that era in America felt so promising, like it was the dawn of something new, but that promise has now completely evaporated.
Ironic and infuriating that some of the songs here tackle the same issues that we are still struggling with today: Police Brutality (WMA), Gun Violence and Gun Control (Glorified G), Inequality (Rats, even if the metaphor is a little muddy).
Nothing changes, we’ve been singing the same songs for 30 years and then some. And we’ll probably be singing them for another 30 years.
Well, that’s bleak.
Let’s see if I can turn this around and end on a more positive note…
One thing that also hasn’t changed over the last 30 years is that I still think Rearview Mirror is Pearl Jam’s best song. Combine that with this being one of the most formative albums of my life and you’ve got an easy 5 from me, even if I still don’t like “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town”.
The Amazing Devil
1/5
I lost interest after they started singing about showing their cat some memes and playing D&D.
Lady Gaga
3/5
Yes, this should probably be on the original list.
No, it isn’t really for me.
Vince Guaraldi Trio
4/5
This is a great Christmas record because there is very little singing about Christmas on it. A timeless and cool Christmas record, imo.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
5/5
The Friday this album was released, in Nov 2017, I had to travel back to New Jersey from Connecticut after spending the week in my old company’s headquarters for a project.
I had taken that Friday off for the travel and because the following week was the week of Thanksgiving - a week I typically take off each year - so I woke up late in my hotel, logged in to bandcamp and downloaded Polygondwanaland on to my phone, since it was being released for free by the band. It was their 4th album of 2017 and the three preceding it, in my estimation, were all pretty incredible records, so I was understandably hyped for its release as a fan. I figured my drive home would be the perfect time and place to soak it in.
When going to and from my company’s headquarters in North Haven, CT, I always took the Merritt Parkway instead of I-95. For those who are unfamiliar, the Merritt is a “historic roadway”: a tree lined, 4 lane (2 lanes on each side) highway with many elaborately designed, Gothic or Art Deco-ish overpasses dating back to the late 1930’s. I’ve taken to referring to The Merritt as the “American Autobahn”, because of the high speeds most drivers engage in on the road, but also because at the right time of day, with minimal drivers on the road, it brings out the joy and feeling of freedom that driving can elicit, which most highways in the US lack.
It is a truly beautiful stretch of roadway and in Mid November 2017, with the last of the autumn leaves changing colors and falling on a sunny but cold Friday afternoon, it was the perfect visual accompaniment for this record.
Polygonwanaland’s drums and arpeggiated synths propelled these songs forward as I raced down The Merritt and its serpentine guitars guided me through the road’s twists and turns. The flutes, bubbling synthetics and other ethereal instrumentation enhanced the fall landscape of orange and browning leaves, with sun gleaming through the soon-to-be threadbare trees.
If I could go back in time and revisit my first listen to any album, this experience would be near top of my list, and if you ever find yourself on the Merritt Parkway in the fall, I highly recommend making this record your soundtrack to that drive.
For me, this is King Gizzard’s best album. It’s a dense and intricate distillation of their brand of psychedelia. It’s a masterpiece that I don’t believe they will ever top, as good as some of their records since its release have been. They captured lightning in a bottle here on Polygondwanaland.
Porcupine Tree
3/5
Steven Wilson’s brand of prog rock often feels like not much more than ethereal metal to me, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. His albums tend to feel cold and clinical, or maybe overly processed and lacking spontaneity. For whatever reason, it just doesn’t move me.
Joan As Police Woman
3/5
This record gets a lot of mileage out of minimal arrangements and instrumentation in its songs. Despite relying on only a few instruments, vocals and occasional pockets of treated and restrained noise, the songs feel pretty fleshed out and engaging. A solid record, not sure I’d raise it to the level of “must-hear”, but still enjoyable.
Ookla The Mok
1/5
By all means, name your band after a character from Thundarr the Barbarian, but please don’t expect me to rate your goofy record highly.
Foxing
3/5
I guess maybe my expectations of indie rock are too high and I should accept that “indie” is no longer an ethos, but a “sound” to be achieved. This record was fine, but didn’t really offer much that you couldn’t hear from Tv On the Radio or some other late aughts/mid-2010’s indie bands. They do it well, but I’m not sure there’s much new ground broken here.
Billy Squier
3/5
Well, holy shit…this album was released the day I was born. That’s crazy.
It’s a solid rock record, even if it owes a bit to Led Zeppelin and is a little butt rock-y….like this is what you’d cruise around listening to in your Datsun 280z and I can see the merit in that.
A high 3 because we share a birthday.
The Stooges
3/5
An appreciation for bootleg audio and the history of the Stooges/proto-punk will probably go a long way in your appreciation of this record.
I don’t mind poorly recorded live audio (I’ve heard worse than this) and I like the Stooges, so I appreciated this record, even though I don’t think it’s essential listening.
Enter Shikari
1/5
Jon Batiste
3/5
My Chemical Romance
2/5
+1 because they are from NJ.
The Hold Steady
4/5
A bit like Springsteen by way of GBV.
4/5 high kicks
Sports Team
4/5
Kind of looks like a Pavement record, kind of sounds like a Pavement record.
…and I’m kind of okay with that.
ROSALÍA
4/5
Look, this is a bit overly dramatic for my personal taste, but I cannot deny the talent and ambition on display here. Very impressive.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
3/5
It just keeps building and building and building up to something, but doesn’t ever really pay off for me.
Dead Boys
4/5
With the exception of the Damned, early US punk is almost always more interesting than the big name original UK punk bands.
There, I said it.
Do yourself a favor and follow this record up with the song “City Slang” by Sonic’s Rendezvous Band.
Susanne Sundfør
4/5
Throughly enjoyed this sparse and icy Nordic folk record. The music concrete/found sounds really open this album up, creating an otherworldly ambience.
“Music for People in Trouble” stands well above the litany of otherwise middling indie folk records on this user list.
It is a quite beautiful record.
Jack Johnson
1/5
Like dipping white bread into warm milk.
Frank Zappa
3/5
In case you are wondering how on earth a song called “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow” could be a hit in America in the 70’s, don’t forget that there was a man (Bill Saluga) who made a career as a character called “Ray Jay Johnson, Jr” who literally only said “You can call me Ray, or you can call me Jay, or you can call me Ray Jay…”
That was it. That was his act. He appeared on TV shows and in commercials and that was all he did and I’m sure he got paid pretty well for it.
The bar was low then.
Another reviewer said that they only really like Zappa when he’s not singing and I tend to agree with that. His instrumental work is far more palatable than his music with vocals.
Lyrically, his music is pretty stupid. I get why he wrote songs the way he did, but the lyrics are usually pretty off-putting. Honestly, the music feels kind of stupid too, but…in a smart way, like his music is so smart that it’s actually stupid to listen to. He leans so much into the technical side of music theory that it often becomes academic, self-congratulatory and unenjoyable.
Now, I don’t think he makes bad music necessarily - it has it moments, particularly on the back half of this record, starting with Cosmik Debris - but I’m just not that into the science and mathematics of making music that this really resonates with me…and I think that for a lot of people that is the appeal of Zappa.
Powderfinger
3/5
Garbage
2/5
Deltron 3030
5/5
I said in my review of Mike Ladd’s “Welcome to the Afterfuture” on the main list that this record should have been included in its place.
Come to think of it, I said that about the Gorillaz record, too.
I stand by both those statements.
Deltron 3030 is an alternative hip-hop classic. Automator’s production is evocative and world-building, Del’s flow is slinky, psychedelic and smooth, and Kid Koala puts on a scratching masterclass.
Forget 1001, this should be on your 100 Albums To Hear Before You Die list.
Titus Andronicus
5/5
As a New Jersey resident, instant high marks for Titus Andronicus for a number of reasons, including, but certainly not limited to, the fact that they drop a reference to the Newark Bears in the first 90 seconds of this record.
Titus Andronicus are real ones and I’ve always thought this was one hell of a rock record. It’s the kind of record you’ll want to put on when you’ve been barhopping all night and you end up at some hole in the wall in Bayonne and you’re not sure exactly how you ended up there, but for the night, at least…that’s where you’re supposed be.
The War On Drugs
4/5
Gonna go against the grain a little on this one and say that I liked this better than Lost In The Dream.
There’s a few songs here where the shared influences between Adam Granduciel and Kurt Vile are readily apparent and it makes sense that they are good friends/collaborators. Might be worth checking out a KV record, like Wakin’ on a Pretty Daze or Smoke Ring for My Halo as a sort of counterpoint to the inclusion of Lost in the Dream, if you’re unfamiliar. Anyway, I enjoyed A Deeper Understanding enough to revisit it, which wasn’t really the case for Lost In The Dream.
Freddie Gibbs
4/5
Madlib always going to get high ratings from me, especially here where he flips a sample from Italian prog rockers Goblin on “Bomb”, amongst a ton of other great sample work. His smoothed-out and soulful production is an excellent complement for Freddie Gibbs and the result is an elevated and heady gangsta rap record. An excellent selection for the user list.
Turnstile
4/5
About 8 months ago, YouTube recommended me a grainy, VHS-looking concert video from a park in Baltimore. It looked like it was from 1998, but the music sounded new…because it was.
If you’re a Turnstile fan, you’ve seen that video. It was a benefit concert they performed and it kind of doubled as an hour-long hype video for their newest album - NEVER ENOUGH.
It immediately gripped me. It was thrilling to see that the hardcore scene was still thriving and provided a strong sense of nostalgia for me. The kids in that video - stage diving, throwing down in the pit and screaming the lyrics into the mic when the singer held it out to the crow - it reminded me of seeing hardcore shows in the late 90’s. It wasn’t all that different from seeing a band like Snapcase in the 90’s, except the music was maybe a little more polished and mainstream sounding, but the spirit was the same.
…and seeing that made me happy. Even gave me a little bit of hope for the future, if I’m being honest.
The community in the punk and hardcore scene, where people stand up for others, play shows to benefit charities (for food banks, healthcare, helping the homeless and other marginalized people) is an important one. Particularly in this day and age, where people are being intentionally divided on a daily basis - it was refreshing to see thousands of kids coming together to see their favorite band while supporting a charity and blowing off some steam at the same time.
Hopefully, mainstream success and outside attention doesn’t sour that spirit of camaraderie, the desire to change things and do something good for people in your community.
Here’s that video, I think it’s worth your time to see the enthusiasm and energy this band inspires. I really think they are doing something special:
https://youtu.be/3oGSjmbuEG8?si=7vYNd-4_AZexNCVM
(Concert starts at around the 17:30 minute mark, if you want to fast-forward.)
John Martyn
2/5
I legitimately almost shut this off when he sang “some people are crrrrrrraaaaazzz-oooh” like a minute in the record. I cannot stand vocalizations like that. Instant turn off.
I can only assume this record was chosen as a counterpoint to “One World”, which is on the main list and was released 3 years before this record. It can’t possibly be as a counterpoint to “Solid Air”, because that record was absolutely fantastic and should be on the list without being challenged.
This was an all right record. Martyn is unquestionably talented, but it feels a little too jazzy and a bit coked-out, like “One World” did at times. I’m just not sure there’s a need for 3 John Martyn records over the course of these two lists.
The Tragically Hip
3/5
ngl, it’s starting to feel like all I listen to is Tool, The Tragically Hip and Daft Punk.
Bon Iver
1/5
I know we’re supposed to be “impartial” and “have an open mind” when reviewing these records, but I cannot stand this man’s music.
It’s just so over-processed and devoid of any meaningful energy to my ears.
Queens of the Stone Age
4/5
Should definitely have been on the list, even though Rated R is my personal preference.
Everything Everything
2/5
Backstreet Boys
1/5
Already lived through this once, thank you.
Thee Oh Sees
5/5
Love Thee Oh Sees, saw them around the time of this tour, though I think it might have been a little earlier since they were a three piece and Drop had recently come out.
Anyway, awesome band, great live show. I probably would have chosen a studio record as an entry point, either Floating Coffin or Mutilator Defeated at Last or, but I also do have a soft spot for Carrion Crawler/The Dream.
Still, an easy 5 stars from me.
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong
1/5
Interminable, basic frat funk.
Less Than Jake
2/5
Wilco
3/5
I guess I’m the only person on Earth that thinks Summerteeth is Wilco’s best album.
Paco de Lucía
4/5
Wait…we can add albums that aren’t emo or indie folk?!??
"Weird Al" Yankovic
4/5
This cassette, along with a host of other Weird Al albums, where staples in my family’s car when I was growing up in the 80’s. I probably drove my parents a little bit nuts constantly asking for those tapes to be played whenever we went trips to my grandparents or whatever, so this was a fun, nostalgic listen and it was crazy how much of the lyrics to some of these songs I remember without having heard them in decades.
As a result of listening to this record today, I also revisited some other classic songs Weird Al songs and I have to say, “I Think I’m a Clone Now” might be his best parody. Also, now that I’m in my 40’s, “Living With a Hernia” resonates a little differently, but I’ve been cracking up thinking about that one all day.
Neil Cicierega
1/5
In no particular order, here’s 10 of the albums that were considered, but didn’t make the cut, for my album submission, by artists who have not been yet added to this list:
The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms
The Clean - Boodle Boodle Boodle EP
Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians
Cornelius - Point
Ashra - New Age of Earth
J Dilla - Donuts
Goblin - Suspiria OST
Wipers - Youth of America
Daniel Romano’s Outfit - La Luna
Fishmans - Long Season
Valerie June
4/5
Not what I was expecting really, but also exactly what I was expecting in spots. The folk songs on this are incredible and Valerie June’s voice is incredible. A very nice, relaxing record after a hard days work.
Great submission.
Café Tacvba
3/5
Paramore
3/5
Dream Theater
1/5
Gonna be real with ya, sometimes I feel like prog might have had an expiration date of mid-1975.
Touché Amoré
3/5
Counting Crows
1/5
You know what? It makes sense why some of the greatest albums of all time barely register a 3 on this website.
Kano
3/5
Better than expected, goes pretty hard out of the gate, but ended up feeling a little repetitive towards the end. Solid choice, though.
Yello
2/5
I wanted to hate this more than I did.
...at least at first.
By the 6th or 7th song I had had enough.
Aesop Rock
4/5
Would’ve chose “Labor Days”, personally, but this is good.
Mac DeMarco
3/5
Chappell Roan
3/5
Pop music isn’t for me - total hyper mega bummer boy energy, I know.
For someone who isn’t necessarily interested in this type of music and is only an occasional tourist into the popular music cultural zeitgeist, i thought it was a decent record. Not something I’d seek out, but also not something I’d be bothered by if someone put it on.
Interpol
3/5
I know the knock on these dudes is that they sound like Joy Division, but like…if you discount the vocal style, this tracks pretty close to a Sonic Youth record in a lot of spots.
The Housemartins
2/5
Wolf Alice
3/5
Good amount of variation in the songs here - it’s poppy, shoegaze-y, noisy and fuzzy. Pretty heavily indebted to 90’s alt, which I won’t complain about. They get a nice NEU!-ish groove going on in the first half of Giant Peach, which I enjoyed. Worth revisiting, I think.
Ryan Adams
2/5
Gonna keep it 100, I shut this record off when the Wonderwall cover came on.
Talking Heads
3/5
Everybody is always like, “Stop Making Sense is the best live album ever made”, and I’m like, “Shit, it’s not even the best live record Talking Heads ever made - that’s ‘The Name of This Band is Talking Heads’.”
Lo Fidelity Allstars
2/5
Richard Dawson
2/5
If you ever want to trick someone into thinking their car is falling apart while they’re driving, go ahead and put this bad boy on.
I’ve got a new car and every couple minutes or so while listening on my commute home, I was like “what is that noise?” only to realize it was some kind odd percussion or string resonance from a bass or guitar. It’s such a weird and janky sounding record, which does have some appeal to me…
…but that only goes so far.
Barenaked Ladies
2/5
SHIRLEY: We gotta do something about those painkillers.
JEFF: He's recovering from broken legs.
TROY: He sure is. Dude can moonwalk.
JEFF: He's almost through his prescription. Besides, he's a baby boomer. They invented drugs.
BRITTA: Yeah, they also invented TV. Have you seen him control one of those?
ANNIE: Intervention? Intervention? Intervention?
JEFF: Count me out.
SHIRLEY: We can't count you out. He listens to you.
JEFF: He also listens to the Barenaked Ladies. Go get their dumb asses to help you.
[ALL GASP]
BRITTA: Back it up.
TROY: Okay, Jeff. You are clearly in a bad space today, but Pierce is our friend and the Barenaked Ladies are triple platinum. Are you?
JEFF: Why does everyone leap to defend that band so aggressively? And how much stuff do we have to go through before my friendship stops being questioned?
ANNIE: Maybe friendship is about going through a lot of stuff. And maybe BNL has two Billboard Awards to your zero.
JEFF: Oh, they're "BNL" now? We need a shorthand for the Barenaked Ladies. That's how fundamental they are. You know what Pierce probably needs more than anything? Some space. Maybe I do too.
BRITTA: Maybe we all need some space to pull the knife out of the back of the most celebrated Canadian alt-rock band of the mid-'90s, you selfish, jaded ass.
JEFF: This is a fight. We are fighting.
Noname
4/5
Unwound
4/5
So first off, kudos to the Numero Group for the work they do in reissuing classic records from bands like Unwound and bringing newfound attention to their catalogs, when they might have otherwise gotten lost in the shuffle as years went by.
This is a record that is mostly right up my alley, given my predilection for noisy 90’s indie rock. Enjoyed it quite a bit and followed it up with Ride The Fader by Chavez, from the same year, which is similarly angular post-hardcore, but maybe a bit more melodic.
I’m living today like it’s 1996, right down to the blizzard that’s about to hit the Northeast US.
Operation Ivy
2/5
TOOL
1/5
There are two Tool albums that should’ve been included on the original list: Ænima and Lateralus.
This one and 10,000 days are fine records, but don’t really bring a whole lot of new ideas to the table that the others didn’t already do exceptionally well. These two land squarely in “essential listening if you are a fan” territory.
Sorry.
Consider this a protest rating, I guess, but I really don’t think that four Tool albums on the user list (which accounts for *80% of the band’s studio album output*) is warranted.
Spinvis
4/5
Right up my alley with Air, Stereolab and some strong DIY vibes.
Excellent submission.
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
4/5
Bright Eyes
3/5
I’m half-awake, it’s late afternoon…and it’s all because I had to wake up at 4 am to work with colleagues on the other side of the world.
Yoko Ono
3/5
A few people here giving air to the theory that Yoko Ono broke up the Beatles, which has always had a misogynist undercurrent to it, but whatever...there’s plenty of information out there you can read that debunks that theory.
But…
*If that was the case*, we should all be thankful that she spared us all from having to listen to the inevitable late 70’s Beatles disco and 80’s synth pop albums that would have been foisted upon us.
As for Fly, it’s experimental and groove heavy and shares some musical DNA with the music bands like Can were making around the same time. It kind of collapses in on itself in the second disc, but on the whole, it is nowhere near as unlistenable as a lot of you are making it out to be. Its structure is actually a bit like Can’s Tago Mago - more rock/song oriented on the first disc, ethereal and experimental on the second disc.
Dolly Parton
2/5
Bruce Cockburn
3/5
This is like what your ex-girlfriend’s hippy parents would listen to. It’s not bad and you’d put up with it when they turn it on, cause they’re pretty chill people, but the entire time it’s playing, it’s slowly gnawing at the core of your being.
Harmonium
3/5
Glass Animals
3/5
Bob Mould
4/5
Not sure if this is better than Copper Blue, I’d say they’re about equal, so I’m giving this the same score.
blink-182
1/5
They deftly strike a balance between being extremely annoying *and* pretentious on this one.
I mean…this is a Blink 182 album with a freakin’ glockenspiel on it.
Jeff Rosenstock
5/5
Tons of depth, intensity and a DIY focus.
Great recommendation, this is everything indie rock should be.
311
1/5
Beyond not really caring for this record, I kind of feel like I set a precedent for myself regarding White Reggae in my review of The Police’s “Regatta de Blanc” and it would be hypocritical for me to rate this record higher than that one.
Duncan Dhu
3/5
System Of A Down
4/5
Sometimes things that sound kind of dumb can actually be pretty smart; sometimes things that sound kind of smart can actually be pretty dumb.
Daniel Bélanger
2/5
Pretty heavy Air vibes on this one.
The Angelic Process
3/5
This is a little too mushy sounding and lacking dynamics for me - the aural equivalent of eating a mealy apple for most of it. It’s isn’t bad, but, like, I don’t enjoy My Bloody Valentine enough to be enthralled by an experimental metal album that’s heavily indebted to them and like, that’s kind of the draw of this record, right…My Bloody Valentine metal?
Mogwai
4/5
Lmao, did System of a Down bite the riff from “Summer” for “Toxicity”?
Avicii
2/5
Girl Talk
1/5
In my review of The Avalanches’ “Since I Left You”, I lamented that the plunderphonics label got applied to their music, because it implies they’re doing something recklessly, with a disregard for history and lack of grace.
This record, to me, is plunderphonics. Lifting big chunks of songs, smashing them together without doing much to augment them or bring something new to the table.
Ikd-sj
2/5
Good to see the Japanese were not immune to nu metal
65daysofstatic
2/5
Queen
3/5
Look, I don’t really think another Queen record was really needed, but I do see the argument for including this over one of the other Queen records, like Queen II, which is kind of an oddly prog-ish, not fully formed version of the band. Plus, this is a counterpoint/continuation of A Night at the Opera, so I understand the motive behind this inclusion.
I will say that it drives me nuts that this album has a black cover and Night at the Opera has a white one...Nighttime is dark and daytime is light, Queen - what are you trying to do to us?!? You’ve created unnecessary confusion with your graphic design choices and I am taking that into consideration for my rating of this record.
Ty Segall
3/5
Probably not the Ty Segall record I would’ve included, since Emotional Mugger, for me, is probably one that’s more for the diehards, rather than a first exposure type of record. It’s a little weirder and more experimental than some of his others, so I get why it might be a turn off to a first time listener.
Twins is probably the record I’d recommend for a first timer. That record is a ripper.
It’s Friday, so here’s my Ty Segall top 5 for the moment:
1. Twins
2. Manipulator
3. Slaughterhouse (Ty Segall Band)
4. Goodbye Bread
5. Ty Segall (2017)
Honorable mentions to Hair (w/ White Fence), Freedom’s Goblin.
Blackalicious
5/5
Fantastic production, impeccable flow. Excellent from front to back.
3/5
Charles Aznavour
3/5
Mull Historical Society
2/5
Mastodon
2/5
Bruce Hornsby
1/5
Floating Points
5/5
Had this on my shortlist of albums to submit, glad that someone got to it before I did - Promises is exactly the type of record that should be on the list.
It’s an evocative piece that blends free jazz, electronic, and avant garde classical in an organic, serene and meditative way.
Movement 6, the album’s centerpiece, finds the London Symphony Orchestra slowly building upon the album’s main theme, creating an intense symphonic torrent that envelops, as though you are standing in the middle of a hurricane. Just when you think it could not get any more intense, the Symphony drops out and the torrent stops, leaving you to quietly survey its aftermath.
To me, this record is a masterful work of art and I would be surprised if it wasn’t included in the updated version of the book later this year.
Polvo
4/5
Like some others said, probably would’ve gone with Today’s Active Lifestyles (I’m also partial to Celebrate the New Dark Age, but I guess that’s an EP), but either way, Polvo’s cool with me.
Medeski, Martin & Wood
2/5
Carla Bley
3/5
A broad generalization, but one that you can probably get by on:
If it’s on the ECM record label, it’s probably going to be pretty good.
The B-52's
3/5
Liked this quite a bit and maybe even more than their record on the main list, but man…”Quiche Lorraine” drove me nuts.
Rita Ora
1/5
Yeah, sorry, this one’s not for me.
Gerry Cinnamon
2/5
I wasn’t really going to write much on this one, because it wasn’t really moving the needle for me in either way - “3.6 roentgen, not great, not terrible”, as a guy in a TV show once said.
…but I started reading the Apple Music notes/review that accompanies the album and saw that Mr. Cinnamon compared the album’s title track to “Powderfinger” by Neil Young and it piqued my interest.
Here’s what Gerry had to say about it:
“There’s a song, ‘Powderfinger’ by Neil Young. It’s fucking amazing, man—an example of the most information crammed into one song. He paints the entire scene with the boy on the dock, with the ship coming towards him—it creates this sense of urgency.
Awesome, I agree. Great song, with evocative lyrics and it is densely packed with imagery. You’re not so bad, Gerry Cinnamon.
He continues:
‘Erratic Cinematic’ is in that kind of vein. It’s three of my favorite films compressed, trying to create imagery.
Oh, Ok…what three films would those be?
’Say hello to my little friend’ is out of Scarface. The chorus is ‘I don't think we're in Kansas anymore/Still the same old road/Lions and tigers and bears, oh my/Just want to go back home, there's no place like home.’ That’s obviously The Wizard of Oz. ‘This is your life, and it’s ending one moment at a time.’ That’s from Fight Club—nobody remembers that line, but when you say [where it’s from], they go, ‘Ahhhhhhhhhh!’”
Hmm…
So here’s the thing about Powderfinger. Yes, it is packed with descriptive lyrics and it paints a picture of a boy on a dock with a ship urgently coming towards him, but over the last 30 years as a Neil Young fan, I can’t, for the life of me, figure out what the song is exactly about.
Why is the boat coming up the river towards the boy on the dock? What is the conflict all about? If his dad’s gone, his brother’s hunting in the mountains and Big John’s been drinking since the river took Emmylou, who are the “powers that be” that left him there to do the thinkin’ and what’s he supposed to be thinkin’ about? Also, what’s the back story with Emmylou and the river and why’d the guys in the boat shoot this kid’s dog?
That song basically tells the story of a kid defending his home and being shot, but the “why” of it is never made clear and I think that is what makes its descriptive imagery so powerful. It’s telling a fraction of a story that probably amounts to mere minutes of the main character’s short life.
To borrow a metaphor from one of the films that Gerry Cinnamon references in his song, Neil Young is clever enough to not let us see the man behind the curtain and instead lets our imagination fill in the gaps.
I don’t think Gerry was able to do that with his song, it’s quite heavy handed with references to the films it’s drawing inspiration from and the imagery he is conjuring isn’t even his own.
Björk
5/5
First things first, to the user who submitted this record:
You said some very nice things about me in your review of the album I submitted, Yo La Tengo’s “I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One”, so I’d like to return the favor and say that I often find myself in agreement with you about the records on these two lists. In fact, after listening to an album, I usually check for your review to see if we’ve landed in the same scoring range, which happens pretty frequently. Thanks for making your reviews easily identifiable, but more importantly, for making them interesting and engaging.
Now, Bjork…I wouldn’t consider myself a fan. Not because I dislike her music, but mostly because I’ve never taken the time to really investigate her catalog - which is pretty wide ranging and a little daunting, if I’m being honest. I have respect for her constant evolution as an artist and the influence she has had, but I feel like I’ve never really had the right “hook” to get into her music. I ended up liking some of her albums on the list more than others, but none really grabbed me.
At least not in the way this one has. After only having given it an in-depth listen, the omission of this album from the main list does seem like a mistake. Even without taking into account all of the critical acclaim and influence (I see you, Radiohead), this record feels like a high water mark and one that might be difficult to top…it’s pretty clear that something special was captured on this album.
I plan to give it another listen this weekend and maybe revisit some of Bjork’s other records with a better understanding and an ear that is now more in tune to what Bjork is.
Because it’s inspired me to dig deeper into Bjork and it does feel like a pretty important omission from the original list, anything less than a 5 star rating doesn’t seem fair.
The Sundays
3/5
Warren Zevon
3/5
Jawbreaker
3/5
The Shins
3/5
Has a line from a movie ever done a band less favors? Sure, at first, there was probably an uptick in fans, but over time, the Shins became a bit of a meme thanks to what’s-his-face from Scrubs telling you that they were gonna “change your life” in Garden State.
No? It’s just me?
Ok. I’m just saying that it’s kind of hard to live up to hype like that and I doubt I’m the only fan of that record who found that line kind of off-putting when the movie came out.
“Oh, Inverted World” is a fantastic psych/garage rock record and is definitely the Shins album I would add to this list, if tasked. It’s a little more lively and energetic. The songs are bit more concise and the overall sound of the record seems to be more focused and cohesive than on this record.
…and man, do I love “Know Your Onion!” - that’s a perfect song, as far as I’m concerned.
That said, I found “Wincing the Night Away” to be a solid record. It’s definitely more expansive and broadens their sound beyond the 60’s garage psych headphone symphonies of the first record. It think it was a little more interesting in the back half, but still enjoyable overall, even if it felt kind of scattershot and less organic than The Shins record that changed our collective lives all those years ago.
Espers
4/5
Was not expecting this to be so diabolical.
Kind of reminds me of Popol Vuh in the Einsjäger und Siebenjäger or Letzte Tage - Letzte Nächte era in a way.
Nicely done.
Sum 41
3/5
Fontaines D.C.
3/5
I preferred Dogrel, but enjoyed the more melodic vocals on this record.
Frightened Rabbit
3/5
Freestylers
2/5
The Fall
4/5
I’ve liked every fall album I’ve heard, but for whatever reason, they haven’t made their way into my regular rotation.
King Crimson
4/5
There are songs on this record that I love - the guitar interplay on Frame By Frame is incredible - but it always struck me as a little reactionary and indebted to what was going on in New York in the late 70’s/early 80’s. There is a definite Talking Heads vibe going on a few of the songs, which make sense given Adrian Belew’s involvement with them on Remain in Light a year earlier, but feels odd for a band that had previously been pretty steadfast in charting their own course.
Prolapse
5/5
You see a band called Prolapse and immediately think “Grindcore”, not an amazing blend of krautrock, noise and post-punk that’s like putting Stereolab, The Fall and Sonic Youth into a blender.
Now, the real question: How do I recommend a band called Prolapse to people?
Edit: Upping this rating to a 5, because I’ve been listening to this record non-stop for the last week.
Depeche Mode
3/5
It’s a swan wrapped in cellophane, what is so puzzling about that?
Sufjan Stevens
2/5
Maybe sometimes it’s ok to judge a book (album) by its cover?
Toots & The Maytals
4/5
Pressure drop started playing and before any vocals started, I was like “why does this sound so familiar?” Once the “ah-ahah-ah” vocals started and I started humming along without really knowing what was coming next, and I realized that this was the original version of the song that Sam Seder uses for his podcast, “The Majority Report”. He originally used the Clash version, I think, then had to switch to a cover of that version by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists due to some kind of copyright issue. So I knew that song, but thrice removed. Just goes to show what a blindspot reggae is for me.
Anyway, this is a pretty excellent record which probably should’ve been on the list. Not a huge fan of the Country Roads cover, but mostly because I don’t like that song in any configuration. Regardless, a great submission.
Itoiz
3/5
My Chemical Romance
2/5
The Flaming Lips
5/5
Off the bat, I appreciate the audacity of adding this record to the list and I hope that people take the time to try and listen as intended. I’m not optimistic they will, but I have hope that they do. In fact, it’s probably a bit easier now than it used to be, with the proliferation of Bluetooth speakers. You could probably tell 4 friends to bring a Bluetooth speaker, their phones and get set up to listen to this album pretty easily. I know I’ve got a least two Bluetooth speakers laying around the house I could loan ya.
There are also mix-downs of the 4 discs into fully formed tracks you can listen to easily, but I’d recommend trying to have the 4 source experience first - You need to hear “March of the Rotting Vegetables” in its octophonic(?) glory.
A few weeks ago, I was listening to The Best Show and the topic of that week’s episode, in part, was the best albums of the 90’s. The Flaming Lips came up and Tom Scharpling, the host of the show, said something that I’ve thought a lot about, but could never really put as succinctly as he did. When talking about the transition of the band from the early/mid 90’s to the Soft Bulletin/Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots era of the band, he seemingly lamented that “They had to stop being The Flaming Lips, in order to be The Flaming Lips” - meaning that they had to abandon the crazy guitar based insanity of the first half of their career in order to become the band that everyone knows today.
Zaireeka is the nexus point, or maybe Year Zero, for that change where they stopped being The Flaming Lips and became The Flaming Lips. There are flashes of both bands here: the wildly experimental psych rock band and the more polished, orchestral Flaming Lips.
Like Tom, I have a real soft spot for the early iteration(s) of the band, with Clouds Taste Metallic as one of my favorite records of all time. It doesn’t get the same accolades as the Soft Bulletin or Yoshimi, but I think it’s a masterpiece, on par with the Soft Bulletin in many ways and, frankly, a better record than Yoshimi - it’s a somewhat overlooked classic, if you will.
In fact, in my review of The Soft Bulletin on this site, I called the three album run of Clouds Taste Metallic, Zaireeka and The Soft Bulletin, “the band’s high water mark, which they have not topped”. These three records are masterpieces, all for vastly different reasons, but the progression of the three makes perfect sense when viewed as a band starting, going through and completing a metamorphosis.
As the mid-way point of that cycle, Zaireeka is challenging, experimental, strange and unnerving. It’s possibly the most experimental album ever put out by a major label, at least conceptually.
…but it works.
“Riding to Work in the Year 2025” for my money, is easily one of the best songs The Flaming Lips ever recorded. “35,000 feet of Despair” is harrowing and overwhelming both lyrically and musically. There are moments where the music doesn’t make sense, but also makes perfect sense, like on “The Train Runs Over the Camel, but is Derailed By the Gnat”. When all the disparate parts of that song come together in the second half, it is a thing of beauty.
Yes, Zaireeka gets experimental and some of the songs might try your patience, but when you look at it as a whole, the sheer ambition of putting together an album like this and making it challenging, but also accessible is 5 star-worthy in my book.
Debbie Gibson
1/5
The future only belongs in the hands of itself
And the future is…
e-lec-tric youth
Status Quo
3/5
Slapstick
2/5
Giving this an extra star because like Slapstick, I also never “really ever liked ska a lot.”
Final Fantasy
3/5
Probably better in small doses for me, kind of ends up mining similar territory over and over, but not bad overall.
Massive Attack
4/5
Enjoyed this more than the Massive Attack records on the main list and still don’t fully understand why trip-hop inevitably veers back to sounding like spy movie music, but pretty excellent overall.
Mr. Bungle
2/5
Like a lot of Zappa, overly busy and grating by the end.
Bloodywood
1/5
Chromatics
4/5
Icy Xanax Disco
Manchester Orchestra
2/5
I’ve lamented a bunch in my reviews on the main list about how “indie rock” no longer has an ethos and instead has became a marketable sound for bands to try and replicate.
I would consider this record to be of that ilk - a band making an “indie” record that sounds like what “indie” is supposed to be. It’s not an alternative to anything, really. It sounds like a lot of other things in the “indie” sphere and because of that, it doesn’t really stand out as original or intriguing or subversive, which is what a good Indie Rock record should be.
But it’s not just “indie” getting repurposed here…“The Mistake” sounds just like “Movin’ Out” by Billy Joel and, honestly, it seems such a waste of time - If that’s what “indie rock” is all about.
Mama, if that’s “indie rock”, then I’m…Movin’ Out.
Chuck Berry
4/5
King Crimson
5/5
I caught a little bit of flak on the 1001 Albums Generator subreddit recently for my opinion that In the Court of the Crimson King isn’t a 5 star album and that Larks’ Tongues in Aspic is a better record.
I wasn’t saying that “Court” didn’t deserve a spot on the list, just that “Larks’ Tongues” is a better album; there’s a consistency and more fully formed notion of what King Crimson is on that record. The improvisation is better there, the songwriting is better there and musicianship is better. I get why “Court” gets its accolades, it’s one of the first and it is highly influential. I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility, though, to think that a band could be markedly better on their fifth album than they were on their first. It’s like getting mad at someone for saying that With The Beatles isn’t as good as Abbey Road.
Maybe I could’ve given a more in depth explanation, like I did here, but I’m only airing my grievance with the 1001 Albums Generator Reddit community to express this point:
The 1972-74 lineup of King Crimson is the greatest iteration of the band. They were operating at the highest level of the band’s career from a musical and technical stand point. Doubly, the albums from that time were bursting at the seams with intense focus and creativity compared to previous albums. Their improvisation was cohesive, interesting and they played every song with both the tenacity and grace of a prize fighter.
That’s not to discount the rest of King Crimson’s discography, just that this was the “sweet spot”, as far as I’m concerned.
I do still think that Larks’ Tongues in Aspic is their best album, with Red a close second. Red is a heavy, aggressive and pummeling progressive rock album, with Starless serving as a fitting swan song for the first act of the band.
Since Red, like Court of the Crimson King, has 5 songs, I’ll use the same rating system for this record as that one. I ranked “Court” as a 3/5 because there are three songs that work exceptionally well and two that don’t work quite as well. Red easily ranks as a 5/5 with each song contributing to a cohesive and (possibly) career defining statement.
Vampire Weekend
3/5
This one feels more Beach Boys than Paul Simon, which I appreciated.
That Handsome Devil
1/5
I can’t prove it, but I am 100% certain that Guy Fieri owns this record.
They Might Be Giants
2/5
I get it, but they were always a little too corny for me.
TOOL
4/5
Since Tool fans are famously even-keeled and not-at-all smug or overly defensive about their favorite band, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity for a little roast of Tool, the 1001 Album Generator Community’s favorite band:
- Ænima is such a great record that Tool has remade it 3 times over the last 30 years.
- Tool was so high on drugs that they let Danny Carey be the lead instrumentalist on almost all of their songs…Rrrrrrreeeeeeeaaal fucking high on drugs. (This one might only be funny if you’ve heard the full Bill Hicks bit that Tool samples at the beginning of “Third Eye”).
- When it dawns on them what the lyrics to “Hooker with a Penis” actually mean, Tool fans are going to be very upset.
…all right, enough of that. I’m veering awfully close to only mocking Tool fans and that’s not fair.
Ænima should’ve been on the list. For me, it’s a no-brainer. It’s their best album, if only for the fact that all of their subsequent records a have borrowed from it musically and/or structurally. It’s the blue print for post-1990’s Tool, for better or worse.
Me? I think they put out one great album directly following this one and have been spinning their wheels since. Doesn’t make this a bad album, or them a bad band, but kind of feels like they keep going back to the same well and what was once great, is now watered-down….Doesn’t seem like they’ve done much progressing musically and isn’t the whole point of this band to expand your horizons, man? Pry open your third eye? See things from a different perspective?
What’s the point of doing drugs if you’re just going to end up doing the same thing over and over, until the way it makes you feel in the present can never can never compare with the way it made you feel in the past?
Oh, wait…
Black Devil Disco Club
5/5
You had me at “a French musician who also released synthesizer compositions on library music albums….”
Gary Clark Jr.
3/5
Subject matter aside, this kind of feels like it could’ve been released in the 90’s and I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.
Some nice Funkadelic vibes going on, though which is a plus.
Burial
4/5
The National
2/5
Why are they all the same tempo?
Amon Düül II
5/5
No big deal, it’s only one of the best psych rock albums ever made.
TOOL
1/5
A potential graduate thesis, if there ever was one:
How has Tool, a band that has essentially made the same album over and over for the last 30 years and shown little growth in terms of their sound, become (one of) the greatest “progressive” rock groups of our era?
Tywanna Jo Baskette
2/5
Not without its moments, like on Pretty Crazy Daisy where the instrumental does a lot of heavy lifting, but overall this was a rough one for me. A little too oddly precious and the childlike lyrical stylings got old quick.
The Mountain Goats
4/5
LaBelle
4/5
A cool little factoid about a song on this record:
At the start of the live version of “Cosmic Slop” that appears on 1976’s “ Hardcore Jollies”, Funkadelic interpolates the the refrain of Labelle’s “Space Children”, singing “Space People, Universal Love…”
Overall, a fun and funky R&B/Soul record, with some fantastic vocal performances and songs from the ladies in Labelle, great playing from members of The Meters and excellent production from Allen Toussaint. It might be primarily known for the one song, but Nightbirds is quite enjoyable as a whole.
Self Esteem
3/5
69-ing isn’t that difficult, folks.
Living Colour
3/5
More adventurous than their debut with a prog-ish bent and some absolutely wild guitar solos. A bit dated, but solid overall.
ISIS
2/5
Depeche Mode
2/5
Helloween
1/5
MF DOOM
5/5
Knicks are rolling in the ECF and today I get DOOM?
Hell yes.
Andrew Lloyd Webber
1/5
As part of a school band trip to Toronto my senior year of high school, we had the opportunity to see The Phantom of the Opera at the Pantages Theatre. When I say “opportunity”, I mean that we had to go see the Phantom of the Opera as giant group. It was part of the trip’s schedule and there was no opting out.
It’s one of the few musicals I’ve seen in my life and it did not ingratiate me to the art form. At the time, late spring/early summer 1999, we were treated to The Phantom of The Opera with Paul Stanley from KISS starring as the Phantom. So I guess that made it more interesting to me, since Paul Stanley was in it, but not by a whole lot. I remember thinking it was a very cheesy/campy show and that Stanley’s singing was kind of not great.
Listening to the proper cast recording today, it’s still a little cheesy to my ears, but the vocals are certainly better.
Despite my distaste for musicals, I do think that people should experience one in their lifetime, because how else would you know if it was something you would enjoy? I don’t think an original cast recording of a musical is a must-hear before you die record, however. An audio only recording can’t capture a musical in the same way that a record can capture a rock band. Musicals are inherently visual and hearing the music alone, in most cases, leaves you with only a partial experience.
Type O Negative
1/5
I’ve heard “Black No 1” a ton of times over the years, but never picked up on him saying “Sacré Bleu—uh” before. Hahaha - what the fuck.
Just realizing it’s because that song is 11 minutes long here and I’ve probably only heard the shorter edit. It’s probably a good thing, there’s no need for that song to be 11 minutes, even with the ridiculous “sacré bleu!”, which made me laugh for a good half a minute.
As the record goes on, they cover Seals and Croft, which might be the least metal thing a band could do. They also engage in some Grade A Edgelord trolling on “Kill All the White People” which wasn’t as offensive as it was dumb. Then, they write a song about how they hate everyone and don’t care what people think, which ends up making you feel like they actually do care.
Mr. Steele doth protest too much, methinks.
Tom Petty
3/5
Midnight Oil
4/5
Dio
3/5
Dio never really did it for me. I don’t know if it makes much sense, but Black Sabbath with Ozzy was Black Fucking Sabbath, know what I mean? With Dio they kind of just felt like another metal band to me.
Not trying to disparage Dio, he is a fantastic vocalist, easily among the all time greats in metal. The way I feel about Sabbath with Dio carries over here, though…I wish the music felt a little less generic and took some more risks.
Sahara Hotnights
3/5
Pretty rockin’ power pop
At the Drive-In
4/5
Probably the most ambitious and adventurous of late 90’s emo, though I’m not sure I’d really pigeon-hole them with that tag. Their serpentine song structures and sonic experimentation truly set At the Drive-In apart from the rest of the pack, with Relationship Of Command pointing towards the progressive rock bombast that Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-López would later mine in The Mars Volta.