First album on the user list for me, and this is exactly what I came here for - obscure record by artists I've never heard of. A supergroup consisting of members from bands I've never heard of.
Great symphonic rock with (what I can only assume is) poetic lyrics. Makes me want to learn more Spanish to extend my capabilities beyond ordering beers and paella at restaurants.
Run of the mill country with great lyrics and an all around pleasant listen. Really enjoyed 'That Old Time Feeling'.
Apparently France experienced a community psychosis in 1991 and everyone agreed that this was the shit. Bland sophi-pop.
Good call that the list needed some Bon Iver, and although the debut album would probably be the more popular pick, it's still obvious on the eponymous sophomore record how much of an impact Bon Iver has had on the indie scene the past 18 years.
At this point, the sound on Bon Iver is much too played out and appropriated by countless acts, so some of the charm has faded a bit. I've also always never been really hooked by the album - it's immensely beautiful, yes, but maybe also a tad boring?
Solid pick and a glaring omission from the list, even if Homework is on there. The impact of Discovery on popular- and dance music can hardly be overstated.
Another excellent user pick and utterly bewildering that Elvis Costello had 6 albums on the list, but the editors could not find room for this one.
Pleasant radio-friendly country that took forever to finish.
Another solid addition! I was aware of John Dwyer's work, and this made me want to become even more acquainted with it.
Wow, I hadn’t realised that there was no YLT on the original list. Another poignant user pick, and a great record to represent the group. Actually shocking that it was not included in the list - monumental record.
A solid user pick since Bob Seger probably deserves a spot on the list. But I don’t know enough about the guy to say whether this is the right choice of album - Seger is obviously gifted at writing catchy tunes, but the record as a whole is rather uneven. Perhaps it’s due to the split duties of backing bands.
14 tracks for a total runtime of less than half an hour is my kind of stuff. My Brain Hurts sounds exactly like you would expect, dabbling a bit too much into pop-punk waters for my taste. That being said, the whole thing is catchy and Screeching Weasel do what they set out to do effortlessly.
A good contemporary pick, as there was a time not long ago where Susanne Sundfør was all the rage. Unfortunately, I found this album particularly boring - nothing much more to say.
The user picks just keep on delivering. Steven Wilson is the coolest dork I know, and the official list should definitely have some Wilson/Porcupine Tree on it.
Hand. Cannot. Erase. showcases Wilson's take on modern prog rock, and it's a compelling take. The compositions are interesting and the overall themes universal - if 'Happy Returns' doesn’t make you tear up, I don’t know what will.
Hypothesis: every single country in Europe has its own version of Hombres G, playing exactly this kind of music in the 80s and 90s. It's not unpleasant, but it's really not that interesting either.
The best track, and the hit single, completely lifts off the melody from 'At the Zoo' by Simon & Garfunkel, which happens to be my favourite part on Bookends, so there’s that.
Seriously tricky "album" to rate. Great mythos and downright crazy production. Listened to the whole thing twice and still don't know what the hell is going on.
This has got to be a hate pick from a disgruntled user. Yet another 60+ minutes British electronic record. Why did we need another one of these? Yes, big beat is cool and all, but the whole thing sounds incredibly dated.
Here is a list of prog rock bands I would sooner add to the list than this bland, boring French-Canadian mess:
Dream Theater
Porcupine Tree
Gentle Giant
Marillion
Tool
Procol Harum
Magma
Focus
Good pick - no real ska on the list (as far as I remember) - and a fun, fast-paced record with lyrics that demand attention. Highly entertaining!
Yeah I can see the list needing another Hüsker Dü/Bob Mould album, even if only based on the impact of the band. And I guess a solo album where Bobby plays all instruments himself is a nice choice - I just think that it's missing some of the catchy melodies and Hüsker Dü magic. No track really stood out.
I really liked Underwater Moonlight, so my expectations were high for this one. Unfortunately, while Hitchcock does not take himself too seriously and delivers the occasionally funny line, this was Meandering with a capital M. Way too loose instrumentation for my tastes.
Graduating the European equivalent of high school in 2013, this was a welcome trip down memory lane. A modern classic in party music and enjoyable through and through.
This would have been my album pick, if it wasn't already chosen by another user, so good choice to whoever was behind this! Alex Cameron is one of the most interesting songwriters today, and Forced Witness is his most accessible and catchy album.
That being said, it requires attention from the listener, otherwise all one might pick up is a profanity here and there and some sweet saxophone solos from Cameron's business associate, Mr. Roy Molloy.
Alex Cameron taps into the songwriting tradition of Tom Waits and tells short stories from the points of view of people who are down on their luck. Sometimes that person is homeless, sometimes that person is a homophobe, sometimes that person is a borderline pedophile, but at all times, Cameron tries to showcase some (humorous) humanity in the narrator (for example, from 'True Lies', "there's this woman on the internet, even if she's some Nigerian guy. You should read the poetry he speaks to me, I don't care if they're just beautiful lies"). If you take everything at face value, then this will be one confusing listening experience.
If you enjoyed Forced Witness, here are some further recommendations from his discography:
From the more dark and electronic cult debut Jumping the Shark: 'Real Bad Lookin' about two people in a bar; the drunkest ugliest girl at the bar and the dumbest, richest guy at the bar, and 'The Comeback' about a tv star whose show has gotten cancelled.
From Miami Memory: The tales of sex workers and the men who hate them on 'Far from Born Again', and the tragic story of all the boys being oppressed by feminism on 'Bad for the Boys'.
From his most recent album Oxy Music - a loose concept album on drug addiction: 'K Hole' on what's wrong with doing some ketamin (including the great line "It might appear like I'm driving straight for the moat, oh baby but it's one of those cars that turns into a boat"), and the insane closer 'Oxy Music' featuring Jason Williamson from Sleaford Mods.
Getting this album just the day after GY!BE pulled all their music from streaming services is almost prophetic.
The list was in dire need of some post-rock, and this is an excellent choice. Seeing the band live in concert is an experience - they are about as interactive with the crowd as one would imagine.
Lmao what a ballsy move to add yet another British 80s new wave synth album to the list.
Real talk, of course Nik Kershaw should be included on the original list - especially given how many forgettable albums in the same style are already included. Whether it should be this one or the follow up with 'The Riddle' I won’t be the judge of.
Human Racing is an incredibly uneven album with some staggering heights on ‘Wouldn’t It Be Good', 'Bogart' and 'I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me' and some fairly standard new wave tracks sprinkled throughout like 'Dancing Girls' and 'Shame On You'.
Awesome album that’s just slightly bloated (which is impressive given the excessive orchestral stuff, Muse could never). Super strong ending starting from the great 'Let Me Down Easy'.
I could have sworn there was some Bad Religion on the original list, but seems not. An oversight for sure, and this is a great pick - catchy and accessible punk rock without being too cheesy.
Madness! Not a perfect album, but I was completely floored by how every single genre on here was delivered with such confidence. Super enjoyable.
Never really got into Death Cab for Cutie, and revisiting now there's still not a lot capturing my interest. Don't quite see why this should be on the list, but it's not bad at all.
Friendly reminder not to take any "Greatest Guitarists" list seriously if it doesn't include John Petrucci.
Dream Theater sounded dated and kitsch from the get-go, but who cares when they can play this well?
Super cool discovery! The atmosphere that Mitchell and co. created here really is special. Easy to see why a following Broadway musical was a success.
Excellent pick to showcase the wave of experimental British rock bands emerging in the last decade, including Black Country, New Road, Squid, Black Midi and English Teacher.
Sports Team plays a bit more straightforwardly than some of the other bands, but I’m not complaining. Stuff like 'Camel Crew' and 'The Races' are solid bangers reminiscent of the glory days of British indie in the 00s.
Cool with some TOOL on the user list. 10,000 Days is captivating, but also super bloated which makes it a bit of a frustrating listen. The closing track especially is pure filler, no killer.
What even is this? You take 9 quasi-random tracks from the greatest music film ever made, in non-chronological order and release it as a live album? So many questionable choices, and would be cool to include one of the re-releases more closely matching the concert footage.
But, I mean, it’s still an obvious 5/5 album. Is it cheating to include a live/compilation album? Absolutely! But, goddamn The Talking Heads might just be the tightest band ever on this thing. Jesus, I don’t think my feet or head were standing still at any time during the runtime - even while being seated!
This was actually pretty fun and bouncy with equal parts garage and Kanye-inspiration, but it overstays its' welcome by a solid 20 minutes, and 'Boys Like Girls' is straight trash.
I remember 'Redbone' hitting everyone like a goddamn truck and me scattering to figure out if the rest of “Awaken, My Love!” could scratch the same itch. It sort of did, but it's a weird record where most other tracks end up feeling like inferior versions of 'Redbone'.
Also, Donald Glover is the Sting of his generation - you really want to hate the guy for how effortlessly he seems to be able to just do whatever he wants and always end up creating some great art.
This was an odd electronica/synth pop album, that I would probably appreciate more, if I was already a fan of Ben Gibbard and Death Can For Cutie.
Cool, atmospheric concept album owing a big debt to The Wall (case in point: the riff on 'The Silence'). Nice discovery, thanks for the pick!
So bland, I forgot to review the album before moving on to the next.
To paraphrase one of my favourite bands:
Stupid lyrics, boring riffs. Every choice is obvious. I hate pop-punk again.
This is trash, but highly addictive trash!
Adam Green doesn’t seem to care about appearing clever, and the lyrics show it. The satire is constantly way too obvious and straightforward, but I still appreciate the record for doing something (to me) completely different. Always +1 star for hating Dubya.
An interesting take for sure, but this should have probably just stayed in the 90s along with heaps of other alt rock albums.
I’m beginning to really appreciate the eccentric picks on the user list! This was right up my alley with folky, indie songs and offbeat lyrics. Will definitely revisit!
Perhaps I just wasn’t in the mood on the day, but this had very strong run-of-the-mill indie vibes in my mind. Really nothing that grasped me.
I still hate pop-punk, it’s just that sometimes I forget that.
MCR did everything they could to make me forget, and the variety in dynamics, instrumentation and melodies was a refreshing take on the pop-punk/emo genre. This record was huge and deservedly so.
But even with a nostalgic lens, and this album being one of the first in my own collection, I feel very little for it. 'Mama' is a strong song in the second half of the album, but there is a reason why I always turned the cd off after the title track as a kid - and still feel compelled to do so as an adult. 7/10, but feeling generous today.
Pretty fun Spanish rock, that would have worked better if it was 10-15 minutes shorter.
Italian funk music made for elevators. Not my cup of tea.
You do realize that The Stooges already have three albums on the original list, right? And while the best thing about those is the live feeling, I really didn't need to listen to a mishmash low quality recording of Iggy arguing with the audience.
BABYMETAL is fun to listen to, but I remember thinking it was a gimmick 15 years ago, and I still think so now. There’s also something about the whole kawaii music scene that irks me, especially considering how young the members are when first starting out. Someone is making a lot of money, and I doubt it’s primarily the young girls involved.
That being said, METAL FORTH is by all means a “proper” metal record with some great collaborations including Electric Callboy and some great shredding by Tom Morello.
I only now realised why I never really got into Vampire Weekend - it’s the lyrics. I think they are by far the weakest part of Contra, because everything else from the melodies, to Ezra Koenigs vocals, to the jangly indie music itself is really enjoyable.
Crazy ambitious album! Exploring this many genres without losing overall connectivity is impressive. It definitely grew on me, and around 'Sorry You’re Not A Winner' I was all in.
A solid OG kraut/psych pick with especially Side C 'Yeti (Improvisation)' tapping into a stream of pure psychedelic fun.
Ugh, overly long edgy 90s metal - not for me today.
I have never gotten into Dave Matthews Band and have actually been looking for an excuse to dive into the discography.
I did not care for it. Too jazzy and soft-rocky for my tastes.
Shit's heavy - heavy music, heavy subject matter, and heavy band history.
I enjoyed the droning with heavy shoegaze influences and production. 7/10.
A legendary album from a mythic artist. Fascinating story and a great psych folk record.
The comparisons to Bob Dylan mentioned in Searching For Sugar Man are a bit generous, and although Rodriguez didn’t bring anything visionary to the genre, he showed a great understanding of how to write a catchy, thoughtful song.
It has come to my attention that there are two BABYMETAL albums on the user list. That is stupid. I will give this one the benefit of the doubt, since it was the first and makes much more sense than Metal Forth, which was added weeks after its' release.
The thing is, as an actual metal album, the debut is inferior to the later output. It's all over the place, and doesn't stick to what really works - the power metal switching into kawaii pop like on 'Akatsuki' and 'Doki Doki ☆ Morning'.
Come on now, even dance music cannot get away with lyrics this cringe. Also, like most club stuff, way too long.
It's a solid rock 'n' roll album by the man himself, but even in 1964 this must have starting feeling stale. Essentially the same song repeated 12 times.
Well I'll be damned. I thought this was going to be a chore - an overly long blues album. But this took me by surprise. Perhaps it helped that I have no real connection with the genre and therefore only knew very few of the songs, but this felt like a nice greatest hits record.
A glaring omission is Hank Doyle with 'Me and the Blues'.
With both Mekons and The Waterboys being some of the first albums we tackled on the original list, I was dreading that my instrumental nemesis, the fiddle, would be everywhere on the list. Luckily for me, the fiddle remained somewhat dormant for years.
Until now. Oh my does Great Big Sea contain fiddle, and lots of it. It’s dreadful, especially on songs like ‘Mari Mac', but luckily there are also some solid fiddleless songs on here. And then there’s 'The Chemical Worker's Song' which is just outstanding.
What the hell, do I like dub now? This was perfect for both focused work and Friday night chill. Impressive.
I have hated quite a bit on jazzy soft rock albums, put apparently what I needed was even more organ and synth. Delightful and catchy.
Second Bon Iver record on the user list that’s not For Emma, Forever Ago. Hmmmm.
It’s still good though, especially '8 (circle)', but probably my least favourite of the Bon Iver records added.
Hahaha, this has to be a hate pick, right? Ah yes, 80s British post-punk. Now there’s an underrated gem of a genre.
Still good though, but it blends in with the dozens of similar albums on the list.
My pick was an AJJ album, and so far Frightened Rabbit is the artist I know that gets the closest to scratching the same itch as AJJ. It’s wonderfully blunt and poetic without taking itself too seriously.
I evoke my right to not listen to a full album if I know it’s going to ruin my day.
I struggled through the first two sides and I got the gist of it - some solid rock with Yoko's shrieking on top. And that’s the issue - the thing setting this album apart from dozens of others is also the absolutely worst thing about it.
2 stars because I actually enjoyed the music sans Yoko.
Lmao the contrast of getting this directly after Fly by Yoko Ono. Ram is at least as experimenting without being shit.
I love and hate that we as a user group apparently keep adding 80s British post-punk to the list, despite there already being around 150 albums of the sort on the original list.
This one though? Pretty brilliant, and should have been included in the original one.
Super Ape was super dub, this was more boring dub. Some cool effects though.
Ecstatic to see an Arctic Monkeys album on the user list, furious that it is Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. It's a drag and should have been an Alex Turner solo album, 100%. Best track (and title) is 'The World's First Ever Monster Truck Front Flip'.
What really grinds my gears though is that Matt Helders is a fucking generational talent behind the drums, and he gets close to zero opportunities to show this on the record.
Ranking of Arctic Monkeys albums:
1. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
2. Favourite Worst Nightmare
3. AM
4. Humbug
5. Suck It And See
6. The Car
7. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
Just brilliant, and possibly the best comeback album ever.
Holy smokes, I just now realized that Souvlaki was not included in the original list. This is the best shoegaze album ever, together with Loveless.
I only knew Snarky Puppy by name, so I was expecting pop punk. I did not get that, and I am pleased.
Great krautrock with long experimental segments. Wiki page only in German? Ja danke!
I am partial to the genre and era here, but even I have to admit that this sounds an awful lot like a band trying to sound an awful lot like a few other bands that were around at the same time.
Okay, this sort of unnerving post-rock is not something I have come across before, so thanks for the pick!
It's interesting, but ultimately a very draining listening experience. Will probably revisit though.
I remember when this dropped and the gorgeous album being on constant rotation. Epic in every sense of the word - that includes being bloated, but I'll allow it.
Yeah this is personally a very difficult record for me, which I think might the case for many. It's flawless in how well it hits, and I'll always cherish a memory of bawling my eyes out to 'Flowers and You' at a Touché Amoré show in the wake of Stage Four.
What the hell, was this not included on the original list? Of all the misses so far, I think this might be the most egregious.
The cultural impact was (and is) massive, and I really enjoy the silliness of blink-182 who never become truly obnoxious like some of their pop-punk peers.
