1 Oh my God it’s the eyeball dudes. I’ve heard of these guys, but I’ve never listened to anything they’ve put out, mostly due to the general discomfort they give me. And I gotta say, going in with just that knowledge, somehow all of my expectations were met. Yep, it’s just a bunch of weird noises and voices for 35 minutes. There’s a certain 60’s Saturday morning cartoon vibe buried in all of the chaos that I think I had mild appreciation for, but that’s probably the most positive thing I can say about this album - when I realized the first track Constantinople is the band’s most popular on Spotify, I knew I had a very, very long listen ahead. Ironically, compared to many of the other albums I’ve rated poorly thus far, there’s actually quite a bit that’s remarkable and stood out to me across my listening, but I feel like trying to express any of it into any kinds of words here would be a massive waste of time for everyone involved. I’m convinced that no one actually listens to this kind of stuff out of pure personal enjoyment, and it instead becomes known and popularized from the kinds of reactions you get from people when you put it on. If you’re into really bizarre or trippy stuff for whatever reason, I guess give this a listen. If you’re looking to enjoy some new music, I suggest listening to quite possibly anything else. This shit made me want to listen to The Beatles. In summary, art rock is dumb - there’s nothing profound about making your music unlistenable. At least this one wasn’t as aggressive as that Suicide album.

1 Ah fuck here we go. I have a complicated relationship with The Beatles - in that I generally really don't care for The Beatles. However, after sitting down and giving A Hard Day's Night a good listen... Yeah not much has changed. This is The Beatles at their most bubble gum-poppy, and I just really can't say I see the appeal. Don't have much else to say on this one. Favorite songs: ???? Any Time at All I suppose

4.5 The Ramones may have invented punk, but The Germs invented hardcore... and the genre owes so much to them for it. It's not for everyone, but man it's for me - I couldn't help but bang my head along even though I was working in the office while listening. Darby Crash is an all-time great punk vocalist (RIP) and Pat Smear (later of Nirvana/Foo Fighters fame!) an all-time great guitarist. Would have loved to mosh to these guys. It's really all killer, no filler here - just 38 minutes of raw, uncut punk. Yeah, not the most versatile record to exist, and maybe some songs blend together, but dammit I had a great time with every single track. Special shoutout to Lexicon Devil for being one of the greatest punk songs ever written. Would listen again in a heartbeat... though probably need to take a minute to calm my anarchical urges. Favorite songs: Liked them all, but love Lexicon Devil

2.5 The Pretenders are a band I've always wanted to like, but for some reason I just can't quite get to click with me. This album feels like something I would love... I adore Chrissie Hynde's voice, and the music I would best describe as a manifestation of the punk to new wave transition. Hell, Johnny Marr would even later credit the guitar work on the album as his biggest inspiration for The Smiths (one of my all-time faves!). Yet despite all of that, it just feels like they neglect to do anything overly-interesting with the tools they have at their disposal. I'll admit this album kicks off pretty strongly with tracks like Precious and Up the Neck, but starting around Space Invader, slowly but surely, I feel like the album becomes less and less musically interesting, to the point where I was kind of over it at Private Life. Overall, a net okay album - Tattooed Love Boys is a jam though and by far the best song on the album. Favorite songs: Tattooed Love Boys, Precious, Up the Neck

2 Our third Beatles album, and one that falls directly between the past two chronologically. So, it's only fitting my rating should fall there as well. It's interesting to listen to this album third, as it's very much a midpoint marker in the transition from the sound of early Beatles to later Beatles... and I'm learning I prefer the latter (though not drastically). That all being said, this is probably the longest 34-minute album I've ever heard, and I was pretty surprised to learn that the longest song on this album is exactly 3 minutes when I checked in on my listen progress - I just don't feel like there's a ton interesting going on here. Eleanor Rigby is a good song, though as if to counterbalance that, Yellow Submarine is probably one of the hottest pieces of garbage I've heard. As a whole, I didn't hate it, but I definitely felt underwhelmed. (Why is this the biggest band of all-time???? A global average of 4.26 are you kidding me?????) Favorite songs: Eleanor Rigby, Tomorrow Never Knows

3.5 All I knew about Sufjan Stevens going in was that he's a folk musician, which isn't usually my go-to type of listening. I was really impressed by the versatility on this record though - in some ways, it almost felt like a rock opera of folk. The album did grow on me more as it went on, though towards the end I thought it might have gone on just slightly too long. Above all I found it to be an enjoyable record. I probably won't find myself returning to it too much, but I could definitely see it getting spun again on a quiet, relaxing night. Favorite songs: John Wayne Gacy Jr., Chicago, Casimir Pulaski Day

2.5 I bet this album got you laid in the 70s. Overall, it was a fun taste of the past that didn't outstay its welcome. It transitions between funk, soul, and rock pretty seamlessly, though that being said, it didn't stand out apart from me to similar records of the time. That Lady is a bit too thick of a slice of 70s cheese for me, though Summer Breeze was a really cool jam out that must have been fun on 70s drugs. If I'm on 70s drugs, I'll keep this album in mind. Oh and hearing a funk cover of Listen to the Music was cool. Favorite songs: Summer Breeze, Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight

4 Having only heard "Sittin in the Dock of the Bay" before this, I gotta say I really dig Otis' voice. He has one of those distinct voices you can identify just a few words into a song, and with the energy he puts into every performance on this record, to say he "sings" soul feels like an understatement. Despite most of the album I believe being covers, he really makes each song his own - to the point I actually think I prefer his rendition of "My Girl". Hearing the original version of "Respect" was also a nice surprise. There's no beating Aretha, but it seems the song came into existence already with a strong foundation in Redding's. Favorite songs: Ole Man Trouble, Respect, My Girl

1 Ah fuck here we go. I have a complicated relationship with The Beatles - in that I generally really don't care for The Beatles. However, after sitting down and giving A Hard Day's Night a good listen... Yeah not much has changed. This is The Beatles at their most bubble gum-poppy, and I just really can't say I see the appeal. Don't have much else to say on this one. Favorite songs: ???? Any Time at All I suppose

3.5 I really liked this record more than I thought I would. The homemade, garage rock sound of this record does wonders for Neil Young, especially this deep into his career. It really captures the feeling that you're listening in on Young's private jam sessions rather than a polished set of studio recordings, and it makes the album that much better. While I don't think the songs spoke to me much on a personal level (hell maybe Fuckin Up), this was a really fun jam-out rock record. I could see myself returning to this one. Favorite songs: Fuckin Up, Over and Over, Love to Burn

4 I knew nothing about Massive Attack going into this, but holy shit I enjoyed this record. It really felt like all the best parts of 90s hip hip, electronica, and big beat wrapped up in one cohesive package. I really feel like the cycling of vocalists also helps the album feel fresh throughout. Safe From Harm and Hymn of the Big Wheel are a great opener and closer, respectively as well. Really curious to check out more of their work! Unrelated to my rating - the text on text action going on in the album cover lowkey drives me nuts. Favorite songs: Safe From Harm, Unfinished Sympathy, Daydreaming

3.5 Fun fact: I previously reviewed this album on my unaired, short-lived series "Boozy Listening". I gave it 3.5 then (after two strong cocktails), and I'm gonna stand by that now. This album starts off really strong - Wanna Be Startin' Something is not only a great opener, but probably one of my favorite MJ songs. That spirit continues on Baby Be Mine, loses me a little bit on Girl is Mine, and then we get to the mega hits... and man I was gonna talk shit, but I underestimated how much I was going to enjoy listening to Thriller, despite having it heard it many, many times before. Then Beat It is always great, though Billie Jean didn't phase me much. I feel like that song in particular I've heard enough in my lifetime to the point where it simply harmlessly "exists" now. Maybe that's just bias despite the enormous popularity of the song, but hell it's a subjective review. My review of the album would probably be higher if we stopped there, but unfortunately the last three tracks really start to lose me. It just feels like the "high" of the album is over to me after Billie Jean and I'm afterglowing until The Lady in My Life's long conclusion. I see why this album is so highly regarded, and while I hold respect for it myself, and just isn't quite a "top album" for me. Favorite songs: Wanna Be Startin' Something, Thriller, Beat It

2 God I really didn't like the opening track. It's one of the most jarring starts to an album I've heard, and musically/vocally I found it grating... though not nearly as bad as the song England. The rest of the album is pretty "meh". I feel like a lot of the songs I kind of liked had an aspect to them that tainted it a bit for me. For example, I thought The Glorious Land was a good song apart from the annoying bicycle horn-like noise that kept repeating, and I was really enjoying The Words That Maketh Murder up until the backup singers started cheesily repeating the title of the song. Not the worst album I've heard, but not impressed either. This is the first PJ Harvey album I've ever listened to, so while not a good first impression, I believe she has another album or two that are pretty coveted, and I look forward to listening to them. Favorite songs: The Glorious Land, The Words That Maketh Murder, Bitter Branches

2 I'm not gonna lie, I've never heard of Dwight Yoakam, but as soon as I saw a cowboy hat on the cover of this album, I groaned. I'm really not much of a country guy, but I tried going in with an open mind. As far as country goes, this is a pretty innocuous album. It really feels grounded in the roots of the genre, however, with that being said, I'm not sure what sets this album apart from similar country albums of the era - maybe I just don't know enough about the genre? I would enjoy it if I were at a country bar, but I don't see myself listening to it much on my own time. Favorite songs: Idk they really all kind of blended together for me. I Got You?

3 Today I learned Don McLean is not a one-hit wonder. I've always been a fan of the title track - the song structure is incredibly catchy and the lyrics well-written, which makes the song feel much shorter than its 8 and half-minute length. (Though it's hard for me not think "My my this here Anakin guy / Maybe Vader someday later..." whenever I hear the chorus). I dug the guitar work as a whole on the record, which at times gave me Simon & Garfunkel vibes. However, though enjoyable, most songs didn't do much for me to stand apart from the other tracks. Favorite songs: American Pie, Till Tomorrow, Winterwood

2 Going into this, I knew nothing about the artist or album, yet I had a bunch of questions - including but not limited to: "Who is k.d. lang and why does she look like lesbian Morrissey?" "Why does the Wikipedia article have no information outside of track and personnel listing?" "Why does the most popular song on this album have <500k on Spotify?" After listening to the album, all I can confidently say is that the Pasty Cline vibes are strong with this one... to the point k.d. almost sounds like a tribute artist. If you like Patsy, you'd probably like this album. If you find Patsy okay like I'd do, you'd probably find this album mediocre at best. No song on the album is particularly good or bad to me, but I do think it's a bit too much of the same slow burn to listen to in one sitting - I was kind of bored by the end. If I were in a dim-lit smoke-filled saloon occupied by cowboys drinking away their lonesome sorrows at last call, this album would probably hit the spot. In any other scenario... not sure I'd reach for this album. Favorite songs: Western Stars, Tears Don't Care Who Cries Them

3 I'm not familiar with Keith Jarrett, but I buckled myself in once I realized it was going to be an hour of instrumental piano improvisation, genuinely unsure of how I would feel about it. One of the first things I noticed was how much this album benefits from the live setting - some people may find the crowd noises and applause annoying, but I thought capturing the captivation Jarrett had over the audience added to his already impressively flawless live performance. While I enjoyed the album, I mostly found it mostly to be relaxing background music while I got work done. I could see myself listening to it again in that scenario, but I don't ever see myself sitting down to listen in my free time. Part 1 was a quick half hour for me, but by the end of Part 2 you definitely feel the full hour. As far as instrumental piano records go, this has gotta be one of the best I've heard (possibly the best), but I just really feel like there's a cap on how floored I can be by that kind of record. Favorite song: Köln, January 24, 1975

3.5 I really enjoy Simon & Garfunkel, but I haven't listened to much of Paul Simon's solo stuff. I'm not sure how indicative Graceland is as to the sound of the rest of his solo work, but it's evidently a lightyear away from his Bridge Over Troubled Water days. He clearly leans into an African-inspired sound on this record which was fun and provided a unique-listening experience, but that's likely because I haven't exposed myself to enough music of the culture. Still, it's cool to hear an accomplished songwriter like Simon weave it into his music so seamlessly. That being said, there weren't a ton of specific standout moments to me on this album, so I don't feel like I have ton to say on this one. Good album listen, but not one I feel like I'd go back to specific songs for - had to re-listen to pick my favorites below. Favorites: The Boy in the Bubble, Graceland, Homeless

4 I read beforehand that this album was inspired by Rundgren's experimentation with psychedelics, and after having listened through, I gotta say that checks out. Rundgren captures the feel of a drug-induced trip well with this record... for better or for worse. The two sides of the album are drastically different - yet somehow complementary. Side A was mostly a sporadic collection of sounds and songs transitioning before I had a chance to fully digest one... and not all were pleasant to listen to. Side B was where the album really shined for me, where Rundgren creates a fusion of soul and R&B before finally "coming down" on a rock closer. At this point, I felt like I had reached the end of some spiritual journey. It's hard to pinpoint specific songs on this record, but I feel like that's kind of the point, and that the album is made purely to be consumed in one go. The second half is much stronger than the first, but at the same time, it almost feels like one couldn't exist without the other? Where Side A gives way to Side B to complete the journey? I'm still not sure how this album made me feel, but I think I liked it, so we'll go with 4. Idk I think I need to lie down.

2 I've never heard of the artist ABC (though I dabble with the alphabet) or this album, but after listening, I found it to be a pretty run-of-the-mill new wave album... which kind of bummed me out cause I dig a lot of 80s British new wave. I feel like I heard elements of Talking Heads and David Bowie in there, but the songs just didn't have quite the same hook those artists have. While I enjoyed parts of the album, others just seemed more obnoxious than catchy, and overall it didn't come across as particularly lyrically or thematically profound either. Probably wouldn't go out of my way to listen to again. Favorite songs: Tears Are Not Enough, 4 Ever 2 Gether

4 This one surprised me. Don't get me wrong, No Scrubs and Waterfalls are bangers, but I never thought a 90s pop girl group album would be amongst my favorites so far... yet here we are. Just about every song on this album is a banger. Admittedly, it did start losing me a bit after Waterfalls, but it pulled me back in with Switch, and then finally with an absolute killer finale in Sumthin' Wicked This Way Comes. While I don't think this could ever crack the status of being a "top album" for me, I would listen again in a heartbeat. Favorite songs: Waterfalls, Sumthin' Wicked This Way Comes, Creep, Diggin' on You

5 "This is off our first record. Most people don't own it." This was destined to be a 5 for me the second it came up on this list. For me, this is Nirvana's finest hour and the album of theirs I return to the most. The band was given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform a set on MTV Unplugged, then refused to play their hits, opting instead to play deeper cuts and covers... and just fucking killed it. They even used their time on-stage to share the spotlight and promote lesser-known band Meat Puppets, and the album benefits so much from it. I have a hard time imagining this album would be as highly praised if they had just stuck to the hits like MTV wanted, but Nirvana went out and performed the show they wanted to perform, and the result is a piece of musical history. All of the songs on this album sound amazing live, and Kurt sounds just as raw and real as he does on the studio albums (if not moreso). All of the originals complement the studio recordings nicely, and in some instances even outperform them by miles (looking at you About a Girl and Pennyroyal Tea). The highlights have to be the covers though, which Nirvana truly made their own and have even become the definitive versions of the songs for many (myself included)... and to do that with a David fucking Bowie song?? What other artist could do that?? Their cover of Where Did You Sleep Last Night though has to be one of the greatest closers to an album I've ever heard, and I will never not get goosebumps when the music cuts out and Kurt screams out the final verse like he thought it was the last show of his lifetime (the actual would be four months later). I could go on much longer about this album, but I'll wrap this up by saying, for me, this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime album from a once-in-a-lifetime band. While not my favorite record of all-time, I'm not sure there are going to be a ton of records on this list that beat it. Favorite songs: Yes

2 I'm not much of a Billy Joel fan, though I've never listened to a complete album of his before this. I'm not sure exactly what it is... he sounds fine enough, but none of his songs have ever really grabbed me. This album didn't do much to change things. Just the Way You Are even kinda bored me, though I found myself enjoying Scenes From an Italian Restaurant despite it being the longest song on the album. Other than that, not particularly remarkable. Favorite songs: Scenes From an Italian Restaurant, The Stranger

1.5 I'm really not sure what sure I expected from this album, but it wasn't... whatever it is. Clearly I'm missing something, because I'm pretty sure Tom Waits is a pretty esteemed cult musician, but feel like I just listened to The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack played backwards. I really tried to look past its rough outward exterior as well (as I've had to do with artists like Bright Eyes to learn to appreciate them), but I'm just really not sure what I'm supposed to find. This album ranges from okay to rough to unlistenable for me, though that being said, I'll bump up to 1.5 stars for Time. Favorite song: Time

2 It's not a bad album, but it's not for me. Rated leniently for not sucking. Favorite song: No One Said It Would Be Easy

2.5 Having never listened to D'Angelo but familiar with the name in the context of great albums, I expected more. This is a fine R&B album - It incorporated some elements of funk I dug, but overall it lacked versatility and didn't offer me a ton of memorable moments. Some of the songs felt longer than they needed to be, which left me a little bored by the end. Musically and vocally it's airtight, just not very interesting. Favorite songs: Shit, Damn, Motherfucker, Cruisin'

3 I really wanted to watch some Peanuts after this. What can I say? It's a jazz record. Never something I'd rush out to listen to, but also something I'd never complain to have on. However, I really couldn't tell you what the difference between this jazz record and every other jazz record in existence is, and I definitely couldn't have told you four songs were played twice (albeit different takes) without looking at the tracklist. Overall, it's a fine enough album.

4 At this risk of being a bit biased, I can't understate how well-timed this album is. On a particularly rough day when I wanted nothing but comfort music to soak myself in, this album took me back to my childhood. Elvis Presley is among the first artists I can ever remember listening to in my lifetime, and his star-studded, clean-cut, poster boy image was everything I wanted to be. As an adult, while I can acknowledge a great deal of his success came from profiting off of the music of lesser-known black artists, it's hard not to see the charm in his music today I saw all those years ago. Despite it being his first, Elvis oozes rock star energy all over this record, and it's not hard to see why he would go on to become one of the most-recognized musicians of all-time. It's not the most rounded record, but it's a fun, quick listen, and I always have a good time when I return to it. Favorites songs: Blue Suede Shoes, I Got a Woman, Blue Moon, Money Honey

3 The Doors are an artist I used to really enjoy in high school but have found myself listening to less and less as I've grown older. I still believe Jim Morrison has one of the best and most iconic voices of rock, though I don't think the direction of this album highlights that compared to some of the band's previous work. I don't mind the blues approach, but I think it's a step down in comparison to the sound of the band's earlier work, especially their debut, which I find to be a much better album. Riders on the Storm is a great track and closer though. Favorite songs: Riders on the Storm, L.A. Woman, Hyacinth House

4.5 Holy cow this has to be one of the most explosive live albums I've ever heard, and the energy James gives the crowd and the crowd gives back is the stuff that separates great frontmen from legends. This was an incredibly quick 30 minutes, and it honestly could have gone on so much longer for me. I really, really need to check out more James Brown. My only complaint with the album is the production on Lost Someone... there's a good chunk where James Brown sounds completely washed out? Other than that, the sound and energy on this record feels like a lightning in a bottle live album, and I'll definitely be listening to again. Favorite songs: I really liked them all, but I'll Go Crazy, Think, and the buildup on Lost Someone stood out to me

3 I really liked the sound of a lot of songs on this album, but I also don't feel like they imparted much of a lasting impression on me. It almost felt like an ambient album, but a good ambient album at that... like a lot of these songs would go hard if used effectively in a movie or show. The songs that utilized strings (like Cologne Cerrone Houdini) were definitely the standouts for me over the more electronic ones. Very much feels like a situational listen. Favorite songs: Little Bird, Cologne Cerrone Houdini, Caravan Girl

0/10 album was actually 38 minutes long Jokes aside, this album actually changed ratings for me over the course of the weekend. What started as around a 3 for me went up to 4 when I found myself listening to it again. What I think I appreciate most about this album is the atmosphere it builds - yes, it can be a bit same-y, but I really dig the sound and can feel myself getting sucked into the world it creates. It's nowhere near as big or as flashy as the band's later work, but it's solidly consistent and gives a taste for things to come. Not a lot of the tracks are standouts, however, I do think this album is the definition of the whole being stronger than the sum of the parts. While I probably wouldn't go back to listen to individual tracks, I can definitely see myself listening to the full album again in the future. I do want to give a shoutout to A Forest though, which is an absolute banger, and feels a bit like foreshadowing to the band's future. Not their best album, but still a solid entry, and I'm happy to have been exposed to it. Favorite songs: A Forest, Play For Today

2.5 Funk disco at it's funkiest. I liked the sound, but every song felt like it went on longer than it needed to. Lyrically, pretty cheesy love and dance stuff. I really dug the shredding on Savoir Faire, but I wasn't as into the slower R&B stuff like At Last I Am Free. It's probably a lot of fun to dance to, but not sure I'd put it on in a casual scenario. Favorite songs: Chic Cheer, Savoir Faire, (Funny) Bone

3.5 "In the Wee Small Hours" has to be one of the most well-suited names for an album I've heard... I'm not entirely sure what it means, but Frank Sinatra manages to capture what it feels like on this record. The underlying forlorn tone makes me feel like I'm doing it wrong by listening at 2 PM while working and not at night with an old fashioned or some kinda rat pack-esque cocktail. This is definitely another case of "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts" for me, where I would likely give the entire album a listen before seeking out individual tracks, but in this instance, it's much more of an "in the mood" record. I can't really fault it for that though, cause it kind of outlines that right there in the title. So, I could definitely see myself re-listening when the wee small hours are upon me... probably not midday again. Favorite songs: In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning, Mood Indigo, Glad to Be Unhappy

3 This album feels ahead of its time being released in the 70s, and I can see how it would influence a number of artists in the coming decade. In some ways, it felt like a more electronic Joy Division (reinforced when my Spotify jumped to the band after the album concluded), and it's as cold and industrial as I could only expect from German music. Truthfully, I'm not entirely sure how I felt about this one. I think I liked it, but there's not a ton to say as there are really only six tracks if you count Trans-Europe Express and the two songs after it as one song (I do). I could see myself listening again, but I think it's a little too emotionally-devoid to be something I could get too attached to... in this case, I think I'm more of a fan of the artists they influenced. Favorite songs: Europe Endless, The Hall of Mirrors, Trans-Europe Express

3.5 Our first artist repeat! And just one week after LA Woman. Compared to that album, I enjoyed the sound on this one a lot more - while still bluesy, it doesn't lean quite has hard into the genre (which I think serves the band better), and it also just felt a bit more versatile and crisp. This album also contains "Peace Frog" which is one of, if not, my favorite Doors songs (Note: This is likely largely due to its presence in a Tony Hawk video game). Other than that, I don't think I have ton to say, but this an enjoyable classic rock record and Jim Morrison shines as always on here. Favorite songs: Peace Frog, Waiting for the Sun, Indian Summer

3.5 Eat your heart out, Bill Evans - It's another jazz record, and I really think this is probably this has been the most fun and interesting one yet. There was enough variety on this record where I was able to keep mostly engaged for the 76 minute runtime. That being said, while I liked the jazz albums we've had so far, I haven't loved them, and I think I'm learning the genre is probably never gonna be an all-time favorite of mine - I really don't anticipate any of these albums getting a 4 or higher from me. I don't know how likely it is I consciously put on a jazz record, but if I do pick one, I could see it being this one. Favorite songs: Can't really remember, but I think I liked Big Apple and Maesha

4 So what I'm learning from this list is that live soul albums were something missing from my life. Both this and James Brown Live at the Apollo have been absolutely fantastic records with artist/crowd synergy unlike anything I've ever heard before on a live album. Sam Cooke sounds amazing here, and I can only imagine how much fun being at the show must have been - It almost made me nostalgic for a period that existed 35 years before my birth. Despite trying to review each album in a vacuum, I was originally gonna write about how the circumstances of Cooke's death tainted the album a bit for me, but after doing some further research, I've learned the matter is more open-ended than I originally believed. While originally on the fence about re-listening, I did again afterwards was able to enjoy in a much more objective manner... and I think I'll be listening again. All said and done, this album really just feels like a good time for good times' sake. Favorite songs: Feel It (Don't Fight It), Cupid, It's All Right/For Sentimental Reasons, Bring it on Home to Me

2.5 Pantera was not on my 1001 Albums bingo card, but it was definitely a nice change of pace from what we've been listening to so far. That being said, I'm not much of a metal fan, as I find a lot of a bit too same-y and macho cheese, and while I enjoyed this album more than many others albums of the genre I've heard, it definitely fell into those traps for me (shoulda known from the album cover). I was also bummed cause I actually enjoy the song Cowboys From Hell and it's not even on this record (Walk is overrated imo). Would maybe re-visit songs - not sure about the full album. Favorite songs: Mouth for War, This Love, Hollow

3.5 Excellent skateboard rap. The beats are absolutely great, and I loved the usage of an actual bassist to support them - it made a world of difference for me. However, while sounding great, I felt like there wasn't a ton of versatility with the usage across the album, and a lot beats ended up sounding the same to me (though there are definitely some exceptions). Vocally, however, the album was airtight. Having multiple vocalists in the group helps keep things fresh despite some repetitive beats, and lyrically the album was pretty on point as well (though there were definitely some exceptions for me here as well... I never wanna hear the phrase "penal cord" again in my life). I also thought having each song segue directly into the next was really cool and helped keep the energy going. Overall pretty solid. Could see this going up to a 4 for me with time. Favorite songs: Excursions, Show Business, Check the Rhime, What?

1 Beep beep boop boop beep beep boop boop. This is like Pink Floyd but if every song they wrote was like "On the Run". On the Run works within the confines of Dark Side. On the Run does not work for me as a 37 minute standalone album. I can see how this could could be majorly influential for the genre of electronica in the years ahead, but truthfully, it's never been a genre I've been particularly fond of. I feel like it just kinda stresses me out and like I need to be on some kind of drug to get it. I don't get this album, and it kind of stressed me out. Especially whatever that screeching noise was near the end of Phaedra... egh. Unrelated to my review, I learned Tangerine Dream did the scoring to Grand Theft Auto V and that stuff was pretty cool.

3 Alright, this is one I've been waiting for. Having never heard the album, I've seen it ranked consistently among the best albums of all-time (and it's always one of the top comments on any "Best Album of All Time" Reddit threads). And... it's a jazz album. It's a good listen, but I still feel like I couldn't tell you what separates this from Bill Evans or Hugh Masekela. This list has done a good job of expanding my knowledge of jazz, but I feel like I'm still waiting for something to "click" and I finally understand the genre. Unfortunately, I think I may just have to accept jazz while never be a favorite of mine. I've yet to find any of it less than pretty good, but not sure it could ever cross the barrier of being a favorite.

4.5 Alright, confession time... I'm a fan of The Who, but I've never listened to this album all the way through. Holy shit I was missing out - pretty sure this album was the first true rock opera to ever exist, and it clearly set the standard for every attempt that followed. Tommy kicks ass out right out the gate with Overture, which I thought was an amazing introduction and taste of what's to come, and then proceeds to never stop kicking ass until it concludes. The end result really feels like the product of a band firing on all cylinders. The only real criticism I had is that I felt it could have benefitted from a little more diversity in sound - it does some really cool things, but I feel like I would describe the overall sound as pretty consistent. Not necessarily a bad thing, but some bigger shifts in tone would have been an interesting dynamic. Then again, I didn't care for the album's hardest shift in Tommy's Holiday Camp, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. Favorite songs: Overture, 1921, Christmas, The Acid Queen, Pinball Wizard, Sally Simpson

3 For a 60s band named "Love", this album went pretty hard. Musically it was a little all over the place - it bounced pretty abruptly from psychedelia to surf rock to finally an 18-minute blues closer. The punk in me really enjoyed Seven and Seven Is, and I see how it could have influenced punk in the years ahead (The Ramones even covered it at one point). Other than that, nothing in particular seemed to jump out, and I don't really think the closing track was quite interesting enough to justify its length. Favorite songs: Stephanie Knows Who, Seven and Seven Is

2 Another artist I've always found massively overrated, and again I didn't feel like my listening here did much to change that. Reggae as a genre I've always found to be pretty boring musically, and with this album in particular I found myself pretty bored here about halfway through. I'm pretty sure a lot of people see Marley as a pretty profound lyricist, but I'm just not sure I hear it. I can see how people could get attached to his music, but it's just not for me. Could see listening maybe to some tracks in a tropical vacation scenario.

4 I haven't listened to much Ella Fitzgerald before, but clearly I need to listen to more - she has an incredible voice, and her music oozes oldies charm. This record makes me want to host a cocktail party just so I can put it on... and also play Fallout. An incredibly pleasant listen. Probably wouldn't enter a regular rotation with me, but will definitely be played again. Favorite songs: I Got Rhythm, The Man I Love, Love is Here to Stay

5 Wtf they really gave us this album the day after the Queen died... wild. Anyway, one of my all-time favorite albums by one of my all-time favorite bands. Probably their best, but one of three I would give a perfect score (the others being their self-titled debut and Louder than Bombs). It's no secret I think Moz is an all-time great lyricist, and he shines brightly on this record in particular - though I also have to give kudos to Johnny Marr for writing some brilliantly unique and catchy riffs here that complement the vocals nicely. The title track is one of favorite opening tracks to any record ever - it gets me hyped up straight out of the gate every time and in my opinion is one of the band's most criminally underrated tunes. I Know It's Over is one of the most honest and vulnerable songs I've heard (a Smiths specialty), and encapsulates depression in a way I feel few songs have. There's a lot of other great songs here as well, but I have to give a special shoutout to There Is a Light That Never Goes Out. Truly one of the greatest songs ever written, it captures love in a beautifully macabre way I've never heard another song approach, and I never fail to get goosebumps from the synth outro. An all-time great. Admittedly, I do think Some Girls are Bigger Than Others isn't the strongest closer in the world, but it's still a decent track and the rest of the album makes up for it tenfold. Love The Smiths and Morrissey (only musically speaking) always. RIP Queen Lizzie Favorite songs: There Is a Light That Never Goes Out, The Queen is Dead, I Know It's Over, Cemetry Gates, Bigmouth Strikes Again, Frankly Mr. Shankly

3.5 It's clear how much influence The Stooges and Iggy Pop had on punk music with this album - Hell, the Sex Pistols would even go on to do a cover of No Fun. This has all the makings of a solid punk record - 1969 is a great track and opener, I Wanna Be Your Dog is a Stooge classic... then I'm not really sure what was going on in We Will Fall. The 10-minute psychedelic noisescape track was kind of an unnecessary and jarring shift for me. No Fun is a good start to Side B, but not much after that jumped out to me. Solid protopunk album, but nothing spectacular. Favorite songs: 1969, I Wanna Be Your Dog, No Fun

3 Never really been able to get into Beck. I appreciate his ability to jump between and blend musical genres, and while I feel he did it pretty well here, no one track gave me the feeling of "I gotta give this song a listen again"... it felt more like he wanted to dip his toes into different genres without getting all the way in. Essentially, every song boils down to being very "Beck" at its core, like the same song was wearing thirteen different outfits. It's not a bad album by any means, but I think it's far from a masterpiece - though I'll give kudos to Ramshackle for being a solid closer. Would maybe listen again if I'm not crucified by the entire indieheads community first. Favorite songs: Ramshackle, Minus, The New Pollution

2.5 Don't feel like I have a ton of thoughts here. Never been much of a Rod Stewart fan, but this is a serviceable classic rock record. Maggie May is a decent song, not much else stuck out. Could see myself owning and listening again on vinyl, but likely because I'm more in the mood for classic vinyl rather than Rod Stewart himself. Favorite song: Maggie May

4.5 The Ramones may have invented punk, but The Germs invented hardcore... and the genre owes so much to them for it. It's not for everyone, but man it's for me - I couldn't help but bang my head along even though I was working in the office while listening. Darby Crash is an all-time great punk vocalist (RIP) and Pat Smear (later of Nirvana/Foo Fighters fame!) an all-time great guitarist. Would have loved to mosh to these guys. It's really all killer, no filler here - just 38 minutes of raw, uncut punk. Yeah, not the most versatile record to exist, and maybe some songs blend together, but dammit I had a great time with every single track. Special shoutout to Lexicon Devil for being one of the greatest punk songs ever written. Would listen again in a heartbeat... though probably need to take a minute to calm my anarchical urges. Favorite songs: Liked them all, but love Lexicon Devil

2.5 Here we go, Round #2 with The Beatles. As mentioned, I've never been much of a Beatles fan, but I gotta say it dawned on me quickly this album is a lot better than their earlier work - in particular, this is miles ahead of A Hard Day's Night. Still, I'm not exactly sure what makes The Beatles the most recognizable and legendary band of all-time. Most (if not all) of the tracks here don't sound too out of place from other albums of the time - not bad, but not great either. There are a few shining moments (Blackbird's a good song with probably one of the most iconic guitar riffs of all-time), but the rest feels like a lot of 60's fluff that I'm not sure justifies a double album. Favorite songs: Blackbird, Dear Prudence, Helter Skelter, Julia

2.5 Elvis Costello is an artist I've never really been quite able to figure out. I've heard him labeled as both new wave and punk... but yet I really don't hear either. What I hear (and see) is someone trying to put a "modern" spin on 1950s rock, and it's fine I guess, but it's not spectacular either. I feel like I'd rather just listen to '50s artists. Favorite songs: Welcome to the Working Week, (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes, Less Than Zero

4 Having heard of but never listened to The xx, I really enjoyed this album. It's very much "in the feels" music... aka my favorite kind of music. Musically, I really liked how subtle it was. While simplistic, it felt like every note captured the exact emotion the song (and album) was going for, and I couldn't help but bob my head along. In many ways it reminded me of a lot of my favorite artists, but I couldn't pinpoint exactly which ones - in some ways, it reminded me of a modern New Order. That being said, the Chris Isaak vibes were strong with Infinity. While I didn't walk away in love with it, I feel like there's a lot of room for growth on me, and I think one day this album could yield a higher rating. I will be listening again. Favorite songs: Intro, VCR, Crystalized, Islands, Infinity

2 More like "The 'No From Me' Album". . . . I'm not much of a prog rock fan, and this album didn't feel like it did anything interesting enough to add to the genre for me - Even the guitar freestyle track Clap felt kind of underwhelming. If I were in the mood, I would just listen to Rush instead. Favorite song: I've Seen All Good People (but mostly just the second part)

4 I enjoyed this album a lot more than the artwork suggested. What looked like a boring record your grandpa probably owned actually turned out to be a really interesting 60s folk rock record - a genre I'm slowly learning to appreciate with recent forays into Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, and Nick Drake. While not the most spectacular record I've heard, most songs did a good job of finding its own identity, and it held my interest to the end. The highlight of this album for me has to be singer Sandy Denny's voice, which I found to be completely captivating and enchanting, and left me wanting to listen to so much more of her work (After a Wikipedia deep dive, I learned she did vocals on The Battle of Evermore by Led Zeppelin - a personal favorite of theirs!) Good vibes from this one. Will be listening again. Favorite songs: A Sailor's Life, Who Knows Where The Time Goes?, Percy's Song

4 I feel like I’m missing some context with this album having not heard The Slim Shady LP, but I still really like what I heard. It reminded me of Pinkerton in some ways in that it’s a sophomore album dealing with the struggles of adapting to the sudden fame acquired from the debut, though compared to Weezer, Eminem seems to process with it in a slightly… different way. It’s violent, it’s sexist, it’s homophobic, but it’s a character (I hope) whose arc I enjoyed following across the album. The skits were also entertaining interludes that helped keep the album interesting and feel a lot shorter than its >60 minute runtime. I think I need to explore more of Em’s discography to truly appreciate this album, but I’ll likely be listening again. Favorite songs: Stan, Kill You, The Way I Am

2 Having never heard of Miriam Makeba, I found her life story to be incredibly interesting and tragic, and I’m glad to have learned about her through this list. That being said, while she has a beautiful voice, I didn’t find the album to be particularly musically interesting, and I’m not sure if I would re-visit. Her rendition of House of Rising Sun was cool, though Charles Coleman made me uncomfortable on One More Dance. Favorite songs: House of the Rising Sun, Mbube

3.5 This must have been a super fun concert to be at, and I can only imagine the energy in the crowd as Jerry Lee Lewis performed. Much like James Brown and Sam Cooke’s live albums, the energy Lewis put into his performance is palpable, though I didn’t feel like this album in particular was able to capture the performer/audience relationship that benefitted and personified the aforementioned greatly. It also didn’t feel quite as rounded as Brown’s and Cooke’s albums, though you can definitely hear their influence on him (with a splash of Elvis for good measure as well). Fun through and through, but didn’t blow me away. Favorite songs: Mean Woman Blues, High School Confidential, What’d I Say

3 I absolutely adore The Smiths and Morrissey, but I've always been of the opinion that, while The Smiths produced great albums, Morrissey solo only produced great tracks. It seems his ego took off around the same time his solo career did, and it shows (though the absence of Johnny Marr is also glaring). Still, he has some absolutely amazing songs... that aren't on this album. In fact, as a Morrissey fan, I was kind of surprised to see this album here, as I've always found Your Arsenal and Viva Hate to be miles ahead of this one. I can only hope those albums made the list if this one did, and if they didn't (or even if they did), do yourself a favor and listen to the below songs: Suedehead Everyday is Like Sunday I Know Very Well How I Got My Name Glamorous Glue We'll Let You Know Tomorrow Jack the Ripper Back on the Chain Gang and my personal favorite: Seasick, yet Still Docked Favorite songs on this one: Spring-Heeled Jim, Now My Heart is Full, The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get, Hold on to Your Friends

2.5 I don't know a lot about Deep Purple aside from Hush and the two hits here, and compared to those, I like Hush a lot more, so maybe I'm a bigger fan of their earlier psychedelic sound? I can't listen to Smoke on the Water without thinking of Guitar Hero, and I can't listen to Highway Star without thinking of that car ad it was in. Not necessarily bad things, but I think that paired with the unremarkable nature of the other songs ultimately leaves the album lacking a sense of its own identity. I guess I can see how it would be influential for heavy metal, but that’s never been a particularly favorite genre of mine anyway. Favorite song: Smoke on the Water

4 I absolutely adore Come On Eileen, but always assumed it was a one-hit wonder from Dexys Midnight Runners. The Spotify play counts seem to reveal that as true, but actually listening to the album made me realize that's a damn shame - this album is an absolute blast from front to back. The sound of the band is one of the most unique I've heard, and it's really interesting to hear how they utilize it outside of Eileen (really effectively apparently). It ultimately makes a really fun, strangely danceable folk/new wave record - nothing mindblowing, but I had a good time with it. Though I didn't factor them into my review, the bonus tracks on this album were great as well. Favorite songs: Come On Eileen (duh), Plan B, I'll Show You, The Celtic Soul Brothers, Let's Make This Precious

2 My roommate is close friends with a couple from the UK who adore Kate Bush, who then proceeded to get my roommate into Kate Bush, and now I hear too much Kate Bush for my own damn good (Stranger Things also didn't help). So, I kind of groaned starting this album, as it sounded like everything else I've heard from her - very generic 80s pop. While I don't necessarily mind that kind of music, it doesn't feel like there's much here that I haven't heard before. Side B on this album at least went in a little bit of a different, experimental direction that I appreciated at first, but it started losing me again towards the end. To me, it feels like she wanted to explore two different genres/concepts, but didn't venture far enough into either direction to do them justice and ended up with an all-around mediocre album. Sorry Brits, but I'm another American who doesn't get it. Favorite songs: Jig of Life, Running Up That Hill

4.5 "This next one is the first song on our new album. It just came out this week, and the song is called... Surrender." One of my most-spun vinyl records, and one of the greatest live albums ever recorded (though Nirvana's MTV Unplugged holds the crown). Cheap Trick was the definition of being "big in Japan", and the way the audience reacts to the band's every note is the stuff musicians dream of. This album also undoubtedly holds what is the definitive edition of I Want You to Want Me - hearing the studio recording without the echoing screams of Japanese fans just feels so hollow and lifeless. To be honest, I actually haven't heard the studio recordings of most of the tracks on this album, and I'm not sure I want to... not sure they could live up to the energy levels at Budokan. Blast from front to back. Favorite songs: I Want You to Want Me, Surrender, Hello There, Come On, Come On, Lookout, Need Your Love

3 Surprised to see a second album from this group here considering I had never heard of them before the first. Sandy Denny sounds as great here as she does on Unhalfbricking, though this album as whole comparatively feels like more of the same, but not quite as good. I still enjoyed the overall sound, but the songs lack a certain individuality as compared to the previous album, and the whole thing just kind of feels like it runs together without a lot of standout moments. A decent companion piece, but I'd opt to listen to Unhalfbricking instead. Favorite songs: Reynardine, Matty Groves, Tam Lin

1 I appreciate the album going ahead and rating itself for me in the title. I was bored about 5 minutes in, and it didn't get any better from there. It didn't even do anything interesting... like it just repeated the same piano patterns and vocal harmonies for like 10+ minutes at a time. I would say to leave this at the airport, but then I read the below on the album's Wikipedia page: "The album has been installed and performed in at least five airports; it has been met with resistance from some travellers and workers, who deem it disruptive." So I guess it's not welcome at airports either ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I know a lot of people find ambient music calming and good to get work done to, and I can definitely understand that, but still, not for me.

3 I don't claim to know a ton of Stevie Wonder, but it doesn't feel like I'm listening to the best he has to offer here. Don't get me wrong, it's still an enjoyable album, and when it has its highs they're pretty high, but a lot of it was just pretty decent for me - I feel like I've heard other stuff of his that I've liked a lot more. Other than that, not a ton of thoughts... though the music on Creepin' gave me big old school Nintendo vibes. Like if you took an instrumental version of the track and put it in the background of like Big Boo's Haunt in Super Mario 64 or an Ocarina of Time temple I'm not sure I would even recognize the difference. Favorite songs: Heaven is 10 Zillion Light Years Away, You Haven't Done Nothin', Creepin'

2.5 The Pretenders are a band I've always wanted to like, but for some reason I just can't quite get to click with me. This album feels like something I would love... I adore Chrissie Hynde's voice, and the music I would best describe as a manifestation of the punk to new wave transition. Hell, Johnny Marr would even later credit the guitar work on the album as his biggest inspiration for The Smiths (one of my all-time faves!). Yet despite all of that, it just feels like they neglect to do anything overly-interesting with the tools they have at their disposal. I'll admit this album kicks off pretty strongly with tracks like Precious and Up the Neck, but starting around Space Invader, slowly but surely, I feel like the album becomes less and less musically interesting, to the point where I was kind of over it at Private Life. Overall, a net okay album - Tattooed Love Boys is a jam though and by far the best song on the album. Favorite songs: Tattooed Love Boys, Precious, Up the Neck

3 I appreciate this list recognizing music outside of Western/English-speaking countries, because not only do I feel like it's typically neglected when it comes to top album discussions and rankings, but I admittedly have also done a really poor job of exploring myself. Granted, this album is a take on Western music (it literally says so on the album cover), but I feel like it's a good stepping stone into venturing out further. Aaand I quite enjoyed it. My guy shreds the sitar in ways I didn't know one could, and I really thought he bridged the gap between two cultures effectively. Both of the covers were really, really good, to the point where I may even say Light My Fire... sounds better on a sitar than on a keyboard? It didn't blow my mind, but it definitely encouraged me to listen to more world music - so an effective record through and through. Favorite songs: Light My Fire, Raghupati, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Metamorphosis

1.5 So, his schtick is he does a poppier, strings-heavier take on Sinatra? But coupled with some of the worst lyrics I've ever heard? "If you were a horse I'd clean the crap out of your stable And never once complain" What? Apparently there's room for filler in a list of 1001 greatest albums of all-time. This album is musically mediocre and lyrically painful, and I'm really not sure why this is something I "must hear before I die". On to the next one.

2 I read on this album's Wiki page that Apple was going for an unconventional percussive sound on this record, and that definitely came through on my listen. Lyrically and thematically the album is pretty sound, but I found the music jarring, which is a shame. Every time it felt like a powerful feminist statement was being made, it was immediately washed out by the most obnoxious drum pattern I've heard. It had its moments, but as a whole I definitely felt the 51 minute runtime... so I don't think I would give this full album a re-listen. Favorite songs: Ladies, Under the Table

3.5 And on the last album of my 24th year, the Lord said... let there be Stones. Our first Rolling Stones album of what I assume is going to be a handful, and I was surprised by how... country it is? Country blues was not a genre I realized the Stones ever leaned into, but I didn't mind it. That being said, the less-bluesy tracks (like Street Fighting Man and Stray Cat Blues... ironically) stood out to me more. Songs like No Expectations and Dear Doctor were fine, but kind of ran together, and Factory Girl was borderline a Led Zeppelin song (not necessarily a bad thing). All in all, found it to be an enjoyable record with strong classic vinyl vibes. Would probably listen again. Favorite songs: Sympathy for the Devil, Street Fighting Man, Stray Cat Blues

3 A little all over the place and disjointed, with the songs being very hit or miss for me. I found myself vibing with the album at times, only to immediately be sucked out by a jarringly different and lackluster track (looking at you, Sad Memory). From what I saw on Wikipedia, it seems like there were three songwriters on the album, and from what I heard, it seems like none of them were on the same page. That being said, the Neil Young penned songs were the highlights, and probably a good indication of why he would go on to have the most successful solo career... though I'm starting to think this list of albums may be convincing me I'm a Young fan. Favorite songs: Mr. Soul, Expecting to Fly, Hang Upside Down, Broken Arrow

2 Our third Beatles album, and one that falls directly between the past two chronologically. So, it's only fitting my rating should fall there as well. It's interesting to listen to this album third, as it's very much a midpoint marker in the transition from the sound of early Beatles to later Beatles... and I'm learning I prefer the latter (though not drastically). That all being said, this is probably the longest 34-minute album I've ever heard, and I was pretty surprised to learn that the longest song on this album is exactly 3 minutes when I checked in on my listen progress - I just don't feel like there's a ton interesting going on here. Eleanor Rigby is a good song, though as if to counterbalance that, Yellow Submarine is probably one of the hottest pieces of garbage I've heard. As a whole, I didn't hate it, but I definitely felt underwhelmed. (Why is this the biggest band of all-time???? A global average of 4.26 are you kidding me?????) Favorite songs: Eleanor Rigby, Tomorrow Never Knows

1 Late review because I definitely wasn't listening to this at the office and... wtf. I've never been much of George Michael fan, but goddamn this album is CREE-PY. I felt uncomfortable for the entire listening of Father Figure, and then if that wasn't bad enough, he decided to double down on the following track subtly titled I Want Your Sex. I probably shouldn't over-analyze something that's intended to be a serviceably danceable slice of '80s pop music, but goddamn this whole song is Michael trying to convince someone to have sex with him who clearly doesn't want to. "I'm not your brother I'm not your father Oh will you ever change your mind I'm a gentle lover with a heart of gold But baby you've been so unkind Come on I want your sex" And this isn't even the only questionable lyric... this about how every verse goes. When I wasn't completely unsettled, I was bored out of my skull listening to substance-devoid lyrics and unoriginal 80's pop beats. It sounds like he's trying to do a Michael Jackson thing on quite a few of these songs, but while equally as creepy, I'd take a Jackson album over this any day. Once you've had a chance to slog through the boring back half of this album, guess how Michael decided to close it out? Yep, that's right, with a reprise of I Want Your Sex. Ultimately, I just don't think this album has aged well at all. Make the argument all you want that I "had to be there" - you all should have realized this album was bad then, and I'm holding everyone alive in 1987 accountable.

3 An enjoyable rock opera-sounding album that wasn’t actually a rock opera (though I think that might just be called “prog rock”). School was a really fun opener that set the stage for the sound of the rest of the album well. From there, I enjoyed the twists and turns taken, with there being a few really cool moments along the way (I loved when Asylum got all explosive near the end). Not a ton of specific standout moments as a whole though, and I kind of wish all the songs were connected through a more clear sense of narrative or theme like a rock opera. As is, it feels a bit disjointed and lacking in a sense of specific identity. Still, a fun listen, and I look forward to listening to Breakfast in America from here (assuming that made the list if this did?)

4.5 Bowie! Having listened to the man's entire studio discography, I can confidently say this ranks among the best of his work, and in my opinion contains some of his most underrated tracks. Changes and Life on Mars? are of course great, but Kooks, Andy Warhol, and Queen Bitch are three favorites of mine I never hear get talked about - though truthfully, there's not a bad song here. This is the album that really exemplifies the shape of things to come for Bowie, and embodies all that I admire most about the man: his confident and unapologetic ability to be a freak (or a "kook") and to not only own it, but to make it his identity. I feel like he was the first artist to represent so-called outcasts and misfits, and so many other artists who would go on to do the same have him to thank for that (Nirvana covering Bowie anyone?) Anyway, while Hunky Dory isn't perfect, it's a damn good record. Rest in Peace Bowie, and I look forward to all the albums ahead on this list.

3 No way, they made the Fallout song into a full album?? An enjoyable listen front-to-back that didn't outstay its welcome, though I do think all songs pale in comparison to Big Iron, which is by far the standout. They start running together shortly into the album, but distinct or not, each song does a great job of creating ambience, so I didn't mind too much. Also, if you're able to focus in on the lyrics, there's a lot of fun storytelling going on. There's nothing bad here, and as a whole I find the album niche enough to scratch an old-timey Country Western itch I didn't know I had. Makes me want to play Fallout or a cowboy game like Red Dead. Favorite songs: Big Iron, The Master's Call, The Hanging Tree Also, if you haven't heard it, Mike Ness of Social Distortion has a solid rockabilly cover of Big Iron - would recommend giving it a listen.

4 I kept thinking this group sounded so familiar until I got to A Day at the Races... and of course it was in a Tony Hawk game. Neversoft was always on the ball when it came to picking out music, and this is no exception - both the track itself and the album is fantastic. From the beats, to the vocals, to the lyrics, the members of Jurassic 5 were firing on all cylinders here, and there's not a bad or uninteresting moment to be had. I feel like I can hear some A Tribe Called Quest influence in the vocal dynamics, social messages, and basslines, though the group still forges a clear identity of their own with unique beats and quirky transitions - likely largely a product of producer/member Cut Chemist. Another name I know from the Tony Hawk games, the dude is an absolutely insane DJ, and this album definitely makes me wants to check out more his production work and J5's discog. Favorite songs: A Day at the Races, If You Only Knew, Sum of Us

4 It dawned on me pretty early (roughly around the lyric "I don't wanna get over you" on Sorrow) that I was going to have to listen again, as this definitely isn't a "10 AM Friday morning with a cup of coffee playing quietly so to not wake up your guest sleeping in the living room" kind of album. So I put on again around 7 PM, and let me tell you, if you're not giving this album a nighttime listen when you're by yourself and can fully soak in everything it has to offer (perhaps with a moderate amount of vice of choice), you're doing it a disservice. I know "in the feels" kinds of albums aren't for everyone, but man I vibe with them like no other. If it's the kind of album you're listening to moments before sending an ex-girlfriend a drunk text you're gonna regret in the morning, it's probably something I'd like... not that I've ever done anything like that. Anyway, while it wasn't absolutely spectacular, I feel room for growth here, so I'll be listening again and checking out more of what The National has to offer. Favorite songs: Terrible Love, Sorrow, Afraid of Everyone, Bloodbuzz Ohio, Conversation 16

3 Seeing as how Googling this album results only in Bandcamp links and no Wikipedia results, shoutout to 1001 Albums for pulling out a modern deep cut here. That being said, this is a neat, modern electronic psychedelic listen without much substance at its core. Didn't dislike any of it in particular, but I was left without much of a lasting impression, and, while I'm not trying to dismiss amateur songwriting by any means, the "messing around in GarageBand" vibes were strong. So idk, it was fine. Seems like something to get high and play video games to. Favorite songs: H>A>K, Modern Kosmology, Slow Motion

I got really excited when I saw Sly & The family stone. This album is really good funk and soul with the kinda jazz sound I don't really mind. Good album to groove and sway in your seat kind of music. But I can tell you this isn't their best work.... Anyway, enjoyed Luv N Haight and Family Affair. Don't know if would go back and listen to this album again, but always enjoys this guys voice. 2.5 to 3 for me

5 Fuck yeah, love the Dead Kennedys. As probably one of the most politically charged groups of all-time (up there with Rage Against the Machine and Public Enemy), I've always felt that this band (along with the mentioned) "got it". Going into my review, I was actually prepared to give a 4 or 4.5 because, while I really enjoy the album, there are a handful of songs I don't return to as much. After giving this a re-listen now, I'm left wondering what the hell I was doing sleeping on them before. All killer, no filler front to back - an absolute punk essential (though Frankenchrist is also an amazing album imo). They say that the older you get, the more disillusioned you become with the punk mindset, and a developing exposure to the larger political stratosphere leads to a more complex and comprehensive mindset. I say - Dead Kennedys were right all along. RIP D.H. Peligro Favorite songs: Obviously Holiday in Cambodia and California Über Alles are bangers, but you can't go wrong with anything here. Let's Lynch the Landlord is probably the most underrated.

2.5 Whatever DID happen to Pong? Pixies are one of my favorite bands, but I haven't listened to much of Frank Black's solo stuff. I thought I was digging this album, but then about halfway through I realized none of the songs had left any lasting impression on me... and when I finished, that was still the case. Like, while I enjoyed the overarching sound, I couldn't pinpoint a single moment in particular that stood out to me. So with that being said, this is probably the coolest unremarkable album I've ever heard, which in turn has made this really hard to assign a rating - I guess we'll go in the middle. Was going to bump up half a star because Frank Black, but took it back because it's a little too long. Would maybe listen again, but would probably opt to listen to a Pixies album instead. Favorite songs: ??? I straight up listened to this album twice and can't think of one individual song to highlight here

1 Ugh. Never understood the Grateful Dead. What is this? Country music for hippies? I'm convinced the reason they're so tied with LSD usage is because you have to be on it to enjoy the music, and imo if your music requires the listener to be on a controlled substance to find anything of value... you're probably not a very good band. Maybe I'm missing out on some kind of third eye by not listening to the Dead under the influence, but this album isn't inspiring me much to go out and try.

4 I raised an eyebrow when I saw I was about to listen to an Echo and the Bunnymen album without any of the hits on it, but mad props to this list for highlighting it, because this is an absolute hidden gem. For me, this is new wave at its best - gothic, yet danceable. Going Up is a catchy kickoff that sets the tone for the rest of the album nicely (as all great openers should), and despite listening in an office cubicle, I couldn't help but bob along to Do It Clean (yeah, yeah, I know it wasn't on the original release, but it was on the version us Americans got, so I'm counting it). Admittedly, not every song is a standout, but they all do a great job of maintaining the atmosphere and energy of the album, and nothing feels out of place. Will be listening again. Favorite songs: Do It Clean, Going Up, Monkeys, Rescue

5 I don't care if it's a mainstream opinion - this is Bowie's best. Space Alien Bowie is the best Bowie, and he oozes androgynously glam rockstar charm that so many other artists have tried and failed to emulate. Every song on this album is absolutely fantastic in its own uniquely crafted standout way, to the point where you really couldn't go wrong jumping in on any track at random. Of course the four hits are rock staples (on an album only eleven tracks long!), but songs like Soul Love, It Ain't Easy, and Hang on to Yourself - that aren't talked about as much - are just as strong as the aforementioned titan tracks, if not stronger. In particular, if we're being real here, Five Years is not only the best song on the album, but probably among the best of Bowie's career. An actual sci-fi adventure in album form, you're doing yourself a genuine disservice if you don't listen at least once in your life.

3.5 A grower, not a shower. This reminded me a lot of other early 2000s folk indie groups like Eels and The Shins, both of which I like but don't love. After my first listen, I lumped this album in with those and moved on. But then, while cooking dinner that night, I found myself humming I Am Trying to Break Your Heart and thinking on the lyrics. So, I gave a second listen when I was able to dive a little deeper, and I think my experience benefitted greatly from that. While not particularly flashy or musically complex, there are lot of cleverly nuanced lyrics and raw emotions that I think drive this record home. Nothing mindblowing, but I enjoyed it. Favorite songs: I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Radio Cure, Jesus, Etc., Pot Kettle Black

1.5 I find 80s pop to be a really interesting spectrum, and overall very, very hit or miss. On one side you had flashy icons like Madonna, Michael Jackson, and George Michael with catchy, danceable hits, on the other side new wave artists like The Cure, Simple Minds, and Echo & The Bunnymen with broody, outsider anthems, and then somewhere in the middle is this. This album seems to mesh the broodiness of new wave and danceability from mainstream pop here into one proto-electronic package... and it doesn't work for me. I totally get the primary function of some albums is just to provide something to dance to, and I can only imagine how much fun this must have been at 80s clubs, but in many ways I can hear how this inspired modern electronica, and in turn, modern club music, or "Good luck if you're sober" music. Simply put, it just feels abrasive in a very cold and lifeless way. Of course, everyone enjoys music differently, but that isn't for me, and neither is this - This is an 80s album that's gonna fall under the "miss" column.

2 Travis as a band name has always bothered me... like, come on guys, it's a pretty common first name. Imagine the confusion that would ensue if a hot, new band broke out known only as "John". Good luck Googling that. Anyway, segueing here, the music is about on the same level of creativity. This album seems to hit all the same notes that every other early 2000s pop rock band was putting out, but compared to groups like Coldplay and The Fray, I feel like Travis is all-around less remarkable. The singer also sounds incredibly similar to Thom Yorke vocally, to the point where a few of the songs sound probably like what Radiohead would have sounded like had they decided to play it safe after The Bends. Regardless, no matter how you slice it, there's nothing here I feel like I haven't heard before. Not bad, but meh. Favorites songs: As You Are, Turn, Blue Flashing Light

3 Pure folk. I found Joni's style of songwriting interesting, as it seems to be a form of personal storytelling and often lacks any kind of chorus. That being said, while unique, it doesn't necessarily result in overly-interesting music. Most of the songs sound pretty similar if not the same, and while personal, lyrics often feel very surface-level... like she's just describing the itinerary of her day spent in a new town. That isn't the case for all tracks though - the title track in particular I found to be pretty lyrically strong. That all being said, I really didn't hate any of it, and I really enjoyed her voice, so this is probably mid-tier for me. Would be curious to hear more of her music. Favorite songs: Hejira, Coyote, Blue Motel Room

5 An album widely regarded as one of the best ever recorded... and you know what, everyone who says so is 100% right. I'm usually quick to point a finger at something for being overrated, but through and through, this album is perfectly rated as the musical monument it is. In fact, if there were any one album agreed upon as being "the best", I'd be okay with it being this one (sorry Sgt. Pepper's). I've always thought of The Clash as the most important group of punk's first wave. Sure, Ramones and Sex Pistols pioneered the sound, but The Clash lived and breathed the mentality and values. They didn't just write songs about social justice, they were actually out on the streets fighting for it. So despite many trying to argue London Calling isn't a punk album because it blends different musical genres, you can't tell me the punk spirit isn't still present in some form or another on every track. Clampdown in particular is one of my favorite anthems, and contains some of my favorite punk lyrics: "Kick over the wall, cause governments to fall How can you refuse it? Let fury have the hour, anger can be power D'you know that you can use it?" While Beto O'Rourke was never my preferred presidential candidate, respect to him for using it as a part of his campaign. I've tossed this expression around a few times in my reviews, but this album is the definition of a group firing on all cylinders - every member is giving 110% into songwriting and performance, and it shows. Bassist Paul Simonon even stepped up to write and sing for the first time with The Guns of Brixton, and it's honestly one of the best songs on the album. Just about every track here is fantastic and unique in sound though (on a double album no less!) There's a lot I could highlight about each one, but I'll just call out Spanish Bombs and The Card Cheat as two of my favorites I don't see get talked about enough. The former is catchy as all hell, and the latter never fails to give me goosebumps when the horn section kicks in. The only real miss for me across the album is Lover's Rock (not really sure what they were going for there), but I'll give it a pass considering it's essentially a pebble in a bag of diamonds. Alright, I wrote way more here than I intended to, but even then I still feel like I have so much more I could say. Long story short, this album is a requirement for anyone with even the vaguest interest in music history.

3.5 Great timing seeing as how I'll be at Sir Elton's Dodger Stadium show this Thursday for the last stop on his farewell tour. With that being said, while I quite enjoy a good chunk of Elton's work, I'm far from his biggest fan (more of an "in the right place at the right time" kinda thing regarding my upcoming LA show). I've heard this album in particular before, and while I'm overall a fan, it admittedly all starts running together after Levon. Nothing is unenjoyable or outstays its welcome, but it's not particularly remarkable either. So, this album is probably about a 3 from me, but I'll bump an extra half point because Tiny Dancer really is that good of a song.

2 This felt like the missing link between The Stone Roses and every other 90s Britpop band in some ways... but much less interesting than any of those bands in every way. Aaand that's all I really I have to say on the album - It was almost remarkably unremarkable. Started off with some okay at best Britpop, and then slowly devolved into boringly overblown piano and operatic ballads. Supposedly Rolling Stone labeled this as one of the most pretentious albums of all-time, and I can definitely see where they're coming from. Idk nothing outright bad, but I probably wouldn't listen again. My favorite song was Stay Together... which is a bonus track and not even part of the actual album.

2 Talking Heads are an artist multiple people have recommended I dig into, but I have just never been able to get. Supposedly they invented new wave, a genre I'm normally a big fan of, but I just don't really hear it. What I hear instead is annoying vocals and guitar jangles accompanying what sounds like an attempt at funk. This band has its moments, but none of the particularly notable ones are here. After listening to this album a couple times, I’ll admit Thank You For Sending Me an Angel grew on me a bit, and Take Me to the River is fine enough, so I’ll round up to a 2 from my initial rating of 1.5. Every other song is a pass from me though.

4 Bob Dylan was once an artist I found incredibly boring, but who I've learned to appreciate in the more recent years of my life, along with folk music as a whole (likely due to Conor Oberst bridging the gap between the genre and emo). Sure, it's not always super interesting musically, but often times there's a very distinctive sense of storytelling paired with well-crafted lyrics that pulls me in. Anyway, much like how Conor Oberst blends folk influence into his work, this Dylan album in particular is notable for incorporating elements of rock and blues into his music for the first time, which I think all-around makes the album more accessible for newer and casual listeners. For more familiar fans, it's a milestone in his musical evolution. While I personally wouldn’t go as far as to call it an all-time favorite, there’s not a bad moment here to be had, and I think it's entirely valid to argue Dylan as the king of folk music based on this album alone. Favorite songs: Like a Rolling Stone, Tombstone Blues, Highway 61 Revisited, Desolation Row

3 Alright, I should preface by saying I'm normally not a fan of Southern (or wannabe Southern - looking at you, Kid Rock) rock, like at all. But, my dad spoke very, very highly of this album, so I tried going in with an open mind... though I was prepared to dip out if I had to listen to anything about the Confederacy or Dixieland. And I didn't hate it. My dad was right about the non-hits being the better tracks here. While I've never been able to stand the song Gimme Three Steps, Tuesday's Gone was an unexpectedly solid tune, and when Simple Man’s transition into some honky-tonk stuff started losing me, the song Poison Whiskey was an enjoyable surprise that pulled me back in. Then of course the album ends with Free Bird, and, while my dad is gonna groan reading this, I gotta give credit where credit is due and admit this song is legendary for a reason. The theme of preparing to fly solo for a period of one's life is one I think anyone can relate to, and the back half of the song consists of probably some of the most iconic guitar solos of all-time (or is it all one solo? Either way) Anyway, the album was better than I expected to be. Didn't fall in love with it, but would maybe listen again, or at least my newfound sleeper hits mentioned above.

4.5 Fuck yeah, love The Clash (as evidenced in my London Calling review). Their debut is no London Calling, but it’s a damn good punk album. While I wouldn’t go as far as to call it the best punk debut, I would argue The Clash as one of the most consistently good punk bands - there’s not a bad entry across any of their five studio albums (yes, I mean five). Janie Jones is an excellent opener, and I’ve always loved Mick Jones’ WHOOooooaaaaooo that closes the track. I also adore White Riot, I’m so Bored with the USA, London’s Burning, and Career Opportunities, and consider them all to be punk staples. Not every track is a standout (not sure what’s going on in Protex Blue), but all fit the album nicely and keep the energy going. In fact, the only shift in sound on the album is the track Police and Thieves… and it does so in the best possible way. Not only is a solid take on a reggae track by its own merit, but in hindsight, it’s a bit of foreshadowing to the cross-genre fusion that the band would famously implement on their later albums. Fantastic album, and a great start to a legendary career.

3 Despite being born and raised in Michigan, I really haven't listened to enough Motown music for my own good. I'm embarrassed to say the only Temptations song I knew prior to my listening was My Girl, and so I kind of lumped them in with that 60s R&B sound. As I've learned from this album, the 70s brought on a musical evolution for the group I had no idea existed. Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On is a powerful slice of raw funk, reminiscent of James Brown's earlier live work, that starts the album off on an immediate high note. That energy continued on for me into Papa Was A Rollin' Stone, which felt nowhere near as long as its 12 minute runtime. The back side slowed down the tempo quite a bit, and overall I didn't find it as strong. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face was a highlight, but the other songs weren't particularly memorable, or in the case of Love Wake Me Up This Morning, a little too cheesy for my taste. Takeaway - should probably listen to more Motown.

3.5 I recognized the album cover to this one but knew little else beyond that, so I was pleasantly surprised to learn it’s a strong folk album with socially and politically conscious lyrics that rival even Bob Dylan. In fact, I think the lyrics are really what drive this album, and although dark and depressing at times, they’re always an ashamedly honest reflection of society… and sadly the subject matter still holds up just as much in 2022 as it did in 1988. There were a few lyrics I wanted to highlight here, including verses touching on racial assault in Across the Lines and police ineptitude in Behind the Wall, but instead I’ll urge anyone listening to follow along with the lyrics if possible - your experience will benefit greatly from it. The back half of the album isn’t quite as strong as the first, but overall it’s a well-paced album with a message more powerful than the musical backdrop. To be honest, I don't find most of the songs overly interesting musically, and I likely would have rated the album lower if not for the aforementioned themes, but I really feel like those are what cement this as an important listen, and I’m glad it’s on this list. Favorite songs: Talkin’ Bout a Revolution, Fast Car, Behind the Wall

3 While I love a good punk album, Buzzcocks have never been my favorite outfit of the genre. They have a few songs I really like, but having now listened to an album of their lesser known stuff, I stand by my initial thoughts on the band. While every song has that early punk energy and attitude we all know and love, there’s nothing particular of note in any individual song, and despite the group riding a musical wave defined by counterculture and protest, it doesn’t feel like much is being said here. I would rather just listen to Singles Going Steady - I feel like I can get the full Buzzcocks experience I need from that album, and I would urge any other skeptics to do the same. Honestly, I think it’s likely we didn’t get that album instead because the listmakers didn’t want to include compilations, which is fair, but in this case it feels like an unfortunate oversight. Favorite songs: I Don’t Mind, Get On Our Own, I Need

2.5 Fine Blues Rock - I can see how this could be influential for the rock bands to come in the decade ahead. Another Man in particular reminded me of the opening to Bring It on Home by Led Zeppelin, though to be fair, both artists were inspired by (or ripping off) blues artists from years prior. Don’t feel like I have a ton to say beyond that. I’ve never been much of an Eric Clapton fan, and this didn’t do much to change that. One of the most “Yeah, that’s music alright” listens I’ve heard so far, and, as someone who is far from an expert on the genre, I’m confident there are much better blues albums out there. Favorite songs: All Your Love, Another Man, It Ain’t Right

5 There’s a lot I could say about The Ramones’ impact and legacy on not only punk, but music as a whole - though most of it isn’t anything that hasn’t already been said a million times before. So, instead, a bit selfishly, I’d like to talk about my own personal experience with the band. The first song I can ever recall hearing in my life is Blitzkrieg Bop (thanks Dad), and the first album I ever owned in my life was “Loud, Fast Ramones: Their Toughest Hits” (thanks Angel). It was Christmas at Grandma’s, I was probably like six years old, and I remember getting a new Hot Wheels set alongside it. There’s a lot I could say about my history with The Ramones and music from there, but I’ll keep it brief in saying that it sparked a life passion, led to lifelong friendships (thanks Will), and is probably why I’m taking on this very challenge of listening and reviewing 1001 albums now. In that time, I’ve learned to appreciate many, many new artists and genres, but because of The Ramones, punk has been a fascination of mine that has never dwindled in 20 or so years. While The Ramones themselves are no longer my favorite artist, they’ve always represented a safe space I can go to no matter when or where I’m at in life, and for that alone, I couldn’t rate this any lower than a 5. I don’t want to end on a soft note though, so to cap things off This album kicks fucking ass. Hey Ho, Let’s Go! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BpMw7gMOsA

2 I talked about this a bit before in my Graceland review, but while I really enjoy Simon & Garfunkel, I’ve never been able to get much into Paul Simon’s solo career. While I can respect Graceland for experimenting with songwriting and sound, this just feels like a poppier version of his existing folk career… and is just worse in every way. Mother and Child Reunion I found to be a particularly annoying opener, and I really couldn’t tell you what the song is about if I tried since 75% of the song is the line “The mother and child reunion is only a motion away”. Duncan and Everything Put Together Falls Apart felt like a nice return to form, but then from there the album devolves into track after track of overproduced folk pop, to the point I was pretty bored by the end. Favorite songs: Duncan, Everything Put Together Falls Apart, Armistice Day

2 And for our 100th album, it’s another Beatles album… and an early one at that. While I’ve already said my peace on early Beatles albums, I guess I can admit I enjoyed this one slightly more than a Hard Day’s Night. Hell, I might go as far as to say I kind of enjoyed All I’ve Got To Do, despite its cheesiness. As a whole I feel like I’m less offended by the bubble gumminess, though it did start wearing on me at the end. Maybe I’m just less (or more) jaded than I used to be. Probably wouldn’t listen again, but I guess I didn’t completely hate it. At least it wasn’t long. Also random factoid - this album dropped the same day Kennedy was assassinated. So by default, I guess this wasn’t the worst thing to happen on that day in history (though the CIA might beg to differ).

2 Never been much of a Janis Joplin fan. I think some people have a problem with her voice, though honestly I don’t mind that as much as I just don’t find her music particularly interesting. It very much fits the time and place, but I would rather listen to other Summer of Love artists instead like Jimi Hendrix or Jefferson Airplane - though I’ll take this over Grateful Dead any day of the week. I was also surprised to learn the majority of the album consists of covers. Not that I think any less of the album because of it, but I guess I always thought of Joplin as more of a songwriter in my head. However, considering one of the original songs she did write for the album was Mercedes Benz, maybe it’s for the best. I can definitely see how this could be a vibe to hear live, but it doesn’t do much for me in album form. Favorite songs: Cry Baby, Move Over

4 A welcome surprise. There’s a lot I could say about Oasis, but I’d like to save most of it for (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? - And if it didn't make the list, then I guess those thoughts go unpublished. For now, I’ll say high school wouldn’t have been the same without the band. Anyway, regarding this particular album, while not their best (I would put it under both the aforementioned and Masterplan personally), this is still a classic 90s alternative rock record and among Britpop best. Rock n Roll Star is a great opener, and I’ve loved it from the second I first heard it in the form as You All Everybody by Drive Shaft on Lost (it’s the same song and you can’t convince me otherwise). Supersonic, Live Forever, and Cigarettes & Alcohol are of course certified classics, but there were even a few songs here and there like Shakermaker, Up in the Sky, and Bring It On Down that I had forgotten about and enjoyed more than I remember. Not every song is a banger, but they’re all at least pretty good. Far from the first time I’ve heard this one, and while I don’t think it’ll ever be the Oasis album I return to most, it’s definitely one I’ll re-visit from time to time again.

3 I feel like this is one of those albums where you know if you’re gonna like it or dislike it within the first minute or so - I mean, it’s Bob Dylan. I enjoy Dylan, so I enjoyed this, but I can admit the live aspect of this album didn’t really do much for me to add to his music. I would likely rather listen to the studio recordings instead… especially so I don’t have to deal with constantly adjusting my speakers for piercing harmonica solos. The shift from solo acoustic to full band halfway through was a nice change of pace that helped prevent the album from feeling overly long, but I was little disappointed in what I heard (or didn’t hear) after reading the Wikipedia page on the album. Per the article, Dylan’s shift to electric alienated his audience, who seemingly turned against him and spent the rest of the show heckling and trying to throw him off rhythm, with Dylan firing shots back in return. So, while I guess I assumed the album was famous for what I imagined being the folk equivalent of a Steve-O live show I saw not too long ago, I ultimately didn’t hear any of that on my listen. Maybe the final product edited that out? Anyway, I digress - it’s a fine album, but nothing special. Favorite songs: Visions of Johanna, Baby, Let Me Follow You Down, One Too Many Mornings, and of course Desolation Row is always great

3.5 Fish cakes? Fish cakes. When I think of Bauhaus, I begrudgingly think of that Matt-era blink-182 song She’s Out of Her Mind, which has the lyrics “She got a black shirt, black skirt and Bauhaus stuck in her head”. Outside of that, all I knew was that Bauhaus is 80s goth music. And I kind of dug it! In some ways it felt like new wave bands of the era without many of the pop elements, with also maybe a bit of German industrial mixed in? There are also some absolute killer bass hooks that I couldn’t help but bob along to while working. Even the more droning ambient tracks kinda worked for me in the way they helped flesh out the album’s doomy atmosphere. I could see myself listening again… maybe after a shopping trip to buy some black nail polish and eyeliner. Favorite songs: Hair of the Dog, The Passion of Lovers, Dancing Also the lead singer vocally is basically Fred Schneider from the B-52s but goth - change my mind.

3.5 The only Gang Starr song I knew prior to this was Mass Appeal, as featured in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4. While I adore probably a solid 95% of the songs used in the Tony Hawk games, Mass Appeal was never one that was high on my list. So, I didn’t have high expectations going in. Turns out, it’s a solid album. What stood out for me most was how subtle it was both in terms of vocals and music. Nothing was overly flashy or fancy, yet each song seemed to have a clear sense of identity with unique beats and subject matter. Guru’s delivery almost feels effortless, while also somehow complementing each of the beats perfectly. There’s not a ton of range in vocal performance to be had, but it doesn’t feel like anything extra is needed at any point. All in all, a really relaxing listen, and there’s not a bad song to be had. In many ways, it was a nice contrast to many of the more mainstream hip hop tracks of today. Will definitely be checking out more of their stuff. Favorite songs: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, Execution of a Chump, Take a Rest, Lovesick, Who’s Gonna Take the Weight?

2.5 Turns out I can, in fact, believe my eyes and ears - this is a very run-of-the-mill slice of the era. The harmonies are nice I guess, but the music otherwise isn’t particularly notable. California Dreamin’ is of course an exception - while not the most creative song lyrically or musically, there’s something beautifully haunting in the vocal harmonies and resolve, which creates an interesting juxtaposition with the supposed light subject matter. Anyway, that’s probably the most I could say about any song on this record. This is the third cover of Do You Wanna Dance I’ve heard after The Beach Boys’ and Ramones’ versions, and I can confidently say it’s the worst of the three. Go Where You Wanna Go was probably my personal favorite outside of Cali Dreamin’, though conversely, the song Spanish Harlem came off feeling a bit patronizing to me (I know it’s a cover but still). A net “okay” all-around.

4 Really thought these guys were one-hit wonders on the poppier side of punk, but this album was great through and through and went harder than I anticipated. There were quite a few tracks that really stuck with me, and a couple I actually even liked more than Teenage Kicks (the aforementioned hit I knew prior). With all that in mind, I’m kind of surprised this band isn’t held in a higher regard, or at least brought up in conversation more alongside other first wave punk bands like The Ramones and Sex Pistols. In any case, I will be from now on. Favorite songs: Male Model, Jump Boys, Teenage Kicks, Family Entertainment Also, am I the only one who thought it was interesting there’s a song on this album called Casbah Rock, released three years before fellow punk outfit The Clash released their iconic hit Rock the Casbah? Can’t seem to find anything online that connects the two. Coincidence? Or major punk conspiracy?

5 Was saving my review for this one until I could properly appreciate it. Every time I listen to this album, a wave of feelings comes over me with memories of high school, first love, summer nights, and most importantly, good times with good people. Sure, the album was already 20 years old when these memories were made, but great music is timeless, and even as this album approaches 30 years, it’s still my ultimate feel-good record. No record has ever quite captured the feeling of being young, dumb, reckless, lazy, and loving every minute of it like this one has for me (though Enema of the State is very close). It’s fun from front to back, and there’s not a single dull moment to be had in its 38 minute runtime - and yes, that includes All By Myself. Never has a band since The Ramones used the three power chord song structure so effectively, to the point where the music is so goddamn catchy you don’t even notice the simplicity of the structure. There’s not a ton of versatility, but it never once feels like any more is needed, it’s like you’re having the time of your life on a high-speed roller coaster without any signs of it slowing down. There’s probably a bit I could say about each individual song, but to avoid making this review too overly long, I’ll just say every song fits perfectly both within the confines of the album and on its own, and while I adore each and every one, She is my personal favorite (my #2 GD song of all-time after Whatsername on American Idiot). One of the best ever for me. The second I start it, I know I’m in for a great time. Whether you agree or disagree, I hope you all have an album that makes you feel the way this one does me.

1.5 Our previous Rundgren album, A Wizard/A True Star, was a fun musical journey through the audible equivalent of an LSD trip. This one is a bit more of a musical marathon, where you’re out of breath and ready for the finish line by the end. I’m really glad he decided to get a bit more experimental with his follow-up, as this one just feels like safe pop song after lame soft rock song… after safe pop song after lame soft rock song after safe pop song after lame soft rock song. Really don’t think this needed to be 25 tracks, and I think the fact that not one jumped out to me makes it seem like Rundgren was going for quantity over quality. I guess I’ll give him kudos for playing almost all of the instrument tracks on the album, but still, it doesn’t make the listening any more interesting to me. Since I didn’t outright hate any tracks in particular, I was feeling a strong 2 at first, but I ultimately decided to deduct a half point for runtime, as that would most likely deter me from listening again in the future.

3.5 One of the more unique albums I’ve heard thus far. The singer’s voice, the electronic beats, and the heavy synth/strings are all so distinct that it feels like one shouldn’t pair well with the others, yet somehow it blends beautifully. A lot of sappy themes and lyrics about love (I swear the word itself is mentioned in every song), but it worked for me in a kind of new wave, arthouse way that makes me think of a pretentious Perks of Being a Wallflower-esque mixtape - the song Stay specifically if you’re trying to win someone back. Speaking of, I really enjoyed Stay and all the tracks leading up to it, but it felt like the back half of the album descended into slower ballads that started to lose me. Heatwave wasn’t bad, but Easter Parade and Automobile Noise were a bit of a slog. Still, the album worked for me as a whole, so I’ll likely listen again - if not the full thing, definitely a few songs. I’m also curious to check out their supposedly critically acclaimed followup Hats. Favorite songs: Stay, Tinseltown in the Rain, A Walk Across the Rooftops, Heatwave

3 This album is an enigma. Having never heard of the artist, the Wikipedia page only offered me five brief, matter of fact sentences (one of which mentions its inclusion on this list), and even more strangely, while the album is nowhere to be found on Ramblin’ Jack’s Spotify page or through in-app lookup, a Google search reveals the album does in fact exist on Spotify and is fully listenable. What are you hiding, Jack?? Further research into Ramblin’ Jack’s career reveals a deeply rooted Woody Guthrie idolization (his first studio recording was even a Guthrie cover album), and a quick listen to any given track on this album basically confirms that. Yet despite that, and despite me being ready to write him off as a glorified fanboy, I actually really enjoyed my listening. Sure, it’s not the most distinct thing I’ve heard, and no, Ramblin’ Jack doesn’t come off quite as versatile as his hero or contemporaries like Bob Dylan, but I had fun. And you know what? Sometimes that’s what it’s all about. Makes me want to play some Red Dead. Favorite songs: San Francisco Bay Blues, The Boll Weevil, Cocaine, Brother Won’t You Join in the Line

3.5 I’ve never actually listened to this one, but I was pretty interested to check it out for contextual purposes at the very least after listening to The Marshall Mathers LP. In some ways, it’s a contrast to the follow-up - whereas MMLP feels like a reactionary response to sudden fame and the criticism that comes alongside it, SSLP feels more like a reflection of living in poverty and culture surrounding it. In other ways, it’s a lot of the same - violent, misogynist, and shocking… but hey, he did give us a warning. That being said, I’m able to acknowledge Em is playing a character here. That’s not to say that he’s any kind of moral inspiration outside of the studio, but the album is clearly trying to be provocative to get a reaction out of people… and it succeeded. Anyway, musically, the album is pretty solid. I was surprised by how much I hadn’t heard before (the only song I recognized was My Name Is), but Dre’s production is great on every track - as it always is. Not as many standouts on this one for me as MMLP, but as a whole it’s a clear sign of what was ahead. I’ll end with this Wikipedia quotation: “‘97 Bonnie & Clyde’, which was formerly featured on the Slim Shady EP as ‘Just the Two of Us’, was re-recorded for The Slim Shady LP to feature his daughter Hailie's vocals. Because the song focuses on disposing of his girlfriend's corpse, Eminem was not comfortable with explaining the situation to Kim, and instead told her that he would be taking Hailie to Chuck E. Cheese's.” Favorite songs: My Name Is, Role Model, My Fault

2 Radiohead to me is the musical equivalent of Rick & Morty, in that I tend to find their fanbase insufferable. In both cases, they’re largely comprised of devout fanatics that seem to think a certain level of intellect is required to appreciate the content, when really it’s nowhere near as complex or as clever they make it out to be. While I don’t outright hate the band or the TV show themselves, I do think they’re largely overrated and that the fans need to take it back a notch or two. Anyway, that being said, I’ve heard a few Radiohead albums in my life, but this is the first I’ve heard Hail to the Thief. And idk, coming off of OK Computer and Kid A (I admittedly haven’t heard Amnesiac), this seems like they were playing it a bit safe? In some ways, it feels like the “lite” versions of those albums - the hints are there, but you never quite get a full taste of the real thing. To put it more bluntly, it’s boring, and it doesn’t flow nearly as well as their previous work. I’ll give credit where credit is due when we inevitably see more of this band’s work pop up on this list, but… this one? Really? Didn't completely hate it, but not super interested in listening again. Decent songs: Go To Sleep, There, There, A Wolf at the Door

2.5 Being released in 1970, the elements of hard rock and metal on this album definitely make it feel ahead of its time. So, I can see why people think of Deep Purple as pioneers of the genres, but personally I can’t help but wonder how influential they actually were versus more well-known acts like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, who were both also putting out this kind of music at the same time… and much better music too imo. It still seems like it clings onto some elements of 60s keyboard-driven psychedelia which creates an interesting fusion I guess, though not overly. Fine slice of the era, but far from its best. Not sure we needed two by these guys on the list. Favorite songs: Child in Time, Hard Lovin' Man

4 Haunting. Beautiful, but haunting - from front, to back, down to the cover art depicting a literal tomb. Ian Curtis was a brilliant lyricist and master of the style by his own merit, but it’s hard not to think of the context around this album and his life when listening. Every time I hear Isolation, I can’t help but think of a scene from Curtis’ biopic Control where he apathetically performs the vocal track alone in a recording booth while the rest of the band and producer mindlessly sit around the control board bickering, unaware they’re listening to cry for help. Great album, but know what you’re getting into. Folks, the world is a better place with you in it. Favorite songs: Isolation, Twenty Four Hours, A Means to an End

3 Really thought I was familiar with Merle Haggard, but after listening to this album and his top songs, it’s clear I just know his name. While his voice sounds really familiar, it also sounds like every other country artist of the era, so it’s probably not safe to say I recognize it. I really dug the Western outlaw vibes on the first track, but everything started running together after that. Kinda wish Haggard leaned more into the whole lonesome fugitive thing thematically across the rest of the album instead of all the cheesy love ballads, but I still enjoyed most of them - they were short, sweet, and provided a consistent vibe that I feel would be fun at a country bar. Favorite songs: I’m a Lonesome Fugitive, Drink Up and Be Somebody, Skid Row

3.5 I mean, it’s Christmas music - you know what you’re getting into here. It’s fun to get into the festive mood around the holiday, not quite as much fun any other time of the year… like January when I’m listening right now (tbf this should have been rated and reviewed on or around Christmas so that’s on me). That all being said, if there’s any one Christmas album you should probably listen to outside of Elvis’ and Bing Crosby’s, it’s probably this one - It’s full of all-time Christmas classics that are much more fun and upbeat than a great deal of the more Jesus-focused stuff. The Ronettes are standouts here, and it’s no mystery why their songs are the ones we still commonly hear on contemporary Christmas radio today, though that being said, this collection does in fact contain my all-time favorite Christmas song in Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Darlene Love - I bumped up to 3.5 from my initial 3 from the inclusion of that song alone. I would probably never put this on unless hosting a holiday party, but I can’t argue it’s definitely a good vibe for December, and yes, I’m in the camp of not wanting to hear any of this before Thanksgiving. Kinda interesting such a cheery record was released on the same day as the Kennedy assassination (also the same day as With the Beatles!), but that was probably an omen for the murderous piece of shit Phil Spector would become. Anyway, Merry Belated Christmas everyone! Favorite songs: Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), Frosty the Snowman, Sleigh Ride, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

4 Solid David Bowie album. Jokes aside, while there’s no denying Bowie’s heavy-handedness, and it’s hard not to compare this to the series of albums he would immediately follow-up with, I don’t think it’s fair to say this album doesn’t have an identity of its own. Though they have a very similar sound, Iggy’s grungy vocals and lyricism makes this album feel heavier and more industrialized than anything released in the Berlin Trilogy. Hell, and for that reason, I actually think I enjoy Iggy’s version of China Girl over Bowie’s cover (though I know that came quite a bit later). Overall, even if Bowie’s musicality is the backbone of the album, I think his partnership with Pop is really what brings this album to the next level, and in many cases I think it’s fair to say Iggy influenced him as much as he influenced Iggy (supposedly the album cover of “Heroes” was inspired by Iggy’s post on the cover of this). If nothing else, good on Bowie for instilling the confidence in Pop to take on a larger role in his musical ventures ahead. Favorite songs: Sister Midnight, Nightclubbing, China Girl, Dum Dum Boys

2 Yeahhhhh I don’t know about this one. It made me think of vacation in some ways, so I’m sure it would hit hard in the right environment, but I just really don’t see myself putting this on in my own time. I’m not going to pretend I’m any kind of expert on the genre, but I’m not sure what makes Tito Puente in particular stand apart among mambo artists. Not much stood out to me here besides some cool vibraphone on Hong Kong Mambo and Estoy Siempre Junto a Ti. My dad probably liked this because it reminds him of Puerto Rico. As for myself, not quite my thing, but I’ll give Tito Puente credit for having not been the one to shoot Mr. Burns.

2 Holy shit Butthole Surfers made the list. Having never heard any of the songs on this album, the inclusion on this list alone was enough to have me intrigued. And, while it was about as goofy as I expected, it was also a lot creepier than I expected? (tbh I probably should have known from the album art). Most of the songs were too experimental for me to have much of an opinion, but I really liked Human Cannonball, though I realized afterwards it’s pretty much Bro Hymn. Considering the latter came out four years later, I think Pennywise has some explaining to do. Anyway, yeah, not much of this album is really listenable, but to be fair that’s probably on me for expecting anything else. Still would rather listen to this than The Beatles.

3 I saw that the frontman for this band was previously a guitarist for The Flaming Lips, and I can definitely hear how his time with the group influenced this album. However, this album was also supposedly recorded while the band was at its lowest point, after a period of commercial failure, personal hardships, and amassing debt, and I think the ensuing sound does a good job of encapsulating the desperation of the band. I kept thinking how each song would fit behind a character’s “come to Jesus” scene in a movie or show, when they realize they’ve bottomed out, and are about to begin their redemption arc (or tragic ending). The tone throughout is very consistent, and nothing feels out of place (except for the hidden track, though those are usually deliberately jarring), but it’s also not overly interesting. Holes was a great opening track and moodsetter, but not much else stuck out to me after that. I think the fact I kept thinking of movie scenes is proof of the music here being more complementary sound than the forefront. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing and that music should always be flashy and catchy, but in this case I wasn’t left with much of a lasting impression.

4.5 I absolutely adore the song Red Eyes, so I was really excited to see what else this band had to offer - and I wasn’t disappointed. One of the most perfectly named albums I’ve probably heard, this album FEELS like navigating a hazy dream, the kind that makes you wonder how much was real and how much was made-up once it’s over. I’m a sucker for this kind of bass-driven dream pop bullshit, and this album is nothing but one great example of it after another. No matter the song, there was a really cool bridge or crescendo or some kind of musical shift that just set off all the auditory nerve receptors in my brain… or whatever tf it is that makes us enjoy music. As much as I’d prefer not to use someone else’s words, I really feel like Stuart Berman from Pitchfork describes it best in his review of the album: “Loaded with songs whose greatness is revealed slowly, where the simplest, most understated chord change can blow a track wide open and elevate it from simply pretty to absolutely devastating." Just a pleasant listen from start to finish, and feels nowhere as long as its runtime suggests. The perfect mental escape of an album, but at the same time there’s a part of it that makes me think of late nights with the people I care about most in this world. The kind where we’re all probably a little bit messed up on something or other, but we’re enjoying each other’s company and not caring 10 PM has just turned into 1 AM. Good vibes all around. Favorites songs: Red Eyes, Under the Pressure, An Ocean in Between the Waves, Burning

4 Great rhymes, great beats, great lyrics, great flow - I see why this is considered a crown jewel of the genre. Similar to NWA’s debut, Nas chooses to shine a light on his home city and way of life, not afraid of showcasing the ugliness for the sake of capturing the reality, but whereas NWA took a deliberately aggressive approach to reiterate the hardened Compton culture, Nas opts instead to chronicle Queens with poetically smooth delivery, making it easy to forgot how many themes of violence and crime there are underneath. Even as someone who had a pretty atypical upbringing in small town America, there’s still a lot of relatability on this record, especially on tracks like Life’s a Bitch. Life's a bitch and then you die, that's why we get high? I’ll drink to that. The World is Yours is a song I’ve known for years thanks to Tony Hawk’s Underground, but I’ve never realized it was off this album. A little bit of a contrast to the previous track, but still a good tune nonetheless - makes me want to bust out my skateboard and cruise the streets of Hollywood. Every song here is good though and has a unique sound to it, likely due to the fact there were like 5 or so producers across the album, but I still find it impressive there’s a clear direction despite that. I see why everyone hypes this up. While not the most amazing thing I’ve heard, it’s very good. Favorite songs: The World is Yours, NY State of Mind, Life’s a Bitch, Represent, It Ain’t Hard to Tell

3.5 Soooo confession time, I’ve never listened to a Velvet Underground album. I know how acclaimed both the band and Lou Reed is, but it’s just never been something I’ve gotten around to checking out. Now, I’m not really sure if this album in particular is the best jumping in point for the band, but it was a lot softer than I expected? I know they’re famous for influencing alternative rock, and I can definitely hear that, but I can also very much hear how they fit in with the era. Like, if I didn’t know any better, I could believe Candy Says is a Beatles song. From there, things kicked in with What Goes On, and I was starting to see what all the fuss was about, but then it mellowed right back out again. Not much of the middle was particularly interesting for me on my first play, but I found the song Pale Blue Eyes sticking with me afterwards. After giving a re-listen (or two), I gotta admit it’s an absolutely beautiful tune that has really grown on me, and I can definitely see why it’s their most played song on Spotify. The album ends strongly with The Murder Mystery and After Hours, both of which I thought were two of the more unique tracks and did a good job of creating a sense of finale. While it didn’t blow my mind, there’s nothing bad on the album, and when it has its highs they’re pretty high. If the few songs I really liked weren’t enough to make me want to check out more of their work, my dad calling me after a day of binging their discography to express his regret over not rating this higher definitely did. And yes Dad, Heroin is a great tune :)

2 Terrible band name, and the music isn’t much better. Pure country, but I really don’t feel like there’s anything interesting going on here with the songwriting or storytelling, and to be honest I really don’t care for Gram Parsons’ voice. Why the hell was this guy hanging out with the Stones? I’m guessing Keith Richards was his dealer. Anyway, not a big fan of the album, but if you’re not familiar with the story of Gram Parsons’ corpse being stolen by his friends for a ceremonial cremation, I would recommend looking into it because it’s pretty interesting - the Disgraceland podcast and its book adaptation cover it.

2.5 Oh boy, more country! I was at least a little interested to check this one out, being familiar with Copperhead Road as a karaoke staple for my dad, but he warned me ahead of time this album is not that, and he’s right, it isn’t - it’s much more on the lighter side. I still thought it had a fun energy to it though, even if it was a bit more on the poppier side, and I genuinely feel like Earle has a voice made for country music. Other than that, don’t feel like I have a ton to say - pretty middle of the road country, so middle of the road rating. I saw Emmylou Harris has a cover of the title track, and I found it pretty solid, to the point where I may even prefer hers… though to be fair, there’s probably very little country music I don’t think could be sung better by her. Shoutout to Bright Eyes for featuring her on I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning. Favorite songs: Guitar Town, Hillbilly Highway, My Old Friend the Blues, Someday

1 Ugh. I’m sorry, but I can’t stand ABBA. I know that’s an unpopular opinion, especially as of lately with their whole TikTok resurgence, but I just find their music so goddamn cheesy and boring, and this album didn’t do much to change that. When I Kissed the Teacher was an… unexpected open to the album, and I actually kind of liked how it started, but it lost me when it kicked in and the backing vocals jumped in. Dancing Queen is such an overrated and annoying song, though nowhere near as bad as Mamma Mia or Waterloo - I guess I’ll give this album credit for not having those songs on it. From there it’s just kind of a lot of BS in the middle up until Fernando, which I’ll admit is a DECENT song. Almost bumped up to 1.5 because of it, but then I learned the song is a bonus track and wasn’t even on the initial album release. So, 1 it is, though honestly I still don’t think I would ever seek out that song on my own anyway. Anyway, can we end the whole ABBA thing now? If I have to hear another song of theirs at a party, I will commit war crimes.

3.5 So I’ve actually never listened through this one or Lauryn Hill’s solo debut for that matter, but I know they’re both considered two of the best albums of the 90s (if not ever), so I was really excited to see what all the hype is about. I wasn’t immediately sold at first, and I even raised an eyebrow pretty early on upon hearing the lyric “I used to be underrated, now I take iron, makes my shit constipated, I'm more concentrated” on How Many Mics. But as the album goes on, there’s a certain charm that develops as its personality begins to show, and the smooth flow of the album is undeniable. The way that each song segues into the next feels incredibly satisfying with how seamless or entertaining it is, though I did raise another eyebrow at the Chinese restaurant skit. Regardless, no matter your feelings on the actual skits or music, I feel like the production quirks make this a particularly unique and memorable listen - I mean, have you ever heard an album with an actual credits sequence at the end?? Anyway, regarding the music, there aren’t any bad songs, but I feel like I actually preferred the less popular songs over the hits. Killing Me Softly and Ready or Not are both pretty good, but I feel like I had a lot more fun and vibed more with the stuff in between. Fu-Gee-La is definitely solid though, but contrarily, while I like this version of No Woman, No Cry more than Marley’s, I still wasn’t a huge fan. Anyway, while I’m not sure I would consider this one of my personal favorites of the 90s, it’s still a good listen and I would definitely encourage others to check it out. Excited to listen to Miseducation when it appears on our list! Favorite songs: Zealots, Fu-Gee-La, The Score, Cowboys

3 Looking at the album description and seeing “electronic” and “dance” really had me prepared to dislike this one, and I even had a joke set up where I was going to say it’s called Leftism because it never sounds right, but I ended up enjoying this more than I thought I would. A lot of the album is actually more ambient sounding than dance, another genre I’m not a fan of, but compared to Tangerine Dream and Brian Eno, I actually thought a lot of the soundscapes were really cool. In some ways, they reminded me of the scores to video games I used to play as a kid. Release the Pressure is a solid opener and dance number, but I realized about halfway through it kind of sounded just like Macerena, which is honestly a better, catchier song… and it has its own dance! It was also pretty cool hearing Johnny Rotten on Open Up - like him or not you have to admit his voice is iconic. A lot of beep boop, but cooler beep boop than I’ve heard before. Favorite songs: Melt, Release the Pressure, Open Up

2.5 As mentioned in my All Directions review, I didn’t realize Temptations took on a funk sound later in their career, and this seems to be the album that marked that shift. Cloud Nine was a really solid opener and seemed to be a good selling point on the new musical direction, and that was further backed up by the fun funk breakdown on Runaway Child, Running Wild. Then, starting with Lovin is a Hurtin’ Thing, it seems like they just decided to take a hard shift back to their R&B/soul roots? I don’t know, it wasn’t bad, but I just kind of wish they had stuck to one sound, as the final product just seems awkwardly glued together, almost as if the funk stuff was an afterthought tacked on to the front of a work in progress album - like they weren’t entirely confident in their new sound and wanted a fallback. To add to the incoherency, Gonna Keep on Tryin’ was an incredibly unceremonious conclusion to the album, to the point I head to go back to Spotify and confirm the album actually ended where it was supposed to. Fine overall, though the back half is pretty unremarkable. The best part of the album definitely lies in the first three tracks.

3 Another early Cure album, and while this one doesn’t feel quite as grandiose or as new-wavey as their later stuff, it’s definitely more musically elaborate, keyboard-heavy, and possibly even moodier than Seventeen Seconds. That being said, it’s very same-y, and as a whole I feel like it has less personality to it. While I thought 17S did a good job of building atmosphere, this one felt a bit more like a wall of doomy sound. And while I enjoy that doomy sound, it doesn’t provide much to dig into - so pretty mid album overall. Don’t feel like I have any favorites or comments on any of the particular tracks.

4 Love Public Enemy - not just their music, but what they stand for. If NWA started the fire, Public Enemy poured gasoline on it (Burn Hollywood Burn!) Alongside Rage Against the Machine and Dead Kennedys, they’re one of the best groups to blast when you’re pissed off at the government, society, or any kind of authority figure and want to see change (Fight the Power!) It’s sad how little has changed since this album released 33 years ago (911 is a Joke!), but I hope this album and the group continue to inspire progress and trailblazers in the world ahead. Anyway, political diatribe aside, looking at the actual meat and potatoes of the album, I can confidently say I love every song I cheesily referenced above, but I hadn’t heard much of the in between before. After listening through, I can confirm the beats go hard af on every track, and there’s no shortage of the socially-conscious lyrics and attitude that Chuck D and Flavor Flav are famous for. That being said, most of the tracks didn’t seem to reach the highs of the more popular songs for me, to the point where some of it even felt like filler. So, while I don’t feel like it’s perfect musically or structurally, I still really enjoyed the album and see myself listening again. The vibe successfully does a great job of getting you amped up to topple a system of institutionalized racism, and I absolutely respect that energy. I do think I might prefer It Takes a Nation of Millions more though - The songs on that album seem to have a little bit more of their own identity, and as a whole it feels a bit more airtight, though I can’t argue Black Planet is a great companion piece and follow-up.

4 Sooo I had no idea Johnny Cash has multiple live prison albums, though it definitely makes sense after hearing this one. While the Man in Black radiates rock star and outlaw energy, there’s no denying the connection he seems to have with prisoners in particular. In many ways it feels like listening to a piece of history, and in many ways it is. Supposedly this concert is his first ever live performance of A Boy Named Sue (improvised on the spot) and also the origin of the iconic middle finger photo. However, as monumental as those are, smaller moments like hearing Johnny duet with June and interacting with the crowd and camera crew are really what makes it feel like a moment in time I’m sad I’ll never be able to experience. Hell, the in-between song banter is partially what makes this album for me, even if it is about half of the 34 minute runtime. Not sure we really needed to hear San Quentin twice in a row, but I’m willing to give him a pass considering how great the rest of the show is. To summarize, this album cements exactly why Johnny Cash is an icon and always will be - no one else could ever make country music this badass. Favorite songs: Wanted Man, I Walk the Line, San Quentin, A Boy Named Sue

2 A lot of country recently. I’ve learned to appreciate the genre a little bit more with some of the entries on this list, and with a 1965 release date, it sounds like Buck may have been influential to some of those records with his early honky tonk Nashville sound - though perhaps too influential. It seems like many who followed were just emulating Buck’s sound here, to the point where it even makes his stuff sound unoriginal. Like, any of these songs could have been written and performed by Merle Haggard if I didn’t know any better. I know that’s not Buck’s fault, but it does retroactively make the album less interesting at least for me. Pretty unremarkable all around without a lot of substance, though I did find the song Wham Bam in particular kind of curious - I didn’t realize the term is that old, and while I’m not sure it means the same thing now it did then, it still made the song a little more entertaining nonetheless. Memphis was also a pretty decent closer, and I kind of dug the rockabilly tone it had to it, though mostly because it was a long overdue musical shift. Not terrible, but far from the genre’s best.

3.5 Hey look, it's post-breakup stuff from the best Beatle! While I’ve made no attempt of disguising my hatred for the band thus far on the list, I’ll admit I’ve actually always enjoyed the title track on this album, though I haven’t listened to much of Wings’ backlog. As it turns out, they actually have quite a few good tunes! Coming off the heels of the iconic opener, the vibe was kept up with Jet coming in hot as a straight-up banger. I really didn’t think the album would be able to keep up the strength from there, but I was proven wrong - not only is every song enjoyable, but I was particularly impressed by the amount of versatility. Elements of hard rock, soft rock, jazz, and blues are all here, and they’re utilized so effectively and seamlessly that the album always felt fresh and never dragged. While it’s nothing mind blowing, and I’m not sure I would go out of my way to listen to individual tracks, I definitely see myself listening to the full album again. Nearly gave this a 4 but I couldn’t quite convince myself to pull the trigger. That all being said, I’m going to say it - This is the best album done by a Beatle (I’ve heard thus far). Eat it, John Lennon. Favorite songs: Band on the Run, Jet, Bluebird, Let Me Roll It Fun fact for anyone who hasn’t already read this on the Wikipedia page: Aside from McCartney, his wife Linda, and guitarist Denny Laine, the album cover features an assortment of random celebrities. That’s Count Dooku in the top-middle.

2.5 What? What is this? It sounds like a British AI attempting to rap. I think there’s supposed to be a narrative to this album, but the dude’s vocals are so distracting that I can’t even focus on that - though something tells me there isn’t a whole lot of substance in there anyway. There are a couple tracks with really solid beats that feel like they’re juuuuust on the verge of being good, and right when I’m about to be sucked in, the vocals pull me back out again. That’s the album at best though - there are also some really grating beats in there as well, like on Blinded by the Lights and Get Out of My House in particular. Really, most of this album is an awkward mesh of robotic vocals and beats that just don’t seem to pair well together at all. Anyway, those were my thoughts after my first listen, and I was prepared to give a fat 1. But after re-listening, I’ll admit there’s a certain charm that grew on me, and a couple of the tracks are actually kind of catchy despite their quirks. Yeah, it still has a lot of bad, so I’m not sure I could go higher than a 2.5, but I miiiiight give Could Well Be In and Fit But You Know It a re-listen. Maybe a little more if the mood strikes. Hell, this album may grow on me more to be honest. One of the more interesting ones I’ve heard thus far for sure.

1 I’m sorry, this was sooooo boring. There’s nothing interesting going on musically, vocally, or lyrically, and it just comes off sounding like lame lounge music… or even elevator music at times. I feel like every 80s pop star attempted a song like one of these on at least one of their albums, and they were never good or memorable. This is like a compilation of those. I’m trying to think of more to write about, but I really feel like there’s nothing remarkable to comment on. This was a realllllly long 44 minutes.

2.5 I’m not really sure if this is the best entry point for Nick Cave since I’m pretty sure the sound of this album was a one-off thing, but since I’m at the mercy of a randomized list here, I guess I’ll just let it be known I’m pretty unfamiliar with the group and probably lacking some context. Anyway, it’s a nice sounding piano-driven album. Cave has a great voice that pairs with the music nicely, but the somber, one-note tone of the album really makes this feel more like a situational listen. In particular, it came off sounding like funeral music… like one of the slow piano covers of a popular song you might hear at one. Now, normally I’m a fan of that kind of dark, broody, sentimental stuff, but this one didn’t really resonate with me much. Generally speaking, I didn’t find much of it overly interesting, and most of it seemed to run together. As far as piano music goes, it didn’t feel like anything I hadn’t heard before. Didn’t dislike, but didn’t particularly like either. I’d say it’s 50/50 I listen again. Favorite songs: Into My Arms, People Ain’t No Good https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4mqHdd5gzo

3.5 Album cover hasn’t aged particularly well, though the art style is really cool. I didn’t go into this expecting a whole lot since I’m not the biggest fan of the Janis Joplin stuff I’ve heard (see: Pearl), but right off the bat, I found Combination of the Two more fun than anything of hers I’ve heard prior. While Pearl felt like a take on soul and blues, this album is a burst of pure rock n roll energy, a genre I feel her voice and presence is much better suited for. The production isn’t quite as clean here, but that’s rock n roll baby!! I didn’t even realize Piece of My Heart was done during her time with The Holding Company till listening to this, but considering the sound of the track, it makes a lot of sense in hindsight. I had also kind of forgotten about the song, but this was a nice reminder that it’s actually a pretty quality track. So, probably a hot take, but I think I can confidently say I enjoy Joplin’s time with the Holding Company more than her solo career. In fact, I really wasn’t even sold on her until I heard this. You can definitely tell she’s carrying the group (Oh, Sweet Mary is instantly escalated from a generic rock song to iconic when she jumps in on vocals), but the musical backdrop provided does wonders to enable her performance. Tripping on 60s drugs during the Summer of Love while listening to this stuff live sounds like an absolutely incredible experience. Favorite songs: Combination of the Two, Piece of My Heart, Ball and Chain

4 Love The Beasties - I actually went as MCA as Nathan Wind as Cochese from the Sabotage music video for Halloween this past year. However, right off the bat, I can tell you this isn’t their best album, nor is it even probably Top 3. Still, it’s a really good one through and through. Sure Shot is a great opener, and the transition into Tough Guy is a great reminder of the punk roots of these guys. From there, aside from Sabotage, the album seems to descend into a lot of not as memorable hip hop fluff. But you know what? It’s still a heck of a lot of fun. Admittedly, I don’t think the instrumentals are quite as effective, but they also don’t break up the flow of the album either by any means. So, I really debated my rating on this one. Since there aren’t a ton of individual songs I’ll probably re-visit, especially for a 20 track album, I initially went with a 3.5, but come on, it’s Beasties. Even if there aren’t a ton of standalone moments, I had a blast the whole way through and will likely be listening to the full album again at some point. On a side note, I think this album cements my opinion that the Beastie Boys are basically the blink-182 of hip hop (or I guess blink-182 are the Beastie Boys of pop punk) - Both groups consist of multiple vocalists/songwriters that great at putting out material that’s kind of immature and not overly deep but absolutely tons of fun. If you don’t agree with me, please look no further than “Shit, if this is gonna be that kind of party, I'm gonna stick my dick in the mashed potatoes” on B-Boys Makin’ With the Freak Freak.

4 The first time I ever heard The Carpenters was in an episode of The Simpsons. I’m sure most Simpsons fans remember this one, but basically, in a high school flashback, Homer dismisses the song Close to You on his drive into school as cheesy garbage (opting instead for Steve Miller Band). Then, when he lays eyes on Marge for the very first time as she walks into his classroom, he can’t help but hear the song in his head, finally understanding it. It’s a great episode, and likely at least part of the reason why I find the song to be a genuinely touching song about love rather than cheesy garbage myself. Anyway, this is a beautiful sounding album, and it really made me feel things at times. Karen Carpenter has an incredible voice, though I find her story heartbreaking, and in some ways it added to the emotional aspect of this album for me. I know the vibe is supposed to be happy and lovey-dovey, but I really couldn’t shake a sense of bittersweet sadness throughout my listening. Idk maybe I’m just weird, but I think because of that it resonated a lot more with me. Great album, but it’s probably going to require a certain time, place, and headspace for me to re-listen. Favorite songs: Close to You, We’ve Only Just Begun, Maybe It’s You

2 Pretty jarring going from The Carpenters to this. I’ve never been able to get much into Hole or Courtney Love - Maybe it’s because all of their music sounds like generic, uninspired alternative rock, maybe it’s because vocally she sounds like a less interesting version of contemporaries like Kim Shattuck or Kathleen Hanna, maybe it’s because she had Kurt Cobain murdered. Regardless, I can’t help but feel the only reason this album is even listenable let alone somehow acclaimed is due to Billy Corgan’s influence in the studio. I genuinely couldn’t tell you what’s supposed to make this album special. As mentioned, this feels about as generic as 90s alternative rock can get. Supposedly it’s supposed to be conceptually focused around California, but that feels like a very loosely applied afterthought to give some kind of direction to the album. I didn’t completely hate it, but not much stuck with me. On a second listen, I’ll admit Awful and Petals grew on me a bit. Overall, it felt a lot longer than it is.

1 This list has helped me develop some respect and appreciation for country music, a genre I’ve never been the biggest fan of, but modern country pop stuff like this… yeah still not a fan. I can acknowledge this isn’t an outright bad album in quality, but it also does nothing for me. I wish she had leaned more in either the pop or country direction instead of straddling the line of both, as the result comes off sounding like formulaic sounding radio fodder without much of its own identity, or at best, a second-rate Taylor Swift album. All in all, it’s not incredibly versatile in vocal or musical performance, making it all feel very one-note. If you don’t enjoy the first song, you’re not going to enjoy the rest. Can’t imagine a scenario where I’d willingly listen to this one again.

3 And in comes a Prince album, which I imagine will probably be one of the quickest 5s my Dad gives out, and his third overall. I know this is one of his all-time favorites, and while it provides me with wonderful memories of home and my childhood, for me it’s no Purple Rain. Comparatively, this one has a bit too much of an 80s pop-driven sound for my taste, and it just feels a little safer and less experimental than his later work. The title track is enjoyable, but honestly, if not for the vocals, it sounds like it could be a Michael Jackson song. From there, Little Red Corvette is a fantastic tune, though I've always thought the production feels a little off on it. Like, it almost sounds like the audio is compressed? Not sure what happened there, but it’s kind of a shame since the song is so great otherwise. I didn’t recognize much of the album beyond that (even though I’m sure it was probably on in the background numerous times throughout my youth), but I found it pretty hit or miss. Delirious in particular I found a bit annoying musically, but then Let’s Pretend We’re Married was a fun return to form with a great beat to it. From there, it’s a lot of the over-sexualized funk and dance pop that Prince is known for, but they’re mostly all composed creatively enough that you don’t notice the majority are 6+ minutes long. Fun vibes all around, but I don’t think it’s the most diverse offering of Prince’s output - his best was yet to come. Still, it makes me think of my Dad, so I couldn't go any lower than a 3.

1 Oh my God Steely Dan is such a boring band, and living proof that putting personality into music is much more important than being technically proficient. Supposedly this album also helped invent the genre of yacht rock which makes it infinitely worse. Honestly, I’d even go as far to say that I’d rather listen to a Beatles album over this.

3 I really thought The Zombies were more of a one-hit wonder group, so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they actually have a solid output of 60s psychedelic rock sprinkled with Beach Boys-esque harmonies. There was something about that era of music production that has a bit of a haunting quality to it, but compared to artists like Jefferson Airplane and Donovan, it seems like The Zombies really leaned into the gothic aspect of that sound - Considering their name, maybe that’s the point. Despite very little of the actual subject matter being that dark, the general vibe is something that wouldn’t feel out of place at a Halloween party (I think Time of the Season was even used in The Conjuring?). That being said, if memory serves me correctly, the track A Rose for Emily is based on a spooky classical short story we read in high school English (I think Will actually showed me the song around the same time), so maybe there’s more than meets the eye here. Anyway, not the most amazing thing I’ve heard, but I dig the sound, and I think singer Colin Blunstone’s voice pairs nicely. Will keep this in mind around the spooky season. Favorite songs: Time of the Season, Care of Cell 44, A Rose For Emily, Beechwood Park Also, if you haven’t heard it, Foo Fighters have a solid cover of This Will Be Our Year

4 Probably not something most people would think I’m into, but as far as big beat and electronica goes, I think Fatboy Slim is the best in the game. His beats are so goddamn epic and catchy, and straight out of the gate this album starts with a strong example of that with Right Here, Right Now. Then, at nearly seven minutes, The Rockafeller Skank seems like the kind of song that would grow annoying quickly, being that’s it basically one line repeated over and over, but the dynamics of the composition are so snappy and interesting that it really doesn’t grow old, to the point where I probably wouldn’t even mind if it went on longer. I don’t think there are a ton of DJs that could pull that off, and he does so successfully a few times here on the album, though also notably on one of my personal favorites of his, Don’t Let the Man Get You Down (not on this album). While not every song reaches the highs of the above mentioned tracks, they’re all still fun and have a good vibe to them, though I do have to praise Praise You in particular for being an absolute 10/10 song and probably the best of his career. If you haven’t seen the Spike Jonze-directed music video, I would recommend giving it a watch. While not a 5/5 album, I do think Fatboy is a 5/5 in the genre, and if you enjoyed anything here I would encourage giving at least the rest of his Greatest Hits a listen.

3.5 Great guitar work that feels masterfully executed without being overly flashy, something I think Mark Knopfler excels at. I actually much prefer the band’s sound here over that of their later career, when they were playing the guitar on the MTV. This album has such a distinct sound of its own, whereas the stuff on Brothers in Arms feels like it has a pop-focused shift, and for me results in blending in with similar stuff of the era. The subtle classic vinyl style is one I feel suits the band and Knopfler’s guitar style much better. Everything on this album is enjoyable, but I have to highlight Sultans of Swing for being an all-time great song. I think it’s the perfect embodiment of what makes the sound on this album so unique and praised - it makes several advanced and technical guitar licks (or what one might call “shreds”) sound casual and foundationally based in the song instead of extra layering, like Knopfler isn’t even trying that hard to pull them off. It also has a great call and response dynamic with the vocals and guitar work, and most importantly, brings good memories of a time in high school when Will and I were both really into the track. Anyway, not the best classic rock album out there, but definitely a more distinct and replayable one. Favorite songs: Sultans of Swing, Down to the Waterline, Six Blade Knife

2 I didn’t realize the entire nation put out an album, but good on them. The 1979 release date surprised me, as it sounds like something that would have come out within the new wave scene in the mid 1980s. Considering the nation is responsible for things like the Walkman and Super Nintendo, I guess it makes sense Japan was ahead of their time here as well. Anyway, while it seems they were pioneers for a sound that would define the decade ahead, they’re a lot less remarkable than any of the groups that would follow. The title track was decent enough, but I really couldn’t find anything to note beyond that. No real versatility across the board in any area, with most songs blending in with the next. When it was finished, I didn’t even realize I had listened to a deluxe version of the album and had heard some form of the song All Tomorrow’s Parties three times (which I guess is a Velvet Underground cover… oops, sorry Dad). While there’s not a bad sound anywhere to be found, I can see why Japan isn’t talked about more within the context of new wave… or even really music as a whole. Definitely one of those groups where it seems their influence was much more impactful than their output.

2 I hate this album cover. What’s with the babies?? And why do they look badly Photoshopped onto an illustration from a 1970s children’s book?? What does this have to do with the music?? Anyway, that out of the way, fine salsa music. Far from my favorite genre, but there were a handful of standout moments here. In particular, I really liked how Plástico kicked off with a unique, disco-style opening and then rounded out with a series of shouted call and response lines. Looking at the lyrics, it seems he was calling out an attendance list of Latin American countries with the backup singers responding “Present”, so I guess this is pretty much the salsa equivalent of California Love. I also liked the West Side Story references on Pedro Navaja, especially because I think they were used in a sarcastic way to complement an ongoing criticism of the American Dream and lifestyle, though I can’t speak Spanish, so I’m really taking Genius’ word on that one. But yeah, even though it’s supposedly a pretty politically charged album thematically, musically most of it sounds like pretty standard salsa fare. Buscando Guayaba sounded like borderline elevator music. Ojos had a bit of a hook to it with its repetition of the title, but beyond that, not much else of note. I said it before and I’ll say it again - not my type of music, and I likely wouldn’t put it on in my own time. That being said, I’m a very lyric-driven person, so I would maybe re-visit and learn to appreciate more if I ever became proficient in Spanish.

2 Holy cow the beat on Metronomic Underground is so infectious I couldn’t stop thinking about it long after I moved on to other songs. But, as is tradition for the French, they quickly laid down and surrendered with a series of blah techno-rock stuff as mediocre as their food. Things picked up a bit around The Noise of Carpet when they shifted to a more guitar-oriented sound before quickly losing me again. The production is incredibly repetitive, and when it works, it’s fun and catchy, and when it doesn’t, it’s annoying as all hell. While I don’t outright have a problem with the style of music production and song composition they went with, I think it gets old quickly, and ends up making the full hour-length release feel tiring. It feels a bit like putting all your eggs in one basket - if the one beat isn’t absolutely stellar, then there’s not much else to save the song, considering the accompanying lyrics are just as minimalist and seemingly intended to be catchy instead of clever or deep. Not that there’s anything wrong with writing lyrics that way and that they should always have some deeper meaning, but in this album’s case it kind of re-emphasizes the one-note nature. Would listen to Metronomic again in a heartbeat and maybe Carpet, but most everything else is probably going to be a skip from me.

3 Another album from our chain-smoking, crepe-eating friends overseas. Really expected this to be heavy electronica club music that I was going to dislike, but it turned out to be more of an instrumental easy listening album with electronic influence. There was actually nothing I disliked, with each song having a distinct sound to it helped set it apart from the others. That being said, I do feel like the quality slowly declines as it goes on, like Air decided to frontload the album with their best work. The first half is amazing at building intricate soundscapes that would be a great backdrop for getting work done, playing video games, or even getting high and vibing. The back half, while still good, doesn’t feel quite as compelling or elaborate, almost like something pulled from a royalty-free music site. It’s also a bit more downtempo, to the point where you can almost feel it slowing down (probably trippy on psychedelics). All in all, a pleasant surprise, and one of the better instrumental-leaning albums I’ve heard. I definitely feel like Daft Punk took some inspiration from these guys.

3 Wild that homeboy was 73 when this came out, especially considering it was the most successful release of his career. In some ways, it feels like a celebration of Hooker’s music and legacy with all the guest appearances on the album. I wasn’t too impressed with it at first when things kicked off with the title track, as it felt like an 80s “modernization” of his sound, but as things shifted to a more old school blues style I began to enjoy it a lot more. Hooker sounds great by his own merit (I particularly like his style of singing), but the guest musicians really help make this album stand out. Though I didn’t care for the backing music on The Healer, Santana’s guitar work is a highlight, and while I’ve never been the biggest George Thorogood fan, his slide guitar on Sally Mae is absolutely excellent. That all being said, the best moment here has to be Bonnie Raitt on I’m in the Mood - not only does she sound great, but her musical chemistry with Hooker is nothing short of blues at its best. Not everything is amazing or noteworthy, but aside from the title track (which is ironically the biggest hit), don’t think you can go wrong listening to anything here. I’m curious now to hear some of his older stuff.

4 Ohhhh Van Halen. Sure, they’re cock rock, but I have to admit they really do have a number of great tunes, and a lot of them are on this album. In fact, I might go as far to say that this is their best album, so it always kinda puzzled me why my dad never owned this one on CD but had everything else, including Van Hagar stuff (I was going to mention here he would probably say like Fair Warning or something is a better album than this one, but after a phone call I changed my mind). But come on, this is everything that makes Van Halen iconic. You can feel David Lee Roth’s energy all over, to the point where you can practically visualize him doing that jump splits thing numerous times throughout listening. To me, that alone cements him as one of the best rock frontmen in history and why Sammy Hagar could never compare. And of course you have to talk about Eddie’s guitar playing - I don’t think many musicians could put out just a guitar solo as a standalone track on an album and have it be as iconic and as successful as Eruption. It complements the album so well it almost feels weird to not have it segue into You Really Got Me, which, as a Kinks fan myself, I have to admit is better than the original. Runnin’ with the Devil is also an all-time great opener, and I can never not visualize the opening shot of Freak and Geeks when listening, when the song cues as it pans to the burnouts smoking under the bleachers. Between the iconic guitar riffs, harmonies, solos, and David’s shrieking, I would probably go as far to say it’s the band’s best song. Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love is of course iconic as well, though I always thought the line “You’re semi-good looking” line is kind of funny with how brutally specific it is. Finally, I’ll give a shoutout to Ice Cream Man - though a tad silly, it’s one of the band’s most underrated tunes. Great debut, great album, and great production - the guitar tone on this album is insane. While Van Halen isn’t an artist I typically seek out, when they do find their way to my Spotify, it’s always a good time.

3 Hopefully they’re not in Ohio now 😬 I’ve never heard of this band or album, but I learned they’re basically the punk equivalent of New Order, forming and operating under a name separate from Minutemen after former frontman D. Boon passed away - though in this case with a new singer/guitarist in his place. So, with that, I expected this to have a punk sound to it, and while elements of that are definitely there, it seems like the new guy brought in a degree of folk influence, even going as far as to do a full-on cover of a folk song with Vastopol. The Minutemen roots are by no means absent though, with hints of their sound on some tracks (particularly in the basslines), and other tracks like Mas Cojones and What Gets Heard sounding like they could be full-on outtakes from the prior band. My first impression was that it’s an overall diluted sound of a better band, but it definitely started growing on me by the end. While I’m not sure if there are any specific tracks I would go back and revisit, as a whole it didn’t outstay its welcome, and so I think it’s fair to call it a nice companion piece to Minutemen’s discography.

2 I haven’t listened to much Roxy Music, but in listening to this album, right off the bat I can tell you that Talking Heads owe a lot to these guys - for better or for worse. Like Talking Heads, this album has its moments, but other times it comes off feeling like pretentious art pop with an unbearably annoying singer. Editions of You was a fun rockout song, but In Every Dream Home a Heartache was a lot of overdramatic bullshit, and the funk bassline on The Bogus Man isn’t quite catchy enough for the song to be anywhere near as half as long as it is, especially when compounded with the wailing vocals. Speaking of In Every Dream Home a Heartache, I saw a few people putting their nose up at it for being a love song about a blow-up doll. I don’t mind that aspect of it conceptually, but I gotta say The Police did it a lot better on Be My Girl - Sally from their debut (Did that album make the list?? It better have, it’s better than this). Supposedly Morrissey called this the only “truly great British album”, and as is the case with most other of his opinions, I’m going to have to disagree with that here too.

3 I think Supergrass is technically the second band I’ve ever seen live, being that they opened for Foo Fighters just after another group called Year Long Disaster… or maybe the third if you want to count a Cheap Trick show that happened at a bandshell in my hometown when I was 1 (true story). Either way, I know very little about this group despite having been at one of their shows. I enjoyed the first handful of tracks (aside from the jarring end to the title track), but it also didn’t feel like anything I hadn’t heard before. To me, this is Britpop at its most whelming, and I can see why these guys aren’t held quite in the same regard as Oasis or Blur. The back half especially is an assortment of unremarkable alternative rock, and the vocals across the board seemed to blend in for me with other artists of the era - depending on the song I feel like I could hear Thom Yorke or Billy Corgan. Wouldn’t mind having on again, but probably wouldn’t seek out.

3.5 What a ride of rapid-fire electronic jazz this was. For an album entitled “Drunk”, I feel like alcohol is probably not the most ideal drug for listening. In particular, it reminded me of that LSD-inspired Todd Rundgren album we had, being that it feels more like a journey through music than it does a collection of songs. Between references to anime and video games, maybe this is a Millennial/Gen Z take on what Rundgren was going for 50 years ago. The sound and style are also notable considering Thundercat was the bassist for Suicidal Tendencies before this. Clearly the guy is talented though, and I’m glad he had a much more successful and frankly well-done transition out of punk bass playing than Dee Dee Ramone (if you’ve never heard Dee Dee King, prepare yourself before listening). The features on this album are great (and a tad surprising in the case of Mr. Footloose himself), but Kendrick is by far the standout, and a gentle reminder that I need to listen to more of his stuff - maybe I will with this list? Anyway, much like A Wizard/A True Star, while there aren’t a ton of individual songs that stood out to me, I definitely see myself listening to the full thing again. I’m still not entirely sure of my opinion tbh, but I can confidently say this is one of the most unique listening experiences I’ve had, and it will definitely stick with me.

4 Look, I’ve never claimed to be the biggest metal fan - as of this writing my Summary page on this site even has it listed as one of my least favorite genres. It’s just never been one that’s spoken to me much, and I just don’t think there are a ton of associated albums I would rate highly (see: Pantera). Now, that all being said, this is one of those exceptions. When it comes to the “Big Four” of metal (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax), I’m fully in Anthrax’s corner. I’m not even entirely sure why that is - I can admit they don’t sound drastically different from the others, but there’s something about Joey Belladonna’s contrastingly clean high-pitched vocals and the backing chants that really set the band apart for me. And then there’s the speed of the music - the band rips so hard so fast that I can’t be convinced that there isn’t at least a degree of punk influence in there. Sure, it can be pretty same-y, but the thrash nature makes the album (and individual songs) feel so much shorter than they are. It’s just one rapid-fire flash of moshable material after another, without any hint of slowing down. Speaking of, Caught in a Mosh is not only a highlight of the album and an exemplification of all things that make this band work, but probably one of the best tunes to ever come out of the genre. It’s also a personal favorite of mine to listen to while working out - whenever my Spotify shuffles it in, I know I’m about to absolutely crush my next set (sorry if too bro-y, but if you find yourself at the gym I recommend tossing it in in the queue). Among metal’s best for me, but it might just be because of my punk background. Regardless, I enjoyed quite a bit.

3.5 I can see how someone could write them off as Public Enemy rip-offs, but even if The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy had a similar sound and focus, you really would have to overlook a lot of clever lyrics and beats to do so (though yeah the guy sounds just like Chuck D at times). Hell, on this album alone they tackle a broader range of social and political issues, including school shootings and environmental protection, both topics that I don’t think PE has ever touched, at least to my memory. However, despite that, I saw some other users labeling this as being aggressively woke, “phone=bad” music. Even on tracks like Television, The Drug of the Nation where I could maybe see that being the case, I still feel like some solid points and criticisms are raised, with race baiting in politics and the reframing of US atrocities in news ("Civilian death" to "collateral damages") being two topics in particular that stuck out to me. Yes, it’s a topic that PE had already covered, but I think the argument could be made that Television is more in-depth and insightful than She Watch Channel Zero?!, even if it is one of my favorite songs of theirs. Now, that all being said, I admit I can see why this group isn’t looked back upon as fondly as Public Enemy. Overall, there’s much less of the palpable anger and call to action that PE does so well, and what I think really sells their message. Also, while I did genuinely like every song, most lack any kind of clear musical or vocal hook to really pull you in and impart a lasting impression. I wasn’t a big fan of the song Music and Politics in particular, with it coming across as to me as “I’m more woke than you”... despite the whole “poop in my dog bowl” line, which wasn’t so much a clever metaphor as it was just kind of gross. The take on Dead Kennedys was a nice surprise though, and being that it’s a remixed and re-written update rather than an outright cover, it probably embodies the spirit of the original more than anything else they could have done - I would imagine Jello is a fan. So, while I don’t think they’re better than Public Enemy, I do think they complement the group nicely. Definitely worth a listen and shouldn’t be overlooked solely because of the parallels.

3.5 Despite being one of the most memed albums of all-time (probably second only to In the Aeroplane Over the Sea), I had never heard this before in whole, just the song 21st Century Schizoid Man and the nightmare-fuel album art. Idk, I’m mixed here - this was a ride. I’ve always kind of liked the first song, so I knew what I was getting into there. Between the distorted vocals, blasts of saxophone, and thundering guitar riffs, it’s a great prog rock track. Then, all of a sudden things really slowed down and devolved into boring soft rock on I Talk to the Wind. The song just feels out of place, like it was lifted from a Buffalo Springfield album or something. However, just as I was losing interest, Epitaph came in hard, and was a song that really made me go “Oh, this is what all the hype is about.” The atmosphere it builds is among the best I’ve ever heard, and you can almost physically feel the musical soundscape you’re in while listening… so it’s a shame it leads into the bullshit that is Moonchild. Moonchild is the equivalent of seeing a painting of a square at an art gallery and thinking to yourself “I could have made that”. Imagine the looks you’d get if you were given the aux cord and put this on… and I say that as a Bright Eyes fan. And it’s not like this is a brief transition track or anything, this is like 25% of the album’s runtime. But, just as I was over it, things drastically shifted AGAIN with an absolute banger of a closer in The Court of the Crimson King, which I really don’t think can be described as anything short of epic. Even long after I finished my listening, I couldn’t get the chorus out of my head, especially with that huge crescendo on the delivery of “KINGGGGGGG”. If I was a bigger Beatles fan, this album would probably remind me of The White Album - moments of brilliance between moments of wtf, though the production on this is miles ahead. So anyway, all that being said, this is really hard to rate. Like when it’s good, it’s REALLY GOOD, but when you don’t like two of the tracks on a five track album, how much can you say you really like it? I’m pretty sure that’s a failing grade in school. Was going to give 3/5 accordingly, but I do think that undercuts the great moments a bit, so bumping up a half point.

3 I really didn’t expect this to have the kind of versatility it does. I’ve always known Faith No More as a funk/rap metal group, but right off the bat, From Out of Nowhere was a hair metal-sounding banger that sounded like it could have come from a Mötley Crüe album. That’s followed by the classic FNM sound we all know and some love on Epic, which I have always thought is a great tune, though in this particular listening I really noticed the parallels with Red Hot Chili Peppers on the verses. Supposedly Anthony Kiedis accused the guy of ripping off his style when the music video came out, and I can definitely see where he’s coming from. I will say though, when comparing Epic to the track prior, it really showcases the vocal range Mike Patton has and Anthony Kiedis does not. RHCP also began shifting their sound away from that funk style immediately after this release with their next album Blood Sugar Sex Magik, so maybe FNM scared them out of the game ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The genre-shifting continued with Falling to Pieces, which was practically a piece of 80s pop rock and wouldn’t feel out of place being played on mainstream radio alongside artists like Bon Jovi or Journey… only for the album to then make a hard shift to a straight up metal song in Surprise! You’re Dead! At this point in my listening I was really impressed by how varied it was, but unfortunately, the creativity seems to wane from there and sometime around the title track I feel like you’ve gotten everything you need out of the album. I was excited to hear their take on War Pigs but it more or less sounds identical to the original but with Mike Patton. Solid first half, weak back half - Might give a few songs a re-listen. Still probably among the best in the rap metal genre, but that’s a low bar.

1.5 Look listmakers I warned you - If I was forced to listen to any more ABBA, bad things were going to happen. However, after browsing the tracklist and not recognizing any of the songs, I went in with my violent urges at bay, and fortunately, the opening title track was immediately enough of an interesting and new wave-esque evolution of their sound that I was fully talked off that ledge. Unfortunately, it devolves back into a lot of the classic ABBA bullshit immediately after, but as a whole I can concede there is a sense of maturation and progression from their prior sound. The Visitors is a good tune. Would probably never listen to anything else off this ever again by choice, but if I had to, I guess it’s better than anything else of theirs I’ve heard. That being said, consider this your final warning, 1001 Albums.

2 Never heard of the guy, but it seems he transitioned from being a teen pop sensation to this - for better or for worse. I appreciate his musical evolution and the introspective nature this album offers, but a lot of the time it came across to me as overdramatic and pretentious, and despite only being 32 minutes, I was pretty bored about halfway through. It also sounds just like that Divine Comedy album we had despite the 30 year gap between the two releases. In either case, they feel like strings-heavy, second-rate Frank Sinatra albums, though this one is probably just a touch stronger lyrically than A Short Album About Love. I liked the Western-influenced opening track The Seventh Seal but not much else.

2.5 Really wanted to make a Simpsons reference and open my review with “Wow, former president James Taylor!”, but someone already beat me to that, so I’ll refrain. I’ve always liked Taylor’s voice, but I’ve never found any of his music overly interesting. I guess it’s fine easy listening stuff, but it doesn’t really seem to have a ton of personality to it, so I don’t usually walk away with any lasting impression. Fire and Rain is a perfectly fine acoustic track, but never something I jump to. I did enjoy Country Road a bit more than I remembered in past listenings, but then found the guitar work on Oh, Susannah immediately after really annoying, and while Steamroller Blues was a nice take on the specified genre, I found his second stab at it on Oh Baby, Don’t You Loose Your Lip on Me to be kind of cringeworthy. Had a bit more diversity of sound to it than I expected, but nothing that really changed my existing opinion. Not a ton to say beyond that - one of the most “okay” artists out there for me.

5 Come on, it’s Unknown Pleasures. I’m not sure that I have much to say about this one that hasn’t already been said a million times already, but I’ll take a stab at it. This album isn’t like anything else I’ve heard, nor something I think anyone else had heard prior to its release, yet its influence is still felt in music today. You could argue artists like Siuoxsie Sioux and Kraftwerk helped pioneer the bass-driven gothic sound we associated with post-punk today, but Joy Division was truly the band that popularized and expanded it, and I think much of new wave and even modern indie has them to thank for that (if you want say New Order too, sure, but same diff). And much of that success and influence I think can be chalked up to the sheer talent of the band - Ian Curtis, brilliant lyricist, and while not everyone’s cup of tea, iconic vocalist. At the forefront of the goth and emo subcultures, I think it’s fair to credit Ian as among the first frontmen to sincerely utilize melancholy and personal anguish into popular music (yeah yeah Brian Wilson whatever). Sadly, we all know where that story goes - if you haven’t seen his biopic Control, I’m going to plug it again here, but know what you’re getting into. Continuing on, Bernard Sumner is also an incredibly talented composer and frontman by his own merit, and I think a large chunk of New Order’s identity and success comes from him. Peter Hook is an absolutely insane bassist, and his development to the aforementioned bass-driven sound really helped lay groundwork for numerous genres and artists even today, with his recent contributions to Gorillaz being a case in point of that. And finally, shoutout to Stephen Morris for a technical ability so good it almost sounds like a drum machine (though it may actually have been on later New Order releases…) Not just a great album, but probably one of the most important ones out there. Disorder is one of the greatest songs ever written, though She’s Lost Control, Interzone, and Shadowplay are also personal favorites here - if you haven’t heard The Killers’ cover of that last one, I would strongly recommend giving it a listen. Honestly though, every track is great and flows perfectly into the next, creating an immersive and broody atmosphere unlike anything else. Like it or not, this is a mandatory listen for any music fan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-KvyKNSV7U

3.5 A perfect segue from Joy Division. Having now listened to two of these guys’ albums, I gotta say they’re probably one of the most slept-on acts of the era. This album rivals the quality of their debut, an album I rated highly, though the production in particular is miles ahead here. Each song feels like a soundscape of gothic abstraction with the orchestral backdrop, and while that produces some very strong moments, it was a bit much for me at times and too same-y overall - I think I preferred the more stripped back approach of Crocodiles. Even if this one is a bit more theatrical and structured, fewer individual songs stuck out to me. The Killing Moon however is of course an all-time great track, and for me will always be tied to the opening bicycle scene of Donnie Darko, which I’ve always thought was a really effective choice for establishing the tone of the movie in the first minute or so (why did they change it to INXS in the Director’s Cut??) Really good, but not my favorite of theirs. Will be listening to more!

1.5 These f***ers really never got around releasing this bad boy in America, forcing me to listen to a YouTube rip… and then didn’t even make it good. There’s just way too much going on on this album. While it’s admittedly diverse in sound and style, they manage to overdo it on almost every track, resulting in the whole thing feeling overcrowded musically. In particular, things started off on a really jarring note with the title track. I had to rewind and check I loaded in on the right spot - there was just no introductory element to the track, making it feel more like something mid-listen than the opener. Part of me wonders if maybe it was an afterthought to put it first once the name of the album was decided upon. Things don’t get much better from there - The only song I found to be enjoyable or even really listenable was the album’s hit, Our House. Songs like Mr. Speaker, Sunday Morning, and New Delhi stood out to me as particularly grating, but to be honest I found most of this album annoying. Probably wouldn’t listen again. Supposedly this is considered ska music, and if that’s the case, I gotta say America’s approach to the genre in the 90s was much better than this.

3.5 Will’s going to think I’m crazy for this one. Sure, it’s a lot of feedback. Sure, the production is far from clean. But buried in that rough exterior is absolute pop charm, and I think it’s the balance of the two that really makes this album remarkable. I can see how this would be majorly influential on the genre of shoegaze or even alternative rock - I’m pretty sure these guys were major influences on the Pixies. Hell, I can even hear elements of modern day lo-fi here (I swear Something’s Wrong sounds just like a lo-fi version of Ceremony by New Order). I’m not sure there’s much more I can say to explain exactly why I enjoyed this album, but overall there’s just a certain alternative/anti-mainstream expression that really speaks to me. I will admit, as is often the case with shoegaze, it starts running together as it goes on, but it was never anything I got sick of at any point in the 40 minute runtime. Just Like Honey was an absolutely fantastic tune though, so I’ll definitely be listening to that again if not the full album.

4 Welp, this album confirms a theory I’ve had about Queen - their best songs aren’t their hits. Somebody to Love, Another One Bites the Dust, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Don’t Stop Me Now? Skip, skip, skip, and skip for me. (Yeah fine I’ll admit Bohemian Rhapsody and Under Pressure are great, though tbf that second one is 50% a David Bowie song) But goddamn, almost immediately, Father To Son went harder than anything else I’ve heard by the band - and then it just proceeded to keep going hard from there. I was half convinced I was listening to a Who song when The Loser in the End came on, so I had to look it up on Google to confirm I wasn’t hearing a Roger Daltrey cameo (it’s Roger Taylor). The second half of the album leans slightly off of the harder rock elements of the first, and more into a theatrical and operatic direction, which in hindsight feels like foreshadowing to the future ventures of the band. That change in tone made a lot of sense when I learned Brian May composed the majority of the first half (Side White) and Mercury the second (Side Black). Each side is absolutely fantastic though and complements the other nicely, highlighting the strengths of both songwriters as well as the band as a whole and results in an overall consistently enjoyable and balanced listen. I’ve never claimed to be the biggest Queen fan, so I didn’t expect to enjoy this one as much as I did. People are sleeping on Queen II.

5 Another good segue from Joy Division - if that band influenced post-punk, new wave, and modern indie, Pixies influenced probably every band you like from the 90s (and even the ones you don’t). In particular, Nirvana and Weezer have cited the band as their primary influences, with Kurt Cobain even admitting Smells Like Teen Spirit was his attempt at writing a Pixies song… and Undone - The Sweater Song pretty much just being I Bleed off this album. So, it’s a shame Pixies generally aren’t widely as known as the bands they influenced - though admittedly their raw production and surreal lyrics may be a hurdle for some people. Like, what does any of it mean? Slicing up eyeballs, monkeys in heaven, whores in my head, hips like Cinderella? Idk man it’s Pixies, and it’s badass. For anyone new to the band, this is the place to start. While I think an argument can be made for either Doolittle or Surfer Rosa as their best album, this one admittedly has a bit higher of production quality and pop structure to it (though yeah the Fight Club song is on the other one). A lot of their best and most iconic songs are here as well, including Debaser, Wave of Mutilation, Monkey Gone to Heaven, and Gouge Away, though I’ve always found the more pop-oriented tracks Here Comes Your Man and Hey to be a little overrated. Still enjoyable though, as is everything else here. My only complaint is that they made the song No. 13 Baby the 11th track for some reason. Otherwise, near-perfect album. Great band to see live too - If you ever get a chance to see them (especially in a smaller venue), do it. They sound great, still have tons of energy, and since they’re not really a band with radio hits, you get a little bit of everything. One of my all-time favorite concert memories is jumping up and down to Debaser along with the pit around me, shouting the “Hey!”s and throwing our firsts up in unison. Anyway, to wrap up - important band and album for any alt rock fans out there. You really can’t go wrong with anything they put out pre-initial breakup.

3.5 Beautiful and profound. Having not listened to much Nina Simone, I quite enjoyed this, with her distinctive voice being the highlight for me. I wasn’t immediately sold upon hearing the opening track I Love Your Lovin’ Ways, finding it a pretty generic slice of the era, but Four Women won me over with its smooth oldies jazz sound and social message regarding depictions of black women. As the album went on, Nina’s charm continued to slowly unfold as her range in both performance and songwriting ability grew and grew. It’s no wonder this album inspired artists from a variety of genres even years after its release. I listened to David Bowie’s and Jeff Buckley’s respective covers of Wild is the Wind and Lilac Wine after this and was really impressed with how they were able to capture Simone’s spirit while still containing elements of their own iconic artistry. Of course, they were in good hands to begin with choosing songs from here. It didn’t blow my mind, and to be honest I don’t see myself listening to this often, but there’s definitely a vibe I appreciated and would likely come back to in the right time and place (I think my mom would like this too). If I ever decide to host a fancy cocktail party, this would be high on my list to play.

2 Oh boy. Look, I love David Bowie and would rate the vast majority of his albums highly, but Young Americans… yeah I never got this one. Out of all of his studio albums released pre-90s, I might go as far to say this is my least favorite. The kooky space alien Ziggy Stardust does an album of funk and lounge music-bordering R&B? I guess in a way that’s the kookiest direction he could have gone at that point, but it doesn’t work for me. And he does a Beatles cover? Why? And it’s somehow worse than the original?? I guess John Lennon was his homeboy during the recording of this album, which explains a lot and adds on another layer of suckitude. The funk moments are the stronger moments here, but even then I don’t think Bowie was doing anything particularly remarkable or better than actual funk artists of the era. The one saving grace of the album is Fame, one of my favorites of his, but that’s about all it has going for it. The title track is soooooo boring and overrated. Will still score 2 because Fame and because it’s Bowie.

2.5 Idk man this didn’t really give me a lot to bite into - pretty generic classic vinyl. And It Stoned Me was a decent opener, but I was pretty disappointed by the title track, finding it a pretty boring piece of jazz that could probably rival some elevator music. The next few tracks were slightly better, with Into the Mystic probably being my personal favorite here, and while I appreciated the unique sound to each, I still didn’t find myself overly impressed with anything. Unfortunately, it’s downhill from there - as it turns out, this is actually an incredibly frontloaded album, and there is just nothing interesting going on in the back half. I guess I can acknowledge and commend the versatility, but nothing about any of the songs provided a notably standout moment for me. While I don’t think Van Morrison is a bad songwriter, his stuff doesn’t resonate with me - one of the more mid albums I’ve heard so far.

4.5 Alright, Smashing Pumpkins - one of my favorite bands. While their best album in my eyes will always be Siamese Dream, I can see why some consider this their magnum opus. The double-album was a huge step forward in the evolution of the band and is full of creative, diverse, and, at times, theatrical songwriting, BUT it raises the age old question… is it too long? Look, this album starts off 10/10. The titular piano ballad is absolutely beautiful and sets the tone for the album immediately without outstaying its welcome - and then we kick into the absolute banger that is Tonight, Tonight. It’s one of my favorite songs by the band, and I’ve also always thought the music video captures the vibe of both the song and album perfectly (it also features the future voice actor for Spongebob in the main male role!) Then we get into some heavier, electric guitar-driven stuff that serves as a nice reminder that these guys can really rock out. Of course Zero and Bullet with Butterfly Wings are classics, but I’ve always thought Jellybelly and Here Is No Why are absolutely great tunes by their own merit and hold their own despite being cramped between a series of mega hits. From there, I feel like we hit a little bit of a slump in the album as things slow down with To Forgive. While things start picking up again with Galapagos, Porcelina of Vast Oceans is the last epic moment of this side before things end with a bit of a weak closer in Take Me Down (sorry James - Blew Away is a great tune though!). Part 2 starts incredibly strong with two of the band's most underrated tunes in Where Boys Fear to Tread and Bodies (the latter I always thought was a good skateboarding song). After that, I feel like you get a bit of a mixed bag, generally alternating between a really solid tune and a more forgettable one. Among those solid tunes is 1979, which, yes, is the band’s most popular song, but honestly has every right to be. Despite the name, the song feels timeless, and even as someone born 18 years after, I think of my high school friends and shenanigans whenever I listen. Finally, after 26 tracks, the band sticks the landing with By Starlight (probably the best slow song on the album) leading into Farewell and Goodnight, which, although a tad cheesy, feels like an appropriate conclusion. So is it too long? Is a double-album justified? I definitely think the argument could be made that it is and that there are songs that could be cut, but I also feel like that would take away from the grandiose, theatrical nature of the album in some ways, and honestly, even the weakest points of this album aren’t bad. That being said, I do feel like the two-hour runtime does dissuade me from re-listening to this one too often, so do with that what you will. As stated, not my favorite of theirs, but very, very, very good… and appropriately, I think this is now my longest review as well. Final thoughts - if you’re in the camp this album is too long, as a test of Billy’s musical drive/insanity, there were at least 30 more fully finished songs prepared for this album that didn’t make the final cut. Let that soak in.

1.5 “Ok gang, let’s see who’s really under this penguin mask” *gasps* “Brian Eno???” “Grrr, and I would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for you meddling kids” Look, I’m not going to deny Eno is a talented musician and producer - he was a major contributor to Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy after all - but man I don’t get this ambient stuff. I guess this was slightly less repetitive than his Airport album, but overall I still didn’t find it that enjoyable. It has moments where it feels like it’s about to hit a point of cozy background music, only to then be interrupted by some weird tangent or piercing violin. At one point I had to check Spotify to see how far I had made it and was pretty relieved to see I was eight songs in, only to then learn the last three songs are actually the longest and take up over half of the album’s runtime. I was pretty checked out from there. It’s a shame, because I feel like there are some decent moments as far as ambient music goes, but it’s almost always ruined by some bullshit. Don’t see myself re-visiting.

1 Oh my God Brian Eno produced this… smh. I’ve mentioned before that I'm not the biggest Talking Heads fan. Like, what even is this music? Funk music for people who are really into Andy Warhol and Roxy Music? That’s the vibe I’ve gotten from the band on everything of theirs I’ve heard prior, and that’s what I was greeted with immediately here. Only in this case, halfway through, it was sprinkled with some of the most annoying electronic noises I’ve ever heard (dammit Eno!). It didn’t get much better from there… in fact, I groaned once I realized Once in a Lifetime is on this album. The only thing I may ask myself when I hear this song is why I’m listening to it. The rest of the album is just repetitive electronic loops with David Byrne being David Byrne all over them - the strongest points for me were the songs at the end that involved him dialing it back a bit. I have no idea why these guys are critical darlings with a cult following. Because that’s the case though, I’m sure we’ll be seeing even more of them on this list, so I guess they have a couple more chances coming to them ahead. I do genuinely like the song And She Was, so hopefully they have other stuff out there I’ll enjoy as well.

3 As someone not familiar with anything of Amy’s that isn’t on Back to Black, I liked this. It gave me the impression of listening to her perform at a dimly lit, smoke-filled night club… or maybe a cafe. Considering the album is named after Sinatra, I think that was the vibe she was going for (the night club one obviously… though I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t entertained by the thought of hearing My Way at a Coffee Bean). Anyway, that’s about all this album has going for it - there really aren’t a ton of specific remarkable moments along the way. I enjoyed the songs Fuck Me Pumps, What is it About Men, and Amy Amy Amy a little bit more than the others, but to say they’re standouts feels a bit like overpraise. An instance of an album where I think I appreciated the atmosphere it provided more than the actual songs. It’s fine enough, though I think I can see why her follow-up is more acclaimed.

2 I haven’t heard much of Missy’s stuff, but… I was expecting more? Hell, maybe I have heard some of her stuff before and didn’t realize it, because this didn’t sound like anything I hadn’t heard before. It also just didn’t feel like it’s aged particularly well musically - whereas contemporary releases from hip hop artists like Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Lauryn Hill, and Outkast still feel like they hold up today for the most part, the production here makes it feel very much like a product of the late 90s. I know this is produced by Timbaland who is supposedly a legend, but I don’t feel like I’m hearing GOAT here. If anything, the highlight for me here was Busta Rhymes. Don’t have much to say beyond that - It’s not bad, but I wasn’t much of a fan.

3.5 I’m not much of a Metallica fan, but I was really curious to check this one out when I learned it’s an orchestra-accompanied live album. I don’t believe I’ve heard anything live by these guys beforehand (no less with an orchestra), so I went in with an open mind, hoping to expand my perception of the band - even with that daunting 133-minute runtime (longer than Mellon Collie… and I think our longest so far). First off, I loved the usage of the The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly score to start the show. I know they’re not the only band that’s done it (Green Day played it at a show I was at… and I think The Ramones used to do it before either band did), but I can’t fault the band at all because it’s an incredibly epic way to start a concert and never fails to build hype. Once the actual Metallica set started, it was immediately clear how much the orchestra added to the performance - and that’s as someone who has never even heard The Call of Ktulu prior. As it transitioned in Master of Puppets, a song I’m much more familiar with, the added dynamics of the orchestra completely validated its usage to me, and I was completely sold for the rest of the show. I definitely don’t think any of the tracks here are the definitive versions of the songs by any means (well except for the new songs No Leaf Clover and Human I guess), but I do feel like new life is breathed into them, and the band’s catalogue is both complemented and rounded out because of it. Speaking of No Leaf Clover - “the new song” a near 20-year old band introduces at their concert is actually the most popular one here? How often does that happen? While I don’t think it quite turned me into a Metallica fan, I had fun, and I could definitely see this being an all-time favorite live album for someone who is a bigger fan. And honestly, the more I thought about the runtime, the more I was okay with it. How many live albums out there do you see that are 40-ish minutes? Like what? Was it a short set? Or are we only hearing the “best of”? And even then, in person, a lot of bands don’t venture much further than that 90-minute mark (*cough* *cough* blink-182 *cough* *cough*), so I have to imagine both the fans present here and the ones that listened to this album were very content with this performance.

1 I feel like I was violated listening to this thing. Being that it was released in 1977, you could argue that it was ahead of its time, but my takeaway was that there was clearly still a ways to go in electronic music. I mean, the keyboard on Ghost Rider was so harsh that I thought I was about to be impaled by the audio waves. Johnny was kind of funny to me at least because all I could think of was the opening to the Peanuts theme - kept waiting for Schroeder to jump in with the high part. Unfortunately, my mood quickly shifted when I became very, very uncomfortable right afterwards with Girl. And then don’t even get me started on Frankie Teardrop. It was clear about a minute in that the next nine were about to be very long and… and then… then the screaming started 0_0 One day I’m going to wake up with a cold sweat in the middle of the night thinking about this song. Supposedly this is supposed to be a take on punk, and I guess I can hear that in its rawness, but I feel like punk is supposed to stand for something, and I don’t think this stands for anything. Call it experimental if you want, it doesn’t make it listenable.

4.5 Really happy Eels made this list. While not an all-time favorite of mine by any means, I do think the band is criminally underrated and has some great tunes… and yes, not just the ones on the Shrek soundtracks. But holy cow, I’ve been underrating them too - this album is fantastic. Novocaine for the Soul is a great song and opener - I’ve always loved the track, and here it’s really effective at setting the tone and themes for the rest of the album. I also really loved how it segued into Susan’s House, a song that sounded completely different (like it could have come off of A Tribe Called Quest album) but never came off as jarring or out of place. As I kept listening, I learned that was the case with the majority of this album - incredibly diverse in sound, yet somehow it flows perfectly. There are a number of songs here I had never heard before but fell in love with instantly, including Rags to Rags - especially the line “And one day I'll come through, My American dream, But it won't mean a fuckin' thing” with the music cutting out on that last part. Guest List was another favorite, with that goddamn “I’m never on your list” outro hurting me somewhere deep. Not Ready Yet, Mental, and of course My Beloved Monster were also highlights. Yes, the latter is known for being in Shrek, but everyone knows the soundtrack to that film went way harder than it had any business doing so, and this song is no exception - I listen to the song semi-regularly because of it. There’s something about the quiet verse/loud chorus dynamics of the song that I absolutely love (probably because of Pixies). Finally, Manchild was a beautiful closer, though I have to ask - is this the first time an artist used their ex-girlfriend’s voicemail in a song?? I guess modern emo bands have just been copying this guy’s notes this whole time. A great time, especially for miserable times, front to back. Airtight musically and lyrically - I’ll be listening again. Probably soon.

3 I kept wondering why I felt like I had just recently heard Never Let Me Down Again, then remembered it closed the first episode of The Last of Us. Great show, and great song. Unfortunately, that ended up being the highlight for me - the rest of the album is pretty same-y and unremarkable. While I liked the sound throughout, it didn’t provide a lot of standout moments. So, takeaway, while I don’t dislike Depeche Mode, this cemented an opinion I’ve held of the group for some time now - that they’re basically the Great Value brand Tears For Fears. Like, tell me half the songs here (and that’s being generous) couldn’t be put on a TFF album without anyone noticing. Though, that’s probably an insult to TFF, who are a really great and probably better group - like, I would rather listen to Songs From the Big Chair than this again. It was fine, but outside of Never Let Me Down Again, I’m just not sure how driven I’d be to listen again considering I can get a better version of this sound elsewhere.

2.5 This reminded me of Depeche Mode a bit with the first song, but then shifted into much more of a heavier-electronic direction (though I feel like I heard some Coldplay in there at times). Anyway, I walked away with mixed feelings on this. This style of electro-rock is generally pretty hit or miss with me, and I found that to be the case with most of the songs on this album. Sometimes it does some cool things, but other times I thought the electronic emphasis was a bit much or a tad repetitive, and honestly, I think that made the album feel kinda long. That being said, I really, really liked DLZ, both in regards to the intense, musical atmosphere it builds and from a lyrical perspective. In particular, I loved the line “But this is beginning to feel like the dog wants a bone” to close out the verse and kick off the chorus - it’s a cool line that just feels like it fits the tone of the song perfectly. Don’t have a ton of specific comments beyond that, though I will credit Lover’s Day for comparing love to cannibalism - that was a new one for me. So, that all said, this one kind of balances out to middle-of-the-road status for me.

2 It seems our summer of love-era psychedelic scene made its way south at some point. Hearing a fusion of more traditional Latin American music with what reminded me of The Zombies was interesting at first, but I feel like it ultimately kind of resulted in the worst of both worlds, as no part of this album comes anywhere near the abstractly trippy or catchily danceable highs of either genre. I will say, I’m trying to open my mind as much as I can with this list, but some of these foreign language albums can be hard for me, as I’m a very lyric-driven person and only fluent in English. I really need something else strong to grab onto if I’m going to be drawn in, and this didn’t give me that. Didn’t dislike, but I found it pretty forgettable, and I don’t think I’m likely to return.

4 At the risk of coming off as melodramatic, I feel like I have to start this review off by saying David Bowie’s death is still the one that has upset me more than any other famous person to date. I can remember exactly when and where I was when I heard the news - on my way to my morning class at the Psychology building at Michigan State University… and I cried. I previously talked about what the man means to me in my Hunky Dory review, so I won’t get too into that here, but January 11, 2016 was a sad day in history for me (he passed the day before, but the news didn’t break until the next day… no pun intended) Anyway, sorry for the schmaltzy anecdote, but I do believe his terminal diagnosis and eventual death is important context for the listening of this album. These songs were knowingly his final creative offerings, his final testimony, and a final thank you to the world and those who loved him. Musically, it sounds unlike anything of his released prior - I think the closest comparison would be the soundscape of the Berlin Trilogy, but even then this feels distinct in that it relies more on a jazz backdrop than an electronic one. Supposedly Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly was a huge influence, which I’ve always found fascinating. I think it speaks a lot to Bowie’s musical passion that a modern icon of a completely different genre could influence and inspire him this late into his career (reminds me a bit of Johnny Cash and Hurt). Lyrically, the album is filled with introspection and reflection upon a career and life that was unapologetically brazen. However, it definitely adds a certain haunting element to the music - I mean, look at the first verse of Lazarus: “Look up here, I'm in heaven I've got scars that can't be seen I've got drama, can't be stolen Everybody knows me now” Chills. So, that all being said, this isn’t my favorite Bowie album, nor do I find myself picking out individual songs to listen to on it often. I would even say there are some minor misses for me here in ‘Tis a Pity She Was a Whore and Sue (Or in a Season of Crime), which I don’t feel like quite fit the rest of the album tonally. Yet, as a whole, the complete package is a unique piece of art that feels cathartic whenever I decide to listen, like another chance to say goodbye to an old friend. It may not be perfect, but it’s an excellent bookend to the career of an artist who only falls to this Earth once in a lifetime.

2.5 I’m not going to lie, I thought these were the guys that wrote that Broken Phone Booth song, so I was disappointed to not see it on this album. Manic Street Preachers, Primitive Radio Gods, it’s not just me, right? Anyway, all that to say I apparently didn’t know anything by these guys. After listening, I learned it’s basically pure 90s Britpop, and I gotta say, the more of the genre I listen to, the more I’m starting to think Oasis is the only band that really pulled it off. Like, it doesn’t sound bad, but after my first listen, I retained nothing. So, I gave it a second listen, and this time really tried to focus in on the individual songs, but I swear every track on this album sounds exactly the same. I thought it was kind of funny that the Wikipedia article mentioned they put a heavy emphasis on the drum production here, because even after knowing that fact, I still couldn’t detect any kind of distinct emphasis or flair on the drum track. In fact, thanks to Wikipedia, the most interesting part of this whole experience for me was when I learned that this is the band’s first album without former lyricist/guitarist Richey Edwards, who straight up disappeared a year prior and still hasn’t been found to date. He was presumed dead in 2008, but apparently there have been sightings of him in India? I digress, the pacing of this album was pretty good and never dragged, but really it’s just mediocre Britpop at best. Would rather listen to Oasis (or maybe some early Supergrass as my Spotify shuffle has been getting me into lately!)

4 Look, I love The Smiths and consider them to be one of my favorite groups. While most consider The Queen is Dead to be their magnum opus (myself included), Meat is Murder is also oftentimes thrown out there as the group’s best… and I gotta say I think those fans are over-inflating this one. It’s very good for sure, and some of the band’s best songs are here, but there are also a few misses for me. In particular, I have to call out Barbarism Begins at Home - I know it’s a fan favorite, but I can’t stand this song. The funk riff is so annoying and feels so out of place… and then they made it seven minutes long?? Wtf. If I wasn’t listening for the sake of review, I would be skipping this one. Anyway, that out of the way, I do want to highlight the good, because the majority of this album really is fantastic. The Headmaster Ritual is a great opener and song, and I’ve always considered it to be one of the catchiest and most danceable of The Smiths’ catalogue. Following that, while Rusholme Ruffians isn’t an all-time great or particularly deep by any means, the bassline is incredibly infectious (shoutout to Andy Rourke). I Want the One I Can’t Have is a vibe we’ve all experienced at one point or another. For Smiths fans, it’s probably associated with the girl they’ve been too scared to talk to for six or so months that ends up having a boyfriend. What She Said is a short, fun blast of energy. Then, we get to the best track on the album - That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore. Yeah, it’s the exact brand of self-pity that people like to hate on Morrissey for, and maybe you could argue the outro is overly long and repetitive, but I personally find the build-up of the vocal delivery and music to be profoundly beautiful and dynamic in the best kind of broody, gothic way. Unfortunately, the album starts losing me a bit from there, with two pretty mediocre tracks Nowhere Fast and Well I Wonder leading into Barbarism. Ironically, I think people hate the title track for mostly the same reasons I hate Barbarism, but there’s something about Moz’s delivery of “Murrderrrrr” I’ve always kinda liked, so I would argue the album ends on a high note. To conclude, it’s The Smiths. Love these guys, and I’ll always rate them highly, but sadly this one just doesn’t quite earn the honor of a 5/5 from me.

2 Groan. Here we go. Probably the cock rock-iest of all the cock rock bands. If there’s any one frontman I would punch in the face… it’d probably be Gary Glitter. BUT, if we’re talking those without heinous sex crimes, it would be Axl Rose. The dude is a pompous diva, and everything he says and does makes me want to punch him in the face. As Kurt Cobain said himself, “The guy is a fucking sexist and a racist and a homophobe, and you can't be on his side and be on our side. I’m sorry that I have to divide this up like this, but it's something you can't ignore. And besides, [GNR] can't write good music." Honestly, where’s the lie? If you disagree with the claims of bigotry, look at One in a Million (Google the lyrics, don’t give this fool a Spotify play). Alternatively, look at any comment he’s made towards a woman. As far as bad music goes… well, Axl certainly is no Bob Dylan. Out Ta Get Me quite literally ends with the line “So you can suck me, Take that one to heart”. That being said, I realize that’s not what this album is about - it’s about sex, drugs, and rock n roll, and I can’t argue that the album succeeds in that regard. I mean, there’s a reason it’s considered a rock classic, especially with three of the songs here being staples of any rock radio station. The production is incredibly clean, the songs are both catchy and commercially palatable, and I’ll even admit I had Welcome to the Jungle and Sweet Child O Mine on my first MP3 player… yet I don’t find myself listening to them (or anything else by the band) anymore. Maybe I’ve heard the songs too many times, but really I think I’ve just grown kind of jaded. The further into music I’ve explored, the more I feel like the band is the most superficial side of the art form, like they only learned their instruments to get girls. There’s no real substance here, and honestly, it’s really same-y, like every song that isn’t one of the big three is trying to sound like them. Also, I really don’t feel like there’s anything landmark about this album - just about every other hair metal band you can think of was doing this before GNR, and honestly are probably all better. I really couldn’t tell you what makes people put this band on a pedestal in comparison, but I guess there’s something about them that just really speaks to the kind of crowd that’s likely now drinking Miller Lite out of protest for Bud Light becoming “too woke”. I debated a 1, but I can’t confidently say this is a bad album. I can however say that it and the band itself are both largely over-inflated in musical history.

3 So THIS is what Syd was up to after Floyd… getting really into the University of Maryland’s college sports program. Still not entirely sure how I feel about this one, but it definitely grew on me. I wasn’t too impressed with anything I had heard during my first listen, but upon listening again I thought the imperfect, raw nature of the album had a certain charm to it that seemed to offer a small taste of the mind of Syd Barrett (Lord only knows what was actually going on in there). Terrapins, No Good Trying, and Here I Go are all songs I can look back on now and say I enjoyed, though others like Love You and Octopus felt a bit Beatles-esque for my taste. The listening of this album sent me into a bit of a Syd Barrett deep dive, and the more I read about him, the more tragic I found his life - It really seems like the guy had some deep-rooted, crippling mental issues and that the LSD only exacerbated them. He was loved dearly by his bandmates, who never had any intention of ejecting him from the band, but at a certain point it became apparent the man was no longer capable of performing live (He played a single show after the release of this album and walked off after four songs). David Gilmour and Roger Waters even stepped in to help him finish/produce this album purely out of love for an old friend. That being said, I can’t help but wonder how listenable this would be without their influence… Anyway, I digress, I can walk away saying I appreciated and enjoyed, but I definitely didn’t find it amazing by any means - not sure if I’d give a full re-listen.

2 Got this guy confused with Randy Newman at first and was really confused when the album started. Anyway, I’m not familiar with Gary, but from what I heard here it seems like he was majorly influential on the upcoming new wave scene. That being said, I think Kraftwerk had already been doing this kind of thing for a few years now. Maybe they were an influence on him, maybe they just sound similar due to the limitations of early electronic music, either way, I think I enjoyed Kraftwerk a bit more. Whereas their album felt like it had a sense of atmosphere and innovation to it, this just kind of sounds like one long electronic loop… like seriously, there were multiple moments where the next song kicked in and I was like “Isn’t this just the same beat as before?” I might be exaggerating a bit when I throw that kind of claim out typically, but I am 100% earnest when I say it here. Bum BUM Bum. Bum BUM Bum. Bum buuum Bum. Bum buuum Bum. You can hear it, right?? Didn’t hate it, but it’s not for me. I’ll stick with my TRANS. EUROPE. EXPRESS.

2.5 Look Guns N’ Roses, Appetite for Destruction was a good effort, but when it comes to the wildest, you ain’t got shit on Louis Prima over here. Imagine just lamely welcoming people in like some kind of jungle doorman when Louis is out here running the kingdom (as King Louie in The Jungle Book). Both albums also literally contain a song called “Night Train”, though GNR’s is awkwardly shoved into one word. I’ll let you guess which one is better. Alright, enough shitting on GNR. Classic 50s jazz stuff here that would fit perfectly in a Fallout game (I had to double check that it wasn’t already). I recognized the song Jump, Jive, An’ Wail as something my middle school choir teacher used to play, but I think her version was actually the cover done by Brian Setzer of Stray Cats fame. I realize I’m just spitting out anecdotes here, and I think that’s mostly because I don’t have much else to say on this one. It’s fine. I don’t hate this kind of music by any means, but I don’t feel like I’m hearing the best of it here. Honestly, I’d probably just listen to anything off the Fallout soundtracks instead of this again. Not that I disliked, but this is probably as mid as the genre can get for me. Fuck Axl Rose.

4.5 Nearly ten years ago, a sixteen year-old Luke would have probably told you that Pink Floyd is one of the greatest bands to ever walk this Earth… despite only having listened to three of their albums (I’ll let you guess which ones). Anyway, my group of friends were mostly all fans of the band, and Dark Side vs. The Wall as the GOAT was a big debate among us. I think I was actually the only one in Dark Side camp, but sitting here a decade later, I honestly couldn’t tell you the last time I listened to either all the way through. So, this should be a good test of my musical maturity, right? Whereas Dark Side is more of a concept album, The Wall is an outright rock opera with a more clear sense of narrative, and truthfully, it’s one of the best albums to ever do so - though it also helps that it had an accompanying movie to further flesh it out (see what I did there?). Both contain an assortment of amazing and iconic tracks, but The Wall specifically has a lot more eerie, transitional stuff… though that’s the point. It was never intended to contain a collection of potential singles or hits, it was meant to tell a story and be consumed in one go, start to finish. And a story it tells - if you’ve ever felt alone, isolated, and/or on the verge of breakdown, The Wall probably hits home. Diving into the songs, In The Flesh? Is an all-time great opening track, and I love how it serves as an overture for the album, with its reference to the upcoming show working in both a narrative and meta sense (and the usage of the reprise is great as well). Mother, Goodbye Blue Sky, Young Lust, Run Like Hell, and Comfortably Numb are also all great tunes, and I think this particular listening may have cemented Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 3 as my favorite of the three. While I enjoy the kids on Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2, for the most part, I’ve always found the disco nature of the song kind of annoying - usually a skip for me when in shuffle. However, the track I’ve been sleeping on the most? Nobody Home. My Dad once told me a personal story he associates with the song, which really encouraged me to give it a thorough listen - and it’s great. I love the piano and musical build-up, highlighting a kind of beauty in utter despair and isolation. I did go back and listen to Dark Side after this, and ultimately, I don’t really think it’s fair to say one is better than the other. They’re both fantastic albums by their own merits, with one being a collection of amazing songs and the other being a unique musical journey through sound and mind. What I would opt to listen to now would likely depend on my mood, but at this point in my life I don’t think I would rate one better than the other (spoilers for my upcoming Dark Side review I guess). So high school friends, I’m willing to call it a tie, though I’ll concede that this is a one-of-a-kind album even still now, decades after release, and yes, Comfortably Numb may in fact contain the greatest guitar solo of all-time. Anyway, on that note, random funny anecdote I gotta throw out there - the first time I listened to this album was on a burned CD from my friend Kaleb, who accidentally put a two second gap in-between each song. Not quite the same experience lol.

3.5 I’m familiar with this guy’s name from collaborations with other artists, but I think this is my first time listening to any of his standalone work - though a lot of this sounded really familiar to me. I had to look up the songs Organ Donor and What Does Your Soul Look Like, Pt. 1 in particular to see if I knew them from somewhere else or if I knew the original source, but didn’t see anything I recognized. Honestly, it may just be because they sound like video game music (picturing a haunted house level with Organ Donor). I also got strong Moon Safari vibes overall with its style of electronic, easy listening ambience, though its reliance on samples also made it feel like a mellower Fatboy Slim album. Supposedly this is the first album ever to exist solely of samples, and I’ll give credit to Shadow’s creativity and innovation there. While I don’t know a ton about mixing and remixing music myself, I have to imagine trying to seamlessly blend existing stuff together must be a tougher challenge at times than writing something from scratch - especially by 1996 standards. Anyway, I struggled with my rating a bit on this one - I really liked the overall vibe, but I’m not sure if there’s much on here I would go back to and re-visit. Building Steam with a Grain of Salt was probably my favorite track with how atmospheric it felt, though I also really liked the audio track of the woman on Mutual Slump (Do you feel like Darth Vader?) The only thing on the album I wasn’t a real big fan of whatever that stuttering audio effect was on Changeling - thought I was having connection issues with my speaker for a sec. Good, but not great - pretty good album to have on for getting work done though.

4 Man, what a childhood throwback. And by childhood throwback, I’m referring almost exclusively to the track Milky Cereal. How is that one of the least popular songs on the album?? I thought all of the wordplay and callouts to my favorite cereals were so cool as a kid, and I still could probably recite the whole thing for you today. Anyway, despite that track being a childhood staple and my dad owning the album on CD, I don’t think I’ve heard anything else from it prior aside from the title track. So, I really wasn’t sure what my opinion was going to be, but with the first song in I knew that I was in for a good time ahead. The charm of Milky and Mama is present in every song, and I really don’t think I could find anything unenjoyable if I tried. Beats are catchy and delivery is smooth - this is among 90s rap at its best. How was LL never featured in a Tony Hawk game?? Murdergram in particular stood out to me as fun and skateboard-able, though of course I have to call out Mama Said Knock You Out as a banger. Special shoutout to the line “Don’t call it a comeback, been here for years” - my Dad’s been saying it for probably just as long, and I may have once or twice as well in my lifetime. However, what I never realized till now? Another catchphrase from my Dad, “I gotta thank God, 'Cause he gave me the strength to rock hard” also comes from the song. Anyway, great tune. I also noticed LL kept repeating the phrase “run the jewels” on Cheesy Rat Blues, so I had to look it up, and yes, the rap duo got their name from the song. However, despite the number of iconic bars that stood out to me, I saw a few other users call out the lyrics overall as having not aged well. So, I tried following along with a lyrics site on a subsequent listen, and for the most part I personally didn’t hear anything that seemed more provocative or offensive than anything else of the era. There is one questionable lyric on Mr. Goodbar (“And I can't make you, I sure wouldn't rape you”), but as far as the history of sexual references in music goes, I feel like it could be a lot worse. This was very nearly a 4.5 from me, but ultimately I feel like I have to dock half a point for runtime - really think this could have ended after Jingling Baby without anything feeling lost. Not that anything after is bad, but they’re by no means highlights, and as a result the runtime is definitely felt. Still, really good album through and through.

2 I’ve always considered Dion’s work with the Belmonts and early solo stuff like Runaround Sue to be among late 50s/early 60s pop at its best, but this is my first time hearing anything from this stage in his career. Look, I gotta give the guy credit in getting with the times and adapting his sound as the music and culture shifted around him. This is unrecognizable from the stuff I mentioned above - like, if I wasn’t told the artist before listening, never in a million years would I guess this is the same guy who did A Teenager in Love. That being said, while a step forward in musical evolution, it’s also probably about two steps back in original, identifiable, and catchy songwriting. I know it’s not supposed to be reminiscent of his prior work in any way, but man, there is very little to grab onto here - it’s just kind of a bunch of lame soft rock that blends in with similar stuff of the era. There are higher points here than others, but not any true great moments… or even particularly good moments for that matter. (He’s Got) The Whole Word in His Hands was probably my favorite (I use the world lightly), but I’m not sure why the production quality sounds noticeably worse on just that track - probably from Spector doing something dumb in the studio in the midst of some kind of binge. Didn’t hate it by any means, but I don’t see myself coming back. Also, there are a total of three 5-star reviews for this album on the Global Reviews page… yikes.

2.5 Never heard of this group or album, but I saw some comparisons to Radiohead and The Verve, and with the genre listed as space rock, I was hoping to hear some Muse in there too. Well, I didn’t hear any of those here - the closest thing I think I can compare it to is that Mercury Rev album we had. I really dug the opening track - I thought the usage of Can’t Help Falling in Love was really cool, especially how it was implemented with the whole battling vocals dynamic. If that kind of thing kept up, I think I would have really liked the album, but it seemed to immediately segue into Britpop on the next track Come Together. From there, it seemed to straddle the line of both, creating one big forgettable, half-baked album. I really didn’t outright dislike it, so maybe I’m being a bit harsh, though based on what I read about it before listening, I’m a bit disappointed. I was expecting an epic space rock opera, and while I really feel like it had the potential to be that, what we got instead was Britpop with prog rock influence and without any real sense of flow or arc to it. As a result, it just comes out sounding more overdramatic than it does grandiose. Just because you add a bunch of toppings to your pizza doesn’t automatically make it better, ya know? Sometimes just a pepperoni pizza hits the spot. (Credit to vgdunkey on YouTube for that metaphor - I use it all the time)

3.5 After just having an album produced by the monster Phil Spector, it’s nice to have something produced by someone without any known controversy or offensive behavior. Man, what a refreshing rap record. I really, really, really, really don’t want to give Kanye any kind of credit for obvious reasons, but I can’t deny the production here is fantastic. There’s clearly quite a bit of old school R&B influence, and the album benefits so much from it - everything felt so alive and colorful without ever feeling repetitive or manufactured. That sound combined with Common’s effortlessly smooth delivery and insightful poeticism made this a really solid listen from front to back. For every infectiously catchy hook (“Before you lock my love away!”), there’s a socially-conscious one that’s just as profound. In particular, I really liked the message regarding the ability to create greatness regardless of one’s beginnings on It’s Your World - though I have to admit the line about being the “best swimmer in 500,000” was a bit much. That all being said, I actually struggled a bit with my rating for this one. I liked almost all of it, but I’m not quite sure how much of it I actually loved. There haven’t been any tracks I’ve gone back to since my listening, but I do see myself giving the full album a listen again in the future. So, there might still be some room for growth with me.

3 Folksy with a bit of a contemporary 80s pop sound mixed in there, and I think I liked it… though heavy emphasis on the “think”. Each song came and went quickly without giving me much of a lasting impression, kind of like a soft gust of wind on a hot day - it felt nice, but wasn’t noticeable enough for me to give a second thought. Suzanne really does have a nice voice and I do feel like there’s some solid songwriting buried in there, but for the most part, none of it was particularly standout or unique enough to make the songs themselves stand out to me. There were a couple moments that did though - Small Blue Thing was probably the highlight, with her metaphors for vulnerability and delivery of “Today I am” probably being the peak of her songwriting here for me… even if I think the title itself is a little lazy. On a nitpicky note, the text on this album cover drove me nuts. I guess I can get past her name being in two different fonts, but doing the same thing with the tracklist makes it seem like there’s going to be some kind of drastic shift from Side A to Side B, and… there just isn’t? Besides, why is the tracklist even on the front cover to begin with? That’s what the back cover is for. I digress, would maybe listen again, but I’m not overly eager to do so.

3.5 I know this band and album were supposedly super influential on the rock music to come in the decade ahead, and so with that in mind and with a title like “Electric Warrior”, I expected this to be a lot heavier, more in the vein of 20th Century Boy, one of two songs I knew by the band prior. Instead, this was more of a groovy, mellower, and oftentimes acoustic rock record - and I didn’t mind that. In fact, I enjoyed quite a bit of this. That being said, I can’t seem to pinpoint exactly what made this album so influential. It definitely sounds like an album that bridges the gap between the classic rock sound of the 60s and the flashy, flamboyant style of rock to come in the 70s, but I’m not sure exactly what seems to mark that transition here. Maybe it was Marc Bolan’s whole makeup and top hat thing? Anyway, regardless of what’s there to be said about legacy, in outright quality I’d say this is pretty good. I’m not sure anything stood out here as an immediate replayable favorite, but Mambo Sun, Jeepster, Planet Queen, Life’s a Gas, and of course Bang a Gong at least all stood out to me as fun, though their take on blues in Lean Woman Blues was nothing special. While I didn’t love Cosmic Dancer, it’s a hell of a lot better than Morrissey and David Bowie’s take on the song. As a diehard fan of both of those guys, that kind of pains me to say, but if you haven’t heard their version, well… it’s rough. Overall, solid classic rock album that never outstayed its welcome. Hope the next one is just as fun and upbeat!

3.5 “The album is a tragic rock opera about a doomed couple, Jim and Caroline, and addresses themes of drug use, prostitution, depression, domestic violence and suicide.” Well, here we go. My Dad mentioned he was going to need to give this one a deeper listen with headphones before putting a review in, and about halfway through my listening, I realized I was going to have to do the same - this is definitely not a “play in the background while doing work” kind of album. So, at night I popped my buds in and really dialed in, doing my best to follow along with the lyrics and story online, and I gotta say, even doing so, I don’t feel like this is the most structured or organized album I’ve heard, especially by rock opera standards. Supposedly half the songs here are repurposed outtakes from Lou’s Velvet days, and I think that kind of shows. It wasn’t until somewhere around Caroline Says I that the album started coming together for me, with the first true sense of narrative coming together in exploring Caroline’s cruel nature. While I don’t think the song itself was amazing by any means, what really sold me on the track was its contrast with Caroline Says II, which turns things around and explores Jim’s abusive tendencies, ultimately creating two complementary pieces that highlight the all-around toxicity and dysfunction plaguing the relationship. So, shoutout to Lou’s songwriting there. However, the true gut punch of the album is in the one-two combo of The Kids and The Bed, which, although probably far from Lou’s most deep or complex work lyrically, the relatively straightforward songwriting here is painfully effective, and it’s hard not to feel absolutely devastated by Caroline’s tragic ending. I had mixed feelings on the closer, Sad Song - though it honestly may have been my favorite song on the album musically, it just felt a bit too on the nose lyrically and thematically. This was a hard one for me to rate. As far as rock operas go, I don’t think this stands among the best, but when this album decides to throw an emotional punch, it hits hard. So while far from perfect, this was a memorable listen and I can’t say it was anything less than good. It’s no The Wall, but it is a nice reminder of the power of storytelling in music.

4 I always appreciate having a punk album, mostly because I love the genre, but also because it means I can probably listen to it a good 3 or 4 times in preparation for my review… and then still find the time to listen to other stuff in the day. This album also comes during a punk high for me - after catching an elbow to the nose in the pit of a Vandals performance this past weekend and jumping back in as soon as I could get the bleeding a bit cleaned up, I think it’s safe to say punk music and culture is a part of my identity (though fuck that asshole with the elbow). Anyway, Machine Gun Etiquette - probably the most diverse-sounding punk album I’ve heard from the first wave era. Ok, yes, London Calling (which was released just a month later), but I think it could be argued this album explores the full scope of punk without ever truly leaving its musical roots - whereas The Clash were fully diving into entirely different genres. And while that worked well for The Clash, the sound here works amazing for The Damned. Not every song is of note, but the pure punk energy mixed with dashes of varying cross-genre influence throughout really prevent this album from ever getting stale, even if there’s not a ton of lyrical or thematic substance. There are definitely some socio-political elements sprinkled in there though, and while it’s not quite Clash-level, it does result in great tunes like Anti-Pope. I know The Damned are far from the first group to put out something anti-religious or anti-Christian, but to my knowledge they’re the first band to put out something specifically anti-Pope. Being that this was years before the whole Catholic church diddling thing came to light, I’ll give them some credit for being ahead of their time there. While it didn’t become an immediate favorite of mine, I had a blast from front to back. This is a perfect example of how creative and fun punk can be, so I’ll be listening to more Damned in the future.

3 Supposedly the first ever heavy metal album from the first ever heavy metal band… though I know there are claims they ripped off a group called Coven who had released an album with a similar occult-ish hard rock sound just a year prior. I don’t know how much truth there is to that or if it was just parallel thinking, so I’m not going to point any fingers, but I do think it’s a little suspicious that Coven had a band member that went by Oz Osborne and a song also entitled “Black Sabbath” (true story - look it up). Anyway, just food for thought, not trying to take the snuff out of this album - there’s definitely a reason that it’s recognized as monumental in musical history and that most people have never heard of Coven, or instead associate the name with that American Horror Story season. So as a first time listener of Black Sabbath’s debut, I have to say… I was surprised by how not that heavy this was? I know that’s not really fair to say considering this is the VERY first of what was to come with metal, but this was wayyyy more bluesy than I anticipated. And I didn’t find that to be bad at all - while there weren’t any particular moments I loved, as a whole I thought it was an enjoyable listen. The 40 minute runtime was perfect - any longer and I think it would have started to lose me. The solos scattered about all went hard and felt like shapes of things to come for the group, a later heavier period that, to be honest, I enjoy a little more. Paranoid is a really solid album and noticeably heavier, despite being released just seven months after this one. I’m not sure exactly what changed in that short of time, but the growth of the band and the evolution of the genre is felt. On a slightly different note, I’ve always thought that this album’s cover is really cool and great at establishing the vibe of the band… though as a confession, I learned only recently it’s a woman on the cover and not, in fact, Ozzy. Whoops ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Another fun fact - the same woman is also included on the cover of Dookie by Green Day. Angus Young is on there too if you’re interested in playing more album cover I Spy.

2 If you’ve ever wanted to listen to a drunk British dude’s impression of Iggy Pop, then this is probably the album for you. Unfortunately, this isn’t nearly as interesting as anything that the former-Stooge has ever put out - this is like if Iggy decided to make a career out of being a dancer instead of a punk. Like, was this an alternative rock record or a dance record? I’m not against cross-genre fusion by any means, but it didn’t work for me here. And then combined with this guy’s voice… Look, I’m not normally picky about vocals, but man I feel like I’m listening to karaoke from a guy who’s about to be cut off at the pub. It never feels like he’s giving any more than maybe like 60% effort max, and for a studio recording, my guy was noticeably struggling to hit some of the notes (I’m Going to Spain was especially bad). Not much else jumped out at me, except for maybe The League of Bald-Headed Men, but mostly because I read beforehand that it was accused of ripping off Misty Mountain Hop by Led Zeppelin. Personally, I think it’s a coincidence, but I can definitely hear it. Not much else to say on this one. I didn’t hate it, but I don’t see myself coming back to it.

3.5 I know these guys are indie rock legends, but before this I only knew them for Cut Your Hair (which was on the Jackass Number Two soundtrack for some reason). While that song’s not on this album, a lot of enjoyable stuff is - there’s something about frontman Stephen Malkmus’ style of half-singing/half-talking I dig and feel gives a distinct sound to the group. So, as someone who generally enjoys classic alternative rock and unique vocals, I thought this was going to become a quick new favorite of mine, but ultimately I found it to be more good than it is great. I started noticing a little bit more nuance in the songwriting when I gave a second listen, with Conduit for Sale! jumping out as punk-esque favorite and Here jumping out as a mellow favorite, but still, even after a further third listening, I don’t feel like I have much else to say. A lot of this runs together, and while nothing is unenjoyable or boring, there’s not a ton that’s remarkable either. I have nothing bad to say though, so I would say this is a strong 3.5. It’s sad that these were one of those groups whose critical acclaim never quite translated into commercial success, but I’m pretty sure they had a song go viral on TikTok a couple years back, so they have that going for them. Also, this album totally had random moments where the music totally cut out, right? I’m not going crazy? Right?

3 Man, I saw War and had a whole intro planned out for my review revolving around how Low Rider haunts my dreams due countless summer nights falling asleep to George Lopez on Nick at Nite. Well, that song’s not on this album, but that all to say when I think of War, I think of Low Rider, and then I think of George Lopez… and then I think of the freedom in summer vacation we take for granted as kids. Anyway, getting too deep here - let’s talk about The World is a Ghetto. I’m not normally the biggest fan of funk music, but I gotta say there’s a lot of fun and catchy stuff here. I’m not much of a dancer (sober anyway), but it’s really hard not to feel the groove to The Cisco Kid, and despite only having about three total lyrics, it’s catchy as all hell. That being said, I wasn’t into the instrumental stuff on the album as much. While it all had a nice sound to it, it didn’t do much for me, which is unfortunate because it’s a good half of this album’s runtime. The title track was really solid though, and I wish they had decided to end there instead of with Beetles in the Bog, as I found the latter to be kind of weak. It just feels like ending on The World is a Ghetto would have rounded out the album musically and thematically a little bit better than a song about bugs, what do I know? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Anyway, didn’t love the album, but it’s definitely enjoyable.

1 Oh my God it’s the eyeball dudes. I’ve heard of these guys, but I’ve never listened to anything they’ve put out, mostly due to the general discomfort they give me. And I gotta say, going in with just that knowledge, somehow all of my expectations were met. Yep, it’s just a bunch of weird noises and voices for 35 minutes. There’s a certain 60’s Saturday morning cartoon vibe buried in all of the chaos that I think I had mild appreciation for, but that’s probably the most positive thing I can say about this album - when I realized the first track Constantinople is the band’s most popular on Spotify, I knew I had a very, very long listen ahead. Ironically, compared to many of the other albums I’ve rated poorly thus far, there’s actually quite a bit that’s remarkable and stood out to me across my listening, but I feel like trying to express any of it into any kinds of words here would be a massive waste of time for everyone involved. I’m convinced that no one actually listens to this kind of stuff out of pure personal enjoyment, and it instead becomes known and popularized from the kinds of reactions you get from people when you put it on. If you’re into really bizarre or trippy stuff for whatever reason, I guess give this a listen. If you’re looking to enjoy some new music, I suggest listening to quite possibly anything else. This shit made me want to listen to The Beatles. In summary, art rock is dumb - there’s nothing profound about making your music unlistenable. At least this one wasn’t as aggressive as that Suicide album.

2.5 Supposedly this is the moment that The Flaming Lips went from alternative rock to space-y psychedelic, and while they definitely have stuff from this period that I enjoy, this album didn’t do much for me. The production is pretty solid and does a good job of building atmosphere, but it really all runs together. Maybe that’s the point, idk, but I couldn’t pinpoint any song or even moment that stood out as particularly enjoyable. If I absolutely had to pick a favorite, it would probably be Feeling Yourself Disintegrate, though really I think that one just stuck out to me because it has an opening almost identical to Queen Bitch by David Bowie. Don’t feel like I have a ton else to say. The soundscape is interesting and enjoyable enough that I’d probably be willing to go up to a 3 if the album were a little shorter, but as you get closer to the end you really start feeling that one-hour runtime. That all to say, I do really, really like the songs Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and Do You Realize?? by these guys, both of which are on the follow-up to this album, so maybe this is just the very beginning of a sound and style of songwriting that the band had yet to perfect.

4 Probably showing my age here - as a Gen Zer - but this is the first album on the list so far that I can remember releasing and having massive mainstream success within my lifetime. In particular, there are two songs here, Electric Feel and Kids, that you could not escape hearing in the late 2000s if your life depended on it - two radio hits that I actually feel completely opposite towards. Electric Feel is a song that I’ve always found kind of annoying and only grew to further dislike the more it became overplayed, meanwhile, Kids I would consider to be one of the single greatest pop songs to come from the decade. However, there was actually a third hit from the album that I had totally forgotten about - Time to Pretend. While I don’t remember ever being the biggest fan of that one either, I quite enjoyed it here - it’s an admittedly catchy tune when it’s not being played to death. This is also the first time I think I’ve ever paid attention to the lyrics, and while they’re not overly deep by any means, comparing the desire to spend your life living fast and loose to the innocence and naivety of youth was something I thought was really well done… and kinda hit home. The musical diversity of this album was also a bit of a surprise - the duo’s influence from a decades-spanning assortment of pop music is felt on any given track, and yet they still managed to make everything feel like their own. I really wasn’t expecting their take on rock towards the end, but it resulted in two of my new favorites from the album, Pieces of What and Of Moons, Birds, & Monsters. Pieces of What in particular gave me strong classic rock vibes, to the point where I swear it sounds just like another artist I can’t quite pinpoint - maybe a bit of Mick Jagger in the vocals? Didn’t expect to enjoy this one as much as I did, especially being that I wasn’t the biggest fan of two of the singles when they initially dropped. I still didn’t walk away loving Electric Feel, but come on, as a whole, this is just good pop music. The production here holds up a lot better than many other pop albums of the 2000s, to the point where I really think this album could drop today and still be a massive hit. Easily a solid 4 from me.

1 I saw that this is supposed to be some kind of industrial, experimental album, so when my Spotify glitched and the first song was entirely silent, I thought that might be a part of it. Turns out, I was actually better off when the album was playing with no audio. Look, after The Residents, I just don’t have time for this shit. At least those guys tried to write music. There isn’t even an attempt at songwriting here. 1. Say it with me kids: “There’s nothing profound about making your music unlistenable.” Ok no I’m back with a final thought. After reading the Wikipedia article, the song United is apparently a re-recording. The original version was considered their best and most accessible tune, so in an attempt at being avant-garde, they sped it up to a runtime of 16 seconds for this album to make it entirely unlistenable. There’s a punk spirit in there somewhere I appreciate, but… yeah this album sucks.

3 Emmylou!! Ok, admittedly, I’ve never listened to any of her personal work, but she was featured on a few tracks from one of my all-time favorite albums, I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning by Bright Eyes. Her voice pairs beautifully with Conor’s music and adds so much to the album, especially on the track We Are Nowhere and It’s Now, which is not only my favorite song from I’m Wide Awake, but also what I would consider one of the greatest songs ever written. Anyway, we’re not here to talk about Bright Eyes, but all that to say I had a very high regard towards Emmylou coming into this because of them. And I gotta say, she sounds as great as I could have hoped for here, but musically… I mean, I wasn’t expecting it to sound like the work of a sad Nebraskan indie icon, but yeah this is pretty standard country fare. The slower stuff is the better stuff here (mostly because it highlights her vocal performance), with Boulder to Birmingham being by far and away my favorite song on the album - the ballad-like nature of the song is something I feel is so much better suited for her chops than something like Bottle Let Me Down. Speaking of which, I gave myself a pat on the back for recognizing it as a Merle Haggard cover, a connection I would have never made in a million years if not for this list… and then I proceeded to completely miss The Beatles cover three songs later. So, that prompted me to take a look into every song here, and as it turns out, they’re all covers except for one… Yep, it’s Boulder to Birmingham. I really hope the success of that song gave her the confidence to start recording more of her own original compositions, because if so, I’ll definitely be giving a listen - maybe it was a fluke, but it’s by far the best moment of the album. Though hell, even if her other work is just more basic classical country, I’d still give a listen - it’s hard to find something to hate with a voice like hers. Now that being said, I’m going to go listen to some Bright Eyes.

3.5 Between songs like Hey Jude, Blackbird, and his subsequent work with Wings, I’ve always considered Paul the best Beatle by a landslide, but the criticism I read surrounding this album reminded me that this is also the guy that gave us Wonderful Christmastime and Why Don’t We Do It in the Road? But come on, every great artist misses the mark once or twice in their career, and while Paul is certainly no exception, this album is not one of those times. Lazy and unfinished? By no means is it as polished as any of his work prior, but for me that’s the charm of it - it’s simple and earnest while still retaining elements of catchy songwriting, reminding me of why the guy is a musical icon in the first place. I’m not going to pretend anything here is mind-blowing by any means, but I can honestly say I had a really pleasant time listening throughout. Funny enough, the most popular track here, Maybe I’m Amazed, was actually my least favorite - it’s the cheesiest, poppiest track by far, and probably the closest thing to a Beatles song anywhere on the record. The drum-focused closing track Kreen-Akrore was also not a high point by any means, but with it all said and done, looking back, I can confidently say I had a good time - I would listen to this again over a Beatles album any day. Between this and Band and the Run, Paul has really surprised me with his post-Beatles work, and I’m starting to think that maybe the other guys (or at least John) were holding him back. Just like Band on the Run, I’m gonna score 3.5, but this could easily be a 4 for me on a good day. While maybe not a direct influence on any artists in particular, this feels like a musical milestone hinting towards the style of indie, lo-fi song production that was to come and that we still hear on platforms like Bandcamp today, reminding us that what makes a song great is not necessarily its quality of production, but a strong core idea paired with an impassioned performer. It’s also entirely possible that I just have bad taste in music.

4 Not the first album to chronicle a nervous breakdown - Pink Floyd’s The Wall had done so 15 years prior (and 20 spots ago on this list) - but the first to do so so viscerally and aggressively. If you weren’t prone to a breakdown before listening, you probably are now. This album is violent, and it was created in a setting of violence. Frontman Trent Reznor wrote and recorded this entire album at 10050 Cielo Drive in Los Angeles, CA - also known as the home that actress Sharon Tate and three of her friends were brutally murdered in by members of the Manson Family. And while those violent themes may be off-putting for some, somehow they’re blended with a cross-genre fusion of industrial music and introspective lyrics in such a way that, regardless of your typical musical taste, it’s hard not to find the album compelling, or even borderline catchy at times. While crude, lines like “God is dead/And no one cares/If there is a Hell/I’ll see you there” and “I wanna fuck you like an animal/I wanna feel you from the inside/I wanna fuck you like an animal/My whole existence is flawed/You get me closer to God” are about as catchy as the industrial genre can get. Speaking of the latter, despite its outright vulgarity (or maybe because of it), Closer is one of the best and most enjoyable songs here, second probably only to Hurt. However, because of the song’s success as a single, many see it as a glorification of primal sex and completely miss the contextual emphasis on self-loathing and mutilative tendencies. Honestly, I’m not sure which is better. On a slightly lighter note, I wrote this song in as a submission for my high school’s graduating class song. It didn’t win. The back half isn’t quite as strong as the first, though it does a great job of maintaining the palpably hopeless atmosphere throughout, ultimately culminating into one of the single best and most painful closings of an album of all-time in Hurt. And I’m sorry, but I have to say it - the original is better than Johnny Cash’s. Johnny Cash’s version is excellent and especially impactful when paired with the music video, but there's a well-crafted feeling of isolation in Nine Inch Nails’ version that evokes a sense of utter despair so well. I know Cash’s version isn’t necessarily meant to convey the same message or feeling, so maybe it’s not fair to compare the two, but ultimately the NIN version is the one I found myself coming back to more frequently. Great album, but not the kind you return to often (or at least I hope you don’t). Happy birthday, Dad!!

2.5 20 years ago, a preparatory school substitute teaching under the name Ned Schneebly put this album in the hands of a young keyboardist, assigning him to listen to the keyboard solo on Roundabout and assuring it would “blow the classical music out of your butt”. In hindsight, there’s an extra layer of humor to that quote having now listened to this album. Yeah, the keyboard on Roundabout is pretty cool, but the second track on the album is quite literally classical music. No idea if that line was written with that in mind, but either way, poor Lawrence had to put up with more of that bullshit, and subsequently, I did as well. That’s not to say that classical music is outright bad by any means, but listening to an artist of a genre I don’t love put their spin on a genre I like even less… it’s like if Creed did a cover of Achy Breaky Heart. We all lose in that scenario. The rest of the album is pretty mid prog rock with an acoustic solo or two thrown in there. Look, I’ve never claimed to be the biggest fan of the genre, but Rush or King Crimson have a way of making their music feel epic and exciting, and this… this just doesn’t get me there. If you like the song Roundabout I get it, it’s pretty good, but I could live without it, and that was the high point of the album for me. Didn’t hate it, but it didn’t do much for me. Between this and The Yes Album, it seems I’m just not much of a Yes fan.

4 Towards the end of college I got really into Elliott Smith, an artist who is often compared to Nick Drake. Despite having active careers nearly 25 years apart from one another, both were known for their soft singing voices and acoustic playing style, their struggles with depression and mental health, and ultimately leaving this world far too soon. So, fascinated by the parallels, I binged all three of Nick Drake’s albums in one day, and while I really liked what I heard, at the time, Bryter Layter stood out to me the least. I didn’t re-visit the album again until about a year ago, when the usage of the song Fly stuck out to me in a viewing of The Royal Tenenbaums (coincidentally, Elliott Smith also has a song in the movie). I still didn’t love the album, but Fly became a part of my regular musical rotation. Listening to it now, I stand by my longstanding sentiment that this is not his best album, but to say it’s bad by any means would be flat out wrong. My only major criticism is its overproduction - as Pink Moon would later show, Drake was at his best with just his guitar, voice, and raw emotion alone. I don’t think the production here is necessarily bad, because when it works, it works - case in point being Fly and Northern Sky, songs elevated to transfixing highs with their touch of accompaniment, but when it doesn’t, it doesn’t, and we get elevator sounding music like Poor Boy. Compared to Five Leaves Left, this one feels a bit like one step up, two steps back. Really struggled with my rating for this one. I know I just gave quite a bit of criticism, but I do think this is a very good album despite its faults. I had 3.5 originally, but I went back to look at my other 3.5s and I just can’t help but feel it’s a step above them. So, 4 it is - the guy seriously did not release a bad album, and I can’t understate how immensely sad it is that he didn't get to see any of his success during his lifetime. Anyway, shoutout to The Royal Tenenbaums for getting me into Fly - pretty overrated movie, but the soundtrack is fire. The scene with Judy is a Punk by The Ramones is also absolutely 10/10.

1 Goddammit. The first song in I was thinking “Okay, this isn’t THAT bad”, then starting with the second track it turned into an aggressively unlistenable mess even worse than that Suicide album we had, and worst of all, my neighbors probably think I’m a Nazi now. I try to be accepting of all musical tastes, but if this is your favorite album, I think you need to see someone. Welcome to the list, Devin and Brendan!

2.5 I only knew Bittersweet Symphony by these guys going into this, a song that has such a unique sound to it (unless you ask The Rolling Stones), that I wasn’t sure what to expect from their other work. Fortunately, this album starts off STRONG with an absolutely explosive blast of alternative rock in A New Decade, and while I got strong Oasis vibes (not a bad thing), it felt heavier than anything else that I’ve heard from that era of Britpop. So, I really thought I had a fun, enjoyable listen ahead of me, but man, that runtime quickly hits you in the face like some asshole violating the rules of a mosh pit. There are only three songs under five minutes… and they’re the first three. Not that anything after that is bad by any means, but I also didn’t find any tracks particularly interesting enough to warrant them going over that 5-minute mark, and subsequently, I found myself checking in semi-regularly towards the end to see if I was almost finished. Really feel like this had the potential to be something great with a better sense of pacing. The more I listen to, the more I’m convinced Oasis is to Britpop what Nirvana is to grunge or My Bloody Valentine is to shoegaze… the band every other band of the genre is compared to, and for me, as good as the genre gets. Speaking of, supposedly Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft dedicated the title track A Northern Soul to Noel Gallagher, which is a pretty cool nod to a great musician and contemporary, but I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the line: “So come on, come in inside of me/Let's spread it all around” I’m assuming that’s some kind of metaphor, but either way - Happy Pride everyone! Ok, one more note - I stared at this album cover for longer than I’d like to admit. This has to be an homage to Queen right? Not that the arrangement of four heads in a diamond shape is necessarily a definitive Queen thing, but I can’t think of another band that’s done so off the top of my head. Also, is it just me, or do the guys on both the left and the right look lowkey like the illegitimate offspring of Jack White?

5 One of the only - or quite possibly - the only album on the list thus far to have given me goosebumps. Her voice, her energy, her star power - Rolling Stone has now twice named the woman the greatest singer of all-time, and it’s hard to argue with that after listening to this. The album is a constantly swinging pendulum of fun and beautiful, and Aretha manages to knock it out of the park each and every time. Chain of Fools and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman are classics, but the song that really moved me here was People Get Ready, a rendition of a song by The Impressions that was being used as the unofficial anthem of the Civil Rights Movement. Listening to perhaps the greatest singer of all-time spread a message of unity, pride, and power so beautifully during one of the most important chapters in US history… goosebumps. Just goosebumps, man. While that was my favorite moment of my listening, truthfully, every song here is a highlight. I loved everything I heard and could probably go on about each, but the last thing I’ll touch on here is the closer, Ain’t No Way. One thing that’s stuck out to me about a lot of these older albums is a lack of finality, like you’re given a sudden ending once your collection of music runs out, but man, the song just seems to effectively sum up everything that makes the album and woman so iconic - the kind of closer that makes you take a step back once you realize it’s all over and go “Wow”. Unfortunately, you don’t quite get that if you’re listening on Spotify, as the application bundles four bonus tracks at the end, but in the fairest of exchanges, you get more Aretha, and even though they’re four tracks you’ve already heard, the extended version of Chain of Fools may very well be better than the original. Great listen from front to back. As someone who’s never claimed to be the biggest fan of soul music, I’m not sure how someone couldn’t like this - at that point I think you just hate music. I really didn’t set out to give this album a 5 when I started listening, but to give it anything lower would feel like a disservice. Iconic all around.

2.5 Oh, Frank Ocean - back when he was still a hero to us, before having a career just long enough to become the villain. I’m familiar with some of his stuff, though this is my first time giving him a full album listen… and unfortunately I just don’t feel that anything was gained from it. His musical style involving a fusion of pop, R&B, and jazz is something that I feel should be iconic and enjoyable on paper, especially in relation to a lot of his pop contemporaries, yet nothing about it really jumps out to me, including the vocals, which, yeah, sound good, but really feel far from the more standout or unique performances I’ve heard. Overall, the songs here do just sufficient enough of a job to at least stand out to me from a lot of other 2010s pop, but not quite to a point where I feel the desire to go back and give another listen. My favorite part wasn’t even really a song - it was hearing the Playstation startup noise at the beginning. It’s such a cool sound effect and super nostalgic, so I thought I was in for an exciting listen with that at the head - I was wrong. However, the inexcusably worst part for me? Somehow it makes André 3000 feel kind of mediocre - not even sure how one does that. It’s like a bowl of vanilla ice cream - not particularly exciting or my preferred, but I wouldn’t complain about having it served to me. I really, really want to like this guy because I know he’s considered a modern musical legend, but for the most part, everything I’ve heard just lacks a certain hook to really pull me in. I do admittedly enjoy the song Ivy on his follow-up album Blonde though, so I’m willing to give more of his stuff a chance to see what all of the hype is about. This could maybe be a 3 on a good day, but for now I’m airing towards a 2.5. Anyway, album and Coachelle fiasco aside, I do want to say I have respect for him for his advocacy of gay and trans rights - Happy Pride everyone!

4 Well, I think this just became my favorite Sabbath album. We’re jumping ahead a few here from our last outing with the group, and the musical evolution is heavily felt. The blues foundation and influence is almost completely gone at this point - this is heavy metal as we know it in the flesh, and it’s crazy to me how fast that transition happened (just three years since their debut!) I mentioned in my review of that album that I preferred their later sound, but at the time I was referring to songs off of Paranoid and Masters of Reality - I had no idea there was an even greater evolution from there. Holy cow this album starts strong - like to the point where I think Wheels of Confusion might be my new favorite Sabbath song, especially with that transition into The Straightener. Tomorrow’s Dream was a really solid follow-up form there… then unfortunately we hit what I would consider the low point of the album. Look, I know every hard rock band tries the tender piano ballad thing at some point in their career, but it's always incredibly hit or miss, and Changes is one that’s going to fall under the “miss” category for me. That being said, it’s apparently the most streamed song on Spotify from the album, so I guess my bad taste is just showing again. Things don’t immediately get better from there with FX, a song that gave me bad flashbacks to Throbbing Gristle - how it has more streams than the opening track kind of baffles me, but I did notice in general my favorite songs here were the ones with the lower play count. Hell, I take back my comment about bad taste, maybe mine is just superior to that of the rest of the listening world. I digress, fortunately, everything after FX is enjoyable, with Supernaut being another highlight, though a large part of that may have to with the fact that I had the privilege of hearing it performed live by Geezer Butler, Sebastian Bach, Lars Ulrich, and Foo Fighters at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert in Los Angeles. Not perfect, but this album was a pleasantly fun surprise for me. It may be a touch disorganized and sporadic, but never to a point where it feels overly jarring - it also makes sense once you learn these guys were on cocaine for its entire production. Anecdotally, I’m now 0-2 on identifying Black Sabbath album cover elements. I previously thought the figure on the band’s debut was Ozzy (it’s not, it’s a woman), and for some reason before this I thought the figure on this album was an angel (it’s not, it’s Ozzy). Don’t ask how I managed to see an angel before because I have no idea.

2 Red Hot Chili Peppers - a band I’ve never felt that strongly towards. They have a handful of songs I kind of like, a handful I don’t, and everything else of theirs is pretty meh - never really bought into the hype surrounding these guys. I’ve heard this album before and figured this was going to be around a 3 for me, but man, about halfway through my listening, I had this slow realization that… I don’t really like this album. I kind of forgot how unbearable Anthony Kiedis is when he’s in full funk mode, and I was really sick of the whole thing by the end. There are definitely high moments - Under the Bridge is a great tune, and probably the best thing Anthony has ever penned. I think the only valid criticism to aim towards the song is that it's overplayed. Also, as is tradition, I have to call out The Power of Equality as being in Tony Hawk’s Underground 2. While I don’t love the song, it will always hold a special place in my heart because of it. Breaking the Girl is a pretty solid song I totally forgot was on this album (if you asked me, I probably would have told you it’s One Hot Minute or Stadium Arcadium), and I Could Have Lied also isn’t bad. But ultimately, despite everything I said earlier of Kiedis in funk mode, I think Suck My Kiss is actually my favorite song on the album. It’s catchy, and I appreciate that it’s straight-up about its sexual themes without being overly vulgar or trying to pretend it’s anything deep or thought-provoking, which is more than I can say about a lot of the band’s other stuff… That segues into my other major criticism of this album and the band - I don’t think Anthony Kiedis is a good lyricist. His lyrics are decent at best and nonsense at worst, the latter especially in more recent years. Admittedly, some of his strongest moments probably live on this record, but then there’s also stuff like this: “Holy mother earth crying into space Tears on her pretty face for she has been raped Killing your future blood, fill her with disease Global abortion, please, that is what she needs” Ugh. And then there’s Give It Away, which is supposedly about altruism. Alright, sure, but in what world do the lines “What I got, you got to get it put it in you” and “Drinkin' my juice, young love chug-a-lug me” have to do with being charitable? Come on dude, just admit you wanted to write another song about sex. At least this one wasn’t as graphically specific as Sir Psycho Sexy *shudders* This album really should have ended after Under the Bridge, cause man, at that point you’ve really already gotten everything you need out of your listening, but it just decides to keep going with a string of what are probably the six worst songs on the album. Apache Rose Peacock in particular is an abomination - musically it’s annoying, but oh my God this may be Anthony Kiedis at an all-time lyrical and vocal worst. I think this the first album so far that my opinion has gone down on since its inclusion on this list. There are moments to be had here for sure, but this is definitely not a full album listen for me again anywhere in the near future.

4 Probably not the best name for an album I’ve heard, but the first thing I did was see if It Was a Good Day is on this - and it is! If you haven’t seen it, there’s an interesting post somewhere online where some guy determined the exact date that Ice Cube had his good day based on clues from the song - January 20, 1992. Even though I think the rapper himself confirmed the song is hypothetical and not actually based on a real day, it’s still a fun read. Anyway, great tune, but because it’s the one that I most associate with Ice Cube’s solo career, I didn’t realize how political his music continued to be post-N.W.A. In fact, It Was a Good Day almost feels out of place compared to the subject matter of nearly every other song on the album, most of which describe the current state of black oppression in America, especially on the heels of the Rodney King beating and LA Riots. And for me, how effectively it depicts the experience is the album’s biggest strength, attacking an unjust system which still exists today (Who Got the Camera? was hauntingly prescient). Coupled with some absolutely fantastic beats throughout, this really turned out to be a great listen. There were a lot of highlights here for me, with two of my favorite tracks being When Will They Shoot? and Don’t Trust ‘Em - not only did they have two of the most infectious beats I think I’ve heard on a rap track, but they had profound lyrics to match. The Public Enemy sample on the latter was also a really cool touch, though I was pretty jazzed to hear a nod to the Beastie Boys’ The New Style on Check Yo Self as well, another fun song that I had no idea was the source of the phrase “Check yourself before you wreck yourself”. I couldn’t help but notice though that the delivery of his bars in the song feels very reminiscent of Jump Around by House of Pain - which is interesting because he also mentions the group by name in the lyrics. Maybe it’s an intentional homage, but I couldn’t find anything online about it. We Had To Tear This Mothafucka Up was another track with a great beat to it, with the bass emphasis reminding me of something off of A Tribe Called Quest album, but the usage of the homophobic slur was pretty jarring, especially considering it precedes another line in which he denies claims of being anti-Semitic. On that note, I have to address the fact that he seems to be denying anti-Semitic claims on like half the songs here. I wasn’t really sure what that was about, so I looked it up and supposedly he negatively referred to his old manager with N.W.A. as a “Jew” on his prior solo release and had also endorsed a book asserting Jewish people were responsible for the slave trade. I’m not sure if the guy actually holds those beliefs or not, but I will say the constant mentioning of it was kind of weird, and when compounded with the occasional homophobic slur, I couldn’t help but feel it put a slight damper on the message of minority empowerment throughout. That all to say, I don’t think this is an outright prejudiced record by any means, and I still had a lot of fun with it - it’s a nice reminder that Ice Cube was once a king of the game before Are We There Yet? (Ok, I can’t throw shade, I love him in the Jump Street movies). Definitely see myself listening again.

2.5 The band is laughing on the cover because Duane just ran over, grabbed some drugs from a dealer, and stashed it in his lap. There, fun fact out of the way. In traditional Luke fashion, despite having a familiarity with the album, I’ve never listened to it. I am familiar with a handful of the group’s songs though, including Midnight Rider, Ramblin’ Man, Listen to the Music, Jessica, and China Grove (note: some of these might be Doobie Brothers songs). While I’m not necessarily a big fan of any of those, fortunately none of them are here, so I went in with an open mind. Well, it’s definitely much bluesier and probably better than anything of theirs I’ve heard prior, but that’s not saying much coming from me. From the limited knowledge I have of the band and what I heard here, it does seem they’re the kind of group that is probably better live, so I see why this album was a success. That to say, while some of the freestyling jam out moments were cool, I don’t think keeping them up for 10+ minutes made them any cooler. Like, come on guys, I thought that there was an unspoken concert rule that you get to do one extended version of a song if you so choose, but three?? It turns a setlist of seven songs into a marathon. At one point I checked in on my status of Whipping Post to see how far I had made it in and learned it had only been four minutes. Then when I thought for sure I had reached the end I checked again and was only 13 minutes in. While I don’t really have anything negative to say aside from the runtime, I don’t have a ton to say that’s positive for me either - the jam out moments were the only remarkable aspects for me, each of which started strong then started to lose me the further they went on. So, I’d say it’s okay overall, but I’m probably not likely to return.

2.5 Man, I really, really wanted to like this album. A band involved in the late 70’s CBGB scene that would go on to influence a number of artists that shaped alternative rock, including Joy Division, Pixies, R.E.M., and Sonic Youth? What a resume, one that seems like it would be an immediate sell to me on paper, but I just don’t hear any of that here. The album starts strong enough with See No Evil and has another high point in the title track, but everything else here is so boring. I don’t hear the punk influence, and I don’t hear the bands listed above or anything like them, instead I’m just hearing a style of artsy funk rock similar to The Talking Heads - a group I’ve historically not been the kindest on. Contextually, yes, I can see how this album could be considered monumental - it really doesn’t sound like any style of rock that had come before it, but that doesn’t make it any more enjoyable to me. Just because you did it first doesn’t necessarily mean you did it the best, and in this case I would rather just listen to the bands these guys influenced. I have no idea what they saw in this album that I didn’t (and I listened to this three times looking for it), but at least it resulted in much better music.

2.5 Impressive guitar work, and reminiscent of Blackstar in that it was written and recorded by an artist knowing that his last days were upon him. Supposedly Touré pioneered the genre of music heard here, referred to as desert blues, which is definitely what I would consider an apt label for what I heard - a little drier and more chaotic than your normal blues, keeping you on your toes while you listen. Unfortunately, all of that charm seems to run out somewhere about halfway through this album and it’s a long journey to the end from there. Didn’t dislike anything I heard here, but it was a bit long and didn’t give me much to grab onto (I think it’s in French? Couldn’t find confirmation, but that’s the official language of his native country, Mali). Hesitant to give another 2.5 since I feel like I’ve been handing out a lot of those lately, but really feel like we’re in a string of “meh” albums. While not one of my favorites, I guess Matthew McConaughey is a big fan. Alright, alright, alright.

4 I absolutely love the song Maps, so I went in with high hopes here - and I wasn’t disappointed! Nothing else on the album quite reaches the high of Maps, but as a whole it’s just a really enjoyable blast of solid 2000s alternative rock. It knows better than to overstay its welcome, it keeps a fun energy up, and it has a bit of a raw sound to it that left me with a desire to see the band live. Also, I know this is a controversial opinion, but I absolutely love Karen O’s voice and style of singing. I think it adds so much to the music, and in some ways, reminds me of a more modern Chrissie Hynde, another vocalist I have much appreciation for. While I don’t have a ton of specific individual moments to expand on, I feel like I have to touch on the lyric “Boy you just a stupid bitch and girl you just a no good dick” on Black Tongue. Like, come on, this is peak songwriting. If you don’t like that lyric, then you don’t have a respect or appreciation for the English language ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ However, the highlight of the album for me by far was the final three song stretch of Maps / Y Control / Modern Romance, ending on a note so catchy that it left me wanting more (I’m not counting Poor Song since I think it was originally a hidden track). I feel like it’s a pretty uncommon musical achievement for an album to close out this strongly, which to me is a mark of talented songwriting from the group and reminds me of one of my favorite albums, Third Eye Blind’s self-titled debut (holy shit that final stretch of The Background to God of Wine is insane). Was originally going to score a 3.5 because I think the middle runs together a bit, but I ended up going back and giving this album a third listen, not because I thought I was missing something, but simply because I wanted to. So, I think that warrants a 4 from me - an album I definitely needed after the past few we’ve had.

2 Have you ever asked yourself “What if someone made an album in the spirit of Tommy by The Who but dialed the fun and epic factor down by like three notches?” Well, luckily for you, that album exists in the form of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway by Genesis. This isn’t an outright bad album by any means, but the fact that it’s 94 minutes long and never once had a moment I would consider “exciting” has me chalking this one up as a miss. Like, all I could think about afterwards was what better things I could have done in that 94 minutes - you could watch the entirety of Toy Story and still have enough time to run to the bathroom and get snacks. Musically, it’s pretty mid prog rock across the board - no particular highs that stood out to me, but fortunately there weren’t any noticeable lows either. Storywise… I had no idea what the fuck was going on here. I wasn’t sure if the randomly horny track Counting Out Time fit appropriately into the story or not, but it certainly didn’t feel like it while I was listening (it’s no Young Lust). Still, I didn’t want to dock the album for what may have been my own ignorance, so I gave a second listen and tried to keep up with some synopses online. Yes, I listened to this thing twice. Holy cow, this story is the dumbest shit I’ve ever read. I recommend giving the plot summary a read on Wikipedia, but basically, the album follows a Puerto Rican New York gang member named Rael who is randomly warped into a prison-like cave while walking down Broadway. He escapes to find a factory that packages human beings and then runs away from that to find a chamber with 32 doors in it. After guidance from a random blind woman, he goes through a door leading him to a group of seductive creatures known as The Lamia, with whom he has sex with, but it turns him into a hideous creature that is subsequently castrated by The Slippermen. A raven then flies away with his penis, but in chasing after it, he sees his brother drowning in a river and attempts to save him. However, in a plot twist, it actually turns out to be himself he just saved, ultimately resulting in him becoming “It”. What “It” is is supposed to be interpretive to the listener, but frankly, I have no idea what the hell you’re supposed to infer based on whatever the fuck it is I just described. In my head canon he becomes the creature from the Stephen King novel. Once again, not bad musically, but way too mid to be this long, and the story doesn’t make anywhere near a comprehensible amount of sense to be engaging. A 1 feels a little too low, but I don’t see myself re-visiting. Maybe if I ever find myself on the same drugs Peter Gabriel was on when he wrote this.

3.5 Woof, this was a heavy one. Yet another album written and recorded on the verge of the artist’s death, knowing it was going to be their last. This one is up there with Blackstar in terms of its reflective and haunting nature (and released just seven months after - 2016 was clearly a bad year for music), however, whereas I feel Blackstar offers a successful balance of mourning and celebration, there’s not a whole lot of celebration to go around here… I feel like I was genuinely listening to a dying man’s last words. It also felt just a touch more personal than Bowie’s in some ways, like we really got to explore the depths of Cohen’s final thoughts and acceptances regarding life, relationships, and religion that were in some ways relatable and in other ways just as cryptic. As someone who wasn’t really familiar with Leonard Cohen’s work outside of Hallelujah, I can definitely see now why he’s held in such high regard - this album is a lyrical masterpiece. Sitting here a day after I listened, I’m still finding myself mulling over his words and contemplating existence. That to say, I don’t think this album is perfect. I know Cohen is a poet first and foremost, but a lot of songs here leave a bit to be desired musically. While it admittedly matches the tone well, the musical backdrop feels a bit too subtle and funeral-ly at times to really pull me in, and in the case of Traveling Light, had too strong of “Italian mob boss” vibes to take seriously (that’s probably a me thing). Also, maybe a hot take, but I don’t love his voice, and a full album’s worth of that Death Valley-esque vocal range is a lot for me to handle. Overall, this has been one of the hardest albums for me to rate and review so far. Despite my best attempts, I can’t describe exactly what I think or feel about it - in some ways I think this could be higher than a 3.5 for me and in other ways it could be lower. There’s so much more I feel like I could touch on and yet even more I feel like I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of. At the end of the day, music is all about making us feel something right? Well, this album did that for me, and while I think I’m still figuring out what exactly that is, at the very least, I feel Cohen’s absence in the musical world today.

2 Never really bought into the hype surrounding this guy. I’ve always kind of found his music to be a really generic attempt at connecting with the middle American blue-collar crowd, and this album didn’t do much to change my mind. Really don’t feel like there’s anything overly interesting or diverse going on across the music, and vocally, it feels like he’s doing a parody of himself at times. I will say, the 1975 release date surprised me as I thought this came out in the 80s, so I guess I’ll give him some credit for sounding ahead of his time here. Born to Run is probably the best song on the album by default, but Thunder Road holds a special place in my heart solely due to the Jim Cummings short film of the same name - I recommend giving it a watch on Vimeo if you haven’t seen it, though as a heads-up, there’s a good chance it might make you cry (or at least I did).

3 As someone who has never been much of a fan of reggae, I was open to checking this guy out simply because he’s not Bob Marley… and then learned he was a former member of The Wailers. “So great, more Marley stuff” I thought. Well, I’m glad to have been wrong about my initial assumptions because this was a relaxing, enjoyable listen. It didn’t make me fall in love with the genre, but for about 38 minutes there was a fun vacation vibe in the air (the fact I’m about to take off for a week and half from work probably also helps). Looking at the tracklist, I kind of expected this to be the kind of album where the big song outshines the rest, but the title track ended up being one of the more mid ones for me. That’s not to say I disliked it by any means though - Tosh’s delivery is pretty solid, and I also just kind of liked how straight-up the message is (there was also something kind of funny to me about him listing actual practical health benefits as it pertains to conditions like asthma and tuberculosis). As far as my actual favorites go though, Burial would be up there - made me think of sitting outside an ocean-side tropical cabana at night time - alongside No Sympathy. There’s something about the tracks (and a couple others I noticed as well) that give me some old school soul vibes, and I dug it. Ketchy Shuby was another memorably catchy track as well, though I gotta say across the board I think I enjoyed everything I heard here more than anything I’ve heard of Marley’s. Don’t see this ever becoming a part of my regular musical rotation, but hell, if I ever do find myself in that oceanside cabana, this guy will be top of mind. Good vibes for sure - think I’m starting to understand what people see in the genre.

4 Hey, it’s the Flaming Lips album with the songs I like on it! I wasn’t too impressed with the band’s prior release The Soft Bulletin, but it was clear almost immediately how much of a refinement this was on that space-y psychedelic sound that the group had started experimenting with on said previous album. The production is miles ahead, the atmosphere is engrossing and stimulating, songs are dynamic and catchy - this was a totally enchanting listen from front to back. The two songs I knew coming into this album were Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1 and Do You Realize??, but holy cow, right out of the gate, Fight Test may have surpassed them both as my favorite song by the group. Not only is it a crazy strong opener musically and thematically, but it’s paired with a strong set of lyrics to match, in particular the line: “Cause I'm a man, not a boy And there are things you can't avoid You have to face them When you're not prepared to face them” I know it’s not the most clever or deep thing ever written, but compounded with everything going on in the song, it really struck a chord with me. I guess Cat Stevens sued the band and won for Fight Test supposedly ripping off the melody to his song Father and Son, but I don’t really hear it. Besides, that guy kinda sucks, so I’ll give The Flaming Lips a pass even if true. I do feel there’s a slight lull in the middle with In the Morning of the Magicians and Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell, but they still do an effective job of keeping up the vibe and help segue us into an enjoyable path to the finish, with the aforementioned Do You Realize?? being far and away the strongest moment of the back half. The song does such a good job of handling existentialism in the most calming of ways, and while I don’t want to fill this review with lyrics we’ve all already heard, I have to call out the below as being one of my favorites from any song ever and one I think on often: “Do you realize That everyone you know someday will die? And instead of saying all of your goodbyes, let them know You realize that life goes fast It's hard to make the good things last You realize the sun doesn't go down It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning 'round” None of us are getting out of here alive, so tell the ones you care about that you love them, and enjoy every moment you’re able to with them. Anyway, good listen - both fun and a little thought-provoking at times. I’ll be looking into more of these guys’ stuff.

3.5 So apparently both of Johnny Cash’s live prison albums made this list, though really it shouldn’t have been any kind of surprise - the man’s connection with prisoners is one-of-a-kind. Like, how many musicians can you imagine actually being able to go up on stage at one of these shows and having the audience be totally into it? No disrespect to modern country artists, but I think if someone like Morgan Wallen tried this they would catch a shoe to the head. And yet as a musician of the genre who never actually spent a night in jail himself, somehow Cash managed to embody that outlaw image so well. There’s a lot of really enjoyable stuff here, and one thing this album in particular reminded me of is how good of a storyteller Cash is - my initial listening was during a workout, and I couldn’t help but pause sets so I could hear the conclusion to songs like 25 Minutes to Go and The Wall. Even if you’re not here for the stories though, there’s a really fun spirit about most everything, with Folsom Prison Blues and Cocaine Blues being two enjoyable tracks in particular that exude outlaw energy in the most badass of ways. That all to say, while I enjoyed everything here, this one didn’t quite hit the same as At San Quentin. Comparatively, that one felt just a little more iconic and well-rounded, especially with songs like I Walk the Line, San Quentin (and its reprise!), Wanted Man, and of course, the debut of A Boy Named Sue. This one had a couple misses for me with Dirty Old Egg-Suckin’ Dog and Flushed from the Bathroom of Your Heart, and the crowd work in general felt just a touch less engaging - though I loved him getting bleeped for mentioning the words he can’t say on TV. Through and through, still a really good album. After it concluded, it was a bit jarring to me at first when my Spotify decided to shuffle in The Ramones and Dead Kennedys, but then I thought about - an entire live performance planned for prisoners in an actual prison? The man may be a country musician, but there’s no denying the punk spirit there - and I respect the hell out of him for it. R.I.P. Cash, few did it as cool as you.

2 Supposedly this album marks when The Beatles started getting into drugs, and while it’s noticeably less bubblegum-y than their prior work, I still didn’t find anything here to be overly interesting - even with some new flourishes like the sitar on Norwegian Wood, a song which is apparently John Lennon’s attempt at putting a fun spin on him cheating his wife. F that guy. Paul’s songs are definitely the better ones here (surprise, surprise), but even then I wouldn’t call them great. Really, I don’t think there’s anything here I would call outright enjoyable, but I can point to the opener Drive My Car is probably the worst thing on the album. The only thing worse than the lyrics are the Beatles fans trying to build upon them on Genius. For example, the annotation for “Beep beep'm beep beep yeah!” reads: “This iconic transition utilizes onomatopoeia for the sound of a car’s horn. It serves to illustrate how much fun The Beatles are having with their newfound fame and success.” End me. As if to bring the album full-circle, the group decided to end on another low point with a song threatening to murder a partner if she were ever to take another man. I know it’s based on a song by Elvis and isn’t totally out of place in that era of music, but I don’t think that makes it any better. Everything in the middle is kind of meh, but with there being a song titled What Goes On, I will give a shoutout to my Dad’s guy Lou Reed and his group The Velvet Underground, who have a song with the same name that, despite having half as many Spotify plays, is like 1000x better. Considering that’s the Ringo song on this album though, maybe that’s a given (sorry Ringo). Man, despite usually keeping it in the 30-minute range, I swear these guys always seem to find a way to make their albums drag. That being said, I think some of the art rock/experimental stuff we’ve heard has really redefined for me what true 1 means, so I’m going to go with a 2 here, but either way I won’t be listening again anytime soon.

3 So, Stevie Wonder definitely has songs I like, but I think this album and Fulfillingness' First Finale have cemented for me that I’m just not the world’s biggest fan of his. I know that’s probably sacrilege, but I really haven’t been blown away by anything I’ve heard on either album. That’s not to say anything about them is bad, but my general impression of each has been “that was fine”. There are highs and lows, with the lows on this one for me being the first two songs right out of the gate (those and the Jesus song) - I really didn’t feel like this album started picking up steam until Living for the City. From there, I generally found everything pretty enjoyable, with Higher Ground being a highlight, but I gotta say (prepare yourself for further sacrilege), I prefer the Chili Peppers version - and yes, this is as someone who just dunked on this era of theirs twelve albums ago. There’s just so much more energy to their version that I think benefits the tune greatly, but admittedly I say that as someone with a natural disposition to punk music, so do with that what you will. After a bit of a lull with the aforementioned Jesus tune and All in Love is Fair, the Latin-inspired Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing jumped out to me as a jarringly different, but fun tune, and it’s culmination into He’s Misstra Know-It-All was something I felt satisfying enough for the album’s conclusion. Don’t feel like I have a ton else to say. Has fun, funky moments, but nothing I can confidently say I loved. Think Stevie is just going to be one of those guys I opt for individual songs over albums if I choose to listen.

3.5 One of the few things Wikipedia has to say about this album is that Michael Stipe once named it as one of the best releases of 1993, which is apparently all it takes to make a list of 1001 all-time best albums. Well, much like a lot of Stipe’s own work, I found this to be pretty good, but not great. I liked the acoustic, alternative rock sound, which seems to have some elements of garage, folk, and country sprinkled in there, but despite all of that, for the most part I thought it just kind of blends in with a lot of other alternative rock from the era. Not to say that’s necessarily a bad thing though - I tend to enjoy most stuff from that era of music, so even though I don’t feel like there was a ton of range or anything particularly unique going on in the songwriting, the overall sound was enjoyable enough to keep me mostly entertained for the duration of the album. It started wearing on me just a bit at Grace, but fortunately it starts wrapping up soon after that. I’m not sure how many individual songs I would return to (if any), but I can walk away saying I had a good time with the album, even if it didn’t blow me away by any means. In some ways I can see how it could be considered a precursor to the later, softer 90s alternative rock sound to come, in particular groups like The Goo Goo Dolls, Counting Crows, and Matchbox Twenty - all groups that I would classify as “solidly decent” and a step down from the earlier sound of the decade, but still enjoyable nonetheless.

3 About 30 seconds in, I got the vibe this wasn’t going to be an album that I enjoyed and wrote these guys off as a second-rate Monkees. But man, Find Somebody came in with a swift kick in the ass to show me just how wrong I was - what a great tune. How is that one of the least popular tracks on Spotify? I love the raw guitar sound paired with the quiet/loud dynamics - it’s almost like a 60s Pixies track. It’s also been one of the first songs in a hot minute to go immediately to my Liked Songs, so when it went right back to some half-baked 60s pop music on I’m So Happy Now, I was convinced the prior song was a fluke. But then I was sucked back into the album again with the next track Sueno, only to be turned off by How Can I Be Sure, then vibing again on Groovin’... you get the idea. So while there was stuff here I definitely enjoyed, as a whole this album is incredibly disjointed - and I’m not just referring to my personal opinion on the songs, musically and topically this is all over the place. I initially thought that may have had to do with there being too many cooks in the kitchen being that there are multiple vocalists across the album, and while that may have been a factor, Wikipedia pointed out to me eight of the eleven songs here were already existing singles and their corresponding b-sides. Yep, that’ll do it. Anyway, not a great album listen in my opinion, but I definitely see myself coming back to a few songs here, like the ones I mentioned above and You Better Run, a personal favorite that I guess was later covered by Pat Benatar? On a tangential note, this album cover is up there for me with Siembra in regards to its terrible album cover. I get they were going for a Hanna-Barbera vibe, and while I want to appreciate that, they somehow were able to take that in the most uncanny valley-esque direction possible. Like, looking at every one of the rascals makes me uncomfortable. I also couldn’t help but imagine said cartoon versions playing each of the tracks while listening, which added an unintentional level of goofiness to the whole thing. Not really sure if that helped or hurt my experience.

2.5 It’s funny that they went ahead and called this album D because that’s probably the letter grade I would give it. Okay, maybe that’s not fair, because I do think that there’s some solid songwriting buried in here somewhere, but the problem is the production just seems to smush everything together into one indecipherable clump of music. And that’s a shame, because it attempts some cool stuff that I really wanted to enjoy, like the guitar-driven jam-out track Back at the Farm or the flute-featuring River to Consider, but the production does such a bad job of highlighting these elements that it ends up making each feel kind of lackluster. I tried looking to the lyrics for any kind of saving grace, but the vocals are so washed out most of the time that I really couldn’t tell you a single thing the guy says at any point. Keys was the only track that I thought was mixed okay, but unfortunately it’s probably also the most annoying song on the album, so maybe the producers were actually doing us a favor here by making everything else so unintelligible. I feel like they tried to incorporate elements of psychedelia (Street Joy in particular reminded me of Breathe by Pink Floyd), but good psychedelic music should give you something to grab onto and vibe with, and this didn’t give me that. At its best, I would say this sounds like a generic slice of early ‘10 alternative rock. I’m not sure why this album was so acclaimed when it came out, but I have a feeling that might not be the case retrospectively. I can definitely see it being omitted when the next edition of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die comes out (if it hasn’t been already). As for me personally, I feel like I’ll have forgotten about this album by this time next year.

4 Run-D.M.C. has some great tunes, but I didn’t realize they were all on the same album - and man, what a solid album. Right out of the gate, Peter Piper comes in swinging with a great showcase of the duo’s spark and synergy, but the true punch of the album follows with the trio of It’s Tricky, My Adidas, and Walk This Way. I’m not sure now it’s possible to dislike these songs, though I will admit It’s Tricky and My Adidas in particular hold a special place in my heart due to appearances in SSX Tricky and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4, respectively. And Walk This Way? Come on, these guys make Aerosmith bearable, which is an achievement in and on its own. There’s a slight lull in the middle of the album with Is It Live and Perfection (though there’s something really cool to me about the boys rapping solely against a drum kit in the latter), but holy cow this album brings the heat again with Raising Hell (pun intended). As someone who had never heard the track before, I think it may have become my new favorite by the group. What the hell was their label on when they issued You Be Illin’ as a single over this? Not that there’s anything wrong with You Be Illin’ - it’s funny and I appreciated it topically just being about people playing themselves - but Raising Hell it’s miles ahead in every way. The album hits a low point with Dumb Girl, which is what I would consider far and away the worst song on the album, but finishes strong with Son of Byford, a song aware of the length of its charm (28 seconds), leading into the profound anthem Proud to Be Black. As a white dude, I’m aware this can’t probably resonate with me exactly the same as it would a person of color, but the song is such an effective reflection and celebration of black history that I think it can (and should) be enjoyed by anyone. Across the board, the production on this album is insane (shoutout to Rick Rubin), and I loved how just about every track seemed to be set against some form of live instrumentation. Admittedly, I don’t feel like it was particularly strong lyrically, especially for a hip hip album (I thought it was kind of funny they liked the lyric “These rhymes are Darryl's/The burgers are Ronald's” so much they used it on two different songs), but there’s no denying how insane the the flow and beats are, making this an overall very enjoyable listen. There are a couple misses that made me consider a 3.5, but I really don’t think the magnitude of the great tracks here can be understated, let alone the album’s impact on all hip hop music to come. I know we’re not grading on influence here, so I won’t take that into account, but if I were to do so I could very much see this being a 5.

4.5 I struggled a bit with my rating on this one. For a good chunk of my life, Led Zeppelin was IT. As a young rock and roller, I got into them a little later than most, but when I did (thanks Will), I was convinced these guys were truly gods among men. However, even then, and more so now, Led Zeppelin IV was never the favorite of mine. That crown always went to (and probably still goes to) Led Zeppelin II - though recent ventures back into the group might honestly have me putting Houses of the Holy up there as well. I don’t say that to disparage this album by any means though - there’s a good reason it’s iconic as, and as far as Zeppelin’s style of bluesy hard rock goes, this could very well be its peak. Starting off, I have to get this off my chest - Led Heads, please forgive me, but I’ve always considered Black Dog to be one of the most overrated songs by the group. Robert Plant’s vocal sections in particular have always been kind of annoying to me and almost overly Plant-y. Like, “Hey, hey, mama, said the way you move/Gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove” to me feels something that could have come from a Led Zeppelin parody group. Musically, it’s fine, but far from the best of Jimmy Page’s guitar shreds. Fortunately, the album gets a lot better starting with Rock and Roll, a really fun, explosive blast of said genre, before going into the true hidden gem (if anything on an album like Led Zeppelin IV can even be called that), The Battle of Evermore. Anything annoying Plant did on Black Dog is immediately forgiven here, and his duet with Sandy Denny (of Fairport Convention!) is nothing short of enchanting. Gorgeous tune with an absolutely perfect name that is somehow able to create a sense of world-building so well. Then, we have Stairway. Look, we all know Stairway. There’s nothing I can say here that hasn’t already been said a million times over, but I’ll echo those voices and maintain that it truly is one of the greatest rock anthems ever written. Even as someone who is kind of sick of the tune after all these years, I’d be lying if I said I don’t still see the charm whenever I do decide to listen again. Great lyrics, great buildup, great solo, great closing - the song is nothing short of epic, and the only valid criticism that someone can lob at the song in my opinion is that they’ve heard it too much. Unfortunately, Misty Mountain Hop is a pretty hefty step down from there. While I wouldn’t call anything on this album a skip by any means, Misty Mountain Hop and Black Dog are definitely in a lower tier. Four Sticks is an enjoyable return to form, and then we enter a territory where any and all valid criticisms end with the one-two punch of Going to California and When the Levee Breaks. Going to California is probably one of the greatest acoustic tracks ever written and was carefully selected to play the second my plane landed in Los Angeles for the very first time - I still think about that moment whenever I give a listen now. When the Levee Breaks… come on, this song is awesome. Great blues tune that feels nowhere near as long as the 7-minute runtime would suggest. I have no idea what these guys saw in Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie’s original in order to create this, but in many ways I think it speaks to the sheer talent of the group. I was really surprised when I saw the Spotify play count for the track, as I would have guessed this was one of the band’s most popular (not that 116 million plays is anything to sneeze at). Clearly more people need this song in their lives. It also was sampled in another great tune, Rhymin and Stealin by the Beastie Boys, one of my dad’s favorites as well. So weird he didn’t mention that in his review… Despite some shots fired earlier on a couple of the songs, I can’t argue the album’s objective greatness, and I wouldn’t fight you if you tried to say it was the best of all-time. Part of me wants to pull the trigger on the 5, but if I’m being true to myself, this just isn’t one of my all-time favorites or even my favorite Zeppelin record for that matter. It’s for sure a monument of musical history though and probably the best entry point for a new Zeppelin fan - if you feel it’s deserving of a 5, I’d co-sign it.

2 232 albums ago, Ragged Glory convinced me I might be a bit of a Neil Young fan, and 63 albums after that, Buffalo Springfield seemingly reinforced that. Well, at album #240, I’m finally presented with a proper Neil Young solo effort from his golden era… and oh my god this album is so lame. Look, I’m normally a folk music defender, but this album doesn’t give me much to defend. While I don’t hate Young’s voice like most people do, the songwriting here just isn’t interesting. I gave a re-listen with headphones to try and see if there’s anything I’m missing - nope, not a lot there. So, I went online and did a bit of research to see what all the hype is about, and apparently this album marked a shift to a rawer sound for Young - a shift that has made people retroactively refer to him as the “Godfather of Grunge”. Yeah… not really sure I hear that. It’s slightly unpolished and lo-fi for sure, but come on, it was 1969 - really doesn’t feel like a standout from the era. Anyway, I wasn't really into it, but it wasn’t objectionable, so we’ll give a 2.

3.5 I’ve generally liked everything I’ve heard by Sonic Youth, and I maintain that opinion after listening to this album. It starts incredibly strong with Schizophrenia, a tune that I immediately had to turn my speaker’s volume up like two notches on because the riff is that good - I found myself bobbing around to it in the kitchen while I was making my lunch. Unfortunately, the rest of the album just kind of slowly devolves from there. While Catholic Block was another enjoyable track, it was a slight step down from the opener, with Beauty Lies in the Eye following suit, and so on and so on until you’re just kind of listening to a bunch of noise at the end. But you know what? That noise is my kind of noise, dammit. It probably kept this album out of the 4 territory for me, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it. This is the exact kind of classic unadulterated alternative rock shit I like - the kind that unites outsiders, never feels compelled to be a masterpiece, and just like Pixies, is the blueprint for what would eventually become Nirvana.

3.5 I actually enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. Was really expecting this to be bubblegummy, sappy oldies stuff, and a lot of it is, but it’s able to do so in a fun way, the kind that makes you want to do the twist with that girl you’re going steady with and then get a milkshake after at Pop’s. The opening track Made to Love in particular was so incredibly catchy and had a lot more in common with surf rock than I expected. Yeah, maybe it’s a touch dated, but I really don’t feel like it’s objectionable in any way - just a cute, fun song, though to all my homo homies out there, I see you and think you’re made to love too. It really doesn’t get any worse from there though - it has stronger and weaker moments for sure (Love Hurts, Lucille, and Cathy’s Clown were the highlights for me), but nothing that’s unenjoyable. As a whole, it really is the kind of album that makes you want to go back to the era… before you remember that times were crazy problematic back then. Oh well, I’ll stick to Johnny Rockets. Final thoughts - between the album title, lyrics, and cover art, these guys had to be like the One Direction or Jonas Brothers of 1960, right? Like, I have no idea if trapper keepers or even stickers for that matter existed back then, but if they did, your grandma’s was probably covered with ones of the Everly Brothers.

5 I’m going to try to avoid echoing what I think my Dad’s review will sound like as much as I can here, but I do have to validate one thing that I know he’ll say - that being, AC/DC with Bon Scott is true AC/DC, and there wasn’t a bad album released by the group while he was a part of it. Meanwhile, Back in Black is kinda meh and everything after that mostly sucks. I don’t have anything outright against Brian Johnson, but I don’t really care for his vocals, and more importantly, the sound of the group as a whole changed with his involvement - the heavy, raw AC/DC sound that we know and love came to an end with this album, and Back in Black ushered in a new era of overproduced, polished radio rock music. Anyway, that’s my segue to Highway to Hell - it’s probably the group’s best, though as I said before, you really can’t go wrong with any Bon Scott AC/DC album. Either way, what a note to go out on. I know a lot of people accuse every AC/DC song of sounding the same, and I can admit a lot of them do have a similar sound. If you don’t like one song on this album, you’re most likely not going to enjoy the rest, but if you do enjoy the sound of one song, there’s a good chance you’re going to enjoy the bulk of this album. For me in particular, it would be really hard to pick a favorite, though I can probably point to the title track Highway to Hell as probably being my least (most likely due to it being overplayed). However, I will say Girls Got Rhythm, Touch Too Much, and Shot Down in Flames are highlights - though nothing here is bad. I know I normally make fun of cock rock bands for their macho, oversexualized lyrics, but AC/DC somehow is able to do so in a way that just feels naturally cool. I think it helps that they seem to have a degree of self-awareness and humor in their music, and hell, even a dose of humility with Shot Down in Flames. How often do you hear a rock track literally being about striking out with women? I also really like the closer Night Prowler, which involves a really cool buildup of the music that sends the album off on a high note. It’s admittedly a little creepy (and more so in hindsight because of the whole Richard Ramirez thing), but I think its intentions are mostly grounded. Also, I always thought it was kind of funny that Bon Scott’s last words on an album are “Shazbot. Nanu nanu.” I probably haven’t listened to this album all the way through since high school, but as I was doing so for this review, I realized I have just about every song here saved to a master Spotify playlist. So, while I really didn’t set out to give this a 5, I think I’d be lying if I didn’t put it there - this is a truly enjoyable album that has played a big part in my life and musical development. I realize rating this higher than Zeppelin IV is probably insane and deserving of getting my music nerd card taken away, and yes, I’m aware that that album is objectionably better from probably a number of perspectives, but at the end of the day, I have fonder memories of AC/DC and find myself coming back to them a bit more. So, we’re gonna pull the trigger on the 5 - Hell ain’t a bad place to be after all. Sorry I missed the cover band, Dad!

5 Yep, back-to-back 5’s. Once again, I didn’t anticipate that being the case coming into this album, but holy cow, this instantly became one of my favorite hip-hop albums of all-time and quite possibly my favorite Beastie Boys album. How have I never listened to this before? And why haven’t more people listened to it? I don’t understand how this wasn’t a huge commercial success when it was released, but I’m glad retroactively it gets all the praise it deserves - this feels like a majorly impactful release for the genre. I was really debating a 4.5, but when you genuinely enjoy every single song on an album, is it deserving of anything less than a 5? Every beat, every rhyme, every dynamic between the boys - perfection. I’ve always been a fan of the Beasties, but I really think this album escalated my respect for them to new heights. I don’t want to spend my review paraphrasing the Wikipedia page, but basically, after a period of being written off by both the music industry and pop culture as an annoying, frat boy-ish trend, the B-Boys dropped the rock instruments and talked sample-based songwriters The Dust Brothers into letting them use their music as the basis for their next album, one which they planned to produce themselves (and keep in mind these guys are like 22 at this point). And shoutout to The Dust Brothers, because these beats are absolutely incredible by their own merit, but man, the B-Boys elevate them into absolute musical excellence. I was about to start listing out my favorites here and then realized I would basically be just reciting the tracklist of the album - you really can’t go wrong jumping in at any point. To All the Girls is a great opener (if slightly dated), and I loved that they ended the album in a 9-song B-Boy Bouillabaisse suite. Kinda wish Spotify combined all the segments into one track (as intended), but either way, it’s really enjoyable. (Side note - if you’re like me and curious what a bouillabaisse is, it’s a kind of French fish soup. There, saved you a Google). My biggest takeaway - this is peak hip-hop, and it’s so frustrating that we’ll never hear an album like this again. Once again, not trying to make this a Wikipedia article, but for those unfamiliar with music sampling, this was released in an era before doing so required clearance with the original owner (fuck you, Gilbert O’Sullivan). That no longer being the case, an album like this with 105 different samples on it is likely something we’ll never see again, and I think that detriments the genre so much. Obviously there’s still good hip-hop in the world today, but imagine if beatmakers were still able to explore their full scope of musical ability like The Dust Brothers were able to here. Well, at least we’ll always have a taste of it with Paul’s Boutique.

3 I don’t claim to be the biggest Iron Maiden fan, but having liked a lot of the stuff I’ve heard from the group, I was really looking forward to this album - and man, what a disappointment. Look, I know this is their first release, and so I wasn’t expecting it to sound like peak Maiden, but I was not at all prepared for the vocals to kick in and not be Bruce Dickinson. I totally forgot that the band had a different original lead singer, and let me tell you, it is definitely not the same experience. I get that the band as a whole is still very much finding their footing here, but I found Paul Di’Anno to be such a lackluster vocalist that the music always felt capped. Nothing about his voice feels particularly distinct or enjoyable, and as a result my favorite track here was probably Transylvania. Much like Black Sabbath’s debut, I understand that this was the start of a variation on rock music that was still being ironed out - and you can definitely hear traces of what’s to come - but I also hear a lot of generic and uninteresting rock tropes mixed in there. The slow parts of Remember Tomorrow and Strange World were both pretty dull (though you can definitely hear the influence upon Avenged Sevenfold with that lead guitar work on the latter), and Running Free felt like an out-of-place Southern rock song that could have come from a group like Molly Hatchet. Prowler and Phantom of the Opera are better tastes of the band’s style, but even then aren’t anywhere near as good as their later work. So, like the aforementioned Black Sabbath album, this is going to get a 3 from me - admittedly influential, but retroactively pretty okay in comparison to what came later.

2.5 I’m not sure exactly what Suba is confessing to here, but it sounds to me like he’s admitting to being a pretty average electronic musician. That’s not to say I disliked this - in many ways it feels like the natural evolution of the mellow electronic sound that Air had started experimenting with a year prior on Moon Safari (another album I gave a mediocre score to), but here, it’s hit with a dose of Latin-fusion, courtesy of Suba’s recent immigration to Sāo Paulo. And I would argue that’s the album’s biggest strength - the mixing of genres makes this a unique listen and encapsulates a “late night in a South American metropolis” vibe so well, even as someone who has never been (the album cover does great job of that too). I also really enjoyed singer Cibelle’s voice and thought they were a pleasant addition to just about every track they were featured on. Yet, despite all of that, I wasn’t really hit with any kind of lasting impression. There’s nothing here that I think I would go out of my way to re-visit, and the only songs that stick out to me looking back now are the closing track A Noite Sem Fim, which I found kind of annoying, and Samba Do Gringo Paulista, which I feel would fit perfectly in the soundtrack of a racing game (I could see it in a modern Mario Kart). Not much else to say on individual songs, though there was one track in there I swear sounded like Cibelle was singing “my dick”. Maybe I could learn to appreciate this album if I ever get around to seeing São Paulo firsthand, but as is, I would say I found it okay. That being said, apparently Suba’s next release Tanto Tempo would go on to become the highest-selling Brazilian album outside of Brazil - an album that he apparently realized was that good because he literally died in an effort to save the recordings from a studio fire (a few days after this album released). So, I won’t write off Suba just yet - hell, maybe that album’s on this list.

2.5 So… why is this an album I need to hear before I die? Yeah, Dusty has a nice voice and all, but this sounds like a really generic slice of the era - if not already a tad dated for 1964. And she didn’t even write any of the songs here, they’re all covers. I know that kind of thing wasn’t uncommon for the time, but my point being that I really couldn’t pinpoint any one thing here that I would consider particularly monumental or influential. I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but this album helped me develop a smidge of respect for The Beatles. Even though I still don’t care for it, Rubber Soul released just a year after this and is not only made up of all original compositions, but its pacing and structure is lightyears ahead, almost to a modern degree - once again, making this album feel particularly dated, even from a contemporary perspective. And I totally get that some albums are just intended to be fun and not some kind of artistic masterpiece, and this album mostly succeeds in that regard - hence why I’m still going to rate this just a touch higher than Rubber Soul - but even then I wouldn’t call it overly enjoyable by any means. The only song that really jumped out to me was Every Day I Have to Cry (even though it’s hella dated), but I guess that track is a bonus track and wasn’t on the initial release, so I can’t really use it to the album’s credit here. As a whole, I feel like this exact kind of music exists in other, better forms - or at the very least, on albums that don’t require you to partially assemble the tracklist on Spotify because they didn’t get an official US release. One of the more forgettable albums for me on this list so far.

2 Nick Cave is an artist I really want to like - I mean, the guy is supposed a brooding, lyrical icon after all - but I’m still not impressed after listening to this album. After being disappointed with his effort at piano ballads on The Boatman’s Call, I thought I just had to hold out for something more conventional to really understand his charm, but unfortunately I found this even more boring than his piano stuff. As suggested by the title, this is really two separate albums paired together into one release, and I gotta say, there is nothing interesting going on in the the first half, Abattoir Blues. This is rock music at its most generic, and even though I really tried to attach myself to the topics and themes he’s writing about in these songs, the overall songwriting seems to alternate between goofy and bland in such a way that it made it hard for me to dial in on anything he was trying to convey. I picked up that there’s a religious angle he was going for on a few songs, but between the cheesy choruses on songs like Get Ready For Love and Hiding All The Way or his weirdly numerous references to fingering women, I just really couldn’t get too into it. The saving grace from this side is the Johnny Cash-dedicated elegy Let the Bells Ring. The Lrye of Orpheus marks the start of the second album, titled the same, and the change in sound is immediately noticeable. From what I’ve read online, this half is much more indicative of Cave’s typical output, featuring songwriting that I appreciated a bit more - it reminded me of a heavier Leonard Cohen in some ways - but even then I feel like it was only a small improvement above the first half. It has its highs with the title track (best lyric on the album by far is “Eurydice appeared brindled in blood/And she said to Orpheus/If you play that fucking thing down here/I'll stick it up your orifice!”) and my personal favorite song here, Supernaturally, which has the most enjoyable chorus of anything on the album, dare I say bordering on epic. Unfortunately, my least favorite moment is also here in the awkward and out-of-place ballad Baby, You Turn Me On (seriously why does this guy keep mention fingering?) Also, despite being the most popular track on Spotify across his whole discography, I wasn’t too impressed with O Children. I mean, it was effective enough for a closer, but the best this guy has? Really? I really feel like either of these albums released individually could have gotten a 2.5 or even a 3 from me on a good day, but mushed together as is results in an album that feels too long to be this mediocre. I’m still open to listening to more of Cave’s stuff, but let it be known this is Strike 2.

3.5 Despite being one of the most acclaimed alternative rock acts of the 2000s, this is actually my first time giving Arcade Fire a listen. My first impression was that the album ran together a bit and overall sounded pretty generic for the time period, like it wanted to be a Coldplay release, but subsequent listens really helped flesh out its charm. While it does have a very consistent sound throughout, there’s a lot of interesting things going on in the songwriting I started noticing once I had the chance to properly dial in, with the hurdy-gurdy-featuring Keep the Car Running probably being my favorite tune here (a song later covered by Foo Fighters!) and (Antichrist Television Blues) a close second, with its vilification of parents who pimp their kids out for fame and fortune being something that really stood out to me. I wish the group stuck with the original name of the song (Joe Simpson), but I get why they didn’t - probably a bit too on the nose. Overall though, I mostly liked everything I heard (the organ-driven My Body is a Cage is an incredibly strong finale), though ironically, I think my least favorite track here was Neon Bible. It’s a great album name, so it’s a bummer the title track is so uninteresting. Not an album I fell head over heels in love with, but something I enjoyed and see myself re-visiting. I know Funeral is supposedly the group’s true masterpiece, so I look forward to its inclusion on this list (assuming it made it if this album did).

2.5 This is one of the most 90s album covers I’ve ever seen. Like, I wouldn’t be surprised if homeboy is cracking open a Crystal Pepsi. Did SEGA base everything about Jet Set Radio off this one image?? Anyway, unlike the album cover, the music actually feels quite ahead of its time - it sounds like this guy was not only a big influence on artists like Daft Punk and LCD Soundsystem, but also the entire club scene in the decade ahead. That being said, I’m not a huge electronic fan, and this album didn’t do much to change my mind - which is a bummer, because I feel like it was so close to doing so. The album starts strongly with the danceable Dreamin’, seguing into what is far and away the best track, Music Makes You Lose Control. Holy cow, that looping guitar part is absolutely insane and was stuck in my head long after the album was over. Unfortunately, that song’s best attribute also happens to be the album’s biggest detriment - every one of these songs just loops over and over. When it works, it works well, and when it doesn’t, it turns a 4-minute long song into a slog, and the further you get into this album, the more of a slog it becomes. There’s really not a ton interesting going on after Hey You What’s That Sound? except for maybe the closer, Damaged People, but at that point you’re already long checked out. As mentioned, I know he was ahead of the curve here with the 2000s electronic scene to come, so maybe I shouldn’t hold him to the same standard, but at the same time, he had plenty of electronic groups from the 80s to take notes from, so I think this really had the potential to be something greater. Either way, it seems like this guy is doing pretty well for himself, because even though this ended up being his final album under the uncreative and weirdly French name Les Rhythmes Digitales, he would go on to become a Grammy-winning producer, working with artists like Madonna and The Killers - so maybe he just needed somebody else in the studio with him to truly elevate his work. I wanted to end this with a jab at the French (as is tradition), but it turns out the guy is actually English. So, no jab needed, because what’s sadder than pretending to be French?

2 If in a nearby parallel universe The Beatles’ experimentation with LSD resulted in a bad trip, I imagine their subsequent music would have sounded something like this instead of Sgt. Pepper’s. Yet somehow, this album was composed by a man who famously abstained from drug use, which kind of makes it more terrifying to me - though to be fair, I guess their producer was on LSD so I’m sure that was a factor. Anyway, apparently Zappa’s goal with this album was to satirize contemporary American culture and music, and that definitely came through to me, especially with the takes on pop music that sounded purposefully inflated with goofy, overdone lyrics and kazoo solos. I’m not sure if that’s the aspect that makes people revere this album, but if you ask me, just because it’s satire doesn’t mean it’s automatically smart, insightful, or even any good for that matter - I mean, there’s a reason Meet the Spartans isn’t hailed as a cinematic masterpiece. That kind of stuff takes up the majority of the album, with the beginning and end being bookended with some near-unlistenable songs that feel a bit more like psychotic episodes - kudos to anyone else who made it through all twelve minutes of The Return of the Son of the Monster Magnet. Even if Zappa himself didn’t do drugs, he clearly knew who his audience was. The only other particularly notable track here is Trouble Every Day, which happens to be the one moment on the album where Zappa decided to drop the whole satire thing and just go all in on his grievances with modern America in a blues number. I really wanted to appreciate it, but ultimately it just kind of boils down to “TV=bad” and “these racial riots are an annoyance to me”. The line “Hey, you know something, people? I'm not black, but there's a whole lots a times I wish I could say I'm not white” gave me hope that he was making some kind of progressive statement acknowledging white responsibility for minority disparagement, but the next verse seems to indicate he says that because he’s annoyed these incidents are affecting white people. Maybe there’s a deeper meaning to the song I’m missing, but overall it just doesn’t seem particularly forward-thinking. So yeah, purposefully bad, purposefully weird, and one decent song with a questionable message is how I would summarize this album. I considered a 1, but I think it’s just interesting enough to keep it out of that zone - still, don’t understand the hype surrounding this one.

3 Classic blues. Nothing mind-blowing, but a nice reminder of how much rock music owes to the genre. The numerous covers of Baby, Please Don’t Go being case in point, but the inklings of a musical movement yet to come are felt on every song here. Muddy sounds great, with my two favorites here probably being the mentioned Baby, Please Don’t Go and I Feel So Good (I’m convinced Stevie Ray Vaughn ripped off the latter for Pride and Joy), but for the most part this kind of ran together for me. The reprise of I’ve Got My Mojo Working was a fun surprise, but I didn’t find the song necessarily overly interesting enough to warrant it. But then again, I’m not sure I would consider anything here quite interesting enough to warrant a reprise. I know Muddy was majorly influential on blues and rock as a whole, but my only real takeaway after listening to this album three times is “that was enjoyable enough”. Would maybe give a re-listen if I’m feeling in a particularly bluesy mood.

2 Yeah… not really a disco fan. I tried going into this with an open mind, but outside of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, this is probably as disco as disco gets. Apparently this album was entirely written and produced by the two frontmen of Chic, to the point where one of them claimed this as the best album of Chic’s career. Appropriately, it just so happens I have the same hang-ups with this album that I do with C’est Chic - songs go on too long, lyrics are pretty unimaginative and cheesy, and the R&B moments are weak. Lost in Music was the only song I kind of enjoyed, though I can concede He’s The Greatest Dancer could potentially hit pretty hard if it was playing in a dance environment and I had a few drinks in me. Not much else to say here - the title track is overrated and overplayed. No disrespect to anyone involved with the making of this album, and by no means do I think this is bad, but it’s not my thing.

5 The Nirvana album that separates the men from the boys. No, it’s not their finest hour - that’s MTV Unplugged - but far and away the best of their studio albums. Bleach was a solid debut, albeit a tad one-note and directionless, and Nevermind an overproduced effort at bringing alternative rock to the mainstream (which it succeeded… and then some). But In Utero? In Utero strikes the perfect balance between the two. Admittedly, Nirvana wears their influence on their sleeve here the most of any of their records - not only does it sound like a Pixies album, but it’s quite literally produced by Steve Albini, producer of Surfer Rosa, an album Kurt once named as his second favorite of all-time (behind Raw Power by The Stooges). As it turns out, he was just the guy the group needed after dissatisfaction with their former release. Famously no-bullshit and a former punk himself, Albini was able to take the charm of Nevermind and strip it down to its core, removing all the fluff and instead choosing to highlight the genius of Nirvana with an unabashedly honest lack of polish - a sound the group was always best suited for. “Teenage angst has paid off well/Now I'm bored and old” The opening line of Serve the Servants greets you with an immediate acknowledgement of the counterculture revolution the group had ignited just two years prior, and more importantly, their desire to separate and move on from it. This album isn’t setting out to be Nevermind 2, and as if that line wasn’t enough to convince you, the following track Scentless Apprentice makes it damn well clear that the commercially palatable stuff is out the window. To me, this is the band in its purest form, and songs like Milk It, Radio Friendly Unit Shifter, and Tourette’s are reminders that Kurt’s idols weren’t the kind to write radio hits. Of course, this is still Nirvana we’re talking about, so despite its rougher exterior, the album still had its fair share of commercial success. However, even the hits have a certain raw, sincere energy to them that fits contextually within the album, which has resulted in me coming back to songs like Heart-Shaped Box and Rape Me more than I do Smells Like Teen Spirit or In Bloom. As a whole, the pacing and song placement is excellent, resulting in an album that flows seamlessly despite a stark difference between songs like Dumb and Milk It. I do want to give a shoutout to Post Malone for opening his Nirvana cover set with Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle, as it’s one of the group’s most underrated tracks and quite possibly the best on this album - though it’s hard to beat a concluding track like All Apologies. The song is absolutely fantastic by its own merit, but there’s something hauntingly beautiful about it being the bookend of Kurt Cobain’s studio career. All in all is all we are indeed. If Nevermind is a required listening, then I would argue this album should be as well. It has all of the genius without all of the polish, and while I admit that might make it a little less accessible, I believe therein lies its charm. The definitive Nirvana studio album for me.

3 Classic 90s R&B sound with a feminist twist to it - I can definitely see this one pissing off the Ben Shapiro types of the world. Call it graphic if you want, but it isn’t without purpose, one I feel the first interlude, Antoinette’s Tale, sums up best: In a world in which sexual conquest is both expected of and enabled in men, why shouldn’t women have the same agency over their own body and desires? Whether it be for romantic, lustful, empowering, or ulterior reasons, women are at liberty to do with their body as they wish, just as men can and choose to do. This album takes a unique approach in tackling that concept as a sort of anthology, featuring a series of women’s “tales” that explore this range of sexual motivation and help tee up the next song, related in topic. That was an aspect I really enjoyed - it added a layer of personal depth that helped me connect with the music and view each track in a certain light. Of all these, the most insightful and profound for me was probably the finale, Amanda’s Tale and Girl Like Me, which describes the insecurity of someone who loses her man to the type of woman she finds herself constantly comparing herself to on social media, ultimately resulting in her embracing her sexuality as a form of value. In an album focused on tales of sexual agency, this last tale is probably the most tragic one, reminding us that there’s more to sexuality than just lust. Anyway, while I clearly appreciated the topical nature of the album, musically… I found this kind of meh. Nothing I disliked, but at the same time, I can’t help but wonder if recency bias was a major factor for this album’s inclusion on the list. Of course the messaging is important, but I’m not sure it has quite the level of songwriting to hold up as an all-time great years from now. There was no song in particular that made me want to go back and give another listen - If I were to revisit this album, it would likely be for its narrative. Feel like this had the potential to be something absolutely great, but it didn’t quite get there for me. Still, glad to have been exposed to it.

2 What in the “South will rise again” is this album cover? Kudos to them for at least making it a Union soldier, though I still can’t help but feel the whole thing is a little questionable - especially for a group from Long Beach, California. Like, your state didn’t even fight in the Civil War, what are you on about? I digress, really didn’t think this would be the kind of thing I’d like, but I was actually enjoying myself quite a bit as I started listening. I know these guys aren’t the original writers of the majority of these songs, but I was surprised by how much I knew from renditions by other artists - Keep on the Sunny Side obviously, but also Dark as a Dungeon from Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison album, Lonesome Fiddle Blues which would later go on to became The Devil Went Down to Georgia by The Charlie Daniels Band, and Cannonball Rage from… well I recognize it from somewhere, that’s for sure. The biggest déjà vu moment for me though was the title track, Will the Circle Be Unbroken. I had myself convinced it was just because it sounds similar to Amazing Grace, but then it hit me - this is the song that greets Booker when he first arrives in Columbia in BioShock Infinite. I realize that probably means nothing to most people reading this, but all I can say is it’s an awesome moment from an incredible game - go play BioShock Infinite. Outside of those songs, most of this album kind of runs together, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing - at first. I was getting Toy Story/Red Dead Redemption/Frontier Town at Cedar Point vibes all over that I was appreciating, but let me tell you, at two hours and ten minutes long, once that charm wears off, it’s gone, and it doesn’t come back. It kind of reminded me of running a marathon - it’s refreshing and fun at first, but then halfway through it hits you you have to run 13 more miles and you start asking yourself what you signed up for (Disclaimer: I’ve never actually run a marathon). It even feels like the album is taunting you with its length sometimes by putting a long stretch of instrumentals in the middle and then some dialogue tracks towards the end. Will the Circle Be Unbroken? More like “Will the Album F*cking End”. So yeah, this really wasn’t bad, it just needs to know its limitations, because as is, I find it highly unlikely that I listen to the full thing ever again - which is kind of a shame because there’s actually some enjoyable moments here. At least it made me think of Bioshock. Can’t wait for these guys to show up on my Spotify Wrapped this year!

1.5 Lame and pretentious - I mean, the genre of this album being labeled as “sophisti-pop” probably tells you everything you need to know. There is nothing interesting going on in the first half unless slow, unimaginative lounge jazz is your thing. When it came to the back half, it feels like the duo caught on to the fact they were going down a very boring route, and decided to spice things up with jarring attempts at hip hop, dance pop, and even a bit of folk. The attempts made them the more remarkable songs on the album for me, but they feel very out of place as a whole. I was kind of surprised that they didn’t have more plays on Spotify, or at least Strength of Your Nature, because I feel like those tracks at least all had mildly enjoyable qualities to them - I have no idea what would drive people to listen to My Ever Changing Moods or You’re the Best Thing instead. One thing’s for sure, they’re not getting another play out of me - this album sucks.

3 Hungry Like the Wolf is a good song, Rio is alright, and the rest of this sounded about how I expected it to - more of the same, not quite as good. Nothing really jumped out at me my first time through, but after a subsequent listen, I can confidently say Lonely In Your Nightmare is the definitive underrated track here. And that about amounts to my thoughts on the album. Overall, pretty okay, which is more or less the same opinion I had of the group going into this. Wikipedia helped me derive a little more entertainment out of this album when I learned that it initially flopped in the US and had to be remixed in order to find success. So, with that in mind, I assumed we were listening to the American version here, but it turns out this is indeed the original release. I’m not sure when exactly we as a country collectively agreed that we were wrong about our initial convictions, but if you’re curious about the remixes, they’re on the Collector’s Edition of the album. I really didn’t hear much of a difference though - in the case of Hungry Like the Wolf, the drums have a little more reverb to them, the electronic noises are a little quieter, and the sex noises at the end are much louder. In fact, I didn’t even realize there were sex noises at the end of Hungry Like the Wolf until I listened to the American mix. So, there you have it folks, if your band is struggling to break through in America, your music is clearly lacking in the sexual noise department.

2 Yeah, I’ve established that I’m not much of a Bob Marley fan, and once again this didn’t do much to change my mind. I appreciated that these songs at least seemed to have a bit more political messaging to them, but then again, with lyrics like “Their mind is confused with confusion”, I feel like I can only commend the songwriting so much. Why is this guy considered an all-time great lyricist? I was hoping my guy Peter Tosh would hit me with something decent on his penned songs here, but I really couldn’t tell you any aspect of 400 Years or Stop That Train that makes them stand apart. Hell, I couldn’t even tell you what the biggest hit here, Stir It Up, has that the other songs don’t. I thought maybe it had a profound message I was missing, but no, it’s just about sex. Maybe people are just horny - see my earlier note about sex noises in music. On a positive note, this has one of the coolest physical album concepts I’ve ever seen - and no, not the version featuring Marley smoking a spliff - but the OG release was in the shape of a Zippo lighter and opened up like one to reveal the record. That’s cool as hell - I’ll give Marley credit for that one.

4 “You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge” Has there ever been an opening line to an album so badass and yet so fitting? The development of gangsta rap with this album was a turning point for the genre, and depending on who you ask it either marked the end of the golden era or the start of a new one. As someone who grew up on punk music, I find myself in the latter category - an angsty album that’s both in your face and delivering a sociopolitical message? Yeah man, sign me up. So, this was one of the few rap albums I owned as a teenager, and at that point in time I would have told you this is an eazy 5. Well, I still really enjoy this album, but it’s not quite as great as I remember. I’ve seen a lot of people write this off as sexist and outdated, but to be honest that’s not really the qualm I have with the album - not that I’m pro-sexism by any means, but I’ve always kind of interpreted the lyrics to be the reflection of the true no-holds-barred way of life in Compton, California and in no way intended to be a glamorization. My issue was more of the fact that I just totally forgot how much filler is on this thing - I was thoroughly enjoying myself when I started listening and was really convinced this might still be a 5 in my book, but starting with Compton’s N The House I feel like the album loses a bit of steam and then never picks it back up again. Dopeman was a song I remember being a fan of in my younger days, but it really didn’t do much for me in my listening here, and apparently I somehow wiped out the fact this album ends on an incredibly out-of-place note with Something 2 Dance 2. Who the hell’s idea was it to end this thing with a dance number? … Oh, Arabian Prince’s. That explains a lot. Still a really good album for the most part - you really can’t go wrong jumping in on any of the first eight tracks. Either way, even if you hate it, it’s hard arguing with the importance of this album on all of rap music, and the careers and legacies each member has had since its release has made N.W.A. feel like a retroactive supergroup of sorts. An album 100% deserving of being on this list.

4 Sad Dylan is best Dylan - his claims that this album is in no way autobiographical is such BS. Like, you expect us to believe that, while separating from his wife, the guy just so happens to go from writing about politics to writing about failed relationships and that there’s no connection? Look man, there’s no shame in needing an outlet. Anyway, as is the case with most anguished musicians, Dylan’s hardship ended up being a blessing for the musical world. Really, really good album - one in which its charm is still growing on me four listens later. And yes, I listened to this four times. At first I told myself it was just because I hadn’t given it a proper listen, but sitting here now I realize that I was really just trying to embrace everything it has to offer - something I’m still in the process of doing even now. I still have no idea what exactly is going on in a couple songs, like Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts in particular, but they all still managed to speak to me in some manner or another. Far and away the best song on the album is Tangled Up in Blue, which may not only be the best song Dylan ever wrote, but “We always did feel the same/We just saw it from a different point of view” may also be one of his greatest lyrics. As someone who has never been in a relationship with a redheaded topless dancer, lyrics like that one still allow the song to resonate with me in a way that makes me reflect on my own personal failed relationships. And that’s really the magic of this album - just about every song here has that ability. Admittedly, some spoke to me more than others, but as a whole, this a really well-written and well-structured album, and I can see why it’s held in such high regard. I’ll definitely be giving it another listen.

2 Yeah, I don’t see what’s so special about this record. Supposedly these guys are an underappreciated late 60s folk group that are claimed to have bridged the gap between the genre and psychedelia, but after listening to this, I gotta say whatever amount of appreciation they have is probably enough. I don’t even hear the psychedelic aspect, instead it feels more like folk mixed with some jazz, but more in the sense each feels watered down rather than complementary. Didn’t find anything going on in the songs to be overly interesting, and after multiple times through, there’s nothing I could really point to as being worthy of a re-listen in the near future. I know there are many groups out there that never receive the acclaim they deserve due to reasons outside of their control, but I don’t think this is one of those times. Sorry Youngbloods. Clearly you have a fan somewhere if you made this list.

3.5 Look, I like R.E.M. and all, but is this really an all-time great album? Obviously It’s the End of World As We Know It and The One I Love are fantastic tunes and put the band on the map, but for the most part this kind of just feels like a blended mesh of R.E.M. at their most okay. Admittedly, there are a couple hidden gems sprinkled in here - the album opens with what might very well be its best track in the aptly titled Finest Worksong - but unfortunately everything starts running together very quickly after that with the following handful of songs. Shoutout to the group for covering Wire, and while I want to give them credit for putting a new spin on Strange, it kind of just boils down to exactly what you would imagine an R.E.M. cover of a punk song to sound like rather than anything particularly noteworthy or great. From there, once you’re through the hits, it’s pretty clear the best the album has to offer is over, and it feels like you’re left stuck with the group’s B material. The closing track Oddfellows Local 151 is decent enough, but I don’t think there’s anything about the three preceding it that would make me want to come back to them (though I did find Stipe’s delivery of “Crazy, crazy world” stuck in my head after listening, so do with that what you will). Not a great album in my opinion, but it does have some great songs, and I don’t think I could go lower than a 3.5 for those alone. It’s hard for me not to think of Tommy Boy while listening to End of the World, and it always puts a smile on my face when I do. You ever notice every time a name is mentioned in the song they have the initials L.B.? What’s up with that?

3.5 The first and only Doors album I ever owned on CD, and one I used to listen to pretty frequently in my early teenage years. I haven’t really returned to it since though, and I’m not sure exactly why that is. I still think Jim Morrison is a great lyricist and vocalist after all these years, but I think something about the keyboard-driven sound of this album hasn’t held up quite as well with my musical taste. Listening to now, as a whole, yeah, it’s not as great as I remember or was hoping it to be. In many ways it’s creepier than I remember with tracks like Alabama Song, Take It As It Comes, and Back Door Man (might just be dirty-minded with that last one there), but that all to say, the absolute greatness of songs like Break on Through, The End, Light My Fire, and Soul Kitchen can’t be understated. Those four songs may sum up the group best out of anything across their catalog, and 55 years later they’re still among the most synonymous with the group. I mean, from the very first note Break on Through is instantly recognizable, and that chorus? Explosive. Right out of the gate the group came swinging with what might very well be the best and most iconic track of their career. And then you have The End that’s the opposite in many ways - mellow and slow to reveal its charm, but once it does, the ambience of the track is unlike anything else. If your group is able to put out a twelve-minute song and have it be one of your best, you’re doing something right - even if it involves murdering your father and having sex with your mother. Anyway, the rest of the stuff on the album is just kind of okay. It never drags, which is good, but there’s nothing I feel that’s worth re-visiting outside of the four songs mentioned above. Twentieth Century Fox is a song I remember really liking in my mentioned teenage Doors era, but it didn’t do much for me here, and once again I gotta say Alabama Song in particular I found to be kind of an abomination. Great debut, but not quite an all-time great album, though shoutout to my favorite cover band Crystal Shit. I hope these guys have a good sense of humor and don’t take them into court.

4 I’m starting to see why my Dad likes these guys and gals so much - there’s a lot of really great stuff here, and I can’t help but respect Lou’s style of songwriting, which is seemingly a rejection of pop standards. I mean, an album glamorizing heroin, drug dealers, sadomasochism, and prostitution? Yeah, I can see why this was a bit of a controversial release in 1967. But I think that’s a part of the charm of the album, and paired with a competent songwriter like Lou and a talented vocalist like Nico, I found this to be a really good listen through and through. Right out of the gate, Sunday Morning had my full attention - it’s one of the most enchanting openers I’ve heard to an album, the kind that you can’t help but sit back in your chair to fully acknowledge and that imparts you with the feeling that everything might just be okay, ya know? An LSD trip meets catharsis in song form. I’m Waiting for the Man is a solid follow-up track from there, transitioning into what’s probably Nico’s finest moment on the album, Femme Fatale, but really, I thoroughly enjoyed her full trifecta of songs here - kind of shame Lou fired her after his album. Unfortunately, I don’t feel like this album finishes quite as strong as it starts, with Venus in Furs being the first miss for me of a few - whatever the hell is going on with the strings in the background is incredibly grating and made this song feel so much longer than five minutes (Dammit Cale). Things pick up again with the stretch of All Tomorrow’s Parties to I’ll Be Your Mirror, with the track Heroin in particular probably being the album’s second-best. The slow/fast dynamic of the song is really cool, the lyrics are incredibly strong, and… look, idk man, he just makes heroin sound really cool - I want to feel like Jesus’ son. Unfortunately, the comedown gives way to musical lows, and this album ends with two tracks basically comprised of a bunch of noise. Wish it could have ended as strongly as it started, but I’m sure there’s some kind of genius buried in there somewhere - let me know what I’m missing, Dad. As a whole though, I think this is a very well composed album with quite a lot of good tunes on it. I can definitely see why it’s regarded as a classic, and I can definitely see myself coming back to it. Hell, like my Dad, it sent me down a little bit of a Lou Reed rabbit hole over the weekend, and I found myself listening to his solo stuff during the commercial breaks of college football (Lol @ Bama). No idea if this is common knowledge, but I didn’t realize Can I Kick It? by A Tribe Called Quest is a sample of the guy. Learn something new every day, huh?

3.5 Funny, just a couple days ago Gimme Danger was shuffled into my Spotify session, and I was like “Damn, this is a good song, wonder if we’ll be seeing more Stooges on our list?” Well, ask and you shall receive. One of the most aptly titled albums out there and so incredibly influential on the entire punk genre to come (Kurt Cobain even once named it as his personal favorite of all-time). I find it kind of interesting that The Stooges are considered a precursor to punk considering that they arguably go much harder than many of the bands claimed to have invented it - though there are definitely similarities (tell me Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell couldn’t be a Misfits song). A lot of that raw sound can be chalked up to Iggy’s studio production inexperience, which I think simultaneously does both wonders and a disservice to the songs here. For that reason, there are apparently two different versions of the album - the Iggy Pop mix and the David Bowie mix, who was brought in by the record label to try and save it. Normally when an album has a remixed version, I feel like it’s not too drastically different, but man, in this case it’s a tale of two producers. Iggy’s is loud, messy, and sounds like the audio is clipping half the time, but embodies the uninhibited punk spirit so well. Bowie’s on the other hand is much cleaner and highlights the individual personality and technicalities of each song a little better. I listened to each multiple times to try and compare and contrast, and sitting here now I still couldn’t tell you which version I like more. Regardless of which one you’re listening to, I think this album starts phenomenally and slowly becomes less remarkable as it goes on - the opening tracks are amazing and among the best of Iggy’s career, but I really didn’t care for the stuff closer to the end like Shake Appeal and Death Trip. So, that being the case, I think I prefer Iggy’s mix for the first half of the album, which makes a punk song like Search and Destroy sound absolutely EXPLOSIVE and a ballad like Gimme Danger feel absolutely gritty, but when you get to the stuff closer to end that has less flavor or personality to it, it just feels kind of unlistenable. So, point Bowie on Side B, as he was able to take songs that felt like skips on Iggy’s mix and give them a life of their own, giving me the realization of, “Oh, there really is a song buried in there.” Either way you slice it, this is a good album, but I just don’t feel like it finishes anywhere near as strong as it starts. Could probably be a 4 from me on a good day, but I really only see myself regularly coming back to the first two tracks.

3.5 Not going to lie, when I saw “rap rock” I expected to hate this album, but I ended up really kind of digging it - even if Fun Lovin’ Criminals is a goofy name for a group, at least they weren’t lying when they promised fun. The opening stretch of The Fun Lovin’ Criminal to Bombin’ the L in particular is incredibly strong, to the point where I was seriously questioning if the album could keep that musicality up and go the distance - and it doesn’t quite, the back half started running together and losing me a little bit, but it was still enjoyable for the most part, just not to the point where I found myself grooving like I was at the beginning. The only thing that really stood out to me after the midway point was We Have All the Time in the World, which was an interesting change-up from the rap sound of the album to a slower, alternative rock-style song with vocals that sounded like a cross between Lou Reed and the guy from Eels - it’s also possible I have too much Lou Reed on the mind lately. Definitely a different spin on rap rock - this is way smoother than anything else that comes to mind when the genre is mentioned, which for me is Beastie Boys, Rage Against the Machine, and Limp Bizkit (for better or for worse). There’s not a whole lot of substance, so I don’t know if I’d go as far to say that this a full re-listen from me anywhere in the near future, but I can definitely see myself re-visiting the first six tracks. The chorus of Passive / Aggressive is incredible, the riff of Bombin’ the L goes hard (even if it is just Smoke on the Water), and the hook of Scooby Snacks is incredibly infectious despite goofy references to the cartoon series and Pulp Fiction. Can’t quite pull the trigger on the 4, but I can confidently say I liked this.

3 Lo and behold, it’s the worst of the numbered Led Zeppelin albums. It’s such a shame too, because this album starts ridiculously strong with Robert Plant’s howling viking battle cries ushering in two and half minutes of some of the most epic rock music ever put to wax - and then nothing after comes anywhere close to it. To be fair, it’s hard for any song to compare to Immigrant Song, but it also doesn’t really seem like they were trying to with the acoustic approach taken on the rest of the album here. That’s not to say Led Zeppelin should have stayed in their lane, as some of their finest moments in the years ahead would come from deviating from their signature heavy, blues sound, and the group would even later prove further prove their acoustic capacity on tracks like Going to California and Hey Hey, What I Can Do, but whatever they were doing with it here just ain’t it for me. I mean, it’s Zeppelin, so it’s not unenjoyable, but I don’t have a ton of praise to hand out either - if I had to pick a favorite out of the rest of the bunch it would probably be Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, but even then it’s far and away from the upper echelons of Zeppelin’s best. Since I’ve Been Loving You is the only other real noteworthy track here with it’s more distinct blues sound, but if I had to pick a ballad by these guys I would definitely opt for something like Babe I’m Gonna Leave You or Thank You over this. Not a bad listen, but never my first (or second, or third, or fourth) pick when it comes to Led Zeppelin albums. Feel like Immigrant Song is more deserving of a feature on one of their better releases, but at least we were fortunate enough to be blessed by its presence at all - even if the song is now associated with my dad’s 10 Street trivia team.

3 I didn’t really know what to think coming into this one. I have nothing against Taylor Swift, but I don’t claim to be a Swiftie, and I definitely wouldn’t say I have any intentions of becoming one. My friend Sarah is a diehard fan though, especially with Taylor’s newer stuff like this, so I really tried going into this with an open mind so I could at least walk away with an informed opinion on the album. Initial thoughts - this is a far cry away from her t-shirt, sneakers, and bleachers days. I can’t deny its place as a pop album, but there’s a lot more folk influence on this record than I would have anticipated. I like a good amount of folk stuff myself, so I was hoping the sound of this record would be a good starting point for me with her discography, but after an initial listen, I found myself pretty whelmed - there’s not a ton of variation going on in the music or songwriting, and as a result this album felt overly long. Still, I didn’t want to write it off yet - I mean, there must be a reason she’s considered one of the greatest songwriters of the modern era, right? So, I went back in again and gave another listen, this time really trying to dial in on the lyrics and songwriting. While it didn’t drastically change my opinion, I would encourage anyone else on the fence to do the same, as I think it helps enhance your experience in highlighting the charm of Taylor’s songwriting. She’s able to articulate relationships incredibly well in her music, with lyrics like “There'll be happiness after you/But there was happiness because of you/Both of these things can be true” on Happiness or “Never be so kind/You forget to be clever/Never be so clever/You forget to be kind” on Marjorie being two lyrics that stood out to me on my subsequent listen, and Tolerate It? Woof - walked away from that one as a broken man. My personal favorite tracks here though would probably be No Body, No Crime (the older country style was great) and Coney Island (shoutout to my boys The National - Matt sounded great with Taylor here), though I also got a bit of enjoyment out of Closure just for the simple fact it sounded like Taylor was doing her thing over a Nine Inch Nails song. I’m not walking away from this album stunned or as a newfound Swiftie, but I am walking away with a bit more respect for Taylor as an artist and her adoring fans around the world, so I would argue it definitely succeeded with me in some regards. It’s not my thing, but I can appreciate what it’s doing.

3 Yeah… I don’t know about this one. At first I was like “Oh, cool blues sound”, and then the album proceeded to make no deviation whatsoever from that sound for the rest of its 67-minute runtime. There are no high points or low points, just middle-of-the-road blues rock that long outstays its welcome. Why is this considered their best? Mick Jagger doesn’t even like this album, and most of the band shied away from it as best they could due to not wanting to step foot in Keith Richards’ drug den, where it was being recorded. I get that a lot of great albums are the result of a group in turmoil, but one in which the majority of your group isn’t even invested in its success? To me, that lack of collaboration is definitely reflected here. I listened to this four times in an effort to retain anything from my listening, and yet I’m still unable to point to a favorite here. If this is your favorite Stones album, I’m curious which track is your favorite and why - and no, just Shake Your Hips just because it sounds like La Grange. Once again, the overall sound is enjoyable enough to keep it out of the 2 territory, but I’m really failing to see what escalates this album into what many consider a 5.

3 Shoegaze meets dance pop meets Kate Bush meets… ABBA? This isn’t my first foray with Cocteau Twins. Anyone who knows me knows that The Perks of Being a Wallflower is my favorite movie (and book) of all-time, and there’s a great line in it where Sam describes her first time hearing the song Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops by the group, an experience that entirely changed her musical taste by inspiring in her a vision of looking up, seeing someone at a party, and realizing that everything will be okay. So, of course I had to seek out the song, and while the music surrounding the movie is a large part of my adoration… I didn’t have quite the same reaction to it. Now, Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops is not on this album, but from what I’ve read, many people have had similar experiences with Heaven or Las Vegas that Sam did that song, describing the ambience of the album as absolutely enchanting and transcending unlike anything else - but I wasn’t quite able to get there myself. I’m not even exactly sure why that is, I’m a sucker for this dream pop type of bullshit (see my War on Drugs review), but this really didn’t do it for me. It’s not bad by any means, and I definitely wouldn’t say I didn’t enjoy it, but it really failed to pull me in like it has so many others. Granted, each time I listened to this album was while I was working, so maybe I just need to fully immerse myself in it on a quiet, responsibility-free night? I’ll give it a shot one day, but in the meantime, we’re going to go with a 3. Sorry, Sam.

2.5 I know she’s a musical icon, but I’ve always found Lorde to be kind of meh. Royals in particular is a song I’ve always found kind of boring, and anything else of hers I’ve heard has left me feeling whelmed. This is my first time giving one of her albums a full listen though, so I went in with an open mind, as I try to do with anything else on this list… and I maintain my opinion after. The first song Green Light is an enjoyable enough pop track, but it starts losing me very quickly from there. While there was more piano stuff breaking up the pop stuff than I expected, for the most part I thought everything kind of blended together. The only other song I found remarkable across my listening was Writer in the Dark, but mostly because the lyric “Bet you rue the day you kissed a writer in the dark” stood out to me as kind of cringey. But hell, with all the emo shit I listen to, I should probably be the last person to be calling a lyric out as cringey. The fact I walked away from this without any real takeaway made me think that maybe I just wasn’t giving it a proper listen, but when my Spotify started shuffling in songs afterwards from contemporary female indie artists like Mitski, Phoebe Bridgers, St. Vincent, and Lucy Dacus, I started getting into a fun, musical groove, something I never found myself in during the listening of the actual assigned album. So, I think that validated my opinion that Lorde is kind of meh. Not my thing, but shoutout to Lorde for being my age and also being way more successful. I’d take being called meh too if it came with an $18 million net worth and over 5 billion Spotify streams.

3 Holy cow, this came out during what’s considered the height of Nelson’s career and yet he already had 21 studio albums behind him at this point. And considering this point was 45 years ago, I looked up how many albums the guy has total, and as of 2023, that would be 74 - and that’s solely original studio albums, not even counting compilations or live albums. So, shoutout to Willie for breaking the “lazy stoner” stereotype, dude’s been cranking these things out - or maybe he’s just still working to pay off the IRS. Anyway, I don’t feel like I have much to comment on this album in particular. I think it all sounds nice, Nelson’s vocals and guitar-work are soothing, though as someone not super familiar with a ton of his normal output, I’m not entirely sure how this compares. I did read he had previously established himself as an outlaw country artist, so his decision to write an album of pop covers was met with resistance from his record label. I respect his “screw you guys, I’m doing it anyway” energy, but once again, I don’t even really know the original versions of the songs he’s covering here besides Georgia on My Mind and Unchained Melody, so I can’t really comment on their translation either. Maybe that’s for the best, since it meant I was just able to enjoy the record without having to constantly compare it to someone else, though the two covers I did recognize felt like they each had an identity of their own with Nelson’s mellower takes here, so I don’t have any doubt he succeeded with each adaptation. To summarize, I’m incredibly musically ignorant regarding most everything surrounding this album, but it sounds nice. Solid 3 from me.

3.5 “Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine.” First impression - great opening lyric. Second impression - it’s clear that Patti was hanging around the same late ‘70s CBGB scene that gave us groups like The Ramones, The Talking Heads, and most noticeably, Television. Like, tell me this doesn’t sound just like Marquee Moon but with a gender-swapped singer. That’s probably not totally fair to say though, because I actually enjoyed this quite a bit more than Marquee Moon - in many ways, this is what I wanted that album to be. Musically and vocally I found this to be much more interesting and high-energy, though perhaps more importantly, I feel like I can actually hear the foundations of punk here instead of whatever artsy, twinkly, Talking Heads-esque stuff was going on in MM. Gloria was a great opener, and even though it borrows heavily from the Van Morrison song of the same name, I really like how Patti put a new spin on the track instead of doing a full-on cover, which she does again to similar effect by incorporating the late ‘60s tune Land of a Thousand Dances on Land. It’s a great reminder how much punk owes to garage rock of the era, and overall is a really fun take on each, resulting in those two songs probably being my favorites here. Unfortunately, Gloria segues into what are probably my two least favorites in Redondo Beach and Birdland - I didn’t really care for the slower reggae/piano stuff she was going for on those tracks, and in some ways they reminded me of how grating I find the Talking Heads when they lean into their funk sound. Fortunately, I think the album picks back up with Free Money and leads to a strong finish from there. Overall, pretty enjoyable listen. I know my Dad is going to groan reading this, but in many ways I feel like this is the natural evolution of the sound of The Velvet Underground and just as influential. I’ve established I’m not grading based on influence, but man, the number of artists that have pointed to this album as inspiring them to take up music - what a lineup: Siouxsie Sioux, Michael Stipe, Morrissey, Johnny Marr, PJ Harvey, Courtney Love (to a lesser extent). She probably won’t be getting lumped into any of my punk stuff I have saved on Spotify, but shoutout to Patti for helping lead the charge, and most importantly, for ensuring The Talking Heads weren’t the only group that inspired new wave.

1.5 Speaking of the late 70s CBGB scene, here’s the worst group it has to offer. While I’ve never been the biggest of theirs to begin with, if there’s one thing this list has affirmed for me, it’s that I don’t like The Talking Heads. I swear they just write funk music for white people, and paired with David Byrne’s vocals, I’m beginning to find them unbearable. I don’t really have much to comment on these songs other than that the vast majority sound similar and are annoying. This very much has the feel of a debut album in sound and scope, and I have no idea why it made this list other than the fact that music critics seem to have a hard-on for these guys (and gal). The best track here is Psycho Killer, but that’s kind of by default - generally speaking, I would say the song is just okay. The only good thing it really has going for it is that it inspired the name for one of my favorite punk bands, who, when covering the song and not knowing what David Byrne was saying in the chorus (tbf neither do I), improvised the lyric “Hüsker Dü”. So, at least quality music was inspired somewhere down the line. Also, can we talk about how the first song is just a rip-off of Come and Get Your Love by Redbone? Monumental debut my ass. For all good things Lou Reed has created, this is not one of them.

4 Oh my God Elliott Smith made the list!! I got into Elliott in college from parallels drawn with Bright Eyes, and man, does his music also do such an effective job of hurting me deeply - his soft, tender voice and personal songwriting rides the line of haunting and soothing so well. While this isn’t his best or probably even second-best release, I’m happy he made it on nonetheless. For those unfamiliar with his work, this is probably the most musically-elaborate of any of his albums, which are usually much more acoustic-based. So in many ways this feels like an evolution of his sound with great alternative rock-inspired tracks like Son of Sam and L.A., though traces of his earlier, acoustic work can still be found here, with Everything Reminds Me of Her probably being the most exemplary. If you haven’t just sat and reminisced about someone in particular while listening to the song at some point in your life, you haven’t lived. He even gets a little experimental on this album as well with the usage of transition tracks or the falsetto and high-note featuring Everything Means Nothing to Me. Even though it’s a bit odd-sounding, I've also always been kind of drawn to the track, especially as it resolves into absolute greatness when the instrumental backing jumps in. While I think you could make the argument the album is a little long or that the back half isn’t as strong as the first, I still think there are some hidden gems buried in there if you give each song a good listen, with the last three in particular being a beautiful stretch of great lyricism and musicianship - though it’s hard not to find them a bit haunting with lyrics like “Wish you gave me your number/Wish I could call you today, just to hear a voice/I got a long way to go/I'm getting further away”. And the final track being an instrumental just called “Bye”? Woof. Great release for what would be the last in his lifetime, bookending a career that I believe cements him as one of the greatest singer/songwriters of his time. For anybody else who enjoyed this (or even those who didn’t), go listen to Either/Or, and if you ever find yourself in LA, you can find the mural he’s standing in front of off of Sunset Blvd, near Los Feliz. I’ve lived here for a few years now and still haven’t made the pilgrimage - maybe that day comes this weekend. Welcome to the list, Ashten and Alex, even though you both rated your first album wrong 🙂

3 I’m not usually much of a Clapton man, but I enjoyed this more than I thought I would - blues meets psychedelia, and it’s a solid combination. My reaction to each song went from about as low as a “meh” to as high as a “that was pretty good” - which nets out to about a 3 from me. Sunshine of Your Love is of course a classic and one I knew I would enjoy going into this (shoutout to Guitar Hero III and School of Rock), but there were a couple of surprises for me here as well, including Tales of Brave Ulysses (which admittedly sounds just like White Room) and SWLABR (which admittedly has a really dumb name if you look up the acronym). Not much else here left much of a lasting impression, but there was nothing that ever broke up the flow of the record at any point - except for maybe the last track, Mother’s Lament. It was kind of a goofy conclusion, but I really can’t say I hated it - feels like the kind of thing that would be a hidden track if this album had come out 25 years later. Not life-changing, but enjoyable classic vinyl.

3 Another album that’s not available on Spotify, but thankfully YouTube randomly decided to give me a free two-week trial of Premium, so I didn’t have to suffer through any ads during my listen. Unfortunately for my dad, he had to suffer through a lot of flute on this album - never realized he had a personal vendetta against the instrument until we started this list. Anyway, I’m not normally much of a jazz fan, but as I was listening to this while making dinner, I couldn’t help but feel like I was in a black and white movie and that a trench coat and fedora-wearing detective was about to knock on my door, delivering an important message while smoking a cigarette that would ultimately send me down the rabbit hole of a film noir-esque mystery. I’m not exactly sure if I would call that a positive per se, but I can’t say that about any of the other albums we’ve listened to so far, so do with that what you will. What really escalated this album for me though is vocalist Gil Scott-Heron - the guy has a great, iconic voice, and overall, a strong sense of lyricism, which makes sense given he has a background in spoken word. That being said, despite reading that this is supposed to be a pretty sociopolitically charged album, that didn’t really come through to me on most songs. It’s possible there are some metaphors and references that I’m missing, but for the most part, I feel like I just heard him talk a lot about family, brotherhood, and the centre for the 1986 Montreal Canadiens (joke for my dad). The exception here of course being H2Ogate Blues, which is an absolutely awesome impassioned track that made me want to snap my fingers and yell things like “Go off!” and “Preach!” for most of its duration. It’s sad so many of Scott-Heron’s criticisms towards Nixon’s America are still applicable today… if only he saw what was to come. Regardless, from start to finish, the whole song was fantastic, and I even dug the opening where he talks about shades of the blues. Pleasant vibes throughout, but ultimately, H2Ogates Blues is really the only song I would say stuck out to me and that I would confidently say I enjoyed. Its inclusion alone helps teeter this one just above average for me.

3.5 A few surprises for me with this one. First, holy cow, I did not realize this album came out in 2000. If you asked me, I probably would have told you like 2005/2006. I remember this album being huge when I was younger - like, this was the stuff on the playground that kids who were inevitably going to either join the military or drop out and become a teen dad (or both) listened to. Second surprise was how much of this I actually recognized. Looking at the tracklist, the only song title that stood out to me was In The End, but when I actually gave a listen, about half the songs in the front half had me like “Oh yeahhhh I remember this one”. Granted, a lot of these sound kind of the same so that also may very well have been a factor. Third surprise… I did not realize Linkin Park was a rap metal band. Like, yes, I knew they played hard rock and incorporated rap on some tracks, but as far this album goes, this is straight up rap metal, similar to groups like Papa Roach and Limp Bizkit, and as a result, this album very much feels like an early 2000s time capsule. Not to say that’s necessarily a bad thing though - I would still very much put this above anything by their aforementioned contemporary groups. As someone who’s never been particularly invested in Linkin Park, I can see what drove people to this - there’s a fun, angsty energy all-around that was great to work out to at the gym. But they eventually weaned off a bit from this sound, right? The two other songs I’m familiar with by the group are Numb and What I’ve Done (the latter probably being my favorite of theirs), and I would definitely classify those as hard/borderline alternative rock more so than rap metal. I digress, this didn’t expand my fandom of the band by much, but I had a good time. 3.5 may be a little high, but it hit me with a weird high of nostalgia that’s hard to come by, so we’ll go with it. RIP Chester

2.5 Look, I’m sorry, I just don’t get jazz. And that bums me out a little bit because I really want to be someone who is capable of appreciating all genres of music, but despite this being the #14 highest rated album of all-time on rateyourmusic.com, nothing about it speaks to me any more than any other jazz album I’ve heard. I know that there’s something I’m missing, and I’m honestly a little envious of those who can pick up on it because personally, I feel like I just listened to a bunch of random instrumentation here. That’s not to say this album is objectionable by any means - I would rather listen to it over many other albums we’ve seen on this list so far - but I just don’t see a situation where I would opt to put this on for pure personal enjoyment. I know it takes a certain level of musicianship to be able to freestyle like this, but that just doesn’t automatically equate to personal enjoyment in my book. Anyway, I think I’ve made my point. All that to say though, I’m always looking to explore new music (hence why I started this project in the first place), so as long as jazz albums continue to exist, I’ll continue to give them a chance - still hoping for that one that finally makes it click for me.