1001 Albums Summary

I remember exactly where I was when I heard this album from the first time. The album had just dropped a few months before maybe and I was transporting a foster child for the Agency I worked for. He asked if he could play a cassette inn the car and it was this. So we checked it out over the long drive and he was WAY into it. Eminem was a complete departure from anything that had come before. And these songs are ballads for the lost and forgotten and the hurt. To see it through the eyes of that foster child as my initial taste of Eminem earned me as an early fan, and I still think he's terrific. A master.

That first track has the weirdest background noises that I am pretty sure are the same as Legend of Zelda II on the OG Nintendo NES! Hahah. Track two brings on the flute bounce which is pretty stressful. Anyhow, overall, I think if I never heard Annie Lenox sing to me again, that would be fine. Glad she's out there and I hope she made someone happy.

It has taken me some time to find a day where I could commit to a 42 song album. They certainly were generous with. music length and I think a price should be given for that alone! This is, of course, a classic bluegrass album that came closer to any other to making bluegrass standards mainstream than any other effort I am aware of. NGDB was certainly a part of the soundtrack of my childhood and these songs, many of them old, have been played throughout Appalachia for time immemorial. I am a fan, but can't say I will often seek this one out in the future. Good to hear.

This is one of the greatest live albums ever made. What Cash did in this album to a higher degree than I have ever heard is that he spoke to the prisoners from *their* point of view as peers. Listen to the humor, the politeness, and the anti-authoritarian comments. And the crowd responds incredibly because it was so rare for anyone to treat them this way. I've listened to this album scores of times over my life. It is one of the greatest examples of artistic empathy I know. I love Johnny Cash and I definitely love this album. I bet a lot of those guys were seeing June Carter on the back of their eyelids as they fell asleep that night. Worth going to prison for to see this performance? Maybe.

It's catchy, but doesn't have nearly the depth of her more recent albums which I find excellent. She's developed a ton since this was dropped in 2014-- and I think for the better.

This is kind of a monotonous and brooding album, but it is totally listenable in the background. Not much breaks through the hum. It is exactly what I think of when I think of this band.

I vacillate between thinking they are one of the greatest bands of my time to thinking that they are completely devoid of meaning and have an overly simulated sound. It's wild, but I've never really settled that internal debate. I loved this album when it came out and I think I was completely awestruck. I still think it sounds great.

It's very hard to listen to the album without thinking back on the Fall of 1994. I was a freshman in a dorm living in Arizona when I met a quirky bright Brooklynite named David. He had grown up playing chess in Central Park and somehow made it his mission to teach me. So every night, I'd head down to his room and we'd play chess. And he taught me everything. He was constantly talking and always high strung. I didn't realize immediately that he was high on crystal meth. Anyhow, to the sounds of this album more often than not, I learned chess over a period of months. Finally I beat David at chess and then that was it. He never spoke to me again and he dropped out of school shortly thereafter. This is a long way to say that it's impossible for me to really judge the album on its own merits. But the gift of learning chess that came along with it is a debt I will always owe David-- and Tom Sawyer.

This is extremely relaxing, pleasant, comforting. I enjoyed this a lot more than ever I have Brian Eno. Not sure I'm a convert yet, but it is very good. Perhaps this is because of my recent experiences reuniting with the Hearts of Space radio program which serves up weekly ambient music now online whereas it did so when I was a kid on the radio once a week. When it's done well, ambient music can really head straight into the heart and move you.

There are the two well known and one slightly less well known radio songs on this album. Other than that, not much to tickle the brain here. I certainly respect McCartney, but probably wouldn't have gone to see him live even with free tickets.

Out of the slot, down and dirty with a little kink in the gravel vocals that pop way higher than the drum machine or the syncopation of the brassy guitar. I mean when this dropped in '84, I was 8. So some of this is seminal, emotional music that still hits me so deep. When I hear her voice, I am right back there on the edge of my seat watching Mad Max or waiting for Mom's aerobics class to end. These early tracks are etched deep into the silicon of my motherboard. Her cover of Al Green is one that put me of two minds. The drum machine is not enough for this song. The synth falters. But her voice. It does carry. The Beatles cover on Help is sort of awful. Ball of confusion earns its name and hmm there are a bunch of songs in the middle that aren't good at all. I feel that all the way through the most of the end. This is one I want to fall in love with again, but just can't.

I had this album as a little kid so it is heavily intertwined with my memories. Some of the saxophone is a little saccharin, but the keyboard and vocal sound characteristics seem timeless-- especially in light of the advent of new synthpop over the last decade especially. Hungry Like the Wolf and Save a Prayer were the ones that I remember most singing with friends on the bus or loving at the school dance. HLTW is still a windows-down, crank it up song while all the kids at the red light are desperately Shazamming it.

This is a great example of an artist and an album that is a pillar against time. This sounds as fresh to me as it must have when it was released. Her voice is so unique and so powerful that nothing can topple it. Nearly all the artists I hear held up as "queens" of music today pale in comparison. Bluesy with a little rasp and a superb range with the most comforting angels of accompaniment and a smattering of horns. The piano rich and full of butter. I Never Loved a Man is a standout to me, but there isn't a bad track on the album. It's perfect.

What a great album and sound. I definitely hear resonance with Kate Bush and The Innocence Mission. Even The Cure. I really think this is outstanding and enjoyable. Unique vocals, solid dark guitar and very nice strong basslines.

I've listened to this many times, but finally taking the time to review it. This album is so American. Springsteen is often said to be at his best on this album. I can't disagree. While it's not my favorite, it might very well be his best. Overall, it feels sad. Life coming up short. Getting older.

27 songs seems a bit much. This album is extremely cohesive-- or maybe monotonous depending on your point of view. Personally, I like the vocals and I like the horns and the hard driving beats here. But ten songs might have conveyed the point as there isn't a very wide range of the sound. I read this album as solidly punk-- and it's pretty good for the genre. So the problem is me. I just have a somewhat limited appetite for the album length in this genre by almost any punk band. A Minor Aversion is the exception here, but it's just not enough, especially because the vocals are very consistent no matter what and where.

Everything about this. The slide guitar. The fantastic honky tonk riffs. This album is top notch. This one wants me to fire up the big rig and get those 18 wheels truckin down I-10 into the arms of a stranger. It's a lullaby for cheaters and broken hearts. Fabulous piece of Americana and it was lovely to hear for the first time.

Sort of a fascinating album with 80's Peter Gabriel vibes. Really really like the track Heat Wave. Totally palatable album with outstanding vocals.

Sleeping Pills stands out for this band that has echoes of Bowie. The Next Life though is the best song on this album for me. Overall, echoes of Bowie on this album with a somewhat stronger English sound.This album doesn't outperform expectations, but does not underwhelm either. It's worthy even if I didn't find any tracks to add to my favs.

I remember when this dropped it absolutely blew my mind. I still think that is the case. Heart Skipped a beat is the best track and it is still just white hot for me. There is something so seductive and sexy about this whole album, its spare angsty duets. Shelter is another track that I just LOVE. The lyrics, her raspy voice. It's all a treat. The minor piano chords, the pacing, the tension. You can cut it with a knife.

The soundtrack of my early teenage years. I've certainly watched the film as well. I think there are still things I'm coming to terms with with this album. Aspects I do not understand. It is one of the most complex and rich albums of all time. You could teach a semester on this album.

I think of this as a central album of my growing up. It was an album I'd hear in the middle of the night and find my mom alone, maybe sipping some Grand Marnier in the Baroque barley twist chair, more often in the dark with a little fire going in the fireplace. It is a critical piece of American music, and I was filled with joy to see Joni take the stage again last month. It is somewhat difficult to talk about the songs individually. I've spent so many hours listening to this over the years. Blue is a particularly challenging song. More than anything, it encapsulates all the hardest parts of my childhood with solace and revery. Complicated. Rich. Shattered. I'm not so emotional these days as I once was, but poignant 'River' still does it. It has all the feels about the things I hoped for, still hope for, but also all the losses and the things I had to say goodbye to. I made my baby cry. We all want to skate or run or fly away from the challenges and the difficulties. When I hear it today, I hear its flaws, but also I think this album is valid. It is full of excellent points and sentimental but truthful lyrics. If you cannot respect Blue as an album, your heart is not open. Joni still has it. ❤️.

Hard to believe this is 2 decades old. Every song on this album is a masterwork and a breakthrough for rap that changed the game and level set the bar up into the sky. Triumphs. Ain't no love in the heart of the city is one of my favorites. All the references and shoutouts. Marvin Gaye, Jim Morrison, and many hauntingly beautiful samples I didn't know before I looked them up like Bobby Glenn's 'Sounds Like a Love Song'. The Blueprint is an album in my general rotation even today that I listen to when I'm feeling frustrated by everything and I want to rise above the chaos. Renegade is awesome. Eminem fits right in. Girls, girls, girls is the weak link in the album that I don't think will stand the test of time. Beasties did it on License to Ill and it doesn't hold up.

This album has some real gems, but also has some carnival music that gets a bit well, overexuberant. Elton is one of the highest grossing musicians of all times, but not all of it is great. Candle in the Wind, This Song has no Title, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and I've seen that Movie Too are all songs I can listen to fairly often. The rest I've got no patience for. Solid middle of the yellow brick road 3.

It's such a sweet album. I think only because of all the memories listening to it on vinyl as a kid, it gets a 4. All my single mother's occasional heartaches come back in waves listening to Reason to Believe.

This is an album that is of the highest significance. Although less harmonious than the rest of the album, I credit Living for the City for helping me as a child to be sensitive that life was less fair for others than it was for me, and to realize how scary that must be. I think it is one of the most important songs of the 1970's. I personally have a very small collection of vinyls that I retain and this is one of them. All in Love is Fair is the lowest point for me, but it's still extremely good. Near perfect album.

Quite a few great songs on here, but also a collection of dull repetitive ones. I like all the hits and I sort of dislike the rest save for a few sleepers like Alive. Daft Punk hit with a sound of their own that was exciting and emulated in the clubs at the time. This music got a ton of asses shaking.

The walking blues in Shine on You Crazy Diamond as you hit the cold mechanical noise of Welcome to the Machine is a high point for me. I find Welcome to the Machine to be one of the most alienating and terrifying songs of all times, but then you are in it after a few seconds and you know they've been waiting for you. Have a cigar takes you into the dilapidated excesses of capitalism and says oh these machinations are fine, you're one of us. Ugh, but do I wanna be!?? Then when you hit Wish You Were Here for real, all of it gets stripped bare and laid to the simple acoustic. It is not only the namesake of this seminal album, but also one of the more endearing songs that Pink Floyd put out. It's the one where you know you are quietly with the tribe. A little sadness. A little nostalgia. Your heroes for ghosts. Hot ashes for trees. Hot air for a cool breeze. It is a salve and also a mourning for what we've lost to the organized and dominating machinations of power that roll over us, the quotidian proles. Shine on. It is an excellent one.

Tell me a greater album in rock history. There is no low water mark. This is 100. Every single track.

I have CLEARLY missed out on this band for far too long. Headed for a deep dive this weekend! Lush and sensual. If I were in an intergalactic spaceship, we would have this on the intercom all the time. This could also be the soundtrack to parts of a James bond film. Oompah Radar is a little too lost in the funhouse and not even in a good Twin Peaks way. They lost me a bit on this one-- but only in the weird parts.. But with Utopia, we are right back on the space ship headed for Planet Xenon as we should be and everything is right with the galaxy The final track, Horse Tears is really far too good for the world we live in. It is a musical masterpiece. Opus.

Really an impressive and interesting album that is hauntingly familiar. Someone must have played it at a party or it was in a movie or something when I was a child. In particular, there are a few notes in Autopsy that come sweeping in as near perfect. The fact that Richard Thompson was involved comes as no surprise, because it reverberates with the Richard and Linda Thompson album Bright Lights (I like Linda's voice better)! Quite pleasant overall with a few jangly tracks and an album I would not mind revisiting once in a while.

This is a terrific album. She's fairly mainstream at this point, but I do like that she breaks with the Team 'Murica country set. Not quite Outlaw Country which is most to my liking, but trending that way and I like it. Great voice. Great lyrics. Just about every song on this one is solid straight through.

This album has been popular for a long time and Mark Knopfler's voice and those screaming guitars are the reason why. I think there are better Dire Sraits songs elsewhere, but there are still a couple of tracks here that are my jam. Without the title track though, the album would come up short. I love Brothers in Arms specifically. The mournful notes before the swinging and soulful drop with its tempered drums. Finally, that Hammond B-3 that comes in is just terrific. Take me to church.

This was truly an exciting album when it hit. I feel like Paul Simon's album here was the siren call to usher out the nastiest parts of the 80's-- the unfettered capitalistic republicanism that threatened to destroy America. And for a brief ebullient moment, Simon put is in touch with out hearts. This album gave love and human kindness a reason to hope. the album reminds me of my long deceased best friend from childhood and weekends at my Dad's house. Cool. That said, it is not the best Paul Simon album in my opinion. That honor goes instead to the lesser known album 'Hearts and Bones'. And if you don't know that one, please go give it a listen.

I had high hopes at the outset because the opener hits pretty hard. Then it got a bit formulaic for me.

When you're great, everyone wants to dim your shine. Sure, they can call it Dad rock or whatever. They can say it's derivative. They're all wrong. The haters. I've seen Under the Pressure played live. And it has evolved from this early album. It is much glossier now than this bare bones version. "I'm in my finest hour. Can I be more than just a fool?" Yeah man. You are alright. The Haunting Idle is a truly epic intro and then, it leaves you there idling like a chef who uses the precisely correct amount of salt and leaves you hungry. And then Burning comes in like Rod Stewart in Young Turks and I am second guessing my defense of their originality, but then it meanders elsewhere.. Technically some of the most persuasive guitar sounds and crisp drum work from a currently working band. War on Drugs will be a band our children will know and respect. They will listen to it to try to understand who we were. This album is a great example of why I love music.

That instant at the beginning when the tapping starts. Do you remember where you were the first time you heard it? I definitely do. It was a crazy time in town. They said in the summer of '91 some of the local kids were going nuts (wasn't me), staying up late and doing wild things. Lock your doors at night they were saying. And that muted trumpet and the tonguing of the sax that emerges full on is all *yeah*. It occurs to me that this is possibly the only flute album besides Carlos Nakai that I like. It occurs to me that Empty Pages is a straight up JAM! All of disk 1 reminiscent of some kids and their wild days of footloose and fancy free (certainly not me). Disk 2 jumps right in there with that little Greg Allman style riff and takes off from there. The second version of JBMD is the better of the two and it is amazing. Solid folk and a lot of finger picking too. Medicated Goo is a definitive low point. And the second disk does drop off a good bit, but it's not enough to negate the accomplishment of the first disk. This is a significant and important album that was the soundtrack of a lot of wild shenanigans (definitely not mine).

This album can be hard for me to listen to sometimes, and not for the usual philistine bullshit complaints about Bob Dylan. It's written in the language of an America that our country mostly forgot how to speak. And it's the only language I know, so it makes me feel somewhat lonesome because there's no one left to talk to most days. This album is so good and so close to home for me, it's painful to listen to it. Tangled up in Blue is easily a song I've listened to hundreds of times. I long for her and miss her as he tells me about this love affair that won't let him go across time and place with the coolest woman in the world. Just devastatingly unrequited love. Man, I get it. Simple Twist of Fate keeps up the melancholy reminisce for me. Just gorgeous. This is Dylan at his finest. Lush and spare at the same time. "Time is a jetplane. It moves too fast." Some of the jingly harmonica songs aren't as good. I can listen to them, but they do detract from the overall quality of the music and they seem tone deaf next to the *masterworks* that also include: Meet Me In The Morning and If You See Her Say Hello (will you please say hello from me as well?), and Shelter From The Storm AND of course, the inimitable Buckets of Rain. Buckets of Rain frequently moves me close to the point of tears. I mean, Buckets of Moonbeams in my Hands. I've seen pretty people disappear like smoke. These lyrics, as many many times as I've heard them, are always fresh and always cut right to my spirit and remind me where to place my feet in the neverending pursuit of the righteous path of love.

From the minute it drops. You know. This album is going to rick and it just changed everything about music. I'm right back there with my first girlfriend in her mom's basement. Her black hair, smelling like apricots. We had such high hopes for Cobain right out of the box and somehow we wound up with Hole as the consolation. That baseline on Teen Spirit. If that doesn't make your sap rise, are you really born in the 1970's? Hello hello hello. Come as you are is the ultimate. You wanna drive. You wanna do stuff. Still a jam and hits hard today. I've been really careful not to listen to this album for years so that when I do, I can jump in a time machine and it isn't worn out. This is music at the core of our generation. Love it!!

Oh no. This is like listening to a Yoko Ono album. Terrible lyrics, maddening transitions, painful vocal noise. Sounds like near the rock bottom drug spiral album or maybe like the midlife crisis album. Or maybe this was an album intended to stick it to a bad contract with a record label. If I could sum it up with one word: alarming.

All I Want to Be and Wind of Change were the low water mark for me on this album. Baby I Love Your Way is sounding schmaltzy now though it was definitely the stuff of slow dances in middle school. I Wanna Go to the Sun is pretty miserable. Money, Shine On is the same. The Only song that stands for me is Do you feel, and honestly I feel it's gimmicky.

Wildly different from my expectations. I kind of think of RM as the band that brought me my favorite 80's song, "More Than This". Imagine my surprise to find this weird rock amalgam album. Not unpleasant, but also not the hoped for new hidden personal anthems.

This is a major album because it was a huge departure for rap. NWA came out swinging and every PTA in the country was freaking out. It was like Black Sabbath all over again but black. That said, it was a huge album also because it started to say the things that needed to be said and nobody was saying loudly enough (or no one was listening). Kudos to Ice Cube, EZE, and Dre for starting a conversation about Los Angeles that was a catalyst for change and has ultimately set into motion the many other changes in our country like taking down the statues and police reform. This album changed music putting Gangsta Rap on the map setting the stage for later major albums like Fear of a Black Planet. Awesome.

I dug in and enjoyed it. I consider Yes to be a sort of minor band in my pantheon, but it was enjoyable and melodic. Everything I expected and the hits I love, especially I've Seen All Good People were cool to revisit.

This album is great! A Forest, M, and At Night are songs I already know and love. But Secrets and Your House are totally new to me and I love these!!! All those discordant notes and minor chords are just excellent. I did not know that there were songs this good by The Cure I had not yet heard. I always thought I was an early adaptor having started in with the Cure with the vinyl of Three Imaginary Boys which dropped in 1979, just barely ahead of this. Somehow I never heard this one!!

This album is a bit of a euphoric hot mess. So many minor chords and weird noise. Not really my thing, but sort of harmless and interesting. It seems like something composed by someone who spent too much time alone.

This was definitely a breakthrough album that gave voice to the feelings of teenage gamers surfing waves of Mountain Dew and Red Bull and eating fireballs in basements across America. The middle of the album By Myself and the obvious In the End are both great anthems to hopelessness. not for me, but I fully understand that this was the kickoff of a needed genre.

There are so many little short songs! Loved the intro to "Roller Coasters", the psychedelic surf rock vibes really lead you down the spiral alongside the other deeply laid background effects. Singer taking a background to this and the ephemeral tempo shifts are very very enticing. That said, this music that my parents would have dug, for me had its moment and while historically important isn't compelling.

Mr. Soul is a killer intro. I love NY and this song never disappoints. Hippy hippy shake guitar solos just shredding. Expecting to Fly is so evocative and makes me think about the inevitable loss of love. Songs like Hung Upside Down don't hold up too well and seem pretty threadbare. By the time you get to Sad Memory, ugh, it's like everyone left the party except me, this guitar, and this bottle of booze and a little smoke rising from a nub of incense. Overall, this is a familiar album that has not endured the years as well as other Neil Young efforts have. Broken Arrow is possibly an exception where his voice is straight and true and rises high. I love that one.

The headline in the LA Times says all I can say about Clapton (including 'Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs' at this waning stage of his career.. "Vaccinated but anti-vaccine, Eric Clapton tests positive for COVID-19". Perhaps a 'Lost Sailor', his contributions are fading into the mists of time on this 42 year old album. Some of the backup vocals do stand the test of time. Thanks for the add to the group. -neurorocker

The last time I heard this album deeply was in 1996 when I was dating a girl from Tulsa whose daddy was a CEO at a big pharma company and now just as then, the music and the girl left a lot to be desired. A studio band a girl that were a veneer of what you hoped. Vapid. Light on content. Superficial.

Not an album I've ever heard before. In the past I've felt about Joy Division the way many people feel about Morrissey (I like most of Morrissey). I always hoped that Joy Division would contextualize for me and have their moment knowing how influential they are. While I'm not a huge fan of the sound of Curtis' vocals (like a less talented Ian Asbury), I discovered some bass-lines and guitar I enjoyed more than on prior forays into the Joy Division catalog. Occasionally, the guitar was as good as some of the best Cure songs (Twenty Four Hours).

When I think back to Judas Priest, I feel like everyone called it heavy metal, and maybe it is, but it just seems like a hardworking rock band to me now. The album and the band were much better than I remembered. The relentless pounding rhythms in Steeler were excellent. There were a few popular tunes like Breakin the Law that I remembered with some fondness. These were counterbalanced by the dreck of United and Red, White & Blue which were both difficult to chew through. Not sure I would be up for a deeper dive of JP, but it was interesting to hear some of the sounds countering my internal narrative about this band.

I remember when this band was pretty hot and I couldn't find the glory in it then. I gave it a shot again this morning and I'm still a no. This polyphonic sound wall is not for me.

Best part is the guitar homage to Eye of the Tiger on Bootylicious. Other than that just wracked my brain to determine which auto-tuned keyboard song hurt my ears most. Brown Eyes was the one I finally landed on. That song seems like the soundtrack I would need if I took up full time inspiration porn on my Pinterest board. Happy Face was a very close second. I struggled to dislike one more than the other. The spoken word xian gospel lyrics were just salt in the wound.

They tried to warn us. I remember the exact moment when I first heard this album. I was on a bus bouncing through the back roads of the South San Juan Mountains of Colorado. This was the last album I heard before 24 days of hardcore alpine mountaineering with a crew of five dudes, ice axes, lines, and brand new boots. Hundreds of miles and weeks later and the lyrics were still bouncing around in my brain as they had all along the trail. The album stands. It was way ahead of its time. Probably is still ahead of its time and inaccessible to a lot of Americans who will never understand. Game-changer.

The first notes are so melancholy and moving. A worthy start for one of the most talented American performers, taken from us way too soon and so tragically (https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/mar/19/popandrock.elliottsmith). I'm trying to remember which ex-girlfriend it was that introduced me to Elliott Smith. Might have been Sasha or maybe Erica. Probably it was Jen. But it was a long time ago, and the love affair with this music went on far longer than the relationship with her ever did (somebody that I used to know). Individually through the magic of Napster, I have quite a few of the individual tracks if Figure 8 in my collection, but there are unheard tracks here. Junk Bond. This is new to me and it swings. Guitars like church gongs in the first stanza. Easy Way Out = 💔. Damn. It's very hard not to like an Elliot Smith album. I've never heard anyone say oh I hate Elliot Smith. I think that's because you have to love music to even get introduced to Elliot Smith. And since anyone who really loves music loves Elliot Smith, no one really dislikes his music. A very quiet massive figure and this album is beautiful. Top notch. Bye.

This is a solid Depeche Mode album. Not something I would listen to frequently, but it definitely has its time and place.

This has to be the best band with the worst vocals I can think of in this genre.

This is an album that has expired. I get that this is the basis of rock and roll, but it's just all bleached bones to me now to hear. My Dad would be tapping his foot!

The opening is regal with the strings and acoustic. A lush, calm, and exquisite entrance. Second track definitely feels like Drake songs I know, sets a quickened pace and we are off. I love the sax in Chimes of a City Clock, a track I've loved a long time. It is a very mature sound far from the reckless abandon of 80's sax. Perfectly understated and not saccharin. I'm sure I am not alone in thinking that 'Fly' is superb. I feel the early notes of 'Poor Boy' are the weakest section of the album, the melody getting lost a bit with over-complex transitions. The angelic background singing pulls it all back together, however, and then this triumph rises to a completely harmonized sonic tunnel that gives way to a just slightly dirtier sax outburst and I'm all in! Northern Sky is excellent and an all time favorite. The album ends on a low note for me as it barely averts drifting into 70's schmaltz.

It's one of these major albums that changed music. Clapton is a person who I have so many personal disagreements with that I find him a bit hard to stomach and I think his dangerous opinions will ultimately dilute his popularity as a musician.

This was a pretty solid Morrissey album. I have a limited subset of his songs in my general rotation and none of these are them. Mostly rock and with predictable rhythms, but with that trademark voice that I like and the rambling and the weird noise that I also like. Overall, just a solid album. My favorite part was the piano nod at the very end to Sing me to Sleep, a great song and worthy of the musical hat tip.

Love all the old classics, didn't hear a lot that I hadn't listened to extensively here in the past. There was the one exception though, loved 'Oddfellows Local 151' which is a song that if not new to me I've not often heard!! Great track. Solid album, great band. I recall partying in Athens and hearing the locals down there rave about what great guys they are. Always amplifies a band in my opinion if they're good people.

In 1998, I was graduating from college. I was 21 and the world was full of promise. This album was barely a blip on my radar at the time and failed to rise above the many other outstanding albums that were coming out. I was deep into downloading and accumulated much of the incredible library I now enjoy. Still not doing it for me.

Just a solid rock album through and through for every song. Thoroughly enjoyed this Friday "full send" album that gets the work done!

Nice to hear a Def Leppard album. The only time I saw the band was in 2006 or so. I was in the front row and center with a buddy and ended up partying in the hotel room with one of the guys from the band in New Orleans. It was an epic and unforgettable night. I enjoyed this album quite a bit!

This is a fabulous album. The driving beats and the excellent guitar work perfectly tuned to the vocals all combine for an absolute smash. Something about this music makes me feel comfortable and at home in my skin. I'm so psyched to go see two nights of AF later this year!

It's a huge evolution that we see on this album against the Destiny's Child album heard recently. And, I appreciate the changes. It's clear that Beyonce grew as an artist between the two albums. That said, songs like 'Rocket' still sound like they are in church, and I really dislike that vocal style. Overall, not for me, but maybe the next one??

This is top shelf rock. Funny thing about this album by the greatest rock band of all time. The first track sucks. But after that... We are off and the redemption is immediate with The Rover. In My Time of Dying is a slow start and then leaps into the tight little guitar spins and quick tempo interchanges. Drums are slammin. Eventually we wend our way to Kashmir which could very well be my favorite song by my favorite band. It's an anthem and I love the Tolkien imagery as well as the strings. Legendary stuff of rock. Disc 2 is off with a bang as In the Light hits us with the heavy guitars and the total optimism halfway through. This song brings hope. Bron Yr Ar takes me back to my early teenage years, eyes full of hope and trepidation. And we swing into the hazy lazy Down By the Riverside. Ten Years Gone reminds me of my dead best friend (we used to listen to Zeppelin all the time for years before he was swept away). The backs of so many cars. So many basements. Campfires. All the excellent nights. "Rivers always reach the sea".

I'm so glad to see this album! This is one of the best Neil Young albums and almost no one knows it well. The best part of this album for me is that I discovered it myself later in life (in my 40's), so it isn't intertwined with complex teenage memories. I know every inch of it and love it so much. That Wurlitzer on See the Sky About to Rain combined with the slide is just... too perfect. The banjo on For the Turnstyles is just classic and portends banjo on later songs like Old King. Good thing I have this album in my collection since Neil Young is *still* way to good for Spotify!!!

This is such a funky and fun Talking Heads album. Classic Byrne bouncing around, seemingly having fun, but technically sound!

Sebadoh is kind of like Pavement. I know they are out there, I know people love to listen to it, but mostly it doesn't do it for me. I always feel like I must be missing something, and indeed sometimes a band will suddenly contextualize for me, so I'll just say, I'm not quite ready for Sebadoh if this album is representative.

I just didn't like this one at all... :(

CCR managed to always give the Southern fried rock served up without the racism. This album is a solid one packed full of the hits that defined the band and got radio play for decades. Liked it, even if the sound is becoming a bit tired and dated. Lots to be nostalgic for and a good tight album with many important songs.

Our Lips are Sealed was one we had on 45 with We Got the Beat! I distinctly remember the family dancing to it. So, it was very nice to revisit this album that came out when I was 6! It is even better than I remember it. The sound has actually not only held up, but sounds incredible keeping pace with some of the hottest music. It's still edgy, tight licks, and hot chicks. The guitar on Lust to Love is especially kick@$$.

This was much better than I was expecting! I really enjoyed all of it! Lots of cowbell.

I have actually listened to a couple CB albums in the past. I liked that opening track which was a classic. Despite the funky name, this band is pretty conventional with a whiff of the 60's psychedelic style into Zig Zag Wanderer. That whiff turns into a full odor by the time you get to Dropout Boogie. I'm Glad makes a complete shift to RNB and that's kind of weird. By electricity, we are back to the gimmicky psychedelic soul replete with therimin. Is that what I'm hearing?? Anyhow, the last ten songs seem to blur together into an ooze and others overheard this and said, that must be the worst music I've ever heard!

Maybe it was growing up to him on the warm sound of spinning vinyls. Maybe it was people spontaneously singing the lyrics around me. I'll always have a home for the too often reviled Dylan. This album is a masterwork. A lullaby by its end and so many of the greatest hits are on it. Dylan is indeed a prince and an American icon. That said, I finally went to see him at Jazzfest one year. The swamp was so hot that I ended up 10,000 miles away from the jumbotron smashed between de-shirted frat bros, and it made me reconsider. All of those images were in my head as I enjoyed some of the lesser known tracks. Stellar artist and a great example.

Don't tell anyone about this album which is by far and away one of the greatest kept secrets in music. I have listened to it hundreds of times and it just never lets me down. It was like revisiting an old friend with whom you never quarrel. The transition to Calvary Cross has to be one of the greatest in modern music history. Try not to cry when the existential wall hits you and you now know there is 'Nothing at the End of the Rainbow'. I always want to know more. Who were the Thompsons? Why were they so good? How come they never got famous? But I decided a long time ago intentionally NOT to open any of those boxes and potentially spoil the music. So dense and each song standing so alone that every song is like an album. If I was trapped on a desert island and could only have five albums, this would probably be one of them.

This is an album that should mean so much to me as a red-blooded American, but doesn't There is a track or two that is excellent.. Okay, Born to Run is excellent. The rest is just okay. If there isn't a freight train runnin through the middle of my bed, it just isn't Bruce enough for me. Just okay.

When I was a kid, this was a 5. I knew every word and we often sang songs from it on our many drives between Washington DC and home shuttling between parents. I think now it has faded for me, possibly fueled by angst and resentment. lol. #overshare.

Mid-college album for me in Northern Arizona enjoying the Southwest and definitely finding all the clubs between Houston and Phoenix. This album was highly relevant for a couple of months in '96 starting in Texas for me and then carrying on for a few years. And a lot of events occurred with its birth that were terribly exciting. It calls up girls in leather catsuits and limos and other things that won't now be transcribed in detail from the thankfully analogue experiences of then to the digital AI superstructure of now. Needless to say, a wonderful pacifying album for some extremely interesting times. I know every song of this like the curves of Schnebly Hill Road or the vintage 70's couches of East Flagstaff or the Kingfisher's bar in Tucson. Mmm. This was a ground-breaking album that erupted and shattered the late grunge era of that year with a fresh sound. And this sound has basically persisted for decades in some genres though never as good as the first time. There is no bad song on this album. Wrong is my favorite with wherever you go I will follow you, but also Mirrorball is a hot track. Bringing back almost a bit too many memories!!

I did not find this particularly to my taste and I really love 80's music and had high hopes.

There were like 800 songs on this album! It was a fun punkstravaganza. Several quiet or thoughtful tracks alongside the more traditional fodder.

I love Kind of Blue. Though I've slogged through this album any of a number of times (and even studied it in college), it just has not contextualized for me yet. Really respect Miles Davis, but this one is very difficult.

It was a groovy journey with a few tracks that rose above. Bit too much flute for my taste!

I've always struggled with Bad Brains even though people I deeply respect love this group. So, I always try to dip in and try them periodically. So glad I did. This was way better than previous engagements. She's Calling you was the highlight. Lots of very tight timing changes.

Tonight the Bottle Let me Down is surely the best track here and portends the better music that Haggard made later in his career. Just kidding, that's not on this album. Haggard, usually a country star favorite of mine from the early outlaw subgenre is music I usually love, but this album was just too early in his development to give me much to get excited about.

A very solid Brit punk album from a band I did not know. Overall, it is a classic. I still have my top favorite punk albums and this won't be in it, but I can see why this band is considered highly innovative. The driving drums combined with the various singing styles were the highlight for me.

Is it RNB? Am I on a spacecraft? Is this an opera or is the orchestra tuning up their instruments? Somewhere in between?? Although I really dislike RNB, I found myself somehow entranced by this album which passes somewhere from this halls into another intergalactic dimension and it held my interest. I feel like I could give this one a few more listens as it was pretty fascinating.

It's a stunning and beautiful album. Many of the songs I know very well, but others are new to me. If Tom Waits is new to you, I am so sorry you didn't grow up with it on the record player as I was so lucky to do then and now too. His voice and his sound are embedded into the soul fabric of my music heart. I love to hear it. If you've never seen it, please watch this Tom Waits video as it will make you laugh and just shows his range, his depth, and his humor! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9NWUqR5w_A

Kind of a fun trashy punk 'n' hair band. I can see why this album has some swag and I really enjoyed it for the most part. Some of the lyrics are a bit top heavy on sniffing glue, but otherwise, I surprised myself by enjoying and humming a long to it more than I expected! The clean interludes on 'Vietnamese Baby' were technically great. 'Subway Train' was catchy.

Of the many things I love about Little Richard, these songs aren't any of them. I think this is certainly where I must have first encountered this interesting and electrifying persona, but probably not the one I remember most. If you aren't watching him do his thing in a video, the music just cannot fully convey his entirety.

This is that edgy over-produced sound that just has bro time in the Jeep Wrangler off-roading reverberating out of every melody. Not as good as 311 or Daft Punk, but just sort of nipping at their heels.

The Jam is great and this album has most of the songs by them that I remember and like. I always think of this as New Wave, but Wiki calls it punk perhaps owing to the undefinable but totally recognizable vocal sound. So English. Great album.

The title track definitely runs away with the album and then you hit a string of WTF. Blue Turk is like an awful Doors song would sound if you had your head under water. I deeply regret that I had to listen to this twice to pen these conclusions.

This album got played to death when I was a kid-- and it sounds pretty wilted to me today. I was not happy with his recent forays as described on a recent Reddit thread, "Van Morrison released his new album 'Latest Record Project' and backlash immediately followed. The album included anti-lockdown and antisemitic lyrics. In the song 'Where Have All The Rebels Gone?' he sings about how rockstars should appose the coronavirus lockdowns. In 'They Own The Media' there are lyrics relating to conspiracy theories of Jews secretly running the media(Jews aren't specifically mentioned but it is pretty clear what he's implying)." This is probably the last time I'll intentionally give one of his albums airplay. What a d**k.

This is by far and away the best album produced by Air that I have heard. Listening to it is like watching a movie-- so cinematic and dreamlike in its dialogues. I've heard it a thousand times and briefly entered a period of my life when I listened to it repeatedly. Air has other great albums as well, so if you are a newcomer to their sound, I definitely encourage exploration!

By the time we get to this album, Taylor Swift has been through many changes. She got out from under the thumb of her original management, and has matured incredibly. And it's not just that I'm friends with her bass player, Amos (humble brag), but I do think the music shows her maturity and her willingness to grow far from the place where she started. This album is haunting, well made and has terrific guest vocals. The lyrics are surprisingly powerful. I've listened to it quite a few times prior to Friday, but continue to enjoy it quite a bit.

When it dropped, I felt very let down. I had wanted a reprise to Pretty Hate Machine, an album with outsize influence on my probably owing to all the time I spent with girlfriend Joanna listening to it. But in this album, they seemed to lose the melody with the exception of 'Piggy' which is a terrific song, but with lyrics that for some reason offended me then. I like that sound now, words and all. Nothing can stop me now. Closer on this album is pretty epic and definitely was an important early college song that got a lot of air time at parties etc. Hurt left me feeling shattered. Still does. I leaned on that song in hard times and I still do. It's an important one. When Johnny Cash did it, I felt like Gen X had been fully vindicated by the aging boomers. It was a nod and a passing of the torch. It's a gorgeous empire of dirt.

On the one hand, this Southern fried album has a lot of great tracks that I remember from growing up and listening to it in the South. On the other hand, it's hard to ignore the rift between the band and Neil Young (though he would later come to temper that somewhat). But Neil was spot on that the band was racist and rocking the confederate flag at their shows. After everything that has happened in our country since this came out, I can honestly say, it's hate not heritage-- and that makes it hard to want to hear.

It's a brief but comfortable ride into the disco funk vibe and I dig it. The horns in 'I Want Your Love' was the high water mark for me. Technically solid and tight-- a tasty jam. I seem to remember Le Freak as the standout hit from the album, but overall, it was unfamiliar to me otherwise and underplayed.

This album is a heartsong that speaks to the places I emerged from: slow, rural, earthy. It is interesting to read her story as an adopted child born in NYC and then being raised in L.A., finally landing in Nashville. I was somewhat sorry I did because I always thought her voice came from the kind of place I did, but it turns out that's not the case. That created a dialogue about authenticity for me, but nonetheless, an album like this by a woman whose biological mother may have grown up in the mountains of North Carolina still feels like she never left those blue hills. Or maybe has strived so hard to find them. I know the feeling.

I know this is one of those that I should enjoy but don't. Father of the blues and all that. I'm a nope for Muddy Waters.

Excellent album. Loved the vocals with Tricky and whoever that is that was in Everything But the Girl. I could listen to this one quite often.

It shouldn't be controversial to say that Morrissey has one of the best voices of his era, but apparently it is for some. The Meat is Murder album is not my top favorite Smiths albums but has a lot of melodic songs that take me back to the early 90's when I was listening to the Smiths on repeat. It's hard to believe this album dates to 1985 and is only their second! Morrissey had really hit hist stride here and the driving tinny drums and groovy little guitar riffs way behind the vocals that form the mechanics of the trademark sound were already falling well into place. It is an excellent album that would blend well with almost any circumstance. Well I Wonder seems to be the best track on the album, because it has a more thoughtful rhythm, more melancholic passion, and lots of transitions and drops to keep it interesting and multi-dimensional. Overall, excellent.

This is a wonderful album. I was right on this the minute it left Glasgow way back and once upon a time. There were other albums made, but this was the one that got me. Dylan in the Movies is the one I loved most. We were listening to it at the deluxe parties at the house on Park Street. You can't say it rocked, but it was different and alluring and it was luxurious to see all those drop dead gorgeous women vibing to it. Wish I could go back to one of those parties and hear it all again, once more, for the very first time.

I'm actually now dead inside. Someone resuscitate me. Like Ween had a lovechild with Peter Paul and Mary and had no sense of humor. Or like 72 acquaintances were like, hey everybody write a song that sounds completely like it should be on its own album and we'll turn it into an album that goes on forever and ever. I have deep regrets having exposed myself to this. I think this is a strong contender for the absolute worst album of all time! Perhaps that is its significance. Give me the worst of Frank Zappa. Give me Grateful Dead space all day. They Might Be Giants studio outtakes. Anything but this. Okay, on disk 2, perhaps it is telling that I fell for the track "No One Will Ever Love You". This is a great piece of music. By the time we get to Washington, D.C., I'm actually feeling a little offended. Honestly, how can you canonize my beloved city in such an audibly destructive manner? Rough.

OG album. What's not to like!?

Just a tour de force. It was my kids that got me listening to Adele in the last few years. They are always excited to hear her so by extension, so am I! This album is the best I've heard and it is a stable around us.

A favorite. This is arguably the best Jamiroquai album when they were really at their peak. The music had smoothened from the earlier albums and was more authentic than the later ones. Sometimes the rhythmic juxtaposition and transitions aren't very listenable and I think that's heard the most on 'Hooked Up' and 'Whatever it is, I Just Can't Stop'. 'Too Young to Die' and the flirty 'Blow Your Mind'. Nice album to revisit. Always pleasant, enjoyable and fun. Great driving album.

I could not distinguish this album from all the other punk albums out there.

I enjoy the depth and tenor of Nick Cave, but there are very few songs that he performs that I enjoy. I found none that wanted for a return listen on this album whatsoever.

This is an album that represents the launch of an entire era of music. It is highly significant in that context and some songs were a massive departure from everything before and landed solidly in the late 80's-- particularly Bad, Man in the Mirror, Dirty Diana, Smooth Criminal, and Leave me Alone exemplify this. Off the Wall and of course Thriller had set these wheels in motion, and in many ways, it is Thriller that is the standout for originality and shapeshifting music thinking. But it's also really important to remember that by the time this album had come out, a lot of the 80's sounds had already been codified. And Michael Jackson had been playing quite a long time and had witnessed firsthand the role of the black American musician that started in RnB and rock and roll in the 50's push into these new areas-- and Jackson was able to move with it transcending the chorus of voices of his siblings into the rockstar and international pop sensation-- something unparalleled in black music at the time. Bad is a solid album although it is not as pleasing to hear now that so many years have passed and styles have frayed.

This album was terrific! Although it is not my personal favorite group of Cure songs (for example, I could listen to All Cats are Grey all day), it is very good. I think almost any Cure album is a four for me! Having seen them live in the last couple years, it now brings back memories of that wonderful evening outside listening to some of my very favorite musicians.

The album drags hard until you hit 'Let Me Love You Like a Woman'. This song hits the velvety regal character that I have come to expect from Lana. It loses momentum again on 'Wild at Heart'. She's a dead ringer for Joni Mitchell on "For Free" which is a neat trick and not easily done. I'm actually a huge fan, so it pains me to rate it this way. What happened here?

This album is so smooth, you probably wouldn't notice if it let your daughter in backstage and took advantage of her age and power dynamic. Oh wait, that's Win Butler, not the album. Super hard not to intermingle the uncoolness of the recent allegations against Butler by four fans aged 18-23 versus the album. Butler's statement to Pitchfork is pretty pathetic: "I’m sorry I wasn’t more aware and tuned in to the effect I have on people - I fucked up, and while not an excuse, I will continue to look forward and heal what can be healed, and learn from past experiences." So for that reason, I say boycott AF. And just in case that seems flippant, I recently refunded two nights of tix for their DC show.

Solid album. About as close to the best American band of all time as I have ever found. Greatest musical regret is not seeing them live. Gallow's Pole, Tangerine, it's hard to pick a favorite. Maybe That's the Way is the one. Hats Off to Roy is the weakest track and it's still pretty good based on originality alone. Easy 5 for me.

Slips in with a characteristic droning sound though I've never heard it before. Immediately like the downbeat vibes. Second track lightens up and then Kim Gordon starts whispering to me. I feel like I could listen to her voice in conversation for about 100 years. Everything about it I like, even when she's screaming or just falling apart a la, "Can I have the car keys.. I wanna go for a ride" on Drive which is an absolute turn it up to 11 favorite from the album Dirty. Shadow of a Doubt is sweet with just a little hint of chaos. Starpower is really good. Gordon is kind of singing around you, not to you on this one. In The Kingdom sounds like a less-deep-fried Southern Culture on the Skids. A big bad voodoo Cadillac headed right for the edge of the cliff and we're just gonna go ahead and keep the gas all the f*****g way down. Secret Girl is like a haunted house and someone is playing a toy piano in the attic. You're not gonna hear this kind of music anywhere else but in a SY album. Just so singular and authentic. Minor chords, crisp high hat, far away singing, heavy heavy guitars, and all manner of unexpected chaos. Can't be a 5, but I absolutely love it. Gorgeous.

Meh.

Delicious, smooth and soothing album! I love music like this album and I think it has stood the test of time far better than other genres. Some of the slow ones are a little cheesy.

I find this kind of saccharine high drama symphonic music really grating. Her voice dos nothing for me. I think this album may be geared toward the German Musical enthusiast set. The only thing worse are the terrible lyrics. Anything with Tom Waits association I always figured I would love, but I suppose rules are made to be broken. Blech. Excuse me while I bleach my earholes.

Moments on the verge of greatness, but mostly an album full of misses and a little too much cheese. Synths are dated and the cadences and changeups are a little bouncy.

This is great. Kind of like Smiths meet Coldplay and The Cure.

This album was a touch early in the evolution of rock / RnB for me. Very tough to relate in any meaningful way.

It's a classic 80's album that got a ton of airplay in my childhood. It was so light-hearted and surface that it made a weird soundtrack to the young Gen X'ers growing up. I'm in Touch With Your World is the worst of it quickly followed by Doncha Stop which is also bad. Bye Bye Love has stood the test of time better than others, but then the guitar riffs and keyboard in the beginning of Moving in Stereo are still also pretty epic. This is a solid and outstanding 80's album. All Mixed Up should have been left off the album.

This is okay. Kind of like Jay-Z with way more gratuitous swearing. Parts seem very interesting with good samples, but I don't quite see how this is a breakthrough in music.

If this album has a redeeming quality I could not find it.. Disappointing to have to suffer through not one but two disks.

'The Sound Of Someone You Love Who Is Going Away And It Doesn't Matter' is the clear standout on this album and also its redemption. It's no wonder at 11:46!! That keyboard is just a delight tickling all the keys in your brain and 'strings make everybody feel everything'. It's a gorgeous and lush song--until they drive it off the god damned cliff 7 and a 1/2 minutes in. Hugebaby is also good and they manage not to fuck it up. Chartered Flight is fair. I could do with less standup bass plucking.

It was very hard for me to discriminate as to why this is a standout probably owing to my lack of deep exposure to this genre. To me it sounded like every other album of the type that I've heard at restaurants and clubs. Pleasant, but nothing special.

This is one I grew up with on vinyl and eventually bought my own copy on vinyl. It is a very important and solid album. The Wind Cries Mary is my personal favorite as it's a little more harmonious than some of the others. That's my favorite Jimi.. The man who gives us his luxurious voice accompanied by groovy guitars. I resonate more with this Jimi than the screaming guitars and feedback or the quickfire pace of Manic Depression or Third Stone from the Sun. I once had a very serious head-on collision to Watchtower and to be honest even though I have nothing against it, I really haven't listened too much to his music since that time-- at 15. Just because it brings back that horrific crash.

Hated this one.

This is primo. The top grade Gen X mainline critical. A near perfect album from the cover art to every lyric. You can reject him for the unique voice or the words, but honestly who besides Cobain and Vetter caught the zeitgeist better than this? Top stuff.

Technically terrific album. Plenty of talent and a great sound. But I'm a no. I'll side with against this-- again. https://www.mcgilldaily.com/2022/11/a-reckoning-within-the-arcade-fire-fandom/

It's probably my least favorite Beck album which is to say still pretty awesome and certainly a portent of the incredible magic which has followed this amazing creature and his band. Beck is a wizard and a joy to see in concert. As an aside, I was pretty impressed when he sided with principles instead of money and cancelled Arcade Fire by leaving the tour.

Top album. Water of Love, Sixblade Knife, and Wild West End are some of the least mainstream yet most slammin' Knopfler tunes. Sultans of Swing is worn out from the radio burning it down, but a great tune. I remember way back in the day having one hell of a love affair with a gorgeous woman whose favorite tune was Wild West End. Ha! That one conjures some memories! I'm a pretty unabashed Dire Straits song. The guitar alchemy of it all.

I feel like I may have heard Grant Lee Buffalo a handful of times as a teenager and blown it off. I was mightily impressed to hear it with a more mature outlook. The vocals were slightly reminiscent of Bowie and I think it is a very rich and unapologetic album that stands pretty tall. I gave it two listens, because I am always intrigued with artists that I truly hear for the first time and genuinely like! This sounds authentic and technically pleasing.

Abbey Road is an album that I bought on vinyl one summer in Croatia. It was a cheap pressing, but I certainly loved it and played it often. Nice to revisit songs like Maxwell's Hammer, Come Together and so many other classics. You Never Give Me Your Money is by far and away my favorite track though not the most popular one. Still a great album.

This is funky and weird. Just a few songs, but woah that last one is erm.. long! But that last one does indeed have the best sound as it diverges from what is otherwise kind of a strange offshoot of prog rock or something. The chugging guitar licks and the weird distant vocals all come together to make something pleasing. Still think this is the last time I will ever listen to this album, but kudos for that last anthem.

This is the one Pogues album I've listened to extensively. I had a little Pogues love affair as a teen. I left this album behind in the wastebin of a misspent youth, but still kept a bit of the spirit and the dancing which is like the antidote to the dark and stormy Dropkick Murphys. Turkish Song of the Damned is sounding great with the dust knocked off and Fairytale of New York is, of course, the one track I've carried all these years and kept in my Xmas rotation sometimes getting misty of the days gone long with my first girlfriend, Jane and my great friends Lauren and Raphael. Cars big as bars and rivers of gold. Thousands are Sailing is noteworthy. Lullaby of London hits certain note sequences that also bring forth the wellspring of sentimentality. Worms is easily the low point and I assume offered up for humor. As an aside, if you've not been, please hurry and go see Ireland. They are the kindest and most compassionate people in the world. From a cultural and humanistic standpoint, it's the greatest country in the world.

I mean this is close to the highest great of American music that I can think of. Every damn song is a masterpiece. Git it, Mic!! I did notice how extremely ahead of its time Monkey Man is with that crisp and delicate piano. What a great intro! A surprise every time. You Can't Always Get What You Want. The lovely choir and the bittersweet message for me, because what if you can't get what you need either.. I dipped into this album deeply in grad school as my good friend, Dana, the half mad genius bartender at Pat O's in the French Quarter only wanted to hear the Stones. So we played it and played and lolled around the FQ for many a long night of admiring the scenery and the night blooming jasmine. Good days in NOLA with the Stones, and this album for a lot of it.

I don't necessarily like musicians just because they are well loved which I know Leonard Cohen is. My belief is that Everybody Knows is his only palatable song in spite of the cheesy keyboard. But we're not here for that. We are starting off with Bird on a Wire..I have to admit I've never heard this version of a song I associate strongly with Johnny Cash. Immediate reaction is that Cohen must've been extraordinarily young on this album as he hasn't attained the deep raspy voice of his later songs. The Story of Isaac.. this old Biblical tale. The story is old and tired and the song isn't much better. That's a hearty 'meh' from me. The Partisan is better, mostly owing to the accompanying French female vocalist. When people who hate Bob Dylan (not me) describe his voice, it reminds me of how I feel about all the vocals on this album which easily overpower the music and don't show much talent. This is maybe worse than that. Depressing. Underwhelming. I could've done without it and I still don't get Leaonard Cohen.

Interesting album. I've never been exposed to this one. I find this catchy, and as the album progressed, began to like it more and more. Definitely could see rolling down the highway to this one all alone in the desert. The vocals are unique and interesting. Drums were notably good and drive the power of the band. Guitar on She's So Loose and the song overall is very attractive and kept me in. Great chord progressions and cadence shifts. Overall, I really like this album and it was much better than I expected!

First track is the one I remember from when this dropped in 92. Second track way better than I remembered. Third track is a little so-so, the female vocal accompaniment is a little fomulaic and bouncy. The next couple are similarly poor. We pick back up with the groovy All Night Long. Here the accompanying vocals are excellent harkening back to 70s funk scene call and response. Quick and tight little piano riffs and the overall lack of lyrics help this song immensely. Step it Up is one of the tracks that got more play time when this album was hot. Still holds up pretty well. Nice sax solos, but I could always do with less flute (Jethro Tull ruined all flute for me). Pressure is way too cheesy. Chicken Shake is another nice instrumental (except for the flute flirting in and out). The next few tracks suffer from repetitive and boring beats and by now we've heard the accent of the lead vocals to the point we're getting annoyed. Nice tempo shift on the last one, but it's just not enough to overcome all the flaws. By the time I listen to is, I'm feeling pretty grateful it's the end.

Slammin'. I bet watching this album live was so hot hot hot.

This is one of those albums that made sense to some people at a certain time. It got huge air play for the couple of catchy songs it has, but overall, the album is boring and the two songs are played out.

Pleasant album with enjoyable sounds throughout!

It was about July of 1989 when I heard this album and I remember exactly where I was. I was in the Finger Lakes region of New York with the people of my childhood hero, Karl Johnson. We were waterskiing and tubing in the lake by day, but by night, the kids of a variety of ages would gather on the dock and listen to tunes. Like a Prayer was the one that hit and hit hard. It was a truly singular song and it was tremendously exciting. I still just love it. Perhaps because of those warm nights in New York, but probably just because Madonna is amazing. To this day, I follow her Insta and she's awesome. Tonight when I revisited 'Oh Father' again, it hit me so differently. I have a friend that says we all love strings because they make us all feel the feelings. that can be said about this intro which I had to rewind and listen to about 16 times today. It's really excellent. Probably TMI as usual but the song now, today, is so much more relatable with my own relationship with my father that has shattered the false golden haze of childhood and has now become so diminished. And I realize his shortcomings. Pray for Spanish Eyes is also an underrated Madonna song. Go to 2:01 and listen to what she does with her voice. It's nuts. It's organic. It just spits into a million shards and I think that is just the raw amazing power of Madonna-- before auto-tune y'all. Nothing but pure talent. We don't have singers like this today. Not really.

Ah, another Belle & Sebastian album. This one lacks all the associated memories compared to the other one we reviewed. So good, catchy, but not great for me personally

I was surprised that I liked this at all. It was much more enjoyable and had more depth than I expected.

The first time I heard this was late night watching the 1995 movie Tank Girl which features the song "Roads" in a truly magnificent shower scene. I have no idea how the movie holds up today, but the Portishead song stayed with me as one of the best timed songs with great keyboard, spare beats, and a singular voice. I immediately bought the album and loved it. it Could be Sweet is a solid track as well. Wandering Star. There are quite a few nice ones and they are cohesive and flow well together. Portishead is no longer a sound I long to hear often, but there were a couple years when I certainly played and heard this album a lot. The talent is obvious.

I really wanted to like this because there are some The Jam songs I like a lot, but I couldn't get into it. I like the vocals, but the lyrics and the general cadence didn't seem exciting.

I don't think I'll often say this, but I didn't finish this one. There were elements, small elements that I liked, but overall the annoying parts really outsized the minor parts I liked.

Oh wow I am liking this a lot! I guess this is kind of that English punk new wave sound, but a band I've never heard. Like it right in there with the Specials and the UK Subs. Band totally fits the time. Overall, the sound is perfect, harmonious and not to gratuitously angry, good lyrics, sweet guitars, short songs, and more than one chord per song. Baseline for 'On Wheels' is pretty sick. What a great band. Nice to find a new one I actually like!!

No weak tracks on it. It is a legendary near-flawless ode to rock heaven. "Nobody rules these streets at night but me!" Eddie Van Halen comes in strong on this initial album and showed us who the god of rock was. Technical talents-- near classical music level-- had never been applied to heavy rock before this. We had never heard this level of control and peacocking despite earlier heavy bands like Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Molly Hatchet. Overwhelmingly, the VH sound was positive, but with a ton of hot dogging and sexual innuendo, and probable misogyny. I remember parents hated it and it was controversial. The boomers could not hang with VH. We had this album on vinyl, and I know I had it on tape later. It was an absolute staple. As a boy, 'Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love' was a top favorite, particularly for the "I've been to the edge..." segue. Still love it. Alex Van Halen was also a technical master and this is suddenly evident on 'Show Your Love'. Imagine, the very first album arrives and Alex and Eddie are rocking this hard this consistently on nearly every track. As for the elephant in the room, David Lee Roth is awesome. His funny light-hearted stage strutting in tights will never be forgotten. His voice was powerful and very California and like nothing we had ever heard. He was in it for fun and it showed and it made hard rock fun for us too!

Wow. Incredible. I loved this album. Never heard this band. I've heard a lot of African music but this is way more listenable than most! I'm excited to find this one!!

This album is so hugely popular. My mother played it almost constantly. I'm probably going against the grain to say it, but I just hate her voice. The best songs on the album are the covers, but I mean, how you going to outdo Aretha? How you gonna beat the Shirelles? James Taylor did You've Got a Friend so much better. Everything that King sings is like she jumped the shark.

I felt like this was a weird redux of Grandmaster Flash. Didn't do a lot to me, but some of the Go Go stuff was pretty enticing. Maybe with a couple more listens, but I wasn't super excited about it.

Neil Young is a musician I admire a lot. I think I got started with CSNY and then worked my way through many of his very fine albums. I've seen him live when he opened for Dave Matthews. I have discovered a lot of his albums over the years, but I definitely don't think I've heard his entire expansive catalogue. For example, I just really started enjoying 'On the Beach'. This album was new to me, but I found it really terrific. Another reason to be a fan is that Neil Young is always on the side of ethics. He told Spotify to stick it to protest their promotion of Joe Rogan's insane COVID conspiracy theories. And he stuck to it. That's exactly the correct place to be. I don't like live albums generally as much as studio albums unless I was at the show, so while some of his albums are fives for me, this one is a four.

Solid Steely Dan album with lots of the hits. I found myself bopping along to it.

Tight little album by CCR with most of the best hits and a few solid tracks you didn't grow up to on the radio. CCR always brings the big Southern rock sound that they pioneered and did so much better than Lynyrd Skynyrd (who suck in the plainest of terms).

Very impressive album with some far out creative sounds that make you feel like you really missed out on something special when this was going down in 1976. I mean can you imagine dancing to this live in '76? I bet it was hot hot hot!!

That intro guitar is off to an incredibly great start! I'm familiar with Beach House which jumped onto my radar from the dreck in the last couple of years only but had not heard this particular album. I like this atmospheric band that has slight echoes of MGMT in certain places but seems fresh and new in their approach. It's a good album but not necessarily one I will seek out again.

Slammin'!! A tour de force. Wow, what a great voice with terrific instrumentation. Piano Joint came on with a strong Bill Withers vibe, yet it was completely unique. Sparse piano, quiet background vocals, and strings ornament the luxurious voice of Michael Kiwanuka. Can't really say enough good about this one. I'm excited to find a 5 from an act I've never even heard of!!

I didn't like English psychedelic rock the first time around, so this is like a shit sequel to that. Not really a fan of this sound.

I don't really have anything of substance to say about Amy Winehouse. Never got her appeal, still don't. To me, this is a musician who is not noteworthy.

I heard the first note and immediately dread and regret the fact that there are 21 tracks of what I now expect will be modern RNB-- my least favorite genre. Some of those tracks are less than a minute, so there's no need to have a defibrillator on site. I mean honestly, if I wanted to go to church, I wouldn't be an atheist. That's really my bone to pick from RNB that I can't parse it out of gospel church music since both are so steeped in the same tradition. At one time, RNB had its own identity and then those lines at some point inexplicably blurred and the genre expired. All the Interludes were the best part because the singing wasn't very present, but even these weren't very interesting and didn't lift the album above the static. Junie and Don't Touch My Hair were the low points to me. I was surprised Q-Tip would associate with this project. Terrible for me.

Look Back and Laugh was quite good! The rest sort of blurred past me. Not a huge fan of this album based on one listen.

The good songs were played out on classic rock stations for years and years and the rest is pretty ho hum. Definitely not a fan. Somewhat difficult to revisit. Not earbleed painful, but not great.

Before diving in, it really is worth understanding the extremely adverse circumstances under which Jarrett performed that cold rainy night in 1975. Because understanding this underscores just how grand an accomplishment it is. You should read the Wiki. To hear the Koln Concert is to hear one of the greatest live piano concerts that has ever been recorded. It is bursting with complex emotion and poignant melodies. Jarrett is a master and this is his undisputed magnum opus and his long-lasting gift to the world. I've heard this and many other Jarrett albums hundreds of times (this is his best). I sometimes turn to this album in times of great emotional distress like nearby deaths. And I usually listen to it on vinyl. It is so evocative that you can hear the plaintive laughter and cries of those in the room uncontrollably and numerously accenting the piano. Don't ignore those voices. That's the accompanying instrument to Jarret. Honestly, if this album does not evoke in you a powerful emotional response, you should be worried! It was nice to hear again. And for what it's worth, thank you, Keith. For the gift you gave.

Her peppermint smile and autumn eyes with flowers in her hair buttoned up for the frisky air. Um, no thanks. I think this album shows the bias of having all English reviewers. Truly. It's predictable and doesn't do much for me except being okay background music.

I don't quite understand consciously why the Doors and Jim Morrison sort of became persona non grata in the music pantheon. But I too have drifted away from this sound which I listened to so much as a pre-teen. I recognize the musical skill and ability, but don't vibe with it much now.

Well, the timing of this was certainly amazing to coincide exactly with the death of Beck. That said, it really did nothing for me personally.

Kicking off with that Neil Young cover was a very turbulent start. Completely tone deaf as to the original-- and not an improvement in my opinion. It didn't get any better from there. This one wasn't worth it for me.

If I'm being honest, I find Elvis Costello to be so cool with one of the most unique voices, a great personality, and fascinating lyrics. But besides Allison, Watching the Detectives, and Veronica, he doesn't really have any songs I enjoy actually listening to. Conceptually I'm a fan, but in practice not really.

The voice of Sarah Vaughan was a favorite of my mother. So I have a bit of a sweet spot for her. The sound is incredibly pleasant and makes you want to curl up on a New Orleans porch with a book and a tall cold glass of iced tea.

Nice album. Gritty and determined all the way through. It wasn't the tenor of my day, but I did enjoy hearing it. First time for me!

In part, I come from a family of Eastern Colorado farmers and they all love Willie. In fact, when we buried my Uncle a few years back, we played Willie Nelson to send him home. It's not without emotion that I enjoy a good solid Willie album and I love what he stands for. He did an awful lot of good for the farmers with Farm Aid. Awesome guy.

I sure do remember some of their wild album covers which I've never revisited-- though this was the first time I've seen or heard this one. Still such a totally wild and gnarly band doing the things that they do, accented with the spoken word. Found it to be innovative, fairly cool, and a lot less intimidating as I did as a small child listening to Iron Maiden in my older brother's room.

Probably the only RNB album I like. I don't like it much, particularly when she takes you to church and gets into the praise Jesus vibes, but I have to stay a real standout in the genre.

It was a DAMN HOT night in New Orleans the night I got to see Journey and Def Leppard play the Superdome with D---, the cosmopolitan bartender from the FQ. He had scored tix because a girl and her ex-supermodel girlfriend had come into the bar and said they needed us to go with them-- because the one was *dating* one of the members of Def Leppard and the other just went through the big D. So there we were, Row 1 and Center for two bands I'd heard a million times. They played most of these songs. And we had a ton of fun. So now when I hear it, I revisit that absolutely wild and beautiful night that went back to the hotel with the band and then all the hot bars of the Quarter until the morning birds were singing. And those are just the parts we can talk about now. I'm worried I might've signed a late night NDA for the rest. Great band if you wanna party. And yes, I do have the photos to prove it!!!!! Ok this album... I mean awesome 80's right? It's the trash hot party dumpster fire anthems that fucking MADE the 80's. We're on a ski trip and slipping a flask of Jack onto the pow pow. We're outside the school dance and we're smoking clove cigarettes. We're sneaking out late at night to meet our girlfriends. It's the hot making out music from our oldest wildest nights that's now wired into the silicon of the hard drive whether it was any good or not. It's Friday at chapel and we're looking at the girls in their plaid kilts. It's Saturday and we're under the train bridge drinking Nattie Lights and breaking bottles... Thanks for all the nights that we kept on the DL (Def Leppard).

This is okay. Overall, I like Gorillaz. The ones I like on this album I've worn out from years of abuse. The ones I don't like aren't my faves.

What a great album. It was like discovering another early Grateful Dead I never heard of. Must have been a wild party in those San Fran days!

This was overall a lot better than I remembered it. There were a few weak songs, but there were some pretty solid tracks beyond the one or two I grew up hearing on the radio. Certainly has a strong English sound and I'm not sure it would've been singled out if it was American.... But, enjoyable listen.

Just ok. Our House, obviously a terrific song. The rest of it? What am I even listening to. Just okay.

What a star Debbie Harry was-- is maybe-- I think she's touring right now. All the songs that were great still are and the ones that weren't a part of her greatest hits album were better than I expected. It's fun to imagine what the scene must've been like with Harry in the Green Room for a show of this album. Bet it was wild!

The year is 1994. I'm living in Flagstaff in a dorm and I meet David from Brooklyn. He's a terrific guy, a Jew, new York to the core, and we hang every night. He's teaching me chess-- he learned in Central Park-- and he's a baller. Short, fast talker, and basically like hanging out with the cousin incarnation of Adam Yauch. Well, anyhow, I had heard Rush, but it was his superband, so he was always playing it and I really don't hear it without thinking about that Tom Sawyer. We had some adventures out in the desert for late night desert business. Oh, but eventually, I beat David in chess. The next week, he dropped out of school and left Arizona for New York. I always felt like it was my fault, but I did remember how to play chess and I taught my kids how to play also. 2112 seems solid and hits all the Rush notes I wanted to take me back to those wild nights smoking cigarettes and watching David Rush through all the moves.

This is probably my favorite Metallica album that I have listened to in depth. It brings back a lot of memories of cheap bourbon and riding around in other people's Mustangs. This album is the most relatable because it has some down tempo and more melodious tracks to balance out the dunh dunh dunh tracks. Overall, always worth a consideration-- as in, is this the direction I need to go today? Am I feeling this mad and hateful toward the world. And once in a while, the answer will be yes and Metallica will slip into your DMs and be just perfect at that moment.

This is one of those albums that seems to have been included just because of English bias in the process. I'm sure it may have been great at one time, but I'm calling it a has-been with an attractive song or two.

So this album was way better than I would ever have thought it would be. I'm actually pretty shocked as I had heard it when it came out and thought it was way too hardcore for me. All these years later, it sounds reasonable. Would have gone four, especially with the rap star cameos, but for the overuse of 'faggot' throughout the album which makes them sound like a likely bunch of bigots. So 3.

Terrific album that I have listened to numerously. Blue Ridge Mountains is the clear standout for me as I grew up a good part of my childhood at the base of Afton Mountain in the Blue Ridge. The album is a peaceful one with noteworthy harmonies. It brings calm.

What a fascinating and cool album. Really a different early punk(?) sound. We Will Fall was the standout for me. Just weird and like chanting monks meet Apocalypse Now. I thought the album was definitely worthwhile.

A true has-been album probably inserted into the list, once again, with the British bias of the survey. The history of Townsend is troubling too. I can't in good conscience give this one any better than a 2 star rating. Musically, it did very little for me then or now and has never been a group that I found very inspiring.

Plateau, Oh Me, and Lake of Fire. Maybe I heard it mentioned at some time when Nirvana was hot, but really had no idea this was MPs as I just think about Nirvana when I hear those songs. They must have had a huge influence on Nirvana. I understand MPs did get to play with Nirvana some. This version of Plateau stands out and the guitar is outstanding in the middle. Guitar in Aurora Borealis is similarly outstanding. A strong weird track. Songs like New Gods and I'm Not Here are just too busy for me-- like a frenetic Zappa song with no sense of humor. Teenagers smells like Sonic Youth a touch. A lot to like here but also some filler and things that don't work for me.

I was really thinking when I clicked the button it was gonna be like a Yardbirds album, but nope!! We got Amnesiac instead. This is some of the very best music in the world. The best band of our generation. The paradigm schism. What else can I say. Everything is basically perfect. I kept thinking about all the styles and all the instruments on this one album and how masterfully they are orchestrated. Just tip top.

I didn't really grow up with Bowie as many people did and so I have been slow over my life to appreciate his genius. This has been quite nice because it's trickled into my life now for decades. This album is certainly top notch and deserves all the accolades. Starman is the one I like the most from this album.

It's an excellent album. I've listened to this one quite a few times previously as my buddy Todd who I respect a great deal always wanted to make sure that Boards of Canada was in my brain. High water mark for me is Aquarius and that song has been in my playlists for a seeming eternity. Orange!

This was a totally groundbreaking album. Perhaps that's why, I went to see them play it in 1994 at Lollapalooza in Phoenix. It was a crazy day, particularly when everyone bumrushed the stage for the Breeders. I remember ending up near the bottom of a massive pile of people and I was so grateful that I locked my elbows as I hit the concrete. When Green Day came on, I was looking forward to it, but I have to admit that when he dropped trow and exposed himself to the crowd and started spitting on the front rows, my enthusiasm was dampened. Still, a great album and a real departure. Longview is a major song, as is Welcome to Paradise, Basket Case (my fav), She, and obviously When I Come Around. Lots and lots of strong songs and the lesser songs are very listenable.

I was not surprised when I went to Wiki to see if this band was an iteration of The Flaming Lips to see that there is cross-pollination between the bands. Album is quite audibly lush, though the vocals aren't really to my taste.

This is an album whose importance is hard to understate. OG pimp hustler tunes with the luxurious 70's horns and strings alongside the screaming guitars and sometimes wacka wacka pornt track guitar vibes. Tabla style drum beats. Give me a cane, a glass of brandy, and a fur coat with my lowered Eldorado and I'll see you at the scene.

I never even knew that an album of this caliber that I somehow hadn't heard was lurking out there. This is amazing. Best old new to me album I've heard in quite a long time. Hot damn!

This is one of those albums where there were a couple of tracks I was digging, but they were the same ones I've been digging for decades. Overall, alongside that phenomenon is a lot of sound that is so played out.

Mercury's voice is a gift alongside the screamin' guitars. There were several songs on this one that I had not heard and was fascinated with. Also, there were a couple of tracks that were in a completely different style sort of like when Fleetwood Mac does that other thing. Overall, an entertaining album.

Spotify only had the first disk. I know I should love this bluesy rock band, but I just haven't been able to find love for it yet. It is a down and dirty sound that reminds me of a late night bar in New Orleans somewhere near the river. There's something rough and raw about the sound and I know, that's the appeal. To me, it's just not smooth enough. Why do I want Jack Daniels when I can have Pappy van Winkle? Too legit for me!

This is one of my father's favorite "Rock-n-Roll" albums. Perhaps because it was played to me relentlessly as a very young kid, I sort of love the vocals. From a critical standpoint, Not Fade Away is the really important track on here, although Jerry Garcia did a much better job with it (did Holly write it?). Overall, it's fun to briefly revisit this album and I do think Holly was a major innovator in the birth of "Rock-n-Roll". Dead far too young.

Killer album through and through. Peaches had been on the soundtrack of Reservoir Dogs maybe(?). Anyhow, it was in a movie some time back and I had thus found entry to this album a while ago and had found it lackluster, but apparently my tastes have improved or degraded...And I loved it. It's that gritty English sound and a very unique one. Love.

So long ago, so dated, so much ear bleeding.

So, this is cheesy. This is desperate. But what a voice! I love this big crooner voice and to be honest, except for some whack lyrics about if you were a horse etc.., I sort of got sucked into the album while cooking dinner. Interesting orchestral sounds and it wasn't until the last song that I was kind of fully put off by the cheese.

This album is of course a total classic. Every song on it is a well known and beloved Beatles song. I know the whole album by heart word for word and I have had this on vinyl from my earliest days. What else can I say? Here, There, and Everywhere is a particularly poignant love song that I still resonate with and still think is one of the best written love songs. Harmonies are top.

I was in it the minute this album dropped. Fall of '92, my junior year of high school, brought with it wave after wave of delicious grunge. This album was divisive and weeded out the poser yuppies as it straight up drove a fuckton harder than any Pearl Jam or Stone Temple Pilots album. Like a bunch of old world rock vikings, Alice in Chains just fucked it up on track after sick track. If you forced me to, I'd say Down in a Hole, Rooster, and God Smack are the top trax, but it's hard to pick. Tell us how you really feel, Ivey. Yeah. I could listen to this album every day. It was there for some of the best and hardest and tumultuous days of my life. The parties. The cries alone. Dirt will always be remembered as one of the greatest. I saw them at the anthem and there is one original band member left. I went alone and stood in the crowd and loved every single second. Important piece of work here. If you hated it, pour yourself a double rye, put on some headphones, crank that shit up, and try again. Repeat until you get it. PS spell check says God Smack is wrong, but it's obviously right.

This was a spicy little number. I never listened to this band, but absolutely thought it was great. Would listen again!

An album I grew up with and probably heard one time to many, yet the samba does still retain some charm..

Emblematic of my early 20's. I certainly remember bumping through the jungles of El Salvador listening to this one and spending a lot of time with my friend Matt listening to this and probably driving a little fast in his VW. Not one I voluntarily revisit.

Gross.

Pharcyde rode in on a new wave of more intellectual hip hop that was kicked off by the debut of Digable Planets. But they brought along with the little jazz motifs a lighter, funnier, and freakier side. Although it is super creepy, I've always loved the track 4 better or 4 Worse. Great melody and then the absolutely bizarre lyrics. Officer is also their trademark tune and I think the most popular on the album because it's hilarious. Ya Mama is classic Pharcyde bringing in a slew of disses that take us back to the block where this was the pastime. It's a great hip hop album and belongs in the marbled halls with De La, Digable Planets, and Jazzmatazz / Guru who were cranking out these awesome tracks in the early to mid-90's.

With it's elegant and romantic lyrics, perhaps best exemplified by the line "I wanna f**k you hard on a sink.. Step back can't get spunk on a mink" it's no wonder that the world has seen fit to pay Yeezy billions of dollars for the gift that he is to planet earth. Combine that level of romance with the his striving for racial equity and treatment of women in both his lyrics and his personal life and then tack on his clear mental acuity and evolved spirituality and we have the recipe for an international superstar sensation. Wow. This is literally the first time I've listened to a Kanye album. I had no idea it could be like this. Ok back to John Prine now.

This was a weird one and I couldn't quite get my head around it. I like a lot of the spooky lyrics and interludes. Quite a bit better than the worst we've heard!

I was pretty stoked about this album as I think of myself as a pretty big Bee Gees fan, but I must say, this album was bleak and hard to chew through. I was hoping for the disco tracks we used to roller skate to, but instead, this was something else completely. Some good harmonies, but nothing like their disco!

Sam Cooke was an immensely talented soul, doo-wop, and occasional shout singer-- and an early pioneer for black music in America. You really cannot understate how fine a voice he had. And while it will make my step grandfather roll over in his grave (doo-wop and early RnB's greatest fan), I rarely have a need of Sam Cooke and this music is just not something I ever listen to. I've heard most of the songs before and I totally get why they were highly important. Bring it on Home (both versions) are the high point for me.

Aw yeah, that opening riff is sick and just puts you on notice that you are about to go deep down in a funk hole straight to the center of funky town. And we all know this first song because it was in commercials for makeup for years and years. Oh, track 2, better known by me for the James Taylor version on his Greatest Hits album. This one just pulls the rug out from under me. It started raining. Oh no, those are my lonely tears. Track 3 and oh thank God, I'm trying my eyes and we're back in funkytown with those sick keys and harmonies. It's pretty obscure and let's be honest, the lyrics aren't great. Listen to the Music is an interesting and arguably better cover of the Doobie Brothers song because it cuts out the southern twang of the original. Highways of My Life was the worst track and I was definitely soaking up a few pats of blood from my ears. Summer Breeze is that other track we've all heard a million times on the radio. I never liked it much then and I'm not sold on it today. If I were to register a complaint it would be the one I have for a lot of funk. Sometimes there is a disconnect between the vocals and the music. When it's right, it's so good but there are times where the vocals drift off the rhythm or it gets over-syncopated a bit and things don't mesh well-- especially when the vocals are at a way slower tempo than the music.

Amazing that the Walking Wounded album they dropped in '96 was apparently this same group in the 80's. Completely different sound in that it was an excellent album with strong lyrics, top synth for the era, excellent rhythms. This one, which I had never heard, was a tough listen and fell flat on all the things that did better later. Could not figure out why this album was selected over Walking Wounded.

Hard to Be Human Again seemed the most familiar right out of the box with a pleasing melody and solid vocals. I definitely liked all of the dialogues that were mixed into the music, particularly on Psycho Cupid as I particularly enjoyed the face forward female sounds and the subdued but wild accompanying music. Abernant didn't work for me at all as I wasn't able to bridge the discordant sounds across the vocals. I wondered if there was a connection to David Lynch's Lost Highway or if that was (probably) just a coincidence. Interesting and weird one overall that I won't likely be reaching for any time soon-- I don't think.

Solsbury Hill is certainly a song that has survived remarkably well with its cheerful and bouncy melody. Boom, boom, boom. It's a song that of course is familiar, but I haven't personally played to death. That stands. I could do without Excuse Me and Waiting for the Big One and I often wonder why musicians pollute albums with songs like these. Humdrum was a high point for me as I'd never heard it and I liked its sound, lyrics, and especially the quavering keyboards in the background, eventually opening up into a polyphonic sound cathedral. Gabriel at his youngest and with full potential and power. I am positive this sound has surely inspired generations of important bands of today directly and indirectly. Epic guitar solo on Slowburn Down the Dolce Vita has echoes of Bowie and I like it a bit.

Much of the music of Yes is phrenetic and this one was too. Hard to groove to it because it bounces all over the place. Yes just isn't my style.

I would argue that this is the best hip hop album ever produced. I do not believe this album has ever been rivaled-- and if it has, I impatiently wait for the day when I will hear its successor. For me, this album is musically perfect. Each carefully timed track, and all of its samples are elegant and magnificent. Every time I hear it, it's new, and I'm careful not to listen to it that often because I don't want to ruin it. If I was forced to pick a favorite track, it would be Organ Donor. In that track, Shadow samples and reorganizes organ sounds making them so far out beyond the churchy instrument that it's shocking. As an aside, I once played that track to a British church organist in his 90's. Unsurprisingly, he hated it and it did not translate well. In summary, greatest hiphop album of all time. Unparalleled.

Edgy and bedraggled all at once because of the edgy crispy little guitar riffs, snappy drums, and sweet keys and bedraggled with the spent last night in the gutter vocals. Amazing that these musicians washed into the Cars and Talking Heads-- such major bands. I liked it. Overall, a cool album

This was quite an interesting album. I was somewhat surprised that given the extraordinary critical acclaim of this artist that I was not aware of him. The music is catchy and of course interesting that it switches languages so readily. I can see why it would be very exciting to the French many of whom are facile in both languages. I found the language switching somewhat challenging from a listening standpoint because my French is fairly weak. Lots to like hear and lots of interesting sounds. It sounds both new and a little 80's.

I thought it was terrific. I've been a long-time fan of Stevens though probably haven't heard every album. I had to revisit my fandom as an atheist when a musician friend said, yeah, but he's in a cult. I've never found anything to back that up. That said, he is apparently an avid Christian and likes to combine his Christianity with his sexuality which is weird. I can overlook it. Stevens has an incredible voice, fantastic lyrics and this album is no exception. I found myself absolutely blown away by every aspect of the bizarrely named song, "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From The Dead!! Ahhhh!". Everything about this song is fantastic: bassline, backup vocals, strings, and of course the voice of Stevens soothing and interesting as it ever is. For once, a two disc album that didn't piss me off.

Overall, this was a pretty typical blues album for me, but the augmented surprise that set it apart were some of the collaborators, especially Bonnie Raitt who is a total blues assassin.

Rife with memories of a time of my life where I was young and living for the night. This album reminded me to carpe diem and get everything out of every day. I still do that. This was one of the albums I took to Colorado one summer very much left to my own devices on a farm near the foothills of the Brazos as a kid with a Walkman. I know every strum of it and I love it. It's hard to revisit in a way because of all the days now gone. I like all the songs, but Sail Away has a lot of meaning to me. I met Neil Young years later once out on a hike in Colorado. I had been out in the wilderness for several weeks and was nearing a town and found him alone in the woods smoking a hand rolled cigarette and wearing a porcupine quill necklace on a blanket. I hadn't smoked in weeks. I asked him if I could have a cigarette and he looked me dead in the eye and said flatly. "Nope." I turned around to walk away and I heard a little giggle and he said, "But you can have two." He gave me a light and I thanked him and walked off. My friends were freaking out and I had not recognized him and they were all like, dude do you know what that was?!! One of the more memorable moments of my life in retrospect. I've seen him live quite a few times. Lifetime fan of one of the greatest living American musicians.

Wanted to love it, but I'm pretty so so. There are catchy little parts, but a lot of it feels dated and stale.

Fabulous album. I love the sound of Kim's voice on this one. Lots of memories.

I kept wanting to hate this album, but then it would just reinvent and reinvent and draw me back in. I had never heard it or really of the band at all and I was just fascinated by it particularly because I didn't and haven't read the back story about who they are. Just enjoyed it cold and was pretty impressed. Great collaborators as well. I thought this one was pretty cool.

I'm personally a fan of her voice although I know it can be a little divisive. I think she's smart and cool and writes terrific lyrics. This album has several of my favorites like Crucify and Silent All These Years, and Winter (with its giant strings and sleeping white horses). Great tracks.

Metallica was always way too hardcore for me as a kid. Still find it pretty intense for regular listening. All the peaceful interludes and instrumentals are pretty amazing and do attest to the technical chops of the band. Overall, gratuitously performative with advanced skills.

I was pretty so so on this one. I just didn't find it terribly interesting and probably missed the whole purpose. the instrumentals were great, and at least in concept I found some resonance with the call and response.

I thought the vocals were odd but the instrumentation was pretty groovy.

This album is bouncy and fun. I keep thinking of what to compare it to and then realize I can't think of much except maybe Richard Thompson. I love that warm and friendly blonde Wurlitzer in Antarctica Starts Here.

Clear contender in my opinion of the best album about social justice ever produced. Gaye, a beloved son of Washington DC, was taken away far too young in the tragic shooting by his father. Who knows what he may have achieved and it is a poignant reminder that sometimes those who burn the brightest also burn the shortest. There's nothing I can say about this album that won't have been better said elsewhere. One thing I will mention is that Gaye's family released a new album posthumously called "Your the Man". It truly is worth your time to go and give *that* album a listen if you haven't heard it. Really beautiful and there are some showstoppers on it, especially 'Piece of Clay' if you have time for only one song with its piercing guitar and glorious organ. In that song, he speaks of the relationship between a father and son with respect to the false expectations of a father. Heartbreaking.

That opener of Beyond Belief is one of my favorite Costello songs with all the hallmarks: great lyrics, bouncy guitar and a warm-up to a quickened pace. Of all the Costello songs that are out there-- many of which simply do not work, this is a great one especially because the vocals are tight and restrained. Almost predictably, the second track takes us to a Costello song that doesn't really work and isn't pleasant. And this is the big problem where the vocals-- all excellent-- don't seem to align with the accompanying music. Like, why did you opt for that wonky rhythm for these vocals where they are both operating at completely different tempos. Almost Blue is a great song and does come together nicely. Human Hands could be one of the worst songs I've ever heard. Like a haunted circus soundtrack on fleek. ...And this album leaves me as every other album in his catalogue does, wanting so much to like him, but finding myself hating it.

This album dropped as a shock to worried parents and was rapidly embraced in my circle as a great album. Ice-T brought the hardcore sound of West Coast rap nationwide and it was a wild thing to see this opposing style from say, Public Enemy. There are a lot of songs on here that I absolutely still vibe with, especially Midnight and Body Count, the former being sampled gorgeously by Dj Shadow. Ya Shoulda Killed me Last Year is amazing and I can remember we just dropped our jaws to hear him tell everybody to f**k off.

Classic Tom Waits, surely America's greatest lyricist with his esophagus full of gravel and whiskey surrounded by a cloud of unfiltered nicotine. Easily one of the most important musicians of the 20th-21st centuries. I grew up to his vinyls spinning quite often, usually late at night, and usually turned up loud. He was there for the hard times and he still is. Hold On is my go to when everything comes apart at the seams. Mockin Bird was the one I sang to my babies. Those songs aren't on this album, and this album isn't one I know as well as much of his catalogue. But asking me if I want to hear a Tom Waits album is sort of like hey do you like chocolate? Well f**k yes I do! Fun fact. He uses it now, but for like FOREVER YEARS, tomwaits.com just loaded a black page with nothing. I thought that was genius and just so HIM!!!

Great album and a great musician. Just that I've heard all these songs so many times that the album is mildly annoying and cloying.

I just can't with Nico. I really want to love it, but between the flute and her voice, I just can't. Honestly, her best work is with Velvet Underground. I've listened to this one several times over my lifetime, and it always leaves me with mild regret.

I'm so excited. I've waited and waited for this to happen.. That the 1001 would change my opinion about an artist I hate and convert me. Well, today was the day. I've always loved Cohen's voice. It's right up there with Tom Waits for gravel and grit. I've always loved his lyrics-- pure poetry. But I've always hated his stupid melodies and accompaniments. This album is different. Sparer and sparse. It's fabulous. So now I like Leonard Cohen-- sort of.

Surprised myself at how much I liked this album and how many memories came back. Their album covers were all insane, but the music is just basically hair rock with a death wish. Pretty cool and was a definite breakthrough.

This is the most 80's album I've never heard of. Wildly 80's.

This was painful and difficult. I have to be honest to say I only made it 2/3 of the way through this album.

Outstanding album and one that I disliked when younger, because it seemed to 'hardcore'. It's funny to me how the sound of albums like that has mellowed in time and possibly when placed in context of how heavy music later got. Anyhow, I love the sound of just about every song on here, even the seemingly trite ones like Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue.

This isn't my fav. I didn't find much about to get excited about. Not really a fan!

There is something about putting an English accent behind some punk or New Wave that just makes it sound amazing. I had never heard of the fall, but they are excellent. Guitar work and drums are super solid, catchy, and thrilling. A lot to like here overall. perfect album to ride the motorcycle around the living room to.

That first track is awesome. It comes in and you're just surfing that groove SY wave right away. Nice and clean, like welcome my friend we were waiting for you (but we aren't gonna tell you what's comin even though we know...). Second song is like, let's keep going, but we're gonna grind a little and we're gonna break up the pace a bit and throw in a couple gnarly pieces of distortion sound wall. Oh ok, yup, this is SY. Oh and then Kim is gonna come in and make it a little bit sexy with her 'more more more more'. A couple more tracks with her singing is a treat. She's just singing at me and hitting my emotions in waves. Later in the album, we get their classic breakdown and knuckledrag heavy rock guitar like on Total Trash. I kind of get this kind of sound from them, but if I'm being honest, sometimes it seems a little much like they are just making a sound demonstration and this if anything is my criticism of SY. Joni is just straight rock. And then we get art noise with Providence. And then we get sweet relief with Providence because every SY album has to have a reprieve. It's gonna be edgy, but it's organized and transcendental. Lovely hard edge flowers. And then they just beat it up for the rest of the album.

Pretty groovy little album. Not one I'd reach out for in the future, but it was a pleasant time spent. Melodious. Great vocals throughout and some familiar and enjoyed tunes.

I sort of like the Eagles for nostalgia reasons, but this one wasn't so great. To be honest, I was never a huge fan, really just a Greatest Hits and radio songs sort of listener. There's some to like here. But then there were some really low parts too like Witchy Woman and especially Most of us are Sad.. Earlybird was my favorite; great intro with the plucky banjo and then nope. Sigh.

While not known for much more than Red Red Wine by novice reggae listeners, the music of UB40 is highly significant to most serious reggae listeners. When they emerged in Birmingham in the late 1970's with this album leading wave after wave, suddenly a new alternative to Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, and other early pioneers hit the scene. And while reggae is often accused of "all sounds the same", it isn't. The sound of UB40's Signing Off, the lyrics, and the overall originality of its ideas have led it to be a major stand out above many lackluster reggae albums out there in the universe. For example, the keyboard sounds that lead 'King' are unique to this song and as far as I know aren't on any other band's reggae albums to date. The waves of baritone and the tight rhythms are in constant play across the album and work very nicely together. We had this album at least by the early 1980's and it got a lot of play in the house. A lot of it is instrumental and the spare words mean that the focus here is on instrumentation and rhythm, the two things that UB40 did very well. The timing too is excellent. 'Tyler' at 1:39 is a very good example of the genius of their timing. For the record, Red Red Wine is their absolute worst song. That song is kind of UB40's Touch of Grey if that resonates.

More than a Whisper is tremendous. Don't we all need that? Griffith has a uniquely American sound with more than a touch of twang. I. had never gone deeper than her Greatest Hits so this was a treat. I found myself drawn in by her lyrics which seem to speak pretty universally to the human condition.

Great classic rock album that I like more that I am older than I ever did when these tracks were all on the radio.

This album raised two thoughts. 1. Hair band born too late. 2. Why are you screaming at me? Overall, really disliked the album, particularly the vocals which are like a cacophony. Instrumentals are not bad-- a solid rock band backing the cat in a washing machine vibe of the singing.

Ah, we hit a Brian Wilson album. Brian Wilson was an unparalleled American musical genius. If you've ever listened to their studio chatter, you instantly begin to realize why. He was incredibly meticulous, often directing the band to a new take at the littlest variation that went against his vision. I liked this pre-Vegetables album because it was Brian Wilson before he went bonkers. The only cringe I had was the slightly cringy references to teenage girls (see: I'm So Young) that probably wouldn't be well accepted in today's context, especially considering Wilson was 23 at the time of the album. Kiss Me, Baby is my favorite of the tracks.

What's the worst part of this album? Is it the screechy lyrics? Or maybe the 'we all live in a European shire' vibe? Or could it maybe be the Ron Burgundy flute loops? Nope. It's all of the above. I've actually never gotten through this album in its entirety but I did yesterday and I am still wading through a tide of regret. One of the worst so far for me.

Interesting band. Whiskey Woman was a high point for me. It's got a kind of Neil Young vibe that I dig. Overall, this is a talented early rock band that is surprising for the fact that they didn't make it bigger. Seems like chance and circumstance and bad management controlled their destiny. The low points were the Bee-bop-a-loula and other early 60's nonsense throwbacks. These are just a bit old for my interest and fall more in the generation of my father.

Nice album and not without its highlights. I kept hoping I'd uncover some Harrison tune that I'd never heard that I would absolutely fall in love with, but that wasn't meant to be. Lots of solid little rock tracks in there. I thought Johnny's Birthday or whatever was the low point and I didn't finish that track. Kind of a no for me. Songs like Out of the Blue, My Sweet Lord are already old favorites.

This is a funky weird cool album that went way deeper than I initially expected it to. Just spiraled down down down into near art noise. Sort of loved it, though maybe not for everyday use. Definitely was fascinating and I see why this one made the list.

Much better than I had remembered Spacemen 3 when I had initially run into them in the mid-1990s. This album was enjoyable overall with a few parts that got a bit overbearing for me (e.g., Che Maracas Mix). I probably wrote this band off too soon! It really isn't what I'd call an accessible album. And it is quite long. But for 1989, they were way out in a place of their own experimenting with edgy sounds and beats. May the Circle Be Unbroken was my clear favorite, mostly because I love the song so much and it was a very surprising take on this old spiritual.

Highly significant. The drop in 'Oxygene, Pt. 2' at 1:41 is still one of my favorite muscial moments of all times. Pt. 3 uses a similar device of a drop/emergence. Pt. 4 is about freedom and lightness. Pt. 5, 5:23. Listen to how he pulls you out of the ship and takes you to the dizzying heights of earth consciousness and then leaves you on the shore with the waves slamming against the beach amongst the seagulls. Pt. 6 is my least favorite track, but it's still pretty damned good. This album, which came out the year I was born, was probably a no-brainer for my mother, a francophile, who had at one time in the 60's lived in Paris. I am certain it was played in the house in the early months of my life. I rediscovered it later, as a 12 or 13 year old, pawing through my mother's dusty cassettes. And I remember the moment then when I REMEMBERED having heard it as an infant and how moved I was-- moved to tears in fact. I listened to the album off and on probably until I was about 20. It is fun to drift those old constellations and dwarf stars in my mind today. Jarre has also been a near constant featured on the Hearts of Space radio program hosted by Stephen Hill weekly since 1973 (still broadcasting online) which was syndicated in about 30 cities, my hometown being one of them much to my good fortune. This is 'space music' at its finest. If you know, you know. It's going to be fun reading the reviews of folks who are hearing this for the first time.

This one was not for me at all!

Tracks 1-2 and 4-8 are quite weak. The final track, track 9 is pretty nice with outstanding vocals by Madonna and great accompanying strings. Track 3 is excellent and worthy of being the title track.

Oh fascinating! An album and band I've never heard of and have little to no frame of reference for. At first blush, I notice it's got a slightly English vibe and I'm not surprised to read that it is in fact from England. I get a slight Oasis-ey undertone, but not a lot there. I'm loving the weird and lengthy dreamscapes that for once aren't filled with unpleasant noises-- Symphony Space I'm looking at you. This album is an interesting take on Space Music as we discussed earlier in the week regarding space music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre. This is obviously very different, but attempts to meld more traditional 90's English rock with space music. I think the result is appreciably nice! Woah, Shine a Light is a really gorgeous intro and a lovely sound! Other tracks are like with their orchestral and massive guitars. Really a special album!

I'm so-so on this. Kind of like a bad Oasis album.

That is some serious hippy hippy shake straight out of the Summer of Love. I think I heard a bit too much of this sort of thing as a child hanging out on a commune. No need for me at least to revisit.

Simply horrible.

Chris Cornell = Automatic 5. It's fair to say that seeing Temple of the Dog play at the kickoff show November 4th, 2016 in Phila. not many months before his tragic and untimely death was probably the best show I've ever seen-- and I've seen some good f******g shows. What a damned legend. This album rocks. Watch the Phila. show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OJAhB5Cark

I found this to be a completely fascinating sleeper of an album (for me at least). It's god just enough Pink Floyd sprinkled into the gumbo to make it pretty interesting.

Typical blues album where every song sounds the same, like death metal.

The extensive use of the Hammond breathes new life into what would otherwise have been merely a traditional jazz album. The organ lends a huge amount of funkiness and I liked it.

This album has both feet solidly in the American folk genre. Beautiful, near-classical (Windham Hill-ish at times) acoustic guitar takes you into this journey beset by A Mighty Wind. The vocals ranged and at times were really hospitable and at other times less so and feeling a bit obsolete.

I have a crazy headache. Not sure it's this album, but there's a pretty good chance. This reminds me of Southern Culture on the Skids. It has a trailer park rockabilly vibe that definitely rocks, but for me not in the right ways at all. At song 8, I was disappointed to look ahead and see I was only halfway.

This album should be titled "Band Nerds Found a Bag of Weed", because that's basically what it sounded like. I had a weird feeling that I'd heard it before, but really couldn't say for sure. Generally found it dated and not that useful.

Clearly, this album was written for someone, but unfinished emotion and the technical ability to hit a wide vocal range of notes does nothing for me. I am firmly in the camp that feels that Mariah has some, but not enough ability to create music that is intellectually and creatively important.

This was a pretty classic Depeche Mode album and it was great to revisit. Stjarna was the low point, but there's not too much to dislike in the frantic and dark synth waves of the 80's bouncing over you. Somehow, the very 80's synth sounds still sound pretty fresh to me.

I had to pop an extra Lipitor this morning from consuming all the cheese in this album.

It is a wonderful album. The American series albums always seem to me about a man who knew his final chapter was being written and who was determined to show his depth and scope. Tear Stained Letter is the low point, but it's not that bad and the rest is simply so good, that it really can't be denied a 5. Hurt is the track that amazes. I know it well from Pretty Hate Machine, an anthem from my adolescence. Personal Jesus and In My Life are also incredible. This album reads like a love song for Gen X, and I appreciated that a great deal. It's been in my rotation since it was released and I listed to it often.

I loved this weird norse viking invader music. I know the female lead vocalist from some other project and I've been trying to put my finger on it since the second I heard her sing on this album. I basically loved this weird awesome and sparse album. Totally enjoyable and weird.

A delightful album with a very unique sound. Enjoyed this one thoroughly. I am uncertain about what distinguishes it within its genre, but only because of lack of experience and knowledge on my part.

Way too much drum machine. Basically a deep cut 80's RnB album. I don't get the inclusion of this at all.

Much better than expected. I enjoyed all the Kungfu samples and the samples in general. The vocals otherwise feel sort of lackluster, but the production is so high that this album is cohesive and keeps the attention.

Yeah boyee! This is a super album. I remember having it on cassettes. And yes, a real time commitment to sit down and listen to the whole thing. I'm not sure I ever did that, instead usually opting for one side or maybe two of a tape. But it was a walk down memory lane to hear all these tracks once more. The album still stands as one of the greatest rap albums.

It's so rich with memories, so full of talent, and such a masterwork that it can be difficult to revisit. The memories were full of joy, so much so that I miss them now.

She has that one song though.

Nice old school rock album. Little monotonous.

This album is like every other EC album. 100% for creativity and instrumentation, 0% for execution. I find the constant tempo changes to be totally jarring. I wish for once he would pick a tempo or two and play it throughout the whole song rather than constant tempo switching. Love his voice, lyrics, everything, but I can't get past this. The songs that have gained the most popular success for Costello have been songs like "Veronica" that limit the tempo switching and have a smoother overall sound. So, want to love it, but kinda hate it.

This was okay with the one hit song and then everything else was fine. Not exciting. Listenable.

It's 1991 and we ride to the Blue Elephant in a noisy Bajaj all the way down Galle Road. The man at the door looks doubtful-- we're 13, but after presenting our diplomatic ID's and a little coaxing from a local friend on the inside, we are in with big Lion Lagers and hitting the floor. Soul II Soul is on and the party is bumping and we are dancing close in the room with the AC blasting. Objectively, it's not the greatest album of all times, but we were rocked by it and it has a place inside me.

I would place this album with the TransSiberian Orchestra or whatever. I like some orchestral music. I like some metal, but some fusion experiences aren't great. I don't like fish and ice cream. That's kind of where my head is at on this album.

I listened to it once full through when it came out and then again this week. That was enough for me!

An album where every song is a seizure.

The instrumentation was good, even quite good in parts but the falsetto vocals were just a little too weird for me to vibe with.

Crosby has his place in the cannon of American music. I'm not sure his solo work represents his best work which I think was really more with CSNY. This album is puzzling for importance. Listenable, but nothing stands out from any other solo Crosby stuff, at least to me

I had always thought that the entire KISS apparatus was a joke, and as a result I had never really sat down and listened to an entire album, every single song to give it that critical listening appraisal. I have now done that and can definitely say the entire KISS apparatus is a joke.

OMG I hate it so much. Everything about her. I know people love her, but just no. She had no regard for her own life, so why should anyone care about her music.

I want to love her because she's so weird and cool, but I don't find anything that makes me think I'd like to have this album in rotation. There was a brief moment, and definitely not with this album where I fell in line with what she was doing, but every track here just is not approachable to me now. I feel some pang of regret to rate it so low, but here we are.

I forced myself to do it but it's such a cacophany. Zappa was a genius, but it's rare when I have a taste for it.

Pretty hard to argue with such an important album as this one is. I learned today. I always think of The Pixies as kind of punk, but Wiki says I'm wrong and they are "alternative rock". Anyhow, Where is My Mind is the high point for me personally, but the driving drums, the strong basslines, and of course the epic male and female vocalists on one album (always a great choice, think The XX, Sonic Youth etc..) make this a terrific choice. Bone Machine is great too. Broken Face is my least favorite, but it isn't dislikable enough for me to tax it a star. It's ot my favorite Pixies album, but I mean, what a band. What a sound.

It's a solid album and you can really feel their energy as the superband that they were/are and their excitement about playing at home during a time when music in general was on the advance. I can't find fault in it and there were actually a lot of songs I did not know at all. Lots of blues sounds, grinding of axes and classic classic rock.

Such a fascinating band full of twists and turns and unexpected sound. King Crimson has been on my radar for a very long time-- though not this album. I thoroughly enjoyed although, of course, they have some WTF noise moments..

Goldfrapp seems to endlessly reinvent themselves. I listened to this album with interest since I didn't know it, but I have to say, it doesn't come close to the power of 2000's release of 'Felt Mountain' whose song "Horse Tears" has captivated me for the better part of a year (a discovery for me). If you were nonplussed by this album and are fairly new to this band, don't stop here, because there is a lot of variability between their albums. Seventh Tree lacks that kind of power and seems like an interim album until something more brilliant comes from their wellspring. Listenable, pleasant, but none of the earlier power.

Really interesting and very English sound. I like it because it seems like the proper evolution of punk. More settled more melodious, but full of plenty of surprises and defined drums. Vocals are just classic British punk, raw and emotive.

Unrelenting monotonous noise, but 'Longstockings' does break out and is pretty nice until it too devolves into trash noise! 'Wonderful Rainbow' (the song) hints at something magnificent and then vaporizes. Overall, I get it, but I don't want it.

Buckle the f**k up. Court is in session. The opening breaks are raucous and cacophonic. You think you know what it is, but then Schizoid fades into Talk to the Wind and the (probably best on a modernish album) flute floats melodious with what is that (clarinet and some starry keyboard?), and you find you don't really know what is going on-- yet. On the third track, the kettle drum rolls thunder and the strings come in and you think, how many instruments do these guys play?? The vocals are a little more pointed and the strings carry you soaring above the mountains while the completely unique guitar pierces through the void and injects salve. Finally, sweet release and the acoustic guitar takes a role stepping aside only for the somber and somnolent clarinet and still thunderous drums. Moonchild swings in like an old sad friend. It seems simple, familiar, predictable. But is it? What sort of hobbit journey are we on and when have you heard anything remotely like this before? Was it in a dream? At the end, we get like 7 minutes of call and response jazz chaos in fits and starts and might be tempted to think, is the album ending here? Going to sputter out? And then the title track comes swooping in, organs and drums, guitars and then into the quiet little hamlet voice. I wonder at this stage briefly, why do I hate Jethro Tull so much?? Oh because it is totally derivative of this album probably with none of the originality, lyrics, or talent. Overall, this is a brilliant piece of work. I met this album at age 13 and it was way beyond my comprehension at the time-- still on the edge. My dear dreadlocked pal, Troy played it for me on vinyl and it was old then. Somehow it stands even taller and is even more fascinating. A musical pillar.

This is odd coming on the heels of King Crimson, because we're back at the shire. It's just that it's a lesser one.. Better than Jethro Tull's shire, but still derivative and weird.

This is the worst Radiohead album ever.

This album is the hot mess we've grown to love from Ozomatli where Latin vibes and hip hop lyrics blend with DJ music. This album is fun and lively and has the protest movement themes of their other music. That said, it doesn't touch the 1998 break out self-titled album which is a truly groundbreaking one, especially for the time. If you ever get a chance, go see them. They throw a good party.

Very solid album by one of the greatest musicians. I could have done without "Indian Sunset", but otherwise excellent!!

Rife with nostalgia. I can only now revisit a little the place that this album was, but I will never appreciate now what it was then. I don't feel the scorn that I hear others have for Bono and for this band. Must be hurtful to him. Sure, there were missteps that they took. Who hasn't. The album is still a technically and emotionally good one. I say it stands.

The music was nice, but the vocals were off-putting.

Interesting to listen to such an early album! How far this band has come from the blues and early rock that is played here. It's a bit too early in the evolution of rock form my personal tastes, but it was quite fun to hear the seed of their greatness.

When I think about Jack White and after listening to this album, I feel that I am listening to a great showman. And having seen him live last year, that assessment is reinforced. Lots of high drama and attention seeking noise. It's sort of the Barnum and Bailey of modern music where Jack White is the ringmaster and everything revolves around him. In that sense, I find the music selfish and contrived for likes.

Good quality punk/rock album, but mostly I didn't like it. I recognize why the Stooges are so loved.

This album has no place in my repertoire. Meh.

This is a beautiful album from the title track Car Wheels on a Gravel Road to the excellent 2 Kool 2 B Forgotten and the Louisiana soliloquy of Lake Charles. I actually first encountered and fell in love with this Williams album while living in Louisiana and it slides right in there under most circumstances. Just really pleasant.

Several songs like Heroes carry the album, but wasn't a fan of all the sax.

I got the sneaky feeling that saying I love England 65 times on an album will get you on this list. The album seems like a love song or elegy to jolly olde England. Certainly listenable and at rare moments the vocals break through the surface to become nearly radiant. Nice to hear the combination of male and female voices singing together.

Excellent rock album. I can certainly remember parents being super worried about kids listening to Sabbath as a boy and that it was creating super scary satanic worship. So laughable now where it basically sounds like a rock album and not even all that hardcore by today's measures. Really enjoyable and talented. What an entrance to the music scene this was.

I was hanging in there and vaguely interested until the aptly named "Don't" when I was asking myself Don't you want to turn this off? Don't you question why this is useful to anyone? Don't you want to not listen to this again?

This ranges from highly sensitive and sophisticated jazz to little numbers that sound like the moment in the 70's movie when the bombshell looks at the suitor and says, "It's time I slip into something more comfortable." Really, there are parts that are very strong and the technical skill with which, particularly the horns are played is outstanding. Yet there is that aspect of cheesiness that haunts with a pervasive aura.

Gee whiz, it's rock 'n' roll and it's here to stay. Groovy guitar and keyboard.

I thought this was a really good electronic album well beyond it's time by an artist I'd never listened to. Nice to get something like this because it's so interesting to know that there are still new things out there. Guilty of Love was the low water mark and this one was terrible. Muscle Cars was the best. Light and fluffy.

It's funny, I know one album quite well by The Cult, but only one. I've never heard any of these before. You have to say the guitar is slammin' and just a great rock sound throughout alongside the driving drums. This is a hard partying, hard working band. But, it lacked the emotion of songs like "She Sells Sanctuary" for me. Were the ones I love better or just attached to memories. I can't say for sure.

I mean for a Zappa album, this is better than many. You know the father of Dwezel and Moon Unit is gonna bring the weird and this one has it in spades. The odd conversational chatter really stood out to me. Overall, it's like art at a museum where you look at it and think Well I wouldn't want it in my house, but I'm glad it exists. Like that.

There is a certain inevitability of this album being included in the pantheon. Wilson, yes a genius, produced this album widely considered his best work. I must say though, as a fan, I like the Studio Sessions best as you get to hear how Wilson talked to the band and produced the music in the many Studio Chatter sessions. But, Pet Sounds has its place and still stands. Innovative, interesting, and fun.

I was with this album right when it dropped and remember Comfortably Numb as the standout track--listening as I was to a lot of Tiga at the time. Overall, there is a lot to like here and the band was bringing some new representation to music. A lot to like here still, big orchestral electronic sounds, good sense of timing, and agreeable vocals.

Two moments stood out and not in a positive way. The first was the lyric, "Reality is only temporary." And the second was the sampling of carnival music on track 10. Those two things really personify this psychedelic madness, this kind of music that was the worst thing that came out of the 60's protest movement that ultimately discredited the thinking. And it exemplifies the self-indulgent freakout that probably set us back for decades.

Baaba Maal is a powerful vocalist and one I am already familiar with though not this album. I found myself enjoying it overall and leaning in to the welcoming world vibe, but a little disappointed that it lacked some of the stark power and originality of a track like 'Call to Prayer' from his 1989 album Passion Sources: (https://open.spotify.com/track/6HZUz12ZVCjWey8at477Qq). I find the starkness of that album's second transporting me to another space with its slight flute(?) accompaniment. This album is more approachable, but seems to curtsey a bit to Westerners.

This was ok. Strong vocalist, but didn't love the music.

Cheesy RnB is like my kryptonite.

Pretty typical sound out of Ryan Adams for me, and perhaps because this is the only album I've ever heard in the past. He has those tracks that stand out and rise above the rest which just sounds like a dull hum. Totally listenable and pleasant with a few especially useful and impactful songs-- New York etc..

If anxiety was an album this would be it. I found this album stressful and under threat. Nope for me!

You think you've heard it all and then you find yourself listening to Throbbing Gristle. There were a few scant glimmers of hope in this album, but it was mostly an ocean of unpleasant more or less experimental noise. It was chewy and hear to get through but I slogged it out. Hope not to ever experience it again!

Just outstanding. Best American lyricist. Love his gravel voice and that swing. Tom Waits is the king of his land.

You really, based on memory alone, would probably say that every song on this album is a jam. And that is so true until you hit 'Girlfriend'. And then you hit 'She's Out of My Life'. And then you hit 'It's the Falling in Love'. And then it hits your memory that Jackson reached a settlement with the accuser's family, reportedly for millions of dollars, and no criminal charges were filed. The settlement was later used as evidence by the prosecution during the 2005 trial to suggest a pattern of behavior. In 2005, Jackson was charged with multiple counts of child molestation, administering an intoxicating agent, and conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment, and extortion. The allegations involved a 13-year-old cancer survivor who had spent time at Jackson's Neverland Ranch. And while he was acquitted, it's pretty creepy. It basically turned me off of his music and made playing it feel questionable to me.

What a fascinating album by a band I haven't listened to very much at all! Just a great 80's sound, terrific vocals, and all of the condensed sounds of this era-- if that's what you're looking for. Usually, I'm not and when I rarely am, I generally lean on the radio hits that fueled my childhood. That said, a really interesting band and I hope to listen a bit more to their catalogue. Great to discover!

Instantly recognizable for every single track. I find it so interesting that the Doors are really no longer listened to. You will almost never hear a Doors track played anywhere. This album is so iconic that I doubt I can add anything to the probably widely available critiques.

That first track really swings and I love how it samples the 1969 track of 'Daydream' by the Wallace Collection. If it seems instantly familiar to you, that's why. It took me a little while to hunt that down. Excellent composition. Second track is far less appealing. And so it goes for the rest of this bouncy atmospheric album... It's fairly typical of other works by Beta Band that I have heard previously: pleasant, not exciting.

This album was very important to me at 13. It's kind of an oldie but a goodie and certainly reminds me of my first girlfriend as we listened to it alone slacking around in our bliss. Dark, moody, emotive. Lots to still love here. There have always been a couple tracks I didn't get, but the most are still sounding good. Timeless.

What a joy. Like a hug from an old friend. Hasn't lost a thing in all the years since we had the posters up on our bedroom walls and celebrated the sound of these B-Boys from Brooklyn.

Homey and blessedly short, this little album surprised with 'Cocaine'. Elliott is a good lyricist and is a slice of hardscrabble American history.

Really, this is the only jazz album I like. Just one I grew up hearing over and over. It's masterwork.

Paul Simon is Paul Simon. Sort of steadfast and never-changing since this early album. He seems like an old friend here and that's the part I like. When he does what I call his caricature songs, I like those the least. Those are the ones with the lyrics like, "Hello my name is Samantha and I'm 15 years old in the Bronx...My mother never buys me garbanzos".

Everything was going fine, but Gipsy Woman was about 11 minutes too long. I didn't have a great deal of love for the album, but I'm glad it existed in the space and time when it did.

This must have been such a new sound when it hit the club scene where it hit. I had trouble finding my way into it and had to try and appreciate it for what it must have been in the moment.

This band kind of reminds me of the Cult and I liked it. Floodland was n album whose vocal style really appeals to me with a little bit of a gothy twist.

For me personally, there are two outstanding tracks on this album. Please be With Me and Let it Grow are truly durable songs. And I actually listen to Please be With Me on a near weekly basis. It's one of the only Clapton songs that has that treatment for me. Two songs don't make an album, but they are very good. There's no doubt that Clapton is highly talented guitar player who benefited greatly from songwriters like J J Cale and others throughout his career to become the rock legend he once was. He's a complicated man and from what I've heard him quoted throughout his career about science and race, he's a pretty appalling person and not one I admire much. I can only say that I loved his music before I knew all that and there are some memories attached to a couple of his songs. His best work is actually on the Rush Motion Picture Soundtrack. I've struggled with this concept of personality throughout the project, but yeah, I think it hurts the music. If your server made a huge belch while delivering your meal would it impact your dining experience? Yeah, I think it does-- and it should.

By any measure, this is an incredibly innovative album, one of the few that I own on vinyl. That said, it is relatively new to me. I only discovered ELO in the late 90's as they were just ahead of the time or the curve of my childhood music listening. It's pretty terrific and musically complex and well put together. As orchestra would suggest, many disparate parts come together to make this music and composition (as well as harmony) are at the fore. It's pretty impressive. And I mean, album art is a 10.

What a fascinating album to revisit. Wilson here showing his stripes as insane/genius, especially on songs like Take Care of Your Feet or whatever. The title track is pretty incredible. It's hard to say things about the harmonies and melodies which really have not ever been rivaled. It feels like peak Beach Boys if you've spent much time listening to them at all. That is particularly true if you've ever listened to the many disks that make up the studio sessions and listened to the many "studio chatter" recordings to hear Wilson's process. He was meticulous sometimes taking dozens of takes to lay down a track. He must have been impossible to work with, but when you hear the final polished tracks, you realize the sheer amount of work and skill that went into it.

This was like if C&C Music Factory and Ace of Base had a child. No thank you.

I had never listened to this album except catching the odd track here or there in public. It's catchy. I'm not sure it merits the fame, but it's definitely catchy. I'm probably too old for this?

This was a lot of fin to listen to. I've always liked the Clash, though probably not to the extent of listening to their catalog album by album. So I had not in fact hear this album which presumably is their first. Many songs I knew, but some I didn't. It's classic Brit punk through and through. While not my favorite band of the genre, it still delivers a rotten down under the bridge with this mohawk huffing paint kind of experience.. Just perfect for when you're feeling pissed at the authorities that hold you down.

Slow start to the album with crappy vocals and *off* timing that wasn't even in a good syncopated way. I really didn't enjoy the album, but the Spotify algorithm kept rolling and did eventually play a song of their I liked that wasn't on this album: Time With You is really good.

Life is just so full of moments where you aren't sure what to do. Like, I'm meeting my prospective employer for lunch. Or What about I'm opening a posh brunch restaurant? Or even the old conundrum.. What should our first dance be at the wedding? And at all these kinds of moments, the same nagging question comes up. What should I play?!? Well fret no more, because 'SCUM' is here for you. With such diverse sound influences such as drowning a family of racoons in a bathtub full of Drano all the way to automotive collisions, Napalm Death brings us something truly unrivaled. With the lyric and vocal sounds that really fit every one of life's most meaningful moments. The melodies and the consistent chords and drumming that won't upset the applecart so to speak. It would seem you can always count on Napalm Death to deliver that warm embrace you've always been looking for. That sound that so adroitly blends heroin, violence, sweat, and daddy issues so lushly.

Quite simply, this is an extremely unpleasant album that proves that bizarre is not always noteworthy.

Really an interesting album! I had never heard of this and found it pretty likeable! This music has its own vibe and is unique among other British bands of the time. Great vocals and instrumentation throughout. Mostly, it was just an album that was consistent and listenable across all the tracks. I bet this was an awesome live show.

Not too much to say about this one. Certainly, it escaped the Gilberto style samba albums and brought some new atmospheric sound. It wasn't terribly exciting to me.

Somehow in the more idyllic moments of growing up I believed we as Americans had our worst problems behind us. Our parents had solved civil rights, equality for women, and war was in the rearview mirror. And if there was a soundtrack for the resulting internal peace, this album was it. I first heard this album as a young child, owned it as one of my first records and played it pretty ceaselessly probably up to the time of the first Iraq invasion (perhaps coincidentally). It's hard to listen to now, as an adult facing a much different world for my children than the one I was given. It's like the soundtrack of what might have been.

What can we say. Epic rock legends with the songs we know and love. Hard now to believe it was "hard rock" as it sounds like classic rock to hear it again today. Nice to hear, a staple band and one I'm pretty much always up for the way some dudes like Metallica.

Such a lazy insipid album. I'll never understand the adoration of Wilco fans for this music. Poor Places seems like the highlight of the otherwise lackluster album. But even here the vocals seem uninspired and everything is just downbeat and dreary.

I completely understand that this album was not met with popular success based on the brief band bio on Spotify. That said, holy shit. This is an amazing album which I've listened to 3 times in the past two days. To say I'm impressed is an understatement. Everything about this sound is incredible. Atmospheric, electronic, cryptic, drum heavy, guitar driving. Absolutely loved it. I found that first track to be loaded with compassion and enthusiasm.

I'm a fan overall of the Dead and these are classic older Dead songs played in the legendary Fillmore venue. 1969 must have been an amazing year to see this and to hear these songs. My favorite era of Dead is later, but still there is a beauty here. Turn on Your Love Light and Dark Star are stand outs that Dead fans continued to love for decades.

This is pretty lackluster stuff. Hard to get excited about it. From the bio it looks like they're barely excited to play with one another and it shows.

Break out the hairspray and get ready for the album that is Finnished before it barely started. Ha. This is okay and it does feel like the picked up where Motley Crue stopped. Nothing really stood out about it except everyone asking me what are you listening to??? I had a roommate who was in a hairband that probably opened up for bands like this and got all the tea about what that era of music was like and it was hilarious. Kind of like the pro-wrestling of music but at the end of the day, they really did deeply care about their craft.

New You was the track I liked the best on the album. With the distortion turned down to like 8 it was much more approachable than the rest which hits like an unflinching sonic affront. Not saying this track is amazing, but it's pretty good. Very hard to like this band then and still hard to like it now.

I'm a little uncertain whether or not I heard the whole album on YouTube, but what I heard was melodic and pretty characteristic of a classic Indie album. Small production, not a lot of frills. Lyric heavy and harmonious.

I was kind of excited for some influential 80's band I'd never heard, but then found the vocals to be truly insufferable. At its best, there is an almost Bowie likeable quality, but at its worst, neighborhood dogs howl in pain. I was down for all the drum machine and keyboards. That singing though.

"Back Down" was the high spot for me on the album. Overall, there are some very solid tracks here and the collaborations are excellent. Eminem, Snoop, these are rap world heavy hitters and speak to how respected 50 was when he dropped this album. That said, it's a violent album with none of the humor of similar albums by these collaborators that could have helped to soften the harder lyrics. The album doesn't seem to have a lot of awareness beyond self-promotion and that makes it a little boring. The first time I heard this, I was working in the foster care business and one of the kids played it for me. They were very excited about it and I could see how for someone who was growing up in a very desperate situation this album had huge appeal.