Ok, this is pretty damn brilliant and wild fun. Absurd, but rooted in the familiarity of blues and r&b, so much of the sound is a real romp. I’ll need to give it another listen or two in order to process more of the lyrics. After a second listen, I’m really blown away. Favorite tracks are Sure ‘Nuff Yes I Do, Electricity, Yellow Brick Road, Abba Zaba, and Plastic Factory. Beefheart has an intense, rumbling voice with great charisma. The music is played brilliantly, whether it is a rootsy blues, or a lurching and leaping number with changes in time, tempo, and attitude. Gonna need to spend more time with this band.

I was surprised by how much I loved this album right away. The music feels warm and comforting. There are great grooving jams that I never expected from a “folk-rock” group, and yearning, heartbreaking songs sung in gorgeous voices. A wonderful record that will play frequently around here.

An album I have known and loved for years. Neil Young in his peak grunge sound, just fuzzed out and distorted all over the place. Many songs hold melodic hooks that make you dance and move while the rest of the band makes you bang your head. F*!#In’ Up is fun, while Love to Burn is an extended grungy jam. Farmer John is a real foot stomper. The last three tracks could all be album closers with their anthemic feel. Great set of songs!

This album has depth all the way through it. The production is very rich, with layers of keyboards, incredible rhythm section and expressive guitar playing. There’s even some sax in places. But also the lyrics are very heavy. Deep introspection and what feels to me like great compassion for the suffering of others. The singing is gorgeous. I was thinking that with the drama of the music and lyrics it’s almost operatic. There were several songs I already knew, and enjoyed hearing again. “Mothers Talk” was new to me and I thought it was outstanding, especially the drumming. I also loved the way the melodic hook from Head Over Heels appeared in Broken first as a sort of pre-echo.

Never heard of this artist or album before. I found it a compelling and haunting collection of sounds. Great fun, with beats that we’re driving at times but also many reflective moments. This helped make the difference between hip-hop and rap very clear to me.

This album was such a commercial success I was very familiar with several tracks. I still find the melody of Otherside to be very catchy or ear-wormy anyway. But overall, I’ll not that enamored of this effort. It certainly has plenty of Flea-driven funk and all that but I guess for me it just starts to sound like the RHCP formula at work. I don’t know. Just not as much a fan of this album as of some others.

So varied in song style. While some tend to share in the rhythm styles, it feels like each song is a singular and unique creation. There seem to be some sounds that foreshadow songs that will come later, however. But that last track is completely unique in the outright creepiness of it. So unlike anything else I’ve heard from TH.

This is certainly a unique set of songs with great vocal and instrumental textures. Sort of anachronistic at times, especially on Blue Ridge Mountains where the musical style seems out of the past, but the lyrical content is very much of the present day. Nice arrangements throughout. A second listen helped me to note a strong resemblance to The Beach Boys in the harmonies. The melodic lines, the way they riffed and repeated, was also reminiscent of some of Brian Wilson’s compositions, especially later ones.

Landmark album. Every track is a killer. Beyond the obvious singles that have become ubiquitous, I really loved Hang On To Yourself. Would we have had the Ramones if not for that one?

Obviously Bjork. But also the drumming in this is really fun and exciting. The sense of humor of everyone in the band is notable throughout the album. Listening to the Icelandic lyrics is also fun, despite not understanding any of the words.

Fun group of psychedelic pop. The big hit Time of the Season closes the set. I didn’t realize the Zombies had done This Will Be Our Year, which I think was covered by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the early 2000s.

An iconic album. Many tracks still get regular air play on stations with rock and maybe even oldie formats. In this exercise of listening to all these albums this is the first album I could say I already knew pretty well. Still it’s amazing to hear how many great songs there are. Cover Me rocks. Farmington County is super fun. My Hometown is heartbreaking. So much of these songs mourn a loss of something I’m not sure I ever knew. In part it’s the dream that’s been lost. And somehow Bruce turns that into a party.

I was surprised by how much I loved this album right away. The music feels warm and comforting. There are great grooving jams that I never expected from a “folk-rock” group, and yearning, heartbreaking songs sung in gorgeous voices. A wonderful record that will play frequently around here.

Beautiful sounds. Great voice, and nice songs. Maybe a little monotonous in the sense that many songs seem to have similar cadence and lyric melody. But a remarkable first album from a young singer-songwriter.

This album is known for bringing out the lighter and more whimsical side of Led Zeppelin. I know I spent many hours in my youth listening to the acoustic oriented songs on what used to be called side 2. But Immigrant Song hits as hard as anything in the Led Zep canon, and Since I’ve Been Loving You still thrills me with its peaks and valleys, the full band hitting crescendo after crescendo and Jimmy Page taking that solo at what feels like breakneck speed. Such fun. Sandwiched between the releases that gave us Whole Lotta Love and Stairway, this album may seem overlooked. But it’s a real gem.

Really fun. Never heard of this band or the idea of blues-punk or punkabilly or whatever this is, but it was fun to listen to and read about.

Started listening but haven’t finished. Pretty frickin cool so far.

I hate Def Leppard. Always have. While there’s no denying the high quality of the production it’s really a case of putting lipstick on a pig. The music just sounds like a group that’s nowhere as good as AC/DC trying (and failing) to recreate the AC/DC sound. While AC/DC songs have similar content, they at least seem to be smacking and grinning about the lascivious jokes they make. Def Leppard either doesn’t get the joke or actually takes themselves seriously. Either way it’s shit.

A compelling collection of grooves, driving distorted rhythm, and poetry given passionate life. Awesome album!

I appreciate the creativity in the song design and the combination of instruments and samples or however they created the repeating and jumping rhythm sections. That said, this isn’t my favorite collection of songs by Bjork. I probably won’t go out of my way to listen again.

This album is loaded with bluesy riffs, given loads of texture by the heavy use of distortion and fuzz along with the occasional wah and tremolo. The vocals are great and the lyrical tone related to moving on past difficult times and having hope for the future.

One of the best albums by one of my all-time favorite bands. I can still remember hearing Paranoid Android for the first time, stunned by how different and compelling and beautiful it was. There is so much beauty in the music of OK Computer. I love the way Radiohead displays their mastery in the use of peaks and valleys. Producing swelling crescendos in Exit Music (For a Film), No Suprises, and Let Down, that burst into being and fade into the ending. The theme of feeling like a stranger is given sci-fi context in many places throughout the album, but I can’t help feeling comforted by the warm layers of grooving textures in every song. Love this one so much!

Two cool songs, surrounded by fuckin fuckin fuckin fuckin fuckin fuckin fuckin fuckin (in heaven, though, so that’s nice) druggy druggy druggy druggy druggy druggy druggy druggy druggy booty move your booty move your booty move in a bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce house house house house house. Kind of an ordeal, but not the worst thing I ever heard, I guess.

Wow. This is irredeemable. Can he rhyme? Yes. But he’s no Eminem. Having Eminem appear on one track has the effect of an implicit endorsement by Marshall Mathers himself. But the storytelling craft is lost on Kid Rock. Rapping to rock music? The Beasties have done it for years already. I thought the last track, which does at least tell a story beyond that of the self-proclaimed master of all white trash, showed some potential to raise the music out of the gutter, but it was so misogynistic that it failed to provide any value. I won’t waste my time with this one again.

I had never heard of Little Simz before. This was a really great introduction. The music is velvety smooth. The lyrics are great. I was almost on the edge of my seat listening to Wounds. Little Simz exposes so much of herself and is so vulnerable through all these songs. You get the sense that it is that surrender that gives her the strength to sing about the challenges and even the tragedies of her life. Really nice record.

This is a pretty sweet, and a little spicy collection of dance tracks and hip hop beats. The style is very 80’s, but in a nice way. The lyrics are sung sweetly and rapped with clear diction and very little swearing compared to many other examples of rap I’ve heard. She represents troubles she’s had with men, and is quite frank about when she is and isn’t receptive to their advances. I had never heard these songs before, even though it seems she had a pretty big hit with Buffalo Stance. This was never my scene. Anyway it’s still an ok collection. There may even be one or two I would like to hear again.

This has great performances and composition. The branching into a variety of styles and the way Prince makes each song fun and unique give this album a claim to greatness. I wonder about the lengths of some of the songs which can go into the 8 to 10 minute range. At times that seems really cool because of the explorations and funky grooves. But at others you sort of wonder if it was necessary. All in all a one-of-a-kind effort from one of the all time great recording artists.

This all seems so frantic. What trouble Cobain must have been experiencing, if all this is him being honest. Not wanting what he got. Many of these songs are very cool in themselves but really they are hard to listen to knowing how much pain he must have been in. Maybe too much was made of Nirvana and Cobain in particular, but there was an incredible focus of media attention on his life after Nevermind. The stress of that is clear in almost every song on In Utero.

This is a really solid collection of songs. Some are pretty funny and silly, and some really romantic and sweet. Lots of great guitar/bass/drum grooves that are jangly and fun. The vocals are consistently melodic and fun. Nice album.

I don’t know much about soul and funk music but this could be one of the crowning achievements of the genre. The orchestration is lush and the production is superb. The Theme From Shaft is just a great tune, Do Your Thing is truly epic. The soundtrack is filled with funky riffs and great rhythm tracks, mixed with some lovely flights of fancy. I loved how Hayes allows the music to amble causally at times, never rushing anything. I’ll definitely add this to my library and give it another listen. Also really need to see the film!

I’m st least a little surprised and disappointed that I'd never heard Fugazi before now. I enjoyed the fast pace of these songs and the passion in the vocals. These guys sound both intelligent and passionate, if maybe a little cynical. I guess that’s a good recipe for becoming a punk musician. I’m definitely listening to this album more frequently, and will check out more of their albums and side projects. Very cool band.

I know Mr. Soul, of course, and have heard Bluebird, but didn’t know it was Buffalo Springfield. While that’s clearly the band’s name, this sounds like a collection of songs from individuals. At least you can pick up on places where the band members back each other up, this set of songs lacks the cohesiveness of collaboration or anything like a shared vision. I expected to really prefer the Neil Young songs, and I do, but the Stephen Stills songs are surprisingly excellent. While nothing seems as powerful as Neil’s Broken Arrow, Rock and Roll Woman really lays the groundwork for what Stills would do with CSN in the years that followed. I was less excited about Richie Furay’s songs, in general.

Pretty fun album, but not sure it lives up to the hype. I guess you had to be there.

Not really my style overall, but some fun stuff. I always enjoyed that jangly style of Niles Rodgers on the guitar. The harmonies are great and the sisters sound like they are having fun. The title song is certainly a classic. The rest is ok but this isn’t something I think I’ll be throwing on much.

LOL can’t really listen to this with my kids around! At first I was just ok with this album but have enjoyed the songs more the further in I get. There is a lot of humor in this, and great beats by Timbaland. I’m still not clear why it is ranked so high on critic’s lists, but I could definitely see myself listening again.

It’s so interesting to hear how much can be expressed with just three chords. This collection presents a bleak portrait of American life, between the serial killers of Nebraska and the trucker driving through the lonely night hours of Open All Night. There are also conflicts unresolved both internal (Highway Patrolman) and external (My Father’s House.) After all the dark stories and expressions of deep loneliness, all augmented by the production which relies entirely on Bruce’s single voice, his guitar and his harmonica, aided only by some echoey reverb that also serves to enlarge the space around the singer and the listener, it is hard to find real solace in the closing track, Reason to Believe. Bruce is telling us, rather than showing us that reason, and his apparent hope that we take him for his word here doesn’t seem to be enough. I was excited to receive the assignment to listen to Nebraska start to finish, and there are really some great songs on it. But it’s not an easy listen, apart from the fact that Bruce Springsteen happens to have one of the most charismatic and inviting voices in rock and roll. Here we get a real close look at Bruce’s dark side, and while a visit to the dark side can often be both fun and thought-provoking, it’s also a challenge.

Not at all what I expected to hear from a Beck album. This is so personal it feels almost embarrassing to listen to, almost voyeuristic. Because Beck emerged at a time when I went through a very difficult time emotionally I tend to connect his music to those memories even though there is nothing realistic about that. Here I find him living through and expressing the pain and loss I had and it’s almost comforting. I really wish I had had these songs then.

I had never heard a single one of these tracks as far as I know, but had at least heard of Moby Grape. This first album is full of energy and excitement. The jangly guitars are kept on time with sharp drumming, especially the crisp snare work. The chief strength of the band is the fantastic singing of all five members, both in lead and harmony roles. The sound appears to foreshadow bands like CCR and CSN who would emerge in the years to come, although Moby Grape relies more heavily on the reverb that gives them a more psychedelic sound. Oddly, Apple Music only carried one song from the original album, the track called 8:05, but adds the bonus tracks from a much later reissue. I listened to the album on a YouTube page.

This didn’t turn out to be my favorite Talking Heads album. Fear of Music is indeed loaded with Fears. It may not be music that is the object but many frightening aspects of life in the late 20th century. There is a deep paranoia at work, bordering on panic, that pervades the entire album. I had previously felt that one of the great things about Talking Heads music is how it all seemed to grow out of a fervent drive to dance and almost frolic in one’s own unique weirdness. Fear of Music sounds unyieldingly manic. As the lyrics of Life in Wartime say, “This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no fooling around.” The urge to dance is discarded in favor of despairing for the mess the world is in, maybe right to the point of digging a hole to survive in while the world goes inexorably to shit. Pretty fucked up album, really, but also really successful at getting the madness across.

I was fully prepared to hate this record, and even considered just passing on it. Out of curiosity I started listening. The production is top notch, of course. I didn’t like everything, but I did enjoy more than a few songs. The title track was recognizable and quite fun. Ashanti was the big surprise. I could listen to that many more times. Not really a fan of Little Star, but I get where she’s coming from. Overall, a more than decent collection from Madonna.

A little overwhelming in total. There were some actually catchy songs with what seemed like classic alternative arrangements. There were other songs that were a complete assault on your ears. Loads of distortion and trebly noise. Lyrics that are intelligent and different, but sung in an almost chanting way. I can see the appeal, but it’s not an album or a sound I’m going to be very interested in going forward.

While a few tracks were really very good, I found the album largely uninteresting. I’ve had friends who really loved and admired the Byrds, but I haven’t been able to connect with their music very well.

This sounds like someone making music as art rather than as music. It took until the 5th track before a song resembled music that wasn’t nonsense. The better songs here are Memory Boy, Desire Lines, and Fountain Stairs. The heavy reliance on reverb, echo, and feedback give all the tracks a space, unreal quality that perhaps is supposed to sound like dreaming or something. I don’t know. It also sounds like the songwriter typically grabbed the first three or four note hook he landed on that day and just made that the song for five minutes. There doesn’t seem to be any structure applied to the tracks. I read that this album and the band was given high ratings by critics. I wonder why. I wonder why I should care what critics like if junk like this is considered art.

Here is a collection of songs that were crafted by a master and performed perfectly. Stevie Wonder is clearly a singular talent as a singer, musician, songwriter and performer. What a voice! Drawing from gospel and soul, bringing the funk and the spirit, Stevie tells stories that resonate just as true and important today as they were fifty years ago when he wrote them.

An album I own and have listened to many times. I’m definitely in the pro Steely Dan camp, although I know they don’t do it for everyone. To me this is an outstanding debut. I still love the riffs of Reeling in the Years, even though I’ve heard that song countless times. More recently I’ve become more aware and more awes by the ridiculous guitar solo in Do It Again. Just insane. While the album may not be the complete package that Fagen and Becker would produce later on, the seeds are all planted in this first full album. Funky jazzy riffs, nods to important influences, and cryptic, somewhat darkly themed lyrics. The experiment with David Palmer as vocalist wasn’t a complete failure, but it’s true that his interpretation (based on a tv appearance I saw) lacks the wit and sarcasm that Fagen’s has. So here we have a great start for one of the all-time great powerhouses of 70’s rock and popular music.

What a great performance, but also a real commitment of an album. It’s many of best songs the Allmanns had recorded to that point, with a few gems that were to be released on the next album, Eat a Peach. Epic performances of Whipping Post and Mountain Jam. Stellar performances by all the members of the band. While I was thrilled by Duane and Dickey as their guitars soared, and moved by the incredible soulfulness of Greg’s singing, I had to stop many times and shake my head at the incredible groove that the rhythm section maintained without pause for over two hours. Just incredible feel and stamina! Great album, and a true classic. On the constructive criticism side, I did think that You Don’t Love Me was unnecessarily long, although the Duane jam in the middle did seem like a little wave to Jimmy Page, like, “Hey man! I can do that too!”

Ok, well “Don’t” scared the shit out of me. The rest was a cool fuzzy rocking groove.

First time after all these years I actually listened to Biggie. Entertaining? yes. But harrowing, too. A guy talking about living with so much violence, with so much bravado, but still a tremendous feeling of worthlessness and self-loathing. A tough listen but a great one too.

The production is high end. The bass lines through many of these tracks are buttery smooth. The echoey reverb that is used on the organ and guitar provide a wall of shimmer and glow. But most of the songs themselves have little life in them. The lyrics are often repetitive and pointless. I really couldn’t wait for the album to end.

Some classic tunes here. Fire and Rain, of course is an all-time great song. Country Road and the title track are also favorites of mine. I prefer the live version of Steamroller Blues, but this one is still fun. JT has a really great blues feel and throws it around in many spots. His jazzy bluegrass on Oh Susanna is another great example of his great musicianship.

Super energetic songs all the way through, and even though there feels like a lot of repetition of the general sound, there were a number of points where the feel changed and you just got a sense that the band was having fun. Three tracks are notable gems that I still love hearing after all these years. The rest was fun but I don’t need to hear this entire album again.

What a voice! This album is such a treat to listen to. Beautiful melodies, great musicianship, and perfect singing. I’ll listen to this again for sure and more of Miriam Makeba’s albums.

Ok. This has a surprising number of high points. The Peter Tork song, For Pete’s Sake seems like such a signature sound for the Monkees. The Mike Nesmith songs are pretty good, but less fun. You can see he takes himself too seriously. Besides that, the first song, You Told Me is a blatant Beatle ripoff. Obviously the whole group is based on the Beatles, but if Mike Nesmith wanted to be recognized for his own work and have the Monkees seen as more than a caricature of the Beatles, that’s not the best way to do it. I liked the other songs the four of them did together, as they seemed to capture something of the humor and whimsy that the group had naturally, while also taking things in the psychedelic direction that they, and music in general, were heading.

Holy crap! This may be my favorite punk album so far, and maybe one of my favorite albums. Poly Styrene was a fucking force of nature! So bright and with an incredibly powerful voice. The sax playing of Lora Logic brings so much melody and texture to the sound of every song. The drive of the fuzzed out guitar and the high speed rhythm section is awesome, but the sax makes the whole thing stand out in a truly unique way. What a great album!

Waterfalls is a cool song with an attempt at generating imagery and carrying some kind of a positive message, although the images are sad and tragic. Much of the rest of this album borders on softcore porn. I’m not a fan of male singers explicitly getting into sex act descriptions, even when it’s someone as talented as Prince, and I’m just as put off by women doing it. When it’s done with humor and fun I can laugh along, but what TLC do sounds more like they hope people will listen to this music while going at it. It’s just too on the nose for me.

Epic is a really fun tune that was a hit way back when. Many of the rest of the songs sound like the band is about to break into Epic, so they were certainly thinking in a certain way when they wrote this album. Most of the album was pretty cool, but the last two tracks were the surprise worth waiting for: a note for note perfect cover of Black Sabbath’s War Pigs, and then a completely different sound altogether - a swinging, jazzy piece that doesn’t match anything else on the record. In all, a cool sound with a few surprises.

Never heard of this project before. Certainly unusual and unexpected in terms of the feelings this music evokes. Beautiful and unique, sort of ambient, sort of new age, nice work from a group of obviously talented musicians.

Wow. One of the most depressing albums I’ve ever heard, but still it’s a story told in such a brutal way the pain is almost beautiful. Great performances by Reed and all the players. The writing is absolutely stunning. But so sad. Wow.

Ok, this is pretty damn brilliant and wild fun. Absurd, but rooted in the familiarity of blues and r&b, so much of the sound is a real romp. I’ll need to give it another listen or two in order to process more of the lyrics. After a second listen, I’m really blown away. Favorite tracks are Sure ‘Nuff Yes I Do, Electricity, Yellow Brick Road, Abba Zaba, and Plastic Factory. Beefheart has an intense, rumbling voice with great charisma. The music is played brilliantly, whether it is a rootsy blues, or a lurching and leaping number with changes in time, tempo, and attitude. Gonna need to spend more time with this band.

Fuck. I just lost all my comments for this and don’t feel like rewriting them. This was sort of ok, and better than I thought. Still not something I’ll be playing often or much at all.

I guess I grasp the accolades here. Giving voice to women and using true stories and feelings drive the expression in each song. It’s a novel approach. I think my favorite song was the last one, Girl Like Me, but many were good. Some parts of these stories, like where people express materialistic goals as some form of liberation, just makes me sad that they aren’t looking at their own self worth first. But I guess part of the point is just to listen to how they feel. So this gets that across.

I don’t know about this one. It’s cool to hear music from around the world, as this is, but I don’t really grasp why this particular soundtrack was selected to the list. It was fine, with some enjoyable tracks, but if it’s more than that I can’t tell. Naag Devta stands out as a pretty righteous sounding tune with compelling harmonies.

Lots of energy in these songs. The music is very upbeat and shimmers with loads of tremolo, reverb and echo. Vocals are strong. You hear some occasional bits of noise a la Sonic Youth or Wilco, and the echoes and layers are reminiscent of Radiohead. But the compositions seem more rooted in major keys. I’m a little less impressed with the lyrics. I’m just not clear about what sentiment or whatever the singer is trying to get across. Production value is very high. The layers are many but the sounds are so clear and distinct. I’m not sure I would keep playing this album, but I can see people liking it. For me, there’s no particular musical theme or single instrument that I find I follow and make a connection with, and the lyrics aren’t telling me a story I identify with, so it’s not really for me.

Holy crap. How could an entire album of songs describing multiple murders be so entertaining? My first listen to Nick Cave, and I can see this is his forte. Sort of like Tom Waits in his genius, but gleefully darker. When Waits mourns it is with his whole heart and the remorse is terrible. When Cave mourns, as in the case of Mary Bellows in the song Kindness of Strangers, it’s almost matter of fact; the empathy of the mortician. A wild ride that makes you almost laugh at how grisly some of the songs are, with excellent guest appearances and fabulous performances by all the musicians. There may not be anything like this album.

This is fuzz heaven. Great riffs delivered with raucous and distorted abandon. The vocals could perhaps be stronger, but it’s a really terrific first album by this group.

Cool jams, and an interesting approach to rapping. While rap and hip-hop are not my thing generally, I appreciated the storytelling with a minimum of swearing. That can get tedious. That’s all I got.

A generally very cool listen. There are lush arrangements all through the album. The title track stands out as a sweet groove. Songs were Lenny deals with racism are striking and articulate. His voice is strong and expressive. I’m not a fan of the outright call for Christ love of Rosemary, but that’s ok. Some of the other tough imagery isn’t fun either, but it’s the mourning of the suffering of these characters that brings out the righteousness of Lenny’s message and his funky gospel.

An album I have known and loved for years. Neil Young in his peak grunge sound, just fuzzed out and distorted all over the place. Many songs hold melodic hooks that make you dance and move while the rest of the band makes you bang your head. F*!#In’ Up is fun, while Love to Burn is an extended grungy jam. Farmer John is a real foot stomper. The last three tracks could all be album closers with their anthemic feel. Great set of songs!

Infectious rhythms everywhere. The almost raucous call and response in the vocals of a couple of tracks carries the joy the musicians seem to experience as they play. Since this appears to be an album featuring a percussion ensemble, I was surprised by the brilliant guitar playing that came along on a few of the tracks. The natural sound of an amp pushed just to breakup, and reverb of what sounds like an actual hall, gives a fullness and warmth to the guitar sound, while the playing is as ebullient and spontaneous as the percussion.

I thought this was an engaging album. The production is really excellent, for a start. The lyrics present a rather bleak picture of the world, but for all the cynicism there is a sort of dark humor that makes the darkness palatable. The singer broods in an almost whisper most of the time, but the band lies in wait, ready to take the plaintive songs to anthemic heights at any moment, which they do frequently. Somewhat reminiscent of Roger Waters’ work, but done with a sparkly, orchestral sound.

It’s Miles changing music for the first time. Landmark. Beyond that, I’m not qualified to comment, but I will keep listening.

First time listening to this album. Had to go through twice. Some of these songs are just breathtaking. They are theatrical and tremendously creative. The pace is really upbeat so it can make your heart race to keep up. Butler’s vocals are at times reminiscent of David Byrne, and at other times of Iggy Pop. You can see why David Bowie enjoyed them so much. They are clearly his musical children. Will certainly keep listening to this.

One of a kind. This was the most exciting album I heard that year. What a devastating talent she was. Combining brutally honest, explicit, but funny lyrics with a superbly produced retro-soul sound that you couldn’t ignore. Just absolutely brilliant.

On the plus side, the musicians on these songs are simply outstanding. The singer; Robbins himself, has a beautiful voice, like Elvis in his lower register. On the minus side, the songs are rather tedious. The singer takes even the corniest of them completely seriously. And there are some really corny songs here. I am not much of a fan of this style of country, or western, whatever this is. Nice performance of very boring, corny tunes.

Sweet Jesus that seemed to go on forever. Some songs had good beats or incredible bass performances, but the saturation of the organ and the Leslie cabinet tremolo sound was just overwhelming throughout the album. The melodies are unfollowable most of the time, having this rambling, stream of consciousness feel. Those two points - the saturated keyboard sound and the aimless vocal melodies- made the album one of the dreariest and unlistenable things I’ve heard. I don’t even care what the lyrics are. They are lost in a hopeless morass. Thank God it’s finally over.

I’ve loved the song “Suzanne” for many years and it remains a favorite of mine. The rest of these songs are also starkly beautiful. It is easy to see why LC was so immediately compared to Bob Dylan. Leonard Cohen seems to be so comfortable speaking to others about uncomfortable things, about his feelings and his vulnerabilities, and he is so charming in the way he does it. This first album has a fairly low production value; it seems like many tracks could have been takes on the first attempt. But the depth and the beauty of the songs are both so great that they need little embellishment.

I really wish I’d heard this back in ‘81. I didn’t know how to express these feelings although I definitely recognize them and might have done so back then. This is so damn raw, but so authentic and real. Great shit.

Oh good God. I almost turned it off immediately, but I stuck with it. Listened all the way through. As a rock fan, I have to say there were definitely some good grooves in there. Clearly this style of rock is very high intensity, in your face. Lyrically this seems more like punk rock than metal, although the riffs are clearly more closely related to Black Sabbath than they are to Black Flag. A kind of hybrid. But the vocal style is flat out awful. AWFUL!! Then they throw in the native chanting and Brazilian rhythms in the midst of all the head-banging hatred, and we’re supposed to go, “Ooh! Culture!” The 13-minute long bullshit at the end was completely unnecessary. The album was already an hour long and they throw this shit into the end, for what? I realize Sepultura is a high band, worldwide. It has no appeal for me, however. I’ll find my head-banging elsewhere.

Another gem from Bowie. Great, exciting songs.

Really fun tracks with driving rhythms and catchy melodies. The lyrics sometimes have a strange misalignment with the melodic structure that gives them a sort of mechanistic distance, adding to the futuristic feel of the songs. Really liked these overall.

I like Cee-Lo, but I had trouble getting into this. Maybe another time. Getting so much rap in the first 100 of these albums that I’m getting pretty tired of it.

Actually this is really very good. Great screaming anger and frustration. Lyrics that would simply never come from a male singer. Rocking distorted riffs full of emotion and release. True Rock and roll.

Nice grooves all the way through. Surprised by how much EC plays slide here. This certainly sounds like the EC that you hear for the next few decades. He seems to come into that sound here. Let it Grow? You can’t tell me that wasn’t inspired by George Harrison. Sounds so much like While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Overall production is excellent as well. Layered guitars with just enough overdrive, but clear and glassy sound.

Just a beautiful collection from one of the great songwriters. Some of the songs appear to overlap, so certain phrases echo between songs (You’ve got a Friend and Where You Lead come directly to mind). Since this captures a time in her life, there definitely feels like a mood that is common in some of the music. But the expression is just gorgeous, so getting more good stuff is fine with me.

This album at once sounds like a prototypical 80’s album, but is also one of the best versions of an 80’s album. What’s Love Got To Do With It is one of the all time great hits. Some of the cover songs on here, I Can’t Stand The Rain, in particular, are excellent interpretations of the original. I didn’t care for Tina’s version of Help, however. Some other tracks here just rock out in that 80’s dance hall way better than many of the contemporary rock bands. And then there’s just Tina Turner, reinventing herself and stunning the world.

This is a great listen that I’ll definitely play more. Love Vigilantes reminds me a much the Replacements; but maybe it’s the other way around. Sunrise was an ecstatic surprise. Loved the entire album.

A personal favorite. Sounds a lot like Steely Dan, of course. New Frontier was always one of my favorites on this album, but Ruby Baby sticks with me a lot.

Nice production on a really interesting collection of songs. I liked the way she plays with a kind of nonsense in some of her lyrics, making them a bit surreal at times. Really like the song “So Much More”. There was a stretch, maybe two or three songs around Love Like Laughter where her voice just seems to stay on one or two notes constantly and that got a little irritating. But the songs and the writing are excellent.

I applaud the creativity in the songwriting and the deep sparkle of the production. I somehow can’t escape the feeling that this band sounds like a great imitation of a rock band, as if for a stage or screen presentation, rather than a rock band itself. There is just some kind of barrier or distance that prevents me from completely engaging with this band and their music.

Quite a few song tracks (21) for only 36 minutes of music, so some of these are quite short. A few seemed to end quite abruptly. But the music was really a lot of fun. They relied heavily on heavy distorted chords with full rich voicing. They turn those into driving rhythmic riffs that really make you bang your head. Fun songs and fun album.

This is the sound of REM becoming adults. They spread out and bring in strings (arranged by JPJ!) and deal with some life issues. Find the River is beautiful, and Man on the Moon is a classic. Several other songs are really good here as well. Not a groundbreaking record, necessarily, but an excellent continuation of developing musicians and songwriters.

One of the best albums of all time, and yet it lies somewhere between one Dylan masterpiece and another. I can’t claim to know most of what he refers to; Dylan is too literate, his poetry exceeds my grasp. But every song here makes me want to know. They are compelling. Subterranean Homesick Blues has been one of my favorite songs for ages. Mr. Tambourine Man is still one of the best songs ever written. Many other gems are to be found here among these Crown Jewels.

Inoffensive collection of tunes. The production is pretty high end and the tunes have some catchy-ness to them but nothing stands out particularly well. Some of the chorus sections actually revert to simply repeating the same two words about 20 times (hence the title of the song) which undermines what was otherwise a decent song.

I held off listening to this because I thought it was going to be some kind of thrash metal based on the name of the band. Was very pleasantly surprised it was a collection of sweet grooves and vocal performances in the electronica area. Very cool album.

A classic from one of the best all time. Many great songs. Obviously Little Wing, which might be the best known song off this record, but I always loved If 6 was 9 as a great statement for Jimi’s mindset and thoughts about freedom and expression. This was also the first Jimi album I ever bought, and always loved the artwork of the cover inner sleeves.

What the fuck is this shit? I could almost enjoy it for the drumming, which seems like the only thing that saves this from a 1 rating. The riffs all sound like first drafts of ideas that went nowhere. The lyrics are less than that. What unlistenable junk.

Had never heard this and it was surprisingly excellent. So many good songs that grabbed my attention by being either fun to dance to or just having excellent musicianship.

Very cool exploration in a different direction for Radiohead with a good deal more electronic music appearing on this album. Still great attention given to the peaks and valleys that make their performances so compelling.

This artist may carry a cultural value and represent a significant breakthrough. But I don’t really give a damn because the music is boring as hell.

Actually a lot of fun.

So fucking great I can’t wait to listen to it again. Inventive and fun all the way through.

Raw and electric. Pretty cool and interesting late punk.

Some great songs and excellent performances. Production is as clean and tight as it gets.

Bangers in every track. Very cool and fun music for jamming, dancing, or general party time.

A great collection of songs. Paul took up many styles and sounds over his songwriting career, and here he uses blues more than anything. His playing and that of his hired players is outstanding. Notably, the main hits from the album are not blues, but reggae and Latin styled songs. Me and Julio will always be one of my all time favorites by anyone, and Mother and Child Reunion is so singable. The first solo release of many outstanding albums, this one carries a number of gems.

Raw, over-driven, and honest. A great effort by DBT to present their version of the south, with a great homage to Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines. Something else.

Just hard hard hitting hard rock start to finish. Every song is a banger in this album.

Overall monotonous, dull and uninteresting.

Nice sound. Some fun songs, some angsty lyrics. I could hang with this band.

This made me much more interested in George Michael’s music. I enjoy the hits from Wham! and some of his other songs, but this is a beautiful collection. His voice is so rich and nuanced. As always a great performer.

Consistently danceable and witty, with a dose of urban anxiety. A fun record, with loads of songs I’d never heard before apart from Psycho Killer, but a set that really seems to establish the ethos of Talking Heads as bright, talented musicians who came to have fun.

This album reminds me a lot of the songs and style played by Louis Jordan ten years prior to this release. Both have what I think of as the embryo of rock and roll, and appear to be the most immediate precursor to what Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Elvis would soon be doing. But in 1956, they may already have been doing it. Nonetheless, this album is as much fun as the Louis Jordan work, of which I’m a big fan. Having songs here that would be covered later by some pretty big hitters in the 80’s and 90’s certainly speaks to the influence that Louis Prima had on rockers of my day.