Imagine a band where every single artistic decision doesn't even come remotely close to landing. I present: Kings of Leon

Genuinely who the fuck is this shit for

Lmao, come on man. What the hell are we doing here?

It's strangely comforting to know that this sounded exactly as insane as I thought it would upon reading the description

Love this album beyond words. Absolutely raucous fun, extremely tight instrumentals, perfect singing voice for the feel, a myriad of feels covered from front to back. This album feels like it was singularly made for me. Excellent, excellent, excellent. RIP Shane. Favorite tracks: Metropolis; Medley: The Recruiting Sergeant / The Rocky Road to Dublin / The Galway Races

Pretty much a flawless album

Not at all like most stuff I listen to, but most of the tracks were pretty cool. Any songs with lyrics or voiceovers severely detracted from the album as a whole though. Favorite track: Dirty Trip

Did not like the start to this album at all. Lyrics were dumb and instrumentals weren't interesting. It got better toward the end, but country music just isn't my thing. Favorite track: Far From Me

I absolutely love this album. Today was my first time listening to it, and it will be stuck in my head for the foreseeable future. Genuinely very fun, interesting music. Flaming Lips will be in my rotation henceforth. Favorite track: Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell

Liked this album a lot. Very easy to listen to, and the jazz vibes throughout the album are right down my alley. Favorite track: Night by Night

Just an absolutely stunning voice every time. Not as good as Lady Soul was, but still a transcendent talent. Favorite track, non-Respect division: Good Times

Fun album. Instrumentals kicked ass, but the lead singer's voice was hard to listen to at some points. Favorite track: Identity

The thing that stands out the most with this album is how poignant its main points remain 30 years on from its release. I understand why each interlude track was included, but it did feel like they broke up the music too many times. That being said, the music is phenomenal. It Was A Good Day sticks out like a sore thumb because it's nothing like any of the other tracks--just a funny part about an iconic song. Favorite tracks: When Will They Shoot?, Dirty Mack

This album is pretty bland until Powderfinger. Then, it's like a switch flipped: Powderfinger, Welfare Mothers, and Sedan Delivery all carry what was set to be a pretty underwhelming album for me. Even the outro version of Hey Hey, My My has considerably more interesting instrumentals. I'll be interested to hear more Neil Young albums to see if this is a trend for him. Favorite track: Welfare Mothers

Honestly, this album always had an uphill battle with all the lyrics being in Portuguese. But all that put aside, this simply isn't the type of music that moves me. Favorite track: Clube Da Esquina No 2

Pretty cool instrumentals at points in this album, but lyrics and singing didn't do anything for me. Calling it plain or bland would be inaccurate, but it just didn't move me at all. Favorite track: Virginia Plain

Really, really cool album. First track plays hopscotch with the "weird vibe that's genuinely interesting"-"weird for the sake of being weird" line, but all the others nail the genuinely interesting side of it for me. Very much enjoyed this album. Favorite tracks: Uncertain Smile, Giant

The Bowie-Ronson influence in the production and instrumentals is very obvious and great. However, the elephant in the room is that they're working around a bad singer. They cover for it well in some of the tracks (Perfect Day, Hangin' 'Round, Walk on the Wild Side, I'm Free), but he honestly just sounds bored on most of the other ones. Favorite track, non-Wild Side division: I'm Free

Morrissey's voice gets pretty hard to listen to after a while. Plus he can go fuck himself.

Really fun album! It's a bit long, but it held my interest throughout. Favorite tracks: Sun Hits the Sky, Sitting Up Straight

This album made me wonder if I actually like metal as much as I thought I did. Favorite track: Don't Burn the Witch

This album fucking rules. If you need introduce somebody to 90s rap, do it with this album. Beats are great and interesting--I'll always for jazz-inspired beats like on Da Bichez. Lyrics are great and important, flow is great. Favorite tracks: Da Bichez, Ain't the Devil Happy. Honorable mentions to Mental Stamina and My Mind Spray

I mean, come on lol. Album is obviously amazing and the titular track is the best song on it. Going right down the middle with Bowie is ironic since his music is anything but that, but sometimes there are just facts of life. Whole album is incredible, including the instrumental-only tracks.

Nah, I just can't listen to this album again.

Very enjoyable album. Favorite track: No 13 Baby

Boring, pretentious crap. Was there actually an intentional "outtake" left on Todo Los Dolores???? Perfectly sums up music like this--trying entirely too hard to be artsy and against the grain

This album walked so Random Access Memories could run. This type of music and use of electronics had to have been considered extremely advanced for 2001. And sure, some of the electronica moments are over-modulated and can sound cacophonous or overwhelming. But this album was awesome overall. Favorite track: Juxtapozed With U

I normally can't stand listening to straight up electronic music, but this album is genuine art. It is very well composed rather than feeling like it's testing out all the noise settings on a synthesizer. The album listens like a suite from start to finish, so picking a favorite track feels disingenuous. But I really enjoyed this

Exactly my type of music. Enjoyed listening to this album because of the genre and style, but nothing really stood out to me as special either. Favorite track: Never Here

What a pleasant album to listen to. Very enjoyable tracks and good vibes all around. Favorite track: Jump Into the Fire

Truly unbelievably good album from the best musical act out of Philadelphia. Album starts out hot, stays hot through the middle, dips a little before the end, and ends on a high note. So many great tracks, but my favorite has to be Rolling with Heat

My biggest pet peeve with Indie music is how it sounds like the singer is singing poorly on purpose. This is no exception. Instrumentals are cool though. Favorite track: Two Dancers (I)

Just a beautifully sung album honestly. It gets a little repetitive for me, but that's about the only thing I can point out. Favorite track: Mountains O'Things

Low hanging fruit is still fruit: the guitar work on this album is amazing. Favorite track: Hey Joe

This album was really cool! Definitely nailed the "genuinely interesting" side of weird music. Favorite track: 21st Century Schizoid Man

Beautiful album from an extremely talented band. This album is nowhere close to being as good as Rumours, but still a great listen. Favorite track: Sara

Fuck yeah. Tony Hawk Pro Skater video game soundtrack music, which is a big compliment for me. Favorite track: Think Again

Traditional African music has always interested me. While I was not at all expecting this album to be a cappella, I enjoyed it all the same. Favorite track: Wawusho Kubani?

Amazing!!! The range shown on this album is nothing short of spectacular. Absolutely loved listening to this. Favorite track: Yours is No Disgrace

Lol, like I was going to give this anything less than a 5. Favorite track: Gimme The Loot

R&B just doesn't do too much for me. Nice background music, but that's about it. Favorite track: ...Til the Cops Come Knockin

This was great! Awesome instrumentals, fitting vocals, interesting compositions all around. Favorite track: Loose Fit

It was completely fine. 2.5 stars/5. Favorite track: Sunny Girlfriend

Absolutely beautiful album from a complete legend of music. I never wanted this album to end. Favorite track (non-Let's Get It On division): Keep Gettin' It On

I would have started levitating if I attended this show. Favorite track: How Blue Can You Get?

I really love the unique sound of this band. Pretty sure I could pick a new favorite track every time I listen to this album, but this time it was Arthur

Incredible. Just incredible. Every song, every aspect. Just loved it. Favorite track: Make Yourself

This is my second time listening to this album, and it did grow on me from the first time. However, the (purposefully) bad singing still prevents this rating from being higher. Favorite track: Motherly Love

I liked this album more than I expected to honestly. There are some very interesting musical elements at times, but ultimately it can't overcome what always happens to me with Indie music: it starts to all sound the same, and I get bored. Still, overall a decent album. Favorite track: Afraid of Everyone

Talk about two of my worlds colliding. This absolutely kicked ass. Favorite track: Master of Puppets

Fake crooner music is the absolute worst. No soul to this music at all. The Seventh Seal was good, but every other song is pointless

This album rules. Deep basslines and overall rock sound. Favorite track: Space Truckin'

Enjoyed listening to this one. Favorite track: It's No Use

So. Goddamn. Good. Four absolute heaters to start the album, and the rest of the tracks follow suit. Favorite track: My Adidas

This was a nice album to listen to. Nothing terribly interesting to me musically, but solid al around. Favorite track: Empty Room

Album is perfectly fine. Favorite track: Moog Raga

This is for you, Tony Bourdain. Favorite track (besides Blitzkrieg Bop): Listen to My Heart

Every song feels like it's either a rap beat or just plain boring. Awful, awful album

Just an incredible album. I liked this one better than Heroes (another incredible album) because of the jazz vibes in the instrumentals. Bowie really was a special artist. Favorite track: Cracked Actor

An hour and thirteen minutes of background music. Why are there so many electronica albums in this experiment

Awesome album musically. So many bases covered--I love it. Favorite track: Glad

What an interesting album. James Taylor is a great songwriter with a very nice voice, but the style can get a little redundant to listen to after a minute. But then, out of nowhere, two big band tracks break up the monotony. I liked this a lot. Favorite track: Suite for 20 G

Really liked this a lot! The instrumentals were awesome, and the vocals were pretty decent too. Interesting album all around. Favorite track: We're in Yr Corner

Album fucking rules. Favorite track: Alone, Together

The bears/instrumentals are really cool. The lyrics leave much to be desired though. Favorite track: tonite

Album is obviously good, but I felt a little let down by it too. There wasn't that epic climax anywhere that I'm used to with the Foo Fighters. Favorite track: Floaty

FUNK. Favorite track: Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication

Second time listening to this album, and I still really like it a lot. Still have A Million Pleading Faces and I Can't Help Myself as my favorite tracks

This album was great! It was refreshing to hear a relatively recent rock album be this good musically and lyrically. Favorite track: Howlin' for You

This was quite a bit different from what I expected, but it was great. Interestingly, I thought the two most popular tracks were the two weakest ones on the album. Getting into a groove on hard rock tracks is so impressive to me. Favorite track: Wasp / Behind the Wall of Sleep / Basically / N.I.B.

I have survived this album, barely. Favorite track: Inside

This album is right down the middle for everything that I like. What a treat this was. Favorite track: Revolution 1993

Hell yeah. Just awesome musically throughout. Favorite track: Samba Pa Ti

The peaks of this album were very fun. There is quite a bit of filler in this, which knocks the rating down a bit. Favorite track: One Way or Another

Funky music sure enough does turn me on

Album is way too long to listen to again. Orange Blossom Special is the best song on it, and I do enjoy the bluegrass.

System of a Down is a strange one for me. The highs with them are awesome, the lows with them are awful, and they're often for the same reasons. Sometimes things work, and sometimes they don't. Favorite track: Sugar

Pretty bland on the whole. Favorite track: Pictures of Me

The amount of hits on this album is pretty stunning. How can it get anything besides 5 stars on that alone? Favorite track: I Feel the Earth Move

The two smash hits are great. There is a decent amount of filler on this album though. Favorite track: Paint it Black

Admittedly, I never really "got" Bob Dylan. This album did a little bit to change that, but it's still music that I only moderately enjoy at best. Favorite track: Not Dark Yet

I fucking hate this album so much

This album was alright. The Cure don't really move me too much, but this was fine to listen to. Favorite track: Fascination Street

One of the most beautiful albums I've ever listened to. It's almost hard to believe that he was able to produce such a beautiful album with the myriad of health issues he had at this point. Favorite track: I Hung My Head

Just not for me I'm afraid

I loved this! Rod Stewart really showcases his talent well on this album. Favorite track: Mandolin Wind

Bruce simply isn't for me. Instrumentals on the album are awesome, but it just doesn't connect for me. Favorite track: Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

Glorified slam poetry

The piano playing was beautiful, but it's pretty difficult for me to relate to a solo instrumental performance meaningfully when I don't know the music

Beautiful songs played with beautiful emotion. Hard to beat that. Favorite Nirvana song on here is About A Girl, favorite cover is The Man Who Sold the World

I liked this album. The headline maker is obviously the titular song, but there are some other tracks that stuck out to me too. Winterwood was my favorite non-American Pie track. Everybody Loves Me, Baby and Babylon are also interesting to me. Nice album, Mr. McLean

Interesting album. The most popular song is comfortably the worst one on it, some of the songs feel more punk than grunge to me, several highlights I enjoyed, but it feels like it drags on as well. Favorite track: In 'n' Out of Grace

This album was so damn trippy...but I think I loved it musically. I honestly have no idea why because this spectrum of music usually turns me off. Favorite track: Section 43

I had no idea so many of these classics were all from the same album. Favorite track: Frosty the Snowman

This album was cool. Very much fit the mold of 90s alternative that I like. The mid-track changes were a touch that landed for me. Favorite track: Sunday Sunday

Said it before, and I'll say it again. Slipknot is too far down the metal spectrum for me. Album was mostly noise, but there were some highlights. Favorite track: Dead Memories

Not much interesting here for me. Favorite track: Lonely at the Top

This album had a lot of interesting musical choices that didn't really land with me. I can appreciate the effort though--it definitely wasn't being weird for weirdness' sake. Favorite track: Understanding

Such a cool album that portends nicely to what was to come for Pink Floyd. Enjoyed listening to this piece of history a lot. Favorite track: Matilda Mother

This album was really cool. Perfect balance of instrumentation and enhancing it through electronic sounds. Favorite track: Mr. Disco

This is my favorite Byrds album so far in this exercise. Favorite track: My Back Pages

Album was basically background noise for me. Favorite track: Lazarus

I am determined to make it through this album. But I am 6 tracks in and it is not easy. Closest I've come to turning an album off so far Update: I've made it. My God that was painful. Favorite track: Desired Constellation

What an awesome album. Aerosmith tend to be hit or miss for me, but pretty much all of these songs were hits. I couldn't get enough of it. Favorite track: F.I.N.E.

Hell yeah. One of my favorite ever music acts comes through again. Favorite track: Shining Star

What a cool album. Beautiful jazz vibes, and love hearing jazz as a form of protest--Charles Mingus would be proud. Favorite track: Mistake

The rap albums in this exercise are so damn good. I loved this album. Favorite track: A Day at the Races

Of course this is good. Favorite track: Judy Blue Eyes

Enjoyable album that I did not have high hopes for going into it. That's the nice thing about this exercise though. Favorite track: Doledrum

This album didn't really move me at all sadly. Favorite track: WeFight/WeLove

I liked this album. It doesn't sound very 90s to me at all, which is likely a good thing honestly. Favorite track: Confetti

Was not expecting to like this album so much. The instrumentals carry a lot more than most other singer songwriter albums in this exercise though, and I appreciate it. Favorite track: Tina Toledo's Street Walkin' Blues

I'll always be such a sucker for jazz. Great album from a legend. Favorite track: Come Rain or Come Shine

Very fun album. Come on Eileen obviously the smash hit, but my favorite track was actually Until I Believe in my Soul. This album was significantly better than I thought a one-hit wonder album would be

I mean, what is there to say. Such an excellent album. It wears on just a little bit too long for me, but the diversity of the instrumentation and feel of each song makes it work. Favorite track: An Ode to No One

This album is awesome. CSNY's usage of vocals is so impressive to me, and the instrumentation is excellent as well. Favorite track: Country Girl

This style of music is just not for me. Favorite track: There is Power in a Union

This is excellent. Awesome production and sound quality on a live album. Every song is well performed as well. Favorite track: Show Me the Way

The greatest country album of all time. Favorite track: I Got Stripes

JAZZ. Beautiful things happen when legends team up. Favorite track: Bemsha Swing

Come on now. Favorite track: I've Got You Under My Skin

This album was pretty cool. The electronic elements were nowhere near overkill and enhanced the music. Favorite track: Decca

Really interesting album. At first it was hard to hear the influence on heavy metal, but it definitely grew to be like that as the album went on. I enjoyed the mash up of 60s sound, blues, and hard rock. Favorite track: Doctor Please

I hadn't listened to a full Coldplay album before. Their music is fine in bits and pieces for me, but a full album doesn't do a whole lot. Favorite track: Sparks

Well performed music here, but not my preferred style of jazz. Favorite track: Samba De Uma Nota So

Too weird for the sake of being weird

Wasn't a fan of most of this album. Far too much going on in the background of most of the tracks. Favorite track: Jus' a Rascal

I applaud PJ Harvey's decision to stop making bland, boring music. There did not need to be 3 albums by her in this exercise though. Favorite track: The Colour of the Earth

All-time album. No misses. The best track is Master of Puppets. Alright, let's listen to the album now.

Boring. Favorite track: Oh Boy!

Not sure if I've ever heard such a dichotomy between instrumentation and vocals. That was...interesting. Favorite track: Jersey Girl

I'm stood up in my office giving this album a standing ovation. Wonderful album. Favorite track: Cherub Rock

Liked this significantly more than I thought I would. This is the most thoughtful and least pop-y I've heard her, and it led to a pretty good album. Favorite track: long story short

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Pinnacle of jazz right here. Introduce your friends who don't know/like jazz to this album, and they'll be hooked. Favorite track: Festival Junction

Fela Kuti has quickly become one of my favorite artists I've discovered in this exercise. Once again, strong, swinging jazz from his group. Very strong Mingus vibes. Favorite track: Black Man's Cry

Fantastic. The funky instrumentals are unbelievably gripping, and the voice is so uniquely suited for it. Great album. Favorite track: Another Star

Second time with this album, and there's just not much interesting here still. The titular single is a Trojan horse for the rest of the album, as it sounds nothing like anything else on here at all. Favorite track: The Trip

Becoming pretty convinced that Tom Waits just is not for me. Favorite track: Gin Soaked Boy

This album was wonderful. Big time improvement from Astral Weeks for me. This is the Van Morrison I expect to hear. Favorite track: Glad Tidings

There's something about an album called Bad Company by a band called Bad Company with a song called Bad Company on it. For real though, great classic rock here. Heavy instrumentation with a lighter singing voice pairs so nicely here. Favorite track: Can't Get Enough

Some of the most self-tortured lyrics you will ever hear. I have no idea how nobody knew about Ian Curtis' mental state until he passed. Favorite track: Passover

The progression in this album is very interesting. At first, Mrs. Robinson sticks out, but it then sets up a much more lively ending than the beginning. Simon & Garfunkel have done it again. Favorite track: A Hazy Shade of Winter

Beautifully sung and performed, but I'm looking for a little more variety in the album than being in love with a woman or getting over a woman. Favorite track: I'll Be Around

Masterpiece. Favorite track: Let Down

Giving this one star was too harsh before, but the comments stand. These are not good songs outside of the hits. Favorite track: Somebody to Love

All normal edgelord Indie themes aside, there is some really nice music on this album. Arcade Fire do not fall into the trap of "having your lyricist sing poorly on purpose," so they get some marks up in my book for that too. Favorite track: The Well and the Lighthouse

This is the funkiest rap album I can remember ever hearing. It's awesome. Favorite track: Don't Be Coming (In My Face)

The breakout for the most famous character of potentially the most interesting artist ever? Yes, I think this will get 5 stars. Shocker. This is art right here. Favorite Bowie track ever is Suffragette City, but the whole album is a classic. Not a single skip here

Green Onions and Mo' Onions are the only tracks worth time in this experiment. Everything else just sounded like a cheap organ at a dive bar.

This album isn't bad musically, but I think it's the horniest album I've heard in my life. Favorite track: Common People

I was pretty uneasy at the beginning of this album, but it was wonderful at the end. Favorite tracks: Broken Clocks, 20 Something

People from England will defend this album until their last breath. Neither the music nor the story arc were interesting at all though. Favorite track: What Is He Thinking?

Music was fun enough I suppose, but pretty difficult to have any of it land meaningfully. Favorite track: Elixir

Where has this album been all my life? Stunning mixture of rock, blues, country, swing, probably countless other genres I'm forgetting right now. A pleasure to listen to. Loved all tracks, but In the Gallery is what pushed it to a 5 for me

Great band with an awful singer who also happens to be an awful person. Favorite track: Unhappy Birthday

I've made my thoughts on singer-songwriter albums very clear in this exercise. If they were more like this one, then I would feel very differently. Where most others fall short for me is that the focus is about 90% on the singing/lyrics and 10% on everything else. For me, that's a pretty bland listening experience unless the singer has one of the top voices ever. This album is decidedly not that. Joan Armatrading's sultry vocals are powerful and emotional enough on their own, but the instrumentation is excellent as well. It creates a more holistic experience for me, and it makes me love this album. Favorite track: Join the Boys

Very fun album. Favorite track: Mad Cyril

Her voice is amazing. The production is amazing. But...it just feels like something is missing? The risk-taking thing kind of just sounds like people parroting music critics, but I guess that could explain how I feel overall. Favorite track: Send My Love (To Your New Lover)

What a whirlwind of an album. Definitely an ambitious step away from what Nirvana came up on. Some of the vocals are cacophony to me, but a lot also lands beautifully since I like harder rock. Favorite track: Milk It

Pretty cool album. Not a ton resonated with me, but it was a simply enjoyable listen. Favorite track: Strangelove

This album is so crazily unique, I needed a second listen to land on my rating. Ultimately it's a 4, though I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were hust slightly too many non-musical artistic directions in the middle of the album to get the 5 star rating here. Beginning and end of the album are top quality. Favorite track: White Cross

Nothing interesting here for me. The lyrics are meh, and there's very little vocal range shown. Instrumentals nothing to write home about either. Just background music mostly. Favorite track: The Fog

Like if you gave Captain Beefheart wireframe glasses and a Timothee Chalamet haircut

Singer sings the same song while playing an acoustic guitar over different variations of elevator music behind him. *saves review to notes for every other singer-songwriter album in this exercise*

Yep. Favorite track: The Bottle

This album would be much better if each song was about a minute and a half shorter. It's fun for the most part, but every single track is repetitive beyond belief. Favorite track: Narayan

An album that's so good, they named a movie after it 2 years later. Nuff said. Favorite track (besides the obvious ones): Lifes on the Line

This album was considerably better than I thought it would be going in. The first two tracks are quintessential 90s music--honestly could be part of a soundtrack to describe how they sounded. The most popular track, 4th of July, was comfortably the worst one for me. I appreciate this singer-songwriter album for approaching the music holistically--it made for a much more cohesive listening experience than most of the others here. Favorite track: Fifty Years After the Fair

It's Sinatra, so it's obviously good. I did find myself wishing that Jobim would have a bigger singing role than he did though--more of the play between English and Spanish vocals would have been interesting. But, I didn't find a lot of variety between the tracks. The performances were beautiful, but this is the weakest of the Sinatra albums I've had so far in this exercise. Favorite track: Meditation

You go into this album expecting to get the epitome of 2000s hip hop, and come out with a full anthology showing how talented both of these artists are, individually and together. I'll forever maintain that Big Boi is the most underrated figure in hip hop. The best tracks on each are obvious, so the best of the non-obvious tracks: Speakerboxxx: Flip Flop Rock The Love Below: Love in War

I genuinely have no idea how to feel about this album. It's almost like a ska band's take on reggae at some points, which sadly can drift into being elevator music-adjacent. But the instrumentals are far too sophisticated for that at the same time. Lyrics/vocals are nothing to write home about. Favorite track: Madam Medusa

This album makes Closer seem even more haunting. Even the tone in Ian Curtis' voice is noticeably brighter throughout this album, and the lyrics aren't even close to being as self-tortured. That being said, a lot of the music didn't grip me as much as I'd have liked. It was definitely good, but not one of my favorites. Favorite track: Day of the Lords

This album is exactly how the Stones are supposed to sound. Absolutely perfect encapsulation of what makes them incredible. Mick being Mick, incredibly arranged instrumentals, variations in musical feel, everything. Awesome, awesome album. Favorite tracks, non-Tumbling Dice division: Rip this Joint, Happy, Shine a Light

Special, special album. Sometimes you can just feel the overwhelming talent in a performance, and this is one of those times. Favorite track: Zealots

Yeah this album was great. Variation in styles throughout, strong vocals and instrumentals. Favorite track: Trouble in the Message Centre

This album was pretty good. I wasn't as moved by it as I was hoping to be, but it's still very good 90s hip hop. Favorite track: Farmers Blvd

Shoegaze: mumble rap for white hipsters

I wanted to like this going into it...but good lord. This was a disaster. Unlistenable vocals, mostly basic instrumentals, woof. I Heard It Through The Grapevine was the only cohesive track, because it turns out you have to actually pronounce the words in a cover

I really like albums like this. Complete changeups from a band's normal archetype--it feels like they're doing it specifically to prove how talented they are. I can't speak for their motivation here, but I can speak for Led Zeppelin's talent. To change up the style so much for this album while maintaining their unique vibe is probably the hardest thing you can possibly do as a band. Favorite track (besides Immigrant Song): Out on the Tiles

This album was great. Common has always been one of the most likeable rappers, and that shines through here. Favorite track: The Corner

I think people who don't like funk or soul music might just be racist. Favorite track: Hey Girl

Cool instrumentals, stupid lyrics, annoying singing voice. Overall, not for me. Hong Kong Bar and Make It Right put in a hell of an effort to make me change my mind on this album, but the damage was done

Lou Reed is such a confounding one to deal with because, well, he is an awful singer. And yet...his extreme talent still makes him a fitting frontman. The arrangements on every one of his songs are simply stunning. I found myself enjoying this album much more than Transformer because the instrumentals are so, so good, and so is the songwriting. It's why How Do You Think It Feels is the biggest and best track on the album, but I felt similarly about Lady Day as well.

My favorite ever artist stepping outside of his comfort zone to perform in one of my favorite genres of music, recorded in my hometown. This could be the worst piece of shit ever made and I'd still give it 5 stars. Of course, this is not even remotely close to being that. The backing vocals and instrumentals are incredible. Bowie continues to cement himself as an elite performer. Such an amazing talent to make his voice fit the feel of this music perfectly. Every single song the album is great, but the favorite track is Somebody Up There Likes Me

This album just sounds like the 90s. I enjoyed listening to it. Favorite track: Alcoholiday

Really interesting album. I usually can't turn albums like this off fast enough, but something about this one kept my attention. The tracks are very well arranged, and the overall gothic country feel is something I'm not sure I've ever heard before. Favorite track: All Thoughts are Prey to Some Beast

Nothing especially wrong with this album, it just doesn't really sound like The Kinks at all. I appreciate bands who can deviate from their sound for a different project, but this felt less like an artistic decision and more like a "we need to ride this Beatles wave" decision. They've done it well enough, but it just doesn't feel that authentic either. Favorite track: Sunny Afternoon

This album is a lot of fun. It doesn't really feel groundbreaking, but that's okay. The vocals are fun and sung well, the instrumentation is arranged well. Favorite tracks: Speedy Marie, Superabound

I'm sorry man, I just don't get it

The type of album that you know exactly how soulful it'll sound as soon as you see the cover and title. Favorite track: When I Grow Too Old to Dream

PUNK

This album had all the makings of something I'd despise going in. Stupid name for a band, album title that seems to be making fun of album titles for no reason, Britpop...not great. And then the album started out hot. And then quickly became what I thought I would hate about it. The music just becomes so uninteresting so fast. Favorite track: Faron Young

The album definitely is not bad, but it definitely did not grip me in any meaningful way either. Favorite track: The Champ

Categorize this as one of my favorite new discoveries in this exercise. Pretty shocking to think that this is typically a punk band making an album like this, but it just shows the breadth of talent wonderfully. Favorite track: Guiding Light

He's done it again. Favorite track: Inner City Blues

There are some really fun highlights in here. Some very, very funky beats that had me locked in (Come Into my House, Latifah's Law), but everything after Ladies First pretty much all ran together for me. Favorite track: Come Into My House

This album is so damn good that it is still going to get 5 stars even with the amount of screechy elements that made me recoil. Favorite track: Theresa's Sound-World

FUNK. This album brings it in spades. Favorite track: Sex Machine

Man, this album really swings so hard. Really made me want to find a woman and dance, which is a hell of an achievement for an album. Favorite track: Oh, Marie

Typically fun Beastie Boys album here. Their ability to remix and repurpose classic sounds for their own music is pretty cool. Favorite track: B-Boy Bouillabaisse Medley

Not for me

The hits are quite good. The other tracks are quite dull. Overall, fine album, but not one I have much desire to sit down and listen all the way through again. Favorite track: Shout

An entire album where almost nothing notable happens at all. Yay.

This album fucking rules. Janis Joplin makes every track she's on more fun, and the backing instrumentals are right there with her. I'm really glad I got to hear this album. Favorite track: Ball and Chain

This is the best jazz album I've ever heard, and I grew up playing jazz band in school. Their groove just grabs you and never lets go throughout the entire album. Just simply incredible.

Hard to even consider this an album. It's just an exhibition of her vocal range, which gets old after about 10 seconds

The first three tracks are Radiohead leaning way too hard into what made OK Computer unique--musically, that's not an interesting way to start an album. But then the rest of the tracks are leaning into what made OK Computer good, which is the music ultimately. Still a really good album, but this is a pretty massive step back from OK Computer. Favorite track: Knives Out

Man, he really cranks up the emotion dial for the second half of the album. This would have been an easy 5 star if I felt this for the whole album. Favorite track: You Haven't Done Nothin'

Never been Elton John's biggest fan, but I really enjoyed this album quite a bit. The squeaky helium voice is pretty much nonexistent outside of Tiny Dancer, where it fits anyway. So it allowed me to focus on the superior arrangements and songwriting, and now I have a greater level of appreciation for him. Thank you, 1001 Albums. Favorite track: Indian Sunset

This is as good as punk music gets. Favorite track: Liar

One of the most boring albums you will ever hear

Well, this album is significantly better than the 2003 "The Killing Joke", which I may or may not have listened to first. I really enjoy this blend of punk and hard rock, and the band doing the mixing themselves with such a clear idea of the sound they wanted is damn impressive. This is certainly going to be in the rotation going forward, and it's probably even going to make it onto my gym playlist. Favorite track: Complications

This album does have a great place on this list: it's a perfect encapsulation of why I hated 90% of the music that came out in the 2010s. It's anti-pop, which was necessary because the pop scene was completely out of hand. But then anti-pop itself is just this bland, high-pitched, whiny crap that's so high off its own farts to be anything interesting at all.

Hot take: this album is good. Favorite track (besides the obvious ones): Trip Through Your Wires

I mean...every single song on the album is a hit. Not really much else you can rate this album as. Favorite track: Don't Cha Stop

This album has most of the right ingredients for me: strong jazz influence, thoughtful lyrics, strong voice. The arrangements are nice, but it feels like there could have been more sophisticated uses of the instrumentation. Favorite track: Smooth Operator

If there's a genre that is way overrepresented in this, it is electronica. And this album is all the worst stereotypes about the genre imaginable. I've remarked on other albums in here that sound like an album of beats, but this is the final boss of those. It doesn't even feel like there was an attempt to make this music. The funny part is that there are some alright parts towards the end, but the beginning of the album pissed me off so much that it's getting a 1 anyway. On the bright side, the reviews are absolutely hilarious. Great job, team.

Finally, at long last, a 90s English electronica album. Seriously, how many of these can there possibly be in this book? In all honesty, this is far from the worst one out there. There are clear attempts to make this a cohesive music project, but this genre has such a hard ceiling with me altogether.

The first time I heard this album, I hated it. Viscerally. Just sounded like pure cacophony. While those elements still exist to me, my appreciation for it has grown significantly, and the artistic decisions made on it are much more clear to me. It is a very jarring listen, and that was the intention. The arrangements are extremely particular and do well to portray the album. I can't say I will be revisiting this album very often, but I definitely get it a lot more now. Favorite track: Hurt

Fucking brilliant funk. Favorite track: No Thing on Me

It's definitely a fun album with much more sophisticated instrumentals than I initially gave it credit for. But I'm not sure how else to say this...I feel like I can't take this album seriously? Both the lyrics and singing style feel mostly childish. Still, it's an enjoyable listen. Favorite track: Mongoloid

This is a really fun album with some pretty epic parts to it. The covers are entertaining, albeit not all too creative, takes on the originals. Favorite track: Welcome to the Pleasuredome

Beach Boys are usually nails on a chalkboard to me, so of course this album ventures into that territory at times as well. But I appreciate the overall message of the album and the amount of effort that went into the arrangements--that much is very apparent. Favorite track: In Blue Hawaii

I mean this is obviously just an awesome album. Very important piece of rap history, and a project that is very deserving of that moniker. The ability to change feel from track to track while maintaining cohesion is the mark of truly incredible artists. Favorite track: Luck of Lucien

I wanted to like this album a lot more than I ended up doing so. Good production value and fun enough lyrics, but it never felt remarkable to me throughout the album. Favorite track: Eye Know

I feel like all of the accolades of this album are gaslighting me. It is beyond boring musically, and it's pretty stunning to think that any of the electronic sounds were ever considered innovative. Everything just feels basic as hell.

Pretty interesting album, especially for my first time extensively listening to reggae. Really strong jazz vibes throughout, and the balance of upbeat feeling music that really takes colonial nations to task is cool. Not sure how often I'll be revisiting, but it was an enjoyable listen. Favorite track: Jordan River

It's strangely comforting to know that this sounded exactly as insane as I thought it would upon reading the description

Live jazz albums hit so different. You can feel how intimate the setting is, and the artists tend to be the most personable with their audience. Performance wise, this is excellent too. Her voice is magnificent. Favorite track: Thou Swell

Truly awesome album. It shouldn't be a surprise that Queen deliver an epic, action-packed album for a full EP, but it's still so impressive to experience. Favorite track is obviously Bohemian Rhapsody, but out of the non-obvious ones, it'll be The Prophet's Song

What a God damn album. The Doors do the blues like nobody else, and it's awesome. Favorite track: Been down so Long

It's just so unbelievably good. Nothing much more to say than that. Favorite track: Simple Man

It's pretty basic listening for most of it, but it also is impressive with the knowledge that it's almost literally all him for every track. At the end of the day, there's really only track that matters here and we all know which one it is

This is really quite good! This is not the type of music I usually gravitate to, but there's a lot of emotion in the songwriting. And the arrangements are top tier. Favorite track: In the Land of Make Believe

It's just pure genius, man. Nothing else to say. Favorite tracks: Back in the USSR, Helter Skelter

Afro-Cuban jazz. The most fun version to play, and the most fun version to listen to. Favorite track: Cannonology

I really cannot stand this type of music at all. If you love listening to whiny, nasally voices, this is for you. I enjoyed The One You Love, and it turns out that's because it's the only track that attempted to be holistic music. You know, with actual arrangements, changes, feel, basically anything besides sitting on a stool and droning on behind a mic?

Fuck yeah. Favorite track: Brass Monkey

Incredible album from an incredible band. Everything about it is perfect. Favorite track: Won't Get Fooled Again

Truly one of the greatest works of art of all time. Every single genre and feel that was attempted in this album was mastered by the band. Favorite track: Spanish Bombs

I think that the album featuring Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Cannonball Adderley is going to be good. What a surprise, it was. Favorite track: All Blues

Man, they were really proud of this album title. It was alright, but not much interested me here besides Waterfalls.

I think everybody has that one genre where they instantly drop any kind of critical lens and just fucking have fun with it. That's hard rock for me, and this album certainly delivers on the fun elements. The guitar work is phenomenal, and the vocals work kind of like a harder version of AC/DC. This will definitely be in the rotation going forward. Favorite track: Rock of Ages

This genre generally doesn't do much for me, but this album addresses some of the things that typically turn me off to it. First, the production value is spot on. Indie albums usually feel fake to me because they're overproduced and make the sound too far away from the authentic instruments. Fleet Foxes does not do that at all--everything sounds like real music, and the pairing of vocals to instruments works very well. Second, there is nice variation to the feel from track to track. Often times in Indie music, I feel like I'm listening to the same whining or breathy chorus sung by 4 guys each track. Fleet Foxes do very well to avoid that. All that being said...Indie simply has a hard ceiling with me. This style of music is best served as a changeup on an album rather than being an album itself for me. I like to be gripped by heavy instrumentals in general. There are moments where this happens, but not enough for me to call this one of my favorites. Favorite track: Ragged Wood

This band's treatment of the blues is just so uniquely special. I cannot get enough of it. Favorite track: Roadhouse Blues

As a straight ahead blues album, this is pretty much as concrete of an example as you can get. And I really did enjoy the treatment of it for the vast majority of the album. However, this book has exposed me to so many other treatments of the blues that are so much more interesting and unique than this. Still, it is a very good album with badass instrumentation and good collaborations. Favorite track: Cuttin' Out

Wow, this album truly fucking sucked

It's really not bad. It's not great either, but not bad. It is, however, the same exact song 9 times over. I guess stick with what's working? But it wasn't anything that great where they can't deviate styles at least a little bit. Favorite track: Someone Somewhere

It's fine. For me personally, this album gets let down by the extreme overrepresentation of this genre, because it quite clearly is the best one of all these 90s UK electronica acts. But I'm pretty jaded at this point, and electronica still has a hard ceiling with me.

Cool instrumentals like 25% of the time, purposefully, irritatingly bad vocals 100% of the time and instrumentals 75% of the time. Get out of my life.

I came into this album fully expecting to give it a 5, but I think the exposure to the other classic rap albums in this book has made me realize it really didn't hold up over time as well as others. For the first time, I really found myself questioning how much I liked listening to the violence in his music. As evidenced by the rating, I still clearly do. But the fact that I had to question it at all kind of proves the original point. Favorite track: Role Model

Fuck this piece of shit. Great album though. Favorite track: Money

The French Pink Floyd and Nine Inch Nails having a baby review might be the most accurate review on this whole website. Difference is I liked it a bit more. Favorite track: L'Amourir

Really good album. I liked the variation in feeling between tracks, which is why I like 90s alternative so much. Being able to be cohesively versatile is a really good marker of a band's talent. Favorite track: Velouria

Really enjoyed this one, and it was flirting with a 5 until the final track. It's difficult to make dance rock also sound objectively good musically, but they nailed it. New Order's ability to pivot to this type of music after Joy Division is also very impressive. Favorite track: Elegia

It's a shame that it was so grating and unlistenable at the start, because it became surprisingly pretty decent by the end

I typically don't go for the more folksy style of country, but I found myself really liking this one. My thing will always be on the use of instrumentals, and Emmylou nailed them here. All of them were interesting uses in the background, and they paired with her voice very well. Favorite track: Queen of the Silver Dollar

I really wished I didn't hate Mayfield's singing voice so much, because the funky instruments & lyrics are absolutely phenomenal. Favorite track: Hard Times

I like to think of myself as somebody with at least halfway thoughtful musical takes and fairly diverse interests. But, there will always be something about hard rock that will make automatically fall into "FUCK YEAH" mode. And I think it's beautiful that music has the ability to do that to me as well. Favorite track: Hell's Bells

Surprise, surprise. I've fallen in love with another Bowie record. Favorite tracks: What in the World (with lyrics), A New Career in a New Town (instrumental)

Another fun disco album. As far as uses of soul and funk go, this is towards the bottom of the list for me. However, it is still soul and funk nonetheless, which means it's still good. Favorite track: Good Times

I really tried my best with this one, but I just simply could not get myself into it. I guess it was alright background noise for work, but I couldn't envision myself using it for any more than that.

The song that features Jeff Beck the most is the best one on the album, go figure. Seriously though, enjoyed this one. My thing has always been melding different styles together cohesively, and they do so here with rock, country, and folk. So much so that they even border on psychedelic rock for a bit. Could have done without the album being on there twice, but I can't complain too much about listening to a good album back-to-back.

I could live in Stu Cook's basslines for the rest of my life and be the happiest man on earth. Just top notch instrumentals all around from CCR again. I cannot get enough of, well, most of the tracks on this album, but I Heard It Through the Grapevine is one of those 10 minute epics that do not feel like it at all, like Marquee Moon or Jesus of Suburbia

Yeah, it's just really god damn good. Favorite track: Cigarettes & Alcohol

Up through La-La-La-Lies, it felt like they were shoehorning them into The Beatles sound box. However, from there, it very quickly becomes The Who we all know and love. Man, they really hit their stride from that point on. The drumwork on The Kids Are Alright in particular really stands out in this sense, and the whole band really came together strongly for It's Not True. The Ox is pure chaos that also works together almost counterintuitively, which is about the best explanation I can come up with for The Who. Awesome album from an awesome band.

This is my second time listening to this album all the way through, and I still have the same feedback: what do any of the songs have to do with the Under Construction theme she establishes at the begining of the album? The songs aren't bad, although they get very repetitive in feel and theme. Her feelings about losing Aaliyah are obviously genuine, but talking about all those deaths in hip hop before dropping these songs just feels like the definition of monetizing tragedies. Give me Supa Dupa Fly over this any day.

It's a 2 song album. And it's awesome.

Just a seriously awesome album. Absolutely loved listening to this. ELO are really good at building through tracks without making them overwhelming. Favorite track: Mr. Blue Sky

Perhaps the most "Not for me" album in this book

Not sure what I was expecting with this one, but what we got was a pretty watered down version of Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young. Unfortunately, I found that to be pretty boring. It eventually devolves into just repetitive soundscapes that did nothing for me at all.

Man, this album really tapered off quickly for me. Not sure if I've ever gone from pretty decently interested to background noise so quickly before. Favorite track: Kurt's Rejoinder

Man, this was disappointing. The fun parts of the album are simply relative to the rest of the album, and they're in fact pretty much just average 90s rap tracks in the grand scheme of things. Favorite track: Guillotine (Swordz)

Just a seriously, unbelievably good album. Incredible singing, incredible songwriting, incredible guitar work. The way they change their feel within tracks is captivating. I was looking forward to getting this album in particular through this exercise, and it delivered in every way. Favorite track: Would?

This album really is so good and funky. Not at all what you'd expect going in. Favorite track: Soubour

Completely mediocre rapping over completely mediocre beats. Performers who sound bored performing their own music...what exactly are you doing this for?

Man, I'm really finding that I like these guys quite a bit. Their influence on Random Access Memories is so readily apparent, but I'm also hearing a strange amount of Radiohead in some of these tracks? Pretty cool band. Favorite track: Mario Man

The first time I listened to this album must have caught me on a bad day, because I feel like I've fallen in love this time. I can do without the Variation tracks, but understand their inclusion. But the energy, swing, and soul on all the other ones are fantastic. Favorite track: Blues, Pt. 2

This style of music really does not do much for me at all. I know it's probably the rawest display of musical talent, but it just feels so bland to me so often. Add on to it that I really do not like Neil Young's voice, and this is the result. Favorite track: Revolution Blues

Fuck yeah. Favorite track: Run to the Hills

Imagine a band where every single artistic decision doesn't even come remotely close to landing. I present: Kings of Leon

The description read like a perfect recipe for what I want to listen to, and the album did not disappoint in the slightest. The marriage of punk power chords and the alternative vocals really works well for me. The album itself feels like it transitions from punk to alternative as it goes on, and I love it. The instrumentation is simply fantastic--I hear REM in here very strongly. Favorite track: Changes

Brilliant album from a brilliant band. The documentary on the making of this album does well to highlight just how much of a Dream Team of studio players they put together for this recording, and it shows so clearly. Favorite track: Deacon Blues

Why, oh why, are all of this guy's big hits the songs where he goes squeaky helium mode?! His full albums, where he sings like a normal human, are so much better and show off his superior songwriting abilities. Admittedly, the songs about women at the end of the album are hilarious knowing what we know now. Favorite track: Social Disease

I mean...what is there to say? A truly epic musical journey that tells a story far more people can closely relate to than they would like to admit. This album is incredible and a cornerstone part of music history. Favorite track: Comfortably Numb

It's not bad, but it just feels so...average? Nothing really ever really sticks out to me in this album. Favorite track: Novocaine for the Soul

Obviously lol

The REM influence on Bob Mould is so hilariously obvious. It sounds like he's doing a Stipe impression on some of the tracks. The songs themselves, individually, are pretty good. But this album drags on for an eternity. They are way, way too similar for an album this long. Favorite track: Ice Cold Ice

The people who said that this didn't age well can shove it. Musically, this album is unbelievable. Just epic from start to finish. The statements made on suburbia, people just going through life existing, American government propaganda, etc are all arguably even more prevalent today than when it was written. Just because it's not treated with the same eloquence as somebody like Rage Against the Machine doesn't mean that the album didn't age well or had a pointless message. Okay rant over. Back to the music. Billy Joe Armstrong really sets himself apart from the rest of the field in terms of songwriting on this album. The fact that Green Day has had *several* eras of relevance and styles is enough evidence of it, but American Idiot was what got that statement to the mountaintop. Jesus of Suburbia is one of the greatest songs ever written. Holiday and Boulevard of Broken Dreams are timeless classics. American Idiot was an unbelievably huge opener. But every other song on the album is special too. The double tracks all work, even when they're wildly different styles. Just an awesome, awesome album that I will never hesitate to listen to. Favorite track: Jesus of Suburbia

The hits on the album are obviously top notch. The arrangements are also top notch as per. This is the first Michael album where I felt like the deep cuts were slightly lacking though. Of course, this is all relative to the rest of his works, so it's still fantastic. Favorite track: Smooth Criminal

Pretty good and creative songwriting, as to be expected from Peter Gabriel. He does fall into the weird for the sake of being weird trap a few times for me, but still quite liked this broadly. Favorite track: Lead a Normal Life

Really enjoy getting to explore these classic country albums that I never would have touched otherwise. Dolly's voice is beautiful on this album, and it's the perfect length for songs that are all pretty similar to each other. I enjoyed the rock elements I heard in Traveling Man, and the message in Coat of Many Colors is a fantastic one. Favorite track: Coat of Many Colors

It's very rare for music of any kind to render no reaction in me at all. Congrats, Travis.

I feel like this album would make me fall in love with whomever I simply look at while it's playing. Favorite track: What More Can I Say?

Another example of casual greatness. Favorite track: In My Life

The average rating on this feels incredibly harsh. It's a fun album to listen to with some pretty attractive arrangements throughout. I understand the gripes over its actual place in this book, but it's clearly better than a 2.8ish average. Favorite track: Since I Met You

This was probably my favorite Wu Tang project so far, but it is still further proof that they aren't for me. I just don't feel enough variability between the tracks or flow to hold my interest in the whole album. Favorite track: Mr. Sandman

I never knew how much I loved psychedelic rock until I started listening through this book. The ability to produce sounds like this through instruments is so impressive to me. This was wonderful, and it's a clear rotation piece going forward for sure. Favorite track: Roller Coaster

So god damn funky. So god damn good. Favorite track: Higher Ground

It is very safe to say that I was not expecting to fall in love with a Frank Zappa record. However, that is the beauty of this exercise. All of these songs absolutely slap. It's a magnum opus of saxophone playing. They are completely grooving from the very start of the album. This is wonderful. Favorite tracks: Son of Mr. Green Genes, The Gumbo Variations

Awesome album. Megadeth was always hit or miss for me, but then they crushed it when I saw them live. So I'm forever biased. The guitar and drum work are just so fun to listen to throughout the album. It feels like grooves and metal shouldn't go together, but that's the exact feeling I got each track. That's just what happens when the instrumentals are so tight. Favorite track: Holy Wars...The Punishment Due

The first rock opera I ever listened to as a kid. And it's awesome...because it's The Who. It really is that simple sometimes. One of my favorite ever album covers too. Favorite track: Pinball Wizard

Fun album with pretty unique sounding vocals and heavy instrumentals. Favorite track: Under the Boardwalk

What a truly stunning album. I was not expecting to wholeheartedly love this at all, but that's the beauty of this book. The passion in his voice is so apparent, and the arrangements are so perfectly done. I love the variation in feel from track to track as well. I can hear the influence that What's Going On had on this album, and what an album from which to draw inspiration. Welcome to the rotation, Michael Kiwanuka. Favorite track: Final Days

Heroin alone earns this album 5 stars. The arrangements here are just simply second to none. The only complaint I have is how Nico swindled a solo mention here. She is outsung in terms of quality, quantity, AND consequence by Lou Reed here!

Lmao, come on man. What the hell are we doing here?

What a beautiful, legendary album that I will spend almost no time listening to going forward. This style of music just isn't my go-to in any leisurely setting, but this is still an obvious great one. My relationship with Bob Dylan has really evolved heavily lately, as I've gone from "still not getting him" to "loving the song that parodies him the most because it still does remind me of him." Favorite track: A Simple Desultory Philippic

I chuckled when I got this album because, for some reason, it just seemed like one to never take seriously despite not having listened to it. Well, I was SORELY mistaken. This album is so good! And it's legitimately fun! I love the range of feels shown in only a handful of songs here, and the arrangements are all on point. This is seriously one of the more surprising revelations to me in this exercise so far, and I was so relieved to see the reviews showing me that I was not wide of the mark in terms of my enjoyment. Favorite track: All Revved Up with No Place to Go

It had its moments, but nothing much interested me here at all. Favorite track: All my Friends

My discovery of how much I enjoy U2 is one of the more unexpected byproducts of this exercise so far. This is, once again, a complete album with great songs, songwriting, arrangements, etc. Hats off to them for exceeding expectations again. Favorite track: Like a Song...

I didn't find myself moved by anything in this album until Hot Thing, which is simply not at all what I expect from Prince. It's not offensively bad at all, but a pretty startling amount of stuff that only registered as background noise to me. The album does pick up quite a bit at the end, though. It's Gonna be a Beautiful Night is more of the energy I love from Prince typically. The second half of the album is a much higher score on its own, but this score is representative of the whole thing. Favorite track: It's Gonna be a Beautiful Night

This album really starts out pretty spectacularly and tails off mightily at the end for me. Overall, I would still say I enjoyed most of it. The songwriting in here is very, very good, and I like the transitions in feel over the course of the album. Favorite track: Waiting for that Day

This album absolutely rules. The blues are tight as fuck. The arrangements beyond the guitars are top notch. The guitar playing...I mean, the words don't exist. Just so superlative. Favorite track: Hideaway

Very clearly important album in music history. His voice really is a pleasure to listen to, but just by the nature of how foundational of an album this is, the music feels so, so basic for the large majority of the time. Favorite track: Honey Chile

Let me make this clear: there is absolutely no chance in hell I am rating this below a 5 going into it. This is such a seminal album of my childhood, it's already locked in. Alright, let's listen. Yep, of course this held up for me. Pretty much every song is a hot, and they're all pretty much in regular rotation for me, especially for working out. I know the lyrics play into the psyche of typically angsty teens, but they really do a better job than most artists at describing those feelings artistically. Chester's singing is iconic, Shinoda's rapping is a perfect change of pace, and the instrumentation kicks ass. Favorite track: Papercut

Everything about this album is right down the middle. The singing is fine, not great. The instrumentals aren't anything to write home about, but they aren't bad or detrimental at all. Overall, the album isn't bad at all, but it's really not good either. Just a whole big pile of meh. The fact that I can't really pick a favorite track because none of them stand out at all is pretty much a perfect encapsulation of my point

I'm going to assume that this album is viewed as hugely, culturally important in art and the LGBTQ+ movement. I'm not going to confirm that assumption though because I honestly couldn't care less. Her voice sounds abysmal for most of this album. Traditionally bad singing voices are not a disqualifier for me obviously, but they are a mutually exclusive concept with any kind of chamber music. I'm glad Anohni was able to find the peace she very clearly longs for in this album, but the album itself is bad. Real bad. Very, very difficult listen.

Legendary. Favorite track: Tiger in Your Tank

Gorillaz are a band I always meant to explore more beyond the hits, so I was glad to receive this one. However, I found myself disappointed in much larger portions of this album than I expected. Some parts I really vibe to quite a bit, but there's a pretty uncomfortable amount of time where it just feels like I'm listening to background beats rather than holistic music. I would say that I like the album overall, but it's certainly not what I was expecting.

As far as pop music goes, this is about as good as it gets for me. The problem with pop music is that the production is always what carries the project, and that bores me pretty quickly. I really do like Lorde's voice quite a bit and would like to hear her perform with some sort of symphony orchestra or chamber group. But myself and pop are just not meant to be. Favorite track: Sober

Your Dictionary might be the single worst song I've heard in my life. The rest of the album ranges from good to fine to bad, but Your Dictionary is horrific. Favorite track: Greenman

Just pure excellence. Favorite track: Bring It On Home

And you may ask yourself...how can you rate this anything else?

I found myself disliking this album for much longer stretches than anticipated. A lot of the stereotypes used to make fun of reggae are very prevalent in here for me, like repetitive, very basic beats. I also didn't anticipate a borderline horny album from Bob Marley

Really cool vibe on this album. If each song was 1 minute shorter, we'd really be cooking with gas here. Still enjoyed this quite a bit more than I usually do with electronica. Favorite track: Unfinished Sympathy

Alice Cooper is always a fun listen, and there actually is a lot more musically going on here than you'd think. It's always interesting hearing hard rockers go back to their roots and play straightforward blues like he does on Generation Landslide. It's a nice reminder that hard rock is the blues, just presented very differently.

One of my favorite ever albums (as all Bowie albums are). Once again, his ability to meld and blend distinct styles of music into a cohesive project--let alone an epic musical journey--is unmatched by anybody else in the history of music. This is the work of a genius, even if he didn't know it at the time of recording. Favorite track: TVC15

A live album from a soul singer whose yelling at the crowd voice is nearly exactly the same as his singing voice? Yeah, that's an automatic 5 stars. Favorite track: It's All Right / For Sentimental Reasons

There's no doubt that this is excellence. You really cannot play these classics any better than the trio are both individually and collectively. But...I just can't give a rhythm section trio a perfect 5. Brass and woodwinds just add far too much to my enjoyment of jazz. This is probably the rating I regret the most thus far, but I have to be honest with myself here. I do take pride in having seen a show at this legendary venue though, and I am very glad to have it be coronated in this list.

Yeah, Yes have done it again here. The amount of power chords they produce from their selection of instruments is really difficult to explain. The grooves they get into on each track are flat out addicting, and the influences drawn from other genres are all welcome and interesting. Favorite track: Roundabout

This album is just brilliant man. I really love the punk feel throughout, and Costello's voice is so cool. Plus, an album from an Irishman taking Anglos to task is always a W. Favorite track: Moods for Moderns

Another really great REM album here. Much, much more introspective look than their previous ones, but their talent shines through all the same. Favorite track: Man on the Moon

Body Count is what Limp Bizkit tried to be. I'd listen to a full album of songs like that from Ice T

This album is simply incontrovertible proof that Beck is not for me. I'm quite literally going through a breakup right now, and this album is still boring the life out of me. The only songs that moved me even a little bit were Lonesome Tears and Sunday Sun. Everything else felt like a stereotypical sad singer sitting on a stool.

This album really has so many tremendously heavy parts. Really, really cool look at the talent of this band, especially with the feel shift in Changes. Favorite track: Snowblind

I just gave Dimery a heart attack by telling him "Nick Cave and Tom Waits are nowhere near as important to the history of recorded music as you think." I despise the premise of the album. I'm tired of listening to Nick Cave treat his albums like e-books. PJ Harvey and Kylie Minogue are the guest artists from my personal hell. The instrumentals...are actually kinda cool. They'll spare this album from the 1 I truly want to give it.

The album is actually more interesting than I thought it would be. But with that being said, a lot of it still all runs together for me. Electronic music without lyrics still feels like half a song for the most part to me. Also...the songs are just entirely too long. Favorite track: Building Steam with a Grain of Salt

The songs that really hit here are so phenomenal. La Grange is an absolute icon of a track. The blues are hard, heavy, and fast here. Favorite track: La Grange

I enjoyed this one for the nostalgic sound of growing up listening to this in my parents' cars. The songs still hold up today, though that bubblegum sound doesn't do a whole lot for me on its own anymore. Favorite track: California Dreamin'

This is a pretty god damn phenomenal live performance. The jams are awesome, but a little long to listen to outside of the live setting. Still, the talent here is just overwhelming. Favorite track: Highway Star

Man...so much of this album is just noise to me. The instrumentals on their own might be decent, but his voice is very difficult to hear for nearly an hour.

It's a fun dance album for sure, but 64 minutes of a fun dance album is entirely too much time. A lot of the social commentary, which itself is fairly enlightened, has its impact cut short in this format for me too. Favorite track: Rhythm Nation

The instrumentation is interesting. The singing voice is like nails on a chalkboard. Ditto for most Indie albums. No real standout tracks here to pick a favorite.

One of my favorite albums of all time. I can't stress enough how difficult it is to write an album about this subject matter in this style and have it be this objectively good musically. And Billie Joe did it when he was 21! It's a special album from a special band, and it will always hold up for me. Favorite track: Longview

Much more of a vibe than I was anticipating. Electronica simply never does it for me, but I really felt a cohesive project and musical progression, which almost never happens in albums like this for me. Favorite track: Le voyage de Penelope

Pretty interesting album in how many feels it covers. I tend to appreciate albums like this, even though there were a fair few of these tracks that faded to background for me. The talent is very apparent though. Favorite track: Instinct Blues

Absolutely loved this. Each direction in here hit all my rock spots I was looking to have hit. And each one is done excellently. Honestly, I wasn't sure I ever understood the term "proto" until I heard this album. I really enjoyed this journey quite a bit, and will certainly be incorporating this to the rotation. Favorite track: Plan 9 Channel 7

Psychedelia!!! Favorite track: Little Girl in the 4th Row

Pure brilliance. One of the most artistic albums you'll ever hear, and every single direction clicks beautifully. Favorite track: I Know What I Know

A sincerely incredible album that touches almost every musical genre you can imagine. What an artist. Favorite track: Let's Pretend We're Married

Truly love this album, which makes my mom very happy. Favorite track: Bloody Well Right

Love this album beyond words. Absolutely raucous fun, extremely tight instrumentals, perfect singing voice for the feel, a myriad of feels covered from front to back. This album feels like it was singularly made for me. Excellent, excellent, excellent. RIP Shane. Favorite tracks: Metropolis; Medley: The Recruiting Sergeant / The Rocky Road to Dublin / The Galway Races

Well, I certainly do not hate this as much as the population of reviewers on here do. There are elements of cacophony here, but they definitely do draw away from the album for me like they do for others. 2004 does feel a little late for a band like this though

I really can't believe I've hit the point where Eminem's music primarily makes me cringe. The "aged poorly" line about music is way, way overused, but it fits particularly well for, well, pretty much all his albums. His actual rapping ability is obviously great, but the music is just so hard to listen to now. Favorite track: Under the Influence

Take folk music, and make it rock. And jazz. And soul. And blues. And psychedelic. And then suddenly I like folk music. Funny how that works. Favorite tracks: The Weight, We Can Talk, Chest Fever

Have never listened to Paul Weller at all...and I honestly couldn't tell you why. This is wonderful! Great marriage of blues and soul here, and it's certainly going to get me to listen to him a lot more now. What a great discovery here. Favorite tracks: Has My Fire Really Gone Out?, 5th Season

Fuck yeah. Favorite track: Eruption

Just absolutely love this band. Could not be more down my alley if they tried. Instrumentation, overall vibe, lyrics, writing style...just all perfect for me. Favorite track: Reelin' in the Years

I liked the Police better when Kevin was singing and playing the drums. Favorite track: Synchronicity

This was phenomenal. Really great energy and feel to all tracks. I'm very surprised I've never come across this group before apart from Alright...this is exactly down my alley. Favorite track: Lenny

Really nice album. It's kind of like bubblegum psychedelia. Favorite track: Time of the Season

Really struggling to see how this is essential listening by any stretch of the definition. I actually enjoyed their treatment of Fever, but otherwise there was really nothing appealing here to me.

Punk country? Strange, I dig it. Favorite track: Hard to be Human Again

One of my biggest shocks of this exercise is finding out how much I like Indie music. Favorite track: Standing Next to You

Love, love, love this band. The roots of funk, soul, punk, and garage rock make for a really magical connection in all of their works. Favorite track: Psycho Killer

Tell you what, finding out that I like Hole was one of the more painful moments of my life. (Phrasing). Favorite track: Heaven Tonight

I know I have the benefit of hindsight here, but it's wild to me that this album is the one that ushered in rock and roll across the American mainstream. Well, we all know why that's the case, but it's really crazy to listen to this with the context of knowing that so many artists did this style of music so much better and more interesting than what's put out here. Still, the importance of this album to my favorite music to listen to cannot be discounted or disrespected. Favorite track: I Got a Woman

I want to like this so badly...but this is the type of country music that simply does not retain my attention. Sorry, Willie.

Simply an incredible band. If you have the chance to go see the Flaming Lips in concert, DO IT. It's impossible for me to objectively rate this band's music anymore because of the time I saw them. The fact that this is universally seen as the album that launched their career to a new dimension makes it automatically one of my favorites. But all the elements that make people love the Flaming Lips are overly present here: high degree of creativity in arrangements, very high production value, poignant lyrics that never take themselves too seriously, unpredictable songwriting. Favorite track: Race for the Prize

Fellas, if you're in a pinch and need to give "your favorite Taylor Swift song" to somebody on Hinge who swears they're the only person who asks this, just pick a song on this album. It'll make her happy, and you've definitely heard the song before, even if you didn't know it was by her

Lol, 6 of the first 7 tracks on this album are on my gym playlist. Favorite track: Nothing Else Matters

Fuck the Gallaghers, all my homies hate the Gallaghers (the music is mostly good)

Her voice is beautiful. But every single song on the album is the same. I remember how popular this album was when it dropped, and I can see why. But it's also a good explanation as to why I'm so rarely drawn to recent pop releases. Favorite track: High Horse

Man...this album slaps like nothing else. Heavy, heavy grooves throughout, and I absolutely cannot get enough of it. This is a lovely gift for my 30th from the generator, and now I'll be hunting for this vinyl. Favorite track: Maggot Brain (live) (including bonus tracks), Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?

Am I crazy, or is this--like--significantly better than The Number of the Beast (already one of my favorite albums)? It's easy to only think of metal bands as being loud, but the musicianship on this album is top notch. There are more than a few albums like this in this book where metal bands show their chops, and I really appreciate them quite a bit. Favorite track: Running Free

The more I listen to John on his own, the more overrated I find him to be. He's still very good, clearly, but there's just so little about his solo (& duo work with Yoko) that moves me at all. Favorite track: Gimme Some Truth

This album is super interesting, because it really helps to delineate what was Pink Floyd and what was Syd Barrett on the Piper at the Gates of Dawn. It's really hard to get around the elephant in the room here: if they hadn't exiled (this version of) Barrett from the band, I really doubt Pink Floyd would have reached anything close to their heights. He was clearly talented and a musical mastermind at one point, but he really is starting to succumb to his addiction here. Especially compared to the band.

Pretty much every effort has been made for me to not listen to this...therefore I won't

This is a pretty epic live performance, significantly better than I was expecting honestly. Favorite track: The Rocker

Truly brilliant album, one of the best ever written. I'm trying to envision a scenario where a musical group goes through this much turmoil to create an absolute masterpiece simply because they all respect each other too much as artists. And I've pretty much reached the conclusion that it could never happen today. It's honestly pretty amazing it even happened back then. Favorite track: Break the Chain

Enjoyed this one. The psychedelia-country crossover is not one I really ever expected to encounter, but it seems like was a pretty regular thing back in the 60s and 70s. I need some more of that. Favorite track: Wheels

I really, really enjoyed this for the most part. Especially the beginning of the album...it hits the perfect 90s sound that I cannot get enough of. However, the middle of the album then really leans way, way too hard into the lo-fi sound that becomes very hit or miss to me. Then the ending recaptures that feel I really like from the beginning. The drop off is too stark to get the perfect 5 for me, but many tracks from this will happily end up in my rotation

This album felt SIGNIFICANTLY longer than 52 minutes. And not in a good way.

Excellence in rap music right here. Favorite track: B.O.B.

This album starts out really, really strongly and tapers off for me. The instrumentals are all interesting, and way, way heavier than you'd expect going in at times. But the overall sound of the album fades to background for me beyond the first 4 or 5 tracks. Favorite track: Soft Shock

Genuinely who the fuck is this shit for

A duo whose life ambition was elevator music

Really, really fun album. To call this proto even sounds reductive though...it's like a heavy version of Less Than Jake. And it rules. Favorite track: Dirt

I've been forcibly removed from the millennial generation by standing on the hill that Frank Ocean and this album are both terribly, terribly overrated

*listens to first song* oh cool! It's that song! Surely something else on this must be notable or even at all interesting

It's like the 90s version of mumble rap

An album where there are 4 mic checks bookending the 2 actual songs on the album. The psychedelia here is manufactured at best too. There's simply no reasonable way to consider this a foundational album to recorded music. There are plenty, plenty of early psychedelia albums that can take the place of this boring mess.

As far as Radiohead goes, this one just doesn't do it for me. I appreciate their creativity and abstract nature. There's just very little here that interests me. Jigsaw Falling Into Place is a pretty fantastic palate cleanser though. Favorite tracks: Jigsaw Falling Into Place, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi

Morrissey is the worst singer of all time. Why does he have to be in such a good band otherwise

Really, really was not expecting to find myself enjoying Dusty Springfield this much, but both her albums in here so far have been pretty great. The arrangements are all very impressive and big band-derived, which is an easy way to capture my interest. Her voice sounds pretty significantly ahead of its time here too. Favorite track: Don't You Know

I really like discovering music from my era that I genuinely enjoy. My contrarian nature was great for forming very strong opinions and relationships with older music I still love to this day, but I was way too hardline against modern music at the same time. This is fantastic art, and I will certainly keep MGMT in my rotation. Favorite track: Of Moons, Birds & Monsters

I like the variation in feel between tracks, but honestly not a whole lot stood out to me here

I'll be honest, I was not looking forward to this album at all upon assignment. But I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. I feel like it's not very common to see this much global, specifically island, influence on a hip hop record, so I appreciated that part. Favorite track: Bucky Done Gun

Absolute masterpiece. This album starts hot and never cools down in terms of quality. Led Zeppelin's ability to cover all feels while ostensibly being a metal band is one of the more impressive things you'll see in music. Favorite track: Misty Mountain Hop

The Band's approach to music is so interesting to me. It's like a cross between The Doors and Lynyrd Skynyrd...and they came out considerably before both of them. There's little doubt in my mind that they're plastered in the "Your favorite band's favorite band" Hall of Fame alongside Television. Favorite track: Up On Cripple Creek

I don't think I've ever experienced lo-fi punk before, but it was pretty cool here. I strangely hear the influence on, like, a lot of my favorites here. Dinosaur Jr in particular. Interesting listen even though I likely won't revisit very often. Favorite track: No Exchange

The first track and a half are such a gigantic whiff that it nearly ruins an otherwise pretty great album. I understand building up the feeling of the album, but you can do that with more than just long presses on a keyboard. Favorite track: Lord Can You Hear Me

Elvis Costello is an outstanding songwriter and the owner of one of the coolest singing voices I can think of--he and Tom Petty exist in a class of their own where their singing voices just sound cool. I'm making my uncle proud with this one. Favorite track: Man Out of Time

Neil Young really has a great way of transporting you to the exact setting of his songs. The folk bordering on psychedelia is a really interesting feel to his music. Favorite track: Heart of Gold

Cool instrumentals, but very irritating vocals

What an excellent album this is. Everything thing about it just screams "tight." This was a new discovery for me when I heard it my non-group account, and it fits perfectly into that punk-adjacent sound that I crave. Favorite track: Sin in my Heart

Morrissey is the worst singer in human history. Fitting that I have to listen to this stupid piece of shit's album on the stupidest piece of shit streaming platform: YouTube Music

I thought it wasn't so bad, until I suddenly realized "holy shit, this is still playing?!" when the penultimate track started. I guess that says all you need to know

Turns out the solo vocalist who got outsung by Lou Reed on an album just isn't very good

I was ready to call this album an unmemorable dud until Broken Arrow. That song did the Lord's work to bring the score up

Heavy, tight, awesome. Favorite track: Gimme All Your Lovin'

PURELY MUSIC-BASED REVIEW ONLY: man it is absolutely brilliant. One of the all time great recordings in music history. 0 skips (apart from Hov's verse on Monster). Favorite track: Devil in a New Dress

As reductive as it is to compare them to The Pogues...the comparison isn't not warranted. And they're just simply not as good or entertaining. With that being said, I did enjoy the listen, particularly at the beginning. Favorite track: Fisherman's Blues

It's funny...as I listened to this album progress, my thought was "this sounds way more like a solo artist album than one by a band", and now Neil Hannon is now listed as it's only member. Score another one for weird observations by my brain... This is a pretty interesting album to me overall...so much so that I'm not sure if I like it or not. I like the variation in songwriting and feels, I like the instrumentals, the voice pairs well with them...but something just doesn't connect with me as much as I'd think given all the components that I like. Favorite track: Through a Long and Sleepless Night

The music is pretty good, but it feels...overbearing? There are some points where it feels like I'm getting sensory overload just from listening, and that gets to be a little much over the course of an hour or so

Perhaps the single most unremarkable album in the entire book

There's not much that interests me, pretty much solely due to the genre. However, Cynicrustpetefredjohn Raga was awesome.

I really, really enjoyed this album. Iggy Pop is not somebody I (knowingly) experienced much of before this book, but he's somebody that's really captured my interest. Is it primarily due to his proximity to Bowie? Maybe, but their styles are very distinct to me despite being clear influences on each other. The Berlin Era is something I will study extensively at some point because the amount of great music it produced as essentially a rehab exercise is so interesting. Favorite track: The Passenger

The older I get, the more bored I become of Coldplay

It's a fun album

Oh boy, a mixture of pop and country, my favorite!!!!

This is the third best punk album I've ever heard after the Sex Pistols and London Calling. The singing voices/styles are the most immediately recognizable elements of punk, but these bands are so incredibly good at their instruments. If an album's instrumentals alone could be 5 star, you've got a pretty god damn good one. Favorite track: Champs

I mean, the last track was pretty cool? Creating a mostly forgettable 20 minute long album opener is quite an accomplishment. Favorite track: Are You Ready Eddy?

Hell yeah. A lot of fun to listen to...nothing groundbreaking here, just some good hard rock to have fun with. Favorite track: King Contrary Man

Pretty much just an average country album to me

What a truly awful album

There is no way in hell I'm expected to listen to this singing voice on Navvy for the entire album, right? Update: apparently I was

Man...this is excellent. One of my favorite totally new discoveries so far. The songwriting here is just top, top class. I definitely hear the parallels between this and Neil Young all the way through. If there's anything I love in an album, it's mood shifts and variations in feel, even within the tracks themselves. This album has that in spades. Favorite track: Morning Will Come

Just an awesome album, so many big hits on here. And they're accompanied by really good surrounding tracks as well to come up with a cohesive project. RHCP will never struggle to come up with hits, but it's the rest of the tracks that define whether or not an album is great or a Best Hits one. Favorite track: Otherside

Very few things make me as angry as the amount of Leonard Cohen I've been forced to listen to by Dimery. I don't give a shit how influential this allegedly is...he sounds bored while he's singing. What other emotion am I supposed to feel when that's the case

Don't overthink it. Favorite track: Things We Said Today

Throwing on Never Mind the Bollocks as a palate cleanser following this total mess

It's like if Bob Dylan was a slightly better singer and half as interesting as a songwriter...which is still pretty good. Favorite track: 1975

Absolutely not. Not taking the time to listen to this smoldering heap again

My rating of 1 the first time I listened to this was too harsh. It was much more listenable to me this time around, but I'm just simply not a hardcore fan. I will always appreciate how good punk rockers are at their instruments though. Favorite track: TV Party

I think it's very important to listen to both mixes here. The Bowie one is quite clearly what the band wanted to go for when making the album, but the Iggy one is way more digestible and helps you, well, understand the songs. With that being said, I'm so, so disappointed that I don't like this more than I do. The influence on my favorite music is obvious. The influence on the album from my favorite ever artist is obvious. But...I just don't like listening to it as much as I wanted to. Favorite track: Raw Power (Bowie Mix), Death Trip (Iggy Mix)

Fun album, not sure that multiple CHIC albums are necessary for this exercise though

Man, this was excellent. The evolution of punk over the years is really, really interesting to hear--this one feels like an artifact all the way through. Favorite track: Great British Mistake

The first time I listened to this, I was unsure as to how much I liked it--I knew that I did, but I was not sure if it was approaching a favorite status. The second time, I am positive that I love this. It reminds me of a UK Double Nickels on the Dime, which is an interesting statement for a post-punk band. The ending of this album is so, so good. Favorite track: Gut of the Quantifier

There are some really cool moments in here that connect with me, but also quite a bit that quickly retreats to the background. Favorite track: There Goes the Fear

I liked this one. This album is a true roller coaster of rhythmic feelings. Favorite track: Tomblands

What an awesome band this is. I just love the way that punk bands play their instruments...so much power and connected rhythms. I could listen to both this and Juju on repeat forever. Favorite track: Switch

This is such a fun album to listen to. The bass riff on Dancing Shoes is so gripping. I have this one on vinyl, and it is in the very regular rotation for me. Great album from a great band. Favorite track: Dancing Shoes

Nothing grinds my gears more than a singer who sounds like they're bored while singing

I like this one, definitely an interesting feel to the instrumentals. These early punk albums really grip me a lot more than I ever thought they would. Favorite track: That's Entertainment

Sigh...a legendary album that I just cannot get myself to find anything besides boring. I'm so sorry everybody. R&B just sounds like elevator music to me

The vibes on this album are immaculate. Favorite track: Lasidan

Dimery deserves to get fought for some of these albums

Hell fucking yeah. This album is exactly my niche sound that I crave. Grunge, punk, metal, hard rock, alternative, emo...all here in spades. And I cannot get enough of it. This is my first time listening to the entire album, and it will not be close to my last. Favorite track: Been Caught Stealing

It's lowkey a vibe. Favorite track: Giggy Smile

Oh great, another Nick Cave album. Surely this one won't be boring, pretentious crap. Just yelled "Oh, shut the fuck up, already" during Black Hair. Things are going great. Welp...it was boring, pretentious crap.

I think I've pretty thoroughly proven throughout this exercise that I do not need to have a traditionally great singing voice to appreciate the music. However, if your singing voice sounds like it's trying to be bad on purpose, I have almost no time for you. Kate, you're a singer-songwriter, for crying out loud. Can you try not using your Bene Gesserit voice on half the songs?

This is an interesting one. There are points where the album feels like it's dragging on for an eternity, and there are points where I feel like I could live in the basslines for the rest of my life. This is my first time listening to a full Psychedelic Furs album...I think they might just be best reserved for playlists for me even though I really do love some of these moments. Favorite track: Mr. Jones

Some of the most raw emotion you'll hear on an album. That paired with the funk and jazz elements throughout make this one pretty addicting for me. Favorite track: A Funky Space Reincarnation

I'll always be amazed by the amount of power she packs in her voice. Favorite track: Set Fire to the Rain

It's really interesting to hear Queen do fairly straightforward rock. Major shock: they're very good at it. Favorite track: In the Lap of the Gods

I kept wondering why this was on here until it finally got to *that* song. Dance albums are largely pointless though, they're intended to be singles by nature

This is pure excellence in jazz right here. Favorite track: Take Five

I actually found myself disappointed by this one. I was just expecting to hear more interesting instrumentals than what I got. Granted, my expectations were decently high coming in, so this album is still pretty good overall. It just left me wanting on several songs. Bang a Gong will always slap though

I'm actually floored that this is going down as a 5 for me. Open-mindedness is a superpower, kids. Favorite track: Waveforms

This album is super cool, I love the many variations on the blues seen throughout

An audio-ization of paint drying

Legendary

Billy Bragg & Wilco together initially made me want to vomit. But this was actually much better than I thought it would be, so I'm choosing to credit Woody Guthrie's lyrics for this instead. Favorite track: Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key

I suppose I was due for one of these boring UK electronica albums

One does not fully mature until they realize how incredible Bob Dylan is

Fun enough album to listen to while working, but it is a soundtrack after all. A lot doesn't really connect outside of the film.

This is a truly brilliant album. Turns out having two legendary songwriters in one band is good for the quality of the band's music. Favorite track: Dancing with the Moonlit Knight

FUCK yes. Incredible album, will forever be one of my favorites. I'm not sure how hot of a take this is, but I think this is his best album over To Pimp a Butterfly. This is one of a few albums from my lifetime that I remember where everybody pretty much immediately accepted the artist as a great one. The album felt both of the era and out of the 90s simultaneously, which is probably the best way to describe Kendrick anyway. Also, Jay Rock's verse on Money Trees is my favorite hip hop verse of all time. Favorite track: Money Trees

I'm going to guess that this album was significantly ahead of its time...but I also couldn't care less

Really fun album that is entirely too long and same-y for what it is. But this is supposed to be fun, damnit, so I still love it all the same. Favorite track: Armageddon It

The instrumentation in this album is really, really cool. The singing? Woof...52 minutes is a lot of time to spend listening to falsetto faery voice. Overall, this was much better than most folk albums I've experienced due to the high variation in arrangements. Favorite track: Lyke-Wake Dirge

I can't be the only one who noticed that Movin' On Up sounds exactly like Love the One You're With, right

LOUD. NOISES. (there are very few moments where the music comes together and sounds great. But the moments are fleeting at best) I was also shocked to find out that I had written that review during the 4th song. The album genuinely felt like it was wrapping up during it and it had felt like the right run time for an album...so that is probably the best way to explain this one

It is a good album. Let's get that out of the way. I cannot get myself to hear "all time great" album no matter how hard I try. I am so sorry. Favorite track: Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta F' Wit

Pure excellence

A subpar Talking Heads album is still considerably better than most others

This album is so bizarre that I think I'm in love with it. Favorite track: Satori

Wow, another rap album where all the tracks and interludes are about how much sex the rapper haves. Exhilarating

No thank you

Pretty fine, mostly enjoyable album. Not sure that it belongs in the list, but it was a good listen. Favorite track: Zuton Fever

In which Madonna attempts to simultaneously ride Brittney Spears' and Shania Twain's waves

This was fantastic!! A wonderful combination of funk, jazz, Afro-influence...really, really fun discovery. Favorite track: Stubbor Problems

A very formative album for me, and what an album to have that distinction. It's aged excellently, all the hits are still hits, just a really fun album to revisit. Favorite track: All These Things That I've Done

I genuinely wanted to give this a second try, but it's not on Spotify! And I'll be damned if I'm both listening to this and also dealing with YouTube Music's horrible user experience, so the initial ranking stands

While I had previously enjoyed the Lupe Fiasco I'd listened to quite a bit, I never listened to a whole album because I thought it would be too pretentious. But this was wonderful. Really fun selection of beats and his flow is immaculate as always. The Outro was obviously too much, but man this was a great album. Favorite track: American Terrorist

If a friend recommended this album to me, I'd assume they were a secret serial killer

https://youtu.be/khM0EIAFbFI?feature=shared

The trombone player on this 🤌

This really is a fantastic album, and for Queen to make such an album without any major hits on it is a huge display of their talent. Favorite track: Seven Seas of Rhye

I knew I hated this the moment the first track started

This is the most range I've heard on a punk album besides Marquee Moon and London Calling. Almost every single track brings you an entirely unexpected sound or feel, and I cannot get enough of it. Punk organ slaps unbelievably. 70s/80s punk is becoming very close to being an auto 5 star for me. Picking a favorite track here is very tough, but I'll go with Princess of the Streets and Down in the Sewer

Man, that take of Like a Rolling Stone was a hell of a climax to a pretty cool bootleg tape

Holy shit, what a beautiful, incredible album

Hell yeah. It should be a surprise to nobody that black ska is way better

Hand up, came in fully expecting to hate this album. I mean, featuring songs by Nick Cave, Tom Waits, and Scott Walker is basically a war crime for me. But this was pretty good for the most part. Definitely not monotonous or plain underneath the vocals. Fair enough, Ute. Favorite track: Punishing Kiss

I like the instrumentation. I like the Talking Heads-esque treatment of funk ideas in the arrangements. But man...Sting's voice is really tough to take over the course of a full album

This type of music almost never connects with me, but they really figured out a nice, trance-y groove that had me for the entire album. This is my second time going through it, and I was fully preparing myself to ask what I actually saw in the first listen that made me love it. Instead, I received confirmation of why I do. Favorite track: Olv 26

I have literally almost no opinion of this album. It was kind of just on while I started work.

The only song that was interesting at all was Bad Liquor. This is the type of Indie music that made me hesitant to listen to Indie music of the aughts.

No, absolutely not

This album kicks so much ass, man. The talent in punk bands never ceases to amaze me. Favorite track: No, Your Product

Folk storytelling in a country album should be a combination for a very low score from yours truly. Turns out if the stories are being told by somebody with a 10/10 captivating voice and they're being backed by interesting instrumentals, I still enjoy it. Add some conditioning from Fallout, and here we have this album's score. Favorite track: Big Iron

Ah, so this is where the Arctic Monkeys get it from. Can't give a greatest hits album 5 stars, but rest assured that each of the works that make this up are on the vinyl list

This album interested me so much that I started doing a required training for work in the middle of listening to it instead

Wow...I truly didn't think they could make an album that would compete with OK Computer, but this is right alongside it for me. Radiohead's albums have the most unexplainable brilliance to me. Favorite track: Sulk

I personally believe that I could have died without listening to this one

This is a fun one! I haven't had many seminal "they sound like the Beatles" moments in my music listening, so I'm glad I got to finally experience that. And it's really good! Very, very cohesive project with cool sounds and feel switches throughout. Great new discovery. Favorite track: Feel

Dem. Basslines. Doe.

I cannot stress enough how much Nick Drake absolutely bores me

I will admit that this was a fair bit better than I thought it would be going in, but the album also wore out its welcome with me about 2/3rds of the way through

This is the House is the only track on the album that actually attempts anything different, and it is the only good song on the album. 50 minutes of the same synthesizer riff otherwise

I had a lot of fun with this one, and sometimes that's just what music is all about

This is my second time with this album, and it really connected with me this time. Reminds me a lot of Less Than Jake, whom I will always love. Very fun album to come back to. Favorite track: On a Rope

A pop album with catchy singles and nothing else interesting at all. Rinse / repeat

Man...that one particular interlude was extremely off-putting, wasn't it? You all know which one. It really ruined an album I otherwise mostly enjoyed.

It's not as bad as my first listen, but it's still dreadful

He destroyed rock and roll by making a terrible, uninteresting song and naming rock artists over it, ooooh so edgy The fact that this kinda did destroy rock and roll is a perfect summary as to why I hate modern music

It is laughable how much better this album is than the other Beatles solo projects. This is just pure brilliance

Charles Mingus might be the single biggest musical impact on my life. 5 stars doesn't even come close to covering it

This might be the most influential Eno project I've heard so far. Unfortunately, I like just about everything it influenced more than itself. Thanks for the Talking Heads though, Brian.

I'm not sure that this is a cohesive album at all, but man did I have fun listening to most of it. Favorite track: Strength Of Your Nature

An entire album of congo music wears out its welcome rather quickly

This was way funkier than I imagined it would be going on, but 15 tracks at 5 minutes each is a lot to get through

I'm really not sure why, but I just can't get myself into The Cure as much as I should. They check every box of what I love, but for some reason their projects are just alright to me.

I love Korn...in spurts. 67 minutes of Korn got to be a little much. But still, some pretty personally important songs to me on here, so I have no choice but to rate the album pretty highly. Favorite track: Freak on a Leash

There are some pretty fun grooves in here, but the majority of the album is just noise to me

I'm moreso amazed that music like this was made in 1969 rather than the music itself. I've never listened to this album before, but I have to imagine that it might be one of the single most influential in this list.

To be a fly on the wall when these guys found out they were the biggest rock musician in the world's favorite performers

I'm sorry I just cannot get myself to take grime seriously

More like Do One

I would pay a significant amount of money to never hear Sebastian's voice again in my life

Hard Rock Neil Young! And it mostly works! Never would have guessed it. Farmer John keeps this from 5 stars

Garage rock 🤘 it tails off at the end for me, but I did appreciate them demonstrating their musical range

Putting 14 bonus tracks on this flaming pile of garbage is perhaps the most delusional thing I've ever seen. Do yourself a favor and just watch an ASMR video instead of subjecting yourself to this crap

The serendipity of getting this box set on the day of a cross-country flight for myself. In almost any other setting, the 3 hours would grate on me eventually. But this is perfect. She is perfect. The songs are perfect. I'm so happy right now.

Welcome to my gym playlist, Anthrax

(reads my highly rated comment on Aha Shake Heartbreak) uh...I apologize Kings of Leon, I was unfamiliar with your game. Favorite track: Crawl

Once was way more than enough for this album, trust me

The instruments are cool, the voice is quality...but are there any actual lyrics in this album? The singing is just variations of dreamscape sounds that really become annoying over the course of an album. My "Shoegaze is mumble rap for white hipsters" take is aging beautifully.

This is such an awesome album. It gives me a 2000s grunge feel, in addition to all the other blends of genres they bring in.

This band has all the ingredients for what I love, but for some reason I just can't fully get behind it. It is very good still with some stuff that really clicks with me. I just can't determine why I like it but don't love it

I survived 75 minutes of Bruce Springsteen, where's my purple heart?

It will forever amaze me that people can listen to entire albums of this for enjoyment purposes. There's no variability anywhere, not even in the lyrics. What is holding all of your collective interest?!

Fuck yeah

I really hate this guy's music and his voice

Latin funk & hip hop. And it fucking rules. Favorite track: Dejame En Paz

Some really, really interesting instrumentation and songwriting with some of the most dull singing I've ever heard

Its a real damnation on the artistic side of the music industry that such talented vocalists regularly produce such uninteresting music. Hey, at least some executive's bottom line looks great since music has never been more accessible and listeners have never been more susceptible to algorithms, though!

This is my second time listening to this one, and while it still doesn't do much for me at all, I will concede I was harsh on my first review. There is an interesting vibe to the album, particularly for early morning listening. But overall, it's just not music I can really ever see myself voluntarily listening to.

Probably the most pretentious, least enjoyable pile of absolute shit I've ever heard. Who the hell is this for besides music students who need to pretend that awful music is good to feel smart?

It is absolutely remarkable how similar his studio and live voices are as somebody with such a unique singing voice

Like most experimental electronic music, it starts out pretty cool but wears out it's welcome very quickly

Todd, Todd, Todd... your musical mind is such a beautiful thing. There's no reason at all for this to be an hour and a half long! But man, the many highlights of this album are so good

At long last, an early British electronic music album

This is just pure brilliance

Once he dropped the Nick Cave impression from the first few tracks, I started to quite like this one.

I really cannot stand listening to this band. They tease you with some actual musicality in their instruments, but it then quickly devolves into the least trance-like soundscapes you can possibly imagine. All of it paired with overly whiny singing voices.

"oh is this finally over?!" - me, when I realized the album had looped back to the beginning (still one of the stupidest features I've ever seen, Spotify)

God, I love this band. Their singles are obviously top-notch, but the range they show on each of their albums is flat out addicting to me. This album is no exception. Favorite track: Midnight Rambler

This was a pretty cool album, almost like a history lesson in garage and punk rock. I likely won't revisit this one often, but I'm glad I listened.

I am once again begging you to stop making me listen to Bjork

This entire album feels like a joke that everybody else is in on besides me

An entire album of dance music will never resonate with me. Some things are just meant to be singles in a playlist

Needless to say, this was quite a bit different from what I was expecting out of a Bee Gees album. Unfortunately, what I expected and what I got still yielded the same level of interest: fleeting

The amount I like old country is so shocking to me lol

My takes on pop music from this era have mostly aged well. Amy Winehouse is a stark exception though...I really wish I let myself enjoy this back then because it really is great

I'd absolutely listen to this while smoking. However, there are approximately 0 other contexts in which I'd listen to this.

There's something really hypnotic about this band to me, and I love it

This album is so fantastic. One of the favorite records I own

Hmm, turns out imagining if Bjork had come out in the 2010s doesn't make me like the music any more

I really love this band, but this is the album where the noise goes off the rails just a bit too often. That's a critique that only knocks it down from perfect to good for me though. Favorite track: Mote

I understand why dance tracks of this era had to come out in albums. I do not understand why such albums are considered to be essential listening

Lucinda, I'm sorry nobody told you this any sooner, but you cannot sing.

I'm expected to listen to this shit for over an hour???? This album is all of the worst stereotypes associated with electronic music. Way too long, entirely repetitive sounds within and across tracks, nonsensical samples that add no value at all...Dimery could have cut out about 50 other UK electronica albums from this exercise and used this album as the sole representation of how shit the genre is

Prog rock can be many, many things. One thing I never really considered it could be until now was being relatively straightforward and a bit boring?

I will never understand singers who sound bored while they sing

Today I learned that the RuneScape soundtrack is considered an all time influential album

There was zero chance I was ever giving this less than 5 stars

For my money, the best Jimi Hendrix album. And now my living room looks funny with the Axis poster above my record player along side the Axis vinyl in my "Now playing" holder

I really love all the funk and punk components and influences they incorporate into their projects, both as Tom Tom Club and Talking Heads. I was just always destined to like anything this collection of musicians would put out.

I feel like nobody would care about this album if they didn't know the backstory to it. The production of the album is beyond dreadful, and it sounds exactly like a producer being told to perpetually record a musician known to have lost his mind. Maybe some people can call this art, but to me this feels like a psychological experiment gone wrong where the end results are highly uncomfortable to anybody outside the experiment.

Another great album just tarnished by its lack of brevity

"Let's take our electronic instruments, where the possibilities are endless, and make absolutely no interesting sounds at all" - the writers of half the albums in this book, apparently

As a huge fan of jazz, even this is a too avant-garde for me for most of the tracks. Most of it just sounds like repetitive, poorly executed bebop. My enjoyment picked up a bit at the end of the album, but the entire first half of tracks was very, very tough to get through

Ah, yet another album that's effectively a soundtrack of me going to the gym

Wow, to say I appreciated this a lot more on second listen is an understatement

I once again greatly enjoyed a Talking Heads album