826
Albums Rated
3.18
Average Rating
76%
Complete
263 albums remaining
Featured Review
Either Or
Elliott Smith • 5/5
A college friend of mine used to work in a pizza shop in downtown Portland back in the early 1990s. He told me that Elliott often came in with just barely enough change for a slice — and that some times he didn't even have enough. About five years after this, Elliott is in a white suit playing Miss Misery at the Oscars. And, maybe five years after that he's dead. The news struck us hard given all the obvious and incidental connections that come with some shared community. And yet, despite living in Olympia, WA in the 90s I missed the initial release of Roman Candle and the self-titled record but Either/Or was anticipated and it stuck. This record is my most listened to Smith album. If you're paying attention and know any of Smith's biography it's a painful record to listen to at times, but even if you don't know those details it's a beautiful, flawed statement with enduring resonance. Many songs will bring me to tears and yet some of them I've sung to those I love.
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
2010s
Favorite Decade
Shoegaze
Favorite Genre
other
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
95
5-Star Albums
35
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Wonderful Rainbow
Lightning Bolt
|
5 | 2.28 | +2.72 |
|
Chore of Enchantment
Giant Sand
|
5 | 2.64 | +2.36 |
|
Bitte Orca
Dirty Projectors
|
5 | 2.69 | +2.31 |
|
Tago Mago
Can
|
5 | 2.8 | +2.2 |
|
Rejoicing In The Hands
Devendra Banhart
|
5 | 2.82 | +2.18 |
|
Arular
M.I.A.
|
5 | 2.83 | +2.17 |
|
Damaged
Black Flag
|
5 | 2.86 | +2.14 |
|
Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
|
5 | 2.88 | +2.12 |
|
Kollaps
Einstürzende Neubauten
|
4 | 1.91 | +2.09 |
|
Kala
M.I.A.
|
5 | 2.91 | +2.09 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Hotel California
Eagles
|
1 | 3.6 | -2.6 |
|
A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Coldplay
|
1 | 3.44 | -2.44 |
|
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
The Kinks
|
1 | 3.39 | -2.39 |
|
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
|
1 | 3.38 | -2.38 |
|
Doggystyle
Snoop Dogg
|
1 | 3.37 | -2.37 |
|
A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Various Artists
|
1 | 3.31 | -2.31 |
|
The Slim Shady LP
Eminem
|
1 | 3.29 | -2.29 |
|
Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters
|
1 | 3.23 | -2.23 |
|
Elvis Is Back
Elvis Presley
|
1 | 3.19 | -2.19 |
|
Wild Wood
Paul Weller
|
1 | 3.09 | -2.09 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| David Bowie | 8 | 4.38 |
| Radiohead | 5 | 4.6 |
| Black Sabbath | 3 | 5 |
| R.E.M. | 4 | 4.5 |
| Neil Young | 4 | 4.5 |
| Neil Young & Crazy Horse | 3 | 4.67 |
| Peter Gabriel | 3 | 4.67 |
| Pixies | 2 | 5 |
| Cocteau Twins | 2 | 5 |
| Marvin Gaye | 2 | 5 |
| Talking Heads | 2 | 5 |
| The Flaming Lips | 2 | 5 |
| M.I.A. | 2 | 5 |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 5 | 4.2 |
| Stevie Wonder | 4 | 4.25 |
| Miles Davis | 4 | 4.25 |
| My Bloody Valentine | 3 | 4.33 |
| Public Enemy | 3 | 4.33 |
| PJ Harvey | 3 | 4.33 |
| Brian Eno | 5 | 4 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Bee Gees | 2 | 1 |
| Ryan Adams | 2 | 1 |
| Morrissey | 2 | 1 |
| Elvis Presley | 3 | 1.67 |
| Eagles | 2 | 1.5 |
| Coldplay | 2 | 1.5 |
| The Kinks | 2 | 1.5 |
| Eminem | 2 | 1.5 |
| The Divine Comedy | 2 | 1.5 |
| Super Furry Animals | 2 | 1.5 |
| Grateful Dead | 2 | 1.5 |
| The Byrds | 5 | 2.2 |
| The Rolling Stones | 4 | 2.25 |
5-Star Albums (95)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
The Sugarcubes
5/5
I bought this record ON CASSETTE as a young teen after reading a review in Thrasher magazine. At the time, I would never have predicted Björk would become a world-wide sensation. Instead, it was just a great college radio record from an obscure Icelandic band I read about in a magazine. None of their other records quite hit like this one for me and it still sounds fresh, sweet and a little creepy.
14 likes
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
A heartbreaking Five-star album from the legendary Nick Cave. And yet, I won't listen to it again anytime soon. I'll rarely put it on even if I want to hear Nick sing. Instant feels but the feels ain't good. This is not a record I enjoy but it's a record whose fragile beauty I recognize.
10 likes
R.E.M.
5/5
Should we talk about the weather? Should we talk about the government?
No, I think we should talk about this album by R.E.M.
Green was my introduction to this band so I'm not going to lie, I'm flat out biased. Over time it doesn't always hold the number one spot in my heart when it comes to their records, but it does occasionally claim the throne. As an aside, we are all, always, allowed to change our minds when it comes to matters of taste; and music is certainly within the domain of taste-based conversation.
Mike Mills, the not-so-secret weapon of the band, is a revelation on this record. When I hear him sing his backing lines like "Get up, Get up" or "Freedom" the hair on the back of my neck and arms stands up as I get the feels. His contributions always bring an additional emotional layer as well as rounding out the sound.
Songs like You Are Everything are necessary precursors to later hits a la Losing My Religion, and yet they are themselves affecting touchstones of a time in our lives when we held someone as absolutely essential to our being and being in the world.
Let's not forget that this album moves effortlessly between such emotional songs and uptempo pop. We get a dose of the pop as the opener does what it says on the tin. Later we shift into it with Stand, which, pardon the pun, Stands out in that category. Hey, just another aside, as we're free-associating on this record: It was R.E.M.'s Stand and the Pixies Here Comes Your Man that were in serious rotation on MTV together and both secretly sneaking in more twangy guitar than I would've otherwise consented to. In retrospect it makes sense that we'd see a rise in indie-country sounds in the wake of that much play.
World Leader Pretend, Orange Crush, Turn You Inside Out, I Remember California...I mean c'mon, every song deserves its own exegesis uncovering the influences, drawing connections and otherwise celebrating the craft of songwriting. But I only have a few minutes to write this review and I'd rather be listening to this great record than typing.
4 likes
Justin Timberlake
1/5
One of the more difficult listens to get through on this list. Take It From Here was sickening. 🤢🤮 This is some kind of cruel joke. This album is meant to be on the other list: 1001 Records to Listen to That Will Make You Die.
3 likes
Minor Threat
5/5
In my home town everyone had the Complete Discography by the time we were up-and-coming punks. Minor Threat had been broken up for well over a decade and we already had Fugazi. But that never stopped me from feeling the impact of this band like a punch in the face. I loved them. I was straight-edge for some time due to this band. I hung out with anti-nazi skins and generally thought the D.C. scene was worth revisiting for inspiration. Hearing these songs in their "release" format is a treat. Did I just say "a treat"? Jeeze, I'm getting old. Well, that's the way it goes, isn't it? Yeah!
3 likes
1-Star Albums (35)
All Ratings
Oasis
3/5
Some solid tracks where the whine was dialed down. Overall, their best moments were overshadowed by their worst.
Joan Armatrading
4/5
This is the kind of album I want out of the project. I wasn't aware of the artist or this record. Overall sounds of the era. Well done.
Sarah Vaughan
4/5
Sarah Vaughan By Popular Demand. Everyone with performance anxiety should listen to this. It’s the imperfections that make art loveable.
Pink Floyd
4/5
Both spacious and focused. I own this which says a lot considering I am not a Floyd fan.
ABBA
3/5
I've heard many of the singles, but never experienced "ALBUM ABBA". It's ok, I guess. The teacher song hasn't aged so well. Cringe. Otherwise decent record for this kind of music, which is not my thing.™
The White Stripes
4/5
After three thrilling records, Elephant always felt flat to me. Senior Slump? I don't know but there are still enough stand out tracks that they pass. Listening to it again mostly confirms this for me. The good songs are really good and the ones that didn't grab me before haven't really appreciated over time.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
The album gets off to a great start. Moody, dramatic and perfect for a drizzly September day. A couple of clunkers on the back half, but Joan of Arc is a good closer.
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
3/5
Initial hit of disco had me wondering, but this turned out to be an excellent salsa album—a genre I know next to nothing about. Great way to be introduced to this classic album.
The Fall
4/5
An excellent record by the Fall. It's not the era I usually listen to of theirs (1980–1985) and so along with some of the usual Fall conceits it contained some surprises for me. Still, after a compelling start it ultimately suffers from the same illness as other records of theirs...just a song or two too long for me. This is a band whom I really enjoy but only about half a record at a time.
Tangerine Dream
4/5
This is the first album I needed to listen to elsewhere which is a shame because this is exactly the kind of record I'd like to be able to fit into a streaming rotation while working. Blissed-out space-pulses. Definitely a mood though.
The Smiths
5/5
This has always been one of my favorite records by The Smiths. Shame about Morrissey's descent into the sewer of far-right fascism — it's more like Viva Johnny Marr at this point, eh.
Rod Stewart
3/5
I don't connect with the lyrics of the songs in all cases with Rod Stewart, but these records from the 70s have a nice sound. Perhaps, if the storytelling were different I'd be drawn to them more but alas that's not the case.
Les Rythmes Digitales
1/5
First record that's just not my thing at all. Woof. Very rare!
David Crosby
3/5
Aware of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young — but not of this solo record. Pretty good, but at times could've used some of those other names around.
Randy Newman
2/5
Hard to listen to Randy Newman's voice since his Pixar-related hit: You've got a Friend in Me...
My Bloody Valentine
5/5
One of my favorite records of all time. It was a great joy to see it show up for a Friday listen.
Paul McCartney and Wings
4/5
I was only really familiar with the first song. Overall not bad for Paul. :)
XTC
3/5
Great XTC songs are true gems to be admired, but there is a quality to most of their music that is best described as "circus-like" which I cannot stand. Both are present in this record.
Steely Dan
4/5
Love the Dan.
Queens of the Stone Age
4/5
Terrible album cover, great music. Second best Qotsa record?
Harry Nilsson
3/5
Better than expected from the guy who cursed the world with the coconut song.
Lou Reed
3/5
Ok for Lou Reed. Not too cringe.
10cc
2/5
The best moment on the album for me was when I heard "Worst Band in the World" for the first time. I immediately recognized it as the core of J. Dilla's classic "Workinonit" track from Donuts. I love that Dilla record, 10cc's album I like a lot less so.
Parliament
4/5
Mothership Connection, indeed. Classic Parliament.
Sepultura
4/5
Sepultura ARISE!
Elvis Presley
3/5
It was a different time. Whenever I hear most Elvis songs I'm shocked at how popular I hear he was and that he caused so much outrage 50+ years of popular music and culture later he's just a crooner. Not a bad record, though.
Beatles
4/5
Early Beatles…I can’t quite hear how they’ll become their more out there selves on this record and yet some of the White album is not too far away from this. A short, sweet pop record.
Dinosaur Jr.
5/5
The blueprint for so much 90s rock.
Butthole Surfers
2/5
I remember listening to this a long time ago and feeling like (the first track aside) it was mostly a waste of my time and attention...in that way, I guess this record endures? If I were able to revise history, I'd release this as a vinyl single with Sweat Loaf as the side A "hit" and back it on B with both the tracks Pittsburgh To Lebanon and The O-Men. Finally, if that were the case I'd be able to give the single version 4 out of 5 stars.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Not my favorite Stevie Wonder album, but it’s up there.
The Stranglers
3/5
I’m familiar with a different record of theirs but only that. This was a good listen but removed from its context it felt unremarkable.
Public Enemy
4/5
There’s maybe 2-3 tracks that I’d relegate to B-Sides for an otherwise brilliant record.
Scott Walker
3/5
Having a couple of Scott Walker's late career efforts (which are perfectly fine) I thought I knew how I'd feel about this album before listening to it. Personally, I found this record more charming and enjoyable than those I own.
Buena Vista Social Club
5/5
Chan Chan immediately feels like home after a long absence. I'd forgotten how much I love this music.
The Sugarcubes
5/5
I bought this record ON CASSETTE as a young teen after reading a review in Thrasher magazine. At the time, I would never have predicted Björk would become a world-wide sensation. Instead, it was just a great college radio record from an obscure Icelandic band I read about in a magazine. None of their other records quite hit like this one for me and it still sounds fresh, sweet and a little creepy.
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
Familiar with a few of their well-known singles and such this record took a few extra listens to appreciate. I like funk, I like soul, but this flavor of funky soul wasn't quite my bag. Better than other stuff tho.
Steely Dan
5/5
My second favorite Steely Dan album...although it's technically a better overall album experience than my first favorite which is purely about what Dan record I came to all on my own and not through anyone else's influence. This also has the better cover. I catch myself quoting snippets of these lyrics in daily life. All of this is to say that for a band I actively *hated* as a younger person, I ultimately fell for them and that's in no small part to this record.
Jurassic 5
4/5
Great beats, excellent flow on a lot of tracks, and distinct voices that work together as well as separately. Not all the lyrics speak to me directly, but I'm not the intended audience either. Solid entry. I'll return to it.
Tim Buckley
2/5
First notes with honkey tonk vibes. This record came out about 6 months after my sister was born. And, it feels old. Like maybe she felt at times before dying. Postcard on a yellow backdrop makes the cover: Greetings from L.A. An impossible dream — was that L.A. back then? It appears to already be a desert sprawl that fades into the horizon in 1972. All I know about Tim Buckley is that he's the father of Jeff Buckley who lasted maybe five years more on this earth. How to even listen to this record without all this baggage? Some guy goes to a tavern and talks up a healthy girl with an invitation to move with him. He's so charismatic he's got backup singers, except I'm not buying. This record is for someone else stuck in a different time.
The Fall
3/5
The Fall is off to a good start with their first studio album: Live at the Witch Trials. It feels fully formed and yet this record doesn't overstay its welcome like some later albums by the Fall. I wish they had made a habit of the brevity on display here.
Joni Mitchell
5/5
This is the first Joni Mitchell album I ever heard in full. My partner introduced me to her and I might've made some fun of the voice in the beginning. (Hey, just like I'd do almost 10 years later but with Joanna Newsom.) But that move has always just been a cover-up — a kind of vestigial macho pose that's nearly inexplicable upon even a surface reflection. "You're a mean old Daddy but I like you..." And, California will make me cry on the right day. Despite Hejira being a thing, this is my forever Joni album now.
ZZ Top
3/5
My dad had this record. I don't think he had any of their earlier albums until much later, but this one pierced his Led Zeppelin shield. At the time all of the lyrics on this record were basically over my head as a single digits earthling but the guitars sounded boss and the car was cool. Later I'll come to ZZ Top's Rio Grande Mud through a brilliant cover of Just Got Paid by some noise rockers who really should've named themselves better. The casual Texas objectification aside, Eliminator is a solid album and I can see why, along with the beards, these guys were a big enough deal that my POP! (as he prefers it stylized) would've picked it up.
Elliott Smith
5/5
A college friend of mine used to work in a pizza shop in downtown Portland back in the early 1990s. He told me that Elliott often came in with just barely enough change for a slice — and that some times he didn't even have enough. About five years after this, Elliott is in a white suit playing Miss Misery at the Oscars. And, maybe five years after that he's dead. The news struck us hard given all the obvious and incidental connections that come with some shared community. And yet, despite living in Olympia, WA in the 90s I missed the initial release of Roman Candle and the self-titled record but Either/Or was anticipated and it stuck. This record is my most listened to Smith album. If you're paying attention and know any of Smith's biography it's a painful record to listen to at times, but even if you don't know those details it's a beautiful, flawed statement with enduring resonance. Many songs will bring me to tears and yet some of them I've sung to those I love.
The Who
3/5
In general I have mixed feelings about The Who. I think Live at Leeds is brilliant. And, John Entwistle and Keith Moon were one of the most compelling rhythm sections of their era. But there's also some facets of this band that I find frustrating and for whatever reason it feels like those things are fully manifest on The Who Sell Out despite my love of some of those songs when found elsewhere. My most thrilling moment of this daily listen was out of the gate recognizing that the beginning was sampled elsewhere. I've also never been a fan of little fiddly interludes and such. I just couldn't Buy In to this record.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
4/5
My dad has this record, I heard it a few times in high school because it was one of his favorites so even though it's the 1990s this is blasting out of the speakers in our home. It's a good record to my ears still. I like the psych. And I probably got that from my POP. But also, you see, there's this Boris record Rainbow with guest guitarist Michio Kurihara who likened inspiration for his tone to the tone of the lead guitar on this record. And, all I have to say is that as good as Happy Trails is that Rainbow record slays it. So it's hard to not rate this one relatively and in that context.
System Of A Down
3/5
Like many people I was introduced to this band through their second album, so it's a bit of discovery for me to hear this. And yet, this album has all of the things that I like about System of a Down on it as well as all the things I'm less fond of.
Van Halen
5/5
I was too young for this to be my first Van Halen album, but over time it has supplanted my introduction. When I listen to this record and understand it as a product of its time and place I'm impressed with how fresh the music sounds and how dated many of David Lee Roth's themes and lyrics are. With that out of the way, this is a ripper, it slaps, etc. All the performances on this record are tight and energetic. The tone is quintessential Van Halen and therefore much of 80s hard rock. Is it any coincidence that Running with the Devil kicks off this record? —I think not (and it's my daily drop on Oct 31, no less).
Mariah Carey
2/5
Mariah Carey's music is not my thing, but this record is mostly listenable at low volume. I don't find it compelling but the production and vocals are smooth. That said, in listening to this I've found that it's best if I turn it down to the level of background music. Furthermore, if given any kind of choice, even from the same genre, I'd choose something else.
The Monks
3/5
Decent proto-punk, but unremarkable other than how early it appeared? Sometimes it's hard to hear the significance of a thing on first listen when the gulf of time is so wide between then and now. For me, this record is one of those times.
R.E.M.
4/5
Anything after Green I associate with my Mom. I know people want to talk about Dad rock, but I'm here to lobby for Mom rock. I find this record as well as Out of Time to be among the best examples of this genre that she's founded through her casual and not too critical listening habits. Thanks Mom.
Pulp
4/5
I don't know anything about Pulp and I refuse to look at the Wikipedia entry before writing this review. This records sounds like some kind of 90s Brit-Pop band. Not as snotty-forward as Oasis and maybe a little less obvious than Blur, but definitely more mainstream sounding than bands from the shoegaze scene. But this record also feels like it's pointing ahead — showing the way for bands from elsewhere (geographically) and elsewhen (the future). Like reverse resonances or pre-echos of The Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, The National, and that one that neither of us can think of the name of right now but is on the tip of our tongues...you know, they were big in the aughts.
Portishead
4/5
Unexpectedly, this album holds a special place in my heart after all these years. They effectively came out of nowhere for me. I didn't have a lot of influencer friends or radio hyping them up before this dropped. I never saw Portishead live. I don't think I even bought this record until 10 years after hearing it. And yet, this album was such a soundtrack to our college lives at the time. Even for someone like myself who, then, identified as a quasi straight-edged punk and post-punk enthusiast drenched in Northwest Grunge and Washington DC DIY. DUMMY takes me places now that are more than the sum of its parts and greater than what's on wax, and yet this recording is cognitively sticky and resilient. Instant feels from within the source as well as all this external evocation.
fIREHOSE
3/5
My, my, my Mike Watt listening runs more Minutemen than fIREHOSE though I did Fly the Flannel back in the day. Still you can see how this particular record fROMOHIO is a wonderful bridge between eras for Watt but also for maybe some college radio heads in the late 80s and early 90s. You can just hear a kid from Arkansas or anywhere shift effortlessly from praising R.E.M's Green to this album.
Frank Black
4/5
Old enough to remember the Pixies breaking up, and yet, despite my love of Come on Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa, and Doolittle I didn't track Frank Black after the breakup. Fast-Forward five years to a friend forcing this album on me saying Frank Black deserves my attention. Looking back I'm surprised Mr. Black didn't track right after the breakup. The first 2/3 of this record is right up my alley. Really, it's only at song #21 that I start to think this thing has gone on a little too long. And then BOOM! it's over at the end of song #22. So there you go. Maybe if he had released four fewer songs in 94, I would've been converted. As it stands, I still saw Frank Black and the Catholics in 1999 after that same friend had put the CD in my hand as a hook to get me to buy a ticket to the show. Lots of these songs were played and played well. The record still holds up here on an abstract plain at the end of 2022.
Bob Dylan
3/5
Harmonica hurts at high volume. Caution for Queen Jane Approximately and a few other tracks. How do I know? Because I was otherwise enjoying this old Bob Dylan record at near max levels. Then that eardrum piercing shrill hit hard. There isn't much else I'm going to say about this record that'll convince you one way or the next about Bob Dylan. For me, listening to this guy came with so much baggage that I couldn't really hear the merits for such a long time, but now I can truly revisit Highway 61 Revisited and enjoy some of the trip.
Neu!
4/5
I think this was the first NEU! album I ever heard and it was one that I bought outright on a whim without hearing first. Just pre-internet faith in a record being good based on the reputation of the person making the recommendation. A certain mood, good for a rainy fall day but also with enough pulse to work or study too. Sometimes I get a little distracted during the ocean waves and wander off but the album closes strong. Not ground-breaking by the time I heard it, but good enough to return to frequently.
Hookworms
3/5
I can't remember the first Hookworms track I heard or when but it was streaming era randomness (which is to say either partly or wholly governed by the algorithm). It felt like just a song on a playlist somewhere in the Spotify Sea. Off the coast of Wherever, it was enough to make me look into them.
And, I really like this record. It sits squarely in that sweet spot for me of psychedelic, fuzzy, synthy rock. Some tracks edge into pop territory more than I might prefer, but it feels holistic to the band rather than calculated. It doesn't feel like a coincidence that it's Neu! 75 for me one day and Hookworms' Microshift the next. They, along with Maserati and Turing Machine, sound like kin to my ears — the kind of family you actually want to hang with.
That said, I've only ever been a casual fan. It must be hard for bands with a lot of casual fans in today's media landscape. I've never bought merch, never bought an album, never supported them by going to a show or sending a few dollars their way. Not even bought some Bandcamp mp3s. Essentially, I streamed a song or two with some regularity, probably tossed one onto a playlist I listened to for a month before forgetting it, maybe checked out a few albums during the initial discovery phase and settled into putting this one on every now and again. And what does that amount to in terms of financial viability? A few pennies here and there from me.
I understand platform math, the long tail, and how things can add up but they don't always. I also understand money isn't what drives most music, but they've got to eat too. Anyway, I hope these guys, who were around from 2010 to 2018, understand. I liked them then, and I like them now.
Of course, this is also one of the dangers of casual fandom. You might not ever know if or when someone has been a creep and that can come to light only after hearing a record via 1001albumsgenerator.com, writing a positive review and then checking Wikipedia once the record ends but before the next album begins. Disappointed again.
Willie Nelson
3/5
Some beautiful tracks on this record, but (and not knowing its history) it really feels like a cashout album. By this I mean, at the height of someone's popularity they put a record out that is more about them performing some songs to sell records. A quick win. Less substantive than an album whose total experience is some kind of artistic accomplishment. Willie Nelson has had those in his long career, I'm sure. But Stardust is not one of them. It's a good listen. Easy on the ears and charming. On occasion it delivers real feels, but it also feels forgettable as an album even if some of the tracks are quite memorable e.g. Stardust and Georgia on My Mind.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
A heartbreaking Five-star album from the legendary Nick Cave. And yet, I won't listen to it again anytime soon. I'll rarely put it on even if I want to hear Nick sing. Instant feels but the feels ain't good. This is not a record I enjoy but it's a record whose fragile beauty I recognize.
Heaven 17
2/5
When your mind merges the known-to-it musical quantities of Heavens to Betsy and Excuse 17 into Heaven 17 as some imaginary substitute for the band you are abruptly shocked by this record more than if you had simply pressed play without all those erroneous associations. It says something about how expectations shapes our response to what we perceive to have that happen. Now to get down to my experience of this record after the initial shock: it reminds me of a cross between Depeche Mode and Gang of Four. Quite possibly this record is the average of those two bands. That's another way of saying when I hear this, it reminds me to listen to records I like better.
Solomon Burke
3/5
Solomon Burke's Rock 'N Soul did not surprise or shatter any expectations but it's a solid entry in his catalogue.
The Yardbirds
2/5
With apologies to Jeff Beck's legacy, this isn't my vibe.
Goldie
3/5
After listening to (a low rated) album of the day yesterday I mentioned that sometimes you just need a different concept of the song. It doesn't necessarily need to stray too far outside of the bounds of tradition, but it also shouldn't cloyingly cling to it either. This record is almost an expression of something else, but still hews a bit too close. At least it was a welcome relief of sorts. Today's rating might be some kind of relative recency bias based off of reacting to yesterday. But what does that tell anyone about what this even sounds like? The album is a mix of soundscapes colored in an industrial palette all cut with drum and bass beats. The record is a little overlong with some tracks feeling aimless at times, but more enjoyable than I would've thought at first glance.
Cornershop
3/5
Some times there’s not enough time to write a review that says, “This album was alright.”
New Order
3/5
I never liked this New Order record compared to nearly all that came before. For me this was album that firmly signaled the end. All the pathos that made their brand of pop more interesting was finally fully drained. Being a New Order record that’s still 3 out of 5 stars.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Do you ever feel like this album is the B-Sides to Stevie's Seventies hit records? As in Talking Book, Innervisions, and Songs in the Key of Life are all the stronger albums? A feeling that Fulfillingness' First Finale is the weakest of them all? I sometimes get that feeling. Of course, a Stevie B-side of an album is still strong. Lots to love here. I bet someone could flip this analysis on its head and say that this is a stronger record overall despite it not having some of the same "standout" singles as the others. And you know, I'd entertain that theory. I'd listen to that person. They just might have a point. So much so, that I'd look hard into the mirror myself and ask if that person could be me on a different day.
Dead Kennedys
4/5
Hearing Dead Kennedys for the first time as a pre-teen Skate kid is one thing. Revisiting in middle-age is another. This band was my template for punk for some time to come—more than than the Ramones or the Sex Pistols. This wasn't the record I first heard (that was Frankenchrist) but it was a fast-follow. Some classic tracks here that have undeniable potency still. But it also lacks a depth I would soon crave in my music back then and still do to this day. In that way, I find this record lacking.
Michael Jackson
5/5
Thriller was the killer app for Michael Jackson for my generation, but this record is the one I reach for now when I want to revisit his music. This record still sounds fresh. I can hear this album in the likes of Louis Cole's music now which is to say its impact is felt over a span of more than 40 years. That's reach.
The Offspring
2/5
So yeah the Nineties and Epitaph Records equals Bad Religion to me. I was into Bad Religion in particular and punk in general enough to buy other releases from Epitaph around this time, but I never got into OFFSPRING. The track Come Out and Play meant you couldn't really escape them at the time. It just wasn't for me then. A little too pop and a little too slick but this was a time (teenage years) when you'd cut a band from your listen list for even a sliver of deviation from your personal aesthetics and ideals. Saying OFFSPRING wasn't for me then just means they were one of many bands who had some serviceable songs and reasonable records that I just rejected outright. Listening again, the vocals are overstrained and mixed a little too high for my taste but at least I can acknowledge it's not a terrible record. (Let's not overstate the case for this being a good album though, there are some clunkers on here.)
Honestly, I wouldn't have gone in for a project like 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die back then. I couldn't suffer it. What does it say about me now that I can? Expanded my appreciation of music or gone soft?
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
2/5
An important Record. Certainly Revolutionary for some. Captain Beefheart is the Lewis Carroll of rock. But for me at this time in my life it's a bit extra in a way that I'm less interested in now than I was in my more avant garde hungry days.
The rest of this review will now be written in how the music feels:
Skronkly and woggly time and word a disheveled stumble bumble of nonsense no sense make sense fake sense in this wild life — needle notes and conscripted toots. Stop. Go! Time to be brave! Hit record. Drive a ford across a fjord. Clever boi.
Madonna
2/5
Some backward guitar and a BOOM. Life is a mystery. Everyone must stand alone. I hear you call my name. And, it feels like...home. This isn't Madonna the outrageous or Madonna the classy vogue icon. This is middle Madonna to me. And, while some of the tracks are middling at best there are one or two standout pop songs. Unfortunately, the song with Prince on it is a disappointment and the album closes terribly as well. This wasn't the soundtrack to my youth, but I can get a little hit of nostalgia from some of it. It sounds way more 80s than a record coming out in 1989 should.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
This album opens like an edgy, yet glum 90s movie. Small wonder that Into My Arms has made its way onto actual soundtracks. While I prefer my Nick Cave to be in The Birthday Party, this is a solid listen. It's more down and less out than other things of his, but it's good for a mood.
Frank Sinatra
2/5
Moods. Blue. Indigo. Amber. Twinkling city lights in the distance. Smoky mist reflecting in a slick city puddle. Frank crooning in the background. It's practically a cliche both in image and in sound at this point. I guess for someone else, for another listener, what is cliche to me is classic to them.
Talk Talk
4/5
Crisp production that nods slightly to earlier work but sheds so much of the 80s baggage it's almost a new band. I was surprised by this record. An album I would've never given any thought to listen if it wasn't for this project. The opening track sets the mood and my expectations. The rest of the album delivers on that. This simple thing is really quite indicative of whether or not I'll continue to enjoy a record, regardless of genre, that's been put on for the first time. The song April 5th downshifts the record too much in its current sequence. I'd be inclined to sequence it differently. If the last song wasn't slightly over 8 minutes, I think it could've been last. But then where do you put Time It's Time. So hard to make a perfect record unless you delete a song or two sometimes. Perhaps that's what this record needed to rate a little higher.
Massive Attack
2/5
I was so happy to hear Tracey Thorn from Everything but the Girl on the first song. She has a voice that gets me every time. This opener is so good, and yet the second song Karmacoma is not my thing. I could barely make it through the track.
This is the opposite of what yesterday's record did so well: Announce itself, set expectations and then proceed to deliver on them organically. The trick is to both show difference in each song on the one hand and yet to have enough of a through line, on the other, that the listener experiences a cohesive statement when taking things in as a whole.
Massive Attack's Protection does not do this. It has a few good songs scattered about or intermingled with some duds. And then, to top it off, there is that terrible Light My Fire cover at the end. Is this the worst Massive Attack record out there? I don't know because I've never been a major fan. Mezzanine is fantastic though. A true classic. And, it's the record that follows this one.
Iggy Pop
4/5
Lust for Life is a great opening track and this record has The Passenger on it as well. Lesser artists would be lucky to land these two tracks alone. Furthermore, there are other solid tracks here: Sixteen, Some Weird Sin, Success, Neighborhood Threat are among my other favorites.
All strung together with enough of the Stooges vibe to remind you of his proto-punk roots and that also keep some of the Bowie influences in check. You might say, when would that ever be a good thing? Bowie is a genius. And yet, I'd argue for Iggy Pop leaning a little more Stooges only makes the Bowie bits shine more. To me, it feels more integrated and balanced as an Iggy Pop record than The Idiot for instance.
The closing track Fall in Love with me runs a little long and I start to lose my patience with the album when that happens. I'm always slightly unnerved by the photo of Iggy grinning at me like some bad year book picture, but I've also figured that was the point.
Pixies
5/5
Hey! I have heard this record so many times I cannot hear it new again. These are now the songs a grandma brought back from the shore. But The Pixies hit me at an impressionable time. I can remember seeing the video for Here Comes Your Man on MTV at 15. Not too long after that I had both Surfer Rosa and Doolittle. I remember hearing that they might break up and being shook when it happened after Trompe le Monde despite thinking that album was already weak by comparison. I moved on pretty quickly what with it being my teenage years but those first few records stayed in rotation and really never fell out of it. From Debaser to Gouge Away you'll get no complaints. Rock me, Joe.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Historically I have struggled to find The Rolling Stones to be worth my time when it comes to listening to one of their records. As a younger person who was influenced by my POP's record collection in the beginning, I appreciated the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and many others from the jump. The Stones were the band from that era I trashed consistently. Over time I've been able to appreciate more of the music and a few of Mick Jagger's best performances. This record has a couple of tracks that I enjoyed; they were: Brown Sugar and Wild Horses. And so I give this record one star for posterity and a star for each song I could dig.
Incredible Bongo Band
3/5
What can I say? But I have no cred. I liked this much more than yesterday's offering by the Rolling Stones. Am I a tired of it by the appearance of Wipeout? Yes, I am. Did most of it serve a groove and fulfill the promise of the opening track? Indeed. Does it rate higher than the aforementioned Rolling Stones record? Probably not, but only because we don't do half stars here. If we did, this would beat Sticky Fingers by half a star.
Raekwon
2/5
First reaction. Aw yeah! But then I forget that there's like 1:44 before anything of substance kicks in. I've never been a fan of skits on albums in anything but the comedy genre and the first track cuts a little close to that experience. There's a critique to be made of the lyrical content of this record, etc. but I'm not the audience Raekwon is speaking to, nor am I the content police today. When I focus on the delivery, the flow and beats I enjoy the album. I think I own it, even. But therein lies an ambivalence. It's not a record I return to with any kind of frequency anymore. It was never "a favorite" either, it's always been a Wu-Tang-along for me.
Johnny Cash
4/5
Rebirth of the CASH. How many times has Johnny Cash been brought low and Risen again? Enough to never count him out and yet, when this record hit I was in a place where I really had counted him out. This album was a Revelation at the time. I return to it from time to time. It'll give your shivers if you take the time to listen close.
Elvis Presley
1/5
My mother loved Elvis. You could go so far as to say that for a time she was obsessed with him. Evidence being a life-sized cardboard cutout of Elvis standing in our kitchen among many other representations of him in memorabilia, e.g. Elvis clock, wallpaper, plates, etc. As you might imagine, I've heard a few Elvis songs and seen some Elvis movies in my time.
This record has some okay songs, but nothing that really stands out as an amazing Elvis track. Too be honest, for me the best thing about this record is the typography on the cover and even that isn't the best of its era.
Aerosmith
2/5
A couple of tracks you'd probably know as growing up somewhere in North American and sometime between the record's release and whenever they became so unfashionable that not even the dads want to hear it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The record struck me as heavier than expected although it's not really heavy once you venture outside of pop music. Sexual politics are a bit cringe, of course. Overall, not my thing but I've heard worse.
Faith No More
4/5
This band seemed to come From Out of Nowhere for me when this album hit. I wasn't familiar with the Chuck stuff that came before this record until well after it. Probably like a lot of other kids who were in different, or even in my case, adjacent music scenes it was the Epic single and accompanying "goldfish" video that was our introduction.
Overall, I like this record well enough — there are a few undeniably great tracks — and I thought Angel Dust was an improvement but I could never get into the band 100%. I always wanted them to be heavier, darker, more aggressive, and less "jokey". Another way to say it in the context of this album is that I enjoy it when it's heavier, darker, more aggressive, and less "jokey" than it sometimes is. It's another record that makes me wish I had half-stars to hand out. In this case, I'm inclined to rate it higher on the whole stars...
Sister Sledge
3/5
I'd never listened to the whole record from Sister Sledge but, like most, was familiar with the album's title track We Are Family through all kinds of media. Taken as a whole this is a solid entry into the disco funk genre. I enjoyed it a good deal for what it was. And, this record makes no bones about what it thinks are its best songs, from titling the album after one of them to other clues. For example, I listened to the 1995 remaster which adds as bonus tracks 2 additional remixes of We Are Family and 2 more Lost in Music remixes as well. Some unevenness is forgiven and, in all honesty, I think this record is also responsible for the band Deee-lite like a decade later.
Various Artists
1/5
A Christmas Gift For You From Convicted Murderer Phil Spector is an anthology of Christmas songs. As is evidenced in the title it is produced by Phil Spector who is not to be celebrated. And yet, this record was made before the murders and performed by artists who also very likely find Phil's later life to be a tragedy all the way around. If Christmas is your thing, it's a great collection of holiday songs—many of which have become classics.
So, 5 Stars for the music minus 4 stars for Phil Spector spoiling this album's legacy.
Sure. Okay it’s ok. Boogie Wookiee is a phrase that combines some old form of Rock n Roll with spellcheck.
Beck
4/5
Thank you Beck. Sorry about your breakup with your longtime girlfriend, but this is a wonderful, and sometimes sad, album.
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
A return—did it somehow feel like less than we'd hoped for? Maybe that would always have been the case given they went out on a perfect album. To me it seemed like the band hadn't changed much with this record but the world certainly had.
The B-52's
4/5
Boys in bikinis! Girls on surfboards! Some things last a long time. To be honest, Fred Schneider‘s actual vocals are my least favorite thing about the band’s music. His lyrics are fun, the camp vibes alongside surfy, rock and roll vamps make for a joyful listen. Fred’s nasal delivery is just a little grating at times. I’ll take the bad with the good when it comes to the B-52s. Instant alien beach party.
Pavement
5/5
Heaven is a truck that got stuck on the freeway…
Earth, Wind & Fire
3/5
Not bad, but I enjoy other records of theirs more.
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
A couple of duds but overall this record slaps.
Antony and the Johnsons
4/5
Got the feels.
Alice Cooper
3/5
Letter grade: C-
Nick Drake
4/5
While Pink Moon is likely to be the most popular track, the album overall is a vibe.
PJ Harvey
4/5
Check out the olds here: I first heard Sheela-Na-Gig on the local college radio station KGRG 89.9 FM broadcast from Green River Community College in Auburn, WA before I graduated high school. The DJ introduced PJ Harvey as something like a "female fronted Fugazi" which after hearing the song felt both accurate and totally off. That aside, I was completely floored by the song and picked up DRY as soon as possible. And now I'm just another long-time fan of PJ Harvey whose amazing voice, artful song craft, and impassioned bravado has never fell out of fashion with me.
The 13th Floor Elevators
3/5
Hippies in the Garage! Not bad as a whole, but I suspect I'd appreciate this album more if I had listened to it in 4-5 song sessions over time. It's just a little over long for me today.
Primal Scream
3/5
Notes of this and that...overall too diverse sonically for my ear to get a hold of it in any kind of satisfying way. I took to the more shoegaze and aggressive elements, but other parts less so. For an album named Vanishing Point there's a surprising lack of focus.
Meat Loaf
2/5
This album sits on the border between a two-star hell and a three-star hell.
Pixies
5/5
My favorite Pixies album. Start to finish this album delivers. I don't even mind the interstitial skits that much.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
I don't tire of CCR in the way that I often do with other music from this generation. The standout classics Born on the Bayou and Proud Mary appear on this record and most of the other songs are only one whole or half-step in quality from that. I'm not saying the record is without a clunker or two...
Eurythmics
4/5
My Dad had the Touch tape in his truck so I'd say we were primed for this record as a house when it dropped. And yet, only the single Sweet Dreams made its way in. Hearing this record now, most of the songs are unfamiliar to me. Of course, the sound and vibe are all familiar through hearing the Eurythmics as well as many other bands who were trying to catch that 80s synth-wave lightning in a bottle. I'm not particularly captivated by it here but it's totally listenable.
An extra star added to this review for the song Sweet Dreams alone.
Black Sabbath
5/5
Through cultural osmosis I had an opinion about Black Sabbath well before I heard a song from them, let alone a full album. I eventually got into Sabbath through Paranoid (a route I still recommend). I can't imagine the impact of Black Sabbath when it came out in 1970, but if I have my Led Zeppelin, Cream, and Coven dates correct, it feels both revolutionary and totally expected. So I try to set aside all the baggage and just listen.
Opening with church bells and rain signals that things are supposed to be ominous. Black Sabbath and The Wizard are the standout tracks for me. They're the two I'd always put on a Sabbath mix. And let's not let it pass unremarked that Black Sabbath open Black Sabbath with Black Sabbath. There is a statement there.
When things settle into mostly medium-paced rock with the occasional psychedelic blues-jam vibe — de rigueur for the day — the album no longer feels special as the debut of such an influential band. But there's enough heaviness that it isn't something you'd feel a need to renounce artistically either. All in all, it starts impressively strong — making a case that this is a band to pay attention to — and but settles into heavy jam-blandness at the end. Had it finished with a metal wallop as strong as it opened, this would be a full 5-star release. But surely each of these 4 stars is drawn upside down and in a circle with wax from the candles dripping on the wooden floor of some ritual listening room...okay I get it, this album haunts me some...let's say it's 4.5 rounding up to 5.
Happy Mondays
2/5
Listened to this twice today. But I never got into it. Maybe because I listened on a Thursday? It's not bad. Just not for me. Not even enough to write a real review. Bummer.
Little Simz
3/5
This GREY Area is comprised of ten tracks. Half the area is middling and the other half is stellar. It's like you take two opposing colors and mix them together with the result being kind of gray. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Prince
4/5
What to say about this genre-hopping, somewhat sprawling 16 songs from one of the greatest songwriters of the era? There's easily an 8 to 10-song mix to be made for each kind of Prince fan out there that would perhaps serve them better than just taking this whole album in. Sexy Pop, Social Commentary, Party-Funk, low-key traditional singer-songwriter, you can have all this and more if you take it all in at once. This record feels made for a different attention span, a different media landscape, for people who are effectively trained to listen in a different way. What even is a "Two Disc Set", he asks rhetorically... In the end, it is Prince penning a few more classics in an album that was a Sign 'O' the Times and in many ways hasn't aged as well as some of his other work due to that fact.
And finally, let's be real, Prince needed to be Prince lyrically for greatness to be achieved, for the gold to be struck. You take the good with the cornball writing that sometimes makes its way to tape when listening to him. You forgive the completely goofy lines because they created the space for him to tell the truth and cut to the core elsewhere in the song or maybe on another track entirely. This is one of the Prices of Prince we pay along the way. On a record like this it is even more apparent to me than others.
Ray Price
3/5
Night Life's vibe is sedate honky-tonk, sad songs sung earnestly but with little urgency. Skip the Intro and Theme track to get right to the reverb-soaked crooning, brushes drumming, soft tinkling piano, and gentle guitar playing. It's a slow dance best reserved to be uncorked long after sundown.
Patti Smith
4/5
I love this record. In particular I love the version of it that I have which includes the live recording of My Generation with John Cale. I've listened to this album numerous times and the thing that struck me this time around is that, while I truly enjoy this record I never went beyond it with Patti Smith. Sure, I've heard a few other tracks of her's here and there—things that would just be in the culture by her. But while this album is compelling, it did not elicit a curiosity or desire to hear more, different records from her. Was it complete enough in its own right? Does one just need a single Patti Smith record for life and this was mine? Did she draw me into her world in such a satisfying way I needed no more or did she not draw me into her world enough? It seems that I have more questions than answers with Horses.
Dion
1/5
More like DI-OFF, amirite? I know nothing about this album and wish that it could still be so after today. Sorry.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
Wait, they don't love you like I love you. This wasn't my first YYY's record; I was lucky enough to be living in Brooklyn to get in on the first ep early. It was a real treat to see some of the shows and watch this band ascend. To watch them move beyond the Post-Punk Brooklyn thing was no surprise and, for me, it was this record that truly set them on this course.
Taylor Swift
4/5
Taylor Swift knows her way around a pop song. There are some real gems on this album and even her missteps land in the territory of okay. That said, there are some who might immediately dismiss this album based on genre alone. I can understand.
R.E.M.
5/5
Murmur through Green — peak R.E.M. They put out like an album a year and it all started here with this one. It's not my all-time favorite of theirs but it holds up very well. It's a fine start from Radio Free Europe to West of the Fields. An amazing debut. I want to give it five stars because it sets the table for their career. I want to give it five stars because Mike Mills melodic bass playing and backing vocals are infectious. I want to give it five stars because Michael Stipe's lyrics and delivery are both equally expressive. I want to give it five stars because Bill Berry knows how to construct a beat that's effective in its economy. I want to give it five stars because Peter Buck's ringing tones and articulate arpeggios from this record haunt me to this day. Ok, I'll give it five stars.
The Gun Club
4/5
Overall this record is pretty good. Not every song is a classic, but even the worst are not bad at all. There are a couple of things that occur here that are about and not about the record itself but they trace a thing so...
That moment when you are listening to the album of the day and you recognize a song but know it best through the cover version. I hadn't heard this record by The Gun Club before despite some interest in overlapping contemporaries and the genre. So when For the Love of Ivy came on I recognized it immediately through the Japandroid's Celebration Rock record (which is five-stars fantastic).
And, anyone who has listened to OFF! has probably heard the name "Jeffrey Lee Pierce" yelled by Keith Morris.
All these resonances speak to the importance of the band in ways that maybe this album doesn't always deliver despite being a solid punk rock outing.
Radiohead
5/5
Being too young to be open minded, I wrote off Radiohead when Creep arrived. So I missed the Bends album when it dropped. I barely gave OK Computer a glance when it first came out also. It took some cajoling from family and friends to get me to re-appraise Radiohead. I'm glad they cared enough to call me out on my bias. The bends is worth your time. 5 Stars.
Kraftwerk
4/5
Six Tracks Krafted in 1978 with German precision, humor and (what was at the time) modern synthesizers. Programmed Sonic Experiments in Popular Music — Robot Propulsion Laboratory Sequences Engineered for Aural Inspection whether it be in the Spacelab or Metropolis of your choice.
CHIC
3/5
It's a vibe. Not my typical one but it's hard to deny that this CHIC record draws you right in with the Good Times and mostly delivers on that manifesto.
Adele
2/5
The first song was much better than expected. I am pleasantly surprised so far (1:17 into the album). But can Adele keep it rolling? She kind of did for the first three songs, but when Don't Your Remember hit I wanted the ejector seat button.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
Superfly was an album I took in long before a more sustained engagement with Jazz and Funk from the era. It circulates in the culture in ways that transcend the genre. One aspect of this record I'm familiar with is that the musical director for Mayfield was the bassist on this record. I know this because for me the bass and Mayfield's voice elevate the music here. There's a well-kept pulse throughout that moves us through the material. I appreciate other facets of the record as well (string arrangements, content and concept). Solid record that keeps things moving.
Supertramp
2/5
I am not a fan of the harmonica. It grates on my ears, so this record does not start out well for me. The opening School is a bit pedestrian despite my fondness for 70s critiques of formal education as a means of socialization. The lyrics would've benefited from dropping some Paulo Freire or early Michel Foucault references. I'm not a fan of that keyboard / piano in the track either. Centering on the piano helps me understand what one of my main issues with this record seems to be. I'm not into the instrumentation in a lot of the songs. The keys and horns here distract me. Bloody Well Right. Sure. Okay. By the end of this record I was thinking this is much more Pink Floyd influenced than I had known Supertramp to be. TIL, I guess.
Arcade Fire
4/5
I avoided Arcade Fire at first and while this album is not their debut it provides excellent evidence as to why they blew up to begin with on the one hand and polishes it up with the other. It is maybe a little overlong to be a five star record but it is quite good.
The Chemical Brothers
4/5
The brother's gonna work it out...I may be wrong but in the 90s it felt like everyone's collection benefited from a having some of The Chemical Brothers in it somewhere, somehow. They were a cross-over event. This was my first, and not my last. Strong beats, great sounds, deep cuts. In Dust We Trust.
ZZ Top
4/5
Honest Texas Blues-based Rock n Roll with growling bass, snarling guitar and cracking drums. This era of the band is what I prefer over their souped up Eliminator and onward output. It's ironic for me to say that because I have a tendency to tire of rock that gets too obviously bluesy. I say "Gimme Blues." And I say, "Gimme Rock." But I raise this eyebrow at most Blues Rock. And yet the ZZ Top of Tres Hombres walks that line perfectly. Have Mercy.
Bad Brains
3/5
My conflicted feelings about Bad Brains aside (detailed below), this is an excellent rock record. I've deliberately called it rock because I Against I shifts the overall focus from punk to rock. There's no denying that the threads of rock, metal, funk, punk and reggae are intertwined and interlocked in their sound. But both this album and With a Quickness are free of the genre constraints of typical punk. Despite my love of their S/T and Rock for Light records, I Against I and Quickness are sonically more interesting for leaving the punk cliches behind.
Shame about the casual homophobia and other lyrical missteps typically brushed aside with "HR was a product of his time and place" not only because it mars the legacy of a great band overall but also because it makes certain songs irritating. It's worth asking though if Bad Brains are given the same amount of latitude when it comes to this kind of thing as other bands of their era. It seems to me that folks like to come at Bad Brains a little extra for it. The conflicted feelings remain.
The Go-Go's
4/5
I never listened to this record but I know most of the singles. I was surprised by the sequencing (I really expected We Got the Beat as the opener). Overall this record is a good mix of pop and punk. It still sounds contemporary in its own way — certainly not the sound of mainstream radio, but it's easy to imagine a group of young California kids pulling something along these lines off in their garage today.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
From Excursions to Scenario there's not a bum song in the bunch except maybe Butter's content. I love the sound, energy and overall vibe of this record. Lyrics that are singable and worthy of study. It is peak Tribe.
Femi Kuti
4/5
Solid Afrobeat. Announces itself and delivers on its promise.
MGMT
4/5
I remember when MGMT hit the scene (and you couldn't escape Kids in public) but I was in a much different listening place at the time. I was deep into the heavy stuff and eschewed anything too danceable or commercial that was coming at me from the world-at-large. Ironically, it is music I might've enjoyed if I had heard it coming from a friend, an artist or a band that I had already accepted into my inner circle of approved inputs. In other words, there's a tremendous resonance with stuff I had already allowed through: Wolf Parade, Animal Collective, etc. This closing off or setting up arbitrary musical boundaries is a recurring theme or phase I find myself going through. I felt it most acutely in Jr. High and High School. I had a brief period of open ears for part of College and afterwards. But there was some steady tightening up of the reins in the late-to-mid aughts that lasted maybe a decade or more. So, what does this have to do with MGMT's Oracular Spectacular? It's very good for music of that era but I wasn't willing to hear that then. So now I'm coming to it late and a little stupidly. Don't be like past me. Be like present me — actively fight against the desire to close up into whatever genre I'm deep into at the moment. Resist the myopia of whatever scene you're in. I'm glad I could open my ears to Oracular Spectacular today.
Supergrass
3/5
I'm already a little daunted seeing it's 21 songs by a band I'm not Super familiar with. The use of the typeface Cooper Black on this cover where they're busking with acoustic instruments combined with a name that reminds me of Supertramp and weed is cause for concern. Maybe if I knew their music I'd find the humor or irony in this. At least while I've been typing the music has proven that there is some intended distance between what we see in the cover image before us and the sounds being made. I'm starting to get some Britpop vibes cut with more athletic guitars. If this record can keep the tempo and pace then I might be handing out stars like they're candy. We'll have to wait and see.
As suspected when things slow down they feel a little more generic. Perhaps a slower tempo exposes more of their songwriting flaws? Or rather, and probably more accurate, if I hold the mirror up — the tempo shows me what my own preferences are. My edit for the record would've been to do 9 rippers and then run. Then they can put out a different album shortly after. I don't need the sprawling two disc treatment. But maybe a short album of bangers would've been received by the public as one dimensional. It's a hard balance to strike. In this particular case Supergrass didn't quite achieve it for me.
Ian Dury
1/5
I don't connect with this at all, but not all of the music itself terrible. I'm clearly separated from whatever the cultural referents are that make this relevant. I'm struggling between giving 1 or 2 stars. Let's see where we land...
Blondie
4/5
One way or another you've got to like this album by Blondie—whether you have a heart of glass or are just a Sunday girl. I mean, I know but I don't know...you know? Yeah, all kinds of telephone themes on Parallel Lines just like those old wires. Classic.
Frank Ocean
4/5
I'm a little conflicted about the 4 stars but I also continue to be intrigued by this album after the first couple of listens and want to give it more time. In other words, only time will tell if I was too generous. I know it's not a five star record for me all things considered.
The Chemical Brothers
4/5
This record can still get me hype despite its age.
Serge Gainsbourg
4/5
I'd seen the name Gainsbourg thrown around before and maybe heard a song or two but I never listened to a full album of his before. Not bad at all. Definite 70s vibes. I took a crash course in French to prep for a trip there but I'm certainly listening without picking up on the spoken content. I can only go by feel in that respect.
The Temptations
3/5
Off to a Funky start with a live feel we're brought into the good times vibes. But Run Charlie Run sure lets students of history know when this album was written. That song hasn't aged well even if it fully captures the sentiment of its time (and maybe has another reading I've yet to uncover). This record has Papa Was a Rollin' Stone rolling in as the third track. With that song on lock this was always going to be a classic record despite a few missteps here and there.
Bon Jovi
2/5
You Give Love A Bad Name, Livin' On A Prayer, and Wanted Dead Or Alive — two good songs and one great one. If you only heard those three songs, you wouldn’t know how terrible this album is. They saved it from a one star rating. There's some variety to their failures: D-grade Van Halen impressions and bad Journey vibes top my own list. Apologies should've been issued to their influences for this mostly terrible record.
Kendrick Lamar
4/5
In demographic terms, I'm the kind of listener that heard hype about Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly well before I got my ears around it in any kind of substantial way. This means I didn't have a friend turn it on for me. No one in my circles passed this my way, but plenty media to tell me how insanely profound this record was. I've listened a number of times prior to getting this as my daily assignment. It's good. His flow is sublime and I agree he's like a drummer in some ways—percussive delivery. That said, I think I got too much hype from all the press because I was also left with a sense of "Is this it?". Expectations can be a double-edged sword sometimes and so I'm here to tell you it's a solid four stars to these ears.
Rocket From The Crypt
4/5
Swami John Reis hear my prayer: "Please send me a daily listen that continues to rock despite its years." Raise your hand if you're a Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes or Night Marchers fan. John Reis has blessed us with many great records through a variety of groups. Rocket From the Crypt has always been the "most fun" of them. Loud guitar, upbeat tempos, and cheeky lyrics — this album delivers on that most of the time. It's not 5 stars good. I've got to save those stars for Hot Snakes and Drive Like Jehu records.
Megadeth
4/5
I've never been a Dave Mustaine fan but I've managed to be friends with folks who are. This means that while I have a track record of loving metal, I'm not a Megadeth aficionado. My impressions:
- I can't stand the vocals some of the time on Wake Up Dead and I think that will continue to be true over the course of the record.
- A little too much room in the mix means that even their most punishing riffs don't feel monumental to me.
- There are some fine breakdowns and a few choice riffs though.
- You can see why Peace Sells But Who's Buying is famous: it's a riff with a groove, a classic 80s first-person cynical, anti-establishment subject matter, catchy repeated chorus/refrain, soaring guitar solo and a double-time outro. It's a vibe. I don't think that single represents the totality of the album very well.
- Best stretch of songs is from Peace Sells to Bad Omen. That's 4 songs for about 20 mins of music.
- I Ain't Superstitious should be struck from the record.
- My Last Words gives me some Maiden vibes and that is not a bad thing, just a little surprising that the closer reminds me of another band so strongly.
Overall, 3.5 stars. It's a weak four, but better than most threes.
Alanis Morissette
2/5
This feels like a version of the 90s that has cemented itself as cultural memory and stereotype. I don't know anything about Alanis Morissette's trajectory or how she sees herself as an artist. And yet, I can't help but think she's the more commercially palatable and uncomplicated answer to the rise of artists like Liz Phair, Ani DiFranco and a bevy of fantastic riot grrrl bands. For many, this record was a real moment even if it was one I was distant from.
The first couple of songs are okay, but Perfect is hard to listen to. The vocals actively grate. It's like a 12 song album, they could've cut that one and my impression of the first part of the record would've been much better. Okay, maybe also you'd need to cut the track Forgiven as well. I don't know why people reach for the harmonica, ever, but you can keep Head Over Feet. For these ten songs only, I give this record three stars. If I have to take it all, it's going to be two.
Iggy Pop
3/5
IGGY POP. Probably an Idiot. Maybe a Genius. David Bowie was certainly a genius and with David's help so is this record? Let's listen and find out. Eh, it's no Passenger.
Burning Spear
3/5
Burning Spear is a big deal in the roots reggae pantheon. This record is just one of several that give evidence to this assessment.
Can
5/5
Can fan here. Biased vote incoming, feel free to dock me a star, but can I say this isn't my favorite Can album and yet also tell you it's utterly fantastic and maybe their most influential? Groovy, spacey, squawky and skronky—you can't put a lid on Tago Mago. The music spills out in all the right ways.
Blue Cheer
3/5
Blue Cheer working that psychedelic blues rock formula. All the trappings of early hazy, slightly heavy jams are here. The best song on the record is the first and it is a cover of Summertime Blues. If you enjoy blissed out fuzz tones over blues scales, Blue Cheer are for you.
JAY Z
4/5
"Whoo! I am back. I want to thank everybody out there for their purchase." // "just my thoughts, right or wrong." // "vibe with me ... just vibe with me."
I wish I had Jay-Z level of confidence and bravado. On some level, don't we all? Isn't this one of the reasons to listen to him?
Best Tracks: The Ruler's Back, Takeover — ouch that takedown of Nas, Izzo (H.O.V.A.), Jigga, U Don't Know, Hola Hovito, Heart of the City, Never Change, Renegade.
Tracks that are still good, but a step down: All I Need, Blueprint (Momma Loves Me), Lyrical Exercise.
Boring tracks: Song Cry.
Tracks that have me shaking my head: Girls, Girls, Girls (both) — it seems like songs along these lines never age well.
In conclusion, Jay-Z is a study in contrasts. Four Stars.
Hot Chip
2/5
From the band name on down, it's all annoying. But you can (mostly) dance to it. HOT CHIP In Our Heads earns two stars.
The Velvet Underground
4/5
This review should open with some articulate words on Velvet Underground's importance in the history of late 20th century Western popular music, here they are: blah, blah, blah. Chances are just too good that if you've followed Western music culture in the last 50 years you've been exposed to some description of their importance so I'll leave it at that.
What about this, their third, record? This album is really very nice, it's mostly mellow and even the uptempo tracks demonstrate restraint. It's a mostly quiet and small affair. Though not without the occasional rambunctious moment i.e. Murder Mystery is a bit crowded sonically and yet is a blueprint used by Hüsker Dü, Pavement, and more. You could almost use the adjective quaint to describe the album overall.
The Byrds
3/5
Jangly Dylan-influenced, vaguely Hippie folk pop. I can hear why some people really "dig it." Eight Miles High is a stand-out track. In short, the album is fine for what it is, but it's not my bag. It's my bag adjacent at best.
Bill Evans Trio
4/5
I loved this record the first time I heard it (when I didn't know much about Bill Evans or this trio). This record is so good you won't even mind that they "play the same song twice" four different times. To review, that's 8 tracks on a 10 track album.
A considerable part of the success of this live recording in my opinion is the playing of bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian. They more than hold their own with Bill Evans. When Scott or Paul take the spotlight it's as equally rewarding as when Bill does.
Kanye West
2/5
Former US President Barack Obama correctly identified Kanye West as a jackass and if you can separate Ye's antics and outbursts from his music you might be able to enjoy this record for what it's worth. There are at least 4 great tracks on this record that are good enough to stand on their own outside of his complicated legacy. However, the remainder of the tracks are of uneven quality. Bracketing all the negative Kanye stuff would only put this record in three star territory reaching for that unattainable fourth star. Unfortunately for me, as the owner of four of his albums, I find it increasingly difficult to hold all that extra stuff at bay. Two stars.
The Sonics
2/5
The Sonics are local legends in the Pacific Northwest. There are a few tracks on this record that transcend their early American garage rock context like The Witch, Psycho, Boss Hoss, and Strychnine. Unfortunately this record is also littered with rock 'n' roll standards like Do You Love Me, Roll Over Beethoven, Money, and Good Golly Miss Molly. For every stellar standout song, there's some generic cover whose rendition sounds too timid today. This is a record best received by someone into early rock 'n' roll or garage rock. While I have listening interests adjacent to all this, it's not enough to save the rating despite the fact that if it were an EP with just the four stellar tracks I'd rate it four stars. Taken as a whole, it's hard to enjoy.
Bob Dylan
2/5
Despite my well-established hatred of the harmonica, I'm a casual Dylan fan. I like most of the songs from Freewheelin' Bob Dylan through the Blonde on Blonde record. From that era onward it's maybe just a song or two here and there but without exploring his catalogue at all. What does this mean? Why do we care? It means that I've never heard this record as a record. I haven't paid it that kind of attention and I don't know what I'll have to say about it after I give it a listen.
The first three songs: Tangled up in Blue, Simple Twist of Fate, & You're a Big Girl Now make me wonder "Is this the sound of easy listening Bob Dylan?" At least, Idiot Wind sounds like Dylan woke up for it. He might not be as angry as he was elsewhere, but it has some grit. Truth be told, I lost interest around the song Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts — song number 7 of 10. Actively started to dislike If You See Her, Say Hello on repeat listen. But Shelter from the Storm is alright.
I am friends with a Bob Dylan scholar, please don't tell him about my rating here: two stars.
Stephen Stills
3/5
Stephen Stills serves you up a pleasant rock album that's slightly Southern fried on the one hand — a dash of Lynyrd Skynyrd, a sprinkle of the Allman Brothers — and a little meat 'n' potatoes country-folk on the other — a pinch of John Denver, etc. As a meal, there are a few great tracks but also a few bites too many (like so many double albums of the time). I was ready to excuse myself from the table before it was done.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
3/5
Stephen Stills' Manassas yesterday and now I get this today? This gives me a sense of...Déjà vu. Only this record is better.
The Who
5/5
The one true Who record I love. My POP introduced me to this record when I was a young man (didn't have nothin' in the world these days). I enjoyed it so much I went searching high and low for studio recordings of these songs that matched the energy and power of LIVE AT LEEDS. I never found them. This record documents the true maximum rock 'n' roll of The Who. In my opinion it's their best album. And, it is among the best live recordings of its era. Too Much, Magic Bus. Five Stars.
Louis Prima
4/5
Gramp's own Pa's easy listening. Put the record on in the ol' folks home and watch them stare far away into the distant past remembering a different time back when they were young and spry and their parents who controlled the radio had Louis Prima on it. So far away, and yet, I can connect with the music today. The Wildest! endures.
The Black Keys
3/5
This may or may not be true history, but it cuts to the heart of the album in review: The Black Keys heard the White Stripes update to the blues rock formula and started a band. What they lack in originality (to be docked from the final rating) they make up for in execution. The name of this album is Brothers. The rating is four stars minus one.
Stereo MC's
2/5
The grooves aren't bad if you turn it down low enough to be able to ignore the mostly dumb lyrics. I didn't bother to throw this on the headphones to truly test if the MCs were in Stereo. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The Blue Nile
3/5
Who is this vaguely new wave / new romantics band that I've never heard of before? Their slightly The The, Aztec Camera, Style Council, Fine Young Cannibals, Yaz fronted by Scott Walker meets the mellowest side of Comsat Angels spooning the Pogues vibes has me intrigued. My enthusiasm for the album slowed around the Easter Parade (though quite a timely listen here in April).
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Why you gotta be like that Spotify/Joni? As of today, I can only stream Coyote there. Good thing my partner owns this album and I'm familiar with it through numerous listens. In my opinion, this is the most pleasant recording of Jaco Pastorius we have. His furious fusion finger work being awesome in a very different way. The restrained but virtuoso fretless is a wonderful, graceful compliment to Joni Mitchell's vocals. This isn't my favorite Joni record but it's up there.
Tricky
2/5
Tricky tries too hard to be sexy sometimes.
The Mars Volta
5/5
Did The Mars Volta single-handedly revive Prog Rock? No one can ever say definitively yes, but if they didn't do it, no one did. And, if this full-length release didn't kick it off, then I don't know what did. This album continues to thrill.
The Verve
2/5
Bitter Sweet Symphony was inescapable for a time. It's a fine song as are many on this record, but I don't find many of them particularly compelling. The songs here seem like they're great for slacking around in your loafers, comfy pants and bucket hat. Just like the guys on the record cover, you are looking elsewhere for something of interest.
The White Stripes
4/5
There was a time when I was committed to the White Stripes. This album was in heavy rotation during that stretch, but it wasn't my favorite either. It's a four star White Stripes record. Depending on how you feel about their whole sound bump that up or down on your personal rock-o-meter.
Circle Jerks
3/5
Growing up a punk rock skate kid the Circle Jerks were always in Thrasher and other zines. They were seemingly required listening. Someone always had this record at hand. This record is especially great for its time and is significant to me by virtue of having the music attached to good memories. Listening many years later I find it sometimes lacks power compared to music made by the kids it inspired. It also suffers from an unfortunate trick that time plays on us all where pioneers of a formula can over time sound more formulaic than they did when they first made their statement. Don't get me wrong, it's still good. But even Keith Morris himself in OFF! is more consistently punchier than what is present here.
OutKast
4/5
Never a fan of skits in albums I will take an entire star for the mar they make on what is otherwise a superlative record from Outkast. These interludes in particular aren't palette cleansers, they're straight up stupid. It's a shame because otherwise this is a five star record. Gasoline Dreams indeed.
The Smiths
4/5
The Smiths — it's even more complicated now. I'm likely to stan for Johnny Marr forever whereas Morrissey can stay in the toilet of his regrettable right wing nationalism. With that out of the way, this is among their best despite it being the end of The Smiths. It's not my favorite of which I rated five stars despite Morrissey's politics. I will again bracket Morrissey out of respect for Johnny Marr and the rest of the band. But this record only gets four stars.
Alice In Chains
3/5
Ah! A chance to reappraise DIRT by Alice in Chains. A band that I disliked on principle alone at the time they arrived on the scene. Early 90s I'm in punk mode in the Northwest and certainly grungy bands start getting some attention but the ones that appealed to me were the least commercial, the weirder more indie and punker of the cohort. Even Nirvana for a brief moment wasn't the international sensation that shook the music industry. So when Alice in Chains and a few others started to also rise in popularity I (and I wasn't alone) saw this as a land grab for cash and record industry attention that was uncool. They seemed like a glammy hard rock/metal band trying to change their sound for fame and fortune and AS A PUNK I WAS AGAINST IT. Full stop.
There certainly are some stylistic tells or trappings of their hard rock heritage on this record: slower beats, tremolo dives, wah effects, bombastic solos with deep bends and impressive runs, ballads with oohs, chorus effects, etc. And, this record is also long, too long for me personally. By now I guess they knew what their fans wanted and felt a confidence delivering it over and over and over again.
If you are still reading this you might expect me to rate this at two stars, but I'll say there are also some songs on this record that are recognizably great. They seem to have integrated some of their influences and aspirations into a better version of themselves. Is it necessarily my thing that I'll go back to? Nope. But is it better than I initially gave it credit for? Yes.
David Bowie
5/5
STATIONTOSTATIONDAVIDBOWIEFIVESTARS
+-+-+
Many professional reviewers have crafted sharp, searching prose trying to cut the Stylistic Gordian Knot of this record. Is it Funk? Is it Disco? Is it Soul? Is it Pop? Is it all of these things but ... is it still also Krautrock? It's moody, it's heavy, it's celebratory...but it's a dark celebration. It's cerebral but moves your booty. Maybe the mind is not yet free but is being led by the ass?
LCD Soundsystem
5/5
Lyrics you can smirk to. Grooves you can dance to. Real feels for this ex-NYC resident while listening to "New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down." My 11 years there overlaps heavily with LCD Soundsystem which might be why it rings so true. Signed, another North American Scum.
Green Day
2/5
Green Day has spent their career disproving my hypothesis that I can totally hate them. And, while I can't totally, easily hate them...this record comes close with every overproduced, over-instrumented slow number meant to be "meaningful" from the band that brought us the album titled "Dookie" and named themselves after a big weed session.
And here we are with this record. I'm not a fan of Green Day's Grease by way of the Clash mixed with their own selves from a decade ago and a dropout version of Professor Greg Graffin's course on Bad Religion. Quadrophenia this is not. And yet, I'll give it an entire star for existing at all as a signpost to punk that existed in the mainstream during some rough years for radio rock and a second star for the opening track.
AC/DC
4/5
Just as sure as a Gibson SG's tone is dirty and sweet, if you liked rock of any kind in the 80s, you had to acknowledge AC/DC. Like maybe you put a button or patch on your jean jacket on one end of the spectrum or at the other end you knew Highway to Hell at least and would throw horns when it came on. Coming out in '79, none of this was my soundtrack and it definitely wasn't my look, but all them older kids made sure I heard it. Maybe you're like me and find it hard to truck with an album oozing objectification out of nearly every pore, but casual, mid-tempo eighties rock rarely sounds as good as AC/DC's output here and on Back in Black.
Snoop Dogg
1/5
Not my thing, but even I can acknowledge that there are about 3 songs that transcend the album itself.
CHIC
3/5
41m 42s of CHIC is just about enough CHIC for any day.
Deee-Lite
3/5
Groove is in the heart and oftentimes in this record.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
POP was a Hendrix fan. I first EXPERIENCED Jimi's record, the original US release, on vinyl and loud as that Hi-Fi could go. In his younger years, POP liked to play records so loud that the house was a speaker for listening in the backyard. It's hard to imagine how many minds were blown, just like speakers, from the opening RIFF alone. It's crazy to me that a record from 1967 still sounds generally excellent in 2023. Some of the inventiveness is now standard blues rock, of course. All the standout tracks still SHINE, but the thing that I appreciate on listening to the record today are the tracks that aren't the popular hits with the big streaming numbers; songs like "I Don't Live Today" and "Love or Confusion". They're definitely a bit more psychedelic and less radio friendly, but the quality is super HIGH.
Nirvana
4/5
For me, this record is definitively the Nineties but not in its production or sound. It doesn't sound like the Nineties. Instead it represents the era by virtue of being an MTV Unplugged session by Nirvana who broke things open for all that college radio stuff way back when it was marketed as "alternative." More insightful people than me will say more insightful things about the lyrics and the performance, but it's still a decent listen though Kurt is as tiresome as he is probably tired. By no means my favorite Nirvana record, but it remains an occasional listen especially for the Meat Puppets and Bowie covers.
Tom Waits
4/5
I really like Tom Waits and many of the songs here, but not this album as a whole experience. As one of the greatest storytellers in song Tom's not worried though, and you shouldn't be either. Hang onto that dime!
The Charlatans
2/5
This is okay in a mid-nineties generic Brit rock kind of way. Required listening it is not.
Stan Getz
4/5
This album mostly recovers from her walk into the sea (looks straight ahead, not at he). That song, the first here, is such a high water mark. And yet, the album is filled with solid Stan Getz playing and holds its vibe. It's a pleasure to put on when you have the time and space to listen with intent because if you have it on as just background music it will only ever be "pleasantly same-y" aside from the Girl from Ipanema.
The La's
3/5
Interesting transitional band from British 80s sounds to the 90s Brit Rock that blew up alongside US Grunge. Feels a bit more rooted in the 80s vibe but strikes me as a proto-90s Brit Rock band.
The Notorious B.I.G.
3/5
I like a good Biggie Smalls single like the next person who came of age when he was making music, but I can't take a whole album of it. Gotta be a solid album experience to rise above 3 stars.
Hole
3/5
Some good tracks, but as a (w)hole it's not a great record. Close to L7, Babes in Toyland, and Dickless to my ear but with pop aspirations which makes them a little bit more listenable when Courtney Love is in control of her vocals. It's a shame that the semi-dis track/complaint song "Rock Star" closes the record given Hole can't seem to muster the kind of enthusiasm of a Sleater-Kinney or Bikini Kill in me. Overall, it's not my favorite 90s rock record, but it's not the worst of the era either.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
3/5
I have this album. It feels like every budding jazz lover is instructed to check this record out at some point in their initial journey. Blue Rondo à la Turk is seared into my brain. The album announces itself well through this track and even though it has its peaks and valleys it doesn't fail to deliver on its promise throughout. All that said, it also feels at times like the musical conversation has moved on so much that this record now feels staid.
Stereolab
3/5
I listened to this album like four or five times today and while I cannot remember a single track distinctly each time was a good listen. I got Komeda meets St. Etienne vibes all day long. Success?
The Pogues
2/5
I had Peace and Love on cassette back in the day, but overall I never took to the Pogues. This record is fine, there are some good songs on here, but it's not a revelation.
Elvis Presley
1/5
Mercifully short record from The Memphis Flash. Blue Suede Shoes still has some punch and there are a couple of other tracks that I don't mind. His renditions of I Got a Woman and Tutti Fruitti however *pale* in comparison to other performances of these songs. Sorry King, it ain't my thing.
Erykah Badu
4/5
This is a good record although it's not my favorite Erykah Badu ever (that would be her Live album which I place above Baduizm even). A mid-level Badu is still solid. I suspect the algorithm will serve up at least one more of her records before I'm done with this project.
The Libertines
2/5
Hard-pressed to see how this record is significant in any way at all. Like why before I die do I need to hear this? The answer is unclear.
It's not weird enough. It's not good enough. It's not exciting enough. Heck, it's not even boring enough or terrible enough. It's middling indie rock with a slightly punky vibe. Okay. But why?
Red Hot Chili Peppers
2/5
Sorry Anthony Kiedis, I don't want to Break the Girl or Suck your Kiss nor do I care what happened Under the Bridge or when you were Naked in the Rain. The lyrics and vocals are the death of my enjoyment here. What I want is to listen to Flea, Frusciante, and Chad freakin' jam. The music on the record is tops, one of the best for the Peppers, I think. The rest (Kiedis) is flops. All the stars to the players.
Beastie Boys
4/5
Hear the Beasties tryin' to bust out of their Licensed to Ill cage with every beat, sample and rhyme. Not running from themselves, but running to where they wanted to be. Despite some cringe lyrics that haven't aged too well, this album still makes my top three for them, even if their try-hard striving is apparent.
Fats Domino
2/5
This is Fine.
Amy Winehouse
2/5
I missed the Amy Winehouse bus when it was originally leaving the station. I'm okay to have let it pass me by despite her amazing voice. While I recognize that talent, I'm not particularly into the lyrical content or the music and arrangements.
Judas Priest
3/5
Killer cover though you have to wonder just how those fingers aren't totally cut up and bleeding over all that British Steel. Jokes aside, other than some minor quibbles around the sonic qualities of the mix, I'm into this record more than I would've thought based on prior impressions of Judas Priest. Breaking the Law and Living After Midnight are the two pillars under which some lesser songs do find cover. And yet, better than expected.
Traffic
2/5
Not my jam but not objectively terrible. Definitely more piano and organ on these songs than I would prefer. The flute was unexpected, though I guess I shouldn't really have been that surprised.
The Stone Roses
2/5
I Wanna Be Adored is a great song that should've piqued my interest as a listener enough to check the album out right away. And yet, I never did. Maybe that was a good thing because there are also some duds on the record. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Leonard Cohen
2/5
Divisive genius performs the occasional pearl. Suzanne is a five star song, but Stories of the Street is not.
Paul Simon
2/5
Some people contend that there are no bad Paul Simon albums. That may be true in a strict sense, but this is a tedious Paul Simon album.
Fela Kuti
4/5
I've heard Ginger Baker was a bit of a grump. But it's hard to believe it's true when Fela Kuti says his name with such emphasis: GINGER BAKER!!!
Steve Winwood
2/5
The arc of this album is only so so. It starts off with its strongest track and then kind of nosedives from there.
Paul Simon
3/5
Good and Great: The Boy in the Bubble, Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes, Homeless, Graceland, and You Can Call Me Al. Bad: That Was Your Mother. The Rest is typical middling Paul Simon despite slightly more adventurous instrumentation.
OutKast
2/5
A double album often means double the dread. The fear of how much time I'm going to need to invest in a single day to unpack all the tracks and form some kind of an opinion on it. Throw on top of that we're talking about a group that's unafraid of skits and other interludes a person can become quite daunted quickly. Good thing for me that I own this record already. ;)
Someone else with greater powers of pithy summarization will come along and say something succinct. They'll impart a bunch of wisdom while displaying their impressive wit. Me? I'm here to say: it's uneven at best. The best songs totally slap and all that but you have to put up with a lot of other tracks where you can tell that OutKast was at a point in their career and popularity that they lacked a person between them or in their inner circle who could successfully wield the editing pen.
It's always a bit of a let down when you hear a ~40 track double album that feels like it drags in places and you know it could've made a classic, all-time great record with 12 tracks.
Grant Lee Buffalo
4/5
I never really paid them attention at the time. In fact, I had always had an imagined history for Grant Lee Buffalo: He was an uncredited member of Buffalo Springfield. He was a player on some Grant Hart solo records. He was in Buffalo Tom. Of course, I was wrong. He was, in fact, a whole band. And yet, how wrong was I? Basically, Grant Lee Buffalo music feels like a cross between some Neil Young and Buffalo Tom. If you ear-squint real hard, maybe you can even hear the softer side of late Husker Du somewhere in there. Anyway, this record is the reason I'm engaged in this project. Let me hear some things I completely missed and let me re-appraise some things I let pass me by in my high snobbery days. This is a solid record from a band that totally fell by the wayside for me.
Cocteau Twins
5/5
I *always* had the same complaint when it came to the Cocteau Twins. I wanted more urgency in the music. I wanted harder hits and higher bpms. I wanted occasional crunch and intermittent grit — deliver a line with a throaty yowl once in a while. In other words, I wanted them to be a band that was not who they were. I wanted, craved, yearned for a version of the Cocteau Twins that was more punk than they ever wanted to be. I went so far down this road that a punk band I was in covered Wax and Wane. But, I've only begun to ask myself: Why?
It may be as simple as this. The Cocteau Twins make truly great music that I'm drawn to; but as with many things we love, I sought to impose my vision on them, my own will, I could not step back and give them the space to be who they were. I loved them partially for what they were, but I loved them more (and was always hurt by it) for what I wanted them to be. Robin and Elizabeth, I've finally grown up. I'm sorry. I'm only now mature enough to fully love you for what you really had to offer. I no longer want you to be something that you're not. I'm grateful these records are still here for me to come to that understanding. Younger me would've foolishly rated this three stars, but not anymore...full five.
Yes
4/5
Hard Yes to Roundabout, South Side of the Sky, Long Distance Runaround, Heart of the Sunrise, America. No thanks to the occasional over-indulgent prog-wankery that appears here and there marring an otherwise incredible record.
Eagles
1/5
Yet more evidence that the only way to listen to the Eagles is with a greatest hits collection because one amazing song and two okay ones doesn't make for a good record when the rest are audio abominations.
Duke Ellington
3/5
A whole lot of Duke Ellington live. You need to be in the mood for this, I think, rather than just having it served to you one morning. If you've never heard it before, it can be hard to listen to all the introductions and asides while waiting to decide if something is going to be worth the 2 hours, 7 minute investment. Jump right into Black and Tan Fantasy to get a sense and maybe even to help you get into the requisite mental space. An album best served with a drink late at night, I suppose.
Love
4/5
1967: imagine starting a band so early you can snag the name Love. Even though they were a favorite of my own POP, as he prefers it stylized, I can't picture what it would've been like to put this record on a turntable...to hear a little ambient hiss and pop come through before those naturally mic'd acoustic guitar strings come through with that first arpeggio and soft lead line. Alone Again Or fills its sound out with strings and horns, but arranged with an attention to the dynamics of each section it's a journey in miniature that leads you home where A House Is Not a Motel. The songs here have a subdued or gentle urgency granted by a drummer showing more restraint over bombast and a singer who matches this approach. This feeling is aided by their preference for the acoustic guitar to communicate the chords. Love brings the electric in when they need a fevered pitch but it's not the dominant feel. They rely more on strings when they need something to cut through. It's a gentler vibe for sure. The Red Telephone didn't quite work for me as well as some of the other strong songs on the record, but I bet at the time it was a song that connected with its audience. Certainly some of the songs suffer here and there from Love being in one or two modes only. Maybe trimming the album by a couple of tracks or just accepting that time hasn't treated each song the same as they've aged. Overall, a solid record that I can now appreciate the appeal of more than I did yesterday.
Simple Minds
2/5
I think this album may have got off on the wrong foot in terms of my initial reception of it. I had my streaming service on shuffle the first run through. Second time around, I corrected that and kicked up the volume only to realize that some of my early feelings were about the vocal mix (sitting a little low in places). Also I realized that Somebody Up There Likes You is a real momentum killer on the records. Speaking of the album overall: it's more about atmosphere than I would've expected from Simple Minds. I think you have to look at how the album is thought of in reverse rather than how it was heard when it first came out, the number of "viable singles" on it also seems low for what I expect of this band. As you can see, I have some baggage and expectation of what I'm going to get from Simple Minds and this album also confronts that bias. Maybe on a third listen I'll finally be able to "hear it". Though I admit some impatience while I listen.
Bee Gees
1/5
I will try to listen to this record all the way through.
I will try to listen to this record all the way through.
I will try to listen to this record all the way through.
Please, I'd take the Disco BEE GEES over this. Truly one of the worst albums I've had to endure through this project. Zero stars.
Dire Straits
3/5
I appreciate how this record opens. A sense of quiet for the first 30 seconds and a melancholy openness follows — just a bit of guitar and a soft splashy cymbal before the track really kicks in with the full band. More contemporary music bets that the listener's attention will be lost in that silence. In other words, we rarely hear an opening like this anymore. It's not like I need to put the needle on the record and walk back to my chair before sitting down and "readying" myself to listen. Most things are singles in the stream these days. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle.
It's not my personal jam but this is a decent record with a pleasing pace. I've never fully been down with Dire Straits despite being able to recognize the obvious greatness of songs like Sultans of Swing (which graces this album).
R.E.M.
4/5
My first introduction to R.E.M. was the album after this one: Green. But over time I've gotten to know most of their catalogue. Document is one of their records I've now spent a substantial amount of my R.E.M. time with. It's not my favorite or their best, but it's very good. It's just deep enough, catchy enough, rocking enough, and something surprising enough to keep me coming back. It has a few too many tracks like Exhuming McCarthy and Lightning Hopkins that don't hold up quite as well as you'd want on the one hand, and yet it has all-time greats like It's the End of the World as We Know it (and I Feel Fine), The One I Love, and Finest Worksong on the other hand. Solid record from a band who had even better things in store for us. Four stars.
UB40
4/5
The fear and dread I felt when reading the band name for the album today was off the charts. So imagine my surprise that it wasn't immediately terrible. I listened to the entire record without a hard cringe. But I might've had the volume down low initially, so I listened to it again! UB40 you were just a British reggae band who laughed their way to the bank with a terrible but popular song. I've maligned you ever since without listening to your other work. A surprisingly solid record.
The National
4/5
I've enjoyed most every album by The National but this one I'm particularly fond of. It might be that Bloodbuzz Ohio is also one of my favorite songs of the era. That said, there are a few moments where if you are not engaged with the record and soaking up the mood it will begin to drag. A casual, whole album listen to this record is never without that danger. But if you're in the spirit of the record and present, it will reward you.
Simply Red
2/5
Simply some pipes on the vocalist. Not particularly my jam, but it's also not terrible by most measures. I appreciate that the best or at least most well known songs are in the middle of the record from a "How am I ever going to make it through this?" perspective because I was starting to lose patience.
Kendrick Lamar
3/5
Much respect to Kendrick. This album only cements how I feel about him. Great artist, some things I dig, but ultimately not for me.
4/5
Yet another great PJ Harvey record. The duets with Yorke are good but she shines when center stage.
The Killers
3/5
I never really got into The Killers despite one of my friends really being into them at their peak. This record doesn't move me much. They're just more of that early aughts nicked from the past vibe. It's hard to see what the fuss is about.
Incubus
2/5
Nice try Incubus. It's going to take more than heavy guitars for me to like this. Too polished and trying too hard to appeal. No thanks.
Iron Maiden
2/5
There's other Maiden I much prefer, but this is not an objectively terrible entry in their canon. The thing that's striking for me, however, is that it's hard for me to hear in this debut the juggernaut they'd become. Maybe at the time this album appeared more impressive.
Count Basie & His Orchestra
2/5
I won't blame you if this is your thing, but Basie has never been mine even as a bit of a Jazz lover.
Jeff Buckley
3/5
Some of these songs I've heard so many times and yet I've never listened to this record the whole way through before. I was allergic to the idea of Jeff Buckley for the longest time. Of course, this is dumb. The notion of "Taste" is a funny thing, just ask Plato, Kant and Bourdieu or in this context maybe Peel, Christgau, and Fantano but as anyone who reads my reviews probably already knows I'm a recovering music snob who came up with some strong DIY views. Anyway, good record. A little too long. Obviously a shame he passed on early.
808 State
3/5
Is this record great for studying, working, or having on in the background when you need a good bpm pulse but don't want to be dragged down by detailed audio? Sure, it is. Is there more going on in the record? Probably! But after a couple of listens, I can't help but think that it only matters to the headphone crowd now. What now sounds tame was once fire.
Carole King
4/5
Great record. Cat photobomb cover. Would Carole King again.
-//-
This record deserves a lengthy review detailing all of Carole King's genius from the lyrics to the performances and more but I'm unlikely to write it today. While it's not a record I listened to as a kid, this is an album I've come to know quite well over my life. It's welcomes me back whenever I return to it. It's like the cozy sweater. Tapestry has never let me down.
Nine Inch Nails
4/5
Ditching the synth-pop flavors of their excellent first album for an even darker and grittier sound, I find the second record by NIN to be much stronger. It's got some real bangers on it as the kids might say. To my ear, this second album is more of an evolution from the first record than what you might say about Ministry's own change from an extremely synth-pop style to an industrial-metal sound. This second record cemented NIN in 90s music in a way that I don't think would've happened if they had just continued the direction of or repeated their first record.
Funny thing is...(and by funny I mean, I'm dumb): I didn't really listen to this record so much when it first came out because, of course, I had dismissed them based on how I felt about their rising popularity off the first record. At that time, I was too anti-fame, anti-mass appeal to want to have much to do with them even if I liked the music.
DJ Shadow
4/5
Endtroducing.....a classic album of sampling-turntablist hip-hop.
Funkadelic
4/5
If you listen to Parliament or Parliament-Funkadelic you might, on occasion, forget that Funkadelic itself can be kind of restrained. This is a totally enjoyable, sometimes mellow funky record.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
3/5
It's good enough to have as an album for the day. But it lacks a certain Youngish quality that I've come to prefer over time. I don't know if I'd say it's truly an album I need to hear before I die since I'm also fairly certain there's some Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young on this list somewhere.
MC Solaar
3/5
MC Solaar's flow transcends any linguistic barriers between the delivery in French and these ears of mine. Mostly smooth beats and laid back delivery on the tracks with a few moments of urgency (parts of some songs or songs like Ragga Jam themselves). By and large, this is an album you can chill to.
Jane's Addiction
2/5
Although the opening song "Stop" might initially lead the listener to believe this record was going to be a strong follow-up to the revelatory (at the time it came out) Nothing's Shocking, Ritual De Lo Habitual is ultimately a disappointment. The album lacks focus and urgency in far too many songs. Sections meant to be hypnotic are just boring. Different parts feel phoned in by different players at different times. Is "Been Caught Stealing" a classic 90s song? Yeah, it is. But two or three good songs out of nine total doesn't make for an album we need to hear before we die. The smartest thing Jane's Addiction ever did was keep their sample size low after Nothing's Shocking because it turns out that the more records they made the more evidence of their mediocrity we had.
Otis Redding
3/5
Otis Redding always delivers but this record didn't wow me as some of his have.
Willie Nelson
4/5
Willie Nelson is a national treasure in the United States for good reason. This record is a major contributor to his legacy. It's a favorite of mine.
4/5
I was living in Brooklyn during the 00s and had fallen in love with the Liars from the start with "They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top". Honestly when "They Were Wrong, So We Drowned" came out I was befuddled and felt a little betrayed and yet...after some time passed...was intrigued. It's easier for me now to see how they got from there to here and through on to other musical territory.
The Crusaders
2/5
Sometimes you just need six smooth songs. I enjoyed this despite the prominence of the saxophone on a few tracks. It is, though, totally unclear to me why I'd need to listen to this album before I died. There must be some historical reason I'm not yet aware of. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Neil Young
5/5
Thanks for pulling all your music from Spotify, Neil. I get it. I support it. But, also, I miss having it on hand. "After the Gold Rush" isn't my favorite Neil Young record but it's among them and is worthy of 5 stars.
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
3/5
I've mostly always appreciated Buddy Holly's music. This record is a vibe that I'm not feeling so much today but I can't deny the quality of the music for its era.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
SPELLBOUND!
Derek & The Dominos
3/5
Layla is still a great song despite being overplayed. This was probably a good listening exercise to sit with the rest of the record for the first time. It starts out inconspicuous enough with a mild, mid-tempo blues. Unremarkable noodles and gentle singing did not invoke a Clapton is God response initially but the record shows occasional flashes of brilliance (if not always as urgent or intense as I think they should be). Clapton has a clarity of tone that is notable. I can understand him having some disciples and while he may be among the top players he is not the best of his generation to my ear. He's too tasteful, too restrained, and ultimately too backward-facing to be innovative and exciting. His playing is a supremely pleasant listen seemingly executed by a soulless technician.
Jean-Michel Jarre
4/5
Question: Will this mark the first 5 star review I've given to an artist I hadn't heard of before?
I don't know the history of this album that came out in 1976 but I bet at the time it was groundbreaking. After the album was over, Spotify transitioned into other pieces from this genre and it was a seamless blend of old and new. This must mean that this record is a classic for being both of its time and timeless — in its own now but also from the future looking back at us and beckoning our ears forward.
Answer: Nope, but so close! (4.5 stars, rounded down)
Supergrass
2/5
I don't "la la la" like this band. The second Supergrass album to cross my path through this practice of listening each weekday to one of the 1001 albums I must hear before I die. It's the second time I wondered to myself, I'd Like to Know: why this band? Send some of their influences my way, please. That is at least what's interesting here. On paper, I ought to like them and yet, I can't get into it. At least this record was shorter than the other I was served. It also seemed peppier overall. Better than the last, I guess. Ok, review over. Time to Go.
Depeche Mode
4/5
Not my favorite by Depeche Mode, but it's still good. A few songs are more cringe now than they were upon my very first listen to them and some remain the classics that they immediately were. This is a band whose singles I could listen to a lot, but their albums have always been a hard listen for me. I often lose interest somewhere along the way and this one is no exception to that.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
This isn't my favorite Springsteen album. I feel like the record starts with a zig and a zag: Badlands is a little too happy with its piano romp and sax solo. While the throaty yowl of Adam Raised a Cain plants its pathos more firmly in the Darkness one might find on the Edge of Town. The record takes awhile to find itself and once it does it *can* be satisfying. Still, it's no Nebraska.
Chicago
2/5
My POP had this record on vinyl and I'm not going to lie to you, I used to rock out to some of these jams. The playing is still outstanding but now when I try to take the whole album in as a statement I'm just not as impressed as I was when I was 7 or 8.
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
I'm not feeling this album. Sorry Boys!
Nick Drake
4/5
Big fan of Pink Moon but I never really gave Five Leaves Left a shot. This album is also excellent. However, I'm not a fan of the kerning between the capital A and the capital V in the cover. Ouch!
Isaac Hayes
3/5
By the time I get through this 18 minute long song I can expect to listen to the single version of it 5 minutes later. Don't get me wrong, I like a lot of this album but it sure is heavy on a trip to Phoenix.
Marvin Gaye
5/5
A classic for a reason. Listen to find out What's Going On.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
In order to listen to this I had to get myself in the correct headspace. First, to remind myself that this record is largely misunderstood. It is not intended as some rah-rah nationalistic celebration but an album by the songwriter who's preceding album, Nebraska, was essentially written at the same time as Born in the USA and is openly critical of big business and the situations that working people find themselves in. Second, to shed some of the personal associations with this album in terms of who in my life has championed it (and that I largely disagreed with). Third, prepare myself for some saxophone (which I am so often troubled by in "rock and roll"). Fourth, just forget every Springsteen video associated with the album while I listen. Fifth, that red cap in the back pocket isn't the same as what a red baseball hat means today. Sixth, ignore that letter spacing on the cover... I think you can get it that this album has a lot of baggage. And yet, and yet, right from the opener if you're paying attention you're going to understand that the music is going to play with opposites sometimes and you'll need to keep an open mind — upbeat music and cynical lyrics:
Born down in a dead man's town / The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much / 'Til you spend half your life just covering up, now
And, I think this is the fundamental misunderstanding of this record, the arrangements and instrumentation are intended to produce radio hits (and they certainly did!) but the sentiments behind the lyrics are local, labor, tired and a bit jaded.
The Monkees
3/5
Hey Hey I've always misjudged this band despite having a friend who was way into all their stuff and swore to me there was pop brilliance behind all the bubblegum shenanigans. I already have music I prefer that fills this particular niche for me, however, having listened to this record I can hear that my friend was not entirely wrong. I would've had to have had to encounter them with an open mind when I was much younger for them to have stuck.
SZA
2/5
It's okay.
The Stooges
3/5
1969 doesn't start off as revolutionarily as you might expect but you know that you're into something else by the end of the title track. It is further confirmed once I Wanna Be Your Dog comes on. The record might suffer some from the sequencing that puts the next track on deck at 10 minutes. The song also reminds us that we shouldn't reimagine the Stooges as an only a proto-punk band forging some template of bravado and brevity but rather a band from another era who helped usher in punk rock with some of its songwriting and attitude.
Coldplay
2/5
This album is just radio and mom friendly almost indie. I feel like it's a "nothing to see here, move along" kind of an album but I guess it's something we all need to hear before we die to understand an important lesson about mass appeal. Sand off the edges for smooth sailing!
Donovan
2/5
Plenty of Sunshine Superman and Season of the Witch awareness but I've never listened to this album all the way through. It is what you might expect from hearing both of these songs except with the hippy dial turned up even more. The album sounds cliché now but I'm sure minds were absolutely blown at the time.
Justice
4/5
This † still sounds fresh and new to me. It's an excellent listen if you're looking for something to both engage with *and* zone out to at a BPM that can move you.
The Prodigy
2/5
Yes, you can dance to it, but I hope someone smacks The Prodigy all up for glamorizing abuse.
R.E.M.
5/5
Should we talk about the weather? Should we talk about the government?
No, I think we should talk about this album by R.E.M.
Green was my introduction to this band so I'm not going to lie, I'm flat out biased. Over time it doesn't always hold the number one spot in my heart when it comes to their records, but it does occasionally claim the throne. As an aside, we are all, always, allowed to change our minds when it comes to matters of taste; and music is certainly within the domain of taste-based conversation.
Mike Mills, the not-so-secret weapon of the band, is a revelation on this record. When I hear him sing his backing lines like "Get up, Get up" or "Freedom" the hair on the back of my neck and arms stands up as I get the feels. His contributions always bring an additional emotional layer as well as rounding out the sound.
Songs like You Are Everything are necessary precursors to later hits a la Losing My Religion, and yet they are themselves affecting touchstones of a time in our lives when we held someone as absolutely essential to our being and being in the world.
Let's not forget that this album moves effortlessly between such emotional songs and uptempo pop. We get a dose of the pop as the opener does what it says on the tin. Later we shift into it with Stand, which, pardon the pun, Stands out in that category. Hey, just another aside, as we're free-associating on this record: It was R.E.M.'s Stand and the Pixies Here Comes Your Man that were in serious rotation on MTV together and both secretly sneaking in more twangy guitar than I would've otherwise consented to. In retrospect it makes sense that we'd see a rise in indie-country sounds in the wake of that much play.
World Leader Pretend, Orange Crush, Turn You Inside Out, I Remember California...I mean c'mon, every song deserves its own exegesis uncovering the influences, drawing connections and otherwise celebrating the craft of songwriting. But I only have a few minutes to write this review and I'd rather be listening to this great record than typing.
The Who
4/5
Not my favorite album by The Who, but I think that's true for most fans of the band. To be fair, I'm not a rabid fan of the band. I have a bit of their material on records and playlists, but it's pretty casual stuff around here. I think this record makes the list because it's their debut and has a certain raw and raucous sound that blew a few speaker cabinets at the time and inspired some listeners. It's going to get 3.5 stars rounded up because it's not just an average record and yet, it's close!
Devendra Banhart
5/5
It turns out that I have mixed feelings about Devendra Banhart's oeuvre as I imagine it to be more than as it actually is. I've always associated him with Joanna Newsom and that SF freak-folk thing which I both like and dislike. Of course, I've learned over time that there's a lot more to his music than just that. Taking his records one at a time has been instructive, and this particular album I find thoroughly enjoyable and affecting. A surprise 5 stars today.
The Last Shadow Puppets
2/5
I broke my own rule of listening to the album with only the knowledge of the band I already have. But I felt justified because after hearing the first couple of songs I needed to better understand the choice behind what felt like a bad American Apparel inspired cover. Who is this person on the cover? Are they a band member? What's the design decision being made here — is it just more of the same lame male gaze or is there something else being hinted at? From what I can tell, it's just a repetition of the former and no trace of the latter. That's a shame. The music was okay.
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
While I'm always down for some Curtis Mayfield, I hadn't heard this record in its entirety before today. It's good, though some songs blended together for me in the mid-to-back half.
The Band
2/5
This sounds too much like Randy Newman's part-time country funk band. No thanks.
The Temptations
3/5
I didn't need another Heard it through the Grapevine rendition, but otherwise a solid offering from The Temptations. I'm, uh, tempted to round up from 3.5 to 4 stars but I'll resist.
Talking Heads
5/5
My experience of Talking Heads as a young person was filtered through my POP's copy of Sand in the Vaseline. That box is in its essence a greatest hits+ collection. But listening to Talking Heads albums is wholly different than listening to a greatest hits collection or even one of their excellent live (The Name of this Band is Talking Heads) or popular concert records (Stop Making Sense). Collections and live records deliver all peak and no real significant valley. More often then not, they erase the quality of experience that was present in a given album and color into the collection something more commercial and appealing as the experience.
Remain In Light continues some of the Fear of Music menace and paranoia but with a broader palette. It's one of my favorite Talking Heads records to pick up and listen to as a whole. I picked up a copy on vinyl though today I'm streaming it and thinking I know I should mention the rhythms in this review, but instead I'll offer that what we should be thinking about and talking about when listening to this record is INTENSITIES. Complex interplay of drum and percussion rhythm underneath layered vocals sliding, doing call and response, stabbing guitars, solos and other instrumentation flown in hot and high in the mix, bass punctuating is one kind of intensity the record offers, but it's not the only one. We also get music that's both claustrophobic and atmospheric leaving space to experience a different kind of intensity altogether. I'm not talking about dynamics purely, even though that is part of it, but about presence and pulse paired with dynamics — how much sonic matter matters in a moment, in other words music, and for me that's what makes the album title so apt, and this run on sentence so long, REMAIN IN LIGHT, as in, I to the E keep in intensity.
David Bowie
3/5
I love David Bowie, but not this record. That said, even lesser Bowie is still better than most.
Paul Simon
4/5
A couple of absolute classic songs everyone should know. You might even say they should hear them before they die. Even in his "lesser" songs, Paul Simon knows how to speak plain but also turn a phrase. He manages give rise to and coax an emotional response from me more than I'd like him to. It's a gift that keeps on giving. That said, I feel like there wasn't a lot of reining Paul in when he thought something was a good idea which is how we also get "Hobo's Blues" on this record only to be followed up with some questionable instrumentation on "Paranoia Blues" which borders on self-parody. The album just doesn't close as strong as it opens, I'm sorry to report. Even Congratulations which isn't as bad as his "blues" tracks doesn't have the gravitas of the starting block (first half of the first side).
The Rolling Stones
2/5
I've always found The Rolling Stones to be kind of boring and definitely not the world's greatest rock 'n' roll band of their era or any era. I appreciate their perseverance, however. This is a two-star record.
David Bowie
4/5
Bowie's genius is on uneven ground with this record. Here we have ALADDIN SANE and a lad insane all rolled into one as Ziggy Stardust goes to America. For me there's something exhausted, lashing out and unresolved about a number of these tracks but held in a certain light or listened to on the right day it delivers another dose of Spidery sounds.
The Jam
4/5
All we have in the house are like The Jam collected this and collection that. I have criticized collections for what they tend to do about the musical output of an artist — provide a different impression of an oeuvre than what their albums feel like. But I've also praised them as the only way I can stand to listen to some bands, e.g. The Eagles. This record by The Jam is a revelation, there's greater depth to the band than a collection might give you a sense of. There are a few tracks that are weaker than those only found on a greatest hits, but the album experience as a whole is greater.
Bill Callahan
4/5
This record is great. It doesn't prevent me from frequently mixing up Bill Callahan with Will Oldham, but it helps. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
John Martyn
3/5
I have no knowledge of this artist or record, but in looking at the cover I am expecting some songs about fantasy fishing. I hope it delivers.
*Starts Record*
Well, it's not van art metal or prog fishing songs, but it's surprisingly good! I prefer the uptempo, funkier numbers over the slower, jazzier jams but overall it's a decent listen.
Charles Mingus
3/5
I fell in love with Mingus through Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus even though I'd get tired after my third mention of Mingus and skip the final two. The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady came later for me despite both records being cut in '63. That's just the way it used to go when you'd pick up an album or two of an artist with an immense back catalogue and you had no mentor in the genre or media to point out the discography. Yeah, this was a while back. Prehistoric times, a stone age daydream. Mingus has always tickled my ear though and this record didn't disappoint when I finally heard it. It's treat to hear it again today.
The Strokes
3/5
The international cover is here to clear up any ambiguity around the name of this band. Step aside life altering medical events, this is band is focused on the phallus. The US cover, given our puritanical roots, leaves things more open to interpretation. You might even say that the US cover is semantically flexible enough that the listener is invited into the lyrics and music of the album in order to make their own interpretation as to what this band is about. It doesn't take long, of course, to come to understand the themes of the band, but in that brief moment between the one and the other a listener can experience the levity and light of a record that holds the promise of more. And yet, at a brisk 36 minutes running time, the listener might finish and ask "Is this it?"
Barry Adamson
2/5
This album has a lot of quality tracks, and yet it lost me or rather I lost the thread, more than once. Maybe it just hit on the wrong day, but it's hard to even give it a three.
Ryan Adams
1/5
You want to talk about a broken heart? Hearing what a jerk this guy is. I used to really like this record and now his behavior has made it hard to listen to. I acknowledge the contradiction, etc, here. I am somehow able to separate Morrissey's distasteful politics of late from The Smiths music and still mostly enjoy those songs and yet somehow Ryan Adam's actions have tainted the music in a way that I can no longer enjoy it. It's through this lens that I rate the record so low. And, I guess that does make it and him a Heartbreaker. :(
N.W.A.
4/5
You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge.
Despite all the legitimate critiques you can make against the often deplorable content, and lesser music made in its wake by imitators, this record still slaps when it comes to the sound and delivery. It's a sonic masterpiece.
If I could replace nearly all the lyrics with those more in a PE or BDP vein and keep every flow intact I'd be listening to this record to this day rather than treating it like a historical artifact to appreciate. But then again, I was never the audience either and I can respect that.
Pink Floyd
4/5
I can't imagine what it was like to have this drop in 1973. For me when i first heard it I thought it was over-hyped and boring aside from Money. Now that I'm no longer a 14 year old skate punk I can appreciate it for its merits even if I still find The Great Gig In The Sky to be a bit silly. It's not my favorite Pink Floyd but it's better than I used to give it credit for.
1/5
No thanks. For me, this was the least enjoyable Kinks record I've heard. Borderline unlistenable.
Moby Grape
3/5
Spotify doesn't let you listen to much of this record but I dug a little deeper and caught up with it at the end of the day. It's better than yesterday's offering. The catchier numbers were among my favorites despite some goofy sixties sentiments.
Suede
2/5
Just give me shoegaze or actual rock, so much brit-pop is lukewarm, middling, meh to my ears. This record is a fine example of the wet noodle sounds of many British bands in the 90s.
Big Star
3/5
Nearly every indie rock hipster and fan of The Posies or The Replacements knows what is expected of them when it comes to Big Star. And yet, as someone who has been tagged with at least two if not all three of those labels at times, I've always thought Big Star was just okay. Decent records with some great singles, but they never floored me. The review of "the band" overall matches #1 Record.
The Cure
5/5
One of several peaks in The Cure's long history as a band. There is always something in their discography for me whatever the mood or time I find myself in. Disintegration is among my favorites. Although I will say I was initially suspicious of it at the time it came out since I had moved on to other genres of music. I eventually bought a used copy of the CD and am grateful that I did.
Pretenders
3/5
Brass in Pocket is my top track with Stop your Sobbing a distant second. After those songs, the rest of the record kind of leaves me cold. I feel the same way about some of their other records as well: a great single or two and the rest are just kind of meh. Essentially this is a band with all the right ingredients for good music but insofar as the cooking is concerned I'm not floored by a lot of the results. There's a lack of consistent creativity. When there's a spark it's pretty awesome though.
The Auteurs
4/5
The Auteurs New Wave wasn't anything I rode at the time. They weren't on my radar to like or dislike but this is a good record. Listened to it through more than once and I enjoyed it so much I played their After Murder Park today as well. To be honest, I appreciate the darker, heavier After Murder Park more than New Wave. But I can see New Wave having a greater appeal to most listeners. It is cleaner, more contained and polished. In essence, it is more "pleasing" — which tends to draw in more listeners.
Travis
2/5
The best songs here sound like watered down Radiohead to my ear.
Robert Wyatt
3/5
Strange vibes. Intriguing. Beguiling. Genre defying?
+//+
Of course, "very British Art-Rock from the 1970s" is its own micro-genre but to point that out is to be crankypantsman.
Kanye West
4/5
Back in the late aughts I had a coworker who was super smart and funny. He was a very likable guy. He got me into Kanye through this album and Graduation. My Beautiful Dark Twisted fantasy wasn't out yet, but if it had been I bet he would've pushed that one along with these two. Despite being a hater of skit interludes, I've enjoyed all these records.
Obviously things haven't turned out so well for Kanye and it is difficult to listen to some of this music now. I can't abide some of his statements. I also worry about his mental health and stability. That all said, this record still has some bops that hold up.
Pink Floyd
4/5
You probably have an opinion on this record that I'm not going to sway you from. For me, it is not my favorite Pink Floyd album but it is up there.
Paul McCartney
3/5
Despite him only being my second favorite Beatle, I've always enjoyed Paul's bass playing and much of his songwriting too. There are some solid tracks here but a few that are marred by way-too-goofy lyrics.
John Lennon
4/5
Yesterday I had the 1970 McCartney solo album and today I have John's 1971 Imagine record. It's a head-to-head battle with a foregone conclusion. I already submitted my review in which I call Paul my second favorite Beatle. If you know me you know that Ringo and George aren't number one. I understand John may have been a terrible person in life sometimes, but I've always been drawn to his songs more and I thought of all the Beatles his solo work was the most compelling. Honestly, it's hard for me to listen to this record without some serious feels.
Minor Threat
5/5
In my home town everyone had the Complete Discography by the time we were up-and-coming punks. Minor Threat had been broken up for well over a decade and we already had Fugazi. But that never stopped me from feeling the impact of this band like a punch in the face. I loved them. I was straight-edge for some time due to this band. I hung out with anti-nazi skins and generally thought the D.C. scene was worth revisiting for inspiration. Hearing these songs in their "release" format is a treat. Did I just say "a treat"? Jeeze, I'm getting old. Well, that's the way it goes, isn't it? Yeah!
Franz Ferdinand
4/5
I wasn't an immediate fan when this came out but it really grew on me over time. I think my initial reaction was to hearing it too often at every restaurant, bar and hip store while living in Brooklyn when it dropped. I think it holds up better than some other records of the era now.
Foo Fighters
2/5
I was a Nirvana fan as a teen. When the Foo Fighters became I thing, I hated them on principle. I avoided listening to them for quite some time — it was everlong you might say (although you're probably better off not making that pun). This record was okay. Honestly, I don't think I missed much by avoiding them early. I've heard some other material that's better than this. Humble beginnings I guess.
Radiohead
4/5
Not my favorite Radiohead record, but it is still a Radiohead record.
T. Rex
3/5
While I came to Telegram Sam through Bauhuas, I enjoyed this record with the hindsight and distance that history can afford. Therefore, my listening was also without any sentimental connection or nostalgia. Three stars despite some five star songs.
Slade
3/5
Was not Slayed by Slade. Minor wound, maybe.
Jerry Lee Lewis
2/5
First track: "High School Confidential" — I'm immediately uncomfortable. Music was fine, some bops.
Prince
4/5
There isn't anything I'm going to write that will match the greatness of this record. Prince's achievement in 1984 still amazes me. A 10 star cultural impact, and yet, only a 4.5 stars music album for me.
AC/DC
5/5
This was the first AC/DC that I heard. My sister's friend had a dance party and I was friends with that person's younger sister who was allowed to invite a couple of people. I remember this coming on. It felt alive and dangerous in a way that I hadn't experienced before in music.
Is it my favorite AC/DC album of all time? I don't know, it depends on the day. But it's always 5 stars and welcome to my ears.
The Soft Boys
4/5
Proto-College Rock vibes. I think it's interesting to hear that psych-thread being pulled through some other musical context. In this case, it's within the swell of what would become new wave.
Dusty Springfield
4/5
Dusty Springfield. Dusty In Memphis. I have a cousin named Dusty. I never thought that she might possibly have been named after this Dusty. I'll have to ask, though she never married the Son of a Preacher Man.
Solid vibes. This is a good record to put on to invoke a certain mood. Four stars.
Tears For Fears
4/5
When you've sung some of these songs as indie lullabies to your child, you're likely to rate the album highly. I promise to listen with the least amount of bias possible before I give this record its flowers. Not every track is perfect, but a good number of them are.
Michael Jackson
3/5
It's not BAD but it's no Thriller.
Deep Purple
3/5
I appreciate the higher octane versions of some of their classic songs.
Queen
3/5
Not my favorite from them, but it's still alright.
The Prodigy
2/5
Am I too jilted for this music? Possibly. This music does very little for me. I'm beginning to suspect that The Prodigy was a band someone on the project came of age hearing. I get the sense that only someone who was into The Prodigy early in life would love them enough to include them twice especially given how little difference there is among the tracks and thus the albums.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
A superlative Steve Wonder album. Coming in at 21 songs not every track will be for everyone. But Sir Duke is on this as are several other bops. I'm a major fan of this era of Stevie Wonder, and even though this isn't my favorite of those records, I'll take it.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Coming through The Birthday Party front door into my Nick Cave fandom, I've always appreciated the more abrasive and uptempo songs from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. The opener Abattoir Blues delivers in this regard as do a few other tracks on this double album. To be fair, there are tracks that are more subdued and introspective which are also good. Solid.
Sheryl Crow
2/5
I've been on record as a Sheryl Crow hater...after I listen to this will I have to, gasp, eat crow? I hope not. Let's listen and find out.
Not every track grates on my nerves as much as "All I Wanna Do" nor do any of them engender worse feelings but neither have any won me over as a listener. In sum, not as terrible as I expected but definitely not my thing. This record is a test of how bad something needs to be to warrant a single star rating which I have reserved for things I found truly hard to listen to. Despite some tracks being firmly in that range my eyes did not become redder with rage at each subsequent song. I want to give it one star, but I must admit it's two.
*wanders off to purge his listening history now*
Joy Division
4/5
I appreciate hearing Unknown Pleasures end-to-end to remind me that some of the most iconic artists of an era could deliver an uneven record. This album is excellent, but not without some warts and wobbly moments that tend to get erased with collections and greatest hits. Sometimes you only get some of the substance with those things and I understand why. This record is near perfect Joy Division.
Cat Stevens
4/5
Oh, looks like I'll have a good cry today. Important people in my life have this record and they've all put it on at one critical point in time or another. I get all the feels when I hear it.
Ice Cube
3/5
It Was A Good Day and Check Yo Self bolster an album that I've always found difficult to vibe with even thought I've always appreciated Ice Cube.
Johnny Cash
5/5
"Hello, I'm Johnny Cash." Sincere, deep and low — Cash has a proven appeal to criminals and citizens alike. Which one are you?
Beck
3/5
Beck's slack pop vibe has aged well. Devils Haircut is a solid opener and I find myself enjoying the rest even where its a bit uneven. The things that can make a Beck song uneven can be distilled down to simply saying when he goes too far i.e. the parts where he's too country, the parts where he's too rap, the parts where he's too cute or too funny. As you can see, it's all a judgement call. I acknowledge it's all totally subjective but what I'm trying to highlight here is that, in my mind when it comes to Beck, the unevenness is less about the craft of songwriting and more about excesses in presentation or style.
Nitin Sawhney
3/5
A record like this is why I enjoy this project. I've never heard it nor is it of a genre that I often browse. But I enjoyed listening to it and will likely give it a spin again.
The Afghan Whigs
4/5
I remember being disappointed in this record initially because it wasn't as tough as Congregation which itself wasn't as gritty as Up in It. I had so desperately wanted a "return to form" and did not get it. All the biases of youth and wanting a band or recording artist to regularly deliver the thing I first picked them up for. I didn't want growth back then, I didn't want experimentation. Just give me the loud and the fast and never take our foot of the gas. It didn't take too long for this album to grow on me just like Congregation had. It's not my favorite AW but it turns out this is a pretty good record.
The Flaming Lips
5/5
It was a revelation at the time and, after all these years, I still think this is their masterpiece.
Ella Fitzgerald
4/5
She's great. It's a mood. Can't put this record on at any old time.
Radiohead
4/5
A perfectly fine Radiohead record, but it is less amazing than others.
Meat Puppets
3/5
Living just outside of the second largest city in my home state, while growing up, we were always catching shade for being behind the times. With that context in mind, my friends and I were allergic to anything remotely country and so this "cow punk" album was mostly avoided. Anyone who has dug through the crates, and maybe listened to some Nirvana, could guess this reaction to this album was prior to 1994 and the airing of Nirvana's MTV Unplugged performance that spawned a Meat Puppets revival of sorts. Not every song on this record is my thing but I enjoy more of it than I would've ever known if not for Nirvana (and I guess this 1001 Records project...).
Stevie Wonder
5/5
This is a classic Stevie album. Eminently listenable, it easily demonstrates that pop music when it’s done well can be musically interesting. Unfortunately, the “kid from the countryside” skit hasn’t aged as well as the rest of the material so I can’t rate the album a perfect 5 stars, but it’s still good enough for an imperfect 5.
Guns N' Roses
2/5
This album tells you everything you need to know about itself, the band and where their career would go within the first two songs. Welcome to the Jungle is ripe to spill out of the open doors of every Trans Am, I-ROC and Mustang in the parking lot. You can hear how many thought they were the United States heirs to AC/DC: sex and indulgence obsessed. A dash of Aerosmith but harder as they put another button on their jean jacket and saved up cash from their part time job for tickets to the coliseum-arena show. And yet by the conclusion of It's So Easy any attentive listener is aware that Axl has enough casual misogyny and lyrical carelessness to go around that many of these songs will not age well. The more prescient among them might even be able to see that if given enough leash this dog is going to tie itself up and make a mess out of everything. And, while It's So Easy isn't as musically lazy as You're Crazy or Anything Goes it gives the listener an idea of where the floor of this album might be. I will try to not hold the diminishing returns of GN'R Lies, Use Your Illusion I, Use Your Illusion II, The Spaghetti Incident?, and Chinese Democracy against this record i.e. over the course of their career Guns N' Roses has proven itself to be nothing more than a one or two-star band. There is enough evidence on Appetite For Destruction alone to warrant the assignment of 2 stars despite a handful of era defining singles and the record being 18x platinum. There will be plenty out there who think that I'm wrong, but I write this review after listening to the record twice in a row today to give it my honest re-assessment and I admitting that when I first heard it coming out of the open door of my older sister's friend's Camaro at an impressionable and tender age I was absolutely thrilled.
The Police
4/5
I have a love-hate relationship with The Police. A more clever writer would insert a joke here playing off of the name of the band The Police and the institution of the police. Today I am not that writer, instead I can only offer that while I enjoy the blend of punk, reggae and pop music I always felt like The Police never quite fully delivered on the potential of their best material on the one hand while simultaneously being one of the greatest pop bands of their time on the other. Reggatta De Blanc is indicative of that tension. Message In A Bottle, Walking on the Moon, Bring on the Night, and The Bed's Too Big Without You are all memorable songs that merge different styles into something wholly their own. Meanwhile, Does Everyone Stare, On Any Other Day, No Time This Time, Deathwish, Contact, and the titular track Reggatta De Blanc are largely unforgettable filler. For me, The Police are far superior to The Eagles but they suffer similarly in that both bands are frankly better when only viewed through the "best of" lens and yet that is not what we are here to do. The best songs from this record absolutely carry the others.
The Magnetic Fields
3/5
I own this set. After many listens to all 69 Love Songs — and again today — I can confidently run the numbers:
I Love 21 Love Songs
I Like 13 Love Songs
I Meh 27 Love Songs
I Dislike 8 Love Songs
Beatles
5/5
Revolver was one of my first album encounters when it comes to the Beatles. It remains among my favorites.
Japan
2/5
I never knew Japan was the missing link between glam and Duran Duran but when I first put this on that was my first impression. Over tracks 1 & 2 this feeling was hard to shake, but not a bad thing. Despair dips into slower territory. Frankly, it is a momentum killer in the number three song slot (even if it's an okay song). It breaks the Duran Duran association for me and Japan moves into a different place in my musical map.
In this Quiet Life songs 1, 2, and 4 are Top Quality while the All Tomorrow's Parties cover is a terrible mistake and everything else is just okay.
Fela Kuti
4/5
Unlike no others, but many like him. Feels right. This record is a good representation of that.
Fatboy Slim
2/5
Meh. Right here, Right now—I don't think this has aged that well—funk soul brother.
Roxy Music
3/5
I never got into Roxy Music despite the ease with which that happened for so many of the bands they influenced and some of their contemporaries that shared some of their aesthetics. This record was good, but also it didn't grab me. Maybe it was the listening day? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thin Lizzy
3/5
4 of 17 available to stream...so I had a look around and was able to give the entire thing a listen after the four that were available. It was worth it for being a live record and over an hour of listening time. I don't know if I could get into the image and all the other trappings but I appreciate loud, heavy music that has some hooks to it just as much as I love loud, heavy music that puts noise and anti-hooks front and center. Thin Lizzy obviously is the former and not the latter. I don't know where the record sits in their canon, but it's fun on its own.
Small Faces
1/5
Sometimes this list is very English and this pick feels that way to me today. It was difficult to focus on this record during multiple attempts. There were a few flashes of brilliance of the course of the album that would pull me in but then there were a number of elements (in the music and the skit like voiceovers) that simply didn't resonate with me.
One way to rate the music when you are tied between a one star or a two star review is to honestly answer the question of whether or not you were relieved once it was over.
Public Enemy
4/5
Bring The Noise, Don't Believe The Hype, Rebel Without a Pause are all classic tracks that even a casual rap or hip-hop is going to know and appreciate, but this record has more to offer on some of the so-called lesser cuts: She Watch Channel Zero?!, Louder Than A Bomb, Night Of The Living Baseheads, and Black Steel In The Hour of Chaos which are absolute bangers. And yet, since the whole thing comes in at about an hour in length for 16 tracks I think the impact of the work suffers.
It can be hard to hear that cutting things out can make more of an impact. I think it's the case here, so I'd cut Countdown To Armageddon, Mind Terrorist, Show 'Em Whatcha Got, Security of the First World entirely. I'm on the fence about, Cold Lampin' With Flavor — if I didn't cut it I'd at least move it to the back half of the album.
For me this is an important, but ultimately flawed record, despite liking it a lot and recognizing its greatness.
Air
4/5
This has got to be up there in terms of a smooth start to an album. The first few minutes of the opening track are entrancing. The second song makes for a good follow up as well. I find that somewhere in the middle I lose my sense of place and my mind has surely wandered. But maybe that's okay on a Moon Safari — it doesn't detract from my impression of the record too much given that it always pulls me back in again on its own. It's both timeless and of its time.
1/5
I'm having trouble processing my first impressions. This is so awful and weirdly so. Hot Dog is squarely a dis track against NIN which is charming in concept despite the actual music and lyrics being completely stupid. There is very little here that appeals to me. Limp Bizkit exist as the exception to the rule I often cite for myself: "If it's fast, loud and heavy then chances are good I'm going to like it."
pee-YOO...Don't go near the Chocolate Starfish...This record is a stinker.
Rod Stewart
2/5
The whiplash from Limp Bizkit to Rod Stewart is severe. At least this album is mostly pleasant if not to my liking. My report is similar to the last Rod Stewart record I heard through 1001 albums; if the lyrics had been better I would've rated it higher overall. That critique aside, it's fine. I'll put it on for my elders, grandma will love it.
Van Morrison
2/5
Will Moondance have a chance with the way I feel about Van Morrison?
Eh, it's okay! Not as bad as I expected from previous exposure.
Metallica
3/5
We know all the hits around here, but it has been a long time since I listened to the whole thing start to finish. It's a good record but it doesn't rank among my favorites for them. It hurts to say it's 3.5 stars rounded down, but I'm having a hard time giving it 4 stars today.
Ramones
4/5
I Don't Wanna Give This Rekkid A Bad Review. Not every song of the 14 is going to be as top shelf as Blitzkrieg Bop, Beat on the Brat, Judy Is a Punk, but it's all good catchy punk rock all the way through to the end: Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World. An excellent rallying cry!
Garbage
3/5
This Garbage is slick. I have mixed feelings about their overall vibe and approach, but I appreciate that they know what they're doing with their brand of radio-ready "indie/not indie" music.
Ministry
4/5
This is not my favorite Ministry record, but it's the more popular and arguably better one. Psalm 69 as I've always called it, starts off strong with N.W.O and Just One Fix, and while maybe it takes a dip in energy and quality it has the crowd pleaser Jesus Built My Hotrod right at the center of the record. They manage to hold on to some of that momentum with but my attention starts to wane at a certain point. Psalm 69 integrates its influences more successfully than its predecessors (even if I'll always be prefer The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste). In short, while it might be a five star Ministry record, it is neither my favorite nor a five star album among all other albums.
Soft Cell
2/5
Before listening: Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret does not sound like my idea of a good time. And, the length of this album is looking already to be too long.
After listening: I'm not going to knock Tainted Love which is genius, but there's a lot on this record that is just not for me. Tainted Love and Where Did Our Love Go? bump this album up from a harsh one star rating to a two star listen I'll never spin again. I like the idea that through the popularity of that Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go?, this record found its way into someone's hands and it spoke to them deeply giving them comfort in difficult times.
King Crimson
5/5
POP! had this record in his collection. He was very much a Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull guy so you can see why given King Crimson in this era is like a blend of the two on the one hand and wholly of itself on the other. You could make those kinds of connections and not get totally smacked down. If you were a fan of one of these three bands, it was quite likely you'd like at least one of the other two remaining if not both.
That is all to say, I saw this record cover looking out with its frightened stare for many years growing up.
POP! likes his music loud — as in shake the house loud. My dad didn't believe it outdoor speakers, he believed in making the house a speaker in and of itself. Your home was a SONOS you lived inside of.
This album has some absolute bangers, especially when cranked up to shutter shaking volumens. 21st Century Schizoid Man is the blueprint for heavy prog that many bands would follow. It has some of the best horns in a rock context as well (and I say this as someone who usually doesn't go in for that sort of thing).
I'm all in on this record until we slow down for Moonchild. It's a good song, but the tonal shift doesn't fit my modern attention span. Typically, I'd put on something like Moonchild for a particular mood or vibe and have something like 21st Century Schizoid Man on for another. I don't think this is a better way of listening, mind you, but I do think it is indicative of how many folks receive and process an album if they're going to even listen to an album at all. So, this review is now a reflection upon the nature of listening to music in (checks calendar) the 21st Century. Are we more or less Schizoid having a lower tolerance to variables within an album? Does the Schizoid man want things flattened so he can bounce between two extremes or is the Schizoid man truly the one that wants the extremes to be contained within one world? I am going to say that Schizoid Man wants two worlds in extremis. If we want to get historical about this we should also take into account that an album has *two-sides* and Moonchild kicks off side two so there is a break, perhaps a schizoid one, in the experience as originally conceived by King Crimson. Whether or not partial or whole, broken or complete, schizoid or fully-realized an experience this album rules as only a King Crimson can.
Funkadelic
3/5
I was only able to give this a bit of a listen due to it not being streamable right now on Spotify and most of my Youtube results were track by track. Oh, and dropping by the day on a busy holiday none-the-less. Is this to somehow be the story of this record? Once popular now obscure? I hope not, because what I heard was a nice slice of funk.
Gil Scott-Heron
4/5
Oh hey, second day of a no-show in Spotify stream. It is probably not a coincidence, however, that this is also my second CHARLY label album in a row as well. It's a shame that this record isn't streamable because I would definitely give it multiple spins if I could. As a whole it's a very solid entry in the Gil Scott-Heron canon. It also has some stand-out tracks as well. I love the range here from the downbeat and affecting Rivers of My Fathers to the uptempo work on The Bottle — propulsive bass and adventurous flute paired with socially conscious lyrics to let you know you are in some 1970s funk. I'll be keeping my eye out for this one to pick up in a listenable format in the future.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
My second-favorite Echo & The Bunnymen record (with Crocodiles being first). This is a solid album that has a lot of what I enjoy from this band present throughout. And yet, I also don't have a lot to say about it today. I'm not sure where that is coming from exactly but if the record doesn't really register for you or you can't relate, maybe this review is a symptom of something deeper going on in the music that you are also affected by?
Bob Dylan
2/5
With a voice like sand and glue...and a blurry cover of the album too. Yeah, I know Blonde On Blonde is a must listen. And yet the Bob Dylan of this album has never been my vibe and I don't (solely) blame the harmonica. I have friends who stan for Bob Dylan in ways inconceivable to me who would rush to the defense of him and this record. And yet, I say give me the Dylan of Masters of War and the Dylan of Hurricane you can leave this record at home.
Adele
2/5
It seems like I've heard this record already — a thousand times over by a legion of solo artists. I'm hard-pressed to tell you why this one is different, but taken on its own terms it is well produced and performed. Her performances present the appropriate emotional tenor for the lyrics and Adele can clearly sing well. It's not my taste, but it's tastefully done.
Moby
2/5
No matter how many times I tried today to stay focused on the music, inevitably this album receded into the background. Beyond the first few tracks, which I liked okay, all I can say is it's fine but not memorable.
Bert Jansch
2/5
It's subdued but it doesn't all just melt away into the background, there's enough of Jansch in the music now and again that I often found myself captivated in the quiet. These songs, scattered through the album, draw me into it: Needle of Death, Strolling Down the Highway, Running from Home, and Angie.
The Mothers Of Invention
2/5
I tried hard to love Frank Zappa unconditionally at one point in my young music listening life, but it never fully took. I can appreciate a few songs here and there. It's also true, no lie!, that his work with The Mothers of Invention was the music I found myself returning to more often than his other adventures. In particular, Roxy & Elsewhere was the record I gravitated to. Why bother to give you all this background and context? Well, I'm afraid I'm not going to rate this album very highly and I just want you to know it's not out of some misplaced Zappa antipathy but rather an honest reckoning that this music only moves me partially. Also know that I've added an entire star just for "Trouble Every Day" which, sadly, is still as socially relevant as when it was written (and if you've read any of my Dylan reviews you know I usually can't stand the harmonica). You should also know that "You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here" is the kind of song that knocks stars off for me.
Roxy Music
2/5
This band has always been hard for me to fully parse and I think that is to their credit even if it means I find their output to be uneven. There are some highs on this record for me in terms of affecting, well-crafted music and then there are some songs that I barely register. In conclusion, "For Your Pleasure" is a land of contrasts — and a metonymy of their whole output.
Frank Sinatra
2/5
My first reaction was simply: No thanks. But after giving "Songs for Swingin' Lovers!" a spin my studied reaction is: Okay, but only in very small doses.
Eminem
1/5
I can't stand a skit and I've always had my issues with Eminem. His misogyny, juvenile humor, and the themes he explores in general are usually not my thing. On this album he also seems to lean more into the whiny voice that he sometimes adopts. It's hard to assess the record on its own terms when I find them to be so disagreeable. I don't think I'll be able to give this record more than one star.
Jane Weaver
4/5
Hey, released in 2017 nice to see you. I sometimes wonder which version of the book this list is operating from when I hear a record and can't find a single redeeming quality about it. I then think, How has this album survived? Why hasn't a revision or new edition of this book pushed it out in favor of something new? We only have 1001 slots to fit records into that I must hear before I die. I don't know anything about Jane Weaver but I already feel positively towards the album. Let's have a listen.
Holy Smokes, this is up my alley or at least down one of my streets in the neighborhood of my tastes to twist up the metaphor. At the very minimum it integrates genres that I have an affinity for. So, why is it not in my orbit already? How different is Modern Kosmology from the rest of her output? Have I not heard of her because she is some obscure British State Secret? The answer is likely more mundane; my guess would be that I have been out of the loop on this kind of music during her most productive years. This record came out during peak metal. Obviously, this is not metal. It's some psych, indie electronica and a little bit of folk with a pop gloss. Lyrically interesting and well performed. I'm into it.
Laura Nyro
1/5
The fourteenth confession: I'm not feeling it.
Koffi Olomide
2/5
He may be a legend and this album may be representative, but it's also a strong vibe that wasn't my wavelength today despite giving it an honest effort more than once.
Miles Davis
4/5
One of the first Miles Davis albums I bought for myself. I came home with this and Kind of Blue the same day. And while I found myself more immediately drawn to Kind of Blue, I appreciate this record on its own terms as it offers its own kind of reward. The extended jazz jams over a simple vamp or groove is a mood. All of the electric piano and organ layered in Shhh / Peaceful means that it's always kind of new to me with every listen even as it's familiar. I really dig the section ""It's About That Time" wrapped up in the to slices of In a Silent Way. It's one of my favorite parts of the record.
Led Zeppelin
2/5
I like Led Zeppelin as much as the next music fan raised by rockers, but with this record it's more like Meh Zeppelin.
Daft Punk
2/5
You can dance to it. It's not music for airports; this is music to invoke a certain physical response — to raise your heart rate and encourage your body to move. Outside of this intent I don't have much use for it, but within that scope it's good enough for the job.
Mike Oldfield
2/5
Oddly interesting, weirdly charming at times, and it feels like I imagine the 1970s to have been. But also it's not something I'll return to.
Aerosmith
2/5
So Aerosmith was one of those bands that I never supported or got into even in my most hair metal of moments. I dabbled in some Quiet Riot, Def Leppard, Van Halen, Ratt, etc., on my way to the harder stuff. But there was something about Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and the rest of the "Led Zep-But American" gang, that despite their ubiquity in the culture at the time (radio saturation, e-news! installments and a collab with Run DMC), my ears just said NO.
If I could pick a song off this record that I think exemplifies what I think is so terrible about this band it's F.I.N.E. a song like this is a blues-rock abomination in my opinion. If I were able to somehow scrub out all the dumb lyrics full of childish innuendo from their catalogue I don't know what would be left for Steven Tyler to sing — and that's probably a good thing as long as he can also keep away from the yappy dog scat-like vocalizations.
All this said, I tried to keep an open mind on this record and I do have a few positive observations: Tom Hamilton is an outstanding bass player, the remix on Spotify sounds great, and finally, whenever the band allows themselves to be more serious in content as well as less stereotypical in their song craft the record shines. I find these things to mostly coalesce for me on their more aggressive tunes. It's this saving grace that earns them all the stars I give above the first.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
My second favorite A Tribe Called Quest record. It's a classic.
Nas
3/5
I have this record. While I've always appreciated NY State of Mind and a few other tracks, it never made its way into heavy rotation for me. Likely because I picked it up 15 years after the moment and never quite connected with this facet of hip-hop to begin with. What does this boil down to in listening? Respect to Nas as I enjoy a couple of tracks today but come tomorrow I won't be reaching to replay the whole record.
Rush
3/5
Ramblings on Rush's 2112...I'm going to do what the album does here which is have a super long start without a strong enough through-line as to why the initial elements are strung together rather than made distinct. I had a cousin who was a huge Rush fan, later he became a massive Radiohead fan. Are the two connected? Possibly! But I don't feel like this is the album to stake that claim on. What a swerve, but then we're called back again maybe with a hint of a motif but not strong enough. So now I ask: What if 2112 was broken down into its constituent parts on a streaming service? Would we see The Temples of Syrinx vastly outstrip the other movements in this piece? If they weren't intertwined would this record feel less like a prog album? Would Rush have had to edit down some of the weaker aspects in writing these "movements" to make stronger songs out of them? Do people really dig all of 2112? I think A passage to Bangkok and Something for Nothing along with (but to a lesser extent) The Twilight Zone are solid enough that if paired with some better version of the piece 2112 I suspect this record would be even more well received (by me at least, lol). And now like 2112 does I'll end with some shorter statements, or at least one (which you can probably guess).
2112 meanders too much for my tastes, and despite some very strong elements a 20 minute opus as opener was not a successful gambit by RUSH despite my love of Geddy Lee and Neil Pert's playing.
The Allman Brothers Band
2/5
In order for this to be your jam you need to like blues rock. Unfortunately for The Allman Brothers Band that is a genre I have a fraught and complicated relationship with. So I can recognize the quality of playing here and appreciate some of the tracks or parts of songs within. But overall, it's not compelling to me.
The Beta Band
4/5
The Beta Band is forever linked in my mind with the scene in High Fidelity, "I will now sell 5 copies of The Three EPs by the Beta Band" and the record store just grooves. I get that same head nod on the needle drop feeling with the opening track of Hot Shots II: Squares. This is not a band who I listen to frequently or whose music I've bought despite the convincing nature of the scene in the movie. And yet, every time I listen to them I am nodding along and enjoying the music. They have a pleasing quality that's hard to dislike. There's a smooth groove and likable space-folk quality that is perfect for picking up every now and again. In terms of the album's music, whether a song be more spacey or folky matters less in my enjoyment, ultimately I appreciate the songs most when they privilege the pulse.
Television
5/5
Marquee Moon is a minor masterpiece both powerful and restrained. It is deceptively simple until the twin guitars become intricately intertwined. Any complexity that emerges doesn't lose the ear of the listener nor does the song lose its edge. Some tracks show more grit and punk attitude than others but these aspects never overshadow the songwriting and musicality. A sardonic wit and incredible song craft are on display track after track with the energy carefully modulated such that repeat listens over many years are rewarded.
Dr. Dre
2/5
It's hard to listen to The Chronic even when I know it's not for me. I'll give it credit for announcing itself and its intentions from the jump and basically delivering on that promise repeatedly. I "enjoy" maybe three tracks on the record but not enough that I'd find myself putting them on a mix or sharing with friends. And, there are tracks that obviously even the fans don't think have held up as well as others.
The Go-Betweens
3/5
If you're not paying attention on college radio you might just think the outlook is fine with these mostly gentle indie jams, but when you lean in a little more you can hear the darkness creep in through the lyrics. If I had heard this album at the right age, I'm certain it would be an all-time favorite, someone is going to love it, but my sensibilities are different now.
Nick Drake
3/5
I enjoy this album every time I hear it. The songs have a forward motion to them even when melancholy. The arrangements with the backing musicians suggests a greater scope — I find myself mostly swept up in it. I could do without the title track, actually. It is almost the only thing holding back a solid four-star review. I don't mind the instrumental song Sunday as an album closer as much. With this record I get the feels at all the right times but without being overwhelmed like I sometimes am with Pink Moon.
Prefab Sprout
2/5
Is that banjo going on in the first track? And, maybe a little harmonica? I was expecting a bit more of a hidden gem of the new wave vibe with this very pretty in pink meets some kind of wonderful album cover but instead it initially feels more traditional than I expected despite some chiming guitars and sonic noodling. Overall not bad but it also doesn't quite hit the way I prefer. Despite being able to recognize and appreciate some of its quality. This is just way too pop for me and when it does get weird it's just genre mixing and off beat lyrics. I'm almost always looking for more aggression, grit and grime.
Violent Femmes
5/5
A classic handed down through the generations. I don't need to listen to this record to rate it because it has indelibly imprinted itself upon me. Let me be clear. I am absolutely listening to this record today but the five star rating is a foregone conclusion.
Muddy Waters
3/5
I have found that I more prefer musics that have grown out of the blues than the blues itself. So much so that often when material from these other genres "get too bluesy" I am uninterested. That all said, I think this is an okay Muddy Waters album but I much prefer his Electric Mud.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
And now for an album celebrated by our forebears. From the first few chord hits of Good Times Bad Times to that final bombastic blues of How Many More Times, this flat piece of vinyl has absolutely ROCKED the HOUSE of my POP! (as he prefers it stylized). Countless times I've had my bones rattled before even putting a hand on the door as I came home from school. The structure of our house was absolutely a means of broadcast to the neighbors. This may not be my favorite Led Zeppelin album but it was clearly a blueprint for them as well as plenty of favorites from artists of my era. Given I've always been a bit punkish from the jump, my favorite track was Communication Breakdown and it still manages to provide a jolt of adrenaline to this day. Four stars! (Haha, sorry dad).
Dennis Wilson
3/5
I love the way they still felt they had to include "DENNIS" in the cover and the art director or designer was like let's just use the gap between the L and the S in WILSON. Oh, this was a surprisingly good record too. Not every song works — some are let down by the lyrics and others by song writing choices that just don't hold up — but enough of them find a sweet spot in vibe, arrangement, and passable pop lyrics for the era to enjoy the album overall.
Screaming Trees
4/5
This Screaming Trees album feels to me to be one of their more inward-facing and most accepting of themselves. This album often sounds to me like a band confronting the truth of their unpopular influences and choosing to honor them anyway as they indulge in heaps of folky, wah-wah psychedelia around the gravity of Mark Lanegan's vocal performances. There is something I respect about this album more than Sweet Oblivion (which feels more externally directed and caught up in the times). DUST is a very Screaming Trees record it to my ears. By that I mean you can play it next to Uncle Anesthesia, Sweet Oblivion, Invisible Lantern, Buzz Factory, Even If and Especially When, or Clairvoyance and see just how the band got here.
The Isley Brothers
3/5
3 + 3 = 3 stars!
***
I do not expect to be the first to make this joke or the last. Record was fine, plenty funky.
Al Green
4/5
A couple of legendary songs (How Can You Mend a Broken Heart and Let's Stay Together) with a solid vibe throughout. 4.5 stars.
Little Richard
2/5
Wop-Bop-a-Loo-Mop, alop-bom-bom! It's hard to have any old-time rock 'n' roll heroes with all that we know, but I'll take Little Richard over many others most days of the week. I'd rank it higher if I liked this genre more.
Neil Young
4/5
I love this record and miss it on Spotify often.
The Smiths
3/5
I love Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce's playing here. It's a solid record (a star for each of them). It's a shame about Morrissey's politics recently — it makes it hard to enjoy The Smiths these days. Minus one star for that guy.
Wu-Tang Clan
3/5
An amazing debut with at least three indisputable all-time hip hop classic tracks on it (more if you're a fan). I remember some friends going bonkers over this record when it initially came out (and I wasn't into it). Later, I warmed to it, but I've always sort of held Wu-Tang Clan at arms length.
Keith Jarrett
3/5
I've got some Keith Jarrett concert records over here (5 including this album). My guess is that's more than your average dwelling. And yet, he probably doesn't get enough air time. I know why this album is on the list and support its inclusion; and yet, if I'm already not in the mood for piano it's not music that can "get me in the mood for piano" if you know what I mean (no euphemism). But if I feel like hearing it...well, then as Keith might say, "woah! oh! woop! yeah, hee!".
Emmylou Harris
3/5
In short, this is good for someone else.
I've always respected Emmylou Harris, but her music is typically polar opposite my jam. Super listenable as background music. Very pleasant. Going to end up rated as high as some records I own and put on with some frequency. And yet, it's a sign of the quality more than my own enjoyment.
Steely Dan
3/5
I rank this early Steely Dan album somewhere in the upper-mids of their entire catalogue.
Kings of Leon
2/5
Always underwhelmed by Kings of Leon as much as I try to like them and understand that they ought to appeal to me by basis of some overlapping interests. In addition to being kings of the lukewarm song, this record has songs that actively put me off. Primarily it's the lyrics and their delivery that do it (sack the singer!), but some of the music too. Rating it 1.5 stars though I'm going to round up for a couple of the guitar solos.
Neil Young
5/5
Yet another album I love from Neil that I'll just have to put on at home outside of any streaming context. Highlights: Heart of Gold, Are You Ready for the Country, Old Man, Alabama, The Needle and the Damage Done.
Frank Zappa
3/5
I respect Zappa but I'm not always interested in listening to what feels like hippy circus music and slick guitar instrumental jams. But when I do I prefer the skronkiest moments Frank can deliver.
James Taylor
2/5
OK boomer blues and folksy pop.
Culture Club
2/5
Love this album cover except for the first distorted C in Culture Club — red, green and gold are all represented and tie into the lyrics from their hit Karma Chameleon all while proudly announcing the band's style. I don't find the music particularly interesting or exciting but Boy George is as listenable as ever. A solid, heartfelt 2 stars wishing there was enough substance to the album to accompany all this style to give it 3 or more.
Don McLean
4/5
American Pie + Vincent makes it hard for me to deny McLean 5 stars and yet I'm going to hold the line at 4 because the album as a whole experience doesn't appeal to me; in part because "Everybody Loves Me, Baby" hasn't aged well or was never that good to begin with.
The xx
3/5
Good but unremarkable. This came and went through the stream without comment. I only noticed it had ended after a couple of tracks had gone by. I played it louder a second time and it got better in that the cool/aloof delivery of the vocals was more clear but my overall assessment hasn't changed. XX is nice background sounds; basic space indeed.
The Flaming Lips
5/5
No, I didn't quite realize that Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots was as good as it was when it came out. I was still in the thrall of the Soft Bulletin at the time — please forgive me. But now with some distance between those two records and me I can hear just how great it is all on its own. And yes, Do You Realize? still brings a tear to my eye.
The Undertones
2/5
Having never heard The Undertones I only had this album cover to go off of. Not gonna lie, it pre-disposed me towards them. And yet, on my second time around the record, I continue to be unimpressed overall. It is perfectly fine pub rock with some hints of a punkier approach to songwriting underneath. But it's also kind of unremarkable listening with over 40 years of history between it and me. I does not strike me as a necessary or vital record when trying to craft a list of 1001 albums one must hear before they die.
Os Mutantes
2/5
If I were rating album covers alone I would give this five stars. There is so much to love here. Obviously if I start talking about the album art right away, it's very likely that I do not know much about the band. That is the case here. I can see this came out in 1968 so I'm expecting some psych weirdness but I have no idea what is in store for me.
I gave this record a few spins. It's under 40 mins and, for the most part, easy on the ears. Definite tinges of psych across folk, rock and other genres. Multiple vocalists singing in English, Portuguese and maybe even some Spanish too? I'm no polyglot so I can't be sure. The music is wacky and broadly appealing if a little bit too much like a drunken circus party at times for my own tastes. Os Mutantes can easily sit next to Frank Zappa from similar times for better or worse.
k.d. lang
3/5
Not my usual fare. This record has more country vibes than I would pick up on my own, but k.d. lang has a great voice and delivery. The music is easy on the ears. Each song takes its own sweet time. Honestly, the album feels longer than 36 mins for it. Given how old this record is it is obviously not as dialed into the cultural moment as Orville Peck but its arrangements and production also have a timeless quality that I can appreciate. A solid 3 stars.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
My impressions of Marley were shaped by seeing a bunch of white college kids listening to reggae all the time. For me then, I just couldn't get into the long, repetitive nature of the music. And, I was definitely reacting against this idea of Bob Marley amongst the stoned college crowd.
I gave Exodus a listen a couple of times today, turned it up as often and as loud as possible. I can appreciate it more than I could then. If someone had put Natural Mystic or Punky Reggae Party on for me first I might've had a different impression of Marley overall.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
I have such mixed feelings about CCR in general. They wrote some absolute bangers that mix cuttingly clear lyrics and basic rock elegantly into songs that have lasted generations. Unfortunately for this record most of those songs are not here. That said, Cosmo's Factory is not a total loss: Who Will Stop the Rain is one of them and both Lookin' Out My Backdoor and Up Around the Bend are awfully close. But this record also has some duds and a cover that I do not need to hear no matter how much they rock out on it. A two star record from a four star band: 3 stars overall?
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5/5
Another classic Neil Young album I was forced to play through physical media. I respect the choice. Some of my favorite songs on this album are some of my favorite Neil Young songs...Cinnamon Girl, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, Down by the River, Cowgirl in the Sand.
Dizzee Rascal
2/5
Nobody puts Dizzee Rascal in the corner...oh, wait.
Liz Phair
5/5
I never knew enough about the Rolling Stones to appreciate the intertextual conversation between Exile in Guyville and Exile on Main Street, but that absence has never meant that Exile in Guyville is somehow lacking or that my enjoyment was any less. This is a record that was excellent upon arrival and has stood the test of time for me. Incredible songwriting that is still affecting from humor to heartbreak and a lot of other vibes along the way.
Coldplay
1/5
Outside of my 2-star review of Parachutes (album #252 for me on this site), I have never deliberately listened to Coldplay but I am alive in this culture. So, I know there are plenty of reasons to hate on Coldplay. But I'm going to set aside all the bias I can and put this record on loud to see how it goes. Politik has some nice atmosphere and is reasonably well-crafted and yet I can already tell that the vocal delivery and lyrics already leaning pedestrian will become recurring annoyances as the album progresses. By the time I get to Warning Sign I'm just exhausted by the basic, flatness of it all. Lackluster writing, music absent of inspiration, zero inventiveness, a cultivated blandness, the most broad appeals to "feeling" that have less pull than the most trite of Hallmark cards. This is well-produced elevator music for an aging "indie rock" audience. I will suffer through the last three songs hoping for a surprise but so far I could've just listened to Politik and let them end on their least offensive "high note". And being the least offensive on air experience seems to be what this band is all about.
Miriam Makeba
3/5
Enjoyed this today. Not every song was as exciting as the text on the album cover (from 1960) made it out to be, but it was good overall.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
I immediately loved the EP and the first record by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I also really enjoyed the second full length. I used to see Brian Chase on the B62 bus in the early aughts when I was living in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. But by 2009 I had already mostly moved on from the YYY and so this record didn't hit the same way the earlier stuff had. Slowly, over time I absorbed parts of it here and there so today it is a rare thing (fifth or sixth time in 15 years?) to listen to it all the way through with attention.
I can really hear the Dave "TV on the Radio" Sitek production in the first few tracks maybe more than in his previous production work with them. I don't know what to make of the merging but I'm mostly here for it. Karen O has always had some lyrics that don't quite land for me all the time, but I appreciate the chances that she takes in that when they do land they're more powerful than if she had played it safe all along. This album is no different in that regard. Musically satisfying, lyrically punchy with the occasional line that while a dud still has a charm.
It's not getting 5 stars, but I have very few complaints about the record overall. I wonder if maybe it would've benefitted from cutting it by a track for an even more focused listening experience. I'd likely pull a slower number even though they are quite solid; it's just because I like my YYY at their most uptempo and angsty. I don't know if I need the ballady-lullaby-like Karen O in her feelings as much as I need the angry, snarling critical Karen in my ears.
Jane's Addiction
4/5
This album had a major, some might say Ocean Sized, impact on me when I first heard it. The opening bass notes on Up The Beach are so nicely complimented by Navarro's full chords and descending lines that sets a mood that is almost contemplative. Whereas Ocean Sized is tidal and crashing initially and then shifts like waves between the bombastic and the gentle. I was immediately hooked.
The release timing was fortuitous. It hit me right around the time I was shifting from totally entrenched goth/new wave tastes and branching out to more punk and metal listening habits. It was a perfect transition album at a transitional time. And, I also encountered it when it came out. In other words, I had only it and the live album to understand Jane's Addiction as a band. I could not look across their body of work and judge them holistically. (An important note since, for me, this is a band that has had a significant and rapid decline in the quality of their music). I was also young enough that what I would judge as a lyric misfire now did not rankle me at all. Back then I might've even thought they were cool.
For a year or two, this was a perfect record for me. Even in the most cliche ways: snowboarding to Mountain Song, seeing them play as my first stadium concert, defending them from their detractors. I was a Jane's Addiction fan. Let's be real, it's those memories and a bit of nostalgia that has me wanting to push this rating up to 5 stars. Listening today, I would only give it 3.5 stars with all the dumb lyrics presenting an edginess that just sounds a little silly over 35 years later.
Blur
3/5
Woo-hoo, blur is perfect for 2 minutes and 1 second.
Lorde
4/5
On paper I shouldn't like Lorde and yet I find the brand of pop she's concocted on Melodrama to be a compelling listen. It's not going into heavy rotation but I will play it again and be happy to hear any of the songs when they come on.
Motörhead
4/5
I can't deny Motörhead's influence and Lemmy's eternal cool. But I'm not hyped to listen to the linked deluxe version of this record; if there's one thing I've always felt about Motörhead it's that their particular brand of song sameness wasn't enough to convert me from Ace of Spades admirer to full on fan.
Don't get me wrong, this record is much better than many others on the list. Ace of Spades is a classic that rises above the rest of the record and the rest of the record is good overall. We are the Road Crew, Shoot You in the Back, Love Me like a Reptile, and, sexual politics aside, The Chase is Better than the Catch are all strong songs. Even the lesser material e.g. Fire Fire and Live to Win are decent. The only regrettable listen on the record is Jailbait's lyrics.
And, yet, for this exercise I don't need to hear alternate or BBC versions of these songs. I like to get into the headspace of the original album release where possible. Give me as close to what someone first hearing this album when it came out got. I want that experience. I bet this record absolutely floored people in 1980.
Pentangle
2/5
It turns out I have an allergic reaction to holy jazz folk.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
🎸 Hendrix, still fire after all these years. 🔥
Def Leppard
2/5
Wild album cover. It's a vibe and I'm into it more than I would've expected to be. "It" here being the album art. Sorry Def Leppard, the music and lyrics just seem so mid, to me.
The Birthday Party
3/5
On certain days I'll take The Birthday Party over Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, today wasn't one of them but this record still (mostly) slaps.
Fever Ray
3/5
I put this on and listened through three times and I still don't know how I feel about it. There is something that feels intentionally elusive here. Today is a new day and I need to move to the next album; all I can really say about this record is that I am still intrigued.
Jungle Brothers
4/5
Keeps the pulse throughout, inventive instrumentation and overall positive messages of empowerment and institutional critique. Occasionally the flow falls prey to the eighties propensity to rhyme in cadence with an obvious word choice. Honestly if it wasn't for this happening a little too often, I think we'd have a timeless classic on our hands. Instead, we have a classic of its time — which is no small achievement.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
2/5
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is not for me. I will have to form a new circle with some other music.
5/5
Ziggy played guitarrrrr....
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
While being innovative and inspiring, this album is a band still in a chrysalis of its own creation. Historians might say my bloody valentine isn't anything...yet. But in the moment of its release, I can only imagine how revelatory this sounded and felt. It must've felt like they were something already.
Hüsker Dü
3/5
Eight out of ten reviews that are familiar with Hüsker Dü are going to say they prefer the overtly punk era of the band. It's hard to deny the potency and swagger of those early records. That they were soaked in speed and volume meant that the more subtle, songwriterly songs (i.e. indie before indie) were like these gems that you'd find amidst cutting rocks. So, when Warehouse shows up for the day, I'm a little bit deflated. I haven't had any Hüsker records to rate thus far and this sprawling (not their first to earn this adjective), flawed (also not their first time there) final studio album rates disappointingly overall. But wait, listen, you've come this far and the record like this review just takes awhile to reveal itself and that patience does pay off. The short version of the review would be like a short version of the record: edited down to the essentials it rocks. But on its own and taken all together it's a bit too much mid to make the mark it deserves.
Bob Dylan
3/5
Tsch. Dylan. You can't shake that guy! Oh, but this is one of my favorites of his and I'm not alone in that assessment. That said, I have some bad news for the real Dylan heads out there when they see the stars.
Arrested Development
4/5
It turns out 90s afrocentric hip hop is one of my vibes.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
Being a major My Aim is True, Armed Forces, This Year's Model era fan of Elvis Costello when I picked up Imperial Bedroom for the first time I was disappointed in its overall mellowness. I felt it lacked the same obvious energy. I wasn't yet a fan of the more subtle, pop genius elements of Elvis Costello's songwriting, but as I matured I gained a new appreciation for his craft and the quality of this record. I certainly score it higher now than the punk me would then. And yet, I think there's still an undeniable comparative intuition at play in situating this record overall.
Marty Robbins
2/5
This is okay but I have heard many other versions of these songs that I prefer over the ones performed by Marty Robbins here. But as a collection of ballads and trail songs it's not bad, just kind of mid and melodically monotonous.
Sam Cooke
3/5
A noisy live party album, full of energy it almost feels like I'm there.
Jacques Brel
2/5
I don't think Jacques Brel is for me, but he's certainly for someone's great grandfather.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
2/5
I like a live prog album as much as the next ex-punk rocker who shifted metal, but I have never liked the keyboard driven noodling. Give me the heavy prog of 21st Century Schizoid Man and the driving intention of something like Roundabout (shout out to Chris Squire's bass tone) over the best ELP track any time. Sorry if this feels like a diss on Keith Emerson, I recognize this is just a difference in taste. They can play. But it's not to my liking.
U2
3/5
I love U2 but this record sounds like they forgot the fire. That One can give me instant chills does not make up for the rest of the album. It's a two-star record riding their own coattails and coasting into pop experimentation that just sounds like a wild swing at relevance. Shame I like their early work so much I've rounded up to 3 out of pity.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Four unqualified classics and the rest of the record ain't bad either.
LL Cool J
3/5
I'm not interested in LL's approach to sexy times, but otherwise his lyrics are fine and the flow is decent for an mc of his vintage.
Brian Eno
4/5
I enjoyed this Eno record, listened to it multiple times and yet I can only just barely remember half of the songs. Most of the tracks don't standout quite as much as Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) which is one of my personal favorites of the non-ambient Eno albums. The sound of the instruments is, frankly, quite pleasing. I could throw something like this on just about any time and be glad I did.
Brian Eno
4/5
Two days of Eno in a row through this site. The only thing I wish I could do now is revise yesterday's review. As it stands, this is one of my other favorite non-ambient Eno records so I'm stoked for the day.
Taylor Swift
3/5
Everokay.
The Young Rascals
2/5
They sound so innocent for being Young Rascals.
Blood, Sweat & Tears
2/5
Uh, yeah, I don't know who came first but this has such strong Chicago vibes that I feel like there was a wave that both of these groups had to be simultaneously riding at some point. That said, I actually have a Chicago album and even that is enough for me. I don't think my heart has enough room for a lot of this horns-rock from decades past. It's just not my thing and so if Blood, Sweat & Tears was actually the forerunner of this movement I'm sorry. That all said, what they are intending to do is done well so they're going to get more stars than something whose quality I can't even discern.
Scissor Sisters
1/5
Sometimes the opening notes of a record will deceive you such that you are in for a complete surprise along the way. This is not that album. Scissor Sisters by Scissor Sisters is the other case; where the sonic qualities of the instruments from the start and the melody announced from the opening notes sets the stage for what is to come. When this happens, when an artist fully realizes a vision and is devoted to it consistently you may be in for a satisfying listening experience if the vision matches a vibe you desire.
This is not that album for me. Scissor Sisters by Scissor Sisters is the other case; the one where what you’re hearing is a match for what is maddening about certain musics. Where the distance between the group or artist’s vision is so far removed from your desired vibe that you actively dislike the record even when there is nothing objectively wrong with it.
This is the best one star album I’ve heard yet and I am confident it is someone’s five star record somewhere. I wouldn’t blame them. But I also wouldn’t give them control over the music in the car either.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5/5
Welcome back to the stream Neil Young. Rust Never Sleeps.
The Mamas & The Papas
4/5
Here's the deal with me and pop music from the 1960s: most of the time it is just not my jam. I'm not talking about any of the psych-freakout music — whether it be folk or rock. I'm not talking about R&B or Rock 'n' Roll. I am talking about the pure pop with its attention to vocal harmonies and excellent studio musicians backing the song all dressed up in a mostly US West Coast package.
I'm not down with 60s sunshine and good vibes most of the time, but when I want to surf that wave this is one of the records that satisfies every time.
Venom
2/5
Foundational? Yes! Enjoyable 42 years later? Not particularly as a whole. This record is one in which I would occasionally grab a track from to throw into a metal mix but not one that I would throw on in its entirety. While it may have sounded revolutionary at the time, in a genre that consistently pushes the "extreme" button it sounds tame today.
Sex Pistols
4/5
Speaking of what once sounded revolutionary now sounding tame, Never Mind the Bullocks Here's the Sex Pistols is my album of the day today. Frankly, one of the most surprising elements of this band is how basic all the music is. If it wasn't for the fashion and the antics while around it would be hard to find a reason, there's no real reason?, for their outsized share of in punk history. Oi, there is one thing. I had ya there for a minute! I wore out my cassette when I was 12 for a reason. Johnny Rotten's lyrics and delivery make this record what it is: one of the greatest punk statements of its time. Listening today, this is some plain-old rock and roll fronted by fire.
John Coltrane
4/5
I was not "in the mood" for a Jazz album today. And, I will level with you where some may not: this lack of "feeling a certain genre or quality of music" on any given day can wreak havoc with ratings and reviews. Acknowledging this bias is an important step in listening to and providing capsule ratings/reviews in good faith on 1001 albums before you die. I had this album on earlier and it didn't particularly register well, but it's a record I own and one that I know delivers something special with a little bit of devotion to it. Second time around, having settle in to listening to it louder and with more focus, Acknowledgement sets the stage sneakily, but nicely with a payoff that I am able to appreciate even on an off day.
The Human League
2/5
Clever putting that one song at the end.
Klaxons
3/5
In 2007 I was living in Brooklyn feasting on all the loud, fast, and out of control music I could get my hands on at the exclusion of all but the most ubiquitous indie-mall / every restaurant's playlist songs and thus Klaxons wasn't very likely to make it through my most metal shield and into my awareness. And yet, listening to Myths Of The Near Future today I can hear overlap with many bands who for one reason or another (mostly location) I was aware of. Turn your head the right way and you can hear early Liars as well as The Blood Brothers in a blender with the party-ready !!! and record store nerd bands like Animal Collective or Wolf Parade. Not trying to sound sassy or smug, I like all those bands. So, this is what a reckoning is like. I was immediately hooked on the record and, while not every song slaps (as you might expect from me as the reviewer I'm least drawn to the most danceable, club ready tracks), I am still into it after a few spins today though it's hard to say if Myths Of The Near Future would sustain a day 2 or 3 of heavy rotation.
Brian Wilson
1/5
Not *everyone* wants to listen to *everything* by Brian Wilson. It's that simple.
I love Pet Sounds as much as the next music nerd and I am sympathetic to Wilson's personal struggles, but the circus-sounding music grates on me. Even the best songs on this record are tough to enjoy.
Nirvana
5/5
The vast majority of good music is "of its time" and inside of a certain temporal bubble we perceive it as great. A subset of that music is both of its time and, somehow, also timeless — only as we move outside of that initial temporal bubble we are able to truly make the assessment as to where someone's artistic output belongs.
At the time, I knew Nirvana was making great music, but I didn't know that they were destined to become a classic band. While I still prefer Bleach, I recognize Nevermind the timeless album it is; something truly great that spawned from the muck and grunge of the 90s.
Aretha Franklin
4/5
I've Never Loved An Aretha Record The Way I Love This One.
Beck
4/5
While my favorite Beck is the moody Beck that showed up in full for Sea Change and still drops by on occasion (see: Broken Drum this record) to provide quality music I can to mope to, I can also appreciate the uptempo fuzzy-dance and yet somehow lazy-rap Beck. That punning, surrealist pop star version of Beck dominates this enjoyable album. And yet, some of the weirder corners of the Beck Mind (see: Midnight Vultures record) have also been tamed. In other words Guero is far out, but not too far out. I guess this is what a balanced Beck sounds like.
The Byrds
1/5
This record is somebody's sweetheart somewhere but it ain't here.
Elton John
3/5
That it's a double album opening with an eleven minute proggy song is a sign of when the album was made, but it was likely still a gutsy choice for Elton John. The song takes time to develop and is not bad per se but it is also not the reason this record is a classic. I wonder how many people just put the needle on the record starting with track 2 back then because the following 2-3 tracks are absolute smash hits. In fact after these, the rest of the album is good but in an uneven, meandering pastiche kind of way. Kind of like the 70s itself? Maybe the first song is both the decade and the record in miniature in its own way. Honestly, I think once he committed to a double album it led to some bloat that would've otherwise been avoided in a different era. For me, I would prefer to cut out songs like "Your Sister Can't Twist", "Social Disease" for release in some other format. I'd wrap up with "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" immediately followed by "Harmony" as the mellow closer.
Love
2/5
One of my POP's favorite albums. I've heard this hippie music many times at top volume. The old man shaking the entire house with the speakers pushing air so violently the neighbors were running for cover. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, C'mon, Yeah, alright!
Creedence Clearwater Revival
2/5
Green River, Bad Moon Rising, Lodi are all classics and even the filler songs here are decent quality electrified country-folk-rock. I get why decades later some kid somewhere adopts CCR as a listen to this day even though they're not always for me.
Björk
3/5
Björk on the road to Björkdom. A solid Debut.
Nightmares On Wax
2/5
This was likely heralded, at least in some circles, as something bordering on the revolutionary when it was released but for me listening today it was just an okay mellow soundtrack. When it ended the algorithm picked up a bunch of other funky yet smooth stuff that I didn't notice the handover. I don't think the technology is that slick, rather the sound has become generic now.
Soul II Soul
3/5
Steady, are you ready? If you haven't heard Back To Life at least randomly once in life you might not be getting out enough. That track haunts a person like a ghost in a supermarket, mini-mall, dance hall, wedding and high school dance. Listening to this record took me places, but not all of them are destinations I'm looking to stay in.
Cyndi Lauper
4/5
Cyndi Lauper of the She's So Unusual era and Annie Potts in Pretty in Pink were some of the first dwellers in the swoon city of my mind. Cyndi was some kind of sculptor shaping our young psyches. I could live in the illusion of that record cover art and the lyrics of the album. Cyndi knows about gender and class politics and also just wants to have fun. She bop time after time and all through the night — for good or bad this record is a template that made an impression on millions.
The Style Council
2/5
Mostly tepid middling music, I recognized a song I'd heard before but for a record that spans this many genres its surprisingly bland.
Elis Regina
3/5
My reception of this record may have been marred by the day it dropped. It was good, but too long and I was distracted. Since I don't speak Brazilian Portuguese it was doubly difficult to be drawn into its world. That all said, Elis Regina has a wonderful voice and I'm generally into late 70s popular music. The record probably deserves more than 3 stars, but I rate based on how it was received.
Talvin Singh
4/5
Computer. This record should've been released under a different title. There should've been enough time to update it after Radiohead's album came out in the same country about a year before. But it was the nineties, speaking of which I find the whole cover of the album off-putting as well. It's a shame, because I think that the album is a rewarding listen — it's both timeless and modern. It would've been well-served to have a design that was less 1990s and a better name. The music isn't its packaging, of course, but some music deserves better and this is the case.
The Divine Comedy
1/5
Glad it was short. It wasn't my jam. It's funny how close it is to, and yet also how far away from, The Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs that this short album about love really is. Same topic, proximate vocals, some dry-ish humor and yet one has all the charm, wit, and magic mix of sparkle and darkness I could ask for while the other just feels dumb. If you haven't figured it out by now, you'll be able to tell which this album is in my opinion by the rating.
Girls Against Boys
3/5
Back in the day I often wished Girls Against Boys would stop being coy and just non-stop deliver the rock they were so clearly capable of crafting. They'd have these songs that would pull you in close and hit you hard with some crushing riff and cool vocal delivery. Those songs were just so good. But then they'd turn around and have a song that would lose itself in a mid-tempo, tryin' to sleaze meander. I think I have like 3 albums and I was frustrated in this way by all of them.
Today giving this record a listen after not listening to them in ages, I still have the same reaction though it is tempered with a greater latitude for the slower tracks. I still get impatient during some of the breathy-cool, faux-sultry, slow jams, but overall I think I'm more able to accept that the vibe that was their goal often just wasn't my preference. They were a band that could make the kind of music I preferred but chose to pursue some other ways of making music and that's okay. Now I may have not reached the level of chill to fully appreciate GVSB but at least I'm cool with their pursuit of cool.
Common
3/5
Common's kinda mid, sort of average.
Underworld
3/5
Second Toughest In The Infants is a brilliant title for a band that delivers crushing riffs and face melting guitar solos. It's also pretty good for an outfit that crafts nifty electronic music. I am not in a position to declare how remarkable this release is for the genre and its development at the time it was released but I like the vibe. Most of the music has good lift and flow, I'm certain it was a hit in the warehouse.
Pink Floyd
2/5
The cover makes me more uncomfortable than some of the psych jams. It was likely more monumental a release at the time, but I don't get the feeling like it has grown in stature over the course of the years. Although the myth of Syd Barrett has. As I listened, some of it was cool but I did look at the track listing / run time on occasion just waiting for things to end.
Justin Timberlake
1/5
One of the more difficult listens to get through on this list. Take It From Here was sickening. 🤢🤮 This is some kind of cruel joke. This album is meant to be on the other list: 1001 Records to Listen to That Will Make You Die.
The Only Ones
2/5
This band does themselves no favors by kicking things off with The Whole of the Law which bears both of the serious marks against the songs on the album. Some songs are marred by annoyingly poor vocal delivery (think a more nasal, often flat, less pleasant Gordon Gano) and others lack anything significantly compelling in the music itself to be memorable. Thankfully it is a rare few that suffer from both, but the opener is certainly one of them — at least it is mercifully short.
And yet the second song is a certifiable classic. Like many other listeners of a certain cultural niche I've heard and enjoyed: "Another Girl, Another Planet" before. It is a great song that has a bar band gone post-punk vibe going for it that elevates the music paired with a catchy and oft repeated lyric.
The rest of the album oscillates between the good and the mediocre summing up to a just below average experience.
PJ Harvey
5/5
Dry pulled me in but Rid of Me set the hook. One of my favorites.
PJ Harvey lays it all out for us on the title track. It's a world of conflict and desire. We're commanded to travel along with PJ, to tie ourselves to her. We'll suffer and serve. We'll regret but only after pleasure and pain.
Listening advice: Turn the album up so the quiet parts are solidly audible and let the loud parts hit you as they are meant to.
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
3/5
I was initially dubious about this one. But it's much better than many other albums on the list. A very solid 3 stars!
Cocteau Twins
5/5
Treasure may just be my favorite Cocteau Twins album.
I've commented on the tension I've often felt in listening to Cocteau Twins with respect to wanting them to unleash some aggressive riff or sonically crushing chord...to momentarily drop the ethereal charade and crush us with a burst of musical muscularity that they're hiding behind masses of restraint and reverb. Often some listeners with whom I've shared this feeling will cock their head to one side and look at me quizzically in a way that suggests there is little evidence in their opinion that Cocteau Twins posses this capacity. For them there is no aggression that is held at bay, but for me Treasure is a wonderful example of an album that when I turn up I can hear all the aspects of their sound that are absolutely massively muscular. The thing that I have learned over time is that with Cocteau Twins this aggression I apprehend will always be a subtext in the songwriting. And, in many ways that "threat" that I feel is a different, possibly more powerful feeling to elicit in a listener — all the better that with Cocteau Twins it is beautifully wrapped in their unique sound. Treasure indeed.
KISS
3/5
KISS: Kinda Insipid, (But) Some (Good) Songs // KISS: Kinda Inspired, (And yet) Some (Bad) Songs.
Astrud Gilberto
2/5
Astrud Gilberto always sounds great but the music she is singing over does not always hold up (e.g. Parade). Overall, the album is not seriously bad but I was disappointed.
Billy Bragg
3/5
Talking With the Taxman About Poetry is one of the most Billy Bragg album titles ever. While "Don't Try this at Home" may be my favorite of this era, Bragg's in his bag on this record too.
The Cramps
3/5
I've always thought of The Cramps as a fun band with their whole trashy-goth rock-a-billy thing, but I've never been able to enjoy a whole record start to finish. This is true of Songs The Lord Taught Us though it comes the close to delivering that experience.
Badly Drawn Boy
4/5
Badly Drawn Boy was a name floating around in the ether in the 00s but I never heard them to my knowledge. I always thought it was some popular emo band that stood next to Fall Out Boy at parties and looked a little more mopey and not quite well-rendered. All to say that this was a pleasant surprise of a record though about 15-20 minutes too long for my introduction to them. I can hear a little bit of Elliott Smith, Iron & Wine, and The Shins in the music which to me means that he caught some piece of the zeitgeist that they were all also tangled up in. It also reveals the US Pacific Northwest bias in my listening habits. I'm not likely to throw this record on again as a whole but I'd welcome hearing more when it shows up in the stream.
Steve Earle
4/5
You can thank Steve Earl, Johnny Cash and the like for propping up my Country stats when it comes to rating records from the 1001 list.
Boston
4/5
This is a quintessential 1970s popular rock record. I have heard so many of these tracks in movies and television set in or that are about the era. And yet, it isn't representative of all of the 70s music and culture it's just symbolic of the mainstream expression of that era. And, I love it for that. It's not my favorite music from that decade. It's not what I believe would've actually been cool. I probably would've found actual Boston fans obnoxious at the time. And despite a Summer vibe, it's not something that I'm going to throw on tomorrow when it is not my album of the day. All that said, whenever I hear a track off this Boston album I nod along. Boston endures for that reason.
Metallica
4/5
A great Metallica album marred by a terrible mix.
As a bass player, I loved Cliff Burton era Metallica. That guy was the creative spark and joy of the band. A truly gifted player who tragically passed away too soon. And along comes Jason Newsted who filled in admirably and got burned by the mix of this record. One of the greatest middle fingers of one band member to another. The biggest losers are the fans though who were secondarily robbed of a great sounding record. The mix is awful in a few ways but having heard some Justice for Jason type remixes and "reclamations" it certainly would've been better with some audible bass rather than some muddy-sounding "barely felt" bass. I expect my review so far to be fairly standard and repeated here. I don't mind being a basic Metallica fan in that regard.
Lupe Fiasco
4/5
Daily Mantra: Kick, push, kick, push, coast. I always liked this Lupe Fiasco despite him having a few too many mannerisms of the era it was written in. I don't think all of them have aged well, but overall I still get down with it.
The Doors
2/5
There was a brief time where I listened to the Doors trying to get into the music — and failing. I read the Jim Morrison biography and would throw my POP's records on the turntable, turn it up loud and wait for something compelling to happen. But it never really took. Usually it just seemed like wallowing and noodling music. This particular record is too bluesy in parts but also has a surprising heaviness to it at times that redeems the moments when they tread into the boring blues cliches. A decent Doors record but it can't compete with more interesting music made by others.
Rush
4/5
I had an older cousin who was deep into Rush and I didn't understand the appeal. I was just emerging as a new wave, goth kid at the time and I hadn't even really discovered punk yet. This is a long, long time before buying Moving Pictures used from a dingy record store in New York. I bought it on vinyl so that I, too, could drop the needle on the record and hear the opening notes of Tom Sawyer on the loudest sound machine in the house. Of course, truly cranking it to epic volumes would need to wait for a move from an apartment to a house. With album highlights like Tom Sawyer, YYZ, and Limelight, with solid tracks like Red Barchetta and Vital Signs this is among my favorite Rush albums to revisit.
Bobby Womack
2/5
Funky 70s R&B that while good was a little bit forgettable. I had to hunt down the album to hear all of it, but honestly the song Secrets wasn't really worth the effort. Overall, I am a fan of the sound of the music so this is probably a 2 star record getting a generous "genre and era" bump. A rare cheat but I'm feeling generous towards this record for some reason.
The Louvin Brothers
2/5
Sometimes you just want some old time music — despite this record's occasional charms, today wasn't one of those days.
Wire
5/5
Going all in with Pink Flag as my favorite album by Wire. Direct songwriting with acerbic wit, propulsive rhythms and impactful guitar will win me over every time. This record consistently delivers it all at a high level.
The Slits
4/5
Cut is one of those records that I've heard a lot of times. Frankly, it still sounds great. The production quality and realization of the style of delivery is complete in a way that I feel intention in all the spaces, gaps, and awkward moments (even if that is not historically the case). Everything is relevant, personal, and poetic. While it was the initial speed bump on my road to enjoyment, the vocals grew on me over time. And, if I'm honest, this is true of a good deal of bands that I enjoy.
King Crimson
3/5
Larks' Tongues In Aspic has a tough opener for the modern attention span. I'm sure back in the day when you put the needle on the record you were ready to soak in the chimes and slow burn into the song in ways that are difficult now to even imagine.
The track, and the album, reward a patient listener. Just a shame that they are more difficult to find. I include myself in this, I'm no longer as patient as I once was when it comes to my listening. Let's say if we faded in at the 3m mark I'd still have been looking around for 30 more seconds wondering when we were going to get to the jams. And this test of patience and attention span is everywhere: a little violin break here, some kind of pause or quiet moment there. This is the downside of progressive rock / music in some regards. And yet, of course, it is also its immense upside. If you take the time and make the space for it this music can be very rewarding to listen to including, and especially because of, the more challenging moments.
And yet, and yet, this isn't my favorite King Crimson record for a reason.
The Cult
5/5
There are some stinkers on this record and it marks a departure from some of the darker more overt goth vibes of their previous work... But, hear me out, if a cool older brother passes the CD along to his younger brother and you all spend a Summer with this as your soundtrack street skating the best curbs and other little bits of your suburban American town then this album is going to become an irrational, emotional favorite that you will still want to throw on 35 years later. Nothing beats the feeling of a Summer breeze on your face with your friends cheering an impossibly landed sick skate trick while Love Removal Machine is blasting out a cheap speaker. Sometimes music is made better by the moment and method of introduction. Five Stars for the feels on a Three Star record.
William Orbit
3/5
Enjoyable electronic music from 1993 which I can only imagine was totally mind blowing at the time it came out. In 2024, some of it is borderline unremarkable even if other tracks are solidly timeless so far as electronic music goes. Overall, I looped it a few times and enjoyed it on each listen even if I checked out of the occasional song.
Gram Parsons
2/5
I'm working hard to not give this album a one-star review because I know that it is well-crafted and delivered sincerely by talented people, but it is absolutely not to my taste either. I'm no fan of the electrified heartland, honky tonk vaguely "mom and apple pie" Americana through the lens of some fool who idealizes a past that never was. So, two-stars then.
Youssou N'Dour
3/5
It's difficult for me to know the subject matter of the songs without doing research but from the standpoint of just the music and delivery itself, it's a compelling album.
Everything But The Girl
3/5
It wasn't Idlewild that introduced me to Everything But The Girl but seeing their name immediately makes me wistful. Tracey Thorn's voice reaches into your chest. Heart wrapped in sound and pulled forward, exposed. While I prefer the more electronic stylings of Amplified Heart, this album gives me the EBTG feels I expect.
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
I'm only familiar with Manic Street Preachers through this project. If I'm honest, I didn't get into them from the last listen (The Holy Bible album) and was disappointed to see them again. But the more I listen to Everything Must Go the more I can appreciate them.
I had written a ramshackle review of this record and have erased it all since the above is the better summary of the experience — and all that needs to be known of "my take" on it.
For the truly curious, it ultimately boiled down to two things: First, while all of the songs are tunefully delivered, I prefer the ones that are louder and more bombastic in general (no surprise) and I noted that those don't necessarily correlate to what appear to be the more popular tracks on the record. Second, I made a Ted Leo comparison, speculated if he was a fan, and playfully asked if he should he be paying royalties on Further Away? Nothing novel and very little added but there you go.
M.I.A.
5/5
Arular thrills. 🔥 I do not tire of M.I.A.
The Youngbloods
3/5
The Youngbloods were voted the band least likely to stand out while still being good for their year. Not bad for some laid back, late Sixties vibes — the music is not too psychedelic, nor is it too bluesy. It's kind of a "just right" blend of the sounds of the era but where that also means it's a bit mid. I can hear why I had never heard of them on the one hand, but was pleasantly surprised on the other.
Red Snapper
2/5
Here is a band I know nothing about other than what I can see: the name, the album's title, and the cover, so I'm intrigued to listen (although also a little bit apprehensive since the name and title sound dumb).
I put it on and at first I think it's some okay study / work music: a funky blend of electronic and traditional instrumentation, mostly instrumental with either samples or MCs over sections of the music.
And yet, as we progress, I can tell it's no home run. The suspicions I had based on the name seem to be playing out in decisions made within the music itself. The thinking around this record seems to be on the juvenile side of its era in ways that reveal a goofy decision-making that lacks restraint when it comes to so-called humor.
The cute / funny stuff just doesn't land with me. I think part of that is because I too am prone to this kind of thing "a pun" as part of the artistic output. Let's have a little joke here or something I thought was clever over there. Over time it is precisely these asides or jokey bits that I thought made the work something special I can see are actually weighing it down and have held it back.
Really just feels like: A less clever Soul Coughing and 311 blend jamming on joke tunes with DJ Shadow, Amon Tobin, and the Chemical Brothers playing in the background of their practice space.
Elvis Costello
4/5
Early Elvis Costello has always been my jam, but somewhere around Imperial Bedroom I found my interest wanes. Brutal Youth is an excellent reminder that his ability to thrill in a song still remained strong.
The Hives
4/5
Woo-hoo! No wait. While song 1 from my new favorite band might be legally distinct from...it does have a certain overlap in chord structure and pace as a certain Blur track, and yet it is only attitudinally adjacent and positioned within The Hives overall garage-land that I can almost forgive the trespass.
Speaking of garage rock as a genre more generally for a hot minute or take, it is a small 'c' conservative genre that tends to look back more than forward and where derivative is not necessarily derogative. In fact, some ears might call it one of the greatest advantages and gifts of the genre overall. It's a promise of the genre that I will hear something that is both new and familiar with the latest release of Garage Rock X band.
And so, here I am with this album from the Hives, a group I largely missed while listening to many artists that are in their cohort or that at minimum a streaming algorithm is going to feed me as similar / like content. Overall, this is a tight record that doesn't waste my time. If you like light-weight, fast-break punk but don't want to ride on that emo or pop-punk side then you probably want it in that Hives garage-style. And, if that's the case then they might just be Your New Favorite Band.
Gang Of Four
5/5
Gang of Four have always been one of my favorite post-punk bands. I don't need to write about the politics expressed in excellent lyrics, angular guitar or jarring but funky rhythms of their initial output. Plenty of ink, both in digital and on paper, has been spilled on all of that. Rather, I want to note that my first and longest engagement with Gang of Four was through the collection "A Brief History of the Twentieth Century". I've written about the way that collections tend to paper over the valleys and missteps of a band such that you can have a very different frame to hang on the picture of them. I mix my metaphors daily as well you might notice. But the real thing to notice is just how much of that collection comes from entertainment! This album's dips in quality are minor at best and better seen as ramps from which they launch into incredible songs that achieve great heights. I am all in on this record, of course.
Sonic Youth
5/5
The most timeless Sonic Youth. The most listenable without feeling the respective weight of its era. With one other exception, the rest of their albums sound rooted in their respective time whether it be the 80s, 90s, or 00s. That's not always a bad thing, some of these other records are also among my favorite Sonic Youth albums. But Daydream Nation is special in how it glides in and across all times. It exists as daydream itself.
Adam & The Ants
2/5
"Kings of the Wild Frontier" — proving once again that you can love a genre and still not like an album as much as you'd expect.
Fairport Convention
2/5
This must've been a big deal for someone's grampa. There are some prog hippie church music vibes. To be clear, none of those descriptors are a bad thing in isolation and their combination is intriguing.
This music is at its best to my ear when the rock is forward and they get more intricate with it. Unfortunately, the weirder prog moments are relatively few compared to some generally plodding applications of folk conventions which dilutes the impact. And yet, those moments do give opportunity for the vocalist to shine. This band is a conundrum and it got me thinking:
To get into the headspace of just how this whole endeavor could've felt in 1969 in terms of excitement, maybe we should think of what the "problem space" or "surface area" of exploration would be if updated with more contemporary examples, maybe we should ask how would we wrap our minds around a Joanna Newsom x Mars Volta collab? To travel back in time, maybe then the music of Fairport Convention was that exciting, curious, and potentially dangerous.
Peter Frampton
2/5
Yep. That sounds like one of the flavors of the 70s there. Single-handedly made the talkbox popular and overblown in one album. Sadly, it's a live album that's a better display of musicianship than of an overall amazing music experience.
Eels
3/5
Those eyes on the cover say early Photoshop and the music says mid-to-late 1990s which all aligns. The singing has a little Cracker throatiness to it that I can appreciate. Some of the tracks are more of their time than others but overall the album is a solid slice of "alternative" pop / rock.
Korn
1/5
The music is like uninteresting Deftones at its best and a trash blend of rock-rap with a circus swagger at its worst. The rap feels like an adopted posture, the style but a pose. While the lyrics seal the deal that it's an empty gesture towards the rap form more than meaningful cultural expression or engagement. There's also a cough syrup derivative of NIN somewhere in here, too. It's as if Filter were filtered down to add as a flavor to this swill. The further I get into this record's track list the less impressed I am and the more certain I become in my assessment. A definite reaction to this despite me being the ideal audience: I love hip hop and I love metal. And yet, the 90s did themselves few favors spawning the likes of metal-rap bands like Limp Bizkit and Korn. What went wrong?
The Byrds
3/5
I've had The Byrds before and when I did I gave that record a 1 star review. And, yet, I find Younger Than Yesterday to easily be 2 stars better than Sweetheart of the Rodeo which was released a year later. Younger Than Yesterday is not a masterpiece but it's a solid 3 star outing. I think the "pre-country" rock, pop, and psych sensibilities on display here speak more to me than when they had more firmly shifted their sound in that countrified direction. Sometimes its the small things that make a difference.
Motörhead
2/5
501st album. I'm halfway there. No sleep 'Til Hammersmith seems appropriate. And yet in hearing to it, I'm reminded that while Motörhead's influence and Lemmy's cool are undeniable and eternal their consistency is a barrier to my listening pleasure. Too many tunes from the same blueprint. So many songs sounding similar. The great Ace of Spades album only got 4 stars from me; the live album reflecting more tracks back my concern only gets 2.
Miles Davis
5/5
It just so happened that I put this album on today at 5:00 AM when I was at my desk to do some writing. I had the lights on super low (just the glow of the screen and a very small second light — adjustable on its lowest setting). I often do this: check out what I've been served for the day to see if I want to listen early or if I want to wait until later in the morning. Bitches Brew is an incredible album for the bookends of the day (either early morning or late at night). Many of the songs, do what I'm doing now, they start out scattered or diffused. Sounds punctuating space. A jumbled moment...searching. They often take their time developing the theme. These songs are thoughts and the process of thinking. They'll settle into a groove to mine it, they play within, along, and above it but return to their anchor. And, later, they'll move on to the next thing to explore and iterate upon. This is an amazing album with inspired playing but it's also not an everyday driver or carry that I would pick up and throw on all the time. It's a record that, if you have the time for, will build a mood with you and take you places you hadn't expected (even after listening to it for decades). It's the result of the genius of Miles Davis and the rest of the musicians as well as the insightful editing of Teo Macero.
It's not going to be for everyone — and that's okay — no art truly is.
TV On The Radio
5/5
Dear Science, I was a rabid Return To Cookie Mountain fan and I didn't give you the credit you deserved when you arrived on the scene. Sometimes it takes a while for us to open our ears and minds to the music that even our favorite artists make. While you're not my first or second favorite TVOTR record, you're still great.
Kate Bush
3/5
It's a good record, but it doesn't stick with me outside of the singles. Running up that Hill is an amazing track while Cloudbusting and Hounds of Love are also solid they don't quite reach the same heights. The rest of the album just disappears on me after listening. 2.5 stars rounding up.
Suede
2/5
I suffered through the singing. 1.5 Stars. Sorry, Suede.
Gene Clark
2/5
This is the third Byrds-related record in my review rotation. White Light leans too far into country tropes and folk genre cliches for my taste. It's not poorly executed, some of the songs are pleasant, it's just terribly boring. Maybe in 1971 you could grab a guitar and sing a song nicely on record and fans of your earlier work would be happy. And, that's just it, this record feels more like an appeal to existing fans than an artistic achievement. The cover of Stand By Me is a good example of how pedestrian the whole album sounds now. It's hard to hear how this record justifies itself as one of the 1001 albums you must hear before you die.
The Cars
5/5
This came out in 1978 and giving it the 5-stars it deserves is going to mess up my "Favorite Decade" stat even more by pushing the 1970s ahead in the rankings. This record was ahead of its time. Astute listeners across the decades will tell you that often the records near the end of a calendar decade go on to define the *coming* decade. This album has many of the hallmarks of a classic 80s sound. And, it delivers them all with such confidence and song craft that I can listen to it in 2024 and it still sounds solid. Nothing lasts forever, but The Cars legacy is going strong thanks to this record.
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
2/5
Ramblin' folksy Jack Elliott takin' the floor. One of its virtues is that this music isn't trying too hard while it's here so I'm not going to knock it even though it's not my thing.
Miles Davis
3/5
I know this is an important document in the history of Jazz, but today it's just another jazz record that I appreciate every once and again. It's not my favorite Miles album, I don't reach for it like I do Kind of Blue or Bitches Brew. It's not even in my top 5, if I'm being honest.
Nanci Griffith
2/5
I believe this album is not for me.
The Undertones
2/5
I can almost always get behind some music that's played fast and loud even if, as the case is here, it's only a little bit fast and a little bit loud. While it's not as immediately catchy as the Buzzcocks you could hear them sharing the same bill. This is pop-punk before the genre was redefined and packaged for broad consumption in the 90s and 00s. That said, if we're being honest, this record is also a bit more pedestrian. You take the Buzzcocks and a tiny dash of the Clash mix it with a British take on the Ramones...you water that all down, throw in a hint of vocal warble and you kind of have The Undertones. 2.5 stars.
Eagles
2/5
Clocking in at 37 minutes this is a mercifully brief record from the Eagles. Sounds like 9 minutes of 4-star music over the course of 2-star tedium.
Gorillaz
3/5
I wasn't down with the gimmick at the time and dismissed Gorillaz out of hand from the jump. Going back and listening to the album, I don't feel a main through line to it although there are a few standout tracks. Try as I might, I don't find the album very compelling. It's definitely too long and wanders into early 00 musical territory I'm not particularly interested in spending my time in having heard it explored better elsewhere. I feel like this record in particular should also be judged by its cover. I think Tank Girl is rad, but this record cover is bland.
Haircut 100
2/5
I didn't think I knew this band until "Love Plus One" came on. I've definitely heard it somewhere before. Too bad there's all this other music on this record. Okay, it's not that bad. But it's not my thing. There isn't any kind of shared aesthetic concern here and there's way too much sax and steel drums (?) for some British boys. What don't I like: the lyrics, the instrumentation, the overall too-happy vibe. Unless it's jazz or a brass band, I'm a certified saxophone hater so... And that this streaming link isn't the original track listing but is "plus" I'm really not vibing with having more to listen to than the original tracks. It's very 80s. I'm not giving this band any extra time by editing my listening notes into a coherent review; they took the extra time all up with those bonus tracks.
Wilco
4/5
At first it seemed like Tweedy was a little too concerned with rhyming in an almost couplet style. Especially with that pattern being so strongly felt on the opening track, I couldn't help but hear it throughout the double album. Wow. A double. Is this really the Wilco album I must hear before I die? Will there be others? Asking because this is a good record, but it's a picture of the band before they became the Wilco that broke through their own initial constraints. The expanded Wilco, the Wilco++, the Wilco that integrates the disparate pulls of their interests rather than just shifting entirely to different places / sounds / genres / intentions. I didn't hear this until after *that* Wilco was firmly established.
It's hard to listen and enjoy this knowing the amazing work that comes next, and to not compare them against each other. Wilco vs Wilco. In short, this is a good record. A bit long and uneven. A bit clumsy in places. A bit alt rock. A bit country. A bit alt-country. But promising. The amazing thing is that the promise is fulfilled in ways that you can't quite see coming from this record. I mean, they're probably there, but they aren't yet fully known to the band themselves at the time either (at least by how this record sounds and presents itself).
I probably wouldn't have liked this that much if I had heard it when it came out either. Past me likely would've found it frustrating in its lack of focus or found it wanting for a crisp integrated aesthetic. But "now me" does enjoy the meander more (well, at least I can tolerate it) and so here we go...this review is a meandering too. It's a double album of a review. It's on point at times and other times you're left wondering why certain decisions were made. Was that really the best choice there? I don't know. Only time will tell.
Finley Quaye
3/5
Maverick A Strike: Finley Quaye: 1997. Absolutely never heard this or of the artist. I was definitely wondering why this was on the list and had to force myself to have an open mind despite the album cover. It took until the third listen yesterday for it to grow on me. Ultimately I enjoyed enough of it to assign 3 stars but I'll probably forget about it in a month as well.
Beastie Boys
4/5
Ill Communication. Cause you can't, you won't and you don't stop. This was the record that had me reassessing my opinion of the Beastie Boys entirely. The first three records were good, caught all of our attention at the time they came out and were definitely in the air no matter what crew or clique you ran with. But it was Ill Communication that cemented their reputation and had many of us going back to re-listen to records we had put down. It's still one of my favorites of theirs. If it were a little more focused it'd be 5 stars.
The Byrds
2/5
I think this is the 3rd The Byrds album I've been hit with in my time here. It's not helping my opinion of them.
New York Dolls
3/5
I've always admired the Dolls for their attitude and ability to bust out a rock 'n' roll song with swagger and gusto. Clearly they're a precursor and progenitor of some bands that had a serious impact on my musical life. But I've also never been able to fully endorse their records. 3 stars reaching for another.
The Mothers Of Invention
3/5
Listening to this Zappa led The Mothers Of Invention record I'm struck by a thought I can't shake right around the time that "Who Needs the Peace Corps" is winding down. This sounds so solidly and ready to be on Sebadoh's early albums. Frankly, yes I said FRANKLY, despite the attention span zig and zag this is one of the most enjoyable Zappa led recordings I've heard. It has better sound quality and songcraft than a track off of Weed Forestin' or The Freed Man but you can hear how and where they fit together in a way that I find delightful. This comparison is a complement in both directions to be clear.
Brian Eno
4/5
Before and After Science, "No One Receiving" is straight up before and after LCD Soundsystem. Give me that 70s Eno who looked into the future and brought back songs that stand the test of time. Not every Eno track shines on this album like some of his others but there are plenty of delights to be had; e.g. "By This River" is a gem.
Jorge Ben Jor
4/5
This album is one that demonstrates how good the 4 star tier is from this list. I enjoyed it greatly. There are some absolute bops on it. It's an album that really has me reconsidering if music from the 1970s in just about any genre or type of music is just to my taste no matter how much I want to shake that image and understanding. When I give this albums 4 stars, it is only because after a few listens today there are a couple of tracks that pull this from a 4.5 to something just slightly lower and have me rounding down rather than up. I try to keep that 5 star assignment to stuff that I find truly sublime for one reason or another. This record is close, but not quite at that level.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
Ragged Glory is a ragged record with a few ramshackle tracks just wandering too much or Neil's trademark voice harshing things up in a way that almost sounds affected. Not that he's one to be charged with artifice and have it stick. Overall, a Neil Young album tends to rate highly with me, but this one isn't among my top favs of all time for him. Still it's a solid 4 stars.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
4/5
Why does this record need to be so hard to get the full stream of? Paul Simon are you messing with Ladysmith Black Mambazo after all these years?
A cappella music can be compelling when done well. This record (cobbled together from Spotify and Youtube) sounds convincing. There's also a 30 years revisiting of the record on Spotify which might not have the same spark but gives you a good outline of it too. Not my usual music of choice. I'm not reaching for an a cappella record in ninety-nine out of a hundred listens, but on that one where I'm feeling like something out of my usual habits I might pull this or something like it out.
Genesis
4/5
Nearly a 5 star rating from me for this British Prog Classic. For the era and genre, it's very listenable even to a more modern ear. It's one of my favorite Genesis albums, and if I'm being honest with myself, I think I return to it more than The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
The Roots
4/5
I feel the structure of this album when I listen to it in its entirety. The sequencing is deliberate, there's the pre-flight of Phrentrow leading to the solid and true kickoff of Rock You. But where I really sense the intention is how this record is built around the core of Thought @ Work, The Seed(2.0), and Break You Off. Both leading in and exiting the beating heart of the record takes you different places tonally and emotionally before the record ends solidly with Rhymes and Ammo. And, gives us a little rising/falling action by trailing that end with the fun Thirsty!
Black Sabbath
5/5
Do you like heavy music? Same here. ~217 days after their debut album Black Sabbath drops Paranoid. It's like the question was asked and answered in 1970 and forever. 🤘🏻
George Harrison
5/5
There is an album's worth of stellar material here and another record's worth of very good songs, too. I would've left out the "Apple Jam" tracks from the initial release myself given they are slightly lesser songs. That George Harrison gifted all of them to us at the same time is an act of artistic confidence and righteous subtweeting of former bandmates. For me, at the tail end of 2024, it's a 4.5 star listening experience when taken all together.
Ice T
3/5
Respect to Ice-T for pursuing his rock/metal hip-hop and acting dreams. Here's a kid from New Jersey that moves to LA at around 12 years old and makes a name for himself in music and more. That said, this OG record is too long and some of the songs have not aged well (mostly in the lyrics, but sometimes in the sound of the music itself). Not enough forward momentum or hooks — usually you can let go of one or the other but things are rough for listeners when you let both slip once you've established the genre you're working in. Combine that with some production choices that make this at times a sonically unpleasant album to hear definitely drags the final score down to a middling 3 despite a good effort on a number of tracks.
Minutemen
5/5
This is Bob Dylan to me. We listened to a lot of the Minutemen as young skate punks even though they'd already disbanded long ago with the passing of d boon. You could catch Watt and Hurley in fIREHOSE for a hint of the magic that the minutemen were live — kind of projecting yourself backward in time mapping that imagery onto this album and others. It was before Youtube after all. The whole album is a hearty stew fit for skaters, indie kids, punks, surfers and truckers alike. Anyone with ears and a heart, really. Double Nickels on the Dime is an easy 5. It's right there in the title if you think about it. Fifty-five, five out of five.
Super Furry Animals
2/5
I've always wanted to like this band, who wants to be accused of not being a friend to animals?, but their music never clicked with me. Rings Around The World did not improve their case. Listening to this album was a painful experience at times. Not every song was bad, but not enough of them were good.
Drive-By Truckers
2/5
It's mid. Just some plain country rock with a sprinkle of the era's alt-rock vibes. I prefer Steve Earle, Uncle Tupelo/early Wilco, and the Old 97s of which the Drive-by Truckers seem to be the more generic mix of.
The Cardigans
4/5
Too much sugar in this pop for my tastes, but I understand the appeal. I prefer the 90s indie-pop approach to feel either more like Saint Etienne who put a sophisticated wrapper around things or Komeda which takes similar ingredients but makes it weirder.
The Cardigans covering Iron Man in their style isn't weirder, it's a clever content substitution. I'm half-charmed by it but it also reveals a certain kind of one dimensionality you can charge the band's output with: the cute idea amidst the gloss. But my least favorite tracks are the cute-forward ones. This cover, despite it not being among my favorite songs on the record, is a good example because it's less subtle than other times, here the cute idea is too front and center. More often, it's clever little twists in lyrics and knowing winks in the music like when "Heartbreaker" incorporates a musical quote of Black Sabbath's Black Sabbath (excellent). Or the subtle cuckoo/bird sounds at the start of "Your New Cuckoo" (mercifully brief, nicely sitting in the mix). Or a deceptive direction the lyrics take in a love song (the most enduring and endearing move).
This is a low four or a high three star rating. The first couple of tracks are very strong. As you move through the record, the cleverness can pass you by in which case your impression might just be the shiny pop gloss and without picking up on some of the more interesting things about it. Even though this is a true Swedish pop mix with the vocals super forward I think the album benefits from being played loud. Put your pop on blast.
Of course, Lovefool sparkles brilliantly as the gem of the collection. A near perfect pop confection, it raises the entire record a star on its own. And so, in the end, The Cardigans may not have made it to five stars but they did manage four and I guess that along with being the first band on the moon is not such a bad thing after all.
Ride
4/5
Listening to Ride's Nowhere today has been instructive. From a measurement perspective, this record is a high four rating. But that is beside the point. This record reminds me that my listening pleasure is pinned to a few qualities that must be present in some amount for it to work for me: urgency, dynamics, and melody. Basic stuff, but also there's a critical role that volume plays in a band like Ride where without it you miss a lot of what is there on offer. Ride often seem to be chasing a wave or a washing over you feeling that isn't as effective when it's quiet. When things are quiet you might be able to tell if the song is urgent or if its rhythm is languorously applied and so you may be fooled into a feeling of monotony that volume will reveal shouldn't be an adjective you'd apply at all. Anyway, in short, sometimes the album of the day just needs a second listen with the volume cranked up so you can correct a first impression; e.g. "Sometimes the Ride just doesn't seem to take off. Today's album of the day should've been an easy win. Maybe I was distracted or maybe too many songs were too similar?" Glad I got that sorted and was able to appreciate the record in full.
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
5/5
So far ahead of its time this album has been standing behind you all along. If we stopped to listen, we might find Franti in our ear laying many truths bare. Names and technologies change but a record like this shows us what the constants are — and it's an ugly scene.
Björk
4/5
Are we sometimes numb to the continued greatness of an artist? For me Vespertine is an album where, at this point in listening to her, Björk continues to be a stellar artist and performer but she's ceased to amaze me. To be clear, the flaw is here with my ear...with the way we take in information, demand novelty and define the terms of success for others in meeting it. Atmosphere, minimalism can be hard roads to turn on to at times for artists when so many hold their own expectations against them. Great record, but four stars because I'm numb and dumb.
Calexico
4/5
Feast of Wire offers immediate delights while holding up to repeat listens — always sparking my interest whenever it comes on. And yet, I'd long forgotten about Calexico. This album reminds me that is on me, not the material.
The Dandy Warhols
2/5
I could never keep this band, who I did not listen to, straight in my mind from the Lemonheads, because you know Evan Dando and Dandy Warhols share a few letters. Sometimes, it's just enough of of a semantic stake to separate a band from your psyche. Speaking of PSY...starting words, I do like the psychedelic and shoegaze elements to the music and appreciate the confidence of a 7 min opener.
This is like a 3 star record, but unfortunately for it in retrospect, they made it in an era where an hour and six minutes of music was thought desirable. This is not a way to gain fans. We're not left wanting more. But rather we got too much. This record is easily 20 mins too long. Cut some of the weaker tracks and save for b-sides or other things. Please! Rounding the rating down for poor 1990s decision-making. I contend that if just the 3 least good songs were cut it'd have doubled many people's enjoyment.
Bauhaus
4/5
Here's a band with uneven records demonstrating that you can have a place in my heart with a few well-crafted songs over the course of a career despite wild fluctuations in quality on their albums.† Favorably we might call that bravery. The high marks, the brilliant moments of Bauhaus are a little further in between on this record, however. Is it my least favorite or second least favorite of their 1980s studio albums? Tough choice.
† Though we have to remember to only rate the original release (tracks 1-10) given how much we might side-eye the CD bonus tracks.
Bob Dylan
3/5
Glad to have been born and raised without an irrational love of Dylan, so that I can appreciate each song for what it is without the baggage of an aura. Great opening track. After that, most of the songs are too bluesy for my blood, but I appreciate the bite in the delivery and the sharpness of the lyrics on many of them (despite Dylan loving a couplet a little too much). By and large if you're going to lean into the older forms you could do a lot worse.
3/5
Solid vibe but ~25 years later it doesn't sound all that remarkable (yet it probably 🤯 in 1999).
Paul Weller
1/5
Absolutely competent, but ultimately a crushing disappointment.
Mr. Weller's songwriting has aged out of my taste. I'd rather throw on the worst B-side riddled album by The Jam any day of the week over this mid-tempo boomer rock. I am legit sad to have heard this record.
Sonic Youth
4/5
I enjoy this 80s almost goth era of sonic youth. Their noisy psych feels more post post-punk while it still carries the torch of their no wave inspirations and influences but in a more flatly affected, ready-to-drone way. This record is less wholly composed and artistically complete than either Sister or Daydream Nation but it is as interesting and enjoyable for its differences.
Peter Gabriel
5/5
If you listen to enough music across eras, you can tell this is a 1980s record from the jump just by its tonal and sonic qualities. And yet, this is also one of the most well-mixed and produced albums of its time (quite possibly of all time). It sounds wholly itself. The beautifully crafted Red Rain is a masterful opener. Don't Give Up shows an affective range and emotional counterpoint to the other hits. With Sledgehammer, Big Time and In Your Eyes as tent pole songs it's difficult to see this as anything other than a high water mark for eighties popular music. These are smart songs where even the slower tempos (e.g. Mercy Street) give you plenty to sink into and for your ear to hear. Simply put, I believe it's one of the best sounding records with some of the best pop songs that I've heard.
Fleet Foxes
4/5
Fleet Foxes slipped through my fingers during their most active years. Whispers of them here and there but always just sort of outside of my acquisition. Being familiar with a lot of the circle they traveled in makes hearing this album quite resonant with references near and dear. It didn't capture my heart immediately so it's not a five star review but it's a record full of promise to grow into that appreciation.
Wild Beasts
3/5
In theory I should really dig this, but the execution mostly displeases me. There will be others who hear it who aren't as put off as I am by many of Wild Beasts' melodic choices and the vocal approach. Two Dancers feels like a record that I can hear where they wanted to take the music but didn't quite get there, instead of it being an album that fully realizes its territory for the listener.
Grateful Dead
1/5
I have very little patience to witness in the unfolding of time the development of matter that becomes a seed, which seems unstructured outside of its shell, that with rain, sunlight, other nutrients and microscopic miracles grows into a plant that in the beginning is so soft, so noodly, it appears to take an entire season or more to grow strong enough to support the bearing of colorful fruits in myriad sizes that are then allowed to grow ripe and somehow do not seem to get utilized by the fauna of the ecosystem but instead remain a little too long past their prime to ultimately be plucked by a free-spirited patchouli wearing human, carried miles home on the wind to the magic bus only to be made into a jam for others in a merry band.
I need more focus and pace in my music. If you've made it this far in my purposefully meandering review, trying to evoke the vibe of the album, then maybe you already have a higher tolerance than I do. But if you've seen hippies dance ecstatic and bare of foot for hours in the rain only to wonder how or if you'd ever be on the inside of that inscrutable experience then you might understand why I can't give this album more than 1 star despite the Dead's legendary status and the fact that there are some shining moments, scattered like seeds, within.
Bob Dylan
3/5
It's Bob Dylan. You can get over his voice and harmonica or you can't. It's not my favorite record of his, but it's better than a few others. And this one has the honor of being divisive for having some electric (GASP!) instruments on it. The pearl clutching from the folkies is worth half a star in the rating at least.
ABBA
2/5
It's ABBA. You can get over their angelic lilting voices and disco infused mid-tempo pop arrangements or you can't. It's not my favorite record of theirs, but it's better than their worst. I won't reach for The Visitors independent of this moment ever, but my soul is mostly unscathed from the encounter.
Bad Company
2/5
I think we had some bad company at the house where I grew up at some point in time. This definitely feels like music my POP would've had on when he wasn't blasting something better.
"I take whatever I want and baby I need you..."
So some of these lyrics have not aged particularly well and yet they also seem quaint by comparison to more current lyrics with questionable sex and gender politics. Speaking of quaint, mid-tempo blues played by thoroughly competent British rockers now seems to sit in that territory as well. Though props to Bad Company for writing a song about themselves / name checking the band. All notions of "Badness" in Bad Company have all but vanished into Boomerdom. Although to be fair it could just be in hibernation and will come back as it once did (a la Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive and similar sounding songs).
The Darkness
2/5
My heart only has limited room for theatrical rock falsetto and this record isn't going to knock anyone out of their spot. It's perfectly fine, the lyrics are not significantly worse than other records but they're certainly not better either. The jams are competent if a little lacking in gusto at times but there are enough head turning hooks that I can see why they have an audience. Many people probably like this record. It's a strong 2 stars, but still only 2 from me.
The Divine Comedy
2/5
Someone somewhere is going to love this Casanova back. It's a strong, particular flavor this. Not to my taste though I can recognize it has idiosyncratic pleasure to offer.
Beth Orton
3/5
Sometimes you write a long review only to step back and realize all you've said was you liked a record well enough — your criticisms are so minor they don't even seem worth posting. In short, it's a good record, but I found it to be too long by 4 songs.
Django Django
3/5
This record is good, but it's also a symbol of how difficult it is to declare classic records before 20 years are up. Because while good, I don't know if it quite rises to the criteria of being an album I need to hear before I die.
The second listen—a lot louder—was better than the first. I could feel the momentum through the first 4 songs but things did wane. A few tracks in the back half I might've cut entirely but they did a good job sequencing some strong songs (Wor, Storm, Life's a Beach) in there to keep the listener going.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
3/5
Breakdown and American Girl are stone-cold classics. Most of the rest of the songs struggle to distinguish themselves by hewing a little too close to classic rock n' roll forms. The next tier of tracks are definitely better than filler, but they lack the spark of Petty's best work. I argue that you could hear them on a number of other artists' records at the time. Finally, I'd say there are a couple of throwaways but I'll leave that exercise to the listener. This album really is just 3 stars as a whole, reaching for greatness but not there yet.
Amy Winehouse
3/5
Lovely voice, tragic life, okay record.
Sinead O'Connor
3/5
About half of this record I know already from hearing elsewhere but I've never listened all the way through. Some great songs, but overall it's missing a flow that pulls me through and leaves me wanting more. Since I should not want what I haven't got, I guess that's okay.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
3/5
1971 is a time where this kind of music can be released with an armored tank-mouse on the cover, and it really sells. Tarkus takes up all of side 1 of the vinyl. It's 71% baffling to have all these markers of what would not be successful today be so evident here. Truly a different time. The aliens are us.
Ali Farka Touré
3/5
10 songs, 1 hr of music. Not bad, but if you're completely unfamiliar with it and don't speak the language then it might be more than what you're ready to take on in one sitting these days. Nice that you can drop in at just about any song and have the vibe feel right and true. This record is solidly itself throughout.
Muddy Waters
3/5
This is truly great blues music with impressively delivered lyrics that in some cases haven't aged very well. If you're going to listen to the blues, then it might as well feel true. Muddy Waters will get you there.
Janelle Monáe
5/5
A striking album that I've been listening to since it came out in 2010. I still return to this record given its eminently listenable with fantastic hooks and themes. It's fatal flaw from being the fullest of my five stars is that the interludes, tempo and vibe shifts means that this record is neither completely a hype/dance record nor is it totally a chill/relax record either. That said I'm certain its in-betweenness is an important part of what makes it continually rewarding and interesting. And yet, without a single mood or vibe to map it onto it can sometimes lose out to more straightforward albums with their one-dimensional tone.
White Denim
4/5
I've deleted more words than I've saved in writing about White Denim here. This record smartly keeps the songs moving — all 10 of them clocking in at ~ 37 minutes of mostly uptempo, blended-genre music. A qualified 4 stars where the commentary is now missing. It's elusive, just like my feelings about this record.
Fugazi
5/5
You say I need a job? / I've got my own business.
This record is a gift to a younger me. It found me at the right time and place in my life. Still singable, quotable and filled with absolute bangers to this day.
1, 2, 3, Repeater.
Five Stars.
--//--
It's not a hot take to ask: is this Fugazi's best album or is it just my favorite Fugazi album? I think it's widely acknowledged that Repeater, 13 Songs, Red Medicine, and The Argument could all be the best Fugazi record depending on who you ask and when you ask them. Even Steady Diet of Nothing, End Hits and In on the Kill Taker have their well spoken cha-cha-Champions. I can't answer it for you.
Never mind what's been selling.
Booker T. & The MG's
2/5
Who's going to walk in and stomp all over Green Onions? It might be me. Western popular music lovers all owe a debt to Booker T. & The M.G.s. but 1962 it isn't anymore and now much of this music sounds more like stale cheese than the pungent and powerful onion. I won't shackle it with a one star review, I reserve those shameful designations for true abominations of history and crimes against our ears. But time and the way people and culture move through it has taken what one day may have been a 5 star album down and cut these Green Onions in half to a 2.5 star review.
Eminem
2/5
Very rarely do I connect with Eminem's lyrics, but like nearly everyone living in my time and place I've heard a lot of his records. The Marshall Mathers LP is no exception. Listening to it today, it's even more difficult to enjoy despite one or two standout tracks. And that's likely going to be a significant factor in this review: I have reached the point where I want to enjoy what I'm listening to. The rough edges don't need to be sanded down for that to happen. I enjoy challenging music. I enjoy provocative lyrics and themes. I enjoy sonically interesting production including decisions that most might call harsh or extreme. But I'm not shy about wanting to be hooked into a landscape of sound, rhythm, texture and imagery that I find compelling. I want music I hunger to listen to on repeat. This record ain't it.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Oh, jazzy Joni, I don't love this record as much as some of your others (please never say "shuck and jive" again) but I also can't help but enjoy some of the tracks here. This 49 year old record doesn't sound totally staid like a lot of other music that came out in 1975 so I've got to give Mitchell her due praise as well.
Public Enemy
5/5
It's a hip-hop/rap classic for a good reason. Welcome to the Terrordome / Fight the Power / Brothers Gonna Work It Out / 911's a Joke / Fear of a Black Planet. Chuck D and PE don't always speak for me, but they make their case solidly. Even the lesser tracks are good, and while I'd be inclined to cut everything under 1 minute maybe that messes with the flow... The production on this album is fantastic. This record sounds amazing today. The Bomb Squad definitely deserves their flowers.
Death In Vegas
2/5
When it comes to British DJ output I'm going to have to take the project's word for it that a release is culturally important or had some impact on its own genre or was a part of a musical dialogue with other musics. I confess this today only because there are other releases I've been given where it's been obvious to me that the taste between myself and the producer were not a match so I just dinged them some stars and moved on. And while there have been a handful (like two so far) times where I've given a DJ/producer a four or above rating, it's rare that I hear something in the category and both enjoy the music and know something about its production and reception that I feel good about doing so. // Insofar as Death In Vegas is concerned: great name and a laid back vibe that can be described as darkly, cool. Unfortunately, I'd argue that album quality cannot be sustained by vibe alone. The vocal guest stars are fine, from what I understand the bloke on the second track is not saying that I've lost my dinner, but that's what I thought initially. The themes on Aisha seem so totally cliched in that late 90s way as to be funny to me. The other one or ones that come later were largely forgettable. // Okay, I wrote a lot just because I felt like it but I'm not telling you anything new. I am mirroring the music. // This record is barely just fine. The only surprise on it for me was the amount of traditional instrumentation on it. // My beef slash point might be that I expect each record to be here for a reason and oftentimes I can't really hear it on its own with studio/DJ productions, especially when it sounds just like someone who happened to have the right gear at the right time and knew the right people (i.e. this record).
Basement Jaxx
3/5
Not my thing. But at least you can dance to it.
The The
3/5
Back when I was a young skate punk, one of my friends had an older brother who was into this record. Based on the compelling cover art we pilfered the cassette for the day along with Among the Living by the US metal band Anthrax. This is not a triumphant story for The The. We ejected Infected out of the boom box before Out of the Blue was even over and skated to Anthrax all day long.
Sometime later watching either Post Modern MTV or 120 Minutes, I'd see the video for The Beat(en) Generation from The The's Mind Bomb record and really like that track. But I'd not get into that record very much. Later, I'd recall Infected's amazing cover art (I hope Matt compensated his brother Andy well) and finally get around to listening to the whole thing.
With that first skate day's error eventually corrected, and now some decades past hearing this record again for this project, I'm comforted in my assessment that The The are a great singles band but a poor album band. They are capable of writing amazing rough cut gems that can be vibrant and flawed but when you put those loose gems together it might just feel more like a bag of gravel than rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds.
In short, we made the right decision that day as young skate punks.
Iron Maiden
4/5
I'm not so deep into the Iron Maiden scene that I owe any allegiance to their early work. But for me, Bruce Dickinson joining is when the Beast is truly spawned. Everything is now here, the music on this album is the Maiden template galloping tempos, melody forward bass, dual guitar harmonization, blistering solos, tons of unison runs where guitar and bass sync up and that clean, multiple octave quasi-operatic singing style. This is a band whose songs focus on melodic development and thematic variation — they are not a band who are going to ride a groove directionless, they're always driving somewhere.
Overall, this isn't my favorite album of theirs and I'm no super fan. There are a lot of ways in which I can enjoy Iron Maiden e.g. their musicality, technical prowess, and their willingness to explore themes of freedom and control in their lyrics but there are a number of ways in how they do these things just doesn't align with my taste. So, take this record for what it is and recognize if you like the first 3 songs you're likely to really enjoy the rest (especially given Number of the Beast, Run for the Hills and Hallowed Be Thy Name are all still to come).
Baaba Maal
3/5
I'd rather hear a greater diversity of musics like this than yet another US or British album whose relevance I'm left to question. I listened to this record two or three times and enjoyed it more each go around. I can only hope that my level of enjoyment would increase if I understood the subject matter and approach to the themes of the songs (although I have enough experience with listening to music to know that is not guaranteed). Maybe it is that ambiguity or gap that leaves the creators of this 1001 catalogue —Robert Dimery and crew — reticent to remove English language entries but I hope as the book and project evolves over time they become more brave and adventurous in their editing of the canon they've created.
Leftfield
3/5
My knowledge of house music and other genres of edm is shallow at best but I can recognize a well-crafted record when I hear one. I found that most of the guest appearances added to the energy and vibe of the track (although I'm only familiar with the Curve singer and John Lydon, of course, because that guy never met a microphone he didn't like). This album is levels above some other DJ led projects this project has recommended/served me.
Fishbone
2/5
Fishbone is a band you want to like or that you feel you ought to like, but when you listen to them again after a break of several years, and listen deeply, you can't shake that realization you had decades ago that they are just good but not great. Maybe too you might be kind of amazed at how big they got. It's enough to make you doubt yourself... But trust those ears and that taste my friend! No matter how important they were to the scene or how fun they were live, if there's very little outside of a couple of moments to hold your interest in listening to this record then let that truth and soul be known.
Lightning Bolt
5/5
Sorry the review is so short. I spent my writing time hauling the largest speaker possible up to my room to assault my ears with clamorous drums, frantic yelps, and distorted bass in an exploration of texture, rhythm and volume. Got struck by a Lightning Bolt on the way.
Laibach
2/5
Never cared much for them though I quietly admire their tenacity in sticking to the bit. Unfortunately, that wry line between parody and endorsement is uncontrollable. At least when it comes to Opus Dei, it's clear to me that the music itself is not to my taste.
The Thrills
3/5
This band had a moment and that moment has past. Now this album has been rolled into an early 00 indie sound-alike Katamari that's receding in a hazy memory. Not quite old enough, or stand out enough, to get a lift from nostalgia for the era we have to take it on its merits alone. And you know what? It's fine. A little too twee and a little too nasally for me, but not so bad as to be stuck with a one or two star rating but only just barely a three.
The Teardrop Explodes
4/5
This record defies labels, but if you need an easy handle here you go. It's 80s pop cut with post-punk for listeners who like more psychedelic and disco/funk elements in their music than either genre typically allows. Okay, you need even easier. That was a lot, I get it. Do you like Echo and the Bunnymen, Wire and Gang of Four? If yes, you're all set. There's more horns and organ than I usually like, but for the most part the eclecticism is well-integrated. It's surprisingly smooth to slide into their world and give a four star rating.
Dolly Parton
3/5
This album was going to sell no matter what the cover design was going to be, but it looks like the instruction given the graphic designer that day was to discourage anyone from looking at it. Not my particular cup of country music but the vocal performances are excellent and a few of the tracks are captivating (although each performer has something better to offer somewhere else). A Trio of Stars.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
Pet Shop Boys are actually a singles band more than an album artist. This record has four of them, two of which my reaction to is actually pictured on the cover. While It's a Sin and What Have I Done to Deserve This are classics I actually endorse when it comes to dance pop. The rest of the record is mostly forgettable or (perhaps better said) should be forgotten, actually.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
2/5
Sensational is an apt word. By definition something need not be quality to be sensational. In fact, there may well be some facet of the presentation that provokes interest that is in direct contradiction of the standards and norms of the day for what is good. This is lusty, stompy, mid-tempo bog rock that's about to embarrass itself like someone's dirty uncle. Trying a bit too hard to be confrontational in its heaving sleaze on a number of tracks. Its shock value and cultural significance worn nearly all away while remaining deeply cringe. These glam, proto-punk songs are like a tarnished belt buckle with a sculpted pin-up girl plate removed from its leather and thrown away in a drawer because it belonged to some soon-to-be incarcerated, renegade relative. Maybe every once and a while you open the drawer, shuffle the contents around and the buckle peeks out at you—still lewd and begging to be recycled, melted down and reforged. The impulse to shock an audience still exists, it is one of the great impulses, but it has to be remade with the times.
The Rolling Stones
2/5
The Rolling Stones have remained remarkably true to their roots it would appear. It turns out they were mid all along.
Def Leppard
3/5
Def Leppard all polished up for radio saturation. This album is the sound of a band whose already doing well making a bid for the brass ring. The music is totally in line with expectations for "hard rock" of the era. For all its posturing and gestures towards being tough this music is fairly benign with all the rough edges sanded off.
Sabu
3/5
Be careful! This album goes by quick and if you're streaming you might just absorb more than the 8 songs of Palo Congo by Sabu before realizing it. I appreciate the energy of this record, especially for 1957. It reminds me that pace and gusto have always been present in music from eras that would otherwise like to push those elements back.
Billy Bragg
3/5
It's Billy Bragg and Wilco putting unrecorded lyrics of folk-hero Woody Guthrie to music and committing them to tape. The album meets some level of "It's important" criteria by existing at all. It doesn't hurt that it's broadly listenable to the modern ear too. We have the expanded, complete sessions in the house somewhere and so listening to just this record is a welcome, focused revisiting. There's heartbreak and humor, up and down tempos, and some blue-collar, working class truths in here. Although, speaking of the truth, the record is not as singular and incandescent as the best work from any of the contributors. It's charming and okay. It's more like a middle American roadside diner than it wants to admit.
The Adverts
4/5
An excellent early punk album that needs more love. My only wish is that it would've been recorded a bit more crisply. The Great British Mistake was not featuring this band more at the time.
3/5
Definitely, Maybe it's sacrilegious to say (What's the Story) Morning Glory is an easier pill to swallow for a non-fan, but I think it is. It'll never be one of my desert island albums but it's a more approachable oasis.
Kid Rock
1/5
"You've got to be kidding!" was my reaction to seeing that this album had made the list. The ironic distance needed to listen to this album must be the size of the Atlantic is all I can think contributed to its inclusion. I start playing it on the streaming service and notice Kid Rock is sitting at a little over 5 million monthly streams and I've had a crisis of identity as someone who once thought he had good taste in music. And yet, 1 minute in I knew it was the world that was insane and my initial response to Kid Rock and his music has always been sound. This record is trash. There are better celebrations of hedonism and the Dionysian spirit than this.
Duran Duran
4/5
Iconic 80s singles and videos. Duran Duran was such a club band. The occasionally forgettable filler material weights this otherwise excellent album down. There's just one or two too many tracks that contribute nothing but a feeling of tedium when listening to the record end-to-end. Unforgettable album cover though.
The Kinks
2/5
I don't know what it is about 1960s British pop but it all blends together for me in a way that this album, despite its delights, is just one among many jangly others. I'm sure it was groovy when it came out decades ago but it fails to keep my sustained interest over the course of its track list today.
Frank Sinatra
4/5
I almost don't know what to feel when I hear the first track on this superstar crossover from the Sixties. It's strangely compelling yet somehow off or out of place in my ear. It's the ghosts of Getz and Gilberto. It's not the only one, just the most powerful, some of these tracks are thoroughly haunted by other renditions. But Sinatra's softly boozy baritone is hard for me to argue with; it's pleasant, especially over a bossa nova infused studio orchestra. Overall, this album is eminently listenable even if culturally uneasy at times.
Happy Mondays
3/5
Inheritor of the Jagger Swagger — certainly the singer holds his notes a little too long as he pushes them out trying to birth his own cool. The dance album Mick aways wanted to make — just take the 6 and turn it upside down to 9 to make your decades dip and flip to another era. Both of the sentences prior start with an implied question and end with a statement, but is it possible to switch the order for this sentence? A bit of nonsensical, mildly clever fun to stretch the content further seems appropriate for these Happy Mondays who take an idea into the 5 minute mark for the club more often than they take out the trash.
Jimmy Smith
3/5
Do you like the organ when you hear it? Do you love that fat syrupy sound? Is that your jam? If so, you'll be thrilled when you play this record. If you're not an organ enthusiast, you probably won't unless you happen to find mid-tempo blues vamps with a side of jazzy struts enjoyable. The album is a vibe. Even at its most energetic it still feels laid back with some pleasant bounce and slight swing to contrast with its more sedate moments. It would make for fine background music on a sunny day doing lunch on the back patio with a few friends — or so I imagine.
Gotan Project
2/5
Tango-infused French Electronica. It's so pleasant to the ear I wonder if it means I've gotten old? Bores me after a while, I guess I'm still young enough!
The Icarus Line
2/5
A lesser version of other snotty rock bands of the era. This list continues to disappoint with its loud selections from 2000. They just can't seem to find the sweet spot between loud and rock.
Everything But The Girl
3/5
Elsewhere I've gushed about Everything But the Girl. With Walking Wounded the sparkle loses some of its luster. I think my heart only has enough room for two of their records despite finding Tracey Thorn's vocals to be a particularly welcome balm whenever they come on. For me this album is caught in the trap most artists I like struggle to get out of: "more of the same, only now it's no longer new" — only the rare few produce more of the same that is somehow still exactly what I need. I realize this review is much more about my psychology than their music, but isn't every review on this page an expression of this truth?
Lambchop
3/5
Lambchop could easily be someone's favorite niche band. The twists and turns in their back catalogue providing enough interesting nooks and crannies to explore — songs, albums and eras in the oeuvre to debate and draw lines of distinction across...lyrics to plumb the depths of — that sort of thing. Maybe they edge out Giant Sand for one person or Mercury Rev for another. Or, maybe the listener of Nixon just can't seem to latch on to them and the album just sort of slides by, remaining a little too cloaked in the corners, a bit angled in ungraspable ways...or maybe a bit meh in their mind. Turning this record over and over I can't say which it is for me today.
Talking Heads
5/5
Talking Heads' quirky debut record is not perfect, but it's perfectly quirky. Despite their evolution through infusions of influence, the DNA of the band is confidently presented. Crisply anxious rhythms and musically nervous melodies backing uncomfortably honest lyrics. It's easy to point to the classic songs on the album and rate it highly based on those alone but the truth is that it's a record I've come to love not despite its flaws and less popular songs but because of them.
Randy Newman
2/5
It's great he found a way in this world through making music (given his obvious brilliance at it) but for people like me, I just can't hear his voice without being haunted by You've Got a Friend in Me. Good Old Boys is of course radically different in lyrical content, tone and perspective. Some of the songs are so critical you're practically bleeding from the cuts. Too bad Toy Story towers over everything of his I hear now — the long shadow has been cast.
Ozomatli
4/5
I was a little skeptical at first, but by the first few bars I was into the pulse this music had to offer. Definitely a groove that's got you head nodding as you cross the metaphorical street. I could probably listen to a whole record of their instrumental jams alone, but I appreciate the added depth and message the lyrics bring. Solid.
Beatles
4/5
Oh these guys doing their mid-Sixties jingle jangle music with clear catchy melodies at often jaunty tempos. Beep Beep and Beep Beep Yeah. This is the album before the album where they make their deep run of records that solidifies their greatness. Listen, that's not a diss — there's also something that still pleases the ear about this wax and many of the tracks here are already pointing the way on what's to come. But the fab four are only earning that today.
Dirty Projectors
5/5
This album offers a precise glimmering slice of what so many have tried to offer before. Those of us with ears hungry for something different have often chased after those flawed gems loving them for their brave imperfections. On Bitte Orca you can hear your pick of past exemplars, I have mine but you'll have your own I imagine. I almost don't want to let slip the things I hear. I don't want to narrow the view of this wonderful kaleidoscope. So, just know that x, y, and z or foo, bar and baz are all experimentally sliding around inside an idiosyncratic chamber of delights — a full range of feelings available if you care to spend the time with these Dirty Projectors.
Christina Aguilera
2/5
My first reaction was this is a tacky record cover and my second reaction was this album is 77 mins too long. But then I closed the browser window and tried to put all my judgement aside for an extended, focused listen. Generally speaking, she's got pipes and some tracks got beats and a few tracks mix them together nicely enough. Working through it like an equation for the illusion of impartiality: 77 total minutes - 23 mins of enjoyable musical moments = this album is 54 minutes too long and of that total 54 mins, 1/2 is truly terrible and the other half is merely mid. If we strip it all down, in conclusion, it's roughly a 1/3 good, 1/3 meh, 1/3 trash split. Given the categories the minutes find themselves in, however, we're looking at a two star rating and still wishing something else had come across the page today.
Spacemen 3
4/5
SPACEMEN 3 are more than the band that J SPACEMAN was in before he started Spiritualized and yet for many listeners hearing this record is hearing backwards in time from Spiritualized to this. Maybe at this point in history that's the majority of listeners. There are a few fellow travelers left who heard Spacemen 3 back in the day when this coolly aloof, psychedelic-tinged blues drift would build waveform upon waveform into a delayed crescendo that would wash over an already blown mind. Being stateside I wasn't one of them, I had a friend who dug this music with a passion so I caught what bit of the lightning the tape machine could capture. But even me being SPACEMEN 3 adjacent can't come back to this record and not feel an overwhelming echo of the future slap back upon this listening experience like so much spring reverb. None of this is a complaint. It's not a bad thing. It's the way that it is whenever there's a strong sonic imprint and the two experiences are drawn together in overlap. In both bands, it's not the chords or tempos chosen but the way they are shaped and expressed that has a certain SPACEMAN signature that's inescapable. It's repetition and difference / difference and repetition. Playing with Fire is just a hallucinatory reminder of a phenomenon in a way that only time and experience can provide. If we could truly travel back in history and steal it from the gods to give it to man again for the first time. Only then. Only then. For now, we just have slabs of wax melted into an array, digitized for the stream in a way that collapses our listening into the black hole of the self.
John Martyn
2/5
This record's appearance marks the second attempt by the editors of 1001 albums to hear before you die to raise my awareness of John Martyn. Like last time, this is fine but ultimately not for me. The next edition they should cede one of the album slots to a more recent artist. They'll have to do a John Martyn showdown and pick which one stays. And Me? I can't decided which is more important — they're all a little too much the same to my ear so far and I lack the cultural context to know if one is a landmark record compared to the other. It's strange how music that relies on some common forms can still feel so distant and removed from your experience.
Linkin Park
3/5
Hybrid Theory is a fitting name. It's as if a mad scientist hypothesized the perfect mix of metal, hard rock, hip-hop, and electronic elements to attain maximum appeal. Many had committed their career to fusing rock and rap (e.g. 311, Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, etc) but none had quite dialed in their variables like Linkin Park did here.
Having praised them, now we pull the curtain back. They're not the "innovators" they're often said to be. They are deeply formulaic. Almost every song follows the same structure: rap the verses, sing the chorus, layer in power chords, sprinkle in some turntable scratches or a moody electronic breakdown, then build to an emotional climax. It’s pop music dressed in heavy guitars and angst. Chester’s introspective lyrics and emo vocals (and competent enough rap) gave them a distinct edge over the more aggressive or comedic acts in the genre (it seemed like rock/rap bands were either doing a hip-hop hubris, bravado type of thing or they thought comedy and jokes was the path to popularity).
Hybrid Theory is competent but broad. Twenty-five years later it's too predictable to be truly exciting, yet it's totally effective. You can still turn this record up and respect it. It’s a formula that worked. And, frankly, no other band mining the hybridization of rock/rap has replicated it quite as successfully. Welcome to your 3 stars Linkin Park. You are my highest rated rock/rap record.
Dr. John
3/5
Dr. John has a prescription for the evening. If you can swallow this pill from 1968 you'll be transported to a musical landscape both swampy and cool. If this Rx seems like it isn't for you, maybe it's the questionable cultural appropriation and feeling like the record is "all vibes"? If that's the case, I implore you to try one more time — there is a subtle musicality and craft at work. It's deceptively simple. Enjoy the trip.
Leonard Cohen
2/5
I'm Your Man is the sound of the 80s catching up with Leonard Cohen. It's unmistakably him, but a lesser record than the stuff of his classic era. Everybody knows that the dice are loaded, but it's still 2 stars.
The Beau Brummels
3/5
Progenitors of the San Francisco Psychedelic sound this record has a lot of what I now find tiresome but back then it must've been far out and wild. I can imagine the Beau Brummels inviting me to take a trip with them through their music. To be fair there are still a few nuggets to be found here.
Missy Elliott
4/5
More or less one of the major templates for female fronted R&B / Hip Hop for the next 20 years. In other words, it both led the way and still holds up.
The Dictators
2/5
I had a few punk rock pals who thought the Dictators were the best thing since Wonder Bread and pro wrestling. They loved being in on the joke, reveling in the spoof all while giving you a knowing wink. But I never felt the hook—whether gimmick or song—was all that strong.
Coming up in the same mid-'70s NYC scene that gave rise to my favs the Ramones and the Dead Boys, the Dictators leaned harder into Lenny Bruce like humor, a mix of garage rock and wrestling-ring bravado. And, to those old pals of mine: I get it. Sometimes, it’s fun to root for the underdog, to champion the cult band, but other times, the magic just isn’t there. I had no missing piece the Dictators could fill, so it was easy to leave them behind—at parties, in the car, wherever they were being blasted with enthusiasm.
Eventually, those pals drifted away, and with them, the band’s presence in my life. No more conversations about their misunderstood genius. And honestly? Life is better without dictatorships, don’t you agree?
Metallica
5/5
Master of Puppets is their best album and they've written some real bangers.
Faust
4/5
I could listen to this all day. Pretty much anything with a motorik beat can pull me in. I realized this about 20 years ago when I saw Turing Machine (with the amazing and sincerely missed drummer Jerry Fuchs in NYC). Motorik and noise is an approach to music making that appeals to my ear. My journey back to the source material was ignited then.
Given my long-standing appreciation for all the elements found in this classic album — you’d think my love for Faust IV would be mythical and boundless. And yet, it never quite reached that level. Maybe it’s a historical detachment, a lack of direct connection to them originally, or maybe I’ve just enjoyed Krautrock as a source of inspiration and been drawn into other bands by virtue of starting elsewhere.
Listening to this record on repeat today didn’t change my feelings, it only affirmed them. Sometimes, that’s enough. And, four stars seems awfully fitting anyway.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme is not my favorite Simon & Garfunkel album, but it's up there. The Dylan diss track precedes Drake and Kendrick Lamar by some time but the level of vitriol feels contemporary. A petty Paul Simon can be a wonderful thing and obviously Garfunkel was a good counter-balance. Helping the album be more than just Paul, Paul, Paul. And let's be real, it would've been.
One shameful thing about this album people often talk about is the lack of song writing credits here and there. Relatedly, from the searches I've done, I need to know if Bob Cato is only the photographer of the cover or did he also do the graphic design? Because it's a crime if there's an uncredited genius out there who drew and/or typeset the artist and album name. 🔥
Ryan Adams
1/5
Ryan's apologies and recent sobriety might help him come off my skip list (you can look his past behavior and decide for yourself) eventually. I used to enjoy this record a good bit, though not as much as Heartbreaker, but since hearing about how he treats other people I'd felt that the flag's upside down for a reason.
Since I don't dock every jerk musician stars for misbehaving maybe I should go easy on this guy? I'm fully aware of the conundrum of separating the artist from their art. And, I acknowledge that I often apply my own standards unevenly. I try to not live in a world of absolutes though. I to try to take something of the artist and their context into account on the one hand and ultimately I try to not let that "allowing the person into the discussion" to interfere with the final aesthetic judgments on the other. It really is a case-by-case basis act of balance. I'll also confess that the ones I have the most difficulty with are musicians and artists I personally admired or enjoyed for a long stretch of time, that I somehow felt I "grew up with" along the way only to have that person's transgressions and trespasses revealed. I guess Ryan could take it as a compliment then that I struggle to enjoy his music anymore. He might smile a little knowing that he's as close as he is to Morrissey and Kanye both.
Maxwell
2/5
I like funky smooth music, but I felt like Maxwell was into sexy times far more than I felt comfortable with on this first date.
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
Dubby, noodly, and droney, Metal Box didn’t resonate with me at first. Just a great thud. Maybe I was too young to grasp that artists could completely change direction—not just evolve, but zag where you expected them to zig—that they might seek out creative destruction of the idea of their former selves. My only real reference at the time for a group whose sound I had noticed changed was the Beatles; and even their stylistic leaps felt less jarring than the cognitive whiplash of going from the Sex Pistols to PiL at 12 or 13 years old. By the time I was listening both bands were removed from their original context and my young lizard brain wanted PiL to continue something I had found in my idea of the Pistols. Take that expectation and take that PiL — a kid might recoil.
And for this album in particular, maybe it’s just a matter of sequencing and song selection. It succeeds more when in Swan Lake and less with an Albatross. Mix things up (Albatross as a closer) and pull the least good song entirely might help this album land better. But if Lydon’s mission was to wag a bony middle finger at the industry and sometimes the listener, then mission accomplished.
Like I said, I was listening out of time and out of context but my sense is that PiL was still early in articulating the dub-punk sound. And while some tracks on Metal Box are quite compelling, I think the overall effect has been better realized elsewhere. In the end, this is a record I’ve mostly wanted to put back in the box.
Pulp
3/5
I have some friends for whom Pulp is their favourite band. Yes. They are citizens of the UK. Why do you ask?
Leonard Cohen
3/5
These are songs from a room, not my favorite Leonard Cohen but not my least favorite of his either. Serious feels every few songs. There are obvious standouts like Bird on the Wire — where if you don't find the beauty and the sadness in it nothing I write can help you see Cohen's gift.
Beach House
5/5
Possibly perfect dream pop. Not shoegaze but gauzy. Detached, floating and slightly medicated. A cool and pleasant hum gently dampened by restraint. Longing, waiting, a sigh.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Lurid murder ballads from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Nearly a 5 star record — it just needed more death, destruction and depravity.
Malcolm McLaren
2/5
Maybe you don’t look at the artist’s name, you don’t look at the album title. Try to step into a windowless, contextless room in your mind. Close your eyes. Maybe it’s dark at first, but as the gentle instrumentation and hand drums of "Obatala" play, you sink into something else, letting your imagination loose. How long do you stay engaged with this slice of the ’80s? One song, two songs, three? When do you break?
Me? I knew too much going in. It was difficult to resist immediately docking points for the artist’s reputation as a Punk “impresario” and reputed liar. Prone to packaging and exploitation only to call it art or resistance. I listened with an open mind but the deeper I got in the record, the more uneasy I felt. Was this simply another case of ’80s-style appropriation gone too far or was there a hint of mockery in it? Either way, what started as curiosity ended in cringe.
Shuggie Otis
3/5
Not unfamiliar with Shuggie Otis, I was hyped to see this album come across the transom. He has that smooth funk sound that is infectious and listenable. Just a nice groove and great delivery. I'd love to hear this album in the hands of an incredible mixer for a remix/remaster but all you need to really do is turn it up.
Joy Division
5/5
There isn't anything I can write that hasn't already been written about Joy Division's Closer and the death of Ian Curtis. It’s tempting to frame the record solely through this lens, to hear tragedy into every note, but even without the surrounding mythos and cultural presence, this record is undeniably great. Austere but never empty. Joy Division, the band, is seemingly in control of their own unraveling again and again. Cold and distant, yet crushingly intimate. This record feels inevitable. Closer isn’t just a collection of songs, it’s a gravitational force.
Herbie Hancock
5/5
Herbie Hancock has had a long and storied career with so many cresting waves that it’s hard to name any one time as the peak but 1973-1976 was undeniably special. Head Hunters (an album so great that the band he formed for it went on to their own successful career), documents Hancock at the forefront of another rising tide. But not just part of that wave, he helped point the way.
This music is supple and propulsive. No doubt, that motion comes from one of the tightest rhythm sections in jazz fusion. Paul Jackson’s basslines are the atomic essence of groove, endlessly elastic, kinetic and hypnotic. Harvey Mason’s drumming is as deep in the pocket as the Mariana Trench, keeping everything simmering just below a boil. Hancock’s clavinet and synth work surfs right on top, playful, slinky and memorable. Popular music genres have been crossing streams since the day anyone put a boundary up. Hancock knew jazz was at its best when electrifying and accretive — absorbing funk, soul, pop and rock. Head Hunters fused it into something smooth, funky and fully locked-in.
Ghostface Killah
2/5
In high school, Wu-Tang Clan could unite hip-hop heads, punk kids, and sportos as easily as red Solo cups. Half of the appeal was the music, half was buying into the mythos. Maybe that’s a backhanded compliment or just a sober assessment decades later.
Listening to any Wu-Tang related record means setting aside some sensitivities—the celebration of the life often comes with a heavy dose of misogyny and profanity. Fishscale is no exception. The strongest tracks are Ghostface at his best — no one can deny The Champ, Whip You with a Strap, and Back Like That— but the album is longer than it needs to be. There are more I'd keep around: Three Bricks, Be Easy, Dogs of War, Clips of Doom, Shakey Dog, 9 Milli Bros, R.A.G.U., and Kilo. But the weaker tracks can’t run with the rest. And, the skits? I’d filter them all out. The best moments save the record, but they’re working hard to hold it up.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
I'm still waiting to review my favorite Elvis Costello albums, but we’re getting warmer. Of this era, Armed Forces is probably my second or third most well liked — a solid record with standout moments. Bruce Thomas’s bass playing is a highlight, with melodic flourishes that keep things bouncy while retaining a punkish approach (albeit more subtle than previous records). There is something about a 70/80s British bassist blending punk with something else whether it be pop, reggae or ska that really catches my ear — see also: Graham Maby, Paul Simonon, Horace Panter and others.
The first three tracks of Armed Forces are outstanding, but the back half dips into a bit of Costello's “sameness” of form and content. Not bad, just less gripping. But the closer What’s So Funny ’Bout Peace, Love & Understanding rescues any lost momentum and leaves us with something memorable. At least I'm always left singing it hours or days later.
So far in this list, I’ve only reviewed Brutal Youth (4 stars) and Imperial Bedroom (3 stars — for reasons, but I still like it). Armed Forces lands comfortably above the latter though I still have to reserve that five star rating for a Costello record I'm sure will come.
Kings of Leon
2/5
Will this be the album that finally shows me why Kings of Leon are (or were) so popular? I try to listen with an open mind but all I hear is a young Cocker wannabe trying too hard to emote over music engineered for maximum indie and/or young indie-tinged Southern Rock appeal. Every rough edge has been sanded to pristine blandness. Maybe the music’s lab-manufactured inoffensiveness amplifies the singer's quirks in the worst way, but I found it grating. Instead of elevating the songs, his voice drags them down. Sometimes my ears just don’t align with the masses, and I’m okay with that.
The Pharcyde
2/5
The Pharcyde has such smooth flow and the kind of production that always holds my ear. The music is hard not to like. But the lyrics haven't aged as well as you might think they have — any sustained focus is going to give you an "Oh Shit" moment.
Common
3/5
I've always appreciated Common's artistry and activism, but I never fully got into his flow. The production is smooth and uniformly engaging, although the record is more of a slow boil. It takes its time to reach its peak and then it recedes again. Like Water for Chocolate rises above other hip hop from 2000 but it also falls short of its promise.
Björk
2/5
Breakup with Barney Björk is not my favorite Björk and it's not all bad just dreary. But when choosing which Björk to listen to I'd go back in time to Vespertine.
Destiny's Child
4/5
I don't need an hour of Destiny's Child but the first quarter of this record is hands down some of the best pop of its decade. A few tracks spread throughout the remaining quarters help prop up the rest for casuals like myself.
Grateful Dead
2/5
What do you want me to do? To do for you? To see you through?
I'll write this honest review.
It's perfectly fine hippie folk music. Ripple is a nice tune. The Dead were better live from what all the boomers have said but it's interesting to hear the framework and song forms that they'd use to launch into long ago, drifting jams for their followers. With that in mind I appreciate that these passable tracks are passing by faster. Sounds like two stars to me.
Ray Charles
2/5
The definition of genius has changed over time, as has my taste in music. But if the old-times are your vibe, it’s hard to go wrong with Ray Charles. And yet this record is hardly the best representation of Ray. The big band arrangements push him into the role of a swinging singer rather than the central star—a music direction choice compounded by poor recording and a less than great mix that doesn’t work for me. Furthermore, the album’s shifting moods between sides make it less of a full-session listen and more of a "pick a side" record. Personally, I prefer side two for "re-centering" Ray.
Elastica
3/5
If heard in a vacuum, this is maybe three or four stars for the punk gone pop being worked through like an interrupted therapy session about your imposter syndrome. Knowing anything about the overall music scene at the time or being a fan of the bands Elastica lifted their best work from (ahem, Wire) is surely enough to pull a star and close the door...and yet Stutter, Connection, Line Up, 2:1, Waking Up are perfect knock-offs. If you like the originals, their charms can be hard to resist.
Hugh Masekela
3/5
Having never heard Hugh Masekela, I found Home Is Where The Music Is to be a pleasant surprise. It blends jazz and touches of Afrobeat into a mix that is sometimes compelling and sometimes more like background music, but it does so in a way that feels natural rather than disappointing. It is at its best when it stretches out with engaging interplay, but the times it recedes into something more gentle and "easy listening" are welcome if you're going to throw it on as atmosphere. Given its an hour and 15 mins that ebb and flow is almost a feature rather than a flaw. A solid listen, though its placement on this list is a bit of a mystery to me.
The Specials
3/5
Does having More Specials make The Specials less special? The Specials’ The Specials is one of my favorite records of the era and yet I never felt like I needed More Specials. Whenever I had the impulse to listen to The Specials, I’d just put on The Specials. That album was truly special, whereas this one is just good…Hey, Little Rich Girl, Do Nothing, and others still shine, but the critiques and anger have softened, the music more composed and developed. It’s more mature, sure, but in becoming more refined, they’ve ceded some of their bite.
Digital Underground
3/5
Joke's on you! I never liked the Humpty Dance. Joke's on us! They went platinum with this record. Not the worst 90s hip hop album either. RIP Shock G for being an indelible part of the 90s even if it wasn't my jam.
Brian Eno
3/5
Brian Eno and David Byrne have a storied history together but My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts never caught fire for me.
Cypress Hill
4/5
The production and vocals immediately take me back to hearing Cypress Hill for the first time… an infectious mix of gritty beats, psychedelic squeals, and distinctive nasal raps. And then to hearing them everywhere for the next four or five years when you couldn’t escape them. They were ubiquitous. One of the few ’90s hip-hop crews that got love coast to coast, and everywhere in between (even on The Simpsons), they smartly sidestepped regional beef and made the real villains anyone trying to kill the vibe. Honestly, they’re still kind of fun to listen to, even if I’m nowhere near their demographic and not doing any of the things they’re writing about.
Country Joe & The Fish
2/5
This record has all you'd expect of late 1960s San Francisco psychedelia—swirling organ, trippy guitar, and loose performances—but it's not a total disaster. When they lock into a structured yet fuzzy groove, it’s passable. But like many albums of its era, it is high on its own atmosphere. Everything goes on too long — the organ drones, the guitar recycles tired electric blues licks, and the smug hippie vocals ramble pseudo-profundities over plodding progressions. If this is Electric Music for the Mind and Body, then my mind and body says, Nope.
Van Morrison
3/5
Will 1973/74's live album It's Too Late to Stop Now be what rehabilitates Van Morrison in my mind? It's March 2025 and it looks like he's playing a pair of shows in Scotland at the end of this month. At minimum, we can safely confirm he was not referring to his musical career when titling this album. But should he have stopped?
The record is surprisingly good. It has some edge and bite — it's a good amount of tight. If I had only this and Moondance to go on I might even say nice things about him and his music. Ultimately, it's too long, too much Van Morrison music for me to wholly endorse. But suffice it to say, I think he answered the question.
The Black Crowes
2/5
The industry was right, there will always be a place for throwbacks. Enough DJs played and enough people bought this Black Crowes record in the 1990s that it ended up on this list of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. I find music this packaged kind of hard to handle, maybe twice as hard.
Arcade Fire
3/5
Neon Bible is Arcade Fire preparing for The Suburbs before they or us knew any better. From its expanding cinematic scope and baroque synth textures to its sharper songwriting and critique of modern life, Neon Bible lays the groundwork. It's a fine record but it won't be their best, their best is yet to come.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
5/5
Psychocandy is iconic post-new wave / proto-shoegaze — there's enough reverb to dream in, enough fuzz to spark the imagination. With all that reverb and fuzz they take the simplicity of Motown R&B and run it through the Velvet Underground’s nihilistic haze. The Jesus and Mary Chain created something that to my ear is both a wash of nostalgia and an abrasive, inspiring look to the future. Nearly 40 years later, it’s a beautiful, sometimes detached and sometimes sneering mess that feels just as essential as when I was sitting in my room drawing a picture of these two from some glossy magazine photoshoot for Jr. High School art class while the cassette rolls on.
Eric Clapton
2/5
Nothing I say about Clapton hasn’t been said before, but I’m just not in the mood for this ’70s blues facade where technical skill is valorized over feeling. There’s no sloppiness, no danger—just Clapton’s effortless confidence and clarity. His pristine tone is the sound of a man playing everything right but never raising the stakes. It’s all so polished, so assured, so tasteful. Cranking the volume doesn’t reveal any hidden fire, it just reveals that everything is perfectly in place. When has perfection ever been good for rock music? Steely Dan would like a word with me, as would Genesis, Dire Straits and Fleetwood Mac—all masters of the pursuit of flawlessness. But at least they aimed high. Clapton is in an even more unenviable place: too safe to be ambitious. All perfection, no pain or pathos.
Buzzcocks
4/5
The Buzzcocks are urgent and catchy — a sharp attack from when pop punk meant something else. Tighter, artier, and driven by a nervous energy racing to new territories. Another Music in a Different Kitchen is more proof that kinetic and angsty music can still be well-crafted.
Fun Lovin' Criminals
2/5
Try to forget the band is called Fun Lovin’ Criminals but the first song won’t let you. They’re one of those half-rap / half-sing-along live band hip-hop things mixing genres and grooves like mid-90s Beastie Boys, The Greyboy Allstars, Ozomatli, and G. Love & Special Sauce. For a hot second, I caught a Big Chief and Morphine connection. Maybe even a little Mellow Gold Beck. Maybe we walked by House of Pain for a second. You probably hear another band from the time they remind you of or maybe you think you haven’t heard them before, but you’ve just heard "around" them, this sound permeating the decade almost as much as grunge. Then Scooby Snacks kicks in and you're back at some high school or college party, or you’re nine and it’s on the radio. It’s a mood. I’m just not sure I need to go back there.
U2
5/5
The snare cracks a march and a shimmery guitar arpeggiates. Yeah, mmm. How long must we sing this song?
Had this on tape, still have it on vinyl and CD. My 6th grade teacher —easily the coolest in the school — introduced the whole class to U2. If the opening three songs don't hook you like it did me, there isn't a reason for you to continue. War isn’t a flawless record, but its potent mix of The Edge's post-punk guitar innovations, Larry Mullen Jr.'s martial inflected drums, Adam Clayton's deceptively perfect bass and Bono's raw emotion hits me every time. Year's later, it’s still an album I want to hear from start to finish.
Van Halen
4/5
To this day this remains one of the best records to air guitar along with. The videos on MTV were essential viewing to understand the full extent of antics to emulate as my friend and I would jump around his living room while they played on the big screen TV. To be clear it's not my favorite Van Halen album and some of David Lee Roth's lyrics are embarrassing now, but 1984 will always have a special place in my understanding of what rock 'n' roll was, is, and can be.
The Psychedelic Furs
3/5
“Dumb Waiters” gave me a surprising Mark E. Smith vibe, which isn’t a connection I’d ever made between The Psychedelic Furs and The Fall before. But Talk Talk Talk will always live in the shadow of its second track, “Pretty in Pink.” As a new wave goth kid, I should’ve been more into this, but the release date lands a little too early for my age. The music on this record is almost too mainstream — brightly polished and radio ready with no dark weirdness left in the corners to keep things interesting. Still, Pretty in Pink pierced through all of culture when it was used in the 1986 movie of the same name. Without that filmic boost the album might have faded further into the past.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
It's Simon & Garfunkel, where you'll find classic compositions constructed to intrigue your ear and invite your contemplation. For me it's America, Old Friends, Mrs. Robinson, and Hazy Shade of Winter that stand tall amongst the Bookends. But like every Simon & Garfunkel album I've ever listened to, there will be songs less satisfying and choices I puzzle over. Great but not perfect, maybe that's where they'd rather be.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
It's a very good reggae album but there are fewer hooks that pull me in — just steady offbeat and one-drop rhythms to float on. The grooves are warm and consistent, the singing honest and true, but the songs tend to blend together more than they stand apart. It’s a vibe.
Ananda Shankar
3/5
Something borrowed. Something new. Okay, Ananda Shankar. Almost 4 stars with this.
Fiona Apple
3/5
No knock on Fetch the Bolt Cutters — an album from Fiona Apple that sounds just fine — but I think we should let time shake out the 2020s a little more to really see which records break free before adding them to a list of albums you must hear before you die. That is, unless the compilers have some Nostradamus-like insider info.
The Avalanches
3/5
Not necessarily my jam, but it moves quickly through its tracks with pace. I'll always appreciate club music that respects the aim is to move the body in space.
Primal Scream
2/5
If I recall correctly, I gave Primal Scream a shot some time back in the day, and it didn’t take. Even though they're Scottish, their Madchester vibe brings too much trance and dance into my rock and roll. Not even the stronger psychedelic touches can save this one; it still feels like drippy, trippy weak sauce for a new era of hippies. I think that when what was once novel meets the distance of time, we can hear things more clearly. And I don't think time has been kind to this album.
The Young Gods
3/5
L'Eau Rouge is brooding industrial but I'm only catching half the story by not speaking French. I have a feeling I'd like it even more if I did, there's something compelling about The Young Gods.
Suicide
3/5
This record is the right length to sell a person on the band. It's enough to get a taste but not so much that you tire of it and make any final decisions. Suicide leaves you wanting more — minimalist synths pulse like an urgent warning while Alan Vega croons, cries and plays it cool.
Soundgarden
5/5
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest in the early ’90s, being into punk, new wave, and metal before Nevermind blew everything up meant that bands like Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Nirvana, and the Melvins weren’t just on my radar — they were the air we breathed. I still remember the thrill of picking up Louder Than Love the day it came out; already having consumed Ultramega OK and Screaming Life/Fopp, I was eager for more. Seeing the lo-fi videos for “Hands All Over” and “Loud Love” on Bombshelter Videos — all of it felt like mine. By the time Superunknown was released, the ground had shifted. It was still great, but it didn’t feel as weird, as raw — it felt like the world had caught up and we were doomed to watch Almost Live and shout “LAME!” at the TV as more and more normies caught on.
Even so, Superunknown has held up in ways I couldn’t appreciate at the time. The record is layered and literate, full of heavy songs that, while accessible, still possess a strangeness — only more subtle this time around. Chris Cornell’s vocals are unreal, and Kim Thayil’s guitar work has a guttingly sharp, assured quality that always stuck with me. Ben Shepherd once spit on me at a show at the Capitol Theatre in Olympia — and I deserved it — but he also plays deceptively clever bass lines that disrupt the song in interesting ways at just the right moment. And Matt Cameron? What a brilliant drummer. His feel is both muscular and musical — time is his clay as he sculpts Soundgarden into his own. I’ve even sung songs off this album as lullabies to my kid. Won't you come / And wash away the rain? That kind of emotional longevity sneaks up on you.
What once felt like a break from the Soundgarden I loved has, with distance, become part of the story. Listening now, I hear a band giving their sound to the world, not just to Seattle, Tacoma, or Olympia. And maybe that’s what makes it a little bittersweet. Soundgarden wasn’t ours to keep. And OK, this isn’t my favorite album of theirs, but I’ll still round this one up to five stars. Because Superunknown is where Soundgarden readily and wholly gave their sound to the world — something strange enough for the weird kids, big and broad enough for the rest of them.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
3/5
I've always respected Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark even though it's a name I never wanted to write down. And, I've never heard a full record of theirs. To slip into a whole album start to finish is something new for me. I appreciate that they display a greater range across the songs collected here, even if their strengths are in the softer pop arrangements that prioritize wistful and longing emotion. That they'll take it from The New Stone Age to Sealand is good even if I like those tracks less than Souvenir or Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans). Turns out they live up to the name—just took me a while to find the light.
Air
4/5
Moon Safari and Virgin Suicides was all the Air I needed for like a decade. Anytime, Anywhere.
Tito Puente
4/5
It's Tito Puente. If you can't do a little dip in your hip listening to Dance Mania, then I don't know what to tell you. But I also understand that for many people, this isn't an album you simply get served on a random day and decide is the greatest thing ever. There's only one Tito record in my collection, but if I'm putting it on in 2025 or later, that says something about him and his music.
Einstürzende Neubauten
4/5
It is more important than it is enjoyable. And yet, Kollaps is still better than 33% of the albums on this list. Respect the racket.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
I know The Rising meant a lot to many people when it came out, but when I think of music reckoning with 9/11, it's Sleater-Kinney's "Far Away" on One Beat that rings the loudest and most true. But this record feels unfocused, like it's caught in the middle of too many emotions. I tried to give it an open-hearted listen, but from the first plodding beat and the cliché chord progressions my expectations were set low. The "let's uplift with anthems" track selections kept pulling me out of the emotional places that songs like "You're Missing" manage to reach — and in the end, it's just not working for me as a whole. Maybe Springsteen was aiming to capture all the facets of his feelings and make something sweeping. Or maybe no one wanted to get in the Boss's way and tell him to hone in on a more focused perspective.
If the album had been pared down to the more introspective songs like "Nothing Man" and "Paradise," and fewer full-band tracks like "Let's Be Friends," then songs like "The Rising", "Worlds Apart" and "Into the Fire" might've hit even harder. If I had the patience to trim this down to ten tracks—say, around 48 minutes of just a few strong feelings — I might appreciate it the way I appreciate Nebraska (which is to say, I'd *want* to listen to it from time to time).
Red Hot Chili Peppers
2/5
The biggest problem for the Chili Peppers has always been Anthony Kiedis's voice — and his confidence that he can sing. This is a band whose success wasn't driven by his vocals, but one that got big in spite of them. I say this as someone who was really into Mother's Milk and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan — even parts of Blood Sugar Sex Magik — for a good stretch: it's with great trepidation that I hit play on this album. (Having moved on from them pretty hard after BSSM ran its course in my life, I've actually never listened to Californication all the way through.)
Lol — first two tracks make my case, at least where my ears are concerned. But here's the thing: this is some of the tightest, most delicious music Kiedis has ever had the pleasure of spoiling. Flea is still the heart of the band — his basslines are funky, melodic, and full of character. Chad Smith is a superb rock drummer, playing with power and precision — always landing exactly where the song needs him. And John Frusciante? He's like a student of Hendrix, Beck, Marr, and McGeoch all at once: fluid and forceful, expressive and inventive — an exemplar rock guitarist.
It took until "Savior" before I checked the track list to see how much was left. That's a testament to how strong the music is on this record. Great players. Great sound. Shame about the vocals. 5 stars for the music minus 3 for Kiedis.
Billy Joel
4/5
BILLY JOEL is AMERICAN CHEESE.
I used to be ashamed to say I liked Billy Joel. I'm older now and have come to terms with the fact that this guy has the ability to write songs that reach right inside your chest and wrap themselves around your heart. Sure, he's written some duds too — a few tracks that haven't aged so well because the instrumentation is a little dated and the lyrics are a bit too on-the-nose. With vocals-forward, storytelling central to the song, you've got to be on your game. It's a high-wire act where a misstep is more significant than with bands that can mask weaker writing behind volume and bravado or a deceptive mix.
I feel like now I can appreciate things within their context more and get my head into a place where listening to THE STRANGER from 1977 feels easy and I can be more open-minded. Some elements still feel a little clichéd and obviously angled toward a broader listening market, but overall, I can't help but find the record to be a relatively strong showing from the Piano Man.
Ray Charles
2/5
A historically important record, it's hard to hear the daring that was Ray Charles's 1962 Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music today. And while Bruno Latour might argue we've Never Been Modern, you can't lasso a feeling from the past and guarantee that the years between one modernity and the next won't erase the cultural signs that gave these song selections and arrangements their original oomph. In 2025, I don't need 24 songs — most of them covers of earlier material — no matter how cleverly they've been transformed, transfigured, or translated by Ray Charles to be entertained. And I think there's something to that feeling: it's a specific kind of disconnect. I want to be moved by music, and this record feels like it wants to be entertainment. What popular music was *for* in 1962 is not what music is for, for me, in 2025.
For instance, this album includes one of the best versions of "You Are My Sunshine" I've ever heard. It's certainly more sophisticated in its arrangement than any grade- or nursery-school version. And yet, I'm not moved by the material at all. And, this is one of the highlight tracks. There are plenty of other minutes spent waiting for the next "modern sound" to come and go, so this 1 hour, 14 minute "entertainment" experience can finally wrap itself up. Perhaps that's wrong of me to expect more out of music driven by a business model that has always chosen entertainment over art. I'm listening to Ray Charles for his artistry and meaning, but the man is selling a good time.
M.I.A.
5/5
Kala is a global bop — restlessly brilliant in its construction. The beats hit hard, the sample choices are smart, and the lyrics land like headlines. Is this the sound of geopolitics on the dance floor? Chaotic rhythms stitched together with genre-hopping production. Disruptive and catchy as hell. The future is unevenly distributed, and for a moment, M.I.A. was broadcasting from the front lines.
Bonnie Raitt
2/5
This is some smooth '80s blues-infused pop that lacks the look and glib attitudes that are easy to latch onto when you want to enjoy the era ironically. If you're going to say that you like Nick of Time by Bonnie Raitt, you're inviting some eye rolls and maybe a few chuckles from scenesters. And here's the reveal: I'm the hipster. I'm sorry. I feel bad about it. This is an earnest record and was much lauded at the time, but it was never my thing, despite its well-crafted material and the quality of her singing. Bonnie's got my respect, but she doesn't have my ear.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
I'm not dumb enough to slag Bob Marley & The Wailers' Natty Dread — it basically marks Marley's emergence as a global voice, further popularized Reggae and stands as a symbol of both political resistance and spiritual uplift — but it's not my thing. I want my music to hit harder. So, sometimes I hear where the album could be punchier and angrier, and I know that's my own taste preference and musical instincts working against it. It's a solid album with some great songs — someone else is going to give it 5 stars and I won't argue.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Not every song on this record is a home run, but baby it's got Born to Run and Thunder Road on it. Surely, it's a little thing for me to close the screen door but the neighbors will come running when the speakers bleed through the night. This record's gonna take us all somewhere. Let's get out while we're young.
Paul Revere & The Raiders
3/5
Yeah, Midnight Ride is unmistakably from the 1960s. It's a trip through many popular genres of the era — garage rock, pop, blues, and psychedelia — without any one of them as the final destination. And, while I'm often the most skeptical of the music on this list from the '60s, this one mostly works. The tracks are short, fairly focused, and the songwriting holds up. Maybe the band avoided getting lost in any one scene or maybe they were playing to their strengths all along. Either way, I'm surprised by how much of this three star listen I enjoyed. If the back half of the record was as strong as the opening it might've reached four stars.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
2/5
I never cared for the too-clever band name, but I have to give credit where it's due. Holly Johnson's vocals on the singles from this record are, in many ways, the quintessential '80s British pop performance. For a short time, Wham!, Duran Duran, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood dominated MTV — both looking and sounding like the future.
Welcome to the Pleasuredome makes a bold choice with its track length and position in the overall sequence, but back then, listeners had more patience. Of course, now it's much easier to just skip to the hits or listen to only tracks 2-5 & 15 (which let's be honest the songs from Tag to The Only Star in Heaven are a bit of a wasteland). I understand that Trevor Horn reworked much of the album material in production, and that slickness is as fascinating as it is soulless. Ultimately, I lose patience with albums like this. Yes, it's an interesting time capsule, but no I do not want to listen to the whole thing again any time soon.
Gang Starr
4/5
Step in the Arena exudes understated confidence — Guru's relaxed, deliberate flow paired with DJ Premier's jazz-infused beats. This record refuses to shout, opting instead to glide and slide right into my rotation.
Lenny Kravitz
3/5
He built this garden for you, 'cause this record was always a little too funky and hippy-retro for me. But I can't deny his songcraft, it grows on you.
De La Soul
4/5
What to say about De La Soul's joyous and witty 3 Feet High and Rising in 3 run-on sentences — no more, no less (you see what I did there)?
There are more than 3 songs to be charmed by on this record that imprinted itself on my young mind, but I think of “The Magic Number,” “Eye Know,” and “Me Myself and I” as the pillars the rest of the tracks flow around effortlessly — thanks to 3 qualities: playful production, lyrical sincerity, and fresh tracks on wax.
Can U Keep a Secret? — I could do without most of the skits (they’re part of why this is a 3-star rating — that and the cheekiness, you know I love you better), but they don’t drag the album down enough to dim its charm.
Pere Ubu
4/5
Pere Ubu’s Dub Housing is jarring (Jarry?), nonsense filled fun on the one hand and compact, composed compositions on the other. I picked up The Modern Dance first in the 2000s and found it to be post-punk brave enough to blend its influences without apology (and pretty much snapped up the back catalogue after that). David Thomas is like a more unhinged version of another David (Byrne) from a band of this era — sometimes singing, sometimes shrieking. What was in the air between Cleveland and New York City (by way of Providence)?
Dub Housing shifts from punk to pub/party vibes, occasionally veering into circus music, hypnotic/hypnagogic patterning or flirting with the chanty — they’re a band perpetually curious about where a song might take them (and us). Anyway, this review is just noodling at this point — a bit like Pere Ubu’s guitar and bass meandering over a steady beat and a vocal yelp or absurd spoken word. It’s either a 3- or 4-star record for me depending on the mood and weather.
Nina Simone
5/5
Potent and emotionally resonant, Wild Is the Wind lays bare a powerful artistry while remaining eminently listenable. Nina Simone is unforgettable.
Prince
4/5
I was dreaming when I wrote this, forgive me if it goes astray. Here we have another slice of idiosyncratic psychosexual pop from the Purple One working his way to Purple Rain. This record has some iconic songs and is undeniably funky but it's not my favorite — a few too many dips in the back half to get lost in even if all the critics love u in New York.
Tori Amos
3/5
I have a lot of friends who love Little Earthquakes. And while "Crucify" kicks things off strong, I've never had quite enough patience to stay fully locked into a full Tori Amos album and this one is no different. Somewhere along the way I get a little bored, or maybe just distracted, though I appreciate her lyrical themes and her distinctive approach to songwriting and arrangement. I also think the album is well-produced in an early-90s kind of way (which is to say, influenced by the 1980s Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, others, but not sounding exactly like them). Amos is clearly capable of writing classics, but this album isn't full of them. Even if it doesn't totally grip you, there are enough good songs — and a few classics — to keep you going.
Living Colour
3/5
The album cover feels like the moment you've just cracked open a shrink-wrapped copy of first gen Photoshop and the art director says, "Go nuts" — and yet somehow, it's still not Vivid enough. Living Colour had been around for a while, but this was the record that broke through. And just two years later, a seemingly unrelated TV show In Living Color hit broadcast TV. Much of America in the late '80s and early '90s wanted to break out of tradition, to rupture the norms, but the social structures were more resilient than we kids knew.
This album reflects that tension: there are moments that still sound fresh and boundary-pushing, and others so plodding and conventional you have to wonder if someone else hijacked the session. The first two tracks "Cult of Personality" and "I Want to Know" embody this divide. It doesn't take a genius ear to hear which is which. There's undeniable musicianship across the album, but too many of the songs lean on tired '80s hard rock tropes. It feels tempered by format. It's not entirely an album divided. Some songs like "Letter to a Landlord" live in the in-between where they're leaning on more conventional songwriting but manage to go somewhere meaningful. Overall and in retrospect, this record is more product than artistry and what once felt bold now plays like a debut too tangled up in the America it's wrestling with. Still not Vivid enough.
GZA
4/5
Do you still get chills from the opening track before settling into that smooth, head-nodding groove? I do. But despite the strong start and on point production, the album lets me down over the course of its 13 tracks. Maybe the moment has moved on from records like this — or maybe it's not the moment, it's me. Perhaps I've just reached a point in my hip-hop listening where I gravitate more toward alternative, consciousness-raising records than hardcore ones. And if that's the case, no lyrical flourish, production hook or groove — no matter how Genius — is going to drive Liquid Swords all the way into my heart.
Scritti Politti
2/5
Not for me. Too much scritti. Not enough politti. Every ditti's dressed up like a pop committi.
The Who
4/5
Who's next? Who knows? I have such a mixed relationship with this band. And what a band they were: John Entwistle, Keith Moon, and Pete Townshend were exceptional players — smart, enthusiastic, excessive, and tasteful only when it counted. Sometimes all in the same song. Live, they leaned harder into the musical chaos, and I'm always here for that, but today I'm holding my review to just the studio tracks.
Who's missing from my review so far? Roger Daltrey. I know most of the lyrics are Townshend's, and maybe that's why Daltrey sometimes lacks presence and an ability to reach the listener (especially in the verses). To my ear, he only really adds something on a few tracks. And sometimes Pete's lyrics are just too goofy for me. I'm open to weirder, more conceptual writing, but these songs often lean too hard on character and narrative at the expense of immediate connection (i.e. the stories can feel forced). Couple that with the occasional song that doesn't shift out of its groove enough, and that's when The Who are just a mid question mark.
And yet, and yet, The Who are special. Their mastery of dynamics is eternal — a rock and roll template — those well-timed pushes, accents, and rests. Wildly sustained chords. And the way they build to a crescendo with crashing guitars and bombastic drums, while the bass both anchors and augments it all with melodic runs? What is that, if not the sound of a band playing with explosives? When they increase tempo mid-song, like at the end of Getting in Tune, it's like a controlled detonation. And then, there's that opening to Baba O'Riley with the synth loop driving the theme while each instrument enters and the band kicks in. It's combustive. It's one of the most memorable intros of this era in rock. It's The Who. Finally, in this album, that they recall that synth sound in Won't Get Fooled Again is a clever and rewarding return for an excellent close-out track that is both measured in megatons and well-crafted.
So, yeah. It's a flawed classic. My opinion on them will always be a bit mixed but I'm more a fan than not. And, while this isn't my favorite album by them, there are standout, time-honored bangers here. Who's Next? Only The Who knew.
a-ha
2/5
a-ha, before I even clicked through to see the track list I thought to myself: "This better be the one with Take On Me on it." ha-ha. A perfect song from the era and genre. And, the rest of the record (all 9 remaining songs)? They're mostly in 2-star territory.
Gene Clark
3/5
The name Gene Clark rang no bells and the album cover, looking like a New Yorker magazine on acid, offered no clues. So, I tried to listen ahistorically, but this quasi-country, Americana-infused rock oozes late '60s and early '70s vibes. Its gentle opener, anchored by simple guitar and melancholic yet direct vocals, sets a mood that's mostly well-sustained over the course of the record. The title track "No Other" is exemplary in this regard. If you've listened broadly to this era of popular music, you'll catch moments that feel familiar (sometimes uncannily so) and the whole record slots comfortably into the canon of '70s mellow gold.
But this isn't just music made of its time and sounding only like it. There's a timeless quality to some of it too. The closing track "Lady of the North" wouldn't sound so out of place alongside "10 Mile Stereo" by Beach House. No Other works not only within its own decade, but also outside it.
The Beach Boys
5/5
Pet Sounds is one of those gems that's passed around by hipsters, connoisseurs, and everyday Joes. A pop masterpiece with cultural weight mostly achieved through undeniably great songwriting. It's got moments that catch you off guard and hit you right in the heart. But if you're not down with layered vocal harmonies, then you're likely to tire of things quickly. This might sound dismissive, but it's actually a sign of this album's greatness. Love it or hate it, this is all you need to hear when it comes to the Beach Boys.
Coldcut
4/5
What's That Noise? And Spotify replies: ! Couldn't find that album, search for something else? So, I throw on their Let Us Play from 1997 as I go hunt on the internet for that Noise. Still only knowing only that it's some early British DJ sample heavy album from a time when printed media was still bigger than the internet and landlines ruled our psyches in a phonescape for freaks.
But now the internet has gotten bigger and faster. It takes maybe more time than Timber but less than Return to Margin to get on track with the intended album. What's That Noise is lively and danceable with its club-ready collages. I can see by the list of collaborators (and hear by a few of the samples I recognize and even more that I don't) why it was probably a rights nightmare to be up on Spotify. I like this early bleep-bloop DJ music with its playful, cut-and-paste production to be honest. I was charmed by That Noise enough to then hunt down a used copy of the CD.
George Michael
2/5
I'd like an explanation for why George Michael's not breakout, not best album is on the list of 1001 albums we must hear before we die. He has a great voice and I'm trying to Listen Without Prejudice or at least to withhold negative judgement. And to be honest, there's still a part of me that lives inside my critical mind who was hit with Wham! at the right time to think fairly favorably of him. And yet, there is little here outside of some gently pro-self, empowerment messaging (e.g. Freedom! '90) that's remotely progressive — and to have that delivered in such a glossy pop package doesn't do enough for me to see what's the what here. It's a fine record for what it is but what it is is also kind of unremarkable.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
I typically have mixed feelings about bands that lean on exoticism or orientalism in their songwriting. Hong Kong Garden is no exception in that regard. And so, here we are with that song as the lead single on the debut from Siouxsie and the Banshees. But she don't care. And frankly, neither do my ears. It's a good song, and in my opinion, it's not even the best on the record (I prefer the darker, starker cuts like Suburban Relapse). I don't hear the album as the landmark it's described as (I guess I would've had to have been there), and I've always been more of a Siouxsie song-sampler even when at my most goth. Still, it's a fitting start to such a storied career.
The Damned
4/5
Just for you, here's a Love Song. The Damned's Machine Gun Etiquette still hits hard in that goth-punk way that only they can (though Danzig tries). It's a little cartoonish at times and I'd like to hear it remastered, but I'm carried along at a swift tempo over these 11 songs and continue to be charmed by them.
Anthrax
4/5
One summer, this tape was permanently borrowed from a friend's older brother (by said friend), and we skated the weakest curbs in our suburban town to it. I tried some other Anthrax on for size later on, and even though some of those albums are arguably better (e.g. Persistence of Time), they never quite fit or brought me back to those small ollies and aborted kickflips. But Among the Living still does. "Caught in a Mosh" and "I Am the Law" are my favorites — no surprise there. We were the perfect demo for hardcore, popular horror fiction, and comic books. We weren't yet picking up on subtleties in the text, so something like "Indians," which now feels a bit too simplistic, actually got us thinking about Indigenous politics. "Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)" hits different now, but it's still a cracking track. Songs like "One World" and "A Skeleton in the Closet" are excellent glue tracks — they might not stand out like the singles, but they showcase how tight Anthrax are and deliver exactly what you want from a band like this. And so back to me: I turned out to be a better skater and snowboarder a few years later, and I'd find music even more crushing than this. But I'm always instantly filled with joyful nostalgia to be Among the Living whenever it comes on.
Radiohead
5/5
With a band this beloved it almost feels pointless to add another rave 5-Star Radiohead record review for In Rainbows. And yet, here we are.
Radiohead aren't done yet, but I think we've finally got enough distance to say the run from OK Computer in 1997 to In Rainbows in 2007 is the peak Radiohead era no matter how much love I can extend to The Bends. These two albums bookend an incredible range — and Kid A, with the way those two strokes meet, might just be the mountain top. But of all the Radiohead records I like (and looking at my play history, I like them a lot), In Rainbows is where I most often return. It's more intimate, more fluid and feeling. This record really shifts tempos and moods gracefully, the change from the opening bangers to the slowed-down introspective tones of "Nude" demonstrates real craft. For me the record resolves itself in tracks like "Weird Fishes / Arpeggi" and "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" where everything is both subtle and full of momentum. It feels like they have finally mastered abstraction welding it like a true element alongside all the rest in their songwriting toolkit. Not something at the end of the rainbow, but something you experience going through it.
Peter Tosh
3/5
With those Wailers roots, that fat tubby bass and reverbed crack of the snare behind Tosh's vocals and protest lyrics, Legalize It is as much the sound of reggae as Marley.
Super Furry Animals
1/5
To me this sounds like music for people who like to put an album on and walk away. I never gave Super Furry Animals a chance back in the day. I had more extreme indie, metal and post-rock vibes on my mind. Listening now, I'm glad I took a pass based on some superficial objection or complaint back then — sometimes you're wrong and get to be surprised, and sometimes you just know when you're not going to gel.
Ali Farka Touré
3/5
Good music well-performed, but I think the blues are at their best when you have the complete thinking/feeling picture. The feeling comes through in the music and the emotion in the vocals, but without understanding the words something is missing. My sense is this is probably a 5 star record if you're well-versed in the languages spoken in Mali. For a blues casual like me, who is already pre-disposed to be stingy with stars, hearing this record on a random day it's hard to give it the highest mark.
Holger Czukay
3/5
While I'm relatively well-versed in the Can catalogue, I'm too young to have experienced any of it firsthand. So, I can't say how Czukay's musical appropriation and World Tourism -slash— Borderline Orientalism was received at the time. But for me, "Persian Love" and "Cool in the Pool" are the songs where that dynamic is most apparent. And they also happen to be the weakest ones. These two song-collage-compositions seem intent on engaging with kitsch but time has collapsed whatever critical ironic distance might have been intended into something that now just feels corny. They are not abject failures — in fact, their streaming numbers are in the millions. Two stars!
And here's where the schism starts. It's a four-song album. I'm a perfect 50/50 split.
I find the humor and playfulness of both "Oh Lord, Give Us More Money" and "Hollywood Symphony" to still have some critical bite while also being vastly superior compositions. They have more movement to them. And not for nothing, they are more Canny to my ear. Both are significantly longer. But of course, these tracks appear to be significantly less played (like 70-80k plays each). Five stars!
In the end, I can only assume the popular ones have to be featured on Spotify somewhere, or there's just a massive Kitsch-Industrial-Complex at work. Either way, it's a bit ironic to feel this cut-up and out of sync on a record exploring early sampling by splices and the collage form in music. Three stars, I guess.
Mekons
3/5
Seeing them reviewed in the back of punk zines, I've always wanted to like the Mekons, and yet they've never managed to capture my heart in the few times I've heard them. By the sound of it, Fear and Whiskey is probably the album where they had their best shot: crisp, clear, and immediate, with tracks like "Trouble Down South" and "Hard to Be Human Again" pulling me in. But songs like "Chivalry" and "Darkness and Doubt" turn on a British Folk sound with an unpleasant vocal delivery and equally cause me to reject them. On balance, there's too much of that and not enough of the qualities that I projected into the Mekons before really stopping to listen.
Maybe that's the point. They're not interested in manufacturing fans and I'm not interested in producing a false joy in listening to them. I guess that gap between the real and my imaginary desire to rep them initially meant I couldn't fully hear them as they meant for themselves to be heard. And now, as the record ends, we might be able to talk Marx at a pub as we turn that contradiction over in our minds.
Cream
2/5
I'm listening to Cream's Disraeli Gears — it's okay. They're another band that I've often wanted to like, or felt like I should like more than I actually do. Their best tracks are pretty good, but songs like "Blue Condition," "Take it Back," and "Mother's Lament" remind you that not everything they wrote was a masterpiece. These weaker songs also tend to weigh down the album so that others that are more borderline — like "We're Going Wrong" — are less well received too. Cream can't help the fact that despite more psych on this record, they're still too bluesy for me.
Random thought: this time around I'm struck by how the early Screaming Trees output sounds like Cream. This gets me thinking about how great Cream could've been with someone like Mark Lanegan singing for them. He would've made the heavier moments more compelling and their quieter ones more intimate with that haunting baritone (and superior lyrics). It's a ridiculous fantasy, but it's the kind of time travel thought experiment that makes Cream seem more interesting to me.
Napalm Death
3/5
I love metal but you wouldn't know it from its ranking in my top genres here (17th at the time of this writing) or from how I'll rate Napalm Death, a band I admire for carving out a place in and for grindcore with many fans of extreme music. Props to Mick Harris for pushing things ahead. As a Justin Broadrick fan, this confession is difficult, I prefer the latter half of this slab of Scum. I'm not sure what it is, just feels rawer. Ultimately, I think I'm particular with my metal picks and this list hasn't served up enough to provide me with the opportunity to elevate the genre in the rankings. Not to get too meta about the metal in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, I just sometimes wonder if the albums on this list were picked by a genre tourist or someone who has listened to a lot of metal. It's like they know some of these records are important landmarks but they don't know why.
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
4/5
Oh Will Oldham, I remember you. Thanks for stopping by. It's been a while. I miss the melancholy mood of this record. It brings the darkness Bonnie Prince Billie sees.
Kraftwerk
4/5
How tastes can change. When I was young, Kraftwerk was an easy target to poke fun at. Their music was cold, precise, and European. For a kid of a certain age, Showroom Dummies is basically SNL Dieter announcing, "Now is the time on Sprockets when we dance." Maybe it's because I hadn't yet developed my own sense of irony to understand the wit of the lyrics on tracks like that and others. Because in the now of, like, right now, I keep loving these Kraftwerk records. There's a clarity of purpose to Trans-Europe Express and Autobahn that's refreshing to me — that cold precision? It's now a space that can somehow be filled with feeling. Especially, the long tracks. They are sleek, unhurried, and hypnotic. The repetition isn’t dull, it’s scenic. All the synthetic blips and vocodered phrases are markers on an endless route through a self both real and imagined.
Skepta
3/5
It's sometimes hard to know how classic or important albums will feel when they're still within 10 years of release. For listeners outside the UK or Europe, grime isn't usually on the radar. So when the "long-awaited and much-lauded" Konnichiwa from Skepta shows up for review, maybe there's a "so what?" moment. I had one. I didn't even know its reputation until later. I can hear resonances with other records I've enjoyed, even if I hadn't connected them to grime before. The singles off the record certainly draw me in and are rewarding, but after listening and hoping to be moved more, I still find it hard to connect to the record overall. It might be the signature samey-same staccato delivery across all the tracks, or it might just be that 45 minutes is too much for a first introduction. I felt weary around "Corn on the Curb" and "Crime Riddim," but then things pick up again as the album is weighted toward the 2/3 mark. It's hard when your first encounter with an artist is a record like this — one that paradoxically feels like an album expecting you to already be thrilled by it in order for your listening enjoyment to rise to that level. There's a word for this I'm sure, but it's as elusive as the feeling itself.
Brian Eno
5/5
Eno is a smart guy, but I've been to airports. They don't sound like this. This is a field recording of a wish or a dream, not a place you're stuck in or rushing through. 5 stars.
Peter Gabriel
5/5
This record still feels uncomfortable and current 45 years later. An art-rock paranoia album that never loses its humanity, manifested by Peter Gabriel's creative attention to the human condition and savant-like sensitivity to social and political undercurrents. It's still my second or third favorite of his. Not because he could do no wrong as an artist — there are a few misses here — rather, it's that he was brave in his choices and did so much right along the way.
Morrissey
1/5
Sad to see the face of a fascist on this album cover. Morrissey managed to ruin The Smiths twice for me. While this record might be his most musically mature solo album, I can't separate the melancholy from the man. His voice is such an identifiable signature there's no way for me to listen "as-if" it wasn't him. And, Frankly (Mr. Shankly), the smug man still sounds great here. But if I could take away the one star I'm giving this album, I would.
Giant Sand
5/5
Pleasantly surprised to see this gem from Howe Gelb on the 1001 list, even if it's one of his popular albums. Super important to the U.S. Southwest alt-country / indie scene, massively prolific, and yet he rarely seemed to be on the rise in a predictable arc — more like he just appears in the timeline, mirage-like, to deliver the shiver. Chore of Enchantment is lazy-day, lo-fi Americana drifting through a world that turns at its own pace.
Kanye West
3/5
My Ye arc started with a co-worker who wouldn't stop talking about him, and for a brief stint I was caught up on the early albums, eventually getting hooked by My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. But Yeezus was where I exited. The abrasive, industrial production is easily the most compelling part of this record — jagged beats, clipped samples, and tactically deployed textures. It creates a real sense of paranoia, exciting alienation and captivating discomfort. Kanye West has always been a brilliant producer, it is his greatest gift. And this record may be his peak, but I'll never know because the themes and lyrical content feel tired and cliche (even with great word play). Ultimately, as he elevates and pushes the form of his expression, the recycled content wears me out. It's an album that's easier to admire than to love. I haven't felt the pull to come back. I prefer Yeezus to be the horizon. And now, I don't even hear about how compelling a new record is — it's just his public antics and problems, not his music.
Black Sabbath
5/5
It's the day after the Prince of Darkness passed, and maybe this brief review is written with Ozzy-tinted glasses. While Vol. 4 isn’t my favorite Sabbath record, it might be the most Sabbath Sabbath ever — messy, heavy, and weird. "Changes" and "Laguna Sunrise" stretch the emotional range, while “Supernaut” into "Snowblind" is pure as the cocaine in the speakers. The rest shows how casually great they were, even while falling apart in real time. Flawed, but monumental. Five stars.
Bee Gees
1/5
I'm never thrilled to see the Bee Gees show up as my album of the day, but Odessa starts weird enough that I was curious. For a moment, it almost sounds like a lost Decemberists record. But that intrigue dies fast. By track four, it shifts into pokey, homespun schlock, and the rest tumbles straight off a cliff into a sea of syrupy suffering for my ears. It's overlong and overwrought. "Lamplight" might be the lousy lowlight. In the end, the most impressive thing about Odessa is how unenjoyable it becomes. 1 star.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
4/5
Now I Got Worry spams the noisy blues-jam formula Jon Spencer has spent his career mining. With 32 songs clocking in just under 80 minutes, it starts as a sprint but reminds you midway that there's still a lot more gritty, lo-fi swagger to go. The stretch around "Sticky" and "Cool Vee" that goes on for a few more tracks is either a breather from the gritty break neck pace or it lays back too much, risking a loss of listener attention. While I'd have trimmed the album down, ultimately, I stayed charmed enough for it to land at 4 stars.
Afrika Bambaataa
2/5
Planet Rock: The Album is better understood as Planet Rock: The Single...and Some Other Singles. Not knocking Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force for the release — it mostly holds up — but it's not totally cohesive. In 1986, I can see this being in the go-bag for a house party. You could drop a track here and there to great success all night. These songs demand a crowd. I just can't imagine someone sitting at a desk, listening straight through, studying the groove and making cross-song connections as part of an album experience.
Crowded House
2/5
Crowded House — always great for a coffee shop scene in a Hollywood movie. When I first heard them, I couldn't get past the clean production and tidy vocal harmonies. Maybe a bit too much like Salinger's Holden in his prime, I'd write them off as phonies or packaged fakes — and never bother to unwrap the apparent gifts to look any deeper. While I require music that's darker and edgier, there's a kind of middlebrow magic to this record as a whole, a balance of whimsy and substance rooted in a pop tradition where rebellion and meaning hides in plain sight.
Throbbing Gristle
2/5
On the matter of D.O.A.: The Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle, this album is important to the development of industrial and experimental music, but I'll wager it's not a frequent-flyer for many. The album serves as a blueprint for sonic sabotage and other provocations; as such, it's more instructive than enjoyable. Don't get me wrong, there are enough tracks that are obviously musical in some way that you'll experience a pull as well as a push. The question every listener will ask themselves — whether consciously or not — is this an experience I reject or enjoy overall? You can't ride the line of neutrality for very long. Sooner or later, your ears will make the call.
The United States Of America
2/5
Pomp and circusstance...electro-whirligigs are birds in flight...impulse incentivizes instrumentation...it's the United States of America...and not entirely terrible, thanks largely to Moskowitz's Slick-like vocals, but certainly an overly long electric kool-aid acid mess...fitting, no?
Jeff Beck
3/5
Before I hit play, I expected Jeff Beck's signature guitar tone to dominate, but Rod Stewart's vocals immediately grabbed my attention — and there's a reason for that. Stewart's well-known voice upstages Beck to a degree, though Jeff holds his own with masterful playing that might benefit from a less democratic mix. Full disclosure: growing up on electric blues thanks to my POP has had the side effect that I find American and British white guys playing the blues (especially from the late 60s – mid 70s) a bit tiresome, but this is such a pure expression of classic British blues rock that it's hard to fault outside of my own weariness with it. Three stars — better than expected, but constrained by its historical moment. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Terence Trent D'Arby
1/5
Most everyone of a certain age is going to remember "Wishing Well," if nothing else from Introducing The Hardline According To... That song never particularly struck me as great even at the height of its popularity, but most of the rest of this record is nearly unlistenable to my ears because it's trying so hard to be appealing. The saccharine gloss makes it genuinely painful to sit through — there are too many cringe moments to catalogue — not my thing doesn't even begin to cover it.
Black Flag
5/5
Are you gonna put it all on the table in this review of DAMAGED, old man?
Will your review do a roll call of all the singers prior to Henry and talk about who has the best full-throated delivery? Will you talk about the bad business practices of Greg Ginn, or will you stick to discussing only the wailing guitar? Will you write about Robo's drumming or his immigration status? Will you praise the first half's brilliance or bemoan the second half's lackluster moments? Will you talk about the runtime being so short it barely matters? Will you interrogate volume, tempo and tone? Will you defend the sloppy production as authentic? Will you talk about the iconic logo by Raymond Pettibon and his influence on the visual culture of punk? Or the classic cover photo by Ed Colver? Will you analyze Rollins' lyrics versus the lyrics of others? Will you scrutinize performance versus myth? Will you speculate on all the history or ruminate on the legacy? Will you dissect canonization as a concept antithetical to the punk ethos?
NO! This album is a refusal. This review is a refusal. Sometimes that's all you need.
Turbonegro
4/5
A slab of glam-infused, punk fueled, rock 'n' roll from some Norwegian guys whose tongue is firmly planted in cheek. The album mostly maintains its momentum because no song overstays its welcome. They have a knack for understanding that a joke, a wink, or lyrical conceit should only last so long. Turbonegro seems to be doing The Darkness and The Donnas before either were out of diapers.
The Stooges
5/5
Passed down through generations, Raw Power always lives up to its name. Belligerent and bruised, lustful and fighting to be seen — I don't know a North American teen who hasn't had these feelings. The wasteland repeats itself, and Iggy Pop is its eternal, swaggering Id:
I'm a streetwalking cheetah with a heart full of napalm / I'm a runaway son of a nuclear A-bomb / I am the world's forgotten boy / The one who searches and destroys.
The Byrds
2/5
In the jingle-jangle morning, I'll be headed the other way. While the first couple of tracks might be the best expression of The Byrds' thing (chiming guitars, vocal harmonies, and lyrics chock full of 1960s preoccupations), before long it feels less like magic and more like a formula that set in a direction I'm not interested in.
Alice Cooper
2/5
Plodding and nearly circus-like in its opener to singing a little too gleefully about SA, this may be one of Mr. Cooper's more famous works, but I'd rather have Mr. Nice Guy spinning wax than the snake backed by horns on many of these tracks. What offends my ears more than the lyrics is the cliched stomp blues rock that's being peddled here. This is some lowest common denominator rock, all arena-ready and tired-sounding. When the shock is revealed as predictable schlock, without a critical bite, what's the point?
Beastie Boys
4/5
This isn't even their best album. Licensed to Ill with room to grow.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
If you like Joni Mitchell, you'll like this Joni Mitchell. Maybe if we could cede an album or two from some of the artists who have multiple entries on this list to newer artists, we could have a more expansive definition of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. This is my fourth Mitchell review for the list with probably a fifth coming. Mitchell's a gifted songwriter with an amazing voice, and I bet this is many people's favorite or second favorite record of hers, but Court And Spark doesn't reveal anything to me that the other albums haven't already.
Electric Light Orchestra
2/5
Pretty, lifeless. Pretty lifeless. Overlong and lacking urgency, Out Of The Blue is a vocoder tapestry without a pulse. And yet it's a template for indie music in the aughts — or at least I hear echoes of it in bands like The Arcade Fire and others.
Weather Report
3/5
Birdland, A Remark You Made, and Teen Town — not a bad way to start off your jazz fusion record. NGL, that cover is some serious Heavy Weather as well. For the genre, it's a standout classic, in the larger context of my preferences though it's less than that.
Dwight Yoakam
1/5
There's a reason the room is lonely.
3/5
War was in the air in the 70s — still sounds like it.
Marvin Gaye
5/5
I've been really tryin' to assess this album. Tryin' to hold back this feeling that it's the second best Marvin Gaye record. And if you feel like I feel, you'll want to give it five stars.
Ash
2/5
Unremarkable mid-90s indie rock. Ash had their Britpop spotlight moment, but regional success rarely translates to lasting relevance. Unfortunately, 1977 is long enough to reveal it is more mundane and flawed than innovative or interesting.
Orange Juice
2/5
Maybe you've heard a mix playlist with Rip It Up on it and that's about it. Surprised twist on track two kept me interested. Sadly, the album is too uneven to enjoy all the way through, but there's enough going on to keep the rating afloat in an orange sugary sea above a single star.
Wilco
5/5
It took a few years for me to come around on Wilco. I don't think it would have happened without this album and the documentary that followed them during the fractured process of making it. And now here we are. Something grows through the cracks in the sidewalks of these Chicago streets. I can barely keep up with Tweedy's prolific songwriting. Not every vine of Wilco's subsequent flowering has gripped me equally, but some have managed to come close to its hold.
The Electric Prunes
3/5
Middleweight psychedelic garage rock occasionally punching above its weight but mostly delivering what you'd expect from a band whose hits were "I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)" and "Get Me To The World On Time." Not afraid of minor keys, short jams or goofy too-clever lyrics, the record is completely of its era — which is occasionally reason enough to spin it. At 30 minutes it's perfect if you want the psych vibe without reaching for bigger names or making a serious commitment. Make your prunes electric!
Echo And The Bunnymen
5/5
Some debuts stumble around in search of identity, but Crocodiles confidently crawls out of the shadows. Immediately stylish in its songwriting and atmosphere, you'll know after the first three tracks if it's an album for you. The music's not as angular as Wire nor as nihilistic as Joy Division, but somewhere sharply in between. It's got enough teeth to grab you immediately and it's moody enough to put on when you want to inhabit a gloomy feeling. In its era, this is a five-star record, yet on the bradytelic timeline of the music of actual crocodiles, it may only be four stars in the night's sky.
Mudhoney
4/5
E.G.B.D.F. — I remember how disappointed I was when I first listened to the full album on release day. It just felt too bluesy, too much harmonica, too much organ, and somehow too controlled. Not noisy and heavy enough. They're advertising their competence with the title, even. I had hints from the preview Let It Slide EP/single that the record might be a letdown, yet I still held out hope for some return to the sounds of the self-titled album or a Superfuzz Bigmuff redux. Like so many fanatics, I didn't want change. I even recoiled from the artwork. I was dumb. It's a good record and solid entry into the Mudhoney catalogue. But I was also right. As the band became more competent, they lost some edge. I still prefer the petulant, flailing Mudhoney from their first few years — always seemingly falling down, each song both a collapse and an explosion — over these self-satisfied good boys and their tidy, tame treats.
Sleater-Kinney
5/5
Dig Me Out is one of my favorite Sleater-Kinney albums. The band will always have a special place in my heart for all of the records and shows, but I'm Team Janet FOREVER!
N.E.R.D
1/5
I'm a real nerd and this music isn't for me. While not great, the opener "Don't Worry About It" hinted at things settling on a two-star review. But the deeper we go with Fly or Die, the more insufferable it becomes. Truly abysmal. Including an album like this makes me question the validity of the whole "albums you must hear before you die" concept. Honestly, some sounds are best left buried.
Le Tigre
5/5
While I had hoped that Julie Ruin would last, when Le Tigre dropped with its lo-fi feminism, it was another revelation entirely. Proving all the territory this record covers is danceable. Hot Topic is the way that we rock, indeed.
David Ackles
2/5
How American Gothic had me doing a double take as in what if David Eugene Edwards traveled back in time and was forced to listen to boozy Frank Sinatra during his trip, only to arrive in 1972 to write, perform and record the song American Gothic, only then to fade away to be replaced with another performer named David (as D.E.E. borrowed some schmuck's suped-up DeLorean to get back to the future). Body swapped and smiling like a man in a canoe, this album seems to have planted awkwardly honest strange roots in our psyche. Scott Walker, Tom Jones and Tom Waits in a Captain Beefheart meets Neil Diamond musical theater mind grinder. What else can be said other than the feeling that I've heard so much of it before and yet I can't detect the trace? My only hope now being this review is as off-kilter and slightly weird as the record itself. Better than the curious 2 stars it's received from me, but keep your expectations low in order to be pleasantly surprised as you frequently raise one wtf eyebrow.
Baaba Maal
2/5
Lam Toro just kind of passed through my listening today. The production is polished and the performances are good, but nothing struck me as earth-shattering. Maybe it's that I don't understand the lyrics, which makes it harder to connect with the content and that's on me. Solid but not transformative. Kinda like scenery looking out a train's window. But I'd rather this list be albums that just stop you in your tracks. 3 stars.
Björk
3/5
While she's consistently great, not every Björk record is going to grab you by your cochleae and immediately pull you into whatever world she's constructed. Medúlla proves that; it is more something you drift through, occasionally noting a constellation of effect or gently bobbing around a blip and slow curl of current. Not my favorite of hers, but I appreciate an entry in her catalogue that's more confounding than common.
Jefferson Airplane
2/5
Obviously, it's not all terrible, but a lot of this music is boring to my ear. Maybe it's the modern listening habit, but I find it to not be atmospheric enough to accept into a different mode of listening but not interesting enough to keep me engaged. Have a 'surrealistic' pillow on hand during your flight on the Jefferson Airplane so you can go to sleep until the singles and a couple other standout tracks come on and then you can return to your slumber after they're over. If you can sleep through it, you don't have to have your patience tested in quite the same way.
Teenage Fanclub
4/5
Back in the day I held Teenage Fanclub in something like grudging respect, but I was always suspicious of them. I was living in the Pacific Northwest in the '90s and the scene had blown up all around us. Any band from anywhere else was a little bit suspect. Who were these blokes that sounded a little like The Posies, but also like some of our other dirty pop bands? Coming all the way over from Scotland to play here, they certainly wanted something...with their cheeky band name, brazen record title and big ol' dollar sign on the cover. *clutches pearls*
I was too young to understand how music can be like the ocean; any wave a band rides can be bigger than the spot you're standing in. After all, I mistook the limits of my own listening habits and scene for the boundaries of what mattered. Now I've come to appreciate this band and often reach for something off of Bandwagonesque when putting a playlist together. It's a well-constructed indie fuzz pop near-masterpiece after all.
The Replacements
5/5
How young are you / How old am I? I'm about to rate The Replacements' Let It Be five stars. How smart are you / How dumb am I? It's not my favorite of their records, but it's the one I bought first and I still have such an irrational fondness for it. As they matured and their songcraft was allowed to breathe, it was no longer almost completely dwarfed by volume, speed, and brashness like Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash. So you get a lot of Tim and after albums hailed as the greatest. But what I like about Let It Be is that it retains elements of their attitude and early sound while pointing towards the evolution yet to come. Some might say it's a transitional album, but look me in the eye and try to talk me out of this album's brilliance and we'll have to throw down nonetheless. Oh, meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime.
Radiohead
5/5
Kid A+
Khaled
2/5
I appreciate the voice, but I didn't translate the lyrics, so there's an important piece I'm not connecting to (though I suspect it would only help a little). That said, it's clearly pop music — an almost universal vibe. Unfortunately for Khaled's Kenza, that artistic direction, heading into the generic, risks turning away listeners like me. Tracks like "Melha" and "Raba-Raba" feel more culturally specific (even if updated into a pop context) and are among the more engaging moments. Ultimately, the cover of Lennon's "Imagine" and some of the slower tunes drag down an album that, while I was open to it, rapidly became tedious.
50 Cent
2/5
Sometimes I don't know what I'm doing listening to these 1001 albums. Here I am, about the same age as 50 Cent, revisiting Get Rich or Die Tryin', which came out when I was living in Queens, NY. Its themes are East Coast gangster rap but lacking any other dimension. It's driven by slick but generic production that owes a debt to Jay-Z. Despite Curtis's past, it's also cartoonish — maybe it's the modeling audition photo on the cover, complete with a gunshot glass overlay that takes aim at the broadest possible audience. There are a few singles that prop the album up, but why are most of us going to listen? Are we supposed to relate through our life experience or step into a fantasy? Twenty years on, the album feels more like it's selling an idea and the music is secondary.
None of this diminishes 50 Cent's delivery and flow, which remain strong. The record is undeniably listenable, but I question the packaging of the world and the intended audience. It's well-crafted, but to what end? Lifestyle branding, perhaps? Somehow, for an album and artist making a bid at authenticity rooted in lived experience, this feels too much like a caricature — a falsehood fashioned to sell to kids in the suburbs.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
I remember hearing this for the first time ages ago with a slight feeling of disappointment. Yet now I can appreciate it more: a return to mod roots, angry regret, and revenge. And now I know how the recording sessions were marred by tension, each player feeling aggrieved and just wanting to be done. Real venom in the air. And yet, it's Elvis Costello delivering brilliant songs filled with pain and pathos — like blood and chocolate, bitter and sweet.
The Shamen
2/5
I don't think we're going to be moving any mountains today. Outside of the recognizable singles, En-Tact sounds like rave wallpaper — fine for a club in the early 90s but flat in any other context. So many tracks blur together that I wonder how often this record has been mined for a dancefloor scene in a movie. I don't think it translates well without the crowd and the club context. Listening at home it's a letdown. But it feels less like a failed album than one stranded outside its purpose. It reminds me how quickly purpose-built music can lose its spark once its moment has passed.
T. Rex
5/5
Some artists appear effortlessly cool, timelessly cool, electrically cool — from the first track to the last, Marc Bolan is that artist. Even a bog-standard blues becomes charismatic and strange in his hands. There's only a handful of people in the world Bowie wished he could be at times, and Marc Bolan with his glam strut and cosmic boogie vibes was one of them.
John Grant
3/5
Soak in the delightful melancholy of this album. There's a feeling that no review of mine is going to capture because I want to comment on the fit between the contributions of Midlake and John Grant that feels natural and almost expected, but avoids cliché...maybe it's the honest lyrics delivered richly interlocking with relatively simple but well-crafted music or maybe it's something else. Either way, it's immediately compelling. And yet, perhaps overly long by a song or two. The Queen is just shy of 4 stars.
The Fall
4/5
This Nation's Saving Grace and Grotesque (After the Gramme) are the two records by The Fall that I own. I've always sort of enjoyed them, but I never felt the need for more. You can get your fill of The Fall through This Nation's Saving Grace and maybe something earlier to show a less poppy side. If their more accessible record doesn't strike your fancy, then there's little reason to dig further — most of the catalog is just Mark E. Smith ranting over a post-punk vamp anyway. You're either into it or you're not.
The Doors
2/5
For a couple of years as a young teen I tried very hard to like this band because my POP did. The only result is that it's now hard to hear Jim Morrison's voice or Ray Manzarek's keys without a flood of other associations. For me The Doors are both the sound of 70s Southern California excess and of burly dudes drinking endless cans of Rainier beer and cursing while working on cars thousands of miles away. Set all that aside and I can see why they were popular at the time. And yet, it never really took or I wore myself out trying. We could bond over other bands, but not The Doors.
Sigur Rós
4/5
Strange how an artist you ought to enjoy can somehow never get that chance for years. By the time Sigur Rós drifted into my orbit, I was too caught up with Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, and Mono for my post-rock fix. While ambiently aware of them, it would take some post-bracket action to pierce the veil. Even then, my response was tempered and restrained — perhaps mirroring the music? I know enough to know that Ágætis Byrjun isn't their first record, but sometimes you don't count the false starts. This record is not bad for an opening statement, no matter the language.
2/5
Solid life advice contained within the ups and downs of this country classic.
Donald Fagen
2/5
Somehow, somewhere in a child's mind, "I.G.Y." is lodged in memory. Or rather, it was until today's 1001 Albums generator dropped. It has to be from some hazy radio airplay or maybe a dentist's office or a supermarket, as this album was never in the house. What a time to be alive. I was too young to clock that this was the man from The Dan, despite the immediately recognizable voice and an album so slickly produced the rest of it can slide right by if you're not careful. On a single listen, I'd say that'd be okay by today's standards. Maybe we should let this record recede into the past and give up a slot in the next edition of the book — or maybe it should stick around as a signpost in time, a guy remembering the optimism of his own youth before the disappointments of his later years. Time, like an LP, is a flat circle after all.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
Unevenly executed Echo And The Bunnymen crests on The Killing Moon with gentle rises for My Kingdom, Silver, and Ocean Rain while it falls on so much else. The decision to record the bulk of it with an orchestra was a stretch — they definitely got all wet in the reaching and I think they knew it.
David Bowie
5/5
Hunky Dory will always have a special place in how I think of Bowie's discography — it was the first record of his I bought. I've nearly worn it out listening over the years and finding something new in the music and lyrics. It's a mirror — there's a song for nearly every mood and moment. Don't you have one in mind for yourself already? Most people reach for Changes. But Life on Mars, while being about disillusionment and escapism, also names the current geopolitical moment for me even though it was written so long ago. Or I could pick Quicksand because it speaks something into being about being caught between things, liminal and living in what some might already consider some kind of twilight — seeking and paralyzed — intellectually and spiritually stuck while searching for solid ground. But isn't Andy Warhol the best pick? It's about someone known for making himself a surface and yet it's about so much more — the universal experience of performing an identity and the masks we all wear. Listening to an icon writing about another icon, reflecting on what's surface versus substance, feels right today. And tomorrow? Maybe it's a Queen Bitch day.
Q-Tip
3/5
I had this record playing through some laptop speakers earlier today and my only reaction was "meh" and "But I like and respect "Q-Tip" — I was concerned just how this review would play out. Later in the day I had the chance to bump it louder and through some bigger speakers. Noticeably better, and yet, I am hard pressed to see how this album is one I must hear before I die. It's a nice comeback story especially in the "try try again" vein, but I'm also not floored by it.
Sugar
4/5
I can't distill all my thoughts and feelings about Bob Mould's Sugar into a single statement. There's a drive to crystallize, and this is music returning him to a more driving sound while retaining the brilliant evolution in his lyrics. The songs are immediate and immaculately crafted (that's why they've aged so well). I always felt volume helped clarify Mould in ways his quieter post-Hüsker Dü approach didn't. If there was anyone who should be there to reap some benefit from the changes in the musical landscape during the 90s, it's people like Mould, Watt, and other veterans of the early punk years who persisted. I feel like you got to say that kind of thing right before "A Good Idea" comes on and people clutch their Pixies pearls, you know what I mean? Anyway, everyone in my friend group at the time was stoked by this record and Bob's return to form with Sugar. A pal of mine even played "If I Can't Change Your Mind" at the high school talent show. It was sweet.
Cee Lo Green
1/5
So, CeeLo Green paid his dues in Goodie Mob back in the 90s, an Atlanta act so popular I heard about them way out in the Pacific Northwest while listening to punk and metal. And yet he managed to reduce himself in the 00s as the F.U. guy. Is this the true tragedy of viral success — everything gets flattened into a single moment? Decades of work erased as you become a cartoon version of yourself. Even if he invited it (which I suspect he did), his early music, including and up to The Soul Machine, deserves better than being a footnote to a wedding reception staple (no shade to the DJs). And yet, having lost track of him over time, I also vaguely recall there was some controversy...and back from wikipedia I guess he can remain the F.U. guy — only now that's what we're sayin'.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
It turns out I'm a bigger Peter Gabriel fan than I had known, but even I gotta take a step back and ask if we need to celebrate every record of his (as the curators of this list would seem to want us to do). A solid start to the solo career but only four stars for me and for his oeuvre. And at the risk of making a reference to fans referring to this record informally as "Car," it turns out he had a lot more in the tank artistically.
CHVRCHES
3/5
Years after the rise of Chvrches (at least among my social circle), I'm listening to The Bones of What You Believe and recalling the songs that my friends played trying to get me into them. It's only that I like my synth-pop in limited quantities, and that container is already full. And yet this is an immediately likable representation of its genre — I don't have any complaints for what it is. That's the thing you have to ask yourself after the first track: is this what I want?
The Rolling Stones
2/5
Don't tell me it's the Rolling Stones and just let me experience the shimmering guitar opening and build-up of "Gimme Shelter" before Jagger's voice lets the secret slip. Might this be my favorite record of theirs? Well, "Love in Vain" and other songs assure me that the answer is likely to be: no, you'll always prefer a greatest hits, if anything. I have trouble getting over their particular blues-rock experience, and Mick being too forward in the mix rarely helps. But then you have "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and the already mentioned "Gimme Shelter," which are absolute classics. Even a Stones hater like myself respects the hits.
The Police
5/5
Outside of a greatest hits box set that my POP had in the house, this was the record by The Police that shaped my understanding of their music and of a lot of life for better or worse. It's been playing during milestone events and journeys — it's intertwined with personal history in ways that only classic albums can. The kind that are there when you want them and then unavoidable when you don't. Don't you wish that when you were growing up someone helped you understand the healthy way to love someone and to demonstrate that love? Meanwhile, I'm growing up with The Police's Every Breath You Take / King of Pain / Wrapped Around Your Finger / Murder By Numbers / Mother giving me instruction through tales of surveillance, possessiveness, obsession, and worse. But at least I could have Tea In The Sahara with you.
3/5
Sometimes it's the day, sometimes it's the album. But my album of the day today just didn't live up to my expectations. Overall, a good listen and I can hear some of what other people say excites them about Muse, but it didn't happen for me.
Janis Joplin
2/5
Oh, Janis you look like you may have been loaded for this photo shoot, too. But you sure could sing.
Goldfrapp
3/5
Real shame about the rise in popularity of the frappuccino because this music does not sound caffeinated at all. Felt Mountain is a cocktails and synthesizers vibe.
Sepultura
4/5
Roots, um, Bloody Roots! I can't tell you how many Sepultura patches on tattered jackets I've seen in my time. And yet actually hearing them was elusive, seemingly quarantined to late-night metal radio. Yeah, this was pre-streaming times, and it's not like I didn't hang with metal heads — in my town, all the punks, new wave, and metal kids had to stick together. This is a long way of saying that hearing Roots is significantly overdue, and it didn't disappoint, despite being more groove-oriented than I expected.
Beatles
3/5
Early work by some lads who'll go on to make a name for themselves. When you're "with the Beatles" (then), I don't think you can imagine where the road will take them, but you can already hear a few hallmarks of their sound.
Suzanne Vega
3/5
I know there's a Suzanne Vega song I was a real fan of when I was a kid. It wasn't on this record, though. The songwriting and music are alright. I can hear why some people enjoy it and champion her. Almost everything on the record is better than mid (although the bass slaps and pops on the last song do grate on my nerves), and there are some high points that deserve more praise from listeners who've spent more than one time through with it.
The album cover is a problem. There's something so hopeless about the art direction that I feel bad for Vega — while her music isn't my thing, she didn't deserve this typographic treatment. Not the worst design crime to pass through this list, but a watered-down expression of 80s graphic design tropes paired with poor choices that may have actually hurt her commercially in the days when people flipped through albums in the stacks.
Jamiroquai
3/5
Emergency On Planet Earth is listenable but not my jam. It's music meant for a club experience I'm not having, and yet if a track or two came through someone's speaker I wouldn't try to shut it down. Revolution 1993.
Miles Davis
5/5
There's really nothing new left to say about Kind of Blue. I wrote stream of consciousness all during the first track because that's a thing that can happen when you listen to Miles Davis. Take a person, any person, at any time after 1959 and you ask them "what is the sound of jazz?" or similar, you'll get the occasional joker, extreme contrarian, and displaced big band, bop or fusion malcontent say something striking, but 9 times out of 10 this record or a song from it is coming up. No made-up stat or other fantastic fabulation of fact can convince as much as the opening notes of "So What." And so what do I have to say or contribute here? Just another listener humbled by the album that converted a punk rock kid into someone who took jazz seriously more than any John Zorn output ever did. And to be fair, I love John Zorn too. I'm just one of those people who'd probably provide the contrarian answer while telling you he didn't want to be "that guy", but not here.
Mike Ladd
3/5
Unclear how these nearly unknown gems make a list like this sometimes. Here's a record that can't claim to have made a big impact on the genre or genres it operates in, and it also doesn't sound like an exemplar of technical prowess in the artist's chosen mode. There's not a lot of immediate evidence to recommend it. It's a bit of a head-scratcher. Like, "what are you doing here, little album of little note, on this big list of records you must hear before you die...?" And yet, it was a perfectly fine listen today and is going to rate higher than many other records I recognized from the list. I can only conclude that the question reveals more about me than the album. It's a shame we don't realize that more often about ourselves — so often when we move through this afterfuture we lack self-awareness.
David Bowie
4/5
A solid surprise comeback album from Bowie. And yet little did we know that what he really needed to do was get weirder, go deeper, and get darker (much like Blackstar would). You can hear pieces of that future already falling into place musically on The Next Day. But it's not sharp and sure enough of itself as a whole. Bowie needed one more ruthless pruning to shape the album into a bolder artistic statement. It's hard to listen to this record with the 26th studio album not too far off and knowing that one will be his last. But if I push all of that out of my mind and let these ears hear #25 in as much isolation as possible, there's much to recommend here — even if it's too sedate in places or goes light when it should go dark like a black star.
Morrissey
1/5
It's a shame what he's become in his later years. I just saw some footage of Johnny Marr doing a full set of songs from The Smiths, and I'd rather support that than this. Moz's signature vocal now conjures up racist commentary and defense of predators. Given the content of this record, I have to believe what we hear from him now is a change and that he wasn't this person we see before us back then. Either way, it's a real bummer.
David Holmes
2/5
Overall, it overstays its welcome. I might be able to dance to it. I might be able to use snatches of it as a soundtrack. I might find some of it timeless. I might find some of it to be wholly of its time. But one thing I'm not doing — I'm not taking direction from this record. It's only my 777th after all.
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
I grow weary of the Pet Shop Boys' Behaviour, despite a few bright spots, and I'm only 40% in. This record solidifies for me that they'll always be a singles-in-the-club band — a few songs scattered throughout the night at a dance club is the best way to experience their music, whereas listening to an entire album is a chore.
The Beta Band
3/5
Just like nearly every other American music nerd of a certain age, the Beta Band will likely never fully escape the scene from High Fidelity where Rob says he'll sell five copies of the Beta Band album as he proceeds to drop the needle on "Dry the Rain." And like half of those viewers, I forgot about them shortly afterwards — it's as if they went from Heroes to Zeros then and there. Maybe the band felt that moment as a plunging momentum and they couldn't help but give it a name later when they were putting this record together. They always seemed uncomfortable with the spotlight and that their best defense was self-deprecation and trivialization. So what does it mean to say this album does not disappoint?
Milton Nascimento
3/5
Great, expansive yet meandering music from Clube da Esquina / Milton Nascimento / Lô Borges that runs a bit long these days. Maybe it works better as background music, an atmosphere to sink into, when I'm focused elsewhere...it's filled with charms even if the Portuguese lyrics are a barrier to understanding for me.
Britney Spears
1/5
Yes, it's a one-star failure to rise above commodity culture, but it's not a one-star trainwreck or a deeply offensive nightmare, or a creative catastrophe consigned to conservatorship — but certainly not anything I needed to hear in full, not once, and definitely not ...Baby One More Time.
Syd Barrett
2/5
No Good Trying has the highest degree of overlap with my taste and if this album had been filled with more tracks like this and a couple others then there'd be a different ratings outcome. Alas, a bit too many Terrapin-styled tracks on Madcap Laughs. As Syd announces with the album cover's symbolism this is a record of the light and the dark. Here the light slightly wins, but it's too infused with hippie melodies a la Love You, etc. that to me are sickly sweet and folkified even if of a fried mind. I find it's hard to enjoy the circus music in its entirety but can acknowledge some of these tracks will last another 55 years.
Roxy Music
3/5
I would've preferred to kick this record off without the image of this indigestion victim in my mind's eye, because the music of the first track announces itself like a more polished Pere Ubu than a gassy beauty queen. There's a sense of humor that's both generational and regional that I'm missing the gear for, so whatever's intended has been let slip, despite being evocative and powerful enough for me to exhaust nearly three sentences on. There's definitely something weird and wondrous about Roxy Music. Please note I did not say wonderful. They seem a band whose success rests on fine and wry distinctions, so let's be clear about my position: when it comes to their music, they often don't evoke a personal feeling that's positive, but rather they're pushing into such odd territories that I marvel at their choices. If I could travel back in time to 1972, maybe I'd feel a clearing of the decks by some of the gestures here more than I pick up on them now. I might be able to proclaim them as trickster Art Rock geniuses donning the costume of popular music as they sneak invention into your home by way of the strangest sibling, only to push aside expectation and open the door to the esoteric. In that time, perhaps it was the use of glam rock artifice as a phalanx. There's as much to like as dislike on the first half alone — notes of Zappa, Genesis, Beefheart falling in love with and digesting the music of their youth, and a foreshadowing of Devo yet to come — shame the second seems to collapse a bit like a beauty queen run out of gas, but I can only imagine the sequencing was deliberate, like a coded message no one can ever fully understand.
Todd Rundgren
2/5
Something/Anything? must've been his criteria for inclusion on the album. Occasional gems that are not the hits can be found, but it's nearly 90 minutes of Todd Rundgren when a brief 30-minute EP would've been my preference — at least it was an easy listen?
The Velvet Underground
3/5
We all need to travel in a mind-wipe time machine to hear how revelatory a lot of these early records were. Our ears are, at best, poor approximations of archaeologists or historians, even when we do our utmost to establish this mindset. It's a fact we may know intellectually, and yet it's too easy not to hear the music that way. For example, I listen to The Velvet Underground and, try as I might, during The Gift I'm relating what I hear to later echoes of it in songs by Bauhaus (a single small example when other bands might owe a larger debt for their sound). That's the tension and the problem with records and bands like this — critically important at the time and enduring, but also plagued by their own successes. As the saying (sort of) goes: The Velvet Underground didn't sell a lot of records, but everyone who bought one started a band — and many of those bands would, in turn, go on to do some facet of VU's sound and approach better than they did. The music and quality of this recording have nearly as many flaws as distorted charms to recommend it. And yet, and yet... take that mind-wipe time travel trip, and you might hear how their debut and this album cracked open the ground of popular music in new, shadowy and important ways.
4/5
Like a lot of too young to know better kids of the era, my introduction to Devo was Whip It removed from all context and intent — just passing through the mediascape as some oddball thing that was vaguely funny and made more weird by the revenge of the nerds in the video. There was no one who pulled me aside and said "hey, these guys are more mischievous and punk than what's on the surface of the flat screen, my guy". I needed a few more years of devolution in my prefrontal cortex to fully get it. But...Q: You know what would've helped me along the way? A: hearing this album first. I'd hang with a lot of kids that had older siblings who pointed us in the direction of many amazing bands of all stripes and everyone of them let us down when it came to Devo. I didn't hear this album until years later after having largely forgotten them. Listening, then and now, it unlocks a level of Devo easy to appreciate.
2/5
I'm probably in the minority among true XTC devotees, but I've always preferred them at their least clever and most rock-oriented. And while they've always been artful songwriters, full of wit, pushing the craft forward (even evident on White Music and certainly on Drums and Wires), I've often been left thinking there's some additional artifice getting in the way of me connecting to the music on a more immediate level. In other words, the records I prefer from them are the opposite of this one. There are still plenty of moments that pull me in and that are frankly sublime, and yet here I am with another fine XTC record that doesn't fully speak to me. Alas, we are different creatures, and I'd fear to hear just what Andy Partridge would say about that if he had my ear.
David Bowie
4/5
How many letters have been spilled in wild abandon or words spent in cool repose writing about David Bowie's Low? Certainly, there's little need to rehash the mystique of his Berlin trilogy or the time spent trying to get sober and hanging with Iggy Pop in France. Maybe it makes more sense to dive into the sound of the album and praise Tony Visconti and Brian Eno alongside Bowie himself. Or maybe the best thing to do is just say that while it's not my favorite of his, it's certainly a good one — and it will grow on you if it didn't grab you right away (even the back half which does its thing differently). All you need to do is give it space and time, like an alien fallen to Earth.
While all that's true, I also want to give a little space/time to George Murray, who doesn't get enough praise for his bass playing on this record. Low goes because of the low. His lines are compelling and often the most driving element in the songs, lending a propulsion that helps Bowie stretch out when he wants to. The music would be less dynamic without him.
Neil Young
4/5
In the vision of Neil Young built up in my mind over listening to his records countless times as well as watching footage (and going to one live show) On the Beach isn't where I think of him, but this album is a great snapshot of post-Harvest Young that still possesses a surprising contemporaneity.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
4/5
One heck of a debut. Don't overdo it listening to anything beyond the first 43:03 mins. Keep it tidy and imagine you dropped the needle on this collection of songs for the first time, and it's easy to understand why this band became as big as it did. Now we have to cut through the noise of nostalgia and whatever other baggage their name has accrued. Even I can't believe I could give the record five stars, as I've never counted myself among their fans and certainly didn't listen to this when I was young (my POP liked his rockers, but for some reason he was on some other side of the divide).
The Clash
4/5
London Calling is possibly one of the greatest punk / rock albums of all time... now imagine editing it down by three to five songs to create what is certainly one of the greatest punk / rock albums of all time. This is the dilemma of The Clash.
Jazmine Sullivan
2/5
I'm always a little suspicious of albums inducted into the book that came out in 2020 or after, based on not yet having enough time to reflect on all the music released and pick the true gems. Then I'm reminded that collections like this (1001 Albums, NME's 500, RS's top 500, etc.) are essentially lists of popular music, so why wait? Why bother to look far and wide for the best, most inventive musics from everywhere? Why not just watch what charts and what makes other critics' year-end lists and go from there? But what if — and hear me out — the album was both popular and inventive? Something appealing to casual listeners and revealing of some greater truths about the times? Maybe it could slip into the mix a little ahead of any arbitrary gatekeeping timetable. Heaux Tales might be that record. Then again, it might not.
3/5
A solid follow-up to (my preferred) Los Angeles, the legendary X has always been something of a stress test for me. EXene Cervenka's notes carry confidently across the music, and with John Doe often following suit, it can be too much vocal for my ear. There is a bleat-to-drone quality that just edges on grating. And yet, and yet, the music is tight, the lyrics cut cleverly across the underbelly of the culture, and occasionally the vocals are eXactly what's needed. So who am I to say that on occasion I wish they had pulled back on the delivery? No one — might as well X me out and appreciate this Wild Gift.
The Stooges
4/5
She got a T.V. Eye on me, and I guess we got an internet ear on them with the radio burnin' up above. The Stooges' scuzzy-riffed Funhouse was apparently a disappointment in 1970, but here we are in 2025 smashing our fists on these computer keys. Maybe everything's diminished like Dirt, but I don't care. Baby, oh, baby, burn my heart. You might have to push your way past some crass Iggisms, 'cause he's loose, to hear how this record still rocks. But let's go. I'll see you Down on The Street, where the faces shine. No walls!
John Lee Hooker
2/5
Never trust an art major's math, but I hope John Lee Hooker got paid well at 77 years old for this album. He'd be gone from the earth 12 years later. JLH should be celebrated for his contributions to music well before this concept record (but I'm too lazy to look up if another record is in this list). I have to say, it's a little uneven in places but that's expected from the conceit of pairing Hooker with different artists/stars across the songs selected for the album. Overall, though, the listen ain't bad.
Madonna
2/5
The line of certified pop stars reinventing themselves is long. Perhaps it's less notable that it occurs, but for Madonna the results on Music speak for themselves. These ultra-global, mega-machine lady-stars are at their best when they can change with the times and for themselves. It's a shame only a few of them achieve the two necessary conditions: possessing the vision and bravery for the risks while also attaining the contractual freedom to build the infrastructure for exploration and change to actually thread the needle. The likes of Madonna, Beyoncé, and Swift are among the few. I'm sure their careers are being studied right now by the next generation of pop vocalists, and Madonna's Music is certainly on the syllabus.
Joan Baez
2/5
On a different day, in a different mood, over a different mountain, under a different moon...maybe. But today, no thanks Joan Baez.
Ms. Dynamite
2/5
I do not know how Ms. Dynamite is perceived in her home context, but this album betrays her name and feels a little safe and shallow at times. A Little Deeper? Not Deep Enough.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
3/5
Beefheart takes the blues template and pushes it in different directions through these songs. I'm sure the hippies and other adventurnauts took notice. Rocketing ahead to the now, it's less thrilling than it might've been. Then again, even Zappa-level weirdness of the era rarely holds my attention. And yet, while the production and recording quality signal its source in time, I'm more charmed by, and interested in, it than a lot of the popular music on this list from the 1960s — and I certainly find this album more enjoyable than Trout Mask Replica.
Post-album review note: The spirit of Beefheart is alive and well in 2025, if we understand the impulse as the unruly mix of avant-garde structure, anti-commercial stubbornness, mythmaking, humor as a weapon, and a kind of self-authored cosmology. So while this album may be dressed in the trappings of its era (as I either roll my eyes or point/laugh), it is important as a potential line of flight and cultural response. Maybe the next time you hear billy woods/Armand Hammer, Mr. Bungle, Black Midi, Moor Mother, JPEGMAFIA, Yves Tumor or even Zeal & Ardor, you can ask yourself: is this just a more sophisticated or synced-to-the-moment spiritual successor to ol' Captain Beefheart? It's the kind of thing that makes you want to continue to blow the dust off these old records and connect them to now.
John Prine
2/5
I only see one star sitting on these two bales of hay. Prine threads his cleverly acerbic lyrics through some of the least clever music in the country-folk genre. Oh, it's well-crafted and competent, but I tend to weigh the music more than the message (and he's already chosen to walk uphill both ways by composing in this space), so we'll see if Sam Stone, Paradise, The Angel of Montgomery, and Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore help this record rise above its current trajectory. Now, let's hit the pause button on the early dismissal. Give him one minute and you'll hear that these songs from 1971 document the struggles of the times. And if you give him two minutes, you'll hear that most of these challenges unfortunately remain.
Marilyn Manson
2/5
The lyrics on Antichrist Superstar aren't really my thing, but the music's got that 90s industrial-on-hard-rock-rails vibe that can be enjoyable if you're in the mood for it. This is my first introduction to an actual Marilyn Manson album and, outside of the lyrical content, my chief complaint is its length. Much too long for anyone other than the fans. Turns what could be tolerable into an intolerable chore. It's interesting how there are music-listening experiences that convert listeners to fans, and then there are other records that really seem for the extant fan only. Unfortunately, there's no way to reliably determine which is which since it's such a subjective matter of taste, though I do appreciate the Recommended If You Like approach, and for this we'll give it a try: early NIN, Ministry's 90s output, Rammenstein, and Front 242 — all of which also do this thing better than Marilyn Manson.
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
3/5
When a record is as innocuous as this and yet underwhelming it feels punitive to rate it 2 stars...I'm not mad Lloyd, just disappointed.
Missy Elliott
2/5
When you invite all your popular friends over to your party it doesn't always guarantee a good time. There's bound to be some highlights but not every moment is fab — especially if some of them have been telling the same joke since the late 90s. That out of the way, Timbaland's now classic production set the table for Missy (and her friends) and that combo is why the album sounds as good as it does well over 25 years later.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
While this record was probably celebrated a little more in its release year due to his passing, You Want It Darker is a picture of Cohen's consistency. This album offers more of his gravelly spoken singing over themes found throughout his career. The recording and production are restrained and rightly keep the focus on his voice — helping it achieve a more timeless quality as we recede into the darkness.
Ice Cube
4/5
This album is an explosion. A combustible combination of The Bomb Squad's production and Ice Cube's trajectory. He's through the crucible of N.W.A. — exiting that gauntlet successful, still angry, and having learned a few things about being rewarded for your rage and expressing it. This is the sharper, riskier, and more politically volatile Ice Cube before the edges melted away and he became the cuddly post-Friday Cube. It was a different time.
And yet, some might find it weighed down by the tendency of late 80s / early 90s rap to throw a skit or bit into the mix, and by just about every other rap cliche of the era. It might just be that this album is so thoroughly of its time that it defined it. So, if you can lay to rest whatever your personal preferences about how music and Ice Cube "should be," you might appreciate this classic of the genre (and maybe recognize that some of your taste might also just be prejudice).
The Boo Radleys
4/5
I was prepared to hate this record when I saw it was seventeen songs and by a band whose name I vaguely recalled not liking the first time I heard it/them decades ago. Listen, I even managed to type this pre-review in the first 30 seconds while the backwards tape and other sampled bits built up some tension... "17 songs doesn't sound like Giant Steps to get over the '1-hour with the Radleys' mark. It sounds like too many little steps to get there. Boo!" — yeah, I was eager to announce my displeasure. But wait, here's the twist: despite all this ready-made hate, I thought it wasn't bad. Yes, a little too long, with a back-half quality dip, but I'm glad I took the leap.
David Bowie
5/5
I may have written more for Bowie's The Next Day than I will write here, but it's only because the gravity of the loss/Blackstar has pulled all the worthless words into its orbit, and now I'm left with little to say other than that it was a fitting final album and statement from an icon/star. It remains an eternal favorite.
Tracy Chapman
4/5
When you are on the fence between a 4 and a 5 star rating for a record maybe you ask: WWTCD? She'd want you to follow your heart. And despite the capacity of some songs to move me to tears, the album ultimately doesn't add up to a 5 for me.
Deep Purple
4/5
Hey man, it's that heavy 70s sound as imagined in commercials and the drifting dreams of the media landscape. You take your classic rock and run a driven Hammond organ alongside it while the dimed guitar and bass approach metal riffs without fully crossing over 'cause they've got to continue to sell — wrap all that in a bow of lyrics about highways, driving, spaceships, fires, lovin' and the obsessions of post-hippie youth culture. As a kid decades later, I remember nothing but disdain for Deep Purple, sneering at Smoke on the Water even while learning how to play it on the bass.
Revisiting Machine Head now, I hear far more in it that speaks to me than I expected. The record sits closer to the music I enjoy than music I don't. So, give Machine Head a little grace and you might not blow a gasket. Maybe it doesn't blow your mind and you think it's only okay. But man, there are stretches where I can practically hear Iron Maiden, Metallica, Monster Magnet and Clutch (maybe even Queens of the Stone Age) forming in the vapor...
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
We all know that Nick Cave is a critical darling with his knack for artful brutality.† But what surprises me continually as I hear albums of his that I hadn't before (especially all the work with The Bad Seeds — I'm more of a Birthday Party & Grinderman listener) is how they write from a place that has a gothic but ultimately popular appeal while maintaining a unique vision and perspective. For me, each record is like discovering you had a cousin living abroad who is fierce, darkly comic, and unquestionably cool. He's been here all along, just out of your personal orbit, but now he's visiting (again) with some stories to tell. Henry's Dream is an excellent collection of tales, there might be a miss or two preventing an easy five-star rating but it's damn close.
† Sidebar: if you somehow doubt me, then you are not far enough into 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die...
Fairport Convention
3/5
When you see the cover and the first notes hit there's a sense you're going to be transported to another world or timeline — a step outside of this science fiction hellscape we find ourselves collectively unable to reverse out of. What was our sliding doors moment? I don't think this album offers us an answer to a question like that, but maybe briefly it offers us a glimpse of another time and place. Your enjoyment of the experience? It's mood dependent.
Flamin' Groovies
3/5
I just read that Mick Jagger apparently took note of the Flamin' Groovies' Teenage Head and he commented that they did a better job than the Stones' Sticky Fingers which treads in the same territory. Props to Mick for recognizing talent, but that's also a relatively low bar. This record just has more kick when it kicks. Makes you wonder just how much music was making its way onto the popular airwaves in 1971.
Massive Attack
4/5
You can drive a truck through that leading (line spacing) on the cover and right into the flammable background of this Massive Attack debut. And, while the lyrical theme or through line can be a bit wobbly, the groove is undeniable. Head nodding all around.
Lou Reed
4/5
Vicious. You hit me with a flower. You do it every hour.
Lou Reed's second album could've been more aptly titled Transformed, you know? Bowie and Ronson quietly re-wire the record, surely pushing it into more fluid territory. It's a record flirting with greatness.
Or does it land just shy of greatness for you? Could be that it's smooth, oddly exposed, and slightly ridiculous, like a shaved Honey Bear? And then you know what they say: you have a hairy-minded pink bare bear.
There is a lot to Transformer I appreciate. The lyrics, certainly. The production that frames Reed's humor and weariness in a cleaner, more deliberate light. All those easy mid-tempo rockers that manage to maintain momentum within the album and not bore me like they usually do. And the ballads like Perfect Day, they elevate the album and keep me hanging on.
Tim Buckley
2/5
And, maybe moods in-between? Mostly mid and pretty boring. This is album is just okay-at-best in the 2020s where our attention spans and interests (like what we're invested in when it comes to music) have shifted, but I can imagine it made a bigger impression in 1969 where 12 minutes of wailing about a Romani woman was something novel you had the patience for. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about or listening to either Buckley. And yet, I feel like maybe this album would've rightly faded into the past a little faster if both father and son hadn't left us in the way they did, but there's a limit to my speculation and we've reached it.
Carpenters
2/5
Not the Carpenters' best but also fairly benign overall.
Elbow
2/5
Well-composed and restrained, I struggle to hear the spark at the heart of the record. The Seldom Seen Kid is the sound of smooth becoming unremarkable, or of having refined your influences and playing so expertly that the result feels averaged out, with only a faint hint of the material that went into it. This album is the seltzer of music; it's the memory of a taste rather than an immediately flavorful experience. Lacking the ability to punch through, surprise or delight, it's adult contemporary for the indie age sleepwalking through the mid-aughts.
Scott Walker
2/5
On Scott 2, when he's not doing some up-tempo Broadway-pop crossover cover backed by a cartoon orchestra he's delivering a weird late-night boozy impression of Sinatra hanging out in Regent's park on a UK vacation. Sloshing between these two ends of the spectrum this album is similarly caught between two and three stars.
k.d. lang
2/5
k.d. lang's ingénue may be perfectly not my thing and yet so close — for a brief moment there was some contiguous territory with the acoustic album by everything but the girl and yet this compels me not.
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
I can hear funky echoes of this album running through many other politically conscious and pluralistic slabs of wax. The singles still have some punch, whereas the total album experience falls flat for me. I'm sure there's a joke about stand-out tracks to be made — and you can make it if you try, but it'll only work if it's for the everyday people.
Arcade Fire
3/5
I've already reviewed Neon Bible (3 stars) and The Suburbs (4 stars), and I have 7 of the 10 tracks from Funeral already on an existing playlist or two or three... haven't I paid my 2000s indie-pop dues yet? This review should be about an experience we all might have one day: exhaustion with a sound that once wore the crown. When I saw who I'd be reviewing today, I sighed — and it wasn't out of relief, and it wasn't out of joy. I was deflated and let down by Funeral showing up today. Mind you, it's not because this album is bad at all. While I don't think it's the perfect Arcade Fire record or the ultimate expression of what the band has to offer, it is a solid debut and sounded pretty good in 2004, even if I only heard bits and pieces back then. Maybe this should be part of the review, too: at the time, I was into the harder stuff, so I didn't form a bond with this record when it arrived. Just a weak attachment later in life after coming around to The Suburbs. So here we are with Funeral over 20 years later. It's fine but outside of Rebellion (Lies), it's ultimately kind of lifeless now.
Steely Dan
3/5
Can a Steely Dan album be too polished? Maybe. And yet, that's not really my problem with Pretzel Logic. The issue is subtler: the album feels more tame than the records of theirs I enjoy. It's a little too well-behaved, not quite as sardonic or sharp. I don't think it's the attention to craft that did it either — the issues existed prior to the studio. I sense more Dan filler on this album than others as well. Ultimately, it's a weaker entry in their catalogue and barely makes the 3 star mark.
Thundercat
3/5
I've always found Thundercat's music to be more cool than deeply enjoyable — that said, there's a lot to admire in it, like anime and video game references, along with tasty bass licks.
Ute Lemper
2/5
Punishing Kiss tips its hand early and yet I still appreciated its cabaret-infused, art pop mood for what it is. But it's not for me.
FKA twigs
3/5
LP1 is a twist on the Björkian template (if that should even exist as a phrase), but given the run of albums from our Icelandic queen on this list, I feel like I've heard a lot of this before and that very little new ground was broken. That said, I think this kind of musical expression nearly always benefits from a new interpretation and a production update. I appreciate the infusion of a more R&B-by-way-of-Britain vibe, and I understand how that little dose of popular-music clarity goes a long way in this iteration on the template. The stretch from Lights On through Video Girl is the album's high point, and after that the rest of the record neither collapses nor asserts itself. My final critical take on LP1 is that more than other albums it's either an empty vessel for the listener to pour their taste into or a blank mirror to have it reflected back. It rewards prior affection and reinforces prior indifference or dislike in equal measure. Unfortunately for FKA Twigs, this is not selection criteria when I think of the best music.