My 1001 Albums Journey

Album	You	Global	Diff
Butterfly Mariah Carey	5	2.48	+2.52
m b v My Bloody Valentine	5	2.72	+2.28
Lam Toro Baaba Maal	5	2.72	+2.28
Olympia 64 Jacques Brel	5	2.78	+2.22
Night Life Ray Price	5	2.81	+2.19
One World John Martyn	5	2.82	+2.18
Want Two Rufus Wainwright	5	2.84	+2.16
BEYONCÉ Beyoncé	5	2.86	+2.14
Beach Samba Astrud Gilberto	5	2.92	+2.08
The Dreaming Kate Bush	5	2.97	+2.03

Album	You	Global	Diff
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not Arctic Monkeys	1	3.73	-2.73
The Queen Is Dead The Smiths	1	3.67	-2.67
Unknown Pleasures Joy Division	1	3.47	-2.47
The Village Green Preservation Society The Kinks	1	3.4	-2.4
The Fat Of The Land The Prodigy	1	3.4	-2.4
Eliminator ZZ Top	1	3.37	-2.37
Goo Sonic Youth	1	3.24	-2.24
Closer Joy Division	1	3.22	-2.22
Pink Flag Wire	1	3.21	-2.21
The Hour Of Bewilderbeast Badly Drawn Boy	1	3.12	-2.12

Artist	Albums	Average
David Bowie	5	5
Radiohead	4	5
Beatles	5	4.8
Joni Mitchell	4	4.75
Talking Heads	3	5
Elvis Presley	3	5
Frank Sinatra	3	5
Led Zeppelin	3	5
Marvin Gaye	3	5
The Beach Boys	3	4.67
Beck	2	5
Jimi Hendrix	2	5
Kate Bush	2	5
CHIC	2	5
Stan Getz	2	5
Fleetwood Mac	2	5
Van Halen	2	5
Muddy Waters	2	5
Yes	2	5
Miles Davis	2	5
Stevie Wonder	2	5
Michael Jackson	2	5
Red Hot Chili Peppers	2	5
Elliott Smith	2	5
Bob Marley & The Wailers	2	5
Peter Gabriel	2	5
Curtis Mayfield	2	5
Adele	2	5
Prince	2	5
Amy Winehouse	2	5
Steely Dan	3	4.33
Creedence Clearwater Revival	3	4.33

Artist	Albums	Average
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds	3	1.33
The Fall	2	1
Joy Division	2	1
The Prodigy	2	1
The Smiths	2	1.5
ZZ Top	2	1.5
The Velvet Underground	2	1.5
The Stooges	3	2
The Doors	3	2

Blonde On Blonde

Bob Dylan

3/5

Psychocandy

The Jesus And Mary Chain

1/5

Real Life

Magazine

2/5

Some first impressions……. All sounds like a weird bridge section Cool sounds,cool dissonances Boring vocal Melodies Would be more interesting instrumental but maybe not rhythmically cool enough to hold my interest Guitar and synth lines cool but stupid Cool phaser sounds and Cool synths, I really like the combination of tones and dig the dissonances but wish the songwriting was better Cool out guitars Out of tune bends out of tune synths and stuff 60’s psychedelic meets punk Songs and moments: Shot by shot has a great build from 3:10- 3:20

Rage Against The Machine

5/5

!!!! Love this record. My older brother had this on tape and I first heard it when I was maybe 10 years old. Didn’t really understand what the lyrics were about but the heavy riffs and rhythms moved me in a visceral way. To this day, it gets me pumped up in a way that nothing else quite does. It’s so accessible and minimal. Sounds super ahead of it’s time compared to other stuff I’ve heard from 92. Morello had a really innovative voice on the guitar in his tones and lines. Bomb track has like 4 of my favorite riffs. These grooves are so deep. Killing in the name of- they are the absolute best at doing a build and landing in a heavy groove. Take the power back was I think the first bass line and first music I learned to play. Definitely super influential for me.

Low

David Bowie

5/5

Very cool record. I dig this album more every time I listen. Bowie’s band had one of my favorite rhythm sections and their playing is so different on this record. The drum sounds are so crazy on Breaking glass (sounds almost like they are doubled with electric drums). Also love the guitars on What in the World. Favorite tunes are Sound and vision, Breaking glass, and What in the world, new career in a new location. This album has a really beautiful balance of electric sounds and acoustic instruments. I love all the textures .Two of my favorite instrumental moments are the harmonica solo on new career and sax on Subterraneans (both played by Bowie). Least favorite song is Be my Wife. This album helps me appreciate Bowie as a composer and multi- instrumentalist. They definitely made something that sounds totally unique.

Let's Get Killed

David Holmes

2/5

Good production and cool groove samples but found myself getting bored pretty quickly. New Yorker samples feel exploitative to anybody? I went to internet to look up where some of the instrumental samples are from- Nautilus by Bob James is a great spacey cinematic 70’s fusion jam.

New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84)

Simple Minds

1/5

This album made me sleepy. Had some nice bass lines and synths but mostly I had a really hard time finding anything to grab on to. Not a fan of the singer’s voice.

Third/Sister Lovers

Big Star

3/5

I dig the string arrangements Upright bass was cool in the context of the album. I really like a couple of their ballads. Dream Lover and Take Care are my favorites. Interesting fragile sounding vocal performances. I wonder why they sat on this album for 4 years before releasing. Sounds unfinished/ in refined sometimes - I’d like a shorter tighter album. Too many songs and a handful of them are covers. (I do like a dark spacey version of Nature Boy but it sounds like a demo, Femme fatale has some nice melodic bass, don’t know why they need a kinks cover)

The Queen Is Dead

The Smiths

1/5

I really wanted to like this album and was enjoying it in the beginning but it lost me by the end. I hate to say it but I just couldn’t get past the drums. I can’t pin-point if it is a feel, tone, production, stylistic thing, or just the player but it just didn’t feel just right for me.

Revolver

Beatles

5/5

I had listened to the later Beatles much more. I’d definitely been sleeping on this one. For No One is a great underrated tune. I love the that big fat bass sound with the trashy drums on Taxman and so many other Beatles tunes. There are so many great vocal harmonies all over this album. I like the Indian influenced sounds. I wonder why rock sitar never really became a popular sound other groups. I love all the songwriting except for Yellow Submarine. Tomorrow Never Knows really is an amazing track. The melody is so hypnotic over that iconic groove and I love all the drones and crazy tape loops. Deeply satisfying sonically and The lyrics are deep too.

Guitar Town

Steve Earle

1/5

Sounds to me like the country version of the kind of stuff tom petty and Bruce Springsteen we’re doing in the 80’s. Hard to believe his vocals were Grammy worthy. Songs are alright but don’t seem like anything special to me- I am not super familiar with country of the 80’s so I might be missing something here- Maybe it was influential to a lot of modern country with the same kind of sound?

Little Earthquakes

Tori Amos

4/5

Great album! Powerful and original songwriting. How have I managed to never actually hear a Tori Amos recording before? I’ll have to listen again and check out her later albums. Favorite songs: Precious little things Happy phantom Little earthquakes

B-52's

The B-52's

4/5

Had a blast listening to this. The vocals are so fun and silly. I love all the interplay and harmonies. Favorite part is when she makes the narwhal sounds in rock lobster. Pure joy.

Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)

Eurythmics

3/5

Cool album- title track is best. Some notes: This is my house- sweet bass line City never sleeps ostinato groove Home is where the heart is / interesting how rhythms weaving through eachother. I hear some influence on 90’s industrial rock

The Bends

Radiohead

5/5

Really one of the best albums and probably Radiohead’s most accessible album. I feel like after this they were like “we’ve made the perfect rock record so what now? Let’s get weird and innovative and reinvent ourselves with every album.” Every guitar solo is really distinct and is really special. I’ve listened to this album a bunch and each time I appreciate more each little nuance in all of Thom Yorke’s vocals. Every part is great, the songs are amazing, and this album has a lot of my favorite Radiohead melodies too.

Deep Purple In Rock

Deep Purple

2/5

Terrible album cover and title I wanted to like this one more than I did so I took some notes going through the songs about what worked for me and what didn’t. Child in time- the vocals dudes falsetto with the wide vibratto is so comically metal Organ- love the tone and texture for hard rock however some of his lines solo lines don’t quite work for me ( maybe too straight rhymically or some random sounding choice of scale/ modes) Overall I think I need stronger melodies all around -vocals the solos and in the riffs. I think for this kind of classic hard rock you need to have better riffs. For a music style like this that leans on the instrumental this way I wanted something better to hold on to. They did do a good job capturing a live feel I do like the tempo changes on Child in Time. Flight of the rat- rhythmic break downs are cool. Into the fire- verses sound cool coming out of the riff Living wreck is pretty bad. The cat noises on the organ are kinda cool Hard lovin man- pitch bend on organ are cool. Harmonized solo is cool too Random band fade out to excessive pan shifting guitar solo feels like it’s trying too hard and just made me dizzy. Idk that kind of thing may have seemed trippy and cool in 1970 but just feels awkward now.

Third

Portishead

3/5

Lots of great textures. Very vibey. I liked the whispery vocals but wish she had another different kind of voice (like a scream, or even spoken) that she could use sometimes to contrast. I had a hard time following lyrics sometimes. The music sets such a cool backdrop I wish I had more of a story or hook to grab on to. Favorite songs: Nylon Smile and Magic Door

Odelay

Beck

5/5

Really had fun listening to this one. So many different things going on and it all works in one big musical collage. Leaves me feeling with the anything that anything is possible in music. Some thoughts on each tune as I listen through Devils hair cut: great beat Drums sound soooo good Cool random poetic sounding lyrics “Bad” guitar solo When guitar doubles bass and distorted vocals soo cool Hot wax: more noises feedback guitar solo hooks and distorted vocals on chorus “Karaoke weekend at the suicide shack” Love the enchanted wizard of rhythm bit Jack ass- great melodic bass. sonically pleasing textures New pollution- great pop tune. I like all the retro 60’s stuff. Pretty much the same bass line as taxman :) Lord only knows: cool fake out intro Punk/ country. He’s such a great singer but can just throw away a vocal too. Derelict- cool persuasion. And droney stuff. Novacane- sick groove love the sample of the hits on the sus chord before the first verse. So many sounds on this one! This is where I realized the beauty of this album is that anything and everything fits. Not in a cheesy way but beck really beautifully uses stuff from all genres and he treats all these little genre cliches not like a schticky or exploitational way but like a painter that is using all the colors in his palette. Where it’s at- love this one! Another great bad guitar solo I like the samples on this record- I went to Whosampled.com to try and check out where everything g came from. Way cooler than anything on that David Holmes album we listened to. He gave a shoutout to Gary Wilson so I had to check him out -super weird vocals Minus- cool punky grungy. I guess this is the oddball track on an album that’s already weird all over the place Sissyneck- like the country guitars and dial-tone synths Ready made- cool bass line lots of dissonances over it. Close harmonies in the low vocals is a cool sound High five( rock the Catskills) - more super weird stuff all over the place. classical interlude in the middle Ramshackle- Charlie Haden on upright bass:) Bob Dylan vibes on verses. Cool contrast on chorus. Mostly just one chord so when they do the 2 chord it feels special. Cool contrast having a tune this static placed in this spot of the album.

Time Out

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

4/5

Take 5 is such a great tune. Pick up sticks is super cool. I love the bass ostinato that repeats through out. Kinda of a hypnotic feeling loop after awhile. Brubeck does some really cool rhythmic stuff in his solo.

Raw Power

The Stooges

2/5

Probably won’t come back to this record but I enjoyed checking it out. Iggy pop reminds of Anthony Keidis sometimes and I can definitely hear the influence on some of RHCP punkier stuff. I liked the distorted sound that saturates everything. This “proto-punk” sound kinda just sounds like 60’s Rolling Stones or early Who to me. I think the appeal in the stones thing was a rock feel that was super sloppy and felt like it could fall apart at any point but never did. It’s actually super hard to get right and I think the stooges totally get that thing better on this album than any stones band could. It definitely has that rock thing (“raw power”??) that I thought the Smiths were really lacking. 2.5

Brothers

The Black Keys

4/5

So much great stuff on this album. I had a few songs on this album that I’ve loved for years ( everlasting light, tighten up, only one) but hadn’t heard the rest of it( except for howling for you). I really like the production and the drum sounds, guitar tones and all the distorted fuzzy stuff grooves and organs are cool too. It is one of my favorite sounding records but after a while it seems like too much of a good thing. The songs started to all sound the same. I think the song writing and arranging is good ( love how simple everything sounds), but it kinds of sounds like we are hearing every attempt to work to perfect that sound. II would have liked them to mix it up and deviate from the static bluesy sound on a tune or two. Maybe an uptempo tune or something with more harmonic movement - maybe some horns or another singer, another soloist to spice it up. These Days is a great ballad and I dig his voice I would’ve liked another tune like this earlier in the record. It is a really incredible sounding record. It made me want to listen to a couple other records that have some similar production and aesthetics that I love - Circus by Lenny Kravitz. Locked Down by Dr. John (also produced by Dan Aurbach) 3.6

Manassas

Stephen Stills

1/5

I had a really hard time listening to this one. I like CSNY but I guess S on his own is just not an interesting enough lead voice. There are some nice harmonies on the folky/ bluegrassy tunes. I got a few tunes in and it all just sounds like generic classic rock to me. Way too many songs. Not a bad album but I’d definitely be fine dying without hearing it.

Sunshine Superman

Donovan

1/5

Being There

Wilco

4/5

I love Jeff Tweedy’s voice and songs. I like all the really noisey stuff at the end of misunderstood and sunken treasure. The three endings of Dreamer in My Dreams are fun. 4.5

I Should Coco

Supergrass

3/5

Pretty cool. I like the drums and rhythm section really seems to push ahead with punk rock energy. I Remember that song “ Alright” is super catchy. Can hear lots of 60’s British rock influence it even got a little jammy towards the end. I didn’t like the chipmunk voices song.

Duck Rock

Malcolm McLaren

2/5

Duck rock Cool album cover. I liked a lot of the music, it was kind of all over the place. Felt like an eclectic radio show ( I liked that it had the team supreme radio show bits tying it together and the weird square dancing lyrics throughout). I wonder how much of a role musically McClaren played (curator? Producer? Singer?). I saw it said on Wikipedia the boyoyo boys were uncredited for “double Dutch”. It sounds similar to the boyoyo boys tune that Paul Simon wrote “gumboots” to. I hope everyone involved got their dues- is he just singing over other peoples songs and adding some keys/ synths- like what is going on on “Merengue” did he just add that vocal and name it Merengue?? I liked punk it up I’d be curious to learn more about this album, how it was made, cultural context etc.

Lady Soul

Aretha Franklin

5/5

Wow so many of her classic songs are on this record. Deeply satisfying listening experience from beginning to end. It’s the perfect album.

Siembra

Willie Colón & Rubén Blades

5/5

Really enjoyed listening to this one- will definitely come back to this.

Remain In Light

Talking Heads

5/5

I love this record so much. So many cool rhythmic layers and really cool tones and textures. I love all the funky rhythm guitar and percussion. These grooves are so great. I love all the unconventional solos that are super colorful and expressive. The lyrics are great and fit the music perfectly. One of my favorites albums -Also love the Angelique Kidjo version and the Stop Making Sense concert.

Faith

George Michael

2/5

I wanted to like this one more than I did. The song “Faith” is a great song and I’ve always loved the bass lines on it. I do enjoy George Michael’s vocals but I think the music behind it doesn’t always rise to the occasion. Not a fan of the production. Drums and horns can sound fake. Kissed a Fool is supposed to be jazzy but feels kind of like it’s sung over a generic backing rhythm a 90’s Casio. So much of it sounds too sterile to be sexy. I feel like the songwriting was not good enough throughout to make this a good album. I feel like there could have been a much better version of this album. Tough one to rate but I am gonna say 2.3

I Am a Bird Now

Antony and the Johnsons

2/5

The songs and arrangements are sad and beautiful. Her voice is cool -so much vibrato ( but too much for me after a while). I really liked hearing Rufus Wainwright sing a song in the middle of the album. Tough one to rate - I feel like I would’ve been into it more if I heard it in 2005. It definitely gave me a nostalgic feeling - I listened to a lot of sad music in 2005 haha. Another tough one to rate 2.5.

The Lexicon Of Love

ABC

1/5

Ok. I don’t know why this was on the list…

Deserter's Songs

Mercury Rev

3/5

I liked the cinematic sound with the strings and the saw doing theremin type stuff. There’s some pretty cool stuff but I feel like I might like this better with a different singer. 3

Seventeen Seconds

The Cure

2/5

Some cool textures and dissonances. Very dark and moody. I like the minimalist approach but it is too static for me and drags after a while. Wish songs were more dynamic or had more development. Sounds unfinished or amateur to me. Wish there were some more memorable melodies to grab on to.

American Beauty

Grateful Dead

3/5

I’ve always had a hard time getting past the Phil Lesh’s vocals on Box of Rain and the harmonies are not tight. I can be more forgiving of their vocals and harmonies live but I think they could’ve gotten some better takes. I like their later 70’s albums and their live stuff better - never been a fan of their blues songs or their folky stuff. I do like David Grisman’s mandolin playing. Phil Lesh’s bass playing is so weird on friend of a devil. I like Brokedown palace .

Hms Fable

Shack

1/5

So weird I don’t have much to say. Totally neutral musical experience not sure what I am missing here

The Beach Boys Today!

The Beach Boys

5/5

Oh man the harmony in these songs is so great. Love the all the vocals and the arranging. I never really heard most of these songs but now I feel like I’ve been really missing out on The Beach Boys. They are kind of perfect recordings (except the tambourine is super loud) I love the echoey hi hat sound in I’m so young.

(What's The Story) Morning Glory

Oasis

3/5

Quintessential 90’s rock. He really sounds like a whiny John Lennon sometimes. The 3 big hits are definitely the best songs on the record. Very much guitar driven but the leads are nothing special. So many anthemic choruses they kind of deserve singable memorable solos to go with them.

Are You Experienced

Jimi Hendrix

5/5

This album is so good. I love the live feeling energy on it. Jimi’s songwriting and lyrics are so good (Wind Cries Mary and May this Love are two of my favorites). I love his voice and his vocal delivery is so cool.Really love Mitch Mitchell’s drumming on this album, so fluid like the wind or the rain - perfectly locked in with Jimi’s playing and all the cymbals saturate the space and glue everything together. The jam and kid in me was freaking out over Third Stone from the Sun ( it gets so out with the rhythmic displacement with the bass and drums). Jimi’s voice on the guitar is so unique often imitated but never replicated). The title track is so cool - the heavy pulsating of the reverse drums - the psychedelic lyrics. The intro to Foxey Lady is so cool how it swells into the that heavy groove. Really great blues on Red House. Love the drums on manic depression. I could talk about this album all day.

Wild Is The Wind

Nina Simone

5/5

Nina Simone This album is so good. It has so much range and each song is great in different ways. Her vocals on the ballads is my favorite she takes us on such a journey. I hadn’t heard most of this album- I’ll definitely have to go back for some deeper listening.

The Nightfly

Donald Fagen

4/5

Pretty crazy personnel on this record- Marcus Miller, chuck rainey, Steve gadd, Anthony Jackson, brecker brothers, Larry Carlton. The instrumental and the production are amazing. Donald Fagens voice and songwriting are pretty hit or miss with me. I know a lot of musicians that obsess over all the Steely Dan stuff. I really love a handful of songs off of Aja but rarely can listen to the whole album through. Props for having a totally original style - it’s so slick but also soooo awkward sometimes. 3.5

Arc Of A Diver

Steve Winwood

3/5

Spanish dancer is so cool when the beat drops. The intro reminds me of Vida Blue’s first album. When You See a Chance is maybe my favorite. The synths are so expressive and pair really nice with the gospelly piano and organ. On Nighttrain I realized he is great as a guitarist too. I knew him as keyboard player and singer but he is super talented as a multi instrumentalist. Synth bass sounds just like a fretless jazz bass. Actually love all the synth bass on this album. Least favorite song is definitely Second Hand Woman. The lyrics are just so terrible. I dig about 80% of this record.

The Dreaming

Kate Bush

5/5

Wow this album is so original and unpredictable . It’s so weird and cool and It sounds way ahead of its time. She is a very expressive singer with a unique voice. The songwriting and arranging are great and there is some of the most beautiful fretless bass playing on this record.

This Year's Model

Elvis Costello & The Attractions

5/5

Went through a big Elvis Costello phase about 10 years ago. I never actually heard this album whole way through though- more rock than some of his other stuff. Love the energy on this record especially on tunes like Lipstick Vogue. Radio Radio is great. The attractions were a great band -Bruce Thomas is actually one of my favorite rock bass players his lines always add so much to the tunes.

Goo

Sonic Youth

1/5

The only enjoyable part is the noisy guitar sections. Would be better if it was just a short album of free improvisations w/ feedback. I can’t really stand the songs or band at all. After listening to the Kate Bush album, this especially seems so half-assed and lazy.

Tragic Songs of Life

The Louvin Brothers

2/5

Definitely tragic. So much death and murder. I really like the vocal harmonies on everything. Tough one to rate, enjoyed listening but probably won’t go back to it. 2-2.5?

Let's Stay Together

Al Green

5/5

Amazing voice. Love the rhythm section - the grooves are so heavy. Great songs I love his performance of The Bee Gees tune.

The Soft Bulletin

The Flaming Lips

4/5

Really cool sounding record. I love the sounds and production and arranging. I don’t really like the singer’s voice but it kind of grew on me a little. I like the instrumental song sleeping on the roof. I enjoyed listening to this album while dozing off in the cab.

Elvis Is Back

Elvis Presley

5/5

Solid album. Elvis really was a great singer. “It Feels So Right” is probably my favorite. Fever is so cool with just the bass and minimal drums. 4.5

Urban Hymns

The Verve

2/5

Pretty bored listening throughout. Bittersweet symphony is the best tune on the album. Pretty wild that they had to cede the all thesong writing credits and royalties because of The Rolling Stones sample. It makes the whole tune though- not much there without it. At its best, it makes me want to listen to other bands that did similar things better Ike Coldplay. Worst song is Lucky Man. Tough to rate 1.5? 2?

My Generation

The Who

2/5

The Who- Best tune is My Generation I love the raw energy. Totally unique to have a bass solo and a drum solo on a hit song- pretty badass. Kids are alright is good too. Weird that it sounds like he does a voice in the James Brown tune (an impression?) and another one on I’m a Man -and the stuttering on my generation. Feel like he’s a doesn’t really a have a unique voice as a singer (idk maybe I haven’t listened to enough Who but I don’t know if I’d be able to recognize his voice). Super harsh sounding album. I usually like a little distortion and some trashy drums but this is maybe a bit too much. Maybe a bold choice maybe just bad recording but it kinda sounds like an iPhone recording from behind a drum set at a rehearsal. It’s a vibe iKeith Moon’s drums is the most interesting thing going on. I like that busy style with all the fills but after a while I wanted to hear a bit more attention to groove/ feel or some hipper ideas. Pete Townsend is not that special as a lead player- sounds like pretty generic blues stuff. I guess this has some proto punk style but does that just mean they play loud and kind of sloppy? This album definitely feels rushed. Three covers and the Ox is pretty much just wipeout with feedback and detuned guitar. Doing this list I am realizing a lot of these English rock bands of the 60’s or classic rock bands in general are overrated. It sounds like another example of “it must have been an exciting sound / aesthetic at the time” but doesn’t hold up as that interesting to me compared to better rock music to come after it or stuff of the same era recorded with better session musicians. I think I’d prefer to listen to Elvis or The Beach Boys or Beatles. 2.5

Red Dirt Girl

Emmylou Harris

3/5

Favorite tune "J'Ai Fait Tout". There’s some good storytelling in Red Dirt Girl. I enjoyed listening to this throughout. Not really what I expected at all. More folk than country. Cool textures and percussion throughout. Lots of mood and vibe but I maybe would want some more dynamics. Interesting vocal performance. It is so nice when the vocals on these albums are actually from a real singer.

Faust IV

Faust

2/5

Faust actually really liked the instrumental. All the synths and repetition in krautrock had a cool minimalism rock thing. Jennifer is such a weird tune- the wobbly bass. The weird rhythm In that piano. The awkward vocal actually kind of work on this one. Really can’t stand the vocals on the other tunes. It’s a bit of pain- omg that dissonance! Cool noisey guitar solo. 2.5? 3?

The Score

Fugees

3/5

Lauryn Hill is so good. Lots of great stuff on this record but I hate the skits.

Risque

CHIC

5/5

Great grooves and hooks. Totally a unique sound with the group vocals and strings. Bernard Edwards basslines are super iconic. I like the long instrumental sections of just groove in Goodtimes. The tap dancing section in My Feet Feel like Dancing is cool. Can’t Stand to Love You is so great, probably my favorite song-I wish it were longer!

Exile In Guyville

Liz Phair

2/5

Pretty challenging listen for me.I liked some of the interesting/ strange sounding harmonic stuff with the guitar and vocals. I feel like the songwriting is better than the performance and recording. They recorded guitar first and maybe that’s why it sounds like the rhythm section is kinda shaky. It sounds like there’s a better version of this album that can be made. 1.5

Spiderland

Slint

3/5

Probably the first album on hear that I thought I was not gonna like from the beginning but actually started liking more and more further in. Kind of weird that it’s a whole album of songs that sound like it would be the one gloomy experimental song on an album. Not a fan of the whispery vocals. Very moody stuff but I’d say it captured the kind of emotions that I had as a teenager. Last tune is the best one I think. The guitar player went on to play on two Tortoise albums that I was pretty into in college. 2.5

evermore

Taylor Swift

4/5

Enjoyed listening to this album throughout and had never heard any of these songs. Favorite songs: Ivy Damn season Closure Evermore Least favorite: no body, no crime I like the all the textures in the production. I dig the hybrid folky meets electronic vibe but sometimes wish it went further in one direction or another. Love the Bon Iver collab at the end.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

4/5

Pretty solid album. Breakdown is probably my favorite- such a cool song. American Girl really is a great song and recording too I love how it sounds so full with the multiple guitars and the bgvs. I also liked the first song and Luna . 4? 5?

Jazz Samba

Stan Getz

5/5

Great album. Stan Getz playing is so smooth I love his rhythmic feel. Charlie Byrds bluesier guitar playing is the perfect contrast too. Cool arrangements. First and last songs are my favorite. Love the double bass on Bahia

All Mod Cons

The Jam

2/5

Alright band I guess and not a bad album, but I feel like this list has made me a little numb to this kind of rock. Didn’t really feel anything listening to it….. Idk 2?

You Want It Darker

Leonard Cohen

4/5

Love the super low voice. Great songs and lyrics. 4.5

Live At The Witch Trials

The Fall

1/5

Really hard to listen to I had to give up on it. Don’t get why this is on the list…

Liquid Swords

GZA

2/5

Some cool beat production. I really like the strange dissonances- Cold World sounds like it’s on 3 different keys at once. I was enjoying the album but the pro-life lyrics at the end kind of ruined it for me

Hejira

Joni Mitchell

5/5

Love this record. Joni has made some of the most beautiful and unique music. Her voice and her phrasing, the songwriting- all are so good. I love how loose and open the folky/ jazzy vibe of all these songs are. The music really breathes and flows and goes on a journey in a way you don’t really hear in pop music. It totally feels like a road trip. I love Jaco’s bass playing on her records. It’s so melodic and his tone is so voicelike. It’s so different from what any other bass player would think of playing. It’s like he’s supporting her and singing a duet at the same time. They really perfected this sound on Mingus. Also, worth noting some really beautiful guitar playing by Larry Carlton, I like all the swelly stuff on Amelia. Kudos to her for taking her music off of Spotify, first album I’ve bought in a long time. 5

Caetano Veloso

4/5

He’s got two self titled albums. I listened to the 80’s one first before realizing it’s the wrong one. It was pretty cool, extremely minimal just guitar and vocal. Wish it wasn’t quite so minimal. The Billie Jean cover did not work at all for me. The 60’s one is super psychedelic and has tons of percussion and fuzzed out guitars and sitars. I liked the sound and arrangements a lot. I feel like it holds up better than the some of the other 60’s experimental stuff we’ve heard because it has a stronger groove/ more rhythmically interesting. I was hoping I would have a tune with a melody that grabbed me a bit more. I was interested in the Tropicalia movement so I checked out an album he was on called Tropicália: ou Panis et Circencis and really liked that album. I feel like I want to come back to these 60’s records and give them another listen. I’ll rate the first album a 3 maybe the second album 4.

The Hissing Of Summer Lawns

Joni Mitchell

4/5

Such a strange and interesting record. Some really weird stuff with the drum loops and synths. Some of it sounds so ahead of its time and some of it sounds so 70’s. Seems to be one of her more experimental records and kind of transitional in style. Kind of enigmatic for me . I really enjoyed listening to the album and there’s some really great stuff on here, but it didn’t move me emotionally like some of her others. Tough one for me to rate. 4

The Köln Concert

Keith Jarrett

5/5

Love this record. It’s such a journey. Tough to explain how it feels. Expression of totally unique emotions and ones that feel universal and ones that are more transitional or ambiguous but are so specific to this recording. Sometimes totally introspective and sometimes joyous. I love the peaks and valleys and the searching and development and hearing him find inspiration in real time. There are so many amazing moments in here and it’s the context of all of it that makes them feel so satisfying and earned.

Songs Of Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen

3/5

Wow his voice was so different in the 60’s. I definitely liked “you want it darker better”. I wanted more from the vocals and melodys in most of the tunes “Thats no way to say goodbye” is a good song I didn’t realize he wrote it. I first heard the Lianne La Havas version. Lyrics were interesting I would’ve wanted more

Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs

Marty Robbins

3/5

Good storytelling and a well made country record. As promised there are a lot of songs about shooting people. I enjoyed but I didn’t hear anything specific to this record to make me want to come back to it.

Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde

The Pharcyde

4/5

Love how these guys sound like they are having lots of fun. Great samples and cool melodic stuff in the rapping

Leftism

Leftfield

2/5

Too long. Pacing is a bit slow. Pretty unfamiliar with this kind of electronic music not sure exactly what I should be listening for. Most interesting things are the sounds and textures I guess. Sounds like it’s missing something to me. I couldn’t really get into it

Amnesiac

Radiohead

5/5

I love the horns in “living in a glasshouse” it’s one of the best endings for an album- so classic. I love all the weird rhythm stuff in sardines and revolving doors. Drums in pyramid song make the tune. Morning bell is one of my favorite Radiohead songs - I love the contrast from the verse and choruses.

Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black

Public Enemy

4/5

Public enemy the beat is so big sounding and the energy in it. Some trippy stuff with reverb and panning. Some crazy dissonant sounds. I like how some samples are so warped they are hardly recognizable. I think Nighttrain was my favorite. 3.5

The Downward Spiral

Nine Inch Nails

5/5

So intense and weird. Only Trent Reznor (and Johnny Cash) could make these lyrics work. Its so personal and uncomfortable but also super broad. It feels like such a window into someone’s head who’s having a downward spiraI who’s not really w/ reality any more. love the ambient sounds and textures that give the whole thing this disturbing sound. This was my older brothers favorite album and I grew up with this album. Not sure how would I feel about it if I were to hear it for the first time now. Closer is such an amazing song. Super challenging listening through but satisfying every few years. I always used to used to skip a few songs too.Trent Reznor definitely made something with a sound so unique I really can’t think of anything that sounds at all like it. The production is so good!

Hotel California

Eagles

3/5

Great band - super tight playing and harmonies. I love when everyone in a band can be the lead singer and do really smooth harmonies. The more laid back country rock tunes I think are what they do best. I think this the better version of what Stephen stills was going for on Manassa. Hotel California is a great song . Victim of Love is pretty terrible though.

Tusk

Fleetwood Mac

5/5

Never heard any of this before. Very 70’s but also kind of modern sounding. Sounds like they had alot of fun experimenting and getting weird with this album. Tusk- Over and over, great production and great feeling groove. The ledge- wacky Save me a place/ has cool harmonies Sara- a stevie nicks song! Spacey and poppy. Kind of long but I don’t mind at all .it pop What makes you think I’m the one- unique drum parts( so much snare) Storms- some weird stuff with the guitar/ bass sounds like finger tapping That’s all for everyone- love this spacey sound Not that funny- new wavey sounding at first. Like thewacky fuzzy guitar stuff at end Sisters of the moon- cool tune That’s enough for me- Brown eyes- big drum sound Never make me cry- love the vocal sound and the big low notes I know I’m not wrong- I like the synth hook.

Ten

Pearl Jam

3/5

I always liked the popular Pearl Jam songs on this album but never really got into them. Good band, some cool moments. Interesting vocals and melodys. Eddy Veder has a similar timbre sometimes to Dave Matthews

Jagged Little Pill

Alanis Morissette

5/5

Such a unique singer and songwriter. The uniqueness and style is so different from tune to tune too. Great album. I thought Uninvited was on this album but it’s not- that recording is also incredible.

Crime Of The Century

Supertramp

3/5

I had never heard this band before. Had fun listening to this one. Great sounding 70’s record. I especially like the drum sound. I love this kind of 70’s power pop/ rock it it reminded me of Wings, Queen, Harry Nilsson, Elton John. The songs and instrumental are great but I don’t love the sound of the lead vocal like I do with those other bands. 3.5

Fred Neil

3/5

1960’s folk crooning pretty cool. It’s good but some of arrangements feel kind of thrown together. A lot of the guitar parts are kind of noodely. I dig the vibe but feel the recordings could be more interesting. Everybody’s Talking is a great song. Definitely prefer Harry Nilsson, stevie Wonder and tedeschi trucks versions.

Pink Flag

Wire

1/5

I did not like this. Could not stand the vocals. Didn’t like the production/ drum feel.

Street Life

The Crusaders

4/5

Cool album of super smooth 70’s fusion. The Hustler was my favorite track. Title track was really long but not in a bad way. I like how in the 70’s hits were all extended for dance clubs I like all the variations and solos. It would be cool to hear more of that in modern pop. Would love if an 11 minute jazz song was super popular and commercially successful today.

A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector

Various Artists

3/5

My notes from listening. Castanets. Percussion and strings. Reverb. So big and crazy sounding. Drums sound like rain and thunder in the distance. All definition of stuff in mids is lost. Some times you just hear drums bells and vocals with a wompy bass. The drum fills at the end of the tunes are great. I like the time feel- like it’s pushing a lot of the time. As far as holiday albums go this is one of the best ones. Can I still enjoy his records knowing that Phil Spector was such a creep and a murderer? Tough one to rate…

Paul's Boutique

Beastie Boys

4/5

Love the beats and production on here. Beastie Boys’ rapping is fun but I guess not really that great lyrically. 3.5

Southern Rock Opera

Drive-By Truckers

1/5

Could not get into it….

3 + 3

The Isley Brothers

5/5

Such a great album. The covers of Summer Breeze, Listen to the Music, and Don’t Let Me Lonely are all better than the originals versions and I love those songs too. The lead guitar tones( That Lady) and playing are amazing. Highway of my Mind is a great song.

Survivor

Destiny's Child

4/5

So many great pop songs on here. Super fun listen.

GREY Area

Little Simz

3/5

Enjoyed listening. Some cool variety of beats and hooks. Favorites are offense and selfish.

Appetite For Destruction

Guns N' Roses

3/5

The hits are great but I was disappointed by the other tunes on the album. I like slash’s playing. Axl Rose is a terrible person.

Music From The Penguin Cafe

Penguin Cafe Orchestra

2/5

Some interesting stuff in here but there’s definitely some intonation/ tuning things that bothered me

Raising Hell

Run-D.M.C.

4/5

They did the rock rap thing first and best. Fun record.

Clube Da Esquina

Milton Nascimento

5/5

Got into this album a couple years ago after listening to Wayne Shorter’s “Native Dancer” album a lot. Love his voice and style. Really cool tunes and arrangements. So many songs on here. The title track is my favorite and Cravo e Canela (there’s a really great live Flora Purim version!)

The Dark Side Of The Moon

Pink Floyd

5/5

Used to love this record but haven’t heard it in years. The clock sounds always annoyed me. It really does hold up as a great record. It sounds amazing and is brilliantly engineered and mixed. The phaser on the backup vocals on time is so cool. On the run is trippy now but people must have really had their minds blown when the synths do that Doppler effect thingy. It’s a concept album but the main theme is like the Em to A type jam that happens in a few of the songs. The ability to take that kind of standard 2 chord vamp and get that kind of mileage out of it is kind of genius. The playing in the loose jammy parts is pretty tasteful and actually leaves a lot of space for the textures to come through. Some really cool slide guitar and organ stuff on this record. I like how big and full it sounds with the sax and backup singers.

Dig Your Own Hole

The Chemical Brothers

2/5

First thought was this would be fun music to play PlayStation or N64 to. Cool stuff but can’t really hold my interest on its own. Without vocals, or live performance, and not much going on in the compositions I am not sure what I should be listening for. For it to just be electronic sounds and beats they would have to be so interesting to make it work for a whole album.

The Wildest!

Louis Prima

5/5

Great swing music. Love the duets. Super fun.

Van Halen

5/5

The playing on this record is so great and the songs are so catchy. Accapella break in I’m the one in so great. Love the back up vocals in general. One of the most classic intros on to a record Running with the Devil is one of my favorite badass one note bass lines. Such a great band. DLR was such a perfect frontman -unique voice, kind of ridiculous and hilarious personality but his delivery is perfect on this record. I can only imagine how much fun it have been so fun to play in vanhalen in the 70’s and early 80’s. I love virtuosity paired with a sense of humor and fun! Eddie is obviously one of the greatest guitarist but this was really the perfect band for him to shine in.

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

Iron Butterfly

3/5

Iron butterfly- So 60’s! Reminds me of the “listen to the flower people” scene in spinal tap. The mix is kinda harsh at points. Love the yarly, grungy, meets Tom jonesyness of the dudes voice. I had this cd as a kid and was very impressed at a 17 min song lol. Still pretty cool tune but could probably have been like 11 minutes.

Modern Life Is Rubbish

Blur

2/5

Everything about this is so English sounding. I appreciated that it was more adventurous than some of the other stuff we listen to in a way that worked. It really do anything for me though when I listened. 2.5

Moving Pictures

Rush

4/5

Never got into rush. I always thought they were kind of cheesy even compared to other prog rock bands. This album is awesome though and It was super fun to listen too. Really cool trio sound. And the playing is great. Tom sawyer and limelight are so classic. Yyz is kind of overtop.

NEU! 75

Neu!

2/5

I actually liked a lot of slow minimal ambient stuff. With the right singer it could’ve been really cool. Didn’t like the more conventional rock songs with lyrics as much. 2.5- 3

All Directions

The Temptations

4/5

I like the funky psychedelic guitar heavy sound. Norman Whitfields arranging on Papa was a Rolling Stone is so good.

Buena Vista Social Club

5/5

Awesome album. Favorite songs are Chan Chan and Cuarto de Tula. Love the piano solos on Pablo Nuevo.

Live At The Harlem Square Club

Sam Cooke

5/5

One of the greatest singers. I love the energy of this live recording.

Modern Kosmology

Jane Weaver

2/5

I wanted to like this more than I did. I like the idea of a modern psychedelic / electronic sounding record but aside from some cool synth textures it sounded kind of boring. After the first couple songs I was waiting for it to go somewhere else or have a song that grabbed my attention a bit better. Sounded kind of safe and not adventurous at all really for this style. Not a lot of dynamics in her voice or in the arrangements. I hated the noodley guitars the couple times they popped up. 2 I guess? It was alright but not really sure why this the one of two albums from the past ten years on the list so far?

Sex Packets

Digital Underground

3/5

Digital underground- So funk heavy with all the parliament samples. I think they sample flashlight in at least 3 songs. Love when he sings the bass line on humpty dance. Feels live like a jam or party but the songs all felt a bit too long.

Le Tigre

2/5

There’s some lofi quirkyness and minimalist parts that I like but I didn’t enjoy listening to this one much.

Teenage Head

Flamin' Groovies

1/5

Kind of sounds like stones but not as good. I did not like this singer. I would rather listen to better blues musicians than blues inspired rock. A band like this needs a really good lead guitar player or a special leader singer. The mick jagger quote on Wikipedia made it sound like they were a great English blues band in 1970. There was so much better music that came out that year from England - I would much rather listen to Elton John’s Tumbleweed connection, or Joe Cocker, or the Stones or Zeppelin. Pretty mediocre in comparison. Also way too many songs- why do they need the Buddy holly cover, Louie Louie, and the Elvis type tune?

The Hour Of Bewilderbeast

Badly Drawn Boy

1/5

Some of the instrumental parts were ok but I wanted more from his melodys. Also didn’t like some of the lead guitar.

Red Headed Stranger

Willie Nelson

3/5

I like the slow acoustic ballad stripped down vibes but after a while it starts to sound the same- doesn’t help that there are multiple reprises. Was really glad when Remember Me came (probably my favorite track). Actually the last three songs are all great. I didn’t really pick up that it was a concept album until reading about it but that’s pretty cool. His voice is great.

Butterfly

Mariah Carey

5/5

Mariah Carey Butterfly Honey is a classic. She is really an incredible singer. I love all the super slick production on the 90’s r&b ballads. Well done album the whole way through- I liked the butterfly reprise too. The prince cover is sounds so drastically different from the rest of the album but it works.

Like A Prayer

Madonna

3/5

Title track is great of course. Some songs pop songs but her singing doesn’t really do anything for me. The prince contributions are probably my favorite part. 3

Fever To Tell

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

3/5

Enjoyed listening to this one. Dynamic vocals. Cool guitars with some good riffs and inventive parts. No bass on most (all?) of the record, it gives it a unique thing that’s probably true to their live sound -but it would also probably sound good with bass too. 3

The Cars

5/5

Love the synths throughout. Pretty good lead guitars too. Good times roll has a super cool “where’s the one ?” Intro Just what I needed is a perfect rock song. It gets a little weird with “I’m in touch with your world” cool synths and saxophones and stuff. I dig it. Cool bass tone in “moving in stereo.”

Songs Of Love And Hate

Leonard Cohen

4/5

Great album, I preferred this one to the earlier “Songs of Leonard Cohen” but not to “want it darker” ,“The dress rehearsal rag” is so dark, And the next song “diamonds in the mine”is good contrast it’s light and jammy instrumental but the vocals are really gritty and anguished at the end. I would probably listen to one side of this record at a time and turn it over days later 3.5

The Message

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five

4/5

Some amazing grooves on here. Doug wimbash from Living Colour played bass on this album. I really like how it is not only a hip hop album but it has a variety of styles and genres and every song has a great hook. I like the stevie wonder tribute and you are. The vocals and piano on “you are” are so good. “It’s nasty” is great- I like how they built on the genius of love groove with the new bridge section, horns, and kazoo break. She’s Fresh is my favorite tune.

Alien Lanes

Guided By Voices

1/5

Alien voices: Lofi thing can be cool I guess but it gets distracting here. Sometimes there’s like a hiss behind the vocal or drums that is kind of harsh on the ear. I like the super short song thing with these tunes but I feel like if all the songs are that short at least some should feel tighter. Maybe there is potential here but I don’t think this is the best version of this album there could be. It’s not even the production, so many of my favorite recordings are very rough sounding demos. I think the sounding like “I don’t care” thing in punk and alternative rock is really overrated and over represented in this list. Music is definitely worth caring about and I think if there is so much amazing music and musicians in the world- why would I choose to listen to this?

S&M

Metallica

5/5

I friend burned me a copy of this album as a kid I probably haven’t heard it since I was 11 or 12. It’s so cinematic from the top. this must’ve been an awesome concert to see live. It’s like a greatest hits and I think all these live orchestral versions are probably all better than the originals. The songs new to this album like No leaf clover are really good too. Their writing is pretty solid. They did some cool arrangement things with enter sandman. The orchestral arrangements are so great throughout. Kirk Hammett is great and has some cool moments but for the biggest metal band in the world I kind of want my face melted a bit more- the wah wah thing is cool but can get a little noodley sometimes. Would love some more sustaining soaring guitar melodys or crazy technical shreddy lines. I always liked the intro to One and I like their harmonized lines at the end and the orchestra adds so much. James hetfield kinda scares me when he gets everyone chanting “hey” but then he seems like a nice enough guy later when he addresses the audiences. I really enjoyed this the whole way through. I know it would be fun listening to and I liked it way more than I thought would. Good job Metallica! 4? 5?

Countdown To Ecstasy

Steely Dan

4/5

Cool album cover art. Love that the harmonized guitar sound on the first tune Razor boy is my least favorite song on this one and least favorite style of steely Dan song. Show biz kids has a cool hypnotic groove with the repetitive bgv’s My old school is probably the most poppy song on the album. The playing and production is great of course. Super original like all their stuff with that unique steely Dan sound. I liked this but didn’t really have much of an emotional response to it. I hope wAja is on the list. Read on Wikipedia that Jeff Baxter has a whole other career as a missile defense consultant for the pentagon and working for NASA- so crazy. 3.5

american dream

LCD Soundsystem

4/5

LCD sound system I actually never heard them before and it’s not quite what I expected. They do retro synth rock really well. Oh baby has that one note intro is cool way to start album Other voices has a talking heads vibe And so does change yr mind Tonite is Call the police has a Bowie “heroes” vibe with the guitar Black screen is so minimal and repetitive. The outro is weird and cool I like the subtle changes to the pulsing synth over time. Interesting minor over major chord sound on the piano. Pretty good album but I feel like I have to be in the right mood for it. 3.5

Roxy Music

2/5

I like the instrumental parts. there’s some cool stuff with synths and saxophone on tunes like 2hb I don’t like the vocals for the most parts and it’s hard for me to get past. Would you believe is probably my favorite song. Pretty good rhythm section. I like Brian Enos later stuff and his ambient music and his production so was expecting to hear some more those elements and like this more. Sea breezes is so weird. 2.5

2112

Rush

3/5

“Attention all planets on the solar federation…. The first song is so epic . Love the futuristic sci fi concept of finding an ancient electric guitar -so ridiculous. I actually wish the second half of the album stuck to theme for a full on concept album.. Super cheesy prog rock but super fun. The second half of the album was less interesting to me. I was very into 70’s prog rock in high school but didn’t like rush back then. I hope we get some of the classic Yes or King Krimson albums to balance out this list a bit. 3.5

The Age Of The Understatement

The Last Shadow Puppets

4/5

I liked this one. Interesting use of the orchestra and very cinematic at times. We’ve had a handful of newer (90’s 2000’s) British bands doing a retro 60’s psychedelic rock thing and this was my favorite. Well done arrangement and production. 3.5

Ocean Rain

Echo And The Bunnymen

2/5

If 1001 albums was a genre this would be it, this checks all the boxes. This is the most 1001 sounding album. It’s alright I guess but I don’t really feel anything from it . I’m sure it was probably influential on 80’s/ 90’s alternative but maybe it is one of those had to have been there things. 2.5

Young Americans

David Bowie

5/5

One of my favorites and definitely my favorite Bowie record. Such a satisfying sounding and feeling record. Every note sung and played are incredible. I really love the background vocals and this is one of the greatest rhythm sections. This album gets the perfect combination of soul, R&B; funk, rock, and experimentation and it is all so tight while feeling so organic. I really love all the jammy parts - I would love to hear where it goes after fadeouts 5

Pyromania

Def Leppard

2/5

It’s alright I guess but so cheesy. Rhythmically it’s all very stiff and straight feels kind of boring after a while. I like the pop metal thing but this is a little too clean and sterile sounding for me and it takes away from the rockness of it. Foolin is a catchy chorus. It was a relief to get a break from the strainy screaming after 5 songs. Van Halen’s early 80’s albums are 10,00x better than this

Hard Again

Muddy Waters

5/5

Mannish boy is so badass. I love the drums on here the snare tone is so trashy and cool. I like the groove on Cross eed Cat. I like the groovy acoustic vibe on I can’t be satisfied. I like the space in Deep Down in Florida.

World Clique

Deee-Lite

3/5

Dee- lite Enjoyed this one the whole way through. Great grooves and cool samples with enough variation and live instruments to keep it interesting. Great vocal hooks. 3.5

Endtroducing.....

DJ Shadow

3/5

changeling was my favorite song. Interesting sampling work and I appreciate that it’s an instrumental hip hop album, but I am wondering if it would be better if it had a vocal like a singer or rapper on a few of the songs to unify the album a bit. Maybe even more melody.

New York Dolls

2/5

Trash is my favorite or PrivateWorld. I like how they lean in to the old school rock n roll thing. I don’t like his vocals. Some cool stuff at the end of Jet boys. Most of this album didn’t really do any thing for me.

Screamadelica

Primal Scream

2/5

It started out and I think this was gonna be a Rolling Stones inspired retro classic rock thing and then it got progressively more electronic and experimental. I definitely prefer the more sampled sound. The guys voice got annoying after a while. Favorite song was probably I’m Coming Down. Least favorites were Damaged and Come Together. Seems different from a lot of the early 90’s rock bands and was probably a new exciting sound and cooler back then but not sure if it holds up. Tough one to rate 2.5- 3? I liked it more than some of the other stuff I rated 2.

All That You Can't Leave Behind

U2

3/5

U2 I used to have an aversion to u2 but I don’t know why. This is a great sounding album which is always refreshing after some of those early punk rock records. Beautiful day is a great song. Brian Eno production is so good! The chorus is so huge sounding. Nothing else on this record comes close to this. I actually really like Bono’s voice - it breaks up in a John Lennonesque way. There’s some good and some bad lyrics. Feels like the songwriting may have been rushed and doesn’t live up to the production and the better songs on earlier albums. I liked: Stuck in a moment wild honey Grace Did not like Elevate or New York

Synchronicity

The Police

5/5

A fantastic record and incredible band. They each have such a distinct voice on their instrument and in their writing. As a band the sum is greater than the parts and the sound is so unique to them. Also they have great attention to detail to make sure every song is very much it’s own sonic world. And rhythmically each song has a distinct groove that’s different from anything else. Stewart Copeland may be my number 1 favorite rock drummer. I love the feel, the voice, the tones, and especially the energy. He is has the power to make good songs great with his drums. And even make ok songs great with the drums. The musicianship is extremely high and the music has a wide variety of influences but it never gets in the way of the songwriting. It is cool to hear ambitious rock music played by people with some jazz fusion influences come out in a different way than Steely Dan. Synchronicity 1 is so manic 80’s rock Oh my god - sweet groove. cool out there sax solo stuff. Great bass tone. Mother- Andy summers is such a weirdo a 7/4 blues about an oedipus complex. I can see why sting wanted to go solo haha Mrs Gradenko - love Andy’s guitar solo Synchronicity 2 is a great pop song Every breath you take- such a classic King of pain-great song. cool harmony snuck in at end of verses. I love the drum entrance Wrapped around my finger- Cool vibe on this verse another great chorus. Cool bass motion on the third verse Tea on the Sahara- some more cool textures and tones in this one. Murder by numbers- awesome drum intro. kind of a flubby live type ending they probably planned on fading out.

Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)

The Kinks

3/5

Good songs. I enjoyed this one. Just the right amount of 60’s rock sloppiness. Brainwashed sounds like it may have been an inspiration for Blur’s “song 2”.

Beautiful Freak

Eels

4/5

ome super interesting song writing and arranging. I really like his vocals but I think he may have overdid the spoken parts a bit. Great sounding samples and compressed 90’s drums. I like the 90’s alternative rock sound on songs like Not Ready Yet. Produced and has some cowrites with Jon Brion! 3.5

Green River

Creedence Clearwater Revival

5/5

Great album. I love John Forgerty’s voice and songwriting.

Nothing's Shocking

Jane's Addiction

4/5

I liked but didn’t this one. the first song was cool it reminded me of RHCP’s “warped” from One Hot Minute. Dave Navarro has some cool big feedback guitar sounds. Pretty solid rock band I probably would’ve liked this more in middle school when I was really into other 90’s funk rock (chili peppers, fishbone, faith no more, living colour etc). I feel like maybe the sound is better than the song writing on half of this. There’s definitely some filler (“thank you boys”) on here. 3.5

Lazer Guided Melodies

Spiritualized

4/5

I actually really enjoyed this one. Some really beautiful textures and cool arranging. My favorite was Angel Sigh. 3.5

At Folsom Prison

Johnny Cash

5/5

Really great live album! I love all the banter and the prison announcements in between tunes. Send picture of mother is such a great sad song. Love hearing June Carter on Jackson.

A Love Supreme

John Coltrane

5/5

Such an incredible energized recording. It’s a whole world of its own.

Fun House

The Stooges

2/5

Stooges fun house I can definetly hear it’s influence on other bands. Super repetitive but that repetition is the probably best part of the first half. Second half is way more interesting .I like that noisey rock sound with the saxophone- It got me in the mood to listen to Naked City by John Zorn. 2.5

Horses

Patti Smith

5/5

This was a really great listen. I feel like I need to come back to it again and dig in deeper. It is so different than other things with the punk label(maybe it’s more about a time and a place and less about musical elements or even aesthetics?) . You can also call this art rock or electric folk music- It’s a great album and she’s definitely a totally unique artist. I would’ve loved to see her live @CBGB’s in the 70’s.

Want Two

Rufus Wainwright

5/5

Great songwriting. I love his voice. Favorite songs are Memphis Skyline and Art Teacher. Pretty cool that Levon Helm played on one of the tunes.

Guero

Beck

5/5

I had this album in college but I probably haven’t heard it since. Favorite song is “Earthquake Weather” least favorite is “farewell ride.” 4.5

...And Justice For All

Metallica

4/5

Had this record as a kid and haven’t heard in years. I love their harmonized guitars Cool guitar melody in “And just for all” I would’ve liked some more melody in the vocals for all these songs. I found myself feeling like I waiting for verses to end so we could get to the guitar solos. “One” is probably my favorite Metallica song and has so many great guitar moments. Intro for “living to Die” is awesome Least favorite is “shortest straw” and “frayed ends” Tough one to rate… 3.5 ..4?

The Yes Album

Yes

5/5

Yes album Yes was one of my favorite bands in junior high and high school. I would listen to albums like tales of topographic oceans and close to the edge regularly and religously, but I haven’t listened to this in a super long time. Such a great band- they all have such a distinct sound and it’s totally unique sound they play play together. Maybe everyone thinks that about their favorite band but I can only think of a few groups that have that kind of thing. Chris Squire- I love his an iconic crunchy bass sound from that rickenbacker with a pick. The grit of the bass is the perfect contrast to Steve Howe’s clean guitar sounds. Also his lines are all perfect melodies. His mccartney- esque walking line on yours is no disgrace works so perfectly against the melody. His melodic playing on Starship Trooper is so great. Bill bruford- I love his playing at the end of Venture and the interplay with the bass and piano ( would love to hear what happens on the fade-out). The first time I ever heard that kind of thing was on Heart of the Sunrise when he does an almost drum solo over the groove before the verse and I still think of that it all the time. Steve Howe- such beautiful guitar playing and different from what most 70’s rock players were doing. He was the first time I heard volume swells and harmonics and I still associate those sounds with him. John Anderson- the dude has the voice of an angel. I have no idea what the lyrics mean but he writes great melodies that tie the epic compositions together. Their group vocal harmonies are great too. Tony Kaye- so many great sounds and textures. I love the organ and synth sounds. I like the Wakemans playing on his albums better but I think that tony kaye and Patrick Moraz albums. I hear people call Yes self indulgent and lump them in with other prog rock bands but I’ve always felt that they are in a lane of their own. I think they were probably just really nerdy guys who were intense about their music. I’ve always appreciated their attention to detail and I think they were In the pursuit of beauty and not perfection or complexity. This album still kind of sounds like rock music and you can hear them moving more towards the farther out stuff. by the time they got to close to the edge, tales, and relayer it was like you put on the record and you can get transported into the fantasy world of the roger dean painting album covers. They got so deep into the compositions and I think they really explored the possibilities of what can be created with rock instrumentation and their imaginations. It is sounds so collaborative too I’d be so interested to see what their process was like. This album is kind of the transitional album from earlier sounding yes ( your move) to stuff like Starship Trooper. Yours is no Disgrace- is a jammer I love the feel when the “sailing ships to nowhere” part comes back. The Clap- I always thought having a live solo track on an album was kind of random. I he does like 3 different endings on this one but they are all awesome. Starship Trooper- The finger picking part with the harmonies sounds so joyous to me. the three chord part at the end is such a great build. Rocks so hard and they add so many textures before the solo finally comes in. Your Move- probably the most accessible song from 70s yes. Love the John Lennon “all we are saying is give peace a chance” part in the bgvs. Cool cyclical modulating harmony at the end. The venture- cool tune but I tend to forget it because it is not as catchy melodically. Perpetual change- probably the most proggy song on the record it has two totally different grooves with two yes’s panned to opposite sides at the end -So wild.

Channel Orange

Frank Ocean

5/5

I love this record. One of the few popular contemporary albums I got really into in my adult life.

Gorillaz

5/5

Great record and great concept. Clint Eastwood is so classic. Also love low country and rock the house.

Rocks

Aerosmith

1/5

Super boring. Scratching my head why this album is on here. Aerosmith had a lot of hits but none of them are on this record. I would’ve much rather listened to toys in the attic, get a grip, or big ones. Back in the saddle is one of Steven Tyler’s worst sounding vocals. Terrible song. Last child is alright. Sick as a dog is not a good song. Get the lead out is alright. 1

Here's Little Richard

Little Richard

5/5

Loved this one- so much energy. His voice is so great. Slippin and Sliddin is probably my favorite.

Songs From A Room

Leonard Cohen

2/5

Least favorite of the several Leonard cohen albums we’ve gotten. Not his best sounding vocals pretty boring musically kind of sound like demos to me. Depressing.

Lady In Satin

Billie Holiday

5/5

Such a great singer. I liked the orchestral arrangements. Favorites are “End of a Love Affair” and “But Beautiful”

All Things Must Pass

George Harrison

5/5

Favorite songs: I’d have you anytime What is life Let it down All things must pass I dig love I love his slide playing and his vocals. Realizing now how influential this sound was. Dreamy quality to a lot of the music. I like all the reverb and the Phil Spector wall of sound makes it sound big and spacey at the same time. I like all the jammy stuff at the end on the third disc too. Lots of great musicians on here -Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Allan White, Pete Drake, Ginger Baker. So much great stuff on here but not perfect. I like all the imperfections but there are definitely some things that are lost in translation to digital streaming format. Its a lot to be listened to straight and probably doesn’t need two versions of “isn’t it a pity.” 5

Darkness on the Edge of Town

Bruce Springsteen

3/5

First time listening to a full Bruce record. I know he was a great performer and songwriter but didn’t realize what a great singer he is. I like his dynamic vocal performances on Streets of Fire and Something in the Night. Not a big fan of the songs about old cars… 3.5

L.A. Woman

The Doors

2/5

Doors are probably one of the most overrated rock band. Especially Jim Morrison , pretty boring voice actually and I don’t really like his lyrics. This is like their blues album but their blues playing is pretty uninspired sounding. Would much rather listen to cream , stones, zeppelin etc.I guess what they do best is the psychedelic rock stuff Riders on Storm and Changeling and La Woman are the best ones on this album. Every other song is the worst

Power In Numbers

Jurassic 5

3/5

Good album, I enjoyed it the whole way through. 3

Sheer Heart Attack

Queen

4/5

This is a fun album. Freddy Mercury is amazing of course. They all were good singers but I don’t know why you’d want to Brian May sing lead on any song with Freddy Mercury in the band. Brian May is a great guitarist I love his tones. Killer Queen is such a cool tune. Stone Cold Crazy is a cool riff it’s almost like proto thrash metal. I’d give maybe a 4.5 because I’d probably skip over a tune or two if I was listening again

There's A Riot Goin' On

Sly & The Family Stone

5/5

I really love this record. Such a unique and influential sound. The combination of the feel, the textures, the tension, the production is so cool to me. I love Sly’s voice and phrasing and how the grooves feel so organic over the drum machine. Really cool that he did the remake of Thank you ( falettinme be mice elf) was only a year later, with such a different vibe. Sometimes the music doesn’t really go anywhere but to me it feels so good it doesn’t need to and doesn’t want to- I could listen all day.

Dance Mania

Tito Puente

5/5

The music is so good. Santitos Colon has such a great voice . I loved the marimba solo on Hong Kong Mambo.

Unknown Pleasures

Joy Division

1/5

Joy division- They have a thing with the minimal guitar and bass parts. They kind of compliment eachother well but also rub with tension too. I could hear their influence on frusciante and flea. I really didn’t like the vocals. The melodys are not good, the tone is bad, and he’s out of tune a lot too. Disorder- wow those are some bold note choices in the bass, actually my favorite part of the song perfect example of “wrong but strong” Didn’t like the next two songs at all Insight-cool synth toms Shadow play- vocals sound like David Byrne trying to sing like Jim Morrison in the worst way Wilderness- cool bassline and intro. I like the reverb and delay on the drums I remember nothing- I like the ominous vibe and textures of the instrumental and sound effects but the vocals are soooo out of tune. 1.5

Welcome To The Pleasuredome

Frankie Goes To Hollywood

2/5

Actually some fun 80’s dance music . .Some cool synths and basslines and 80’s guitar tones- but not really a good album and didn’t really like any of the songs Trevor Horn production is cool. Scratching my head at the Born to Run cover. It’s not that different from original, would’ve been cool if they did it in a whole other direction. Now really scratching my head at San Jose. Too many covers on this album.

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

OutKast

5/5

Two solid albums in different styles. I enjoyed both but like the Love Below better. Great production and performances throughout. Appreciate all the other rappers and singers keeping it really interesting throughout.

Stankonia

OutKast

3/5

Good album but not a fan of skits and interludes in general and this album had a bunch of them. 3.5

Blood, Sweat & Tears

4/5

Great band, good rhythm section and horn arrangements. I really like the singers voice- reminds me of something but I can’t place it. The music has a lot of cool transitions and was not predictable. Kind of theatrical, and proggy but soulful too. I feel like they succeeded in recording something different.

Honky Tonk Masquerade

Joe Ely

2/5

It was ok. Joe Ely- liked cornbread moon Nice slide solo on because of the wind Box car- kind of a cool vibe. Cool harmonized guitar lines Jericho- like the half time part 2.5

The Last Broadcast

Doves

2/5

I listened to this one yesterday and didn’t take any notes and couldn’t remember a single thing about this album today. Kind of like Coldplay/ U2 stylistically. It was ok I guess but apparently didn’t make much of an impression on me. 2.5

The Village Green Preservation Society

The Kinks

1/5

60’s English rock. Similar in style to the stuff the Beatles were doing a couple years earlier but not good. It lost me at the “fum diddle dee” part of phenomenal Cat. 1-2?

Bandwagonesque

Teenage Fanclub

2/5

Sounds like a 90’s garage rock band but with 60’s vocal harmonies and melody.

Lost In The Dream

The War On Drugs

2/5

War on drugs- I like the synth pop/ folk rock sound. I think the songs needed stronger hooks or just more hooks in general. It’s all kinda wish washy with tons of reverb and after a while it lacks dynamics. I wanted a stronger sounding vocal too- a little too breathy. Too much lead guitar that just sounds like noodling with tons of reverb- I think less with more intentional sounding parts would serve the songs better. 2.5

The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter

The Incredible String Band

1/5

Sounds like a parody of 60’s psychedelic folk. The vocals are so bad. Really hard to listen to. The intonation and playing of violin is so off. Very challenging album. Sounds like they don’t know how to play half of the instruments on this album.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Beatles

5/5

Not quite how I remember the mix the bass is so loud and the drums are so soft. Sgt peppers- great opener With a little help- great transition mccartneys bass sounds so great so big in the mix and his line is absolutely perfect for the song. I love Ringos feel- that fill out of the first chorus is so perfect. Lucy- chords and melody so great. Again McCartneys bass is so melodic. Getting better- such a great intro Fixing a hole- one of my favorites. (Weird sloppy bass edit at 37 seconds) Cool syncopation in Mix sounds different than I remember it. She’s leaving home- such a beautiful and sad song. George Martin’s arrangements are so damn good. Mr. Kite- getting weird and circusy. The instrumental waltz part is cool. The part at the end is trippy. Within you/ without you- cool vibe 64- great tune Good morning- bass sounds like a tuba. Peppers Reprise- drum sounds are cool Day in life- bass is kinda busy from the top never noticed. Such powerful use of the orchestra that last note is so epic. Those vocal loops at the end are wild too.

Marcus Garvey

Burning Spear

4/5

Good album. I really enjoyed this one.

Parallel Lines

Blondie

3/5

Blondie- has some catchy hooks. Robert Fripp on radiate and fade away. I liked the buddy holly cover. Heart of glass is so great. I like her vocals. 3.5 3

Blue

Joni Mitchell

5/5

Blue- such a good album. On the top of any of my lists. Probably, Joni’s best and most personal songwriting. Totally unique singer and songwriter. I like all the alternate tunings and interesting harmony. Really dig her piano playing too. “Case of You”is such a great song- all the songs are, and I have heard this album so many times but this time I really appreciated “Little Green.”

Melody A.M.

Röyksopp

2/5

Rokysop - some interesting stuff going on with textures but it gets less interesting quickly. Pace seems a bit slow to me and songs seem long. Maybe I would like it more if it had more live or lead elements? It does have vocals but super boring ones on songs like remind me. Songs with verses, choruses or more contrasting sections would be cool. Favorite songs: So easy, Eple, Higher Place

Frampton Comes Alive

Peter Frampton

2/5

Frampton- So 70’s! Kind of generic classic rock sounding. interesting that this is a live album. Probably I like this more than I would if it were a studio album. Band sounds good and the live arrangements translate well to the record for the most part. “Baby I Love Your Way’ is a great song. I guess that why it’s on here one or two hits that made the record sell really well. As an album it’s alright I guess but not really sure why it’s on here- I know it was very popular but aside from the use of the talkbox I don’t think it was a super original or influential album. Some of his best guitar playing may be in “Lines on my Face.” 2.5

Rain Dogs

Tom Waits

4/5

Waits- I love the album cover- great photo. Not Tom Waits in the picture but it looks like him! Started off really not into it and then liked it it more as it progressed. “Any where I lay my head down” may be my favorite and “Singapore” and “Cemetary Polka” I did not like. I like the vibe and sound of the record. Cool instrumentation I like the sound of upright bass paired with the bangs and clangs of trashy sounding drums and percussion. Marc Ribots guitar is super cool. Two of my favorites are“hang down your head”and “downtown train “ . I was thinking they sound like they could be Bruce Springsteen songs- their singing and songwriting can seem so similar to me even with the differences stylistically. The instrumentals “Midtown” and “bride of rain dogs”are cool “Blind love”is great too. Tough one to rate I really loved a lot of it but also really disliked some of it too. 4-4.5?

Nebraska

Bruce Springsteen

2/5

Surrender and I want you to want me are catchy and the rest is so boring to me

At Budokan

Cheap Trick

2/5

Whoops messed up and put this review under Nebraska. Here’s one for Nebraska: I like the folkier side of the boss- pretty cool when an artist can do a whole album with mostly just guitar and voice. Didn’t love all the tunes on here though. Atlantic City is a good song. A lot of these seem like old country songs. Pretty cool that he released an album of acoustic demos during the height of his popularity and that he was writing and recording songs for born in the USA this way at the same time. Would be interesting to hear. 3?

Meat Puppets II

Meat Puppets

1/5

Meat puppets- This was a tough one. plateau has some interesting stuff I guess. Tempos are all over the place There could be some cool guitar and bass stuff its super sloppy sounding - I might like a better version of this but for the most part it was not enjoyable. Vocals are terrible. Punk / alternative country vibes. Lake of fire - I knew the famous Nirvana version from the Unplugged was a cover but didn’t realize the meat puppets wrote the original. I’ve tried to listen to a few times but it’s super challenging.

The Chronic

Dr. Dre

2/5

The beats and production are great but it’s too hard to look past the lyrics. 2

Surrealistic Pillow

Jefferson Airplane

2/5

Jefferson airplane- Grace slick and the harmonies are cool. I would’ve wanted her singing lead on all the songs instead of the other guy. I like Somebody to love. White rabbit sounds like drugs. Best friend is ok. I hate listening to these 60’s bands play blues songs- kinda just feels like album filler to me. Embryonic journey was cool- the fingerpicking acoustic stuff is way more interesting than his electric playing. Would’ve wanted to hear a song with vocals with this vibe. 2.5

From Elvis In Memphis

Elvis Presley

5/5

Great sounding and feeling record. I really love his live recordings from this period. Very enjoyable.

Born In The U.S.A.

Bruce Springsteen

3/5

Born in the USA So much snare drum. Used to not like it but I think the drum sound and feel are kinda growing on me. Dancing in the Dark is my favorite tune.

Music for the Masses

Depeche Mode

3/5

Liked this more than I thought I would. Cool parts and sounds. I feel like I’d like this more with a different singer.

Beach Samba

Astrud Gilberto

5/5

Such a short album at 27 minutes Stay- favorite tune. Such bold bass playing by Ron Carter. I think of you -cool time/ feel changes Nao bate o coracao- such a tight groovy minute and a half I had the craziest dream- I like the dreamy sounds at the end My foolish heart- beautiful performance and arrangements

Hail To the Thief

Radiohead

5/5

So good! The songwriting is so unique. I never got really deep into this album definetly need to listen several more times. Favorite songs are “myxamatosis,” there there”and “2 +2 =5.”

Electric Ladyland

Jimi Hendrix

5/5

Have you ever been? lady land- weird tune. I love this cool soulful and psychedelic sound I love the bluesier stuff- Voodoo Chile and Voodo child slight return are so great I like all the weird psychedelic jammy stuff like 1983 and gods made love etc LittleMiss strange- I could do without the Noel Redding song l. Doesn’t really seem to fit with the rest of the album. I’ve always loved burning of the midnight lamp. Such a great song and cool intro. Cool to hear jimi have some Interplay with the organ and sax on “rainy day”and “still dreaming “ Didn’t realize this album had Jack Cassidy on bass, and Hendrix playing a lot of the bass himself . Also has buddy miles on 2 tracks and Steve winwood on organ.

Infected

The The

2/5

The the- cool sounding 80’s rhythm section and I like all the parts in the arrangements. Favorite songs were slow train to dawn and mercy beat. I don’t really like vocals/ lyrics. 2.5

In A Silent Way

Miles Davis

5/5

Love this album but it was definitely an aquired taste for me. I had it in high school and didn’t like it much when I first got it. I really dig the hypnotic repetition in the rhythm section and the space in “shh/ peaceful” now but wasn’t into it then. I love the effect when we finally hear the full snare and ride during Miles’ solo 13 minutes into “ in a silent way.” Really cool textures and interplay with the organ/ electric piano and guitar throughout. Really love Wayne Shorter’s playing too. Very influential album but there’s nothing really like it. 5

Aha Shake Heartbreak

Kings of Leon

2/5

Kings of Leon- Pretty cool rock music - I see the strokes comparison. I see why this guy who made list likes it but not sure it belongs in this list. Kinda rough around the edges compared to their later arena rock albums. Didn’t realize these guys were brothers/ cousins and were very young when they made this/ just started playing their instruments. Milk is a weird tune The bucket- cool pedal 2.5

Kid A

Radiohead

5/5

Kid A Such a great album to sit and listen to from start to finish (although tree fingers makes me sleepy) I love all the ambient textures and hypnotic rhythms on this album. Everything in the right place is one of the best starts to an album. National Anthem is so awesome. The last two tunes are really beautiful.

1984

Van Halen

5/5

Super fun listening to this one again. EVH is playing is in a league of its own. He can fit so much expression into these short guitar solos. I love the drums on this album too. Probably the best hard rock band of 80’s. Cool 80’s synths on Jump and I’ll Wait. Hot For Teacher is probably my favorite- I love the virtuosity of the playing paired with the sillyness of David Lee Roth. 5

Olympia 64

Jacques Brel

5/5

Jacques Brel- Olympia 64 Jacque Brel is cool. he’s got so much drama and passion in his voice. My favorite song of his is Ne me quitte pa. After listening to Kid A and Amnesiac recently I feel like it had a similar emotional effect as I get from a Radiohead ballad. The last song “Les Toros Avec Final “was awesome. 4?5?

Aja

Steely Dan

5/5

Aja So good but also kind of niche and weird. Its not challenging but it’s not relatable. I like that it has a truly unique sound and style of songwriting. Love Peg and Josie, they are such great songs. I have to be in a rare and particular mood to listen to this album through. The Steve Gadd/ Wayne shorter solos on Aja are incredible. I love Larry Carlton’s playing on this record. The best of 70’s production and studio musicianship.

Foxbase Alpha

Saint Etienne

2/5

Felt pretty neutral about this one. I liked “nothing can stop us” and London belongs to me” best. Her voice was kinda boring. Weird to hear electronic music with pitchy vocals.

Fulfillingness' First Finale

Stevie Wonder

5/5

Fufillingness Great Stevie Wonder album. Favorite songs: Boogie on reggae woman -all Stevie! You haven’t done nothing Birds of Beauty Too shy to say (love the pedal steel on this) 5

Thriller

Michael Jackson

5/5

Thriller A total masterpiece of dance music. Almost every song is a perfect super hit. The girl is mine is so cheesy but still great

Everything Must Go

Manic Street Preachers

1/5

I don’t really like the guys voice or songs. Not the worst but it didn’t really do anything for me.

Paul Simon

5/5

Big Paul Simon fan but never got really into this one. The hits: mother child reunion, me and Julio are great The violins solo is awesome. I like the Simon and Garfunkel stuff better for the folky Paul Simon stuff I never heard congratulations before but that song is awesome.

Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea

PJ Harvey

2/5

The Thom Yorke duet was cool. The rest of the album didn’t really grab me.

Tidal

Fiona Apple

5/5

Tidal Songwriting ,singing, arranging and production all are so unique. What an amazing artist and great album

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

The Smashing Pumpkins

5/5

Great album, never listened to it before. So many different styles (dreamy, heavy, electronic, feedbacky, strings) and it’s all good. The songs I knew (the hits) are probably the best. Tonight tonight, 1979, bullet with butterfly wings- all great. Other favorites: Porcelina of the vast oceans Beautiful- cool groove Starlight- 1979 into take of scorched earth is pretty cool. The vocals are so abrasive and crazy sounding on that one! Least favorite : we only come out at night Super long though it took me four listening sessions to get through….

The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady

Charles Mingus

5/5

This album is so wild. Really unique and love the ensemble improvisation and composition.

The White Album

Beatles

5/5

White Album: I think I agree with Liz now about double albums. Just too much Beatles here and it feels like there is some filler. They should have cut some of this. I could’ve done without the 8 minutes of Revolution 9. I probably could do without Wild Honey Pie, Don’t Pass Me By, Piggies, Why don’t we do it in the road, Helter Skelter, bungalow, bill Weird that they wouldn’t include Hey Jude. Wikipedia said they had demos for Jealous Guy and Junk? It’s a great album but It could’ve been a much tighter/ stronger album. It doesn’t flow the way sgt peppers or Abbey Road do. Still a 5 though- it includes so many great songs: Blackbird, Mother Nature’s Son, Happiness is a warm gun, Dear Prudence, Julia, While my guitar gently weeps, Martha my Dear, I’m so tired.. I really like Lennon’s singing. I appreciate the experimentation and the punkness of the record.

Coat Of Many Colors

Dolly Parton

5/5

I love her singing and listen to her voice all day. Great writing and storytelling on the title track. Great rhythm section. Traveling man and My Blue Tears are great. Great rhythm section. The bass ( baritone?) intro in Early Morning Breeze is sick. “The way I see You” is a perfect song. “Here I am” is such a feel good chorus, probably my favorite tune on here. “The better way to live” another feel good tune. I love that she could do something that sounds so sincerely joyous and

Ellington at Newport

Duke Ellington

5/5

Loved this, keeps getting better like a great concert always does. So many great soloists. Clarinet is so great it’s weird that you don’t hear it in more modern jazz Diminuendo is cool love the long sax soloon the blues and how Ellington segues to the next section during his solo. Bari sax is so good on sophisticated lady Crazy how the crowd gets rowdier as the show goes on. Skin deep is so sick! people flip out for drum solos (I wasn’t expecting the double bass).

Tea for the Tillerman

Cat Stevens

4/5

Never really heard any of his songs other than cats in the cradle and wild world Cool album, I like his singing. The E string on the upright is super growly Favorite songs: Wild world On the road to find out Father and son Might die tonight Where the children play

Golden Hour

Kacey Musgraves

4/5

Great sounding album (love the snare sound) and the songs are good, but I wish her voice was more interesting to me. Favorite songs: Slow burn Wonderwoman Velvet elvis (cool groove reminds me of happy pills by Nora Jones) Golden hour Space Cowboy lyrics are kind of cheesy but they work for me Least favorite: High Horse 3.5

Tracy Chapman

5/5

Great album. Her voice and songwriting are so good.

More Songs About Buildings And Food

Talking Heads

5/5

Cool album. Kind of has an 80’s rock vibe with som modern production. Favorite songs are the last two : “I’m so lonely you could die”and “Heat” The title track is cool kinda reminds me of the talking heads (I thought it may have been a David Byrne colab). Other favorites are “ If you can see me” and “Dancing out in Space” Feels hard to rate this after listening only once. 4.5

The Infotainment Scan

The Fall

1/5

Didn’t like it

Casanova

The Divine Comedy

1/5

Not the worst thing but I don’t get it. you get one of these songs per album but this a whole album of them. Maybe with a better singer… Not sure why this on here

Remedy

Basement Jaxx

1/5

The Next Day

David Bowie

5/5

Bowie Accidentally posted this under talking heads so adding this one on bottom too. Cool album. Kind of has an 80’s rock vibe with som modern production. Favorite songs are the last two : “I’m so lonely you could die”and “Heat” The title track is cool kinda reminds me of the talking heads (I thought it may have been a David Byrne colab). Other favorites are “ If you can see me” and “Dancing out in Space” Feels hard to rate this after listening only once. 5 Talking heads Cool album. Love the wacky guitar parts and the grooves. The repetition and constant backbeat really helps the songs flow into eachother but it also has good contrast between sections. His voice gets to me after a while. They totally have an original sound and I dig the talking heads thing. 5

Brothers In Arms

Dire Straits

2/5

Dire straits First song sounds like Tom Petty giving up. He’s a good guitar player I guess but his songwriting and performance is not interesting to me “Money for Nothing” hard to not hear the Weird Al lyrics in my head from UHF. Prefer the ”little clampett” version. “Walk of Life” good hook on the organ but the rest of the song is not good. Album is stacked with some of the best musicians of the 80’s - Omar hakim, brecker brothers, Michael manieri,Sting, Tony levin Hard to believe this was such a successful record. All of these songs are too long 2.5

Kollaps

Einstürzende Neubauten

1/5

So challenging! Some cool abrasive percussion. So much screaming and power tools.

The Visitors

ABBA

5/5

The first 4 songs blew me away. I love how the chorus hits in head over heels. Cool drum groove in soldiers. “I let the music speak” is so theatrical. I feel like it’s whole story in 4 minutes. The phone call sounds in 2 for price if one is great. So smart and well done. I feel like it’s one of those perfect albums where every note in every part is exactly where it needs to be and you could listen and notice something new to appreciate everytime. It has a lot of what I love from the Beatles best recordings but in a totally different direction/ context. I don’t know what to call their style “post prog synth pop”, but they do it so well. Great sounding record it has the best of the 80’s punchyness and crispness but with the 70’s warmth. The rhythm section is so great- every time a groove comes in it feels so good. Such a unique sound with their songwriting and harmonies . Love all the instrument and synth sounds . Also really nice to listen to following “Scum” by Napalm Death.

Triangle

The Beau Brummels

2/5

Beau Brummell- Looks like Al Pacino in a flower Pleasant folky 60’s music Maybe better than some of the of the other 60’s psychedelic folk stuff we’ve listened to. Not quite as pretentious maybe? Some of the instrumental is cool. The dude sings like a goat. Lost interest after a while

Hounds Of Love

Kate Bush

5/5

Great album. Such a cool singer. Love the arrangements on here. Alittle more poppy than the other one. Big sky is amazing and so big sounding. Slows down in the concept album of the second half with dream of sheep, under ice and long intro for waking the witch. Morning fog is a great last song

Blood Sugar Sex Magik

Red Hot Chili Peppers

5/5

One of my favorite albums since I was a kid. Still really love how it sounds like the grooves for the songs are written as a band through jams. Really organic tones and mix too - I like hearing all the little nuances and imperfections too. The way the guitars and bass and drums compliment eachother in a song like Funky Monks is what I really love about the RHCP. Frusciantes best playing is on this album his rhythm lines are so funky and all his solos are so iconic to me and really elevate the song. Anthony keidis really is not a singer or a rapper. The bad singing doesn’t ruin it for me the way some of his bad lyrics do- when it makes me feel embarrassed to like them. Rick rubins work as a producer on this is great. two favorite songs are funky monks and my lovely man. Wikipedia says “ I could’ve lied” is about a relationship with sinews o connor. Cool when flea plays trumpet.

Murder Ballads

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

1/5

Didn’t like his voice and the whole thing felt cheesy to me.

Scum

Napalm Death

2/5

So much drums! I like the super fast noisey thing! The tempos are all over the place on a couple of these. I liked the couple times they did a slow sludgey thing. They didn’t quite nail those slow heavy grooves though if they could do th Black Sabbath thing too I’d love it so much- I really craved that contrast. I dig the super short song concept but whenever there was anything I liked it moved on before anything could develop. I liked the super fast chuggy guitar riffs but wish there were stronger lead parts, it doesn’t need to be super flashy or shreddy but something melodic to grab onto because the vocals don’t really provide that either. Maybe I’m looking too much at what is not rather than what it is- I just kept thinking there’s a version of this that could be better…

Djam Leelii

Baaba Maal

4/5

Ugh accidentally posted this review under Pere Ubu. Baaba Maal is a 4 Pere Ubu is a 2 Here’s the Pere Ubu review: This was pretty challenging. I actually think instrumentally it was a lot better than some of the other experimental stuff we listened too like sonic youth. I couldn’t stand the vocals though it ruined it for me. 2

Highway to Hell

AC/DC

4/5

AC/DC Really simple and generic rock but they do it well. All kind of sounds the same but that’s fine. Highway to hell is great. Tough to rate- 3? 4?

Elvis Presley

5/5

Loved this recording. Such a great singer and some of his best vocal performance s that really highlight his range. The band sounds great too.

Dub Housing

Pere Ubu

4/5

Baba maal I like how it feels like a couple of guys playing guitars together. Muudo hormo was my favorite tune. Cool Bluesy thing in djam leelii 3.5

Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo

MC Solaar

4/5

Funky French hip hop. I really enjoyed this one.

Music For The Jilted Generation

The Prodigy

1/5

Sounds like video game music for a PlayStation game. Kinda boring to me. One of these electronic albums that were probably interesting at the time but didn’t age well.

Either Or

Elliott Smith

5/5

I never heard any of his albums. I really like his writing. I dig his voice too. I’ll have to give this a few more listens and check out his other stuff too.

Grace

Jeff Buckley

5/5

Jeff Buckley - possibly the best rock album of the 90’s. Such an incredible singer and songwriter. “Lover you Should’ve Come Over” gets me every time. So does “Last Goodbye” and “So Real”. Honestly, every song is so good. Really love the dynamics and heavier moments on songs like Eternal Life. Super nuanced and organic feeling album.

Let It Bleed

The Rolling Stones

3/5

Gimme shelter- their time feel always seems pretty hit or miss for me. Sounds super drunk and sloppy to me. Best part of the song are Merry Clayton’s vocal. Love in vain- pretty boring Sounds like a guitar player trying to play mandolin Country honk- I don’t really like the fiddle sound on here. I like the other version of this song better. The car horns are too on the nose. Live with me - is alright Let it Bleed- I liked this one. Stereo mix is weird though with the cymbals super loud in my left ear. Midnight rambler- tempos don’t feel quite right . Some cool things like when the beat straightens out like how it ends at 4 minutes. But then it keeps going. There was so much better blues rock jamming going on in 1969. Kind of boring. You got the silver- I liked this one. Maybe my favorite song on the album. Monkey man- not a good song. Didn’t like the vocals or guitars. For a band with two guitars the parts and tones don’t seem to be worked out enough. Can’t always get what you want. I always thought choral arrangement intro is pretty cheesy. Rest of the song is cool. keyboards and background vocals are my favorite part. I like the big full arrangement with the choir is cool at the end. And percussion is cool. Overall kind of disappointing for a classic album from one of the biggest band of 60’s and 70’s. I was expecting some stronger songwriting, better performances, and a better sounding record. Wanted to like this one more than I did. Came back to it and appreciated it a bit more. Maybe it’s an acquired taste. Maybe I just have to be in the mood. Idk never been a big stones fan.

Be

Common

4/5

I listened to this a couple weeks ago. Can’t remember much but I think I enjoyed it the whole way through.

Catch A Fire

Bob Marley & The Wailers

5/5

Great album. Favorite songs are Stir it Up, 400yrs, Stop that train.

Ill Communication

Beastie Boys

5/5

Super fun and unique sounding album. Sabotage video is so classic and was one of my favorites as a kid- still love that song. I actually really dug the instrumental tracks too.

Can't Buy A Thrill

Steely Dan

4/5

Steely Dan: Kind of nice having a break from Donald Fagen when David Palmer sings lead. Really cool solos throughout. Favorite songs are dirty work and reeling in the years. Definetely the most accessible SD record. Great band and album- but I feel like I should like this more than I do. 4

Green Onions

Booker T. & The MG's

4/5

Cool album. My favorite tunes were My favorite album of theirs is McLemore Avenue. Favorite songs on this one are “A Woman, A Lover, a Friend” and “ One who really loves you”

KE*A*H** (Psalm 69)

Ministry

1/5

I feel like younger version of myself may of liked this. But I can’t listen to this now so stressful. 1.5

Electric Music For The Mind And Body

Country Joe & The Fish

1/5

So boring. Why do these 60s bands have so much lead guitar and why is it so loud, bad,and noodley? Sounds like a guitar center.

Moondance

Van Morrison

5/5

Love this album. Feels good every time. Every song is great - couple of my favorites are caravan and come running.

So

Peter Gabriel

5/5

Peter gabriel: Incredible sounding album. So many great textures. Tony levins bas lines and tones are iconic. Peter Gabriel’s voice and songwriting is great. Always loved Sledgehammer and the stoptime animation in the video as a kid. Didn’t know Stewart Copeland played on Big Time- so cool. In Your Eyes is sooo good.

Songs From The Big Chair

Tears For Fears

4/5

Tears for fears- I dig it, really well done. Everyone Wants to Rule the World is a 10/10 song. Head over heels is great too. Some of the songs are a bit long- listen 4

m b v

My Bloody Valentine

5/5

Mbv I had them mixed up with My Chemical Romance- so I was really surprised. Was not expecting noisey, textural art rock. Probably the best of this kind of stuff we’ve had so far. I love the super saturated fuzzed out sound on the first few tunes. After a while I kind of need a break dynamically or texturally. Some of this is pretty challenging like the repetitive broken record thing that happens. Cool to have a repetitive trance inducing thing but still pretty challenging. I like the 2nd half of the album and cool how the sound changes throughout kept surprising me. Last song I think “Wonder 2” was my favorite. Something about the busy drums with the swelly guitars reminded me of tales of topographic oceans. Pretty crazy how it was recorded over 13 years. Kind of interesting how it can sound drastically different and consistent at same time. tough one to rate. Some of it is so great but also challenging enough that I probably won’t always want to listen throughout. 5

The Man Machine

Kraftwerk

2/5

Kraftwerk- I like the synth sounds and how minimal the beats and tunes are but tunes should be shorter. Whole album could’ve been 15-20minutes long. The songs where the vocals “sing” an actual verse kind of ruins it. Man Machine was cool 2.5

Californication

Red Hot Chili Peppers

5/5

Californication- One of my favorite openings of an album with the distorted bass thing into that cool guitar line in the verse. I’ve listened to this album so much in middle school so it’s hard to listen objectively. Really nice to revist an old favorite. I feel like maybe 80 percent holds up pretty well and it’s the same 80 percent that I liked as a kid. Some of their best music and last good album. Kind of a new sound for RHCP with frusciantes return. He adds a lot melodically to the songwriting and I like his vocals. Velvet Glove was my favorite this time around. Flea and frusciante have a special thing together and I love chad smiths playing too. So many things I love about this album and also things I dislike. The title track is the worst. And I don’t really like Easily. Kinda conflicted feeling but I guess I have to give it a

Superfly

Curtis Mayfield

5/5

Great album. Love the strings and percussion. Makes me want to see the movie.

The Stooges

2/5

A Hard Day's Night

Beatles

4/5

Hard days night An album of well crafted catchy 60’s pop songs. I love their voices and harmonies. Some are more memorable than others. Cool harmonies on “If I fell” Some songs I never heard like “I’m happy to dance with you”. “And I love her” is a great song. I definitely prefer their later more experimental stuff like sgt pepper and Abby road. “Anytime I’ll call” is a cool song I feel like it could be any other band’s biggest hit. You can’t do that- so much cowbell! “I’ll be back”cool last song Tough one to rate- 4 I guess.

Home Is Where The Music Is

Hugh Masekela

5/5

Hugh masekela Cool album. I liked Nomali. Love the trumpet/ sax harmonies on the Melodys. I like how they left in them joking after the drum solo on Huey’s blues Maesha is cool. The groove in the last song is awesome. Not a fan of the panning on the drum solo though it’s so unnecessary and random. The last few songs are the best. If I had it on vinyl it might listen to side 4 the most.

Rumours

Fleetwood Mac

5/5

So many great songs. Super tight album. Love the harmonies. I really like his drumming and sounds.

In The Wee Small Hours

Frank Sinatra

5/5

Wee small hours Consistency of vibe and theme make for a cool moody “concept album”. Nelson Riddle’s arrangements and Sinatra’s voice are so great together. delivery and storytelling is so good. I love a ballad but sometimes after a while it’s harder for a melody to stick with me at a slower tempo. Great album for a very specific mood.

Cross

Justice

3/5

Justice Pretty cool. Definitely a sound of like 2010. DVNO and DANCE are the best tunes. The other songs have some cool sounds but need more compositionally. The stuttery short loud samples, bit crusher stuff, and super bright or midsy bass are a lot after a while. No warm tones at all all pretty harsh.

Hot Fuss

The Killers

4/5

Killers “Mr. Brightside” is played to death but still a really great song. Not a fan of “somebody told me”. I think there was another one I didn’t like in there somewhere. I think I hear the influence of The Cure and some of those English post punk new wavey bands. Pretty good band. I liked the drumsand bass playing they both had some pretty interesting tasteful stuff for rock. Liked the last couple songs Indy rock n roll and everything will be alright. Overall it feels to me more like a culmination of a bunch of other bands influence rather than something totally unique or special. Pretty good rock music though 4

Suede

3/5

Pretty good - the production/ mix left me wanting a bigger thicker sound. I feel like maybe there’s a better version of this album that could’ve been made or released. I like the glammy and moody stuff over the punkier stuff. I can hear the Bowie influence on Animal Nitrates. Pantomime horse was good. Cool chorus in the Drowners wish the verses were better. Sleeping pills is good It reminds me of something from Pablo Honey or the Bends. Breakdown is awesome Next life is cool- I feel like this is in a movie but I can’t place it Did not like Metal Mickey, or animal lovers

Tarkus

Emerson, Lake & Palmer

3/5

Tarkus- had this album as a kid. The big tarkus song on side one is cool. I like Keith Emerson’s synths and organ sounds. His intervallic lines are cool. Love that groove with the fourths in 10/8 - so proggy. bitches crystal is cool too. Never liked “ the only way”. Overall it doesn’t quite hold up as I hoped. .

Elastica

2/5

For the most part pretty boring rock music for me. Vaseline was probably most memorable.

The Band

4/5

Band I like their super raw vocal sound . it’s just like a bunch of guys shouting in harmony. The whole vibe is like a drunken singalong. “When I awake” is great never heard that song. “Cripple creek” is so groovy. Always liked Levon helm’s feel on drums and voice. “Look out Cleveland” is cool. Kind of cool that these guys all sing and play a bunch of instruments and switch off on drums guitar, keys, trombone, sax and fiddle. Weird amount of songs about the old American south. Super influential band and album. Tough one to rate.

A Night At The Opera

Queen

5/5

Great band with a huge range. Love how over the top and theatrical it all is. Love the vocal sounds, Freddy Mercur’s voice. Brian May’s tones are crazy he sometimes sounds like a clarinet or cello. Favorites: 39’ seaside rendezvous Bohemian rhapsody You’re my best friend Love of my life Good company

G. Love And Special Sauce

G. Love & Special Sauce

3/5

G love- Cool instrumental. Like the sludgey blues grooves. Love the sound of the fat upright, trashy drums, and sloppy guitar. Not a fan of his voice or rapping. So many words but he never really says anything. Some cool dissonances. Also like that all the songs have endings. Surprised to see this album on this list I guess it’s more important/ influential than I thought?

Aladdin Sane

David Bowie

5/5

Not as experimental as some of his other albums, but still really interesting and great writing. I love the piano on this record. A really great rock n roll album. Great reminder for me in this project that I like rock music.

Abraxas

Santana

5/5

Santana- I enjoyed this Such a good fusion of blues rock with Latin jazz.. Love how the first 3 songs seque into eachother. Really great album, awesome band definitely super influential. He has some cool big guitar moments and some great tones.

Maxinquaye

Tricky

3/5

Tricky Some cool deep grooves. I like the dissonances in the samples. Martina Copley Birds vocals are cool. His vocals are more like whispery spoken word. Black steel was my favorite

Supa Dupa Fly

Missy Elliott

4/5

Supa dupa fly- I really like the grooves and production, so smooth and slick but also kinda wacky/ quirky. Some good hooks too. 3.5/4

Safe As Milk

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band

2/5

Didn’t really do anything for me.

Led Zeppelin IV

Led Zeppelin

5/5

Led Zeppelin 4 Great album. Haven’t heard it in years forgot about some of the great songs like Four Sticks and Going to California-and those were probably my two favorites this time. John Bonham and Jimmy Page’s feel and parts are so obviously so great and iconic but also John Paul Jones is kinda underrated. His bass parts glue everything together so perfectly and are totally interesting on but never really stick out.

Birth Of The Cool

Miles Davis

5/5

Birth of cool Love the horn arrangements and the harmonys on the melodys. Favorite tunes are Moon Dreams, Israel, and God Child

American Pie

Don McLean

3/5

American pie is a great song . The rest is not bad I just couldn’t get into it. Kind of boring 2.5

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

John Lennon

5/5

John Lennon Such an original distinct voice as a songwriter So much primal screaming - so personal feeling. Tough one to rate. It’s a pretty imperfect record but maybe that’s a good thing or possibly the best part about it . Idk 4.5?

Live At The Regal

B.B. King

5/5

Such an amazing performer. Great to hear it captured in a live album.

Bad

Michael Jackson

5/5

MJ’s vocals and style are so unique and rhythmic/ percussive. I don’t like as much as Thriller or Off the wall but it’s still so good. A way more 80’s synthy/ drum machiney sound. The synclaviar parts on speed demon are wild.

Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots

The Flaming Lips

3/5

I enjoyed it. I think I liked it better than the other flaming lips album. 3? 4? 3.5 3 in the world maybe a 4 in this project

Sweetheart Of The Rodeo

The Byrds

2/5

It was ok. None of the songs really grabbed me though. 2

Out of Step

Minor Threat

2/5

Pretty cool and It’s definitely super influential but I just didn’t enjoy listening to it. Hard to get past the vocals.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Wilco

5/5

Classic. Love this record. Favorites are Pot kettle black, Jesus etc, Heavy Metal Drummer, and I’m the Man Who Loves You. I would also like to go back and change my rating of Being There from 4 to 5. Hope to get Sky Blue Sky and A Ghost is Born.

Electric Warrior

T. Rex

3/5

T. Rex Like that 70’s glam rock sound with the hand claps, fuzzy guitar, falsetto bgvs. Really liked Mambo Sun. Bang a Gong was cool. Cosmic dancer was cool too. Rest of the album is ok.

Tanto Tempo

Bebel Gilberto

4/5

Bebel Gilberto- “The producer died of smoke inhalation after saving the album from a studio fire??” That’s crazy. I like the electronic textures on the first tune would like more of those throughout. 3.5

If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears

The Mamas & The Papas

2/5

Mamas and papas Good album title and cover. I was kinda disappointed. I like the harmonies but the lead vocals are very underwhelming. Monday Monday is good. Straight shooter had some fun 60s pop rock moments. “ Got a feeling” is weird and kind of off putting. California dreaming is cool. Extra points for having a flute solo.. Some filler on here like I I wanna dance and somebody groovy. I’ve only heard the Aretha Franklin version of Spanish Harlem which is 1000x better. 2.5

90

808 State

2/5

808 actually I liked this better than some other electronic albums. There were somethings that were unexpected and it feels more live than some of the other stuff. Favorite was cobra bora. got bored by the end. Sounds like it must have been ahead of its time, I would’ve thought it was from the mid 90s 2

Fear Of Music

Talking Heads

5/5

Enjoyed listening to this one again. I really love I Zimbra. So influential. That song is a 5 and most of the rest of the album is a 4. Cities and Life During Wartime and Mind are cool too. 4.5

Mothership Connection

Parliament

5/5

Such a great one. Could listen all day.

Trafalgar

Bee Gees

3/5

Bee Gees “How to mend a broken heart” is great. Robin Gibbs voice is so weird but I dig it. He does sound like n actual muppet some sometimes. A couple times made me think of Van Morrison. “Don’t wanna live inside myself” is cool. Maybe the weirdest record we’ve heard without being experimental. Not quite sure how I feel about it.

Heaux Tales

Jazmine Sullivan

3/5

Jazmine Sullivan- She’s a good singer, I was expecting to like this more. Idk 2.5? Another one I’m not sure I get why it’s on here. 3

Headquarters

The Monkees

1/5

I don’t get it -this isn’t even one with any of their big hits on it. Are we going to get multiple Monkees albums? They were definitely better off with studio musicians other songwriters. Not a big fan of most of these 60’s rock albums but this was better than some of the other stuff. 1.5

War

U2

4/5

U2 I like them better than most of those post punk bands. Sunday Bloody Sunday is a great song and New years Day is good too. Liked the droney bgvs in 40. Rest of album was ok. 3.5

Bringing It All Back Home

Bob Dylan

4/5

Bob Dylan I actually like his singing and think these recordings have a cool vibe. Favorite songs are: It’s all over now baby Blue It’s all right ma I’m only bleeding Subterranean home sick blues. Tough one to rate 3.5

Beggars Banquet

The Rolling Stones

3/5

Stones Sympathy for the devil is cool. I really liked factory girl too. Stones are pretty hit or miss for me. I found some of the generic blues rock stuff hard to listen to. Wish it was better recorded, and had better performances, and better songs too.

Your Arsenal

Morrissey

3/5

Morrissey Way better than the Smiths album we listened to. Songs and and performances are way better. I like the songs with the acoustic. “I know it’s gonna happen someday” And “We’ll let you Know”

Songs For Swingin' Lovers!

Frank Sinatra

5/5

Great performances and arrangements. Extremely well crafted and enjoyable album.

You've Come a Long Way Baby

Fatboy Slim

2/5

So many repetitive vocal samples. 2

Since I Left You

The Avalanches

2/5

Avalanches- so many samples. Idk 1.5-2

Kala

M.I.A.

2/5

Hadn’t heard this one in years. A unique sounding record and some of its cool but I had a hard time listening to her singing/ rapping for an entire album.

High Violet

The National

5/5

National- I actually never heard this one before. I really love the sound of this record. There are some awesome textures and they all gel really nicely together in the mix. After avalanches and fatboy slim this was super refreshing. 4.5

Machine Head

Deep Purple

2/5

This seems like the most boring generic version on 70’s rock. I didn’t really get anything out of it. A couple of cool organ moments. Highway Star is the worst song. Never Before had a groovy intro but it just goes into the song which I wasn’t into.

At Mister Kelly's

Sarah Vaughan

5/5

I really like live albums. Cool that this one captures some imperfections too - makes it feel a bit like you are there in the room. I love how she sings “we tried our best” on How High the Moon after forgetting the lyrics. Favorite tracks are Be Anything but Darling Be Mine and Honeysuckle Rose. I love her phrasing and vibrato. Cool piano solo on Just a Gigolo.

The ArchAndroid

Janelle Monáe

5/5

Arch Android Suite 2 Love this album. Such an amazing start of a record with the the orchestra and I love the transitions especially in the first four songs. Also love how styles shift throughout songs like in O Maker. I didn’t remember the crazy rock vocals on Come Alive. Mushroom and Roses- psychedelic rock at its best Could’ve ended the album here and it would’ve been great and then there’s a whole other suite. Suite 3 Was also great. So much to talk about with all the songs and would definitely be interested in going deeper to learn about this record. This is a super eclectic and ambitious record and it is amazing that it all works and is still so cohesive.

Fishscale

Ghostface Killah

3/5

Cool production and beats. not a fan of the skits.

Inspiration Information

Shuggie Otis

5/5

Shuggie Otis I never really heard this record but I love it. I could hear its influence on some of my favorite music. Such a cool voice and vibe. Also really great guitar playing. Also cool how he plays all the parts except for horns and strings. Old drum machine sounds are cool too especially on the instrumental tunes xl-30 and pling Groove on “not available” is so cool. I didn’t remember hearing the original strawberry 23- so different . I love the outro Ice cold daydream feels so good Freedom flight reminds me of “in a silent way” George Duke is so great I realized after that the last few songs were from other albums that they tagged on to the rerelease. Great album and will definitely need to listen more. 5

Junkyard

The Birthday Party

1/5

Oh man this a challenging album. I like trashy sound and dissonant guitars sometimes but I found his vocals really hard to listen to. These vocals are the worst and the lyrics are terrible.

Tres Hombres

ZZ Top

2/5

Good band and some cool guitar playing. The songs didn’t do really do anything for me. I’m kinda over the classic blues rock of the 60’s and 70’s. I’ve heard so much of it in my life that I don’t have any space to hear any more of it for the first time. I’d rather just listen to the Allman Brothers or something else that I like more. 2.5

Talking Book

Stevie Wonder

5/5

All the songs are great it’s a perfect record from start to finish. It’s so good.

KIWANUKA

Michael Kiwanuka

5/5

Kiwanakua Super cool album. I could get into this over time , he’s got a cool voice and I dig the retro psychedelic soul sound. At some points the fuzzed out guitars can kind of sound like a brass section. All these tunes sound like the last song on an album . 4.5?

Make Yourself

Incubus

5/5

Incubus This really takes me back to middle school/ high school - I really liked a lot of these songs but I don’t think I ever had the full album. They were a very original and cool sounding band, I wish I got deeper into it when I was younger. The dj is such a cool part of their sound. Idk maybe the whole thing is bad and not cool and the proggy parts are actually pretentious. And some of the melodys can feel a bit awkward for me sometimes. Definitely sounds like they were trying to do something different. It used to feel like sometimes it feels good to me but sometimes it feels like something I should like. Maybe it works, maybe not, but I think it actually does. I really enjoyed listening to this the whole way through. 5

After The Gold Rush

Neil Young

4/5

I like Neil Young’s voice, but really can’t stand too much of his lead guitar playing. I like the folky and altcountry vibes. Kinda stripped down and minimal. Couple of the songs had cool CSNY style harmonies. 3.5

Siamese Dream

The Smashing Pumpkins

4/5

Smashing pumpkins good album and I enjoyed it but probably one that I won’t go back to. The guitars In the 90’s are so wild.“Today” is a good song. “ Disarm” is good too.A bit long -I think I’d prefer a 40 minute version of this album

25

Adele

5/5

Great album Favorite songs are Water Under the Bridge and When We Were Young. Would be cool to hear some of the piano ballads with a full band arrangement. I think I like 21 a bit better.

At Newport 1960

Muddy Waters

5/5

Great band- I really loved the drums, and harmonica. I wish you could hear the bass better in the mix. Favorite songs were tiger in tank and mojo working.

Purple Rain

Prince

5/5

I really loved listening to this again. All of the songs are great and there are so many amazing moments in the production, performance, and arrangements. It is one those albums that has a sound all its own.

Peter Gabriel 3

Peter Gabriel

5/5

I like his singing. He’s a really good songwriter this album definitely gets darker and weirder musically and lyrically. The instrumental is really interesting (Crazy fripp guitar sounds, synths, really beautiful fretless lines, huge sounding Phil collins drums) really cool how “And through the Wire” follows “Family Snapshot” 5

Kilimanjaro

The Teardrop Explodes

2/5

It was ok for British post punk -I think liked this better than Echo and bunnymen, joy division, or the smiths. Some frantic new wave energy but nothing really stuck with me 2.5 2.5 2.5

Funeral

Arcade Fire

5/5

Arcade fire- I knew the singles but I don’t think I ever heard the whole album. The string arrangements are cool on songs like kettles. Cool how songs flow into each other. “Wake Up” is a great song. “Rebellion” is cool too. I like when bands have multiple singers and I like the songs Regine sings like “In the Backseat.” I don’t know how to rate this one 4, 4.5?

London Calling

The Clash

3/5

Clash Some cool stuff on here. Definitely my favorite “punk” album we’ve heard. Good rhythm section for a punk band and I like how the albums has some variation of grooves and styles. Feels a bit long “lost in the super market” feels like it has a dozen chorus. Wish they had better vocalists and I think they probably could have cut some of those songs. I wanted to like it more and was into it in the beginning but found it tedious by lovers rock, but then Revolution Rock was cool. I was ready to give album like a 3. But then “Train in Vain” that song is great . Overall I do think the album might be a bit overrated. 3.5

Disintegration

The Cure

3/5

Cure disintegration I like the simplicity and minimalism of it. some cool textural elements and synths. I think I like all the major key songs, the first few songs were my favorite (plain song, pictures of you, close down) it lost me a bit by “prayers for rain” . Last song was good too. “Same deep water”was day too long. So is “ disintegration”None of these songs should be more than 5 minutes long.

Peggy Suicide

Julian Cope

2/5

My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

Brian Eno

4/5

Eno Jezebel spirit is cool Very very hungry is awesome. Love the wacky grooves and some interesting textures and rhythms. I’m sure it was super influential/ ahead of its time in its use of samples and loops. I can hear them developing some of the sound that they had on o”remain in light.”Cool but feels kind of transitional. I wish David Byrne sang on it this album would be great if it had some more melody and hooks. 3.5

What's Going On

Marvin Gaye

5/5

Love this album. So cool how the songs flow into each other. The whole thing is so tight and cohesive while simultaneously feeling really organic and loose. The orchestration and arrangements are so good. It totally has its own sound. Marvin Gaye was such a brilliant singer and songwriter. I love all the vocal layers. These are the greatest bass lines on this album I love how they play off of and compliment the vocal too.

Pretenders

4/5

Pretenders Cool album cover with the one guy in the suit and everyone else with leather jackets End of “up the neck” was cool with the different bass notes Tattooed love boys- punky dissonances cool and so are bars of 7 “Space invader”- sick dirty bass tone, cool riff, prog punk? The wait- this song rocks pretty hard Stop your sobbing- wow total change of vibe. Alternative rock Kid- retro 60’s pop vibe. Private life- moody. Police vibes. Brass in the pocket- 5/5 great pop song. Lovers of today- 70s rock vibe. Kinda the oddball track of the album Mystery achievement- kinda generic rock but not necessarily in a bad way. I like her vocals. Better than London Calling.

Foo Fighters

4/5

Foo fighters- Good rock album. Didn’t know any of the songs other than I’ll Stick Around and Big Me. Big me is great. Good Grief and Floaty were cool. Cool sense of melody and songwriting and I like his voice 3.5 rounded up for grungey rock nostalgia

69 Love Songs

The Magnetic Fields

1/5

I listened to 3 songs and then freaked out that there were 66 more and gave up

Bayou Country

Creedence Clearwater Revival

3/5

Credence The born on the bayou is super cool. Not a fan of his lead guitar playing. Proud Mary is a great song. Bootleg was good too. The rest was ok. 3.5

Porcupine

Echo And The Bunnymen

3/5

I like the instrumental better on this one than the other. Rhythm section is better. Cool tones and some nice arrangements with the strings and synths.Still a bit hard to get past the vocals. I feel like I would actually really like this with another singer- this would be cool with Bono it would be like if U2 got weird. I feel like I get it now, I can hear how this could of been influential. Favorites: Back of love Ripeness Gods will be gods Cool intro in In Bluer Skies but vocals ruin it Least favorites: higher hell

Live At The Star Club, Hamburg

Jerry Lee Lewis

5/5

Jerry Lee Love the rhythm and energy on this album. Cool how he pushes the tempos. His singing is so expressive I love when he throws in a little yodel. Piano solos are great too. Pure Rock and Roll! “Your cheating heart” was really good. 5

Iron Maiden

2/5

Iron Maiden Why would they have this album? Bruce Dickinson is a much better singer than the original guy and this doesn’t have any of their most popular songs. Some cool trebly bass and harmonized lines but it it doesn’t have the precision that this kind of metal needs. The bass is actually a bit much. I would’ve liked some better guitar solos and better melody.

Fromohio

fIREHOSE

2/5

Firehose- Kind of a crappy sounding recording like homemade demos but It has some amateur charm. The music was kind of interesting.. It’s kind of all over the place though ( multiple drum solo tracks?) I like Riddle of the 80s Time with you. Some things Understanding Softest hammer I like how minimal it is with just one guitar and bass. I never heard of this band and I’m not really sure why it’s on here, would want to hear more about who this influenced. Not sure how to rate? 2? 3? 2.5 2.5

Live And Dangerous

Thin Lizzy

4/5

Thin lizzy Actually a really great live rock band I like Cowboy Song reminded me of Caravan by Van Morrison. As far as other late 70s live albums, I liked it better than Cheap Trick and I think it was more fun than Frampton. The harmonized guitar sound is cool. Bass and drums felt great too. Probably not a go to album for me but I dug it and can’t think of anything negative to say about it.

Dog Man Star

Suede

3/5

Suede: Like the experimental nature but don’t like the lead guitar or his voice. Very dramatic and sad. This list really loves english alternative rock bands with strings/ orchestra. I think I like other suede album a bit better. Would like a shorter version of this album Weird that we’ve gotten two suede albums but haven’t gotten a grunge album yet beside Pearl Jam…. Favorite songs: Wild ones New generation Least favorite: Daddy’s Speeding 2.5-3

Rio

Duran Duran

5/5

Duran Duran I knew Rio and Hungry Like the Wolf. The strings are good throughout the album. Last chance on the stairway was cool. I like the marimba solo. The ocarina on chauffeur was cool too. Solid album and some interesting stuff in the music. John Taylor’s bass playing is cool. 4 or 5?

Kick Out The Jams (Live)

MC5

3/5

MC 5 I like the all the noisey, raucous, protopunk energy. The playing and singing was surprising better than a lot of the other 60’s psychedelic rock bands we heard ( I didn’t hate the bluesy 60’s lead guitar like I’ve been developing a really pet peeve for. I think his conviction makes it sound less noodley)I This album was all energy and the songs seem secondary and kind of forgetable. Never heard them before- cool to check out, but probably won’t go back to this often. 3

Logical Progression

LTJ Bukem

2/5

Weird that it’s a compilation. Ambient drum and bass. I don’t think these electronic albums age very well. There’s some cool textures and beats but sounds incomplete to me without a singer or soloist. 1.5

Midnight Ride

Paul Revere & The Raiders

1/5

Boring 60’s rock. Best song is stepping stone. I can’t believe he has the spoken word part of “melody for an unknown girl” twice. I did not need to listen to this album 1

The Fat Of The Land

The Prodigy

1/5

I can’t listen to this.

Pet Sounds

The Beach Boys

5/5

Great album. I don’t want to say underrated because it is obviously a a classic and critically acclaimed but maybe disproportionately rated. Probably one of the best 60’s pop records. Super innovative and influential. Brian Wilson’s songwriting and arranging is really unique. I love “ wasn’t made for these times” and “god only knows”

The Contino Sessions

Death In Vegas

2/5

Death in Vegas Sludgey, electronic, psychedelic. There’s some cool instrumental but it all feels like an intro until it feels like an outro. Sounds like a soundtrack. Sludgey, electronic, psychedelic. 2.5

White Light / White Heat

The Velvet Underground

1/5

White light white heat So distorted and compressed. Mix is terrible. Is the playing intentionally so bad? Songwriting sounds like pretentious psychedelic rock stuff or like they didn’t really even try. I just really don’t understand how something like this gets made and released. Some of the noisy feedback stuff is cool but not really in a cool context. This is so bad. The band is criminally overrated. I just don’t get it. 1

Illinois

Sufjan Stevens

5/5

Such a great album and Sufjan is an amazing songwriter/ composer. This album was big for me when I was in college but it’s been years since I’ve listened to it through. Kind of heavy emotionally, definitely a lot of sadness in some of these songs. Favorite songs: Come on feel the Illinoise Chicago Casimir Pulaski Predatory wasp Pretty long album but feels tight and interesting through and doesn’t have any filler. Love the Steve Reich- esque minimalism at the end.

The Stone Roses

2/5

It was ok. Songs were ok. Vocals weren’t great. Not sure what I’m missing here. 2

Led Zeppelin III

Led Zeppelin

5/5

Led Zeppelin 3 I know this album but I didn’t own it as a kid so I don’t know it as well as others. It was cool coming back to it. Immigrant song- some cool trebly bass with lots of movement I never noticed before Just friends- weird song. I liked it. Celebration day - 70s rock Since I’ve been loving you- their blues tunes were never my favorite tracks on the albums but this might be one of the best ones. I love bonhams drums on here Out on the tiles- so 70’s sounding Gallows- I like their acoustic arrangements Tangerine- classic and such a great chorus love the pedal steel That’s the way- cool vibe love the pedal steel Bronyaur stomp- guitar intro is cool. And i like the spoons Kind of cool to hear an album where the tempos fluctuate a bit and everything is not perfectly tuned. Not my favorite Zeppelin album but a 5 I’m context of this list. My favorite album of theirs is Houses of the Holy and it is somehow not even on this list. Rain Song, the Ocean- how’d they leave that one off?

Different Class

Pulp

2/5

Pulp Too much low creepy singing/ whispering in my ears. I am really tired of this style of singing.I don’t really get the Brit pop thing. Sounds just like the 80’s English rock but it’s 1995? Best songs: common people

Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury

The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy

2/5

I like the instrumental grooves and Charlie hunters playing and lines are cool. I saw Michael Franti’s band spearhead at a festival years ago and it was good. I thought I was gonna like this more. The vocals are a bit slow paced and not very rhythmic or melodic enough for the rapping to be interesting. The pacing really started to drag for me after a song or too.

Sunday At The Village Vanguard

Bill Evans Trio

5/5

Incredible chemistry and communication in this trio and they really captured the magic in these recordings. So tragic to think this was the last time Scott La Faro played and he was only 25. Virtuosic playing and his compositions are my favorite in the album. The way him and Bill Evans weave in and out lead and supportive playing and can do both at the same time is so interesting and beautiful.

Warehouse: Songs And Stories

Hüsker Dü

3/5

Hustler du I feel like there could’ve been a better sounding version of this album. Mix is kinda off to me like too much or too bright with the hihat an and tambourine. Bass tone is kinda weak. I like the energy with the drums pushing throughout. Don’t love the vocals individually but I really like when they all do harmonies. I prefer Hart’s songs and voice. I could hear how these guys may have had an influence on 90s alternative rock bands. Fav songs: charity, soldier, friend you’ve got to fall, it’s not peculiar, I feel like this album is somewhere between a two and 3

Led Zeppelin II

Led Zeppelin

5/5

One of my favorite records as a kid and it still holds up for me. Their playing is so great. Probably the best of this kind of blues rock genre and I don’t think any one else can quite pull off the amount of instrumental features on a rock album. Some weird stuff with the panning shifting that I never noticed before and is kind of distracting but other than that a great sounding album.

She's So Unusual

Cyndi Lauper

5/5

Great album. All the songs are so good. Really fun listen the whole way through. Favorite songs are Time after Time, Money Changes Everything, Girls just wanna have fun.

Autobahn

Kraftwerk

3/5

Title track is actually pretty enjoyable. Some of the other stuff is kinda challenging. Definitely an Influential and important record and better than the other kraftwerk album. I hope we don’t get any more kraftwerk though I think we get it. 2.5

My Aim Is True

Elvis Costello

5/5

Elvis Costello I like albums with the Attractions a bit better but the band on here sounds great too with more of a 70’s vibe. I like his vocals on this record too maybe not quite as stylized as later albums. Best: Allison Angels want to steal my red shoes Waiting for the end of the world Watching the detectives Least favorite: I’m not angry Tough one to rate because I feel like he is a great artist with great songs but they are not as tied to the albums for me. My favorite album of his is probably Get Happy

1999

Prince

5/5

1999 Cool synths and drum machines throughout. One of the more electronic and dancey Prince albums. Things are kind of stretched out and there’s some cool space. I like to stay on a groove for a while. Favorites: DMSR, 1999 Free was a welcome change of pace Love the “ this is your pilot, prince” bit in international lover.

Dusty In Memphis

Dusty Springfield

5/5

Dusty Springfield: Son of a preacher is such a great song. Rest of album is cool too I like Land of make believe. 4.5

Get Behind Me Satan

The White Stripes

2/5

White stripes: Don’t like their voices. Can be cool to be minimal and quirky but it all seems kinda thrown together or like it’s not quite done and none of the songs really do anything for me. I don’t really get it. Favorite song: Nurse Instinct blues I could do without the low harmony on “Little Ghost

Step In The Arena

Gang Starr

3/5

Some cool beats/ samples. Lots of rhymes in the rap. Enjoyed it

One World

John Martyn

5/5

John Martyn I love when we get an album and artist I am totally unfamiliar with and really dig it. Super cool grooves and textures. I like his voice too even though I can’t make out any words. Cool fusion of styles (ambient pop/ blues). Good the whole way through. Great musicians on this record too - I love all Steve windwoods synth solos. Favorite songs are Dancing, small hours, big muff, dealer. “Couldn’t love you more”reminds me of a Dave Matthews song.

Let England Shake

PJ Harvey

2/5

Automatic For The People

R.E.M.

4/5

REM Everybody hurts is so simple and great. Sweetness follows is also great . Find the River is good. Least favorite was Drive. String arrangements by John Paul Jones 3.5

Darkdancer

Les Rythmes Digitales

2/5

Digitales Music makes me lose control is cool- sounds like a Stanley Clarke sample The third tune, soft machine is cool . Weird groove and It’s nice to have a real lead vocal in the electronic music instead of a just a sample. Sometimes also has a melody. This guy is a producer now for Dua Lipa including Levitate

John Barleycorn Must Die

Traffic

4/5

Traffic: Good band Everything we’ve had with Steve Winwood on it has been good! Cool jammy 70’s rock vibes throughout Favorites: Glad Freedom rider Every mothers son Didn’t like the stuff in the middle quite as much as beginning and end.

1989

Taylor Swift

5/5

Great album: My favorite part was the hearing the great tunes that I was least familiar with. “Style” “Out of the woods” “I wish you would” Are all perfect pop songs. Blank space and shake it off I’ve heard a thousand times but they are still great. Least favorite: Bad blood New York Overall I’d say it’s a 5 album

The Madcap Laughs

Syd Barrett

1/5

Weird but not in interesting way

All Hope Is Gone

Slipknot

4/5

I remember thinking the mask thing was kind of gimmicky when I first heard of them and never really gave them a chance but they are a good metal band (better than Kiss, Gwar, or Insane Clown Posse) and the album is solid. I listened to this so long ago and should’ve rated it. Not really my thing I guess but I remember enjoying this one.

Frank

Amy Winehouse

5/5

Great singer and artist. I think I prefer Back to Black to this one, I hope it made the list too. A bit jazzier than I remembered/ expected.. Favorite song is “What is it about men “

Bat Out Of Hell

Meat Loaf

3/5

Over the top, campy, musical theatery proggy rock n roll. It’s really well done and I feel like I should like it more but idk.

Happy Sad

Tim Buckley

3/5

Cool textures I like the textures vibes, acoustic guitar, upright bass. Loose acoustic improvs remind me of astral weeks a bit. He’s a great singer and it’s melodic but I’ll wish there were more melodic hooks to grab on to. Room 109 and dream letter were my favorites.

Court And Spark

Joni Mitchell

5/5

Court and spark Her voice is so great and sounds so good on this album. This is one of her more accessible / poppy album with lots of smooth 70’s soft rock sounds. Great album from the whole way through. Of the 4 we’ve had I’d say my order is Blue, Hejira, Court and Spark, Hiss of Summer Lawns. Some favorite songs are Help Me, Down to you, Peoples Party, Free Man in Paris and Twisted.

Figure 8

Elliott Smith

5/5

Great songs and really unique style and voice. Would like to get more into his music if I ever catch up on these albums.

Honky Tonk Heroes

Waylon Jennings

5/5

Great album and great rhythm section. I like the songs my favorite was You Ask Me To and the title track.

Morrison Hotel

The Doors

2/5

Live / Dead

Grateful Dead

3/5

Not sure why this is on here when they have much better live albums from later. They definitely got a lot better and sometimes sound like they are still kind of figuring some of it out. More intense less relaxed sounding than other jams but they may be stepping on each others toes sometimes. Sometimes the bass is too busy. Transitions from st Stephen to the 11 to love light was cool. Apparently this was the first live record made on a 16 track but not a great sounding record. The two guitar sound is too much guitar sometimes. Vocals on here are sub par even for the Grateful Dead and It doesn’t have any of my favorite songs. 11 was probably my favorite track. Last song was one of my favorite parts wish that as longer and feedback was shorter. Tough one to rate 2.5

21

Adele

5/5

21 Classic album hadn’t heard in a long time. Rolling in the Deep is still great. Other favorites are Turning Tables, take it all and he won’t go. Love song is great too- Amazing when a cover is 1000x better than original. 5

The Joshua Tree

U2

5/5

U2 has their best 3 songs/ biggest hits in a row at the begging of this album. Those songs are great and the rest of the album is good too. Tripped through a wire is a cool change of vibe. Least favorite was exit. Love the guitar style with the delay and the swells.

Electric

The Cult

1/5

Boring for me

Cosmo's Factory

Creedence Clearwater Revival

5/5

Enjoyed this one and Fogerty has such a cool voice. Favorites were looking out my back door and long as I can see the light. I like the muddy, sludgey feel on grapevine I didn’t remember it having a long guitar solo jam.

The Gershwin Songbook

Ella Fitzgerald

5/5

So much music and it’s all soo good! These are like all the best recordings of these songs. Her voice is so great and the arrangements are really good. I loved “ just another Rhumba”

Sound of Silver

LCD Soundsystem

3/5

LCD I like the repetitive trance like development in the long songs but it might be a bit slow to develop or a might not always be worth it. Least favorites were watch the tapes and New York. The instrumental and electronic elements are more interesting than the vocal I think I would like this more with a different singer. I liked the other album we had better.

Scott 2

Scott Walker

4/5

Totally thought I rated this one! Pretty interesting songwriting and English Jacque Brel covers.

We Are Family

Sister Sledge

3/5

We are Family is a 5 star song. Some cool grooves but didn’t love any of the songs.

Nighthawks At The Diner

Tom Waits

3/5

The live vibe is cool, but with all the loose spoken word songs feels like you had to be there. Couldn’t really get into it.

The Genius Of Ray Charles

Ray Charles

5/5

Such a great singer.

BEYONCÉ

Beyoncé

5/5

Beyonce She makes great cohesive albums that tell stories. I like how she has interesting forms and transitions. Drunk in love is so great. Other favorites are Blow, Haunted, superpower, rocket. Great album but least favorite is the Drake song- I think it’d be better without it.

Raw Like Sushi

Neneh Cherry

4/5

I dug the grooves and she kept me interested throughout. It was a while since I listened but I think my favorite was Heart

Here Come The Warm Jets

Brian Eno

3/5

Cool production and textures. Cool experimental 70’s rock instrumentals but didn’t really care for his voice, lyrics or songs. Last 15 seconds of dead fink are wild Here comes the warm jets was fav. 2.5

Aftermath

The Rolling Stones

3/5

Rolling Stones Under my thumb is cool. Going home was my favorite a bit long but cool that it stays on a groove for a while. Don’t like stupid girl or lady Jane Out of time is kinda nice 60’s pop tune but too long The marimba is kinda of a nice touch. I feel like maybe the stones are overrated or I want to like it more than I do.

Time Out Of Mind

Bob Dylan

4/5

Dylan Wild how his voice varies so much on different record. Make You Feel My Love is an amazing song. Other favorites were Standing in doorway, Trying to get to heaven, Not Dark Yet. Super cool groove on Cold Irons Bound. I like the bass on I Can’t Wait. Brian Blade on drums. I like the ballads but the blues songs like Highlands or Million Miles can get a little boring for me most of the songs seem a bit too long. 3.5-4

São Paulo Confessions

Suba

2/5

Shake Your Money Maker

The Black Crowes

3/5

Black crowes Good band but a bit derivative sounding. Maybe not the worst thing because they do the southern rock/ blues rock thing pretty well. Can totally hear the zeppelin influence on the first tune and the stones on the other ones . I maybe enjoyed this one better than the stones. Would’ve liked it more but there’s so much guitar but nothing special would’ve been better with slash or something. Best song is she talks to angels. Weird that their biggest hit is a cover of hard to handle. They took out all the best most interesting parts of the original too and play it just like a straight rock song. Might be cool to do live but on the album it just makes me want to listen to Otis Redding. 3

This Is Fats Domino

Fats Domino

5/5

Fun album and great songs. Nice and short too!

New Forms

Roni Size

2/5

Roni size Another English electronic album from the late 90’s. Hard to keep my attention with electronic music. The grooves are cool but hard to dig an entire album of this. I liked some Squarepusher and Aphex Twin albums that are more I teresti g compositionally. Prefer songs with vocals like heroes.

Talk Talk Talk

The Psychedelic Furs

2/5

Not for me. I don’t like the singer. Some cool dark new wave stylistic instrumental parts but I didn’t really enjoy it.

Gold

Ryan Adams

4/5

I never actually listened to one his albums before but I know he was a big influence on some songwriters that I used to play with. I really love a lot of that early 2000’s singersongwriter stuff and I can hear how influential this must’ve been. Great songs and album but the Me Too stuff does actually kind of ruin it for me though. 3.5 -4

The Man Who

Travis

2/5

Not much to say about this one. It was ok but I don’t get why it’s on here.

A Seat at the Table

Solange

5/5

Solange Listened to this album years ago but didn’t remember the second half so well. Cranes in the Sky is an amazing song Weary is cool too. Other favorites: Where do we go? Junie The interludes help contextualize the songs and album I really like her voice and the harmonies sound great. The production is great and I love the bass (Raphael Saadiq?) and keys throughout.

Nixon

Lambchop

2/5

This was alright but didn’t really do anything for me

Daydream Nation

Sonic Youth

3/5

Some really cool guitar parts and I like the cool noisey sections. Don’t really like Thurston Moore’s vocals though- Definitely prefer the Kim Gordon vocals. There are some really organic experimental instrumental sections that are beautifully done on here. Must’ve been pretty influential. So much better than their other album we had. My favorite song was The Sprawl. Tough one to rate. 3.5-4

Time (The Revelator)

Gillian Welch

5/5

Cool sad folk vibe throughout. Never heard this album before but it felt super comfortable and familiar like I want to sing along. David Rawlings lead guitar is so nice. I was thinking at the end of the I want to sing that rock j roll solo wow what a great solo and then there was applause. IlDream a Highway is like the song that never ends. Such a vibe almost like trance inducing after the first 12 minutes

Emergency On Planet Earth

Jamiroquai

5/5

Great band and great album. I was big into some of their albums in college. Super fun to listen to again. This album is so reliably good I feel like I could put it on and get into it whenever!

Night Life

Ray Price

5/5

Night life Title song was my favorite. Vocals are great. Really smooth country crooning. There’s a low note in the pedal steel solo on nightlife that’s super cool. Johnny paycheck is the best name for a lead guitar player. The songs are all a bit sad and on the night life theme.

Ghosteen

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

1/5

I think I’ve heard enough Nick Cave

Dr. Octagonecologyst

Dr. Octagon

1/5

Underwater Moonlight

The Soft Boys

3/5

Soft boys Feels like rock n roll. Love the first 3 songs Old pervert has a cool instrumental but the melody and lyrics don’t fit. Didn’t listen to all the bonus songs.

You're Living All Over Me

Dinosaur Jr.

3/5

Cool album title. Cool album cover. Cool band name. Cool song names. I like the 90’s rock style. it’s really tough to listen to this singer. I don’t think this is a good sounding album. I don’t know why they would put a Cure cover on here but i do like that song and it is better than any of the other songs on the album.

Swordfishtrombones

Tom Waits

4/5

I like the live vibe. Some of the long vamps with spoken word type stuff would be cool to see live but might not fully translate to album. Enjoyed this one but prefer rain dogs.

Rattlesnakes

Lloyd Cole And The Commotions

2/5

I might like this better with a different singer. I kind of liked the instrumental parts but every song got worse for me once he started singing.

Movies

Holger Czukay

2/5

Some cool ideas. I like the loose improvisational and experimental vibe but think it could have been developed better. Feels like this was intended to be an experimental session where he gets his ideas to develop into songs but he never got around tossing the album for real.

Our Aim Is To Satisfy

Red Snapper

2/5

Had some cool grooves. It was ok but got boring and a bit too repetitive. Favorites were Shellback Bussing Don’t go nowhere.

Hunky Dory

David Bowie

5/5

Hunky Dory Cool album. I prefer his albums from the late 70’s. Changes and Life on Mars are really great songs. Also like the song for Bob Dylan. The rest of the album is good.

Abbey Road

Beatles

5/5

My favorite Beatles record. Something is a perfect song. I always loved the big side 2 medley, and Paul’s vocals on Oh Darling. Also so many great basslines on this album, I also love all the parts in the arrangements. Least favorite tunes are octopuses garden, and her majesty. The George Benson and Booker T MG’s versions of this album are both favorites of mine.

The Colour Of Spring

Talk Talk

2/5

Some interesting instrumental parts but I’m not fan of this kind of singing. I feel like something about it is exhausting listening to.

Ritual De Lo Habitual

Jane's Addiction

4/5

Janes addiction Good band. And I like this album better than the other one we had. I love been Caught Stealing and Stop! The rest of the album is cool. I like some of the more psychedelics and experimental moments. I liked “And then she did”… cool piano and synths. Lost me a bit by “of course”. Maybe one too many long vibey songs towards the end of the album. 4

The Rolling Stones

2/5

They are alright but so many covers where the originals are so much better. Not a great album

Wonderful Rainbow

Lightning Bolt

3/5

Lightning bolt Kind of a unique take on noise rock. It’s cool and would really love it if these noisey grooves were like weird 30 second outros to a good song but it’s pretty challenging to listen to a full album of this. Cool how unconventional but not random it is. Pretty cool that it’s just a duo-and they found each other and wanted to commit to this super weird music and found an audience for it. Tough to rate, I’m giving a 3 because I like it better than a lot of the other stuff I’ve rated 2 recently 3

Car Wheels On A Gravel Road

Lucinda Williams

4/5

I dug this. I liked her voice better as it went along. Favorite songs: Concrete and barbed wire “Joy” is super cool Lake charles Still I long for your kiss Drunken Angel

Meat Is Murder

The Smiths

2/5

Meat is murder- Don’t like Morriseys voice or Melodies. Don’t really love the drums either. The guitar styles can be cool probably the best part about the band. I Don’t really care for the songs either.

Vento De Maio

Elis Regina

5/5

I loved this. Would love to know more about this album. Kinda feels like a great st hits. She’s great.Really liked the parts that reminded me of 70s fusion!

Ray Of Light

Madonna

2/5

Chelsea Girl

Nico

1/5

Songs and instrumental are cool but I couldn’t get past her voice. It was hard to listen to.

Da Capo

Love

1/5

I have no more space for any more 60’s weirdness. Not good.

Black Monk Time

The Monks

2/5

Space Ritual

Hawkwind

1/5

More 60’s psychedelic bs. Actually really can’t stand this stuff now

Back To Black

Amy Winehouse

5/5

Great album. It all comes together on this one with the perfect combination of styles and genres. Such an original songwriter and artist.

Hot Buttered Soul

Isaac Hayes

5/5

Hot buttered soul Great band w/ the bar kays. Really liked the bass playing. Walk on by was cool His voice his great. I thought the spoken word was a bit long but it made me more invested in the story and lyrics.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme

Simon & Garfunkel

5/5

I don’t think this is their best album but have to give a 5 for the artist. Like the versions of the songs without drums that are on the greatest hits album. Favorite song was For Emily.

Exodus

Bob Marley & The Wailers

5/5

Incredible album. The songs and grooves are so good

The White Room

The KLF

1/5

Let's Get It On

Marvin Gaye

5/5

Perfect album. He’s an Incredible singer and every track is amazing. Love the sound of this record and the grooves are so deep.

Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul

Otis Redding

5/5

Love his voice. The ballads are my favorite

Oar

Alexander 'Skip' Spence

2/5

The dude from moby grape juice recorded after being institutionalized. Im liked better than that and better that n sur barret I think. weird when he starts playing sunshine of your love

The Scream

Siouxsie And The Banshees

1/5

I don’t get it. doesn’t sound good to me.

Every Picture Tells A Story

Rod Stewart

4/5

I enjoyed this. Good singer and band. A little rough around the edges in an organic way

The Velvet Underground & Nico

The Velvet Underground

2/5

I don’t really get this band.

The Only Ones

3/5

Only Ones I liked all the intros but the vocals ruin it for me. The songs are better than most of the other 70’s English punk bands. I think I’d like with another singer.

Black Metal

Venom

1/5

It does sound really terrible. so hard to listen to. They couldn’t fix this mix?

Electric Prunes

The Electric Prunes

2/5

Another underwhelming 60’s rock band

Roger the Engineer

The Yardbirds

3/5

Yardbirds It was alright. Jeff beck is a great guitarist but this must’ve been before his playing got really interesting. I hope we get Blow by Blow. Songs and vocals are kinda generic 60’s blues rock to me and not that great. 2.5

Close To The Edge

Yes

5/5

Yes Extremely original and beautiful and meaningful music for me. I used to listen to these Yes albums from 71-74 religiously. I got into this in middle school and it was one of the first things that really blew my mind and opened me up to what music can be and what a band can do. Each song is such a journey. The composition and playing are incredible and also the mix and production. Love all the peaks and valleys and textures

...The Dandy Warhols Come Down

The Dandy Warhols

3/5

1001 albums Dandy Warhol Some of the Harmonies kinda remind me of Alice In Chains. Grungey/Alternative rock/a little psychedelic rock. The synths are cool. Everyday should be a holiday was a nice change of style. I like all the vibey stuff but was kinda of hoping for some more dynamic/ screamy vocals at some points. Good sounding 90’s rock album. Too long though, I’d like it to be under 50 minutes. Cut the last couple songs maybe? 3.5

Blood And Chocolate

Elvis Costello & The Attractions

4/5

Elvis Costello- I like his voice on this record. Cool production and 60’s vibes. Band sounds great .. Songs are good but not as fun as some of his other records. Tough to rate because I’m a fun but it’s probably my least favorite of the records I know. 3.5-4

Steve McQueen

Prefab Sprout

4/5

Prefab sprout Kinda cool and definitely full of surprises in every song. I Love all the 80’s synth sounds . I liked Faron young, Bonny, when love breaks down, goodbye Lucille, . Least favorites were moving along the River and horsing around.

The Number Of The Beast

Iron Maiden

4/5

Iron Maiden So much better than the first Iron Maiden album. Huge upgrade with Bruce Dickinson on vocals and the production and writing is so much better too. Some cool metal bass playing. 3.5

Henry's Dream

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

2/5

Not a Nick Cave fan…

Searching For The Young Soul Rebels

Dexys Midnight Runners

3/5

This was cool i liked more than I thought I would. Northern soul meets the Clash with horns. 3

There's No Place Like America Today

Curtis Mayfield

5/5

great album. I remember really enjoying it but I waited to long to review. I’ll have to come back to this one.

The Doors

2/5

Doors Pretty bad sounding album. The bass sounds like garbage. Vocals are too loud and shouty and Jim Morrison is annoying and drains all my energy. Break on through is cool. Soul kitchen is ok Crystal ship is an energy sucker 20th century fox is bad Whiskey Bar is bad Light my fire - I don’t really like it as a song. The solos have some memorable parts but the keyboard sound is really grating. Kinda trancelike vamp is cool I guess. Back door man- terrible I looked at you- boring 60s rock Take it as it comes- bad The end- points for being original and Droney I guess but again Jim Morrison is sooo annoying and this 60’s psychedelic stuff was maybe exciting at the time but has aged terribly and is now super boring.

Rid Of Me

PJ Harvey

4/5

1001 albums PJ harvey Very different from the other one we had which had more of a modern psychedelic vibe if I remember correctly. I like the raw grungeyness of this one. I dug it but I wished I liked her voice more. She’s got some cool instrumental parts. The mix didn’t bother me but maybe a bigger bass sound. Rub it till it bleeds was awesome. Strings on Man secxtet was cool. The Bob Dylan cover was great too. Album probably could’ve been a bit shorter I would’ve cut snake and Me Jane. 3.5

Eliminator

ZZ Top

1/5

Ugh it’s not bad I guess but it’s so boring The drumming is so mechanical/ drum machine parts are so basic. I kinda hated it

Tapestry

Carole King

5/5

Carole king A classic. All these songs are bangers. She has such a distinctive sound as a singer, pianist, and obviously songwriter. Really great sounding and cozy feeling throughout the whole record.

John Prine

3/5

good songwriting and some funny lyrics but I don’t love his voice. Angel from Montgomery is great but I definitely prefer the Bonnie Raitt version.

The Grand Tour

George Jones

4/5

I never listened to him before. I like his singing. I like all the nice country ballads but none of the tunes really stuck out to me.

Dire Straits

4/5

Dire straits Really dig the guitar. Some cool 70’s vibes. Six blade knife was cool. Like the groovy rhythm guitars on Southbound again. Sultans of Swing is a classic. Wild West End was nice. Cool album cover too -not what I would think to pair with the music. 3.5 to 4

Cupid & Psyche 85

Scritti Politti

3/5

Scritti 80’s Dance pop. The singer has a cool high breathey voice. Fun but kinda sterile sounding sometimes. I like Don’t Work that Hard and Hypnotize. Has Will LEE, Marcus Miller and Paul jackson Jr on

Teen Dream

Beach House

4/5

Beach house I liked Zebra. Norway is cool.10 mile stereo was cool too. Actually all the songs are good and the textures are beautiful. Also wish it went harder at times too, would be cool to have a louder dynamic range. Would be a 5 if there was one happy song on the album.

Rising Above Bedlam

Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart

3/5

Jah Wobble- I hearSinead O’Connor first and was stoked for this album and then he starts singing the verse and my excitement drops. Kind of my experience with every song. There are some cool grooves and the female vocals are good but he should just have them do all the singing. It really took me out of it whenever he sang. Erzulie was cool 2.5-

Heroes to Zeros

The Beta Band

3/5

Beta band - psychedelic flavored alternative rock. It was kinda cool. Space was cool. Pure For was nice.The vocals are a bit to soft neutral speaky/ chanty for me almost sounds like there’s only bgvs and no lead they are generally pleasant and not offensive but might want something with a bit more unique. They don’t really bring much dynamically to the music. I was hoping each song would have a stronger melody. Idk felt pretty neutral about this one 2.5- 3

Surf's Up

The Beach Boys

4/5

Some great songs on here like the 2nd one and the 6th one. 3.5-4?

Dirty

Sonic Youth

3/5

Sonic youth I like the really noisey parts and like the grungey vibe but wished I liked the songs more. This was better than the other album. Tough one to rate. I’d rather listen to Dexys Midnight Runners

Duck Stab/Buster & Glen

The Residents

2/5

Duck stab Disturbing title, album art, and music. I didn’t hate it but I can’t listen to it again. There were some cool weird instrumental stuff. He sounds like Les Claypool I bet this was album must have been influential to Primus. Bach is dead was funny

Done By The Forces Of Nature

Jungle Brothers

2/5

Destroyer

KISS

2/5

Very cheesy and not as fun as it should be for its level of cheese. I feel like this kind of hard rock needs a guy with a super high voice and without it the music sounds a bit off.

The Libertines

1/5

Why? Sounds like the 70s punk bands but worse and 30 years later

461 Ocean Boulevard

Eric Clapton

3/5

Great sounding record pretty and the groovy 70’s blues rock vibes are cool but no really great songs except for the Bob Marley cover. Ratings get tough. 3-4? 3.5 I liked this more than the yardbirds. Did I like dexys midnight runners better? Or rod Stewart idk. Pretty good but not great compared to some of his other albums.

Dookie

Green Day

5/5

Lots of good songs on here. I like She, Longview, Basketcase, When I Come Around. I didn’t like the last tune feels like a secret track.

Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

Frank Sinatra

5/5

Sinatra jobim Such a beautiful record. I really love Dindi and the arrangements song of the Sabia are so nice. Cool to hear all these tunes with English lyrics. I love the low not he sings at the end of Wave.

Rock 'N Soul

Solomon Burke

5/5

What a great and versatile singer! I didn’t know any of the tunes other than Cry to Me but this whole album is good. There’s some nice guitar playing too.

Deloused in the Comatorium

The Mars Volta

5/5

Mars Volta I had this album in college but hadn’t listened to it much in years. I like the experimental vibe and really cool to hear a band with such a unique original sound like psychedelic- prog- hardcore. Cool contrast between feeling weird -loose -noodley and super tight. Also cool contrast between dissonances and the harmonies and some cool melodies paired with super weird abstract lyrics. The high vocals and the busy rock drums and aggressive bass remind me of Rush. Love the drums and frantic rock n roll energy on here it definitely gets me pumped up. Also so cool to hear Flea in a different context! I’ll have to check out their other albums. Great album but I could imagine a version that’s not. Cool transitions and textures it all kind of feels like the same song but in a good continuity way. There is so much going on and it all works but it almost doesn’t. 5

Mama's Gun

Erykah Badu

5/5

Mama’s Gun Incredible album. Favorite songs are Green Eyes, Didn’t cha know, and penitentiary philosophy. 5

Playing With Fire

Spacemen 3

1/5

It took 2 people to make this? It sounds like an album of the weird interlude songs on an album. I did not like this

Selected Ambient Works 85-92

Aphex Twin

2/5

Thin line between ambient and boring. There were some Interesting things musically but I couldn’t really get into it.

Phrenology

The Roots

4/5

Roots phrenology Cool album- Way more experimental than I expected: Favorite songs were the ones with the guest singers -I think I prefer the more melodic stuff to the rapping. Some Really cool instrumental grooves Favorite song the seed: complexity, something in the way of things, break you off, Least favorite:thirsty, rock you

C'est Chic

CHIC

5/5

Great album and super fun to listen to. Some of the ideas seem a bit unfinished- savoir faire sounds like the vocals are about to enter but it’s just guitar solos. Nice Rodgers is great though and Bernard’s Edward’s bass lines are so good.

Entertainment

Gang Of Four

3/5

Gang of Four- Great reference for rock bass tones. I like the melodica when it pops up. The mix and panning are kinda weird like there’s background vocal that pops in and out of my left ear and some of the drums are panned to one side. Some cool stupid noise rock grooves. Sounds like this could have been a big influence on Primus with songs like “he’d send in the army” Could hear a bit of Can’t Stop in Natual’s Not Worth It Not a fan the punk rock vocals. I like the frantic energy and the attitude of the music and the weirdness of it. I like when the drums sound really trashy. Some cool affected guitars too. Hard to describe but I feel like a lot of these 70’s hard rock and punk records must lose something in translation it doesn’t seem heavy enough in the AirPods. Favorites: contract

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

4/5

Bob Dylan- I like his voice and the minimal folkyneas of it all. Some really great songs on here: don’t think twice, girl from north country. Corrina Corrina was refreshing after all the solo stuff. Also liked Wolrd war 3. Oxford town. Honey just allow me one chance. I shall be free. The one chord songs can seem tedious like down the high way and Dylan’s blues. I’d like a 35 minute version of this album.

Too Rye Ay

Dexys Midnight Runners

4/5

Dexys: I think I’m a Dexys fan? Enjoyed both of their albums. This one is the stronger of the two albums and has violins. it was a fun listen . Favorites: Come on Eilleen I’ll show you Dubious I liked the Van Morrison cover too. like his singing style he’s like an even drunker sounding Elvis Costello.

Hot Rats

Frank Zappa

5/5

Hot Rats Used to be one of my favorites. It’s been a long time since I head this album. My dad was a big Zappa fan so I grew up with this one. Peaches en Regalia is a special one to me and has always been one of my favorite tunes. Didn’t know that Shuggy Otis played bass on Peaches. Willie the pimp and Gumbo variations is cool to hear Zappa’s take on the one chord jam. Zappas guitar playing is super unique- cool to hear how it evolved to the sound he had in the 80’s on GUITAR. Cool how the tempo is faster when the riff come back at the end of Willie. Gumbo gets to a strange place when it peaks. I like the how the rhythm section shapes and peaks and keeps things interesting through the long solos that can get pretty far out and textural. Cool jammy loose 60’s feel it’s a bit different from his 70’s and 80’s stuff. Little umbrellas is a cool tune with such a weird vibe, I like the upright and drum sounds. It must be a camel was my favorite this time (aside from peaches) really cool tension and release and works really well at the end of the album- the harmonic rhythm and more complex composed stuff is refreshing after gumbo variations.

Eagles

3/5

Eagles: Great vocal harmonies and good sounding album. They are good band but I could never listen to them. I think I really don’t like the parts that feel like cliche classic rock and the it’s hard to look past that. The more interesting stuff are the more country rock tunes. Best: Take it easy Peaceful easy feeling Witchy woman Early bird Least: Take the devil Chug all night Tryin

The World is a Ghetto

War

5/5

War Really cool grooves. Love the drums and percussion. Favorite songs were tracks: 1,2,3 and 6

Violator

Depeche Mode

3/5

Depeche Mode I don’t know why I have such an aversion to this style of singing. I think I would like this a bit better with a different singer. Some of the instrumental parts and production are cool and I could definitely hear how this was influential for industrial rock.

Here, My Dear

Marvin Gaye

5/5

One of the great breakup albums. Like how it gradually turns to nasty divorce funk. Really good from start to finish. I think mh favorite track was Sparrow

Scream, Dracula, Scream

Rocket From The Crypt

4/5

Fun listen. Sounds like punk rock party music. Catchy songs and plenty of hooks. I like the background vocals and horns. kind of a classic sound for 1995. Some parts remind me of Elvis Costello. 4

Closer

Joy Division

1/5

Better than the other joy division album I guess. The vocals are so bad. Reminds me of Jim Morrison in the worst way

Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge

Mudhoney

1/5

Sounds amateur like a teen garageband. I don’t get it.

The Modern Lovers

1/5

Reminds me of bad punk rock versions of the doors and velvet underground.

Post Orgasmic Chill

Skunk Anansie

4/5

Skunk anansie This band sounds really good after the modern lovers and mudhoney. I dug it!

Smile

Brian Wilson

5/5

Brian Wilson smile- truly one of a kind as a composer. I love the vocal harmonies. I don’t really get the lyrical themes but they are definetely the best songs about vegetables and barnyard animals ever written. Oh my god, Mrs O Leary cow is wild ride. also really cool album in headphones

No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith (Live)

Motörhead

5/5

- [ ] Motörhead - live albums are fun when they are good like this and have great energy throughout. Like Metallica heaviness and speed with Rolling Stones rock n roll vibes. Better sounding and feeling than the a lot of the other early 80s metal we’ve had. Drums are cool on overkill. Bass tone and solo on second song are super cool. Love how Lemmy says every song is a dedication. Maybe a 4 in real life for me but 5 for this list

Fear and Whiskey

Mekons

1/5

The drum machines feel out of place. I don’t really get it. Hard to listen to

Queens of the Stone Age

5/5

Queens of Stone Age Favorite are walking on the side walks- has awesome riff and then an even cooler one later “ You would know” is a cool groove I like his voice reminds me of a chilled out Chris Cornell or Layne Staley Mexicola has a sweet bass intro. Perfect combination of 90’s grunge vibes and a fun sense of experimentation. “You can’t quit me baby”was probably my favorite They know how to play great riffs and interesting songwriting around it too. I wish these guys did 7 nation army instead of white stripes

Heaven Or Las Vegas

Cocteau Twins

4/5

Cocteau twins I like the swirly wall of sound thing of heavy reverb and chorus. Iceblink luck was fun. Vocals were always nice surprise. Heaven or Las Vegas was nice too, Fotzeoolic has big chorus. I like the the breathy harmonies. 3? 4?

Os Mutantes

5/5

Os mutantes: Cool. Only thing that reminds me of magical mystery tour that I actually like. More musical than most of the other experimental psychedelic stuff. Cool how o Reloggio alternates from ethereal to trashy groove. Baby is a cool song I prefer the Gal Costa/ Caetano Veloso versions. Bat macumba has cool fuzzed out guitars and a jammy vibe. that effect on the lead is cool but way too loud! Least fav was ave ghenkis khan

Moon Safari

Air

3/5

Air Some cool parts and grooves. A lot of this 90’s electronic stuff sounds like a soundtrack. It’s cool for a while but can get kinda boring melodically and dynamically. I liked the vocal songs a bit more.

Goodbye And Hello

Tim Buckley

2/5

Tim Buckley Some cool vocal moments but the songs/ and melodys didn’t resonate with me. No man can find the war- bass sounds like a trombone. carnival song and knights were pretty bad Favorite song was never asked to be your mountain. All of these songs are too long. Good by and Hello: Interesting how that rennissance fair sounding folk music really died in the 60’s . Morning Glory was nice.

Getz/Gilberto

Stan Getz

5/5

These songs are so great.

Younger Than Yesterday

The Byrds

3/5

Byrds- some nice harmonies. favorites were Time Between and So You want to be rock n Roll Star. They kind of overdid it with the backwards guitar. Kind of boring. I prefer the alternate version of Back Pages without the claves.

Don't Come Home A Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind)

Loretta Lynn

5/5

This was great

Scissor Sisters

5/5

Scissor sisters Really Fun combo of disco and rocknroll. Interesting take on comfortably numb. Mary was a cool change of style. Lovers in the backseat was really cool. Really natural and Interesting diversity of styles without sounding like genre hopping for the sake of it. I like his voice too. Probably a 4 for me but 5 for this project.

Clandestino

Manu Chao

2/5

It was cool but I wish the vocal were stronger

Lam Toro

Baaba Maal

5/5

I really enjoyed this really like his voice. I liked this better than other album of his we got earlier. I’ll have to come back to this one.

Veckatimest

Grizzly Bear

5/5

I really enjoyed this. His voice and harmonies are cool. I wish I didn’t miss the boat on this band back in 2009.

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Arctic Monkeys

1/5

I started pretty neutral on this and got tired of it quick. I don’t get why it’s on here sounds like a throwback to earlier English punk rock.

Joan Armatrading

5/5

Joan Armatrading: This one had some surprises and some original sounds. I could hear she must have been a big influence on Dave Matthews. Favs were “People” and “ Like Fire” and “Love and Affection”

Vespertine

Björk

5/5

Her singing and composition are so unique. I Homogenic was always my go to Bjork and never really listened to this one. It’s really cool texturally with the music box’s, harp, glitchy beats and choir. Interesting how it shifts and simultaneously can be really beautiful and kinda disturbing sometimes. Favorite tracks: Unity, Cocoon, Hidden Place, Heirloom

Future Days

Can

3/5

Can- I actually thought this was cool. I liked the textures and minimalist grooves. I dug the trancey rhythms and percussion. Must have been very unique in 1973 some of it sounds like it could’ve been an album from the mid 90’s. I liked the super sustainy guitars- reminded me of Yes. I enjoyed the weird experimental exploratoryness of it. Some of it seems a bit random especially the lead guitar. The vocals seemed like a missed opportunity to me- would have loved to hear this with an interesting singer.

Street Signs

Ozomatli

4/5

I dug this. So many different styles and sounds and it’s all really well done. I am interested in the history of the band / creative process.

Tellin’ Stories

The Charlatans

3/5

Charlatans: Very throwbacky Brit rock .More fun and contemporary sounding than Oasis. Songs weren’t super memorable -I wish the songs had more stand out hooks.

The Who Sell Out

The Who

2/5

Funny album cover. 60’s psychedelic wackiness. I guess lots of bands were doing their version of Sgt Peppers/ magical mystery tour but It only really works for the Beatles to me. I didn’t like most of the songs. John Entwistle/ Keith moon have a thing. The ones I liked best: Armenia in the sky I can see for miles I can’t reach

Neon Bible

Arcade Fire

3/5

This was alright. When all the parts are so minimal the songwriting or vocals need to be better. The other album with Wake Up on it was better. Such an early 200’s indie rock sound. Fav song was Keep the Car Running.

White Blood Cells

The White Stripes

2/5

White stripes : I am really trying to get the Garage rock thing here. It sounds like hard rock music but sad and weak. Why don’t they just make an album that sounds good?Why wouldn’t he have recorded bass parts it’s not like it’s recorded live? Whole thing sounds like demos. The vocals are cool and the songs have potential. I dig how minimal the drums are wish they sounded bigger. Maybe points for being different? Favorite songs were the last two

It's Too Late to Stop Now

Van Morrison

4/5

Cool live album but Maybe a bit long for this project. Probably could’ve been 45 minutes and cut some of the slow blues songs. Some of my faves: Into the mystic. Domino. Listen to the Lion. Caravan. Cyprus Avenue.

Sulk

The Associates

2/5

Sulk: Interesting Wikipedia read. A lot of weirdness for weirdness sake. Drums often sound like they are at different tempo than rest of band. I lt had some moments but I mostly hard to listen to. I like the over the top dramatic vocals - definitely prefer it to typical sleepy post punk.

If I Should Fall From Grace With God

The Pogues

4/5

This was cool. Way more eclectic than I expected. Some favs were Metropolis and South Australia

Legalize It

Peter Tosh

5/5

Peter tosh: When your well runs dry- l love the contrast between verses and chorus Other Favs: Why must I cry Ketchu shuby

Back to Basics

Christina Aguilera

2/5

Christina Aguilera Christina is a great singer but this not really a great album. The retro blues stuff feels a bit too on the nose to me. I wanted to like this more not sure what wasn’t connecting with me. Favorite song was Hurt, Save Me From Myself.

A Nod Is As Good As A Wink To A Blind Horse

Faces

3/5

Band is good but it sounds like other 70’s blues rock I wish there was something more unique to the sound and songwriting. Why would you have anyone other than rod stewart sing lead in this band? The rod songs are so much better. favs were Love lives here and Stay with me. I like the upright on debris.

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