1001 Albums Summary

Easily my favorite Beastie Boys album. A little bit of novelty, seriousness, and avant-guard experimentation that keeps things interesting. This was at the height of their powers in terms of sampling and playing their own instruments. It's tight and sonically intense. How many kinds of albums are there that have songs that feel as goofy and as threatening as some of these? It also showcases their hardcore punk roots. This is an essential listening, huge in every way, and these guys have shown and been given massive respect in the hip-hop and punk scene where everything started for the new wave of US music in the 80s and 90s. People writing on here need to get off their high horse about their inclusion on the list. These guys probably gave more props and credit to black hip hop artists than any white hip hop artist from the same time period (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). Watch their speech at the 1999 VMAs for their win on "Intergalactic" as proof. Pioneers and gentlemen all the way.

I love albums that immediately get a 5 star within the first few minutes. Willie is an original. A chief storyteller that evokes the place and time he sings about. As a concept album it kind of fails, but as a whole it really evokes the Wild West he sings about. What a legend. Give this man all the love he deserves. Like Bruce and Cash, he's one of the American greats.

Sad that this is the only Coltrane album on the list. So many amazing albums from him missing that allowed jazz to cross over to the mainstream yet also albums that challenged the very notions of jazz at the time (see: Ascention). As a longtime musician, I owe a lot to Coltrane - he was probably the first jazz frontman that I studied about. This is a wonderful album, a gateway album for many into better jazz music, but woefully overplayed. Psalm is probably my favorite standout track, displaying his entry into more spiritual, esoteric ideas that would most leave their mark on me, musically speaking. For me, this is more of a 4.5 - beautiful and mythical, but just getting started. Hopefully many of you on the website have continued to listen more if this was a first time album.

I love Hendrix but I've never really liked this album. Messy and feels half-finished at times. Must have been GREAT drugs but too many tracks that are corny or a bit amateurish at times. The hits are of course great - and the Voodoo Chile Suite is an extremely underrated blues jam from his band. It was clear that he was moving on from simply being a rock front man here. Such a tragedy that his life was cut so short - apparently there might had been a Miles Davis collaboration if he lived on. Could you imagine??

Hasn't aged well, unfortunately. Must have been really cool when it came out, but we don't really need to listen to zoned out jams with long, noodly guitar solos from guys that aren't the Grateful Dead. And I'm not even a deadhead.

Let me preface by saying that I adore Patti Smith as an artist and a person. Seen her live (amazing), have read a lot about her, and have read her books/poetry, and recognize that she's important in the making of DIY music and punk rock. I have tried but NEVER got into this album since I was 15. I give up. Not sure why it continues to be on lists like this other than the fact that it was racy and bold for its time (especially when it comes to production and its budget). It feels overblown at all the wrong moments and pretentious overall. Everything feels sloppy and half-assed and the poetry is not among her finest. So, what's the story here? Is it like how people drool over "blank canvas" from famous artists and talk about how much of a statement it makes? Maybe the fact that it gets a rise out of me still means that it works. But I'd like to never, ever, listen to it again. 20 something years of trying is enough. Going back to my X-Ray Spex recordings for the time being!

Yes, that's a for real 5. Apparently this album is site's owner's favorite, so I can maybe imagine our disappointment that this is not on the top 10, not even top 100 rated albums on the list. I don't really listen to this album anymore. Not that I need to - as a young guitarist in college, I was obsessed with this album, and collaborating with other hungry, young peers, we were always looking for more tone, more power, and more ways to make a statement in our sound. Kevin Shields managed to do these three things and more. His manic quest in search for tone and in engineering this album to sound the way it does is the stuff of legend, though it almost bankrupted Creation Records at the time. First things first, everything is sampled in this album: guitars, bass, drums, vocals, keyboards, noise, and god knows what else. Would have preferred a louder drum sound, but with Colm Ó Cíosóig absent, Shields had to make due. Apparently Belinda Butcher would get woken up to do the vocal takes. The lyrics are still a mystery to this day. It takes a lot to make such an idiosyncratic sound. How many pedals? Which ways were the amps facing? What key is that in anyways? While songs like "Only Shallow" have caught up with modern psychedelic rock, I'm still waiting for the next musical movement that resembles otherworldly songs like "To Here Knows When" and "Soon". It's a unique album that's completely timeless, and I've heard nothing like it. Whenever I need some inspiration on tone and power, I always tune in. Alien music from another dimension.

Souvlaki, by Slowdive, was truly a triumph in what made rock music exciting in the early 1990s. Swirling guitars, psychedelic song structures, adding on to the traditions of Great English rock with an entirely new twist. Truly a timeless classic. No? How about a generic sounding bar rock album from an English rock star of yesteryear to the list, in that case? Yes, what a great idea! Where's my paycheck?? I hate this album. I hate how it sounds, hate the vocal hooks, hate the melodies. I tried listening to it twice. Couldn't finish it either time. I had no idea that Costello could go so low in terms of quality and content, but here we are. So many deserving 90s bands should be here, not another Costello record.

Evans deserves better than this half-baked release. One of the greatest jazz pianists ever, who brought complex melodic compositions to widespread audiences in the same vein that Brubeck and Guaraldi did. I get that this recording must have been seminal at the time, but it feels more like an ode to Scott LaFaro and his 1 million uninteresting bass solos, as he died not too long afterwards. As an extra slap to the face, this was removed from later book editions and replaced with nothing from Evans. Demery continues to sod off jazz in the most passive aggressive way possible, it seems.

I honestly cannot believe that this is the only album from the 'Mats on this list. It's not even my favorite of theirs (that would be "Tim"), so it'll have to get a 5 by default. Where to start? Well, how about the fact that Westerberg basically showed me that music could be loud and tough with a sensitive side. There's quite a few noisy numbers in here, which I don't mind (like the outrageous "Gary's Got a Boner") but once we get past that, so much insightful music about the young rage of sinking into adulthood. "Unsatisfied" is one of my favorite angry anthems of all time, and paired with "Bastards of Young" in "Tim", it basically in my mind solidified Westerberg as a folk hero of sorts. The reality was far from this - he and the band mates were still pranksters troublemakers at this point, often causing a ruckus with labels and with the press, but it's clear that they were maturing here. "Androgynous" is still one of my favorite ballads of all time, and strikes a chord even more today than in the 80s. "Seen Your Video" and "Answering Machine" are basically two songs built around an insult, but the guitar work from Westerberg and Bob Stinson is astonishingly clear and melodic. What a band this was. Too bad they constantly sabotaged their success and never made any money due to that as well as crap $$$ radio. These anthems make my day every time I hear them or sing and play them on the guitar. Thanks for helping me stay young, guys.

The fact that no disco music from the Bee Gees is included in this book, and yet, this is, says a lot about what the book wishes to celebrate. I've heard lots of concept albums in my life. A few sincere and emotional moments aside, it's perhaps one of the most painful, pointless, schmalzy things I've ever heard. Not sure what I SUPPOSED to like about it! What did the band want to achieve? Otherwise literally led to the band's breakup! Ego stroking at a max. Prime example of style over substance. Like the Gilded Age in music form. Like a 2000 dollar caviar and gold leaf covered burger TikTok trend. Thank God for punk rock.

I get that Adamson did this to get some work with movie soundtracks (it worked, a bit) but maybe he should have just sent it directly to studios instead of imposing it on the greater public. No personality and as banal as it gets.

How to listen to this album: 1) Listen and laugh. 2) Turn off album. 3) Put on Mazzy Star's 2nd album. 4) Realize that the 90s was full of amazing music not included in book. 5) Write Robert Dimery. 6) ??? 7) Profit!

The reviews on this album say more about the average user on the site's database rather than the album itself. I wasn't prepared to enjoy this. I don't really listen to German cabaret music, nor do I enjoy showtunes or (overly) pretentious experimental music. I already was a fan of Krause's work with Slapp Happy and Henry Cow. The fact that no album from either band is on here is pretty criminal (and I don't often listen to either band anyways). As with any "difficult" work, it's important to perhaps read and engage a bit more with it to understand why it's here. In a list that's full of albums only because they were commercially successful or popular for their time, this album pretty much breaks the flow in every way possible. Or does it? Hanns Eisler is a composer that perhaps needs revisiting in the times we live in today. Woes regarding war, propaganda, and social issues in constant fight for recognition were themes that he wrote about, and paid the price for (escaping Germany during the rise of the Nazis). He wrote revolutionary songs (and even composed the national anthem for East Germany upon return), songs of the struggle of the common people, and even a song that advocated for the legalization of abortion and autonomy and protection for women (in the 1930s, no less). The music is, of course, not easy listening. But, the lyrics and music is played by Krause exactly as Eisler intended. She really understands his music. Seething, menacing, often threatening but filled with empathy and lamentation. The music is simply stunning that it was written in post-war Berlin before Hitler's rise. How much creative work was lost from that time period? What can we learn from the themes of the piece today, in the permacrisis that we currently live in? The fact that this is in a book on generally popular music and has been kept in since, with female pop artists such as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera being cut out of new editions, speaks volumes about what this album can bring to the table of what we deem as "timeless" female artists. No pressings made in the USA whatsoever, no commercial interest, and still wildly ahead of its time given the negative reactions on the website and on YouTube despite being music written nearly over 100 years ago - and on top of that, appealing to myself who's not a fan of this type of music to begin with. This is protest music from another time, yet still representing the fight of our time. More showtune music should be this dark and idiosyncratic. As such, in the spirit of protest, it gets a 5. Post-script: also, not sure how "not being on Spotify" translates as to being album of "no merit whatsoever". Spotify should not be the only way that you have access to albums as a music fan, nor is it a measurement of quality in an album. For those who wrote this, please go to your local record store or library from time to time, or purchase music directly from labels or artists' webpages. You'll be amazed at the great stuff that isn't available on streaming services, waiting to be discovered.

I remember getting in a fight with my ex back in college over this album. She said it was total shit, and I kept defending it as genius. It's in fact, both. But both of us I think missed the point entirely. The Pixies are what they are, an eclectic, bizarre, ironic except non-ironic band with dozens and dozens of influences. There's no way everything will work, and some styles will please you more over others featured in the album, but it's still a wild ride to this day. I love how we never know where the screaming/singing will change and what tempos/chords will intentionally get screwed up. It's masterful because it was entirely controlled in the studio, albeit to the band's eventual demise (this is where they started hating working with each other). You'd have to be a control freak to make this kind of music sound so tight and cohesive. It's no longer my favorite Pixies album (kind of iffy at certain points), but it was a game changer for me as I started to get into more alternative music. 4.5 stars.

When I was 12, living in Rio, Clint Eastwood played everywhere. Still on the anime high, I loved the music video and watched it religiously. I'm embarrassed to admit that I never heard the album in full until this day. It's a wonderful, quirky little thing. So much talent went into this, as well as a lot of ideas sourced from so many things Albern was certainly exposed to, all used to their advantage. Never will I simply refer to Gorillaz as a simple novelty act. It's a very sophisticated multimedia act from one of the most unlikely rock frontmen from the 90s. Seems to get better with age. So glad I finally listened to the whole thing. Post-script: Really too bad that this was removed, and no new Gorillaz albums have been added since. I guess the print isn't large enough with all of those Costello albums already taking up space.

Such a classic. This album changed my life when I listened to it in high school for the first time, just coming off of hardcore punk. What I love about the ratings is that it creates a perfect stabilized pyramid, meaning that this is as divisive as ever. This recording destroys me to this day. Between Lombardo's booming drums, Araya's menacing vocals, and the evil-sounding, wicked guitar playing of King and Hanneman (still can't my guitar to sound as gross to this day) to themes of horror and carnage in human history, it's simply an incredible effort for its time. Scared? Good. Remember that the content is tongue-in-cheek, though the music is not. I really wish I had seen Slayer live - but, Rubin's production makes it feel like they're playing in my living room, destroying everything in sight. So much fun, and so crazy. I still love this album and the reactions it still gives.

As a longtime fan of Marty Robbins, I was shocked that I never given Jones a listen. Truly depressing music at it's finest from one of the most beaten down guys in country. I thought that Haggard's life was tough, but nothing at this level of alcoholism and depression. These songs sound cheery and nice, but the content is as dark as it gets. Country is about hurting. Must have made grown men cry at the time. Just like the blues, it's the American equivalent of fado and raga. Very bold of them to include this. Wish there were more.

No clue why this album is on the list when plenty of other UK and US-worthy hard rock albums were snubbed. Their previous album, Love, would have been at least a decent addition to the Gothic rock sub-genre on the list. Not amazing, but filled with British enough charm and nicely put side by side with bands like the Cure. This is as if they watched This Is Spinal Tap and decided to emulate the band, not realizing that it was a joke. Rubin's production, while solid as usual, sucks out all of the reverb (like what he did with Slayer) and WORSENS the band sound, making them as memorable as every cock-rock band you've ever heard. It makes them seem less threatening, precisely the effect that made Slayer more so. That cover of Born to Be Wild is one of the worst I've ever heard, too. Nothing but clichés and throwaway riffs here. Must be trolling from the part of music critics that added this, as many albums on the list appear to be. Just awful. See: Jet's second album 20 something years later for lessons not learned.

Everything has been written to death about this. It's a perfect pop album, perhaps as important and timeless as anything the great classical composers of history have written before. People focus, ironically (or coincidentally) on the "rumors" surrounding the band members rather than the music first. No, they were not all having sex with each other, but rather having huge problems regarding heartbreak with each other, dealing with divorce, separation, and entering new relationships. Yes, there was cocaine and alcohol and hedonism but not really out of joy, but trying to dull the pain, perhaps clinging to the nostalgia of the 60s counterculture and bohemian times, slipping away in the narrators' minds. This album beautifully celebrates everything that is cruel and beautiful about being human and connecting to one another, and time that slips away where we simply lose connections to wear and tear and time itself. The content is often dismal, they weren't necessarily very likeable people, yet their approach was to celebrate life through music and to keep on going to make one of the most sincere albums we've ever heard. That 5 and the fact that it's the top rated album on this site is not a coincidence.I don't even like Fleetwood Mac all that much and this is one my favorite albums ever. This is something that brings even the bitterest extreme music listener to tears. Shimmering guitars, heavy bass and drums, dense and compact production, happy sounding songs that are depressing and sad sounding songs that are uplifting. This tugs the heartstrings and toys with emotions all the way through. And those melodies are just perfect - every song is a hit. I think this may the only album where I've heard every song on commercial radio. They made something greater than themselves, and all we have is to thank them for it year after year. 50 years on and nary a grey hair in sight (musically speaking). Plus, it gave us the most sold album (ever?) with lavatory handles used as balls on the front cover. So there's that, too.

I love Elvis but couldn't they just have added one or two comps of his (with RCA and Sun) and just be done with this? Yes, maybe it was a success commercially and culturally speaking for the album format, as it sold a lot after Elvis returned from his forced military service abroad. But, it wouldn't be the best introduction to Elvis at all! It shows he was already great at this point, but why are comps not allowed on this list? Do they not count as albums or something? Some of the best releases ever are comps!!

This album is the reason that this project is so interesting yet important to take your time with. I had never heard of Kiwanuka, and the first listen I found it to be decent at best (everything sounded pretty similar) - but, I've already listened to this album 3 times since and it's grown on me each time, going up from a 4 and now finally to a 5. This is an extremely SMART artist, pulling from so many influences both old and new, and connecting the songs together in a way that they create a uniform album, with fascinating chord changes, cryptic lyrics, and lots and lots of textures that remind me far more of what D'Angelo did rather than Bowie, one of his biggest influences. Such cool stuff - really uplifting and, like a good page turner, keeps you coming back again and again, trying to understand what exactly the central plot means by connecting all of the ideas together. So, what does this album mean? Not sure, but it really touches on all of the beauty and uncertainties of being human. Fantastic stuff.

Really a 4.5 if you ask me. I had never given Sade a chance growing up. As a fan of more extreme music, I too was part of the peanut gallery in labeling this as adult alternative muzak. What a load of garbage. This is a beautiful, fantastic, sensual album, that actually touches on social issues in addition to the romantic, slow-moving hits. This simmers all the way through, tight as a well oiled machine. As a musician, I'm impressed with the band's ability to show so much restraint and release with the jazz and pre-trip-hop song structures. The sax solos are a bit of their time, but precisely, the 80s was one of the best times for music anyways, and I'm such a sucker for cheese as long as the music is tough enough. Sade is a strong and focused singer, not at all flat. Like a Billie Holliday 2.0, at times. As my former jazz instructor, Andrew Speight, once told our large class (with people chatting and making noise upon arriving during the first track he would play), "If you shut up and listen, you might learn something." So glad that I held my breath and gave you a listen after all these years, Sade. Can't wait to listen to the rest.

Great addition to the list! Funky, wild, and cool - some filler, but exactly the kind of stuff I wanted to discover. It's a shame that it's the only album from India on the list. So much amazing stull has come out of that continent. Someone should write a book on 1001 Indian albums to listen to before you die (and it will certainly be as controversial as the current book).

As a lifelong Cooke fan, can't believe I had never heard this one before! Raw power to the max, performing in the best possible place and audience, at the peak of his powers. This is what I dreamed of Cooke sounding like on his regular recordings and more. The Man and His Music is a true classic comp to have in every collection, but this is where you crank things up. His party songs sound like revolutionary anthems here. It's the only Sam Cooke album on the list, so it gets an automatic 5 anyways.

It's nice to see an album on the list that I grew up listening to, during its peak moment. I listened to a lot of Animal Collective in college in San Francisco. I was just getting into more alternative music from simply classic rock and punk rock, and starting to enjoy other genres of music, particularly experimental and "anti-rock" groups. SF was perfect for this around 2009, just before the techie explosion. Lots of small venues, house concerts, warehouse spaces, micro labels and record stores, and lots and lots of music swapping. Animal Collective was really popular in the scene and was historically a pretty wild band up to MPP: lots of sound manipulation, heavily reverbed and screaming vocals, lots of odd chord changes and tunings, and also fans of underground bands such as the Residents and Sun City Girls. This album really surprised people because it signaled a different direction for the band to make more poppy, amplified, arena friendly music. They were hinting towards it for a bit but I think at the time it was a wonderful transition. Alas, I feel that it's a wonderful effort if albeit atypical to what they're known for. See: Strawberry Jam and Feels. A lot of the melodies are bright and sunny but lost often times in the reverb and overdubbed vocal harmonies that make it more of a mood board for summertime imagery instead of a consistent selection of memorable hooks. Maybe the hype was a bit too much at the time. With that said, Panda Bear's songs are as delightful as always (following his high from the incredible Person Pitch album) and evoke some very happy, optimistic nostalgia during that time of being young and living through a moment of a lot of creativity and hope. He's the only member of AC whose music I still listen to often - experimental pop masterpieces all the way through. I find the Brian Wilson/Beach Boys comparisons to be lazy. But, in the same level as Pet Sounds or Smile, this is an album that's pretty idiosyncratic - you'd never mistake them for another band. It just doesn't thrill me as it used to. More of a 3.5. Still worth listening to, and glad it's on the list. Hope it made some new AC fans in the process!

This album (as well as the Royal Albert Hall live album) have been my gospel since college. I have never taken psychoactive substances, nor do I need to in order to appreciate this album. Jason Pierce is one of the great UK songwriters of the 80s and 90s. Heavily inspired by multiple influences, his experiences with drugs and anxiety really allow him to go the extra mile when it comes to making complex, rich soundscapes. Everything is here: psychedelic rock, punk, gospel, R&B, jazz, noise, ambiant, etc. - the way he composes is the way that I hear the world. Moments of silence with moments of loudness. This can be challenging but overall rewarding music. It may come off as pretentious and bombastic at times, but the grandeur only elevates the message further. Pierce is, however, a very sentimental person with songs about heartbreak and loneliness. I really feel that everything he added was with sincerity and to push the boundaries of what he was trying to do. This is an album not to be taken lightly, as it makes you feel insignificant facing it head-on. The fact that they could also pull off this sound live makes them second to none. Give it all your attention and face the beauty and chaos of the abyss.

The more time passes, the more that it becomes clear that this is a masterpiece on so many levels. There's so many highlights here, hopping from style to style and setting trends along the way. It was clear to André 3000 that they wanted to be more than just a hip-hop duo. I saw Big Boi recently and while it was great, it's clear that they couldn't keep working together vis-à-vis his traditional hip hop approach VS André 3000's need to continue experimenting. But, while it was good, they truly captured lightning in a bottle here. B.O.B is basically the reason that this album is such a killer. It basically predicted not only the future of pop music, but what pop culture would become. Irreverent, postmodern, with fame and fortune as a weapon to create chaos and dissonance, on others (but also on the self). This is a collage of everything known in music up to this point. An effort that will take another generation to see again, if that.

Reminds me of the stuff I got into in college. More moody, sensitive music. Very much of its time. Also noticed that every artist that won the Mercury Prize in the early 2000s was added on this list? Was there no other "known" artists at the time apart from those that won this prize or something?

"I tell you what, the show is being recorded and televised for England, and uh, they said, they told me, they said ’you gotta do this song, you gotta do that song, you know, you gotta stand like this and act like this.' I just don’t get it, man, you know? I'm here to do what you want me to and what I want to do, Alright, okay? Yeah. So what do you want to hear?" "We want to thank the officials of San Quentin Prison, all of the guards for helping us out. The warden, every one of them. Appreciate it." (Boos) "Aww, you don't really mean that now!" Was laughing so hard in between the colorful themes and lyrics. Cash is more emboldened than ever here. A class act. This is what a live album should be like.

Everything has written everything possible on this album, so I'll just say this: I bought this album as a teenager, listened to a few songs, and never did so again. I don't think I was ready. As an adult, with a new family life, all of the album's themes are far more pertinent than they were before. The complexity of being human, of being together, on this planet. This music is not of this world. These melodies and vocal phrases and structures are indescribable. I've studied music and have no idea how one writes music like this. Stevie Wonder is a human being, flaws and all, but he truly believes what he sings and what he "sees" in all of us. That we are capable of something greater, of something greater than ourselves, that there is no act more daring than to love, and that spirituality is personal yet universal, that salvation comes to all who save each other, that humanity and nature is all we have in spite of our beliefs. Listened to this back to back for days, flabbergasted at everything. The drumming, the harmonica playing, the rich and textured mix, plus his singing turning into hollering from time to time. Left humbled and marveled. I can't believe that this was his 18th album, as he was just about to retire and head to West Africa to do more humanitarian work. It's one of the great gifts to humanity. We should be sending a copy of this into space. 5 million stars, and it's not even my favorite album of all time. No album compares.

I love Amy and honestly am a bit disturbed by the creepy, borderline misogynistic reviews here (and on other parts of this site). So what if the content is about her relationships. Isn't that what, uhhh, MOST OF POP MUSIC IN HISTORY IS ALL ABOUT?? Is moderating reviews simply not cool anymore?? This album shows that she was already greatness in the making, at the age of 19. A crooning voice made in heaven, with eclectic jazzy and trip-hop ideas already at the forefront. Too bad the production is bogged down by "experimentation" that is atmospheric at best and lazy and pointless at worst. In her words: "I've never heard the album from start to finish. I don't have it in my house. Well, the marketing was fucked, the promotion was terrible. Everything was a shambles. It's frustrating, because you work with so many idiots—but they're nice idiots. So you can't be like, "You're an idiot." They know that they're idiots." Hilarious! Can't argue with that! Still gets a 3 for her efforts, too bad it's too spotty. They should have just put Back to Black on the list. Since she's from the UK, I guess both had to be on there. Thanks, Dimery. Post-script: it appears that this has already been taken off the list in new editions. Agreed, sadly.

I love that this album continues to divide and confuse people. This was one of the first albums I ever received as a teenager (from my mom), along with Dark Side of the Moon and Houses of the Holy. The latter two were life changing, but it was the politics of Freak Out! that really set the bar for me. First off, Zappa and the Mothers were never hippies - they were rejected by the hippies, if anything. Second, I don't know any hippy people that listened to Varèse unless it's La Monte Young or Terry Riley or someone like that. Third, this album is more like a demented vaudeville/grand guignol of American society packaged as trendy psychedelic flower power music of the time, a movement that Frank HATED, and more so because he hated conformists and hypocrites of all kinds. You didn't come to Haight Ashbury to be part of a social movement, you came here as an excuse to not work, to get high, and sleep around. And YET, he was even more unforgiving to conformist people that led a traditional life because he felt that they had the largest superiority complex of all (I'm aware of the irony, Zappa was no saint either). In the end, I think he was just trying to call people out on their hypocrisy. Everything is attacked here: the government, the establishment, the trends, the mediocrity of American society, packaged in ironic music that gets weirder and more terrifying as it develops. Lots of doo-wop and bebop (two of his favorites), funny moments sure, but ugly (Motherly Love is just gross), and weird moments as all get-out. "Who Are the Brain Police?" scared me as a teen, and still does today. Still so true after 60 years (that "we" police our mind, not the powers that be). Sound collages, musique concrète, and lots of tape manipulation between this tight and crazy band. Genius studio work as well as musicianship Surprised a lot of these lines between the lyrics aren't memes yet, but Frank was really ahead of his time, though he was just getting started here. I honestly don't know why they didn't include Absolutely Free, Uncle Meat, and Weasels Ripped My Flesh in the book to showcase just how wild and intense and talented this band was, as this and the other Mothers album make them seem like a novelty act to the unsuspecting reader. This is the real deal. Love it or leave it. Proud to call myself a freak (inertly speaking), though I definitely have learned to be a nicer person since. There's no middle ground with Zappa. He already saw an America deteriorating, and it's amazing to listen to this 60 years later and learn that we haven't learned anything since Vietnam and Nixon. An all-time classic.

I'm giving this a 5 only because the top review giving this a 1 (!!) is the dumbest thing I've read so far on this site (and I'm sure it will get worst). The fact that the "review" is unfunny and mean-spirited is one thing, but its argument is baffling: Rush was the catalyst of a movement that "murdered" prog rock?? Really? HAS to be a troll post. I don't know everything about music but prog and arena rock was already on its way out by the end of the 70s. If anything, punk and new wave (and hard rock and metal, a bit) changed everything in popular rock, and that guy has completed the list, and should know this, but maybe he woke up on the wrong side of the bed the day he wrote the review. Or, maybe, was dumped by someone that was a major Rush fanatic. Who knows. Not a perfect album, but brilliant playing and fantastically smart lyrics (and drumming! That drumming!) from Peart all the way through. I can forgive some of the corny moments for the thick production and heavy riffs. This was the album that made me a Rush fan, and was a perfect use of all of the studio wizardry at the time with top top-notch playing and quirky chord and song structures. Not my favorite Rush album, but a classic and love that Tom Sawyer and Limelight gets love to this day in the sea of terrible radio selections we have to wade through. Also, should note that my former boss is friends with Lee and says that he and Lifeson are really sweet guys for big rock stars. Really humble too if you read interviews with them. Hardly the Judases of prog rock!! Can't wait to see them on tour next year.

This is it: Elvis Costello's one truly great album. Every song is a winner, and I've enjoyed this not as a guilty pleasure, but a genuinely smart and insightful pop rock album with really cool punk, blues, and reggae influences added in spades. My only gripe is the production (a bit tinny) but he literally was broke at the time and did what he could. As a result, it's sincere and authentic as it gets when it comes to the genre. Costello is a knowledgeable guy when it comes to music styles and playing but it doesn't always translate in his albums. Here, hungry and ambitious, he produces probably the best album of his career. I love these melodies and lyrics so much - great when I need to take a break from more complex music. 4.5 stars.

The Jam are a funny band for me - a blip basically on my punk collection, I owned "The Best of" and never enjoyed it. So imagine my surprise that I never gave this a listen ever. Paul Weller is probably at the top of his game here. A truly British album in the same way early Clash was, but transforming into something different. Not quite punk, not quite straightforward rock. Something angsty and aggressive for sure. Love the guitar work throughout, especially on "In the Crowd". It's a bit inconsistent throughout (too many different kinds of tracks, a bit unfocused), but powerful in its approach. So glad I finally listened to this.

This is great, everyone. It's the Monkees, sure, but this is what they sounded like when they were able to write their own songs! Stop comparing every 60s act to the Beatles (even if it's the Monkees)!!

Goin' Mobile is the only reason that this doesn't get a perfect score. Sloppy and amateurish compared to the rest. Actually one of their worst songs ever. However, the rest of the album is incredible and lives up to the hype. Cannot believe that Townsend was 25 at the time and writing songs this insightful and mature. That scream from Daltrey at the end of Won't Get Fooled again is the just greatest, most ecstatic of all time. Moon's drumming is just insane and adds so much to the polyrythms. And the fact that the keyboard arrangements were inspired by Terry Riley only adds to the greatness. There's nothing really else to say. This is an example of peak talent in every way.

Crazy that after all these years I've never listened to anything by Ian Dury (even after years working for college radio). I honestly feel this is as essential to the UK as the Dictators is to the US (basically a footnote in the greater punk rock movement), but it's quirky and atypical enough to give me a chance to listen to his other stuff. Must have been really racy and wild when it came out - the fact that it actually was a hit given the time period is impressive. I enjoy his Cockney delivery and witty juxtapositions in his rhymes - it makes anyone inspired enough to pick up a mic and do something similar. Haters are gonna hate. Today, a lot of lyrical moments are quite embarrassing and cringe-worthy (similar to some of Zappa's adult "humor") but the band is mean and tight and creative enough to make this rather memorable. Giving it a 3 because it's pretty out there for a list of mainly popular music but not exactly my favorite offering from this era.

What's up with all the 1's and borderline misogyny on this site everytime there's a female-led R&B album on the list? Are the reviewers just bored, middle-aged white guys that work in accounting that have nothing better to do with their time? Are David Bowie and Radiohead the only artists in their collection or something? But I digress (or do I?). Wouldn't normally give this a 5 but from now on all albums that get a 1 regularly (unless they REALLY deserve it, like Korn and Kid Rock), will get this score. Gotta break the algorithm somehow. I remember when this came out, working for college radio. So trippy, cool, and different. Haven't really followed her music since but FKA twigs continues to push the boundaries of so many types of music, not just R&B. Like the 21st century put into a blender. More interesting now, given all of the terrors of AI and deepfakes today. It sounds like disassociation and disintegration happening in real time. You have to listen to it quite a few times to get it. Or, don't. But stop giving it 1's just because it doesn't grab you right away. I wish users would use "didn't listen" more often if they are too intimidated to enjoy something new.

Oh, geeze. You win, Beck. This gets a 5. Normally I'd give Morning Phase the 5, but this will have to do as it's the only one that's in the book along Odelay. Word of advice. This album was generated the day before my wedding, and I stupidly listened to it the morning of. Don't do this, unless you'd like to bawl your eyes out before what should be the happiest day of your life. This album is heartbreaking yet beautiful. Conflicting emotions of love and loss, truly mature but full of experimentation with reverb, odd chords, and vicious string arrangements. Only Ween's Quebec comes close, in my mind, as far as confessional rock albums go. It's a difficult listen, yet filled with hope. I can't believe I missed it after all this time. Maybe a bit too long and painful, but listening it in phases is perhaps better (akin to how we grieve). Nothing more to say here. Truly sensational.

Back in the early 2000s, I stumbled upon a reviewer and musician (probably no longer alive) called "MurrayTheCat" who wrote tons of very enthusiastic reviews on classical music, jazz, and rock from the 60s and 70s. I discovered so many bands thanks to this guy, and the Small Faces was one of them. I love the hits from the band to this day, but they are sounding more and more dated. This album doesn't seem to coincide with the list's purpose anymore. I enjoy how British it is - absurd, irreverent, carnival-esque at times, with lots of whimsy. The narration doesn't really bother me - Stanley Unwin should have his place in Anglophone culture along Tolkien for his command with language and witticisms. The music? Not bad - I enjoy the old mono mix with a good stereo system (oozes with texture) - the lyrics and vocals hooks? Silly. The packaging was cool at the time though useless, using a tin can format which constantly slid off shelves and was expensive to produce. I find concept albums difficult to nail overall - but they definitely gave this a shot and though it doesn't go anywhere, it still holds up in its own way. I'd give this a 2.5 now for the effort, and for nostalgia, and I kept discovering more esoteric psychedelic through bands like the Small Faces, but it's not really anything I have the urge to listen to again.

It starts with a howl. Groaning, screeching, screaming. Guitar and bass as thick as sludge. Tribal drums, bleating saxophones. This album opened my eyes to how the boundaries of rock could be pushed at a time where its initial energy was fading in the mainstream. Ron Asheton has been a huge influence on my guitar playing since I got into punk music and Iggy Pop has constantly inspired me in terms of what we should expect of a performance. This album of course in raunchy and dodgy at some points theme-wise, and reading up on it, the "Fun House" was a pretty disgusting junkie hangout with allegedly blood stains all over the walls due to all of the shooting up upstairs in addition to orgies downstairs. But that's rock and roll. Before bass player Dave Alexander left and passed away at a young age, this band was the meanest, most vicious entity in rock at the time. Decay and decline of modern society are at a full exposé here, so they probably figured resorting to more primitive and chaotic forms of expression may be the solution to get through it all. Scott Asheton's drumming drives this in addition to Iggy's screams, with a thumping, almost caveman like approach to the pace. Many thanks to Steve Mackay for providing the most evil sound they ever channeled, via the saxophone - I would have never gotten into free jazz if not for prognosticators and instigators such as himself (so glad I caught him live with Iggy and with Mike Watt before he died). I know this whole thing by heart. That first guitar note is a shot in the dark, not bothering whether we see the light or not. Pure raw power, one of the best and craziest rock albums in history. Play it fucking loud!

Amazing that this was done only with samples and three devices. A music geek finds a way to make it his own yet show utmost respect to what he's sampling. Like Since I Left You by the Avalanches, it sounds like it was done totally live (yet even more so). This album made such an impression on me - it's cerebral, haunting, and unlike anything that's come out since. Precludes so much in hip-hop and ambiant music. I haven't listened to this in a while and every melody has stuck with me since. A perfect album, amongst the greats.

I think it's really cool that the book gave a shoutout to the guy who gave the Hammond B-3 organ massive exposure on this album. That changed everything - suddenly, it went from gospel to jazz to soul to funk and so much more. Can't imagine the 60s and 70s without this sound. The performers are great on the album, often sidestepping Smith (in the same way Booker T. was by the MG's). This helped me discover Stanley Turrentine, who showcases great sax lines throughout the album. It's a bit generic overall, however, should have maybe been a footnote instead of one of the main albums on the list.

I was actually impressed with how much I enjoyed this. I knew the title track - who doesn't? - but my parents didn't grow up listening to George Michael, so that counts me out. Reminds me so much of Prince at times, with a twist. And, very similar to Prince, he produced and wrote everything on the album and played a lot of the instruments on most tracks. It also solidified his image as a sex symbol at the time, which was something that he despised and derided. As was recently published in the news, his 1992 Trojan Souls project (that he attempted to make with his cousin before their falling out) was an effort for him to push to more technical boundaries and spiritual concepts. He's a serious musician and should be remembered as such. I'll explore more of his stuff with time. An all-time classic of the 80s. Not everything is to my style, but I enjoy synthy bouncy stuff if done well, so still gets 4 stars.

Previously, I said that this "makes me want to listen to Black Box's "Mixed Up!" and I write this as if it's a good thing," with a 1 score. No way that this is as bad as Odessa! We all love "Groove Is in the Heart," obviously. Kirby Kier is a great front woman and singer, and I really enjoy her politics and message of togetherness and unity that she brings to the dancefloor (fun fashion style as well). This isn't all that bad, a few listens through. Just make sure that you have good headphones or a top stereo system before you listen, as there's a lot of great bass and guitar work throughout (Bootsy Collins on some tracks!). With that said, as much as the book tries to defend them as more than a one-hit wonder, this album isn't very consistent. Must have been more fun live - and it seems that their style and sound really influenced a lot of different artists soon after. This is probably Dimery's appreciation for a Madchester-esque band across the Atlantic. No problem with that, but maybe a comp would have been better with all of their best stuff.

Hello, it's me again. The person that gave Tank Battles a 5 mostly for enjoying it but also out of spite for all of the negative reviews. Got good news! This other German cabaret influenced album only gets a 2. I also really wanted to like this, and I somewhat enjoy the songs that were collaborated with Nick Cave, Tom Waits, and Scott Walker (the Costello ones suck - surprise, surprise!). However, this is basically what I DON'T like about showtunes. Often shmaltzy, overblown, and over-sung, with very basic lyrical concepts. The production is hit or miss, I suppose it depends on the original song's composer. Lemper brings an interesting approach to the songs, but otherwise, what's it doing on here? Lots of cool releases in 2000 that still hold up well but not in the book. White Pepper by Ween, And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out by Yo La Tengo, Rated R by Queens of the Stone Age, Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven! by Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Flood by Boris, Voodoo by D'Angelo, Relationship of Command by At the Drive-In, Supreme Clientele by Ghostface Killah... Could go on and on the fact that none of these are on the list and that, as of today, Lemper's album is still in this book while dozens of great albums from new bands were removed in more recent editions. Absolutely baffling - I suppose Demery has a soft spot for this type of music but what is its significance? Only makes me want to listen to the artists that wrote these songs, without doing a service to Lemper herself. What a waste of time.

This is an album I don't even need to listen to anymore, as all of the melodies are imprinted in my mind. I first bought this album at 15, and I couldn't stop listening to it. The story is silly and often dumb, but there's a lot of profound lyrical moments. However, it was the guitar work that really grabbed me. Townsend doesn't get enough credit as a acoustic guitar player, let alone a composer. Here, he managed to write maybe 5 or 6 melodies and chord transitions, and beautifully embellish them throughout the whole piece. Similar to classical music or jazz, these slight variations are what get me, especially when they suddenly return throughout the piece. As someone with synesthesia, I constantly associate musical pieces with shapes and sometimes colors. This album for me is played in the void, with notes and melodies making up lines searching for light. The fact that Tommy is completely devoid of senses, other than tactile ones, made a big influence on me on how we need to "feel" music, or art in general, from a primal point of view, to tap into new emotions. Maybe none of this makes sense, but it's one of the only albums that I can think about and immediately get goosebumps. It's so massive, so melodic, and cohesive. I don't even care if it fails as a concept. I would have loved to have seen this live. The best album the Who ever made, hands down. No rock opera has come close, not even Born to Run or The Wall (both albums that I LOVE, by the way). By the way, for those shocked with the content, such as "Uncle Ernie" - Townsend has said that he was sexually abused as a child. I feel that this album was a way for him to work with his emotions as well as give a voice to those that cannot express themselves when dealing with trauma and horror. It's bleak content but so is the world. Finding beauty and restoring justice in it is the solution.

Imagine it's 1957. George Avakian, known for his work with Miles Davis, produces this and no questions are asked. 10 years later, George Harrison produces his masterpiece "Within You Without You" with the sitar as a prominent instrument. This must have really blown minds in the west. Today, with social media, everything is easily discoverable, and things remain less surprising. While this album is fine as a historical reference, it's a bit tame compared to what Shankar would do later. The pitfall of this list: "first" doesn't always mean "best". Hopefully has gotten more people to explore Shankar and traditional music from India in general. There's so much to explore, it's crazy.

The top review is a country hating one. Typical. Doesn't matter, none of us, *especially* that reviewer, will be half the man that Haggard was. A native of the Bakersfield region (look it up, it's the land that time forgot), he taught himself to play the guitar at age 12, and by 13 he was robbing and riding freight trains at a young age and then did time many times over. Later, as an adult and inmate at San Quentin, he attended Johnny Cash's concert, which profoundly influenced his desire to be a recording artist. It's like this guy was destined to be a country music outlaw. It's a shame that comps are not allowed, as I feel that they represent Merle a lot better than this album, but this was an important release for its time as he wrote almost all of the songs himself, and it sold well in spite of the rather rugged and in-your-face content. So, it gets a 4.5, only because it's the only Haggard album on the list. Plus, once again, this kind of country music is GREAT. True stories and wonderful melodies and harmonies. Can't wait when we get past the "I listen to everything but country and hip-hop" phase of humanity.

The top review is baffling. Dude, even Stones fans hate Mick Jagger. You're not impressing anyone. With that said, I do like that they included this album as it's seldom discussed compared to their later 60s, post-Brian Jones albums. Jones, as problematic as an individual as he was, really had a keen ear for incorporating instruments such as the sitar, the marimba, the koto, the dulcimer, and more to add really wild textures to their blues/roots sound. Can't really stand a lot of the sexist lyrics in the songs, but as someone that's read up on this band time and again, a lot of this was done to provoke. Still outdated, though. However, "Out of Time" and "Mother's Little Helper" are timeless classics of the 60s, both in content and in sound. Overall, the album shows this band coming together in a more mature, cohesive way, and I'm saying this as a non-Stones fan. Unrelated to the album: I feel that a lot of people are using this website to simply trash bands that they feel are unworthy of inclusion. This is a list of POPULAR MUSIC. This is not a RYM dumping ground. I don't listen regularly to most albums on the list, but I'm here for my personal education and to learn about important historical, cultural, and commercial trends in Anglocentric pop music. Too specific? Then this project is not for you! Sorry, just felt the need to rant, I'm just constantly surprised by the reviews on this site.

What the hell, 4.5 stars. A great combo of covers and originals. The production is of its time, but so timeless and well-done. Lauper has a wonderful, powerful delivery, and as person is amongst the greats. Another artist that I completely ignored in favor of more alternative offerings. So sorry about that! Late for the party, but still welcome I imagine. Great vibe - "punk in a prom dress" is the best comparison I've read so far.

Another Mercury Prize nominee on this list from the early 2000s. Back in the early 2000s maybe I could have gotten behind this, but today it's a tad too "indie generic" to be on this list of "timeless" classics. I feel Dimery and Co. did some hard gambles on newer music, but this has since been removed in recent editions. Good riddance. 3 stars only because the Os Mutantes cover was pretty cool, and some of the lengthy instrumental stuff with pianos and horns is nice at the end.

Gene Clark leaves the Byrds, and it shows. I really do enjoy a lot of the tracks - "Eight Miles High", probably the last thing Clark helped write for them, is a seminal slice of psychedelia, incorporating John Coltrane influenced guitar playing and raga based music. This band was one of the best guitar bands of their time, so it's pulled off quite well! But, it's overall disjointed and lots of filler, druggy efforts, and throwaway blues jams. What made their first two albums timeless makes this one feel like a cash-in on the trends of the time. What's really weird about this list is that this is included along with Younger Then Yesterday and Sweetheart of the Rodeo, but NO Turn! Turn! Turn! ?? Who knows. Maybe because two Gene Clark albums are already on here. It sucks when the editor doesn't always share the same taste as the fans of the band.

Overrated, but still a classic. These guys managed to make a perfect balance of grunge and pop, with dark, angsty undertones. Still relate a lot to the concepts of being a misunderstood, different kid, which still rings true in adult life at times. Love the guitar playing and drums in particular, and though Vedder inspired an entire generation of boring lead singers (remember Creed???), he's a great guy and an original and managed to make friends with Neil Young and the Travelling Wilburys, so he and the band are not that bad!

Crazy I had never heard of this group like ever. Is there a reason for this? What makes them different from other positive, progressive hip-hop artists such as De La Soul or A Tribe Called Quest? I think I have the answer. For starters, as other more experienced hip-hop reviewers have pointed out, a lot of the sounds and production is outdated, and the Speech's voice is friendly (referred to as a "gentle genius" in the book but that's really Mayfield's title). I actually LIKE it, as it's oldschool and warm. The lyrics are very positive and critical and the hits are worth the hype. I suppose, as the book points out, they are a precursor to Outkast (also Atlanta-based) in terms of looking back and forward from the black American cultural traditions and making it their own. But, it feels like a relic in the same way as music like Archie Bell & the Drells is. Unfair? Who knows - but as a historical reference, definitely no problem being in this book.

2.5 stars only because I still enjoy the title track after all these years and having never listened to the full album before, lots of highlights production-wise and from the guitars (especially Joe Walsh). The rest? Cheesy, often reeking of insincerity, compared to what I know about this kind of music. Cock-rock structures with wimpy vocals. In spite of the dark content, too safe. (I grew up in California, so they're not the only ones to write about the themes at play, yet it's presented as truly insightful by so many fans). There's a reason that the Eagles is a joke to many people in the world of rock, but I came in with an open mind. Just not for me, though it should be in principle as I enjoy a lot of rock albums like this one. So, why do I enjoy "Rumours" but not this? Who knows, maybe it's too masculine for me. I'll listen again in another 10 years.

The top two reviews are wild. "So much of Prince's catalog is phenominal [sic]. This album just doesn't have any of those songs, I guess." "Prince didn't have good albums, only few good songs." Ask any fan of Prince, most will probably say that this is his magnum opus. (Though I'm more of a fan of Dirty Mind - and, beats me why it's not on this list but so many Costello and Bowie albums are.) I would argue that it's the best ALBUM that Prince made, simply because he was at the height of his creativity here in terms of putting American music in a blender. No longer could he be called a "rock" or "funk" or "R&B" artist - simply an ARTIST in every since of the word. Let's go through side A as an example - the title track is haunting, cold, bitter. Dark, bluesy riffs, cavernous drum and bass. Not at all what you'd call party music but a sober realization of the world inherited at the time. "Hurricane Annie ripped the ceiling off a church and killed everyone inside You turn on the telly and every other story is tellin' you somebody died Sister killed her baby 'cause she couldn't afford to feed it And we're sending people to the moon In September, my cousin tried reefer for the very first time Now he's doing horse—it's June" Then, Prince blows us away with a Paisley Park inspired psychedelic ride with "Play in the Sunshine", filled with optimism and bouncy, complex guitar and drum structures. "Housequake" follows, with the strangest tempo, in the key of C♯ major (??), with a non-traditional structure where a new kind of dance music is attempted. "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker", with its dialogue and experimental mix, borders on a new form of R&B not yet explored. That's side A alone - the rest continues with Prince's ability to twist emotions and drive for experimentation that he would perhaps never top again. Be it the crooner cheese of "Slow Love", the sensational psychedelic "Starfish and Coffee", the funky, weird "If I Was Your Girlfriend" (introducing his alter-ego Camille), pop-rocker "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man", and the only great Christian rock anthem maybe ever, "The Cross". As a fan of rhythm, texture, and drums and guitars, this is such a paradise for my ears. To enjoy this, you have to already be open to everything that makes pop and rock music great. Prince celebrated this here, and his live band and performances at the time were second to none. A master craftsman in every sense, with all of the tools. I can understand that as an album it might be turn people off, but for every critique, far more people of every background imaginable have joined the party. This album is unlike anything I've heard before or since. Simply essential in every way.

Funny what people remember and focus on with Dylan. I've listened to this album on and off since I was teenager, and some of these are like listening to it for the first time. The sound is cool and Kooper definitely added the organ-driven sound that gave this album texture and feeling unlike stuff that Dylan did before. However, it's really the lyrics where he's at the top of his game. Some of the songs veer on Stones blues throwaways, but did ANY blues artist write lyrics like this? "The king of the Philistines, his soldiers to save Puts jawbones on their tombstones and flatters their graves Puts the pied pipers in prison and fattens the slaves Then sends them out to the jungle" "Well, when the pipeline gets broken And I'm lost on the river bridge I’m all cracked up on the highway And in the water’s edge Here again she comes, down the thruway Ready to sew me up with a thread" "Up on Housing Project Hill It's either fortune or fame You must pick one or the other Though neither of them are to be what they claim If you're lookin' to get silly You better go back to from where you came Because the cops don't need you And, man, they expect the same" These are from THREE different songs, and those aren't even the best ones. As much as I still enjoy "Like a Rolling Stone", it's really "Ballad of a Thin Man", "Queen Jane Approximately", and ESPECIALLY "Desolation Row" that pull me in, with thought-provoking, disturbing, and wild imagery that brought him as a postmodern poet that inspired everyone to get to his level of lyrical and phrasal creativity. The instrumentation is juicier and more interesting, but he was really just get started here. He was really seeing society changing and morphing before his very eyes. The world of tomorrow would be packaged and commercialized, and it's up to us to remember what is true. As this verse goes on "Desolation Row": "At midnight all the agents And the superhuman crew Come out and round up everyone That knows more than they do Then they bring them to the factory Where the heart attack machine Is strapped across their shoulders And then the kerosene Is brought down from the castles By insurance men who go Check to see that nobody is escaping To Desolation Row" Shivers every time. Focus on what's being said, and not the voice itself. You might learn something new.

Nostalgia alert! Fact: I was obsessed with this band as a pre-teen. On MTV (in Brazil) they were everywhere. Their looks, their heavy hitting sound, their slacker/skater related culture... I basically ate it all up. Also was the first real rock band I saw as a kid, and it made a huge impression on me. I still like a lot of the tracks on here (especially the hits, yes, even "Suck My Kiss", as dumb as it is), but I admit that Kiedis's vocals/lyrics are often more embarrassing than ever. I hadn't realized how sexually blatant and stupid they were until re-reading it all here. However, the band is really tight and talented, even here. Very focused, heavy, and groovy sound. I'm a big fan of John Frusciante and Flea, and I honestly think they never topped what they did here (ditto for Chad Smith, super underrated drummer in general). Blistering guitars with a intensely creative drum/bass combo of so many styles imaginable. The hits are still classics to this day (in my 13-year-old mind), but there's a lot of filler and ironically not enough noise, which they do great here. It's as if the band didn't really know what they wanted to do or they had to basically put all of their B-sides/throwaways on the album under contractual obligations. Relistening to this, I now have a greater perspective on Kiedis's feud with Mike Patton, which was truly embarrassing, for those that haven't read up on it. It's as if he actually wanted to be more like Patton but didn't have the talent to do it. Sort of figures why this album is all over the place. It's often like a Faith No More record without the brains and all of the $$$ ambitions, which is saying a lot given similarities with both bands' sound/lyrical content.

No longer in the most recent edition of the book, but worth revisiting anyways. Lamar is an artist that I've wanted to explore for years but never got around to it. Reminds me of a lot of the more downbeat, atmospheric, dark indie hip-hop I was discovering back in 2012-2014 but stopped for some reason. Shabazz Palaces, No Bird Sing, dälek, Cannibal Ox, etc. Like other contemporary Frank Ocean, Lamar has a thing that made him destined for greatness. This was only his second album? Only 25 at the time? What's so crazy about the mix is how fresh it is, yet how grounded in the roots that made hip-hop timeless. Very back-to-basics with the sound but the songs are experimental and fascinating. I enjoy his delivery and very observational lyrics about growing up in Compton and as a black man in American society. He also portrays many different characters, using many different vocal deliveries that make this as compelling as Wu-Tang Clan's first album. I made the first mistake to listen to this on my stereo, but with headphones it's a marvel. There's so many little details here that merit revisiting. Like Prince or D'Angelo or even Madlib, this is worth the effort to relisten to. Beats me why it was removed from the book. Plenty of Bowie albums to cut out instead!

I've gained a lot of respect for Jack White over the years as a producer and a musician. I hadn't listened to this all the way and there's some surprises throughout - "Ball and Biscuit" is one of my favorite new guitar tracks. Growing up watching Michel Gondry's music videos of the White Stripes, I still love all the hits, but there's quite a lot of filler and sameness throughout, even for a garage rock inspired band. Still, their sound is undeniably back to the basics for the time, especially Meg's drumming, which is still one of my favorites to this day with its hard-hitting, minimalist approach. 3.5 stars.

First time listening to a Björk album in full. If I could see pollen and tiny snowflakes in full technicolor, it would sound like this. Luscious and mystic, she's an original and this is clearly her masterpiece. Will reprogram what we consider pop to be in our mind. Really amazing stuff, need to listen to it more.

This is growing on me. According to the book, Raitt's career was "heading for the graveyard" as her 1986 album Nine Lives failed to even break the Billboard Top 100. She decided to work with Don Was, who also was just breaking out as a producer, working with the B-52's at the time. Beefed up with modern recording techniques, synth pop, and country roots, this album sold 5 million copies and won 3 Grammys in 1990. It's an interesting story and I can tell that there's sincerity and soul in Raitt's approach. The songs are fun though the themes are simple. Sometimes it gets a little too 80s-bleh for me production-wise, but I enjoy she did this out of openness to try something new and that it became one of the most influential country/pop rock albums of all time. 3.5 stars.

Holy hell, what an incredible album. I can't believe I've never heard it before (and I already knew of Isaac Hayes). Dense, textured, with production as solid and thick as nothing you'd ever heard before. THIS is what tone is supposed to sound like. Everything, even the strings, were given the respect they deserve to make this a premier pop album in every way. The lyrics (along with his signature delivery) are clever, sexy, romantic, heartbreaking, tragic. I listened to this twice this morning, and will continue to listen to it all day. What a joyous ride this is.

I admit it: this is the first time that I've listened to this album in full. I'll never forget the day I first heard Frank Ocean perform. It was on SNL in 2012, performing "Thinkin Bout You" (with a full band, John Meyer on guitar). I had never heard anyone sing like that - such rawness, so traditional yet contemporary, with notes of blues, ambient music, and trip-hop. "Pyramids" was cool as well, and it was clear that Ocean had *something* that made him destined for greatness, in the same vein as Lauryn Hill and D'Angelo, maybe Prince at times. Alas, like the former two artists, Ocean has not released any new album in a long while (10 years as of this writing). I find this to be a shame, and a shame especially that I wasn't listening more attentively to his stuff, as this is a gem through and through. Ocean has an odd vocal style. It sounds generic at first, until you listen more carefully. Every note is intonated with emotion, and finished with an emotional gasp. The beats and textures ooze and meld with his voice, providing a beautiful milkshake of tone and density. If I could taste this album, it would be so sweet at first, so bitter in the finish. The lyrics are filled with clever juxtaposition and irony, and often very direct about his points of view on society's degradation. I'm old enough to realize that great music is to be found everywhere - what matters is sincerity and the daringness to explore new sounds and ideas. Ocean plays it safe, but only so much. There's so much experimentation and every song is completely different. Add that to his mystique as an artist, and you have a timeless album for the ages. How he didn't win best new artist or AOTY at the Grammys is beyond me, but then I saw who did - Mumford & Sons, Gotye, fun., Adele. Artists that nobody talks about anymore. But, Ocean continues to fascinate, as we await his newest album, should it ever be released. This will regularly be on rotation here at home. 5 stars.

I wouldn't normally give this the 5, but seeing as "This Is Happening" isn't on the list for X reasons (ask Dimery), this will have to do. This album was life-changing for me. I was in college when I learned about them. The late 2000s were dismal for millennials, culturally speaking. Not because we didn't have a culture, mind you, more that I was getting the cold shoulder by my peers and older folks that I was a "hipster" because of my taste in alternative music (I didn't have a Dead Kennedys shirt just to be ironic, dammit!!). Alas, being a hipster was a big subject in alternative music at the time, and no matter how you sliced it, if you were different, you were different. So, I basically hid behind my musical tastes - punk, noise rock, industrial, experimental music - and defended it as if it needed to be saved from philistines all over. A bunch of crap, if you ask me, but I was young. Enter James Murphy, a Gen Xer from New York that decided he would play whatever he liked, and didn't give a damn what people thought about. Mixing acid house, funk, synth pop, punk, jazz, and noise? A fan of Arcade Fire, but also Front 242? The Fall and Liquid Liquid?? Who the hell was this guy? When I saw them live, I only knew "All My Friends" because it was ranked as the 2nd greatest song of the 2000s by Pitchfork (yes, I admit, pretty hipster of me). How daft I was. Saw them for the This Is Happening tour and they blew the whole place apart. Incredible musicians, tight compositions, loud quiet loud dynamics, and the best part - how goddamn NICE and COOL Murphy was with the audience. Hardly the snooty hipster from NYC. An observational genius through and through. Open and filled with bright ideas and ironic lyrics that were more true than ironic. Love this album - continues to get through my adult life. Funny, clever, wild, tight, cold, warm, tragic, hopeful, strange, familiar, and those BEATS and RIFFS. If you can't enjoy it for what it is, maybe watch the Madison Square Garden concert recording or go see them live. It's the best party ever no matter who you are, and you may leave it wiser beyond your years to be yourself, and to stop hiding, just like I did. Thanks for everything, James!

I'm sorry, but this is great. Lots of users on this website cannot separate the artist from the art, it seems. THIS WAS 1994. Morrissey wasn't the same person then, and if you were alive then, neither were you. Yes, he's a garbage human now, but how is that relevant to this album? Focus on the music! So, that's what I'll be doing. Of course I know the Smiths, but this is for real the first Morrissey album I've ever listened to. Atmospheric, cathartic, and intense at times, though the melodies are perfect pop compositions for the most part. It's not completely perfect, but it might grow on me over time. Morrissey's delivery is particularly warm here, even when being sardonic. Some great lyrics as usual, though at times maybe he should have gotten off his high horse over certain "lessons" he has to teach us. "The Lazy Sunbathers" is even more relevant today than before. A great listen overall.

More daft comments from the top reviews. Anybody who's read anything about Elvis knew that he was friends with lots of important black musicians and learned a lot from them (as well as others). In his words: "The colored folks been singing it and playing it just like I'm doin' now, man, for more years than I know. They played it like that in their shanties and in their juke joints and nobody paid it no mind 'til I goosed it up. I got it from them. Down in Tupelo, Mississippi, I used to hear old Arthur Crudup bang his box the way I do now and I said if I ever got to a place I could feel all old Arthur felt, I'd be a music man like nobody ever saw." You have to imagine what state that the USA was in the mid-50s. Integration of any kind was just starting, and lots of racism and racist policy made it very difficult for people of color to break through during this time period. Elvis was nevertheless a very hard gamble on the part of Sun Records (but let's admit it, they knew what they were doing), as he was not necessarily well received by all at the time. Sinatra hated him. Lots of religious groups and young men didn't like his effect on women. And yet, he was a catalyst, like the civil rights movement, of a changing America, becoming more open about sexuality and freedom and integration. As Little Richard said, "He was an integrator. Elvis was a blessing. They wouldn't let black music through. He opened the door for black music." On the album, it's great for a debut. Scotty Moore's guitar work is simply divine. Every guitar hero in classic rock owes so much to him. "Heartbreak Hotel" should have been added to this - but all of the ballads within prove that Elvis was a master crooner of atmosphere, walking a tightrope between the comfortable life that many Americans had gotten used to post-war, but also channeling the darkness of what was underneath it all. It was an electric shock that society needed at the time, and as important of a cultural phenomenon that we could ever imagine. Gets 4 stars for being really listenable (very crisp, loud mix), 4.5 for importance, but nothing will ever replace those Elvis comps.

Just jaw dropping on how this sold so much for the time. It's really experimental and yet totally new and modern sounding (even today). Can't think of tighter quartet for the time. The mix is also out of this world, maybe only Kind of Blue competes in this genre of jazz. What a brilliant jazz album in every way. Even non-jazz fans will enjoy it. 5 stars.

Muddy Waters, what a legend. This is one of the finest blues albums to ever capture his raw power as a musician, front man, and individual. Mississippi Delta meets Chicago = basically, America in a blender. This album transports you this time, and yet, he was already a much older man at the time of this recording. As timeless as it gets - get in the groove, or get out! It's not my favorite Waters album however - to date, that would be Folk Singer. But it's still great. 4.5 stars.

"...voices ought not be measured by how pretty they are. Instead they matter only if they convince you that they are telling the truth." - Sam Cooke Whether or not Cooke actually said that of Dylan himself, he was impressed, even "ashamed" that Dylan, a white guy, wrote a song such as "Blowin' in the Wind" that so many people in the USA could relate to, especially people of color (according to his friend Bobby Womack). For the US was not truly a free country to all at the time of this recording (1963). The Civil rights movement was reaching its peak when violence and discrimination was still abundant against black people and POC at the time. The Civil Rights Act hadn't been signed yet. The Chinese Exclusion Act was still in place. The draft was forcing hundreds of thousands of young men to serve in Vietnam, a war that to this day is one of the great disgraces of our age. The FBI was actively spying on Americans being associating with anything "un-American" such as links with Communism (like his hero, Woody Guthrie). Journalists and young people were being suppressed, followed, and imprisoned for writing about the truth of what was happening. In "Masters of War": "You've thrown the worst fear that can ever be hurled Fear to bring children into the world For threatening my baby, unborn and unnamed You ain't worth the blood that runs in your veins" In "A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall": "I heard the sound of a thunder that roared out a warning I heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world I heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazing I heard ten-thousand whispering and nobody listening I heard one person starve, I heard many people laughing I heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter I heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley" In "Blowin' in the Wind": "Yes, and how many times must a man look up Before he can see the sky? Yes, and how many ears must one man have Before he can hear people cry? Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knows That too many people have died?" Then you realize, this man channeling Guthrie was only 23 YEARS OLD when he wrote these songs. At the same time, he shows tenderness and humor throughout the album, with lovely folk ballads, ironic sociopolitical songs, and blues-influenced songs about everyday meanderings with silly observations and juxtaposition. Suze Rotolo was such a big influence on him here, even being the woman photographed on the album cover (but their relationship was often anything but warm and cuddly, as much as the photograph would otherwise indicate). I first heard Dylan when I was 14 or 15, and getting to this album for the first time was a lightning in a bottle kind of moment. The clarity of the lyrics, the joyful, often playful strumming and playing, the diversity of compositions, the fact that he got away with such a raspy, inaccessible voice... It influenced me to pick a guitar and sing and do the same. While Dylan has often been a complicated, sometimes even mean-spirited individual, it kind of makes sense looking back on this album. He's so in his head, observing things outside way deep from the inside, that maybe he doesn't even really know how to be or can't be a normal person in general. Once again, there is truth it what he sings. Empathy and sensitivity goes a long way to appreciate this. I'd normally give this one the 5, but since I only give one 5 per artist (and for Dylan, it WILL go to Blood on the Tracks), it's an easy 4.5, maybe 4.9999. An amazing record.

Oh ha ha, great stuff, top reviewers! Hilarious! What's up with all the hatred of powerful female black artists on here? Does it intimidate you or something? I've never, ever, EVER, listened to a Missy Elliot album but this was a lot of fun, and filled with cool collaborations throughout. The stuff she writes about is still relevant today, even if it sometimes sounds like a product of its time - and it WAS, but think about the impact this had in 2003. Look at how it laid the groundwork for world famous artists like Beyoncé and Charli xcx and Olivia Rodrigo and a more liberated expression for female artists in genres often dominated by men. Timbaland's production is great. Thick, textured, and very catchy. I enjoyed driving around listening to this. Empowering! Definitely not just a sassy hip-hop artist but clever and filled with cool observations and analysis. Once again, thanks for this list for getting me into stuff I'd normally not listen to. Looking forward to checking out her other albums.

Had to check the book on this one as there wasn't a lot of information online. According to the book, Olomidé has become the best selling artist on the African continent, and is particularly popular with women. He sings mainly in Lingala and French (I understand the French parts, it's pretty straightforward stuff for romantic and dancefloor music). He has over 24 albums, so why this one? Probably because it was a hit with Western audiences (assuming so, based on this book's approach). I'm not an expert in Ndombolo music, and I admit I'd never heard of this guy until today, so I'll say this - this is a fine, poppy, smooth effort, that quickly grows on me the more I get into the groove. I might give more of his stuff a chance, but it's a little too polished here for it to be an all time favorite. With that said, shit like Duck Rock should have been replaced for more African content such as this, Mbaqanga, highlife, etc. as it's great to discover pop music from around the world. We need a book of 1001 albums for every continent and subcontinent!

Marty Robbins, what a legend. Simply one of the greatest singers to ever come out of a popular music in America (maybe the world). Beyond El Paso, Robbins had a diverse and wonderful career starting in blues and rockabilly before becoming one of the premium outlaw/cowboy country/pop singers. It's wild just how smooth and powerful his voice is - other than natural talent, I believe Robbins background really led him to become someone that understood and felt for the characters in story: ordinary American people. He was in the navy, but also worked as an amateur boxer, in addition to odd jobs such as digging ditches, driving trucks, and being a mechanic's helper. These songs feature, among others, outlaws, vagabonds, bandits, troublemakers, and murder balladeers. This music is literature. Gets 5 stars only because it's the only Robbins album on the list. I recommend "The Best of" anthology for those looking to learn more. When I worked for college radio, his music changed my view on the country for good and opened me up to a world of music I had never heard before.

CCR - from my near my hometown, in swampy, hilly El Cerrito. What's amazing about this band is how they never, from the very beginning, decided to be cool or follow any trends at the time. No drugs, no alcohol, no long acid rock jams that today bore us to tears. Just bare bones blues/rockabilly songs with psychedelic and funky sensibilities at the time, with a slightly spiritual, politically sensible edge. This is still the band at a very unpolished, stompy, herky-jerky style. Fogarty is already howling like a beast, the arrangements are tight, and the guitars are bright and bluesy. It evokes a place that Fogarty et al never actually came from - the muggy, exotic, strange bayou, much like their first album. Where did this exactly come from? Hard to say, but I believe that they really wanted to live the life and the stories of the roots of the music they enjoyed playing. It's not my favorite CCR record as it's a bit all over the place and it's clear that they are finding their style, but with hits like "Bad Moon Rising" and "Lodi", and master ballad "Wrote a Song for Everyone", you can tell the pop sensibilities coming into place. The raw energy is what gets me - you can smell the sweat off of this band as they give it all (reads grosser than I'd imagined it in my mind, but it's probably true). A classic and a premise for great things to come.

Very nice to see Puente on here - he brought so much to a changing musical scene in the USA. Think about Bad Bunny today, one of the largest artists ever, and where it might have all begun. I feel that he has stronger albums and the mix is a bit harsh at times, especially with the brass. But it sounds nearly live, and so many of these songs are great and catchy, introducing his ability on the maramba to the mainstream. Not much to say, other than a fun pick. A great place to start with mambo music... Just need a few cumbia and bachata albums to add to the list!

I remember when I first listened to this - I had heard so much hype about Van Halen, how Eddie was the greatest ever. His guitar playing defied expectations. This is one of those albums that you have to listen to loud. It's frankly an odd record for two reasons: first, no hard rock or metal band really sounded like this when it came out (no, not even Zeppelin or Deep Purple). Second, though it influenced tons of speed/thrash metal and 80s hard rock bands, it's not nearly as fast as the bands they would go on to influence. Van Halen took everything they liked - blues, 70s hard rock, 60s pop music, and classical symphonies, and repurposed it all for their own style. Amazing that nobody wanted to finance them at first, in spite of glowing endorsements from Kiss's Gene Simmons, among others. Perhaps because today they sound so familiar, but their approach to rock was quite alien at the time. David Lee Roth already displays charm and power in his singing style, Michael Anthony and Alex Van Halen on the bass/drums are already choogling away with a metallic, tough sound (like a freight train going at top speed). As for Eddie? What he did to get his signature sound demands to be read about. He did everything you're NOT supposed to do to a guitar to make his very own. Almost died of an electrical shock when he modified and built his own guitar and amp setup. Totally nuts. I wouldn't describe his style as "fast" - it's animalistic, but also very precise and focused. As a guitarist, it's always a revelation to revist his guitar work. We owe so much to him. Imagine hearing this for the first time in 1978. What a fresh breath of air that must have been for a genre that was decaying out of boredom. It's not my favorite Van Halen album (that would be Fair Warning, not on the list for unknown reasons), but seeing as I prefer 1984 over this one, this still gets a 4 to 4.5 on the site.

This is a review of the 1970 release. 6 tracks, 37 minutes of live, guitar/bass/drums rock bliss. All you need for a first listen, and here's why. Lots of really "clever" reviewers on here. Live albums aren't a passing fad, and basically only started taking off in the mid-60s, but THIS was the one to really popularize the format. However, it was done very obvious reasons. First off, the Who themselves were at the time considered to be maybe the greatest live rock band playing at the time. Second, they weren't satisfied with their records overall, finding that the production took away from their signature sound, which live was bombastic, snotty, boisterous, and simply damn cool. Tommy was a huge hit, so they decided to do something different to showcase that. Finally, not everyone was able to see these bands in concert without traveling very far or being at the right place at the right time! This was a way to document that live sound. They decided to record a few concerts live, the first one at University of Leeds, and the second in Hull. The latter concert recording didn't work out as expected, but they had a ton of material from the Leeds show. The 1970 cut was approved by and narrowed down by Townsend. I had quite a lot of the Who records as a teenager, but I heard this one much later - to me, it was like listening to an entirely new band, though it was how they sounded all along. Rather than sticking to the hits, they did some awesome reworkings of blues cover tracks and some older tunes, with surprises. 3 covers, each one more badass than the last - listen to that blistering guitar/drum combo on "Young Man Blues", and listen to the lyrical content. The rage of being a young person today still rings true. As for the originals? "Substitute" is perfect bubblegum pop (with distortion!), "My Generation", maybe the most emblematic proto-punk song ever written, has a beautiful, surprising, intense medley showing where this band was continuing to evolve. Everything's here: beautiful melodic guitarwork, howls from Daltrey, metallic precision from Moon and Entwistle. "Magic Bus"? Love that noisy blues blast in the middle there. Quiet/loud/quiet dynamics in 1970! Unfortunately, none of the versions are perfect, and I've heard them all - either too disjointed or too long, but it sounds like they're having fun and working towards that huge sound that they would find on "Who's Next". I love how it sounds like they're playing right in front of you here, in your living room or garage. Imagine how that must have sounded to listeners in 1970. An essential classic - what a rock live album should be. 4.5 stars.

Finally listening to this for the first time. Thanks, list! I say this as someone that had listened to the Pixies' first 4 albums + EP over and over again. If anything, it confirms how much of the brains and heart of Pixies was with Frank Black/Black Francis. The first side of this album is like a more rocking version of the band overall, with really melodic to aggressive guitar riffs. At first I thought Joey Santiago was on most of these - which would be cheating, I suppose - but it's actually mainly Lyle Workman, who's done a lot of interesting work, from Jellyfish to Rundgren to Sting and a basically every soundtrack for Judd Apatow's films. This makes sense, seeing as Black has quite a lot of diverse influences, which would be the bane of later albums. Here, it shines in a fun, weird, playful way. I'm impressed how every song is quite different here, from soft rock ballads to angry rockers. He really used this to showcase his vocal talents, from poppy singer to crooner to screamer. I would say that it starts to run out of gas a bit by "Olé Mulholland" and sound more like Pixies B-sides. I'll give it 4 to 4.5 for the first side, 3 for the second half, so 3.5 overall.

First time listening to this - I'm generally not a fan of commercial hip-hop/rap but seeing as I give commercial rock a free pass, why not this? The first thing that I notice is that the sound is HUGE. Walls of sound, Phil Spector-like production. Samples are great, ranging from the Doors to Bowie to lots of vintage soul tracks - you could play a game with it - showing his respect with the music that he grew up with. Tracks like "Takeover", "Girls, Girls, Girls", "Heart of the City" are great, but it's outdated overblown commercial-friendly duds like "Jigga That Ni&&a" and "Hola' Hovito" that water down this release. The CD age sucked. So much filler on what could be solid albums overall. Also not a fan of this style of braggadocio. I get that it's part of the tradition of rap. Maybe feuds were cool then, but they are honestly embarassing in this day and age. Sometimes he sounds less "tough" and more like that annoying person in the post office or the DMV that loudly complains about the wait taking too long. The lyrics are also pretty iffy throughout, especially towards women, but so is plenty of 70s and 80s rock. So? So what! He might be playing different characters from time to time to exaggerate some of the views. I ended up liking this. It's a bit overblown and cocky but it's fun and definitely threatening enough to make me enjoy it for what it is. Even Jay-Z's story is interesting, going from rags to riches, and surviving some pretty hard shit in between. He pretty much earned his place as perhaps the leading mainstream sound in East-Coast hip-hop and mafioso rap in the US. He would go on to do great things - such as his stint as Def Jam president and CEO, where he helped launch Rhianna's career (among others, like Kanye West, who produced this album (!)) as well as founding Rocawear, 40/40, Roc Nation, and more. An American success story as good as any.

Crazy that I've never heard this in full. Of course I had heard the hits before - "The Message", "She's Fresh", "It's Nasty", but I'm ashamed that I never realized that they were from Grandmaster Flash. Or were they? What I didn't expect was the story behind the album being more interesting than the album itself. Sorry if this will be long, but I found it to be very interesting! First things first, this group considered themselves to be more DJs than rappers. Back in 1978, Flash was in charge of the beats, and Scorpio, Melle Mel, and Kidd Creole did the breakdancing as hip-hop was being formulated in the Bronx (Melle Mel and Kidd Creole were the first rappers to call themselves "MCs", no joke). That eventually evolved into the Furious Five as they brought on Cowboy and Rahiem to the ensemble. More importantly, as others have pointed out, there's SEVEN guys on the cover, not six. It's been an adventure attempting to identify everyone (there's NO information online and not even on the sleeve), and thanks to AI and me double checking, it appears that, from right to left, it's: Melle Mel, Scorpio, Grandmaster Flash, Rahiem, Cowboy, Kidd Creole, and Duke Bootee. (If anyone that was in the group or worked with them is reading this, please let us know if this is right!!) Except that, Duke Bootee wasn't part of the Furious Five and yet, he wrote the biggest hit off of this album, "The Message" (Melle Mel was also a part of the sessions, albeit unenthusiastically). Flash himself had no involvement in writing this song. Confused yet?? This is apparently because Sylvia Robinson, the label boss at Sugar Hill at time, produced this song and decided to use Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's debut album to promote it, believing it would increase sales. This story unfortunately didn't end well, as it made it complicated payment-wise - with the group (as well as other artists) eventually suing Sugar Hill for unpaid royalties and receiving a settlement only 40 years later. They also claim that it soured their work from the very beginning, leading to the group's early demise. More info on this can be found here, which totally worth reading: https://damienlove.com/writing/rap-moves-on-the-making-of-the-message-by-grandmaster-flash-and-the-furious-five-an-oral-history/ Now, onto the album. Love the production! The Quick Mix Theory that Grandmaster Flash developed at the time changed everything, turning turntablism into a craft that could be perfected, allowing sampling to become a standard in what would become modern hip-hop, as well as electronic, dub, acid-house, and experimental music. In addition to perfecting lots of turntablism techniques (such as scratching), can you believe that he also invented the turntable slipmat?? So awesome. I enjoy the different voices on the album, and the themes are positive and fun. "Genius of Love" is on this list yet again! "The Message" is what sells this record, ironically - it still rings true today about the problems and struggles of society, and that it is all of our responsibility in the end to keep it from falling apart. In the words of Melle Mel: "It resonated. We were six young guys from the ghetto, and people were, like, “Uh-huh, this is the struggle of the oppressed from the inner cities…” Well, OK, that’s one side. But this could have been *anybody’s* song. That’s what worked." However, "Dreamin'" and "You Are" pretty much suck, as much as I enjoy cheesy R&B ballads from time to time. So, what are they doing here, when the rest of the music pretty much changed popular music as we know it? Who the hell knows. If those two were cut out, it would be a perfect 5, but it'll have to be 3.5 if looking at the album as a whole, as the hits really hit hard.

It's always fun to review an all-time rock classic, especially one that I haven't listened to all the way through for a good while. To many Stones fans, this is really part of the all-time high period the Stones produced musically speaking (the problem for me will be deciding which one gets the 5). I'm not a Stones fanatic, but I love all of the stuff they did from Beggars Banquet to Some Girls. I feel, given the reviews on here, it appears that people either overthink or don't think enough about what this album offers. How about great, diverse music, with rock, blues, R&B, gospel, lounge, jazz and more? How about fantastic guest appearances from Billy Preston, Bobby Keys (on sax), Ry Cooder, and more? How about that amazing, gritty, warm production from Jimmy Miller, making the band seem live and present in your very living room? It's all that and more. The lyrics are ironic and cocky: for instance, "Brown Sugar" is allegedly an ode to Marsha Hunt, Jagger's girlfriend at the time, but could also be about heroin given the title name; "Dead Flowers" is definitely about heroin, or is it a breakup? ; and "Bitch" is actually a pretty desperate song about wanting to get some, apparently redirected at Marianne Faithfull after her breakup with Jagger (the Stones and their girlfriends had a common tradition to constantly insult each other via art form). More importantly, the Stones are finally starting to develop the sound they always wanted to have, which was intended to be roots/blues/gospel/R&B based from the start of their career (but didn't really translate until the 70s). This is sex, drugs, and rock and roll reaching a new golden era. As the very long top review points out correctly (though he overanalyzes a bit), Keith Richards and Mick Taylor (on his second ever appearance with the Stones) had a wonderful dynamic here, bringing soulful and tasteful licks and collaboration here. I can see why the Stones were crushed when Taylor decided to leave in 1974. He really brought so much to their sound during his stint with the band. As much as Brian Jones's wacky presence is missed here, he was too dysfunctional for the band before getting fired and his untimely death (and this is coming from a band that still fought a lot at the time and did lots of drugs during these sessions). What I enjoy about this record is the diversity of sound - from the soulful, gorgeous "Wild Horses" to the feisty, loungy "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" (one of the best rock outros EVER!) to the festive and dumb "Bitch" to the psychedelic, dark "Sister Morphine" (listen to that slide guitar work from Cooder!), it's clear by here that they had the last laugh in terms of surpassing their chops compared to other bands of their generation at the time. Even the non-hits are an absolute joy - I cannot find a weak moment on this album. Other than that, what else is there to say? Oh! The cover is hilarious for the time period - designed by Andy Warhol at the Factory but identifying the bulge remains a trade secret. Used to have a stupid zipper that actually destroyed the vinyl over time. This is a COOL, FUN record with juvenile AND adult songs and themes. Stop overthinking it. Stop trying to not enjoy it. Put on some nice headphones and bask in the noise and dynamics. 4.5 stars

Crazy that I only really learned about Raï music today. I live in France, a country that's well known for its Maghrebian community (especially Algerian). I've heard his "C'est la vie" pop hit a million times, and no doubt have heard his songs in many corners of the country without realizing that it was him. This is one of the reasons I'm doing this challenge! Not sure what edition of the book this album was in - assuming that it's here for a variety of commercially successful reasons (signed to Universal, selling over 100 thousand albums in France, etc.) but Khaled (pronounced HA-leed) has been active for a long time in Algeria since at least the 80s, selling over 80 million albums - making him the best-selling artist in the Arabic language in history (!). Raï music seems just up my alley - modern, dancey, fun, with politically and socially charged lyrics. Love the synths and production, especially the percussion and Khaled's varied ways of injecting emotion and trance into his singing. This album is bit all over the place, however. Some of the songs are seriously fun and badass: "Aalach Tloumouni", "El Aadyene", "Raba-Raba", to say a few. However, it has one of the worst starts I've ever heard to album in my life. The succession of "El Harba Wine", "C'est la nuit", "Imagine", "Trigue Lycee" almost made me rage quit the album. Cheesy, schmaltzy, pointless, godawful! I realize that Algeria was still going through a civil war at the time and he wanted to send out a message of hope and good vibes, but it's like he knew they sucked and wanted to get them out of the way so he could go back to his Raï tunes. It's SO LONG as well. Cut out the crap and you've got yourself a solid 45-minute commercial Arabic-language album (I usually listen to the older offerings, so it was cool to listen to something more recent). Will explore his other stuff and especially Raï music! The history of this genre is incredible and unique. 3.5 stars.

This is the kind of stuff that gives me the shivers. Girl/boy tender vocals, cold, isolated production, warm guitar and bass riffs, electronic beats, and romantic yet heartbreaking lyrics. The first 8 tracks are a masterclass in dynamics and minimalist production, with very similar "bedroom" engineering that Joe Meek was doing 4 decades prior. I simply adored how this sounded 15 years ago, and still love it today. They truly captured the the naïveté of being young and full of hope but growing up and realizing how fleeting it can be. I suppose if you're not touched by that, you're probably not really listening to the album at all or not allowing yourself to have an emotional reaction. I'd normally give this a 5 but it does run out of gas and gets a bit repetitive by the end. 4.5 stars simply because to this day I've never heard anything like this release.

First time listening to this. Other than "Celebrity Skin", I have basically no knowledge of Hole or Courtney Love's music in general. I was pleasently surprised with most of this album. Great vocal hooks, guitar work, and bass playing and backing vocals from Melissa Auf der Maur. There are quite a few cock-rockers that stink up the place, which prevents me from giving it a top score. The story behind the album is a bit iffy as well, with the drummer Patricia Schemel getting replaced for a session drummer at the producer's request and getting kicked out of the band not much later. The Billy Corgan assisted songs are actually surprisingly great. I enjoy a lot of the 90s distortion and pop melodic structures, and the lyrics in songs such as "Dying" are quite heartbreaking and memorable. Hole really nailed their sound commercially here. A toxic ode to fame-based culture in LA and California, much better than the Eagles ever did. 4 stars, as I find this to be really relistenable as time goes on.

10cc: of course, we all have heard the pop masterpiece "I'm Not in Love". 10cc seems like the kind of band I should enjoy with their eclectic and technically proficient approach. This is where I can't understand why artists with one hit wonders have entire albums of theirs on the list. I'm having trouble getting into this in particular, as it's often actively irritating and "clever" rather than fun and whimsical. Not as witty as Harry Nilsson, not as ambitious as ELO, not as sonically blistering as Can, not as charming as a dozen other British 60s-70s bands I can name at the top of my head. What is this doing on this list? *checks book* "In a word, inventive." Yes, but so is Spam, and you don't see me eating that every day.

OK, everyone, as a metal fan, this is for real the first time that I've put on a Slipknot album. I know their hit "Before I Forget", and I also know that they do the clown and grotesque outfits/make-up. They are also very successful commercially, selling over 30 million albums worldwide. (Part of the reason I avoided them is because I typically don't enjoy commercial heavy metal.) I came in expecting another Korn debacle, ended up with a pretty sweet, heavy sound to my liking. First off, I had no idea that Shawn Crahan has been the only constant member since the band's founding. Can't imagine the band without him. In addition to the masks being his idea, his percussion adds so much to this band, with heavy pounding and very diverse metal drumming techniques, from the double bass to very hard snare work. Plus, he beats a keg on stage, which is cool. Corey Taylor has a diverse style, from growling to grunting to some poppy singing from time to time. Mick Thomson comes up with some pretty badass guitar work and yucky guitar solos, similar to a lot of death metal that I enjoy. There are some awesome heavy hitters here: "Gematria (The Killing Name)", "Butcher's Hook", "Wherein Lies Continue", etc. But, there are also nu-metal clichés that are a bit generic and boring at times ("Psychosocial" and "Dead Memories" are good examples of this - OK verse, awful chorus). Not convinced by the soft rock songs like "Snuff" at all. Way too commercial and not at all in line with what this band is capable of doing - a lot it feels like talent that's wasted. All 9 members of the band wrote this and it shows, as it's often a bit inconsistent at times. Way too long as well, could have easily been trimmed down to 45 minutes (like so many albums on the list). The band themselves has said that it's their least favorite album and the book has since removed it from more recent editions. So, why was it on here? Probably because it hit #1 on the US Billboard 200. Impressive, but is that all that it takes to help an album make it to the book? 2.5 stars.

I'm with the critics on this one. The Kinks are one of those very, very special pop/rock bands in history. The Davies' brothers wrote a ton of amazing music, with memorable hook after memorable hook, only to never really find the same financial success as their peers. To this day, I barely find ANYONE that holds the Kinks in as high regard as other more famous British Invasion bands, but they were probably the best songwriters of all. Better than the Beatles? Who knows, I love the Beatles. You have to take this album at face value. The lyrics are the stuff of brilliance. Very English in its humor, sure, but brilliant satire and observational comedy the whole way through. Some examples of this: "Picture book, when you were just a baby Those days when you were happy A long time ago" "We are the Sherlock Holmes English Speaking Vernacular Help save Fu Manchu, Moriarty and Dracula We are the Office Block Persecution Affinity God save little shops, china cups and virginity" "Big Sky looked down on all the people who think they got problems They get depressed and they hold their heads in their hands and they cry People lift up their hands and they look up to the Big Sky But the Big Sky is too big to sympathize" "People take pictures of the summer Just in case someone thought they had missed it Just to prove that it really existed" "I'm the last of the good old renegades All my friends are all middle-class and grey But I live in a museum, so I'm okay I'm the last of the good old fashioned steam-powered trains" The best part is how they are able to get such masterful prose and make it sound rhythmic, melodic, and poppy. As Belle & Sebastian would do decades later, this a thinking person's music, filled with dark humor, sentimentality, and wit that should be the makings of great pop hits. I also appreciate all of the diversity of genres explored here, amid the jangly guitars, solid bass/drum combo, melodic riffs, and pretty vocal harmonies - all towards a psychedelic sound that is vintage in a good way, not outdated at all. There are even moments of unsettling noise, such as in "Wicked Annabella" and "Sitting By the Riverside". Not much else to say here - maybe the Kinks don't have a perfect album, but I consider this to be their masterpiece. Baffling that it was a commercial disappointment. Too ahead of its time. 5 stars forever.