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.

Let me be the first to say that I'm not at all a Depeche Mode fan. I've only really heard their hits and Violator in full before listening to this one. They appear to particularly beloved by many of the users on this site - to date, there are THREE user album submissions for them! So, I already knew "Strangelove" and have seen all of the music videos directly by Anton Corbijn that he made of them during this time period. I think it's a cool sound - I especially appreciate that the vocals were mixed at Konk Studio and was produced by David Bascombe, who also produced Tears for Fears' Songs from the Big Chair. Martin Gore and David Gahan sound more confident than ever on this release - you can tell they were finding a way to make their dark electronic and electropop sound more accessible (as the cheeky album title suggests otherwise), and it worked. This album went platinum and became a huge hit particularly in the USA. I enjoy the sound and the exploration of dark themes, but as an album overall I don't find it to be very likely to revisit it over and over again. Songs like "Sacred", "Little 15", and "Agent Orange" tend to get a bit tiresome, though I love the hits and especially the experimental pieces with classical and operatic undertones such as "I Want You Now" and "Pimpf". I'm honestly surprised that this was such a hit - it's quite weird and inaccessible in some places but I think it goes to show that they were able to release this at the right time and right place, when electronic music was just starting to emerge in the mainstream. 4 stars for the fans, but for me, 3.

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??

The Chronic is one of those classic hip-hop albums that somehow I never really listened to - I own maybe over a 100 hip-hop albums, I certainly have this one, so why had I never listened it? Perhaps because I wasn't listening to a lot of gangster rap or G-funk. What a mistake! G-funk is a cool subgenre. I'm a fan of funk samples in hip-hop, and I appreciate the aggressive and confrontational approach from all involved. N.W.A.'s debut is a killer album, but Dre's production and approach is quite different. First off, he used a lot less samples per song, which gives them a lot of space and dynamics to breathe. The samples are typically chill, melodic, and funky. The West Coast vibes here, similar to soul music made in California (like Bill Withers, that kind of stuff), provides a really smooth and laid-back vibe. This really contrasts with the lyrics. Often sexist and violent in content, I still really like the tough and rhythmic vocal deliveries in the song. Plus, Snoop Dogg is on pretty much every good song here, providing awesome flows even at such an early point in his career. I'm willing to forgive the content to an extent as I consider Dre to be similar to other great producers and rappers (like Lamar has done more recently) who are "chronicling" (get it?) inner-city life conversations and problems that he knew very well about growing up in Compton in the 80s/90s. Obviously a lot of the stuff is from its time, but look at the title once again: "chronic" refers to cannabis, but "to chronic" (as a verb) means to make stuff up or exaggerate something. Whether or not Dre intended the latter, this album made a huge impact on the minds of Americans about the often violent US inner city (but it was also a place where normal, everyday things happened), and deserves a chance no matter what you make of it. Plus, it just kicks ass overall - the production is so thick and cool. No regrets finally listening to this, just glad I finally did.

Hasn't aged well, unfortunately. As much as John Cipollina and Gary Duncan are local legends in the SF psychedelic scene, this effort is more of a relic than timeless. The 25 minute "Who Do You Love?" suite is actually not bad, as far as guitar jams go. The rest, however? Not at all worth exploring. Simply long, self-indulgent, often banal. 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 and no discernable structures. Why is this in the book to represent improvisational music from the 60s, when so many amazing jazz and even rock improvisors from the same time period are shunned? I refuse to believe that wasn't any room for at least one Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, Sonny Rollins, Alice Coltrane album, and yet this made the cut.

"By the third [album] I thought I was God's gift. I was totally convinced. I had no doubts." This is where I have difficulty reading Costello as a person VS front man. Is he being cheeky, or is this where all the fame started truly going to his head? Regardless, this is probably where my interest in his career wains. I enjoyed the early punk rock/pub rock influences on his first two albums, and it's clear that this was intended to be more of a commercial effort - supposedly, in an effort to break through to US audiences. It worked - and this is probably because the themes are more concrete and the level of storytelling as improved overall. I enjoy quite a lot of the songs - "Accidents Will Happen", "Oliver's Army", "Busy Bodies", and the closing Nick Lowe covered track. Particularly, I enjoy Lowe's production here, which has gotten meaner and filled with more sounds and dynamics. It's a pleasant album as a whole, but not at all my favorite. Something about the music just feels too safe here, even if the themes are more racy and diverse. As a non-fan, comfortable giving this a 3. Also, for those confused about the slur on "Oliver's Army" - a "white ni&&er" was a common anti Irish Catholic pejorative term used during the Troubles in Northern Ireland and was even used against Irish people as they started to immigrate to the USA in the 19th century. The song is sung allegedly from the perspective of a naïve British soldier. It's meant to be ironic. I honestly don't need to remind you that you're on the internet - look things up before writing an opinion about them!!

Surprised that more people on here don't like this more. Jangly, crunchy guitars, fast beats, poppy melodies and tuneful, snotty vocals. What more could you ask for? I had meant to listen to the Undertones beforehand, but I never did so. This is a step up from their previous album, with more mature themes but still the usual about youth angst. It's fun and relatively harmless, though I can still relate to a lot of themes - too bad I didn't discover this as young adult! Will be returning to this one for sure.

Let me preface by saying that I adore Patti Smith as an artist and as 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 canvases" 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!

When I used to live in the SF Bay Area, I used to go almost every year to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass before it got too crowded. It was, as half-implied, a congregation of lots of important country/bluegrass artists, some new, some old. Prine was someone that would go pretty much every year, but I was a bit dumb and more interested in the non-country music offerings at the festival. I also wasn't quite into country like I am these days, so pretty much most of these artists from Prine's generation went ignored until pretty much today. Whoops, I hadn't realized that I missed out on such a unique artist! This is barely country as I know it. Prine has a clever, wry sense of humor that he injects with a straight face in his songs. These are also pretty tragic songs, about loss, depression, isolation, and degradation of society. While the music seems pleasant enough and makes for safe listening, the lyrics are anything but. Some of these are very heartbreaking: "And Daddy, won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County? Down by the Green River where Paradise lay Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away" "There's a hole in Daddy's arm where all the money goes Jesus Christ died for nothin', I suppose Little pitchers have big ears, don't stop to count the years Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios" "But your flag decal won't get you into Heaven anymore They're already overcrowded from your dirty little war Now Jesus don't like killin', no matter what the reason's for And your flag decal won't get you into Heaven anymore" These are SMART and INSIGHTFUL lyrics about the American society that Prine was already witnessing, in 1971 no less. How much as changed since? I can see the Dylan comparisons (especially the vocals on "Pretty Good"), but the difference is that Prine is a lot more direct and realistic with his observations, whereas Dylan ventures more into the abstract and the surreal. The music is a little less interesting than Dylan's compositions, though. It gets a bit repetitive and samey over time (which is saying a lot), hence why I'm hesitating to give this a top score. But I really enjoyed Prine's approach here (for a debut, no less), and will try to listen to more of his stuff later on. And, no, "Illegal Smile" is not about smoking weed. It's more clever than that - about how we feel that we're not allowed to make ourselves feel happy with all of the pressures in life. Ha!

Yes, that's a for real 5. Apparently this album is one of the site's owner's favorites, 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.

I think it's ridiculous that the first two reviews are about the sex appeal of these songs. This isn't Issac Hayes!! Idiots. OK, sorry. Let me start again - out of respect for Mayfield, known as the "Gentle Genius" in soul and funk music - I'd like to keep it diplomatic for this album. It was particularly popular with black listeners at the time, but failed to really chart high enough on the Billboard 200. This is sadly unsurprising, as the themes on the album are very sad and heavy, contrary to what the funky, uplifting sounding backing music and vocal style of Mayfield would imply otherwise. Here's the lyrics of the first track, "Billy Jack": "'Bout a buddy of mine Run out of time His life's run out of time Somebody past noon Shot across the room And now the man no longer lives" Oof, how about the second track? "Time make you suffer when seasons change Can't call no names when you got your own self to blame Praying to Jesus make me a little stronger So I might live the life a little bit longer So many changes going in and out of my life How can anyone survive When everybody's been made a sacrifice" I thought I had signed up for a good time? OK, so "So in Love" is a pretty straightforward romantic song, but then we have "Jesus", where a prayer is actually juxtaposed with all of the social problems found in the inner city, to reflections on society degrading all around him. These are the dark depths that Marvin Gaye did not dare to go to - Mayfield tells it like it is, with no filter whatsoever. On "Hard Times", this passage really gave me the chills: "From my body house I see like me another Familiar face of creed and race, a brother But to my surprise I found another man corrupt Although he be my brother he wants to hold me up" Mayfield was pleading to American society: when will things get better, especially for black people in in this country? It's an existentialist cry not just for help, but for unity. As he finishes on this album: "In the morning - it's alright I'm not givin' up - this little pride I've got a lifetime - to keep a-livin' mine The way you do it - is to get right to it" Amen, brother. Thanks for making me cry today. I originally gave Super Fly the 5, and as much as I love that one, this just moves me more in this day and age. Absolute soul perfection from one of the greatest who ever lived.

I'm a fan of what power couple Weymouth ans Frantz did here overall when they were still part of Talking Heads - "Genius of Love" is an all-time classic and is probably what makes this album. However, a lot of the songs veer more on the bizarre and strange but not necessarily listenable. It's like they were trying to explore a new sound that they had never heard before. They succeeded, but the end result is a bit puzzling at times. This might grow on me over time, but some of the pop sensibilities and clever lyrics that are found more with Talking Heads are sorely MIA here. 3.5 stars.

To this day, I'm just amazed that this was my first experience with Big Star back when I was a teenager and that I was bold enough to check out their other, more accessible albums. This is truly one of the ultimate self-sabotage albums of classic rock. Alex Chilton was a songwriting and guitar playing genius, albeit unfairly treated and misunderstood amongst his peers at the time. His downfall into depression and anger is nothing short of a Greek tragedy at times. Angered about the commercial failure of the first two albums from his band, Chilton teamed up with a producer called Jim Dickinson who had an appetite for partying and doing drugs. So much of the weird feedback and odd overdubs and manipulation was his idea, with Chilton tagging along. There was also his turbulent relationship with local muse Lesa Aldridge, which made a big impact on these sessions (she sings on "Femme Fatale" as a snub). All of this allows for a beautiful mess of an album - and seeing as it made such an impact on me, I can't really describe it other than haunting, disturbing, beautiful, cynical, sincere, tragic, heartbreaking, and at times, hopeful. It taught me that music could be whatever you wanted it to be; that nothing was sacred. Chilton is truly falling apart here on this album, and trying to understand what to make of his future. The labels had already screwed up distribution of the first two albums, so what else did he have to lose? Strangely, this list doesn't include Radio City - only their first, polished commercial debut and this beautiful mess of an album. So, most people are going to be very confused without that perfect album where everything came together in the middle. I love this album, flaws and all, and have heard many versions but the Rhino release is the best one. Give it a chance and it may seduce you as well. One of my favorite oddities ever released in the 70s on a commercial label.

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.

Yeah, this is a masterpiece of hip-hop. The naysayers and "scared" listeners have no idea. First off, let's backtrack with a bit of context. Fresh from "It Takes a Nation...", Public Enemy already showed that they were hungry to elevate hip-hop to a more elevated style in music and in art. They were shaking off controversy with former member Griff amid his allegedly antisemitic remarks (he apologized later), and wanting to bring their confrontational message to widespread audiences beyond black listeners. So, what they did was perhaps one of the most ambitious efforts at the time to create a truly important piece of work not just for black culture, but popular music as he know it. They sampled through thousands of records and radio recordings, manipulating the tracks to the max and using different rhythms, sounds, and noises to create a truly intense sound collage of sorts. As for the lyrics? Chuck D and Flavor Flav tell it like it is, delivering vocal takes faster than a machine gun. They go beyond simple storytelling, coating this album with sociopolitical messages about institutional racism, power structures, and white supremacy. In 1990! Today, no one would bat an eye, but back then this was truly scene as a threatening album, like the Sex Pistols or the Clash of hip-hop. Here's some examples of great lyrics: "In a game, a fool without the rules Got a hell of a nerve to just criticize Every brother ain't a brother 'Cause a Black hand squeezed on Malcolm X the man The shootin' of Huey Newton From the hand of a nig' who pulled the trig'" "Burn, Hollywood, burn, I smell a riot goin' on First they're guilty, now they're gone Yeah, I'll check out a movie But it'll take a Black one to move me Get me the hell away from this TV All this news and views are beneath me So all I hear about is shots ringing out About gangs putting each other's head out" "Ain't we all people? How the hell can a color be no good to a neighborhood? Help straighten me out 'Cause my tribe gets a funny vibe Sayin' I'm wrong for singin' a song Without solutions All the dancers answer questions Try to be the best and Let everybody know before I blow 'Cause I wanna know what sucker stole the soul" "Elvis was a hero to most, but he— Elvis was a hero to most— Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant— to me You see, straight-out racist, that sucker was simple and plain Mother**** him and John Wayne 'Cause I'm Black and I'm proud, I'm ready, I'm hyped, plus, I'm amped Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps Sample a look back, you look and find nothing But rednecks for four hundreds years if you check "Don't Worry Be Happy" was a number-one jam Damn, if I say it, you can slap me right here Get it, let's get this party started right" Keep in mind that Chuck D wasn't actually anti-Elvis per se, but more so the fact that he wanted the narrative of our society and establishment to change and become more inclusive and transparent - otherwise, rage continues on. Yeah, it's masculine and angry and intimidating but so is a lot of other music that gets free passes on this site. Give this a 5 and move on - it's fucking great.

OK, this actually doesn't blow as much as I thought it would. Maybe my taste in music sucks, but whatever. First off, I'm not a huge Steve Winwood listener. I know Traffic's John Barleycorn Must Die only because my dad played it non-stop when I was a kid, but I never checked out much of his solo stuff, hits aside. Imagine my surprise that he made a synth pop album in 1980. I can tolerate Neil Young's Trans and a lot of Phil Collins's stuff with no problem, so why should I shun this? Well, for starters, a lot of the work with the synthesizers and minimoog is a bit outdated, even as retro and fun as it sounds at time. You have to get beyond that to hear the nice analog sounds underneath. Winwood's voice is overall soulful, fresh, and enthusiastic. I like the fact that he recorded this whole thing himself - it just shows how much of a monster musician and producer he was, even though he is best known as a guitarist. The title track and "Night Train" totally rock for the style, but unfortunately it's a bit wimpy overall as the synths often dull down what he's trying to accomplish. Winwood is a romantic, it's clear. So, here's the thing - invite a date over, or have a dinner night with your partner or spouse. Light some candles, prepare a bubble bath, eat a roast, drink some cocktails and wine, and put this on in the background. It should work just fine. A harmless, gentle, if unessential listening offering overall.

Who was the brilliant contributor that added this to the book? It's already great to have a Residents entry in here (though Third Reich and Roll would have been more "accessible"), but I'll take this one. This is one of the weirdest, most fascinating bands to ever grace the American underground. The fact that they've managed to break the mainstream is nothing but a miracle, given so many others who never do or never wish to. What to say about this album? It's odd! A collection of non-melodies, non-songs, non-hooks, and creepy ambiance, bordering on the hilarity but often the unsettling. This is novelty music at a first glace, then you realize that they *perfected* and *fine-tuned* this sound. It's not their greatest effort - bizarrely, the vocals are more amateurish and playing often more on intentionally pissing off listeners rather than providing something wholly memorable. But with the Residents, you'll never get what you want. Just like Sun City Girls did decades later, they play what they want, how they want (regardless of technical prowess), and don't care what people think. How does one even ruin Happy Birthday?! What are these melodies and sounds? Like a cocktail party from hell. Amazing stuff. I initially gave this a 4, but seeing as it seems to really rub people the wrong way, it gets a perfect score. It's engineering trolling and they are dead serious about their vision. Maybe laughing will help?

So, here's the thing. In order to get into this album, you have to be in the right mood. It's not a hip-hop album that's particularly busy or intense or in your face compared to a lot of the gangster rap, G funk, or funky, noisy, more confrontational stuff. Here, on Tribe's debut, they explore a lot of the possibilities of sampling and polyrythms with an overall laid back, chill vibe. Q-Tip's background as a producer is really cool. He learned a bit about dynamics and sampling techniques from the Jungle Brothers and on De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising. Bizarrely, they had trouble getting a recording contract in the beginning, probably because they didn't fit the look or sound of hip-hop at the time. And honestly? Even today they stand out. Everything about this is so fresh. Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, and Muhammed are part gentlemen, part jazzmen, part social poets, and part artists. This set the bar for so many types of genres to come, not just hip-hop. This album has really grown on me, but the storytelling is not quite up to par to what they would do later. Still, it's a pleasant listen and it's really cool to see how mature and expressive they were with their vision so early on. 4 stars.

It's nice to see music like this on the list, only because you have to think about the context at the time. Ambiant music has always been something well known by music geeks since at least the 60s (or 70s, with Eno), but this album was a culmination of various movements. Acid house, synth pop, trip-hop, and sound collage music. On that end, I mainly listened to stuff like Tangerine Dream, Aphex Twin, and Squarepusher when I was younger. Boards of Canada basically went largely unlistened. This is the kind of music that you can't just put on in the background or listen to on your morning commute. I made the mistake of doing the latter and felt that the whole thing was disjointed noise. Revisiting it, I have to say that I'm very impressed with all of the intricate work that went into this. The synths and drum work are simultaneously cold and warm, with weird hissing and tape manipulation of voices and field recordings. Apparently at lot of this came from radio and television recordings. The result is cool but also very creepy. I can't rate this at the same level of classic "pop" recordings as there is nothing that sounds like this other than the bands and artists I mentioned earlier. It lives in its own world, abiding by its own rules. I try to think about what brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin were discussing and thinking while producing this. They were born and raised in Cullen, Scotland, a small fishing commune nearly as north as you can go in Great Britain. I imagine the eerie silence, the crashing of the waves, the murmuring of people as they are devoured by the natural elements of this place. Suddenly, this album starts to make a lot of sense - it's an ode to isolation, and being fully absorbed by it. Maybe the beats are there to distract oneself of the silence, maybe they're there to augment it. In any case, it makes for a particularly powerful listen, but only in the right mood. This would go on to influence countless artists known for experimental electronic and ambiant music - Leyland Kirby, Four Tet, Tim Hecker, Gold Panda to name a few. Glad I could come around and enjoy it for what it is. It gets repetitive but over time more interesting, especially when you suddenly get warm, poppy moments affer being dragged down a hole. I initially gave this a 3, now it's a strong 4. Very unsettling, idiosyncratic music.

I could write a dissertation on this album but I'm not going to. This album changed my life. I learned how to play most songs on first album by ear and experiment with different vocal styles. I would laugh, cry, and feel all of the emotions Stephin Merritt would attempt to convey in this effort. He knew it was insane to write this, and yet, as ambitious as it is, so much feels unsaid. Love is so many things: fun, pretty, tragic, heartbreaking, sexy, ugly, mundane, profound, and anything else you can make of it. As he sings in "The Book of Love": "The book of love is long and boring No one can lift the damn thing It's full of charts and facts, and figures And instructions for dancing But I I love it when you read to me. And you You can read me anything" What more is there to say? The band is solid, the lyrics and melodies are diverse, from the fun to the cheeky, from the self-depricating to mourning, and every time I revisit it I discover so many nuances and qualities (especially as I get older). I wonder if Merritt does as well? So, thank you, Merritt, for getting me in touch with my sensitive side with this album, and letting me to learn to love (and also love and lose). Please take care of yourself, if you're reading this. We all need love and something or someone to love in our life.

Honestly, I'm kind of embarrassed giving this a rather low score as Fitzgerald is top notch here, and the music is so lovely. Clearly Gershwin wrote so many amazing songs, and he himself hadn't realized how good his stuff was until Fitzgerald sang it as she did here. But, what's it doing here? It was never an album - it was a box set on day one, and yet this one gets the free pass on "no comps" but nothing does from, say, Billie Holliday, James Brown, Thelonius Monk, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Bill Evans, and countless other greats from this time period? This is where I don't understand what really goes into the list. I'm sorry, but I can't listen to over 3 hours of Fitzgerald singing Gershwin in one sitting and feel satisfied. Imagine waiting for your dental appointment, but instead of 3 minutes it takes 3 HOURS. This is existential dread that I could not fathom experiencing before this album. Only Dimery knows what's going on here. Maybe there's a secret message regarding the Illuminati or the question to the answer 42 if you play a number of these songs backwards. In any case, we demand answers.

Neal Hefti and Count Basie collaborate together?? Why have I never heard this shit before? What, me worry if the bombs drop? Let's swing!

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.

This is a brilliant culmination of everything Q-Tip had worked up to this point as a producer and rapper. Wanting to make hip-hop more dynamic, more textured, he hired a bunch of really talented musicians to as well as guest appearances from J Dilla, Norah Jones, D'Angelo, Raphael Saadiq. This oozes with sound and feel, it's juicy and creamy and fun. It has a bit of everything that makes a great soul or R&B album, only as hip-hop. And it still sounds fresh today. I think, thanks to this list, Q-Tip has become one of my favorite artists ever, not just for hip-hop. This is simply genius and the contributors were awesome to add this. 5 stars.

An all-time classic - Otis Redding had so much power and originality in his voice. Gruff, bothered, and in-your-face. Showed that soul didn't have to be smooth and easy-listening. Features a Stones cover, in addition to some other great covers, but shows that he was a great songwriter, too - "Respect" is all his. Recorded with Stax's house band at the time, this is a blistering, tight, rocking effort for the year it came out. I just am awe-struck at all of the noise and hi fidelity and how it works. Still a monster record - really a shame that we lost Redding so young. Perfection, no matter how ugly it gets.

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.

Originally gave this a generous 2, now increasing it to a 3, maybe 3.5. This is overall great! I really felt for 50 Cent and his near exchange with death after getting shot 9 times (a hit ordered by allegedly the same person that put a hit on Jam Master Jay and succeeded). It's inspirational how he didn't give up and kept going until releasing this. With production by lots of guys including Dr. Dre and Eminem, the songs and production HIT HARD when they do. "In Da Club", "Many Men (Wish Death)", "P.I.M.P." "Don't Push Me", "Lifes on the Line" and more. There are some duds, however, and it does get monotonous at times. But, the production is mean and homemade and I enjoy 50 Cent's approach and lyrics (yes, maybe his mumbling voice works better with the braggadocio style as well). This has since been removed from the book, but that's a shame. This made gangster rap very famous, very mainstream, while still having a rather low-key production. It inspired lots of people to enjoy rap and hip-hop, and exposed listeners to the problems of the inner city in the same way "The Message" did. 50 Cent may not be the brightest guy today, but he's far from a joke in terms of what he did career-wise.

This was a generous 3, but listening to it again, I feel that a solid 4 would be more appropriate. O'Connor really was a tragic character of sorts. As she was just starting to make it big, she basically shunned the music industry and a huge potential fantasy by taking on political positions that were no doubt controversial for the time. 30+ years later, her activism and music has been revisited positively - the Catholic Church has never been under more public pressure than now, the music industry now confronts sexism and racism in more transparent ways, and Gen Z artists have paved the way for more liberal expression in pop music. This is a very unique album. Combining pop music, Irish poetry and prayers, and dance music, with a confrontational approach, I still don't think we'll see another artist like this in our lifetime (unless we count artists like Olivia Rodrigo, who use more irony to open discussion than full-scale confrontation). First off, we all know the Prince cover - it's amazing, powerful, and heartbreaking. No compression was used on her voice for the track, which is astonishing. The other songs vary in approach but are mostly powerful. I enjoyed particularly the upbeat songs, like "You Cause as Much Sorrow" or "Jump in River", as depressing as the subject content is. "I am Streached on Your Grave" was probably the first mix of Irish traditional music with James Brown. The album ends with a dirge, confounding all expectations. The content? Loss and acceptance, lives damaged or taken, and melancholy that totally fits with Irish folkoric music. The music is well played and tight, and it's clear that she was hungry with a vision here. I'm so glad I gave this a chance - it's really good and seems to be getting more positive reviews as time goes on.

Re-listened to this again. Still a 3. I'll go on the record and say that "Tiny Dancer" is one of my favorite songs ever, but I had never heard the album in full before. Lots of great lyrical moments, delivered with stomping choruses from Elton and lush, bombastic arrangements. This is really prime glam music but gets quite samey after a while (especially around "Holiday Inn"). Maybe I'm more of a fan of Elton's hits instead of his albums. In any case, it's a solid listen, but maybe more the start of great things to come rather than a great album in and of itself.

Really pleasant and tight. This list doesn't have any Baden Powell or very many bossa nova artists so this will do.

Those first bars are the stuff of legend. Say what you will about Green in his person life, in the studio he knew how to write a love song. The dynamics on this album are heavenly. So, "Let's Stay Together" is the most iconic song Green wrote and was his only #1 hit. The rest is worth exploring however: mostly upbeat soulful and pleasant songs with great playing and expressive singing from Green. There are some great ballads too - "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" is such a classic in my mind. It's sometimes pretty straightforward but overall great.

Honestly this would have been a zero if it wasn't interesting enough or even seminal enough to get people to listen to hip-hop and music from South Africa at the time. Why McLaren didn't give any credit to the musicians on the album is beyond me. Why the editors would add this over hundreds of deserving African artists from the same time period is simply baffling. Somehow, not totally necessary, but other than its commercial importance to western audiences, what is this doing here? F off!

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.

I'll be the first to tell you that Nick Cave is one of my favorite artists of all-time. Seen him and the Bad Seeds many times in concert (as well as his project Grinderman), and am honestly surprised about the albums that were selected for the book. No "Let Love In", no "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!", no "Push the Sky Away", but instead this album, "The Boatman's Call", and "Ghosteen"?! I guess I shouldn't complain. This list doesn't necessarily serve the fanbase of most artists included, but rather the larger scope of pop music listeners trying to broader their horizons. If that's the case, so be it, this is a good start for people trying to get into Cave. First, as several reviewers have already pointed out, this album was really an amazing turnaround for him. Blixa Bargeld had left the band after the really disappointing "Nocturama", meaning that the sound was inevitably going to change. Still, he still had founding noisemaker Mick Harvey with him, as well as Warren Ellis and other Bad Seeds that have been mostly with the band since. An exploration of many genres can be found here: pop, lounge, gospel, R&B, blues, chain gang chants, noise, and more. It's however the most commercially friendly that Cave has ever sounded (unless you count the "The Good Son" as the first). I've played this album a lot driving up and down the country, and it grooves really well. Melodic, textured, abrasive, and recently, I got to see a lot of these songs played live with a gospel trio - everything sounded great! The disappointment is probably with the songs that get a tad repetitive at times, as well as with the album's length - it's really two albums in one, but could be overwhelming to new listeners - but also with his lyrics. Cave is definitely famous as a piano crooner and rock showman to many, but he also is a master storyteller and lyricist, and here there's more of the abstract rather than the concrete, with simpler metaphors and imagery than what he's usually capable of doing. As a fan, I enjoy this overall (more the 2nd album over the first), but it explores songs that I wouldn't normally listen to often if it wasn't performed by Cave. As a Cave effort, I give it 3.5 stars, but for the list, a solid 4 from my end.

Hi, if you're not familiar with Reggae ("It all sounds the same!") nor with Rastafari culture (where cannabis is spiritually and religiously important), please buy a copy of Catch a Fire when you have the chance to learn a thing or two. One of the greatest books on music ever, not just about Bob Marley and the Wailers, but on Jamaica, the history of colonisation and immigration in the Caribbean, the evolution of Christianity, world history, and more. An amazing read. On my end, first time checking out Peter Tosh's music. I come from the SF Bay Area and feel dumb that I've never heard "Legalize It". Apparently he released his debut around the time that he left the Wailers after a dispute for unfair treatment with Chris Blackwell over at Island Records. In any case, it was released on Virgin/Colombia and probably as a result has a huge, polished sound. It's a really cool twist on reggae, much less dub and far more poppier and lush than other recordings on the list. Lovely melodic guitars, keyboards, harmonicas, and often walls of sound throughout the sparse use of instrumentation. I enjoy Tosh's approach - it's confrontational in content yet gentle vocally and musically speaking, and the pro-cannabis anthem "Legalize It" still speaks volumes today. Took decades for the anti-cannabis laws in many countries to even change and eventually decriminalize or fully legalize it. He sadly didn't live long enough to see the day, as he was tragically murdered during a home robbery in 1987. In any case, it reminds listeners that Tosh was a HUGE influence on the Wailers' sound - he was truly a great, and this debut is there to prove it. I'll certainly listen to more of his stuff in the future. 4.5 stars.

This is one of my all-time favorite rock albums. Amazing that it still provokes mixed reactions after nearly 50 years! That's the brilliance of Devo. They were so ahead of their time, even though all of their themes are more relevant than ever before. So, what attracts me to this oddball of an album? First off, THE GUITARS. As a guitarist myself, I simply love how much work was put into the melodies and hooks and rhythms. I've never heard many supposedly pop/rock albums that have such weird riffs, tempos, chords, and structures. They are as far from traditional "pop" as possible, yet the clean mix and premise of normal pop music is what lures you in. However, as the songs go on, it's clear that it's a clever bait and switch. They were already experimenting with eccentric synth sounds and keyboard focused songs, which would continue in their next few albums (especially as they would become more mainstream). Here, we're seeing a facinating transition from rock to punk to experimental music to something else. Devo basically invented this, from their sound to their outfits to their sociopolitical message, with Mark Mothersbaugh as the demented preacher. Whether it's exploring human carnal urges to the point of stupidity ("Uncontrollable Urge", "Too Much Paranoias"), the "devolution" of mankind ("Jocko Homo", "Praying Hands"), or just distorted, f'd up jukebox music as society degrades around us ("Shrivel-Up", "Space Junk"), his grunting, yelping, and howling vocals really send an urgent message. These songs are so screwed up and weird. I just love it. Brian Eno did a wonderful job getting the dynamics and noise to work. That Stones cover of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is so odd and hilarious, while "Gut Feeling" starts so beautifully and epically with bright guitars and keyboards only to degrade in noise and depravity. Even the straightforward surf-guitar/jukebox songs are intentionally destroyed. More importantly, what on earth is happening throughout "Too Much Paranoias"?? I love this album so much, artistically, politically, and culturally speaking. In the current age of divisive and stupid politics, it sounds as fresh as ever. A perfect album that Devo would never (in my mind) repeat again in their career.

My experience with Zeppelin was perhaps the opposite of most fans. I started with Houses of the Holy, and then went straight to THIS one - because, in the same vein of the Beatles' White Album, more Zep is better Zep, right? Er, maybe. As much as the band was proud of this effort, it's no longer my favorite album of theirs. The sound is great - I LOVE the dynamics, often "dirty" mix, and bedroom style recording on this. It's like they wanted to go back to their blues and folk roots with their first release on their own Swan Song label. In spite of John Paul Jones being burned out with all the constant touring, the band was able to hold together to record this. Their retreat in Bron-Yr-Aur, near Snowdonia, clearly made an impression on their songwriting - the songs explore more mystical themes and feel rustic and otherworldly at times. Page's guitar playing combined with Bonham's drumming is still intense and excellent here. This is particularly clear on songs such as "The Rover", "Ten Years Gone", "In the Light", the acoustic "Bron-Yr-Aur" and the unbelievably epic "Kashmir". I enjoy a lot of the rocking numbers such as "Trampled Under Foot" and "The Wonton Song" and even soft rock tracks such as "Down By the Seaside" but so much of it borders on typical hard rock from the 70s or vintage blues rock that doesn't really set them apart from other bands of the same time period. Take "Custard Pie", "Houses of the Holy", and "Night Flight". Great, fun tracks, but are they essential Zeppelin? This band was capable of more than simply generic 70s boogie rock and indeed, many of these tracks weren't even intended to be added to a single album release. About half of this, like the bore fests "Boogie with Stu" and "Black Country Woman", were recorded earlier and were added to this release as to Physical Graffiti became a longer effort than previously planned - hence, the double album format. For instance, do we really need an 11+ minute rendition of "In My Time of Dyin'" (which kicks ass at first, but overstays its welcome) or the long, droney spaciness of "In the Light"? For fanatics, or those that that saw them live, I can understand the appeal of such entries. But, as others have pointed out, there's a great short LP in here, and often it translates into typical bloated mid-70s rock of the time period that sorely needed trimming. Still iconic, but sort of the beginning of the end of this band. The label ended up being a headache to manage and the constant touring and increasing drug use wore out the band, culminating with Bonham's death in 1980. Lots of great tracks here, nevertheless - "Kashmir" in particular is a masterpiece of guitar/mellotron/string combo, and worth the price of admission. 3 stars. Post-script: Actually, I just realized that "Houses of the Holy" isn't even on this list!! I can't believe they opted for this album instead of that one. No "The Song Remains the Same"/"Rain Song" on this list is criminal.

The top two reviews don't even comment on the album; they are simply anti-Morrissey. Have you bothered to read that he's only 1/4th of the Smiths? That Johnny Marr composed all of these songs? And that Rourke and Joyce are simply a killer rhythm section? I honestly feel that reviews that blatantly bash artists/bands just for the sake of it should be removed on this site. Otherwise, why am I and others putting in all the effort to listen to these albums and learn about them, and provide a constructive critique? I've never been a Smiths die-hard fan. But I have always loved this album, even going as far to learn how to play many of these songs and sing along to them - which is frankly difficult to do. These are not simple structures and chord changes, though they seem as such at a first listen. With influences varying from punk, folk, chamber music, Phil Spector-style pop, and more, Marr truly dwelled into very melancholy, moody melodies here. I love how dark and intimate the songs and themes are as a result. Say what you will about Morrissey today, at the time he was at the top of his game, vocally and lyrically speaking. After all these years, I find myself smirking and chuckling at a lot of his very dark imagery and sardonic observations: "I say, Charles, don't you ever crave To appear on the front of the Daily Mail Dressed in your mother's bridal veil?" "Oh, I didn't realise that you wrote poetry I didn't realise you wrote such bloody awful poetry, Mr Shankley" "If you're so very entertaining Then why are you on your own tonight? If you're so very good-looking Why do you sleep alone tonight? I know, 'cause tonight is like any other night" "All those people, all those lives Where are they now? With-a loves and hates and passions just like mine They were born, and then they lived And then they died Seems so unfair, I want to cry" "Sweetness, I was only joking when I said By rights you should be bludgeoned in your bed" There are others, such as the chorus on "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out", but overall these are seriously SMART and often FUNNY lyrics sung in a very idiosyncratic, swooning style that elevates the heavily chorused, reverbed, atmospheric sound. Especially on "I Know It's Over" and "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" - those vocals! The percussion and bass is busy and bouncy, and the jangly guitar lines allow the songs to remain listenable and accessible in spite of the dark themes and experimental mix. It's truly sad that this band wouldn't go on for much longer - Morrissey and Marr were simply at odds with each other in terms of wresting control, but here, they beautifully compliment each other, sound-wise and lyrically-speaking. This is an all-time classic of indie rock and post punk, maybe pop music in general. We owe so much to it.

"I don't like the singing at all. It's so whiny and weak and nothing. It's kind of telling that the best track is the instrumental one." "Not only do I hate this but I hate anyone who likes it." The Kirkwood brothers continue to baffle listeners after all of these years, it seems. This was a huge influence on my shifting musical tastes in college. It all starts with three things: Mark Prindle and his amazing record reviews, lots of album swapping with friends, and my shift from classic rock to punk. My favorite 80s alternative rock bands at the start of college were Minutemen, Melvins, the Replacements, Sun City Girls and Meat Puppets, the latter two hailing from Phoenix, Arizona. While Meat Puppets (and indeed, the other bands) had roots in punk rock and/or experimental music, it was clear that it wasn't at all what they wanted to play in the long run. Meat Puppets' favorite bands include the Grateful Dead and ZZ Top, for Christ's sake. Not the most favored bands in punk rock at the time. If you think this album is noisy, PLEASE AVOID their In a Car EP and debut self-titled album! Influenced from acid-dropping psychedelic jams and sessions, those albums are hectic, chaotic, screaming messes. I love them, they are hilarious, but things got way more listenable on II. Some of the noise is still here: "Split Myself in Two", "New Gods", "Lake of Fire", but what about the rest, eh? "Lost", "Oh, Me", "The Whistling Song"? Can you even call that punk rock? Yes and no! At the time, Meat Puppets were getting very tired of playing simply noisy hardcore music and more interested, in the words of Curt Kirkwood, of "pissing people off". Punk rock was never about having a generic formulaic style, it was about doing your own thing. These guys come from the desert and wanted to play the music from the place that inspired them. This album evokes it in the most soulful, honest way that they could emulate it. "Cow punk", used to classify them at the time by the press, is such a lazy term. This is truly desert influenced psychedelic music with country and punk influences. I've been to Phoenix - it's hot, it's dry, but more importantly, it's cool, irreverent, and very weird. This album really emulates all of the desert moods and climates: the calamity, the darkness, the calmness, the odd, mystic beauty of the great empty spaces. The sunsets and sunrises! As someone with synesthesia, this is one of the most "colorful" albums I know of. Pinks and greens and reds and violets come to my mind, with each strum on the guitar, especially on psychedelic marvels such as "Aurora Borealis" and "We're Here". As disjointed as they may sound, listen to how rhythms combine and glow with the guitar/bass interplay of the Kirkwoods, with Derrick Bostrom holding down the fort as a bit of chaos comes and goes. I've seen them live (without Bostrom), and they were as tight and methodical as you'd ever imagine. I agree that the singing is perhaps a bit of acquired taste, but in the same vein as ALL traditional country/old timey music, they are singing with their natural voices, intently and honestly. Why give Dylan and Jagger a free pass and not these guys? Sometimes they intentionally mess things up, but that's just in their nature. Love it or leave it. Along with the melodies, my other favorite thing is really the lyrics, with mind-boggling imagery and metaphors: "Many a hand has scaled the grand old face of the plateau Some belonged to strangers and some to folks you know Holy ghosts and talk show hosts are planted in the sand To beautify the foothills and shake the many hands "There's nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop And an illustrated book about birds You see a lot up there, but don't be scared Who needs action when you've got words?" "Where do bad folks go when they die? They don't go to heaven where the angels fly They go to a lake of fire and fry Won't see 'em again until the 4th of July" "Walking the breezeways again Thinking of something, my friend I've grown tired of living Nixon's mess Walking the breezeways again" Maybe this album was added because of their guest appearance in Nirvana's MTV Unplugged performance, but good on the editors for adding this one instead of Too High to Die or something. SST was signing some of the finest Americana music at the time (which would later be known as post-punk), packaged with irony and dark humor and amazing playing that would set the bar for independent rock later on. Meat Puppets would continue to release lots of interesting stuff. For fans of virtuoso guitar playing, all of their albums are worth checking out. Just come in with an open mind and understand that the music isn't necessarily played for US, the listeners, in mind. This isn't pre-packaged commercially friendly music. But it's definitely meaningful and rewarding, as long as we're willing to listen to their unique vision and approach to rock music. I know I am. Still speaks to me after all these years.

You know that too many white people and boomers have curated this list when you've got not one, but TWO Stephen Stills entries. Here's the thing: I own all of Buffalo Springfield's and early CSN(&Y)'s records myself DESPITE Stills' presence, not because of his inclusion. However, I do like a lot of the stuff he wrote for both bands. I was never encouraged to listen to his solo stuff, so let me take this at face value. It's clear that he was on a roll at this point, what with Déjà Vu being a hit, and being surrounded by the many who's-who of late 60s pop and rock music. CSN was starting to deteriorate, and the After the Gold Rush sessions with Neil Young basically confirmed that they were reaching a breaking point in terms of the type of music they wanted to make together. So? Like his peers, Stills releases a very middle-of-the-road record, as a confirmation of the type of music that he wanted to ultimately make. Simple songs with blues, folk, gospel, and R&B influences. There are some genuine highlights here: "Love the One You're With", which would be covered by far more funkier artists, "Church (Part of Someone)", with lush, gospel arrangements, the funky, rocking "Go Back Home", bluesy "Black Queen" (which is almost destroyed by the terrible falsetto vocals), and the hopeful folksy, funky "We Are Not Helpless" (also with poor vocals). But, there's a lot of throwaway tracks that sound like Buffalo Springfield or CSN B-sides. I get that this was a breakup album with Rita Cooledge - who left him for Graham Nash, no less! - but the results are honestly dismal. "To a Flame" is awful schmaltz. Does the world really need funky cock rock tracks like "Old Times Good Times" and "Do for the Others" (the former which features Hendrix, but can we tell?). With that said, I do enjoy Clapton's and Stills's guitar work on "Go Back Home". This album makes me want to listen to all of the artists that influenced Stills and worked with him rather than the music of Stills himself. That can't be a good thing, and perhaps that alone makes this album one of the most questionable entries on this list so far.

This is, of course, a classic and the message speaks loudly to me. I have tried to really get into this album over the years but it never quite clicked. Listening to it again, I can safely confirm that it's a beautiful, lush, ambitious effort, where Gaye was able to have more control over his music. He decided, at the recommendation of his friend Renaldo "Obie" Benson, to sing more politically focused songs after witnessing the violence of police brutality in Berkeley during infamous "Bloody Thursday" events in 1969. Berry Gordy Jr., executive of Motown at the time, was apparently not too hot about this new direction, but still gave him the green light. In addition to contracting mostly outsider players (as opposed to only Motown session musicians), he also recorded this at his place, and decided to take an experimental approach to the compositions, making it not quite soul, not quite gospel, not quite jazz, but something quite new for the time. Contrary to Gordy's fears, it sold very well - people DO want to listen to music about issues and stories that they cam relate to, after all. The USA was a mess in the early 70s. The Vietnam War was still happening, heroin was on the streets, lots of inner city violence prevailed, and the economic situation was affecting many ordinary Americans beyond people of color. On this album, Gaye sings mainly about sociopolitical issues, and even has one about ecology (!) which might have been the first on a mainstream label in history: "Oh, things ain't what they used to be, no, no Where did all the blue skies go? Poison is the wind that blows from the North and South and East "What about this overcrowded land? (Have mercy, Father, oh, have mercy, Father) How much more abuse from man can she stand?" I enjoy how all of the songs segue into one another - it allows for a fully immersive, atmospheric experience. The vocals are just unbelievable, especially how the backing vocals intertwine with Gaye's, to the final track where his voice is dubbed over, making the experience sound divine. With that said, why do I not give this one the perfect score? I feel that the melodies and grooves are often sparce throughout, in favor of ambiance and experimentation. It feels more like vignettes rather than fully fledged songs, but I think that's the point. I asked my wife how this music made her feel, and she said, unfamiliar with the album, that it gave her hope. I think that's what we need sometimes, instead of beats that distract us from the real thing. I love the title track, "Right On", and the closing track, though. I appreciate Gaye's message and sincerity in what he did here. Over time, it may become more and more in rotation in my collection. 4.5 stars.

Ah, Pere Ubu's The Modern Dance. This is always a refreshing, wild ride of sorts. From Cleveland, OH, yet unlikely to ever be added to the city's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Not that they would really care! What I've gathered from doing this challenge is that most listeners are not willing to leave their comfort zone of mainstream music and explore new ways of making music or writing songs. The Beatles and Bowie keep winning (even though their approach to songwriting was different), and the "freaks" and punks get sidelined, no matter how visionary they are. I guess what seems like noise and sloppiness to one person seems groundbreaking and revelatory to myself. To this day I've never heard anything like this album. It seems weird and off, but these are solid, tight compositions and the playing is out of this world! I first discovered it in college and found the mix of styles to amazingly refreshing and new. Garage and punk rock, free jazz, noise, musique concrète, and elements of pop, even? While David Thomas and his bandmates never again reached the same dizzying heights of this album (a statement he would have fully disagreed with), they continued to amaze and confuse people throughout their career. Like with the feedback on the opening track, or the weird sax call and response in "Laughing", or the fact that they would break bottles in a fieeplace on "Sentimental Journey" just because it was in the studio. These guys knew no boundaries. I gladly got to catch them years ago at a free jazz and experimental music festival and it was beyond cool. Anti-rock and post-genre, coated in dark humor. They are perhaps the ultimate hipster or art rock band in the American underground (maybe after Sun City Girls), but here they really used a great mix of everything they could work on to create a weird, f'd up, but often fun and silly evocation on everything mundane and disturbing about living in modern industrialized society (what Devo would continue to do later, also from Ohio). Actually, a lot of really weird bands hail from Ohio, especially starting in the 70s. What's up with that? I honestly love this album but I don't listen to it often. It's a lot to take in: like dada poetry if it were music, with engines and televisions and household appliances running in the background, with random prankster musicians joining either for fun or for whatever serious message they were trying to bring to the table. (Who's table, though? Not the one belonging to pop music.) It's funny, but often unsettling. It still has the ability to shock and confuse after all of these years as a result. Thomas was a bit of brilliant lunatic of sorts. You never knew if he was joking or being serious, but he was serious about his art. As he sings in the final track, "Humor Me": "It was a world, what a world! What a world? What a big world What a world to be drowned in It's just a joke, mon! It's just a joke, mon! It's just a joke, mon!" RIP David Thomas. Thanks for your odd singing timbre and surreal vision, and thanks for showing us the importance of having the balls to produce whatever music you wanted, not caring what people thought about it. This album influenced so many great bands in the underground and beyond, and happy that the book's editors also were brave enough to add this to the list. Two Pere Ubu albums certainly cancel out those two Stephen Stills albums. Ha!

Really cool to see a post-hardcore album on the list. I was familiar with Drive Like Jehu, but I had never heard of this John Reis's other band for some reason. Part of what I enjoy about their sound, at least on this album, is their ability to slowly evolve the aggressive and busy songs into interesting directions, adding new melodies or sounds or nuances when they keep returning to the chorus or when they get close to finishing the song. This level of repetition is very rewarding over multiple listens. I would say that their biggest flaw is their inability to be consistent with the songwriting - it's hard to tell if they wanted to be in-your-face and experimental or poppy and structured. I guess the answer is both - but it sounds often like throwaway ska or skate punk at its worst, and snotty 90s punk at its best. Highlights include the opening blasting track, the warm, fun "Young Livers", the rollicking "Fat Lip", the technical "Suit City", and the tragic, tribalistic "Burnt Alive". In the end, lots of great ideas and fun execution but horribly off the mark at times. Not sure what it's doing here, but I'm glad I could listen to something new. Feeling generous (and LOVE that the album's title comes from a Wesley Willis song), so 3 stars for the effort.

It's very nice to listen to this Nick Drake album once again. This was another breakthrough in my music listening, where I could find out that music didn't have to be fast nor aggressive to have an emotional impact on me. I'm not sure how I discovered Nick Drake back as a teenager - probably through my interest in folk music, but I'm glad that I did at the time. This was the first album I heard from him. Reading about it again, I had no idea that Richard Thompson played on the first track, and that Danny Thompson of Pentangle played bass on most. I also was unfamiliar with how the album was produced - apparently, much of the warm and dynamic sound comes from the fact that Drake would play live with the session musicians in the studio, surrounding him as he played and sung. What a sight that must have been. About Drake - what is there to say on this album that hasn't been repeated a million times? His finger picking is still out of this world, and his deep, moody voice and singing perfectly captures the melancholy ambiance of each song. You could tell at this point he was so full of hope that his music would reach many listeners (it didn't at the time, sadly, but it continues to do so 50+ years after his death). I honestly think because his vision was way too ahead of his time. The music is often too complex, too out there, too uncompromising to reminisce any semblance of "pop" yet this album as a whole is folk and pop masterpiece. Whether it's the warm, folky tracks like "Time Will Tell Me" or "Cello Song", or the lush, dark, brilliant string filled tracks such as "River Man" and "Day Is Done", or the odd, experimental, hypnotizing "Three Hours" and "Fruit Tree" or the straightforward chamber pop of "Way to Blue" or the bluesy "Saturday Sun", Drake continues to explore what he is capable of doing in such a short amount of album time, at such a young age no less. He was like 20 or 21 when he wrote these! Other than his mother Molly Drake, a songwriter herself, being a huge influence of his music, I feel was also the seasons, the ever changeable climate of Great Britain that perhaps made an impact on his sound (not just his mental health). The lyrics are, as always, astonishing. Here's a few that I enjoy: "Betty said she prayed today For the sky to blow away Or maybe stay She wasn't sure" "Three hours from sundown Jeremy flies Hoping to keep The sun from his eyes East from the city And down to the cave In search of a master In search of a slave" "When the day is done Down to earth, then, sinks the sun Along with everything that was lost and won When the day is done" "Fame is but a fruit tree so very unsound It can never flourish 'til its stock is in the ground So men of fame can never find a way ‘Til time has flown far from their dying day" Drake was lucid about what he was feeling and what he was seeing about the world around him, and encouraged the listener to shamelessly partake in his views whilst still showing that beauty and love was still abundant. It's hard to decide which Drake album is the best. This had an enormous impact on me, but these days I find that some of the songs are a little misplaced or not as poignant as some of the stuff he'd make later. So, for now, 4.5 stars, but could change over time. A beautiful, moody, yet accessible first listen for Nick Drake to fans and newcomers alike.

OK, here we go again! After some "hilarious" Stephen Stills bashing in some of my previous reviews, the algorithm decided that it was fair enough to give me the second reincarnation of CSN, this time with Neil Young (one of my favorites). Except, I wasn't aware how little he had contributed to this album overall! Of course, the three Young penned tracks - "Helpless", "Country Girl", and "Everybody I Love You" are excellent, as is his guitar and harmonica work throughout the album. The rest? Not bad, at least on the surface. Apparently they spent hundreds of hours recording this, if the rumors are to be believed. On top of that, Stills's girlfriend Rita Coolidge was now with Nash, and Crosby's girlfriend had died not too long before in a traffic collision. He was constantly breaking down in tears, and the band as a whole was busy fighting, a trend that would eventually lead to their downfall. I enjoy a lot of the tracks though, even the weaker ones. All of the Stills songs are solid here, and I love Crosby's title track experimental pop wonder, though "Almost Cut My Hair" is a real throwaway (and apparently it was meant to be a jab at his bandmates). Ditto for Nash - "Teach Your Children" is fine but "Our House" is hokey schmaltz. I'm not too hot about their cover of "Woodstock" either - it was cool to rework it, but their cover is too over the top and dumb at times. (It also seems that Nash had just gotten out of dating Joni Mitchell, who also wrote that song... Is this album just a collection of jabs??) So, maybe I was wrong about Stills. Maybe I was wrong about CSN(Y) as they were a very fine collective capable of amazing songwriting and vocal harmonies. But, it's clear they weren't able to hold up in the long run, and this album is pretty inconsistent as a result (not at all the timeless classic others claim it is). But, like a beautiful yet messy, brilliant yet odd person that has great stories to tell, you keep saying yes when they ask you out for coffee. 4 stars, only because it's too good to say no to.

Just like to give a shotout to the webmaster for being a genius in getting people to listen to Dolly Parton today, as a tribute to her passing. In any case, I can't believe I never heard or even knew of this album. I'm a fan of all three songwriters (to varying degrees) but perhaps was too ignorant to ever know that they collaborated together over the past decades. You can tell that they sincerely wanted to do something together, and apparently this was in the making since the mid-70s. The vocal harmonies are simply wonderful and Parton, Ronstadt, and Harris respectfully take turns sharing lead vocal duties, which add a lot of flavor and diversity to the album. The reviewers that can't tell the difference are really not listening carefully enough. Check out the reportoire on the album as well - tons of great session musicians from Ry Cooder to John Starling to Albert Lee which elevate the sound further. You look at the cover and feel it's going to be an 80s country "revival", and it's the opposite. I appreciate that they ditched any 80s cheesy trendy sounds for more roots/bluegrass, analogue sounds. Even the strings used are subdued enough. Is it country? Is it pop? It's something better, almost timeless. It's all about the vocal harmonies here and what these three legendary, mythical women bring to the music and to our hearts and souls. It's so easy to be moved, in the right frame of mind. I'm not as huge of a fan of the final 3 songs, though. They don't quite fit in as they are bit more dirgey in comparison to the others. So, this will get a 4.5, regardless. RIP Dolly Parton. Thank you for making our lives a little bit more positive and magical during these trying times.

What am I supposed to like about this? Sure, it's pleasant and melodic... If you're not actively listening to it and you put it on as background music. This is where the list doesn't work for me. When it was published in 2005, Dimery et al made hard gambles on albums from the 90s and early 2000s as timeless classics in the making. Any decades prior were already tried and true with the test of time, which made them easier to select. So, imagine it's 2005. They're selecting albums for the book. Easy to look at recent award winners, top selling albums, hyped albums per year to make an easy to selection, right? So where does Travis fit in? Apparently, according to the book, this where the band exploded, becoming the best selling UK rock band that year - 1 in 8 households owned a copy of this album. So, clearly, their message of everyday subjects and portraits, both hopeful and sad, resonated with a lot of people (mostly British). Shouldn't this be in the 1001 UK Albums to Listen Before You Die instead, then? How is this timeless otherwise, regarding popular music as a whole? I really tried to get into this, but I can't. It's boring and anemic. All of the songs sound the same. Some of the lyrics are pretty baffling. The singer sounds like a dollar store Thom Yorke. I refuse to believe that this is included in an book that snubbed bands like Slowdive just because they were commercially successful. Sure, they're nice guys, and I get that lots of people love it. "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" is a good pop hit. The rest? Rather generic and flat. The production from Nigel Godrich is good, but makes me want to listen to his work on OK Computer instead (especially with songs like "As You Are"). They won't need my praise, they'll be fine without it. 2 stars.

I'm surprised by all of the hate on the front page reviews on this album (or the Stones in general). I guess it's cool for a lot of people to have such opinions, but I think they're wasting their time. It's like hating the Beatles, hating Nirvana, hating Radiohead - what's the point?? This is where the Stones started to show the music world where their hearts were. Roots, blues-based, dirty sounding songs, and they do a super great job here. Keith Richards plays some great guitar work here, Charlie Watt's drumming is getting more blistering, lots of great session musicians are present, and Brian Jones was still present for the sessions (on 8 songs, no less), though in his drug-addled state of mind, not for long. "Sympathy for the Devil", the highlight, is a masterpiece of dynamics and darkness with the congos (Rocky Dzidzornu played here, who also did "Three Hours" with Nick Drake - wild!) and the woo-hoos from a few from their entourage, Marianne Faithfull included! In addition to the samba/Candomblé influences, I actually didn't know that it was based off of Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita" after all these years, which was given to Jagger by Faithfull. That's so cool, but also so dark given their falling out in hindsight. The rest is fine old-school, roots/blues tracks with dark, cheeky humor, with a crisp, almost "bedroom" type mix, and lots of interesting use of slide guitars, pianos, harmonicas, and even a sitar and tambura thrown in, as Jones was still there. Maybe I'm an idiot, but I often find myself smiling at the ironic to vulgar references on many of these songs, and you can tell that the band was having a blast coming up with these sounds and writing these tracks in the studio. "Dear Doctor" and "Factory Girl" explore country and honky tonk. There are pretty blues ballads like "No Expectations". The balance of heavy drug use and music experimentation is pretty stable here, and would reach a peak with the next 3 albums. Check "Jigsaw Puzzle" - no matter how wild, weird, and sloppy it sounds, it rocks and evolves. Jagger has never sung with that kind of voice before. To me, one of the unsung classics of their catalogue. Maybe people listen to this album with high expectations due to the hype surrounding the Stones, and are disappointed to have such a straightforward blusey album. But, is it? These are great songs - catchy yet racy at the same time. What kind of band writes honestly gross songs like "Parachute Woman" and "Stray Cat Blues" (both which are still rocking, musically speaking) but also politically charged stompers like "Street Fighting Man" and "Salt of the Earth" on the same album? With the tracklist written on a toilet wall, per the album cover (banned at the time)? Nobody in mind that's a serious recording artist, that's who. And yet they did it! What another time this was! Another crowning achievement for the Stones, the start of great things to come. 4.5 stars.

Damn, so THESE were the guys that wrote "Le Freak" - which we all know as "Freak Out!". Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards changed everything when they started CHIC. Influeced by seamless, thematic, conceptual music from Roxy Music and even Kiss, this is what disco was at its core: funky, tight, almost rigid in its perfection, with soulful, warm melodies and vocals. Yeah, the lyrics aren't going to change anyone's life, but that's kind of the point. This is music that anyone can groove to - a gift from disgustingly talented musicians that wanted to bring people together and changed most popular music as we know it in the process. It's a great listen, but not necessarily life changing in any way. Fun, cool disco and funk played by amazing musicians and sung tastefully. 4 stars.

Before talking about this album, can we just mention how amazing the sound quality of this live recording is? It's so crisp and warm and dynamic, and all of Vaughan's glory is captured here in different ways. It starts off with a gentle approach to the tracks. However, it's really when we reach "Be Anything But Darling Be Mine" that she starts to showcase her impressive use of her voice to emulate horns and use tasteful vibrato. As for the players? We have Jimmy Jones on piano, who basically played with every big name on jazz, particularly as an arranger with Duke Ellington and as Ella Fitzgerald's director. Then, we have Roy Haynes on drumming, also with an impressive career and considered to be one of the pioneers on jazz drumming. Finally, we have Richard Davis on bass, who in addition to being a notable session musician and later teacher, was the artistic director on Van Morrison's masterpiece Astral Weeks. A supergroup giving it all at a low-key, ritzy club in Chicago? I can see what's up with this album! This is also an interesting choice to put the spotlight on Vaughan - probably because it's such an early live album release, as Americans' tastes were starting to change. Music, packaged in the album format, could now be consumed and played at home, jazz and big band was on the rise, and now could have your own jazz concert in the intimacy of your own home. But I can also see how a good comp (not allowed, unless you're Ella Fitzgerald) or a studio album would be preferred by fans. I got this on my birthday and it's honestly joyous. Vaughan is at the top of her game here and her band is remarkable - even in "How High the Moon" when she announces in sing form that she doesn't know the lyrics and then going into her signature scat singing, she remains modest in front of the clearly awe-struck crowd. Have you noticed how many old jazz live recordings are noisy and annoying to listen to? Not this one. I think the crowd got more than what they bargained for and respectfully listened. The tracklist could be more inspired, but hey, it was 1957. She did great with what she had - and, unlike the Ella Fitzgerald box set on this list, this recording is only 35 minutes instead of nearly 3.5 hours. Even Vaughan pokes fun at Fitzgerald during this recording! So, make yourself a Martini or a Manhattan or whatever they were drinking at this bar at the time (personally, as a wine guy, a glass of red Burgundy would have been perfect), dress up, and smoke a cigarette while listening. It becomes a happy place of sorts. Only giving this a 5 because, like Sam Cooke, Vaughan is only represented on this list by a live album and that's unfair. So, yeah, I loved it, who cares if it's not her greatest recording ever. Just give it a 5.

What are the odds to recieve two live albums in a row, by two of the greatest American artists of all time? If Sarah Vaughan made jazz more accessible to greater audiences, so did B.B. with the blues, without sacrificing anything that made both genres edgy and unique. This is an incredible recording. The guitar and vocals are cranked up to 10, and the backing band is absolutely solid and tight. The dynamics between the band and the crowd are vivid. Rather than going for classic blues standards, B.B. picks a variety of songs that show many different dimensions of the blues, both old and modern for the time. One of the top reviewers seems confused why this is here when so many other albums from 1965 that are more "innovative" (and most that are already on this list, so, weird comment). I don't think he understands how fresh this was for the time, and how every great guitarist who gave a damn about the blues was inspired by this to do their own thing. B.B. King is THE KING. I saw him live in 2009 and he was an original all the way, a masterful storyteller and charmer, with a voice that could shake down the house and guitar playing as smooth and sharp as glass. Is it blues? Is it pop? Is it jazz? Is it rock? It's GREAT MUSIC, plain and simple. This is the spark that popular music needed at the time, and the social commentary that could go with it, as he does on many songs such as the closer "Help the Poor". I'm starting to think that many of the "classic" artists had live recordings added to the list because they represented more what they were all about. B.B. King is on fire here, a perfect recording that represents him in his young prime. What other way to represent him, free and loaded with energy on stage, as he is here? 5 stars all the way.

I'll go on the record that this is my first time listening to an Echo & the Bunnymen record in full. One of those "must-listen" UK bands that I never took the time to listen to. I started listening to the US version at first, but decided to switch the UK version as that is probably the version that most of the book's contributors knew. For the record, I knew the catchy, fun, "Do It Clean" track but it actually is not on the UK version! What, did we want a upbeat time with these guys? Nope - it's all about the English dreariness here (during Thatcher-era Liverpool, no less), and that's what we're going to get. So, onto the UK version. This is really moody, melancholy stuff. While I'm not a big fan of Ian McCulloch's vocals, I can put up with Ian Curtis, so I should be able to do fine here. Here, it's clear that this band was a huge influence on goth rock, with McCulloch's twisted and warbling delivery on each song. The guitars and reverbed and dark, and the bass/drums combo is pretty solid (if rather straightforward). I would say that the songs are a bit all over the place. "Stars and Stars" is great, dark piece, but the following track, "Pride", is a weird shift, being bouncier but without any release throughout. Often times the guitars sound a bit anemic and more unpleasant than melodic: "Monkeys" and "Crocodiles" are two examples of this: cool and rocking, but poor mix makes the guitars a bit too tinny, and the sound a bit cavernous. This works on weird tracks like the organ focused carnivalesque "Pictures on My Wall" and post-punk dream "All That Jazz". Apparently they were a bit bored by the recording process, and it shows. I guess they were trying to go for an unpleasant vibe, but that's a bit unfortunate as they have strong pop sensibilities. I just couldn't really get into this overall, but I'm not knocking them for their choices. Happy to listen to their next albums to see how they continued to evolve their sound.

Going to be pretty hard for me to write an in-depth review as this isn't really typically the type of pop music that I gravitate towards. But, I do love Beyoncé, as a performer, as an entrepreneur, as a globally influential person, and as someone that's taken over more and more artistic and commercial freedom since this album's release. For starters, the information about this album is pretty overwhelming. So many names of producers and contributors that I barely know (except maybe Jay-Z and Boots), and really impossible for me to know who really did what overall. So, let me review it without all of the filler. This is a solid pop/R&B album. I enjoyed this a whole lot more than the Echo & the Bunnymen debut album listened to the day before. If that makes me stupid or in "poor taste", whatever. I know a lot about and mostly listen to underground and alternative music and I have nothing left to prove. This album is actually a lot more experimental and varied than expected, so it's surprisingly quite appealing. Lot's of interesting vocal mixes, production choices, and compositions that are quite varied and diverse, sometimes within the same song. Can we thank everybody involved for simply making a solid pop/R&B album here instead of stuffing it with auto-tuned vocals and cheesy production choices of the day? Beyoncé has incredible pipes and all of the different ways she expresses her moods is quite impressive. I'm particularly a fan of how she delivers in "Rocket" - it's a bit throwback but new and interesting take on the genre. "Mine" is jazzy and then becomes quite atmospheric and immersive. It's like post-R&B! "Flawless" is like female (but feminist) version of G-funk. "Haunted" and "No Angel" are pretty thick and dark as well. I also think it's cool that this was "visual album" release alongside the regular release. Very, very meta and creative. I have to admit, I'm not very impressed by the guest appearances from Frank Ocean, Drake, etc. They don't seem to add much to the songs, but Beyoncé shines every time. There are some throwaway ideas, but with so many contributors, there was bound to be a problem sorting out the good ideas from the bad. As an album, though, it flows quite well and changes up a lot. I also enjoy the background on this album - she had just had her first child, Blue Ivy (featured on the album), and wanted to communicate to women that they didn't need to lose their career aspirations or even their identity when having children. It celebrates a lot about motherhood, the joys and challenges of being a woman in society, female sexuality and emancipation, as well as other feminist themes. She would continue to explore this is the far more groundbreaking Lemonade album - a pity that one wasn't included over this one, as it's when she started to write her own songs alongside the songwriters. So, yeah, that's a for real 4. To all the snobs on this website: get the shit out of your ears and enjoy an honestly good mainstream release. This album changed a lot of music at the time, and added a breath of fresh air commercial releases needed. Remember 2012 and how the horrid songs from Fun's Some Nights played all of the time on the radio? Jesus fucking Christ. So glad this came out to shake things up.