1001 Albums Summary

Well, here we are, my first album of the user submissions. I’ve never heard of Anaïs Mitchell before, hey, Justin Vernon is on this album! I haven’t fucked with Bon Iver in a minute, but I know I’ll encounter at least a couple of albums of theirs on this list. In addition to not being up on my Anaïs Mitchell music, I’m also a little rusty on my Greek mythology, so this album should be a good refresher. Let’s go down to Hadestown! Hadestown isn’t the type of album that I gravitate towards, but I thought it was really good. The music on this album was really beautiful, and it did a fantastic job of creating a really vivid setting, realistic characters, and a haunting atmosphere. Rock opera-style storytelling tends to be hit or miss with me, but I thought this album did a great job of crafting a story with a lot of emotional weight that felt eerily relevant in today’s political climate. Orpheus’s struggle, though unwinnable, still had glimmers of hope throughout it, and even though he was doomed, I naturally felt myself optimistic that he might succeed in rescuing his love. I didn’t care much for Greg Brown or Ben Knox Miller’s vocals, and a few songs in the middle kind of dragged, but other than that, this was a really solid album, and an interesting submission from a fellow user.

Other than Lady Marmalade, I don’t think I know any songs by Labelle. I honestly had no idea that Patti LaBelle was in a group; I always thought she was a solo artist. I tend to enjoy funk and soul music, so I’m sure this will be a fun album to listen to. Hmm, well, this album wasn’t really for me. “Lady Marmalade” is a really fun jam, and the vocals and lyrics on this album are really good, but musically, there just wasn’t a lot that I enjoyed on Nightbirds. When it comes to funk, I expect a bit more pop in the music; I like good bass grooves and fun keyboard riffs, and this album didn’t deliver on that. As for the soul elements on this album, while the vocals were good, I didn’t feel like there was any oomph to the singing, and despite the meaningful lyrics, there was just no emotional weight to anything. Every now and then there would be an element that I would like, but it was just rare that any song was able to put it all together and create something that I liked listening to. This is a cool addition to the list, but it’s just not for me.

I don’t think I’ve heard of Al Stewart before, but this is certainly an interesting album cover. The soft rock albums from the seventies that are on the main list were a bit hit-or-miss with me, so I’m not sure whether I’m going to love or hate this album. Tomorrow marks the start of the year of the horse, so I guess it’s good to experience the year of the cat for now. Year of the Cat was a really fun album, and I would have never sought this out on my own. I thought Al Stewart did a great job of conveying so many different emotions and moods through his arrangements, and he’s a really good vocalist as well. Musically, the string arrangements were my favorite part of this album, but there were plenty of other elements that I enjoyed as well. “Lord Grenville” was a fine opening track, but “On the Border” really hooked me in with its excellent bass playing, beautiful strings, and the Spanish guitar. I really liked how this song had a southwestern feeling to it, without going completely into a typical Latin music sound. The keyboards on “Midas Shadow” and “Sand In Your Shoes” were really good, but they were really great on “If It Doesn’t Come Naturally.” The bass playing on “If It Doesn’t Come Naturally” was really good as well. On “Broadway Hotel,” I really enjoyed the guitar playing, and the string arrangement on the outro was really great. There weren’t any songs that I thought stood out above the rest, but the album as a whole was just really solid. Kudos to whoever submitted this album, because it was really cool and unique.

I’ve never heard of Angelo De Augustine before, so I’m not really sure about what to expect from this album. The cover is certainly interesting, and it reminds me a bit of the cover for The Drums’ 2011 album Portamento. I’m curious to find out what this album is all about! Overall, I thought this album was fine. The arrangements were really beautiful, and I enjoyed how a lot of the songs had subtle little melodies layered under the main melody. There was a somber mood that permeated this whole album, and I thought the music did a great job of conveying that mood. While I applaud the consistent tone of this album, I wished that there had been some fluctuations in the intensity of the emotion. I feel like I could have picked six songs at random off of this album and skipped the rest, and I wouldn’t have really missed anything. The vocals on this album reminded me Elliot Smith, but for some reason, ADA’s vocals wore me down quite a bit over the course of this album. While this wasn’t really up my alley, I can understand how this album would mean enough to someone for them to submit it for this list.

Well hello there Iggy Pop and The Stooges, fancy seeing you guys again. With the exception of Fun House and Lust for Life, I was pretty lukewarm on Iggy's solo stuff and The Stooges' albums that were on the main list. On top of that, I really don't care much for live albums, so this album is probably not going to be my jam, but I'll try to approach this album with an open mind. As I feared, I really didn't care for this album. The recording quality was just awful, and I understand that it is what it is, but I couldn't get past that. The Stooges' music already has a raw sound to it, so listening to it live and unfiltered didn't do much for me. The things that I do enjoy about The Stooges' music was so muddled and drowned out on this recording, that I found this album pretty boring. However, as a piece of music history, this album is pretty cool. Iggy's bantering with the audience and his profane ad libs were pretty funny. I thought it was interesting that I couldn't hear the audience very much, so I just had to rely on Iggy's reactions that they were out of control. It's pretty cool too that this was the last Stooges show for several decades, and I liked that it was recorded in Detroit. I can see why someone would submit this album, but it wasn't my jam.

Welcome to another edition of “I know nothing about jazz, but sometimes it sounds pretty cool.” I’ve never heard of Medeski Martin & Wood before (btw, congrats gents, you’re MMW for the rest of this review), but man, that album cover definitely screams nineties. I don’t think I gave any jazz album on the original list five stars, but I think the only one I gave two stars to was Bitches Brew. What an absolute slog that was for me. Anywho, I’m ready to jazz it up with MMW! Shack-man was a pretty cool album. I don’t think I really had any preconceived notions about this album, but I enjoyed its eclectic sound. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that MMW opted for some really fun instruments from the piano and keyboard family, and I think those choices served this album’s style and sound really well. I feel like this was the first time that I was able to somewhat follow the structure of some jazz songs, and understand what the musicians were doing. While this album’s songs weren’t particularly memorable to me, I did think that there were some fun grooves throughout it. At multiple points though, this album kinda became background music to me. It was good background music, but background music nonetheless. A few songs did stand out to me though, and I have some short notes on them: I liked how funky "Is There Anybody Here" was. What a great choice of instruments for this song, and I was actually able to follow along with the structure of what MMW were doing. “Bubblehouse” was really fun. I loved that fast tempo, and the solo drumming section was really awesome. I loved the bass and guitar on "Spy Kiss." The bass playing was particularly great, and I liked how steady its sound was throughout the song. While this didn’t convert me to being a jazz guy, I still had a fun time branching out and listening to Shack-man

I can’t remember when exactly I reviewed Eels’ Beautiful Freak, but if I had to put money on it, it was probably in my first 100 albums (ah, it was number 74). I enjoyed the overall sound of Beautiful Freak, and I liked how unique each song was. The lyrics didn’t captivate me, but the music alone was enough for me to give this album four stars. I don’t know if Daisies of the Galaxy is going to do the same thing for me, but I’m interested to find out! Daisies of the Galaxy was right on par with Beautiful Freak. The music was great, and I enjoyed the quirky but melodic sound of this album. I wasn’t particularly into the lyrics on this album either, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment at all. I thought that the songs that featured the Wurlitzer were the best songs on the album, but I also enjoyed the Beck-like vocals and drumming. I really liked how varied this album was in terms of its instrumentation, but it still managed to have a really cohesive sound throughout. “The Sound of Fear,” “I Like Birds,” and “Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues” were my favorite songs on the album. Daisies of the Galaxy was a fun experience, and it makes me want to revisit Beautiful Freak.

I knew that someone added a Sophie album to the user submission list, and I’m glad that I’m getting to review this today. I only know the first song off of this album, but I think it’s a beautiful song. On top of that, I love synth driven pop music, so I think this album is going to be right up my alley. Well, despite a strong start with “It’s Okay to Cry,” I really didn’t care for this album. I expected this album to be a gentle sort of dream-pop, but that idea was dashed pretty quickly once “Ponyboy” kicked off. From there, “Faceshopping” was more of the same, with some bass so strong that it ratteled my fillings. “Is It Cold in the Water” was more up my alley; despite the chaos and the sharp sounds it utilized, it was a lot gentler and more melodic than the previous two songs. But from that point to the rest of the album, I just wasn’t impressed. I expected some beautiful and lush melodies like the first track, and I think this album lulled me into a false expectation. Back to “It’s Okay to Cry:” this song is really great. The gentle vocals are excellent, and it’s just a simply beautiful and melodic song. The crescendo at the end came out of nowhere, which made it really effective. I wish more of this album had been like this song. I guess I’m just not into this particular brand of pop music.

I’ve never heard of Tally Hall before, but I hope they’re better than Tammany Hall! No Gilded Age fans here? That’s okay, I don’t watch it either. I prefer to get my Carrie Coon fix by rewatching The Leftovers. But I digress. Time for a trip to Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum, which I hope is better than Mr. Magorium’s… I’ll see myself out. MMMM isn’t really my cup of tea, but I thought it was a pretty good album. Tally Hall has some fun songs on this album, and I thought their lush arrangements and vocal harmonies were unique and refreshing. Their best lyrics were pretty fun, but sometimes these songs descended into something annoying, cringeworthy, or both. But this record shows that Tally Hall was out to have a good time, and that they wanted their audience to feel that sense of fun as much as they were. This album didn’t always work, but when it did, it produced some bright, toe-tapping songs that were fun to get sucked into.

I’ve never heard of Protomartyr before, but I do enjoy post punk and noise rock, so this album will probably be right up my alley! This album was a bit short of five stars for me, but I still thought it was really good. The guitar playing throughout the album was consistently great, and I enjoyed the moments when the violin and the synthesizer were used as well. The guitar playing did such a great job of crafting a really dense atmosphere, but there was a nice balance of different melodic techniques that were used to craft that atmosphere. It took a minute for the album to get going for me, but once it did, I really got into it. Some notes on the songs that really stood out to me: “A Private Understanding” grew on me the longer it went on. By the last stretch, I was really into it. I really liked that shift that it made towards the end. The guitars on “My Children” were really awesome. I loved how the tempo increased, because I had no idea where it was going to go, and that anticipation just made the song so much better. The guitars on “The Chuckler” were really great. The way those notes oscillated was awesome, and the guitar on the chorus was really great too. This was such a really well-fleshed out song, and the violin was incredible too. I loved that segue from “Night-Blooming Cereus” to “Male Plague.” Both songs were really good too. While this album wasn’t perfect, I thought it was really good, and it’s the type of thing I would go back to.

I'm not very far into the user submitted albums list, but this will be the first album I've gotten that I've already listened to. I haven't listened to The Shins in a hot minute, and I can't think of a good reason why I haven't, because I think they're great. I saw them live back in 2012 when they were touring for Port of Morrow, and I had a great time. I'm pumped to fire this album up today! This isn't a five-star album for me, but it's pretty darn close. The Shins (okay, James Mercer) packed this album with fun and beautiful arrangements, and some solidly poetic lyrics as well. This album is really fun to listen to, with some of the best indie rock from the aughts. The lead and bass guitars are great, as are the drums, keyboards, and synths. James Mercer may not be at the top of anyone's mind when it comes to great vocalists, but I really enjoy his singing, especially on the album's best track, "Phantom Limb." While we're on the subject, "Phantom Limb" absolutely rules. The opening fuzzed out bass tones, the driving rhythms of the bass and drums, the shimmering guitar notes, the infectious refrain of "ohh, oh-ohhh, oh-ohhh"... man, this song has it all. What a beautiful piece of music. "Sleeping Lessons" is wonderful too. I love how the dreamy intro shifts into an absolute pop-rock blast, with some incredibly dance-worthy drums and guitars. "Sea Legs," "Turn On Me," and "Split Needles" are great too, but "Sleeping Lessons" and "Phantom Limb" are in their own galaxy. The songs that don't stand out on this album are a touch boring and don't really add anything to the album's overall sound, but thankfully, those songs are few. Overall though, Wincing is a really solid indie rock record, and some of the best work James Mercer has ever put out.

I’ve never heard of King Tubby before, but if that’s him on the cover, I think his name doesn’t really fit him. King Tubby would be a good nickname for my overweight orange cat though. But I digress. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to any dub music before, but I enjoyed most of the reggae on the original list (but NOT Finley Quaye). I’m not really sure what I’m in for on this album, but I’m excited to find out. Wow, this was a really fun album to listen to. This isn’t the type of music that I typically gravitate towards, but this was really enjoyable. I was really hooked in by the bass playing throughout this album, and I loved letting the infectious groove just wash over me as I listened. The percussive elements were great too, and I enjoyed that there were so many different instruments used over the course of the album. On top of that, the echoes and reverb just added a really great atmosphere to the sound. My only gripe with this album is that there was a handful of songs that didn’t do anything new or exciting to my ears, but even my least favorite parts of this album were still pretty good. I’d definitely consider firing this up again, and it’s something I’d love to own a physical copy of. Solid addition to the list.

Oh boy, The 1975. I first heard of them when their song “Chocolate” was getting a lot of air-play. They felt like a band that I was supposed to enjoy, but I just didn’t like that song very much. A few years ago, I listened to their album I Like It When You Sleep, but I honestly don’t remember much about it. And now we know that Matty Healy is some sort of idiot-weirdo-asshole hybrid, and that hasn’t exactly made me want to seek out more of his music. I’m not sure how this album will land with me, but I’m willing to give it a fair shot. This album was a bit better than I expected, but since I had pretty low hopes for it to begin with, that lands it squarely in three-star territory for me. I did like the overall bright sound of the album, but while those brighter songs were fun to listen to, they weren’t very catchy, and I thought the melodies were a bit bland and forgettable. As for the more ballad-y songs, I felt like they didn’t have any identity or emotion in them, and they fell pretty flat with me. I can’t see myself going back to this album, but songs like “Oh Caroline” and “Looking For Somebody” were very enjoyable while I was listening to them.

Today is my 41st birthday, and I’m delighted that I get an album from one of my favorite bands. I own a copy of Boxer, but I’m pretty certain that I’ve only listened to it in its entirety one time. It’s not that it was a bad album, but when I’m in the mood for The National, I’m going to gravitate to Trouble Will Find Me (which was on my list of possible album submissions) or High Violet, which of course is on the main list. I’m sure I’m going to love re-listening to this album today, and I’d completely forgotten that it has gems like “Fake Empire” and “Squalor Victoria” on it. Happy birthday to me! Boxer wont’ supplant Trouble Will Find Me or High Violet on my informal list of best albums by The National, but hot damn, I just love listening to these guys. Their lyrics are just the right amount of reflective sadness for my taste, I think their arrangements are beautiful and haunting, and their overall musical talents are just incredible. Boxer’s themes of the anxieties of transitioning to adult life really resonate with me, even though I’ve been an adult on my own for over two decades. I look at where I’m at in my life, with a wife, two kids, a mortgage, and four cats, and it makes my head spin that I’m at this stage of my life, trying to navigate the daily stresses of having a family. I find the daily drudgery of chores and work can really wear me down sometimes, and Boxer really made me feel validated. I love Matt Berninger’s vocals on every National album I’ve listened to, and Boxer was no exception. I loved the arrangements on this album too, from the strings and the piano to the drumming and guitars, Boxer is really beautiful. “Fake Empire,” “Squalor Victoria,” “Slow Show,” and “Apartment Story” were my favorites on this album, but there wasn’t a bad song on here. The next time I want to listen to The National, I think I’ll mix it up and reach for Boxer.

Yesterday on my birthday, I got The National’s Boxer, and today I get another band that I love, in Vampire Weekend. I thought about submitting Contra for my contribution to the list, but someone beat me to it, and I also thought about submitting their self-titled album, but ultimately didn’t. I haven’t listened to this particular album in a while, but I’m excited to fire it up today, because I’m pretty certain I’m going to love it. I really loved revisiting Modern Vampires of the City. This album may have a darker tone and less pop influences that its predecessor, but it’s still a beautiful album. I love how MVotC has a healthy mix of slow and up-tempo songs, but the dark lyrical themes and overall musical sound ties the album together really well. Like Boxer, I thought this album did a great job of exploring the themes of finding your place in the world as you move further and further away from young adulthood. I wish I could spend another few paragraphs heaping specific praises on this album, but I just simply love the whole darn thing. Well, I’m big on “Hudson,” and it’s a weird turn for this album to take so close to the finish line, but that’s a nitpick. There are so many clever callbacks and references on this album, and even though Contra is still my favorite, MVotC deserves all the accolades it gets. My favorite song on this album when it came out was “Unbelievers,” and that still holds true. I love the main keyboard melody, and the drumming is perfectly catchy. The bridge is utterly spectacular too, and the horns add so much. I was raised in the evangelical church, but no longer follow evangelical Christianity, so this song’s lyrical themes of religious questioning and doubt really resonate with me. This is a wonderful album, and I’m so glad I got to revisit it today.

Ah, jazz, the genre that makes me feel like I know nothing at all about music. I have yet to find a jazz album that I’ve really enjoyed, but heck, If Louis Armstrong can’t make me love jazz, then maybe I’m a lost cause. Here’s hoping this album can reel me in! Welp, Louis Armstrong couldn’t do it either. Don’t get me wrong, this album was nice to listen to, but there just wasn’t much for me on here. The man is a great trumpet player, but I just don’t understand this album in terms of its influence. I think I would have enjoyed this more if there had been more songs with Louis’s vocals on them, because I like his voice. While this wasn’t really my cup of tea, it was nice to listen to, and a cool slice of American music history.

I’m somewhat familiar with Dallas Green’s work as City and Colour, but I’ve never listened to anything by Alexisonfire before. I enjoyed the post-hardcore albums that were on the main albums list, but I don’t think there was anything on there later than the nineties. I have no idea what to expect from this album, but I’m excited to… Alexisonfire it up. I found Watch Out to be really enjoyable. This type of sound is what I think of when I think of emo music from the aughts, but this was much better than what I typically imagine when I think of that sort of music. The guitar playing and drumming on this album were really good, and I loved the overall high energy. The combination of screaming and melodic vocals was really good, and it was really head-spinning for me to hear Dallas Green perform music like this. “It Was Fear of Myself” and “Hey, It’s Your Funeral Mama” were my favorite songs on the album, but most of the songs were really good. This isn’t the type of music I typically gravitate to, but I’m thinking of throwing this album on during my next workout.

I’ve never heard of Les $heriff before, but there’s a few bands from France that I really like (although none of them are punk bands), so I’m curious to see what I’ll think of this live punk album. Even though I don’t know any French, I enjoyed listening to this album. The French language worked really well with these short and energetic songs, and I thought the guitar playing and drumming here were really good. I listened to this a bit while I warmed up for a workout, and the energy from Les $heriff was really contagious. I think that this is the type of album that I would enjoy more with repeat listens, despite not understanding the lyrics. The choruses of these songs were really catchy, and I loved the way the lead and backing vocals sounded together. It was tough for this hour-long punk album in a foreign language to keep my attention the whole time, but I’m still glad someone added this to the list, because it was a unique and fun experience.

I’ve never heard of Reincidentes before, but this sounds like an interesting album. I know a very minimal amount of Spanish, but that didn’t really detract from my enjoyment of any Spanish language albums on the main list. Let’s see what these punk rockers have in store! Overall, I thought ¿Y Ahora Que? was a good album. The high energy, good guitar playing, and cool vocal techniques made this album pretty enjoyable to listen to. The Spanish vocals gave this album a really cool flair, and made Reincidentes’ punk sound really unique. There was a healthy bit of variation to the sound of this album as well, and it sounded to me like the band pulled inspiration from a few different sources when it came to their guitar playing. The drumming and the bass playing were okay, but everything else really took a back seat to the lead guitar. I did enjoy the strings on “¡Ay! Dolores,” and I wished that Reincidentes had branched out a bit more when crafting their sound, because they’re clearly good at it. Even though this album wasn’t completely my jam, it was fun to branch out, and I’m glad someone added this to the user albums list.

Ooh, Pinkerton! Man, I don’t think I’ve sought out any of Weezer’s music since the teal album (for the record, I like that album). I don’t have anything against Weezer, but there’s just plenty of other things I’d rather listen to these days. I’ve listened to this album in its entirety before, but the only songs jumping out at me right now are “Tired of Sex” and the incredible “El Scorcho.” I’m curious how this album is going to land with me, and I’m hoping for a fun trip down memory lane! Pinkerton was a great reminder of why Weezer’s work in the nineties still holds so much sway today. This second album of Weezer’s is certainly less pop-forward than the band’s debut, but I think the darker sound works really well here. The thing that really struck me about listening to this album today is that there wasn’t any particular part of the music that stood out to me. The guitars, bass, drums, and vocals are all good, but nothing steals the show. But together, everything just sounds great, which is also how I thought this album worked as well; the sum is greater than the parts. After a strong start with “Tired of Sex,” it took Pinkerton a bit to get going, but that run from “Across the Sea” to “Pink Triangle” is immaculate. I’d forgotten how great “The Good Life” is, but “El Scorcho” still stands out as the best song on the album. At times, the lyrics here felt like an inside joke that I wasn’t a part of, but I still found this album enjoyable to listen to, and I’m looking forward to when I get to review The Blue Album.

I first got into My Morning Jacket in the early 2010’s, when Circuital was on a bunch of ‘best of’ lists. I really enjoyed Circuital, and when I was reading up on MMJ, I saw that Z was supposed to be really good, so I bought that too. I know I’ve listened to Z in its entirety, but for the life of me, I can’t remember anything about it. I think it’s one of those albums that I always meant to go back to, but just never got around to it. I’m really pumped that I have an excuse to check it out again today! Damn, I really missed out by not revisiting this album until now. MMJ isn’t the type of music that I typically gravitate towards, but man, they’re excellent at what they do. Jim James’s vocals were excellent, the guitar work was great, and the overall mood and atmosphere of this album really stood out. I thought the songwriting was really good too, and the music suited the lyrics really well. Even though MMJ draws on various influences to craft their sound, Z is incredibly cohesive, held together by its themes of loss. I don’t think I could pick out a favorite song from this album, but the run from “Gideon” to “Off the Record” is immaculate. I wasn’t that big on “Into the Woods” (I really hate circus-sounding music) and “Dondante,” but Z is still a really strong album.

I beg your fucking pardon, but there are four Tool albums on the user list? And they only have five studio albums total? I’d say this more than vindicates David Bowie and Bob Dylan from having too many albums on the main list. Elvis Costello, you’re not off the hook though. I know a couple of Tool songs, but I’ve never heard anything off of this album. And despite my whining about Tool having four albums on the user list, I’m sure I’ll find this album to be fine at worst, because while this may not be up my alley, I think these guys know what they’re doing when it comes to music. I guess I better listen to this album before RFK Jr. bans it for having the word inoculum in the title. Eh, I thought Fear Inoculum was fine. I’m not a big fan of prog rock, so prog metal is mostly lost on me. I did like the guitar playing on this album though, and I thought it did a great job of creating a really dense and dark atmosphere. On top of that, Danny Carey’s drumming is excellent, and his playing complimented the guitars really well. For me, the big risk with prog is that the end of the long and winding journey you just went on might not be worth it, and that was the case for me on quite a bit of this album. The long and meandering songs would be enjoyable for a bit, but after a while, I just found that the music wasn’t really going anywhere interesting. This album was nice to listen to, and it was definitely outside of what I enjoy listening to, but I didn’t think it was anything to write home about.

I think I’ve heard of Scraping Foetus off the Wheel before, but for the life of me, I can’t remember where I’ve heard of them from. I certainly couldn’t tell you what type of music this is, and I have no idea what this album is going to sound like. Oh wow, this is an industrial album, cool! For the most part, I thought this album was pretty enjoyable. I enjoyed the way the arrangements were constructed, and I enjoyed the overall industrial sound. My knowledge of industrial music is pretty much limited to what I encountered on the main list, but while this album was enjoyable to listen to, I don’t think it did anything new or trailblazing for the genre. It did get a bit too goofy for my tastes at times, but after the goofy songs, it was able to rebound nicely. As an added bonus, after I finished this album, Spotify started up an Einstürzende album where the cover has a picture of a red horse ejaculating on the ground. Neato! The ejaculating horse will not impact my rating.

Man, Death really got in the death metal game at the best time. I really didn’t care for the few death metal albums that were on the original list, but the reviews for this album sound like this might be more up my alley. There’s only one way to find out! As far as death metal goes, I’d have to say that this album was fine. It felt pretty one-dimensional to me, with almost all of the emphasis on the guitars and drumming (which, for the record, were great), but I felt that Death was really good at what they do. The sound wore me down a bit over the course of the album, but I thought the lyrics were pretty good, and I appreciated the social and political commentary they featured. There weren’t any particular songs that really stood out to me, but I did like it when there were crazy guitar solos in the middle of the songs. Other than during a workout, I can’t see myself going back to this album, but it was certainly a unique experience.

Ooh, a Queens of the Stone Age album that isn’t their debut! Fantastic. I think I may have listened to this album in its entirety one time, but I think that was during a workout, so I didn’t give it my undivided attention. I know the singles off of this album really well, but most of this album will probably feel new to me, even if I did indeed listen to all of it at some point. Songs for the Deaf is a little short of five stars for me, but it’s still a really great hard rock album. Listening to this, it’s clear that it was crafted with a vision for a complete work of music, and not just a collection of songs. SftD truly feels like a road trip across a desert landscape, and Josh Homme is the perfect guide. To me, QotSA teeters right on the edge of being sinister, but without going full-tilt into that sinisterness. Homme is the perfect guide for that journey, because there’s a quality to his voice that makes you want to follow and trust him, but you know in the back of your mind that you need to keep your wits about you if you do. The guitar work on this album is great, and the riffs burrowed straight into my brain. “No One Knows” is incredible, and easily the best song on the album, if not the best song that QotSA has ever put out. There’s multiple catchy guitar riffs, expert drumming, and a bridge that manages to build a sense of dread and wonder at the same time. I wish a couple of minutes could have been taken from “The Sky is Fallin’” or “God Is in the Radio” and given to “No One Knows” instead. “Go with the Flow” is great too, with its screeching guitars, and “First It Giveth” is up there too. This album has a few points that dragged for me, but it did wind up finishing on a really strong note with “A Song for the Deaf” and “Mosquito Song.” Despite those low points, SftD is still a great album, and easily one of the best rock records of the aughts.

As a Houston native, I’m obligated to mention that I’m not a huge Beyonce fan. Is she good at what she does? Of course she is. Is what she does my cup of tea? Eh, sometimes. My favorite Beyonce song is “Schoolin’ Life,” which is a bonus track off of 4, so again, I’m not the best judge of Beyonce’s music. However, I see that Renaissance is a dance/pop album, so if any album of Beyonce’s is going to make me a fan of hers, this might be the one! Overall, I thought Renaissance was fine. The best moments of this album were absolute bops, but the parts that I didn’t like were grating and seemed to drag on forever. I did like the overall sound of this album, and I thought it was cool that Beyonce made this album as a celebration for black and queer communities, and I thought the songs that leaned more heavily into disco and funk were the best parts of this album. “Alien Superstar” stood out to me as the best song on the album. I loved the pulsing beat, and the outer space sounding synthesizers were excellent. I think Beyonce’s vision on this album was great, but the result just wasn’t something that was really up my alley.

I’ve never heard of Powderfinger before, but I’m not going to complain about the addition of Aussie artists to this list. I have no idea what this album is going to sound like, but I’m excited to check it out. After a two pretty strong tracks to start off, I felt like Powderfinger’s Odyssey Number Five fizzled out. Those first two songs were pretty good; I enjoyed the vocals, lyrics, and guitar playing. “Waiting For The Sun” reminded me a lot of Doves’ The Last Broadcast, which I really enjoyed (I saw that the person who submitted this album also gave that album five stars, and this seemed like an appropriate submission for someone who likes Doves). The lead and backing vocals were really great, and the overall sound had this slightly dark feeling to it that reminded me a lot of the alt rock radio songs I loved in the nineties (I feel like these guys invoked a lot of Live). “My Happiness” was really good, especially the guitar effects that were used. The lyrics here were good too, and I really loved the vocals on the chorus. This song reminded me of Our Lady Peace, in a really good way. But after those two songs, I felt like the band didn’t really establish any identity or signature sound for themselves. I thought the lyrics were pretty strong throughout the album, but musically, there was nothing that really added any emotional weight to those lyrics. This album wasn’t bad, but it felt like being a teenager, and buying a CD from a band who had a couple of radio hits you loved, but the rest of the album was just filler.

I think I listened to The Mountain Goats’ Tallahassee several years ago, but I wouldn’t wager money on it. If I did listen to it, it sadly didn’t make much of an impression on me. Also, not to nitpick, but the cities mentioned in these song titles are not in west Texas, so I already don’t trust these guys. Oh well, let’s see what this album is all about! Unfortunately, this album wasn’t really my speed. I didn’t think it was bad, but I really didn’t care for the super lo-fi sound that the whole album had. In my opinion, if you’re going to have a ‘gimmick’ like that, something else needs to really punch through, and I didn’t think there was anything remarkable about the guitar playing or vocals. I did think the lyrics were pretty clever though, but that wasn’t enough to make me want to seek this out again someday. I appreciate the Mountain Goats’ addition to this list, but this album just wasn’t for me.

Ah, another live album, but at least this one is by an artist that I really like. I didn’t care much for the live albums on the main list, and the only one I’ve listened to so far from the user list was that Stooges one, which I really didn’t like. As a casual Talking Heads fan, I’m slightly ashamed that I’ve never see the Stop Making Sense film before. Maybe this soundtrack album will make me want to change that! Oh man, this is everything I could want in a live album. I’m usually annoyed when a band changes up songs a lot for a live performance or live album, but the way that Talking Heads switched up these songs was perfect. The studio version of “Once in a Lifetime” already has a great bass line, but my favorite part is the synthesizer. I was bummed that the synth wasn’t as prominent in this version, but the cranked-up bass made up for it, and it really allowed me to appreciate the song in a new way. Talking Heads are such an interesting band to me, because I think of their sound as being really experimental, but also incredibly accessible, and I like how they tinkered with that experimentation on these live tracks. Leading off the album a stripped-down version of “Psycho Killer” was an excellent choice. The acoustic guitar playing was excellent, and I loved how amped the crowd was. I really enjoyed that David Byrne’s vocals really took center stage here, but it also reminded me how much I love Talking Heads’ use of rhythm in their music. As a kid, I never really cared for “Burning Down the House,” but this live version absolutely ruled. The buildup in the intro was electric, and it made the main part of the song so much more fun. I also really enjoyed “Life During Wartime” and “Girlfriend Is Better.” They’re Talking Heads songs that I’m not as familiar with as I am their big radio hits, and I really enjoyed getting to hear them in a different light. Closing out the album with “Take Me to the River” was the perfect touch, and I really loved the longer guitar solo. This album was bristling with energy, and it had the perfect amount of deviation from the studio versions of these songs. I definitely want to check out the concert film now. What an excellent submission to the user list, and honestly, this belongs on the main list.

I think I’ve only listened to one Mastodon song before, and it was on Rock Band 2, and it nearly caused me to embed that stupid plastic guitar in my TV. I don’t think that song was from this album, I think it was from the album before this one, so I’m glad I’m not going to have Rock Band 2 PTSD today. I’m not a big prog metal guy, so this album probably won’t be up my alley, but I’m going to give it a shot! As I expected, this wasn’t really my speed, but I still thought it was a pretty good album. The guitar playing really stood out to me, and I liked the Ozzy-adjacent vocals as well. The drumming and bass playing were pretty good too, and I generally enjoyed the way the music was arranged and layered. On some of the songs, there were some really fun and interesting elements buried under all of the louder parts of the arrangements, and I felt like this album rewarded the listener for paying closer attention. I really enjoyed “The Czar,” despite the fact that I typically don’t care for prog songs that are structured this way. I can’t see myself seeking out more Mastodon albums to listen to, but this was a pretty enjoyable listen.

I mean, it’s John Mayer. It’s not going to be good, is it? The only song I recognize from the track listing is “Waiting on the World to Change,” which I guess is pretty inoffensive. I think John Mayer is talented, but I’m not really expecting this album to be my cup of tea. Continuum wasn’t a bad album, but it certainly wasn’t my speed. For someone who knows his way around a guitar, I was disappointed that this album didn’t really take any risks or do anything exciting. Most of these songs felt like things that are perfectly safe for a doctor’s waiting room or Starbucks, and that was pretty disappointing. There were some flashes of brilliance on this album though: a groovy bass line here, some nice horn playing there, but as is the nature of a flash, they were gone pretty quickly, and I was left with generic guitar strumming and singing. As much as this album wasn’t for me, I think today was the first time that I’d paid attention to the lyrics for “Waiting on the World to Change,” and I’d never noticed that they had a twinge of social commentary to them. When it comes to the lyrics, I thought the closing lines to “Belief” were a bit more effective in terms of social commentary, but it was interesting to notice. But despite this album’s solid production and pleasant arrangements, it just didn’t wow or excite me.

I’ve never heard of Spinvis before, but I see that this is a lo-fi album, which, given my scores from the original list, does not bode well. When I hear the name lo-fi, it sounds like something I’d enjoy, but that turned out to not be the case when I went through the original list. Hopefully this Dutchman can break that curse! Overall, I thought this album was really enjoyable. I don’t speak Dutch (I did however earn straight A’s in three years of high school German and two years in college), but I thought that the vocals on this album went really well with the music. The melodies on this album were really beautiful, and the vocals felt like they were full of emotion. I thought “Ronnie Gaat Naar Huis” and “In De Staat Van Narcose” were the best songs on the album, but there wasn’t anything on there that I thought was bad. Musically, this album gave me a lot of the same feelings that Serge Gainsbourg’s Histoire de Melody Nelson gave me, which I really liked. If I had the time, I’d definitely consider giving this album another listen.

Ah, the Avett Brothers! I’m not a big folk guy, but I’ve listened to this album before, although it’s been a hot minute. Looking at the track listing, I’d say that I’m still familiar with probably half a dozen of the songs here, but I’m sure a few others will come back to me as I listen to this. I and Love and You isn’t an album that I would want to listen to frequently, but I think it’s fantastic. Listening to this again after several years of not hearing it felt like being wrapped up in a cozy blanket on the couch with a cup of coffee; everything about this album hit just right for me today. The arrangements are beautiful and varied, the alternating lead vocals from Seth and Scott Avett give you the best of both worlds, the production is immaculate, and the lyrics are beautifully written. The first half of the album is stronger than the back half, but the dip isn’t severe enough to make this album an uneven listening experience. But everything on this album feels so sincere to me, and I can’t quite put my finger on why. The lyrics to “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise” still really resonate with me. I’ve always loved the line ‘if you’re loved by someone, you’re never rejected, decide what to be, and go be it,’ and my love for it hasn’t dwindled at all over the years. This is a really great album, and it was a treat to go back and listen to it today.

I’ve never heard of Dead Boys before, but I do like punk music, so this album might be right up my alley. Despite my kids being Young, Loud and Snotty all winter long, I’m ready to fire this album up. I thought this album was very entertaining. Despite some underwhelming drums and bass playing, I really liked the chunky guitar chords that Dead Boys used on this album. I’m not an expert on punk music by any stretch, but I’m shocked I’d never heard of these guys before, because their sound was so different than other American punk bands from this era. While these lyrics ventured into some uncomfortable territory (what was with bands in the seventies working the phrase ‘sweet sixteen’ into their music so often?), I thought their pervasiveness really encapsulated the griminess of New York City and punk rock in the seventies. I really enjoyed how this album was arranged and produced as well, and I especially liked it when they played around with rising and falling volumes and depth of sound. Despite that, this album still had that simplistic and do-it-yourself sound of early punk. While this album wasn’t perfect, I think it makes a great addition to the list.

I've never heard of The Hotelier before, and I'm not even sure I've listened to an album that's a part of the emo revival (is Brand New emo revival? Oh wow, this is part of fourth wave of emo, which was in the late aughts? When the hell was the first wave? Just when I thought I knew something about music, I get my mind blown). I have no idea if this album is going to be my jam, but this cover is pretty cool. I enjoyed listening to this album, and I wish I had gotten to listen to it more than once, but time is not on my side these days. The guitar playing, drumming, and vocals were all very good throughout this album, and I thought that it was really easy to listen to and take in. The lyrics were really good too, and while they had a very 2010's feeling to them, they feel really relevant in today's post-COVID world. There wasn't one particular song that stood out to me, but the opening track did a really good job of getting my attention right away. I'd definitely be down to listen to this again, and I'm glad someone added it to the user submissions list. Editor's note: I was originally going to give this album four stars, but after listening to it today, I've been thinking about it a ton, and I can't wait to listen to it again. I know that if I'd had the opportunity to listen to it twice, it'd be an immediate five stars, so it's a five-star album for me.

Ooh, another Frank Ocean album! I’m 95% certain I’d listened to both Channel Orange and Blonde before starting this project, but I don’t really remember much about either one of them, but I don’t think I disliked them. Channel Orange was album number 100-something for me, and I gave it four stars, but my notes on it were pretty slim. I expect to enjoy Blonde as well, but I’m not sure whether I’ll enjoy it more or less than its predecessor. Overall, I thought Blonde was fine. I’m not a big R&B person, so most albums like this don’t really register with me. However, I can appreciate the artistry of Blonde; the arrangements were really good, and Frank Ocean is a very talented singer. The biggest thing that Blonde has going for it though is the emotional vulnerability on display. There are so many layers to peel back when it comes to this album’s lyrics, and I really enjoyed how Frank Ocean tackled subjects like materialism and drugs and escapism. While this album isn’t the type of thing that I gravitate towards, from an objective standpoint, I thought it was good.

I’m sad to say that I’ve never listened to a Childish Gambino album or even song before. I know the visuals from the video for “This is America,” but I’ve never even listened to the song sadly. I’m not quite sure what this album is going to sound like, but I’m curious to find out! I apologize Mr. Gambino, I was not familiar with your game. I thought this album was fantastic from start to finish. I expected this to be a pretty straightforward hip-hop album, but I was blown away by the funk and psychedelic rock sound that it utilized. Musically, this album hooked me in right from the start, with the bold and funky “Me and Your Mama.” I loved how the song started off really gentle, and then shifted into a rock and roll blast. It reminded me a lot of King Crimson in a way, with its bold and big arrangements. “Have Some Love” was great too, and I loved how it kept the funkiness going. I was a bit bummed as the album shifted away from the heavier reliance on funk and into more psychedelic influences, but it was still great. I really enjoyed how Childish Gambino used different vocal styles and techniques across the album. There’s something about that shift in vocal styles that feels incredibly symbolic of millennial anxiety, but I can’t quite find the words to describe it very well. It’s really remarkable that Donald Glover is a really good comedian and also a really talented musician; the use of a stage name to make his albums feels really apt, since this identity feels so distinct from who he is on screen and stage. This album was a pleasant surprise, and I definitely want to check out more Childish Gambino albums.

I haven’t listened to any Death Cab for Cutie in a really long time, but I’m always down to listen to Ben Gibbard. I know I’ve listened to Plans and Codes and Keys, and while I know a couple of songs off of this album, I don’t think I’ve ever listened to all of it. Time for a trip back to the early aughts! While I definitely prefer Plans to Transatlanticism, I still thought this was good album. I love Ben Gibbard’s singing, and that was no exception here, as Ben’s vocals were as beautifully soft and vulnerable as they always are. Before today, I had no idea that this album was a concept album, and while I’ve never been in a long-distance relationship before, I thought Ben did a great job of making the feelings of such an experience really relatable. Musically though, this album didn’t offer me a lot. I liked the guitar playing, but a lot of it felt structurally pretty similar, and I would have enjoyed a bit more variation. As far as my favorite songs are concerned, I really love the restrained jauntiness of “The Sound of Settling.” The little ‘ba ba, ba ba’ vocal fills on the chorus really punch things up and add a lot to the mood of the song. The title track is really great too, and for a song that’s fairly sparse on vocals and lyrics, it packs a ton of emotion. While this wasn’t my favorite album, I still like DCFC and Ben Gibbard, and I enjoyed listening to this.

Ah, another one of rock and roll’s famous sex offenders, Chuck Berry! Man, was is it with perverts and making music? Anyway, on to the music. I wasn’t a big fan of the OG rock and roll records on the original list (Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, etc.), but I thought they were interesting in a historical sense, and it was fun to try to parse out other artists who were influenced by those albums. I’m not expecting to be enraptured by this album, but I’m sure it’ll still be worth my time to listen to it. Overall, I thought this album was fine. The guitar playing was definitely the best part of this album, and it was really cool to hear how Chuck Berry’s playing influenced the likes of The Beatles and the Beach Boys. The tone of the guitar was great throughout the album, and even though the solos and arrangements seem simple by today’s standards, they’re still really great. The piano playing was really good, and I really liked how it was incorporated with the guitar playing. On the more up-tempo songs, this album was able to lean really well on blues and rockabilly influences to craft a really unique sound. This album worked best when it leaned more into a heavier rock and roll, but it bored me a bit when it slowed down. “No Particular Place To Go” was the best song on the album in my opinion. I loved the guitar playing, and the meter of the signing was really great too, giving the song a pacing that was perfectly in tune with the theme of driving. This album wasn’t my favorite by any stretch, but it was worth my time to listen to it. A solid addition to the user list.

I’ve never heard of Susanne Sundfør before, but I do tend to enjoy albums from Scandinavia (what has two thumbs and is looking forward to Robyn? This guy). I have no idea what to expect from this album, but I’m looking forward to branching out and trying something new. This album had a few songs that were really great, but most of it was pretty average in my opinion. For the majority of the album, the vocals and arrangements were very beautiful, but most of this album just failed to make me feel anything emotionally. However, “The Sound of War,” “Undercover,” and “Mountaineers” were all great. I loved the piano and pedal steel on “Undercover,” and I thought the vocals on this song were some of the best on the album. On “Mountaineers,” I thought John Grant’s vocals really added a nice touch. Susanne’s vocals were really good too, and I really liked the beautiful and ethereal sound of the song. Despite those two songs being really good, “The Sound of War” was the best song on the album. I loved how the song felt like a story in two parts, and I found its sound absolutely haunting. The arrangements here did a great job of creating a sound that was beautiful but also accurately captured the horror of war. On my first time listening to it, I had to start it over again so that I could experience that musical shift again. While I wasn’t blown away by this album, the best parts of it were really awesome, and I think that Susanne Sundfør is really talented, and I’d be willing to check out more of her work.

You’re a pop mega-star, Harry! I’ve listened to at least one full Harry Styles album, but I can’t remember which one. I recognize “Watermelon Sugar,” (my brother and I were cracking some jokes about this song just the other day in anticipation of Harry’s new album), but I don’t think I know any of the other songs on this album. I’m not expecting to be blown away by this, but maybe I’ll be in for a treat! Like Susanne Sundfør’s album yesterday, this album’s best parts were really good, but the rest of it was kind of bland. Most modern pop music is pretty hit-or-miss with me, but my favorite pop albums of the past fifteen years or so have some really awesome hooks, riffs, and melodies on them, which this album didn’t really have. It had some really fun songs, like “Golden,” the aforementioned “Watermelon Sugar,” and “Canyon Moon,” but this album just feels like a collection of songs to me, and it feels like this album wasn’t crafted with any unifying vision. Don’t get me wrong, Harry Styles has a great voice, and I think he’s a talented musician (his version of Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” on Howard Stern is incredible), but this album just didn’t put forth much that really sucked me in or made me crave more of it. If I had to pick a favorite song off of this though, I think I’d go with the title track. I really liked the bright and beautiful tones that were used in the last half of the song, and I liked how it built to this really beautiful conclusion. Overall, Fine Line had some really good moments, but most of it was just fine in my opinion.

Oh man, Contra. I absolutely love this album, and it was at the top of my list for albums that I wanted to submit, but someone beat me to the punch. My brother got me hooked on Vampire Weekend’s self-titled album, and Contra’s release was something I was very much looking forward to. I didn’t think these guys could pull off another smash like their first album, and boy, was I wrong. I honestly think this album is a glaring omission from the original list, but I’m so glad that I get to revisit it today. Even though it’s been a while since I’ve listened to this album, every minute of it still feels so warm and familiar to me. And I think that’s what makes this album one of my favorites: from the very start, every song on this album permanently embedded itself in my brain, and it still hangs out there, with its beautiful melodies bouncing around my noggin. I love that Contra has so many variations in sound and moods, but it still feels like an album that was crafted with a single vision, and not just a smattering of songs. Even though the moods and emotions explored on Contra are varied, the way they’re explored, and the use of some very clever lyrics, really ties everything on this album together. Vampire Weekend’s first two albums always invoke a feeling of a warm spring day to me, even if I’m listening to them when it’s cold and gray outside. Musically, I love the rich arrangements on Contra. The melodies are really beautiful, and the rhythms do a great job of establishing the mood and tone. I love that Vampire Weekend manages to do it all on this album” faster tempo blasts like “California English,” gentle, faster tempo songs like “Holiday,” and even slower, contemplative songs like “Taxi Cab.” For my money though, “Giving Up The Gun” has always been my favorite song on this album. The drumming is superb, and I love the chime sounds that drive the melody. The lead and bass guitars are excellent as well, and I really love the way they’re utilized on the bridge. Overall though, Contra is a wonderful album from start to finish, and I’d count in among my favorite albums of all time.

Oh, Shania. Man, this album was everywhere in the nineties, and I absolutely hated it. My parents went full-tilt into listening to nothing but country music around the time this album came out, and I was in hell. And to make matters worse, this album had enough cross-over power to make it on to top 40 stations too. But in the year of our Lord, 2026, my thoughts on Shania Twain have shifted. I hear those opening notes to the first song on this album, and I could run through a brick wall. I recognize a few other songs on here by name as well, and I’m sure that more of them will come back to me as I listen to this. Enough preamble, let’s go girls! As I expected, I had a blast with Come On Over. Is this objectively a good album? I’ll let people smarter than me tackle that question. All I know is that I thoroughly enjoyed this whole experience. Where to start… Well, as a whole, I thought this album did a great job of making a country album with some serious pop music pizzaz. These songs are incredibly punchy and catchy, full of awesome hooks, riffs, and melodies. From that starting Wurlitzer of “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” I knew I was in for a blast. Even with all of the pop music sounds and techniques on this album, it still keeps its country feel, with plenty of pedal steel, fiddles, and mandolin. And just for good measure, there’s even a couple of songs that have a zydeco sound to them. I love the way the vocals are done as well. The way that Shania’s lead vocals are arranged with her and Mutt’s backing vocals is outstanding, creating a rich and deep sound. Lyrically, I thought this album was great too. Come On Over is a country album, but it never leans into the good ‘ol country themes that permeated popular country music in the nineties. With exception of the terrible line ‘and I goldarn gone and done it’ on “Love Gets Me Every Time,” nothing on this album feels hokey or forced. I’m not usually a big country ballad person, but even the inclusion of “From This Moment On” and “You’re Still the One” on this album didn’t dampen my good time. Lastly, I have to give a shoutout to one of my favorite producers, Mutt Lange. His work here is great, but I never felt like he was wrestling for control of this album with Shania, and I think he really helped her put her vision into action on this album. As a side note, I almost submitted The Cars’ Heartbeat City for my inclusion on the user list, which he also produced. Overall, Come On Over is a wonderfully fun album, and I’m glad that I can appreciate something that I used to hate.

Oh, Queen. When I started the main list, I considered myself a casual Queen fan, but I was more-or-less let down by the Queen albums I’ve already reviewed. When it comes to Queen, I think I’m more of a ‘greatest hits listener’ for them. Maybe this album will break that trend! Well, A Day at the Races didn’t convert me into a believer in Queen’s LP’s, but I still thought it was a fine album. I think my biggest issue with Queen is that their albums wind up being a bit uneven to me. I think that their songs that lean more into traditional rock tend to work better, and their slower songs that lean into ballad territory tend to be a bit bland. Queen is at their best when they go full-tilt into glam rock, and unfortunately, there weren’t too many instances of that on this album. Give me Freddy’s most over the top vocals, May’s wailing guitar, and some jaunty little piano melodies please. The best parts of this album, like “Somebody to Love,” “Good Old-Fashioned Loverboy,” and “Tie Your Mother Down” were really good, but the rest of the album felt like filler to me. This wasn’t a great album, but at least it was better than Sheer Heart Attack.

I’m not familiar with Sea Power, and I have to be honest, I’m not super jazzed about the prospect of yet another British rock album from the aughts. However, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by plenty of albums so far, so anything can happen! While this album was far from being my favorite, I thought it was pretty good. The guitar playing was excellent throughout the album, and I really appreciated the different melodic structures that they provided. I also really liked it when the organ was utilized, like on “Something Wicked,” which gets the nod for my favorite song on the album (by a slim margin over the rollicking “Remember Me”). This album did have some songs that I thought were a bit boring, and even though “Lately” was sort of interesting, it completely killed the pace of the album for me. Despite that, this album did feel really cohesive, and like it was written and recorded as a single vision, which I really liked. I don’t think this album should replace anything on the main list, but it was still nice to listen to it.

The Dear Hunter is a band that I’m slightly acquainted with, but one that I haven’t thought about in a really long time. A friend of mine is a big fan of theirs, and back in the early 2010’s, he let me borrow a couple of albums of theirs. I know that I at least listened to Act I, but I don’t remember anything about it, and it’s not in my Apple Music library any more. I have to be honest, I’m not super jazzed about an hour-plus prog album, but maybe this will surprise me. I haven’t been converted into a Dear Hunter fan, but this album was better than I was expecting. Musically, this album was full of bright and beautiful arrangements. The overall sound was huge, but it never felt over-the-top. I was really surprised at how lush and cheerful the arrangements were, and I really enjoyed the way the vocal were arranged, especially the harmonies. For the fourth part of a large and sweeping story, I found this album to be pretty accessible to jump into. The biggest drawback about this album was its length, and I found it pretty tedious at times. Personally, I’m not big on rock operas, and lyrics that contain sweeping epics usually aren’t my jam, and that was mostly the case here. As far as favorite songs on the album go, I really liked “King of Swords.” I loved the dance heavy beat, and the guitar playing and horns were awesome. It did feel a little out of place to me on this album, but I didn’t care, because it was a blast, and it got me more invested in the last stretch of the album.

Ooh, The Breeders! I really enjoyed The Pixies albums on the main list (Bossanova being the best of the bunch), so I have pretty high hopes for this album from Kim Deal and company. Man, I hate to say it, but I really wasn’t impressed by this album. Yes, the guitar work was solid, but I just didn’t find anything else about this album to really latch on to. I liked that The Breeders leaned on different genres to create an album that still managed to be really cohesive, but I felt like this album just plodded along without giving me anything new or novel to be excited about. “Cannonball” is really good, as was the shoegaze inspired “Roi,” but I can’t say I really enjoyed much of this album.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Denzel Curry before, but I tend to enjoy hip-hop, so I’m interested to see what this album has in store. This album was pleasant to listen to, but it really didn’t do much for me. I thought the beats, samples, and musical accompaniment were really good, but overall, there just wasn’t much about this album that stood out to me. There were moments where I thought Denzel Curry’s rhymes and lyrics were really good, but for most of the album, his rapping didn’t really stand out much to me. This was a nice album, but unfortunately, I thought it was mostly forgettable.

I’ve never heard of Kashmir before, and I don’t even think I know of any Danish bands. So naturally, I had to go down a Google rabbit hole, where I saw that Alphabeat is Danish. Man, I used to blast their song “Fascination” really regularly in the early 2010’s. But I digress. I tend to approach artists from other countries with curious optimism, and I’m excited to check this out today. Despite some pretty good guitar playing, I thought this album was just okay. I did like the sense of anxiety and unease that the music created, but overall, I just felt like there was something missing from this album. I think I went into this album expecting something unique, but to my ears, Kashmir didn’t really do anything that excited me or drew me in to their work. This wasn’t a bad album, but I just found it pretty bland.

Oh Weezer. This is only my fiftieth album on the user submissions list, and I’ve already gotten both Weezer albums. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a Weezer hater. I saw them when they were touring for Red Album, and it was a great show and a really fun time. I think I groan when I see Weezer’s name these days, because I think the debate around their legacy amongst millennials is really played out, and a tad disingenuous. I could be misremembering history here, but I don’t remember anyone I grew up with being big Weezer fans when this album and Pinkerton came out. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but I guess I’m just leery of anyone my age who claims to have been a Weezer fan from the get-go. I’m just rambling now, so it’s time to fire this album up and see if it holds up with me. Much to my surprise, as soon as those opening notes to “My Name is Jonas” started, I felt awake, and full of energy. I found myself hanging on to every guitar note, and singing along to every word. Damn, I was really wrong about this album, because it absolutely rips, and the fact that it’s not on the original list is basically a war crime. Even though I don’t think I heard any of this album until the early aughts, The Blue album is just unlike anything that was getting tons of airplay on rock radio stations. Weezer really crafted their own sound, and they put out one of the most fun rock records of the decade. The guitar playing is absolutely fantastic throughout the whole album, and even though the drums and bass don’t really stand out much to me, the various ways that Weezer creates their guitar arrangements more than makes up for that fact. On top of that, Rivers’s lyrics and vocals are a blast too. Every song on this album has an infectious sound, and even thought I hadn’t listened to this whole album in years and years, everything still felt so familiar to me. I could go on and on, but man, I’m just blown away by how awesome this album is. As for my favorite song on the album… Man, “Buddy Holly,” while overplayed (that’s not Weezer’s fault), is still such a fun bop. But the slow pace and crunchy guitar of “Say It Ain’t So” are fantastic too. Man, I think I have to go with “My Name is Jonas.” I love those opening guitar notes, and the guitar solo is amazing too. Man, what an awesome album this is.

I’ve never heard of Mylène Farmer before, but French pop music from the early nineties? That sounds rad as hell, sign me up please! Overall, I thought this album was a bit lackluster. The vocals and arrangements were really nice, and I enjoyed the relaxing sound, but it ultimately fell flat with me. At first, I enjoyed that the songs were a bit longer, because it really gave me a chance to absorb the melodies, but as the album went along, the length of the songs became more of a detractor for me. As nice as these melodies could be, they were a bit like cotton candy, disappearing completely as soon as the next song started up. I felt like there was a lot of restraint utilized on this album, maybe as if Mylène was trying too hard to prevent this album from becoming a full-blown dance album, but the result was something that I found pretty boring. I can see why “Désenchantée” became such a hit though. I really liked the dark tone to the sound, and the piano playing was really excellent. This reminded me a bit of The Pet Shop Boys, without sounding like it was trying to copy them. Overall, I wasn’t wowed by this album, but I can understand how others would find it appealing.

Oh man, 100 gecs. I listened to this album somewhat close to the time that it came out. I seem to remember listening to it on my way to a therapist appointment. I don't know why, but thinking about this album gives me a visual of that specific parking garage. I remember having pretty high hopes for this album based on what I'd read about it, but I don't think it landed with me. I can't remember any specific songs, but I'm sure the overall sound and vibe will come back to me once I fire this up. Oof, yeah, this album just isn't for me. I respect the energy and the way they use this jumbled chaos to create their sound, but this just isn't something I enjoy listening to. I believe that this chaotic sound is supposed to be representative of the general anxiety of life today, and while 100 gecs hits that mark square on, I find it really unpleasant to listen to. I do think that this duo has quite a bit to say in their lyrics, and they find funny and clever ways to say it, but it's just a little too all over the place for me. I think when I first listened to this album, I expected something along the lines of Crystal Castles or Sleigh Bells, but this album is definitely not either of those things. I appreciate the artistry here, but this album is not for me.

I've heard of The Tragically Hip before (from a friend of mine who's married to a Canadian, naturally), but I've never listened to them before. I think I always imagined that they got their start some time in the late nineties, so I'm shocked to see that this debut album of theirs is from 1989. I have no idea what to expect from this album, but I'm excited to finally check these guys out. I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this album. When it first got started, I thought this was just going to be a generic rock record, but The Tragically Hip had a really great sound, and I liked the darker themes of the lyrics. There was something really genuine about the way this album sounded, and I really liked that it didn't feel like something that a producer or record executive was trying to take creative control over. This album feels like it was exactly what the band envisioned. There were elements of this album that sounded ahead of its time, almost like a pre-grunge album, and I thought that sound worked really well. The guitars and bass playing were excellent, but I really enjoyed the vocals as well. The lead vocals from Gord Downie were great (man, reading about his passing was soul-crushing), but the backing vocals were excellent too. This album reminded me of The Black Crowes in a way, but also of The Cowboy Junkies (although this blew The Trinity Sessions out of the water). I don't think I could pick a favorite song from this album, but musically, it did drag a bit for me towards the end (despite the lyrics never wavering in quality). This was a solid rock album, and it's the type of thing I could throw on for any occasion and just enjoy having it on.

I’ve never heard of Yeti before, but Krautrock? Yes, please! I know Can is usually the standard-bearer for Krautrock, and their albums on the main list were really good, but give me Kraftwerk and Neu! please. If I had to guess though, I’m guessing this album is going to lean more towards Can than Kraftwerk, but that’s fine. Let’s fire it up! Amon Düül II isn’t going to replace Kraftwerk or Neu! as my favorite Krautrock band, and while this album wasn’t really my speed, I still thought it was pretty good and uniquely enjoyable. While I went into this album expecting it to remind me of Can, it really reminded me of Hawkwind. I enjoyed the way that Amon Düül II created such rich and deep sounds with their guitars, and I really liked the songs that utilized the violin as well. I wasn’t a big fan of the improvisational material on the second half of the album, but the first half was much more enjoyable to me. I really liked “Cerberus,” with its spaced-out guitar distortion. I don’t know that I’d come back to this album, but I thought it was really unique in how it straddled both psychedelic and prog rock.

I know of Ani DiFranco, but I’ve never listened to her music before. I know a friend of mine at some point in my life, probably in college, was a big fan of hers. I used to get her and Tori Amos mixed up, but now that I’ve completed the main list, that’s no longer an issue (Little Earthquakes is phenomenal). There were quite a few really great albums by female singer songwriters on the main list (the aforementioned Tori Amos, Liz Phair, Alanis Morissette), but there were some duds on there too (Aimee Mann and Beth Orton). I’m not sure how I’m going to feel about this album, but my gut tells me this will probably land in the Amos-Phair-Morisette camp. I didn’t wind up loving Dilate as much as I loved the albums from Amos-Phair-Morisette, but I still thought this was a really great album. I was immediately pulled into Diate with the opening track, “Untouchable Face.” I loved the distorted guitar playing and Ani’s soft vocals, and I really loved how wonderfully the song developed as it went on. Most of the other songs on the album were like this as well; they’d start off rather simply, and then their melodies would develop into something rich and beautiful. Despite those rich arrangements, there was something really raw about them as well, and I liked how well that meshed with the emotional tone of the lyrics. I didn’t like the more rock-forward songs on this album as much as I enjoyed the slower ballads; to me, Ani’s music was much more effective when it was a bit gentler. As the album went on, I lost interest a few times, especially on the longer songs. Thankfully, there was always something to pull me back in. As far as favorite songs on this album are concerned, I really liked “Untouchable Face,” but the title track was great too. The first chorus was so punchy, but the restraint up to that point did a great job of building tension and drawing me in. Dilate is a really solid album, and I really enjoyed listening to it.

I was really excited to listen to Living Color’s Vivid on the main list, but I wasn’t as wowed by it as I had hoped I would be. I’m curious to see if this follow up will be more my speed. While Time’s Up was a bit different than Vivid, (or at least my memories of Vivid), I found it to be about right on part with its predecessor. Like Vivid, the lyrics on this album were great, full of some really insightful social and political critiques. I really enjoyed how the lyrics weren’t preachy, and it felt like they were more observational, asking the listener ‘is this what we really want out of our society?’ Musically, I found this album to be pretty accessible, which I attribute to an overall poppier sound that came through in the vocal arrangements and some the guitar playing. The bass playing on “Time’s Up” was really great (as were the clock sounds), but I felt like the bass playing slowly withered away as the album went on. The guitar playing on this album was good, but over the course of this album’s almost one hour runtime, the sound felt repetitive to me, and I kept wanting something more from it. Time’s Up wasn’t a bad album, but to me, it felt like it could have been more.

I’ve never heard of The Chats before, but this album title and artwork seem a bit cringey to me. I’m hoping that my initial judgement of these lads is wrong, so let’s jump in! Get Fucked wasn’t my favorite, but I don’t feel compelled to turn its name on it either. The Chats look like they’re younger than 9/11, but they play like they’ve been making music together for a decade. I really enjoyed the cohesion that these guys showcased on this album, and I really liked their punchy and succinct songs. I thought the guitar playing was really strong, and there were quite a few fun solos on some of the songs. My biggest personal issue with stripped down punk music like this, is that it sounds one-dimensional and repetitive to me, and this album fell into that category a few times. Still, this was album was pretty fun and brimming with enough energy to make me want to listen to it again. My favorite songs on the album were “Panic Attack,” “The Price of Smokes,” and the wonderfully titled “I’ve Been Drunk In Every Pub In Brisbane.”

I’ve never heard of Harmonium before, but I will say that the cover to this album absolutely rules. Man, I could go for a rainy-day nap right about now. I’m not sure what to expect from this album, but I’m cautiously excited to listen to some Canadian prog rock that isn’t Rush. Prog rock is usually pretty hit or miss with me, but this album landed pretty much smack dab in the middle of the road for me. I liked the way that Harmonium constructed their melodies, and in a general sense, I enjoyed how these songs progressed through their different sections/movements. Even though I don’t understand a word of French, I thought the vocals were really nice, especially the choir vocals. The biggest downside of this album to me was that some of the songs were complete duds. While a good number of these songs were interesting and composed of some really great arrangements, some of these songs were a bit dull and didn’t really build to anything. That’s usually not that big of a deal, but when your album has a bunch of songs over ten minutes long, it tends to sink it a bit. The first half or so of the album was stronger than the second half in my opinion (“Comme un fou,” “Chanson noire,” and “Le premier ciel” were my favorite songs on the album), but “Comme un sage” and the epilogue were really beautiful closing tracks. While I didn’t love this album, it was fun to branch out and experience something new.

Crystal Castles! This album is one of my personal favorites, and if I had access to my life stats, I’d assume that this would be in my top ten of most listened to albums. I first heard about Crystal Castles in 2010 (on the heels of their second album, which is also fantastic). I was in line to get into an MGMT concert, and I made friends with a couple of ladies who’d driven in from Atlanta to see the show. One of them happened to be a huge Crystal Castles fan, so I decided to check them out, and I immediately fell in love. I’ve seen the band twice, once in 2013, and again in 2016. Both shows were great, but the show in 2013 was better. It’s a bit tough to listen to this album now, knowing that Ethan Kath was abusing Alice Glass during the band’s heyday, but this album is also a testament to Alice’s strength and ability to create some really great music, even while her life was being made a living hell by Ethan. I’m really excited to fire this album up today, and I can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday afternoon. I always have such a great time listening to this album. The sound is so consistent from song to song, but the album is full of peaks and valleys and sprints and marathons. There’s a constant tension in this album that I absolutely love, and I find that it always demands my attention when I listen to it. I love the way that Ethan and Alice built these melodies. In another illustration of the contradictions and opposites that they used in making this album; some melodies remain constant throughout their songs, while others change and evolve. I never thought I could be so engrossed in an album that feels like it’s spliced together from NES and Atari sound effects. I grew up loving eighties pop music, especially anything with keyboards or synthesizers, and I spent my teenage years in the late nineties and early aughts yearning for something that could fill my head the way Tears for Fears and Duran Duran’s music did. Those cravings were satisfied when I became obsessed with indie rock in the late aughts and early teens, and Crystal Castles always fill that space for me. I think this album is wonderful, because it’s such a great showcase of how anything can be used to build beautiful and hypnotizing melodies. This album will always be a favorite of mine, and I was delighted for an excuse to listen to it today. Here’s hoping that Ethan Kath is scrubbing truck stop bathrooms for a living these days.

Ah, I’ve heard of Fontaines D.C. before, but I’ve never listened to them. Based on everything I’ve heard about them, I think their music should be right up my alley. I’m excited to finally check these folks out! My initial reaction to Romance was not a good one. I didn’t care for the first two songs at all, both of which I’d sum up with the phrase ‘don’t 21 Pilots my Arctic Monkeys.’ Both the title track and “Starburster” were pretty off-putting to me, with their combination of generic guitars and lazy vocals. But from there, the album got much better. “Here’s the Thing” was pretty good, and I liked the fuzzed-out guitar playing. “Desire” was even better, with its excellent synth arrangements. But things really peaked on this album with “In the Modern World.” I loved the echo on the vocals, and the strings were great too, which continued on “Bug.” “Motorcycle Boy” was one the best songs on the album too. I loved the looped vocal refrain, and the way the song built up the tension before the piano kicked in was fantastic. “Sundowner” was really good to; the way the vocals were arranged was great. I wasn’t that into “Horseness Is The Whatness” or “Death Kink,” but thankfully, they weren’t as bad as the first two tracks, and the album closed on a strong note with “Favourite.” I checked out the bonus tracks on the deluxe edition, and I really wish some of those songs had made the album. Romance wasn’t my favorite, but I can understand why Fontaines D.C. have cultivated quite the following these days. I’m excited to check out their other album on the user submissions list.

I’ve never listened to anything by MF DOOM before, but I know that he has quite a dedicated following, and he’s highly respected for his influence. Even though I don’t know any of his music, I was listening to a podcast last week that talked about his Madvillain collaboration, and I’m grateful that I’m going to be listening to this album with a little bit of knowledge about who MF DOOM was. I have no idea if I’m going to like this album or not, but I’m excited that I finally have an excuse to check out this album. This album wasn’t completely my speed, but there were still some things that I found enjoyable about it. I liked the overall lo-fi sound of the album, because it reminded me of what I really like about listening to 36 Chambers. However, this album never felt like it was ripping off Wu-Tang’s sound, because of the way it used samples of old Fantastic Four cartoons, which also helped MF DOOM construct his persona. I also liked how the theme of food was woven into the album, from the song titles and lyrics, to the recurring spoken word samples that mentioned food. Speaking of the samples, I liked this album best when the music sampled funk. The other samples were fine, but those funk samples really elevated the album. I wasn’t the biggest fan of MF DOOM’s voice, but I enjoyed his rhyme schemes. While this album was only 45 minutes long, the pacing of it absolutely killed me, and it felt like it was about twice that length. I don’t know if it was the lo-fi sound that made it feel like time was at a standstill when I listened to this album, or something else entirely, but whatever it was, I didn’t care for it. This album was interesting and unique, but it’s not something I could find myself coming back to.

I only know of Rita Ora because she replaced what’s-her-bucket the Pussycat Doll on The Masked Singer, but I don’t know any of her music (speaking of the Masked Singer, why did that show become a dumping ground for MAGA clowns? Jesus, the right really has minimal artistic talent). I’m not expecting to enjoy this album, but hey, I’ve been surprised plenty of times already. I tend to enjoy pop albums, but I found this to be a bit of a dud. Despite that though, there were a few things bubbling under the surface of this album that could have made this album much better, had they come to full fruition. There were some catchy beats on this album, but there really wasn’t a point where those beats drove the overall song, which would have been a fun change of pace. The vocals weren’t bad, but I didn’t find anything particularly unique about Rita Ora’s singing style. I was really caught off guard by the interpolation of Eddie Murphy’s “Party All The Time.” While I didn’t find Rita’s take on one of the worst songs of the eighties to be that great, I can applaud the bold choice to try to give some life to an all-time punch line. The best song on the album was “You & I,” with its wonderful synth arrangements. I liked how the synth tones were bright and poppy, but the pace of the song was a bit of a slow burn. I thought it was easily the most unique song on the album, and in my opinion, the only song that really showed some artistic promise. On top of that, “Unfeel It” and “You Only Love Me” were pretty good, but the rest of the songs aren’t really worthy of their own blurbs. Sorry Rita, but this was a swing and a miss.

I was pretty underwhelmed by the self-titled Gorillaz from the original list. I appreciated its influence, but I was just bored by the album. I don’t know if I’m going to enjoy this entry any more than its predecessor, but I’m hopeful that this will be more up my alley. While I didn’t love Demon Days, I thought it was much better than Gorillaz’s debut album. Like Queens of the Stone Age’s user submission, I find it mind boggling that this album didn’t make the original cut of the list over the self-titled album. But I digress. I think the main thing that I enjoyed about this album is that it was much more purposeful and realized than its predecessor. The melodies here felt like they were able to develop on their own, and nothing felt forced. The vibe on this album is really chill and relaxed, but despite that, it has some really great beats and rhythms, and there are some really great hooks here too. I thought the first half of this album was stronger than the first half, with the highlight of the second half being the dance worthy “Dare.” “Dare” had a wonderful beat, and the keyboards and synthesizers were excellent, giving it a feeling of a disco anthem for the aughts. The album’s first half is heavily boosted by “Last Living Souls,” “Dirty Harry,” and “Feel Good Inc.” While I wouldn’t call myself a convert to Gorillaz after listening to this album, Demon Days definitely made me understand their appeal. I can’t remember if there are any more Gorillaz albums on the user submission list, but I’m looking forward to any that are.

I’ve never heard of Tekkno before, and I have no idea what metalcore is, least of all what to expect from German metalcore. I’m sure this album is going to be an interesting ride! Well, this album was certainly an experience. I was immediately hooked in by the bright synths on “Pump It,” but I was really thrown for a loop by the screaming vocals (I guess that’s metalcore, baby). The novel sound of this album was really great on that first song, and I loved the booming drums and bass, and I really enjoyed the contrast of the bright and screaming vocals. But from there, the album didn’t really do much for me, and I felt like the novelty of the genre really wore thin with me. However, I did really enjoy the cheesiness of “Tekkno Train.” The goofy lyrics and sound were really fun. This album wasn’t bad, but as unique as it was, I found its overall sound and schtick to be generally forgettable.

I’ve heard of Mr. Bungle, but I don’t know anything about them. I thought Mike Patton’s only appearance on the main list, Faith No More’s The Real Thing, was very good, so hopefully I’ll enjoy this album just as much. Well, this album was certainly a journey. While I wouldn’t say that I was particularly fond of Mr. Bungle’s California, I thought it was certainly interesting, and the band’s molding of doo-wop and rock created some songs that were really out there. I like Mike Patton’s voice, but some of the wackier musical elements were off-putting to me, and as a whole, the album felt pretty jumbled. That jumbled feeling might have been intentional, but for me, I just didn’t care for it. While I didn’t care for how the album felt as a whole, there were some good songs on here, like “Retrovertigo” and “Pink Cigarette.” On top of that, even on the songs that I wasn’t particularly fond of, I thought the lyrics were pretty solid throughout the album. I don’t think I’ll be rushing back to Mr. Bungle, but it was fun to listen to a band that I’d heard of, but had no point of reference for their actual sound.

I’ve heard of Babymetal before, but I’m not familiar with any of their music. If a book can be judged by its cover, I think I can probably take a stab at what this album is going to sound like. Oh hey, look! It’s Electric Callboy, who I learned about literally two days ago! Here goes nothing… Well, like Electric Callboy, this album fell pretty flat with me. The first couple of songs were pretty good, and I enjoyed the way that the band blended synth melodies with heavy metal guitars, but the novelty of their sound wore off on me pretty quickly. I would have loved to hear more synthesizers and keyboards, but Babymetal seemed content to rely on blistering drums and shredding guitars instead. That’s not bad on its own, but to my ears, these songs really sounded the same. There wasn’t any melodic development, nor was there anything particularly new or novel about the way Babymetal arranged most of their music. This wasn’t a bad album, but it grew stale with me pretty quickly, and it’s not something I’d come back to.

I’ve never heard of Men I Trust before, but after looking at some of the reviews for this album, I decided that I needed to go take a look at the submitter’s profile, and… yikes. I’d spend some time commenting on that, but there’s no sense in beating a dead horse. This user’s taste in music clashes pretty heavily with mine, so I don’t have high hopes that I’ll enjoy this album, but maybe this will be the one thing I’ll agree with them on. I wasn’t wowed by this album, but it was pretty good. My biggest complaint with Oncle Jazz is that it didn’t make it worth my time to spend an hour and ten minutes listening to this. Sure, the melodies and vocals were nice, and the vocals were soothing, but this album didn’t really do anything particularly interesting in my opinion. For something that sounded so dreamy, Oncle Jazz didn’t manage to craft anything that I felt pulled on me emotionally, or made me feel a strong sense of place. And maybe that wasn’t their goal, but it’s something I personally enjoy in a softer pop record. There were some songs that did stand out to me though: “Tailwhip” was great, because the solid beat really added a lot to the overall soft sound. The melody unfolded beautifully, and it was a wonderfully paced song with so many wonderful elements to take in. “Say Can You Hear” was really good. I liked that shimmery quality to the guitar. The drumming was great here too; It’s a simple rhythm, but it’s really effective. I also like it when the drumming drops out, it makes me miss it. This song reminds me of The War on Drugs in a sense, which is a high compliment. I liked the vibe of “All Night.” It had a 90’s soft rock sound to the vocals that created a fun sense of nostalgia for me. While this album wasn’t really my speed, I thought it was fine, but it’s not something I could see myself returning to.

I’ve never heard of Extrechinato y Tu before, but I really enjoy checking out albums from non-English speaking countries, so this album was a welcome sight in my feed today. I really enjoyed listening to this album. Despite not knowing what the lyrics were saying, I thought it was really beautiful, and I loved the combination of electric and acoustic guitars on these songs. The piano playing and percussion were really good too, but I just loved the way the guitar arrangements drove the melody on these songs. I thought the first half of this album was a bit stronger than the second half, but it was still a great album. I’d love to listen to this again, but on a second listen, I want to make sure that I have a translation of the lyrics at the ready.

I’ve never listened to Operation Ivy before, but I did see The Transplants open up for the Foo Fighters back in 2003, so I have a reasonable expectation for what to expect from this album. Other than a few songs by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Reel Big Fish, I can’t say I’m incredibly familiar with ska punk, but I think this should be a fun album. Do people still skank to ska music? How quickly can I learn how? The holy spirit didn’t move me to learn how to skank today, but this was still a decently fun album. To me, ska punk feels like a pretty narrow genre to operate in, but I enjoyed the way that Operation Ivy incorporated traditional ska music into their sound, especially on “Take Warning.” The music on this album was infectious when it was at its best, but there were quite a few moments on this album that felt repetitive and uninspired. I didn’t find the music on here to be that impressive from a technical aspect, but the drumming and guitar riffs were enough to suffice, and I bet that these guys were a blast to see live back in the day. I’m not terribly well versed in ska music as a whole, but I’m 99% sure today was the first time I ever heard that ‘pickitup, pickitup, pickitup’ used on a song, and not just as a gag in a reel on Instagram. I don’t think I’d ever come back to this album, but I don’t regret the experience.

I’ve never heard of Mansun before, but I enjoyed quite a bit of the Britpop on the main list, so I have high hopes that this album will be up my alley! Attack of the Grey Lantern is no Different Class, but I thought this was a really good and unique album. I really loved the string arrangements that were used on this album, and there was something about how the arrangements left some open space in the sound that made these songs sound even more majestic and grandiose. There were some stretches of this album that I found a bit boring, and some of the songs dragged on a bit too long for my tastes, but I still enjoyed this. I see from the reviews that there’s another Mansun album on the list, and I’m looking forward to reviewing it.

I’ve never heard of Mustafa before, but I’m always down to clown with some Canadian music. I have no idea what to expect from this, but I’m curious to see what awaits me. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I assumed this was going to be a hip-hop album, and it definitely wasn’t. But hey, good thing implicit bias is a completely made-up concept. The benefit of that bias though, is that my world was sufficiently rocked as soon as this album started. I really loved the way the album pulled me in on the first track with with its beautiful guitar playing and vocals. The way that the subtle percussion and additional instruments came in later on the song made it even better. When I pulled up the album on Wikipedia, I saw that Jamie XX was one of the producers, which made complete sense. The two songs that he produced on the album were definitely two of the stronger songs on the album. In addition to those two songs, “Separate” and “Ali” were great as well. On “Separate,” I loved how the soft percussion in the introduction drew me in; it really made my ears strain to hear every detail that was present, and I felt hyper focused while listening to the rest of the song. How does Drake have a career when you could listen to Mustafa instead? This album is a bit short of five stars for me, but it’s not going to stop me from checking out more of Mustafa’s work.

Before Nick Jonas, there was Nic Jones? I’ve never heard of this guy before, and folk music can be pretty hit or miss with me, so I have no idea how I’m going to feel about this album. However, if he’s on par with his fellow Nick of the Drake variety, then I think I’m going to enjoy this record. Penguin Eggs is a goofy name for an album (before I read anything about this album, I thought it was going to be something in the vein of Ray Stevens, despite the fact that Nic looks a bit like Elliot Gould on the cover), but despite the goofy name, it’s seriously good. This album was exactly what I want in a folk album: gentle melodies and a sense of place. I really enjoyed that this album had quite a bit of variation in its sound, but it still felt really cohesive. The vocals and lyrics were really good, and I appreciated its overall relaxing vibe. The biggest thing that held this album back for me, was that some of these songs couldn’t justify their length. As some of these songs went past the 4:00 mark, I found myself getting a bit bored, as neither the music nor the lyrics past those points added much to the song. Still, this was a really good album, and I was pleasantly surprised that a folk album from the early eighties could be this good.

I went in to Kimono My House on the main list, expecting to be completely blown away, but I thought it was mediocre at best. I don’t have super high hopes that I’ll really enjoy this Sparks album, but I’m hoping that I’ll be rewarded for giving these guys another shot! Oh wow, this album was much better than Kimono My House. I really enjoyed the straight-forward synth pop sound that this album had. On top of the great synth arrangements, this album had some incredibly catchy rhythms and really driving beats. I found this album to be really easy to get into and immerse myself in. “Tryouts for the Human Race” immediately sucked me into this album. I loved the dance-worthy rhythm and driving beat, and the bright synthesizer tones were right up my alley. It felt very disco, but it also managed to feel like something uniquely its own. I have to imagine that this inspired LCD Soundsystem to some degree. The final track was really great too, but there wasn’t anything on this album that I didn’t care for. Now I can understand why Sparks have the reputation that they do, but I wish this album had been on the official list.

I’ve never heard of Gotcha! before, but I’m always down to branch out and check out some bands outside of the U.S and the U.K. Here’s hoping that this one is a winner! Welp, I don’t think I’d call this album a winner. I’ve never listened to something that managed to be so obnoxious but also so boring. It felt like this album took the worst parts of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Faith No More and fused them together. There was some decent guitar playing on this album, but there really weren’t many moments where everything came together on this album and really grabbed my attention. “Stronger Than Ajax/Save Da Day” was the first song that really grabbed my attention, and I kept waiting for another moment like that to appear on this album, but it never came. However the bass playing and drumming on that song were really great, and I loved that funky break in the middle of the song. Other than though, This album just wasn’t for me.

This looks like some sort of CD you'd find for sale at a gas station. Wow, there's so much to take in here: the 'ooooh' mouth, the Shrek sunglasses, the neon glow. Reading about this album, I see that Neil here did the Harry Potter puppet video, and The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny. I'm really not sure what to expect from this album, but here goes nothing. I had a really shitty day yesterday. One of the shittiest days I've had in a long time. After a 12+ hour day at work yesterday, I went home and broke down crying. I was depleted in a way that I don't think I've ever felt before. I've accumulated a bit of backlog of albums to listen to, but today, I went with my actual album for today. I don't know if it was God, the universe, or Neil Cicierega himself, but I think one of those or all three of those forces knew that I needed this album today. I had to stifle my laughter while listening to this, so that people around me wouldn't think I was insane. Everything about this album was brilliant, and I loved it so much. I appreciated the humor of this album a lot, especially the recurring use of Smash Mouth's All Star, but some of the songs on here were just really well done. It's pretty clear to me that Neil has some pretty good musical chops, because his decisions of how to craft these mashups just made so much sense. Even the songs that were hilariously grating felt like they had a melodic method to them, and it worked. I really loved it when a song started off funny, became grating, and then looped back around to being funny again after countless repetitions. This guy gets humor, and I think it takes a lot to make someone laugh with music. I would 100% listen to this again, and a big shout out to whoever added this album, because I really needed this today.

I only know one Nik Kershaw song, and as luck would have it, it's on this album! While I'm only familiar with "Wouldn't It Be Good," I think it's a wonderful song, so it gives me hope that I'm going to enjoy this album. I've been meaning to check out more of Nik Kershaw's work, so I'm glad I have a reason to do so today. Well, this album was certainly a trip, especially as far as eighties synth pop goes, but I enjoyed listening to it. It sounded to me like Nik Kershaw took an approach of throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks when it came to this album, and while it created something that didn’t feel very cohesive as a whole album, it made the individual songs pretty fun, as they had some interesting twists and turns to the instrumentation. On top of that, some of the songs had some pretty fun lyrics, with clever wordplay and interesting social commentary. When it comes to my favorite songs on this album, I went into this with a bias towards “Wouldn’t It Be Good,” but that will come out on top for me. I really love the pre-chorus and the chorus to this song, and the bridge is really great too. A lot of the songs on this album have some pretty stark contrasts between the verse and the chorus, but the one on “Wouldn’t It Be Good” is really effective. Outside of that song, “Drum Talk” and “Gone To Pieces” were really good too, mostly due to their great bass grooves. This won’t displace any of my top pop albums from the eighties, but I really enjoyed it, and it was cool to pick up on how it influenced other synth pop albums that came after it.

I enjoyed both of the Depeche Mode albums on the main list, but both of them were just shy of five stars for me. I only know one song off of this debut album of theirs, “Just Can’t Get Enough,” but it’s a song I really like. I know this album is going to be different from Violator and Music for the Masses, but I really like synth music, so I’m sure I’ll enjoy this album. Overall, I thought Speak & Spell was fine. From a historical and influence standpoint, it was really interesting to hear what Depeche Mode sounded like during the early part of their career. They certainly had a really great sense of how to build electronic melodies right from the jump. However, I thought this album was really uneven. The best songs on the album were really good, but the ones that didn’t fit into that category were a bit boring and felt out of place on this album. On top of that, most of this album was pretty bright and poppy in its sound, but there were the occasional dark and moody songs reminiscent of their later career dropped in here as well, and they felt pretty out of place. As far as the best songs on the album are concerned, I liked “I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead,” “Nodisco,” “What’s Your Name,” “Photographic,” and “Just Can’t Get Enough.” On “Photographic,” I really liked the darker mood and tone, even though the song felt a bit out of place on the album. The other songs were just fun with their lighter sound, especially “Just Can’t Get Enough.” “Just Can’t Get Enough” really stands out above the rest of the album because it has a wonderful beat and some great bass tones. Everything on that song just comes together so well. While this album wasn’t completely up my alley, I still think Depeche Mode are trailblazers and geniuses, and without their work, some of my favorite bands probably wouldn’t exist.

I’m not familiar with Nujabes, but reading about this album, I have to admit up front that I’m not super pumped about an hour-long jazz rap album. Granted, I’ve been surprised plenty of times before while working on this project, so maybe I’m due for another great discovery! Man, I just got Kiwanuka’d by this album (Kiwanuka’d (v): to be pleasantly surprised by an artist one has never heard of). I don’t know what I was expecting from jazz rap, but it certainly wasn’t this. I was immediately hooked when the rapping started on “Feather,” because this album’s rapping matched up so well with the jazz sounds that were utilized. There was something about the way that these melodies unfolded that just made the perfect background to the rapping. I couldn’t help but become entranced by every song on this album. I can’t remember the last thing that I listened to that was this catchy. Just when I thought this album was going to wear thin on me, another song would pop up that would pull me right back in. Yes, this album is a bit long, but man, I felt like it was incredibly rewarding to go through the whole thing in one sitting. I wish I had a better technical understanding of music so that I could further explain what it is that I liked about this album, but I just found it incredibly pleasant and engaging to listen to. I will definitely be firing this album up again someday, because I know it will probably only get better with repeat listens.

I really love this album, and I’m flabbergasted that it’s not on the main list; I would have added it myself if someone hadn’t beaten me to the punch. I’ve had this album on vinyl for probably close to twenty years, if not more, and it’s one of my favorite things to throw on my record player. I love eighties music, and to me, Kick is one of the best pop rock/power pop albums of all time. When I was going through other power pop albums on the main list, like Big Star and Cheap Trick, I was really underwhelmed, and I think that’s because this album is the gold standard for me. I’m super pumped to fire this up today! After reading some of the reviews for this album, I was worried that it might sour on me a bit when I’m looking at it through a more critical lens. Thankfully, that was not the case, and I still think this album rules. Michael Hutchence’s vocals are excellent; he can belt it out on “New Sensation,” he can drip with sex and seduction on “Need You Tonight,” and he can be mysteriously mischievous on “Devil Inside.” His singing really checks all the boxes on this album, and it makes me so sad that he took his own life. On top of that, the guitar hooks on this album are insanely catchy and memorable. Yes, there are moments that I wish there had been more punch from the bass, but man, the guitars on this album will be in my brain forever. The keyboards are great too, especially on the album’s best song, “New Sensation.” “New Sensation” is one of those songs that will always get my blood running. The guitars and keyboards sound great together, and Michael’s vocal energy kicks this song up a notch. Kick grabs hold of me and never lets go. Not every track is “New Sensation,” but that’s what makes it so much fun. The slower ballads are just as good as the up-tempo jams, and the ebb and flow to the album is perfect. Kick is an absolute blast of power pop, and it should be in every conversation about the best Aussie albums of all time.

Ooh, The Sundays, one of the favorite bands of one of my favorite artists (Lauren Mayberry of Chvrches). I know “Here’s Where the Story Ends,” but I don’t think I’ve listened to the rest of this album before. I love dream pop, and I love the aforementioned “Here’s Where the Story Ends,” so I have some really high hopes for this album. I can’t wait to fire this up! This is an absolutely excellent album, and after listening to all of it, I can’t believe it’s not on the main list. Truly a crime that The La’s made it in over this. The guitar work on this album is really excellent, and that dreamy sound is the perfect combination of The Smiths and shoegaze. Harriet Wheeler’s vocals are excellent as well, and I think the bass work is really good too. The bass playing is good not just for what it does, but also for what it doesn’t do. It’s perfectly in the background throughout this album, giving the sound a great balance. It almost serves as a bridge between the dreamy sound and the feeling of authenticity in the lyrics. “Here’s Where the Story Ends” is easily one of the strongest tracks on the album, and until today, I’d never noticed how great the bass line is. As it turned out, I was also familiar with “Can’t Be Sure,” which is just as good as the aforementioned “Here’s Where the Story Ends.” That shimmering guitar on “Can’t Be Sure” is fantastic, and I recognized it immediately. “Skin & Bones” is great too. The guitar playing on the chorus is so fast and precise, but the overall sound of the song is very dreamlike. The drumming and guitar playing on “Hideous Towns” were great too, and I really enjoyed the subtle guitar melody on “A Certain Someone.” Overall, this is a wonderful album, and I have no idea why I’ve never listened to all of it before today. What an excellent addition to the list!

HO! HEY! It’s The Lumineers! I can’t say I’m terribly excited to see these guys pop up on this list, but hey, what can you do? I sat through two entire Happy Mondays albums on the main list, so I say The Lumineers deserve a fair shake too. Time to throw on my Toms and head to ACL! I don’t know if it’s the low expectations that I had for this album going into it, but I thought this was a good album. I was expecting The Lumineers to really lean into the whole stomp clap sound on this album since their biggest song before this paid off in spades for them, but this was just a solid pop folk album. I think the thing that surprised me the most is how well they used empty space in the sound to create a feeling in the lyrics that was vulnerable and genuine. Nothing about this album felt forced, and I was really surprised by that. It didn’t hurt that this album started off with a really good run of three songs; I thought the rhythms on the lead off track were particularly good. There were some songs throughout the album that were a bit boring, but even if this album was a bit front-loaded, “Sick in the Head” was one of the strongest tracks on the album, so you’re rewarded for paying attention as this album goes on. This isn’t the sort of thing I gravitate towards, but I thought it was a good album and it was enjoyable to listen to.

I’ve never heard of Guy Clark before, which is a shame since he’s a fellow Texan. I enjoyed a good amount of the country albums on the main list, but some of the big names on there were a bit of a letdown for me (I’m looking at you, Merle Haggard). I’m not sure how I’m going to feel about this album, but I’m excited to fire up some old school country! Musically, I wasn’t really into this album. I didn’t really care for Guy’s vocals, but I did appreciate hearing Emmy Lou Harris on backing vocals (both of her solo efforts on the main list got five stars from me; she kicks massive amounts of ass in my book), and it was cool to see that Steve Earle and Rodney Crowell were on here too. But lyrically, this album is in a class of its own. I thought these songs were brilliantly written, and they were incredibly vulnerable and melancholy, but never once did this album’s tone stumble into “You Never Even Called Me by My Name” levels of ‘aw shucks’ country cheesiness. As much as I didn’t care for this album musically, the bare instrumentation really did suit the dustiness and loneliness of the lyrics pretty well, but I just wish there had been a bit more going on melodically. However, “L.A. Freeway” was head and shoulders above the rest of the album. I loved its slow lilt, and the backing vocals on the chorus were superb. “Desperados Waiting for a Train” and “Instant Coffee Blues” were good too. Although this album wasn’t my favorite, it was pretty enjoyable, and I’m glad I got to listen to an album from someone who’s so highly regarded in country music.

I had no idea who Owen Pallet was until I checked out his Wikipedia page, and it turns out I know him from Arcade Fire, whom I really like. I’m not sure what to expect from this solo album of his, but I’m curious to see what he does on his own. Overall, I thought this album was fine. It was really interesting to hear Owen’s solo work, because I can definitely get a sense for his style of crafting string arrangements, and I can immediately see his fingerprints all over one of my favorite Arcade Fire songs, “Keep the Car Running.” I enjoyed the string arrangements on this album, and while there were some really good songs like “This Is The Dream of Win & Regine” “That’s When The Audience Died,” most of the album was just fine. I don’t think there’s any concrete reason that I can give for my feelings about this album, but it was just a matter of personal preference that I would have enjoyed hearing some additional instruments accompanying the strings, because I found some parts of this album a bit repetitive.

I’ve never heard of this band or this album before, but I welcome any chance to check out an album from a non-English speaking country, and it looks like these folks are a big deal in Mexico, so this should be a cool album. While this album wasn’t really my jam, I did enjoy how fun it was rhythmically. The album got off to a hot start on “Pachuco,” and each song on the album had a really good, driving beat. On the songs that I really enjoyed, like “Pachuco,” “Pata de perro,” and “Crudelia,” I really enjoyed how the saxophone, bass, and lead guitar sounded together. While I wasn’t wowed by this album, I thought it was really unique, and I have to imagine it was influential on American bands who leaned into ska elements in the nineties.

Avicii, huh? I know a couple of his songs, and I think they’re really catchy and fun, but I’ve never really felt compelled to listen to one of his full albums. I tend to enjoy dance and electronic music, so I think I’ll be in for a good time today. Well, I never thought that someone could make dance music so boring and flat, but kudos to Avicii, because he found a way to do it. This album wasn’t bad, but hardly anything on here was catchy or compelling. The Avicii songs I do know (“Levels” and “Wake Me Up” come to mind pretty quickly) are insanely catchy and fun to listen to. However, nothing on this album came anywhere close to those songs. I was pretty bored by all the guest vocalists too, which was a bummer. I thought for sure that at least Chris Martin would add some pop to this album, but Simon Aldred’s vocals on “Waiting for Love” sounded more like the Coldplay frontman than he did on his own song. I don’t know what Avicii was going for here, but it really didn’t land with me. Even though I didn’t care much for this album, the aforementioned “Waiting for Love” was good, as was “Somewhere in Stockholm,” but everything else on this album just faded into the background for me.

I’ve never heard of this artist before (or any of the names he released work under for that matter), but the reviews for this album are pretty encouraging. I’m not quite sure what to expect from this, but I’ve been on a bit of a hot streak with new discoveries lately, so I’m hoping this will keep the streak alive. Wow, this was a really good album. This album instantly reminded me of a few other artists: City and Color, Manchester Orchestra (mostly the I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child to Mean Everything to Nothing era), and Bonnie Prince Billy. The vocals on this album were great, and there was a tone of slowly creeping dread that permeated the whole album. The music on this album was matched really well with the tone of the lyrics; this is the kind of work that really pulls the listener in to its world of emotions. I thought the organ playing on this album was of particular note, especially on “Tigress.” It’s really interesting to me that this artist is so well known and cherished, and yet one of his albums didn’t make the main list. But I guess that’s what makes this project so fun: one man’s Jason Molina is another man’s Bonnie Prince Billy.

Gather ‘round children, and I’ll tell you what it was like to be part of the evangelical church in the early aughts. You see, you were allowed to enjoy some secular pieces of pop culture, but you couldn’t enjoy it too much, and there were certain things you didn’t dare bring up at Wednesday night youth group. But if you wanted to be a casual fan of ‘is this a Christian band or Christians in a band?’ music, like Sixpence None the Richer or P.O.D., then you might be in the clear. I was never really into any of the bands in that category, but my brother did have this on CD, so I’m familiar with a few songs on here. I’m not super jazzed to listen to this, but even if I think it’s awful, it’ll still be fun to dunk on. Man, that was certainly an experience. I guess I’ll get my criticisms out of the way first. I think my biggest beef with this album is that it feels so manufactured, but yet it doesn’t even have a specific audience. This album sounds like something Joel Osteen would put out if he owned a record label. It’s clearly got religious undertones, but enough of it is vague enough to possibly appeal to a secular audience. But it never really fully commits to either camp, and it feels really uneven in its tone. It’s like Switchfoot wanted to fulfill the Great Commission, but they took the broadest approach that they could, and instead of a meaningful message reaching a smaller audience, a vague message is reaching a wider audience. Musically, this album wasn’t that bad. There were some parts of it that were really hooky, like the chorus on “Meant to Live,” the chorus on “This Is Your Life,” “More Than Fine,” and “Gone.” But their slower songs sound like copies of things that had already been done by the likes of Lifehouse and The Goo Goo Dolls. And as nice as the chorus is on “This Is Your Life,” the verse is really odd; it sounds like the band was trying to do something in the vein of Depeche Mode, but no one knew how to work a synthesizer. On top of that, a good chunk of the album is just forgettable filler. I can understand that some folks will have a nostalgia for this album, even those who have left the church, but I unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) don’t have that connection with this album, and for me, this just falls on its face.

My brother recommended that I listen to this album back when it came out, which I did, but I don't remember much about it, other than the fact that I've been meaning to revisit it for quite some time now. Thankfully, today, I finally have a really good reason to listen to it again. I wouldn't consider this album something that I'd be quick to fire up again, but damn, I do think it's incredibly well made. I really love the way the band seems to take their melodies apart throughout their songs and then rebuild them later. The songs on this album air on the longer side, but the journey is worth it every time. I really love the way they used the violin, cello, and saxophone as well. The band never relied too heavily on those elements, but they used them in ways that still gave this album a really distinct sound. I'd probably have to go with either "Concorde" or "Bread Song" as my favorite here, but "Snow Globes" is also really excellent. This album isn't every day listening for me, but I still think it's wonderful, and it should definitely be considered for a future edition of the book.

I’ve never heard of The Ike Reilly Assassination before, but that’s a hell of a choice for band name. Outside of a few bands, I think the early aughts weren’t the best time for rock, so I’m not sure how I’m going to feel about this album. This album was a pretty pleasant surprise. I really liked the way the band utilized the piano along with their guitars. On top of that, the rhythm guitar on this album was really good, and it helped to create some pretty catchy and engaging songs. The tone of the vocals reminded me of The Offspring in a way, but I never felt like Ike Reilly was trying to rip off Dexter Holland’s style; it was just a happy coincidence that Dexter and Ike’s voices sound similar. I thought this album was stronger in its first half, but it still managed to have a strong finish with “The Ex-Americans.” “I Don’t Want What You Got - Goin On” was a really strong leadoff track for this album, and I really liked the combination of the fuzzy guitar effects with some finger plucking on the other guitar. The lyrics on this album were pretty good too, and I especially enjoyed the dig at The Promise Keepers on “The Boat Song.” This album wasn’t perfect, but I certainly found it more enjoyable than The Hives or The Vines. What a fun discovery for a Friday!

I’ve never heard of New Model Army before, but I do love post punk music, so I’m excited to see what this album has in store. Overall, I thought Thunder and Consolation was pretty good. I was surprised by how good the drumming and general rhythms were over the course of the album, especially on the first several songs. Those pounding drums really pulled me into the album early on. But as the album went on, I felt like it got pretty uneven. The first few songs on the album were great, but later on, tracks like “Family,” “Family Life,” and “Archway Towers” felt like filler, and didn’t really offer much to the album as a whole. Still, I appreciated that this album was unique, and it felt like New Model Army really set themselves apart from other post-punk bands, like The Fall and The Sisters of Mercy. I don’t know that I’d come back to this album, but it was nice to listen to an ‘off-list’ post punk album.

I do love Bruce Springsteen, but am I prepared to go through a two-hour live album of his that’s too early in his career to even have “Badlands?” I’m not so sure. Come to think of it, the only live song I know by The Boss is “Fire” from that massive Live/1975-85 vinyl set that my parents had. Geez, that packaging was huge. Five vinyl records were in that thing! But I digress. Let’s take a trip across the pond for an evening with Bruce and the gang! I enjoyed this album a lot more than I thought I would, and it’s because it made me appreciate Bruce Springsteen as an artist in a different way. I think this album really showcases how great of a storyteller Bruce is, and this album also showcases how well he and the E Street Band work together. My favorite songs by Bruce Springsteen are songs that get my blood pumping, like “Born to Run,” “Born in the U.S.A.,” “Badlands,” and “Glory Days.” I just love the energy in those songs, and the passion in the lyrics and storytelling. But only one of those songs was on this album, so heading into it, I didn’t think it would have the energy that I wanted. But I was completely wrong. The energy that I love from Bruce was present throughout this album, but he and the E Street Band delivered it in perfectly time spurts, allowing moments of stillness and calm reflection to build up the tension before those bursts. I really thought I would find moments like that boring, but I loved how intentional they were, and they really allowed the band to work the crowd. From a music nerd standpoint, I found the basis for this album to be really interesting, and if this album was meant to launch Bruce’s career in England, then it sounded to me like that mission was accomplished. I loved how older songs were incorporated into this setlist as well. Whether it was something like “Detroit Medley” or working “Come a Little Bit Closer” into “Rosalita,” I thought it was a brilliant homage to classic American music. One thing I learned from listening to The Rising on the main list, is just how much I like the E Street Band. There’s just something in their sound that evokes this swelling energy inside of me, and that was definitely present on this album. Every member of the band is a master of their craft, and they always sound so great together. It just blows my mind that Silvio from The Sopranos plays guitar like that. I understand that this album isn’t for everyone, but I really enjoyed it. I don’t think it would fit well on the main list, but it’s cool that this album meant enough to someone to submit it to the user list.

I’m not familiar with this pairing, but I know of McDonald and Giles for their work on the brilliant In the Court of the Crimson King from the main list. I’m not typically a huge prog rock guy, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by plenty of albums on the main list and the user submissions, so anything is possible here. I wasn’t that big of a fan of McDonald and Giles. Yes, there were some nice arrangements, especially with the organ (ooh, Steve Winwood!) and woodwind instruments, but nothing on this album really captivated me. To me, it felt like these songs just plodded along, with no real destination in mind, just a bunch of unconnected melodies. This album wasn’t bad, but to me, it felt like it had no substance to it.

When Fall Out Boy first burst onto the scene in 2005, I wasn’t sure how to feel about them. I wasn’t that into the emo-ness of it all, and I couldn’t decide if “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” was truly catchy, or if I had just been exposed to it so much that it was stuck in my head all the time. Over the years, I’ve heard a handful of their big singles, and while I’m not a hater, they just never really caught on with me. I’m not expecting much from this album, but I’m also betting I won’t absolutely hate it. Eh, overall, I’d say this album was fine. I enjoyed the big sound of it, and I liked the way that Fall Out Boy blended keyboards and programmed sounds into their area-rock inspired sound. I’m not wild about the vocals and the lyrics on this album, but the instrumentation is pretty catchy, and the hooks are memorable. The bombastic sound of this album did get a bit tiresome towards the end though, and other than Foxes’ appearance on “Just One Yesterday,” the guest vocals on this album were distracting and unnecessary in my opinion. I understand the appeal of Fall Out Boy, because I thought this album was pretty fun and energetic, but parts of it were also pretty meh to me. I think Fall Out Boy knows how to write some earworms, but their overall sound isn’t something that I want a full album of.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of The Burning Hell before, but man, that’s a heck of an album cover. It feels like a minimalist version of something the guy who created Invader Zim would draw. I have no idea what this album is going to sound like, and even though it’s listed as folk, rock, and pop, this screams noise rock to me. I’m curious to see where this album goes! Well, the folk category for this album is pretty apt, and the cover to this album feels like it doesn’t fit the sound and feeling, but whatever. This album isn’t the type of thing that I would typically gravitate to, but I thought it was really good. The overall sound was very accessible, but the real gem here is the clever lyrics. Some of the storytelling in the lyrics reminded me of Death Cab, but some of it reminded me of Cake, and other parts reminded me of Leonard Cohen. Either way though, I thought this album was really unique, due to the eclectic blend of inspirations it appeared to draw from. I really enjoyed the songs that featured backing vocals, because I thought the backing vocals mixed with the lead vocals really well. “Amateur Rappers” was my favorite song on the album, but “Grown Ups” and “Wallflowers” were really good too. This was a fun experience!

I’ve never heard of… this band before, and I’m not very knowledgeable about jazz music, but I enjoyed most of the German albums that I reviewed on the main list, so maybe this album will be up my alley. I have no idea what makes dark jazz dark, but it does sound kinda cool. I wouldn’t say that I got a whole lot out of this album, but it was enjoyable to listen to. There was definitely a darker vibe that permeated this album that I enjoyed, but other than the saxophone, I really didn’t find much for my ears to focus on, other than the general vibe of the album. I kinda wish there had been a bit more differentiation between the songs on this album, because everything somewhat ran together to my ears. I wouldn’t be opposed to listening to another album from this group, but I don’t know that their music would ever be more than something nice to have on in the background.

Oh Ronnie James Dio. I just realized that I typed that as if I know the man well, and I only know the two singles off of this album. Whatever. I tend to enjoy heavy metal from the eighties, so I'm pretty sure that this will be a pretty fun album to rock out to today! Man, this was really fun to listen to, and I’m bummed that I’d never listened to this whole album until today. I thought the production was great, and drumming and guitars were really good as well. Dio’s vocal style is really unique, and I think his singing style fits this album really well. There were a couple of songs that felt like filler, but the high points of this album really soared. I do wish there had been more connective tissue between the songs on this album, especially with the character and settings that were created on the title track. Speaking of the title track, I don’t think I’d ever heard the full version of that song before, with the keyboard intro, and holy shit, that ruled. What a great way to craft a setting through sound. The drum fills really stood out to me as well. What an excellent song. “Caught in the Middle” and “Don’t Talk to Strangers” were really good too. They both had some great guitar work and drumming, and I really enjoyed the ebb and flow to “Don’t Talk to Strangers.” To me though, the pinnacle of this album is “Rainbow in the Dark.” That was the first Dio song I ever heard, and I’ve loved it ever since. The keyboards are so catchy, and they create this sound that somehow manages to be bright and dark at the same time. I’m pretty sure that keyboard riff could transport you to a real-life D&D game in an alternate dimension if you played it during an eclipse or something. Holy Diver was really fun, and I’m truly miffed that it’s not on the main list. In my opinion, it’s just as good as, if not better than some other metal albums from the same era that did make the main cut.

I’d consider myself a casual R.E.M. fan, but I’ve never listened to all of this album before. I know “Losing My Religion” and “Shiny Happy People” really well, but I don’t recognize any of the other songs on this album. I’m sure that I’ll enjoy this album, and I’m excited to check it out! As far as R.E.M. albums go, I’d say that Out of Time is right up there with Green as some of their best work. The songs that I knew on this album still stood out to me as some of the best parts, but I was able to hear them in a way that I previously hadn’t before. On top of that, the songs that I wasn’t already familiar with were excellent. I think I mentioned this on all the other R.E.M. albums that I reviewed on the main list, but man, there’s just something about the way they arrange their music that I absolutely love. I think of R.E.M. as being pretty guitar-forward, but they use so many other elements in their music, and it feels like they never miss, no matter what they’re adding to their sound. On top of that, the R.E.M.’s songwriting is always great too. Their lyrics always have something interesting to say; sometimes the songs are more overt in their meaning, other times, the listener might have to let things marinate a bit before forming some thoughts on the meaning. But to me, it’s almost always worth it to let R.E.M.’s music marinate a bit. Some notes on the individual songs on this album: I loved the guitar on “Radio Song.” It’s incredibly indicative of how I just really like the way that R.E.M. arranges their music. There’s so much to take in, but the sound never feels busy or overwhelming. Whenever I think of “Losing My Religion,” I always think of the mandolin playing, but before today, I’d never noticed how great the string arrangements are. I don’t normally think of R.E.M.’s music as haunting, but there’s a haunting sadness that permeates this song that I really enjoy. I loved the vocals and piano on “Near Wild Heaven.” It was a great shift out of “Low,” which was my least favorite song on the album. In addition to the vocals and piano, the guitar is excellent too; it’s so incredibly smooth, and it feels like it seamlessly oscillates from the front of the sound to the back. “Shiny Happy People” is wonderful. Kate Pierson’s vocals are perfect for this song. The organ playing is fantastic too, and this song is such a fun bop despite the dark meaning. The strings on “Texarkana” were excellent. Even with “Losing My Religion” on this album, “Texarkana” manages to stand out as one of the best songs. Out of Time is an excellent album, and to me, it cements R.E.M. as one of the best American rock bands of all time. In my opinion, these guys don’t miss, and their music is a treat to listen to.

I’m not familiar with Unwound, but based upon what I’m reading about them in the reviews (noise rock, post-hardcore, comparisons to Slint, etc.), I think this album will be up my alley. I’m honestly a bit torn on how I feel about this album, and I’m torn between ‘it was fine’ and ‘it was pretty solid.’ That probably sounds like splitting hairs, but to me, there’s a sizeable distinction between a three-star album and a four-star album. I think the thing that’s really throwing me off with this album is that I was really pulled in by the “Message Received,” but the rest of the album never really achieved the hypnotic sound that this leadoff track had over me. The guitar playing on this album was good, as was the bass playing, but I think I was a bit underwhelmed by the vocals and drumming. This album certainly wasn’t bad, but I don’t think it really did enough to make me want to listen to it again, and I don’t think I’d choose this album over something else from the post-hardcore or noise rock genre. I think this was a cool submission to the list, but I think it ultimately fell a bit short with me.

I’ve never heard of Calibro 35 before, but I hope that by the 35th Calibro, they’ll have things sorted out. I see that this is an Italian funk band, so I have no idea what to expect from this. Either way though, I’m sure this will be a unique experience. Overall, I’d say that this album was alright. The first two tracks on this album were not my speed at all, but once the album got to “Death of Storytelling,” it really picked up. When this album was its best, it was crafting some really dense and moody atmospheres that I really enjoyed. The guitars, bass, synths/keyboard, and drums all sounded really good together, especially from “Death of Storytelling” to “Thunderstorms and Data.” There wasn’t really any particular song that jumped out to me was my favorite; I didn’t find any of these songs to be earworms in a sense, but this album had plenty of songs that were pleasant to listen to, and I found myself drawn in by the rhythms here. The moodiness of these songs really tied the album together nicely. One of the things that made the best parts of this album work for me, was that the best songs all achieved their sense of atmosphere in different ways. It was enough variation to keep me interested, but not jarring enough to throw me off. In addition to the first two tracks, I didn’t care for “Black Moon” or “One Nation Under a Format” either. The vocals on those songs interrupted the flow of the album to me, and I would have preferred it to remain instrumental. The vocals and lyrics didn’t really add much to the album for me, and those songs made the album feel a bit uneven. I would still say that this album was a fun experience, and it was an interesting way to use funk influences.

I’ve never heard of Boy Azooga before, so to mix things up, I’m going to go into this album completely blind (no Wiki, no user reviews). Based on the cover, I’m guessing that this is a Japanese pop album, so if I’m wrong, I’m going to be in for quite a shock. Let’s jump in! Well, this was definitely not a Japanese pop album, but in fact a Welsh indie rock album. After the initial shock of my completely wrong expectations wore off, I settled in and found this album fairly enjoyable. “Breakfast Epiphany” was pretty hypnotic, and I found myself pulled in by the opening rhythms. The main melody was really gentle, and I enjoyed the dreamy vibe. “Loner Boogie” was pretty infectious too, and I really enjoyed that bass sound and the drumming. “Waitin’” was really good too, and I loved the gentle synth tones of the verses and the dance-ier synth tones of the chorus as well. Other than those three songs though, the rest of the album felt like filler to me. It was nice filler, but most of this album felt like it just kind of happened. While this album was pretty middle of the road for me, I’m shocked that this didn’t find a wide audience in the states. 1, 2, Kung Fu was enjoyable while I was listening to it, but I found it to be a bit forgettable overall.

Oh man, of Montreal. A friend of mine burned a couple of their albums for me several years ago, but I’ve never gotten around to listening to them. My brother saw them at a festival back in the late aughts, and I seem to remember him saying that they were really weird. I’m not entirely sure what to expect from this album, but my friend who burned their albums for me has really good taste in music (but so does my brother), so I have pretty high hopes for this album. This album was certainly on the weird side, but I thought it was really good. Musically, there was a lot going on, but it really worked for me. The rhythms on this album were really infectious, and those rhythms were utilized so well with what I’m assuming to be a lot of synthesizers and sequencers. This album definitely reminded me of Sparks, but it never felt like it was trying to replicate them. I wasn’t that into the lyrics on this album, but I wasn’t bothered by that at all, because to me, the vocals felt like their own instrument. “Gronlandic Edit” and “The Past Is a Grotesque Animal” were my favorite songs on the album. I really loved the way that both of these songs unfolded and developed as they went along. “Grotesque Animal” has no business being that interesting and engaging with that long of a run time, but I loved the way that it felt like the centerpiece of the album. Unfortunately though, I felt like the album took a dip in quality after that song. The melodies on the back half of the album just weren’t as rich and great as the first half of the album, and the rhythms weren’t nearly as catchy either. As good as the first half of this album was, it definitely wound up feeling like every second of its fifty minute-plus runtime. Still, this album was really good, and it makes me want to check out more work by of Montreal.

I think I’ve heard of Sam Fender, but I couldn’t tell you anything he sings. I’m not really sure what to expect from this album, but I’m excited to check out something a bit more recent! This album had some nice moments on it, but I found it to be a bit bland. Fender does his best Springsteen/War On Drugs/Killers, but he does a good job of utilizing his influences to build his own sound without sounding like a copycat. When this album is at its best, the melodies are catchy and memorable, and they invoke a nice sense of nostalgia. But the lower moments on this album are bland and forgettable. I wish there was a bit more risk taking on this album in terms of the sound, because I think this album shows some glimmers of talent, but it never becomes something more than a handful of nice songs.

Oh man, King Gizzard is one of those bands that’s been on my “I should check these guys out” list for quite a while, and now, I have no excuse to dodge them! Prog rock is mostly lost on me, but I’ve heard so many great things about this band that I’m pretty jazzed to check them out. This album wasn’t really my speed, but I was still able to enjoy it because it was really good. The guitar and synthesizer work were great, and the album was really cohesive from start to finish. Having a ten minute-plus song as the opening track was a really bold choice, but “Crumbling Castle” was so immersive and interesting that it paid off. The biggest detractor for me on this album was the weird time signatures. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of off-kilter rhythms like this album had. On top of that, I wasn’t that into the vocals or the lyrics on this album either. Still, despite those two factors, I thought this was an impressive album, and I can understand why this band has its fans. I’m curious to see what their other albums on this list are going to sound like.

I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of Gang of Youths before, but if I did, it was only in passing. I’m not entirely sure what to expect from this album, but it seems like it has a pretty good average rating, so I’m intrigued as to what I’ll find here. I thought that this album was really good. My favorite thing about it, was how these songs built to these really epic and intense moments, and this was always achieved in a different way on every song. I never really knew when that burst of sound and energy would come, and it was always a really nice surprise when it did. The string and horn arrangements were really beautiful, and there was a lot of genuine emotion in the lyrics. However, this album was a bit too long for my liking. I have nothing against long albums, but this one didn’t justify its runtime in my opinion. I felt like the lyrical themes and song structures got a bit repetitive after a while, and this album could have trimmed off a bit of fat. My only other gripe is that on the slower moments, the lead singer sounded like Droopy, the cartoon dog, and it drove me nuts. The same thing happened on the Sam Fender album I listened to a couple of days ago. Maybe it’s just me, but I really hated that. Still, this album was really good, and I can see why someone would want to submit it for the user list. Favorite song: I’m gonna cheat here and name two songs, but I loved the way that “L'imaginaire” and “Do Not Let Your Spirit Wane” worked together.

I’m not familiar with this album, but I’m a big fan of what Rostam did with Vampire Weekend, so I’m excited to check out this album. Unfortunately, I Had a Dream That You Were Mine just wasn’t for me. This wasn’t a bad album, but musically, there wasn’t anything that piqued my interest, and I wasn’t really into the lyrical content either. On top of that, the varied styles on this album weren’t to my liking either; I felt like I was climbing a hill covered with gravel, and that there was nothing for me to grab onto as these songs went slipping past me. I think Rostam and Hamilton are talented musicians, but their output here, while well made, wasn’t my cup of tea.

I vaguely recall listening to this album close to when it came out, but for the life of me, I don’t remember anything about it. Whatever the case may be, I’m excited to check this album out today, and I’ll see if it jogs my memory at all. I think I can definitively say that I never listened to this album before, because I’d remember something so great. I’m not sure how I managed to dodge this album for 17 years, but I’m bummed that I waited so long to listen to it. The guitar playing on this album is wonderful, and even though there’s a lot of variation on the arrangements from song to song, this album still feels like it was conceived with a very direct and complete vision. The guitar parts are simple, but they’re executed with a precision that makes them a delight to listen to. The synthesizers are great too, and I love that the guitars and synthesizers never feel like they’re in competition with one another. In fact, it feels like every piece of the music on this album knows its roll, and sticks to it, crafting an overall sound that’s really unique. As much as I liked the guitar playing and synthesizers, I also loved Emily Haines’s vocals. Her voice is really unique, and she uses it wonderfully on this album. I don’t know if I can pick a favorite song on this album, because “Help I’m Alive,” “Gimme Sympathy,” and “Collect Call” were all wonderful. Fantasies is definitely going to be part of my regular listening rotation.

I’ve never heard of The Chameleons before, but I do love early eighties post-punk, so I think this album might be up my alley. This is certainly an interesting album cover though; it looks like someone asked generative AI to make an album cover for a Scottish version of The Cure. I don’t think I’ll ever get over this artwork, because the more I look at it, the more unhinged it is. Anyway, time to fire up this album! Man, I really loved this. The guitar playing was incredible from start to finish, and there was a really dense atmosphere that permeated the whole album. I loved the overall dark sound, and instead of building dread, this album created a sense of curious unease, like trying to find your way down a country road in a thick fog. The band’s guitar playing had a really unique fingerprint to it, but every song added something melodically different to the overall vision of the album, creating something that was incredibly cohesive, but that also managed to have some surprises lurking around. I listened to this album three times before writing this review, and it got better each time. This one is definitely going in my regular rotation. Some notes on the individual songs: I really loved the bridge on “Don’t Fall,” and it was an excellent song in general. It started off super gothic, but got more melodic and brighter as it went along. I loved the guitar playing and drums, and the vocal echoes are awesome as well. “Here Today” had some great guitar playing on its bridge as well. “Monkeyland” was excellent. I loved the guitar playing at the beginning, because it did such a great job of setting the tone for the song. The lyrics were great too, and this was in contention for my favorite song on the album. “Second Skin” was awesome too, and another contender for best song on the album. The guitar playing in the intro was great, and I loved how the guitar melodies developed over the course of the song. “Up the Down Escalator” has my favorite vocals on the album. The drumming was great too, and of course the guitar playing was spectacular. The opening guitars of “Less Than Human” really remind me of Cocteau Twins, but the vocals and lyrics were so much darker. That contrast was great to see play out. “View from a Hill” was a perfect closing track. I loved the guitar playing at the beginning of the song, and I loved the echoing tone to the song. Script of the Bridge was excellent, and I’m so glad that someone added it to the list. What a fun discovery!

Oh man, I haven’t thought about The Civil Wars in probably over a decade. I’m pretty sure I have a copy of their self-titled album somewhere in my house. I think I bought it because I really liked their version of “Disarm,” but other than that cover and “The One That Got Away,” I don’t remember anything about that album. I’m curious how I’m going to feel about this debut LP of theirs. Eh, this album wasn’t really my jam. There were a few songs on here that I enjoyed, but for the most part, I didn’t really feel much while listening to this album. Sure, the vocals were nice, and I did like that there was a haunting and longing feeling to the overall sound, but the sparse instrumentals just didn’t do much to keep me interested. On top of that, while the lyrics were well written, they didn’t have any emotional pull with me. I can see now why I don’t remember much about their self-titled album. Barton Hollow looks good on paper, but the execution fell flat to me.

I know a few songs off of this album, but I’ve never listened to the whole thing before. However, I have listened to Lady Gaga’s album Mayhem that came out last year, and I thought it was awesome. I think it was probably my most-listened-to album from 2025. Damn, now I really want to fire it up. Anyway, based on the songs from this album that I’m familiar with, I have pretty high hopes for this album. The Fame was a little bit short of five stars for me, but I still thought it was a really good pop album. Lady Gaga’s sound manages to feel both retro and futuristic at the same time, and I think that’s a really tough feat to pull off. The beats and synthesizer arrangements really carry this album, but I felt like I didn’t really get the full power of Gaga’s voice, which was a bit of a letdown. On top of that, the lyrics felt mostly like fluff, but it didn’t take away from the fun of the songs. For my money, “Poker Face” is the best song on the album. The synthesizers are incredible, and Gaga’s singing on the chorus is excellent. “Just Dance” and “Paparazzi” are really good too. But this album is peppered with really strong songs from start to finish, and “Eh, Eh,” “The Fame,” and “Boys Boys Boys” are really good too. I don’t think this is Gaga’s best work, but it’s still a solid album, and it’s an excellent representation of pop music in the late aughts.

I’ve never heard of Gaelle before, and electronica is a pretty broad genre, so I’m not sure what to expect from this album. Regardless, I’m looking forward to checking out something a bit different today. Transient didn’t light my world on fire, but I thought it was pretty good, and it was pretty enjoyable to listen to. It took a few songs for me to get into this album, but once I did, it was pretty easy to get absorbed into the sound. This album was at its best when it had some really catchy beats, like on “Give It Back” and “Love You More.” Both of those songs had great beats, and both of them had some solid melodies to accompany those beats as well. My biggest gripe with this album is that it was pretty uneven. Even though I got more into it after the first two songs, there were still quite a few songs on here that felt like filler to me. On top of that, I wasn’t really wild about Gaelle’s singing. Her voice wasn’t bad, but she just didn’t bring much emotion to this album in my opinion. Overall, this album was fine, but there wasn’t enough here to really hook me in.

I was pleasantly surprised by Garbage’s self-titled album on the main list, so I’m happy that I’ll get to check out another album from them. But what really excites me about this album is that it has “When I Grow Up” on it. I can’t remember when I first heard that song, but I’ve loved it ever since. Man, what a jam. Enough of my musings though, let’s fire this up! I didn’t fall in love with Version 2.0, but I did enjoy listening to this, and I thought it was a really solid alt rock record. It’s been so long since I listened to this album’s predecessor that I don’t think I can accurately say which one I enjoyed more, but if I had to give one of them the edge, I’d give it to 2.0 solely for “When I Grow Up.” “When I Grow Up” has everything I want in a song: slick guitar playing, shimmering synthesizers, and a pulse-pounding drum beat. On top of that, Shirley Manson’s vocals are top-notch, and I love signing along (poorly) to this song every time I hear it. But that’s not the only good song on this album; “Temptation Waits,” “I Think I’m Paranoid,” “Medication,” “Special,” and “The Trick Is To Keep Breathing” are all really good. Overall, I really dig the way Garbage arranges and layers their guitars, keyboards, and synths. The alt-rock landscape was so crowded in the late nineties, but Garbage has a unique sound that no one else could duplicate, and I think they owe that to the influence of shoegaze and eighties synthpop. Version 2.0 is a solid rock record, and while it does have some filler, the best parts of it really soar.

I know of Ween, and I’ve even seen them live at a festival, but other than calling them rock, I couldn’t tell you what they sound like. I’ve always thought of them as being pretty weird, and existing on the periphery of alternative rock, like They Might Be Giants. I’ll admit that I’m a bit cautious heading into this album, but maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised! Well this album was certainly a journey. The first four songs were great, and I was pleasantly surprised by what I was hearing. I really loved “Transdermal Celebration;” the electric sitar was incredible, and the bass and guitar playing complimented it so well. “Among His Tribe” was really good too. I loved the guitar playing and the soft vocals. But once the album got to “So Many People in the Neighborhood,” it started to lose me a bit. That type of weirdness was what I expected from Ween, but I wasn’t prepared for it after those first four songs. It was way too jarring for me to enjoy, but as far as weird songs go, it was well done. The next few songs started shifting more towards normalcy, but “Hey There Fancypants” was the first of the weirder songs that I liked. The country twang and lyrics were really awesome. From then until the end of the album, I really liked the gentle sounds of “I Don’t Want It” and the guitars and synthesizers on “Alcan Road.” When all is said and done, this album wasn’t completely my jam, but I certainly didn’t hate it, and I’m really curious as to what the other albums from Ween on the user generated list are going to sound like.

I mentioned it countless times on the main list, and at least one time so far on the user generated list, but I really know nothing about jazz, and my enjoyment or dislike for it basically comes down to either ‘that was nice to listen to’ or ‘that was boring.’ I have no idea where this album will land, but I’m sure I’ll have very few insightful things to say about! As I predicted, I don’t really have much to say about this album, but unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it. It was pleasant to listen to, but I was pretty bored by it. Heading into this album, I was excited that it was just piano, bass, and saxophone. However, I felt like these three elements didn’t even interact with one another musically, and it felt like they all just did their own thing. I keep hoping that one day a jazz album will really snag my attention, but Carla Bley wasn’t able to be the first one to accomplish the feat.

Ah, nothing like back-to-back days of jazz, the genre that makes me feel like I know absolutely nothing about music. Yesterday’s album from Carla Bley wasn’t really my jam, so maybe John Coltrane can spice things up a bit! Despite the fact that this album has vocals, I didn’t find it any better than yesterday’s jazz album. The vocals on this album were nice, and the arrangements were okay, but nothing on this album managed to snag my attention. Even though I don’t know much about jazz, I think I’m starting to grasp that I prefer jazz music that’s a bit more up-tempo, so at least there’s that. This album wasn’t bad, it’s just not for me.

I’ve never heard of Savages before, but I usually enjoy punk and post punk music, so this album might be right up my alley. Let’s jump in! I didn’t really enjoy Silence Yourself very much. There was some good guitar and bass playing on this album, specifically in the rhythms, but overall, this album didn’t really offer up much to me. I wasn’t that into the vocals or the lyrics, and most of this album just felt like filler to me. It felt to me like Savages were trying to be like Siouxsie and the Banshees, but they just didn’t succeed at crafting atmospheres or arrangements that are as catchy as what you might find on Juju. It wasn’t a terrible experience to listen to this album, but all it had for me was some nice parts, but never a solid whole.

I’ve never heard of Bomb the Music Industry before, but I’ve listened to Jeff Rosenstock’s Hellmode, and it wasn’t really my jam. Hopefully this album will be much better! Well, my hopes that this album would be better than Hellmode were dashed pretty quickly. I don’t mind ska punk, but this album didn’t really add anything to the genre in my book. The guitar parts were fun at times, but I really didn’t care for the way the guitar playing would drop out of these songs; it was a total momentum killer for me. Also, when it comes to ska punk, I want more out of the horns, and I just didn’t care for their parts on this album. Worst of all though were Jeff’s vocals, which I really didn’t care for. I’ve certainly listened to a lot of albums that I enjoyed less than this one, but Bomb the Music Industry just isn’t my cup of tea.

I’ve never heard of Everything Everything before, but this album cover is definitely screaming emo or punk. I have no idea what to expect here, but I’m curious to see what this album has in store for me. Get To Heaven briefly took me to hell, but the deeper I got into it, the more I enjoyed it. The music here reminded me a lot of some of those dance pop bands from the indie sleaze era, like Temper Trap and Hot Chip, and to a lesser extent, Yeasayer and even some Foals. I thought the songwriting on this album was really strong, and I enjoyed how there was such a start contrast between the lyrical content and the brighter musical arrangements. “To the Blade” was a good opening track; I enjoyed how the song built in intensity the longer it went on. But after that, I really didn’t care for “Distant Past.” I think this album really succeeded when the arrangements were denser. Each track started off pretty bare bones musically, and it took me a while to realize that’s what was happening. Even when that structure dawned on me, I still didn’t care for the more stripped-down introductions, but at least I knew something better was coming along. The title track was my favorite song on the album, and I really enjoyed its lyrics and upbeat sound. This album wasn’t particularly my jam, but it was a well-made and fun experience, and it was a solid choice for the user submissions.

Oh man, I haven’t thought about Mary Chapin Carpenter in probably a couple of decades. My parents used to listen to “I Feel Lucky” when it came out, but I think we only had a cassingle and not the full album. I tend to enjoy country music from this era, before the genre got hijacked by the jingoist post-9/11 bullshit. I’m actually pretty jazzed about listening to this album, and I hope I’ll recognize some other songs on here. To my delight, I wound up recognizing a few songs on this album, other than “I Feel Lucky.” I’d completely forgotten about “He Think He’ll Keep Her” and “Passionate Kisses” (written by Lucinda Williams, whose Car Wheels on a Gravel Road is one of my least favorite albums from the main list). While those aforementioned songs were great, I really wasn’t into the slower ballads on this album, so about half of this felt like a bit of a chore to me. I’m not against country ballads, but you better put some great arrangements or gut-wrenching lyrics on that song if you want to keep my attention. But the songs on here that were good really soared, and they served as a reminder for what I like about nineties country music. I liked the additional songwriters on this album, especially Don Schlitz, and the guest vocalists like The Indigo Girls and Shawn Colvin were great too. Some notes on my favorite songs on the album: “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her is great.” I love the twang of the guitar and the bits of Hammond organ, and the backing vocals are great too. It makes total sense that Don Schlitz cowrote this song. What a bop Ah, more Don Schlitz on “I Feel Lucky,” what another fun bop. The lyrics are clever, and the vocals are great. The deeper voice that she uses as that voice inside her head is really awesome. I love that line of ‘I bought a pack of Camels, a burrito and a Barq's,’ because it’s just perfectly delivered. I love how the sound is more stripped down on that last verse, and the name dropping of Lyle Lovett and Dwight Yoakum rules. Mary’s version of “Passionate Kisses” is such a bop. The drums are fantastic, and the vocals are perfect. Lucinda Williams may have written it, but Mary Chapin Carpenter rocked it. “Walking Through Fire” is really good, and love that the Hammond organ made another appearance. Mary Chapin Carpenter may not be my favorite country musician of all time, but this was a fun album to listen to today, and a nice little trip down memory lane.

I’m not familiar with Clutch, and I wouldn’t say that I’m a huge fan of stoner rock either (every now and again though, I’ll get the hankering for a QOTSA album while I’m working out). I’m curious to see what Clutch is all about! Psychic Warfare wasn’t really my jam, but I think Clutch was still successful at creating an album crammed full of fuzzed out and hard-hitting guitar playing. There wasn’t a lot of variation on this album in my opinion, and this album felt like a loose collection of songs instead of a cohesive album, but I didn’t hate listening to this. A vast majority of the album was just fine to me, but there were a couple of songs that I thought stood out above the rest: “Our Lady of Electric Light” was really good. I enjoyed the slower tempo, and the guitar playing was great. There was a cadence to the song that I thought was awesome, because it reminded me fo that ‘call-and-response’ structure of old blues songs. “Behold the Colossus” was great. I loved the distorted guitar playing, and the vocals were really good too. This was the only song on the album where something other than the guitar playing stood out to me, because the drumming was great. This wasn’t the album for me, but it was still pretty fun to rock out with this today.

I don’t think I’ve ever listened to Zach Bryan before, but there’s something about this album cover that looks really familiar. It’s a hideous album cover by the way. I dunno if that’s the intention. I enjoy some country music, and I see that Kacey Musgraves makes an appearance on this album, so that’s cool. Let’s fire this bad boy up! Overall, I thought this album was fine. I thought the stripped-down sound worked well, and I enjoyed how cohesive this album’s sound was. The guest vocals were really good too, and I particularly enjoyed how Zach let the War and Treaty really outshine his singing on “Hey Driver.” The biggest drawback to this album in my opinion is that it was pretty one-dimensional in terms of emotion, and I wish that Zach had explored something other than just melancholy. It’s okay to be pissed off about heartbreak, bud! Other than “Hey Driver,” I enjoyed “Overtime” and “Fear and Friday’s” quite a bit. This album didn’t light my world on fire, but it was still a pretty enjoyable listen.

I don’t think I’d heard of Girl Talk until I saw him perform at Free Press Summer Fest in Houston in 2010, and his show was an absolute blast. Later that year, he released All Day, which I spent a considerable amount of time listening to. However, that’s the only album of his that I’ve ever listened to. It’s been a minute since I’ve listened to All Day, but I’m excited to fire up Feed the Animals today. I didn’t love Feed the Animals as much as I loved All Day, but it was still pretty fun to listen to. I know one of the biggest criticisms against Girl Talk is that he isn’t really making anything new, just stitching together parts of other peoples’ work, but I disagree. I think the way that he arranges his samples is really great, and I really like the way he executes his segues from one sample to the next. On top of that, I think he does a great job of blurring the lines that separate rock, hip-hop, and pop music. By blending them all together, I think he creates some really interesting through lines that intersect all music. The thing that makes this album a little less fun to me is that it just doesn’t have many memorable hooks built into it, and it just doesn’t have a lot of staying power with me. It’s a lot of fun while I’m listening to it, but afterwards, I’m moving on.

I really enjoyed the three Cure albums that are on the main list, but I’ve never been inclined to check out their recent work (granted, I would say that about a lot of bands who were big in the seventies and eighties and are still putting out new material). I see that this album wound up on a ton of best of 2024 lists though, so I’m pretty optimistic that I’ll enjoy this. I wouldn’t rate this album as my favorite work from The Cure, but I still thought it was really great. One of my favorite things about The Cure’s music is their ability to craft such rich environments and moods with just their music, and this album delivered on that. I was a little wary to see that each song on this album was pretty long, but I thought the long instrumental introductions on each song were great, and it was really awesome to see Robert Smith and company achieve the same results with different methods. I think this album shows that The Cure really excel at continuing to evolve over the course of their career. Some notes on the individual songs that stood out to me: I loved the sound of “Alone.” The bass, drums, and string arrangements were all great. This is the rich sound that I expect from The Cure, even though it doesn’t sound a lot like their work that I’m familiar with. The guitar, strings, and piano on “And Nothing Is Forever” were excellent. I like how The Cure can do dark and brooding, and then on the next song, they’re on to something brighter and hopeful, but when they make those shifts, it never feels jarring. I really enjoyed the echo effect on “Warsong,” and the strings were excellent too. I loved the intro on “All I Ever Am.” The pulsing drums were wonderful, and I love the contrast they had with the piano melody. Not every band can deliver a solid album nearly thirty years after creating one of the best albums of all time, but The Cure show that they’re still on top of their game, crafting a really beautiful album.

I know I’ve heard of Stereophonics before, but for the life of me, I can’t think of anything they sing, and a quick listen of some of their most played songs on Spotify isn’t jogging my memory either (although I think they sound great). I have no idea if I’ll recognize any songs on this album, but I do like Britpop, so I’m sure this will be a fun album to fire up. Overall, I thought this album was fine. I enjoyed the guitar playing, and musically, this album was pleasant to listen to. The lyrics and songwriting were pretty good as well, but I wasn’t a big fan of the vocals. I felt like Kelly Jones was trying really hard to sound as Welsh as he could, but to me, it just sounded like he was straining his voice to the point of breaking. “Traffic” and “Same Size Feet” really stood out to me. I thought they were some of the best sounding songs on the album, and the lyrics really resonated with me too. The rest of the album was fine, and even though only a small portion of this album stood out to me, I felt like the whole album was pretty enjoyable, although not particularly memorable. I wouldn’t be upset though if there were another Stereophonics album on the list.

I’m not familiar with Rosalía, but this album cover looks really familiar. I don’t speak much Spanish, but language barriers haven’t really hurt any albums for me so far. I’m not sure what to expect from this, but it seems like it was met with critical acclaim when it came out, so hopefully that’s a good sign! Man, despite my lack of Spanish understanding, I was really impressed with this album. The arrangements here were rich and beautiful, and I love it melded modern instrumentation with classical music structures. I was really impressed that each movement felt very demarcated from the movement before and after it, which helped to further create the rich structure. This is one of those albums that was definitely crafted with a clear and concise vision, and these songs are clearly part of a larger work. I think it’s really impressive that Rosalía worked with so many additional people, yet that didn’t seem to muddy down her vision or the execution at all. When it comes to the sound of this album, it also had some really bold and loud moments, but it those moments always felt perfectly placed. This isn’t the type of album I’d typically gravitate towards, but man, it’s beautiful and cinematic in all the right ways, and it was a pleasure to listen to.

Ooh, another visit from the Lizard Wizard. I reviewed Polygonwanaland a few weeks ago, and I thought it was really good. I’m expecting more of the same from this album since we’re moving from a polygon to a nonagon. While I did like the hard-hitting rock sound of this album, I thought it was just fine. I appreciate what the band was trying to do here, creating an album that can go on in an infinite loop, but to my ears, things felt repetitive at times. I did like how this album started off with a bang though. “Robot Stop” launched right into things with some really catchy guitar playing. I did enjoy how seamlessly this album moved from song to song, but the whole infinite loop gimmick just wasn’t anything I’d want out of an album. This was fun to listen to, but it’s not something I’d come back to.

Ah, another album from The Who! There was a time where I considered The Who my favorite band. Granted, for being my ‘favorite band,’ I wasn’t really familiar any of their whole albums, other than Who’s Next. I think I was just mostly obsessed with “Baba O’Riley” and Keith Moon’s drumming. On the main list, The Who’s work earned one 5-star rating and a pair of 4-stars and 3-stars. From what I know about this album, I expect to enjoy it! Quadrophenia was really good, but it’s a bit short of five stars for me. I really enjoyed the big and bold sound on this album, and I was really struck by how great the bass playing was throughout the whole album. For a band who got their start with a pretty straightforward hard rock sound, I think The Who really excel when it comes to the more artistic albums in their catalog. Pete Townshend does such a great job with keyboards and synths, and I was really glad that the musical direction that was started on Tommy was carried all the way into this album. I enjoyed how bold the drums sounded on this album, but I feel like Keith Moon’s creative abilities with his chaotic rhythms were stifled a bit on this album. After a while, his drumming felt really repetitive as the album went on. Quadrophenia started off with a bang though; “The Real Me” was a fantastic lead-in, despite it being technically the second song on the album. “The Real Me” did a great job of setting the tone for the big and bold sound that was going to permeate the whole album. This album had plenty of great moments; “I’m One,” “I’ve Had Enough,” “5:15,” and “Sea and Sand” were all really good songs. But for my money, the album’s closer, “Love Reign o’er Me” was the best song on the album, and one of The Who’s best songs overall. I love its anthemic sound, it has some of Roger Daltrey’s best vocals, and it has the perfect emotional weight. Daltrey’s pleas to be cleansed by love have such a universal appeal to them. As much as I loved the album’s big and bold sound, I felt like the rock opera aspect of it weighed it down a bit. I felt like the story wasn’t really fleshed out that well from song to song, and some of the themes and story elements got reused throughout the album. Granted, I’m not a big rock opera fan to begin with, so I might be nitpicking there. Still, this is a great album, and I’d put it in the top tier of albums by The Who.

Cool, another Lady Gaga album! I reviewed The Fame a few weeks ago, and I enjoyed it, so I’m ready for a second dose! Unfortunately, Joanne didn’t feel like Lady Gaga’s best work. Her talents as a songwriter and vocalist were on display here, but the bouncing back and forth between country and dance pop didn’t really work for me. If those two genres had been melded together on every song, I think it would have been more effective for me, but I really didn’t like how she oscillated between the two sounds from song to song. My hopes were high as this album started off, because I liked how the kick drum fired up on “Diamond Heart,” and then the song shifted in a direction that I was not expecting. But after that, the only other songs on this album that I really enjoyed were “Perfect Illusion” and “Million Reasons,” both of which I was already familiar with. Also, it was cool to see Josh Homme, Este Haim, and Florence Welch on this album. Despite this album being uneven, it wasn’t bad to listen to, and I appreciate Lady Gaga’s musicianship, and I certainly won’t be bummed if I see her again on the user submission list.

I’m not familiar with The Beautiful South, but if an English band named themselves that today, you know the Alabama state legislature would pass a law banning their music. I’m not sure what to expect from this album, but I’m always down for some late eighties pop music. I thought this was a really solid album. If you threw XTC, Style Council, and The Smiths into a blender, you’d get The Beautiful South. I thought the arrangements on this album were excellent, and I enjoyed how the guitars, keyboards, and occasional horns were all layered together, giving this album a really unique sound. On top of that, the rhythms were really solid, making these songs really catchy and easy to get sucked into. The only downside of this album is that some songs felt like filler to me. But the best songs on the album really soared; “From Under The Covers” was my favorite one, but “Girlfriend” and “Have You Ever Been Away” were really solid too. I like albums like this, because I think it could be swapped in for another album on the main list, and it’s just one of those things that boils down to personal preference. This was a great submission for the user list!

I’m absolutely delighted to find Alex Cameron’s Forced Witness on the user submissions list. Back in 2017, my brother and I went on a road trip to Zion, Bryce Canyon, and the Grand Canyon. We camped out, took edibles, and had plenty of time on the road. I don’t know how my brother discovered this album, but he played it several times while we were in the car, and I absolutely fell in love with it. I bought a copy as soon as I got home, where I kept listening to it over and over again. In 2019, Alex and Roy came to Houston, and I delightedly bought a ticket to see them. The show was wonderful, and I was able to get my tour poster signed afterwards. Alex and Roy were both incredibly nice, and it was seriously a treat to get to see these songs live. Every time I listen to this album, my mind goes back to that wonderful trip through the southwest. As luck would have it, my wife and I are meeting my brother and his family at the beach for the weekend, so today is the perfect day to listen to this. I forgot just how much I love listening to this album. My favorite parts of it are the faster paced and synth dominant songs like “Country Figs” and “Runnin’ Outta Luck,” but every song on this album has some really clever (albeit somewhat sleazy lyrics, even if they’re in character) and funny lyrics. Even the slower songs like “Candy May,” “Stranger’s Kiss,” and “The Hacienda” have some great arrangements that do a great job of crafting the world of Cameron’s various losers and has-beens. And despite the crude humor of some of the lyrics, there’s a genuine loneliness and sense of loss that these songs convey as well. For an artist who puts everything into their craft, what’s their backup plan when their career flames out, or never takes off in the first place? For all the Guns N’ Roses and Mötley Crües on the Sunset Strip in the eighties, I know there’s a countless number of other acts who lived on scraps to try to get their big break, and their stories are all untold. I think this album captures that human side of failure that’s on the other end of the spectrum of all the big shots who lived out their hedonistic fantasies. As far as my favorite track on this album is concerned, I think I’d have to go with “Country Figs.” I love the drumming and the saxophone, and the line ‘the worst part about being homeless, is waking up from a dirty wet dream, with a lap full of cum and a head full of steam’ is absolutely brilliant. “Runnin’ Outta Luck” is a close second though. I love the bright synthesizers, and ‘we’re good in the backseat, but we’re better up front’ is my second favorite lyric on the album. I understand that the schtick on this album isn’t for everyone, but as a lover of the eighties, this album scratches a really big itch for me, and I think it’s perfect.

Ooh, another Alex Harvey album! My review for their album Next… on the main list happens to be my most-liked review, so I think I have a bit of skin in the game here. Next… was a really pleasant surprise for me, and I was shocked that I had managed to never hear of Alex Harvey before. I’m expecting some solid blues and hard rock out of this album, and I’m hoping that I get another dose of good times on this album. I thought this album was fine. For something that was hard rock and blues rock, there wasn’t a lot of energy on this album. If you’re gonna be horny in your music, I expect a bit more enthusiasm. On top of that, I found this album to be a bit uneven as well. Some of the songs have a good blues rock sound to them, but other songs on this album swerve more into prog rock. I have nothing against either genre, but it’s a pretty odd combination of territories to choose to operate within. I definitely preferred the songs that were more blues inspired, and “Snake Bite” and “Soul in Chains” were two of my favorite songs on the album, and the title track was easily the best of the songs that waded into prog rock. The guitar riffs on this album were good, and I enjoyed the lyrics as well, but this album wasn’t as fun to me as Next… was.

I’ve heard of At The Drive-In before, but I don’t know anything about them. However, a quick glance at their Wikipedia shows that they’re my fellow Texans, hailing from El Paso. Oh, and Mr. Mars Volta is in this band. Neato. I don’t have much of an idea of what to expect from this album, but I’m excited to check this out. I thought this album was really good, and I liked it more than De-Loused in the Comatorium. Like De-Loused, this album had some really excellent guitar playing, but I think that Relationship’s guitar arrangements were richer and more diverse, and I really loved how the lead and bass guitars sounded together. On top of that, Relationship had some great keyboard playing as well. “Pattern Against User” and “Invalid Letter Dept.” were my two favorite songs on the album. Both of them were really unique, and they both had driving rock sound that I enjoyed. This album sagged a bit in the back half, but overall, I enjoyed listening to this. It’s not the type of thing I’d gravitate towards for everyday listening, but it would be great to listen to during a workout. I think this album would have made for a good addition to the main list, especially with how well regarded it is in post-hardcore music.

I’ve never heard of Wussy before, but that’s certainly an interesting choice for a band name. If I had to wager a guess, I’d feel pretty confident that no one in this band was a marketing major in college. Maybe they watched a lot of Salute Your Shorts and The Adventures of Pete and Pete back in the day? I don’t know why I associate calling someone a wuss with those two specific shows. But I digress. I have no idea what to expect from this album, but here goes nothing! This album was a very pleasant surprise. I didn’t fall in love with it, but I thought it had a really good indie rock sound. The album really snagged my attention right off the bat with “Airborne.” I was immediately struck by how Wussy’s sound felt like it had a twinge of that Pixies weirdness, but with a sound that’s very accessible overall. I loved the dual vocals on that first track, and the drum beat was wonderful too. Throughout the album, I thought the guitar playing was great, and the drum beats continued the work that was established on the first track. On top of that, I really enjoyed how Lisa Walker and Chuck Cleaver shared the responsibility for the vocals. As for what held this album back a bit for me, I can’t really explain it, other than just a personal preference. The best thing that I can come up with, is that there wasn’t anything on this album that I thought was great. Had there been two or three songs on this album that really stood out to me, I think I would have kicked this album up to five stars. I still think it’s really good, and I wouldn’t pass up the chance to check out another album from these folks (Spotify rolled into “Teenage Wasteland” after this album concluded, and I thought that was a great song, so I’d probably start with that album). Overall, this was a solid addition to the user albums list.

Hmm, Ghost. I don’t know much about these guys, but the little I know is a bit of a turn off for me. I’m not one to get my panties in a twist over Satanic stuff, but I just don’t fuck with stuff like this, because it feels like bad juju to me. If you want to criticize the church, I’m all for it; Lord knows they deserve it. I just think the whole shock value of demon cosplay is played out. I don’t have high hopes for this album, but I did give Antichrist Superstar four stars, so who knows? This album sounded nothing like I expected. I thought Ghost would be more in the vein of doom metal, with a bunch of growling and guttural vocals, and I was not expecting something that sounded so bright, almost like power metal. I used to listen to Blind Guardian’s Nightfall in Middle Earth quite a bit, and listening to Ghost took me back to that album. I can definitely understand the appeal of these guys. Granted, not every song was a winner, and going through an hour and a half live album as my introduction to Ghost felt pretty tedious at times. Still, I’m tempted to check out the concert film of this album, because I bet it rules. “Spillways” and “Searchlight” were two of my favorite songs on the album, and I think Ghost was at their best when their arrangements were full of bright guitar and keyboard playing. This album didn’t make me a Ghost fan, but it has made me Ghost curious.

I’m not familiar with Squarepusher, but man, this album cover is giving me Gen X John Prine vibes. However, I see that this is an electronica album, so perhaps the John Prine vibes are just a happy accident. I’m not sure what to expect from this album, but I’m always down for some electronic musc. This album wasn’t really my speed. There were some moments on this album that I enjoyed, but most of this was a slog for me to get through. I liked the jazz-like structure that a lot of these songs had, but the overall melodies and instrumentation choices just weren’t to my personal liking. If most of the album had been like “Iambic 9 Poetry,” that would be a different story, but unfortunately for me, that song was a bit of an outlier on this album. While this wasn’t my cup of tea, it was certainly interesting, and I appreciated being pushed out of my normal comfort zone.

I first remember hearing about Bad Religion in my U.S. history class in high school. As the fall semester wound down, we had to present a song that had come out that year (1999) that provided some sort of social or political commentary. One of my classmates used a Bad Religion song, but I don’t remember what it was. A year later though, my brother got Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 for our PC, and I became incredibly familiar with Bad Religion’s “You.” Flash forwards another four years, and through another video game, this time Guitar Hero, I became familiar with “Infected.” I’ve never checked out a full album from these guys before, but I tend to enjoy punk, so I think this might be right up my alley. I wasn’t wowed by this album, but I thought it was really good. I was really happy to see the same vocal harmonies that I know from other Bad Religion songs were present all throughout this album, and I really loved the raw energy that permeated the guitars and drumming. But the star of this album to me was the lyrics. Holy shit man, Bad Religion does not pull any punches at all. And it wasn’t just the content of the lyrics that I really enjoyed, but the way they were written. The language of the lyrics was mostly straightforward, but there was still a bit of figurative language and symbolism in them that left a few parts open to interpretation. I’d be down to listen to this album again, but I’d probably check out some of their other work first. A note for the person who submitted this album: you and I have a lot of overlap on our five-star albums, and I was really excited to see that you had Chvrches, More Songs About Buildings and Food, and Low Life among your five-star albums. I was really shocked that someone whose taste mirrored mine so much would submit a Bad Religion album, but I’m happy you did!

Ah, The Housemartins! How appropriate since I just had an album from The Beautiful South the other day. I’d heard of these guys even before I reviewed The Beautiful South, but I didn’t know much about them. For example, I’m just now learning that my favorite Derry Girls guest star, Fatboy Slim, played bass in this band. I’m sure I’ll like this album, so let’s fire it up! The Housemartins are no Smiths, but I thought this album was fine overall, if a little underwhelming. The biggest asset this album offered was the bass playing, and I’m not just saying that to honor a certain man who had a guest role on Derry Girls. The bass playing was really solid throughout the album, but to me, it felt like none of the other parts of the music took any risks. As a result, only a small handful of songs stood out to me: “Anxious,” “Over There,” and “We’re Not Deep” were the best songs on the album in my opinion. This wasn’t a bad album, but it was a touch bland to me.

I’m don’t remember ever hearing of English Teacher, which is odd, because I know I was scoping out a lot of ‘best of’ lists that year, since Cowboy Carter and Only God Was Above Us Came out that year. Regardless, I have no clue what to expect from this album, but I’m excited to check out something recent that wasn’t even on my radar. This wound up being a really solid album. I really enjoyed how the songs on this album developed, and I thought the way that the band arranged the instruments was really interesting. I really liked that they used a harmonium and synthesizers, and the way they incorporated those elements with the guitar playing was really good. At times, this album really reminded me of Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road. This album had plenty of good songs on it; “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab,” “Broken Biscuits,” “This Could Be Texas,” “R&B,” and “The Best Tears of Your Life” were all really good, and each one offered up something different to the album as a whole. While I enjoyed this album, I don’t think it’s something I'd come back to. While I liked the band’s sound, I didn’t think they really offered up anything particularly new or innovating. On top of that, the songs that didn’t stand out to me felt a bit like filler, and I felt my interest in this album oscillating quite a bit over the course of its fifty minutes. I still think it was really good, but I’d just personally gravitate towards something else if I were in the mood for some indie rock. I think this was a cool contribution to the user list though; as an American, I often forget about the Mercury Prize, so this was a nice way for me to branch out.

I’ve heard of Porcupine Tree before, but all I know about them is that they’re supposed to be a prog rock band. Prog rock is a pretty mixed bag with me, so I have no idea whether I’ll love or hate this album (fun fact: I’m 41 years old, and I literally learned maybe two years ago that porcupines climb trees. Apt band name it would seem). Overall, I thought this album was fine. I don’t Stupid Dream fits the prog rock label very well (the Jethro Tull inspired flute playing not withstanding), but this was a decent rock record. I definitely got hints of Radiohead and Doves while listening to this album, but there was something in the time signatures or rhythms that made Porcupine Tree have a bit of a different vibe to their overall sound. In general, I enjoyed how open and spacey this music felt, but there were times that this aspect was a bit of a drawback as well, making this album feel like it was amorphous and without direction. Stupid Dream didn’t have any songs that really hooked me in, but I thought that “Even Less,” “Piano Lessons,” “This Is No Rehearsal,” and “Baby Dream In Cellophane” were the best songs on the album. I wouldn’t seek out more Porcupine Tree albums on my own, but I know there’s a few more on the list, and I won’t be bummed when they come up.

A Finnish band, huh? This album cover is certainly interesting, that’s for sure. Do they have Crazy Town in Finland? I think this could be a Crazy Town album cover. I have nothing factual to base that on, just a gut feeling. You know what, that font is actually giving Rammstein, that’s what’s going on here. Regardless, I have no idea what this album is going to sound like, but here goes nothing! Oh man, where to begin with this one. I guess I’ll summarize by saying that I didn’t care for this album very much. The songs were way too long for my liking, which is a shame, because some of these songs would have killed on alt rock radio stations in 2001, but they just went on for too long without doing anything cool or interesting after the 3:30 mark or so. I found the lyrics on this album to be bland, and the lead signer’s voice didn’t really bring anything to the table, which to me, if you can’t get a good lead singer for your rock band, at least get one that sounds unique. I see that “Cradled in Love” gets tons of hate from other reviews, but oh man, “The Happy Song” is a million times worse. It’s like the worst parts of Hinder, Shinedown, and Puddle of Mudd got tossed into a blender. As far as this album’s positives are concerned, I did like how Temple of thought used keyboards in their music. Sadly though, it was one of the only unique things about their sound. I think these guys know how to make some decent melodies, but they don’t know how to create anything that’s going to become an earworm. This album was absolutely not for me, and I’m glad it’s over.

Ah, Arctic Monkeys! Before starting this project, I’d listened to maybe a couple of Arctic Monkeys albums (definitely AM and possibly Suck It and See), and I wasn’t terribly impressed by either one. However, I enjoyed their debut album on the main list a lot more than I thought I would. How will I feel about this one? Who knows! I wasn’t that into Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. The lounge rock sound was an interesting departure from the sound that I’m used to from Arctic Monkeys, but it really didn’t land with me. I felt like this album was really derivative of David Bowie’s work in the seventies, to the point where this didn’t even feel like an Arctic Monkeys album to me. There were a few songs on this album that I thought were good; “Four Out Of Five” was really good, and so was the title track, but everything else on this album was just a bit boring to my ears.

Ooh, more Sufjan AND more Angelo De Augustine. I gave both of these guys’ other albums three stars, so if I understand math properly, I think this is going to be a six-star album. I’m expecting some really chill melodies from this album, but I’m curious as to how the collaborative aspect of this album is going to play out. As expected, this album had some really beautiful arrangements to it, but I really enjoyed the way each song was inspired by a different film. I didn’t think it would work to have songs inspired by Hellraiser Three and Bring It On Again on the same album, but I stand corrected. On top of that, the dual vocals from Sufjan and Angelo were great, and I thought their voices complimented each other really well. Musically, “Lady Macbeth in Chains” was my favorite song on the album. The percussion was great, and I really loved the airy piano playing too. Lyrically though, I thought “You Give Death a Bad Name” was the best song on the album. I really enjoyed how the theme of zombies was used to explore who people really are on the inside. My biggest critique with this album is that there wasn’t a lot of variation in the music, and I felt my attention waning as the album went on. Still, this album was really beautiful and fun to listen to.

Sweet, some more Tragically Hip! I had never listened to these guys until I reviewed their debut album a couple of months ago. While Up To Here didn’t become my new favorite album, I still thought it was really good, and I’ve been looking forward to reviewing more of their work. Overall, I thought Phantom Power was a good album. The band’s lyrics were great, Gord Downie’s vocals were excellent, and the rock sound of the album was really accessible. Despite that though, I felt like this album didn’t have a lot of energy behind it, which was really disappointing for a rock album. I liked the level of emotion of the lyrics, but musically, this album just left me wanting more. I’m still excited for any other Hip albums that I’m going to get to review in the future, but I hope the albums that await me are closer in sound to Up To Here.

Back in 2023, I was going through some music publication’s list of the best albums of the year, and Lankum’s album False Lankum happened to be on the list. Unfortunately, though, I didn’t care for it at all, and I stopped listening after the first four tracks. Hopefully this album will be more to my liking! Huh. Well now I’m wondering why I bailed on False Lankum. While this album wasn’t my favorite, I really enjoyed the dense and rich sound, something I would never expect from a folk album. I thought the slow and moody sound worked really well on this album, and the consistency of that sound helped this album craft a setting that felt very tangible. “Bear Creek” was my favorite song on the album, and I thought its low and droning sounds evoked a lot of emotion, especially in a song without any lyrics. The only drawback to this album is that it dragged a bit a times, but it was a lot of fun to get lost in this one.

I’ve never heard of Transvision Vamp before, but I’m always down to check out an eighties band that I’m not familiar with. This album wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t particularly good either. I enjoyed the overall sound, and some of the songs on this album had a really fun energy to them, but this album felt a bit hollow to me, as if it was some sort of quick cash grab by a record label. Sometimes, I’ll hear an album by an artist I’ve never heard of before and wonder how they never had any big hits. And that was almost my reaction to this album, but I realized as I listened to it, that nothing on here had any sticking power. This album had a good overall sound, but it was completely devoid of catchy hooks and riffs. I find the late eighties to be such an interesting time in pop music due to the many shifts that were going on in music at the time, but this album fails to capture any of that. I really wanted to like this, and while there were parts of it that I did enjoy, Pop Art failed to impress me.

Would you say we have a plethora of Depeche Mode albums between both lists? Depeche Mode is one of those bands that I wished I could say I really loved, and while they do have some songs that I listen to regularly, they’ve just never managed to crack into that upper echelon of music that I love. I think Violator and Music for the Masses are both really good albums (Speak & Spell is a fine listen, but I think it’s ultimately better as an influential part of music history than it is a fun listening experience), but both of them were just missing something that I couldn’t put my finger on. I have no idea what to expect from this effort from DM, and I don’t recognize any of the song titles. Oh well, let’s get synthy! I thought Songs of Faith and Devotion was really good. However, it does suffer from ‘Violator Syndrome,’ where it starts off really strong, and then tapers off a couple of times. This album doesn’t have anything as strong as “World in My Eyes” or “Policy of Truth,” but the overall sound is really solid, and I think it’s really interesting that it’s clearly a Depeche Mode album, but it’s very distinct from Violator. I’m sure a lot of their fans wanted their next album to be Violator 2.0, but Depeche Mode didn’t fall into that trap, and they crafted something that evolved from their earlier works. But everything I want from Depeche Mode is on this album: a dark and rich atmosphere, great vocals from Dave Gahan, and beautiful synthesizer tones. I honestly thought I wasn’t going to be into this album, but it surprised me. I think it’s an achievement that Depeche Mode was able to follow up their two biggest albums with something as good as this. “Walking in My Shoes” wound up being my favorite song on the album. The synths on the verse are hypnotic, and I love the keyboard melodies on the choruses. Every element on that song comes together so well. Special shoutout to “In Your Room” for starting side two of the album with such a bang. This was a fun listen, and it was a really good supplement to the main list.

I just reviewed the Louis Armstrong album the other day, and now it’s time for even more jazz. I’ve never heard of Art Blakey before, but I’m feeling pretty good about this album since it has a really high rating. I still haven’t found a jazz album that’s really blown me away, but I’d easily put Moanin’ near the top of the genre. I really enjoyed the drumming on this album, and I was glad that Art Blakey’s talents were given plenty of time to shine on these songs. Even though jazz hasn’t really been my cup of tea, listening to a fair amount of it has taught me a couple of things about my musical preferences: 1) I don’t care much for trumpet playing jazz music and 2) I’m not that big on music without vocals. There are of course exceptions to both of those, but those two things seem to be the rule with me, more than the exception. On top of the drumming, I enjoyed how easy it was to get into the groove of these songs, and I think that’s because of how prominent the drumming was. The title track sounded really familiar to me, but I can’t place where I’ve heard it before. Regardless, I loved the way the song had a bit of a ‘call-and-response’ structure to it, and the piano was excellent. But “The Drum Thunder Suite” was my favorite part of the album, especially the first theme. That quick paced booming along with the steady cymbals just scratched every itch for me. This was a great album to listen to as I made breakfast and sipped on my morning coffee.

I have to admit, I have a bit of a bias against TMBG. I only know a few of their songs (it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that they do the opening and closing song for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), and I think of them as kinda odd and gimmicky, like a modern spin on Devo’s weirdest hits. In one of the reviews, someone said this album is full of Weird Al songs that aren’t parodies, and that’s spot on for what I imagine this album will be like (no disrespect to Weird Al, but I discovered his music when I was like eight, and the direct parodies were what spoke to me the most at that time. His originals have grown on me as an adult, because I realize the genius of style parodies). But hey, maybe I’ll be surprised by this one! This album is a little short of five stars for me, but I enjoyed it a whole lot more than I thought I would. John and John and company have some serious songwriting and enough musical chops to keep this album interesting almost all the way through. “Can’t Keep Johnny Down” really hooked me in right off the start. I loved the keyboards and accordion playing, and the lyrics were incredibly catchy and fun. From there, the album’s sound twisted and turned, but I enjoyed never knowing what was going to come next. There was a little bit of everything on this album: some country twang on “Old Pine Box,” hypnotic guitar effects on “Canajoharie,” sick dance beats on “Celebration,” Tejano-sounding trumpets on “In Fact,” and the hilarious dark lyrics of “When Will You Die?” My biggest complaint with this album is that it lost me a bit towards the end. I really didn’t care for “The Lady and the Tiger,” and it made it tough for me to get into the songs that came after it. I don’t think that this is the type of album that I’d come back to, but I can’t deny TMBG their flowers. I can see why these guys have such a devoted fan base, and I’m really looking forward to Flood.

I wanna say I’ve heard of Touché Amoré before, but I couldn’t tell you when and where I’ve heard their name before. I see that they’re post hardcore, which is a genre that I tend to enjoy, so I’m pretty pumped to jump into this. This was a really good album. I wasn’t completely sure what to expect out of it, but man, it had a ton of emotion in the lyrics, and I’m seeing that it’s about the lead singer’s mom dying of cancer, which, man, I should have figured out due to the title of the album. I thought the guitar playing on this album was great, and I really enjoyed the guitar tones that the band used. It felt to me like they were operating in a fairly narrow space musically (nothing inherently wrong with that), but I think they operated really well within that sound, using it to convey grief in different ways. “New Halloween” and “Water Damage” were my favorite songs on the album; the former for the lyrics, and the latter for the way that the guitar playing created tension throughout the song. This album did drag a bit in the middle for me, but for the most part, it was really consistent. Julien Baker’s appearance on “Skyscraper” was really good too, and I think placing that song near the close of the album was brilliant. Oh, and that voicemail, which I assume was Jeremy’s mom… what a gut punch. Overall, a great album. I don’t know that I’d come back to this album, mostly because it’s just so heavy, but I’d be down to check out other albums from Touché Amoré. Great submission!

I’ve never heard of Biffy Clyro before, but anytime I see anything related to the name Biff, I just want to call people butthead and then make like a tree and get out of there. I’m not sure what to expect from this album, but I’m always down for some alt rock. Overall, this album was fine. The leadoff track, “Living Is a Problem” really hooked me in with the beautiful string arrangement, but the album never really reached that initial peak again with me, although “Everyone is Excellent” came pretty darn close. The guitar playing on this album was pretty solid throughout, but the songs here ranged from ‘meh’ to ‘pretty good’ for the most part, and the overall experience was a bit uneven. Back to “Everyone is Excellent” for a sec: I loved the vocal crescendo that this song built to, and I wish there had been more risk taking from the band on this album. This was a nice rock record, but there wasn’t enough here for me to want to explore more of the band’s discography.

I’m sure I’ve heard of The Jesus Lizard before, but maybe I’m thinking of King Gizzard? Hmm, these guys are from Austin, so maybe I’ve seen them on lists of best Texas bands or something. Anywho, in my light reading before going into this album, I see that Kurt Cobain really loved them (I liked Meat Puppets II, so that’s promising) but I also see that Steve Albini produced this album (I loved Atomizer’s Big Black and PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me, so that’s super promising). I guess it's time to live deliciously with Goat. Huh. I really wanted to love this album, but it came in a bit middle of the road for me. I enjoyed the droning and deep guitars, and the drumming was incredibly precise. I enjoyed the overall sound of the album instrumentally, but I wasn’t into the vocals or the lyrics. When it comes to the instruments, I think the production work is what gives this album its edge. I feel like Steve Albini was able to get The Jesus Lizard to sound like the best version of themselves, without leaving his fingerprint all over the work. There’s a darkness and a chaos to this album, but everything feels like it’s in the perfect place to create that darkness. No particular element feels like it’s fighting for control or dominating the sound, and while I wouldn’t call this album harmonious, each element operates in harmony with the other elements. I honestly think I could listen to this album again in two years and either declare it one of the best things I’ve ever heard, or absolutely despise it. What an interesting album, and even though I didn’t love it, I’m glad someone added it to the user submissions list. Oh, and “Monkey Trick” absolutely ruled. That guitar playing was excellent, just completely hypnotic.

Man, The Presidents really were omnipresent for a bit back in the nineties. I think my first exposure to them was my babysitter who lived on my street playing “Peaches” on CD. I have no other context for this interaction, which makes this little snippet of a memory sound insane. But I remember in the fall of my sixth-grade year in 1996, my middle school’s drama department did a play called “Alky,” about the dangers of peer pressure and drinking, and during the opening scene, “Peaches” was played, and for whatever reason, it felt cool to already know that song. And of course there was Weird Al’s “Lump” parody, “Gump.” Man, these guys really left an interesting fingerprint on my life in 1996. I think “Peaches” and “Lump” might be the only songs on this album I know, but I’m looking forward to traveling off the beaten path of nineties alt rock for a bit! I found this album mostly okay. “Peaches” and “Lump” were definitely the highlights, and the rest of the album had a fun energy, boosted by some really ridiculous and funny lyrics, with “We Are Not Going to Make It” probably being the most humorous song on the album. “Kitty,” “Boll Weevil,” and “Dune Buggy” were also pretty good, and I can’t believe “Kitty” was actually released as a single that charted on the US Modern Rock Tracks. If I had tried to buy this CD, my parents would have definitely put the kibosh on it. Despite some fun songs, I thought the album was a bit lackluster overall. The Presidents don’t really do anything that other bands don’t do better, making these guys masters of none in a sense. But I do think this album captures the nineties rock scene really well. Tons of artists lit up the charts with a couple of great songs, but so few of them managed to have any staying power, despite those one or two good songs persuading so many people into spending money on full albums that turned out to be mostly filler. Even though this album wasn’t completely my cup of tea, it was fun to get lost in some nineties alt rock for a bit.

I’ve never heard of Chloe x Halle before, but that’s certainly a striking album cover. I briefly looked at the reviews for this album and its Wikipedia page, but I’m still not very confident about what I expect this album to sound like. Will this be Brat, or will it be Bitch? I was pretty underwhelmed by this album. Chloe and Halle are pretty good vocalists, but for an R&B album that leans heavily into pop music, there wasn’t anything particularly catchy about most of the music, and the lyrics only had a few flashes of fun to them. “Don’t Make It Harder on Me” was my favorite song on the album. I thought the bass and synthesized strings were great, and the song just got better and better as it went along. The title track was pretty good as well; the call and response vocals were really fun, and they allowed Chloe and Halle to show off their singing abilities in a unique way. But other than that, I didn’t think this album offered much. I read that this album was really well received by critics, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me.

I’ve never heard of Snarky Puppy before, but I’m guessing they aren’t related to Skinny Puppy or Sick Puppies. I’m not a big jazz guy, but that Art Blakey album I reviewed about a week ago was good, so maybe it’s growing on me. We’ll see if this keeps the trend going. Hey, this was a good album! I liked how big and bold the sound of this album was, and I found it really easy to get into a fun groove while listening to this. Looking at the personnel credits alone for this album, I would have assumed that it was going to sound like a busy and jumbled mess, but in execution, I thought this album sounded really good. The bass and the drumming were probably my favorite elements to the music, but I really liked the keyboards too. The album did lose a bit of steam with me as it went along, but I appreciated how the strong start hooked me in. What a solid and fun addition to the user list.

I’m so sorry, but a live jam band album? And it’s over an hour long? By a band called Pigeons Playing Ping Pong? I try not to judge a book by its cover, but man, I can’t help but think that I’m going to hate the ever-loving crap out of this album. Other than The Grateful Dead albums on the main list, I’ve never really listened to any jam band albums (I despised the Dead’s live album, but the studio one was surprisingly okay). I guess it’s time for an outdoor jam! This was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. I enjoyed the funky guitar jams, and the percussion and bass had a really fun groove to them, which made it really easy to get lost in these songs. “Poseidon” really hooked me in at the start, and I loved the guitar jamming in the second half of the song. The lyrics were kinda cheesy and not my thing, but I was able to look past that. The second song, “Melting Lights,” was lost on me, and left me longing for those brighter sounds that made “Poseidon” so fun. Thankfully, the album bounced back on “Offshoot,” with its great bass playing. I really enjoyed the way they incorporated Mancini’s Pink Panther theme into the song as well. And that general pattern pretty much played out throughout the album: a song that I enjoyed, followed by one that I didn’t care for. I’m not sure how I feel about the “Ghostbusters” cover at the end though. I love the original version, and while this one was creative, I think it felt a bit unnecessary. Overall, this album was fine. The highs were pretty fun, but the lows were a bit tedious and borning.

Oh, now this is an album cover! I’m not a prude, but hot damn, I feel like I shouldn’t be listening to this album, or I’m going to wind up summoning some sort of demonic presence into my house. Everything I’m reading about this album leads me to believe it’s going to kick ass, so let’s jump in! Yep, this album whips all of the ass. Everything about this was right up my alley: hypnotic synthesizer loops, a dark atmosphere, and infectious beats. That feeling I got from the cover that I was about to embark on some sort of dark journey was present all throughout this album. The synthesizers were incredibly dark and atmospheric, and combined with the rhythm of the drums, it produced this sound that generated a sense of unease with me, almost like I was off balance. All of that combined with the muddled vocals made this album feel dark and foreboding, and I loved every minute of it. I really loved the way the drum beat was reused throughout this album too. That drum beat made everything even more cohesive, on an album that already had a really great throughline. I really loved this album, and if it didn’t have a big ol’ pair of titties on the cover, I’d probably try to get a physical copy of it. What a nifty little hidden gem.

I’m not familiar with this artist or album, but I tend to enjoy hip hop, especially conscious hip hop, so I’m excited to listen to this album. I’m not sure what to expect, but I’m hopeful that it’ll be worth the almost 80 minutes that I’m going to spend listening to it. Nia was a very pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed the production on this album, especially the beats. The rapping was really unique too, and I enjoyed the additional vocalists that backed up the duo. The rhymes on this album were really good, and while I don’t understand a lot about hip hop from a technical aspect, it felt like Blackalicious were using some nontraditional rhythmic structures to their songs. I also enjoyed the lyrics to this album quite a bit. I was 14 when this album came out, and hip-hop music was forbidden in my household, so it’s interesting to hear the social critiques on this album, now that I have an adult’s perspective on the late nineties. “You Didn’t Know That Though” was my favorite song on the album. The beat was infectious, and the vocal fills of ‘yo-yo-yo-yo-yo’ was awesome. The main flow of the rapping was great too, and I didn’t want this song to end. My only complaint with this album is that it was a bit too overblown in its length, and it felt like Blackalicious kept coming back to the same lyrical themes without adding anything new or expanding on what they’d already rapped about. Still, this was a really good album, and I’d take this over either of the Common albums on the main list.

An hour-long album from Barenaked Ladies? I have a soft spot for some of their hits that were big when I was in middle school, but I dunno that Gordon is going to be a great listening experience for me. However, one benefit of this album has already hit, and I haven’t even started it yet: I just remembered that Weird Al did that Jerry Springer song that parodied “One Week.” Damn, that was hilarious. But I digress. Time for my hour with Gordon! This album was a pretty mixed bag. I think this album was at its best when Barenaked Ladies were being sincere and slowing things down a bit. Those slower and more serious songs reminded me a bit of the two Tragically Hip albums I’ve listened to so far. Barenaked Ladies do a good job on those songs of capturing emotional vulnerability and how it relates to nostalgia and memories. When they want to get a bit more upbeat, their sound loses me, because I feel like they lose their identity, and at times, they try too hard to be goofy and silly. That playfulness works to a degree on “Grade 9,” but musically, it’s still a step down from the harmonies and slow beauty of something like “Wrap Your Arms Around Me.” I think they manage to do both the serious and goofy really well on “If I Had $1,000,000,” but that was the exception and not the rule. One more benefit of listening to this album was that once it was over, Spotify threw on their song “Pinch Me,” which I had completely forgotten about. Man, that song is a jam. But as far as Gordon goes, I thought this album was okay overall. It’s interesting to listen to this album and realize that these guys would eventually hit the stratosphere with “One Week.”

German electronica music? To quote David Letterman, “I’ll take all that ya got!” I really loved the Krautrock albums on the main list, so this is probably going to be right up my alley. I’ve listened to this album three times, and I keep waffling between liking it and finding it a mixed bag. I do like that this album is different from other German electronic albums I reviewed and loved on the main list, like Neu! and Kraftwerk. But unlike those other two artists, this album from Cluster is just missing something that I’m having a tough time putting into words. I do like how Cluster arranges their music, and the way they assemble different elements to create their melodies, but I just felt like this album didn’t have much of a soul to it. The first time I finished it, Spotify threw on a Neu song that I wasn’t even familiar with, but as soon as I heard it, I just knew that it had something that Zuckerzeit didn’t. I think that maybe this album was a little too formless for me, and it lacked some of the structure that I enjoy in other works of a similar sound. I did enjoy listening to this though, and it’s made me come back multiple times for an additional listen, so I think I’m going to firmly say that I liked it, but it’s a bit short of five stars for me. An additional note for the person that submitted this: I see your favorite album from the list is Neu! ’75, and man, that album is fantastic, and I think it’s cool as hell that you submitted this one, and that Yeti one too.

I’m casually acquainted with Jack Johnson, but I can’t say that I’ve ever really sought out his music. I often lump his music in with the John Mayer’s and the Jason Mraz’s; in other words, I’ve never really found his music that appealing, even though I’m sure he’s talented. But who knows, maybe this album will be the perfect thing for this sticky summer morning. Not even Jack Johnson can make this humid July morning more tolerable. I don’t mind slower acoustic jams, and even though Jack Johnson can handle the guitar perfectly well, but his melodies are pretty vanilla, and I didn’t find anything particularly memorable about the music itself (had “Upside Down” been on this album, I could have given out some props for it). Lyrically, this album didn’t really take any chances, and I found myself playing ‘guess the next rhyme’ with some pretty good accuracy. For a guy who fights for causes, his music lacks teeth and action. However, I did really like “If I Could.” As a father to two young kids, I had to listen to this song twice, because the lyrics were a gut punch. My wife is a neonatologist (premature babies), and that opening line about losing a newborn was just heartbreaking. This was easily the weightiest song on the album, and it was really well written. Other than that though, while this album was nice, it was lacking in substance for me.

I’ve never heard of Noname before, and I’m sure there’s a good pun to be made out of that statement, but that’s a job for someone wittier than me. I tend to enjoy hip hop though, and this is a really cool album cover, so I’m hopeful this album will be a fun jam. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t really get into this album. For the most part, the lo-fi sound on this album just didn’t work for me. I have nothing against lo-fi hip hop; I think Enter the Wu Tang is a masterpiece. But on Enter the Wu Tang, that lo-fi sound pulls you into the streets of Staten Island, and on Telefone, the lo-fi production didn’t elevate anything for me. I like Noname’s rapping; her flow is really impressive, especially when she’s delivering some longer lines, and she has a really good voice too, but the overall sound of the album just wasn’t my cup of tea. There were a couple of songs I enjoyed on this album: “Yesterday” was a strong lead off track, and “Diddy Bop” had an excellent beat to it, complimented by that dreamy and airy melody. A note for person who submitted this album: thanks for submitting something so unique! It’s not a bad album by any stretch, but it’s just not my jam. But I’m happy to see that you also gave five stars to that Bill Callahan album!

Alright Porcupine Tree, let’s see if you can manage more than three stars on this album. Stupid Dream was fine, but having heard so much praise Fear of a Blank Planet, I was a bit let down by it. If your album title is going to play on one of my favorite hip hop albums, it better be good! Eh, this was pretty much on par with Stupid Dream, or maybe slightly better. I enjoyed the guitar playing, the drumming, and the way that the music was arranged, but I just have a hard time getting into longer prog songs. To me, these songs just kind of meandered along, stretching out for no real purpose. On top of that, I wasn’t into the theme of the album, but I think that’s because I’m just not into any type of social commentary that isn’t channeling the rage I feel about the state of the world these days. I can’t deny that these guys are talented, and while their music is pretty enjoyable to listen to, it just doesn’t strike a chord with me.

I’m not familiar with Malibu, but ambient electronica music? Sign me up yesterday. This album seems like it’s going to be right up my alley, and I expect to really enjoy it. Eh, One Life wound up being just fine in my book. This was a very nice album to listen to, and I enjoyed its gentle sounds and ethereal atmosphere, but I didn’t find this album to be very memorable. I tend to enjoy electronica music, but I prefer things with more traditional melodic structures, and this album was a little too formless for me. I enjoyed it while I was listening to it, but as soon as it was over, it immediately left my brain. This was a nice experience, but this is the sort of album that I’d only listen to as background noise while I’m stretching out or doing a puzzle or some sort of other low energy activity.

Man, the user submitted list might lack artists that I’m familiar with, like Agalloch (gesundheit), but it sure doesn’t lack variety, that’s for sure. I’m not much of a metal guy, with a few exceptions of course, so I’m not sure how I’m going to feel about this album. These metal bands sure do like critters with antlers though. Welp, The Mantle was not really my style. I liked the overall big sound of this album, especially the guitars and drumming, but man, I could not get into those guttural vocals. I honestly can’t remember any of the lyrics what any of the lyrics were about, and I think that’s because I was tuning out the vocals. The music wasn’t bad, but only a couple of these songs had any sort of payoff, where the song built to something interesting and unique. However, “The Hawthorne Passage” was an exception to this. I really enjoyed the booming drums towards the end, and the lead and bass guitars were excellent as well. The icing on the cake though was those horns that came in. Absolutely sublime. The best overall song though, was “A Desolation Song.” That accordion was awesome, and the vocals didn’t bother me on this song either. The mandolin that kicked in later on in the song was great too. Man, I’m a sucker for a good mandolin. But overall, this album just wasn’t for me. I can see why people might like it, and props to the submitter for something very unique and different, but different strokes for different folks.

Well damn, I’m only 160-some-odd albums into the user list, and I’ve already gotten all three Vampire Weekend albums. I love Vampire Weekend, but man, I was hoping to spread their albums out a bit more. I listened to this when it first came out (as I’ve done with every Vampire Weekend album since Contra), but that was the only time I’ve listened to it. I know I liked it, but I just haven’t had the chance to give it another spin and really sit with it, but it looks like I’ll get that chance today! I had a really tough time rating this album, but before I launch into my ramblings on it, I’m going to say that it’s a five-star album. We’ll see if that holds as I type out my thoughts. Objectively, I think this album is wonderful, and as far as Vampire Weekend’s career is concerned, it’s a really great bounce back from Father of the Bride, which I think is a really weak album from an otherwise awesome band. OGWAU is an album with a really strong throughline; from the music to the themes of the lyrics, this album has a wonderful cohesiveness to it that was missing from its predecessor. Musically, the stripped down and fuzzy sound works really well for the band here, and despite the rougher edges to these songs, the arrangements are still really beautiful, and they have that distinct Vampire Weekend feeling to them. I remember listening to the band’s first album and really loving it, but in the weeks leading up to the release of Contra, I found myself thinking that there was no way these guys could make an album that felt distinct from their first one. And hot damn, these guys prove me wrong time and time again. With the harder edges to the music this time around, I felt like the lyrics carried more weight, which is an interesting shift to their earlier albums, where I find myself completely engrossed in the music. Personally, I prefer the upbeat bops of the band’s first two albums, but in terms of overall quality, OGWAU is still fantastic. Yes, there’s no “Walcott” or “Giving Up The Gun” here, but there are still plenty of wonderful piano arrangements, synthesizers, strings, and quirky percussive elements to make this album a joy to listen to.

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that the only Crash Test Dummies song I’ve ever heard is “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm.” I’m sure I’m also not alone in having been exposed to Weird Al’s parody “Headline News” before hearing Crash Test Dummies at all. I’d gotten Weird Al’s Greatest Hits Volume II on cassette for Christmas in 1994, where “Headline News” was the first song. I remember my brother and I doubling over with laughter during the John and Lorena Bobbitt verse, but we both knew that my parents would probably lose their shit if they heard this song. As luck would have it, shortly after getting that cassette, my parents insisted that we listen to it in the car while running errands. My brother and I were mortified that they were going to hear the verse about ‘this guy who made his wife so mad one night that she cut off his wiener,’ and that the tape would be confiscated from us. As the offending verse got closer, my brother and I were practically sweating in the backseat of the car. But as it played, my parents actually cracked up laughing, and my brother and I were in absolute disbelief. I can’t remember when I finally heard “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm,” but I’m sure it was on the local alt rock station, and I’ve heard it countless times since then. I have no idea what to expect from the rest of this album, but I’m cautiously optimistic! This album was fantastic, and I’m really shocked by how much I enjoyed it. As soon as the title track started, I was hooked. As the album went on, I was floored by how much I enjoyed each song. I kept thinking that the illusion had to crack at some point, and this album would have a serious dip in quality, and while “The Psychic” and “Two Knights and Maidens” were probably the two weakest songs on the album, I still felt like this was a really solid album. The bass lines and backing vocals were really great throughout the album, and there were some great keyboard parts as well. The production was immaculate as well, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was courtesy of Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads. I wasn’t sure how a full album of Brad Roberts’s baritone voice was going to land with me, but man, the backing vocals from Ellen Reid complimented his voice so well. Those harmonies were absolutely to die for. “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” was probably my favorite song on the album, but “Swimming in Your Ocean” was great too. I really love the way the piano and guitar sound together on “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm,” and I love when the percussion kicks in at the start of the second verse. On top of that, the bridge is fantastic, and the outro is really haunting. It’s just a perfectly constructed song. The guitar tones on “Swimming In Your Ocean” are fantastic, and once again, the backing vocals and bass guitar are excellent too. On top of all of that, the keyboards fill out the main melody so well, and the mandolin is great too. I’m so pleasantly surprised at how good this album was. It was quirky and weird, but it was also really earnest and unique too. What a cool slice of nineties alt rock! An excellent submission for the user generated list.

Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, you say? That’s a bit of a turnoff. As is the font on this album cover. Looks like some barfed a movie poster onto a generic basketball jersey you’d see at Wal Mart. Woof. Thankfully though, the description for this album makes it seem far more palatable than its cover does. I have no idea what this album is going to sound like, but hopefully it’s better than the cover implies! 30 Something was far from perfect, but it was a really fun album. The samples, driving drum machines, and blasting synths crafted a really fun sound, and the biting lyrics were cleverly written, and delivered with the perfect amount of snark and sneering. “Shopper’s Paradise” and “Billy’s Smart Circus” were a couple of my favorite songs on the album. Both had some excellent drum machines, guitars, and synthesizers, and I really enjoyed the energy they brought to the album. However, the slower songs like “A Prince in a Pauper’s Grave” and “Falling on a Bruise” were pretty dull. As fun as this album was though, I don’t know that it will wind up being very memorable to me. Even though I’ve listened to this album twice, the hooks stopped being catchy once they left my ears, and I doubt I’d be able to hum a single tune from this album tomorrow. Still, that can’t take away the enjoyment I had, nor the unique sound and clever lyrics. What a cool addition to the user list!

Ah man, more Gorillaz? Listen, I liked Demon Days enough, but I really wasn’t hoping for a third helping of this band, nor a sixth helping of Damon Albarn. I gave an almighty sigh and a ‘dammit’ of resignation when this popped up for me today, but maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised? Well, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this album. It’s not a five-star experience for me, but I enjoyed the atmosphere that permeated this album, and the synthesizer arrangements were great too. On top of that, I thought the drums and bass were really good too, with both of them contributing to the album’s really great beats. For the most part, the guest appearances were really solid; each guest artist was able to add something unique to the album, without overshadowing what Albarn’s vision was for the album. This album did get off to a rough start with me; I didn’t really care much for the title track. No disrespect to Thundercat, but his rapping just isn’t something I enjoy. Thankfully though, the album immediately bounced back immediately with “Oil.” The synthesizers and drumming were great, and I really loved Stevie Nicks’s vocals. But for my money, “Silent Running” was the best song on the album. The synthesizers were at their best, and the drumming added the slow tempo to the song. The vocals on the chorus were great as well. “New Gold” was excellent as well. Tame Impala’s psychedelic sound was perfect for this song. No disrespect to Bad Bunny, but I didn’t care much for “Tormenta.” It wasn’t a bad song, but it just felt very out of place to me on this album. Overall, though, this was a really good album. It had some great songs, but the album as a whole was just really cohesive.

Ooh, Slowdive! I’ve been meaning to check these folks out. I really loved a lot of the shoegaze albums on the main list, and I’ve seen a lot of people say that Slowdive’s work belongs on there as well. I’m excited to tackle this album today! I didn’t love this album as much as I enjoy Loveless or Nowhere, but it’s still a really good album. I enjoyed how Slowdive crafted their own unique sound on this album, which felt like a blend of Cocteau Twins and Ride. The atmosphere was dense, and I liked the melancholy vocals and lyrics. I felt like I was rewarded for listening to each song really intently, as there were quite a few fun little details to hear on a lot of these songs. “Souvlaki Space Station” was my favorite song on the album. The overall melody was really beautiful, and I found myself really lost in the overall sound of the song. A few songs on this album were a bit boring to me though; “Machine Gun” and “Melon Yellow” just weren’t my jam. For some reason, I felt like both of these songs were really muted when it came to the production, but maybe that’s just me. This was a solid album though, and I’m glad I finally got an excuse to check out Slowdive.

Wow, I feel like this cover is worth being featured on a Haunted Doll Watch segment on My Brother, My Brother, and Me. That’s certainly a choice. I’ve never heard of Ty Segall before, so I have no idea what to expect from this album. Hopefully it won’t creep me out like its cover did! Damn, this album was really good. I loved the guitar playing and drumming; both of those elements came together perfectly to create a hard rock sound with a forceful, driving rhythm. The fuzzier and more distorted the guitars were, the more I enjoyed them. I definitely picked up on the Marc Bolan vibes that other reviewers mentioned, but I honestly liked this album more than either T. Rex album from the main list. “Emotional Mugger,” “Diversion,” and “Squealer Two” were my favorite songs on the album, with “Diversion” barely taking the top spot. The guitars were incredible, and I enjoyed the vocals and lyrics too. However, most of the time on this album, I found the vocals really grating, especially those weird guttural vocals. On top of that, I really didn’t care for the last two songs on the album. They were both really weird, but they didn’t add anything to the album with their weirdness. Still, this was an enjoyable album, and I’d be down to check out more work from Ty.

Ooh, Billy Squier! I know a couple of songs off of this album, and I might even know more than that. “The Stroke” is a little overplayed in my opinion, but “Lonely Is the Night” fucking rips. I’m really shocked that this has some pretty good reviews, and I’m excited to check it out! Man, this album completely destroyed my expectations in all the best ways. It should be a crime that Bad Company is on the main list while this album isn’t. Even though I know three of the songs on this album (I wound up knowing “My Kind of Lover” as well), I’d never really given them a critical listen. This album really had it all: awesome vocals, catchy guitar hooks, sick bass grooves, punchy drums, and awesome keyboard melodies. Every song really had something different to offer up on this album, but even with all the variety, this album is still really cohesive. Even though I’ve heard “The Stroke” countless times, I never realized the way that the guitars and drums work in perfect tandem with one another. The guitar riff on the chorus is awesome too, and I love how it’s got a bit of a deeper tone to it. Listening to this today only further cemented my love for “Lonely Is the Night.” I’d never realized how great that bass playing is, and that has to be some of the hookiest guitar playing in all of classic rock. While those two songs are easily the best on the album, there’s not a bad song to be found. From the keyboards on “My Kind of Lover” and the awesome rhythms of “Whadda You Want From Me,” this album does it all. Those high schoolers in Billy Madison can sneer at “The Stroke” all they want, but this album was a blast.

Man, I haven’t listened to Manchester Orchestra in well over a decade. My brother is a huge fan of anything Andy Hull does, and he got me into his work when Simple Math came out. Like someone else mentioned, I too went to see Manchester Orchestra on tour with Cage the Elephant (holy crap, I forgot I also saw them play with Brand New a couple years after that), and it was a great show. I’m shocked that this is the only MO album on the user list, as I would expect someone would have submitted I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child or Mean Everything to Nothing, but I’m still excited to check this album out. This wasn’t my favorite Manchester Orchestra album, but I really enjoyed it. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy listening to these guys, and hearing Andy Hull’s voice on the opening track immediately brought me back to when I’d listen to his music regularly. I enjoyed the big and cinematic sound of this album, and musically, it was really enjoyable to listen to these arrangements. Like every other MO album I’ve heard, the lyrics were great, with plenty of vivid imagery and symbolism. However, emotionally, I felt like this album lacked some depth, as it only seemed to touch on sadness and regret. This album was missing some of that anger that earlier MO albums have. The album did sag a bit in the middle for me, but it did pick up later on thankfully, and honestly, that stretch from “The Wolf” to “The Silence” was probably my favorite part of the album. While this wasn’t my favorite thing I’ve ever heard, I really enjoyed getting to reconnect with Manchester Orchestra today.

Ugh, more prog? Well, at least this album is French, so I’m getting to mix things up a bit. I’m not entirely sure what to expect from this album, but looking at the track listing and seeing a pair of songs over ten minutes long is not inspiring hope in me. Granted, Hot Buttered Soul has an 18-minute song, and I think that album rules, so I guess anything is possible. Eh, this album was fine. The big, open sound worked in this album’s favor at times, but at other points, I found it to be quite the turn-off. I don’t dislike long songs on principal, but I swear some artists (present company included) make longer songs because they feel like they have to. And while the music might be enjoyable, it feels like there was minimal purpose to all of the noodling and jamming on these songs. I did like the spacey feel that this album had, especially on “It’s Coming…” The guitar playing was excellent, and that instrumental break at the end was really entertaining. The drumming was great too, and this was probably the best example of the band’s open sound being an asset. Despite this album falling in the middle of the road for me, it was nice to have on, and I appreciate how cohesive the overall sound was. The more I listen to it, the more I’m learning that I really don’t have much of a flare for modern prog rock.

Hell yes, Bob Seger! This will be my second classic rock album to spin this week, after Billy Squier’s Don’t Say No. Back when I listened to classic rock more heavily, I’d consider myself a Seger fan, but I haven’t listened to anything from Bob in a hot minute, but I own this album on vinyl. This album starts off with one of my favorite classic rock songs of all time, so I’m really looking forward to listening to this today. Stranger in Town is a great album, but it falls a bit short of five stars for me. The hits on this album are outstanding, with the exception of one song (but I’ll get to that in a minute), but the songs that aren’t hits, while not necessarily feeling like filler, still pale a bit compared to the rest of the album. “Hollywood Nights” shows what Bob Seger does at his best: bring memories to life without getting trapped in the feelings of empty nostalgia. There’s such a longing in the lyrics, but it’s not a longing for a specific time, but a longing by Seger as the narrator to feel that level of passion and meaning again. The drumming on this song is some of my favorite drumming in all of classic rock, and the piano and bass guitar are absolutely incredible as well. Shifting out of the booming “Hollywood Nights” into the slower “Still the Same” is a tough feat, but Seger manages to do it well. Seger’s lead vocals and the backing vocals create a really haunting ballad of disappointment and heartache, and the lyrics are excellent. But “Old Time Rock and Roll,” while a smash hit, feels like schmaltz to me. I admire Seger’s ability to mime the style of rock music the lyrics fawn over, but I the lyrics just feel so cheesy to me. There’s really no weight to the lyrics at all, and while the saxophone solo and acapella bridge are excellent, they’re the only bright spots on otherwise bad song. While “Till It Shines” isn’t bad, I found it a bit forgettable, despite Glenn Frey’s guitar solo. Thankfully though, “Feel Like a Number” closes out side one of this album with a fun working class bop. While Springsteen’s songs about the working class feel alone and isolating, Seger’s more lighthearted foray into the working-class blues feels more like a collective gripe, which finds some fun among the company that misery tends to love. “We’ve Got Tonite,” while among my personally least favorite Seger songs, is still an effective love ballad. Seger’s raspy voice is perfect, and the string arrangement is really beautiful too. As for the rest of side two? Eh, it’s fine. Stranger in Town is a really good album though, and a great showcase for the talents of Bob Seger. I feel like Seger will always live in the shadows of other seventies rock acts, but he has a really unique sound, and his music hits emotions in ways that are really different than his contemporaries. He’s a great storyteller with a wonderful voice, and I really enjoyed getting to reconnect with him today. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go listen to Night Moves and contemplate my life.

I don’t know that I’ve ever heard a song by David Allan Coe, but I’ve heard his name quite a few times. Country music from this era tends to be something that I enjoy, but there’s always outliers (I’m looking at you, Waylon and Merle). Hopefully, Mr. Coe will land closer to Nanci Griffith! David Allan Coe was no Nanci Griffith, but this album was better than I was expecting. The songwriting was really great, Coe’s vocals were really good, and there were some really great arrangements as well. I enjoyed the first half of the album quite a bit more than the second half though; I felt like the emotional pull of songs like “Would You Lay with Me,” “Jody Like a Melody,” and “Sweet Vibrations” really let Coe play to his strengths. I really enjoyed how the songs on the first half of the album started off with some sparse instrumentals, before some really beautiful strings kicked in. On top of that, Coe’s lead vocals and the backing vocals from The Jordanaires were perfectly suited for the songs on the first half of the album. The album lost me a bit when it went ‘honky tonk’ on the second half. I found “Piece of Wood and Steel” to be really grating, both with the vocals and the instrumentals. And the other songs on the second half of the album, other than “You Never Even Called Me By My Name,” (the only song I wound up knowing), were just kind of bland to me, and they didn’t offer anything unique. This album is one of the most 3.5-star albums I’ve reviewed, but for the purposes of this rating system, it’s getting 4 stars, mostly due to the excellent song writing. I don’t know that I’d fire this album up again, but it was certainly worth my time to listen to.

I’ve never heard of this band before, but I’m hoping this is one Mew that I won’t have to use a glitch or GameShark to track down. And now I would like to make an apology for making a joke that was both niche and terrible. A Danish butter cookie tin/sewing kit joke might have worked better. All jokes aside, I’m not sure what to expect from this album, and the only other Danish band that I can think of is Alphabeat, and I wouldn’t be upset if Mew sounded like that. Well, Mew didn’t sound anything like Alphabeat, but I thought this album was pretty good. I enjoyed the overall sound of this album, and I thought Mew did a nice job of blending elements of dream pop, shoegaze, and alternative rock together to create a really unique sound. I like the way they arranged their music, especially the way they layered the guitars with the piano and synths. “She Came Home for Christmas” was my favorite song on the album. The vocals were great, and the overall sound of the song managed to be really gentle while also feeling anthemic. The only thing that I didn’t like about this album was that it was a bit one dimensional. I think Mew operated really well in the space that they occupied with this album, but it would have been nice to hear them expand their sound a bit more and create something that pushed against their boundaries a bit more. On top of that, I wish there had been more noteworthy songs, other than just “She Came Home for Christmas.” This was a nice and well-made album to listen to, but that was about it.

I think First Aid Kit was on the bill for one of the years that I went to ACL, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard any of their music before. I had an album from Mew yesterday, and with this album today, I guess I’m going on a tour of Scandinavia. As long as this album doesn’t remind me of Midsommar, I think I’ll be okay. The Lion’s Roar wasn’t really my jam, but I appreciate the artistry of it. The arrangements were really beautiful, and they did a great job of bringing the atmosphere of the album to life. The vocals were excellent as well, and I was really shocked that a duo from Sweden would be this adept at making an album that feels so American in both sound and mood. When I was reading about this album, I saw that Conor Oberst was on it, and I assumed that maybe he contributed some guitar playing, so I was delighted to hear his voice on the closing track of the album. “King of the World” wound up being my favorite song on the album, not just because of Oberst’s role in it, but I really enjoyed the plucking of the guitar, the accordion, and the trumpet. It was just a really upbeat song, and I enjoyed that it was a departure from the rest of the album. Other than “King of the World” though, I felt like this album occupied a really narrow space emotionally and in sound. And there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but this was a narrow space that I’m just not a big fan of personally. Still, I appreciate this is a good album made by some very talented musicians.

I’m not familiar with Q65, but man, I’m getting hit with non-UK European albums left and right lately (no complaints). Sixties music from the main list was incredibly hit-or-miss with me, so I have no idea if I’m going to love this album or hate it, and I’d be really shocked if I don’t have strong feelings about it one way or the other. Well, I actually wound up not having a strong like or dislike of this album. I appreciate the general artistry of Q65 on this album, especially how unique their sound is. At a time when a lot of artists wanted to be the next Beatles or Rolling Stones, Q65 built a really unique sound on this album, fusing psychedelic, blues, and garage rock elements together. I felt like the songs that relied more on the blues were the best parts of the album, like “I’m A Man” and “Down At The Bottom.” Both had some great blues style guitar playing, and both were really catchy. But the songs that strayed away from that blues sound weren’t really to my liking, with the exception of “Sour Wine,” with its excellent mandolin, accordion, and harmonium. I felt like this album was really uneven due to the band shifting from style to style, and I found a good portion of this album to be fairly boring. While this album wasn’t my favorite, I appreciate branching out and listening to something different today.