Sonic Youth has a unique sound. Weird tunings, odd chord progressions, dirty production in spots, and it's awesome. I love the guitar tones on this album. It's dirty, metallic and muddy. I like Z) Eliminator, Jr. as the final track because of that, it's like the guitar sound throughout the album progressed and culminated in that harsh tone. So many of the songs have such pretty progressions, though, and it makes for a cool contrast. I enjoy how long some of the tracks are. It creates a kind of soundscape for me that I can fall into and it doesn't feel like I get pulled out of it too early. Favorite tracks: -Teenage Riot -'Cross the Breeze -Total Trash - the chaos in the middle might be my favorite part of the album -Rain King - this got borderline sinister -Kissability - I wish more songs were led by Kim's vocals like this track -Z) Eliminator Jr. is my top track. Least favorite track is easily Providence. It didn't have enough going on to be interesting. Not related to the music at all but it's a drag they were so mean to Nardwuar. Very few artists have done that and it's a real bummer.

He must have been a blast to see live. High energy. Fun listen. Very short if the demos and interview aren’t included.

This was tiring to listen to in one sitting. 1h22m. It’s weird to say as a fan of stuff like Sleep but for my tastes the album would benefit from most songs being a good bit shorter. The instrumentation was weird in a fun way. Talking Heads vibes. Favorite tracks were emotional haircut, how do you sleep?, and pulse (v.1).

A mix of songs I really enjoyed with some I would leave off of a playlist. I knew beforehand that I like most of their radio singles, especially from this album. I also knew I didn’t like Axel’s voice much. I dig the instrumentation enough to mostly make up for my dislike of Axel’s voice. Just good old fashioned headbanging high gain rock. I like this more than most hair metal because it feels more loose and almost like punk hair metal, at least in attitude. Overall a good album but it’s unlikely I revisit it as a whole. I’ll hear the singles many more times; during any given football game I’m certain to hear the stadium play Sweet Child Of Mine (and We Will Rock You, Freebird, and Seven Nation Army) a dozen times. Apparently critics were ambivalent-to-neutral when this released. Always interesting to see what albums become classics after a rocky reception. Ended up as the 7th highest selling album of all time in the US.

I really like Dave Navarro here. He lets a lot of riffs breathe and it makes it feel so much heavier than it could have if they did the normal funk rock thing. It’s a great mix of heavy and joyful, musically at least. I also like how just generally weird it is, vocally and instrumentally. Perry’s got a unique vocal timbre and cadence and his goofy vocalizations add a lot to the overall vibes. The bass throughout is killer. I read a quote from Nick Oliveri, bassist for Kyuss/Mondo Generator/some QotSA, where he praised how active the bass was. Glad I did so I could specifically listen for it. 1988 as the release date surprised me. When I listen for it, I can imagine this coming off the back of glam, but without knowing I would easily believe this came out 10 years later. Guaranteed will listen to more Jane’s Addiction.

Sonic Youth has a unique sound. Weird tunings, odd chord progressions, dirty production in spots, and it's awesome. I love the guitar tones on this album. It's dirty, metallic and muddy. I like Z) Eliminator, Jr. as the final track because of that, it's like the guitar sound throughout the album progressed and culminated in that harsh tone. So many of the songs have such pretty progressions, though, and it makes for a cool contrast. I enjoy how long some of the tracks are. It creates a kind of soundscape for me that I can fall into and it doesn't feel like I get pulled out of it too early. Favorite tracks: -Teenage Riot -'Cross the Breeze -Total Trash - the chaos in the middle might be my favorite part of the album -Rain King - this got borderline sinister -Kissability - I wish more songs were led by Kim's vocals like this track -Z) Eliminator Jr. is my top track. Least favorite track is easily Providence. It didn't have enough going on to be interesting. Not related to the music at all but it's a drag they were so mean to Nardwuar. Very few artists have done that and it's a real bummer.

Vedder has as unique a voice as any legendary vocalist. I respect that he was brave enough to go so far with his vocal ad libs. It could have gone really wrong. Jeremy is a great example of this. Loved the bass throughout the album. Favorite tracks: Even Flow Why Go Black Jeremy Deep - this track is probably my favorite, it's wonky and heavy and the guitar tone is so good Release - standalone this isn't the most amazing track but it's a perfect cathartic ending to the album Least favorites: Oceans - good song but it didn't fit the rest of the album for me Alive - I have heard this song enough to never want to hear it again Porch

This was a solid album but it just made me want to watch the movie. Without the visuals, a lot of it kind of washed over me. It's long enough that the instrumental tracks start to blend together despite the fantastic musicianship. Favorite track is the 20 minute long Do Your Thing. There was a stretch where it sounded like a track from Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii but with horns. Pretty neat.

This album mirrors my experience with The Yardbirds. Last year I finally listened to their debut album. I didn't like it much at all. One amazing single and a whole pile of early rock rough cuts. It ends with freaking My Girl Sloopy. I felt the same about this album, except there wasn't one amazing single. I did enjoy Rod's vocals when he got to sing. His voice isn't great but it's unique. Greensleeves feels like it doesn't at all fit. Ol' Man River is wildly tone-deaf but not surprising. It was a different time and place. I don't know. I've been told Blow by Blow fits my tastes more in every way so I look forward to that album.

I loved this album. I had never heard of DJ Shadow. It's impressive how the album was made. It sounds so cohesive despite the potential chaos of such heavy sampling. I don't have any songs to call out by name because the album was excellent from front to back.

Got into this less than I hoped. It's a long album without much change in style so for me it probably would've worked better split up into two sittings. The vibe I get is a grimy hobo put on a stage in a seedy back alley jazz club. Lyricism is creative and entertaining. His voice is weirdly pleasant.

Love the album cover. I like her voice and her vocal dynamics. Instrumentally fun and interesting, things like the drum beat in Don't Touch My Hair having one drum sound almost like metal on metal. Lyrically leans more poignant than carefree. One of the very few albums I feel like the interludes actually add to the album. I deeply respect the restraint to do an album with interludes that's not over an hour long. Favorite tracks were Junie, Mad, Don't Touch My Hair, and Borderline. There were a few tracks I couldn't get into. Don't You Wait was my least favorite.

Ended up listening through this twice. Felt pretty neutral at first but kept getting into it more and more. Great album. His sense of humor is dry and jives well with mine. The songwriting and the instrumentals reminded me of James Taylor, though not the lyrics, especially on It's Easier.

Great album, must've been a blast being at this show.

What a voice.

Fun and weird instrumentals. The guitar work is fantastic. Lyrically hilarious at points, other points oddly serious given the upbeat music like Life During Wartime. That and Animals were my favorite tracks. I just don't like his voice and I don't know why.

Solid background electronica. Some cool tracks that sounded very "90s PC game" and I enjoyed those. 3.5*

I really loved this album. The first album he went heavy electric. I understand why he has the reputation of being an amazing lyricist, though he's maybe not the most 'technically proficient' vocalist. Favorite tracks: Ballad of a Thin Man, Desolation Row, and I can't not love Like A Rolling Stone

The first time I've listened to Joy Division besides that track in Donnie Darko. There's much more distortion than I expected and that's a good thing. For me, a lot of this album functionally does the same thing as bands like early Queens of the Stone Age or CAN--gives me solid droning rock but it's a bit less radio friendly. Favorite tracks: She's Lost Control, Shadowplay Least favorite tracks: Candidate, Insight

I didn't enjoy this one much. I couldn't get into any songs past Skin. Mer Girl is a real bummer of a track to end on.

What a weird album. I feel like I write that a lot. The vocals are kind of insane throughout but not in a bad way. The instrumentals sound pretty normal for 1973, some heavy fuzz in places, but the song structures/songwriting are so wonky. I feel like Brian must have been a big Velvet Underground/Lou Reed fan. Favorite track was the title track. I would have been completely okay with it being a few minutes longer.

I think this is the first Beatles album I've listened to front-to-back. The production and mixing is incredible for 1964. No crackles, clean guitar tones that cut through clearly, bass is never muddy, drums don't bleed cymbal sounds, perfect vocals. Musicianship is fine, it's 30 minutes of 2 minute pop songs. The vocals are remarkable though. They do harmony so well. Favorite track has to be the title track. Least favorite was probably I'll Cry Instead.

Loved this album. Similar lane to Alanis and Tori Amos but clearly with her own unique singing + songwriting voice. Beautiful voice. Favorite tracks: Shadowboxer, Criminal, Slow Like Honey Least favorite tracks: The First Taste, The Child is Gone

I wish I liked this more, I love Bruce. I just expected rock and this musically didn’t do much for me. Lyrically he’s still amazing, one of the best storytellers.

Near perfect album for me. A lot of the songs on here are essentially standards and his versions are so unique. Respect is clearly the same song Aretha does but every ad lib, etc. is entirely his. What A Wonderful World is wildly different from the Sam Cooke version and equally good. Love his voice, his energy, his band, all of it.

I connected with this album less than I expected. A lot of the individual sounds are excellent, I love the guitar tones, I love some of the drum fills. Sometimes those things just didn't come together in a way I got into.

Enjoyed this so much more than Nebraska. This is the Bruce I like.

Fun and corny in a very 80s rap kind of way. It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back came out a year before this, I feel like it must have been a big inspiration to either BB or The Dust Brothers. Egg Man sampled it at least twice. The use of samples throughout is excellent. Favorite tracks: Looking Down the Barrel of A Gun and Shadrach. Really the whole stretch from that track until the end. Least favorite tracks: The Sounds of Science. The second half was good but not good enough to salvage that first half. 5-Piece Chicken Dinner is a close second.

Loved this album. Less bluesy than I was expecting. The bass is so good throughout. The guitar sounds wonderful and they go in on some super wonky lines like in The Spy. It sounds like they had fun making this one. Favorite track: Easily Peace Frog Least favorite: Land Ho! is one I would have left off the record.

This was an alright listen. I feel very similar with this to how I feel about Guns 'N' Roses. Some really cool and fun guitar work mixed with some kind of boring pentatonic riffery and vocals that I dislike most of the time. Vocal harmonies are rough in some tracks like Sick As A Dog. The mixing is weirdly clean, the distorted guitars have less bite than I'd like. I would have left Sick As A Dog and Home Tonight off of the record.

My first thought: "I feel like I've entered sexy vaguely-Celtic Narnia." I loved this album. Her vocals are so weird in the best way. I don't even like 80s synth music but this does it for me. Lyrically complicated, like the first track is her version of a scene from Ulysses by James Joyce, but musically pleasant enough that I think it's enjoyable without any context, viewing her vocals as one more instrument. My one big complaint is that I don't enjoy the sound of the drum-machine-tone drums. Favorite track: Rocket's Tail Least favorite: Heads We're Dancing

After the first song I was excited but it lost me for most of the rest of the album. That first track was great, it felt like 4 songs all fighting each other in the best way. I enjoyed very little of the rest. I did enjoy the criminally sparse reverb-y synth in the background of a few tracks that sounds like 80s Vangelis, like think Blade Runner soundtrack when it plays the oddly nostalgic light airy synth lines. Desire As has very pleasant synth tones throughout but unfortunately I didn't enjoy how the actual song was put together. The jazzy rhythm of Horsin' Around was pretty neat. Favorite tracks: Faron Young, Horsin' Around Least favorite track: Blueberry Pies

This album leans fully into folk and Americana and I'm into it. There's a strong Crosby, Stills, and Nash feeling in their vocal harmony that I don't recall hearing much of before this album. Catchy major-key choruses, pleasant lyrics, summer day instrumental vibes in tracks like Sugar Magnolia...can't complain.

I enjoyed this album. Mid-tempo reverb heavy sort of spacey vibes. Jangly and shimmery. Very pretty and very pleasant. I really like how they implement vocal multitracking, it adds so much. Bass is simple and consistent which serves the songs perfectly. The album feels like late night introspection.

Excellent album.

Well, the production was good.

Musically very interesting, I just don't like his voice at all. Horn-driven album. They do very well on pure instrumental tracks. I would have loved more "The Teams That Meet in Caffs" type of songs. Favorite tracks: Geno, the instrumentals are good enough to outweigh my dislike of his voice Least favorite track: I Couldn't Help It If I Tried

The opening two tracks were pretty great folktronica. I was excited for the rest of the album because those tracks felt kind of novel but after that he dropped the “tronica” part of folktronica and I enjoyed it a lot less. The pure folk/pop rock tracks sound like music I hear often in commercials. This Year’s Love actually does get used in commercials so maybe that’s it. I really loved that window-rattler bass intro on We're Not Right. I think this is a good example of how important track order can be. If the -tronica songs came later and it opened with 2 folk/pop rock songs I may have enjoyed it more.

Fast downstrummed 4 power chords, can't complain.

Historically not a huge Tears for Fears fan. I did enjoy tracks like Head Over Heels. The bassline is satisfying and I wish it was more forward in the mix. Favorite track: Head Over Heels Least favorite: The Working Hour

I really enjoyed this album. "Soundscape album" bucket. Very high distortion, very high reverb, dreamy and dissonant.

I like this album a fair bit more than Rocks. I like Sweet Emotion but it's in the Queen - We Will Rock You bucket of songs I would be content to never hear again because overexposure. Walk This Way is still excellent, great groove. No More No More is another that still gets regular radio play. The first and last tracks are my least favorite. The title track, something about it feels insistent in a really unpleasant way. The last song, I see what they were trying to do with the strings and pleasant major chord progressions but it didn't at all land for me.

Classic. Insanely influential. Maybe not quite the Songs in the Key of Life for 90s hip hop but something close to it.

Rod has a unique voice. Sometimes it works for me very well, and sometimes it's rough. Maggie May is such a classic and it's really hard for me not to love. On the other hand, the snippet of Amazing Grace at the end of That's Alright sounds kind of like nails on a chalkboard to me. Overall though I enjoyed this album. Rod is very talented and he is a great songwriter.

I feel pure neutral about this album. I liked a lot of the sounds, like the bwowmp-y bass tones on You Can't Have Me sound great. It's also so nice to hear a version of Femme Fatale with a singer who can stay on pitch and guitars that are in tune. The songwriting didn't catch me much though. It felt like they kinda lost steam on the back half.

Excellent album. This is one you put on in the car when you're slow cruising around town. Not sure how else to phrase it, it just sounds so cool.

Favorite part by far is the first 75 seconds of Electronic Renaissance, before the 80s drums come in. What I think of as "mood music." Not something I'd play regularly but there's a mental space for this type of album.

I don't know how I feel about this album. The genre tags didn't prepare me. Was that Captain Picard's voice yelling "Herz-Felde"? Is that the guy from Rammstein? Wait they're Slovenian, aren't they singing in German?

I really liked this album. Her voice is fantastic.

I didn’t at all expect bongo big band, what a crazy album. Really enjoyed this one.

I love this album. Hottest of hot takes: Bargain is one of the best songs on the album. Still doesn't clear Behind Blue Eyes and Baba O'Reilly for me though.

I want this album to be a 5/5 so badly but for me there are a few songs I would have probably left off of the track list. The highs are soooo high. The Chain is one of my favorite songs of all time.

Great album with a whole lot of classics. For general enjoyment, I personally would rather spin Blackstar. He is clearly early on in his career here and the songwriting to me reflects it. This album is incredibly influential though and deserves all of the praise it gets. So many great tracks. Five Years, Moonage Daydream, Starman, Ziggy Stardust, Suffragette City, all classics I'll turn up the radio for when they come on.

This album made me truly understand how fine the line is between funk and disco. Really liked this one. Pleasant and relaxing.

For a lot of this album, if there were no vocals and I was told this was a soundtrack for an upcoming Streets of Rage game, I would believe it without question. There are a handful of tracks that feel too slow for it, though, and some that are too major-y like London Belongs to Me. Weirdly sad album for how the instrumentals feel. The release I listened to has 2 songs I don't see listed here, People Get Real and Kiss and Make Up. The Neil Young cover is interesting as an opener for the album, the arrangement is pretty cool.

The second half of this one got weird, a handful of instrumental jam band-style tracks kind of out of nowhere.

...is that a goat?

What a weird album. I'm into it. I was never bored and every song felt very different from the one before it.

STRAIGHT OUT THE FUCKIN' DUNGEONS OF RAP

This album didn't need to be 74 minutes long imo.