Jan 23 2023
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Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Arctic Monkeys
The Artic Monkeys debut is a fine modern punk pop album. I fail to see what all the fuss is about. They are fine.
2
Jan 24 2023
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The Low End Theory
A Tribe Called Quest
One of my all time favorite hip hop albums. I don't know if it was the first, but it was the first one I noticed a real Jazz influence in. This was the peak of golden age beats and lyrical invention.
5
Jan 25 2023
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Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Very excited. Never heard of this artist, always up for some international music.
The singing is beautiful on this album. As are the melodies. I hope to spend lots of time with it.
The English songs are not as successful as the ones in her native language but a good listen all the way around.
4
Jan 26 2023
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Pink Flag
Wire
Punk started shifting here. I dig the groovier stuff over the more by the numbers punk stuff. From reading up on the band, will be checking out their catalog at some point.
4
Jan 27 2023
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Exodus
Bob Marley & The Wailers
Not much to say about this one. It's pretty perfect. For my money, their best studio work.
5
Jan 30 2023
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Pink Moon
Nick Drake
This is one of those highly revered cult albums that lives up to its hype. It's haunting, simple, and beautiful. An album I always feel like I don't spend enough time with from an artist I know I haven't spent enough time with.
5
Jan 31 2023
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Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
The Flaming Lips
Yoshimi is the sweet spot between the reserved Soft Bulletin and the utter batshit crazy of the rest of The Flaming Lips catalog. It had an amazing structure and some of their strongest songs. Nature versus machine being told against a backdrop of audible maturity and pure creativity. It’s all pretty much perfect.
5
Feb 01 2023
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The ArchAndroid
Janelle Monáe
Metropolis Suite: The Chase was a fully realized statement from an artist who arrived confident and ready to change music. The concept was continued into The Achandroid which, unlike The Chase, is not concise and a little half baked. Its one real problem is it’s long. Metropolis feels like the elevator pitch and ArchAndroid plays like the three hour blockbuster and two hours in your bladder is really begging you to do something about the gallon of coke you drank. You kind of have to disengage but you don’t want to. Also like that summer blockbuster it’s a little all over the place. Like Coldwar really fits the concept but does Tightrope? It never lacks in inventiveness or swagger though. Like their idol Prince, Monáe actually does need a little editing and I think Diddy just threw them the keys to the studio. He was probably all like I’ve got this train wreck over here I’m trying to figure out, I don’t have time to edit your whole space thing. I don’t even know what Genorape means but you do your thing.
4
Feb 02 2023
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Here Come The Warm Jets
Brian Eno
Crazy glam rock. I don’t hate it.
3
Feb 03 2023
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Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Elton John
an all time classic full of classics. It's a bit long, but it's all gold!!
5
Feb 06 2023
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Here's Little Richard
Little Richard
Fantastic early rock rave up!
4
Feb 07 2023
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Music in Exile
Songhoy Blues
Joyful music. Milan music with a western guitar flare. Highly listenable.
4
Feb 08 2023
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Tidal
Fiona Apple
A strong debut from an exciting and emotionally complex performer.
4
Feb 09 2023
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Leftism
Leftfield
House music that works from home with an album that doesn’t just slog on. Solid stuff.
4
Feb 10 2023
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Forever Changes
Love
Quite simply, this is the sound of the Summer of Love coming to a close. Flower power is losing its allure and the Manson murders are just over the horizon. This is the madness and the drugs, the love and the hate all encapsulated in one time capsule that has been open to us the whole time. It is astonishing in its emotion and it's sophistication. Peak psychedelia in all of its glory and insanity.
Hell, the title itself, LOVE FOREVER CHANGES, is poetic and profound given the subject matter and the moment in time.
5
Feb 13 2023
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Wonderful Rainbow
Lightning Bolt
Controlled chaos. Really dig this.
3
Feb 14 2023
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Highway 61 Revisited
Bob Dylan
A hodgepodge of rock and folk. Proto hipster swagger.
4
Feb 15 2023
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One Nation Under A Groove
Funkadelic
Fuzzy, psychedelic, funk rock. Pretty damn perfect.
5
Feb 16 2023
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1984
Van Halen
After I'll Wait, the album drops off, but before that this is Van Halen at its most poppy catchy and infectious. Eddie is in great form throughout and Dave is having a lot of fun. The end of an era and they go out in style.
4
Feb 17 2023
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Thriller
Michael Jackson
The singular 80s record. A new standard in just about every way. An onslaught of hits.
4
Feb 20 2023
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The Sun Rises In The East
Jeru The Damaja
Beats are great. Lyrics are mostly nonsense. Flow is alright. Not a great record.
3
Feb 21 2023
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Time Out
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
A landmark jazz album, many a person has found this to be a key in their jazz appreciation.
5
Feb 22 2023
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Heaven Or Las Vegas
Cocteau Twins
Pleasant Dream Pop that is engaging. It is easy to see why the band is so lauded and why they are often imitated.
4
Feb 23 2023
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Night Life
Ray Price
Honky Tonk goes Music Row. A slick slice of the seedier life by a master of singing.
5
Feb 24 2023
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Rid Of Me
PJ Harvey
Hate the dynamics, should probably revisit at some point. It is an excruciating listen for this exercise though.
2
Feb 27 2023
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You Want It Darker
Leonard Cohen
One of the best albums about death ever made. A man towards the end screaming at the void.
5
Feb 28 2023
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She's So Unusual
Cyndi Lauper
A fun album, it's by no means perfect, the Prince cover is pretty bad and the last half is lackluster, but when it hits, it does so hard. 80's new wave fun with a LOT of personality.
3
Mar 01 2023
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Devotional Songs
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Powerfully spiritual music performed by great musicians.
4
Mar 02 2023
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Spiderland
Slint
Interesting heavy music.
3
Mar 03 2023
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The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers
Seems nice enough. Solid Velvet Underground like rock.
3
Mar 06 2023
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Something/Anything?
Todd Rundgren
It starts pleasant enough, then it gets a little weird, then it overstays its welcome.
1
Mar 07 2023
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Innervisions
Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder had started his own path with Where I'm coming from and Music of My Mind. Talking Book refined his new freedom. Innervisions through Songs in the Key of Life is when he really set sail, realizing his potential. Great stuff.
5
Mar 08 2023
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Arise
Sepultura
Interesting heavy music.
4
Mar 09 2023
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Seventeen Seconds
The Cure
The album where the Cure became the Cure.
3
Mar 10 2023
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Lady Soul
Aretha Franklin
Perfect. As were the two albums before this one.
5
Mar 13 2023
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KIWANUKA
Michael Kiwanuka
My favorite album of 2019. It is a masterclass of progressive R&B. It recalls the past and paves a way forward.
5
Mar 14 2023
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Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite
Maxwell
a r&b hang out record. Acension is still one of the best songs of the past 30 years. His voice is silky smooth. The height of neo-soul.
5
Mar 15 2023
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Billion Dollar Babies
Alice Cooper
GOTH GLAM FUN. Not something I want to listen to all the time, but a good time regardless.
3
Mar 16 2023
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Group Sex
Circle Jerks
I've been on this personal punk journey for a bit now and I really like this album (first time listening to it). Hardcore is hit or miss for me. This is hit. Makes sense as I really appreciated the Black Flag stuff with Morris as a front man, even more so than the Rollins stuff. This is going to make me check out Redd Kross and give Bad Religion another look. Very enjoyable, short and succinct.
4
Mar 17 2023
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Garbage
Garbage
"Vig explained that as in his opinion 'the most exciting bands are those who incorporate all those elements of punk, funk, techno, hip hop, etc.' Garbage would attempt to do the same and 'take those influences and make them work in the context of a pop song.'"
That is from the wikipedia article on Garbage.
You guys know that I'm not a big fan of the "genre" of "grunge." Not, mind you, that I dislike Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, etc. I think the genre is some stupid marketing ploy to convince people that this disparate music that came from a scene is somehow linked by a unique sound which is utterly preposterous bullshit.
That being said, Garbage is a record that is "grunge." It's a pop record with bandmates made of a production team that was en vogue and very instrumental to that scene's rise. They got bored, started dicking around making remixes and then said shit, we should be a band. We can take all these different sounds we love and combine them into a pop behemoth.
Over the years, there have been many disparaging remarks from many of the type of folks who enjoy this band's music about bands like Coldplay and Muse being corporate entities playing to the lowest denominator. I've always found that to be a particularly weird thing to say of a band. Certainly, there have been corporately produced bands throughout the years, The Monkees and NSYNC immediately come to mind. Not to say that these bands were not talented, hell Neil Young auditioned to be a Monkee and in an alternative reality, he made it and the course of history and music is very different in that timeline. We all know that Justin Timberlake is a very talented musician as well. But to say these modern bands that made it big were somehow created and to use that as a way of demeaning their fans and music was just odd to me.
Garbage's record has some undeniable hits. Stupid Girl, Queer, Vow... they're good pop songs. Very of their moment and time. Hell production wise, they might even be a bit cutting edge. The album does take the sonics of the burgeoning Trip Hop scene of the time (Portishead, Massive Attack) and brings it to the alternative scene. It's all very marketable and pretty much manufactured that way. This is a band of producers who found a unique singer who was otherwise failing and gave her a platform of polished sounds of the times.
There is nothing inherently wrong with that. If you like it, you like it. It is what it is. There is nothing even bad about this record, you could even point out several things in this write up that show this album deserves to be on this list. It is an album of its time, it kind of sums up the total of the hip pop music scene of the mid 90s and hell, that's important in and of itself.
As a long time consumer of critical writing, I know that a lot of people look at the score before they read or decide to read a review and if you've done that, you probably wonder why the score seems so discordant to the words written here.
The thing is, it is completely a record of the moment, not just in the sound presented as a snapshot of the totality of music at the time it was released, but in that it is fleeting and ultimately unmemorable. Moments after even Stupid Girl plays, it fleets from the mind. I think the fervent fans must have been so enamored with the lush sound that they played it on repeat by pressing that magic button on their discman until it did become the earworm it so desperately wants to be. None of it makes any mark on me. Just as Spooner and Anglefish ultimately did not make a mark on music other than being previous projects by the two biggest talents involved in this.
Manson is a capable singer, who desperately wants to be a Beth Gibbons but beyond her striking looks, doesn't find the sound or content to compete. Vig is a producer of some talent. Love him or hate him, he had his finger in the pulse of the music of this time - maybe so much that he made a record that showed how fleeting that actual pulse is. It's remarkable that he did get to work with bands who did make remarkable records under his watch and he even gave them a little of his own thing to help define a sound, an alternative to the pop rock, glam metal, glossy r n b, etc. He helped make Punk poppy. Which is a double edged sword, good and bad. The music was brought to the masses and changed everything much for the better before the internet came along to emancipate the populace from their corporate music industry shackles. Ultimately, this is the sound of that freedom and maybe that's why it doesn't make the impression that it should. It's an important record that five hundred years from now (assuming man has not destroyed itself) will not be remembered. Utlimately, Garbage, Manson, and Vig will be footnotes to musical history much like Antonio Salieri.
2
Mar 20 2023
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Dummy
Portishead
Moody spy music that makes you think about dancing while chilling at the house. Pretty perfect music, all said and done.
5
Mar 21 2023
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Rust Never Sleeps
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
I don't think it was really my first exposure to Neil, but this was the first album I owned. Neil being Neil. Introducing some of his best songs through the live setting. Showing off his acoustic chops and being influenced by the punk movement of the day. Great song writing, great playing, great singing, great heart.
5
Mar 22 2023
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Casanova
The Divine Comedy
Lounge music for sociopaths.
1
Mar 23 2023
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The Real Thing
Faith No More
This is where they hit the map. Bringing on Patton and setting MTV on fire with Epic. I think Angel Dust is a better album, but this was an intro for a lot of folks and brought their weird but infectious vision of progressive funk metal to the masses.
4
Mar 24 2023
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Siembra
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
Awesome Samba! Great stuff, makes me want to dance. Very groovy!
4
Mar 27 2023
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The Blueprint
JAY Z
One of my favorite MCs. Reasonable Doubt and this one are easily his best. Just the way he laughs in the beat to the first track shows his skill.
5
Mar 28 2023
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Kenya
Machito
Competent Afro-Cuban Jazz.
3
Mar 29 2023
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Funeral
Arcade Fire
Good patiche of all the pop rock that came before it. Solid release. Too bad about Butler.
4
Mar 30 2023
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Rubber Soul
Beatles
My favorite Beatles record. A folk pop classic.
5
Mar 31 2023
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Destroy Rock & Roll
Mylo
Good hang out at the house techno. Mellow, with a variety of genres to keep it interesting.
3
Apr 03 2023
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Court And Spark
Joni Mitchell
What a singer, what a songwriter, what an album.
5
Apr 04 2023
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Dig Your Own Hole
The Chemical Brothers
This is really a collection of club bangers loosely forming an album. It's really to hype for general at home listening but for a work out or the club, it is pretty awesome.
3
Apr 05 2023
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Pictures At An Exhibition
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
noodly prog music at its stereotypical height. only resembles the piece presented occasionally. Also, an awful recording.
1
Apr 06 2023
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Mama Said Knock You Out
LL Cool J
More dates than I remember, when it hits it’s great but there is a lot of clunk going on too.
3
Apr 07 2023
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Risque
CHIC
I don’t think the sequencing in this album is great. That being said, it’s a great record to get lost in. Deceptively complex. Dark brooding themes with butt wiggling beats.
4
Apr 10 2023
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Songs Of Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Debut records don't get much better. Stunning lyrics. Great accompaniment and a singular voice.
5
Apr 11 2023
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Marquee Moon
Television
glam art punk. This has been a grower for me. I like it more each listen.
4
Apr 12 2023
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Daydream Nation
Sonic Youth
Perfect art rock, art punk pretty much never got any better.
5
Apr 13 2023
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Back In Black
AC/DC
All time classic. Hard rock doesn't get much harder.
5
Apr 14 2023
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Selected Ambient Works 85-92
Aphex Twin
Brilliant. One of the first touchstones in electronica. Still sounds as amazing today as it must have in 92 (this was hard to get back in the day). Ambient music was not just sleepy chill at home music at the time, but could easily be played at the Rave. This album shows that. Brilliant stuff, hard to believe it came out in 92 and that some of it was recorded as early as 85 and all in his bedroom long before computers made it really easy. A revolutionary album on many fronts.
5
Apr 17 2023
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New York Dolls
New York Dolls
Glam gets gritty. Great protopunk.
4
Apr 18 2023
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Sound Affects
The Jam
Very good post punk pop.
4
Apr 19 2023
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Songs The Lord Taught Us
The Cramps
Fun punk rockabilly. Sounds like a deranged Elvis.
3
Apr 20 2023
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James Brown Live At The Apollo
James Brown
A legendary performance and album.
5
Apr 21 2023
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Bridge Over Troubled Water
Simon & Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel are part of my musical DNA. My Grandfather and Mother talk about seeing them in Cameron Stadium when my Grandfather was a Duke Divinity student. Half of my full studio album discography on vinyl once belonged to my mother, including this album. While Cecilia, The Boxer, and Baby Driver were favorite songs, I did not hold this album in very high esteem until I listened to the 2020 season of The Opus on the album. I spent quite a bit of time with the album when I listened to that season in 2021. I came to love it during that period and it is probably my favorite album by them now. Part of it was probably a reaction to overhearing the title song (especially covers, Jesus, like Hallelujah, I could go the rest of my life without hearing a new version and they should set the songwriting royalties at such an exorbitant rate as to discourage people from singing it). But as I came to really understand the album and its place in time, I even over came that hurdle to love that song once again as I had as a youth. The album is like a minibiography of the band taking you from their humble beginnings with Bye Bye Love to foretelling Simon's solo stardom with The Only Living Boy in New York. It is nigh perfect by one of the greatest of singer songwriting teams. It's a beautiful swan song and probably should have been left as their last testament as opposed to numerous attempts to rekindle the flame rather through artistic desire, nostalgia, or money.
5
Apr 24 2023
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Electric Warrior
T. Rex
Galm rock pretty much perfected. Really need more time with it.
4
Apr 25 2023
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Can't Buy A Thrill
Steely Dan
Thank god the producer convinced Fagen to be the singer moving forward because I'm not a fan of Palmer. Do It Again and Reelin' in the Years could have been on any of their other albums. It's a tentative debut, there are glimpses of what would come, but there is a lot that doesn't quite work as well. Not a bad album, but not great.
3
Apr 26 2023
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Psychocandy
The Jesus And Mary Chain
Brilliant noise pop.
5
Apr 27 2023
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Bone Machine
Tom Waits
Dark and brilliant.
4
Apr 28 2023
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Rapture
Anita Baker
an undeniable talent and great band but it all feels… sterile.
2
May 01 2023
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No Other
Gene Clark
A hidden gem in the early development of country rock. Ambitious and sprawling.
5
May 02 2023
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Country Life
Roxy Music
Seems like pretty decent Glam, would need some more time with it.
3
May 03 2023
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Histoire De Melody Nelson
Serge Gainsbourg
Creepy lush music.
2
May 04 2023
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69 Love Songs
The Magnetic Fields
nothing stuck out as bad. Quite a few songs stuck out as exceptional. It's really long and this was a first listen, will need more time with it.
3
May 05 2023
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Penance Soiree
The Icarus Line
competent noisy rock.
3
May 08 2023
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Heroes
David Bowie
An uneven album by one of the all time greats.
4
May 09 2023
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Trans Europe Express
Kraftwerk
Undoubtedly influential album that just feels like noodling to me.
3
May 10 2023
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This Nation’s Saving Grace
The Fall
Solid post punk, would like to spend more time with it.
3
May 11 2023
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The Köln Concert
Keith Jarrett
Emotional. Sprawling. Epic. An improvisational feat!
5
May 12 2023
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Legalize It
Peter Tosh
Very good Reggae. Will spend more time with it.
4
May 15 2023
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The Doors
The Doors
One of the all time great debuts. A dark fully realized and original album.
5
May 16 2023
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Buffalo Springfield Again
Buffalo Springfield
The Neil songs are great, the rest is uneven and doesn’t meet the high bar of the first album.
4
May 17 2023
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Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
This is a solid album by one of the most consistent bands in American music. I mean Power Pop wasn’t even really a thing yet but you had Petty, Big Star and Dwight Twilley making it a thing. This album is a concoction of southern sensibilities and Punk aesthetic. They made better albums for sure but the sneer was never the same & there was never the same sense of urgency. Sure, almost 50 years later this sounds like classic rock radio but this was fresh and new and slightly dangerous in its day. If nothing else, it has Breakdown and American Girl which are stone cold classics. It’s amazing to think they were this fully realized from the get go.
4
May 18 2023
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Ingenue
k.d. lang
I don’t think I’m capabale of thinking about this album critically.
She had been a country artist before this album. She was quirky and strange, her songs full of humor.
In the three years between Absolute Truth and Twang, she came out as a lesbian and to further alienate herself from a still very conservative musical genre - she became an outspoken animal rights activist.
With this album she transitioned to an adult contemporary artist. She was suddenly doing music that more closely resembled what you would hear in nightclub and more likely some seedy French place. The production and vocals immaculate.
The album itself is very much about unrequited love and is an emotionally complex work from an artist who not only reinvented herself but stepped out with new confidence and a bit of a cavalier devil may care attitude not accepting compromise with her audience. It is an artist saying this is who I am and my desires and if you don’t like it, I don’t really care.
5
May 19 2023
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Mothership Connection
Parliament
This is peak George Clinton to me. While One Nation is Under a Groove is great, it isn’t quite the sound I associate with Clinton. Aqua Boogie is my other fave and the far out sound I associate with Parliament. This album is more of a direct lineage from James Brown’s funk but is reaching for that spaced out sound. What really struck me today is how clean the production is… I’ve always thought of Clinton’s sound as cacophonous but this album has presence of stage depth and the instruments are distinct and separate. There is a cacophony but if you listen clearly you can hear everything. And it grooves!
5
May 22 2023
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American Idiot
Green Day
Sometimes you have to check your biases. This was not as bad as I expected it to be. Actually quite enjoyable and more so with each listen. Even the singles started not to annoy in context.
3
May 23 2023
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At Mister Kelly's
Sarah Vaughan
Stunning
5
May 24 2023
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Play
Moby
Ubiquitous and catchy. A little long.
4
May 25 2023
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The Bends
Radiohead
My favorite album by one of the best bands of the late twentieth and early twenty first century/. A band at the cusp of reinventing rock. It’s epic.
5
May 26 2023
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Drunk
Thundercat
Space noodling jazz funk. Odd and brilliant.
4
May 29 2023
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In A Silent Way
Miles Davis
My favorite not live release of the electric/fusion period. This is considered Miles' first fusion album, he had been headed that way for a minute adding electric instrumentation to Miles in the SKy and Filles de Kilimanjaro. Even further Sorcerer and Nefertiti had shown a shift from modal music to a more moody groovy music. In many ways, Nefertiti feels like Silent Way. The biggest difference not just being the augmentation of acoustic instruments but the addition of the work of Teo Macero. The music begins to be composed after the studio work is done... having many takes cut together to form a new composition different then even the free flowing takes in the studio. This would not only be a big deal in the music Miles would make for the rest of the seventies, but in music in general. It is a piece of the puzzle that became EDM and Hip Hop. @jamieanderson1968 says the Laswell work is sacrilege to some, but I think it shows that he understood what this was. Panthalassa is worth a listen and a fitting tribute to this period of not only intense experimentation in the music, but in how it was released. This is not only just a masterpiece but one that still challenges musicians today to do better. A top notch band expanding the possibilities of the music and a top notch production that expands what music actually is. This album is a vibe.
5
May 30 2023
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Moon Safari
Air
Cinematic infectious booty shaking kitsch.
5
May 31 2023
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Highway to Hell
AC/DC
I didn't really know the Bon Scott story until recently and now I find this album sadly ironic. I also find the idea that the difference between this and Back in Black is filler funny. AC/DC is nothing but lean. Which is part of their problem, they created a formula for their sound and went with it. The filler is just stuff that they didn't release as singles, because I don't think the quality of songs ever lets up on this album.
This is basically a call for help from Bon that wasn't heard. It actually fills me with a bit of dread now. Ultimately, it is fun. It is one of two for sure essential albums by the band, the other being Back in Black. Sure the fans will throw Dirty Deeds out as well and honestly, I think through Let There Be Rock they are very solid (and Powerage mostly suffers from them straying from the formula.) Anyhow, this band made these two unequivocal masterpieces.
AC/DC is an important band though. Mutt made them marketable and by extension created a world where Hair Metal ruled the airwaves, GNR dominated sales, and ultimately - when combined with the indie movement in the eighties - allowed the harder music when Punk broke to be palatable by the masses and marketed as Alternative. If this album had not been a monster followed by a behemoth none of that happens the way it did.
5
Jun 01 2023
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Selling England By The Pound
Genesis
A band I’ve always meant to spend more time with. I’ve always had a copy of Invisible Touch (just picked up an OG the other day) and I know the Lamb Lies Down very well. HUGE fan of Gabriel’s solo stuff and a fan of Collins’ solo stuff but never dug into the rest of their catalog. I mean I’ve heard this but never gave it the time it probably deserves.
I have a feeling this is exactly the kind of music that people who hate prog rock are talking about when they say they hate prog rock. It’s very English. Very noodly. Very full of itself. I’m honestly not sure where I fall half way through it.
I’m still mixed on my third listen. There are parts I really dig then there are parts where it makes me want to stuff things in my ears. I have a feeling this is not the best starting place.
3
Jun 02 2023
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1977
Ash
A heck of a lot of fun. Derivative but fresh. Will revisit.
3
Jun 05 2023
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Document
R.E.M.
A very good album by a very good band.
4
Jun 06 2023
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Illinois
Sufjan Stevens
Illinois is one of those albums that I forget is great until I am listening to it. Like @dbarila , I get much more out of the experimental stuff, but I feel like that disparages this a bit, because it's not like it is your typical singer songwriter fare. It is very much of the same ilk as Age of Adz and Seven Swans - melodically and thematically, it is just the bridge between. I imagine that this is the kind of music that Tim DeLaughter and Brian Wilson hear in their head.
4
Jun 07 2023
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Life Thru A Lens
Robbie Williams
Not for me. Seems vapid and the singer seems pretentious.
1
Jun 08 2023
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Bad Company
Bad Company
Every other song is a slog. But the half that doesn’t is awesome.
3
Jun 09 2023
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Kings Of The Wild Frontier
Adam & The Ants
I would like to check out at some point I. The future. Not feeling it today. Struck me as an unfocused Cure.
2
Jun 12 2023
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OK Computer
Radiohead
The album where Radiohead became Radiohead. Essential listening.
5
Jun 13 2023
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Africa Brasil
Jorge Ben Jor
Afro-Brazilian Samba Funk!!!!
4
Jun 14 2023
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Palo Congo
Sabu
Nice, didn't really get to dissect it the way I want to. Love Brazilian music so will probably return to it some day.
3
Jun 15 2023
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The Hissing Of Summer Lawns
Joni Mitchell
Complex musical settings for her lyrical brilliance. To a certain extent, it feels like she is fully an artist for the first time.
4
Jun 16 2023
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Vento De Maio
Elis Regina
Very nice vocals with nice accomplishment. Will want to come back to.
3
Jun 19 2023
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You've Come a Long Way Baby
Fatboy Slim
I feel like You've Come A Long Way, Baby is music nerd music made by a music nerd. What's better is it makes your butt shake. Can't find fault with it, it does its job well. Unlike Dig Your Own Hole, the other Big Beat record we have reviewed, this one is not fatiguing in the home setting. It feels like an album, I'm not sure if that is because of the interstitial pieces, fades, better programing. I feel like it is a little of all. Like the Chems, Fatboy Slim came up doing dj sets, he applies that knowledge to his first two albums. The Chems never really got that their albums should flow until Surrender, which interestingly enough was after they released a dj style set mixtape (Brothers Gonna Work It Out).
5
Jun 20 2023
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Aftermath
The Rolling Stones
I’ve never really listened to early Stones before besides the hits. I have to say I find both versions more enjoyable than the likes of early Beatles. There is personality in spades. The UK version is a little long, suffers from not having paint it black but feels more like a thought out album starting in psychedelic territory and ending more traditional blues oriented. The American version is short, has Paint it Black but doesn’t really gel quite as well as an album.
I agree that their later work is better and more important but this is a solid album which is slyly altering the sound of English Pop Blues.
4
Jun 21 2023
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Lazer Guided Melodies
Spiritualized
Slow plodding atmospheric music. They are obviously talented, but this is music for bed time.
3
Jun 22 2023
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The Last Of The True Believers
Nanci Griffith
Superb songwriting. Great performances. Masterful.
5
Jun 23 2023
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Modern Life Is Rubbish
Blur
This album is like a stroll through a history of British Pop music through the lens of Brit Pop. quite enjoyable.
4
Jun 26 2023
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Homework
Daft Punk
Housey fun!
5
Jun 28 2023
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My Generation
The Who
Straight up British rock. Enjoyable, nothing mind blowing. My Generation does have an urgency that would not really be replicated for a few more years. Moon is the stand out here. He was fully cooked with his primal abandon even at this point. Townsend is neither the songwriter or force on guitar he would become. Daltrey eventually becomes one of the better rock singers but isn’t there yet. It’s funny, the apple blurb states the band didn’t like it much, feeling it was rushed which may be some of its charm. In reality, except for a few exceptions (Who’s Next), The Who are a band I like on paper more than I do in reality. Almost every album feels like it is lacking compared to the various compilations or their live sound which gets at that unhinged urgency of My Generation or It’s Not True. It does its job well though and they are a competent enough band.
3
Jun 29 2023
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Manassas
Stephen Stills
Solid album. Definitely Stills lead but you can hear Hillman’a influence bringing in that Byrds/Burrito Brothers sound. A wide swath of music with a country blues foundation.
4
Jun 30 2023
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Guitar Town
Steve Earle
A perfect blend of songwriting and delivery that brings straight ahead country with a nice blend of 80’s heartland rock.
5
Jul 03 2023
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Grace
Jeff Buckley
A stellar voice, influence abounds even if he is a little full of himself.
4
Jul 04 2023
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Dookie
Green Day
Dumb pop punk fun. Full of hooks and memorable choruses.
4
Jul 05 2023
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The Age Of The Understatement
The Last Shadow Puppets
Fleeting but enjoyable.
3
Jul 06 2023
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My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Kanye West
All the shine is gone. It's fine I guess. When I pay attention to the lyrics, I'm overanalyzing them in the context of who he became, which probably isn't fair. The production doesn't seem as great now either, but I imagine that is due to his techniques being used by others a million times since this was released. Power was the highlight of the album. He does seem like a much better emcee in the age of trap and mumble. That being said, he still has a corny forced flow that isn't helped by cadences that are slightly beyond his ability. Wish I could listen to it in a vacuum without him as baggage
2
Jul 07 2023
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Elephant Mountain
The Youngbloods
I was unfamiliar with this group. I quite liked this album, while they were a Boston group, it seems they had relocated and this sounds to me like a bridge between the Laurel Canyon folky rock singer songwriter scene and the emerging psychedelic Bay area scene. It could be a little more focused, but is very charming.
4
Jul 10 2023
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The Wall
Pink Floyd
A well thought out concept album that can slog a bit but is filled with some of Waters era Floyd’s best songs.
5
Jul 11 2023
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This Is Fats Domino
Fats Domino
That was diverting. It’s fun. It felt a little … reserved… I’m not sure how much of that is a crappy YouTube upload which made it feel like the production was all over the place which may be the case as it may have been recorded over a number of dates. Blueberry Hill is a classic. I love the horn hit at the beginning of each bar in Honey Chile. Trust in Me was another highlight. Wished the levels were up a bit on the piano cause that sounds like it was smoking.
3
Jul 12 2023
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Moondance
Van Morrison
I’ve never thought about ranking Van Morrison. Most of the run from Astral to Fleece is basically perfect (Hard Nose being the good not Great album in the run). I’d say I reach for this one more often and that’s certainly true, even last fm agrees with me. It’s a warm blanket of an album.
5
Jul 13 2023
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Sweetheart Of The Rodeo
The Byrds
The other day I had a discussion about gatekeeping in Nashville and how that basically lead to Americana as shorthand for Country music that doesn’t get airplay on the radio. How important forward thinking artists like Margo Price and Jason Isbell are basically exiled from the Country charts because they are too liberal.
The Byrds debuted this new sound (spearheaded very much by Gram Parsons) at the Grand Ole Opry and neither Country or Rock wanted anything to do with it.
The Rolling Stone review is conflicted saying it’s too pretty to be country and too country to be rock. The charts weren’t kind to the album either. No one knew what to make of it.
It would build over the years and become considered a masterpiece. It was the opening salvo of Parson’s Cosmic American music. It was a sign of things to come and the last great Byrds album. They had come a long way from the Dylan disciples bringing his message to the masses. In a way it marked the end of the folk revival.
The Parsons songs are the highlights. A bright shining star that flamed out all too soon. He would take Hillman and start the Flying Burrito Brothers. This left McGuinn to carry the band (an all new band) forward.
The Grateful Dead would see some success with a more Country Rock sound in the seventies. Lynard Skynard would distill the sound into Southern Rock and really make some waves with it. Artists like Uncle Tupelo would expound on the idea many years later. And then there are all them “Americana” folks from earlier (Isbell and Carlile and company) who can find a niche outside of Nashville because of a failed album by the Folk Rock titans.
5
Jul 14 2023
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Jazz Samba
Stan Getz
Boss’s Nova and America start right here (vinyl sounds real good)
5
Jul 17 2023
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Abbey Road
Beatles
A perfect album by my favorite band.
5
Jul 18 2023
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Ys
Joanna Newsom
Poetic. Straddling a folk sound and classical. Never quite what you expect with a voice that calls from long ago but echoes the sixties. A demanding album.
4
Jul 19 2023
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Songs In The Key Of Life
Stevie Wonder
Man, in 1971, Stevie Wonder released Where I'm Coming From and didn't really let up until 1980's Hotter Than July. That's a full decade of once in a lifetime level albums. This is pretty much the apex of it all. A remarkable run from a remarkable musician.
5
Jul 20 2023
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Colour By Numbers
Culture Club
Pop music was king in the 80s. This was one of the cream of the crop, a New Romantic masterpiece. Unavoidable in it’s time. While definitely of it’s time, its themes (at times heavy despite the infectious sound of it all.) A rare band that not only seemed driven by the front man, but allowed the back up singers and instrumentalists shine. Really love the slick Motown update of Church of the Poison Mind.
4
Jul 21 2023
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C'est Chic
CHIC
Most of the songs a little too long. At last I am Free is dreadful. However, it grooves. The musicians are talented and the album is sequenced well.
3
Jul 24 2023
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The Atomic Mr Basie
Count Basie & His Orchestra
Really dig this. It’s fun. It swings!
4
Jul 25 2023
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Reggatta De Blanc
The Police
Energetic and fun. Not only presenting two big hits but through them the sound that would define them and be felt in all of pop during the 80’s.
4
Jul 26 2023
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Chelsea Girl
Nico
A sophisticated and complex 60's pop record. Her voice is challenging and her harmonies are interesting. Hearing the core of the Velvet Underground in an orchestral setting is pretty cool. It is folky and Baroque and brilliant.
4
Jul 27 2023
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Bitte Orca
Dirty Projectors
I enjoyed the inventive harmonies and complexity of the compositions. Will seek in the future.
4
Jul 28 2023
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The Message
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
I have a big stupid smile on my face. It’s Saturday morning. Cartoons are done, gonna watch Soul Train and then some Kung Fu movies. Wishing that I had a Defender machine in my house because the Atari version sucks.
Honestly, the programming is bizarre and brilliant at the same time. Like musically You Are is out of place. Thematically, it makes perfect sense.
3
Jul 31 2023
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Live At The Regal
B.B. King
A masterclass in blues and live showmanship.
5
Aug 01 2023
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Doolittle
Pixies
A noisy band with pop hooks that influenced a lot of bands. A landmark album.
5
Aug 02 2023
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Connected
Stereo MC's
The first song is pretty cool and could be the part of a 3 or 4 star album easy. The music if it were the soundtrack to a heist movie with a 90's house vibe could be a 4 or a 5. However, the rapping is awful - the cadence, the silly rhymes, the lack of content. It drags the whole thing down.
1
Aug 03 2023
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Peter Gabriel 3
Peter Gabriel
This is the moment that Gabriel took control of his solo career and forged the path forward. It is the first accomplished album he produced after leaving Genesis. It is a landmark album in its style and impact on music for the next decade. He would only reach higher with subsequent projects both in ambition and popularity. I'm not quite sure that I agree with the general consensus that it is his masterpiece. I would probably give that to Us. However, it is brilliant and perfect, especially given its difficult subject matter.
5
Aug 04 2023
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Ace of Spades
Motörhead
Fun. crunchy. fast. makes me want to kick stuff in a good way.
4
Aug 07 2023
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Electric Ladyland
Jimi Hendrix
Hendrix at the height of his powers and free. Brilliant.
5
Aug 08 2023
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Transformer
Lou Reed
First time listening to this entire album.
I did not know before reading the RS review that Bowie produced this which made the sound of Vicious and Hangin' Round make a lot more sense. The first half of the album sounds like T. Rex and The Velvet Underground made a record together (well besides Perfect Day where Reed does his best Sinatra by way of Cohen) and I'm here for it. Once A Walk on the Wild Side hits though, it all gets a little more interesting. That Sax and then the Tuba on Make Up.
He has a really unique voice. It isn't quite as evident in the Velvet Underground stuff probably because there is just a lot more noise. He makes interesting choices vocally.
This was my first time listening to this album and I will be sure to return to it.
4
Aug 09 2023
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The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
This feels like a Velvets morning acoustic jam after a long night. Dolly and riveting.
4
Aug 10 2023
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Odessey And Oracle
The Zombies
Time of the Seaon alone places The Zombies in the pantheon of 60’s British psychedelic rock. The album basically didn’t exist until the song surprisingly became a hit two years after its release and the band had broken up (although now they play the oldies circuit and I believe still release material).
It is one of the oddest albums in the classic rock canon. It plays like some twisted Kingston Trio album of songs The Beach Boys and Pink Floyd collaborated on and never released. It’s all Mellotron and harmonies and deeply deeply strange. But then again these guys wore capes to their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.
Prime British weirdness.
3
Aug 11 2023
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Straight Outta Compton
N.W.A.
N.W.A. built on the foundation laid by Ice-T and Schooly D. Cube’s hyperbole and sense of humor combined with Dre’s beats were aided by the antics of the PRMC and a formal introduction of rap to white audiences through the unprecedented popularity of the Beastie Boys resulting in a real zeitgeist moment for the group. Without airplay, it became a big hit, made gangsta rap a viable product for the masses, and put the West Coast on the map.
Dre would go on to be a better producer (with a hell of a business acumen) and Cube would go on to add a bit of social commentary to his angry street persona (and make many a dumb comedy), but this remains the collective’s most powerful statement together or apart.
There are cringey moments.. rap more than any other genre seems to date itself not only through the prolific time stamps throughout its history but by being a record of the mentality of its auteurs.
The album would be important beyond the hype given its subtle political message- young black men in America were mad (righteously so) and this was, if nothing else, a way to express that anger without the fear of incarceration. Unfortunately, through both the mechanisms of a society that was censorshiptastic (which was oddly directed with more penalty at African Americans - systemic racism at its finest) and other’s attempts to be real (even if they weren’t), gangsta rap wasn’t a healthy or prison free outlet for very long.
They weren’t the first or even the best gangsta act, but they were the big bang and the album is a landmark for hip hop, in both positive and negative ways.
4
Aug 14 2023
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The Genius Of Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Genius
5
Aug 15 2023
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Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
The Smashing Pumpkins
Long but solid.
4
Aug 16 2023
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Blunderbuss
Jack White
This album is fine. Jack White is fine. The White Stripes are important, but his solo work just feels like treading water. There are some nice moments and his guitar work is always great.
3
Aug 17 2023
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The Next Day
David Bowie
An artist known for looking forward looks back. The icon was human. Pretty great stuff.
4
Aug 18 2023
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There's A Riot Goin' On
Sly & The Family Stone
The end of two years of deeply rooting in himself, his thoughts and his addictions. An answer to Marvin Gaye. A complicated messy album that still resonates today.
5
Aug 21 2023
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People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
A Tribe Called Quest
Brilliant debut.
4
Aug 22 2023
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Blue Lines
Massive Attack
Great singing. Great production. Great music. Great songs. Atrocious rapping.
4
Aug 23 2023
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The Idiot
Iggy Pop
Like the lost transition from the Glam to the Berlin Trilogy, a brilliant inward look at a rocker.
4
Aug 24 2023
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Winter In America
Gil Scott-Heron
I do not think one listen is enough to fully process a Gil Scott-Heron project. Really dug the music though.
4
Aug 25 2023
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Millions Now Living Will Never Die
Tortoise
Real cool post rock. Will revisit.
4
Aug 28 2023
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L.A. Woman
The Doors
Not much to say here. They went out with their best set.
5
Aug 29 2023
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Urban Hymns
The Verve
The singles are great. The rest of it just kind of meanders.
2
Aug 30 2023
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Third
Portishead
Dark. Brilliant. An album that is showing a band ready to transcend Trip Hop.
5
Aug 31 2023
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California
American Music Club
Pretty solid americana adjacent music. Weird mix of 80s style vocals and more countrified vocals. Like this alot. Reminds me of Counting Crows.
4
Sep 01 2023
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Fire Of Love
The Gun Club
Bluesy, grimy, jangly, dark. Love this. Will revisit often.
4
Sep 04 2023
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The Chronic
Dr. Dre
Great beats, changed the game. Cringey.
4
Sep 05 2023
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Low-Life
New Order
This album bounces and feels like life.
4
Sep 06 2023
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Tuesday Night Music Club
Sheryl Crow
All I wanna do is have some fun. Decent pop. Nothing spectacular.
3
Sep 07 2023
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Live At The Witch Trials
The Fall
Enjoyable punk/post punk.
3
Sep 08 2023
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461 Ocean Boulevard
Eric Clapton
A little incohesive. It has it moments.
3
Sep 11 2023
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Protection
Massive Attack
Good stuff
4
Sep 12 2023
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Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
A landmark album. I mean how many albums can be directly pointed to as the point of a major genre?
5
Sep 13 2023
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Welcome To The Pleasuredome
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Peak 80’s fun.
3
Sep 14 2023
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Murmur
R.E.M.
An influential and important album. It’s not perfect though. A couple of songs are as grating as anything they ever did and Stipe mumbles throughout the entire album.
4
Sep 15 2023
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Red Dirt Girl
Emmylou Harris
REally nice, will need to spend more time with.
4
Sep 18 2023
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The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
David Bowie
A great album, doesn’t hold its concept the whole way through, but it never slacks off. Pretty much the acme of glam.
5
Sep 19 2023
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Come Away With Me
Norah Jones
A vibe if an album, equally great for a morning with coffee or a light night. Excellent musicianship and production.
4
Sep 20 2023
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Band On The Run
Paul McCartney and Wings
His most poptastic entry and one of the better post beatles efforts from any of the fab four.
5
Sep 21 2023
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The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
Pink Floyd
Brilliant debut. A landmark for psychedelic music. Madness intertwined with childlike lyrics.
5
Sep 22 2023
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The New Tango
Astor Piazzolla
Masterful and passionate music. Two beasts surprisingly making widely disparate music sound like it was meant to be. Will revisit.
5
Sep 25 2023
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There's No Place Like America Today
Curtis Mayfield
Mayfield was a master. This is smooth and funky and I will return to it.
4
Sep 26 2023
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Odelay
Beck
Countrified hipster funk from the mad folky and the dust brothers.
4
Sep 27 2023
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E.V.O.L.
Sonic Youth
Noisey art punk. Great stuff. Need to spend more time with the band, always.
4
Sep 29 2023
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Too Rye Ay
Dexys Midnight Runners
I think this may be my favorite thing that I did not know (I mean, I knew Come on Eileen, but that was it) before the project. It is fun and a wonderful mash up of soul, punk and Irish music. Like nothing else. Will for sure return to it.
5
Oct 02 2023
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Stand!
Sly & The Family Stone
The apex of what sly started with this band. It is optimistic and hopeful. The band is starting to be overtly political and it grooves.
5
Oct 03 2023
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Pretenders
Pretenders
Embarrassed to say that beyond Brass in Pocket, I did not know this. But it is great. Swagger for days and plays like a survey of 80s rock from punk to new wave to pop.
5
Oct 04 2023
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Two Dancers
Wild Beasts
Decent music. The singer has a grating voice. The lyrics are bizarre at best, and stalkerly at worst. While I find the music interesting, the content will keep me away from this group’s work.
2
Oct 05 2023
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Illmatic
Nas
A undisputed classic. Phenomenal flow and lyricism. Production game changer.
5
Oct 06 2023
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Led Zeppelin III
Led Zeppelin
Zep adds acoustic guitars. Magic happens.
5
Oct 09 2023
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Back To Black
Amy Winehouse
More than a throw back to the motown it is an update. One can only wonder what we might have had if she had stayed with us longer. The producers and the Dap Kings add a lot.
5
Oct 10 2023
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Appetite For Destruction
Guns N' Roses
A tough one. A landmark of 80s metal to be sure. The glam genre taken to its furthest extreme. It is full of excess both in hedonism, layered big arena music and grime and hate. It’s that hate - hate of women and other that drags it down. A double edged legacy.
3
Oct 11 2023
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Music
Madonna
A solid later album from Madonna. Not the heights of the album directly preceding (Ray of Light) or Confessions after, but fun and well made. Could be sequenced better.
4
Oct 12 2023
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Nebraska
Bruce Springsteen
A dark and personal, gritty album from one of my favorite songwriters. While it isn't the one I reach for the most, it is with out a doubt his best work.
5
Oct 13 2023
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At Budokan
Cheap Trick
So... I listened to this three times today and it really doesn't do anything for me. It's not bad. It just doesn't excite me. I do really like "I Want You to Want Me"
3
Oct 16 2023
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Brothers
The Black Keys
The Black Keys stop being spaced out weirdos but don’t quite make their triumphant return to form. It has great moments (Everlasting Love) but mostly feels a little reserved
3
Oct 17 2023
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Lust For Life
Iggy Pop
Iggy sort of returns to his former glory. It’s easy to understand why this is the record people gravitate to.
4
Oct 18 2023
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Brown Sugar
D'Angelo
An outstanding debut from a singular voice. Muhammad, Saadiq and Powers are a heck of production team. It’s layered into some kind of futuristic version of Sly’s late 70’s sound. It’s also very of its moment and as such transcends space and time. It’s also glorious booty call music.
5
Oct 19 2023
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I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
Aretha Franklin
The album where Aretha became ARETHA. One of the greatest soul records ever recorded.
5
Oct 20 2023
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Golden Hour
Kacey Musgraves
This is a solid pop album with a hint of a twang and a lot of Country attitude. I think the two albums preceding this one are much better.
3
Oct 23 2023
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Superunknown
Soundgarden
Way too long. Too polished. A handful of great songs though.
3
Oct 24 2023
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Queen II
Queen
Queen was an odd art metal prog band. This album is nifty, you can see the band they would become starting to form.
3
Oct 25 2023
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BEYONCÉ
Beyoncé
A defining and landmark album both for the artist and for how albums are released.
5
Oct 26 2023
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Shaka Zulu
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Simple beautiful. The voices. The harmonies. The melodies. The acapella rhythm.
4
Oct 27 2023
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Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears
The hits - Spinning Wheel and Happy are outstanding. And When I Die is weird. The rest is okay or just meandering.
3
Oct 30 2023
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Blonde On Blonde
Bob Dylan
It’s a bit of a mess and all over the place but the highlights (Johanna and Memphis) are some of his best songs. Of course, Rainy Day Women is his worst.
4
Oct 31 2023
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Parklife
Blur
A solid bit of britpop but as I know more of their catalog, the less impressive it is.
4
Nov 01 2023
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Be
Common
Common is in top form here, as is Kanye. Dilla is just the cherry on the sundae. I like One Day… and Chocolate better but this is a highlight of this era of rap/hip hop.
5
Nov 02 2023
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I’ve Got a Tiger By the Tail
Buck Owens
My love for Buck Owens is an example of the full circle I’ve had with Country.
Hee Haw was a Saturday evening staple in my house when I was a kid and I hated it. At the time it just seemed lame but I think maybe my subconscious knew that playing the South as full of Bumpkins was offensive. We’ve tackled the peculiar nature of Southern Pride elsewhere, but that’s certainly what I don’t like about the show and it’s legacy now.
What I did enjoy as a kid were the musical guests. Basically anyone who was anyone in Country music did a performance on Hee Haw. It was hosted by Buck Owens and Roy Clark who would tell bad one liners dressed in overalls and straw hats. I didn’t realize as a kid that these guys were titans of Country Music.
As I got older, I started to despise country because of Hee Haw, the conservative politics of the genre as a whole, and because I was ashamed of my heritage. Mind you, this was before I understood the systematic way racism was downplayed and further institutionalized in school.
In college, the punk kids all respected Cash and the other outlaws and I started to reevaluate the genre as a whole. But even then it was another decade before I let my affinity for Country music (and R&B) be something I was comfortable enough to openly display and talk about.
I’ve really come to know the Bakersfield sound in the last decade and have become obsessed with Owens, Haggard, and especially the songwriting of Harlan Howard. A lot of this comes from a tribute album by Vince Gill:
www.allmusic.com
Vince Gill, Paul Franklin - Bakersfield Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic
Discover Bakersfield by Vince Gill, Paul Franklin released in 2013. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
www.allmusic.com www.allmusic.com
Those old deep seated biases against Owens and the politics of Haggard late in his life kept me away from the music far too long. Fortunately my admiration for Gill as a guitarist (he’s a bit vanilla as a singer) changed that.
What’s really interesting is when it came time to really start exploring Owens is just how much of this album I knew. Many of the songs like the title song and Streets of Laredo were burned into my brain from that younger age (and probably countless covers) and those earliest memories of actually enjoying the music before I allowed outside influences (including my Dad who displayed an open dislike of the “old timey” music, specifically Hank Williams and Bob Wills, that his dad had liked - which is a topic for another day as Bluegrass … through its first exposure to me in high school… would play its own role in me accepting my love of country music).
This album has as much to do with the sub genre becoming popular as any other. Years before Outlaw became a crossover thing, Owens and the gang from California added rock to the country sound. This is its own cyclical thing in that both the Beatles and the Stones would play Bakersfield music which in turn influenced their sound and we know how influential both those acts were.
It’s a great record and if you think you hate country music, you should maybe check that bias at the door before listening.
5
Nov 03 2023
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Yank Crime
Drive Like Jehu
I really enjoyed this. It’s noise the way I like it. Will return to it.
3
Nov 06 2023
View Album
Hotel California
Eagles
Meh. The hits are great. The rest not so much. There’s nothing wrong with the Eagles. They aren’t pushing anything forward and maybe that’s why they are so popular.
3
Nov 07 2023
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Metallica
Metallica
Of their core albums before they helped numetal gain a strong hold, this is their weakest. It is also the most popular. It certainly catches a couple of zeitgeist type topics and has become anthemic for various reasons.
3
Nov 08 2023
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Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim
Frank Sinatra
Two masters as the height of their powers. A great album and collaboration.
5
Nov 09 2023
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Fever Ray
Fever Ray
A perfect winter album… cold, slightly detached, dark, and also utterly exhilarating and captivating.
4
Nov 10 2023
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OK
Talvin Singh
I enjoyed this quite a bit. The Indian elements, the drum n bass and oh my gosh the low end is something.
4
Nov 13 2023
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Led Zeppelin IV
Led Zeppelin
An all time classic. Not a bad song in the bunch
5
Nov 14 2023
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White Blood Cells
The White Stripes
Jack White at the height of his powers, on the precipice of fame. Still hungry and completely garage. A solid listen.
3
Nov 15 2023
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The Undertones
The Undertones
Fun punk pop.
3
Nov 16 2023
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Murder Ballads
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Astonishingly violent. Astonishingly captivating. Will return.
4
Nov 17 2023
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Tellin’ Stories
The Charlatans
1st half boring same old same old brit pop. 2nd half this organ shows up and stuff gets funky and interesting.
3
Nov 20 2023
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Oracular Spectacular
MGMT
Fun modern pop that is quite a bit exceptional.
4
Nov 21 2023
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More Songs About Buildings And Food
Talking Heads
A great album by a great band.
4
Nov 22 2023
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Immigrés
Youssou N'Dour
Was nice.
3
Nov 23 2023
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Dry
PJ Harvey
Solid and powerful alt rock.
4
Nov 24 2023
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G. Love And Special Sauce
G. Love & Special Sauce
Boring and amateurish.
1
Nov 27 2023
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Ágætis Byrjun
Sigur Rós
Very nice ambient music that I will probably return to.
3
Nov 28 2023
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Live At The Harlem Square Club
Sam Cooke
One of the all time great live albums and another side of Sam Cooke that most do not know.
5
Nov 29 2023
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Teenage Head
Flamin' Groovies
Was unfamiliar with this. Would like to return to it, like a countrified Stones.
4
Nov 30 2023
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Arc Of A Diver
Steve Winwood
so... this is like some adult contemporary nightmare where Billy Joel and Phil Collins have merged into the same dude who happens to think he is Stevie Wonder. The cover pretty much tells you what you are getting into.
1
Dec 01 2023
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Maxinquaye
Tricky
This is one of the all time great albums. It actually makes it hard to listen to most other trip hop. It still sounds like the future three decades later. It’s a world of its own and mind blowing.
5
Dec 04 2023
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Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin
Si this is really when Zeppelin becomes the band that takes over the world. The first album is just not quite as confident.
5
Dec 05 2023
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Morrison Hotel
The Doors
half of the album is great (see Peace Frog and Roadhouse Blues), half the album is obnoxious. So you know, it's a door's album.
3
Dec 06 2023
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Darkness on the Edge of Town
Bruce Springsteen
Springsteen would take his edge further with Nebraska but this is a defining album for him.
5
Dec 07 2023
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The Holy Bible
Manic Street Preachers
An awful cover hides an intelligent and emotional bit of post punk meets metal. Absolutely brilliant. Will be exploring this discography.
5
Dec 08 2023
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Street Signs
Ozomatli
over produced, but there is music worth listening to here. Saturday Night is the beginning of it settling in and it gets a little better through to the end.
2
Dec 11 2023
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Pearl
Janis Joplin
One of the all time great voices. Honestly, the album doesn’t quite feel finished, but it doesn’t really suffer because of that.
5
Dec 12 2023
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In Rainbows
Radiohead
Tweaked out future soul.
5
Dec 13 2023
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Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1
George Michael
Entering his adult contemporary phase, Michael ups the vocal difficulty and thematics.
4
Dec 14 2023
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The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
The best of the early folk stuff.
5
Dec 15 2023
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american dream
LCD Soundsystem
Not as inspired as their earlier work but an enjoyable listen.
3
Dec 18 2023
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Coat Of Many Colors
Dolly Parton
When Dolly became DOLLY.
5
Dec 19 2023
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Crosby, Stills & Nash
Crosby, Stills & Nash
Psychedelic folk rock at its best. Amazing harmonies.
5
Dec 20 2023
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Public Image: First Issue
Public Image Ltd.
All the chaos, anger and politics of The Pistols, but with a more musical slant. Jah Wobble was a genius from the offset. Keith Levene's guitars influenced a generation. This is post punk before it was a thing. It is confrontational and provocative. A great album.
4
Dec 21 2023
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Kenza
Khaled
This seems a little slickly produced and trying to bring in as wide an audience as possible. However, it was a great entry point for the artist and I have listened to his self titled album which seems more accomplished and exciting. I look forward to exploring his catalog and the Rai music genre.
2
Dec 22 2023
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Cafe Bleu
The Style Council
inconsistent and two much. reading other reviews there are a lot of these two songs are good, doesn't make up for the utter amateurishness of the whole endeavor and nothing makes up for A Gospel.
1
Dec 25 2023
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At Folsom Prison
Johnny Cash
One of the all time great recordings by one of the all time great artists.
5
Dec 26 2023
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A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Various Artists
An all time great Christmas album full of bangers.
5
Dec 27 2023
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A Little Deeper
Ms. Dynamite
Not bad, not great. Seems like Amy Winehouse with hip hop production.
2
Dec 28 2023
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Survivor
Destiny's Child
The hits deserve the attention: the rest is a mess of meandering runs over beats probably better used elsewhere. A mess.
2
Dec 29 2023
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The Last Broadcast
Doves
An interesting album that resembles what might happen if Coldplay and a Radiohead joined forces. Worthy of possible future listens.
3
Jan 01 2024
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Guero
Beck
A hip danceable modern rock pop thing. A lot of fun.
4
Jan 02 2024
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The Score
Fugees
An all time great rap album that sort of reset all the gangster rap and made everything a little bit more palatable.
5
Jan 03 2024
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Trio
Dolly Parton
Great songs sung by three great voices with beautiful harmonies. Perfect record.
5
Jan 04 2024
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Home Is Where The Music Is
Hugh Masekela
Simply stunning. The musicianship and composition are perfect. The blend of spiritual jazz, hard bop and African sounds is infectious.
5
Jan 05 2024
View Album
Goo
Sonic Youth
The stereotypical sonic youth album. Following up their best album (and one of the best albums ever) and getting signed to a major there are tracks that show why they got there intermingling with art noise. A complicated messy and utterly compelling work.
4
Jan 08 2024
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Hard Again
Muddy Waters
Raucous and inspired. Winters, Waters, and company quite literally caught lightening in a bottle with this record.
5
Jan 09 2024
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1989
Taylor Swift
The moment I started paying attention to Ms. Swift (actually it was Ryan Adams' cover of this album). On top of fully embracing pop, she actually writes more about herself (instead of relationships) and seems to have more substance as a result.
4
Jan 10 2024
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Kimono My House
Sparks
Like operatic new wave. Zany and infectious. Will be returning, for sure.
4
Jan 11 2024
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Larks' Tongues In Aspic
King Crimson
Noodly prog. Then the guy sings and it’s like a renaissance rom com. It all sounds well played and very intricate, but it’s doesn’t really groove or grab you.
3
Jan 12 2024
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Hot Shots II
The Beta Band
This plays like DJ Shadow Muzak. Chilled out The Books. Radiohead except all beats instead of guitars and vocal aerobatics. It doesn’t live up to the hype of High Fidelity.
2
Jan 15 2024
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The Slim Shady LP
Eminem
This is decidedly not for me. I recognize Eminem’s talent as a rapper. His flow is untouchable and he’s obviously very intelligent. The Dre lead music is awesome. The lyrical content is at best problematic. He’s shocking purely to shock and the amount of anger is astonishing. I find it very unheroic that there is a censored version that bleeps the curse words as if that is the problem with the content
2
Jan 16 2024
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Surfer Rosa
Pixies
This album was (and is) a bomb of aggression and noise. All neatly tied with a keen sense of poppy hooks. It reverberates through music to this day.
5
Jan 17 2024
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Marcus Garvey
Burning Spear
Essential roots reggae.
5
Jan 18 2024
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Inspiration Information
Shuggie Otis
Was not familiar with this before listening and am now obsessed. It is remarkable that so much of what Maxwell and Cody ChestNutt would do was done before in 74 by a basically forgotten musician. Great stuff that I will continue to explore.
4
Jan 19 2024
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Physical Graffiti
Led Zeppelin
Not my favorite and a little long but pretty awesome.
4
Jan 22 2024
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The Stranger
Billy Joel
This is an accomplished but of pop music. Joel has a way with melody and also for creating characters that feel like they are real.
4
Jan 23 2024
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Let It Bleed
The Rolling Stones
Prime stones.
4
Jan 24 2024
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The Specials
The Specials
This was quite the revelation. There is not OG Ska worth listening to.
4
Jan 25 2024
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Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
Bill Callahan
This was outstanding. Dark. Melodic. One of the more emotional singers I have ever heard. I will be revisiting this and his catalog.
5
Jan 26 2024
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The Gilded Palace Of Sin
The Flying Burrito Brothers
A touchstone of country rock. Having already created one classic with The Byrds, Parsons defined a sound with this album. Gritty and lo fi and perfect in every way.
5
Jan 29 2024
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Live And Dangerous
Thin Lizzy
This is one of those things, on paper I should love it, but it just doesn’t do anything for me.
2
Jan 30 2024
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Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
It’s uneven and weird but one of the most important releases ever.
4
Jan 31 2024
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Out of Step
Minor Threat
Pretty important east coast diy punk. MacKaye grew up to be a powerhouse of the scene.
3
Feb 01 2024
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Better Living Through Chemistry
Fatboy Slim
Fun upbeat dance music that isn't awful to listen to while doing other things.
4
Feb 02 2024
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Back At The Chicken Shack
Jimmy Smith
It says Jimmy Smith on the cover but I’m pretty sure this is Stanley Turrentine’s album.
4
Feb 05 2024
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Doggystyle
Snoop Dogg
It’s a shame that what is a landmark album for hip hop is full of problematic material. The beats are nice, the features nice and Snoop’s
Flow is impeccable. If it was all Murder was the Case instead of Gs up hos down…
3
Feb 06 2024
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Five Leaves Left
Nick Drake
Beautifully played and produced album. Will revisit.
4
Feb 07 2024
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Go Girl Crazy
The Dictators
Juvenile and in your face rock. A lot of fun.
3
Feb 08 2024
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Parallel Lines
Blondie
A classic… punk grows up, goes to the disco and gets huge.
4
Feb 09 2024
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Raw Like Sushi
Neneh Cherry
A very unique album blending styles into its own amorphous genre. A sort of proto trip hop affair especially when you look at the list of collaborators. Sounds just as out there now as it did 3 decades ago.
4
Feb 12 2024
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It's Blitz!
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
A fierce dance punk record that I will be returning to.
4
Feb 13 2024
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Paranoid
Black Sabbath
A leap forward from their first album with no less than three iconic riffs. The writing and production is raised. The band is great and Ozzy is in good form. War Pigs is one of the all time great songs.
5
Feb 14 2024
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Want One
Rufus Wainwright
An opulent and mesmerizing album.
3
Feb 15 2024
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The Good, The Bad & The Queen
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
Albarn supergroup sounds like Albarn supergroup.
3
Feb 16 2024
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The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
Genesis
An ambitious album that doesn’t quite meet its brief but reaches musical highs and still impresses to this day.
5
Feb 19 2024
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Blur
Blur
A lot of fun. Nice shift in Brit pop
4
Feb 20 2024
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Who's Next
The Who
I’ve been listening to this as long as I can remember and I think I love it more each time.
5
Feb 21 2024
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Highly Evolved
The Vines
Meh… like most of this 2000 garage stuff, it was pleasant enough to listen to and completely forgotten after.
2
Feb 22 2024
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Power In Numbers
Jurassic 5
I would have picked Quality Control or J5. However, this is a fine album. It threads the needle of gangster and conscious rap. The mcs are insane and have a unique interaction. NuMark and Cut Chemist are brilliant.
4
Feb 23 2024
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Tago Mago
Can
Psychedelic and out there. Will revisit.
3
Feb 26 2024
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Bringing It All Back Home
Bob Dylan
A landmark album.
5
Feb 27 2024
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Deja Vu
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
A pretty perfect album. Probably gonna reach for CSN or any number of NY albums before this though.
5
Feb 28 2024
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Happy Trails
Quicksilver Messenger Service
Solid representation of the Bay Area Scene.
3
Feb 29 2024
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Eagles
Eagles
Well it’s better than Hotel California. The country vibe works better for them.
3
Mar 01 2024
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Trout Mask Replica
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
I don’t understand this record.
1
Mar 04 2024
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Made In Japan
Deep Purple
Meh.
2
Mar 05 2024
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Fear Of A Black Planet
Public Enemy
Not their best album but possibly the one that imprinted the group on a wider consciousness.
4
Mar 06 2024
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Slanted And Enchanted
Pavement
Evidently this is a genesis of the indie rock sound. To me, it sounds like the noise of Sonic Youth brought to the hooks of Bob Mould. It’s wide ranging sounds and snippet like approach certainly inspired quite a few after.
3
Mar 07 2024
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Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes
Evidently this is a genesis of the indie rock sound. To me, it sounds like the noise of Sonic Youth brought to the hooks of Bob Mould. It’s wide ranging sounds and snippet like approach certainly inspired quite a few after.
3
Mar 08 2024
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Mask
Bauhaus
This was fantastic. Will revisit. Sounds fresh even today.
4
Mar 11 2024
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Machine Head
Deep Purple
I liked this better than Made in Japan. It feels more focused but still feels like jam band meets metal and ultimately isn’t really for me. I really don’t like the screams vocals at all.
3
Mar 12 2024
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Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
The Kinks
Such a great album!
5
Mar 13 2024
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Rage Against The Machine
Rage Against The Machine
A great and inventive band with an important message. Dislike Zach’s voice. They are kind of full of themselves and 52 minutes feels like 20 minutes too long for this kind of music.
4
Mar 14 2024
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Underwater Moonlight
The Soft Boys
Power pop with teeth and lots of psychedelics. Will revisit for sure.
3
Mar 15 2024
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Red Headed Stranger
Willie Nelson
One of the all time great albums. Willie free at last and showing what he can do when left alone.
5
Mar 18 2024
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(Pronounced 'Leh-'Nérd 'Skin-'Nérd)
Lynyrd Skynyrd
A great debut and a great synthesis of southern rock.
4
Mar 19 2024
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Either Or
Elliott Smith
Great voice and melodies
4
Mar 20 2024
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My Aim Is True
Elvis Costello
A stellar debut. He would never have this much bite again, but his catchy hooks and ear for unique melodies is riddled through out.
5
Mar 21 2024
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Sheer Heart Attack
Queen
Freddie is great as always. The band presents their usual craftsmanship. Killer Queen is a great track. The rest of the album never even comes close to that peak.
3
Mar 22 2024
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Frank
Amy Winehouse
Solid debut.
3
Mar 25 2024
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Smash
The Offspring
Not for me.
1
Mar 26 2024
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The Downward Spiral
Nine Inch Nails
An amazing display of space, layering and emotion.
5
Mar 27 2024
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(What's The Story) Morning Glory
Oasis
Good debut. Nostalgic.
4
Mar 28 2024
View Album
Metal Box
Public Image Ltd.
Solid stuff. A more out there and dancey version of Joy Division. Will revisit.
4
Mar 29 2024
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Green Onions
Booker T. & The MG's
The title track is a jam. The rest of the album is a definite vibe that can be grating sometimes.
3
Apr 01 2024
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Ellington at Newport
Duke Ellington
A great performance by a great band.
5
Apr 02 2024
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Bat Out Of Hell
Meat Loaf
Over the top theatrical rock fun.
5
Apr 03 2024
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Searching For The Young Soul Rebels
Dexys Midnight Runners
Good vibe album. Love his voice. Like the ska edge.
4
Apr 04 2024
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Music From The Penguin Cafe
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
Yacht rock music and Eno soundscapes.
2
Apr 05 2024
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The Joshua Tree
U2
A perfect album.
5
Apr 08 2024
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Brothers In Arms
Dire Straits
On first listen, I thought this was a front loaded bore of an album. However by the third listen, I was beginning to respect the ksucianship and craft on display. The production is top notch. It’s a grower.
3
Apr 09 2024
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The Clash
The Clash
A great debut. A great album. A great band.
5
Apr 10 2024
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Black Holes and Revelations
Muse
A fun bombastic dancy pomp.
3
Apr 11 2024
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Vauxhall And I
Morrissey
Despicable human with an amazing talent. Gorgeous album.
4
Apr 12 2024
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Atomizer
Big Black
Post punk as Porto industrial. Intense in every way.
4
Apr 15 2024
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1999
Prince
Prince arrived to the mainstream with this album. A beast of an album.
5
Apr 16 2024
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Strangeways, Here We Come
The Smiths
I disliked this album even though I have come to terms with liking both the Smiths and Morrissey’s solo work. This is self aggrandizing taken to ludicrous extremes and comes off childish at times. Morrissey also sounds ill on several tracks.
2
Apr 17 2024
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Foxbase Alpha
Saint Etienne
Fun poppy dance music.
4
Apr 18 2024
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Come Find Yourself
Fun Lovin' Criminals
Derivative and sophomoric. Sure it’s full of hooks that not only are samples but samples that have been used a lot before this came out.
1
Apr 19 2024
View Album
Bossanova
Pixies
There are awesome peaks (Happening, Blown Away), a lot of pointless filler (first and last song) and atrocities (Hang Wire). The most uneven of their original four full length albums and unfortunately a sign of things to come.
3
Apr 22 2024
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Birth Of The Cool
Miles Davis
Landmark album
5
Apr 23 2024
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Eliminator
ZZ Top
A behemoth of a record. inspired by Billy digging Depeche Mode and Ministry.
5
Apr 24 2024
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Little Earthquakes
Tori Amos
A gut punch record. Hauntingly beautiful at times. Always engaging. Very emotional. Perfectly executed at all times.
5
Apr 25 2024
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Elastica
Elastica
90s alternative rock. Edges and fun but still feels like an Apple ad spot to me.
3
Apr 26 2024
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Vulgar Display Of Power
Pantera
Prime 90’s metal.
4
Apr 29 2024
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Kind Of Blue
Miles Davis
A landmark album. A gateway for jazz.
5
Apr 30 2024
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Raising Hell
Run-D.M.C.
One of the all time great rap acts and albums.
5
May 01 2024
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Kick Out The Jams (Live)
MC5
I get that this is an important album but it’s a wreck of a show. They sound sloppy as hell. Starship is great though.
3
May 02 2024
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Fifth Dimension
The Byrds
Oye easy to see how this was influential both as early psychedelic rock and with the beginnings of the more Country Rock they would soon be producing. It is a wildly uneven album though.
3
May 03 2024
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I See A Darkness
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Strong stuff. Will revisit.
4
May 06 2024
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21
Adele
A great vocalist with an album full of heat.
5
May 07 2024
View Album
Live At Leeds
The Who
Great music. Wish there was less chatter.
4
May 08 2024
View Album
If I Should Fall From Grace With God
The Pogues
Solid
4
May 09 2024
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Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo
MC Solaar
Solid 90s hip hop.
3
May 10 2024
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Tanto Tempo
Bebel Gilberto
Very nice bossa nova with and undertone of electronica.
4
May 13 2024
View Album
Chirping Crickets
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
A nice fossil of early rock. The singles are great!
4
May 14 2024
View Album
In Utero
Nirvana
An all time great album. A band that found itself at the top of the world with a singer that didn’t really want it. It rails against everything, including itself. Beneath all the fuzz and anger, there are smart lyrics and brilliant hooks and melodies.
5
May 15 2024
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Figure 8
Elliott Smith
I really enjoyed this. Fairly new to his music.
4
May 16 2024
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Bitches Brew
Miles Davis
This is a landmark album for fusion and I. The way it was constructed, but for me thus music works best in a live setting where it can breath instead of being confined to a structure that didn’t necessarily exist
3
May 17 2024
View Album
In It For The Money
Supergrass
Edgier britpop and all the better for it. Will revisit.
4
May 20 2024
View Album
Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
A historic album.
3
May 21 2024
View Album
Feast of Wire
Calexico
Liked. Will revisit.
3
May 22 2024
View Album
O.G. Original Gangster
Ice T
A landmark album in gangster rap. Smart and brutal. Still problematic at times and Ice T’s flow has always been kind of goofy to me.
4
May 23 2024
View Album
Sea Change
Beck
Beck in baroque folk mode, an album about breaking up that’s sounds more haunting than the singer feels. An atmospheric album and one of his best.
4
May 24 2024
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In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
Iron Butterfly
Kind of mid psych rock.
3
May 27 2024
View Album
If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears
The Mamas & The Papas
Great harmonies. Interesting Psych in the sixties vibe.
4
May 28 2024
View Album
Bryter Layter
Nick Drake
Very nice. Not as nice as the moon one. Will be returning to catalog.
4
May 29 2024
View Album
Live Through This
Hole
A gut punch of an album given the timing and subject matter. Still raw to this day.
5
May 30 2024
View Album
Blood And Chocolate
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
I dig Costello but was unfamiliar with this album. It is raw and vicious. Will return.
4
May 31 2024
View Album
Beauty And The Beat
The Go-Go's
A great debut album that holds up very well.
5
Jun 03 2024
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Ill Communication
Beastie Boys
They’re best album. It takes elements of all that came before it an adds a maturity of content.
5
Jun 04 2024
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Are You Experienced
Jimi Hendrix
Not his/their best - the got better with each outing in my opinion, but a stellar debut that set more than Jimi’s guitars on fire!
5
Jun 05 2024
View Album
Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
Eurythmics
I like the idea of Eurythmics more than I like them. Their greatest hits is enough for me. Very dated sound.
3
Jun 06 2024
View Album
Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs
Derek & The Dominos
A killer album.
5
Jun 07 2024
View Album
The Dreaming
Kate Bush
I need to listen to more Kate Bush was my take away. Not an easy album but always compelling.
4
Jun 10 2024
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American IV: The Man Comes Around
Johnny Cash
A great last album and statement on mortality.
5
Jun 11 2024
View Album
Live At The Star Club, Hamburg
Jerry Lee Lewis
A rip roaring and dynamic live performance of early rock n roll.
4
Jun 12 2024
View Album
Disraeli Gears
Cream
A great psych record.
4
Jun 13 2024
View Album
Konnichiwa
Skepta
Energetic British hip hop that doesn’t make me want to stop listening. Nice collage of sounds and interesting lyrics.
3
Jun 14 2024
View Album
Let's Get It On
Marvin Gaye
One of the best albums by one of the best artists. Baby making music!
5
Jun 17 2024
View Album
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Wilco
Whole books could be written about this. Films made. Oh wait, that has happened. A brilliant album that happened to punch music forward and catch the zeitgeist at the same time. The story behind the album is as fascinating as the album itself.
5
Jun 18 2024
View Album
A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Coldplay
Coldplay goes bombastic. Takes over the world. People immediately start to hate.
5
Jun 19 2024
View Album
Bookends
Simon & Garfunkel
Inventive and fascinating.
5
Jun 20 2024
View Album
A Nod Is As Good As A Wink To A Blind Horse
Faces
Solid bluesy classic rock.
4
Jun 21 2024
View Album
Natty Dread
Bob Marley & The Wailers
Always great a bit of a different sound than I expected!
4
Jun 24 2024
View Album
Getz/Gilberto
Stan Getz
An all time chill album.
5
Jun 25 2024
View Album
Nilsson Schmilsson
Harry Nilsson
First there’s the voice. Then there’s the songwriting… then there’s this album of polished shimmery pop that also rocks and manages to all feel subversive. Singular stuff.
5
Jun 26 2024
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Eli And The Thirteenth Confession
Laura Nyro
A phenomenal singer and songwriter who deserves to be here and more widely recognized.
5
Jun 27 2024
View Album
John Prine
John Prine
A hell of a debut full of songs that are pretty much standards now. There is a wisdom and emotional depth that is years beyond the young man who wrote them. He has an uncanny ability to tell everyone’s store.
5
Jun 28 2024
View Album
Tubular Bells
Mike Oldfield
A very interesting listen. Will want to come back to in the future.
4
Jul 01 2024
View Album
S&M
Metallica
An odd album. It doesn’t reach the mark of good classical music (sounds more like a soundtrack looking for a movie) and stifles Metallica.
2
Jul 02 2024
View Album
In The Court Of The Crimson King
King Crimson
It’s all nice enough and seems to be very important to prog rock, but it doesn’t excite me or compel me to return to it.
3
Jul 03 2024
View Album
A Seat at the Table
Solange
A powerful and seductive album experience that I wish I had listened to before now.
5
Jul 04 2024
View Album
Amnesiac
Radiohead
Great stuff.
5
Jul 05 2024
View Album
Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor
Lupe Fiasco
It doesn’t quite gel. The production is solid. His flow is good and switched up a bit. His lyrics aren’t reprehensible. But it just kind of falls flat.
2
Jul 08 2024
View Album
Blood On The Tracks
Bob Dylan
One of the greatest albums of all time. Possibly Dylan’s most confessional. Easily one of his more accessible and relatable. Emotional.
5
Jul 09 2024
View Album
Aladdin Sane
David Bowie
Ziggy goes to America and gets weird. Bowie begins truly collaborating and experimental.
5
Jul 10 2024
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Gris Gris
Dr. John
Funky and grimy. Sometimes creepy. Always mesmerizing.
5
Jul 11 2024
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Architecture And Morality
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
Weird artsy 80’s music. Me likey.
4
Jul 12 2024
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Let's Get Killed
David Holmes
This album plays like a survey of electronica circa 1997. An interest concept, very eclectic.
3
Jul 15 2024
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The Wildest!
Louis Prima
Fun stuff!
4
Jul 16 2024
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Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes
A beautiful bit of chamber folk. Perfect for a winter’s day.
5
Jul 17 2024
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So Much For The City
The Thrills
Was unfamiliar, quirky fun britpop that evokes sun drenched California through a Wayne Coyne filter.
3
Jul 18 2024
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I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
Sinead O'Connor
A solid album from an icon.
3
Jul 19 2024
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Mermaid Avenue
Billy Bragg
Woody Guthrie, Bragg and Wilco. It’s fantastic.
5
Jul 22 2024
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Aja
Steely Dan
A bit of sonic slickness combined with amazing musicianship and fierce wit. Also, it thumps.
5
Jul 23 2024
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The Number Of The Beast
Iron Maiden
I enjoy what the band does but not Dickinson, furthermore it all comes off as cold.
2
Jul 24 2024
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Eternally Yours
The Saints
Was unfamiliar but this was a lot of fun. Will return to it.
3
Jul 25 2024
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Movies
Holger Czukay
Fascinating cut and paste noodling.
3
Jul 26 2024
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Deloused in the Comatorium
The Mars Volta
I was familiar with later work but had not spent time with this. It is complicated and compelling. Will take further listens to really suss out.
3
Jul 29 2024
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Dire Straits
Dire Straits
Solid.
3
Jul 30 2024
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Dirt
Alice In Chains
A exemplary metal album from the nineties. Staley was a great singer, he and Cantrell wrote great songs. This is the pinnacle of their partnership. An album consumed by darkness and addiction.
5
Jul 31 2024
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Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D'Arby
Terence Trent D'Arby
A unique and fantastic 80s slice of eclecticism.
4
Aug 01 2024
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The Healer
John Lee Hooker
A weird album.
2
Aug 02 2024
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Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
A classic.
5
Aug 05 2024
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Odessa
Bee Gees
A weird album.
2
Aug 06 2024
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A Grand Don't Come For Free
The Streets
I like the beats. The rest is decidedly not for me.
1
Aug 07 2024
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São Paulo Confessions
Suba
This was a vibe. Will relisten.
3
Aug 08 2024
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Cross
Justice
An inventive take on the fun French house brought to the masses by Daft Punk.
4
Aug 09 2024
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White Light / White Heat
The Velvet Underground
The Velvets doing what they do. Great heady stuff.
4
Aug 12 2024
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The Rise & Fall
Madness
Quite enjoyable English pop ska. Will seek out future listens.
4
Aug 13 2024
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One World
John Martyn
Breathtakingly brilliant.
4
Aug 14 2024
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Stripped
Christina Aguilera
The hits are great. The album is too long and the rest of the album is too uneven.
2
Aug 15 2024
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Remain In Light
Talking Heads
Brilliant.
5
Aug 16 2024
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Music Has The Right To Children
Boards of Canada
Seems like this would be where the music became album oriented listen at home stuff. Will need to spend more time with it.
3
Aug 19 2024
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Done By The Forces Of Nature
Jungle Brothers
A great album by a solid undervalued group. As solid and groundbreaking as their partners in the Native Tongues.
5
Aug 20 2024
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Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches
Happy Mondays
Unhinged British pop that blends the old and the new. Definitely worth a listen.
3
Aug 21 2024
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Paul's Boutique
Beastie Boys
This is a touchstone album. A turning point for the band and hip hop. It’s like Pet Sounds or the first Velvet Underground album, it wasn’t a runaway hit (although its flop is overstated) but its influence is remarkable. Ill Communication is my favorite Beasties record but this is arguably the most important.
5
Aug 22 2024
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Black Metal
Venom
Well that was an album.
1
Aug 23 2024
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Headquarters
The Monkees
Interesting album, light folky psychedelic pop.
3
Aug 26 2024
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...The Dandy Warhols Come Down
The Dandy Warhols
Fun power pop, plays light Sugar demos.
3
Aug 27 2024
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Beyond Skin
Nitin Sawhney
Stunning, a classical approach to electronic music composition with breathtaking scope in concept and themes. Will return to this.
4
Aug 28 2024
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Destroyer
KISS
Fun, over the top cartoon rock.
4
Aug 29 2024
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Calenture
The Triffids
A slow burner of an album that borders on CCM at times.
2
Aug 30 2024
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Sulk
The Associates
Man. Way out there crazy 80s pop doodling. Fun stuff.
3
Sep 02 2024
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The Marshall Mathers LP
Eminem
Em is very talented and not for me.
4
Sep 03 2024
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Elephant
The White Stripes
Their biggest sound and a well crafted album all the way around.
5
Sep 04 2024
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Pelican West
Haircut 100
Liked what I heard. Need to revisit…
3
Sep 05 2024
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I Should Coco
Supergrass
More like super fun. Raw and energetic. The best of the Brit pop I’ve encountered on this list.
4
Sep 06 2024
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White Light
Gene Clark
Pleasant Country rock.
3
Sep 09 2024
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Femi Kuti
Femi Kuti
A little stiff but a respectable debut.
3
Sep 10 2024
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Spy Vs. Spy: The Music Of Ornette Coleman
John Zorn
Energetic and thought provoking. Coleman’s music enjoys the grit and pace.
4
Sep 11 2024
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The Scream
Siouxsie And The Banshees
Missy, outstanding and energetic. Not a fan of Helter Skelter.
5
Sep 12 2024
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Suede
Suede
Meh… nothing wrong with it.
3
Sep 13 2024
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Truth
Jeff Beck
I should listen to more Beck.
4
Sep 16 2024
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Good Old Boys
Randy Newman
A warts and all exploration of the south told by a master storyteller. Great stuff that will get under your skin.
5
Sep 17 2024
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Sister
Sonic Youth
An awesome step in the evolution of the band clearly bridging the noise art of the early band and the pop sensibilities that would immediately follow.
4
Sep 18 2024
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The Band
The Band
An all time classic.
5
Sep 19 2024
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Double Nickels On The Dime
Minutemen
Watt and Boon basically reinvent their instruments and what punk can be. All time classic.
5
Sep 20 2024
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The Hour Of Bewilderbeast
Badly Drawn Boy
I was unfamiliar with this artist. This was a very interesting album encompassing baroque folk, indie rock and grandeur pop. Will revisit.
4
Sep 23 2024
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Fun House
The Stooges
Classic, probably their most accessible.
5
Sep 25 2024
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Hot Fuss
The Killers
A fun rock pastiche.
4
Sep 26 2024
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The Poet
Bobby Womack
Groovy and nice. Need to spend more time with it and the catalog.
4
Sep 27 2024
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Rejoicing In The Hands
Devendra Banhart
Solid folk
Music. Like the space in the recording. Will return.
4
Sep 30 2024
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Clube Da Esquina
Milton Nascimento
A landmark in MPB. A beautiful genre shifting epic.
5
Oct 01 2024
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Youth And Young Manhood
Kings of Leon
Post strokes garage rock goes southern rock. Energetic and raw. The bombast of their later work is present if you listen for it. A fun record.
4
Oct 02 2024
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Melodrama
Lorde
This was a strong personal pop album framed very well. Antonoff’s great production is clearly felt but his tropes do weaken the album at times. The last half is the strongest. It is a worthwhile album.
4
Oct 03 2024
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The Cars
The Cars
One of those perfect and timeless albums. Plays like a greatest hits and it’s their debut. Absolute magic. Oh yeah and the Rhino HiFi vinyl is AMAZING.
5
Oct 04 2024
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Rhythm Nation 1814
Janet Jackson
Seven #1 hits. It’s pretty much the reason it is here. It’s a competent album and after the breakthrough of Control, made her a superstar at her brother’s level. As a concept the album doesn’t hold up, but it has a solid production from Jam and Lewis that while dated is still pretty great and those hits are something else.
4
Oct 07 2024
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Meat Puppets II
Meat Puppets
Great hillbilly punk.
5
Oct 08 2024
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Lady In Satin
Billie Holiday
Emotional and vulnerable, perfect.
5
Oct 09 2024
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Isn't Anything
My Bloody Valentine
Unlike a lot of shoegaze I’ve listened to this is almost punk and almost avant garde. It is guttural and raw. Dig it.
4
Oct 10 2024
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Maverick A Strike
Finley Quaye
A perfectly pleasant, unremarkable and instantly forgettable listen.
2
Oct 11 2024
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Bug
Dinosaur Jr.
Noisey jangly ballsy rock with hooks.
4