Journey in Progress
Discovering music one album at a time
491
Albums Rated
3.28
Avg Rating
57
5-Star Albums
45%
Complete
598 albums remaining
Rating Speed
5.7
Per Week
602
Days Active
Reviews
491
Written
100%
Review Rate
vs Global
0.03
Avg Diff
3.28
Avg Rating
Rating Distribution
How you rate albums
Rating Timeline
Average rating over time
Ratings by Decade
Which era do you prefer?
Activity by Day
When do you listen?
Taste Profile
2010s
Favorite Decade
Shoegaze
Favorite Genre
other
Top Origin
Balanced
Rater Style
27
1-Star Albums
Taste Analysis
Genre Preferences
Ratings by genre
Origin Preferences
Ratings by country
Rating Style
You Love More Than Most
Albums you rated higher than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spy Vs. Spy: The Music Of Ornette Coleman | 5 | 2.22 | +2.78 |
| Fear and Whiskey | 5 | 2.6 | +2.4 |
| Rejoicing In The Hands | 5 | 2.82 | +2.18 |
| Whatever | 5 | 2.82 | +2.18 |
| D.O.A. the Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle | 4 | 1.88 | +2.12 |
| Lazer Guided Melodies | 5 | 2.92 | +2.08 |
| Joan Baez | 5 | 2.96 | +2.04 |
| Treasure | 5 | 3.07 | +1.93 |
| Elephant Mountain | 5 | 3.07 | +1.93 |
| Seventh Tree | 5 | 3.08 | +1.92 |
You Love Less Than Most
Albums you rated lower than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| At San Quentin | 1 | 3.81 | -2.81 |
| 1984 | 1 | 3.51 | -2.51 |
| Paul's Boutique | 1 | 3.47 | -2.47 |
| Come Away With Me | 1 | 3.39 | -2.39 |
| There's No Place Like America Today | 1 | 3.37 | -2.37 |
| Sunday At The Village Vanguard | 1 | 3.32 | -2.32 |
| Fragile | 1 | 3.32 | -2.32 |
| Bitches Brew | 1 | 3.3 | -2.3 |
| Revolver | 2 | 4.25 | -2.25 |
| Third | 1 | 3.13 | -2.13 |
Artist Analysis
Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums and high weighted score
| Artist | Albums | Avg | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| PJ Harvey | 4 | 5 | 4.14 |
| Cocteau Twins | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Belle & Sebastian | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Joni Mitchell | 3 | 4.33 | 3.67 |
Least Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums and low weighted score
| Artist | Albums | Avg | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 3 | 1.67 | 2.33 |
| Johnny Cash | 2 | 1.5 | 2.4 |
| Miles Davis | 3 | 2 | 2.5 |
| Brian Eno | 3 | 2 | 2.5 |
5-Star Albums (57)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Creedence Clearwater Revival
2/5
This is country rock, very American. Kindly short & I thought the singer kind of sounds like Elvis? Maybe it’s just his accent or something. Some of the songs were okay, some were bad, one was great. Final question: what on earth does “chooglin” mean???
Best tracks: Proud Mary (Had no idea this was the original version of this song. I’m mostly familiar with the Glee version, but it’s a classic for a reason), Good Golly Miss Molly
Worst tracks: Graveyard Train (lyrically weak, way too long - over 8 minutes in an album with a 33 minute run time is insane for a track this bad), Bootleg (I spent half the song thinking he was saying “Voulez” before I checked the song title)
7 likes
Cocteau Twins
5/5
fuck yeah !!!!
i love the cocteau twins. don’t understand a word they say but god bless them ❤️
best of the best: lorelai, beatrix, ivo
5 likes
Eminem
2/5
Any musical value to be derived from this was automatically cancelled out by just how FUCKING ANNOYING IT IS. I don’t like him, I don’t like his voice, I don’t like his lyrics. No thank you!
3 likes
Kid Rock
1/5
I’ll admit I went into this totally biased, but it’s not AS bad as I assumed it would be, as someone who had never heard Kid Rock’s music before. Definitely not 1001 albums of all time material, though……… I feel like people often romanticise the 90s but this album made me glad to have not been born yet.
Best track: I kinda liked the funky auto tune on Only God Knows Why
Worst tracks: Welcome 2 the Party, Fuck Off, Where U At Rock, Bawitdaba, Cowboy, Devil Without A Cause, Roving Gangster, I Got One for Ya’, Somebody’s Gotta Feel This, Black Chick, White Guy/I Am the Bulldog (WHY is this song TWELVE MINUTES LONG????? I thought it was almost OVER).
1 star for…. creativity I guess 👍🏼
3 likes
Gillian Welch
1/5
I liked the first song. That was all.
Best track: Revelator
Worst tracks: My First Lover, Dear Someone, Red Clay Halo, Elvis Presley Blues + all the rest.
2 likes
4-Star Albums (166)
1-Star Albums (27)
All Ratings
Elvis Presley
3/5
Dude was a creep but “Blue Suede Shoes” is a bop. No denying that he’s inferior to the African-American artists he built his career off of.
Best songs: Blue Suede Shoes, I’m Counting On You, Trying To Get To You, Blue Moon
Worst songs: I Got A Woman (“She knows a woman’s place” is a no-go lyric), One-Sided Love Affair (he sang this one the way I imagine a cartoon bear would in a Disney movie).
2/5
I knew one or two of these songs already. This album was not bad by any means, but I didn’t find it particularly interesting. It’s not something I would choose to listen to again.
Portishead
3/5
Never heard of Portishead before, though I realised while listening that I knew their song “Glory Box” from somewhere - I think it was used in an ad or something.
Definitely a weird album, I’m not usually into stuff this experimental-sounding. Fav tracks: Sour Times, It’s A Fire, Glory Box
Least fav tracks: Numb, Roads, Pedestal
While I liked some tracks, most didn’t do it for me.
Marty Robbins
3/5
This was a really fun album, not at all what I expected.
Fav tracks: …Big Iron, They’re Hanging Me Tonight, Utah Carol
Least fav tracks: The Strawberry Roan, Saddle Tramp
Jerry Lee Lewis
3/5
This man was a racist pedophile who married seven times including his 3rd wife, also his thirteen year old cousin. Creep. Also, possibly a murderer. He hated black people while building his entire career off of black musicians’ skill, talent and innovation. He died around 5 months ago and I don’t think the world is particularly worse off as a result!
Didn’t like his voice and don’t think this was much different at it’s core from other music of the same rockabilly honky-tonk style genre (half the songs basically sounded the same, like Elvis but drunk). However I can certainly see how this live performance influenced rock and roll for years and years to come. To summarise: he rocked out.
Won’t be listening again as this isn’t really my genre of choice and… there’s only so far I can go with the “separate the art from the artist” thing.
Best tracks: Money, Great Balls Of Fire, Good Golly Miss Molly, Lewis’ Boogie
Worst tracks: School Confidential, Your Cheating Heart
Lou Reed
5/5
Undeniably depressing subject matter. The kids crying at the end of “The Kids” was very disturbing. Nonetheless, it’s great art even if it’s not super pleasant art. There’s not really a bad track on there, musically, though for the sake of my personal happiness I’ll be avoiding listening to “The Kids” and “The Bed” ever again, even though I think “The Bed” is an exquisitely written track.
Favourites were “How Do You Think It Feels”, “Oh Jim”, “Caroline Says II”, “Men of Good Fortune”, and, despite my desire to avoid hearing it again in the future, “The Bed”. Least favourites probably “The Kids” and “Caroline Says I”.
Struggled between 4 and 5 stars for the rating on this one … but I think the artistry merits a 5 in the end. Maybe like a 4.75 on a more detailed scale…
Mudhoney
4/5
I really enjoyed this album! Most of the songs kind of blended together for me, but there were none I disliked and overall I loved the general sound of the album.
Fav songs: Let It Slide, Check-Out Time
Creedence Clearwater Revival
2/5
This is country rock, very American. Kindly short & I thought the singer kind of sounds like Elvis? Maybe it’s just his accent or something. Some of the songs were okay, some were bad, one was great. Final question: what on earth does “chooglin” mean???
Best tracks: Proud Mary (Had no idea this was the original version of this song. I’m mostly familiar with the Glee version, but it’s a classic for a reason), Good Golly Miss Molly
Worst tracks: Graveyard Train (lyrically weak, way too long - over 8 minutes in an album with a 33 minute run time is insane for a track this bad), Bootleg (I spent half the song thinking he was saying “Voulez” before I checked the song title)
2/5
This album has 3 songs. They are long.
I definitely understand why this is on the list, but it’s not something I’d listen to again. The first 3 minutes of this album felt like the musical version of a panic attack - that horrible energy was then resuscitated at around the 15 minute mark of this EIGHTEEN MINUTE track. Despite this, the first track was the best one on the album, with the following two paling in comparison to the point of boredom.
As a summary: prog rock is apparently not for me.
Madonna
1/5
I’m generally quite fond of Madonna, but this album wasn’t for me. Other than the title track, I didn’t enjoy any of the songs.
Radiohead
2/5
I really enjoyed a few songs on this album (2+2=5 and Sail To The Moon) but found the overall effect to be a bit too whiny for me. It took several attempts for me to get through the whole album over a few weeks. 56 minutes felt like 56 hours. There were also some tracks on here that I really truly hated (The Gloaming was dreadful). An honestly painful listening experience at some points, and not at all what I anticipated based on my previous experiences of Radiohead (which has always been limited to their hits).
Best tracks: 2+2=5, Sail To The Moon, I Will, A Wolf At The Door
Worst tracks: Backdrifts, Go To Sleep, The Gloaming (my ears hurt)
2.5 stars, rounded down lol
Marvin Gaye
3/5
According to the Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Albums list, this is the no. 1 album of all time, which is a lot to live up to. It’s also pretty short, just over half an hour long.
It’s a good album, no doubt. But best of all time is definitely a stretch. Enjoyable but not for me, and I didn’t love the sensual sighs in the background… don’t think it added anything, just made it sound rather trashy.
Favs: If I Should Die Tonight, Let’s Get It On, Come Get To This
The Chemical Brothers
2/5
Went into this completely unaware of the background of this album, I’d never heard of The Chemical Brothers and I had no wi-fi to look them up. By the end, I was still kind of confused. Didn’t hate it.
Fav songs: Three Little Birdies Down Beats, Chemical Beats, Alive Alone
Least fav: the rest
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
I’m with Rory Gilmore on this one. Not really for me.
Fav songs: Luna (the only one I liked enough to save), Mayonaise, Today, Spaceboy, Disarm, Silverfuck
Rage Against The Machine
5/5
This is not the kind of music I usually enjoy or seek out, but I thought this album was actually very excellent. It’s basically just a socialist zine put to heavy guitar but somehow it really, really works. This album was released quite a while before I was even born, so this review is not influenced by nostalgia at all.
Fav tracks: Killing In The Name Of, Take The Power Back
Least fav track: Freedom
5 stars!
The Undertones
4/5
I had listened to this album before, but it was nice to revisit it. I like it a lot.
Favs: Get Over You, I Gotta Getta, Teenage Kicks, Male Model, Girls Don’t Like It, Family Entertainment, I Know A Girl, (She’s A) Runaround
Least fav: Casbah Rock
Kid Rock
1/5
I’ll admit I went into this totally biased, but it’s not AS bad as I assumed it would be, as someone who had never heard Kid Rock’s music before. Definitely not 1001 albums of all time material, though……… I feel like people often romanticise the 90s but this album made me glad to have not been born yet.
Best track: I kinda liked the funky auto tune on Only God Knows Why
Worst tracks: Welcome 2 the Party, Fuck Off, Where U At Rock, Bawitdaba, Cowboy, Devil Without A Cause, Roving Gangster, I Got One for Ya’, Somebody’s Gotta Feel This, Black Chick, White Guy/I Am the Bulldog (WHY is this song TWELVE MINUTES LONG????? I thought it was almost OVER).
1 star for…. creativity I guess 👍🏼
The Pretty Things
1/5
Yeah this was a no from me. I liked some of the beginning songs in a vague sort of way, but it quickly begun feeling like an interminable slog of rote 60s psychedelia that I, as a non-drug user, will never be able to understand or enjoy. Some of the songs were dreadful, notably Defecting Grey, which made me want to drown myself rather than finish listening to. It was followed by three similarly bad songs which I truly HATED listening to. Concept albums are cool and all… but I need the music to be enjoyable to care about the concept. A 1 might be harsh but it’s how I felt by the end so I think it’s deserved.
John Prine
2/5
This feels like something they’d dance to in Friday Night Lights. I’m not really hugely into country, and the music on these tracks feels pretty average, nothing particularly notable.
Like others have pointed out, it has some pretty good lyrics. Bob Dylan apparently described John Prine’s music as “pure Proustian existentialism” but I’m not going to pretend that I’m well-read enough to know what that means. I like a good lyric but it needs to be set to music I like or it may as well just be poetry to me (and I would prefer it that way, I like poetry!)
It’s classic country, but it would be really hard for any country to get more than 3 stars from me. Each individual song was fine, but none really stood out to me, and listening to all the songs back-to-back I just found myself bored and waiting for it to end. Wasn’t a fan of the vocals either.
Best tracks: Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven (I liked the message of this one), Quiet Man, Donald and Lydia (did John Prine just predict long-distance sexting?(just to be clear this is a joke I understand what the song is about))
Worst tracks: Paradise (I really didn’t like the instrumental on this one), Hello in There, Six O’Clock News
Jeff Beck
2/5
I liked the guitar on Blues Deluxe. The rest of this hasn’t really stood the rest of time in my opinion. Didn’t like the vocals and wouldn’t listen again.
It’s not bad but let’s just say when the next edition of this book comes out and they need to make some more space, this one could probably slide out unnoticed 👍🏼
William Orbit
2/5
A series of rather boring electronica songs that vary between songs that make you feel like they’re trying to brainwash you into a cult and songs that sound like the background music when you get a massage at a spa.
I love a spa trip but the music is not 1001 albums to listen to before you die material!
Bee Gees
4/5
This album is nothing like the Bee Gees most of us are familiar with; sadly, there is no disco in sight.
Nevertheless, it is a solid album of soft rock ballads, all of which are quite pleasing to the ear though not my genre of choice.
Best tracks: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, Israel, Trafalgar, Don’t Want To Live Inside Myself, Remembering
Worst tracks: When Do I, Lion in Winter, The Greatest Man in the World
Traffic
3/5
Odd title, very jazzy which I wasn’t expecting. Very instrumentally focused, which is a shame as the singer has a nice voice. Overall the album was good, fun enough. Not really what I would choose to listen to, though, and it’s not a genre I can offer much in the way of insightful comments.
Stephen Stills
3/5
It’s a decent album, nothing objectionable about it, it’s just not really my style and wayyy too long
Television
4/5
You can definitely see the influence this album had on post-punk music, and it’s very good album. One of the examples of an album that you really SHOULD listen to before you die, if you have any interest in music history. Yeah, I liked it.
Fav tracks: See No Evil, Friction, Elevation
Least fav: Prove It
Tracy Chapman
4/5
Enjoyable album.
Favs: Fast Car (really is one of the greatest songs ever in my opinion), Baby Can I Hold You, For My Lover, Talkin Bout A Revolution
Least favs: Behind The Wall
Beatles
2/5
Favs: Eleanor Rigby
Least favs: I’m Only Sleeping, Love You To, Most of the rest
I don’t want to be someone who hates on the Beatles just to be unique. I don’t hate the Beatles….. I just find I almost exclusively only enjoy their big hits. The rest of this album just didn’t do it for me.
Missy Elliott
2/5
This album is Supa Dupa Long!
Vibe of the album was generally cool, but there were very few stand-out tracks. Sorry Missy :(
Fav: Pass Da Blunt, Best Friends
Least fav: Busta’s intro, Izzy Izzy Ahh
Dr. Octagon
1/5
Vibe of this album summed up in one word is “Weird” which I usually quite enjoy… But I hated this. And it’s an hour in length, so basically torture. Only positive comment I really have is that it was certainly a unique concept! Terrible execution.
I didn’t enjoy his flow or voice, though some of the beats were fine. Lyrics were undeniably unique, but the interesting lyrical moments were undermined by some of the excruciatingly repetitive choruses (if you can call them that…) and the juvenile topics/jokes. It did improve as it went on, from the first 5 songs I honestly thought it was the worst album I’d ever heard but by the end I was less horrified.
Best tracks (i.e. vaguely bearable): Blue Flowers, Bear Witness, Dr Octagon, Technical Difficulties
Worst tracks: Intro (gross), 3000, I Got To Tell You (shockingly irritating for an interlude), Earth People, No Awareness (one of the worst songs I’ve ever forced myself to sit through), Girl Let Me Touch You (creepy), 1977
The xx
4/5
I’ve always loved “Intro” and “Angels” by The xx so I was excited to listen to this album. I liked how simple it sounds and overall I enjoyed it, but I do think that it sounds very 2009-2012, and I’m not sure how well it holds up in 2023 as being a “must listen” album rather than just a fun listen. Nonetheless, it was one of my favourite listens on this project so far.
Favs: Intro, Crystalized, Islands, Heart Skipped A Beat, Shelter, Night Time
Least fav: Basic Space
4 stars I think… maybe 4.5
The Who
4/5
This was a solid album from The Who.
Fav songs: Baba O’Riley, The Song Is Over, Getting In Tune, Going Mobile, Behind Blue Eyes
Least fav: My Wife
5/5
I’m already a PJ Harvey fan so this may be kind of biased. I love this album and I love PJ Harvey. “This Is Love” and “A Place Called Home” are outstanding. The worst song on this album (Beautiful Feeling) is still good.
Fav tracks: The Whores Hustle And The Hustler Whores, A Place Called Home, This Mess We’re In, You Said Something, This Is Love, We Float, Kamikaze, Big Exit, Good Fortune
Least fav: Horses In My Dreams (because I am scared of horses and certainly do not dream of them), One Line, Beautiful Feeling
Stevie Wonder
3/5
This is the first Stevie Wonder album I’ve listened to. The great tracks were really great (Superstition is the most famous track of his for a reason), the bad ones were really bad (Big Brother was notably dreadful). The rest were mostly average, nothing special.
Fav tracks: You and I, Superstitious
Least fav: You’ve Got It Bad Girl, Big Brother
Morrissey
4/5
I know Morrissey thinks me and my family are like ruining Britain or whatever because of our race, so I should hate his music on principle but sadly, I cannot. My biggest guilty pleasure is not the 4 hour long Glee playlist I have on my phone but the fact I have The Smiths on there too.
Anyway, this was also good. Why does such an annoying person have to be good at music???
Best songs: Alsatian Cousin, Little Man, What Now, Everyday Is Like Sunday, Angel Angel We Go Down Together
Worst song: Dial-a-Cliché
AC/DC
4/5
There is a definite accuracy to the complaint that all AC/DC songs sound the same. But this was still a great listen, and super fun. If an album is just a great song rehashed 10 times, it’s still made up of 10 great songs….
Best tracks: Highway to Hell, Walk All Over You, Touch Too Much
Worst track: Love Hungry Man
The Cramps
4/5
Great album cover. This album’s vibe in one word? Camp.
I enjoyed it but it is certainly weird, I can imagine that it would be a favourite of the vamps in What We Do In The Shadows. Many of the songs sounded very similar.
Fav tracks: I Was A Teenage Werewolf, The Mad Daddy, Fever (great cover)
Least fav tracks: Rock on the Moon
3.5 rounded up.
The Chemical Brothers
2/5
This is the second Chemical Brothers album I’ve had to listen to. I want to die.
Best tracks: Setting Sun, Where Do I Begin
Worst tracks: Everything else even the best tracks I would not willingly listen to again I feel like someone has taken a drill to my skull, drowned me until I was unconscious and then transported me to some kind of sick dystopia where my brain would be extracted and put inside of a robot I never want to listen to these guys again please tell me there are no more than 2 of their albums on this list or I might completely lose it. 1.5 rounded up
D'Angelo
1/5
Urghgghhhhhhhhhhh
A mix of cringe and boring. Just not an enjoyable record at all. Would not listen again.
Best track: Lady
Worst track: Alright, Jonz in my Bonz, Higher, Brown Sugar, Cruising
4/5
Fun and enjoyable, I really liked it.
Fav tracks: Victoria, Australia, Yes Sir No Sir, Nothing to Say
Least fav tracks: Brainwashed, She’s Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina
Al Green
2/5
Sigh. It was fine. Not my genre of choice, was quite bored by it.
Best tracks: Let’s Stay Together, So You’re Leaving
Worst track: I’ve never found a girl, How can you mend a broken heart , Judy
Thin Lizzy
3/5
Seemed like pretty regular rock, nothing particularly special or unique about it. And an automatic deduction for being a live album.
PJ Harvey
5/5
PJ Harvey is one of my favourite artists, this isn’t my favourite album of hers but it’s still pretty much flawless.
Fav tracks: Sheela-na-gig, Plants and Rags, Water, O Stella, Dress
Least fav tracks: None, they’re all good.
Miles Davis
1/5
Another jazz album, another sad day for me. I don’t hate ALL jazz, but it’s safe to say experimental jazz is not for me, especially not almost 2 hours worth of it. In the words of Eleanor Shellstrop: “Ugh, I hate jazz. Every jazz song is like 40 minutes long. It’s like, we get it. You can blow on a trumpet.”
Otis Redding
3/5
I’m not typically someone really into soul, but this was a nice listen. The covers were strongest, though Respect was an excellent song written by Redding himself.
Best tracks: Respect (Aretha did it better but this original version is still good), My Girl (one of my favourite songs ever), Rock Me Baby (honestly sounds like an early prototype of what would later become a Led Zeppelin song, I loved the guitar on it)
Worst track: Wonderful World, Satisfaction (his cover fell flat for me, the Rolling Stones original is much better)
Kanye West
4/5
Disclaimer: I’m on Kim’s side, I’m on Taylor’s side, and I’m on Pete’s side. Kanye’s foray into anti semitism that he has now renounced because of 21 Jump Street ??? is not ok and disgusts me deeply. However I’ve decided to rate this album based purely off the music. I’ve never listened to more than a few of Kanye’s hits before.
The beginning of this album was so good I honestly thought I might have to give him a 5 against my will. Fortunately, then “All of the lights” came on, a very weak song despite my love for Rihanna. Monster would have been a very average song without that incredible Nicki verse, and I’m not giving Kanye credit for her talent! Runaway is apparently widely acclaimed but I thought it was nothing special, way too long and the last two minutes of nothing but distortion gave me a headache. Blame Game contained a lyric I found disturbing in light of the reality of domestic violence against women and the number of times victims are accused of lying “Lie and say I hit you… running my name through the mud”. It was made worse by the weird talking at the end of the song. Gross. I loved Dark Fantasy and Lost In The World.
Best tracks: Dark Fantasy, Power, Monster, Devil In A New Dress, So Appalled, Hell Of A Life, Lost In The World
Worst tracks: All Of The Lights, Runaway, Blame Game
A final shout out to this lyric: “No more drugs for me, pussy and religion is all I need” which pretty much seems to define Kanye to this day.
Gary Numan
3/5
Robot music.
It’s good, but it feels like background music, not a huge amount of diversity in the tracks. Interesting to see how it clearly influenced the following decade of music though!
Fav tracks: They were pretty much all the same
Worst tracks: They were all decent
Amy Winehouse
4/5
Amy Winehouse was the first celebrity death I was aware of. This album is absolutely iconic, and very very good.
Fav tracks: Rehab, Me & Mr Jones, Back to Black,
Least fav tracks: Addicted, Some Unholy War
Pink Floyd
1/5
Before I started this challenge I had no idea just how much I dislike psychedelic music. But it turns out it’s my least favourite genre! Dreadful stuff. Horrible vocals and screeching instrumentation. Happy when it ended. No thank you.
And good God, what are these lyrics:
“I’ve got a clan of gingerbread men
Here a man, there a man, lots of gingerbread men
Take a couple if you wish
They’re on the dish”
…. followed by a never ending minute of discordant sounds for no reason????? Get me out of here.
Roxy Music
4/5
I found this to be a really fun album, and I love the album cover. It’s got some quirky tunes but I feel like the strange elements of it really elevate it. It doesn’t feel early 70s to me, it feels a lot more modern.
Fav tracks: Do The Strand, Strictly Confidential, In Every Dream Home A Heartache
Least fav: For Your Pleasure, Grey Lagoons
3.5 stars rounded up to 4
The Cure
2/5
There are quite a few songs by The Cure that I really enjoy. Unfortunately, this album didn’t add to that catalogue.
Mostly just boring, to be honest.
Best tracks: In Your House, Seventeen Seconds
Worst tracks: Who’s to say? I involuntarily zoned out for most of it, both times I listened.
Songhoy Blues
5/5
Is desert blues the best music genre I never knew existed?????
Banger after banger. Great songs, not a bad track in there. Really groovy, I’ve saved the whole thing to my Spotify. No-skip album.
Fav tracks: Soubour, Wayei, Irganda, Al Hassidi Terei, basically all of them ngl
Least fav: Mali (but it’s still good)
Bon Jovi
2/5
A bunch of hits on here, but, well, it’s pretty average isn’t it? Sanitised rock with nothing interesting to say and only vaguely enjoyable to listen to.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
I have listened to and enjoyed Springsteen before, but this just didn’t scratch that itch for me. It wasn’t bad but I wouldn’t listen to it again.
Fav tracks: Atlantic City
Least fav tracks: Nebraska, Open All Night
The Cars
4/5
Generally a fun album, I don’t really have anything bad to say but it didn’t amaze me or anything.
3.5 stars rounded up
Abdullah Ibrahim
3/5
It’s good jazz but, well, it’s still jazz. Not for me.
2.5 rounded up
Tim Buckley
4/5
Listened to this twice. On my first listen, I wasn’t particularly impressed, but the second go I found I really enjoyed and appreciated it.
Jeff Buckley is certainly a superior talent to his father, and his music much more to my taste, but this is still very very good.
Fav tracks: I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain, Once I Was, Phantasmagoria in Two, Knight-Errant, Goodbye and Hello, Morning Glory
Least fav tracks: Carnival Song, No Man Can Find The War
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Not my favourite Led Zeppelin album (I’m particularly partial to Led Zeppelin III), but all Led Zeppelin tends to be good Led Zeppelin, even their debut.
Fav tracks: Babe I’m Gonna Leave You, You Shook Me, I Can’t Quit You Baby
Least fav tracks: Good Times Bad Times, How Many More Times
Nine Inch Nails
2/5
“She spreads herself wide open
To let the insects in
She leaves a trail of honey
To show me where she’s been
She has the blood of a reptile
Just underneath her skin
Seeds from a thousand others
Drip down from within
Oh my beautiful liar
Oh my precious whore
My disease my infection
I am so impure”
“Got me a big old dick and I, I like to have fun
Held against your forehead, well, I’ll make you suck it
Maybe I’ll put a hole in your head, you know, just for the fuck of it
Well I can reduce you if I want,
I can devour
I’m hard as fucking steel, I’ve got the power
I’m every inch a man and I’ll show you somehow
Me and my fucking gun,
nothing can stop me now
Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot,
shoot, I’m gonna come all over you”
This came out before I was born and I’d never heard any of Nine Inch Nails’ stuff before though I had heard of the band. So no nostalgic influence here.
Honestly I quite like the sound of the songs on this (I like loud wall of sound music most of the time) but the lyrics were either ridiculous or disgusting 90% of the time. Like “poetry” written by a angsty teenage incel who thinks objectifying women and hating the world is super edgy and makes them superior to everyone else. It even ruins their hit song “Closer”. Was unsurprised to discover this album and this artist are linked to some truly horrible individuals.
It just doesn’t really hold up lyrically in this day and age. There’s nothing subversive or edgy about misogyny or male sexual violence, guys.
Best tracks: Hurt (excellent), Closer (despite the lyrics), Reptile (despite the lyrics), A Warm Place (fortunately no lyrics)
Worst tracks: I Do Not Want This, Big Man With A Gun
2.5 rounded down, could have been a 4 with different lyrics!
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
This isn’t on Spotify and there’s also no full video of the album on Youtube so I had to listen to it on a playlist. The ads were sooooo annoying. Anyway, it was fine, I see it’s musical value but it’s not something I’d listen to again
Elbow
4/5
I had no idea what to expect from this and found myself really pleasantly surprised! I really liked this, and I enjoyed all of the songs.
Fav tracks: Starlings, The Bones of You, The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver
Least fav track: One Day Like This
George Michael
4/5
When George Michael died I basically went into mourning and listened to “Jesus to a Child” a million times for the next year. I love him.
This isn’t my favourite work of his, but it’s still very very good pop. The last half of the album is much weaker than the first, but it’s all good.
Best tracks: Faith, Father Figure, I Want Your Sex, One More Try
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
I liked it, but I wish you could actually hear the vocals on half of these songs.
Fav track: Nothing Much To Lose
Worst track: All I Need
The Style Council
2/5
It was fine, I only really liked one song (You’re The Best Thing)
Hole
4/5
Celebrity Skin is an A+ song & I think Courtney Love is really cool. This album was very solid, very 90s, and I really enjoyed it.
Best tracks: Awful, Malibu, Reasons To Be Beautiful, Use Once & Destroy, Playing Your Song, Petals
Worst track: Hit So Hard
3.5 rounded up.
The Cure
4/5
This took me a few listens to appreciate, but I’ve come to really like it.
Fav songs: Lovesong, Homesick, Pictures of You
Mudhoney
4/5
I listened to the 1990 release “Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles”. I liked this a lot.
Fav tracks: Touch Me I’m Sick, Mudride, Hate The Police
Least fav track: You Got It (Keep It Outta My Face)
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
3.5 rounded up. It’s good post-punk in general, but I felt like the overall quality and consistency wasn’t as solid as I’d hoped.
Gil Scott-Heron
2/5
I am not into jazz. And I am definitely not into spoken word. The first few tracks were enjoyable, but the last few were extremely difficult to get through, I found myself counting the seconds waiting for it to end. I respect the concept and intention behind this, but I would not willingly listen to it again.
Also, it’s not on Spotify, so that was annoying.
Dexys Midnight Runners
4/5
Very enjoyable album, glad to have listened to it. Super 80s.
Best tracks: Geno, Tell Me When My Light Turns Green
Worst track: I’m Just Looking
Billy Bragg
3/5
This was a good folk album, though it’s not really to my taste.
Fav: California Stars
Least fav: Christ for President
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
I liked this much more than the other Nick Cave album I reviewed. This was great!
Fav tracks: O Children, Get Ready for Love, Cannibal’s Hymn
The Stooges
3/5
Iggy Pop is a creep
Count Basie & His Orchestra
4/5
Love a bit of swing !
Pretenders
4/5
This was great, I’d never listened to the Pretenders before & I’m glad I now have.
The Who
3/5
My Generation is a good song. The rest of this was meh. I understand why, per the Wikipedia, the band themselves weren’t a huge fan of this album. I certainly doubt that it’s their best work.
Van Halen
1/5
‘Jump’ is a decent song… but the Glee version is superior. Other than that, this album was trash, 33 minutes that felt like an eternity in hellfire.
The Fall
4/5
It’s good.
Fav songs: Spoilt Victorian Child, Cruiser’s Creek
The Last Shadow Puppets
4/5
This is a fun album, I loved the dramatic flares added to the songs.
Fav songs: The Age of the Understatement, Separate and Ever Deadly
Least fav song: Time Has Come Again
Johnny Cash
1/5
This is a live album which makes it automatically bad as it shouldn’t be on this list!!!
Anyway
As interesting as the concept of performing at a prison is, I am not a Johnny Cash fan. I did not enjoy this. The songs were just not my style and I wasn’t entertained by his endless talking. He also played one song twice! This is not an album to listen to before you die, it’s an album to listen to in hell.
1.5 … rounded down
The Only Ones
3/5
The first two tracks of this album are wonderful songs. The rest…. are just fine. Generally a decent album, but it starts so strong that the rest of the album feels quite underwhelming.
Fav tracks: The Whole Of The Law, Another Girl, Another Planet, Language Problem
Least fav tracks: City of Fun, As My Wife Says
Tom Waits
4/5
This was a weird album. I loved it. Really fun, interesting music the whole way through.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
I didn’t hate it but I didn’t enjoy it either
Ice T
3/5
It’s fine, a good rap album! There are a lot of rap albums I would put above this one, though.
The Go-Betweens
4/5
A nice surprise, never heard of these guys before but it was great
David Bowie
3/5
It’s fine. Not Bowie’s best and shouldn’t be on this list!
The Rolling Stones
3/5
I liked this album, and they’re obviously influential, but I think it’s far from their best work…. Controversially, I am starting to feel like this list should really restrict itself to one or two albums from each artist. And if more, they have to be notably different from each other and distinct in the influence they have had. This does not meet that criteria.
Simply Red
2/5
I usually like 80s soul pop and new wave. This was bad. No.
Joni Mitchell
5/5
Yes
Alice Cooper
4/5
Not sure what I expected Alice Cooper to sound like, but it wasn’t this! I was pleasantly surprised. Weird lyrics and kinda cheesy but I think that’s fun. 3.5 stars rounded up!
Best track: I Love the Dead (what a way to end the album! And it’s definitely the first and most likely last time I’ve enjoyed a song about necrophilia……)
The Flaming Lips
5/5
Really enjoyed this album.
Best tracks: Fight Test, In The Morning of the Magicians
No bad tracks. 4.5 rounded up.
The Boo Radleys
4/5
I really liked this album and was shocked when I looked it up after listening and saw it was a product of the NINETIES. It makes sense to me more now as a product of 60s/70s nostalgia mixed with more recent musical influences. Cool concept, I enjoyed it.
Fav song: Wish I Was Skinny
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
3/5
My God, this album was never ending. Far, far too long - I wouldn’t even want to listen to a two hour album for a genre I actually enjoy, let alone two straight hours of country.
The songs themselves were mostly fine, though largely indistinguishable from one another.
Herbie Hancock
4/5
Pretty funky
Beck
3/5
Not really my style but it wasn’t bad
Cocteau Twins
5/5
fuck yeah !!!!
i love the cocteau twins. don’t understand a word they say but god bless them ❤️
best of the best: lorelai, beatrix, ivo
Jimmy Smith
3/5
Good jazz
Adele
3/5
Adele has a beautiful voice, but this album’s songs were just average pop ballads. She could sing a grocery list and it would sound good.
Alanis Morissette
4/5
Undeniably innovative, and generally very enjoyable.
In the words of that one Tiktok video:
“I’m smart but I’m stupid
I’m gay but I’m straight
I crop dust at Wholefoods, baby!
What it all comes down to
Everything’s gonna be fine fine fine”
Fav tracks: You Oughta Know, Ironic, Hand In My Pocket, You Oughta Know (Jimmy the Saint Blend/Your House)
3/5
Pretty average 80s pop, fun stuff and some of the songs were pretty good tunes
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
3/5
It’s fine
Best track: All Your Love
Lana Del Rey
4/5
I’m a big Lana Del Rey fan. This isn’t her best work, but it’s still very good. The first few songs of this album are incredible, but I felt it lost steam as it went on.
Best tracks: White Dress, Chemtrails Over The Country Club, Tulsa Jesus Freak, Let Me Love You Like A Woman
Worst track: For Free
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
Great storytelling, very good album…… it’s like a 4.5 so I’ve rounded it up
Fav tracks: Money Trees, Swimming Pools (Drank), Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst
Least fav: Sherane a.k.a. Master Splinter’s Daughter
Calexico
3/5
It’s a decent album but I don’t really get why it’s on this list.
The Pharcyde
4/5
I really liked this, it’s fun to listen to and musically it’s the exact kind of hip hop that I like. However, a lot of the lyrics are juvenile and outdated, which is less to my taste.
Curtis Mayfield
1/5
Sorry, this was just annoying to listen to. Gave me a headache as well. I don’t really get why anyone has given it a good score. I liked the first 30 seconds. Not for me
Emmylou Harris
4/5
I had never heard of Emmylou Harris before, and I was very pleasantly surprised. What a voice! I could listen to her sing a shopping list.
In researching her I have seen that she is known for mostly covering other songs, rather than writing her own (though she did that as well). Well, in my view, Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley did the same and the music industry still considers them legends. I’m not usually fond of most country music, but I was very impressed by this record, and I think that says a lot as to Emmylou’s talent.
Fav track: Boulder to Birmingham
Least fav track: Queen of the Silver Dollar
Massive Attack
4/5
Really loved this album. I’d heard of Massive Attack before but honestly couldn’t have told you anything about them, couldn’t have even guessed their genre. I’m perhaps a decade too young for them, but I thought this was really fun. Great tunes. Sooo torn between a 4 and 5 for this one, I think it’s a solid 4.4/4.5….
Fav tracks: Safe From Harm, Daydreaming
Least fav track: Hymn Of The Big Wheel
Mekons
5/5
I really enjoyed this, it’s weird and I haven’t heard much like it, which makes me like it more! Adding punk influence to any other music genre makes an album sound like heaven to me.
Fav songs: Psycho Cupid, Darkness and Doubt, Last Dance
Least fav songs: I liked them all
Ghostface Killah
4/5
Solid album, I liked it a lot but I didn’t like it as much as I like the Wu-Tang Clan’s work as a collective.
The only song I wasn’t into was Jellyfish.
Ray Charles
4/5
Very nice, smooooooth album.
Sepultura
4/5
Surprisingly didn’t hate it! Quite enjoyed it, though I’m a complete newbie to the genre so can’t really judge it against its peers
Talking Heads
4/5
I’m a big fan of the Talking Heads but this is not my favourite work of theirs.
The album version of Life During Wartime really falls flat when compared to the live version, in my opinion. It’s still a good album though, I like it but expect more from them.
Public Enemy
4/5
I really liked this, it was a cool & unique album.
Best track: Terminator X to the Edge of Panic
Deep Purple
2/5
I don’t believe in live albums on this list. That being said, parts of this were decent and fun to listen to. Then I had to sit through the final 15 minutes (the last song was not on Spotify, so I had to pull it up on Youtube). I’ve never wanted an instrumental to end as badly as I wanted this to end. It just wouldn’t stop, I almost gave up.
The Byrds
3/5
This was an interesting album, I really liked the tracks Mr Tambourine Man and I Knew I’d Want You. But otherwise I felt it was quite same-y
Joan Baez
5/5
Absolutely incredible, transporting album. I adore her voice, and the songs were excellently chosen. The queen of folk to this day.
Favs: Silver Dagger, House of the Rising Sun, Henry Martin, El Preso Numero Nueve, Girl of Constant Sorrow
Ice Cube
3/5
I enjoyed this album, but when it finished, Spotify immediately started playing Wu-Tang Clan, which made this feel very average in comparison.
Tina Turner
2/5
Tina has a great voice, but these songs weren’t my favourite. They just had nothing to say, no meaning, no interesting instrumentations or melodies either … so like what’s even the point of making an album like this, let alone putting it on a list of 1001 albums to listen to before you die…….. I could have gone a million lifetimes without feeling this was an album missing from my life.
Fav tracks: Let’s Stay Together, 1984
Worst track: Private Dancer
The Cure
2/5
This is the third The Cure album this generator has given me. I did not enjoy this one….
The Cure is one of those bands where I enjoy their hits but their wider discography is very hit or miss for me. This album didn’t have a single hit. 100% a miss.
John Lee Hooker
3/5
I enjoyed the first two tracks on this album a lot. I also enjoyed "Sally Mae". The rest of the album was just okay, the rest of the tracks weren’t bad but were nothing special.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
3/5
Five stars for Free Bird
2 stars for the rest
Basement Jaxx
3/5
This was a good dance album, not a genre I usually listen to by choice, but I really enjoyed this one on first listen. It had less of an impact the second time I listened, though. Definitely made me want to head straight to the club (a place I haven't been in 4 years...).
Best track: Red Alert
Worst track: Being With U, Don’t Give Up, Jazzalude
The Blue Nile
2/5
It’s just kind of crap, isn’t it.
Only decent track was Heatwave but it was way too long.
Paul McCartney and Wings
4/5
This was a nice little album. I really liked the track “No Words”.
Genesis
3/5
Not really my genre of choice, but I appreciate what they did here. As far as prog goes this is better than most I’ve been forced to listen to before.
The Strokes
5/5
I love The Strokes. And what a debut!
The only question I have to ask myself with this album is whether to give it 4 stars or 5 stars. It’s a great album - but is my favourite of theirs? No. Is it still worthy of a 5? …. Yes I think so.
Fav tracks (they’re all good): Someday, Soma, Is This It, Hard To Explain
Least fav: Barely Legal (great song, creepy concept)
Happy Mondays
2/5
It’s not TERRIBLE but it’s also not GOOD. The vast majority of songs sound exactly the same. This is a forgettable album, definitely not something one must listen to before they die.
Worst songs: Country Song, Mad Cyril
2 stars
T. Rex
4/5
This is a good album full of good songs, all of which are outshone by Cosmic Dancer, which is excellent. But the rest is still good.
Best songs: Cosmic Dancer
Worst song: Rip It Off
The Beach Boys
4/5
The first two tracks of the album were really fun and gave me high hopes for the rest, but although I enjoyed the rest it wasn’t as great as I had hoped.
Best tracks: Don’t Go Near The Water, Long Promised Road, Student Demonstration Time, Feel Flows
Worst track: Take A Load Off Your Feet
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
‘Born To Run’ is a great song. The whole album is good, though not really to my taste.
Michael Jackson
3/5
Four of the tracks on this album were featured on Glee (Bad, Man In The Mirror, Smooth Criminal, I Just Can’t Stop Loving You) And two of the Glee versions were better (Bad and Smooth Criminal)
The great tracks on this album are excellent pop songs, and hits for a reason. The rest just feels like weak filler.
Best tracks: The Way You Make Me Feel, Man In The Mirror, I Just Can’t Stop Loving You, Dirty Diana
Worst tracks: Liberian Girl (wtf), Just Good Friends, Another Part of Me
Waylon Jennings
3/5
Some decent country music. When I started playing the album the first 30 seconds was actually really nice. Then the song kind of switched vibes and the album went back to being all honky tonky. Just not my genre, but it was fine.
Fiona Apple
4/5
Awesome album, I’m shocked to see how controversial it seems to be. Philosophically I am opposed to putting albums from the last 5 years on the list, but I loved this album and at least it still holds up 3 years later! I felt it had a couple of weak songs that have brought it down from 5 to 4 stars
Fav songs: For Her, Under The Table, I Want You To Love Me, Shameika
Least fav: Newspaper, On I Go
The Fall
2/5
I did not like this
Gorillaz
4/5
Solid album, I enjoyed it
Hüsker Dü
3/5
I liked the music itself, but as an album it was very long and most of the songs were quite same-y.
Green Day
4/5
This album feels very 2003, which I guess makes it ahead of its time since it turns out it came out in 1994! It’s a cool album, not amazing though I can see how it clearly influenced the next decade of rock music.
Fav tracks: Basket Case, When I Come Around
R.E.M.
3/5
It’s a good album, but I was a bit bored by it
The Jesus And Mary Chain
4/5
I liked this album, good vibe.
Best song: Darklands
Method Man
3/5
Decent rap album, nothing particularly special about it though
B.B. King
3/5
It’s a very solid live blues album. Unfortunately, even a very solid live blues album is just not my style.
Van Morrison
3/5
I didn’t expect to like this at all, but I actually did! Some of the songs were really great.
Fav track: Crazy Love
Least fave: Glad Tidings
Lou Reed
4/5
I really liked this album.
Fav tracks: Vicious, Hangin’ Round, Walk On The Wild Side, Perfect Day
Radiohead
4/5
It took me a few listens, but I did like this. Very different to anything else I’ve really listened to.
Fav tracks: Everything In Its Right Place, Optimistic, Motion Picture Soundtrack
Garbage
4/5
Solid album, I liked it a lot.
Fav tracks: Queer, Only Happy When It Rains, A Stroke Of Luck, Milk
4/5
After being seriously disappointed by ‘Revolver’, I was relieved by the beginning of this album, which showed itself immediately to be significantly better.
The first few songs of this album were really great, though I felt the rest was not as good. It redeemed itself with the final few tracks.
Solid 3.5
Brian Eno
2/5
sorry i just don’t get it
Fiona Apple
5/5
‘Sullen Girl’ and ‘Criminal’ are two truly excellent songs that I was already familiar with. This was my first time listening to the album in its entirety, there’s not a bad track in there, and it’s unbelievable how young she was when she made this.
Best tracks: Sullen Girl, Criminal, The Child Is Gone, Never Is A Promise
Cocteau Twins
5/5
Sooooo good. Couldn’t tell you a single lyric, though.
Favs: Cherry-coloured Funk, Heaven or Las Vegas, I Wear Your Ring, Frou-Frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires
Super Furry Animals
3/5
This album was fine, it’s basically a product of nostalgia. I don’t really think it belongs on this list.
Queen
4/5
This is a good album, but it’s not Queen’s best.
Best tracks: Brighton Rock, Killer Queen, Tenement Funster, Flick of the Wrist, Lily of the Valley, Dear Friends
Worst: In The Lap Of The Gods, In The Lap Of The Gods… Revisited, Bring Back That Leroy Brown
Depeche Mode
4/5
Depeche Mode is an excellent band, and this was a great album. It’s not my favourite of theirs, though.
Best tracks: Enjoy the Silence, Personal Jesus, Blue Dress
Worst: Sweetest Perfection, Waiting for the Night
Heaven 17
4/5
I can definitely understand why some people don’t like this album, but I found myself oddly appreciating it for what it is. Very much a product of its time, though with it has admirable messaging that remains relevant to the present day.
Fav tracks: (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang, Penthouse and Pavement, The Height of the Fighting
Miles Davis
2/5
I apologise in advance, and I know that to many jazz fans this is heresy, but PLEASEEEEEEE MR GENERATOR STOP GIVING ME MILES DAVIS ALBUMSSSSSSSSSSSS I HATE THEM SOOOOO MUCH PLEASE PLEASE LET ME ESCAPE FROM THIS HELL THAT I AM IN I FEEL LIKE ILL NEVER ESCAPE THE JAZZ AND THE ONLY KIND OF JAZZ I LIKE IS SWINGGGGGGG
The last minute or two of ‘Freddie Freeloader’ was pretty good, but 45 minutes of this kind of jazz feels like 500 years of any other genre
Dolly Parton
4/5
There are some truly excellent songs on this album; and paired with the beautiful voices of the trio, it makes for a very good country album. A pleasure to listen to.
Best tracks: Making Plans, To Know Him Is To Love Him, Hobo’s Meditation, Telling Me Lies
3/5
This album was okay, but what seemed notable at the time has not stayed that way - I don’t think it belongs on this list.
Best tracks: Starlight, Supermassive Black Hole
Bob Dylan
4/5
Good album, found it kind of samey though. Apparently I already listened to it before, but I don’t remember it, so that’s something
Butthole Surfers
4/5
This album was certainly interesting and unique…. but I actually quite enjoy it. EXCELLENT album title. ‘Human Cannonball’ is a song I’ve had saved to my Spotify for a number of years, but I find the rest of the album is also really good (though less easy to sing along to), albeit confusing. It’s hard to know what their intention was with “22 Going On 23”, and I don’t like some of their comments about it (assuming the woman was lying is strange to me) - but what they did with it musically is very interesting. I like the art, I’m not sure I like their ethos behind it.
Fav tracks: Pittsburgh to Lebanon, Human Cannonball, The O-Men, U.S.S.A, Kuntz (although I do wonder whether this track would be classed as culturally insensitive…. it was pleasing to my ears).
Metallica
4/5
Not really into metal but this was just objectively an excellently crafted album. I’d obviously heard of it before but this was my first time actually listening to Metallica, and I was pleasantly surprised. Pretty good!
Mike Oldfield
3/5
This was weird! I liked parts of it and not so much others, but the downside of the extremely long song lengths is there’s not a single song I liked completely, as each had sections I enjoyed and sections I didn’t.
Shack
2/5
Incredibly, incredibly mediocre. Definitely not an album you have to listen to before you die.
Leonard Cohen
5/5
Beautiful.
Fav tracks: You Want It Darker, Treaty, On The Level, Traveling Light, Leaving The Table, Steer Your Way, String Reprise/Treaty
Michael Jackson
4/5
A solid proportion of this album is undeniable excellently crafted pop. There are some let downs, which combined with Mr Jackson’s personal transgressions, make me unwilling to give this a 5
Best tracks: Billie Jean, Thriller, Beat It, Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (though the Glee version is superior)
Worst: The Lady In My Life
Wilco
3/5
This album had a very strange affect on me. I found myself simultaneously liking and disliking all of the songs. They all had elements that I enjoyed, but then something else about the song would bring me back down. It’s a long album, but it’s definitely an interesting one, even if I’m not sure how I really feel about it.
Hole
5/5
An incredible album, every track was brilliant.
Best tracks: Violet, Miss World, Jennifer’s Body, Doll Parts, She Walks On Me, Rock Star
The Smiths
4/5
Fuck Morrissey but this album is good.
Best tracks: Frankly Mr Shankly, I Know It’s Over, Bigmouth Strikes Again, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Worst tracks: Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others, Never Had No One Ever
The Verve
3/5
“Bittersweet Symphony” is an iconic track. The rest of this felt like pretty standard, unremarkable 90s music.
Best tracks: The Drugs Don’t Work, Bittersweet Symphony
Holger Czukay
3/5
Really weird. But…… I kinda liked it?
The The
2/5
This is VERY 80s. I liked the first track, the rest varied between average and terrible.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
I was bowled over by the title track and started to expect high things from this album. Sadly I was disappointed! The rest is fine, but feels pretty rote, like background music rather than anything interesting.
Best track: In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
The Fall
2/5
Listening to this album I was faced with many questions. Why does this band have more than one entry on this list? Why do the first few songs sound like if Pavement was mediocre? Why do the rest sound like the Talking Heads were being tortured? Why am I listening to this? Will I ever escape? Is Robert Dimery a psychopath?
We’ll never know the answers to these questions. But I do know that I will not be listening to this album again.
Johnny Cash
2/5
This is the second Johnny Cash album the generator has given me, and I can now say that I just don’t get the Johnny Cash thing. His voice is not for me.
This album was compiled mostly of covers. I knew a number of these songs in their original form or via other covers, and for the most part I don’t think Johnny Cash brought anything new to them. I prefer the originals/other versions for Hurt, Personal Jesus, Bridge Over Troubled Water, and First Time I Ever Saw Your Face.
I thought the nicest covers on this album were In My Life and We’ll Meet Again.
Overall meh
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Solid album.
Best tracks: You Can’t Always Get What You Want, Gimme Shelter, Love In Vain
Worst tracks: You Got The Silver
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
2/5
Wasn’t into it
Neneh Cherry
2/5
All the tracks sounded the same, not for me but it’s fine I guess. Only good song was My Bitch
The Shamen
2/5
I liked “Move Any Mountain”, though I’m not sure why it’s misspelt on Spotify.
I listened to the 1991 US version because that’s what was on Spotify. The rest was not for me.
David Bowie
4/5
Pretty good
Underworld
1/5
Dear Great Gods of the Generator,
Please stop giving me electronica albums.
UB40
1/5
I gained absolutely zero enjoyment from this album. Apparently I don’t get the British Reggae thing… and I’m glad I don’t. I’d give it 0 stars if I could
Charles Mingus
2/5
Good jazz is still jazz to me. Appreciate this guy’s talent but won’t be listening again. Was in the queue for passport control listening to the last track and it was a never ending song in a never ending queue. So. Thanks Charles
Pantera
3/5
Not to my taste, but it’s fine for what it is.
Grateful Dead
1/5
Having listened to this, I must say that I really cannot understand why people used to follow this band around on their tours. Just an hour of nothing
Boards of Canada
1/5
I’d rather have a lobotomy than listen to this again
Norah Jones
1/5
Boring
Public Enemy
4/5
Solid album, good listen
Ravi Shankar
2/5
I actually was exposed to quite a lot of classical Indian music growing up, but I was never a fan and I’m afraid that hasn’t changed. Just not my style.
Frank Ocean
5/5
A great album. So many amazing tracks. But I prefer Blonde (which would get a 100/5 from me).
Fav tracks: Thinkin Bout You, Super Rich Kids, Pilot Jones, Pyramids, Lost, Bad Religion, Pink Matter, Forrest Gump
4.5 stars (rounded up)
Gillian Welch
1/5
I liked the first song. That was all.
Best track: Revelator
Worst tracks: My First Lover, Dear Someone, Red Clay Halo, Elvis Presley Blues + all the rest.
Brian Eno
2/5
It’s background music. Music for airports indeed. Does what it set out to do, can’t say I enjoyed listening though
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Meh
Duke Ellington
3/5
Loooooong. And half the tracks weren’t even songs, just him introducing his band. The actual music itself was definitely quality jazz, but I’m still not a huge fan of the genre.
Cornershop
4/5
This album was weird and definitely not perfect, but it was fun! I enjoyed listening to it
Marvin Gaye
4/5
Massively preferred this to “Let’s Get It On”
Frank Zappa
4/5
Why did no one tell me how cool Frank Zappa was ????
Best track: Peaches En Regalia
Goldfrapp
4/5
Have had some seriously shit electronica albums from the generator recently. Glad to say this is not one of them
New York Dolls
4/5
Fun album, I liked most of the songs (except from Lonely Planet Boy)
3.5 (rounded up)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
This is my third Nick Cave album from the list! It was good, but not as great as Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus.
Adele
3/5
This album has some serious, serious hits on it. I was surprised to see quite how many of Adele’s greatest songs are on this one album. The rest of it fell flat for me, however. Half of the album was just useless filler.
Best tracks: Someone Like You, Set Fire To The Rain, Rolling In The Deep, Rumour Has It, Turning Tables
Animal Collective
3/5
This album was decent. There were aspects of it that really reminded me of major bands eg early Pink Floyd, Queen, The Beatles, but it was all mashed together to create something new. I think it’s cool artistically, but I liked it - didn’t love it.
The Youngbloods
5/5
Considering the fact that I have always had a healthy dislike of country-rock, and have always felt a general disdain towards the psychadelic, I was really surprised by my reaction to this album. I kinda loved it? It was all the best of a music decade that has always kind of fell flat to me. A really nice melding of genres, with some truly gorgeous songs.
Best tracks: Beautiful, Darkness, Darkness, Quicksand
Worst track: Trillium
Alice In Chains
5/5
I’d heard of Alice in Chains before, but somehow in my brain I thought they were the same as Alice Cooper….. Both a bit before my time. I was really pleasantly surprised by this album, it was great. I listened to it like 3 times in a row.
Best tracks: Rain When I Die, Dirt
Worst track: Rooster
The Jam
2/5
Just immensely average. Nothing interesting about it. I forgot it as soon as I finished it
Common
4/5
Pretty good, but some of the tracks weren’t for me.
Worst tracks: Testify, It’s Your World
Van Morrison
3/5
With each live album I get I become more and more militantly against them. They’re not albums that should be ranked anymore than a ‘Best Hits’ compilation should be!
Anyway the music was fine, the album was long, and it was a live album so…. 3 stars
Eminem
2/5
Any musical value to be derived from this was automatically cancelled out by just how FUCKING ANNOYING IT IS. I don’t like him, I don’t like his voice, I don’t like his lyrics. No thank you!
Jazmine Sullivan
2/5
Really average, honestly. Not sure why it’s on the list!
The Isley Brothers
4/5
Not generally my kind of thing, but definitely very good regardless. Some iconic tracks on here.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
I loveddddd some of the early songs on this album. But at around the halfway point it lost its momentum for me - became a bit too country rock for my tastes - and then it dragged on until the end.
Paul Revere & The Raiders
3/5
Very 60s, not bad.
Boston
4/5
Solid rock album, but to me it kind of lacks emotion/feeling.
Kendrick Lamar
4/5
Undeniably an excellently crafted work of art; but it’s less to my personal taste than good kid, m.A.A.d city.
Beastie Boys
3/5
Some fun tracks, but overall a bit juvenile for my tastes.
Small Faces
4/5
Weirdly rather fun. Nice surprise.
Morrissey
3/5
Average, not his best
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Really, really good. Fav track was Cecilia.
Beatles
3/5
It was okay 👍🏼 ‘If I Fell’ was nice.
Steely Dan
3/5
It’s like kinda good I guess? But I don’t really get it. Not bad, not good, just is.
4/5
Probably my fav Bowie album that I’ve gotten on the generator so far - it’s really fun and interesting.
Best tracks: Five Years, Starman
Worst track: It Ain’t Easy
Dire Straits
3/5
First couple of songs were great; then it dropped off and became quite dull
GZA
4/5
This was really really good, probably one of the best rap albums I’ve had generated so far.
American Music Club
4/5
Quite liked this one
Willie Nelson
2/5
Cover albums do very little for me unless there is something particularly interesting about either the voice or the arrangements. I was rather bored by this.
5/5
Weird as hell but strangely infectious! Don’t know what it says about me that I preferred this to any other jazz album I’ve had generated for me in the past 10 months, but I did. It’s fun and interesting and made me want to wiggle like a worm.
Neil Young
5/5
This was a lovely album. I definitely preferred it to ‘Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere’ which was the first Neil Young album I heard as part of this list.
The Allman Brothers Band
4/5
Decent, I liked a lot of it, but too long for me. As live albums go, definitely one of the better ones.
ABBA
4/5
This album is packed with hits, but the filler songs are bad.
Jeru The Damaja
3/5
Pretty decent, but I’ve heard better
Earth, Wind & Fire
3/5
Generally enjoyable, and I really liked “Shining Star”, but none of the other tracks really stood out to me.
Eels
5/5
I had never heard of this artist or this album before; what a treat! It’s a great album, with wonderful songwriting. Some songs reminded me of other artists I enjoyed (“Mental” in particular struck me as a sensible version of a Manic Street Preachers song).
Fav songs: Novocaine for the Soul, Susan’s House, My Beloved Monster, Mental, Manchild
Tim Buckley
2/5
Yeah, Happy Sad was not for me. I really liked Goodbye and Hello, but there was really only one song on here that reminded me of that album (Sing a Song for You). The rest of this just felt kind of drab - or I’d like small aspects of a song, only for it to be dragged out so long I ended up hating it.
The Mamas & The Papas
3/5
One great song, some good songs, some average songs, and some bad songs. And John Phillips should have died in jail. I don’t believe in Hell, but if there’s one man who is guaranteed a spot down there, it’s him.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
3/5
Found this fun enough. Liked the guitar. Got a lot of work done with it so I guess it’s pretty effective study music. The tracks with lyrics were the strongest.
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
Honestly really good. Less stand out tracks than “Rumours” but more consistent in quality. Towards the end it veered off a bit - kind of to be expected in such a long album. But I liked it.
Suede
3/5
This album is fine. Unfortunately for Suede, while listening to this album I had an increasingly irritating encounter with a bureaucratic process which drove me to insanity and for which this album was the soundtrack for. So now I kind of hate it
Soul II Soul
2/5
The thing about this album is that it has some really good iconic songs…. which aren’t on the main track listing. “Back To Life” as on the album is a drab, a capella boring draft version of their actual hit, which was only included on the 10th anniversary edition bonus tracks. Which is perplexing to me but is reflected by both Spotify and Wikipedia’s information. I usually never consider bonus tracks in an album review, but in this case that is taking away their biggest hit from this album. So I’m confused.
Anyway there are three good songs on this album (if we consider the popular version of Back To Life to be the “real” version): Back To Life (However Do You Want Me), Keep On Movin’, and Jazzie’s Groove. The rest is dull filler.
The Temptations
4/5
Not bad …
Fav tracks: Cloud Nine, Runaway Child Running Wild, Love is a Hurting Thing, Why Did She Have To Leave Me (Why Did She Have To Go)
The Auteurs
2/5
Rather dreadful tbh. Maybe one or two decent songs, mostly a slog.
The White Stripes
5/5
Really good, I’d only ever heard Seven Nation Army before but the whole album was great. It’s packed full with great songs.
Fav tracks: It’s True That We Love One Another, In The Cold, Cold Night, There’s No Home For You Here, You’ve Got Her In Your Pocket
Steely Dan
4/5
I hate to admit it but I liked this one
Elton John
4/5
Tiny Dancer is incredible. The rest was mostly good, with a couple of exceptions (The lyrics of “Indian Sunset” and “Rotten Peaches” were each dreadful in very different ways, though Elton’s singing and arrangement remained excellent).
Guided By Voices
3/5
I kinda liked it but then I also kind of didn’t? But then I did again. And then I got bored. And then I liked it again. And then I got distracted and it ended.
Throbbing Gristle
4/5
It kinda made my head hurt, but like, in a good way? There were only two tracks I could do without (Valley of the Shadow of the Death and Dead On Arrival). The rest of the album was interesting, and I’d happily listen to it a few more times.
Yes
2/5
Of the many repeat artists on this list, I have to say that Yes may be be the most frustrating of all.
I don’t enjoy listening to them, and find their music immeasurably dull. Knowing as I do that I still have at least one more Yes album to go before I may be free of them forever, I dread the inevitable day that I have to subject my ear drums to this kind of brain-smoothing music again.
Bee Gees
3/5
Weird! There are parts of it that sound like a Hans Zimmer soundtracks and other parts that sound like the B side to a Beatles album. I didn’t mind it!
Haircut 100
3/5
Fun enough to listen to, very 80s - not sure in what way it qualifies for this list though … you could die without listening to this and will have missed very little.
SAULT
4/5
This was a surprising album, I’d never heard of it before. It’s at its best where it allows itself to truly shine musically - the vocals in particular were excellent. The spoken word segments were a major detractor, and really dated this album to the year it was produced.
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
The Glee episode dedicated to this album had a strong influence on my teen years….. and the album itself definitely earned its spot on this list. I was kind of disappointed by some of the tracks on here I hadn’t heard before - no sneaky wonders left to discover on here; the ones you know are the ones that are great.
Best tracks: THE CHAIN, Dreams, Don’t Stop, Songbird, Go Your Own Way, I Don’t Want To Know
Worst tracks: Second Hand News, You Make Loving Fun
Creedence Clearwater Revival
2/5
Mercifully short yet still too long for me. I disliked this even more than I disliked Bayou Country. The love for this band is just something I cannot comprehend on any level, the worst aspect for me is the vocals, which I find abrasive and unenjoyable. I would never listen to this willingly. It’s boring at its best and painful at its worst. Only good song was the final track “The Night Time Is The Right Time”. Without that track, this would be a 1 for me.
Kate Bush
5/5
What can I say? The woman’s a genius and “This Woman’s Work” is brilliant.
Best tracks: This Woman’s Work, Between A Man And A Woman, Rocket’s Tail, Deeper Understanding, Love And Anger
Depeche Mode
5/5
This is a great album
Fav: Never Let Me Down Again, The Things You Said, Strangelove, I Want You Now
Orbital
2/5
I’m sorry to fans of this genre but I have yet to see any value in it
Aerosmith
2/5
I’ve just never really gotten the Aerosmith thing. And this album felt rather …. empty…. soulless….. etc…… etc…..
Jamiroquai
2/5
The music itself is fine, but it feels like a pretty pale imitation of other work in the genre…………… some of the lyrics made it very clear that they’re English guys trying to write about freeing themselves from oppression, it just doesn’t really work.
Hugh Masekela
2/5
I still don’t get jazz. The last track was kinda cool.
The Velvet Underground
4/5
Some incredible songs on this album. Then a lot of good songs that aren’t quite on their level. Not perfect, but very very good
Nightmares On Wax
1/5
tfw ur kept on hold for 74 minutes straight
Blur
3/5
The first two tracks were great; the rest was rather average.
Rush
3/5
Fine, I guess? Not really my style but I wasn’t annoyed by it either. Didn’t love the title track, but I did like “Tears”. Solid 3
Marianne Faithfull
4/5
Felt rather before its time in many ways, with an almost 90s twist to it. At the same time, it reminded me of some incredibly talented women of that era, namely Patti Smith and Stevie Nicks. I liked it, didn’t love it.
The Pogues
4/5
A fun listen
Bill Evans Trio
1/5
Possibly the most painful jazz album I’ve had to sit through thus far. I’m sorry, I just don’t get it. It’s so boring.
David Ackles
3/5
Weird! It’s basically full of songs that function as mini-stories. It had many moments in which it felt like the soundtrack to an averagely written musical. I don’t really have anything else to say, I didn’t hate it but wouldn’t say I liked it either. A solid 3.
Yes
1/5
There was this one section in ‘Five per Cent for Nothing’ that made me want to tear my brain out of my skull and throw it against the wall. NO MORE YES. I’m BEGGING YOU, Lord Master Generator.
Soundgarden
4/5
Good album but it’s not really my style.
Tom Waits
3/5
Not as fun as Swordfishtrombones, which I really enjoyed, but still worth a listen just for “Ruby’s Arms”, which I loved.
Radiohead
4/5
Radiohead remains a band where I need to listen to their albums a few times in order to “get” it. I preferred Kid A to this though.
N.E.R.D
2/5
Started off good… then deteriorated. It was fun till it wasn’t. A concept that could have been really good, but missed the mark for me.
Violent Femmes
5/5
So good
Beastie Boys
1/5
Honestly an excruciating listen. Did not enjoy it at all. I don’t get it and never will.
The KLF
3/5
The beginning of this kind of made me feel like I was having a panic attack, but I kind of liked it anyway? Then it got less chaotic and more chill and became a bit boring in comparison to how it started.
Cat Stevens
4/5
A very solid album
808 State
2/5
Seems to have been very influential for a lot of the electronic dance music that has been made since this came out. Unfortunately, I don’t enjoy any of the electronic dance music that this has influenced, and I didn’t enjoy this either
Sinead O'Connor
5/5
Excellent. RIP ❤️
Nirvana
3/5
Cobain’s vocals are a hit or miss for me. Some good songs on here, but mostly I just felt meh about it.
Fav tracks: Pennyroyal Tea, Rape Me
Oasis
5/5
I didn’t want to like this. But I did. I liked it a lot. Fml
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
3/5
A pleasant listen. Preferred it to most jazz on the list. Still not my style though
Miles Davis
3/5
Jazz, blissfully brief. Still not my style but better than many of the others I’ve had generated. I liked the final track with vocals (probably why I enjoyed it more) “Darn That Dream”
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Not my favourite Led Zeppelin album, and a bit too long. But good nonetheless.
Best tracks: Kashmir, In The Light
Least fav: Custard Pie
Bob Dylan
4/5
This was the first time I’ve sat down and listened to a Bob Dylan album. His voice has always put me off. But I ended up really enjoying it, though I thought it got a bit old the longer it went on.
Roni Size
3/5
I don’t tend to enjoy this genre, I really don’t. However, I found I quite enjoyed this, despite its EXTREME length. Nice listen.
Ray Charles
4/5
Honestly really really good, and a great listen
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
4/5
Solid rock, enjoyable, nothing revolutionary
Leonard Cohen
4/5
Love a bit of Leonard but I thought the first half of this album was incredibly strong but the second half was a lot weaker.
Living Colour
3/5
It was okay.
The Who
3/5
The music itself was fine but nothing special, the story kind of meh, and it’s not something I’d bother listening to again
Soft Machine
2/5
Very few songs are good enough to justify being almost 20 minutes long. None of these songs were worth the length.
Coldplay
4/5
Coldplay: a band people love to pretend to hate. I say pretend because their music is so inoffensive that the hatred really is just posturing. You can find them average, but the level of hate has always been pretty clearly just to go against what’s popular. The obnoxious music culture of the 2000s.
When I was a teenager, Coldplay was really my first introduction to music. I grew up in a family where music consisted solely of top 40 hits. Coldplay certainly fit that category, but it was Coldplay that led me to something new - led to me discovering new music and genres I had never even really imagined before. I loved this album then.
A decade later, I still enjoy it. It’s nothing revolutionary, music-wise. It’s far from the best album on this list, and I haven’t listened to it in years. But it still has some excellent tracks (“Shiver”, “Yellow”, “Sparks” are standouts) and doesn’t really have any bad ones.
Bland they may be, but bad they were not (though I won’t comment on some of their more recent albums). This is one of their best.
Suede
2/5
Meh
Coldplay
3/5
Not as good as Parachutes
Parliament
3/5
Funky band name, funky album cover, funky music. Just not that into funk I’m afraid.
The White Stripes
4/5
“Fell in Love with a Girl” and “We’re Going to Be Friends” make this a 4 on their own. A lot of the rest was great too, only one or two of the early tracks didn’t work for me.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
You know, for many years I’ve been going around saying that Led Zeppelin III is my favourite Led Zeppelin. It DOES contain my top two favourite Led Zeppelin songs - Tangerine and Since I’ve Been Loving You. But sitting down for this challenge and listening to this the whole way through…. it’s a much weaker album than I remembered it being. Especially the last track, what a crappy way to finish the record off. Anyway. I still like it. Just not as much as I thought I did.
Black Flag
4/5
I kinda liked it, it’s very loud, cool how it was so different from the norm. Deserves its place on the list though it’s not something I’d listen to a lot. “Six Pack” is a cool song though.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
Generally a fun listen, but got kind of same-y as it went on. The random slur was jarring.
Portishead
1/5
Dreadful. I gained no enjoyment from this. Booooooooo
The Beach Boys
3/5
Some great tracks on here but the rest did very little for me.
Best tracks: Wouldn’t It Be Nice, God Only Knows
Worst track: I’m Waiting For The Day
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Enjoyable enough listen, but most of the tracks kind of blended together in an inoffensive easy listening mix.
Best track: You Make Me Feel So Young
Worst track: Makin’ Whoopee (bc …. what the fuck are those lyrics)
Devendra Banhart
5/5
I have listened to this album before and didn’t think much of it at the time, I thought it was just fine and found the voice rather grating. Listening to it again was a bit humbling. I was entranced. It’s a beautiful album full of beautiful songs, even if the voice feels like the indie “welcome to my kitchen” stereotype. I listened to it like 3 times yesterday.
Queen
5/5
Like many people, I basically grew up on Queen thanks to my father. I was already pretty familiar with this album but it was nice to revisit it. There are some GREAT
tracks on here, and even the ones that aren’t necessarily to my usual taste are still pretty good.
Best tracks: Father To Son, White Queen (As It Began), Nevermore, The March Of The Black Queen, Funny How Love Is, Seven Seas Of Rye
Worst track: The Loser In The End
Robert Wyatt
4/5
I spent most of this album feeling mostly puzzled about whether I was enjoying it or not. Ultimately, I think I liked it, though I struggled with some of the lyrics.
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
This album was long. Its length made me want to dislike it. I listened to it a few times seeking any substantial flaw that I could use to give it a 4 instead of a 5. Unfortunately, despite its length, it is a perfect album. Even the songs that weren’t to my personal taste were essential to the album itself as a work of art. I have no choice but to give it a 5.
Also, is it just me or does the song Thirty-Three sound just like Journey To The Past from the movie ‘Anastasia’?????
LTJ Bukem
2/5
Ok, first of all I am morally opposed to the idea of a compilation album being on this list. Second of all, this album was basically impossible to track down. There’s a “Logical Progression” album available on Spotify that does not contain any of the tracks listed on Wikipedia. It’s mostly available on Youtube but still missing some tracks, though you can find the missing tracks individually. So it was a high maintenance album to listen to in order. Oh, it’s also TWO AND A HALF HOURS LONG.
So, was it worth it? No.
Was it at all good? Kinda. The tracks were all decent as far as the genre goes, though I wouldn’t listen to it again. They all sounded the same to me.
If it was significantly shorter and not a compilation album I may have given it a 3, but…. it IS two and a half hours long, and it IS a compilation album. Which is cheating.
Beastie Boys
3/5
Is it necessary for the Beastie Boys to have so many albums on this list? I wouldn’t have thought so but it seems they have more fans than I would have supposed. Compared to the other two Beastie Boys albums I’ve listened to through this project, this was decent & almost sneakily catchy at times. I wouldn’t listen to it again though.
Sigur Rós
3/5
Listened to this twice to see if I was missing something. Liked it less the second time. It’s fine background music I guess
David Holmes
1/5
excruciating
Willie Nelson
4/5
Solid stuff
Mj Cole
3/5
Decent UK garage album, though trying to match the tracklist of the original album with what was available on Spotify was a pain. Not something I would listen to again, but it was unobjectionable background music.
Faust
1/5
An unpleasant listen
Tricky
2/5
a few decent songs, many bad ones
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Listened to this album and couldn’t decide if it was a 4 or 5. Listened to it again and still couldn’t decide. Slept on it. Listened to it again a few days later, still lost. I’ve decided to give it the 5 …. its historical significance pushes it over the edge
Jungle Brothers
2/5
As a concept this seemed like it would be an interesting and enjoyable listen. I’m afraid I liked it more in theory than in reality. I was mostly just waiting for it to end.
Rod Stewart
3/5
I think it’s fine and kinda fun but like its not THAT good
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5/5
I usually object to live albums on this list. This is because, if you attend a random artist’s concert, you’ll get a run down of all their best hits most likely from a number of albums already released, unless it’s their debut tour. So it doesn’t feel like a real album to me. This album is an exception, reading about how it came about - a tour in which he played a lot of new material, none of the tracks were previously released on a studio album (from what I can tell from the Wikipedia page). It’s not a collection of his greatest hits, just played live, but an actual album in its own right.
That point being addressed, nothing bugs me more than having to admit to being wrong. A lifetime of mocking Neil Young just to annoy my father (who’s a huge fan), only to find that I do, in fact, enjoy his music. This album was a great listen. “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)” and “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” were just incredible to listen to. The weak points of the album for me were probably “Pocahontas” (maybe a bit heavy-handed in its message) and “Welfare Mothers” (just a bit of an odd lyric) but I still thought they were solid tracks.
Annoying that this is not on Spotify so I can’t add it to my regular rotation.
Is it a 4 is it a 5….. I think it’s a 5 though I reserve the right to change my mind later.
Jorge Ben Jor
5/5
really cool
(but WOW rod stewart blatantly plagiarised “Taj Mahal”)
Best tracks: Ponta de Lança Africano, Hermes Trismegisto Escreveu, Taj Mahal, Camisa 10 Da Gávea, Cavaleiro Do Cavalo Imaculada
Neil Young
3/5
This is my fourth Neil Young album from the generator. I’m going to be honest, I don’t think many artists need 4+ albums on this list. I’ve had a mixed bag with Neil Young albums. I loved “On The Beach” and “Rust Never Sleeps” (which I only got generated two days ago), but I felt more meh about “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere”.
This album is joining the ranks of “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere”. It was fine. Few of the songs stood out to me and a few of them really grated.
Fav track: I Believe In You
The Zutons
5/5
My first listen of this I thought it was a fun enough example of early 2000s British indie rock, which is a genre I enjoy….. but I didn’t think it was anything special. My second listen, I changed my mind. This album is jam-packed full of excellently written songs, interesting vocals and cool storytelling. The infusions of other genres elevates it above a lot of its peers… I’m surprised I’ve never heard of these guys or this albums before starting this project. Albums like this are exactly what I was hoping to find through this list.
Best tracks: Zuton Fever, Pressure Point, You Will You Won’t, Confusion, Railroad, Nightmare Part II, Not A Lot To Do
The Smiths
5/5
Fuck Morrissey but damn this album is good……. no skips
The Stooges
2/5
Very influential…… but not for me. God, those last two tracks really made my head hurt.
3/5
I always find Bob Dylan a bit hit or miss. I didn’t enjoy the first half of this, but the second was a bit better. Wouldn’t listen again
Louis Prima
2/5
Decent enough music but the bizarre and dreadful lyrics took me out of a lot of it. Didn’t enjoy
Eagles
4/5
Yeah it’s good. The last song was a let down for a finale to an otherwise strong album. Bad song. Hate it
Eagles
3/5
It’s like, fine, but compared to Hotel California (which I had yesterday) it’s kinda shit
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
2/5
Pleasant enough to the ear in theory, I guess, but for whatever reason I found myself deeply, deeply bored by this one. 36 minutes felt like 3 hours. It was painful.
Harry Nilsson
4/5
The ‘Russian Doll’ song ! ‘Without You’ ! ‘Coconut’ ?? Had never heard of this guy, but clearly I should have. I recognised a bunch of tracks on this.
Stan Getz
3/5
Yeah this was nice. Good background noise, chill album
Belle & Sebastian
5/5
Some really great songs, but a bit bizarre to read they’re from Glasgow as this record feels very American to me. Anyway, I liked it a lot.
Beatles
3/5
Some hits, some misses, too long.
Aimee Mann
5/5
I’ve never heard of Aimee Mann before, but I really enjoyed this album - she’s a clearly skilled songwriter and this album is packed with great songs.
Fela Kuti
3/5
That Wikipedia was a wild ride. 27 wives ???? As for the album, fine - not my style but not objectionable
Green Day
4/5
Fun
Prince
2/5
I thought this would be good because it’s Prince. It was not. It was too long - felt like a gazillion years - and boring. There were no standout tracks. Dull.
Elvis Costello
2/5
I enjoyed ‘Armed Forces’ but this album was a real dud in comparison. Just nothing to it really.
Eric Clapton
3/5
Racist twit
but decent music, though nothing spectacular
Various Artists
4/5
Generated on Xmas day but I actually am listening to this on 15 January. It’s a great Christmas album but … the final track with the murderer speaking and thanking us for listening is not exactly merry! Considering he not only murdered one woman but also imprisoned and psychologically tortured his wife, and facilitating the sexual abuse of his children …… Well, it makes me glad he’s dead so I can listen to this album without worrying about finding someone as evil as that. Could be 5 stars in another world but in this one I just can’t give that to him.
Red Snapper
2/5
It’s not the worst electronica I’ve heard, was generally unobjectionable background music but still not my style. “The Rough and the Quick” had some … interesting lyrics.
The Police
4/5
Pretty good, a few boring tracks
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Super long, it’s movie length, but it’s undeniably good. So many tracks on here that have been super influential on modern music, but there were a few that just weren’t to my personal taste (in particular Village Ghetto Land)
Best tracks: Sir Duke, I Wish, Pastime Paradise, Isn’t She Lovely, Love’s In Need Of Love Today
The Offspring
5/5
I’d never heard of this band or album before, but it was great. Awesome
G. Love & Special Sauce
3/5
Some of it was fine other parts meh not really for me ?
Paul Weller
3/5
It’s fine, I guess. Nothing special
ZZ Top
2/5
Idk I just don’t get the ZZ Top thing.
Tim Buckley
3/5
Does Tim Buckley really need 3 albums on this list? This is my third of his. It’s alright. Funky in some ways but drab in others.
The Prodigy
3/5
The disgusting message of “Smack my bitch up” notwithstanding, this was a decent album; not my genre of choice and the concept of that first track is so warped that I wouldn’t choose to listen to it again.
Dirty Projectors
2/5
Feels like a pretty bog standard indie pop album. It’s a genre I enjoy so it’s fine, but nothing special, I wouldn’t listen again.
Elliott Smith
4/5
Liked it a lot , but there was something slightly lacking didn’t feel like 5 stars
Grizzly Bear
3/5
Some good songs but it drags quite significantly and didn’t hold my attention.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
2/5
Sorry not into this
Michael Jackson
3/5
I only knew the first two tracks prior to listening to this, and they’re the best ones. It’s good pop, though drops off towards the end. Not his best.
Country Joe & The Fish
3/5
It’s decent, I had no issues with listening to it. A few tracks I enjoyed, the rest felt a bit same-y and didn’t do much for me.
Slipknot
4/5
Never thought I’d be the kind of person to enjoy Slipknot but apparently I was wrong
Justin Timberlake
3/5
The few tracks were excellent dance-worthy pop. After Rock Your Body (one of the best pop tracks of the early 2000s in my view), the fun of the album kind of faded for me. The ballad-style tracks (other than Cry Me A River) were particularly weak. Some serious highs and lows, has to be a 3 ultimately.
A Tribe Called Quest
3/5
I feel like this is an album a lot of cool people would enjoy. Sadly I don’t think I’m one of them. I just didn’t “get” it, was mostly waiting for it to be over, it’s not my preferred form of hip hop. A few cool tracks… I think it’s objectively a good and influential album but just not for me.
Travis
3/5
One Tree Hill core. Idk it was fine
Femi Kuti
4/5
Really enjoyable
Sufjan Stevens
5/5
I’m a huge Sufjan Stevens fan, and I love this album. It’s just so good, I know these songs so well, I think I’d rather die than give it less than 5 stars.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
2/5
I’ve had a few Neil Young albums on here and some have been really good and in comparison this one is just incredibly mid.
Tortoise
3/5
It’s bad of me, I know, but I struggle with instrumental albums. That being said, this was fine and unobjectionable to my ears but I have very little ability to estimate its musical worth
Brian Eno
2/5
no more brian eno pls. i like david byrne but even he can’t make me like this
The Band
3/5
A couple catchy songs, mostly just a bunch of sludge to sit through
The Specials
2/5
No thank you…….
Motörhead
2/5
NO MORE LIVE ALBUMS PLEASE
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
groovy! i liked it
Goldfrapp
5/5
Awesome album, I thought this was great, it really surprised me. The kind of albums I’m doing this challenge to find! The first track was just absolutely incredible and set the tone for the whole thing.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Pretty damn good
Fishbone
4/5
This album was sooo fun to listen to. The opening cover of “Freddie’s Dead” was absolutely unreal. The rest of the album was less brilliant than that opening track but still really good.
Lauryn Hill
3/5
One song on here that I love (Ex Factor). The rest were fine but didn’t really do anything for me.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
Took a few listens for me to “get” it but now that I do, it’s good
Shuggie Otis
3/5
Mostly just meh one or two nice tracks but was mostly bored
Wu-Tang Clan
5/5
I just think it’s brilliant.
The Yardbirds
3/5
Decent
Pentangle
2/5
No
Badly Drawn Boy
4/5
Good album, with some strong tracks, maybe a bit too long. If some of them should have been cut from the album it could be a 5
Booker T. & The MG's
3/5
Instrumental not usually for me but these felt like classics for some reason?
Big Star
3/5
The ‘That 70s Show’ theme song was a shock for me …. Sorry, but the cover was better. I really liked the song “Thirteen” the rest was meh
Lupe Fiasco
5/5
I’d never heard of this guy before but this album was great, I really enjoyed it.
Radiohead
5/5
Loved this
Dagmar Krause
3/5
Utterly bizarre, but I kind of admire that in an album. Wouldn’t listen again though
Ian Dury
1/5
Sounds like my colleague Dave from work at karaoke but less funny
Finley Quaye
1/5
Did not enjoy this. It feels like an uncomfortable assault on my eardrums
Stevie Wonder
4/5
This was a really nice, calming listen.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
Liked it
Turbonegro
4/5
This album features some fascinating lyrical choices, such as:
“Merging Zeus and Spartacus
In ren-ren-ren-ren-rendezvous with anus”
Nonetheless, if you ignore the lyrics you get some pretty cool rock to listen to in the background. Should it be an album to listen to before you die, perhaps not… Did I have a fun time listening to it? Yes.
Shockingly….. tempted to give it a 3.5 … it feels wrong to round it up to 4 and yet,,,,,,,,,,,,, I’m going to
Sarah Vaughan
3/5
Pleasant to listen to
Death In Vegas
4/5
I like it … like “moody” electronica w some cool influences … 3.5 stars
Venom
2/5
I’m sure it’s influential but it’s influential on a genre I don’t really listen to. On its own, it felt a bit exhausting to listen to. Not for me
Ride
3/5
Fine
Nirvana
4/5
I am Strongly Opposed to the concept of live albums appearing on this list.
That being said, as far as live albums go, this was a great one.
John Cale
3/5
Quite alright
The Doors
3/5
Liked it but not that much
Ella Fitzgerald
4/5
Long but classic
The Beach Boys
3/5
this is exactly what i would expect from a random beach boys album
The Avalanches
3/5
It’s unique … didn’t love it didn’t hate it
The Roots
3/5
idk it was fine but i was kinda bored
DJ Shadow
2/5
Like it’s just samples? Interesting I guess but like …. not something I would
choose to listen to again
AC/DC
4/5
Fun.
Grateful Dead
4/5
Much better than the other Grateful Dead album I’ve listened to
Paul Simon
5/5
problematic bop after problematic bop
Björk
4/5
I generally like Björk a lot, and this album was good but it was missing something for me. “Stonemilker” is absolutely brilliant, though.
Queens of the Stone Age
4/5
Dope
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
Had its moments, but do I think it’s a must listen ?? No
U2
3/5
Mid
King Crimson
3/5
“21st Century Schizoid Man” was great, the rest a bit too prog for me. As far as prog goes it’s solid but it’s not something I tend to go for. Great album cover though.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
4/5
This band has some creepy creepy guys in it but this album was good, I can see why it’s so famous
Queen Latifah
2/5
I always thought I liked hip hop. This project has made me think otherwise. I’m apparently veryyyy picky about hip hop and this was not for me. It did nothing for me sorry Queen Latifah
Bauhaus
2/5
i wish i was the kind of person who liked this. but i am not. i did not enjoy this at all
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
I find Simon & Garfunkel very pleasant to listen to while working
The Mothers Of Invention
4/5
At first I was like “wtf” but then … I ended up liking it. Experimental, interesting lyrics and themes, definitely not boring. Would listen to again.
Electric Light Orchestra
3/5
It’s alright, one stand out song is Mr Blue Sky, the rest is just ok
The Flaming Lips
4/5
I really liked this album, wavering over whether to give it a 4 or a 5 but I could do without the ‘Mokran mix’ additions
Ray Price
2/5
Like it’s fine in the background but sooooo boring.
Traffic
3/5
Fine
The Byrds
4/5
Surprisingly decent, but “The Christian Life” is a low point
The Divine Comedy
3/5
Decent but kinda weird
Solange
3/5
A decent enough album but for it to be on the list over some brilliant albums that came out in the same year is crazy to me…
Gang Of Four
3/5
Some catchy songs
Aerosmith
2/5
No thanks
Django Django
4/5
Fun
The Beta Band
3/5
Hmmm
Robbie Williams
3/5
I’m a big pop fan, but this is not a pop album worthy of this list. It’s fine late 90s pop but it’s nothing brilliant. And that weird spoken word poem at the end was dreadful
Janelle Monáe
4/5
Good album not as great as people say it is though
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Really good but maybe slightly overrated
Metallica
4/5
I liked it but all the songs basically sound the same to me
Cypress Hill
4/5
Solid
Santana
3/5
Pleasant enough in the background but I wouldn’t choose to put it on
Kanye West
4/5
Yeah he’s a dick but this was good
Jeff Buckley
5/5
One of my favourite albums ever. No skips
The Black Crowes
4/5
Generally enjoyable
Os Mutantes
3/5
not really into psychadelic music but this was fine
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2/5
I don’t think there should be more than 1 Elvis Costello album on this list. And this album was not the vibe
The Smiths
3/5
Not my favourite of theirs!
The Doors
4/5
I actually quite liked this
The Divine Comedy
1/5
absolutely dreadful, irredeemable, it’s existence on this list is a confounding mystery to all with ears
k.d. lang
3/5
Bit slow for me & not my genre of choice but I have to much respect for k.d. lang to rate this lower than a 3
2/5
No thanks
John Coltrane
2/5
I’m sorry I’m sure this is technically brilliant somehow but there’s something in my brain that makes it impossible for me to enjoy jazz.
Ananda Shankar
2/5
Not really something I enjoyed listening to, sitar is not my instrument of choice
Iggy Pop
3/5
Iggy is a creep.
Some of these songs were good, the rest were meh
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
Funky indeed. Didn’t like the ultra long “Sex Machine” but I liked the other tracks.
3.5 rounded up
PJ Harvey
5/5
Perfection
The Velvet Underground
5/5
I absolutely loved this album… Dunno how I have never heard it before!
JAY Z
5/5
so good
Spiritualized
5/5
Surprised by how much I liked this!
Pavement
5/5
Love this album. Something so effortlessly cool about it.
Destiny's Child
4/5
Some excellent and iconic tracks on here, but also a lot of filler - too long
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Really liked this, but I don’t think it’s her best
ABBA
5/5
Brilliant pop, opening track set a high bar that was consistently met afterwards.
Little Simz
4/5
Liked, didn’t love
Scritti Politti
1/5
No thanks. 80s gone wrong
The Stone Roses
4/5
Actually really liked this, lot of lovely songs on here
Motörhead
4/5
dope, rocked out
Scott Walker
2/5
didn’t chart for a reason
Belle & Sebastian
5/5
just love it
Funkadelic
3/5
I just struggle with mostly instrumental music. Idk. It seems good but it’s not for me
Nico
4/5
good albums by racists are so annoying
Culture Club
3/5
sooooo 80s. some good songs
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
3/5
Exactly what I expected from Buddy Holly.
Meat Loaf
3/5
This album is kinda weird , lots of juxtaposition lol.
Paul Simon
2/5
bit shit tbh especially compared to graceland. some of the lyrics in this were dreadful
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Lovely, not my fav of hers
Björk
4/5
Great, bit samey
Astor Piazzolla
2/5
instrumental stuff just doesn’t work for me unless it’s something weird. i just zone out
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
go off bob
50 Cent
4/5
Love
Sister Sledge
4/5
fun
Serge Gainsbourg
4/5
Weird…. but sounded cool?
Rufus Wainwright
4/5
rufus is nice
Cee Lo Green
3/5
First half was good but it stretched on too long
The Zombies
4/5
A few really great songs on here, and the rest are all at least passable. never heard of it before glad i listened!
fIREHOSE
3/5
interesting! probs not for me
Ali Farka Touré
4/5
pleasant listen
Elton John
3/5
songs were a bit hit and miss for me, some were good, some were famous, some were…. crap
Le Tigre
5/5
One of my favs already
PJ Harvey
5/5
i worship u pj harvey
Talking Heads
5/5
luv
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
come on eileen is an obvious highlight but the rest didn’t do much for me
Wild Beasts
2/5
didn’t enjoy
Neil Young
3/5
Neil is fine but he has way too many albums on this damn list
The Black Keys
3/5
fine
Common
3/5
ok. long
The Afghan Whigs
3/5
Really liked the songs “When we two parted” and “What jail is like”. The rest was fine
Air
4/5
Liked it a lot. ethereal vibes.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
5/5
One of the rare cases of innovative, historical landmark type of music on this list where the music is actually still enjoyable to listen to. It’s brilliant
The 13th Floor Elevators
2/5
No
Dead Kennedys
4/5
V good
Sabu
2/5
This just wasn’t for me
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Stevie is undeniably very talented and this was fine to listen to. But it’s just not really for me
k.d. lang
3/5
Really liked “Miss Chatelaine”. The rest was fine
Sparks
3/5
weird yet strangely endearing in its maximalist excess
Baaba Maal
4/5
nice stuff
Red Hot Chili Peppers
2/5
thank god that’s over. felt like it lasted forever. the first 9 tracks were just dreadful. i considered giving up music altogether. the next 6 or so tracks were actually ok. then it got bad again. sir psycho sexy was weird. only one good song on here and that is under the bridge.
anthony kiedis is a creep and should be in prison btw
Missy Elliott
2/5
I’ve found myself generally disappointed by Missy Elliott’s albums so far. Even Work It didn’t really Work for me today