Journey in Progress
Discovering music one album at a time
408
Albums Rated
3.46
Average Rating
37%
Complete
681 albums remaining
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
Funk
Favorite Genre
other
Top Origin
Balanced
Rater Style
27
5-Star Albums
3
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| I Am a Bird Now | 5 | 2.84 | +2.16 |
| Kollaps | 4 | 1.9 | +2.1 |
| Spiderland | 5 | 2.97 | +2.03 |
| Smile | 5 | 3.06 | +1.94 |
| Teen Dream | 5 | 3.27 | +1.73 |
| Channel Orange | 5 | 3.31 | +1.69 |
| Melodrama | 5 | 3.31 | +1.69 |
| L'Eau Rouge | 4 | 2.32 | +1.68 |
| You Want It Darker | 5 | 3.33 | +1.67 |
| Songs Of Leonard Cohen | 5 | 3.37 | +1.63 |
You Love Less Than Most
Albums you rated lower than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 1 | 3.51 | -2.51 |
| Eliminator | 1 | 3.38 | -2.38 |
| Pyromania | 1 | 3.13 | -2.13 |
| Appetite For Destruction | 2 | 3.74 | -1.74 |
| Boston | 2 | 3.71 | -1.71 |
| With The Beatles | 2 | 3.67 | -1.67 |
| Ill Communication | 2 | 3.65 | -1.65 |
| Moving Pictures | 2 | 3.59 | -1.59 |
| Here's Little Richard | 2 | 3.57 | -1.57 |
| Document | 2 | 3.56 | -1.56 |
Artist Analysis
Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Bob Dylan | 6 | 4.33 |
| Leonard Cohen | 4 | 4.5 |
| Prince | 3 | 4.33 |
| Stevie Wonder | 3 | 4.33 |
| The White Stripes | 3 | 4.33 |
| The Beach Boys | 3 | 4.33 |
Controversial Artists
Artists you rate inconsistently
| Artist | Albums | Variance |
|---|---|---|
| Beatles | 5 | 1.17 |
5-Star Albums (27)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
3/5
FGTH lays the groundwork for an interesting take on the classic synth-pop sound of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but they don’t do enough with the elements that make it stand out to create an overall satisfying album. However, from the lengthy, nearly prog-synth tracks, to the bizarre spoken word interludes, the band’s debut is certainly charming and a commendable experiment, even if several of its tracks fall flat
3 likes
Leonard Cohen
5/5
A sheer master class in songwriting from a lyrical stance, as well as one of beautiful instrumental work that keep you in tranced in Cohen’s world of love for each of its 10 memorable tracks.
1 likes
The Mothers Of Invention
4/5
To completely counter the “peace and love” hippie movement of the 60s, Zappa created a chaotic sound collage to show us the darker underbelly of fame and society.
1 likes
1-Star Albums (3)
All Ratings
3/5
While it’s pretty much Muse’s “Kid A” (to an abundantly similar degree), this album has enough to set itself apart to still make it an interesting, progressive release for rock music.
Favorite Track: Solider’s Poem
Rating: 6.5/10
Jurassic 5
4/5
A transition between 80s and 90s hip-hop, as well as just a fucking well produced and preformed album.
Favorite Track: What’s Golden
Rating: 7.5/10
The National
3/5
Matt Beringer utilizes his unique vocal style to great success, giving the album a type of beauty that opens up the longer one listens.
Favorite Track: Runaway
Rating: 7/10
Milton Nascimento
4/5
Fantastic, versatile Baroque pop from a region’s music scene I definitely need to explore more
The Who
3/5
This was a completely inconsequential live album. It wasn’t great, but it certainly wasn’t bad. I mean the band definitely consist of talented players so I wouldn’t expect it to be. They play a few covers as well as extended, jam-filled versions of some of their most important songs. I’m already not a huge live album guy, so there has to be some very special aspect of it that would deter me here as opposed to their studio recordings, which I guess the 15 minute “My Generation“ might for fans of The Who. However, I’m not really a massive fan of The Who, and to be honest, this live album feels very bare, but that’s only when looking at the tracks that were officially released when this live album was put out back in 1970. It was only five songs, so I guarantee if I had listened to the whole thing I would get a bigger picture of what was trying to be accomplished with this live album. That doesn’t mean I would like it more, and it doesn’t mean I would like it less, but it would certainly change the way I view it. But, as it stands, I’m not going to listen to an hour and a half of a band I don’t care THAT much about, so I’m going off these five (solid) live tracks for my review.
The Velvet Underground
4/5
The Velvet Underground takes a massive sonic departure from their previous album, White Light/White Heat, by making a softer, more psychedelic project. This venture into different sonic territory makes for some of the band’s most creative and experimental work yet.
Best Track: After Hours
Rating: 7.5/10
Incredible Bongo Band
3/5
I was putting off listening to this album for over a year…and tbh…it’s not nearly as rough as I thought it would be. In fact, if this thing didn’t primarily consist of covers, I might even have this higher. As it stands tho, this was a pretty decent, funky listen that definitely exceeded expectations, even if it’s not something that’ll really stick with me in the long run.
Suzanne Vega
2/5
Suzanne Vega’s debut album doesn’t stretch far past nice-sounding acoustic music, making this self-titled album less memorable than it could have been.
Best Track: Cracking
Rating: 5.5/10
Songhoy Blues
3/5
Good and respectable for what it is but not something that’ll stick with me for a while
The Cardigans
4/5
The Cardigans really do sound like the first band on the moon with some of the out-there sounds they explore on here.
Lana Del Rey
2/5
Lana Del Rey’s 2021 album didn’t provide much significant material to her discography, but it had a consistent sound that showed Lana trying something new, albeit the tracklist could’ve used more versatility.
Best Track: Let Me Love You Like A Woman
Rating: 5.5/10
The Chemical Brothers
3/5
TCB’s “Dig Your Own Hole” does everything that a good electronic album should do. It’s energetic, has creatively-utilized samples, and it consistently keeps itself fresh. The issue is not with the album, but with myself. I’m not the biggest overall electronic fan, but I can definitely recognize the stuff that SHOULD BE recognized. This is that stuff, even if it’s not something I’ll return to all the time. It’s certainly good.
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
An incredibly catchy, but meaningful listen
Prince
4/5
This is Prince’s first great album, and its length fully justifies itself.
Best Track: Little Red Corvette
Rating: 7.5/10
Dr. John
4/5
The world “Dr. John” wants to create fully realizes itself as it bends your ears in any way it pleases through his avant-garde New Orleans compositions.
Rating: 8/10
Liz Phair
3/5
Ive been to Guyville. It has some great songs but extremely forgettable, directionless ones as well.
Rating: 6.5/10
Carole King
3/5
Brill music peaked wit da gal Carole.
Rating: 7/10
Pearl Jam
3/5
I heard this album years ago and didn’t like it. I relistened and I didn’t really like the first half, but the moment “Ocean” started, it all kinda went uphill from there, culminating in the exuberant “Release.” All in all, while I still think this album is very spotty, I have a newfound respect for its place in rock’s history.
Beatles
5/5
Yeah it’s a pretty good album
Rating: 9.5/10
ABBA
4/5
Disco bisco
Rating: 7.5/10
Red Hot Chili Peppers
2/5
I don’t need to hear Anthony Keidis rap/singing about sex for 75 mins
Shack
3/5
There’s nothing particularly outstanding about Shack’s “Hms Fable,” but it’s good enough to place itself right into the ‘90s conversations alongside contemporaries like Oasis.
SZA
3/5
Solid contemporary R&B but I’d be lying if I said this was one of the core albums in the genre from the past decade (like many think it is)
Rating: 6/10
The Stone Roses
3/5
The Stone Roses do a great job showing who they are on their debut album. And who they are is essentially The Byrds doing punk rock. Could be worse.
Rating: 7.5/10
Kraftwerk
4/5
As per usual with a Kraftwerk album, from start to finish you are transported to their carefully crafted world of forward-thinking electronic sound. I imagine if I heard this back in 1973 I would’ve melted.
Nirvana
4/5
Kurt Cobain’s final artistic say in music encapsulated everything that made him who he was. The barebones of the struggling artist was put on display.
Richard Hawley
4/5
This is quite an incredible album and Hawley does the broad retro sound PERFECTLY.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
If I could do 4.5 I would. 4 is doing this album such a disservice. Some of the best hip-hop pre-2010s.
Rating: 8.5/10
Tim Buckley
2/5
I get the appeal, but I honestly have no idea what he was trying to do on this album
Dexys Midnight Runners
4/5
Punk and soul very rarely cross paths, and it’s done exquisitely on here.
Rating: 7.5/10
3/5
While Spirit appears to be doing what they intended to do on this album, a lot of the ideas fell ever so slightly too short to make it a great cohesive project. Sardonicus sounds like it’s in a strange spot in psychedelic music, being released between the late 60s and the progressive 70s.
Gram Parsons
3/5
A pretty country album from the ‘70s. Gram Parsons put his soul into the music and backed by the female singers he chooses to sing with, it comes out sounding very harmonious
Gang Of Four
3/5
Good punk
The Mothers Of Invention
4/5
To completely counter the “peace and love” hippie movement of the 60s, Zappa created a chaotic sound collage to show us the darker underbelly of fame and society.
The Young Gods
4/5
Never have I heard a French person so angry. Softer instrumental moments like the opening to the first song and the entirety of “Charlotte” sound like Tom Waits if he learned French, while the rest of the tracklist is closer to Captain Beefheart but going completely industrial. This shits cool
Neil Young
3/5
Neil’s voice is smooth as fuck. Some songs are beautiful and well-written, but several feel like they’re missing something to make them that much fuller. Regardless, this is still like a 7. Good album
Beastie Boys
2/5
This album showed the Beastie Boys expanding on the grittier sound they debuted on Check Ya Head, and while Ill Communication is, in a lot of ways, a better version of their previous effort, it still is absent of the charm that made their first two albums so special.
Bob Dylan
4/5
This was Dylan’s first great full-body of work. To put it simply, it was a sheer artistic breakthrough for him and it would lead him to create (somehow) FAR greater albums.
Queen
2/5
They sound nice but I can’t say there’s much material I come back to on this. It’s funny that it’s a self-titled album, because what Queen became is not really present on here.
Marianne Faithfull
3/5
Faithfull modernizes some older styles with an early new wave approach, and, combined with her fairly rough voice, she created a pretty unique sound.
Sex Pistols
3/5
Average punk. Maybe it was revolutionary at the time, but would you rather have an iPhone 3 or an iPhone 13?
Talking Heads
4/5
Fantastic, forward-thinking new wave from the early ‘80s. Easily Talking Heads best.
4/5
This feels like what soul was meant to become.
Count Basie & His Orchestra
4/5
Big band jazz with a new thing to love in every short burst of music.
Prince
5/5
Sheer pop perfection. Nothing else to say (too much to say tbh).
Merle Haggard
3/5
Average early country but still better than modern country by a mile
Antony and the Johnsons
5/5
This blew me away. Anohni’s deeply soulful musings on her sexuality is insanely impactful to hear and I am grateful of this website for giving me the opportunity to hear it.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Unpopular to say, but Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” is a good folk record with some fantastic songs on it, but I’d be lying if I said it truly captivated me as an album experience.
Patti Smith
3/5
Neigh (but this is a good album)
The Flaming Lips
4/5
The band’s electronic-infused indie rock makes for a surprising 180 sonically from their previous album, to the point where it sounds like another band made it.
Michael Jackson
3/5
The hits on this carry pretty hard. A good MJ album but, in my opinion, this is where he started falling out of his great artistic era.
The Fall
3/5
A good, angry punk album with some interesting electronic elements dominating a fair amount of the tracks.
Jeru The Damaja
3/5
Great production is easily the highlight of this ‘90s staple.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
The Stones’ debut album showcases little original songwriting from the band, but they actually make it really entertaining.
Van Halen
1/5
Poor songwriting and a soulless frontman performance make this iconic ‘80s rock album just simply “rock music” to the barest of bones. The main selling point of Van Halen, being Eddie as the guitarist, displays him showing pure musicianship with little artistic merit, leaving me with a “nothing” taste in my mouth after this album ended.
Pink Floyd
3/5
While I very much prefer Roger Waters’ Pink Floyd, there’s some thing beautifully raw about Syd Barrett’s. The early days of psychedelic rock were shining throughout this album and we got some of the best sonic experiments of the era, as well as some lengthy duds too, however.
Beck
4/5
The eclectic sonic palate of Beck’s Odelay makes this a one-of-a-kind listen that anyone could find something they’d enjoy inside. A great album that symbolizes the diversity of sounds the ‘90s offered.
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
3/5
Pretty good classic country, nothing too special but Jack’s lyrics can be pretty funny sometimes
Happy Mondays
3/5
The high point of Happy Mondays’ music is their distinct charismatic lyrics, otherwise, a lot of the project would sound kinda like a sonic mess…but in some cases that actually does work.
Björk
4/5
The luscious arrangements and Björk’s heartbreakingly personal subject matter make this definitively her best record.
Magazine
3/5
Good punk with some truly interesting experimentation with non-traditional instruments for the genre
Brian Eno
3/5
Good ambient music with a very sparse vibe that allows you to soak in every despondent sound Eno plays.
Leonard Cohen
5/5
A sheer master class in songwriting from a lyrical stance, as well as one of beautiful instrumental work that keep you in tranced in Cohen’s world of love for each of its 10 memorable tracks.
Massive Attack
4/5
Massive Attack uses a wide array of genres and styles to compose a sound that is not only unique, but keeps you on the edge of your seat with every subsequent track in the tracklist
The Police
3/5
Sting and the rest of the band come through with some well written cuts (some of which being better than others) that revel in the album’s core ‘80s sound. While Sting furthers himself as a great singer, there are too many moments on this album that feel like they didn’t amount to as much as they could have.
Steely Dan
3/5
Steely Dan’s third album is as funky as it is charismatic, and while some songs don’t hit their mark as much as others, there is a consistent charm that carries through the whole runtime.
The Strokes
4/5
Props to this website for using the ass cover
Goldfrapp
4/5
Incredibly creative and sonically diverse. Categorizing this thing into one genre would be impossible
Pink Floyd
4/5
Roger Waters’ opus suffers a tad from its great length, but with it, it creates a densely layered character you are able to sympathize with by the end of the story. A decent trade-off tbh
Janet Jackson
4/5
Janet’s fourth studio album may be her most well-rounded, even if some of the songs work better than others, on a technical as well as thematic stance. Regardless, the production across this thing is great and the funky songs are funky as shit
Orbital
2/5
This is pretty difficult to rate for me, because on its surface, it’s just an average repetitive electronic record, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fucking boring. This teeters between the 1 and 2 star score but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt that it can sometimes sound less boring.
Willie Nelson
3/5
This album sounds really nice, the only thing is that they’re all covers. I can see myself returning to this tho, it’s definitely well-made.
Eels
4/5
An impressive fusion of indie rock with other genres. Frontman E’s performance, while it is very charismatic, can come off as bitter in many instances, though, as the majority of the lyrics deal with a multitude of afterthoughts about a failed relationship, mainly of negative thoughts. However, the unique songwriting definitely makes up for those issues as a whole, as this thing is a joy to get through.
Queen
4/5
Queen doing queen stuff to the best of their abilities….pretty great result
Paul Simon
4/5
Paul Simon uses a flawless ensemble of African musicians to geographically transport you to the scenery he recorded the album in. This thing is so damn memorable that it has to be the best thing he ever made.
The Clash
4/5
A perfect punk record, due to the fact that it uses its multi-dimensional genre-bending to advance the classic “punk themes”
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Fantastic jazz instrumentals and top notch lyrics from Stevie makes this one of the best soul albums ever.
John Lennon
4/5
Plastic Ono Band showcased Lennon going through a production change, and even though there are ups and downs throughout the tracklist, the overall songwriting feels personal.
John Lennon
4/5
I believe this to be Lennon’s best solo album, and even if there are some moments of bad production, it overall captures the heart of a cynical legend.
Fleet Foxes
4/5
One of the best sounding albums. Period. It’s insane to me that a few mortal human beings made this.
The Jam
3/5
Fun, energetic fusions of traditional rock and hard punk make this a refreshing and easy listen.
Iggy Pop
4/5
An exploration about what makes life meaningful after being at your lowest point
Janis Joplin
4/5
Janis has a deeply soulful voice that sends her life and career out with a beautiful spirit, one filled with freedom.
Thelonious Monk
3/5
Monk had several moments of impressive craftsmanship, but as a whole, this album rarely reached the heights that many of his groundbreaking contemporaries were able to.
The Who
3/5
Who’s Next has some great tracks but stays just consistently good all the way through. Definitely could be worse for sure, because it’s still good
Green Day
5/5
Just a fantastic rock opera. Such a fucking great, energetic album with some of Green Day’s best cuts
Boston
2/5
Decent sounding arena rock but does little to shake up what I feel like has always been a fairly boring genre
Britney Spears
4/5
This is simply great pop music. Every song is incredibly catchy, and while it is for sure locked into the time it was made, it almost feels like a time capsule in that way.
Solange
3/5
This thing has luscious vocals and instrumentation but as a whole it just doesn’t do that much for me compared to R&B records like it
Radiohead
3/5
Good Radiohead but nothing special compared to their best stuff
Tom Waits
4/5
This is Tom’s biggest contrast between his hellish and beautiful songs. The duality of his artistic nature is on full display here
3/5
Pleasant sounding country
The Temptations
4/5
An exploration of the ‘70s soul genre from all angles
Nirvana
5/5
The culmination of Kurt’s short career. If Nevermind was a critique on society, In Utero was Kurt digging deeper in himself. A tragic final studio album that evoked everything that made Kurt Cobain who he was.
Wire
3/5
Good punk. Not a huge amount to take away tho
Robert Wyatt
4/5
A grim look on despair and emptiness, while trying your hardest not to lose your sanity in the process. In the face of the darkest possible situation, Robert Wyatt tries to find a light
PJ Harvey
2/5
I can see the potential with what she was doing, but a lot of what is on here sounded pretty standard to me.
Amy Winehouse
3/5
It’s a good debut but absolutely pales into comparison to what she was able to do later
Neu!
4/5
An amazing atmosphere, with juxtaposing sides that compliment each other in the strangest, perfect way possible. Different from the band’s other works but a welcome change
Van Morrison
4/5
Morrison’s follow up to his magnum opus was a unique record as well, even if it didn’t reach the songwriting heights of its predecessor
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
The noisiest blob of beauty in music
The Magnetic Fields
4/5
I won’t lie, this album dragged on. It got very slow at points, but had extraordinary highs. It’s difficult to attribute length as a fault for this album, considering it wouldn’t have worked as a short release. The purpose of Merritt’s statement was to create a vivid portrayal of “love” as a concept. This thing is as detailed as any album can be with how much it commits to its concept, and it’s incredible how many of the songs pay off.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
A culmination of everything that made them great
The Sugarcubes
3/5
It was a surprise to hear Björk on an album I had never heard of, which was definitely the biggest thing I liked about us. Otherwise, it was cool, and sometimes inventive punk music. You can’t go wrong with this tbh. It’s good
Frank Sinatra
3/5
An album with a great vibe and fantastic vocals, I would rate this thing higher if it didn’t use pretty much all covers (which I know Sinatra often does but still)
Beach House
5/5
Nearly top tier Beach House. The things they accomplish with sound on here is unreal
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Nick Cave reflects on the dichotomies of man with this double album, and while it has some duds in the tracklist, he very much gets his ideas across
Portishead
4/5
A melting pot of genres go into this classic trip-hop album
Alanis Morissette
3/5
Alanis’s presence is powerful and notable, but some tracks are just weaker than others and sometimes feel repetitive
Duke Ellington
4/5
A monumental jazz album that evokes everything fantastic about big band jazz…that is, until the ‘60s.
Brian Wilson
5/5
It’s difficult to separate this album from the original tapes of the Smile from 1967, which I think is one of the greatest artworks of all time. For that reason, I will give this a 5, even if I think the original version is much better. Either way, the compostions remain almost intact so this thing still omits surges of intense beauty even in Brian’s elderly voice.
Silver Jews
3/5
Poignant lyricism backed by an inviting, yet occasionally-anxious, indie-country sound
The Smiths
4/5
The Smiths have such a distinct sound and this is definitely their best display of that.
The Temptations
4/5
A perfectly assembled collection of vocalists to create a really engaging psych-soul album
Syd Barrett
4/5
Fragmented moments of expression from an artist locked outside of time. An album almost couldn’t be more expressive of an artist’s mind-state
P.S. I have been addicted to this album recently, I have no idea how this website gave me this
Billy Joel
4/5
Billy Joel’s best album and I don’t understand how anyone can disagree
Led Zeppelin
3/5
This is one of Led Zeppelin’s best releases but it just goes to show how overrated they are in the best band conversation
Cowboy Junkies
4/5
A dark take on the classic country sound, with all of the songs (covers and originals) having a distinctly dreary vibe. The session has a lot of mystique around it, and that is certainly evident in the music. My only critique is that it sticks to pretty much one sound, which can make the listen drag a little by the end, but the sound itself is very well done
Hole
3/5
Aside from “Violet” and “She Walks From Me,” two songs wholly emblematic of what made grunge a successful genre, “Live Through Me” does not live up to what her contemporaries were doing, let alone her grunge-icon husband.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
Beautiful soul album
Elton John
3/5
What would be a boring Elton John album, carried and led by the actually good “Tiny Dancer” single, was relatively saved by the last three tracks.
Bob Dylan
3/5
A decent return to form for Dylan, but with not enough memorable material to make it too far above average
Elvis Presley
3/5
Classic Elvis shenanigans
Throwing Muses
4/5
Amy Winehouse
4/5
One of the best soul albums of all time. Nothing short of that feat. It’s a brief album but remarkably consist and it’s tragic that this was her last.
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
I respect the vision of the album and it has some good tracks, but this is nowhere near the best in Mayfield’s discography for sure.
Radiohead
4/5
If Kid A was the apocalypse that Ok Computer predicted, then Amnesiac is the barren wasteland of what came after
Def Leppard
1/5
Crappy radio “hard-rock”
3/5
Kinda like British Beach Boys
Led Zeppelin
3/5
One of the most overrated albums of all time. Not bad tho, one of Zeppelin’s better albums but I prefer 1 and 2
Willie Nelson
3/5
Pleasant classic country
The Stooges
3/5
A muddied, distinct sound of garage rock that is as dysfunctional as it is original
The Go-Go's
3/5
An enjoyable debut new-wave album. Don’t have too much to say. There’s hits and misses
Paul Simon
4/5
At first it seemed like Simon’s songs were lacking without the addition of his former partner backing him, but as I listened more, the songs on here seem to draw from many aspects of Simon’s creativity, making this just as, if not more enjoyable all the way through than many of Simon & Garfunkel’s albums.
Rage Against The Machine
4/5
Fantastic rap metal. Pretty much the pinnacle of that genre
Pink Floyd
4/5
The first time the band truly went full prog rock
Fugazi
3/5
On the verge of a 4, Fugazi’s debut album showcased a very new kind of punk, one with extremely tight instrument relationships and passionate energy
The Smiths
3/5
Good Smiths but likely their least consistent
De La Soul
4/5
Ultra fun rap music from a time where creativity in hip-hop was just beginning to flourish
5/5
One of Bowie’s best. One of the most enjoyable albums ever made
Meat Loaf
4/5
This is an album of truly epic proportions. While there are times, namely toward the beginning of the record, where Steinman’s writing influences are more prominent, this thing really builds its identity brilliantly, and by the final track, through Meat Loaf’s powerful voice and Steinman’s larger-than-life arrangements, its clear that you will never have another experience like this with an album.
Astrud Gilberto
2/5
This is a fine bossa nova album (it rides between 2 and 3) but its just very uninteresting, aside from 2-3 tracks
Elvis Presley
3/5
Average Elvis shenanigans, some great songs, some unmemorable ones, but always pleasant to listen to
Daft Punk
4/5
Daft Punk’s first album sets the tone for what was to come, through infectious loops, layered production, and the hypnotic, distinct robot vocals
Beatles
2/5
This is The Beatles making standard music. It’s ridiculously uninteresting.
Joy Division
5/5
Arguably the most artistic and revealing post punk has gotten
Beatles
5/5
A psychedelic Beatles (near) masterpiece
Björk
4/5
A soulful and personal album from Björk with her most unique batch of songs yet
Sleater-Kinney
3/5
Nice lyrics with great energy, but an inconsistent tracklist with few ACTUAL highs. Many good songs tho
Pulp
3/5
Fun glam rock with some great songs mixed in with more average ones. This thing is VERY frontloaded tho
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Not one of Nick’s greatest conceptual releases, but there’s a consistent introspection that connects all the songs. However, it doesn’t dig nearly as deep as many of his hardest-hitting stuff
Various Artists
3/5
A classic production sound with some even more classic songs. I will say though, being that this is Brian Wilson’s favorite album, it’s obvious it was more groundbreaking at the time it came out
Tom Waits
2/5
It pains me to give Tom Waits a 2, but this album is a slog to get through. There are some great songs and funny moments sprinkled in, with hypnotic jazz instrumentation backing it all, but the majority of this is just a spoken word thing leading up to something else that doesn’t really pay off.
Arcade Fire
4/5
A distinct and iconic indie rock album
John Coltrane
4/5
As spiritual as jazz gets. Not as astounding as people say it is but it’s one of the most important jazz records
The Notorious B.I.G.
4/5
One of the earliest progressors of hip-hop
Stevie Wonder
5/5
As perfect and as eclectic as soul music can get. Stevie’s ear for melody and arrangements are just flawless
N.W.A.
2/5
The framework does not always indicate the best. This album is incredibly inconsistent. At the most positive times, the music is an energetic collision of multiple forward thinking styles. At the most negative, however, it’s messy ass hip-hop that may have been influential, but just proves how far the genre has come to become something truly respectable.
FKA twigs
3/5
A unique style of electro-pop, but it’s a difficult album to return to. Again, though, a very interesting style with no negative moments present
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
Possibly the greatest narrative rap album ever made. The pinnacle of the hip-hop genre (yet still Kendrick’s third best)
Neil Young
3/5
Not my favorite Neil Young album, but the guitar playing and overall melancholic tone make this an enjoyable record for sure, along with a fair amount of solid tracks.
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
Simon & Garfunkel’s only concept album has some of their best songs, but I wish I enjoyed the overall experience more
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
Bob Marley very much knows how to make poignant cultural statements with simply pleasant music backing it
T. Rex
4/5
this thing is filled with short but great songs. The first run of six is unreal, as is the closer
Elton John
4/5
Best Elton john
Steely Dan
3/5
Classic easy listening stuff. Steely Dan’s melodies sound so nice that it’s almost artificial
Arctic Monkeys
3/5
Fun and expressive rock
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
One of the band’s most accessible releases happens to be one of their most well-rounded. A fantastic gateway into what was to come
Brian Eno
4/5
A foreword-thinking debut from a sheer musical legend. 7.5-8/10
The White Stripes
4/5
different than the rest of the band’s stuff and very charming as well
Björk
4/5
Björk’s debut is so easily one her best. This shit is so sick
Pere Ubu
4/5
Inventive and progressive sounding art punk. 7.5/10
3/5
Oasis has some great songs, as well as some less interesting ones. Liam’s voice rides the line between grating and pleasant, but it’s always expressive
Lucinda Williams
3/5
I’m not the biggest country fan, but Lucinda injects the sensibilities of other genres into the music her, so while it’s definitively country, it can be enjoyed by fans of many other fields.
Fun Lovin' Criminals
4/5
Awesome and diverse hip-hop that epitomizes everything great about the genre before it absolutely flourished in the coming decades.
Wilco
4/5
A consistently entertaining and sonically unpredictable art rock album that, in short, defined the era of indie music that this was born from
Kate Bush
4/5
Beautiful conceptually, vocally, and musically. Pop music nearly at its finest
Pink Floyd
4/5
As atmospherically beautiful as it is iconic. doesn’t mean it it’s one of the best albums of all time. It is great, but most certainly not their best
Johnny Cash
3/5
While not as consistently entertaining as his previous prison live album, the legendary country singer knows how to create an engaging live scene, while appearing just as laid back as he is talented.
Cyndi Lauper
4/5
This album defined pop in the ‘80s, albeit not being quite as big through time as some of her contemporaries
R.E.M.
2/5
Aside from a couple finer moments to pull out of this mixed bag of tracks, this REM album ends up falling in the same vein as the group’s other safe and often boring “dad rock“ albums.
Cypress Hill
4/5
I’m between a 3 and 4 on this, but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and score it the latter for its uniqueness and sheer influence on many hip-hop artists today. While it may lose a bit of its steam by the end, it’s undeniable that the group had some amazing song ideas and coupled them with purely singular styles
The Smiths
4/5
Up there for the best Smiths album. The range of songwriting on here is fantastic and more expansive than anything the band had done previously. A fitting last album
Lauryn Hill
4/5
A landmark record for both R&B and hip-hop and successfully becomes one of the best in both genres
Stan Getz
4/5
One of the most calming albums ever. Simply put. Bossa-nova at its finest and most iconic
The Police
2/5
A largely uninteresting first half is (relatively) saved by a banger-filled second. Regardless, I’d still give this like a 2.5, meaning a 2 is what this has gotta be. This website gotta get those halves man they mean something
The Undertones
4/5
Energetic and raw punk. Not particularly inventive but a quintessential spawn of the wave
Pentangle
2/5
It consistently may sound nice but this is just very standard ‘60s spiritual folk
Marvin Gaye
3/5
Marvin Gaye’s glorious magnum opus is as life-affirming as it is soulful. It’s a testament to moving forward in the face of adversity, and while I think the album is actually a little overrated, I very much have to respect what it is and what it did for soul music.
Green Day
4/5
Possibly the most classic pop punk there is
New Order
2/5
This album is very much top heavy, as, by the time you get to the last song, the writing begins to get more monotonous and the vocal presence becomes fairly uninteresting
Rush
2/5
I understand the musical talent involved in this but when the songwriting isn’t very catchy and there’s no clear messages to latch onto, it removes you from the technically impressiveness of it all
Stevie Wonder
4/5
A highlight Stevie Wonder album. Some of his best tracks are on this thing, and in contrast to the extravagant SITKOL, these ten tracks create a concise, spiritual experience
Black Sabbath
3/5
Possibly the best song the band made was the self-titled opening track, but overall, this album gradually loses steam as the tracklist progresses
The Avalanches
4/5
The Avalanches prove how sampling can be just as impressive as any other form of creating in music
The Mamas & The Papas
4/5
The Mothers and The Fathers epitomized everything the ‘60s was shifting to sonically. Not saying that every song here was successful in that sound (there are some definite better ones than others), but everything on here is essentially a template that combined what was done before and what was to flourish as the psychedelic age progressed
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
This is something anyone would enjoy if you put it on. Classics on classics
Roxy Music
4/5
I think it was maybe the album cover that gave me an entirely different expectation from what was actually on this album. Roxy Music, their self titled debut, is just fantastic. This thing is brimming with original ideas on top of original ideas, traversing between glam rock to spacey Prog rock to avant-garde doo-wop in the span of like three songs. Stretch that across the whole album and you have a work that never fails to surprise you, no matter how many damn surprises you get hit with. This album is not only great musically, but the lyrics evoke such a specific feeling of loneliness and longing for something that you lost, or more specifically something you lost because of your own actions, which is equally as heartbreaking as it is plain karma. Front to back, this album is a concise 10 tracks with absolutely no filler and I believe it is an essential for anyone
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Nick Cave’s acceptance of grief leading him to a path to rebirth is as beautiful of a concept as The Bad Seeds’ instrumentation and Nick’s songwriting itself.
Muddy Waters
3/5
Muddy Waters consistently evokes the true, raw spirit of the blues, but by the end of the record, the sound begins to get a little monotonous, even though there are some genuinely fantastic songs within this brief collection.
David Bowie
3/5
The production on this is stellar, notably with the second half instrumental tracks, but when it comes to the more traditional Bowie-led vocal tracks, they’re oftentimes pretty forgettable. However, “Beauty and the Beast” is awesome and “Heroes” is one of the greatest songs ever. It’s the stuff like “Joe the Lion” or the final track that leave some individuality to be desired.
The Doors
4/5
The Doors’ take the bluesy sound they were working with on “Morrison Hotel” and made it that much more raw and mysterious.
Can
4/5
While CAN’s sophomore album is long, the instrumental and stylistic variation throughout the 7 song tracklist is awe-inspiring.
Talk Talk
4/5
Through its fusions of jazz and art pop, Talk Talk create a work that feels simultaneously sensual and mysterious
Nick Drake
5/5
One of the most raw and honest portrayals of loneliness and depression. Every note Nick sings accompanied solely by his guitar is just as painful as it is beautiful. This album is eye opening by the end
Justice
3/5
sonically nearly the peak of what electronic music has been in the last 20 years, but with a tracklist that feels a little too long and repetitive for its sound. However, it’s still a really great listen
Harry Nilsson
4/5
This quasi-self-titled album (one of three for Nilsson, none of which outright said his name) is a hodgepodge of everything Nilsson was. Intricate ballads (“The Moonbeam Song”) clashed with uptempo classic Nilsson styles (“Gotta Get Up”), while his humorous side (“Coconut”) and experimental side (“Jump Into the Fire”) got equal time to shine, but would it be “Nilsson” if it didn’t? Now, it’s impossible to discuss this album without acknowledging arguably his two greatest songs: the emotional powerhouse of “Without You” and the intense closer, “I’ll Never Leave You.” While an album like Aerial Ballet will initially jump to my mind when I think of “Harry Nilsson,” this album is undoubtedly his most interesting and eclectic.
this couldn’t be just a self-titled album, that would be too boring for Harry. It’s the “Schmilsson” tag that ultimately sets this thing as something unequivocal in his discography
Don McLean
4/5
Don McLean’s sweet voice, paired with enamoring songwriting makes this concise, 10 song tracklist hit as hard as it has to.
John Prine
3/5
Mr. Prime assembled a pretty great collection of Prog. Country tracks, and while the direction of the album can feel kinda stale, there are some stellar country tunes in the mix.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
This feels like the Stones’ transition into their psychedelic period. It’s incredibly uneven but there’s some great forward thinking material here
David Bowie
4/5
This shit is just so good
Minor Threat
2/5
I respect the musicality of Minor Threat’s one and only album, but there’s just not a lot I am able to take out of it.
Slint
5/5
Slint’s masterful portrayal of the fears alongside a transition to adulthood is not only entrancing, but flawlessly composed as well.
Leonard Cohen
5/5
Leonard Cohen’s acceptance is one of the most poignant statements in music I have seen in a long time. It’s on par with Bowie’s Blackstar
Randy Newman
4/5
Randy Newman has an unmatched soul to his voice
Bob Dylan
4/5
Bob Dylan’s big breakthrough deserves to be labeled as such. To have songs like “Don’t Think Twice…”, “Blowin’ In The Wind,” “Girl From North County,” and the massive “A Hard Rain’s…” all on the SAME ALBUM is pretty ridiculous.
AC/DC
3/5
This album is hit or miss, but that’s due to the nature of what hard rock was in this period. As a genre, much of it blended together with uninteresting song topics and similar, high pitched belty vocals, and while I think thode describe AC/DC’s “Back To Black”, the band pulls through with some very entertaining songs, mixed together with songs that define why I don’t love ‘80s hard rock as a whole. This is one of THE albums of that era and that genre, and that makes a lot of sense.
The White Stripes
4/5
While TWS’s first two albums established their career and sound nicely, it was on this record that they fully found their footing. This album balances the band’s hard-hitting, sometimes grittier, sound with cuts like the intro or “I Think I Smell A Rat,” and juxtaposes that usual sound with their goofier (“Hotel Yorba”) and softer (“We’re Going to be Friends”) sides. This all culminates into an album that may not conclude as strongly as it begins, but nonetheless paints a defining portrait of who Jack and Meg White were and who they were going to be for the next few years.
D'Angelo
2/5
Maybe I just don’t click with what D’Angelo has to offer here, but with all-over-the-place song structures, meandering run times, and song topics I don’t care all that much about, “Brown Sugar” becomes a daunting listen, as much as I enjoy what it’s trying to go for, particularly on songs like the opener and closer (which are both fantastic).
Sufjan Stevens
4/5
One of Sufjan Stevens’ greatest achievements. A portrait of a singular place, but with Sufjan’s complex arrangements and diversity of ideas, he makes that place as intricately detailed as any singular person could be
Air
4/5
Well-composed art rock, and even though it’s a film score, you can feel an emotional heartbeat bleeding through every nook and cranny of this. It’s not an album I’ll go back to all that often because it’s just a soundtrack, but as far as those go, this thing is about as good as it gets
Serge Gainsbourg
4/5
The story within this album is unsettling, but backed by the music (and with a little media literacy) you can feel that the narrator is entirely on the wrong side of the tracks and that Serge composed this music to get that point across. As an album though, it’s beautifully composed. Every song has its own distinct personality and has the ability to not only shift tonally across tracks, but also within songs themselves, as strings or guitar or even occasionally horns fall and in out of the mix behind Serge’s unnerving whisper-like vocal delivery.
Stan Getz
3/5
Some sexy saxophone playing and smooth guitar work. The album has no emotional highs and lows but it sounds nice all the way through
Tom Waits
4/5
Tom’s last hurrah on Asylum brings the best of his early-career jazz crooning
Blood, Sweat & Tears
4/5
It’s a band like BST that helped pave the way for not only Prog. Rock to become a huge subset of rock music, but for bands nowadays who are a part of, in a way, “post prog. rock”, such as Black Midi or Black Country, New Road. While the compositions here are often pop-centric, the arrangements are so densely constructed that it makes every song feel like a truly unique experience. I would imagine this album sounds just as fresh as it did back in 1968, as all eight of the full length songs on here evoke a kind of creative spirit that not many bands from their era had.
Nas
4/5
One of the most classic hip-hop records of all time, and while it may be a tad overrated, it’s undeniable this thing is a beast
The xx
4/5
The xx’s debut is a consistently great indie listen, with a plethora of intriguing melodies and sleek production
Blur
4/5
With every album in their early career, Blur simply got better and better, with this being a defining album of ‘90s Britpop. The versatility on here is exceptional and it really seemed like Damon was honing his songwriting craft
Beyoncé
3/5
Why is this on Apple Music’s top 100? It’s good. But it’s just good. The pop anthem Jealousy is great, the doo-wop revival Superpower was a much-appreciated change of pace, and the penultimate Heaven gives a beautiful emotional conclusion to the album that I think Blue misses to an extent.
Snoop Dogg
3/5
“Doggystyle“ is a very spotty album. It was heavily influential to the hip-hop scene, but for as many positive ways it changed the genre, it brought that many negative ones. The production throughout this can seem a little repetitive, but it’s a very hypnotic sound defined the G-funk era of hip-hop to a T. However, this is one of the most misogynistic hip-hop albums I’ve ever heard. Obviously that is not exclusive to this single album in rap history, nor am I saying all rap is like that, but here it seems like it open the doors for other rappers to be just like Snoop Dogg in, again, as many positive ways as negative. All in all, this album is pretty enjoyable and stands at an important position in hip-hop history, but the fundamental issues of this record cannot be ignored. Also, this is way better than “The Chronic”, just sayin.
Radiohead
4/5
OKC is not as good as Kid A. The themes are similar, but Kid A’s desolate electronic sound is just far more engaging to me. That being said, I can’t judge this album based on other work, so I’ll give this album a fair treatment. OKC is fantastic. Maybe not quite as good as most music nerds will say, but it hits nearly every beat that it is trying to and the band’s performance/Thom’s writing is some of the best they’ll do in their career. I can’t say anything about this album that hasn’t already been said. It’s amazing (obviously)
Funkadelic
4/5
Art funk is what this could be described as. That’s hard af
Einstürzende Neubauten
4/5
This feels like industrial era Tom Waits, except it’s dialed up to 11 and made 10 years earlier. There’s no way he didn’t take inspiration from this band when making albums like “Bone Machine” and especially the grisly, metallic “Real Gone.” That being said, “Kollaps” is as raw as punk can get, with random metal objects being large parts of the instruments used to back the hellishly distorted vocals. In a way, it’s as punk as punk can get, with the title track exemplifying that stronger than any other here. As a whole, this thing is vicious, it’s as stripped back as punk music can be, and it’s forward-thinking as hell.
The Who
3/5
Look, I’m not going to come here and shit on a classic, but in all fairness, a large chunk of this massive album is very uninteresting. Now, I listened to “69 Love Songs“ the other day for the first time, and that’s an album that works artistically as a whole, even if it may be hard to get through a times. “Tommy” is obviously similar, in the sense that the entirety of the story and the tracklist is Pete Townsend‘s work of art. However, there are just so many moments thrown in throughout the tracklist that feel disjointed and ultimately take away from the larger musical statement he was trying to make. Normally, I wouldn’t give an album a lower score for something like that, especially when most of those moments are minor one minute songs, but to be frank, even the actual full length songs on here are just kind of alright. None of them are outright bad and some are actually really good , but then there are a bunch like “go to the mirror!” And even the hit song, “pinball wizard” that just don’t really do anything for me and kind of drag my ears out for four minutes. Anyway, I think the artistic experiments on here are what make this album anything special. Otherwise, the songwriting can feel pretty boring.
Elvis Costello
3/5
Elvis Costello’s debut is raw and contains the elements that would make punk music so interesting in the following years, but if pushed just slightly further, this thing could’ve been great.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
One of Springsteen’s most concise and well-rounded albums. Kinda the perfect package for him, other than Born To Run
Eagles
4/5
I was pleasantly surprised when relistening to an album that I had always thought of as pretty mid-tier classic rock turned out to be pretty entertaining throughout. Yeah I don’t think the harder rocking songs were as interesting or distinctive, but many of the slower cuts had a vibe to them that I just found very inviting. All around, this is a really good album and I’m glad I got a chance to give it another shot.
Steely Dan
2/5
Okay, so here is the problem with this album, as well as Steely Dan in general. While there may be an occasional catchy hook or funky baseline or sweet jazzy solo (which are in abundance on this album because of the longer song structures), every track is placed alongside possibly the most mediocre vocalist and songwriter in rock history. There is absolutely no character to Fagen’s voice, making all of their songs, with some exceptions of course, being some of the dullest you could find from a generally critically successful band.
To break these points down, I love the groovy guitar that kicks off the intro track, and I’m a pretty big fan of the penultimate “I Got The News“, as well. However, everything in between varies from alright to boring, and while I said the, jazz solos are some of the highlights of this record, the extra long structures that allow those to happen are largely a negative for me. The title track drags on terribly, even if that beachy vibe that the album gives off generally feels the most at home here. Then there’s the equally long “Deacon Blues“ which bored me to tears. I’m also a big album closer guy. A lot of weight is placed on the finale to do its job, and what does “Josie“ do? Absolutely nothing. It’s arguably the most lifeless song on here, and aside from nice guitar work, the song does not follow the penultimate track’ unique energy, leaving the album off in the most uninteresting way possible.
Look, I’m not a straight up Steely Dan hater, but it’s difficult to justify a band with a leader that is just so stripped of personality because that very much bleeds into the music. I don’t hate Aja, but in no way shape or form do I think it deserves the classic status that it has.
Frank Ocean
5/5
“channel ORANGE” contains some of my absolute favorite songs of all time. Its blending of every genre that dance around r&b (hip-hop, electronic, dance, funk, etc.) is seamless and shows how multi-faceted Frank Ocean was this early in his career. Frank’s words and tortured singing give off a lonely yet sentimental feeling. His characters are ones of longing and all come together to paint a portrait of the flawed world Frank is forced to live in as well
Fleetwood Mac
3/5
This is a fun and varied album, and while I don’t think every one of the 20 songs fully pay off, it’s a great listen through.
ZZ Top
1/5
Crappy, unoriginal, mind numbing stadium rock
Bill Callahan
4/5
The combination of Bill’s lyricism, singing voice, and songwriting create an unmatchable feeling of melancholy that becomes something to truly behold. Not to mention, the horn and string arrangements on this thing set the perfect backdrop to the world Bill attempts to build for the listener. By the last track, you feel empty, yet with a resounding sense of hope, as long as you have faith in pure humanity.
The Black Crowes
2/5
This was some generic rock. At least from its time period, which is honestly the most tragic when it comes to “generic” music. Anyway, this thing is very stale, aside from a few good tracks (“Seeing Things,” “Jealous Again,” “Sister Luck,” and “Hard to Handle”) and for the most part feels like a repetitive hodgepodge of why this sub-genre of rock is so damn repetitive. For what it is, the instrument playing is not bad, but those few good tracks simply can’t save an album like this from mediocrity.
Elbow
4/5
While I first was unsure regarding my feelings about this record, considering I wasn’t a large fan of the production, at least in the first half, it was really in the second half of the album that I fell in love with this thing. Now the reason I say, I was conflicted through the first leg of the project That I did enjoy the songwriting, but like I said, the production side of things seemed a little bland and overproduced at times. That all changed by the second half where the band just came out with song after song of well written material and fantastic production to back that up. Because of that, I now even like the first half more than I did my first couple times around.
The Band
4/5
These mfs are twangy af but they’re also super artful. Fire ass combo
Nick Drake
4/5
While not as stripped back as his magnus opus, “Pink Moon,” this record evokes just as much soul as that album does, but this time with gorgeous orchestral arrangements backing his haunting poetry.
Jeff Buckley
4/5
Jeff has no question one of the strongest voices in music history. Throughout Garce’s run, he manages to use his voice in such vastly different ways that you can feel the full scope of human love emanating from his words. Jeff tackles love at all angles, making Grace, at times, Beautiful as well as downright heartbreaking.
The Cure
2/5
There’s some interesting stuff on here for sure, but the majority of this album comes off a bit empty.
Lupe Fiasco
3/5
Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor is a spotty album with a sound that is very “of its time.” Unfortunately, its time wasn’t a flattering period for hip-hop, at least for its commercial stuff. Food & Liquor is filled with all the production conventions of the time: boom-bap beats overdubbed with cinematic strings, r&b-infused hooks, and samples galore. My problem with this album is that it is most bloated, with some tracks heavily blending in with others for me. Some a good, but some just feel like they didn’t need to be here to extend the album’s runtime. And if we’re talking about runtime…while the spoken-word outro is a cute way to thank everyone involved with the project, it’s 12 damn minutes long. But whatever I feel like I can’t doc the album points for a moment that doesn’t entirely feel tied to the rest of the music. All in all, this is an album that I feel represents its time perfectly. The albums were too long, they were overproduced, but they had a level of charm and soul to them that make them an endearing enough listen.
Haircut 100
3/5
Standard new wave pop. There’s nothing offensively bad on here. In fact, there are a few great songs, but this whole thing feels like it was overshadowed by their contemporaries, who were simply making more interesting new wave music. I can see why this thing got left behind.
The Velvet Underground
5/5
One of the greatest albums of all time. This thing is absolutely insane
Erykah Badu
2/5
Maybe I’m just inconsistent on neo-soul, but Mama’s Gun didn’t really do much to me. I find myself often getting bored with the monotonous, drawn-out song structures in the neo-soul genre, and while sometimes it works (it does occasionally on here), I lose interest pretty quickly because of the nature of the type of music. This means that my score and overall opinion doesn’t reflect the quality of this album, I genuinely just think it’s not for me
Miles Davis
4/5
Not the best in Miles’ discography, but with one as stacked as his, an electronic jazz fusion is cool as shit and very much welcome
The Youngbloods
4/5
The Youngbloods fuse a unique blend of ‘60s folk with an entrancing jazz rock sounds that works in almost every song on this album.
The Pogues
4/5
Celtic punk. I’m not very informed on this genre, nor am I with Irish music in general, but the energy laid down here makes this thing such a fun and varied listen.
A side note, I wouldn’t be surprised if AJJ was a little inspired by them.
Jeff Beck
3/5
This album was a vital stepping stone for blues rock/Led Zeppelin type stuff. However, it seemed to have slipped under the cracks a tad and isn’t recognized the way Zeppelin is. I understand why. While I can appreciate and recognize the importance of an album like this, I don’t particularly love it. There are certainly tracks here that I thought were great, but when it comes down to it, most of the album consists of covers. Some of those are good, some aren’t that interesting. When I listen to an album with primarily covers, the music has to be interesting enough to make me truly feel like it’s THAT artist’s work. I don’t know how much I feel that with the songs on “Truth,” but what I can say is that Jeff’s performance on here was undeniably important for the progression of blues rock into the ‘70s, as well as for how it laid the groundwork for how is career would shape out in the next few decades.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
I’m Your Man is not Lennie Cohen’s best album, like many would say. However, Mr. Cohen is one of the best songwriters out there, so even an album that I wouldn’t necessarily put in the top 3 (or even possibly the top 5) is a great work of art. This album has great synthesizer based tunes, like “Everybody Knows,” the title track, and the explosive opener, as well as some hypnotic slower tracks, namely “Take This Waltz” and “Tower of Song,” the latter of which being my favorite from Len10 altogether.
The biggest shortcoming this album has is succumbing to a variety of the musical trends of the time, meaning that that very ‘80s sound doesn’t work completely in every song. “Ain’t No Cure For Love” has a very classic Len Coh framework, but it being doused with synthesizers makes the song a tad less enjoyable for me. Then there’s something like “Jazz Police,” which is a song that has many cool ideas, but falls a little short when it comes to what draws me back to the song.
As a whole, like I said, I’m Your Man is a great Lenner record, but I think the more intimate sound of his early records (as well as his last one) suits him better.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Nick Cave was at one of his artistic peaks in the ‘90s, leaving “Henry’s Dream” as sort of an outlier. His preceding album, “The Good Son,” and the one that followed this, “Let Love In,” showed two varied styles for Nick that this album seemed to have gotten caught in an awkward middle of. This album had SOME of the emotional intamcy that made “The Good Son” one of the greatest albums ever made and SOME of the creative noisy experiments that characterized a large part of “Let Love In,” but it didn’t do either of those styles as well as any other album Nick made in that decade. Now, comparison is a dumb criticism, I just genuinely think Nick’s better material was saved for his other albums around this period.
With all that being said, this is still a pretty decent album. I thoroughly enjoy the first four songs, but after that, the record begins to fall off a bit for me. “Christina the Astonishing” has an intriguing stripped back sound, making it a song I enjoy in the context of the album, but its meandering length and lack of truly standout characteristics make it largely forgettable le in the grand scheme of Nick’s discography. A similar situation goes for the next track, “When I First Came to Town,” except I don’t really like it all that much except for a notably pretty string arrangement.
Finally, the record closes in a fairly underwhelming manner. No matter how many times I listen to the album, I cannot seem to remember how "John Finn's Wife" sounds, and the following track, "Loom
of the Land," is merely memorable for being boring. The last song on here, the brief-ish "Jack the Ripper," is a noise-punk track along the lines of what Nick was doing early in his career, as well as pretty frequently on subsequent releases in the ‘90s. However, while it’s not a bad song (there isn’t a bad song on here, and very rarely is there one if it bares Nick Cave’s name), it just doesn’t do anything interesting with the sound it went for.
All in all, this is a mixed bag of an album. It starts strong but does the worst thing an artwork can do, and that’s decrease in quality as it goes on. At the end of the day, though, this is Nick Cave we’re talking about, and even one of his more subpar albums is still a pretty decent project.
Parliament
3/5
This is a really fun and creative funk record, and while I know I gave it 3 stars, it was bridging the line between that and 4. I ultimately decided to give it a 3 because it’s not as captivating, relistneable, or…well…funky as other funk albums I love. Still, I’m very glad I heard it. George Clinton’s awesome
David Bowie
3/5
This album’s fine. I’ve always found it to be one of Bowie’s most overrated. His venture into R&B and soul was daring and was pulled off well, at least through the instrumentation. Where the album fall short for me is in the songwriting, which in my opinion gets tedious with several tracks on here. Don’t get me wrong, there are some sure standouts, a couple of which are some of my favorite tracks Bowie ever made, specifically the final track “Fame.” I also adore his cover of Lennon’s “Across the Universe,” which is a perfect example of how Bowie took his sound, as well as the common sounds of the time, and transformed it into something that felt new, yet natural.
However, aside from those two songs and the title track, there isn’t a lot to note of the rest of the tracks. “Win” stays pretty stagnant through its runtime, and the same goes for “Somebody up There Likes Me.” “Fascination” and “Right” have groovy riffs but just like the other two songs I mentioned, they definitely overstay their welcome.
While I’d like to say this record is a little inconsistent, I almost can’t even say that because it sticks to and commits to its sound very well, even if the end results are a little bit of a mixed bag. All in all this is certainly not a bad album, and it’s a sound Bowie improves upon in nearly every way on his following record. This was a respectful experiment, even if it’s not a personal favorite
The Beau Brummels
2/5
Most fantastical, “medieval” sounding baroque pop sounds very similar and this album is no different. Pretty uninteresting stuff, except for a couple highlights (most notably, the final track), so it makes sense why this isn’t particularly that remembered in the grand scheme of 60s music.
George Michael
4/5
The only album from George I had heard before this was the more-successful “Faith,” which I’ve never been a huge fan of, but after this album was included in Apple Music’s top 100 list instead of “Faith,” I decided to give it a listen. And you know what, I’m very glad I did. Hearing George in a more passionate and sensitive musical bag was a delight to hear, with tracks ranging from being powerful to straight up soulful and funky. There’s a great variety in this concise ten-song tracklist that widely extended who George Michael was after his debut album.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
3/5
FGTH lays the groundwork for an interesting take on the classic synth-pop sound of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but they don’t do enough with the elements that make it stand out to create an overall satisfying album. However, from the lengthy, nearly prog-synth tracks, to the bizarre spoken word interludes, the band’s debut is certainly charming and a commendable experiment, even if several of its tracks fall flat
The Electric Prunes
3/5
This album is a little uneven, with some tracks feeling like fairly standard ‘60s recordings, but the sonic innovations and plethora of great ideas make this very enjoyable from front to back.
The Blue Nile
3/5
This is some very cool new wave music, with each track containing its own personality. The album opens with a fantastic avant-new wave sound, and while afterwards there are some tracks that are better than others, the group’s personality is definitely apparent, most notably in the hooks. “Stay” is the highlight for me, but the tail end “Heatwave” is a low-key epic that follows the softer “Easter Parade” very well and helps bring the album to a close, alongside the pleasant “Automobile Noise.”
Motörhead
2/5
Maybe this isn’t my cup of tea but man this album is a slog, even at 36 mins. Every song sounds nearly identical, and that sound is just meandering and completely uninteresting to me. I do get the appeal, I actually enjoyed the first song, especially the riff on it, but as a whole this album did nothing for me.
Little Simz
3/5
Little Simz sounds hungry and passionate on this project. Great soulful hip-hop
The Louvin Brothers
2/5
It’s no secret that music as a whole has gotten better since the ‘50s. Of course the ‘50s were vital in pushing music to where it is now, but that doesn’t mean everything during that time was GOOD.
Paul Simon
4/5
Paul Simon does what he does best and brilliantly captures that into an ‘80s sound. This thing is Graceland without the African influences. Not quite as good as that follow-up, but it for sure pumps blood from the same heart.
Bob Dylan
5/5
One of the first double albums in the history of rock music and boy does it pay off. This is one of the most expansive musical statements of all time, simple as that
The Allman Brothers Band
2/5
Look, this is a very highly regarded album, even being held in the Library of Congress for its historical significance, but in all honesty, I don’t get much out of it. This is more so about me than it is the pure quality of the music, as I think these guys are all fantastic musicians, I just don’t really care much for jam bands. It’s the shortest songs on here that I enjoy more than the lengthy compositions, but even so, those tracks don’t feel all that special.
The The
3/5
This is a very good and consistent new wave/art rock album, with production that doesn’t feel dated whatsoever. The whole thing is nice to listen to, but it’s really the final two tracks (“Giant” and the U.S. bonus track, “Perfect”) that make this thing a staple new wave album for me.
Little Richard
2/5
HLR is one of those albums that provided the framework for what was to come next in music, but like I’ve said before, that isn’t enough to make this all that interesting. For its time, it very much was, but it’s obvious music has just got better in the time since.
The Thrills
4/5
Fantastic melodies. A dynamic sound. Great arrangements and cohesion between band mates. This is a perfectly well-rounded album
Mike Oldfield
4/5
This is some of the most active instrumental music I’ve heard. Constantly changing sounds and sections with a myriad of different instruments (almost entirely played by one 19 YEAR OLD KID) keep this album, with only two distinct compositions, very interesting all the way through.
Dwight Yoakam
3/5
Some pleasant and easy-to-listen to country. Not an incredibly stand-out album but one that feels authentic to its genre and remains charming all the way through. Oh, and it’s also a concept album about cheating and a murder which is kinda cool (not the murder, the concept)
Roxy Music
3/5
This is the second Roxy album I’ve heard, with the first being their debut, and I can easily say that this is not as good. Songs like the intro, “All I Want is You”, and “Casanova” are fairly uninteresting in the grand scheme of what Roxy Music has accomplished, although I do think the latter two are pretty decent songs. Other than those, the rest of the album (for the most part) evokes a similar creative spirit that their debut does. “Three and Nine” brings a whimsical energy, “If It Takes a Night” shows off their bluesier side, and songs like “Bitter Sweet” and the penultimate “A Really Good Time” showcases the band doing what they do best: making weirdo, unpredictable songs kinda catchy.
Cat Stevens
3/5
This is a quality album from Cat Stevens, with some of his most personal writing and well-crafted storytelling out there, and while I can’t say every track perfectly hit for me, I found myself enjoying the experience through.
Miles Davis
4/5
Ah yes. One of THE avant-garde jazz albums of all time. Miles Davis’s massive step into psychedelic jazz is something to behold, even if it’s nowhere near his most accessible release
Wild Beasts
3/5
Decent indie rock record with tinges of synth-pop sprinkled in there. There’s not really a bad song on this but the thing as a whole never really blows me away.
Iggy Pop
4/5
With late ‘70s David Bowie production, a tinge of Lou Reed vocally, and a curiously mystifying charisma, Iggy Pop creates a wholly unique record that vastly separates itself from the loud, energetic sound of The Stooges and the solo “Lust For Life,” yet creates the perfect dichotomy of his character in doing so.
The Isley Brothers
3/5
Bits of funk, rock, R&B, and a preemptive splash of the disco era blend together to create a record that doesn’t blow me away, but stands as a consistently fun and distinctly ‘70s experience.
Jorge Ben Jor
3/5
African drums, American funk, and Brazilian somgwriting comes together to make an album that isn’t the most consistent, but has some moments that really puts you in a trance at the arrangements, whether it’s a stripped groovy backbeat or a densely layered mix of instruments.
The Adverts
3/5
Some fun, raw early punk. Not a ton else to say but there are some fantastic ideas here
The Byrds
3/5
A nice ‘60s pop record, but besides some great songs here and there, there’s not a lot that’s special on here. The harmonies are good and the ideas are there, but The Byrds would find greater inspiration later on.
Blue Cheer
4/5
This album is kinda fascinating for a few reasons. It sounds distinctly ‘60s (vocally and stylistically), yet it was entirely boundary pushing for the metal genre. It oozes personality through its oddball takes on various songs that already existed, especially the boisterous opener, “Summertime Blues,” which is handily my favorite version of the track. Every song on here makes choices you just wouldn’t expect, which very much makes it preemptive of what was to come for metal in the ‘70s. While it was in a primitive state at the time, feeling like a bridge between ‘60s rock and ‘70s metal, it finds itself as an interesting piece of musical history, on top of the fact that it’s incredibly enjoyable as well.
Norah Jones
4/5
Pretty, silky jazz pop. Definitely exceeded my expectations when I thought this thing was just gonna be another early 00’s pop album
4/5
Not quite as good as their previous effort, but still a great and charismatic album from one of the most consistent bands of the ‘60s.
Arrested Development
3/5
Fun and quirky hip-hop (that sounds dated but that’s not really a bad thing) but kinda not much more than that
Bob Dylan
5/5
A folk rock classic. Arguably the framework for the genre as a whole. Incredible album front to back…and still only Dylan’s THIRD best
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
A good Neil Young album, one that properly showcases his creativity and energetic guitar playing
Animal Collective
2/5
This is truly one of the most overrated albums of all time. Every few years I listen to it again to see if I missed something the previous time. I mean, it’s one of THE music nerd albums, but it was my listen of it for this review that solidifies it as purely mediocre for me. Every song far overstays its welcome, and when you have very repetitive ideas and meandering sounds, it becomes a slog to get through by the halfway point. I really don’t understand the hype for this album, AnCo has way better
Burning Spear
3/5
Smooth, groovy reggae with a politically charged spirit. It’s a pleasant listen all around
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Peter Gabriel’s third solo album opens with the fantastically out-there opener, “Intruder”, which is a song that unfortunately promises a lot that isn’t quite met. I think overall this album is better than Gabriel’s subsequent self-titled release, but at least that album found itself fully committing to the experimental sound that this song (as well as several others on here) went for. If there wasn’t so much basic ‘80s rock dispersed between the more original songs, this thing would be a whole lot better. As it stands tho, it’s good
The Everly Brothers
4/5
This album exists in that strange microcosm of pre-Beatles ‘60s and utilizes the conventions of the era perfectly. With some fantastic originals and charming covers of country and blues tracks, The Everly Brothers single-handily (or double-handily if you will) craft THE early 60s pop rock album.
Taylor Swift
4/5
Fantastic pop album. Not much else to it but damn there’s so many catchy moments on here
Common
3/5
Nice soulful hip-hop. A classic and while it’s not the greatest of its era, it definitely enhanced it.
Kacey Musgraves
3/5
This album is unremarkable, though its consistent country pop sound is decent, but what really makes this album worth it is the last track, Rainbow, which is absolutely stunning
Fugees
4/5
Fantastic hip-hop/R&B infusion. Unpopular, but I prefer this to The Miseducation
Fela Kuti
3/5
This African-influenced jazz album isn’t anything super special sonically, but its historical makes it far more interesting, on top of it already being a brief, enjoyable listen to begin with
Pavement
3/5
This album is an indie rock staple, but I’m honestly not that crazy about the songwriting here, even if the raw sound is inviting
John Grant
4/5
John Grant’s debut solo album is versatile and powerful. You can totally hear someone like Father John Misty’s resemblance in the lyrics and charisma
Ian Dury
4/5
Ian Dury’s debut is creative and eclectic, yet feels indebted to the era he was born into, but that’s not a bad thing
Björk
4/5
Only Björk could make an album like this. One that feels as magical as it does, yet evokes the rawest form of human spirit.
The Monkees
3/5
This is a fun ‘60s album. It’s pretty forgettable in the long run, as many bands do the turn of the psychedelic era better, but it’s enjoyable as it is
Madonna
3/5
Madonna’s large step into her introspective period felt genuine…when she committed to it. Those tracks were great, and she didn’t necessarily HAVE to stick to that style, but the songs that were a major departure just weren’t all that interesting
Herbie Hancock
4/5
A quintessential ‘70s jazz record, with all the creative chemistry and forward thinking that made this era of the genre so great
The Libertines
3/5
Garage rock revivalists, The Libertines, have definite raw energy, but much of the times the tunes themselves don’t really hold up as anything special
Morrissey
3/5
A definitively Morrissey album, but doesn’t stand up to the best of The Smiths, though there are some surefire standouts in the bunch
Joy Division
4/5
One of the bleakest albums in history, with or without the context surrounding it. The dark atmosphere and emotionally tortured songwriting make this a staple of Joy Division (obviously because it’s one of their two albums), as well as post punk as a whole
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
Bleach and Nevermind have the same relationship for Nirvana that Isn’t Anything and Loveless do for MBV. The rawness of the Seattle grunge sound is the center point of Nirvana’s DIY debut, and that rough sound completely paves the way for the energetic, catchy songwriting that appears on the hugely successful Nevermind.
The critical success of the bold Loveless was attributed to MBV’s innovative techniques in the studio, which began during the making of their debut, Isn’t Anything. However, while it’s unarguable how important Isn’t Anything was for MBV’s development, it’s no secret that it is vastly inferior to its successor. Yes it paved the way for Loveless to come, but that paving job was very messy and spotty. It did a good enough job to get MBV to the place where they could record an album as bold as Loveless, but where Bleach’s quality very much led into Nevermind’s, I wouldn’t say the same for Isn’t Anything to Loveless. Loveless improves on every single aspect of Isn’t Anything, right down to the last detail.
I believe the most important aspect of MBV’s music is the balance in their mix. One thing that’s abundantly clear off the get go is how the album’s more lo-fi sound does it a huge disservice. The vocals on Loveless are one with the instrumentals; a wall of sound that INCLUDES the vocals, almost to the point where it’s hard to differentiate what are voices and what are instruments. Here, the vocals are awkwardly placed ON TOP of the instrumentals, and it makes for an album that comes across very amateurish and just not that pleasant to listen to. Not to mention, the songwriting just isn’t that good either.
I will give the band credit tho, they experimented with some very bold styles and that surely contributed to the album’s extremely spotty quality, as well as the fact that, again, without it, we would have never gotten the MBV albums to follow. As it stands tho, Isn’t Anything is…well…isn’t anything special
CHIC
3/5
It took me my second listen through to fully understand what this album is. It’s nothing groundbreaking. Purely an album that existed in the disco era and succeeded at being a disco album. To my ears, many of the tracks came off stale and boring, even if the majority of the record was solidly produced. Once I went through again and understood how repetition was being used, tracks like the intro began to make more sense to me. Even though I’m not head over heels for this album by any stretch, there is some fantastic stuff on here, notably “At Last I Am Free” and the following “Sometimes You Win.” Those are easily the two most worthwhile on here, and you do have to commend the smash hit “Le Freak,” which is cool to actually see the origin of
The Byrds
4/5
Back in my first attempt to do the 1001 albums, Pet Sounds was the very first album I got. While I had heard it before, it was that listen that made it my favorite album of all time. The next one I got was this. I was young and excited to experience these new avenues of music that I was just beginning to be informed on. The only stuff I knew about the sixties was Pet Sounds and the Beatles’ entire catalog. This album by the Byrds extended my views vastly. While the album didn’t feel a whole lot different from what the Beatles were doing (in fact, it felt like what they were doing but a tad inferior), I still enjoyed it. In the years that I have come back to the record, with a wider knowledge of music history, but especially of the ‘60s, I can very much identify the points of inspiration the Byrds were taking on here, as well as where they were pushing things forward. In comparison with many of their contemporaries, the fact that the band put country pop songs next to psychedelic mind fucks next to baroque pop ditties that are almost all incredibly well written is nothing short of an accomplishment. The Byrds, while they weren’t the best to do it of their era, showcased the peak of their abilities here. They weren’t the most talented at any of the sounds that they attempted, but they attempted them and made fantastic songs in the process. There’s not many bands that try as many styles on one singular release as The Byrds did here, and for that, they were surely successful. No, this didn’t follow up Pet Sounds. Arguably nothing can. But a musically decade defining album? That at the very least did important things for my musical knowledge going forward.
Paul Revere & The Raiders
3/5
This is a fun ‘60s rock album that has personality, which a lot of albums from this period don’t have
3/5
A notable Prog rock album but there are definitely better from Yes’s contemporaries
ZZ Top
3/5
holy shit man ZZ Top doing a blues style is so much better than their dumpster fire stadium rock albums of the ‘80s. I actually enjoyed many aspects of this and even tho it’s pretty inconsistent as a whole, there’s a lot to get out of it
Leonard Cohen
4/5
I didn’t expect this album to make this list. It’s not quite as good as Leonard’s debut, but it’s a fantastic follow up that continued the near flawless early leg of his career
Emmylou Harris
2/5
Harris is clearly a talented vocalist, but the album is filled with too many standard and average approaches to country music for the era. It’s pleasant while it’s on and despite having a few great tracks, the album leaves no lasting impact
3/5
Some of the sounds and ideas were better in concept than in execution. I loved the rough and tribal production style but the majority of the songs didn’t particularly land for me. As a whole though I do think it established a unique vibe and certainly had a presence
The Byrds
2/5
I understand why a country fan would enjoy this album, but personally, I think it pales in comparison to the psych rock the band was working with on just their previous record, as well as much of the contemporary country of its time. Of course I can’t understate its importance in developing country rock, but I can’t really seem to get into many of the songs on the tracklist. The melodies are largely uninteresting, and while the harmonies sound nice (ofc they do they’re The Byrds), they’re ultimately far less creative than what the band had done before.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
4/5
You gotta love Time Out. The uncommon time signatures make every composition here so fun and unique and the spirit of the band just gives the music here a joyous energy. A celebration of what jazz was at the time
3/5
A definite improvement over their debut. Essentially a more polished version, that hinted towards the versatility they would soon embody on their next record
The Rolling Stones
3/5
A solid Rolling Stones album but should by no means ever be ranked above albums like Between the Buttons, Sitcky Fingers, Their Satanic Majesties Request, and Let It Bleed are all definitely better in my opinion. It’s far too bloated and while its sound is good, it doesn’t warrant a tracklist as long as this has
Circle Jerks
4/5
A masterful use of time in this 14 song, 15 minute debut record. The punk jams are awesome and they segue into each other so fluidly
Crosby, Stills & Nash
3/5
First of all, I have to acknowledge this album’s classic status. The harmonies are fantastic (albeit a little too reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel) and there were some gorgeous sounding songs, but there was just so much on here that makes me wonder why this thing is held in the high regard that it is. I’ll start off by saying that Nash’s three songs were largely the highlights of the record, except Stills’ “Hopelessly Hoping," which was possibly my favorite track on the record. Other than that, the longer tracks drag on and feel pretty stale and uninspired, with Crosby's tracks for the most part being tough to get through. ultimately, I'm giving this thing the benefit of the 3, even if realistically I would give it a 2.5, and this is because the sound is well done and there are some genuinely impressive '60s folk songs
Aerosmith
3/5
‘70s-‘80s hard rock is hit or miss for me, but adding a blues twist always ends up giving the album more character. In this case, I enjoyed this record more than I thought, considering I’m not particularly fond of Aerosmith
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
4/5
A quintessential ‘50s album
Barry Adamson
2/5
While the individual sounds and styles presented throughout the lengthy tracklist are well done, with solid production and detailed arrangements, the album itself just feels far too disjointed and unfocused to be anything truly impactful. A lot of the time, I just don’t know how this album is supposed to make me feel. Where jazz music can present distinct emotion through solely its instrumentation, it feels like this album is missing the part to actually allow the music to connect with the listener. Again, I think the different elements on their own sound, for the most part, good, the full album experience just doesn’t particular work. I did really like the jazzier tracks in the middle and I adored the track with Nick Cave, though
David Bowie
3/5
Aladdin Sane is of course a good record and it came out in Bowie’s prime, but in all honesty, compared to a record as good as its predecessor (Ziggy Stardust), the songs on here feel like they’re missing a hook to them to get you to come back. Bowie’s personality and energy is totally there, but the songs just don’t stand out nearly as much as a lot of his other work.
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
Hendrix’s last full-length record is nowhere near as experimental as Electric Ladyland, nor does it reach the highs of his debut, but more importantly, it very much contains the soul of a supremely talented musician. While you could argue it was a weak record to be his last, it’s only that way in comparison
Run-D.M.C.
2/5
Occasionally fun, but this is incredibly primitive hip-hop, with moderate energy. Nothing more, nothing less
The Yardbirds
3/5
This is one of those examples where the band tries so many styles and excels at none of them. However, the baseline level of quality is pretty much always at least passable, with some incredibly creative moments sprinkled around the album’s 12 tracks. This might lean closer to the 2.5 mark, considering there are definitely multiple skips for me, but I’ll give it the benefit of the 3 for being essentially a summary of what the ‘60s had going musically, it’s just a shame that most of that versatility ended up falling flat
Donovan
3/5
Sweet, psychedelic melodies back by lush instrumentation. Sometimes you get elements of groovy country, sometimes you get mind-bending folk, and while the album never really blows me away, there are several fantastic songs throughout the consistently solid tracklist.
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
3/5
Well done avant-garde shit. Conceptually cool in how it ties in to the band’s ridiculous name as well, though it’s not something I see myself retuning to all that often
Miles Davis
3/5
Look, you simply can’t ignore how vital this album is in the grand scheme of jazz history…but that doesn’t mean it’s great jazz. At the time I’m sure this was cutting edge, and there’s even several fantastic compositions on here (most notably “Godchild,” which is one of my favorite jazz tracks ever), but for the most part, jazz got a lot better
The Doors
3/5
The bluesy charm that had been sporadically introduced into the Doors’ repertoire on previous albums was in full swing here. While the songs themselves mostly don’t stand up to the band’s best efforts, it’s hard to deny how fun the album is altogether
The Young Rascals
4/5
I reviewed The Yardbirds’ “Roger the Engineer” recently and I felt that it was a good sum up of what the ‘60s had to offer musically, but with none of those styles being done super well. However, here, I feel like the idea that this is the ‘60s in a nutshell perfectly describes not just the musical styles of the record but the quality as well. The album just gets better and better as it goes along, with some of its most interesting cuts coming towards the end. There’s a little bit of The Kinks, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Paul Simon, all coming together to make an album filled with tons of great songs. At the end of the day, it’s just another ‘60s pop rock record, but it’s done better than a lot of the ones that make it on this list.
David Bowie
4/5
Pretty much my only complaint about this album, and it’s something I’ve felt since my first listen of this years ago, is how very inconsistent it is. Not inconsistent in the sense that there are bad songs on here, rather, that the highs are unbelievably high, while the rest of the album is either good or just solid. A lot of this divide is within the two halves of the album. The first four songs (with the exception of the third) are genuinely perfect songs that are not only representative of Bowie as an artist, but of the direction rock went in in the ‘70s as a whole. After that, there are certainly great songs, most notably with the closer, but for the most part, I would consider the second half of “Hunky Dory” to be largely forgettable, at least in the grand scheme of Bowie’s work. Like I said before, the highs are as high as Bowie would ever get, but the consistency just isn’t there. Even though not every song on Ziggy Stardust blows you away, the baseline level of consistent quality is much higher than it is on here. Obviously that’s just an indication that Bowie was progressing as a songwriter, but as it stands, this album is still great because anything that has Life On Mars? on it is bound to be pretty special.
Prince
4/5
An incredible Prince double album with songs so good it could have made two single albums
The Kinks
4/5
A quintessential ‘60s album. Has everything to love about the era that birthed it
M.I.A.
2/5
The production on this album saves it. M.I.A.’s charisma is there, but a lot of the time it comes off as really annoying. The songwriting itself can get really daunting even in the short track lengths and ultimately a lot of them feel directionless. Again tho, the production is really cool and a different performer would do fantastic on here. Nothing nearly as good as Paper Planes I’m afraid
Guided By Voices
3/5
It’s not surprising that a lo-fi 28-song, 40 minute album is a mixed bag, but that almost adds to the chaotic experience. The best moments really stand out, and while not every experiment pays off, the ones that don’t only last at most two minutes.
King Crimson
5/5
Goated prog rock and will always be King Crimson’s best
Iron Butterfly
3/5
A pretty standard ‘60s album with a band that sounds a lot like The Doors but with a less interesting lead singer. The compositions sound nice and there’s a solid amount of personality there to make up for it though
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
Great stuff man! Good stuff!
Blondie
3/5
A mixed bag as a whole but ultimately has some fantastic material on it
Jane's Addiction
2/5
A pretty frustrating album ngl…and it gets worse as it goes on. The ten minute songs are agonizingly long, but I’d be lying if I said it all sounded bad. The songs have like no real significance but sound nice from time to time so I’ll give it 2 stars but it’s not my thing really
Black Sabbath
3/5
There are some really cool moments from Black Sabbath on here, whether that be the orchestral instrumental, “Laguna Sunrise,” or the jaw-dropping outlier, “Changes,” but overall, I don’t feel like their more traditional hard rock cuts end up being all that special compared to some of their best ones like it on previous albums.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
Jimi’s sophomore LP is undoubtedly his most artistically significant, but I simply prefer the songwriting on his debut. Both fantastic tho
The Byrds
3/5
A solid record that contains the Byrds’ charm, but it was clear they were still almost entirely riding off their influences
George Michael
3/5
George Michael paints himself as a distinct persona but several of the tracks don’t contribute to the overall experience as much as the best ones do
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
Bob Marley is the vibes but he’s not the consistent
Beatles
3/5
An early Beatles album…that’s all I have to say. 3 stars
Kate Bush
4/5
Fantastic Kate Bush album, one of my favorites from her and has a darker, more experimental sound than Hounds of Love.
Lorde
5/5
An undoubtedly perfect pop album
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
This Is Happening is way better. Lowkey a pretty overrated music nerd album
Scott Walker
4/5
The first Scott Walker record containing all original tracks, and while it’s an album that took a long time to grow on me, it’s up with my favorites in the Scott Walker canon. Just immaculate recordings, with the second half being genuinely perfect.
T. Rex
4/5
an album jampacked with catchy songs and emotive 70s performances
Cocteau Twins
3/5
A great sounding album but is definitely overrated compared to a lot of its contemporaries
DJ Shadow
3/5
An album that has clearly much more effort than payoff, in my opinion. It’s no doubt a landmark hip-hop record, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t get tedious fairly frequently. Quick couple minute tracks like “Organ Donor” would’ve strengthened this album a lot, which would be more akin to the stronger Donuts by J Dilla.
Ice Cube
3/5
This is if NWA’s Straight Outta Compton had better production, better rapping, and better mixing. It’s nice to see that Cube came into his own on this album, but to the point where you start to question the authenticity of the character he is portraying. But that’s the question isn’t it? How much of this album is Cube acting as an archetype of the hard individual he poised himself as? I would hate to hear a song like “You Can’t Fade Me” being a legit story, but who knows. The misogyny is as rampant as west coast hip-hop could be, and with all the values Cube poses on this record, I can see why a ‘90s parent would be against the hip-hop genre if this is all they heard. Nonetheless, this isn’t a great album, but it isn’t bad. Just edges out to be a 3 star, but the tracklist is very much a mixed bag.
The White Stripes
5/5
One of the best rock albums ever made
Sonic Youth
4/5
A fantastic and creative art-punk opera
The Doors
5/5
Arguably the best debut album of all time
The Beach Boys
4/5
A quintessential record of the ‘60s. Not quite in the highest echelon but almost as close as you can get
Peter Gabriel
3/5
In some ways I understand the vision of this album, but in other ways I feel like it’s a bit of a resignation of creativity from an incredibly unique artist of the time period. It’s a pretty standard ‘80s album at the end of the day, a complete 180 from Peter Gabriel’s four self titled releases that preceded this
A Tribe Called Quest
3/5
Not one of Tribe’s best. They got much more refined as time went on
Public Enemy
3/5
I’ve always found this to be one of the most overrated top-rated albums of all time. It has good performances, and the sampling is of course fantastic, but many of the song’s fail to truly land with me
Paul McCartney and Wings
4/5
One of the best post-Beatles albums
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
This is Neil Young’s best record. Some of his finest playing and songwriting comes off this seven-song debut
Pixies
3/5
An enjoyable, well-paced alt-rock album
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
We love Bruce around here
Scott Walker
4/5
I love Scott Walker (not one of the best from his self-titled releases but it’s great)
Dennis Wilson
4/5
Dennis’s killer one and only album stands up with what the best of what The Beach Boys were putting out around that time
Kraftwerk
4/5
An exceptional electronic record
Fiona Apple
3/5
A solid debut from Ms. Apple but a work she would only grow from
Public Enemy
3/5
I’ve always found Public Enemy to be a bit overrated unfortunately, but I probably prefer this to “It Takes A Million…”
The Mothers Of Invention
4/5
One of the best Zappa albums from a period where he was on fire in the strangest ways possible
U2
3/5
Alright Dad rock
Eminem
4/5
Franz Ferdinand
3/5
Good ‘00s indie rock. The Strokes are a better version of them
Dr. Dre
2/5
Contrary to its classic status, The Chronic is not a good album. The production, while influential, is fairly shotty, the rapping performances are mediocre for the most part, and the lyricism is just not there. 2001 STOMPS
Bob Dylan
5/5
One of the best records ever made and still not even this man’s best
Wu-Tang Clan
4/5
Utter hip-hop classic
Michael Jackson
3/5
Good songs but there’s better MJ
Suicide
4/5
A bizarre take on the human experience…if that’s at all what the band even intended for
Guns N' Roses
2/5
This is some rock music
The Clash
3/5
More raw than London Calling, not that that’s ALWAYS a good thing, but it’s nice to get that rough-around-the-edges Clash from time to time, especially early on
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
3/5
TMR >> but a slightly more conventional Beefheart is most certainly welcome
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
A peaceful, springtime S&G album with some of the duo’s prime career highlights
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Good Cleerence
Beatles
4/5
Not the best Beatles but definitely had some of their strongest deep cuts
Queen
3/5
Not the best Queen but definitely has some of their strongest deep cuts
Beastie Boys
4/5
Not the best Beastie Boys but definitely has some of their strongest…songs
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
A killer Sly record that distills the essence of ‘70s disillusionment
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
Hey wait that’s a state
The Beach Boys
4/5
An excellent more mature side of the band with just some amazing songs across the brief tracklist
The Stooges
3/5
Not wild about this debut as a whole, but there’s a lot to like and respect for sure
The Rolling Stones
4/5
This feels like a more concise version of Exile on Main St.
The Beach Boys
5/5
I can’t tell if this website gave me this album today because of Brian Wilson’s death, but either way, this is the greatest album ever made. I love it to death. Long live the absolute goat (not the one he’s feeding)
Radiohead
5/5
Goated shit…best Radiohead
Brian Eno
4/5
That’s Eno-ugh! But like not really cuz it’s great
The Zombies
4/5
Classic baroque pop
OutKast
4/5
The most varied single OutKast album. So much fun and has so much character
The Modern Lovers
3/5
A fun and creative debut
Joni Mitchell
3/5
A good semi-experimental, jazz release from Ms. Joni, but if anything I wish she pushed her experimentation to further lengths
Aretha Franklin
4/5
One of the best soul records of all time
David Bowie
3/5
Good but overrated Bowie