Sometimes I need a record that isn’t going to challenge me emotionally, intellectually, or musically. Sometime I just want to caveman out. For these moments, there is Ace of Spades.

Milquetoast

Best songs: Station to Station, TVC15, Golden Years

The amount of synths on this one always bothered me but, man, there are some classics here.

I'll never forgive Rod Stewart for the '80s and '90s.

Stand outs: Lilac Wine, Four Women, Wild is the Wind

Key songs: Brighton Rock, Killer Queen, Stone Cold Crazy

Key songs: Brighton Rock, Killer Queen, Stone Cold Crazy

Key tracks: Love Vigilantes, Perfect Kiss, Elegia

Sometimes I need a record that isn’t going to challenge me emotionally, intellectually, or musically. Sometime I just want to caveman out. For these moments, there is Ace of Spades.

If this were playing at a medieval faire, I would not leave.

I rediscovered The Fall with this album. Good mix of classic Fall and some new experiments. Mark E Smith is the black jelly bean of post-punk front men, and I love black jelly beans. Stand outs: Lost in Music I’m Going to Spain Light/Fireworks

15 minutes of chaos, which is the right length. Gets more interesting from Back Against Wall on.

Pink Floyd vs Coldplay cage match

I really enjoy this album, but it’s a time and place for me. I like much more than some of the albums on this list, but I’m surprised it’s included.

It’s hard to hate on such an inoffensive album, it’s just not something that moves me in any particular way. I can imagine this being used at hifi stores to show off a system, but that’s pretty much it.

I like this album, but its inclusion on this list is a bit of a mystery to me. It’s not even the second best Gorillaz album.

Tibetan Freedom Beasties. This one loses a star because it falls off at the end after a perfect two-thirds. It gets the star back for all the memories I have attached to this album.

I haven’t listened to this one in a long time and I remember enjoying it more then than I do now. There are many places where the sonic affects add color and depth to shifts in mood. Other times it feels like they’re filling lulls in songs that don’t have the stamina to speak for themselves. All that said, I think there are a lot of great songs here, Jesus, Etc and Ashes of American Flags among them.

Nothings dates like dance music!

This album influenced many bands that I love, REM, Guided By Voices, Wilco, etc, but it’s just never clicked with me. The songs are too spare, too mid-tempo — all just a bit short of hitting critical mass. Radio City is much stronger to these ears.

Is this what happens when an artist has lots of skill, a little bit of talent, but no taste?

The A side here is top notch Bowie, but the B side is pretty spotty. I could really do without “Fill Your Heart”, “Andy Warhol”, and “Song for Bob Dylan”. “Queen Bitch” and “Bewlay Brothers” make it all worthwhile though.

I like this American Dream but it’s not even the second best LCD Soundsystem record. I’m surprised it’s on the list.

Great album, though not his best. This probably would be a five if it weren’t for Ray Warleigh’s flute and sax solos. They feel really out of place here.

Halfway through “Come to My Aid” and I don’t know if I have the strength to go on. I soldiered on to “Holding Back the Years”, which is passable if only because the band seems to have worn themselves out overplaying the previous 8 songs. The singer has a great voice, but this album is something I’d put on to get people to go home.

Little known fact about Rush: The band was initially the brainchild of a consortium of Canadian music retailers strategizing to increase demand for music lessons and to sell more gear, particularly an overstock of kick drums and 5-string bass guitars. The rest is history. True story.

It’s fine. Maybe it’s the result of my own ignorance, but it seems like there was a very crowded field of female singer/songwriters in this vein, at this time. I’ve haven’t connected with any of them, and they tend to blend together for me.

I like this better than I did in the day, but it falls off after “Criminal”.

I like this better than I did in the day, but it falls off after “Criminal”.

Key tracks: Birthday Motorcrash Delicious Demon

I never understood the appeal of this album. Sounds like a bunch of acoustic hippie bullshit with some electric guitars on top. “Jeepster” and “Bang a Gong (Get it on)” are the notable exceptions.

Highlights: The Cavalry Cross I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight Withered and Died

Highlights: Up on Cripple Creek Across the Great Divide The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

This album would be a solid 4/5, with just a little bit of editing. Pull out “Not even Stevie Nicks” and “Attack El Robot! Attack!” and it flows so much better. That said, I really enjoy this album and Calexico’s musical formula. Definitely a must hear artist, and this album is almost as good as any from this period. Alright, I’m rounding up.

I can appreciate how groundbreaking this might have been when it was released, but I don’t think it has aged well.

The raw materials are here: the voice (most of the time), the lyrical subject matter, etc, but it hasn’t come together into a cohesive whole just yet. This one is a bit all over the place musically, though always “jazzy.”

I think there’s a limited window in one’s life where they can be introduced to Kiss and have it click. I am well outside that window, but I can appreciate that this wasn’t made for me. These songs sound really basic, dated and dumb to me, but I’m sure that misses the point.

I’ve heard John Martyn covers before but this is the first time I’ve listened to one of his albums. It’s much more psych rock and jazz-oriented than I expected. The album as a whole has an interesting vibe, but I think the only song I’d come back for is “Couldn’t Live You More.”

For the genre, this album mostly holds up.

I still dig this album. It was such a nice break from all the pop-metal on the radio at the time, and I played the crap out of it. The first two Lenny Kravitz albums offered similar relief. The second Black Crowes album is much better, but this one served me well.

This one is like a good pair of old boots: Nothing fancy, the brand no longer exists and they won’t impress anybody, but they do what they’re supposed to do very well.

It’s hard to listen to this one and not wax nostalgic. My son was conceived to “United”.

The last Kanye album I listened to more than a handful of times. Key tracks: New Slaves, Black Skinhead, Blood on the Leaves

Milquetoast