1001 Albums Summary

Had some solid tunes on it, but not really my cup of tea. When I think Britpop I prefer The Verve's type of sound a lot more. Did like the title track, Bank Holiday, and To The End.

I do like syrupy sweet pop music at times but just never was all that interested in ABBA, in fact, this was the first full length album I've ever heard by them. Overall, it's pretty decent but not really my cup of tea, but I can see why it did influence a lot of future musicians. I do like the musicianship overall, and certain more synthpop type songs, like The Day Before You Came were good.

The only negative I have here is the music itself is extremely sparse, somewhat by design I would imagine, but some of the songs do blend together slightly. That being said, this was the first Dylan album I listened to in full, and for this one especially, the lyricism and storytelling was immaculate. From racism given the time period, to poverty worldwide and in the US itself, as well as other societal issues, he tackles them with brilliant, though provoking lyrics. The biggest highlight for me is a Hard Rain's Gonna Fall.

Nice little folk record. I did recognize the more popular songs on the record, and for the most part they are my favorites and most catchy to me (Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, Mother and Child Reunion. Also really enjoyed Papa Hobo/Hobo Blues, Paranoia Blues, and the demo of that one as well.

To say there is so much potential here for a debut album is almost underselling it. Buckley oozed talent and charisma all over this album, his singing especially was amazing, his ability to croon, his falsetto, and just the unbridled passion coming out of him with every song was nothing short of amazing. His lyricism was complex yet simple at such a young age. The arrangements of the songs themselves were wide, with elements of jazz, grunge, or even just simple singer songwriter moments where its simply a guitar and his voice. Early highlights from my first listen would be Mojo Pin (which builds up immensely and has wonderful climax), Last Goodbye, Eternal Life (which has a heavy, angry grunge vibe purposefully done given the subject matter), and the legendary Hallelujah cover. I can see this record growing on me more with time too.

Most of the album is full of funky, groovy world music type songs, which is a plus. Other than that, it kinda blends together at times into just one big song, it's solid for background music for me and was enjoyable.

Solid dance album that really was ahead of its time, as it felt like something I'd hear in the later 90s, not later 80s.

I knew the shining reputation this album had for years, and have tried multiple times to listen to it all the way through, but I never truly appreciated the depth and complexity it has until now. This actually was the first album I went back to listen to a 2nd time just to further analyze it. Thematically is where OK Computer shines the most for me, and in a way where it has aged like the finest of wines, when looking at how quickly technology is advancing and/or shaping in our society and how things like social media has worked to drive wedges between us, while also contributing to increased consumerism, isolation, and so forth. Yorke sings about how he doesn't fit into the world he lives in all over this album, about how he just watches the chaos around him, his dissatisfaction with life, and just general worry, anxiety, and fear. A lot of these feelings would probably resonate with people today, from the rise of AI programs, to Covid-19, rising inequality, climate change, and so many other topics. Musically the album served as a final end to britpop, but also varied with crunchy, distorted guitars on more alternative rock numbers like Electioneering, to softer, atmospheric ballads like the Tourist, and then songs like Climbing Up The Walls which have a brooding, yet atmospheric nature with Yorke's vocals slinking their way around the track before turning into shrieks as distorted guitars just turn the track into a wall of sound to go along with said shrieks. It's an album that I'm already revisiting multiple times now and looking forward to do so multiple times in the future as I appreciate the lyrical and musical depth it has, and I can really see this becoming one of my favorite albums in the coming years, so I'll rate it as such.

I feel like this needs multiple listens, because as good as some of the songs were to me (ex. Kashmir, Houses of the Holy) and how some are stone cold classics, it felt like this album dragged way more than I was expecting. I loved listening to Page's riffs and Plant wailing with soaring vocals, while their rhythm section was as tight as can be, songs like In My Time of Dying and some others felt way too long, or felt like other songs on the album. It just felt really really bloated, so I can't rate this as high as I would expect.

Ella has a beautiful, gorgeous voice with a ton of richness to it. It was worth listening to the entire album for that alone. Some of the big band numbers were good, but a little repetitive. The more moody, softer songs were the highlights for me.

I didn't expect the rawness and almost punk nature this had, but it was appreciated. However, I just didn't really vibe with this at all. Really didn't care for the two longer spoken word numbers and found them really to be long stories with the background music kinda forgettable. I did like some of the other tracks like Kimberly somewhat.

This album worked as some really nice background music for me with some really stellar guitar work. Think I would have enjoyed it more high as a kite.

Liked some of the tracks and thought the guitar work on this album was great, while there was a ton of lush instrumentation. But a lot of the songs to me feel like they just go way longer than they should, and I think the album is too heavy on ballad type songs which do sorta sound similar. The second half of the record has this problem for me. I did really enjoy the first half of the album though.

It's bombastic, epic, campy, over the top, but really damn fun at the end of the day! I've heard the title track before and always enjoyed how wild and a wall of sound it was as a rock opera, but the whole album turned out to be an extension of that song, with Meatloaf's charisma and vocals on full display. His voice powers into the forefront on the title track and others like Paradise By the Dashboard Light, but also croons with sincerity on ballads like Heaven Can Wait. The instrumentation is great all over this record, and feels like a Springsteen record turned up to 11 (with Max Weinberg and Roy Brittan being all over this album too!). Wailing guitar solos, epic piano and sax moments, that wall of sound Springsteen has, all of these are present here. It's a really enjoyable listen!

It's a solid 90s alternative rock album I suppose. I enjoyed some of the instrumentals of the songs itself, but wasn't really vibing with the vocals at all for the majority of the album. Not something I really see myself bothering to go back to honestly. Might just not be my cup of tea.

Ray's voice is the clear highlight here, soulful, bright, and full of character. The slower numbers really highlight this best, like You Won't Let Me Go (which was a highlight of mine).

Some of the jams are really good but this was just really long, sci-fi space psychedelic rock that sort of just noodles all over the place. All of the spoken word stuff sounded really corny to me and most of it just ended up feeling completely nonsensical. Really wasn't a fan of this much at all but I can respect the skill they had and some of the riffs and instrumental passages. Maybe baked out of my mind I'd love this, who knows?

Just a really solid grunge album that fit firmly into the 90s. Lot of good guitar work here and I do agree with one comment I read about the disorientated, queasy nature of this album and the way the the reverbed, disorted guitars sound contributing a ton to the overall atmosphere here. A lot of the songs did blend into each other and sound similar, but it was an enjoyable listen on the whole.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. You had some real smooth, tasteful production and some good beats here, while the bars and flows by Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Pras Michel were all real good. Loved the humor interjected in between the serious notes, and Lauren specifically stood out in the best way. Only thing I really didn't care for was the skits.

I was never really exposed to the Stone outside of whatever I heard on classic rock radio, but this was a good mix of blues and great riffs, and just some good rock and roll. Loved the backing vocals on some of these songs, and the highlight for me was Can't You Hear Me Knocking and that epic jam for the last 4 min of the song.

Just a classic soul record with some great romantic and sexy numbers on it, all centered around tasteful production and Marvin's great voice. For not being my cup of tea I enjoyed it a lot.

So at first it just seemed like a kinda boring, cheesy 80s album. But then as I kept going, it felt like it was just getting worse. By Vagabond Holes and Jerdacuttup Man, the lyrics were becoming nonsensical random stuff, the music got staler, and from then on I was just annoyed listening to this. How did this even make it onto this list?

This was just the most groovy, pleasurable, easy to listen to R&B record, and I enjoyed it way more than expected given it wasn't my genre of choice. The instrumentation was the clear highlight, especially the skill and sound of the drums all over the record, so give some flowers to Questlove and Iglehart, and to all the producers too. Badu's vocals took a bit of time to get used to thanks to an interesting timbre she has, which I'm not the biggest fan of, but she does sound quite soulful throughout the entire record.

I get the theme and the idea here. It's not supposed to be a clean sounding record, or even a normal sounding one with normal song structures. It's supposed to be uncomfortable, abrasive, rough, and unpleasant at times. And I get this is almost like just anger with society in general as an album, but for me it wasn't very enjoyable at times, although I did kinda dig some of it, even the whole bass groove and vibe of the final track. Then the moron went and supported Trump. So much for whatever he believed in here I guess.

It was fine 60s pop rock is really the majority of what I can say. Most of the songs are catchy, but overly short and a bit repetitive perhaps, but it's easy to listen the instrumentation sounds nice for that time period.

It's a pretty gorgeous sounding folk album with a lot of lush, atmospheric instrumentation. Harmonies for a lot of the vocals sound very pretty too. It's a bit heavy on only said vocals and the choir element they have however, although I did very much enjoy Ragged Wood and Blue Ridge Mountains.

YEEHAW. This was so much fun to listen to. Robbins is a wonderful storyteller, has a really unique voice, and every song had this vibe that made you feel like you were in the wild west. Big Iron really sets the tone for the entire album too as a first song.

Compared to the Sonic Youth I've heard, this was more straightforward songwriting from them so I liked this more as a result. What was most interesting about the album as a whole was the dissonance of the entire thing. There was a lot of noise rock elements still here, but it was really an album that also felt very full of despair, somewhat in the lyrics (and the tons of sexual themed lyrics which was unexpected), but very much so in just how each song sounded. I did enjoy some of the songs, like Schizophrenia and Beauty Lies In The Eye.

This was such an earnest sounding album honestly, and very melancholy which I didn't expect. Ray almost sounds like he's wandering around Vegas after losing a lover to the lifestyle of somebody who works on the strip, there's a heartbroken quality here to how he sings at times. Otherwise this was a nice little listen, with a lot of classic country sounds with the steel guitar and such.

Stellar storytelling all over this album, but much different from the Freewheelin Bob Dylan I listened to earlier (which was my first Dylan album ever). While that one was full of storytelling and commentary on the social and political climate at the time, this one felt more personal, directly pulling from the problems with the relationship with his then wife, and the heartbreak, desperation, and unease leading to their divorce. It's immensely well done in that regard, with songs like Simple Twist of Fate and You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go. The instrumentation mirrors the album mentioned previously, which honestly is a strength in simplicity and lets the storytelling shine. This is something I can see myself listening to again to appreciate things I may have missed, there's so much going on in the lyrics that I feel like one listen doesn't do it justice. But it was very much enjoyable.

I don't really know much about Beck other than the fact that he really loves going all over the place with his genres. Guero does this, going from more grungy rock, to funk, to some alternative rock, a lot of hip hop influence, and even throwing in some chiptune on Girl. But more than anything, there's such a groove to a ton of songs on the album and I was just dancing around in my seat while working listening to this record. Que' Onda Guero has this just irresistible funky beat that feels like he's walking through with a boombox, same with Hell Yes as well, while E-Pro has that awesome crunchy distorted, heavy guitar and feels like a proper alt rock song. Hell of an album this is.

Fantastic beats, a ton of great flows and memorable lines, and top notch production and there's a reason this is such an influential album. Even to somebody who ain't a huge hip hop guy this was still real fun to listen to. My favorite was 7th Chamber.

This was a weird one. There were a good amount of things I did kinda like, such as all the trip-hop influences this seems to have on it, some tracks even reminded me of Massive Attack. But it also kinda felt very disjointed with how many different genres were on this album, and then a bit pretentious with songs like Star (those lyrics were horrid). A three sounds fair I guess.

Lot of slick, funky production going on here. Keep On Moving was great stuff, and the transition between the acappella Back to Life into Jazzie's Groove was the best thing on the record. It honestly felt more like a funk/R&B hybrid type record than anything. However, a lot of the tracks did kind of blend together in a way.

I was disappointed by this because I wanted to really like this a lot more, given so many artists I like are influenced by Talking Heads. Instead, it was mostly just a pretty solid new wave album, with a couple of pretty funky numbers like I ZImbra and Cities both of which were great. Maybe this is a grower type of album.

This is about the same as their Parklife record I listened to on this list as my first album. It's solid British alternative rock for that time, only this one has the catchy Song 2 on it everybody knows. I did like anthem quality of On Your Own, that one was a favorite.

This felt like a Punk record in a way with the shorter song structure and the overall feel, but the music was a weird pop punk/Paul Simon mix for me at times. It was fine I guess, but I didn't care for it.

The woman who does lead vocals has a really pretty and distinctive voice, and she was the forefront of all these songs which was a plus. There was an element of like older folk tunes here and even some Celtic influence at times, and this was a nice folk rock album that served as a huge influence to many future bands.

A wonderful, varied jazz album that made me feel like I was sitting in the crowd listening to it. Loved the skill of all the musicians on display here.

This album is rather odd in how tight everything is, it's almost like you made the album without playing any instruments at all and perfected this synthpop/hard rock/new wave sound. That being said, the hits are fantastic and catchy as hell, but like another commenter said, the rest of the tracks feel like lesser versions of the hits.

So, without a doubt this is one of my favorite albums of the last say 15 years. Melodrama is an album which centers around the breakup of Lorde's then boyfriend, and it's a story of the feelings and mindset she had following it, along with a deep introspective look at herself. Green Light basically is a proclamation of almost anger at the result, and the little they really did know each other. Songs like Sober and Homemade Dynamite show her going out and trying to party the feelings away, hooking up with a one night crush so to speak, and the excitement which first comes from doing something risky, yet rewarding at that very present moment. You can sense that even in the more playful, club and dance feel to these songs. The Louvre is where things begin to shift, a song which is more subtle, almost lighter in a way while she sings about the positives of said fling, or even interpreted as the positives of her former relationship before really diving into the introspective Liability. Lorde opens herself up against only a stark simple piano, as she heartbreakingly sings about maybe she's the problem here, and generally unreliable as a lover and a friend. Hard Feelings/Loveless is in ways the climax of the album. A song like a black and white cookie, two opposite parts with the more spacey Hard Feelings turning into almost an industrial pop banger as she sings about memories of her ex, not in a place of anger like the beginning of the album, but one of sadness in its end. Loveless juxtaposes this, feeling almost like a younger teenager's reaction to the end of a relationship, that is merely hurt and wanting to hurt the other person back. Sober II and Liability (Reprise) are almost extensions of the respective previous tracks, but done in a way which reverses the ideas of the previous two tracks. Both are slower, atmospheric numbers, with Sober II almost representing the end of the party from before, and the realization how temporary that feeling of euphoria is, while the Reprise of Liability is Lorde realizing how the party she went to does nothing for her, but that she shouldn't be too hard on herself for what happened. The entirety of the 2nd half of the album after Loveless continue this idea of moving forward as well. The stripped back Writer in the Dark as she laments the relationship but now focuses on moving on. Supercut, a highlight of mine, has a pulsing deep house beat and builds to the idea of remembering the good times but realizing it really is time to let go. And the finale Perfect Places, a soaring number which ends the party and talks about the feelings of how perfect a night may be thanks to drugs, sex, and alcohol, but how all of those are temporary. However, going to a perfect place even for a little while can help people move on. It's a stellar, beautiful pop record in so many ways to me, with a really interesting narrative for a subject many write about. The lyrics are done strikingly well, the production is wonderfully layered and complement the themes brilliantly thanks to some great work by Jack Antonoff, and overall this album will remain a favorite of mine.

Ahhh hair metal. Def Leppard during this time were basically one of the most well known ones, and they really did do a damn good job of representing this genre. There's a lot of good riffs and a nice mix of pop and hard rock all over this album, the only thing I'd say is that is all blends together a little too well. Photograph slaps though.

The first half of this album was awesome, and the two huge hits this album had were hits for a damn good reason. However, while this was a really entertaining hip hop record, it did feel very dated listening to it now at points, and some of what was on here felt like filler, Dumb Girls and Perfection as examples. Overall it was a fun listen.

On the surface this honestly feels like incredibly fun celtic drinking music, and it sounds like something I'd love to hear on a ship or if I ever for some reason decided to be a pirate some day. But in all seriousness, this album was so much fun, and just chock full of spirit and heart, fun original numbers I could see myself singing with some other drunk irishmen in a bar in another life, but some covers as well done remarkably well where it feels like The Pogues ad MacGowan wrote it all by themselves. There's a ton of story in the lyrics too, capped off by a tremendous version of Waltzing Matilda.

This was absolutely stellar all the way through, and one of my favorite listens so far. Q-Tip and Phife Dawg just have buttery smooth flows on every single track, but the wordplay was fantastic and made you really want to hear what they had to say. Meanwhile, the production from Q-Tip mostly was awesome. Most of the record was quite chill and laid back vibes, with a lot of simple minimalistic beats mixed in with some break beat moments and my favorite was the little jazzy samples and instrumentals mixed in. Every song had a great head-bobbing groove to it. My favorites were definitely Show Business, Butter, the first three tracks, and What? (which I especially liked with the clever rhymes throughout). This should be a listen for folks who think they don't like hip hop or think little of it, because from front to back it's a incredibly clever record.

This was a pleasant listen, and a very relaxing one given the post rock and dream pop elements. Mostly I would consider it very nice background music with some interesting lyrics going off the translations I read. I did enjoy the second song very much given the lyrics about the process of birth which was done really well, and the instrumentation reminded me of Mazzy Star

One of the better debuts I've heard for sure. The Killers were part of that big boom in indie rock in the UK with Franz Ferdinand and The Strokes, but they did a great job at standing out here with this record. Lot of catchy songs with memorable melodies, I mean Mr. Brightside is an all time classic even with how often you hear it, and same for Somebody Told Me. But the rest of the album is soaked in a lot of shimmery guitars and synths, like On Top and Change Your Mind, while being lead with the soaring vocals and tons of charisma from frontman Brandon Flowers. It's a really strong album overall, and one of the better ones I've heard so far through this journey!

Grime is an hip hop sub-genre that I didn't really know, but it sounds like a more aggressive form of trap, and I'm not a huge fan of that genre, nor this one. So overall, this isn't my cup of tea although the flow was pretty decent, and I did like Shutdown (it felt like an Eminem track).

If NIN's Broken and Metallica's Kill Em' All had a baby, you'd probably get something along the lines of this. The whole sonic landscape of this album was lifted straight from the early 90s, like you took a grudge record and put it on warpspeed and peppered in a ton of heavy thrash riffs. I mean look at the ridiculousness of Jesus Built My Hotrod, it's lyrics are all over the place, but god it's actually fantastic as an industrial metal song with a great heavy riff and driving beat. Only reason I can't give it higher is because the last track felt like completely noisy nonsense.

I can say I've never really listened to Neil Young, outside of hearing some of his more popular songs on a classic rock station or something. Best way I can describe this is a very pleasant sounding folk rock album with a lot of heart to it. It wasn't the most captivating listen to me for most of it, but it was still fairly enjoyable. I did struggle some with a lot of the cryptic lyrics, which I did focus more on given the instrumentation. Highlights were Only Love Can Break Your Heart, and especially After The Gold Rush which was a gorgeous piano ballad themed around environmental damages done during the 70s. Bless him for that one.

So the theme of this album already was fascinating from the start. A concept album about a messianic android who falls in love with a human being, with themes of Science Fiction, Afrofuturism, Gender Roles, Sexuality, Social Issues. It's a tall order to go into this one blind. But this record is flat out tremendous. There's a wild array of genres all over this thing, from the hit single Tightrope which sounds like the production was lifted from Outkast and has a funky soul vibe, to the psychedelic ballad Mushroom and Roses with it's nods to Prince, to the new wave and gospel vibes Faster gives off, to Locked Inside which has a ton of Michael Jackson influence, to Oh Maker with almost a regal english sound, and don't forget the multiple orchestral arrangements peppered throughout. The record is the definition of genre hopping, but does so effortlessly and smooth like a newly paved highway, changing lanes into each track like they are all connected as one. Heck the first 4 tracks can be listened to without any break at all as they all flawlessly segue into each other. And Janelle is at the helm, crooning, belting, and working her vocals and charisma into every track extraordinarily well along with top notch production It's hard to believe this is technically a debut album for her, but it was, and I'm baffled she isn't more well known after this came out. I guess it was somewhat too experimental for the general public to latch onto. This just makes me want to listen to it again to see how much I missed.

So this record is entirely Mark Knopfler's guitar playing, which is quite stellar throughout and shows how skilled he is. Outside of this, the songs sounded like an easy listening version of blues rock, and to an extent this was enjoyable, but it was mostly just there. I did very much like Southbound Again and Sultans of Swing.

There's an earnestness to Joni and her songwriting, and it makes this entire record a really pleasant listen. Love all the little jazzy elements scattered throughout as well as the more piano heavier songs. Down to You in particular is just gorgeous.

Miriam has a very lovely voice, and the arrangements here were very simplistic but complemented her well. It's nice to hear artists like this that are very left field from what I usually listen to.

Plunderphonics is an interesting genre, in that its basically taking sampling to its extreme, to where songs are nothing but the samples themselves. And Avalanches apparently used like 1000 or so, which is unbelievable to me and must have taken endless amounts of time. So hats off to their determination to make such a record. However... I was kinda bored for a lot of this. There was a ton of chopped up vocals and decent grooves, but it just never progressed for a lot of the record, and it quickly just felt like alright background music. A shame, because I did really enjoy Frontier Psychiatrist, which did feel like a individual song here that even kinda had a chorus to it too. More songs like that would have allowed me to enjoy this better.

Earlier Stones albums apparently had a lot of different sounds going on with their songs, which was unexpected but pleasant to see. Flight 505 had some ragtime running through it, High and Dry had the vibe of a folky bar number you'd play off a jukebox, and Out of Time even incorporated a bit of a doo wop. As a record, I liked those aspects of it, and also liked more of the quieter numbers on the album which I thought showed the range of the band well. Songs like Under My Thumb had a groovy bluesy feel to it (although with a bit of eyebrow raising lyrics to it), while Lady Jane was a wonderful little acoustic number. I felt a lot of the second half started to blend together sonically, and I thought Going Home was much too long, it dragged on for more than half of the song's runtime. So I enjoyed a good part of this, but found it inconsistent.

Really like the vibe of We Are The Pigs, basically it's a protest song, and the horns are a nice touch, as is the distorted guitars creating this sort of murky atmosphere. And the vocals reminded me of Bowie, although maybe played up a ton. The huge problem I have here is that the sonic template of this song was used for 80% of the album and then some. Some of the quieter songs were alright, but I just wanted more variation I suppose.

It's a bit funny that a band who apparently wrote the earliest form of Swamp Rock was actually from out around California. This was pretty fun as a listen, you can definitely hear a rockabilly element fused up with some bluesy riffs and a dash of soul. Proud Mary is the one which everybody knows, but I think God Golly Miss Molly is my favorite and the best culmination of the sound of this whole record.

I like Our House, it's a fun, kinda goofy song which does kind of work and melds together ska and new wave elements together. I did wish most of the album was as effective as this song but it really wasn't. The closest we got was Primrose Hill, which had a bouncy melody that lead to a great driving section at times. But a lot of the songs felt kinda nonsensical in a way and the goofy nature of a lot of the songs I just didn't care for every much. Sometimes things aren't you're cup of tea.

A eclectic mix of ska and reggae, and really these guys were doing ska before many did. It's a lighthearted yet earnest album for the most part, it would be the type of thing that you'd kick back on a beach and just vibe while it plays in the background, which isn't a bad thing at all.

There's a lot of solid thrash riffage going on here, it's good headbanging music but it kinda all blends together for me. The one problem I have it is all kinda feels a bit soulless in a way, like everything sounds good on a technical level only. Phantom of the Opera is good though.

It's a good album to dance to I suppose, but it feels repetitive in a bad way even if house music can feel that way sometimes. Some of the song feel like the entire scope of said song was introduced in the first 10 seconds and then that's all it was on a loop for like 5 minutes. Songs which had vocals with them did improve things a bit, like Red Alert, but most of this just feels like background club music in a sense. If I was drunk or high out of my mind this might be more enjoyable, but I'm stone cold sober, and it isn't that enjoyable in such a state.

The post punk dissonance of this record is great, feels like I'm listening to a darker version of U2's October record, but with more urgency and drive to it. McCulloch's vocals in particular are interestingly vague at times, talking about themes of sorrow, dispair, horror, and other rather dreary topics. The chunky bass lines in coupled with the driving drumbeats make a great background for songs like Crocodile as well.

This felt like the lovechild of Cream and Black Sabbath, in a good way. Everything on this record felt like just heavy psychedelic rock, but a lot of it felt very rough and unpolished, like a band first coming into their own. The first two cover tracks in particular were the best here, as they already were established songs which they put their ideas on, like a paint by numbers where you decide to choose your own colors. The rest of the record sort of suffers from the songwriting not being that good, but the talent was there.

After reading about how many consider this to be the magnum opus of Stevie's career, I definitely had some anticipation going into listening to this. What we got here is a silky smooth, perfectly mixed blend of soul, funk, and jazz, all capped off by some incredible vocal chops from Stevie himself. He glides his voice through songs like Too High along with some jazzy rhodes playing, really projects with some great storytelling in Living For the City, croons on tracks like All In Love Is Fair, and just turns into groovy machine of funk in songs like Higher Ground. It's a tremendously fun record to listen to as you appreciate an artist at the height of their talents, and Stevie's charisma all over this album makes you want to just let it replay.

This was interesting, I can't say I ever really heard acoustic folk punk before, but that's exactly what this Femmes record was. It's very rough, gritty, but tight in its presentation and really the entire album felt like chasing after a girl only for her to end up breaking your heart. It's certainty an album I can see a lot of younger people identifying with, as it's something just about everybody goes through at some point.

As a concept, a sort of gothic type of punk rock does sound pretty intriguing, but the overall idea is much better than the execution for me here. This whole album just felt like a mess of overly simple punk songs drowned in endless reverb with overly shrieky and oddly unsteady vocals (which I could barely understand with the reverb) Some of it was alright mind you, like the interesting surf rock feel Strychnine had would have been an interesting way to go.

Somewhat more experimental than their debut, but still a wonderfully produced album that somehow sounds bright, yet moody all at once. I wasn't as big of a fan of the middle of the album but the back half to me is where it really shines, especially the guitar work on songs like My Kingdom, the anthemic quality and orchestral nature of The Killing Moon, and the somber nature of the title track which is the closer. It's overall a good post rock record with a lot of symphonic and new wave elements throughout.

Best way I can describe this record is smooth and soulful in the best way. Common's flow throughout this record is real nice, he glides through each song like a knife through butter, tackling all sorts of social issues and personal experiences in some great meaningful lyrics. But the real shining point here is Kanye West's production. He dabbles all over R&B, and even other genres like gospel and jazz pop up at times, and every song has a laid back but bright atmosphere to it.

This feels like a record specifically done to highlight Janie Joplin, in particular her vocal chops. She has so much personality, charisma, and passion in her voice here with how she shouts, screams, croons, and just the wild almost unhinged nature she has. It's really something to behold, but it did become a bit grating at points like near the end of Ball and Chain. The actual music here is alright, lot of blues, jazz, and psychedelia mixed together often with some crunchy guitar tones. I did really enjoy the classic 16 Bar Blues on Turtle Blues.

I know a handful of REM songs, but this was surprisingly somewhat heavier rock then I imagined from them. Overall it's a pretty solid 90s alternative rock album, it's weird that the best way for me to describe it is straightforward, but that's how it feels. There's little variety, but it's still rock solid. Still really enjoy the manic lyrics and sound on It's the End of the World As We Know It, and The One I Love is strong too. Stripe's vocals in particular were quite good on this record.

There's a lot of descriptors I can give this album. It's cheeky, campy, bombastic, operatic, full of itself, wacky, playful, yet with all of these it ends up being absolutely brilliant. To me, this is Queen at their peak. The arrangements of these songs are fantastic with how strong and powerful Mercury's vocals are throughout, the licks and tone Brian May has, and the rock solid rhythms between Taylor and Deacon. They twist from straight hard rock, to operatic and almost as if they were lifted from a musical, and plenty in-between. Bohemian Rhapsody is the most well known (and the most famous Queen song nowadays), but in a way it is the best encompassing song of the record, possessing all of the previously described genres and elements into one singular and every so memorable song. But outside of this song there is so many memorable songs here, from the crooning ballad Love of my Life that actually hits an earnest note, to the upbeat rock of You're My Best Friend, both of which have Mercury front and center as you feel and hear the charisma just radiating off him at every turn. It's a monumentally great effort from Queen, and one which holds up fantastically.

This version of Pink Floyd is almost unrecognizable compared to the progressive rock masterpieces they would later release. But I've never been huge on psychedelia, and the entire record has that sound, although there is more actual song structures throughout here. There's some solid jams here and there, but this just really isn't my cup of tea.

There was a lot that I liked here with this one. Just huge walls of sound, great guitar tones, catchy melodies, and this feels like the exact album you'd think about with 90s UK alternative rock. Love that they had some britpop influences in there as well, which did make sense given this was the golden era for the genre. The first half in particular was a highlight, like Lose Control, Girl from Mars, and I'd Give You Anything. Only problem with this is it sort of blended together a little too much near the end, and there was little variation even with the specific genres used on the record itself. But its also immensely impressive given Hamilton and Wheeler were only 17 years old!

I understand the appeal of Simon and Garfunkel, and the songwriting in particular on this record was great, but it did feel a bit one note and overly simplistic. Still a pleasant sounding record regardless.

This whole record was conflicting to me, because there were so many elements I either hated, or liked. For what I liked, it was mostly thanks to Flea and Chad Smith. Together these two make for a hell of a rhythm section, Flea especially and it was fun as heck to really listen to how good he is for an entire album considering I rarely listened to RHCP prior to this. Some songs were highlights, Californication is a classic, loved the energy and vibe Get on Top had, and the cool laid back nature of Road Trippin was also quite enjoyable. On the flip side, I thought a lot of these songs kinda felt like B-sides in a way, especially some of the album tracks. I did not really care for a lot of Anthony Kiedis' vocals throughout, his singing style is just not something I really like at all. But the worst thing for me might have been the production, which felt like all of the elements of each song were just amplified too much to where it felt distracting, similar to the problem of specific albums and the loudness war. I think I enjoyed enough to give this a three.

It's a solid late 60s folk rock. I mean as a whole, it isn't exactly my cup of tea, and I think this list gets a bit heavy handed with it specifically, but it was still a very pleasant sounding album. The harmonies throughout were very good, and the instrumentals were simplistic in nature but fit the vibe very well.

This was an interesting record given it being a score done for a film. I feel like to properly enjoy this I would have to actually watch the movie, most of my favorite scores are from movies I've seen specifically. Apart from the chill ambient electronic nature of a lot of the tracks, the ones who had more instrumentation were my favorites. Playground Love is a fantastic lounge sounding track with a lovely little yet simple piano hook, wavy strings, jazzy drums, and a great saxophone solo that feels like a conversation all its own. The Word Hurricane has a great rhythm section with a great drum performance backed by a steady bass groove, which builds up like a hurricane in fact, before exploding into a grand climax in the end. Dead Bodies has a weird oddly upbeat urgency with a jangling piano line and a driving rhythm section performance. The key track was the final song, Suicide Underground, which actually was a narration of the events apparently following the end of the movie and made me read the plot of the movie itself. It's a very hard rate because I feel like extra context is needed for this one, but I did enjoy a lot of the songs here enough to warrant a 4/5!

Going through this list, it's kinda become clear I'm not a huge fan of a lot of psychedelic rock, especially when it really gets long and spaced out. However, this type of psychedelic rock I do kind of enjoy, especially when it sounds like it's paired with elements of garage rock and surf rock. The Elevator's debut is a compact yet quite enjoyable record, with some catchy riffs and great singing, along with one of the most odd instruments I've heard yet in an electric jug. I imagine somebody was baked beyond belief to try that, but it kinda works for some of these songs.