I went into listening to this album not knowing exactly what to expect. Obviously I'm familiar with Aretha's most popular songs, but I am not at all familiar with her extended discography. So, I was a little worried that there'd be some songs I vibed with and others not so much, but boy was I absolutely proven wrong and I'm so glad I was. There's not much for me to say beyond I loved every single song on this album. Like, every single one. I didn't know Chain of Fools by name, but recognized it immediately as soon as it started, and it started things off on a high note(I highly recommend the unedited bonus version that follows Ain't No Way) with everything that followed keeping that momentum. Aretha has an incredible voice that gives these songs appropriate power and feeling. To the point of giving me chills at times. Straight from my listening notes: "I am a sucker for a good pouring of the heart and I just love this. You deserve someone who makes you feel like A Natural Woman, Aretha. Yes." "YOU TELL 'EM ARETHA. THEY BETTER BE AS GOOD TO YOU AS YOU ARE TO THEM. Fuckin' love this one." "You're gonna catch me Groovin' with my baby on a sunday afternoon to this track for sure." I had more notes for each song, but you get the idea. I was on board the entire time. Not only will I re-visit, I think this entire album is going into my liked songs on Spotify and I eagerly await hearing them again. No doubt in my mind in giving this a 5.

I went into this one not expecting much, but I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed it. This was a very good album. I think I liked pretty much everything here. I actually kept having this album and song come up when I would search for Aretha Franklin's cover of the title track of this one, and I was pleased to find that the original is pretty good as well. I think I enjoy Aretha's version just a bit more though. I really enjoyed How Can I Be Sure and I Don't Love You Anymore, but as I said everything here is pretty good. Fun fact: The intro for Sueno is sampled in A Tribe Called Quest's track I Lost My Wallet in El Segundo. I immediately recognized it and was very surprised. Also a good song. I was debating on whether to give this a 4 or a 5, and if I had half stars it'd definitely get a 9/10, but I don't. I just don't think it quite reaches into that 5 category, though.

Rough, raw, assault on the ears that is at times truly painful, and others, haunting. The early tracks on the album were not enjoyable. At all. Track 6, Schmerzen hören, features the repeated line: "Hören mit Schmerzen" which apparently translates to "Listening to pain," which I think accurately summed up the first few tracks. However, there is a semblance of music to be found in Kollaps. The later tracks on the album, such as Jet'm(which is apparently a cover of a different song) and the title track Kollaps, actually create something closer to what I would traditionally call a song as opposed to the grating noise featured elsewhere in the album. Other later tracks, such as "Sehnsucht" produced a more "spooky" and haunting sound that I actually rather enjoyed. I think it is important to note that the original release of this album ended at "Helga" originally, and would only feature a live version of track 3 "Negative Nein" appended to some CD versions. A 2002 re-release of the album appended on a bunch of songs from a later release "Stahldubversions." I listened to these songs as well and I found them to be much more palatable. I don't think Kollaps as an album was intended to have these tracks included, and for the purposes of my review I will be ignoring them. I would not call Kollaps an enjoyable listen, and definitely not something that one "must" listen to before they die. Some may even prefer death over the ear-destroying sounds. However, I did find some redeeming qualities and while it will not be something I re-visit, it was interesting to hear at least once. I dislike a 5 star scale as it leaves little room for nuance, but if there's any albums on this list that deserve 1 star, Kollaps has to be one of them.

A Northern Soul is inoffensive and for the most part sounds nice, but it doesn't really offer anything of substance for me. A lot of the lyrics had me going "What does any of this even mean?" The vocals are pleasing to listen to for the most part, but I felt they lacked emotion. When matched to the melancholic nature of the lyrics, everything just sort of feels meaningless. There's sadness there, I can see it in the lyrics, but I can't feel it in the music. I did really enjoy the track "History," which was one of the only songs that actually stood out to me. The breathing at the end of A New Decade reminded me of the George Washington rap by Brad Neely: https://youtu.be/qv6OOuPI5c0 Most of the tracks, in my opinion, drag on and on with a lot of repetition. If you like it, that is probably a good thing! For me, however, it just felt like every song was overstaying its welcome. Overall, A Northern Soul is just okay. Maybe I just don't "get it," but I don't get it and I don't plan to re-visit. It's a two from me, dawg.

I went into listening to this album not knowing exactly what to expect. Obviously I'm familiar with Aretha's most popular songs, but I am not at all familiar with her extended discography. So, I was a little worried that there'd be some songs I vibed with and others not so much, but boy was I absolutely proven wrong and I'm so glad I was. There's not much for me to say beyond I loved every single song on this album. Like, every single one. I didn't know Chain of Fools by name, but recognized it immediately as soon as it started, and it started things off on a high note(I highly recommend the unedited bonus version that follows Ain't No Way) with everything that followed keeping that momentum. Aretha has an incredible voice that gives these songs appropriate power and feeling. To the point of giving me chills at times. Straight from my listening notes: "I am a sucker for a good pouring of the heart and I just love this. You deserve someone who makes you feel like A Natural Woman, Aretha. Yes." "YOU TELL 'EM ARETHA. THEY BETTER BE AS GOOD TO YOU AS YOU ARE TO THEM. Fuckin' love this one." "You're gonna catch me Groovin' with my baby on a sunday afternoon to this track for sure." I had more notes for each song, but you get the idea. I was on board the entire time. Not only will I re-visit, I think this entire album is going into my liked songs on Spotify and I eagerly await hearing them again. No doubt in my mind in giving this a 5.

It is without a doubt that Frank Ocean has an incredible voice and is an excellent producer. Channel Orange is an album that just sounds *nice.* I really enjoyed the concept of the album and the time I spent listening to it was a journey through the mind and feelings of Mr. Ocean. Tracks like Pink Matter and Bad Religion stood out to me. Putting to words the confusion of desire, comfort, and understanding sexuality. As well as songs like Super Rich Kids that weaved a story into the topics explored. I think that Channel Orange is a good album, however, despite the above statements being true, it's just not a good album for me. I would absolutely recommend others to check it out, but I don't see myself wanting to come back to anything here. I can't rate it highly with that being true.

I actually quite enjoyed this! My takeaway after the full listen-through was that I was positive on pretty much everything. I was jamming along and just having a good time. I think Ozzy's vocals were excellent and enjoyable to listen to, but what really stood out to me on this album was Tony Iommi's guitar. There were points, like during a section of Supernaut, where the guitar wasn't front and center and, for me, it was quite missed. A few tracks stood out to me on this one: Changes is a *very* different track here. I'm a sucker for a good piano though, and this one is definitely good. That is definitely not the only reason this song resonates with me though, as the chorus is interpolated into Eminem's Going Through Changes. Obviously after many repeated listens to that song, I have an emotional connection to those lyrics, which made this song hit a little harder. (Absolutely would recommend listening to Going Through Changes as well, but that's not the point of this review) Under the Sun is the other track that really caught my attention. I don't have much to say on that one though other than just really enjoying it. This album was not without some low points, as FX and Laguna Sunrise fell very flat for me. For FX I'm going to quote Iommi for this one: "[It's] a total joke." Funny story, not enjoyable to listen to. Though I do think it has a purpose as a segue from Changes into Supernaut. Supernaut comes in very hard and I think that would have seemed off coming immediately from Changes. As for Laguna Sunrise, I just didn't like it. Sorry, Tony. Glad you enjoyed the sunrise though. I really wasn't sure what to expect going into this, but my feelings are quite positive towards Vol. 4. Four also happens to be the score I'm giving this album.

Instrumentally, this album is very very good. I actually quite liked pretty much everything in that regard and I don't have much more to say about that. Lyrically, however, is where I struggle greatly with this album. Power of Equality started us off, and that is also where my ambivalence towards the lyrics of this album began as well. It is without a doubt a good message, and I absolutely applaud it, but everything here immediately struck me as very on the nose and in your face. Cheesy, almost. I wish that cheesy was the worst description I had for the rest of this album's lyrical content. Kiedis' vocals either lift these songs to higher heights, or just absolutely take me out of the song entirely. The highs are very high, I knew and enjoyed Give it Away and Under the Bridge going into this album, and I still absolutely enjoy them coming out of it. Especially after actually being able to listen to and understand the lyrical content of Give it Away(thank you, Genius). Other high notes were Breaking the Girl, and I Could Have Lied. But man, sometimes I was just jamming away to a track like Mellowship Slinky in B Major and then Kiedis would come in with some stuff like "Blush my lady when I tell her/That I do indeed love to smell her/Sopping wet your pink umbrella" Obviously I have to laugh, but man does it take me out of it. And that's how I felt for the vast majority of the album, honestly. I think I finally started to get it when Sir Psycho Sexy came on and I had the revelation: Is it a Slim Shady alter ego thing where we just say the most absurd shit we can think of for fun? As soon as I looked at these lyrics in that mindset, I laughed out loud at "Believe me, Eve, she gave good reason/Booty looking too good not to be squeezin'/Creamy beaver hotter than a fever." I still don't know if I can say I like it, but I did get quite a few laughs out of this one. I did get a good laugh as I was listening to The Greeting Song and saw that Kiedis also hates the lyrics on that one. Hopefully Rick Rubin enjoyed his song about cars and girls, at least. For a final verdict: This is an album with a lot of very very good music, but very not good lyrical content. With some very very key exceptions that carry the album.

The production of this album is absolutely fantastic, the beats are excellent the whole way through, Ice Cube has an absolutely signature flow and style that is maintained throughout the entire album. If this album were just about how it sounds, I would have nothing negative to say. But that’s not the case because, and I’m quoting Eminem here, music is reflection of self. One of the qualities I love about a lot of rap is that it is expression; it’s speech, and that’s what this album is. It’s speech presented with dope beats and sick rhymes. And I love that. I love Ice Cube’s anger and frustration with racist police, with the injustice of the Rodney King trial, with the state of race relations in America. I empathize with him while listening, and he’s absolutely correct in his scathing criticisms of these things and calls for change. It’s powerful, and I do love to hear it. Unfortunately however, I do not love everything Ice Cube has to say here(and in general). His critics are absolutely right to criticize his anti-semitism and association with anti-semitic groups. Cube’s rebuke of these criticisms don’t exactly alleviate those concerns, both here on The Predator and in the present. I found these thoughts continuing to surface throughout listening to this album, and it made it quite difficult to enjoy fully. I don’t intend to use this review to debate with Cube, but I don’t think I can accurately review it without mentioning these things due to how much of this album is a reflection of Ice Cube’s own feelings and self. With that all being said and out of the way, I do feel the need to reiterate that I enjoyed the production of everything on this album. It Was a Good Day is an absolute classic. Wicked was another that stood out to me that I really enjoyed. I also quite enjoyed the concept of Gangsta’s Fairytale 2. There’s a lot of good songs on this one, and I do think it’s worth a listen, even if I am not in love with it.

I'll be honest, I put this on while I was playing Diablo because I just knew I wasn't going to want to sit and do nothing but listen to this album. There are certainly worse things in the world to listen to, but I honestly just have zero interest in this. I really don't think any of these songs were good enough to justify extending them to be 19, 13, or 23 minutes long. Like, maybe it was a different atmosphere at the performance and that would have been neat? I don't know. But sitting here listening to this it felt like eternity and I was just waiting for it to end. At Fillmore East? 1/5 Diablo 4? 5/5

I’m not too positive on this one. I can’t really say anything bad about it, but there isn’t much good either. See No Evil and Friction were the only songs that actually had me interested in listening. The only other note I had while listening to this was that Elevation had a *very* familiar sound to it, but it was something I absolutely could not place. Everything else was just nothing special to my ears. I wish I had more to say, I really do. Marquee Moon is definitely one of the albums of all time.

This is some music I have not really heard anything like before. It really probably shouldn't play a factor in my review, but it does make it very difficult for me to vibe with and like an album when I simply don't understand the lyrics. The first few songs on the album had me thinking that maybe I'd enjoy it just for the tunes because I thought a couple of those early tracks were jamming a bit! As the album kept going, though, it was a lot of the same stuff, and none of it was really doing much for me anymore. I can see an appeal here for sure! I enjoyed hearing something new, but that doesn't mean I enjoyed the album overall.

Alright, you guys get two for the price of one in terms of reviews for this album because this might as well be two albums with tracks 1-8 being so radically different from tracks 9-12. Tracks 1-8: I hated this. When the vocals were not grating on my ears I felt like I was being assaulted by incredibly strange and awful instrumentals, especially on Date With the Night and Man. Also, I thought Blood Sugar Sex Magik was excessively horny, but Yeah Yeah Yeahs showed me what it is to go even further beyond. *Al Pacino voice* “JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I WAS OUT, THEY PULL ME BACK IN. Tracks 9-12: Maps came on and I immediately was like “WTF THIS BAND MADE THIS SONG??” I’m pretty sure this song plays at my work and maybe it’s Stockholm syndrome from hearing it for almost a year now, but I like Maps a lot. It honestly single handedly carried the album for me and prevented this from going in the “1” dumpster. Y Control and Modern Romance follow up with perfectly listenable tracks. Nothing I love there, but they’re okay. And, for this album, okay is good. Poor Song is originally a hidden track, I kinda liked it as that. It’s just a soft little ending for it all. As for my ratings? Fever To Tell: 0/5 Maps: 4/5 Average those together, that's a 2.

I gave this one an honest chance despite absolutely not wanting to listen to it because of the genre and run time. It really wasn't as horrible as I thought, but it did last forever and this kind of music just isn't for me. Somewhere in the beginning there were some songs that sounded alright, I guess. Also, I don't know if this says more about the album or myself, but at some point the album ended and spotify kept autoplaying music and I honestly didn't even notice a change or that the album was over.

I really quite liked this. I haven’t knowingly listened to any of Leonard Cohen’s other work, so I didn’t know what to expect going in, but I was very pleasantly surprised. His voice must be mentioned as those deep vocals are just great to listen to. The album opened very strongly with the title track and kept up those expectations throughout. If I Didn’t Have Your Love and Traveling Light were the standouts for me here. I absolutely loved the former. The contrast of using these incredibly sad descriptions of life lacking beauty or meaning to explain the strong feelings of love he has is just great. I am a sucker for a good love song though so it could just be that. Traveling Light followed it up nicely with a very sad song about losing an ex-lover of his, apparently. That does lead me into the only thing I can find in this album that I didn’t enjoy. Mr. Cohen built these incredible songs with very deep lyrics with a lot of meaning in them. The only problem is that I may just be too dumb or not know him/his life enough to get any of that meaning out of them. I don’t know what he was trying to get across with some of these songs, but he made me feel it regardless with his voice. Definitely glad I got to listen to this.

I’m going to assume Bruce Springsteen and this album have a bit of a “Seinfeld isn’t funny” trope going on. Perhaps at the time this released it was a fresh sound and Springsteen’s style of singing didn’t sound like a caricature of himself. But as time has passed and many people have taken inspiration from and created their own music in this style, the original stuff here doesn’t sound very original. I could be off here, but that’s the vibe I’m getting. I was disappointed that Thunder Road had nothing to do with The Ballad of Thunder Road other than taking the name of the song from the film, as I quite enjoy Ballad. Not a bad song though. Meeting Across the River was quite enjoyable to me. That’s all I got. 2/5

I pretty much got exactly what I expected going into this album. It’s definitely Reggae. Most of these songs sound incredibly similar to each other. It’s not bad, but I enjoyed hearing something different with Igziabeher(we all know Jesus smoked that good shit every day), and No Sympathy is the clear standout of the album. I really enjoyed that song and I am not at all surprised that Peter Tosh decided to bring it over to his solo album. Definitely legalize it tho. He’s got a point.

This album started out very strong and I enjoyed the first 3 songs quite a bit. Fight Test is one of those songs I think could get very stuck in my head with repeated listens and I enjoyed the world building and storytelling in One More Robot and Yoshimi Pt. 1. Unfortunately, the rest of the album quickly lost my interest and I didn’t find anything else all that exceptional except for Do You Realize??, which is a pretty solid song. Overall, don’t think this is a bad album at all, and perfectly listenable, but not something that I plan to revisit.

I have not historically been a huge fan of live music, nor have I listened to much Johnny Cash. But what I have listened to, I have generally liked. After listening to this album, I definitely think I need to listen to more Johnny Cash! Because I liked this one a lot! Opening with Folsom Prison Blues is incredibly good, and listening to Cash say “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die,” and then hearing a crowd of prisoners cheer is hilarious, even if it apparently was added in post-production. I was excited when I saw Dark as A Dungeon on the track list, but was disappointed in listening. I really love the song, but I do not like this version at all. The live-aspect of the performance makes up for it a bit though. “You can’t say hell or shit or anything like that.” I actually think this album explained to me the appeal of live albums, as I quite enjoyed the little segues and interruptions and comments. I was so glad after Long Black Veil(which is an incredible song, btw, and one I had heard before) that they got this man some water. Poor dude was coughing and very hoarse. I quite enjoyed bringing in June and the others, and I thought June did great on Jackson. Definitely one I enjoyed quite a bit. Glad to have listened to it.

If you would have asked me a decade or so ago what I thought of the Beatles I would have told you I didn't like their music and it's no good. Had I listened to their music extensively? Absolutely not. Did I want to be a hater and dislike the things that many others enjoyed? Absolutely! Today, I do not have strong feelings towards the Beatles one way or another. The popular stuff that gets played everywhere I actually do enjoy a bit! I have made no effort to listen further though. And that will probably continue unless it's through more albums in this list. As for Rubber Soul, I actually enjoyed the whole thing! I think it was quite good and I was bopping along the whole way. Is this music technically impressive? Hell if I know. Is it inspired? Maybe not. Was it fun to listen to for half an hour? Absolutely. And that's good enough for me, man. Songs that stuck out to me: Think For Yourself, Michelle, Wait, and Run For Your Life. Finding perhaps their most unlikely ally, I'm here to save the Beatles from this group of haters.

This album was just okay to me. It started off kinda strong, as I enjoyed Too High and Living For The City a bit! Unfortunately as the album went one, I just didn't find much for me here. Higher Ground is a good song, but other than that, I just don't have much to say. I do think this is a good album, just not for me.

I really don't see how this album is considered a must listen. Nor do I see how R.E.M's Michael Stipe called this the album of the year in 1993. Was music just bad in '93? Don't get me wrong, this isn't bad, but it's probably among the most generic sounding thing I've heard so far in this list of albums. I don't get it. I don't like it. Dixie Drug Store was interesting, at least. The rest had me like America, snoring.

I went into this one not expecting much, but I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed it. This was a very good album. I think I liked pretty much everything here. I actually kept having this album and song come up when I would search for Aretha Franklin's cover of the title track of this one, and I was pleased to find that the original is pretty good as well. I think I enjoy Aretha's version just a bit more though. I really enjoyed How Can I Be Sure and I Don't Love You Anymore, but as I said everything here is pretty good. Fun fact: The intro for Sueno is sampled in A Tribe Called Quest's track I Lost My Wallet in El Segundo. I immediately recognized it and was very surprised. Also a good song. I was debating on whether to give this a 4 or a 5, and if I had half stars it'd definitely get a 9/10, but I don't. I just don't think it quite reaches into that 5 category, though.

Absolutely hated this. I *really* did not want to give this a 1. I was looking for any redeeming factor, but I just could not find anything. There's nothing special here, nothing for me. Just simply did not like.

This was a very awesome listen. I've liked all of the Run-DMC that I had heard prior to listening to this, so I went in expecting a good time and I was not disappointed in the slightest! I liked pretty much everything on here. It's Tricky remains a jam no matter how many times I've heard it, and I also very much enjoy the recreation of Walk this Way. Raising Hell was dope as well. I've got nothing negative to say, and I'm glad to have listened to this classic. This will be my 2nd 5 star review. I think it is 100% deserved.

I may catch some flak for this one, but I'm not a fan. I've heard many of these songs before, obviously, but had never heard the whole album. Black Dog started us off nicely, but that's basically the only song I actually like on here. I have long maintained that Stairway to Heaven is not that good, and I continue to hold that opinion. It's just okay. And it is the second best song on this album, in my opinion. As for everything else, this album fell into the pile of many albums where I was just waiting for each song to end. If this was not Led Zeppelin, this album would fall into the realm of the 2s. But given its legacy, and perhaps me feeling bad about my bad taste, I feel that isn't a fair rating and instead it will get a bump up to 3. I just don't get it, man.

Very good album! I love when I get to listen to something totally new to me and I just immediately vibe with it. Cinnamon Girl was an awesome opener for this one. I thought that the sound of this album was a bit all over, but I kinda liked that in a way. I was a bit disappointed when I opened up the album and saw it had 2 songs that are over 9 minutes long, and while I continue to not be a huge fan of instrumentals, I felt these were done well and I actually did enjoy listening to them. I do have to give special attention to Running Dry, because I absolutely loved that song. Such a sad, haunting sound to it, and that fits with the story of Neil Young apparently stealing the members of the Rockets band. Very interesting story, though kinda fucked up on Neil's part to be honest. Made for a good song. That violin tho. Definitely think this one deserves a 4/5. Happy to have listened.