Pet Sounds
The Beach BoysPerfect record. No notes
Perfect record. No notes
Elliott Smith is apparently one of those guys who will get at least 4 stars from me. I have very little to say about this except that I liked it a lot. I knew it pretty much already and I have had a certain number of beers so I’m going to end here.
One of my favorite albums of all time
Better than I anticipated. Still very redundant and with very little changes, but some decent grooves
Surprised this is here. A couple decent songs, but far from essential Stones. Tell Me is great, the rest so so.
One of the first CDs I bought that wasn’t a film score or comedy album, I’d almost give it five stars for the bass line in Longview alone. Only real issue is, like a lot of pop-punk, the songs start to blend together after a bit.
Beautiful jazz piano, love the vocalizing
Started out strong enough but got old quickly. The Van Morrison cover was dire
Very nice surprise, I’ve heard of Massive Attack for years but didn’t realize this was it. Nice hip hop, reggae influences
Didn’t pay much attention to the 90s British Invasion, but of course I knew a bunch of these songs. Some solid 90s rock with a bit of Beatles gravy.
So look. I get the conceit here, take a bunch of country songs and give them the R&B treatment. And yeah, the result is it sounds like an R&B song, lo and behold. The problem is Ray Charles said I’m going to do all ballads (except the last song which, surprise is the most fun) and so they all melt together into this slow soup. I get it as an interesting piece of music history but in practice it’s a slog to listen to.
Didn’t know what to expect, I’ve heard of this without really hearing it. Really enjoyed it, reminded me of the Byrne/Eno Bush of Ghosts with record scratches and breakbeats.
3.5 Fun little late 60s rock record, not mind-blowing but lots of fun
Pleasantly surprised! Don’t usually listen to hip-hop but this is a great record, fun and funny. Would only knock it points for some good old-fashioned misogyny.
Love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love
Another pleasant surprise! Songs I’d been tired of hearing I was more than ready to hear again. I do think the singles are a little better than the rest of the songs. Fun fact: the song One Tree Hill inspired the batshit crazy TV show. Another fun fact: my freshman year roommate would put this on when entertaining the ladies
Not bad at all, but unlike U2 the other day, I don’t think enough time has elapsed between the seventy zillion times I’ve heard these songs. Impressive that pretty much all of these are (over) played on the radio and they are incredibly catchy.
Pretty sure Stevie Wonder is incapable of producing anything less than a 5 star album
I’m not opposed to metal music, and as far as metal goes, this is decent. I can’t help but feel as though these songs would have more of an impact if they were about half as long most of the time, but I guess that’s what punk is for. My son is a big Metallica fan so I wondered if he’d be offended by my listening to this. Fortunately we’re all good
Not bad but not really for me. It feels like it’s probably perfect for listening to at a club or a rave, but just casually without any stimulants it’s just fine. I feel like New Order and bands like that do this kind of thing more interestingly
Not the biggest fan of the Doors, but there’s definitely some good stuff here. I really enjoy The Crystal Ship and End of the Night, and the band grooves along nicely on most of these tracks. A prime example of what divides me on this is The End, which I love when it’s the band doing a VU style jam, but then Jim Morrison is all Father? Yes, Son? I want to kill you. Anyway pretty middle of the road stuff for me. I was pleased to learn that Break On Through was edited for the radio!
Pretty much perfect, the last song was kind of cheesy but everything else was prime Joni.
Not bad, but just okay. Decent enough 90s alternative, but nothing that really jumped out at me
Really liked this! Prog is a genre that I definitely have to be in the right mindset to enjoy, apparently I was there today. The Brahms bit was a little cheesy but otherwise highly enjoyable
Kinda surprised myself with how much I liked this. It really works well as a full album, has a bit of a Swans-lite feel to it.
Nilsson is one of the best and this is one of his best! Jump Into the Fire is a particular fave
So I really like Janis Joplin’s voice and the album artwork is terrific. I didn’t really get much else out of this. The band is good but much like the first Rolling Stones album, it’s so-so blues workouts without much more to it.
Had to stream this one on YouTube. Another decent but not super noteworthy album. I mostly know Moby Grape as: -one of the bands Cat Power covered (Naked if I Want to) -I think Neil Young was almost in the band but decided to join Buffalo Springfield instead - Skip Spence had a mental breakdown and recorded Oar, which is more interesting I think than this album, kinda like Syd Barrett’s solo stuff is more interesting to me than most Floyd.
Pretty so-so. Lots of moments here lots of other bands have done better (Radiohead, U2, Rush.) Not bad but I probably could have died without hearing it
Good for what it is but not really my thing. Some catchy tunes though, amongst the repetitive beats
This was fantastic! Lots of great guitar tones and polyrhythms. A nice album to end the week with.
Solid slice of nineties grunge. Not necessarily my favorite thing, but I couldn’t help but think Sam would really like it, as it reminded me of Nirvana, Black Sabbath and Metallica in various places.
Love the Fall! Haven’t heard this one as much as Hex Enduction Hour or Wonderful and Frightening World but it is prime Fall music
Another one I could have sworn I had on vinyl. A classic to be sure, though some of the lighter moments are bit too saccharine for my taste
I loved this but I listened with (personal) prejudice, as I had completely forgotten but I’ve heard this before, it was in heavy rotation in my mom’s car growing up. Love this one! Also it takes massive balls to cover Stevie Wonder, and he nails it
Perfect record. No notes
Adele has a powerhouse voice, and there’s a few songs here that put it to good use, but far too many quiet piano ballads for my taste. Still can’t deny Remedy is pretty good.
Annoying that this wasn’t on Apple Music, but it was pretty good. For some reason, I wasn’t expecting traditional jazz, but it was pleasant. I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it, though.
Another one where I know I like her other stuff better. This is good but not essential to me. Still can’t deny the power of that voice
Another one not available to stream except YouTube. I’m somewhat familiar with Jah Wobble from PiL and some other projects. This was decent, not something I’d normally check out.
Very nice jazz, I will definitely check out more.
Most Stevie albums, particularly in this era are essentially perfect. This album is a sprawling, almost 2 hour epic that is also essentially perfect. I might prefer Innervisions but there’s no denying the quality of this album, an easy 5 stars
I somehow missed this one, aside from the ubiquitous Hallelujah. Really loved when the soaring tenor mixed with the complex guitar arrangements, and though there were a few reminiscent of dudebro rock like John Mayer, I mostly really liked this
Another album not really for me, at least there was a little more to this dance/house album than a repetitive beat and a handful of lyrics.
Decent, like Kiss but probably less problematic? After a few songs I was good though.
A beautiful bookend to the Stevie Wonder, a pretty much perfect record
This was a nice surprise, something I’d never heard before. Kind of dark, abstract minimal hip-hop. Very good.
Ooh a nice slice of early 80s New Wave pop goodness. Doesn’t have much of an aftertaste but it’s a good time while it lasts
Weird to have this so close to the Haircut 100. This one leans even more into the jazz side of things, at least at first. There’s a wonderful appearance from the always welcome Tracey Thorn, but a misbegotten attempt at rap in the second half sours the whole thing for me. Another shrugworthy record
Did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. About halfway through I texted Ian to confirm that he knew this already or at least was enjoying it as much as I did. We’ll never know. Definitely in the vein of Ministry and Swans and other industrial loud loud noisy screaming bands. My kids said it sounded like Angry Cookie Monster, which I will now refer to music in this genre as.
So this is another in the solid classic rock albums that’s admittedly very good but that I don’t really need to hear again. Of the six songs, four are on heavy rock radio rotation, and at least one of the others sneaks on frequently, the last being a reprise. Not bad at all, not necessarily something I feel the need to revisit though.
A classic and a perfect fall album!
Ooh another great album! I balked at the length of this one at first, and I do think it overstays its welcome just a bit, but there are so many great songs here, including the hits I hadn’t heard in too long.
They are killing it with albums this week! A terrific and rightly revered singer songwriter album from one of our best songwriters. A note on the album cover though: cute cat, but at least put some socks on!
Another solid entry for this week! The covers were slight but fun; this one really came alive with the epic Sagar (The Ocean.) Really enjoyed this.
This one is not for me. I’m not sure what I expected but it wasn’t this sorta watered down Coldplay stuff. I mean, it’s perfectly serviceable 2000s rock, but it did nothing for me.
Still remarkable after umpty billion spins. Even the songs that don’t fully grab me (pretty much just Ignoreland) are undeniably pretty damn good. A favorite album by a favorite band
Ooh another favorite! Love how Neil can do stripped down frail acoustic numbers and some of the loudest heaviest songs on the same album. Love Pocahontas, Powderfinger and both versions of My My Hey Hey.
A mixed bag for me. Some stuff in here I really enjoyed marred by what felt like tossed together songs that may have been cathartic, given the circumstances but don’t necessarily make for essential listening.
Very nice, smooth and sexy. I only knew a little Tricky before, but this is pretty good
Another perfect record, and always nice when I can listen to my own vinyl copy. A friend of mine once described the title track as the perfect song, it’s the exact length it’s supposed to be.
This album has been a part of my life for so long it’s like furniture, but you know, very special furniture. I will knock it down a star because it definitely smells of cultural appropriation, but at least the Apple Music credits included the African musicians.
Very pleased with this one. Nice tunes and some interesting melodies that didn’t always resolve the way I anticipated they would. A few of the songs were so light and airy there was barely anything there but most were pretty terrific
Decent, but not great. Reminded me of new wave-ish bands like Squeeze or Elvis Costello but not as interesting.
Definitely my favorite or at least top 3 SK albums, and an absolute favorite overall. Love Little Babies, One More Hour, Words and Guitar, Buy Her Candy, etc
I was ready to give this the benefit of the doubt, the title track had the R.E.M. stamp of approval. And that song is perfectly fine, as were the other singles. But songs like 12 Inch which pair gross double entendre with the laziest 12 bar blues and the reprehensible transphobia of Adams Apple destroy any minuscule goodwill those songs may have offered. This does not belong anywhere near this list
This Bowie is pretty good Bowie. Not my favorite Bowie but pretty good.
This was new to me, and very good! I read they recorded this at the same time Stevie Wonder was making Innervisions, and some of the ultra-magic of that record must have rubbed off on this one.
I was worried this was going to be another dull 2000s British arena rock band kinda thing (looking at you, Muse and Elbow) but it was quirky and charming. The Os Mutantes cover was nice as well.
Loved this! I know a little Penguin Cafe Orchestra, pretty much the same stuff everyone knows, but I will be digging in further for sure.
This is a very good live recording of Jerry Lee Lewis. He and the band sound great, and I bet it was incredible to be part of the audience. It was very short, though, could have used a little more.
I liked this one quite a bit, though I much preferred the groovier funkier early tunes to the ones on the second half.
This is fun throwback rock and roll with a blown out, feedback laden twist. My only caveat is that after about six songs or so they all start to blend together and sound alike. I think that’s kind of the point, but just a little variation would have been nice.
I forget how much I like this band. A solid rock band with just the right amount of idiosyncratic touches to make them stand out from the rest of the 80s New Wavers. And anyone who loves Molly Ringwald loves this band.
Great record, love Chapman’s voice and lyrics. A nice combination of protest singer Dylan and introspective Dylan.
A nice collection of live Johnny Cash songs, but as much as I enjoy hearing Johnny banter, there was way more talk than singing for my taste.
This feels like the platonic ideal of an LA hard rock album. Which is another way of saying it’s not really for me. I really enjoy the hits, particularly Paradise City and the objectively amazing Sweet Child of Mine, but felt pretty much nothing for the rest.
I’m sure there’s someone out there for whom this is meaningful, beautiful, exciting music, and not loud, boring repetitive noise. But it ain’t me. And I won’t judge you if you like it; I have my fair share of noisy repetitive music that I enjoy (I wonder if Metal Machine Music is on this list?) But I get nothing from this.
I like Dagmar Krause in Slapp Happy, and I didn’t hate this, but a little Brechtian showtunes go a very long way
See now this is dance music that I like. Was I dancing to this around my bedroom after my shower? You bet I was. And now you have that image in your head. Happy Early Christmas!
I run pretty hot and cold with Mr. Zappa, but this, I think, is indisputably great. None of the characteristics that turn me off (“transgressive” lyrics, excessive soloing) are here, just solid tunes, in what is essentially a jazz fusion album.
As far as concept double albums go, this one is actually pretty decent, not too many weird songs that would sound strange outside the context of the record. But it still is overlong and a bit pretentious, and Roger Waters is an alleged anti-Semite who victim blames the Ukraine so I’m knocking some stars off for that.
I should have some cynical take on this album, and I can say that of the new Rock revival bands The Strokes are not my favorite (that would be TV On the Radio) but this is an undeniable classic full of great throwback tunes. I will say I’m very happy the version I heard doesn’t have this cover.
Here is an indisputably great album, though sticking the 2 long, noisy drone songs back to back near the end is a strange choice. Still a fantastic record that sounds as fresh today as it was in the 70s.
Perfectly adequate stuff from the perfectly adequate Byrds. I’m always surprised when I look at all the different members in The Byrds that I don’t like this band more. But put them all together and it’s just fine, not mind-blowing, no matter how psychedelic they attempt to be.
One of 3 Eno/Bowie collabs, this is one of my favorite Bowie albums, along with Low (another Eno album) and Ziggy Stardust. This one integrates the synthy instrumentals a little better than Low, though I think I like that one better.
Ooh, now this is a blast from my past! I used to listen to this all the time when it came out. Some very solid tunes and fond memories. This I feel like was a turning point album for the Lips, with more straightforward and genuine lyrics, though still very surreal in nature.
This was fine. I kind of feel like if I want to listen to this kind of thing I’ll put on Queen or Boston or Journey or AC/DC. It is pretty impressive how they can mash up those different bands but instead of feeling inspired by them, it feels like they’re “inspired” by them, which is less fun. But still a little fun, admittedly. What I’m trying to say is, essential listening, 12 stars.
It’s hard to say what’s going to grab me, sometimes a straight ahead rock band will bore me, or their lyrics will offend me. This one really clicked for some reason. With the exception of the horrid Jailbait, I really dug all these songs. Ace of Spades is great of course and the others worked for me as well. Good stuff.
Do I get it? Not really. Do I love it? Absolutely. Does it go on a bit too long? Maybe. Does that matter? Eh, not really. Sometimes it’s okay for music to be big and messy and a little incoherent when it’s clear the players are so locked into one another and able to transcend the tune into something larger than themselves.
Definitely a worthwhile record, though I much preferred the bittersweet love songs to the protest songs on the album, which give a better sense of the much better albums to come.
A pretty much perfect Christmas album, produced by one of the worst people in the world
Delicious funky awesomeness!
Pretty great, though very repetitive. One song out of the lot doesn’t really work for me, the rest is very very good.
I’ve been meaning to revisit this stunning album again, a perfect piece of UK folk loveliness.
Love me some T. Rex, though I prefer The Slider to this one. This one is pretty great as well. That song Lean Love is kinda lame though, wanky 12 bar blues. It doesn’t live up to the material around it.
FREAK OUT IN A MOONAGE DAYDREAM OOOOOOH YEEEEEAH!!!!
I’ve been doling out 4s and 5s all over the place lately, it was only a matter of time before the algorithm threw me a dud. So meh, I feel like there was a ton of this stuff in the late 90s. Some very good but most not interesting. This is a solid chunk o’ boredom.
Oddly bland, merely competent songs from a usually way more interesting songwriter. The songs are fine, just not much interesting happening.
This was a fun one! I didn’t know much from this but the title track, and my LL Cool J association is more as a romcom and procedural actor than an MC. He’s pretty great, I have to say. I will knock it down a star for the usual 90s rap misogyny.
I was surprised by how much I liked this. The previous Joplin album didn’t grab me at all, but I liked this one quite a bit. Not sure why but it was lots of fun and of course those powerhouse vocals.
This is actually my first time with this album. I know the hits, this came out when I started really digging into music but I wasn’t interested in Soundgarden. Not surprisingly, it’s pretty good, though I think diluted in the 2020s by all the copycats that have since littered the Hard Rock station.
Pretty much the sound of the 2000s, I was honestly surprised Jon Brion wasn’t a producer on this. I feel like poor Elliott Smith is remembered for being a sad singer songwriter, but even though his lyrics could be bummers his hooks were surprisingly sweet and sunny. Top Tier Stuff.
Decent enough garage rock, but lots of other bands do it better.
Now here is an album that I would never think to seek out myself, and I really enjoyed it. I wish the songs weren’t quite as long and repetitive, though I understand that’s (probably?) part of the Senegalese tradition. If it were half as long it would most likely get more than 3 stars. Definitely worth a listen though, unlike some of the other albums I’ve given this rating.
Gotta say, didn’t expect to like this as much as I did. I think it helps it doesn’t have their most well known song (Sweet Home Alabama is good, very good, but I could go the rest of my life without hearing it again) but it does have what I think is their best song (Tuesday’s Gone.) There’s a couple here that are inessential but plenty of good stuff.
You got your Eno in my Talking Heads! You got your Talking Heads in my Eno! This the third and final collaboration between the two, and of the three, probably the more Eno-y, which might be why I like it best (all of them are great.) A phenomenal kaleidoscope of sounds swirling to a polyrhythmic heartbeat, with songs that simultaneously celebrate and eulogize the inevitability of the earth turning. Maybe it’s not perfect, but that makes it better.
What a great album, one I barely knew. Very atmospheric and evocative, lots of fascinating world-building. Good stuff!
I missed this LCD reunion album when it originally came out, which is surprising since I was a bit obsessed with their last album. And it was very good! I enjoy LCD Soundsystem and I enjoyed this. Sometimes these things aren’t intricate math problems.
Maybe the mehiest album so far. There’s nothing wrong with it but literally nothing stands out. I’m guessing the guys in the band are brothers with the people who made the list.
Tres Hombres=Dos Estrellas. I have heard this album praised by lots of folks, but I don’t get it. Perfectly adequate blues from white guys with excessively long beards. Pass.
Really liked this, very pretty and sometimes rocking tunes. Will have to look more into this group.
Giving this a four star, not so much because I think it’s extra great 90s britpop, but because it was one of a handful of cassettes I I bought at Housework’s in Iowa City (wondering if any of the others will make the list.) I listened to this a lot in my Walkman around campus and in shitty Topaze I drove to Des Moines and back when my future wife moved back home. Anyway these songs totally rock.
Ooh, I like this! Big Black have been a big black blind spot for me for a while. I read about them in Our Band Could Be Your Life, but never really sought them out. I will have to dig deeper.
I was a massive Bjork fan in college, but haven’t kept up with her output in more recent years. Consequently I’m hearing this one for the first time. It’s a terrific blend of what drew me to her in college and a new, even more experimental sound, which is saying something for Bjork! Really loved this, I’ll definitely need to listen to more of the recent stuff.
I mean look: I’m not a Bruce superfan but I can’t deny the man’s chops. And this album is Bruce at the top of his game, doing the big E Street band bombast with his evocative lyrics, there really isn’t much better.
This album was everywhere back in 98, I remember having discussions about it in an African American theatre class I was in, the controversy about how it was embraced by non-black listeners and Lauryn Hill’s conflicted feelings about that. I obviously can’t relate to everything on here, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get anything from it, it’s a gorgeous record, very worthy of this list.
TV On the Radio are probably my favorite of the early 2000s NYC rock bands. This album is great but is almost completely overshadowed by the follow up. I will be shocked and sad if that one isn’t on the list.
Elliott Smith is apparently one of those guys who will get at least 4 stars from me. I have very little to say about this except that I liked it a lot. I knew it pretty much already and I have had a certain number of beers so I’m going to end here.
Dang, thousy albums! You’ve been on a roll lately. This is of course pretty much a perfect album. Not only does it got Blues Eyes Crying In The Rain, but many other terrific songs. Not bad, William Nelson, not bad.
This gets a four for the great jangly Johnny Marr guitar, and a point knocked off for Morrissey being Morrissey.
Big fan of this one as well. I remember my friend Adam Neubauer playing Take Me Out and saying it was going to be huge. I really liked the disco inflections, this was one of the dancier albums of the early oughts.
Dang list, keep teeing up the good stuff! I’m not as versed in my Siouxsie Sioux but this hit the spot today. Fun gothy tunes, maybe not as dark as something like Nick Cave, but in contrast a little more dancey, a bit poppier. Good times.
I mean, what can I say that hasn’t already been said about this album? About as perfect a Beatles record as there ever was, the beautiful sound of collaboration after a fractious period, a last gasp before all the wind was knocked out, one sweet dream coming true. Or something like that.
Absolute perfection. Transcendent, much like yesterday’s album, it’s incredible musicians collaborating to make something bigger than all of them. It’s also a fascinating bridge between the more melodic playing of Coltrane’s previous albums and the freer more chaotic sounds he’d explore afterward. Can’t say enough about how much I love this. I guess Supremely?
Giving this 3 stars for 3 reasons: 1. My son Sam is obsessed with Metallica and knew exactly what I was listening to. 2. I do think the melding of metal music and orchestral music works very well. 3. That said, I didn’t listen to all 2 hours and 15 minutes of this. So I can’t fully judge it. I listened to more than half though. That was enough.
I hadn’t heard this one before, it was decent. Of the YYYs I’ve heard I like their second one best, but this had some catchy tunes on it. I liked the synthy overtones as well. Good stuff.
Love this, though I think Gabriel improved each album. Still can’t argue with Salisbury Hill and Here Comes The Flood.
So so good! I haven’t listened to this one in a while, and it was really fun to revisit. A terrific debut!
Oh, RHCP. The fact that you occasionally throw an undeniably good song every now and then makes me dislike you more. For every Scar Tissue and Porcelain (I admittedly prefer the ballads) there’s I Like Dirt, Around the World or Right On Time. I want to like you more, if you did more Under the Bridgeses and Breaking the Girlseses I’d be in your corner. But alas. At least we have Flea’s acting credits.
When I first decided to dive deeper into hip hop back in the mid aughts, Jurassic 5 were one of my favorites. And I really liked this one. And it still holds up, I think. With the glaring exception of one song that is super judgy about vain people and gets weirdly homophobic, I liked this.
Very pleasantly surprised by this. I know Foo Fighters a little bit, and had written them off as semi-decent arena rock. Maybe subsequent records have that sound, but this was like great 90s alt rock, it honestly gave me Sugar vibes, Copper Blue in particular. I also gave FF crap because I think Dave Grohl is one of the greatest drummers of all time, but to be fair, he’s a terrific frontman also. So be nicer, me!
It was very nice, but very repetitive and ultimately kind of dull. Like an aural bowl of tomato soup. Nice but not very exciting.
Not bad, but nothing exciting. Gives me Clapton vibes, more straight ahead blues rock, not much else. I’m an 80s child way more familiar with Steve Winwood’s farty synth music than his guitar playing. I was also surprised that the 4 or 5 bonus tracks were more interesting to me than any of the album cuts.
This album is gorgeous, brimming with beautiful string arrangements and soaring vocals I don’t understand. This album is also gargantuan, each song at least 7 minutes (mostly) and they’re all the same slow tempo. I really do love it but I recognize these things as slight flaws. Songs can be as long or short as they need to be, and I would say most of these earn their length but not all. Four stars for sure though.
As far as electronic albums go, this was better than some of the others on the list, but still pretty repetitive and boring.
What a pleasant way to start the week! I will say that other than the transcendent Cry to Me and a handful of others, the rest of the songs were good not great. But overall very enjoyable.
About 10 or so years ago I gave Zeppelin another chance. Never disliked them, just didn’t really care. Maybe because it corresponded with my starting to learn guitar, but I really really dug them. And this album was a particular favorite since it wasn’t full of songs that got played constantly on KGGO. So yeah, I got this one on vinyl. And yeah it’s good.
Love me some Gram Parsons. A very nice slice of old fashioned country music with a bit of soul and rock mixed in for good measure. The only thing that would make it better is adding Emmylou Harris to the mix.
Dang the list serves up another classic! Love the experimentation of this album. Part of me wishes it was more focused and part of me loves the random jams that go into weird places. Either way, definitely great.
I don’t know if this is the best Pixies album, it might be, or that might be Doolittle. I don’t know if the Steve Albini production works better for them than the other albums or if the others are the truer Pixies sound. All I know Is that there were rumors he was into field hockey players…. There were rumors
Quite a while back, I read a collection of Greil Marcus essays. His review of Tusk made me very curious to check it out, because like most people born in the late seventies Rumours is imprinted on my brain. And it’s great, of course. But Tusk! What a furry pachyderm of a record, a sublime mixture of classic Mac with some skewed pop like The Ledge and the title track. Every time I listen I’m taken by how the whole eclectic stew works together. And if nothing else, you get some of the greatest songs Stevie Nicks ever wrote (Storms alone is essential.) Love love love it.
This was pretty terrific, great guitar work! I really wish I had more to say, just enjoyed it a lot. Sometimes repetition can get boring (see most of the house music on the list), and sometimes like with this album, it builds up an interesting groove that you can just swim in.
Maybe 15-20 years ago I would rank this higher. Knowing now what a bag of feces Morrissey is, his songwriting doesn’t do much for me anymore. And if this were a Smiths album, with Johnny Marr’s guitar cutting through the other crap, I might rank it higher. But the music here is pretty boring. Go away, Morrissey. No one needs you.
This was pretty good. I’ve heard of Saint Etienne but never heard them. Kind like Belle and Sebastian meets Portishead. I might check out more.
Gorgeous collection of standards, refracted through the Willie Nelson lens. A lovely way to start my Friday! If I had to criticize, the only thing I’d say is it’s all very mid-tempo, but that doesn’t bother me all that much. Songs like Blue Skies pick up the pace enough, so it evens out.
Sure it’s important, without the Sex Pistols we wouldn’t have many other, and better bands. It’s certainly not bad, and my guess is at the time of release it felt very provocative, but it was almost immediately usurped by much better, real punk bands. And nowadays it’s impossible to listen to without hearing the racist comments John Lydon made just last week, and in previous years.
Very good, surprisingly tuneful and melodic shoegaze, not as abrasive as MBV or as ethereal as Slowdive. I’ve heard some of their subsequent music and I liked it fine, but this is very very good.
Did I find this perfectly fine? Yup. Was it slightly better than the other electronic albums we’ve heard? Yup. Was it still too long? Yup? Did I listen to more than half? No comment.
A lot of these classic rock records end up feeling very meh to me, and this one is no exception. Some good songs that don’t linger mixed with definite classics, but I would rather crank up the Monkees than listen again.
Decent but certainly not great. Too many sketches of songs, and the actual songs were underwhelming
What a great start to the week! Smoking hot music from the legend himself! A little redundant but it also doesn’t overstay its welcome. A genuine classic.
Really loved this one as well. I was completely unfamiliar with Jungle Brothers but will have to check out more. Fun old school hip hop with a toe dipped in the more 90s house style. Very fun!
This one surprised me. I didn’t exactly love it, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I’d heard KOL compared to The Strokes, and I thought that was a crazy comparison based on the monster hits Use Somebody and Help, My Sex is On Fire!!! But this sounded very much like a Southern Strokes. Not sure if I needed that but it’s definitely better than Somebody Use My Flaming Sex.
Another pleasant surprise! Not even sure what to expect from this band I’d never heard of, but I got strong Kate Bush/80s John Cale vibes, mixed with the last couple of Talk Talk albums. Spare jazzy grooves and impressionistic vocals make for some solid art pop, definitely exploring more from this band.
I mean, music doesn’t get more perfect than this. If R.E.M. quit after this they’d still be legends; the fact that I might like the follow-up even more is pretty astounding. Still, this and maybe Automatic are the 2 albums that feel the most fully realized as album long statements. And I prefer this to Automatic personally.
Maybe it’s because I’m now a dad but I’ve gained a much deeper appreciation of CCR. Part of it is as a kid, one of the first records I listened to over and over was Willie and the Poor Boys, which my sister and I were allowed to play on our Fisher Price record player. But this band smokes man! Literally probably? I don’t know, I’ve had a couple of beers.
Ooh, another classic! PJ Harvey is one of those artists I take for granted; every time I listen to her, I think I should listen more often, and then I forget. This one is definitely top tier Polly Jean, but I’m hoping there are more on the list as well.
Surprisingly the first time I’ve heard this (aside from the title track), and my gut reaction is perfectly passable prog rock. Didn’t dig it as much as Yes. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing that spurs me to explore further.
I remember when this came out, and it was such a left turn from Liars first record, some people hated it. I really liked it then, and given the subject matter I’d revisit it around Halloween over the years. Listening again after many years, it still holds up, but not as much as it used to. Liars have expanded on this sound and improved. Still pretty good though.
Now this is the stuff! A really nice way to wrap the week up, with some killer grooves. More of this on the list please.
I’m going to sound like a broken record with all these Moz/Smiths albums, but it’s true. I do love this album, but the man’s awfulness knocks it down a star. There’s some great stuff on here, though. Sorry Johnny! Nothing personal.
Another solid album, though not one of their best. They certainly grew and improved but you can’t deny that most of these tracks are solid. 77 was a great year for music and for people to be born in.
I wanted to like this more than I did. I think Shuggie Otis is great and I love Strawberry Letter 23. There was something off about the production of this though, it felt really incomplete or something. Not as lush as it should have been in my opinion. Still, the songs were pretty great.
Afghan Whigs are a band whose name I’ve heard a lot, but never really checked them out. After this listen, I think I’m good. Honestly, there’s nothing wrong with the music, but it really doesn’t move me. They sound like pretty much all the other 90s alt-rock bands. Nothing objectionable but nothing inspiring either.
A great way to wrap up the week. Muddy Waters has, of course, incredible chops, and I’m also very impressed by the mix. It sounds clear (not Muddy) but not smoothed out. My only caveat is a little 12 bar blues goes a long way with me, and a couple of these songs went a little long for me. But overall a great one.
Boy I am struggling with this one. In the words of the Dude, I do not care for the Eagles. And yet, I can’t deny Hotel California is a pretty great song. And then there’s the rest of the album, which is underwhelming at best. I’m going 2 stars but it’s really 2 and a half, for the title track. So many other artists do this so so so much better (Flying Burrito Brothers) so it’s always hard to hear how huge this band is.
This is another tricky one. I get that it’s an impressive achievement, and there’s plenty of Who goodness here, but it’s also bloated and full of uncomfortable songs about child abuse. It’s the kind of album that if I’m in the right mood hits me exactly right. But generally it annoys me.
If you like your Elvis ham-fried, glazed and smothered in overdramatic weepy vocals, strings and a lady choir, please partake! Me, it’s fine. Not my favorite Elvis mode but I can’t deny the formula works. As in most of these things, a little goes a long way.
I was a major Bjorkist in college, but I dropped off before this one came out. It makes me sad because this is prime Bjork, at least as good as Post or Homogenic. A gorgeous marriage of her expressive voice and the bleepy bloopy production, with a modest sprinkling of strings. Beautiful.
Pretty good! A solid kinda classic jazz album, maybe it didn’t move me the way other jazz albums do, but it was lots of fun!
Another Bjork so soon! When this popped up I thought, Oh no, this is going to suffer in comparison because of timing. But not really! I still love this one.
I was excited when this one came up, I haven’t heard it in years. And then I remembered why. This is such a beautiful, grotesque monster of a record, with moments that make me smile but even more that disturb me deeply. I mean, that’s the point. And few people can nail that beautiful grotesquerie like Lou Reed. I love this album but it will be a few years before I revisit.
Perfectly acceptable pop. No, you know what, it’s not great. I think Britney got better as she went along, or at least the production got more interesting. My issue with this is that so many of these songs are about being controlled or submissive to her partner. It sets an unfortunate precedent for young girls who propelled this album up the charts. Fortunately, the antidote would arrive in about a year with Destiny’s Child. One positive: there’s a completely genuinely earnest love song on here called E-Mail My Heart which could only be done this earnestly in 1999.
This was pretty good, but I have to admit I wasn’t blown away. A solid three star affair.
It’s possible this electronica music is beginning to wear me down but I didn’t hate this. Some of it I downright liked. How about that?
I wanted to like this more than I did. I find that lots of dance music, be it disco or electronica would benefit from editing. Some of these songs are real catchy and fun and then they just keep going and going and going and going and going and going and it’s like okay. Now I don’t like it anymore. Maybe if it went even longer then it would go back to the point that I like it again. But probably not.
This one blindsided me, I came into it with no knowledge of what to expect, certainly not this kosmische inspired sound. It’s kind of like Beth Orton fronting Broadcast, really really good stuff. I will have to check out more.
Ah, love me some Bill Callahan. This might not hit me the way Apocalypse or some of the Smog albums have, but I can’t deny its greatness. Solid stuff.
I appreciate some of this, as a reaction to racism in the US it is powerful and vital. I just wish it wasn’t riddled with the sexism and homophobia so much hip hop of the 90s was.
Another totally new one for me, and a very pleasant surprise! Solid soul music, I will have to dig into more from this guy.
I mean, yeah. A massive classic, undeniably. There isn’t much to be said about it that isn’t said more eloquently by the man himself. There are times I wish the arrangements were more interesting and not just straight up twelve bar blues, but that’s a minor nitpick.
This is a fun one, a Funkadelic album I’m less familiar with. Definitely not as good as Maggot Brain or Free Your Mind, but a fun way to start the day.
I mean, come on. Not much beats The Kinks at their peak, and this may be it. I might listen to Something Else or Lola Vs Poweman more, but as a cohesive statement, this album (and the follow-up Arthur) are Kinks at their absolute best. Definitely essential listening. Good job, list.
Another great album! Meat Puppets are a band I forget about, and when I’m reminded I always think, man I should listen to these guys more. Hopefully I’ll remember this time. Great ramshackle indie rock music.