1001 Albums Summary

Sooooo smooth If I was asked, "Do you like jazz?" I would respond yes, and not be startled or surprised by who or what is asking me. Listening to this just demands my attention, which is hard to do for me with lyric-less music. It's so incredibly modal and dissonant without being "crunchy".

Wayyy more vibey than I was expecting. Had to throw in the second earbud part way through The Corner. I don't love the refrains. They feel a little odd and sometimes uncomfortable and forced. The verses are incredible, though. The production of the album is fantastic. The produced noises are never overdone, and are finely tuned to the song. A really good album, particularly the first half. I will probably never listen to this again, though.

I think this album probably really benefits from a chronological listening, because as is, separated from its contemporaries, it just kind of falls flat for me. But the review says this is the first "trip hop", so congrats for that. By fall flat, I don't mean that it's bad, just, for the most part, uninteresting. There are flashes of brilliance, though, like the guitar riff in Be Thankful For What You Got. Hymn of the Big Wheel was probably my favorite song.

The album starts off soooo hot with Rio, and shortly after, Hungry Like the Wolf. I didn't realize how insane some of the bass lines are for Duran Duran. By far the best part of their music. I thought this was going to be one of those albums thats a couple of boys and nothing else, but the back half of the album is definitely doing its part.

The first non-Eurocentric album on this listen through. Really enjoying the vibes. I wish there was a little more evolution in the songs, but I'm pretty sure that's a style thing, a back beat with lots of solos throughout. That does mean it makes excellent background music for me.

First impression: it sounds like if John Lennon grew up in a small town. Yeah, I can understand why this was really popular in the late 60s. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I love the combination of psychedelic and folk. Kind of wish the singer wouldn't push the bottom of his range so much. He sounds much better in the mid and upper ranges of his voice. The low stuff ends up losing a lot of his nice tonality. And as soon as I typed that out, he hit that really beautiful low note on Nightfall.

Really fun! I like the energy. I feel like this is something that music has exceeded, though. Like there's music released recently that has the same vibes and style but is better. That's influence, though, so good for Iggy

This is beautiful. I don't love the lower range of his voice, but I feel so comfortable listening to him. Roads is an amazing song. I've actually been hoping to start a new playlist for my fall vibes, and Roads got to start it for me. An amazing album. Intimate but comfortable, relaxing but emotional. I loved every song.

This is not my preferred style of music. It does slap, though. I'm just not impressed with the other music elements of the album. I want more than just backing loops. I will say, Killing Me Softly is killing me

Much more my style compared to some of the other stuff on this list. It doesn't really stand out for me though. Most of the songs are really solid without much else. The back half of the album definitely brings it up a notch though.

A lot of fun! A good album front to back.

I think I understand some of the ideas of the songs, but man, I really did not like listening to this. Fodderstompf made me want to claw my eyes out of my head.

It's all a little too much for me. I prefer quieter jazz, but this is excellent for what it is. Track C is my favorite on the album.

Took a while for it to click for me, and nearly wrote it off before we got there. Lyrics and writing were very good, but music that relies heavily on loops isn't for me. Did enjoy the vibes, though.

A lot of fun. I really enjoyed the sax solos. Just kind of there, though. Missing something for me, though, so it falls into a "this was fine." for me.

Really enjoyed listening to it. The fusion of jazz and disco goes really well together. I wanted the vocalist of the title track to come back, but I was still jamming to every song.

I really love the concept of the album, and really enjoyed listening to people's stories and then a musician exploring the concepts musically. The vocals on the album are also stellar.

She is such a good singer. Her scatting is unparalleled. I kind of wish there was some more uptempo songs, a lot of the album is slow and beautiful, but they all blend together. Oh, Lady be Good legit gave me chills.

I think its cultural importance is a big reason why this album is so highly regarded. Not that the music is bad, but I don't think it's elite, in a vacuum. I will say, this album is legit all the way through. Ziggy Stardust might be my favorite song, and it's third last on the album.

A masterclass in vocal harmonies. Absolutely incredible. I really wish it didn't have a 70s musical vibe, though. It really brings it down a notch or two for me. A lot of the songs feel like they're a rip off of The Sound of Music, when they would excel more if they had their own identity.

I love that the album kind of sounds like it was made in a bedroom. I don't like drum machines, but I'm also a drummer, so I recognize that's a bias that I have. For how simple it is, it sounds really good. And while they embrace the punk vibes of loud instruments and muffled vocals, the message still comes through loud and clear. I love the recorded spoken bits of Slideshow at Free University.

It's so heavily over-produced that it's really hard to listen to. The lyrics seem really good! At least when I can hear them. Unfortunately, it just kind of sounds like bad, over-produced hype music, though.

It's not quite The Smiths that I've listened to on my own. I do enjoy listening to them, though. I think one of my favorite things about The Smiths, just in general, is that their albums don't really fall off in quality as you listen. The end of the album is just as strong as the beginning.

I do really like his keyboard playing. He's a very talented instrumentalist. His voice isn't incredible, but it is perfect for this genre. A lot of true bops on this album. You Are the Sunshine of my Life. Maybe Your Baby. You And I. Superstition. The songs that aren't bops, though, are really losing me. The last few songs on the album are snooze-fests. Except the ending section of I Believe (When I Fall...)

I actually really like the unique way the lead singer sounds. Makes them stand out from other bands of a similar style. It kind of all blends together after a bit, and I just find myself listening to noise. Noise that I like, but I'm not paying attention to what I'm listening to.

The "beep beep. beep beep. yeah!" lives rent free in my head. This is the beginning of my favorite Beatles era. Just a lot of my favorite songs from the Beatles, and a really good album beginning to end.

It's a little kooky, a little strange, but well created and sounds really good. His voice is a little off-putting, but it works well for his style. I ended up tuning out for over half the album. I like it, but it becomes really good background noise.

I really love Pink Floyd's instrumentals, so I really enjoy Shine On You Crazy Diamond, all parts of it. There's nothing that really stands out for me in the album, but it's so good from top to bottom. Really good listening.

I was really into it for the first couple songs, but as the album progressed, I started losing interest. The varied voices is kind of a weird thing to do. It just makes me worried about inconsistency with the vocal quality of the songs. To me, there's three distinct sections to the album, a beginning, middle, and end. The middle section is the different by being the most upbeat, and to me, it's the worst section. If you just got rid of it, I think there would be a complete album with a full feeling, and there wouldn't be any necessarily bad songs.

I'm not a big fan of the really deep voice. But I really like everything else with the sound.

To be honest, this makes me think of the Gaither Gospel Band, a 80s southern gospel vocal group. I don't like it. I do really like some of the orchestration, but it's a miss for me otherwise. If there was no singing, I'd say this was a really good instrumental album. But I'm getting the ick from this.

This has some *iconic* 90s sound. I couldn't tell you what that is. Maybe like unfiltered and underproduced? All I know is that it sounds like the 90s. The talent of the musicians is pretty clear. And I feel like they also really like their own style. So the musicianship is just really good.

Really good. But doesn't really have moments of greatness for me. I do like the style, and the bass slaps.

Bad radio style pop rock

This is some pretty weird stuffy. But there is some strange vibey-ness to it, that makes it tolerable at worst, and oddly enjoyable at best.

Through two songs, both of them have some really great moments. I generally like this style of music - the experimental rock, so I'm a little biased. Lots of really good stuff. There weren't any parts, really, that felt like it didn't belong in the song.

Really good stuff. A couple of weird things that I just didn't vibe with, but for the most part, a really quality album with some really good vocals and instrumentation. I also loved that each track flowed into the next, made for a really enjoyable listening experience. Could have done without Save the Children. That was just weird.

This is goooooood. It's got the throwback garage band sound, while still taking every advantage of music production and quality.

This album definitely benefits from being a live recording. The singing bit in Egbe Mi O is really fun.

This is fine. Not a whole lot of interesting things going on. The first 2ish minutes of Starship was the best part, but I didn't like all the electronic stuff going on after that point.

Skrillex was really overplayed when I was in high school, so I'm pretty burnt out from this heavy electronic dance music. That said, this is good. Like very good music. The ending of Let There Be Light is phenomenal. Some of the songs on the back half of the album are causing me pain. Stress and DVNO, specifically.

I really love Rush's sound. This album isn't quite at the level of Moving Pictures for me, and some of the back end of the album is just there, but the story telling in the first track is incredible.

This is not the first time listening to parts of this album or Sufjan. So, I know already that I really like his sounds, and know to brace myself for some of his weird instrumentations. High key, this is an incredible album. A little artsy (but what Indie album isn't), but full of character.

Yeah, this is some real American rock, with songs about guns and drugs. Kind of wild and weird, but really consistent, which I appreciate a lot. The album quality doesn't change as you progress towards the end of it.

I didn't really like the lead singer's voice. There were some moments of brilliance from the album, but for the most part it was just kind of bland or uninteresting. The ending of the album was by far my favorite bit.

I'm loving the bass on Same Ole Love. I'm a sucker for the poppy bass playing, especially when it carries some melodic weight. The whole album wasn't available on my Spotify, so I wasn't able to listen to the whole thing, but what I did get was good, but not great. A couple of really good songs, and some songs that sounded like they shouldn't be allowed to leave a hair salon.

I was really enjoying this, and then the singer went into his falsetto range, and now all I hear is Tiny Tim. The instrumentation is really good and interesting, but I can't get past how not great the falsetto singing is.

I'm learning that I might not like hip-hop. Don't get me wrong, this is very good. But I just don't think it's my preferred flavor of music.

This is nuts. Eminem is a wordsmith, though, and these songs are so incredibly detailed. It's a pretty profane and insane album, but it's really well done, and I've enjoyed it more than quite a few other albums on the list so far.

I really enjoy the grungy rock of the album, distorted guitars and attitude of the lyrics.

Yeah, this is just kind of fine. I'm wishing it was more rock influenced. I just didn't really like it that much.

I really like this. Chill and subtle. I'm a big fan of quiet/chill music in general, though. So this is just in my wheelhouse. I really enjoy the different instrumentations. The horn section in Down was a really great touch. I really enjoyed the first half of the album, but then I just started getting lost in the second half, starting with Coconut.

Didn't really get it. I can understand why it's good, but not for me.

His guitar playing is incredible. I really have no idea how guitarists can play a melody line and chords at the same time. The lyrics of his music are thought provoking and just generally interesting. I love the sounds. The anti-war music of the 60s and 70s is low-key some of my favorite music, and this feels like an evolution in that style, even if it doesn't have the same message.

This is sooooo good. Excellent instrumentation and musicality. Giving me a lot of feels. Why Keep On Breaking My Heart is kind of a dud for me. Everything else, so far, is incredible. I tuned out for a little bit, but that's because I listen at work, and I got bombarded with emails, but this is so good.

Confession: I've never actually listened to Elvis besides some of the iconic hits, and I never really liked them all that much, honestly. So it's nice to listen to Elvis apart from a top hits. And the first two tracks have changed my opinion on Elvis. I love all the varied styles and genres in the album, really shows a depth of talent from Elvis.

Yeah, this misses for me more than it hits. There's a few flashes of brilliance, but most of it feels over-the-top. I couldn't even finish the last song.

Neil Peart is the best. Tom Sawyer is one of my absolute favorite songs. The vocals, the bass licks, the solos. It's all just so fucking good.

I'm learning I don't really love the 90s vibes, but this is a pretty good album. Don't really love anything, but it is pretty good.

It's like Wanna Be Beatles, but they're actually really good. I really liked the story-telling bit, and will probably re-listen to the whole album again.

The bass is the only thing that I'm really enjoying from this album. His voice isn't impressive, nor do I feel like unique or interesting.

It's got that experimental vibe, but it's kind of, tame? Not that that makes it bad, but if they were going for the wild and different, why wouldn't you really go for it? I guess this was one of "the first great American albums to come from the underground". So I'll cut it some slack, but it just doesn't do enough for me. The guitar work is top notch. The back half of the album is much better than the first half, in my opinion.

There's a lot right with Elton John's music. His piano work is always excellent. The instrumentation with strings, brass, and woodwinds. His voice is also distinct and wonderful.

Some really good Americana vibes. I do have a love/hate relationship with vocalists in this genre, as I often feel like they sing in a way that hurts the quality of the music. For the most part, though, this avoids the poor quality sound. This is just a really good Americana album. Maybe the best I've ever heard in this genre? But there's not really much competition for "Best of Americana".

A really, really good jazz album. The funky time signatures are the highlight, but they only get to shine because everything else is executed so well.

I'm not really sure what I was expecting, but this is really good. You can pretty easily trace how their music influenced the next generation. What's impressive is that even with the hindsight of the evolution of the genre this still holds up and is really enjoyable. I'm really glad the songs are so short. I feel like if they went much longer they'd start bordering on annoying, but they're kind of the perfect length.

I really don't like the singer's voice. But I also don't like Bob Dylan's voice, and I think that's kind of what he's going for. Other than that, this album is really incredible. Excellent instrumentation. Some really interesting songs, too.

Listening to this album makes me realize that I'm mostly just a fan of the Police's hits. They are this interesting blend of reggae and rock, but it really doesn't do much for me overall. Message in a Bottle is still a bop, though.

I didn't know that I was a Black Sabbath fan until today. Some really good stuff. Not quite sure if it's what I would call Metal, or just 70s Metal. It feels like it's missing something. Just not punchy enough. But really solid.

Some interesting bass lines, and I like the phasing parts. But all in all, this album really isn't for me. I'm not a fan of electronic heavy music, or music that relies on loops, and this heavily leans on both.

This feels like the album wants to be jazz but is afraid to try. It's blues, I guess, but I don't think that the genre choice was intentional, and in my opinion, that really hurts it. If they were intentional about their style and sound this might be good, but it is just meh. Eli's Coming puts the train back on the tracks, so to speak, but I'm already pretty checked out.

I love a good concept album, and this kills it, in that sense. But it goes a little too hard for me.

This is a tough one to rate. With hindsight and some of his takes on the album, there's some pretty hurtful things that he says. But the music is really good. The lyrics that aren't controversial or hateful are really good, and occasionally brilliant. I love that he shares his story of the album on the last track. If he wasn't a shitbag guy, this probably gets 5 stars/a 10.

A really good Christmas album. Some of the best versions of classic Christmas songs. But does a Christmas album, even if one of the best, deserve a spot in the top 1001? I don't think so.

This was bad. The only thing that I kind of liked were some of the instrumentals in the background, but they were also just on repeat, so even that got boring.

I don't normally like EDM music, but this is hitting a little different than it normally would for this genre. The repetitiveness of the songs kills it a bit for me. The melodic material is all very good, and the vocals are always well timed. I'm left wishing songs were 30 seconds to a minute shorter so that I'm getting less fluff and just the best stuff.

The album art had me a bit deceived. I thought this was going to be some driving and distorted guitar heavy music. But I am pleasantly surprised by what this album actually is. Despite my expectations being wrong in a pleasant way, I'm not sure I really actually enjoy this album. It's better than what I was expecting it to be, but there's a lot of misses for me on the album.

Just not good. Uninteresting. The best part was when it ended.

I don't like the dance era of Taylor, but sue does still have very good music. Just not my Swift Style. The harmonies are on point

I like George Harrison! I think he's got great musical ideas! But over 100 minutes for an album is too long! I couldn't finish this album! It would have been better if he broke it into two smaller separate albums, and he could have developed some songs more, made them more unique. If this album is a normal respectable length it gets 3 maybe 4 stars from me.

I'm not sure I would call this one of the greatest albums of all-time, but it is, at worst, really solid for sure, and has some really nice highlights in Sunshine of Your Love. The back half of the album is so good. I take back what I said before. This definitely belongs.

I'm learning that I really like this rock-a-billy/bluesy rock kind of music, and this album is no exception. A few moments really stand out, but otherwise, so far, solid throughout. The tempo changes are sooooo good.

This is fine, but I think if I wanted to listen to Willie Nelson, I'd rather listen to some of his outlaw country music, not him singing covers.

Maybe one of the greatest rock albums of all-time.

I don't know that I would call this the Byrds best album. It's definitely one of their most developed, that shows their most growth and change. But I don't think that necessarily makes it their best. Still good, though! Moog Raga sounds like it would be in one of those weird SpongeBob episodes.

I feel like Neil Young is the king of bad lyrics with really good music. The instrumentals are so good, but I just don't care about most of what Neil is saying. Old Man is a good song, though.

I'm not really a big fan of electronic music. This is one of the best electronic music albums I've listened to, though. The repetition gives comfort, and the slight variations in the melody or adding/removing a channel (is that the right word?) becomes really noticeable and impactful.

Yeah, I think I'm okay only listening to Tom Petty's hits. This album is good, but I don't think it's great. It's consistent, which I really appreciate, but Luna and American Girl are the only really highlights, and they're not dramatic highlights by any means.

This is actually subtly really good. Repetitive, but has a lot of small changes and developments that it's never boring. It doesn't demand your attention to be a really good album, but when you do give it the attention all the small details become really enjoyable.

Lots and lots of bangers. Hits a bit a of a low point in the middle of the album, but starts and finishes on high, high notes. Great classic rock.

The instrumentals are really good. Some of the piano riffs are top notch. The lyrics are also really good, from what I can catch. My brain generally doesn't work fast enough for me to understand rapping. High key, this is a really good album. There hasn't really been a single dud song on the album. Even the songs that aren't among the best on the album have moments of excellence.

There's a vibe to it, but it's hidden under a bunch of stuff that's bad. Just not for me.

So, I hear this as the more rebellious version of The Beatles, but I'm not sure that I like it more than the Beatles. I do get it, and I don't dislike it, but it doesn't measure up to the other music of the time for me. It is still good, and deserves a place in the top albums of all-time though! The back half of the album is also much better than the first, but I think that's because it gets away from that rebellious attitude and settles down a bit.

Each new song that I listen to through Are You a Hypnotist?? on this album because my favorite song on the album. The only exception to that is Pt 2 of the title track, and even that wasn't a bad track, I just didn't like as much as what I had already listened to. This is an awesome album. It kind of hits some of my favorite things about music. Melancholic. Is experimental in sounds/noises, but doesn't allow that to be the driving music. And it also has a good story. This isn't mind blowing, but it is really really good.

I really like big band jazz. Lets multiple instruments shine. I prefer slower tempos generally, and most of this album is fasssstttt. But it's really good throughout. Doesn't really do anything revolutionary, but it's the height of big band. Excellent dissonances and I was bobbing along to every song.

One of the best Beatles album (not the very best, in my opinion). Really straddles the crazy psychedelic Beatles and the rock Beatles, and I think it kind of nails it perfectly.

The lyrics are really detailed, which makes it a little hard to get the full scope of his music on one listen through. The light instrumentation means the electric (steel?) guitar really shines in its moments, and the harmonies on Paradise are excellent. Better than Bob Dylan.

One of my favorite musical duos of all time, but I've never actually listened to this whole album. They're just so incredibly talented, and every song is at minimum interesting to listen to, if not a certified banger. The guitar work paired with their harmonies and *also* great lyrics? Just an all-timer. I don't think it replaces my favorite album from them though.

This album doesn't really stand out on its own, but it does lay the foundation for a lot of the 90s and 00s music that follows it (including some of the other Radiohead albums). It's definitely good, but without its influence, I'm not sure it deserves a spot in an unbiased top 1001. I do like the style a lot and enjoyed every track, though.

Aside from No More Mr. Nice Guy, this album just doesn't do anything for me. It sounds like other stuff from the era, just worse. I'm also not a big fan of some of the content of the lyrics. Gives me the ick.

Radiohead goes harder than I thought/remember them going. I really love the the electronics and post production instruments are used to enhance what was already there, rather than be the focal point of the music. Definitely some certified bangers on the album. No real low moments at all during the album, but it's lacking a wow factor for me.

Listened to this album while hangry and doing chores, so I'll try not to hold that against it. Honestly, the best songs on this album are some of the best songs ever. Every Breath You Take, Synchronicity II, King of Pain, Wrapped Around Your Finger. There are a couple of misses, though, that actually make it tough to get through the whole album.

This is mostly just too weird for me, and lives mostly in a genre that I don't like, house/dance/electronic sound. It's not bad, but it isn't really enjoyable for me. I am glad that she leans into her unique sounding voice, rather than shying away from it and trying to create more "normal" sounding music.

A good Beatles album, but it's one of the few albums that doesn't have a ton of hits. A good album, but definitely not one of their best.

My biggest "issue" with the album is just that it's live. I feel like it takes away from all the interesting things Sam Cooke brings to the table. The music is really good, though. Sam's voice is interesting, and his songs are fun. Just wish this wasn't a recording of a live performance.

This is giving me Meatloaf vibes, in the best way. I really love the orchestral touches and evolution in this. A lot of really interesting bits exist only because they challenged the expectations of what rock and roll should be. I also wish there was more through-composed popular music like some of the songs on this album.

This is really good 70s country, which is pretty expected since Dolly is a queen of country. There are a few things that I'm glad we moved away from that are mainstays in this album, mostly the "bouncy" bass lines and some of the plucky guitar work. But those were standards of the time, and also just minor issues.

You can tell that this is a group that is really trying something new, as they've got that unrefined kind of sound. It does get credit from me for that, but ultimately, I don't think it goes far enough.

Some of the lyrics are problematic, but otherwise this shit just fucking rocks. Sweet Child O' Mine is a banger, Welcome to the Jungle is insane. This album is definitely Hall of Fame worthy, but it's not quite inner circles Hall of Fame, if that makes sense.

This album just makes me miss Simon and Garfunkel. This genre/style isn't doing Paul Simon's voice any favors. You Can Call Me Al definitely exists and Graceland is good, but this album is mostly a miss for me.

Based on the first track, I was really worried that this was going to be an EDM/House/Dance album, which I would have not enjoyed. BUT it was just a fakeout. A real emotional album, excellent lyrics, and instrumentation that supports it. A really wonderful surprise (as I've never listened to the xx before).

Just some really good classic American rock n roll. Some big times hits and some hidden gems (for those not familiar with Lynyrd Skynyrd like myself), and not a single disappointing or bad song throughout. Spotify had some demo versions that don't really do much for me, but I'm not holding that against the album.

I feel like this is a victim of just having to pump out an album a year. The highlights of this album are awesome, but there's just so much fluff that's not needed. A 'Best Of' album by Stevie Wonder would be an auto-10, but there's so many songs on this album that aren't even that good. Even some of the songs have extra fluff, that if you trimmed them down they'd be a lot better. Honestly, just go listen to Stevie's best songs and leave the albums alone.

I didn't really enjoy this? Which is strange, because they do things that I generally enjoy, and they're leaning into a style that I also usually enjoy. I think just most of the album falls flat for me.

Some really good rock blues. I wish there was some more variety throughout the album, but that just makes Layla shine all the more when you do get to that song. A few other songs are top notch, and the rest of it is just incredibly solid.

A really good album, and a great response to hitting the mainstream from the previous album. Heavy and abrasive, and excellent writing (for the most part; not a big fan of screaming "R*pe me"). The hits coming from this album are also deserving of their popularity.

Kind of bounces between really great folk music, and Sufjan Stevens kind of odd sounding, but it's never really bad, and the album has some really great "high" moments.

I really don't want to give this a one star, because Bob is a great guitar player, and the harmonica work is excellent, but I absolutely hate his voice, and it kills everything for me. The intonation sucks. His vocal embellishments are cringy. The vocal strain is bad. It's just bad.

So In Love is an incredible song. Everything else is kind of a miss, though. The vibes are great, but the singing drags it down, and I'm left wishing this was 30 minutes of So In Love.

This mostly ends up feeling kind of like a Kirkland brand Genesis or other synth heavy band. Still good! But not an original vibe or top name brand quality. Good, but doesn't blow me away.

This just fucking rules. It's got a classic rock sound and vibe with the attitude of the aughts. The guitar solos are excellent, and the singer is masterful in the control over his voice.

There's nothing here that's particularly good. Sometimes her voice sounds really nice, but on the whole it's forgettable. Definitely not a bad album though. Just not special.

Definitely a tale of two halves. The first half is different, experimental, and awesome. The second half is some classic motown, which just doesn't hit as good after the first half. Wishing the first half was more, or by itself.

Riders on the Storm is the big hit on the album, but I think some of the bluesy stuff is better music. Some solid stuff, but I don't think it really stands out.

They've got a great sound, but I get a bit tired of it quickly. They're still a really good group, and even though this album doesn't have any big hits, there's still some great listening on the album.

I really like the rock music, and the lyrics are really well crafted. There's some quality difference in some songs. The beginning of the album was missing something for me, but the album gets better and better as it goes. Not great, but this is definitely good.

I'm not a huge fan of his voice, and while the music is fine and has some flashes of brilliance, it's never really consistently great. The star of this album is the lyrics and the story of the full album. They're dark and sad, but well crafted and make for a great listen.

Hell Yeah

I really don't like Bob Dylan's voice, and Idiot Wind is the perfect storm of why I hate it. But then immediately after that song on the album, he voice is much less abrasive. It really actually let me listen and appreciate his lyrics, and also was kind of a window into why he is such a highly regarded musician.

This could be a really, really good album, but there's some songs on here that are just misses, that don't do much of anything interesting. The good songs are excellent, including some of the 3-part harmonies, but it's just not a great album from beginning to end.

This was way different than what I was expecting, but it was so good. Her voice was perfect for the style, and the "triphop" was a jam the entire time. It does fall just short of a 10 for me, but it is darn close.

I was fully expecting this to be a bad album, but it's actually really good folk (even if it is occasionally weird/odd). His voice is perfect for the genre and vibes. I don't really appreciate the use of slurs in any music. But outside that, this is a great album.

I'm finding that every Radiohead album doesn't really have a standout song for me. Which is more about the fact that all of the songs go so well together and are all excellent, rather than any single song being single worthy. This one just feels like one complete idea. The album is a tapestry of songs all woven together.

The backing tracks are actually really awesome. The lyricism is really great, but the content is often too violent or misogynistic for me to really get behind it.

High key, the instrumentation and instrumentals are incredible. I really don't like the singer's voice, though. The spoken parts are kind of perfect. I really don't like how much I actually truly enjoyed this album.

This is not for me really. I can see why this is on the list as a boundary pusher, and helped evolve music, but I won't be listening to this again.

This just fucking slaps. It's like Kansas, but turned down to like and 8, rather than an 11. I was really worried the album would fall flat a bit as it went on, but it constantly surprised me and some of the back half was even better (not all of it). This is saved, added to playlists, and I can't wait to listen to it again.

I have a really hard time catching the lyrics, which is what (apparently) makes this album great. Without that it all just kind of falls flat. There's some good production work, but otherwise I'm not into it. Good enough that it's not bad, though.

Bon Jovi's hits are so good. You could argue that they're overplayed, but I would say they're played that much because they are *that* good. The album does, however, have a feeling of the hits and some other songs, but that's probably more a me problem being unfamiliar with other Bon Jovi songs. The songs other than the hits aren't quite misses, but they're not as good as the hits.

Some of the best big band jazz I've ever heard. The variety in singers is wonderful, because every single one of them is really talented. This is just kind of like chicken soup for my soul.

I'm liking this album more than our previous Stones album, Aftermath. I do like the folky rock style a lot, and I feel like the identity of the album is a lot more clear. I know what it's trying to be, and how it's accomplishing that. There's no real "highlight" on the album but it's an incredibly solid and consistent listen from beginning to end, which is something that I really appreciate. A hit or two would make this into a 5-star album for me, but it just misses on that.

Weird, and not enjoyably weird. The vocals aren't great, and the rest of it is just odd folky music with some ancient instruments thrown in (that was a nice touch, though). Not worth listening to.

This is fine pop/blues/jazz. Nothing really impresses except her voice. The light instrumentation doesn't elevate or highlight. Just a fine album.

I just don't like this. Like, there's nothing enjoyable about this to me.

There's some really good instrumental moments in this album, including "Trillium". I enjoy the folk/country/rock vibes, but the psychedelic moments are not quite as enjoyable. A good album that isn't a major hit, but also avoids missing, for the most part

Man, Neil is just not a great singer, or at least I don't like his voice, at all. His lyrics are really good, though. If he would have been content to just be a songwriter for a different vocalist, this would be top tier stuff. Everything except the vocals on this is incredible. Like, an easy 10 if any other professional singer is taking lead.

This guy gives me the creeps. Which sucks because the rest of the music is actually pretty good. But this is unlistenable because of the lyrics.

I generally really love the guitar and bass playing on Neil's albums. The solo on Down by the River goes on quite a bit too long for me, though. Actually all of the instrumentals are a bit too long for me. I don't mind music with really long solos or instrumentals (I'm a big Kansas fan), but the ones on this album just don't do enough new or interesting things to really keep me engaged.

I was not familiar with anything Tracy besides Fast Car, but this is a really good acoustic album. It doesn't stand out as a best ever, but it is very, very good.

This is really, really good. I love the choice timings for harmonies. Occasionally there's some really interesting and great chord choices. The instrumentation and vocals pair together wonderfully. There's not a single miss on the album, and there's some really, really good songs that push it over the top for me.

Ugh, the first song was fine, but this guy is a bit of a creep, and his music makes me uncomfortable. Yeah, the album starts fine, but then it immediately gets bad and cringy and nearly unlistenable. I would have a better life if you promised me that I would never listen to Scott Walker ever again in my life.

Slaps. There's not significant lowlight to the entire album, and neither does any song stand out above the rest for me. A really great album, but one that I think misses out on being like a top 50ish. Still well deserved on this list, and I really enjoyed listening to it.

It either starts off a little too indie for me, or I just wasn't fully prepared for the sound/style when I started up the album, but god damn it's growing on me. Really good indie music. Raw and unique. It doesn't blow me away by any means, but it is really solid album to listen to.

Tonality that no one musician would touch with a 10-foot pole, and Miles Davis and his friends make this one of the smoothest sounding albums ever??? Incredible. I honestly could have done without the last track. The singing is just not up to par with the rest of the instruments. Favorite song: Moon Dreams

I'm not really impressed at all? Maybe because it's "old" pop punk, but imo this isn't that good. Space Invaders is rad, but the majority of everything else is a miss for me. The soft ventures into other genres is really cool, but when the base sound isn't great, it's like adding sprinkles to bad food.

At this point in my life, I need big band music that I'm listening to for the first to do something interesting, and there's nothing that stands out about the first half of the album to me. I would listen to it again, but I'm not going to go seek it out. Now, the ballads on the second half of the album are a completely different story. I'm a big sucker for slow jazz ballads, and these songs are killing me.

If I listened to this in the 80s, I'd probably think this is rad as hell, but in today's context it doesn't really sound good, and I'm mostly uninterested.

I need to be careful, because I could describe all the things I love about this album in detail, and I don't want to get too long winded. The songs are incredibly well crafted, from lyrics, to guitar riffs, to offsetting the drums. The back half of the album simply cannot keep to the same standard of the first half, but it's still really good.

Yeah, I'm just not a big fan of live albums. I do enjoy listening to music live, but I don't want the same experience when listening to a recording. I do like the vibes of the band/music/album, the slightly jazzy rock. Yeah, this would be awesome to listen to live, but I really am uninterested in this kind of album layout for a recording.

This is some fine Indie Pop. A couple of songs have good vibes to them. I don't have anything bad to say about the album at all. But I also don't really have anything great to say? It just ends up being a good but not great album for me.

I'm not really a fan of the first few tracks. This is all just kind of too weird without much direction, in my opinion. It feels like something frog men would listen to. I don't know what that means exactly, but that's what it sounds like. After a few songs, it mellows out, and the avant guard-iness plays so much better in this low energy/slow tempos. I'm glad I didn't fully give up on it after the first half, because I ended up really enjoying the second half of the album.

The bass playing is pretty slick, especially on Erzulie. But otherwise I'm not interested. The male vocalist is boring and bad, and the instrumental being a weird mix of synthetic and acoustic just is not combining very well. This gets worse as I listen too. I'm so checked out, and just waiting for the album to end.

I'm not a big hip-hop fan, but greatness is still easily recognizable. There's a few songs that I don't like at all (either Break or React, I don't remember already), but otherwise this slaps hard. This isn't quite best of the best, but it is excellent from beginning to end. Beats go hard, lyrics are topical and well crafted.

This a really good punk album. I'm not blown away by it musically, but I don't think that's what makes it legendary. It is a really, really good album. There's not really any highlights for me personally. Just a whole lot of good late 70s punk from beginning to end. Listening to this 45 years after its release, I don't think it has any of the same impact that it may have once had. In comparison to the music being released today, this is no longer ground breaking in any way. But I can appreciate its historical significance.

It's house music. Everything gets repeated or looped about 418 times, so the interesting stuff becomes boring and the bad moments become a nuisance. I just don't like this style or genre, and nearly quit listening to it.

The first song was good! But then it gets kind of bad immediately after. Not really interested in much else going on in the album. The bass playing is pretty great, though. I do think the changes in vibes and style a bit made in the second half of the album elevate it some, but it's still not that good.

I feel like this album is just "Imagine" and friends. Nothing else really lives up to that song. Not that any of it is bad, it all still has the John Lennon vibes, but none of it is as good as Imagine

This is some really good hip-hop. Shit constantly slaps. I don't know what else to say about this, just because I'm not familiar enough with the genre and the history of hip-hop. But I enjoyed it, and it was good music the whole time.

I've never actually listened to this album, so we're learning some things about Franz today. Take Me Out might be one of the best songs ever. I could listen to it on repeat for hours. I was a little worried that it would overshadow every other song on the album, and while it is still the best song, the rest of the album really holds up well. I'm bobbing and jamming along to The Dark of the Matinee and Darts of Pleasure. Just an excellent album in total. They stay true to their unique sound throughout, but vary themselves enough that each song feels unique.

This isn't really an album that I would expect to find on this list. About halfway through, and this is good, but I'm not sure what makes this so special or important to be here. Yeah, this is fine, but it's not great. The novelty of the singing gets old pretty quick for me. The guitar playing and distortion is pretty nice, though.

They can be a little much sometimes. But when it's not noise pollution or overstimulating, it's really great music. Tight vocal harmonies, instruments are all in sync. This is great, but it falls short from elite, for me. A few odd songs, and sometimes there's just too much going on. But I was bobbing along to most songs, and it's an overall great listen.

Better than earlier Metallica albums! I'm glad they slowed it down. It lets the differences in each song stand out more, so the album doesn't sound like one continuous song. Favorite Song(s): Enter Sandman, The God that Failed

Most of the songs sounded very similar to each other, which is probably more a reflection of the genre than the album, but I checked out after the 3rd song or so. He's a great singer, he's got a good band, and this is probably one of the best blues albums, but I don't really need a full blues album in my life. Favorite Song: How Blue Can You Get?

There are some staples of the genre on this album, and they're a little different than the most popular versions of the songs, but they still slap hard. Some of the singing is off-putting, but it's only brief moments of a couple songs. The instrumentation is incredible, especially for the time. It's honestly a really incredible album from beginning to end. I did skip all the alternate versions that were at the end of the Spotify album, because I didn't really want to "re-listen" to songs with minor changes to them.

An incredible album from beginning to end. It's different from the other Radiohead albums we've had, and I love what they did.

Man, I do not like this guy's singing at all. I do really like the general style, but I can't commit to completely listening, because his voice is so bad and off putting. I honestly think I would love this album if it wasn't for the singer. The guitar, drums, and bass are all excellent. The last song on the album is stinky poo poo, though.

The last song in the album keeps this from being a 1/10, but while they were trying to be interesting, they forgot the music did still need to be good. Just not something I want to listen to.

R&B Bass playing is one of the best things in the world. I found myself bobbing and dancing in my chair subconsciously constantly while listening to this. Just a fuckin incredible album. Favorite Song(s): Thinking of You, You're a Friend to Me

This is a much different vibe than Elephant. Not that it's bad, but I do miss the grunginess of the previous album. Like, if I heard this first, I would think they're just an odd rock band. Jack White's voice does carry the songs that aren't as musically interesting. I spent the first few songs just getting used to the less grungy/lighter style, but once I got use to it, this album is pretty great. There's a couple of songs that blow me away, but the whole album doesn't have that same quality.

Really enjoying this. The synth is not a musical choice I would have made, but it's not overused and doesn't take away from anything else. A bit of a strange album, but a very good weird album. Favorite Song(s): Cybele's Reverie, Tomorrow is Already Here, Monstre Sacre

The album starts off with a bang with Karma Chameleon, and it never gets back to that level of quality. In fact, a handful of the songs are just really bad. It's never consistently bad, but the album on a whole is not worth listening to.

Before I say anything else, I just need to note that I don't like this genre or style of music. I generally find repetitive electronic music boring and uninteresting. That said, this album does actually do some really interesting things, even if there is a lot of boring repetitions still. Bending of pitches. Manipulations of samples already introduced. Using non-musical samples in musical ways. I didn't love it, but it wasn't offensive to me, like a lot of other electronic/dance albums have been, and there were some occasional really good things happening!

This album does not start off strong for me. The first couple of songs made me think this whole album might end up a miss, but there's a big swing at "Beautiful Feeling" and the album doesn't really look back from there. Beautiful Feeling is the peak of the album, but every song after that is much better than the first part.

This album as a whole goes hard. Some excellent lyricism and rapping. It gets a little old near the end of the album, but that's not a major issue. There is a major issue of some of the set pieces and some of the content of the songs. They cross a line for me, and it takes away from the album for me. Favorite Song(s): Ready to Die, Juicy, Everyday Struggle

Very clearly a modern singer-songwriter album. Ethereal, breathy singing, and light synth work. Some of the songs could be on a space-related movie soundtrack. A pretty good album, but honestly nothing particularly special.

A couple of the tracks feel like elevator music, and I mean that as a compliment. Smooth, repetitious, but not boring, and incredibly comforting, whether you're actively listening or just letting it play through in the background. This is a really good soundtrack, but that's also kind of all it is. Imo, it's really hard for soundtracks to be among the greatest albums of all-time. This one deserves a spot, but it doesn't get to sit among the elite of the elite. Also, Spotify only has 6 tracks available, and I don't feel like using another platform.

The unusual/experimental stuff is cute, but I really don't think it adds anything worthwhile to the album. There's some moments that are okay, but otherwise it's pretty bad.

I don't love when does some squealy things with her voice, but this is solid lady punk rock. I started listening to this before I was really awake, so I started it over, and this is a much better album that I thought it was on first listen. I think the back-half of the album is the better half, but an awesome album nonetheless.

I think I'm learning I'm just not a big David Bowie fan (this is the third album I've listened to.) It just doesn't really stand out to me as anything particularly special? "Lady Grinning Soul" is a great song, but the rest of the album is just good. A few better than good moments, like the piano solo in "Aladdin Sane", stand out, but on the whole, good not great.

I enjoy a good concept album, but the concept of this one kind of goes away or at least is pretty unnoticeable after a little while. It also sounds nothing like what I would expect a Bee Gees album to sound like, and they're not playing to their strengths. Some of the songs sound like straight Beatles rip-offs. Just kind of a miss overall. Wishing it were a "classic" Bee Gees sound. Favorite Song(s): Edison, I Laugh in Your Face

This is some really nice/chill indie rock. I really like atmospheric sounding music, and this falls under that umbrella. Yeah, this is just comfort music to me. I don't often save albums from this list to listen to again, but I did with this one. It kept getting better until the end, and I just really enjoyed the sound.

This is some fun upbeat electro-pop-rock, but it's repetitive. I could have listened to 30 seconds or less of each song and gotten everything I could have needed from the song, and saved myself maybe half an hour. It is fun. It does groove. But I get quite tired of it pretty quickly. It also probably doesn't help that I had a work meeting break up my listen.

I'm not entirely sure why this album is labeled as Soul/Jazz. I can get behind calling it blue-eyed soul. But it's really Pop with some jazz influences. She's got a great voice, and the album does a great job of highlighting it on every song. All of the instrumentation is just there to support her singing. Outside of her voice, though, the album is pretty bland. It's a good pop album, but not a great one, and pop is just pretty boring. If it was any singer other than Dusty, this would probably be 1-star.

This feels so unique. The jazz elements are just delicious. The bass, guitar, and drums all drive everything forward. The singing is just kind of what it is, but I could live in this sound for days. Every solo was different and interesting, and there wasn't any major or noticeable dips in quality from song to song. Favorite Song: Peg But they were all great.

This isn't bad by any means, but I don't think it really has great legs to stand on. The style is good, and I like his voice, but other than that, it's bounces between standard/normal music and some slightly odd/weird music that's not off-putting, just odd. Favorite Song(s): Everyday is like Sunday

I don't know if my expectations/bias for Led Zeppelin played a role in my opinion here, but the first half of the album didn't really impress me all that much? It is still a good listen, but it didn't particularly stand out to me. But Trampled Under Foot, Kashmir, and In The Light all flip a switch for me, and those songs are by far the best on the album. As an album, on the whole, I'm kind of just whelmed. But those three songs made 1 listen through worth it, but pull them out and listen to them separately rather than relistening to the whole album.

This is definitely some 80s music. There's a couple of moments that are pretty good, but for the most part it's overproduced and cringy. Any moment that I start enjoying the music is ruined pretty shortly after. I didn't really find any whole song good or enjoyable. Favorite Song(s): Small Talk

I love some good protest music, and even though this doesn't fit the historical mold for political protest music, it does still absolutely scratch that itch for me. Unfortunately the sound of Metallica gets pretty worn out for me as the album goes on. They really only have the one setting, and that's fast, loud, and rockin'. Which is fun for a while, but I need something varied, even just a little bit, to keep me engaged.

We Got The Beat doesn't impress me as much as I thought it might, honestly. But the album on the whole is a lot of fun. And the songs are varied enough, even though they all have the same high tempo and vibe, that I'm engaged to every song throughout the album. Favorite Song(s): Our Lips are Sealed, Can't Stop the World

What to say, other than Queen good? Aside from Killer Queen, there aren't any **hits** from Queen on this album, but it still has that incredible, distinctive Queen sound, which means every song will, at worst, will be solid. Most songs are excellent works of artistry.

Honestly, some very good old country. I really love some good steel guitar playing. The high harmonies are a treat whenever they show up. The peak of the album is at the end, which I was a little confused/worried about in the middle of my listen-through, but it made the end of the album that much better. Favorite Song(s): Old Five and Dimers (Like Me), You Ask Me To, Black Rose, We Had It All

The fusion bits are kind of lost on me. So any of the moments that start heavily featuring the electronics I'm a bit out on. Everything else is so so damn good, though. Miles Davis is a jazz genius and it really comes through in all of the quiet moments. Favorite Song: In A Silent Way

Soundtrack-style orchestral music pairs so well with heavy metal. This album is way too long for streaming/listening, but I'm sure the live performance was incredible. I didn't listen to the whole album, but I did listen to enough to know exactly how I feel about it. It's just an elevated version of Metallica's best music.

When I first started collecting records, I always thought Abbey Road was overpriced and overhyped. The more I've listened to the Beatles, though, I've come to learn that a lot of my favorite songs come from this album, and this is some of their best artistry. I honestly don't really have anything negative to say about this album, other than a couple of the songs don't sit in the same tier as the rest, but is that really a complaint if the songs are still very good? Favorite song(s): Come Together, Oh! Darling, Octopus's Garden, Here Comes the Sun

I'm not a huge fan of live albums, but this one is a lot of fun. The band bangs the entire time. The instrumental bridges between the songs are high-key fucking insane. Favorite Song(s): Try Me, I Don't Mind

His voice is pretty unique, and I could see how that could be a problem for some people, but he's a magician with his lyrics and instrumentation. Each song is fairly unique, but all of them have this underlying haunting-ness to them.

The album is high energy, driven by the live performance. There's a couple of major hits on the album, that bring it up a ton for me, but there's a few moments where the band just seems out of sync/tempo, and it just doesn't sound great to me. Favorite song(s): Good Golly Miss Molly

This just isn't it. The first couple of songs are really good, but the rest of the album is either fine, or not good. The synth/drum machine starts pretty interesting but gets old after a handful of songs. It's got vibes, but I find the music mostly uninteresting. "Lady Cab Driver" breaks up some songs worth skipping, but that's only a brief reprieve. I've never actually listened to Prince before, so this experience is teaching me that his hits are great, that rest is just there. Favorite Song(s): 1999, Lady Cab Driver

I don't think there's any individual stand-out from this album. None of the songs really blow me away. But every song is really good. I really like the bluesy vibes, and the varying instrumentation keeps every song interesting. This album is the poster child for high floor, low ceiling. A really, really good album, but no shining star.

I just don't like electronica music. There's nothing about this that is interesting to me.

I can't really explain it, but, as a straight man, this album makes me want to put on a sundress and spin while the sun is shining down on me. This album just makes me happy and comfortable. The jazz music in the singer-songwriter/folk style is incredible. Favorite Song(s): Help Me, Down to You

Jackson 5 is one of my favorite artists, and this is the perfect transition from that group to MJ's solo work. The bass playing is a definite vibe, and his ballads hit so so hard. The last couple songs on the album are a far cry from the quality of the rest of the album, but it does not make a large enough difference to impact the rating much. Favorite Song(s): Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough, Girlfriend

A masterpiece from beginning to end. Not a down moment. Obviously some songs are greater than others, but just one of the greatest albums of all-time. Don't ask me what this means, but I feel like this appropriate music to play at a petting zoo. Favorite Songs: I'm Waiting for the Day, God Only Knows, Hang on to Your Ego

I've listened to the album before, but I did not realize until today that Us and Them is one of my favorite songs ever. Fucking incredible. I love, love, love when an album flows seamlessly between tracks, and this album does that so well I didn't know the track changed a couple of times. This is just an all-time elite. One of the best albums ever. Favorite Song(s): Time, Us and Them, Any Color You Like, Eclipse

The style and genre is right up my alley. Really melancholic without being sad. The melodies, but vocally and instrumentally, drive the album. I would really love to listen to this while driving at night; I feel like that's what this album was specifically created for. There's a few songs that kind of lose the magic of the rest of the album, but on re-listens it's easy enough to just skip them. Favorite Song(s): Rise, Catch the Sun

This album is why reading the little Wikipedia excerpt is really important. Without that, I would have been really disinterested in this album. But knowing that this is the beginning of Shoegaze as a genre really gives the album an air of importance. Musically, this isn't really for me. Underneath all the heavy extreme distortion, it's basically just a pop album, which is why that distortion is so important. Without it, this is honestly a really bad album. Favorite Song(s): Cut the Dead, Some Candy Talking

The album is largely hit or miss, and then it becomes a lot more miss. Aside from the two songs below, it's all kind of same-ish and forgettable with brief moments of musical clarity. I like the vibes and the idea behind the songs/album had a little bit or promise, but it just ends up falling pretty flat for me. Favorite Song(s): Shellback, Belladonna

The album is an incredible vibe from beginning to end. The interludes of the classroom talking about love is really wholesome and fun. The lyrics are excellent, and I was bobbing along from the get go. Favorite Song(s): Ex-Factor, Nothing Even Matters

My foot was tired from tapping at the end of this album, even though it is so short. An excellent early rock and roll album with obvious New Orleans influences. The songs and album are both very short, so not a lot of details to call out, but an album that just makes me happy. Favorite Song(s): What's the Reason I'm not Pleasing You, Blue Monday, Mardi Gras in New Orleans

One of my favorite things that an album can do is flow from one song into another. I think it really shows an intentionality to making an album, rather than just making a collection of songs. Queen is very good at that, even in their early days. Ogre Battle had me really worried that the second half of the album was going to be, uh, not good, but that song kind of stands alone as not great. Besides Ogre Battle being pretty rough, none of the other songs really stood out, good or bad. The whole album has an early/rough Queen Sound (tm), which they obviously refined later. The album misses out on being great, though, imo. Favorite Song(s): Some Day One Day, Nevermore

I hated this. The music itself is fine. It's not particularly good, and it doesn't have any flaws or anything, but I don't like the guy's voice, and the style of music is something that I really don't like. So this is just an un-perfect storm.

This is pretty good. I wasn't overly impressed by their musicianship, but it's a lot of fun. The guitar distortion is excellent, and the vocals find a great balance between singing and screaming (lol). If the album was any longer without any other stylistic changes it might get old, but it's kind of the perfect length. It's also really solid from beginning to end, without any songs that are "duds". Favorite Song(s): Night Time is the Right Time, Good Golly Miss Molly

If this album was Money for Nothing for a straight hour, it would be a 5/5. It still is a really good album, even though none of the other songs really measure up to Money for Nothing (what can, if we're being honest?). It's a lot more vibey than I thought it would be.

The low-fi vibes are pretty incredible on this album. I normally really don't like Electronica albums, but this one hits different. A big thing for me usually is the repetitions of the electronics, but here I feel like those repetitions are used more as a backdrop for the more interesting bits. Honestly, just vibey and fun to listen to. Favorite Song(s): La femme d'argent

There's some pretty good moments in a couple of songs. Hymn for the Dudes has a great riff. Whizz Kid is a good song. But otherwise, I'm having a hard time finding any song that I really like, or that sounds good from beginning to end. This album is hard, because there's some good moments, some meh, and some moments that are really not good.

This is basically just slightly elevated shitty club music. For the most part it's fine. There's some parts that aren't good, and the style is just boring.

I don't like that this is a compilation album. There's not really any other "best of"s or comp albums post 1950s on this list. I do like this music, though. So I'm in this difficult spot of trying to rate an album that I don't think should be on the list, but am thoroughly enjoying. Musically, it's not complicated at all, but it doesn't need to be. They want to blow your face off with distorted guitar riffs, muted screaming vocals, fast tempos, and drums that sounds like a train that lost its breaks. They do all of those things well. On principle of it being a compilation album: 1 star Rating it as if it were any other album: 3.5 star (ish) So we'll split the difference and call it a 2 star. Favorite Song(s): A.K.A. I-D-I-O-T, Main Offender

This is a major vibe. A lot of fun. I don't like some of the instrumentation, but that's more a cultural difference than poor music choice. I'm having a hard time differentiating the songs from one another, so I don't really have a favorite, but they're all a good time.

Honestly, not that impressed. It sounds good, but it's carried pretty heavily by Gimme Shelter, and You Can't Always Get What You Want closes it out, and that's really all that's notable about it. Other than those two songs, though, the rest of the album feels really forgettable.

Aw shit. How do you rate this anything other than a 5/5 or 10/10???? It's just hit after hit after hit, and the songs that aren't top 10 hits are top 50 hits. (and then there's Second Hand News). Just an incredible album. I get goosebumps listening to The Chain, even though I've heard it hundreds of times. The vocals throughout are incredible. Favorite Song(s): Dreams, Don't Stop, *The Chain*, I Don't Want to Know

It's a shame that these albums are paired together, because Speakerboxxx is a 5, while The Love Below is a 1. It took me a second to adjust to Speakerboxxx, but I was grooving and vibing to every track. There wasn't any 1 particular song that stood out, but rather the entire album was well-constructed, well-thought-out, masterfully executed, and each feature was used to elevate Big Boi, rather than take the spotlight for themselves. The Love Below did a similar thing with its features, the issue is there's not a whole lot that's great to highlight and elevate. The album is overly repetitious and also quite a bit over sexualized. There's a time and place for that kind of musical content, but the first half of the album goes too far for me, and it ends up being a really bad first impression that never really improves. I did like what they did with My Favorite Things. That was very good. Favorite Song(s): Unhappy, Reset / Hey Ya, My Favorite Things

"Ugh, the ending of I'm So Young gives me goosebumps. Beach Boys albums can suffer from songs sounding too same-y, and this one falls into that category. Especially the first half. But you can also hear the development towards Pet Sounds in this album. An expansion of instrumentation. More complex harmonies. And an attempt to get out of the surfing/summer lyrical content rut. My bias bleed through on this rating. I really love the Beach Boys. They just have a really high floor for me, almost exclusively because of their vocal talent. I could listen to them sing harmonies about anything. Favorite Song(s): Help Me, Rhonda, I'm So Young"

It's just good rock. Excellent guitar work, awesome vocals. I love the song structures, very non-standard. I could listen to Led Zeppelin for hours. The abrupt transitions between some songs is pretty jarring. Not sure if that's just the version I'm listening to or actually a fault of the album, though. The only thing this album is missing for me is a real banger. Like a song that absolutely blows me away or a major hit. But it's such a good album from beginning to end, that it's hard to fault it for that. Favorite Song(s): Good Times Bad Times, Dazed and Confused, Your Time is Going to Come

Jump and Panama are iconic songs. I think I like Panama more, just because Jump is a little more pop with the all the synth, but both are the cream of the crop on the album. Some of the songs are a little odd/creepy, but for the most part this is a good album with some great songs. I generally like the rock music from this era, and this is not an exception to that. Favorite Song(s): Jump, Panama, I'll Wait

I honestly love this. It's rock enough, that you could pull out a song and put it on the radio, but it's very clearly an album that begs to be listened to as a complete piece. I actually really like the story. Although, I'm also just a sucker for a rock opera. The only song that really doesn't really do anything for me is Tommy's Holiday Camp. Everything else about the album though, I really, really enjoyed. Favorite Song(s): Christmas, Pinball Wizard, Go to the Mirror!

The more rock influenced music on this album isn't particularly interesting to me. It just doesn't seem like it's fully realized. But the more folk influenced songs, the ones with heavier vocals, are very good and I think they can compete with some of the other major folk artists (i.e. Mamas and Papas). The stretch of songs of 3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds to Embryonic Journey is really good and, in my opinion, the cornerstone of the album. The rest of the album is just alright. I'm not overly impressed by it. Favorite Song(s): 3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds, How Do You Feel

Just some really good, heady, crunchy jazz. It gets a little monotonous, but I'm sure live it's an incredible experience. Favorite song(s): Alice in Wonderland, Jade's Visions

This just makes me happy to listen to. I'm not as familiar with Soul or Al Green to make well-thought comments or critiques, but I'm vibing and having a great time listening. The title track is definitely the cream of the crop here, but every song has something going for it and is a good listen. Favorite Song(s): Let's Stay Together, Old Time Lovin, How Can You Mend a Broken Heart

This is generally one of my favorite styles of jazz. Just a singer, an excellent pianist, and some soft percussion. Her voice is just slightly off-putting for me though. And with this style being so stripped down, something as small as that makes a fairly big difference. Her scatting also is just not that impressive. Overall, it's a fine jazz album, but it's not particularly unique nor incredibly excellent. Favorite Song(s): Willow Weep for Me

This is fine. I do appreciate that it's very apparently real instruments and singing. I do think the instrumentals are probably better, mostly as some of the singing is just not for me. Some of the vocal embellishments are really really good, though. English is also my only language, so I don't understand most of the vocal songs. I'm also not a fan of this being a movie soundtrack. I'm not familiar enough with Bollywood movies and soundtracks, so maybe this is the best soundtrack to come from Bollywood, but that's not something I would know, or even really be able to tell, without listening to more content from Bollywood. Favorite Song(s): Romantic Theme

Musically, there's a lot of stuff that is starting to come out now that sounds exactly like this. It's really really good stuff. I'm not entirely on board with some of the content of the songs, but I also understand what's she's trying to communicate, and why she chose to communicate it in that way. If that makes sense. (looking at you Doves in the Wing). As a 29-year old, I really resonated with 20 Something. Honestly, though, an incredible album. The vulgarity and explicit-ness was a little much on a couple songs, but otherwise no notes from me. Favorite Song(s): Prom, Anything, 20 Something

This just feels like a natural evolution of jazz. Incredible instrumentation. Her voice is perfect for this style and content. This is an album that just feels really comfortable to me, even though I've never listened to it before. And it really just makes me happy. Favorite Song(s): ...& On, Orange Moon, Time's A Wastin, Green Eyes

I think hindsight has only hurt this album. Not dramatically, but I don't think it stands out as much now, as it probably did when it was released. That said, it's a very, very solid album. Not really "greatest ever" but still great. Nothing particularly stands out, other than the keys/synth work throughout the album, which is really well done and balanced. Favorite Song(s): Light My Fire

The musicians are incredibly talented, and the music itself is carefully crafted. There's something vaguely off about the album, that kind of makes it all forgettable, though. I can't put my finger on it, but once a song is over, it kind of feels like I never listened to it in the first place. This album is something that high school me would have *loved*. My tastes have changed some though. This is good modern rock, including good uses of electronics. But it kind of just ends up being good, not great. Non-zero chance I end up coming back to this at some point and relistening, but it'll be to make sure I'm not crazy, and not because I really secretly loved the album. Favorite Song(s)? Starlight

The album bounces between really good brit rock/indie and weird and difficult to listen to Beatles sitar-era rip-off music. If they would have leaned a little less into the latter, this would be a great album, but those misses drag down the whole for me. It's kind of a shame, because the album kicks off incredibly well with Sleep on the Left Side, that I'm left wishing the whole album was like that one song. Favorite Song(s): Sleep on the Left Side

I have a little bit of mixed feelings about this. The album starts off awesome. Overcome is one of my favorites on the whole album, but then it kind of falls off right after. There's a few other good songs, but, as new and experimental albums tend to go, there's also some duds. All-in-all, the album is pretty fine. There's some really good songs, and the style and artistic decisions definitely paved the way for a couple of albums that have already come up on this list. I'm not wholly impressed though. Favorite Song(s): Overcome, Hell is Round the Corner

It's nearly impossible to hear Dizzee Rascal rapping over the music; it's so poorly mixed. A lot of it is painful to listen to. The refrains are bad. Like, really bad. The verses are fine, but the refrains should be a rest from the verses. But when they're this bad, they aren't a rest, and I'm just exhausted trying to listen to this. At least it's recognizable as music. Favorite Song(s): Jus' a Rascal

I'm surprised at how much I'm caught off guard with the excellent guitar work. Like, I know it's Jimi Hendrix, but I keep getting (unexpectedly) blown away. It doesn't really stand out as an elite album to me, but it is very good, verging on great. Favorite Song(s): Spanish Castle Music, Little Wing, Castles Made of Sand

This is some solid punk. It's pretty simple, which isn't a knock against it, but it does kind of cap how great it can be. Yeah, the simplicity of the album cannot be overstated. A good album, but nothing particularly special, other than it sets punk off onto a great track. Favorite Song(s): What's My Name

Parts of this are totally fine. The instrumentals are really interesting, and sometimes very good. I really don't like the low singer at all. His voice is very unclear and uninteresting. There's honestly some really good things in this album! And some very not good things. All-in-all, it's a fine album. I would probably leave it off my top 1001 albums, but I can understand it sneaking in at the bottom of other people's lists. Favorite Song(s): Vastopol, The Softest Hammer

Honestly, not impressed with this album. Feels a tad racist. His voice, while iconic, does a little too much every once in a while. Elvis is talented, and you can hear it, but this isn't a great showcase of his talent. It's a fun album, but it's not particularly good. Favorite Song(s): Blue Suede Shoes

My senses did not like this. It's a very ethereal and floaty, but that gives it a lot of uncertainty and lack of stability. Her voice is interesting, but it's also all over the place. I just could never feel comfortable listening to this. Favorite Song(s): Reaching Out

I'm generally less interested in the post-Beatles albums from any of the former members, but I was actually surprised as how much I actually enjoyed this album. It's not anything particularly special, but it is very good, with a couple of really banger songs. Favorite Song(s): Jet, Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)

A really fun psychedelic funk album. The first track is really interesting, the next 5 tracks are really fun, and then the last track is good but then loses me at the end. The two 10-minute instrumentals make the album as a whole feel really short, and I do kind of wish there was more, but it's a really good album. Favorite Song(s): Maggot Brain, Hit It and Quit It

This hits. The beat is pretty heavily laid out, and everything has a pretty clear rhythmic base to it. That can have a negative impact on some of the singing/raping/lyrics, just emphasizing being on beat more than have free expression of the words. But that only happens a few times and doesn't generally take away from an entire song. This is pretty high floor/low ceiling hip hop. I think it's kind of held back by its sub-genre and less than stellar instrumentation, with exception for the bass. The bass is probably the best part of the album. With the exception of "Move" and "Believe", the album starts with its best stuff, and gets a little worse with each song, until the end, which is pretty forgettable. And honestly, the second half of "Move" follows the pattern of the rest of the album. The Norah Jones part is also an exception. Honestly, this whole album is mostly just good moments put in disappointing songs. The songs are just less disappointing at the beginning of the album. Favorite Song(s): Gettin Up, Move, Believe

The album opens with a Theme and Variation from one of my favorite piano pieces from one of my favorite composers, and then immediately goes into some rocking full band music. I've never been so turned on by an album before. They're a little like an off-brand Chicago, just a little more classical-influenced and honky-tonk(?) and not quite as good. Still a great listen, but they fall just short of great for me. Favorite Song(s): Variation..., Smiling Phases

The vibes are just of a bad version of a Beatles rip-off band. Get It On and Lean Woman Blues can stand up on their own legs and be respectable songs, but nothing else is really any good. And honestly, the album gets pretty bad, too. The only really good things in the album are the two aforementioned songs, and they can't hold up a whole album on their own. AND they're not even really great songs, just good songs. Favorite Song(s): Get It On, Lean Woman Blues

Just some good ole fashioned 90s alt/grunge rock. I don't think it's particularly special (other than Grohl doing this all by himself), but it's still very good, and there's no drop off in quality throughout the whole album. Just some quintessential 90s rock. Favorite Song(s): X-Static, Floaty

I think I'm just too familiar with Smoke on the Water for it to have any sort of musical impact to me. The rest of the album is actually pretty awesome, though. My expectations were pretty low, and I'm pretty blown away. I think my expectations were pretty low because I don't have a ton of respect for Smoke on the Water anymore. So I was pleasantly surprised when the rest of the songs on the album has interesting guitar riffs and and fun instrumentals. It still doesn't really measure up that well to its contemporaries, but it's at least a good, fun, and complete album. Favorite Song(s): Maybe I'm a Leo, Never Before

This is so comforting. Not they lyrics/story, but the music. If all country music was like this, I'd be the biggest country fan. One of the best parts of this album also becomes a criticism of it, though: The album is very simple. There's not a lot of interesting instrumentation, tempos are all very similar (slow). It make the album intimate, and some songs sound like they were recorded out on the porch of a ranch house in the wild west. So, even if it draws a little critique, Red Headed Stranger would be much different if it were recorded any other way. Favorite Song(s): Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, Can I Sleep in Your Arms

Off the bat, the instrumentation on this is really interesting: a stereotypical rock band, but also a brass section and some other miscellaneous instruments that show up on individual songs. Even though their musical formula doesn't change much, I'm still slightly surprised every time the brass section pops up in a song, and I'm occasionally searching to find them, keeping me engaged in even some of the worse songs on the album. This would have been awesome to see live which, based on the Wikipedia excerpt, sounds like it's part of the reason it shows up on this list: the fame/excitement from their live performances and on-stage antics. I honestly really enjoyed the album, and wasn't really expecting much. Favorite Song(s): Born in '69, On a Rope, Salt Future

She said She said This is a bad song The 90s garage alt-rock vibes are strong here, but I don't think this particularly stands out. There's a few cool guitar or drum moments, but nothing ever really comes together completely. Favorite Song(s): If I Can't Change Your Mind, Man on the Moon

Neil Young's voice is really abrasive to me. On this album it sounds like Kermit the Frog mixed with a small child. It sucks because everything else about Neil Young's music is right up my alley and is also very good. I really really want to love Neil, but I always just get stuck on his voice. It pulls me out of any immersion I get from the story of his songs or appreciation of talent and skill of the instrumentalists. Maybe one day I'll be able to listen to an album of his and not get distracted by his voice, but today is not that day. That aside, it's an excellent album. The songs are interesting from a lyric and instrumental standpoint, and there's a ton of variation between the songs that no songs sound too similar to each other. Favorite Song(s): Southern Man, Cripple Creek Ferry

I'm vibing to this a lot more than I thought I would. I'm not really a big endorser of cover albums, especially on a list like this, but this does feel special and stands out significantly. Shiiiiiiiiiit, and the album gets better as it goes on. The middle songs are crazy good. I don't love that this is a cover album, but this may be one of the best blues cover albums ever? I'm not actually qualified enough to comment on that, but I really enjoyed this from beginning to end. Favorite Song(s): Down in the Valley, Shake, Wonderful World

This is odd. I don't really like the shout-singing with de-emphasized enunciation. For me, this is kind of cringy throughout. There are some really great instrumentals and backing music, but the singing brings it down a lot for me. Especially since that's what's emphasized in the balance and mixing. This is just a miss for me. There isn't really a whole lot that I like or enjoyed from this album, and I could have lived without hearing it. Favorite Song(s): Uncontrollable Urge

The album has a lot of the distinctly 90s sounds to it, which I'm generally not a fan of. But this album doesn't highlight those trends, and it powers through them when it needs to. The year and the album art honestly didn't have me very excited for today's album, and I didn't recognize Morissette's name at first, but my bias and apprehension was poorly placed. This album is great. I really love when the bass takes the lead with its funk/disco sounding licks. It provides an awesome contrast to the driving pop/angst rock. And Morissette's voice is perfect for the pop/angst rock. It's honestly just an incredibly well-crafted album, musically. I'm never really good at picking out lyrics, but from what I can make out, she's really pouring out her heart and emotions into these songs. Favorite Song(s): Perfect, Forgiven, Mary Jane

Artistically, a great album. Musically, I'm kind of wishing they didn't go away from the fun-loving, surfer-dude kind of music from their earlier albums. Those vibes and songs live rent free in my head. It's still a very good album. I just like other Beach Boys albums more. Favorite Song(s): Disney Girls (1957), A Day in the Life of a Tree

Kind of sneaky how good it is. The vocal talent itself isn't great, but everything else, musically, is pretty excellent. There are a few songs that kind of drag down the rest of the album, but outside of that, this is great. Favorite Song(s): Electric Feel, Kids, The Handshake

It's good, and the best song on the album being roughly a third of the run time definitely helps. It's missing something that really makes it feel impactful, though, despite being pretty excellent musically. Maybe I'm the one that missing something, but the album really never goes past, "Yup, that's good" for me.

This album is weird for weird's sake. Besides maybe a couple of singles, there's also no real reason for it to be on here, imo. Listen to the "hits" and move on. Favorite Song(s): Lorelei

I really like the beginning of the album. It's so emotionally packed and honestly really good to listen to. But then it slowly starts getting worse. At the end of the album, I'm wincing through pain to finish listening. If the whole album were like the first couple tracks, it would be really, really good. Instead, the album as a whole just falls flat. Favorite Song(s): Lionsong

Kind of unfortunately, you can tell Bowie is getting pretty old on the album in his voice. If this was recorded 10 years earlier, I think Bowie's voice would really shine, but the instrumentalists end up being the shining light, musically, on the album. It's so different and experimental, that I'm tempted to say that it falls a little flat, but I was emotionally invested in every song. A number of the songs also had an incredible groove that was impossible to not bob along to. Bowie's voice ends up kind of being the worst part of the album, which sucks to say out loud. But everything else was tastefully crafted, including the lyrics, that it ends up holding the album back from being truly elite for me. Still excellent, though. Favorite Song(s): Blackstar, Lazarus, Girl Loves Me

It's crazy how this album is only 17 seconds long. Jokes aside, it is a really short album, and I feel like I barely listened to anything that really lets me know how to feel about it. It's just kind of bland Indie Rock that doesn't leave me with any strong impressions. I probably could have lived my life without needing to listen to this. Favorite Song(s): A Forest

The album sometimes has this surreal soundtrack feeling interwoven with the rock genre. I don't think I really understood what the album was going for until Enola/Alone. That track turned around my perception of the album, and the rest of it kind of clicked. I don't know that this is necessarily an elite album, though. I'll give the first couple tracks another listen, after I finish my first listen through. It is a complete album, and there isn't any large variation in song quality throughout, but it never is really good. I liked it, but it's not a great album. Favorite Song(s): Enola/Alone, No Surface All Feeling

Donald's voice is aggressively nasally and pretty strained. It definitely ends up taking away from the album. If you can get past that (and in the moments where his voice isn't pushed to the limits), this is an excellent album. As you'd expect from a former Steely Dan member, the band and instrumentation are both pretty incredible. I wish I could call this an all-time great, but vocals are such an important part of an album for me. Favorite Song(s): I.G.Y., The Nightfly

There's very little that I like about this album. Her voice is nasally. The instrumentation is sometimes interesting, but then it gets really basic and boring. The lyrics are ??? (odd, weird, confusing). This feels like a bad album by a new artist that should have been faded. The only song that isn't ruined is I've Had It, but it also kind of fills it's potential, based on what was on the rest of the album. This didn't need to be on the list. Favorite Song(s): I've Had It

I didn't realize Hard to Handle came out in the 90s! I could have sworn that it was like a Led Zepplin contemporary that did that song. Shows how much I know. This album, though, feels like an incredible call back to 70s rocks. Everything works so well together. The vocals and the instruments blend beautifully. I honestly had a hard time rating this, because it's honestly really simple, but so well done. It doesn't help that I've got some personal bias to this style and Hard to Handle. Favorite Song(s): Hard to Handle, She Talks to Angels

From the first couple moments of the album, you can tell that it's going to be a good one. It is a bit top heavy, imo, but the variation in style from song to song helps keep everything interesting and keeps the listener invested and engaged. My only real complaint is about the singing. They're not able to change the vocal style at all when the rest of the band does. So, there's a few songs where the raspy rock singing just doesn't really fit. It does work well for a lot of the songs, though. Favorite Song(s): Brown Sugar, I Got the Blues

I was looking forward to listening to this, but I ended up pretty disappointed. It's more of a one-hit wonder, as even the other big "hits" aren't particularly good. Like a Prayer stands so much taller than anything else on this album, that I would have enjoyed just listening to Like a Prayer for 50 minutes. Favorite Song(s): Like a Prayer

This is less a music album, and more a work of art. It's a very solid album, but it's much better if you think of it as something to experience in a museum or similar venue. I think it tries to help put you in that mindset with the orchestral music and purely spoken word. I think that also helps with the topic of the album. I don't think the album wants you to take it literally, and it's definitely not encouraging you to do as its main character is doing. With all that in mind, this is really good. I honestly wish it wasn't all spoken word, but I think it would take away from the vibes of the album. I probably won't ever listen to this again, but it was good. Favorite Song(s): Melody

It's just a simple 50s/60s harmony heavy rock and roll. This is comfort music for me. Put it on in the background, and I'll be happy. The lyrics have a lot of the misogyny of the day loaded into them, and some of the blues licks get really old really quick. So, while it's a generally nice listen, if you start digging deeper it's not as perfect as it seems on the surface. Favorite Song(s): Stick with Me Baby, It's Always You

Adele's voice is just so damn good. She might be one of the best modern female vocalists??? While her vocal performance carries the album, it's well deserved, and the album is pretty intentionally built around her performance. The hits also bump this up a touch for me. The album floor is very high, every song is excellent in quality. But the hits show how high her ceiling is. To say anything other than Adele is one of the best modern musicians/vocalists/recording artists, is to admit ignorance. Favorite Song(s): Hello, Send My Love, Water Under the Bridge

Confession: This is the first Johnny Cash album that I have ever listened to. Just needed to get that off my chest first. This album is an emotional punch after emotional punch. The first three songs are disturbingly incredible: musically, lyrically, emotionally. I generally don't love covers, but they're clearly very intentionally picked, and they're done in a unique enough way that they don't take anything away from the other songs, and they only add to the tone/theme of the album. The first half-ish of the album is a 10/10 for me. The rest of it sits in the 7-8 range. I'm going to be sitting, thinking of those first three songs for the rest of my day. Favorite Song(s): Give My Love to Rose, Hurt, The Man Comes Around

It's *vibey*. Moreso than other Fleetwood Mac albums, I would say. The album doesn't have any of their hits that I immediately recognize, but it still has a lot of really great hits. Besides the end of the album, it's a very high floor album with a lower ceiling. The last couple of songs start falling off a bit for me, held up only by their excellent musicianship and vocals. It doesn't blow me out of the water, but I'll be damned if it isn't a great album. Will definitely save it for another re-listen later. Favorite Song(s): Over & Over, Save Me a Place, That's All for Everyone, Sisters of the Moon

This is fine. It's not particularly good, though, and I'm not really sure its place on this list. The long instrumentals are not bad, but they don't do enough interesting things to justify taking up the majority of the songs. On the other hand, I don't think the singer is very good, and when the instrumental sections start, I'm a little relieved to not have to hear the creepy tones of his voice. Favorite Song(s): All Tomorrow's Parties

It's a good album. The variety of styles/genres is honestly really incredible, especially since there isn't really a quality drop off, when they move away from a more comfortable rock sound. There are some real gems mixed throughout the album, too! Musically, his voice is pretty rough to listen to at times. When it gets really whiny/nasally, it's really hard to listen to and can ruin a few moments. The album is also just too long. There are albums that can justify a runtime 2 hours or more, usually albums with a longer story to tell. This is not one of those albums. There's no reason that this couldn't have been broken up into 2 albums. Favorite Song(s): Tonight, Tonight, Porcelina of the Vast Oceans, Take Me Down, 1979

At this point, Wonderwall is a meme and overplayed. But on release, I can see how this song was really impactful. This is a really simple album; it has "big" choruses or whatever they were trying to say in the wikipedia blurb, but it's not frilly big choruses, if that makes sense. It's pretty straight forward music, made for the masses. There's nothing bad about the album, but it doesn't strike me as great. Very good, though, from beginning to end, and no duds. It's just there. Favorite Song(s): Don't Look Back in Anger, Champaign Supernova

I don't often get through an album without many thoughts, but this album is one of those rare exceptions. There is nothing particularly of note or interest to me with this album. It is simply a fine pop album. But this isn't supposed to be a list of fine albums; it's supposed to be a list of the greatest albums of all time. And it just doesn't do anything noteworthy for me. Favorite Song(s): Columbia

I've only ever listened to Take On Me by a-ha before, so it's nice to hear the vocal quirks and talents from that song on other songs as well, for better or worse. This album is kind of just hits and other songs. The hits really do stand out over the others. That's not a bad thing, but it keeps an album from being excellent for me. Favorite Song(s): Take On Me, Hunting High and Low, The Sun Always Shines on TV

It's low-key absolutely crazy how this sounds like 2000s or later punk. Truly ahead of its time. Aside from that, I don't think it really stands out though. In context of the 80s, and looking at it as an influential album, it's pretty incredible. But musically, comparing it to its contemporaries, it's another punk album without anything particularly special about it. Still good, though! All the songs do kind of blend all together. Favorite Song(s): Look, Back & Laugh

I am familiar with the song Two Weeks, but I did not know the band or the name of the song. This album is Indie Indie, which is pretty unexpected, tbh. Most of the albums I've listened to (260-ish of them) have all been fairly large, in name, sales, reputation, or critical reception. I really like Indie music, and this is a cream of the crop Indie album. I know not everyone is going to particularly enjoy it, but I really do. Favorite Song(s): Two Weeks, About Face, Foreground

I love the harmonies in Alice in Chains. It sometimes surprises me that this heavy rock band has these really incredible vocal harmonies. Honestly, all the musicality of Alice in Chains is really good. All the members are locked in with each other and understand how to work together to make a complete sound. Personally, this is a little too heavy for my tastes. The music is really good, but it falls just a bit outside my range of heavy rock that I personally enjoy. Favorite Song(s): Rain When I Die, Rooster

It's honestly really incredible how quality this sounds from the get-go, and it just never really stops. Black Magic Woman is obviously the well-known hit from this album, but in the context of the other songs, it really doesn't actually stand out all that much, because everything on this album is that good. I do wish there was some more vocals, just to help me differentiate the songs from one another, but that's really only a minor complaint. The vibes on this album never really stop. Favorite Song(s): Oye Como Va

There's some songs that are interesting or vibey, but most of the songs are a miss for me. I'm holding out final judgement for the album after Paper Planes, but my opinion is low before we even get there. Okay, yeah. Paper Planes is still as good as it was when it came out. The rest of the album, though, ranges from bad to meh. The album never really feels cohesive, some of the instrumentation and style choices were interesting, but that was kind of it. Favorite Song(s): Paper Planes

MJ's sound in this album is so iconic that if you took his voice out, I think the music is still clearly recognizable. Holy shit. Man in the Mirror straight fucks. Like, I knew going into listening to the album that it was probably going to be my favorite song. But I always forget just how great this song is. An insanely good album. Some of the songs are kind of forgettable, but the hits go so hard that they quickly make up for it. These songs don't measure up to Man in the Mirror imo, but deserve a shoutout: Bad, Speed Demon, Liberian Girl, Smooth Criminal. Favorite Song (far and away): Man in the Mirror

The album starts off pretty hot. The indie style seems like a great choice for them, but I also never listened to a Blur album before. It starts off with a band, but kind of slowly fades. After the first 6 or 7 songs, you've heard everything that you need to from them. The only song in the back half that really does anything for me is Look Inside America, but I always end up enjoying European songs criticizing America. Save yourself 45 minutes by just listening to Song 2, You're So Great, and then something else randomly chosen from the album, and you've heard everything important. Favorite Song(s): Song 2

The vocals were hard to listen to at the end. And even in the beginning, it just sounds really lazy and uninteresting. The rest of the band picked up some of the slack from the vocals and kept me listening and engaged. If there was a different singer on the album, I'd maybe give it a 5, but good vocals are so important to me, especially on a first listen, that this ends up falling in rating for me. The band really is quite good, though. Give me the vocal-less tracks of the album, and I'd probably give it a good couple of listens. Favorite Song(s): Sultans of Swing

I could listen to Joni Mitchell for hours. Her voice is really incredible. I like the accompaniment decision of keeping it pretty low key. I don't think it quite lives up to the bar the Wikipedia set it up for me, but it is really, really good with a lot of really good songs. Maybe I just got distracted, but there were just a few songs that didn't catch or keep my attention the way that I'd expect from a 5/5 album, so it gets a 4. Favorite Song(s): Little Green, River, The Last Time I Saw Richard

You can tell it's the beginnings of an offshoot of a genre. It's not bad, but it's like a photo that hasn't fully developed. That also means that it's kind of the perfect length at a little over 30 minutes. Any longer and it would need to have a lot more variety in sound or style. The end of Second Time Around does end up being some of that needed variety, but it grows out of a song that sounds much like all the others on the album. That all sounds a little harsher than my feelings on the album. Overall, it's pretty good. I don't think it's particularly great though. A contextually and historically important album. Favorite Song(s): Rock Me Baby

The lyricism of Kendrick is insane. The story of the album is really fully fleshed out. Excellent musicality and rapping. The guest appearances don't interrupt Kendrick's story of flow, but add to each song they appear in. The beginning of the album was a bit of a miss for me, but it picks up quickly and doesn't ever really slow down after that until the last couple songs. But an expertly created album. Favorite Song(s): The Art of Peer Pressure, Money Trees

I don't quite understand why this album is on this list. Not that it's bad, but that it doesn't seem noteworthy, at least by the Wikipedia page. It is a very good album, though. The solos end up being the best part of it, and for me personally, the marimba solo in Hong Kong Mamba being the best of those. It really is a fun album to vibe and groove to. Favorite Song(s): Complicacion, Hong Kong Mambo

If you can get past the familiarity, the hits on this album are so freakin' good. They're played a lot, but I think it's so well deserved. The music itself is really fun and a bop on its own, but then her voice takes everything to another level. She's so incredibly vocally talented. The end and fade out of "Money Changes Everything" is a prime example of her talent. The non-hits on the album are still bops but are just good and not great. Still a very fun album to listen to from beginning to end. Favorite Song(s): Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Time After Time, All Through the Night

Melancholic and emotional without being sad, if that makes sense. I have not really listened to Beck before, but this is something that I really would have enjoyed in college. There's something, musically, that's keeping me from loving this album. I'm not 100% sure what it is, but it just doesn't resonate with me. It is very good, and a style/mood that I really enjoy, so I'll be saving it for another listen later. I do know that if it was more synthetic/produced, rather than live instruments, I would like it much less. Favorite Song(s): Guess I'm Doing Fine, Sunday Sun, Side of the Road

It's a really solid vibey rock album. The form reminds me a lot of Kraftwork's Autobahn. These kinds of albums usually have a really low ceiling for me, like you won't often find me giving them a 5/5, but as long as the music isn't bad, they're generally really enjoyable! And that's where this one falls for me. It's not great, but good and very solid. Favorite Song(s): Isi

I don't love the sound. The only way I can describe it is "goat rock" like the animal, but I don't even think that makes sense to me. There are a couple of really big hits and important songs on the album though, and that takes it out of "I don't like this" to "this is tolerable" for me. It's like, bland rock. Not all of the songs, but there are a lot of moments that are the musical equivalent of cooking chicken with no seasoning. It's fine. The good songs help it out a lot. I'd suggest just listening to the middle of the album and saving yourself ~20 minutes. Favorite Song(s): It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine), The One I Love

I honestly didn't think the style/quality of the songs would keep up after the first few songs, but this whole album is full of bangers. I'm most surprised at how vocally heavy the album is and how quality the harmonies are. I wish the melody didn't change voices so much from song to song. There's a voice or two that I don't think are quite as good as the others. The album is so incredibly vibey and a jam. It's just a really freakin good album from beginning to end. Favorite Song(s): The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Look Out Cleveland, Jawbone, Up on Cripple Creek

This album is a *vibe*. There's a couple of songs that are out of place or just a miss, but otherwise I'm bobbing and swaying to every song on the album. There's a few that stand out from the rest, but it's not a "hits and shits" situation at all. The occasional low notes that Solomon sings just hit me in the depths of my soul. The background singers are sometimes a miss for me, especially when they have a more choral sound. Honestly, it's a really complete album. I wish there was a little more form to the whole thing; it just feels like a smashing together of songs, rather than an album. That said, it's a great, great listen from beginning to end. Favorite Song(s): Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye), If You Need Me

His voice is emphasized in the mix, and I don't think it's that good. The whole thing is just kind of odd, and I'm not really all that impressed. The instrumentation is quirky and fun, but that doesn't really elevate the album out of its "meh"-ness. Favorite Song(s): Perfect Day

Tbh, very surprised a Slipknot album is on this list. Not that I think Slipknot is bad, just that I don't know if they belong on a list like this. Also, the album is totally fine. It's not particularly amazing, nor does it really do anything new. It's just good metal. There's a few songs that differentiate themselves from the rest of the album, which keeps you engaged. Those songs end up being the highlight of the album for me, generally. Ultimately, this doesn't really stand out for me too much. It's good, but it's not great. Favorite Song(s): Psychosocial, Snuff, 'Til We Die

I really like the guitar work on this album. I also do like an album that is innovative and pushes music forward, as the drumming does for this album. Musically, it's fine. I don't think it's particularly special other than what I said above. Contextually, it's an important album, and I'm guessing a lot of albums today can trace influences back to this one. With that in mind, it's good, but still not really great. Favorite Song(s): Helter Skelter, Hong Kong Garden

I think this album is great because I grew up in the early 2000s, and this album is just so iconic from that time. Listening to it now, I wouldn't really call this a punk album. It has some of the lyrical qualities of punk, but not a ton, and it's definitely not punk stylistically (more like pop punk if anything). The hits on this album hold up so hard. They're still so good, even if they've been meme-ified a little. The rest of the songs hold their own weight, but the hits are definitely the highlight of any listen through. Favorite Song(s): Holiday / Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Wake Me Up When September Ends

We don't tolerate Beatles slander in this house. I'll hear out negative opinions, but they are easily a top 10 band all-time. This album is experimental but accessible. Unique and incredibly well crafted. There's a bit of a lull in the back half (before the final 2 songs), but I think part of that is just how great the album starts, too. Favorite Song(s): Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, She's Leaving Home, A Day in the Life

This is good. Peaceful. It's simple, but it makes me happy. And it feels like a much better stylistic choice and vibes for Paul than Graceland. I do miss Art, but this works really well on its own. Favorite Song(s): Run That Body Down

Not worth listening to. Some of the instrument choices were interesting/cool. The musicianship wasn't very good, and I didn't like the singer's voice. The instrumental parts made for interesting background music, but that's about all the album really had to offer. Favorite Song(s): Movin' On Up, Loaded

Just excellent modern singer jazz. The comparison to Frank Sinatra is very easy to make in style/form/genre, and Amy just puts some modern style into the music. Her voice is wonderful to listen to. She doesn't have the silky-smooth tones of Frank, but a little more abrasive sound that matches her twist to the form. Honestly, I've never listened to Amy Winehouse before. I will be listening to Amy Winehouse again. Favorite Song(s): Know You Now, I Heard Love is Blind

It gives Michael Jackson rip-off, especially the beginning. Not necessarily a bad thing, though! An imitation of the King of Pop can still be very good music! The lyrics are icky, though. After "I Want Your Sex" I decided to just stop listening closely to the words, so as to not ruin my day. Great music, good vibes. Put it on in the background of a party, and hope no one knows George Michael music well enough to point it out. Favorite Song(s): Father Figure

A really solid debut album! It's definitely carried by My Generation, but there's a wide variety of styles and all of the songs are at least decent, most of them pretty good. I don't think it's a special album; it doesn't really stand out in any particular way, other than My Generation. Enjoyable, but, for me, on the fringes of top 1001ish albums all-time. Favorite Song(s): The Good's Gone, My Generation

Honestly, Metallica just rules. They are an insanely good thrash metal band. I'm also impressed with their lyrics. Disposable Heroes is the stand-out for me, in that regard. The instrumental song helps break up the album quite a bit, tbh. And there's a decent amount of variety in songs/style, which is usually an issue for me with Metallica. Favorite Song(s): Master of Puppets, Disposable Heroes

I can usually get behind albums calling out for societal change, but I'm not really a big fan of this style of pop. The heavy industrialized and (imo) overproduced sound, poppy bass, steel-like snare drum sounds. It just doesn't really sit well with me. And it doesn't help that almost all of the songs sound the same. Escapade is a turning point for me, since it's really the first song to actually vary in sound. The next few songs are also interesting or different in their own ways. But the back half of the album probably keeps me from calling this a bad album, musically. I still don't love the album as a whole, but it ends up being not bad. Favorite Song(s): Escapade

Reelin' in the Years is one of my favorite songs that I had no idea what it was called or who it was by, but it's a song that constantly gets stuck in my head for days. And that song is just casually placed in the middle of this album, while surrounded by already excellent music. The whole album is a lot of fun. They manage to keep the same vibes and groove, while each song is unique and identifiable from each other. I think the solo sections really help out with that. It's honestly a joy to listen to. Favorite Song(s): Dirty Work, Reelin' in the Years, Fire in the Hole

An interesting and good album. The first half holds up a weaker second half, but the vibes are on point throughout. It's an album that I'm not really sure how it got to be on this list, but I did really enjoy listening to it, much more than some other albums that have come up on the list. The album itself never really gets quite to being great, but it is very good. Favorite Song(s): Chocolate Cake, Whispers and Moans

At this point, unless it's one of Stevie's best albums ever, I know exactly what to expect on one of his albums. There'll be one or two really great songs, and then a bunch of fluff to just bump up the run time of the album. If you want to listen to Stevie Wonder, go listen to Innervisions or a best of album. This album is good; it's fine; it's a fun vibe. The first track is really good! But I don't think any of the other tracks really elevate the album. Some are better than others, for sure, but nothing that feels great. Favorite Song(s): Smile Please

In the 90s, this was probably the shit. But time hasn't been kind to The Chronic. The skits aren't the worst that I've ever heard, but they're still not good. There are sprinkles of that classic 90s sound that I just really don't like. Snoop appears so often that this may as well be a Dre and Snoop album. And the content is just... too much sex. And not in a particularly good or interesting way. bleh. It's good. There's plenty of musical skill involved, and if you're good at ignoring lyrics and skipping skits, it's a really fun listen. But music, including Dr. Dre's own, has gotten to a better place since this released. Influential? Sure. Something you need to listen to today? Maybe not. Favorite Song(s): Nothing But A "G" Thang, Lyrical Gangbang

One of the most influential albums of post-rock, which has been one of my favorite genres, since before starting listening to this list. If you're unfamiliar or unprepared for what this might sound like, it'll probably catch you off guard and might even take a while to get used to. First impressions mean a lot, too, so I can understand why some people might not like this. But if you know what you're getting into and can sit in this, man it's a great album. Atmospheric and full of development. It set the standard for post-rock. I think I would like the album more if I understood it (or if there weren't any words at all), but that's a minor complaint (if it is really a complaint at all). Favorite Song(s): Svefn-g-englar, Flugufrelsarinn, Ny batteri, Agaetis Byrjun Sorry for the butchered spelling

It's solidly alright. The first couple of tracks are really interesting, and then the rest of it is fine. Some songs go on for a little too long, and others just don't do enough interesting things to keep me engaged. Nothing particularly wrong with it, but not something that I want to really dig into. Favorite Song(s): Soukora

This is honestly like a really good complete album. I feel like a lot of times punk and punk adjacent albums can just be like a collection of songs, but this album flows really, really well. There also aren't really any misses on the album. Not all the songs are great, but they're all at least pretty good. Some of the reviews that I saw about the album complain about 90s punk feeling same-y, but this one to me stands out for me as being better than most of them. Favorite Song(s): Brendan 1, Merchandise

Some of this feels a little dated. Not in terms of the lyrical content, but rather the musical style. Hip Hop has just come a long way from the 80s, and this probably influenced some of that 90s sound that I (personally) really don't like. But this is really good. It's really top heavy, but the top very much has some incredible and notable songs. The back portion of the album falls pretty far from the bar they set with the first 4 or 5 songs. And the beatboxing that shows up on "Get It Run" and a couple other times after is really bad. I also haven't ever listened to this version of "Walk This Way" before and holy shit. Favorite Song(s): It's Tricky, Walk This Way, Raising Hell

I thought I was falling in love during the first half of the album, and then the lights were dimmed, and the candles were lit. It's such a great album. Some obvious, notable hits from the album, but honestly it works so much better as a whole. And the more I sit and think about how I want to rate the album, the more I realize how great it really is, and how much higher I want to rate it. I could help but sway/dance and vibe along to every single song. And some of the songs really caught me off-guard with how great they were. Favorite Song(s): So Much Things to Say, Exodus, Waiting in Vain

I'm not sure what this is supposed to be, honestly. It's not bad, per se, but there's nothing about this that is good. There's some really odd vocal musical choices. There were a couple of songs that got me to nod along, while mindlessly listening. But any time I pay attention to this album, I just kind of wish I didn't. Again, not because it's bad. It's not bad, but it's uninteresting, and not committed to be anything in particular. Favorite Song(s): Somebody Who Loves You

I don't like the phlegminess of his voice. It's not pleasing or interesting to listen to. A lot of the songs on the album give the vibe of being played during a climatic montage in 80s movies. I like the instrumentation and the general chord/musical decisions, so that just kind of cancels out with how much I dislike his voice. The bass playing, in particular is delicious. You can hear some of the classical influences on the music, especially in Chameleon Day. I'm just kind of wholly unimpressed. I think with some evolutions and development, this album (or later works by Talk Talk) could be good, maybe really good. This album just isn't really it, though. It's not bad, I'm not upset by it, and there are some good things going on. Favorite Song(s): Chameleon Day

I really don't like Bob Dylan's voice. It's strained and whiney, and he slides his pitches all over the place. It just flat out does not sound good. When he doesn't strain, whine, or slide his pitch, it actually sounds pretty good. The issue is he slides his pitch at the end of every line and pushes his voice frequently for lyrical/musical emphasis. If his voice wasn't so bad, I would really like his music. He's an excellent guitar player and maybe an even better harmonica player. I also generally love music from this era (Peter, Paul, and Mary and The Mamas & The Papas being two of my favorite bands). The second half of the album helps a touch. The instrumental sections get even better and easier to listen to. Unfortunately, at this point I'm so sick and tired of Dylan's voice that I'm taping out. DID NOT FINISH

I'm generally not a huge fan of live albums, this one is pretty solid, though! Honestly, it's just kind of generic rock for the time. The hits are really good and deserving of being notable, but none of the other songs really stand out in any interesting way. If you love music from this era you'll love Thin Lizzy, but there's not enough on this album to consider it a greatest of all-time situation. That said, very few bands will ever have hits as iconic as "The Boys Are Back in Town". Favorite Song(s): Still in Love with You, The Boys are Back in Town

I guess I really don't understand Prince, because this is fine, but it's not really that good, let alone great. It has some good fun sex appeal, and the album does a great job of at least remaining interesting. But he's not that good a singer, and the style in generally is just bleh. Favorite Song(s): When Doves Cry

This is baaaaaad. Loops, while decent, are still loops, and these ones don't change or develop at all. So throw it all in the trash, imo. The rapping/singing is awful. Like, I've heard greater rappers in rural high school talent shows. The content feels like something a high schooler would rap about to seem like he's older, too. This is bad. The best parts of it were where I got to pause it because someone started talking to me at work. My favorite song was the one that just sucked the least. Favorite Song(s): Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way

This is very much not my kind of music. Even more so than rap/hip-hop these days, honestly. That said, it's a really solid album. I don't know that I personally would ever call it great. But I won't argue with anyone that does say that about this album. To me, the most important thing for this genre is that there isn't anything that I dislike about it, which is true in this case! There's nothing abrasive in the mix, instrumentation or vocals. If I was a metal head, this probably gets a much higher rating. Favorite Song(s): Peace Sells

I'm incredibly surprised how country this album is. I actually like it a lot for the Byrds, but I can see how jarring it would be to their usual fans, and how offended Nashville could be. I don't think this is a particularly amazing album, but it is a trend setter and a good quality album. There's nothing that particularly stands out, either good or bad for me. Just a solid country rock album. The guitar work is some of the best parts throughout, which is a little abnormal, since I generally love the harmonies of The Byrds. Favorite Song(s): You're Still on My Mind

When you say that you like country, you are talking about modern pop country. When I say that I like country, I am talking about this kind of country. We are not the same. The storytelling of the songs is just incredible. I'm nearly in tears listening to El Paso. The vocal work of the entire album is really good. The harmonies are phenomenal, and it's a joy to listen to Marty sing. Everything about the album is simple (as it is music from '59), but I think that just adds to the charm of it. I'm not overwhelmed or absolutely in awe of the album, but it is very good from beginning to end. Favorite Song(s): Big Iron, The Master's Call, El Paso

The album art did not entice me at all. Unfortunately, I did judge the book by the cover and am now regretting it. This rules. I don't love the harmony/backup singer, but I do think he plays part in ensuring the music is varied enough. It might end up feeling really same-y without some vocal variation. This is a hella good album. It sits on the border of being a 4- or 5-star album for me. Like, it's very, very good, but it's not really great, imo. I'll definitely be saving it for another listen, especially for the first half of the album. Favorite Song(s): Fell on Black Days, Mailman, Black Hole Sun

If you can handle long songs, which this day in age is not a given, this is some really incredible stuff. Lots of musical development and some incredible vocals. I saw another review call this Rush but worse, and I agree. They meant it in a negative way, but I mean it in a positive way. Rush, imo, is one of the greatest ever, and this holds up to them. This is pretty much everything that I love in an album. It's got great instrumentals, the vocals are locked in with each other, musical development within songs, and thematic ties throughout the album. It's getting saved for a re-listen later (probably getting added to the lawn mowing rotation). Favorite Song(s): Starship Troopers, I've Seen All Good People

Oh wow! This album is mostly a ton of fun. The vibes, groove, feel, or whatever you want to call it are all perfectly on point. Different instruments (or families of instruments) are given moments to shine. It's also musically excellent; the harmonic progression of some songs, while probably very salsa (I'm not familiar enough to comment there), are different from most other styles you'll find, and they keep you engaged musically. Everything is also locked in together very tightly. It doesn't really feel like there's any note or instrument played out of place. I could understand if someone complained that it was all too much. Too many instruments, leading to too much noise. But I have to assume the people that would think that are a small percentage of listeners. This is an album that I'm surprised to have ranked so highly. But there's just not a lot holding it back, and I'll be damned if I didn't love listening to it. Favorite Song(s): Buscando Guayaba, Dime (specifically the ending)

Be creative! But maybe not like this. As a whole, it is not good. There are good moments in some of the songs, but they're surrounded by painful garbage. It's recognizable as music, at least. Also, for an album that apparently includes a lot of guest artists, there are not additional credits on Spotify, which seems super sus to me. His voice is grating, I keep finding that the best parts are when he's not singing. Favorite Song(s): Maryan

I love the nostalgic lyrics and theme. The music itself is alright, very mid/late-60s English pop rock. The lyrics and theme are what make it stand out for me, though. It pushes it from a decent album to something I think is actually quite good. Even in its time, though, it wasn't highly regarded, and I think that's for a reason. I enjoyed it, and it has its spot in history, but I don't think it would make a list of top 200 albums. Favorite Song(s): Do You Remember Walter?

There is very little to this album. It's subtle, quiet, chill, intimate. It has White Stripes vibes, if The White Stripes had a stripped-down sound. It comes really easy, and feel so comfortable, but at the same time is serious, like teenagers telling each other secrets at 2 am during a sleepover. I really like it. I think that the bass and guitar work is what makes it so good. If the style was even slightly different, it would have ended up being a much different (and probably worse) album. It'd be cool if the album were a little bit longer, but I'm not going to complain about a shorter listen. Favorite Song(s): Crystalised

This is not good. The singing is very not good. The instrumentals function as a break from the vocals, but they themselves are also not good. I thought I was starting to like a song (Seconds), but then it just kept going. The instruments on that song are actually good! But it was like 2 minutes too long. Even Don't You Want Me is not actually that good. It is the best song on the album, but the verses are hot garbage. But the pre-chorus and the chorus are kinda boppin. It does also go just a smidge too long though. Ultimately, the best part of this album though, is when it's over and you don't have to listen to it anymore. Favorite Song(s): Don't You Want Me

What a queen. She's so incredibly good. There really isn't much to say about this album at all, other than, she's among the best to ever do it, and this is her at the height of her powers. Favorite Song(s): People Get Ready, (Your Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman

I generally have a soft spot for this kind of album. Jazz, voice, and light instrumentation. But that does end up putting a lot of pressure on the person singing, and for me, Billie Holiday's voice just isn't that great, at least on this album. She's very expressive, but that's really about it. For me personally, she ends up falling into what I'm going to dub the "Bob Dylan Category", which is a giant in the industry/their genre, but whose voice/vocal talent ends up hurting my enjoyment of the album. The orchestration here is truly incredible work. Light, for the most part, with well-timed swells. Favorite Song(s): It's Easy to Remember

Honestly, pretty incredible how musically dense this is while still being really easy to listen to. There's a lot going on, but it never really feels overwhelming. The synth work is pretty incredible, especially considering that it's a newer synth! It sounds like he's been playing it for a decade, at least. This is one of the first Stevie Wonder albums that's come up on this list for me that doesn't feel like it's a couple hits and a lot of fluff. Every song meaningfully contributes to the album, and it ends up being really freaking good. Favorite Song(s): Living in the City, Higher Ground, All in Love is Fair

One of my most played vinyl albums. I love this album, and so maybe this will be a little biased. "You're My Best Friend" was also the recessional song at my wedding. "The Prophet's Song" is, in my opinion, the most underrated Queen song. I like it more than "Bohemian Rhapsody", which is (obviously) the other favorite on the album. But I enjoy every song on the album, and every song has a role to play in the album (yes, even "I'm in Love with My Car"). The Prophet's Song is so good because I really enjoy the first section of it, and then the delay section makes me forget all about the first section I like that so much, and then it comes back so strong, that I forget all about the delay section because I like what comes after so much. It's a masterclass of a song. One of the things that impresses me most on the album is how varied each song is. Each song is unique and stands out on its own, while the album still feels very whole. I could listen to this for hours straight and not be tired of it. Favorite Song(s): The Prophet's Song, Bohemian Rhapsody, You're My Best Friend, Death on Two Legs

I really don't get why this is on the list. It doesn't seem notable or special in any particular way? That said, I really enjoyed it. I really like steel guitar heavy country music, and this has a fun bounce and groove to it. Just some good old fashioned country. Favorite Song(s): Cornbread Moon, Jericho

This is... odd. Although, I just generally don't like the vibes or sound of most 90s music. It has some really good moments, though! Other than its good moments, it's just a fine 90s rock album with some heavy produced moments. It doesn't really feel like anything special, though. Favorite Song(s): Queer

I think moving away from triphop wasn't the best call. That was something that made them really unique and interesting. The production on their album is still really good, though. Even the drums, which I usually hate fake or overproduced drum sounds, I'm actually quite impressed by. The singer's voice is also really nice, and I think is pretty unique. After listening to Dummy, though, I was really excited to hear another Portishead album, and this just disappointed. Maybe coming into this with absolutely no expectations would have changed by experience, but I can't imagine it would have dramatically moved the needle for me. There are still some good songs, but overall, it's disappointing. Favorite Song(s): Hunter, Thread

Fuuuuuuuck yeah. This is a masterpiece on so many levels. First, Kendrick might be one of the best rappers? I'm not expert on rap, so @ me if I'm wrong, but there's moments where I'm absolutely amazed at his flow. Secondly, there's a lot of masterful blending of genres. The jazz, funk, and soul music backdrops to Kendrick tickle my brain in all the right places. Lastly, this is lyrical genius. I'm still not great at picking up lyrics in rap, unless I'm focusing on doing so, but doing so at any point in the album is a treat. His lyrics are really, really good, while he's also trying to say something really important. This is an album worth listening to multiple times, because I believe that you'll find something new to love in it every time you do. Favorite Song(s): For Free?, u, Hood Politics, i

This started... interestingly. The singing is really bad. Like really bad. The music is really hit or miss. When it hits, it's really vibey and enjoyable. Plus, it covers the bad singing. When it misses, though, the album becomes a really tough listen. Everything does magically come together on "Sunrise". It ends up easily being the best song on the album and is actually a really good song. "Face Up", on the other hand, ends up being so incredibly bad, that I think it's on a short list of worst songs I've ever heard in my life, and undoes any goodwill the album earned through those good moments. I'd rather go deaf than listen to that song again, unless I'm doing it as a joke. Favorite Song(s): Sunrise

When his voice gets nasally, this gets bad. When it's not nasally, it's still not good, but it no longer is horrible. His vocal skill is just not particularly good at all. And the rest of the music doesn't really do much to hide or enhance it. Psycho Killer manages to catch some magic. There are some bad moments, but it's like the singing figures itself out, while the musicians find a fun groove for the whole song. Alright. The band does figure something out after Psycho Killer, and the album is at least tolerable from that point on. Favorite Song(s): Psycho Killer

I cannot place my finger on what it is with this album, but I reallllyyy like this. The singer's voice is kind of perfect for the genre/style. The music has some of the early 90s to it, which I generally don't like, but it doesn't ruin it and is honestly confined to mostly percussion and some synth bits. The songs where the singer stretches his range, have so far, about halfway through, been some of my favorite songs. In total, I don't really think this is extraordinary. It is very good, and it surpassed my expectations, by quite a bit. Favorite Song(s): To Face the Truth, Nervously

I'm ashamed to say that I've never heard of The Flying Burrito Brothers before today. I'm proud to say that this album is getting added to my saved albums today, though. The instrumentation on this album just makes me really happy, specifically the prominence of the steel guitar. The vocal arrangements are beautiful and masterful. The album does put its best foot forward, but even the last couple songs are still really good (the second to last song still ended up on my list of favorites below, but the ones before that were also not as strong as the start). Favorite Song(s): Christine's Tune, Do Right Woman, Do You Know How It Feels

I think ultimately, I just don't really understand this. There are some solid moments and things that I enjoy, but it never really clicks for me. It's music, at least. But I don't think it belongs here. Favorite Song(s): Lullaby

Musically, I really don't like Bowie's voice, I think. Stylistically, his voice is really great, though. It's unique and stands out. But I don't think I would intentionally go out seeking David Bowie's music strictly because of his voice. So, I don't love it. But it definitely has its place in history (and on this list). I don't think that I have much else to say about it, though. It is what it is: a solid rock album with a front man that's larger than life but doesn't really have a ton of vocal talent. Favorite Song(s): Changes, Life on Mars?

I end up just feeling really disappointed by this album. And sure, part of that is on me for having certain expectations before actually listening to the album, but it's just so bland. Murder Mystery is by far the best song on the album, and it's the second to last track, and you have to wade through 40 minutes of bland ballads before you get to it. I want to like Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground, I just don't think I do though. Favorite Song(s): The Murder Mystery

Production on this album is insane, as everyone before me has already said. Everything sounds very intentionally crafted, and it really pays off. It's incredible how many iconic songs from the early 2010s all come from this album. Rating this is hard, because while the production is insane and the songs are very iconic, he's a trash human being, and I think that slips out into his lyrics every once in a while. I don't think it's a 10/10 because of that. But God damn is this a really good album. It's also just incredibly high quality from beginning to end. Even the non-hits are just really good songs. Favorite Song(s): POWER, All of the Lights, Devil in a New Dress, Runaway

"May this song be all done". Dad rock that should not have been around in the 2000s. I firmly believe that this album does not really belong on this list. It's fine for what it is, but yeah, does not need to be here.

Crazy vibey. I think Smooth Operator kind of stands out above the rest of the album (so far at least). This is good, but aside from that song, it's not particularly great. I think I'm just not overly impressed with her voice. She shines in Smooth Operator and has a few other great moments, but she's otherwise the lowlight of the album. The band is fantastic and does a really great job existing not in any particular genre but blending a few styles together. Some of the lyrics are also odd? Forced? I'm not sure how to describe it, but they definitely aren't coming naturally. Favorite Song(s): Smooth Operator

They do a good job capturing a "live show" sounding vibe. I'm just not sure if that's a great choice. It just doesn't really stand out to me. It feels like any generic rock album from this era. I will say, they do go very hard. I can't think of a better way to word this, but the whole band is overplaying, if that makes sense. It's a fine album. I'm not convinced it's particularly good, let alone great. They're showcasing their obvious talent, but they're not doing anything particularly interesting, like it's just crazy guitar licks and drum fills. Favorite Song(s): Into the Fire

The most important thing about this album doesn't come from the music, but from reading at least parts of the Wikipedia page. It's incredible for Marianne to have returned to make music, and to release an album after everything that she went through. You can hear it in her voice, both the quality (poor) and the emotionality (great). The suggestion from the producer to go more "modern and electronic" was a really great decision, I think. I think the album falls pretty flat as it is, and I think it would have been much worse without that "modernization". Ultimately, I think this album wouldn't make this list if it was made by anyone else. Context is really important, and this album is notable mostly for that reason. Favorite Song(s): The Ballad of Lucy Jordan

I like the first track, but I think a lot of that is due to Tracey Thorn's feature, because the very next song reminds me why did not like the first Massive Attack album that came up. It's just boring. Most of the music is crappy loops, and the parts that aren't are incredibly uninteresting, like if a jazz soloist simply did not give a shit. It just stinks. It's uninteresting and boring. I'm thankful there's a handful of singers, because that variety is the only thing saving this from being a 1/10 for me. Favorite Song(s): Protection

It's really crazy to listen to something for over an hour, but it also is absolutely nothing, like this album. It is minimalistic, it leaves nothing, it barely has an origin. Listening to this is like eating those chips, Bugles. It's kinda nice while it's happening, and it has a cute, niche idea, but it has absolutely no impact whatsoever, and only makes you want something heartier or more filling.

I think, through listening to one of these albums nearly every day for roughly two years, I've come around a bit on Neil Young. I don't think I like the first album we had from him, but I'm really enjoying this one. I still don't particularly like his voice, but his lyricism and theme are on point while his band (and I presume his guitar playing) are on point. A really beautiful album. I don't really know what more I can even say about Neil on like the 5th or 6th album of his that I've listened to. While there's not a lot that changes from album to album, I think this is one of my favorites from him that I've heard so far. It's gentle and melancholic, without being slow or sad. Favorite Song(s): See the Sky About to Rain, Ambulance Blues

I'm not sure if I can really pinpoint why I'm enjoying this album. At least not exactly. It's really good, each song is varied and stands out on its own, while still clearly being a part of the album/sound/style of RHCP. Actually, I think that's really most of it, but it's also just done at such an incredibly high level, musically. The back end of the album definitely isn't up to the same level of the first half, but the majority of the album is excellent. I ended up not loving the whole album as much as I thought, but the first 30-45 minutes of the album are worth listening to over again. Favorite Song(s): Parallel Universe, Otherside, Californication, Porcelain

I feel like this is here partially because of their cover of "I Got You Babe". But, honestly, that song kind of sucks here. What's really weird is that the rest of the album is actually pretty good? It's at least fun to listen to. There's nothing about this album that is great, in my opinion. It's just a really solid, pretty good listen. I don't know if it really belongs to be on this list, though. Favorite Song(s): Back to Africa

This is the kind of album that will have you saying, "Oh sh*t!" at the beginning of the first handful of tracks. The first couple of songs really start building off of each other, in greatness. This album also just feels really emotionally raw, like Little Simz is really truly pouring out herself and her feelings into the music. The music is also really interesting. Sampling is used much more sparingly, compared to contemporaries, and I think it works out really well. The samples that are used end up having a much bigger impact. I think this album peaks a little early (not that the end of the album is bad, but it's definitely not on the same level as the beginning). It also feels like this isn't the best that Little Simz can do. Like there's better things to come from Little Simz. Favorite Song(s): Selfish

It sounds fine. But this isn't my style of music, and I'm honestly just kind of disinterested. It doesn't help that a lot of the songs end up sounding incredibly similar, if not exactly the same. There are a couple songs that end up having some interesting things going on, but then it's just kind of back to the same stuff that I've been listening to the whole time. Favorite Song(s): Water Babies

I really appreciate how every song is pretty different, and individual. It does kind of make the album feel like it's missing an identity, though? Okay, I wasn't really paying attention while listening to the first few songs. I went back, and I'm very glad I did. It made everything feel a little less disjointed and just helped raise the floor of the album for me. Because they're doing so many different things in so many different styles, there's a couple of songs that are a little odd or just fall a little flat. I think in most cases, it works out in their favor, but not on all of them. The success of this album is, imo, all due to how well they're able to bounce between styles. Favorite Song(s): London Calling, Lost in the Supermarket, Death or Glory

This is just really good rock. Maybe I'm a little numb to how good this is, as a listen to a lot of stuff like this, but this is my first time listening to this album. It's basic, as in, it has all the basic elements of rock of this time, without anything extra or particularly unique. But it's all very high level. The guitar riffs, the singing is excellent. I could listen to this over and over. Favorite Song(s): Black Sabbath, N.I.B., Wicked World

Honestly, this is a really nice blend of folk and rock. The rock never feels too heavy, and the music clearly has very solid, deep roots in folk music. The more I listen to this, the more it grows on me. It never really ends up as a great album for me, but it is very good. It's weird to say about a folk album, but I think if it was recorded/mixed/produced a little more cleanly, I would probably like it more. The album on Spotify sounds like it's being played from an old record that hasn't been played in at least half a decade. Favorite Song(s): Who Knows Where the Time Goes?, Percy's Song

thrash This is just mostly not for me. There are some things that are interesting and surprising, things that catch me off guard. But I'm pretty checked out for the most part. It's a fine album. But for me personally, it's not a style I like, and it doesn't do anything interesting or extra to really rope me in. I'm sure for someone out there this is a great (maybe even an elite???) album, but I just don't see/hear it. Favorite Song(s): Desperate Cry

This is like, and hear me out, the popcorn chicken of punk music. These songs are so short that they're almost like previews to the songs and albums that were influenced by Pink Flag. That's not a bad thing; in fact, I really liked this album. But while listening, I was trying to figure out if I like this album for exactly what it is, or if I like it because I know and can hear the influence it had on all of the music that followed in its footsteps. It's probably a bit of both. One last note, I didn't realize how quickly the songs were flying by at first, and I didn't relisten to the album. So, my favorites could potentially change on re-listen if any of the first handful of tracks stand out to me. Favorite Song(s): Surgeon's Girl, Strange

The first chunk of this album is some pretty bland rock and roll. It's not really metal, imo. But the middle of the album turns things around. I still don't think I would label it as metal, personally. Hard rock for sure, but metal seems like a stretch. The album is very much a bell curve. The beginning and end are bad, boring, or both. There are some solid songs in there, but it's not a good album in total. Listen to the good songs and move on with your life. Favorite Song(s): Living After Midnight, The Rage

Not good, and not worth listening to. It's like a bad version of Blind Pilot but they don't commit to an actual sound, and never really develop anything interesting. The best bit was the odd jazz song right in the middle of the album that didn't need to be there. Favorite Song(s): Crumble

Honestly, the vibes are on point. And the musical ideas of the album are pretty good! A mix of funk, soul, driven by modern electronics. The issue is it sounds too mathematically perfect, so fake that it's almost robotic. It reminds me a bit of Jacob Collier's music, which I also really dislike because it's so mathematically perfect, and gives everything just an unsettling kind of feel. On top of all of that, this is just super weird. He's using slang in his songs, and it's like hearing your grandpa say, "lit". Nothing about his singing makes me want to listen more. And I think it's really telling that some of the features on the album end up being the best parts. Kendrick nearly saves the song he appears on. Wiz Khalifa's parts in his song are also really good. Ironically, my favorite song is only Thundercat, but it's also the one that feels the most real and avoids most of the weirdness going on in the rest of the album. Favorite Song(s): Lava Lamp

I unfortunately got wrapped up and distracted from this album shortly after starting it, so I wasn't really able to listen closely, which I think is ultimately okay. It is very clear that this album is special though. It's so unique and varied, crossing through plenty of genres and instrumentations all while being high quality music. I don't really have anything else to say about it, other than that this probably really does need to be heard by everyone. And maybe even multiple times. Favorite Song(s): O Trem Azul

This ended up being much better than I thought it would be. It starts off a bit unassuming, but the more you sit with it, the more its greatness shines. I do think that this album benefits a lot from hindsight as well as taking its cultural and musical impact into account. But it's still a really good, borderline great hardcore punk album. Then you add in that Kurt Cobain listed it in his top 50 albums, and you can hear some of the music that came after it clearly followed in its footsteps, and you can see that it really is a great album. Favorite Song(s): Thirsty and Miserable, Police Story, Damaged I

This album surprised me; caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting much and then was fully blown away. It doesn't really sound like a punk/rock album from the 70s. They've constructed this really unique sound through their instrumentation, melody lines, chord structure, and harmonic progressions. It's delicious. After every song, I was wondering how they would top it, until the album ended. Everything was great, and the more I listened to it, the more I loved it. Favorite Song(s): Friction, Marquee Moon, Guiding Light, Torn Curtain

Man, I really love his guitar playing and singing. I think they both work so perfectly together, particularly in this style. I'm a little cursed on rating this, because Pink Moon is one of my favorite albums, and part of the reason is because it's just (for the most part) him and his guitar. And I think this album would be better if he went that route with the instrumentation. That's probably the one major downside to listening to these albums randomly; you don't get the artist's development and progression. And my rating of this album is going to take a (probably small) hit because I know that he makes a stylistic decision that makes his music all the better. Any pop album that uses wind and string instruments always gets my attention. Pair that with Nick Drake's guitar playing, voice, and lyricism and this is a really, really great album. I think there are moments where it all is too much though (see the paragraph above). That's not enough to keep me from giving it a 5/5, though. Favorite Song(s): At the Chime of a City Clock

The music is really good! But the singing is not, and the lyrics are corny or just straight bad. The album, I would say, is fun, but I would not say it's good. It really doesn't have any business being here. Favorite Song(s): Love and Hope

Son of Mr. Green Genes was going to be my favorite song, but then it just kept going, and going, and going, and going. If the song ended in the first 3.5ish minutes, I would have really liked it. And that's kind of how I feel about this whole album. It has some really good ideas but exhausts them without elaborating in new or interesting ways. The longer this album goes on the more I don't like it. It started at a solid, this is fine, and I can see why it's highly regarded, and now I need the album to be over. Favorite Song(s): none

The bass playing is *by far* the best thing about this album. It's so goddamn good. I could listen to "Good Times" for about a half hour straight, as well. None of the other songs really truly live up to that one, though. It's very much a downhill kind of album. By the end, even though it's a shorter album, I was ready to move on to something else. That bass playing is special though. I could listen to that isolated and be happy. Favorite Song(s): Good Times

The lyrics are incredibly cheesy, but the singing style is low-key iconic. Specifically, the little bits of rap, and the transition from singing to screaming. The sound itself is also pretty iconic, the heavily produced sounds, and the guitars distorted to Hell and back. I think you can't really talk about music in the early 2000s without at least mentioning Linkin Park, for better or worse. I think there's two ways to think about this album, its longevity and its immediate impact. I don't think album has aged particularly well, and I think it will continue to age poorly, but it was such an important album to when it came out. Generally, people feel one way or the other about Linkin Park and trying to balance those two perspectives in a ranking is really hard to do. Favorite Song(s): Crawling, In the End, A Place for My Head

I've said it before in previous reviews, and I'll say it again until the end of time. I do not like Bob Dylan's voice. His singing is really not good. Everything else about his music is really great. His lyricism is great, and maybe among the greatest ever?? He definitely was one of the greatest song writers ever. Even his guitar and harmonica playing are really good. But his voice is so off-putting to me, that it takes everything down a notch, especially since a lot of his music places an emphasis on lyrics. Having a full band helps "hide" his voice a lot more than when it's just him on a recorded album. This album wasn't as tough for me to listen to as Live 1966 or Blonde on Blonde. If I don't listen to closely, I vibe and bob along to the music, but then I'm missing out on what makes Bob Dylan go great, his writing. Unfortunately, I just think that Bob Dylan really isn't for me. Favorite Song(s): Like a Rolling Stone, It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry

Maybe it's just me, but this doesn't really seem that great? It is good, and I'm vibing along, but it doesn't really feel special in any way. Again, I like it, and it's good, but it's missing something to make it really special/good. Favorite Song(s): Stand Up, If You Think You're Lonely Now

This just makes me really happy. I really like a cappella music; it reminds me of doing barbershop quartet and barbershop choral music in high school. This is really good. The vocals are *locked in* to the point where you could convince me that it's actually a keyboard with like a vocal setting or something. It does get a little "same-y", but each song does have some unique things to themselves that make them stand out enough, that even if you're not paying close attention, you know you're listening to a different song. Favorite Song(s): Hello My Baby, Lomhlaba Kawunoni

Man, this a really freaking good protest album. There aren't really any low points through the album. There are a few odd instruments being used, or instruments used in odd ways that doesn't really work well. But there's really one moment where it's particularly noticeable. It's an album with an incredibly high floor. Some of the time changes are also really freaking cool. All of this while being a "fuck you" protest album. Hell yeah, brother Favorite Song(s): Killing in the Name, Take the Power Back, Wake Up

This is good; honestly, it's very good. It does kind of feel like exactly what I would expect a blues album to sound and feel like, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing. I really wish it did something different part way through the album. It's just kind of the same thing through the whole album. Again, it's really good! But also, *just* really good and nothing else. Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe I'm looking at this too much from my 2025 perspective and am missing something contextually. Maybe I'm not appreciating the talent and skills of the musicians enough. I don't know, but it gets a good not great rating from me. Favorite Song(s): Deep Down in Florida

Man, Aretha's voice is incredible. She's a phenomenal singer, and she's capable of moving souls with her music. Respect is not only one of the most popular songs ever, but it also really is musically incredible too. It is pretty clearly the best song on the album, but the other songs are also great. Favorite Song(s): Respect, Dr. Feelgood

The music is pretty good. A lot of really interesting tempo/meter changes make it engaging. But it's otherwise really bland and not good. The singer is oddly not built for metal, in my opinion. Like, he doesn't have the power that I want/expect from a thrash metal singer. Yeah, the album never really does anything special. There are moments where it sounds like they could be about to do something great, but either they never develop the idea further, or they go back to a more basic sound. It just ends up not really doing anything interesting for me. Favorite Song(s): Among the Living

This album is trying to fool you. It sounds like it's recorded in a basement with cheap instruments. The vocals are basic. There are multiple voices recorded, but no harmonies. But this is actually a really good album. Like, a really good album. I'm honestly really caught off guard how good this is. It's not going to be for everyone, and there are some moments that aren't done well and end up kind of bad. But there's a lot of songs that are just executed so incredibly well. This album is more than worth multiple listens. Favorite Song(s): Natural's Not In It, Damaged Goods

This doesn't do it for me. I'm glad Bowie got himself to a better place, rehabbing and working towards taking care of himself. But this album isn't good. The beginning was too short for anything to really stick for me, and the ideas in the second half would have been done better by someone else. Favorite Song(s): none

The best part of a Billy Joel album, to me, will always be his instrumentation and arrangement of his songs. A plethora of instruments come together on just to create one complete song. I honestly think it's really incredible. Say whatever you want about his lyricism/storytelling on these songs, because they're not the best, but they never take away from the music itself. This album is also just full of hits and some of my favorite Billy Joel songs. Like I ended up putting over half the album on my favorite songs lol. I can't help but love this album. Favorite Song(s): Movin' Out (Anthony's Song), Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, Vienna, Only the Good Die Young, She's Always a Woman

I cannot reiterate this enough. I do not like Bob Dylan's voice. I greatly appreciate his guitar playing and his song writing, but the way he ends each line is like nails on a chalkboard. He refuses to hold a note until it actually ends and is singling like he's shouting. This album does have two of my favorite songs from this era of folk (see below). I also recognize the cultural and musical importance of Bob Dylan. I just don't want to hear him sing his own songs. Favorite Song(s): Blowin' in the Wind, Don't Think Twice, It's Alright

This is bad. Rod Stewart is a recognizable name, so I thought it might be good, but it is not. The singing is rough. Lyrics are boring. And the instruments aren't anything noteworthy. The last song ended up saving this from being a completely pointless album, but it's still not good, and not really worth the listen, in my opinion. Favorite Song(s): You're My Girl (I Don't Want to Discuss It)

Blitzkrieg Bop is iconic. But the whole album is kind of same-y. It's good! But the middle just gets a little tough to listen to. It helps a lot that all of the tracks are pretty short. The album also ends on a high note. I'm not really sure what else to say about this one. It's solid. Good but not great. Short, and kind of an easy listen. Headlined by a great and incredibly well-known song. Favorite Song(s): Blitzkrieg Bop, Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World

There are two great things about this album: "What's Love Got to Do with It" and Tina's powerful and emotional voice. Everything else is pretty bad, honestly. No other songs are overtly interesting or fun. The music itself is incredibly 80s to a fault, and Tina can't go all-out for the entire album, or even those moments would lose their power, so there's lots of times where her vocals are special, just good. Favorite Song(s): What's Love Got to Do with It

This is pretty weird. It's like he wants to be a classical composer, but his parents forced him to learn guitar and he ended up like a busker or something. It straddles the world of folk/country/singer-songwriter and classic cantata with a full wind ensemble. It just doesn't really do either thing well, though and ends up just being okay. I think if you took this album's idea and spent 2-3 years with some of the best artists of today (in both the county and classical worlds), you could make an incredible album. But that just isn't this. Favorite Song(s): Another Friday Night

This is really interesting, but I don't think I would say that it's good. She's very talented vocally! I think that's really the only nice thing I have to say about the album though. I also don't really have anything particularly negative to say though, either? Like it's not good, but there's nothing specifically bad about it. It's just unremarkable, to the point where I don't have a favorite song from this album. If you're obsessively into British female pop vocalists, this album might crack your top 1001, but for a general audience this is probably a skip. Favorite Song(s): -

This is a really incredible album, borne in a year of a lot of upheaval. Not all albums earn an instant re-listen from me (especially since I'm more than a month behind), but this one did. I'm not entirely sure how to rate this one, just because it's still so recent. Like, I'm hesitant to give it a 5, just because I'm not sure how it'll age. But the music is incredible, and the message is very important and still relevant. I have a hard time believing this won't end up an all-time album. Favorite Song(s): Hard Life, Monsters, Wildflowers

This isn't really that good. The band feels unsure of what kind of sound they want. The album as a whole is not quite rock, not quite folk. There are a few songs where they commit to one style over the other, and it actually makes sense. And Elvis's voice is slimy. Like slippery, but not really enjoyable. There's really just not much that I end up liking about this album. There are a few moments where things might start coming together, but for the most part it's mediocre and occasionally bad. Favorite Song(s): -

It's really crazy that not only someone paid a studio to record this, but also that it was released and available for purchase. There are approximately 45 songs on this album, but the whole album is 30 minutes long. And each song is also somehow exactly the same. Any of these songs sound like they could be a joke song that would be on a Tony Hawk Pro Skater game. Favorite Song(s): -

New Wave has become my new "no thanks" genre. I just haven't really heard any New Wave albums that I actually really enjoyed. This is the first one that has changed my mind. I think part of my feelings towards New Wave is that there's a cliche/trope/expectation for vocalists that I just really don't like. I can't really explain what it is, but I know that I don't like it. This album does still kind of have that singing style that I don't really like, but everything else about this album is soooo good, that it really only keeps me from debating about if this album is a 5/5. This album is honestly pretty incredible. It's a ton of fun, and the big hit of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" does elevate the entire album. The transition between "I Believe" and "Broken" also does something to me deep down. Favorite Song(s): Shout, Everybody Wants to Rule the World

This is really good. I haven't loved some of PJ's later stuff, but I really enjoy listening to her 90s indie rock sound. And she's honestly a really great singer. There are some odd songs near the end, and I'm not sure if I like them as much as the earlier songs. "Plants and Rags" starts off as a song that I would usually end up loving, but it takes a weird turn, and that taste follows to the next song. It does end up on a high note, though. Favorite Song(s): Oh My Lover

A super weird album, where the weirdness actually works pretty well? I don't really understand why, but I don't make the rules I just follow them. The vocalizations in part ii ruin most of that part for me, though. Take that out, and this is a much different rating, because I did, for the most part, really enjoy this album. But why am I listening to monster man scream at me. Favorite Song(s): Part i

Marvin is the king of background music for romantic moments. Not to say his music is generally bad, but it's not great. It's still very good, but the closer you listen, the more it doesn't really hold up. I think this album is best if you're only paying a little bit of attention to it, which stinks, because there are some really nice harmonies and chord progressions hidden in a couple of the songs. The album also goes on for a bit too long for me. I didn't need either of the returns of "When Did You...". Favorite Song(s): When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You

This feels like a pirate discovered pop rock. I don't think it's a good combo. I honestly really don't have much else to say. It's kind of generic otherwise, and it's just not that good a listen. Favorite Song(s): Papa Won't Leave You, Henry

It's short, simple, solid, but ultimately forgettable. An album this short really benefits from having a major hit on it, and this one just doesn't. It's a fun listen, but I don't think it needs to be on a list like this. I will say that the varying styles are fun, but again, the album isn't long enough for that to play any sort of major role in what's going on. Favorite Song(s): 8:05

Lowkey thought I would hate this, since I'm not a big fan of 90s music, in general, and this is clearly some 90s shit. Britpop can also be really hit or miss. This ends up being much more of a hit than a miss, though, which surprised me. It is very much "eclectic" as the Wikipedia snippet says. There's nothing really tying each song to each other, which isn't a bad thing, but it does make it feel less cohesive. The solo/ending on "Bad Behaviour" is too much, though. Sticks out like a sore thumb, and it really the only actually bad part of the album. Because it's a little all over the place, there's some moments/songs that aren't quite as good, but it is overall a good album! Like, I honestly really enjoyed it. Favorite Song(s): Something 4 the Weekend, If You Don't Want Me to Destroy You

This is weird. To the point where I don't really enjoy any particular song enough to call it a "favorite". Might to a partial re-listen to see if I just missed a song that I really like. With that said, though, it is a really vibey album and is a nice listen. I don't know if I have much else to really say about it, though. I don't think this is a great album, but it's a good listen and interesting. Favorite Song(s): Broken Drum

This is really smooth, and, dare I say, sexy. This takes me to a place that I didn't know that I needed to be. And honestly, I enjoy not knowing what she's saying more than when she sings in English. The instrumentation is great; there's a great mix of recorded/produced instruments and acoustic instruments. Her singing style is perfect for the tone of the album. This album doesn't really have much (or any at all) cultural impact, at least mainstream culture. Which I think challenges the purpose of this list. Is it to listen to albums that are good (and sometimes great), well-known, and made a major impact to a wide audience? Or is it to listen to albums that are the very best of their genre or sub-genre, whether or not they're known to larger audiences. This album falls in the latter group, but a lot of the albums on this list are the former. Favorite Song(s): Tanto Tempo

I don't get this. Is it supposed to be a jazz album? Comedy? Okay, so it is a jazz comedy album. I don't like that choice. I also really don't like the half-assed singing/talking. And I also don't like live albums. So, this is just kind of checking all my "don't like this" boxes. I feel bad for the other musicians, because they played great. The piano work is excellent. If this was an instrumental jazz album, I'd probably love it, honestly. Favorite Song(s): Better Off Without a Wife

This was much different than I expected. All that I could think about while listening is that it felt like someone had a good, solid idea for a band/album, and then just let in every intrusive thoughts they had about each song. Most songs were flooding with things that ruined them. There was a song that was really good, though, so maybe there's something there long term? Idk. Overall, not for me, style or singer, but there was one hidden gem in a pile of dirt. Favorite Song(s): 2HB

The album as a whole is really same-y. There's not much that distinguishes one song from another. Not necessarily a bad thing, as long as the album doesn't go on for a long time, and there's enough difference between songs that they can at least keep you engaged as a listener. I enjoyed the album, but I wasn't completely engaged, partially due to the same-iness of it all. I think this album would also benefit from a re-listen (and honestly, probably multiple). "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is a song that will just pop in my head all the time, though, in a great way. Favorite Song(s): Sunday Bloody Sunday

Man, this really does feel like Elton John's magnum opus, starting with the first track. And I really do think that Elton is the very best of his little niche of pop rock, piano heavy glam rock. This really is just a great, complete album. It does everything well and just sounds so good. It also has some of Elton's best hits, and even some of the other tracks stand out on their own. I think the genre/style does kind of cap its greatness though. There's something about Elton John's music that just feels safe. Like there's never going to be anything that surprises you or catches you off guard (in a good way). And I mean that in, this is a top 150 album all-time, easily, but I would be surprised if anyone had it in their 25, or even top 50, maybe. Favorite Song(s): Benny and the Jets, I've Seen That Movie Too, Saturday Night's Alright, Roy Rogers