687
Albums Rated
3.11
Average Rating
63%
Complete
402 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1960
Favorite Decade
Funk
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
62
5-Star Albums
42
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
A Grand Don't Come For Free
The Streets
|
5 | 2.64 | +2.36 |
|
Yeezus
Kanye West
|
5 | 2.75 | +2.25 |
|
Good Old Boys
Randy Newman
|
5 | 2.85 | +2.15 |
|
Sail Away
Randy Newman
|
5 | 2.97 | +2.03 |
|
Car Wheels On A Gravel Road
Lucinda Williams
|
5 | 3 | +2 |
|
Exile In Guyville
Liz Phair
|
5 | 3.02 | +1.98 |
|
Time (The Revelator)
Gillian Welch
|
5 | 3.05 | +1.95 |
|
I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight
Richard Thompson
|
5 | 3.05 | +1.95 |
|
Bandwagonesque
Teenage Fanclub
|
5 | 3.06 | +1.94 |
|
Ambient 1/Music For Airports
Brian Eno
|
5 | 3.08 | +1.92 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Dirt
Alice In Chains
|
1 | 3.46 | -2.46 |
|
...And Justice For All
Metallica
|
1 | 3.42 | -2.42 |
|
System Of A Down
System Of A Down
|
1 | 3.27 | -2.27 |
|
Rust In Peace
Megadeth
|
1 | 3.24 | -2.24 |
|
The Real Thing
Faith No More
|
1 | 3.21 | -2.21 |
|
Hysteria
Def Leppard
|
1 | 3.2 | -2.2 |
|
Selling England By The Pound
Genesis
|
1 | 3.19 | -2.19 |
|
Welcome To The Pleasuredome
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
|
1 | 3.12 | -2.12 |
|
The Nightfly
Donald Fagen
|
1 | 3.02 | -2.02 |
|
Steve McQueen
Prefab Sprout
|
1 | 2.99 | -1.99 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Bruce Springsteen | 5 | 4.8 |
| Bob Dylan | 7 | 4.57 |
| The Pogues | 2 | 5 |
| Funkadelic | 2 | 5 |
| Randy Newman | 2 | 5 |
| Beatles | 5 | 4.2 |
| Led Zeppelin | 4 | 4.25 |
| Elvis Costello & The Attractions | 4 | 4.25 |
| Talking Heads | 3 | 4.33 |
| Arcade Fire | 3 | 4.33 |
| Nick Drake | 3 | 4.33 |
| The Velvet Underground | 3 | 4.33 |
| The White Stripes | 3 | 4.33 |
| Radiohead | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Megadeth | 2 | 1 |
| Sepultura | 2 | 1 |
| Metallica | 3 | 1.67 |
| King Crimson | 2 | 1.5 |
| Def Leppard | 2 | 1.5 |
| Everything But The Girl | 2 | 1.5 |
| Steely Dan | 3 | 2 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Brian Eno | 1, 3, 5 |
5-Star Albums (62)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Buzzcocks · 4 likes
2/5
Gets tiresome after a while.
Metallica · 3 likes
1/5
The same shitty song nine times in a row
Stan Getz · 2 likes
3/5
There is a certain type of music that makes me sad because it is background music to a life I’ll never live. This album falls into that category.
Super Furry Animals · 2 likes
4/5
Very fun. Gets somewhat psychedelic without losing poppy hooks. A few songs got a bit too annoying toward the end (I didn’t like Presidential Suite) but overall would listen again.
Pantera · 2 likes
1/5
I listened to at least a minute each of these before skipping (which is more than most deserved). Only made it through three tracks all the way. Zero stars. Absolutely perfect fit for the first day after Trump was elected to his second term.
1-Star Albums (42)
All Ratings
Prince
3/5
Unbelievably strong start, drags a bit in the middle but closes strong.
Pretenders
4/5
Surprisingly varied in the back half. “Brass in Pocket” still slaps. Could do without “Private Life”.
The Kinks
5/5
Side 1 is flawless
Side 2 is also great
Eminem
2/5
Surprised at how few of these tracks had staying power. Also the skits are so corny. Totally missed it when I was a kid, but the Dee Barnes line seems legitimately shocking today — genuinely felt subversive as opposed to the bland shocking violence of other tracks.
N.W.A.
4/5
Bursts out of the gate. Might have enough hits to get a five rating if the album were 35 minutes long, but the filler drags it down.
Elton John
3/5
Holiday Inn was a great side two gem
Beatles
5/5
The Mamas & The Papas
3/5
The harms are immaculate, and it grooves in offensively throughout, but it needs more bops.
Björk
2/5
The first track so strong that the rest of the album struggles to measure up. Atom Dance and Quicksand are also good.
Anita Baker
2/5
Queen
2/5
39 👍
The Prophet’s Song 👎
Depeche Mode
3/5
Classic Depeche Mode in that is sometimes awesome industrial/new wave stuff (Never Let Me Down Again) and sometimes way too goofy vampire rock (Little 15, Pimpf).
Ray Price
4/5
Pleasant as hell. Could put this on in the background while cooking or hosting a dinner party anytime.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
The jams that rock are better than the jams that meander.
The Chemical Brothers
2/5
Hard to assess this in a future where is was so influential (feels like a dime a dozen movie montage backing track now but was probably very cool when it came out). It was pretty groovy though.
Michael Kiwanuka
3/5
I prefer the uptempo stuff.
Nirvana
4/5
Holds up
Calexico
3/5
Loved the first half and was sure it was on pace for five stars, but the meandering instrumentals of the second half weren’t my thing.
Haircut 100
2/5
Pretty replacement level
System Of A Down
1/5
Put this off all day, and when I got around to listening it was even worse than expected. I like a few of their lore melodic songs on Toxcitity but this album is wall-to-wall incoherence. Feels like self-parody. Wish I could give it zero stars.
Bob Dylan
5/5
Incredibly easy five stars. Almost no missteps (not a huge fan of Obviously Five Believers).
Joni Mitchell
5/5
Side 2 GOATED
Adele
3/5
Doesn’t hold up as well as I’d hope. Still has some good tracks but there are too many maudlin middle ground tracks here.
Afrika Bambaataa
2/5
I can see how this was influential, and it is groovy, but a bit too long and same-y for me.
Boards of Canada
2/5
A few nice moments (e.g., Open The Light) save this from getting only 1 star, but it is mostly a boring slog.
Janis Joplin
4/5
She really could sing.
Queen
3/5
Some decent jams, and no real bad songs. Still, it is interesting to see how much filler there is in the Queen catalog.
Napalm Death
1/5
I don’t like this.
Portishead
3/5
Surprisingly pleasant. I wouldn’t mind listening to this again, but wouldn’t actively put in on.
Talking Heads
5/5
Stone cold classic
Ray Charles
3/5
Some good tunes. Some mellow tunes. Some forgettable tunes.
David Bowie
3/5
Mildly funky/jazzy tunes. Few standouts.
Gene Clark
3/5
I didn’t dislike any songs, but didn’t love any either.
Blood, Sweat & Tears
2/5
When the album started with a nice Satie cover I thought “hey maybe my preconceived notions about this band were wrong” then Galway through that song they did a dramatic style shift to absolutely confirm my preconceived notions. Every good song is derailed by some dumb jam. Spinning Wheel does slap (even though it would be a lot better without the jam and the dumb flute (?) part).
The Pogues
5/5
This is my jam
Depeche Mode
3/5
Another Depeche Mode where I enjoy the hits but not the filler. I might go a star higher if Enjoy the Silence didn’t have the hidden track appended, which makes it much less playlist-friendly (and is bad in the flow of the album).
4/5
Got in a car accident while taking my extremely sick kid to the pediatrician while listening to this which may have cost it a star.
Linkin Park
2/5
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
It’s insane that Dancing in the Dark might not be in the best half of songs on this album. Strong five stars.
Talking Heads
4/5
Some classics (Psycho Killer, don’t worry about the government, new feeling) but there are a few stretches that get a bit same-y.
The Who
3/5
Lots of goofy stuff in here but the music is good throughout and it has Pinball Wizard.
Black Sabbath
3/5
The Wizard was a pleasant gem. The rest was fine as well — better when bluesy, like The Wizard, than when it was metal-y. I liked it less than their second album.
Arcade Fire
4/5
Has gotten better with age.
Billy Bragg
4/5
I give this one a big hell yeah.
Ice Cube
3/5
Crosby, Stills & Nash
3/5
Really drops off after suite Judy blue eyes.
Parliament
5/5
It’s good! It’s funky!
Steve Earle
4/5
Not sure if this is four stars or just three stars that hits better bc it is in my sweet spot.
Funkadelic
5/5
Is P-Funk my favorite band?
The Lemonheads
4/5
The purest distillation of the 90s
Nick Drake
4/5
Haunting and beautiful but it does get same-y.
Fatboy Slim
2/5
The songs that slap, slap. But there is a lot of filler.
Prince
3/5
Up and down, many forgettable stretches (the cross)
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
2/5
A bit heavy handed, but interesting beats. The Dead Kennedys cover is neat. .
T. Rex
4/5
Good T. rex. Ballrooms of mars is great
Amy Winehouse
4/5
Very good. A few high highs and no real lows.
Jerry Lee Lewis
4/5
This rips so hard.
Beatles
5/5
The Beatles are underrated
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
Good harms, needs more bops.
Cee Lo Green
3/5
Fun
John Coltrane
4/5
Very interesting and enjoyable.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
Classic
GZA
4/5
I miss this 90s flow
Duran Duran
2/5
Jury is out on which way those guys'll go. They're a lot of fun, and James Taylor is one of the most proficient bass players in the UK at the moment, giving them a funky edge.
The Blue Nile
2/5
Chill vibes. Vocals a bit grating.
Kate Bush
5/5
One of the best to ever do it operating at her peak. Opening tracks unassailable. Waking the witch is pretty wack.
Various Artists
5/5
Simply the best
Tito Puente
3/5
T. Rex
5/5
Didn’t remember how great this is start to finish. No real weak spots (maybe “Motivator”, which is a less good version of Bang and Gong)
The KLF
1/5
Inoffensive, but not particularly notable.
Yes
2/5
Has some nice moments (e.g., parts of I’ve Seen All Good People) but they are all ruined by overly long, complicated noodley songwriting.
ABBA
2/5
I know it is cool to like ABBA now but besides some obvious skill at writing hooks, I just don’t find much to really latch onto.
Sonic Youth
4/5
It rocks but gets a bit longwinded at times.
Madness
3/5
The Jam
4/5
Power pop beauties
Steely Dan
2/5
With apologies to the people I follow on Twitter, this is just jazzy nothing music.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Meandering at time but has some undeniable bangers.
5/5
Fuck yeah
The Shamen
1/5
Punishingly boring
Paul Simon
3/5
Up and down (what the hell was “cars are cars”), but the man can write some chunes.
Gorillaz
3/5
More chillers than I remembered.
Derek & The Dominos
5/5
Much better than I expected
Tortoise
2/5
Music to build furniture to
The Only Ones
3/5
One standout track (another girl another planet)
Maxwell
2/5
Greatly preferred the funky tracks to the sultry, soulful tracks.
The Flaming Lips
3/5
Comes strong out of the gate. Then peters out a bit
3/5
Good stuff but I couldn’t get fully into it
Caetano Veloso
1/5
A bit of a bore
The Modern Lovers
4/5
Roadrunner and Girlfriend are all-time great songs. The rest of the album is similarly great but not as revelatory.
Grizzly Bear
2/5
Definitely understand why it is here — emblematic of a scene/vibe that was very big (though I’d probably choose Merriweather Post Pavilion as the representative) — but as a person who was into that scene at the time I always felt this type of music was overrated. Looking back now it still feels overrated.
Elliott Smith
4/5
Moby
4/5
starts to drone in the last half but the first half really goes.
Saint Etienne
1/5
There is really nothing here.
Dennis Wilson
3/5
Always disappointing when the first song in the record is the best one.
Girls Against Boys
2/5
A few solid riffs, but otherwise nothing to care about.
Beastie Boys
4/5
it’s amazing how good the instrumental tracks in this album are
David Bowie
3/5
A few solid tunes, but it is long and the weirder stuff doesn’t work for me. The last song is so bad it leaves you on a sour note and makes it hard to accurately judge the album.
Ghostface Killah
3/5
Wears out its welcome toward the end but enjoyable.
The Velvet Underground
4/5
The beautiful songs are beautiful. I’ve never liked the murder mystery.
Gillian Welch
5/5
Gorgeous— everything is free is an all timer.
Jethro Tull
4/5
despite being over the top, it is good throughout.
Lou Reed
4/5
Packed with classics
Hüsker Dü
3/5
Has that great Husker Du song craft but wears out its welcome.
Rufus Wainwright
2/5
I found this very boring.
American Music Club
3/5
The uptempo songs sound like a great local bar band. The downtempo songs sound like a more boring Smiths.
The Band
4/5
Classic
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
5/5
All killer
Dr. Dre
2/5
With fresh ears it is interesting how much heavy lifting Parliament does for this album.
Butthole Surfers
1/5
I like other Butthole Surfers albums, but this was unlistenable. I don’t know if it was important in the development of a noise/freakout scene, but even if it was I can’t see how it merits inclusion.
Arrested Development
4/5
Groovy, funky, old school
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
Hard to assess something with so many ubiquitous, but similar, songs.
AC/DC
3/5
Rocks hard. Enjoyable throughout. Doesn’t feel essential.
Pink Floyd
2/5
Other bands have done this better.
Les Rythmes Digitales
2/5
The grooves on this album are surprisingly good but it is still an era of techno that I have little interest in
Arcade Fire
5/5
Likely the most formative album in my music listening career. Six stars.
ZZ Top
2/5
This album tops out at enjoyable but inessential, and bottoms out at deeply embarrassing (“I Need You Tonight”, “I Got the Six”).
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Solid Joni, but the very over the top jazzy stuff brings it down.
Lenny Kravitz
3/5
Surprisingly Christian? Some good funky jams too.
Baaba Maal
3/5
I enjoyed this quite a bit but likely wouldn’t put it in regular rotation.
The Triffids
2/5
Very replaceable. Like echo and the bunny men without any edge.
The Clash
5/5
Probably my favorite album of all time. Six stars.
The Police
2/5
Neneh Cherry
2/5
Feels incredibly dated.
Skepta
2/5
Had high hopes after the first track but it really tailed off. It did make rememebr this all-time great tweet so that was nice:
“uk rappers be like she suck on my willy it’s quite delightful if i catch you in west gloucestershire you’ll catch the rifle”
Fiona Apple
3/5
Meat Loaf
4/5
Meatloaf is so funny because he basically sings musical theater songs about fucking, but then the album art is like a panel from demon superhero comic.
Herbie Hancock
4/5
Funky
Leftfield
1/5
Generic background music for a movie scene that takes place in a club. Don’t know why it is included on the list… maybe it invented that sound or something?
The Velvet Underground
4/5
A bit too much freakout at times, but sister ray is a banger.
David Bowie
2/5
There were nice moments within songs but I didn’t like any songs start to finish.
Neil Young
4/5
Solidly enjoyable.
Beck
3/5
Alt country stuff is good. A bit too noisy for my liking at times.
Kacey Musgraves
3/5
Just a bit too polished for me, but some great tracks.
Stan Getz
3/5
Smooth but complex. Enjoyable.
Genesis
1/5
This seems like a joke record.
Air
4/5
Shocked at how much I loved this.
Hugh Masekela
3/5
Enjoyed it less as it went along, but still solid.
Donald Fagen
1/5
Still so funny to me that hip millennials have convinced themselves that Steely Dan is good.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
Easy five stars. Great from open to close.
Tim Buckley
2/5
Boring
Paul McCartney and Wings
2/5
Paul McCartney can really write some catchy tunes. Unfortunately be it the lack of a solid collaborative band or the 70s influence, these just aren’t interesting.
David Bowie
5/5
So many great songs on here. There are a few that don’t grab me but still five stars overall.
Brian Eno
1/5
This album doesn’t have enough songs about buildings or food.
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
Good and funky.
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
2/5
I can see how this is influential, but can’t imagine I’ll listen again.
Eminem
3/5
Unlike the last album, his flow is undeniable here and it makes it more understandable that he became so huge. But the edginess sure is cringey.
Fela Kuti
4/5
Awesome uptempo afrobeat
Sparks
2/5
Sounds like circus music a bit too often. But it has some bangers when it goes for more straightforward rock.
Prefab Sprout
1/5
Cheesy eighties schmaltz. The first song sounded a bit cowpunky right at the end and I got excited it might improve, but that was the high point of the album.
The Kinks
3/5
I prefer their stuff that rocks a bit harder, but this has some nice songs.
Dusty Springfield
3/5
First two tracks are amazing. It stays solid but never reaches those heights again.
Alice In Chains
1/5
Not for me.
Sonic Youth
2/5
Too thrashy. Needs more tunes.
Fleet Foxes
4/5
Nice harms. Songs hold up pretty well.
Billie Holiday
3/5
Undeniably beautiful, but a bit too old fashioned and same-y for me.
Fugees
4/5
Smooth grooves, nice flow, great beats, and at times, when Lauryn Hill is on vocals, transcendent. I do have to knock it down a star for the Chinese Restaurant skit.
Charles Mingus
2/5
Some cool moments but I found it much too anxiety inducing.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
Excellent. Felt timeless. A few dull patches but no bad patches.
Pere Ubu
2/5
This really feels like something I should like based on my other tastes, but I found it grating. A few good moments (the end of caligari’s mirror, ubu dance party) but mostly a drag.
Madonna
2/5
A few nice pop hits but too much electro
Buena Vista Social Club
4/5
Takes me back.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
Great opener and closer. Solid throughout.
The Divine Comedy
3/5
A bit overwrought but I enjoyed moments.
Morrissey
3/5
Begrudgingly liked this. Some cracking tunes but I still find Morrissey’s voice and delivery grating. Ironically the best song on the album was antifacist.
3/5
Some nice poppy, punky jams in here. A bit bland at times but overall a nice listen.
U2
3/5
Good U2 songs are great. Bad U2 songs sound like Sting. This is a pretty even mix of the two.
Jefferson Airplane
4/5
Some tracks are overly 60s sounding, but many of the tracks rock. Grace Slick is undeniable.
David Holmes
3/5
Started out pretty boring but improved as it went on.
ZZ Top
2/5
I absolutely did not need to listen to two ZZ Top albums before dying.
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
A few bops but a lot of goofy overwrought tracks.
Black Sabbath
4/5
This fucking rips. I was shocked by Planet Caravan — didn’t know that was in their repertoire and I found it thoroughly enjoyable.
Arcade Fire
4/5
A bit overlong but has great moments throughout
Roni Size
2/5
Too long and boring, but I guess it functions ok as background music.
Orange Juice
2/5
The music was great, but the vocals really took me out of it.
Dire Straits
4/5
Some really great tracks. Overall pretty enjoyable.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Outside of the few enduring hits it is pretty middle of the road.
The Stone Roses
4/5
Glam-y, jam-y, rock goodness.
2/5
The music is nice but lyrically it is just far too goofy for my taste. I mean, “Your Dictionary” sounds like a joke song from Documentary Now or something.
Bob Dylan
4/5
A great Dylan. It drags at times but has two of the all time great songs in “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” and “Girl From the North Country”.
Steve Winwood
2/5
Farty-synth era blue eyed soul is generally bad. This is no exception though a few tunes are catch enough to merit two stars.
Fats Domino
3/5
Good stuff. Probably won’t revisit often.
Iron Maiden
2/5
I was intrigued by how poppy Charlotte the Harlot was. Enjoyable enough to listen to throughout but nothing I would revisit.
The Psychedelic Furs
3/5
I like the music and songwriting but the vocals are a bit grating.
Dwight Yoakam
3/5
Pleasant but didn’t knock my socks off
The Pogues
5/5
Extremely my shit.
Television
5/5
The White Stripes
3/5
A below average White Stripes album is still a good album.
Don McLean
2/5
Some really syrupy stuff in here (Vincent is bad), but the more upbeat stuff is fun.
Cocteau Twins
2/5
A couple of fun dancey tracks but overall too dull.
Louis Prima
2/5
Big Night
Iggy Pop
4/5
Extremely good. Feels ahead of its time (and I guess it was, since the title track really blew up in the 90s).
Deep Purple
2/5
strange kind of woman knocked this down from three stars to two.
Santana
4/5
Nice grooves and jams. Better without vocals.
Mj Cole
1/5
Completely replaceable. Not offensive but very generic.
Nina Simone
3/5
Stunning but outside of a few tracks I can’t imagine listening to it again.
Beastie Boys
5/5
The sampling alone would be worthy of five stars, and then of course the rhymes match that in complexity and quality.
The Smiths
2/5
I just don’t like the Smiths.
3/5
The operatic sections and finger-tapping bits are too overwrought. But there are a few parts that sound a bit like hail to the thief era Radiohead that are pretty good.
Massive Attack
3/5
Vibe-y grooves that occasionally transcend the chill to be very enjoyable. I liked it but probably would only listen to a track or two at a time in the future.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
4/5
Extremely enjoyable. Will definitely be in my rotation moving forward.
Björk
2/5
I liked the jazzy stuff a lot better than the trip hop stuff. Clearly shows promise but I’m not likely to revisit
The Isley Brothers
4/5
Some insanely good funky jams. A few stretches that are too yahct-y.
Van Halen
2/5
Not my thing but listenable.
The Beach Boys
3/5
I liked this less as it got deeper into the album; it got a bit too ethereal. The early tracks were enjoyable.
Magazine
2/5
I kept thinking “I should like this album” but I never did. It seems adjacent to some of my new wave favorites but it just didn’t grab me.
Tracy Chapman
4/5
A few duds (Mountains of Things), but overall great. Kicks off with two masterpieces in “Fast Car” and “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution”
Talking Heads
4/5
Occasionally uneven, but still has enough tracks that I love to carry it to four stars.
King Crimson
2/5
Got diagnosed with tuberculosis halfway through listening to this album, which knocked a full star off my rating.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
2/5
Bad English music.
The Divine Comedy
1/5
Pretty unlistenable for the most part.
The Beach Boys
4/5
Lots of great tracks and clearly an influential masterpiece, but I do find some stretches dull which holds it back from perfection.
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
Comes out of the gate with a string of great tracks but tails off into sameness
Electric Light Orchestra
3/5
Some solid tunes, but a lot of tracks are too over the top.
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
3/5
Came out of the gates with a banger opening track. Never reached such highs again but was enjoyable throughout.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
5/5
Better than I remembered, and I remembered it being great.
The Who
3/5
This has its moments (a quick one while he’s away) but I fundamentally don’t really think of The Who as a band I need to hear live recordings of.
R.E.M.
4/5
A bit uneven but some incredible highs (Nightswimming).
Buzzcocks
2/5
Gets tiresome after a while.
Kraftwerk
4/5
Up and down but the title track is so strong that I have to give it four stars.
Lightning Bolt
1/5
Grueling to listen to.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
Still a master of song craft right up until the end of his life.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
A few songs go on too long but overall it rocks.
Emmylou Harris
4/5
One of my favorite voices of all time. I wish the songs were a bit stronger but I could see myself revisiting this from time to time.
Prince
5/5
The back half of this album goes unbelievably hard. Hard to believe you could top the first half of the album — but it does!
Sigur Rós
3/5
Some beautiful tracks and it takes me back to the good old days. But it does drag into same-ness
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Beautiful tracks, catchy tracks, and a few corny tracks.
Metallica
2/5
the songs are too long and similar to each other
The Beta Band
3/5
Some nice lo-fi chillers and grocers especially “Liquid Bird” and “Simple”. A bit sleepy in the first half of the album.
Youssou N'Dour
3/5
Very fun but not likely to revisit in full. The first track will go into rotation.
Wild Beasts
2/5
A more boring animal collective. But it wasn’t unpleasant to listen to.
Sex Pistols
4/5
About two songs too long. But it does rock
The Who
5/5
Wall to wall greatness
Björk
2/5
I respect bjork and don’t think this is necessarily bad. But I won’t listen to it again.
The Cure
3/5
Too many long, droning tracks. But “pictures of you” is an all-timer. “Lovesong” also rules.
Tom Waits
4/5
Uneven first half. Spectacular second half.
Booker T. & The MG's
4/5
Hammond organ goodness. Could listen to it forever.
Jimmy Smith
4/5
More Hammond organ goodness.
B.B. King
3/5
Solidly enjoyable blues. Not something I’d revisit often because it didn’t have any standout track, but I’d gladly listen to it if it was on the stereo sometime.
Rod Stewart
3/5
Enjoyable but forgettable. The drum breakdown in (I Know) I’m Losing You brings it close to four stars but this feels solidly in the three star range
Destiny's Child
3/5
great at the top but falls off very badly in the second half. Some very bad ballads there.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
4/5
I think I’ve underrated Lynyrd Skynyrd
3/5
Groovy but a bit boring
Muddy Waters
3/5
Solid blues
R.E.M.
4/5
Another solid R.E.M. album that I enjoy but am not as thrilled by as I expected to be.
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
Little wing is amazing. The rest is merely good.
Steely Dan
2/5
I do not need to listen to any more Steely Dan
Bob Dylan
5/5
A masterpiece. Dylan’s reputation as a master is fully earned.
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
Started off interesting but grew very grating toward the end.
Hole
4/5
Title track rocks. The rest of the tracks are good but the back half of the album is a bit uneven.
The United States Of America
2/5
Possibly influential. Not for me.
Michael Jackson
2/5
Other than the opening and closing tracks, I found it very schmaltzy
Eagles
2/5
To quote Jeff Lebowski “I fucking hate The Eagles, man!”
Just a juiceless album. No edge. Striving for profundity but missing the mark (The Last Resort feels almost like a parody).
Begrudgingly giving it two stars because the title track is iconic and listenable, but the rest is pure dreck.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
4/5
Moody, catchy, just plain good.
Motörhead
4/5
A ripping good time.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
4/5
Overstuffed but good
Blondie
4/5
Catchy, propulsive, just plain enjoyable.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Much like the Beatles albums in this project, Dylan albums are as good as their reputations.
Def Leppard
1/5
This sucks. Absolutely infuriating inclusion on this list. Bland garbage best forgotten.
Queen
3/5
Enjoyable listen but nothing jumped out and grabbed me.
The Young Gods
1/5
Contenswr for my least favorite album on the list. Grating (vocals and music), boring, repetitive. Would give it zero stars.
Beatles
3/5
Undeniable craft, but lacking the oomf of other Beatles records.
Cream
3/5
Too psychedelic for me, doesn’t seem as cool as it did when I was 16.
Ash
4/5
Super fun pop punk, with a surprising amount of range (at times sounds like weeper at times sounds like GBV).
The Icarus Line
2/5
This is like the output of an AI prompt: “write a meet me in the bathroom era album in the style of Alice In Chains”.
The Fall
3/5
I feel like I should love this but it’s just ok. A bit too droning.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
Truly one of the best ever. Just a start to finish masterpiece.
Oasis
4/5
Enjoyable tunes. Had a fun time listening but not super memorable.
The 13th Floor Elevators
3/5
Solid throughout but nothing matches the opening highs of You’re Gonna Miss Me.
The Last Shadow Puppets
3/5
Arctic! Monkeys and the Disco. It’s fun but in no way essential.
Nirvana
3/5
The covers are interesting, but without video it gets a bit samey. Still enjoyable and you can feel how interesting it is in context.
Radiohead
4/5
I still think this album is somewhat overhyped, but I enjoyed it all lot more than I did when it first came it. It is a solid to great album experience, but a lack of transcendent moments holds it back, in my eyes, from achieving the exalted status it holds in the culture.
Eagles
2/5
Take it Easy is fun. The rest of the album is dreck.
Tom Waits
4/5
It is unclear exactly how much of this is meant to be a joke, but it was enjoyable and there were some real standout tunes sprinkled through it.
Everything But The Girl
1/5
Easy listening music that is extremely hard to get through.
MGMT
4/5
Hard to untangle this one from nostalgia, but the high notes on this album are so spectacular that I am end up forgiving some of the goofier moments.
Beck
4/5
Enjoyable, low-key, countryish, melancholy. Something I will return to.
The Allman Brothers Band
4/5
A magnificent live album. Whipping Post rips.
The Style Council
1/5
Shockingly enjoyable opening and closing instrumental tracks. Unfortunately every song with vocals was very bad. Seems like you need to hear this album in order to remember why people rag on music from the 80s. I guess that is a useful exercise, because the disrespect for 80s music has always baffled me since the music that endured from that decade is some of the best. This stuff is some of the worst.
The Monkees
2/5
Pleasant and clearly a historical artifact, but not something I plan on listening to again.
The Damned
3/5
Solid punk songs with just enough variety to keep it interesting.
Duke Ellington
4/5
A great listen.
Miles Davis
4/5
Really interesting and propulsive while staying smooth and groovy throughout.
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
3/5
Has a cool defined sound and some great harmonica work. Probably won’t revisit it though.
Fairport Convention
4/5
Really enjoyed this. Distinctly British sounding folk music. Will definitely revisit this one.
Flamin' Groovies
4/5
As it went along it got less garage-y and I liked it a bit less as that happened. Still solid overall.
Pink Floyd
4/5
An experience that really requires listening to uninterrupted in one sitting. Has peaks and valleys but the overall experience is quite good. I do think it would be better without the middle track.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
Veers into the overly-spooky freaky at points (voodoo dolly), but I mostly enjoyed the gloomy jangle of the tighter tracks (spellbound, into the light).
Led Zeppelin
4/5
A great album. I really enjoyed the more stripped down tracks in the back half.
Kendrick Lamar
4/5
An album that gives you something new to connect with on each listen, but also challenging enough that I don’t listen to it often.
The Fall
2/5
I just don’t click with the Fall even though I feel like I should. Every aspect of the songs speaks to me in some way, but I find listening to them unpleasant.
Beck
4/5
Over indexes on being vibe-y in the back half, but still a great album that reminds me of a specific time in my life.
Muddy Waters
5/5
This lives up to the title by going extremely hard. Listened to it twice back to back.
Gil Scott-Heron
3/5
Enjoyed some of the more melodic stuff, but the spoken world wasn’t my favorite.
Pantera
1/5
I listened to at least a minute each of these before skipping (which is more than most deserved). Only made it through three tracks all the way. Zero stars. Absolutely perfect fit for the first day after Trump was elected to his second term.
Abdullah Ibrahim
4/5
Really beautiful.
The Stooges
3/5
Rockin, but repetitive.
Otis Redding
5/5
A phenomenon talent at the top of his game. Great from start to finish.
Cat Stevens
4/5
Reminds me that I like pretty folk
Music. A few duds (Sad Lisa notably) hold it back from five stars.
Primal Scream
2/5
I liked the Oasis-like songs better than the euro-techno songs. Unfortunately, there were more euro techno songs. Ultimately it was just kind of forgettable.
Ozomatli
2/5
Decently catchy stuff. Nothing that I wanted to immediately turn off, but also nothing that made me want to put it on again.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
The best Stones album in a walk.
The Velvet Underground
5/5
Unbelievable that this is their debut. Such range and so many amazing tracks.
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
A nice album that is a bit uneven at times.
The Slits
4/5
Heard it Through the Grapevine rips.
Jeff Beck
3/5
I much prefer the instrumental tracks.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
A lot of great tracks but a decent amount of filler holds it back from a five star rating.
David Bowie
3/5
I liked listening to this but in the grand scheme of the Bowie discography it felt less than essential.
Raekwon
3/5
I liked listening to this but in the grand scheme of the Bowie discography it felt less than essential.
Yes
2/5
Goofy carnival bullshit. Roundabout is ok so I’ll bump it up to two stars.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Very hard to judge this independent from my history with it (formative album, one of my first concerts). Felt a tad bloated this run through so I’ll leave it at four.
The Cure
3/5
Enjoyably vibey but surprisingly light on hooks.
Sarah Vaughan
2/5
Pleasant enough but quite boring. A perfect example is “Just A Gigolo” which has none of the humor or verve of the Louis Prima version. The one exception is the final song that seems like a self deprecating joke or maybe just a bad song.
Amazingly strong opening run of four songs — some of my favorite ever. Unfortunately the back half gets embarrassingly bad (“New York” “Grace). I have to give it 4 stars on the strength of the openers, but it is not an album I will revisit in full.
Cornershop
4/5
Enjoyed this more often than not, though it got a bit too wacky at times. Overall a solid listen, especially the uptempo pop work.
Goldfrapp
3/5
Feels like the output of a school assignment to write an album of rejected 80s James Bond themes in the style of Bjork. That said, it wasn’t a bad listen.
Billy Joel
2/5
Like most Billy Joel, I find this overly schmaltzy. But there are a few solid tracks.
Elliott Smith
4/5
Beautiful songs with just enough variety. I could listen to Say Yes a thousands times and not tire of it.
Megadeth
1/5
Boring and same-y. No memorable hooks. I find the singers voice grating enough to downgrade it to one star (the music itself would get a two).
Justice
4/5
It grooves and has good enough variety to stay interesting throughout.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Not familiar with this one going in and found it solid throughout. I was blown away by Not Dark Yet which is good enough to lift this to four stars.
The Clash
4/5
Expert debut with all the charge and verve they would later perfect on London Calling when they added a bit more variety and craft.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Damn that rocks.
John Lennon
3/5
Not bad. Just kind of there.
Syd Barrett
2/5
Not sure what I’m supposed to do with this. I suppose you have to listen to it to understand that Pink Floyd didn’t work except as a sum of its parts. Not punishing to listen to, but rather thin and not something I’d ever revisit.
Taylor Swift
5/5
This album should really end three songs sooner. But I still have to give it five stars.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
Has “Maps” one of the greatest songs of all time. The rest of the album is good but doesn’t reach the heights of It’s Blitz.
The Smashing Pumpkins
4/5
Real 90s sounds. Headlined by Cherub Rock and Today this was a great listen but with a few long tracks that lost my interest.
Doves
3/5
Enjoyable, replacement-level indie rock but There Goes The Fear was very good.
Christina Aguilera
2/5
Ultimately forgettable. There are a few choice tracks (Beautiful, Fighter) but those don’t elevate the rest of the album enough to be worthwhile. I suppose it is a decent time capsule.
The Notorious B.I.G.
2/5
Beyond the hits, I found it repetitive. He does have immaculate flow though.
James Brown
4/5
Tour de force performance that *almost* manages to translate it’s live energy entirely to wax.
Thelonious Monk
3/5
Solidly enjoyable. Seems ahead of its time but I don’t know enough jazz history to properly contextualize.
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
A few dull patches (the title track is not my favorite), but two all time bangers (New York I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down, All My Friends).
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
Excellent Brit pop that overstays its welcome a bit toward the end.
Minor Threat
3/5
One Minor Threat song — pretty good
Two Minor Threat songs — ok I get it
Three Minor Threat songs — ok thats good enough for me for now
Album ends — actually I came back around on it
The Verve
2/5
Listenable but quite boring. Like if Oasis wrote songs without hooks.
Iron Maiden
3/5
Don’t think we needed two Iron Maiden albums on this list. But if you don’t attempt to take this seriously it is pretty fun.
Tom Waits
3/5
Has a lot of stuff I didn’t jive with, but has some great tracks (town with no cheers in particular).
Jungle Brothers
3/5
Laid back and funky with a solid flow. I don’t fully connect with it, but I enjoyed it.
The Electric Prunes
2/5
I’m finding during this exercise is that I don’t really enjoy psychedelia, but this was fine. Too much to dream is a song I used to like that holds up pretty well.
5/5
Despite the best efforts of Cast No Shadow to drag the album down, this is five stars. Too many bangers.
DJ Shadow
3/5
Gonna assume this was vital in the development of lo-fi beats to chill to.
Khaled
1/5
Very hard to track these songs down, but the ones I found were not very memorable.
James Taylor
2/5
I expected to like this a lot more. James Taylor has always been a blind spot for me in a genre I usually love. I found this pretty boring and cheesy.
The Everly Brothers
3/5
Gets repetitive but really pleasant tunes.
Dolly Parton
4/5
Can’t argue with Dolly.
Alanis Morissette
4/5
The hits are great. The album tracks are OK.
Deerhunter
3/5
Not unpleasant, but this type of music never really grabbed me. I liked a few tracks, but found that it mostly faded into the background.
Barry Adamson
3/5
High variance. Really enjoyed some tracks but the more esoteric ones such as “Dirty Barry” really rubbed me the wrong way.
Nick Drake
5/5
Really wonderful. I prefer this to Pink Moon, which surprised me because Pink Moon was the record people always used to introduce me to Nick Drake when I was younger.
Elton John
3/5
A bit bloated. I prefer Madman Across The Water, but I still enjoyed most of the songs.
Nick Drake
4/5
Beautiful. A feast for the ears. Didn’t like it quite as much as Bryter Later.
The Black Crowes
4/5
This rocks! Surprised this hasn’t been more lasting and present. It is a bit cheesy but stacks up with a lot of the early 2000 garage revival stuff.
Happy Mondays
2/5
Disappointing. Too same-y throughout.
Deee-Lite
3/5
*Bruce Campbell voice* Groovy
Sister Sledge
2/5
The uptempo tracks are great, but I didn’t like any of the ballad-y tracks.
Metallica
1/5
The same shitty song nine times in a row
The Waterboys
4/5
Violin gets a bit too unnerving at times but overall I enjoyed this quite a bit.
Anthrax
1/5
Exactly what I always thought this would sound like (derogatory)
Rage Against The Machine
3/5
All the bones are here but it is uneven (Settle for Nothing was really unpleasant.). Great when it is funkier. Killing in the Name whips.
Beatles
4/5
A bit overstuffed, but a shocking achievement given its scope and scale. This exercise continues to highlight how good the Beatles really are. They hold up!
“Long, Long, Long” stood out on this listen as a song I’d never really appreciated before but found really excellent and beautiful this time through.
Lorde
3/5
Allyssa Beird loves running around her school listening to this.
A few solid cuts, but overall a replacement level pop album.
David Bowie
3/5
Uneven. Didn’t love the ambient stuff other than Moss Garden. Title track is a banger.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Tons of great tracks with the epic sweep I expect from Nick Cave.
The Crusaders
2/5
Unfortunately Muzak-y
De La Soul
3/5
I feel like I lack the full knowledge/context to judge this. It holds up well and feels very influential. The beats in particular felt timeless. But, it didn’t really grab me.
Kanye West
4/5
Listening to the most misogynistic song I’ve ever heard “wow, this is troublingly classist”.
I dunno, this album was a big part of my youth, not sure what the fuck I’m supposed to do with his albums now.
The Residents
1/5
Very unenjoyable. I can see how it probably influenced music I like, but it was painful to get through.
The White Stripes
5/5
A nearly flawless album (I don’t love “I Can Learn”). Boundless energy.
Eels
4/5
Really enjoyed this. Solid from start to finish. It didn’t have any transcendent moments so I’m giving it a 4, but I’d say it’s more of a 4.5.
Earth, Wind & Fire
2/5
Kind of disappointing after shining star. Got less funky and more jazzy which I don’t like.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Great samples, great flow.
The Who
3/5
Some great tracks “the kids are alright” “my generation”. Some pleasant surprises “the ox”. But overall uneven.
Einstürzende Neubauten
1/5
Answers the question “what if kraftwerk was atonal and bad?”
Lou Reed
4/5
I much prefer the first half of this album to the drearier tracks toward the back.“Sad Song” ties together the back half of the album well. Overall a good album!
Marvin Gaye
3/5
A bit boring but some solid tunes.
U2
4/5
There is some typical U2 cheese in here that holds it back (“Tryin To Throw Your Arms Around the World” is pretty awful, “Love is Blindness” not a great closing track) but on the whole a great album.
Devendra Banhart
2/5
This hasn’t held up well for me. Feels a bit kitschy
Randy Newman
5/5
Beautiful songs, funny songs, heartbreaking songs. Political Science more relevant than ever. Five stars.
Thin Lizzy
4/5
Cowboy Song straight into The Boys are Back in Town — hot damn.
Sufjan Stevens
5/5
A huge album in my life that came out just as I was moving to Illinois for college. Played the hell out of it then and have listened to my favorite tracks often in the years since. This is my first full album listen through in probably a decade and my god does it hold up.
Public Enemy
3/5
Extremely solid.
Bill Callahan
4/5
Really loved this album. The compositions shifting from spare to lush were really beautiful. However, “Invocation to Ratiocination” really rubbed me the wrong way and held it back form five stars.
Coldplay
4/5
Really nice songs with more variety and edge than their early reputation implies.
Guns N' Roses
3/5
Fun. Disposable.
Violent Femmes
5/5
Good as hell folk punk. So many great tracks on here from start to finish.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
Packed with great songs.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Never really connected with Peter Gabriel and on this album I think something about his singing is it grates on me (similar to Dave Matthews). This clicked during “Lead a Normal Life” which I thought was great until the singing kicked in. Overall a decent listen but not one I’d return to.
Goldfrapp
4/5
I liked this a lot more than Felt Mountain. I liked the rock-folkiness of this a lot more than the chanteuse vibes of the last one. Overall a nice listen with a lot of bright spots.
Nas
5/5
Lives up to the hype. Incredible flow. Wonderful beats. Lyrics that will need multiple listens to process.
The Temptations
4/5
I enjoyed the uptempo funky songs more than the more ballad-y tracks, as I always do, but overall I thought this was a very good listen.
Bob Dylan
5/5
An album so good it is making me crotchety about modern music. Flawless start to finish. Six stars.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
Solidly listenable but forgettable.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
A sonic delight that occasionally veers off track. Lots of choice tracks in here.
The xx
3/5
Chill beats and cool vocals.
AC/DC
3/5
Fun like all AC/DC songs but I think one of their albums would be enough for this list.
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
An amazing narrative achievement that also delivers a number of undeniable hit singles.
The Mothers Of Invention
4/5
Not my favorite Zappa to listen to, but one of his most interesting.
Big Star
4/5
Didn’t love this as much as I’d expected given how much I love #1 album. But maybe I am just taking Chilton’s songwriting for granted.
Fela Kuti
4/5
Drum solo was a bit too much for me but the other tracks were really great.
The Prodigy
2/5
Feels epochal but for an epoch I don’t care much about one way or the other. Very listenable as background music.
Kings of Leon
4/5
I forgot how great this album is. Their later output had negatively spun how I remember this. But hearing it again takes me back. Hard rocking southern jams. Allman Brothers x Velvet Underground vibes.
Jack White
4/5
Easily the best Jack White album outside of his work with White Stripes. I especially like the back half which has some more adventurous stuff.
The Replacements
3/5
I can see how this influenced a lot of music I like, and I enjoyed listening to it, but it left me a bit cold.
Japan
1/5
Duran Duran on Valium. Very boring.
Sonic Youth
2/5
Too shaggy for me. Not my favorite of their records.
Isaac Hayes
3/5
Groovy and sweeping. A great soundtrack but doesn’t rise to the level of an album I’d revisit often.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
Solid moody rock. A bit same-y. I feel like this could have really imprinted into my mind if I’d encountered it when I was younger, but for now it’s just a solid three-star album.
Jurassic 5
4/5
A very cool amalgam of styles over chill grooves, jazzy elements, and samples.
Deep Purple
3/5
Space Truckin’ is a perfect capper for this album because it sums up the whole experience — deeply goofy but undeniably rocking.
Franz Ferdinand
4/5
Take Me Out is an all-time for me. And. It has lots of other great tracks sprinkled throughout.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
1/5
This was slightly better than I expected and I’m still giving it one star. Just a slog of uninspired electro rock. It seemed like it would never end.
Michael Jackson
3/5
There are undeniable hits throughout, but with enough maudlin syrup to drag it down to three stars.
The Magnetic Fields
4/5
So many great tracks throughout. A fair number of duds but that’s understandable. I could see this landing anywhere from 3-5 based on its highs, lows, and overall ambition. I guess I’ll average it out to 4. Best tracks “papa was a rodeo”, “kiss me like you mean it”, “luckiest guy on the lower east side”, “sweet-lovin’ man”
The Human League
2/5
Boring but inoffensive.
Marianne Faithfull
2/5
Marianne Faithful has an interesting voice but the songs left me a bit cold.
Ramones
4/5
This album just fucking rips. Fast, loud, and fun.
The Pretty Things
2/5
The opening riff of this album was so cool and the rest of it was a let down.
Solange
4/5
Really good album. It was a bit slow and melodic for my personal taste but the overall progression of the album with the interludes was very arresting. I really enjoyed this!
Motörhead
3/5
Motörhead is cool and fun but does get repetitive especially since a number of these tracks were already on the Live at Hammersmith album on this list.
SAULT
4/5
While I didn’t love any single track this was an enjoyable listen at the album level. Some varied styles and low key grooves.
Hot Chip
2/5
Bleep-bloop music that isn’t terrible, but definitely isn’t good.
Tina Turner
3/5
A bit too 80s for me, but Tina Turner is great. Overall three stars bc it was good but not something I’d revisit.
Faith No More
1/5
Combining rap in the style of “my name is John and I’m here to say, I rock the beat in a rockin way”, with putrid metal riffs and knock off Axl Rose vocals. Not good!
Richard Thompson
5/5
This was a stunning album for me. Folk songs with range, depth, and beauty. I loved both the vocalists and can’t wait to revisit this and listen to the lyrics again.
The Monks
4/5
Feels ahead of its time and is still very listenable and fun.
Joan Baez
3/5
One of the all-time voices but this is not the strongest collections of songs.
Roxy Music
2/5
High variance. Some good tracks but some really sloggy ones featuring too much sludgy synth.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
2/5
I always struggle with things that are so foreign to me. This was pleasant enough to listen to but not anything I’d revisit.
Ice Cube
2/5
Solid flow and some interesting sampling/beats but it lacked the hooks in some of his other albums. The misogyny is also amped to a million here which detracts from the overall stories.
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
There are some interesting musical moments in here but the vocals are godawful, and the songs are too long and slow to ramp up. There is also an inexplicable song that rags on popular music while ripping off (intentionally I assume) Werewolves of London — pretty rich to be throwing stones at Warren Zecon. Three stars mostly just for the strength of the last four minutes of That’s What She’s Like.
Also, is the author doing a bit by including a Dexy’s Midnight Runners album that doesn’t include Come on Eileen.
4/5
I prefer the edgier opener to some of the more straightforward songs but this was a great album throughout.
Little Richard
4/5
The energy is off the charts and it still feels fresh almost 70 years later. There is a bit of fatigue with the style by the end but overall a great time.
Skunk Anansie
2/5
At times this had an almost showtune vibe that I kind of liked. But, most of it was somewhat grating operatic metal that I never got into.
The Streets
5/5
I was worried this wouldn’t hold up because I hadn’t listened to it since high school. I figured the impact would have worn off a bit now that I’m not a teenager, but it’s…. somehow better?
I think it works top to bottom. It’s one of the most successful concept albums/operas I’ve ever heard. It is a top-tier work of fiction about the mid 2000s. I can’t believe it.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
3/5
I really enjoyed the middle third or so of this album, where I felt like it hit the perfect blend of bluesy, thrashy, and hooky. The begging and end were out of balance in the thrashy direction, but overall a solid listen.
Jorge Ben Jor
4/5
This album rocks and rolls. It’s groovy and funky and jammy. A very fun listen but not sure how often I’ll revisit.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
Some of my favorite Bruce songs on here. Atlantic City, Reason to Believe, and Highway Patrolman are all classics. Despite being stripped down this album has great range.
Klaxons
2/5
Not bad at all just boring. Like Franz Ferdinand but louder and less interesting. It is probably a three on merit but I found it so dull I’m giving it a two.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
I love a spare, haunting, Nick Cave ballad, but these do get a bit repetitive as the album drags on.
Miriam Makeba
3/5
I felt that the English language standards on this dragged a bit and detracted from the overall experience.
Crowded House
2/5
Replacement level rock. Fine but boring. Probably could be three stars based on listenability but I found the slower ballads to be a real slog so I’m knocking it down to two.
The Zutons
4/5
Really enjoyed this. Lightly ska/folk-inflected indie rock with enough variety to keep it interesting throughout.
Mariah Carey
2/5
Slow dance songs from fifth grade that I didn’t like then and don’t like now, but her voice is good so I’ll give it two stars for that.
The Cramps
3/5
Like all Rockabilly I like it, but it gets very goofy and repetitive. I think I’m around. 3.5 on this but I’ll round down to three because of the same-yness
Radiohead
4/5
A very good album. Great even! But I am still a bit baffled that it is so widely regarded as their best when it is probably not even in my top three. I appreciate the complex compositions, but it just has none of the emotional heft of some of their better achievements (The Bends, OK Computer).
Green Day
4/5
Really holds up. I know that a few songs have cringey reputations but in the flow of the opera they are good. Big thumbs down to the Spotify track breaks making it hard to add certain tracks to my overall playlist.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
This was a fun enough listen but I feel like the list is over-indexing in Neil Young that sounds exactly like this. I’d 90s young really that essential? The long songs are a bit too meandering for me.
Fatboy Slim
2/5
This was fun to put on in the background but it lacked some of the catchy hooks that made his other albums more memorable.
Brian Wilson
3/5
It’s a good piece of pop orchestral music. But then good vibrations hits at the end and I can’t help but compare it (unfavorably) to Pet Sounds.
Os Mutantes
3/5
Cool garage-y psych rock with enough holiness to grab me even in another language. Still a bit too psychedelic for me but I liked it.
Coldcut
2/5
The sort of proto-avalanche sound collages were better than the more straightforward beats. This was overall fine as background music but felt like a waste of time.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
4/5
Really fun listen. Makes me excited to hear more Jazz.
Ali Farka Touré
3/5
I enjoyed the mellow compositions here but after a while it got boring.
PJ Harvey
4/5
Finally clicked with a PJ Harvey album. I much preferred the first half of this album (the second half got a bit too sludgy for me) but the first half is awesome.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
3/5
I’ve always found Tom Petty a bit boring. Enjoyable but unremarkable. (Exception being American Girl which is a bop).
UB40
3/5
Slow but groovy reggae. Not super interesting but a decent listen.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
Bird on a Wire is an all-timer.
Megadeth
1/5
Unpleasant. I’ve never been a metal guy and albums like this are why. Bad vibes, bad melodies.
The Chemical Brothers
2/5
Grows boring after a while.
Queens Of The Stone Age
2/5
The first track “Regular John” was awesome. After that it got less propulsive and more sludgy which I liked quite a bit less
Antony and the Johnsons
4/5
Some really gorgeous songs in here. I was big into this album in college and I’m glad it holds up years later.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
A bit bloated but also some of their best songs. Shine A Light almost pushed it to five stars but it felt more like a four throughout so I’m sticking with that.
William Orbit
1/5
Just background music.
Paul McCartney
3/5
Some interesting stuff in here. I particularly loved “Momma Miss America”. It’s possible that if a man named John Smith had released this album I’d have considered it for four stars, but it is impossible not to compare it to the Beatles output which makes it seem slight in comparison.
Rush
2/5
There are moments on this album that are enjoyable (Limelight for instance), but every time I started to get into it something extremely dumb would happen (YYZ for instance).
Orbital
1/5
Some relatively solid background music mixed with some truly annoying tracks. Hovering around 1.5 but the last half hour was a chore so I’m giving it a 1.
Silver Jews
4/5
A lot of thee songs really hit me. I also appreciated the variety in the music despite his unique droning voice.
Fred Neil
3/5
Some cool stuff in here with some unique, haunted folk. I liked his Everbody’s Talking better than Nilson’s. There was a proto-Nick Cave vibe at times as well. Strongly disliked the final track which bumped this down from a four to a three.
Snoop Dogg
4/5
Pretty undeniable album. His flow is so smooth and in the pocket matched with great instrumentation. Of course, that instrumentation does rely heavily on load-bearing Parliament samples (particularly on “Who am I”), but you can’t argue with the results!
There is, of course, a troubling amount of misogyny in the lyrics as is typical of the era. Shocking behavior from America’s preeminent Olympics correspondent!
Van Morrison
4/5
Van has many an undeniable banger. However this album meanders just a bit too much (particularly in the first half of disc 2). Overall a great time but not quite a five star.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
The funky uptempo songs (especially Higher Ground and Living for the City) on this album are so good. The ballads (Golden Lady, All in Love is Fair) are very saccharine. Overall four stars on the strengths of the great tracks but the dour songs will stop me from giving it a full relisten.
Gene Clark
3/5
Pretty down the middle folk rock. I really enjoyed the funkier guitar and organ of From a Silver Phial.
King Crimson
1/5
Listening to this was a fucking chore.
Elvis Costello
3/5
Solid chunes. Falls into the category of “do I really need to listen to this aging legend’s 90s output” that afflicts this list. Enjoyed it enough. Won’t revisit.
Fugazi
3/5
I’ve always appreciated Fugazi on an intellectual level while never really being emotionally affected by their music. On this listen my reaction is much the same. Solid stuff but doesn’t grab me.
Alice Cooper
4/5
Pleasantly surprised by the range on this. Not at all what my perception of Alice Cooper was going in.
Blur
4/5
Long live Britpop.
Black Sabbath
3/5
Black Sabbath is firmly the best of these metal bands in terms of melody and range. Found this release a bit uneven but enjoyable.
Barry Adamson
2/5
This is way too avant garde for me. I struggled to get through it, and it has little to no emotional impact. But it has a few nice songs scattered throughout.
Morrissey
3/5
“Maudlin street” is a pithy description for everything I dislike about Morrisey. But I can’t deny I drops a banger track (“I Don’t Mind if You Forget Me”) every now and then.
Belle & Sebastian
5/5
The first five tracks on this album are damn-near perfect. The second half is a bit less memorable but still fantastic.
Pink Floyd
4/5
An undeniable masterpiece though a bit wanky at moments.
Pixies
4/5
Not my favorite Pixies album (that’s Doolittle) but still solid.
Doves
3/5
Solid if replaceable. A bit like a mix between oasis and Radiohead, but maybe a bit more mellow than that implies.
Brian Eno
3/5
A solid outing from Eno. Not as good an album as ‘Here Come The Warm Jets’ or ‘Music for Airports’, but it feels like a stepping stone between them. 3.5 stars but I’ll round down given the highs of his other output.
FKA twigs
2/5
A bit too spooky and ethereal for me. It sort of put me on edge, which is possibly a product of me being in a bad mood while I was listening. I can see the craft but it didn’t grab me.
Sonic Youth
3/5
I appreciate Sonic Youth but on the whole, they are too thrashy for me.
Stereo MC's
2/5
This is groovy and listenable but it is basically background music.
The Yardbirds
3/5
I understand why this was impactful, and some points are enjoyable, but on the whole it is a bit too noodly and goofy for me. The guitar is impressive but a bit hollow.
Metallica
2/5
The best of the Metallica albums so far (which isn’t saying much). I hope there aren’t any more because three of their albums are far more than enough.
JAY Z
4/5
Undeniable flow, excellent production. Added to the long list of pop culture that Kanye has made uncomfortable for me despite it’s strong merits.
Koffi Olomide
3/5
I liked this and enjoyed having it in the whole time. Hard to judge beyond that given how unfamiliar I am with the genre.
2/5
I really hate this schmaltzy British 80s shit, and there are a lot of these albums on this list. I guess it is two stars for being marginally listenable, but I’m in a bad mood so I am very tempted to give it 1 star.
The Libertines
4/5
Solid, strokes-y britpop. Very enjoyable.
Peter Frampton
3/5
Veers between decent and schmaltzy. Just down the middle three stars.
Super Furry Animals
4/5
Very fun. Gets somewhat psychedelic without losing poppy hooks. A few songs got a bit too annoying toward the end (I didn’t like Presidential Suite) but overall would listen again.
Stan Getz
3/5
There is a certain type of music that makes me sad because it is background music to a life I’ll never live. This album falls into that category.
Method Man
2/5
Not my favorite Wu-Tang solo effort. A bit nondescript but it had a nice groove to it so it was very listenable.
Germs
2/5
I’m just not a hardcore guy. This album had a few moments of intrigue (the opening riff of Richie Dagger’s Crime, the slower sludge of Shut Down) but overall I didn’t enjoy it.
Peter Tosh
3/5
The man was on the right side of history. I liked this ok, though a lot of tracks felt like filler.
The Hives
4/5
Despite knowing that “Is This It” by The Strokes is the better album, I always think of this album as the prime example of the early 2000s “The” band craze. Pleasantly surprised by how well this holds up. It goes! Just about the maximum amount of thrash I like in an album.
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
I know this is heresy but I wish the vocals were mixed higher.
Stephen Stills
3/5
Cool variety and nice musicianship, but it’s long and bloated. I especially disliked the yachtier moments that took over the second half of the album (“It Doesn’t Matter” was a lowlight).
Public Enemy
4/5
Public Enemy is so dense, great music, great lyrics. Could use another listen to fully absorb but this is undeniably great.
The Saints
4/5
This album rules. The horns were particularly great.
Screaming Trees
4/5
Shocked by how much I liked this. Avoids so many of the pitfalls of other new-to-me grunge albums on this list.
The B-52's
4/5
This album would still feel fresh and exciting if it came out in 2025. What a great sound.
Aphex Twin
3/5
Some nice tracks in here but I found the overall experience uneven, especially the second half.
Ravi Shankar
3/5
More of a lesson than an album but I enjoyed the music and the teaching.
David Bowie
3/5
The first half was solid if uninspired Bowie, then the back half shifts to solid but out of place ambient music. Overall I liked it more than I expected! Probably because the ambient tracks sound like they could be Disney World area loops.
Dusty Springfield
4/5
Incredible singer. Some great songs here but enough filler to leave it teetering between 3 and 4 stars for me. I’ll bump it up to 4 because I loved “Don’t Forget About Me” so much.
2/5
The inclusion of this album very nearly undermines the whole project. It does capture some of the stupid impotent rage of the early 2000s so in that sense it is a good time capsule. Luckily, it has one good track that it has the good sense to put on the album twice (Rollin’). For that song alone I will give the album 2 stars.
Elvis Presley
4/5
Gospell-y Elvis is pretty solid. There are some great tracks here (“Long Black Limousine” “Suspicious Minds”), but also some real dreck (“Don’t Cry Daddy”).
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
Great album but there is too much filler to get it to five stars.
Drive Like Jehu
2/5
I liked this more than I expected to. Some of the longer tracks got a good groove going. But ultimately it was too thrash-y and hardcore for me.
Robbie Williams
4/5
The uptempo tracks crush the ballads. A lot of tracks are like a store brand oasis record, but that’s still pretty good! Let Me Entertain You is both my favorite track, and the one that sounds most unique among Britpop stuff.
Mylo
2/5
Very boring. Not chill enough to get into the flow of, not uptempo enough to dance to.
Ms. Dynamite
3/5
This feels like warmed over Destiny’s Child, but it is solidly listenable. Quite a bit longer than it should be, though.
Isaac Hayes
3/5
The 18 minute track really didn’t work for me, and because it was half the album that made it challenging. Still three stars for overall grooviness.
Ryan Adams
4/5
Real shame that this guy is a huge piece of shit. This album is extremely good.
The Verve
3/5
Kind of like a knock off worse early Radiohead mixed with oasis. Which is fine but not anything special.
Iggy Pop
3/5
This is solid but it undeniably feels like a Bowie album and lacks the edge I want from Iggy Pop. Still three stars.
Portishead
2/5
My enjoyment of each song on this album was inversely promotional to how moody and industrial it sounded.
The Specials
3/5
I like the specials but this wasn’t my favorite album of theirs. Interesting experimentation but I thought the straightforward 2 tone tracks were the strongest ones. The lounge-y stuff really turned me against the album.
Teenage Fanclub
5/5
Superb power pop. Not sure how I have never heard this album before.
John Prine
3/5
I’ve tried to get into John for years and never can. Same reaction on this listen. Every song individually is a C+ at worst but that just doesn’t grab me.
The Stranglers
3/5
This album was up and down. Much more enjoyable when they were toying with genre (especially on the reggae-inflected “Peaches”). But it dragged a bit toward the end and overstayed its welcome.
Public Enemy
4/5
Public Enemy albums are just so listenable. Great sound collages. Occasionally the lyrics jump out and those march the music, but the lyrics sink back in my listening enough that I can’t go five stars.
Amy Winehouse
2/5
This feels surprisingly anonymous and schmaltzy. Her talent is there and you can see where the next album is going to come from, but I’m surprised this album made much of an impact as is.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
3/5
I liked the glam stuff on here quite a bit. The proggier stuff was less successful.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
1/5
Wanky prog trash. I even hated the song from the nutcracker, which shouldn’t be possible.
Ray Charles
3/5
This album falls into a category of music I enjoy but can’t fit into my daily life. I feel like if I could slow down my evenings a bit I’d put on records like this all the time.
Supertramp
2/5
At its best it sounds like bad The Who.
k.d. lang
3/5
Enjoyable mellow country but not much to elevate it beyond that.
Traffic
2/5
I found most of this to be a bore and a chore to get through. But I enjoyed Medicated Goo a lot and was on the verge of giving this three stars as a result. The next track (Shanghai Noodle Factory) knocked it back down to two.
Minutemen
3/5
I really love a lot of music in here but D Boon’s singing just isn’t for me. I also think it is just too long. I feel like this is a 3.5 but I’m rounding down.
Goldie
2/5
Sure. This is decent for this type of music, but how many of these electronica albums are going to be a part of this project?
Aretha Franklin
4/5
Great start to finish. So much emotion.
Daft Punk
3/5
I found the back half of this album very repetitive. I wish it were Discovery.
The Stooges
4/5
Extremely raw and driving but maintains a groove throughout. A tough tightrope to walk! I especially appreciate the horns on Fun House
Massive Attack
3/5
A bit too sleepy for me. There were a few nice grooves, especially the closing track (Hymn of the Big Wheel).
Grateful Dead
2/5
I have always “not been into The Dead” despite never really giving them a chance. This album vindicated my past beliefs. I just don’t like long noodle jammy stuff. Turn on Your Love Light was decent, the rest left me cold — Feedback in particular was a real dud.
Laura Nyro
3/5
The early songs were a bit too jazzy for me but I started to like it more as the album went on and they got more rock/experimental.
New Order
3/5
Not my favorite New Order. A few solid rock-ier songs (Love Vigilantes and Sunrise). Face Up is a great dance song, up there with Bizarre Love Triangle for my favorite of theirs in that genre, but I still don’t like that mode of New Order all that much.
Cheap Trick
4/5
I Want You to Want Me rolling right into Surrender is sick.
Kate Bush
4/5
It’s not Hounds of Love, but it is a great outing nonetheless. Some high highs (This Woman’s Work, Love And Anger) and some forgettable moments, but no real lows. A solid listen start to finish.
Aerosmith
2/5
This was perfectly fine but not a single song grabbed my attention. It felt like generic rock background music.
Mike Ladd
2/5
Diet-wu-tang beats and a laid back flow. Chill and fun to listen to but extremely forgettable.
Slayer
1/5
No thanks. P
Pere Ubu
2/5
I can appreciate this album, but I don’t enjoy it.
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
A bit too long but there are some nice tunes on here. Come On Eileen really does slap.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
3/5
Pretty solid outing if a bit overhyped. Some great tracks (Helpless and Our House are my favorite). But some filler too.
Django Django
2/5
Replacement level Animal Collective style music. Not unpleasant but not something I’d return to.
Michael Jackson
4/5
Obviously it has a run of unimpeachable bangers in the middle (Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean), but there is some schmaltzy trash too (The Girl Is Mine is truly unlistenable, Human Nature is not much better).
Stevie Wonder
5/5
A masterpiece. So many great songs and so much variety.
The Louvin Brothers
2/5
I like this type of music, and I assume this is a blueprint of sorts, but it didn’t have any standout songs.
5/5
Both halves of this album are amazing in different ways. The acoustic half had some great performances of classics and then the electric half just fucking rocks.
R.E.M.
3/5
I always like an REM album. Not my favorite but still very solid.
Incredible Bongo Band
4/5
Really fun and funky. Wears out its welcome a bit as it drags on and the covers begin to seem more rote.
Rod Stewart
3/5
Rod Stewart songs are fun even if most of them sound the same.
The Undertones
4/5
A great time that starts out repetitive but shifts enough along the way that I stayed engaged throughout.
The Pharcyde
2/5
There was stuff in here I really enjoyed but every time I got into a groove there would be a very homophobic, transphobic, or misogynist lyric that would really bring it down.
Mudhoney
1/5
Too sludgy. I can see the influence it had but I didn’t enjoy it.
Sepultura
1/5
I hated every second of this.
John Lennon
4/5
I enjoyed this quite a bit more than I expected to, and a lot more than I enjoyed Paul’s solo album that I had a few months back.
The Byrds
2/5
This album was pleasant enough to have on in the background, but psych rock really doesn’t do it for me.
Tim Buckley
3/5
Fine but forgettable
Lucinda Williams
5/5
Feels like a blueprint for half of the modern music that I like that.
Jeff Buckley
4/5
Very good but some of the songs with more range tip over the edge for me.
Tom Waits
4/5
Not my favorite Tom Waits, but it has some breathtaking moments.
Liz Phair
5/5
Thrilled when this popped up this morning. Just a pleasure to listen to a perfect album. Frank, unsparing, catchy. One of my desert album islands. I love it start to finish.
Top tracks: Fuck and Run (one of my favorite songs of all time), 6’1, Help Me Mary, Divorce Song, Flower, Never Said
Sabu
2/5
Despite being a genre I usually like, this was too frenetic for my taste.
The The
2/5
Way too eighties. The Mercy Beat was the best track but it was too little too late. Lacking the hookiness that elevates the songs of theirs that I’ve liked in the past.
Shivkumar Sharma
3/5
This is very nice and atmospheric, but also a bit forgettable.
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
3/5
Interesting stuff that seems like a forerunner of some of the lofi singer songwriters I like today. That said, I didn’t really like the songs much. Glad I listened to this but won’t revisit.
808 State
2/5
I find this kind of music hard to judge but it was groovy enough I suppose.
OutKast
4/5
The first half of Speakerboxxx is perfect but it gets pretty wobbly after the Bamboo interlude. The Love Below has moments of greatness throughout. There would be a killer five star album here if you culled some weaker tracks and put them together but the dual halves are interesting as well.
Morrissey
3/5
It's a Morrissey album. Palatable but not my thing.
M.I.A.
4/5
Great music to get pumped up.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
Leonard Cohen simply writes great songs. Sometimes I’m not in the mood, but when I am, there’s nothing like them.
Pulp
4/5
This album rocks and rolls. Jam after jam. Hilarious lyrics. Features an all time classic (“Common People”) and another great banger (“Disco 2000”).
The Dictators
3/5
This was fun and fast.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
Not my favorite Costello album but undoubtedly one of his best. Beyond Belief is one of my absolute favorites of his songs. Lush arrangements and tight songwriting. A few songs in the back half lose me which holds it back from five stars. A truly great album!
Deep Purple
2/5
This is fine (despite an overly long song or two) but it is not as good as the other Deep Purple on this list — and really that means it shouldn’t be on this list.
Willie Nelson
4/5
A collection of beautiful, if occasionally slight, songs that add up to more than the sum of their parts when listened to as an album.
Todd Rundgren
3/5
Had some enjoyable tracks but overall it was too experimental and not as good as other Rundgren stuff I’ve heard. Seems like he just really wanted to be Zappa and it didn’t work out.
The Afghan Whigs
4/5
This was pretty great even though no individual song jumped out at me. Feel like it would benefit from a deeper listen but even so it really popped.
Norah Jones
3/5
This album is right on the edge. Some tracks are beautiful while others tip over into the pure schmaltz.
Everything But The Girl
2/5
I found this extremely boring and repetitive, but it wasn’t unpleasant to listen to.
Rocket From The Crypt
3/5
This albums kind of rips. The horns were an especially pleasant surprise. Wears out its welcome just a bit toward the end, but it is one I’ll likely revisit.
N.E.R.D
3/5
This album starts fun and funky and I suppose it remains that way throughout but it wore out its welcome for me especially with the extra long tracks toward the end.
Sonic Youth
2/5
Sonic Youth is a weird one for me. When they are in their more melodic riff-based mode (“Sugar Kane” for example) I love it. But mostly here it is too moody and thrashy for me.
TV On The Radio
3/5
This is not my favorite TVOTR album but it is still quite enjoyable. Starts out very strong but Peter’s out in the second half as it becomes less dancey.
Little Simz
3/5
Started off very strong but as it mellowed out in the back half I lost interest.
New York Dolls
4/5
Blisteringly fun punk/glam rock. The DNA of a ton of my favorite music is in here.
Def Leppard
2/5
There are occasional moments of cheesy fun in here but overall it is very bland and repetitive hair metal.
Jane's Addiction
2/5
Surprisingly intriguing variety in the music here (I had assumed all their songs sounded like “Mountain Song”, the only song I’d heard coming in and maybe my least favorite track on the album). I really enjoyed the opening instrumental track, but the vocals wore on me. Not my cup of tea but I can see people liking this.
Underworld
2/5
Some cool compositions that build in interesting ways but at the end of the day it is just some thumping techno.
3/5
Solid britpop. Not the best Blur but very enjoyable.
Femi Kuti
3/5
Very enjoyable afrobeat.
Suede
4/5
Awesome pop. Tons of great tracks and interesting hooks and melodies.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Some high highs (coyote and refuge of the roads are both great) but a few of the jazzier tracks grate on me.
Gotan Project
2/5
Chill but interesting.
John Martyn
2/5
I found this interesting at times but overall extremely grating. The title track in particular set my teeth on edge.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
This was great. Loved the repeating “when did you start loving me” track.
Big Black
4/5
Some of the sickest riffs and coolest guitar tones ever committed to vinyl. “Kerosene” is an all timer. This is the music the makes all other hard driving music pale in comparison for me. This has “it”.
LCD Soundsystem
2/5
I found this too samey. I didn’t hate it, but not my favorite album of theirs by a long shot.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Despite my general aversion to crooning I kind of enjoyed this. These songs really are quite pleasant to listen to. Not challenging at all and not something I’d listen to often, but I might throw it on again if I was having a bad day.
Sebadoh
2/5
Pretty forgettable replacement level indie rock. Too thrashy for my taste.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Dead solid rock and roll. CCR just rocks
The Go-Betweens
2/5
These songs were fine but I found them quite anemic and lacking in emotional heft.
Funkadelic
5/5
The title track is maybe my favorite guitar solo of all time. The first half of this album is flawless. The back half is a bit rockier but still great.
Kanye West
5/5
An album that was problematic when it came out and has only gotten more problematic with time. Unfortunately it is also an absolutely perfect album. The trumpets on Blood on the Leaves are simply transcendent.
Brian Eno
5/5
The best ambient album ever made. This music has a nearly medicinal effect on me.
D'Angelo
3/5
Solid smooth tunes. Not my jam but enjoyable.
Meat Puppets
3/5
The alt country stuff in this is so good. The thrashy hardcore stuff is not for me. The final three songs (Lake of Fire, I’m A Mindless Idiot, The Whistling Song) are an extremely strong close.
Marty Robbins
3/5
I really like this old time country western stuff even if it isn’t in regular rotation for me.
The Specials
4/5
Ska rocks. This album just gets better as it goes.
Radiohead
5/5
Near perfect album and easily my favorite Radiohead (not sure why that opinion isn’t more widely held). The only misstep is Bulletproof but otherwise every track is awesome.
Steely Dan
2/5
PTA is going to have to make a lot more masterpieces to change my mind about Steely Dan. King of the World and My Old School were decent tracks but I just find their voices annoying for the most part, and the majority of the songs are too slow for me.
The Smiths
3/5
Easily the best Smiths album I’ve heard. I still find Moz inanely grating at times, but the back of this album does indeed rip. Johnny Marr fucking rules.
Jacques Brel
4/5
College me getting really into Jacques Brel has aged quite nicely. Amsterdam still an all timer.
White Denim
2/5
This wasn’t bad per se, but it definitely activated my allergy to jam bands.
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
I enjoyed this quite a bit. Wears out its welcome a bit toward the end but overall positive. This was melodic enough to avoid sinking into a lot of the boredom and fuzz I generally associate with shoegaze.
Astrud Gilberto
2/5
Pretty boring. I don’t dislike bossa nova, but I find it very Muzak adjacent.
ABBA
2/5
The album summary notes “the album is often regarded as a more complex and mature effort.” With all due respect to ABBA, I do not come to them for mature and complex, I come to them for bops, and this album is sorely lacking in bops.
Björk
4/5
A damn good album. Pares away a lot of what I have found hard to connect with in other Bjork albums and leaves a starkly beautiful showcase for her voice.
Robert Wyatt
1/5
Too weird and off putting for me. Reading about the album I can see how you get an album like this, but I don’t like it at all.
Miles Davis
3/5
Certain tracks in here really worked for me, but overall I don’t think I have a sophisticated enough jazz palate to love this album.
The Who
3/5
I enjoyed this a lot! I expected the concept album aspect to detract from the songs a lot more than it did.
The Darkness
3/5
The fun songs on this album are so fun. Just a ripping good time. Unfortunately, the ballads are as bad as the good songs are good.
Wu-Tang Clan
5/5
On the shortlist for my favorite rap albums of all time. Incredibly funny, catchy, varied and deep. The unique flow of each member stands out and keeps the album from ever getting boring. You can still feel the influence of it today — not just in hip hop but in how musicians craft soundscapes and tell stories. Also a near literary portrait of New York.
Elvis Presley
3/5
These songs were pleasant but didn’t grab me and I got bored toward the end. They’d be nice background music at a party but not something I’d throw on regularly.
Neil Young
3/5
Not my favorite Neil Young, but solid. I like him rocking out a bit more.
Bee Gees
2/5
Snooze. If I have to listen to The Bee Gees it better be danceable. Lion in Winter very nearly approaches being a decent song (though still far too mewling) and that alone saves this from one star status.
Frank Ocean
4/5
I remember when this album came out and topped every single year end best of list. I was confused then and still am to a degree. The album is undeniably good, but I just don’t find it transcendent. I think some of the slower more jazzy tracks are just too mellow for me. I particularly think the first five tracks on the album are some of the weakest. The highs (“super rich kids” “bad religion”) are transcendent.
Suzanne Vega
2/5
This kind of female singer songwriter music is usually my jam but I found this pretty boring. I think the instrumentation was too 80s sounding to me. Muzak adjacent.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
2/5
I just don’t like jam bands. This isn’t the worst jam band album I’ve ever heard, but I’d rather not have had to listen to it.
The Killers
4/5
Definitely some nostalgia tilting the scales here but this is a great album. Pure uncut early 2000s bangers. The first half is flawless. The second half loses steam just a bit, bumping it down to 4 stars.
The Doors
2/5
Started out ok then tailed off. I find the Doors pretty blah, and the two most famous tracks on this album (LA Woman and Riders on the Storm) were among the weakest tracks on the album.
The Go-Go's
4/5
Power pop is among my favorite genres of music and this is a damn good version of it. It bolts out of the gate with a perfect first half but does flag just a bit toward the end.
Roxy Music
4/5
Occasionally gets a bit to arty, but mostly this just rocks. Riff-forward and rocking, keeping the best of their previous albums and culling most of the bad parts.
Ministry
1/5
Unpleasant
Nitin Sawhney
1/5
Extremely boring
The White Stripes
5/5
Amazing that an album can start with Seven Nation Army and end with It’s True That We Love One Another and have it work. Great album. Formative album for me and still one of the best live shows I’ve ever been to.
Sepultura
1/5
Absolutely brutal that there is a second album from this band on the list. This is just as bad as the last one.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Unbelievably cool. Lives up to the hype.
Elastica
4/5
Good fun rock and roll. Sounds very ahead of its time to me. I would have pegged this as a mid 2000s indie sleaze band.
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
Better than I expected. I enjoyed the opening more than the back half. All told, forgettable.
G. Love & Special Sauce
2/5
In the genre of Jason Mrazcore. Listenable but sounds almost like a joke that would get Adrien Brody banned from SNL. You can’t tell me “Shooting Hoops” is not some sort of bit.
Madonna
2/5
The title track is so awesome, but it really fails off in the second half and becomes a slog.
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
Oh Daddy is really the only wrong step on this whole album. Easy five stars.
Dinosaur Jr.
3/5
I always feel like I should like Dinosaur Jr. more than I do. It’s just too thrashy for me.
Cyndi Lauper
4/5
This album rules. The first half is all bangers. I think I would have given it five stars if it ended after track 8, but the last two tracks weren’t my favorite and left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth.
Emmylou Harris
3/5
A bit disappointing. I wanted more of a country edge to some of the later songs. A few standouts (my baby needs a Shepard in particular).
Love
2/5
Far too shaggy for me — especially the last track. Had a few solid tracks in the beginning but I didn’t love it. It’s no Forever Changes, that’s for sure.
Badly Drawn Boy
4/5
Loved this. A bit meandering at times (do we really need so many long piano outros?) but some of that adds to the charm. Great album.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
Another solid Creedence album. Just a dead on 3.5 band to me. I’ll lean this one to 4 bc it put me in a good mood today.
Mike Oldfield
2/5
MIKE: Hey, check out my new album.
MIKE’S FRIEND: Yeah, man. Uh decent prog stuff, not really my speed. But, um, I think people are going to find the opening pretty off-putting and spooky.
MIKE: No way, man. It’s just some bells.
Solomon Burke
3/5
This is good. Not super memorable but very solid.
David Crosby
2/5
This is perfectly fine, but it is a negative WAR CSNY solo album. Probably a 2.5 but I’ll round down to two.
Kraftwerk
2/5
Loved the first track in this but was disappointed in the rest. I prefer melodic and driving Kraftwerk to spooky Kraftwerk.
Nine Inch Nails
3/5
I appreciate this more than I enjoy it. There is some great stuff on here but it leans a bit too metal for me — I prefer the more orchestral and industrial sections.
The Boo Radleys
3/5
This was very solid — Super Furry Animals, Dandy Warhol vibes — but not very memorable.
Spiritualized
3/5
Another solid album that reminds me of the Dandy Warhols (two days in a row for that vibe). Liked it front to back more or less, but found it forgettable.
Pink Floyd
3/5
“The Trial” knocked a full star off this one. Overall there are a lot of good tracks on here but I find the wanky concept album tracks distracting to the overall quality.
Living Colour
2/5
The metal stuff on this album was very grating. The ska/funk inflected stuff was much better but still not terrific.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
4/5
70% of maximum thrash level Jesus and Mary Chain are so so good. The first half of this album over indexed on thrash to me, but the back half really saved it.
TLC
2/5
A couple great tracks but a lot of it was just bland to me. Maybe it was fresher in its era and only seems bland in hindsight.
Miles Davis
3/5
I enjoyed side two more than side one. Thought both were good not great.
Suicide
2/5
You can see how this was influential but it was very samey throughout. Cheree into Johnny was great but the rest was forgettable.
The Fall
3/5
No matter how I try, I can’t get really into The Fall. I enjoyed this but wasn’t blown away.
Shuggie Otis
3/5
Cool and groovy, not super interesting.
David Gray
2/5
Rode the line between decent songwriter stuff and meh songwriter stuff. 2.5 but I’ll round down.
Morrissey
2/5
Quintessential whining Moz. Everything I dislike about him summed up in one album!
M.I.A.
3/5
Not as good as Kala but still very enjoyable. MIA songs rock.
Peter Gabriel
2/5
I’m just not a Peter Gabriel guy. This is fine but not something I’d listen to recreationally.
The Avalanches
3/5
A perfectly nice album that I never fully clicked with in the way others have. I prefer tue tracks that have some sort of hook (e.g., Frontier Psychiatrist) over the more soundscape-y ones.
John Martyn
2/5
Boring.
Common
2/5
This album had a few interesting tracks (A Song for Assata being the standout) but on the whole it was far too forgettable to be so long.
Randy Newman
5/5
Funny, moving, insightful, catchy. Almost half these songs ended up on my 1001 albums playlist. Maybe Newman’s best.
The xx
2/5
I found this pretty bland. Just not my kind of thing.
Aerosmith
2/5
This was ok. No standout tracks , just all very similar.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
This was quite beautiful but not something I would revisit because it is both depressing and a bit samey throughout. Not my favorite of his stuff even if it may be some of his best.
Billy Bragg
5/5
This is even better than I remembered. One or two duds but overall five stars.
The Thrills
3/5
Feels very dated. Fine music for this era but really rode the line between enjoyable and annoying.