This album may not sound fresh now, but coming in on the heels of the 90’s pop-country explosion, it was raw and gritty Americana that is one of the albums that marked a growing split between mainstream country and more rootsy country. This album, along with those form The Old 97s, Whiskeytown and a few others helps to pave the way (pun kind of intended) for Drive By Truckers, Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson and others. Putting aside its historical significance, it’s a great album that I still find compelling.

I really don't like reggae. I listened to this album and it felt like one long song.

October 5 2023 Good - loved the energy

A classic. Listened on 10/7/23

Fine. Good time capsule of the era. Repetitive but ok as dancing or background music. Can see why people get high to listen to it.

One of those albums that doesn't sound that breakthrough now but then you remember it came out in 2000 and realize that it had a big impact.

I know it’s a revolutionary (haha) album but it’s not the most listenable thing and has a lot silliness that feels like what a band who can do anything would do. The high points are amazing.

A very good album that can be listened to over and over again, but what is interesting about compared to other "classic albums" of that era is that there aren't any particularly stand-out popular songs. It isn't like listening to, say, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John, and then you realize there are a lot of "big and popular" songs on there but also the lesser-known stuff is great. In this case, everything is "lesser known" but that doesn't take away from the quality of it.

a great balance of well known songs and lesser known ones that are just as well crafted. Never would have listened to it other than this recommendation.

So many good songs that clearly have inspired so many others.

Really interesting listen. I wasn't familiar with it. and will likely add to my collection

Not a big "noise rock" fan but when I give it enough time it kind of grows on me. I can see where people can really get into it.

Damn that's a good album. Start to finish. Iconic songs that have stood the test of time, and have made the full round from being cool to being "dad rock" uncool to being simply timeless.

One of the original - if not THE original - "outlaw country" albums.

I think it is kind of hard to appreciate how good and breakthrough early Beatles work was when it came through. Now it sounds like so much that has come after it that maybe it feels classic but maybe a little dated. But then you realize that that’s because it changed everything - the top albums in the US before the Beatles hit were from broadway soundtracks, Andy Williams, and the Singing Nun. In that context this is mind blowing music that is still great today but even more amazing given how much it transformed pop music. This came out in 1964… the first Black Sabbath album came out in 1970.

Love me some Jimmy Smith!!

Still a wonderfully intriguing and subversive album.

Interesting listening to this after Adam Ant, as you can hears echoes of it

it's fine. I would listen to it again, but not make an effort to do it.

Some classic songs on there

one of my favorite hip hop/rap albums I've ever listened to

Listened to it three times!

I really don't like reggae. I listened to this album and it felt like one long song.

Added

Iron Man, Paranoid and War Pigs all on this one album. It sets the prototype for heavy metal, yet there’s some weird soft songs too.

Stone cold classic

I think this is often referred to as "the White Album" of hip-hop and I agree. And in fact, I would say that the best songs on "Speakerboxx/The Love Below are actually stronger than the best songs on "The White Album" while many of the tracks are experimental, sometimes with interesting results, sometimes not, but generally rewards deep listening and consideration. Even though the biggest hits are pop radio standards, it isn't an "easy listening" album, not if you want to get the most out of it at least.

A true classic. Just ignore the murderer in the title.

Has long been one of my favorites

How did I not experience them before?

Could t find the actual album but listened to a bunch of other stuff

Awesome 80s alt rock

If aliens came down and asked “what is rock and roll?” I think a good place to start would be to play the song “Born to Run.” I’m not saying it is the best rock song ever. I’m not saying Bruce is the ultimate rock artist (I’m not even that big of a fan) but that song - and arguably this album - is just about pure of a distillation of rock and roll as you can get. Motors as euphemism about sex and talking about freedom felt while driving (or sex). The sound of it. Everything.

Still is a breakthrough piece that disturbs and fascinates while still entertaining.

It holds up remarkably well all these years later as a fun rocking album

Solid. Some great songs. Not one you NEED to hear. Just listen to the popular songs

Interesting. Can hear their influence in many places.

It’s an ok album with no songs that are recognizable hits. It’s amazing that it comes from The Bee Gees as the band that I found myself comparing it to the most is The Fleet Foxes. Which I guess makes sense as the music is mellow with a lot of harmonizing. Also, is it just me, or does “The British Opera” melody sound an awful lot like the theme for The Polar Express?”

Damn this was great. Added to my collection.

I keep trying Tom Waits. I feel like I should like him more, as I enjoy interesting songwriting sung by different and interesting voices. But it just never connects with me. I will keep trying though.

Some of the most overplayed classic rock songs ever. And for damn good reason.

A timeless album that I think will age incredibly well

Don’t feel like I HAD to hear this. It isn’t ahead of its time or secretly better than the things it sounds like. It isn’t bad and I enjoyed it but it didn’t surprise me either.

such an interesting thing to listen to here in 2024. It still feels subversive and some of the songs are actually good and listenable, but it is really more of an experiment and experience. The needling of the culture at the time is brilliant and much of it still holds up today. It isn’t an easy or fun listen so it’s not necessarily enjoyable but oddly, that is exactly what makes it enjoyable - you’re belong challenged and if you are willing to listen and read the lyrics and appreciate the time and place this came out it is rewarding.

It’s a great album that has timeless songs on it though the overall album is probably overshadowed by the three big hits: “Brown Sugar” “Wild Horses” and “Can’t you hear me knocking” - those are so well known and heard so much it almost lessens the rest of the material, which is still incredibly strong and vital. I mean if you had to explain the idea of “guitar riff” in rock, you’d be just fine choosing the opening few seconds of “Brown Sugar” and “Can’t you hear me knocking.” It’s like “oh, right that’s why Richards is amazing. Got it.” Also, this may be the first time I’ve ever truly and deeply listened to the words to Brown Sugar. Oh my.

It’s amazing how vital and current this album still sounds. Lyrically and musically.

I continue to find the Red Hot Chili Peppers to be underwhelming for my tastes. I think they have some fantastic musicians and would probably like them better as an instrumental band. But Anthony’s voice is just kind of dull and the lyrics are lackluster to me. Most of it comes off to me as a really strong high school or college level band - which isn’t an insult, and the can be fun to listen to - but it does surprise me that they are as huge as they are, and I can’t get on that train.

I don’t know if I HAD to hear it but it grew on me a bit.

Hate the low volume level mixes on parts. Takes you out of the album.

I always find albums like this intriguing. They aren't unlistenable, but I also don't find them particularly engaging or entertaining. It is pleasant, and I think the production is brilliant, and some of the songwriting is powerful if purposefully dense. I enjoyed listening to it, and did so twice, but don't envision myself going back to it again. It's probably brilliant, but just not my think.

Solid rock album with a few stand out catchy tunes.

They always amaze me both in terms of talent and when they were doing this - a decade ahead of the rest of music

Always forget how much I enjoy the cult

Love the symphony. Love Metallica. It is interesting to listen to them together but not sure it adds that much.

Surprisingly good and entertaining. Will be adding to my collection

Hot take: the first six songs (Smells Like Teen Spirit, In Bloom, Come As You Are, Breed, Lithium, Polly) is really what people think of when they praise this album. And for those songs, the praise is well-deserved. The second half of the album (Territorial Pissings through Endless, Nameless)? I think that's largely interchangable pop-punk that wouldn't have had nearly the impact that the first half had. Not saying it's bad - just not nearly the level that the first six songs are.

It’s fine. Enjoyable listen but nothing that drew me in heavily.

Couldn’t find the original album listened to a bunch of other stuff.

Solid.

The songwriting… some of the best ever

A time capsule of 80s smooth r&b

A time capsule of 80s smooth r&b

Better than I expected

Really good album I wasn’t familiar with

The cultural impact of the album is strong and there’s a few iconic songs on it. BUT - much of it hasn’t aged super well, either lyrically or sonically. It doesn’t sound as timeless to me as other revered albums. In addition, my hot take is that I hate how the Beastie Boys shout all their lyrics. It’s grating. People like to talk crap about Geddy Lee and Billy Corgan - I would put the Beasties up there in terms of sheer annoyance levels.

I know it’s supposed to be amazing but I find it uninteresting

It may have the least instantly recognizable and most iconic Sabbath songs out of their first few albums, it is arguably the best distillation of what Sabbath was really about: a heavy blues-influenced band that wrote about things the blues didn’t usually write about. Listening to it now, it’s a few licks and different vocals away from being a Chris Stapleton album. Actually I’d like to hear him cover it.

Fun and still holds up well

Meh

Usually don’t like this noisy stuffy but this was great.

Filled with classic classics

Good find

I liked it a lot. Not familiar with the artist or the album. Cool stuff. Eclectic for sure.

Filled with classic classics

Almost a four. Obviously depressing but also enjoyable to listen.

Enjoyable

Enjoyable this may be my favorite hip hop album I’ve ever listened to

Enjoyable

Enjoyable

Ehhh.

Can hear so many other recent songs in their melodies

Can hear so many other recent songs in their melodies

Holds up well

Can hear so many other recent songs in their melodies

An all time classic.

fantastic album though not my favorite from them.

It’s an unadulterated pop gem

Holds up well

Still a great album, though maybe more blues than rock now. But amazing musicianship and lyrics.

Holds up well

Surprisingly entertaining

Absolutely and utterly timeless. and yet surprisingly subdued and less raucous sounding today than it did when it was released.

Two amazing songs show that experimentation can lead to pop hits and move the genre forward.

It is hard to imagine how disruptive and shocking this must have been in 1970

a personal favorite

Perfection

Something this dated and smooth jazz like shouldn’t be this funky and good.

The sonic equivalent of a shart. But if you do a shart on a canvas and put it up in a gallery while acting pretentious about it, you get to call it art and people will find value in it. Seriously though - I am really open minded about "you like what you like" but this has nearly no musical quality to it. It is just shouting and things clanging together. Every once in a while you hear something that you could connect to "industrial music" but that's like looking at some spilled paint and saying you can see the Mona Lisa in it.

I’m a fan so I gotta rate it high. Can’t be objective about it.

A nice but kind of forgettable slice of 80s pop

The first two songs are obviously bangers. Classics. The rest of the album is good but less memorable.

Boring

Boring

A couple of really strong songs helps lift it

Best metal album ever

Liked it better than I have in the past

what’s the point,

what’s the point,

Type of stuff I’m here for - never heard of this before and really liked it.

One of my all time favorites. A perfect slice of lates 80s college alternative pop

A classic

Not nearly as bad as everyont makes fun of...

It is hard to comprehend how much of a cultural force this album is, but it helps when you listen to it and it essentially sounds as contemporary and vital today as it did then. And the three songs in a row of "Beat It" "Thriller" and "Billie Jean" is arguably the strongest three song set of pop songs on any pop album ever.

Still sounds original and vital, a sound that still appears in music today. Mainstream music made possible by albums like this.

I like the Who. I love live music. I generally hate live albums. This isn't an exception.

I’m sure it’s brilliant. It feels brilliant. It just. Is hard to enjoy.

Can hear what influenced the coming surge of speed and thrash metal in this, as well as more avante-garde indie stuff, mixed in with the raw punkness of it all.

Good pop album buoyed by two really great songs.

It still holds up and fact may be better now

Everything I love about jazz

It starts to sound remarkably like Wilco towards the end.

Two amazing and timeless songs lift up an album where the rest sounds dated

Can hear so many bands who followed in this. From Springsteen to Petty to Wilco to others.

This is a stupidly good and enjoyable album to listen to.

It’s easy to forget how damn good this album is. How a new band emerged this fully formed is amazing. Three of the songs - a quarter of the album - are radio stokes and rock classics (Jungle, Sweet Child, Paradise City) that are well deserving of both. Then there’s Nightrain, It’s so easy, and Mr Briwnstone, which would have been freshman album classics but are second tier only because they are overshadowed by the other big three. Interestingly, listening to this again, I realized how much of future albums, especially much of Use Your Illusion, draws on the sound of Think About You, rather than much of the above.

It’s fine. Probably would be higher if I listened more closely to the lyrics. Otherwise it’s generic singer songwriter navel gazing music.

A personal favorite and an album that has value far beyond the title track.

Just can’t get into it

It’s still a vital, urgent and breakthrough album

This album may not sound fresh now, but coming in on the heels of the 90’s pop-country explosion, it was raw and gritty Americana that is one of the albums that marked a growing split between mainstream country and more rootsy country. This album, along with those form The Old 97s, Whiskeytown and a few others helps to pave the way (pun kind of intended) for Drive By Truckers, Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson and others. Putting aside its historical significance, it’s a great album that I still find compelling.

One perfect song and a bunch of good well written but unremarkable folk songs

A great album that probably should be in more lists but doesn’t. I wonder if it is because the album cover isn’t iconic? It feels like it was thrown together without any thought.

Shockingly good. Never heard of them before.

Good example of psychedelic rock. But not a great one.

Really enjoyed this nugget of funk rock

Musically I found it much more enjoyable than I thought I would. Kanye may be nuts but he’s got talented. Lyrically though the personal level of anger can be wearing - and I like angry heavy metal! But this feels so directly angry and specifically mean spirited and insulting it can be a bit exhausting. But I would listen to again.

Enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Some good stuff.

Meh

“Tennessee” is an amazing song and there’s good moments but in total it doesn’t hit me as much as others.

Freedom 90 is a perfect pop song though

The two well known songs are so different from the rest!

I keep listening to them and keep not “getting” the Beastie Boys. Most of their stuff feels like really good novelty songs. Then there’s the great stuff, like Sabotage on this album, but even that feels a bit over the top.

This blew me away. Listened to it twice. His voice reminds me of Roger Waters. It’s trippy and airy and dirty and dreamy and gnarly all at the same time.

Literally more than half the album and classic rock radio staples. It’s amazing. And not just the guitar heroics - the range of music is remarkable.

Didn’t like it as much as others from them but still good.

Love me some good garage rock

Several outstanding songs

Good background stuff. Well done.

A personal favorite

Not sure if there is another band with a bigger delta between how well liked they are and how little I understand the appeal. This is Korn for people who are scared by actual menacing heavy metal. Rap for people who need their music to sound bland and white. Rock for Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC fans who want to think they are bad asses. The production is overwrought and heavy handed. The lyrics are like what you would find in a high schoolers diary. The songwriting and structure are predictable, sloppy and cheesy. I can usually find redeeming qualities in the most saccharine of pop music confections and popular wide appealing music, but this feels like heavy metal done by a committee and focus groups to provide the widest appeal possible. This is in here because it sold a lot of records, not for quality.

Less interesting than influential

A fun and interesting listen. Not amazing though.

What an indulgent unmelodic and nearly unlistenable mess.