1001 Albums Summary

Boring Adam Sandler talk-singing to acoustic guitar.

The best Beatles classics with some good tracks that I hadn't heard often/before. Basically only love songs.

I initially declined to listen to this album because I received it at the same time that Kanye was coming out to the world as a nazi. However, a few years later I've decided that I owe it a listen and found that I really appreciate the unique and diverse sounds and themes of this album. Kanye is exploring heretofore unknown styles of sampling, editing, and writing that makes his music stand out and illustrates the application of his talent and skill as an experienced producer towards the creation of his own music. While I don't appreciate what the man has made of himself, I can't deny that this album is impressive, and I don't even like rap.

British shouting

Bad British 80s techno

Unexceptional grunge whining from Kurt being backpacked by Dave Grohl's intense and talented drumming.

Terrible falsetto and boring Radiohead-esque instrumentals that are much too pretentious. The hole album is dripping in pretentiousness. Rhythm and percussion was okay on some tracks, especially Through the Iron Gate. Best song was All the Kings Men because the vocals were not falsetto and it was actually somewhat enjoyable.

Boring but okay folk music.

Toe-tapping. Tutti Frutti is the toe-tappingest and an easy fav. Listening to history was an interesting experience but the music itself was pretty bland compared to other rock and blues from the time.

X.Y.U gives grungy QOTSA vibes, and great rhythm on a handful of tracks from disc 1. The remaining are forgettable, and even the singles don't deserve the acclaim they receive. Would listen again only if forced.

This was a nice reminder of the benefits of listening to music from this generator - it was something different and very enjoyable. Jazzy, big band, slow, fast, atmospheric, dark, light. Listening to this album felt like watching a movie or TV series as each song brought about a new scene, conflict, and vibe. I would listen to more Adamson.

Each track contains at most one interesting and/or unique concept (beat, sample, rhythm, etc.) and repeats it ad nauseum. The songs are too long and repetitive. Another feature on the list that makes for "decent background music" but isn't worth listening to. In this case, the artist is a professional soundtrack artist, probably adding another collection to their portfolio, but the author of this book mistook it for exceptional music on its own.

Lady Paul Newman punk rock-lite. Interesting (if nothing else) lyrics and talented backing band made this a fun listen, but couldn't help but feel that the whole thing is overrated.

I always hated Rehab, but the rest of this album is thematic and its sound is clearly defined. Listening gave me a greater appreciation for Amy Whinehouse and I would listen again.

Very 90's. Horny. Not my kind of music but definitely a kind of music.

Bingo bango bongo big band cuban jazz

das beep boop

Always hated Blondie, especially "One Way or Another", but a full listen to this album helped me really appreciate the genre-mixing that occurs seamlessly throughout this album. Rock, punk, and even disco are all represented very well on various songs throughout the album, which underscores the impressive talent of the singer and band. I don't think I associated Heart of Glass with Blondie, but its a better song than I ever gave it credit for, especially in the context of this eclectic album.

British droning and screeching

Random noises and not even music. Forced myself to listen to it and maybe got something out of it, but the commentary/messaging/experimentation that Throbbing Gristle attempts on this album is done better by numerous other artists. I will be laughing at this album in the same way that I laugh at the Human Centipede trilogy.

Danceable British pop rock that makes effective use of the Burundi beat, something I hadn't noticed was in a lot of music until listening to this album and hearing the source of its popularity. The themes of disorganization and a disregard for civil order are consistent throughout (frontier, pirates, native Americans), and the Burundi beat underlies it all, giving it an unwashed and tribal feel. I would listen to this again, or at least other similar artists, and I can keep Antmusic in my back pocket for the next time I meet an Australian.

Funky, soulful, and sexy. What else could you want?

Music for white people who enjoy the sounds of Africa. Cultural appropriation and apartheid issues aside, I enjoyed the music.

It's Beck

Generic late-80's ballad snoozefest with insufficient sax.

Forgettable 2000's white people music

Iggy Pop vocals ruin what could otherwise be an album of impressive guitar rock.

Good

Trailblazing unrefined sound from a gaggle of US GI's stationed in Germany who wore the outfits and haircuts of monks. Every instrument is a rhythm and the vocals are grating.

Thought this would be rubbish based on the name and Britishness of the band but thoroughly enjoyed this album. Loosely gives Interpol vibes.

Misogynistic love song lyrics that aged like milk, but otherwise enjoyable 60's good white boy music.

mediocre British blues music

British beep boop music

An exquisite blend of 80's pop rock and twangy country.

Nice jazz.

hard

♪ booa wata choosdie innit ♫

sad party girl music. Redeemed by mostly interesting rhythms (ala Glass Animals before they were bad).

I've always been a fan of this band since hearing their hit single play on the radio, which I enjoyed using my old iRiver MP3 player while I rode the bus to elementary school. I excitedly sought to hear the rest of the album, expecting it to be as enjoyable as the single and was swiftly disappointed by how forgettable and, at times, bad the music was. My disappointment is unchanged nearly 20 years later.

Funky synth jazz from the 70's ftw

Extra theatrical folk tunes that shine a light on the tragedy of American life and history. Made me feel I was listening to a sober Kerouac's musical.

Raucous and sarcastic Irish folk punk

French tango electropop

Unrelentingly bland and boring. The guitar "solo" at 2:15 of "Love is Blindness" does a good job of encapsulating the talent and ambition on display in another hour of U2's music, formulated to never stray too far from optimal mass-appeal.

Thought I liked this after the first couple of songs, but I could only take so much mediocre indie-punk-rock featuring discordant noisy guitars for so long.

Reduced rating for this one because of the first disc containing over an hour of repetitive, generic beats. The second disc featured more interesting and jazz-infused music that I enjoyed slightly more. Nevertheless, all songs are at least 3 minutes too long.

Really surprised by the creepy vibes and undertones of the lyrics on this album, which on the surface appeared to be an upbeat 80's pop-punk music based on the album art, band name, song titles, and instrumentation. The satire played on pop music lands well and Bjork's vocals are impressive - it's easy to see how she became famous after this introduction.

Fantastic vocals and mediocre instrumentals. Enjoyed the 5'33" a capella track, which allowed for a more refined appreciation of the vocals.

hard with just a hint of jazz

The epitome of early 70s southern country blues rock.

Skillful and distinct instrumentation that ranges across progressive sounds of blues, soul, and rock. It may sound somewhat dated for the 90's considering that much of the music seems influenced by earlier successes in those genres, but I thoroughly enjoyed this album and would listen to it again. Weller's vocals are aged and soulful, providing a sense of focused intensity, and the lyrical themes of introspection and self-discovery avoid becoming pedantic.

A lot of forgettable and uninspiring music on this record with "I Can See For Miles" being one great exception, so much so that it is a little jarring to hear juxtaposed against all the other tracks. The radio jingles concept of the album doesn't bother me, and I think hearing the radio voices sprinkled throughout the album gives it an enjoyable theme (even better if it were more satirical - see Songs for the Deaf), but that theme spills over into the music itself, making it bland and uninteresting.

The good parts were good. The rest ranged from intolerable clusters of noise to boring and unenthusiastic vocals.

Peak thrash metal. Enjoyable to imagine how much better the music would be with a more competent or creative drummer.

Can't handle this guy's voice, and I really tried to look past it this time. The rest of the instruments and song-writing are fine if not unimpressive, which really only leaves Neil's voice for much of the album. Alabama and Words were the only two tracks I found myself enjoying, probably because there were arrangements of other instruments to distract me from Neil's horrendous falsetto.

Of course Jimi is all about the guitar, but I find myself distracted by the drums and rhythm on every song in this album. It is frantic and raucous, yet precise and delightfully unpredictable. Easy 5 stars for all three of these genius musicians.

More soul than I expected from the album cover of a white lady and a cat. Fabulous, easy listening with a lot of emotion and variation. Happy to now associate some of the big hits from this album with their talented artist and the overall context of this exceptional album.

Full of intriguing symbolism and metaphors about Bowie's life and death, making this album an interesting listen that probably needs to be separated from its musical value to be really appreciated. That being said, I only enjoyed Dollar Days and I Can't Give Everything Away because they were more upbeat and didn't carry the same haunting, slow sounds that the rest of the tracks featured.

A huge variety of sounds, themes, and instruments throughout this excellent album.

A nice album with very gentle and pleasant music. I'm not a fan of the vocals' English accent but also don't feel that it hurt this music either, just that I would have enjoyed it more without. The Bones of You was this album's best and the rest seemed adjacent to filler but were still good.

Yet another country folk rock band with an album of dreary songs reminiscing fondly of a past when racists could be more proudly racist. This album didn't age well in its subject matter nor its musical content.

Decent, if not middling and generic, punk rock. Songs started out somewhat avant-garde and became less interesting as the album progressed, but most songs were brief and moved onto the next before each became boring.

Just okay, if not entirely forgettable, instrumental music made completely insufferable by audio throughout of a large rat biting the testicles of a donkey. Implying that the sometimes grungy guitar sounds of this album influenced later grunge music gives the donkey credit that he never deserved.

Really quite good.

Interesting mix of jazz, orchestra, and other music from Asia and far flung cultures that got progressively tedious and boring after the halfway mark.

Unique blend of reggae and other genres like jazz, hip hop, and rock. Quaye's vocals, while not strictly authentic, are pleasant and blend the many genres of this album together. The second half of the album is forgettable but the first half was surprisingly enjoyable and dynamic.

Truly enjoyed most of this album whenever Kiedis wasn't vocalizing. The tight guitar, funky bass, and varied rhythm showcase the talent and skill of these musicians, and it's a shame that Kiedis detracts so much from this otherwise enjoyable music. Breaking the Girl remains an underrated song and the only RHCP track I enjoy.

An ambitious and successful project to record a huge amount of music by the Gershwins and Fitzgerald in one enormous set, and the quality, skill, and effort put into it truly shows. The production quality is unlike anything I've heard from this time period in its clarity and balance, perfectly underscoring Fitzgerald's consistently perfect vocals.

Burke's vocals are impressive and enjoyable. Among the 50's/60's music in this genre, this was something I enjoyed more than most.

Interesting and enjoyable indie trip hop rock. I previously had a difficult time placing my finger on what I though trip hop sounded like, but this album is what it sounds like. Many psychedelic and electronic sounds layered over repeating beats and trance-like vocals give this album a somewhat relaxed and trippy vibe (space Beck?). The instrumentals are many-layered, leaving something different on which to focus for each track.

This album feels so different to most other albums because the music is aggravatingly boring and O'Connor's vocals are woefully unimpressive, despite sounding like she has more to give. Listening to the whole thing in one sitting felt like being stretched on a grave that I would rather simply inhabit to avoid hearing more of this music. Truly, three babies could make a better album than this. Perhaps if O'Connor had stepped further out of her box and tried the emperor's new clothes she would have developed a more unique and interesting sound than the generic 90's grade school classroom-sound of this album. The decade of the 90's features such a great variety of fantastic musical talent, much of it made by black boys on mopeds, and I would think that O'Connor might have used some of it to influence her sound on this album. But alas, the only influence on this album was a cover of Prince's Nothing Compares 2 U, so no original O'Connor creation warranted much popularity. It would have been more invigorating to jump in the river, an activity that would, at least, cause as much sorrow as enduring O'Connor's uninspired musical vision. I'd never met Sinead O'Connor, but I really hope that the sole experience of hearing this album marks the last day of our acquaintance. I don't have any Sinead O'Connor albums in my collection, so I find it true that I do not want what I haven't got.

Darkly boding sounds with opposing-sounding instruments and contrasting vocals. Certainly unique and interesting, but I wouldn't describe it as good music. This might be too much art for my art rock music.

Quintessential psychedelic 60's rock. Varied genres and sounds, with clear blues, British and American rock, and others influencing this album's unique and timeless sound. The instrumental track "Embryonic Journey" was a hidden gem that showcases the talent and creativity of the musicians in this band and blends the varied sounds of dreamy, psychedelic guitar with that old folksy sound of 60's era rock. Grace Slick's tracks were clear standouts over the others, but all were enjoyable.

Seemingly overrated and not my favorite form of trip hop. I found the vocals irritating but the instrumentals were nice and the bass was exactly as it should be. Maybe it's because this was the first of a new genre and later trip hop bands were able to develop on the foundation created by this album, but I seem to like other trip hop more.

Raunchy blues rock Adam and the Ants. Talented musicians back up Harvey's very unserious vocals for comedic and enjoyably raucous music. Much of it is dripping with glam rock over-indulgence to the point of sounding satirical (in a time before satirizing glam rock was fashionable), which brings about a theatrical rock opera vibe (think Rocky Horror Picture Show). Really enjoyed this album and feel that the Harvey must have been going for a specific sound and nailed it perfectly.

The individual talent of each of these mediocre musicians doesn't come close to what's required to make up for the awful banal talk-singing of the garbage vocalist in this band. Each song is repetitious and has no reason to be longer than two minutes, let alone the 4 minute length of most of these songs. I didn't need to hear this album ever and I hope I forget it soon.

Decent renditions of some classic and some new Christmas songs. A twist of blues and R&B gives the songs a unique flavor, but I didn't feel that any of the songs exuded wintery or Christmas vibes.

Perfect

Rather extra with too much grandiosity. Extraneous orchestral involvement and flourishes that tarnish the otherwise simple and enjoyable electronic music I typically enjoy from Depeche Mode. I honestly think my opinion of this band was better before having heard this album and don't feel that I needed to hear it at all.

Decent folk rock. Horrible vocals. Maybe a band, but not the band.

Seemingly overrated and not my favorite form of trip hop. I found the vocals irritating but the instrumentals were nice and the bass was exactly as it should be. Maybe it's because this was the first of a new genre and later trip hop bands were able to develop on the foundation created by this album, but I seem to like other trip hop more.

Punchy and slappin', technically interesting ska and reggae music. Very unique and enjoyable, especially when it leans towards rock. Mighty Long Way was a great song with some excellent guitar work. All songs have incredible bass.

Really mediocre British 80's pop rock. Sooner Than You Think stands out amongst the rest for having some pretty delicious synth and a nice guitar solo. It's a shame that the greatest appeal of this band is supposedly the vocalist's poor singing.

Sounds like a good Smiths album. Not the best album, but a good one. Shame that Morrissey is a complete and total door knob.

An unsurprisingly uninspiring and uncreative hour of music from someone who built their career by covering other people's music. Harris expresses a lot of emotion and personal experience in this album's lyrics, but offers nothing interesting in the instrumental composition. Anyone who isn't already a fan of Emmylou Harris certainly has no interest in hearing this album.

Nice to hear an album of well regarded music from Oasis that isn't Wonderwall. The vocals grew somewhat irritating by the end, but the music overall was easily held aloft by the intricate and interesting guitar work, as well as the generally upbeat vibes of the songs.

Excellent proggy late 70's rock, with a great variety of influences. Excuse Me is the only track that took a few too many liberties and sounded rather strange, with a bizarre application of blues rock and other genres that didn't quite blend. All other tracks were a treat and I enjoyed this escape into the sounds of Peter Gabriel.

Raucous and sarcastic Irish folk punk

Very smooth bass. Deliciously 80's drum tracks. Jazzy guitar. I was previously familiar with Smooth Operator and was delighted to find that the rest of this album carries the sounds and vibes of that song. No surprises or excess, and definitely no risks taken - in the end, you get only what you expect from this album, so you'd better enjoy this 80's style of saxophone-Casio-jazz rock.

Several guitars out of tune? Vocals out of tune? Other discordant instruments all played on top of each other? Clearly seminal music and among the greatest of all time. Please give me more 1:06 songs of random guitar noises so I can praise the artistic vision of this band's discography, which sounds just as awful as the rest of this album's 50 minutes of "genre defining" low talent garbage. It's really not impressive that this band sought to create "experimental" music by playing all of their instruments out of tune, and they deserve absolutely no credit for exploring a sound space that was already known to be unpleasant. This is why musicians study things like structure, rhythm, and melody - because people generally enjoy music with those elements in balance. People who want the contrary are welcome to this band's music, but the rest of us don't deserve to be subjected to it before our deaths.

An enjoyable, energetic, frantic vision of British youth. I originally discovered a taste for the Arctic Monkeys through their album AM, which featured a more organized and pop-oriented sound, so it was nice to get the original, punk rockier British flavor of the band. Vocals could sound a little too British for me at times (something to be expected in a debut album and is more absent from their future releases), but definitely contribute to the themes of the album. All instruments are catchy and on point, growing tighter and more technical when drawing attention, and leaning into a looser more disorganized sound when the vocals take focus. This provides a nice variety among the songs and showcases that these artists know exactly what sound they are crafting.

The finest gift the British have ever given to the world.

Excellent music to enjoy a beautiful sunrise and question my life's employment at a supplier for the military industrial complex.

I embrace the perfect cliche of a Washington-resident who listens to Fleet Foxes while driving their Subaru to the Cascades, and I enjoy it every time. Nothing prepares the spirit for a trip into the backcountry of the North Cascades like the Fleet Foxes, and this album is thematic of all the sights, smells, and feelings that come with such an adventure. The instrumental arrangements on this album immediately transport me to memories of driving down Highway 20 along the Skagit River, Ross Lake, and Washington Pass, on my way to explore a new and spectacular region of these beloved North Cascades mountains.

The most popular song on this album is aggravatingly repetitive and simplistic, which really sets the tone for the remaining songs on this album. The other songs of western cultural alignment are so basic that they offer nothing unique or of interest to the listener, and are essentially the same programmed bass line, drum track, and synthesizer notes repeating ad nauseum to accompany droll vocals that express no range whatsoever. In between actual songs are tracks of sampled noise and talking that offer frequent reminders that I was listening to music, but am now listening to something that is categorically not music. The songs of Indian musical influence are certainly an appropriation of another nation's culture, but the English have built their entire culture on this practice, anyway.

It's a shame that I strongly dislike Valeraine's vocals, because I think his vision for this album is a strong one. However, his lack of tone overpowers much of the technical and interesting instrumental arrangements throughout this music. Marquee Moon and Prove It were among few songs for which I could ignore his vocals enough to enjoy the music, but the rest of the tracks were a struggle to enjoy what his singing left behind.

Interesting guitar with a nice amount of jazz and reggae influence made this album more interesting and enjoyable than your average pop rap R&B album. Ms. Dynamite's vocals are smooth and the backup vocals provided by a variety of other artists compliment the music well. The a capella track was a nice reprieve near the middle of the album and allowed Dynamite's vocals to shine without the support of the band.

Burke's vocals are impressive and enjoyable. Among the 50's/60's music in this genre, this was something I enjoyed more than most.

Bingo bango bongo I don't wanna listen to anything other than 60 minutes of Afro jazz percussion.

X.Y.U gives grungy QOTSA vibes, and great rhythm on a handful of tracks from disc 1. The remaining are forgettable, and even the singles don't deserve the acclaim they receive. Would listen again only if forced.

Perfect musicianship throughout this excellent album. Red Barchetta will always be my favorite song to enjoy while driving down a rural road on a sunny summer day. Any time I hear YYZ, my brain becomes thoroughly distracted and I can focus on nothing else but the music - there's just so much complexity to savor and consider. The album falls off a little after Limelight, but it's still classic early modern Rush and has that sweet 80s progressive rock sound that I do so enjoy. As much as I appreciate Rush's former albums for their longer and more fanciful progressive songs, I think Rush made an excellent change with Moving Pictures to shorten their songs and tighten their focus, leading to a greater variety of sounds within each album and providing the world with some of the best 80s prog rock in the albums that would follow. For leading this change in direction, Moving Pictures receives 5 stars.

Really enjoyed this blend of blues that is modern in chronology but traditional in sound. It features many rhythms and themes of classic blues rock and roll, but features a more upbeat sound that kept my toes tapping.

Great music and truly genre defining grunge, but the star of the Nirvana show will always be Dave Grohl.

A fantastic album top to bottom, with exquisite musicianship from this legendary foursome. Their excellence truly shines on the epic 7-minute track Since I've Been Loving You, where a great variety of instruments underscores the deep sound and emotion conveyed in the song. Plant's vocals are at the peak of his ability while John Paul Jones underscores the emotion in the vocals with driving organ, strings, and bass. Gallows Pole is another sorrowful song that references a traditional English folk piece, which is a treat among music that so often features themes from American southern blues. Other songs feature more upbeat tempos, like the famous Immigrant Song, which kicks off the album with an exciting high-tempo rock tune for the ages. Ultimately, the song is closed out with the toe-tapping Bron-Y-aur-Stomp, which is a fine song to highlight Bonham's characteristic drumming. Hats off To (Roy) Harper is a bonus track among the album, as far as I'm concerned. This album is truly an underrated collection of some of Zeppelin's finest work and I find myself surprised by it upon each return.

Strong start to this album with some incredible bangers. The second half is hit and miss, but held aloft by the hit track Firestarter. This is definitely an album worthy of this list, with a handful of impressive and famous tracks, as well as its iconic album art.

Sad boi 50's crooning. Not the best or most impressive Sinatra album, but still decent music. Kinda hard to believe that one of the biggest sex symbols of his age could pull off an album featuring themes of sadness and depression over how he can't get a gal and get laid.

Decent folk rock, though rather grandiose at times. Probably not "one of the greatest albums ever made". Those who hear this album thinking they've discovered a "lost masterpiece" are giant hipster doofuses for thinking this album is anything greater than another 70's folk rock album with too many instruments trying to cling to an already overdone trend of the folk music from this time. Cope harder, losers.

For a debut album, The Strokes present a refined sound that proves they know their vibe earlier in their career than most. I always had a distaste for The Strokes, but found myself appreciating the narrow focus of the sounds they are able to achieve with simple riffs and arrangements of just a few instruments. The hits on this album like Last Nite find a greater appreciation in the context of the other songs on this album, and I enjoyed this opportunity to become more familiar with the music. However, after several songs I found myself tiring of the distortion effects on the vocals, and began wishing for a song or two with a cleaner sound, if only for the variety.

Perhaps the only experience above listening to a James Brown album is attending a performance by the man himself. This album is as close as you can get, and for that it receives high marks. Brown's voice is dripping with life and passion, and the Famous Flames provide a great funky soundtrack to match. Further, the fanfare of the crowd adds to the appeal of the experience and the live nature of the recording is clear, never detracting from the audio.

Groovy af with a lot of sweet rock licks Fried ice cream is a reality

I liked the Pet Shop Boys gay little single, West End Girls. Among the nearly gay techno pop of the 80's, West End Girls is a refresher because it's so obviously gay. What a thrill to let it all out in age of advancing liberal values! This album, however, is much too gay and features none of the subdued qualities that made the band's prior hit a success. Of course there's nothing wrong with music that's very gay, but I prefer subtlety to the opposite. To the band's credit, the title of the album describes these qualities to the listener before they've even heard the first track.

Funky, soulful, contemplative, sad, joyful - this album features many themes and emotions that keep in engaging and enjoyable. No song is too long, and even the longest song, Papa Was A Rollin' Stone at 11'46", gives the music space to breath and move in its extended playtime. Meanwhile, the shorter songs are punchier and focused. The string arrangements provide a classic early-70's sound while the bass and guitar keep things soulful and funky for a modern sound on this concise record with many enjoyable tracks.

brilliant classic

Strong vocals and good songs. Redding's rendition of (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction is very soulful and a great variation of the Rolling Stones classic, as are his other covers. His original songs are good too.

The album opens with a sludge of guitar on Sweat Loaf, a clear reference to Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf", setting the stage for the forthcoming album which sounds like musical satire of itself. It was nice to listen to some proto-grunge with a lot of punk sounds, but the music itself seems like something nobody expected anyone to enjoy, and they probably shouldn't. Investigating the origin of the name Butthole Surfers led me to some of the band's former names, which I rather enjoyed: The Dick Clark Five, Nine cm Worm Makes Own Food, The Vodka Family Winstons, Ashtray Babyheads, Ed Asner Is Gay, Fred Astaire's Asshole, The Right to Eat Fred Astaire's Asshole, The Inalienable Right to Eat Fred Astaire's Asshole, Zipgun, and many others.

Very smooth rhythms and arrangements set by engaging electronic beats. Great progressive sounds among a genre that I find typically boring and repetitive. The runtime was a little lengthy and the tracks after Pearl's Girl struggled to defend their inclusion on the album, but the first half was dynamic and complex enough to elevate the music above most other electronic music I've heard.

This is a fantastic album whose biggest hits I had never even heard of before, though I didn't find myself especially impressed with them. Strong use of Burundi beats throughout the album, paired with slap bass, gives the music an 80's jungle vibe combined with the various brass and wind instruments on the album. I'm a huge sucker for saxophone and this band delighted, even thrilled me, with their consistent use of saxophone throughout the album. Not every tune was a banger, but my attention was piqued by something on every song. I will undoubtedly return to some of the highlights from this album in the future.

Took me a couple songs to warm up to this music. At first, it sounded too British, but ultimately it charmed me with its unique alt rock sounds that I found to be unique and dynamic in a way that captured my interest.

A fine mix of soulful, groovy, and funky tunes. Lots of great vocals featured.

Great tunes by The Police with some pretty experimental themes. They don't always land, and sometimes the tracks fracture the flow of the album (Mother and Miss Gradenko being the most obvious), but the hits are very strong and illustrate why The Police are such a great band.

Nice and good, especially for its time. The Murder Mystery is proof that Sonic Youth never did anything new or interesting.

The album started out pretty mediocre with a lot uninteresting music and annoying vocals, but became more progressive later in the album, reaching an apex with The Funny Bird. A lot of moody jazzy instrumental arrangements and technical sounds coming from this track that I really enjoyed. It was surprising to dislike just about everything I was hearing from this album with the surprise exception of that song. Ultimately, two weak tracks close out the album and leave a totally forgettable impression upon me.

Every track is a timeless banger. Dickinson's vocals are genre-defining, the guitar riffs are technical and dynamic, the drums are iconic and memorable from the first downbeat, and the bass is unrelenting. The themes of the album, while built upon those of former albums, set the stage for a discography of epic heavy metal spanning the works of classic Greek mythology to imperialism's history of bloody conquest. No band is as iconic as Iron Maiden, and this album blazed the path for future albums to follow without a single misstep.

A strong album with many great tracks and a few timeless ones, as well. This album might not represent the best of The Beatles, but it certainly represents some enjoyable music by the band. Overall, the album was weakened by some questionable, if not bad, tracks, such as Revolution 9.

Yet another example of bad music that doesn't deserve to be lauded just because it's "avant-garde". This music is bad, disorganized, and oppressive to the senses, and, even though it influenced future more successful musicians, it doesn't deserve the distinction it received by being included in this project. With that said, most of the instrumental arrangements are tolerable at worst and interesting at best, which strongly underscores the way that the shrill and poorly produced vocals ruin every song. The 9th track of the album, Sentimental Journey, was the exceptionally cliche track of the album, featuring random and monotonous noises for over six minutes - the kind of thing that I have come to expect from bands like this.

Boring sad alt rock

Whimsical music for fairies and women - an interesting blend of progressive orchestral and 80's pop that somehow found wide appeal. However, the highlights of this album are Running Up That Hill and the several other songs that feature strikingly similar marching-style rhythms and building arrangements. The remaining tracks are mostly not memorable for their music; however, the bass receives an honorable mention for being deep and slapping.

Just okay, if not entirely forgettable, instrumental music made completely insufferable by audio throughout of a large rat biting the testicles of a donkey. Implying that the sometimes grungy guitar sounds of this album influenced later grunge music gives the donkey credit that he never deserved.

Exemplary 2000's soft rock, with instruments that almost aren't even there and a not-too-generic and also sorta bluesy white female vocalist. What a head trip it is to establish some of my earliest memories in elementary school listening to Norah Jones CDs in the classroom while performing constructive learning exercises, to now listening to the same album while I squander away the prime of my life 20 years later toiling away at my professional job in a sterile office space. My thanks to Norah for the nostalgia and the existential dread.

I'm unsure if this music is supposed to be satire or a genuine expression of human emotions and experiences. If it's the latter, Sullivan's life experiences have taught her nothing except that she wants money and that sex is the best way to get it. For all of the feeling expressed in her vocals, her lyrics ring hypocritical as one of the major themes of the music is the independence of women and their struggles, but repeatedly the lyrics remind the listener that men are essential because of their money and their genitals. So what is it, yass queen, are women independent to win their own struggles and make their own mistakes, or are they dependent on men for money and sex? This dichotomy has been explored ad nauseam by other artists, so Sullivan's attempt in this album falls flat as crass and unnecessary.

Solid reggae

Truly enjoyed most of this album whenever Kiedis wasn't vocalizing. The tight guitar, funky bass, and varied rhythm showcase the talent and skill of these musicians, and it's a shame that Kiedis detracts so much from this otherwise enjoyable music. Breaking the Girl remains an underrated song and the only RHCP track I enjoy.

Classic tunes that set the stage for some future legendary albums. Remember Tomorrow is an underrated song that features the band's exceptional ability to slow down with thoughtful and technical guitar riffs that quickly ramp into thrashing solos and driving bass. While the tracks from this album don't rise to the level of many future Iron Maiden classics, the fundamental elements of those songs are clearly established in this album and its influence on artists of similar music from the era is clear.

Owens music really shines when he kicks up the tempo and sings a jolly tune to a toe-tapping beat, which makes tracks like Wham Bam (all misogyny aside) stand out on this album. On the other end of the spectrum are the sad cowboy songs, which I typically enjoy but find that Owens vocals lack a fullness of emotion that I appreciate in the singing of other musicians like Marty Robbins and Dwight Yoakam. At the bottom of the barrel is Streets of Laredo, which had strange production and echoing vocals, sounding like it drew influences from some kind of Gregorian church chanting. Overall, I enjoyed becoming familiar with Buck Owens style of classic rock & roll country, and can clearly hear his influence in musicians that followed his style and genre, many of whom performed his music but better.

This album represents more of a lesson in the history of Barrett and Pink Floyd than a collection of music one would enjoy on its merits. After hearing the discord of the first couple tracks, I educated myself on the biography of Barrett and began to understand the history behind the random instruments and rambling lyrics. It comes as no surprise that this album was born out of necessity on the part of the recording company to produce an album from Barrett, whom they had recently acquired following his departure from Pink Floyd. Thus, the album was not made from the passion and creativity of Barrett, and the struggles of those involved with the album to generate music representative of Barrett's former talents is woven through each song. There isn't much to enjoy of this album from a musical perspective, and listening provides more of a sad history lesson; but, at least some context is provided behind some of Pink Floyd's great hits like "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and other homages to Barrett.

Really groovey bluesy 70's soft rock. Armatrading's voice is unique and somewhat soulful, though not altogether great. However, the song writing and supporting instruments are strong while not overbearing. An enjoyable listen, but probably not one to which I would return on my own.

Good jazz but I'm too stupid to understand why.

Funkified Bowie slaps pretty good. The music on this album is a little all over the place and the songs are pretty diverse, but the influence of black musical styles is a unifying theme that ties it together. Special mention for the sax throughout the album.

Cave's vocals are strong and the music from the rest of the band is there but never quite noticeable or impressive. The lyrics prioritize story telling over musical value, but don't generate opportunity for dynamic change, leading to Cave's vocals sounding essentially the same throughout the album. Overall, I appreciated the opportunity to become familiar with Nick Cave's musical career, but don't feel that this album in particular needed to be heard.

Nice jazzy and often dramatic music, with engaging piano, supports Simone's unimpressive and distracting vocals. Simone's voice is at times harsh and unpleasant when adjacent to the instruments in the band, but her songwriting and orchestration is impressive and keeps the music engaging. The subject matter of the album is noteworthy and Simone's passion is apparent.

An absolute steaming pile of auto-tuned garbage pop music. Madonna deserves no credit for her work on this album that pushes no artistic boundaries nor develops novel sounds or ideas, and the album's producer deserves none for staunchly following the trends in pop music of the day, all of which aged poorly.

An energetic and fun performance whose nature of having been recorded live provides the listener with some of the overflowing enthusiasm of the performer and their audience. Cooke is a masterful artist and this recording provides a high quality representation of his skill as a musician and performer.

hard with just a hint of jazz

A strong collection of Deep Purple hits, featuring the energy of the crowd and the improvisational creative talent of one of the best bands of the time. As a fan Deep Purple, I appreciated the opportunity to hear the band jamming and expanding songs in their catalogue, but I feel that this album is likely too deep a dive into the mechanics of Deep Purple when any of their more famous studio albums would have better represented the band's music and why it should be heard.

Pleasantly boring instrumental music whose devolution started with the third track Leb Wohl, a song that featured sounds of disconcerting breathing and moaning, and reached an apex with the following track, Hero, which featured strained and unpleasant vocals shouting unintelligible lyrics while supported by discordant instruments. The penultimate song treated the listener with three minutes of wind noises on a track that was already 7 minutes of boring and repetitive music. Finally, to close out the album, the last track continues the repetitive beat and boring sounds of the previous track, but with the addition of more unpleasant whispered and screamed vocals. Overall, this was an album that no one benefitted from hearing.

Proto-glam rock at its finest, with a hint of the orchestral grandiosity that makes Queen one of the greatest rock bands of all time. This album features a slightly more unrefined sound and provides a sense of how the band developed the elements of their future music. Some of the tracks have great potential but are too short and sound a little underdeveloped, but this is countered by the excellent continuity of the rock opera suite Tenement Funster/Flick of the Wrist/Lily of the Valley. The song Stone Cold Crazy is a rocking banger and stands juxtaposed among many slower and more melodic tracks.

Superunknown represents the grunge genre's transition from gloomy underground Seattle rock to a mainstream musical style with broad appeal, and while I prefer the unwashed sound of Soundgarden in Badmotorfinger like the sharp bitterness of a Pacific Northwest IPA, this album goes down smooth like a macrobrew pale ale. The progression of the album weaves between upbeat and catchy rhythms like those of My Wave, and dark and brooding guitar riffs that underpin songs like Mailman, illustrating a range of emotions that grunge was thought to lack before it was thrust out of obscurity by this album. Betwixt the singles of wide renown are not filler tracks, but delicacies of the finest grunge, appreciated by fans of the genre who choose to explore the sounds of Soundgarden beyond what is considered to be commercially successful. Such real grunge enjoyers understand the tragedy of the loss of Soundgarden's vocalist, Chris Cornell - one of the greatest vocalists of all time. Every one of his songs reveals new talents and ranges of his voice's broad repertoire, and while a sense of melancholy is felt knowing that his career reached an early end, a happiness can be found in appreciating the great variety of art he has given for us to enjoy.

Top tier guitar among a flurry of hit tracks and other savory samplings from this band of goliath talent.

Short and sappy love songs that represent the source of future, better, Beatles albums. A Hard Day's Night is the first and best track on the album, so the remaining songs do little to impress.

Upbeat and enjoyable Afro-jazz with plenty of horns. A little light on the "Afro" but still very good.

Melodic and atmospheric tracks give this a great progressive sound, and each track provides enough variety to keep the album sounding dynamic and keep the listener engaged. I'd never heard of this band nor this album, but it's one to which I will return.

Perhaps the least objectionable album, yet, from this old woman who refuses to stop screeching into a microphone and pretending to be a cow boy. The supporting band, Crazy Horse, did a good job of distracting me from the horrendous vocals of the old woman.

This album sounds like Sonic Youth if Sonic Youth made bad rock music instead of incoherent garbage noise. +1 for boobies and the song about a cool guy who rides his bicycle.

Pretty forgettable album of English rock music. A lot of variety but nothing really stood out, except for Macbeth, which was a surprising folk/country rock jam that I enjoyed. Cale mostly used other English pop rock bands (read: Beatles) as inspiration and replicated their orchestral style but to much lesser effect, especially because so many other artists were doing the same thing at the time. I noticed the guitar on some tracks featured a twangy country sound, and feel that incorporating more of this in his otherwise English pop sound might have been a more novel element of his "experimental nature" if it had been a larger focus of his music.

Short and sweet, this album listens like the distillation of the best of 1970s soft country. It tackles themes like poverty, family conflict, and betrayal through sometimes upbeat but often melancholy songs, and the variety throughout keeps it engaging. The album grows more generic after the first handful of tracks, and there's perhaps too many love songs for my taste, but the country twist of each makes them unique and reminds the listener that, despite our best efforts, we sometimes all bear our flaws. Nevertheless, Parton's vocals brilliantly convey a broad range of emotions that support the varied themes of the albums and underscore her talent as one of country's greatest artists.

This album is way too long and the music isn't very good, but for kickstarting the post-grunge late 90's/early 2000's alt metal scene I can understand its influence. That said, I think its significance lies with a select few songs and not the album as a whole, and for that I don't feel it deserves to be included in this list or deserves much respect on the whole.

This is genre-defining metal and set the standard for every Black Sabbath album to follow. The bellowing and unrefined low sounds of the brooding guitar bludgeons the listener while the precision sloppiness of the supporting instruments reinforces a thematic sound throughout the album. Tracks vary between fast tempo, such as Paranoid, and immediately drop away into pensive and slow tracks like Planet Caravan, showcasing the broad range of the genre and the talent of these artists.

Upon listening to the tracks' single edits after the respective album versions, the music on the album sounds like a satirical caricature of itself. The songs really are too long and don't derive much value from the extra length aside from giving Hayes opportunities to moan and announce that he's doing so. This aside, the music was groovy and the vocals told soulful and dramatic stories that I did enjoy. Further, the individual instruments stand out throughout the tracks, whether it be the flare of the oboe or the chiming rhythm of the cymbals, providing variety and emphasis to Hayes vocals. This is a good album for devoting one's time and attention, but not worth as much time as it demands.

The Wikipedia page for this band was clearly written by a devoted fan, if not the band itself, because the music is not widely streamed, the article mentions no specific publications aside from the book responsible for this very website, and the music is unimpressive, if not irritating. It sounds like pretty generic early 2000's punk rock, with too much distortion and shrieking guitars that drown out everything else. This album is basically the White Stripes if their music had far less appeal, catchiness, or anything else that makes music enjoyable. Really, this album could be replaced by any other album of greater influence and repute among this genre.

Funky and precise in it's sound, this album is squarely in the middle of 90's hip hop. It pushes no boundaries and sounds exactly like one would expect for a band/production agency trying to create an album for broad appeal. It stays inside its lane and doesn't exert itself to make a strong point or convey a controversial message. Some of the songs are little too long and overstay their welcome, but overall it was a fun album to hear.

I enjoyed this album and its broad variety, featuring many changes in tempo, intricate guitar work, and supporting instruments. Layered vocals provided a harmony-like sound that punctuated many of the songs with different emotional vibes. Overall, the album was reminiscent of The Giraffes with a less hard rock sound, but acoustic guitars, horns, and accordion were all used in a similar fashion to create a ska/polka/whatever twist on their brand of rock. I contend that this album wasn't influential or good enough to be heard before my death, but I enjoyed hearing it nevertheless.

Really good classic singer/songwriter album. Thematically, the album is very political and it's honestly pretty depressing that the lyrics are still relevant nearly 40 years later. The instruments do their job well of supporting and emphasizing the vocals when appropriate and staying out of the way when they should. Altogether, this is an exemplary album for the genre.

A collection of the most insufferable vocalists, vocal styles, instruments, and overall musical genres. I'm not going to give this music extra kudos for employing elements of absurdity when the music is still bad.

Some pretty fun beats and rhymes, but altogether not my genre of music at all. I liked Wake Up for its positive message, fun lyrics, and unique beats.

Truly enjoyable big band music that I had never before heard. The music ranges from upbeat and toe tapping to dramatic, slow, and orchestral. Great variety throughout the album and fun music all around.

Full of intriguing symbolism and metaphors about Bowie's life and death, making this album an interesting listen that probably needs to be separated from its musical value to be really appreciated. That being said, I only enjoyed Dollar Days and I Can't Give Everything Away because they were more upbeat and didn't carry the same haunting, slow sounds that the rest of the tracks featured.

I don't particularly enjoy Elvis Costello's vocals or his music overall. It can be repetitive and grandiose at times, which I feel is why Pump it Up is one of his only hits, given that it has an easy hook and simple rhythm. That said, his music sounds ahead of its time and I can see why it found popularity in a time without much competition among the genre.

Funky soul music of cultural significance. Were it not for the significance of this album and the time of its release, I don't think its music would rate as highly as it does. Aside from Everyday People, most of the album doesn't sound much better than other music from the genre and the singles didn't impress me much. The songs are good, but they aren't 'greatest of all time' good. Still, the instrumental arrangements were pretty darn funky (shout out to the instrumental tracks), and the vocals/backup vocals were all in balance and well executed.

Exceptionally pleasant combination of soft rock and soft folk music. I found everything to be somewhat generic but exquisitely recorded and produced. Hawley's vocals changed appropriately depending on the style of the song, and bring together the instrumental and orchestral arrangements. Nothing in particular stands out as sounding technically impressive or offering a unique sound, especially because a handful of the songs are covers of old songs, but for what it is, the album succeeds in providing familiar sounds crafted for an audience expecting no surprises.

Exactly the kind of horrendous, low-effort, vocals that make me hate this variety of English music. The instrumental arrangements are quirky, technical, varied, and interesting, if not often repetitive; but, the vocals were so grating and flat that I grew to despise every song after the first ten minutes. I can think of many better examples of albums born from drug use, so if this album's status as a collection of music influenced by ecstasy is it's most notable honor, then I disagree with any assertion that finds this album essential. It's difficult to believe that anyone aside from fans of this specific band would feel that this album needs to be heard by everyone.

Nauseatingly mediocre indie rock.

Really excellent reggae, with a great variety of brass, guitar, and piano providing various blends of blues, jazz, and rock to songs throughout the album. I enjoyed the contrasting halves of the album in which the first group of songs feature themes of traditional religious and political struggles, while the second half is more upbeat and happy. Of course, Marley's vocals are always on point and underscore the emotions carried by the theme of each song. Altogether, this album is exemplary of Marley's talent in blending the sounds of popular western influences with more traditional reggae.

An enjoyable listen with many orchestral sounds blended with synthy electronic music and many quality bass lines. Never did the album sound too electronic or exceed its own boundaries, nor did it require an excess of attention to appreciate. A quality album that surpassed expectations.

The beats and music are fine, if not repetitive and formulaic. I didn't find this music as impressive or attractive as its sales statistics indicates most other people did. I appreciated the opportunity to formulate an impression of Moby's music, but it wasn't so favorable that I would explore it any further.

This band was truly ahead of its time, pioneering the sound of AI-generated music nearly 30 years before the prevalence of ChatGPT. Their songs are so bland and generic that I could easily be convinced that they are an algorithmic amalgamation of every popular rock band from the 90's, but kept reminding myself that no AI would willfully conceive of a band name as terrible as "Garbage" for its own creation. For their sonic breakthroughs in the slop rock genre, Garbage exceeds all expectations by offering nothing of even the slightest novelty and truly lives up to the expectations set by their own name!

Vaughan's voice is divine, and the finale of the album featuring 3 minutes of scat singing was a fine example of her vocal talents. Overall, this album was a pleasure to hear, and I could have listened to it for hours without growing bored of it. Something about the genre is endlessly enjoyable to me, and this one fits nicely into the category, though it didn't necessarily stand out above the rest.

Vocals were too british for my taste, but otherwise this was an enjoyable rock album with a lot of variety. I appreciated this opportunity to hear more of Blur's music beyond their few mega hits and would happily listen to more of their music in the future, but probably won't seek it out myself.

This is fine indie rock, but I was perfectly happy when my impression of Franz Ferdinand stopped at their biggest hit "Take Me Out". I didn't need to hear the entire album to know that this band's best piece of music is their most popular single and that the rest of their music doesn't have much to offer anyone aside from their specific fans.

After hearing This Year's Model, I became convinced that Elvis Costello's music just wasn't for me. Pump It Up is a fun song, but nothing that I'd heard from Costello really impressed me, and that's okay because I could understand why other people would like his wacky brand of new wave Brit rock. However, after hearing this album, I've become more convinced that no one has any business enjoying Elvis Costello's music. His vocals are always over the top, the lyrics and songwriting are far from artful, and the arrangements played by the Attractions often sounds like it was spliced in from a totally different song and fail miserably to support the vocals. Or, maybe it's Costello who fails the band, something I might expect from an artist trying so hard to be part of the music scene that they changed their name from Declan MacManus to something more commercially palatable. It's a shame that Declan couldn't make a similar exchange for the quality of his music. From undulating and cracking singing, to embarrassingly cringeworthy guitar solos, this album is reprehensible and lacks accolades enough to be considered an essential listen before death.

This album affirmed that I like Crazy Horse. I still dislike Neil Young. Much of the production sounds pretty raw, which makes Young's vocals sound worse, but makes the music played by Crazy Horse shine as more technically proficient and impressively performative for an album recording. Overall, the album sounds like a local band playing a live show at the town bar, except that the band is pretty good but the vocalist is terrible.

Trailblazing unrefined sound from a gaggle of US GI's stationed in Germany who wore the outfits and haircuts of monks. Every instrument is a rhythm and the vocals are grating.

Really nice and jazzy piano music, though it can sound a little disorganized at times and Jarrett's vocalizations were somewhat distracting. For an improv piece, however, it is really quite impressive. I wouldn't recommend this for casual listening as it requires an hour of dedicated attention.

Interesting experimental jazz. There's a lot to be heard with a great variety of instruments, including clarinet, many saxophones, and much more. The flamenco guitar that comes and goes was a fun surprise that kept the music interesting and provided a bit of genre blending. The final track pulls out all the stops with very bombastic orchestration that included many refrains and all the instruments. I truly enjoyed my first Mingus experience.

This album is yet another of Steely Dan's condensed perfections, with a hit single hit to appease the slack-jawed masses and many delicacies for true Steely Dan enjoyers to savor. Each chord of Fagan's keyboard rings like the purest droplets of rain rippling the surface of a dirty street puddle where a character like Charlie Freak might meet their sarcastically comic end. The themes of drug abuse, racism, and xenophobia underscore the balanced fusion of jazz and rock on which Steely Dan built their brand, punctuated by their modern rendition of Duke Ellington's classic jazz composition in the middle of the album. The slimy and uninformed might dismiss this gem as another boring yacht rock album that only dads should enjoy, and those creatures are exactly the type who Fagan and Becker expected would find little appreciation for their music. Thus, their compositions are written and played to prime perfection, wrapped in lyrics that deal with the delicate and controversial themes that the unwashed masses seek to avoid because they aren't things featured in the words of their Daily News.

This album really hooked me with the first song and then proceeded to disappoint me for nearly an hour with some of the most generic and unpalatable British rock. The droning and over-tuned echoing vocals quickly irritated me, even though the rest of the band was doing a pretty good job of playing tight and varied arrangements. This album is close to something I might have enjoyed, if only the vocals were improved and the length were shortened to include only the tracks with something novel to offer.

Sounds like house tech remixes of the Rolling Stones, but more boring and repetitive. This album comes across as unfocused and lacking direction.

A nice album with fun and unique orchestration. I can't say that the album deserves to be as long as the titles of its individual songs, but it has a lot to offer. Each instrument seems to be playing something complex and technical but all come together to produce songs that don't rely on any single instrument, and each has its chance to shine throughout. I would listen to this again to gain a greater appreciation for it.

Sounds a little like The B-52s if they got real angry. A handful of the tracks on this album featured interesting and delicate guitar, supported by tight instrumentals and somewhat appropriate vocals. The first and last tracks are good examples of songs by the Pixies that I think have a lot of artistic value and are enjoyable to hear. If this album stretched those songs a little longer and featured more of them, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more. However, most of the songs are very short and don't feature enough depth to develop over the course of their short playtime. This album's total playtime is already on the short side, so the fact that many of the tracks are short themselves makes this album sound like it doesn't have much depth to offer, and is instead a collection of ideas that should have either been developed further or cut entirely.

Good heavy metal with a great theme that the band should have leveraged to a greater extend in their percussion and overall songwriting. The Brazilian "musical textures" don't feel like an overarching theme that underpins the entire album, but rather a concept that appears here and there. I also don't enjoy the harsh vocals and would have preferred some tonal variety in the singing. The instrumental arrangements, while dense and energetic, also become repetitive through each song and lack technicality; however, I believe that may simply be a feature of 90's nu-metal influenced music. Nevertheless, I appreciate the band's dedication to their expression of Brazilian culture and heritage in their music, and enjoyed the writing and production of this album that doesn't seek only to find mass public appeal, but a genuine creation of quality for fans of their music.

True prog rock enjoyers will really like this album, and everyone else will hate it. As an enjoyer, myself, I delighted in this album. The sweeping synth, unique time signatures, syncopated rhythms, and technical guitar work all come together to create an album that holds nothing back and explores all avenues it creates for itself. Peter Gabriel's vocals do work to define the signature vocal sound of Genesis for decades to come and mark his talent as a vocalist and songwriter. And of course, Phil Collins stands out on this album as his tight and technical drumming comes to define the genre. This album set Genesis on a path of prog righteousness that they would follow, even after Gabriel's departure, and established the band as visionaries which other acclaimed acts would follow.

Very good and calming S & G, but too short.

Excellent folk rock that is utterly ruined by a single, terrible, Neil Young solo track.

The White Stripes have always had a lot of talent in their songwriting, and each song from this album illustrates their ability to create a lot of simple, yet broadly enjoyable songs. However, this album also showcases the lack of complexity in their music, as every song is predicated on the most basic rhythms and hooks, and only the guitar ever steps out into anything remotely sophisticated. This shortcoming aside, there's a lot of well-executed genre blending and variety in the album, and each song is at least of undeniable quality. Ball and Biscuit was a notable track, featuring some technical blues guitar licks and a slightly sophisticated beat, with enough length to develop the elements of the song that made it interesting.

This isn't my genre of music at all, but it sounds like good music nevertheless. Impressive sampling and track layering throughout the album, with a compelling and consistent theme. It's clear that this album was the product of many talented contributors.

Sometimes one must listen to an album like this, among one thousand other albums, to be reminded that the great spectrum of music includes work that is objectively bad. Cohen's music is the turd in the egg salad of musical art, and establishes a datum of low quality. The poor lyrical writing, the annoying jaw harp in every song, and the utter lack of vocal effort remind the listener for 36 minutes that there is music in the world worse than most other music, which really makes all other music more impressive by comparison. This realization is the only reason to listen to Cohen's music before death.

This album hooked me from the start with it's impressive energy, tempo, and variety. Oboe, saxophone, and a great many instruments combine to support a progressive arrangement of guitar, drums, and bass for an album that is novel and enjoyable. With notes of Queen, Jethro Tull, and new wave pop, I found this album to be a great combination of sounds from its decade, and will listen to more from Roxy Music.

A decent collection by The Smiths, but it seems to lack some of the essential qualities that made following albums from them sound unique. The songs on this album sound more upbeat and the instruments are simpler, making the songs sound flat and less impressive. I feel that the haunting and dark sound of future albums were better suited to Morrissey's vocals, and characterized much of The Smiths' music. Nevertheless, the basic elements of their music is established in this album, and the songs aren't bad.

As expected from Bowie, this is a great album with many enjoyable songs and a lot of variety. The albums lacks some depth as many of the tracks that aren't hits don't offer quite as much to the listener, but the hits are very strong. I could listen to each many times and enjoy them forever.

Never have I heard better Senegalese music in my life. Also, never before have I heard Senegalese music, but I like this music as an objective and artistic creation. It features enjoyable beats, lyrical arrangements that are fun (even though I don't understand them) and totally novel combinations of instruments. I want to be sad that this album is intruded by many western influences, but I really like them because they all sound like silly pre-sets from a Casio keyboard. I have no doubt that Maal enjoyed them while he made this album, even if they aren't truly traditional, and I enjoyed them, too. This is a fun album that requires little technical understanding of music to enjoy, illustrating that good music can transcend geography and culture if it gives you a smile and makes you move.

Truly some of Dylan's best songs, made even better by the support of a full band. Yet still, Dylan knocks it out of the park with the album's closing song, Desolation Row, proving that his songs still kill it, even without the band. Bonus point for his sick outfit on the cover.

Bluesiest white lady. This album has a lot of energy and soul. I especially appreciate the political and historical relevance of this album, and how Joplin refuses to subdue her messaging.

I feel like I lost a lot of respect of Morissette after this album. Her vocals, while somewhat unique and enjoyable, aren't enough to make up for a full hour of mediocre and uninspiring 90's alt rock that isn't enough to elevate Morissette's vocals. The production tuned up the volume on her vocals in an apparent effort to make up for the forgettable instrumental arrangements, which leaves one to focus solely on the vocals. This is great for unambiguous fans of Morissette's singing, but it leaves little to enjoy for everyone else. The one or two hits from this album leave a good impression of Morissette, but the rest of the album chips away at this impression until there's never a need to hear her again.

Pleasant triphop with interesting use of sampling, lofi, and mellow vocals. This is a nice album to enjoy as background or focus music, but doesn't offer much in the way of surprises or strong impressions.

Aggressive, technical, and energetic - this album makes its message clear and loud with scathing vocals, driving bass, and precise rhythms. Unlike many other albums on this list, the tracks on this album that didn't become humongous hits were still on message and carried the passion and quality songwriting of the other tracks. This stands as a hallmark of a great album wherein the hit tracks hook you for a listen, but the remaining tracks do not lose your attention or appreciation. Township Rebellion receives a gold star for its funky, syncopated, rhythm - an example of the technical nature of the musicianship on this album that is sometimes overshadowed by its loudness or political messaging.

It's hard to not enjoy this album. Stevie's sweet vocals never fail to put me in a good mood, and the groovy instruments do great work. This is simple, fine, and high quality music from one of the greatest musicians of all time, with a couple of timeless hits to boot.

I enjoyed this opportunity to hear War beyond their singles and feel that this album does great justice to the band's artistic talent. Songs like Lowrider are catchy hits whose justifications for reaching popularity are obvious, but this album feels more like a true work of art from a collection of coordinated musicians, rather than some hit and miss attempts at commercial success. I think this speaks to the virtue of War's achievement in producing this genuinely high ranking album. However, the album is slow and takes patience to appreciate the many instruments coming and going throughout, and I feel that my patience was exceeded by the song Four Cornered Room, which is a very slow song following an already slow, 13-minute track in City, Country, City. While I enjoyed the long instrumental sequences featured on several of the songs, I feel they needed more counterbalance to their tempos.

All of everyone's favorite CCR tracks in one album!? Great ooby dooby!! Upbeat and high tempo blues rock juxtaposed with measured and thoughtful ballads give this album great variety and staying power. It's one of the reasons why CCR has so many huge hits - they are able to span genres and moods to reach an enormous audience and provide sweet musical delicacies for all.

This sounds like an album of Beatles music if the Beatles decided to make good music instead of sappy pop love songs. The folk and rock blend really shines on a couple of songs, especially Norwegian Wood, which highlights the success of the fusion and the band's execution of it. The use of syncopated rhythms appear on other tracks, and even introduce the album on its first track, Drive My Car, which could speak to the progressive nature of the sounds on this album. Overall, this is an exemplary album that illustrates the talent of this band beyond pop radio hits.

A most mediocre offering from the foremost experts in bland millennial pop rock. The album starts with a modestly strong opening in the track Beautiful Day, nearly giving the false impression that this is a good rock band, before each following track proves that this band has nothing interesting or unique to offer. Furthermore, the album grows worse and more tiresome as the listener is forced to endure Bono's overexerted and strained vocals, supported by the most milquetoast instrumental arrangements imaginable. I'll add this to the list of U2 albums that left no impression and served only to expand their catalogue of uninteresting music.

All of the energy and angst of Soundgarden but without any of the talent.

"I want you so much I could bust" is not a lyric that aged well. I enjoyed the use of oboe in some songs on this album, but overall found the music to be incredibly bland and boring. Much of the percussion was recorded using drum machines, creating gaps in the arrangements that leave the songs sounding hollow and uninteresting. I'm not sure why this album is included in this list as it fails to represent any significance in culture or musical history.

Fun rhymes, rhythms, and samples. A lot of variety, humor, and themes in this album combine to make an album of great character.

Great live recording with a setlist of eclectic songs that showcase Cobain's outstanding vocal range, supported by delicate and interesting guitar work. The context and timing behind this album's release is relevant and adds some significance to the commentary between tracks and the overall success of the album.

The enchanting ride symbol in Solar System had me in a trance. I enjoyed this album a lot and feel it does an excellent job of portraying D&B, unlike some other albums in the genre. The atmospheric synth and jazzy undertones kept things fresh and progressed the album with varying sounds. The album is longer than I would prefer, and I do find the rhythms somewhat repetitive after a while, but I appreciate that this is a compilation and feel that each track earned its place on the album. I would return to some of the songs on this album if I felt that the vibes were right.

This album seems to achieve the sound that the band and producers were targeting, which is somewhat angsty garage rock with a touch of grunge. Unfortunately, they seem to lack the talent of Nirvana and many other 90's alt-rock bands, whom they are emulating. The music isn't bad, it just doesn't offer anything novel.

Varied, unique, and bold - this album explored a lot of different rhythms and vibes that impressed me with their novelty comparted to more mainstream artists. While some of the songs outlasted my attention with their simplistic or repetitive nature, there was still something different to appreciate in each one.

While I didn't find most of the music on this album to be particularly groundbreaking, I appreciate the use of orchestral melodies and the influence of different genres on some of the songs. Bitter Sweet Symphony is an obvious hit with unique orchestral sampling, but songs like Velvet Morning feature unique instruments like slide guitar to give it a sound that separates it from other tracks on the album. The use of different sounds and rhythms keeps this album sounding fresh and it's clear why fans of this band/genre would hold this album in high regard.

This album has such a stellar opening, and the first half features some of Elton's best songs. I particularly enjoyed Grey Seal, which has less commercial success but was still a great listen. However, this album should not have been a double album. There are too many filler tracks and songs that don't live up to the exceptionally high standards of the openers, and for that it fails to receive a perfect score. Nevertheless, it's still Elton, and the bangers do bang.

Jefferson Starship fever dream wannabe band.

Sucky mild brit punk.

Each track contains at most one interesting and/or unique concept (beat, sample, rhythm, etc.) and repeats it ad nauseum. The songs are too long and repetitive. Another feature on the list that makes for "decent background music" but isn't worth listening to. In this case, the artist is a professional soundtrack artist, probably adding another collection to their portfolio, but the author of this book mistook it for exceptional music on its own.

This was an enjoyable way to familiarize myself with Thin Lizzy's lesser known music, and I found it more complex and interesting than their hits. There was a lot of jazz, blues, and rock influence that stood out with technical appeal. Still in Love with You exhibits some great guitar work and jazzy supporting instruments. Really enjoyed this track as an example of more interesting and talented musicianship than what I've heard from songs like Jailbreak.

Quintessential Elvis here - this is pretty enjoyable classic country rock that white people like, with all the appropriated elements of other cultures. The bass gets a special mention for being pretty standout on a lot of these tracks.

This is perfectly acceptable bluesy rock. I've yet to be excited by a Rolling Stones song, but I've yet to find myself annoyed by one. Here's another album of music the fits the mold.

Mark Lanegan's vocals are one-of-a-kind and no one does soulful, melancholy grunge like him, and no one ever will again. His loss was a tragedy to the genre of grunge and this album illustrates his talents. Overall, I like the Screaming Trees as a variety of grunge that has more to offer than your typical rainy cafe Pearl Jam or dark and loud Soundgarden, with songs that vary in tempo and evoke a broader arrangement of emotions. This album features those elements and is a good representation of good Screaming Trees music, although I prefer Sweet Oblivion.

This was enjoyable thrash metal and I found that it didn't stray too far from its goal. It sounded neither to basic and harsh nor too complicated and subdued. I like this more than most thrash metal I've heard, which is a strong vote of confidence for this album.

No one makes a full hour of Thom Yorke's insufferable whining and moaning with the least interesting, mind-numbing techno-piano alt garbage music quite like Radiohead.

Sounds like good hip hop to me. Good job, Clan.

This album was super boring and not engaging in any way. The entire album establishes itself on the question "what if the film Vanishing Point was distilled into a vibe and made into atmospheric music?" and it turns out the answer is not something I needed to hear. Hope the band had fun churning out this experiment because I didn't have fun listening to it.

Worse than the Talking Heads and without any of David Byrne's charm.

A lot of simple songs with decent hooks and are mercifully short. Thankfully, this album doesn't feature as much of the excessive unpleasant punk sound that future The Clash, and other British punk bands, leverage to differentiate themselves. With this debut album, The Clash succeeded in establishing their sound without going too far outside the lines.

A pretentious and boring album from music's most pretentious and boring band.

Pleasant and simple country folk music. The weak production is buoyed by Willie's vision for condensed music that tells a tale and entertains without all the riff-raff and bluster of contemporary country music.

I can't say that this album really contributed anything revolutionary to its genre of music, but it isn't altogether unpleasant. Like most electronic music, each song is predicated on a repetitive beat and bassline, and each song offers a new flavor and rhythm. However, no single song or measure stands out amongst the 74 minutes of different electronic sounds.

For the most part, this was pretty boring blues music and was only interesting because the lyrics were whatever foreign language they were. However, some songs had impressive syncopated rhythms where the band's native culture shone through the otherwise boring and generic western style of the music.

So groovy and stylish, listening to this album is like eating a hot fudge sundae with sprinkles and all the fixings. Are all the toppings necessary? It's ice cream and that's already a dessert. But the indulgence of the toppings is what takes it over the top, just like the slap bass, string synthesizers, and sensual vocals elevates this album to the next level of 80's soul music. Each song is so funky, and flourishes of slide guitar, backup vocals, and extra bass just make this album so extra that it never ceases to claim my attention and satisfy my desire for what it provides. Thank you, Bobby.

This album succeeds in executing a difficult and rare combination of comedy and genuinely good music. The samples and beats are all quite enjoyable and suite the vibe of each song, whether it be jovial and upbeat or slower and threatening. The commentary between songs was surprisingly not annoying and added some fun context to the album and its creation's circumstances. This is an impressive showing for a debut album and it exemplifies Dre's talent as a music maker, producer, and hardcore diss-er.

This album represents what punk music could be if it weren't too busy trying to make people hate it. While expressing ideas that run afoul of the status quo, Green Day makes a strong case for its blend of contemporary rock and punk stylings. The guitar riffs are simple but not so simple that they become irritating, and the other instruments in the ensemble provide technically engaging music without devolving into the un-orchestrated noise of most punk rock.

Interesting mix of jazz, orchestra, and other music from Asia and far flung cultures that got progressively tedious and boring after the halfway mark.

Lady Paul Newman punk rock-lite. Interesting (if nothing else) lyrics and talented backing band made this a fun listen, but couldn't help but feel that the whole thing is overrated.

This album sounds like an album the Beatles might make if, instead of doing drugs to find inspiration in music, they simply recorded their songs while on drugs.

British shouting

This album is Time of the Season and 11 utterly forgettable tracks.

The wicked and rollicking music I've come to expect from the Pogues is on full display on this album, which features many historical references and cultural grievances. I would return to this album for a more focused listen, and with a beer in hand.

This is the music I would play at my upper-middle class party at my loft in downtown Portland. It has the sound of an indie band but features modern techno samples and arrangements. However, none of it combined to create something that sounded like music, but was instead more like experimental indie techno trip background music.