I’ve been to Athens Georgia, maybe that’s the difference. This is often considered to be REM’s best record. ‘87- the height of Reaganomics, AIDS fear. Yet, the Cold War was over, the Berlin Wall was crumbling and we were still in an era of civility at home- even if four more tours of Republican Tax-The-Poor economic plans were looming with GW Bush following in Ronnie’s footsteps. Recorded in early ‘87 in Nashville they began to experiment with new instruments. They starting recording the same week the Simpsons debuted on a brand new TV network- FOX. This was one of the first times in my life where ‘scandals’ loomed large- Iran-Contra affair, Jim Bakker and Gary Hart were both having affairs- a notable televangelist and a presidential candidate. I was younger than my son is now when this album was made but it still sounds valid today. It still is valid today. But this album is so cohesive. It feels warm. It feels Athens-y. That town is interesting to say the least. It is the definition of a college town- bars and kids and music and warm damp air everywhere. I spent one night there- it’s worth the tale if you ever want to hear it- but it ended with me finding my acoustic guitar (one that I had searched the tri state area high and low to find) at the back of a piano store: a Yamaha Compass Series. It’s still with me to this day. That was about 25 years ago. The album- this recording- has so much depth. Vocabulary- English and musical. It has this strange mix of hopelessness and hope that makes me feel like every song is “yearning”- and it’s up to the listener to feel whether it’s yearning for comraderie or solitude. Hold me or leave me alone. It’s also important to note that at the time Michael Stipe was still very much in the closet and the vibe of this album seems to fit that to me: look at me! But I can’t show you the REAL me.. I can’t imagine. Essentially I’d say this album has a few down moments but no bad songs. It’s an incredible record of a band that was on the cusp of becoming the first big ‘stadium’ band (and only) of its genre and its contemporaries. I would also like to point out that this is the album to point at if anyone ever questions REMs musical skill. There is a LOT going on and it’s a great example of a band fitting together perfectly. It may be the best performances of each of their recorded careers, especially Bill Berry. That man is so underrated. I’d give it a 9.5/10 so……..

Meh. A few goodies but don’t need a whole album.

Halfway in ….. really good record. Made me think of Kings X …. Check out the album Dogman, you’d like it I think. It’s like funky ska rock metal groove dance music. Pretty cool. I forgot how much I always liked them. I owned “Give a monkey a brain”- great album. So far this one is just as good as I remember that to be. Not sure how to rate but I’ll give it an incomplete 3 1/2 out of 5 so far.

Well…. This is the most 70s album of the 70s. It’s a no skip. It’s 5/5. One of the best records ever made. O (and Bryn)- if you don’t know the history look it up but let’s leave it at love hurts. And “don’t shit where you eat”. And the song that DIDNT make the original record may be one of their best- Silver Springs. If you wanna see a human being laser cut directly through another person watch the live 97 version of Silver Springs where Stevie stares a hole directly through Lindsay’s heart while she sings “I follow you down to the sound of the voice that haunts you, you’ll never get away from the sound of the woman that loved you…”. And that DIDNT MAKE THE ALBUM.!!! The Chain- breakups suck. I love you, this band is great, but also fuck off- love Lindsay You Make Loving Fun…. I’m gonna write a song about how my new lover/boyfriend is so much better than you and then make you record it over and over and over while I sing it- Fuck You John! - Love Christine Go Your Own Way- Stevie, you’re a whore and I hate you so I wrote a hit song that you can enjoy harmonizing to for the rest of your life, Love, Lindsay And as always- Mick, don’t do too many drugs and stop trying to have sex with every woman in the room- including Both John and Lindsay’s recent love interests…. It’s like a soap opera. Imagine if this was in the era of reality TV and they were followed around with cameras while recording this….. whew. Anyway: 5/5 …. Listenable almost at any time. Best Song: Gold Dust Woman Worst Song: impossible but Songbird perhaps

And…. Nope. Bossa Nova= elevator music Really, really good Bossa Nova= elevator music Some of the greatest jazz musicians playing really really reaaaaally good Bossa Nova= elevator music I don’t like elevator music. One bonus star simply because it’s in Spanish Blech.

I LOVE this album. But …. First Neil album I ever listened to and I absolutely fell in love. You wanna hear why they call this man the “Godfather of Grunge”? The minor chords, the one note guitar solos, the somber lyricism. But really it’s his IDGAF attitude. I’m doing shit my way now everybody so strap in. The album FEELS like nowhere. The title track is one of my favorite songs by anybody and then theres Down By The River. Oof. I admit there’s some kinda BS noodling at times but I don’t care. If you want me to put in a Neil Young album this is usually the one . Good shit. And yet after a listen through…. Its songs are not all his best. There’s some filler. 3 1/2 stars but I guess I’m rounding up

August 1990: Hair metal was still huge. boy bands and pop and top40 adult contemporary stuff was all over the radio. Zeppelin, Hendrix, Skynyrd all gone. Rap was still for black people and considered “words and NOT music”. Heavy Metal was still underground music for psychos and drug addicts. August ‘91: The music world went absolutely nuts. Top of the charts the month Cypress Hill started recording their debut (August of 1990): Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Poison and Bel Biv Devoe had albums in the top 10 and top 10 singles. Madonna. The number one album in the country? MC hammer. Maybe rap has a future after all…… Summer of ‘92?? The year after what we can only call a gigantic shift in culture. Megadeth, Pearl Jam Ten and RHCP Blood Sugar Sex Magik were all too 10 records and Sir Mix A Lot had a song in the top 10 about women with large butts. What the fuck happened???? Ronald Reagan and Wall Street Happened. MTV and Yo MTV raps and Headbangers Ball happened. Just like underground clubs and radio before them the unacceptable underground became mainstream. And goddamn if they weren’t sick as hell at listening to Republicans telling them what was good for them. Trickle Down economics turned out to just be a trick and as the economic divide worsened all things 80’s had to die: and quickly. If you smelled even vaguely of the ‘80s you were despised by the youth and the disaffected. August to October of 1991 is considered by many to be one of (if not THE) greatest periods of new music release ever. EVER. In ten weeks or so Metallica’s Black Album hit the mainstream, then over the course of WEEKS came Nevermind, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, G’n’R Use Your Illusion I and II, Ozzy Osbourne No More Tears, Badmotorfinger by Soundgarden, The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest, Temple of The Dog, Niggaz4Life by NWA and more and more and more …. Primus, Ice Cube, Tupac and on and on. Oh and some new band with a mix of Hip Hop and Metal formed that summer. Rage Against The Machine. The revolution happened while I was 16 years old… EXACTLY your age Owen. And so what about this album, Cypress Hill. The cassette tape that I owned and listened to repeatedly in my room in that house along with Fear Of A Black Planet (until I loaned it to a friend and never saw it again) . The album that always gets lost in the shuffle behind Nevermind, Ten, Metallica and all the others. But goddamn if it didn’t blow my mind. Songs about Cops being NOT your friend. Songs about drugs and crime and trying to fight for scraps. And wait a second…. Are they black? Mexican? White? Hold up…. Maybe, just maybe it doesn’t matter…. I just listened to it while driving- probably the first time since high school. I had quickly turned to grunge and expanded my musical horizons but I never forgot about Cypress Hill, PE, Boyz N The Hood, Judgement Night, Anthrax and Chuck D or Aerosmith and RUNDMC. This is where I really learned color doesn’t matter, circumstances do. Words matter but so does action. Neither works without the other. Music CAN CHANGE THINGS. It already has time and time again. To go from DooWop to James Brown, Early Beatles to Mature Beatles or The Byrds to the Doors is the same as going from MC Hammer to Cypress Hill, Mariah Carey to Alannis Morrissette or Poison to Metallica. Sometimes you don’t even know you’re a part of something until it has passed. I was at Lollapalooza in Philly when Rage Against The Machine stood there naked with PMRC (a governmental censorship group) written on their chests. I (we) saw Pearl Jam while they were putting together their own shows while protesting Ticketmaster and ‘The Man’. I went to Woodstock ‘99 where they literally locked a bunch of teenagers in an open field and tried to sell them $8 waters and wondered why they rioted. It doesn’t matter if it’s Bob Dylan, Rage Against The Machine or Taylor Swift (FUUUUCK YOU scooter AND the court system!!! I’ll just re-record EVERY song I ever wrote so that I can own them again) music and art can and does change things. So Cypress Hill, I’ll give y’all a 4. It’s a great record that still feels like it could be released today. Now puff puff pass. Best Song: How I Could Just Kill A Man Worst Song: Break It Up

One of the greatest debut albums ever. The two worst things about this record are that for some reason it got lumped into the hair metal scene at the time and that it features what is likely their most well known song (so unfair)- a massively overplayed cover, even if it is great. It has never made any sense to me that this band managed to make this album and then they topped it- TWICE- and those two albums are barely known. I’ve seen the Crowes multiple times and they are one of my favorite bands. Btw- they were about 20 when they recorded this. Rich wrote the music for She Talks to Angels when he was 17 years old. Best Song: Seeing Things Worst Song: none.. Strutting Blues I guess

Thank you mama ….. I have given the King his due a handful of times now and although I can appreciate it it just isn’t for me. Best song: Suspicious Minds Worst song: half the record ..

(Cough, cough) “Yo! did you hear that Radiohead album?? Or the new NIN record?? We could totally do that “ Or so everyone thought. It turns out that behind all the programming and oddities of Mr Reznor and Mr’s ‘Head were really, really great songwriting skills backed by extremely adept musicianship. That “drum machine and a few chords” feeling turned out to be really hard to recreate. And here we find the Liars. Sorry guys- feedback, programming and weird lyrical concepts aren’t enough. You gotta have the songs.

Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here. One of my favorite albums of all time. So much so that every time I’m asked to come up with a desert island disc list this one is one of my 3 absolutes. Ironically, this is one of only two bands that have two albums that I view as equally great in the competition for my island retreat. (DSOTM). There is no reasonable argument musically or culturally that Dark Side of The Moon isn’t the “better” of the two. But Wish just makes me FEEL something indescribable and deeply personal. Maybe it’s David Gilmores guitar tone. Or the saxophone in Shine on. Or the fact that Wish You Were Here is one of the first songs I learned to play. Or the “…… whoosh….” Transition from Machine to Wish. Or any number of hyper personal memories I have of this album- when and where I listened to it and how it affected me. This is what I mean when I talk about music and connection. This album is MINE. It’s mine, it’s an actual piece of me, of who I am and how I became me. I didn’t write it and even though it’s out there for all to hear and experience this is absolutely a record of the event if people playing music in a room and how they felt- and it has woven itself into the fabric of who I am as a person. Whenever i talk about music this album is playing in my head.

OOhhh.... 70's Stevie Wonder Funnily enough of all of the albums in the amazing stretch from Music of My Mind to Songs in The Key of Life this record is always the one I 'forget' about. and yet... it's still really really good. The man wrote and recorded 5 records (six if you count SITKOL as the double album it is) in 4 years. He wrote and produced every single thing on them. And on top of that the motherfucker played the majority of the instruments on most of the songs too. Nothin better than Stevie. This record was recorded in 1973 as Stevie had already begun writing additional material that would eventually become Songs in The Key of Life. In a way Fulfillingness became an afterthought once his sights were set on Songs. Every time I listen to 70's Stevie Wonder I think of two juxtaposing things: Little Stevie from the 60's; and 80's Stevie from the Cosby Show. How that little boy became the man that wrote and recorded all of this classic material is beyond me. And how he so quickly turned from the African heritage and underground funk and soul right back to "I Just Called to Say I Love You" and "Part Time Lover". Yet this record is exactly that; a recording of a man in his 20's who had grown up in the church, blind, fatherless (his mother had left his Dad when he was 4), married and now divorced who had become an international star in his teens (his first single was released when he was 11 years old). When Stevland Judkins ( 'lil Stevie's birth name) wrote and recorded this album he wasn't even 25 years old. Six of the songs on this album are ALL Stevie, save the backing vocals (mostly him) and the occasional accompaniment instruments. Heaven is 10 Zillion Light Years Away and Boogie On Reggae Woman sound like 20 people, not just one. Even the "throwaway songs" are more than listenable, quite good actually. The man is a virtuoso: the Moog Bass on Boogie, the piano intro on They Won't Go, the syncopated drums on Bird of Beauty. And all of this was AFTER Superstition, Higher Ground, Livin' For The City..... with Sir Duke, Love's In Need of Love Today and the rest of Songs' to come. I remember Stevie once saying in an interview that he doesn't need to see because he feels. When you listen to 70's Stevie you realize he did not mean with his fingertips, he meant with his soul.

It’s a 4-4.5 star album that sounds like nostalgia. But although I’ve owned this record, downloaded this record and listened to it before I’ve only once wanted to put it on before now. And I’m almost 50. Great record

Some bands evolve and some just seem to explode. When I think about the greatest firsts, the best introduction on record to a new band or sound this album always comes to mind near the top. I cannot fathom what it would be like to have lived through the rock and roll revolution but to imagine myself getting a copy of this record with a burning Zeppelin on the front and putting it on with no previous reference point and ….. Zuh Guh!! Zuh guh!!! (Clink clink clink-clink clink-clink clink) ….. …..” in the days of my youth …….” It would have just sounded so crazy. There’s others. Purple Haze. The opening of Black Sabbath with the rain and the bells. Welcome to The Jungle. Break On Through. My Name Is. Blind. Head Like A Hole. Bombtrack. Blister in the Sun. But most of those came after. The excitement may be similar but I can’t imagine the shock being the same. Especially with no existing bar to really set it against. I’ll only remove a star because this isn’t in my top 3 Zeppelin albums. But it’s still in the top few hundred albums ever made and better than the other 50,000 plus albums of shit that exist in rock and roll.

Interesting… I think I liked this one better.

Goddamn the Dead Apparently we just passed the anniversary of Jerry Garcias last performance with them a few days ago and August is like a holy holiday for Deadheads between Jerry’s birth and death dates (I forget but approx 1st-10th). Just saw something earlier this morning about it actually. So when a Dead album popped up I was psyched. And then this. Goddamn the Dead. This band has always stymied me. I love em. I respect em. Jerry and Phil and Bob are all immense talents. Robert Hunter (their primary lyricist who is not in the band at all) has written some amazing and powerful songs. And the Grateful Dead played the shit out of them in every improvisational way possible. My Mother loved Touch Of Grey and was furious that they slaughtered the National Anthem once. Liked Friend of The Devil and hated 20 minute noodling jams. Loved when my band covered One More Saturday Night and thought the Dead were just a bunch of drugged out hippy hangovers that got fat and were “never really that popular”. I watched the remaining Grateful Dead members with Trey from Phish sitting in as their “final” shows with all of my friends and it was so emotional and powerful. Even on a tv in a living room it was bordering on transformative. The Grateful Dead changed the music business forever with their touring model, their parking lot scene, their encouragement of fans taping shows and they will never get the credit they deserve for it. They single handily held off the “man” for dozens of years and let their art speak to anyone and everyone who wanted to hear it. And I LOVE about a dozen GD albums or more. And I LOVE much of their improvisational style. But this. This is the first Dead album I ever heard. And I hate it. I guess hate is too strong a word but it’s just a bunch of nonsense. Dark Star and St Stephen are amazing songs but these versions are meh to me. At least they end the show with 7 minutes of cacophony…. That mercifully ends with And We Bid You Goodnight, which has always been one of my favorites. All in all don’t give up on the Dead based on this- I did for almost ten years and was sorry I did.

Well, this is one of the three that top their debut. Holy shit!! And yet I’m tempted to round down to 4 just cuz it ain’t a perfect album. There’s a bit of filler. But Ten Years Gone and In The Light are 6 stars in and of themselves so….

I’m starting to realize that I have such a varied taste in what I like and yet I assumed I’d love this. Sunshine of your love really is a great song.

Raw.

I made it Al the way through and felt like I needed to take a break and try again in a week. First thoughts: it grew on me as the album went on and by the end I think it was okay. Good soundtrack music- stirred some feelings and sounded cool. But I don’t think I’d put it on again Second thoughts: it may be like Radiohead where the more you listen the more you get and 2 years from now they may be one of my favorite bands.

This is the first album that I’ve come across that I genuinely think hit me exactly as “this is an album everyone should hear before they die.” It is IT. There is no peer. Nothing similar. It is just exactly what it wants to be. However, I am also really glad that I chose this record to just lock, load and listen. I’d never heard of the band before. I didn’t look at the genre, description, liner notes or (thankfully) the album length. Just went off and track one and……. I probably would have gotten discouraged. Or bored. But the whole album dragged me along song after song. Eventually I read the album notes and that made the album that much better. It made it make so much sense. And naturally there’s some filler in a 3 hour record. Many of the songs are good, even most. There’s even a few that fall into great. But the album itself may be a masterpiece. I think it is. And I’m not sure if listening again would make it better or lesser so I’m a little afraid to. I may just say that it’s always there if I want to and move on. At least I got to hear it, even if it was only once.

. Side 1 6 stars Side 2 4 stars I know that averages to 5 …

Yet another album written and recorded by a man who knows he’s on his way out the door. Bowie, Cash, Zevon…. This one is equally haunting and beautiful. Cohen has always been an acquired taste. My ability to appreciate his brilliance is nearly always equaled by my consistent desire to put a Leonard Cohen album on to listen to. Dude was a certified genius but always one I’ve appreciated most from afar or in limited doses. If halvsies were a thing I’d do a 3.5 but since it was his swan song I’ll round up

Nothing can adequately explain what makes music so personal. Often it gets tied symbolically to something- a time, a film, a live concert, an event- and that’s what explains it. Mostly it just connects. In this case for me it was the soundtrack for one of the worst drives in the country, the most expensive highway in the continental US and a near 6 hours of absolutely nothing to see. No beautiful views. No impressive feats of human engineering. Just road and average roadside. For hour after hour. The Pennsylvania Turnpike really is a long haul. To this day Californication immediately brings me back to that day in 1999 where a 5 1/2 hour drive took me almost 10. If you asked me what the PA Turnpike Sounds like - it sounds like this record. Mostly medium tempo. Flashes of excitement mixed mostly with daydreaming and nearly nodding off. Thematically similar to my life at the time I was growing up fast. More mature than what came before with this tinge of excitement for what would be the next stage of my life while nostalgically wishing not to lose the past. And by the way this album flows a lot like the drive- starting off energetic and ending with a whimper. I learned some very important lessons that trip. You sometimes have no control. Plans don’t always work out. Know yourself and ask for what you want. Take what you can get. One of those lessons happened on the way across state. A huge tractor trailer overturned West of Harrisburg- on a stretch with no exits for tens of miles. We were stuck. Like put it in park and get out if the car stuck. People were initially fuming and then this strange camaraderie took hold. I was sitting in the hood of my car playing guitar (trying to figure out Scar Tissue). Families with kids were picnicking. These two bikers, an “old” couple (probably my age now) were walking up and down the aisles of cars ‘dancing’ for all the little kids and laughing. We were there for quite literally hours with nowhere to go. Some dude ended up walking down the median with a wheel behind cooler handing out bottled water and drinks. The couple in the pickup next to me (I still remember her name was Candy, don’t remember his, and she did NOT like like a Candy- more like a Martha) joked about unpacking their grill and cooking dinner for our “block”. Eventually things started to happen and I never saw the Bikers or Candy ever again. And yet whenever Parallel Universe comes on or I hear Scar Tissue I vividly remember looking up at the clouds playing guitar like I was all alone. Peaceful, unafraid. Unencumbered. Sometimes when you realize you’re stuck and you just accept it things just seem to work out. I absolutely loved this album in 1999. The same year I almost saw them at Woodstock ‘99 (my friend Ron and I woke Sunday morning in Rome NY and decided that we were about to be inside some semblance of a riot so we split) Hearing it now it takes me back. And the feeling I get is this terrible boredom of driving, a sense of unease. And memories of my impromptu friendships that afternoon. “With the birds I share this lonely view”. It’s a really good record that for a very very long time I would occasionally put on and listen to. Porcelain is one of my favorites. But… the Peppers have always been outside of my wheelhouse. They’re just one tiny bit from great in my opinion- but the closest they’ve ever come for me was in 1999 when I drove to Pittsburgh from Philly to see the woman I loved. This one gets a 4 for actual musical impact and a 5 for nostalgia so since we can’t go halvsies…..

If I could I would do 2.5 but this album has some good songs but so not so good too

When pop music has high-level musicianship, it seems it never quite takes off here in the United States. Case in point, I have never in my life heard of this band or this album and cannot quite understand how they were not as big or bigger than any other 80s pop band.

Oh Boy ….. …..”Whoa to you oh earth and sea, for the Devil sends the beast with wrath for he knows the time is short……………….. ….. Let Him Who Hath Understanding Reckon the Number of The Beast For ‘Tis A Human Number…………….. …… Its Number is Six Hundred Sixty Six………………” This album. It is indeed a RECORD. It is a record of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM). It is a record of the introduction to the newest addition to Iron Maiden- singer Bruce Dickinson. It is the record that just absolutely blew the minds of Tipper Gore and the PMRC (Parental Music Resource Center). All Hail Satan. Or at least all hail Eddie (Iron Maiden’s SkeleGhoul Mascot). Here came the boys from Britain with one of the most ‘Metal’ albums ever made. Songs about the Devil? Check. (Although clearly about a bad dream). Songs about a Hooker. Check. (Although very much a tale of the pitfalls of such a life). Anti Authoritarain? I am not a number, i am a free Man!!! Hell, a song about death row AND a song about how the first British settlers were shiit and murdered all the native Americans. This is an album that every time I hear it I hear something new. It’s always fresh. It was and still is groundbreaking in the heavy metal genre. Now these ‘boys’ are in their 60s and 70s. Shit, their lead singer also flies their 747 Jet. (No shit, the man is a pilot). What’s more metal than a 65 year old piloting a jet airplane with all his granpa pals on board? Bottom line. This album rocks. Best Song: Take Your Pick … The Prisoner and Halowed Be Thy Name Worst Song: Invaders

So much to say but this album has been reviewed and discussed so much there’s really no need. Except I’m gonna do it anyway. Nirvana is and always has been one of my least favorite Seattle bands. I’d take Alice In Chains Unplugged over this “eFF the Man” performance every time. Dirt, Superunknown and Ten are all better records than anything Nirvana ever made (yeah, I said it) and the quirkiness sounds more forced than genuine at times. This performance is the embodiment of that. It is literally a premeditated, forced sounding concert because that is exactly what Kurt wanted it to be- anything BUT the hits. That all said: it has its moments for sure. The most obvious of which is the Swan Song of this performance and ultimately his career and life- Where Did You Sleep Last Night. That performance may be at or near the top of the list of most powerful things ever captured. The breath!!! The LOOK. Anyone that saw that live when it was performed or later when it was broadcast (which I did watch by the way) immediately saw a man in excruciating pain. There were no walls anymore, it was like watching him right there in your living room, being with him and yet not being able to do a thing. I vividly remember thinking to myself at the time “Holy Shit, that guy is fucked and probably gonna kill himself.” Sadly I was right. In any case: Best song: WDYSLN Worst song: about 4 or 5 could have been replaced in this setlist if Kurt wasn’t so obsessed with sticking it to the man but “Jesus Don’t want me for a sunbeam “”Plateau “ and particularly “Oh Me” could’ve easily been yanked for “Scentless Apprentice””Breed” and “Drain You” for a far better setlist. But that’s just me. The good is great, the rest is interesting and pretty good. I don’t often put this album on and that always says a lot to me. If we were hangs then… but we aren’t. Sometimes in life it’s okay to let people like you. Wish he’d figured that out.

Very nice Wasn’t in the mood I guess Meh Grew on me Cool but not a ‘must listen’

They were influenced by early Stones and mid Beatles. Influenced by Hendrix and the Doors and Poliitics and partying. Pre Zeppelin. Pre Sabbath. This had to really blow everyone’s minds. And they still don’t get the credit they deserve. Iggy Pop may be the grandfather of punk but at one point in the late 60s he was THE FIRST PUNK…. And this is what that sounds like. Raw. Fucking. Power.

I don’t get it. Seriously. Basic uninspired beats with seemingly mediocre production and lyrics that I couldn’t connect with. I can only assume that my feeling about this mirrors somewhere someone’s feelings about 2/4 A-E-D rock and roll.

I was absolutely shocked at how much I liked this. I was also profoundly stunned at how many times I thought “I actually believe Kanye that he loves this. I can hear it!!” I also had no idea how badly Tori Amos ripped off/paid homage to Kate Bush. As for the album- I really really liked it but I can’t imagine myself putting it on regularly but I’m not sure…. I may love it. Good thing we have the weekend. Update: I’ve now listened to it 3 full times. I like it a lot. What the hell??

There’s a lot to say but I’m sitting in the Urgent Care …. So suffice it to say this is a really really solid record.

Aaaaaand Nope I tried, but apparently I just don’t like this kind of music. Zero stars. Utter garbage. Couldn’t even find a redeeming thing to say. Hate it. A lot.

It’s never good when the best song is the single.

Meh

I appreciate it this album for its significance. I am very glad that I listen to it. However, although Nina Simone is incredible. I have heard other material of hers that I liked more. This album was actually intentionally created to be a sampling of her different styles and strengths and unfortunately for me it made the record a bit jumbled and disjointed.

First: 2 stars for Solsbury Hill alone. One of the greatest songs of all time. Top 1000. Maybe 500. Maybe better. Second: much stronger album than III. and as Bryn said: what a weird dude. I’d do 3.5 if I could but I’ll round down this time

Better as it went. Definitely good musicianship, music is cool but it is also clear why Zeppelin, Sabbath get all the acclaim. Overall- meh.

Over the years I have tried to appreciate and enjoy Joni Mitchell mostly because I feel like I should. For whatever reason this album, listening today, was the time I finally got it. Although she will never be my favorite artist, and I likely will not put this album on often. I finally heard her music as the route of so many things that have come sense. Ani DiFranco, Adam from the Counting Crows. and so many more direct to descendants of her style. Also, if you didn’t notice this album features one of the greatest living bass players ever, Jaco Pastorius. There were times I stopped following the lyrics and instead was listening solely to the bass

Ah, Frank. Sinatra has this strange effect on me, I always feel better and smile when I listen to him. Back when I was younger and was the assistant manager at a store I made a deal with the manager. We alternated Sundays, she worked one I worked the other. I bet her that if we played more upbeat music rather the classical music she wanted played sales would be better. I’m an unscientific study I can tel you that Sinatra Sundays with a Marley Afternoon won handily. There’s just something about that swing.

Yet another album recorded by a man that KNEW he was dying. Written and recorded as his literal swan song- I love this record. Bowie meets NIN meets the grim reaper. All of that said it is definitely an album you have to be prepared for, in the mood for, to really be enjoyed. The opening track sounds absolutely nothing like what you would expect from David Bowie and it’s almost 10 minutes long. That is a statement in itself. there’s a handful of songs that sound more reminiscence of his older material, but the point of this record was to explore something new because he knew, at least in his own mind, that he was about to go on the greatest exploration he had ever gone on. When I am in the correct mindset to listen to this record and feel it, and hear his words, to connect with it and therefore him it’s a five star album. The rest of the time it sits between a three and four.

Coldplay? Early Radiohead? Late Oasis? Nope, those are all better than this. And it all comes down to the songwriting. The only redeeming quality about this record in my mind is it’s the album in which Damon developed a lyrical style and musical intention that would allow him to form the Gorillaz, whom would take any day over this mediocre Britpop After listening to it throughout the day is like to punch in the mouth whomever put this on this list. This is the most boring, bland, non-inspirational record. It’s ’fine’ but I absolutely couldn’t gone my whole life without hearing it.

My favorite Dylan album (along with Time out of Mind). Whether you like him, his voice, or not this is the album that you can clearly hear his influence and poetry and how he very much drove a change in popular music almost by himself.

Aaaah Willie. Country Snoop. Can’t say enough about this man as a PERSON. What he’s done for the people, the world. As for the record it’s definitely one of his best. I like it. I respect the hell out of it. I’m never gonna put it on repeat though, just not my style I guess. That said- were I to be more into country THIS year old be my style. His wavering voice and subtly killer guitar. He’s just a big ball of talent. Ironically I just saw a clip of his son Lucas playing ‘Just Breathe’ with Eddie Vedder and I couldn’t get over how his voice sounds so much like his pops. Willie will always get 3 stars base for being Willie.

I am stumped as to how to rate or discuss this album. If Lana Del Ray made an album with Thom Yorke this might be what it would sound like if they spoke gibberish. And that is high praise. If musical is about emotional connection then this album is a home run. No words (either in Icelandic or gibberish) to connect with its all left up to interpretation and having your cerebral connection on vacation so your emotional connection can lead the way. It’s awesome. I am not sure how I will feel in the long run but I feel like it should be a 5. Things now the second album on this list that I didn’t know existed and I know I am better for having heard it before I die. So a 5 it is.

This is my hip hop. Musical. Conscientious.

The day we move our daughter into college comes IV …. Stairway. Levee. California. Misty. All that glitters is not gold….. so I’m packing my bags for the Misty Mountains… if it keeps on raining the levee is gonna break….. going to California with an aching in my heart ….

Incredible Bass Playing. Amazing pop rock. And whether it’s the greatness of the singles or the mediocrity of the rest it really makes you realize that Rio and HLTW are some of the greatest songs ever recorded. This is a 3.5 but I’m gonna round down.

So glad I listened to this. Really really like it. Listened all weekend.

As much as I like and appreciate The Band their albums always seem like a nostalgia tour that makes me more sad than reflective. It’s got its high points but there’s some meh here too. If it was half’s I’d say 3.5 but …

Hmmm Never heard of em. Pretty cool stuff. Coulda lived without it but glad I heard it

I’ve been to Athens Georgia, maybe that’s the difference. This is often considered to be REM’s best record. ‘87- the height of Reaganomics, AIDS fear. Yet, the Cold War was over, the Berlin Wall was crumbling and we were still in an era of civility at home- even if four more tours of Republican Tax-The-Poor economic plans were looming with GW Bush following in Ronnie’s footsteps. Recorded in early ‘87 in Nashville they began to experiment with new instruments. They starting recording the same week the Simpsons debuted on a brand new TV network- FOX. This was one of the first times in my life where ‘scandals’ loomed large- Iran-Contra affair, Jim Bakker and Gary Hart were both having affairs- a notable televangelist and a presidential candidate. I was younger than my son is now when this album was made but it still sounds valid today. It still is valid today. But this album is so cohesive. It feels warm. It feels Athens-y. That town is interesting to say the least. It is the definition of a college town- bars and kids and music and warm damp air everywhere. I spent one night there- it’s worth the tale if you ever want to hear it- but it ended with me finding my acoustic guitar (one that I had searched the tri state area high and low to find) at the back of a piano store: a Yamaha Compass Series. It’s still with me to this day. That was about 25 years ago. The album- this recording- has so much depth. Vocabulary- English and musical. It has this strange mix of hopelessness and hope that makes me feel like every song is “yearning”- and it’s up to the listener to feel whether it’s yearning for comraderie or solitude. Hold me or leave me alone. It’s also important to note that at the time Michael Stipe was still very much in the closet and the vibe of this album seems to fit that to me: look at me! But I can’t show you the REAL me.. I can’t imagine. Essentially I’d say this album has a few down moments but no bad songs. It’s an incredible record of a band that was on the cusp of becoming the first big ‘stadium’ band (and only) of its genre and its contemporaries. I would also like to point out that this is the album to point at if anyone ever questions REMs musical skill. There is a LOT going on and it’s a great example of a band fitting together perfectly. It may be the best performances of each of their recorded careers, especially Bill Berry. That man is so underrated. I’d give it a 9.5/10 so……..

Classic. This is a great record. There is indeed some filler but there’s also some unreal music.

One of my top 100- my favorite Doors album, hands down. This is the album that finally made me understand this band. It was not Jim Morrison and The Doors, it had always been The Doors with Jim. The musicality and song structure mixed with his spacey poetry are at their peak here. Sure, there’s other good records and other great, even better, songs but no other album is this cohesive. And for bonus points if you want to really get them- watch Oliver Stones The Doors. Great cast, incredible acting (Val Kilmer does all the vocals live and spot on) and an entertaining look at Jim. Also of note, the single greatest “Yeah” in all of rock and roll history occurs in the middle of the song LA Woman. Mmmmmmmmm…yeeaaaahhhhhhh

No joke?? This is like the 4th amazing 5 star record in a row. And this is truthfully on my 5 album Desert Island Discs list. (Only Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here, Tom Petty Wildflowers and Tool Lateralus came to mind first). Again, the history and writing. The instrumentation. The GAUL of a short little New York Jew mixing Negro Native music with his. It is brilliant and fun and deep as hell and it helped expose Americans for the divided deep seated separatism that they held at the time (and sadly still do). And if I had to pick a top 5 SONGS list for a DID the title track would be a strong contender. I also deeply recall my mother referring to Paul as the “weird one” for this album. Literally one of my favorite records.

Really? Well … I actually kinda liked it. Not an album I had to hear before I died but I expected to want it to end and it was alright. And “Don’t you want me” is an excellent song.

Nope. I remember buying the is n disc when it came out and absolutely hating it. Since then I’ve grown into an Em ‘appreciator’. There is some undeniably killer material on this.The Way I am, Stan and others are brilliant. The misogyny, homophobia and immaturity are too much to take. I cannot support it, even if some of it is meant to be therapeutic or tongue in cheek. Nope. Fuck that. Fuck him. We have to do better.

Respect it but it doesn’t grab. Too much head, not enough heart?? 1.5 for influence alone…

Oooooh A good listen but hardly an album I needed to hear

Listening experience is a 4. Really cool record that just FELT nice. Its possibly the songwriting itself wasn’t the strongest because I don’t know if I’d ever go back to it but if it’s on I’m all about it.

For 80’s Neo-soul pop things pretty good. The hits took me back and made me realize how good those songs really actually were. That said- she ain’t Aretha, she ain’t even Carole King- meh

Americas Led Zeppelin and a huge step towards heavy metal.

“There’s no Devil, that’s just God when he’s drunk” You gotta love Tom Waits. Always a great listen.

This really is a great album. The thing is that aside from one or two songs the performance and attitude are stellar but the songwriting itself is just okay. It’s a time when women weren’t aloud to rock- and Chrissie and the boys said F that. And for that, and Brass in Pocket, alone this album is a 4. This is the epitome of a record that I know that if it’s on I won’t skip- I’ll dig in and dig it- but I’ll rarely if ever put it on myself. And that speaks much more to my own limited comfort and taste and nostalgia than it does to The Pretenders.

Miles Davis has always been a strange one. This album in particular is a much more traditional style jazz then some of his more trippy acid jazz from the later 60s and 70s. Therefore, respect. Adulation and all at the skills of miles in the band, absolutely would I take Kind Of Blue or Bitches Brew Over this one? Any day, anytime. I am rounding up a half a star just because it’s Miles and that motherfucker helped music explode in so many ways that alone deserves some props

It’s always interesting how the music may be the same but you can be so different. The thing about this project that I am loving the most (aside from whom I’m doing it with) is being able to trace the branches of music- in a way it’s almost like seeing the limbs spur off, cross over, leaf out, create a new node and another branch sprouts. Having never listened to the MC5 or Public Image, Talking Heads, The Velvet Underground, Dylan or The Sex Pistols much when I was in high school I couldn’t recognize them in Sonic Youth. I couldn’t hear New York City. I couldn’t hear the love between Thurston and Kim. I couldn’t hear the panic of the Reagan 80’s, The East Village or the aggravation of living in a tiny apartment with your girlfriend/boyfriend. All I heard was a relatively melody less noise- and I chalked it up to a lack of talent or dedication. Now I hear the direct descendant of Lu Reed and Nico, David Byrne, spoken word beat poets from NYC like William S Burroughs and Johnny Rotten. And I hear the New York City of my 20’s when I used to hang out there with friends. I may have found my new favorite band. That said- I can also hear what followed….. from the jam bands they influenced like .moe to the Smashing Pumpkins in the Midwest, Rage Against The Machine in California, Modest Mouse or even the Strokes. This band is not a twig, it’s a load bearing, thick, primary arterial branch in the Oak Tree of Rock. It’s a 9/10 or a 4 1/2 out of 5. I’m gonna round down for now….. but I’m a year this one may have a place in my heart that would give it a 5.

“They ask me what did Motörhead bring to heavy rock. I tell them nothing. Nada. Zero. We brought nothing, we took it away, the egos, the stuck up musicianship, the 15 minute drum solos, the shitty stage clothes, the makeup, the hype. And what we left was real. It was Motörhead.” Anyone who makes a statement like that, and yet decided when they started in the business to go by the name Lemmy Kilmister, meant it. LET IT GO. The man was a hard living fan of everything. He loved his booze. His collections of pop art. He was one of the biggest Elvis fans ever. This record is a swift kick in the nuts to the Judas Priests, the Led Zeppelins and all the rest that felt that they needed to keep adding leather studs and mystical symbols to get their point across. And it wasn’t in a judgemental way. He was friends with those guys. He just wanted to remind them that the music- ALL music- from The King to The Prince Of Darkness didn’t actually need the other stuff if they didn’t want to. The music was enough for him Was just a fan that it must be good enough for everyone else too This record it’s a five or Lemmy, poor attitude, three or listenability, and a bonus just for Ace of Spades.

This is the perfect example of why people often do not like U2. In my opinion, this is their most overrated album opening and closing songs are brilliant, and the rescue is enjoyable and listenable and forgettable.

All right, all right, all right already. I finally understand. It’s not that I didn’t like the shingles. I did. it’s not that I didn’t understand the tortured soul of an addict. I certainly did. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the retro vibe. I did. Just didn’t understand the mass appeal. I just didn’t get the connection in the attraction. But now that I listened to the entire album multiple times I do. I guess I’m a fan. Anyone make a song with the opening line? What kind of Fuckery is? This is good in my book.

This is Oasis’ Third best album! And it’s also Radiohead’s worst.

I forgot that I like this record. It’s a lot cooler than I recalled. 3.5

Fire and Rain is one of the greatest songs ever written. Full Stop. The rest is great- songwriting is incredible. I’m just in the wrong frame of mind so I’ll say 2.5

Love this record. It’s warm. It feels nostalgic.

ZAH GUH !!!! This is probably his most traditional sounding record, but it is still so unique to jazz particularly when you think this is only 10 years after World War II. I can’t explain how why Mingus had such a profound effect on rock ‘n’ roll but He did and he still does.

I despised this aside from the singles. If an album makes me yearn for Hole …

I’ve never been a Bruce fan but this album has the most incredible raw energy I totally get it.

Photo metal

This is a record that is a great example of what an album should be. More than the sum of its parts. As an album it’s immaculate. As a double record made for radio/singles it’s got some oddballs, perhaps even some mediocre fillers. But that isn’t what this is- it’s a record. And having listened to it through a few times this weekend it still stands up.

I despised this band for so many years. I think it was last year that I listened to this entire album for another project and it blew me away. It’s not something I would typically put on but the production, songwriting, energy level, and overall performances are all incredible, considering this was the band debut album it’s really impressive

Fine

Bowie or Bolan? Hmmmm. Strange how we embraced one when the other was equally talented and influential. Really good album. Felt like nostalgia.

A guy I knew called them the Lightning Choads. Funny. Good, not great

My third favorite Stones album With my two favorite Rolling Stones songs opening and closing the album. Gimme Shelter. Feels dirty, scared, You Can’t Always Get What You Want- Dooh Wah. Those two are 10 out of 10. Incredible best song of all types of songs. Rest of the album feels good too. Some bangers solid material. I give it an 8 1/2 or nine out of 10 if that was the scale so I’m gonna go to a four out of five.

Unbelievable that this is the first time I listened to an entire BB record. And daaaaaaammmnnn.

Listening to this record was a lot like listening to the subplot of a movie or a lengthy movie about the preceding proxy wars in Europe that led up to the main event, World War I, historically interesting, and perhaps necessary for a deeper understanding and scheme of things, not exactly as stalling as the main adventure. Yes I heard Nirvana and Green Day. Yes, I heard the Talking Heads and other contemporaries but it certainly is no London calling.

Fun Sweet Jane is incredible. I’d never put it on again though.

Please explain. Why? What makes this great (er) than something else? Is it fine. Sure. Is it the best Richard Bachman book that isn’t Steven King. Possibly. Is it better than most of Taylor Swifts work? Meh. Not really. Is it Ani DiFranco? Fiona Apple? Noah Kahan? Hamell on Trial? Nick Drake? Laura Mvula, Elliot Smith or even Phoebe Bridgers? Nope. No it’s not. It’s the equivalent of 70s soft rock with twang. It’s fine. Fine isn’t a 1001 albums album. it’s an if it’s on I won’t vomit album. Disappointing. I was hoping to like this just cuz it’s different. Rainbow is good.

Meh

Oh boy… This album is an absolute enigma. But it is sooooooooo good. I remember the first time I heard it I absolutely hated it. Falsetto. A hymn. Is it rock? Metal? Folk? Wtf? After years I listened again and I liked it but I still couldn’t say why. It just felt familiar. I listened front to back about 5 times yesterday and all I can say is it is honest, heartfelt, real. This is exactly what Jeff wanted- it is one of the most self representative albums I’ve ever heard. It is immaculate in that way. Yeah, some jf the songs are just okay. Some of old have probably evolved had he continued to make music. (If you don’t know the story of Jeff Buckley look it up- the dude died swimming in a lake, on tour, totally sober… he just drowned). One of the other things that struck me this time is that I can hear both his influence on the music world and theirs on him. One of his closest friends was in a band and at least one of these songs sounds like it should have been on their album Louder Than Love. I remember Chris Cornell saying how much Jeff influenced him. Thom Yorke from Radiohead said that he began singing falsetto after listening to this record because it convinced him that it would be okay. Ultimately this is all we have if him and I wish there were more. I’d give it a 9/10 but what the hell…

I have no idea how I feel about this. Is this the slightly more rock and accessible version of They Might Be Giants? I think if we assembled a band of Trent Reznor, Danny Elfman, Peter Gabriel, Tori Amos and John Lydon it may sound like this. Genius or shiite? Trash or Art? Is this an overindulgent 80s radio mess or the brilliant precursor to everything from Korn to the Yeah, Yeah Yeahs?? I cannot imagine myself putting it on of my own volition but then again…..

Another what the hell is this?? I kinda liked it. 2.5

Listened to some CB but not TMR I’ll take Zappa

A masterpiecee. A revolution. And it’s still my 3rd favorite Jimi record. After listening through for the first time in ages it may move back into second favorite just for Manic Depression and the title track. One of the things Jimi never got enough credit for was his songwriting and overall contribution beyond his guitar playing. That man wrote some incredible songs.

YES!!!!! I can’t remember what eight’s for ….

T

I live the Ramones. 7/10 That said I NEVER put a Ramones album on.

I live the Ramones. 7/10 That said I NEVER put a Ramones album on.

Definitely shouldn’t be on this list. Holding Back The Years is great I’ll round up cuz there’s nothing wrong with this album

Appreciate it? Yes. Like it? Meh

This album was made in 1971. Way ahead of its time. Supernaut alone gets a Star. Much of the rest is fun to listen to but definitely not their debut or Paranoid. 3.5

I am shocked. I love this. I have no words to describe but it makes me FEEL . Perhaps if Radiohead and Tori Amos and Kate Bush all went to an active volcano and peered in they’d see Bjork staring up at them…. I don’t know. I am flabbergasted. I almost skipped this one assuming that I wouldn’t like it…

I was NOT in the mood for this album but it is really good. Very proto hard rock/metal with some incredible guitar playing and general a good time vibe. It was also interesting how many times I felt the 50s rock vibe throughout…. And who covers Seger in 78’? Pretty cool. Gonna round down…

Many things about this album are interesting. One; it’s almost entirely female musicians and I can kinda FEEL that. Two; I cannot explain what it is about Jack white that makes home so good other than enthusiasm and fearlessness. Wait; that’s it Three: listened once, liked it. Again, found some inspiration and really liked it. Third time, started to love it. Typical Jack White. Rounding up…..

No. Words. This is literally one of the greatest albums ever written, performed and recorded.

Shockingly, I’d never listened to this album before. Sure I’d heard much of it but I’d never sat and listened to it as an album. This was their DEBUT album. Free Bird. Simple Man. Tuesday’s Gone. The A side wood rank near the top of greatest debut albums of all time. And then it all ends with Free Bird. Unfortunately there’s a few songs in between that although they are good I honestly can’t remember one of them without checking. So a solid 4+ this would get ….. and I can’t quite give it a 5 but goddamn.

It grew on me as it went 2.5

Nope. I see the historical relevance but nah, not my vibe. I’ll round waaaaaaaaay up cuz I didn’t hate it

Meh. They are the perfect example of “greater than the sum of their parts” Although each Beatle have written some incredible material post Beatles (Working Class Hero on this album happens a to be one) they just never hit like a Beatles album. So, it’s fine. Great at points.

Love this album It’s almost a five It’s really a 9/10 but in this case I’m rounding UP TO 5.

Not their best but still great It’s a great example of that there are some bands with endless creativity and talent and often their records get better as their career moves forward. There are others that have the talent, the fire and come out of the gate but can never quite muster the quality of their debut. Their drummer Nicko just played his last live show two nights ago. We only have so much time to do what we love. So, for Nicko- and Steve, Dave, Bruce and all the boys I repeat- Up The Irons! Iron Maiden can’t be stopped.

Meh if mehness

Enjoyable Before I die? Nope.

Couldn’t find California on Apple but was intrigued by a different album. I’ll return to them but I think they’re really good 3.5

One of my favorite albums of all time. Love this record. Looooooooooove. Talk about a mood, a vibe. This has got a ton of incredible examples of songwriting, performances, everything. This is a record. A recording of a moment in time for the band. The lyrics, the atmosphere, it captures perfectly where they were and that is what allows connection through music.

Goddamn!!! Everything about this album is ahead of its time.