I started ranking my top albums of the year in 2000. The Strokes’ Is This It was my #1 in 2001 and I also chose it as my top album of the decade. The right mix of attitude, guitars and melody. A classic!
Adele does what she does well - and she’s got a great voice But this is overly polished, overly dramatic and I will not listen to it again. And she absolutely murdered The Cure’s Lovesong.
Solid all the way through - some of it starts to sound the same but it’s a really good sound so that’s fine. Great guitars and riffs throughout
The first “rock opera” with an overture and everything. Ambitious and each member of The Who is at at the top of their game. Docked a star for a fair amount of songs which seem like filler.
Disco isn’t an album-based genre, but this one works more often than not. Great one two punch to start and the title track is the centerpiece - a classic song despite being a wedding reception cliche at this point. The few slow tracks have me knock this down to three stars. Go listen to The Fall’s cover of Lost In Music if you haven’t heard it.
A modern classic. Irish rockers embrace American music, make it their own and take over the music world.
It’s a shame their best song Oh Bondage Up Yours isn’t on Spotify- check it out on YouTube then listen to the rest of this album. A real punk stepping stone. And maybe Riot Grrl would exist without this, but most likely not. I’d make this 4.5 if I could.
Another ridiculously strong debut, killer throughout. Taking cues from Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and so many others but making all sound new and fresh. Great from start to finish.
He said don’t call it a comeback but It certainly was. Some songs aged better than others, but enough solid songs to make it a classic album.
I wasn’t so sure about this album when I first heard it and seeing them at Pitchfork didn’t really hit me - if anything, it led me to disregard them more. But I’m into this app/project and if I could listen to an Adele album, surely I can listen to Dirty Projectors again. I am glad I did! It’s a really complex album that is beautifully crafted and grows on you as you listen. A little bit of Beefheart, Beach Boys, Of Montreal but blended together in a unique way. Great vocals, I will listen to this again.
I feel like the editors wanted to recognize an 80’s new romantic album, but ABC’s Lexicon of Love is a far better choice. There are some good songs here but more filler. Listen to the 2022 remastered version and have the skip button handy. Perfect Way still kicks ass, but not even Wood Beez, their second most popular song, comes close.
A groundbreaking album in that it combines pop and punk rock n a way not done at this point, and led by a woman. I would have liked to given this 4.5 but I’ll round up since it’s important in the history of rock.
It seemed like Neneh was going to be the next big thing. Turns out she was too cool for thi particular universe.
I thought Hats was their big album - never even heard of this one. New Romantic sounding but also kid of a jazzy post rock. Of the time maybe production wise but very cool!
Spacey but also somehow folky. Post rock meets new age meets folk and a trace of Radiohead. Almost gave it 5 stars, I really want to be able to use half stars.
A genre defining tour de force, the best album by the band that is synonymous with Celtic punk. A real classic.
Good for this genre and a fun listen
I had the Pogues to listen to a few days ago with their Celtic punk, here’s Dexy’s with their Celtic soul. Not as timeless, but a fun throwback to the 80s and what predated the Britpop wave. A bonus star for being so darn cheery.
I always loved the opening track “Walk On” - turns out the rest of this album is a melancholy classic.
I expect to see a Few of. AB’s studio albums on here, but not this. An OK live album I guess, the crowd noise seems mixed up too high.
Gangsta rap with sung choruses, 50 had both street cred and radio hits. A lot of it starts to sound the same though, and a little too slick in points.
I’m sure it was groundbreaking at the time and some songs show a great blend of blues and country, while others are schmaltzy and too polished.
Interesting stuff - kinda glam, kinda hard rock and glimpses of the Queen we’d learn all about later. Groundbreaking stuff for 1974.
I kinda wanted to go 5 stars here, but it just goes on too long. Very cool and trippy though.
I feel like I should like this but I really don’t. It just misses on so many levels. I feel like the can’t decide what band they want to be. Aisha is a bright spot - killer track with Iggy Pop on vocals. A rare album where the second half is better than the first.
A classic title track does not a classic album make. The tile track is amazing, the others try to capture the same magic but can’t. Its brevity keeps this album at z3 stars for me though.
The real version from 1968 can be found on YouTube - the re-recording on Spotify is much more westernized and isn’t half bad. Good stuff.
A live solo piano album that runs over an hour. No, wait, come back! Read the Wikipedia article about this album, the sun-standard piano, Jarrett wearing a back brace and almost refusing to play. The end result is like catching lightning in a bottle - a brilliant display of what solo jazz piano can be.
I was into these guys a little bit in high school but can’t handle them at all now. They’re the people you know whose whole personality revolves around role playing games or renaissance fairs. Nothing wrong with either of those but branch out, buddy. Also - way too may flute solos.
A quirky British classic in the same realm as XTC and Robyn Hitchcock with some jazz, prog and Beefheart influences included.
When I listened to this on Spotify, one of the playlist that came up on the bottom of the page was “sad girl starter pack“. Well, I am a happy, middle-aged man, so this definitely is not intended for me. I feel like a vegetarian who’s been brought to a Texas barbecue restaurant. Sure, there may be something on the menu that I’ll enjoy – but it’s gonna take me a while to find it and I’m probably better off choosing something else to begin with.
A hardcore punk classic - genre defining.
One of his best albums, way ahead of its time.
Proof that Drugs m N Bass is not a genre that works in album form. One or two of these songs are OK, but this is a double album. I owned this and I think I listen to it one time when I first bought this time to weed this one out of the collection I think.
D’Angelo Provo g that real soul is not dead, it just needs a clever mind to keep it going.
A classic - probably the classic Christmas album. not every somg is a winner but pretty darn close!
Not sure how this made the 1,001 albums list. Solid but not up with his best. Docked a star for a few throwaway songs.
A little long but a classic of the genre so I gave it an extra star. A couple less songs and skits and you’d have a five star album.
Starts with the two best songs and can’t duplicate those, try as it might. Still a great effort and worth a listen
So many great songs - but Mother prevents this from being a five star effort. Yuck.
I didn’t think I was going to give this five stars but the brevity of this album helped it. A nice quick bit of fusion of rock, folk and jazz while staying firmly in the rock camp.
I kinda wanted to give this five stars as it is - yet again - another genre defining album on this list, but it gets a little too noodly and self indulgent at points. Still, if you want to show someone what jazz fusion is, start here.
Maybe gangsta rap and west coast rap would exist without these guys, but also maybe not.
Their third album and one of the more anticipated releases of my lifetime. How do you follow a masterpiece like Nevermind. You get darker, I guess. I’d give it 4.5 stars if I could.
Not my genre, I’m not here target audience but I can recognize that this is a really good album. The National and Bon Iver collars are really good too - that’s more my speed.
This is totally in my wheelhouse, I listened to this a lot while I was in college. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea with the guitar sounding pretty similar from track to track, but to me this is an alt rock classic.
A. Alt rock classic - their finest moment in my humble opinion. Better songs overall the Gish, tighter sound, less filler (is there any here?) than Melon Collie.
Some fantastic singles but not quite a five star album. Great funky indie rock fun, though
Not as good as his band Mano Negra’s Puta’s Fever but a nice world music album
A solid blues rock classic. I was between 4 and 5 and decided to round up.
Amazing use of strings, a beautiful album that keeps my attention, solid melodies and includes what I think is their best sone, The Killing Moon.
Some amazing songs but too many slow songs weigh this down for me. I’d give Fetch The Bolt Cutters five stars, though.
I really thought I’d like this more. Godfathers of synth pop so aill give them that and a couple of good songs, but not an album I’d go back and listen to much, if at all.
As long as Albums by The Smiths are easily available, Morrissey’s solo work will be a footnote to me at best. First Otf The Gang To Die and How Can Anybody… are brilliant, but there’s too many slow songs and self indulgent lyrics to consider this a classic in my book.
When Coldplay’s first album came out, I said to a friend it sounds like they’re trying to be halfway between Radiohead’s artsy and edgy side and U2’s commercial side. On this, their second album, it turns out that they wanted to be more commercial than U2 but just couldn’t get the spices right the first time. There are some pretty catchy top 40 songs on this album and a little bit of filler, but not too bad a solid effort, but I wouldn’t put this as a five star album.
Side project of the Arctic Monkeys lead singer, I wasn’t a big fan of this when this first came out, it was sweepstakes my, cinematic and interesting it so far from what Arctic Monkeys were doing it was a bit of a letdown. Years later, this sounds a lot better, perhaps because the Monkeys have moved more in this direction. A really good album but not an all time classic so no 5 stars from me.
Two Morrissey albums in four days? Hasn’t it been cold and cloudy enough. This is better than You Are The Quarry but not up to the classic album level. A pretty good listen though and somewhat Smiths-like - but still not quite as good as the real thing.
A couple of great songs, a bunch of duds and very overproduced. Good for it’s genre but not saying much there.
The first Bob Marley album I heard - like for many others, I’m sure - was Legend. So it’s hard to go from a greatest hits to a prober album release, but this is a killer album. Bend Down Low is a hidden gem and many of these songs would fit on Legend. Fantastic stuff - and check out the full album cover of Natty Dread that jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter pulled off.
Really beautiful stuff - an amazing singer and great band. I like some of his stuff with electronic beats a little better but this is really moving music.
A little over the top, but that’s kind of the point if prog. A classic of the genre - not for everyone but I dig it a lot.
A late 60’s classic. I had a Sly and the family stone out Greatest Hits album in high school and listen to it a lot (mind you, this was in the 80s). I think five of the eight songs on the original album made it onto that Greatest Hits record to give you an idea of how solid of a record this is.
Another absolute classic. 19 songs in 38 minutes encompassing soul, jazz, folk and rock. I haven’t heard all of Van’s albums but I can’t imagine any top this. We will see!
Another classic! Hard not to have some filler on a double album but even the filler here is decent and the storage songs are really strong.
One of the most British things you will ever hear. fun and catchy.
Not everyone’s idea of a five star album but it does it for me. Not for parties - for headphones, quiet mornings or late at night. Challenging and thoughtful.
A excellent understated album from a fantastic songwriter.
The streak of amazing albums continues. One of Elton’s finest moments.
A good genre album, solid dance electronica in the vein of Daft Punk. “Stress” is awful and gave its namesake to me. lots of good cuts though.
A beautiful record, very underrated. Quiet but bold, simple but complex. A real gem.
Not enough memorable tunes to quite make it a 5 star record for me, but these guys always show up and make a solid album, just not quite an all time classic for me.
A 70’s rock classic. No filler - every one of these songs has been played on FM radio - few bands can claim that. Boston didn’t create air guitarists, but they certainly supplied them with some choice material. I closed my eyes and she slipped away…
One of my all time favorite singers. Lots of covers here, but he makes them his own. What a voice.
A genre bending whirlwind, a great outing by Beck with help from the Dust Brothers. One of the best albums of the 90’s.
This is in my wheelhouse - so many great lo-fi songs that channel the Beatles, Who and Kinks with a DIY sensibility.
I’m going to be that guy. Their earlier stuff was better. WAY better.
Some great songwriters but a little too Broadway and a little too bleak for my aste. It could grow in me.
Not bad, just not above a good album
for me, not an all-time classic. Another that could grow on me, but I doubt it would get to 5 stars
I may be a tad generous rating this one, but I am trying to influence the curve. Laura is a very underrated songwriter and performer and he blend of folk, jazz and soul is quite unique. Listen to this and the. A greatest hits collection.
An outstanding album by one of my favorite artists. His second album, first with the Attractions and includes two of his bigger hits, Pump It Up and Radio, Radio.
Kind of a Coldplay meets Oasis vibe - a solid album worth a listen, not quite an all time classic, though.
Decent electronica, but not an all-time classic.
An all-time classic - it aged very well and no other group has harnessed so many great voices in one group.
Not for everyone but definitely my king of music. This was the top of my Top 50 list in 2009, here’s what I wrote then:
Animal Collective really came into their own in 2009. They are still one of the weirder bands out there, but they are paying more attention to songs and melody and the result is both one of their more interesting and out there albums to date. Like Radiohead, they do their own thing and the other bands can only watch- the only difference is Animal Collective is several shades more out there than Radiohead. At points scary, beautiful, psychedelic, spacy, experimental, catchy and just plain messed up, they still are not for everyone- in fact, I believe they remain an acquired taste. But it's my favorite album of 2009, and that's what this list is all about.
A beautiful album, a real surprise for me. Recorded in 1986, this is classic jazz and sounds like it could have been recorded 20 years sooner. Great playing by everyone involved and fantastic melodies.
Good live album - why start with your biggest hit? Solid but not an all time great, few live albums are in my opinion.
A quiet and mostly sweet album. A little too soft for me and not an all time classic, but a nice jazzy little album
I don’t know what he’s saying, but his vibe is pretty good. Not an all time classic for me but not a bad listen.
A classic! My number 5 album of 1999, I might rank it higher today. Here’s what I said then:
They've come a long way, baby. Who'd have guessed a few years ago that the Lips were capable of putting out an album as lush and orchestral as this one. But here it is. They're still the Flaming Lips, if perhaps a bit (gulp) kinder and gentler. Downright impressive.
While some of the synths sound a little dated now, this was both a critical and commercial success, the culmination of what Bruce had been building up to for several albums. An all-time classic, so many good songs.
Not worthy of this list. A little prog, a little glam and the songs aren’t here just yet.
A good solid album but I wouldn’t put in the all time classic category.
A great debut that no one expected.
Bringing funk into a new millennium, Kendrick created a classic.
It’s very hard not to give Joni 5 stars. So many good songs here.
Not quite five stars for me, too many skit/gimmick moments, but quite an album
A nice Americana album wit a twist of Tex Amex and film noir sounds.
Some great songs but a bunch of filler.
My favorite album of 200 - it still holds up. An underrated classic.
A killer album by a killer band
There are tow types of people in the world - those who get Nick Cave and those who haven’t experienced grief and loss. OK, that’s a little dramatic, but so is Nick Cave’s music.
Pretty solid, but I’m going to A Tribe Called Quest albums over this.
Great song selection, minimal production and moving performances from a legendary at the end of a storied career.
