I made it. Album numero one hundredo. One hundred albums that I have successfully listened to before I have died. The dev of this website sells the process of listening to all of these albums as a journey, and I'd certainly agree. From the familiar peaks of some of my all-time favourite albums to the comfortable "reprieve" albums to the shocking swings and misses, I feel like I've already been through a lot despite only clearing a tenth of the list. While I don't exactly have the most positive rating average, I can say with certainty that I've loved every second of it. I've developed somewhat of a fascination with checking user profiles over the course of working my way through this list. I've noticed that the majority of users either peter out after 20 - 40 albums (as did I, initially), power their way through this list or find ways to slowly keep clawing ahead. There's a sombre, meditative quality to slowburning my way through this 3-year project. So many lives and people that I will never know beyond the faceless blocks of text that populate these pages. At the same time, I can't help but look at how much time this process demands. Will I be a changed "music appreciator" come the end of this list? Will I be happier and more fulfilled than I am now? I hope so. In the time since I initially gave up on this project in January of 2024 and picked it up again in October of the same year, my appreciation for music has changed dramatically. What once was another hobby of mine has grown into becoming one of my few current interests. As a way of counterbalancing the albums on this list that I don't care for, I've started listening to music that personally interests me on the side, which results in a metric shitton of my time being dedicated to music listening. Out of the hundred albums that I've listened to thus far, there are two new albums that have entered my rotation (A Wizard / A True Star and The Stone Roses) - none of which I've had the foresight to rate above a 3. If I end up with 12 new albums that I really like by the end of this list, I'll consider that a win. Anyways, moke sweed erryday ganja 420 I love injecting crackarooski crack rocks into my system that's some mighty darn fine KUSH!!!! I LOVE WEED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Never heard of these guys before. I'm not sure what the minimum runtime for an album should be in order to make the list, but these guys are definitely pushing it on this one. I wonder how long the shortest album on this list will be. It's just more 60s rock, which is a make of album that I fully expect to be numbered into the mid-hundreds by the end of this list. It's pleasing enough and pretty easy to listen to, though there isn't anything on here that makes me want to return. Creedence Clearwater Revival are surprisingly really popular for a band that I've heard absolutely nothing about. I can't complain about them being on this list for no reason.

Pretty bumpy listen. I was excited to be given something more contemporary to listen to and thought the package design of album was pretty neat, but I became quickly dismayed with the album when I hit play and got confronted with just how ass the first track was. The remaining tracks managed to reel me back in a bit with some alright instrumentation, but I continued to get smacked over the head with some incredibly baffling choices in instruments. At the very least, I'm grateful for the experience.

She just can't hit those high notes

Third strongest mole? Second strongest infant? Are embryos gonna start ranking each other by strength next? No clue where or how this album is breaking new ground, but I thought it was pretty cool and is definitely in the key of music that I enjoy. My only real gripe is the overambition. You have to be pretty confident in your material to go for songs that are over seven minutes in length, and I didn't feel like any of the ones on this album had enough substance to justify their long runtimes. The sterile and stagnant nature of this music is a double-edged sword, however, as I can see myself putting this on when I want to relax or get into a flow state. I'll have to see where the cards fall in the future.

I quite like the heavy production - it's certainly a far harsher sound than I was expecting from this genre, though something about it fails to land with me. All the tracks blend together and the crooning vocals keep this from being something I'd want to come back to.

Listening to this while waiting for the train after a Christmas shift is something that I'm sure will become a nice memory somewhere in the not-too-distant future. To my non-American musical sensibilities, however, I must admit that I find the songs on here to be about as unsynonymous with the holiday season as humanly possible. What really offends is how indistinguishable the vocals and instrumentals are between songs, save for some of the hookier parts of the choruses. This album screams 'produced' to me more than any other album I've heard, with how little of a vision there is and how corporate the nature of it's existence is. Can't say I agree with the decision to lump this in with many of the greatest albums ever made sheerly for the modicum of cultural relevance that it has.

Never been able to get into metal, likely because the hardcore image that I have in my head is betrayed by all the repetitious, indistinguishable crunchy guitar riffs and tepid vocals. This album is no exception

First blues album, and one of the very few live albums I've ever bothered to listen to. I imagine this is more gratifying for those familiar with the discography of B.B. King, as sonically it does nothing to break the blues mould and has an appeal entirely reliant on the charisma of B.B. King and the chemistry of the audience. It's not half bad, just painfully samey.

It took 4 years and an entire website to get me to listen to the Baba O'Riley album, but I'm somewhat appreciative for finally getting around to it. The main draw is lightning in a bottle, but what lightning they were able to catch!

I can kinda get into the songwriting and instrumentals, though Little Richard's voice is far too abrasive for me.

She just can't hit those high notes

Some pretty great instrumentals in here despite the majority of their short runtimes, and it fulfils the purpose of a live album pretty well, with lively and significant the occasion feels. Vocally and lyrically, however, I must admit I'm not at all moved by this

Surprised to see such a recent album on this website. Did this actually make it into any of the books? I enjoy these midsummery, daydreamy kinds of albums, though none of the genres featured on this one resonate with me all that much. The experience of listening to this was much snoozier than I would have preferred, though it may be possible for me to come around to it on my mandatory relisten

Some pretty interesting genres on this one. The admittedly listenable first half of the album becomes increasingly indistinguishable as it goes on. It's possible that there are some interesting lyrics on here, though as someone ambivalent to the grassroots flair of singer-songwriters, I didn't care too much about listening keenly

Finally. An album I like.

The White Stripes are kind of an anomaly to me. Apparently they're an acclaimed act and apparently this is one of the best albums of the 2000s, yet I never run into anyone who claims to be a huge fan of the band, and I've never been recommended any of their music. I'll chalk it up to them simply being outside my sphere of interest. Pretty unremarkable stuff all around, but it's at the very least listenable. The gimmicky nature of the band makes for some pretty banging music videos, at the very least. Update: I somehow appreciate this much less on my second listen than I did on my first lol

Iconic ass cover. Glad I could finally get around to listening to the album that it hails from. At the expense of giving anyone reading this complete whiplash, I don't think the 80s and I will ever get along, especially when it comes to new wave. All of the music is pretty indistinguishable and bog-standard to me, and the vocals are just horrific.

This site really wants me to get my fill on live albums. Can't say I complain. Like all of the other live albums I've listened to, I think it's pretty hard to get a feel for these songs when I have no prior experience with the studio versions. To a non Thin Lizzer, and with zero audience interaction or any transformation of these songs that I can gleam, this album was excruciatingly long and boring for me. On the bright side, I had no idea that "The Boys Are Back In Town" was an Irish export. That's pretty cool

I'm of the persuasion that there are no good songs under two minutes in length (with the notable exception of You Gave Your Love To Me Softly), so this was more than a little challenging for me, to say the least. On the bright side, this did resonate with me more than the other albums I've listened to on this website. I may appreciate it more on a second listen

Knew it wouldn't be long before I encountered my unofficial official favourite band of all time on here (I'm in a permanent love affair with Modest Mouse - it's complicated). Gotta be honest, I've never really been much of an In Rainbows guy. It's a damn good album, but I find it to be more than a little sterile coming off the back of HTTT and all massively conceptual albums that precede it. There are definitely some good cuts on here, though. I can't deny that.

>Badass mushroom cloud album art >Look inside >Boring jazz music

It's nuts hearing this after listening to the milquetoast Songs of Leonard Cohen. 80s synth music is shockingly bad. Sorry not sorry!!

I've only recently become privy to how overproduced modern country is becoming. One would think that autotune and all of the other modern pop sensibilities would run contrary to what the genre represents. Still, as an enjoyer of musical junk food, unplugging my mind to this one wasn't all that bad. Whatever slot that this album occupies could have very easily gone to Emergency & I. No, I'm not being a petty asshole because one of my favourite album didn't make the list

Another band that I just don't get. Live Forever is palatable, but the remaining songs are a sludge of washed out instrumentals and horrible vocals.

Oh my God, it's September band!!!!!! I'm a huge fan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's alright, though I can't see what differentiates this album from the other funk albums of the time, or the other albums in Earth, Wind & Fire's discography. Still, pretty alright. That 6-minute ballad from midway through the album do be suckin, doe

Brits trying to be yanks... How sordid

The camp factor is off the charts with this one, which I enjoy. I'm just not that much of a soul/funk guy.

I'm a big enough man to admit that me and Joni got off on the wrong foot. This is pretty alright now that she's dropped the screeching harpy act from Blue. Very pleasant lyrics and instrumentals.

Pleasant enough. Fast car is the the obvious highlight, and the remaining songs are listenable, albeit derivative.

Another darn done diddily live album. I'll probably drop to the ground from oxygen deprivation as a consequence of saying the same things over and over again before I get through all of these. LIGHTING ROUND, BAYBEEE!!!! It's pleasant enough. I'd enjoy any live performance in-person, but think the experience is stripped back when listening to it on a record. I find it hard to appreciate live albums when I have no familiarity with the artist's main discography.

Spaced out a lot during this one, but it's still listenable. I kinda enjoyed the guitars. Maybe funk isn't for me, doe

S'alright, which is a more than glowing endorsement when it comes to hip hop for me. I quite enjoyed the instrumentals on these tracks, and I found myself warming to some of the vocal performances and lyrics. The Kanye track was my favourite, which surprised me as I have next to no familiarity with his discography. I may give some of his albums a listen when I clear my current backlog

These tags should work for me, but they don't. The songwriting is really weak, the vocals are tepid and uninspiring and the instrumentals put me to sleep. Still, glad to be more cultured on my favourite genre of music by listening to this (alternative rock)

The only thing I know about these guys is that they gave me an album that was impossible to remove during my brief stint as an iPhone owner. I tried every trick in the book to delete the thing and it would be back in my library flashing it's smarmy, homoerotic cover at me the following week. Oh, yeah. This isn't that. It's vaguely within the key of music I'd enjoy, but it reeks too much of the decades that precede it. Can't say I'm a fan.

Really didn't like this one. There's something uniquely insulting about how boring it is.

I think I finally understand why so many people became fed up with disco in the 80s. All of these tracks are perfectly serviceable as lone experiences, but become a bit of a drag on one another when paired together. I was quite surprised to discover that We Are Family contains the We Are Family song. It never struck me as being a disco track in my vague recollections of the song

Appreciate the opportunity to listen to something which is far outside my comfort zone and comes from a country that I have no interest in exploring the musical history of. Aside from that, this music is pretty tepid, uninspired and drawn out

Quite possibly the worst album I've listened to thus far. It's derivative, indistinct and inauthentic, yet somehow manages to offend me in ways that it's thankfully short runtime can't atone for.

Pretty bumpy listen. I was excited to be given something more contemporary to listen to and thought the package design of album was pretty neat, but I became quickly dismayed with the album when I hit play and got confronted with just how ass the first track was. The remaining tracks managed to reel me back in a bit with some alright instrumentation, but I continued to get smacked over the head with some incredibly baffling choices in instruments. At the very least, I'm grateful for the experience.

Pretty cool - I'll have to give this one another listen sometime in the future. While a lot of the songs are too long for their own good, the strong instrumental and vocal performances more than compensate for the lack of brevity

Unlike most of the other albums I've listened to on this website, I can see clear as day where this album innovates as well as the impact that it has on popular music. I just don't think that the genre it belongs to is all that good. Most of the praise I've heard about Amy Winehouse is linked to how personal and sassy/funny her music is. Maybe I got off on the wrong foot by starting out with this album instead of Back to Black, but these lyrics are all incredibly boring to me.

How exactly this albums breaks into "greatest of all time" territory beats me, though I'm not complaining. It's very nice lyrically, instrumentally and vocally. Thank you, one thousand and one albums generator dot com.

My unofficial, official favourite album of all time, and I don't really know what to say about it. The hidden booklet was pretty cool. The Kid A blips and all of the other associated artworks are some of my all-time favourite pieces of visual art. Cuttooth, one of the early songs from the Kid A sessions, is the best song I've ever heard. Okay, okay. It's the most subversive, most textured album I've ever listened to. There's always a new melody or instrument that I'm able to isolate and pick apart whenever I put on this album. Listening along to the lyrics is one of the most unique experiences I've had with an album, where the words only really carry meaning and emotion when looked at in isolation. The title track is my favourite song off this album, which is a somewhat controversial one if I recall correctly. The muffled vocals are one of Thom's most unique vocal performances, it's one of the more stylistically diverse offerings from the album and the lyrics are beautiful and tragic in an abstract and nondescript way, which serves as perfect summation of the album as a whole. As far as truly ambiguous and interpretive lyrics go, you can't beat How to Disappear Completely. I've always looked at the song more positively than most, where the desire for Thom to disassociate is curtailed by the instrumental becoming more burdened and intense as it goes along, beautifully illustrating that no one is truly alone or beyond help.

I like weird shit. Can you blame me?

Deathly, deathly boring. There's not a single good tune in this album's jewel case

This website has been busting out the heaters lately. The second half lacks what the first gets right and has songs that are stretched a little too thin for my liking, but on the whole this is quite good. One of the few albums that I'm likely to return to once this entire list is behind me.

Pretty good. If there's one thing I've learned from my passing familiarity with psychedelic music, it's that I need to buckle down and listen to more of it. I'm grateful for the opportunity that this website has offered me. I really enjoy the instrumentation and texture that these songs have. I can't speak with certainty as a newcomer to the genre, but I find it hard to imagine that there are other artists with a sound quite like this one. My only real quibble with the music is that I find it hard to engage with the songs that are under three minutes in length. On an aside, the album cover is hideously kitsch and ugly. If I ever wind up downloading this album I'll probably end up setting a different image as the cover.

Probably the best new wave album I'll ever hear, though that's not saying much.

Just when I thought the sub-3 star albums was where the good stuff was, I got hit with this one. I could feel the seconds of my life leaving my body as this album went along. Incredibly bone-dry instrumentals complemented by equally tepid vocals and lyrics. In all fairness it's not the worst thing I've heard, but it's pretty far from what I'd consider good.

I've heard about this one before. I was quite surprised to discover that such a relaxed sound belongs to one of the coolest dang album covers I've seen in my life - I was half expecting this album to be grunge or sludge metal going in. The first half is quite good, but those remaining tracks pump the brakes and blend together a little too much for my liking. I've listened to this one twice now, and I'm inclined to give it more listens down the road. It was a good time all around.

It's crazy how every new wave song sounds the exact same regardless of nationality, singer or year of release. It's hard work sitting on my ass listening to the creative endeavours of others five days a week. I think I'm gonna kick my feet back, give the rest of this album a spin and see if the power of rock music is ᵃᵇˡᵉ ᵗᵒ ˢᵃᵛᵉ ᵐʸ ʷᵃⁿᶦⁿᵍ ᶦⁿᵗᵉʳᵉˢᵗ 😴😴😴😴😴😴 ˢᵉᵉ ʸᵒᵘ ᵍᵘʸˢ ᵗᵒᵐᵒʳʳᵒʷ 😴😴😴😴😴😴😴😴😴😴😴😴

My mum is a fan of ABBA's earlier music. Feels good to have an extra topic of conversation that I can kinda sorta talk about with her now. The first half didn't really do much for me, though I'm interested in seeing how this album aligns with the rest of ABBA's music. I wasn't expecting my first exposure to this band to be as dour and ominous as this album wound up being.

Third strongest mole? Second strongest infant? Are embryos gonna start ranking each other by strength next? No clue where or how this album is breaking new ground, but I thought it was pretty cool and is definitely in the key of music that I enjoy. My only real gripe is the overambition. You have to be pretty confident in your material to go for songs that are over seven minutes in length, and I didn't feel like any of the ones on this album had enough substance to justify their long runtimes. The sterile and stagnant nature of this music is a double-edged sword, however, as I can see myself putting this on when I want to relax or get into a flow state. I'll have to see where the cards fall in the future.

I've come to accept that I will never fully appreciate or understand hip hop, though I do have a respect for the stuff from the 90s. It's the only time where the genre was innovating with creative sampling and deliberate songwriting, and this album only adds to my case.

Oh no.... The first jazz album has dawned upon my list......... What terrors could possibly be entombed within this record..................... It's pretty nice. I wasn't expecting the more uniform jazz albums to be getting a spot in the book, so I was pleasantly surprised when I put this one on and was able to quickly fall into it's relaxing atmosphere. Despite my raging hate boner for avant-garde jazz being quite sizeable and desirable to the ladies, I don't actually want to be a hater of the genre. Maybe these two artists will end up being my gateway to jazz music. I definitely feel compelled to check out more of their stuff.

Expected this one to be more hardcore than it wound up being. All of the songs blend together and lack the kick that I was expecting them to have. There's no irony lost on me that the anti-establishment, countercultural band would end up being both part of the establishment and part of the culture

I've always been fond of "nocturnal" music but have only found Self-titled by Gorillaz and Machine Says Yes by FC/Kahuna truly fit that bill. Glad to have another album to add to the pile, and for the new addition to potentially be better than the ones I already know. As someone who is generally antagonistic towards hip-hop, this album feels like it was made for me. Trip hop is the only hop-adjacent genre that I'm partial towards, I've always had a thing for plunderphonics and the muffled lo-fi sound is the cherry on top. I'm impressed by how cohesive and immersive the listening experience is with how off the wall it can be at times. I'll need to give this one another listen - preferably while cruising down a highway in the middle of the night.

Tried to like this one, but it just didn't go far enough for me. The vocals are generally off-putting and the overall direction is a bit too abstract for my liking. I enjoyed some of the lyrics, but wasn't invested in listening too closely

Pretty cool album cover - can't really say the same about the music. I can't differentiate or name any of the instrumentals on this album for the life of me, and the vocal performances are all pretty unpalatable. The lyrics seemed alright, though I didn't care about listening too closely

I'm incredibly sad to admit that I've come off of this album in the years since I first listened to it. It's no doubt one of the best, most revolutionary and subversive rock albums of all time, but I just don't feel it the way I used to. I wouldn't say my music taste has "evolved" per se - I've just come to value different things in music. I'm giving this album four stars because of the historical significance it has had it converting me into a fan of music. The music from Jet Set Radio piqued my interest, the soundtrack to FLCL sustained that interest and OK Computer was the one tipped me over. I can't imagine there being an album to do that job better than this one. All that being said, I've been slowburning my way through the OK Computer minidiscs over the past couple of months and have come away with a newfound appreciation for what this album does. There may be a second wave of enjoyment for me sometime in the future.

I sharpened me boots an' bludgeoned me eye for these tales of nautical nonsense. The voyage to the corner of the globe was a real trip, but I wouldn't say it was worth going without one kiss of your lily white lips, or that it compares to the words of the golden eel or the tale of the whale with the polka dot tail. If this album were my captain, I'd be his Jonny on the spot but wouldn't fill up his glass to the rim - I'm sure he'd be fine accepting only fresh brine. If I found this album in the sandy ground emulating the ocean's sound, it wouldn't speaketh of the trinity, gaze at the sun with it's wandering eye or summon the queen that turns fire to steam. Yarr... This pink eye (on my leg) is making me wave my dick in the wind once again. When the mist lets the sun through, I think this album did alright by me and you. I'll try and keep that in mind when I'm dancing in the show tonight.

I mean, it doesn't even have a Wikipedia page. Come on, bro.

Very interesting. I'm somewhat familiar with post-hardcore music due to being a huge fan of the Dismemberment Plan a few years ago. I've always pinned the genre as walking a delicate line between unbearably annoying and thoughtful/considered songwriting, and this album consolidates my interest in the genre with how all over the place it is tonally. I enjoyed having the time to kick my feet back on this album, even if I don't think the songs earn their long runtimes. I'm interested in giving this one a closer listen sometime in the future. The lyrics seemed pretty interesting, though I'm not interested in blowing my ears out with the loudest guitars and drums known to man just yet.

The best of the \"reprieve\" albums that I've listened to thus far. This definitely only made the list because of Madonna's immense popularity, though I can't deny an album this pleasing. Downtempo trip-hoppy pop music from the 90s is one of the more sugary sweet guilty pleasures that I have.

I'm less than a tenth of the way through this list, but I feel as though I can pretty confidently call this the biggest swing and a miss that I will ever encounter on this website. I think I've consolidated what I don't like about this in my other reviews, so I'm gonna lay it out real quick in bruhllet point form 🗿https://youtu.be/Oc7Cin_87H4🗿 Live albums are near-impossible to appreciate from the perspective of a non-fan and do not belong on this list. They aren't popular, don't showcase a pivotal point in music history and don't capture the experience of listening to music live. 🗿https://youtu.be/Oc7Cin_87H4🗿 Long songs are for the artistically suicidal. Unless we're talking about one of the greatest anthems of all time - a song that will reverberate in the eardrums of millions for centuries to come, trim it down. 🗿https://youtu.be/Oc7Cin_87H4🗿 Jazz is shite, especially the freeform stuff Please load up your digital audio workstation of choice and play three vine boom sound effects together in my honor

Very mixed bag. In some areas this album is really unique and off-the-wall, but in others it plays things way too safely. I generally enjoyed the instrumentals, but Costello's vocal performances are too far on the tepid side for me. Same goes for the lyrics.

Yeah, this is a million, billion trillion percent not for me. It's hard to want to listen to this when that one frequency is constantly piercing through my eardrums and violating the innermost depths of my soul. Rather than bitching and moaning, I think I'll make this review as pasty as possible. It's hard to say with certainty since the game's from Japan, but I'm dead sure that "Imprinting" from The World Ends With You (https://youtu.be/sYHtqyJirgU&t=58) borrows the chorus from A Nigga Witta Gun but alters the lyrics to be less vulgar. Funny that they would choose this album of all things. I wouldn't say that this tidbit of trivia justifies the listen, but it's definitely a silver lining to know more about one of my favourite works of fiction.

I can't remember a single thing about this album, and I listened to it twice! I'd normally say that I'm grateful for the experience of listening to new music, but it's hard to when I never even had an experience to begin with.

Pretty interesting as far as genre-blending albums go. This is one of the few albums to truly fall into that middle ground between two, three or however many music genres that this band intended to mesh together. I'm pretty confident in saying that I'll never hear another album quite like this one. However, did it stick the landing? Uhhhh...

I'm really not a fan of the era and genre of popular music that this album belongs to - it's the most manufactured and commercial that a countercultural movement has ever been. All of the kinks that would be on an album like this have been completely smoothed out, and everything else is shined to the point of having nothing to latch onto. It's admittedly pleasing, though only superficially. On a positive, this album definitely belongs on the list. I can't think of a more popular album that I've skimped out on listening to.

Previously on me reviewing music or something idk what to call this. "...On a positive, this album definitely belongs on the list. I can't think of a more popular album that I've skimped out on listening to." Wasn't expecting to come full circle so soon. When I first started out with listening to music I didn't have any bands that I was definitively into, but really wanted to be able to talk about music. The result was me briefly latching onto this band and album as a way of proving that I knew my stuff. The thing is, I had only listened to a snippet of Smells Like Teen Spirit and knew next to nothing about Nirvana, which resulted in some of the most embarrassing conversations that I've ever had in my life. To this day I've refused to touch this band and album out of shame. So... Now that I'm finally listening to it... I can say with confidence... That it's alright. The big hits are pretty good, but everything else drags super hard, especially during the second half. While I've criticised some of the other "hardcore" albums I've encountered on this list for not being nearly tough enough, I thought the restrained and pensive sound of this album was quite neat. I'm interested to know more about what the lyrics are getting at in the future - I couldn't make out what Kurt was saying half of the time.

Simultaneously too much and too little. The long tracks go on for days and a lot of the shorter ones finished without grabbing my attention. There are some good points to this album. I enjoy how weird and experimental the sound can be - particularly on "Chance Meeting". Would, by the way. For your information. In case you might like to know. For your perusal. As a matter of fact. Truth be told.

Of all the things I thought this album cover would be, I never could have guessed that it was a flower. This album is more than competent from a musical perspective, but the vocals and lyrics don't do much for me. I'm surprised by how recent this album is, even if it does bare a few musical tropes that were popular at the time of release. Hope this album means I'll be getting more stuff from the noughties - I've been drowning in 90s music for the past couple of albums. I enjoyed this more on my second listen. The vocals are pretty alright once you get used to them.

It's alright. Definitely listenable, but I didn't really feel as though I got anything from listening to this one outside of a few songs that I've heard in passing. The spread of genres is pretty interesting. If the R&B/funk roots were trimmed I could see myself liking this one.

The Rolling Stones are kind of anomalous to me. I know that they're one of the most popular music artists of all time, but I've heard absolutely nothing about them. I've crossed paths with all of the other artists that Wikipedia considers to be the most commercially successful, but still haven't heard a positive word about the Stones despite their music vaguely being within my sphere of interest. Let It Bleed was insultingly bad to me with how inauthentic the pseudo-American vocals were. This albums is a massive step up simply due to not being that, but I'm still not sold on this band. All of the songs blend together, and the vocals are pretty subpar across the board.

A loveable mess. I will forever die on the Hail To the Thief hill as being the last truly great album from Radiohead, and their high point in a few respects. Having initially listened to their discography in a mostly-chronological order, I can't express how gratifying it was to hear Radiohead go full menace and paranoia, being a sound that I had been teased oh-so-graciously by with songs such as Street Spirit, Climbing up the Walls, The National Anthem and all of Amnesiac. From a lyrical perspective, this is easily the highlight of Radiohead's discography, even if some parts are rightfully infamous. The themes of docility, terror and subversion are about as relevant to today's age as they were when this album released, and there's an artfulness to the symbolism and metaphor that I really dig - it's perfectly suited to Thom's wistful and intense singing voice. From a musical perspective, this is quite possibly their most ambitious album in an ocean full of heavy hitters. It lacks the fidelity and ambition of the albums I consider to be greater than this one, but it mangles, stomps and blends their sounds together into a gloriously diverse and robust package (with a generous helping of kraut rock, to boot). As an aside, I would like to say that I quite enjoy the B-Side material from this era of the band. Paperbag Writer became an instant favourite of mine with it's gloriously skittish and ungratifying sound. I am Citizen Insane and Where Bluebirds Fly are interesting curios of a post-Kid Amnesiac Radiohead and the remaining songs are all really pleasant and nice. A great break from how full-on the rest of the album's material is. It's way too long and there may be a few songs that are potentially, quite possibly, bad, but nothing can break my love for this album. It doesn't deserve to be the lowest rated post-Pablo Honey King of Limbs non-inclusive album on every music cataloging site.

Wasn't expecting an old country banger to have this generous a helping of man ass on the cover. I thought the hat in his back pocket was either a hot water bottle or whoopee cushion until I put it under closer inspection (not because I was scrutinising his ass I am straight I am not a homosexual) It's pretty good, even if it's appeal is a little fleeting. I used to think the mixture of singer-songwriter with pop songwriting was a more contemporary thing, but I guess there's always been music like this. Cool to know that there's meat on the bones of these lyrics, though I was never compelled to give em a close listen.

Out of all the new albums I've listened to thus far, this is the one that I've tried to like the most. There's an elegance to the instrumentals on this album that separate it from virtually every other prog/hard rock album that I've listened to, and the lyrics are pretty great on the whole. Not to mention the fantastic album cover - it really is a complete package. This album just doesn't click or resonate with me as much as I would like it to. I'll keep this one on my radar. I've listened to this two and a half times already, so I'm partial to giving it more listens down the road.

Really caught in the middle on this one. I vowed to rate all of the albums I like in some capacity a four out of five to counterbalance the growing number of one stars on my list, but also to avoid another A Wizard/A True Star debacle (seriously, what the hell was I thinking giving that album only a THREE out of five???). However, was this really an album I liked? It's pretty good instrumentally - way above the standard for new wave, but the lyrics and vocals are incredibly shit. I'll take the gamble. It's good, but not nearly good enough. I think the parts I dislike about this album will permanently gatekeep me from ever liking it, and it isn't nearly as conceptual as all of the other albums that I've lowballed in the past. That being said, this is quite possibly the only new wave album I'll ever like. Uhhhhh. Okay, I'll heads or tails it. Heads is a 3 and tails is a 4

Oh no... The second jazz album has hit the list, and the first Miles Davis in what I assume to be a millionty billion forthcoming avant-garde jazz albums. It's going to be a bloodbath. My list of one stars will be so lengthy that I'll be left wondering what the point of even sending these albums is. What sordid, unimaginable horrors could possibly be entombed within this record... Okay, upon further research and after actually listening to this album I've discovered that it is not Miles Davis that I have a problem with, but Charles Mingus. And that Mingus only has one album in the book. And that this isn't even avant-garde jazz. And that I enjoyed this. This review is a disaster. I'm incredibly snobby when it comes to longform music, and it is for this reason that I've had a storied history of absolutely hating the shit out of jazz. It throws a complete curveball to the way that I traditionally assess music, which is to average out a score based on how long a song holds my attention, the emotions that it draws from me and the components of it that I admire or view as exceptional. I have no problem with rating ambient music on the pretense of it being something that isn't meant to hold my attention, but I can't bring myself to engage with jazz in the same way. I've always got an air of cerebral and distinguished songwriting from the way that people discuss jazz, which is completely invisible to me whenever I put on a jazz album. It all blends together, and in the case of the more experimental stuff, becomes a completely insulting cacophony of noise. It's because of this experience that I have a natural skepticism towards non-musicians that claim to fans of jazz. I can't understand how people can point to a specific song or moment on these albums that is exceptional or groundbreaking if they don't understand music theory or the way that these albums go against the proven formula. Anyways, to get back on track and to make up for the fact that I can't say anything specific about this album: Do I remember a specific moment of this album? Fuck no, but I can't remember any part of this that I explicitly disliked, either. Did I feel anything while listening to this album? Is there anything I admire about it? No, and no. Have I gone above and beyond in writing my longest review at two o'clock in the morning? I think it might be time to turn a new leaf with jazz - I feel more open to it now than I ever have previously. I'll just have to separate myself from all of the discourse.

I wanted to like this album. I thought the album cover was pretty cool, so I definitely had a favourable impression of this music going in. However, whatever merit these songs have on an individual level is destroyed by how excruciating the album's length is and how much the songs blend together. Really didn't feel this one.

I was keen to give this a listen after being given Steely Dan's debut album a little over a month ago. I haven't listened to anything from these guys in the time since then, but they have been firmly lodged in the back of my mind as an artist I should give a good, fair shake to once this list is behind me. I was dismayed to discover that I like this album way less than the preceding one. I wish I could give Can't Buy a Thrill another listen to compare the things that I prefer from that album over this one, but I just don't have the time. I remember their previous album having much stronger vocal harmonies and a more vibrant sound, which I preferred, despite having instrumentals that came real close to blending together. I appreciate the effort in making songs that stand out more on this album, but I think a lot of the material on here is stretched pretty thin. I'm not one for decimal points, but if I were to delve into half-digits like I am now I'd give this album a 4.5/10. Yet, despite being the closer score, I can't bring myself to give this a 2/5. This band is undeniably pleasing, even if the approach they took on this album doesn't appeal to the more critical side of me.

I have a massive, pulsating, throbbing hate boner for many of the live albums on this list, but this one actually has merit for being a little bit of a musical curio. Never in all of music history did I think that there would be a live album that outsells the main discography of the artist that it belongs to, has singles released, is inducted into the library of congress and launches the career of the band in multiple countries. It's also performed in wholesome and based Nihongoland or something I don't know. Usual criticisms of live albums apply here. It's tough to appreciate this album without being a fan of the artist's discography. It isn't influencing the future of popular music or advancing music as an artform and it doesn't really capture the experience of listening to music live. However, it is popular. It's also pretty funny hearing a bunch of Japanese girls going absolutely batshit over this random ass yankee hard rock band, so I guess that's a plus, too. This album has the weird and rare phenomenon of being super backloaded - I'll assume that it has to do with these songs being ordered chronologically. Just when I'd completely checked out I was struck by the electric atmosphere of "I Want You to Want Me" and the appeal of the album kinda just clicked with me from then on. Never review these albums when you're actively listening to them, I guess. Gave this album a relisten and the whole thing is pretty alright. The second half remains much, much better. I'll retrieve this album from the designated "live album" pit that I threw it into earlier, where it is currently waiting to be incinerated. These fellas are rocking with "At Folsom Prison" now.

I didn't know that women became menopausal at 24. My thoughts and prayers go out to Kate Bush ❤️❤️❤️ Okay, in all fairness she definitely deserves a place on this list and more credit than I am presently giving her. I've always thought that Kate Bush existed as a sex symbol with how many times I've heard her described as an icon of traditional femininity, which is why it's nice to know that there is a craft and meaning to these songs. It's just a shame that she forgot to make them sound good. I do respect this album for daring to be whatever the hell it's trying to be, which is why I am graciously saving it from the one-star slot. I can't imagine there being a worse place for me to start out in her discography, which is why I'm gonna keep an open mind with her other albums in the future. I gave this one a relisten and I appreciate it more on the second go. The "heavy" production on these songs is pretty good for the most part, and her vocals are at most tolerable. I have no clue how to precisely articulate my thoughts on a vocal performance, but that fluttery, rolling thing she does with her voice is just terrible. Same goes for all the random screech-shouting. On an unrelated note, I'm going to my first-ever live concert on Sunday and I don't have weekend albums enabled. One of my all-time favourite bands is playing one of my all-time favourite albums, which just so happens to be included on this list. I'm going to cast all of the psychic and cosmic energy within me out into the universe so that it can force this website to recommend Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots as tomorrow's album. I have about a thousandth of a chance of this coming to fruition, but I'm confident in my luck. Please shield yourself from the incoming wall of unicode. This is powerful sorcery. ━━━━━★⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙ ˙ॱ⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙ ˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅. *･｡ﾟ✧⁺⋆˚⊹ ⟡ ݁₊ . .݁ ₊ ݁⟡ ⊹˚⋆⋆｡༄⋆˚⊹✧ ˙✧⋆⭒˚｡⋆⊹ ۪ ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ⊹ ۪ ﾟ｡⋆☾ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ｡⊹ ۪ ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ༄.ೃ࿔࿐໋✧˖°.˚. ✦.˳·˖✶ ⋆.✧˚.˚ ༘`✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹ ˖ ✦ ‧₊˚ ⋅. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁♡.˳·˖✶𓆩𓁺𓆪✶˖·˳.・.ೃ࿔:･♡⋆⭒˚｡⋆°‧⋆.｡.∗⁕☆*:✧★✧:*☆⁕∗ Σ(O口O ) The algorithm getting btfo'd by my epic magic ⬆

Previously on me writing about albums: "On an unrelated note, I'm going to my first-ever live concert on Sunday and I don't have weekend albums enabled ... I'm going to cast all of the psychic and cosmic energy within me out into the universe so that it can force this website to recommend Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots as tomorrow's album." My magic isn't as powerful as I had hoped, but I've heard good news from the people who taught me. Sometime within the next 992 days, Yoshimi WILL be recommended to me. A truly amazing display of power, if I say so myself. Anyways, I'm not really digging this one. It's superficially pleasing, but doesn't really have much else going for it - a trend that I am slowly beginning to view as synonymous with funk and soul. There's some good moments. I like the piano ballads, but none of these songs really squeeze as much as they can from their better parts.

It's been forever since I was last recommended a true oldie. Glad to finally be given another one. I was pretty surprised to discover that a girl who goes by the name of Dusty Springfield was British rather than American. I'm guessing the stage name and appearance was meant to broaden her appeal to the American market, though it didn't really seem to pay off. Albums like these make me wish I had the book on hand as I have no idea what makes this album exceptional aside from being the debut work of an iconic musician. This beckons the question as to why this album is on here over the Beatles' debut. I'm not a diehard Please Please Me fan, but it's just curious to me that this is included over that album when they're so similar in content, yet so different in popularity and influence. I think I'm beginning to understand why Americans complain about the book having a strong English bias.

Pretty alright. I recognised two of the songs on this list despite 80s music being pretty far outside the music that interests me. It's from the 70s? That's nuts. Definitely ahead of the curve and deserving of the place on this list. While I'm not crazy about this album, I respect it.

I made it. Album numero one hundredo. One hundred albums that I have successfully listened to before I have died. The dev of this website sells the process of listening to all of these albums as a journey, and I'd certainly agree. From the familiar peaks of some of my all-time favourite albums to the comfortable "reprieve" albums to the shocking swings and misses, I feel like I've already been through a lot despite only clearing a tenth of the list. While I don't exactly have the most positive rating average, I can say with certainty that I've loved every second of it. I've developed somewhat of a fascination with checking user profiles over the course of working my way through this list. I've noticed that the majority of users either peter out after 20 - 40 albums (as did I, initially), power their way through this list or find ways to slowly keep clawing ahead. There's a sombre, meditative quality to slowburning my way through this 3-year project. So many lives and people that I will never know beyond the faceless blocks of text that populate these pages. At the same time, I can't help but look at how much time this process demands. Will I be a changed "music appreciator" come the end of this list? Will I be happier and more fulfilled than I am now? I hope so. In the time since I initially gave up on this project in January of 2024 and picked it up again in October of the same year, my appreciation for music has changed dramatically. What once was another hobby of mine has grown into becoming one of my few current interests. As a way of counterbalancing the albums on this list that I don't care for, I've started listening to music that personally interests me on the side, which results in a metric shitton of my time being dedicated to music listening. Out of the hundred albums that I've listened to thus far, there are two new albums that have entered my rotation (A Wizard / A True Star and The Stone Roses) - none of which I've had the foresight to rate above a 3. If I end up with 12 new albums that I really like by the end of this list, I'll consider that a win. Anyways, moke sweed erryday ganja 420 I love injecting crackarooski crack rocks into my system that's some mighty darn fine KUSH!!!! I LOVE WEED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another reprieve album. I like having the time to reflect and collect my thoughts before facing whatever big album lies in wait for me around the corner. I also enjoy likening these kinds of albums to emotions or experiences - it makes the process of listening to all of these randomly-generated albums feel meaningful and part of a greater narrative. This album is like trucking through a dark, single-lane country road in the middle of the night, waiting for a radio transmission to pierce through the dark, lonely veil that hangs over me. I also liken it to sitting alone in a motel bar alone with a smoke and a glass of gin while drifting in and out of consciousness - too tired to remain awake, but too pensive to fall asleep. I really came around to this album during the second half, which is usually indicative of me not paying enough attention to the first few tracks. I'm going to give this one a relisten tomorrow, as I do with all of the albums on this list (God help me).

Another one of these. I've been pretty bummed out by the selection of 2000s albums so far, and among my least favourite trends to come from the noughties was the popularisation of indie music. I admit that it's partly because I like belonging in a smaller pool of music listeners, but also because it brought a whole ton of wank bands that are indie in name but not in spirit. This album is the kind of music you'd bring up when talking with a work colleague. It carries an air of respect with it's cool, suave sound and flashy German name, but peek underneath the exterior and there's absolutely nothing going on. On a positive, I think Take Me Out is pretty good. I have a bad habit of thinking that the first 50 seconds of the song and the remaining ~3 minutes of music are two separate tracks, which is a contrast that I enjoy.

I'm interested in giving this one a listen. Ever since I sat through the Fugee's second album I've seen this album everywhere and have heard about how great and influential Lauryn Hill is despite only having three albums to her name. Listened to it and yeah, not a fan. I can understand where this album innovated if Lauryn Hill was one of the first people to popularise the "being shaken" style of singing, but that kind of vocal performance sounds like utter shit to me. It's an impressive display of vocal range and prowess, but I firmly believe that it belongs to the "for record producers only" category. Every song being sung in this style combined with the minimal instrumentals, lack of breathing room and hour seventeen runtime made this album a profoundly miserable listening experience for me. I wasn't compelled to listen to the lyrics too closely, but they all came across as pretty insipid and self-aggrandising to me. Which beckons the question. Why this is considered a concept album? There isn't really an arc to any of the discussed themes, and what is discussed falls vaguely within the realm of self-love or something. The entire experience is fruitless to me.

Let me just say that I feel like I dodged a bullet by listening to this one without headphones. It's an incredibly, incredibly ballsy move to start your album out with the infernal screeches of the guitars of the damned. I can see why it turned a lot of the people here away, but it succeeded at hooking me in. For better or worse, it's attention grabbing. I quite like the industrial aesthetic that this album has going on. I have no clue how some of the sounds on this album were made, which makes the way in which they were utilised doubly as impressive to me. I had absolutely no clue what any of the vocalists were saying, but in all fairness who can understand a britbonger-they're American???? I listened to this one twice and I don't really have any opinion on it other than that I liked the opening track and thought that Sentimental Journey was funny. There just isn't nearly enough meat on the bones of these songs to justify their long runtimes, and the entire thing feels like it drags it's feet as a result. This is yet another album where I wish I had the documentation on why it made the list.

Another contemporary one. The 2010s really aren't my decade at all, but it's comforting to return to the kinda-current year every now and then. I've heard about LCD Soundsystem in passing. Nothing of note, mind you. I've just heard their name. I'm expecting this one to be an electronic album, which is usually within my music-appreciating wheelhouse. Lookin' forward to giving this one a go. This was simultaneously exactly what I was expecting, yet also nothing like what I was expecting. Very minimal, but with a little bit of a groove going on. The lyrics and vocal performances are generally pretty insipid and all of the songs are scandalously long, but once I tuned all of that out this album became tolerable enough to me.

Brian Eno!!! I know of him because of the um err um MGMT song (I'm not a plebian, I swear). I've seen this album around before, though what I've heard about it doesn't really come to mind. It's a pretty good album cover. Definitely an iconic one. Gotta be honest - the minimal, ambient approach doesn't really do much for me. There are some good moments when the piano is the center focus, but the songs based around percussion and guitars are all pretty thoroughly unmoving. I have no clue how to describe those electronic tones that appear on some of the songs (particularly St. Elmo's Fire), but I quite enjoyed them and haven't heard a similar sound elsewhere. They definitely give the album a reason for belonging on this list

This was a surprisingly tough album for me to get through. The strangest part being that this album is pretty standard when it comes to runtimes and was competent on the whole. However, for some inexplicable reason, I'd tap out almost immediately whenever I'd try to put this on. Led Zeppelin are one of the bands I've had in the deepest reaches of my backlog and this isn't a very promising start, I must admit. On the bright side, these guys singlehandedly invented my favourite make of song: the 5+ minute-long rock epic, so I'm still open to giving these guys a go. I definitely have to as far as this list is concerned. Immigrant Song is a track that I've become pretty familiar with in passing, though I was expecting the song to be a lot more substantial than it wound up being. Maybe throw in a sick minute-long guitar solo and an epilogue as the invaders move towards new pastures and we'd be talking, but I was pretty shocked to discover that it ends abruptly after 2 1/2 minutes. Regardless, it still stands as the best song on the album by a wide margin. The rest of the album is comprised of tolerable acoustic tunes that all blend together, which was a twist I was not expecting.

Hey! I've listened to these guys - a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence for anything released prior to the 90s. Ghost Town is one of those songs that I really like but have never listened to enough of. How tragic that I will never be able to sing my praises about that song on this list given it's status as a non-album single. I'm favourable to ska when it's intersected with other genres, but I don't think I'll ever sit through a ska-centric album that I've come away from feeling anything more than ambivalence towards. It's a very restrictive genre to work with, and while there are little musical nuances and some competent vocal performances throughout, I can very confidently say that I'll never return to this. The most entertaining part of this album is that it was produced by Elvis Costello. I don't think I'll be escaping him if the sordid tales that I've heard through this site are anything to go by.

I was ready to bestow the much-appreciated "rest album" moniker on to this album, though I'm not so sure whether it qualifies. It lacks both a relaxed and emotional component for me to truly feel rested after listening to it. I thought it was pretty alright, though this kind of dance music is very tough for me to engage with. It's flat and sterile, but not in the cool, aesthetic, minimalist way that I usually get down with. It's very mild and my opinion of it is worsened by how lengthy it is. I think this is the longest album that I have listened to so far. It may very well be the longest album on the list outside of The Beatles' White Album. Getting to the title track and hearing a few artist names that I've listened to as a result of this list was pretty cool. I kind of wish I got recommended this one later into the list so that I could see how how big that figure would be. Out of the 58 artists mentioned in the song, I've listened to 8 as a result of this list and 10 in total. I am 13.8% more cultured on music as a result of going through this list, a figure that means absolutely nothing outisde of this one random ass song. Y'know what? Fuck it. I've got time to kill while I wait out the rest of this album. If this were the last album I was recommended on this website, I would be able to say that I have listened to 27 of the artists on this list, or 46.6% of the total list... That's... a much weaker figure than I was expecting. Better to knock this one out of the way sooner rather than later, I guess.

I know "Perfect Day" because of the Puhskinti Day 2019 song and I first heard "Take a Walk on the Wild Side" through a health insurance commercial. I have been introduced to this album in the worst possible way twice without knowing it. There's a good reason why I, the perpetually blind to any music released before the 90s know these songs and it's because they're pretty good on all fronts - they're pleasing and unique in both a clever and understated way. There's a major drop off for me in the other songs, though. They're equally weak on an instrumental, lyrical and vocal level, and the entire album felt like it dragged it's heels despite their being some better-than-average songs on it.

From listening to Who's Next and now My Generation through this site, I've discovered that I like the image of the Who as a classic rock band more than their actual music, which I suppose is true for a lot of the bands from this time period. There are two songs on this album that feature a very noticeable Beatles influence, and I wouldn't be surprised if the remaining tracks wear their influences on their sleeves, either. So, why the one-star? There's something off-putting about this album that I have a hard time explaining. It's by all means listenable, though I felt a great reluctance to sit through this one and didn't want to give it a relisten. The only part that I remembered was the "talking about my generation" bit, and that's like five seconds in a full thirty five minutes of music. It's interesting that psychedelic rock is listed as a genre on this album when I didn't notice any psychedelic influence whatsoever. Maybe it's an error.

Never heard of these guys before. I'm not sure what the minimum runtime for an album should be in order to make the list, but these guys are definitely pushing it on this one. I wonder how long the shortest album on this list will be. It's just more 60s rock, which is a make of album that I fully expect to be numbered into the mid-hundreds by the end of this list. It's pleasing enough and pretty easy to listen to, though there isn't anything on here that makes me want to return. Creedence Clearwater Revival are surprisingly really popular for a band that I've heard absolutely nothing about. I can't complain about them being on this list for no reason.

I'm always surprised whenever I find a soundtrack album on this site - I forget that there are soundtracks that have actually managed to be critically and commercially successful. I'm doubly as surprised to discover that this album is so similar in style and context to Shaft by Isaac Hayes, though I can't complain - Superfly is a fraction of the length Shaft is and about twice as good. It's very pleasing on the whole with an impressive level of audio fidelity and nuance in the instrumental department. My only real gripe is that the songs create a strong first impression, but fail to sustain my interest. I chalk it up to two things. Soundtracks are easier for me to engage with than band music, but it generally helps when I have a familiarity with the source material, as the memories I have of a media property are the main seller in my enjoyment of soundtracks. I also don't think that a lot of these songs go anywhere.

Pretty good. It's been forever since I was last recommended an album that wasn't from the UK or the United States, so I'm grateful to finally be given another. A lot of this music feels vaguely familiar, especially Eple. This band is surprisingly quite popular, so I must have heard them at some point or another. "Sparks" is very reminiscent of the Lo-Fi hip hop genre with it's sampling and subdued, muffled sound, which is one of the few hop-adjacent genres that I enjoy. "She's So" is my favourite song on the album, blending a spacy, atmospheric sound with a fantastic, ethereal sax. I've noticed that I've become quite favourable to "cosmic" music of late, and I think that this album captures that aesthetic very well. It's relaxed while also maintaining a deliberate, considered approach to the songwriting I'm conflicted on busting out a 3 or a 4 for this album. It doesn't carry an impactful, genre-defining kick to the music industry and I'm partial to this music without being crazy over it. It is, however, very watertight. There aren't many loose ends on here and I'm interested in listening to more Röyksopp as a consequence of hearing this album. In my heart of hearts I think I already know the answer, though I'm gonna bust out the coin of indecision to do the heavy lifting. Heads is me giving this a 4 Heads. In to the favourites list you go, lil buddy. I am downloading more Röyksopp as I am writing these words. I am officially a member of the ksopperhead army ksopperhead nation.

It's been about twenty albums since I was given a landmark, challenging one. Glad to finally have another. I actually listened to half of Closer ~5 years ago, though I don't remember a lick of it. I've somewhat avoided it in the time since then. I find it pretty offputting how a lot of people in the music community romanticise and obsess over death. I want to try and "get" this album, but after listening to it twice I'm not sure whether I do. I like the heavy production, but those vocal performances push me away - they're all thoroughly unmoving. It was very difficult to make out the lyrics on the album, though I didn't care much for what I was able to discern. "The Eternal" is my favourite song on here. I thought it was pretty alright on the whole. However, the song that succeeds it, "Decades", is awful. I was hoping that there would be grand climax to this album that made the listening experience worth it, but I came away with pretty sour feelings overall. Hello! Me after two *complete* listens here. It's good! I thought the first half in particular was strong, which managed to be gothic and macabre in some pretty unique ways. The synth is an unusual addition to an album of this tone and nature, but I thought it was used to great effect, especially on "Isolation". The sudden epiphany I'm having is not enough to save this album from the three-star slot after having one-and-a-half listens of not getting it, but I am more than open to giving this one another go in the future. I'm glad I could have this breakthrough. Just as an aside, I've always liked how ominous the title for this album is. "Closer" as in the final part of Joy Division's discography, but "closer" as in something getting nearer. The album cover is great too. Definitely iconic and I like how the lighting of the photograph elevates the dramatic tension of an otherwise barebones cover.

A pretty interesting mix of genres. The intersection of trip hop with 90s dance music is something I can confidently say I've never heard before. I've always been favourable to trip hop, but I think it's a genre that's very difficult to get wrong but also really hard to get right. 90s dance music is a different story. I can appreciate this kind of music when it's purely an electronic affair, but I think it gets pretty bad when more traditional instruments are thrown into the mix. That piano/keyboard sound which is present throughout this album and common in UK music at the time sounds horrific to me. Talking more broadly about the music itself, the album starts out solid enough, but gets substantially weaker as it piles on 5+ minute song after 5+ minute song. There are a few moments on the album that showcase a creative and effective use of electronic sounds, but these moments are few and far between. Foxbase Alpha was substantially more draining than it needed to be. I listened to this album twice - once with the US bonus tracks and once without. I can't say that the experience was much different other than that I was glad it ended sooner.

I was unsure going into this one. Britpop is one of those genres that I'm confident I'll never be able to "get", though I'll always be the first to defend it as a genre of music. Washed out instrumentals, strained vocal performances and heavy guitar distortion are a pretty unorthodox creative choice for a genre of music that is meant to be patriotic. I also quite like the air of distance that britpop has. It adds a pensive quality to the music when looked at in retrospect. The England of today is completely different to what I imagine it was like 20 years ago. "Bittersweet Symphony" is the highlight. Those string sections are very good, though I admittedly think that they pad out the song to being much longer than it needed to be. "Lucky Man" manages to be quite good as well in spite of the animosity I have towards the second half of this album. String instruments are among the most "feels-inducing" you can have in a song, and I can't complain about feeling every once in a while. The remainder of the album was quite different to what my experience with Britpop has been (all of two Oasis albums). The cleaner-sounding acoustic approach managed to produce some songs that I didn't mind listening to. Same goes for some of the more subdued tracks, which I think work well on an album released near the end of the millenium. It really does feel like the end of an era and the dawn of a brave new frontier in some respects. Despite having some merit, this album has a huge length problem, which is one of the most damning faults you can have in my eyes. I had to do a double take when I saw the hour fifteen runtime on this baby - I thought I had stumbled on to the deluxe version by mistake. I had already gotten my fill of the album by the time I made it to "Weeping Willow". so toughing out the remaining tracks (especially the fifteen-minute fuuuuuuucking closer) really hurt the experience of listening to this album.

I didn't like this album at all on my first listen, but I came around to it much more on my second go. The vocal performances and dated instrumentals were initially a big point of contention, but this became a non-issue for me on the second go. No clue what lead to such a dramatic change of heart, but I'm glad that I now "get" Abba in some capacity. I think my enjoyment of this album is due to the high number of piano refrains. You can never have enough of those, especially in pop music. It's amusing to me that this album was recommended immediately after "Urban Hymns" by The Verve as I distinctly remember listening to one of the guitar sections on that album and thinking that it sounded like "Dancing Queen". On the subject of that song, it's very good. It's not entirely up my cup of tea, but I can confidently say that it's one of those songs where all of the musical choices come together and work with one another perfectly. "Why Did It Have to Be Me?" and "Tiger" felt like they went on for way longer than they were in reality. I got proper whiplash when I checked the track listing and realised they were only three minutes in length. I think a lot of this album's appeal is hedged on the melody, as the music itself is very repetitive. Those two songs moving at a much quicker tempo definitely hurt them in my eyes. I'm favourable to the idea of giving this album another listen sometime in the future. I'll see where the cards fall.

Great album cover. I've heard good things about The Smiths, though I've never found the time to listen to their music. Glad to finally be given the opportunity. I have no idea what I was expecting going into this album, but I was prepared for it to be vaguely within this style of music. There are some pretty good guitar performances on here and the rockabilly influence is fun. There's a respectable level of variety as well. I like how the atmospheric "Well I Wonder" shifts the direction of the album in a more intricate direction. "Barbarism Begins at Home" was my favourite song on Meat Is Murder. It's less lyric-focused than some of the other songs on the album, but is carried by a great central guitar riff that somehow manages to justify the song's 7-minute runtime. The only real gripe I have with this album concerns the vocals. They're pretty weak and made me pay less attention to the lyrics than I perhaps should have. I'm open to the idea of them being an acquired taste, much like with some of the other bands that I now herald as favourites. There's a good chance that this album will grow on me with additional listens, which is something I have said about a few other albums in recent memory. I think I can confidently say that my appreciation of music is growing. For the longest time I have looked at 80s music with complete disdain, though there are now two albums from the decade that appreciate (the other being "The Stone Roses"). Coin of indecision time again as I'm unsure of whether this one will grow into a favourite. Heads. Into the 4-star category you go, lil buddy. I've heard that "The Queen Is Dead" is the best Smiths album, so I'm glad that I haven't even reached the apex of this band yet.

Another heavy hitter - this time 13 albums after the last one. According to my analysis of the 1001albumsgenerator.com economy, the popular, innovative albums that really earn their spots on this list appear once every 15 - 20 albums. That's not me complaining, as I like the slowburn journey and the opportunity to listen to albums that I would never listen to in a million, billion years across all alternate timelines and parallel universes. I've listened to Bowie years ago - specifically Ziggy, though I didn't like it. I've become more favourable to the album in the years since. I think this list is a good opportunity for me to re-evaluate my opinion on David Bowie. What better way to start than with what is one of his most acclaimed albums? "Heroes" is very competent on the whole. A lot of unusual melodies and an effective use of guitars. It's difficult for me to isolate specific aspects of this album that I like as all of the instruments work together like clockwork. However, I'm not yet sold on Bowie as a vocalist. His performances are certainly iconic, though something about his voice is uniquely off-putting to me. I wasn't interested in listening to the lyrics at all as a consequence. The second half of this album was a very big surprise. I don't have an exact hold on who David Bowie is as an artist or character, though I was expecting the album to be a purely pop rock affair. "Sense of Doubt" comes out of nowhere with an ominous, perturbed sound and "Moss Garden" takes the concept further with a stab at an ambient, atmospheric song. I really like the latter track for it's "cosmic" sound, which is an interest of mine that has been spurred on entirely by this list. I liked this album, but I'm not crazy enough about it to where I'd consider giving this a 4. I am also writing these words in public, where I don't have a coin of indecision to do the heavy lifting for me. I'm going to resort to dangerous, life-threatening measures that I may never recover from: racking my brain. 3. This is one of the most consistent albums that I've listened to through this site, but I'm undecided on whether this album will stick with me in the long run. I am favourable to giving this a relisten a little later down the line. Maybe when I'm recommended the next Bowie album through this site.

First Queen album. I'm surprised that this one released after Queen II. It feels like they were just beginning to get a hold of their defining operatic style with this album. There's an impressive display of variety and some pretty good vocal performances on Sheer Heart Attack though the lack of a strong creative identity really hurts this album, which is what I value most in music. "Misfire" is good. That lead guitar performance is very distinctive. I feel like I've heard it somewhere prior to listening to this album. "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" is also quite good. A nice vocal performance carried by a good percussion-heavy instrumental.

I was looking forward to giving this album a listen until I saw that ghoulish, ghastly runtime. Gorillaz were the first band that I really got into and while their music isn't in my rotation anymore I still have a great deal of respect for the Albarn-centric tracks from the band. Forgive me for being one of the unwashed masses that compares Gorillaz to Blur, but I do think it's interesting to look at some of these tunes as proto-Rillaz tracks. There are a few musical curios and unorthodox sounds peppered throughout this album that really do remind me of the Kong Studio-ers, especially during the Demon Days phase. "Death of a Party", "Movin On" and "Essex Dogs" are particularly reminiscent of this. I'm ashamed to say this, but I think I greatly prefer Albarn as a solo-musician when compared to his more collaborative ventures. This goes for everything that was released with his name before and after the debut of Gorillaz. I think he especially thrives when he is working with a low-fidelity, underproduced sound (i.e. self-titled Gorillaz and The Fall). Anyways, on to talking about the album at hand as it's quite interesting. I can't think of another non-American band that has aped this kind of washed out, abrasive indie sound. Pairing that sound with the off-key, quirky vocals of Damon Albarn works surprisingly well and is quite endearing. That being said, I think this sound is very indistinct and restrictive, which is especially damning during the second half as the album continues to pile on some very unambitious 5+ minute songs that sound near-identical to one another. Still, for what it is, it's perfectly listenable. Maybe I'm going crazy, but I recall there being a Blur song that was entirely instrumental with a short repeating melody that progressively gets quicker and segues into a barrage of clattering percussion. I'm going nuts trying to find that song - I can hear it in the back of my mind. It's probably from a Blur-adjacent band

Muse! I'm familiar with these guys because Radiohead fans are the most universally annoying people on the planet. I tried listening to the album that had the orange background but couldn't get into it. This may very well be the last opportunity I have to get into their music seeing that this is the only Muse album on the list. I'm open to giving them a try. The cover for this album is great. Another perfectly fine, listenable album. I'm not too crazy about "anthemic" music, so this album is trying to tap into emotions that I don't really feel. There are some pretty good instrumental choices on here. I like the growling guitars and genre-bending style of "City of Delusion". I also appreciate the Western influence on "Knights of Cydonia". The pulsing guitar riffs and electronic sounds that underscore the music carry the epic nature of the song quite well. "Supermassive Black Hole" was the biggest surprise of the album. Very groovy, yet it manages to work surprisingly well. "Starlight" is my favourite song as it's the only one on the album where the vocals fit with the music. If these four songs are indicative of Muse's creative direction, then I can understand why they have a sizeable following. As alluded to previously, the vocals are the biggest polariser for me. I understand the direction and intent, but I found all but one of the performances to be torturously slow and detached from the music. Very loud, too. Pipe down, Matt Bellamy,

Another "reprieve" album - something that's easy going and likeable. I'm very stingy with the albums that I consider to be reprieving, so I can't actually remember the last album I bestowed the moniker to. I guess "Melody A.M." from 10 albums ago, though I don't think that album qualifies because I genuinely like it. The reprieve album before that was "Heartbreaker", which was 23 albums ago. I'm well overdue for a break. I can commend this album for being ahead of the curve. The sweeter parts of this album are very reminiscent of the sickly-sweet acoustic pop/rock ballads that became popular throughout the 2000s. The electronic sounds that underscore some parts of the album were quite pleasant and nice. I genuinely quite like "Writing to Reach You" and "Why Does It always Rain On Me?". While I did appreciate this, I think the album loses itself somewhere down the middle. The more lively tracks on here (especially the hidden bonus track on the closer) didn't hook me. I'll see if I'm open to revisiting this in the future. I would say that I have no idea how this album landed on the list, but in the time since I last busted out that line I have upped my game by obtaining a legal copy of the 1001 Albums book that I robbed from the digital book store. Let's see. Produced by Nigel Godrich. The band started out in Britpop (a genre I have been absolutely inundated with as of late). Apparently it was the best-selling album from a British band in the UK in the year of 1999. That's the reason, bucko. The people on this site really aren't lying when they complain about the strong English bias. I would close out this review by reflecting on my experience and ruminating on the journey ahead, but I actually know what's in store for me, at least as far as the next 30 or so albums go. In Utero is two albums away. I vowed to give Nevermind a relisten when I got to the next Nirvana album, though I think I'll pass while I get my backlog in order. Two albums after that is Electric Ladyland. My first Jimi record. I'm curious to hear what one of the most iconic guitarists sounds like. Neon Bible. I listened to Funeral by Arcade Fire in my own time and really did not like that album, though I'm always open to second chances. Revolver. One of the Beatles albums that I'm less enthusiastic about. I'm keen to give it another evaluation. Paranoid by Black Sabbath. My second Elvis Costello album. A whole lot of nothing. Looking forward to it.

I've made peace with the fact that I will never be able to appreciate hip-hop for as long as I live, though I do have somewhat of a respect for the 90s stuff. My passing impression of contemporary hip-hop and it's adjacent genres has been that both styles of music are very feminised and neutered, with there being very little of a semblance to the older stuff beyond the vague notions of hedonism and staunch manliness. Say what I will about this album, but I can respect that it at least has the balls to be outwardly anti-white and homophobic rather than hiding it behind 50-minute psychological, slowburn racially-conscious critiques or whatever. The "skits" that were present on hip-hop albums throughout the 90s and 2000s are interesting to me. I may have mentioned it in one of my other reviews, but I wonder if it's a ploy to establish more of an identity for the artists behind these albums. Hip-hop artists seem to have a very ephemeral appeal, with most noteworthy artists having one big, critically-acclaimed album to their name and nothing else. If I'm to give one bit of praise to this album, it would be that the instrumentals are competent on the whole. Very threadbare and unambitious, but I could appreciate most of them.

Nirvana's third outing and apparently their best depending on which music-rating site you consult. I didn't know this album even existed until I encountered it on this website, so I'm glad to be getting some long-overdue cultural enrichment. I started to appreciate this album more during the tail-end of my second listen. The aggressive, rough sound is something I'm undecided on whether I like, though there's a subtlety to the tamer parts of the instrumentation and lyrics that I do like. I know I need to give this a deeper listen sometime in the future, but I don't have the time at the moment. When I finally get recommended the live album I'm going to have a Nirvanaganza, where I will relisten to this album along with Nevermind in one last hurrah. I have no strong feelings about grunge, but there's something about this band that I feel like I have the potential to appreciate. I like "Heart-Shaped Box". One song I like is all I need to warm up to a full album sometimes. With this album I have successfully listened to 66% of Nirvana's main discography. I wonder if another artist has an equivalent percentage of their discography on this list. The Beatles have a respectable 58% of their albums on the list. Radiohead actually has them tied, with 66% of their discography also being on this list. Many of the artists with the most albums on the list have gigantic discographies, so I think we may have a Radiohead/Nirvana stalemate.

More Creedence Clearwater. I don't actually remember anything about the last album despite "Bayou Country" only being 15 albums prior to this one. If Bayou Country was anything like Cosmo's Factory, then I think I may have been sorely mistaken with my impression of this band. Quite a pleasant listen. Some good vocal performances, songwriting and instrumentals. This album is a lot more melodic and cohesive than I'm used to with rock albums, which is far from a complaint. There's nothing on here that really grips me or breaks the mould, but there's a virtue in simply being competent and enjoyable sometimes. I have one more album of Creedence's to get through now that this one is behind me. If I like that one as well, then I think I might check out this band's full discography, which is surprisingly quite short. I was prepared to have a conniption over "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and it's scandalously long runtime for a mainstream rock album, but it was surprisingly quite good. Glowing praise from the vicious, number one hater of "long songs". The time has come for the eternal question. I liked pretty much every second of this album, but I'm not crazy enough about it to give Cosmo's Factory a 4/5 under normal circumstances. Go forth, coin of indecision. Make my choices for me. Heads. Man, this thing really really wants me to bust out a 4 for every album I'm undecided on. Maybe the forces of the universe are trying to counterbalance my miserablebitchitis and make me like things for a change.

First "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..." and now this... I am being properly bent over by the 1001albumsgenerator when it comes to hour+ albums. FUCK. Alright guys, I'm. I give up. I don't know when I'll review again. I really need to catch up on my 32 album backlog. I really wanted to exist in the present with the 1001albumsgenerator community. I've wanted it so fucking bad. *dog whimper* I just can't do it. I can't TAKE this shit no more, man. All I wanted to do was like I was fucking music-deprived I wanted to fucking put on some music have a good time have a good listen. I hate my life. I was curious to give this one a listen. I've heard good things about Jimi Hendrix, though I don't think I've heard a single song of his in my life despite being a big enthusiast of rock music. I'll chalk it up to him having a shockingly small discography for an artist of his stature and belonging to a decade of music that I don't really care for. I have to admit that I am getting off on the wrong foot with Jimi. I can only think of one hour-long album that I have viewed favourably in the past. It's already impossibly hard to make a single good song as is. The odds of compiling multiple good songs into a cohesive, collective body of music is infinitesimally small and the odds of those good songs making it onto a good hour-long album is pretty much never going to happen. I value brevity, which is what I'm trying to get at in the most unconcise possible fashion. I have been listening to this man for 57 minutes now and I don't really have a feel for his musical style or how he earns the "greatest guitarist of all time moniker". It all just blends together for me between all of the instrumentals that start out cool, intensify, then peel back in order to allow for Jimi's vocals to butt in. His compositions are very reminiscent of 50s/60s jazz, which is something I can understand the broad appeal of, but does not appeal to me as a general manager of disliking jazz music. The guitar performances are very confident, though they're far too subdued for my liking Because this album is so fockinggg long, I have taken to the lab in order to quantify the objective, perfect duration for an album across 14 releases that I hold up as favourites. The longest album on my list was an hour and 14 minutes, whereas the shortest was 33 minutes. The objective, scientifically perfect runtime for an album is 48 minutes and 57 seconds. Not far off from the hour mark, but it matters because it just does... Okay? I didn't notice until the last three tracks that I had been listening to this album entirely though my left ear - my other earbud died on me. Whoops. Uh, I'm not listening to this one again. Sozzo, Jimi. I will make sure my earbuds are fully charged and geared for music consumption when the next album rolls around. Those last three songs were a lot more engaging than the ones I listened to in left-ear mode.

Arcade Fire! I've actually listened to these guys before. I gave Funeral a try because last.fm said it was relevant to my interests, though I found the irreverent, "epic" atmosphere of that album to be pretty off-putting and frustrating - particularly the constant use of backing vocals and a very slow, plodding pace. This album is much more toned-down by comparison and way more listenable in my eyes (ears?). Some of the lyrics worked for me. Same goes for the instrumentals. I liked the more traditional instruments (particularly the acoustic guitar), but I found the background ambience and "fuzzy sound" that is on a lot of these tracks to be pretty alienating. I'm confident that I will never return to this album, but I can appreciate this album for what it is. I've heard that Arcade Fire are influential in the space of contemporary pop, which I can see. The huge, thundering instrumentals and alternative, hipster-y lyrics are definitely present in today's music. I wish I could consult the book entry to see what caused this album to make it in, but alas. I have the 2005 edition.

A reprieve album? Just 5 albums after the last one? In this economy? I guess I can take another day off. I ain't complaining. Quite an interesting album. I haven't listened to enough country to have an informed opinion on the genre, but I've always pinned country music as being an "island" in the music industry. The sonic stylings and themes of country music are largely confined to their niche and rarely spill over into other genres of music (that is, until recently with the increasing overlap between country and pop songwriting conventions). I've also always pinned country music listeners as being a walled-off community, with fans of the genre primarily listening to country and little else. All this to say that I think it's interesting that a country album has been merged with what I can only describe as a "downtempo" sound. It's takes itself very slowly, has a layered sound and is generally reliant on percussion. Yet, in contrast to the cold, electronic sound of downtempo this album is very warm and meditative - a marked shift from the music that I am used to. Vocal performances are a big point of contention for me on this site. There's rarely any that I enjoy, though I can proudly say that Emmylou nails it on this album. There's an impressive display of range and tone across all of the songs on Red Dirt Girl. It's very pleasing and well in line with the homely, warm sound of the album. While I liked this album the entire way through, I can confidently give this a 3/5 - no coin of indecision necessary. This is a looooong, loooooooooooong album. While there are some varied and dynamic compositions, this album is also very samey in a lot of respects. Despite feeling like I've listened to all of her discography with this one album, I've added Emmylou Harris to my list of artists to check out sometime. I'm not rushing to give her a deeper dive, but I'm looking forward to seeing where the road takes me

First ever Sinatra album. I am in no way familiar with the works of Frank Sinatra, though if I'm not mistaken a bossa nova album is outside of his usual wheelhouse. I'm familiar with Antonio Jobim through his song "Aguas de Marco", which I view favourably. I have a good understanding of how this album will sound, but I have no idea of how it will be sung. I'm not sure how I feel about this pairing. Sinatra's vocals are effective on some songs (The Girl From Ipanema), but on others he sounds lethargic and bored (Dindi, Once I Loved). This isn't to say that Sinatra is a bad vocalist. He has a very attention-grabbing voice, which I think runs parallel to the strengths of bossa nova. When I listen to a bossa nova album I want to fall into the atmosphere and mood of these albums, which often means I tune out the vocals in favour of the music itself. Instrumentally, this album is quite good. There are tons of great string sections and there's nothing more naturally appealing than the strum of those bossa nova guitars. The instrumentals are quite samey on the whole, though it's not like the 28-minute runtime causes them to overstay their welcome. Wait, 28 minutes?????? This cheeky Sinatra bastard thought he could pull a fast one on me. Maybe it's just me, but I think an album has to be more substantial than 28 minutes in order to qualify for the list. That length falls into EP territory.

My Mum likes this album. It's nice to have another point of commonality. The vocal performances on this album are very good across the board. Same goes for the pop songwriting. The instrumentals are where this album becomes more polarising. I appreciate the addition of instruments such as the pan flute, though I didn't think the piano instrumentals were varied or interesting enough to carry the full album. While I do appreciate this album for being a pleasant listen I don't really have much of an opinion on it beyond just being a good time.

Revolver! I've listened to this album before, so I don't need to enact the mandatory two-listen policy. Glad to finally be cut a break. I have somewhat of a history with this album. I first listened to it around 4 years ago as the second album in my Beatles odyssey. I didn't like it and my effort at getting into their discography ended prematurely with this album. I also used to really dislike this album cover for whatever reason, though I've recently come around to it. It's quite good. This is where the Beatles really clicked with a lot of listeners and established themselves as an innovative, critically acclaimed act. To be honest, I greatly prefer their previous venture with the tried and true, rock solid approach of Rubber Soul. There's a lot of experimentation with the sound of Revolver that I appreciate, but doesn't really appeal to me in any way. On the whole, this album is solid. There are no break out songs that really stand above the best of their later output, though Taxman and She Said She Said are songs that I return to on occasion. I won't lie - Love You To and Tomorrow Never Knows are polarisers. I do not understand that fascination that The Beatles had with Indian spirituality. Indian music is also a category of music that I'm confident will yield zero songs that I like should I ever explore it. I dread the six (?) Indian albums that are on this list. Every weekday I play a game of Indian roulette where the odds of the inevitable only get nearer. My current odds are 1 in 159, or a 0.6% chance of drawing a blank.

Pretty good. I knew I'd like this album because of the sweet jacket that Al is wearing on the front cover. I never looked twice at soul music prior to working my way through this list, though this album managed to catch my eye. "Let's Stay Together" is a lot more percussion-heavy than I remember some of the other soul albums on this being, which makes it a lot easier for me to slip into the relaxed sound of the album. There are some very good string sections on this album as well, which I am always favourable to. "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" is especially good because of this. It's always a strange feeling to encounter the songs on this list that I'm aware of, but have no knowledge of their background. In this case, it's Let's Stay Together, which is easily my favourite song on the album. "Judy" is another song I like - particularly for whatever instrument appears at the beginning of the song. That section in particular reminds me a great deal of "A Wizard / A True Star" which I am, once again, mentioning. Past me shall forever stand in the court of my disapproval for daring to rate that album a 3/5. I'm tempted to add this guy to my "list of artists to check out" - even more so because this is the only album of his on the list. Apparently it was only up from here for Al Green. I've been adding way too many people to that list lately, so I'll see how I feel in a few weeks.

I humbly propose a new category of album to myself and anyone reading this, that of the "nowhere" album - any album that makes me check my fully legal, authorised, signed PDF copy of the 1001 albums book. I have no idea how this album made it onto the list or what I'm doing here, but where to go but with the flow? It's a good time. The guitar performances are distinctive and there's a strong case that can be made for the inclusion of lo-fi acoustic albums on this list. It's much easier for me to fall into the atmosphere of these albums, as they almost demand that you imagine yourself listening to them in-person. I can perceive the cozy, fire-lit room I am sitting in while listening to this music with a group of barely-illuminated strangers. Bert sits in front of the fireplace, the dim light bouncing off his dark silhouette and the sounds of his voice reverberating throughout the house during the louder parts. What a wonderful memory I will never have. My chief complaint with this album is how mentally exhausting it is. This album felt way longer than 38 minutes, which I chalk up with to having to engage with 15 different tracks - many of which sound identical to one another. Okay, let's have a lookee at what the book says. A mix of folk, blues and jazz. Lo-fi, amateurish production. Sold for cheap to a fledgling record company and managed to become a surprise success. Influential among other artists of the time. Certainly a bigger rap sheet than some of the other albums on this list, though I, an individual of esteemed taste, must object to the induction of such an album into the list. There are surely more pleasing acoustic/folk albums out there than this one.

An album that I happen to hold in very high esteem has an album cover with a large purple border surrounding a landscape image in the lower half of the album cover. This one could be promising (I am an ultra srs critic with ultra srs, objective reviews btw) The vocals are a very strange inbetween for me. They're at a crossroads between being pleasing and being obnoxious. Same goes for the instrumentals. There are moments that are competent and polished (the guitars on Adventures Close To Home) and other moments that are annoying just as regularly (the spoon-tossing on Newtown). Strangely, the songs on the album that lean more into the reggae/dub influence are a better listen to me than some of the more punky tunes. A lot less screaming and a lot more time for me to pause and catch my breath. The album held my attention for the entirety of it's runtime and I respect the ambition, which are the chief reasons for why I am giving this album with a gracious 3/5. This album also beautifully, poetically ended at the exact moment where I was beginning to feel fed up of it. I applaud these mud-caked vixens for reading my brainwaves and conveniently ending things on a good note. Almost 50 years after the release of the album, no less.

Time for a reappraisal. It's been a little over 100 albums since the last collection of tunes from Black Sabbath, with this album apparently being the last of theirs on the list. I remember disliking Vol. 4 for reasons that I may or may not currently agree with, though I don't actually recall having any opinions on their debut album. Fortunately, I've received word from my assistant that I do, in fact, like the title track of this album. We'll see where that takes us. Uhh. Not far. There's something deeply unappealing about the guitar performances of Black Sabbath that make it hard for me to get into their albums. There's a lot of "crust" on em, which is to say that they lack any bass and are completely blown out. The sheer amount of dead air on this album is staggering. "Hand of Doom" starts out promising with a cool bassline, but quickly devolves into the guitars that I find oh-so polarising. The track anticlimatically returns to the beginning of the song as if nothing happened, which didn't do much to win my favour, either. I also can't say that the long, annoying, pace-killing drum solos on "Rat Salad" appealed to me. On the bright side, the first half of this album is markedly better. I enjoyed the more melodic approach of "War Pigs", even if the song is way too bloated for it's own good. The aforementioned "Paranoid" is the highlight of the album. It's carried by a very good central guitar hook and is refreshingly concise. It's the kind of song I envision when I think of the "hardcore" appeal of metal, which is why I'm always disillusioned by how bloated and meandering metal albums wind up being. "Planet Caravan" is also pretty cool. I like the atmospheric, "spacy" sound, which I haven't really heard on other metal albums. I can finally concede to the fact that Ozzy Osbourne is a good vocalist. I remember feeling mixed and underwhelmed across the previous albums, though I can see how his voice and range is well-suited to this style of music. Adios, Black Sabbath. That being said, I may revisit this band in the future if I ever find the time to do a metal binge. I'm favourable to metal when it is intersected with other genres of music, though I've really struggled to find it appealing on it's own. The genre may grow on me if I expose myself to more of it.

The version of this album that I listened to had the track listing reversed and the first two tracks on the normal release absent for whatever reason. I listen to every gol-darn album on this list twice, with me jumping in at the second half of the album and rolling over to the first on my second listen. Nice of this album to do that job for me on the first listen, I guess. I'm not sure how I feel about this one. There's a virtue in being safe sometimes and as someone with an immense, soulcrushing backlog of albums to get through I appreciate the brevity. That being said, there's something deeply sterile about this album that makes it difficult for it to hold my attention. I blame the organ. It's cool in short bursts, though I don't think you can get an album's-worth of mileage out of it, especially when you're delving into organ solo territory. Something about the organ just sounds nauseating to me the more I'm exposed to it, like it's out of key or something. I don't think there's enough of a transformative element to the songs that are covered on this album either, though I admittedly have no familiarity with the original iterations. I need to check the book in on this one. "Booker T. and the M.G.s" is a band name that is vaguely familiar, so I shant classify this as a "nowhere album". Let's see. One of the rare instrumental albums to hit it big. Umm. A whole lot of nothing. 🚨EEEEEEEEEEE🚨 I am officially disqualifying this album from inclusion in the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die book. This is a red-alert situation. Grab your nearest white out and cover up this entry in your copy of the book NOW, as did I with my computer screen I don't actually know id I am typign sthis shit correctly can i gaet anonscreen nattator in here some thing it's too tark in the basement to see whether i;'m hitting the keys correctily

Won't you come out to play? We're ending a lot of multi-album artist sagas lately. Last ABBA album. Last Nirvana album (I don't think the yet-to-be-listened-to live album counts). Last Black Sabbath album and now the last TV on the Radio album. I don't recall much of Blood-Thirsty Babes. I remember it being very vocals-focused, which was damning to me as I didn't like the style of the singer. Will Dear Science (greet the brand new day) do much to assuage my doubts of this band? NnnnnNNNNNNNnnnnnn-Yes, actually! There's a surprising level of ambition to Dear Science (open up your eyes). The songs are intricate, layered and feature a wide array of instruments/electronic tones. "Shout Me Out" is a good example of this. It's constantly building on itself and is carried towards a great climax thanks to some pretty good songwriting. "Family Tree" is also good, but in a more subdued, sentimental sense. The string section at the end was particularly sublime, though I also liked the quieter, more emotional vocals. Despite being strong overall, the ambition of this album can be a double-edged sword. "DLZ" is a good example of a song where I thought too much was going on, making it difficult for me to a get a hold on whether I liked it. Other songs were completely dead on arrival due to lacking instruments that I cared for - most notably "Lover's Day", which I thought was a bit of a cacophonous mess. I'm currently undecided on Tunde's vocals. They're better than I remember them being, though there are only a handful of performances that inspire me. The same can be said about the album itself, really. It's about as much of a hit as it is a miss. Granted, the songs that do hit manage to land quite well and all I need to come around to a full album is one song that I like. I'll see how I feel about a relisten later down the line. For the time being, I am satisfied.

Another hour-longer? Fuck my fucking shitty musiccel life https://youtu.be/Hqaa4VY4v9o The Kuti lineage is in poor standing with me. Back in January I listened to "Live" by Fela Kuti, an album I ostensibly did not like. I considered it the worst album that I had or would ever receive from the list because of the general animosity that I held towards live albums, jazz albums (I guess it didn't really qualify) and longform music. That being said, I don't actually remember anything about the music itself. Preamblepreamblepreamble. Did I like this album? Uhh, yeah. The brass sections were very strong and not at all what I was expecting from something "exotic" and "ethnic". I also like the two kinds of percussion on this album, whatever instruments they may be. Femi Kuti is a good vocalist/songwriter and the backing vocalists did a surprising amount of heavy lifting. My problem comes from the fact that this album and it's songs are too fockingGUGGUGUDGGGgggg long. I wasn't just twiddling my thumbs with this one. I was quantifying new, expert techniques of twiddling that will no doubt revolutionise the twiddlympics once they roll around.

A completely rude awakening with this album. After Aha Shake Heartbreak I had become complacent with the idea that Kings of Leon were some nobody indie band that this book was intent on overrepresenting. Needless to say, I was shocked after being unwittingly smacked over the head with TWO hit songs back-to-back. Then, once I was crawling along the ground in desperate search of bandages this cheeky fucker decided to bust out one more. This album is listenable, but belongs to the lower echelon of listenable. It's the kind of album where I would give it's jewel case a long, discerning, slightly disapproving stare were I to hold it in my hands. I generally appreciate the lively tracks, though the subdued, pensive tracks are a mixed bag. They're good instrumentally, but are much more reliant on the vocals, which I am undecided on the quality of.

Okay, what is wrong with my reprieve album radar? I made the scientifically-backed, Nobel Peace Prize-winning claim that I, on average, get recommended an album which is easy to listen to once every 20 albums. However, I am now getting them once every... 10 albums. That's not as bad as I thought. I have so many albums in my backlog that it feels like these albums are way more common than they actually are. Nice album. I can't really ask for more than that when I'm contractually obligated to hear over 1000 of these doohickeys. This is also the only reprieve album to date that is reprieving to write about, as I don't have much to say about it. It's more of the same with every track and that same is fortunately pretty good. "Don't Know Why" is the only exception to the norm, as that track edges into very good territory. Norah Jones' voice is silky smooth and is paired well with those wonderfully intimate, longing instrumentals. I'm curious to see why this album is in the book - let's see. Sold well. Blend of Folk and Jazz. That's all you need sometimes. I won't knock the inclusion. I have about 20 minutes left on this baby, so I'm going to take it easy it the tub. Yes, I occasionally write these reviews while I'm taking a bath. The 1001 albums book describes this album as a "beautiful bubblebath of an album", so you're the weird one, actually.

Jeff Buckley is a vaguely familiar name. I definitely know of him, though I'm not sure from what. This album is vaguely within the style of music that I enjoy, yet something feels off. Jeff Buckley's voice is a polariser. I appreciate some of his more operatic showings (particularly on Corpus Christi Carol), though his performances on the more conventional 90s rock tracks do not move me. I can admit that his willingness to alternate between cool and "pretty" (I can't think of a better descriptor I am not GAY I do not find men attractive) vocals is a very ballsy move for a 90s rock album. They rarely move me and I think they make the songs too "busy" and unfocused, though I do respect them. The cover of Hallelujah is nice, even if the song kinda dicks around at the end. I'm surprised the album that the song originates from isn't on this list. Maybe Leonard Cohen really bombed with the remaining tracks on Various Positions. The instrumentation on this album is simultaneously too much and too little. I like the atmospheric, laid back tunes about as much as the lively, active ones, though I think they're bogged down by how long they are. There also isn't anything on this album that I haven't heard in other, superior 90s rock albums. The album sounds like three different genres of rock that are trying to assert dominance over one another. It alternates too much and I was left with a bad taste in the back of my mouth by the end of the album.

Nowhere album! Nowhere album! We got another one. I have absolutely no idea why this album is on the list and have never heard an utterance of "The Electric prunes" in my life. I actually couldn't find this album at first because it's on streaming under the title "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)". Is this a hidden oasis of good music? Not really. The instrumentals are very of their time, though there are moments that manage to break the mold. I enjoyed the psychedelic influence on this album. The rippling sound of "Onie" is very appealing, and a continuing reminder that I need to check out more psychedelic albums. The vocals are a bit of a mixed bag. There are many times where they fail to grab me likely due to the instrumentals also being hit-or-miss, though there are other times where they managed to work quite well. "About a Quarter to Nine" is the best example of the style of these guys. The quirky, Beatles-esque songwriting also quaint and likeable. Despite there being merit to both aspects of the music and songwriting, something about this album bars it from really coming together in my eyes. It's all very "moderate" and isn't guided by a strong creative vision, which is what I like most in art. Let's take a lookee through the book. This isn't a UK act? Never would have guessed. The band got a record deal through pure chance. I Had Too Much to Dream was a successful single. The album was moderately successful. They were influential on early garage rock acts. 🚨EEEEEEEEEEE🚨 I am disbarring this album from inclusion on the list. It's not a popular album in current year and it isn't much of a good listen, either. Take notes, Dimery.

It's sad. I've listened to so many albums on this list, yet I feel no closer to being an authority on music. I remember nothing about the last Springsteen album and would have nothing to say about this artist were he ever brought up in a conversation. I need to find a way to rid my brain of all the useless shit floating up there so I can start making room for the things that really matter in life. I'm talking mild to severe brain damage. The small town, desolate setting of the album is very compelling and something I would like to return to in the future. "Narrative songs" are a kind of song that I sought out the most when I was initially getting into music, so I already have an appreciation for songs of this variety. Springsteen is a talented vocalist, though it comes with a catch. The way country songs are sung is very alienating and inaccessible to me. The pacing is generally very slow and the vocals are accented in a way that is somewhat difficult for me to follow. Once I'm lost, it's very difficult for me to regain my footing with these albums. The instrumentals are very humbling and nice. While the album was unrelentingly tragic and bleak, the delicate instrumentals convey a feeling of light at the end of the tunnel, or perhaps to emphasise the fragility of the characters these songs are centered around. The harmonica doesn't really work for me in country, though it's a staple of the genre and something I can respect. I'm going to give this album a 4, though mentally it is sat at a very comfortably 3. Hopefully I can make my way out of the backlog hole I have dug for myself, as I really would like to revisit this one.

"This sounds like Pikmin 2!!!!!! Epic underground dandorium moment or however the pokos are acquired" - My stupid ass prior to fathoming the full extent of "Broken Witch" Hmm. Hmmmmmmmm. HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. No sir, I don't like it. I have a penchant for weird, unorthodox, wackadoo bullshit and this is some truly weird, unorthodox, wackadoo bullshit. By all means I should like this. Experimental rock has been good before and the way this album samples sounds is endlessly creative (especially in the case of "Read the Book That Wrote Itself"). I like the mystical/folklore element and the lyrics are stupid in an endearing way. These elements are good on their own, though they don't come together into something that I can confidently say I like. My favourite tracks were "Broken Witch" and "There's Always Room on the Broom". Many of the tracks are limited by how minimal and repetitious the music is when you strip away the reverberating, blown out instrumentals, though these two tracks are surprisingly quite dynamic. The bird songs at the end of "Flow My Tears..." was a very clever way of closing out the album. I'm surprised other "nocturnal" albums haven't used a similar technique as it provides a very satisfying sense of closure. The nightmares are over. This album belongs in the book purely for how strange and out there it is - stick the kooky witch bitches on anyone that disagrees. That being said, I'm curious as to why. Let's have a looksee. Fearful and alienating. The band smoked a lot of weed. Dense and doomy. Not popular in the US, but better received in Europe. Yeah, about what I was expecting. That one squeaky, electronic loop on "They Took 14 for the Rest of Our Lives" was definitely sampled from "The Fucked Jam" by Ween. There's no way

It alright. Can't complain. Uhhhh, yeah. I've been sat here, arms folded in true music critic fashion for the past 10 minutes and the above word are the only ones that I have been able to muster. I'm not sure how I'd categorise this album, which makes it difficult for me to compare and understand it's strengths. I may be way off in my appraisal of this album, though the latter half strikes me as a halfway home between jazz and bossa nova, whereas the first half is more of a big band affair. Not sure if this combination was a popular genre of music during the 50s or if I'm even on the money at all, though I can't deny that this style of this music is distinctive and iconic. There are many great string sections in here, which is the aspect of this album that wins me over the most. The brass sections are also quite good. Ray Charles is a good songwriter and an equally skilled vocalist. I appreciate and respect this album for what it is without being crazy over it.

My computer darn done crashed on me when I was just about finished reviewing this album oh my fockinggg gorshhhhhh :v I put a curse upon this darn website for not having an auto-save Second album in the bleak and sordid Costellothon. I am now 33% of my way through the mind of this exceptional individual It's pretty good. I don't remember what the vocal performances were like on "This Year's Model", though I quite enjoy how they sound here. They're very confident and are heightened by the cool swagger that Costello has when belting out the verses. The songwriting is also quite clever, which is something I remember from This Year's Model. I like the sardonic, humourous style. The Instrumentals are mixed bag. There isn't much on this album that breaks the mold of music from the time, though it does have it's moments. I like the guitar hooks on "Miracle Man" and the dub influence on "Watching the Detectives" is pretty good as well. This album has "Alison", which is a track that I'm actually familiar with. Me pappy used to play it on the car stereo all the time, though I had no idea the song was by Costello. I enjoy being jumpscared by music that I recognise just as much as I dislike it in the "we're really doing this, are we?" kind of way. It's a great song and embodies the best qualities of this album. Fantastic songwriting, a great vocal performance and a distinct instrumental of high quality. My main criticism is that it's very fatiguing for a 36-minute album. I had pretty much checked out by the time that the second half of the album rolled around. The high-energy sound is fun in short bursts, but I value having a little bit of downtime in albums. The album cover/title is great for a debut work - I dig the confidence. I'm not very familiar with Costello as a person or artist, though I quite enjoy the exuberant, dorky persona that he has.

Literally who? Sorry, don't mind me. I'm just going through the motions at this point. I need to preface this review with a reading of the 1001 Albums book as I am the natural predator of 80s music. As a man blessed with a patrician's taste in music, these dolled up, shemale-wigged glam rockers quiver in fear at the visage of my shapely, well-rounded form, bold placement of stubble and sumptuous, lady-pleasing choices in headwear. Okay, let's see. Axl Rose liked them. Theatrical live performances. Precursor to hair metal. Charted at 87 on the British charts. That's it. Fortunately, this album has an important caveat, which is that it's Finnish. This may very well be the only Finlandian album on the list, which I respect as this is my first-ever exposure to the wonderful country of Finland through music and I think this list could generally do with some more "world" albums. There are some good choices in here. I like the melodies of "Malibu Beach Nightmare" and "Back to Mystery City". The "dark" sound in the background of "Tooting Bec Wreck" is also very good. However, something important is missing from these songs that ultimately makes them feel hollow. The vocals have no bite for this style of music and the lyrics/vocals leave a bad taste in my mouth. That's all I have to say, really. It's just vaguely offputting. Maybe I shouldn't have skipped 80s album leg day as this decade is definitely an oversight in my ability to critique music.

Another metal album. This one is much closer to what I'm after - some thumping percussion and and a ready supply of mile-a-minute guitar performances. There's a simple pleasure to this kind of music, though I think the musical stylings of metal make the genre very deeply restrictive. From the plebian ears of a non-metal enthusiast every song on here sounds exactly the same to me. Still, I can hardly complain about an album that is 29 minutes in length. The vocal performances on this album are very hard for me to follow at points - especially during the second half. Kinda disappointing as I appreciate the campy, gothic, medieval themes of metal.