I've never really heard anything aside from Springsteen's hits, so this is my first full album of his. And honestly... I enjoyed a lot of it! In full honesty, I am grading this album on a bit of a curve, because it's a "9/11 album", and unlike all of the other jingoistic, bloodthirsty, and sometimes flat-out racist art that came out after 9/11, this album takes a wholly different approach. There's not a hint of revenge or anger on this album - its key themes are loss, grief, resilience, and strength through community. The title track and closer are flat-out gorgeous, especially when taken in that context. There are some very weak tracks in the middle section of the album, but I think as a whole work... this album needed to be made, and it does what it was made to do. 4 stars.

I actually kinda liked this for the most part. Liked, not loved. Thought the instrumentals and vocals on most were pretty energetic and talented, though there were some tracks on the back half of the album that I did not like. “Its matter was fecal in origin” is a cringe line. 3 stars.

Had not listened to more than 1-2 songs by the Temptations before, but very pleasantly surprised by this one! Super funky.

Side A is classic Neil Young folk rock, great acoustic strumming and lyrics. Side B is more alive-sounding, with full band backing and distorted guitars. A fun listen front to back.

ZEPPELIN FOURRRRRRRR

There are some bangers on here but they’re balanced out by some incredibly corny songs and some straight-up bad ones. Hard to deny their influence, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Bangers. Liked this a lot more than their output from the last ten years.

Side A has a banger, a banger, a snoozer, and a BANGER. Side B starts hot with the title track and then is just okay after that. Overall, well-made disco and R&B, and "Thinking of You" is one of my favorite tracks I've discovered since the start of this challenge.

Awesome guitar work, Eruption is sick, Really Got Me Now is a great cover, Jamie’s Cryin’ is classic, just incredibly solid all the way through. 4.5 leaning 5.

Gorgeous and moving jazz piano performance, spanning the full range of human emotion, and flaunting Jarrett's tremendous ability to find and build on simple melodies. Adventurous, but also incredibly accessible. The story behind this album makes it even more impressive.

Stop is fast-paced and super fun, ditto to Been Caught Stealing, and Three Days is very impressive and proggy. None of the other songs really stood out to me as particularly great or bad. Solid 4.

Listen 1: had to stop after some whack misogynistic bars in My Name Is. Listen 2: had to stop after Em encourages Dr. Dre to rape someone in track 3. Horrible, unlistenable, if you were a parent back then and you let your kid listen to this you FAILED.

Surprisingly fun for how raw, dark, and abrasive the content is. There are some crazy guitar riffs on Passing Complexion and Kerosene, and tracks like Big Money, Fists of Love, Bazooka Joe, and Cables also had me surprisingly nodding along. Too abrasive to put in the rotation, but a very solid 3.5.

Fun! Didn’t know this AM orchestral side project even existed, but the instrumentals are great and I’m a fan of Alex’s earlier vocal delivery. The Meeting Place was a standout for me.

Daring, dramatic, at times campy and at others stunningly gorgeous. There are moments when the camp turns into cringe and their are others were the ingredients just don't quite work, but I appreciate that Ackles went for something a bit different here. Love's Enough, One Night Stand, Another Friday Night, and Montana Song were real standouts for me.

I alternated between "wait this is kinda cool" and "they're losing me now" so many times that it made me dizzy. First track is great, My Doorbell is fun, Little Ghost has a fake country accent. Definition of a 3-star album.

Been meaning to give this and its successor a listen for a while. I love the dense, orchestral arrangements and dramatic mood, and like that it stuck to more accessible melodies and structures while still being pretty out-there in style and production. 4.5 leaning 5.

Perfect storm for me: evocative lyrics, full and warm production, virtuosic slide guitar performances, and George’s vocals, which I have always been a huge fan of. I was fully engrossed the whole way through. Easy 5!

Really dug the production on this. It sounds kind of like a sound demo at times but honestly… kinda works for me. Singers voice isn’t anything special and the songwriting is bleh but, the production makes it a 3.5 leaning 4.

I actually kinda liked this for the most part. Liked, not loved. Thought the instrumentals and vocals on most were pretty energetic and talented, though there were some tracks on the back half of the album that I did not like. “Its matter was fecal in origin” is a cringe line. 3 stars.

Absolutely loved this. Every song is a different flavor of country-tinged alt rock, all perfectly executed, from the noisy opener, to the Stones-sounding “Monday”, as well as several great ballads. 5/5 all day!

Just jams all the way through - not a single song I didn't enjoy, and Green River, Bad Moon Rising, and Lodi are all A+ material.

I actually liked this quite a bit. I really liked the reverby, jangly vibe on songs like Words, NY, and the closer. I also really liked the woodwinds on Friday's Dust. A little long for sure, and half of the material wasn't memorable, but the upbeat stuff was great.

Win Butler is a bad person! Ok, with that out of the way… As is typically the case with hour-plus length albums, there is some material here that should have been cut. The entire middle portion of this album is pretty bleh. However, this album starts and finishes incredibly strong, with the first three and last four songs really sticking in my head after finishing. The band absolutely nails the mood that it’s going for, as this album drips front to back with a feeling of claustrophobic anxiety and dissatisfaction. And while I’m not well-versed enough in the music of the time to know how groundbreaking their sound was, I picked up on a lot of things that would later be expanded on by 2010s indie rock acts like Awolnation. (This has the knock-on effect of making this album sound quite dated.) Overall, a very good work that needed trimming to be truly great. 4 stars.

A collection of Johnny Cash's hits, along with some lesser-known and new numbers, all played well. But the thing that makes this a special listening experience isn't the music, obviously - it's the way Cash was able to cast a spell over a room full of society's roughest, to both commiserate with them (he's genuinely hilarious here) and to make them forget about their troubles for a while. A special night with a special man. Easy 5.

Crazy

Incredibly catchy and danceable pop with funk/disco stylings. The title track and Father Figure are absolute peak 80s pop, while the closer Kissing a Fool is beautifully sung and has a thoughtfully-arranged, melancholy swing feel that just works perfectly. I could absolutely see myself putting this record on when I need a shot of energy in my day.

Love the dreamy, mellow vibe on this thing, and the spacy reverby guitar hooks and keys. The lead singer's voice perfectly complements the instrumentals and the mood. A lot of great songs on here, and I totally get why this band blew up after this now.

This album is grim, horrifying, degrading, uncomfortable to listen to… but god is it so well made. It uses a massive sonic palette to take the listener on a full tour of a mind in trauma, from moments of quietly whispered fear to pounding, screaming rage. The word that comes to my mind is “unflinching” - NIN is unflinching in its portrayal of its horrible yet undeniably real subject matter here. Millions of people have gone, are going, and will go through their own downward spiral. God help them if it’s anything like this.

Catchy and raw, but ultimately not incredibly remarkable industrial/punk music. I can absolutely see how this was groundbreaking for 1980, though. 3.5 leaning 4.

60s soul at its finest - Otis’ voice and energy are incredible, and the track listing is a platinum arrangement of originals and covers of absolute classics. Just awesome.

Liked this a lot! Quality rapping, great production and sample work, really dug the soul-heavy vibe. Kanye’s production credits were great. Never been a big Jay-Z guy but I get the appeal here. A very consistent album with few-to-no low points and lots of highs. I’ve been giving out a lot of 5s lately but… what can I say?

Hated pretty much every moment of this, but it gets a two cause it’s not like - offensively awful.

Really enjoyed listening to this! This LP combines some absolutely stunningly gorgeous orchestral and ambient synth moments with energetic, creative, dark techno sounds (courtesy of Arca, who is perhaps best known for producing on the off-the-wall production showcase Yeezus). The hectic back-and-forth between beautiful/mournful and manic/abrasive moods, along with Bjork's powerful vocals, makes this a compelling breakup album. 5 stars!

Painfully same-y. I’m sure it was inventive for the time, but there’s not even anything all that punk about it. Bleh vocals, simple riffs, bleh bleh bleh. 2.5 rounded up.

Obligatory Kanye is horrible, which means that this will be my only listen-through for this album. With that out of the way. This is an incredibly impressive and fun hip-hop album which samples heavily from soul music while showcasing Kanye’s signature heavy percussion and grand string arrangements. His flows are all great, and I love the ground covered by the lyrics as he moves back and forth between being funny and introspective. Overall I think the album is pretty great, and the fact that it was his solo debut makes it even more impressive. My only quibble is that I do think it’s bloated, with some forgettable tracks and wayyy too many skits. 4.5 leaning 4.

Never heard of this band before, but there were enough interesting songs on here that I feel like they should be better-known than they are. I have to take off a couple stars because there are several real clunkers on here, and one of the singers kinda sounds like Morty and I couldn’t unhear it once I noticed.

Absolutely classic blues/psychedelic rock. The catchy riffs, fat/fuzzy guitar tone, fun organ parts, and killer vocals from Jim Morrison have all aged so well. I want to take off half a star for Whisky Bar making me uncomfy, but the rest of the album is so good that I can forgive it. 5/5.

A very chill, feel-good synth funk record that I could absolutely see myself putting on while working or chilling out. The warm, early 70s analog synth and drum machine sounds are so cozy and well-done. Nothing earth-shattering, but very good music. 4.5 leaning 5.

Absolutely nothing revolutionary happens on this album. This is bar rock, music for people who usually listen to like, Jimmy Buffett but are trying to get wasted and yell along to something. If you approach the album from that angle… it does what it’s trying to do. 3.5 rounded up to 4.

The production on this borders on corny/annoying at points, but I thought it was largely fun and inventive with good energy, and the jittery breakbeats and primitive growls absolutely paved the way for Skrillex and others to popularize dubstep like... seven whole years later. I also enjoyed Dizzee's rap performances, and enjoyed the contrast between the dark/anxious lyrics and the crazy production. 4 stars.

Beautiful soul music with gorgeous arrangements and background vocals, and Burke’s performances are great (though not quite as raw and emotional as someone like Otis Redding). Really enjoyed this! 4.5 leaning 5.

I've never really heard anything aside from Springsteen's hits, so this is my first full album of his. And honestly... I enjoyed a lot of it! In full honesty, I am grading this album on a bit of a curve, because it's a "9/11 album", and unlike all of the other jingoistic, bloodthirsty, and sometimes flat-out racist art that came out after 9/11, this album takes a wholly different approach. There's not a hint of revenge or anger on this album - its key themes are loss, grief, resilience, and strength through community. The title track and closer are flat-out gorgeous, especially when taken in that context. There are some very weak tracks in the middle section of the album, but I think as a whole work... this album needed to be made, and it does what it was made to do. 4 stars.

Fun, jammy soul record from Bowie. Love the sax parts and overall feel. Great, clean, punchy production all over this thing. “Fame” is a great tune. The album as a whole is nothing mind-blowing, but it’s a good introduction to his catalog. 4.5 rounded up to 5.

Song 1 - pretty good! Song 2 - okay! Songs 3 and 4 - needles in my ears! Everything else - boring, melodramatic mush. 2 stars.

This album is really well recorded and features some talented guitar music and vocals that sound like a very good muezzin - which, to be clear, is a compliment, as I've always thought that muezzins sounded really cool. I don't know enough about this style of music to really say much more other than that I enjoyed listening to it, but probably won't listen again.

Cult of Personality melted my face off to start this album. What an incredible opener. This album had lots of other highlights to me - going back through the tracklist I also loved Middle Man, Open Letter, Funny Vibe, Memories Can't Wait, What's Your Favorite Color, and Which Way to America. Just a fun, jammy, funky hard rock album that I really enjoyed the whole way through. 4.5 rounded up to 5.

Very fun, chill, funky rock album. Opening song is a classic, and I enjoyed listening to the whole thing. Basically perfect background work music. Stranger on the Beach sounds like a modern “lofi chill beats” track in the best way. 4 stars.

I absolutely loved this. So dreamy, ethereal, and totally enveloping, with great vocals and guitar hooks. I’m definitely going to have to explore this band further!

Great jams, incredibly solid all the way through, fun lead guitar parts and effects. Not really any songs that I feel the need to go back and listen to, nothing too catchy, but great to put on in the background and nod along to.

Lightning in a bottle album. The energy and pace are absolutely breakneck all the way through, the guitar performances by Tom Morello are incredibly skillful and inventive, and Zack de la Rocha’s powerful, angry, and charismatic vocal performance is the glue holding it all together. 5 stars.

I honestly don’t have a lot of critical thoughts about this one. Like, I enjoyed listening to it. The opener is a great song. There were some silly moments. White reggae? Ok!

Pros: there are some very fun, groovy moments on here. The rythym section brought it! Cons: too fucking weird. And not in a fun interesting way, in like a corny and annoying way. I know this probably hit different in the early 80s, but now it kinda just reminds me of “lolrandom” humor. Also drags in the second half - too long and samey. 2.5 rounded up to 3.

The energy, vocal performances, instrumentals, and variety displayed on this album are all insane. I think this might technically have been my first ever grunge album listen-through - I feel like this one will be tough to beat! Standouts: My Wave, Mailman, title track, Black Hole Sun (obv), Spoonman, Kickstand, and the closer. 5/5.

Rocking and rolling the whole way through, this album was fun and never lost my interest at any point. I think it would have been easy for the Stones after several acclaimed albums to go for something polished and safe, but this album is loose, adventurous, and full of energy. 4.5 rounded up to 5.

First and most importantly, “Time to Pretend”, “Electric Feel”, and “Kids” are three of the best electro-pop songs ever made. These songs soundtracked a lot of my early teenage years, and still hit hard because of my nostalgia and because they’re objectively great, catchy, inventive songs. Unfortunately, the rest of this album fails to live up to its singles. The rest of Side A and the first two tracks of Side B particularly disappoint. The album picks up again in the last three tracks, but it’s still kind of disappointing because of how much better I know they can do. The sheer quality of the singles saves this one as a 4/5.

Primordial heavy metal… cool to hear the predecessors to the style, but this album sounds raw and underdeveloped because it is.

Gorgeous arrangements of two classic tracks in “Walk on By” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”. I especially enjoyed the long setup and slow build on the latter. The other two tracks I was more meh on, but nothing I disliked. 4/5.

Really enjoyed the multi-movement Side A on this thing! Prog rock at its absolute best. I’m surprised I haven’t gotten more into Rush, since I love Moving Pictures and I put the title track of this right up there with anything from that album. Side B was fun to listen to and have on, but nothing on it struck me in quite the way that first side did. I did think the closer was pretty strong. 4/5.

Fun, twangy jam rock. 4.5/5 rounded down.

Actually enjoyed this - nice sample work and relatively minimalistic instrumental choices. Definitely a bit samey, but I worked while listening to this so that was fine by me.

Good but not great, but it can’t reaaaalllyyyy be judged in a vacuum. It doesn’t hold a candle to their later stuff, but this was 1964. This was as good as music got. Great harmonies, very very catchy, Byrds-esque jangly guitars (incidentally, the Wikipedia for this says that this album is actually what inspired the Byrds to commit to a rock sound.) Not one that I’d really come back to, but in context it was a critical step towards what they would do later. 4.5 rounded down.

I’m a poptimist in general and there are JT/NSYNC songs that I do like, but this is just not for me.

Gorgeous voice, great arrangements, nice variety of fast fun songs and slower more emotional ballads. As good as country gets for me! 5/5.

Loved this! Life experiences and perspectives from a feminine perspective that I still don't get enough exposure to, with great vocal performances and set to some really fun production/arrangements. Not lifechanging, but fun music with something to say. 4.5 rounded down to 4.

Incredibly gorgeous. This album seems to have inspired a lot of my favorite modern music with its ethereal, atmospheric, grand compositions that evoke deep feelings. No nits to pick here, very good music! 5/5.

Enjoyed this much more than Surfer Rosa - for me, the cleaner aesthetics balanced with their original energy and weirdness worked much better for me. 4/5.

Fun Bowie and Smiths vibes - album starts and ends strong, but sags in the middle. 4/5.

Very very very good funk, some classics and some great covers on here. 4.5 rounded up.

Loveeee this, love the mood, guitars, and the incredible synth work. This is the first Radiohead album if listened to in full in a while, looking forward to the next one. 5/5.