623
Albums Rated
4.07
Average Rating
57%
Complete
466 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
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Taste Profile
2010s
Favorite Decade
Shoegaze
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Enthusiast
Rater Style ?
191
5-Star Albums
0
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Scott 2
Scott Walker
|
5 | 2.63 | +2.37 |
|
Orbital 2
Orbital
|
5 | 2.7 | +2.3 |
|
Guitar Town
Steve Earle
|
5 | 2.81 | +2.19 |
|
Southern Rock Opera
Drive-By Truckers
|
5 | 2.82 | +2.18 |
|
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
Raekwon
|
5 | 2.86 | +2.14 |
|
A Northern Soul
The Verve
|
5 | 2.91 | +2.09 |
|
Blood And Chocolate
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
|
5 | 2.92 | +2.08 |
|
The Dreaming
Kate Bush
|
5 | 2.96 | +2.04 |
|
Ghosteen
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
|
5 | 2.97 | +2.03 |
|
Will The Circle Be Unbroken
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
|
5 | 2.98 | +2.02 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Marshall Mathers LP
Eminem
|
2 | 3.49 | -1.49 |
|
The Slim Shady LP
Eminem
|
2 | 3.29 | -1.29 |
|
Rid Of Me
PJ Harvey
|
2 | 3.11 | -1.11 |
|
Make Yourself
Incubus
|
2 | 3.07 | -1.07 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| David Bowie | 7 | 4.71 |
| Talking Heads | 4 | 5 |
| Beatles | 6 | 4.5 |
| Radiohead | 4 | 4.75 |
| Led Zeppelin | 4 | 4.75 |
| Bob Dylan | 4 | 4.75 |
| R.E.M. | 3 | 5 |
| Pink Floyd | 3 | 5 |
| Black Sabbath | 3 | 5 |
| Neil Young | 3 | 4.67 |
| Stevie Wonder | 3 | 4.67 |
| Johnny Cash | 3 | 4.67 |
| Bruce Springsteen | 3 | 4.67 |
| The Band | 2 | 5 |
| Wilco | 2 | 5 |
| Van Morrison | 2 | 5 |
| Creedence Clearwater Revival | 2 | 5 |
| Joni Mitchell | 2 | 5 |
| The Verve | 2 | 5 |
| John Lennon | 2 | 5 |
| Nick Drake | 2 | 5 |
| Coldplay | 2 | 5 |
| Nirvana | 2 | 5 |
| A Tribe Called Quest | 2 | 5 |
| Kraftwerk | 2 | 5 |
| The White Stripes | 2 | 5 |
| Arcade Fire | 2 | 5 |
| Beastie Boys | 2 | 5 |
| Jimi Hendrix | 2 | 5 |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 2 | 5 |
| Lou Reed | 2 | 5 |
| Miles Davis | 2 | 5 |
| Elton John | 2 | 5 |
| Elvis Costello & The Attractions | 4 | 4.25 |
| Tom Waits | 4 | 4.25 |
| The Rolling Stones | 3 | 4.33 |
| Peter Gabriel | 3 | 4.33 |
| Steely Dan | 3 | 4.33 |
| Paul Simon | 3 | 4.33 |
| The Who | 5 | 4 |
5-Star Albums (191)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Drive-By Truckers
5/5
I have a lot to say about this album.
It’s the album that I’ve been most excited to see included on this list so far, as I think it’s under appreciated despite its acclaim among those that have listened to it.
If you want to categorize it as such, I think it’s the best “southern rock” album ever made.
I think Drive-By Truckers are one of the best and probably the most criminally under-listened to and underrated American rock bands of all time.
Most of all, I think this album is the most effective work of art I’ve ever seen at articulating the human culture in the southern United States. I grew up (and still live) in the south and at some point I recognized, but couldn’t quite put my finger on, a contrast between what were described as southern values and the actions and behaviors I witnessed and read about in southern history. I was raised in a very conservative home in a very politically and culturally conservative region, and I grew up thinking that the “Bible belt” was the kindest and most hospitable place on earth. Over time, I also witnessed occasional implicit (sometimes explicit) racism and even more frequent homophobia and general intolerance of people that were slightly off from southern norms. I didn’t know how to describe it until I heard Patterson Hood’s words “the duality of the southern thing”. That’s nail meets head into some deep deep shit.
Southern Rock Opera loosely follows the career of Lynyrd Skynyrd, but I think it’s more effective to listen to it as allegory for living in the south. There’s beauty, ugliness, kindness, cruelty, love, hate, wealth, poverty, triumph and tragedy all woven into the southern thing and represented in this album.
It does another important thing: it walks through some of the history of why the south has a reputation for racism while acknowledging an overlooked attribute of the southern thing: not everyone is racist! The Three Great Icons of Alabama is the core of Southern Rock Opera to me, and it tells a story of the social dangers of politician pandering and how they may sell their soul for votes at the expense of the reputation of their people. This is something that has always bothered me in the United States: the south is not the only place where racism (and homophobia, etc.) exists! This doesn’t excuse Jim Crowe and other systemic issues that were more prevalent in the south and perpetuated by politicians by Wallace, but it highlights that at an individual level racism was not siloed on the south: it’s rampant throughout our nation.
Racial issues aren’t the only topic here. This album is full of great stories. Mike Cooley (one of the two criminally underrated songwriters in this band) crushes it on Zip City, a small town tale of a horny teenager weighing prostitution against his girlfriend’s chastity and southern Christian father. Cooley also presents Whisky Without Women, with lyrics that poignantly present the alcoholic’s dilemma:
“You know the bottle ain't to blame and I ain't trying to
It don't make you do a thing it just lets you.”
The other brilliant songwriter in the band, Patterson Hood, puts together most of the story of the southern thing: Ronnie and Neil, Let There Be Rock, Plastic Flowers on the Highway, Greenville to Baton Rouge, and the heart wrenching finale Angels and Fuselage string together the Lynyrd Skynrd story in a brilliant way that’s bigger that the band it focuses on. The last song is about the plane crash that killed most of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, which has these haunting words about those last seconds:
“I’m scared shitless, of what’s coming next and I’m scared shitless, these angels I see in the trees are waiting for me.”
Anyway: this album also ROCKS. Hood and Cooley shred throughout the record with a dueling guitar attack that sounds like 12 guitars at times. The songs are incredibly written too: each song is great as its own story but each also fits into the larger concept presented on the album, an essential element of an album masterpiece. It’s absolutely insane that the band hired a 22 year old Jason Isbell, one of rock’s great current talents and one of the best songwriters in recorded music history, to go on tour to support this album. If you haven’t heard the music of the Drive-By Truckers, listen to their albums Decoration Day, The Dirty South, and American Band as soon as possible, then listen to all their other albums because they’re all good to great. Listen to all of Jason Isbell’s music too if you haven’t yet.
7 likes
Nirvana
5/5
An amazing set, and in my opinion the most interesting Nirvana album (Nevermind and In Utero are both great too). This mostly acoustic performance to me showcases the band’s talents, especially Cobain, as much or more as their studio albums. I prefer these renditions over many of their proper studio counterparts, especially the iconic All Apologies take. They arguably best David Fucking Bowie on The Man Who Sold The World, which should be a big enough endorsement for the record all by itself. It’s also very cool that Nirvana, one of the world’s biggest bands at the time, covered songs from Meat Puppets and Vaseline. The Lead Belly cover is also awesome and introduced Lead Belly to a new generation.
Cobain’s singing is great and his words are able to stand out more clearly in the mix, making it easier to take in his sad, skeptical, brilliantly cryptic lyrics. His vocal performance on Lead Belly’s Where Did You Sleep Last Night is pretty incredible.
It’s not all Kurt though. Novoselic‘s bass sounds great throughout. Dave Grohl adds some nice backing vocals and his restraint on the percussion is noteworthy I think as it shows he understood the assignment. What’s most sad to me is that this showed the world that Nirvana had range that probably could have produced some more amazing music if not for Kurt’s death.
I’m not the biggest grunge or even Nirvana fan (although I do love their albums), but this is an all time great live album.
7 likes
John Prine
5/5
It took me too long to discover John Prine, but I'm glad I became a fan before he died. I'm a big fan of Jason Isbell, who was a good friend of Prine's during his last years, and dug into John after hearing Isbell talk about how much of a songwriting influence Prine was.
Prine's debut is brilliant: incredible songwriting presented with his unique and charming delivery. Every song contains an interesting story, and they're all pulled off with what initially appear simple lyrics that surprise you when they grab your brain and make you think deeply about them.
"There's a hole in daddy's arm where the money goes. Jesus Christ died for nothin', I suppose."
"Blow up your TV"
"Your flag decal won't get you Into Heaven any more."
"We lost Davy in the Korean War
And I still don't know what for
Don't matter anymore"
There are dozens more nuggets like these. You could write a dissertation on the meanings of these lyrics and on why they are so evocative. It really is a masterclass in songwriting.
Prine's genius is most evident on Angel From Montgomery, a beautiful and catchy tune that I probably heard ten times or more before I realized that he wrote it from a woman's perspective (not sure how I missed this... "I am an old woman" isn't exactly cryptic). Just the fact that he's singing this woman's story in the 1st person is thought provoking, but by the end of the song you're no longer thinking about that and more contemplating on your own life and decisions.
Top songs, although they're all good: Illegal Smile, Spanish Pipedream, Sam Stone, Pretty Good, Your Flag Decal Won't Get You into Heaven Anymore, Angel From Montgomery, Donald and Lydia
5 likes
The Birthday Party
4/5
I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did. Early, dark Nick Cave is a very good Nick Cave indeed (just like the other Nick Caves).
It reminds me of Pornography-era cure mixed with 80’s Tom Waits and, well, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It’s not for everyday listening, and it’s not something you’ll put on at an outdoor BBQ party this summer. If you’re disenchanted, pissed off, and/or questioning what this crazy life is all about, it’s probably the soundtrack for that.
2 likes
Talk Talk
4/5
A sweet sounding album from beginning to end. It’s a tad low key and only has a few moments of “whoa”, but it sounds great and the songs are varied while remaining cohesive as a whole. Life’s What You Make It and Living In Another World are the highlights to me.
2 likes
4-Star Albums (296)
All Ratings
King Crimson
5/5
A sublime album I’ve listened to in full 2-3 times before this. I listened to the Expanded and Remaster version on Spotify.
21st Century Schizoid Man is a fantastic psychedelic rocker with apocalyptic lyrics. I Talk to the Wind reminds of Odyssey and Oracle. Epitaph is an epic prog folkish song. Moonchild reminds of early Pink Floyd, it drifts along delightfully in the expanded version but never gets old to me. The title track is one of the best psychedelic era prog tunes ever made.
Overall one of the best albums of the sixties, and one that gets better with each listen.
Air
4/5
I’m certain I’ve listened to this before but don’t remember it. Looking forward to revisiting.
Starts by sounding like the setting music to a cool crime movie. I’m realizing this is like trip-hop music.
Really enjoyed it! I don’t hold it as high as Mezzanine or the first Massive Attack album but it’s very good.
David Bowie
5/5
Love this album. I remember it well as the first Bowie album I listened to in its entirety back when it came out.
It seems to be overshadowed by Blackstar in terms of late career Bowie, but it’s an incredible album with no real weaknesses. Favorite tracks are Where Are We Now? and The Stars (Are Out). I’d Rather Be High is an interesting anti-war song.
It’s a great listen from start to finish. Underrated among Bowie’s catalog, I had it as one of my 10 favorite albums of 2013, an especially strong year for album releases.
Kanye West
5/5
A classic. All Falls Down, Jesus Walks, Slow Jamz, Through the Wire. I love the commentary as well.
Elliott Smith
5/5
ANGELES!
The Band
5/5
Masterpiece. The Weight is on my short list of greatest songs of all time. Tears of Rage, I Shall Be Released
Santana
5/5
I think this is the second time I’ve listened to this album. A brilliant psychedelic/jazzy guitar album with Latin influences. Love the percussion and Santana’s guitar playing is fantastic. As good as any psychedelic album from this era.
Ghostface Killah
4/5
This is the first album in this project that I hadn’t heard previously! I love Ghostface Killah but have mostly just heard his newer stuff and his work with Wu Tang.
This was a great sounding album that I’m sure to revisit.
Gram Parsons
4/5
Second time listening to this record as well. Great soft-rock country music. Certainly one of the top artists that likely has his best auras when he died.
Wilco
5/5
One of my five or so favorite albums of all time and a record that helped shape my taste in great albums. I love every second of it.
The Pogues
4/5
Love the Pogues! I hadn’t listened to this album in full as far as I know. Great collection of songs with a slightly expanded sound from the Sodomy album I’m familiar with.
5/5
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
3/5
I wanted to love it but didn’t. Listened while walking around Epcot , which was cool, but I didn’t vibe well to it. Interesting enough listen though.
Radiohead
4/5
The Clash
4/5
Great first album from a great band. Love I’m So Bored in the USA and White Riot, but the album is a great listen throughout.
3/5
I didn’t love my first listen. It wasn’t at all what I expected but I also didn’t care for the songwriting. The lyrics reminded me of phish.
It was an interesting listen and maybe additional listens are needed to appreciate it, I just don’t want to give it more listens.
4/5
This album is a reminder that psychedelic funk is one of my favorite genres of music. I think I’ve listened to this one time before, but this was a very enjoyable album to revisit.
Low Rider is a song I’ve loved for a long time, but I didn’t know much about War otherwise.
The Young Gods
4/5
Very interesting early industrial French music. I have it two listens and I enjoyed the second thoroughly.
Nightmares On Wax
4/5
A genre of music that I figured out that I love a lot in 2023 is trip hop. I’d listened to one of the more recent Nightmares on Wax albums a year or so ago and enjoyed it, but this was a superior listen.
Definitely would be a great album accompanied by cannabis, as the title seems to indicate. If it’s a step below Mezzanine, Blue Lines, and Dummy, it’s not a big step.
Harry Nilsson
4/5
Today I learned that Harry Nilsson wrote the coconut song.
I’ve listened to a little bit of Harry’s music on the past but haven’t listened to this one as far as I recall. Nilsson is an artist who has intrigued me but I haven’t quite gotten hooked on his music.
This collection is great and gives me reason to take a deeper dive into his catalog at some point. I really enjoyed it and its Beatlesque sound. He was a fantastic vocalist, that’s clear on this listen. The basslines on several songs really caught my ear. “The Moonbeam Song” and “Jump into the Fire” were standouts.
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
4/5
Music from the 50s is often overlooked these days. Much of it was pretty bland, but this was great. I prefer this to Elvis certainly.
I did not realize that Not Fade Away wasn’t a Who song. That’ll Be the Day is a classic. I’m Lookin For Someone to Love is a fun song.
Faust
4/5
The first song, “Krautrock”, AMAZING
What an awesome buildup and finish. Loved it.
Third track “Jennifer” has a great sound. Like what fucking instruments are they using. Wild arrangement.
“Just a Second” sounds like Radiohead. Wait so does the beginning of Giggly Smile! Then it sounds like Grateful Dead meets Syd Barrett. Great couple of tracks.
I knew nothing about this band or album, but this turned out to be an excellent listening experience. Loved it.
The Soft Boys
3/5
I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I thought I would after reading the summary. It was enjoyable enough, but never grabbed me after the first track.
Queen
4/5
It’s been a long time since I’ve listened to this classic album in full. Another fun recommendation from the list.
It starts out darker than I remember, Death on Two Legs is no fluffy fun song but a great opener. I’m In Love With My Car is a much better song than it’s made out to be, who cares if it’s not Freddie singing it, the vocals are actually great and May’s guitar shines on it.
You’re my best friend is of course a classic, great sounding track. ‘39 is a bit of an odd tune, I didn’t realize or had forgotten that May sings on it. It’s pretty cool though that it’s about space travel, what with May’s PhD in astrophysics.
Sweet Lady is another song that isn’t bad by any stretch, the breakdown at the end of the song is pretty rad, but the middle of the album sort of feels like an obstacle to get through to Bohemian Rhapsody.
That’s my biggest take away listening to this again. It’s a great album, and BR is one of the great works of art rock-n-roll has provided to us, but “all killer no filler” is not how I’d describe ANATO.
Still worthy of 4 stars and a fantastic record, but in my humble opinion Bohemian Rhapsody saves what would otherwise be a somewhat pedestrian album.
Orange Juice
4/5
I dig it.
Breakfast Time is a surprising reggae-influenced song. I hear the poppier moments of Talking Heads in many of the songs, a good thing in my view.
The single Rip It Up is pretty good. I enjoyed the sound overall and would welcome more listens in the future.
The Human League
4/5
There’s no mistaking the decade that produced this album.
I used to say I hated 80’s music, which was a really bad take in hindsight. Plenty of music from the 80s was way ahead of its time and sounds fresh even today.
DARE is an album I’ve had on my periphery for some time and I’m glad this generator had me listen to it. It’s super synthy, pretty weird, darker than expected, and totally great.
Darkness and the hit single Don’t You Want Me are the highlights for me.
Antony and the Johnsons
3/5
ANOHNI’s work hasn’t quite clicked with me in the past, so going into this one with an open mind.
It starts out beautifully, Hope There’s Someone is an outstanding opener. Fistful of Love is another highlight.
I enjoyed this quite a lot and I can see why the album is included on this list. It’s not an album I’ll come back to often, but I’m very happy to have experienced it.
Radiohead
5/5
One of my favorite albums of all time. In Rainbows is often times my favorite Radiohead album, which is also sometimes OK Computer, sometimes Kid A, sometimes The Bends.
This was the first new Radiohead album for me after I had become a fan of the band, and it’s easily one of my few favorite albums from this century.
Every track is outstanding in its own way, but my favorites are Bodysnatchers, Nude (what a vocal performance), Reckoner, Weird Fishes, House of Cards, and Jigsaw Falling Into Place. Also All I need. 15 Steps is a brilliant opener. Ahhh!
On this listen I learned that Weird Fishes is not called Weird Flashes which I thought is what he said the first 1000 times I listened to this record.
Turbonegro
4/5
I had never heard this record before. In general punk isn’t my favorite genre, but I love top-tier punk when I listen to it in the right setting. I just so happened to listen to this in the gym and it was awesome.
I love the guitar tones and musicianship on this album. The guitars sound great and there’s more solos than expected on a punk record. There are hints of early Weezer in several songs (Rock Against Ass is a good example). Lots of melody for punk.
Loved it
David Bowie
5/5
Classic Bowie. Not as epic as Ziggy, not as hit-heavy as Hunky Dury, not as coke-frenzied as Station to Station (well maybe…), but it’s as class as any of those.
I love the insane title track, which resonates with his final masterpiece Black Star. Let’s Spend the Night together and The Jean Genie give the album some accessibility. All in between are some wonderfully bizarre tunes. This must have been a ballsy release following the success of Ziggy Stardust. Take all the stars Mr. Bowie, you were something else.
Louis Prima
4/5
This was a fun surprise! Louis Prima was dope in the Jungle Book as King Louie and this album has all the fun and energy of I Want to Be Like You.
I loved how varied it was track to track, the vocals were great and the big brass sections were powerful. A fun jazz record that I hadn’t yet come across.
5/5
Peak U2 along with Achtung Baby. It has one of the best opening three songs imaginable, and while these three singles are my favorite on the album it’s an incredible listen start to finish.
Where the Streets Have No Name is one of those songs I consider perfect. It’s by far my favorite U2 song and one of the greatest recordings ever in my view. U2 isn’t always my favorite band, but they found perfection with this song and this album.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
This is another album that I enjoyed revisiting through this project. I did a Marley deep dive a couple years ago and it was great to listen to Natty Dread again.
This is a great album that perhaps doesn’t quite reach the same impact of some of Bob’s later releases for me, probably because the album version of No Woman No Cry is far inferior to the well-known live version, but each track is thought-provoking and groovy. Perhaps no artist in history has been as good at raising tough social issues through song while also making you feel relaxed as hell. Reggae is such a unique music style that I for one can’t help but move to when I’m listening.
My favorite tracks include Lively Up Yourself, Rebel Music, and Talkin’ Blues.
Van Morrison
5/5
My god what a record.
And It Stoned Me is an all-time great opener. The title track is a weird and fantastic romper. Crazy Love is timeless, and Into The Mystic is simply one of the greatest songs ever recorded.
While it’d be impossible to maintain that level of excellence of the opening side, the back half of the album is still fantastic. Van’s vocal performance is insane throughout and these songs could only be his. I love Astral Weeks but I personally rate this one slightly higher, as its high marks are as good as it gets.
The Kinks
4/5
Fun, solid album from a band that always reveals how great they are the deeper you dive into their catalog. This is a great collection of songs with varied arrangements, subjects ranging from slightly biting social commentary to shining a light on session musicians, and solid performances throughout.
I love The Party Line, You’re Looking Fine, and Sunny Afternoon. If it doesn’t have the top-top tier songs of the Kinks, it also doesn’t really have a bad track across its 20+ songs, a real achievement.
Aretha Franklin
4/5
A classic from the Queen of Soul. Every track is unmistakably Aretha. The hits are the standouts but it’s a solid listen throughout.
Pixies
4/5
I love this album, although maybe not as much as I used to. I don’t know why, perhaps my strongest musical preferences are in other directions. I’m still giving this 4 stars because it’s a tremendous album. Gigantic and especially Where Is My Mind are amazing songs. Bone Machine is so weird and weirdly lovable. But some of the tracks in between just don’t resonate with me.
I think it’s a classic and a tremendously influential album that helped shape much of the popular rock music of the early 90s, but perfect it is not. Still rocks though and there was probably nothing like it before.
Hawkwind
4/5
Weird stoner jammy space rock is a genre I can get behind. Excited to listen to the first live album to come up on the generator.
The bass lines in Lord of Light are so good, I love how heavy the bass is in the mix. Actually, the bass is the star of the show throughout the performance. The spoken word sections are a little distracting, but they do enhance the overall weirdness of it (usually a good thing in trippy space rock). I was hoping for a little more from the guitars, but I love the overall vibe and the trippy keyboard sounds added throughout.
Overall it’s an enjoyable listen, probably best consumed along with a fat joint or edible. Without those things I’d give it 3.5 stars, rounding to 4. I hope to revisit it in the future.
Waylon Jennings
5/5
REAL COUNTRY MUSIC
I grew up in the southeastern United States, with most of my childhood in the 90s. I was surrounded by “country music” and I hated it (there were exceptions like Garth and songs here and there). I didn’t know why, it seemed fake and largely was. Years later I discovered Waylon, Willie and newer artists making interesting country music like Sturgill Simpson (Metamodern Sounds In Country Music kicked a door open for me).
This is as good as it gets in country in my view. It’s beautifully short at 29 minutes, but Waylon manages to take you on a journey throughout. His voice sounds great, the playing is fantastic, and it’s hard to find a better line than “the devil made me do it the first time, the second time I did it on my own.” This is saloon music for wayward souls.
Favorites: title track, Black Rose, Ain’t No God in Mexico
Jungle Brothers
5/5
Haven’t heard this one before. I love the healthy start to his day the narrator makes in Sunshine. Veggies and fruit with a glass of water haha.
The single Doin’ Our Own Dang is so fun. It must be a semi-popular song based on the number of plays on Spotify; I didn’t recognize it but I’m glad I know it now, what a tune! Tribe Vibes is pure excellence as well.
This reminds me a lot of A Tribe Called Quest, which is as strong of an endorsement as I could give. It’s cerebral, funky, jazzy, and dare I say wholesome? I think jazz and hip hop mash beautifully when done well, and I imagine this record has influenced some of my favorite hip hop albums (I hear Tribe, Wu Tang, even Kendrick at times in these songs [“the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice!”]). I could honestly see this becoming one of my favorite hip hop albums ever, after two listens I think I have it alongside Paul’s Boutique for best of the 80’s? Superb.
Common
4/5
I forgot about this album! A good one I haven’t heard in a while and have probably only listened to a couple times in full. From the year I graduated high school.
GO! is a fantastic single, featuring a far more tolerable Kanye 😂 and John Mayer. Actually, while it’s a Common album, Kanye’s fingerprints are all over it and many tracks wouldn’t feel out of place on The College Dropout or Late Registration. The production, arrangements and beats are superb and there’s no mistaking it as a product of Kanye’s golden years, well before he lost his damn mind as well as his musical touch.
Kanye’s contributions to the album are substantial, but that’s not to take away from Common, as he’s in top form on this one. The tunes have his characteristic consciousness hip-hop subjects, and his rapping is sharp throughout. The “Be” poem that closes the album is beautiful and a great message for all to hear. A very strong album.
Sabu
4/5
Congas mother fuckers!
I’ve listened to this before and I find it enjoyable. Sure, it’s not something most people will listen to every day or in every situation, but when given a chance it can be a bit hypnotic to get lost in the polyrhythms and Latin melodies contained within. I also find this to be great music to listen to while focusing on work or a project. Sometimes we need to expand our horizons, and sometimes that new horizon is a straight up 6 minute conga instrumental.
X-Ray Spex
4/5
This is a new album and band to me. Based on the description I’m surprised I haven’t come across them before. I’m hoping they’re more Clash than Sex Pistols.
The opening title track suggests they are exactly that. Germfree Adolescence is a super interesting track, not what I expected given the description of the band. The next two are more punky punk, except the presence of the SAXOPHONE. I know not everyone agrees with this, but I think a decent saxophone makes anything better. This is certainly the first punk rock accompanied by saxophone I’ve listened to, and I think it’s interesting.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
I love Simon & Garfunkel so much. This album is fantastic. The two hits (America and Mrs. Robinson) are undeniable and certainly the two highlights of the album, but the other tracks create a deeply vivid and melancholy image of life in the United States. Relistening to this album I formed a new appreciation for Save the Life of My Child - it’s a great tune with a great story penned by Simon (somehow underrated as a songwriter in American music). Also a weird observation - “America” reminds me much of Vampire Weekend’s “Hannah Hunt”, like an older relative of that great song.
It sounds like a product of its time, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t relevant today, anything but that. It doesn’t quite have the end-to-end perfection of Bridge Over Troubled Water, but it’s an incredible album from an important duo.
Green Day
5/5
Oh boy, this album was MASSIVE my junior/senior years of high school. Sort of past the peak of post-9/11 patriotism hysteria and Bush at the height of his popularity (at least was far as I could tell as a southern American idiot teenager - I think he had many severe critics by then).
Say what you want about Green Day, Billie Joe Armstrong, or the quality of their music since this one, but in hindsight this was music the people needed to hear. What a brave album to release during this time, with a brave lead single and album title to boot.
I remember so many people HATING American Idiot, the song. Again in hindsight and with the benefit of age and paying closer attention to American politics and political history since this album, the reaction to this album was clearly a sign of its effectiveness. Americans in particular I think hear what we want to hear, and when something as popular as American Idiot is playing all over the radio, on TV, and in every store you visit, it’s bound to ruffle all the feathers.
The singles (title track, Holiday, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Wake Me Up When September Ends) were all huge hits and for good reason, they’re all fantastic. Jesus of Suburbia and Are We the Waiting, are deep track standouts. Wake Me Up When September Ends is the crown jewel here in my opinion, what a track. If I have any complaints about the album it’s that I think it would be more effective if it ended with September, as the last two tracks don’t do much for me.
I think in many ways this is one of the most important popular American punk albums ever released. Not sure if they have it in them, but it’d be nice to have American Idiot II released before November.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
I remember always seeing the cover of this album in stores growing up in the 90’s. For some reason I was always drawn to it before I even listened to it. At that time I had heard some Led Zeppelin and they were like a mystic figure to me, and I formed in my head that Physical Graffiti must be their magnum opus, since it’s a double album and contains my favorite Zep song (at the time at least), Kashmir.
That’s probably why each time I listen to it I come away at least a little disappointed.
I mean, I’m still giving it four stars, it’s an excellent album of course. Kashmir continues to be top shelf Zeppelin and may very well be their best song. In My Time of Dying is epic, possibly bordering on excessive but it is Led Zeppelin we’re talking about. In this listen Down by the Seaside also stood out to me. Night Flight was also a groovier song than I remember.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
Green River. Commotion. Wrote A Song For Everyone. Bad Moon Rising. Lodi. The Night Time Is The Right Time.
Are you kidding me. Big five stars.
The xx
4/5
Intro… has to be the best instrumental album opener ever - I can’t think of another. What a vibe that song creates, and it’s a brilliant decision to put that song at the beginning of the record. It’s one of my favorite instrumentals from a rock band ever.
No, this isn’t music you’d listen to at the gym. You won’t listen to it while partying. You won’t hear these songs blaring at a football game.
Yes, it fades easily to the background and it takes some effort to really pay attention to it. It sounds lazy. Sometimes it sounds sad but more often it sounds indifferent.
It also sounds utterly unique and when you hear a song by The xx, especially from this album, you immediately recognize it as such if you’re familiar with them. This is why this album is great and why it belongs on this list.
I will admit, my favorite song by far is the one in which they don’t sing. I also certainly wouldn’t want to listen to this every day. But I’m glad this album exists.
The Prodigy
4/5
I first listened to this album maybe two years ago, and I’ve been a pretty big fan of it since. As a husband and father of two daughters, “Smack My Bitch Up” is a disconcerting song title, but it’s a jam to be honest.
Breathe, Seriel Thrilla, and of course Firestarter are all bangers and it’s solid in between.
Soft Cell
3/5
Tainted Love is great. It’s one of those songs I’ve heard 100 times but would get wrong on a “who sung it” trivia question. Say Hello, Wave Goodbye is a lovely tune with a great vocal performance.
While I really like the sound of the record (it is unmistakably early 80’s New Wave but has a very high quality sound for nearing 45 years), it doesn’t do a tremendous amount for me. It’s cohesive and doesn’t really have a bad song (Sex Dwarf is a major WTF moment here but the song itself sounds great), but it doesn’t move me or wow me much either. I’d give it 3.5 stars if I could but I’m rounding down on this one.
Eminem
2/5
I was in 6th grade when this bombshell dropped, if I recall correctly. It was probably the most talked about music at school that year, right along with Brittany’s debut and Backstreet Boy’s Millennium. My Name Is was a fun song and it had a fun video that I enjoyed (good god as a sixth grader…), but musically I was unsure about Eminem even then. Although I’m a pretty big fan of hip hop, an older millennial, and someone who happens to be white, I have never been able to understand the magnitude of Eminem’s popularity. I get the rapping talent, and I think Lose Yourself is one of the best songs of the century, but I’ve never been much of a fan. It’s been a long time and I’m going into this listen with an open mind.
My Name Is is still a fun intro to Em, and his immediate acknowledgement of Dr. Dre is both a debt of gratitude and a preview of how to expect the album to sound. A few songs in and Dre’s influence is evident and significant. Brain Damage and If I Had are good tunes with excellent backing music, while not produced by Dre it sounds like Dre. If I Had in particular sounds very “west coast” to me.
The violence in these songs gives me Clockwork Orange vibes. As a father of daughters, the story in 97 Bonnie and Clyde is pretty gut wrenching, not really in a good way. I’m all for provocative art as long as its contribution is a net positive for humanity, and given the new perspective of time, fatherhood, and over 3 decades of life in the United States I can’t find much net positive with this project. I know a song like Role Model is for “entertainment value” as Em explains and I do get the analogy to horror films, but I think people (especially young people) also have a different interpretive relationship to music than they do films. I love horror films, but the Slim Shady LP leaves me queezier than just about any horror flick I’ve seen. I can’t believe I’m saying this (old man waves fist at the sky) but I think this album is indeed too lyrically violent and misogynist.
I know Eminem grew some as an artist after this, and it honestly sounds good to great at times. I’m not trying to be holier than thou or sanctimonious, and I’m not suggesting this LP had anything to do with youth violence in the U.S. or anywhere else. I just don’t think it helped either.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
5/5
I love Tom Petty and I love his debut. What an introduction to one of America’s premier rock artists.
Joni Mitchell
5/5
A masterpiece from one of the all time great songwriters.
Kate Bush
5/5
I’d not heard this album before this. Hounds of Love is the only Bush album I have listened to before and I don’t love it, so I had lowered expectations for The Dreaming.
It’s amazing though. Sat In Your Lap immediately announces that is album is different. This song to me would fit on Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters.
From there it goes on a strange journey. This album is weird as shit! And wonderfully so.
Pull Out The Pin is a bit of a creeper, and the screams add some horror to the sound.
This is an incredible album from start to finish. A typical a sign of a masterpiece is when the album feels like it takes you on a journey. Five Stars.
The Verve
5/5
There may not be a lyric that passes through my head more often than “try to make ends meet, you’re a slave to money then you die.” Bittersweet indeed.
Psychedelic/shoegaze band The Verve injects some pop into their formula, and the results are incredible. Sonnet is a beautiful ballad. The Rolling People brings back the psych rock sound. The Drugs Don’t Work is, of course, a devastating and beautiful song. Weeping Willow is a new highlight to me with this listen - another excellent blend of old and new for the Verve.
This album is a masterful blend of psychedelia, existential songwriting, great playing with just the right amount of Britpop sprinkled in.
Beatles
4/5
A Hard Days Night’s title track is one of the highlights of the Beatles’ front catalog. It’s a great movie too.
John Lennon
5/5
I love this album. I’d have it as the second best album from an ex-Beatle (All Things Must Pass is comfortably #1 and is as good as any Beatle album IMO) and a tremendously influential work of art. John created a chillingly raw and emotional work that plays like window into his very being. There are no frills here. The playing is simple, as are the arrangements for the most part. It’s angry at times, sad oftentimes, and pure throughout.
Highlights are I Found Out, Working Class Hero, Love, and especially Isolation.
The Stone Roses
4/5
This is one of those renowned albums that on paper checks a lot of boxes for me. I’ve listened to it a few times in my life and while I’ve liked it, it never has grabbed me like it has so many other people. I’m giving it a few listens back to back this time to see how it lands with me.
On the first relisten, I still don’t “love” I Wanna Be Adored, and I think knowing this is the Stone Roses top song throws me a bit for the rest of the album. It’s not a bad song, just a bit overrated in my view. This Is The One however really stuck out on this listen, what a great song. The guitar playing sounds great throughout the album, and the vocals are also great. The breakdown in the middle of I Am The Resurrection is a bit of a “whoa” moment - what a jam this turns into! Fools Good is also a banging closer, with a groove that previews bands like Primal Scream.
On the second listen I do indeed like I Wanna Be Adored. I think my hang up with this song is that it doesn’t say or do much lyrically. I guess it can be interpreted as the subject is so desperate for attention it’s all he can say, and that works with the music of the song, but it oddly remains one of the weaker tracks on the album to my ears.
Elizabeth My Dear has the album’s creepiest lyrics, set to Scarborough Fair.
I still really like the album, but still find it just shy of a masterpiece.
The Cure
5/5
A devastatingly dark and beautifully bleak album. Robert Smith is an incredible, somehow underrated songwriter. These songs paint pictures of internal struggle, depression, addiction. The heaviness of the bass, melancholy melodies of the guitars, and Smith’s yearning vocal performances come together in haunting synergy throughout the record. Famously created with heavy drug consumption, it’s surprising cohesive and rarely indulgent. Like the best albums it’s greater than the sum of its parts: it demands to be listened to front to back. Probably not a record for everyone, but for anyone attracted to the Cure’s musical aesthetic it is incredible, perhaps only bested by Disintegration in their discography.
The Magnetic Fields
4/5
There are several songs on this inside and typically ill-advised album that I love. The Book of Love is a truly incredible song and one of my favorite love songs ever. Papa Was a Rodeo is a great tune, a bit sad and possibly disturbing (love was a trucker’s hand). When My Boy Walks Down The Street is a fun one.
There isn’t really another album like it, which is a great accomplishment in itself. It is a LOT to take in in a single sitting, and would take dozens of spins at least to fully digest. It’s a tremendous album filled with many good songs, some filler too, but the fact that it exists is a marvel.
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
Another timeless classic that sounds like nothing else. There’s almost no mistaking a song off of Loveless.
For my ears, Loveless is an album that almost must be listened to beginning to end to appreciate it. Perhaps the one exception is the song I Only Said, which I’m surprised to see is the 7th most listened to song on the album on Spotify. To me this song is sublime and easily the top track on the album.
Joy Division
5/5
This album is a vibe. And it’s a bad vibe. But it a good way!
It’s a brilliant sad album made by a brilliant sad artist with a great band. The bass work on Disorder is outstanding. A great song that probably influenced thousands of songs after it. Day of the Lords is DARK.
On Insight, Curtis sings “Guess your dreams always end, they don’t rise up, just descend. I don’t care anymore, I’ve lost the will to want more.” That’s just about as depressing a lyric as you can think of, and it’s obvious Ian meant these tragic words.
Neil Young
5/5
Raw and angsty Neil is a good Neil
Bob Dylan
4/5
I avoided this album for a long time, but I’ve been more interested in late-period Dylan ever since Rough and Rowdy Ways came out, as I thought that was a very good album.
Time Out of Mind is very good, classic Dylan. He sounds great, lots of blues on this one and his backing band sounds great per usual. Make You Feel My Love is an obvious highlight as well as Tryin to Get to Heaven.
R.E.M.
5/5
A seismic shift in American rock and the brilliant debut of one of the best bands ever. I was not around to see it, but I think I'm well versed enough in rock music to know that there was very little that sounded like this before it. Stipe and company hit on several things missing in American rock music, at least popular rock music, at the time:
Cerebral, cryptic lyrics. Restraint from excess. Delightful weirdness.
The fact that R.E.M. is a southern American band makes them even more interesting I think. This is just about as far removed from Lynyrd Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet as you can get and while still calling it “rock”. It was so unique they had to call it something bizarre like “college rock”.
R.E.M. would make better albums as single works later in their career, but other than Automatic For The People this was their most influential on music. Mills and Buck were brilliant from the start with the band’s arrangements, and Stipe already has that awkward confidence that makes him an all time great frontman.
Favorite tracks are Radio Free Europe, Pilgrimage, Laughing, Talk About the Passion, Perfect Circle, and We Walk.
The Beau Brummels
3/5
I think this may be the first group that I haven’t heard of before with this project.
It’s an interesting listen as a product of its time and it has cool moments of psychedelic folk, but it also feels like the band was left behind in the late 60’s for valid reasons. It’s just hard to compare this to works like Odyssey and Oracle, Forever Changes, or any of the top bands following the Beau Brummels in San Francisco (especially the Grateful Dead).
There are some dope moments though. I thought The Wolf of Velvet Fortune was stunning and easily the top track here. I’m glad I listened, but I doubt I’ll revisit this much.
Orbital
5/5
I’ve probably listened to this just once before and I remember enjoying it a lot, and I’m not at all disappointed in revisiting it. It’s just an excellent electronic record from start to finish; there are no filler tracks here (it could be argued that the first and last tracks are not necessary, but I think they’re cool).
Orbitals most played song Halcyon and On and On is an obvious highlight and never out warms its welcome even at almost 9.5 minutes.
Even at over 30 years old this album sounds ahead of its time, and like the best electronic music albums it serves just as well as background music as it does close listening. Electronic music is an area I’ve explored quite a bit in recent years after being uninterested for a long time, and this is one of the finest examples I’ve come across.
Milton Nascimento
4/5
This is a new one to me.
Opening track is STUNNING. Great voice and what an arrangement. I don’t speak Portuguese, but I suspect I’ll like this a lot.
I did like it a lot. Really well made music with great vocals and arrangements that sometimes drift into jazz and even some psychedelia.
Nick Drake
5/5
I hope this generator and list has introduced at least one person to Nick Drake. What an artist and another one gone too soon. Drake is a bit akin to Van Gogh in my eyes; as I understand it he never saw his songs reach the masses and didn’t get to experience the impact he has had on so many people. He’s an all time great songwriter even with his relatively limited output, and his words are near and dear to just about anyone who gives him a listen. I wish we could go back and tell him this.
Paul McCartney and Wings
4/5
Great album from Paul and Wings. One of the better post-Beatles albums and probably by far McCartney’s best with Wings.
The title track is spectacular and one of Paul’s most infectious ear worms. The same can be said for Jet. The album can be a bit hit or miss after these first two gems (Bluebird is… not as good as Blackbird), but Let Me Roll It is a banger and the album finishes strong with Nineteen Hundred and Eighth Five.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
I’ve been a fan of Elvis Costello since seeing him open for none other than Bob Dylan when I was in college. He did a solo acoustic set that was fantastic.
I’ve since listened to most of his catalog, but surprisingly I'm certain I haven’t listened to this one. It starts out great and with a unique sound for Costello with Beyond Belief. Man Out of Time is also great. The Loved Ones is another favorite on the back half, as is You Little Fool.
I gave this three listens front to back and liked it a lot more with each subsequent play. It’s a bit of an odyssey in terms of the sound and arrangement of the songs, all featuring Costello’s voice characteristically prominent in the mix, as well as the stellar bass work. It’s an album that could very easily turn into 5 stars with more listening.
Hugh Masekela
3/5
I enjoyed it, although after three listens I couldn’t gleam anything particularly new or exceedingly interesting about it. It faded to the background very easily for me.
Ali Farka Touré
3/5
Enjoyed it! Very cool take on the blues and interesting guitar work. It isn’t something I’ll come back to often but I’m glad I’ve heard it.
The Fall
4/5
I’d like to think that this is what The Clash would have sounded like in 1993.
Lost In Music reminds me of Let’s Dance era Bowie. I’m Going to Spain is a song I would have expected from Joe Strummer, great tune. I love the guitar piece on Paranoia Man in Cheap Shit Room, and I actually like the spoken word vocals - reminds me of The Hold Steady. Its a Curse sounds like the genesis of the band Protomartyr.
The back half is still interesting but fewer standouts. The front half is strong enough to warrant four stars. It’s a strong album that must have been an influence on several bands I like today.
Prince
4/5
I’m not a big fan of Prince 🤷🏼♂️
I respect the hell out of Prince. His guitar solo at George Harrison’s Rock n Roll Hall of Fame induction is one of the greatest moments in rock history and I’ve watched it dozens of times. He’s one of the most singular and talented musical artists ever and profoundly influential, but on average I just don’t dig his projects as much as I’d expect I would. I’d probably never skip a few of his songs like Purple Rain, Raspberry Beret, or When Doves Cry - it’s just I just don’t vibe with Prince’s music as much as some other icons.
All that said, I can see why Sign O the Times is held in the esteem that it is and I do love this record record. It’s a pretty outstanding album from beginning to end with few blemishes, or at least few songs that I don’t care for. The title track is the only song I think is overrated… sorry! There are several great to amazing songs: Slow Love, I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man, and The Cross are really incredible.
Bob Dylan
5/5
Top tier Dylan. I love this album a lot and it always gets better every time I listen to it. Bob’s voice is an acquired taste for most people I think, but his singing never sounded better than on this one. The production overall is great and sounds relatively fresh even today.
Visions of Johanna has always been one of my favorites. One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) is my go-to underrated Dylan song - I love it so much and it's alway surprised me that it’s not one of his more well known songs. I personally prefer it to I Want You - while not a bad song I’m surprised to see that it’s by far the most listened to song on Blonde on Blonde on Spotify. I can’t say more about Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again than has already been said, it’s a perfect Bob Dylan song. Just Like a Woman is another obvious great track.
If Blonde on Blonde isn’t his best album (it might be), it’s probably his best sounding album and contains some of the best songs of his insane career.
John Cale
4/5
I loved John Cale’s album from last year. It went under the radar but I thought it was the on par with very late career albums of recent years from the likes of Cohen, Crosby, and Bowie.
Paris 1919 is an interesting psychedelic album that previews artists like Beck and Neutral Milk Hotel.
Pink Floyd
5/5
One of the most important works for albums as an art form, and simply one of the best of all time. It’s on the shortlist of albums that were (are) both tremendous commercial successes and creatively ambitious and challenging. It takes you places throughout its run time. The songs are great, lyrics are great, the musicianship is great. It’s existential and vital, weird and familiar. You can listen to it 1000 times and pick up something new. It’s a perfect album.
Tears For Fears
4/5
I was very excited to see this one pop up. I think Everybody Wants to Rule the World is one of the greatest songs of all time, I love it; but I haven’t listened to this album before and, if I’m honest, I can’t name another Tears for Fears song. Let’s go.
I’ve heard Shout before and it’s awesome. What a great opener. EWTRTW is still incredible, it’s one of the first songs that comes to mind for “best song of the 80’s” and it’s one of a handful of songs on my “Perfect Songs” playlist.
Head Over Heels is a song I’ve seen listed as some people’s favorite Tears for Fears song, and it’s certainly a good one. Listen is a very good closer as well.
I wish I could give this 4.5 stars. It’s an amazing sounding record, it’s firmly 80’s but doesn’t sound near as dated as other projects of its time. I think it’s incredible highs make the other tracks less interesting, even if there isn’t a bad song on the album.
Sinead O'Connor
4/5
“Young mother down at Smithfield
5 am, looking for food for her kids
In her arms she holds three cold babies
And the first word that they learned was “please”
That’s the saddest as shit verse of all time perhaps.
NC2U is the visible tune on this one, but there’s much more than this hit to Sinead’s second and breakthrough album. Opening up with the Serenity Prayer on Feel so Different, it’s a tremendous, emotionally heavy record. I Am Stretched On Your Grave previews trip hop. The Emperor’s New Clothes is an oddly upbeat song with very downbeat lyrics. Black Boys on Mopeds opens with daggers thrown at Thatcher, and lyrics that reminds me of a few songs that came out in America following George Floyd.
Sinead was perfect for singing Nothing Compares 2 U, and it’s a pretty perfect rendition and a massive hit for good reason. It’s odd though that I always picture Prince rather than Sinead when I hear this song.
The album ends strong with Last Day of Our Acquaintance and the brilliant a cappella I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, which showcases Sinead’s brilliant vocals.
While it’s not an album I come back to a lot, it’s easy to see why it was such a big hit and it’s a high quality album from beginning to end. It must have been a huge influence on the likes of Fiona Apple and (I think in a weird way) Billie Eilish.
Moby Grape
4/5
Moby Grape is a very solid late 60’s San Francisco rock album that is a great time capsule of an important moment in rock music and American culture. It reminds me of how the Grateful Dead sounded on their live albums from the same time period. It sounds a bit raw, but that’s only a bad thing if you let it be a bad thing - I think it enhances the record in this case.
There’s some great guitar work here and the vocals are solid. It’s a vibe more than a statement, and I bet seeing Moby Grape live in ‘67-‘69 was a blast. Good stuff.
Common
3/5
I like Common, but I’m a tad surprised to see him listed twice (so far) on this project. I’m pretty sure he’s my first repeated artist a couple of months into the list, which is cool. I had not listened to this album before this.
I LOVED Be, but I couldn’t get into this project as much.
David Bowie
5/5
I love this album so much and it deserves all the stars. If you take in this album as just an album, it’s an extraordinary soundscape and adventurous musical journey. When you add the context that Bowie knew he was dying and created this album (one of the best of his insane career) as a parting gift to the world, it’s utterly mind blowing.
In classic Bowie fashion, it doesn’t really sound like anything else in his discography. I’m not aware of many albums that sound like it either.
I love that the title track is just a star symbol. I love that Girl Loves Me sounds a little like a rap song. I love everything about Lazarus.
When I first heard Dollar Days I interpreted the lyric as “I’m dying to” but it’s written as “I’m dying too”, which is haunting and brilliant. I Can’t Give Everything Away is probably the best album closer of his career (Fame being the only song I can think of that’s close).
Bowie’s swan song is an impossibly beautiful parting gift to the world.
Beck
4/5
Vintage, classic Beck and at least one of the best of his career. Devil’s Haircut and Where It’s At are classic 90’s tracks. Lord Only Knows is a very good tune as well.
Fun Lovin' Criminals
4/5
This is a super fun and interesting album with lots of influences and musical styles included. It has some trip-hop, some jazz, some rock, some Latin music, all well executed and it sounds pretty fresh to me after almost 3 decades. This was a new album to me but an easy 4 stars that could be 5 with more listens.
Fiona Apple
4/5
Not sure if it’s an amazing coincidence or if this generator’s algorithm does this, but this is my third straight album released in 1996?
I think I’ve listened to this one time before when I did a deep dive in Apple’s music when Fetch the Bolt Cutters came out, and I remember liking it. Sleep to Dream is a really strong opener with a unique sound and a beat that reminds me of Rain Dogs era Tom Waits.
Shadowboxer is a stunning song. Great lyrics and imagery combined with a really incredible vocal performance. Listening to Tidal a few times on repeat I really gained a deeper appreciation for how powerful a vocalist Fiona is, her singing is really tremendous throughout the album. I always thought of her as an “alternative” artist, but there’s more jazz here than anything I can think of in the alternative space. She sounds way more like Billie Holiday than Liz Phair.
Criminal probably has a lot to do with that alternative distinction. It’s the least jazzy track and was a massive hit, for good reason. I like the song way more now than I did as a kid in the 90’s - it’s definitely a song for grown ups. It’s a catchy as Apple has ever been, but it’s far from a “sellout” song.
The back half of the album is very good, even if it lacks standout tracks it doesn’t take much away from the album as a whole. 4.5 stars.
Hot Chip
3/5
I’m not sure how I’ve never listened to this album before. In 2012 I was super into indie rock and loved similar bands like LCD Soundsystem. Hot Chip somehow slipped by me.
I like the sound a lot - it reminds me of a better version (sorry…) of Glass Animals, which I’m not very into. The last minute of Don’t Deny Your Heart is pretty awesome, and Look At Where We Are especially sounds like the song Glass Animals wants to make (I feel bad about hating on them when I’ve only heard a few songs, I will give them another try).
The album slips a bit for me on Night and Day, the lyrics are awkward and so is the tune for me. After this, even the single Flutes, sound very samey to me. I like it, but I’m not compelled to come back to it and it’s one of the first albums that I don’t quite understand being included in the 1001 Albums list.
Jamiroquai
4/5
After listening to this album and reading a bit about the band, I’m surprised and a little embarrassed that I’ve never hear of this band before. I am from the U.S. and it seems they’re bigger in the UK, but Jamiroquai is no small act.
It’s easy to see why - these are great songs and Jay Kay’s voice is pretty incredible, at least on this record. Good modern funk is so fun and this is a solid listen throughout. Great bass lines, well used brass, excellent percussion, and Kay’s smooth vocals make this a super fun album. Favorite tracks are When You Gonna Learn, Too Young to Die, and Blow Your Mind.
Jane Weaver
4/5
Another new one for me, although when I saw the album art I would have sworn I’d heard it before. It doesn’t ring a bell though.
On first listen I dig it. I really like the middle of the album with Loops in the Secret Society and especially The Architect. The latter reminds me a lot of a really great song by the band Spoon, “Outlier”.
I think it’s cool that the 1001 Albums list contains a few obscure and scantly listened to artists and albums (Jane had 57K monthly listens at the time of this review). I do wonder about the criteria for inclusion and whether a larger social impact has any weight in including an album - at that listen rate I’d imagine few people participating in this have heard of her. It is a neat way for artists to get some exposure and recognition.
I gave it a second and third spin and I really like the album. It’s accessible on first listen but also a grower and an excellent melting pot of influences.
Neil Young
4/5
I love Neil. He’s probably one of my top ten music artists of all time, certainly top twenty. One of the coolest music listening moments I’ve had in a while came while listening to this album. The title track was playing, and it occurred to me that in the last verse he’s singing about the future moment when HUMANS LEAVE PLANET EARTH TO GO TO A NEW HOME PLANET. The title track is easily one of my favorite songs of his or anyone else’s, but I had never put that together before (I had eaten an gummy that probably helped…) and I think it’s just a brilliant lyric. With the work that Space X and others are doing now on laying the groundwork for making humans a multi-planetary species it’s an even more ominous and prescient song than when written - I think it’s one of the best songs of all time.
All that said, while I love this album I actually don’t rank it as high as many do among Neil’s vast catalog. It actually loses me in the back half far more than EKTIN, Harvest, On the Beach, Tonight’s the Night, and Rust Never Sleeps at the very least. The first 4 songs are strong, but to me the title track is by far the highlight.
There’s one other track that makes me think deeply on this one. As someone born and raised and actually still living in the American south, I have mixed feelings about Southern Man. Not that the America Southern Man doesn’t need critiquing, far from it. I’m not a fan of generalizing, and while many in the south were definitely super racist and loud about it in the 70’s, I wish Neil had acknowledged somewhere in the song that (A) not everyone in the south is a racist, far from it and (B) racism is certainly not isolated in the American south, far from it. My grandparents were in their 40’s when this song was written, and they were all exceptionally against Jim Crowe, taught both of my parents that we're all equal, and those lessons passed to me. Were there, hell, are there systemic problems of inequality in the south and a disproportionate amount of southern men that were outwardly racist, absolutely. I am far from proud of the entirety of the history of the American south. I also think that addressing concerns about in a song called Southern Man is a bit divisive, and doesn’t credit where progress has been made. I think this is why Lynyrd Skynyrd (a far more progressive band than most people realize) had issue with this song as well. One of my favorite musical fun facts is that Neil and Ronnie Van Sant became really great friends after Sweet Home Alabama, and Neil was a pallbearer at Ronnie’s funeral. Unfortunately I can’t be too hard on Neil and it’s easy to see why a song like this is necessary: there’s a fucking confederate flag flying just 30 miles or so from Greenville, SC (where Lynyrd Skynyd’s fateful plane took off from) today in 2024. For a more nuanced critique on the Southern Man, listen to the Southern Rock Opera album by Drive-By Truckers (one of the greatest American rock bands ever); the “duality of the southern thing” describes the American south as succinctly and accurately as is possible I think.
I digress…. TLDR: I love Neil, the title track is an all time great song and worth stars for by itself, Southern Man is complicated to me, and the back half is a bit boring to me.
Coldplay
5/5
In my opinion, by far Coldplay’s magnum opus. This was released during my sophomore year of high school, and there’s certainly some nostalgia at play, but I do think this is easily one of the top albums of the early 2000’s. Coldplay is arguably the biggest rock band in the world, and while not all of the rest of their catalog is awful (some is…) they’ve never come particularly close to executing an excellent album like this since.
Clocks is still one of the strangest and best songs to become a massive hit. In My Place was my introduction to the band (I somehow missed Yellow) and is still a great song. The Scientist is one of the all time great love songs. Politik is a banger of an opener, and the title track is the highlight of the back half. It’s a masterpiece.
Michael Jackson
5/5
I’m mostly keeping this review focused on the music and not the horrible allegations and dark speculation of Jackson’s personal life.
I expected to give is 3 stars or maybe 4, but this really is another incredible album from MJ. The follow up to Thriller, one of the biggest and best albums in history, is another stunner and is full of hits. This album came out when I was one month old, so all my living memories of Michael were not very good and sometimes deeply disturbing, but he had to have been just completely revered at the time of this release. I think one thing that’s turned me off from this album in the past (other than the obvious allegations) is the cover: Michael’s physical appearance is so different than Thriller - this must have been so bizarre to experience as a fan.
The music really is fantastic throughout. The production by the legendary Quincey Jones is perfect, probably too perfect for some ears. It’s ultra tight musically and the bass and rhythm performances throughout are incredible. It seems Jackson sings at a lower register on average here than any previous release, but he of course sounds great. The songs themselves are pop perfection. If the record didn’t quite reach the impossible perfection of Thriller, the fact that it’s close enough to talk about is an incredible accomplishment. He and Quincey were a special duo.
Cyndi Lauper
5/5
I read someone’s comment or an article somewhere that said “Cyndi Lauper should have had the career that Madonna had” and I think about that when I hear some of her songs.
I’ve always love Girls Just Want to Have Fun. I don’t care that I’m a dude. I certainly love it more now that I’m a girl dad of two. It’s a truly fantastic pop song, one of the best of the 80’s. Time After Time isn’t far behind either, what a great song.
My biggest takeaway from listening to her debut this time is how great of an opener Money Changes Everything is. What a banger! I love the Carsesque lead over the Mellencampesque guitar and rhythm section. Cyndi could siiing too (watch the We Are The World documentary on Netflix for a demonstration, or just listen to this).
I get very excited when I hear these songs and it’s interesting throughout. I see no reason to drop any stars.
Slint
4/5
I’ve listened to this a few times in the past, and a couple more times for this, and I always end up liking it less than I thought I would. It’s unique, the stories in the songs are haunting and interesting, and it has that cult reverence that I’m often attracted to. I don’t hate it by any means and I think it’s cool that a seemingly obscure album from 1991 could gain such an excellent reputation over time since its release - I just don’t hear a masterpiece when I listen to it.
To me the writing is where this album is most interesting. There’s a literary feel to the stories, and they range from odd teenage romance in Breadcrumb Trail to horror in Nosfertu Man, to the completely obscure (to me anyway) in Good Morning, Captain. These stories do paint pictures in the mind and the music lets the words stand out despite the almost whispering delivery half the time.
Washer is the highlight for me musically. The sad, desperate escapism lyrics make me think it’s about hard drugs - but I could be wrong. The crescendo near the end of the song is the albums best moment.
I feel weird about this album, and it’s one I’ll keep coming back to periodically. There’s not much like it and the songwriting is great, I just haven’t found my love for it yet.
Jerry Lee Lewis
4/5
Recording and releasing an absolute fire late pre-Beatles era rock stomper of a live recording? Four stars.
Marrying your 13 year old cousin? Zero stars.
This rating is about the record, which is very good and entertaining.
Roni Size
3/5
Liked much of the sounds but it couldn’t pull me in.
The Allman Brothers Band
5/5
A celebration of slide guitar and sophisticated southern blues and jazz-tinged rock. In Memory of Elizabeth Reed and Mountain Jam are journeys led by Duane’s slide leads. An incredible live album.
Drive Like Jehu
3/5
Enjoyed it okay. Reminded me of Swans a bit. I enjoyed it more as the album went on.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
4/5
It’s the ultimate WTF album.
I don’t know what is appealing about this album. I think it’s just that it exists, that someone let him make it. I like to listen to it once a year or so just to remind me that something this ridiculous exists.
Al Green
4/5
The title track is obviously a classic. If you closely focus on Green’s vocal performance on that track it’s pretty spectacular. All the other songs on the album are very good and it’s a solid listen throughout.
Caetano Veloso
4/5
A nice bossa nova Brazilian album. I don’t speak Portuguese so I can’t comment on the lyrics, but the album has a pleasant vibe throughout - not unlike a lot of reggae or early Jimmy Buffett.
Elvis Presley
4/5
I’m not the biggest Elvis fan, but this is a pretty inspired performance. Elvis’ voice is great throughout and I love the background vocal performances.
It opens up with the excellent Westin’ That Loved On Look. Long Black Limousine is another early highlight for me. On the back half Suspicious Minds is a standout with it’s infectious chorus.
Overall this is easily my favorite Elvis record that I’ve listened to; there’s a warm vibe to the entire recording and a more developed sound over his mid to late fifties works. The arrangements remind me of some of Sinatra’s best work and Elvis’ vocals here are just as strong. It’s really an excellent record from beginning to end.
Madonna
3/5
A very solid album from Madonna with some of her more interesting music and production choices. It starts out really excellent in its first three songs. Drowned World / Substitute For Love is a great opener with music that sounds not unlike music Lana Del Rey is putting out over twenty years later. Then the title track is one of her better hits I think.
Unfortunately, I found the rest of the album to be a little boring. It’s not bad, but fades to the background faster than expected from the Queen of Pop.
I think the album is interesting musically and gets off to a tremendous start, but the last 3/4 of the album doesn’t stand out much to me and has a few skippable tracks.
Eminem
2/5
This album came out when I was in seventh grade. I remember well how it was all the rage amongst my classmates, in seventh grade while some of the songs are iconic and I get a smidge of nostalgia from it, I think that maybe I have become a prude, Eminem is a very talented rapper, there’s little question of that. His ability to rhyme and his flow are un and as good as anyone has probably ever done it that said when I think about Art, I think about something that is a net positive for humanity , when I listen to this album, and hear the relent homophobia, violence, and needlessly, pathetic humor, I just don’t feel like it contributed anything beneficial to our world on a net standpoint. Thinking about it now, I can’t imagine what it was like for some of my friends that I now know our gay to have heard music like this. It takes so much away from Eminem Eminem talent, and it distracting from the really great musical moments on this record.
Sufjan Stevens
5/5
Some of the best music listening experiences of my life have involved this one.
I used to have to travel to central Illinois for work, and I listened to this album while driving between Decatur and Peoria in the snow and for some reason it was sort of a transcendent experience. This is one of my go-to road trip albums because listening to this album is a journey in itself. Chicago is one of my daughter’s favorite songs, Predatory Wasp is one of my wife’s favorites. I love it from beginning to end.
I’d go as far to say it’s one of the great works of art from this century. It’s one of my favorite albums ever, but I think objectively the execution on such an ambitious project and the quality of the writing, the performances, and production make it truly staggering. It’s an album I’ve listened to dozens of times, and every time there are new nuggets I discover, both in the lyrics or music.
I usually prefer shorter albums, between 30 and 40 minutes is my sweet spot, but occasionally an album’s long length can benefit the project and this is one of those rare occasions to me. It’s a midwestern epic, and should be considered an American classic.
John Lee Hooker
4/5
A nice celebration of the blues. I enjoyed all of the collaborations, but JLH’s three solo tracks at the end are just as mesmerizing.
I’m guessing he did not, but I do wonder if Hooker ever met Robert Johnson in his lifetime - they were about the same age from around the same area.
Nirvana
5/5
An amazing set, and in my opinion the most interesting Nirvana album (Nevermind and In Utero are both great too). This mostly acoustic performance to me showcases the band’s talents, especially Cobain, as much or more as their studio albums. I prefer these renditions over many of their proper studio counterparts, especially the iconic All Apologies take. They arguably best David Fucking Bowie on The Man Who Sold The World, which should be a big enough endorsement for the record all by itself. It’s also very cool that Nirvana, one of the world’s biggest bands at the time, covered songs from Meat Puppets and Vaseline. The Lead Belly cover is also awesome and introduced Lead Belly to a new generation.
Cobain’s singing is great and his words are able to stand out more clearly in the mix, making it easier to take in his sad, skeptical, brilliantly cryptic lyrics. His vocal performance on Lead Belly’s Where Did You Sleep Last Night is pretty incredible.
It’s not all Kurt though. Novoselic‘s bass sounds great throughout. Dave Grohl adds some nice backing vocals and his restraint on the percussion is noteworthy I think as it shows he understood the assignment. What’s most sad to me is that this showed the world that Nirvana had range that probably could have produced some more amazing music if not for Kurt’s death.
I’m not the biggest grunge or even Nirvana fan (although I do love their albums), but this is an all time great live album.
G. Love & Special Sauce
3/5
I was surprised to see this one listed, but it is a unique sound from a unique band. I’ve never been able to get into G. Love despite liking many of their contemporaries and associated artists.
Their debut is okay - it’s not great musically but there is a vibe on several songs that is appealing in the right setting. Baby’s Got Sauce is fun abound probably my favorite track.
It’s feel good music made for beach festivals and opening for Dave Matthews Band - and if that’s wrong I don’t want to be right. That said, I’m rarely going to listen to this in my day to day, and I tried listening while working and it’s definitely not the right music for that. I haven’t seen them live, but my guess is they’re a band that is best experienced in person than on record.
Black Flag
3/5
For me the primary barometer of whether music is good or bad or in between is the answer to this question: “does it move me?”
“Move” can mean a few different things. Physically movement: does it make me dance, bob my head, tap my fingers, punch a wall?
Emotional movement: does it make me happy, sad, empathetic, pissed the fuck off?
Intellectual movement: does it make me think about things I haven’t thought of before, does it make me think about things differently than I have before, does it make me think everyone sucks especially anyone in positions of authority?
For these criteria, Damaged certainly does the job, obviously with the latter examples provided above.
The second barometer for me usually is do I like the music itself: do I think it’s well performed, well written, well arranged, etc.
Well, on the second barometer Black Flag doesn’t do a ton for me, although it’s not all bad. I do like the guitars, messy as they are I do think the music is effective for the material. Henry Rollins singing is also messy of course, and while it’s not as effective as the guitars it does fit the overall music.
It may just be a taste or experience thing for me not “loving” it. Maybe if I were a frustrated teen D&D playing weirdo in 1981 (I say this with love - nothing wrong with this) I would probably feel more connected to this and more nostalgic today about how the music sounds, but I was born 6 years after this and played sports and shit in high school and listened to Dave Matthews a lot (again, this sounds a little cheesy to me and the D&D playing weirdo sounds cooler to me nowadays).
Christina Aguilera
4/5
I’ll admit, I wasn’t very excited when this was my album of the day. This came out my sophomore year of college, and I certainly had no interest in it at the time. I remember the singles, and while I can’t say I hated them I largely ignored them.
This was a very fun album to listen to.
It has sort of an almost Motown mixed with delta blues and modern R&B. I did not find it to sound firmly rooted in mid 2000’s pop - I can’t believe how well this record has held up 18 years later.
As expected the singing is performed with incredible talent and technical prowess, but I expected to react to the songs like “whoa that’s a bit much” ; but it never happened. It’s not over the top, even when she hits 20 notes in half a second. I was also surprised to see she’s credited as a writer for all the songs.
It’s raunchy at times, heartfelt at times, and fun throughout. It’s a really good pop record.
Stevie Wonder
5/5
Often talked about in the best album of all time debate, I’ve listened to this many times and while I definitely like it and recognize why it’s great, but I’ve been slow to say I love it and it isn’t one of those albums that I regularly play. I took this opportunity to listen to it three times today to give it a chance to sink in.
It’s definitely a masterpiece, beginning to end. Too High and Higher Ground have long been favorite Stevie tracks, but songs like Living For The City, which I’ve probably heard several dozen times in my life at least, just clicked with me at a higher level of attention to detail. The music, lyrics, and singing are elite at every beat and in between.
Neu!
4/5
This one is completely new to me, both the album and the band.
What a gorgeous song the opener Isi is. Reminded me of a band I saw a few times in college called Perpetual Groove - it’s cool to hear sounds from a band I’ve never heard of from an album from the 70’s sound so familiar. I loved the album front to back, at times it’s not exactly cohesive but the variety in sound and style doesn’t hurt the album too much. My only real exposure to “krautrock” before this was Kraftwerk, who is tremendous, but this is different and a step closer to prog I think. It also reminds me of moments you hear in some of King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard’s albums - a great compliment from me.
Overall a great album that is immediately accessible in the right setting but probably rewards many listens.
Johnny Cash
4/5
Cash’s Hurt cover is probably the first song that comes to mind for “best cover song of all time”. There are many great ones: Hendrix’ All Along the Watchtower, Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah (although I prefer John Cale’s rendition slightly), Whitney’s I Will Always Love You, etc., but I think The Man in Black’s Hurt is number 1 if ranking them is necessary.
Hurt is the clear highlight overall on this album, but there are other really good songs. The title track is great, as is I Hung My Head - classic Cash. The covers of Bridge Over Troubled Water, In My Life, Desperado, and I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry are all fine renditions, perhaps better as part of this album than as individual tracks.
I think I’ve listened to the American series and remembered this being the clear best. It’s the first example in my lifetime that I can think of where an artist in their twilight years produces some truly incredible work, a trend that would follow several years later with artists like David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, and David Crosby among others (The Rolling Stones album from 2023 is awesome too).
Moby
4/5
I’m a kid of the 90’s, but my parents certainly didn’t listen to Moby. I listened to this for the first not too long ago actually, and it’s a fine album front to back. Porcelin is fantastic, as is Natural Blues. There’s not a bad track. I’ve been slow to electronic dance music, but I have really enjoyed getting into this genre a bit more the last few years, and this is one of the top examples.
Paul Weller
4/5
I’ve never listened to anything by Paul Weller that I didn’t like. I’ve heard this is a good album but I’ve never got around to listening to it. I gave it three listens front to back, which was necessary because it’s definitely a record that rewards multiple listens.
It has really good songs, great playing, varied instrumentation, and it flows great from beginning to end. Paul's singing voice isn’t my favorite perhaps, buts it’s effective and sounds great at times, especially on songs like Moon On Your Pyjamas. The guitars sound awesome throughout the record. Sunflower, All The Pictures On The Wall, and Has My Light Really Gone Out? are the highlights to me.
Probably an album that would be five stars for me with more listens.
Scritti Politti
3/5
Green Gartside’s voice does indeed sound “permanently 14 years old”. I can see this getting some attention in 1985, while MJ was still the world’s biggest star. He sounds like Michael in his upper register.
The music is absolutely, firmly 1980’s. It could only come from the middle of that decade. It’s not bad, not great either to me.
Patti Smith
4/5
I forgot how wild this album is. It’s hard for me to make out Patti’s lyrics on most songs, but I’m assuming she’s casting spells and hexes.
And it’s great.
Sarah Vaughan
5/5
Maybe someone with a better ear than mine can tell if Sarah misses a note in this live set, but I don’t hear one. If she did, it still sounded amazing.
I haven’t heard this before but I was mesmerized.
Brian Wilson
4/5
It’s not possible to listen to this without comparing it to Pet Sounds.
Calling Pet Sounds the greatest album of all time will receive no argument from me, and my understanding is that Brian’s original ambitions for Smile were for it to be the greatest music anyone had ever heard.
It’s exciting enough that one of musics great “lost” albums was finally made and released as the primary mind behind it had intended. The result is a very very good album, one that has been called a masterpiece in its own right.
For me, it stops just short of masterpiece because any time I’ve listened to it I can’t help it but to want to listen to Pet Sounds instead.
Musically it is stunning - Brian’s arrangements are the work of a genius. What it lacks to me is the emotional powerhouse of the lyrics in Pet Sounds and how the words in combination with the music convey all the feelings of innocence, longing, humor, heartache, and wonder of youth. Smile goes for this as well, perhaps with more of a focus on joy, but I always find it falling a tad short.
I still love the album.
The KLF
3/5
I had never heard of The KLF, perhaps because I was 5 years old when they retired.
The White Room was enjoyable, and while I wasn’t explicitly familiar with any of the songs it felt like I had probably heard some of them before. There’s a fun vibe throughout the record. It faded to the background pretty easily for me at times, at other times I couldn’t help but dance a bit.
I don’t fell overly compelled to revisit this, so I’m only giving three stars, but it’s an enjoyable three stars.
The Cars
4/5
An absolute classic of what we now call classic rock and one of those albums that influenced a thousand others.
The album starts with unsustainable greatness, with three big hits in a row including the incomparable Just What I Needed, a perfect rock song. I think the middle of the album drags a tad, which I’m sure many would disagree with, but it finishes strong with Moving In Stereo and All Mixed Up.
Ray Charles
5/5
While this isn’t a record I throw on every day, I’m not sure it’s possible to give it less than 5 stars.
Hugely influential and probably the best example of Charles’ talents on record, it’s a fascinating listen from start to finish. There’s so much emotion in all the phrasing and delivery in Ray’s vocals and piano playing. His takes on these classic songs transform them into all new songs.
I’m not sure I could listen to this and not have my mood elevated and my outlook brightened. This is music intended to lift up the soul and strengthen it even after it’s done. It should be required listening for everybody.
Scott Walker
4/5
I think this album is fascinating. My favorite of Walker’s albums, I could probably give it 5 stars with more listens.
It’s bizarre, but not as bizarre as much of his other work and much more accessible in a good way. His voice sounds great and the lyrics are interesting. The production and arrangements are so unique, it’s like there was no intention whatsoever for this to be popular.
He’s like Sinatra on acid.
Grateful Dead
3/5
Around two years ago, I did a deep dive into the Grateful Dead, listening to all of their albums and any live album I could find on streaming. I did this because although I had loved Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty for a long time I had never really understood the pipe Around the band. During my deep dive, I really fell in love with much more of their music, and it took a lot of listening to live albums to understand what they were all about live.
I think live/dead is a good album, but more so as a time capsule of the band at that time good album to listen to. It could very well be the streaming quality on Spotify, but the recording quality seems pretty bad compared to albums like Europe 72. Dark Star is a great song as is Saint Stephen and 11 but outside of these tracks, I don’t love this album and think that it is probably overrated in terms of quality. I don’t know this for sure but I think it was unusual to have a live rock album at the time, so it was, unique in that way when it came out. Obviously a live Grateful Dead album that is an official release will be highly regarded by the deadhead, but they would agree. I think that there are much better. Examples of the bands live work.
it’s an interesting lesson but one that I’ve heard many times and still can’t find love for.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
Heads Will Roll is one of the top songs of the 00’s, full stop. Zero is great too.
It’s a solid album throughout.
Muddy Waters
5/5
Mannish Boy is such a ridiculously good track. It goes so hard.
The entire album sounds absolutely incredible. Johnny Winter’s production is perfect for channeling the power in Water’s music. I was not familiar with this one before but it is an incredible blues album.
Primal Scream
5/5
This is an album that I listened to for the first time only a couple of years ago or so. I’ve revisited it occasionally and every time I do I like it more and more.
It’s definitely a classic, influential album and it’s a joy to listen to, pure fun from beginning to end. It’s just the right mix of dance and psychedelic, with sprinkles of classic rock and soul. Sublime.
Judas Priest
5/5
The Style Council
3/5
This is another new one to me. It’s a strange, eclectic album that mixes jazz and soft rock with pop, soul, and even hip hop sprinkled in.
It’s an interesting listen and musically it sounds awesome at times. I don’t love it as an album front to back, the shifts in styles are a little jarring to me, but several tracks are fun.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
Any album with Proud Mary and Born on the Bayou on it is probably getting 5 stars. If it has these two tracks and a bunch of other really good songs, it’s a no brainer.
Killer rock n roll from on of the all time great bands. CCR for all their popularity and influence may be somehow underrated still in terms of just being an excellent band. They were so tight, had incredible songs, great guitar work, a rhythm section that drove so much groove into their songs, and an all time great front man to boot.
They may have arguably bested this later with Green River, Willie and the Poor Boys, and Cosmo’s Factory, but that doesn’t mean Bayou Country isn’t basically perfect.
Badly Drawn Boy
4/5
I had not hear of Badly Drawn Boy before this despite being a fan of many comparable artists.
This album sounds great, I gave it two listens and enjoyed the second quite a bit more than the first - a sign that it’s probably a grower. It reminds me a lot of Beck’s Sea Change and of some moments in Sufjan Stevens’s Illinois - two of the finest “indie rock” albums ever made. Given the year it was released I would not be surprised if he inspired them on those albums.
At worst it’s a very solid indie rock album beginning to end, and it has potential to be a masterpiece of I give it more time. It’s one I plan to revisit.
Adele
5/5
I’ll admit, I rolled my eyes a little when I saw this was my album of the day. It was a moment of undeserved snobbery that I now feel bad about.
What a great album. There are so many great songs throughout, some of which I just forgot that she did. Rolling in the Deep is certainly my favorite (should have used favourite) Adele song - what a banger it still is. What I didn’t expect on revisiting this is how great most of the other songs are. Rumour Has It, Set Fire to the Rain, and Someone Like You were also massive hits and are excellent songs. I forgot or simply never knew that there is a Lovesong cover on here, and it’s great. I don’t hear a bad song between these either - I kept waiting for the filler and it didn’t come.
Five stars and some crow to eat for me.
The Coral
4/5
Solid psych rock that I need to listen to a few more times. Love the vibe though.
Prefab Sprout
4/5
I bought this album on vinyl a few years ago on a whim. I liked the cover I think, and some quick research showed it was a cult classic so I picked it up.
It’s a solid album front to back, and the lead single When Love Breaks Down is worth 4 stars by itself.
The Who
5/5
Easy five stars. What a show from beginning to end. It showcases everything that made The Who great, even before their greatest album (Who’s Next, not a close second other than this one IMO) was released a year or so later.
Pete’s playing and background vocals are great, Roger’s singing is fantastic, and of course the rhythm section is otherworldly, on the Moon even (sorry…).
Brian Eno
4/5
I had listened to this before and was underwhelmed despite being a pretty big Eno fan, but decided to give it multiple spins this time around and it’s an excellent grower.
No surprise here, but Eno implements unique sounds throughout the record. It’s pretty accessible though, and much of it previews his work a few years later with Talking Heads (some of the greatest albums ever made in my opinion).
Very solid, perhaps a masterpiece that I need to continue exploring over time.
Tracy Chapman
4/5
Excellent record that contains one of the finest songs ever recorded in Fast Car. Is there a line that evokes as much emotion as “your arm felt nice wrapped ‘round my shoulder”?
To me the album is good start to end with Fast Cat being a masterpiece of a track.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
5/5
I love Elvis Costello. I’ve been a fan since I saw him open for Bob Dylan at my university, where he played an incredible set featuring just a guitar and himself. It was awesome.
Over time I’ve listened to much of his output, but I’ve never listened to this album. What a miss!
After three spins it may be my favorite album of his, and his consistency through the late seventies and eighties is pretty remarkable. REM was around by this one, and I wonder if there is some influence from Murmer and other early REM on this one. It’s a strong record from beginning to end, no filler whatsoever. My favorite tracks are Home is Anywhere You Hang Your Head, Blue Chair (unbelievably good song - fantastic buildup in the chorus), Poor Napoleon, and Next Time Round (particularly REMish).
As good as the record is, my favorite thing I learned while listening to this record is that Elvis Costello coined an alter-ego name of “Napoleon Dynamite,” and that the filmmaker denied that he got it from him. That was a super fun fact to my older-millennial mind.
A Tribe Called Quest
5/5
One of hip hop’s great conscious-rap outputs. It’s great beginning to end.
The Mothers Of Invention
4/5
Delightfully weird and way ahead of its time. Is it the best album ever made? No, probably not. I can’t give it 5 stars because some songs are just not enjoyable to me. That said you have to respect a band putting out a song like Trouble Every Day in 1966 United States: it’s a great jam and tackles the racial issues at the time very directly.
The opener Hungry Freaks, Daddy is another great track, and from there the album is quite a journey. God bless you Frank you weird and wonderful bastard.
The Cramps
3/5
It was an interesting listen, not what I expected. I couldn’t get too into it though. The songs were fine and unique enough to warrant a spin, but it didn’t grab me and I don’t feel the need to listen again.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Solid Stevie album that was a first for me. I was actually not familiar with any of the songs either, though they were undeniably classic Stevie.
I don’t hear much on this one that makes it stand out amongst his top records like Innervisions and SITKOL, but it’s very good beginning to end.
Billie Holiday
3/5
I love Billie Holiday, at least I can’t say I’ve ever heard a Billie song that I didn’t enjoy. She had one of the all time great voices, and she collaborated with some of the greatest jazz musicians on some really great tunes.
That said, I didn’t love this album all that much. It was interesting to hear her late period recordings, but I found this a lot less inspiring that her earlier work and far less interesting than her “boppier” tunes.
The End of a Love Affair was really the only song that I truly enjoyed, and otherwise it was interesting only as a chronicle of her declining health (her voice is still lovely but far weaker than earlier).
A Tribe Called Quest
5/5
I’m not in the business of giving Tribe albums less than 5 stars. Sublime.
The Psychedelic Furs
5/5
I’ve heard this before, but giving it three good listens in a row revealed a masterpiece to me. An incredible album.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
My six year old daughter heard me listening to Stupid Girl while listening to Aftermath and now the Stones are on her shit list.
One of the first really great albums from the Stones. Bettered by later work certainly and it sounds a bit dated at times these days, it’s still excellent and sounds fresh at times. Under My Thumb especially is my jam.
Hookworms
4/5
I had this as my 23rd favorite album of 2018, and since then I’ve revisited it a few times and would have it rated higher since then. It’s an album that starts off as a 5 star album and probably finishes as a 3 star. I remember thinking that this band has tremendous potential, and this album was a near masterpiece.
Unfortunately the band will be remembered for the alleged sexual abuses by the singer, an anonymous dude named L. Its a shame and the band has broken up, they had a unique sound that had potential for some great projects.
The Birthday Party
4/5
I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did. Early, dark Nick Cave is a very good Nick Cave indeed (just like the other Nick Caves).
It reminds me of Pornography-era cure mixed with 80’s Tom Waits and, well, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It’s not for everyday listening, and it’s not something you’ll put on at an outdoor BBQ party this summer. If you’re disenchanted, pissed off, and/or questioning what this crazy life is all about, it’s probably the soundtrack for that.
The Who
5/5
This is, in my opinion, The Who’s best studio album by a considerable margin and one of “classic rock’s” best albums. Baba O’Riley is a rare perfect song and one of the best openers on any album. Excellent throughout, but it begins and ends with perfection, as the best albums do.
Abdullah Ibrahim
4/5
Really good, unique (to my ears) jazz. There were a few moments that had me pretty well enchanted by it. It surprisingly starts out pretty boppy, but it covers a lot of ground throughout with some ethereal moments and very melodic, almost lyrical moments sprinkled throughout.
It’s one of those albums I’ve discovered through this project that could become all time favorites with more listens, I hope to keep this on a semi-frequent rotation.
Goldie
4/5
I liked it. I’m not very knowledgeable on drum and bass music and I’d never heard of Goldie, but I found it pretty captivating at times. The rhythms are great as one would hope in a drum and bass record, but it’s also very melodic and musically diverse at times as well.
The tracks are long and it’s a style that will probably turn off many, but I love listening to this kind of music while doing things like running, working, or cooking. Quite enjoyable.
5/5
A stone cold classic. A bunch of midwestern weirdos making weird nerdy music that sounds both very 70’s/80’s but also at times like something from the future.
I’m surprised I haven’t noticed it before when listening to this record, but it sounds so similar to the Talking Heads around the same time to me. I haven’t heard these two contemporaries compared much but they have such a common neurotic vibe.
There’s also a lot previewing Weezer’s blue album here to me. It’s such an influential and unique record.
Jack White
5/5
I absolutely wore this one out when it came out. It was probably one of the last CDs I bought before (sadly I think) streaming services changed the economics of consuming music.
In my opinion, time has shown this record is as good as any of the White Stripes albums, which is saying a lot given they made at least two masterpieces in White Blood Cells and Elephant.
It’s a masterclass in modern rock and roll. Sixteen Saltines is a banger. Love Interruption is an angry ballad, followed immediately by the lovely ballad title track. Tons of variety, great weird guitar licks, great weird lyrics, great weird vocals.
James Taylor
4/5
A very very good album with some of my favorite songs. Sweet Baby James, Country Road, and of course Fire and Rain are classics that rank among the best from any singer-songwriter.
In between and around these tracks I don’t love it. I know some love Steamroller, but I think it’s an old song among the others on the album.
Anyway, any album with the three songs mentioned above is a four star album at least.
Public Image Ltd.
3/5
My only hot take is that I like it better than Sex Pistols
Pulp
4/5
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
4/5
I love Graceland a lot, easily one of my favorite albums of the 80’s (even though it doesn’t sound very 80’s to me). I had never listened to Ladysmith Black Mambazo, but it took all of 3 seconds to recognize their voices from their contributions to Graceland.
Shaka Zulu was a fantastic listen. I could listen to this all day. A wonderful album that I’ll be sure to revisit.
Iggy Pop
5/5
Iggy has had some great solo albums, and I think this is the best one. There are great songs from beginning (the sublime title track) to end, with an especially stellar three song run in The Passenger, Tonight, and Success. David Bowie’s fingerprints are all over the record, which is never a bad thing.
The Black Crowes
5/5
Exceptional southern rock, chock full of bangers. Jealous Again, She Talks to Angels, and a literally perfect cover of Hard to Handle are the obvious highlights, but it’s a great rock and roll album from beginning to end. Great playing, tight but still live sounding production, and some of the best vocal performances in southern rock are found here.
DJ Shadow
4/5
Excellent electronic music and some of the best sampling this side of Paul’s Boutique
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
Another strong album from one of rock’s most consistent artists
Culture Club
3/5
I can’t be too bothered with most of the songs, but there are a few decent pop songs that hold up. Karma Chameleon is impossibly catchy.
ABBA
5/5
Not sure if this is important, but I’m white, straight, in my 30’s, like sports, enjoy a good beer, lift weights.
ABBA rules.
The Band
5/5
I just love The Band so much. One of the all time great producers of music from a group of five dudes, The Band’s first two albums are as good as any two album run by anyone in my opinion. Music From Big Pink and their self titled are incredible records filled with excellent musicianship, gorgeous harmonies, and fantastic lyrics.
The stories told here are great: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down may be the best song of all time about the American south, and it’s written by a Canadian. Up On Cripple Creek is a tale of the drunken, polyamorous joy of living on the road.
It’s a brilliant record, on par with and slightly more consistent throughout than Music From Big Pink. One of the very best of the late 60’s.
Slipknot
4/5
I’ll admit, I rolled my eyes when I saw this was the album of the day. I’d listened to their debut before, which I think is supposed to be a classic, and I didn’t care for it at all even though I like a lot of metal.
This was really good and it surprised me. There was a lot more musicality than I expected, and the duel lead vocals were effective. I was surprised by how much I liked it and will revisit it.
Kate Bush
4/5
Another really good album from an artist I’ve learned a lot more about the past couple of years. Probably five stars with more listens. I love the song Love and Anger, especially the subtle tempo change in the middle of the song.
R.E.M.
5/5
One of the best albums from one of the great American bands. Orange Crush and Stand are the highlights, but it’s solid from beginning to end. Stipe sounds his awkwardly confident best, and Mills and Buck do their thing exceptionally well here.
I’d rank this alongside Murmur as their best album of the 80’s, and only clearly bested by Automatic for the People in their catalog.
Talk Talk
4/5
A sweet sounding album from beginning to end. It’s a tad low key and only has a few moments of “whoa”, but it sounds great and the songs are varied while remaining cohesive as a whole. Life’s What You Make It and Living In Another World are the highlights to me.
Flamin' Groovies
4/5
Really solid rock n roll. It sounds pretty garage at times but surprises you with a few musically complex moments. The finale Whisky Woman is the highlight, along with a fantastic Shakin’ All Over cover from the bonus tracks.
R.E.M.
5/5
In my view this is would make a very short list of greatest American works of music. It was a seismic shift in what storytelling, musical variety, and production means for rock music.
It opens with four incredible consecutive tracks in Drive (a great tone-setting opener), Try Not To Breathe, The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight, and Everybody Hurts. Everybody Hurts is probably the most well known, and it’s a great song, but it’s probably my least favorite of the four. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight is the high point of the first half of the album.
Every track is great, and most are categorically perfect songs, none more so than Nightswimming: it’s a song that could not possibly be better in my opinion. It’s one of the best songs ever recorded I think.
Man On The Moon isn’t far behind. MOTM -> NS is one of the best two song runs on any album. Every song on the back half is good, but Ignoreland is the other most excellent track.
While I think this is an all time great record, if I could change one thing about it: I would have ended the album with Nightswimming. Find The River is a good song, but it’s one of the least memorable song on the album and can feel a bit lackluster after the musical/emotional juggernaut that is Nightswimming. It’s still arguably the best album of the 90’s and one of the greatest albums ever made.
Gary Numan
4/5
It’s weird as hell and awkwardly fun. A fantastic electionic record that sounds both a product of its time and futuristic (from a late 70’s perspective anyway.)
Cars is the highlight, but M.E. and several other tracks are great and it’s solid from beginning to end.
Tom Waits
4/5
Fantastic early Waits. I thought it was actually a live album, but it’s actually a studio album with people invited to make it sound like a jazz club. I thought it was, so it’s effective enough to fool me!
The stories here are great. Warm Beer and Cold Women is a great song with one of the best titles ever.
Germs
3/5
I don’t know it’s angry and fine punk
Janis Joplin
5/5
A fantastic finale for Janis. She was an inspiration incredible singer who burned out too soon, and while this is certainly her best project and a great album I always come away thinking she had her best stuff ahead of her.
Me and Bobby McGee is the hit and best song here (what a jam at the end!) but every song is great, including the goofy Mercedes Benz (her last recording). Janis’ vocal performance is incredible on all tracks - most notably to me on Bobby McGee, Cry Baby and Half Moon. One of the better vocal “pop” albums of the 60’s and the best example of Janis’ talents.
Isaac Hayes
4/5
I had not listened to this one before, and was excited to do so. I was not disappointed by the Hot Buttered Soul. Maybe I should ask my wife to listen to it too.
It wasn’t exactly what I expected though. It’s closer to psychedelic soul than the straight up sex music I had preconceived. Hyperbolic…might be the exception here - but even it’s like sex music on psychedelics. It also holds the distinction of being the only song I can think of that mentions the medulla oblongata.
Walk On By is probably my favorite song - the LP version is quite the jam. I personally love albums with a few long songs on it, and this one only has 4 songs. I’ll come back to this one in the future, pretty close to 5 stars for me.
Belle & Sebastian
5/5
Real men love Belle & Sebastian
A brilliant debut. I’m slightly partial to If You’re Feeling Sinister, but it’s a brilliant album. I was only a kid when it came out, but I’d love to talk to someone who heard this before it became a cult classic: a thousand albums came out ten years later that sound like this, but when this came out it was all grunge and Hootie and the Blowfish (not that that’s a bad thing, I will not disparage Hootie and Cracked Rear View is a classic!) and this is far from that sound.
It gets better with ever listen. There are more standout tracks on If You’re Feeling Sinister, but this is so good front to back and works for background music or close listening. The stories are great and cheeky, and the music is so good. Belle and Sebastian is what I thought the Smiths would be like, or what I wanted them to be like. B&S is much better I think.
Stevie Wonder
5/5
I was raised in a pretty conservative Christian home, and was really only allowed to listen to Christian music. We had a pretty good electric keyboard in my house that had several programmed songs on it. One of these songs, and my favorite, was Superstition, and this was my introduction to Stevie Wonder. For a long time, this was the only song of his that I knew.
Of Stevie’s peak period, I usually hear the most about Songs In The Key of Life and Innervisions, both incredible albums of course, but I think this may be his best. I like it’s length, there’s no filler whatsoever (not that there’s much on the other two), and it’s got Superstition, his best song in my opinion.
Soundgarden
5/5
Grunge isn’t traditionally my favorite genre, my teenage years didn’t start until 2000 and, growing up in a pretty conservative house in the U.S. south, I was pretty sure Nirvana et al were bands started by the devil himself. After rediscovering the genre with a more open mind several years later, I favored Pearl Jam and Nirvana over Soundgarden and Alice In Chains, and PJ put on one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen. I still don’t often listen to these bands and am much more of a casual fan.
I’m really glad this project gave me a chance to revisit Superunknown, because it really is excellent. I think I gave it a listen after Chris Cornell died and I remember thinking it is very good, but a close listen really does show this is a true masterpiece in this type of rock music.
Black Hole Sun is the obvious crown jewel on the album, but there isn’t a bad song at all; something that can’t really be said about any of the top “grunge” albums, arguably even Nevermind, Ten, and In Utero. Cornell’s vocals are really something, and the music that accompanies him is killer throughout.
Mike Oldfield
4/5
A great listen when you’re in the mood for (mostly) wordless droning music.
Kraftwerk
5/5
When the moment’s right, Kraftwerk slaps.
I don’t think I’ve listened to this one and it may be my favorite record of theirs that I’ve heard. It has such rich sounds that don’t sound overly late 70’s. It still sounds futuristic today.
I only had time for one listen but I think it’s worth 5 stars.
The White Stripes
5/5
Every once in a while in this album project, I loudly exclaim “fuck yeah!” to myself when the album is revealed. That definitely happened with this one.
Along with Elephant, this is one the Stripes’ two masterpieces. It’s some of the best rock and roll produced this century.
I Fell In Love With A Girl is one of the all time bangers. Hotel Yorba is a man earworm, and who doesn’t love We Are Gonna Be Friends. Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground is a perfect opener. Amazing.
Drive-By Truckers
5/5
I have a lot to say about this album.
It’s the album that I’ve been most excited to see included on this list so far, as I think it’s under appreciated despite its acclaim among those that have listened to it.
If you want to categorize it as such, I think it’s the best “southern rock” album ever made.
I think Drive-By Truckers are one of the best and probably the most criminally under-listened to and underrated American rock bands of all time.
Most of all, I think this album is the most effective work of art I’ve ever seen at articulating the human culture in the southern United States. I grew up (and still live) in the south and at some point I recognized, but couldn’t quite put my finger on, a contrast between what were described as southern values and the actions and behaviors I witnessed and read about in southern history. I was raised in a very conservative home in a very politically and culturally conservative region, and I grew up thinking that the “Bible belt” was the kindest and most hospitable place on earth. Over time, I also witnessed occasional implicit (sometimes explicit) racism and even more frequent homophobia and general intolerance of people that were slightly off from southern norms. I didn’t know how to describe it until I heard Patterson Hood’s words “the duality of the southern thing”. That’s nail meets head into some deep deep shit.
Southern Rock Opera loosely follows the career of Lynyrd Skynyrd, but I think it’s more effective to listen to it as allegory for living in the south. There’s beauty, ugliness, kindness, cruelty, love, hate, wealth, poverty, triumph and tragedy all woven into the southern thing and represented in this album.
It does another important thing: it walks through some of the history of why the south has a reputation for racism while acknowledging an overlooked attribute of the southern thing: not everyone is racist! The Three Great Icons of Alabama is the core of Southern Rock Opera to me, and it tells a story of the social dangers of politician pandering and how they may sell their soul for votes at the expense of the reputation of their people. This is something that has always bothered me in the United States: the south is not the only place where racism (and homophobia, etc.) exists! This doesn’t excuse Jim Crowe and other systemic issues that were more prevalent in the south and perpetuated by politicians by Wallace, but it highlights that at an individual level racism was not siloed on the south: it’s rampant throughout our nation.
Racial issues aren’t the only topic here. This album is full of great stories. Mike Cooley (one of the two criminally underrated songwriters in this band) crushes it on Zip City, a small town tale of a horny teenager weighing prostitution against his girlfriend’s chastity and southern Christian father. Cooley also presents Whisky Without Women, with lyrics that poignantly present the alcoholic’s dilemma:
“You know the bottle ain't to blame and I ain't trying to
It don't make you do a thing it just lets you.”
The other brilliant songwriter in the band, Patterson Hood, puts together most of the story of the southern thing: Ronnie and Neil, Let There Be Rock, Plastic Flowers on the Highway, Greenville to Baton Rouge, and the heart wrenching finale Angels and Fuselage string together the Lynyrd Skynrd story in a brilliant way that’s bigger that the band it focuses on. The last song is about the plane crash that killed most of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, which has these haunting words about those last seconds:
“I’m scared shitless, of what’s coming next and I’m scared shitless, these angels I see in the trees are waiting for me.”
Anyway: this album also ROCKS. Hood and Cooley shred throughout the record with a dueling guitar attack that sounds like 12 guitars at times. The songs are incredibly written too: each song is great as its own story but each also fits into the larger concept presented on the album, an essential element of an album masterpiece. It’s absolutely insane that the band hired a 22 year old Jason Isbell, one of rock’s great current talents and one of the best songwriters in recorded music history, to go on tour to support this album. If you haven’t heard the music of the Drive-By Truckers, listen to their albums Decoration Day, The Dirty South, and American Band as soon as possible, then listen to all their other albums because they’re all good to great. Listen to all of Jason Isbell’s music too if you haven’t yet.
David Bowie
5/5
Weird and wonderful Berlin Bowie
This must have been something else when it came out. It starts out with a bizarre and incredible instrumental opener that sounds like the end times, and it doesn’t get much less weird from there.
It’s weird to say, but I fill like you can almost “see” this album when you listen to it. Maybe that’s Sound and Vision talking, but I think this is such a colorful and full sounding album it almost tangibly stimulates the other senses.
It’s one of a few masterpieces by Mr. Bowie, and I wouldn’t argue much with anyone saying it’s his best.
Black Sabbath
5/5
It’s just so🤘🏼
Peter Gabriel
4/5
Need to give more listens to fully digest, but there are amazing sounds on this one.
Muddy Waters
4/5
Solid live blues from an all time important artist
T. Rex
4/5
Stonesy/Bowieish boogie rock
Buena Vista Social Club
5/5
I had never listened to this one before this, but I know a masterpiece when I hear it. The language barrier (for me despite 4+ years of Spanish in school) adds to the music in my opinion. There were several moments that stopped me in my tracks while listening: something about the combination of instruments and the synergy of the band is magical at times. It makes me want to visit Havana and listen to it on repeat. A superb album.
The Lemonheads
4/5
This is a fantastic album, one that I’d probably give five stars after some more listens. I’ve listened to it before and liked it a lot, which isn’t a surprise as I’m a sucker for a good jangly rock song with good writing.
There’s a ton of charisma here and it sounds great from start to finish. The cover of Mrs. Robinson is an obvious highlight, but the title track and several others are great too and I don’t hear a bad song. Goo Goo Dolls surely owe some credit to this one for the massive Dizzy Up The Girl album a few years later. Lemonheads are a bit of a “what could have been” band, but this was a really great contribution to music in the early 90’s.
Jane's Addiction
5/5
I heard “Jane Says” for the first time sometime while I was in high school, around 2002 or so. At the time I was just exploring a wider range of music after growing up in a very conservative Christian household, and Jane Says is one of those songs that just stopped me in my tracks. It was obviously a song about addiction, which I was just learning about, and everything about it blew me away from the steel drums to the implicitly sad lyrics.
It’s far from the only good song on Nothing’s Shocking. Every track is good to great, and it’s a rare “alternative” album that sounds cohesive throughout. Mountain Sound in particular is a jam.
It’s Jane Addiction’s masterpiece and one of the best rock albums of the late 80’s.
The Clash
5/5
Well this is an easy 5 stars.
I can’t add much about this that’s already been written, it’s a universally acclaimed by critics and fans for a reason. It’s one of the rare long, double albums that works not just in spite of its length, but is better for it.
What’s especially rare about London Calling compared to other incredible double/long albums is that it’s not a concept album at all requiring many songs to tell a story, but a collection of excellent songs that are varied but still function as a collective unit. You can listen to any one song on here and enjoy it, but it also works flawlessly as a front to back listening experience.
This is peak Clash for me. Others may like their “punkier” projects, but this is a direction they should have kept going in in my opinion. Joe Strummer was absolutely the man. Every song is at worst really good, and some tracks like the title track, Lost in the Super Market, and Train in Vain are absolute stunning classics. There are only a handful of albums in the discussion of best opening/closing track combos along with this one.
Perfection
The Verve
5/5
This album is brought to you in part by… drugs.
Most people probably know The Verve through Bittersweet Symphony and their psychedelic pop masterpiece Urban Hymns, for good reason. And while the follow-up to A Northern Soul is almost inarguably their magnum opus, this album is far from a write off. It’s pretty wild and trippy, paranoid and hazy from the drugs that the band openly consumed during its creation. It’s probably one of the better drug albums ever made, up there with Station to Station and Maggot Brain in terms of albums that drugs played a key part per the artists who made them.
The guitar work is great and Richard Ashcroft’s voice is perfect for the atmosphere created by the music. It’s not an every day listen, but every time I've listened to this album I come way thinking “damn this is good”.
The Smiths
4/5
I like The Smiths, but probably don’t love them as much as I thought I would when I started diving in several years ago. I definitely like Johnny Marr as a lead guitarist more than I like Morrissey as a lead singer. This is most evident on Meat Is Murder, an album full of great sounding songs for Morrissey to whine to.
Brian Eno
4/5
I love Brian Eno, especially as a producer. He’s played a major part in several of my favorite albums of all time with Talking Heads, Bowie, etc., and I love his ambient solo work.
I’ve heard this album many times, and I think I “respect” it more than I enjoy it. It sounds pretty far out in a good way, but it’s never quite connected with me as the masterpiece it’s typically described as.
It’s still very good. My favorite songs are the instrumentals, and I suspect Eno himself realized he good do more with instrumentation than his voice.
Pearl Jam
5/5
This album is a lot of things. It’s one of the great American rock records. It’s arguably the best album of the grudge movement. It’s got one of the best three-song runs on any album ever made (Once->Even Flow->Alive… are you kidding me). It has 5 songs that would be the best song on almost any other album (the three mentioned plus Black and Jeremy). It’s an album called Ten with eleven songs.
Arguably Pearl Jam’s masterpiece (Vs. will get arguments from hardcore fans), it’s an easy five star album even if the back half falls just short of the impossible heights of the first half. Pearl Jam is one of the great American bands and this is their greatest moment unless you are lucky to catch one of their stellar live shows.
Devendra Banhart
4/5
I’d like to spend more time with this one. I had t listened to it before this but I enjoyed the instrumentation and arrangements and his voice.
Dead Kennedys
3/5
I mean, it’s an interesting album to listen to and I know it’s a classic in the punk/hard core circles. I’m sure there is some parody or something involved, but it’s hard to get behind a song called I Kill Children.
It sounds better musically than I expected, and the Viva Las Vegas cover is pretty awesome. It’s a shocking album to listen to, which is the point, and it’s effective at being shocking, but I’m not sure I gained anything else from it.
De La Soul
4/5
Obviously a classic, it was a little before my time and I’ve never quite grasped it as a masterpiece, although I enjoy it a lot. I love “conscience” hip hop and love rap from this era, and I really like a lot of songs on here. I probably need to listen to it more often to fully get it.
That said, it’s objectively really good and I enjoy it a lot, especially Magic Number and Eye Know.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
What a weird and interesting album. Solsbury Hill is one of those songs I’ve heard dozens of times in the background of random places and honestly didn’t realize it was Peter Gabriel, although now knowing that it couldn’t be anyone else. What a great song.
Really all the songs are interesting, if not always beautiful to listen to. Here Comes the Flood is a fantastic closer. Gabriel is a big time artist that I’ve never really dove into, perhaps it’s time.
Giant Sand
4/5
I had not heard of this album nor Giant Sand prior to this, although I do like several of the “similar artists”.
I gave this three listens front to back and as I expected, it’s a grower that requires multiple listens. It reminds me at various times of Wilco, Beck, and especially Menomena and Lambchop. The highlight for me is Shiver, but there isn’t a bad song on the album. It’s another great gem found through this project.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
I’m 37, white, a dad; in other words I’m in my Springsteen prime and have concluded he’s one of the top 3 or so songwriters ever. His run of albums from Greetings From Asbury Park to Tunnel of Love may only be matched by the Beatles in quality and consistent excellence.
The second half of his career is more spotty, but he’s had several great records and The Rising is certainly one of them. Bruce sounds great throughout the record and it has the sound of classic Boss. I’d argue it’s best songs (The Rising, Lonesome Day, Worlds Apart, Mary’s Place) are some of the best in his career. While I’d also argue there’s not a bad song on the album, to me it’s a mid-tier Bruce record. There’s something that keeps me from calling it a masterpiece, perhaps it’s 2 or 3 songs too long, and it lacks the extended instrumental sections of songs like Jungleland or Thunder Road that made those so special.
Mid-tier Bruce is still excellent, and it’s basically 4.5 stars for me.
Massive Attack
5/5
One of my music discoveries of the past 3 years or so is “trip-hop”. It’s heyday was a little before I was tuned into music, and I didn’t really give it a solid focused listen until my mid 30’s. It’s a deep, groovy genre with several masterpieces, this being one of them and one of the first.
Blue Lines is definitely an album that demands being listened to from beginning to end. There are only a few songs that I think are songs that are good for playlist listening or for listening to one song: from the beginning Safe From Harm leads you into a unique listening experience with its foreboding, dark, groovy groove.
It’s a journey from there, and it’s dark at times, a party at times (though a party with a hint of danger), and it finally gets existential with the closer Hymn of the Big Wheel. It’s probably one of the best albums of the 90’s, and even if Massive Attack bested it (in my opinion) with Mezzanine, it’s still a perfect album that everyone should be familiar with.
Deee-Lite
4/5
I mean, it’s goofy and all sorts of cheesy, but it’s FUN. It’s funky throughout and absurdly danceable. It reminds me of recent albums from The Go! Team and Jessie Ware.
Groove Is In The Heart is the highlight and one of those songs that a lot of people will be like “oh yeah I know this one” when they hear it. 7 years from now this question will probably be on a music trivia game I’m playing and I’ll forget it’s Deee-Lite unless it’s multiple choice.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Very solid early effort from The Wailers. Stir It Up is an obvious highlight, but I actually love Peter Tosh’s contributions on this one (especially Stop That Train).
I think some of the later albums are better, but it’s still a great album and Marley is always welcome on my speakers.
Metallica
4/5
Enter Sandman goes really hard. It’s one of the best metal songs ever: just about everyone loves that song. It’s a stunning opener to Metallica’s self titled.
The rest of the album is very good, if maybe a hair lackluster compared to Sandman. There are very good songs and it’s a cohesive album, probably highlighted by Nothing Else Matters in the back half.
While this album is great and almost certainly the band’s best album that wasn’t made in the 80’s, it doesn’t quite reach the magic of Kill ‘Em All, Ride The Lightning, or Master of Puppets in my opinion (other than Enter Sandman).
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
Siamese Dream came out when I was about 6 years old and a weird kid that was only allowed to listen to Christian music. I heard 1979 later in life and it became one of my favorite songs ever, and I’ve heard many of the top songs from Siamese Dream here and there, played Cherub Rock on Rock Band, so on and so forth.
As an album though I have never let myself spend enough time with this. I’ve listened to …Infinite Sadness many times, and always assumed I like it more than Siamese Dream because it has 1979 on it.
This is another listening experience while participating in this project that’s just been sublime: this is such a tremendous album when you really give it a close listen. It’s a masterpiece and a journey well worth taking over and over.
All the songs are great even though the album eclipses an hour long. Billy Corgan kills it on guitar, his lyrics are great, and his voice is unmistakable and unique. It sounds sort of grungy, sort of shoegazey, sort of metal, and very rock and roll throughout. The drumming is fierce and in your face on many tracks.
A brilliant album that I’ll revisit more often, one of the best of the 90’s.
Isaac Hayes
4/5
One fine-ass soundtrack. Damn right.
Talking Heads
5/5
I went on a deep dive of the Talking Heads a little over ten years ago (A+ decision), and I came away thinking Fear Of Music was my favorite album by them. The brilliance of Remain In Light finally clicked with me later and I think that one holds the top spot for TH, but Fear of Music is still a masterpiece in its own right.
It’s so quirky, awkward, paranoid, funny at times, and existential. David Byrne is at his nervous energetic best. I Zimbra starts things off in Africa or something, Cities are traveled, and we go to Heaven and find ourselves underwhelmed.
This is the album that made me love Talking Heads, and I’m very grateful for that.
Björk
4/5
Björk is one of those artists that I think I respect as an artist more than I love their music. While I’ve never regretted listing to any of her albums, I don’t find myself coming back to them on my own volition.
While I’ve heard most of her catalog I don’t think I had listened to Björk’s Debut before this, and although I feel the same as described above I do think this is my favorite release of hers. It’s one great song after another, never sounding the same but also never feeling out of place. The first threes songs are particularly strong, but there are no weak tracks to be found.
It reminds me of a cross between Fiona Apple and Kate Bush, which makes sense as Björk’s equally as legendary and innovative as those two.
Justin Timberlake
3/5
It’s okay I suppose.
I have to admit, when Rock Your Body came on I was like “hell yeah!” That’s a jam.
Cry Me A River had me singing right along.
Otherwise, it’s very much okay.
Sonic Youth
4/5
If I’m honest, my experience with Sonic Youth is pretty much Daydream Nation, an album I love, and most especially Teen Age Riot which is one of my all time favorite songs. I’ve literally never listened to any of their other albums, although I’ve often read and heard people say good things about this one.
It’s hard for me not to compare it to Daydream Nation. After a couple of listens, I think Goo is a more consistently good album front to back and I enjoy basically every song. It doesn’t have a song as strong as Teen Age Riot, but it sounds very similar to Daydream Nation (it was only released a year later). My Friend Goo was the highlight to me, and I prefer Kim Gordon’s leads to Thurston Moore on this record.
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
Well here’s an easy 5 stars.
I won’t be able to add much that hasn’t already been said about this album. Some perfect albums are growers that take some time to digest and appreciate, and some perfect albums are amazing the first time you hear it and every time after. Rumours fits firmly in the second category.
The track list is ridiculous: Second Hand News, Dreams, Never Going Back Again, Don’t Stop, Go Your Own Way, The Chain, You Make Loving Fun… these are all songs that would be the best song on 99% of records ever made. Any album that cuts an outstanding song like Silver Springs off of it is probably really good.
One of the very best examples (maybe even the best) of popular rock n’ roll.
Anita Baker
3/5
Sounded nice but I couldn’t get into it
Incredible Bongo Band
4/5
Apache!
This album is one hell of a good time.
Alice In Chains
4/5
Here comes the roosteeeeeeerrrr yeeahhh!
Alice In Chains has never been a band that’s caught my interest for long periods of time. They’re one of those bands that when I hear them, I like them, but I never find myself coming back on my own.
That said, I think Dirt is a really good album. It sounds fantastic throughout, and the song arrangements vary more than expected. The guitar work here is great, and Layne Staley’s vocals are on point. Rooster is the highlight and the band’s best song in my opinion, but it’s a solid record throughout and it’s really only my personal taste giving it 4 stars instead of 5.
Coldplay
5/5
Oh Coldplay oh Coldplay, make albums like this again.
I expected to give this 4 stars, as I like it but have always put it behind A Rush Of Blood To The Head in terms of elite Coldplay albums. Even if it’s not quite as good as the follow up, it’s still a masterpiece.
I’m all for bands expanding their sound and reinventing themselves (see Radiohead for the best at this), but Coldplay has been reversing in quality for the better part of two decades now in my opinion. Their debut is incredible: Yellow, Trouble, Sparks, Shiver, and Don’t Panic are all incredible songs, and every track is at least “good”.
Chris Martin is at his lyrical best here, and his vocals are fantastic and emotional. The band sounds as good as they ever will expect on AROBTTH.
The Jam
4/5
The Jam is one of those bands that I like every time I hear them, but I haven’t ever been completely hooked by. Maybe it’s because I’m American and they are even more tailored to British life than many of the popular U.K. bands, and my yankee brain just doesn’t get it fully. I get it enough to like them though, and Sound Affects is no exception.
All Mod Cons is probably their record that I’ve heard the most, and I think I like this one even more. It sounds great throughout, and reminds me a lot of London Calling era Clash, which makes sense given the year it was released. There aren’t any songs that really catch my attention as amazing, but every songs is at least quite good. There are several moments in the record where the bass line does grab my attention, especially on Start! I love how bass forward the mix is.
Paul Weller is cool and a great front man. Good stuff, a record I’d like to own on vinyl.
Stan Getz
4/5
A new jazz album to me, this was a very enjoyable listen. Great as background or careful listening, and danceable at times.
Van Halen
4/5
An excellent debut from a rad band that everyone knows. In my opinion it starts out way better than it ends (Runnin With The Devil -> Eruption -> You Really Got Me is one hell of a start), but it’s still a fun album all the way through. Eruption is arguably the most important guitar instrumental ever in terms of what it did for the election guitar, and the You Really Got Me cover is somehow better than the Kinks original.
So much swagger, great tunes, and insane guitar playing in one record.
Genesis
4/5
Genesis is a noticeable gap in my music listening experience. I’ve listened to some Peter Gabriel, some Phil Collins, though probably not as much as you’d expect of someone who loves arty rock music as I do. I’ve heard, and loved, Collins’ big hits of course, but I’ve never done a deep dive on any of them and only recently have I listened to any of Gabriel’s albums. Before this, I was a Genesis virgin and couldn’t name a song by the band.
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway is a fantastic record. It’s a lot to take in - almost no album should be an hour and a half long. I’d have to spend a lot more time with it before calling it a masterpiece (I listened to it 3 times over a couple of days and I’m still not close to grasping any sort of story on this concept album), but this has been one of the most enjoyable albums to discover on this project.
It feels like Collin’s breaking out party - his voice is immediately infectious on the opening title track. There are several moments on the album of pop perfection: which surprise you when they occur because it’s such a delightfully weird album otherwise. The title track starts this at the chorus. The Carpet Crawlers, The Colony of Slipperman, and the closer It especially have extremely catchy and beautiful moments.
It’s an amazing album that I’ll look to grab on vinyl when I can, and could be a 5 star for me if I can ever digest it fully.
Buzzcocks
3/5
I thought I would like this one a little more than I did. I really like late 70’s British punk for the most part, especially the Clash, but after three listens this one didn’t really grab me fully. I liked it, especially the punk guitar work, and I don’t mind the vocals (much more listenable than Sex Pistols), but I personally don’t think it has very strong songs. Autonomy was the only song that I really gravitated too each listen.
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
A very solid, enjoyable electronic album. Pet Shop Boys are one of those bands that I’m not typically seeking out but have always enjoyed when I’ve listened to them. Actually is probably their best work and the record of their’s that I’ve heard the most. For me the highlight is I Want To Wake Up.
Curtis Mayfield
5/5
A spectacular, impossibly cool soundtrack album. One of the best original soundtracks ever I think. Oozes cool.
The Kinks
4/5
My Kink is listening to Waterloo Sunset
CHIC
4/5
Le Freak, C’est Chic
A fun, danceable, delightfully goofy album.
Duran Duran
4/5
A fun classic. The title track and especially Hungry Like The Wolf are the highlights, but it’s a good listen and more musically interesting than you expect. I’m a kid of the 90’s and wasn’t around when this album was massive, but while it’s unmistakably 80’s it holds up quite well and is never overly cheesy.
Wire
4/5
A great punk album that was ahead of its time. I had listened to this a few times before and like it a lot, but I was surprised to see this was released in 1976. What a great preview of the Clash’s best a few years later and of some of the better arty punk rock of the 80’s.
Fragile and Ex Lion Tamer are my favorites but it’s a solid record from beginning to end.
Grant Lee Buffalo
5/5
There have been several pleasant discoveries (to me) while participating in this project, but this has to be the biggest hidden gem so far. I’d never heard of Grant Lee Buffalo, and in reading about them it seems not many people knew about them in the 90’s either.
I love everything about this album. Phillip’s vocals are fantastic: I had to double take a few times because he sounds very Bono-esque at times. His falsetto is especially effective when he uses it. The stories are fantastic, especially on Jupiter and Teardrop and Dixie Drug Store, which are also my favorite tracks on the album. The title track is also great, and I think the political tracks of Stars n’ Stripes and America Snoring are effective.
Musically it is constantly interesting, and never sounds “samey” despite the limited personal on the album. Every track sounds great and the mix is perfect for this kind of record.
No wonder this was Michael Stipe’s favorite record of 1993: it’s a stunning album that would fit nicely beside Automatic for the People in a record collection.
Robbie Williams
4/5
I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. It’s nothing mind blowing, but I found it to be a solid record from beginning to end. Angels, Williams’ biggest song, is a banger. It sounds like Oasis at times, and I expected a straight pop record. Perhaps not the deepest or most daring album, but a solid 90’s Britpop record.
Bon Jovi
3/5
Loving’ On A Prayer is fun in the right setting. Otherwise these songs are annoying to me most of the time.
Electric Light Orchestra
3/5
As much as I want to like ELO, I just never really have. I like Jeff Lynne, but ELO’s tunes just don’t vibe with me. Out Of The Blue is probably their best album, although admittedly I haven’t listened to them all. The opener Turn to Stone and of course Mr. Blue Sky are the only tunes I really “like”. I think I want the music to sound futuristic, but it sounds very dated to me, which I suppose is an unfair knock on an album approaching half a century old.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
This is one of my personal ten or so favorite albums of all time, so it’s an obvious 5 stars from me. I can’t add much that hasn’t already been said, but for my money it has at least two of the greatest songs ever recorded (Thunder Road and Born to Run, and Jungleland has an argument too). For all its superlatives, from Clemens’ perfect sax solos to the meticulous “wall of sound” production, the greatest attribute of the album is Bruce’s songwriting. It’s a masterclass of storytelling through song: if you’re not moved to take on the world by Thunder Road or Born To Run, moved to smile by Tenth Avenue Freezeout, or moved close to tears by Backstreets and Jungleland, check if you’re alive.
Bruce has had at least 3 masterpieces, arguably more like 6, but in my opinion this will always be his best. It’s on the short list for greatest rock album of all time, and arguably the best record ever produced in America.
Dire Straits
4/5
Even if the rest of the album sounds “solid” to me in comparison to the timeless “Sultans of Swing”, this is a stone cold classic. Mark Knopfler’s absurd talent on the guitar steals the show for the most part.
Black Sabbath
5/5
An incredible metal album, one that has a strong argument for best ever. It’s so atmospheric, sounds amazing even today, and Ozzy’s otherworldly dark charisma dominates throughout.
War Pigs, Paranoia, Iron Man… these three tracks alone are 5 star worthy, but it’s fantastic throughout.
Mike Ladd
3/5
This is a solid rap offering with a trip hop vibe that I like a lot in rap music. It’s on the verge of 4 stars for me and deserves some more listens.
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
I’ve listened to Loveless many times and think it’s great, but I can’t recall ever listening to MBV’s debut.
I also think it’s great, perhaps a little less explosive-ear-candy than Loveless, but it’s a fantastic sounding record that is probably best suited for listening on vinyl with great headphones or a killer sound system. Unfortunately I listened on Spotify; it still sounds great but left me wanting a high fidelity listening experience. I’ll be sure to make that happen in the future, and I did my best to rate it based on what I’d think if I had it ready to listen in high fidelity.
The wall of guitars on Loveless is here as well, maybe in a more primitive state. The drums are high in the mix and are effective at punctuating the arrangements throughout.
I can’t make out a single lyric, which bothers some people but to me it makes the music more ethereal and mysterious.
Arctic Monkeys
5/5
I was completely obsessed with this album when it came out. I was in college, and at my major university in the southeast United States I was the only person I knew who listened to it.
I think it’s one of the best debut albums by any rock band in history. From the brilliant opener to the end, it just uses with swagger, great playing, and awesome stories from young adulthood in Britain.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
Super Furry Animals
4/5
Super Furry Animals are one of those bands that I’ve heard of and have seen them compared to artists and bands that I like a lot, but I’d never listened to them before this.
Fuzzy Logic is a solid, often times really good album that sounds newer to me than 28 years old. It’s a little bit Flaming Lip (especially of the mid 90’s), a little bit blue album Weezer, and a little bit Oasis/Blur. It makes for a good mix and fun sound throughout, and fun should be the offering if you’re going to name your band Super Furry Animals.
Something For The Weekend and Hometown Unicorn are the highlights for me.
Steely Dan
5/5
A few years ago I was reading an interview somewhere with the excellent artist Kurt Vile, who made the comment (paraphrasing) “anyone who loves music inevitably realizes that Steely Dan is the fucking shit.” Something like that.
He’s right of course. I was thinking about giving this 4 stars, then I realized I’ve never listened to Aja and thought anything but “damn this is good”. I’m not sure why that wouldn’t qualify it for 5 stars.
It’s so smooth, just absurdly tight playing through. There’s not really another album that sounds like Aja. The first three tracks are my favorites, but it’s excellent from start to finish.
The Yardbirds
3/5
So, I enjoyed listening to this album and gave it a couple of spins. Jeff Beck lays down several unique and cool guitar riffs, as he does.
That said I think that’s the only thing I’m drawn to on this album. As a mid-60’s psychedelic album it may have been innovative when it was released, but it’s hard not to compare it with many other superior albums of the next few years.
I’m glad I’ve now listened to it, but I don’t find myself wanting to revisit it again soon.
Morrissey
4/5
I was certain I’d give this 3 stars or less.
The Smiths are a band that I had assumed, before I listened to them, that I would eventually become obsessed with. They broke up the year I was born, but they influenced many bands that I loved as my tastes in music were forming, so I just assumed whenever I gave them a try I’d like them a lot.
As it turned out, I liked them just okay at best. I love Johnny Marr as a guitarist, but I found Morrissey… well… annoying. He’s often just a tad too whiney or something for me, and I’ve developed sort of a preconception of him, fair or not, that he’s just sort of a self-righteous and snobby sort of guy.
I’ve listened to Viva Hate before, but only once that I can remember, and I didn’t give it a fair chance then. After listening to it twice for this I must say that it’s an incredible sounding album. Even without Marr’s guitar and arrangement, it sounds fantastic throughout. Morrissey’s voice is great as well, and perhaps sounds a tad less whiney than on much of the Smith’s records.
Everyday is Like Sunday; Late Night, Maudlin Street; and Suedehead are my favorite tracks. I think this record is as good as any Smith’s record, maybe tied with The Queen Is Dead.
Basement Jaxx
3/5
I found it to be… okay. Not much about it stuck out enough to demonstrate to me why it’s on this list of albums. I can occasionally vibe with a drum and bass type album, especially while exercising, but I gave this a second spin while running and just wasn’t that into it.
Norah Jones
4/5
I remember when this won album of the year at the Grammys. I was in high school, and I remember thinking it was super lame that an album like this won.
I was young and stupid of course, it’s a gorgeous album. Don’t Know Why is an all time great vocal jazz song, what a masterpiece that track is. The title track is fantastic too.
The album maybe runs a little longer than it needed to, but it’s one of those albums that is perfect in the background in the right scenario, like a rainy Sunday morning.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
5/5
Skynyrd likely isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and it could be argued that Second Helping is a better overall record, but the idea of giving an album that contains Tuesday’s Gone, Gimme Three Steps, Simple Man, and (obviously) Free Bird anything less than 5 stars is lunacy.
One of the most misunderstood bands of all time, Skynyrd ushered in southern rock with cerebral, thoughtful lyrics and a bruising musicality that is often obscured by the rebel flags that were often seen at their shows. It was a band filled to the brim with talent, and their first two records are especially brilliant. Hard living and the tragic plane crash (my dad happened to be at their last concert before the crash took the lives of several members) robbed the world of sustained greatness, but for a brief moment this was one of the best musical acts in America.
Boards of Canada
4/5
I’ve long been aware of Boards of Canada, but I’ve never listened to their music. Electronic music is a genre I’ve been slow to warm up to in my life, but the last 5 years or so I’ve slowly gotten more into it, starting with trip hop artists like Massive Attack and moving into pure electronic artists like Aphex Twin.
MHTRTC is a pretty stellar album, and one I hope to revisit often. It does what the best electronic music does: it transports you. It’s vivid, atmospheric, and full of sonic pathos. I was concerned it was going to be too long at 71 minutes, but it doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Another interesting element of the album is that, to me anyway, it doesn’t sound like a product specifically of the late 90’s at all. This is an album that you could have told me was produced in any year after 1978 and I would have believed you, especially if you said 2036 or something. It sounds incredibly fresh in 2024, and like the best electronic music it sounds futuristic.
I’m giving it 4 stars after 3 listens. I’ve liked it more and more each time so it’s one that I could consider a masterpiece in the future.
Aretha Franklin
5/5
Great album. Respect is one of the all time great songs by anyone, and probably gives this 5 stars by itself. Fortunately the rest of the album is brilliant to listen to. A classic that can be played as nice background music or blasted at full volume.
Arcade Fire
5/5
Arcade Fire has probably lost a substantial amount of prestige over the last 8 year or so, but man their first three albums are incredible.
Neon Bible is their most Springsteenian album, and I’m here for it. Keep The Car Running could be argued as their best song, and No Cars Go isn’t far behind.
I have the perception that this album gets lost a bit between Funeral and The Suburbs, two absolute masterpieces. Even if I’d rank Neon Bible 3rd if I had to in their discography, it’s still a masterpiece in its own right, and an extremely cohesive, gorgeously crafted, unique record that holds up quite well.
Reflektor was okay, but boy oh boy I’ve never seen a band fall so hard in quality after that. That said, few bands have ever had such a brilliant start as Arcade Fire, and Neon Bible is a key part of that.
Beastie Boys
5/5
I’ve probably listened to this album in full once or twice before this, and I really only stopped by for Sabotage. I think Sabotage is one of the best songs ever recorded: there’s nothing like it and it’s such a jam. I like the Beasties a lot, but I think it’s by far their best song.
That said, in giving Ill Communication a few proper listens, I’ve been converted to a massive fan of the entire album. There may not be another track that reaches the highs of Sabotage, but it’s great from beginning to end. Every track is interesting, and even songs that are way out of left field like the hardcore punk track Heart Attack Man are great because they’re so well done. The instrumentals are all great too, maybe even some of my favorite moments.
I’d argue it’s as good overall as Paul’s Boutique.
Raekwon
5/5
I’ve been a pretty big fan of Ghostface Killah for many years, he’s one of my favorite rappers easily. Enter the Wu Tang is obviously a classic masterpiece in rap music, but outside of this I don’t think I’ve really listened to anything by Raekwon specifically.
This album is absolute fire from start to finish. It’s carefully crafted, flows great from song to song, and works incredibly well as a whole. The rapping is amazing throughout, with Raekwon and Ghostface trading bars in top form and guest appearances that add a lot of value, especially Nas on Verbal Intercourse.
If I had to complain about anything it’s that it starts off kind of slow (though not bad), but it gets the weakest parts of the album out of the way in the first three songs and it’s brilliant from Criminology all the way to the end.
Best songs: Criminology, Verbal Intercourse, Ice Cream, Heaven & Hell
Meat Loaf
5/5
Another easy 5 star album on this list.
I personally only listened to this for the first time in full shortly before Meatloaf passed away. I was born ten years after it came out, but I sure missed out for the many years I could have listened to it before I finally did. I really only knew Meatload from I Would Do Anything For Love, which I thought was kind of a goofy song, so I had a non-serious expectation for Bat Out Of Hell.
What an epic, outrageous, beautiful, hilarious, and fun album this is. It’s one of those albums that sucks you in and transports you into the story when you listen to it. While a few of the songs are great by themselves (particularly the title track and Paradise By The Dashboard Light), it’s undoubtedly an album best experienced front to back.
Musically and even lyrically, in a weird way I think of it as a cousin album to Born To Run. It sounds similar at times and has the “teenage us against the world let’s get out of here” vibe to it. There’s more guitar here than Born To Run, expertly played by the great Todd Rundgren.
Jim Steinman’s story on the album is a tremendous teenage rock opera, with all the themes of freedom, misguided invulnerability, sex, and romance.
Everything about the album is good, but Meatloaf’s vocals are the star of the show. His range and the emotion in his voice is just tremendous, and is the perfect medium for Steinman’s story. Some of the notes he hits in the title track are especially wild. I think the vocals are as good as any rock album ever made.
In terms of songs, Bat Out Of Hell, All Revved Up And No Place To Go, and Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad are all highlights. But Paradise By The Dashboard Light is the epic climax of the record, and it’s a great and pretty funny story in itself.
One of the best of the 70’s and great rock operas of all time.
John Prine
5/5
It took me too long to discover John Prine, but I'm glad I became a fan before he died. I'm a big fan of Jason Isbell, who was a good friend of Prine's during his last years, and dug into John after hearing Isbell talk about how much of a songwriting influence Prine was.
Prine's debut is brilliant: incredible songwriting presented with his unique and charming delivery. Every song contains an interesting story, and they're all pulled off with what initially appear simple lyrics that surprise you when they grab your brain and make you think deeply about them.
"There's a hole in daddy's arm where the money goes. Jesus Christ died for nothin', I suppose."
"Blow up your TV"
"Your flag decal won't get you Into Heaven any more."
"We lost Davy in the Korean War
And I still don't know what for
Don't matter anymore"
There are dozens more nuggets like these. You could write a dissertation on the meanings of these lyrics and on why they are so evocative. It really is a masterclass in songwriting.
Prine's genius is most evident on Angel From Montgomery, a beautiful and catchy tune that I probably heard ten times or more before I realized that he wrote it from a woman's perspective (not sure how I missed this... "I am an old woman" isn't exactly cryptic). Just the fact that he's singing this woman's story in the 1st person is thought provoking, but by the end of the song you're no longer thinking about that and more contemplating on your own life and decisions.
Top songs, although they're all good: Illegal Smile, Spanish Pipedream, Sam Stone, Pretty Good, Your Flag Decal Won't Get You into Heaven Anymore, Angel From Montgomery, Donald and Lydia
Taylor Swift
4/5
I've never heard of this artist, it's nice that this list occasionally features obscure artists and gives them a new audience.
I'm kidding, of course. I have a 6 year old daughter who is already a big fan of the most famous person in the world. She can largely thank 1989 for that, which launched Taylor from superstardom to super-duper-pooper-stuper-stardom. Swift was already a household name when it was released, and Red certainly tipped the country-pop balance way in the pop direction, but 1989 is when she became inescapable and a full-fledged pop megastar.
Taken at surface level, 1989 is a pretty good pop record. There are hooks after hooks and earworms after earworms: it's catchy. Even though I've heard it front to back many times, I still was surprised by a couple of tracks that I've never paid much attention to, especially Wildest Dreams which is a really good song.
It has it's massive hits of course. At the time of this writing Blank Space, Style, and Shake It Off all have over 1 billion plays on Spotify; for context there are only 477 songs that have crossed this milestone on Spotify, which features over 100 million songs in its catalog. Wildest Dreams sits at 995 million at this moment, so it will join this club soon too. The scale of her appeal is unbelievable: she's probably the biggest songwriter of all time in terms of sheer popularity.
Is it good though? I think it's a solid record, certainly not perfect. Some moments are, well, annoying to me (the chorus of Out Of The Woods, the chuckle after "I go on too many dates", the entirety of I Know Places). I'm far from sold on Jack Antonoff as a producer - he's wildly successful but there's something about his records that feels off to me, and I'm not technically educated enough in music production to know exactly what it is. I know that I greatly prefer Swift's more recent work with Aaron Dessner from The National. Her songs produced by him sound fuller and more natural to me.
That said, as a pop songwriter Taylor is pretty fantastic. She's not writing cryptic Dylanesque ballads or Springsteenian rompers, she writes direct insights into the joys, hardships, and emotions that result from romantic relationships. It's not everyone's cup of tea (what is??) but her writing is incredibly effective at this and obviously resonates with millions (billions?) of people. Taylor is a world class arranger of her songs and plays well. If her singing voice isn't technically the best in the world, it doesn't have to be and it is very effective at delivering these songs.
If Swift fatigue is hitting you hard, I get it. But there could be worse role models for my 6 year old and Taylor has her interested in music at a young age, and I'm here for anyone who demonstrates to my daughter that anything is possible.
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
3/5
It was interesting to hear early Michael Franti, but this wasn’t my favorite overall. Franti sings “national security’s at an all time high” in 1991. I’m all for government and social criticism in music, but it’s a bit alarmist: I wonder what Michael thinks about our current state of affairs in the U.S. (or wait until he hears about the 1860’s).
Musically it’s interesting, but maybe hasn’t aged well or stand out above other hip hop albums of that era.
I’m glad I listened, but not my favorite in the list.
Alice Cooper
3/5
No More Mr. Nice Guy and some other songs
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
My favorite Hendrix album by a good margin. Voodoo Chile (both versions) and All Along the Watchtower make this five stars alone, but it’s a Hendrix at his best throughout. If only we could have heard what was next.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
A very solid S&G album, probably only bested by Bookends and Bridge Over Troubled Water in their catalog. Scarborough Fair / Canticle, Homeward Bound, and The 59th Street Bridge Song are among their best tunes.
The Velvet Underground
4/5
An interesting listen, and certainly the Velvet Underground’s most difficult record. It’s the least catchy album on the 1001 list so far, but it’s got plenty of great moments. Quite the fucked up album, reeking of heroin addiction. It’s not a masterpiece, but a compelling snapshot of a band that pushed boundaries as much as anyone.
The Mamas & The Papas
5/5
An outstanding 60’s record. Monday Monday and California Dreamibg are two of the best singles from the era, and every track is at least great.
10cc
3/5
An interesting listen, but not outstanding in my opinion. Hotel was the only song that really grabbed me. It’s still probably the best album from 10cc that I’ve listened to, and not bad by any stretch, but it doesn’t offer much to me even after a couple listens.
The National
5/5
One of my favorite albums of all time, and my favorite album of one of my top three or so favorite bands of all time.
I’m sure The National isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Matt Beringer’s vocals especially take some getting used to. While the band features two incredible guitarists, there’s pretty much zero guitar solos in their discography. Then there’s the lyrics: Matt writes some of the bleakest and depressing stories written for songs in rock history. “Sad Dad Rock” was basically invented by the National.
God I love them.
High Violet came after the band’s album Boxer, which finally gave them enough acclaim and financial success to keep going as a band (their big payday would come ~14 years later via Taylor Swift collaboration). I became a fan after Boxer, and High Violet was the first new album I listened to as a fan of the band. I loved Boxer and its predecessor Alligator a lot (still very much do), and I remember having sky high expectations for High Violet. Upon first listen, I was underwhelmed. It grew on me a little to the point that I liked it quite a lot, but I thought the band released a superior album a few years later in Trouble Will Find Me (it’s also still tremendous, a masterpiece in my opinion).
Slowly, over dozens of listens to all of their albums over the years, High Violet kept revealing things to me. Songs like Runaway and Sorrow were afterthoughts at first, maybe even skippable, but I found them becoming earworms over time. I knew the ending of the album was outstanding: England to Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks is one of my favorite closing two tracks of all time. What took me a long time to realize is that every single track is a masterpiece in some way. Lemonworld is another track that is sort of a deep cut, but has become one of my favorite songs.
Bloodbuzz Ohio is often thought of as The National’s best song, and I love it, but it’s not even my favorite on the album. Terrible Love is probably the song most responsible for my slow taking to the album: I just didn’t care for it at first. After seeing the band live though, I found new energy in that song that made me realize how brilliant it is. It’s an incredible opening track.
I would guess that the reviews will be tepid for this, but it’s an easy 5 stars for me. I wouldn’t suggest that everyone listen to it 50+ times like I probably have, but I do think it rewards multiple listens as well as any album I can think of. It’ll eat your brains.
Supergrass
4/5
I’m maybe slightly embarrassed to say I wasn’t familiar with Supergrass before this. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard the name, and after listening to the album I’ve certainly heard Alright here and there over time, but it’s surprising that I’m so unaware of what has been a pretty successful band that plays music similar to bands that I love. I’m guessing they’re more in the public consciousness in the U.K. than the U.S. where I’m from.
Anyway, this is a very good rock album. Alright is the highlight, a tremendous bit of pop rock and roll that you can’t help but feel good while listening to it. There’s nothing offensive here, each track is a nice listen. The other highlight to me is Sofa Of My Lethargy, which features a killer outro that leads nicely into the final track.
It’s a fun album that I’m sure made for a nice alternative dish to what Oasis and Blur were serving at the time.
Billy Bragg
5/5
Wilco is one of my top 3 or 5 favorite bands of all time. I basically revere them and love about half of their records and, at worst, really like the other half. California Stars, off of Mermaid Avenue, is one of the first Wilco songs I ever heard and still one of my favorites.
That said, the album itself has never been one that I've listened to much. When I tried in my younger days I couldn’t take Billy Bragg’s vocals (I used to feel the same about Springsteen, now another artist I revere), and I couldn’t help but think all the songs are inferior to California Stars.
I’m so glad this album is on this list, because after giving it three dedicated listens I’ve realized that I absolutely slept on this album for years. It’s a masterpiece, one that was right in front of me for so long.
I’m not sure why I was so dismissive of Bragg on this. I actually now think he’s very effective at channeling Woodie Guthrie, it’s easy to imagine it’s Guthrie singing on songs like Walt Whitman’s Niece and Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key, two of the album’s best. The album’s first three tracks (these two and California Stars) are absolutely incredible. Walt Whitman’s Niece is an amazing song and hilariously racy for Guthrie’s time.
There are many other great moments. Natalie Merchant’s take on Birds and Ships is fantastic. Hoodoo Voodoo is a fun take that would have fit right in on Being There, Wilco’s first masterpiece album. I Guess I Planted and Hesitating Beauty are also highlights to me.
Of albums that I had heard before on the 1001 albums list, I think my opinion of this album was most improved thanks to a dedicated listening. It’s enjoyable experiences like this that keep me going through this list each day.
Tom Tom Club
4/5
I listened to this a couple of times while thinking “I love how much this sounds like Talking Heads” before finally looking up that it is in fact half of Talking Heads. This came out 6 years before I was born, but I’m still not sure how I didn’t know that! Talking Heads are easily one of my top ten bands of all time, and I knew there were side projects, I just didn’t realize this was one of them.
I think it’s great! Apparently David Byrne didn’t think so, but as much as I love the guy he doesn’t have the best reputation for praising his bandmates or giving them due credit.
Tina’s vocals are excellent for the music, and every track is groovy. In my opinion it’s clear highlight is Genius of Love, but each track is at least solid and L’Elephant, As Above, so Below, and their cover of Under The Boardwalk (a bonus track I think but worth mentioning) are all great.
It’s hard not to compare to the Talking Heads records, and while it doesn’t reach the heights of TH’s first 5 records, it’s arguably better than anything that band did after Stop Making Sense.
I think it’s a great album for fans of Talking Heads and an excellent overall product of the early 80’s.
The Police
4/5
I grew up in a pretty conservative household in which I wasn’t allowed to listen to anything but Christian music. One of the first secular rock songs I remember hearing and being obsessed with was Message In A Bottle. It’s just so infectious, perfect guitar part with perfect drumming and bass playing with perfect singing with perfectly interesting lyrics. I love that song so much, and I think it’s the Police’s best.
I also think this album as a whole is their best. I’m not sure that The Police had a bonafide masterpiece, but this was their closest. Its first half is amazing but tapers off a bit in my opinion. Still great.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
5/5
A clinic in what’s possible with great vocals and perfect harmonies in rock and roll. Stills provides killer guitar work, arrangements, and often lead vocals, while Nash and Crosby showcase heavenly harmonies throughout the record.
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes is an all time great opening track and easily one of the best ever from CS&N. Helplessly Hoping is perhaps the best example of their world-class harmonizing. Long Time Gone is another highlight.
One of the best albums of 1969, which is arguably one of the best years ever for music.
Jeff Buckley
5/5
This is another album on this list that I’ve heard a few times before that hadn’t grabbed me as hard as its reputation says it should. It’s again one of those albums on this list with that scenario that I’ve now developed a new appreciation and love for.
It’s a singular, beautiful, and tragic masterpiece. Singular because I can’t think of another album quite like it. Beautiful because Jeff had the voice of an actual angel. Tragic because it’s the only one we got from him.
It’s incredible for many reasons, not the least of which is that it resurrected what many consider the greatest song ever written, Hallelujah. Buckley’s version is arguably the best (I vote for John Cale personally by the slimmest margin but Buckley’s is at worst also perfect), and certainly expanded the public consciousness of the song.
Every song is amazing. It’s highlights for me include Mojo Pin, So Real, Hallelujah, and Lover You Should Have Come Over. The arrangements are great, the fingerpicked guitars are fantastic, and the band and album mix correctly support the star of the show: Buckley’s vocals.
An amazing album that I hope continues to grow on me with every return.
Steve Earle
5/5
I picked up a used copy of this album on vinyl several years ago, sort of on a whim. I was aware of Steve Earle, mostly because I had seen his son Justin Townes Earle in concert a few years before and liked his music. At the time I held an uninformed opinion that the son’s music was vastly superior to the father’s, and I liked Justin’s singer-songwriter vibe more that I liked country music.
What I discovered in Guitar Town was a flavor of country music that I hadn’t quite known yet, and I found it delicious.
I love this album. It’s great for many reasons, not the least of which is it’s filled with incredibly well written songs. These aren’t songs about drinkin’ beers on the tailgate of a truck, or putting your boot in someone’s ass. These songs contain stories about many aspects of the human experience, and there’s nothing recycled or phony about it. Even a song with the title “Good Ol Boy (Gettin’ Tough)” is void of cliche, and cliche is the single biggest issue with most modern country music.
The music itself is an interesting take on country. The lead guitar on the title track is infectious: it’s simple but doesn’t sound very country to me. Much of it sounds like what would later become “alt-country” from artists like Uncle Tupelo and Sturgill Simpson. One of the album’s best songs is My Old Friend The Blues, which wouldn’t sound country at all without Steve’s mild twang.
The biggest takeaway from revisiting this album this time was the song Little Rock ‘n Roller. It hit me that this song is about his son, which had not occurred to me before. Justin passed away since the last time I’d listened to Guitar Town, and this song nearly brought me to tears. What a sweet gift to his son this song was. Justin didn’t have very nice things to say about Steve at the concert that I saw him, and I really hope they made peace before Justin died.
The Doors
4/5
It's become kind of easy to hate on The Doors.
For reasons I can understand, they're kind of the music snob's red headed stepchild of the 60's rock era. David Crosby, who I admired and loved following on Twitter before he passed away, was especially critical of the band and Jim Morrison in particular.
I went through a period where I was pretty into The Doors, but I later sort of bought into the hate. Were they actually good? Or was it more of a novelty act with Jim Morrison's antics and excesses being the main attraction, like watching a trainwreck?
Like much in life the answer is probably somewhere in between. I don't think they were the best American band of the 60's, but there is certainly some magic to be found in their catalog, especially on the debut. Break On Through is probably my favorite Doors song: what an absolute banger of an opener it is, and it still sounds fresh today.
Light My Fire is still infectious, and probably the most "Doors-y" song that they produced. Then there's The End, which is arguably the ultimate LSD song. It's inclusion in Apocalypse Now may be the best use of a song in a movie scene, period.
Outside of these three tracks though... it's not great in my opinion. The three classics are enough to justify 4 stars, but I find songs like Alabama Song and Back Door Man just plain skippable, and most of the other album tracks are forgettable.
I do think this album is rightfully regarded as a classic, perhaps more so as a time capsule from 1967 California than a great musical album.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
Nick Cave is an artist that I've slowly started getting into over the past 5 years or so. I first listened to Skeleton Tree after it came out to great acclaim, and I've listened to his newest albums as they've come out and to old albums here and there. I like his new albums quite a lot, but as they are very heavy in subject matter (sadly, lots of death and tragedy in Cave's life recently) it's been hard to go back to them a lot. His earliest records with the Bad Seeds in the 80's haven't been my favorite, and probably require some more listening. As far as I can remember, I don't think I've listened to his albums from the 90's until this one.
Boy, I've been missing out. Henry's Dream is easily my favorite Bad Seeds record: it's outstanding. From the moment things pick up in opener Papa Won't Leave You Henry its apparent that this is going to be a wild ride. What a tremendous opener that song is.
These are dark, violent stories. They're told as only Nick Cave can, and his delivery is the best that I've heard on this album. Straight to You is a fantastic love song, and a highlight on the front half along with the opener.
The back half, specifically the last three songs, is where things go from great to sublime. John Finn's Wife is possibly my favorite Nick Cave song now (along with Papa Won't Leave You Henry), what a tale it is of danger, lust/adultery, and violence. It's a masterpiece in itself that could be the basis of a good movie. Loom of the Land is also fantastic, and the closer Jack the Ripper is an audacious romper of a song about a suboptimal partner.
So this is the Nick Cave I've been looking for. I'm looking forward to exploring his other 90's outputs as soon as possible.
Pink Floyd
5/5
A fun thought exercise is to imagine a universe in which Syd Barrett took just a little bit less LSD, didn't fully lose his mind, and stayed with Pink Floyd throughout the band's career. Would we still have Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, The Wall, etc.? Certainly not like they exist in this universe, but would there be a version of these masterpieces with Syd involved? Would David Gilmour have even joined the band?
Who knows, but I'm glad we have this record so that we don't have to imagine a Syd-led Pink Floyd. There isn't a lot here to compare to the aforementioned records, and other than the trippy space-rock of Interstellar Overdrive and Astronomy Domine there's little resemblance at all to 70's Floyd.
The star here is Barrett, a weird charismatic dude that enjoyed drugs a little too much. His story is a sad one, but The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn was largely his masterpiece.
While Pink Floyd would have much better individual songs and better overall albums in the next decade, this is their first masterpiece I think and an excellent album to listen to today. It reminds me most of the Zombie's Odessey and Oracle, which came out a year later and is another masterpiece of the late 60's psychedelic era.
I'd rank it somewhere around the 5th or 6th best Pink Floyd album, but it's as important to their legacy as any outside of Dark Side of the Moon.
Adam & The Ants
3/5
I'd listened to this once before, and gave it at least 3 listens this time around, and I just don't fully dig it. It's music that I feel I should like as I enjoy a lot of New Wave music from this time period, this just doesn't click with me for reasons I'm unsure of. I think I'd describe it as Talking Heads Lite or something: there are just better similar-sounding options.
It's not a bad record though. Adam Ant sounds like a good front man, and the music is interesting enough. Just doesn't wow me.
Marty Robbins
5/5
This may not be everyone’s jam in 2024, but I think it’s an amazing country album. Everyone hopefully knows El Paso, and it’s great, but all of these songs are expertly sand by Robbins and each contain an interesting, often thrilling story.
It’s not something I’ll listen to every day, but I don’t think you can make a better western outlaw country album than this.
El Paso and Big Iron are the highlights.
Iggy Pop
4/5
One of Iggy's two great collaborations with David Bowie that revitalized his career, in my opinion it's a little inferior to Lust For Life. It's very good though, and an album best consumed as a whole. My one knock on it is that it doesn't really have any standout tracks, but it's cohesive, darkly weird, and sounds great.
Like Lust For Life, Bowie's fingerprints are all over it. At times I have to remind myself that it's an Iggy record and not a Bowie album (to be clear, this is a good thing).
Overall it's an excellent album that is essential to Iggy's career and to Bowie's late 70's period.
Malcolm McLaren
4/5
This was quite an interesting listen. Blends of rock, jazz, world music, hip-hop, punk… it’s quite the melting pot of influences, and created by the manager of the Sex Pistols.
To be honest, I like it more than anything by the Sex Pistols. I debated between 3 and 4 stars, but it has enough interesting moments to justify 4. It was also interesting to hear the genesis of Eminem’s “trailer park girls” verse from Without Me in McLaren’s song Buffalo Girls.
I didn’t know who McLaren was as I was listening to it, and thought for sure he was an obscure New York City artist. I was shocked when I read he was British and managed the Sex Pistols before his solo career. Interesting!
Frank Ocean
5/5
This is one of those albums that has grown on me steadily over the years, and one I try to revisit at least once a year. R&B isn’t my favorite genre, but I think this album transcends typical R&B in many ways. While I probably slightly prefer Blonde, Channel Orange is a classic of this century and a masterpiece in its own right.
Thinkin’ Bout You is his best song in my opinion. When he introduces his falsetto on that first “or do you not think so far ahead” it is a breathtaking moment. The album starts off with its best song, but it doesn’t really lose momentum. Sweet Life is super catchy, Super Rich Kids is great, and Pyramids is epic.
A basically perfect album from one of our great current talents.
Fever Ray
4/5
I've heard of Fever Ray but had not listened before. In learning that they were part of The Knife, a band whose record Shaking The Habitual was great, I was excited to listen.
This is definitely an album that demands multiple listens. I didn't like it all that much with one listen, but I gave it another shot and found it to be really good. A third listen confirmed this. It's a chiller record than Shaking the Habitual, and has some trip-hop vibes. The gender-fluid high and low singing is interesting, and there are many great musical moments. It's a grower.
David Ackles
4/5
Hadn’t heard of him, but I enjoyed the album. Similar to Scott Walker a bit.
Heaven 17
3/5
Pretty interesting political rock. It didn’t grab me but I enjoyed it. I’m glad it was a short album.
Arcade Fire
5/5
I have many memories of listening to this album. It came out my last year in high school, but I first listened to it late in college a few years later. At the time I had heard nothing like it, and I was amazed by it. It sounded so profound, so powerful, and Wake Up felt like the most important song I’d ever heard.
With the benefit of 15 years or so passed (where’d the time go?), it is still a great record that I love dearly. Some things have altered my perception of it, both good and bad. Being a parent has changed how I perceive everything in life, and I now view Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) through my kids’ eyes. While I’m not sure I still hold Wake Up in as high esteem as before, the line “we’re just a million little gods causing rain storms turning every good thing to rust” keeps ringing true to me.
Then there’s the career of Arcade Fire. Once hailed as the most important band in the works, they’ve fallen off the earth from a quality standpoint. Their first three albums (Funeral, Neon Bible, The Suburbs) are genuine masterpieces, their 4th album (Reflektor) is okay, but then they released one of the worst albums I’ve ever heard (Everything Now). 2022’s We was anything but a return to form too. It’s like they’re a shell of themselves. It’s also hard to ignore the sexual misconduct allegations.
All that said, Funeral is still a triumph. It’s an emotional powerhouse, and musically chock full of hooks. Neighborhood #1 is one of the best opening songs of all time; it reminds me of a sad version of Thunder Road, one for children who can’t yet break free from their hometown. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) is powerful musically. Wake Up is still tremendous: one of the most amazing concert experiences of my life was seeing this live at a festival around 2010. There’s of course Rebellion (Lies), which may be the band’s quintessential song. In The Backseat has made me cry multiple times: thankfully my mother is still here, but I think about when she won’t be when I hear it.
It’s a masterpiece and deserves the acclaim it’s received.
George Harrison
5/5
My favorite solo Beatle album by a pretty good margin, although Plastic Ono Band and Imagine are great too. It’s impossible to listen to it and not compare it to the Beatles, and I’m of the probably controversial opinion that it’s as good as most of the Beatles albums. If I ranked all the Beatles albums and the members’ solo albums, this would be in my top 5.
Every song is excellent, even the deepest tracks on various releases. The highlights for me are My Sweet Lord, Wah-Wah, What Is Life, and Let It Down.
George was at such a creative peak at this time of his life. It’s crazy to think that he was only 27 when this was released, and before this he had already had a career in music with success matched by only a handful of people who’ve ever lived.
The Crusaders
4/5
I was thinking 3 stars until I realized how much I was dancing and grooving to this.
Joni Mitchell
5/5
Probably my favorite Joni album, up there with Blue. It’s arrangements, lyrics, and vocal performances by Joni are outstanding.
The Modern Lovers
4/5
A nice project showcasing a band that could have been. A nice blend of Velvet Underground and Talking Heads, this serves as a nice bridge between those to all time great bands.
Ray Price
4/5
This was a great surprise. It’s country as it should be: timeless, raw, and contains real stories about real people. I wonder if this was sort of controversial when it was released: it dabbles in some almost taboo subjects for music in the early 60’s.
It must be one of the first country concept albums, and it delivers on the concept tremendously. It also rocks for having an early Willie Nelson song as the opening song and the basis for the concept.
Beatles
5/5
I can’t add anything about Abbey Road that hasn’t already been said a thousand times. I’ve loved the Beatles for probably 30 years (I’m 37), and time has shown me this is their best album. Considering the quality of Plastic Ono Band and All Things Must Pass and some of Paul’s early solo singles it’s tempting to wonder what one more Beatles LP would have sounded like, but it’s hard to argue that they went out on an incredibly high note (I know Let It Be was released after but as this was their last recorded album I sort of consider it the end).
George especially kills it here, between this and ATMP he was at such a creative peak. It’s completely valid that this is the highest rated album on this list.
Sam Cooke
4/5
A really great live album from one of the greats. I’m glad this was recorded before his death.
PJ Harvey
3/5
I think I respect PJ Harvey more than I like her music. I think she’s an incredible talent that makes very interesting music, I just haven’t listened to one of her records that grabbed me fully. This one is no different.
Radiohead
5/5
I am a massive Radiohead fan. They’re probably one of my five or so favorite bands of all time. Going into this I would have ranked Amnesiac just ahead of Pablo Honey and The King of Limbs at the bottom of their discography.
I gave it three listens for this. It’s definitely the stoniest of Radiohead’s albums. I like it much now. One more masterpiece, it is. For Radiohead. The wolves could not get this one. Conquered as they, Radiohead. For the victory. This is not a drill. It is one. Hay in the stray.
Wu-Tang Clan
5/5
Easily one of the best hip hop projects of the 90’s. It oozes with confidence, skill, narrative, and humor. What an introduction to this rag tag group of geniuses.
Also C.R.E.A.M. is one of the best hip hop songs of all time.
Lou Reed
5/5
A singular, beautifully weird, and fantastic sounding record. Lou’s best that I’ve heard, and probably his most accessible.
Walk On The Wild Side is perfection: there’s not another popular song like it.
Neil Young
5/5
There was a time around 10 years ago that I got absolutely obsessed with this album. Neil finally “clicked” with me in my late 20’s, and Harvest was the natural entry point. It’s Neil at his folkiest, poppiest, and most accessible. I assumed it was his best album.
While I probably like a few other albums in Neil’s catalog a little more, Harvest is still a masterpiece. A Man Needs A Maid threatens to make it not a masterpiece, it’s one of the few skippable songs on an album I’m giving 5 stars to, but the highlights of the album are enough to make up for it. Out On The Weekend is probably the song that gets stuck in my head the most. Heart of Gold and Old Man are obviously classics and among Young’s most well known songs. The Needle And The Damage Done is a good thought provoking tune about drug addiction, a subject Neil was well versed in.
One takeaway from revisiting this album for the first time in a while: I always thought Southern Man from After The Gold Rush was the song Lynyrd Skynyrd took offense to that inspired the verse in Sweet Home Alabama, but I think the song Alabama from this one makes more sense.
Jazmine Sullivan
4/5
Solid R&B effort that I enjoyed a little more than I expected, just because it’s typically not my go-to genre. Every song is well crafted and performed, and as a girl dad I’m all for boss-ass lady singers that empower women.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
In my opinion, the best Stones album.
The run of Brown Sugar to Can’t You Hear Me Knocking may be the best ever four song start to a rock album. Ending with Dead Flowers and Moonlight Mile? Perfection.
The Who
4/5
It’s hard for me to rate early Who records, because when I listen to an album like this, or My Generation, or even Tommy, it just pales in comparison to Who’s Next to my ears.
That said, I think this is the best Who album before what I think is clearly their magnum opus. It’s the Who at their most psychedelic, and it often reminds me of Oddesey and Oracle from the Zombies.
I Can See For Miles is the obvious highlight, but it’s interesting from start to finish. I still think they just weren’t quite The Who until Who’s Next, but I’m sure many would disagree.
Fred Neil
4/5
I really enjoyed this one. I had not heard Fred Neil prior to this, but in reading about him he certainly had an interesting career and life. Everybody’s Talking sounded familiar, and I’ve certainly heard the Harry Nilsson version.
It sounds a lot like Leonard Cohen’s debut album to me, which is a very good thing. Well performed, recorded, and written, it’s a great album and one of many nice discoveries on this list for me.
Fats Domino
4/5
Blueberry Hill will always be a certified banger.
This was a nice, short and sweet sample of Fats’ career.
Scott Walker
5/5
This record confirms how I’ve summed up Scott Walker: he’s Sinatra if Ol’ Blue Eyes had a habit of spiking his Jack Daniel’s with LSD.
What a great sounding, wild and weird album this is. Scott’s vocal performance is outstanding, the stories in the songs are bonkers, and it’s filled to the brim with odd and interesting baroque music that’s unlike much else.
Jackie is a killer opener, and every song thereafter is great.
MC Solaar
3/5
I like it, a solid vibe. I’m not sure if I’d like it more or less if I spoke French, but I do like that it sounds mysterious to me and French rapping has a nice flow to it.
While it’s a nice sounding album throughout, nothing about it really stands out either other than its French rapping.
Bill Callahan
4/5
I’ve listened to a few of Bill’s albums in the past, but not this one. I think it’s his best that I’ve heard and after listening to it three times it’s certainly a grower. SIWWWAE is a well crafted, idiosyncratic album that never gets boring in spite of Callahan’s deadpan vocal style. It reminds me of a more acoustic focused Lambchop, a band that probably shares fans with Smog/Callahan but incorporates more electronic music elements.
Jim Cain, Too Many Birds, and My Friend are the highlights, and the droning closer Faith/Void gives the album an abstract, existential conclusion. A wonderful record that could grow into 5 stars.
David Bowie
4/5
A solid Bowie album, meaning it’s really good and better than the best record from most artists. For Bowie I’d rank it somewhere in the middle of his discography: it’s a good album start to end, but he certainly has several albums with higher highs. I highly doubt he was sober for the making of this record, this is David Bowie in 1975, but it is the most sober sounding of his albums from the 70’s in my opinion. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it also subdues this from standing out from others like Ziggy Stardust, Station to Station, or Low.
The opening title track is great, as is Fame of course. In between are solid songs, none of which are particular highlights.
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
2/5
I do my best to appreciate these albums in the context of their time. I couldn’t quite get into this one.
Emmylou Harris
4/5
Really good album from a super cool lady. I loved the title track, J’ai fait tout, and My Antonia (with a nice Dave Matthews appearance).
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Such a massive album. It’s one of those albums that’s larger than life at this point. This is a work of art that, like a Monet or the Mona Lisa, will outlive everyone in the era that it was created. It’s an album that people will probably listen to on other planets one day.
This is for good reasons. It’s a tremendous album from start to finish, with hardly a miss. It’s heavy on the blues: Black Dog is such an all time great album opener. It’s such a killer take on the blues, with syrupy Page licks and powerful vocals from Plant. Rock and Roll serves as updated take on straight ahead rock. The Battle of Evermore is a shockingly nerdy detour into the world of Tolkien that somehow works.
And then, Stairway.
Even if the rest of the album sucked (it firmly doesn’t suck) Stairway to Heaven would still have given the album immortality. It’s one of only a handful of songs that will exist so long as human consciousness exists, perhaps beyond.
Perhaps the biggest complement to the greatness of Zeppelin IV is that the back half stands on its own to the impossibly great first half. Misty Mountain Hop brings some fun to the record. Four Sticks is the only arguable miss on the album and not a go-to stand alone track, but it does fit well sonically on the album and gives the listener a bluesy breather before the incredible ending tracks.
Going to California is one of at least four songs on Zeppelin IV that could be argued as the band’s best song. It sounds mystical, is fantastically sung by Plant, and tells a terrific tale of a forlorn hero who smoked his stuff and drank his wine and had an adventure. One of the better Plant/Page songs lyrically.
The finale cements the god-like status of the album. When The Levee Breaks is my personal favorite track on the album: it’s an insane take on the blues. It’s a wild, stomping medicine man of a song. The harmonica goes harder on this song than anywhere else in rock music, and it gives the song such a raging urgency.
All bow down to Zeppelin IV.
Big Star
5/5
I first learned of Big Star when I watched the excellent documentary on the band (Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me) around ten years ago as of this writing. I’m so glad I took a chance on that film, because otherwise it’s not certain that I would have found the band.
I won’t educate any reader of this anonymous review of Big Star’s debut about the band, but I will encourage you watch that documentary if you can find it, and will certainly recommend their three albums to anyone who loves rock music. I’ll only add for context that while it’s a terrible shame that the distribution and marketing issues that plagued the band caused them to never find the success they very much deserved, it’s this very lack of success that informs their cult status today. I think they’re not just the best “cult band” of all time: I think their limited output is good enough and their influence strong enough to make them one of the best American bands of all time.
#1 Record is personally my second favorite of their albums (Radio City is sublime), but it’s still a masterpiece and the only record that features the brilliant Chris Bell. Bell/Chilton is a combo that could have been in the same esteem as Richards/Jagger and McCartney/Lennon (no, seriously!).
Chilton is the overall star here. His first work of genius is The Ballad of El Goodo, which may sound like standard 70’s soft rock fair until you realize this was released in 1972: 4 years before Hotel California and 5 years before Rumours. It’s ahead of its time and a brilliant song.
Thirteen is Chilton’s next masterpiece. While I wish the song was called “Eighteen” with its NSFW allusions, it’s a coming of age ballad as good as any released in the 70’s. Chilton’s last masterpiece is Watch The Sunrise, a sister song to Here Comes The Sun.
Bell contributes his best known work on this album (his masterpiece is the song I Am The Cosmos, a song every human should hear). Feel is a solid album opener, and In The Street (made famous by That 70’s Show) is a fun rocker. His best song on the album is My Life Is Right, a sunny spiritual song that helps lift the back half.
Radio City is their best and the clearest example of Chilton’s genius, but #1 Record is the most “Big Star” album. It’s a wonderful record from a band that hopefully more and more people will discover with time.
Kings of Leon
4/5
A really fun, raw, energetic debut from what would become the biggest band in the world for a minute. I prefer this version of KoL to their Sex on Fire high points, but they’re a good band with an interesting story. As the kid of a Baptist preacher myself, I’ve always felt a connection to the members of this band and have often wondered what my life had been like if pursued music and had a successful rock band like this. I don’t know if I would have survived like they barely have.
Eels
4/5
I’ve enjoyed Eels as a casual fan since I heard his awesome song Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues several years ago.
Beautiful Freak is probably his best album that I’ve listened to. It works really well as a cohesive album and doesn’t contain bad songs. One observation from this listen that very few will care about is that I think Mark Everett sounds a lot like a less twangy version of Patterson Hood from Drive-by Truckers (see Southern Rock Opera from this list).
Ray Charles
4/5
An excellent record from Ray. Just pay attention to his vocals: he was such a soulful and skilled vocalist. The record sounds great for its time, and captures Ray’s playing and singing clearly.
The Shamen
2/5
This one didn’t do much for me with the exception of Omega Amigo, which is a fun song.
It’s a sort of fun, decent sounding record that may have felt innovative in 1990, but it hasn’t aged well sonically in my opinion.
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
I love LCD Soundsystem. They’d probably make my top ten, certainly top twenty, bands of this century list if I had to make one. Sound of Silver in particular is a masterpiece, but their first three albums are all absolutely fantastic.
american dream is their fourth album, and I think it’s a pretty decent record. It’s definitely my least favorite of their four proper LPs, but it’s still pretty good. I don’t think I’ve come across any of their other albums on this list, but hopefully at least Sound of Silver is included.
american dream is a fine sounding record and taken on its own it’s very good. oh baby is a great opener, and probably my favorite song on the album. call the police is another highlight, as is the title track.
I think one issue with the album is that it’s 20-30 minutes too long. There’s probably a masterpiece within, but it’s really easy to get fatigued listening to it all at once. It’s still filled with great beats and some of the best idiosyncratic vocals this side of Talking Heads, but there’s so much of it and the high points are farther apart than needed to keep the listeners attention.
Still a very solid, good record that I’m torn between 3 and 4 stars on.
Elvis Presley
4/5
Honestly every time I’ve listened to this album I come away realizing I like it better than I thought I would. I’ve never been the biggest “fan” of Elvis and felt his music, while influential at an almost unparalleled scale, is overly dated and improved upon so much by later artists. This may be true for much of his work, but his debut is still pretty infectious and if you listen closely has some amazing guitar work from start me true guitar legends in Chet Adkins and Scotty Moore.
Elvis sounds like he can take over the world here, which he did.
Fiona Apple
4/5
I frequent a website called Album of the Year (https://www.albumoftheyear.org/), as I’m sure several people undertaking this 1001 list do as well. Fetch The Bolt Cutters has one of the highest average critic rating of any album this century. In fact, of albums with more than 20 or so critic reviews, i.e. high profile enough to be reviewed by a wide range of critics, only Kendrick Lamar’s sensational To Pimp A Butterfly is rated higher in that time. It topped 2020 critically and was #5 that year in user reviews on AOTY as well. Simply put, this is one of the best reviewed albums of all time.
This is my review so I’ll score it accordingly, but I do think it is a very good album. I listened to it a lot in 2020, and it is certainly a rare feat: it’s a good album that doesn’t sound like anything else.
It incorporates a lot of sounds Fiona made just by banging on things around the house, which is cool. I Want You To Love Me is a tremendous opener. The was she changes the arpeggio piano chord to create dissonance with the vocal note she holds in the chorus is a bit of genius: it turns it from a beautiful sounding song to uncomfortable in a brilliantly subtle way, its intentional and executed incredibly well.
The album is an incredible cohesive effort. It is not an easy, or even pleasant album to listen to, which is Apple’s MO. It’s an album that I think is especially powerful from a female perspective (I’m a 37 year old dude married to a female), and it’s easy to see why it’s hailed to such esteem. I don’t think I’ve revisited it since 2020 and it was fun to listen to it again.
The Doors
4/5
I wrote about the doors debut album that they are an easy band for rock music snobs to hate on. David Crosby, who I do love, was very candid in the years before he died about how much he hated the doors and basically said that Jim Morrison was a drunken asshole. I myself went through a doors deep dive many years ago, thinking that I liked them a lot, and then bought into the hate a bit the following years. The band was certainly hit or miss during their career, but to dismiss their high points would be a disservice to anyone who likes music. Morrison Hotel is a good example of this, and I think an argument could be made that it’s their best album. It is more consistent than their debut album, and while similar to L a woman, it may just be better than that one too.
Road House blues is an absolute banger, and while it’s one of the more explicit examples of Jim’s excesses, it may just want you to wake up in the morning and have a beer too. Peace frog is arguably the door song that has aged the best this side of break on through What a fun sounding track that is.
Paul Simon
5/5
It’s been a week or so since I got a no-brainer 5 star album on this list, and with Graceland that dry spell is decidedly over.
I love this album so much. I wouldn’t argue with anyone who calls it the best album of the 80’s, it’s certainly in my top 5 from that decade. I can’t add anything that hasn’t already been said about it: it’s worth the hype and lives up to all the acclaim it’s received.
It has one of the great first halves or so ever. The run of The Boy In The Bubble to You Can Call Me Al is ridiculous. The songs that close the album are strong too. It’s a perfect album with a great backstory from an artist who for all his stardom somehow still feels underrated.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
The first Leonard Cohen album that I listened to was You Want It Darker?, his last LP before he died. The second album of his that I listened to was this one, his debut. Cohen died around the same time David Bowie did, and just like Bowie with Blackstar Cohens finale is a masterpiece. Several artists of this generation (Cohen, Bowie, Crosby, Dylan, Bob Weir, John Cale, Rolling Stones, just to name a few) have released some absolutely killer late career albums.
Cohen’s voice in his debut is a lifetime away from the gravely, otherworldly baritone of his later years. Songs of Leonard Cohen is a relaxing, easy listen if you don’t take in the lyrics in. If you choose to focus on the lyrics, you could spend days or weeks analyzing each word and phrase. I’ve listened to this album 10 or more times in my life I think, and I’m not even close to absorbing the lyrics completely. He covers religion, sex, and probably some other subjects throughout.
Suzanne is a great opener. So Long Marianne is another highlight. Musically and lyrically I prefer late period Cohen, but this is a fine debut from one of America's greatest songwriters.
Gang Of Four
3/5
It’s pretty good, but I expected to like it more than I did. It’s interesting and I’m sure sounded innovative at the time, but I think an album like Wire’s Pink Flag, released two years earlier, sounds just as innovative and has aged better. Maybe I need more listens!
Dusty Springfield
4/5
As a millennial born in the 80’s, Dusty Springfield is one of those artists who has many songs I’ve heard many times, but if asked I wouldn’t be able to name the artist. Her debut album has several of these songs, including Mama Said, Mockingbird, and Wishin’ and Hopin’. This is a solid collection of songs and a pretty great listen all the way through.
One take away is that the lyrics of Wishin’ and Hopin’ seem like terrible advice.
KISS
4/5
Look, is it the “best” rock n roll music? No.
Is it lyrically great? No.
Is it a hell if a good time? Most definitely.
When an album achieves exactly what it sets out to do it’s at least good, and Destroyer is a good time beginning to end.
Guided By Voices
4/5
I’ve listened to Bee Thousand a few times in my life and it never really fully clicked with me. This is my first time listening to alien lanes, and I really like it.
Soul II Soul
2/5
I just couldn’t get into this one. Maybe it was innovative when it came out but it sounds very generic to me and doesn’t stand out at all amongst other albums on this list.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5/5
One of my favorites from Neil, one of my favorite artists. Perhaps an awkward format with live acoustic followed by an electric half, bookended by different versions of the same (classic/brilliant) song.
Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black) and its acoustic sister is possibly my favorite Neil song and objectively one of his best. It of course has a sinister connotation, as its lyrics were blasted by John Lennon as dangerous and supposedly ended up on Kurt Cobain’s suicide note. Both versions are great, but to me the electric version best represents the dark side of rock and roll that it depicts.
Pocahontas, Powderfinger, and Ride My Llama are also major highlights.
Peter Gabriel
5/5
Pop Peter at his finest. Bookended by absolute bangers. Don’t Give Up is a bit of a drag, but That Voice Again saves the middle of the album from mediocrity.
It’s a stunning listen when you have a chance to listen closely with decent headphones.
John Grant
5/5
John Grant is like Father John Misty’s angry gay cousin.
I’d probably listened to this album one time a long time ago and wanted to revisit it. His album Pale Green Ghosts was one of my favorites from 2013 (one of the best years this century for albums), and Queen of Denmark was one of the highest rated from 2010.
For good reason. It’s a spectacular album: lyrically angry, funny, and evocative and musically varied, dense, and beautiful. It is one of the more psychedelic indie rock albums of the early 2010’s. John’s vocals are fantastic throughout, perhaps not for everyone but I think he sounds great.
I mentioned Father John Misty because this album reminds me so much of FJM’s 2015 album I Love You, Honeybear, which I listed as my 3rd favorite album of the decade (after Jason Isbell’s Southeastern and Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, M.A.A.D city). I think FJM must have been inspired by this album, by the same muse if not directly.
Fela Kuti
4/5
Fun, groovy, interesting world jazz music
Michael Kiwanuka
5/5
I love Kiwanuka. He’s one of the best artists making records today in my opinion. This album and Love and Hate are masterpieces.
It’s a tremendous sounding record from start to finish. It’s a patient album, but it never gets boring or meanders. Rolling and Hero are highlights, but there’s no filler here even with multiple intro songs and an interlude there’s no filler here.
Violent Femmes
4/5
Awkward rock for awkward listeners.
There’s a nerdy weirdo confidence behind these songs that reminds me of Weezer’s debut album.
Suicide
3/5
Interesting sounds and different than expected, but it never grabbed me.
LCD Soundsystem
5/5
Ah I’m so glad this is here. I wrote in my review of american dream review that I really hope Sound of Silver is on this list. This is LCD Soundsystem’s clear magnum opus to me, even if James Murphy and company haven’t had a bad album yet.
All My Friends is one of my all time favorite songs. The title track has a way of getting lodged in my head. NYILYBYBMD is a fantastic closer. Brilliant.
Jethro Tull
4/5
Metal with a heavy dash of flute 🙌
Iron Maiden
5/5
I’d never listened to Iron Maiden’s debut before this, but I hear a masterpiece. Front to back, it’s an absolutely killer metal album. Elements of prog, almost catchy sections on a few songs, killer guitar solos, and Steve Harris’s romping bass make this a metal album of supreme quality.
Little Richard
4/5
Little Richard slaps
Beck
5/5
I love sad Beck. Guess I’m Doing Fine is one of my all time favorites. One of the best rainy day albums in indie rock.
Kings of Leon
4/5
This album, especially its two lead singles, was HUGE my last two years of college. I’ve always liked, perhaps not loved, the band since. As the kid of a minister myself, I definitely feel a connection to the brothers (and cousin) Followill and their upbringing.
Sex On Fire and Use Somebody were inescapable in 2008 and 2009, and KOL became one of the biggest bands in the world seemingly overnight. I discovered their early records after their popularity soared, and at the time I preferred the sound of Youth and Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak to the “Sex On Fire” version of the band. When this album showed up as my album of the day it occurred to me that I’ve never listened to it.
It’s honestly a very, very good record. The singles are still the highlight overall, but there isn’t a bad song that I hear on the album. Closer is a really good opener and sets the tone. Notion is a really good deep track later in the album.
A very good album from a very good band.
Tom Waits
4/5
Tom Waits is something else.
I like Swordfishtrombones a lot.
To love it, I think it probably requires a bottle of good (not great) whisky, consumed straight glass by glass while ripping Marlboros all the while. I don’t smoke and rarely drink whiskey so 4 stars it is.
Parliament
5/5
I WANT THE FUNK! I WANT THE FUNK!
So fun beginning to end, what a trip this record is. I love that George Clinton had his funk band in Parliament and his straight up druggy psychedelic band in Funkedelic.
I think Kendrick Lamar got one his vocal styles from this album.
David Bowie
4/5
Heroes, this song, is probably my favorite David Bowie song. I think it’s one of the greatest songs ever recorded. Its structure, buildup, and sound are timeless and unlike much else in terms of massive hits.
Heroes the album has never lived quite up to the expectations I have for it and that its reputation insists on. I like it, it’s an easy 4 stars album, but take away the title track and it’s just an okay album in my opinion. I always enjoy it, but after Heroes is finished it doesn’t grab me like I want an undisputed masterpiece to.
Overall I’d rank at least 5 Bowie albums in front of it, maybe more. This of course says more about Bowie’s ridiculously good career than it does anything negative about Heroes. I just have Heroes as less than a masterpiece.
Pixies
4/5
This is a project that I’ve liked for a long time. For me, it’s an above average 80’s rock album that is an excellent alternative (lol) to the popular rock of the time. Hardcore fans of the Pixies will call this a masterpiece alongside Surfer Rosa (which I find a little superior). I think it’s a little short of that: Waves of Mutilation is a banger and one of their better songs, but while there are no duds on the rest of the album there aren’t any memorable tracks either.
It’s still very good and unmistakably Pixies.
Ella Fitzgerald
4/5
An excellent long collection of songs that you can listen to all day.
Yes
4/5
I’m a pretty big consumer of classic rock. I’m a millennial and love the music of my generation (and today’s new music), but I’ve always been fascinated with music from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, especially rock music. I also love prog rock, especially Pink Floyd (if they count) and some newer bands.
So with that context, it’s surprising that this is the first time I’ve listened to a Yes album.
I’m not sure why I’ve avoided them, it wasn’t intentional. I’ve had in mind to do a deep dive into Yes because they’re probably one of the best known bands whose catalog I haven’t explored. I’m glad they’ve shown up here.
The Yes Album is fantastic and a great introduction to the band for me. Yours Is No Disgrace is a great opener, and a great introduction to the sound of the album. Starship Troopers is a banger. I’ve Seen All Good People is a song I’ve heard many times and had no idea it was by Yes.
The only blemish to me is The Clap, which isn’t a bad song by any means, but the live track is a weird and jarring inclusion for the flow of the album for me.
I look forward to exploring more from the band.
Deep Purple
4/5
Throw me in the camp that only knows Deep Purple for Smoke on the Water.
They’re a band that was pretty popular in their time that I don’t really know much about.
Deep Purple In Rock is a great introduction to their deeper work. Elements of metal and prog were welcome to my ears. It’s heavy and psychedelic at times.
Child in Time is a banger. Really solid album.
Cornershop
3/5
It’s okay! Glad I listened but it didn’t grab me after a few tries, good vibes though.
Dolly Parton
4/5
A nice album from Dolly showing her songwriting and singing talents
Garbage
3/5
It sounds interesting but I can’t get super into it.
The Strokes
5/5
I was 8 or so years late to this album. The first Strokes song I heard was, oddly enough, Razorblade from their third album. It’s still one of run favorite songs of theirs, and I think it’s really underrated. I was pretty obsessed with it and wanted to dive deeper into the Strokes, and learned that Is This It was considered their best. So I bought it on iTunes to see what the fuss was about.
I was hooked for life. Immediately, the opening title track lets you know that it’s going to sound familiar and unlike anything else at the same time. It’s a homage to much to the best of rock and roll, especially New York City rock (the Velvet Underground and Television are immediately recognizable influences). It also is a powerful reflection of youth and the exciting and terrible transition into adulthood.
Is this it? What a powerful question that is made all the more emotional by one of most killer baselines ever in a rock song. Transitioning directly into The Modern Age was a brilliant decision in album sequence. Soma and Barely Legal dial up the debauchery, and Someday delivers a hit. What a first half.
Last Nite kicks in the second half with another hit. The albums climax and creative peak is arguably Hard To Explain, which still may be the Strokes best song. Take It Or Leave It is a fitting powerful closer.
It’s deserving of the hype and its status as one of the best albums of the century so far.
Talking Heads
5/5
I had the brilliant idea a few year’s ago that I’d listen to an album a day and then write avoid that album. I started this mini project with a deep dive into the Doors discography, followed by Talking Heads.
My takeaway was that the Doors were overrated and that Talking Heads were one of my favorite bands of all time.
Talking Heads 77 is a fantastic introduction to the band. It kicks off one of the best 5 album runs in history, and even if it’s my least favorite of their first 5, I love it enough for 5 stars. God bless the talking heads.
Various Artists
5/5
Timeless set of Christmas jams. I’m choosing to rate the album for its banging tunes, not counting the future murderer who produced it.
The Cult
3/5
Meh…. It’s okay, not offensive enough to warrant 2 or fewer stars. It just sounded saccharine to me, like the way mediocre pop sounds sweet as boring candy. In this case it sounds like honeyed heroin.
The Killers
5/5
I have a lot to say about this album. I was raised in a very conservative household, and wasn’t allowed to listen to “secular” music for most of my childhood. In middle school in the late 90’s I was exposed to pop radio and snuck in some MTV, and by early high school I was burning CD mix tapes with music I liked. But then my family moved out into the country where internet availability was very poor for the first couple of years we lived there. We had satellite TV, and my music consumption mostly came from listening to the various DISH music stations.
One night I was flipping through these stations when I heard a song called Mr. Brightside. I do not recall a song before or since that floored me like it did. I was a bit of a socially inept kid in those days, and something about the lyrics and the passion in the song connected with me like I’d never felt before. I had to hear more, and I spent night after night flipping through the DISH music stations and MTV/VH1 hoping Mr. Brightside would play. I eventually got my hands on Hot Fuss and discovered The Killers were far from a one hit wonder, and it became my favorite album from my high school years.
Twenty years later (whoa…), it’s still one of my all time favorites, and I’ve never tired of Mr. Brightside even though it’s probably the song I’ve heard most in my lifetime. It’s one of those albums that makes me question what is the purpose of music critics: it was not well received at the time by critics even though it was clearly a millennial masterpiece. I’m a pretty big consumer of recorded music from all over the past 60 years, and I think it was a watershed moment in the evolution of rock and roll. Other rock bands may have incorporated elements of dance music and glam before them, and the influence of The Strokes and Oasis is obvious, but The Killers found gold in a mix of influences and sounds that made Hot Fuss a masterpiece. The production is excellent: big, bombastic, and clear.
It also has, I’d argue with all sincerity, one of the best starting five song runs of all time. The Beatles, Stones, Michael Jackson, Bowie, Stevie Wonder… none of these all time greats had a starting 5 song run as good as Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine, Mr. Brightside, Smile Like You Mean It, Somebody Told Me, and All These Things That I Have Done. I’m not kidding.
The second half does not hold up to the first. How could it? It is still very good though, and songs like Change Your Mind and especially Believe Me Natalie are deserving of high praise.
As big as this album was, I think it’s criminally underrated as a full record, probably in part because of how popular a song Mr. Brightside still is (nearing 2.5 billion listens on Spotify as of this writing). One of the true great pieces of art of the millennial generation.
The Specials
4/5
A fun album that was far different than I expected. It starts with one of those songs that is familiar but I had no idea who performed it. A Message To You Rudy is super catchy. It’s solid throughout with another highlight on the back half in Dawning of a New Era. Little Bitch is spicy too.
The Byrds
4/5
I love David Crosby, but the Byrds first (I think) album without him is probably my favorite that I’ve listened to. Gram Parsons has one of his too few great moments here. It’s an important album for much of the music I love in the alt-country and psych-country genres.
Booker T. & The MG's
5/5
An exceptional instrumental blues album. It’s one of those records that has songs you’ve heard here and there but didn’t know who what where or when they came from. The covers are great, but come for the onions.
Pretenders
3/5
I’ve given this several listens, and while I enjoy the back half much more than the first half, and the songs Brass in Pocket and Mystery Achievement are great, the good stuff comes too late for me to really want to come back to this one.
Willie Nelson
5/5
Long live Willie! I haven’t made it through all of Willie’s ridiculously long discography, but this is my favorite of his.
Jorge Ben Jor
4/5
Really fun sounding album. I don’t speak Portuguese but I know a good time when I hear it.
Franz Ferdinand
4/5
Smells like stale beer and the mid naughts. Take Me Out is one of the great drunken earworm songs.
Grizzly Bear
4/5
Love Two Weeks. A great chill vibe witha strong dash of melancholy throughout the album
Tom Waits
5/5
I need to listen to this 60 more times to get a full grasp of it, but it’s long been my favorite of Waits’. Nothing much like it.
Beatles
5/5
I don’t have much to add for this album that hasn’t already been said the past almost 60 years, but I’ve long thought that if you just take John Lennon’s songs from this (maybe give or take Revolution 9) and put them on separate album it’d be one of the greatest albums of all time. The fact that all of John’s songs are surrounded by so many great Paul and George songs is insane.
It’s not a perfect album by any stretch, there are possibly more skippable songs on the White Album than any other Beatles album on the back half of their discography. But the messiness is part of the fun and part of what makes it such an standout album in rock history.
Björk
3/5
I respect Björk and think she’s an incredible talent worthy of the praise she receives. I’m just not super into her music typically. I’ve listened to most of her discography, including Vulnicura, and her albums just never rank nearly as high with me as they do critics and many music fans. It fades to the background really quickly, even if it is beautiful.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
I’ve enjoyed the Pet Shop Boys projects I’ve listened to over the years, but at some point they do start to sound the same.
T. Rex
4/5
Liked this more than expected, not sure why I wasn’t more excited for it. Solid, groovy album throughout.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
Maaaaaaa aaaa aaaaasa aaaa aaaaps
Wonderful album that’s great start to finish with an iconic ballad
Herbie Hancock
4/5
Awesome jazz fusion
Emmylou Harris
4/5
Wonderful songs and of course an amazing voice.
I think Willie Nelson said “you’re either in love with Emmylou Harris or you’ve never met her.”
The Teardrop Explodes
4/5
I hadn’t heard of this band prior to this, but Kilimanjaro is a great album with a great sound. More psychedelic than other punk releases of this time.
Yes
4/5
Another good album from Yes
The Afghan Whigs
4/5
This is a band I’ve always been interested in as they’ve been a big influence on some of my favorites (The National for example), but this is the first Afghan Whigs album I recall listening to.
Really great sound and the kind of album that rewards multiple listens. Good, raw lyrics like in Be Sweet. This makes me want to deep dive into their catalog.
Miles Davis
5/5
Kind of Blue was the first jazz album I ever heard—like so many others—and it completely changed how I listened to music. From the first notes of “So What,” there’s a calm, cool confidence that pulls you in. Miles Davis, along with legends like John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and Cannonball Adderley, created something timeless in 1959 that still sounds fresh and alive today.
The album’s beauty lies in its simplicity and space. It introduced me to modal jazz without me even knowing what that meant—it just felt good. Each track flows effortlessly, yet there’s a depth and subtlety that invites you to come back and hear something new each time.
Kind of Blue isn’t just a jazz record; it’s a gateway. It opened the door for me and countless others to explore the genre, and I can’t think of a better place to start. It’s a masterclass in mood, tone, and restraint—one of the most essential albums ever made in any genre.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Like Jimi’s other two proper LPs this is an easy 5 star album. It just doesn’t sound like anything before or much since. The otherworldly guitar is an obvious standout, but the stellar drumming/bass and surreal lyricism shouldn’t be ignored.
Purple Haze is as incredible today as it probably was in the 60’s. There are many other great tracks throughout the journey, and while it could be argued the album is too long it’s never laborious to listen to. Red House is a tremendous closer.
Count Basie & His Orchestra
3/5
Awesome album cover!
I enjoyed it. I prefer a smaller jazz band with brilliant leads a la Miles and Coltrane, and this faded to the background pretty quickly for me. The arrangements and performance is of course incredible though.
Tricky
4/5
I got pretty into trip hop a couple of years ago and did a deep dive into the genre. This is one of those albums that always ranks high in the best-of lists for trip hop, and for good reason. I favor Tricky’s collaborations with Massive Attack, but this is an excellent example of what this genre does best: create a good vibe.
The Smiths
4/5
The Smiths are a band that I thought I would like more than I did when I first tried them out ~10 years ago. I liked them, but I think I gave them unrealistic expectations based on other music I was into at the time that The Smiths heavily influenced.
The Queen Is Dead was the first Smiths album I listened to, the one I’ve listened to most since, and certainly my favorite (Louder Than Bombs is very good too). I love Johnny Marr’s guitar and the moods created by the band. It’s Morrissey that often stops me from calling them one of my favorite bands.
That said, I think Morrissey is at his best here, and he delivers many of his strongest songs. The title track is a great opener, and it finishes exceptionally strong with the two best tracks on the album in my opinion. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out is probably the band’s best song overall, what a great track.
In the middle I think the album drags occasionally, and Morrissey threatens to be overly mopey. Frankly, Mr. Shankly is pretty great though and lifts the album with some humor.
Overall, a flawed but great magnum opus for the band.
The Offspring
5/5
This album came out a few years before I got into “secular” music when I was in middle school in the late 90’s (raised super conservatively). Songs from The Offspring’s 1998 album Americana were all over hit radio, and they were some of my early favorites.
I didn’t discover Smash until many years later. What a great album from start to finish. It’s pretty much perfectly executed, and there’s really no filler in its 46 minutes except for the silence before the bonus track. The welcoming radio host reminds me of Songs for the Deaf by QOTSA a decade later.
I thought I was going to give this 4 stars, but it’s perfect for what it tries to be.
Genesis
4/5
Another really good album from Genesis that was new to me. Definitely a grower with a lot going on, but killer instrumental sections with great vocals from Gabriel and Collins.
Dr. John
4/5
A strange, narcotic, Cajun flavored voodoo trip of an album.
3/5
An interesting collection of songs. I had not heard of X and when the first song started I expected a straightforward punk album, but it’s anything but that. Certainly didn’t expect to hear rockabilly.
Some of the songs remind me of early Kings of Leon from two decades later, which is interesting (listen to In This House That I Call Home). Pretty good.
Bob Dylan
5/5
Time has shown me that this is Dylan’s best. Tangled Up In Blue is a perfect song, and it’s followed by one powerful song after another. Some of his best writing (meaning some of the best songs ever written), his best vocals, and the best production in his catalog.
Bauhaus
3/5
An interesting listen from a band I hadn’t heard before, but in reading about them are more influential than I realized. I’ll certainly never think about fish cakes the same way again.
Some great sounds throughout the album, but I think I’ll stick to the Cure for my goth rock.
Elastica
4/5
I had first heard this album a couple of years ago and quite liked it. I was mistaken in thinking it was a late 70’s / early 80’s album rather than a product of early Britpop.
Very solid album from beginning to end.
Bob Dylan
5/5
My favorite Dylan album for a long time, although I think that’s become Blood On The Tracks in recent years (Blonde On Blonde has grown a ton for me as well). This is still a masterpiece and probably Dylan’s most iconic album. It kicks off with maybe the most famous snare beat of all time, and Dylan’s biggest song.
Like A Rolling Stone rightfully sits near or at the top of many “best song ever” lists. It Takes a Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train to Cry and Queen Jane Approximately are two of my personal favorite Bob songs. Ballad Of A Tin Man is a singular, haunting track.
It’s one of Dylan’s best sounding albums and contains some of his best songs. A killer record.
Pavement
5/5
This is an album and band I’ve listened to occasionally for a long time now, probably 15 years or so (didn’t know them as a kid in the 90’s). Crooked Rain and Slanted and Enchanted always found their ways to lists of albums I’d probably like, and the lists weren’t wrong.
Crooked Rain Crooked Rain is a fantastic listen. It’s unmistakably Pavement, unmistakably 90’s indie rock. The jangly guitars leading the way on most tracks is a sound I’ve always been attracted to.
Cut Your Hair is the band’s biggest single, and it’s always a catchy fun song. Gold Soundz and Range Life are the other two can’t miss highlights for me. I particularly love the latter: “if I could settle down then I would settle down” is such a great evocative line.
So much to love on this odd little album.
Beatles
5/5
For many years this was my favorite Beatles album. Time has shown me that Abbey Road is probably my favorite, but Revolver will always be up there.
There are so many timeless tracks. Taxman, Eleanor Rigby, Here There and Everywhere, She Said She Said, And Your Bird Can Sing, For No One, Tomorrow Never Knows: all of these are bangers and many of them were innovative at the time. Tomorrow Never Knows still sounds like nothing else.
Arguably the Beatles at their most psychedelic, it’s a timeless record.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
I first listened to Elvis Costello right before I saw him open for Bob Dylan around 2008 when I was in college. I’d heard of him, of course, but didn’t know any songs apart from one song that my roommates and I played on Rock Band, which was Pump It Up from this album. Elvis played a killer set of songs with just himself and an acoustic guitar, and I’ve been a fan ever since.
Elvis’ second album and first with The Attractions is a fantastic set of songs, and like most of his discography is a great listen from beginning to end. He’s one of the most remarkably consistent rock artists of all time.
This Year’s Model is great, maybe not one of my personal top 3 or 5 Costello albums, but it’s a great sounding album and must have been a good introduction to him for a lot of people. It doesn’t have too many standout tracks - Pump It Up hits the nostalgia button for me, and I think Little Triggers is fantastic. Otherwise it’s a series of good, solid songs and an album that’s easy to put on with no skips.
Van Halen
5/5
Set your pretensions aside and enjoy this ride.
A great reminder of Eddie Van Halen’s talent: he didn’t just play fast (although he certainly played fast as shit): he played musically and always interestingly. In relistening to this album I found myself focusing on Eddie’s rhythm guitar sections even more than his solos - the way he’d add little notes and rhythms to guitar parts in the verses of the songs is fascinating.
Sorry to the Van Halen purists, but I think Jump is clearly the band’s best song. What a jam, I’ve always loved it. Panama is great of course too. Hot For Teacher is hilarious and fun.
It’s somewhat ridiculous at times, but properly showcases Eddie’s talent and David’s absurd swagger in a joy ride that could have only come from the mid-80’s.
Supergrass
4/5
A fun listen beginning to end. Not familiar with Supergrass before this but I’ve liked both albums that have shown up.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
I love Leonard Cohen. I fell in love with him primarily after he died. A few years before he passed I listened to his debut album and quite liked it, but after he died I listened to his final album You Want It Darker, which is an absolute masterpiece as far as I’m concerned. In fact his last three albums are all tremendous, as is his Live In Dublin. I think he had a fantastic creative output in his final years.
Songs Of Love And Hate is always mentioned alongside his debut as his best album. To be honest, I think it’s okay. His lyrics, as per usual, are the main attraction. Having listened to this several times, I just always come away thinking the music doesn’t support the lyrics well enough to command my attention. Leonard, perhaps even more so than his lyrical wizard cousin Bob Dylan, isn’t exactly known for his beautiful singing voice, but on his debut there is a youthfulness in his voice that is appealing and in his final albums he has an otherworldly baritone that sounds like it’s coming from the great beyond. On SOLAH it’s somewhere in between, and not in a good way.
There are songs to love here, particularly the bookends of the album Avalanche and Joan of Arc. Diamonds in the Mind is a song that I bet was good live, but in this recorded version Cohen’s insane delivery is more distracting than it is appealing to me.
A solid album from an artist I greatly respect, but my current opinion is that it’s overrated. Perhaps it will click with me one day.
Ramones
5/5
I kind of groaned when I saw this was my album because most punk isn’t my thing (save The Clash). But it’s so singular, so fun, so fresh sounding somehow. It’s a blast from beginning to end, and my biggest takeaway from revisiting is how thrilling the transition from I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With You to Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World.
Blitzkrieg Bop is still and will always be a banger too.
Barry Adamson
4/5
This album probably had the most surprising sound of any presented to me on this list so far. It sounds more modern that the 90’s, it’s not as scary as its cover suggests (though there are dark moments for sure), and it randomly features Nick Cave near the end.
I ended up listening to it 3 times because it was so interesting and varied. It plays like a film score, which I imagine was then intent. The opening track is fantastic. Cave’s song is as well.
A great record to own on vinyl I’m sure.
Willie Nelson
4/5
One of the better “sounding” Nelson records that I’ve listened to, Stardust is a solid collection of pop standards covered Willie style. It makes for an enjoyable listen. Willie is a good enough songwriter that it’s hard for me to not wish I was listening to songs he wrote, but hearing Willie make these songs his own is well worth the journey.
Aerosmith
4/5
A great sounding rock record.
David Bowie
5/5
This album is brought to you in part by… cocaine!
One of Bowie’s best albums take as a whole. Other than Golden Years, there’s not a song here that you’re probably adding to a playlist (although the title track and Wild Is The Wind are fantastic). It’s an album, like many in Bowie’s discography, that’s greater than the sum of its parts.
It’s also one fueled by heavy cocaine use. Whatever, long live the Thin White Duke!
The Slits
3/5
I’ve listened to this a few times here and there over the years, and it’s hard for me to get into it. I can see how it’s influential and you can hear them in some newer all female and female-led bands. It sounds good and is an interesting listen, but not one that compels me to come back often. I can’t help but wonder how much the album cover has influenced its renown..
Oasis
5/5
I was only 7 when this came out, and in a super conservative American household to boot, so I don’t really remember this coming out, but what an absolute game changer it must have been. It’s such a contrast to grunge and most of the American rock scene at the time. These blokes just burst into the world with so much confidence. Perhaps a bit more confidence than earned, but that’s part of what makes Oasis so appealing.
I do think What’s The Story Morning Glory is the band’s magnum opus, but this is a triumph as well. Rock And Roll Star is the perfect intro to the band. Live Forever and Supersonic are iconic classics. Cigarettes and Alcohol is a song that I took too much to heart in college.
A brilliant debut from a band that’s probably going to make a bijilion dollars this year.
Grateful Dead
5/5
My first memory of this album is of seeing it in record stores as a kid in the 90’s. I had heard of the Grateful Dead and had maybe heard Uncle John’s Band, but what the Dead sounded like was largely a mystery to me. I finally listened to this album in college and it pretty much immediately became one of my favorite albums from this time period.
Box Of Rain is just a brilliant, beautiful song. It’s probably my favorite Dead studio track. It’s a song that will almost certainly make be weep one day whenever it’s my fathers time to pass. Friend of the Devil is of course amazing, as is Sugar Magnolia, Ripple, Brokedown Palace, and the seminal Dead song Truckin’.
It’s one of the all time great American rock and roll albums.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
4/5
Never heard of this band, but they’re more influential than I thought!
Enjoyed the album quite a lot. Sounded like The Cure at times, sometimes like a primordial Radiohead. Souvenir is a clear highlight.
3/5
I enjoyed a couple of songs, I found I’d Like That and Greenman stuck in my head after listening to this album. Beyond that it was okay, faded to the background quite easily.
Impressive that this band had a long career.
LTJ Bukem
3/5
I listened to the version of this album linked for Spotify, which may be the intended version? Not sure.
It was enjoyable, although it is certainly repetitive (as drum and bass usually is) and sounded a tad dated. A solid listen, and perhaps very influential, but I’ve heard some better D&B examples since.
Sigur Rós
5/5
All I want to do is go to Iceland and tour the country while listening to this record.
A beautiful, singular album that transports the listener.
Faith No More
4/5
A record I enjoyed more than expected for something described as neo-metal. I love a lot of metal, but something that makes me think it influenced Limp Bizcuit and the like gives me pause.
Even if it did (I’m sure it did), this record slaps. Epic is familiar to me from Rock Band back in college, and is a real highlight along with the instrumental closer Woodpecker From Mars.
Afrika Bambaataa
4/5
Fun shit
The Divine Comedy
4/5
One of my favorite discoveries so far with this project. It reminds me of early Scott Walker, especially Scott II which is also on this list. I enjoyed the focused theme, brevity (I love sub 40 minute albums), and the cohesiveness of the record. Opening track is outstanding.
3/5
Siberian Khatru is the highlight for me. Otherwise I’m just not as super into Yes as much as thought I would be, given how much I like a lot of “prog” music.
The Jam
4/5
A great album from a great band that I’ve enjoyed and respect, but maybe have never fully connected with. I can’t fully explain it, but I think it has to do with the same reasons the Jam were huge in the U.K. but had little impact in the U.S.: the sensibilities and ethos in their music are British through and through.
This struck me during this listen while English Rose was on. What a beautiful, raw tribute this song is to Pete Weller’s home country (and girlfriend at the time). He’s likened this song and touring in a band to old sailers that left England and their wives for months on end. While there are universal themes in this song and others, Pete’s lyrics and delivery are so very British. I don’t mean this in a bad way at all: quite the contrary. I think it’s a beautiful thing.
Anyway, All Mod Cons is a fantastic album, and I won’t argue with anyone giving it five stars that it’s deserving.
John Lennon
5/5
John Lennon’s Imagine is a timeless masterpiece, blending raw emotion, political commentary, and melodic beauty. Released in 1971, during a turbulent time in Lennon’s life and a strained relationship with former Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney, the album reflects both personal and public battles. Tracks like “How Do You Sleep?” take pointed shots at McCartney, revealing the bitterness of their post-breakup rift, yet the music remains compelling.
The title track, “Imagine,” stands out as one of the most daring and visionary songs of its era. With the provocative line “imagine there’s no heaven,” Lennon challenges listeners to envision a world united beyond religion, borders, and materialism—a bold stance that continues to spark dialogue to this day.
Lennon doesn’t hold back, pouring his soul into every note, whether he’s preaching peace, love, or pointed criticism. Imagine is a brave, beautiful, and deeply human album that captures Lennon’s idealism and complexity, earning its place as one of the greatest records of all time.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
A ridiculously iconic album. If not Bruce’s best, and it might be, it’s probably his most important album. I think most casual fans would call it or Born To Run their favorite, and few hardcore fans would have it out of their top 5.
An incredible list of singles, a title track that has brought me to tears more than once (“They’re still there, he’s all gone” usually gets me), and a song in I’m On Fire that ages like a fine wine.
One of the easiest 5 star albums for me.
Talking Heads
5/5
The older I get and the more I listen to a variety of music, the more I consider this to be one of the greatest albums ever made.
There’s nothing like it. It’s singular within Talking Heads’ discography and within the entire genre of rock music. It’s a perfect storm of rock, world music, electronic, dance, and psychedelic. There’s an urgency to it, a paranoia. It’s existential.
Once In A Lifetime is one of the best songs ever recorded, and stands out as a song that can be enjoyed in the context of the album or by itself. Overall I think a front to back listen of this album is essential. Every song is fantastic and it’s cohesive. I think Born Under Punches is one an all time great opening track.
It’s the quintessential “it’s late, I’m stoned, and questioning everything in my life” album.
Same as if ever was.
Perfection.
Elton John
5/5
If your album opens with Tiny Dancer AND Levon, I’m going to give you five stars.
Incubus
2/5
Drive is still a great song… hard for me to get into anything else here. I know this album was huge and well liked by people with similar tastes to me, I guess I don’t vibe with it much.
Fleet Foxes
5/5
A fantastic debut from a band that hasn’t missed yet. Fleet Foxes are one of the best bands of the century in my view, any it started with this album’s retro sound. White Winter Hymn is a classic and a song my daughter loves. Ragged Wood is excellent. Beautiful singing throughout.
I loved following David Crosby on Twitter during his final years and I always wondered what he thought of Fleet Foxes because they obviously have some CSN influence. I was disappointed when he finally mentioned them and said they “need to write better songs”. With all respect to Croz I doubt he's given them a listen beyond White Winter Hymn with that opinion.
Paul Simon
4/5
Paul Simon is an American treasure, somehow underrated despite his fame.
I’d never heard this album, but greatly enjoyed it. It’s hard not to compare it to Graceland, which I think is one of the best albums of all time, and this one may need a few more listens, but it sounds on par for Simon.
Nirvana
5/5
One of the all time greats, a mythical record. It’s not an album I choose to listen to often, but when I’m in the right mood it’s a perfect listen front to back.
It always sounds incredible. It has a long list of hits: SLTS, In Bloom, Come As You Are, Lithium, On A Plane, Something In The Way… it’s ridiculous. It’s obviously one of the most influential albums of the last 50 years.
I can’t add much that hasn’t already been said, but Kurt’s vocals are particularly great throughout the album.
John Coltrane
5/5
Arguably Jazz’ greatest triumph.
I can’t add anything that hasn’t already been said about A Love Supreme. It’s sublime and can be a borderline spiritual experience listening to it.
Frank Sinatra
5/5
I’ve listened to this a few times and loved it every time, but when I saw it was my album today I couldn’t help but scoff in some disappointment. How could an almost 70 year old album compare to some of the great rock albums I’ve had lately?
Well, I forgot how good it is. What a tremendous record. Frank sounds incredible, several of the songs are timeless, and the backing music is so varied and textured and well performed. A triumph.
Joy Division
4/5
A very bleak album, maybe the bleakest. There’s an existential feeling while listening to it.
Neneh Cherry
2/5
Hard for me to get into this one
Barry Adamson
2/5
I enjoyed the other Barry Adamson album on this list, but this one did very little for me after a couple of listens. Sounds like it’d be a decent soundtrack, and I know that’s the point, but as a stand alone listen I couldn’t get into it.
Slayer
4/5
Yeaaahhh Slayer man - good good good
Blur
3/5
I don’t know, it’s okay. Blur is a band I’ve just never been able to get into.
Lucinda Williams
5/5
A beautiful album. Incredible songs, well performed, and no filler.
I haven’t listened to this album much, but I can understand why it’s held in such high esteem by artists I love. Lucinda is a treasure.
Happy Mondays
3/5
I liked it okay, sounds great but it didn’t quite stand out to me.
Aphex Twin
4/5
A fantastic set of electronic music. Often cited as a masterpiece. I like it a lot and could be 5 stars in the future.
The Last Shadow Puppets
3/5
You know, it’s okay. It’s hard not to compare to the Arctic Monkeys, and it’s not as good as their best albums. An interesting side project, but an odd album in my opinion to include on this list.
Little Simz
3/5
I remember this being a big critical hit a few years ago. I enjoy it okay.
PJ Harvey
2/5
I think I’ve come to peace with the fact that PJ Harvey is an artist that I respect and admire, but her art doesn’t click with me. Despite many attempts, especially with this one and Let England Shake, I just can’t get into her music.
Todd Rundgren
3/5
An interesting, maybe slightly overlong word album. A fun listen, but not one that compels me to revisit often.
Motörhead
3/5
A fun live album. Not any major takeaways from it, but it’s a fun listen when you want some kick ass energy.
Randy Newman
4/5
Everyone needs more Randy Newman in their life
Lauryn Hill
4/5
A stone cold classic. When I think about it Doo Wop (That Thing) is probably one of my all time favorite songs.
I haven’t spent enough time with this album, it’s fantastic.
Michael Jackson
4/5
Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough!
The Sugarcubes
4/5
I wasn’t sure what to expect here and wasn’t all that excited, as there have been a few obscure albums from the 80’s on this list that I couldn’t get into.
A couple of songs in I kept thinking “I swear I know this voice,” look it up and lo and behold, it’s Björk! Then Birthday came on, and that’s when I realized why this album is on the list. What a performance she laid down on that track - it’s truly an incredible and evocative vocal spectacle.
Björk is the standout talent on the record, but it sounds great and is interesting from beginning to end.
Animal Collective
4/5
As a girl dad of two and husband to a wife and the primary income provider who is also mostly uninterested in all things consumerism, I can think of few songs that resonate with me as perfectly as My Girls. In many ways it’s probably one of my favorite songs of all time.
The rest of the album is solid… it can lose me at times. My Girls is enough of an all-timer for me that it earns an auto 4 stars from me.
Shuggie Otis
4/5
I had not heard of Shuggie before this, but man does he play a mean guitar on this album. It’s a great sounding record throughout, and I love the weird jazzy closing track.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
One of Neil’s best back half albums, and a fantastic showcase for crazy horse. I love Neil.
The Gun Club
3/5
Interesting I suppose. A unique brand of punk for sure.
Pink Floyd
5/5
Certainly one of the all time great album. This record has a dear place in my heart and reminds me of my best friend and his cool ass dad who introduced me to Pink Floyd as a kid. A ten star record.
FKA twigs
4/5
This is some serious doin’ it music.
Ute Lemper
3/5
An interesting listen featuring some ridiculous talent. While it’s not something I feel compelled to revisit a lot, I’m glad I’ve heard it and know of its existence. Nick Cave proves again that he has a golden touch, and Tom Waits’ Purple Avenue was the highlight to me.
Van Morrison
5/5
I fell in love with this album in college around 12 years ago, and every now and then it hits an ethereal spot in my soul that few records can match. There’s not much like it, from Morrison or anyone else.
Air
4/5
I think I enjoyed this more than Moon Safari
Björk
3/5
Björk is super talented. I like her music okay.
Nick Drake
5/5
If careers were only measured by the level of quality of their outputs, Nick Drake’s may have been an all time great. When the mood strikes for his music, there’s not much out there better.
Northern Sky is one of his top 2-3 songs, what a masterpiece that one is.
Maxwell
3/5
A smooth listen, perhaps not up my alley but a good sounding record
Metallica
5/5
Great, classic metal
Miles Davis
5/5
It’s the soundtrack of getting blasted through a wormhole. What a record, nothing like it.
The Kinks
3/5
I like the Kinks a lot, but this one doesn’t grab me like its reputation suggests it should.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
What a smooth as hell record.
Digital Underground
2/5
Couldn’t dig it.
Lou Reed
5/5
I think I listened to this once like ten years ago and remember not feeling it at the time. I know it has a reputation for being out there and divisive, and is considered his best by many (even over Transformer).
Revisiting this as part of this project is a great reminder of why I’m enjoying this project so much. It’s weird, pretty depressing, and pretty fantastic.
I’d need to give it several more spins before fully understanding it. Perhaps drugs are required as well, though I’d never touch some of them that probably contributed to Lou’s output here.
How Do You Think It Feels and Sad Song especially rule.
Laura Nyro
4/5
Oddly enough, I had never heard of Laura Nyro until I heard the opening track of Elton John and Brandi Carlisle’s album Who Believes in Angels? that came out a few weeks ago.
This is a really great sounding record that appears to have been a few years ahead of its time. It reminds me of Tapestry by Carole King, which came out three years later. The album cover also looks ahead of its time: I assumed it was an obscure 90’s album.
Rufus Wainwright
4/5
I really liked this album from the guy that I thought sang the best version of Hallelujah for a minute before I found out it was actually John Cale on Shrek
Jimmy Smith
4/5
Timeless vibes on this one. This is one of those albums that could be from one of at least six decades.
Mekons
4/5
I really enjoyed this one. I had not heard of Mekons and expected a different sound given its release year. Sounds like a preview of lots of indie rock a decade plus later.
Stereolab
4/5
I’d heard of Stereolab but this was my first listen to the band, and I loved it. Potential for 5 stars from me with more listens.
Cream
5/5
Certainly a classic. Ginger’s angry ass drums are the winner here for me, but it’s also Clapton at his psychedelic best (except for Layla of course).
Cat Stevens
4/5
This album, great as it is, is one that I just don’t enjoy quite as much as I always think I will. I like it, quite a lot actually. It’s just that for someone with an affinity for this sort of singer-songwriter classic thing it falls just short of the masterpiece its reputation suggests.
Wild World and Father and Son (a song that really only first had my attention when I read about Steven’s’ suit against the Flaming Lips for their fantastic song Fight Test) are bangers.
Elvis Costello
5/5
In preparation to see Elvis Costello open for Bob Dylan when I was in college ~2008, this was the first album I listened to to get familiar with his music. I loved it from the beginning, and even though I think Costello has a remarkably deep catalog I still think it’s his best.
It gets wrapped into British punk and new wave, but I almost look at it as Born To Run’s British cousin. Tremendous songwriting, passionate vocals, and great arrangements throughout.
Foo Fighters
4/5
A fun debate is “which is the greater band: Foo Fighters or Nirvana?”
It’s not an overly important debate and you could argue that it’s not necessary and better to just enjoy them both. That said, it’s hard to think of another situation where a member or members of a famous band had such incredible success after the first band ended. New Order comes to mind but I don’t think they have near the popularity of the Foos, certainly not in the States.
Anyway, the Foos debut isn’t a perfect record, but it’s definitely a fun one. This Is A Call is a fantastic opener, and Big Me may be my favorite song of Dave’s.
Dave may never escape Nirvana’s shadow, but he doesn’t have to.
Eurythmics
3/5
Killer title track. This rest is a tad boring to me.
The Darkness
4/5
This came out when I was in high school, and I thought I Believe In A Thing Called Love was the stupidest song I had ever heard. I was young and dumb.
What a banger that song is if you don’t take it too seriously, and this approach is recommended for The Darkness in general. It’s all about fun and celebrating the excesses of rock and roll.
IBIATCL is the highlight here, it’s a lightning in a bottle type of song, but on revisiting this Givin’ Up is another standout track to me.
Miriam Makeba
3/5
A pleasant listen. One More Dance is pretty funny.
Jean-Michel Jarre
4/5
Honestly, this is a phenomenal sounding record for 1976. It makes for great background music while doing yard work or similar activities.
The Waterboys
5/5
Man, this is definitely one of my favorite discoveries on this project. I’m giving it 5 stars despite only listening to it twice. This band, who I had not heard of before this, nails in this record all of my peak interests in a great album: great lyrics, emotive vocals, well played and varied musicianship, and a distinct sound.
The opening title track is incredible, as is the epic following track We Will Not Be Lovers. Starting with two heavy hitters like this would set up most albums for imbalance, but every track following these are of fantastic quality.
This record reminds me of Wilco’s Being There album in many ways. I look forward to discovering more of the Waterboys.
Spiritualized
4/5
I’ve grown to really love Spiritualized over the years, especially the epic Ladies and Gentlemen We're Floating In Space. I first listened to LAGWFIS when it was listed as the #1 album of the year of 1997 by NME AHEAD of OK Computer. Jason Pierce’s band has put out another two incredible albums since then in Sweer Heart Sweet Light and And Nothing Hurt. That said, I’d never listened to his first album as Spiritualized Lazer Guided Melodies before this.
As I’d hoped, it’s a fantastic listen. Maybe not the masterpiece LAGWFIS is, but it’s every bit the druggy psych opus you hope for when visiting Spiritualized.
CHIC
4/5
This album honestly slaps as the kids say. Its production sounds fantastic, it’s funky as hell, and some of the extended instrumental sections in the songs are great. It’s not a straight up disco-bash like I expected.
I had never listened to this front to back before this but I’m glad I did. Excellent album.
Prince
5/5
Prince is an Artist (hehe sorry) that I’ve always respected more than I’ve loved for his music. I say this in relative terms to the general public… I’m no fool and I think Prince is objectively great, and as a guitarist alone he was a prodigious talent even before accounting for his other musical gifts as a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. It’s just that most of his output is not my cup of tea.
This is not true of Purple Rain. This is a masterpiece, an easy 5 star, timeless album. It’s great from beginning to its marvelous end. Can’t add anything else that hasn’t already been written here.
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
4/5
This was a fun listen. I don’t speak or understand Spanish very well, but this album was fun of fun and soul.
Traffic
4/5
Dear Mr. Fantasy is a song that grabbed me when I heard it in a commercial like 20 years ago as a teenager. That song isn’t featured here, but it gave me an interest in Traffic from an early age.
This is a very solid offering from Winwood and team. Its variety is probably its biggest strength, and arguably weakness. It’s not the most cohesive album ever, but it’s a fantastic collection of well performed songs.
Johnny Cash
5/5
Not sure I trust anyone giving this less than 5 stars
Bad Brains
2/5
Described as punk meets reggae, but I didn’t hear the reggae part? Sounds far closer to Nu Metal than reggae by my ears, and while I try to be open to all genres this one was a big nope for me. There’s some fast and furious playing here that I respect, but this isn’t one I care to return to.
Ms. Dynamite
3/5
Great voice. It didn’t stand out too much to me in terms of differentiating from other early 2000’s R&B, but Ms. Dynamite, who I had not heard of prior to this, has a fantastic voice and the production on the album sounds great as well.
Ian Dury
3/5
Odd rock and roll, a genre I typically love. I enjoyed this, although it’s hard for me to love it. Funny lyrics
The Replacements
5/5
Ah, one of the greatest “should have been bigger than they were” bands of all time.
The Replacements were tremendous. Let It Be, in my opinion the album when they first became a great band, is a clinic in what rock music can be at its best. Messy, emotional, creative, raw. It’s a vibe fueled by (too much) alcohol and a longing for finding that something in the void.
I’ve been a fan of this band for several years even thought they broke up when I was a kid, long before I knew about them. While I personally think Pleased To Meet Me is their Magnum Opus, Let It Be is the perfect blend of where they were headed and the raw energy of their earlier work. I Will Dare is a fantastic opener. Androgynous is a weird little song that gives spotlight to a human sub culture that was especially taboo at the time. Unsatisfied is Westerberg (one of rock’s best frontman and songwriters) as his very best.
This listen highlighted the song Seen Your Video for me. What a fantastic and unconventional song that one is. It sounds like it would have fit in well on Nevermind.
It ends with what is in my opinion one of the all time great album closers: Answering Machine. It’s as emotionally and sonically raw songs as you’ll hear from the 80’s.
The Mats were ahead of their time, and Let It Be would have probably been a bigger hit if it came out ten years later. Listen to this album, Tim, and Pleased To Meet Me back to back for one of the best three album runs in music history.
The Velvet Underground
4/5
Another solid offering from VU. This one isn’t my favorite of their discography, I lean more towards VU&N and Loaded, but this is always an interesting, strange, druggy listen.
Tim Buckley
4/5
I’d listened to this album at least a couple of times before this and couldn’t really get into it. This time around I gave it two spins back to back, and I can tell it’s a grower. Buckley’s voice grew on me, and I noticed the excellent guitar work more than I had before.
Strange Feelin’ is a great opener that seems to allude to the drugs that would sadly cut his life short. Love From Room 109 At The Islander is a great example of his subtle but intricate guitar work. Gypsy Woman is a strange and intriguing hippie song.
A gorgeous album that I’m glad I’ve given enough chances to make it click.
B.B. King
5/5
I think I had only listened to this one time before this. Man, what a record.
I’ve always been pretty selective with my blues, and I’d say it’s not one of my favorite genres. To be honest, like many millennials with an affinity for indie rock the majority of my blues intake came from the Black Keys in the 00’s (not shitting on them… great band). I figured out that I like Muddy Waters around 10 years ago, and his Hard Again album from this list is tremendous.
B.B., for all his renown, isn’t an artist I’ve really gravitated towards in my past for some reason. I think I first heard him on his record with Clapton (Ridin’ With The King), which is an okay record. That said, this album packs a different punch. Kings guitar playing on the record is no surprise, he was a masterful blues electric guitar player, but his vocals are what especially stand out to me versus my expectations.
Every track is a blues powerhouse, but Sweet Little Angel and How Blue Can You Get? especially stand out. It’s sublime and an instant 5 stars from me.
The Go-Go's
4/5
A solid, fun album. If not something I’ll come back to a lot, it’s an undeniably fun and well made album with two massive hits.
Tom Waits
4/5
This is one of the few Waits albums from his classic period that I hadn’t listened to before. Waits is obviously an acquired taste - his voice sounds like 200 years of cigarette smoking and whiskey drinking - but if you acquire that taste it’s worth the effort to get there.
Heartattack and Vine is one of his most assessable albums I think. Certainly the opening title track is, I don’t think I’d heard it before and I immediately added it to my favorites playlist.
The whole album flows great, and as always with Waits it sounds interesting and includes elements of his weird brand of jazz.
Madonna
4/5
Oddly enough, “Music” was the first Madonna song I remember hearing. I’m 37 but grew up in a pretty conservative home, so Madonna wasn’t exactly played frequently. I snuck some MTV in in the late 90’s, and the video for this song was frequent.
Honestly revisiting this shows it’s a pretty good album that holds up better than I expected. The title track is great, as is Don’t Tell Me. I Deserve It was another pleasant surprise.
The Beach Boys
5/5
I just want to acknowledge that it’s really cool that the developer pushed Beach Boys / Brian Wilson albums to people using this app the day after Brian’s death. Very nice tribute, and I’m happy to receive Pet Sounds to honor Brian in a small way.
I’m not arguing with anyone calling this the greatest album of all time. Objectively, it very well could be. It’s one of my favorite albums regardless of how good everyone else says it is.
The Beach Boys always made music for teenagers before this, but no album has ever captured the weirdness/sadness/thrill/confusion of growing up quite like Pet Sounds. It’s sonically beautiful and timeless. This album was made with 4-track recordings, which is pretty unbelievable when you listen to it.
God Only Knows is well documented as a perfect song. I can’t add much here other than I of course agree. My personal favorite track is I Guess I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times… it’s my favorite song to listen to whenever I’m feeling a little disconnected from our crazy world.
Mike Love gets a lot of heat from music fans, and some of it is probably for good reason (politics e.g.), but I do think it’s worth crediting him for the change of “Hold On To Your Ego” to “I Know There’s An Answer”. In my opinion the latter is a much better song with the lyric change, he was right to push for it.
Anyway this is the 5-starriest 5-star album of them all. Thanks Brian!
Sonic Youth
3/5
I love Daydream Nation, and Teen Age Riot is probably one of my favorite songs period. That said, I don’t really dig Sonic Youth all that much. I like Thurston Moore’s guitar work, he’s pretty innovative even if the sounds are often intentionally jarring.
I think that’s it, it’s that noise rock that I can find some respect for but it’s rare for me to actually be in the mood for it. There are some nice moments on Dirty, and I know among fans of the band this one is held in high esteem, but I’m a long way from it clicking with me as a masterpiece.
Rod Stewart
3/5
An okay sounding album to me. Doesn’t reach his best tunes with Faces in my view. Rod sounds great, but it’s one of those head scratching inclusions on this list for me.
Cheap Trick
4/5
A fun live album. If Cheap Trick wasn’t the densest talent band ever, they were excellent at performing and creating their product and this album reflects that. I think it’s great to keep in mind that it’s a Japanese audience while listening to this: the great vibes in the audience come through while listening regardless of language barriers and being recorded -47 years ago.
Also it’s always hilarious to point out that Cheap Trick’s album art always featured the two good looking guys and not the other two guys in the band
Femi Kuti
4/5
This was a fun one. I’ve heard the name Femi Kuti but haven’t explored his music. I only gave it one listen but it’s four stars at a minimum: tremendous saxophone leads, high energy percussion, pointed social and political lyrics with a deep passion for the wellbeing of Africa… this album has a special feel to it. I need to find the time to explore more.
Television
4/5
The title track is probably one of my favorite songs of all time. What an absolute masterpiece that song is. Put that track on a list of 100 songs you should hear before you die.
In revisiting the album I’m surprised to find myself giving it 4 instead of 5. It’s a classic and a great record without question, but maybe it’s just that outside of Guiding Light (a really good song), there’s not much that’s super memorable to me. That may be because of how good and epic Marquee Moon the song is, but it’s how I feel. Still an awesome record overall.
Can
4/5
I always get Can and Canned Heat confused.
I expected a bluesy album because of this, but Future Days is straight up gloriously weird psychedelic rock. It’s an enjoyable listen in the right setting, which for me was driving around Boston, MA late at night. The self titled opening track is the highlight.
Doves
4/5
This one was a nice surprise. I had not listened to or heard of Doves previously, but this reminded me of some of my favorite indie rock records. I only gave it one listen for timing reasons, but it was four stars to my ears.
Robert Wyatt
3/5
I like it pretty well, thought Shleep is appropriate as a name because it can be sleep indicing
The Charlatans
3/5
It’s fine, a good sounding record. An obvious criticism is it sounds like an Oasis derivative, but that in itself doesn’t make it a bad record by any means.
I think there needs to be a nostalgic factor to give this 4 or 5 stars, which I don’t have personally.
Morrissey
3/5
I don’t know, I find Morrissey a little annoying but this album also sounds really good at times. I don’t know.
Aerosmith
3/5
Sweet Emotion is Aerosmith’s best song for sure. A 5 star song. Walk This Way is of course great too. Much of the album is solid enough to push it into classic territory for a lot of people.
Big Ten Inch Record is a stupid-ass idiot dumb song that almost single handedly subtracts two stars from me.
The Beta Band
3/5
A solid album. I’ve listened to The Beta Band a long time ago but it was nice to revisit.
Will need more repetitions on this one to go 4 or above.
Otis Redding
4/5
An exceptional collection of songs performed by an exceptional artist. Otis has to be on the short list of top musical talents we lost too soon.
While none of these tracks match Otis’ peak brilliance on Sittin On The Dock of the Bay, it’s probably his best collection of songs as a whole album released in his lifetime. I’ve Been Loving You Too Long and his rendition of My Girl are highlights.
White Denim
4/5
While I’d heard of White Denim, this was my first time listening to the band, and boy what a debut album this is. I’m surprised I missed it over the years to be honest, it’s right up my alley in many ways. Great guitar work highlights the album, heavily rhythmic and complex guitar duets are the highlights of a few songs, particularly Back At The Farm and Street Joy. The latter of these two may borrow HEAVILY from Breathe from DSOTM, but it’s probably the highlight for me.
I listened to this like 4 times and considered giving it 5 stars, not much to fault here other than I may need more time with it to reach classic status.
Terence Trent D'Arby
3/5
This is one of those nice sounding albums on this list that I really enjoyed and will likely not listen to again.
Terence sounds great on this record, the production is fantastic (it’s 80’s but not super duper 80’s sounding). It could be mistaken for a politically conscious Michael Jackson record, and has some MJ/Prince crossover appeal.
Talking Heads
5/5
I love Talking Heads. They are probably one of my 5 to 10 favorite bands/artists of all time. While Talking Heads 77 is great, I think this was a huge step forward and is at least a borderline masterpiece. It’s a weird, fun listen every time.
Tim Buckley
4/5
I think this is my favorite that I’ve listened to from Buckley. It’s a weird, strangely horny, wild album from a misunderstood artist. I wonder if this was his “fuck it let me try this” album, as it’s so different and funkier than his earlier efforts. I’m sure he had no chance of widespread radio play with this one, but maybe he didn’t care at that point.
Talvin Singh
3/5
This was solid electronic music. Was a nice album to accompany me for a workout. Need more listens
Fugees
4/5
This is one of those albums that I’ve probably not listened to enough in my lifetime. I was a kid when it came out, but it’s certainly reached legendary status is many circles.
It’s an excellent, cohesive listen with some great stories within. Excellent production - it doesn’t sound dated at all.
I don’t exactly have the nostalgic factor that would probably push this to 5 stars for me, but maybe one day after a few more spins I’ll update it.
Killing Me Softly is a stunning cover.
The Louvin Brothers
3/5
This was an enjoyable listen, it’s a bit of a time capsule. Well performed and sung songs with some intriguing guitar playing. It’s dated of course, and isn’t something I’ll listen to every day, but I’m glad it was on the list.
This version of In The Pines was especially interesting, a far cry from the Lead Belly and Nirvana versions.
Lightning Bolt
3/5
This is a wild one. Not an album that I’d put on frequently, but it’s an interesting kaleidoscope of sounds and occasionally fascinating. Good background music for running or lifting weights.
Primal Scream
4/5
Primal Scream is one of those bands for which I was late to the party, and they sure are a party. While Vanishing Point isn’t quite as enduring as Screamadelica to me, it’s a great vibe and another solid record from the band. It might be more of a grower than Screamadelica, but my ears heard a 4 star album with one listen.
David Holmes
3/5
This was my 3 electronic-ish music album in a row, and it’s hard not to compare it with those. It works okay as something of a movie soundtrack (sounds like Holmes is well regarded in soundtrack development), and has interesting moments. I liked the focus on depravity in NYC, but it’s not an album I feel like revisiting much.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Gimme Shelter might be the Stones best single song, which is saying a lot. YCAGWYW is a fantastic closer of course.
In between, this is far from my favorite Stones record, and I’d go as far to say it’s a little overrated in terms of the Stones’ classic period output. I wish it had Honky Tonk Woman on it instead of Country Honk.
Still 4 stars though.
Billy Bragg
4/5
My only exposure to Billy Bragg for years was his collaboration with Wilco (one of my favorite bands) on the Mermaid Avenue records, and as a Wilco fan I always wished there was a little less Bragg on those and more Tweedy.
As far as I can recall this is the first proper Bragg album I’ve listened to, and it’s pretty fantastic. It reminds me a lot of Frank Turner, to the point where I’m now thinking Turner may be more derivative than I thought (still really like Turner and I don’t mean this negatively - most rock is derivative in some way).
Opening track Greetings to the New Brunette is probably my favorite, but I enjoyed the album from beginning to end. I’d like to revisit it and it may have 5 stars potential once the lyrics are digested. There’s a ton of passion and Bragg’s vocals are stronger here than what I’ve heard from him since.
Jacques Brel
3/5
This is a pretty good record to have on while you’re preparing a pasta dinner for the family. I’m not sure if there are many other scenarios in which I’d listen to this, but it was enjoyable.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
My review is going to be a bizarre story.
Last night I had an extremely vivid dream that I was riding in a wooden two person swing that was being carried by a helicopter. It was fun and a beautiful day and the views were incredible. To my right riding with me in the swing was Marvin Gaye. Unmistakably, clearly, Marvin Gaye.
We flew around for a bit, and the helicopter flew down close to the ground where my wife was holding our 1 year old daughter. When we were close enough she handed her to me and she rode with Marvin and I for a while.
At some point something went wrong with the helicopter and I thought we were going to crash, so I hopped in a tree and my daughter and I were safe. I woke up from this dream shortly after, not knowing what happened to Marvin Gaye.
The next morning I checked my 1001 albums app and had this album as my album of the day. That was enough to freak me the fuck out!
Here, My Dear is a solid album. Not nearly the masterpiece that is What’s Going On in my opinion, but a really solid cohesive soul record.
Black Sabbath
5/5
Like many of us doing this project, I got this the day after Ozzy died. What a legend!
Vol. 4 is probably the Sabbath album from their early period I’ve spent the least time with, and I’m glad I got this one to honor Ozzy because it’s pretty fantastic. It’s a broader range of sounds than previous albums, especially with the ballad Changes. Supernaut was another highlight for me. Snowblind is great (about cocaine?), and I loved the closer Under the Sun / Every Day Comes and Goes.
A killer offering from a killer band.
Janet Jackson
3/5
It’s not the album I was hoping for on my birthday, but it’s fine.
Certainly a product of its time. I was two years old when it released so I don’t exactly remember its cultural impact, but I know it was huge (6x platinum!) and the best selling album of 1990. Its title track has amazingly bleak and socially critical lyrics for a major pop star, and sadly it is still relevant today.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
5/5
As a native of the American southeast I’m probably a little more likely to enjoy this kind of record that the average user on this project. I can imagine a lot of people aren’t exactly excited when they get this as the album of the day. I was elated.
It helps that this one comes with a huge nostalgia factor for me. I grew up in a deeply religious and conservative household and it was rare for any sort of secular music to be allowed (pretty much The Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel were the exceptions). My dad bought this record and it was a regular in circulation on car trips, as several of the songs border on religious enough to pass as acceptable I suppose.
To me as a kid I assumed this songs were recorded in the 1800’s or something. They sounded ancient, but not in a bad way. They were enjoyable and fun, and some of the songs like Tennessee Stud were funny enough for a 7ish year old to enjoy (I mean it’s a song about a horse!). This was my first introduction to blue grass and traditional southern music, and I loved it and it helped inform some of my tastes today for musicians like Billy Strings, Sturgill Simpson, and Jason Isbell.
Interestingly I always assumed the band was from the South, but I learned from this revisit that they formed in California, and the record was recorded in the early 1970s, not the 1800s like I thought as a kid lol.
Anyway, this was a pleasant surprise on this list for me and a timeless classic in my humble book.
Crowded House
3/5
Far from bad album, I can’t help but think it’s “REM-lite” when I listen to it. It sounds nice and is well performed, and tbh Crowded House is probably a band I would have liked if I was a 20 something in the late 80s. I was only a baby though and they’re not a band that’s ever drawn me in other than Don’t Dream It’s Over, which obviously slaps.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
5/5
I’m more familiar with Psychocandy from JaMC, but I’m not sure I’ve ever listened to this one before.
I was surprised to find this to be a superior album that I considered an easy 5 stars with just one listen. They’re a band I always expect to sound like The Cure (who I revere), but they’re closer in sound to R.E.M. or something like an emo-Springsteen. This album is fantastic from start to finish.
Kraftwerk
5/5
I revisit this album from time to time and I absolutely love it. It’s a singular record that is I think Kraftwerk’s best that I’ve listened to and one of the great electronic albums of all time. It still sounds futuristic, and I’ve found it to be one of the best albums to listen to while working - it’s like a flow state hack.
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
4/5
What a weird and wonderful album this is. I first heard of Penguin Cafe Orchestra around ten years ago and I enjoyed this record a lot. It’s good for background music, but also rewards close listening with all kinds of soundscape subtleties.
The Triffids
3/5
This is one of those albums that sounded good, I enjoyed for the most part, and finished it wondering why I needed to listen to it before I die.
A solid record. If anything it makes me appreciate musicians that create art like this without much financial success, which apparently The Triffids never achieved. Good on them and RIP to the lead singer, who sounds good and confident on the record.
Beatles
3/5
I love the Beatles and grew up (in the 90’s) listening to all of their music. I think this record is the one time has been most unkind to. There’s not a ton of growth from Please Please Me compared to their meteoric growth soon after this, and while the songs are well performed there’s not much to take away here 60+ years after Beatlemania. I’d probably rank it at the bottom of the Beatles discography.
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
One constant in almost all of the albums I consider masterpieces is that they take me on some kind of mental journey. While listening to a masterpiece the mind tends to wonder into the mind of the songwriter, and you find yourselves walking in the shoes of the characters and story within the songs. Kendrick Lamar has delivered two albums like this (GKMC and TPAB), and at least three others that are close. Kendrick has a way of transporting the listener: I’m a 38 year old white dude with middle class upbringing from the American south who’s been transported to Compton by those two masterpiece records dozens of times.
To Pimp A Butterfly is probably the most celebrated record of the 21st Century so far. I can’t think of a high profile record that really competes with it in terms of a combination of popularity, critical acclaim, and music nerd renown. Many boomers will roll their eyes at this, but it’s overall acclaim is really only matched or bested in the post-Beatles era by a handful of records like Sgt Peppers, Dark Side of the Moon, Thriller, and the like. Its status as a musical work of art is that high, and it’ll surely go down as one of the greatest rap albums of all time.
For me, I had it as my 5th favorite album of the decade in the 2010s, just behind Southeastern by Jason Isbell, High Violet by The National, Good Kid Madd City, and I Love You Honeybear by Father John Misty. From a cultural importance perspective however I don’t think there’s a question it’s the best album of that decade.
I can’t add much more about it other than another personal anecdote: I met my wife at a bar the weekend this album came out and like an idiot my pickup line was “have you listened to the new Kendrick album?” Guess it worked!
Girls Against Boys
2/5
I didn’t get too much out of this one. My ears heard standard 90’s alt fare and not in a great way. Maybe more listens are needed.
The Who
3/5
The Who, great as they were, are a band that in my opinion had one masterpiece (Who’s Next), an exceptional live album (Live at Leeds), and several solid records that are interesting but not albums I come back to very often. My Generation definitely is in that category for me. It hasn’t aged particularly well, but the raw energy of the band is palpable and My Generation the song is iconic (even if the stuttering annoys me if I’m honest about it).
Klaxons
3/5
I had never heard of Klaxons before this. This record reminds me a lot of Foals, who I’ve listened to quite a lot and like. Given the timing of the release it’s likely Foals’ sound was pretty inspired by it.
It’s an enjoyable, good sounding record that I didn’t really have any major takeaways from after a couple of listens.
Rush
5/5
Rush is a band that I know is very good, but I’ve never made them one of my favorites. There’s a lot about Rush that I like and that should make them one of my favorite “classic” rock bands, but they usually end up as a band that I like but don’t love.
All that said, Motion Pictures is a ridiculously good album. It sounds amazing: I’m not a music producer or sound engineer but my ears tell me this is an expertly recorded and mixed album. Tom Sawyer is a stellar banger, and YYZ always brings back great Rock Band memories. Limelight is great as well.
This was a reminder that I should dive deeper into Rush, maybe I’m old enough for them to become a band I love.
Merle Haggard
3/5
An enjoyable country record. While it’s a great example of pre-“bro country” Nashville sound, it doesn’t carry the same umph to me as Waylon or Willie or Johnny’s classic records.
Queens of the Stone Age
4/5
I think QOTSA are easily one of the better high profile modern rock bands. When Songs for the Deaf came out I was a sophomore or so in high school, and songs like Go With The Flow and No One Knows were inescapable. 2013’s …Like Clockwork is a masterpiece in my mind. Oddly enough, I don’t think I’d ever listened to their debut album.
It’s really quite good. When comparing it to their more polished sound on SFTD and LC, it reminds me a bit of comparing Meddle to Dark Side of The Moon and Wish You Were Here. It’s a stoner rock classic sound, if slightly flawed and unfocused it’s a great vibe and a sign of things to come.
Opener Regular John is a banger and sounds most like their future sound.
Tori Amos
3/5
Suede
4/5
First time listening to Suede for me. Great album
James Brown
3/5
I’m a big fan of many of the classic live albums: Live at Leeds, Live/Dead, The Last Waltz, At Fillmore East, Live at the Regal…
I had never listened to Brown’s Live at the Apollo and was excited to see it as my album of the day because I know it’s often ranked with the above as an all-time great live album. After a couple of listens I was left thinking… that’s it?
There’s definitely a palpable tension building that releases during Please Please Please that is very much the highlight, but otherwise I’m pretty underwhelmed with it. Maybe the quality of the record on Spotify is poor and influenced my experience, but other than being a semi-interesting relic of Brown at that point in time I didn’t get much from it.
Beach House
5/5
I have a medium amount of nostalgia for this record. In the early 2010’s when I started my career and living out on my own, this album was on my rotation, especially in the summer while I relaxed by the pool.
It’s a gorgeous album, and is probably on the shortlist of albums I think about as being “ethereal”. It’s hard to find any fault in it other than it always serves best as background music for me. Even with that it’s kind of perfect for it. It’s also a perfect album to melt into relaxation to.
I started writing this sure I was giving it 4 stars, but as I started writing about it I’ve realized it’s pretty much the definition of a 5 star album.
The Fall
3/5
Didn’t grab me, but interesting listen
Serge Gainsbourg
3/5
As a non-French speaker, I’ve heard a few French albums that I liked a lot. This one is okay, it has some interesting musical moments, but the spoken word segments were more distracting to me than pleasing (maybe that’s the point, but I’ll have to learn French to understand what he’s saying). It’s a shorter album, which I often like, but it blew by me both times I listened to it and faded to the background very easily.
I enjoyed it overall, but it’s not one I plan to come back to.
Ali Farka Touré
4/5
Great sounding album - such a unique guitar style. It serves great a background music to work to.
Sebadoh
3/5
Something of a Pavement, Dinosaur Jr, Replacements, Guided by Voices hybrid. I love the opening track Soul and Fire.
I didn’t get a ton else from the album in terms of head turning moments, but it was a fine album to hear for the first time.
Iron Butterfly
3/5
Normally I get excited for obscure (to me) psychedelic albums from the 60s and 70s, but this one didn’t do a whole lot for me. It sounded okay, but compared to my other classic psychedelic albums of the late 60s it just didn’t grab me at all. The closest comparison I could come up with is The Doors, and while the musicianship is at least on par or better, the lead vocals aren’t the presence that Morrison possessed on record. And I’m not that big a fan of the Doors. It was okay.
Cee Lo Green
4/5
I think The Lady Killer was the only Cee Lo album I had heard before this, and while I love his cover of No One’s Gonna Love You and his iconic Fuck You, …Is The Soul Machine is a better album overall. It’s a great mix of rap and R&B with some really fun guest appearances. It’s a great sounding album too over 20 years later, and doesn’t really sound overly “early 2000’s” to me.
Carpenters
4/5
Honestly this is a really good album. One of my favorite sorta recent music learnings is that Karen Carpenter was an insanely talented drummer. While her brother had a great voice, she’s the brightest shining talent on the album.
Ananda Shankar
4/5
This was a fun discovery. I’ll occasionally listen to Ravi Shankar as focus music while working and enjoy listening to the sitar, but I had no idea about Ananda. This album was a great mix of western and Indian music, especially his take on Jumpin’ Jack Flash.
4/5
A country classic. The title track is killer, but the entire record is fantastic.
Jurassic 5
4/5
I hadn’t listened to J5 before this but I enjoyed this album a lot. Works well as both background music and close listening.
Jefferson Airplane
4/5
It’s an interesting relic of the 60’s psychedelic scene, if not a tad overrated. Somebody to Love is still a banger, and White Rabbit remains a singular, fascinating song.
Other than that it’s a nice album, and as a product that could only have been produced in late 60’s California you can’t help but feel connected to that time and place while listening to it.
Steely Dan
4/5
An absolute stunning album when listening in the right state of mind for some Steely magic.
Queen Latifah
3/5
Solid late 80’s rap. Queen Latifah has always just kind of been there for me, I’d never listened to her music though.
The Stranglers
4/5
A very solid record beginning to end. Not as enduring as some of the top punk records of the period but it’s a lot closer to The Clash than Sex Pistols and that’s a good thing for me.
The Byrds
4/5
I’ve enjoyed several Byrds albums on this list. This wasn’t my favorite, but has some great moments. Goin’ Back is one of my favorites from the band. Get To You is another highlight. It’s an album I’d like to buy on vinyl and play from time to time, accompanied by a joint and some nice smelling candles.
The Cure
4/5
I just love The Cure. This is a fantastic sounding record, with more stretches of instrumental sections than expected. The limited lyrics from Robert Smith (a somehow underrated songwriter) make it harder for me to have strong takeaways from it, but there’s some brilliant guitar and bass work here that is just ear candy and unmistakably Cure.
Elton John
5/5
An obvious 5-star album, even if it is slightly bloated and could be a couple songs shorter. It’s an essential, timeless record.
Probably Elton’s most famous album, the hits are incredible as per usual from his classic era. The album tracks aren’t quite as strong as some of his other records like Tumbleweed Connection and Honky Chateau, but Elton is still at his peak performance here.
What an iconic album art too. I’d have loved to have been around when Elton was releasing new albums like this - picking up this record on vinyl had to bea magical moment for millions.
Rocket From The Crypt
4/5
This was a fun new album to me. I’ve heard On A Rope somewhere or another, what a banger that song is. I really enjoyed Used as well, which I had to check to see if it was an Elvis Costello song. Actually, the lead singer sounds a lot like Costello to me (I know he has a disproportionately high number of albums on this list, but I love Costello). Ball Lightning is another highlight for me, as well as the Weezer-esque Salt Future.
I didn’t know what to expect with this one, but it sounds fresh despite being 30 years old (holy shit…) and this ended up being one of my favorite discoveries here.
Beastie Boys
5/5
One of the Illest debut albums of all time.
Obviously it’s amazing and the Beasties were incredible. A couple of the lyrics were a little surprising “If I played guitar I’d be like Jimmy Page, the girlies I like are underage” - but I guess it’s meant as satire?
Anyway, this has to be a top 5 hip hop debut all time.
Dusty Springfield
5/5
Whether it’s your cup of tea or not, this is a phenomenally excellent sounding record. It’s a perfect record for a chill Saturday morning, with coffee on hand and a good view.
JAY Z
5/5
A hip hop highlight of the early 2000s and arguably Jay’s best. Also probably the introduction to the production of Kanye West for a lot of people, and his contributions are outstanding.
Ice Cube
4/5
First time listening to this for me. The top tier rap albums from this period are some of my favorite in hip hop history and this is right up there.
It Was A Good Day is the obvious highlight and arguably one of hip hops finest moments. I enjoyed the album as a whole, I think it’d be an all timer if it were a couple songs shorter.
Deep Purple
4/5
I’ve slept on Deep Purple I think. This is a tremendous live album with some killer guitar parts. Maybe they’re a band that hasn’t aged as well as Black Sabbath or Zeppelin, at least in terms of popularity vs. their prime, but this album is pretty fantastic. If I’m honest I could only name Smoke on the Water from their catalog and maybe Highway Star, but these were perhaps the two lowlights of the record for me.
Hole
3/5
A good sounding album that I can see being important/nostalgic to some people. I was a kid in the 90’s and never listened to it until I was an adult, and it’s okay. It sounds like heroin music, made by the heroin heroine.
Coldcut
3/5
Definitely a product of its time, but not a bad listen. I found myself head bobbing a bit to it, even if it faded in and out of my attention.
Baaba Maal
4/5
Great sounding album and an interesting listen. It works well as background music while working, since I don’t speak the language.
I can’t say any tracks particularly stood out, but it’s a cohesive album sonically that sets a vibe that’s hard to argue with.
Tortoise
4/5
This was an introduction to Tortoise for me, and I’m glad this album is on the list because I really enjoyed it. They remind me a lot of Do Make Say Think, a band I discovered on accident when Amazon sent me the wrong vinyl record one time and I got their You You’re A History In Rust record instead, which I kept after looking it up and discovering that it’s well regarded. I loved that album and this Tortoise album (released a decade before YYAHIR) reminds me a lot of it.
This is an all instrumental album that doesn’t serve well as background music because it demands your attention. The music shifts within a song, and different instruments take lead in interesting ways throughout.
Without digging into the band for timing reasons, they sound like they have a bass player, guitar player, percussionist, and a fourth member who I can only describe as “weird sound guy” whose job it is to make interesting sounds from things that are not instruments. I don’t know how right I am about this, but I like the approach if it’s true.
The Pharcyde
4/5
This one was new to me. Very different sounding hip hop from what I’ve heard from this period, to me The Pharcyde previews OutKast in many ways.
I don’t hear a masterpiece but I do hear a very sonically creative album. Otha Fish is a highlight for me - I haven’t heard a hip hop song like it before.
The Saints
4/5
Solid post punk album with a killer opening track (Know Your Product).
The Prodigy
4/5
It still goes hard
4/5
Honestly an enjoyable album from a band that I’ve faded a bit in the past, thinking they were “trying to be Radiohead” or something. When you think about it the only similarity between Muse and Radiohead is Matt Bellamy and Thom Yorke sing falsetto a lot. Otherwise the bands’ music is pretty different.
Starlight is a tremendous song, and the whole album is solid.
Mylo
3/5
Decent electronic music that gets off to a good start and lost my interest in the back half
Dion
3/5
This didn’t click with me in the slightest if I’m honest about it. Well sung and produced, but I wasn’t too into the songs.
This feels like an okay album, one that’s solid for a deep record collection to through on for time to time, but ultimately an “okay” album that is a slight head scratcher for including on the 1001 albums list. Stewart sounds great here and the band performance is good, but other than Stay With Me nothing jumps out to my ears.
Living Colour
4/5
This is always a great sounding, well made record that’s deserving of its classic status. It sounds like a Pearl Jam preview to me musically, and Cult of Personality is a banger. I respect the Talking Heads cover as well, even if I prefer the original.
It’s not my favorite record personally, but I can see why some consider it a masterpiece and it sounds fantastic on a good sound system.
Roxy Music
4/5
This is an album that stands out immediately for its, um, album cover… and one that I’ve listened to occasionally over the years. I actually didn’t realize until this listen that it’s two albums removed from Brian Eno’s involvement in the band. Sonically, it’s quite impressive and varied, and sounds ahead of its time in some ways.
Out of the Blue is my personal favorite.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Obviously this is a watershed album in ROC history, and in my view it holds up extremely well even today. It’s only of those albums that the general population understood so much better at the time than critics - the lukewarm reception by music critics at the time is laughable today.
As time goes on LZ1 goes toe to toe with LZ4 in their discography for me. I for one prefer these two and LZ2 over Physical Graffiti, and while I used to have 4 way out in front this record sounds better to me almost every time I hear it. It also has such an iconic album cover that still looks amazing today.
My highlights here are Good Times Bad Times, Dazed and Confused, Your Time Is Gonna Come, and Communication Breakdown. The entire album is timeless though, it’s a stone cold classic that will outlive us all.
Steely Dan
4/5
Any time I listen to Steely Dan I can’t help but think of a quote I read several years ago, I think from musician Kurt Vile:
“Everyone on their musical journey at some point realizes that Steely Dan is badass as shit”
Or something like that.
This is a killer debut, and if you look a step beyond the “yacht rock-ness” of SD you realize that there is some serious skill and complexity to their arrangements and playing. They were amazing, and Can’t Buy A Thrill is excellent. Dirty Work, Do It Again, and of course Reelin In The Years are highlights.
Os Mutantes
4/5
A surprisingly interesting listen. I am apparently a fan of 1960’s Brazilian psychedelia.
Blue Cheer
4/5
This is an interesting artifact of the history of hard rock and heavy metal music. While not as sublime as Zeppelin or Black Sabbath’s initial releases, it’s a solid, heavy record that probably sounded groundbreaking at the time for those that discovered the band on its release.
None of the tracks particularly stand out to me, but it’s a cohesive listen throughout and it’s an album that I’d love to have in my record collection.
Pere Ubu
3/5
I appreciate the experimentation and kaleidoscope of sounds on this weird-ass record. It certainly makes for an interesting listen. Sentimental Journey is particularly wild.
While interesting, I don’t feel overly compelled to come back to it, which isn’t ideal for an album that definitely demands close listening.
Portishead
4/5
Really enjoyed this one after a couple of listens and can see why some consider it a masterpiece. Didn’t quite get there for me but it’s one I’d like to return from time to time.
Cowboy Junkies
3/5
A fine sounding album that didn’t resonate with me like I would have expected since this is sort of up my alley. I may need to give it more listens but after two spins I didn’t feel like I wanted to come back for more.
Great cover of I’m So Lonesome I could cry though. I was excited for Sweet Jane but it didn’t add much that the VU already covered.
Fela Kuti
4/5
This was a nice surprise. I didn’t know what exactly to expect, and I wasn’t sure how this collaboration with Ginger Baker would work, but this live record is a lot of fun. There are jams that sound improvisational but never get lost or totally unfocused and have some moments of genius sprinkled throughout.
The 13 min drum “solo” at the end may not be everyone’s cup of tea but I enjoyed it.
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
A band that on paper I should probably like more than I do when I’ve listened to their music. Far from a bad record, Everthing Must Go sounds great and the vocals are especially compelling. In my opinion this is a band that you likely needed to be a fan of when they were in their heyday rather than one that you get into later.
I do appreciate that they likely influenced the upcoming emo movement in music and were ahead of their time in that way.
Dinosaur Jr.
4/5
Great guitar indie rock. For stoner music it makes for a great gym music
XTC
4/5
It sounds great. Power 80’s rock pop at its finest. Makes for good workout music. It’s not a record that I feel like revisiting much, but it’s hard to find fault in its production or performance.
Björk
4/5
I’ll admit, while I respect Björk as an artist and consider her an immense talent, I don’t really consider myself a huge fan of her music. Whenever I listen to her I basically arrive at the conclusion that I get why she’s so highly regarded, but I rarely go back for multiple listens.
Vespertine follows this as well, but it’s probably her project that I like the most. It’s almost like Björk songs Radiohead (one of my favorite bands). It’s a stunning record from beginning to end. I still don’t get into it enough to call it a masterpiece, but I wouldn’t argue with anyone about it either.
Brian Eno
5/5
I don’t know how this community will rate this one, and I could see arguments for being overrated or whatever. But I know that this album executes perfectly what it set out to do and was a groundbreaking project in studying ambiance and the space between notes of music.
Guns N' Roses
5/5
When I hear Guns N’ Roses I sometimes think about a show I saw on VH1 or something many years ago that was a countdown of the greatest bands in hard rock history. When they got to GNR Ozzy Ozbourne (RIP) said he thought GNR would be the next Rolling Stones. While the Stones obviously have a much more rich and prolific catalog and no one will argue which band is more influential, it’s at least interesting to note that in 2025 at the time of this writing GNR has 25% more monthly Spotify listeners than the Stones. They also have slightly more than the Beatles.
Appetite For Destruction must have been something else when it was released. It came out a few days before I was born so I wasn’t exactly able to see its cultural impact, but it had to sound so fresh compared to the hair bands and synth-heavy 80’s pop that dominated radio at the time.
Welcome to the Jungle has to rank among the greatest opening tracks for an album, especially a debut album. Slash’s guitar intro is timeless on that track, and it’s my personal favorite song to hear at a sporting event. Sweet Child O Mine also has an iconic lick of course and is a classic song that will outlive us all. Paradise City is still a late-stage boomer’s dream.
This is a watershed record in the history of rock.
Frank Zappa
5/5
Man… Hot Rats slaps so hard
I haven’t listened to this or as much of Zappa’s catalog as I probably should, but I do think Hot Rats is my favorite Zappa project that I have explored. It must be the best instrumental album of the psychedelic era.
Mudhoney
3/5
An interesting artifact from grunge’s primordial state.
Kelela
4/5
Really a fine sounding album. I loved her album Raven that came out a few years after this one.
Can it be argued an album less than 10 years old from an artist most people haven’t heard of shouldn’t be on this list? I suppose… but I think it’s cool this list and project includes some projects like this, especially in genres that typically aren’t my go-to like this one.
Adele
4/5
This came out around the time I met my wife and I think was one of the last albums I remember buying on CD in order to listen to it rather than streaming it (l still buy CDs from time to time because they sound great and artists make more money that way)
25 has some staggering highs. Its front loaded, with Hello and When We Were Young especially carrying significant weight, but it’s a good listen and Adele’s voice is ridiculous.
The Who
3/5
I have a hot take on The Who, which is that they really only have one great album. I think Who’s Next is one of the greatest rock albums of all time, and The Who have a handful of great songs, but Tommy and Quadrophenia have never captured my attention in many attempts.
I will say this spin highlighted a few more interesting moments on Tommy, particularly Overture and Underture. Tommy the song is always fun, but overall a record that doesn’t hit in its classic status for me.
Shack
3/5
I for one had not heard of this band before this. This was a solid record. Very 90’s. Some of the songs sound great. I think for me I’m missing a nostalgia factor that would otherwise elevate this rating for me… I like the record but I don’t have much desire to return to it.
It reminds me of American bands Toad The Wet Sprocket and Jars of Clay
Metallica
3/5
I’m in the camp that says the first three Metallica albums are amazing records, 5 stars the lot of them. This one doesn’t connect with me as much. It’s a step toward their 90’s sound (best realized on the Black album) and in some ways shows interesting growth, but it’s hard not to compare this to their first 3 efforts.
It’s no “pop” record, but it does sound a bit more commercial than their first three. It’s less atmospheric and epic too. It’s an enjoyable listen, but not one I’d have put on this list.
Paul Simon
4/5
How is it that Paul Simon is somehow underrated in terms of the all time great songwriters?
Paul’s first post duo album is a solid, if not great record. It has one of his best songs in Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard, which is almost certainly his catchiest. It’s the clear highlight on an album that doesn’t have a bad track. I’d rate a couple of other albums in his discography higher (certainly Graceland, an easy top five album of the 80s for me), but this album is a gift.
Kings of Leon
4/5
Definitely my favorite KOL album. I got into this one around 15 years ago or so, whenever the band really blew up with the hits off of Only By The Night.
I think this album is primarily a celebration of debauchery, a subject I was into at the time. I felt a connection to the brothers Followill and their cousin, as I’m also a preacher’s kid who couldn’t wait to let loose once I left home.
Slow Night, So Long was probably an intro to the band for many people, and to me it’s the ultimate KOL song even if Sex On Fire and Use Somebody were major hits. From there, the album doesn’t necessarily have major highlights for me, but it’s a consistent listen without any major stinkers.
KOL has embraced mediocrity for a while now, but this album is a fun drunken romp.
Love
4/5
4 stars pretty much for Revelation, which is a fantastic psychedelic odyssey of a song.
The first 6 songs are pretty good, if somewhat forgettable for me. I was feeling 3 stars here but the epic closer elevates the album.
Radiohead
5/5
An album worthy of all the praise it’s received since its release almost 30 years ago. It still sounds fresh (though a smidge more “90’s sounding” as time passes), and its themes of paranoia, government skepticism, and anxiety are as relevant today as ever.
Airbag is possibly my favorite Radiohead song and in my opinion is one of the all time great album openers. Paranoid Android is the quintessential Radiohead song (not Creep!), and Exit Music (For A Film) is still chilling as ever. The TikTok resurgence of Let Down and No Surprises (the latter has joined the 1B listens on Spotify club) is hilarious to me: these were always two of my favorite tracks and their embrace by Gen Z speaks to how timeless these songs are. Karma Police will forever be excellent, and Electioneering is somehow underrated.
If you can pick apart anything on this album, I think an argument could be made that finishing the album with Lucky makes it slightly better, even if The Tourist is a fine song itself. I’m of the opinion that Fitter, Happier is awesome, though I know lots of people consider it a skip.
Easily one of greatest albums of all time - one that rightly belongs in the same conversation as Dark Side Of The Moon in terms of great psychedelic-tinged heady art rock. Whats amazing about Radiohead is that I’m not even sure it’s my one of my top three albums by them. It probably is, but In Rainbows, Kid A, and the Bends are also masterpieces.
Donald Fagen
5/5
I think an argument can be made that The Nightfly is a better album than any Steely Dan record, and I’ve developed a taste for the Dan.
It’s one of those records that you can have playing in the background or obsess over every detail with high quality headphones. It also has one of the coolest album art covers ever.
There are several highlights here: I.G.Y., Maxine (“try to hang on, Maxine” is such a killer moment in this song), New Frontier, and the title track are outstanding tunes surrounded by solid tracks that provide a very cohesive listening experience.
Deep Purple
4/5
I’m glad I got this one after Made In Japan on this list, because that live album really gave me a new appreciation for Deep Purple after sleeping on them for many years.
Machine Head is fantastic. The vocals don’t stand out to me, but there is some seriously fantastic guitar playing on almost every song. The guitar leads stand out even more on the live versions, but Machine Head is a consistent listen with some killer standout tracks like Highway Star, Space Truckin’, and of course Smoke On The Water.
The United States Of America
3/5
It’s an intriguing listen and interesting from the perspective of being an obscure artifact of the hippie era. It does feel a little like a “let’s take drugs and see what happens” vibe and I think for most of the album the listener would benefit from being on these same drugs.
I was not on any drugs and found it okay, but very obviously outclassed by the major psychedelic records of the era (Odessey and Oracle, Sgt. Peppers, etc.).
Khaled
3/5
This sounded pretty nice. I don’t think I’ll be getting too deeply into Algerian pop music, but Khaled has a great voice and this was a fine horizon expanding listen.
Bee Gees
3/5
Pre-Saturday Night Fever Bee Gees perform an epic psychedelic concept album about the loss of a fictional ship. I thought I’d be a little more into it.
Sonic Youth
4/5
I’m certainly in the group thinks while Sonic Youth is a fine band they probably have two too many albums on this list. Daydream Nation I understand, but Goo and Dirty have never resonated with me and I think some other bands without mention on the list (Weezer as a prime example) could have used one of their slots. E.V.O.L. was new to me altogether.
After giving it 3 listens, I have to say E.V.O.L. could be my favorite album from Sonic Youth. It doesn’t have a standout track that’s near the highlight that Teen Age Riot is on Daydream Nation, but as a whole listen I think it could be better than DN. It’s got some great moments, and the noisy instrumental stretches of the album are less abrasive here than in later SY albums.
Overall it’s an album I’m glad I was introduced to through the 1001 list, even if I think Sonic Youth is overrepresented here.
Bonnie Raitt
3/5
Bonnie’s a juggernaut talent of course, but I didn’t get a whole lot from this album as a whole. It’s a product of its time and there’s nothing wrong with that, but loving this probably requires a nostalgia element that I just don’t have for it considering I was a toddler when it came out.
Bonnie’s voice and guitar still shine here of course.
David Gray
4/5
I remember Babylon frequenting MTV in the late 90’s. It was a song and music video I always looked forward to in rotation.
I think this is a really good album that gets off to a brilliant start with Please Forgive Me and Babylon. The latter is a borderline perfect song. The album slightly drags for me after that until This Year’s Love, Sail Away, and the closing track pick it back up. It’s an album with masterpiece bookends and a ho-hum center, but the total result is a joy.
The Pogues
5/5
I once listened to this album while driving through the Irish countryside. One of those special listening experiences.
It’s The Pogues at their best. I’ve been a fan of the band for about twelve years or so now, ever since spending a Saint Patrick’s Day around that time listening to them while pounding pints of Guinness. It’s too bad Shane MacGowan couldn’t temper the drunken Irish troubadour persona that made him and the band famous. He really was an amazing songwriter and had a singular voice.
Charles Mingus
4/5
Fantastic jazz album. I need to spend more time with Mingus because I’ve been slower to connect with him than other jazz musicians (Miles, Coltrane, etc) but it’s starting to click
Peter Tosh
4/5
This was a fun one. I once failed a drug test for a job because of an edible gummy I took several months before (was a hair test), so I endorse the overall message of this album.
Hanoi Rocks
4/5
When I got this album its description and cover didn’t appeal to me at all and I was prepared for a head scratching member of this list, but it surprised me. I expected a cheesy 80’s punk/hair metal hybrid, but I heard a record that I could have easily mistaken for a lost Replacements album. It’s one of the better discoveries of this project so far from a band I’d never heard of before.
The Specials
3/5
It was fine. It’s one of those records on this list that I guess I’m glad I’ve listened to for broadening my band horizons, but I didn’t come away wanting to give it repeated listens. It is an interesting take on reggae/ska though.
Dennis Wilson
4/5
This was a nice surprise. I knew Dennis Wilson released some solo material before he died, but I didn’t realize how good it was. I expected to see Brian Wilson involved with its making when I looked at the credits, but apparently he wasn’t involved and Dennis’ talent gets a chance to shine. River Song kind of floored me.
This is one I need to come back to and could see developing into a 5 star for me.
Brian Eno
3/5
I honestly expect to like late 70’s solo rock Eno more than I do. I love his ambient work, and his production work on David Bowie and Talking Heads records in that period is some of the best ever. His track record as a producer is insane.
I likely rated Another Green World higher than I actually liked it based on reputation. Before And After Science has interesting moments for sure, but it’s a chore to listen to and maybe I’m just not hearing enough for me to work hard enough for it to *click* as the masterpiece it’s sometimes rated as. His experimentation and weirdness should be applauded of course.
Circle Jerks
3/5
This is an insane album of course, but it honestly executes what it sets out to do very well. There’s some interesting drumming here especially, even if they sound a bit muted in the recording.
Even at 15 minutes it’s not super inviting to revisit unless this is your sort of thing, but it’s a solid and unique punk album that is still like more than Sex Pistols
Nico
3/5
It’s okay. The skeptic in me says she made this for heroin money. The Jackson Browne cover of These Days is nice, but I’d rather listen to it performed by… Jackson Browne.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
3/5
I expected to like this more than I did. It perhaps requires LSD to enjoy properly, which is hard to convince my wife to let me do on a Tuesday.
The The
3/5
Maybe this is a grower, but I expected to like this more than I did. It had interesting moments but didn’t grab me as a whole. Glad to have some exposure to The The though.
3/5
Blue is one of those bands that I’ve tried and tried several times and just can’t seem to get to click with me. I think you “had to be there” in their britpop heyday, but Oasis occupies that space in my brain.
I will say this may be my favorite record of Blur’s that I’ve listened to, and I think I’ve covered most of their discography at this point.
Fatboy Slim
4/5
I thought this was fun. I sort of rolled my eyes at a Fatboy Slim album as my album of the day, but it’s easy to see how this helped kick off his popularity in the 90’s. It’s music to dance to, to enjoy and to have fun with.
Public Enemy
4/5
No doubt an important and formative album in hip hop’s history. I think they bested themselves on Fear of a Black Planet, but this album still holds up 37 years later while still sounding like a product of its time (there’s nothing wrong with that).
Wilco
5/5
One of the greatest sophomore albums of all time in my opinion. Similar to The Bends progression from Pablo Honey, the growth Wilco showed on Being There from A.M. (not a bad record by any means) is outstanding. It’s also on my short list of greatest double albums of all time. For such a lengthy album there’s almost no filler: I think the only questionable inclusion here is Outta Mind (Outta Sight), a probably unnecessary reprise that doesn’t add much to the infectious Outtasight (Outta Mind). While that one may have been better off as an outtake release later on, it still can be an earworm for me occasionally.
Misunderstood is Wilco at their gloriously weird and avant-garde best. It’s not a song for everyone, and that may be the point. It’s a ballsy song to kick off a record and it’s incredible. Jeff screaming “I know you got a god shaped hole…” gives me chills.
There are so many killer tracks here and I probably added more songs to my ongoing playlist of top tracks from the 1001 list of any album I’ve crossed so far. Oddly enough, I fell in love with this album in college while I was living in Pensacola for a internship, and first heard the song Monday (“he must be down in Pensacola hiding from the snow”) while I was down in Pensacola missing all my college friends.
Anyway, it’s a masterpiece. This kicked off one of the best streaks of four consecutive albums by any artist or group ever (Being There -> Summerteeth -> Yankee Hotel Foxtrot -> A Ghost Is Born). Sublime.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
I put off listening to this for a long time despite really taking a liking to Cave in the last few years. I may have had it on the background playing before, but as a father I held off from deep listening because I know the circumstances around this record and the lost of Cave’s son.
In hindsight, I missed out on a brilliant, beautiful record that isn’t a depressing project, but a celebration of life and all its beauty and heartbreak. “The stars are your eyes, I loved them right from the start. A world so beautiful and I keep it in my heart.” hits me so hard as a dad: the feeling of love for your kids that’s as big as a world and powerful as stars. It’s a deep, beautiful dive into grief, with perspective of life that will always be in the heart, even if that life left his sons body and is back to a form something like photons from a star.
It’s a powerhouse record of emotion, backed by absolutely beautiful music and Cave’s emotional vocal delivery. I’m better off for having given it a fair listen, and plan to give it many more.
Solomon Burke
4/5
This is just a nice record to have playing on a Sunday afternoon while cleaning the house or something. It sounds great - it’s a clear and bright artifact of its time in the best way. Well performed and crystal clear production for an album that is over 60 years old.
Morrissey
4/5
I’ll admit, I typically find Morrissey borderline insufferable. The Smiths are a band I thought I would be obsessed with, and while I like several of their songs I find Johnny Marr to be the star and Morrissey is often whiny and annoying.
I enjoyed this record though. Steve Lillywhite seemed to have suppressed Morrissey’s worst tendencies, and there’s a fine backing band here. Morrissey still managed to slip in Lifeguard Sleeping, Girl Drowning, which kind of sucks if I’m honest, but overall this is a solid album and easily the Morrissey solo album I’ve liked best.
Johnny Cash
5/5
Perhaps overshadowed by At Folsom Prison, this is another fantastic live set by the man in black. Cash sounds great here and his charisma shines with the imprisoned audience. You can tell he had a big heart and companionship with the incarcerated, and it elevates the recording.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Not going to think too hard about this one or add anything that hasn’t already been written about it. Take my 5 stars.
I will add for the community that Becoming Led Zeppelin is a must-watch documentary for anyone interested. Play it loud!
Destiny's Child
3/5
This was absolutely massive my freshman year of high school. The singles were all mega hits and Destiny’s Child was everywhere. Even then, it was clear Beyoncé was the shining star, with all respect to the talented Kelly Rowland and… um.. the other one.
Is it a good album? In my opinion: not really. The singles are bangers and I’m going to shamelessly sing along to them, but there is a lot of bloat here and listening to the entire album is a chore. I think the album could literally be 30 minutes shorter, and if it was I think an argument could be made that it’s a great artistic achievement along with still being a mega commercial hit.
Megadeth
4/5
I actually expected to like this one a little more than I did. Musically it’s pretty fantastic, especially the rhythm section. Some of the double bass drum and bass guitar sections are pretty wild and super tight throughout. The guitar leads are fantastic too.
My issue is Dave Mustaine’s vocals. I know he’s considered one of the great metal band leaders, but I find his vocals relatively weak amongst other legendary metal albums.
That said, if he’s the creative leader of the band he created a pretty compelling album sonically here.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
I entered the Cohen-sphere at his bookends: I first listened to his debut album probably 12 years ago and didn’t dive deeper until his final album You Want it Darker came out in 2016. I was mesmerized by YWID and have steadily explored his catalog since.
I’m Your Man is certainly closer to YWID than Songs of Leonard Cohen, but it’s much more an exploration of life, spirituality and sex than of death. Its use of synths is surprising for Cohen, but it works beautifully. The opening track is a fantastic example of this. Ain’t No Cure For Love is Leonard at his poppiest. Everybody Knows is Cohen at his dark, paranoid best. The title track is Cohen at his horniest, I think.
It’s an album worth exploring multiple times, best listened to while reading the lyrics.
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
You almost have to give this at least 4 stars based on its influence and because it (in my opinion) still holds up so well after 40 years. Yes, the beats and synths here are firmly rooted in the mid 80’s, but it’s striking how relevant the lyrics and vocals are to modern rap music. Several songs still slap musically: It’s Like Than and Wake Up are particularly strong tracks for me. It’s minimalistic and has a heavy focus on the vocals, which I think is great.
There were better hip hop albums to follow, but this is an incredibly important part of the zeitgeist.
Beyoncé
4/5
I’ll admit that I rolled my eyes when I got this album. After listening to it, I felt pretty silly about that.
This is a fantastic record by an absolute boss of the business. Queen Bey sounds amazing throughout the record, and the production is top notch throughout.
The White Stripes
5/5
Elephant is one of the first record I ever bought with my own money while I was in high school. I adored that masterpiece, and for some reason when Get Behind Me Satan came out I didn’t give it a fair shot. I think that may be because my interests were more in the jam band space at the time and I didn’t love the first single Blue Orchid, which is mostly because I was a stupid teenager. That track, and this entire album, is incredible, and my ears hear a 5-star masterpiece 20 years later.
Thankfully time has shown that this ranks up there with Elephant and White Blood Cells as all time great rock albums by The White Stripes. Get Behind Me Satan is the Stripes at their weirdest, as Jack plays around with various sounds and styles more than any other of the band's records.
I did love My Doorbell when it came out, and that song is still amazing.
Machito
4/5
This was a fun surprise! Hadn’t heard of Machito before this but it’s a highly enjoyable instrumental record that sounds like the soundtrack of a spy film or something.
Pentangle
3/5
This is a strange one. On paper it’s one that I should probably like a lot, but it doesn’t quite click with me. The guitars don’t particularly stand out to me despite the skill of the two guitarists, and the overall production seems to be too much a product of its time. May have to revisit later.