Club Classics Vol. One
Soul II SoulNot devoid of charms, but mostly bland. Really shows its age. Could only be from 92-95.
Not devoid of charms, but mostly bland. Really shows its age. Could only be from 92-95.
Power Rangers music
One of my favorite albums of all time! So pleased that I got to listen to it yesterday!
Great start. I love instrumental music and have been trying to listen to more hip-hop this year. Took a couple tracks to get into what was being laid down, but I especially love the chill cosmic hang-out vibes of the second half. Can definitely see myself relistening to this album.
It’s Nick Drake, come on. Delicate, beautiful, lovely. I’ve heard most of these songs before - in other playlists or in movies or commercials - but it was wonderful to listen to them all together. In fact, I listened to it twice all the way through. The exact type of music you want to listen to on a rainy Sunday morning.
The first album I’ve gotten that I’m already very familiar with. This was one of the first records I got when I was gifted a record player back in 2020. I listened to this a lot! Pure pop goodness. It maybe peaks about halfway through, but the vibes are great from start to end. I love Cyndi’s voice so much. A true original. Time After Time will forever be an absolutely stunning song.
Not my cup of tea. I like prog rock, I like folk, I don’t even mind a flute in my music, but this all just kinda sounded like brown noise. When Aqualung, a six minute song about a nonce, is your best tune, it’s not very promising.
I wish I liked Wilco more, but ultimately this type of early 2000s dad alt-rock doesn’t do much for me. Wilco is one of the better bands from this era, so it wasn’t like this was painful of anything, it just is kind of “there.” I genuinely enjoyed a couple tunes, so it wasn’t a waste of time. This will just always be a genre that is confusingly popular to me!
Fantastic stuff, I get it. I’m a casual Radiohead fan. I usually like what I hear, I had a “greatest hits” CD in high school that I used to play, because even back then I knew Radiohead was an “important” band. This was the first time I listened to this album in full though. Absolutely wonderful experience. Very much my thing. I hear so much of stuff I like in this - Bowie, Eno, Nomi, REM, McCartney, Wings, Broken Social Scene - all made into something different and new. “Lucky” is my favorite track, sounds like a Bond theme for a Bond movie that never was. Can’t wait to relisten to this album some more!
Another album I was already very familiar with. I got big into this album over the pandemic, in all its goofy, overdramatic glory. Every track is a banger. Big, silly, stupid fun.
Liked the noise, the vocals and lyrics were eh.
Classic, solid disco pop. Didn’t hate it, don’t have much enthusiasm for it. Pleasant to listen to.
I love instrumental jazz, and Charles Mingus was cool as hell, but I like my jazz a little more melodic. This was fun, and there’s great moments in it, but sometimes it just wasn’t my groove. Respect the talent and musicianship, though.
Really trying to keep that one star for stuff I think is truly dreck, but boy oh boy did I get close to voting this one star. I found the lyrics bad, the voice cloying, just the worst kind of 60s singer-songwriter “this is deep” music. Sorry, Tim!
It’s Purple Fucking Rain
I’ve heard the name of this band before but didn’t know what they would sound like - I think I expected cheesier Brit-pop, since I know there’s a lot of that on this list. What I got instead was dark, angry, hardcore punk with great melodies and vocals. Exactly my type of thing. In my head I was debating between giving this a 4 or a 5 but hell, this project is about celebrating new music and expanding your horizons, and I KNOW I’m going to listen to this album again. So five stars it is!
I’m so glad I finally listened to this whole album! Anytime I’ve heard a Pulp song in the past I’ve dug it big time, and it turns out I dug the whole record! There’s a timeless quality to this - I had to keep reminding myself it’s from the 90s, not the 60s or 70s. It’s just this wonderful wall of sound with amazing production and cheeky lyrics. I listened to it like four times yesterday. Common People is truly an all-timer of a bop.
There was a part of me that was thinking “Wow, I’ve been served such great albums this week - three 5 star albums in a row, I really need a stinker so I don’t seem like I just rate everything highly!!” So when I got this I rolled my eyes and was like “yup, easy 2 or 1.” Then I listened to it and within minutes I was like “Oh no, this kinda slaps!!!” Reading up on the backstory and events surrounding this album, and it really makes sense. There’s this feeling of a group of friends helping their buddy through a rough time in his life. The longer songs kinda feel like jam sessions - a little aimless, investigative, angry. And then the solo tracks by Crosby are very delicate and sad. Forced to confront his emotions by himself. Love a short album too, I listened to this three or four times yesterday because it’s only around a half hour long!
Fantastic album! I knew a lot of the songs already, but the whole thing really works! I Know Billy Corgan is an asshole who actively has made the sport of pro wrestling worse, but he’s got a cool rock voice.
Fine. Completely inoffensive, really. Hard to get on board with the idea that this is one of the 1001 most important albums of all time. It’s like blander early Weezer. Thinking of some of the artists and albums I already know aren’t on this list, compared to…This? I listened to it once, I didn’t hate myself, I’ll probably never listen to it again.
Funky! Not my favorite Curtis.
I’ve got a soft spot for prog rock/ELP. It’s good background noise for studying and reading. Honestly the only standout track here is the first one, but it’s almost half the the length of the album, so that’s a solid two stars, another star for the best/worst album cover of all time. Legendary.
Power Rangers music
Excuse me, there are HOW MANY Byrds albums on this list?
I liked the vibes more than I was expecting to. Chill, quiet, reminded me of the XX in some parts. Incredibly modern production I thought. Sounds like it could have come out in the past five years, not in 1990. I will likely relisten to this one!
When this popped up as my next album I just sighed. Then I saw it was 73 minutes and I got angry. I started listening and soon was like “Oh, am I going to like this album?” It was fun, funky, catchy, had some hits - Rubin’s production is extraordinary here! I was thinking this might be the IDEAL RHCP album to listen to. Then the second half of the album came and it’s like Rubin just walked away and let them noodle around for 40 minutes. It’s their worst excesses, FOR HALF AN ALBUM. Ugh. Stop this thing at “Under the Bridge,” it’s honestly a fun, 4 star rock pop album. For subjecting me to another album of garbage after that, I’m dropping it a whole star.
It’s Surfer Fucking Rosa!
What a delight! I’ve always liked the singles I’ve heard from this band, but truthfully, I would have never got around to listening to this album if not for this project! This was just my type of thing! I can’t even figure out what my favorite track off the album is, I loved them all! Perfect electro-pop, I wish I could be slightly drunk in 2014 dancing to these tracks at the club!
The Lord is testing me Ok so actually I’ve been dreading getting any Frank Zappa since I know there is quite a bit on this list, and this ended up being not as bad as I expected. At least the first half. Sure, it was trolling and not as funny as Zappa thought it was, but the musicianship and melodies still worked to make actual MUSIC. Then, like most double albums, the last 20 minutes are garbage.
Best first 10 seconds of an album ever? Here’s the thing - the album never gets as good as the opening track, but when you start with a stone-cold classic, that makes sense. And the rest isn’t bad at all, it just isn’t “Let’s Get It On.”
Honestly a little surprise! There’s too much 90s Brit-pop on this list, but this had its own style. A lot of it is just funky instrumentals! Brimful of Asha is a classic. I think I remember the Fatboy Slim remix from the 90s, but it’s been like 30 years. I could definitely see myself playing this one again, or at least a few songs.
Fats is the Cat! Great voice, great vibes, a reason they’re classics!
Like many Talking Heads albums, the first listen feels a bit cold, a bit impersonal, but it’s on the subsequent listens the music reveals its raw, beautiful humanity. Once in a Lifetime is one of the great songs of my life. I transcended when I got to see Byrne himself perform it on a Broadway stage, I’ll never forget it.
No!
I wish I liked Lou Reed more!! Some stone cold classics here, I love the production by Bowie! I just, at the end of the day, plain don’t like about half the songs on this album! I find Lou Reed’s songwriting sometimes excessively cutesy with his rhymes and stuff! And his voice is nothing! Same, uninspired mumble on everything! Sometimes it works, but there’s a whole album of it! It gets boring! At least it’s not Korn!
Cosmic horror music! Really all about the first and last tracks, but damn, ain’t they something!?
Loved this! Obviously was somewhat aware of TCQ before this, listened to a bit of their stuff over the summer (inspired by the hip hop soundtrack to the new TMNT movie lol), but this was my first deep dive into one of their albums. This was just totally my wave length. Another review I read puts it very well - this album works in two ways: you can zone out and chill and it’s great vibe music, or you can listen intently and the depth of the lyrics and construction of the songs will reveal themselves. A new favorite for sure! And it ends with a wild Busta verse!
Boring Dadcore
I like the Rolling Stones. This is fine. Some okay songs, none of their great stuff. Overlong. Not really my thing. If it were played for me again I wouldn't fight it, but I will likely not seek this out on my own again.
Idk actually like 3.5. I liked it more than The Rolling Stones album from yesterday. It’s still just TOO DAMN LONG. Why is a punk album over an hour and has 20 tracks? I can cut this down to nine or ten great tracks and this is an easy 4. You can hear ska coming from this sound, and I liked that.
Love Peter Gabriel, love this album!
Took a couple listens to get it, but I did.
3.5. It’s cheesy and big and loud and stupid, but it’s kind of the platonic ideal of pop metal. The production is so crisp, the lyrics are fun and easy to sing along to, the hooks are unreal. I have a lot of great memories of listening to Def Leppard with my dad when I was younger. Sometimes you just gotta turn your brain off and enjoy the tunes.
2.5. Idk, fake punk that’s super samey and shallow and now the lead singer is a conservative twat. How lame. Important at the time and I’m not gonna pretend there’s not a couple fun songs, but not really into it.
Absolutely beautiful voice, didn’t get much else out of it
A masterpiece. An album I return to at least once a year. Always gives me something new to hear.
“Sir, the ‘It Slaps’ meter is off the charts!”
3.5 I enjoy the content, but I really don’t like Chuck D’s tone/rappint style, I’m sorry. Flava Flav of course is perfect.
Robot Rock
Like an audio party! Which feels like what she’s going for! I like that she also acknowledges that hip hop has gone through some major losses prior to the release of this album and wants to respect that, but also wants everyone to have a good time. All the features keep the variety up. This was a very fun listen!
Two Kendrick albums in one week! And they’re both masterpieces! This is so fucking good. Every song while it’s playing, I’m thinking “this is my fave,” and then the next one comes on. Incredible!
Garbage. Not even a famous or influential album or band? What the heck is this? Is someone in the band friends with the people who made the list? I like noise, this isn’t even good noise! The best part of the album is the song titles.
The coolest
I thought I was going to be such a little contrarian and not like the Bob Dylan albums but lol no this is incredible. Can’t wait to listen to it again and again.
3.5! Not my favorite Nirvana, but there’s great stuff here. Reminds me of riding in my dad’s car to school in the 90s!
The people were right! Kids shouldn’t be allowed to listen to this! That being said, and with the caveat that YES it’s sexist and homophobic and crude and vile - this rocks. I have never been an Eminem fan, never actually sat down with his music other than the hits, and while I think his albums eventually move away from this style - this is horrorcore! And I love horrorcore rap!
Not devoid of charms, but mostly bland. Really shows its age. Could only be from 92-95.
3.5! I like the sonic sound of CSNY, might have hit a bit harder if I hadn’t gotten the Crosby solo album already.
I REALLY enjoyed this! Wasn’t sure what to think at first, but I ended up listening to it like 3 times through. Maybe more of a “mood piece” than a traditional album; it’s like listening to a haunted house. Which I love. Going in the “spooky music” canon. Should revisit this album in the Halloween season! Also this guy is so neat he inspired a Muppet!!
I love Gabriel-era Genesis, but actually hadn’t listened to this entry yet! Glad I got to! Super sonically pleasing to me. Production is perfect, sounds so good. Instrumentation is stunning, his voice is enviable. Had a great time with these British weirdos!
Heads up - Stevie is one of my guys and I’m likely to rate all his albums on this list VERY highly. Honestly, this should be more of a 4.5, but I do admit this is probably the “weakest” album of his classic period. Still better than 90% of other music, but judging it against his other work. I still love it and listen to it all the time.
Almost good, but never fully got there
Fun! I listened to this a few times through and there’s some catchy tunes!
I think there’s way too many 1-star reviews of this album on here! This thing isn’t high art, but it’s a great example of the merging of nu-metal and pop. There’s great production and a TON of hits on here. It’s very easy to listen to. It’s not exactly my thing, but it does feel important to me, and I understand why it’s on this list!
Otis was probably one of the top five singers of all time. Just put on this album and let his voice wash over you. Sublime!
Four stars (sorry)
Y’all don’t wanna know how close I was to rating this 5 stars 😈 I’m Swifty neutral, but I think this is the moment in time where I realized she was going to be around forever. This album felt like a seismic shift, a statement, a cultural moment. Over half of the songs on this album were major hits - when does that happen anymore?!? They were inescapable, and I was blasting them on the radio just like everyone else. I’m not invested in Swift like other people are, but I truly believe this is a pop masterpiece. It was a delight to listen to, and I listened to it like three times yesterday.
I’ve listened to this album before and enjoyed it, but listening to it in this time in this context, it really hit me like a sack of bricks. In a good way. The Replacements really had all the ingredients, didn’t they? Too bad.
Man I remember when this came out. Bowie and I share a birthday, and it was so exciting for one of my favorites to release his new album on our birthday! And then it was so good! Everyone was playing it through that weekend, and going l “Wow, amazing work….hmm seems to kinda be about him dying though.” And then he was gone two days later. Two days. He gave us just enough time to realize what the album was about. And then he left. I can’t imagine what it is like to record an album about your death. But that was just Bowie. And it’s one of his best. Literally releasing vital, amazing work until hours before his passing. That was Bowie.
3.5 - sonically pleasant and pleasingly sad, woulda meant more to me if I had listened to it in my youth. Some absolutely stunning songs, sometimes gets a bit same-y.
3.5! Funky Bowie is not my favorite version of Bowie, but it’s still better than most music! Also, two Bowie albums in one week! Wow!
I fucking hate The Doors.
2.5. Inoffensive, bland, okay, overlong, likely won’t listen to this again. It’s fine. I’m surprised to learn it’s from 1996 since to me it has a very early 2000s rock sound. Probably influential. Probably why it’s on this list. Good for them.
4.5 This is my first time actually listening to Bjork and what an experience. Complex, but fun to listen to. I finally understand what the kids mean when they say “mother is mothering.”
Astounded by this. I’ve never really listened to Joni Mitchell before, and the instant this started I was so taken by her voice and the melodies and the words. What a wonderful surprise this was!
One or two good songs, I do not feel like I needed to hear this before I die. Why was this on the list?
Not a hater on the Zepp, but they were not my thing as a teen, which feels like it makes a difference. I like a lot of their hits, and tbh, “Immigrant Song” might be one of the best album openers ever. Just goes so incredibly hard. They lose me some when they indulge in their bluesy Americana thing, which this album has a lot of. Don’t begrudge anyone who love this stuff, it’s just not my cuppa tea.
Pleasant but hollow. It hits one note well, but that one note is the only note for the whole album. Halfway through I wanted to turn it out and listen to the more popular Mumford and Sons album or the catchier Local Natives first album with more interesting harmonies. That being said, it sure sounds like 2009 to me, which brings with it a certain amount of nostalgia. I surely listened to “White Winter Hymnal” approximately 1,000 times my first year of college.
Slightly more listenable than the other doors album I got this week. Maybe it’s actually a blessing to get their shit out of way this early in the project.
God saw that I was thankful that I had gotten listening to The Doors albums out of the way and said “hold my beer.”
I don’t know if it’s because I’ve had some AWFUL albums this week, but I found this perfectly acceptable. Pleasant, even. Not the sort of thing that’s gonna set my world on fire, but fun, well-made and well-produced Americana rock. I like the guy’s voice, and it doesn’t overstay its welcome. I remember some of these songs being in heavy rotation on my dad’s radio growing up.
Wasn’t sure what to think of it at first but after a couple listens (god bless short albums), it really started to click with. Like the bastard child of Zep and McCartney.
I love The Who, but I respect this one more than I love it. I get the criticism of vapid commercialism p quickly, and then it’s kinda the only note it hits (other than the fantastic songs). “I Can See For Miles” is one of my fave tunes of all time.
I’m sorry; I hate Chrissie Hyndes’s voice so much.
Boring old person music
About as perfect as pop gets! I listened to this album on vinyl so much during the pandemic!
I like it! Not my fave or anything, but I’ve discovered through this project that this is the type of old people rock I enjoy!!
A ton of fun! I could do without the five minute fart song, tho!
Well…at least it was short…
2.5 Glad to see some Love representation on this list. An underrated band of this era for sure, and they wrote one of my fave songs ever (not on this album tho). I’ve heard Alone Again Or covered by other bands, I didn’t know it was by them! This album starts really strongly but I get bored in the later half. I don’t think this is their strongest showing, but also, a lot of bands simply weren’t thinking about making cohesive albums at this point. I like Love, though!
Oh it’s fine. Van Morrison is an idiot but there’s worse music to have to listen to. If your grandparents put this on, you’ll live. His voice is nice and the songs are pleasant. The recording is really well done and sounds great for a live album. I don’t think they should let live albums be on this list though! I’ll say the final two tracks both being ten minutes long started to test my patience!
Love this album! One of the first albums I can remember being obsessed with! I was in a production of Tommy back in 11th grade and I basically ate, drank, and slept The Who for like 3 months straight. I have so many great memories of relistening to this album over and over and over. Fundamental to me!
3.5 Idk I thought this was fun! The Gift is a hoot and I didn’t mind the 20-minute song about a blowjob
2.5 Okay I know we all hate the Eagles but this is generally fine. I woulda rated it 3 but the last song is overlong and sounds like something you’d sing at church camp
A pleasant mix of Simon and Springsteen. Too long.
What a fun time! This band should have had a cartoon!
A pleasant listen!
2.5 I like Neil, but this isn’t my favorite. At least his stuff is back on Spotify which makes it easy to listen to him
3.5 Better than the last Stones album I listened to for this project, more solid classics. Wild Horses always gets me in the feels. I like the Stones just fine, probably more than many, I just don’t think they’re ever gonna touch me super deeply
I’ve had a few weeks of really mediocre albums and I was not super excited when I got this yesterday morning but it ended up being really fun. It might not actually be 4 stars but it’s definitely 4 stars in my current journey through this list!
3.5 I was just thinking a few days ago that I was almost 100 days into this project and had yet to have a Beatles album and somehow, lo and behold, the next day I got one! One of the least essential Beatles albums, tbf, but a Beatles album nonetheless. Listen - I love the Beatles, probably most of their other albums are going to get 5 stars, and even this isn’t bad per se. It can’t be, with the lovely lads from Liverpool singing and playing. It’s just, other than the iconic cover, what does this really have going for it? A couple classic songs up front, then most of the rest of the album is (good) covers! It’s not the most exciting or necessary work from them. But it’s the Beatles, and there’s some classic tunes on it, so it’s still getting above 3 stars from me.
I was starting to get tired of this challenge, thinking I was getting burnt out, because for two weeks almost all my scores were 2s or 3s….and then this came up, and within a couple seconds I realized, no, all that was really mediocre music. Because this was INCREDIBLE. Always enjoyed Monae as an iconic figure, the look, the music videos, the acting. Shamefully never listened to this in whole, even though I’ve had 15 years to do so (Jesus Christ where does the time go). WOW. Every song is a lovely delight, I never knew exactly where it was going, and they’re all so singular. I cannot wait to listen to this over and over again!
Please stop the music!
Cult of Personality is a bop, and they’re probably doing just fine off that huge hit, but it’s hard not to think Living Colour deserves more. They go so hard, they’re so funky, they could have been, should have been, the biggest band in the world.
3.5 Ultimate “chilling with the boys on the deck” vibes
Music at its rawest, purest form. Love it.
One of my favorite albums of all time! So pleased that I got to listen to it yesterday!
What is this band even about? Like yeah, they can play their instruments and sing technically well, but these songs lack any…depth or sincerity? Are they jazz? Are they rock? Are they soul? Because they lack any soul or funk to make that work. And then they have a 7 minute experimental fuzz song right in the middle of the album? This is a band in search of a reason to be a band….also every song is TOO LONG holy shit!
Wow. I was not expecting this. For some reason I thought Portishead was, like….industrial metal? But it’s just this incredible vibey electric trip-hop with angelic vocals and atmospheric lyrics?!? Absolutely one of my favorite discoveries so far!
Another surprise I really enjoyed! The ratings are kinda low on this but it clicked with me! Early Beck mixed with Ram-era McCartney!
Fine. Like a lot of records in the CD era, indulgently long for no reason, so it starts and ends strong, but there’s a lot of nonsense in the middle
A fun surprise! Punky, mean, cheeky. Had never heard of this band (except maybe I’ve heard “Peaches” before) and really enjoyed listening to them!
Selling drugs has never sounded so cool
Stronger first half than second, but I’m learning I love Bjork and that makes up for it
A really fun listen! Beatles-esque but not a heartless rip-off of them. Each song had its own unique feeling, super catchy and hooky! Smiles to this album!
Fun to hear the Temptations get weird with it, but not exactly my thing.
Worthless. I will never listen to this again, and there’s no reason for this to be on this list. Unnecessary to a serious degree. I’m only rating it two because it is music.
3.5 A very well-made album that I just didn’t connect with deeply, it doesn’t feel cohesive as an album to me too, they’re just doing a lot of stuff on every track, even though they’re all well-made. A certain amount of corniness because they’re The Roots, but I’ll accept it
3.5 I had no idea there was an Iron Maiden before Bruce Dickinson, so imagine my surprise when I turned this on and heard a voice that was definitely not his!! I kinda dig this version of IM! Grimier, punkier! I especially really love the first three songs on this album! But overall I really enjoyed listening to this!