267
Albums Rated
3.14
Average Rating
25%
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822 albums remaining
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2010s
Favorite Decade
Jazz
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
29
5-Star Albums
14
1-Star Albums
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You Love More Than Most
Albums you rated higher than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yeezus | 5 | 2.77 | +2.23 |
| 1989 | 5 | 3.27 | +1.73 |
| 25 | 5 | 3.36 | +1.64 |
| The Köln Concert | 5 | 3.39 | +1.61 |
| My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy | 5 | 3.42 | +1.58 |
| All Directions | 5 | 3.46 | +1.54 |
| Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music | 5 | 3.49 | +1.51 |
| Black Holes and Revelations | 5 | 3.59 | +1.41 |
| Illmatic | 5 | 3.61 | +1.39 |
| good kid, m.A.A.d city | 5 | 3.61 | +1.39 |
You Love Less Than Most
Albums you rated lower than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murder Ballads | 1 | 3.08 | -2.08 |
| Fred Neil | 1 | 2.93 | -1.93 |
| Who's Next | 2 | 3.91 | -1.91 |
| Millions Now Living Will Never Die | 1 | 2.87 | -1.87 |
| Bone Machine | 1 | 2.86 | -1.86 |
| Mask | 1 | 2.85 | -1.85 |
| Planet Rock: The Album | 1 | 2.79 | -1.79 |
| Graceland | 2 | 3.74 | -1.74 |
| Jagged Little Pill | 2 | 3.72 | -1.72 |
| Medúlla | 1 | 2.72 | -1.72 |
Artist Analysis
Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Kanye West | 3 | 4.67 |
| Creedence Clearwater Revival | 2 | 5 |
| Michael Jackson | 2 | 5 |
| Beatles | 2 | 5 |
| Pink Floyd | 2 | 5 |
Least Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 2 | 1.5 |
Controversial Artists
Artists you rate inconsistently
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| The Temptations | 5, 2 |
5-Star Albums (29)
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Popular Reviews
Morrissey
2/5
You know you’re in for a dud when the Wikipedia entry is pretty much “ya this album existed”
13 likes
The Isley Brothers
3/5
Give me the funk!!! There’s zero doubt these guys can jam. As I had said, every song on here is either a cover or has been covered. The unfortunate thing for me personally is that except for don’t let me be lonely, I like the other version of the song better. Which I was surprised by as their groove is right up my alley. Don’t hate me Mr Isley brothers for my 3
3 likes
Fleetwood Mac
3/5
Unfortunately as bland as the album cover art. I’m never a fan of a “double album” like this. Like come on, cut it down to just down to essential tracks. Lindsey buckingham christie mcvie and Stevie nicks vocals are still timeless but not enough to make this shine. I was surprised to read in the little “wiki” section that this was supposed to be an experimental album, as it feels very weak and almost intentional to not be like rumors
1 likes
The Zombies
2/5
Seemingly a Beatles knockoff. The rarely seen album that had their most famous song as the last song on the album. Unfortunately I do hate this song. It’s not the zombies fault but Jesus I feel like I’ve heard it so many times against my will. It’s in so many movies/tv shows or any oldies station in like doctors office.
1 likes
Kanye West
4/5
Man I miss the ol kanye. I’m mean come on, this album has so much nostalgia. Jesus walks was probably one of the first rap songs that I can actually remember listening to on the radio. I also vividly remember when this song came out, I was in the lobby waiting to get my allergy shots and my mom picked up a magazine and Kanye was on it shirtless on a cross with a crown of thorns. My mom, obviously appalled but it was the first time I can actually remember something being controversial in pop culture and that actually enticing me. A slew of other good songs, all falls down is def one of my fave Kanye’s, and i kinda forgot about breathe in breathe out, I feel like that song was always played at lame dances and stuff. Relatively simple beats and a decent variety of features to change it up some.
I know we’ve said it before on these reviews before but gosh dang, I forget how annoying it is to listen to a rap album with all these skits. Why was this a thing
1 likes
1-Star Albums (14)
All Ratings
Pixies
3/5
The first half really has a nirvana type vibe and then “here comes your man” kinda comes out of nowhere with a complete different sound which threw me off a bit. Not the biggest fan of his voice but I do love the guitar/bass riffs
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
This album makes me feel like I’m in a small club with a bunch of beefy sweaty white dudes banging our heads. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Again, singers voice isn’t my cup of tea but the guitar riffs are excellent and I’m humming along by the end of the song. Seems like it really wants to keep the grunge era alive but I don’t think this could save it.
Key tracks: Rich, Date with the night, maps
Stevie Wonder
5/5
It was gonna be hard to be objective on this one cause I automatically love any Stevie song. That being said, this is a great album. It has everything I want in an album. Interesting chords, amazing Vocals, and a harmonica solo. Great variety of songs. Also was not prepared for that racist talking bit during living for the city.
Key tracks: golden lady, higher ground, all in love is fair, don’t you worry about a thing
The Smashing Pumpkins
4/5
Has a cool sound where it seems like classic rock but at the same time kinda modern. I was jammin to this album, granted I was at the gym at the time so idk if I would listen to it casually but if u need to get amped, this is an album to do it
Taylor Swift
5/5
The fact that I know most of the words to seven different songs on here and I wouldn’t even describe myself as a “Taylor swift fan” is all that needs to be said about this album. Extreme relistenability. Taylor fucks.
Fleetwood Mac
3/5
Unfortunately as bland as the album cover art. I’m never a fan of a “double album” like this. Like come on, cut it down to just down to essential tracks. Lindsey buckingham christie mcvie and Stevie nicks vocals are still timeless but not enough to make this shine. I was surprised to read in the little “wiki” section that this was supposed to be an experimental album, as it feels very weak and almost intentional to not be like rumors
Tom Waits
1/5
Can someone get this man a cough drop??? Jesus Christ. The Tom DeLonge/Ben Folds award for worst vocalist goes to this poor man. I could barely get through a minute of each song. Maybe I’m still a little hungover but I highly doubt that is the root cause of my dislike. I miiiiiiiildly enjoyed some of the steel guitar/country vibes in a few songs but then the vocals came in and it was ruined. Maybe that one song at the end of the album that wasn’t available to listen to on Spotify redeemed the whole album, but unlike the Steelers ability to cover the spread, I would not bet on it.
Fairport Convention
4/5
Loved Matty Groves (did Lynnard Skynard steal some of this guitar solo…??). Great change of pace from some of our recent albums. Very background listenable. Didn’t get to listen to the whole album and I could see that if I did, their sound may get old after awhile and drop it to a three but fuck it we’ll do it live, four!
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
If there’s ever an album that makes u want to put a dip in, hop in the back of your red ford f-150 and watch the clouds roll by on a summer day, this is it (if that’s not your cup of tea then idk what to tell u). Y’all may be able to tell my preferences by now, but like the Fred Armisen meme from Parks and Rec, you play a harmonica solo, straight to a five. John fogerty(?)’s voice is just freakin incredible and I would go so far to say unmatched by any of his contemporaries. It’s cool listening to this early album for CCR and hearing the bones/formula for what will become a plethora of hits soon to come. Something I found interesting listening to this album (and I could be talking out my ass here) but something we take so for granted especially in live music is the concept of just giving each band member 64-128 bars just to go off, and I wonder if that tradition started around this time, not to say that CCR necessarily started it but maybe popularized it. Could be cool. Regardless, I don’t know what chooglin is but I will be sure to keep on doin it after listening to this album. (Bonus stars for using the word bayou, such a great word).
Key tracks: born on the bayou, good golly miss Molly, proud Mary, keep on chooglin.
Kate Bush
2/5
Not gonna lie, this was kind of a slog to get through. Some of the instrumentation was nice in certain parts but that’s all I really enjoyed. Can anyone else understand a word she’s saying?? It’s like every word is whispered. Say it with your chest lady!! But alas, probably should just be remembered as a one hit wonder. If I want to listen to some 80s power ballads I think I’ll look elsewhere.
Eels
3/5
I came in expecting to hate it, especially after real bad vibes from the cover art. I mean come on. I get the name of your album is beautiful freak but u don’t have to creep me the fuck out. But alas, it actually turned out much better than i expected, especially in the second half of the album. I guess albums, like ogres, can sometimes be like an onion.
Iggy Pop
3/5
Not gonna lie I only listened to the first three songs. They were decent but I wasn’t wowed. I was excited to listen to this tho because iggy pop is one of those people I’ve always heard about but knew nothing about him. I liked the wiki bit about him with ziggy (coincidence on the rhyming??) stardust. Other than that cool little factoid, I’m just kinda meh.
Wu-Tang Clan
3/5
Disclaimer: Ive admitted multiple times that I am not an expert in 90s rap and thus I don’t know what I’m talking about. That being said, this feels like a seminal album in the rap game. Coming out in ‘93 this clearly sounds like Biggie and Jay z. When that first snare drum hits, you immediately know what you’re getting and takes u back to a specific time and place. I also love the production value of this, like it sounds kinda garage band-y, like the mic is kinda off and the beats are relatively simple but that also elevates it. The fact that I didn’t know any wu tang songs off the top of my head but then discovered that C.R.E.A.M is on here is super cool, a phrase that is just so engrained in modern vernacular that I didn’t even know it came from this album. I want to give this album more than a three, I really do but I’m not gonna lie I probs won’t be listening to this on the reg. The song Method Man really creeped me the fuck out.
The nickname “dirty old bastard” is such a great name and I think someone in our group needs to be take this on, lookin at u Spence ;)
The Black Keys
4/5
I have to start off by saying this album was extremely important for me musically just because it’s when i discovered that there was other music out there other than what was on 99.9 kiss country or the rap songs my brother would always play in the car. Sure tighten up was played ad nauseam but there is a reason for it. One of the best guitar riffs of the past two decades and maybe only topped by their subsequent album with lonely boy. Side A of this album is definitely a five with everlasting light tighten up Howlin for u and she’s long gone all straight jams. B side does kinda drag on a bit without a lot of variety and does make it a four unfortunately. I also love when band is around for awhile before they have commercial success. It clearly comes through in their song writing where they don’t give an f and are just here to make music they want to make. Lastly, one of the greatest album covers, period. So badass
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
2/5
Like this album (or at least what I could listen to) I will keep it short and sweet. I’m always a fan of the oldies but as a wise philosopher DD Freer once said, since the advent of modern music, it just didn’t resonate with me enough to get my music juices goin (I added that last bit but u know what I mean)
Michael Jackson
5/5
Disclaimer for Michael and any other controversial artists on here, just because I love music so much I’ve always been in the camp of separating the art from the artist but I fully understand/support anyone that doesn’t agree with that. Now back to regularly scheduled programming.
Now that’s how u open a fucking album. When that 20 piece orchestra drops, strings flying, the brass blaring, u know you’re in for a good time. Just a very good album with surprising variety of songs. Fast-fast, slow-fast, soultry-slow, fast again, it has it all. I’ve never really heard a slow Michael Jackson song until she’s out of my life. I’m a sucker for any Wurlitzer electric keyboard and he sings with more soul than I expected. He sets the template for future pop artists to come (see Lizzos about damn time 2:15 and Michaels Rock with you 2:17…) Ya disco music gets kind of a bad rap but I’m here for the funk.
Cha mone eh
Key tracks: don’t stop till, rock with you, workin day and night, she’s out of my life, burn this disco out
Afrika Bambaataa
1/5
It’s wild to me how rap like this has aged so poorly as opposed to like 4-5 years later. The beats are kinda decent? Otherwise this is unlistenable.
R.E.M.
3/5
I honestly had to double check the date this album came out a few times. It really has a cool indie rock sound that it could have come out like 5-10 years ago.
The “Michael Buble playing in the background of a coffee shop” award goes to REM. This a great album to just have on in the background of a 30-40 minute drive. I did enjoy it more than the three stars suggests but no real standouts to make it a four.
Cream
2/5
Hey that’s that one song I know. I usually like 60s classic rock but I just wasn’t feelin this as much. Beautiful album art and the band name “cream” is so great
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
1/5
What the fuck is this?? As soon as he started talking I knew this was going to be unlistenable (and was confirmed with the “la la la la las” in the following song). I award you no points, and may god have mercy on your soul.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
Really solid album. Definitely a step up from the previous one we listened to. One thing I really like about this is the production value/sound editing of this album. It still has enough grit to still make u say “ya fuck the man” but very clear and balanced vocals and instrumentation that makes it actually pleasurable to listen to. This sound really dominates the indie rock genre for awhile around this time circa MGMT, M83, etc. idk if they started it but they definitely put a good stamp on it. Good variety for an indie rock album which sometimes hard to find.
Harry Nilsson
4/5
First and foremost, the audacity to call your album “Nilsson Schmilsson” and then just be lookin rough wearing a ratty ass robe for your album cover takes some balls. (Speaking of balls, mad props to the due who must’ve cut his own off to get that high Db on the harmony of without you, goodness). I love when a piece of pop culture can make me go down a Wikipedia rabbit hole and this one certainly did. You can clearly hear Beatles influences on here and it was cool to find out this guy and John Lennon were boys. Without you is a certified power ballad. Sure Mariah can belt better but I was pleased that schmilsson still held his own. Very good pop/rockish songwriting here. The bass solo at the end of jump into the fire is sick.
(The only time I’ve heard of this dude before is he plays a song Remember from the hanks/Ryan classic you’ve got mail, which I highly recommend if you don’t know either, and I will definitely start playing again on the piano after hearing this album, sorry geege)
Queen
4/5
Not necessarily any certified bangers on here but regardless, such a more enjoyable classic rock listen as opposed to someone like Cream for example (ya I’ll throw Clapton under the bus). It still amazes me with how weird there compositions are that they were able to break such into the mainstream (in the lap of god, bring back Leroy brown). This was a good prep for their subsequent album which I can only assume is on this list.
Rod Stewart
2/5
I really can’t get past the voice.
Fiona Apple
2/5
Has real Regina Spector vibes, but not nearly as good. Contrary to her lyrics in Under the Table, I wish you would just “shut up”.
Guns N' Roses
4/5
Damn this jams. This makes me want to steal my old dead beat alcoholic step dads grey and black striped 1967 mustang Shelby GT500 and peruse the town with the boys in search of the ever elusive poon tang.
Is this one of the best debut albums of all time?? I mean to have three of the most iconic rock songs of all time on your first album is unreal. What amazes me is that you could tell me any other song besides those three are iconic and I would believe it. They all just have such a dope, confident and slick sound. An interesting exception to the rule of lack of variety which usually brings me down on an album but somehow despite most of these sounding relatively similar, each song has a unique vibe. Slash is shredding and axl has the voice of a dark angel.
The Isley Brothers
3/5
Give me the funk!!! There’s zero doubt these guys can jam. As I had said, every song on here is either a cover or has been covered. The unfortunate thing for me personally is that except for don’t let me be lonely, I like the other version of the song better. Which I was surprised by as their groove is right up my alley. Don’t hate me Mr Isley brothers for my 3
John Cale
2/5
Shockingly did not make me want to do the hankey pankey
4/5
Contains 3 out of the 5 U2 songs I know! I do love Bono’s songwriting. Just very epic sounding and just super solid tunes.
Sufjan Stevens
3/5
This is a hard album for me. There’s lots of parts (it’s hard to even call some of them songs) that I really liked but there were still a good amount that I didn’t. The idea of a concept album never really resonates with me. I know people have been doing it for years but for some reason I just can’t get in to them. The actual “songs” on here are very very good but then I would be like 45 seconds into one of the other instrumentations or weird songs and I’d be like wtf is this?
Meat Loaf
2/5
I had a traumatic karaoke experience where I was forced into listening to the entirety of two white peoples in hawiiaian shirts singing paradise by the dashboard light. I’ve protested listening to meat loaf ever since and no I didn’t listen to this album but I can imagine it’s a two.
TLC
4/5
The “Leonardo decaprio in ‘The Revanant’ award for really good award winning performance and I thoroughly enjoyed it while watching but despite that, I will probably never rewatch/relisten to it again” goes to this album.
A little bit of a low four for me but gosh darn those funky beats in waterfalls, shooo boy.
Bob Dylan
3/5
The voice. Dear god the voice. I know there’s of lot of Dylan stans out there but man I just can’t get into him. This gets my obligatory extra star for use of the harmonica fortunately. Rolling stone is obvs good but otherwise meh. Sure there may be a bajillion allegories, sonnets, lymrics, haikus, etc in here but if the song tonally doesn’t entice me to listen to said “poetry”, then you just kinda wasted my precious time. Oh did I mention the voice?
Black Sabbath
4/5
Ozzy: Boobs
Sharon: boobs ozzy?
Ozzy: These filmmakers are just f***** boobs
Kid: what do u mean dad
Ozzy: well they’re using the same f***** joke as the last Austin powers movie.
Ozzy is a legend.
I liked this a lot more than I anticipated
Cyndi Lauper
3/5
I think I’ve told y’all about it before but that documentary on Netflix “the greatest night in pop”. Cyndi lauper is in it and man is she freakin weird. Like definitely someone I would never want to hang out with but when it comes for her time to sing, it’s like shockingly amazing. Very powerful voice and tone is spot on. And she’s pretty much one of the only female singers they asked to be on that song which is really saying something.
Oh ya the album, ya it’s ok.
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
It did not need to be this long. I enjoyed it but lordy. I was also shocked to read the wiki and that this has been certified diamond and was the the number one album on billboard. It just goes to show how weird of a time the 90s were for music.
Also that’s what she said to my first sentence
Elvis Presley
4/5
He’s the freakin king for a reason. Shame on me for being scared that I wouldn’t like it. I wish it had a few more bangers on here for me to give it a five but overall just straight up good music. Love the blues, country, gospel vibe.
Doves
2/5
I was excited looking at the wiki that this was an indie rock band from the 2000’s that I’d never heard of. But then I discovered there’s a reason I hadn’t heard of them.
Arrested Development
4/5
“I’ve made a huge mistake”, is not what I would say about listening to this album.
“There’s always money in [90s rap]”
“That was a a freebie” is what I would say about this album being placed on this list.
If people ask why this album is on this list, “I don’t understand the question and I won’t respond to it”.
After listening to this album, “I’m afraid I just blue myself”.
These arrested development jokes doing anything for anyone? No? Damn.
I did enjoy this album. A good change up from most 90s rap I know. Also shout out to Lin Manuel Miranda for copying one of these dudes flow
Yes
2/5
It got my attention with “Roundabout” with some Pre-Queen vibes with the layered harmonies. And then to have a weird, random ass Baroque style piano solo next with “Cans and Brahms”, ok I’m listening…. and then it’s shit. There’s a reason we all know and love Queen and not these guys. Relies way to heavily on the harmonies gimmick. There is some intriguing instrumentation here but they make the cardinal sin of forgetting to make it actually sound pleasing to listen to.
Bad Company
3/5
For a “supergroup” this isn’t that super
Paul McCartney and Wings
4/5
Paul McCartney. One of, if not THE greatest songwriters of his generation. First the quantity of songs and then second the quality of said quantity in a relatively short amount of time up until this point is amazing. Ya the whole “the Beatles aren’t even that good” mantra has been circulating amongst gen z or gen x or whoever and they can fuck off. The term “pop (popular) music” was literally invented because of McCartney in the late 50s. Why was it popular music? Because he has an incredible art for writing memorable melodies and catchy hooks. Sure the early stuff is relatively simple 4 chord progressions when u actually look at it but just because something is simple does not negate the difficulty of creating sustained success off this writing style (see any flailing pop artist from the 2000s). I say all that to say, in his later Beatles/post Beatles years, it does feel like he’s trying a bit too hard to overcompensate and write more difficult/unique compositions and it works for the most part on this album. Namely the title track. Band on the run is an incredible example of this where it completely works. This is popular style of songwriting around this time where a song is seemingly a blend of multiple different songs as opposed to the standard mold of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-outro. We’ve seen it not work on multiple occasions (see that brutal yes album) but McCartney still has the talent to create hits. That opening guitar riff, to the excellent use of harmonies, then to the acoustic guitar, then a random quick section of brass, and then finally the chorus repeated a few times. Each section has masterful songwriting with memorable vocals/instrumentation that is a testament to his craft. Also his vocals are still so prime on this track. The rest of the album might not be as memorable but there are still great moments sprinkled throughout. Shoutout to Van Halen jump (1982) sounding like Jet and to the lumineers for basically basing their whole careers on Mrs Vanderbilt (Ho Hey 2012).
Because I’m worried we won’t get any other wings albums I was perusing their other hits which need to be shouted out: live and let die, silly love songs, maybe I’m amazed, hi hi hi are all bangers.
Also I love how incredibly lame this album art is.
Nine Inch Nails
4/5
I forgot how hard closer goes. When the “beat” drops during the second half it makes me wanna run through a brick wall. That being said, I hope I never hear the word penetrate in any song ever again. This album is a weird one where it’s like a understand the vulgarity and why it’s used, especially how shit was going in the 90s but does that make it “better”?? Hard to say. But I did really enjoy this album. I knew hurt was NIN song but don’t think I had actually heard it all the way through. I was expecting to really not like it just because of how much I like the cover but I was pleasantly surprised and like it in its own right.
Fun fact if you didn’t know. Lead singer Trent Reznor does a lot of movie/tv scores now. He’s done essentially every David fincher movie (which when you rewatch those movies, all the electric synths really make those movies so great)
Fleet Foxes
4/5
Harmonies, Americana, acoustic guitars, blue ridge mountains, and artistic album art. A recipe to my heart.
If you haven’t heard pentatonix cover of white winter hymnal you definitely should. It’s always on my holiday music rotation.
Verbal meme: spiderman pointing at each other fleet foxes and local natives.
Fiona Apple
2/5
If you’re gonna do the whole singer songwriter thing, either be Sara barielles or just get out of the game. This one was actually listenable as opposed the previous FA we got which was borderline unlistenable. But Shania said it best, “that don’t impress me much”.
Joan Armatrading
4/5
She’s got some freakin soul!
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
2/5
Starts off, “Rock and roll can never die!” Then proceeds to not “rock and roll”.
Ugh I was just not feeling this, especially in my post nc state win bliss. Listened to 2.5 songs then turned off.
“Stop trying to make Neil Young happen. It’s never going to happen” - Mean Girls (Pete Ciaccio)
PJ Harvey
2/5
Listened to two songs. Did not like it. Turned it off. I fear it could’ve been a one had I kept listening.
Kanye West
5/5
**See Michael Jackson review for my comments on separating the art from artist.
One of the biggest memories I have with this album is my freshman roommate Ravi playing the trombone part of “All of the Lights” in our dorm room and him thinking it was the coolest thing. Now despite how lame that story is, Ravi did surprisingly have a vast knowledge and appreciation for Kanye and we listened to this album so many times. I mean the bangers are all there. The production value is insane. Each song has so many different elements (choir, auto tune, orchestra, variety of instrumentation, synth, samples, etc.) I also forgot how long each song was. Like each song seems to be around 5 minutes but doesn’t necessarily seem to drag or lose my interest by the end of it. “Lost in the world”was one of my favorite songs at this time that I listened to on repeat. The bon iver sample is so sick.
Thanks Ravi.
The Velvet Underground
3/5
I knew that one song pale blue eyes cuz I think it was in an episode of sex education. It has very indie movie/show vibes where you’re down on the world, you’re girl/guy has just left you, and your mad at the world for what it’s given you. Sometimes you need some vibes like that.
Van Halen
4/5
I know an embarrassingly little about Van Halen other than Jump (and even that I was shocked to learn that song was by them later on in life). I didn’t know “eruption” until I was an adult and all because of the Minions movie or maybe despicable me 3. Idk. One of those. I’m sure plenty has been said about eruption but Jesus Christ, the harmonics and chord structure is literally if Bach or Chopin was a rocker. God tier writing.
This album is everything I want out of a classic rock album. Great guitar riffs and memorable choruses. (Another hand up, I didn’t know “you really got me” was VH…..🤦🏻 love that song tho
Marvin Gaye
4/5
As Spencer distinctly put it, I am definitely a Gaye guy. Like any other elementary school kid, I was infatuated with him after titans and then developed a true romance after some contestant on American idol performed “you’re all I need to get by” (I’ve tried looking up and down to find out who it was but alas, I cannot. Regardless, it really made me look into Marvin more).
I did struggle in giving this a four because it has one of my fave songs of all time with inner city and obvs what’s going on is an American staple. Whenever I listen to this on vinyl, I very actively listen to those two songs and then for the middle section kind of just casually listen. So I did have to go back and reevaluate a lot of the middle songs. Gaye’s voice and music style is on another level and already take each song to a higher tier than plenty of his contemporaries but I can’t in good conscious say that these middle songs (for me personally) are life changing. I’m sure the meaning behind the lyrics are incredible and obviously he touches on a number of bold themes of God, racism, environmentalism, and so on, which at this time is I’m sure an achievement in of itself. The last thing I wanted to say about this album is the “free flowing” aspect in which most of the songs seamlessly blend together has not aged well for me personally. This is not Gaye’s fault at all and I think I’ve read somewhere that this is one of the first albums that has done that. Unfortunately this has been done and copied ad nauseam in modern music that it just annoys me. I have no problem with it as a musical device and honestly it works perfectly for this album, it’s just the whole, being born in a different era thing and having heard it to diminishing returns so many times.
Now, as for the song “what’s going on”, plenty has been written and documented about the importance of this song in post Vietnam protest song culture and for good reason and I really don’t have anything too unique to add. The one thing I’ll say is just how poignant the phrase “what’s going on” is to truly describe the indescribable of war and its tumultuous effects that literally transcends to this day. True poetry.
The first 40 seconds of inner city changed my musical life. I remember exactly where I was the moment I heard it. That single repeated distorted Eb minor7 chord, then the bongo, then the sultry scat, and then finally a bass line that will make yo panties drop. Just perfection. Like an ogre, there are just so many layers to this song that are all beautiful by themselves and make a perfect song. I feel guilty in loving this song because of its lyrical content and what black people during this time must have gone through but man does Marvin just put it all on the line. I really want to give this album a five just because of this song. (Of note John Mayer does a cover of this song that has aged extremely poorly unfortunately).
Also I find it comical that rolling stone retroactively made this album their number one album of all time after they got so much shit in not having any black artists in the top 15. It’s a little too late RS.
Rage Against The Machine
4/5
This album jams. A little too metal/grunge for me in certain spots but overall very solid. I always used to confuse Rage Against The Machine with Cage The Elephant for some reason. Drastically different.
Morrissey
2/5
You know you’re in for a dud when the Wikipedia entry is pretty much “ya this album existed”
The Zombies
2/5
Seemingly a Beatles knockoff. The rarely seen album that had their most famous song as the last song on the album. Unfortunately I do hate this song. It’s not the zombies fault but Jesus I feel like I’ve heard it so many times against my will. It’s in so many movies/tv shows or any oldies station in like doctors office.
Black Sabbath
3/5
I don’t know if we’ve had a triple threat before to have the song Black Sabbath, on the album Black Sabbath, by the band Black Sabbath. Really trying to get brand recognition out there. I didn’t know I was such an Ozzy fan. As the second album from him I really do enjoy his voice and song style. Also another rare occasion to actually have an album that was too short with only six songs. I don’t think their was enough songs to have a truly memorable chorus or guitar riff to give it a four but I still really enjoyed it. It was funny tho I think there were two separate songs that have the starting notes to iron man and I was like oh oh wait is this it??? But then it wasn’t. Sad
Kanye West
4/5
Man I miss the ol kanye. I’m mean come on, this album has so much nostalgia. Jesus walks was probably one of the first rap songs that I can actually remember listening to on the radio. I also vividly remember when this song came out, I was in the lobby waiting to get my allergy shots and my mom picked up a magazine and Kanye was on it shirtless on a cross with a crown of thorns. My mom, obviously appalled but it was the first time I can actually remember something being controversial in pop culture and that actually enticing me. A slew of other good songs, all falls down is def one of my fave Kanye’s, and i kinda forgot about breathe in breathe out, I feel like that song was always played at lame dances and stuff. Relatively simple beats and a decent variety of features to change it up some.
I know we’ve said it before on these reviews before but gosh dang, I forget how annoying it is to listen to a rap album with all these skits. Why was this a thing
Roni Size
2/5
Uhhh wtf is this. Was not prepared for that opening song while driving home from work this morning trying not to fall asleep, it def kept me awake, so it had that going for it? I guess some of them were essentially just lo fi beats so that was ok but I hated the “talking” going on. This album really painted a picture for me of a sleazy underground British club with a bunch of sweaty pale British dudes, tea sloshing around everywhere. Not about that life. If Tom waits is the bar for a one then I can’t really put this that low but man it was close.
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
This album was a lot of fun and had aged much better than I expected. This style of rap will also be so nostalgic. There’s just nothing cooler than rapping over essentially just a drum kit. I didn’t know all that stuff about walk this way which was cool. So are they essentially saying this was the first rap song to sample someone essentially?
Jimmy Smith
3/5
Love the album title. A nice little change up jazz album. Would be a good vinyl to have playing while eating a nice meal
Sonic Youth
2/5
This ain’t it dog
Air
4/5
I was surprised to find out this wasn’t really a soundtrack at all but rather the score. I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and listened to a random movies score before so I’m giving it a little bit of a higher rating just because it was interesting and a fresh listen on this list. Is the quality of said composition that high? Probably not but still pretty good. There were a lot of songs that are in minor keys but use a lot of major chord progressions which was pretty fascinating but then they become to reliant of the half step minor 3rd to major 3rd change somewhere around the middle of the album and it starts to get a little redundant. This would be fine in a movie setting as it gives characters or ideas a theme, which all the great ones do (i.e John Williams, Howard shore, etc), but no so great in just a listening setting
Arctic Monkeys
3/5
I always did think the arctic monkeys were overrated. That being said, I guess it was after the got oomper famous after that later album. That being said, I guess when this album came out they were a diamond in the rough. That being said, I still don’t think they’re that great after this album. Now with that being said, I did listen to this album while on a road trip and was talking the whole time. Now with that being said, there still wasn’t a song that made me say hey, stop talking I need to listen to this song. Now with alllllll that being said, I give it a three.
Alanis Morissette
2/5
I could see this being “cool” just when it came out just because she’s being kinda edgy and her lyrics are scandalous but dear god her voice is pretty terrible at times. For some reason during the choruses it’s not too bad and on the verge of good but during the verses there were times that it was fingernails on a chalkboard.
Fred Neil
1/5
Just freakin give me Jonny cash and quit giving me a weak ass handy with this clown.
Alice In Chains
2/5
“Ya this album was too goth even for me” - Geege.
Agreed
Skunk Anansie
3/5
Dope album title. Actual music not so dope
George Michael
4/5
The Usher “most underrated vocalist of his generation and when you hear them you’re like damn why isn’t this guy considered one of the top vocalists in the game right now” award goes to George Michael. I really forgot how dope his voice is. I could do without some of the breathy and cheesy vocals he does but when he belts it, damn he is on (I would strongly recommend listening to some of the live recordings of don’t let the sun go down on me. His pitch and tone are phenomenal). This album really appealed to the chorus nerd in me. Very unique arrangements and intriguing harmonies. Not all of them work but I liked most of them. Freedom has just been used in so many movies I feel like so I’m kinda over it but it is a good catchy song in its own right. Also my dad always jammed to waiting for that day and I do love The Rolling Stones sample(?) at the end of that.
3/5
This list really is seven degrees of Remember the Titans. I feel like there have been so many connections. Apparently these guys sing that one song Spill the Wine in that one scene.
Sunshine pulls up looking obviously out of place with long blonde hair.
Bertier: “hey guys, look at that fruitcake”
Yost: “Gary keep your mouth shut”
Sunshine’s dad: “hey we just moved here from Virginia, my boy plays quarterback”
Yost: well we’re pretty set at the qb position but y’all should try up at north high school”
Sunshine’s dad: “we tried up there but they don’t let blacks play with whites. The way I see it, if you can fight a war together you can play football together”
Sunshine picks up a football and throws it a quarter mile and hits bertier in the back.
Julius laughing hysterically: “oh fruitcake huh?”
Great song. Great scene.
Oh the album? It was aight
Red Hot Chili Peppers
5/5
That’s how you freakin start an album! There’s nothing I love more than album that grabs you right away with an amazing guitar hook and just sets the tone for the rest of the album. We got this album on the perfect day of our road trip. We were off roading in gods country Utah which just adds to legend of how cool it was and will be an experience I’ll never forget. Especially with songs I Like Dirt and Road Trippin on here. Bless you flea, chad smith, and the other guys who I don’t know their names. Bless you.
Solange
3/5
It would suck to be beyonces sister. Especially if you’re not as good singer and not as good looking. I guess her name maybe is a little cooler than Beys? This was just aight for me
Metallica
4/5
I mean this album is already at minimum a four just because of enter sandman. Just an amazing song. I knew a few others like nothing else matters and holier than thou but I was excited to listen to some of the album tracks. Like The Unforgiven, was super interesting starting out like a western and then bringing in their metal sound. Metal country? New genre?
I liked the wiki entry talking about how that new producer came in and kind of refined their sound because it really shows on this whole album. The guitars are crisp and the lyrics are actually understandable. I could definitely be persuaded into a five on this one
Einstürzende Neubauten
1/5
Could barely get through 20 seconds of first three songs then turned off. If shit like this is on here and something like Nysync No strings attached isn’t on here I will be furious
The Stooges
3/5
The album starts off really strong with down on the street and the next few are pretty good where I thought it was going to be a four but then the longer songs start coming in and it becomes much more of a chore and bore.
Paul McCartney
2/5
I wasn’t anticipating this being as bad as it was. I love maybe I’m amazed but that’s not enough to help all the others. Feels rushed and incomplete which I guess makes sense with the context of what was going on with the Beatles and such at the time.
The Beach Boys
4/5
I distinctly remember the first time I ever heard The Beach Boys. I was in the back of Andrew’s parents car coming home from the lake and the song “I get around” came on the radio. It was a type of sound that I had never heard before. Their harmonies were just so cool. Listening to this album brought a rush back of that nostalgia and appreciation. I mean “wouldn’t it be nice” is one of my top 50 songs of all time. I did enjoy even some of the other songs that I hadn’t heard before but I couldn’t give this one a five just because some of them were a bit toooo cheesy sounding. It’s not that they’re straight up bad, it’s just 60 years is hard for anything to age well, but especially The Beach Boys kind of sound.
Stephen Stills
3/5
Solid rock album. Has a few different vibes from vegging out on a couch trippin some acid vs drinkin some bud heavy at a summer amphitheater show. Despite a way too long album, most of the songs are surprisingly not too long. Which is nice
Frank Ocean
4/5
I can definitely see how this album wouldn’t be for everyone. I specifically remember the first time I heard it I really didn’t like it but the more I heard a few of the songs I came to love it more and more. Super rich kids is my fave but thinkin bout you, pyramids, and lost are all great.
Beatles
5/5
I know I’m a Beatles stan but the “backlash to the backlash” kind of treatment that’s been going on recently to say they actually aren’t good is still so wild to me. Much has already been said and documented about the opening chord of a hard days night and I don’t have anything super creative or different to contribute other than just acknowledging that it is such a freakin iconic sound and incredible way to open an album (also fun fact, there is still open debate about every note that is played in the recording which is dope to me that it hasn’t really been officially locked down). Hard days night and can’t buy me love are obviously the bangers but I did enjoy some of the others as well that I hadn’t heard before. Lennon and McCartneys iconic fifth harmonies intermixed with tight unison is an easily distinguishable sound that we’ve already seen emulated on multiple early 60s albums on this list. It’s cool to start to see some of the unique compositions start to take place here in this early album that begin to become so prevalent in their later stuff such as with If I Fell which has pretty wild chord progressions, especially for this time.
You definitely can’t buy my love but they can sure sing for it.
3/5
Parts of this album go so hard. But there are also parts where I hate the lead singers voice. I like when he’s kinda growling or screaming but when he tries to actually sing or use his falsetto it’s pretty brutal. It’s pretty wild listening to guitar solos like this in 69 when just five years before they were comparatively laughable (such as a hard days night). I know we get annoyed of all the 60s albums sometimes but it is cool to see the evolution of rock music in such a small period of time.
The live album part of this was fun!
Rahul Dev Burman
2/5
Uhh ya sure I guess….
It was kinda fun, never having heard of this movie, making up a story while listening to the soundtrack based on how everything sounded. For a Bollywood movie it had a very eclectic variety of sounds and genres. Like at one point it had this very Spanish/American vibe where it was like something out of zorro. Maybe this was a super important Bollywood movie at the time but idk if I could truly feel the significance of this
The Band
2/5
Was excited for this one cuz the only song I knew by then was The Weight which is a jam and I was hoping they had some more hidden gems. Sadly no gems, just unrefined unpolished rocks you know that you just find in your yard and there’s nothing really special about them at all and your like ugh I don’t want this rock in my yard and you don’t know what to do within them cuz you don’t want a big rock pile in your yard but you feel weird throwing a rock away in the trash but do it anyway just to get rid of it. That kind of rock.
THEYRE MINERALS MARIE!
Paul Weller
4/5
Had never heard of this dude but he jams!!
Paul Simon
2/5
My parents listened to this album a lot when I was a kid and I hated it. Come to find out it’s considered one of the greatest albums of all time, critically acclaimed, blah blah blah. So I was excited to come back to it as an adult with new perspective. Sadly, still no dice for me. The biggest thing I can’t get over on this album is that I know Paul Simon can sing (see bridge over troubled water) but for some reason this whole album is mostly weird half singing/talking randomness. Even though I typically love a good brass section, it just really doesn’t do it for me here either. You can call me, unsatisfied.
Public Image Ltd.
1/5
Wut
The Cult
4/5
LFG!! I was jamming to this. The one weird thing was that there were times where it seems like the sound engineer forgot to turn the mic up for the lead singer. It’s rare in these types of albums where I actually want to hear more from the lead singer
R.E.M.
3/5
Definitely liked this better than the first REM album we had. More personality and variety but I just still don’t totally love their sound. Still very solid though.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Definitely has bob dylan vibes but I like cohen a lot more. Some of the guitar playing in certain songs is amazing. I also could actually understand what he was saying (as opposed to bob) and thus actually enjoyed some of the stories he tells. All that being said, I can’t give this really higher than a three because there is pretty much no relistenability to this album. I enjoyed it but probs not gonna come back to it.
Stereo MC's
3/5
Decent 90s jam band vibes. That first song sounds really familiar but I can’t figure out from what.
Jack White
3/5
I wanted to like it more than I did cuz I remember when he went solo and got all these Grammys and stuff so I was excited to listen to it. Sadly, I just really don’t like his falsetto singing which is a good chunk of his songs. Some of the guitar riffs are nice I guess. I did like the slower Love Interruption though.
5/5
I’ll never forget the first time I heard “Don’t look back in anger”. Ariana grande sang it after she had this terrorist attack at her show and it was beautiful. When I finally listened to the original I was like damn, this is an freakin anthem right here. This album was already at minimum going to be a 4 for me just because of how much I like that song but I was kinda shocked how much I liked a bunch of the other songs I didn’t know as well. She’s electric and champagne supernova freakin jam. Every song I found myself humming along, even on a first listen which is pretty incredible. Pretentious music snobs could argue that being a sign of a sell out/simplistic songwriting but to me it’s in fact quite the opposite. With some of the shite we’ve seen on this list before we know how hard it can be to create a listenable/memorable album, let alone a single song. Well anyways, here a 5
Sex Pistols
2/5
Ahh maybe we’ve just had too much Brit rock but I just wasn’t into this. It was good though and I know the Sex Pistols are supposed to be important but ya
Electric Light Orchestra
4/5
Was prepared to do a whole, ahh they sound like a queen ripoff and ahhh why is it so long but when I actually sat down to listen to it these songs are all actually pretty good. They all freakin move and don’t drag. Don’t know who came first, these guys or queen but even if they are ripoffs, honestly their songwriting is pretty on par with them on this album so I’m not mad about it.
Lou Reed
2/5
Gretchen, stop trying to make Lou Reed/The velvet underground happen. It’s not gonna happen.
Steely Dan
4/5
Solid. Cool instrumentation. Catchy. Vibin.
Beach House
2/5
Was excited going one cuz I hadn’t heard of these guys and I saw they had a lot of listens on Spotify but unfortunately I found it rather “meh”.
The Mars Volta
3/5
After the first twenty seconds I was fully prepared to give this a one. It was like, well here we go this just seems like this is going to be awful but then the lead singer comes in and made me do a complete 180. Don’t think I can give it a 4 but I like a strong 3 just because I don’t think I’ll be listening to these again but I enjoyed it more than expected. Just wish I could actually understand what he was saying
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
Definitely fun. It really puts u in that cheesy 1970s action movie kind of vibe.
Cowboy Junkies
3/5
I really enjoyed the change up! Good vibes and I like her voice. Don’t think I can give it higher to a three because it was all a little too similar but had a good time
Madonna
4/5
This was a complete opposite of my recent (yet sparse) reviews where I was excited going in to the album, then let down. This one I was real self conscious about listening to while at the gym and quickly locking my phone before anyone could see the album cover. The way each song starts is kinda cringey and cheesy but boy I’ll tell u what, once the “beat” drops in each song, I was kinda jammin. Don’t really know any Madonna stuff other than like a prayer but I thought this was a good affirmation that she is super talented even though I didn’t know any of these songs.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Hot take, the song the girl from impanema sucks. Y’all know I like the classics but I’ve always hated this song for some reason and never understood why it was so popular. I do imagine that no one else at this time was having both English and Spanish lyrics in a song so that’s kinda cool I guess. I really am not a big “bossa nova” fan. Give me big band or GTFO. This album is at minimum 3 stars just because Sinatra voice is a top ten of all time.
Iron Maiden
3/5
I had a good time
Jeff Buckley
2/5
Wow, shoutout to the haters. Drops a single album, gets commercially and critically panned then gives up. I kinda have to agree with the haters and I just couldn’t do it with this one. He’s all over the place with genres, like i feel at times he’s trying to be all singer/songwriter vibe, then kind of folk rock, and then weirdly on Eternal Life he thinks he’s the red hot chilli peppers or something? I’m fine with variety but this just did not click. And what was with that ethereal carol thing?? I usually praise artists for different/interesting chord structures but this was just not it. They were different sure, but in a real dissonant not fun to listen to way.
So now for the hallelujah bit. So I thought I knew the history of Buckleys version because it is considered to be at least one the most influential versions of the song to make it more popular as cohens original was more of a cult hit until after Buckleys. So much so that his version eventually was inducted into the library of Congress I read somewhere. Buttttttt come to find out, the first person to actually make a cover of it is John Cale, of whom I have a complicated relationship with because of his work in the Velvet Underground (see previous reviews). Cales version is actually the one that really sets the template of the hallelujah song that we know today and has been covered ad nauseam (if you go back and listen to cohens version it’s kind of weird, but cale really established the classic piano melody bit that u hear at the beginning of the song and for the verses of which Buckley pretty much copies). We actually all know cales version much better because his was the version that’s actually played in shrek. Confusingly enough though, Rufus wrainwrights version is on the shrek soundtrack and not cale which is then why wrainwrights version became so popular (and my favorite cover). All that to say, Buckleys version feels much less influential to me now and that was the only thing he had going for him, thus only a two. Apparently there’s a whole documentary and book just about the history of the hallelujah and its evolution. Wild. Also shoutout to DD, if you’re still reading this far, for playing on the true cover of the song with me (and probs more importantly Christina Maxwell).
Nirvana
3/5
This is just a bit too grunge for me. I really liked the two songs I recognized, heart shaped box and all apologies. I also had a traumatic experience this is album. I was out running while listening to it and then my headphones died right after Rape Me….so then I had like two miles of just of being on the greenway, alone in my thoughts, with that being the last song stuck in my head. Not super pleasant.
Soundgarden
4/5
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Didn’t have the major zeppelin hits on here but I still really enjoyed it. Since I’m not on lcd or heroin, some of the slower ones really dragged on. Interesting fact, you can clearly hear the similarities between “babe I’m gonna leave you” and “25 or 6 to 4” and so I looked it up and apparently 25 came out a year after babe and the Chicago writer was asked about the similarities and he had no comment. So that’s sad cuz I really like Chicago.
Pink Floyd
5/5
I felt a lot is pressure coming into this, not having listened to this whole album before and really only knowing money. It’s hard to be objective when there’s so much noise about how this is the best album of all time, etc. I can give a sigh of relief though because even though it didn’t necessarily exceed my expectations it certainly met the already lofty pre meditated expectations. The only way I really know how to describe this is just that it’s epic. I was worried that it was just going to sound like a classic rock album and without certified bangers other than money, I didn’t know how it was going to meet those expectations. But this truly is an “experience” album that u need to listen to the whole thing and I understand now why this has been recommended so much. There’s such a wide variety of musical sounds and instrumentation but nothing feels excessive or forced (I could’ve done with a little less vocal runs in great gig in sky but I’ll allow it). Absolutely loved the transition from side a to b from the end of great gig into money. It really feels like the end of something into a completely different vibe. Also, I feel like we don’t talk about album covers enough but the bold minimalism of this cover really is just so epic (despite it being diluted by every 60 year old white dad as a t shirt).
Now for my music theory homies. So in Money at the beginning there’s obviously all of the abstract money sounds but then as soon as the baseline drops, they quickly fall in line with the beat which I cannot imagineeeeeeeee how freakin hard that must have been for the engineers in the 70s without having any computer technology to artificially place those sounds on the beat. And speaking of the beat, it’s a 7/4 time signature which honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen before and is kinda badass that it’s just in a random rock song like this but gives it a weird dynamic that you don’t really pick up on on first listen
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2/5
I really wanted to give this a one for old times sake but I feel like there was some nice instrumentation here. But the gall to think people need an hour and twenty minutes of your music is unnerving
Eagles
4/5
I hate that the eagles have become synonymous with “dad rock”, which is clearly meant to have a negative connotation. What the fuck is wrong with having an actual melody, tight harmonies, and just an easy listening vibe?? Glenn Freys vocals are so good and their instrumentation is just so pleasant to listen to. Also, I splooge every time a band does a 1-2 minute orchestra version of a song. You hear that every now and then in rap albums and it’s always such a nice surprise. And speaking of splooging, I just love eagles background harmonies. They’re so distinctive and really just make for a nice sound. Side B of this album is pretty surprisingly bad and was borderline going to take this down to a 3 but side A is so strong it had to be a 4.
PJ Harvey
2/5
Ugh, I kinda hated this
Jethro Tull
2/5
“Hey aqualung!!” - Ron Burgundy while performing sick yazz flute rendition.
Ehh it was ok.
AC/DC
4/5
Iconic opening riff. Lot of good riffs and melodies dispersed throughout.
Depeche Mode
3/5
I always underestimate the power of British techno. I was absolutely shocked to see Enjoy the Silence had 700 million listens on Spotify. That’s outrageous. No one should be listening to this that many times. I mean there’s times where I enjoyed certain sounds and melodies but as a cohesive entity I just still can’t get behind it. Just that electronic 90s experimental techno sound is just so cheesy to me.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Stevie’s voice is just unquestionably one one the top five male vocalists of all time. His runs/scats are so next level that it’s insane. That on top of inventive and unique piano/keyboard arrangements that he really is one of my favorite artists that we’ve had in this list. You and I literally brought a tear to my eye with how beautiful it was (or it could’ve been just how bad state played, who’s to say). Really wanted to give it a five but there was just one to many stinkers on here.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
3/5
I usually hate some of the British techno/synth pop that we’ve had before but I actually liked this one a little more surprisingly. Had some good melodies. The synth sounds have not aged well and sound super cheap, like some of the sounds are identical to this $50 electric keyboard I had when I was a kid. Also British people are so obsessed with Joan of arc. Haven’t we had like 3 albums have a song about her?
Radiohead
3/5
Really wanted to like this more than I did. Maybe I only like creep? Hopefully will get another of theirs to see again
The Police
4/5
I liked it. Sting has a very unique voice and some decent variety. But what the f was up with that mother song? That was terrible.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
Ya I was anticipating this was going to be a five just with how strong bayou country was but man did it still deliver. Excellent opening riff and just a great way to open an album. 4 singles that I had heard before nicely spaced throughout the album. I always shoutout lead guitars but I’ll swerve and give some love to the unsung heroes: the bass player. On freakin travelin band, I did have to look it up, but it was a quarter note=168 which is fuckin flyinggg. Talk about slappin da bass. Guy killed it. I also loved on the wiki article where the band describes their genre as “swamp rock” which is just a cool genre title that I had no idea existed but makes perfect sense for them. It’s interesting that in this time in rock so many people were doing the whole psychedelic thing but CCR is just like nah, and really tap in to those bluesy rock vibes circa Elvis, etc. I think My Baby Left Me is a cover of an Elvis song? Don’t quote me but pretty sure. Or maybe I’m just thinking of heartbreak hotel cuz it has similar cadences. This resets the bar as a good classic rock album as I’ve been lulled into a feeling of mediocrity with some of our most recent classic rock albums (like I think I would retroactively drop my rating for the police to a three). Give me more CCR.
And yes, the harmonica still fucks.
Norah Jones
4/5
Super glad this was on here as I probably would never have gone back to it without it. Just real solid music. Kind of poppy, singer songwriter, jazz, a few country ish songs. I’m not surprised this is one of the top selling albums of all time cuz I feel like this was everywhere. On the radio, every Starbucks, and everyone’s iTunes.
The Smiths
2/5
Just really not a fan of his voice.
MGMT
4/5
Just a really fun album. Also, really pleasantly surprised by the first song Time to Pretend. I guess I didn’t know that song was by them or on this album. When I think of MGMT I always just think of kids or electric feel. They just use such different instrumentation and synth sounds in such a cool way. Also, seems like they had a real grassroots type rise to fame where it took a long time for this album to get recognized. Which is cool.
Maxwell
3/5
I mean ya this is technically pretty good. Especially in a time before lofi beats. But this brings up a larger problem that if something like this is on this list and I don’t get any 90s country (Shania Twain, Tim McGraw, Brad paisley, Garth brooks were all massive at this time) I will be irate.
Michael Jackson
5/5
Ya it’s considered one of the best albums of all time and I don’t have anything revolutionary to say about it so I’ll give some fun facts: Having 7 out of 9 songs be singles is so wild. What’s also wild is how far apart they were released. In looking at the wiki entry, the song thriller wasn’t even released as a single until over a year after the albums release! That’s just so unfathomable now where an album is basically irrelevant after a couple months.
I was also surprised to see this described as a “post disco” album where they were trying to move away from the sound which is weird because the bass lines for thriller and Billie Jean are straight up disco beats, which I’m totally down for though.
Thriller is such a freakin good song. The musical structure of it seems kind of simple at first glance with just a repeating bass line and essentially four chords but what is so badass is after the third chorus, when the whole song has been in a minor key, you get this coda that has these major 7 chords with a full on Roger’s and Hammerstein vocal track all the way up to a 57sus4 splooge worthy chord that just comes out of nowhere. Also, I’m amazed how well the outro talking bit still holds up. Like this should have aged so poorly because it’s so cheesy but it’s still iconic.
Beat it is great.
Billie Jean is obvs real good, but this is one where there are so many good covers of this song (the civil wars is my fave) that I do kinda prefer the covers.
On PYT there’s a bit at the end where it sounds like Alvin the chipmunk that kanye samples for the background noise of Good Life.
I actually kinda hated the girl is mine. This should be so good with the Paul collab but this talking bit at the end really has aged poorly. Why on earth did they think that was a good idea.
Overall, this is just an amazing album that truly showed the power of music in popular culture.
Dexys Midnight Runners
2/5
Just really hate their voices. I liked the brass/chicago like instrumentation but that’s really the only thing that brings it up to a two for me. I also did kind of like the scrolling the radio bit on the first track but had it gone on for like five more seconds it would’ve gotten kinda annoying.
Kanye West
5/5
I distinctly remember listening to this when it came out and being like, this is the start of the fall for Kanye. The starting line of the new Kanye vs the old Kanye if u will. Originally I thought that was a bad thing but revisiting this I was shocked by how much I liked it. Some of these songs and beats go so freakin hard. There is zero “poppiness” to this album compared to his previous albums for better or worse for his fans. All the beats are very abrasive and in your face. There are a number of very provocative one liners, especially on new slaves, that isn’t just for happy go lucky type listening. The album really makes u pay attention. Came in expecting to give 3 or 4 but I can’t deny that I really liked it. Did not expect it to age better like this.
Also i remember black skinhead playing in the wolf of Wall Street trailer and was so epic that i was like omg I have to see this movie.
Janis Joplin
3/5
I’m glad I listened to this cuz I’ve heard so much about Janis Joplin but unfortunately it didn’t really blow me away or anything. When she gets in her upper register “scream” voice, she truly is lights out. Very unique and intriguing voice. Just none of the songs got me too hype.
Muddy Waters
2/5
This felt pretty unoriginal to me, even by 1960 standards. By this time, Ray Charles was off doing his thing, making songs that seem inventive even looking through a modern day lens, so it seems kinda weird to me that this just seems like such basic blues/jazz songs that don’t really move the needle at all. But this could be just classic white guy trying to analyze jazz so idk if I’m right.
Madonna
2/5
It’s like if daft punk had a baby and then Shania Twain had a baby and then by some miracle those two babies met and [at the appropriate legal age] fucked, that would be this album. Unfortunately, that genetic amalgamation is no good.
But you know what is good, madonnas song die another day from the movie die another day. I feel like no one ever talks about that song but it was a banger. And it was cool like usually during a bond credits opening it’s just like random stuff going on but in this like the scene keeps going and it’s bond being tortured with silhouetted women on fire all around him. Pretty cool. Maybe people were just focused on that scene where bond parasails down that massive wave with the roof of that weird ice speed racer and a parachute. Like who the hell green lit that idea. So bad. But freakin Halle berry. Wow. What a run she had. So hot. And that orange bikini. Goodness.
But ya this album sucked.
The Killers
5/5
Loved this album. Sure the front half is more loaded than the back but that really can’t negate how good that front half is. All these things that I’ve done is one of my favorite songs of all time. The use of the gospel choir with the I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier refrain is just so memorable. It’s hard to say at this point that Mr brightside is a favorite song just because it’s kinda like Colton eye joe, where you’ve heard it a million times so you’re kinda tired of it, but it’s nonetheless a banger.
Nick Drake
2/5
I was super hopefully after hearing those first acoustic chords and his voice in the first song but then my excitement started to wane. It’s like each song would start really well then by the end, it would just lose my interest. I really liked his voice though and Cello Song.
Drive Like Jehu
1/5
Hated it
Jean-Michel Jarre
2/5
I mean I guess it’s technically good for just electronic synth noises? This kinda music makes me think of that Friends episode where Ross thinks he’s this amazing artist at playing the electric keyboard.
Dr. Dre
3/5
I don’t necessarily have that much nostalgia for dr Dre or the chronic so I can’t really say I absolutely loved this album or anything. Obviously a lot of recognizable songs on here and classic beats/riffs which I do appreciate. Also shoutout to Ben folds cover of bitches ain’t shit, I forget how truly filthy that song is, hahaha.
The Who
2/5
I liked this more than our other who albums but that’s bolstered mostly just by baba o Riley and behind blue eyes. The other stuff is just ok. Their other songs have a really early queen sound and sometimes kinda mixed with CCR. It’s interesting.
Prince
3/5
Definitely funky. I’m all about that funk but it started to get a little old by the end. I don’t know too much about prince other than his main songs so this was a good introduction. None of these songs seemed super innovative here but seems like he’s forming his overall sound. I’m excited for more of him tho.
Johnny Cash
5/5
My grandfather was a big Johnny cash fan. He used to be in a jazz combo when he was in the army and was a music teacher for most of his life. One of the first records I ever got from him was a Johnny cash album “Orange Blossom Special”. He could also play the guitar better than anyone I knew and wrote out all of his own arrangements for hundreds of different songs by ear. Listening to this album takes me back to the days sitting in his old shed watching him play those old American classics for hours.
The song selection on this album and the stripped back minimalist arrangements here are just so perfect. Sure his voice is completely shot by this point in his life but man does it really hit home for me. Also I saw that this is his 62nd studio album!! Unreal. I could write a whole bit for most of these songs but I really don’t think that’s necessary.
I really missed my grandfather after listening to this and everything he taught me about music. The final track “we’ll meet again” truly brought me to tears. You really can’t script that any better for this to be the last song chronologically that Cash put out before he died. My grandfather was a religious man and I know he believed that we would meet again, and that’s comforting enough for me. Bless you Papa. Bless you Johnny cash. And bless every other musician who contributed to this album.
Masterpiece
The Rolling Stones
3/5
I’ve never been a big stones fan but I did enjoy this more than I expected. Their bluesy rock sound is somehow a little more endearing now that I’m a little older I guess. Something for me that I just can’t get over on any stones song is mick jaggers voice. I feel like it’s either u hate it or love it. There is a decent variety of instrumentation here so that’s cool. A strong three.
Daft Punk
2/5
Ahhh man 1 hour 15 of house music??? I mean ya I guess if I was gettin down and dirty in the club in the mid 2000s. I’m sure this was pretty wild in 1996 but listening to a whole album was pretty brutal.
Dolly Parton
4/5
I fully recognize that by the end of the album it’s kind of the same thing over and over again but man their harmonies are just so tight and pure that I really can’t give it less than a 4. Amazing singers.
ZZ Top
3/5
Real solid 70s rock album. Some catchy tunes and two that I knew. I liked their bluesy sound. They seem like a band that would be better to see live than just listening to an album. Strong 3
Tracy Chapman
4/5
Really enjoyed this album. Her songwriting is very interesting and distinct. It’s super cool, like the lyrics and the actual composition of the songs are not over produced or bogged down in symbolism. It’s simple yet powerful. She’s very “to the point” which allows for an engaging listen (as evident in the song Behind the wall). And Jesus fast car. What a freakin powerful heartbreaking song. The light nature of the acoustic guitar makes you feel that it’s going to be a happy ending but then she hits you with the final verse “see more of your friends then you do your kids” and you see the vicious circle of growing up around alcoholism. I know this song is everywhere now but something that I feel needs to be specifically pointed out and praised that people can take for granted is the songwriting ability to make the most memorable part of the song (the eye-ee-eye of the chorus) a completely original way to just say the word “I”. Top tier songwriting.
Metallica
3/5
Metallica definitely jams. I love their sound but I wouldn’t say any of these songs are my favorites of theirs and so I settled on a three. Also, this was a very aggressive way to go to work at 6 am this weekend. When I pulled up to the parking garage and rolled down my window to open the gate with this album blaring, the security guard gave me a look that was just “damn, white people are crazy” and I couldn’t really argue with him.
ZZ Top
4/5
It’s so hard to place them in a genre for me. Like they technically aren’t pop rock just because of how many electric guitars they use but their melodies and compositions really do have a catchy (if not formulaic) sound. Which isn’t a bad thing. Definitely enjoyed myself and I think I liked it better than the last one so I’ll give it a four.
Tortoise
1/5
I’ve only ever sold one album in my life and it was my uncle buying my cd from my senior project as a joke, so these guys are technically 50,000x better than me, and u know glass houses and not throwing stones and all that, but if you’re this band you’ve gotta go in your own Wikipedia article and remove that little tidbit of this selling 50,000 copies. Like that seems like a laughable number.
I hated Djed. And all the scratchy noises through its entirety was painful. I guess some of the other songs would be decent for an action/thriller movie score but I’m not here to listen to that.
One star.
Bee Gees
3/5
So this is obviously in their earlier stage of their career before they became synonymous with disco and high falsettos. It unfortunately falls a little flat and kinda boring but I have always freakin loved how do you mend a broken heart. That harmony section near the end of the song (dahhh dah dahdah dah dah dayah dahhhh…) I could listen to on repeat. So good. It is also cool though to see some of the beginnings (even though this is like their ninth album apparently??) of their sound that they will become famous for later on like in the song Israel. Barry does this little vocal riff but in a normal octave that sounds like his falsetto stuff later on. Also, would really encourage yall to watch the documentary about them on hbo. I thought it was really cool
R.E.M.
2/5
Not a fan. It’s the end of the world… wasn’t enough to save it.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Was way more folksy than I was anticipating which I’m down for! Also a surprising amount of variety in sounds which really made this an engaging album for me. Obviously had the key tracks black dog and stairway. We don’t often talk about this too much but they definitely deserve the recognition for making the song title “stairway to heaven”. Even if that song didn’t get that famous that’s just such an iconic song title. I loved the final jam track when the levee breaks (the first half of which sounds like every black keys song.
Steve Earle
2/5
This album feels like it’s the background music the live band is playing at the honky tonk while youre more focused on getting the girl with the ruby red lips blonde hair blue eyes and are about to bid your heart goodbye.
Pretty boring and forgettable. But thank u Mr Earle for giving us copperhead road.
Miles Davis
4/5
Even though I listened to this probably not in the proper setting (ideally would have been on my porch or living room with a nice bourbon) and rather while on a run, I found myself more engaged with the music than I expected to be. It’s such a mocked concept now in jazz that it’s actually just about “the notes that aren’t being played” but I didn’t find that to be the case here. Even in the improvisations, everything seemed very purposeful. The background rhythm sections are very pleasant and nice to listen to.
I also wish I could live the days of these awesome jazz nickname people, I.e cannonball adderly. Like there goes ol’ Jackhammer McEntire
Nirvana
5/5
Something I found kind of ironic about this album is that even though it oozes anti establishment and the whole grunge era stuff etc, it’s relatively formulaic. Hear me out, if you take out some of the distorted guitar and clean up cobains voice a little, it could sound like a pop punk album. Now I don’t mean this in a bad way and actually quite the opposite. I think that’s why this album was so commercially successful in that it disguises itself as this full on grunge thing but actually has very catchy/easy to learn choruses and pop-adjacent chord structures. Even the songs I didn’t know I found myself singing along to by the end of like 2-3 minutes. Having that kind of songwriting ability is so freakin rare to where it’s not just a distinct “one for me and one for them” type of vibe but rather a beautiful blend of writing what you know and actually making it something people want to listen to.
There’s like six songs on here that are certified to but I’ve got to give special love to come as you are. Gahhhh that opening guitar riff is sooooooo good. Splooge worthy. Also, something in the way in the new Batman movie was sick.
I hate the baby penis just staring me in the face. But other than that, I really can’t not give this a five.
Richard Thompson
2/5
This sounds like the kind of music Jenny from Forrest Gump wanted to play. I kinda liked the folksy vibe at the start but by the end I kinda hated it.
Bob Dylan
2/5
I liked this better than the last bob we had. Can actually understand him a little more here and he doesn’t use the traditional “bob dylan voice” as much. I like the way his verses flow. His sing/talky way of moving through the song can be nice sometimes. I feel like he would’ve been a great Freddie Spaghetti of the 60s. I just really didn’t like it overall. Even though I’m a sucker for the harmonica, maybe like the recording systems they had back then just really make it sound so abrasive where it’s really not pleasing.
Aretha Franklin
3/5
Has a timeless voice but it didn’t really budge over a three for me in this album.
Bauhaus
1/5
Hated it. If that’s the kind of sound these guys imagine as the “passion of lovers” then one of us ain’t doing love right and I don’t think it’s me.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
3/5
Didn’t get to the second disk but I think I get the gist. Always love me some banjo, fiddle, mandolin, etc. Could obvs do without the confederate flag. I enjoyed it but I like my bluegrass a little tighter, as in sharper harmonies and stuff like that. Clearly some of these old timers that are featured just don’t have the voice anymore. The instrumentation was out of sight though. Incredible string picking. It was cool to see mother maybelle (mother of June Carter ((wife of Johnny cash))) on here cuz she’s such an important part of music history but sadly I didn’t really care for that song.
Willie Nelson
4/5
I’ve always loved this album. One of the original vinyls that I got from my grandfather that got me into collecting. I didn’t really know anything about this album when I got it. I had just picked it out cuz of Willie but then I happened to watch this Netflix documentary thing and they were discussing this album a lot. Apparently this was peak Willie Nelson in his outlaw country phase and the studio kept pushing him to do more of the same and he was like, nah, ima do my own thing, and made this album of old standards, which by this point, was pretty worn out and people weren’t really doing anymore. What came out of it is a really no nonsense, zero frills album that on the surface you could argue that this is a pretty boring, nothing spectacular kind of thing. What I’ve come to realize though is that is kind of the point. It gives enough spin on the original song to make it uniquely Willy but still honors those classic compositions by just letting the songwriting speak for itself and prove why these songs are considered standards.
Duke Ellington
4/5
Of the jazz albums we’ve had so far, I definitely enjoyed this one the most. It felt very upbeat and more fun to listen to. Thanks to American Hustle for introducing me to jeeps blues. That song is a banger and just the epitome of that old school jazz sound that u need sometimes. Also this gets an extra star just for that trumpet player at the end of festival junction. That last note that he plays at the end is a Db(7) as in 3 octaves higher than middle c, and only 11 notes higher than this on the entire musical spectrum. If you’ve ever played a trumpet before or any wind instrument, that’s just insane. God tier lip, cheek, lung, and breath control.
Billy Joel
5/5
What an embarrassment of riches here. So many great jams on this album. What I always love about a Billy Joel album is it’s never too long in terms of song count. It’s always just like 8 or 9 songs which really is the way an album should be. Don’t give me half assed filler songs just to make an album longer. That kind of mindset about an album is likely why 6 of these 9 songs are easily recognizable of anyone who is not just a fan of Joel but of classic rock in general.
Such a great variety of jams here and all with such unique features that make them easy to fall in love with. The ack ack ack bit of movin out, the distinct Rhodes electric piano on just the way you are, the middle interlude of Scenes, the beautiful piano riff of Vienna, the easy to sing and clap along chorus of only the good die young and the come down ballad of she’s always a woman. Just great songwriting. Theres such a special place for albums like this where you don’t need to be inspired by the lyrics or progress the genre forward but just having good fun music that you want to sing along to.
Joel has always been a man of the people and, speaking for the people, thank you for what you’ve given us.
Sinead O'Connor
2/5
It was ok. Wasn’t a big fan of the voice.
The War On Drugs
3/5
It was an enjoyable indie rock album! His voice kind of gave me bob dylan vibes. Nothing super spectacular to make me come back probably.
Parliament
2/5
Is there a thing as too much funk?? I didn’t think it was possible but I think I found it here. Just a lot of groovy beats but no real melody and nothing super outstanding to me.
Radiohead
3/5
For some reason back in high school I was obsessed with no surprises, especially after seeing the music video with the guys helmet slowly filling up with water as he’s singing. I felt so edgy and musically liberated. So I was going into this album expecting to like it a lot but idk why it just really didn’t hit for me (especially with how many comparisons with Coldplay they get).
Os Mutantes
2/5
Goodness. There would be brief glimpses where I would start to think that I’d like the song but then there would be a voice or instrumentation that ruined it. Un-relistenable
Yes
3/5
I always love an album that starts off with an instrumental jam. That first minute and a half of yours is no disgrace was an excellent start and then it was a little all over from the place from there. I don’t really like it when bands just combine two or three completely separate sounding songs and then just combine them into one whole song. It’s hard to follow along and I really don’t see the point. I really like some of their sounds but the whole album was just a bit too muddled. Can’t give it higher than a three.
Carole King
4/5
There’s something about this album that feels so timeless. It has a sound/vibe that feels like it could’ve been from 5-10 years ago. I expected it to be front loaded just because of how strong those first three songs were but even the back half has you’ve got a friend, where you lead, and you make me feel. Interesting to learn about you make me feel like, I didn’t know she originally helped write this song for Aretha. Obviously her voice isn’t as strong as hers but I think she does an awesome job in making it her own. Loved having this album on a Friday where I could actually listen to it twice this weekend.
(Also I always get Carole King/Carly Simon mixed up. If I’ve told you that Carole king was married to James Taylor then I apologize ((it’s Carly Simon)) cuz I know I’ve told people that before. But it makes sense why I was confused cuz Carole and James were good friends and he actually plays guitar and background vocals on this album and obvs covers you’ve got a friend later this year)
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
Liked this album, unfortunately just didn’t love it as much as I did Californiacation. This album feels a little more grunge which is fine on certain songs like on give it away but on some of the others that I wasn’t as familiar with, it just didn’t tickle my fancy. I was also shocked to see under the bridge on this album as that seems like a song they would’ve done later on in their career. It really didn’t seem to fit on this album and comes across kinda jarring when it finally comes up in the second half of the album. I kinda want to watch that documentary to see if they talk about that or if that was intentional or not.
Kate Bush
3/5
I just really don’t have much of an attachment to this 80s style synth pop rock. Has a banger of a first track that will boost it up to a three and then other than that pretty forgettable and would otherwise be a two.
The Doors
3/5
For the first half of the album I was like ahh, I kinda like this electric keyboard vibe in the background of the songs (circa I’m a believer by the monkees kind of sound). After like the 7th song with the electric keyboard in it, that shit started to get old. I’ve never really listened to the doors much and I know Jim Morrison is considered a legend so I’m glad I did but can’t give it more than a three
Van Halen
4/5
Probably like most people, my first introduction to Van Halen was jump which, as I later learned was not really emblematic of their catalog. I really don’t like that song tbh. It’s not the artists fault, it’s just that it’s in so many things like cheesy movies, shows etc that I got so tired of it. I do like that there is that little intro song before it on the album and it makes it a little more palatable going into that futuristic (at the time) synth sound. Despite my feelings about jump the rest of the album bangs. Panama is so great and actually has some very cool chord progression stuff near the end in I guess what would be the bridge in the last 30 seconds with those major ascending whole steps that elevate it to more than just a basic rock song. At 33 minutes I maybe could have done with one or two more songs but it really didn’t feel that short.
David Ackles
1/5
This was unlistenable. It sounds like this guy was really trying to make it in the musical theater realm but couldn’t and so just made an album. Are there profound lyrics here? Maybe. I couldn’t tell u because of how much I wanted to stop listening.
The Stooges
2/5
Ok. A little strange. I vibes with some of it. Was at a 3 and then I suffered through all of “we will fall” thinking I was going to be rewarded with a sick guitar solo or something at the end but I was sadly mistaken. Down to a 2 after that injustice.
Arcade Fire
4/5
I remember peak indie rock years when their subsequent album won album of the year at the Grammys and I tried to get into them but just wasn’t a fan. I think time has really helped because going back to this album I feel like I liked it a lot more. There’s a number of standard indie rock sounds (keep the car running is like the template indie rock sound around this time) while also having a few weird/unique sounds to make it more “indie” (black mirror, intervention, windowsill). I wish the lead singer was a little better. Like he’s trying to do a vibrato thing like Muse lead singer but isn’t quite as good. I would say low 4 high 3.
Lauryn Hill
3/5
I appreciated it and liked some of the songs but it was a bit too long and got repetitive. I’m just not super into 90s r&b
The Last Shadow Puppets
3/5
At first I was like, dang, this guy really sounds like the Arctic Monkeys singer and then finally looked it up and it was! Cool collaboration. I was really vibing with it. Liked the tight two person harmonies they were doing in a lot of their songs. It had a kind of retro feel to it almost like the Beatles (not necessarily in terms of quality but just that kind of sound on early Beatles albums). I thought I was going to give it a 4 but by the end I realized there wasn’t any particular memorable song and this morning I had forgotten what the album was so will drop to 3.
ABBA
4/5
Unfortunately no certified abba bangers on here but I still had a good time. Abbas songwriting abilities need to be studied by every upcoming musician. There’s a reason why so many abba songs have become popular again on TikTok and stuff. Their ability to make such catchy and inventive new sounds and melodies is unmatched by most of their contemporaries.
Elvis Costello
2/5
I just really hate his voice. It sounds like a karaoke bar where some guy is really going for it and no one has the balls to tell him he is making everyone’s ears bleed.
AC/DC
4/5
Unfortunately hells bells has been kinda ruined for me as it’s played on every third down in every football stadium in America but gosh dang is that an iconic opening. AC/DC freakin jam and each song individually rock so hard. As an album it is a little tricky just because I do get a little tired of the voice when listening to it for an entire 50 minutes. You shook me all night long comes as a much needed change of pace and style but I wish it could’ve been a little earlier in the album. I can’t in good faith give this less than a four because the iconic songs are so iconic and the others still jam but it is a low 4
Supergrass
3/5
I had fun
Pavement
2/5
I appreciated the indie rock vibe, especially with never having heard of this band before but nothing too exciting.
The Pretty Things
2/5
I could maybe see this having some influence back in the 60s but had not aged that well and Lordy is it long.
Minutemen
4/5
Hi I’m Matthew McEntire and this is Jammin Buddies. This album really gave me vibes of just a bunch of dudes who knew how to play instruments pretty well but didn’t know how to actually write a full song so were just like fuck it, let’s write a bunch of riffs and see what happens. Despite the ungodly amount of songs and its length I found myself really liking this album. Like a Jackass stunt, some of them really work and some don’t but u find yourself kinda excited for what’s next.
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
I’ve started and stopped writing this review so many times. I’ve just loved this album for so long I don’t know anything new to say. I love it to bottom. All the singles are obviously amazing but even the just album tracks stand on their own. The chain, Songbird, and never going back again are some of my all time favorites. Just love it all.
Joan Baez
2/5
I decided to go back to this album because I just watched “a complete unknown” about bob dylan and Joan Baez is very prevalent in it and in his life. She was clearly very important in the folk music scene at this time but the movie emphasizes how folk music was stagnant in just doing covers of old songs time and time again which is present on this album. Wild to learn that house of the rising run is actually a traditional folk song and not just by the animals. She sings this in the movie acapella and honestly gave me goosebumps it was so good. Her actual singing voice unfortunately is such of a product of its time where it just really had not aged well. Maybe it sounds better live but on a recording it gets kind of abrasive.
Boston
4/5
What a freakin one-two punch with more than a feeling and peace of mind! I have a special place in my heart for Boston. I will always treasure my dad and I jamming out to Bostons greatest hits in his Honda accord (of which he still drives). U can definitely hear the “classical music” influences the main composer had on the beginning of Foreplay/long time. Just an unreal blend of classical and power rock sounds. Was hoping to give it a five but it kinda dropped off a little by the end.
Turbonegro
3/5
A nice little change up. It was fun for a bit then kinda started to run together. I just love how Iceland/Scandinavian countries are known for metal/punk rock bands which just seems so out of place in meeting their people.
The Smiths
2/5
U know that theory that says you’re predisposed to like certain things based on certain sound frequencies you hear in utero? Well it’s the opposite of that for me with the smiths. Idk, there’s definitely worse vocalists we’ve had but I just don’t get all the hype with them. I’ve done my due diligence in trying multiple times to like them to no avail.
Beastie Boys
4/5
Man I forgot how much I like sabotage!! That song goes so freakin hard. The rest of the album didn’t stand out too much too me unfortunately. The Beastie Boys sound is just such a unique, distinct, and at this point, nostalgic sound. Don’t know if it actually deserves a four but I just loved being back in this unique music period again.
Hawkwind
1/5
You know that scene from friends where Ross plays the keyboard at central perk? This. With more acid.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
I can see why this was the “commercial breakthrough” for the stones. I liked it more than I expected to (despite paint it black on the US version which is just a song I’ve never really seen the appeal for. I guess the UK version got it right with leaving this song off). For the most part, the songs are pretty crisp with some memorable hooks and riffs here and there.
James Brown
4/5
I really enjoyed this album. A good blend of jazz undertones combined with more current (for the time) rock beats. Wish the songs would’ve been a little longer. I’m also just a sucker for live albums. Feels cool to be listening to the exact sounds at that exact moment in time.
Supergrass
3/5
I do think watching a wombat in a washing machine would be more entertaining than this but it was better than I expected. Some good guitar riffs scattered throughout but by the end of each song I had already forgotten what I just listened to. Just real whiney.
David Bowie
2/5
I guess I’m only a David Bowie hits kind of guy. Even the cover of across the universe was much worse than the original. Was hoping I would like it more.
David Bowie
2/5
Ugh this has been really disappointing with Bowie thus far. I think someone said this on one his previous albums but I had the same issue with hearing him on a few songs, like something was weird with the production. The dissonance on Aladdin Sane song was painful to listen to and went on far too long. Jean genie was pretty good
Björk
1/5
Brutal
The Temptations
5/5
I put the “GRR” in swinger baby!
This album starts off with so much funk it’s like from an Austin powers movie. I really didn’t know what to expect because tbh the only temptations song I really know is my girl so I was expecting this to be kinda cheesy but I was pleasantly surprised about the craftsmanship of this album! The production quality is excellent. The variety of musical styles: funk, soul, r&b, jazz are all on display. I had a great time
Radiohead
2/5
Hail to the thief that stole the time I’ll never get back by listening to this album.
(That’s a bit harsh but i did not like it)
Beastie Boys
3/5
Every time we listen to a beastie boys album it really makes me wish I could’ve seen them live. They have so much energy I feel like they would’ve been a bangin concert. Casually listening to a whole album of theirs just isn’t the move for me but I do appreciate their sound
Rush
3/5
Didn’t really know much rush besides Tom Sawyer so this was cool to listen to.
Ray Charles
5/5
How can you have vocal cracks that are still in key?!! Idk how it’s done but Ray Charles seriously is one of the top 5 vocalists of all time. It’s not a perfect voice by any means but his range is impeccable. He hits the high notes with such ease and his low register just oozes of soul. If the whole background choir sound isn’t for you, I totally get it and wouldn’t argue against you but I think it just provides such a distinct flare for this time period in music. That in addition to the blaring horn sections. This is what I want out of brass, just some whaling saxophones and trumpets with some incredible jazz chords. And no Ray Charles album would be complete without talking about the Rayelettes, namely on you are my sunshine. That harmony at the very end with the c7 to f resolution just gives me goosebumps every time. I also love the arrangement of tracks on this album where it is simply a fast one then a slow one then a fast one, etc. It’s simple yet effective. I’m not positive on this but I do think this particular version is a reissue with more tracks on it which does hurt it a little bit, just because by the end some of the songs kind of start to run together but f that. “Genius” is thrown out a lot whenever talking about Ray Charles and it’s not hard to see why.
Franz Ferdinand
4/5
Super fun. I was fully engaged throughout. I’m just shocked this was 2004. It seemed like this came out so much later because take me out followed me all through high school and college.
Snoop Dogg
3/5
There were a lot more “frills” on here than I would expect from a snoop dogg album. For someone that’s so chill and raps about smoking all day, there was just too much extra stuff going on in the songs that I didn’t like too much. I’ve always loved snoops flow and when it’s just him rapping over a beat I was much more engaged.
I’m very intrigued to listen to Easy Dick and the jack off hour on 187.4 FM
Public Enemy
4/5
Don’t know if I’ve ever actually listened to them before but have always heard how influential they are. Even though realistic and progressive lyrics like this aren’t to hard to find these days, I’m sure back in the early 90s this was pretty mind blowing. Also really liked their flow and was pretty entertaining to listen to.
D'Angelo
2/5
This is some smooth baby making music. I always want to like 90s r&b but then I get so bored with it so easily. This fell into that same trap that by after the third or fourth song, I really couldn’t understand why this was on this list. It didn’t seem to revolutionary or advancing the genre forward. Definitely groovy though.
Blue Cheer
3/5
Solid rock album. Love the length.
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
2/5
Is this the worst drum solo of all time on what’d I say?? It sounds like that scene in Tarzan when Rosie o Donnell and the other gorillas who have never seen human life or artifacts before are learning to play with instruments for the first time. Speaking of terrible solos, have yall ever seen that Nick Jonas guitar solo at some music awards a couple years ago? It’s been popping up on my feed a couple times recently. It truly is so bad. I feel bad for him though cuz I’m sure he’s somewhat talented. But back to what’d I say, this is also just a terrible cover in general. They think by just changing the genre to a rock song that that’s doing something original but it just makes it worse. The rest of the album is not much better. They feel like blues-lite. Feels pretty generic and their blues melodies and rhythms don’t have much soul. Was going to give this a 1 because of how annoyed I got at this but I have to give it at least a 2 because of the obligatory harmonica. Decent harmonica work here.
Neil Young
3/5
I actually did enjoy Mr Young this time around. Having the symphony arrangements seemed a little weird at first (I don’t think in any of his previous ones has he played with a symphony before) but I settled into it by the end. Still not much to write home about but it was decent easy listening.
Songhoy Blues
4/5
This is the kind of album I really appreciate from this. Very unique and something that I probably would have never picked up otherwise. Their story is fascinating and heartbreaking. Some of the songs do seem to be a bit repetitive but I really enjoyed the bluesy instrumentation.
JAY Z
4/5
I’m not gonna lie and be like I know all the jay z deep cuts (honestly the only song I knew from this album was heart of the city) but just hearing him in the early part of his career is such a treat. He just has such a great flow even if I don’t really understand all the beef that he is referring to.
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
Super smooth!! He’s got an amazing voice and thoroughly enjoyed it all the way through. I didn’t recognize his name at first but then I discovered I had a song of his already, “cold little heart” which was the theme song from big little lies which seemed to be everywhere for a couple of years there.
Fugees
3/5
I know I’m probably gonna be in the minority here but I’m just not a huge fan of this album. I’ve always heard how good it is and maybe that played into some of my disappointment. Lauren Hill obviously has an amazing voice, killing me softly is a banger and I loved the no woman no cry cover but there were just a few too many songs that I was tuned out for. I know. Don’t @ me.
Funkadelic
2/5
That intro for the first song kinda creeped me out not gonna lie. I’m sure in 1971 that was a little eyebrow raising. Pretty decent here. Nothing too cray for me.
Doves
2/5
I’m always excited for a modern band that I haven’t really heard of before but this was honestly just kind of boring to me. Nothing really stood out. Not bad but meh.
Bon Jovi
4/5
Had no idea all three of these massive hits are on one album. The production and editing of these songs is very interesting because it’s enough polish to make them “radio hits” but not over done which still gives it an authentic rock/head banging feel. Wanted dead or alive comes in a nice spot as the #5 track to slow it down some and change up the vibe as the first four songs are all relatively up beat with a similar tempo. Even some of the songs I didn’t know sound just very confident and feel like they could have been a single as well. Excellent album to see on this list.
Sarah Vaughan
4/5
I thought with a short wiki article and someone that I hadn’t heard of that I would just come in and be like “jazz, cool” and give a two or three but this really surprised me. She has a super pleasant voice to listen to and just overall smooth good listening jazz. Also the live album here really takes it to the next level, more so than some of the other live albums we’ve had. Full with mistakes and improvisations (on top of probably already improvised jazz) that really make you feel present.
Faith No More
3/5
A solid metal/rock album. I feel like I’ve heard the song Epic somewhere?
Elton John
4/5
And we back boys. What a great album to come back to. I’ve got this album on vinyl and have always loved it but when I was listening a little more intentionally this time, I kinda forgot how many stinkers are in between grey seal and Saturday night. Elton has enjoyed surprising longevity in his career but one thing that always follows him is that even though he’s got a ton of hits, that also comes with a ton of not so good songs. I think if he had just cut this down to one album (with the inclusion of Saturday night) and taken out the second half of the album it would be an easy 5 for me.
If you haven’t listened to Sara barellies live cover of goodbye yellow brick road stop what you’re doing right now and listen to it because it’s the best thing you’ll listen to all day.
Santana
3/5
Decent change up. Shout out to Mr Dotson and middle school jazz band where we played oye como va incessantly. Nice easy listening
Jane's Addiction
4/5
I forgot how hard mountain song goes! Such a jam. The rest of the album jams pretty hard too.
The Temptations
2/5
Kinda agree with the haters from back in 68 on this one. Found it pretty boring with not many memorable melodies. Especially considering the previous temptations album we had.
Nas
5/5
My lack of knowledge of 90s rap has been well documented so I’ve really never sat down and listened to Nas before. Huge mistake. I absolutely love his flow. He’s got a great sound. There’s not a lot of extra fluff or frills here which I love and a perfect length of only 39 minutes. Definitely going to give this a listen again.
Ryan Adams
4/5
Ya really not sure how I hadn’t really heard of this dude. Really liked it. Think I like the Tim McGraw version of when the stars go blue better but it was cool to hear the original.
Otis Redding
4/5
Love his voice and sound.
Pink Floyd
5/5
Just epic in scope and musicality. The guitar riffs and solos are excellent and super memorable. I was starting to get a little unengaged around the middle but then that crazy operatic “bring the boys back home” automatically brings you back in with its jarring change of pace only to let u down back easy right into comfortably numb. Not what I was expecting from this album and I’m ashamed of myself that I didn’t get into Pink Floyd earlier.
Miles Davis
3/5
I had a good time. The opening guitar of In A Silent Way really gave me some Friday Night Lights guitar vibes. I dig it
Jorge Ben Jor
3/5
Cool
Germs
1/5
Nah
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
Meh
Fatboy Slim
4/5
Bangers
Bob Dylan
3/5
Voice is surprisingly a little better on this album especially since this was like his 17th album or whatever. But not surprisingly still just ok for me.
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
Because I’ve listened to it so many times it’s hard to really review this album. To try and pin point why I liked it so much in the first place and why its popularity has lasted so long. I think one of the biggest things about when it came out was that rap had become pretty poppy (the blueprint 3, watch the throne, recovery,…) where the generic formula was to get a pop artist for the hook/chorus and it would be a radio hit. This album took such a different turn than all that which made it so unique. The story throughout the album is done so intriguing and really rewards listening to the album as a whole. Love his flow. Love most all the songs. Love this album.
A core musical moment for me is when I went to bonnaroo in 2013, Kendrick was playing super early in the day (which is typically reserved for the bands that aren’t as popular) but the crowd was absolutely massive. He comes out and starts off with m.A.A.d city and the crowd screaming “yack, yack, yack, yack” at the beginning was probably one of the most hype things I’ve ever seen. Also, quite ironic to think back on this show now cuz Macklemore came out and played right after Kendrick (the infamous Grammys moment hadn’t happened yet).
Bob Marley & The Wailers
5/5
Another that’s super hard to be objective. I just love bob so much. Such a unique sound. It’s a weird combination of such carefree vibes while also caring so much (in terms of the content of some of his lyrics).
Wild Beasts
2/5
Such a tease. The music started off so good and thought I was going to get a solid indie rock band and then the voice. Just so bad.
The Beach Boys
2/5
I get that they were older and trying to go for a little more mature sound but this just feels kind of like a Beatles-experimentalism rip off. The harmony in that middle section of Disney girls is some true Brian Wilson genius but other than that was kind of bored with it. It’s interesting in the wiki article they were like “oh it’s cool listening to The Beach Boys again” but idk how cool it is singing about the day in the life of a tree….but maybe I’m just a square.
The Kinks
3/5
Fun in some spots but didn’t stick with me too much.
Raekwon
3/5
I was enjoying it but wasn’t listening super intently to give higher or lower than a three.
Keith Jarrett
5/5
What is this? Is it considered jazz just because it’s improvised? Is it neo classical, modernist (in the 70s at least)? In the first song/movement I was worried I was going to be kind of bored because of the extremely repetitive left hand/bass notes but then I quickly realized it was essentially putting me in a trance. I let it just take me along for the ride and I absolutely loved it. Is it actually 5 stars? Maybe not but this hit me at a great time this weekend and I was real into it. Very inventive and something I’ve never really heard before. Also the story about how he recorded and improvised all of this is fascinating.
a-ha
2/5
Startin off with a banger with take on me and then I’d never heard of the sun always shines on tv which was a jam but overall, that 80s synth sound just really doesn’t age well compared to other genres on this list.
Beatles
5/5
Reading some of the history about this album is so fascinating. It’s so interesting that John was more interested in a traditional album (side A) and Paul was really pushing for the interconnected “suite” (side B) and that division really contributed to them breaking up. What’s so cool about this is that you really get the best of both worlds. The first half has some all time classics (except Maxwell’s silver hammer, wtf was up with that Paul) and then you get such a cool unique snippet of songs that have some recurring chords or melodies. Even though chronologically this is their second to last album, they actually recorded these songs after the Let It Be sessions which adds a cool aspect into the legend behind this album that I find so cool.
Brief anecdote: 10 years ago, post coitus (sorry), my now wife and I would be just listening to this vinyl on repeat, trying to decipher what the hell any of the side B songs meant. But when it would get to Golden Slumbers we would both stop talking and really just take in the beauty of the song. I would imagine being able to sing this lullaby of a song to my child. I now do.
Love this album.
Elliott Smith
4/5
Seems like an artist Matt Freer would be really into. I dug it as well. Gonna have to listen to more of his stuff
Kings of Leon
3/5
I remember liking this album back in the day, but coming back to it now, it really doesn’t age that well. I really like his voice and their vibe, but his voice on a slow song is just not it. It’s a soft 3 for me but probably could be a 2.
Hi! Geege here! I saw them live once and they rocked, but the lead singer was forgetting lyrics. Which was sad. I’m a stickler for lyrics. Anyways. This album isn’t their best imo. V repetitive.
Green Day
4/5
It always shocks me how old Green Day is. Some great bangers on this album that I didn’t realize were this old. I feel like Green Day doesn’t always get the recognition they deserve but like their “sound” honestly is what I imagine as the sound of the 2000s
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
Really liked this album. Although would not recommend it for driving home on on long car ride being slightly tired because there’s a number of songs in the middle section that play the same notes the whole song and can really lull u to sleep.
5/5
I remember liking some of the popular Muse songs back in the day but I did not know how hard they went. That opening fuckin jams. Just a cacophony of sound that perfectly rides the line of being artistic vs unlistenable. There is such a wide variety of styles and sounds going on here: techno, punk, rock, black keys type catchy guitar riffs, queen esque harmonies on that soldier song as well as lead singers distinct use of vibrato. All of it blending to a sound that is so unique that you can easily and quickly identify it as a Muse song when u hear it, which is a difficult feat. Was absolutely jamming to this. Easy 5 stars
Tears For Fears
4/5
Didn’t know these guys had this much game. An unexpectedly really good album that I only knew as a one hit wonder. Just really enjoyable listening.
Queen
4/5
3 iconic songs: you’re my best friend, love of my life, and bohemian. I was kinda surprised that the rest of the album did fall a little flat. Some of the other songs just seem so half baked. I do absolutely love the piano part on love of my life.
Now the bohemian rhapsody bit. This song might be one of the greatest compositions of all time. It does one of the greatest things you can do in music which is blend so many different cultures and styles into a completely new entity. The layered voices acapella section, which honestly I really don’t know enough music history to even know what inspired this because there’s really nothing else quite like it but maybe some kind of barbershop vibe with its razor sharp harmonies. The British power ballad section. The operatic section circa Italian/german/austrian influences. The American influenced hard rock section. And then finally a classically themed coda with a simple one handed piano outro that could’ve been written by Bach or Beethoven. I don’t think a song will ever pierce pop culture quite like this song has ever again.
Wish I could give it a five just for bohemian but I think as an album it’s a 4.
Tim Buckley
2/5
Each song starts off kinda cool then gets progressively more lame.
David Bowie
3/5
First half started off really strong where I thought this could be 4/5 but then back half kinda struggled. Life on mars is maybe my favorite Bowie song.
Little Simz
3/5
I really liked the flow but it was a bit too mellow and nothing really stood out.
Black Sabbath
5/5
Iconic. Awesome melodies and still goes so hard.
LTJ Bukem
2/5
Sounds like the background of a 90s-2000s video game.
Beck
2/5
Well you can derelict my balls - Hansel
Not an enjoyable listen.
Buffalo Springfield
2/5
Slightly better than I expected but still kinda lame.
Adele
5/5
Just masterful soulful singing on display here. I think all I ask is one of the best songs of the 21st century. A beautiful simple piano melody topped with a deceptively difficult vocal from Adele. The build up to the third chorus key change is phenomenal. In the first two choruses she pulls back a little bit by using her falsetto and by the time you get to the third she just punches straight through it, leaving the listener stunned. Fun fact, Bruno mars helped write this song. Ton of other great songs here as well.
Mekons
2/5
Was pretty excited going in based on the little wiki article but this was pretty lame. Didn’t like his voice.
Jerry Lee Lewis
3/5
Thought this was a super cool live album to do and to actually hear how Jerry Lee played live but by the end it all kinda ran together. I was hoping for at least changing It up on some of the songs but it all sounded like great balls of fire.
T. Rex
2/5
Liked the groove but not so much the voice.
Lorde
2/5
Really got tired of her breathy sing/talking. Wasn’t an enjoyable listen. Maybe royals was supposed to be just a one hit wonder.
“I am Lorde, ya, ya ya” - Lorde, Randy Marsh
Adele
4/5
Incredible voice and incredible album. The biggest thing for me that takes it down to a 4 (and one of the reasons I like 25 over this one) is just that I’ve never been a fan of rolling in the deep. I know it’s a very cold take but there’s always just been something about it that I haven’t jived with and since it’s like the main single from this album I’ve got to take it down one star. But otherwise incredible variety and vocals here.
Pere Ubu
1/5
Probably not actually a one star but the song laughing is one of the worst songs of all time. Destroyed my ears. Why would u put that into the world.
M.I.A.
3/5
The beats were super fun but I felt like a lot of the songs went on a bit too long.
Randy Newman
2/5
Was not expecting him to be on here. Also was not expecting him to sound the exact same 20 years later as he does in Toy Story which just makes it a little bit hard to take him seriously. Also what was up with some of those lyrics. I was kinda half listening at one point and then I was like, wait, what did he say?? Interesting.
Hot Chip
4/5
Some enjoyable stuff here. Also loved the album cover. Reminded me of MS paint back in windows 98
Linkin Park
4/5
This is so unfortunately a “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone” situation. RIP Chester. I don’t think I’ve listened to this album all the way through before but I knew a few songs scattered throughout. Not sure if it was just because it was the bonus edition that I listened to but I would’ve been happy with 10 or 11 songs as opposed to 15. Takes it down to a 4 for me but was absolutely jamming.
The Allman Brothers Band
3/5
It was ok but super long, relatively generic sounding guitar solos don’t really play too well just listening to on a record. I’m sure it would be dope to see live but it doesn’t do too much for me in this type of setting. Would’ve also loved to at least see one of their hits on this album.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
It came and went
Kacey Musgraves
4/5
There’s something to be said about the simplicity of this album. Mostly acoustic, not too many frills, beautiful voice, and just good old fashioned songwriting. I would definitely understand arguments against it but I just really liked it. Also, a rare album to have the last song be the best. Rainbow is just so good. Beautiful piano ballad.
Green Day
5/5
I can directly pinpoint this album as being my first introduction to alt/punk rock after Mr sandman was playing this album at 6th grade dances. And it’s not necessarily like I was a huge Green Day fan but the hits from this album truly opened me up to what music could be and not what is just on the radio. This is just a great album. Incredible banger to open with and keeps you jamming all the way through