At Newport 1960
Muddy WatersA legend who many of my favorite bands cite as one of their influences. I think I would enjoy a studio album more than a live one.
A legend who many of my favorite bands cite as one of their influences. I think I would enjoy a studio album more than a live one.
YES. YES. YES. How have I gone my whole life without knowing about this album? This album is testament to how valuable this project can be. By doing this, I discovered a 5/5 album and a gateway to a piece of music history I once never knew.
A nice gem to find on this list. Will listen again.
My first Talking Heads experience. Why I thought the album was average, I’m excited to dive more into their discography after listening.
Loved it - sounds like it could have been released today. Will definitely relisten in the future.
I understand that the Smiths are a culturally significant band, but I just can’t get into them. I found this album boring and annoying.
Always down for something soulful. Not sure if I would ever return to this on my own but great to play at a dinner party, etc. Cooke comes off as a great showman. Favorite track was “Bring it on Home to me”.
Good listen. Fav tracks - Neighborhood #1, Crown of Love
I first discovered this album early in college and the influence it has had on my life is immense. The music of the Black Keys became the soundtrack to my college experience and their music is still discussed amongst my friend group today. While I prefer the earlier albums of the band, Brothers was the entry point for me to their discography. The album holds up for the most part today, although I believe it could be shortened by three or four songs. My favorite tracks tend to be the slower ones, especially those in which Dan sings in falsetto (Everlasting Light, The Only One, These Days, Unknown Brother).
Affirmation that I do not enjoy music from the 80s.
Energetic and fun album.
Worst album of the list so far.
Catchy, different, and creative… but the track list and songs felt too long at times. Overall enjoyable but wouldn’t listen to again.
Did they intentionally try to make the most annoying album possible? The 80s were rough…
I’ve listened to the album with Nico a countless amount of times, I’ve seen the documentary, and I know all my favorite bands cite the Velvet Underground as their favorite band… but I’ve never ventured further into their discography until now. What a shame because this album is outstanding. My first 5/5.
Went in completely blind to this project and did not expect what I was going to hear. Not a fan of long albums so my interest wasn’t sustained. It put me to sleep - which isn’t necessarily a criticism.
Excellent song writing and harmonizing. The last track felt powerful and brings you back to the time period. Wasn’t a fan of the electric guitar song.
A legend who many of my favorite bands cite as one of their influences. I think I would enjoy a studio album more than a live one.
Straight up fun album.
I’m almost certain that I’m in the minority of millennials who never were into Linkin Park in the ‘00s. Listening to this album didn’t change that. Some songs really stood out…others sounded too similar to each other. Overall, decent listening experience but I have no interest listening again in the future.
Can’t go wrong with jazz.
Favorite tracks: Motion Picture and Ambulance Blues
The album got off to a great start. My immediate reaction was that this album was going to be a 4. But as the album dragged on, I became progressively more uninterested and frustrated that is was still playing, counting down the tracks until it was over.
Legend.
Kick ass from the opening seconds. More Sabbath, please.
As a huge Jack White fan, I was excited to see this album on this list. Blunderbuss is a great solo debut, capturing the many reasons of what makes Jack White one of greats of his time: killer guitar tone, old school feels, thoughtful lyrics. Some magic is missing from this album, especially when comparing it to Jack White’s work with the White Stripes and Raconteurs. Overall, 4/5. Favorite track: Take me with you when you go
Oh boy. The Smashing Pumpkins are one of the most important bands in my life. I was gifted the album Siamese Dream when I was 15 and it was transformative. My notebooks throughout high school were littered with Billy Corgan lyrics as well as SP hearts. I even rocked my own Zero t-shirt. This was all in the late 2000s, way past the Pumpkins peak; so like the subject matter of many Billy Corgan lyrics, I felt alone in my fandom for this band. To this day, listening to SD or MCIS brings back the feelings of being a teenager. While I prefer SD over MCIS, that is not to say that MCIS is not a classic and a near perfect body of work. The album has incredible range, with songs as dynamic and heavy as Jellybelly, Porceleina, Here is No Why, etc., contrasted with tracks so incredibly gentle and beautiful as the title track, In the Arms of Sleep, and By Starlight. Thus dichotomy of the album, and the band throughout their discography, is what I perhaps most adore about the Pumpkins. Notes: -the title track is apparently a song Corgan wrote to learn piano. Similarly, it’s one of the first songs I learned, and one of my go-tos -the strings to Tonight, Tonight are fucking incredible. I love this song more and more with each listen, even 15 years in. -hot take: the heavy singles (Bullet with Butterfly Wings, Zero) I find to be much weaker than other heavy tracks (Jellybelly and Muzzle should definitely have been singles) -1979 is so iconic. Who doesn’t think of that music video? Quintessential 90s. -the grandnesses of the album is what makes it alluring, but also where it suffers. Cut some songs here and there and I would consider it perfect. Overall: 5/5 Favorite tracks: title track, Tonight, Tonight, Porceleina, Thru the Eyes of Ruby, Here is No Why, Muzzle, 1979
The only moment I found this album somewhat enjoyable was while I wasn’t actually listening to it while reading. But even in that capacity, there are far more better albums I would listen to before this.
Never listened to a full Prince album before and had high expectations. Was a little let down from this album - some great songs but a lot of forgettable ones as well.
Solid yacht rock
Say what you want about the Gallaghers, those early Oasis albums are infectious.
Catchy as hell. Great harmonies. But knowing what I know about the group makes it difficult to fully enjoy this album
Bearable but nothing memorable. Cool album cover.
Where has this album been all my life?
Quality sound. Some huge hits.
The bangers be bangin’ - Mr. Brightside is one of the best songs of the century. All These Things I’ve Done is a sing-along anthem. But the deeper cuts leave a lot to be desired. I’ve never realized how good the bass playing is on some of the tracks.
Not as strong as the Getz/Gilberto album, which I assume will be somewhere on this list.
I like my fair share of early Pink Floyd material so I was intrigued to hear a solo album of Syd Barrett’s. Nothing stood out from this project. If Syd Barrett’s name was attached to this album, would it warrant inclusion on this list?
Second half of this album is so good.
So much emotion felt through these songs.
Some great hits. But I’m too sober to score this album any higher.
I’m sure this album is held in high regards by the metal community but it’s just not my cup of tea.
One of the most influential rock bands of all time who doesn’t seem to get talked about nearly enough. Keith Moon’s drumming is mesmerizing. Is there a better line in rock history than “I hope I die before I get old?”
I’ll be honest, the foreign language was a huge boundary to overcome and I stopped listening early on. From what I listened to, the beats and production sounded solid. However, this is not an album I’ll ever revisit.
YES. YES. YES. How have I gone my whole life without knowing about this album? This album is testament to how valuable this project can be. By doing this, I discovered a 5/5 album and a gateway to a piece of music history I once never knew.
The concert got more interesting as the album progressed. Not a fan with how polished the album sounded.
Second album from the Talking Heads and another quality album. Favorite song was the opener. Again, not an album that I would think to relisten to, though.
I’m a simple man - I hear a live jazz album, I rate it highly.
The gold standard of the genre. Being married into a Brazilian family, this is a staple of our household.
Second Smiths album. Second negative review. I don’t see my attitude towards the band ever changing.
Do Queen have a classic album? Queen is a band who I really enjoy (wedding song is “Somebody to Love”), who has a countless amount of hits and who still exhibit a great amount of popularity today, arguably more than most of their contemporaries. Yet, I do think the band lacks an album that can be considered a classic. What is their Abbey Road? Their Dark Side of the Moon? Their Tommy? If this album is considered that, then I believe it falls considerably short. While the highs are high (Bohemian Rhapsody, Love of My Life), and I discovered some new greats (The Prophet), a handful of the tracks I find skippable.
Pleasantly surprised by this album. Catchy and heavy.
Soulful. Can’t think of a single critique.
A lovely surprise. Some good rock
1982?! That was quite a surprise.
Debating between a 4 or 5. I’m leaning 4 knowing that Fiona Apple has some 5’s down the road.
I consider myself a big Radiohead fan but it took me years to “get” Kid A. It’s a perfect album with highlights being the opening notes of Eveything in its Right Place, the driving bass line and unhinged trumpets of the National Anthem, and the transition of Treefingers into Optimistic.
Some quality but overall too much of the same with nothing really standing out.
Good production but not for me
Good background noise
Could be a Greatest Hits album. Favorite moments: Spanish Castle Magic, Castles Made of Sand, intro to Little Wing, outro to Bold as Love.
After King Crimson, I was excited to see the short track list/long run time combination. However, this was an underwhelming album that could’ve used more moments of excitement.
Is this a parody? Is this the Lonely Island? Seriously, the only reason I listened for as long as I did was because I found it hilariously bad. What rationale would the creators of this list possibly have for adding this?
Opening track is AWESOME
A nice gem to find on this list. Will listen again.
Probably won’t be a 5 for most but it’s a 5 for me. No skips. Each song has at least one killer memorable moment. And I like to picture that some of these songs would have been on the next Nirvana record. It’s a 5 from me.
A perfect album with an all time run of songs to open the album. As overplayed as Wonderwall is, I still find it to be so beautiful. Champagne Supernova is a great closer.
Playground Love is an incredible song. The rest of the instrumental tracks could have been more compelling.
I wanted to like this more.
THE most important album during my formative years. Every track is perfect. The production is top notch. Everything from the drums, bass, vocals, guitar distortion is fantastic. Over 30 years old yet this album still sounds as refreshing as when I first heard it as a teen.