1001 Albums Summary

The punk community, being one of the first to embrace the upcoming Hip Hop scene in New York, shares quite a lot with its neighboring genre. This is greatly highlighted in this 1986 Beastie Boys record. The production highlights the punk and hip-hop elements in some of its best moments "Party for your Right" and "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" as well as the first two tracks. Weak drum machine beats (like the reverse 808 on "Hold it Now") and mediocre scratching are unfortunate flaw I have with this record. MCA, Ad-rock, and Mike-D have distinguished and enjoyable vocals. MCA has a more raspy cadence while Ad-rock (RIP) has a higher pitched, more nasal, "whiny", and sarcastic delivery. They're almost constantly bouncing off one another on these songs. Songs often burst into messy, college-dorm-bumbling drunk-like chants...not complaining it adds to the charm and it's what makes the Beastie Boys, the Beastie Boys. Yelling while delivering these lyrically witty, snotty, and "rebellious" lyrics about partying and girls is the reason you may love (or detest) this record. "Party for Your Right", may be the most notable song on the album. Despite it leaning more towards its punk origins with snotty lyrics sounding Descendents-esque, the hook and riff make it a unique hip-hop track. The short solo is also strikingly enjoyable. Certainly a highlight. Same sentiments for "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" My favorite song has to be "The New Style", the way they rhyme here is incredible over these electric guitar interjections. I love the way the beat switches near the end with the howling-chant vocals. It also has one of the chunkier beats and is riddled with hilarious one-liners and punch lines (that one Jimmy Page line). The biggest flaw would be some of the weaker and more repetitive and uninteresting production and sample choices like "Girls", "Brass Monkey" and "Slow Ride". The closing "Time to Get Ill" on the other hand has a colorful mess of samples while still managing to sound cohesive and enjoyable. 7/10

London Calling is widely considered one of the greatest punk records ever. To me though, it transcends what is typically considered punk. Oddly enough I'm surprised it's not more "post-punk" if anything. The opening title track is incredible. An ominous bassline drives the song eliciting a sense of dread with its prominent flood imagery. The flood of course being the rise of fascism and police brutality in England. It's one of the greatest opening tracks to a record period. I'd say it sets the tone of the album well...but it doesn't. From this point onwards, the Clash went through a large range of sounds and genres, thus my "post-punk" sentiment. For how "punk" it yearns it be, this album is oddly accessible and catchy. I love the catchier songs here like "Rudie Can't Fail" and "Lost in the Supermarket"; the latter of which has such a nostalgic feel about it as Strummer sings about loathing his consumerism-driven personality. "Koka Kola" also has an anti-consumerism attitude, sounding a lot like a commercial jingle. Strummer is a great vocalist; he has a sort of lax, lazy, and slurred delivery when it comes to most of the songs. Most of this album, whether reggae-leaning or traditional punk rock-leaning, is laced with incredibly catchy choruses and a colorful pallet of instruments. Aside from Strummer, bassist Paul Simmonon is on the mic for the song "Guns in Brixot", easily the most rebellious track on the album. Calling for arms against any oppressive forces. It's a slower, trudging punk song that's one of the more standout moments on this album. I also absolutely adore the closer, "Train in Vain", catchy, sweet, and nostalgic. This again shows the Clash's more pop sensibility. Looking at this album as a whole is tough. I enjoy many of the individual songs. Be it the sweet piano and jazz-driven tracks (The love centric - "The Card Cheat"), or reggae passages, or the darker and catchier bassline-driven tracks, the Clash always has something new and unique to offer with each new sound. It's quite "all over the place" but the songs stand their ground and if you're able to enjoy this as more of a compilation of many different, inspired ideas, you'll be able to enjoy this album as a whole. 9/10

Talking Head's 1980 Brian Eno-produced record stands as one of the funkiest displays of post-punk attitudes and ethos. Digitally spliced with tight licks of guitar, bass, and horn enterlaced through each track, this album remains one of the most mind-bending listens of the 80s. The unrelenting punch of the polyrhythmic, afro-inspired percussion and the slap bass hits are woven throughout the first track as Byrne rambles about his mortality under a controlling government. "Fire cannot hurt a man". I love the group vocals that close this track off, alongside the cacophonous nature of its guitar solo. There's a moment in the song "The Great Curve" right after the strung-out and noisy guitar solo where the drums, bass, and horns form an insatiable groove that I consider to be one of those "How does music get this good" moments. "Once in a Lifetime" has Byrne's best ramblings. It feels like a burst of panic runs through him as he comes to terms with all his regrets, as well as with what's to come. A great psychedelic synth loop arpeggiates throughout this track with one of the catchiest choruses in their entire catalog. I love the downward and dark spiral this album takes, both sonically and thematically. "Seen and Not Seen" is subtle instrumentally and Byrne talks about his desire to morph his face into an ideally attractive magazine-ready image. "Listening Wind" leans towards the New Wave sounds of this album; dark and gothic laced with lyrics about a rebel's journey for liberation. "The Overload" is the darkest and most ambient track, allegedly based on a Joy Division sound. All the tracks on this record are so distinct and enjoyable. The album starts fast, punchy, and visceral and slowly spirals down into something gloomy, gothic, and dark, all the while remaining one of the cleanest and futuristic-sounding albums of all time. 10/10

In 2007, Radiohead released, from what I've seen, the most highly praised album in their discography. Fusing electronic elements with ambient and twinkling guitar passages lying in the backgrounds of these tracks, Radiohead rests under a warm blanket for this influential release. Above all else though, I assume this album gets all the praise because of its comforting atmosphere. It's soft and light, and Yorke's crooning over most of these songs paints a melancholic image of a man longing for something more, in a relationship, affection, or life in general. As beautiful and enjoyable as this album is, I do find myself wanting a more punchier track at times, akin to some of Radiohead's older releases. The first two tracks certainly satisfy that desire to a certain extent (the opening "15 Step" is my favorite song on the album alongside the penultimate "Jigsaw Falling into Place"). But many of the songs feel like they're building up to something orchestric, grandiose, and cathartic, but end before reaching any such point. Also, Yorke's crooning on certain songs (like "House of Cards") is flat-out uninteresting and too similar to vocal passages I've heard on other Radiohead songs and the instrumentation isn't interesting enough to carry the entire song. Maybe that's why I like "15 Steps" so much, it's the vocals and the way Thom delivers them with such punch, vigor, and an almost restrained anger that makes the song stick out on this album. But I don't believe this album wants to build up its tracks, and that's fair; not every track needs to have a crescendo. Instead, this album is comfortable in the warm, pillowy, and spacey cacoon it built for itself and your enjoyment of this album rests on how much you're willing to let yourself float along to that. There are many gorgeous moments. When the strings come in at the end of "Reckoner", the vocal choir passages at the end of "Nude", and the entirety of the piano-driven "Videotape". Also the acoustic guitars and bass all over this album are great. "Jigsaw Falling into Place" is probably the most whole song on the album, a gorgeous art rock track with lush instrumentation and one of my favorite Yorke performances ever as he draws inspiration from the hazy environment he's in while being inebriated in a college-era night. The sense of nostalgia that drives this track's lyrical themes makes it so enjoyably melancholic. 8/10

Jurassic 5's 2002 album title tells you everything you have to know about this record. Despite not having more members than your usual hip-hop group, the posse elements of this group are amplified as the album is filled with the members building off the momentum established by the previous members. For the first few tracks, you never hear a single member's verse for too long before the baton is passed to the next MC. The group stands out in the bling-era hip-hop that was starting to make waves around this time, sticking to the roots of hip-hop production. Beats are bassy, funky, and filled with DJ scratching courtesy of producers/DJs DJ Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist. The instrumentals are varied generally, but all stick to a similar cohesive theme. It's not rare to find a song that has a sample filled, or beat switched outro (Like "I am Somebody"). A Day At the Races has one of the smoothest beats, with a crunchy bassline and psychedelic guitar licks. All the verses are super smooth and it feels like a chill summer evening. Daddy Kane's feature doesn't disappoint. Lyrically speaking, braggadocious and punch-line-based verses are dominant here. This style never generally gets tiresome because of the aforementioned relaying style of the group. All members have immense talent for flow on these smooth beats. My favorite has to be Chali 2na who has a deep, booming voice that is the most memorable whenever he comes in. "Remember His Name" switches it up with Akil telling the story of an individual growing a rough life. In typical hip-hop storytelling fashion, the twist at the end implies he was talking about death itself giving his verse a different twisted meaning. I enjoy how they flip their established posse style of rapping in the phone call segment. The group tackles the subjects of their fame and sticking to their roots on the incredibly smooth and catchy "What's Golden", another favorite for me. The hooks generally work very well, I especially like Nelly on "Thin Line". Also, High Fidelity has a generally enjoyable hook. Ultimately though, the highlights of this album are when the guys are exchanging verses rapidly over these insanely stripped-back, bassy, and funk-laced beats. I feel the album is a tad too long but I don't consider that much of a downside since it's generally enjoyable when the group is doing their thing. But near the end, it gets mildly repetitive (aside from the interesting instrumental closer). Still, a very enjoyable, laid-back posse hip-hop LP that harkens back to the origins of the genre and stands out in its era. If you love posse cuts, you'll enjoy most of what's offered here. 8/10

Queen has always been *that* band, whose songs I've been enjoying for as long as I can remember (since I was 6 or 7). Their bigger songs "Somebody to Love", "Under Pressure", and "Don't Stop Me Now" were absolute staples for me as a child and some of my earliest memories of music enjoyment as a whole. So, when I saw this album had none of the many songs I've recognized from Queen, I was a bit wary but made sure I still went in with an open mind. It's admittedly a very early release in their discography, released in 1974 far before any of their big singles (like Killer Queen on their follow-up). I love the booming guitar portion on Father to Son, courtesy of Brian May and the closing vocals by Mercury were incredible. Generally, the songs have varied instrumentation and theatrical aspects not unlike progressive rock songs at the time mixed with hard rock and ballad passages. By looking at the song titles alone, I knew I was in for something fantastical, whimsical, and grand. The highlight though, as I had expected, was Freddie Mercury. His melodies, vocal passages, and large vocal range make or break the songs here. His outro on White Queen for example is enchanting and gorgeous. The backing harmonization is another Queen staple and despite being milder than I remember, I find them very enjoyable when they do crop up. My enjoyment unfortunately dwindles whenever the band strays from the progressive sounds on this album or their traditional glam rock and ballad style. The "Hard Rock" inspired "The Loser at the End" despite it showing off Mercury's range, is very dull and one-note for me. There's a big chunk of songs near the middle of this album that I'm quite ambivalent towards. The album regains its footing on the short piano ballad "Nevermore" as it leads into the incredible "The March of the Black Queen". I hadn't heard this song before this album but my god, is it a perfect Queen song. The band plays to their strengths highlighting everything that made the band so enjoyable for me so many years back with a dizzying number of switches and phases. Freddie's lyrics are cryptic but the imagery he paints alone more than makes up for it. The fact that he's able to switch between all these new melodies so rapidly, is astonishing. All the instruments on this track blend beautifully; the mastering is superb. The medley-like nature of this closing part of the album followed by "Seven Seas of Rhye" works very well in closing off this overall enjoyable Queen album. 7/10

This is my first Offspring record; their 1994 release Smash. It sort of fuses a metal/alt-rock vocalist style with instrumentals that are more punk rock-oriented. The vocals are much clearer, more structured, and more melodic than your typical hardcore vocalist but it's not quite the pop punk I know. Just listen to Dexter's lead vocal passages on "Bad Habit" and the brief harmonizations just before the bridge on "Gotta Get Away" which sound like something out of an Iron Maiden album. If I had to compare them to anything I "know" it would be Descendants who I haven't listened to in a while. I seldom listen to pop punk but I do think, overall, this album is too long and repetitive; there are a few exceptions though. I enjoy the guitar tone and passage between each verse on "Come Out and Play" and I think this song, overall, flows particularly well. The song takes a look at the loop of violence in the youth while masking itself as an angry "let it out" song. "Self-Esteem" is also another pop-punk classic and one of those teenage girl-trouble angst anthems I'm sure I would've enjoyed if I heard it when I was younger. The following series of shorter tracks, while generally enjoyable and benign, are overall uneventful and one-note. The deeper cuts here I'm sure could grow on me after re-listens but on initial listen, I wouldn't call them highlights. I do like the playful and catchy nature of "What Happened to You?" alongside its shorter, peppier guitar solo. The protagonist asks his friend, who fell off the deep end, what happened to him while reminiscing on what he used to be in the first verse contrasting the more upbeat nature of the track. The final "Smash" picks up the pace, being catchier and punchier than most of the previous tracks within its first few minutes. The message about being true to yourself despite the direction of trends is genuinely good, especially for the younger audience they may have. I enjoy the reprise instrumental passages that close off the song as well (although there's an oddly placed chunk of silence??). I'm quite ambivalent about this record. Can't say I enjoyed every track but there were some fun enjoyable ones here. Enjoying this album depends on whether you're looking to satisfy a catchy pop-punk itch while still getting a taste of the slightly noisier punk and alt-rock genres. 6/10

The opening to "Roundabout" is one of the most visceral starts to any prog album I've heard. The listener is lulled into a false sense of serenity before being spiraled into that crunchy, distorted bass groove that drives the entire first half of the track. In typical Yes fashion, this song is chock full of organ, crunchy bass, and occasional ambient passages. I love the whimsical and calming keyboard and electronic tones on "Cans and Brahms" that are followed by the softer vocal layers over the gentle acoustic strumming of "We Have Heaven". The following "South Side of the Sky", when compared to the previous tracks, I don't enjoy as much. I enjoy Jon's lead melody and the little ambient passage and following build-up near the halfway point, but the groove itself is relatively tame and uninteresting. I feel similarly about the following shorter tracks but the song "The Fish" has a psychedelic, groovy, and cavernous nature and is one of the standout tracks on this album. The following "Mood for a Day" is a nice, but oddly placed, little acoustic piece acting as a breather in this album (that honestly didn't need one). Similar to "The Fish", there's something ethereal about the layered synths grouped with that typical Yes groove that kicks "Heart of the Sunrise" off. Honestly, I think the first three minutes of this track take the cake for having the best groove on the entire record. Jon's sentimental vocals grow to a cathartic peak before being snuffed out by the returning groove near the halfway mark. The vocals complement the piano-driven groove during the final couple of minutes, making for a strong finisher. Overall, a very solid Prog record; maybe not as cloudy, colorfully varied, and ambitious as "Close to the Edge". In its own right though, there's a lot to find enjoyment in here, and in Yes' formula and style overall. 7/10

Mudhoney's 1988 EP might have loud and varied riffs for days but overall, I can't say I'm a fan of the vocals on this album. There is something muted about about the way they're delivered which doesn't blend well with the louder, distorted instrumentation. The song "No One Has" has an incredibly hypnotic loop, drenched in distortion which is enjoyable when it's at the forefront, but I can't get with Mark's vocals personally here. The exception to this is the song "If I Think" where he rides the slower and louder parts of the song very well and the song closes out with one of my favorite parts of the EP. I like the slower, trudging, hypnotic nature of the guitars in the opening part of "Mudride" with the almost tribal drum pattern that drives it forward. The guitar passage near the middle is cacophonous, and another one of the highlights of this EP. Probably my favorite song here. Overall, the instrumentation here is the highlight, the guitar riffs are generally hypnotic and paint a dreary atmosphere that's parts macabre but also stimulating. I also really like the drum work. Overall though, I can't say I found anything special in this EP but it's a solid piece of grunge rock nonetheless. *I haven't had my deep dive into grunge rock nor its history but assuming this record came out in '88, I can only imagine its fusions of punk ethos with slower, growly vocals influenced many of the 90s grunge bands that I am familiar with. Maybe I'll grow to appreciate this album more for what it is as I continue this journey. 6/10

The only other Leonard Cohen record I've heard was "Songs of Leonard Cohen" in '67 and that record was a folk, singer-songwriter record entirely. Then here we are, nearly two decades later and I hear "First We Take Manhattan" and it's entirely new wave-influenced. Flashy, glitzy synths dominate the brighter female vocal portions, while these low-end eerie-sequenced synths loom over Leonard's bleak lyrical depictions of terror. The imagery of taking Manhattan and then taking Berlin sparks something unsettling within me. It's certainly a striking start. Once the initial shock wears off though, there isn't much of note in this album. "Ain't No Cure For Love" is enjoyable but doesn't try to provoke imagery that's as compelling as the opening track. I understand it's not supposed to, it's a love song, and for that, I think it does a fine job but it sounds generic and reeks of the cliches of the era it came out in. "Everybody Knows" string-synth-backed instrumentation spliced with (what sounds like) Spanish guitar is quite pleasant and another highlight. It's another darker track lyrically, painting a dreary and pessimistic view of the world. The baroque-inspired "Take this Waltz" is another highlight, primarily because I feel like it's a much-needed switch-up in sound, with gorgeous string-backed instrumentation and charming vocal passages that very much evoke the gleeful emotions one would feel when in a ballroom waltz. I also like the lowkey closer "Tower of Song" though admittedly, I can't pinpoint what this song is about, maybe an old man reminiscing over the songs he's written over his career and his everlasting appreciation for the art form. I think Cohen's deeper delivery alongside the longer, unsettling tracks filled with varied synth tones and solos are the drawing factors here. I'm certainly intrigued and appreciate an artist switching up their sound this drastically (especially when it comes to hopping on new trends), but I can't say I am personally a fan of this one. 6/10

This is my first Marianne Faithfull album, and from what I've read, her music dates back to the mid-60s, operating in the folk scene at the time. Similar to the Leonard Cohen 80s era, this is another folk artist who hopped on the new-wave train. There's a killer bassline on the opening title track. I like Marianne's delivery here, it's slightly off-kilter. I also like "Witches' Song" but I found a lot of the lyrics in this song and this album in general to be very cryptic but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing and par for the course for this type of music. The instrumentation is overall very low-key on this album, not too much interesting going on. Typically not a good thing but it spotlights Marianne's vocals and lyricism which are certainly worth paying attention to. "Guilt" is a lyrical highlight, showcasing the protagonist's fear of committing potentially harmful actions, and expressing guilt for even having these thoughts. "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" is also a very tragic track detailing the regrets of an older housewife and the instrumentation is particularly standout here. Despite working with the new-wave instrumentation on this album, Marianne sticks to her roots in terms of songwriting (I can only assume) as there is very much still a folk nature to the way everything's delivered on many of the songs here. It's a strange dichotomy that mostly works. The album has a strong ending as well with the ominous and dystopian "Working Class Hero" followed by "Why d'Ya Do it" which shows a complete switch up in Marianne's vocal delivery and lyricism when compared to the previous tracks. The instrumental is more lively here as well, filling the space with organs, horns, and an incredible post-punk groove that twists and turns throughout the track's 6-minute runtime. A much dirtier punk-inspired track that is probably my favorite here. I think the instrumentals of the earlier tracks leave a lot to be desired but overall, a very enjoyable listen. I'll be checking out her previous (and later) works after this. 7/10

I wasn't familiar with CHIC until this listen, aside from obviously being familiar with guitarist, and band co-founder, Nile Rodgers, and the song "Le Freak". I haven't listened to "Le Freak" in its entirety but after hearing it now, it's quite the elegant disco track. Pristine mixing, ear-wormy vocals, and glammy strings partnered with a killer groove, it's everything I wanted from a record like this. I guess all that applies to most of this album, there were quite a handful of highlights. "Savoir Faire" is an outright gorgeous instrumental track that encapsulates a blissful city-night feeling in its repetitive, yet continuously enjoyable 5-minute run time. "I Want Your Love" sparks a similar feeling within me with a particularly enjoyable outro. I also generally love the vocals on this album, mostly performed by Alfa Anderson. My favorite would be the vocal melody on "At Last I am Free" about being so free that you can't even see it in front of you. That particular melody repeats throughout the entire second half of the song before slowly fading out; it's beautiful. "Sometimes You Win" is a particularly wholesome track lyrically speaking. Overall, the formula on all these songs is very similar; thick basslines, plucked rhythm guitar, string segments, light piano, and emotive lead vocals. I personally really enjoy this formula and it makes me wonder why Disco gets such a bad rep, perhaps it gets repetitive but in its nearly 40-minute runtime, I never really felt that way (aside from maybe the subpar closer). This is a wholesome album that's very spacious and manages to be patient while still filling out the entirety of its sonic space with gorgeous instruments. I haven't listened to much 70s disco but this feels like a gold standard for the genre. It's an album you can just lay back to and breathe for a bit. 8/10

After an incredible RZA-produced run in the 90s, many of the Wu-tang solo members left behind that minimal, off-key, and gritty sound that kick-started their careers for something more flashy and glossy to keep up with the changing sounds of hip-hop. When it comes to the 2000s, no Wu-tang member transitioned better than Ghostface Killah. The first full song is nuts. The beat is loud with blaring horns in your face on a heavy beat. Ghostface's storytelling on this track is superb; his lyrical style I always found somewhat disorienting with his excessive use of pop-culture references and slang but on "Shakey Dog", it's not hard to visualize the absurd scene he's setting. Ghostface raps about a variety of things ranging from the mafioso-styled ramblings to intimate lust-driven songs. There's also "Whip You With a Strap" which has Ghost reflecting on his relationship with his mother as a child. "Momma" also tackles the topic of his mother but with a much more empathetic and emotional view; detailing her struggle and the implication that has on her dependents. I just love Ghost's flow; It's almost non-existent. The word delivery just flows seamlessly from one bar to another. There isn't a flow like it and it's very addicting. This album's production credits are scattered and varied so you'd think it'd turn out to be an absolute mess, and it sort of is. But the beats are just too good so I'd say it comes off more chaotic (colorful even) than incoherent. I already mentioned "Shakey Dog" but the Just Blaze produced "The Champ" is another highlight. These beats are noisy, laced with sound effects, and strange, almost out-of-place, samples (like on "Kilo" and the Dilla-produced "Whip You With a Strap"). As loud as some of these beats may be, Ghostface is just as loud on most of these tracks so this blend yields extravagant results that tend to be my favorite moments on the album. Not all the songs are explosive; other production highlights are the fuzzy electric guitar leads on "Clipse of Doom", the overblown synth chords on "Jellyfish", and the marine-themed "Underwater" The features mostly consist of other Wu-tang members. It's been over 10 years since their conception at this point and their chemistry remains undefeated (like on the track "9 Milli Bros" featuring most of the clan over the MF beat). The standout is his partner-in-crime Raekwon who does the story-telling thing just as well as Ghost (like on "R.A.G.U" and the sinister closer). There's also Ne-Yo with his sticky chorus on the 2000s R&B classic "Back Like That". I can say the same thing about Megan Rochell on "Momma". This album is quite long but strangely enough, on this relisten, I can't say it overstays its welcome. What Ghost and his band of producers do well, they do very well on this project. A wild hip-hop album that's sharp, tight, and, above all else, undeniably enjoyable. 9/10

1965's "Highway 61 Revisited" was a landmark record in folk and Dylan's career. The once-entirely folk artist veers into the sounds of hard rock while continuing to refine the lyrical prowess that was seen in the previous "Bringing it All Back Home". In contrast to his previous album, I find Dylan's vocal and lyrical presentation here more aggressive, while still finding a clear patch to fit in comfortable blues and ballad cuts. Said aggression is kicked off with the brilliant "Like a Rolling Stone" which is a song about an individual forced to live out on their own after being deceived by once trusted cunning characters with a chorus that almost rubs it in the protagonist's face. The protagonist is almost being scolded over this organ and harmonica-driven opener. I've always been a fan of the "rolling stone" metaphor introduced by Muddy Waters. The aggressiveness carries over to the next track "Tombstone Blues" as Dylan recites anecdotes of conflicts instantiated by the wealthy and powerful before shifting down to the image of struggling working-class people. Like most of this album's anecdotes, they're part funny, entertaining, and at times surreal, throwing character names around without a means of introducing them and forcing the listener to immediately place themselves in the strange scene he's set. The song has a garage rock tint to it with the loud, almost overblown, drum beat alongside the incredible electric guitar interludes between each verse. I feel the same instrumentally about the title track which has one of my favorite opening verses in any folk song. Then there's my favorite track "Ballad of a Thin Man", an eerie track thanks to the organ and piano pattern here that's slow while invoking a looming sense of dread within me. The lyrics tell a different story though; of a well-educated scholar who struggles to come to terms with the wildly eccentric room he's walked into. The song comes off as a metaphor, or a jab, at those who are unable to accept nor understand the changes and strides in the evolution of music seen in the 60s. But Dylan pities the individual he's describing here knowing accepting change can be difficult when seemingly eccentric imagery projects itself and overshadows a movement's true soul. But being able to accept that eccentricity is key to understanding a musical movement. I've mentioned the more aggressive tracks, lyrically, but the slower ballads are very enjoyable as well. The blues-styled "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" is a warm and enjoyable track. I feel the same about "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" a confusing story that's still enjoyable in its own right strictly because of the sweet anecdotes it's composed of. This song also has one of the sweetest piano-driven instrumentals. It's also worth mentioning Dylan's vocals on these songs, and the album as a whole. Dylan, in typical folk fashion, sticks to a single melody and repeats it. I wholeheartedly think this album showcases his best vocals as Dylan is highly aware of his vocal range and uses his voice optimally as a result. The album closes off with an acoustic-driven track "Desolation Row" where Dylan sings about the tragic endings to characters' stories leading them to a twisted Desolation Row. It's a long song that's a melancholic closer to this incredible record. I don't think everyone will appreciate this album as much as I do. It's long and repetitive and Dylan's vocals are not particularly ear-grabbing at first but you'd be hard-pressed to find an album so tightly packed with meaningful tracks that perfectly encapsulate the strange and confusing time in which this album was written. 10/10

Rock legend Bruce Springsteen's 1975 album "Born to Run" is a record that I, even after a relisten, still find myself to be ambivalent towards. It's primarily the production of this album. This came out in the mid-70s and by those standards, the production here is squeaky clean and admittedly luscious. There is a certain charm to the clarity of each instrument here and the way they blend to form these jovial walls of sound that are reminiscent of the best nights out. On the other hand, the artificial nature of its polish leaves me yearning for an edge that, in my opinion, would've complemented Bruce's vocals much better. I think my main problem is a lot of the jazz sections that come in that feel utterly unnatural in the mix for me. The exception to this is the sax section on the ambitious closer "Jungleland", which has my favorite closer instrumental on the album. Bruce's vocals, when they do work, are utterly mesmerizing, emotive, and, above all else, powerful. The guttural nature of his delivery works wonders on some of these tracks. The dude can write great melodies too, none better than the opener "Thunder Road" where he seamlessly switches between the many melodies that this track's composed of. The melodies are easily the highlight of this album. I also enjoy the chorus of "Night" a song about letting loose when you clock out of your shift. After the first few songs, and say for maybe the title track, I find his voice becomes mildly grating and I'm not even sure why. I like his vocals but whenever I get to the end of the second half, I really can't enjoy his vocals anymore. It might have something to do with the repetitive nature of the subject matter that crops up throughout this album, another thing I feel this album has going against it; Bruce just loves love. Nothing wrong with writing love songs and, for what it's worth, I think Bruce is particularly skilled at that, it's just that I wish there was something more interesting here to digest. Again, the exception to this is the outro to the closer, where his soaring vocals close out the album over these gorgeous arpeggiated piano keys. It might seem like I hate this album when I don't. "Thunder Road" is one of my favorite rock songs of all time. For the most part, I enjoy the first half of this record way more than I do the second. I enjoy this album's accessibility as well, it's very easy to slide into and is filled with melodic hooks that evoke a nostalgic sense of both melancholy but also glee. It's also just super catchy. 6/10

This is quite a shift in continuity for me...I was just getting around to listening to Taylor's catalog starting from her releases in the 2000s and now this album crops up, one that was released during arguably the singer-songwriter's most successful decade yet. My frame of reference is small here. I say it feels like a more mature, sobered-up, and melancholic take on her debut minus the more upbeat perky country tracks that that project was riddled with. "The National" member Aaron Dessner's production style is minimalistic with most of the instrumentation consisting of subtle electronic-esque drum machine, piano, and acoustic guitar. It makes for a very dreary atmosphere while still feeling like a warm blanket on a brisk morning. I particularly like "tolerate it" for that exact reason. I like the bolder instrumentation on "no body, no crime" with HAIM which has one of the sticker melodies. Generally, the music sounds great and is luscious when it needs to be. Minimalism works in this record's favor especially considering these tracks' subtle build-ups. Lyrically speaking, a majority of this record's subject matter can be bottled down to Taylor's "romantic troubles", but that would be an unfair assessment since there's a subtle depth to the way Taylor chooses to portray her adult life relationships. For example, I like "happiness" which tackles the limits of maturing post-relationship. I also really enjoyed the duet "coney island" with The National member Matt Berninger. Lyrically it's a nostalgic look at a relationship but the highlight here is the way the two's vocals blend near the end of the song. The other duet on this album with Bon Iver works very well as a closer as well. "long story short" is Taylor's optimistic look at her future but also her satisfaction with where she is in the present. This is a good folk-pop record but, admittedly, I do think it's too long for its good. The lyrical themes and overall concept never got dull, but the minimal nature of the production and Taylor's vocals left me worn down by the end. There's no sticky hook or pop track to be found in the mix here, which I respect, but I tend to also really enjoy those Taylor tracks. Nevertheless, I respect Taylor for sticking to her guns and fully committing herself to the intimate mood she sets out to capture with this album's sound.

Punchy, tight, and relentlessly catchy while managing to be unabashedly fractious, The Smith's 1986 release "The Queen is Dead" stands as one of the perfect examples of pop-rock and jangle pop aesthetics jumbled together to form a landmark release in 80s pop. Love him or hate him (I hate him), Morrissey's admittedly a great singer with the timbre of a Victorian-era teenage poet yearning for rebellion and companionship. This record has a subtle nocturnal vibe too as if a lot of the stories told here take place under a full moon. Whether that's him going on a walk with the prince on the anti-Royal family anthem that is the title track, or the graveyard smug-fest "Cemetary Gates" where the protagonist criticizes the shallow nature of his companion's poetry. The gorgeous, yet morbid hit off this album "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" with its incredible string-back chorus showcases the band at their most elegant and high-gloss. "I Know It's Over" is a longer ballad-type track primarily backed by gorgeous, yet skeletal acoustic strumming that builds and builds as Morrisey likens his loneliness to being buried alive. It's a slower track that builds with Morrisey's vocals near the end being some of my favorites of his. His lyrics on this track also showcase a self-aware nature with him criticizing one's over perception of their likability. I can't ignore the other members of the band. Andy Rourke's (RIP) basslines are so full and lively on all these tracks. My favorites have to be "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" and "Cemetary Gates". There's then obviously guitarist Johnny Marr whose psychedelic tone is essential in outlining this album's entire mood. Just listen to his guitar break on "Big Mouth Strikes Again", my favorite song. It's an explosive track criticizing the protagonist's inability to bite their tongue (a sentiment that has only since become more applicable to Morrisey himself). It's also worth mentioning the way the guitars are layered by Marr on the song "The Boy with the Thorn on His Side". You know, I had to listen to this album in the background when writing this because I feel like I have this album etched into my musical memory already and it just reminded me that I just love every song on this thing. That's all it comes down to really...every song on here is just really good (even the psychedelic and unsettling closer that usually gets a bad rep). Funnily enough, I can just as much understand why someone would find this album repulsive due to its, at times, cheesy nature.

I hadn't heard of Badly Drawn Boy before this record and of all things, the album art here definitely drew me in. In hindsight, it's a lot like the album itself, colorful, with a strange, almost tacky aura that only adds to its enjoyability, charm, and endless stream of creativity. There's a certain punch to the instrumentals that's hard to pinpoint here. This album's unique fusion of folk, baroque, electronic, and country rock works well to showcase Damon Gough's ear for effective genre fusion. "Camping Next Week" is a perfect example of this, with a prominent bassline and bizarrely placed guitar solo layered on top of a boilerplate folk instrumental. I love the imagery here relating the typically refreshing feelings invoked by a cool morning on a camping trip juxtaposed with the feelings of loneliness and a sense of longing. There's something almost unsettling and surreal about the way the instrumentals are layered here. It's difficult to describe but it could have to do with the plethora of string arrangements, bizarre sound effects, and slightly overblown mixes. Just check out the first half of "Stone on the Water" and the strange ambient/noise interlude on "Cause a Rockslide". I also love the synth layer driving the groove on "Once Around the Block". The instrumentation on this album is so diverse that even throughout its hour-plus runtime, it never felt tired nor like it was retreading old ideas. The lusciousness of some of these tracks cannot be understated, like the country-rock-driven "Disillusion" that breaks into a bizarre and sinister grainy piano segment. These sudden switch-ups are scattered throughout this album. Damon's singing style is subtle. While not entirely whispery, it's soft-spoken and is ever so slightly overpowered by some of the harder instrumentation here. Nevertheless, I enjoy the slightly off-kilter delivery and he's able to complement whatever direction the instrumental goes in here. The album's themes primarily deal with loss, grief, and forgiveness, with the feelings of a nostalgia-filled day out in the loose grip of nature. The song "Magic in the Air" is utterly gorgeous in its nostalgic portrayal of a seemingly inseparable emotional bond between two lovers. I can't emphasize enough how well Damon's lyrical imagery on any given track complements the form the instrumental is taking. I'm blown away by how much I enjoyed this album that had gone completely under my radar. Not many negatives on my end relating to this thing and, safe to say, it's been the best first listen on my 1001 journey so far.

Honestly, just a lot of very solid pop-rock and new-wave-inspired tunes throughout this thing. Rather than a coherent flow between all the tracks, in both subject matter and theme, it feels more like the greatest hit collection from the band. It's certainly a product of its time (like on the song "Walk of Life) with rasped vocals delivered by Mark over a cutesy and cheesy synth lead melody. Despite it being an 80s pop-rock staple that I've heard many times before, I can safely say it still holds up. Just as cheesy is the saxophone melody that kicks off "Your Latest Trick", maybe less to its benefit though. I can't say I enjoyed the more subdued and intimate sound presented in this song. "Why Worry?" is one of my favorite tracks on here. Something about it reminds me of a later-era VU track (probably because I see many similarities between Mark and Reed's vocals). It's a track with a comforting message but above all else, it's the incredible sounding instrumentation and the patient build-up over its 8-and-a-half-minute runtime. There's almost an ambient element to the serene latter half with the dusty drum loop, guitar plucking, and dreamy synth work. My favourite song though has to be the title track. It's a slow-building, synth-backed song with probably my favorite lyrics by Mark here. Mark's tribute about recovering war-torn individuals or battle-ravaged lands is marked with surreal astronomic imagery relating to the difficulty of overcoming one's self. It's also sprinkled with messages calling for peace in the world by putting everyone's sense of individualism into a grand-scheme perspective. Nothing to dislike about this track, it's a gorgeous closer. Some other favorite production moments are the strange tribal drums on "Ride Across the River" and the sudden crashing guitar chords on "The Man's Too Strong". I will say though, listening to this thing, you tend to notice all the worst tropes and staples of 80s popular music. I also feel like a lot of the songs after the first three tend to be less memorable (aside from the couple I mentioned). Aside from that though, this was still a highly enjoyable first listen.

The Flying Burrito Brothers huh... Heard of them but never checked them out. By looking at this cover, my first assumption was a psychedelic band from the 60s but no, they're entirely country rock. I liked "Sin City", a lot. Something sinister about the way L.A is painted as a bottomless pit of manipulation. "Do Right Women", while I'm not a fan of the sentiment here, I enjoy the barrage of synths that come near the halfway mark. The song topics vary. "Uncle" is about getting drafted while "Hot Burrito #1" details a tragic breakup. Honestly, musically speaking I enjoy "Hot Burrito #2", primarily because of that sick organ-driven instrumental break halfway through. I will say, that despite sounding like a very typical 60s country rock release, there are marks of progressiveness and psychedelic music in many of these tracks. I also typically enjoy the harmonies and the melodies overall. It's nothing super unique vocally speaking but the grainy, slightly low mixed vocals over the vibrant instrumentals work for me. That typical country twang to the vocals I enjoy too. The spoken word closer was a personal favorite. The theatrical nature of the poetry details the story of the close-minded protagonist finding common ground in his beliefs with a young hippie. It's a sweet and optimistic closer capturing the uncertain times and changing political tides of the '60s. Despite being a relatively short listen, I still think the songs start to sound somewhat the same as the album progresses, despite the little interesting moments intertwined within the tracklist. That said, it never gets tiresome and remains for the most part enjoyable. It's a very solid little country rock album.

This is a tough album to review because, with all my Western-influenced music bias, I find it difficult to talk at length about what I enjoyed about this album. All I know is that I did really enjoy it. Bueno Vista Club's self-titled is a Son Cubano record which, to my understanding, originates from eastern Cuba and fuses elements of Latin dance music with African-inspired percussion. Aside from saying that I enjoyed this album from front to back, I can comment a bit on some of the songs I enjoyed the most. "Chan Chan" immediately caught my ear with its catchy refrain. The longer "El Curato de Tula" was another highlight. It has one of my favorite vocal hooks and a highly enjoyable trumpet-laced percussive groove. I also like "Armor de Loca Juventud" with probably my favorite glistening Spanish guitar break near the middle which feels like a scorching August afternoon. I like the piano solo on the latter part of the title track, shining a light on the album's jazzier elements. The instrumental palette across a vast majority of these songs is largely similar which works to the album's benefit. The whole thing comes off as one cohesive experience, almost like a single song. A very enjoyable experience.

It's a very tightly packed and delightful 70s Afrobeat album. The funk elements certainly stick out more I'd say with groovy bass and horn lines dominating the entire forefront of the mix. Fela's vocals on this album alongside his share of backing vocals work only to add to this album's firey pace. The title track is likely the best example of this with an almost call-and-response chorus, utilizing the imagery of zombies to describe the Nigerian military at the time. They're also just insanely catchy. This album is filled with politically charged commentary (primarily relating to Nigeria), as indicated by this album cover. The following two songs on here establish two other fantastic grooves. The layers of horns at the beginning of "Mr. Follow Follow" are pleasant and I appreciate the slower pace this track takes in particular. Even the closer "Observation No Crime" is a slower track. A small thing, but I like the grandiose closing seconds of this song. While I do think the funk and jazz elements of this album stand in the foreground, with solos and brassy horn sections taking the lead, the afro-inspired percussion is certainly noticeable when establishing these standout tribal grooves. It is a solid record overall if a bit boilerplate and repetitive at times. The fundamentals, lyrical themes, and overall mood established here are still top-tier and the performances are great.

Adele has been a staple in my childhood and teenage life, and with her latest, my adult life. There's always a song she's dropping every few years that dominates the radio and, by extension, my head. I remember hearing many of the songs off this album when it came out back in 2015. If there's anything that allows Adele to stand out among the crowd of contemporary pop vocalists is her powerful, soul-inspired vocal style. Her voice is the standout without a question. I mean the song "Hello" has instrumentation that is so lowkey that it only makes Adele's vocals stick out. It's almost like some sort of glorified acapella song. Yet, the song still sounds huge and theatrical which is quite a feat and speaks to Adele's enormous vocal talents. For me, my enjoyment of this album came primarily from those nostalgic moments from when I was in high school and this album first dropped and I couldn't avoid those singles. I mentioned "Hello" but "Send My Love" has probably the catchiest chorus here. Adele's vocals here are reminiscent of her contemporaries as opposed to sticking to her unique power ballad style. "When We Were Young" has to be my favorite song here though. I just really enjoy the chorus here and I think the minimal production works especially well. The nostalgic lyrics here are almost tragic as Adele romanticizes her relationship's past while yearning to leave her barren and monochromatic present. At least that's what I get out of it. Lyrically speaking Adele may not be particularly special across this thing but she's capable of depicting breakups in interesting ways like on "Million Years Ago" and "Water under the Bridge" which I like despite it probably sounding the most 2015-poppy here (with those vocal cries in the chorus). I think the mixture of these intimate, heartbroken lyrics and the powerful delivery adds only to the message like "Love in the Dark" which is my favorite production here with strings and piano that complement Adele's vocals very well and I enjoy the harmonies here. "All I Ask" works to the same effect. This is a very intimate and personal album for Adele I'm sure. A lot of slow piano ballads and when the songs get faster, the instruments remain very underspoken (to the point where I think it's almost washed out on certain songs like "River Lea"). I think the ballad-type songs are the strongest. Can't say I enjoyed every single song here as much as the more popular ones, but it's still a very good listen.

Had no time for a re-review today but obviously great album: highlight of course is “Hallelujah”

George Clinton's opening lines on the title track here have always haunted me, in both their delivery and placement within this song. Without any context, Clinton gives you an ultimatum of sorts, either accept the filth exuded by humans or rise above it all and see through it. Clinton seems to take the latter route with Hazel's ascending piece of serene and minimalistic psychedelic guitar that goes through several different phases and facets. I don't understand "Maggot Brain", as a descriptor, song, or album (although it was supposedly the nickname of guitarist Eddie Hazel). This opening title track certainly stands out here because there's no other song like it on this album. "Can You Get to That" is an insanely catchy funk track. I love how deep the vocals get on the refrain (I assume Clinton's?). The drumming done by Tiki (who also plays them on the entire album) is superb here. "Hit It and Quit It" is equally as catchy and musically dense with more psychedelic elements mixed with typical funk organ and synth passages. I love the way the instrumentation builds and hits on the refrain to fill the sound. I don't think I can express enough how amazing the production is on this album. Entering the new decade, Funkadelic knows how to merge all the most impressive, forward-thinking sounds of the '60s and elevate them to another level. The instrumentation is so lush and just builds on so many of these tracks. "You and Your Folks..." with Billy Nelson on vocals and "Super Stupid" both show the album going in a more funk-rock direction when compared to the previous two songs. I love that subtle evolution this album has. I also love the slightly humorous, yet tragic tone the lyrics take on "Super Stupid" recounting a supposedly real story regarding Hazel's coke and heroin mixup. "Wars of Armageddon" has one of the most killer drum beats on this album, and eventually builds to this incredible groove. The organ and bass are complemented by what sounds like a diverse set of samples and eventually an incredible guitar passage. This is like an incredible plunderphonics track from the past and the mere fact that something this insanely hard, punchy, and chaotic exists in '71 is beyond me. I don't get this album. I don't know whether it takes itself seriously or not. There's always been a sort of mystique around this thing for me. It just sounds so far ahead in the future and so far above its time in so many ways it's surreal, and I love it for it. This album rests alone in a soundscape so far above and ahead of anything.

The general cycle of my enjoyment of this album is enjoying the first few seconds when the punchiness is at its max and most visceral. Then when the vocals come in, my enjoyment plateaus. I don't mind the vocals typically but to me, they contrast the instrumentals in a way that's less than stellar. Then when the distorted, bluesy guitar takes the forefront again, my enjoyment goes up once more before one last steady decline. "Sharp Dressed Man" is an exception here and it's a song where I think every aspect blends particularly well with one another. Not a fan of how it just fades out though. "TV Dinners" is another favorite of mine because it, ever so slightly, reminds me of a The Doors song. I sort of already mentioned this but easily my least favorite part of any of these songs is the vocals. They're not bad per se (unless we're talking songs like "I Need You Tonight") just very one-dimensional. The song structures aren't very interesting either and neither are the lyrics. The only thing this album has going for it is its hard rock instrumentation which I will say, does sound great and Billy Gibbons is a very talented guitarist, taking notes for 60s legends and blues styles. Those moments when the drums and guitars hit are firey and the highlight of this album. Overall not a terrible album, just not one I found particularly interesting. Still found stuff I enjoyed here though.

This is as "early '60s R&B and Soul" as an album can get honestly. Dirty recording, howling or crooning vocals expressing feelings of endless love (or longing for love), and those typical backing vocal harmonies. It's certainly a trip to the past and the songs do remain enjoyable throughout. Solomon Burke is immensely talented. I was not familiar with his music but the man is expressive as all hell. Parts of his vocals remind me a lot of Otis Redding and I can see why this album was massively influential for 60s R&B. I can't think of any *actual* flaws with this album; it does exactly what it wants to do and what it needs to do. Overall, even though it's relatively short, this type of "of-the-time" music works better in single form as showcased with the opening "Cry for Me". Weirdly enough "Cry For Me" sounds way more lively and full than most other songs here. It has an incredible lead melody, backing vocals, and bassline. I also really enjoy the other single "Can't Nobody Love You" with the more aggressive delivery nearing the end. Once you've heard those two songs, you've heard everything this album has to offer and from there on out, it's a matter of how much more you want of it. The song structures aren't particularly interesting in that sense. That being said, another favorite for me is "Won't You Give Me (One More Chance)" with its cutesy guitar melody and catchy backing vocal. "You Can't Love Em All" is also a fun little song with an enjoyable call-and-response chorus. Me not enjoying this album in its entirety doesn't take away from my respect for this Soul legend. He is a really really amazing singer and this album still works as a means to showcase that.

Where to begin with soul legend Stevie Wonder's album "Talking Book". The opening track "You Are The Sunshine of My Life" is so joyful and stands as one of the greatest fusions of soul and pop of the 70s. Short and sweet, the song's reserved instrumentation and subtle conga-driven percussion ease the listener into this album with one of Wonder's most approachable songs. Stevie Wonder has a very solid and unique grasp of soul music. His smooth, almost boyish, vocals and effective use of guest vocalists to form memorable choruses are just as present here as on later albums like "Innervisions" and of course "Songs in The Key of Life". When compared to those albums, the mixes, especially on the instrumental side are a bit more washed out, but still pack a colorful punch with various genre fusions laced throughout. The best example of this is the always killer and iconic "Superstition". I mean this is one of the greatest grooves ever with an explosive mesh of horns, clavinet, and that bassline. On top of all that, Wonder rides this groove effortlessly. I enjoyed the juxtaposition between the somewhat abstract lyrics, which paint an eerie image of mindless belief, and the upbeat funky instrumentation. Funk aside, the balladry demonstrated on the gorgeous synth-backed "You and I" is another highlight. More than anything, it showcases Wonder's talents as a vocalist. He's able to be emotive, while not straying too far from his comfortable range, yielding a vocal performance that comes off as subtle and humble rather than overblown or bombastic. Instrumentally, there are some great moments here. I like the fuzzy bass and warm synth contrast on "You've Got It Bad Girl". It's certainly one of the smoothest songs here. I enjoy the folk twist on "Big Brother" detailing the empty promises made by politicians to try and win over African-American voters. "Blame it on the Sun", is another song that references the sun, with ethereal instrumentation feeling like a heat ray beaming through a skylight in an isolated cave. The album closes off with yet another incredible love song with one of the catchiest choruses here. This here is the blueprint. Stevie Wonder's capabilities as a musician, singer, and songwriter are all showcased in a tightly-packed experience that effectively captures the evolutions in soul fusion seen in the 70s.

New Wave as a genre has always been very hit or miss with me. Japan's album "Quiet Life" is on the earlier side of the genre's inception (being released in the late 70s), and it certainly sounds like it. I hadn't heard of Japan but their aesthetic is pretty solid (at least on this album). There's something foggy and hazy about the synth work here. Maybe it's me projecting this cover's vibe onto the album itself, but it feels like an intoxicated night out in the city. This is the vibe I get off most of the tracks; subtly somberful and dramatic. The washed-out mixes on the vocals and instrumentation are likely contributors to this aesthetic, which when it comes to looking at each song in a vacuum, is probably my biggest flaw with this album. "Despair" is hauntingly gorgeous, with saxophone and sorrowful piano leads driving a heartbreaking ballad. The lyrics are in French, but from what I gather, they're referencing the destruction of some sort of art medium. It's easily my favorite song here. Aside from that though, with the more direct tracks, there's an interesting mood that's evoked overall, but nothing happens that excels these songs past that basic pre-established mood. Can't say I'm too fond of the vocals here either, especially on the song "In Vogue" where there's so much sub that it's just irritating. In general, though, I just find the vocals to be forgetful and sleepy and not in a way that particularly compliments this album's style. There are moments where it works, like on "Aliens" where I think the vocalist comes off more emotive and I think the song is particularly ear-wormy. My overall conclusion after hearing this is that I find the instrumentation itself cool and effective, but the songs themselves leave a lot to be desired. Can't say I really dug this one.

When it comes to Culture Club, I've only ever heard the song "Karma Chameleon" before listening to this album. It's a pretty smooth new romantic track that I always found mildly catchy and is easily the best song here. Not sure why, but the harmonica always seemed out of place and sort of soured the mix. But I do like the chorus and the harmonies; they're very light and cleanly performed. Digging into it lyrically, the sentiment here stands out. Boy uses the imagery of a chameleon to describe the desire to blend in and conform to avoid alienation and scrutiny. Clean and light are probably the two best adjectives I can use to describe this album's overall aesthetic. Boy George is a solid vocalist, taking influences from RnB vocalists which I find somewhat unique for this genre of music and adds some enjoyability and life to many of the performances. The vocals are the highlight here and generally carry (like on the song Black Money). I'll also acknowledge his good writing here, like on the closer "Victims" a song whose meaning is difficult to pin down, but the imagery is evocative and almost tragic. The instrumentation is dull and dry to me for the most part. The harmonica and saxophone that occasionally crop up act as blemishes rather than enhancements and only serve to age this album. There are some cool moments, like the guitar solo on "Miss Me Blind", a song where I think the instrumentation's smooth, minimal, and reserved yet well-composed nature works in the track's favor. Ultimately though, my issues with this record boil down to just lackluster songs that are neither memorable nor interesting. It seems to be a recurring issue for me with New Romantic.

I wouldn't hesitate to call this a surrealist post-punk record. It feels like dancing while everything around you crumbles. The stems that make up these songs are skeletal and the album is less concerned with filling up the sonic space and more concerned with building rudimentary grooves that sound almost like repetitive sound bites layered on top of one another. To say it's danceable would be an understatement, I mean just listen to that bassline and distorted strumming on "Damaged Goods". Rarely do I hear basslines so clear to the point where it's practically driving the melody. "Natural's Not It" works just as well. While the instrumentals' simplistic, discernable, and punchy characteristics are the ingredients to this album's addictiveness, the vocals themselves work just as well to that effect. The melodies are stripped back, repetitive, and very basic but because the instrumentals leave a lot of room, the vocals are never drowned out and work in conjunction with the instrumentals in an undeniably visceral way. Both vocalists Jon King and Andy Gill (on "Natural's Not It") are very talented in this way and their subtle sarcasm contributes heavily to this album's overall theme (Given the already sarcastic title). Certain songs here contain almost annoyingly catchy choruses like "Return the Gift", "I Found That Essence Rare" and "Glass". I say annoyingly because I tend to get them stuck in my head, not to knock them in any way. There's almost a nursery rhyme-esque charm to some of these choruses, which when paired up against the distortion on a song like "Return the Gift", works wonders. I love the way the instrumental builds at the end of this song too, it's one of the most fiery moments on this record. Synths pop in every once in a while like on the track "5.45" which is effective in establishing that song's ominous mood given the subject matter. Now the Gang of Four is relentlessly political on this album. Taking their name from a CCP faction, it's quite clear what their leanings are; leftist and Marxist. Now I've never been good at writing about politics or dissecting political art in particularly creative ways, but I'll still give it a shot. "Natural's Not It" deals particularly with consumerism culture and has probably my favorite lyrics overall. "Damaged Goods" describes a relationship and the protagonists' shallow engagement with the other party, often interpreted as a critique of capitalism. "I Found That Essence Rare" describes the shallow and almost naive nature of the media's portrayal of life; criticizing their obsession with blissful ignorance. "Glass" to me just seems like a description of a monochromatic life under capitalism, filled with headaches, cigarettes, and a perpetual longing for meaning. The matter of unrealistic sex expectations also crops up in the song "Contract". The song "5.45" might be the most direct track here. Gill doesn't bother sugarcoating the media's desire to resell death, violence, and division as entertainment, nicely tying back to the title of the album. It raises an interesting question about what this album itself is trying to achieve, given the title "Entertainment!". The song's sentiment has unfortunately aged very well, as did most of the sentiments on this album. I ramble and ramble like I know what I'm talking about at all. One thing I do know is that this album rules. It's damn near flawless. I mentioned it was surrealist and I still stand by that. It depicts all aspects of life under capitalism as unfulfilling, empty, and shallow over these catchy-as-all-hell songs. It's this incredible combination of two very different moods and sounds that makes this album so unique.

Black Sabbath is a band I know very little about; I know Ozzy Osbourne bit off a bird's head on stage once and also something about guitarist Lommi's missing fingertips inventing heavy metal. I mean they get a rep that very few bands back in the day do and it's not hard to see why when listening to this and their other stuff. Their genre of "hard rock" was more discernable than other hard rock at the time. It wasn't just loud, fast, or noisy like much of the music that would eventually lead to punk rock, but rather more seismic, crushing, and monstrous. They do all this while still sounding of their time and I think that's primarily due to Ozzy's high-pitched shriek-styled vocals which is a style seldom seen with more contemporary metal vocalists. As for this album, I didn't even know it existed. I've heard of their first three but never this guy. The opening track is huge, with an incredible outro blending highspeed guitar riffs with these flourishing synth keys. This is after, of course, a heavy bout of guitar distortion in the first leg. This album oddly switches it up with the song "Changes" which is a gorgeous ballad detailing a breakup. The piano-driven instrumental alongside the backing melotron (I think) has an unsettling and eerie aura to it which is only amplified when considering how out of place this ballad is here. I still love it. Another strange piece is the following ambient and noise interlude "FX". Aside from those two tracks though, most of the other songs are standard Black Sabbath with all their heaviness. I love the opening riff on "Supernaut" with Ozzy singing about a sort of freedom he yearns for in life. I love the solo and the strange percussion and acoustic piece at the end. Cocaine, which the band was doing a lot of at the time, is the topic of the incredible hard-rock track "Snowblind". I like this particular chorus paired with the riff here, there's almost something tragic about it. I love the drumming on this album a lot, especially the switch-up on "Snowblind" and on the entire song of "Cornucopia". The closer is just a non-stop barrage of rhythm and riff switch-ups and is the track where I see the most parallels with modern metal. For as little as I've listened to this band overall, I'll make the uneducated claim that this is one of their more experimental ones. Most, if not all of these songs have little bits that stray from their traditional sound. I love the occasional soft switch-ups here. Dug this album a lot and until my inevitable relistens of their other stuff, I'd call this my favourite Black Sabbath album.

This is my first Harry Nilsson album, an artist who I know very little about. I like the opening track. Nilsson's vocals are so expressive, sporadic, and all over the place melodically. I think it works well with the sorta clunky horn-backed instrumentation. This is certainly an unorthodox pop album for the time, there's something so strange about the varied and inconsistent style of each track. Like the quiet keyboard backing "Early in the Morning" which has Harry taking an almost soul approach to his delivery. The melancholy image of waking up in the morning to an uneventful day pairs well with this instrumental. I love the piano ballad "Without You" and it's probably my favorite song here as Harry details a tragic breakup with an incredible vocal melody in the verses. The instrumentation here is gorgeous too. Harry's certainly a talented vocalist and he showcases his range by taking on different styles all throughout this album. It keeps the album from getting stale or repetitive. I love the whispered vocals and the harmonies in the slower "The Moonbeam Song" and how it contrasts the following rock-inspired and organ-backed "Down". It's clear Harry takes a lot from the music around him and this album almost feels like a celebration of a lot of the popular music at the time; from RnB to folk to pop. Even tracks that are painfully standard like "Let the Good Times Roll" are still enjoyable to certain degrees. I think it just stands as a testament to how great of a songwriter Harry was. I love the pop-rock epic "Jump into the Fire" which has an incredible groove and is the most ambitious track here; it almost sounds like a Can song near the end. While I do like this album's eccentricity at times, the song "Coconut" was a low for me. It was fun to listen to at first but I think it overstays its welcome. With that said, I do think it still contributes to this album's overall charm. I loved this record's eclectic nature. It doesn't offer anything particularly new or groundbreaking for the time and I think that's fine; sometimes an album can just have really good songs.

This is another absolute first. It's probably my first bluegrass record period. So when I saw that this thing was around 2 hours in length, I was a bit taken aback but still intrigued. "Grand Ole Opry Song" was a very enjoyable start to this album. I love the little chatter at the beginning of many of these songs. It's quite a funny-sounding song, it almost sounds like the manifestation of the stereotypes surrounding this type of music; with the yelped and twangy vocals and that finger-picked banjo. It's still quite enjoyable, I also enjoy the more mellow acoustic-driven follow-up "Keep On the Sunny Side" featuring Maybelle Carter. With an album this long, it's difficult to dissect it in its entirety but below I'll jot down some of my other favorite moments. - I love the instrumental track "Nashville Blues". There's something so relentlessly fiery about the performances here. Earl Scruggs' banjo playing is great here. It also made me realize how cool of an instrument the washboard is. This is probably my favorite song here. - I love Roy Acuff's deeper and almost slurred vocals on "The Precious Jewel". - I enjoy the storytelling on the song "The Tennessee Stud". I can't honestly begin to decipher what this story is even about, it seems to be a story about a cunning Tennessee man that's also being likened to a horse or something. No idea but it's certainly standout. - A song called "The End of the World" having such a bright instrumental is pretty funny but also unsettling. - After a series of slower tracks, the more upbeat, catchy, and immediate nature of "My Walkin' Shoes" is a nice change-up, nicely closing out the first disc. - It leads nicely to the first track of the second disc, "Lonesome Fiddle Blues" which is a highly enjoyable guitar and violin-backed instrumental track. "Cannonball Rag" is another short and sweet acoustic cut that sounds familiar, probably because it's a standard in this genre. In general, I liked the series of shorter instrumental cuts here. - "Honky Tonk Blues" is another one of the more immediate tracks, likely due to its shorter nature and simple yet prominent drum beat. - I love the main instrumental melody on "Wildwood Flower" at the beginning that gives off a tiny music box feel. This entire song is one of my favorites overall, there's something so hypnotic about the acoustic guitar here. Maybelle's vocals here are so subdued and a much-needed breather nearing the end of this album. I know this song is a cover of another song but it's still a really good cover. - The mournful title track (which is another cover) is another favorite of mine with the exchange between two vocalists detailing the passing of the protagonist's mother and how it's affected them. I love the mantra on the chorus and they bid their loved one farewell. - I love the soothing acoustic-driven closing instrumental track, fits nicely after the previous somber track. Lengthy records like this always give off this monolithic feeling to me and this album is no exception; it feels almost like a classic country epic. Yet, there is nothing conventionally "epic" about it; it's very laid back. It sounds like sizzling outside on an August afternoon, for better or worse, or maybe taking a walk in a smaller village. It certainly evokes a positive feeling in me and takes me to a happier and more simple place. The slew of guest vocalists and players also contributes to this compilation-esque attitude the album adapts. The diverse set of vocalists makes this feel like a collection of short stories, almost like you're taking a peek into the lives of many different men and women. Can't say every song here was incredible or anything and on the surface, a lot of the songs sound very similar. But I think that's fine and this is an album to be enjoyed in its entirety by soaking in all these textured instrumentals, anecdotal lyrics, and shiny twangy vocals. As a whole, it's pretty great but I can also see how some people would 100% despise everything about it.

The opening track is quite incredible honestly. It follows a medley structure (given the name) and I love the drum beat and subsequent horns that blare in the second part (of the first part). The harmonizing between Louis and the backing vocals is also very pleasant. I also love Louis' vocals on this track and many others. He has some hilarious tongue-in-cheek passages and isn't afraid to strain his voice in overly performative and playful ways like on "Oh Marie" and the break on the second medley. This album honestly doesn't even sound all that dated or anything. I mean don't get me wrong, it sounds like a late 50s record, but the dust that is typically associated with these types of records is nowhere to be heard. I can chalk it up to solid remastering with the digital release I used but I still thought it was worth mentioning. The second duet track featuring Keely Smith genuinely sounds great and Keely's vocals shine in the mix. Makes me wish she was featured more in the second half. There are some interesting instrumental moments here, like the strange breaks on "The Lip"; honestly this entire song is pretty strange and probably one of my favorites. I also really like the tempo switch-up and trumpet solo on "Body and Soul". Overall though, there's nothing standout about the instrumentation, it's nicely done and the solos soar nicely whenever they do appear. The playing is very good, if a bit repetitive. Side one is really good but it's right after the second medley where this album loses me almost entirely. It just sort of sounds like I'm listening to side one again. This album is relatively short, yet its sonic pallet is very limited which gives it little room for the development of interesting ideas. Not to say it's bad, just sort of uninteresting. I wasn't a fan of "Night Train" as an instrumental when compared to the standard "Body and Soul" for example. When it comes to these 50s and records that are very much "of the time", their age either irks me or does well enough to draw me into the era in which they were recorded. I'd group this album with the latter with the heavy caveat being that I do wish the second side worked as well for me as the first. Still a pleasant listen though.

Rock rarely sounds this good, I mean it, like RARELY. There's nothing clean about it, it's just an absolute cacophony of varied guitar tones, highly complementary backing players, and dizzyingly abstract and hazy lyrics (that are very much reflective of the time). Calling Hendrix a great guitar player is useless, you can't describe this shit, you just have to listen to it. The thing is I've listened to this before, and maybe I was just an idiot, but I didn't get it. Actually, I can say for a fact I was an idiot. Maybe it was because Jimi Hendrix was hyped up to be such an incredible guitar player that when I heard this (And the equally incredible "Are you Experienced") initially, I didn't get the aficionado, lightning-speed guitar playing my naive ears expected. Instead what I get here is pure electricity, numbing and fuzzy guitar tones that are so sharp and piercing. Distortion and feedback are the name of the game here with chords and sounds that blend seamlessly. The entire album has this insatiable live energy to it. I can't stress enough how much the dustiness of the rougher recording here works to this album's benefit. The song "Voodoo Chile" is this album's early masterpiece. The organ is so absolutely piercing and the drums pack such a deep punch. The song goes the distance in terms of length. It's like the band is trying to start a fire by solely using the friction between their instruments. It's like throughout its runtime, the fire blazes and then calms and goes out only to be ignited again. It's this up-and-down sequencing that makes this one track such a masterpiece. While this monster of a track is more than worth a mention, the shorter and more immediate tracks bring all the same fire. "Crosstown Traffic" is insanely hard. I love the syncopated singing and guitar line. At least that's what it sounds like and if that's not the case, then paint me even more impressed. "Little Miss Strange" has one of the most loveable basslines by Noel Redding. It's just worth mentioning that with each one of these "small" tracks, Hendrix's guitar playing takes on a new form. "Long Hot Summer" is laid back to the core and it's these songs that shine a light on the more psychedelic, pot-smoking, sounds of this album. I enjoy the vocal effects on Hendrix's vocals in the latter part of the drug-induced love song "Gypsy Eyes". This is one of my favorite-sounding songs, the strange panning and cutting must've been mind-blowing for the time (and kind of still is). The following "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" manages to sound like a horrifying inebriated fever dream while also sounding utterly serene. I love the chord progression on the organs during the little rifts in sound. The bassline and psychedelic guitar pairing in the middle of "1983..." perfectly capture the feelings of escape that Hendrix yearns for on this track. It also subtly matches the sub-aquatic theme the song hints at. "House Burning Down" is probably the most immediate and catchy song here. I have to mention "All Along the Watchtower", the Bob Dylan cover that introduced me to Hendrix. I always found the song's apocalyptic depictions of uncertainty to be mesmerizing. I always pictured the two characters here standing on a rampart (or watchtower I guess) of a large castle gazing into the oncoming danger in the distance while bickering about it rather than taking any sort of action. Hendrix does this song more than justice, with an incredible psychedelic passage nearing the end and an explosive finish. It's one of the greatest songs ever. I can't put into words how much I just adore the sounds of this album. Hendrix's talk-sing vocals complement the noisier moments here. The way his vocals get drowned out on a song like "Voodoo Chile" only makes everything seem more explosive. I think this album's cover perfectly sums up what you get here; a grainy, blurred, skin-peeling fire-red experience that you'll never forget.

Ah yes, the bucket hat-wearing, hip-hop golden age rapper who I've always revered and respected, but never went out of my way to check out. Can't say I found this album to be standout in any way though. LL Cool J is certainly a talented lyricist, and at the turn of the decade, he managed to capture both the simplistic, clunk of the 80s flows and the complexity of the up-and-coming 90s styles. The instrumentals are good here generally with most of it being produced by legend Marly Marl. I love the punchier nature of a song like "Eat Em Up L Chill" and this particular song showcases some of L's best rhyme patterns. Can't say I'm too big a fan of this hook though. I honestly really liked "Murdergram" which had an almost throwback sound. It's one of the songs with one of those obvious "80s" flows and the ambient audience noises in the background help nail that raw "in the moment" feel. I like the short transitional moments on "Farmers Blvd". Can't say I was a huge fan of the title track here though, I just found the instrumental far too clunky and L's flow even clunkier. His yelpier style doesn't work for me. There are some interesting lyrical moments, here like "Cheesy Rat Blues" where L tackles the double-faced nature of his associates in a hypothetical situation where he lost everything. "Milky Cereal" was sorta funny too. Overall though, yeah this album is too long, and can't say it's entirely interesting front to back. That's not to say it's bad, honestly aside from a few outright irritating moments (I'm looking at you "Jingling Baby" hook), I enjoyed this thing front to end. I just don't think it's doing anything special or distinct, it's just solid early 90s hip-hop.

I've never considered myself to be a particularly "over the top" person, but rather a restrictive person who's more content with flying under the radar. So I find it strange that one of my favorite albums ever is probably one of the most "over the top" albums I've ever heard. I mean everything about this The Mars Volta debut is bombastic and overblown; be that the vocals, lyrics, production, length, and even the album's title itself. The advent of The Mars Volta was preceded by the break-up of the incredible El Paso post-hardcore group At the Drive-In, of which the two core members of The Mars Volta, Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala, were a part of. I mean the afro-guys more than stuck out in that band, most evident in the live recordings you can find scattered all across the internet. On one side you've got Omar who's more concerned with hitting his spaghetti leg moves than he is with hitting the right notes. On the other you've got Cedric, forgetting lyrics and jumping off speakers. Must've been hell to play with these guys but holy shit was it fun to watch. While some might hate this, it drew me in and was a gold standard I set for stage presence. It was a relentless live energy only rivaled by previous hardcore and post-hardcore groups like Fugazi. I say this because the two afro guys would go on to match that exact energy on this massive cinematic debut. I say cinematic because the band has talked at length about how they were more inspired by the movies they would watch rather than the music they would listen to. Maybe that's why their music sounds so unique. They had the fundamentals down from their previous band, but rather than carry over the noisier hardcore noises of ATDI, they moved in a more progressive direction. With Rick Rubin assisting (alongside Omar) on production, the mix is allowed to thrive and flourish with every instrument occupying a space here, allowing a perfect blend with no one instrument overpowering the others. Jon Theodore's drumming is incredible all across this thing, with machine gun rapid-fire passages and fills to match Omar's many incredible riffs, like on the closing minutes of "Drunkship of Lanterns". Isaiah "Ikey" Owens does the incredible keyboard work here, comprising mostly of organs that add so much to every single song. With an incredible backing set of players, this album was always set up to be something genuinely great, almost pristine, and easily digestible for prog fans generally. At least that's what I would say if it weren't for the biggest, likely negative for many, factor here and that's vocalist and lyricist Cedric. I mean on the surface, the guy lands somewhere between an emo vocalist and a pop-punk vocalist with lyrics that are almost laughably cryptic at times. And I love everything about it. The guy's range in the studio is undoubtedly amazing. It's what makes this band and this album so special to me. The first full track "Inertiatic Esp" absolutely demands the attention of the listener when it first starts, whether it yields a prominently negative reaction or one that's similar to mine which is pure joy, it forces a strong reaction. It's a litmus test for the rest of this album and I attribute that to Cedric's lead vocals. I've talked a lot abstractly because I genuinely just love every second of this album and can't think of the best way to describe the music here. The full opening track is the band's most notable because of its catchy and memorable chorus, but also its staccato drum and guitar. It also goes the distance in terms of length and goes through a couple of facets and phases. Cedric's vocals truly shine on the following "Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)" with some truly incredible moments (like on the bridge). It also has one of the hardest grooves in the opening seconds. "Cicatriz Esp" certainly still has Cedric shining in the beginning, but this is undoubtedly Omar's track with incredible guitar layers in the song's long instrumental mid-section. It plateaus into pure ambiance for a little bit before being bought back for an explosive finale. I say Omar because he handles the guitar and bass directly on this album, but he is also credited with being the musical genius behind and composer of all these tracks. "Televators" is a slower ballad-type track, sounding almost like something that appears on their next album, and is an incredible breather before the band brings it back for a grand finale on "Take The Veil Cerpin Text". This closer has one of the most winner choruses that showcases Cedric's poppier tendencies. Even with saying all that, it's hard to capture how the music sounds in words. It's unlike any other prog album and certainly is one of the most idiosyncratic releases within the genre. I've neglected to talk about the lyrics here. I find it hard as hell to remember the lyrics to this thing because of Cedric's affinity for the thesaurus. The lyrics are super cryptic and take some looking into. It's a staple in their discography and an acquired taste. This album, just like their follow-up, is highly conceptual. It's based on a short story written by Cedric relating to an overdose sending a man into a coma. After the man wakes up, he takes his own life. The entire story is inspired by the life of Cedric's late friend, Julio Venegas. This is all accompanied by strange and surreal imagery and writing like the doctor with dog hands on "Eritarka". Televators is likely the most obvious eulogy to their late friend, even painting the image of his final moments through the protagonist Cerpin. Honestly, there's a lot to dig into here and whether you take the time to match the lyrics with Cedric's story or not shouldn't matter too much. I don't blame anyone for wanting to just enjoy this album on the surface level but its conceptual nature is always interesting to dive into on subsequent listens. If there's one word I hate that is so commonly used to describe music it's "pretentious". It's such a dismissive word with an ugly connotation attached to it. It's a way of describing something you don't get or don't want to bother getting while simultaneously bringing down the people who do get it. People may listen to this thing and laugh at just how over the top it is and I'd honestly laugh along. But I hold this album so near and dear to me, it's one of the biggest staples in my life, and these songs and this band will always have a place in my heart. The Mars Volta is a band that understands how "over the top" their sound is and they use it to their advantage. If this is what being pretentious sounds like then I guess I'm a sucker for pretentious music because this thing is just perfect.

My first solo Syd Barrett record. I never really heard any of Pink Floyd's earlier records that featured him before he left. I just know "Wish You Were Here" was in part dedicated to him. I know Syd's mental health issues (rumored to be related to schizophrenia) are often projected onto his works, so this is something I tried to avoid doing when listening to this album. This album feels like an uneasy 60s or early-70s Beatles-esq pop record if it were recorded in some sort of uncanny alternate dimension. There's just something so off about so many of these songs, be that the strange stuttering instrumentals or the off-key singing. This album is also highly intimate with many of the stripped-back, skeletal, and rudimentary cuts here consisting of nothing but acoustic guitar and Syd's vocals. This folkier style works in the album's favor on a song like "Here I Go" which I like quite a bit, lyrically and melodically. The simplicity of these songs doesn't go over so well on a song like "Love You" which borders parody. The dronier track "No Good Trying" was probably my favorite track here. I wish there were more songs like it. The series of acoustic tracks nearing the end bog the album down generally, although I enjoy the songwriting on certain tracks. "Octopus" has pure imagery-based storytelling relating to a trip to an amusement park. It's a very jovial and partially surreal cut with Syd's all-over-the-place vocal style working in its favour. I also really enjoy "Feel" with a longing sense of loneliness being portrayed in the lyrics. Overall, I'm relatively indifferent towards this album. There were a few interesting psychedelic moments here, but I can't say I was too fond of Syd's approach to the more folkier tracks. If there's anything I can praise endlessly though, it's Syd's standout personality that's put on full display here. His songwriting, whether simplistic or abstract, was the undeniable highlight.

A pretty solid '60s country rock and folk release. Easily the highlight here is the instrumentation and the gorgeous vocal layering on many of these songs. Immediately, "Hickory Wind" sticks out in this way, with gorgeous harmonized vocals and guitar layering that I enjoy quite a bit. "One Hundred Years from Now" leans in a more pop direction but I also really enjoy this song. I love the closer "Nothing Was Delivered", it sticks out by being the punchiest thing here. I think I just really enjoy how soft everything is here, all the music is so pillowy and soothing, and even the so-called "punchier" tracks are relatively mild and reserved. Lyrically speaking, themes of love and religion are at the forefront here. I'm generally fine with this, but it doesn't go over so well on a song like "The Christian Life" that's far too blunt for my liking. Not to say the song itself is terrible; I do find it quite catchy. My biggest gripe here is that most of the tracks do tend to blend in with one another, which isn't particularly bad because, again, I do enjoy the harmonization in the vocals and guitars generally. The obvious standout here is the song "Life in Prison", only because this song's subject matter is far more unsettling and eerie when compared to everything else. Not much to say about this, it's short and sweet, albeit sort of uninteresting and boilerplate at the same time.

Of all the big hard rock bands that came out in the 60s and 70s, Led Zeppelin is one that I've been mildly on the fence about. While I love their 4th installment in the self-titled series, and admittedly I do love many of Page's riffs here, many of the songs on this album end up falling flat for me. This album is at its best during the punchier moments when the drums, bass, and riffs are driving these thunderous and relentless grooves. The muddiness, grit, loudness in the mix, and sheer stickiness of the riffs have always been what made LZ so iconic to me. The perfect example of this is the entire song "Heartbreaker", which especially during its final minutes, goes disgustingly hard with these noisy layers of guitar crashing against one another in the mix. It's such a great moment. I just wish the rest of the album was this thunderous and powerful. Rather, it's dominated by slower moments that are redundant, and uninteresting. I never understood the purpose nor placement of the percussion-driven interlude on "Whole Lotta Love" for example, it just bogs the song down. I'd say the worst part about the slower moments is that Plant's powerful vocals tend to shine better when he's being complimented by equally powerful instrumentation. This album meanders a lot and I think Plant's vocals, at least here, run a bit dry when he's just waffling. An example of this is in the quieter interlude of "The Lemon Song". I generally don't enjoy LZ's music for Plant's vocals; I even find them quite grating at times like on "Ramble On". Funnily enough, I sort of like "Moby Dick" a lot because it doesn't feature Plant's vocals, even the strange percussion interlude I find moderately charming. My thoughts on this album aren't all negative. Again when the riffs DO hit (usually at the beginning of most of these tracks), they sound great, rough, and dirty. I think that's what I generally like about these guys' albums. I also like the organ-backed love ballad "Thank You". I generally enjoy it when LZ switches up their songs with lighter acoustic instrumentation in the middle of their harsher albums. I enjoy the serenity of the synth-driven closing minute of this song, both lyrically and instrumentally. Overall, there are still many great *moments* here, but when looking for songs that I can say I enjoyed from front to back as just songs, I find they're few and far between.

I've heard nothing but incredible things about this singer-songwriter legend Joni Mitchell, so I was certainly both intimidated and excited to dive into her catalog for the first time here with one of her "mid-era" albums. And honestly, I got exactly what I expected out of this. To start, the instrumentation here is incredibly restrained (say for maybe the song "Black Crow"). The instrumentation is very textured and doesn't take any tangible form, it's more of a mix of gorgeous and serene bass, guitar, minimal percussion, and synth. There are hints of folk and country-inspired instrumentation scattered across a few of these songs (like the harmonica hanging in the background on "Furry Sings the Blues", courtesy of Neil Young). I can't overstate how genuinely pleasant and calming the sound of this album is, there's a hint of coldness but that only makes everything else feel like a warm blanket made to shield you from said coldness. The best example of this is "Amelia". I know Mitchell does the guitar herself on this album, and she does an incredible job. As for Mitchell herself, on first listen, I certainly enjoy her performances as a singer. I love how off-kilter her melodic flow is in the opening "Cayote". Her melodies tend to be all over the place in a good way, but she still often returns to a common motif in many of these songs. As for the lyrics here, on first listen, I find there's a lot to take in. Albums this dense in meaning need many listens but I can still say I enjoyed most of it. Songs like "Blue Motel Room" and "Cayote" take me to particularly dream-like places. Many of the songs here tend to be story-driven in one way or another. Joni seems to be retelling the events that unfolded at certain points in her life vicariously through a character or fictional person or just anecdotally. The songs are loosely tied together through themes of separation and isolation, likely related to Joni's relationships, but I haven't taken the time to dive too deep into her personal life; I mainly took the lyrics at face value. I do enjoy the second half slightly less than the first, finding a lot of the sounds to get repetitive, but I can attune that to the fact that this is a first listen, and on subsequent listens, I assume I'll enjoy it far more. This was a very pleasant first experience with Joni's music and I'm certainly looking forward to listening to more.

This is my first album from this legendary rock group. I was immediately drawn to two things though, this album cover that brings so much joy to me for some reason and the weird genre labeling they get of "Swamp Rock". In a way, those two things perfectly describe this album, even the "swamp" bit... I automatically just love the sound of this album...like right away. I'm a sucker for this late 60s style that's very blues inspired and dirty with killer, round, and punchy drum beats. There are also some country-rock influences in some of these instrumentals like on the hit song "Bad Moon Rising", an absolute banger. There's a lot of dirt and distortion in the guitars, I love it, especially on the noisy outro on "Commotion" which perfectly matches the song's chaotic subject matter. I say dirty but it's nothing too crazy, I think it's just enough to match CCR's shorter and easy-to-dive into song structures. John Fogerty perfectly complements these instrumentals vocally by drawing from the worlds of RnB and Blues (especially in the call and response on the closer "The Night Time is the Right Time"). I find the vocals on the song "Tombstone Shadow" to be very ahead of their time, they almost sound like something you'd hear come out of the 90s grunge scene. I love his gritty and guttural style, it doesn't overpower the mix and blends nicely. This entire album is mixed very cleanly. A lot of blues influence but also country influence in the slower song "Wrote a Song for Everyone", my favorite here. The sentiment is very tragic as John seems to address his lack of commitment toward his loved one and over-commitment toward making music. I do think the final three songs are less memorable than my favorite songs, "Lodi", "Wrote a Song for Everyone" and "Bad Moon Rising", but I won't knock this album for that, those songs are still solid. It's certainly derivative at times, even for the time, but still very enjoyable and a great intro to the band. Everything here is just so easy to enjoy.

Having already heard this Le Tigre album, I knew as soon as it popped up that I'd love it. The saddest thing about Le Tigre is that one stupid song they released which was also my introduction to the band. I hate that the 2016-era internet hate bandwagon is what I most commonly associated with this band for a long time (at least back when I had no understanding of this genre or this album's significance). I was an annoying young teenager at the time so of course I fell into it. I guess I'm not helping the association by making this the first thing I mention about this album, but this is about my experience. My first actual listen to this album was under better circumstances. I had finished going through Kathleen Hanna's other releases with her other Riot Grrrl/punk band: Bikini Kills. Honestly, though, I love the Le Tigre self-titled more than anything from that band (and I still really like that band). After all that rambling though, I can say for a fact that this is one of the most idiosyncratic post-punk albums out there. Largely attributed to the electronic and dance-punk-based production all over this thing, which is incredible. None more notable than the opening "Deceptacon", which almost sounds like an electronic punk club banger. It's far more accessible than anything Hanna has done previously, with a relentlessly catchy doo-wop-inspired chorus. I also really love the droning and hypnotic follow-up "Hot-Topic" with the awesome shout-out bit at the end (something that clearly influenced James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem later on). The bass and drum are killer throughout this thing. A few tracks near the end almost have a hip-hop-esque feel to them instrumentally, especially on the bassy, looped, and sample-driven "Slideshow at Free University". Maybe the thing I love most about this album, aside from its incredible electro-based production, is its self-aware nature lyrically. I'm not sure why, but compared to many other punk lyricists (In a genre that is already highly self-aware), Kathleen and co-vocalist Johanna come off as more self-aware, sarcastic, and overly blunt, yet still very enjoyable lyricists. I think the best example of this is in "What's Yr Take on Cassavetes?". I love the oddity of the song "Phanta", an almost sci-fi-themed story-driven banger that almost sounds proto-pop-punk. The following love ballad "Eau D'Bedroom Dancing" is utterly gorgeous and an incredible highlight, showing Hanna taking on a more soft-spoken performance. Aside from this slower song, every other song packs an incredible punch. Some of my personal favorites are the electronic groove on "Let's Run" and the organ-driven follow-up "My My Metrocard". This song is one of the more bluntly political songs, condemning then-NY-mayor and notorious piece of shit Rudy Giuliani contrasted with images of freedom within NY. This is one of the greatest punk albums of the 90s without a doubt. It's one of the best-sounding ones for sure and as for the entertainment factor, it excels in that from front to back. It's just such a fun album to listen to for me, be that the catchy choruses, incredible dance-punk grooves that come off grainy and uneasy, or the subject matter tackled on most of these tracks. Genuinely just incredible and an album any punk fan should check out without a doubt.

This is a first for me I don't think I've ever heard T. Rex in general (although the song "Get It On" sounds familiar). This is a glam rock record, a genre that I'm far from well-versed in, but I do think that this album is far lighter than what I expected. I say lighter because a lot of these songs come off as super quiet, soft, and even one-note at times. All the staples of the genre are here, like the expressive lead vocals, the backing harmonies, and a very recognizable set of melodic patterns, but just minus all the extravagance I'd expect from a genre like this. Maybe that's me projecting my preconceived notions onto this album, but it feels like a lot of the songs are meant to pick up in pace, but simply don't. Nevertheless, I did enjoy a fair bit of this album still. I like the subtle space themes that run across a few of these tracks alongside the varied instrumental palette. I enjoyed the first two tracks quite a bit, and on the slower end, the horn-backed balled "Girl", I enjoyed as well. My favorite song here has to be the intimate and slower "Life's a Gas", the lyrical sentiment here really stuck with me, and the way it was performed was very charming. The more psychedelic instrumentation of this album also really shines on this song. While not being anything too special, frontman Marc Bolan was still very enjoyable to listen to, but again he's on the more reserved end of the glam vocalist spectrum. It still works and the backing band is genuinely very solid. I find the mixing here slightly weird, everything seems almost bloated, and at times, it drowns out the vocals. It's not that big of a deal though. I also think the album gets a bit repetitive nearing the end, but overall, still dug quite a bit of what was offered here. It's a solid early 70s rock album that I think I'd get more out of on repeat listens. These are just my initial thoughts after all.

My first listen to a Big Star album. The album title sorta sums up what this album is to me, every song here sounds like it could've been a number-one hit back in its time, for better or worse. Like many pop-rock albums around the time, this album sounds pretty derivative to me. There aren't many new ideas or interesting instrumental bits, aside from the hypnotic backing flute instrumentation to the serene "The India Song". With that said, I think there are quite a few solid songs here, as well as a few great ones. I loved "The Ballad of El Goodo", it's such a powerful little ballad that warms my heart. The chorus here is uplifting and the backing harmonization and lead vocals are great. I honestly think lead vocalist Chris Bell sounds way better on these slower and more intimate tracks. Like on Big Star's hit "Thirteen", which is a cute ballad detailing tweenage love. I think his vocals on the opener for example, which are louder and higher pitched, come off as derivative and grating. Songs like "Watch the Sunrise", another one of my favorites, have the band filling up the space with gorgeous sounds that come off as simplistic but wholistic at the same time. I also just really like the singing, harmonies, and writing of these slower songs. The instrumentation and playing here are generally pretty good, even on the louder songs. I like the blaring sax on the opener "Feel". The entire instrumental, and subtle instrumental switch-up of "In the Street" was very great too. It's one of the better hard tracks here. The acoustic guitar on "Watch the Sunrise" is warm and soft and nicely captures the song's mood. I did enjoy this album, even though there wasn't much that "wowed" me. It's just solid oldies pop music that sounds like it would pop off in the time in which it was released. Sorta still pops off.

Dr. Dre's 1992 album "The Chronic" remains one of the most influential albums in West Coast hip hop, yeah, but it also stands as one of the most ICONIC pieces of music ever. After the break-up of NWA, Dr. Dre moved his sound in a different direction, one that's more laid back in many ways, but also one that's capable of bringing all the heat, pummeling, and relentlessness of albums like "Straight Outta Compton". But if there's one thing this album has over that one and many other hip-hop albums of the time, is an unrivaled level of absolute ridiculousness. From the intro, we have featured artist and co-rapper Snoop Doggy Dog rambling a diss over this chaotic and messy piece of synth-instrumentation. It's an incredible tone-setter with Snoop changing his vocal inflection in these absurdly over-the-top ways. This entire album comes off as almost a comedy or a satirization of its genre, it's a parody of itself...and it's incredible for it. The very first full track "Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebrating)" is eerily addictive. Maybe it's the blaring synth or the bouncy bassline, or maybe it's the simple, yet smooth flows of both Dr. Dre and Snoop (including a sick back-and-forth at the end). The entire track is a diss at Eazy, homophobic yes, but it's so absurd you can't help but smile at it. The "west-coast whistle" or "G-synth" or whatever you want to call it is the staple of this album. It makes this album a holistic experience. It captures a cruise through south central LA, in the scorching afternoon heat, and there's a blunt there of course. My favorite synth lines are on "Deez Nuts" and of course "Nuthin but a G Thang". I don't know what it is about this song but it's so addicting, I think it's the synth and bass. I also find it fascinating how simplistic Snoop's opening bars are like "1, 2, 3 and to the 4 Snoop Doggy Dog and Dr. Dre are at your door". Few rappers can pull off such a simple, almost nursery rhyme-type bar, and make it sound this smooth. Snoop's smoother delivery very nicely contrasts Dre's deeper voice all over this album, they're a great duo. "Deez Nuts" is just as ridiculous as it sounds, with a hilarious opener, and one of my favorite moments is that outro by Nate Dogg (RIP). In terms of hilarity, the skit "$20 Sack Pyramid" and the closer "The Roach" (one of two songs that interpolate Funkadelic's Mothership Connection directly) also hit the mark. I likened this album to a comedy, but the serious and tougher moments also work just as effectively. "Lil' Getto Boy" sounds incredible instrumentally, because it's a much-needed change-up with a gorgeous flute-driven groove. Snoop and Dr. Dre detail what they've experienced and what they continue to witness with the youth in Compton. The most spine-chilling song here must be "The Day The N Took Over". This album was released around the time of the infamous 1992 LA Riots, and this song captures the angry reactions of the community at the time. With clips of reporters dubbed over these incredible layered vocals and the posse cut aspect of it, this entire song perfectly captures the heated and chaotic events that unfolded at the time. The two other posse cuts here are incredible, "Lyrical Gangbang" and my personal favorite "Stranded on Deathrow". The Deathrow label itself had a very eerie (and possibly sketchy) aura surrounding it, but this song, with epic synth leads and incredible verses, never fails to make me go crazy. Bushwick's intro is great and RBX's line "Blinded by the Light it's time to learn braille" is one of my all-time favorite hip-hop lines. The Lady of Rage verse is great too. I think this album is so iconic that even if you've never heard any songs off it, you've still FELT this album through its influence. It sounds of the time but has also aged tremendously well. Aged well sonically at least, lyrically it stands as questionable today. I don't think it should be taken too seriously but I understand any criticisms leveled against certain lyrical moments here. This album still sounds grand and sounds like this entire subgenre of Hip-Hop captured in one tightly packed, hilarious, and damn-near flawless experience. Easily one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever.

I don't have very much to say about this Radiohead album at all. A lot of the material here was recorded alongside their previous, more renowned, and acclaimed album "Kid A", and yeah it sounds like it. I'll be the first to say I don't find Thom Yorke's vocals on this thing enjoyable. His crooning style I think does better to tie the entire album together than it does to make specific songs stand out. I think this album is a holistic experience and probably Radiohead's most isolated, and almost unsettling album (as far as I remember). The electronic instrumentals return here and work quite well to build atmospheric, bleak, and very damp atmospheres. Sometimes, the experimentation is at the forefront like in the song "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors". On many other songs though, the instrumentation, and music in general, feels stagnant, almost like you're floating aimlessly in a void. It's quite a soothing effect, and this album as a whole is very soothing and comforting. I think some great examples of this are the songs "Pyramid Song" and "You and Whose Army?". When it comes to the guitars, they're hypnotic like on the more direct "Knives Out", one of my personal favorites here. The string synths that appear on the song "Dollars and Cents" also nicely help paint a void-like image. The jazz-inspired closer is probably the most interesting thing here, with highly melodramatic lyrics. It's a grand closer. So yeah I mean that's all I can say about this. Maybe I'm just not in the mood to enter this album's embrace. While I do enjoy its more daring and electronic-driven moments, I think this is one of their more milder and uninteresting albums, and I just can't jive with Thom's singing here. With that said though, you'd be hard-pressed to find a Radiohead album more pillowy, soft, and spacious.

When it comes to 60s album runs that I deem to be both influential and visceral to this day, I think of the 4 (yes only 4) The Velvet Underground albums first. "White Light/White Heat" stands as easily the most challenging of their albums though, with instrumentals, ideas, and concepts to challenge listeners even to this day. It's easily their most experimental and is one of the best examples of albums commonly deemed "Proto-punk" or "early noise". God the opening title track. I love the way it sounds, it feels like the band's submerged many fathoms under the Pacific surface the entire time with these muffled instruments. It's like all the instruments blend into one large sub-bassy blob before devolving into utter chaos in the song's final seconds as the track keeps skipping. I think it says a lot about this album when I call it one of this album's most poppy, considering Lou Reed's vocals are about smoking meth. The second track is the most controversial, not because of its subject matter per se, but more because of how utterly self-indulgent it is. In the stereo version, you have this hypnotic, huffing piece of instrumentation that's insanely grainy and unsettling trucking along for 8 minutes in one ear. I love Moe Tucker's drumming on this album, it's so primal and drives these noisy grooves so naturally. Panned on the other ear though, is co-vocalist John Cale reciting a short story. In short, the story is about a dude mailing himself to his girlfriend to surprise her and then getting stabbed when she tries to open the package. It's unsettling and so beautifully complements this song's music. Grainy, hypnotic, dizzying, and noisy are all perfect adjectives to describe all the sounds on this album. But it all feels unintentional which is the best part, I'm not saying it was unintentional, it just sounds like it. Thousands of artists and musicians have tried to purposefully capture uncanny aesthetics in their music, but the naturally analog and lo-fi feel of this album's recording context plays out naturally and as a result, it amplifies this effect to unrivaled levels. The sub is so fat here it's nuts. "Lady Godiva's Operation" may be the best example of all of this. It may be my favorite song here. Not only is the riff and vocal melody here gorgeous, but the entire story is quite spine-chilling. It's about a lobotomy purposefully gone wrong (speculated to be about a transgender) with all the sound effects and gore included. I know it's probably talked about to death, but I just love Lou's interjections here, they're mixed so loudly and they so harshly clash with John's smooth and soothing singing, I love it. "Here She Comes Now" may be the most easy to digest song here. It's very serene and a nice rest from the utter chaos this album has had you (and will continue to have you) endure. It sounds like something off their debut (or their follow-up to this album). "I Heard Her Call My Name" may be the best example of proto-punk on this album. I love the call and response aspects that make this song sound almost like a garage rock song off a "The Sonics" record. Easily the best thing about this song is THAT DAMN GUITAR, it's so distorted and is composed mostly of feedback and pure noise. It's the type of shit thousands of bands try to emulate but in the mix here, it sounds impeccable. It's so disgusting and ear-shattering, I love it to death. And then there's "Sister Ray". Right when the groove kicks in, you're taken aback by the fact that it's louder than everything here. There's a subtle organ with the groove initially that only becomes more defined and prominent as the song huffs on. I love those opening seconds with the guitar. The sound, throughout the entire song, is clipping through the mix, it's blurry, it's hazy, it's utterly distorted, and disgusting. And Lou Reed's not even trying to be coherent, vocally or lyrically. He's describing an orgy that gets busted by some police, with a whole slew of colorful characters. And the best thing? This mess trudges on for 17 whole minutes and gets even messier near the end. Any semblance of a coherent groove or direction completely vanishes by the end. My favorite part about it is the synth, it's so blaring and sounds like a cheap and run-down modulated organ. This is noise music at its best, this is experimentation, and it was all done back in 1968, and I find it hard to believe. This is high art, with lyrics like "Too busy sucking on my ding dong", you can't help but gawk at its utter ridiculousness. I think this is my favorite VU album, but when I relisten to their other ones when they (inevitably) appear here, I might reassess, they're all just so incredible. This one though, is the peak of their experimentation, and I wouldn't hesitate to call it the peak of experimentation of the 60s in general.

I don't know much about Jerry Lee Lewis aside from the fact that he was one of the pioneers of Rock N' Roll and also his terrible marriage controversy. I think the latter almost tainted his image for me, and maybe his legacy, but this album still seems highly praised and talked about so I tried to go into it without that knowledge polluting my judgments. This is a live album adapting the sounds of classic Rock N Roll in their most rudimentary and classic forms. Rock's often associated with the guitar I'd say, at least for me, but here Jerry offers just as much, if not more viscera on the piano. When matched with the drums and his singing style, the piano playing' lightning-fast and groovy presence is only made more grand. The most standout aspect is Jerry's "boogie woogie" style of playing, it just sounds iconic and takes me back to this time. "Money" may be the best example of this, there's something so raw about the presentation but at the same time, its contents prove to be highly organized and calculated. "Great Balls of Fire", maybe more iconic, is so immediate and sounds like a perfect encapsulation of what this type of rockabilly music should be, with bouncy basslines and hilariously placed piano slides. The vocals are also over the top, in a good way. I also really enjoyed the longer closer "Whole Lotta' Shakin Goin' On" which has a pretty great guitar solo (that's still mixed very quietly under the drums). For a 1964 live album, this album still sounds incredible as well. The piano and vocals feel like the stars here, but the drums are capable of keeping up with the tremendous pace Jerry plays at. I've seen videos of Jerry live before and have seen just how crazy he is with the piano, using all parts of his body like his feet on the instrument. I don't know if he does that here because it all sounds too organized and well done, but it's the image I had in my head the whole time. The version of this album I listened to was very short, and because of that, I think it was super easy to enjoy it from front to back. I do think a lot of the parts sound sort of the same, which is inevitable considering the limited nature of this performance's live roster. I don't consider this to be a flaw since it still all sounds really good at the end of the day. I don't like the slower "Your Cheating Heart", but aside from that, I enjoyed my time with this thing. It's one of those oldies records that still packs a punch to this day while still sounding very much of its time.

It's been a while since I've heard Throbbing Gristle's "20 Jazz Funk Greats", but from my recollection, I don't remember it being nearly as mind-altering and proto-industrial and noisy as this album is. Aside from that, I'm familiar with TG member Peter Christopherson's later endeavors with the great post-industrial band Coil but that's about the extent of my knowledge of TG. If I had to say anything about this album, it's that I think the most mind-blowing thing about it is its release date. I think a lot of the songs on the album blend to form one large directionless void. It's all unsettling, there's not a single earwormy or straightforward track here. The electronic, glitch, distortion effects, and sheer power electronic vibe of this album may not sound so impressive today in the era of post-industrial electronic giants, but it's not hard to pinpoint just how many artists this record could've influenced. When paired with the technological limitations of the time, this album's existence alone is quite a feat and makes it worthy of praise. As for the individual songs, they're still pretty enjoyable and distinct. Again the drones and walls of noise are all there, most notably on "Hamburger Lady" which has these vocals drenched in bizarre vocal effects paired with these strange piercing and high-pitched shots of noise. "Dead on Arrival" may be one of the most direct tracks here, it has several facets and phases and has an electronic groove that sounds so modern it's uncanny. "Wall of Sound" is probably the most haunting and bone-chilling track here, you can probably infer why purely based on its title. The thing I love about this album is how it's influential yes, but it's not "watered-down influential"; that is, the music it inspired doesn't outshine or overshadow it, and its potency is still prevalent even in retrospect. Too many times with influential albums, you can tell that they're very much "prototypes", that's not the case here. It's not clunk or aged in any way. The more "serene" and less noisy tracks with hazy, detuned blushes of noise like "Weeping" and "Hometime" are just as enjoyable as the noisy songs. Many of these songs are paired with either bizarre singing or interesting and uncanny field recording snippets or tapes that are seemingly random, but also tell a story. The tapes on "E. Coli" are probably the most unsettling, it feels like you're listening in on some forbidden memo about some super-mutant bacteria over these uneasy string-sounding synths. "AB/7A" may be the easiest song on the ears here, with a gorgeous ambient proto-EDM groove driving the entire thing, it's a gorgeous moment on the album. While not perfect by any means, this album's existence alone I think is worthy of praise. It's not music for everyone and I understand hating every second of this, but for my ears, I think it's a very cohesive and enjoyable electronic experience.

I think this album might almost sound too good. I wouldn't say overproduced, just kinda "perfect". Just because it sounds perfect though doesn't mean the music itself is perfect. I've never heard of Shack and just by looking at their repertoire and popularity, I feel most people haven't either. With that said, they certainly sound ahead of their time in a weird way, so I wonder if there's some underlying influence with this album. This album is definitely on the poppier side of indie rock, it's called Britpop for a reason. I can see why some people may roll their eyes at how cheesy some of these songs are, and many are admittedly cheesy, but for me, I enjoy it. It feels like a consistent sail through indie rock's foundation that would later be tinkered with and built upon in the 2000s. I mean there's not a single bad song here, right? And that has to count for something. I loved the songs "Comedy" and the following "Pull Together". I can't say the instrumentation was all that adventurous across this thing but I liked the slower nature of a song like "Captain's Table" and I enjoyed the theatrical strings on "Natalie's Party". The closer "Daniella" might be my favorite song here instrumentally, I love the mellower and almost haunting acoustic guitar here. The nature themes of the album come to a head in the lyrics, I love their cryptic nature. The entire record is just so peaceful and simple. I'm shocked by how little I have to say about this thing considering how I enjoyed almost every song. I've always been a sucker for pop, growing up, and even now. Give me a catchy, simple chorus and I'm hooked, and this album is filled to the brim with them. Weirdly, it reminded me a lot of Ween's poppier songs from around this time. I think the second half is weaker than the first but overall, really dug this album.

My first time listening to Tina Turner ever. Honestly, when I heard the first track here I rolled my eyes a little. It's about as generic 80s as you can get. I still think It's the weakest song here and is quite an underwhelming intro. I say all this just to say that everything after that, I enjoyed. I mean yeah instrumentally speaking there's not much interesting going on, and that could've easily made this album unlistenable and just another run-of-mill poorly-aged 80s record. But the thing that makes it all stick out and so enjoyable is Tina herself. She writes some great damn songs, every song here sounds like a hit in its own right. Obviously "What's Love Got to Do with It" is incredible but I also love the guitar-backed "Let's Stay Together", this song doesn't feel like it's 5 minutes long. "Private Dancer" may be the most striking track here. A story of a woman wanting to be hired as a prostitute (or taxi dancer I guess) for a man. I'm not sure what the underlying message is here if there even is one, but I really enjoy its lengthy cinematic presentation and very intimate instrumentation. I like Tina's more fiery performance on "I Can't Stand the Rain", a tragic song about a lost relationship with a killer chorus. "Steel Claw" was very enjoyable too, it has another very catchy chorus as well with some 70s hard rock-sounding influence in the vocals. "Thriller" by Mike is an album that I never remember for its instrumentation, but its songs. I feel very similar here, there's very little to be impressed by instrumentally speaking but Tina's a very talented, dynamic, and expressive vocalist and she practically carries this album. She has a strained and almost raspy vocal that seems occasionally buried in the mix but still manages to stand out. Her cadence blends the best aspects of both pop-rock and RnB vocal styles. The instrumentals here aren't bad or anything, they work very well with her voice and they're dynamic and varied enough across most of these songs. All-in-all I really enjoyed my time with this thing, it's just banger after banger which is all I can ask for from an album like this. RIP to this absolute talent.

I do enjoy the Cure's later works, especially "Disintegration" but I find that a lot of their earlier works, this album included, pale in comparison. I find that to be true in almost every single way, the instrumentation, the mixes, and especially the vocals here all come off so bleak and one-note, which is *almost* a good thing. Like many albums in this gothier side of New Wave, when taking this entire album as one holistic experience, I do think it excels at sounding exactly how it needs to sound. The elements here are skeletal, like winter trees without leaves, but each track has one strong melodic element, be that a synth, piano, or guitar, that brings a smidgen of warmth to these generally cold songs. Similar to many The Cure albums, this one feels incredible nocturnal. The songs are long and repetitive, but very subdued and quiet. I love the short desolate and hopeless sound of the piano-driven opener quite a lot. "At Night" nails that somber vibe. I think the basslines and guitar are really strong and groovy on tracks like "Play For Today", it's the kind of Cure vibe I like, it's such a warm song. "A Forest" I feel the same way, but maybe to a lesser extent; the groove and airy synths are just as gorgeous though and I love the guitar on the outro and the ambient intro. I do think the stretch in the middle is where the album's at its weakest and it's where I think the songs blend in with one another a bit too much. I actually really like Robert Smith as a vocalist, at least I thought I did, he didn't do it for me on this album. He feels less expressive and his vocals are almost washed out here. It works to a certain degree, considering the very cold and lifeless vibe of this album, but there were times when I was hoping for a little more. His presence is almost limited and he just sort of pops in from time to time and leaves unnoticeably. I feel like he does the best on "Seventeen Seconds", the closer, which is probably the best whole song on the album. His part is very short here, similar to most songs, but for some reason the sadness in his voice, and his lyrics sting here more than anything. As an experience, I think I enjoyed this The Cure album quite a bit, but if anything, it just made me want to listen to some of their later stuff. Still solid.

I wrote a review for this but I guess it got erased oh well (my dumbass prob just forgot to hit save). Maybe it's a sign that I should just get more to the point with these reviews. Here's the summary: - I was conflicted at first but by the end, I really dug it. - I was taken aback by the deeper, and smoother vocal delivery paired with the overall generic, but well-done grunge instrumentation. Grew on me though. - Enjoyed the psychedelic and folkier elements near the back half. - Best songs are "Witness" and "Sworn and Broken" - I think this album works best when you're not thinking too hard about it. Screaming Trees might have a new fan.

Literally The Beatles 2. George Harrison always felt like the under-spoken member of the Beatles to me, but also one of the most artistically ambitious. Oddly enough, I don't think the album's really all that experimental, although it does have its odd moments here and there. I think my experience with this album was pretty magical; it was pretty late at night and I forgot I had an album to listen to so I put it on only to see that it's a triple album that's over an hour and a half in length. Nevertheless, I listened to this entire thing from front to back in one sitting. I'll say, if it was any other triple album, I might've not been able to do it, I needed something this easy to get through. While I feel like many albums definitively benefit from their length, I can't say this is one of those albums. There's no long-running theme, progression, or reoccurring motifs to hold this album together. Instead what you get is something sort of scattered, almost like a collection of songs from the same period. I'm saying this sounds sort of compilation-esque. This album is a series of early pop-rock songs with folk, hard-rock, psychedelic, and country drizzled in, and your enjoyment of this album rests entirely on your ratio of "liked" to "not liked" songs. Luckily for me, I enjoyed a lot of these songs. I mean how could I not, they're so easy to like. There's no use in rambling about them, there's too much to talk about but my favs were "I'd Have You Anytime", "What is Life", "If Not For You", "Run of the Mill", "Awaiting on You All", "All Things Must Pass", and "Hear Me Lord". The playing is soft on most of these tracks, very light, with the sonic space primarily consisting of piano, guitar, drums, and of course, George's vocals. He's a great vocalist. I tend to enjoy the "louder" songs here quite a bit less, they just sound a bit too clunky. The exception is the song "Art of Dying" which has a firey psych guitar line. It's also a song that showcases George's knack of religiously inspired songwriting. Themes on this album range from love, to religion, to political human nature commentaries like the aptly named "Beware of Darkness". There's something so deeply personal about this album, both musically and thematically. Again, I spent most of my late evening with this, and as repetitive as it seems on the surface, there wasn't a dull moment here. I think that's mainly because as the album goes on, especially near the back half, it feels like the songs get more ambitious and harder to read. I mean when you get to the final instrumental hard-rock-inspired disc "Apple Jam", it feels like the album's evolved completely from what it was when it started. I think that change-up near the end benefited this album a lot, I enjoyed those closing songs quite a bit. I do think the album could've used some sort of ongoing theme to make it a bit more cohesive but taking it for what it is, it was a really well-done triple album.

I've been meaning to check out The War on Drugs, specifically this album, considering the fact that this is one of the most renowned indie rock albums of the 2010s. This is a deeply intimate album, with an infectious melancholic aura that absorbed me on my first listen. It's a soft listen, and the longer songs feel like these hypnotic voids of endless thought, sadness, and yearning. Just listen to the repetitive outro of the song "Disappearing". While not the most interesting vocalist by any means, Granduciel's a great writer, beautifully capturing the gloomier elements of nostalgia on quite a few of these songs. With that said, I still think I'm conflicted with this album. Having listened to it front to back, it still feels like something's missing. Maybe it's because I feel like all these songs follow a similar sonic pattern, instrumentally they're composed of the same set of airy and gorgeous sounds. The album has a few more "upbeat" tracks, where the drums are driving the song and those tend to be my favorites. I specifically like the songs "Red Eyes", "In Reverse" and "Eyes to the Wind" for that reason, they feel like great standalone indie rock epics. The more meandering, slow-burner tracks, while still enjoyable, I can't see myself revisiting very often. I'd say that applies to most of the final leg of this album except the closer. I think the closer is the best song here, with some clear Bob Dylan influences, the songwriting here showcases a stagnant sense of one's existence in the presence of isolation. It's like the mixture of growing past a lost relationship all the while still grappling with the fact that you're growing past it. I think while I enjoyed my first listen of this album, especially the start of it, I don't see myself coming back to it very often. The writing and atmosphere here are top-notch, but when it comes to the songs, most of them didn't stick with me. The songs that do land though hit the mark and are near perfect, and I'll be revisiting my favorite songs here for a long time.

I was expecting a very solid album here, considering how much I love the song "Fast Cars", and well that's exactly what I get from this self-titled Tracy Chapman debut. As a vocalist, Tracy's certainly expressive, and honestly it feels like she's been ripped off quite a bit. Not sure why, but it feels like many pop and folk vocalists, especially in the 21st-century wave sorta sound very similar to her. I haven't listened to every 80s album, but from what I've heard, her style seems unique for the time. She has a deeper vocal style but with enough variation to keep it interesting while still remaining relatively subtle. As a songwriter, Tracy's very direct with her lyricism, it's like she's trying to get her message through to the listener as clearly as possible, with no hiccups or room for misinterpretation. I think this is a good thing honestly and works wonders for this album's themes. Tracy tackles themes of poverty, racism, love, and other forms of injustice. Again it's all very direct, especially on the opener "Talkin' Bout a Revolution" and "Why?". I hate the general idea that good songwriting is almost synonymous with abstract and symbolic writing, I find the writing here to be very powerful. The songs themselves are really good too, just as songs. "Fast Car" may be one of the greatest folk songs ever, a tragic tale of yearning for escape and freedom from one's living situation. "For My Lover" is a great depiction of a chase of forbidden love. "Across the Lines" and the acapella "Behind the Wall" tackle the issues of police brutality, with the latter being the most haunting portrayal of it I've heard in a while. I'd say the biggest thing that holds this album back is its lackluster production on certain songs, I just think it's tacked on and generic when extra instruments are introduced to try and fill up the sonic space. The mostly acoustic-only songs are the best here, painting melancholic images that are soft and comforting. I just think it gets sort of repetitive after a while. I don't mind it too much, after all, it spotlights Tracy's vocals more than anything. Really enjoyed this album, pretty much just as much as I thought I would.

This is a relisten to this Devo album. I listened to this album back when I was just getting into old-school punk many years ago. I remember not being a fan of it back then but I was wondering if it was because I was still unfamiliar with the genre. Maybe now I'd have a greater appreciation for this landmark release in the post-punk genre. Unfortunately, a lot of my issues with it are still there, albeit to a lesser degree. The witty title of this album is pretty much what you should expect from this album, it's quite an eccentric post-punk record, maybe one of the most outwardly and shamelessly sarcastic, comedic, and unserious ones. I think that's most evident in the vocals and lyrics. Whether it works or not varies from track to track. A song like "Space Junk", I think I enjoy how outlandish its satirical story is. The song "Mongoloid", although distasteful, I still find somewhat catchy and enjoyable; it might be my favorite here song-wise. I suppose the message is somewhat uplifting, one of overcoming one's physical limitations, it's just delivered in a way that stands as questionable. I do enjoy the synths on this track too. Sometimes the eccentricity of the vocals is outright bothersome though like on "Jocko Homo", "Too Much Paranoias", and the lackluster cover of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". I generally don't like the synths on this album though, I think they're tacky and clash with the more typical punk instrumentation. A song like "Jocko Homo", a song I genuinely can't stand, is the worst offender. I think a lot of the punk grooves here are less than stellar, they seem watered down and sort of lifeless. The opening "Uncontrollable Urge" has easily the best groove here. The organ-backed "Come Back Jonee" is alright, if a bit generic. The vocals don't help too much on that front either, sometimes they're just too buried in the mix. For as eccentric and out there as they yearn to be, I think they lack a strong presence on this album. I was honestly surprised when I found out Brian Eno produced this album as I typically love his production work (with David Bowie, Talking Heads, and his solo stuff). There are certainly some great moments here, namely the opening synth build-up and short switch-up of "Gut Feeling/(Slap Your Mummy)" and I think the closer's alright, but it's all buried in a sea of unenjoyable disorganization. I'm not opposed to experimentation, I just think on this album it doesn't work for me. Honestly, maybe that's a sign of true experimentation or a truly weird band, so I applaud Devo on that front. I believe this is an acquired taste, one that I have yet to "get" myself.

My first RHCP album. I'm somewhat familiar with bassist Flea, and their big song "Californication" but aside from that, I had no idea what to expect. They've always been that incredibly popular band that I've just never gone out of my way to check out. The opening track was certainly something. Sounds like a sick socially conscious hip-hop track of the time, something akin to Public Enemy or Beastie Boys and the bass line sticks out here (and on most of the album). Here's the thing though, I thought this was a single gimmicky thing, but quite a bit of the album is like this. It's half rap rock, with aspects of funk weaved in and half more traditional alternative rock. And honestly, I kinda liked it. The alternative cuts are quite enjoyable, especially the gorgeous "Breaking the Girls", which has these nice flutes filling the sound in the background. It's a very varied album, with no distinct style being put on display by any of the members, they just sort of adapt their playing to whatever weird direction the song goes in. "I Could Have Lied" is another pretty good slow ballad-type song. "Under the Bridge" is a pretty famous song by them, funnily enough, I've only ever heard it from a Mos Def song that sarcastically spins it. It was a decent song, but not my favorite of these alternative tracks, I will say the vocals shine, especially in the second half. I think the album's at its best when the guitar, bass, and drums are driving these powerful funk-rock beats. "The Greeting Song" and "Suck My Kiss" may be the best examples of this, with an incredible guitar solo thrown in on the latter. Flea's slap bass sounds great on a song like "Naked in the Rain". I have mixed thoughts on the long psychedelic penultimate track "Sir Psycho Sexy", on one hand, I enjoy its laid-back vibe but on the other hand, it doesn't justify its length. It was at a point in the album where this formula was already starting to get tired. I honestly like the brief closer quite a bit more. Anthony Kiedis as a vocalist may be my only point of contention with this album. There are songs where his rap-rock style borders cheesy but is still generally enjoyable. His vocal riffs can range from incredibly catchy like on "Give it Away" to insufferable like on the following title track. He's pretty expressive though and adds a lot of character, fitting snuggly in this album's mix. He's a pretty entertaining lyricist, sometimes it sounds like he's rapping about utter nonsense. I like the strange imagery on "Apache Rose Peacock", one of my favorite songs here. It does all these weird genre tropes without *really* sounding like it's parodying them. It's all quite cheesy at times but in a mostly enjoyable way. The album's also pretty long and does grow somewhat tiresome near the end, but I think it does a good enough job of maintaining its energy. Wasn't expecting this but it was a fun album with a lot of character.

Marvin Gaye has always been, to me, the definition of soul music. The word "soul" as it's attributed to this genre of music is so perfectly captured by this man's voice. Each vocal line, each note hit, and each lyric is delivered with so much weight. "Let's Get It On", just like many of Marvin's albums, stands as an incredible display of this exact thing. I'd say this is his most intimate album, but like in a hotel room kind of way. A 5-star hotel room that is, one that's glossy, high-class, and shiny. The production here is glistening and sparkling where strings, bass, piano, and synth lines encompass its very moody core. It's like if an album could smell really really good. These songs are incredibly subtle, they seldom build up meaninglessly or explode into bombastic anthems. I think the closing track is the best example of this; it's a very subtle song, showing a lot of restraint. "Distant Lover" I feel very similarly about, it has one of Marvin's most killer falsetto vocal lines in the chorus, and it's beautiful. "Let's Get It On" is as iconic as soul tracks get but "If I Should Die Tonight" is my undisputed best song on here. I love the brief yet heavy string segments that bookend the song. The vocal layering here is incredible and the set of instruments is so diverse, it is the ultimate RnB song. The writing on this song is utterly gorgeous in its depiction of finding dream-like love. Marvin expresses how lucky he is to have found his one love, to the point where he'd be content if he died at that exact point. Writing on this album is generally incredible. I love the way Marvin depicts the different angles of intimacy, including the more tragic components in the final song "Just To Keep You Satisfied". Every song on this album exists within a very tightly curated space, so it's hard to talk about these songs separately. Not to say they blend too hard with one another, it's just that this is a holistic album experience more than anything. I'd say the really great songs overshadow maybe some of the less memorable ones. Marvin is an incredible writer as I mentioned, but for certain songs like "You Sure Love the Bell", I find the writing to just be okay. Aside from those few nitpicks, this album's a real out-of-body experience in the most easily enjoyable way possible.

I recently listened to the album "Dust" by Screaming Trees on this 1001 album thing. I had a strange experience with it, it was an album from a band I hadn't heard about ever and when it started, I was convinced it wasn't for me. But over the span of its relatively short runtime, the album grew on me tremendously. I say all that because I feel almost the exact same way about this Sugar album: "Copper Blue" The first four tracks I'd say sort of mesh together into this fuzzy amalgam of generally very enjoyable alternative cuts. I love the vocals here, they're deep and almost drowned and muffled by the droney nature of the guitars here. It's after these first tracks that the album sort of starts to diversify itself quite a bit. "Hoover Dam" is the most instrumentally diverse song here, with soaring guitar solos and nice quaint synth solos. There's something so brisk and open about this song's refrain, almost like a fresh of breath air in a large open field. "The Slim" has a very subtle build-up; by the time the track ends, it's evolved into something beyond life. The lyrics are generally abstract but they help contribute to this epic imagery. I like the poppier "If I Can't Change Your Mind" quite a bit too, it sounds very different than anything else here; it's striking in that way. I will say the final leg of this album is maybe a bit more generic in its sound, and I don't enjoy it as much as the songs that come before it (although I like the catchy closer "Man on the Moon"), but overall really enjoyed my time with this album. Good stuff.

This is my second listen to this album, although I'll admit it's been a while. I've gone through most of "The White Stripes" catalog once before and I'll admit, I was never a fan of them. There are certainly some standout songs like "Fell in Love with a Girl" and "Hotel Yorba" being my favorites, but in general, I was never a fan of the more skeletal alt style that the band pursued. I mean there are certainly some alright songs on this album, I love the dirty distortion of "Instinct Blues", it sounds like an incredible spin on new-era blues and alternative rock. The guitar playing is great in this song. I do like the more eerie nature of the song "The Nurse" as well. I do think Jack and Meg White are talented and creative musicians, and if there's something I can compliment this album on endlessly, it's the interesting songwriting. Vocally though, aside from a few songs, I was never a fan of Jack's higher-pitched, shacky, and slurred style of singing. At its very worst, it flat-out annoys me. There are little glimpses of interesting moments in these songs, but as a whole, there's no song here that sticks with me as great. An example is the little transitional keyboard and guitar interlude on "Take, Take, Take", I like it but the rest of the song bores me. Most of the acoustic cuts here, like the following "As Ugly, As I Seem" I find very one note and dry. The more distorted alt cuts are what hold this thing together. I already mentioned "Instinct Blues" but the opener "Blue Orchid" is quite a decent cut. I think "Blue Orchid" is one of the examples where this bands skeletal and simple style works at least somewhat in their favor. "My Doorbell" is fun but grows tiresome after the halfway mark for me. I think my biggest issue with this thing is it all feels so one-note and hollow, not in a way that benefits the album, but more in a way that yields bland results. It's like the band took a set of rudimentary, yet diverse sounds and sort of molded them together. I can see why some may enjoy it but to me, it all comes off as very inconsistent, messy, and empty. The guitar playing and writing are good enough, but when it comes to enjoying the songs here, I don't find much.

David Bowie is a generational artist, his music is revered by so many and I'd say for good reason, the guy's constantly switching it up and has been ahead of the curve when it comes to revolutionizing all aspects of art rock in the 70s and 80s. I haven't heard all of Bowie's albums but I've always considered "Station to Station" to be my favorite of his. I genuinely think the opening title track is one of the greatest art rock songs; period. It so perfectly packs everything that makes this album so incredible into a sick 10-minute, multi-faceted epic. That means those deep, crunchy basslines, the tight and punchy drums, the very overt Krautrock influence, and all those fantastic funk rock elements. If I had to pick my favorite part of this song, it'd be the middle part with the little synth melody leading into the verses. I love Bowie's singing voice, especially when he's singing a bit deeper in his register. I know everyone dubs this Bowie's "cocaine phase" album, and this song sheds light on that lyrically at least. It's always painted this image of someone wandering around aimlessly while being lost in a subway station or a large city; it's surreal in that sense. I do pretty much love most of the rest of this album as well, they all follow suit with the formula laid out by the opener. "Stay" probably has the funkiest closer but I'd still say the big single "Golden Years" is the most overtly funk rock song here, especially in those opening seconds. "Word on a Wing" is probably the most gorgeous track here. A piano-driven ballad with these subtle electric guitar tones hanging in the background. Bowie admitted this song's about cocaine (again) but I love its more blatant love-song guise. It also has one of my favorite vocal performances by him. I think the closing "Wild is the Wind" cover (which I've always considered to be a Nina Simone song) is very tasteful too, I particularly like the softer approach to the instrumentation here. Bowie does this iconic song more than justice. I like this album, I especially love the fact that it doesn't overstay its welcome coming in at under 40 minutes in length. Each song packs its punch here and carries its weight. Maybe I'm not as much a fan of it (and Bowie in general) as most people but the incredible moments here are just that, incredible.

Another first for me, I've never heard of David Gray before this listen. I have to say though, this may be one of the most uneventful listens so far. There were some decent songs here and I was pretty excited after the initial folk and electronic fusion opener "Please Forgive Me". Unfortunately, a lot of the album isn't anywhere near as interesting as that opener, instrumentally at least. With that said, I still largely enjoyed this album, I just don't think it did anything special for me. The acoustic-driven singer-songwriter songs may not have been my favorite here, but there were some highlights. I enjoyed the song "Nightblindness" quite a lot, it has one of the more intriguing choruses here, which paints a dreadful image of the uncertain future of a diminishing relationship. Oddly enough, I don't think it's a part of the actual tracklisting, but still thought I should mention it. The song "The Year's Love" is a great piano ballad. I'm not sure why, but the vocal performance on this song sounds very much ahead of its time, it feels like something that's been replicated by many poppier singer-songwriters in the 2010s and 2020s. Maybe it's the mildly guttural and raspy vocal performance or the nature of the melody itself. Still really loved it though. My favorite song on this album has to be "Sail Away". It's a more straightforward track structurally speaking, with a piano driving the song here, but it's David's vocal performance that sells this one for me. It's a very strong performance with a killer lead melody. Not much to say for this one, was pretty easy listening. David Gray's a solid writer and a really good singer, but I think a lot of the songs, especially near the middle, left a lot to be desired as just songs. With that said, I'll admit that this album may very well grow on me in the future, maybe I'll grow to appreciate and understand its more straightforward and subtle approach. I do think there are some incredible songs here.

What a strange album. I've never heard of this group so I had very few expectations going into it, I'll say it was certainly an interesting listen. It's a very weird album. I think I can easily categorize it as industrial, but sonically it jumps around all over the place (which I guess is common within the genre already). The vocals were pretty over the top, raspy, spoken word, and sung all in French. There were moments where he flat-out reminded me of a French Tom Waits (especially on the song "Charlotte" which sounds like "Rain Dogs" era Waits). It's a cacophonous album and it's filled to the brim with seemingly abrupt switch-ups instrumentally. The opener "La fille de la mort" is the most evident of these, starting with a very light, almost waltz-type sound, before exploding into a sea of chaotic, dissonant strings as a wall of noise. My favorite part of the song is right after that when the strings brighten up and synchronize to form this gorgeous atmospheric melody over these spaced-out drum hits. The vocals are equally as spaced out in this part, I love it. I think this opener is easily the best song here. "Les Enfants" may be the most unsettling song here, especially the weird frantic string section with the simple drum pattern closing the track out. It sounded like something that would soundtrack a very old monster flick. I love the noiser layering on the closing parts of "L'Amourir", it's probably the most overtly industrial-punk moment on this album. I think that's really what I mainly got out of this album; quite a few of these songs have some standout moments that are noisy, crushing, and enjoyable to that degree, but only when looking at them in isolation. As an album though, I only got mild enjoyment out of it and don't see myself revisiting it very often. This was more of a one-and-done "wow" type deal. One thing I can say is that it's surely ahead of its time in many ways and I can see how it could've been influential in the more direct and in-your-face facets of the industrial-punk scene.

Despite having technically "heard" this album before, I never truly listened to it. I can say that for certain because I sort of dismissed it initially. On this re-listen though, I was utterly blown away. Fiona Apple has always been an artist who sort of intimidated me, maybe it's because I started with her contemporary releases that were more puzzling and difficult to digest for me back when I heard them, lyrically and instrumentally."Tidal", to me, is the perfect blend of enjoyability, depth, and personality that I was hoping from an artist like Fiona Apple. I'll start by tackling this album instrumentally. Although a majority of these tracks have strong piano-driven instrumentals, the rest of the sounds that fill the remainder of the sonic space here help diversify this album. I love the strings on the song "Never Is a Promise", adding a baroque twist to this song; it's the most gorgeous track here. The heavy drum and bassy intro to "Criminal" makes it sound almost like a trip-hop track. The album can be divided into two categories, you have the warmer and softer songs and ones that are more crunchy, visceral, and driving. The direction the music takes tends to match the lyrical angle tackled by Fiona in the particular song as well. For example, the tragic, slow, and almost lost depiction of the song "Sullen Girl" nicely matches the very vast, almost larger-than-life, and elegant instrumental direction the song goes in. A lot of the songs on this album are more than easy to enjoy. Fiona draws from the many areas of the vast world of popular music when composing these songs, resulting in something very eclectic. But that's not to say the songs are watered down in any way; there's something wholly unique about the spin Fiona and her producers put on these songs. Fiona's a subtle singer, I think that's obvious, but her range is evident and never overpowers the rest of the music and is never buried in the mix here. I enjoy her voice here. Lyrically speaking, this album tackles many different themes relating to Fiona's personal experiences with intimacy and self-growth. Fiona's wariness when entering a new relationship is tackled in a song like "Shadowboxer" while her desire to grow past a stifling relationship is put on display in a song like "Sleep to Dream". "The Child is Gone" may be the most tragic song here, depicting a loss of innocence which very much parallels Fiona's personal experience. I don't think I've fully digested this album after one listen but everything about it comes off very personally driven and I'd attribute that primarily to Fiona's writing. This album has everything, the more directly enjoyable tracks on the front of the album, and the mellower, gorgeous, and melancholic tracks that slowly send it off. There seems to be a subtle progression with this album's lyrical themes, and by extension, its sonic depiction of those themes. It seems to be one of personal growth and acceptance, relating to herself and her relationships with others. Maybe my interpretation of these themes is shallow upon first listen, but I think that's the general idea here. This is such a well-rounded and meaningful album that I'm super glad I re-visited.

This is my first foray into Tango, let alone "New Tango" that this album is dubbed as, both in the title and with its genre label. I guess "New Tango" sorta emphasizes the jazz fusion aspects of the genre. Bandoneon player and composer Astor Piazzolla seems to be a prominent (if not the most prominent) figure in this genre from what I've read. He's joined here by Gary Burton, the vibraphone player alongside Fernando Suárez Paz on violin. There's also a slew of other players on bass and piano; there is a very diverse set of instruments and players here. Bass and drum aside, these tracks are entirely composed of piano, violin, vibraphone, and bandoneon and the best part of it is that there's no real instrument that sticks out, it's almost like a large time-share between all the instruments. I know this is typical in jazz but this effect was only amplified here because each instrument gives off such a unique vibe. Astor's bandneon for example gives off an unsettling, looming aura, while the violin portrays something epic, clean, and elegant. Sometimes one instrument is at the forefront for a certain period, and other times, a bunch of instruments are blending in with one another. The vibraphone is the most consistently present here, being layered on top of a lot of "solos" here. I love how most tracks follow this sort of wave pattern, reaching peaks and troughs in pace and energy. While the speedier moments, especially when the violins come in, paint a more classical, baroque-era image, the slower segments of this album feel mysterious as if something's lurking or building up. I love the way the pace picks up near the middle of the song "Milonga Is Coming" and how it slowly fades into ambiance near the end, it's very subtle. I have to mention the fact that this is a live recording; aside from the clapping, it's difficult to tell. It's all recorded so well but still, the typical live energy is certainly there. After the slow, almost improvisational vibraphone-exclusive opening, I love the way the violin, piano, and bandoneon drive the second half of the song "Vibraphoneissimo". The titular track may be the most visceral song here. I'd attribute that to the violin primarily, but the way the instruments take turns stating their presence while also blending seamlessly with one another was incredible. I like the screeching violin noise that crops up occasionally as almost a transition to the next part of the song. This is an incredible song. "Laura's Dream" sounds like its title, it's a dreamlike, very slow, and long track, that I admittedly didn't find very interesting when listening to it actively, but it had a strange, lulling effect on me which I assume was at least somewhat intentional. "Operation Tango" may be the most cinematic-sounding song when considering the song name and the lead violin melody; it almost feels like the climax of the album. Maybe as the album grew on, I started to grow tired of the limited instrumental palette and formula established on this live recording, but it never really became sour or unenjoyable. I think it speaks volumes to the amazing musicianship of all those involved in this when I say that this thing kept twisting, turning, and fighting until the very end. Even though I may not revisit this one super often, it was certainly a great experience and an even better introduction to this style of music.

Metallica as a band has always been sort of foreign to me. I'd say I'm a casual metal fan, I've heard my fair share of albums in the genre and its many subgenres (especially the "essential" listens), but oddly enough, I've never tuned into this album specifically. I listened to Metallica's previous album "Ride the Lightning" and enjoyed it quite a bit, especially "Fade to Black" which I listen to very often still. I can't say I remember much about that album, but after my initial listen to "Master of Puppets", it feels like just an extension of the sounds on that album. The riffs are incredible here, as you'd expect, it's Metallica. The opening distorted and muffled guitar tone on "Master of Puppets" stands as iconic and utterly mesmerizing. I love the stuttering nature of this song, it sounds like it never finds its footing and is always ready to break at any moment like in the strange, yet ethereal break in the middle. I do tend to love these gorgeous, atmospheric moments in metal music, they always sound so colossal, ethereal, and mystical. "Welcome Home" does this, it sounds very tranquil near the start before the drums slowly start to get louder and it transforms into its true headbanging form. It still retains that ethereal foundation throughout its entire duration, but just layers on top of it to the point where it feels like you're listening to two completely different songs on top of one another. The instrumental "Orion" was another highlight, I especially love the part near the halfway mark with the prominent bassline and the fuzzy guitar layering, this might be the most progressive-sounding song here. It's also just very melodic. This album has heavy rhythm guitar riffs and machine-gun, rapid drumming for days, to the point where there's no point in me talking about them, they speak for themselves. The real hooks here are whenever Kirk Hammet comes in with one of his many eclectic shredding solos. They're flurries of unadulterated energy that never overstay their welcome or stray from the narrow path they carve out for themselves sonically. Guitar solos like this are usually the highlights of metal albums for me and this album is no exception. They're rapid, firey, and sharp, and send a rush of joy through me each time they crop up. My favorite has to be on "Disposable Heroes". While I do like this album, I do have a few problems in general. While this doesn't apply to all the songs, I'd say there's a general lack of substance when looking at some of these songs holistically. The parts themselves are very well done, but the sum of those parts comes off blander than what the components make it out to be. I'd say the main reason for my feeling this way is James Hetfield's vocals. They're super one-note here and, at their worst, completely rigid and skeletal. He's not a bad vocalist, and I wouldn't say he takes away from any of the songs, but he certainly does little to add to (most) them. Vocally that is, lyrically his depictions of torture, control, and dark religious themes are interesting to listen to, although I'll admit I didn't pay them too much attention this listen. The title track is an exception because of its hooky nature and also because I like the way Hetfield depicts addiction and submission to drugs. With all that said, I'd be lying to myself if I said I didn't enjoy this. In fact, I knew I was going to enjoy it no matter what when I got into it. While not mind-blowing, this album still feels like that low-hanging fruit that's super easy to grasp and equally as easy to enjoy.

This was a very sweet listen. I feel ashamed to say that I've never tapped into the albums of legendary Reggae artist Bob Marley. He was given the unfortunate fate of being stuck in my endless backlog. Now that I think about it, I don't think I've dived into Reggae too heavily in general. I've certainly heard Reggae before, and this album fits the exact image I had of the genre in my head. Most of these tracks contain pretty "generic" Raggae-type grooves with thick basslines, a slow and varied set of stuttering drums, and skank guitar strumming. It's really what's on top of those pieces that sort of "fill in the blanks" and adds a discernable texture to these songs. I love the electric guitar on the song "Baby We've Got a Date" for instance, it's psychedelic-esque and ends the track off beautifully; it feels like sailing into a sunset. I love the synth closing up the following "Stir it Up". The clav and organ add a subtle dramatic edge to the song "No More Trouble", one of my favorites here. The common theme between all these instruments is how easy-going they are. They're textured, wide, and filling. I sort of dismissively mentioned the other instruments earlier but that wasn't my intention; the backing band does exactly what it needs to do. The bass is incredible, comprising entirely of the lower end, it sounds so clean in the mix and is incredibly melodic. It's what drives the heart of all these songs. I also enjoy those little drum fills which are, again, a pretty common Reggae staple. Marley himself is an incredible vocalist. He's a powerful but lowkey singer, saying so much with a relatively restrained and held-back style. He's also accompanied by backing vocalists on quite a few of these songs that help fill the large gaps left by the sparse instruments. This album is dubbed "Roots Reggae" due to its focus on political messaging. I'd say that's surely the case on the first few tracks, especially on "400 Years", one of the many songs referencing Marley's Rastafarian alignments. I interpret "No More Trouble" as a yearning for something simple, or a return to form and a call for passiveness. With that said, a few of these songs take on topics of love and playful intimacy, like "Stir it Up" and "Kinky Reggae". I think more than anything, I love how chill this album is. Maybe that sounds stereotypical and shallow, but there's something so satisfying about the way the instruments groove so patiently and calmly. It feels like a breath of fresh air.

I've heard of Buck Owens and was relatively excited to check him out, but I have to admit I got very little out of this album. I'll still say it's somewhat enjoyable but it certainly doesn't benefit from its simplicity. Everything about this album is simple and boilerplate; the lyrics, the themes of the lyrics, the singing, and especially the backing instrumentation. There are some alright moments here, like the title track and I like the sparkling guitar that opens up "Let the Sad Times Roll". The deeper vocal delivery on "Streets of Laredo" was something as well. When it comes down to it though, I was bored and was in a perpetual state of "waiting for something to happen". It didn't even have that effect older albums typically do where they shoot me back to their time. I will compliment it by saying that emits this very somber, longing, yet simultaneously minimal and monotonous "satisfaction with what's here" kind of vibe. It's the reason why I found this album, as a whole, to still be decent listening. I'm sure its significance is there in the honky tonk genre; it's just a significance I wasn't capable of appreciating due to how drab it all felt. Again though, I didn't flat-out hate it.

I'll be honest, I wasn't too keen on listening to Def Leppard primarily because I had this image in my head of an 80s glam rock band that made irritatingly antiquated and streamlined hard rock music. And, in a way, I was right, but the album won me over purely based on its more ambitious and interesting execution of that cheesier hair metal sound. With longer songs here, Def Leppard is capable of fleshing out the mood of each one of these songs quite well, establishing unique sounds, riffs, patterns, and ideas that, even if you don't like them at the beginning, will force themselves into your head by the end. I can't recall the number of times a song started up and I was like "This one's not for me" and then by the time it got to the end, I was banging my head along to the chorus. The choruses are typically the highlights, with anthemic explosions of sheer catchiness not unlike many songs by Iron Maiden for example. My favorite choruses had to be "Women", "Rocket" (probably my favorite), and "Pour Some Sugar on Me". Instrumentally, the songs range from psychedelic to balladesque, to more typical throwback 70s hard rock-type sounds. I'll say the latter approach comes off as my least favorite, especially when those group, yelpy, chorus vocals come in; those genuinely sound terrible to me. I think the worst offender is "Excitable". Lyrically, there's not much to digest here. Not to say the lyrics aren't substantive, it's just that they take a back seat when compared to the rest of this album's parts. The song "Gods of War" stood out as the overtly political and anti-war song here, even stitching in a Reagen sample near the end. Aside from that, blood-pumping and magnetic themes of love are what you'll expect across most of these songs. I enjoy the songs near the beginning way more. As the album went on, I just found a lot of the vocal lines tended to bog the songs down. I will say, the first few songs won me over like nothing else. I even loved the slow ballad "Love Bites" which is such an unexpected left turn from the previous songs. Despite its many blaring flaws, there's still a charm to this album that I can't deny, so I still really enjoyed my time with it.

Because I've only ever heard "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks before (a song that I'm admittedly not a big fan of), I was expecting something sort of hard rocky out of this album. Boy, how wrong I was. There's an undeniable charm to the simplicity of both the lyrics and instrumentals here, something common among pop-rock groups in the 60s; it reminded me a lot of earlier Beatles records. My enjoyability here varied from song to song, I'll start with the ones I really liked. Early on, I love the song "Death of a Clown" with this almost surreal backing vocal melody over Ray's metaphorical depictions of the soul-sucking aspects of show business, likening it to the shallow one-trick routines of a clown. The following "Two Sisters" might be the most striking song here, I wish more songs sounded like it. For one, I like the hypnotic harpsichord paired with one of the most haunting vocal melodies on the album. I'd say it's unsettling if it weren't for the wholesome message here; a story of two sisters (paralleling Dave and Ray's brother dynamic) learning to be content with themselves and their differences. I also really liked the song "Situation Vacant". Over a more straightforward rock groove, this song tells the story of a man handicapping himself to keep his mother-in-law satisfied, digging himself into a deep, irredeemable hole after a divorce by the end. I love the fact that this otherwise depressing song sounds super cheerful. Quite a few songs near the beginning are quite enjoyable, like "Harry Rag" and "Tin Foil Man". It's really in the second half where this album begins to lose me. I found the more straightforward production on a song like "End of the Season" for example to be very drab. For how short it is, I do feel like this album's ideas and variance is limited. Not to say the songs are bad, it's just that I won't be revisiting the more conventional pop-rock songs in the second half of this album. The very obvious exception to this is "Waterloo Sunset", a serene closer and maybe one of the best 60s pop-rock songs I've ever heard. I'm eager to check out more The Kinks records because I'm sure they still have a lot more of these infectious and ambition-sounding songs in their catalog. And while I do enjoy the psychedelic edge and insightful lyrics here, I can't say everything I heard on this album blew me away.

As a ginormous ATCQ fan, I've always, regrettably, dismissed their debut album. But I was always aware of its undeniable influence in the Jazz rap genre, ironing out many of the cluttered and eclectic jazz-sampling styles of late 80s groups like De La Soul. If I recall, I always found this album too long and repetitive, and I couldn't enjoy the more simplistic rhyming when compared to their two impeccable follow-ups "Low-End Theory" and "Midnight Marauders". With that said, I've scarcely revisited this one recently aside from a few songs, so I was super excited to dig in again. I used to listen to this album a lot back in school during my 7 AM commutes to campus, and it always had this sleepy and hypnotizing effect on me, especially during those bleak mornings. I used to listen to ATCQ a lot back then. I feel like everything I initially didn't like about this album miraculously turned into the reasons I now love it. It's very well produced, and the cleanliness of the jazz beats here was a feat at the time. They're fuzzy and crackly, but undeniably cohesive, driving, and heavy. Their repetitiveness, and repetitiveness in hip-hop in general, is an acquired taste. It becomes less about looking for something new within each song, and more about letting already-established grooves and rhythms latch onto you. This album does that very well. I love the triumphant horns on "Luck of Lucien". "I Left My Wallet in El Segundo" is one of the most fun beats to listen to here because of that driving drum beat that's filled with so much character. "Bonita Applebum" has a dirty guitar sample interjecting a more typical jazz groove resulting in an almost dissonant effect that still manages to work very well. I love the ethereal opening to "Rhythm" and the looped vocal sample across "Mr. Muhammad" sounds ahead of its time in a weird way, almost EDM-esque as well. I love the fat, bassy groove of "Go Ahead in Rain" So yeah, the beats are great. But another thing that made me apathetic towards this album was its rapping. For one, Q-tip is very much at the forefront. He's an incredibly smooth MC, but Phife's yelpy, loud, and comedic rapping was something I always loved in these tribe albums. He is on quite a few songs here, but most of the songs here are purely Q-tip songs. The rapping here is fun, easy-going, and (for the most part) wholesome. With the exception of a song like "Pubic Enemy", a deconstruction of the prevailing spread of STDs, many of these songs are admittedly meandering. Simple punch lines and simpler premises are what you get here. "I Left My Wallet in El Segundo" is an aimless story of Q forgetting his wallet in a pub, yet it's still fun to listen to every time. "Ham N' Eggs" promotes healthy eating and "Bonita Applebum" is a nice little love song. This wholesome and easy-to-digest style of writing is very love-or-hate and your enjoyment of it can vary based on your current mood. Aside from Phife and Q, you have Jarobi doing the little interludes and Ali Shaheed Muhammad on DJ duty. Despite being more in the "background" upon initial listening, their presence is still very much felt. I have to mention the song "Can I Kick It" as a whole because it's largely important to me. I love the bass loop that this beat primarily consists of, it's so warm and welcoming. I know it's sampled from a Lou Reed song, but to me, the bass works wonders over Q-tip and Phife's rapping here. It's a song that promotes a steady loosening of impeding stressors and worries through a love for music. I don't find it hard to call this one of the greatest rap songs of all time. I don't think it's a surprise that I liked this way more than I remember from years back, I almost knew that would be the case. Tribe still stand as one of the most important groups to me in my early music discovery journey. While I do think this record is a tad bit bloated, it still contains that soul, emotion, wholesomeness, and life that I yearn for in jazz-rap records.

Elvis Costella is another artist that I've been meaning to check out for a while after hearing that he brings out the more artsy elements of New Wave. In a lot of ways, it sounds sort of like an Eno production, with these very colorful flourishes of organ, piano, and bass with a lot of baroque influence, especially on a song like "You Little Fool". The instrumentation paints something sort of abstract, similar to the vocals, it all feels very sporadic and linear in its progression. I love the string and horn combination on the closer track "Town Cryer". Lyrically speaking, Elvis delves into themes of love throughout this album in interesting ways, especially on a song like "Pidgin English". I found the song "Human Hands" to be an almost comedic spin on this album's themes. I can give Elvis a lot of credit on the songwriting front, but his dynamic vocal style doesn't work for me, especially in the middle part of this album. I'm not sure why though, he's not a bad singer, just very derivative to an almost parodical degree. I'm not a fan of the general direction a lot of the vocal melodies go in here either. There are some exceptions like "Human Hands", "Little Fool", "Man Out of Time" and "Shabby Doll", some of my favorite songs here and great new wave songs in general. In the end, while I found this to be a very pleasant listen, I felt like it was held back but relatively uninteresting song structures. All the pieces needed to make this a great album are there, it's just that they don't come together in a way that works for me specifically. For new-wave though, I admire its ambitious nature and cross-genre sensibilities.

This was an alright album but definitely not one that I'll revisit. I was sort of surprised that this album was released in 1990 as it's drenched in many of the hard-rock tropes that were seen in the late 70s, some that I'm not really a fan of. The playing is good, yeah, but it didn't stop most songs from boring me due to how boilerplate and unmemorable they feel. I know this is only a first-listen thing, but the flows of these songs just sound so mundane and run-of-the-mill. Ironically enough, the slower jams like "Jealous Again" and especially "Seeing Things" were my favorites here. The latter of which is an organ-driven and heart-wrenching ballad with some of the better writing. "She Talks to Angels" is another slower track about a heroin-addicted girl and one of the more insightful tracks here. I think lead vocalist and writer Chris Robinson's ability to paint a sympathetic image of the protagonist here goes over very well. This is my favorite song here. The tracks that grooved harder had some powerful and noisy moments (like the short solos on "Struttin' Blues") but as entire songs, none worked for me. Doesn't help that I'm not a fan of the vocals on these types of songs to being with. They're certainly a talented band and I almost feel bad acting so dismissive after just one listen, but this sound is just not for me.

I heard this album quite a long time ago so I was very much excited to revisit the other songs from here that weren't 'Lazarus'. This album is famously legend David Bowie's final album before his unfortunate passing just a few days later, and its themes and atmosphere certainly reflect that. Despite its unfortunate context, listening to this album never really made me sad. I hope that doesn't come off the wrong way, but to me, it seemed like Bowie had this firm grasp on the idea of his life and death. It's certainly dark in many of its themes, but also enigmatic in what exactly Bowie was trying to say in a lot of these songs relating to himself, his relationships, and his legacy. I for one, always had trouble trying to decypher some of the lyrics on the title track. The imagery of something eternal, unknown, and looming is ever-present in the lyrics, but the idea of a "black star" I feel is overly ambigous and left up to the interpretation of the listener. This album's jazz fusions are its standout, mainly with the saxophone cropping up all over these tracks. There's a very unique sound being adapted here, one that's clean, calculated, and electronic, but also orchestral and larger than life in its presentation. The title track for instance feels like you're floating in an endless vacuum, especially with Bowie's echoey and distant howls and cries over these spacious synths fluttering the background. The following "Tis' Was a Pity She Was a Whore" is more direct in its potency and contains one of my favorite vocal performances by Bowie. "Lazarus" is my undeniable favorite track here. An existentially horrifying depiction of falling into an unknown plane, not knowing what you've left behind nor what's in store for you. His screams of "Look up here man, I'm in danger" under these crashing guitar hits always harrowed me. The saxophone sending off the song is great too. The first three tracks are utterly perfect and all the following ones are still pretty great. I especially love "Girl Loves Me", it's another more abstract track that's harder to understand but the refrain further reinforces some of this album's existentially harrowing themes. I love the airy synths on the closer "I Can't Give Everything Away", Bowie's Swan song, and one that never fails to make me misty-eyed. Its lyrics are partially regretful but also show Bowie accepting the inevitable. While not every song here lands for me, this album is *truly* one of a kind. It tells the story of a legend who kept giving to his last moments, through a medium that he's always been undoubtedly passionate about. David Bowie's legacy will continue to live on through his music, but this album in particular is an intricate snapshot of the star's final moments, wrapped in something truly other-worldly and beautiful.

While I enjoyed most this album's very surreal, psychedelic, and mostly tranquil presentation, I do wish it was more varied in its overall presentation. Donovan was an artist whom I was quite unfamiliar with but I effectively got what I expected given the scattered album art and genre descriptors attached to this album. With hypnotic sounds and Eastern influences in quite a few of its songs, it all feels very much like an LSD trip which was something Donovan was all too familiar with around this time. His writing is as abstract as it could get, with fantastical imagery populating most of the lyrics on the tracks here. It's a neat effect, especially early on, but it was also lulling in a way, and without many strong nor evident lyrical concepts to latch onto, I felt almost lost. Maybe this was the artistic intention, but it didn't work wonders for me. There were a few exceptions to this. For one, I love the opening title track. Reading into it more, it seems the song is about his future wife and it's really sweet in its depiction of love, if a bit forward. I enjoyed "Bert's Blues" only because of how punchy it was after the series of much slower tracks. It's the most musically ambitious track here, even exploding into a jazz classical piece near the end. The closer "Celeste" is one of the most immaculately produced songs here, with gorgeous synths and a sonic space that's filled to the brim with these atmospheric noises. I read it as another love song, possibly directed at the same person from the first song, bookending this album nicely. Donovan's LSD-filled Los Angeles trip which supposedly inspired the record certainly gives a lot of weight to the themes and ideas presented here. And while I appreciate that, I couldn't fully enjoy the aimlessness of some of the slower tracks here. It's a record that requires some digesting, and considering this is only a first listen, I expect my opinions would change on subsequent listens. But for now, I'm only lukewarm on this.

Bizarre Ride is correct. I remember listening to this The Pharcyde album way back (must've been like 4 years now). I vaguely had this idea of just how out there, cartoony, and overtly lude it was, and upon revisiting I was expecting a watered-down version of those memories. That certainly wasn't the case. One thing I love about this album is just how focused each of the four MCs is. Each song here has a single motif, established by the title of the song, and each member throws either a comedic twist or a grounded take relating to the motif. 'Oh Shit', the opener, has each MC telling a story that would result in those "Oh Shit" moments (some being questionable). '4 better or 4 worse' has four parts with each MC reaching different ethical conclusions relating to their respective relationships, with Fatlip's verse being particularly eccentric. 'Officer' tackles different run-ins with the police while "Ya Mama" is just as absurd as its title makes it out to be. 'Passin' Me By' shows the four tackling lost love at various levels. The best part of this album is its lyrical personality. There's so much character coming out of all the vocals and soulful refrains here. Each MC brings their fair share of witty one-liners and fitting anecdotes, all of which are delivered with these varied and smooth flows. It's even more impressive considering this came out back in 1992; it sounds years ahead of a lot of the jazz rap that was coming out at the time (lyrically speaking). While The Pharcyde are from the West Coast, the sounds here are undeniably influenced by the jazz-rap sounds coming out of the East Coast at the time. Production-wise, you get what you'd expect here. While not every beat here is standout (for example, I'm not a fan of the more skeletal 'Pack The Pipe'), everything here is undeniable smooth and easy on the ears. I love the strange backing vocal snippets on 'Soul Flower', it's one of those small things that still adds a lot of flavor to an otherwise straightforward track. Simplicity is the key here, there are so many perfect loops like on 'Passin' me By', 'Otha Fish', and 'Oh Shit'. I love when the band harmonizes on certain refrains here, especially on the outro of 'Otha Fish'. Even though these beats are repetitive, the constant interjections and adlibs from the members of the group and the DJ scratching here ensure these songs never get boring. The skits here are generally hilarious and fun and it helps that they're not strictly skits and are typically backed with solid beats as well. I think the second half of this album is a bit less impactful than the first, but I genuinely think this is one of the most unique hip-hop albums of its time on a conceptual level. Considering its release date, I feel like this album was some sort of demonstration that hip-hop can be delivered in this tongue-and-cheek , colorful, and comedic way. It shows that there's room in hip-hop for less serious ideas, all the while still respecting the foundational aspects and ethos of the genre. It also just sounds really really good.

This is my first time listening to Sepultura, but I've heard only good things about them. The entire album is structured and presented in this very monochromatic and skeletal way where it wasn't any particular riff that hooked me, but rather the general harsh, distorted, and fuzzy blend of sounds. As a result, I found the sonic palette to be very reserved and restrictive here but luckily, the motif followed is still largely enjoyable. The variance on this album comes from the occasional interjections that stray from this album's locked-in course. This is seen in the second half of 'Desperate Cry', the spikes of noise on 'Subtraction', and the ethereal and almost tribal opening to 'Altered State'. Variation also comes in terms of the lyrical themes tackled here. While the general theme of human suffering, nature, and greed (with a religious focus) are persistent, 'Altered State' has Max tackling the theme of hallucinogenics, again showing some interesting variance. I particularly love the way these general themes are tackled in songs like 'Dead Embryonic Cells' and especially the closer 'Infected Voice'. They present a very bleak outlook for humanity that perfectly complements this album's dismal vibe. Overall, I enjoyed this album and I think it really benefits from its very consistent and restrictive approach. It makes it all feel very organized, calculated, and raw, all without sacrificing its troubled presentation and skull-crushing thrash metal sound.

I'm of the firm belief that Ella Fitzgerald has one of the most perfect voices in the history of popular music. It's round, luscious, vibrant, and above all else, warm and welcoming. Her melodic patterns are instantly recognizable and easy to fall into and trace along with. The moments on this album where the backing Big Band breaks through these mixes to lightly contrast Fitzgerald's vocals (like on the song 'I Can't Be Bothered Now') are undeniably visceral. There's subtle variety in the instrumentation here; primarily in the many ways they're used to complement the lead vocals. The Gershwin brothers are notably talented songwriters, with a majority of these songs being charmingly witty and quaint takes on the ideas of hopeless, driven, or contemplative love. There are some truly great moments on this album, like the rhumba and flute-driven musical interlude in the aptly named 'Just Another Rhumba' that eventually transforms into this wall of horns. Or the serene strings driving the slower 'Embraceable You' and a lot of the other slower songs here. I also love the scat singing (something I admittedly wish Ella did more of on this album) on 'I Got Rhythm' which is maybe my favorite song here. The final classical-influenced instrumental disc here elegantly closes this odyssean album. When I listen to these super old albums, they either sound irritatingly antiquated or they successfully take me back to their time. This album undeniably facilitates the latter effect; one that is only amplified by the clean mix that gives each element of this album adequate space to flourish. Considering its length, it's a feat that this much good music exists here (not even considering Fitzgerald covers the entire American Songbook throughout the rest of this saga). It just seem like there's an endless stream of ideas and talent on display on this consistent monster of a vocal jazz record. It's hard to tackle specific songs here but within this giant tracklist, my favorites are 'Let's Call The Whole Thing Off', ‘By Strauss, ‘The Real American Folk Song’, 'Boy Wanted', ‘Of Thee I Sing’, 'Slap That Bass', 'Embraceable You', 'Oh So Nice', and 'I Got Rhythm'.

How do I review one of my favorite albums of all time without, one, gushing endlessly or, two, listing all the minute details in these songs that stack up to form this galvanizing post-hardcore record? I could talk about the space-filling ways in which Guy Picciotto and Ian Mackaye's contrasting guitar playing blend or the way Joe Lally's crunchy, dub-influenced bass playing complements Brendan Canty's unpredictable percussive patterns to form one of the greatest rhythm sections in all of punk. This album is best described as troubled, and pessimistic but conscious, all while encouraging the listener to understand the world around them. Punk is a genre that promotes cynicism that's often targeted at the artists who risk coming off as disingenuous; be that through their actions outside of their music or lack thereof. Fugazi was a band that stood by the ideas they presented in their music, having never sold out to a major label, or given in to the consumerist shift plaguing the music industry they criticized on the song 'Merchandise'. Alongside capitalist consumerism, themes of violence, division, and even drug abuse are tackled in this album. Picciotto typically approaches these topics in a more enigmatic sense, like in the song 'Blueprint' or 'Sieve-Fisted Find', the former of which pokes at a similar topic as the opener 'Turnover' where Piciotto shows some frustration as he tries to facilitate growth, planning, and change in the face of apathy. Mackaye on the other hand, while generally catchier and more anthemic in his deliveries, is more blunt with his messaging. It's as if he's trying to get the message through to the listener as clearly as possible, as seen on 'Merchandise' and the title track which has one of my favorite choruses here tackling the idea of unprovoked violence. He also does the lead vocals on the closer 'Shut the Door', detailing a heroin overdose. I see this song as Mackaye potentially reflecting on his treatment of drug users in the past given his straight-edge identity. Musically speaking, everything just sounds so damn good. The way the bass pummels you at the beginning of 'Sieve Fisted Find' and 'Repeater' is so electrifying. The title track is probably my favorite song here; I love the sporadic and almost tribal drum beat and the stark contrast between the ear-gratingly noisy tone driving the song and the melodic little riff in its chorus. I love the sudden pauses throughout the introduction of the song 'Greed' and the guitar riff closing out 'Styrofoam' is so unbelievably visceral. 'Turnover' and 'Blueprint' have these sharp and distorted guitar tones that tear through the mix. Fugazi's 'Repeater', to me, is punk in one of its most perfect forms, both in its ethos and in its sound. It sounds very compressed like you're being fed this urgent message through a walky-talky as you stand staring at some oncoming catastrophe not knowing what to do. There is a sense of urgency put on full display here, an effect only amplified by this album's fiery performances.

You know I really tried going into this with an open mind considering how much I absolutely loathe the title track. I hate being dismissive but this is everything I hate about this era of hard rock. The riffs and playing are present, but they're utterly wasted on these monotonous and shallow excuses for hard rock songs. For one, I cannot stand these yelpy and shrieky vocals. This is a general gripe I have with this era of rock but they're extra intolerable here because of how shallow I find most of the writing to be. Except for maybe 'If You Want Blood (You've Got It)', the anthemic choruses are nothing to write home about either as they all stick to this very predictable sound and progression. I'll give the closing track 'Night Prowler' some credit, it's certainly more ambitious on both the structural and lyrical fronts. Lyrically it's a lot more sinister than most of the other affectionately written songs here. I don't know how to feel about it, but at least it's different and it grooves pretty hard in the second half. Again, the playing is good and the riffs are muddy and dirty as I'd expect out of this genre, but that's a minimum requirement to even be qualified as hard rock. What truly matters is how well you can expand on those rudimentary sounds and piece them together to make memorable songs; something this album fails horribly at for me. There's a distinct sound attached to AC/DC and it's one that I hope I don't have to listen to again for a long time. Even this album cover pisses me off.

Can't say this is what I expected from my first 'The Who' album considering the "Hard Rock" label often attached to them. I mean the closest thing to the typical hard-rock song here is the closing track 'Won't Get Fooled Again'. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, in fact, I think it benefits from its variety in sound through the liberal use of synthesizers and keyboards. There's also the occasional acoustic-driven track which further adds to this album's eclecticism. By using the piano and synth layering to fill the sound, the album ends up feeling very theatrical, especially when Pete Townshend is leading the vocals. This is most certainly true on a song like 'The Song is Over', which plays out like a tragic love tale. I love the way the more theatrical and ambitious synthetic elements blend with the more typical hard-rock sounds on many of these tracks, it feels like you're listening to two very different albums intertwined with one another. I especially love the melodic bass all over this album. Individually, the songs are great, with many following the common themes of love, trust, and affection tackled in serious or in more humorous ways like on 'My Wife'. I'd say the two closers are the strongest here with the penultimate song detailing the loneliness of an individual who's void of emotions with a solid and triumphant instrumental switch-up near the second half. The closing track sounds unlike any other song here and details the futile efforts of facilitating change because of vile leadership patterns; wittingly titling the track 'Won't Get Fooled Again'. While I wasn't expecting all of this and it took quite a bit to fully understand this album's sound and what exactly it was going for (I still think it leans towards a more pop-rock sound rather than hard-rock), I think its ideas, playing, and overall perspective on the genre made for a very unique listen.

My first 'The Electric Prunes' album experience was very pleasant and kind of mind-blowing given its time of release. All of these songs manage to be very concise (with most not breaking the 3-minute mark) while also still being fully fleshed out. The songs generally don't just come off as little samples or tastes of sprouting ideas. There is an ominous tone underlying the majority of this album, but I also found most of it to be light-hearted when looking deep into its messaging. The opener 'I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)' for example has this subtle horn hanging in the background which brings about this sinister aura. The song's lyrics, on the other hand, are quite melancholic and sad. Most songs here have something unique to offer, be that the more direct garage rock songs like 'Are you Lovin' Me More', the slow and tranquil acoustic-driven 'About a Quarter to Nine', or even the baroque-inspired 'The King in the Counting House'. There are some truly gorgeous soundscapes here, like the warm stream of synths that make up the song 'Onie'. My favorite has to be the eastern-influenced arpeggiated instrumental on 'Sold to the Highest Bidder' which has such an indescribably potent groove. Lyrically and vocally speaking, this album avoids sounding repetitive as lead vocalist James Lowe not only manages to tailor his vocals to match the energy of the current song but he also captivatingly presents a large array of diverse ideas through his lyrics. In a lot of ways, this album's an inconsistent mess, but its takes on both psychedelic and garage rock still sound unique and enjoyable (albeit grainy and muddy; which if anything, only adds to its enjoyability for me) even today. The sheer amount of interesting song ideas presented here alone makes it worthy of praise. NOTE: Reading into it more, it's evident that this album was rushed in its release, which explains the more brief song structures here. It's also clear that the band had little creative control over many of these ideas, lyrically and instrumentally. With that said, I still stand by most of what's said here but I am sympathetic towards this album's contentious release and can only imagine what it could've been if the band were given more creative freedom and time.

Given that 'Brian Wilson presents Smile' was a re-hashing and finalization of the original 'Smile' - a Beach Boys album that was set to release but scrapped around 1967, I knew for a fact that I would enjoy this. There are even a couple of renditions of BB staples that I love here like 'Good Vibrations' and 'Surf's Up'. Aside from that, it's what you'd expect from a Brian Wilson production - incredibly mesmerizing vocal harmonies, luscious and vibrant production, and child-like natal melodies. Every idea here is immaculately executed, albeit brief, given its medley-esque structure and seamless transitions between songs. It's still very sun-kissed and warm with the occasional switch up like on the eerily cacophonous 'Mrs. O'Leary's Cow'. Writing-wise, Brian and Van Dyke Parks deliver on all fronts, with enigmatic lyrics and a concept that I, admittedly, wasn't able to follow - but upon initial listen, it seems to be religiously and spiritually driven and wrapped in familial imagery. Maybe it's something I'll look into on subsequent listens. What an easy album to love and enjoy.

'OK Computer' is a landmark release in alternative rock, bridging the gap between Radiohead's distinctive sounds at the turn of the millennia. It's one of the albums that I listened to very early on in my alternative rock discovery period. It certainly still holds up upon re-listen - juxtaposing theatrical elements like in 'Lucky' and 'Paranoid Android' with the more isolated and spacious moments like 'No Surprises' and 'Let Down'. It all feels very cinematic and linear though I wouldn't exactly call it a concept album. 'Let Down' is easily my favorite song here and maybe my favorite Radiohead song - it details one's dissatisfaction with the monotony of their life as they yearn for an escape. It's not an insanely unique topic, but Yorke's writing and vocal performance transform this song's melancholic premise into something almost tragic (never mind the gorgeous wall of sound on the outro). I mentioned this album bridges the gap between Radiohead's sounds, and that's certainly true instrumentally - fusing elements of more traditional alternative rock with these electronically driven aspects that would be later fleshed out on 'Kid A'. This fusion helps convey this album's very overt messaging relating to a synthetic world; one that promotes shallowness and individualism. Song topics vary (like in the opener) but I always found that to be the overarching theme here. The playing and music sound great as well, but it would be redundant to talk about all that considering the sheer number of accolades this album has amassed throughout the years. I don't think I can add much to the 'OK Computer' gushery that hasn't already been said over the past nearly 27 years. To me though, this album has always been a very comforting listen and its dystopian imagery stands as potent even today. While I don't enjoy every track here and I typically just stick to the handful of songs here that I love, I most certainly "Get the Hype".

A pretty solid early punk rock record that sticks out primarily through its striking riffs and melodic basslines. I do think the more traditional punk rock elements bottleneck this album, while its more ambitious elements elevate it - giving the band an almost uniquely electrifying sound. I enjoy the more dynamic 'Get On Our Own', the marching percussion on 'Sixteen' paired with these fuzzy layered riffs, and the soaring outro to 'Autonomy'. The ambitious and hypnotic closer is another highlight here and exhibits the band's ability to stray from that typical punk rock formula. While I'm not a fan of this general vocal style, Pete Shelley's lyrics and melodic tendencies allow for a generally enjoyable experience. I'd say this is most definitely the case on the catchier 'I Don't Mind'. While I do enjoy this album and its rudimentary and traditionalist take on punk rock, I'm left wanting more by the end when considering the more interesting directions the genre was heading in around this time.

Motorhead is certainly a three-piece to be reckoned with. The exuberant and relentless energy on most of the songs here is undeniable to the point where it overflows to even some slower tracks like 'Iron Horse' (which isn't even conventionally "slow" per se). The speed matches the viscerality levels of most hardcore punk records (most evident in the song 'No Class'), and the fuzzier nature of the live recording makes both the guitar and bass feel like a wall of constant haze over these pummeling drums. Vocally speaking, Lemmy Kilmister is the perfect example of a vocalist who can be potent without needing to overpower the rest of the instruments. His vocals are lowkey, slurred, and raspy yet they manage to pierce through the mix effortlessly - helped by a set of consistently puzzling yet engaging lyrics. I don't know why but I love the more direct ode to his roadcrew on the aptly titled "(We Are) The Roadcrew" - maybe my favorite song here. Live performances like this must've been incredible to attend, but this recording still captures most of the chemistry and fire ignited on the day. I haven't listened to any Motorhead albums before this one so this was a great introduction.

Consistently enjoyable alternative rock record with some electronic and gothic elements sprinkled in. I do wish it was a little bit more ambitious in its production, but I really enjoyed the songs ‘Queer’ and ‘Only Happy When it Rains’

What a mystically pleasant jangle-pop record, fully served with all its quirks and 80s cheese. The music feels exaggerated, allowing for the painting of these sonically descriptive images of the songs' settings and general aesthetics. The sonic palette here is impossibly diverse and strikingly sharp and hooky (just listen to the guitar melody on 'Charlotte Street'). I can't express just how colorful and bright, yet nocturnal, melancholic, and longing it all sounds, especially the closer 'Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken?'. I love the very diverse groove on the song 'Speedboat' that continues to surprise and build throughout its 4-and-a-half-minute runtime. Lyrically and vocally, it's as charming as it needs to be to fully capitalize on the bewildering nature of the music here. There's something so present about the way Lloyd Cole depicts love, but also it seems the person he talks about is distant and long gone. This subtle contradiction of emotions plays a big part in reinforcing this album's bizarre thematic approach to intimacy. Cole's also consistently witty and unique in his lyricism. This is just perfect pop music, everything sounds so "maximum" - as it should be. That's all that needs to be said, i really loved this one.

'Golden Hour' has won me over throughout the years as it stands as one of the most gorgeously executed country-pop records of the 2010s ... if not a definitive release in the genre for that time. I just find all the sounds here to be immensely charming yet spacious as it cautiously avoids all the worst late 2010s pop-music cliches while still boasting high levels of accessibility (when considering this album's popularity). Every song has something different to offer on the production end, be that a slower piano-driven ballad like 'Rainbow', or the faster banger pop track that is 'High Horse'. I love the waves of what sounds like pedal steel guitar on 'Space Cowboy' that give off the mournful sound that nicely contrasts the generally happy lead instrumental melody. The song 'Happy & Sad' has Musgrave's vocals as the highlight, with one of my favorite choruses - melodically and lyrically. While her lyrics here can be easily interpreted as shallow, there's a certain charm to the direct nature of her writing; especially on songs like 'Mother' and 'Lonely Weekend'. Her vocals have a distinctive twang to them and are largely enjoyable. This album feels like a cool breeze and I usually have a smile on my face all throughout its runtime. It's certainly not for everyone, but the way it effortlessly incorporates 2010s pop elements while still sounding so lush and true to its parent genre is something that'll continue to impress me. I just wish her other stuff resonated with me as much as this album does.

Honestly, I was mainly excited to just finally hear the song 'Layla' when I started listening to this - having heard nothing but incredible things about it. 'Layla' unfortunately overshadows most other songs here in terms of being an incredible standalone blues-rock staple - especially those first 3 minutes right before it mellows out and cruises through this stunning sun-kissed piano-driven outro. As for the rest of the album, it's just some solid blues-rock with some decent covers sprinkled in here (including Hendrix's 'Little Wing'). I'd say Eric Clapton and company wear their influences on their sleeves. However, they still have a solid foundation and intricate understanding of blues-rock and they cultivate it into this grimy and dirty hour-plus experience. While not every song blew me away, especially on the songwriting and vocal side of things, I have to credit the virtuosity that's put on full display here - especially in Clapton's sharp and tight playing. This album won me over on the long blues epic that is 'Key to the Highway' and I love the general chorus on 'Anyday' and slicker rhythm guitar on 'Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?'. While I do think it's a tad long and there were quite a few forgettable songs here (personally wasn't a fan of 'Have you Every Loved a Woman'), you'd be hard-pressed to find a (white) blues-rock album that delivers this consistently while still paying homage to its parent genre. Despite some of its shortcomings, when it delivers it DELIVERS.

Probably one of the most blatantly unpredictable albums I've encountered yet. I had no idea what to expect from track to track which kept it interesting. You'll get these blaring guitars pummeling you on 'Mother's Daughter' and then this gorgeous slow song with bouts of organ and psychedelic licks with 'Samba Pa Ti'. Some of these grooves are impossibly tranquil and hypnotic - like on the song 'Incident at Neshabur' which coasts off into this glistening piano-led piece in its latter half. In general, this album successfully fuses traditional jazz elements with (primarily) Latin-based percussion and rhythms - maintaining this undoubtedly "cool" aura all throughout its modest runtime. Above all else, it all sounds incredible. This album cover captures what this album is for me; it's an album that's not afraid of sacrificing consistency for the sake of exploration and eclectism and I find that remarkably charming.

A quaint little country album that does what it does tremendously well; yet it still leaves me wanting more. The writing here is scenic and nostalgic - I especially love the life piece ballad that is 'Love at the Five & Down' and the fiercely exected 'Fly By Night'. Vocally and instrumentally speaking, Nanci and co deliver on all fronts, and as usual with this genre, I love when they harmonize, usually in these sticky choruses. While not blown away, I still enjoyed my little stroll through the locales painted by Nanci on this album, and I'm sure there is more to dive into lyrically well below the surface.

The premise of this album is undeniably whimsical and eccentric especially for the time - with Bowie drawing parallels between Ziggy and himself to create one of popular music's landmark concept albums. To me though, I've always felt that *SOME* of the music undershot Bowie's thematic target. The song 'Five Years' which crescendos into this gorgeous string piece with lyrics detailing impending doom on earth is an all-time opener. I also love the song 'Starman' which may not be nearly as ambitious musically but its optimistic premise and grand chorus always resonated with me - it's probably my favorite Bowie song period. The themes of fame and art continue through onto the magnificent 'Star' before coming to a cathartic end on the closer 'Rock 'n' Roll Suicide'. It's a conceptually dense album with plenty of gorgeously executed musical moments to gawk at and while it's nowhere near my favorite Bowie album, calling this anything other than spectacular would be a blatant lie.

A very pleasant introduction to the genre of Marabi. Miriam is an incredible vocalist and the minimalist nature of the instrumentation here allows her vocals to echo through the mix, making it all feel very grand; yet equally hollow (in a good way). I know this is a male-dominated genre, but I love the juxtaposition of the deeper male harmonies with Miriam's higher-pitched voice. Those harmonized moments are easily the highlights here. Above all else, this thing's immensely peaceful. While I couldn't dive much into the lyricism, I assume quite a few of the songs here are traditional South African songs (like the rendition of the genre staple 'Mbube' here) given Miriam's activism against the apartheid in that region alongside her connection to it. A very welcoming listen and one that's easy to jive with. Also the song 'One More Dance' had me cracking up.

A simultaneously bewildering yet simple album. With perplexing scenes and imagery throughout the lyrics here, you can't help but feel like you've wandered into some strange ritual in the middle of the woods. What this album lacks in consistency (I can't say I enjoyed the abrupt transitions of the medley 'A Very Cellular Song'), it makes up for in sheer charm through its eclecticism. As instrumentally it ranges from more traditional folk instrumentals, like on the call-and-response track 'The Minotaur's Song' to something more brooding and Eastern-influenced with the inclusion of sitar and oud on 'Three is a Green Crown'. Again, I'm very confused about my feelings on this album - but I do appreciate how unabashedly strange it is compared to many other folk records of its time.

I know "Smokey" is a cliche word to describe blues rock, but god is this album smokey and super cool. At the same time, its accessibility is undeniable - sounding similar to many Western contemporary mainstream blues-rock bands (Like 'The Black Keys' come to mind, minus all the tacky genre fusions later-ish in their career) when looking at how immediate all these songs are. The fusions with West African music styles are there, especially on the percussion and vocals, but Western blues music is still very much dominant I found. I love Malian singer Kaira Arby's contributions to the psychedelic 'Wayei', which may be my favorite track here and the one with the most overt African musical influence. A majority of these songs have these snappy grooves that are insanely tight, unabashedly repetitive, and soothing while still leaving room for subtle build-ups like on the layered 'Sekou Oumarou'. All the playing is great here and the instruments pop. This entire album is classy, vintage, and impossibly sharp. There's something so immediate about all the songs here. It also captures a very uniquely endearing mixture of genres, one that I'm certainly eager to dive more into in the future.

This is the third 'Yes' album I've ever heard and the second from this list. I think more than anything, I appreciate the unique sound they carved out for themselves in the endless sea of prog rock from that time - a sound that's particularly tangy, very thick, and, above all else, easily digestible. Bill Bruford's drumming is still as crisp and tight as always and the bass is still the best part here sounding warped and mangled yet formidably textured all the way through. As for this album specifically, my opinions are similar to that of 'Fragile''s; When the groove is driving, I'm locked in, but I find all the fluff in between (like 'The Clap') didn't add much to the overall experience for me. The exception to this is the first movement of 'I've Seen All Good People', a slower yet pleasant moment here. It's certainly the dustiest and most antiquated album I've heard from them yet but 'Yes' continues to surprise me with just how consistently lively their sound is. They're just a reliably enjoyable band.

I don't know how to describe what I just listened to - this is one of the most easygoing listening experiences I've ever had. I regret having not heard of Abdullah Ibrahim before (nor many of the other various players here) - but he's a leading figure in the 'Cape Jazz' subgenre that's rooted in South Africa. While it doesn't deviate too far from your typical 'Cool Jazz' formula, it almost takes a maximal approach to that subgenre ... in a minimal way that is. The song 'Manenberg Revisited' for example may be the most spacey here, but the light horns, piano, and especially that bassline allow for that voided space to thrive effortlessly, making "the space" its own instrument. It all feels like some sort of stroll, never pushing too far ahead too fast as it soaks in its own beaming atmosphere. It exercises its rudimentary ideas to the max before moving on to new ones; it reminds me a lot of ambient music in that sense. A lot of elements here reminded me of spiritual jazz as well, especially the shorter 'The Mountain'. This album maximizes minimalism, traditionalism, and clarity without ever coming off as dull or boring. It all feels like you're staring out into the sunset on the beach while it soundtracks the closing credits to a day filled with excursions and peace (especially with the title track). Some damn good jazz. And so so chill and soulful. Really loved this one.

The second Elvis Costello album to appear here and the one I've heard the most about. Overall though, I feel the same about 'This Year's Model' as I do about most of Costello's other works. While I admire how colorful and erratic this album is generally, its herky-jerky presentation just comes off as messy rather than eclectic in the scope of the entire album. I will endlessly compliment how good each instrument here sounds, especially on a song like 'Chelsea' with that instrumental interlude with the guitar, bass, and synth. There are some great blends here. It does generally sound like something you'd hear in the late 60s pop scene, though obviously re-vamped and scaled to the sound quality you'd expect from the late 70s new-wave and post-punk era (also more shamelessly artsy). I'd also like to note the way Elvis tackles melody - taking this very linear approach which contrasts the labyrinthian way he approaches generally simple topics lyrically; it fits the music generally. Though I can't say I enjoy the occasionally snotty-relationship'y lyrics here. I still liked a few songs like 'The Beat', 'Living in Paradise', and 'Hand in Hand', but Elvis is just not an artist that resonates with me on a deep level. Rather, he's more a figure in music history that I'll continue to respect from a distance.

Wowza! No matter how many times I listen to this landmark release in West Coast hip-hop, I always feel like I'm just a step away from fully grasping what it's really trying to say. I mean on the surface level, it seems to be an album about Kendrick's struggle with fame and self in a society that thrives on dwindling African-American achievement, growth, and agency - but its nuances run deeper than that and each track offers some variant spin on that overarching theme. Grapples with self-love and hate, sexuality, consumerism, and institutionalism are all key topics discussed in the various songs here. I can't lie, this is a dense album, and I can see why some may prefer the predecessor to this one 'GKMC' for that exact reason. In that album, the story is linear, while here, it's divided into little chunks, and there is no plot, just an overarching concept. I prefer GKMC, but more so for nostalgic reasons (and I just enjoy the songs there more). Conceptually though, this album always won for me. Each song is like an insightful deep dive into a section of Kendrick's psyche relating to his status at the time. Sonically, it feels like all of Hip-Hop's ideas in the past 25 years (at the time of its release) coming to a head in one of the most immaculately intricate productions in the genre. Jazz, rock, funk, and soul fuse seamlessly on many of these instrumentals. The opener 'Wesley's Theory', for example, has so many layers of synth, vocals, and brass constantly panning in and out that it's almost overwhelming upon first listen. 'King Kunta' is an absolute bop with one of my favorite outros and 'The Blacker the Berry' has the most ferocious boom-bap beat here. The imbalanced panning during the 'u' transition and the bass on 'Mortal Man' or two other highlights here. This album is ginormous, and Kendrick and his production crew pull out all the stops to make sure each sound and detail here is as fleshed out as can be. Lyrically and flow-wise, it'd be redundant to call Kendrick Lamar an all-timer. His overt "gimmickiness" on many of these songs where a single rhythmic motif is established over a unique cadence can turn some people off - it works wonders for me though. My favorite has to be 'u' which is a song that until this day, blows me away with just how emotive Kendrick is with describing his feelings of self-loathing and guilt. I really didn't need to write all that much for this album, it speaks for itself. 'To Pimp A Butterfly' defies all of what mainstream hip-hop was pushing around 2015 (a trend that I particularly like still), while still managing to do numbers on the chart with songs like 'i', 'King Kunta', and 'Alright'. It's a one-of-a-kind release in a decade and deserves all the praise it got - and continues to get.

Solid little folk and psych record. But it feels like for every song that I liked such as '8:05', 'Come In the Morning', and 'Lazy Me', there was a song that completely passed by without leaving any impact at all. I chalk that up to the immediacy of each of these brief songs, they either hit with a strong idea right off the bat or come off as "incomplete". Still, I loved the harmonies here and the guitar and bass playing were as tight as I'd expect out of a blues rock-y type psych record from around this time (especially on the outro to 'Indifference', one of my favorite musical moments here).

When I first heard this album (waaaaay back) I remember not liking it all that much - I think I mainly found the African music fusions tacky when paired with the generally 80s-styled folk and pop-rock sounds. Returning to it now, I find I missed the entire point of this album because listening to it now, I see that it's just beaming with joy and happiness. Easy listening would be an understatement - every song here is just so pleasant to listen to musically, and Paul's talk-sing style on many of these songs is parts witty, vivid, and hilarious. 'You Can Call Me Al', even with its cheesy 80s horn and synth, perfectly encapsulates Paul's talents here as a songwriter. While I still have my issues with this album - primarily with its sporadic genre fusion attempts which don't always land for me, I certainly see the appeal of this widely praised album now more than ever. I think I'm just in a better place to appreciate it; not that I'm in the most "happy" place in my life now or anything, just that I'm more open to what this album's world, filled with love and passion, is willing to offer.

Damn good Chicago Blues from one of the genre's most renowned players. Having listened to some of Water's older stuff (talking early 60s), It's interesting to hear him adapt his playing style to more "contemporary" blues styles based more on rock'n'roll than country. Not to say the country and delta blues elements aren't there, because they certainly are with the harmonica and piano all over this album, but strictly with his playing, it's more electric and in your face. And "Electric" is the best word to describe this thing - there's an unstoppable energy here that's both rigid and unwaveringly commanding. I love the repetitive 'Mannish Boy' and the following instrumental segment on 'Bus Driver' - but most songs were a joy to listen to. I just really dig this instrumental mix and blend, but I understand if people find it repetitive - to me it just came off consistent. I don't know much about "Blues Style" playing on a theoretical level, but there's something so distinctly blues about how the chords and melodies are laid out here but it still manages to avoid feeling "boilerplate". This is the muddy, dirty, consistent sound I want from blues albums. It manages to be long while still bringing this relentless energy and grit without ever compromising its root sounds. Muddy Waters's minimal and spacious vocal licks here perfectly suit this playing style too. Great listening.

This was a very tough album to gauge upon first listen - so I feel I'll need a few more to fully form an opinion. I'll still discuss my initial thoughts regardless. I'd say I was relatively lukewarm on the approach the production took here - it's a tad too clean and inconsistent for me. I do enjoy certain moments, particularly the bluesy switch-up on the song 'Ground for Divorce', and the triumphant strings driving the baroque-inspired 'One Day Like This'. The fact that I wasn't too huge on the production was unfortunate because lyrically and conceptually, I was fully engrossed in what this album was offering. Guy Garvey throws a few intimately melancholic love songs into the mix, but quite a few songs also tackle issues of addiction and loneliness in captivating ways like 'The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver'. Reading into it more, the album in its entirety is dedicated to the late band member Bryan Glancy who is the "Seldom Seen Kid". The devastating closer 'Friend of Ours' attributed to the late band member was an immensely powerful track, one that says a lot with very few words. "Love you, mate". Can't lie I got misty-eyed listening to it. I don't think I can rate this too high because, for me, it's plagued with many of the late 2000s indie tropes that turn me away from the genre. Looking past that though, I wouldn't hesitate to call this one of the most enjoyably presented indie records of the 2000s (conceptually and lyrically speaking) that I've heard yet. As I said though, it definitely warrants a re-visit and I'll see if it grows on me any more.

'The Downward Spiral' is a perfect example of beauty in cacophony and comfort in noise. While a bit difficult at first, once I'm locked into the groove (for me, it's usually when I get to the song 'Closer'), I am fully immersed in its cyborg, synthetic fusions of alternative rock and electronic music. Relatively straightforward drum and synth grooves are overdubbed with layers of impalpable distortion and noise - like with the first half or 'Ruiner'. It feels like the traditional hard rock formula from the 70s is mangled into something dystopian on this album to an unrecognizable degree. With that said, the band also knows exactly when to slow it down to fit the narrative - like on the gorgeously ambient 'A Warm Place' or the painfully tragic 'Hurt' The "mechanization" of the hard-rock genre into industrial perfectly fits the overarching story put on display here as Trent Reznor describes the gruesome process of losing his humanity and turning into a machine, most evident in a song like 'The Becoming'. Troubled lyrics paralleling Reznor's real-life grapples with depression are delivered through contrasting means - be that faint whispers or clipping screams - juxtaposing feelings of both anger and defeat through the inability to act. Obviously, there's more to the story when analyzing the specific songs - as self-loathing related to sexual desires and religion also play a big part in building the concept here. Many albums attempt to deliver a sort of 'Downward Spiral' effect with their concept albums, but few have been as effective, both instrumentally and lyrically, as this one. By the time I get to the song 'Hurt', I'm always emotionally drained.

Cool Chicago Soul and Funk record - though admittedly it doesn't stand out for me as much as some of Curtis Mayfield's earlier works like 'Curtis' or certain songs of 'Superfly'. All the instrumentals here are spacey and vibrant - be that the horns, the saxophone on 'Love to the People', or that defiant bass on the opener 'Billy Jack'. There's also a decent cover of Baby Huey's 'Hard Times', one of my favorite Chicago soul songs (though it is missing some of the oomph of the original). Obviously, I have nothing bad to say about Curtis' singing - his falsetto-styled singing works beautifully over these instrumentals. Lyrically, again, it didn't stick out as much as some of the songs earlier in his career. With all that said, this is still a solid, tight little soul album that goes by relatively fast. Delightful stuff.

Perfect music to just space out to. The sparseness of this UK Garage release works in this album's favor in that sense - but it also left me hoping for something more, instrumentally speaking. The 2-step drum patterns are slick and the strange flourishes of piano laced throughout work well enough to create an overall enjoyable vibe. It's also very diverse - the direct RnB cut 'Rough Out Here', for instance, is so far removed from the opener. The main standout of this album was its features. My favorites were the neo-soul and rnb-styled singing and riffing of Elizabeth Troy and the MC'ing of Danny Vicious. It works wonders when they band together on the short punchy 'MJ FM Interlude'. In general, though, my favorite song had to be 'Crazy Love', I loved Elisabeth on this one. While its briskness was charming and hypnotic and there were some strange standout moments instrumentally like the ominous string-driven 'Strung Out', I was still left wanting more out of this album—still an enjoyable first album by MJ Cole.

Soulful, Afrocentric, and ambitiously lengthy, Common's release at the turn of the millennium stands as one of the most beautiful fusions of neo-soul ethos and traditionalist jazz rap. The production crew is incredible here, with standouts like J DIll, D'Angelo, and DJ Premier taking notes from similar groups like the Root, Black Star, and the Pharcyde to sculpt these funky, light, and undeniably cool beats. I love the funky drive of the song 'Heat', the stripped-back clunk of songs like 'A Film Called (PIMP)', and that stuttering sample flips on 'The 6th Sense'. Common himself has a standout voice, both literally and figuratively, and it's clear that with this album, he set out to use that welcoming voice to present topics he felt were most important to him. I love his depictions of culture on the song 'The 6th Sense' alongside that slick Bilal hook. 'The Questions' with Mos Def is probably the most consistently enjoyable song here and I love Macy Gray's version of 'Geto Heaven'. I have to shout out 'Thelonious', not only because of how slick the beat and Slum Village features are but also because it has Dilla tearing it up on the mic also. I can't not mention the emotionally powerful and intriguing string-backed story of Black Panther member Assata Shakur on 'A Song for Assata' which has a gorgeous chorus by CeeLo Green. Just some incredible hip-hop that, musically and conceptually, was rejecting the sounds that were being ushered in at the turn of the millennium. So many great songs here that exhibit both Common's lyrical prowess, and the beat-making ability of his peers.

When that fat and chunky double-bass sample hits at the beginning of 'Excursions', a feeling of unfiltered joy rushes through me knowing I get to listen to this thing again. This was one of the many albums that had me falling in love with old-school hip-hop back in the day. There was a period in my life where every morning kicked off with that bass sample on 'Excursions'. It's "hip-hop" and "rap" music in its purest, unadulterated form. The beats are blunt and dusty - never feeling too clean or calculated. Their jazzy components are spacious, dark, and warm enough to effectively form pockets for the rhymes of Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, and all the features here. 'Buggin' Out' is one of the greatest songs. Period. I mean holy that bass sample kills, the drums slap, it's mixed beautifully, and the witty back and forth between Tip and Phife is unconventionally addictive. Their rapping is so perfect here: "'Oh yo he's acting stank' really on a regal?". The light touches of synth driving the Phife-exclusive 'Butter' highlighting his women's trouble is another flawless cut. I love the stark criticisms of the music industry on 'Show Business' featuring Tribe affiliate Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian. That guitar interlude on 'Vibes and Stuff' is serene, the way the beat coasts on 'Check the Rhime' rules, and 'What?' is consistently hilarious and witty. Then of course we got the posse-cut standard that is 'Scenario' with a memorable verse from a young Busta Rhymes closing off the entire album. Perfection would be an understatement - this is how you tightly package a sonic idea and conceptual motif into something bite-sized yet still grand in its presentation. It's an album that masters the art of consistency. In other words, rap didn't sound like this until 'The Low-End Theory', and rap hasn't sounded like this since 'The Low-End Theory'.

This is probably my favorite Common album and a gleaming piece of 2000s hip-hop amid a very uncertain era for the genre. Kanye's soulful and golden-age production works beautifully in fully realizing Common's wholesome, thoughtful, and open attitude which was ever-so-slightly missing from previous releases. The opener is one of my favorite songs of all time and never fails to fill me with goosebumps. The way the beat builds up to this orchestral and epic piece under Common's incredible depictions of life and all of its grievances. One of my favorite lyrics of all time is "...If Imma do it, I gotta change the word through her" talking about his daughter. Lyrically he perfectly sets the tone with this opener. Everything that follows is just as enjoyable and well conveyed. Be that the more socially conscious 'The Corner' featuring The Last Poets, or the incredible live rendition of 'The Food' from the Chappelle show. I always enjoyed how Common uses that backing sample on 'Testify' to tell his twist-ending story. 'Chi-City' has such an undeniably slick 2000s-era hip-hop beat, it's almost an era-defining beat. The closer 'It's Your World' nicely wraps up those themes of "Being" with a great spoken word portion. I really think this album boasts some of Kanye's best production ever and Dilla does an incredible job with this closer as well - love the way the horn and string samples collide on it. As much as I love Common's 'Like Water For Chocolate', I find it bloated at times and I think the beats here complement Common's conscious, bright, and understanding rhyme style way more. He does have one of the best voices in the genre.

Some great mid-60s mod and rock'n roll presented here on the Who's debut. While not every song stuck the landing for me, there were some incredibly predictive moments here relating to the sounds of pop, rock, and punk yet to come. Obviously the title track 'My Generation' is mind-blowing - I love Daltry's stuttering vocals, The Ox's bass interludes, those insane power chords, the backing vocals, and that cacophonous ending. It's truly a magnificent song. Aside from that, the album absolutely breezes by with some great tracks filling up its relatively short run time. I love the warm harmonies on 'The Kids Are Alright', that shimmering ahead-of-its-time guitar tone kicking off the garage-influenced 'The Good's Gone', and the proto-punk and noise-rock masterpiece that is the closer 'The Ox'. While 'The Who' would go on to do more ambitious and colorful things with their music, this album captures a uniquely influential sound and time in English Rock N' Roll history. It's also just really enjoyable.

Fiona's latest record is one I've heard a lot about and was excited to revisit after enjoying her debut so much (upon revisiting it that is). Rough, analog, abrasive, frantic production alongside an interesting and diverse set of tribal and raw percussive and rhythmic elements with a borderline jazzy feel encompass this album's core sound. The rawness of it all is the real draw here; gone are the clean and poppy aspects of her earlier works. As Fiona's songwriting typically goes, she's not afraid to get personal regarding her past relationships, experiences, and future desires. She grapples with escaping her own prison on the title track alongside sexual violence issues faced by women on 'For Her'. Fiona also explores patterns and cycles of abuse in 'Relay' and 'Newspaper' as expressed through toxic or shallow relationships - vividly depicted in 'Ladies' and 'Drumset'. All the songwriting here is sound and easy to follow along with - yet it's undeniably dense and colorful - I especially love her middle-school tales on 'Shameika'. Vocally, this album contains some of Fiona's most powerful and expressive performances; her growly, explosive voice rattling the mix at times. At other times, her mellow and lowkey delivery (like on the title track) gives this album a nice balanced and holistic feel. This expectedly great release by Fiona Apple demonstrates the artist's longevity and proves that no other songwriter is doing it quite like her.

You never really hear *good* things about Elvis in modern-day music discussion. A man depicted as a thief more than a pioneer and is effectively a symbol representing the well-documented appropriation of Rock N' Roll. While that's a fair assessment - many artists who have shamelessly plagiarized (like Led Zeppelin) seem to have an easier time getting off the hook. Not to say these two are in the same situation - but it leads me to think that the quality of music and resonance with modern-day youth plays a large part in reaching a consensus on such artists. Nevertheless, I tried to put all that aside when listening to this album which I found to be mostly enjoyable. Oddly enough, I get a more Country, RnB, and Soul vibe off many of these songs as opposed to typical Rock N' Roll or Blues. Elvis' deep, crooning style makes this all sound intimate, almost like you're at some sort of private show. I also enjoy the backing female vocals across this album, especially on 'Long Black Limousine'. The quaint piano and string-led songs are the best - I certainly prefer them to the country-inspired ones with my favorite being the cinematic-sounding 'Any Day Now'. While not blown away by any means, I'd be lying if I said this was anything but a short little album filled with nice late-60s bops.

My very first Elton John album and one I was excited to dive into considering I generally enjoy the title track. Aside from that ambitious, foreboding synth opening, this album has quite the established formula encompassing its hour-plus runtime. It's a formula that's hard to hate though, perfectly capturing that gleeful 70s piano rock sound with many memorable melodies and a very distinctly light piano style performed primarily by Elton himself. It's good fun all the way through which is all I was really hoping for out of this. I will say though, I generally enjoy the slower ballad-type tracks like 'Candle in the Wind' and 'Roy Rogers' as opposed to the rockier tracks like 'Saturday Night's Alright'. While I mentioned there is a "formula" here to be lulled into on this relatively long experience, there was never really a moment where the songs sounded too alike or anything - probably because of the generally diverse sonic palate. While not every song hits (I can't say I liked 'Jamaica Jerk-off' or 'Dirty Little Girl'), the sheer amount of great 70s bops here makes up for it.

It's almost a shame that I find the production here relatively generic when it comes to this prominent country singer-songwriter style because I genuinely found John Prine to be one of the most incredible writers in this genre. He does anecdotal writing similar to Bob Dylan, telling his story through a large array of different characters - 'Pretty Good' especially reminded me a lot of Highway 61's era Dylan with its absurd imagery and rock-tinge. 'Sam Stone' is devastating and one of the many anti-war songs here. All the writing here is beautiful, existential, and surreal. I called the production generic, but it's still very fitting and enjoyable despite it being made up of your typical acoustic and steel-pedal guitar combo. There were still some interesting moments like that atmospheric sound hanging in the background of 'Six O'Clock News'. More than anything though, this is an album that I'll remember for the bleak, yet whimsical world it builds.

While I do prefer Michael Jackson's later endeavors that dove into more new-wavey and RnB sounds (particularly 'Thriller' and 'Bad'), I can't deny the unique charm conveyed by his early-career classic. The disco elements are effective, albeit boilerplate, but still sparkly, glamorous, and pristine. Quincy's production here is undeniable, everything from the horns to the unique percussive passages absolutely pop. And Michael provides that iconic falsetto style here. While I find his melodies, songwriting, and performances less magnificent and bold generally, they still work as complementary to the music. I mean we're talking about the king of pop here - who'd go on to release some of the greatest songs in the history of popular music. So considering that, I do admittedly find this album to be on the weaker side of his "iconic" releases (which is saying a lot). There are still some incredible songs here like the two openers, 'Get on the Floor', and the slow-burner 'She's Out of My Life'. It's still a great release, if a bit antiquated and repetitive.

My second Billie Holiday album and the one where her appeal and style really resonated with me. The album's comprised of these grainy orchestral passages that back Holiday's raspy vocals. There's a subtle dissonance between the two where it feels like two entirely different sonic planes colliding, almost like technicolor in music form. Nevertheless, it yields very lush results. Vocally, Holiday emits something very tragic and defeated, with a distinct rasp and lowkey quality to her performances and her writing. The lyrics are often contemplative - hinting at the loss of a sour yet meaningful relationship. These ideas are most clearly seen in 'I'm a Fool to Want You' and 'Glad to Be Unhappy'. Beautifully tragic is the best way to describe this album - especially considering it came out shortly before her passing. The feelings of longing, nostalgia, and melancholy illustrated here continue to prove that Holiday was one of the most talented and "scenic" vocalists of the 50s.

I don't hear this one talked about as much as their other 80s releases, aside from people mentioning that the bass is "barely" present. Compared to other Metallica albums, I find it a bit too samey without enough variance on the instrumental side; hammering home that skeletal thrash metal formula for a majority of this album. I do enjoy the opening to the song 'One', which was a much-needed switch-up at that point in the album - though at times it does just feel like a reworked version of 'Fade to Black'. Lyrically, the political undertones stick out more than on their other albums - which I appreciate. Overall wasn't crazy about this one - but I can't say I hated it either - still some kickass riffs to admire here.

Just over thirty minutes of buttery smooth southern soul music performed by one of the coolest voices in the genre. I mean just that sentence alone perfectly justifies my opinion on this album. However, if you are going into this album expecting some sort of crazy experimentation and out there genre-fusions, you're only setting yourself up for disappointment. This album thrives off the basics and can build deeply intimate, and occasionally upbeat, tracks off that typical drum, guitar, bass, horn, and organ formula. 'Let's Stay Together', 'What Is This Feeling', and 'Old Time Lovin' are just some incredible standalone soul tracks. The long string-backed 'How Can You Mend a Broke Heart' stands as one of the most beautiful soul songs of all time. The very idea of "Soul" in one album. Yup.

Beck is an artist I've heard a lot about - so I was eager to jump into this album. I find that this album marinates in its eclecticism and borders parody at points, kind of like Ween, with these throwbacky melodic angles drawing from the worlds of hip-hop and alternative rock. The instrumentals are solid here, I especially love the rivetting layers on the jittery and bassy 'Hell Yes'. I also love the wall of crashing guitars driving the soothing melody on 'Broken Drum', easily my favorite song here. My biggest issue is Beck's one-note and lowkey vocals on many of these songs. While they complement the spacious trip-hop beats on some of these songs, they consequently bog them down. As a result, I'd be lying if I said I was engaged throughout the entirety of this album's relatively modest runtime. There's most certainly a notable charm present on this album - one that's undeniably cool, at times smokey, and very unique sounding. But by the end, I was left wishing it had something more punchy or memorable to offer. For my taste - I found this thing almost too laid-back.

I mean for an album tagged with the 'Glam Punk' label - this is exactly what I'd expect it to sound like. It has a punk drive given its speed and vocal style, but it comes with all the flashy guitar solos and soaring phrases of a hair-metal band. While undeniably goofy at times with its themes, it's a pummeling experience that I'm surprised I enjoyed as much as I did - songs like 'Selfdestructo Bust', 'Prince Of The Rodeo', and 'Rock Against Ass' were genuinely such fun punk rock tracks. Its "crudeness" comes off childish, but it's just so damn catchy and dense sounding, I can't help but bob along to a song as stupidly titled as 'Rendevous With Anus'. Good stuff honestly - infectious energy all over this album.

Having heard their seminal release 'Violater' very recently - falling in love with its dark, moody, and almost dystopian aura (gothic synthpop?), I was very much looking forward to listening to more Depeche Mode. Honestly, 'Music for the Masses' is in the same vein as its successor, following a loveable formula composed of some of the most textured pop synths in 80s new-wave - and David Gahan's vocals that scream dissatisfaction, emptiness, and hunger. There's so much drama here when diving into the cold lyrical drive against this almost industrial and robotic bass and drum machine combination - especially seen on the songs 'Strangelove', 'Behind the Wheel', and 'Sacred'. It's also undeniably catchy at times. This album just has this infectious combination of vocals and diverse synths, drowning the listener in its countless melodic layers. It's what made me fall in love with this band in the first place.

Might just be my new favorite album by Southern Soul legend Aretha Franklin - granted I've only ever heard two of her other records, both great. Still, this album delivers such a deep punch instrumentally, and especially vocally that just wasn't *as* present in her other efforts. Versatility in Franklin's vocals is what rounds out this record, whether she decides to harmonize on the slower cut 'People Get Ready', or bring out this slicker drive on a song like 'Chain of Fools', her talents are continuously put on full display. One thing's for certain, no matter what direction she goes in vocally, the backing band is there to support and elevate her performances - I love the guitar and especially that bassline on 'Niki Hoeky'. And don't get me started on the orchestral backing on the masterpiece that is '(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman' - such a grandiose demonstration of everything that made this genre great in the late 60s. A truly fantastic soul record - but I expected nothing less. An album that holds Aretha Franklin's best vocal chops - proving that she'll always be one of the greatest singers of all time.

I kinda sorta really fw this - I guess I’ve always had an affinity for fun goofy stuff like this. It’s kinda hard to gauge exactly what genre this album falls under - at times it sounds like the strange love child between electronic, hip-hop, and RNB, (especially vocally). Spacey - out of this world vibe, especially on the fuzzy sequenced synths comprising the song 'What is Love?'. Many tracks here are built off a large variety of samples, like the landmark track ‘Groove is in the Heart’ that features from Funkadelic affiliates Bootsy and Maceo, and of course Q-tip. It also has my favourite Lady Miss Kier vocal performance here alongside ‘Good Beat’. Such a fun son. I mean overall it’s just such a chill and fun experience - providing a means to space out and breath.

It's kind of daunting to tackle such a seminal Indie Folk release - an album by a troubled artist that continues to resonate with so many. Elliott Smith stood as one of the (whisper) indie folk giants before his passing, ultimately influencing many artists to come (The likes of Sufjan's newer albums draw many parallels from Elliott's minimalistic style I feel). While it is undoubtedly melancholic, there is something so sour about the melodies and instrumentation here - they're not quite as comforting (to me) as I feel like they may be intended to be. They're very grainy, and not very vivid nor tactile but they still work damn near perfectly in creating this cold atmosphere Smith sets out to capture. Elliott's writing is really why I stick around here as he grapples with many issues. Many songs are inspired by a recently ended relationship as seen in the song 'Say Yes' but also the self-blaming of a song like 'Alameda'. The melancholic and dissonant masterpiece for me here is 'Ballad of Big Nothing' - a song about meaningless freedom sung over the most upbeat instrumentation here. The level of self-loathing sarcasm Elliott presents in this song is also subtly reflected throughout the majority of the tracklist here, like on the song 'Rose Parade' While I may not adore this thing as much as many people do after only a couple of listens, given the sheer amount of artists who have copied this style of writing and performing since 1997, 'Either/Or' works perfectly in standing its ground so many years later - still feeling wholly unique. It's an album so full of life, yet so empty at the same time.

The second Beatles solo album I've heard - by one of the members at the band's lyrical forefront (alongside Yoko Ono). Comparing this to Harrison's 'All Things Must Pass', I do find this album far more tangible and direct with its statements; with Lennon coming off as bolder and more conscious in his writing. Be that the family matters tackled in a song like 'Mother', the stark criticism of capitalism in 'Working Class Hero', and the blind idolization (even relating to himself) of 'God'. Compared to Harrison's album, I did generally enjoy the music a bit less, especially when it came to the harder tracks like 'Well Well Well' which didn't do much for me. The light piano on 'God', and the tight and sunny groove on 'Hold On' were highlights. I also enjoy this album's brevity, in its songs and when it comes to the album as a whole. I mean it's a Beatles solo album from the early 70s, it would be hard for me to not like this thing.

Le music man himself. While I've technically heard Zappa's seminal 1969 jazz-fusion album 'Hot Rats' before, I'm not sure if I was paying attention back then. I say "I'm not sure" because even with this listen, this album feels almost like an instantaneous blur. The first track 'Peaches En Regalia' is constantly changing - but ultimately it orbits a single leitmotif. Still, there's something undeniably adventurous about the varied set of synthesizers here - reminds me of the first level of a video game. Aside from that, you're getting some incredibly psychedelic tracks that are so fun to lay back and get lost in. I love how melodic and uplifting the song 'Son of Mr. Green Genes' is. The bass all over this record rules as well. While maybe not as ambitious as I thought it would be, I almost feel like I enjoyed it more this way. It's an album that flaunts its talents, but also its colors and ability to write sticky melodic leads separated by tight and erratic playing. It's also just wild as all hell.

Deep Purple's 'Machine Head' has always been an album I've appreciated for demonstrating a strong understanding of what it meant to be 'hard rock' - no bells and whistles attached. Borderline metal at times too, the vocals on the opening 'Highway Star' remind me of Iron Maiden, and the guitar solo rips similarly to them, with an impeccably sharp tone. The musical interludes in this record are the highlights by far. The chilling lyrics and epic guitar riff driving the track 'Picture of Home' make it easily my favorite song here. 'Smoke on the Water' is cool but unfortunately suffers from the "I've heard that dumbass riff too many times to care" effect. Looking past that iconic riff and chorus though, there's a terrifically smokey song here with an infectious organ-tinged groove. Ritchie's guitar playing all over this album rules. Muddy, groovy, hard-hitting, dynamic, and insatiable all the way through, this album, to me, has always acted as an encapsulation of all the best ideas hard rock had to offer in its golden age. Or just "if cool was an album".

I am not super familiar with Brazilian music (though this album falls under the Tropicalia sub-genre) but I found this introduction through Caetano Veloso unsurprisingly pleasant. The main thing I noticed is that there is no distinct sound present here, the songs shift sounds constantly, like going from being psychedelic to baroque-influenced to jazz at the drop of a dime, while still maintaining a South American touch to it all. I loved the multi-phased, ominously romantic 'Clarice'. The strings that kick off 'Palsagem Util' are utterly gorgeous - this song has easily the lushest composition here. There's something so fuzzy and surreal about the mixing on this album as well that I can't quite put a finger on. As for the vocals, I couldn't understand much but Caetano proves to be a charismatic (and talented) singer as displayed on songs like 'Tropicalia' and 'Superbacana'. Greatly enjoyed my time with this - it's quite the disorienting experience at times though I'd say it generally works in this album's favour.

I feel like I've heard the style of "blues-rock-pop" presented on this album so many times and in so many songs...yet I've always mapped it to the Black Keys exclusively. I tacked on the "pop" tag because if there's one thing the Black Keys were incredible at in their heyday, it was making their music attractive to almost any ear that meets it. This formula of smokey and reverb vocals singing these catchy phrases, these punchy, loud drums, and so many layers of guitar distortion were more than enough to excite anyone upon initial impact. Unfortunately, when it comes to their albums, after the first few songs, the honeymoon phase wears off. And in this album's case, considering it's quite lengthy, it's hard to mask how repetitive it gets near the end. With that said, it never gets unenjoyable. Aside from the truck commercialism of 'Howlin For You' that I can't stand, there isn't a *bad* song here. There are certainly some great ones though like 'Tighten Up' especially. I also really love the sentiment presented in the song 'Unknown Brother'. It's a weird album, by an even weirder band. An album that has all the pieces to be, in theory, incredible - but to me at least, the Black Keys style does not complement this longer album format. I feel like I've heard the style of "blues-rock-pop" presented on this album so many times and in so many songs...yet I've always mapped it to the Black Keys exclusively. I tacked on the "pop" tag because if there's one thing the Black Keys were incredible at in their heyday, it was making their music attractive to almost any ear that meets it. This formula of smokey and reverb vocals singing these catchy phrases, these punchy, loud drums, and so many layers of guitar distortion were more than enough to excite anyone upon initial impact. Unfortunately, when it comes to their albums, after the first few songs, the honeymoon phase wears off. And in this album's case, considering it's quite lengthy, it's hard to mask how repetitive it gets near the end. With that said, it never gets unenjoyable. Aside from the truck commercialism of 'Howlin For You' that I can't stand, there isn't a *bad* song here. There are certainly some great ones though like 'Tighten Up' and the dramatic closer 'These Days'. I also really love the sentiment presented in the song 'Unknown Brother'. It's a weird album, by an even weirder band. An album that has all the pieces to be, in theory, incredible - but to me at least, the Black Keys style does not complement this longer album format.

I went into this Bon Jovi album with the same preconceived notions as the AC/DC album. The only difference is I was caught off guard by how much I enjoyed this album. If there's one thing that absolutely turns me off a song, it's hearing it over and over again (especially in things like mainstream comedies, sporting events, or ADVERTISEMENTS). So when I say that upon revisiting this album, I found both 'Livin' on a Prayer' and 'You Give Love a Bad Name' to be unconditionally enjoyable, I'm saying a lot. Also oddly enough I thought Bon Jovi came out in the 70s but after listening to this thing, the late 80s glam rock era certainly makes itself known - it gives this album a lot of soul in a weird way like on the song 'I'd Die For You'. There are some other decent songs here of course, like 'Wanted Dead Or Alive', though I don't like it as much as I did as a kid (feels like a slow burn in the context of the rest of the record). As for new songs, 'Without Love' was a sweet track with some deeply layered synth-tinged production that I loved. I'm just happy I got through this thing without getting annoyed even once - maybe I should start binning these exaggeratedly negative ideas I have of these huge old bands. Cause Bon Jovi can certainly rock.

Despite not being a fan of (most of) their self-titled quadrilogy, I still mess with Led Zeppelin's sound generally. But I think I'm more attracted to the idea of listening to LZ than I am to actually listening to them. In theory, their music should be everything I like - but a mixture of various mildly unappealing aspects (Plant's vocals, slower buzz-kill passages) end up bogging down my experiences. This album's no different - while I messed with the first side - especially the fantastic, relentless, and pummelling 'In My Time of Dying', the softer switch in the second half didn't do much for me. I mean I like the eerie synths opening 'In the Light', the quaint acoustic track 'Bron-Yr-Aur', and the punchy organ-tinted interludes of 'The Wanton Song' - but I'd be lying if I said I found any other song here to be all that special, not even the blues and rock n' roll throwback 'Boogie with Stu'. The highlight of the album is the highly dramatic and Middle Eastern-inspired 'Kashmir', a truly mesmerizing track. As expected, Jimmy's riffs are there and there's a lot of talent put on display, but this is another LZ album that just doesn't scratch the itch I was hoping it would.

I loved this jazzy and airy album by Joni Mitchell. Production-wise, Joni once again proves that she's capable of throwing together these gorgeous and unique soundscapes - like on the distorted sampled drums on 'The Jungle Line' or the acapella and blaring synths on 'Shadows and Light'. Most of the music here sounds so feathery and soft, yielding highly enjoyable songs like 'The Hissing of Summer Lawns'. Lyrically, it's hard to tackle and describe what I love about it exactly. I find everything here so vivid and down to earth, yet simultaneously surreal and dizzying at times, like in the stories of 'Shadows of Scarlett Conquering' and the tragic 'Harry's House/Centerpiece'. The vivid imagery is everpresent in the opening track 'In France They Kiss on Main Street' as well - it's a talent not unique to Joni but it's one she certainly excels at. From the little I've heard, I find Joni just has this knack for beautifully rounding out and polishing her records. She manages to go above and beyond in both her songwriting and production choices without having one overpower the other.

Rarely has the phrase "genre-defining" been so applicable to an album. It's just that so many gothic, post-punk groups have drawn from this one singular album. Despite the incredibly upbeat sound of the intro 'Disorder', there is nothing gleeful about this album. It's all so metallic, industrial, atmospheric, and hazy, and it's all fronted by a very troubled lead vocalist in Ian Curtis - a man who puts all his feelings, or lack thereof, into each one of these songs, unveiling all the suffering and agony found in this world. At the same time, there's a level of monotony here, almost like clocking into your dead-end job 20 years into your career and realizing what's been wasted - this sudden sense of panic followed by immediate dread. A song like 'Day of the Lords' slowly trudges on as Curtis' vocals sound like a lost soul howling from the bottom of a well - begging for some sort of relief. Peter Hook's basslines here defy what it means to be a bassist - they're impossibly catchy, sticky, and, more than anything, present. On a song like 'She's Lost Control', he's guiding this song with his high-pitched melodic picking style which paints the spine-chilling infrastructure that this song builds upon. Lyrically, it's not hard to grasp the vivid imagery related to suffering, fear, and distress Ian portrays in this song as he describes his confused state while witnessing the epileptic episode of a woman. One thing I love about this song is the subtle and muffled cries in the background (I think they're there at least - or maybe this song makes me hear things). The reverb sound of Joy Division is so perfectly captured in this one song - it's one of the greatest songs of all time. Another highlight here is the cinematic 'New Dawn Fades', which has some of Ian's more direct lyrics relating to his deteriorating mental state, painting it as "running through fire" and "not being able to take much more". I also love how emotive his vocals are in the latter part of the song. 'Shadowplay' might be the most fiery punk track here, with Sumner's soaring guitar solos driving this song. "Shadowplay acting out your own death" is also such a kickass line. I love 'Interzone' - as it's almost a throw-back style for Joy Division - harkening back to their debut EP. When I first heard this album it was way back in my music journey, in fact, I'd say it's one of the first punk albums I've ever heard (I heard their incredible follow-up 'Closer' before this though). So I didn't really "get it" fully, but I knew from the very start that this was special. Years and years later, revisiting this, after all the music I've heard, there is still LITERALLY nothing that sounds like this to me. 'Unknown Pleasures', to this day, managed to pioneer a genre all while still sounding so unique and instantly recognizable.

This might be the goofiest and tackiest album cover I've seen here yet. With that said, there was very little for me not to enjoy here. The hour + went by relatively quickly with these (mostly) short and sweet country-rock tracks with touches of Americana and heartland sounds, akin to Bruce Springsteen (who the album art might be referencing). The production's layered and Ryan's a good enough vocalist and writer in this area, but as I'd expected, the sound starts to wear its welcome near the 40-minute mark. The opening 'New York, New York' might be the highlight of this whole thing and I quite enjoy the escalating outro of the elongated ballad 'Nobody Girl'. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed my time with this album.

Metal album art is so cool man. And the highlight of any thrash metal (or any metal) album, for me at least, is those fast-picked, high-pitched guitar solos that sound like a fluctuating current running through a stray wire. I've heard Megadeth's 'Rust in Peace' before, though I can't say I remember much about it. Were the vocals also this cheesy? Lackluster vocals aside, this album's still kickass on the instrumental end - certainly more heavy and immediately punchy than most Metallica albums I've heard - with personable basslines and scratchy riffs that huff and puff these monstrous songs along. I love the little interjective role the upper-register guitar plays on 'Peace Sells', a song that throws any subtly out the window when it comes to its messaging - at moments it's even punk-esque. The band throws in the typical thrash "slower dramatic" cut here with the first half of 'Good Mourning/Black Friday', a song that also happens to be my favorite here. The fantastical imagery here works incredibly to backdrop the chaotic, wartorn playing - I think I generally prefer this writing style. Short, punchy, and dynamic yet consistent - I by no means have a super-refined palate for thrash or anything, but to me, this is exactly what this genre should strive to sound like.

Unabashedly artsy and romantic in a turtle-neck (and Montreal) kinda way. The drama behind Rufus' vocals and anecdotes is only elevated by the baroque sound this album boasts and wears on its sleeve. This sound (surprisingly) doesn't wear out its welcome throughout this album's 50+ minute runtime - probably due to its ever-changing nature, still maintaining a level of potency throughout varying stages of intensity. The opener 'Agnus Del' has an almost Middle Eastern tinge, while a song like 'This Love Affair' perfectly intertwines these weighty vocals with dramatic hits of piano and string. It continues surprising 'till the very interesting switch-up on the closing track 'Old Whore's Diet'. 'Gay Messiah' goes in a more interesting conceptual direction, though it's backed by more a generic acoustic strumming piece of instrumentation - one that's still very pleasant. Beautiful and elegant stuff and a glorious introduction to an artist I've previously never heard of. If you're a fan of shimmering love ballads that sound like they harness the weight of the cosmos to fuel their gleam, many of the songs off this album will surely click.

This is the only Rolling Stones album I've ever heard - and it's my second time hearing it. I've always found this album oddly catchy, especially with the songs 'Sway' and 'Wild Horses', the latter of which is a blatant country rock track ... not a genre I previously associated the Stones with. They pull it off quite well though and it ends up being my favorite song here - it's a very summery, vibrant, and open track, very nicely capturing this idea of a horse running free. More than anything, I respect how eclectic this album can be - with the song 'Can't You Hear Me Knocking' drawing from the worlds of psychedelic, Krautrock, and jazz fusion popular at the time. 'Bitch' carries that gritty weight I was expecting out of the Rolling Stones with an absolutely killer bassline, driving riff, and horn section. 'Sister Morphine' is another one of my favorite songs here, it's a tragic, hazy tale about drug addiction that's delivered over one of the more somber acoustic and western-sounding pieces of instrumentation. The album's drug-related themes come to a head on this one track, it's quite climactic and cinematic in that sense. I feel like this is an unconventional RS album, though I haven't heard enough of their music to make that assertion. Either way, it's a collection of some damn great early 70s songs with impeccable production value.

As one of the landmark acts in early funk, this Sly and the Family Stone album had me in a constant state of bewilderment and frenzy all throughout its runtime. Given its release in 1969, there are so many sounds here that are predictive of future funk and psychedelic acts, I mean even a genre-pushing and defying album such as 'Maggot Brain' seems to draw heavily from this record. While I don't know which of the two (MB vs S!) I like more, I think from a pure "enjoyment" factor, 'Stand!' wins me over. I love that abrupt funk switch-up nearing the end of the title track where the bass takes front stage paired with these satisfying high-pitched lead vocals. S&FS's diverse set of vocalists enhances the track dynamics on this entire album - I love the way the various members trade lines on 'I Want to Take You Higher' over this constantly morphing harmonica-chopped instrumental. The light piano touches nudging forward the fun and loose anthem of togetherness and love that is 'Everyday People' helps make it an all-timer track and an album centerpiece. The following abrasive, but equally laid-back, 13-minute 'Sex Machine' lays out some more funk greatness in the form of hypnotic psychedelic twangs and loops that are enough to satiate any loop-head - I mean there's enough sample material in this one song to fill an entire album. It's oddly sexy too, or maybe that's me projecting the song title onto the music (something I think a good song title should do!). This is a funk album that has a lot of color and a lot of personality - more than your usual album. There's an underlying sense of humor and almost sarcasm here, in the playing, song structures, song titles, and within the music itself. I love music like that, especially when it still manages to strike an impeccable balance between being kinda cheeky yet also sounding like each member poured their heart and soul into every single note sung and played. Incredible shit!

I usually love a good vocal jazz record and there's something about the intimate and quiet nature of this album's performance that draws me in. The stark instrumentation with only a piano functioning as a melodic driver works well to spotlight Sarah's soft and loose, yet impactful vocal performance. I don't know anything about Mister Kelly's but even the audience applause makes it seem like a very small, restrained venue. While it was nice to be lulled into this album's warmth, I didn't find much to hold onto aside from the boilerplate enjoyability of a performance like this. I did enjoy the piano solo and funny little stumble on the otherwise melancholic 'Willow Weep for Me'. I enjoy 'How High The Moon' for similar reasons - despite Sarah resorting to scatting out the entire song. My favorite piano solo has to be on 'Honeysuckle Rose', maybe my favorite song on here in general. While I may not revisit this one as often as other vocal jazz records on here, I can always admire an album like this upon a first listen.

Oddly enough this album is classified as 'Celtic Punk', which could be due to the band's IRA associations. The punk elements sort of come out in 'Bottle of Smoke' but these guys are punk in the same way the Clash's 'London Calling' was punk - in attitude more so than traditional sound, which I can appreciate - especially when it sounds this damn good. Shane MacGowan is a talented lyricist and vocalist. I love the song 'Thousands Are Sailing', which details Irish immigration to the US. It may be my favorite song here, the accordion-driven melody interluding the verses shines through - painting something equally hopeful and uncertain. While the lyrics on this album are niche and allusive, their vividness can't be understated - they're very evocative and insightful - like on 'Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six', a tribute to the falsely convicted IRA associates. Musically, it's very eclectic and doesn't box itself into sticking to its Celtic Folk roots (despite that sound still being omnipresent all throughout this album) - the horn section on 'Fiesta' oddly reminds me of a Ska song mixed with a Spanish jam and I love the middle-eastern influence on 'Turkish Song of the Damned'. The more traditional leaning and sea-shanty-esque Medley here is another highlight. This is such a sweet, glistening, and soulful record - there is never a dull moment. More than anything though, it's an album that comes off as undeniably genuine and hearty.

As a guy who really messes with the Beatles, I'd be lying if I said any album before 'Rubber Soul' resonated with me at all. Funnily enough, this album sounds like what people who don't know what the Beatles sound like would think the Beatles sound like exclusively. I find the writing here bland...inoffensive, but aggressively poppy and lowest-common-denominator appealing. While the fun bubble-gum poppy songs here certainly stand out, like 'A Hard Day's Night', 'Any Time At All', and 'I'm Happy Just to Dance with You' - I tend to want to skip through most of the songs on the albums. Some of the guitar playing borders on interesting, like the subtle strumming of 'Things We Said Today', but these moments are few and far between. The Beatles are actually really good, genre-bending, and genuine pop-music visionaries...just not yet. But then again, if it weren't for these earlier easily accessible songs, the Beatles would've never broken out in the volcanic way they did - so there's that.

While I'm reminded a lot of Derek and the Dominoes and even a band like CCR while listening to this, I do certainly find its parts defiantly southern in nature. My impressions of Lynard Skynard weren't great going into this record but various elements won me over by the end. The longer cuts like 'Free Bird', and 'Tuesday's Gone', alongside the heartfelt and downright masterpiece 'Simple Man' were the staples in this album. The harder grooving songs that draw from the world of blues and swamp rock were quite sticky as well - my favorite had to be the piano-laced 'Things Goin' On'. For how popular this band is, they certainly didn't choose to abide by any widely appealing song structures to garner that beloved American popularity. I think that's largely due to the talent of the musicians here speaking for itself.

After Albini's recent passing, I made sure to throw his classic Big Black albums onto my 'to-listen-to' list - so I'm glad to see this album here. More than anything, I love all the sounds and noises on this album. They all sound so cool - a coolness only amplified by their sheer abrasiveness and character. You're not just getting walls of noise and distortion here, you're also getting these shimmering harmonics that cut through the mixes which is what makes this album stand out - that subtle layer of melody and even beauty at times. The electrifying gnawing of the industrial groove on 'Passing Complexion' is so mind-blowingly ahead of its time - how does a guitar sound like that? 'Kerosene' sounds like a deconstructed club banger that would be released decades later, the way the defined melodies manage to squeeze through the layers of crashing and clanging is incredible. The use of drum machines all over this album hammers home that industrial sound - it's something beyond punk. The bass is also so garbled, muddy, and incoherent, yet it works wonders in carving out its space in these cluttered mixes, especially on a track like 'Cables'. While vocally not too special, Albini's lyrics (and corresponding liner notes) are tortured - digging into the depths of human suffering to formulate these repetitive, yet impactful hooks. One need look no further than the troubled opener 'Jordan, Minnesota' to know exactly what they're getting into. While not every track resonated with me, I was in awe no matter what direction this album went in. It defies the ideas of punk and even noise-rock. What a blast and unlike anything I've ever heard - it really does feel like an atomic bomb going off in your ears the entire time.

The Doors' fusion of Psychedelic and Blues has always made for such an addictive concoction - and this album might be their most overtly bluesy one, vocally and instrumentally. Morrison's vocals shift between deep, husky, and subtle - and loud, growly, and raspy from song to song - his dynamic ability as a vocalist has always been what made him such a standout frontman. Ray brings such a unique keyboard-organ tone and playing style to the table on these Doors albums, very rarely do I associate a specific "tone" to a band but this is one of those cases. It's so subtly ominous, even on the most upbeat tracks here. It's such a colorful record with so many great moments like the entirety of the heavy and heavenly 'Waiting for the Sun' and that bassline on 'Peace Frog' rules. I love the hypnotic coasting and warmth of the track 'Indian Summer'. The Doors really mastered the sacred art of being cool as fuck - I mean they're cooler than most any band that came out in the 60s imo.

For better or worse, Dylan doesn't sound much different live than he does in the studio. Having been very familiar with most of these tracks before, it was nice to revisit them in different contexts as I have yet to listen to this live album in its entirety. The electric tracks here sound a lot more chaotic and simultaneously bright and dynamic, especially on this performance's rendition of 'Ballad of a Thin Man'. It's really the context of this concert that makes it so mystical and iconic within the history of live performances. Reading into it, and as apparent in the recordings themselves, Dylan's switch to electrical folk backed by the Hawks in the second set was controversial - spawning a negative reaction from the audience (see: infamous "Judas!" heckler incident). A reaction I don't fully understand - I mean Dylan had already released his seminal electric-folk album 'Highway 61' Revisited' at this point - so why the surprise? It's often attributed to Folk purism I guess. Either way, this is sort of a legacy recording in that sense, Dylan's career didn't take a hit upon his switch to electrical or anything - but spontaneous history captured in a recording in this fashion is always cool to experience, especially when it's this enjoyable - you can't go wrong with some good ol' Dylan. I love the stark warm/cold contrast of the double set list here, though I admittedly enjoyed the electrifying viscera of the rock-driven set more (despite the acoustic side carrying more of my favorite Dylan songs) especially when the band first dives into it with 'Tell Me, Momma'. I can only imagine the audience's reaction.

Not much to say about this particular record - some decent enough Britpop from the early 90s, if a bit washed out and unmemorable at times. 'There She Goes' is an undeniable classic; melodically speaking, something about it sounds eerily contemporary. The occasional harmonies were enjoyable - but the general direction the majority of this album goes in comes off as sonically undefined - and not in a good way.

I genuinely think 'It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)' is one of the most poignantly written songs ever - the rhyme scheme, the ominous strumming, and the looming sense of dread the track exhibits makes for a very captivating 7 and a half minutes. 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' is equally as "on the nose" with its social commentary, though its more upbeat direction gives it an almost sarcastic tinge. It's a song that many call proto-rap, which I agree with in a sense, but I'm sure the rapid-fire spoken-word social commentary songs were not uncommon within folk and other spoken-word-driven genres at the time. Its sentiments unfortunately ring true until this day. As for the rest of the record, I do think it's one of Dylan's best. 'Mr. Tambourine Man' has landed its place on my "comfort song" list with its enigmatic, and almost dreamlike imagery, and innocently embracing chorus. While the writing can be labyrinthian at times, like in the elaborate tale of 'Bob Dylan's 115th Dream', the more direct and blues-inspired cuts 'Maggie's Farm' and 'She Belongs To Me' are equally as enjoyable. While there are hints of the electric folk sounds Dylan would fully embrace in his follow-up here (like on 'Outlaw Blues'), I think this album works well in sticking to its folksy ethos while still pushing the genre into uncharted territories.

I was never one to be a contrarian but I genuinely never understood the hype behind the entirety of 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. I mean I love the intro and that iconic opening ballad part, it's genuinely one of the most heartwrenching, elegant, and gorgeously written things ever. It's just that everything after that feels unflatteringly gimmicky or antiquated (aside from the coda that I also quite enjoy). But I wasn't here for the song I've heard a million times, rather I'm here for some more Queen deep cuts which I surprisingly enjoyed on 'Queen 2'. Thankfully, I enjoyed them just as much on this album - I mean the opener 'Dead on Two Legs' immediately caught my attention. In typical Queen fashion, everything here is overtly theatrical, and the first few songs flow into one another in an almost medley form. This album flaunts its colors, it goes in so many wayward directions that even if you didn't mess with one song ('I'm in Love with My Car' in my case), you can rest assured that the next song will start with a clean slate. Another song I loved was ''39' which feels very un-Queen-like as it's more held back (given Brian May is on lead vocals) - but it still worked quite well. 'The Prophet's Songs' shows the band leaning into their prog influences (sounding almost Yes-esque in its final minutes) - with an interesting and oddly enjoyable acapella interlude. Another album that reminds me of why I loved Queen so much back in the day - and honestly still do.

The slower, spacier side of dream pop (aptly dubbed "space-rock") was never a genre I could get behind. The sleepy reverbed vocals, and void soundscapes are pretty, sure, but they make for a less-than-engaging listen overall, especially when the albums drag on. Unfortunately, as much as I've heard about Spiritualized, this debut effectively sums up all my issues with the genre. The vocals especially are too damn sleepy for my liking, I honestly enjoy this album when it plays into more of its ambient tendencies, like on my favorite track 'Symphony Space' which has no vocals on it. This one song feels more otherworldly than any other song here. I also enjoyed the noise guitar against the cloudy back-drop closing off the song 'Shine a Light' - it was one of the more dramatically dense and cinematic moments here. Again, this album's definitely pretty and I did find myself getting lost in its soundscapes, especially near the end. It's just the song structures, writing, and performances here left me wanting a lot more by the time I was finished with this thing.

Big music is one of those "cheating" genres I find - the nature of it sort of forcefully makes sure I get at least some enjoyment out of it no matter what. It's all those damn layers and build-ups - it just *works*. This is a pretty ahead-of-its-time example of this, in a lot of ways, I found The Waterboys to be doing the triumphant, euphoric, violin-driven indie rock sounds nearly two decades before a band like Arcade Fire would (well equipped with a large number of members and everything!). Quite a few songs here have these endless layers of sound, with the violin being the real driver, cropping in with these tactile melodies that cut through dense oceans of sound. I can't help but sit back and enjoy this effect on songs like the title track, 'World Party' and especially 'We Will Not Be Lovers. The latter of which might be one of my favorite songs ever, like no joke, it's genuinely that beautiful - you just have to listen to it - the way it keeps building with the one constant sequenced violin melody rowing it forward is utterly mesmerizing. While it doesn't dive too deep into its Celtic identity like a band like the Pogues did (lyrically or instrumentally), it still manages to form a unique identity more or less, in a sort of folksy-pop way. I'm not as much a fan of the slower country-leaning tracks that wind the album down but I still very much enjoyed a song like 'And a Bang on the Ear' for example. Great stuff.

Joan's eclectic take on country and folk is not unlike Tracy Chapman's - there are quite a few parallels between the two, and just like Tracy's self-titled album, I found a lot to enjoy here. Joan is a talented vocalist, sliding seamlessly up and down registers in between tracks, and instrumentally, the album draws from various genres that were popular at the time - be it folk, country-rock, RnB, or Funk. 'Join the Boys' alongside the closing minutes of 'Tail In the Saddle', for example, go in a sort of funk direction, vocally and instrumentally, with these bouncy basslines. The song 'Save Me' on the other hand is driven by gorgeous acoustic and shimmering guitar instrumentation with cinematic strings that make everything feel so dramatic and grandiose. I also really enjoyed the throwback nature of the vocal melody of 'Water With The Wine' and the opener 'Down to Zero' may be my favorite song here. All around, this album's just a great collection of songs. As it goes with this album style though, not every song will land and there's little cohesive flow between the songs, but the writing, playing, and singing are more than enough to keep you engaged for its respectable forty-minute runtime.

Honestly, some really good post-punk hailing from Iceland. The production jumps between gloomy early Cure-esque moments like on 'Birthday', and upbeat funky like on 'Fucking in Rhythm and Sorrow'. I love the groove on 'Blue Eyed Pop', peak post-punk stuff. I have no idea how to feel about the Einar interjections, Bjork is such an all-encompassing, talented, and likable vocalist that she sort of overshadows him (aside from a song like 'Sick for Toys' where I think he does a good enough job). Bjork is what makes this album incredible for me. Not to discredit the rest of the band, but I can't overstate how incredible Bjork's melodies, growls, and dynamics are all over this album, especially on songs like 'Motorcrash' and 'Delicious Demon'. Her lyrics are subtly eerie on a majority of these songs as well - especially with the gruesome and almost gorey sexual depictions on 'Coldsweat'. Bjork or not though, this album would've still stood out as an incredible gothic encapsulation of post-punk ethos as it was on its first-wave deathbed.

It's honestly nuts that the 1-minute intro to this album, consisting primarily of cash register noises, a droning generator, and a heart-beat/kick-drum metronome has over one hundred million streams on Spotify. It proves how holistic and iconic this album is, separate from its specific songs. 'The Dark Side of the Moon' is about the album experience, which makes sense, Pink Floyd has always had a knack for conceptually driven albums. It's to the point where it feels like every song before 'Time' is an interlude. It's the main reason why I'm more partial toward a 'Wish You Were Here' or 'Animals', where each song is so defined and secluded. From my taking also, I feel like this album's concept is far looser, and simultaneously not too eagerly indulged in. While the interlude and gimmicky moments might've been impressive and unique at the time, they only ended up bogging the album down for me. The "full" songs here though, holy, they're as good as Pink Floyd songs get. The three-piece 'Time', 'Great Gig in the Sky', and 'Money' are bluesier and more soulful than what I'd typically associate the band with. The former's existential leanings and mid-way explosive guitar barrage never fail to bring me unmatched joy. The 'Money' bassline, no matter how many times I've heard it, still fucks. 'Us and Them' is such a powerful song that keeps giving with these meaty, luscious harmonies sprouting throughout the song. It's a tear-jerker with a message tackling the unwavering nationalism and close-mindedness of global conflict opinion. Following it is 'Any Colour You Like', which is probably my favorite 'interlude' moment here - especially the messy, yet flourishing synth melodies that kick the track off. Going back to the idea of "song streams", has there ever been another band or musician in history who built an identity out of making "longer than usual" songs, yet still managed to achieve this unmatched level of popularity? It speaks to their quality. Everyone can love Pink Floyd, like everyone, there's not a single soul who can listen to this music and not like it to some degree - it's, historically, a popular music constant.

I've been listening to a lot of Paul Simon (solo and Simon and Garfunkel) recently and I’ve come to realize just how great of a folk-pop writer he is. I tag 'pop' there because he has a way of making these mellow, tight, and punchy tracks so damn easy to enjoy - especially tracks like 'Mother and Child Reunion', 'Run That Body Down', 'Duncan', and 'Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard'. While not as melancholic as some of his stuff with S&G, it still has subtle hints of those bleaker moments, like on the song 'Congratulations' While I found the final few tracks semi-underwhelming, it was interesting to hear some of Paul's earlier folk-leaning works for the first time - and as expected, there are a handful of songs here that I'll be revisiting for, maybe, the rest of my life.

I honestly don't know how to feel about this album. There's such a unique aesthetic for a very unique mood captured here, but I found some of the music and writing here way too bare. The double-bass dominant tracks are jazzy and hypnotic (especially on the opening title track), but this one instrumental palate dominates the album and grows tiresome at certain points. You occasionally get more traditionally leaning folk cuts and sometimes the music explodes and picks up with these funkier bits like on 'The Man in The Station', but generally the mood here is constant and very warm. The slurred and soulful vocals do however perfectly complement all the music here, it's a match made in heaven and very well done. While I may sound negative, I'm well aware that I'll need a few more listens to fully absorb this album's intricacies and to grow and appreciate the writing here. There are some genuinely great moments here like the ominous and almost ambient leanings closing out 'Id Rather Be the Devil' and I think 'May You Never' is a genuinely perfect folk song. Also, this entire album just does not sound like it was released in 1973 at all - so that's gotta be worth something.

I've always struggled with Echo & The Bunnymen. For me, they never had that standout sound in the huge wave of post-punk and jangle pop of the early 80s. That's not to say the music is bad or anything - songs like 'Crocodiles' and 'Monkeys' on this album are genuinely great and I love those light nocturnal keys on 'Villiers Terrace' that sound almost Doors-esque. It's just that it feels like they're playing straight post-punk, without trying to formulate any sort of unique sound or experiment in any way. But then again, it's a debut so maybe I'm being too harsh - I haven't revisited their later albums in a while (though I remember having similar issues with those). The last thing I'd want to do is dismiss an entire band without having fully dived into their works.

If there's one thing that'll win me over in music generally, it's gorgeous harmonies. I mean this album's not filled to the brim with them, but Henley and Frey's vocals, separately or in harmony, are very nice on the ears. They work especially well on the more subdued songs like the incredible 'Take It Easy', 'Train Leaves Here This Morning', and 'Most of Us Are Sad'. I don't get people who go out of their way to make hating this band a whole thing - the most common criticism leveled against the Eagles is that "they're soulless". I genuinely don't understand what that means, nor how someone can reach such a brash conclusion. Is it cause they find them boring? Is it cause they're popular and "lower-common-denominator" appealing? While occasionally melodramatic, the writing didn't stand out as terrible or anything. To my ears, the Eagles are perfectly alright.

Insanely tight and crisp-sounding new-wavey era pop-rock music. Peter Gabriel, alongside legendary bassist Tony Levin, construct such a well-rounded album here that varies so greatly in sound between each track. You have these upbeat love songs like 'That Voice Again', progressively funky tracks like 'Sledgehammer', some darker and somber tracks with 'Don't Give Up', and the cryptic yet intriguing and poetic 'Mercy Street'. There's one thing all these songs have in common though and it's that they all showcase Peter's undeniable knack for catchy hooks and evocative writing. His deep, and at times raspy, vocals fit so snuggly into the busy mixes here. The background vocals that occasionally crop up only give his voice more weight and definition. And again, it all sounds so crisp and fluttery, thanks in part to Tony's bass style, which, as demonstrated by those 80s King Crimson records, so perfectly complements new-wave grooves - giving them a unique flare that wouldn't be there otherwise. This is scientifically well-constructed pop music from the 80s - really good stuff and undeniably easy to digest.

As someone who is quite unfamiliar with the genres of Bossa Nova and Samba (and Brazillian music in general), I found this sort of "Westernized" sounding take on the genre very easy to get sucked into. Though it's in a different way than say an artist like Caetano Veloso, where this album leans heavily into the poppier sounds of its time. Astrud's vocals here are so warm and airy which complements this kind of middling, yet simultaneously luscious sound of the '60s production. Unfortunately with this style of album, once you've heard a single song, you've pretty much heard them all - it's just a matter of wanting to (justifiably) seek out more of it to get lulled into. 'You Didn't Have To Be So Nice' is maybe one of the most wholesome songs I've ever heard - to the point where I almost shed a tear. Something about the instrumental melody, the duet between Astrud and her son, the grainy sound of it all, it's so inviting. The following closer 'Nao Bate O Corocao' has a more defined syncopated drum pattern, giving a punchier and jazzier vibe that I quite enjoyed. A quaint little record. Despite not being anything special, it was a lovely way to kick off the day.

You can't go wrong with Stevie Wonder, you just can't. While it's certainly more consistent than 'Talking Book', I still think its predecessor has those higher highs when it comes to individual songs. Thematically speaking, songs like 'Jesus Children of America' and Living For the City' push the envelope in terms of Stevie's poignant social observations. Musically, you're getting that unique fusion of funk, like on the incredible 'Higher Ground', and slower soulful piano-driven cuts, like on my personal favorite closer 'He's Misstra Know-It-All'. On this album, Stevie once again demonstrates that he's more than capable of making soul music that captures everything the genre's history has led up to while simultaneously polishing and propelling the sound forward and closer to its full potential - filling this record to the brim with ambitious song structures and effective genre fusions.

Catchy and easily accessible post-punk music without ever really coming off as a "watered-down" version of the genre's sounds. I mean yeah, you have a song like 'Success' which sounds like a go-lucky 60s pop song that would've absolutely dominated the charts re-invented for the post-punk era. But you also have experimental cuts like the drug-addled rambling-driven 'Turn Blue'. With the exception of the poorly aged (and gross at the time) 'Sixteen', I enjoyed pretty much every song here. I generally enjoy Iggy's deeper vocal style here, like on 'Tonight' and the masterpiece that is 'The Passenger'. The latter sounds like a mix of David Bowie (who had many ties to this album, especially given the fact that 'Station to Station', which I always found had many similarities to this album musically and thematically, was released around the time of this album) and Jim Morrison-styled vocals. Well, that's probably because Bowie does backup vocals here and the lyrics were inspired by a Morrison poem. Again, easily accessible, fun, and "poppy" post-punk is sort of what draws me to this album. Authenticity is not sacrificed though - I mean it's Iggy Pop, one of the genre's pioneers, he couldn't be inauthentic even if he tried.

In typical early 2000s fashion, this album is way too fucking long. But that aside, it's honestly pretty good thanks in large part to the superstar producers manning the drum machines and samplers on here. With The Neptunes and Timbaland on production (reminds me: Clipse better be on this 1001 list...), the highlights speak for themselves. The beat on '(Oh No) What You Got' is so damn good, and while I wish it had a rap feature on it, Timberlake coasts on it better than he does on most songs here. When Pusha T and Malice rap over the 'Like I Love You' beat, I was kinda hoping the entire song was just them, canning Timberlake. I was just hoping for some variety from Timberlake on these deep cuts, that's it. Emotionally, lyrically, melodically, SOMETHING. It never got unbearable but at a certain point, like c'mon dude, CHANGE IT UP. The lyrics are sexy, but there is no dirt or edge in a majority of the songs on the tail-end of this thing - they're too safe. I like 'Cry Me a River' - for such a petty song about Spears, I find it quite shocking that it got so high in the charts. 'Rock Your Body' is really sick as well. Still a pleasant listen overall, just in a throw-it-on-in-the-background kind of way. I know Timberlake's later works are quite a bit more acclaimed so maybe I'll check those out.

Like Joni Mitchell, Neil Young is one of those OG critically acclaimed singer-songwriter folk artists that I just hadn't gotten around to checking out until this list. The best thing by far about this album is how uniquely bleak it is. Even the album cover here, depicts a beach, something you typically associate with joy, in the most empty and void way. Obviously, this parallels the title track in meaning more than anything, a song about Neil's sense of isolation alongside his fame (something he may consider typically joyful as it ties to his art I assume?). Musically though, a song like 'See the Sky About to Rain' sounds like a happy day on the beach - but this day is mildly gloomy and tinted with uncertainty and sadness. Three songs here reference "blues" which sorta adds to the lethargic and apathetic feel to everything here. The songs are slow and sort of trudge on. The 8-minute closer 'Ambulance Blues' perfectly captures this. This song slowly marches on, with this melancholic harmonica interluding the various opaque verses. While on the surface level, it may seem like there's nothing unique about this folk record, experiencing it as a whole I came to find that Neil Young was capable of drawing out a very strong emotion from me through both his writing and through the simplistically dim sonic direction this album goes in.

Alright little early 2000s indie rock record with a uniquely futuristic and sci-fi aesthetic. The subtle futurism the production is coupled with is the main thing this album has going for it, it's what makes it stand out among the many Indietronic albums of its time. Otherwise, I don't have much to say about it - it's relatively run-of-the-mill in this ally of somewhat laid-back indie rock. I really liked 'Lion Thief' and 'Easy' is also incredibly catchy and funky, I love the little high-pitched synth interlude. 'Liquid Bird' has the most electrifying instrumentation with the arpeggiated electric guitar and sporadic volume levels dominating the majority of the track. Again not much to say about this guy, was mostly enjoyable - but also pretty dull at times.

I love 'Breaking the Law' and, from what I've heard, I love Judas Priest! But this earlier release in their discography is steeped in some of the more irritating hard-rock sounds of the time that I'm not so much a fan of. It's also missing those iconic Rob Halford theatric yelps and vocals that make the JP records iconic—I mean, they're still there, just to a lesser degree. 'The Rage' has hints of those incredible Rob Halford vocal cries and chops I love so much from JP's later albums - including a kickass solo to send the track off, it might be my favorite song on here. 'Steeler' follows suit and is equally as effective with its closing blazing guitar passages. 'Red White and Blue' is a unique change-up, though I'm not entirely sure how to feel about it upon first listen. Not the best crop of Judas Priest songs I've heard, but then again it's an earlier release in their discog.

For a band that's widely considered to have birthed alternative rock in its most contemporary form, R.E.M. has never quite appealed to me in the traditional sense. This debut album especially is unabashedly sleepy, hypnotic, and lulling. I understand that's likely the appeal of an album like this, with Michael Stripe's performances coming off as almost dream-like - vocally and especially lyrically, but sometimes I'm left hoping for something a bit more sticky or vibrant. This mood works particularly well in a song like 'Perfect Circle', a song very predictive of the melancholic-sounding direction the genre would branch into many years later. I quite enjoy listening to this album merely as a way of pinpointing certain influences. Influential sounds, song structures, and patterns are rarely this in-your-face - it's to the point where I'm left fascinated but the rudimentary nature of these roots still leaves me wanting something more. This is one of those albums that I just don't get *yet*. It's not without its highlights though, 'We Walk', 'Shaking Through', and 'Radio Free Europe' I find very enjoyable.

Honestly, I enjoyed this record more than many of the late 50s albums that have appeared here thus far. That's not to say it doesn't suffer from many of the same flaws, the glaring one being repetitious patterns and formulae that get quite tired near the halfway mark. That aside though, the music was pleasant and a good introduction to Mamba as a whole - especially with those 50s big-band fusions and clave-driven grooves with my favorite being the way the horns barge in and make way for the vibraphone solo on the instrumental 'Hong Kong Mambo'. Given the album title, this feels like a dance album - though one I'd rather throw on in the background at a party or something. Still enjoyable.

Another groundbreaking release in Dylan's discography, though one that took me longer to fall in love with when compared to his earlier releases. Dylan in the 70s isn't the most consistent and his ditching of the "harsher" folk-rock noises that his seminal 60s releases were composed of for 'Blood On the Tracks' didn't go over well with me upon first listen. But ultimately, the decision to "regress" to his more traditional folk style amplifies this album's beauty, warmth, and melancholic ethos. It's no secret that this album is, in large part, about the turmoil surrounding his marriage with Sara at the time. The opening songs 'Tangled up in Blue' and 'Simple Twist of Fate' play into these nostalgic memories and fond moments spent with several ambiguous characters. 'If You See Her, Say Hello' may be the most directly heartbreaking song here related to Dylan's personal life, while 'Shelter from the Storm' offers a level of comfort on the album's most soothing moment. 'Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts' is the standard labyrinthian tale on these Dylan albums, though in theme with this album, it's largely related to false charades and convoluted love paradigms. My favorite song has to be 'Idiot Wind', not only is it the most catchy and visceral song here, but Dylan's criticism of his own supposed ego here comes off as poignant and undeniably aggressive - it reminds me a lot of 'Like a Rolling Stone' in that sense. This is not an album that's as politically charged as his previous efforts, but in my opinion, it boasts some of Dylan's strongest and most vivid writing. There's a looming sadness here that can't be shaken off on even the most optimistic of songs.

Come to think of it, the British Folk scene of the '60s is one that I'm not familiar with at all. From what I've heard, Fairport Convention are quite influential in this domain so if there's a place to start, it'd be here. And holy is there a lot of great music to dig into on this album. Every song is brimming with texture and color, be that the psychedelic-progressive leanings of 'A Sailor's Life' or what sounds like electric dulcimer crumbs on 'Percy's Song'. It's all so fun to listen to. And Sandy Denny's performances here are utterly angelic - with my personal highlights being the fluttery and light singing on 'Autopsy', 'A Sailor's Life', and especially 'Who Knows Where The Time Goes?'. The latter showcases her simplistically pleasant yet verdant songwriting angle better than any other song here. I also really enjoyed the group vocals on the Dylan covers of 'Percy's Song' and the language-swapped 'If You Gotta Go, Go Now'. Just a really great listen overall, and has frankly aged like fine wine in almost every aspect.

There are some decent moments here, but overall, I don't have much to say about this album. 'Boxcars' is by far and away the best song here - with this twisted guitar scraping the mix and an incredible accordion passage driving the instrumental interlude. It contains an edge I was hoping this album carried more of - especially in Ely's gloomy lyrics. This song's honestly incredible and I'm really happy I discovered it here. 'Fingernails' was a fun and catchy classic Rock N' Roll throwback type song that's pretty cool - if a bit cliche sounding. I don't have much to say about Ely's writing on most of this album - it's pretty standard in this vein of country music. There are some other good songs, like 'West Texas Waltz' and 'Because Of The Wind', but most of the music here doesn't stand out as all that unique or anything. It is still, however, well done all the way through.

My first dive into some of Cohen's earlier catalog was a very introspective experience. This album is soothing and comforting, yet brooding like a lone candle at the corner of the room. Immediately the finger-plucked hypnotism of the guitar backed by the chamber instrumentation of the opener 'Avalanche' puts me in a trace, one that I'm in up until the very end of the album. There's not a cumbersome or aggressive moment on this album - it's all so chilled. Even when the strings or backing vocals come in, they make sure not to topple over the precariously constructed sonic foundation that this album is built on. Cohen's writing can be quite daunting, given how dense and layered it can be. There's no way I can pick up on the meanings behind all these songs upon first listening without flat-out looking them up. Still, the images and portrayals of isolation and yearning are beautifully captured in songs like 'Avalanche' and 'Famous Blue Raincoat'. This album really showcases Cohen's talents - and in the large sea of folk writers from his time, he manages to come through on this album with such a uniquely dark sound.

The funny thing about the Arctic Monkeys is that they released this absolute banger of an indie rock album (one of the best of the entire decade) and then went on to release music that does absolutely nothing for me. The dirty garage rock instrumentation, dance sensibilities, and Turner's rapid-fire yet melodic delivery are all dialed up to the max here - it makes for a consistently enjoyable and addictive listening experience. It's not even "fake" dirty either like they're trying to water down the sounds of alt-rock greats like 'The Stooges' and 'The Velvet Underground' for the mainstream - it's genuinely quite "authentic" sounding and it managed to amass such levels of popularity doing it this way. The two opening tracks are my favorites here and are on constant repea and I love the slower switch-up of 'Riot Van'. The opening grooves and riffs are incredible on songs like 'Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured' and 'Mardy Bum - everything sounds so tight and crisp with such defined basslines. One of the best in this stream of post-punk, indie, and garage rock of the 2000s. Such a fun listen.

When it comes to jazz music, my adventure, like many others, started with this seminal '63 Mingus record. And if anyone were to ask me where they should start with jazz music, I'd probably recommend this record, with the other obvious pick being Miles Davis' 'Kind of Blue'. Honestly, I'm no jazz expert, but to my ears, 'The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady' presents some of the genre's hookiest, most direct, versatile, and diverse-sounding music. I mean listen to the flute and piano-driven motif that's established early on in 'Group Dancers' and then bought back several times throughout the following medley. Or the flamenco-inspired guitar that comes in a couple of times backed by nothing but deafening silence or this lone saxophone that patiently croons along to it. And when the horn section comes in, it sounds so brisk and heavy, so full-sounding - it's difficult to describe exactly but it's undeniably evocative nevertheless. It feels like a cold winter day out in the city - as cliche as that might sound. Mingus, while being the bassist and pianist here, is also the genius composer behind this album. And it *does* feel composed, something jazz purists were probably relishing at the advent of the free jazz movement. It has its classical sensibilities but also easily slides into these chaotic pockets before seamlessly transforming back into its more structured and melodic form. I'd say this is best demonstrated near the ~11-minute mark of the closing medley. As for what I think this album is about - well honestly I don't know. This album does create a strong mood, though it's one steeped in abstraction and mystery. As the liner notes and names of the songs indicate, it's an album that often relates itself to movement or dancing with a song like 'Duete Solo Dancers' cooling up the tempo and the following 'Group Dancers' slowly boiling it up again before it bursts in the closing medley. Hearing this record for the first time years back as a kid who wanted nothing to do with jazz and its enigmatic compositions, this album really opened my ears to this kind of music. Obviously, with those floodgates open, I'd go on to not only listen to more jazz but also to more daunting projects in general. It takes a really special (and incredible) album to change the way you think about music.

I truly believe that the apex of modern-day alternative rnb comes in the form of FKA Twigs' music. While she would go on to polish and round out her sound on future records, especially on her impeccable 2019 release 'MAGDALENE', this "rudimentary" release in her discography remains a stunning demonstration of pop, electronic, and rnb fusions 'till this day. With hints of some of The Weeknd's 'Trilogy' EPs and a mildly unsettling, yet ultimately troubled-romantic aesthetic not unlike some of Portishead's works, twigs manages to curate this hauntingly gorgeous piece that's parts experimental, yet undoubtedly still mass-appealing. You'll get stuttering electronic instrumentation and drums, gentle and breathy vocals, falsetto harmonies, ear-candy melodies, and intimate writing here - characteristics that may seem oversaturated now but this album proves that Twigs was (way) ahead of the curve when it came to refining some of these sounds. I'd say this record is best absorbed as a whole, with 40 minutes of consistently lulling music, but individual tracks like 'Two Weeks', 'Video Girl', and the closer 'Kicks' stand their ground as defiant ballad-bops within the genre. Honestly revisiting this thing, I forgot just how great of a debut album it is. I'd also argue that this record is one of the most influential in the genre - there really was no one doing it quite like FKA twigs nearing the mid-2010s. Also, this album cover rules.

Does Metallica sound good backed by a full orchestra? Shockingly enough, after two hours of this thing, I still don't know the answer. Putting the kind of cheesy opening of 'Ecstasy of Gold' aside, I'd say more times than not, the combination comes off equally as tacky as it does epic. And that terrible word 'epic' is, unfortunately, the best way to put a majority of those moments when the orchestra sweeps in. It all feels very cinematic. I love the strings on this rendition of 'One', it's one of the moments where this orchestral rendition almost TOPS the original for me. In contrast, the following 'Enter Sandman' sounds awful and messy. I was excited to see a Metallica live album, as I've been impartial toward most of their discography, and was hoping a live take on their music would win me over. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if that's the case yet after this album alone given how gimmicky it is. Nevertheless, I applaud Metallica for doing something this ambitious and "over-the-top" - I can only imagine how much work it took to pull it off. And the crowd seemed to love it.

Hearing 'Turn to Stone' after so long made me very happy. It was one of the defining songs of my younger years, yet I mostly forgot it existed. And it's a genuinely incredible song too, especially when those strings come in on that oh-so nostalgic chorus. And then there's the rest of the album too. This group certainly lives up to its name, with the symphonic elements at the forefront backed by sweet theatric elements, not unlike a group like Queen. The first three songs are incredible - 'It's Over' again gives me heavy Queen vibes and 'Sweet Talkin' Woman' is as close to perfect as a pop-rock song of the late 70s can get. After that initial run though, the sound gets repetitive fast, but the highlights are still there. 'Mr. Blue Sky', as overplayed as it is, is an enjoyable and shockingly dynamic song at its core. Also that subtle, shimmering build-up on 'Big Wheels' was mesmerizing, to say the least. I was inclined to give this a lower score but by the end of the album I just felt really happy. It sort of brought out a childish joy within me, like being a kid out in a large city at night. Despite many songs not doing it for me (the last three songs I could've gone without, especially 'Birmingham Blues') it's an album so beaming with innocence and joy that I'd be a miserable loser if I said it wasn't incredible at what it does. It's those damn strings...they can't make me hate you.

Some excellent punk music from a band I've been meaning to check out for the longest time. I don't know much about Siouxsie and the Banshee's later works, but I'd assume they only continue fleshing out the darker post-punk sounds subtly presented on this album. For this debut though, as many future post-punk acts would start, the band sticks to more traditional punk sounds - while still keeping it much slower and more melodic than other bands in the punk genre. Many moments here reminded me of the band 'Wire'. Siouxsie is an incredibly dynamic yet simultaneously consistent vocalist, and lyrically speaking, the unsettling imagery of songs like 'Suburban Relapse', 'Switch', and 'Carcass' further push that gothic post-punk aesthetic. Sonically, the jagged guitar playing and fast-picked basslines you'd expect out of this genre make themselves apparent on most of these songs - which makes for a consistent yet, at times, repetitive 40 minutes. Still songs like 'Mirage' and 'Nicotine Stain' are absolute bangers despite not straying from that very simple formula. The final track switches it up with a shimmering and ominous guitar tone driving the track - it's the most gothic and ahead-of-its-time moment on this entire record. For a debut record, this is honestly quite incredible. Hoping I get more S&B on here, I'd like to check out what their sound evolves to on their more critically acclaimed records. Or, y'know, I can just check them out myself.

I think my problems with Clapton's 'Derek and the Dominos' apply to 'The Bluesbreakers' threefold. While Clapton is most certainly a talented and "fast" blues-rock-styled guitarist - I struggle to find any distinctive personality in his recordings (barring a few songs, like the incredible 'Layla' on 'Layla...') or playing. A good chunk of the tracks here are covers of blues and RnB greats like Ray Charles and Freddie King, and the Mayall-written songs aren't anything to cry home about. He's a decent vocalist in this area though. Good playing only gets you so far on records like this that have so little in terms of substance or, especially, variety. There's no definition here, it just sort of trudges along...soullessly. John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers (and Clapton) are undeniably good at what they do, but what they do is just kinda bland.

I've never heard any of Johnny Cash's studio albums before this, only his live record 'At Folsom Prison' an album that I like quite a bit. And there's no better place to start than the artist's renowned cover-filled swan song 'American IV: The Man Comes Around' - an album released just before his passing in 2003. What stands out immediately is how decrepit everything here sounds, from the vocals to the playing. It's all so mournful and bleak that even a cover of the song 'Personal Jesus' by Depeche Mode, a song known for being so visceral and punchy, comes off as unabashedly macabre in the mix here. Johnny's song 'The Man Comes Around', one of the few songs he wrote on this album, is an incredible religious-imagery-filled opener and a very solid tone-setter. The standout song on this album is Cash's rendition of Reznor's 'Hurt', a song that never fails to give me goosebumps as the song builds to its closing seconds and Cash's raspy vocals violently push up against the mix. It's a powerful song made even more impactful by a man who deeply identified with its lyrics and themes. 'Tear Stained Letter', another Cash original, is a punchy little piano-rock song that sounds quite jovial, though its lyrics tell a different story. There are a few guest vocalists here like Fiona Apple on 'Bridge over Troubled Water', and she adds quite a lot to this classic S&G tune. I was excited to hear Cash cover my favorite Eagles song 'Desperado' and he does good enough, though I wish Henley wasn't there in the second half. He's the original writer, yeah, but his contributions are so minimal and they sort of end up souring the song. Such a powerful covers album, with songs chosen with so much purpose and delivered with so much heart and emotion. I mean just listen to the two closing songs 'Streets of Laredo' and especially 'We'll Meet Again' which is very much a direct farewell to Cash's audience. What a beautiful album by such a beautiful artist that, I still, know very little about.

Carole King's 'Tapestry' is one of those odd albums where I've seen the album cover and name everywhere, yet I seldom hear anyone actually rave about it today (especially younger music enthusiasts). I assume she's more renowned for her songwriting chops as it takes very little research to find out that she was writing many songs for her contemporaries. Overall, the album's pretty damn good if a bit unadventurous at times. Still, you got a song like 'It's Too Late' that's a damn near flawless pop tune. The song 'Beautiful' is a perfect example of a motivational little happy-tune - its messaging puts a smile on my face. I feel similarly about 'Where You Lead' which might have my favorite production on here. Vocally, Carole primarily draws from the worlds of soul and RnB and it works relatively well, especially on the closing cover of 'You Make Me Feel'. Solid, easy-listening stuff that definitely holds up after all these years. I'd even argue that some musical aspects of this record were well ahead of their time.

Cool futuristic-leaning production though not quite as industrial or cold as other groups in this same vein of abstract hip-hop and illbent that were coming out around this time. I think groups like Cannibal Ox, Company Flow, and Techno Animal had twists on this side of hip-hop that I generally prefer but Mike Ladd still brings a unique sound to the mix nevertheless. While I kinda just wanted to listen to those guys instead (+ plus Deltron 3030) when this album started, as the album went on, I grew more appreciative of what was being attempted here. The sound is jazzier and more ambient leaning than other similar-sounding records of this time, with some standout trip-hop and electronic elements. The rapping almost takes a backseat throughout this album but when Mike does rap, he's doing the unconventional, no-bar-line style you'd expect out of this era with lines that are generally witty and enjoyable, his best performance being on the political ramblings of 'The Animist'. I also really liked the posse cut 'Bladerunners' with Company Flow who I think bring out the best rapping in Mike Ladd. The beats are dark and fat here, I love it when those grainy string samples come in on beats like 'No. 1 St.' and 'Airwave Hysteria'. Overall though, 'To the Moon's Contractor' has to be my favorite song here. Despite the somewhat cluttered opening and minimal rapping, its ambitious length works in its favor as the ambient overlay coasts and rides on this driving bassline and drum pattern for the better part of its runtime. It's a truly fantastic beat. While its closing songs were nothing to cry home about, the better part of this album is composed of some great abstract hip-hop that any fan of the style can find something they like in. It manages to stand out quite a bit as well with its subtle ambient genre fusions. While I still prefer many of his contemporaries, I did end up enjoying this record far more than I thought I would when it started.

It's hard to describe a record like this or describe what I enjoy about it. Bill Evans is one of modal and cool jazz's legendary pianists, with his most recognizable work likely being on Miles Davis' 'Kind of Blue'. I find the song 'Blue in Green' to be his standout performance on that album. I love how intimate, rich, and pristine he sounds on those opening piano notes - they're not quite sad but they do give off this uneasy sense of dissatisfaction in a comfortably coddling way. I'm not reviewing that album or song though, I'm reviewing this live record but I mention that particular song off of 'Kind of Blue' because Bill Evans' musical synthesis, more times than not, feels exactly like those opening notes on 'Blue in Green'. I mean 'Solar' here's a bit more upbeat, and you're getting occasional bass solos and drum fills, but at the end of the day, everything still feels very rich, tight, and cool. 'Alice in Wonderland' is probably my favorite song here - it just strikes this great balance between subtle ambitious ferocity and rainy-day gloom. I'll say the live setting doesn't play much of a role in this listening experience - I'm not familiar with the studio versions of the songs played here but I wouldn't imagine they'd sound much different. I'll say it again, there's very little in terms of specific moments that I liked here, it all blends together but also still manages to partition itself into different moods. Ultimately with this listening experience, you're getting 40 minutes of cool jazz bliss - and who can hate on that?

When it comes to the 'slacker' subgenre of alternative rock in the 90s, I've always had a greater affinity for bands like 'Built to Spill' and, especially, 'Modest Mouse'. But I've always appreciated Pavement's commitment to this subgenre's defining aspects more than anything, with the clumsy, off-kilter vocals showcasing just how far this laid-back sound can be pushed. That's to say, Stephen Malkmus sounds like Lou Reed's (even more) awkward son. It's quite ahead of its time in certain respects, like how that rap-talk portion on 'Conduit For Sale!' predicted the sound of like every 2020s post-punk revival group. Lyrically speaking, this album's themes are nowhere near as clear-cut compared to those other groups in this genre - though the focus seems to be on tragically strained relationships. The best song, by a mile, is 'Zurich is Stained', a gorgeous culmination of all of Pavement's best attributes. Just wish the song was longer. 'Loretta's Scars' is another highlight, with it showcasing those fuzzy walls of guitars the band loves o-so much, and the lyrics are charmingly quirky, yet undeniably unsettling and even hopeless. 'Here' was another song that I feel flawlessly captures everything that made this subgenre so great in the 90s. I do love Pavement's sound, and I think I enjoyed this record a fair bit more than their follow-up 'Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain', which I was already familiar with going into this (though Gold Soundz off that album is still my favorite Pavement song). I think more than anything, Pavement's sound stands out in the sense that it's very easy to make out just how influential their aesthetic was (I'm looking at you CSH) - and that alone is worthy of praise.

I was familiar with Coldcut from the 80s hip-hop world going into this, with their superb (and better than the OG) remix of Eric B and Rakim's 'Paid In Full'. The standout element of that remix has to be just how many samples they decided to throw in there, all without interrupting the song's flow. Plus I noticed while listening to this, that some of those samples are also used on the song 'Theme from "Reportage"'. I wasn't quite expecting this to go in a house-y direction, though it was pleasant for the most part. I loved 'People Hold On,' and Mark E. Smith's appearance on '(I'm) In Deep' was interesting (it kind of sounded like proto-LCD-S). 'Stop this Crazy Thing' I liked quite a bit just 'cause of how out there it is, especially with those horns driving the main melody. I mean it's fine, but far more enjoyable when you're not forcing yourself to pay attention to it. There's admittedly a certain charm to how cluttered and all over the place it can be.

This is one of the more contemporary bossa nova albums I've listened to. And that aspect of it certainly makes itself known, with it drawing from the sounds of R&B and trip-hop that were everywhere at the time. I'd say Bebel's reverb vocals play into that R&B vibe, while a song like 'Lonely' really lets those psychedelic down-tempo elements shine. With that said, it's very delicate with its genre fusions and the samba aspects are still at the forefront for the entire record. So what you end up getting is something part intimate, but also very cheery and relaxed as you'd expect out of bossa nova records. I love that melancholic horn that peeps every once in a while on the opener 'Samba Da Bencao' and the funk fusions of 'Bananeira' further demonstrate this album's cross-genre sensibilities. It's also the catchiest song here. A super chill listen and all the crisp, tight, and eclectic production makes this easily the best Bossa Nova album I've heard from this list as of yet. Great stuff.

There are few albums out there that are as ubiquitously loved as 'Disintegration' by The Cure - be it critically or commercially, and spanning across many generations. At times it feels like the band itself is cheating just 'cause of how effectively the members draw up these ear-candy melodies and vibrant soundscapes. It's ecstasy. I think the best way to describe this record is "aggressively beautiful" - as the band uses every trick in the book to ensure your ears are constantly enveloped in these barrages of textured bliss. The idea of drowning in warm paint sounds painful, but if it wasn't, this is what it must feel like. It's really those '80s synths that make me feel this way, they're so thick but still spacious enough to house the underlying guitar that pierces through the mix with its complementary melodies. 'Closedown' perfectly exemplifies this natural balance. On the other hand, a song like 'Plainsong' exerts its beauty through the sole strength of those synth waves that are almost suffocating Robert's whispered vocals. 'Pictures of You' is primarily guitar-driven, while I'd argue the impeccably melodic bassline of 'Lovesong' drives that particular song. No song, however, strikes a better balance between all these elements than 'Lullaby', which plays out like a choreographed dance between the instruments, frequently switching out the sound at center stage. It's a harmonious song that feels like a bunch of colorful little characters dancing in a universe that exists solely within the confines of this one instrumental. My two favorite songs have to be 'Fascination Street' and 'Disintegration'. For the former, the guitars coming back with that newly established layer of keys after the first breakdown is one of those "how can it be this good" moments in music. The song builds alongside Robert's vocals in the verses, with a subtle dance groove established with that aggressively picked and distorted Simon Gallup bassline. It's a song that captures just how many layers these instrumentals can have without ever coming close to cluttering the mix. Then there's 'Disintegration'. I've neglected to mention Robert's lyrics on this album because I just get so excited about the music here, but at times, they're just as perfect as the music. Be it the nostalgic tragedy of a song like 'Pictures of You', the hopelessness of 'Prayers for Rain', the disturbing fever dream imagery of 'Lullaby', or the simplistic yet effective love-ode to his wife 'Lovesong', Robert's always coming through with words that are so tightly interwoven with the sonic themes that they so heavily build upon. The title track though, really feels like a tragedy unfolding before your eyes (ears?) over its 8-minute runtime - a falling-out between two lovers that's littered with lies, deceit, betrayal, and regret. It's another one of those moments where Robert's lyrics build with the music itself in a climactic fashion. It's one of the most poignantly written songs ever - and a testament to Robert Smiths' lyricism. There are some other great moments, like when the drums kick in and how that violin hovers over that sorrowful driving melody on 'Homesick' or how the album sends itself off with those haunting horn-sounding synth leads. It's an album, that even in the modern era of music production and composition, still sounds like nothing else out there. It feels like wandering around a large, vacant castle under a full moon. It's a comfort album if there ever was one, a nocturnal masterpiece, and one of my favorite albums of all time.

I don't know what this album reminds me of, it reminds me of many things, almost all of which are good (Almost like a fusion of PF and Queen). It's certainly progressive, but there are songs like 'School' and 'Dreamer' that lean into a more glam rocky sound. Each song feels like it has a distinctive concept lyrically, concepts that are easy to follow and that are executed quite well. 'School' is direct in the sense that it's vigorously against the schooling system's obsession with crushing student spirits. 'Asylum' is an interesting depiction of insanity while 'Rudy' follows a protagonist living a crushingly directionless life. I love the sinister open-endedness and uncertainty surrounding the lyrics of the closing title track - it's easily my favorite song here and a perfect way to send this record off. Musically, it's all very theatric and musically rich. It's not the most standoutish album when it comes to forming a unique sonic identity - but still, it was enjoyable all the way through.

For as much as I think records like this shouldn't be on a list of this caliber, I wasn't entirely displeased with this thing by the time I was done. It's some good psychedelia and all those ambient droning intros and interludes admittedly sound great like with that 3-and-a-half-minute intro to 'Opener'. Vocally, the guy reminds me of the vocalists of groups like Animal Collective - it's melodically sound and leans into its pop-sensibilities. I also really enjoyed the duet, 'Each Time We Pass,' with those female guest vocals. I also thought the closing track was pretty neat. Yeah not too mad about this one - it's an interesting fusion of genres and super light on the ears. Can't say I was blown away though, by 2018 the sonic ideas presented here had already been exhausted in prior years.

Coldplay's fun. And enjoying their music is infinitely more fun than hating on it - though I know many would disagree. They soundtracked my middle-school years so I'm more than a bit biased on the topic...but anyways. As an album, this one's pretty damn good though I generally prefer 'Viva La Vida...'. Songs like 'Politik', 'In My Place', 'Green Eyes', and especially the title track are damn near flawless mellow pop-rock songs. 'The Scientist', however, is a godly song to me. It soundtracked little (11 yr old) me worrying about having to study for a science test or some shit and I related to those scientific metaphors about the confused aftermath of a torn relationship literally. It's dumb as all hell but it doesn't change the fact that it brings a tear to my eyes whenever I hear the song back and start reminiscing. I have many cringe memories when it comes to my relationship with certain songs as a child, but I refuse to make that particular memory one of those. I get it - they're a streamlined 'Radiohead' and slower 'U2', and listening back to this, I agree, but also I just sorta don't care at all. If this blissfully calm, catchy, and melodically sharp album was the zeitgeist of the 2000s mainstream pop-rock scene, then I'd say the 2000s were a damn good decade for the genre.

This was honestly really good and right up my alley. I *think* I've heard of CHVRCHES before, but I don't know if I've actively listened to them (though after a bit of frustration and digging, 'We Sink' was totally from FIFA 14). There's certainly an early-2010s tinge to the production here - but it comes off more nostalgic to me as opposed to antiquated. Still, that's not its entire identity - the group definitely takes leads from early synthpop groups like 'Depeche Mode'. My favorite bit of production is on the heavy 'Science/Visions'. As for the songs themselves, there are quite a handful of highlights like 'The Mother We Share', 'We Sink', 'Gun', 'Recover', and 'Lungs'. The lead vocalist, Lauren Mayberry, is such a perfect fit for the music here. She's gifted when it comes to writing these earwormy and sarcastic choruses, my favorite being on 'We Sink'. I wasn't as much of a fan of the male vocals that cropped up occasionally, though they were fine as backers for 'Lungs'. Damn near flawless contemporary synthpop and an album that I'm sure will continue growing on me.

An album drawing a lot from the worlds of instrumental hip hop, not unlike the music of DJ Shadow, and big beat groups like 'The Chemical Brothers". I love those two artists so it was a shame that I left the thing with less-than-stellar impressions. Despite it acting perfectly in the context, I don't want to sum it up as background music, but it certainly doesn't have that engaging grip and diversity to keep me focused for its nearly one-hour runtime. The samples just aren't that creative - though I did like those little interlude snippets. It still sounds great all things considered but, again, in a more let your mind wander sort of way.

I've always found the 'Intro' news report clips and the following 'If I Die 2Nite' super eerie knowing how 2Pac's life would tragically end so shortly after this album's release and just a few years after the 1994 Quad Studio shooting this album alludes to so heavily. 2Pac is an incredibly smooth rapper who values flow, delivery, and charisma over speed and excessive wordplay. He's an iconic voice in the genre if there ever was one - no one quite sounds like him. But I've always found this album to be particularly bloated, despite it being significantly shorter than his double-album follow-up 'All Eyez On Me', which, in my opinion, has all his bangers, and is one of my favorite West Coast hip-hop albums of all time. This album though holds some of Shakur's more intimate and contemplative tracks, given his semi-paranoid state after the shooting. Where his follow-up feels like a never-ending party, this album feels meditative - like a gloomy day spent alone. 'Me Against The World', the title track, has an incredible set of Dramacydal member features, but it's 2Pac's final verse here that sort of hammers the ideas of this album home. 'Lord Knows' and especially 'Death Around The Corner' also heavily showcase Pac's paranoid "die anytime" mentality paired with an almost apathetic attitude towards his death. Pac's uncertainty about his future and the existential loops he puts himself through on this record are just very sad to listen to. 2Pac also heavily criticizes the gangster lifestyle that got him to where he was at the time of this album's release, in an almost teaching moment for the upcoming youth. I obviously can't talk about this album without mentioning 'Dear Mama', one of the greatest rap songs of all time, and one that rarely fails to bring me to tears. In this song, 2Pac regrets his mistreatment of his mother when he was younger, while still appreciating her unconditional love towards him. "And there's no way I can pay you back, but my plan is to show you that I understand" ... perfectly said. It's not all serious though, I do enjoy the lightheartedness of the nostalgic 'Old School' quite a bit as well as the parts romantic and parts empathetic ode to Left Eye that is 'Can U Get Away'. I'd say this album's biggest pitfall is its, occasionally, barebones production, something that the follow-up improves upon tremendously. It's not bad at all, just very mundane, bassy, and beige at times. Certain hooks, like on 'Temptations' don't really do it for me either. I suppose it still fits the music well - and there are still some great moments like the funky 'Young N' or the melodic bass-backed and west-coast-whistle-driven 'It Ain't Easy'. This album sits so perfectly among the many varied sounds of '90s hip-hop. It's smooth and easily accessible on the surface all while never compromising its many overarching themes. It's an in-depth look into the psyche and struggles of one of hip-hop's messiahs - and without a doubt, an essential listen.

For the longest time, this was my favorite Beatles album, though it (not so recently) got dethroned by their seminal 'Abbey Road'. But I'll admit the opening three tracks might be the best opening track run on a Beatles album - you've got the viscera of the live (sounding) title track, the peppy and sweet Ringo-driven cut that is 'With A Little Help From My Friends', and the impeccably catchy, and psychedelic 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds'. And everything after is just some solid Beatles at their peak - you know the harmonies, basslines, catchy choruses, colorful production, and occasionally experimental passages...all that. And this album really emphasizes the 'colorful' aspect of it all - sorta like this wacky pop-culture-reference-filled album cover. It's no secret that Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds' (a response to 'Rubber Soul') was one of the main inspirations for this record. That's most evident in songs like 'Getting Better' and 'Fixing A Hole'', though these songs are undoubtedly bluesier and more steeped in their contemporary Rock N' Roll influences. 'She's Leaving Home' on the other hand is ruthless in its Pet Soundsisms, especially with those harmonized chorus vocals and string arrangements. While I do think the Beach Boys did this 60s pop sound better, what 'Abbey Road' has over the Beach Boy's records is just how out there it can, and is willing, to be. Be it the gorgeously dissonant instrumental interludes on 'Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!' or the entirety of the Eastern-influenced Harrison track 'Within You Without You'. I feel like these are the key moments that gave Sgt. Pepper's its undeniable reputation. But then there's also one of the greatest songs of all time on here - the orchestral (wall-of-noise-esque) 'A Day In The Life'. It's incredible, though I admittedly always get a chuckle out of the funny juxtaposition between Paul and Lennon's parts - with Lennon highlighting the gruesome scene at a green light and Paul panting through his cluttered morning routine. But how well has all of this aged? Well, it manages to be boundary-pushing in pop all while still sounding disgustingly '60s without a doubt. Though a song like 'Within You Without You' is still pretty trippy today and I'll mention again those wild-ass interludes on Mr Kite. Nevertheless, there's a reason this record is revered to the degree it is today - it's, above all else, a near-flawless album.

What RATM must sound like to people who (really really) hate RATM. Except, Kid Rock has none of the backbone and none of the finesse needed to pull a genre like this off. I mean I'll give it to him, RATM aside, not many groups have been able to successfully pull the rap-rock genre off. The RHCPs barely scraped by, probably thanks to Flea and their restraint when it comes to spoon-feeding their listeners this specific sound. Limp Bizkit is...well Limp Bizkit but at least Limp Bizkit is somewhat fun to listen to. I won't comment on a group like Linkin Park given I haven't heard a full record by them - but Chester and his singing were always the stars of that group. Anyways fuck this album, and fuck this appropriating hick wannabe rapper who made me sit through this shit for 70 minutes. The production has some redeeming qualities and whenever Misty Love comes in, it's like an ear-cleanser - but what's the point when the choruses are this painful, everything is so overblown in the mix, and the verses are so boilerplate to the point of parody? Like I'm confused why is this on this list? Perfectly good Saturday morning stained by this shit.

I find it difficult to talk about an album like this - it's so ordinary in this lane of '60s country music. That's not to say it was unenjoyable - it was quite peaceful and quick 30 minutes. I've listened to Loretta Lynn's music before with her 'Coal Miner's Daughter' album, primarily because I like Dolly Parton, another Nashville Sound artist. There's something almost too traditional about this album - musically it's quite static and doesn't bother exploring any new avenues. Loretta's vocals are the real highlight here, she's perfect in this lane, especially on a song like 'The Devil Gets His Due'. Aside from that nothing stuck out - it was chill though.

An album that was as important to my formative years as it was to the formative years of 21st-century alt-rock. While I've gradually fallen out of love with this particular album (I'd much rather turn on OK Computer), listening to it now after a decent bit of time, I have this newfound appreciation for its more electronic-centric elements. Like 'In Rainbows', this album's cozy and comforting, drawing from the worlds of alternative electronic music from the time (I refuse to call it IDM) to form these serene soundscapes. The title track may be my favorite track here from an instrumental standpoint, I love the strange vocal effects, the odd glitchy noises that pop up periodically, and the ambient interlude that comes in after the halfway mark. It's the song that I'd say feels like this surreal album cover the most - like you're staring at a wall of snowy mountains backdropped by hellish blazes in the dead of night. 'How to Disappear Completely' is another obvious highlight, as a whole, it's the best song here. Lyrically for me, it's always painted this image of someone in the thick of life yearning to disappear - maybe after some life-shatteringly tragic incident. It sorta ties to the opener where Yorke is visualizing a simpler and prettier world. I'll be the first to say I'm not a fan of Yorke's slurred, crooning, moaned, and tired vocal delivery at times, but the way he subtly builds up with the instrumentation here is what *makes* this song. 'Treefingers' is another great ambient cut here, though the following 'Optimistic' I've never really enjoyed, I just hate that melody on the chorus. 'Idioteque' however is another incredible cut, I love that static-y melody driving the sound and, again, it's one of Thom's better vocal performances. The panic in his voice here when he says "This is really happening" hammers home the song's core themes relating to certain impending doom - a fate that can no longer be postponed. 'MPC' is another highlight with those operatic vocals, and those fluttering keys. It's probably been said a million times but it does feel really cinematic and it's a great closer to this album. Listening to this again, I find that the things I disliked back then, like most of the alternative-rock-driven cuts, I dislike even more now. That sound just feels tired to me. But the songs I liked, I love even more now. I think more than anything I've come to realize how unique of an album 'Kid A' is. After listening to a lot more music since I first listened to this - I find that there still is nothing quite like it.

Holy shit it's the guy who did 'You've Got a Friend in Me". I friggin love this guy! Going off of Spotify streams, it seems most of Randy Newman's most popular songs are Pixar scores - but before all that, there was this album: 'Good Old Boys'. Some moments here remind me a lot of Tom Waits' early works but less bar-fly and more pop. It's a cheery-sounding album a lot of the time but the lyrics on many of these songs tell a different story - like on the songs 'Mr. President (...)' and especially the opener 'Rednecks' which is one of the most striking criticisms of southern (and northern) racism I've heard from this time. There are also a few songs here dedicated to his hometown of Louisiana like the aptly titled 'Louisiana 1927' and 'Kingfish'. Lyrically speaking, it's as American as can get - albeit in an undeniably sarcastic and tongue-in-cheek way. It's a great album lyrically with quite a lot to chew on and the production and instrumentation here are lush and diverse all throughout its generous runtime. It's easy listening. But ultimately, it's Newman's singing flow and vocal style that gripped me the most here. It's such a loveable voice that works marvels in every context here, be it the slower songs, or the more upbeat ones. Such a great album and a tremendously enjoyable listen.

My relationship with this album is bizarre. Upon first hearing it years back, I saw absolutely nothing special in it - like at all. In fact, I wouldn't hesitate to say it bored me with just how boilerplate it sounded in some of its bluesier moments and how painfully tacky a song like 'Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)' came off to me. In my defense, this album's brilliance is well hidden (so well hidden that it eludes me to this day), as it shamelessly masquerades behind these cliche '60s blues rock tropes. But it's those subtleties kept drawing me back to this thing - I didn't know what they were, but SOMETHING made me return to this thing repeatedly. Fast forward to today and it's one of my favorite albums of all time, and I still have no idea why. I almost don't take this album as seriously as I should. The impeccable follow-up 'Strange Days' is certainly more unique sounding in its takes on psychedelic, and the band would only get more defined and bluesy with their sounds on later releases like 'Waiting for the Sun' and, especially, 'Morrison Hotel'. But the roughly recorded, grainy, mindlessly meshed together beginning of the band with this self-titled release always had this unsettling aura that none of their follow-ups were quite able to capture. Historically speaking, were 'The Doors' treading any new waters? Or were they just doing these oversaturated sounds much better than all their contemporaries? I still don't know how to answer that - I mean the psychedelic labyrinth that is the closer gives proto-post-rock vibes (mainly Swans with Morrison sounding a lot like Gira here). And Morrison's lyrics, when the "FUCKS!"'s on 'The End' and "She Get High"'s on 'Break on Through (To the Other Side)' weren't being censored, were spurring quite the negative reaction from mainstream '60s audiences - like with the infamous Sulivan Show performance of 'Light My Fire' where Morrison says the word "Higher" and the guy cancels the rest of their shows. It sucks but it was also a defining moment for the band (and popular music in general) that shot them into the mainstream. Jim Morrison. I honestly don't know much about that guy. I know his dad was a CIA agent (or so the internet tells me) and he died way too soon after his tumultuous final years with the band. But he is, above all else, a poet with an incredible voice. Taking the term at face value he may be the best front-man in rock history, be it with his shattering screams on the disgusting blues track (and Howlin' Wolf cover) 'Back Door Man', the incredible walking melody of 'Soul Kitchen', the angelic and almost beyond-life chorus of 'Light My Fire', or the horrifying cries that send off the Oedipian passage of 'The End'. 'Take It as It Comes' and 'I Looked at You' also prove the guy can write incredibly catchy choruses and, in the case of the latter, pop songs. Thematically, love and drug imagery that were so common in the '60s scene are what you get here. Seems generic at first but the heavy caveat is that these themes take an undeniably ominous tone here, like a bad trip spirling you to the brink of death with the song 'The End' as its crux. But it's also wholesome at times; I love Morrison's ode to soul food diners on the aptly named 'Soul Kitchen', it's one of my favorite songs here. Now let's talk about the music. Again, it's not boundary-pushing for the majority of this album, but it sounds too damn good for that to even matter. Robby and John. on guitar and drums respectively, do a great job of bringing those bluesy moments to life on songs like the opener and 'Back Door Man'. I also love Robby's bright and twangy guitar tone on 'End of the Night', a particular sound that would, thankfully, be more present in their follow-up. But it's ultimately Ray Manzarek on piano and organ that gives this album a genuinely unique sound. 'Light My Fire' is, without a doubt, one of the greatest songs ever - and the keyboard solo is dangerous in just how easily it slithers into your head and then refuses to leave. It's really on 'Light My Fire' and the underrated and potent 'Take it as it Comes' where it sounds like Ray's trying to start a fire with the sole power of his fingertips and some keys. The piano solo on 'The Crystal Ship' is another genuinely gorgeous moment here evoking the feeling that you're sailing away on this vast crystal ocean in the dead of night, completely directionless. I don't know...maybe I'm tricking myself into thinking this album is better than it is because of just how many times I've listened to it. Going back to my opening paragraph I don't know what it is about this thing. It's just so damn cool - like the idea of it is awesome and it has an undeniably strong presence that's just impossible to shake. Anyways...I think I'm gonna go listen to it thing again now.

For as much as I enjoyed this album on the surface level, I couldn't help but wish that it was a bit more varied by the end of it. This album is tagged as Britpop, but this cover made me think there was more to the story. I was right. Songs like 'Blue' and especially 'Connection' sound like the kind of alternative rock songs that would (and did) easily blow up during the genre's peak while I'd say a song like 'All-Nighter' leans more towards typical Britpop in its lead melody and background vocals. Instrumentally though, you're still getting unfiltered punk throughout this thing. Some parts reminded me a lot of PJ Harvey's earlier works and also Blur who I know were close affiliates with the band (with Damon having dated Justine). My favorite song might be 'Waking Up' which is driven by the densest wall of guitars on the album. Lyrically it paints this image of someone living an unfulfilled life and refusing to continue if things don't change. Again I do wish it was all a bit more varied but there were too many great songs, riffs, and lyrics here for that to be a real negative. Justine is such a great front-lady and she certainly gives this album a unique charm that wouldn't have been present otherwise.

Should everyone hate 'The Turtles'? Or were they well within their rights to get mad at De La Soul for sampling 'You Showed Me' (without permission) on an interlude here? Well, I've always gravitated towards the former opinion. The sheer amount of sampling in this record, alongside other '80s hip-hop records, forever makes me yearn for the days when clearing samples was simply seen as an act of appreciation. It also really sucks that the infamous lawsuit greatly limited De La Soul's music's availability on streaming - 'cause this album is gorgeous, not in the traditional sense but in a way that is not unlike ATCQ's debut for example. Samples make colors and worlds and Prince Paul's production on this album has both of those things in spades. But it's not endlessly overwhelming you with samples like say Public Enemy's 'Fear of a Black Planet' - I mean you have a song like 'Take It Off' which is nothing but a repeating drum machine pattern driving its short runtime. The opener, and one of my favorite songs 'The Magic Number' has the chunkiest drum beat on the album that's undercut by this timid yet undeniably playful bass loop. The verses are great on this but it's Trugoy's (RIP) verse that takes the cake ultimately. 'Tread Water' follows a similar instrumental formula and is paired with surrealist imagery in the verses, where talking animals offer reassuring life advice to the passerby. My favorite song without a doubt though is 'Eye Know' with the Steely Dan and Otis Redding "whistling" 'Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay' samples making this one of the most wholesome hip-hop songs we'd end up getting out of the '80s. Lyrically speaking, it could bring a tear to my eyes just 'cause of how meditatively positive it paints these ideas of love and lust. Some other great production moments are those subtle piano keys on 'Potholes in My Lawn', the brief vocal (I think?) sample transitioning the verses on 'Say No Go', the distorted and overblown drum sample on 'D.A.I.S.Y Age', and the entirety of 'Me Myself and I', a real landmark song off this album. The production here is superb, but the rapping is admittedly rudimentary even for this group - I mean just listen to the complex rhyme schemes and flows on their song 'Stakes Is High' which would be released years later, and compare it to a song like 'Potholes in My Lawn' off this album. I like it though, it's of the time and if anything, it fits the charming production here. The album's also wittingly hilarious with the slew of interludes timelining a satirical game show night. Songs like 'Jenifa Taught Me' and 'Buddy' with Q-tip and the Jungle Brothers are forever fun to listen to. It's not all fun and games though, 'Say No Go' is an undoubtedly sobering moment in the track listing here about the dangers of drug abuse, with Posdnuos' opening verse being my favorite. This song also showcases the trio's best rapping on the album from a sheer flow perspective. If you hate fun you'll hate this album. If you associate hip-hop with grit, speed, and competition you'll hate this album. But if you broaden your horizons a bit it's not difficult to understand what the appeal of an album like this. The group was determined to stick to their DAISY (Da Inner' Sound Y'all) motif - constantly reinforcing these ideas of positivity, soul, and strong character from start to finish. Hip Hop hasn't sounded this fun since '3 Feet High and Rising' - and for that, I wouldn't hesitate to call it one of the greatest of the '80s.

I've been getting into a lot of ambient dub and techno lately, so I was eager to check this album out. Ultimately, I'd say this is an album best enjoyed when you're not paying too much attention to it - in fact, I listened to a good chunk of this thing in my car while running errands around town. I find certain percussive elements to be dated, and the vocals that crop up on certain songs are flat-out tacky. There's still good work here though, like the opener 'Water From A Vine Leaf', 'Harry Flowers', and 'A Touch Of The Night'. I found the ambient portions of 'A Hazy Shade of Random' gorgeous but wasn't as much of a fan of the percussive portions. This effect is amplified in the following track, 'Best Friend, Paranoia,' where I feel that the percussive and spoken-word portions disrupt the beautifully textured ambient opener, which could have been a great track on its own I feel like calling a musical piece "background music" can come off as condescending but I really do believe that certain albums and artists thrive in that particular context. And it's not entirely a bad thing.

This album is honestly a mess in many aspects with its fusions of contemporary Blues Rock, ala The White Stripes, country rock, and some classic hard rock. With that said, it does still sound pretty damn good in its best moments, and I quite enjoyed the lead vocalist's very personable style. The arpeggiated guitar driving the song 'Havana Gang Brawl' caught me off guard with just how nice it is on the ears - this entire song has a pretty killer groove. Given the album's image, there really is something super cartoony and action-movie-soundtrack'ish about the way the songs are constructed and the instruments played, but not really in a bad way - it's charming more times than not. 'Not A Lot To Do' was probably my favorite song from a lyrical standpoint, it follows a very lethargic and hollow character and is backed by a nice ensemble of somber strings. I had a lot of fun with this thing, especially as the album went on and in its final moments. I was kinda sad when it ended tbh. There's a lot of personality here - something that always manages to win me over.

I think I unfairly dismissed Nick Drake's landmark folk release 'Pink Moon' upon first hearing it years back. Everything about it was just so...**small** - be it the intimate recording, limited sonic palate, repetitive and simplistic songwriting, hushed vocals, or even less than thirty-minute runtime. I find it juxtaposes its colorful, whimsical, and downright intangible album art in many ways. Though I've known, for years, that I HAD to relisten this thing eventually. And before even hitting play, I knew I would get more out of it now, considering the headspace I'm in. This album **is** small, evoking no more than the image of a directionless man sitting under a tree at dawn with his acoustic guitar - rhyming up whatever comes to his head. It's a raw record in that sense. And yeah it's pretty damn sad too. You can interpret a "Pink Moon" however you like but the idea of this all-encompassing entity inevitably "getting" everyone regardless of class is quite frightening...on paper. But Nick's way of delivering this "news" makes it seem more sad than scary, with him sounding almost unbothered by it. Maybe "unbothered" isn't the right way of putting it - a song like 'Things Behind The Sun' sort of builds on this idea of an ever-looming presence that facilitates human life's endless cycle of despair, and here, Nick leans into this notion that there's nothing that can be done about it. In the second half, Nick sort of goes into this idea of trying to connect with others because, ultimately, our only real purpose is to exist for those who care about and will remember us. 'Harvest Breed' has Drake falling through his years trying to form any sort of connection, regardless of whether it's superfluous or not (as a song like 'Free Ride' indicates). 'Parasite' may be the most tragic song here - it's one thing to want to be ignored, like a bug, but parasites aren't often ignored but rather loathed and despised - despite being a part of nature themselves. Parasites are the lowest of the low, having to cling onto and leech off their host's resources just to survive. Drake's depression was no secret, especially since he would go on to overdose and pass away from anti-depressants after this album was released. I'd say a song like this offers the most striking image of that. I'm almost thankful that this album closes on a hopeful note, with Nick essentially implying that the only thing that's "real" is the nature around us and that the life we choose to live is nothing but a game we choose to participate in every morning. There's something so pure about the way he implores the listener to see the world in its purest form through nature - it's a tear-jerking conclusion to both the record and his career. While this song makes me sad that Nick never got to overcome his struggles, it's a very strong message to leave the world with. Oh yeah, the music and singing are pretty great too - they form a tight, warm atmosphere that perfectly complements the writing, which is what ultimately gripped me this time around. Without a doubt, it's a very impactful record for many, and one I'll be sure to revisit periodically just because of how pure it is.

I fucking love this album cover, it's the literal definition of "metal as fuck". Despite it being one of the most critically acclaimed debuts in heavy metal, I'm only now tapping into Black Sabbath's self-titled. I knew for certain that I would enjoy it though...and I did...a lot. It's super bluesy and less conventionally heavy which I expected considering it's a debut - It leans more into its hard-rock sounds. It's still unquestionably heavy at moments though like with those distorted guitar hits driving the insatiably groovy 'The Wizard'. And also that riff that comes in after the bass solo in that four-part song. 'N.I.B' particularly has one of the best final few seconds I've heard in a Sabbath song - it's so chaotic! I love that twinkling guitar solo on 'Wicked World' as well; it sounds well ahead of its time. Also, the drumming all over this record is top-notch, and the way the songs progress is so satisfying. It's weird - if it weren't for Iommi's aggressive down-tuning and other guitar sorceries, this would sound like many other hard-rock records. But a combination of those dark chords, this unsettling album cover, and Ozzy's hellish lyricism shifts it into those uncharted heavy metal territories of the time. If anything this album was a cool insight into Sabbath's slightly less-developed, albeit still incredible sound. They really are an incredible band.

Y'know the more I've gone through this list, the more I've realized that I actually really like country rock. I was familiar with Wilco before this album (I love the song 'Jesus etc.'), but this was a first for me regarding Billy Bragg. He seems like a pretty cool guy when reading up on him - and that certainly shows on this record. Billy and Jeff Tweedy of Wilco take turns doing the lead vocals on these songs - though I can't decide who I like more with Billy's more outwardly country accentuations or Jeff's more streamlined indie rock flow. What I do know is that every song was a bop, with my favorites being 'She Came Along To Me' and the somber closer 'The Unwelcome Guest'. Instrumentally you're getting the easily digestible sounds and motifs that you'd typically associate with country rock; though it never really comes off as generic - likely due to just how great the songwriting is here. Dug this thing a lot - more than I ever thought I would in fact.

A truly cool and unique-sounding album - though its cinematic tone and aesthetic didn't do much for me when we're talking start-to-finish. Some epic highlights though, like the saxophone-driven 'Sounds From The Big House'. 'The Swinging Detective' was an ominous track here that sounds like it could soundtrack a James Bond movie or something - especially when that horn ensemble kicks in. It's one of my favorites here. Again cool stuff especially to throw on in the background - though it does just feel like a soundtrack, and like a piece is missing. Sounds good but isn't ideal for active listening.

Now this is more like it! While I enjoyed the desolate and lonely paintings of Young's 'On the Beach', this album trumps it with just how much more personable it is. The 35 minutes here flew by, with every song boasting its own set of highlights. The piano ballad 'Birds' is one of my favorites here, with its lyrics offering a positive outlook on a crumbling relationship. 'After the Gold Rush', like 'Birds', evokes images of nature with Neil detailing his intricate connections to it. But, I cannot talk about this album without mentioning the undisputed highlight, and my new favorite Neil Young song, 'Southern Man'. It's a weird song for Lynyrd Skynyrd to feel the need to respond to with 'Sweet Home, Alabama', considering Neil's clear criticisms of the racist aspects of the South. You can still be prideful of your particular region without getting angry at rightful criticisms of its muddy history and conservative attitudes leading to continuing rejections of growth and change. Heck, Randy Newman on a recent listen was able to do it while also being a Southerner himself. Anyways, this particular song also sounds quite different than most songs here, except maybe 'When You Dance I Can Really Love' which also goes in a more outwardly rock direction. It was an unexpected sonic switch-up here - one that I dug. All the more traditional country-folk tracks are just so enjoyable - I loved 'Tell Me Why', 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart', and 'Oh, Lonesome Me'. I've only listened to two Neil Young records thus far, but I'm not sure if he'll be able to top this one for me - it's too damn good.

I've never seen the movie 'Shaft' but I get the impression that the titular protagonist is one bad motherfucker! For as goofy and cheesy as the opening track to this is, I fucked with Isaac's small spoken word bit and it's probably my favorite song on here - it's weirdly addictive. I'm quite familiar with Isaac Haye's music, primarily with 'Hot Buttered Soul' which is one of my favorite soul albums of all time, compositionally and lyrically with the closing 'By the Time I Get to Pheonix' - but I'll talk more about that when the time comes. The production on that album feels orchestral and larger than soul, and there are certainly still crumbs of those sounds here starting from the second track 'Bumpy's Lament'. However, the biggest issue for me here is it does feel like a soundtrack. The songs sound great as little snippets, but they just come off as underdeveloped on a good chunk of the album. It's solid in the background but the songs don't play like songs, but scenic backdrops, it's almost like an ambient record in that sense. 'Cafe Regio's' perfectly encapsulates my feelings towards this record in song form, pleasant but sort of mild structurally speaking. There are still some highlights however: 'Soulville' is a great standalone soul track and I'd go as far as to say the 20-minute 'Do Your Thing' is the saving grace of this album. I've always been a sucker for incredibly long and hypnotically repetitive, groovy soul cuts and this one more than fits the bill - it's the typa shit that could've been on that 'Hot Buttered Soul' album. The blaring distorted record scratch at the end of it scared the shit outta me though. Didn't love this thing but maybe I can't fully judge it without watching this 'Shaft' movie and seeing how well it fits in there. By the looks of it (based on this album), the movie sounds epic as all hell. Maybe that's the only real way to judge a soundtrack, by experiencing its associated media piece...who knows (though I've heard better things about Curtis Mayfield's 'Superfly' soundtrack, so maybe I'll hold off on concluding till' I reach that record).

Words cannot describe how much I love Brian Eno and his music. Not only did the man cultivate an entirely unique sound in the '70s, but he's widely considered a forefather of one of my favorite music genres, ambient. I've always enjoyed the precursor to this album 'Another Green World' for that exact reason with its bold fusions of art rock and slow transition into pure ambient in its second half. This album however ditches most of those ambient sounds in favor of these lyrically cryptic and kooky art rock tracks. Admittedly this "regression" in sound turned me off this record initially, but 'Before and After Science' has done nothing but grow on me in the past few years. It even grew on me just a liiiitle bit more with this most recent listen. This album, like many of Eno's works, is beyond life itself. It doesn't feel of this planet. The percussion is so wayward, the songs violently shift in tone and atmosphere blasting you into these textured environments that may very well re-structure your brain matter or what have you and give you a new-found perspective on life. And no, I'm definitely not exaggerating! The song 'Backwater' is the grooviest thing here and is unabashedly catchy - and I have no idea what it's even about! 'King's Lead Hat', an anagram for "Talking Heads", is another catchy highlight that sounds a bit too much like David Byrne and company on the 1980 Eno-produced 'Remain in Light'...another absolute classic. I love the cacophonous and glitchy keyboard sounds that send this track off - that particular portion does not sound like something from '87...let alone '77. The best song here has to be 'By This River', but god it's so sad. I almost hate listening to it because it makes me picture the happiest place I can ever be in only to realize, usually once the song is over, that I'll never get there, as this painting is too perfect to manifest in this miserable world. And that humming at the end always gets me. I mentioned Eno sort of strays from the ambient sounds of his previous record here but a song like 'Through Hollow Lands' is one of his greatest ambient works and I love the way it seamlessly fades out and then into the closer 'Spider and I'. I don't know what it is about this closer but the image of Eno and his little spider friend sailing away paired with those towering synth waves moves me like very few songs do - IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL. God, I love this album. Eno's '70s works in general reignite this child-like wonder and sense of hope within me. And this is not even Eno's best...in fact, I'd go as far as to say there are two of his albums that are better than this - if you can even believe that.

I can understand why this is many people's favorite Coldplay album - it's so comforting and embracing. But the soft acoustic and piano-driven sound, Martin's warm, held-back vocal performances, and straightforward lyricism have always held it back for me compared to some of their later 2000s works. I personally never liked the song 'Sparks' all that much but 'Yellow' may be one of my favorite Coldplay songs - it's tear-jerkingly nostalgic for me and always hits a beautiful melancholic spot. I wouldn't hesitate to call it one of the greatest love songs of all time. I also like the opener 'Don't Panic' quite a lot but yeah overall not the biggest fan of this one. It's nice to vibe to in the background though.

I dread reviewing this thing, because no matter what, I'll never be able to do this special album justice. As I've gone on listening to more and more hip-hop over the years, this particular record has crawled its way to the top of my "favorite albums of all time" list. And I wouldn't hesitate to call it my favorite hip-hop album of all time. And I'll tell you why. Public Enemy's 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back' (and '80s hip-hop in general), gets a uniquely unfortunate rep. That "rep" being: unanimous critical acclaim - with 10s across the board, but a mild reception post-translation to younger hip-hop heads. You'll get the occasional "This album is essential!" or... "It's one of the greatest in hip-hop!" paired with, of course, the "But I wouldn't put it on willingly - this is an album I respect more than I enjoy". And I'm not here to shit on other people's opinions, but for once, I'm with the critics on this one - all the way through. It wouldn't really help my case to reduce this album to its significance in hip-hop history - that aspect has been well-documented by every self-proclaimed "music historian" - individuals who are way more qualified to describe this record more objectively in its historical context than I. And of course, you have the testimonies of the people who actually witnessed this thing firsthand in the late '80s. I, on the other hand, was born in 2001 so all I have is the occasional documentary, and of course, my ears to try and shoot me back to this time and era. With all that said, you'd be hard-pressed to find a hip-hop album that was as politically fueled as this one around that time...PE drew heavily from the worlds of punk after all (with the Anthrax reference here right off the bat). But also, their whole "persona" just screamed "rebellious" - you have this image of Chuck D and Flav behind bars, you've got their logo being a black man seen through a sniper crosshair, and of course you have their name being Public Enemy (#1). Maybe describing this album and its ideas as angry is in of itself reductive, because this album's more passionate than anything, and with the closing song, you're getting something genuinely anthemic. Though maybe no song here is quite as anthemic as their seminal song 'Fight the Power' that would come out of their (nearly as good) follow-up 'Fear of a Black Planet' - a staple when it comes to movements resisting racial oppression in the modern era (and also a core sonic motif in my favorite Spike Lee movie 'Do the Right Thing'). Okay time to talk about the music, I think the best way to go about this is to break this group down into its four distinct pillars: First, let's talk about Chuck D. Every word the guy says sounds like it's coming out of the loudest PA system you can find in the center of some benign yet passionate conglomerate of militants. His deep voice is assertive, yet welcoming and the man does not shy away from tackling the most hot-button of topics from the '80s. His constant repping of Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam can be seen as contentious and/or problematic even today though its importance in hip-hop culture can not be understated - it again adds to this album's historical value. 'Don't Believe the Hype' might have his best rapping here, with him constantly telling the listeners to "Not believe the hype" when it comes to the media and press' close-minded opinions and portrayals of Public Enemy, the black community, and hip-hop in general. 'Louder Than A Bomb' has D voicing his grievances with the FBI and the CIA referencing Malcolm X and MLK's assassinations directly and linking them to those shady U.S. agencies. That paired with the bomb imagery of the track and his whispered "Louder than a Bomb" makes this one of the more striking tracks here. 'Caught, Can We Get A Witness' has him coming at individuals who devalue the art of sampling, 'She Watch Channel Zero?!' deals with the disconnection from reality and unrealistic standards that come with obsessive media consumption (a message made only more relevant with the social media age). 'Night of the Living Baseheads' deals with drug addiction and 'Black Steel In The Hour of Chaos' may be my favorite song here lyrically. Likely inspired by Muhammad Ali's arrest following his refusal to fight in Vietnam, the song follows Chuck D's prison time for committing a similar "crime" and his posse's attempt to break him out. "I got a letter from the government" is such an iconic opening line (I also really like "Bass!! How low can you go" off the opener 'Bring the Noise'). 'Rebel Without a Pause' is nice in the sense that it just encapsulates all of this album's attitudes into one explosive track - it's another timeless classic off of this album. Secondly, we have Flavour Flav...the man with a clock on his chest to make sure EVERYONE knows what time it is. Like it's not even close, Flav IS the best hype man of all time. I get nightmares imagining a world where he didn't get into the group - I mean he almost didn't; producer Rick Rubin thought Flavour Flav would detract from the album's serious tone. And I guess he was sort of right? But like Flav makes this album so unique and gives it so much character, his interjections all over this thing are undeniably impactful. And no he's not just the "Yeah Boy" guy - he really does make Public Enemy feel like a group. And just like Ringo, he gets one song on each Public Enemy album - his one here being tied with '911 is a Joke' for my favorite. It's certainly less meaningful than that song because like what the fuck is he talking about half the time on 'Cold Lampin' With Flavor'? I'm not too sure but I love it to death. Third is Terminator X. The guy has an ominous and looming presence on this album - this tall mysterious dude with sunglasses who's hyped up like no one else on this record. I mean what's an old-school hip-hop album without record scratches? Okay maybe that's a dismissive question but record-scratching here adds a lot to the chaotic nature of this album. He makes quite the "entrance" too with his titular song 'Terminator X At the Edge of Panic' by absolutely fucking up that Queen sample. Now, I don't know who's responsible for this ONE noise on this record, but I'll credit it to both Terminator X and the Bomb Squad (more on them in a bit). This ONE sound may be the biggest "hate it or love it" thing on any hip-hop album I've heard. Of course, I'm talking about that squealing and screeching, high-pitched saxophone sample that is used very liberally here. And when I say "liberally", I mean it, on 'Don't Believe The Hype', it pops in like every single bar. And on 'Terminator X...' and 'Rebel Without A Pause' it IS the beat (I think they use the same sound too? Just chromatically ascending on Rebel and descending on Terminator). Anyways, I bet you can guess already...but I'm on the love-it side of things. Like Flav, this one sound gives this album its character. It sounds like a siren, or a bomb about to go off, or like a kettle whistling as the heat furiously shoots out of it. I think a lot of people hate how incessantly grating it can sound and I wouldn't blame them - but the boldness of adding a sound that Public Enemy KNEW would likely polarize listeners on this album and then also using it so freely is something I will forever respect. It certainly grows on you too. Finally, though, we have the Bomb Squad. Just their name...Bomb Squad...holy shit. I mean the samples on this album are all hip-hop staples, the amount of times the samples of this record have been used (or re-used I guess) in hip-hop is ridiculous. The drums are fat and punchy, constantly pummeling and thumping, and while the bass isn't very present (I guess it does go "very low" as Chuck D himself admits), I almost don't mind at all - the mix is busy enough as is. For people who call this album outdated, I NEED you to sit down, get some good headphones, and absorb the intricacies of the production here. The beats are so well done. You have horn samples here, a lot of them, but digging deep you'll find some unique and strange noises that can easily slip by you. Let's take the full opener 'Bring the Noise' for example. On the surface, it's a horn sample, with a large chunk of it being only drum, but listen to that weird high-pitched horn-sounding thing that sort of morphs as Chuck D gets closer to the instrumental break here - or that strange fluttering noise that sounds like record scratching, but I don't think quite is? Or on 'Louder Than a Bomb' with the weird crowd cheering or screaming in the background. The piano, an Isaac Hayes sample, on 'Black Steel In The House of Chaos' is beyond iconic and brilliant, it works perfectly to soundtrack the song's very epic yet unsettling premise. I also love the wall of horns that blasts the listener on 'Prophet of Rage' with that low-mixed guitar sample hovering over the verses. I also cannot ignore the Slayer sample on 'She Watch Channel Zero?!' one of the most striking sample usages of the '80s and one that demands a reaction from the listener. But, by far the best production here is 'Night of the Living Baseheads'. This is my favorite song here and it also has one of my favorite music videos of all time. I beg you to look up the sample list for this song, it's long and nuts, sampling everyone from Aretha Franklin to David Bowie. It's so chaotic as you're just constantly being hit with sample after sample. It really does sound like something off their follow-up - a proto-plunderphonics record if you will. And holy shit that instrumental breakdown after the halfway mark...the horn sample, the "How Low Can you Go" record scratching, (of course) that high-pitched noise, the drums, and the way it transitions back into the verse with that 'Ain't No Half-Stepping'-associated Big Daddy Kane sample (I looked it up out of curiosity seeing as both songs came out in June 1988 - this 'UFO' sample was used twice within the span of like 7 days which is crazy). I don't think anyone will be able to do what The Bomb Squad did in those 20 seconds, ever, and don't even try to prove me wrong. I think about one paragraph in, this "review" stopped being a review and just turned to me gushing over this album. So I didn't do it justice I guess. I think over the years, I've just grown obsessed with this one album - more than any other album out there. If I ever was to do music it'd have to sound like this, not literally sound like this, but just sound like the idea of how this sounds...y'know. What an album...one so bold, powerful, prevalent, iconic, and one-of-a-kind. Public Enemy's 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back' really is THE best hip-hop album ever.

Probably the most "krautrock" a single krautrock album can sound. It's extraordinarily strange, though not entirely the type of "strange" I enjoy - I guess "kooky" is the right word. Some parts haven't aged all that well either, while others still sound sick today. I liked the choppy falsetto vocal samples on 'Cool in the Pool'. Come to think of it, the vocal sampling here was the most impressive part - I quite enjoyed the inclusion of Farsi (I think?) vocals on 'Persian Love'. In isolation, the sounds here sound pretty cool, be it the string segments, the basslines, or the groovy final minutes to 'Hollywood Symphony' - but everything sounds so incoherent - constantly jumping around and switching tone so frantically without any distinct structure. Instruments and ideas fade in and out like nothing. Overall though, I still dug what I heard here - it's not bad at all.

You know what's funny, as soon as this thing started I thought the lead singer, Ian Astbury, sounded a lot like Jim Morrison revived in the '80s hair metal scene. Well turns out the guy fronted a The Doors tribute band with some of the Doors' core members. Pretty cool - I haven't listened to that tribute band but I can only assume he does a good enough job. As for 'The Cult' and this album in particular, it's pretty good all things considered. I mean this sound has gotten kind of stale for me - but I genuinely have no complaints when it comes to the vocals, playing, and song structures here...it's just they're nothing really special either. I did like the song 'Lil Devil' quite a bit.

wtf, why'd no one tell me about this album - this was GORGEOUS. Admittedly, I've always been a sucker for dusty, Spector-esque wall-of-sound backed '60s pop-music - groups like the Ronettes for example. And this scratches every single itch in that particular book - helped by the hefty serving of soulful Aretha Franklin-inspired vocals. For starters, the string arrangements here, especially on songs like 'In The Land Of Make Believe' and 'The Windmills Of Your Mind', are so unbelievably intricate and lush, but also in a plane of their own, one quite distant from the vocals. And god the vocals and melodies here are flawless - not super unique or anything, but just super well done. It's weird that the song 'Son Of A Preacher Man' is so much more popular than any other song here (I looked it up, the song is in 'Pulp Fiction' apparently, which I don't even remember) - it's a bit more upbeat, groovy, and immediate than most of the songs here - I quite enjoyed it, but not as much as the string-backed ballads. My favorite has to be 'So Much Love', I've listened to this one song like four times while writing this review. I love that string melody at the beginning and those harmonized vocals are everything I love about this type of music. This entire record is also the perfect length...like I was perfectly content with my listening experience by the time the final track 'I Can't Make It Alone' ended. For an album that constantly revisits similar sounds (NOT a bad thing), it would've risked sounding repetitive if it had gone on any longer. Or maybe I'm completely wrong in making that assumption - I did enjoy like every single song after all. I mean this is just perfect '60s pop - nothing more to say. It's so blissful and brightened up the otherwise dismal day I've been having. It takes a pretty special album to do that.

I'll be the first to say that aside from heavy hitters like Slow Dive and MBV, '90s shoegaze has always been very hit-or-miss for me. Sadly, I was on the milder side for 'Nowhere'. I just started phasing out after the song 'Polar Bear'. The individual songs just weren't gripping me in any way, and the washed-out vocals, a shoegaze staple, started to take their toll on my mind. It's just so background-y, not bad at all but trying to stay focused here was a challenge. The songs are very static, and they all sound very similar to one another. For as much as I didn't like the vocals, the lyrics did fit quite snuggly into this atmosphere - constantly projecting these dream-like images onto the music - I especially liked the morbidity of the song 'Decay'. I also really liked 'In a Different Place', the almost metal-sounding opening guitars to 'Paralyzed', and the gorgeous final minute or so of 'Vapour Trail' that leads into this sole violin, sending the album off. Aside from that though, I didn't really get much out of this listen.

For as much as I've heard his name thrown around, I know very little about Alice Cooper. Surface-level research leads me to believe the guy had a very shocking stage persona (one supposedly inspired by Arthur Brown) - so I decided to scope it out for myself on YouTube while listening to this. To me at least, it seems he moreso conjured up the image of being shocking rather than actually being shocking if that makes sense (but then again I "researched" this for 5-minutes tops). In a way, it mirrors the way I felt about this album. For a "hard-rock" record it sure isn't very "hard", and it's quite messy. Alice Cooper himself, as a vocalist and lyricist, while not super special, is the standout here. His voice was built for this time and sound, and lyrically, while it doesn't quite live up to the already loose description "shock rock" (say for maybe the imagery of a school blowing up on the title track), is at least somewhat interesting. Quite a few songs are "anti-school" in their sentiments, thematically this whole thing is quite consistent and plays out almost like some sort of teenage flick. I quite liked 'Public Animal #9' which follows the false promises offered by the schooling system and I interpreted 'My Stars' in a similar fashion. I just wish I enjoyed the music here more. The album uses a wide array of instruments, and I mostly enjoyed the cinematic closing instrumental 'Grande Finale', but there are some tacky-as-all-hell moments here. With that said, the saving grace of this album is just how much character it has.

I think there are two versions of this album? I listened to the version without 'Paint it Black' because of this album cover...which bummed me out at first because I really like that particular song - but the alternative opener here 'Mother's Little Helper' was honestly great and easily the best song here. It has that subtly ominous vocal and riff combo that reminds me a lot of 'Paint it Black' - it's almost like the same song from a different universe or something. I think this is a cool album: but it dips in quality really fast - to the point where I'd say the first three tracks including the bitter 'Stupid Girl' and tranquil 'Lady Jane' are where this album peaks. I wasn't a huge fan of the long song off this album 'Going Home', it felt sort of hollow despite the addictive jam direction it goes into in its second half. 'Out of Time' is another highlight here...it has probably the sickest bassline on the whole album and also contains this album's closest thing to actual "harmonies". Which is funny, because while it's certainly Rock N' Roll in essence, this album's sounds and structures are quite poppy sounding and accessible. I really liked 'I Am Waiting' for that exact reason - it's super catchy and melodically sweet. While I do think it picks up some steam in its final few songs, the entire album comes off as pretty directionless to me. I think that's how I feel about the Rolling Stones' sound in general, but I think this sort of messy and all-over-the-place country-pop-rock presentation goes over way better on later releases like 'Sticky Fingers'.

Ah yes, Grateful Dead. A band I've heard so much about but have never actually listened to. And by the sounds of it, this live 'Live/Dead' album was a great place to start. For as much as I enjoyed this though, I don't have much to say about the songs individually. They were fun to space out to, starting from the very jammy, improvisational, jazzy, and sparkling cut 'Dark Start'. The song 'The Eleven' was probably the best fusion of relentless jamming and catchiness - I love the vocals that come in alongside that killer riff 3/4th of the way through. The bass tone here also sounds super fat, likely as a result of the live nature of the recording, which goes over fairly well for the majority of this album. The best bassline though has to be the jovial one driving the following 'Turn on Your Love Light', it's so fun and familial. I love the way this particular track ramps up in its final couple minutes with the riffy-vocals coming to a head alongside these building drums patterns. I don't know how to feel about the closing 'Feedback' - it certainly lives up to the title and there are some hints of direction and melody here, but ultimately you are just getting a bunch of noise for like...7 minutes. Hey, I guess it's ahead of its time, even proto-done in its final minutes or so. I really had no idea what to expect from this band - but this long, satisfying, jammy live album was exactly what I needed to unwind tonight. I think I really like this band, though maybe I'll need to listen to some of their studio records before reaching that conclusion.

Post-hardcore is a strange genre. While commonly associated with emo-leaning sounds nowadays, an album like this exhibits the genre at its most primal - and sounds, at times, like a long-lost Fugazi album. Yet I can see how a band like this influenced 'At The Drive-In', a band that was crucial in the more emotional-hardcore direction the genre went into in the 2000s. It's a nice bridge between those two distinctive, yet interrelated sounds. Well given my affinity for Fugazi (them being one of my favorite, if not my favorite band of all time), I felt right at home listening to this. The twisted, noisy guitar passages, the mind-pummelling riffs - paired with the occasional shimmering arpeggio to brighten things up from time to time, it's all here - in spades. I mean it when I say, for 50 or so minutes, you're getting the absolute peak of what this sound had to offer in the '90s - though admittedly no one song stood out to me upon first listen. Instead, I just found myself lost in the long, puzzling, winding song structures of songs like 'Luau' that never seem to revisit the same motif more than once. That song, 'Luau', also has some of the wildest sets of aggressively pitched, feedback-looped, and plucked guitar tones I've heard out of this genre in those final couple minutes - it's sick. The weird noises this group manages to squeeze out of these guitars all across this thing kept me wondering what bizarre noise I was going to be hit with next - I loved the fast picking and strange, yet genuinely gorgeous bridge of the song 'Super Unison' for example. There's also that fluttering and blisteringly animalistic chirping tone near the halfway mark of the closing 'Sinews'. By the time I was done with this thing, I felt like I had just woken up from a fever dream - nothing on here seemed to make any sense, yet it all came together seamlessly. Y'know this is one of those albums that I know for an absolute FACT will continue growing on me with subsequent listens - there's just so much to chew on here, especially lyrically (which I didn't get much into on my first listen - I was too enamored by the NOISE). And I think, in general, 'Drive Like Jehu' is pretty underrated when it comes to discussing influential alternative rock groups from the '90s. Pure ecstasy in noise.

I've always found that Sonic Youth's talents lie primarily in their ability to combine these raw, twisted, industrial, yet consistently interesting sound pieces to form these transportive abstract soundscapes - at least that's what I liked about them on previous albums, my favorite being EVOL. Here, everything seems deliberately ironed out which makes for a more visceral and cohesive experience - to the point where you get a banging straight-forward alternative cut with 'Kool Thing' - a song that oozes swagger. I'd say the same applies to the following 'Mote', which may be the catchiest tune here, barring, of course, that wall of distortion and noise that encompasses the track in its final minutes. More than anything, this is just such a finely curated noise-rock experience, I can't express how much I appreciate Sonic Youth's knack for evenly balancing noise and melody - it's always been what made them so special. I'd say 'Cinderella's Big Score' is the perfect example of this - especially in the segment where Kim comes in and her reverb vocals backdrop this melodic bassline and fast-picked distorted guitar section - it's borderline suffocating, but the way the guitar sounds ring and pierce through the mix is nothing short of heavenly. The Gordon-fronted 'Tunic (Song For Karen)' has a euphoric flurry of guitar melodies driving the verses. I love Kim's talk delivery here as she details the struggles and eventual passing of Karen Carpenter at the hands of anorexia. The melodic tendencies of this album also carry over to the consistently melodic hooks and vocal passages that, regardless of how buzzingly noisy the instrumental is, maintain a level of accessibility and ear-worminess - 'Titanium Expose' being the best example of this. This balance between noise and beauty is something very few musicians can pull off, with many tending towards one direction, often at the expense of the other. But many of Sonic Youth's albums strike this balance - giving you so many different "sounds" to chew on. It's something I've always appreciated about them and it's always made their music very easy to enjoy for me.

This might be my favorite Cohen album. Released shortly before his passing, this record beautifully captures what made his 'Songs For Love and Hate' so powerful to me, its subtle beauty. Say for maybe the choir-backed opening and 'Travelling Light', all the music here is subdued, sparse, and minimalistic (even by Cohen's standards), allowing for Cohen's voice to shine through like on no other album he's ever recorded. Lyrically speaking, themes of religion and love are dominant, and while I failed to catch it all, I had the internet to help guide me on some of these meanings. 'It Seemed the Better Way' stuck out to me as a particularly striking track as Leonard writes about his past relationship with a zen master, who years later would be accused of sexual misconduct. The opening title track has Cohen talking to god directly in a sort of confrontational matter. The song 'Treat' may be my favorite Cohen song - melodically and instrumentally it's utterly gorgeous with Cohen yearning for some sort of satisfying resolution to a waning relationship. I think I can get frustrated when I'm thrown a set of lyrics, and poems that I'm unable to fully "get" upon first listen - I felt that with this album about three tracks in. For my own sake though, I decided to stop caring so much about catching every little detail, and I ended up enjoying this thing much more. I still tacked on my interpretations to many of these songs, but I wasn't so much concerned with understanding Cohen's intent for writing every single line, rather I decided to just enjoy the writing, metaphors, singing, and flow of the songs at face value. Maybe I'll deep dive into this thing's core thematic elements more in the future, but as of today, my enjoyment of this album came from just how at peace it made me feel.

Some solid late-80s RnB-pop, not unlike the sounds of superstars like Prince and Michael Jackson - though it hasn't aged quite as well as the music from those artists. I liked certain songs, like 'Wishing Well', and especially 'I'll Never Turn My Back On You', with its sentimental messaging, and Sananda is a great vocalist in this lane, but my biggest gripe remains - this album is just too derivative and all over the place. 'Dance Little Sister' tries to go in a Wonder-esque funk direction - which I didn't particularly enjoy, given how clean and one-not it all felt. 'Seven More Days' was pretty interesting - like a few other songs here, it's religiously themed and gospel-inspired but, mainly, I found the inclusion of a steel-pedal guitar in this song made the whole thing stand out. The instrumentation here is nothing to cry home about either, though I appreciated the acapella song 'As Yet Untitled', showcasing Sananda's vocal chops in this echoey, sparse, environment - though maybe it didn't need to be 5 minutes. None of this music is bad or anything (I think the closing 'Who's Loving You' is as perfect as RnB can get), it's just that if someone were to ask me "What makes Sananda Maitreya's music special in terms of '80s RnB" I wouldn't know how to answer - at least not after this first listen. If anything, It just made me want to listen to Prince.

I remember hearing this album a few years back but don't remember much about it aside from the fact that I didn't find it very memorable. Funnily enough, it sounds like something I would've dug back then, only to have it grow off me over the years...but with this most recent listen, it seems to have had the opposite effect. That's to say...I really enjoyed my time with it this time around. I've always been a sucker for music that sounds genuinely unique and this album fits that bill - I mean just the genre "Math-pop" is not one I see thrown around all that often. Calling it incohesive would be an understatement - at times it sounds like various patches of sound being swirled around some hipster's room, clashing seemingly at random. It almost feels incomplete, like the various tracks on each song are actually from very different songs. The at-times incomprehensible mix of wayward percussive patterns and fidgety vocal harmonies makes everything feel very tribal. But it didn't take very long for the stuttering nature of the music and backing harmonies to latch itself onto my pattern-recognition sensors or whatever. I'd say I enjoyed most of what this "cerebral" sound had to offer but I found the best songs to be the two more "streamlined" ones featuring the artists on this album cover. 'Stillness Is The Move' with Amber Coffman still maintains that strange indietronica sound, but it sounds infinitely more cohesive than anything that came before it. It's like the perfect 2000s indie-pop song fusing the sounds of guys like LCD Soundsystem and Animal Collective. The following 'Two Doves' with Deradoorian goes in a baroque direction with these mesmerizing sweeping string sections - and snuggly fitting vocals. So you have these two perfect indie-folk and pop songs and then everything else is just...kind of hit or miss. I mean there are plenty of interesting sounds to gawk at here in a "Wow that sounds cool!" kind of way, but in terms of actual songs I see myself returning to? There aren't too many. But eh, I'd still say the sum of those milder parts just sounds way too cool for me to care.

We are gathered here today to get through this thing called "life" You need to listen no further than the third song, 'The Beautiful Ones,' to understand why many consider this to be one of the most forward-thinking pop-rock albums of the '80s. This is one of those albums where it feels like you've heard every song before, even if you've never heard any of them. While I do think the production can be a bit "much" at times, especially on the sci-fi funk monster that is 'Computer Blue', I don't mind it all that much - it adds to this colorful fictional world aesthetic Prince paints on this record. I've never seen the movie associated with this album and I kind of don't want to - I prefer using my imagination to piece together my own strange abstract film when listening to this, one filled with hopeless romance, robots, sex, sex robots, and a lot of purple. And while kind of clunky at times, there are some undoubtedly smooth moments in the more electronic-leaning side of the production here, like on 'I Would Die 4 U'. Also it's always a treat whenever you get one of Prince's guitar solos on here...more on that later. And Prince's voice, with all its finesse and vigor, is one of the best in this lane of pop-rock, with one of the standout performances being on the raunchy and groovy 'Darling Nikki' where he rolls with this smoky and slurred delivery that perfectly fits the vibe of the song. It's a voice with a lot of character, especially when he's hitting the listener with these aggressive, voice-straining shrieks in the latter part of 'Darling Nikki' and especially 'The Beautiful Ones' where my throat hurts just listening to him. While I can casually enjoy most of this album's songs, it also contains two of my favorite rock songs ever. 'When Doves Cry' on here has Prince dialing it back vocally a bit with this deeper inflection - but my god it has the most ear-wormy set of vocals driving its chorus. The sort of sparse instrumentation that drives the first half of this song, with just those keys and the booming drum machine makes the instrumental explosion in its closing minutes so much more impactful. You can probably guess but the second one of these songs is 'Purple Rain' - a song that is relentlessly '80s in nature but timeless at the same time. A string-backed slow-ballad turned explosive, sentimental guitar solo, with gorgeous vocal cries, and building instrumentation - there is nothing quite like it. No pretension, no posturing, just pure beauty for 8 and a half minutes. For me, this is THE best of the popular "long" rock songs that have been released throughout history - it's not even close. I really dig this thing if you couldn't tell, it's an album that's just beaming with life, texture, and personality and it's the music only an eccentric superstar like Prince could make.

Probably Tom Waits' artistic masterpiece - it's been a while since I've sifted through his discography but 'Bone Machine' has always stood out to me as his experimental magnum opus. At its dirtiest, it's the harshest he's ever sounded, significantly less accessible than say 'Rain Dogs'. The production at times is filthy, tribal, and non-sensical, fitting the album title 'Bone Machine' quite well. The "bone" part, I'd say, fits the more skeletal-sounding moments here, like on the unpredictable percussive barrages of 'Such A Scream' or the overblown metallic clanging of "In The Colosseum" - a song melodically driven by a sole low-mixed double-bass line. The "Machine" part plays into this album's industrial tendencies, like with the almost dark-ambient-sounding 'The Ocean Doesn't Want Me'. But that's only half of the story, like many of Waits' previous works, you still have these gorgeous ballads that break up the at-times exhaustingly oppressive production with songs like the twinkling arpeggiated-guitar driven 'Who Are You', the steel-pedal kissed dreary piano-ballad 'A Little Rain', and the warm horn-driven 'Dirt In The Ground'. Some upbeat bangers here as well - 'Goin' Out West' did not need to go this hard and 'Black Wings' might have the best guitar work on the entire album. I'm not going to talk about Tom Waits' vocals because it's not something that needs not be talked about - it makes its brilliance known almost immediately. And like on many of his records, it sort of takes on many different forms. 'The Earth Died Screaming' alone shows both of Tom's "extremes" with the dirty blues affectation in the verses, and the howling and slurred cries in the chorus. One thing's for certain though, no matter what direction he goes in vocally, you can rest assured knowing that this growly, smoky, "Are you holding in a cough?" vocal delivery is going to be there. It's the mark of Tom Waits' music, NOBODY sounds like him. Lyrically, this one's a masterwork. Right off the bat, you get two relatively pessimistic songs, featuring the oh-so-gleeful topics of apocalypse and morality. The twisted narratives of 'Black Wings' and 'Murder In The Red Barn' sort of reinforce this album's morbid themes, and they're so beautifully contrasted by 'Whistle Down the Wind' which has similar messaging, following a man at the end of his life, but it presents itself more peacefully. While 'Whistle Down the Wind' deals with acceptance, the following (incredibly catchy) folksy 'I Don't Wanna Grow Up' almost goes in the opposite direction - sounding like a man realizing the horrors of life's mundanity as an adult and going crazy. The back-and-forth between easily digestible, and harsh sounds is the main attraction here. Regardless of which clump of songs you may prefer, the constant change-ups make for a perfectly balanced listen, one where you don't feel like you're hearing the same thing over and over again. A kickass album with so many kickass moments, there is just no one like Tom Waits.

These guys are part of the same genre as Blur and Oasis, as one of the \"big three\" Britpop bands, they sure sound more musically ambitious. It's still all a bit too sanitized for me - and kind of long-winded. I like my sub-pop genres to be immediate, but this album feels like the opposite. My three favorite songs 'Sylvia', 'Glory Days' and 'Help The Aged' are the stickiest songs here - everything else leans into this "art pop" sound that was never doing anything that blew me away. Not to say any of it is bad, it's just that the layer of polish on the more ambitious cuts here like 'This Is Hardcore' and especially 'The Day After the Revolution' with its long outro makes everything a bit too artificial. I didn't really care for 'Seductive Barry' either, not until its final minutes at least where those strings come in. At times, it reminds me of Lloyd Cole the commotions' jangle-pop sounds with just how all over the place it can be. The vocals and music are still solid, I suppose.

This is probably one of the few "super popular" and "super critically acclaimed" albums that I've never actually listened to. I hear so much about Amy Winehouse and how the tragedy surrounding her final years was so heavily reflected in her music. Having finally listened to this thing, the circumstances surrounding Winehouse's substance abuse and relationship turmoil are made very apparent. Right off the bat, you have a song called 'Rehab', where Amy talks about how she's NOT going to rehab. 'Some Unholy War', I feel, also delves into this apathetic and hedonistic lifestyle that Amy indulged in around this time. I don't claim to know much about her life or her struggles with drugs and alcohol, but this album sheds light on at least a bit of it. Many songs here tackle her turbulent relationships as well, be it with Nas on 'Me and Mr. Jones' or Blake Fielder-Civil with the big song off this album 'Back to Black'. 'Tears Dry on Their Own' may be my favorite song here, lyrically it shows Amy trying her best to move on despite the man "taking the day" - it's one of the more optimistic moments on the album. Another sort of light-hearted moment is the closer 'Addicted' - the vocal melody here resembles that of a classic vocal jazz record from the '50s. It's a seemingly "fun" way to close out the album as she tells some dude to go get his own weed instead of taking hers. But the title and context of the song still imply something very sad underneath the surface. While I did like the lyrics, I'm maybe not so won over by the actual music here. Amy Winehouse is one hell of a vocalist with this deep, booming, and soulful timbre that's still very much flexible. But it's the production that drives these songs that made me enjoy this experience less than I expected to - and with many of these songs running under 3 minutes, I was left musically unsatisfied like there was still more to build on. The great songs are great, 'Back To Black' and 'Tears Dry On Their Own' stand their own in the track listing here. The monstrous and ominous piano driving the title track is nothing short of iconic and I love the breathy big-band and backing harmonies of 'Tears Dry On Their Own'. There are a lot of elements of the production here that have similarities to the sounds of late '90s east-coast hip hop and RnB, but even then, there's something about it that sounded unlike anything popular in the mid-2000s. I just wish it did more for me, something just didn't click. As much as I hate to be "that guy", after just one listen (again ONE listen), I find this is an album I respect more than I enjoyed. It felt like an intricate dive into a struggling woman's psyche, a woman who I still know very little about. I'll give it another shot eventually but as of today, I'm still lukewarm on the actual music presented here.

I think I liked this one more than '...And Justice for All', but like many of Metallica's albums and due to its hour-plus runtime, my mind was numbed by the time I got to those last four songs. I think I was more conscious of that mind-numbing here though - I sort of enjoyed it. But all my general problems with Metallica, like my impartialness towards Hetfield's vocals, and the very cut-and-dry sound palate, are all present here - but they're sort of well masked behind the elements of this band's music that I DO enjoy. The ballads are still the highlights, obviously 'Nothing Else Matters' is great but I also really liked 'The Unforgiven' with its criticisms of oppressive religious organizations' stifling of free thought. The story behind this song is quite sad as well. The harder moments are solid too - I was never a big 'Enter Sandman' enjoyer myself but I get the song's appeal. The best moment for me was the entirety of 'My Friend of Misery', it came at a point in the album where I was already sort of tired - but it felt like an electric shock with just how varied, sharp, and twisted the guitar tones were alongside that ever-changing song structure. The wall of guitars of 'Hollier Than Thou' and Hammett's noisy solo on 'That God That Failed' are two other highlights that stuck with me. Once again, it's the album's length that got me. Some genuinely good music here nevertheless, and maybe I'm finally growing more accustomed to Metallica's music - 4 albums in.

I've never been a huge fan of a lot of these sample-based electronic albums from the mid-'90s - I find the sound it inherently builds upon can risk coming off as tacky or dated. Obviously, there are many exceptions - 'Endtroducing' exists and I'd say various releases by Massive Attack and the Chemical Brothers also hold their own. While I've heard of Fatboy Slim before, I've neglected to check out his work for this exact reason. After listening to this though, maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. I mean you still have a song like 'The Weekend Starts Here' which I never want to listen to again, but there's also the incredible 'Santa Cruz' which coasts gorgeously into that guitar section in its more ambient-leaning closing minutes. I'd say my biggest issue here, odd musical choices aside, is it just doesn't have any sort of distinctive musical identity. Not always a bad thing... after all, part of the the appeal of this genre is feeling like you're sifting through hundreds of records at a time, looking for one particular phrase to loop. But here everything feels particularly bland - there's no overarching mood established. The samples are here but they're almost always paired with these dated electronic sounds that can be borderline irritating. Also, the music sounds "big beat", but doesn't really feel big beat; the impeccable 'Dig Your Own Hole' by the Chemical Brothers would be released only a year later, and that's an album more committed to hammering that punchy, aggressive sound into the listener. I'd even say the song 'Everybody Needs a 303' off of this record sort of predicts the opening track of that CB album but the punch just isn't there. When it's not annoying me to bits, it's a perfectly fine album in this vein. I'm willing to be a bit more generous on this album because there ARE some genuinely cool moments here; aside from 'Santa Cruz' I liked 'First Down' and 'The Sound of Milwaukee' a fair bit. Plus I was never one to be dismissive of genuine creativity, even when it's occasionally surrounded by stuff I find just okay.

I'll never have any qualms or complaints about music that sounds like this. I mean, this Anita Baker album has it all - the vocals, the bubbly basslines, the blissful synths, and those lyrics that deeply capture the hot and cold feelings of love. Well, nothing here is particularly "cold" sounding per se, this might literally be the warmest, coziest, and heartiest an album can possibly sound - but a song like 'Been so Long' still manages to evoke the feeling that something is gravely missing. '80s RnB and Soul was a weird time for the genre, fusing those overtly synthetic '80s sounds with the vocal style that dominated the genre in the previous decades. I mean after this, mainstream RnB would only grow more accustomed to the sounds of electronic music and only stray further away from those jazzier elements that encompassed the genre's roots. This liminal era of the genre can risk coming off as outdated, but that's not the case here by any means - Anita's vocal talents alongside the talents of the production crew are undeniable. It's lush, powerful, and emotive - a nice, clean listen if there ever was one.

What a fun little listen! This is my first Willie Nelson album, and given his popularity, I was initially caught off guard by how minimalistic and rudimentary everything sounded here. Obviously, that didn't last long, you get a song like 'Down Yonder' deep into this album that sounds like something you'd hear in a saloon. I'd say the music and instrumentation open up and become more varied as the album progresses, which feels intentional given the story progression. Willie Nelson is a great singer, but this album's obvious draw is its overarching story about the "stranger" protagonist. I mean it certainly lives up to its "outlaw country" genre tag, that guy kills his spouse for cheating and then kills a lady for touching his horse? Only to get to Denver and fall in love again. The love songs closing out the record, I assume targeted at this new love interest, were the highlights for me - specifically 'Hands on the Wheel' and 'Can I Sleep in Your Arms'. Given the guy is a borderline psychopath, the song 'Hands on the Wheel' detailing his aging and getting a family with this new girl was still very heartfelt and warm somehow. Speaks to Nelsons' talents I suppose. Something about this album just feels really authentic. No unnecessarily long runtime and no posturing - just a nice little sonic journey through the country that's performed and written exceptionally well.

One of those albums where I have no idea what was going through the list composer's head when they decided I needed to hear this before I died. Is there some significance behind this particular soundtrack that I'm missing? Oh yeah, it's a soundtrack, which is primarily what rubbed me the wrong way. Either way, it's not that bad or anything - it was honestly a nice change of pace from everything here, I love how grainy and lo-fi everything sounds - it's a loveable yet slightly unsettling aesthetic. Feels like an album that can be easily sampled too which is pretty neat, at least that's where my mind went while listening to this - thinking of all the potential sample opportunities. I don't think I needed to hear this before I die, but for what it is - at least it didn't bore me to tears.

'Tiny Dancer' is a great song, but listening to this album felt like repeatedly listening to 'Tiny Dancer', for better or worse. Many of these songs sort of groove the same way, with those light piano keys and the subtle touches of string that build alongside the tracks. 'Madman Across The Water' was a nice change of pace and 'Indian Sunset' was epic in stature, and has John shedding light on American atrocities towards the natives. 'All The Nasties' had a nice gospel passage closing it out - might be my favorite moment on the album. I do wish more songs stuck out, songs like 'Holiday Inn' and 'Razor Face', while nice on the ears, just tread the same water as many other songs here. I definitely enjoyed the diversity of an album like 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' more.

Good ass post-punk - it's been a while since I've heard post-punk as good as this! It's not special or anything, it strips the genre's generally varied sounds down to their most rudimentary, which might be exactly what draws me to it. It's not barebones by any means, but fundamentally strong and punchy. There are still some experimental genre fusion moments here, especially on the song 'Positive Vibrations', which gives off this particular '60s psychedelic and pop-rock vibe...reminds me of The Who in that sense. I'm not a fan of describing albums as "cool," but this album just feels like the people who made it are way fucking cool. Like how a song like 'Insanely Jealous of You' stutters its way through its bitter spoken-word passage with that tightly picked bassline egging it on. 'Tonight', for as catchy as it is, is quite unsettling lyrically—I didn't take it too seriously though; the album does an exceptional job at setting itself up to NOT be taken seriously on the lyrical front. 'Old Pervert' gives off very subtle 'Big Black' vibes with that cacophonous and twisted guitar riff - the subject matter too is very...ominous and quite disturbing. This is the kind of cheeky post-punk from the early '80s that I can always get behind. This album cover rules too and 'I Wanna Destroy You' is a great ass song!

It's about damn time I give Pink Floyd's seminal concept album 'The Wall' a second try - given I wasn't so big on it on the first go. I'll start by tackling the concept of this thing - seeing as I've always found it fascinating more than anything. The first half is certainly more linear and easy to follow than the second. It follows the protagonist Pink growing up in WW2 time without a father, an oppressive schooling system, and a hover mother; with all these factors contributing to the fortification of the metaphorical wall the album bases its ideas around. I honestly like the idea of the wall because, to me, it doesn't represent any single feeling, rather, it just sort of takes on whatever form the band sees fit. In the first half, for example, I see it as representing a disconnection from human emotion - given Pink's rock n roll lifestyle and infidelity to his wife. In the second half, it seems to represent a sort of isolation from the real world, as the album goes into this drug-induced fever dream after 'Comfortably Numb' where Pink larps as a genocidal fascist - discovering his own worst fear. Pink, like the wall, is not a very cohesive character - his story, while fascinating, is very cluttered and messy. Rather he's just a means for the band to explore the various themes presented on this album. And I think that's my biggest issue with it all, it feels like it's trying to cover far too much ground with its concepts without really building on any of them - the final, overly animated 'The Trial' brings back many of Pink's character, but I find little to no resolution being provided. I know there's a film that goes along with this, and I'm eager to watch it one day - maybe it'll shed some light on some of the themes here that I didn't really get a good grasp on. Alright, the songs. 'Another Brick in the Wall, Pt.2' is a frustrating listen—those child vocals are grating to my ears. The first verse-chorus was good enough when it was sung by Gilmour and Waters - I didn't need all the gimmicks. 'Mother' is a super cool song that subverts the listener's expectations - the mother is painted as another brick-placer in Pink's wall by obsessively coddling the child; even rejecting the child's romantic interests. It might be my favorite song from a lyrical POV - songs about mothers usually paint these warm, comforting images and this one does the same but evokes the opposite feeling, with this idea of being imprisoned by the one who loves you the most. It's honestly frightening and the atmospheric instrumentation complements it very well. 'Hey You' is a fiery way to kick off the second disc, as a whole, it might be the best song here - I love the second acoustic portion with Waters on vocals. It comes at a point where Pink is at, pretty much, rock bottom, and this song feels like this subtle glimmer of hope in the Wall's abyss. The lush strings on 'Nobody Home' and the guitar solo of 'Comfortably Numb' are a couple of other highlights for me. Everything else is decent sounding, my biggest issue with the production on here is just how clean and shiny it feels at times, you wouldn't have to tell me that this thing came out at the turn of the decade into the '80s, it sure as hell fits that soft-rocky and new-wavey sound, especially when you get to a song like 'Run Like Hell' - a low point for me. Also, I'm never a fan of the shorter, more interlude-type tracks here - in fact, I have a similar issue with 'Dark Side of the Moon'. Also 'The Trial' I actually can't stand - I know it's supposed to sound the way it does, sort of climactic and cartoony, bringing back various characters of Pink's life. But just because it sounds that way intentionally, doesn't mean it sounds good, not at all. The orchestral backing is cool enough, maybe the most ambitious moment on here instrumentally. I was never a fan of the final few songs with Pink's fascist turn in general, and this one track is the nail in that particular coffin. So yeah, my opinion hasn't really changed at all. A cool and important album that I just can't get behind. But I'm sure it'll be due for yet another relisten in another couple of years or so and hey maybe it'll grow on me then...who knows.

Hypnotic and tenaciously consistent, this was my first Cohen album and I disliked it for those exact reasons. But something just clicked this time around - listening to this in my room on this gloomy Saturday morning probably had something to do with it. I loved it all...the raspy, brooding vocal delivery, the flamenco-inspired, crisp guitar arpeggios that are nothing short of ominous, the enigmatic songwriting peering into the worlds of love and religion - everything about this album screams authenticity and all its elements feel soulfully weighty. I gave up trying to dig into the meanings of these songs relatively early on...if there's anything I've learned from listening to Cohen's albums, for me at least, it's that its alliteration-heavy and non-linear nature is best absorbed emotionally rather than cerebrally, on the first go-around at least. Y'know with an emphasis on how each song and its corresponding imagery makes you feel. I could've paused the album between each song and tried to dig into some of its meanings by running back through the lyrics, but the vividness of the ideas and almost dreamlike images were effective enough so that I didn't need to do that. And I think that's the mark of truly incredible songwriting. The song 'Master Song' especially felt like being dragged through some intangible dream state while a song like 'So Long, Marianne' has its meaning painted on its face which makes sense given it's the catchiest thing here. Instrumentally, it's all very consistent with every song being acoustic guitar-driven and fiery without a single drum in sight - my favorite being the playing on 'Teachers'. This is the musical equivalent of sitting in a dimly lit inn, with a single candle casting a faint light from across the room. It's so meditative and warm, yet undeniably unsettling and evocative.

For as much as this list pisses me off (sometimes), there are still those times when you get underground gems like this that would've gone completely under my radar otherwise. This nearly 50-minute experience was filled with filth, fuzz, industrial tendencies, anger, and a subtly amateurish edge. 'Rockets Are Red' goes unbelievably hard and I'd say 'Stain Down' is when the vocals on here really clicked for me - a song that leans into its grunge influences. 'Learned It' has the meanest riff on here, diabolically slick. The closing 'Bughouse' has some of the album's most disturbing lyrics - they're enigmatic but my interpretation is that these "men in white" are taking the protag to some sort of asylum. I also love the mix here, everything sounds so muffled...like you're listening to the music through a tin can communication line where the other side's at the planet's core. This album conjures up this image of a bunch of underground vigil antes playing as loud as possible as they're trapped in some monoxide-leaking basement. It's kind of like watching a snuff film, except less gross and way more enjoyable.

This album may have the most new-wavey vocals I've ever heard - it's that seamless switching between soft and smooth, and deep, towering cadences. I heard this album a while back, a couple of times because I liked the song 'Everybody Wants to Rule The World', but I don't remember many songs off of it. Re-listening to it now, I can see why. To me, it sounds like the type of album you'd thoroughly enjoy while listening, front-to-back, but the next day you'd struggle to remember a single song off of it. Relax that's just how I feel! I'll need to test that hypothesis again now, though I won't be able to update this review with the conclusion. Anyways what am I talking about? Oh yeah, this album. Nice, colorful, fluttery, well-produced, new-wavey power music that can very comfortably soundtrack a walk through a tropical beach. 'Shout' is the perfect, anthemic, and catchy opener this album needed; and while I usually dislike clean saxophone lines in '80s (white) music, the one on 'The Working Hour' managed to win me over. 'Head Over Heels/Broken' is another incredibly solid cut with one of the most earwormy choruses here. The synth lead and pads that open up the song 'Listen' are yet another incredible production moment here, the entire track is ethereal, sounding like you've stumbled upon this gorgeous bio-illuminated grotto in the middle of the jungle. It's got ambient elements like that. I tend to use the descriptor "clean production" with a negative connotation a lot of the time, but despite this album being the epitome of that descriptor, I'd say the shininess of the production only helps elevate its lush and scenic sound. The high quality of it all makes everything just pop. A great album with a great sound that captures its era beautifully, there's a reason this album's so revered in the new-wave world. Let's hope I remember how much I liked it come tomorrow night.

I don't really like the White Stripes, but two songs here, 'Fell In Love With a Girl' and 'Hotel Yorba,' I have in constant rotation. The former is an incredible song—it's short, punchy, witty, and catchy, something the rest of this album is NOT. That song feels like a punk song where the band's stripped-down, two-piece, minimalistic sound actually works in their favor. Almost everything else here though sounds like that bastardized blues sound the band goes for. 'We're Going to Be Friends' is the least guilty of this album's worst tropes, and while it sounds as cheesy as a 2000's indie song can possibly sound, I never minded it - it's cute. I find it funny that people dissed Meg White's drumming a lot back in this band's heyday, she does a great job laying down these very simplistic albeit punchy drum patterns - it certainly fits the blues-rock sound the band goes for. And there are some decent riffs here for sure, like on 'Offend In Every Way' and 'I Think I Smell a Rat'. It's just, most of the time, I can't stand Jack White's awkward lead vocals and it soils almost every song here. I did like him on 'The Union Forever' though, where he sounds sort of like Jim Morrison of all people. And with no discernable bassline, things end up sounding flat, and skeletal. There's so much unused space in the mix in most of these songs. It's a unique aesthetic and sound, and if there's something I'll praise The White Stripes endlessly on it's that they certainly stuck out in the 2000s indie scene...but just not in a way I particularly ever cared for.

I had pretty high expectations going into what many consider to be Joni's masterpiece. Though I wasn't nervous or anything, I knew I'd enjoy this, considering how much I enjoyed some of her other albums, like 'The Hissing Of Summer Lawns' and especially 'Hejira'. While many of the songs here are far less musically ambitious than the ones on those albums, with the ones here comprised (almost solely) of piano and acoustic guitar, this album may still contain Joni's best crop of songs for me. Joni's voice is as soothing as ever, sticking to that high-pitched, fluttery style, and her melodies here feel almost intangible with just how unpredictable they can be at times - especially on the opener here 'All I Want', which may be my favorite song. The entire album sounds like its title, Blue. I can't think of any other word to describe the feelings this album evokes. It feels like staring out the window on a rainy day - as cliche as that metaphor might be. 'Little Green', from a lyrical perspective, is supposedly about Joni putting her child up for adoption in the late '60s - the line "child with a child pretending" had me almost tearing up. The title track is so warm and has maybe my favorite piano playing on here; it perfectly captures life's emptiness and the feelings of never-ending yearning in the presence of indulgence. 'River' feels similar in that sense, with Joni hoping to move on to happier times in the face of a ended relationship. This song interpolates Jingle Bells in its piano which, for any other song, would come off as tacky, but it manages to work here given the song's subject matter. As great of a listen as all her other albums. While I enjoyed 'Hejira' as an album a bit more, I do see myself returning to various songs from this album more often in the future.

The coolest thing on this album was its electro-pop cover of Pink Floyd's 'Comfortably Numb' which works oddly well. I was pretty mild on most of the music here, especially when it was going in that white-washed funk direction. A hand-full of highlights though, like the song 'Mary' was pretty good, and I'd be lying if I said that the bass tone and line on 'Tits On The Radio' didn't kick ass - this entire song might be my favorite here, it's so fun. I think that's the saving grace of this album, it's pretty fun to listen to. But also insanely tacky at times, like how the auto-tune and moaning on 'Filthy/Gorgeous' destroy an otherwise perfectly fine contemporary funk-electro song. I didn't hate it though, and it certainly grew on me as I continued listening to it. Also, it does (sort of) feel like the type of album that would grow on me over time - it feels incredibly unique in its genre fusions.

If there ever was an album that I just NEEDED to re-listen to, it would be Portishead's debut album 'Dummy'. I listened it to about 4 years ago for the very first time, and while it didn't immediately click, it did make me feel something that very few records ever have. I mean this album nails its particular aesthetic on absolutely every song - those dreary guitars on 'Mysterons' and the following 'Sour Times' are nothing short of haunting especially when paired with Beth's ghostly vocals that sound like they're echoing out from the bottom of some cold well in the dead of night. I can't overstate how much this album clicked for me this time around, it has that definitive '90s trip-hop sound while simultaneously sounding like every modern-day electron-backed singer-songwriter artist, especially on a song like the cozy 'It Could Be Sweet'. The drum programming here, while synthetic, is what elevates this album to its uncanny peaks. The snare hits bash the mix on many of the songs here, especially on 'Wandering Star' - maybe the catchiest song here despite it being paired with some bone-chilling imagery. Maybe the best thing about this song though is how unabashedly golden-age hip hop those funk samples are, and how their upbeat nature almost clashes with the coldness at the song's core - it creates a strange dissonance that works in creating something wholly unique and even frightening. The song 'Pedestal' feels similar, hitting the listener with a little saxophone solo halfway through. This particular song feels like you're sitting in some sort of dilapidated, run-down jazz club in the middle of some rural town. The organ-driven 'It's a Fire', as its title suggests, feels warmer than anything else here but the thing I love about this album is that no song feels truly "safe", there's always something off with the tones, keys the band chooses to play in (especially in those dramatic string sections), and the lyrics. My two favorite songs however come near the end of the album. First is 'Roads' which has easily the best string arrangement on the entire album. The feelings of debilitating isolation and hopelessness expressed by Beth here are absolutely crushing - the song feels like standing at the top of a snowy mountain, in a storm, staring off into the distance knowing there's no way you'll ever be warm again. I also really like 'Glory Box', which has Beth switching up her vocal style to something kind of snappy, crooked, and almost conniving before her more typical lush style sweeps in on the chorus, again evoking those feelings of yearning under these squawking electric guitar hits. Albums like this just make you really happy to love music, but also really sad when get hit with the realization that nothing will sound like this ever again. Like DJ Shadow's 'Endtroducing', the sort of low-budget, imperfect mixing of it is what REALLY makes this album...its '90s-isms and its recording context. I'd say it's that fusion of artificial computer programming and sounds straight from the human soul in the samples and Beth's vocals - it's a fusion that can't be easily recreated because it feels as unintentional as it does intentional. But hey maybe there is more music that sounds like this, Portishead's two other albums could sure use a re-listen.

I fuck with this shit HEAVY. A 40-minute instrumental noise-rock album that's utterly relentless is the type of music that excites me. There's obviously a sweet spot, anything too abrasive or long won't work for me, not on a first listen at least. Something too short and melodic on the other hand isn't nearly potent enough to have the inebriating effect an album like this had on me. I'd say 'Wonderful Rainbow' hits that sweet spot for the most part. There's rhythmic cohesion here, and even the occasional melodic riff - but for the most part, you're just getting this headbang-inducing dissonant cluster of noises. '2 Towers' may be my favorite song, that distorted riff matched with that simplistic drum pattern and occasionally drum fill is something I can listen to for literal hours. I love how tribal the openings of both 'On Fire' and 'Longstrockings' are - the latter of which, despite devolving into absolute chaos in its final minute, may be the most accessible piece here going in an almost post-hardcore direction. I don't really know how this album made me feel by the end of it, it's almost dreamlike but at the same time very much based in reality. All I know is that I enjoyed it...it's raw as hell. Lightning Bolt really is a fitting name for this group.

When it comes to listening to blues music, even when it's by legends like John Lee Hooker, I've got to be in a state where I'm prepared to just sit down and breathe. Luckily, I was in that exact mood this time around. The blues style is one that excites me and I can usually get some decent mileage out of these records, despite their often repetitive nature. This album, however, does a great job of not being repetitive while still sticking to a fundamental blues style. Say for maybe the opening song with Santana, nothing here feels particularly '80s either, which is cool...the grit, soul, and finesse of classic electric delta blues and country is still very much present. I really liked the big-band-backed 'Think Twice Before You Go' which was one of the more immediate songs here. On the opposite side of the spectrum, a song like 'Rockin' Chair' sounds like an old man sitting on a chair, outside in nature, with his acoustic guitar riffing through his sadness. In fact, the intimate turn on the final few songs may be the best part of this entire album, with my favorite song being 'My Dream' where John sings about that dreadful feeling of dreaming about someone from your past only to then wake up. He does have a way with words, painting the feelings of love and intimacy in a very fundamental and grounded manner. Kick-ass blues music.

This was my first favorite PJ Harvey album, and given how well-rounded it's capable of being in its less than 50-minute runtime, I've never really had to question why. Despite being easily her most accessible, this album also showcases everything that made her '90s run so legendary. This lady, in less than a decade, went from punk-rock to blues-rock to trip-hop—and on this record, there are hints of each and every one of those various dabblings. 'Big Exit' sounds like something off of 'Dry' but more melodically catered to the mainstream, and 'We Float' sounds straight out of 'Is This Desire' in all its trip-hop glory. The direct alternative single here 'This is Love', sounds like something off of 'Rid of Me' - especially given its more aggressive lyrical themes and performance. I don't want to reduce this album by calling it a "poppier" version of all her previous sounds. This is a very solid indie-rock album in its own right, in fact, it's one of the best of its time I'd say. 'Good Fortune' is one of my favorite songs of hers. It's so optimistic and nostalgic, and that chorus is such an earworm. "Nostalgic", in general, is a really solid way of describing just about everything here, 'A Place Called Home' effectively evokes that feeling of something missing, but you're not quite sure what. There are times on this album when it feels like it follows PJ's fixation on this one very pleasant moment in time, and her attempts to grow past it, all while still reminiscing on how complete it made her feel. I like to imagine that "moment" as a night in the city, spent with someone you love. 'Good Fortune' is maybe the most direct portrayal of this - capturing just how happy she was at that time when everything was perfect, though it almost feels too perfect as if she's glorifying the past. 'Beautiful Feeling' is on the complete opposite side of the spectrum, PJ sounds so defeated now that the special moment, and the person she associates it with, are gone. 'The Mess We're In', the second song here with Thom Yorke, captures that longing between two lovers who are now apart and grasping, again, to try to recreate something as meaningful as that one "moment". It's an incredible duet too, the part where Thom is melodically wailing and PJ comes in with her smooth "The city sun sets over me" is one of the most euphoric moments on this album. 'You Said Something' had to grow on me, but I do like it quite a bit, it plays a crucial role in establishing this album's themes, capturing that "perfect moment" down to an exact location, time, feel, smell, and set of words. I also really love the last two songs here, they're so mellow, and 'Horses in My Dreams' could haunt just about anyone with just how accurately it captures this idea of being forever free from something (or someone) that's been burdening you for far too long. And 'We Float' is just an incredible closer, it uses the same "Float On" metaphor as Modest Mouse (in 2004) to describe this idea of taking life one step at a time. This song makes me very happy. PJ Harvey's talents don't need to be stated, her vocal range is insane, and this album is easily the best portrayal of that. My favorite vocal performance has got to be on 'The Whores Hustle And The Hustlers Whore' which may even be the best track here, despite it not (really) playing into this album's overall theme. It's more of a commentary on the tortured lives of other human beings who've been cast down by a ruthless city. The chorus is incredible and her crying vocals closing it out are so mesmerizing - they give me goosebumps every time I get hit with them. Production-wise, I do wish it was more consistent at times, but then again that's only a gripe when I'm comparing this album to her other ones that do a better job of sticking to a singular sonic motif. For what it is though, the production here is luscious, endearing, and very soft (not quite soft rock soft though - thank god). A very unique and important album from one of music's most forward-thinking and layered singer-songwriters - and I'll always love it wholeheartedly for introducing me to her music.

Street lights, a soft breeze on an autumn afternoon, a grey sky, a light drizzle, and a lot of hope...I don't think I can express how much I love this opening title track. It's really that ethereal, beyond-life string section in the second half that feels like the musical equivalent of going through life with perpetually teary eyes. And the way the core melody is flipped to the punchy 'What's Happening Brother', while still sounding wholly unique is something out of this world. And I think that's what Marvin Gaye's album here is, out of this world. Gaye's view on the planet, its state, and its people is refreshing - absolutist, but nothing short of genuine. He sounds like a man who cares, especially on a song like 'Save the Children' where he delivers a message so obvious, a message universally "accepted", yet time and time again, and 50 years after this album's release, we come to see that the obvious isn't actually all that obvious. If we start to perceive Marvin's "idealist" views on the world as shallow, or even "idealist" - then the bare minimum will always seem out of reach. God, there's so much love on this album, it burns. Not to mention how this sounds like it came out in the late '70s as opposed to the early '70s, music was not sounding this lush around this time. The keys, the harmonies, the bongo and conga-based rhythms, the seamless transitions, and, Marvin's soul-scratching vocals merge into one another so beautifully. This is an album that unveils life's deeply buried treasures. This is soul music, music that gives you hope for the impossible, and music that will make you feel seen.

It's alright, but this is an album where it feels like something is missing—not in the music per se, but in the experience as a whole—like there's meant to be a silent film or tactile activity accompanying it. Like I'd love this at a restaurant on a night out in the city! I'd say that's a general feeling I hold toward most big-band music. Obviously, this was released in the late '50s and it does have some interesting percussive elements to give it that rhumba edge - but still, I can't say it does very much for me. I did like the break on 'Cannonology' and the opening minutes of 'Frenzy'. The latter may be my favorite song just because of the percussive diversity in the breakdown portions - it all sounds so fiery. Horn-wise, I love the smooth and delicate nature of the song 'Tin Tin Deo' the most. The musicianship is there, it's grand, and it takes me places - but I found myself enjoying the percussion a lot while wishing the big-band horn and jazzy elements were a bit more varied and interesting.

'Ladies First' is one of the best and most important hip-hop songs in the genre's history. It's the only song I knew of this album before this listen, a hip-hop feminist anthem backed by a crunchy bass and even chunkier drum beat. I love Queen Latifah but it's always been Monie Love's flow here that won me over. But it's really the back-and-forth between the two Emcees that's the hook here. Unsurprisingly, the rest of this thing is quite strong. It perfectly balances Afrocentricity and social consciousness (especially on 'Evil that Men Do') while still maintaining a strong braggadocious edge. Like Chuck D, Queen Latifah has a strong, authoritative voice, and a super enjoyable, expressive delivery style. The beats aren't all that unique, but there are some standouts - I really like the production on 'Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children'. The house direction of 'Come into My House' was enjoyable...a genuine banger with that one. The reggae tone of a song like 'The Pros' was another standout moment, I like that strange synth sample on the hook. I enjoy the ragga hooks whenever they crop up in general, my favorite being on 'Wrath of My Madness'. Solid '80s hip-hop, any fan of this style will find something to enjoy here.

One of the most important pieces of sound ever put to recording...historically speaking and also to me...personally. To say my ears weren't ready for this when I first listened to it would be an understatement. My melody-seeking ears weren't primed for anything this rugged, filthy, and unrelenting in its consistency. But it took only a few listens to awaken something in teenage me, and for that, this album will always remain a personal favorite. Not going to dabble into this album's historical context 'cause it'd be redundant at this point, you can read up on it in a billion different places, though I recommend the RZA-authored 'Tao of Wu'. But setting the scene, it's the early '90s in Staten Island and this group of 9-or-so emcees drops this tight little package filled with the dirtiest hip-hop to date. No studio polish and no large production crews, just 9 dudes sounding as unique as 9 different dudes on one album can possibly sound. Oh yeah, and they were taking up this idiosyncratic role of masked samurais if you couldn't pick up on that already from the name of the group being "Wu-tang" and the album cover. I'm sure this thing blew everyone away when it came out, 'cause I know it blew me away 20+ years after it was released. With all that out of the way though, I've decided to structure this review by talking a bit (hopefully) about each of these 9 "dudes". RZA: Alright I'll throw all my production gushing into this section because RZA is the mastermind behind it all. This guy's the greatest producer in hip-hop history, bar none. This album is a testament to that, but so is the rest of the '90s Wu-tang solo run. It comes down to simplicity, it's like the opposite of what makes an album like 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back' by Public Enemy so great. On these songs, you've got one strong, usually off-kilter, and very personable sample looping over and over again. Not uncommon for hip-hop...sure, but the real talent here is with just how good the one-bar loops here are, they're insatiable. The bass on 'Shame' followed by that clunky, cluttered brass section on ODB's chorus portion may be the feistiest thing here. The sinister keys on 'Da Mystery of Chessboxing' leave so much open space to evoke this feeling of being in a large, dark, echoey room...and not knowing where the enemy will strike from. The weird vocal sample on 'Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing to F'Wit', for as cartoony as it is, is quite ominous, and nicely contrasts the generally "cheerful" bass and snap sounds the rest of this beat is composed of. The piano on 'C.R.E.A.M' is iconic and the keys on 'Method Man' make the entire song sound like the theme song for a big bad cartoonish villain. I love the entire beat of 'Protect Ya Neck', it's the weird little clips that fade in and out, like the piano, weird high-pitched theremin thing, and that menacing string sample. While the beats are repetitive, you do still get these cool little clips on top to give them a more dynamic feel. The opener 'Bring Da Ruckus' for example, may be the most dynamic beat here, but the little cartoony horn sample thing that comes in near the beginning of the GZA's verse is such an incredible little touch. And, on the "censored" version of 'Protect Ya Neck', those electric guitar hits on the swear words make me prefer that version to the uncensored version. And those martial-arts movie samples are just as essential to the world-building here as the music and lyrics, whether they're intertwined with the beat itself like on the "Tiger Style" vocal samples of 'Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing to F'with' or whether they're just there to introduce or send off the song like the "Game of Chess" sample on 'Da Mystery of Chessboxin''. So yeah, the RZA is a genius producer, but also I love the guy's rapping voice. It's ahead of its time, and quite unconventional. He's not as present here as on say Gravediggaz '6 Feet Deep', but his yelp-style still allows him to stick out whenever he does appear. My favorite verse of his is the emotive one on 'Tearz' as he details the murder of his little brother. GZA: GZA has always been my favorite Wu-tang member lyrically speaking. I'll talk about 'Liquid Swords' when the time comes (an album I like even more than this one), but god damn the dude can rap. He's lowkey, his delivery isn't bombastic or in-your-face like the many other guys here. He's heady which makes sense given the fact that he is the "head" of the Voltron formation that is the Wu-tang Clan. He doesn't rap on here as often as I'd like, but he is one of two rappers that gets his own song with 'Clan In Da Front', a great spotlight track. But it's his verse on 'Protect Ya Neck' that has him coming at major labels that's my favorite. It may even be my favorite verse on the entire album. Method Man: A deep, kinda lax delivery style in an album this full of viscera can easily end up bogging down the whole thing, but Method Man manages to pull this off spotlessly. He does great on the hooks, with 'C.R.E.A.M' and 'Mystery of Chessboxin' but his standout moment on this album is his spotlight track, the aptly named 'Method Man'. Laugh all you want at the ridiculousness of the rhymes here, but it's just how impeccable his delivery is under that menacing piano line that makes this song one of my favorites. I really like this dude's rapping, makes me sad that he's the punching bag of the group on the opening skit on 'Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber'. Inspectah Deck: The unfortunate story of Deck relating to his solo album being one of the many victims of the studio flooding in the mid-90s has always made him less memorable for me outside of this album. But that's never made his rapping any less incredible, in fact, I'd say he's one of the strongest rappers here. I think the guy's style is no style, he just always comes in guns blazing with his verses like with his opening verse on 'Protect Ya Neck'. And you don't get one of the two verses on the seminal 'C.R.E.A.M' by being a weak rapper. In this song, Deck tragically details his crushed dreams as a child at the hands of incarceration and drugs, as he urges the youth to not make those same mistakes. It's a standout and heartfelt moment on this album that always gave the entire thing this melancholic edge. Ghostface Killah: Maybe the most addicting rapper to listen to on here. The way the guy seamlessly strings together phrases, references, and bars is invigorating. There's a reason he gets the first (and last) verse on this album. His best verse has got to be his one on 'Da Mystery of Chessboxin'', pure rap battle bliss with that one. He's another guy who values delivery above anything else, the guy could be saying practically anything and he'd still make it sound badass. His introspective side comes out too on 'Can It Be All So Simple', a reminiscing track, and on 'Tearz' where he raps about his friend's HIV infection, with his closing lines being almost haunting as he captures that dreadful feeling of imminent death at the hands of the virus. Raekwon: Rae and Ghost have always been very close-knit, yet their styles couldn't be more different. Raekwon, like GZA, is very lowkey, his defining characteristic is his rasp. But he still manages to do the battle rap thing just as well as Ghost, going toe-to-toe with him on 'Da Mystery of Chessboxin''. But it's not a question, his best verse is on 'C.R.E.A.M', where he drops one of the most descriptive story-telling raps of the '90s. Ol' Dirty Bastard: R.I.P. to this man, there is no other rapper, and there never will be another rapper like ODB. Saying he's fun to listen to would be the understatement of the century - the guy's hilarious. I mean what rapper uses the line "Dirty, I keep shit stains in my drawers so I can get fizzy-funky for ya". None, the answer is none, no one, except ODB. He's another rapper who's not on this album enough, but his verse on 'Da Mystery of Chessboxin'' makes up for it, it's the equivalent of a hundred verses. He also has my second favorite verse on 'Protect Ya' Neck', such a badass re-entry after that interlude. U-God: U-God is not super present on this album, but when he does show up, it's a nice change of pace, adding another unique voice to the already colorful Wu-Tang cast. The verse everyone talks about as his best is his opening on 'Da Mystery of Chessboxin'', and I've always been inclined to agree - it's a very strong, hulking intro to this monster of a song. Masta Killah: Literally gets one verse on here but it's one of the best verses on the damn album. Of course, again, it's on 'Da Mystery of Chessboxin'' but the damn thing is so memorable. He comes in with such a complex flow, constantly overstepping the bar line while hitting the listener with non-stop martial arts wordplay. I've always found he's super underrated, his 2004 solo album, 'No Said Date', is great. So that's all nine of the dudes here. They all rule. Wu-Tang Clan's 'Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)' is, indubitably, one of the most unfuckwithable pieces of art to grace us humans. It's addictive, it seeps into your veins, your mind, and your consciousness and refuses to leave. And it's not just this album, the entire '90s Wu-Tang run (solo and group) is just as strong as this. There really is nothing like the Wu-Tang Clan. (No I'm not overselling this thing)

Decent Cuban Rumba music. Given its date, I wasn't too shocked at how rudimentary, skeletal, and sort of tribal it was. In a sense, it's sort of hypnotic, especially when looking at the extreme with a song like 'Simba' with those occasional cries and entrancing conga drums. On the other end of the spectrum, you have a song like 'Choferito-Piena' which may be the catchiest and most melodic song here. Sounds like a song that'd fit snuggly on a Columbian party mix or something. If we're talking a perfect balance, nothing beats 'Rhapsodia Del Maravilloso' for me, impeccable guitar work over that relaxed rhythm section. Cool album, though it didn't do much for me - it's not something I would revisit.

Honestly, it's pretty good stuff. I've never been opposed to getting introduced to a band through their live performances - it's like going through a greatest hits record, except you also get to gauge the band's level of musicianship. From this listen alone, I get a heavy pop-rock vibe, though with an obvious emphasis on heaviness, sort of hard-rockish but with hair-metal and glam-rock undertones. By the end of this, it became a matter of how many songs I ended up enjoying. I liked 'Come On, Come On' a lot and 'Lookout' was pretty good too. The long outro of 'Need Your Love' was the highlight of that particular song, and maybe the heaviest thing here - but I couldn't stand that vocal hook at all. Those three were the most memorable things here - I didn't like the second half quite as much, though the crowd singing along on 'I Want You to Want Me' was pretty cute - and the song itself was pretty cute. I can't compare the live recordings to the actual studio versions (except for 'Come on Come on' that I did listen to, and I can confirm that I like the live version more) but I do think this band benefits in a live environment. The whole live performance here felt pretty go-lucky and in good spirits, for what that's worth. Might end up listening to more Cheap Trick in the future.

God, this was so awesome. It's like the perfect '70s pop-rock album. It's not unlike Bruce Springsteen's music in many ways, though I prefer the more rustic-feeling production here. It's not as shiny as, say, 'Born to Run' but it still has that fine polishing layer you'd expect out of a superstar artist like Billy. The instrumentation is gorgeous. This is classified as piano rock, but there's more to the story, this isn't Jerry Lee Lewis-type piano rock. 'She's Always a Woman' for example has this delicate acoustic guitar intertwined with its sweet core piano line. It's a soft song while the ambitious 'Scenes from an Italian Restaurant' goes in a "jazzier" direction. It's such a nuts song, constantly switching instrumental directions, nicely complementing its cinematic imagery. This song may also have my favorite vocal performance on here. 'Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)' was a great opener but it pissed me off because I knew for a fact I'd heard that chorus before, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out from where. 'Vienna' reminded me a lot of 'Desperado' by the Eagles and especially Cat Steven's 'Father and Son' given that it's one of those comforting "advice" type songs - it's sweet. So yeah, good shit. No idea how I slept on Billy Joel for so long given the fact that he's like the fourth highest-selling solo artist in the US or something. There's a reason people dig him but better late than never I guess.

Well, at least it's not British. I actually really liked the other Rufus Wainwright album, 'Want Two'. It just felt like really artsy art-pop that also didn't sound artsy at all...but easily digestible and charming. I still listen to the song 'The One You Love' from that album frequently. Nothing here hits that same high, aside from maybe the opener, 'Oh What A World', which had a nice crescendo and build-up. Most of this album really just gave me '90s Radiohead vibes, which wasn't always bad...'Go Or Go Ahead' with all its Radioheadisms was one of my favorites here. It's the vocals mainly. There were a few other songs I liked here, like 'Beautiful Child', but it felt like for every good song in the track listing, there was a forgettable one. I guess the most impressive thing about this album is just how timeless it can sound - like it really doesn't suffer from many of the early 2000s tropes plaguing the art-pop scene. 'Vibrate' was particularly impressive in that sense, sounds very modern.

Sophisti-pop is a new music term I learned today. For as familiar as the sounds on this album are to me, especially with the song 'Second-Hand Woman', I struggle to link it to any names at this very moment. Either way, I'm always down for a good little pop album so I dug this. It's filled to the brim with sweet melodies and even sweeter instrumentals - whether funky like on the title track, disco and dance like on 'Night Train', or delicate and soulful like on 'Slowdown Sundown'. Maybe the song that blew me away the most was 'Night Train' which has (ahead-of-its-time) ambient house elements, especially with those hi-hats. But the entire thing also sounds like it could fit very snuggly into a Talking Heads album...It's that white funk. Shiny, bright, and sunny all the way through - the stuff ears are made for. So ear-candy.

Political is the word. There was no shortage of political hip-hop around the time of this record. Still, on the lyrical front, something about it stands out as particularly poignant, sharp, and direct compared to everything else from around its time. Its lyrical directions are more reminiscent of punk - with the opener 'Satanic Reverses' being particularly sharp. 'Famous and Dandy' seems to talk about mindless trend-chasing, a song that targets the hip-hop community directly. The sentiments of the song 'Television The Drug Of The Nation' are only amplified in today's social media age and the cyclic storytelling and ironic twist of 'Language Of Violence' were effectively conveyed. 'The Winter Of The Long Hot Summer' deals with the military-industrial complex and foreign policy - a rap that could be uttered today and be just as, if not more on-point in its messaging. The same goes for 'Everyday Life Has Become a Health Risk', 'Financial Leprosy', and pretty much every other song here. Shit doesn't change does it...like 30+ years later. So yeah, lyrically, it was very "enjoyable". I just wish it was more interesting musically speaking. The main rapper, Michael Franti, has this deep, yet very laid-back delivery style - one that creates a strange dissonance when he's calmly delivering these politically-heavy topics. It's parts spoken words, with an almost preachy edge, though it never comes off as ham-fisted. And yeah, I'll say it, he does sort of sound like Chuck D. Instrumentally, there were a few standouts, though I do wish it had more to offer. The production seems to take a backseat to the lyrics here and sounds relatively standard for the early '90s. But I guess that's the thing, there are times when I have to remind myself that this WAS released in the early '90s and not the mid-2000s, so the sort of laid-back production just tends to catch me off guard, despite it making sense in this context. With that said, I still liked 'Television The Drug Of the Nation' and 'The Winter Of The Long Hot Summer' is oddly experimental and ominous for its time. 'Music and Politics' also goes in an interesting drumless slap-guitar direction, and I didn't even mind the singing of this song. The music wasn't all that much, sure, but I can't not love this album given just how on-point it is on the lyrical front. I've never liked this idea of enjoying music just because you heavily agree with what's being said in the lyrics while ignoring the actual music - it's why idiots like Tom Macdonald get popular. The difference here (by no means comparing this to Tom Macdonald) is that the music is generally good, but also that there's so much conviction in Michael's delivery. But maybe most of all, it's the fact that no one was rapping like this at the time, and I've heard a lot of '90s rappers. Again, while politically loaded at times, I really appreciate the passion behind an album like this - a passion and selflessness perfectly summed up with the closer 'Water Pistol Man'.

I'm honestly empathetic to people who can't stand the idea of pop-punk. "pop" and "punk" seem like antonyms in many ways. But I don't think it's inherently bad when ideas of social awareness, consciousness, and empathy are spread to the masses through catchy tunes and polished production - especially during a time as uncertain as the post-9/11, Iraq Operation dominated, and Bush-administration run 2000s. Was Green Day the most effective in doing this? No, not at all. I can name dozens of hip-hop, punk, and even electronic artists who did a much better job of capturing the horrors of this time. But I don't think any were as commercially successful as Green Day with 'American Idiot', I mean just look at those streaming numbers. While I prefer my punk unpolished, dirty, and relentlessly noisy, even I can admit that there's a lot to love here. The opening title track may be one of the best pop-punk songs of all time, topping anything on Green Day's 'Dookie' even. But what follows is a pretty hit-or-miss concept-driven prog pop-punk album following the "Jesus of Suburbia", a man infected with those post-9/11 blues, as he falls into a deep depression and even dabbles with drug usage by the time the songs 'St. Jimmy' and 'Give Me Novacaine' come along. And I guess that's what initially rubbed me the wrong way about this thing, it's an album that focuses on the struggles of the average, seemingly well-off, American as opposed to the struggles of the ones in the direct line of fire of the American military for example. I don't see it that way now though, or maybe I do, but it doesn't bother me as much, at least not during the first half. But by the time JOS meets that rebel girl, and the cheesy-as-all-hell 'Extraordinary Girl' comes along, I roll my eyes. Maybe I don't get the whole thing, maybe it's all meant to be subtly ironic - the name "Jesus of Suburbia" and even "American Idiot" certainly hint at some level of irony. But if that's the case, why waste so much time building the protagonist up to be this tragic figure? Maybe I'm looking into it too deeply and trying to turn this album's concept into something it's not. Green Day's audience is predominantly young white Americans I'd assume, so targeting this concept toward their struggles and feelings of emptiness in an oppressive world only makes sense. And it's always a good sign when you can feel sadness at the ideas of oppression, even when they don't affect you directly, and Green Day captures those feelings quite well here, so for that, I'll still praise the concept of this thing, at least a tiny bit. So yeah, I'm a bit iffy on the concept. And even the playing here I'm very indifferent towards - it's standard. I do like the song 'Letterbomb' from an instrumental standpoint, with all its Husker Du'isms (20 years after the fact...god that band is good...). I'm maybe less partial towards the slower-ballad type tracks, or momentum-killers as I like to call them, especially the overplayed 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams'. I used to feel this way about the song 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' as well, but after learning about the pretty sad backstory of this song, I've started to appreciate its softer approach. The thing I love the most about this album though, by far, is Billy Joe Armstrong's vocals. I mean I love this vocal style in general but, on this album specifically, every damn song is unbelievably catchy, to the point where it's not even fair. It's fun, and the album's near-hour run time flies by - and a ton of these songs have been in my rotation for as long as I can remember. SO, for as cynical as I am towards the social commentary turned teenage drama concept of a record like this, I still ended up forming an almost guilty pleasure relationship with it. Or maybe "guilty" is not the right word, I do still wholeheartedly believe that the title track, 'American Idiot', is incredibly iconic and even "important(???)". Also, the pop-punk music here, in general, is very influential in this genre. Perhaps the best way to describe this album is 'interesting.' It's certainly a period piece, but how well it has aged is entirely up to the listener to decide.

I'm a huge fan of this late '80s/early '90s native tongue sound and I know that the Jungle Brothers were hugely important in this movement. But the whole time while listening to this album, I just wanted to throw on A De La or Tribe album instead. The production on the album here isn't as colorful or fantastical as your average De La album, and the loops aren't as engaging as ATCQ's. The rapping is solid, and on par with the members of those respective groups, but the songs are often bogged down by these unflattering choruses, especially on a song like 'U Make Me Sweat'. The song 'What U Waiting 4' was painfully cheesy as well, I wasn't a fan of the dance approach that a few of the songs here went in. There were still some highlights though, like 'Acknowledge Your Own History', a song about the whitewashing of school-taught history. The instrumental song 'Good Newz Comin'' may have the most standout production here, it has that eccentric, "all-over-the-place", Coldcut reminiscent production that I was hoping for out of this album - I love the bright guitars closing it out on those cluttered drums. 'Tribe Vibes' picks up the speed, momentum, and energy - and holds the album's best rapping performances. Come to think of it, the second half was much better than the first - it does contain 'Doin' Our Own Dang', a song that reminded me of Digable Planets a lot, and just like on Queen Latifah's 'Ladies First', it showcases Monie Love's impeccable flow. Some decent moments here but it's not quite as memorable as other albums of its ilk. While goofy, and fun in essence, the music backing it all lacks the character I was hoping for.

I'm sorry I can't hate this. I've heard so much music, that when I stumble across something that sounds this unique, and just flat-out surreal, I have to praise it. I really like the art behind the Residents, they have a pretty cool anonymous thing going, and when skimming through their music videos, I was happy to see that their colorful visual aesthetic matches their dream-like sound. This is real "dream pop"...last I recall, my dreams aren't pleasant and drenched in reverb, they're nonsensical, surreal, and, more times than not, inspiring - kinda like this album. Don't get me wrong though, I kind of wanted this thing to end about halfway through. But the journey was an intriguing one, even if choose to never embark on it again. The best songs were 'Semolina', 'The Electrocutioner' and 'The Booker Tease'

Some gorgeous pop, electronic, and folk fusions presented here. This is my introduction to Goldfrapp, and while at first, I couldn't figure out what direction their sound was going in, I got a better feel for it as the album started to wrap up. They certainly sound like a lot of their contemporaries from the late 2000s indie scene, but I do find many aspects of this have aged really well, especially when it comes to the vocals. I loved the sweetness of tracks like 'Happiness' and especially 'A&E', a pop marvel that'll remain in my rotation for the foreseeable future. 'Cologne Cerrone Houdini' gave subtle trip-hop vibes with those string hits, and, alongside 'Eat Yourself', had Alison sounding a lot like Beth Gibbons to me. 'Caravan Girl' may have my favorite production on here, with it really amplifying those art-pop and electronic fusion sounds, even adding a bit of distortion. A great little pop experience, and one that's ahead of its time in many ways.

Considering how much I enjoyed Peter Garbriel's '80s art-pop masterpiece 'So,' I was hoping I'd get at least some of the same enjoyment out of this one. It's certainly more country and rock-influenced than 'So', and sometimes it works exceptionally well like with the huge song 'Solebury Hill', an unbelievably hearty and soulful cut, or the explosive closer 'Here Comes The Flood', which has this soaring guitar solo sending it off. But other times, like with 'Modern Love' where you're getting these tacky arena-rock sounds, or 'Humdrum' which may have the most unflattering mixing on the entire album, the music really starts to show its age. It all felt like a scattered mess, with no discernable sound or direction. The songs were long but they never really went anywhere structurally, and they tend to meander around these uninteresting ideas for far too long, especially with a song like 'Slowburn'. I would say I'm sad, but knowing how much better Peter's music would get is at least somewhat comforting. This is a debut after all, and despite having never heard Genesis, I assume this takes a lot from that band's sound.

Decent southern-soul rap that fuses the best of the early 2000 southern hip-hop worlds - with the sounds of tight, crisp, Neptunes production-backed artists like T.I, and the eccentricity and southern pride of the music of Outkast and CeeLo's former group Goodie Mob. The execution does still leave a lot to be desired though, everything here gets repetitive fast, though thankfully CeeLo's seamless transitions between soulful singing and talk-rapping always remain a highlight. This record falls into the early 2000s (southern but also general) hip-hop trope of being longer than it needs to be, pairing the genuinely great moments here with poorly-aged slop, with a song like 'Childz Play' being damn-near unlistenable...Ludacris aside. There were some strong highlights, like 'The Art Of Noise', and I liked 'Scrap Metal' with CeeLo delivering this infectiously "over-the-top" vocal performance on the chorus. And the one-two of 'When We Were Friends' and 'Sometimes' may be the most heartwarming moments on the album, boasting some of the record's best production; with these flute and string embellishments driving the latter. While it starts strong, its bag of tricks is emptied quickly. What's left is enjoyable, yes, but uninteresting to say the least. A good amount of southern artists were doing this sound significantly better.

You know, this sophomore Black Sabbath record has always been one of THOSE classics, the one where, maybe, on a purely conceptual level, its slow and sludgy presentation always turned me off of it ever-so-slightly, it's just never been MY style. But when it comes time to sit down and listen to the thing, I can just fucking hear it, I can hear all of why this album is so beloved. I'd say it usually clicks on that faster switch-up on 'Electric Funeral' with those squawking guitar hits right before the song, once again, muddies itself in that swampy riff that evokes this lethargic and almost comatose-inducing feeling within my gut. 'Paranoid' is just flat-out catchy, like a banger rock tune with some of the most haunting Ozzy lyrics out of ANY Sabbath song. The other huge song, 'Iron Man', I'm maybe more indifferent towards as a standalone track, I've never been a fan of that lead guitar and synched vocal melody, though in the track listing here it works really well in reigniting the album's momentum after the slower 'Planet Caravan'. And I do like 'Planet Caravan'...it's a much-needed, Black Sabbath-standard, slow switch-up - it's ethereal and warm, something the rest of this album is very much not. Case in point, 'Rat Salad', which if the name isn't raw enough for you, its short instrumental run-time sounds like an atonal punk track trying its hardest to squeeze its way onto a large radio station's queue, all while its ugly personality can't help but rear its head. The two undoubted highlights for me though are the two "two-part" songs here. First is 'Jack the Stripper / Fairies Wear Boots', which may have my favorite intro on the whole thing with that reverb guitar and tribal drum pattern. More than anything though I love how well it works with Ozzy's fantastical and dream-like imagery, especially as the song comes to its explosive closing and his insane ramblings come to a head. Then there's the opener 'War Pigs / Luke's Wall' which may be one of the greatest songs of all time. I just love everything about it. The ominous opening with those atomic sirens, the lyrics painting the destructive nature of the world's governments, as the ones who pull the strings hide behind the ones pulling the triggers. And maybe the most horrifying part is how many of these pigs will die peacefully, likely of old age, with no charges brought against them - but Ozzy almost seeks solace in the fact that they will pay their dues come Judgement Day. And when I call the music on this album dramatic, I reference moments like this song's opening 2 minutes with that effective tension-building and unpredictable song structure, right before it bursts into that sharp groove. I haven't listened to this album enough to dub it "memorable", but every time I do put it on it's just so much fun to get through. Well maybe not "fun", if there's one thing this album is, it's unabashedly dark and troubled. But it's a familiar kind of darkness, one that takes the shape of this addictive classic rock album. Like Iommi's constant riff switch-ups, those fat, melodic basslines, Ozzy's wailing vocals, and those staccato, stuttering, dramatic, and fill-heavy drums are like fucking crack. 'Paranoid' lands perfectly between those late '60s hard-rock sounds, and the sounds of '70s metal to come...a sweet spot very few other bands (and even albums) have ever found themselves in. This is what rock music was always meant to be.

Some of the most pleasant country music from this list so far. So warm, yet muddy, and Emmylou's melodies are some of the most soothing I've heard from this strain of alt-country. It's almost unsettling how these acoustic and electric guitar melodies linger in the mix, floating like lost souls - especially on the title track and 'Bang the Drum Slowly'. The lyrics are nostalgic and melancholic - or maybe it's just Harris' knack for these hole-in-your-heart-inducing melodies that make you realize you're not actually as happy as you think you are. In a lot of ways, I have very little to say about this album. I'd go as far as to say that there were very few "standout" moments. But it's all just so peaceful, like the sight of a warm shack in the middle of a damp forest. And then I'm lying on a couch in that shack, by a crackling fire. Good music!

Maybe the most I've enjoyed Elvis Costello so far - though I'd still say I'm not won over. Songs like 'Oliver's Army' and the bubbly 'Big Boys' were obvious highlights, but it wasn't long before Elvis' tedious vocals and lyrics started getting to me. 'Goon Squad', for as grand as it yearns to be, is far too cluttered for my liking, I'd say that's true for a good chunk of the songs here. It was still one of the better songs, certainly better than 'Party Girl' and the painfully uninteresting 'Busy Bodies'. It's art rock that is simultaneously not artsy enough to be interesting but too artsy to be fully tolerable. What's left is a decent listen, yeah, but god, it's all so disorienting and messy. It still does have that Costello colorful presentation going for it, which I always somewhat enjoy.

Not going to complain about this particular new-wave punk album, it's rare you find one of these with a lead female vocalist. And yeah, Chrissie is the best part of the album. There's just so much personality and variety in those vocals, fusing that classic swagger on a majority of the first half, and, with the second half, showcasing a softer, more melodic side with songs like 'Stop Your Sobbing', 'Kid', and, my personal favorite, 'Lovers of Today' - all songs that showcase her undeniable range as a singer. Her vocals at times remind me a lot of Justine Frischmann or PJ Harvey - though obviously, she predates them by nearly a decade. Instrumentally, the album sounds remarkably of its time, especially in the first half with those guitars on 'Up the Neck' for example. I didn't mind it though, but most of my highlights were in the second slower half... I especially liked that hypnotic groove on 'Private Life' - which sounds almost proto-dream-pop with all that guitar reverb. Though my favorite song from an instrumental standpoint is one of the punkier ones with 'The Wait'...I love that bassline on the chorus paired with Chrissie's near-incomprehensible vocals. And that noisy explosion in the song's closing minute or so is easily the most fiery moment on the entire record. The huge song off this album 'Brass in Pocket' was pretty catchy, and groovy - though it does sound like the most radio-friendly song here. To me, the song seems to be about one's dwindling image of self in the presence of a lover they deem more important or worthy. I do think it's a tad long for its own good, but either way, I was grooving all the way to the end of this thing. Can see myself returning to it in the future.

Peak background music - and not even in a dismissive way. It's hypnotic, repetitive, and sort of endearing in many ways. And, given its early '90s acid house identity, I'm sure it'd work really great in any sort of ol' school party context. Wasn't even a huge fan of the rapping or vocals here, though the one on 'Build a Fire' I did enjoy, it may be the best song here given just how different it sounds.

There was something undoubtedly authentic and grounded about Fairport Convention's 'Unhalfbricking' that I appreciated—almost like it was unabashedly human in nature while simultaneously showcasing this near-alien visage. There's a reason they're considered the best British folk rock band of the late '60s - their sound was so dense and each instrument held so much weight in these finely curated mixes. My feelings towards this record are nearly identical to that one. I'd say the song 'Matty Groves' off this album even trumps any other Faiport song I've heard. This record, in general, played up the band's pre-existent psychedelic tendencies - but the minstrel nature of this epic cover of the classic ballad was easily the most hypnotic thing here - boasting lead vocalist Sandy Denny's best falsetto. And she does have such an angelic voice that shines through on this album more than their last - perfectly hovering over these complex Celtic and medievalist grooves. 'Farewell, Farewell' was another highlight here, despite it containing the album's most conventional rock instrumentation, it still very much showcases Sandy's knack for writing these very heartwarming, yet somber lead melodies. I also feel similarly about the closer 'Crazy Man Michael'. On the lyrical front, I'm not ashamed to admit that it mostly went over my head. It's very allusion-heavy and follows that twisted story-driven style that many Dylan tracks from the '60s did. I'll save my lyrical diving for a second listen, I was just enjoying this experience at face value on this first one. And it was quite the experience, filled with unique genre fusions, evocative imagery, and above all else, the human soul. When I think of the genre "folk music", I mainly associate it with a particular singer-songwriter style. Though if there ever was a band that highlighted that "folk" bit of the genre tag, it'd be Fairport Convention. Because listening to their music feels like stumbling upon something important - even if you're not entirely sure why.

As a Canadian, I've never felt truly complete knowing that I had yet to check out one of the biggest prog bands (and biggest bands in general) from this country. But that's what this list is for. I've heard bassist and lead vocalist Geddy Lee before though, the guy's a renowned bassist and this album showcases his greatest strength - visibility. While the tone, style, and technicality remind me of Chris Squire of Yes' playing, its presence on this particular album is even stronger, driving the lead melodies on many of these songs. I was a bit indifferent towards his vocals but they grew on me by the time I got to the song 'Limelight', maybe my favorite song here. This prog album feels like it's doing a lot with very little - which is impressive as is, but with songs that are much shorter than your typical prog song, the respective members also manage to showcase a strong understanding of what it means to be "progressive rock". And I say that because many songs, especially the instrumental 'YWZ', manage to encapsulate all those '70s prog tropes very well. The ever-changing song structures, the unconventional time signatures, the bizarre guitar tones, aggressive breaks, and fills - they're all here in spades. And it's all just very enjoyable and doesn't dabble too long on any one idea or motif. This is an album that's constantly changing and one that values cohesive song structures and melody - things that are oftentimes missing from this genre.

This was so good. It's the type of album I refuse to believe came out when it did, it just sounds so polished, layered, eclectic, and ahead of its time. It sounds like something a 2000s alt-country group like "Songs: Ohia" would release. It's also very rooted in its blues and gospel influences especially with songs like 'Strength of Strings' (which reminds me of Sufjan Stevens oddly enough) and 'No Other' with those choir backing vocals. The songs here groove so steadily and beautifully, like riding off into the sunset on a galloping horse with the wind in your hair. Gene Clark was a member of The Byrds - a band I listened to as a part of this list, but already forgot (mostly) about. I don't remember if he did vocals on that Byrds album, but his vocals here were great - every note that comes out of his mouth carries so much weight, it's as if he's been troubled and in pain for many years leading up to this recording. Yet he's oddly soothing on the organ-backed 'True One' for example. The best song has to be 'Some Misunderstanding' which boasts this album's best, and most existential piece of poetry. The first half is incredible with those atmospheric explosions in the chorus, but the instrumental break in the second half (that's almost Pink Floydian) is what won me over. I can see this song becoming one of my favorites ever - a powerful 8 minutes. Another album on here that makes me happy, just knowing this exists, and knowing I can listen to it for the rest of my life. I could give a fuck about my inconsistent dumbass rating system for the albums on this list, but I can say for a fact that this deserves a 5.

Pretty standard, albeit pleasant-sounding baroque pop. It sounds simultaneously ahead of its time and well past its time, especially on the vocal side of things. But I guess this vocal style is ultimately timeless, and the lyrics are certainly more interesting than I'd expect out of an artist who takes on this sort of grandiose, theatric vocal style. It was the instrumental end that tired me out by the halfway mark - I can only take so much whimsy and strings I guess. It was cool the first time on 'Jackie', but kind of got old after a few songs. It's orchestral and grand but lacks the variety I'd hope out of an album like this. There were a few standouts, the best song here was the acoustic-driven 'Black Sheep Boy'. I also like the groovier horn-backed portion of 'Plastic Palace People', and the sweeping strings in the more ambient portions were nice on the ears as well. And while it's the most generic-sounding song here, 'Wait Until Dark' just did something for me...for some reason. By the end of this album, I also started to appreciate the warmer switch-ups, especially the minimalistic 'Windows Of the World'. One of those albums that's perfectly okay, and feels like something that'd soundtrack an old movie or something, but it's just never been my cup of tea. But again, I'll give it to Scott, he is a very talented vocalist and a compelling lyricist.

This album, and I'd say Herbie Hancock in general, is one of the few that's mastered the art of being really really cool. The music here resonates with the listener not on a spiritual, emotional, or even visceral level - but on a level that's very subdued, not in plain sight but still strongly present...a "bass" level. Each percussive element, drum fill, key hit, bassline, and sax note is sequenced meticulously to ensure that these relentless grooves can go, at times, completely off the rails. This aspect can lead to something undeniably tight and groovy like on the faster vicious saxophone and key solo passages of 'Sly'. Or it can lead to something satisfying like that cute refrain on 'Watermelon Man' that uses space effectively enough to keep the listener slightly disoriented, constantly guessing, but hooked all the same. That key hit acting as an almost starters-pistol for this one particular passage is great... In general, I'd say 'Watermelon Man' is my favorite track here - it's just such an iconic piece of jazz, especially given its bottle flute opening. 'Chameleon' is another song that's just cool - an iconic and funky bassline is at the core of this one, and while it stays in that very repetitive place for a good chunk of the song, it eventually evolves into something unrecognizable with those keys and synth, becoming warmer and more elegant as the track blooms and opens up. Elegance is also the name of the game on the closer 'Vein Melter', especially in those closing minutes. It's easily the least "aggressive" song here and serves to send off an otherwise explosive album. Very few albums land in this unique space between electronic, jazz, and funk music. Because of that, I'd argue that this album lacks a strong "musical" identity, at least in the traditional sense...that's to say it's very eclectic in its styles and transitions. But there's a kick here, one you get from very few albums, a sense of satisfaction that's difficult to pin down, but is made clear as day when actually listening.

Not sure how I feel about this upon first listening...it was interesting. It sounds ahead of its time with the lowkey, almost whispered vocals, but also very much of its time with many of those subtle late 2000s indie tropes in the actual music here. Many of these songs feel like lead-ups (or even intros) that never develop (heck the most popular song here is an intro that goes nowhere). I didn't hate it - the subdued nature of everything makes the occasional lack of a coherent song structure less noticeable. Aesthetically, it reminded me a lot of Portishead, especially with the female vocals on 'Shelter'. The music composition of this is much different though, with many songs consisting of these, often pleasant, reverb melodic guitar lines (akin to groups like Explosions in the Sky I'd say). The guitars were the best part of this album, my favorite being the ones driving the catchy 'VCR' and 'Night Time' which may be my favorite song here. It's a minimalistic album, which is cool, you don't often see an album this understated, brooding, and dark do this well in the mainstream, especially not in the bombastic-mainstream-year that was 2009. I appreciate this record, but it's not something I see myself revisiting very often.

This is not my first "Songhai Blues" record considering I'm familiar with the aptly named blues-rock group Songhoy Blues, but I do find Ali's take on it here very different. It's far less punchy than anything off of 'Music in Exile' for example. Instead, It feels like this album cover, depicting a man sitting on a rocked-back chair with his guitar - translating all his memories, experiences, and burdens into these dense guitar improvisations. The vocals maintain the very smooth, and melodically vibrant style I was expecting though. I'll be the first to admit that longer-form blues albums, especially ones consisting of minimalistic guitar playing and percussion, don't go over well with me. Typically the lyrical aspects are what keep me engaged, but I couldn't even find a reliable translation for the lyrics here. So I'm saying a lot when I say that I loved all 58 minutes of this thing. It's a shimmering album, sun-kissed and Ali's guitar playing is soulful and bright - like a ray of hope in an otherwise bleak landscape. Doing barebones research on the guy, it seems he's a pioneer in this genre - It leaves me wanting to hear some of his earlier stuff, given this was his final studio album released just after his death. The guy's dubbed the African John Lee Hooker, and I see why, I can easily draw a lot of parallels between this and Lee Hooker's Delta blues style. But even as a late-career pick, the meditative nature, varied instrumentation, and subtle layering in the vocals here do wonders in establishing a soundscape that I can just lay in for days. That's the power of good blues music I guess.

I've stopped writing reviews for live albums here, but something must be said about this particular album. For starters, Fela Kuti's music hits much harder in a live context for me - I enjoyed this even more than 'Zombie'. There's just so much energy on display - the percussion (in part done by Ginger Baker) and bass especially pop in the mix - and Fela Kuti himself sounds incredibly personable in this context. The Ginger Baker collaboration is important, with Western music meeting Western African music, but moreso as an idea I feel. But Baker's musical presence is still felt with his standard drum kit playing when he joins the stage on 'Ye Ye De Smell', adding an unconventional (in the Afrobeat world) punch to the song's rhythm section. But my favorite song was one where he wasn't even playing - that being 'Black Man's Cry'. Another great moment was that sing-along closing out 'Egbe-Mi O (Carry Me)' as the song builds to its final climax with the drums and horns - it's the definition of live energy! This was beyond enjoyable - it's what got me to understand Fela Kuti's generational talent.

Middle School nostalgia aside, I didn't have as much fun with this album as I hoped. But I guess that sums up my relationship with many "childhood" pop songs, I tend to see them through rose-tinted glasses until I, you know, actually listen to them again, and notice all the little things that I never paid attention to. Granted, a few songs here like 'Style' and especially the clunky 'Shake it Off' I always hated. And I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to pop music, especially early 2010s style, I'm a sucker for it. But this got grating quickly, primarily with the subject matter and production. Like seriously what the hell is going on with the beat on 'I Wish You Would', it sounds so much worse than everything else here. It just proves that there's more to good pop music composition than a catchy chorus - something Swift has in spades. It's not all so bad though, the opener 'Welcome to New York' was pretty good - maybe even the best song here. It was a cute little pop tune with a pleasant synth melody - I feel similarly about 'How You Get the Girl', a song that sort of reminds me of Carly Rae. 'Bad Blood' I enjoyed also...I've been familiar with this one and I was expecting to hate it but of all the big songs off this album ("big" being a funny word to use, the least streamed song here has well over 100 million) it was the one I enjoyed the most. I don't hate Taylor Swift, but the pop hits off this one just aren't her best, that is to say, there is no 'Cruel Summer' or 'Love Story' here. And, yeah, I am happy she switched to folk-pop in the early 2020s, it suits her.

This is that real rock opera music - the type I can't really stand. All my experiences with 'The Who' have been more or less pleasant as of yet, with each record providing a unique twist on their generally pop-rock-leaning sound. But this was too soft for me - and plagued with these long and largely uninteresting musical passages ('Underture' and 'Overture' for me). Where's the punch? In a time when sounds of rock were changing (including the sounds of The Who in the direction of something more interesting), this seems behind. There were some highlights, I WOULD HAVE liked 'Christmas' if it wasn't for those annoying backing "gasping" vocals - like whose idea was that? The closing was maybe the best song here musically, and it also serves as a nice thematic tie-up to the bizzaro story presented here. From what I gathered in this story, it seems to be about a physically impaired child and his struggles growing up. And I can't lie, I was pretty invested in this Tommy guy. I love the way his desire to keep some grand secret after '1921' gets translated to this non-medical deaf-dumb-and-blind condition. Also apparently this secret is him watching the murder of his mom's new lover at the hands of his WW1 veteran father? I didn't really catch this in the album...maybe it's a 'Tommy' move thing. Either way, a good chunk of this record seems to follow the people around Tommy begging him to snap out of his incommunicado status. And when the mirror he saw this murder through is smashed, he finally gets cured? And is then treated as a messiah? OK. I mean it is a pretty neat story all things considered - and apparently, it's been made into an actual musical. It's the only reason I bothered finishing this thing (that and it'd be bad taste otherwise) - it kept me engaged. If only the music here did the same - oh well.

I hear "goth rock" get tagged onto a lot of different albums - but this by far is the most goth rock goth rock album I've ever heard. Drenched in reverb, sorrow, dread, and unease - it feels like such a contrast to the warm, coziness of The Cure's 'Disintegration'. And while it's not as vibrant or luscious as that album, it's certainly more consistent. I love that tribal drum pattern and picked bassline driving the song 'The Hanging Garden' - the rhythm section of this album is consistently tight and clean - filled with reverb snares and melodic basslines. The guitars, on the other hand, feel intangible - there are certainly hints of riffs here, especially with the haunting opener 'One Hundred Years', but most of the time they sound like faint memories and unwelcoming swellings. They're blurry - kind of like this cover. My favorite song from an instrumental standpoint is 'A Strange Day' with that riff in the instrumental break. I also love the inclusion of the eerie sample that opens up the noise and industrial-esque closing title track. But the thing that drew me in the most on this album was the imagery. Here Smith generally paints love as this super unpleasant disease, like the complete opposite of a song like 'Lovesong' that would come later in the Cure's discography. Everything here feels dreadful and ugly - an atmosphere only elevated by the drug-induced visions that occasionally crop up. A song like 'Siamese Twins' has these images of writhing and worms eating skin in a song about something supposedly beautiful and enjoyable - sex. But he paints this as an ugly, humiliating act, to an almost horror-like degree. Another example is 'The Figurehead' in which Smith talks about being unable to sleep, and with maybe the most extreme example here on the closing title track, he goes into these homicidal utterings. "One more day like today and I'll kill you" ... sick. This is an album that delves into the schizophrenic mascarades of love. Smith feels it's all fake, hence the name 'Pornography'. This album sounds like the beginning of calamity, an imminent destruction too huge for anyone to comprehend - a destruction sourced from one's undying love, and simultaneous hate, for another.

I didn't hate this - just wish it offered more. While listening I drew plenty of 'LCD Soundsystem' and 'The KIllers' comparisons. But this album is far more consistent than any project out of those guys. It's also more rooted in its post-punk influences - filled to the brim with these staccato guitar hits, akin to groups like 'Bloc Party'. Granted it still contains the quirky, referential style of all those bands - sing-along choruses included. While a fun listen, the sounds get old quickly - and the overly theatric vocal style doesn't help remedy this grating effect. There are riffs for days here, but not the slightest hint of a change in song structure. I'll cut the band some slack, it is a debut after all, and with that considered, it's pretty damn consistent. The big hit 'Take Me Out' is oddly enough the most interesting song here from a structural perspective with that early switch-up. 'Auf Achse' was a nice change of pace - introducing synths, and keys, and it goes in this more introspective, yet still angsty lyrical direction. It's got the most winner chorus here though - super catchy and hard-hitting. 'Come On Home' also won me over for similar reasons and the closing '40 was quite the explosive finish with that tremolo-picked guitar. If you want pure, unfiltered, boilerplate post-punk revival music, I can't think of a better album than this one to get that fix - or just to get introduced to the genre in general. I'd say that statement sums up the best and worst things about this album pretty well.

Eminem's always been too much for me. And I vowed, after first going through his discography, to never go through it again. I actually enjoyed that first go quite a bit - it was a few years back though. I saw his records for what they were - trying too hard to be edgy but in a (mostly) fun way. Eminem's music is a listen-once-and-done type of thing for me. But here I am listening to this again. I always liked Dr. Dre's production, especially on the song 'Guilty Conscience'. And this song, despite containing all the gimickiness I've never enjoyed in Slim's music, I've always enjoyed the over-the-top nature of it. 'Brain Damage' is another high watermark in Slim's career, the guy was always great at storytelling and his recalling of why he's so messed up in this overly gorey and traumatic way was engaging to say the least. And 'Bad Meets Evil' is a genuinely great early '2000s-styled rap song. Everything else here is standard Eminem. Production is consistently lowkey, the type that you would chill out to. That is until Eminem's yelpy vocals and sound effects sort of take you out of the trance. I don't hate Eminem's voice, I certainly enjoy his old voice more than his new one. It's just different and again gimmicky and not the type I'd throw on casually. And the hooks here are awful generally, sort of a staple for this time and style of hip-hop - but the one on 'My Fault' got stuck in my head. Eminem's a lyrical talent - he does great things with words but after a second listen to this, I feel like I've had enough Eminem for, like, the next few months. Again, I think it boils down to him being too much for me. But I'll always appreciate this dude, he was a force to be reckoned with for the time and he means a lot to a lot people.

Maybe not as visceral as say 'Stand!' or some work by Funkadelic from around this time like 'Maggot Brain'. But 'There's a Riot Goin' On' is about as tight as a psychedelic funk record can get, in presentation and attitude. The songs are slow and structurally non-linear and each groove is composed of this pile of colorful noises. On 'African Talks To You' and its sister 'Thank You For Talkin' to Me, Africa' the meticulous changes to the groove are so subtle that I didn't really notice *what changed*, but I did very well feel the movement. The movement in all these tracks is strong. I love how clumped-up and bubbly the instrumental of 'Family Affair' is. The slow ballad 'Time' and the following 'Spaced Cowboy' have hat-driven beats that almost feel proto-techno given how fast they were mixed here with those kicks. 'Time' is easily the most striking track here, especially as that synth clips in and out in volume in the second half. The yodeling on 'Spaced Cowboy' was another striking moment here. While the album as a whole has a lot of personality, no individual track stood out from the others. No one song tries to shift the vibe or mood set here, it all feels very static in that sense. It's a careful record. This, alongside the psychedelic nature of everything, created an almost hypnotic effect, one I couldn't shake, not even when I was done listening. It's an insanely consistent record. And also just really damn good.

Bluesy and laid-back, this was certainly a strange record—one I couldn't really figure out on this first listen. It was quite unsettling at times, in a good way. I loved the mood established by 'Danse Kalinda Ba Doom,' which is very Eastern-influenced. The closer 'I Walk on Guilded Splinters' does something similar as well. It's a very tribal and spiritual-sounding closer. Everything here sets a very strong mood. It's a hypnotizing record I'll give it that, especially on the jazzy-instrumental moments like 'Croker Courtbullion'. I didn't fully get this album so I can't write much about it, but I'll most likely be revisiting it - it's a unique sound, especially for its time.

I went into this having already enjoyed the clusterfuck that is 1997's 'The Fat of the Land'. And this monster is certainly a clusterfuck in its own right but in a far less "obviously" charming way. Despite being released only 3 years before its more popular younger brother, I found this album's metal, electronic, and big-beat fusions to sound significantly more dated. It's a different thing entirely though, the songs here are longer and more repetitive, and there are barely any vocals. There's no standout banger like 'Firestarter' either. And yeah this album is fucking stupid, and I thought I was going to hate it, but no, I love it. And not even in a "it's so bad it's good" kinda way. Like the beats here are big, the sample choices are consistently interesting, and the vocal snippets with the "fuck 'em and their law" of 'Their Law' or the garbled "The Energy" on 'The Heat (The Energy)' or the "I've got the poison!" of 'Poison' are all utterly hilarious. The album is too long for its good, this album cover is atrocious, and certain switch-ups make absolutely no sense - but I was enjoying every minute of this nevertheless. Those break-neck speed drums and subtle switch-ups sound like cars blowing up beside you in a Tokyo street race, especially on 'Voodoo People', an absolute adrenaline rush with what sounds like a subtle fiddle hit guiding the track through its various phases. This song is so masterfully over the top, I love it. 'Poison' is relentlessly funky with those distorted bass hits and acid-house leanings. I love the bassline on 'No Good (Start the Dance)', maybe the most straight-up electronic cut here. '3 Kilos' is super chilled out compared to everything else here - it serves to round out the whole album experience quite nicely. But I understand I was just in the right headspace for this. If I was annoyed or irritated this could've easily ended up being my least favorite album, like ever. Instead, it ended up being one of my favorites from this list so far. Funny how things work. It's like the music "Resident Evil 4" if anyone gets that reference...a fundamental masterpiece masked in a layer of tack that only serves to make it more enjoyable.

As a huge punk rock guy, I've never been a big fan of the so-called "pioneering" bands. I'd say that mostly applies to the Sex Pistols and the Ramones as I do enjoy The Clash quite a lot (mostly their later stuff). I've always found that I'm far more interested in the proto-punk sounds of the VU and The Stooges who, while not following the short, quick, three-chord style that would later be commonly associated with punk, understood what would make the genre so incredible at the turn of the decade into the '80s. But New York's Ramones were definitively punk - with those leather jackets, fast playing, and the speedy banger that is 'Blitzkrieg Bop', a song that contains all those classic punk-associated sounds I mentioned (while also being insanely catchy). But I find this relatively short record fails to keep that 'Blitzkrieg Bob' fire lit - with some awful low points with 'I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend' and 'Listen to My Heart'. This band is hugely influential so I won't knock them too much. I love the idea behind those 17-minute-long 1974 CBGB debut shows; with them running through all their songs at break-neck speed. So to me, The Ramones are just that...the start of an incredible idea. An idea that would get built on so heavily and in such a short amount of time. I mean by the end of the decade this sound would've already evolved many times. But when it comes to enjoying this boilerplate debut, I just can't. Some moments border on being dry and dull. There are still some kick-ass moments here like the riffs on 'Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue' and 'Havana Affair', a song that contains some of the more interesting political commentary here. Very important, just not my cup of tea.

The Byrds are super consistent regarding '60s country rock and folk acts—especially ones with pop leanings. There is a psychedelic twist here, apparent in the lyrical themes of the opener and the instrumentals of songs like 'Natural Harmony' or 'Old John Robertson'. The offputtingly ethereal sound of 'Draft Morning' paired with those morbid lyrics and harrowing snippets made for a gripping political song. I'd go as far as to say that the vocal harmonies and instrumentation of the calmer parts of this song reminded me of the late '80s and early '90s dream-pop sound. 'Space Odyssey' might be the most mind-blowing track here - a subtly grating, clipping drone and theremin-sounding thing drive this very ominous sci-fi song. This is the type of experimentation you'd expect out of the Beatles from this time. It's a black sheep here though, most of the other songs are relatively soft and easy on the ears - 'Goin' Back' and 'Get to You' are two of the many gorgeous tracks here. Maybe I dismissed The Byrds after enjoying Gene Clark's solo work so much more (A man who's not even on this album much, if at all - he had left by this point). But this album kicked ass - it's how I like my warm '60s music. Like a cozy hug on a cold morning.

When I was first browsing through the latest iteration of this list, I was shocked to find that this was the (only) Talk Talk pick they decided to go with. But maybe it is the most fitting pick - perfectly bridging the band's earlier new-wave style and their late '80s and early '90s jazz and post-rock dabblings - with two of the greatest albums in the genre. While this album's songs are shorter, less airy, and less ambient than Talk Talk's later works, it certainly contains all the flair and beauty. The sounds are so vibrant, and the organs, acoustics, and bass are so colorful, not unlike this album cover. 'I Don't Believe in You', aside from being antithetical to their later 'I Believe in You', floored me with just how gorgeously all the various sounds blended. 'April 5th' sounds straight out of the "Laughing Stock" playbook, primarily with that soft yet restrained piano chord progression and organ. Like many of the songs here, it's filled with natural imagery and subtle nods to death and life afterward. It feels like a deep breath filled with the smells of maple and sap. While not a huge fan of 'Life's What You Make It' and its new-wave cliches, I found myself more partial towards the song 'Living in Another World', which does similar things - albeit with more pizzazz. My favorite song here has to be the closer 'Time It's Time', a perfect blend of all of Talk Talk's sounds and I love those backing vocals on the cathartic chorus. While not my favorite Talk Talk record (I think they're a band that got better with each subsequent release), it was a nice revisit. And one that demonstrates the band's unique sounds at every step of their journey. R.I.P the genius, Mark Hollis

Pulp, and 'Different Class' especially, may be the most proto-2000-indie-pop sounding thing of the '90s. This album really carries so many of the traits that the genre would boast come its 21st-century heyday. I'd say this is most apparent in the song 'Common People', with its unpredictable vocal inflections, ambitious song structure, and quirky change-ups. This one song feels like an ode to Springsteen in many ways, all the way from the very clean, uplifting music to the blue-collar-worker-themed lyrics. Also, the production on this album is peak pop production - especially in this lane. It's what kept me engaged throughout this whole thing. 'I Spy' was unbelievably grand, and definitely much larger sounding than the contents of its lyrics would lead you to believe, It sounds like it should be soundtracking the climax of an old western. That groove established on the instrumental break on 'Something Changed' was pure jangly goodness. The drumming and drum fills are incredible all throughout this album, they sound great and carry a lot of punch - just listen to those snares on 'Sorted For E's & Wizz'. 'FEELINGCALLEDLOVE' also had many heartland rock-sounding moments, especially with the strings in the chorus. Unfortunately, and as I had anticipated given my thoughts on 'This is Hardcore', the vocals and lyrics ultimately ended up ruining the experience for me. They just didn't click. Parts of it reminded me of The Clash's Joe Strummer, especially with 'Disco 2000', but like way more irritating and tedious. 'I Spy' was a great song, vocally even. That is until this guy felt the need to go into this tacky spoken word piece that kills all the momentum the song had built up in its first half. And I just don't like the direction many of his vocal melodies went in, they were very stale, like on the song 'Something Changed'. They weigh down these incredible instrumentals. It's like, the vocals aren't TERRIBLE, but they don't, in any way, complement the music...not for me at least. And while there is some wit to be had here, I found very little of it actually quotable or funny. I did like the vocalist on the opener 'Mis-Shapes'; this song stands out here lyrically as he conveys a lot of optimism and hope for change in this very energetically youthful way. And, again, 'Common People' was at least fun to get through. It's weird, I don't usually hate this vocal and lyrical style, but the rest of the music here was just so incredible, that it made the vocals feel so bland and flat. That is to say, these instrumentals deserved way better.

During the genre's golden era, believe it or not, Australian punk sounded very much like British punk. Like the Sex Pistols and the Clash. Not a bad thing by any means - there's plenty of great punk to be found here. 'Lost and Found', 'Private Affair', 'The Perfect Day', and 'New Centre of the Universe' are all exceptional, traditional punk tracks. But there's an almost vintage feel to this album, a Stooges edge, and a classic Rock' N Roll edge too. It's a punk record that appreciates the sounds that lead up to "punk" as we know it today. It's very diverse-sounding - it can fall into the traditional sounds of punk just as easily as it can fall out of them. There is a certain pop appeal to the songs here. From the acoustic-driven 'Untitled' to 'Run Down', a straightforward punk track that boasts an almost "country" and "soul" vibe. 'No, Your Product' is another great example of this because, unlike many other punk tracks from its time, it actually progresses when that lead guitar is introduced halfway through and it starts building alongside the vocalist. And this song, 'No, Your Product' is also a masterclass in punk writing - it evokes this itchy, claustrophobic feeling at first - one born out of a repetitive, mundane, and straight life; one that lacks any form of individualism (a common theme on this record). But when the guitar starts building with Chris' cries to break free, the track just bursts open. It's one of the most cathartic moments in a punk album I've heard. 'Orstralia' shares similar sentiments, and is one of the funnier songs here. I also love Chris' deadpan delivery all over this album, a staple of the genre, but here it all feels particularly sarcastic. For how amazing and eclectic everything sounds, it sure does feel like it was achieved almost effortlessly. And that makes for one cool ass record.

Going into this, I expected the legendary Jeff Buckley's father, Tim Buckley, to sound more or less similar to him - or at least in that same folky lane as him. It was an admittedly stupid expectation to go in with...I mean we're talking a whole generation between the two. The standout element of this album was its Jazzy fusions. I'm talking the keys on 'Get on Top' and 'Devil Eyes' or the very tribal-sounding percussion all over this thing. The song 'Nighthawkin' I'd say draws its jazz-rock fusion sounds from many of Tim's contemporaries within the genre. We also get a lot of blues, rock, and funk thrown into the mix, though I found those moments, like with the bluesy 'Hong Kong Bar', far less compelling. The almost Latin-themed 'Make It Right', while not doing much for me, was an interesting and very grandiose sounding closer. So a lot of interesting sounds fused here but, say for a select few songs (near the beginning), I didn't find this hodgepodge of genres to be very cohesive. Tim himself is an interesting vocalist, and very dynamic as well. I swear there are times on here where it sounds like five different vocalists on the same track like on 'Sweet Surrender' - one of the more consistent songs instrumentally, sort of going in a very soulful direction. 'Devil Eyes', in many ways, reminded me of a classic Hendrix cut, and it has some of Tim's best and most consistently enjoyable vocal chops. So yeah, not too sure how to feel about this, it didn't keep me hooked in its final few songs. But It's still a very eclectic album and one that, very clearly, exhibits Tim's many talents as a musician.

I generally feel the same way about this Adele record as I do about her follow-up, 25. But while this younger (well I guess older now) record is more drenched in its influences, with the sounds of the late Amy Winehouse seeping into a good chunk of the songs here, it ultimately has the better crop of songs. It also beats out 25 nostalgically speaking for me. 'Rolling In the Deep' perfectly meshes those soul revival sounds of the '2000s with the incoming ferocity and punch of 2010-era pop. 'Turning Tables' is a gorgeous power ballad and while this cover of 'Lovesong' is missing that iconic 'The Cure' bassline, the magnificent string arrangements make up for it. The call-and-response chorus of the blues-rocky 'Rumor Has It' works better than it has any right to and the closing 'Someone Like You' is classic Adele and its finest. And I mean classic. And, even at 21, she's an incredible vocalist. Probably my favorite Adele album, so many classic tunes here. Nothing mind-blowing or really all that innovative on the production end, sure, but, believe it or not, sometimes music can just be really good and that's it.

This was a very formative album for me when I was a young hip-hop fan. But it was also very formative for hip-hop in general, at a time when the genre was transitioning into its very glossy, blingy, 2000's form. I'm talking the high-pitched soul samples, a weird obsession with eastern samples, RnB-etched choruses, and, um Eminem...it's all here. The opening 'The Ruler's Back' feels almost like a starter's pistol for this new era of, not only hip-hop but popular culture in general. It's such a grand-sounding opener with this cinematic horn-backed instrumental. It's also, at its core, a Jay-Z comeback song after a very dry run in the '90s following his impeccable debut 'Reasonable Doubt'. I always preferred 'Ether' to 'Takeover' in the Nas/Jay-Z beef, but the 'The Doors' sample here, courtesy of Kanye, makes me prefer the production here generally. 'Girls Girls Girls' seems to get off on just how offensive it can be, but it admittedly gets at least a small chuckle out of me. It also has some of the best sample chopping here, and its sister Pt2 track is just as lush-sounding. Also, there's a dizzying amount of features on this song, like Q-tip and MJ are on here. It's "All of the Lights" before the fact. Other great production moments come in the form of the title track with those sweet organs, 'Heart Of The City' with its almost west-coast sounding flute and guitar-driven beat (and a very catchy chorus). And while 'Izzo (H.O.V.A.)' uses a very obvious 'Jackson 5' sample, it's still always been one of my favorite beats here...it speaks to Kanye's talents as a young producer at the time. Plus, Jay-Z was never one to avoid obvious samples. And yeah Jay-Z is a great rapper. He's sort of like Tupac in many ways - he's an MC who values his choppy flow, cadence, and timing over pummeling the listener with back-to-back punchlines and wordplay. And he's in prime form here, even if he does get out-rapped by Eminem on 'Renegade' - which, unironically has my favorite Eminem performance ever, his own music included. The standout is obviously 'Song Cry' on the lyrical front. It's a precursor to "4:44" in many ways with Jay-Z tearing his ego to shreds. But he does it very subtly which is what makes this song so powerful to me. Because it's really not until the last line "I got to live with the fact I did you wrong forever" that Jay-Z takes this tough-boy mask off and admits his wrongdoing within the relationship. It's only one line but it says more than the rest of this very blame-evasive track does. I always thought this was a really important song for hip-hop. This album feels like staring up at the Empire State Building. It's like '2000s hip-hop in its purest form. No gimmicks here (and surprisingly, for the time, no skits!!), just an enjoyable rap album. I remember loving this thing when I first heard it years ago, it opened my eyes to rap in a way I was previously oblivious to. Listening back to it now, it still sounds as great as ever.

On the surface, this sounds like your standard late '50s boogie-woogie piano-driven Rock N' Roll record - infused with various big band and jazz sounds. It makes sense, this was a genre Little Richard was a pioneer of. Maybe the standout here was Little Richard's vocals, they're sharp, guttural, and vicious. In the mix here, they're piercing - just listen to 'Can't Believe You Wanna Leave', 'Jenny, Jenny' or, especially, 'Ready Teddy' which may be my favorite song here. It's in many ways as cliche as this sound gets, with the breaks, repetitive melodic hook, and danceable groove, but god does it sound good. 'Slippin' And Slidin' (Peepin' and Hidin')' I feel similarly about, a fun-sounding track with this very playful core melody. Nothing else here really gripped me musically. The songwriting wasn't very interesting and the song structures follow your typical blues style. The brass sections were relatively subdued, which I liked, but they tended to blend in with one another. But even with all that said, I'd still say it was an insightful 30-minute album, one that speaks to Little Richard's importance in the creation of rock music as we know it.

This album was much wilder than I had anticipated given this generic band name. 'The Band' certainly carved out a unique sound for themselves in the late '60s country-rock scene, a sound infused with a seemingly endless amount of sounds from other genres. The songs here feel almost intangible - the biggest challenge for me here was getting over just how *off* everything sounded. It's all over the place melodically and lyrically. I enjoyed the stability of a song like 'The Weight' with its classic folk structure, quaint biblical-imagery-laced story, and actual repetition. I feel the same about 'Long Black Veil', which goes in a more country direction, although its story is much darker. The whole thing has a very Rootsy/Bluesy undertone to it but, at times, like with the synthetic production on 'In A Station' or the strange psychedelic backing of 'This Wheel's On Fire', the band sounds almost '80s and somewhat proto-new wave...which was pretty cool. Many cool little production moments here, most have to do with the keys or synth. I especially love the sharp organ tone of 'Chest Fever', the organ on this record is generally enjoyable, but this track particularly does a great job at spotlighting just how full it can sound. I'm admittedly confused by this album, it was disorienting, kind of unsettling, and puzzling but in a very subtle way. The vocals, instruments, and chord structures were all relatively standard for the genre, but just how they were arranged here threw me off. Still, this was a cool experience, I can always appreciate a band going off the rails in these otherwise very traditional-leaning genres.

Nice chunky blues-rock, the type I adore (way more than anything Eric Clapton put out around this time). Everything just sounds so full, from the drums to the bass, and to the vocals - no millimeter of the sonic space here is wasted. And while this wasn't as interesting as Captain Beefheart's 'Trout Mask Replica', it was certainly more digestible. Certain songs, like the proto Tom Waits 'Dropout Boogie' and 'Electricity', have hints of that experimental and downright intangible sound that'd get fully fleshed-out on the band's 1969 album. And I can't help but notice many similarities to PJ Harvey's 'To Bring You My Love', one of my favorite albums ever, from their sharing similar first lines on the album to that melody on 'Dropout Boogie'. The more straightforward moments here like 'I'm Glad' and 'Yellow Brick Road' come off almost as gags and very sarcastic in the mix here. With that said, they still act as these very nice breathers. I really enjoyed 'Zig Zag Wanderer' because it blends both this album's distinct sounds and it's also the chunkiest-sounding thing here. I also love Beefheart's vocals all across this album, they're eccentric but never get to be too much. They're more satisfying than anything - I really liked him on the playful 'Abba Zaba' and his more emotive side coming out on 'Autumn's Child' was a great way to send off the record. Super fun and an album that I'm sure will only continue to grow on me. There is just so much personality, heart, and innovation behind Beefheart's take on Garage and Blues Rock here that I couldn't help but smile when it all finished.

I mean, it's Megadeth; what do you expect? Cinematic, apocalyptic lyrics laced with mysticism and sci-fi, occasional melodic coasts, winding song structures, and road-burn solos. What is there not to like? This is by far and away their best release, and one where I can be certain that I'll enjoy whenever I click play. 'Hanger 18' has always been my favorite song off of this album...I just love that opening riff and closing solo. It's far from the only highlight here, though. I love the call-and-response between Mustaine and the guitar on 'Five Magics'. The sharp bass on this record is impeccable all around, but 'Poison Was The Cure' and 'Dawn Patrol' were such great (and short) showcases of how almost funk-inspired the basslines here are. I also really love the almost atomic-siren sounding guitar tone of 'My Creation', It's a short track, but such a fiery and haunting closer nevertheless. It sums up nicely the general feel of this album - it's cartoonishly bleak at times but also drenched in these feelings of paranoia that are very much real. This balance is reflected in both the music and lyrics. Mustaine, as a vocalist, is far from my favorite in metal; I mean he's no Dickinson or Rob Halford. With that said, I've always enjoyed him more as a lyricist. The opening 'Holy Wars' is an obvious political highlight, but I always found the apocalyptic nuclear-scare 'Dawn Patrol' to be so much more spine-crawling, even more so than the more in-your-face follow-up title-track, which shares similar themes. I also really enjoyed the more personal direction taken on 'Tornado of Souls', I love how the lyrical direction churns into optimism alongside the rest of the music here. I mean, this is thrash metal, and metal in general, in one of its finest forms. The amount of eye-widening guitar tones, heavy riffs, and switch-ups here alone make this a more sonically rounded-out metal album than many others of its time.

From Pulp to Blur to now Oasis, I've realized that Britpop is just not for me. While I do think this particular record remains truer to classic acts adjacent to this sound, from The Beatles (especially with Digsy's Dinner or the closer 'Married with Children') to the Smiths, it still lacks all the variety and kick that made those bands so incredible. I just find it all kind of flat, with choruses in the first half that are borderline insufferable to me, like on 'Up In The Sky'. The longer songs really don't need to be as long as they are - they're really not that interesting lyrically or structurally. And yeah, Liam's just a very shallow vocalist to me, which may be the most disappointing thing here. I did like him on the bluesier 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' though. For an album with a "pop" genre tag attached to it, there's not much here that's fun or sticky - say for maybe 'Slide Away' and 'Supersonic, by far and away the best songs here. And it doesn't commit to going very far in the other "experimental" direction either; the entire thing just meanders in this very safe, fuzzy guitar space and absolutely refuses to do anything remotely interesting. But I guess you could also argue that it's harmless, so I don't know. Didn't hate this thing, and I do think the second half is superior to the first, but I'd be kidding myself if I said that I didn't, at times, want to turn this thing off.

"I love this warm hug of a folk-duo" were my first thoughts when I clicked play on this, only to be greeted, after a nice music-box opening, with the cacophony that is 'Save The Life of My Child'. A song that just doesn't sound like a '60s song at all, let alone a Simon and Garfunkel song. From the strange brightened up samples to those striking vocal swells in the chorus, to the blaring saw, to the tragic lyrics - it was all just too much, but in a good way. Luckily, everything else here falls in line with exactly what I wanted, and sort of needed, out of a good ol' S&G album. 'America' was an early highlight, and the baroque aging-anthem 'Old Friends' paired with its vocal-sample predecessor provided some nice cohesion to this record - I mean from the child about to kill himself to the sorrows of the old and aging, this idea of the "Bookends" to life comes together nicely here - I'd say these ideas of fast-living also come through with the song 'A Hazy Shade of Winter'. Not saying this is a concept album or anything, but that's just my 2 cents. Either way, the songs here are all incredible, especially 'Mrs. Robinson' - it was my first time hearing this incredibly popular song, and it didn't disappoint. I guess I just really love the music these guys make.

A lot of this album sort of reminds me of a more streamlined and polished version of Gene Clark's album 'No Other' with its ambitious take on country-rock fusions. And I really love that album, so, naturally, I enjoyed this. A song like 'Only You Know' is undeniably grand sounding and is one of the many tracks that takes hints from the sounds of early '70s soul musicians like Marvin Gaye. The following 'New York City Song' was this cute acoustic cut, a nice introspective breather in the mix here. Some moments here like 'Make the Women Love Me' and 'In and Out of the Shadows' reminded me of the heartland rock sounds of Springsteen. I guess Dion really loves his string arrangements...I mean they never really got old for me on this album, so I'm cool with it. I guess this record is "generic-sounding" in almost every way possible, like the polished pop-music from the radio that I'm sure the alternatives that grew up in the late '70s got sick of. But I didn't grow up around that time so I don't care how generic this may or may not sound, I just think the music here sounds pretty damn good.

Very '90s, albeit very enjoyable music to just jive to in the background. Some enticing fusions here, primarily in the realms of hip-hop, funk, and afrobeat - just listen to the song 'Step It Up' to know exactly what I mean. There's a large focus here on establishing and then effectively maintaining this very jovial mood on each song. And I'd say that's what this album is ultimately about: mood. Admittedly, I wasn't a huge fan of the vocals here, at least not the lead vocals. I think it would've worked better as this entrancing '90s dance album without them (I did still enjoy the rapping here occasionally, especially on 'Playing with Fire'). I really liked the largely instrumental string-backed and luxurious sounding 'Chicken Shake', a song accompanied by this huge bass tone. In the end, this album still manages to achieve the '90s-dance music-in-its-purest-form-and-sort-of-disco thing, vocals or not, and I ultimately enjoyed it.

This is undoubtedly some of the best-sounding music in this lane. Crisp, fast. and even catchy like the song 'Where Was You At' - albums like this fly by and are a joy at every step. It reminded me a lot of another album I love: Black Market by Weather Report. The song 'City, Country, City' also gave me major Hancock Headhunters vibes with that long key solo and tribal drum pattern driving it forward. This was easily my favorite song here, if only because that serene closer made me feel things. 'Four Cornered Room' sounded like a bluesified Isaac Hayes song. I say that because the little spoken-word segment near the middle reminded me of him. With that said, the title track was really the most soulful song here, with these gorgeous vocal arrangements and lyrics that speak of yearning and longing in the face of injustice. Also, that building sax solo is killer. Although I've heard of 'War' before, it's unfortunate that this album isn't discussed very often. It's truly a magnificent piece of funk-jazz music.

Not unlike Yasiin Bey, Lupe was always a rapper that was incredibly socially aware, and also incredibly aware of how social aware he was. I mean right when you click play, Lupe makes it clear as day that this rap album, a debut, is about to be one of the most profound, important, and meaningful things you will ever hear. And sometimes, honestly, that feels true. At the ripe age of 24, Lupe's flow and rhyming here were not to be messed with. And while surface level at times, his political leaning raps are on par with his braggadocious, rhyme-showcasing ones. In the mid-2000s Bush era, a song like 'American Terrorist' makes an effort communicate those quiet issues relating to reactionary hatred out loud. 'Hurts Me Soul' might seem scattered in its commentary, but it actually does a great job of tying all these issues Lupe mentions together - it's quite a heartbreaking track with Lupe showing just how exhausting and exhaustive a list of issues like this can get. 'He Say She Say' is also heartbreaking, detailing the struggles of a boy growing up without a father figure from the perspective of an overworked mother. And the more enigmatic tracks here are just as potent - there's 'The Instrumental' and this idea of being stuck in the box, or the norm, and being unable to break from it, painting it as some sort of addiction. But, ultimately, it's the few wholesome tracks here that I find myself enjoying the most. While 'Kick Push II' sort of gives the song a dark turn, the tale of two young rebels skateboarding around the city on 'Kick Push' will never not make me smile. 'Daydreaming' I feel similarly about, I love this image of passively watching your hometown, and its cultural intricacies atop this cartoonishly large robot. The beats here, they're solid. Certainly not the standout of this album but they are the cinematic, bling-era type-beats you'd expect out of a 2006 Atlantic Records rap album. I love the strings and backing vocals of 'Real', the classic jazz-rap turn on 'Kick Push', and the hypnotic arpeggiation of 'The Emperor's Soundtrack'. The hooks are solid for the most part too. Maybe not a huge fan of the one on 'The Instrumental', but the one on 'Hurt Me Soul' is incredible and of course those vocals building on 'Daydreamin'' are great. Wouldn't hesitate to call this one of the best rap albums of the mid-2000s, it really helps define the very shiny, inspiring, and glamorous sound of this era...alongside albums like 'Late Registration' and 'Be'.

Reminds me of a punkier version of 'The Sparks' in many ways. It was a pretty fun listen, but I didn't really find much to connect with here. It is, however, filled to the brim with these very charming synth melodies and tones, like the ones on 'Princess of the Streets', 'Ugly', and 'Sometimes'. The new-wave leanings with those kooky synths were easily the highlight because I didn't find the vocals to be all that interesting (though still charming, nonetheless, like on 'Peaches' and 'Grip'). I did enjoy the borderline Jim Morrison impression on 'Princess of the Streets'. So yeah, I'm not too crazy about this one, nor do I have much to say about it. I think it tries to do a bit too much for my liking. Songs like 'Hanging Around, 'Princess of the Streets', 'Peaches', and the final synth part of 'Down in the Sewer' were still great standouts.

I've always been quick to dismiss this band. They felt as boilerplate as this early '80s new-wave/post-punk, bordering on gothic sound, could possibly be (and a worse version of 'The Cure'). While I still think that's true to some extent, I enjoyed my most recent listen to this album more than I anticipated. The last time I listened to it was some four years ago. The opening track, 'The Cutter,' caught me off guard with how catchy it was and how layered that instrumental interlude is. It was a very danceable opener. I also really liked both 'Porcupine' and 'Heads Will Roll,' which take on an almost eastern-sounding direction, the latter being the most ominous-sounding song here. Everything else was enjoyable and well performed, but it was kind of forgettable when it was all said and done. Maybe if it had been shorter, I would have enjoyed it more; it's just too polished for my liking, with nothing to show, really.

THE hippy-folk supergroup of the late '60s—I mean, just listen to the words of songs like 'Almost Cut My Hair', 'Everybody I Love You', and the Joni Mitchell-penned 'Woodstock'. With this many musicians driving the show, this album was bound to be somewhat of a mess, but it's a mostly good mess. You'll get the opening folk harmonization, followed by the more country-rock pedal-steel driven 'Teach Your Children', a psychedelic leaning title-track, the poppier 'Our House', and straight-up Rock N' Roll closer with 'Everybody I Live You'. It was all very enjoyable, though. I really loved Neil Young's spotlight track with 'Helpless', a song detailing his very uncertain childhood. I also really enjoyed the song 'Country Girl', perhaps the grandest sounding thing here - despite it not being the most interesting song lyrically. CSNY supergroup or not, I think this album is just very solid in its own right. While not doing much special for its time, it does what it does very well.

For as influential as Madonna is, I found a good chunk of the music here to be very typical for its time—it's no 'Ray of Light'. Especially on the production end, it sounds like the run-of-the-mill new-wave and new-jack-swing fusion you'd expect out of a pop album in the late '80s. And it lacks the finesse of an album like Janet Jackson's 'Rhythm Nation 1814'. 'Like a Prayer' (title track) is always fun to get through; it's those over-the-top choir vocals that do it for me, and it's just irresistibly catchy in almost every way possible. I messed with the tighter synth groove of a song like 'Till Death Do Us Part', and 'Cherish' was maybe the catchiest thing here, title track aside. 'Oh Father' was a tragic cut, detailing Madonna's abusive relationship with her father - it's easily the best of the ballad-type tracks on the album. 'Keep it Together' further builds on the themes of family dynamics and loss - a theme that takes a different, albeit equally as devastating form on the flamenco guitar-backed 'Spanish Eyes'. For a Madonna album, I feel like something's missing when listening to this, but that's primarily on the production end. I can respect this album's lyrical themes and Madonna's undeniably charming vocal style. Plus, the title track will always be an all-time great pop song.

Yay, it's my favorite '80s hair-metal group. Def Leppard has always managed to take one of my least favorite "scenes" in rock music and turn it into something I can genuinely enjoy. Because I mean, by the time these forty-five minutes were over, I was only a little bit agitated, which is good! And it does contain all of those typical tropes that I usually don't even like, the high-pitched screechy vocals, the call-and-response choruses, and the excessive "Rock and Roll" pride (which, to be honest I disliked the song 'Rock Of Ages' for that exact reason, too cheesy for my liking). But god, there are some great tracks and some borderline Iron Maiden-esque passages here, like with 'Too Late For Love'. I mean, Iron Maiden is obviously still leagues above this band, but it was a parallel that allowed me to enjoy this song and the whole album, nonetheless. 'Photograph' might be the band's sweetest track - who knew harmonizing the word "Photograph" over and over again could sound so good. 'Comin' Under Fire' was relentlessly catchy and really the perfect hair metal song. Just the drama in the verses created by the muted strumming and that group chorus - so good! I also loved the closer 'Billy's Got a Gun', a dramatic closer that seems to tackle themes of violence and crime. I mean, these guys are two for two at this point. Just the perfect glammy band. And I really do hate this sound, but these guys just make it work!

Blah blah blah, Britpop is not for me, blah blah. I mean, it isn't, but I'm not going to repeat that every time I listen to one of these Britpop albums (even though I just did). But I feel like I understand my dislike for this genre much better after listening to this. Just like Oasis, there's no personality here, no unique sound to warrant this album's fifty-plus minute run time. It's just an album comprised of other pre-existing (90s) sounds from artists who did said sounds way better. I mean, even the huge song off this album 'Song 2' felt like a big ball of nothing to me. Needless to say, Daman Albarn would go on to do infinitely more interesting things with Gorillaz. Some moments here were somewhat interesting. I enjoyed the ominous 'Theme From Retro' and the organ-driven 'Death of a Party," which might be my favorite song here. The quirky, off-kilter acoustic ballad 'You're So Great' wasn't too bad either. However, everything else felt so boring and empty, especially the 8-minute closer 'Essex Dog," which did absolutely nothing for me and was just one big droney mess. So, yeah, I didn't like this one at all.

Friggin cool. I'm a sucker for this late '60s, intangible, low fidelity, grainy, psychadelic music that takes on this almost dream-like quality. And this one has a Brazillian-pop twist! It almost reminded me of the VU debut in many ways, with those occasional female-vocal-led soft ballads, like the dreamy 'O Relogio' and 'Le Premier Bonheur Du Jour.' I also really liked the song 'Baby'; it had this super cutesy organ lead and maybe the catchiest chorus on the album. 'Bat Macumba' goes all the way with those insane tribal drums, and that bassline is to die for. 'Ave Gengis Khan' was also a memorable closer, taking an almost krautrock direction, reminding me ever so slightly of a CAN song. Just a really fun album to get through. Music like this just takes your mind to a million different places. And I'll say the grainy quality of the recording only amplifies this effect.

It's a pretty cool record and, honestly, quite ahead of its time in many ways. And maybe it's because I associate "UK Rap" with its more recent 2010s boom, but I found Dizzee's rapping style to be quite innovative, especially for 2003. The other visionary aspect has got to be the house-tinted production here, which, on songs like 'Wot U On?', sounds like the popular industrial rap of the 2010s. 'Stop Dat' has some horror-core elements and is easily the most insane production here, firing on all cylinders with those constant switch-ups. I also really enjoyed the following 'I Luv U', with that petty back-and-forth between the two MCs - it was satisfying to listen to. Unfortunately, it was the album's length that bothered me the most. There are satisfying braggadocious rhymes for days, like on 'Fix Up, Look Sharp', but it seems like every song here had Dizzee airing his grievances about a significant other or friends he deems to be fake. On some songs, it works, but nearing the end, it gets redundant and tiresome. 'Jezebel', while somewhat insensitive, serves a decent cautionary tale and lyrical switch-up nearing the end of the record. I feel similarly about the introspective closer 'Do It!'. And while I think the production on this album was ahead of its time in many ways, its clunkiness and rudimentary nature bleed through on many of these songs. The closer 'Do It!' was amazing though, with its gorgeous and almost proto-cloud-rap beat. The hooks were occasionally annoying - but certain ones grew on me like the back-and-forth of 'Wot u On?'. And I just couldn't hate the hook of 'Jus' a Rascal' considering just how ridiculous it was. The album aged both well and poorly at the same time. While there were some enjoyable moments, and the rapping was genuinely solid, its length ultimately wore me out. There just wasn't enough variety in the beats and lyrical themes to justify its nearly hour-long runtime. Sorry.

I've been enjoying The Byrds more and more with each album. They're a band that is, at the core, country-rock but with wide-reaching cross-genre sensibilities, an aspect that keeps me engaged on each new listen. They've always been quite poignant and politically conscious lyrically as well - it's something I've always appreciated about them. That and they can write some damn incredible songs - I mean 'Have You Seen Her Face' and, especially, 'My Back Pages' are two of some of the most gorgeous pop-rock songs I've heard out of the '60s. Those harmonies, melodies, and the bright guitar solo on the latter are to die for. It all sounds so good on the production end as well - I mean, you'll still get those classic '60s "experimental" studio post-production moments with songs like 'C.T.A' and the psychedelic 'Mind Gardens', but the closing 'Why' demonstrates the band's natural abilities with those jangly guitar leads. I was very lukewarm on these guys when I first heard them. But after this, 'The Notorious Byrd Brothers', and even Gene Clark's solo work, I feel comfortable labeling 'The Byrds' as one of the best out of the '60s.

'Fever To Tell' has always been one of my favorite post-punk-revival albums of the 2000s, but that album's younger electronica-tinged brother 'It's Blitz', I've never really connected with. Like their debut, Karen O's quirky and charming delivery is the ultimate draw here, but the production I find doesn't suit her as well. 'Heads Will Roll' is the standout here - a song I enjoy even after that one overplayed remix. For the record, this original version is leagues better. 'Soft Shock' was an early highlight as well. It sort of reminds me of why I loved 'Maps' so much with its melancholic synthpop instrumental. 'Dull Life' was catchy, and 'Skeletons' was also a decent slow-ballad, but it's really the second half of this record that loses me. I think if I squint my eyes, I can sort of morph the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to an early 2010. pop-group, and maybe this record would make more sense to me then. But I just can't do that, no matter how hard I try - this album will always feel off to me - like a band who strayed way too far from their original sound. Nothing wrong with that, of course; it just doesn't work for me in this particular case. I feel similar about some of Modest Mouse's 2000s work, though admittedly, I enjoy those albums a heck of a lot more.

DC's very own Bad Brains have always been one of my favorites, if not my favorite, of the city's early hardcore scene (sorry Minor Threat). Their self-titled debut is about as fiery and fast, yet as skilled as early '80s hardcore could get. This album, while more melodic, slower, and metal adjacent (I guess sort of post-hardcore in many ways), I've always appreciated for completely different reasons. 'I Against I' is one of the band's best songs and sort of harkens back to their more straightforward DC hardcore sounds (with the structure almost mirroring that of 'Banned in DC'). While a song like 'Let Me Help' has a lot of the guitar work you'd expect out of '80s metal, especially with that guitar solo, but again, with a larger appreciation for vocal melody. Songs like 'She's Calling You' and 'Secret 77' are sort of funky as well - with these prominent basslines; these remind me a lot of what Fishbone was doing around this time. And while they tone down the straight-up reggae cuts on this album, their appreciation for the Rastifarian culture is still put on display on a few of the songs here, especially on 'House of Suffering' So yeah, I really enjoyed this, maybe not as much as their straight hardcore debut, but it's a solid switch-up nevertheless.

My first Van Morrison, and I think I'm at peace. At least I'm more at peace than I have been all week. The music, for one, has no right to sound this good for the '60s. The baroque arrangements are all so lush and detailed and constantly flourishing and shifting. Each song builds so subtly that before you even know it, you're entranced. It's the standout musical elements here, that subtle progressiveness. A perfect example of this is the song 'Madame George', which has a nine-minute length that just flies by, like a good night's sleep. And Morrison's voice is just filled with so much conviction, emotion, and sheer power. He's not afraid to get unconventional. At times, he'll randomly switch up a core melody and even get tangential with his ideas. And like the music, his voice just builds emotionally. On the lyrical front, it's an album that resists easy analysis after only one listen - but as it goes with folk music, it's filled to the brim with evocative imagery relating to nature, love, and intimacy. 'Beside You' might be my favorite as it seems to relate to the singer's child, but it's tough to pick just one. The writing is gorgeous; it feels like every minute, there's a line or two that steals your attention. I'm mesmerized and absolutely in love with this album. Super excited to see what else this guy has in store (after I bash myself in the head for not having listened to him sooner).

A lot more subdued than I'd usually expect out of Nick Cave (after having listened to a good chunk of his gothic '90s work - obviously 'Boatman's Call' aside). And while Nick Cave, his voice, and his lyrics are the usual draw on his albums, I found the production on here to be more uninteresting and unalluring than usual. There are some gospel elements here, especially in the first half, and I did enjoy some of the bluesier and country elements of the second half (which I liked more overall), but the production, especially in the first disc, didn't sound as grand as I feel like it should've been - it felt sort of washed out. Nick Cave also tones it back lyrically, it's more intimate, warm, and calm. You'll get those story-driven tracks like 'The Lyre of Orpheus' or 'Fable of the Brown Ape', the subtly twisted themes of 'Cannibal's Hymn', the explosive climax of 'Let The Bells Ring', and a genuinely catchy and enjoyable love song with 'Breathless'. It's all very dense, yet at the same time, some of the more easily digestible in his catalog. While not my favorite from him, it was a nice listen front-to-back and an album that really embraces its double-album format.

Yeah, I think I'm good. It was as bad as I expected it to be. Any decent or passable production moment here (I didn't despise it on 'Take a Look Around') is soiled by the rapping. Durst is a YouTube rapper years before the fact. He is the most intolerable thing here. Yes, the production is tacky, messy, and all over the place - but what could've been a charming, aged, so-bad-it’s-good quirk is ruined by Durst and his whiny voice. I can't stand it.

While I don't listen to them as often now, Outkast is really one of the most important groups in my life - in fact, they were the first "Band" that I was ever fully obsessed with. They had such a colorful discography, and while at first, I avoided this album with the impression that it was some bloated mess (sort of still is lol), I've grown to realize over the years that it's a key piece of the Outkast constellation. When I zoom out and look at Outkast's discography and why it's so incredible, eclectic, and unique, this album's importance makes itself evident, despite it usually ranking below other classics like 'ATliens', 'Aquemini', and 'Stankonia' for me. With this album, you're just getting two very solid discs that so effectively spotlight both artists' strengths in these semi-vacuums, but also some of their weaknesses. First is Big Boi. While often overshadowed, I've always found him to be so incredibly smooth and genuinely quite unconventional with his flow at times. And I enjoy a good chunk of his solo work post-Outkast as well, especially his 2010 debut 'Sir Lucious Left Foot'. His disc here is sort of a precursor to that album - it has some of the best bling-era and early 2000s rap songs of all time, packed with a lot of that southern Atlanta flare. 'The Way You Move' is relentlessly catchy and smooth, 'GhettoMusick' is such a kickass opener with such an earworm chorus, 'Flip Flop Rock' has one of my favorite Outkast beats with those sour guitar tones (+ a JayZ verse at this time!). 'War', while a common subject matter in 2003, is such an effective commentary on the precarious situation of the time (incredible beat switch too). Also, no one talks about 'Unhappy' but that song in particular got me through some difficult times back in the day - so blissful. So yeah 'Speakerboxxx' is just your perfect hip-hop music of the 2000s - not experimental for the time or anything, but just doing the sounds of this time more than justice. It's also very easy to fill up a playlist with these songs. Then there is Andre's side, which I was more indifferent towards at first, but I've grown to love it a bit more recently. I mean Andre's obsession with love and his affinity for eccentric and oddball, over-the-top theatric artists like Prince is very clear with the music and writing here, you even get a Prince cover with 'She Lives in My Lap' - a great cover honestly with one of his best vocal performances. The whole thing plays out like a Broadway musical to me, 'Love Hater' being a perfect intro for this. 'Happy Valentine's Day' is one of the few songs that has Andre rapping on here, but even with that aside it's one of the strongest songs on the disc - I love the arpeggiated synth and the refrain that send the song off. The two standouts are in the middle with 'Hey Ya!', (which doesn't need to be talked about - it's just classic), and 'Roses' which is a perfect display of Andre's sense of humor, and yeah it's also super catchy. The next run of songs, while fun at times (say for maybe 'Pink & Blue' which I really don't like), are mostly forgettable. Luckily the disc closes off strong with a duet with Norah Jones on 'Take Off Your Cool' and one of Andre's best rapping performances on 'A Life In The Day of Benjamin Andre', displaying the rapper's knack for storytelling once more, though in a more mature manner. At one point I would've said that I can only appreciate this album from a distance, picking out a select few songs to put on repeat. Nowadays, I can say that Big Boi's side has certainly grown on me a lot more, and Andre's side is far less self-indulgent than I had initially made it out to be. I think more than anything, I now see it more for the double-album masterpiece it is. It really is insane that an album like this exists in the midst of the very repetitive and, at times, bland early bling-era hip-hop scene. I just can't, at my current age, hate on an album that's oozing with this much character and life. Music like that just doesn't come around that often.

A very influential album, in the realms of post-rock, post-hardcore, and emo. And while I may not hold it as near-and-dear to my heart as most people, I'm still always thrown for an emotional loop whenever I put it on. Like a lot of post-hardcore of its time, this is an album that masters its loud-quiet dynamics. You'll have the hushed talking of a song like 'Breadcrumb Trails' immediately contrasted by the cartoonishly piercing tone of the haunting guitar melody on 'Nosferatu Man'. My favorite parts here are the spoken-word moments, like on 'Breadcrumb Trails', with that dead-pan and hushed delivery of the narration, the dreamlike story-telling, the way the music sort of goes along with the story, emphasizing the dramatic points - it's all very surreal, dizzying, and, at times, unsettling. This emphasis on minimalism and patience is also seen in the song 'Don, Amen' - which reinforces this album's themes of isolation, depression, and loneliness. I love the random piece of scene-setting narration that comes in from another band member in this track - it's such a strange moment in an already very strange album. The songs 'Washer' and 'Good Morning Captain' may be the most devastating songs here but for two completely different reasons. The former can be interpreted as some sort of suicide note and is backed by these very dreary, weeping guitars that feel so empty yet they're most melodic thing on this album. And this song also has this incredible explosion of noise in its final minutes. The closing 'Good Morning, Captain' has maybe my favorite bass and drum groove here. The story is also built so effectively, not just in this song, but the final minute here feels like the emotional release of the entire album like it was all building up to this one really cathartic minute. This is a very sad and cold album, it borders on lifelessness though in a mostly good way - desolate and deserted may be better words to describe it. It feels like you're being sucked into this world where there is nothing to rejoice in. You're not going to get insanely skillful playing or the long-winding song structures and crescendos usually associated with post-rock on this album. What you will get though is a lot of atmosphere, space, and a genuinely powerful experience that will stick with you for a very long time.

Solid chill-out music. This is an album that puts you in a headspace you can lavish in for days. While I do think a lot of the songs blend in with one another (upon first listen at least), I think that just speaks to how consistent this whole thing is - I respect that it remains in this very consistent, lowkey, and relatively standard cool-jazz and bossa-nova space for its duration. As the title suggests, the two artists here are vocalist Gilberto and tenor sax player Getz. Most tracks have Gilberto riding these standard samba percussive bits in the first half, with Getz coming in during the song's final minutes, sending it off with a solo. The solos can range from light and fluttery, to relatively dramatic like on 'O Grande Amor'. I also really enjoyed Astrud Gilberto's vocals on the opener 'The Girl From Ipanema' and 'Corcovado', she offers an oddly modern take on vocal jazz, considering this came out in '64 and all. This is music that can cheer you up, and make the gloomiest of days feel sunny. Great stuff.

Of the two 'The Who' rock operas I've heard so far, I think I enjoyed this one a bit more. But for as much as I disliked the music on 'Tommy', I do think it wins on the conceptual front. This one's a bit less linear with its messaging, for better or worse. I avoided this album like the plague for the longest time (in part due to this horrendous album art), but it does have some great 'The Who' songs, with them channeling their inner psychedelic pop Beatles. The themes tackled here relate to money, self-image, unconditional love, and of course commercialism. It's a bit inconsistent, constantly tossing in these samples that only serve to break up the pace of the whole thing, but some solid songs here nevertheless with my favorites being 'I Can See For Miles', 'Sunrise', 'Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand', 'Tattoo', and my personal favorite 'I Can't Reach You'.

I'm not very familiar with the pre-Dickinson Iron Maiden era - but I think this debut further proves that I can genuinely listen to this band all day and no matter what. I mean, to be fair, despite not having those iconic lead vocals, you do still have Dave Murray playing his sharp lead guitar on many of these songs. Admittedly, this album isn't as high-octane, dramatic, nor as epic as the high watermarks in the Iron Maiden discography like 'Powerslave' or 'The Number of the Beast'. You get some long, drawn-out, slow-ballad moments like with 'Strange World', and songs like the closing title track give heavy punk-rock vibes more than anything. Honestly, the bass all over this thing is very punk rocky. Still some incredible highlights here. 'Phantom of the Opera' for one might be one of the band's best songs - it has everything that makes an Iron Maiden song incredible from the length to the back-to-back guitar solos, to the catchy verse melody, to the winding song structure. I also really liked the riff of the opener 'Prowler' and 'Transylvania' was an incredibly solid instrumental cut. More than anything, I think this album proves that this band was coming in, guns blazing, out the gate. And while I'll always prefer Dickinson, Paul Di'Anno does the band more than justice on this debut.

I've never considered myself a "Beatles-head," as in I don't sit there sifting through hours of scrapped studio recordings, and I don't know the difference between all the million album remasters they have out nowadays. But if there's one album by them that I've had an obsessive relationship with, it's Abbey Road. It's one of the most important pop albums of all time. A swansong for the group and for the traditional pop-sounds of the '60s that were being phased out by the many alternative movements spearheading the '70s. For as "forward thinking" as this album is often described as, it sure does sound relentlessly '60s - for the most part. But I think that's fine; the Beatles themselves are, after all, ruthlessly '60s. The decade belongs to them, and they belong to that decade. Abbey Road, to me, has always been about execution. How does one execute a pop album? Like this. The first crop of songs I want to talk about are 'Something', 'Oh! Darling', 'Here Comes The Sun', and 'Octopus's Garden', songs that are relatively run-of-the-mill '60s pop - yet there's an edge to them, something exotic that elevates them beyond any of their '60s pop contemporaries. I love the string blushes of George Harrison's 'Something', and that vocal melody in the upbeat switch-up is one of those things that just sticks with you - a gorgeous depiction of one's crushing love for another. 'Oh! Darling' is McCartney's attempt at something similar, and while I don't like it as much, I do love how over-the-top he delivers his lines and just how almost '50s throwback it is. This song shines in its simplicity. And 'Octopus' Garden' is one of the greatest pop songs, period. The group vocals on the chorus, the cozy underwater feel and imagery, and the playful and simplistic bassline - this is by far and away Ringo's best solo track on any Beatles album. And if 'Something' wasn't indication enough, 'Here Comes The Sun' further solidifies Harrison as this album's unsung hero. It's such a perfect tune, with such a subtle approach, but yet with so many layers that so timidly reveal themselves, but then just as easily, go back into hiding throughout this song's 3-minute runtime. But going back to this idea of how to execute a pop album, for the Beatles, it wasn't just about making these conventional tunes (at least not in their later years), but about being able to fuse pop (i.e catchiness and accessibility), with sounds that will challenge your average Beatles listener. Which, at the time of this album's release, was damn near every human-being on the planet. It's far from their most obviously experimental record, that probably goes to the White Album, but there are so many off-kilter moments here that serve to round out the album experience. And these songs are why this thing still stands the test of time. For one, I've never understood what made 'Come Together' so popular. I mean, yeah, the bassline is iconic, but the lyrics are almost non-sensical, and the instrumentation is so barebones and minimal for a good chunk of it, and when that sing-along chorus comes in, it lasts for only two bars. But the song is still by all means incredible, so groovy and slick. And the fact that it's one of the band's most popular hits just proves everything I'm talking about with The Beatles' music's ability to seep poppiness and accessibility into any ambitious idea they choose to muster up, at least on this album. 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer', while not as popular, I feel the same about. The unsettling story of the psychotic Maxwell juxtaposed against the golly singing was certainly strange, but again, it's insanely catchy. I love the way the backing vocals get more exaggerated at each iteration of the chorus, and those blaring Moog synths in the first interlude (and the piano in the second) give the entire thing a very theatric feel, it feels like a run crew scurrying to set the scene for the next act during these transitions. 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' starts off sounding like your standard blues-rock track before evolving into this monstrous, almost prog-rock song, with the organ and that distorted, hypnotic guitar lead. By the end of it, you're getting a full-blown King Crimson 'Red' era kind of cut. Getting a bit ahead of myself, but 'The End' of the medley also gives, oh-so subtle, proto-punk vibes with that noisy, distorted guitar. Maybe the most distinguishing feature of this album is the medley that encompasses a good chunk of its second side. And how each part of it sounds so different, employing unique ideas - and yet all the pieces come together so seamlessly by the end of it. 'Golden Slumbers' is my favorite. I love McCartney doing that over-the-top guttural thing again with his voice. I also dig the elegant baroque instrumentation and the way this song leads into the group-vocal chorus of 'Carry That Weight' that's then followed by that triumphant horn section. It's one of the most incredible music moments there is. On top of all that, the remasters of this album are just incredible sounding. It really is an engineering marvel that each sound here comes through so crystal clear. You just know that when you're listening to this album, you're hearing the entire album, every morsel of it. And you should savor it because Abbey Road is one of those perfect pop albums. A masterpiece in being able to pull every sound in popular music from the time into one tight package. An iconic, monstrous piece of art that landmarks music history like very few albums do.

While I've grown to appreciate the Byrds with each one of their entries on this list, this may be my least favorite of theirs so far. It's all very straightforward and boilerplate when compared to their other works, which makes sense, given this is a debut and all. The draw here is their cover of Dylan's 'Mr. Tambourine Man' which doesn't hold a candle to the original. Their cover of 'My Back Pages' was infinitely better. An enjoyable listen, just not one with too many standout moments or anything.

The sort of the washed-out, soft, melodramatic '90s arena rock I'd expect from a band like U2. I think the degree to which I enjoy an album like this comes down to just how many songs I'm able to enjoy, which in the case of this album, isn't as much as, say, 'The Joshua Tree'. It is, again, very dramatic (which works wonders on a song like 'So Cruel', a genuinely great track) and honestly much darker than I was expecting, which was cool. Some tracks, like the closer 'Love is Blindness' and the incredible precursor 'Acrobat' border an almost goth-rock sound with haunting guitar tones looming in their respective backdrops. 'The Fly' also goes in this direction, though it doesn't sound half as haunting as those other two tracks. I think this one song aged particularly poorly, with one of the worst falsetto choruses here. I also really love the subtle build on the huge hit off this album, 'One', a genuinely gorgeous progression with one of the more winner choruses on here. So there were some decent songs here, but as a whole album, I don't see myself revisiting this one too often.

Excellent dark, baroque-psychedelic, infused '90s pop music. Many parts here reminded me of the little Flaming Lips I've heard, and the sort of awkward vocals really fall into that indie-rock '90s style - they reminded me a lot of Built to Spill. The production is haunting. I love the slow looping and growth of the opener that feels like a larger-than-life flower blossoming on the dawn of a new year - especially when those horns come in. It also introduces the weird Theremin noise that is used very liberally on this album, though I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. I'd say the best crop of songs are saved for last, starting from the great 'Goddess on a Hiway', maybe the most direct pop-rock song here, but it's also just a really good take on this sound. The following, 'The Funny Bird' has the most larger-than-life production on the whole thing; the sound here is monstrous - very strong post-rock vibe with this one especially when that unhinged guitar solo kicks in. The bass on this track is also killer. Very moody, dark but never really angsty or cheesy, which is why I think I enjoyed this as much as I did. I mean, it still sort of borders it at times, especially near the start of the record. But the dense, varied production paired with the honestly very solid instrumental interludes here (Pick Up if You're There was especially crushing with that violin) gave the whole thing a very authentic, gothic feel, one that I really enjoyed.

I get it, this is how I'd be if I lost PJ Harvey too. Honestly, I don't remember liking this at all when I first heard it. Think I've always just preferred Nick Cave's darker, edgier goth rock side, especially the absurdity of an album like 'Murder Ballads'. But now I'm more mature and...yeah, I still prefer that edgy era, sorry. But I certainly got more out of this album than I previously did. Particularly, the first three tracks here are all incredible - especially the song 'People Ain't No Good'. But ultimately, to me, this is an album that's way too long for its own good. I can only handle so much of this brooding and sombre ballad-type music before it starts to get tiresome. There are these occasional production flares and switch-ups that keep things interesting - like the sharp violin of 'Where Do We Go Now By Nowhere' and the more upbeat country drive of the song 'West Country Girl'. Vocally, I wish Nick Cave was doing a bit more. I swear, melodically speaking, many songs use this same set of chords. But the lyrics are as crushing as I'd expect out of an album like this. Nick Cave's a talented songwriter at the end of the day, and I especially loved 'Are You The One That I've Been Waiting For?'. While I did enjoy this album when it started, it failed to keep me engaged throughout. I'd say anything past the very stale and repetitive 'Black Hair', I wasn't too hot on. Still a solid and much-needed mature switch-up for Nick Cave - a very important album for him.

Honestly, not too hot on this one, at least not upon first listen. To me, it has some Neil Young's most unfocused, scattered, and uninteresting production paired with lyrics that just don't grip me the same way as, say, 'After the Gold Rush'. I wouldn't say Crazy Horse added too much for me either - they sound good jamming, sure, but the extended jams of songs like 'Down by the River' or 'Cowgirl In the Sand' just didn't work with Young's style for me. Not to say those jams didn't belong, they moreso just felt tacked-on, directionless, and pace-breaking. I found that I enjoyed them more in smaller doses. I still want to make it clear that I didn't hate this; in fact, I enjoyed my time for the most part. And the title track (which has my favorite lyrics here that seem to be tackling the directionless or mundanity of an individual's day-to-day) and 'The Losing End (When You're On)' were two really solid cuts.

I was sort of getting sick of all these '60s psychedelic entries on this list, but I honestly really liked this one. At times, it had the ferocity of an early 'The Doors' album, though much poppier in essence. But a good chunk of it was these very solid and mellow (hipster) acoustic cuts, my favourites being 'Comin' Back to Me' and the instrumental 'Embryonic Journey. Though I did enjoy the more aggressive 'Somebody to Love' the most, it's one of two Grace Slick led tracks here, and if you were to ask me, she has the two best songs on the album. The other one being 'The White Rabbit', there's something so ominous and towering in the vibrato of her vocal delivery on the latter part of this short yet progressive song. While yeah I've heard too many albums that sound like this one at this point, I do still think there's a consistent quality to the music here that made it a joy to get through, moreso than many other psych records from this time.

I'd be hard-pressed to tell you that there was a 'Doors' album out there that I didn't like, but if there was one that I understood the least, it'd be 'L.A Woman'. On the surface, it's the same bluesy, hard-rock experience we've been getting from this band since '67. But it always sounded much cleaner, more tamed, and quite frankly, it just felt like a more streamlined Doors experience more than anything else. After listening to it this most recent time, though, I saw it for what it really was, which was just another Doors album, a great one at that. And it honestly does have some of the band's best songs. The clusterfuck of a title track, for as messy as it is, is absolutely one of the band's most firey songs. I love the opening keyboard groove of 'Love Her Madly', easily my favorite song on the album, especially when that intro comes back with that new layer of guitar. 'Car Hiss by My Window' and 'Crawling King Snake' see the band going bluesier than ever, and 'The WASP' has those esoteric Morrison lyrics we've learned to love over the years. And yeah, the closer 'Riders of the Storm' has no reason to be as popular as it is. I mean, it's such an odd song, very low-key and unsettling - but cunning all the same. As this is the band's final album (as their full lineup), I've always felt it was their most mainstream-sounding, which turned me off initially. I found that the band's inner turmoils and intra-band conflicts from this time were reflected in the music, making the entire album feel very scattered. And while I do think that's still true to a certain extent, it just proves that even on their worst days, 'The Doors' still sound damn tight, interesting, and amazing.

I think I've always been on Team "Fusion-Jazz Miles" as opposed to "Cool Jazz Miles", though both have their perks. And I mean, it's Miles Davis, and while this is no 'Kind of Blue', in essence, you're getting a very similar vibe, idea, and aesthetic. You have a song like 'Moon Dreams' which is much slower and more melancholic, and then your more upbeat, airy songs like 'Rocker' with these fluttery solos and a nice refrain. Not a standout in his discography by any means, but a short and enjoyable experience nevertheless.

Easily the best record in King Crimson's "whimsy" era, which is pretty much anything before 1973. It really is a whimsical, fantastical record, not progressive rock in the typical sense. Maybe it's the mellotron and flute all over this thing, or the dream-like imagery ranging from the titular Crimson King himself to the "Moonchild". The closest we get to a traditional hard-rock track here is the opener '21st Century Schizoid Man', and it is quite the opener, though not quite a tone setter, I'd say. I'd argue it's quite deceptive and misleading. It's just a much faster, blood-pumping, electric rock take on King Crimson's core sound of this time - the vocals are drenched in distortion, giving them a sense of urgency which perfectly complements the track's dystopian imagery. You obviously have those jazzy elements and the unconventional 6/4 breakdown in the middle. It's just a proggy masterpiece all in all, though I'd argue it even sticks out in the prog scene of its time. It's just super aggressive, high-octane with an almost punk-esque fury. It's crazy that the band was firing on all cylinders on the very first song in their discography. While no other song matches the sheer energy of this opener, the album's subsequent patience, I'd argue, rounds out the experience in a way very few albums can pull off. But it never gets boring, well, mostly. Songs like the title track and especially 'Epitaph' are some of the best sounding songs in the band's catalogue. They're so huge sounding, like on the song 'Epitaph' when that mellotron increases in volume so drastically before exploding and opening up right before the instrumental interlude. It's a moment of utter drama in an already really dramatic album. And it's warranted drama, given the global destruction depicted in the song's lyrics and the tragic emotion behind Greg Lake's vocals. The two slower cuts are just as effective, especially during their ballad segments. The flute of 'I Talk To The Wind' just hovers alongside the track like a butterfly guiding a lost soul through these treacherous woods at night. And 'Moonchild' has maybe my favorite vocal melody on the album, that is before it breaks into its, quite visionary, 10-minute Miles Davis-esque jazz-fusion ambient segment. I can take it or leave it, but I'd say overall, the album experience benefits from it. Just wish there was a version of this song without the ambient segment so I could listen to that ballad portion casually. I'd argue this isn't the best representation of King Crimson. I mean, legendary guitarist Robert Fripp, who's usually the star of these albums, isn't really the draw here. That pleasure, I'd argue, is shared equally between every player on this album. It's easily their most colourful record because of that. I mean, just listen to all the different interludes of the closing title track; it's overwhelming at points, but in a good way. I mean, really, for as influential as this album is to so many other prog bands, very few manage to top it. Such a cinematic experience and one that deserves every bit of acclaim it gets.

Montreal's very own Arcade Fire was a largely important band to me when I was younger - I thought they were the most profound thing ever. And while I still revisit 'Funeral' from time to time, I still maintain that it's one of the best indie-rock albums of the 2000s, all of their other music has wholly left my rotation, say, for a few songs (like Sprawl 2). And, with this album, I just remember it being much better. Like wow, way to drain out every ounce of life, emotion, and jovial energy that made their debut so fantastic. The production sounds so static and lacks the spontaneous energy of 'Funeral'. There's a fine layer of polish on everything, yet it manages to sound worse. Maybe the worst offender is the final minutes of the closer 'My Body of the Cage', where that organ crescendo and those overblow drums sound just horrid. The production in general doesn't complement Win's generally very clunky singing style, especially on songs like 'Black Mirror'. It's not all bad, though. The run of songs in the middle up to 'The Well and the Lighthouse', while still containing all the production gripes I have with the album, was still really enjoyable. I especially loved the two-parter 'Black Wave/Bad Vibrations', a song that really embraces the album's clearly darker direction. I think it's starting to sound like I despise this album, and I don't really. I think the monotonous angst in the lyrics of their debut are seen here; they're interesting, to say the least. And the songs, at their core, are decent. It's just such a messy album, with production sounds that are questionable at best and grating at worst.

Some early 2000s quirky indie-rock that, while not bad at all, gets tired and repetitive real quick. A sort of one-trick pony. It reminded me a lot of another album on here by a group called "The Zutons", though that record was more colorful and generally more enjoyable. More than anything, this is an album that values melody, which I appreciated, especially with those harmonies on 'Dreaming of You', easily the best song here. While it's steeped in its vintage garage-rock influences, some elements of the album reminded me of '80s post-hardcore, mainly a band like NoMeansNo on a song like 'Skeleton Key, the most chaotic and one of the most enjoyable tracks here. Again, not bad, but I'd struggle to be able to pick it out of a group of other albums in this lane. Still solid.

I know that I say this about a lot of albums, but this album was, seriously, mind-blowing to me when I first heard it. It was my first dive into this type of music - the artsier, more colourful side of alternative rock. Wacky experimentation fused with genuinely solid alternative and predictive grunge and '90s alternative rock (insert Nirvana forefather statement here) is the name of the game here. And let me just say, I've listened to a lot of music since I first heard this years back, and still, nothing quite balances those two things as well as Doolittle. I mean, to start, there are so many cool little moments here, and almost every song has some defining little mark. The straining screams of 'Tame', the campy '60s pop-chorus and bouncy bassline of 'Here Comes Your Man', the dramatic strings on 'Monkey Gone to Heaven', the cheesy yet charming interjections of 'La La Love You', the blood-pumping guitar in that second half of 'Mr. Grieves' that comes out of nowhere, or the western throwback of the Kim Deal led 'Silver' - all these moments, I'd say, define their respective tracks, and the album as a whole. But that aside, it's still all so well done. Black Francis is a perfect vocalist, not too awkward and clunky like a lot of his contemporaries, yet dynamic enough to make each song sound unique. The guy's range is insane, and he's capable of being quite emotive, like on 'Hey', and especially on my favorite song here, 'Gouge Away' - an absolute monster of a closer that really nails the quiet and loud dynamics that are so heavily associated with this style of music. Joe Santiago shines too on many of the surf tracks here; his guitar lead on 'Wave Of Mutilation' just gives the entire thing such a jovial, day-on-the-beach feel, despite the song's pretty morbid lyrics. And Kim Deal was one of my defining bassists, and one of the reasons I picked up a bass in the first place - I mean just listen to that bassline on 'Debaser'. Her basslines tend to be simple, yet so effective and memorable, she's one of the greatest in the genre. With all that said, there were always a couple of songs here that I'd want to skip, like 'I Bleed', 'Dead', and 'No 13 Baby' (a blusier track that I now see clearly influenced the likes of Jack White/White Stripes). I enjoyed them a bit more this time around, but they're just not as incredible as many of the other songs here. They don't bog down the experience, though - this album still remains tight, vicious, and ambitious - and still has its bite so many years later. An absolute classic!

While I'm familiar with the term "Mod", I'd be hard-pressed to name an artist that specialized in the genre (though The Who and The Kinks both fall into that category). Because of that, I'm not entirely sure what this genre is supposed to sound like. Based on this album, though, it feels like a fusion between Britpop and new wave, with a bit of '70s styled punk sprinkled in, especially in the basslines throughout. Regardless, this was an absolute joy to get through. I mean, everything about it was so tight and poignant, from the melodies to the cross-genre sensibilities to the lyrics. You'll get a gorgeous airy-guitar love ballad with 'English Rose', then the incredible basslines of a song like 'Billy Hunt', and then a very hooky song like 'In The Crowd' - it's just non-stop energy and focus on this album. And I'd say that's thanks, in large part, to the very well-done vocals and harmonies. They're convincing but never in your face, and honestly quite ahead of their time in many ways. The vocal melodic progression of a song like 'The Place I Love' sort of gave me pop-punk vibes. Instrumentally, the bass was the star of the show for me, It's so perfect on like every song, my favorites being the aforementioned 'Billy Hunt', 'A Bomb In Wardour Street', and the closer 'Down In The Tube Station At Midnight'. The bass here is what makes everything song sound so damn fun, and it's the melodic powerhouse of the album. Playful is the word here, all while still taking itself relatively seriously in its lyrical themes and subject matter, especially with the final two songs. But I'd say that occasional stark contrast only strengthens this album's appeal in that lane, so there's that. A genuinely great fuckin record that I just don't hear talked about ever - such a shame.

Like many reggae albums, this one resonated with me on a deeper level - I was still engaged but mostly found myself lost and dazed in these grooves. In typical Marley fashion, the grooves are tight, slow, and repetitive - and laced with tons of early '70s psychadelic licks. The best song by far for me was 'No Woman No Cry', which is such a gorgeous little psychedelic reggae cut. I love that cutesy organ backing it. From a "roots reggae" and lyrical perspective, I really liked 'Revolution', a powerful cut that follows the equally galvanizing 'Talkin' Blues'. Maybe a bit too slow for me, but it's sort of what I expected from this, so I can't be too mad, I guess. It does what it does pretty well at the end of the day.

I was already familiar with Orbital, being a big fan of their album "Orbital 2", despite not having delved too deep into the world of '90s techno. While I didn't enjoy this album as much as that one, the experience as a whole was more or less similar. What you'll get here are hypnotic arrangements, danceable grooves, ethereal and cacophonous lead melodies, and the occasional spliced-driving or tone-setting sample. And the entire experience is really driven by an atmospheric undertone that's just otherworldly - especially on a song like 'Are We Here?' and the shifting synths of 'Attached' that reminded me of a Steve Roach movement. The song 'Science Friction' might be the most gorgeous piece here. I just love that subtle melody in the background and the wayward keys in the foreground - I can listen to it for hours. The drumless intro of 'Kein Trink Wasser' takes a while to catch its groove, but when it does, it manages to induce that same hypnotic effect that so many other moments here do - no drums needed! While not as forward-thinking as a group like Autechre, nor as memorable and well-executed as "Orbital 2", and the vocal loops do *occasionally* age this record, I was still entranced the whole way through. Just some really solid techno music - given my very limited frame of reference, that is.

I don't get Beck. Or, I take that back; I do get Beck, but I don't understand his appeal. His whole thing, with my two-album sample size, seems to be laid-back, flat, "cool-guy" vocals over passable blues-tinted '90s alt-rock production. Now that cool-guy, "I don't want to be here" vocal style is what makes these 50 minutes practically unbearable for me. Like god, these melodies are so lifeless, and even when the vocals "ramp up" in intensity, like on, say 'Minus', they still sound so washed-out when propped up against the production here. I think more than anything, I don't see any situation where I can enjoy these vocals or this aesthetic. I guess it sort of feels like a summer day, but one where I'm like sweating profusely and waiting at a bus station at noon type thing - basically annoyed out of my mind. I guess maybe if you're stoned, I can see this type of thing hitting, but I'm not stoned. Maybe my least favorite song was also the most popular, 'Where It's At' - I guess the verses are smooth enough, but those interludes and the refrain are unbearable and take me out of the groove established during those okay verses. I'm not going to be too harsh on this record, I sorta liked the song 'Novacaine' because Beck tends to show infinitely more character when he's doing his cheesy white boy rap thing, which is at least charming with a few genuinely solid bars. This song, 'Novacaine' has a cool hip-hop, Rick Rubin production feel to it. 'Jack-Ass' went in another more enjoyable instrumental direction and probably has my favorite Beck singing on here. Hey, I geuss Beck is unique...I'll give him that, I haven't heard someone be so bold in just how fucking laid-back their style is. Like this man overdoes it, and he knows it. So I guess he comes out the winner for making me sit through 50+ minutes of this.

Yeah, this one didn't do anything for me, but I didn't really expect it to. It's your standard honky-tonky record - short, steel-pedal-backed ballads and lovesick crooning about how much your "girl" is going to regret doing you wrong. There's an aesthetic to dig into here, but every song sounds the same at the end of the day, which was my main problem. But, admittedly, an album like this, I don't think, is meant to be experienced while sitting down on a Saturday morning with a cup of coffee. Maybe if I was getting drunk in my creased white-collar button-up after I had just caught my girl cheating on me, I'd be able to buy into this vibe, at least a little bit more. I'll give the album this: I did feel bad for Ray Price (or the protagonist he's playing as) by the time this thing was over, so I guess that speaks to the guy's lyrical ability at least; they warrant surface-level compassion. He really does hammer home the idea of how much he wants this girl back, this album cover does too.

An album with some genuinely incredible production that's occasionally bogged down by a fusion of two vocal styles that I really don't care for. Not every song falls under these (The songs 'The Man Who Told Everything', 'A House', and 'The Cedar Room' had genuinely solid lead vocal melodies and were maybe the best songs here). But many other songs have these very flat, reverb-drenched wailing vocals that make them a slog to get through when they go on for too long. Mainly the songs in the middle, like 'Rise', 'Lost Souls', and 'Melody Calls' I had issues with. Let's talk more about what I liked here, though. I mean, in essence, I'm getting a well-executed fusion of trip-hop, dream-pop, and shoegaze. And it works marvelously when these strings swoop in like on the opener 'Firesuite', an instrumental cut, or the climax of the aforementioned 'The Man Who Told Everything'. I loved that subtly twangy guitar tone on the 'The Cedar Room', peak distorted, fuzzy dream-pop shit. And despite this song's very forward Britpop identity, a genre and sound I don't really care for, it was maybe my favorite song here. And despite its 7-minute run time, I think the track manages to make most, if not all, of those minutes interesting, enjoyable, and vital to the song's structure. The arpeggiated groove with those piano embellishments on 'Sea Song' was another one of those utterly gorgeous moments. I also really liked the baroque-fused instrumental interlude 'Reprise', a song that brings back those pianos and strings that I loved so much on some of the other songs. I'm leaning towards loving this album - the entire thing just sounds so cozy and exquisite. The vocal moments that I didn't like as much don't outweigh all the other larger-than-life-sounding moments on this album. This was life-affirming shit at its best, but sleep-inducing at its worst.

I'm not sure if the apathy I have towards a large chunk of Led Zeppelin's discography stems from all the '70s (and beyond) LZ clones, whom I dislike more than LZ themselves. I mean, I've always been very clear that I disliked Robert Plant as a frontman, so by extension, I'd dislike everything he spawned to a greater degree. He's easily one of the least interesting of the big early '60s and late '70s rock vocalists. I just don't like his style, his adlibs, nor the way he pieces together his melodies - they just do not work for me. And the music here, like with LZ 2, lacks a certain punch that I'm always hoping for out of these records, a punch that would be absolutely necessary to make Plant's vocals work, imo. Some interesting and genuinely solid moments still. 'Friends' went in a sort of eastern direction instrumentally, which made it stick out in the mix. And I think 'Since I've Been Loving You' is one of the band's best songs, with that soaring guitar and the drama behind the whole thing. It works really well as an LZ "long song". 'Tangerine' is nothing more than your average LZ slowballad, though I enjoyed how out of character it felt for the band at times. It almost reminded me of a slower track off of The Rolling Stones 'Sticky'. And I certainly enjoyed it more than the following slower acousitic cut, 'That's the Way' (though I did enjoy that guitar tone hanging in the background of this one). I enjoyed the blusier tracks on this album more than I usually do from Led Zepplin, especially the off-kilter closer 'Hats off to (Roy) Harper' Not bad by any means, but just another record in this band's catalogue that reaffirms my very lukewarm feelings towards them. And that's fine.

The Zappa I've heard of is on full display on this album. Well, personality-wise at least - musically, he's more renowned for his jazz-fusion stuff, I'd say, which is nowhere to be found here. While at times Zappa may come off as overly bitter toward the meaningless "stand for everything, stand for nothing" attitude of hipster culture at a time as precarious and uncertain as the Vietnam war and MLK's assasination ridden late '60s (especially on the opener 'Who Needs The Peace Corps'), I do think he means well at the end of the day, especially as the album rounds itself out thematically and he starts to point his fingers at the real enemies, the establishments, the cops, the regressiveness of past generations on a song like 'Mom & Dad'. Primarily, songs like 'Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance' and 'What's The Ugliest Part of Your Body (reprise)' show Zappa at his most compassionate and understanding - with these songs tackling the ineffectively superfluous and shallow aspects of a lot of those '60s movements he despised so much. Musically, it's interesting but very incoherent at times; everything feels like a splice, feels very fake with all these vocal effects, sound clips, and sudden cuts to other musical ideas. It fits the bill for the album, but as an experience, it wasn't something I really enjoyed on the first listen. I guess I more enjoyed the weird, experimental ambient antics of songs like 'The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny' and 'Nasal Retentive Clliope Music' - kind of the esoteric ahead-of-the-curve stuff I expect out of a Zappa record. The more straightforward "pop" cuts come off as parodical (kind of like this album cover), though some were still enjoyable. I really liked the opener 'Who Needs The Peace Corps?' and 'Let's Make The Water Turn Black' as standalone songs. Cool, important, and an interesting enough first listen, but I don't see myself re-visiting this one again for a while.

I was familiar with Johnny Cash's infamous 'At Folsom Prison' live release before this, and thought it was an odd, yet impactful one-off thing. Yet here he was again, playing at another prison, "San Quentin", to another crowd of restless and rowdy prisoners. I went into this live album wondering why Johnny Cash played all these prisons, but I think I got all my answers this time around. I mean, here, Cash goes all in with the crowd work, more than 'At Folsom Prison' - even taking song requests from the audience, and enjoying the constant reactions and roars coming from the prison crowd whenever he mentions a warden, guards, or the establishment they were incarcerated in. Maybe the best part of this whole thing is that Cash clearly "sides" with the prisoners in the audience here and is empathetic toward them; he wasn't just there to use them as a punchline to his witty one-liners. I mean listen to the song "San Quentin" and how it riles the audience up, and then the subsequent "boos" the guards receive when Cash requests a glass of water. He even plays this one very combative song twice (and he promised a third time, but it wasn't on this album :(((). It made me realize just how rebellious Cash was when doing this - I mean, just the way he provokes the crowd while there are guards around, it's so fun to listen to. His other renditions and songs here are just really consistent Cash cuts. I liked the song 'Starkville City Jail', another moment where Cash ties himself to the prisoners he's playing to. Though the best song here is still, ironically enough, 'Folsom Prison Blues', it's just too good a song. Not your typical album experience, and really not even your typical *live* album experience. But I didn't expect it to be - what I got instead was something genuinely touching, captivating, and a recording that puts you at a very unique place in time. I'll say very few musicians throughout history have had a live album as interesting as this one and "At Folsom Prison" - recordings don't get more "real" than this.

I mean, it's Lou Reed. If there was an underground rock frontman from the '60s who had no right getting as popular as they did (be it through late era VU or his solo stuff), it's Lou Reed. The absence of any vocal range, straight-faced delivery, and dry sense of humor with parts lovestruck, bitter, and raunchy lyrical topics never really made for great airplay material. But what can I say, this was a hit record. I guess his swaggy demeanor creates a cool dissonance when put up against the generally standard pop-rock music here, to mostly charming results. And you can argue his sort of awkward off-kilter delivery was a precursor to many like-minded vocalists to come. I always associated this album with the buzzing of the melodic bass chords of 'Walk on the Wild Side', and that exclusively, but there were some other genuinely great songs here, like the epic 'Perfect Day' and 'Satellite of Love', which, despite having maybe the clunkiest vocals on the entire album, was also the cutest song here.

I've always appreciated Amy's talents as a songwriter and vocalist, but her music in an album format never really does it for me. If Amy is anything, it's insanely consistent, and after 50 or so minutes, I feel like I've seen everything she has to offer on a particular record. Well, I guess maybe that's par for the course for vocal-jazz dating back to the '50s. And while the more classic, throwbacky moments suit her well here (I really liked the slower 'There Is No Greater Love'), the more contemporary R&B-leaning production on some of these songs doesn't mesh well with her style, in my opinion. That's not the case for every song that goes in this direction, of course - the longer 'You Sent Me Flying/Cherry' has this serene piano-led instrumental that sort of reminds me of something Nujabes would produce. The psychedelic 'What is It About Me' was another late album highlight that sort of goes in a more modern "wa-wa" guitar direction. Cool artist. But I think this album is just too much of one very well-done sound. It's the type of album that'll take a while to grow on you and for each song to develop its own identity. But as for a first listen, I can't say I enjoyed every moment of this.

While not quite prime Gang Starr, it's still a very solid early entry for the duo. DJ Permier's production, at this point, hadn't quite adopted that very shiny and explosive East Coast quality. I'd say he'd find that sound in the mid-'90s (on Illmatic and Gang Starr's finest hour, 'Moment of Truth'). His production here is still very much rooted in that '80s/'90s jazz rap style, though it does hold a bit more variety than other East Coast contemporaries like ATCQ, a bit closer to a group like De La (TBH Guru sounds a lot like Posdnuos). I'll never complain about this style, and it's executed very well here at the end of the day. 'Who's Gonna Take the Weight' has this chunky horn sample and that high-pitched PE-style noise that gives it a distinctly '80s edge. The fat bass driving the song 'Take a Rest' on the other hand, hammers home that gritty New York sound. I think 'As I Read My S-A' sounds the most like modern-day DJ Premier in its sample choices and iconic scratching. The best production here has to be 'Check the Technique', it has this really mystical sounding orchestral sample that's sort of grainy, and distant, yet it perfectly complements and eggs on Guru's no BS bars. Guru himself is such a unique-sounding MC, there's something just off about the way he raps. I'd say his biggest defining quality is his adamant disregard for the bar line, he is constantly crossing that shit. He is a forward-thinking MC in that sense, by not sticking to any sort of rhyme scheme. And he's just such a profound lyricist - just listen to songs like 'Who's Gonna Take the Weight' and the observational 'Just To Get a Rep' and 'Say Your Prayers'. Songs that are perfectly balanced with those battle rap instances, like on the fierce aforementioned 'Check the Technique' (can't stress enough how good that song is) Really good jazz rap - a little long, and, at times, run-of-the-mill for the duo, but well-executed nevertheless.

The term "soft rock" is pretty ugly to me (and probably to most people), as it's commonly associated with squeaky clean production and shallow genre fusions. Hear a lot of people shit on Steely Dan for that exact reason, and seeing as this was my first time listening to them, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about the whole thing. But while some of the jazzy extended-jam moments did end up feeling like imitations (I was especially not a fan of 'Your Gold Teeth'), I do think this was a perfectly okay pop-rock record. To me, it's not too far off from what guys like Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen were doing. It's catchy and witty at times, but I'd say the band is at their strongest when they hone in on the better parts of their ideas, like with 'My Old School' as opposed to when they go into these directionless jams that lack improvisation, grit, and soul. The vocals are always smooth, offering up melodies that are earwormy and easy to digest, and you have backing vocals that nicely fill in the rest of the space on certain songs, like in 'Show Biz Kids'. The whole thing feels like a comfort album, not my comfort album, but a comfort album nevertheless. That's the best way to sum it up.

While I do think 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back' is the better overall album, Public Enemy's 'Fear of a Black Planet' is ripe with experimentation, lyrical fury, and dizzying production that can easily overwhelm you upon first listen. I mean, I've listened to this album countless times, and I still think that it is a lot at times, but in a mostly good way. The production here, and the album in general, feels like flicking through various news channels - songs like 'Contact On The World Love Jam' and 'Incident At 66.6 FM' especially play into this aesthetic. And if there's one thing that remains obvious about all these news samples we're flicking through, it's their disdain for Public Enemy, their music, and hip hop in general after their commercial break with 'It Takes A Nation...'. So, what this album ends up providing for the listener is Public Enemy's much-needed responses to the media's baseless, and mostly racist, claims. But I'll jump to the lyrical side of things in a bit. First, I just want to stress how bat-shit insane the production on this thing is. It's untamed, and a sample warehouse - a Bomb Squad production that is the essence of "Throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks", and, miraculously enough, most of it sticks and leaves a permanent mark. The messy guitar sample and that funky bassline driving 'Brothers Gonna Work It Out' feel like a calm before the storm. The vocoded vocals of '911 is a Joke' are my favorite aspect of that particular song, though I also love the group ramblings that just hang in the background; they're absurd. 'Welcome To The Terradome' has too many incredible moments to list off - I mean, the core beat itself has this very industrial feel to it, and it's another example of the Bomb Squad just choosing an insanely bold, short sample loop to encompass their core beats. Some other small moments from this song that I love are the female vocals in the interlude, that one random electric guitar hit at the beginning of the second verse, and Flavor Flav's accent during the interlude. 'Anti Machine' has this insanely hypnotic groove driving a good chunk of the song, it lulls the listener into a false sense of security before hitting them across the head with D's verse in the final minute or so - I love the sound effects paired with his verse here. The whistle of 'Burn Hollywood Burn' alongside those horn hits makes for an explosive refrain, and the organ of the title track gives the entire song a very funky edge. 'War At 33 1/3' is the best beat here in my opinion, I love that wayward synth that drives the beat, it sounds like it's being perpetually tuned. And that screaming at the beginning of D's verse kills me every time. The other obvious highlight here is 'Fight The Power', just an incredible fucking beat - and not as chaotic as everything else here, sounding like something off their previous record. But even then, the sample list for this song tells another story; many smaller details in this beat can easily fly over your head on a first listen. The lyrical intensity on this album is brought up a ton. These guys are fed up, and any sort of restraint that Chuck D had on their previous album is completely gone (not that there was much there to begin with). It works (mostly) well, with 'Meet The G That Killed Me' being a bit of a blemish on the rest of the album. '911 Is a Joke' actually has Flavor Flav rapping something meaningful, with some genuinely poignant commentary on first responders' apathy toward the black community, with Flav even saying he'd rather call a cab because it would come quicker. 'Burn Hollywood Burn' has PE welcoming some feature verses for once, from the best-of-the-best. Big Daddy Kane's verse here is incredible, just the way he comes in with his deeper caodence on this chunky beat is great. I love this posse cut because it remains focused on the core message of the song, which deals with the pigeonholing of black actors and roles in Hollywood. A few songs here, like 'Pollywanacraka' and the title track, deal with these ideas of race mixing, both providing very unique insights into the world's view on it. And 'Who Stole The Soul?' tackles the idea of persistent dehumanization of the black community at the hands of various government institutions throughout history. Finally, you have 'Fight The Power', one of the greatest musical anthems ever. That Elvis line is still one of my favorites to come out of the band, and I love the way the first part of that bar just repeats to hammer the idea home. Going into the '90s, Public Enemy still sounded like they were operating on a completely different level than any other artist in hip-hop. Their group felt like an idea, a movement, and larger than music itself. They also just continued to sound really fucking good, everything fits so nicely in the mix despite the messy presentation.

I found this uninteresting and one-note; it seems to be a pattern in a lot of jangle pop from this time. It's solid in the background, but when you try to dive into the lyrics or music here, you're left with something so painfully run-of-the-mill. Songs like 'It's Only Natural', 'Fall At Your Feet', 'Four Seasons in One Day, and 'There Goes God' are fine enough, but I'd say everything else here did nothing for me.

Very pleasant record, albeit one-note at times, especially in its first half. But never to the point where it turned me off of the record itself. The production is constantly lush and varied, jumping between the baroque and jazz elements I'd expect out of a singer-songwriter record in the early '90s to mostly great results, with my favorite moment being that grand build on 'Season of Hollow Soul'. The vocals also nicely balance these elements of country-rock and vocal-jazz (especially on 'Still Thrives This Love'). I also really enjoyed the writing here, especially on the song 'Outside Myself', which may be the best song here and an emotional powerhouse in the realm of introspective writing. The closer 'Constant Craving' was also one of the more easily enjoyable cuts here, with K.D. delivering this insanely catchy vocal melody. I'll also mention 'Season of Hollow Soul' again, it's a really well-written song. A lot of talent on display here, especially coming out of K.D Lang herself. Canada represent.

This is the kind of charming and awkward indie-rock sound that's very easy for me to enjoy. It takes a lot from bands like Modest Mouse and Slint (in fact, a couple of members from Slint are in Sliver Jews), but adds a very nice country flair to it all. The music here is very rundown, depressing, and sort of hopeless in a lot of ways - an effect that's amplified when reading up on the tragic life of David Berman, the lead vocalist here. His monotone, deadpan delivery here is what sells the record, it makes any sort of emotion that manages to come out feel that much more powerful. I'd say that attitude comes to a head on the closer 'Death of an Heir of Sorrows' with its heart-breaking depiction of loss, a theme dealt with on many songs on this album. I also really like the female vocalist here, who, I believe, was David's wife at the time - she really saves the song 'Tennessee', after David hits you with that cheesy as all hell refrain (still a cute song regardless). Not all the songs here deal with loss directly - 'Time Will Break The World' seems to be taking on much larger subject matter, with this epic and haunting guitar tone driving the whole thing. The not-so-happy story of 'I Remember Me' was engaging, and the instrumental 'Transylvania Blues' may just be the best thing here. The playing on this album in general is very solid. Still think this is a very difficult album to dissect after one listen, but I found its varied approach to the many sounds of the '90s alt-rock scene to be refreshing at the very least, and quite easy to digest.

The fact that this album is so beloved by just about anyone who happens upon it makes me so happy, because if there's any album that deserves to have that effect on people, it's this one. A good chunk of the songs here I've listened to obsessively for many, many years. And while I do enjoy the hazy production that feels like a flashback to the most perfect moments in your life, it's never been what kept me so attached to the music here, ultimately. Instead, the production always just felt complementary to the real star here, vocalist Elizabeth Fraser. She is perfect, her melodies and choruses are irresistible, her falsettos, harmonies, vibratos...everything about her vocals is just angelic. I don't even mind the fact that her voice is drenched in reverb; it just works. I love the way her vocals just hover alongside the atmosphere on the opener 'Cherry-coloured Funk' during that earwormy chorus. The vocal melody of 'Fifty-fifty Clown' feels like something so nostalgic - like the very first memory I could've possibly ever had...whatever it may be. It has this comforting, lulling effect that's the epitome of innocence. The title track, aside from being the most easily catchy song here, is the only time I can consistently understand what Elizabeth is saying (at least in the chorus). Because if there's anything that amplifies this album's already very dream-like atmosphere, it's Elizabeth's very difficult-to-grasp speech pattern. It's what English must sound like to someone who doesn't know English pretty much. While I usually stick to my favorite crop of songs as opposed to revisiting the entire album whenever I want my 'Heaven or Las Vegas' fix, I'm happy I revisited it this time, because I fell in love with two new songs that I had previously neglected for whatever reason. 'I Wear Your Ring' I remember loving, but completely forgot how utterly gorgeous that core vocal melody was. And 'Fotzepolitic' is the other song here that quickly became another favorite, god, it's so fucking good, can't believe I ignored this song for so long. I know I've sort of neglected the rest of the music here for the vocals, but I do want to emphasize that it's the perfect backdrop to Elizabeth. It's a perfect fusion of many '80s new-wavey and post-punk acts (the songs 'Iceblink Luck' and 'Wolf in the Breast' have instrumentals that sound straight out of The Cure's 'Disintegration'), and your more traditional pop-leaning shoegaze '90s stuff like with 'Cherry-coloured Funk'. And the darker closer gives genuine gothic rock vibes. Comfort music. This whole thing feels like a warm hug, blanket, and fire in a giant ice cave. Cocteau Twins really made something special with this album. Life can't be so bad when this exists, I mean it.

This album sure as hell *feels* like a concept album, but one that wasn't as fleshed out as it could've been. I guess I just don't see the Yoshimi story tying into the over-arching themes of this album; themes that seem to be built upon a search for meaning within one's life. Still enjoyed the lyrics, and the lead vocals were charmingly clunky (for the most part), but I was still really confused about what exactly I got out of this experience by the time the album was finished. Small thing, but some of the titles also felt completely unrelated to the lyrics of some of these songs (from my shallow perspective), which I'm 100% sure was intentional, but can't say I entirely understand why they decided to do it. The music is solid all around. I've heard some Flaming Lips before, but it's been a while. They sound just as I had remembered them sounding. Very grand, orchestral, and easy to digest psychedelic music in some parts, while mind-bogglingly experimental and industrial in others. I really liked the instrumental song 'Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt.2' for that exact reason, brain melting stuff, easily the best sounding thing here. It also felt so randomly aggressive at its point in the album, which made me love it even more. The big single off this album, 'Do You Realize??', is maybe the most emotionally potent track, and also plays into the band's pop sensibilities. I also felt the same way about the opener, whose core vocal melody sounds very much like 'Father and Son' by Cat Stevens/Yusuf. 'In the Morning of the Magicians' has this gorgeous yet subtle instrumental progression, maybe the best one here. So yeah, some solid moments here, but idk, it feels like something's missing here that could've rounded out the entire album experience better. If anything, it fees like the album just sort of ends abruptly. Hey maybe it's a metaphor for life or something.

This is the most Radiohead-sounding Radiohead album out there, so I'm surprised it isn't as acclaimed by their fanbase as other records in their discography. For me, it's just okay, a lot of my gripes with Radiohead's music are more apparent here than on many of their other albums, mainly to do with my love-hate relationship with Thom as a crooning vocalist, and the melodramatic and all-over-the-place musical direction their albums tend to go in. This album sort of fuses their more alt-rock side with their '2000s electronic side without really committing to or fleshing out any specific sound. This fusion is most apparent in the explosive opener '2 + 2 = 5', which is easily the best song here, sounds straight out of 'OK Computer'. It also sets the tone nicely for the more politically driven messaging of the rest of the record.

Love this album, it's the most '70s sounding new-wave album there is. While it does have a lot in common with contemporaries like Talking Heads, I do think this 'The Cars' self-titled holds its own in just being a great collection of pop-rock love songs, with some great, and ahead-of-its-time production. There are slower, and more slick parts here that remind me of guys like Lou Reed (especially 'Don't Cha Stop'), while the more flashy aspects remind me of groups like Queen (like with the closer 'All Mixed Up'). 'My Best Friend's Girl' is irresistibly cute, I love the way the guitar and bass lock in that refrain - might also be the most post-punky thing here. 'Just What I Needed' is as perfect as pop songs in this vein get, and the epic synth outro of 'Moving in Stereo' could've gone on for hours, and I wouldn't care. But easily my favorite track off this album has always been 'All Mixed Up', primarily because of those lush harmonies in the chorus - the layering is incredible. Short, slick, catchy, and hilariously horny at times - probably one of the easiest album out there to listen to. Superb stuff.

The title track of this album is a staple when it comes to new-wave music, and having finally listened to it all the way through (yes, I'm only really familiar with those first few seconds), I've realized just how incredibly varied the whole song is, and I love how heavy those synths come in during the instrumental interlude. The entire song is so epic, despite the number of times I've heard that chorus. I feel this entire album is very underappreciated; I don't hear much about it. It sounds like a lot of new wave and new romantic albums on the surface, but there is something so slick and almost modern-sounding about the way the whole thing is constructed. It's less in your face and far more subdued and moody, similar to groups like Depeche Mode, but I'd argue even moreso. The songs are slow and careful, establishing these very heavy and hypnotic kick-driven grooves. 'The Walk' may be the best example of this, the way the vocal layers develop alongside that cacophonous sax overlay sounds beyond this genre. I also really liked the slower 'Jennifer', which establishes this very ominous core groove, that's beautifully juxtaposed by those more optimistic keys. Also, that layer of distorted guitars in the outro is mesmerizing. And the warped synths of 'Somebody Told Me' give off heavy EDM vibes, weirdly enough. On top of all that, Annie Lennox is an incredible vocalist in this genre; she's capable of adopting so many different styles. She has this very deep and fluttery delivery on the opener 'Love Is a Stranger', but can just easily flip into something darker on 'Somebody Told Me' or something playful like with the funkier 'This Is The House'. Some of the coolest and most forward-thinking new romantic I've heard - some of this music can easily be mistaken for a lot of the pop music that would be heard decades down the line.

To me, 'In A Silent Way' was always the more accessible and easy-to-grasp precursor to the balls-out and batshit insane 'Bitches Brew'. Both records are a part of Miles' best era (in my opinion), his fusion era, and both do an excellent job of throwing the listener into these very moody and carefully constructed soundscapes. You feel trapped in their respective bodies, like you've been hypnotized or put under some spell when listening to these albums. Overall, 'In A Silent Way' is much shorter than 'Bitches Brew', and the fusions here, primarily in John McLaughlin's gutiar, are less aggressive, and more welcoming and complementary to the rest of the band. That's only helped by the slew of shimmering keys hovering over the opener 'Shhh/Peaceful' and the groovier bass part of the title track, which establishes one of the catchiest and most earwormy motifs from any Miles Davis record, period. Miles' playing, especially during the harder part of the title track, is some of the most dynamic I've heard from him (which is saying a lot), mainly in the way it increases in fury as the bass goes into that impeccable groove and the drums kick in. There is a lot of passion behind each note, but the same can be said about just about any other player here. Even with all that aside, though, I think this album's always been a landmark release in "moody" music. I mean it's often considered to contain one of the first instances of "ambient" music - but I'd argue Miles Davis' ambient magnum opus is 'He Loved Him Madly' off of 'Get Up With It'. As soon as you click play on this thing, it becomes apparent that there is this unsettling edge underlying many of these movements. Maybe it's Miles himself looking borderline petrified on this album cover, maybe it's the way the organ goes slightly off-key as a drone increases in volume for a few seconds near the 5-minute mark of the title-track, maybe it's that same drone hovering over the ambient dips bookending the title track, or maybe it's that haunting organ chord that comes out of nowhere on 'Shhh/Peaceful', completely halting the band's momentum, just for them to continue playing like nothing happened. To me, this album feels like a band trying their best to play as straight as possible, all the while there's something genuinely frightening lurking about. That's always been my read on this whole thing, at least, as ignorant as it may be towards Miles' artistic intent. It's not all "dark", though, the opening ambient portion of the title-track with the trumpet, keys, and guitar is heavenly and so damn far ahead-of-its-time that I refuse to believe it was recorded in '69. This album rules and you know that. 'nough said.

This was a much mellower approach by Willie Nelson, at least when compared to his outlaw country, story-driven album 'Red Headed Stranger', an album I really liked. And from what I understand, this album's composed entirely of covers of older pop standards. It was good, I mean Willie Nelson is nothing if not a talented writer and guitar player, and I enjoyed the first three tracks, alongside 'September Song', quite a lot. Honestly wasn't even too familiar with many of the songs covered here, but the selection was well done nevertheless...I'm sure they meant a lot to Nelson himself. But aside from that, everything here felt super boilerplate, very much a late '70s country album. It was still an enjoyable listen at the end of the day.

With every Britpop album this list decides to throw at me, I become increasingly convinced that that one 'Elastica' album will be the only one that'll ever resonate with me. 'Cause this is just another in a long list of forgettable '90s Britpop records. I'll say the production is a bit more varied here, a bit funkier and less concerned with being fuzzy and "90s" - I really liked when the organ leads out that tighter groove on 'Only Teething', for example. And certain songs like 'With No Shoes', You're a Big Girl Now', and 'How Can You Leave Us' were actually pretty good. But for every good song, there are like two yawn-inducing ones. Why does this vocal style make everything sound so bland and lifeless? I'll never know...why do the vocals on all these albums sound so alike? I don't know...what is it about samey Britpop melodies that annoy me so much? I don't know. I just don't get it!

More of the hipster avengers, before Young would join the crew, I assume. But I think I enjoyed this more than the 1970 Young featuring record. The simpler nature of the harmonies, playing, and writing made everything feel more personal and tranquil, like you're camping out in a small cabin with these three guys you found in the woods. You'll still get a groovy psychedelic cut here and there, like with 'Long Time Gone' and 'Wooden Ships', but from the very opening 'Suite: Judy Blue Eyes', the band makes sure to establish this very warm and cozy shell to encapsulate the listener in, and it works really well. Nothing here is abrasive; nothing strays too far from this pattern - it all just cruises by nicely and painlessly. Great listen.

I'm a pretty big fan of a lot of The Knife's earlier works, especially 'Deep Cuts', just a great balance of experimentalism and accessibility in contemporary electropop. I feel similarly about this record for the most part, it certainly feels slower and darker than a lot of those the Knife records, with these heavily effect-drenched vocal layerings paired with these spacey, futuristic, and atmospheric synths that feel intangible on a lot of these tracks. It's really enjoyable, because while the music here feels much simpler in the grander scale of electronic music, it still manages to feel just as evocative. I personally really liked 'I'm Not Done'. Karin's vocals are an acquired taste, they're high-pitched and melodically unpredictable, her lyrics dream-like, but it shouldn't take more than a couple songs to "get" how well they complement the much slower, and hypnotic music backing them. Lyrically she's great, I really loved 'When I Grow Up' and 'Keep The Streets Empty For Me', maybe my favorite song on the album which has Karin dialing it back a bit with the vocals. A very airy and dreamy record that's still very easy to slide into, one of the greats in modern electro/synth pop.

Alright this kicks ass, and I really wasn't a fan of 'Eliminator'. I wonder whether that was a "bad headspace" thing, or if this album is just executed better. Probably a bit of both - in general this album feels less eagerly bombastic and a lot more slick, sort of spacious and psychedelic as well, especially with a song like 'Jesus Just Left Chicago', all while still packing all the punch that I was hoping for out of a ZZ Top record. I mean this oversaturated white blues-rocker music was everywhere in the early '70, but the execution here is something to behold and it makes the record stand out in a way. Not every song hits, but in general the riffs are immaculate - just listen to 'Master of Sparks' and that almost bluesy take on an Iron Maiden-esque interlude on 'Precious and Grace'. 'La Grange' is THE ZZ Top song, with iconic albeit exaggerated vocals kicking it off and this squealing guitar sending it off, and the entire song is backed by this simple yet addictive riff. I mean if punchy was a song it'd be this one. Never really thought I could enjoy ZZ Top as much as I just did, but goddamnit this scratched an itch I didn't even know I had.

I've always associated Randy Newman with wholesomeness, joy, and hope - probably because of all those Pixar songs that soundtracked my childhood. But the guy is much more keen than he may initially let on - underneath those sweeping string sections, playful piano leads, and welcoming raspy vocals are lyrics that are parts poignant, evocative, funny, and quite dark at times. There's a sarcasm underlying many of the songs here, starting from the very first song but more hilariously on 'Political Science', maybe my favorite song here. But I was familiar with his political side having already listened to 'Good Old Boys' - it's really the existentially morbid topics of 'God's Song' and 'Old Man' that stuck with my this time around. And there are a couple just really tongue-in-cheek songs here too - specifically 'You Can Leave Your Hat On' and 'Memo To My Son' which has a ridiculously fun and playful instrumental. More than anything though, this album's just super easy to listen to, all the instruments just pop, are ever-evolving, and Randy's vocals are a pleasure to behold on every song. Great stuff.

I've always been very reluctant to check out Morrissey's solo stuff. Because, one, I don't like the guy at all. And, two, at least with 'The Smiths', you had Rourke's basslines and Marr's iconic guitar work to offset Morrissey's Morrisseyness. And look, I'd be lying if I said Morrissey's earwormy vocals and witty (and whiney) lyrical styles weren't a part of what makes The Smiths so special to me (especially on The Queen is Dead), but this album is just way too much Morrissey, and only Morrissey. The lyrics here are just as in-your-face and blunt as I'd expected. Which I'm fine with to a certain extent, I don't even disagree with Morrissey in a lot of political commentary here, especially with songs like 'America Is Not the World', 'Irish Blood, English Heart', and 'The World is Full of Crashing Bones'. But it's all just too much, and knowing how Morrissey is now, I can't help but see through the disingenuous nature of it all, given the guy's new ugly right-leaning politics. And you can pull that "Separate the art from the artist" stuff all you want, but when you pour this much of your personality into your music, it makes it kind of difficult to do that. And I'm sorry, but the guy was too old at this time to write a song as petty as 'I'm Not Sorry'. Either way, due to a multitude of factors (including over-produced and forgettable backing music), I didn't end up enjoying this melodramatic mess as much as I could've. Some enjoyable songs here, that I mentioned before ('I Like You' was also maybe the best song here), but as an album, it's not something I'd revisit, like ever.

As the title suggests, this album consists of a series of quippy love songs. The album is, in fact, short, but the songs are not. And this really wasn't as intimate and warm as I would've guessed; every song here sounds grandiose and theatrical. There's just so much happening with the music here at all times, and it grows very tired very quickly. I'd say the only song I truly enjoyed was 'Everybody Knows (Except You)', a solid standalone song. The creeping and swelling strings of 'Timewatching' were nice, but this ended up being one of the more forgettable songs here; it's too slow and uneventful. The vocals and lyrics on the album, while fitting, are just as painstakingly melodramatic as the music. So yeah, didn't like this album. I did like the line "If you were a man, I'd still love you" though.

Never really been sure how I feel about these guys. I've always found that, on the musical side at least, they lacked distinct personality, despite their undeniable influence. I do ike Michael Stipe's vocals and lyrics here; they're melodic, diverse, and quite impressive on songs like 'The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite'. While lyrically enigmatic at times, a song like 'Ignoreland' has a deep, cutting message. The only song on this album that I'd been previously familiar with was 'Everybody Hurts', and, sorry, it's all too simplistic, one-note, and overplayed for me to like here. Though again, Stipe's the undeniable highlight of the song. 'Man on the Moon', on the other hand, is an absolute banger, the best song on here in almost every way. The following 'Nightswimming' was also nice, feeling like a chill boat ride under a full moon with this quaint, and sort of hypnotic, piano driving the whole thing. So yeah, I was pretty lukewarm on this whole thing. The songs I find just way too long, and the production too clean and samey. But I'm sure there's something I missed, so I'll put a pin in this one for now.

An edgy piece of shit who makes edgy piece of shit music. I didn't think there was anything to this guy aside from his shock factor, and I was sort of right. I mean, this thing is far too long, for one, and lyrically it clearly draws from troubled ideas of guys like NIN, but with absolutely no nuance or finesse, and it's all presented through a 4th-grader-edge filter. Vocally, this guy's boring at best, and annoying at worst. 'Wormboy' is genuinely awful, and the fucking mess that is 'Cryptorchid' should not exist and cease to exist. 'Angel With The Scabbed Wings' presents itself as this noisy head-banger, but its appeal runs so thin it's not even funny. Credit where credit is due, you do get the occasional catchy little riff or drumming sequence here and there, but they feel like little hits of enjoyment that wane faster than they appeared. And that's only in the first few songs; by the time the second half hits, there are absolutely no redeeming qualities left to salvage this mess - it becomes grating. To me, this is music that tries its absolute best to take the sounds of much better artists, blends them together, and then adds this very ugly filter and aesthetic that is "Manson the performer" on top of it. I was so tempted to turn this shit off halfway through. I hate what this music is.

I fell in love with 'Astral Weeks' after hearing it for the first time a few months ago - it has genuinely become one of my favorite albums. And despite telling myself, constantly, that I'd listen to more Morrison, I never actually did (shocker). But hey, that's what this list is for. And 'Moondance' is honestly very different than 'Astral Weeks'. It has a lesser focus on subtlety, atmosphere, seamless progressions, and odd song structures. It's more in-your-face, poppy, and honestly very soul-inspired on a few of these songs (just listen to 'Crazy Love'). Also, the music sounds less hazy and fuzzy; every instrument here just pops in the mix. I still really loved it, though. The first two songs are incredible, especially the very jazzy title track, which has a killer chorus. 'Caravan' and 'These Dreams of You' are just as catchy, and 'Into the Mystic' is another great Morrison love song, albeit a bit dated. Really enjoyed this. I mean, there was no high here as high as 'Sweet Thing' or 'The Way Young Lovers Do', but I didn't expect that. Instead, what I got with the incredibly iconic writing of Morrison over these catchy, easy-going instrumentals. That's all this album was, and that's all it needed to be.

Not really album related (or maybe it is), but I really enjoyed the stereo mixing of the 50th anniversary edition of this. That aside, though, this is just another really solid, varied, and well-performed Stones record. Opener is an obvious banger, but 'No Expectations' is one of the better mellow country-rock songs I've heard from them. I mean, generally, this album's pretty mellow, not as dirty as I'd maybe like, but songs like 'Street Fighter Man', 'Parachute Woman', and especially 'Stray Cat Blues' still pack that bluesy grit that I generally enjoy out of these guys. The basslines here standout generally, more than other stones records, I especially loved the one on 'Jigsaw Puzzle', works as a nice constant as the song builds throughout its 6-minute duration. Can't put my finger on exactly what this song's about, but the imagery and the slew of different, colourful characters gives it an almost Bob Dylan-esque feel - I liked it. Honestly, I really like 'Sticky Fingers', but this is certainly a contender for my favorite Rolling Stones album now. It's just consistently enjoyable, and a very satisfying listen.

I mean it's certainly solid mood-setting music, something that can just hang in the background and set a pleasant atmosphere. But it's honestly a bit too one-note and, at times, skeletal, for me to really be able to get anything else out of it. For me, the vocals save it from being completely boring, they fit well into the mix here.

Get a lot of Yes vibes from this band, especially with that instrumental opener, which was unfortunately where the album peaked for me. In terms of early '70s prog rock, this album fell on the less interesting side of the genre. You're getting the typical occasional jazz fusions, and some acoustic slow-burn ballads, with the titular track, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired - especially when the album reaches its final moments.

Probably my favorite of the Eno-Bowie albums. But more so when looking at the album as a whole, in all its colours, strange directions, and interesting segways. When it comes to standalone songs, there are few that I actually return to - 'Sound and Vision' being the obvious one. It's one of Bowie's best songs, that super fun bass, playful lead guitar line, wave of synths that come in during that intro, and Bowie's very lowkey vocals make for one hell of a pop-rock song that feels like a party in a little, well-lit apartment room in the middle of the night (the 'night' being the rest of the album, cause it gets DARK). I also really like 'Be My Wife', it's just super catchy and has some of the best guitar playing here. But when I say the album as a whole, I do mean that Eno-touched production, where every instrument feels like a living creature, something he did very well on his solo albums 'Before and After Science' and especially 'Another Green World'. The guitar and bass are paramount in the mix, but you have some other odd, standout moments, like that panning SAW in 'Breaking Glass' or that harmonica on 'A New Career in a New Town'. This one song, and a good chunk of this album's vibe, reminds me of the DKC2 soundtrack (lol). And in typical Eno fashion, this thing goes full ambient and instrumental in its closing tracks with songs like 'Weeping Wall' and 'Subterraneans' sounding like they're from two decades in the future with those breathtaking pads and chord progressions. I think I mentioned Eno here more than Bowie (even though Eno isn't even the main producer on this album, it's Tony Visconti), because I'd say it's his influence that's the most clear in the music here, it doesn't sound like many Bowie albums that came before this. It is Eno and Tony's album as much as it is Bowie's at the end of the day.

Fell in love with this album as soon as the first song started, 'cause you're really just thrown right into the madness here. This is easily the best Samba record on this list so far. It's all so lively, so catchy, so groovy, and so infectious. And I really want to emphasize the "lively" part, because there is so much life, so many little planets and musical organisms existing within this record - it's like the musical Amazon. Be it the various bluesier elements, the funky and jazzy musical interludes, the addictive use of the cuica (a usually very hit-or-miss instrument for me), the way the backing vocals are just as essential as Jorge's lead vocals, or those infectious as-all-hell lead melodies. 'A Historia De Jorge' is perhaps one song that perfectly captures all I love about this album; it just goes in so many directions that it's honestly ridiculous - with so many instruments, yet it's never overwhelming. Something this album does really well is knowing exactly when to pull away the vocals to let those delicious conga-drum-based grooves ride out, if only for a little bit, before bringing everything back - it happens several times on this album, and it's always super effective. And don't get me started on 'Taj Mahal', maybe the best song I've heard recently, I'm in love with it (especially a live performance I found of it on YouTube). There isn't a dull moment on this album, just the best 40-minute party you could imagine - gotta get around to checking out more Jorge Ben ASAP.

Solid. I mean this is about 30 minutes of bittersweet lovesick pop music from the early '60s, and that's all it is honestly. Some good songs, but many that didn't really standout. The songs tend to blend into one another generally, little variation here (I mean just listen to the cliche rock and roll guitar progressions on 'So How Come' and 'Baby What You Want Me to Do' - they're practically identical) but it's short enough so it never really gets to the point where it's grating. My favorite songs by the end were 'Made To Love', 'Stick with Me Baby', 'Love Hurts', 'Donna Donna', and 'Cathy's Clown'

Can't lie, Van Halen threw me for a loop here. Given the synth-y, semi-futuristic intro and iconic banger 'Jump', I was expecting this to be more of a new-wavey album, one that embraces all the genre's clichés. However, aside from 'I'll Wait' later on in the album, this thing moreso just plays into the standard hard rock and glam metal sounds of the '80s. But I think I still really liked it? I mean, 'Panama' is a straight-up banger, and I can't hate 'Hot for Teacher' given just how ridiculous the premise is paired with some genuinely incredible guitar work. Speaking of great guitar work, 'Girl Gone Bad' has this very reverby tone on the lead guitar which, when the song dips into its little atmospheric interlude, sounds almost gothic. Eddie kills it on this album. I get the praise he gets now. 'House of Pain' has maybe the most outwardly punk-metal sound on here, and is another incredible cut. And I'll mention 'Jump' again, a black sheep in the tracklisting, but such a fun and uplifting song. So yeah, oddly enough, really liked this, just really enjoyable start to finish, and it doesn't overstay its welcome.

Solid background music with some great vocal guests here and there. But pretty much exactly what I expected out of an album like this - it certainly sets a pleasant mood. I'll say I like this album cover and the song 'Holdin' On' quite a bit.

Certainly has some of that '90s drum and bass cheese, but honestly, this was a pretty cool record. I was immediately drawn in by the eastern-influenced ambient coasting of 'Traveller'. I also really loved the title track; something about those group vocals was just so outlandish that I couldn't help but enjoy it - especially during the dreamy mid-way interlude. Could've gone without some of the spoken word pieces here, but I generally enjoyed this thing.

Going into this album, I was a bit intimidated - I was told it was one of the greatest live soul records of all time, and it was guaranteed to put a smile on your face no matter what. But I'd almost accepted the fact that that wouldn't happen since I "had" to listen to this after a shit day at work - and it felt like nothing could turn my mood around. But no, this was gorgeous, and I'm happier now just knowing this exists and I'll get to keep listening to it for the days to come. Won't dwell on the "Live" aspect of this much, but know it sounds great, the crowd just sounds so happy, Cooke himself sounds happy, and the bass pops out and is infectiously playful in so many of these songs. I love how fuzzy the crowd singing along sounds, it's almost intangible, but you can just barely make out the melodies, especially on 'For Sentimental Reasons', where the crowd participation is damn near magical. The Cooke songs I was most familiar with beforehand, 'Wonderful World' and 'A Change is Gonna Come', aren't on here, but I didn't mind because I was introduced to a batch of songs that I love even more than those. 'Chain Gang' and 'Cupid' had such incredible renditions here, especially 'Chain Gang' with all its interjections, subtle yet effective backing vocals, and a more expressive take on the chorus. I love the slow build of 'Bring It on Home to Me', especially the line "This is the operator, I don't want the operator", and how the crowd roars with every dramatic drumroll - another masterpiece of a live performance. Despite Cooke being at the core of the formation of Soul as a genre, there is something so undeniably poppy and accessible about the backing music here (mainly seen in the basslines), but Cooke himself has an undeniable soul touch to him. He's just such a perfect live vocalist, so much talent beaming from him, and he knows how to spice up the melodies, breaking them up with these "One More Time!" or "Oh Yeah!" interjections without ever disrupting the pace of the song. And he sounds even better live than in the studio, which is always such a feat. So yeah, I'm really happy now, every song here was performed with so much care and passion. But I guess most of all it makes me happy to know that there'll always be music out there that I have yet to hear and that is destined to have such an impact on me - this was one of those albums.

Damn good English punk rock, and a good bit more melodic than many of their contemporaries. While they do fall into a more traditional "punk rock" field, they're certainly more experimental and diverse than early hitters like the Pistols and the Ramones. Closer to groups like 'The Clash' and 'The Saints'. And when they get a bit more experimental, like with those blaring synths on 'I Just Can't Be Happy Today' or the echoey guitars on the closer 'Smash It Up', I get a bit of an art-punk vibe from them, like something Wire would release. The opener 'Love Song' might still be my favorite, though; it's just insanely catchy. I love how 'These Hands' is pretty much just a The Doors song. And the epic 'Plan 9 Channel 7' was another highlight with a pretty interesting story behind it after reading up on it - inspired by the tragic love story surrounding two real-life Hollywood lovers. Good stuff. I will say that it did get a little repetitive nearing the end, but it still maintained its initial appeal throughout.

Glam-pop, I guess. Not quite glam-rock in the traditional sense...or maybe it is, but it certainly caters towards a more pop audience. That doesn't change the fact that it trumps many other albums in the genre. I'd say it's mainly due to just how tight the song structures and core melodies are. Russell Mael's falsetto driving almost every song here never got tired, and he's just great at writing these incredible, pillowy lead melodies - my favorites being the ones on 'Falling In Love with Myself Again' and the opener 'The Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us'. That 'Equator' chorus is gonna be stuck in my head for a while as well...I just know it. He's a comical guy, too, just dive into the twisted yearnings of a song like 'Thank God it's Not Christmas'. Or the blatantly ignorant remarks of 'Hasta Manana Monsieur' and the endless Einstein puns of 'Talent is An Asset'. These are unconventional song topics and lyrics; they kept me engaged. I'd say the vocals and lyrics were without a doubt the best part of this album, which is saying a lot. The backing music here is dramatic, just how I like it, and it sounds larger than life on many songs - I love the way the 60s-styled wall of sound swoops in on a song like 'Here in Heaven', or the way the cutesy piano line complements the vocals on 'Talent is An Asset'. One of the better Glam Rock albums I've heard in a while. I appreciate just how humorous, sarcastic, and unserious it can be at times. And musically, it managed to keep me interested till the very end.

I remember being pretty impartial towards this album back when I first heard it. With Monk and Rollins being such legends in their own right, I was maybe expecting something more adventurous. And I think I felt that way with the first track this time around as well; it felt scattered, and with no solid motif to hold the whole thing together, I caught my mind drifting throughout, sort of like that first listen all those years back. Luckily, what followed with much better than I remembered. 'Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are' has that strong motif I was looking for, and the Thelonious-piano presence is undeniable. 'Pannonica' is a bit more somber in its presentation, especially with that almost ominous celesta intro - I love the way Monk's rainy chords backdrop the sax solo in that first half. And honestly, the Monk exclusive 'I Surrender, Dear' was just as good; there's so much drama behind his wayward playing here - the sound of confused heartbreak. A really fun Jazz album, one that I'm happy to have revisited. It has given me a newfound love and respect for this remarkable jazz pianist.

Strange album, but I dug it. What starts as a macabre, dramatic, and aggressively depressing Americana and country album slowly transitions into a Latin-inspired jazz fest near the end, with some odd tracks in the mix here, especially 'Guero Canelo'. The opener, 'Sunken Waltz' was incredible, with an enigmatic yet easily digestible story driving the whole thing, and the following 'Quattro' was just as good. I love that reverby steel-pedal and that genuinely solid breakdown near the halfway mark. Everything that follows is a bit more hit-or-miss, especially since I wasn't too big a fan of the instrumental cuts here (say for maybe 'Pepita', which awoke a sense of longing within me that very few songs ever do). On the more "upbeat" side of this album, the tejano song 'Across the Wire' really stuck with me. A super unique and quirky album. Yeah, it's all over the place, but in a mostly charming way.

Certainly an enjoyable record, but I didn't really understand how much I was actually enjoying it until the very end, that is, when the title track came around. I think the nuances in the instrumentation here are easy to miss underneath the general salsa sound the record aims for - it all went over my head. So I decided to listen to this album twice for that exact reason. And while I do think that closing title-track is the best song overall, some other highlights included 'Ojos' and 'Buscando Guayaba' - the former of which may be the catchiest thing on here. A super lavish album, with some incredibly catchy moments laced throughout. And obviously, the salsa grooves all over this thing are irresistible.

Some interesting acoustic arrangements here, but it felt very one-note by the time it was finished. The generally wayward and vibrato style of the vocals didn't grow tiresome, though; they complement the darker parts of this album quite well. I enjoyed this, but didn't get much out of it after my first listen.

Millions have said it already, but I'll say it now also: this is the greatest pop album of all time. The genius of one man, Brian Wilson, on full display - taking the very best of his contemporaries from the perky song topics and structures of The Beatles' 'Rubber Soul' to the emerging "Wall of Sound" aesthetic of producer (and piece of shit) Phil Spector, most famously with The Ronettes 'Be My Baby'. But enough of the redundant history lesson; everyone's already familiar with it. I just really wanted to convey that this album is very much of its time. For as much as people praise this thing as being "Ahead of its time", which I still agree with 100%, I'd say a lot of its charm lies in its age. There's a very fine layer of dust sitting on this thing - it's what makes the album what it is. Pet Sounds is an album that jumps between emotions at an almost dizzying pace - playful, dreary, confused, alive, and, quite often, longing. It's a very sporadic album emotionally, which is something not many people talk about - you go from the upbeat harmonies of the love song that is the iconic 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' and then, right after, you enter the depths of 'You Still Believe In Me' which has one of the most hauntingly melancholic outros in any pop song with the echoes of the wails of "I want to Cry" fading out with the rest of song. 'Don't Talk' is equally as dreary, but its lyrics paint something more comfortable, with the overthinking of 'You Still Believe in Me' being thrown completely out the window as the narrator sways with this comfortable ballad alongside their lover in a moment of serenity where literally nothing else matters. I initially didn't even love this song, because it's missing those Beach Boys harmonies, which I'm a huge fan of, but in recent years it's become one of my favorites. The following tracks are more upbeat, picking up the pace after those past few lulling tracks. Nothing puts a smile on my face like those pummeling, crushing drums and those cheesy, but oh so delicious harmonies on 'I'm Waiting For the Day'. And 'Sloop John B', while not only being the funniest track on here, also has my favorite harmony arrangement on the whole album, especially when that second go of the chorus hits. And then we get the marvel that is 'God Only Knows', maybe the most perfect song ever. I love the majestic horns that introduce the whole thing and the way the bass crunches alongside the snappy percussion in the verses. Carl Wilson's on vocals here, and the conviction in his voice as he lays down these simple and almost haunting love rhymes immediately ropes you in as the sound swells and grows around him. And the interludes, they're otherworldly - just in the way the voices of the other band members come in, one at a time, building alongside the music for one last grand finale. This is the type of song where you smile throughout the whole thing, shed a single tear in its final moments, and then feel utterly void when it's all over as you're shot back into the real world. And honestly, after the unreachable high of 'God Only Knows', the band still comes through with non-stop back-to-back bangers. 'I Know There's An Answer' may have those sort of dorky '60s horns, but the key arrangement here is honestly much more complex than it may initially let on. Plus bonus points for having one of the best choruses here. 'Here Today' is a cautionary tale with another incredible chorus. It brings back those waves of harmonies that just hit the listener seemingly at random. And then there's 'I Just Wasn't Made For These Times', a lyrical marvel here, one that I see myself in a bit too much. I mean, I'm probably not even one millionth of the genius that Brian Wilson was when he wrote this, but his lines about feeling like his mind just can't operate on the level or speed of the evolving world paint a picture that I find myself living inside of. He was clearly evolving in a much different direction than most people around him - a direction no one really understood. Honestly, I called this the greatest pop album of all time, but there is a minor flaw with it - I never really cared for the instrumentals here. There are two of them, and while they don't ruin the album by any means, they're honestly pretty spacey, cool, and psychedelic (especially the title track), they were just never that memorable either. No one remembers Pet Sounds for the instrumentals. But everything else here is the closest thing to perfection that the human ear can fathom, and maybe animal ears too. I love love love Pet Sounds!

There isn't much that I can say about this album that I haven't already said about Cash's 'At San Quentin', but I guess this is the OG after all, and it has the better crop of songs in my opinion. I mean, this rendition of his 'Folsom Prison Blues' track is my favorite Johnny Cash song of all time, just the way the crowd roars when Cash mentions he shot a man in Reno gets me every time. The provocative nature of this album is really the standout here; there's something so satisfying about the start-stops of a song like 'Cocaine Blues'. 'The Wall, ' I feel similarly about, but the crowd's reaction is far more reserved here, and rightfully so, given its darker nature. Other highlights here are 'I Still Miss Someone' and 'Send a Picture of Mother', a song that I'm sure tugged at the heartstrings of every single inmate at that show. Cash's interjections and random one-liners are as funny as ever, and the recording of this thing still sounds crisp. And his duets with June Carter are a much-needed change of pace late in the performance. I love her growling presence on 'Jackson'. This thing rules, really enjoyed it much more than I remembered on this most recent listen.

Kate Bush rules, but honestly, I haven't looked into much of her music outside of 'Hounds of Love' and her debut 'Wuthering Heights' - both of which have songs that I revisit more than frequently. This was one of her more acclaimed albums, so I was excited to get into it - despite the first track scaring me a bit. To me, this album shares the same British wit, charm, and forward-thinking avant-garde leanings as many of Eno's earlier works, especially 'Taking Tiger Mountain by Storm'. Like Eno on those albums, Bush is just so fun to listen to, and the music manages to (somehow) match the whimsy she exudes on just about every track here. It's a surreal combination; there's just something about Bush reaching into those upper registers in songs like 'Suspended In Gaffa' and 'There Goes A Tenner' that scratches an itch that very few other vocalists do. Not to mention her weird inflections on songs like 'Leave It Open', which I just don't understand, but love all the same. She's certainly expressive as well, I love how her voice cracks with the "I Love Life" cries of 'Pull Out The Pin', a song that seems to depict some war-placed moral dilemma. That emotional expressiveness can also be seen with the closer, 'Get Out Of My House', which, despite the emotional turmoil driving the whole thing, has one of the more catchy refrains here (minus the donkey noises) - it's a fantastic closer that goes in so many captivating directions. And honestly, for as weird and experimental as this album is, it still manages to be pretty catchy at various moments throughout - especially that chorus in 'Suspended In Gaffa' or the one in 'Houdini'. And I have to mention the incredible 'Night Of The Swallow', another tragic song that has one of the greatest outros I've heard in a while with those pipes and theatrical vocal arrangements. And I feel Bush understood just how good this part was since it goes on for just about 2 minutes. So epic. The title track I also really loved, it's super atmospheric and employs a didgeridoo perfectly fitting the theme of the song, which seems to tackle indigenous struggle in Australia. What an incredible listen. I actually held off writing this review until after a few listens, and I think that was the right move; this thing really grows on you with every play. But honestly, I also loved it after my first listen. There is something really special about this album that I latched onto very early on.

Been a pretty big fan of every Queen album on this list so far. But I'll admit that enjoying Queen's singles and enjoying their albums are two very different sports. Their albums tend to be more linear in their progression, wildly more experimental, hard-rock leaning, and sort of messy. I mean, you still get a song like 'Bohemian Rhapsody' that is pretty much all those things, but a song like 'Killer Queen' off this album sticks out in just how directly catchy it is, unlike pretty much anything else here. With all that said, this was unfortunately one of my lesser favorite Queen albums...it's just far too all-over-the-place for my liking. There are still some highlights, like 'Bring Back That Leroy Brown' and the gorgeous little ballad that is 'Lily Of The Valley', which sounds a lot like early King Crimson. The riff on 'Stone Cold Crazy' is also one of the nuttiest things here. I also enjoyed the closing ballad 'In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited' which has some killer group vocals. And obviously, there's 'Killer Queen', super catchy and one of my all-time favorite Queen songs - those harmonies on the chorus rock. So there were individual highlights here, but as a whole, this was a difficult album to digest - it just goes in a million different directions. Maybe I'll enjoy it more on future listens.

Really gorgeous Hindi music, the stuff that makes you realize that the sounds we associate so heavily with ambient nowadays were treaded much earlier than the mid '70s in eastern music (and jazz music honestly). That's as clear as day on this album, and just a few minutes into the first movement. It's really the reverb nature of the Santoor that amplifies that effect - it's one of those hauntingly gorgeous eastern instruments that just naturally are very lush, not unlike the Gamelan. And honestly, it manages to sound even better when paired with the very loose guitar playing here. Ambient pieces aside, you still get these more traditional drum-driven grooves throughout this album, which are great, especially when that tabla goes absolutely nuts in the final minutes of that first movement. I think I ended up enjoying the groovier moments here overall. While I did admittedly let this hang in the background for most of its duration while I was running some errands, I did still enjoy it quite a bit, if not more than I would've otherwise, in that context.

I mean, DC's very own Minor Threat have always been one of my favorite hardcore bands, rivaled only by groups like the Dead Kennedys and Bad Brains. But I've always been a bigger fan of their first two 7-Inches as opposed to this sole LP in their discography. Those are two genuine masterpieces in the world of young, rebellious, noisy, and fast punk music. This album, on the other hand, always felt a bit more polished - the guitar playing a bit more flashy and predictive of later post-hardcore bands like Fugazi. It still has that youthful ferocity though, especially in MacKaye's vocals, it sounds like a bridge between the earlier Minor Threat releases, and the more melodic and emotional nature his proto-emocore band, Embrace, would go in. He's clearly already getting sick of the meathead-ridden and ultra-masculine direction the scene he helped prop up was going in. Ian's pissed here, and it's awesome. While I don't enjoy this as much as those first Minor Threat EPs, this whole thing is still ruthlessly kickass. I love the squealing scratchiness of the guitar in the second half of the opener 'Betray', and that bass break on 'Think Again' is so crunchy (a comment that applies to most of the bass playing here). The riff on 'Look Back & Laugh' sounds right out of the late '70s DK playbook. And the title track (re-interpreted from their 'In My Eyes' EP) is quite literally just 'Straight Edge' part 2, in the best way possible. The closer here is one of my favorite Minor Threat songs; it's easily the funniest and most on-the-nose thing here. It's also just stupidly catchy. I mean, it's this genre at its source and its prime. There is absolutely nothing to hate here - you don't get 20-minute albums this rad every day.

I might still be a bigger fan of 'Acoustic Ballad' Elliot when compared to his later-career, more lavishly produced indie-rock stuff. Not to say the stuff here wasn't great, because it was, but I still found my favorite songs here to be the slower and more ballad-leaning ones. 'Somebody That I Used To Know' has the hypnotic finger-picking intro of a song like 'Angeles', my favorite Smith song, and it also has one of the more winning choruses here. The piano ballad 'Everything Means Nothing To Me' is Elliot being incredibly predictive of my guy Sufjan, more so than usual. It's also one of the few songs where the more busy production suits the whole thing quite well, especially when those echoey strings flutter into the second half. Come to think of it, there are quite a few cool little one-off outros here, 'Happiness/The Gondola Man' and 'The Roost' especially. It's a small detail, but I love it when albums do that. Lyrically, it's really everything I'd expect out of Elliot; many of the songs detail a failed relationship, the failures of both Elliot as well as his partner, and the toll it took and continues to take on him. It comes off as bitter on the surface, especially with songs like 'Stupidity Tries' and 'Easy Way Out', but under the surface, this is clearly more than your average break-up album; there's a lot of emotional baggage to unpack here. I'd say rays of optimism still shine through the cracks on a song like 'Happiness/The Gondola Man', but even with this song, I sort of get the vibe that the protagonist is overcome with regret due to the failed relationship, be it with how it unraveled or how it ultimately ended. And the inability to move on due to such a dissatisfying end is also seen on another one of my favorite acoustic ballads here, 'Better Be Quiet Now'. It's certainly an Elliot Smith album, despite it not really falling under that cozy, acoustic, sad-man-with-his-guitar umbrella the guy's known for. It's still mostly that, but maybe a little less cozy, a bit more indie-rock, but just as sad all the same.

Genuinely think that The Kinks are one of the coolest and most original '60s bands there was, and definitely not just the band that made 'You Really Got Me' (MY original misconception). In a way, their very diverse and, at times, scattered albums sound like a more extreme version of their pop-rock contemporaries, The Beatles, and dare I say, Ween before Ween. There's a theatrical, comedic, and snarky edge to the songs here, even a song like 'Some Mother's Son' that tackles quite a dark topic can't help but sound almost overly sentimental, purposefully so. The bangers are still here, though - for one, 'Victoria' is a genuinely incredible opener with one of the more earwormy choruses here. And I don't know what it is about 'Australia', but I swear to god the smoky vocals on that song sound like Alex Turner - and the shimmering arpeggios of that song are generally pretty ahead of their time. It also has this infectiously jammy outro after a very standard, yet earwormy, poppy progression early on. Oh, yeah, and I guess there's a concept here; apparently, this was soundtracking some play. The story wasn't very obvious to me, but then again, I don't think that was the point. It's moreso just a large clump of songs with some thematic constants.'Shangri-La' stuck with me quite a bit from the lyrical side, it seems to be describing someone that's so cozy in their comfort zone, to an almost imprisoning degree. A really fun listen, just like everything else I've heard from these guys up until now. They haven't missed.

The name Sheryl Crow certainly rings a bell, but I don't think I've heard her music before this. And honestly, for as much as this is a hodge-podge of your standard '90s pop tropes, it was pretty much enjoyable all the way through. 'Leaving Las Vegas' really hooked me in early on. There's just something about that chorus that throws me back to a time when I wasn't even born yet. And songs like 'Solidify' and 'The Na-Na Song' are just good, goofy fun that don't detract from the rest of the experience. The latter I liked especially, it being your standard pop-song mockery track, despite this album being a, you know, standard '90s pop-rock record all the same. That's not to say Sheryl Crow is overly generic in this field, because that's definitely not the case. For one, I find her writing to be more compelling than many of her contemporaries - especially on songs like 'No One Said It Would Be Easy', 'Strong Enough', and especially the epic and almost haunting 'We Do What We Can'. She also has a knack for interesting production, like with that slow trudging, reverberating bass on 'No One Said It Would Be Easy' or with the steel-pedal surfing on that fun bassline of 'All I Wanna Do'. Her voice is also really solid, she has this Fiona Apple type rasp and slickness (to make a comparison that will probably piss many off, but like come on, just listen to 'All I Wanna Do' - am I crazy?). So yeah, a super enjoyable record for me, honestly. Type of album where I see myself returning to many of the songs here.

Pretty good, definitely one of those '60s albums that tries to blend the whole later part of the decade's various sounds into one sorta mess of an album. Be it the country-rock leanings of 'A Child's Claim to Fame' that sounds right out of a Byrds album, the grandiose balladry of a song like 'Expecting to Fly', the addictive and blood-pumping psychological jamming of 'Bludebird', the upbeat white-boy horn-driven funk of 'Good Time Boy', or the closing Beatle-esque medley 'Broken Arrow'. They're a lot like a band like the Kinks in this way, but what Buffalo Springfield chose to do with all these genres I found was far less interesting and certainly more tame. Still, there are some great songs here; I really enjoyed the haunting strings of 'Expecting to Fly' alongside its gorgeous chorus - easily my favorite song here. I also pretty much enjoyed every part of that closing medley, 'Broken Arrow'.

Probably the most I've enjoyed Led Zeppelin on this list so far, a solid crop of songs, but still, not an album that I see myself re-visiting. But honestly, this was the most expressive and enjoyable I've found Plant to be (especially on 'Babe I'm Gonna Love You'), a vocalist I can seldom stand. As usual, though, he's still the worst part of this band's music, and his repetitive, derivative, and directionless riffing on songs like 'I Can't Quite You Baby' bog down these otherwise solid jammy songs. Overall, the album is considerably heavier and grittier than some of their other albums in the self-titled series; the riffs are dirtier and catchier, that's for sure - listen to 'Dazed and Confused', 'How Many More Times', and 'Communication Breakdown'. And yes, I know these guys stole a good chunk of their riffs, but assuming they didn't, the ones here are some of their absolute best. I mean, you still get your occasional snoozer ('Your Time Is Gonna Come'), but for a band that I don't really care for, this was pretty enjoyable.

I love this album; it's so beautiful and subtly haunting, yet simultaneously cozy and comforting. But I guess it's comforting in the same way that being stranded in a small, warm cabin in a raging blizzard is comforting. There's nothing really comfortable about that situation, aside from the way you'd feel in the present moment. I feel the same way listening to this album; it's more sheltering in that way - I mean, listen to the lyrics of the title track, it's honestly kinda depressing I find. Either way, many of the songs here I've been revisiting for years. 'Like Dylan In The Movies' has maybe my favorite introduction on the album - such a slick bass and drum groove with some light acoustic strumming that still holds that subtlety and softness that's a staple in B&S' music. 'The Fox In The Snow' has maybe the most gorgeous outro on the entire record - I love that little moment in the end with the back-and-forth vocals and what I can never tell is a string or a horn. All the instrumentals and playing on this album are top-notch - I'd say it rivals albums like 'The Queen Is Dead' in just how varied and colourfully produced and arranged it all is, without ever feeling overwhelming. My favorite song, which has always resonated with me the most, is 'Me And The Major'. Maybe I'm a bit too old to relate to it now, but it's a pretty on-the-nose song with lyrics that still ring true generations later. It's also ridiculously catchy and the most upbeat thing here. 'Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying' also stuck with me back when I first heard this - a song that seems to be about someone talking, or singing, about life from his unfiltered point of view - in a way, the protagonist is sick of the way reality around him is plastered in so much false optimism. Every song on this album kicks ass, such a uniquely colorful album, with some of the greatest writing you can find in a '90s folk rock album. Phenomenal.

A very chill record by, what I assume, is a pretty big name in '90s neo-soul. At least I think so - the name Maxwell is super familiar, but I can't say I was familiar with his stuff before this. He doesn't really stand out in any way vocally, I find, just a dude that's really good at what he does. He has a very nice falsetto, though - really shining through on the immensely smooth '...Till the Cops Come Knockin'''. The basslines here are tight and funky, the synths are prestigious and glittery, and the percussion is light, tight, and slick and the songs are laced with many little embellishments, keeping things interesting. So your typical solid Neo Soul record with some memorable songs here and there, like 'Sumthin' Sumthin'' and especially 'Ascension'. But the whole thing I find starts to feel a bit samey as it hits the 40-minute mark, or after the pretty enjoyable guitar ballad, 'Whenever Wherever Whatever'. It's honestly far too long for its own good. I'm sure I'd enjoy digesting this whole thing in one go in some background context, but as a dedicated listen, it was sort of fatiguing. Which sucks because there really wasn't a subpar moment here; it all sounds so good, but it's just a bit too much for me on first listen. Still great overall and a record I see myself revisiting in the future.

Another one of those wacky late '60s/early '70s American psych-rock albums that this list seems to love throwing at me. While the music on these records tends to lean into weirder directions, I feel like I've heard from enough of Spirit's contemporaries to say that I didn't find much here that was unique or even all that interesting. This album, in particular, didn't really strike the balance between enjoyable and experimental that I'm usually looking for with these albums. Instead, songs just sort of stutter along, with no discernible structure or direction. I did still really enjoy many songs in the second half, especially 'When I Touch You', 'Soldier', and 'Morning Will Come'. But this is definitely a sound I'm starting to get a bit tired of.

David Crosby, I've come to learn from this list, seems to be a very well-respected and renowned figure in this era of folk rock, be it through The Byrds or his various collaborations with other folk-rock artists like Nash and Neil Young. So I was expecting a lot out of this album, and I wasn't really disappointed - I don't think so at least. It doesn't stick out as much as I'd like it to (unlike, say, his fellow Byrds member Gene Clark's album 'No Other'), but the performances here were clean, impassioned, and very layered. It's the type of serene, intangible, trance-inducing psychadelic music that defined this sound. 'Traction in the Rain' may be my favorite thing here, with a backing instrumental that's almost ambient in nature, with these subtly shifting chords. But then you get a long, rough, gritty, gut-punch like the early-record banger that is 'Cowboy Movie' that almost leans into a blues-rock Hendrix-esque jam and groove-based sound. The aptly named 'Song with No Words' is another perfect coast-tune, with music to soundtrack what I assume were days filled with pot smoking on the grass. Just the way the piano, bass, and guitar mesh so well with one another, it's so good. Again, it's far from the most interesting thing this genre has to offer, but I enjoyed how consistent it all was. I respect a record that understands what it's best at and sticks to refining that one thing, instead of opting to go in a million different directions that are nowhere near as fleshed out. I respect this record for sticking to the basics, in a time when it seemed like sounds were beginning to shift away from all this psychadelic stuff and into a darker, and more hard-rock driven one.

An enjoyable blues-rock live record, parts Hendrix and parts CCR (especially in that Fogerty-esque vocal twang), but certainly far less memorable than those two artists. This was my introduction to the Allman Brothers Band, but I can't say it blew me away. Ultimately, this is just some solid jammy blues-rock to turn on in the background.

More absolute peak Disco music, up there with C'est Chic and MJ's 'Off the Wall' in my opinion. Squeaky clean production, melodic bass lines for days, scratchy guitar, and lush strings backdropping the whole thing - just everything you'd want out of a Disco album, pretty much. And when paired with the dense, yet undeniably smooth vocal harmonies all throughout this thing - especially on that grand opener 'He's the Greater Dancer', 'Easier to Love', and the forever iconic 'We Are Family', the album just further unveils itself to be this irresistible bundle of joy, that's honestly super intoxicating. Maybe if I had to pick one thing this album does exceptionally well, it's the bass, cause goddamn, I don't know what it is about the mixing here, but the bass's presence is just so confidently stated as the record's backbone. I can listen to the bass on the song 'Easier to Love' for, like, the rest of my life - such a slick song.

Of the two big "Big Beat" groups, i.e, The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy, I've always preferred The Prodigy on ridiculousness factor alone. But the "chunkiest drums" award has always gone to TCB for me. The drum arrangements and mixing are easily the best part of their music, and the best part of this otherwise rudimentary debut. 'Cause yeah, admittedly this is nowhere near as good as their follow-up and magnum opus 'Dig Your Own Hole', but it still manages to kick ass in its own way. The opener was pretty solid, though it sounded like a lesser version of 'Block Rockin' Beats' at times. But it's really the run in the second half that won me over after a pretty underwhelming first half. 'Chemical Beats' was your typical adrenaline-pumping, funky sample-based, crunchy loud drum-machine TCB song, while the following 'Chico's Groove' and especially the serene and sublime 'One Too Many Mornings' go in a much softer direction. Honestly, that latter song was as close as you can get to proto-vapor wave or Clams-Casino-type cloud rap in the mid-'90s. 'Playground For a Wedgeless Firm' was also pretty neat, a beat that sounds like if EL-P produced a Memphis horrorcore song. So yeah, not the most consistently enjoyable (though honestly super sonically consistent) album out there, but there were certainly some highlights here and some genuinely cool moments.

The second xx album here, and I just think that I don't really understand this band, nor their mass appeal. Or maybe I do, I mean, there is something kind of cool about their very subdued, and kind of dark and brooding take on indie-pop. But a majority of the songs, especially in the first half, and even with the dynamic vocals, just felt super one-note. I did really like the songs 'On Hold' and 'I Dare You', but that's about it. Don't think this group's for me in all honesty.

For as much of an Eno-head as I may claim to be, I've actually never heard his collaborations with David Byrne (aside from, obviously, 'Remain In Light'). The two always seemed like very like-minded individuals, so I was interested at the very least to check this out - and it's honestly pretty neat. For one, it plays out a lot like a groove-based instrumental hip-hop album in a way, though with the samples, be they religious sermons, chants, or political ones, sort of just hovering over these very tightly woven instrumentals. The type of instrumentals that you would very much find on 'Remain In Light', just airtight, polyrhythmic, world-music influenced things that are just indescribably infectious. Really liked the song 'Mea Culpa' early on; it's the most intense thing here. The Middle Eastern-themed 'A Secret Life' also struck a chord with me, and 'Come with Us' sounds like primitive Autechre or something. The field (or non-field) recordings used, while not always comprehensible to me, certainly add to the sort of surreal effect this album is trying to cultivate. There seems to be some anti-imperialist overarching message here? IDK, but I get that vibe off the very world-music themed drive in the album + that obviously politically charged opener. Pretty neat, and another one of Eno's million albums checked off my list.

I mean, this is easily one of, if not the best, girl group albums from the '90s, right? It's all in just how intimate, fuzzy, and warm the atmosphere of this thing is, especially as it enters its second half. And also in just how catchy and well-paced each one of these R&B staples is. And also just in how this group was (and continues to be) ripped off relentlessly, over a decade after this record was released. No matter what, though, the production here is leagues above your average '90s R&B record, with top dogs like Babyface bringing out the absolute best in the three vocalists here. The production on this album does this thing where the first few seconds of almost every song have some strong hook, to force your attention, before slowly coasting and sliding off into something more relaxed, light, and digestible. And you do have your fair share of spacey instrumentals here, like with the impeccable closer 'Sumthin' Wicked This Way Comes' - space that allows the girls here to harmonize in the forefront, as they love to do. The southern Outkast-esque funk hip-hop influences also ooze through on the songs 'Case of the Fake People', 'Switch', and 'Kick Your Game', the latter of which has one of the gnarliest beats, choruses, and Left Eye (RIP) verses. And, again, this song's lightyears ahead of its time, in my opinion. The opener, 'Creep' is straight up one of the greatest pieces of music of all time, I mean, you don't get choruses this good, like, ever. 'Diggin' On You' may have the most surreal instrumental here; it's honestly kind of unsettling at first, but after just a few seconds, it becomes more intoxicating or hypnotizing, especially with the very subdued lead vocals. It's songs like this that are perfect demonstrations of Babyface's producing prowess. He does equally as well on 'Red Light Special', which has one of the most expressive vocal build-ups here near the end, leading into that soaring guitar solo. 'Waterfalls' is another obvious winner here, with some pretty positive messaging, despite the macabre nature of the opening verse. And yeah, I can sniff out that Organized Noize funky funky production from a mile away. Speaking of, there aren't many features on this album, aside from Phife and Busta in some of the interludes, but Andre 3000, in my opinion, delivers one of his absolute best feature verses on that closer 'Sumthin' Wicked This Way Comes'. I mean, neither he nor Outkast were a big name at this point; it was still 1994, but Jesus, does he steal the song, and I'm saying that as someone who thinks the rest of the song is utterly gorgeous - another demonstration of incredible chorus writing. Really love this album. The obvious flaw with it is the skits/interludes that generally bloat an otherwise tight collection of songs for no real reason, but, TBH, I enjoy them for what they are. I mean, Phife's opener is cool, Busta's interlude is horny as hell (on par with the rest of this already horny album), and 'Sexy-Interlude' is so over the top and stupid that I can't make myself hate it. Skits were a huge thing at this point, mainly in hip-hop, so it's whatever. It doesn't ruin other albums for me, so it most certainly won't ruin this one either. The rest of the music is just too damn good.

Pretty solid, atmospheric, D&B. Just threw this on in the background at work today, and it certainly helped get me through this otherwise awful Monday. And its lengthy, ambient, and hypnotic nature worked well in that environment, so there we have it.

Cute album. Enjoyed quite a few of these songs early on here, especially 'Car Wheels On A Gravel Road' and '2 Kool 1 Be-4-Gotten', and the vocals and lyrics I found were generally enjoyable; there's something mildly comedic about a good chunk of the way these songs are presented (and also pretty dark in the song 'Lake Charles'). Also, quite a few strong melodic hooks here, like with 'Metal Firecracker', which is driven by this slick little guitar riff. But overall, I'd say it falls into your standard '90s country-rock alley (especially in the pretty forgettable instrumentals, clean mixing, and lack of interesting fusions or song structures). Nothing mind-blowing, but totally manageable, and honestly didn't feel as long as it was.

I guess this is technically considered a "late" era Funkadelic/Parliament (honestly, idk the difference) album, and you really can tell that they had mastered the art of P-funk by this point in their career. While I do love how ambitious and ahead of the curve their seminal 'Maggot Brain' is, the tracks on this album present a level of slickness that just isn't there in their earlier works, at least not to this degree. The way the band locks into these polyrhythmic and erratic grooves is hypnotizing in ways rivaled by very few. And the vocals are so smooth, lightly coasting on the airtight grooves here like they're nothing - never overpowering the rest of the music. The vocals are also super diverse on this record, like each song is sung from the perspective of some new wacked out character in this Funkadelic universe. The opening title track is one of the band's best tracks right off the bat, just the perfect funk song that creates specific itches just so it can scratch them. The following 'Groovallegiance' has this almost psychedelic reggae feel to it, but it's the vocal layering and harmonization that really make this song stand out in the mix here. It also has maybe the best build-up on the whole album. And I'm sorry, 'Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock!?' gives like Fishbone 3rd wave Ska vibes - but with those classic Funkadelic sing-along group vocals. 'Lunchmeatophobia' also gives off this vibe, with some incredibly heavy and dirty guitar playing driving the whole thing. Also, that goddamn Enema song is one of the most wacked out insane things I've ever heard - on both the vocal and lyrical front. And I kind of love everything about it; my favorite line has to be "Fried Ice Cream is a reality" because yes. ALSO, this album has a live version of the song 'Maggot Brain' as it turns out, and it maintains all the emotional power of the classic original, though with a bit more pizzazz. While I prefer the simplicity of the original, the song itself is too good, so I can appreciate this more textured take on it. This thing kicks so much ass it hurts - I need to own this shit and spin it for the rest of my life. This band is 2/2 so far on this list, but I also felt like that'd be the case anyway. Until next time, Funkadelic.

Another incredibly cheerful, catchy, and addictive Samba record - reminds me of what I loved about Jorge Ben's 'Africa Brasil' in its lush and varied instrumental palette and very directly digestible melodies. Also, it has an admirable number of cross-genre fusions - you'll seldom hear two tracks back-to-back going even remotely in the same direction. 'Sai Dessa' and 'Tiro Ao Alvaro' were two early favorites largely due to their bite-sized nature and Elis' infectious melodies that can warm the soul like a ray of sunshine on even the gloomiest of days. The song 'Nova Estacao' slows it down a little bit, but is still driven by these light taps of hand percussion and some gorgeous, ambient acoustic guitar picking that hovers over the track like a flight of butterflies. 'Outro Cais', on the other hand, is mystical-sounding - like stumbling upon a gorgeous opening in a dark wood, steadily growing before fading away - God, I wish this song were longer. Actually, I guess that's really the only gripe I have with this album, some of the songs (especially near the middle) feel like ideas that haven't been fully fleshed out yet, or were meant to be longer but never had that vision manifested. What's presented here is still so delightful though, really enjoyed my evening with this album - made this Sunday night just that much better.

Pretty mediocre to my ears. I don't particularly hate this late '80s soft-rock sound, but a good chunk of this thing just bored me. The vocals and melodies seem to meander too much and come off as almost directionless on some of these songs. And the band does little interesting with all the country and other genre fusions here, the acoustic cuts were the worst offenders. It's not all completely awful, I do think the opening track, 'Firefly' was cute for what it was. And 'Pale Skinny Girl' is just leagues above anything else here, a generally melancholic and evocative little tune with an incredible stuttering instrumental interlude. This song gave me Slint vibes almost. 'Western Sky', I also really enjoyed the sentiment of, despite it falling into the same uninteresting instrumental lane as many of the other songs here fall into. So, yeah, those are my brief thoughts; not my thing, and I think many were doing this sound better at this time. Not god awful or anything, though.

I mean, maybe I should've expected this out of a Virginia hip hop artist, but this is easily one of the most laid-back hip hop records I've ever heard. I don't know if it's Missy Elliot's very careful, cunning, and carefully paced rhymes and delivery, or if it's Timbaland's sorta bare, simplistic, and spacey beats, or maybe the various RnB fusions that find their way onto most songs here, via Missy's singing or some guest vocalist - but I just felt so at ease listening to this. Unfortunately, it suffers from being too long for how one-trick it is, which I've come to expect from albums from around this period (but hey, at least no annoying skits). Definitely would've enjoyed this album more in a more chilled-out context - because after just one listen, I feel like this album doesn't really tailor itself to a fully-focused type of listen. Again, not bad or anything, it's just Missy Elliot's flow is really really laid-back and not very lyrically complex at all - I know I keep using the words "laid-back" and "chill", but I can't emphasize it enough - that is the appeal here for me. So yeah, not a huge fan of the album as a whole, I don't think, but some great songs in the mix here regardless. 'Sock It 2 Me' is maybe the closest thing here to a conventional banger, with this sort of dorky, but kind of charming cinematic beat driving the whole thing. On the R&B end, I really liked the slow jam 'Friendly Skies' and the following duet with Aaliyah 'Best Friends', which has such a sweet message behind it, and a super satisfying back-and-forth with the legend herself - probably my favorite song here. The song 'I'm Talkin' has an almost horrorcore Memphis feel to it, a style, now that I think about it, Missy Elliot clearly draws a lot from. This song is also the most cut-throat thing here, on the lyrical front. So yeah, while it's certainly a bloated record at the end of the day, I did enjoy the ride, generally speaking, despite it slowing my heart rate down to dangerous levels.

Sounds like the love child of many different prominent '60s groups: parts Kinks, parts Beach Boys, parts Rolling Stones, and parts The Sonics. Honestly, most of it was pretty good if you ignore how derivative it comes off at times. 'I'm Not Your Stepping Stone' was cool to hear in one of its classic forms (I think it's a Monkees song originally), seeing as it's covered by one of my favorite bands ever, Minor Threat. This version was pretty raw and punchy for the time, honestly. The song 'There She Goes' was also really nice - a short, sweet '60s pop track loaded with sweet old-school harmonies and this cutesy little piano line. And uneasy dissonance aside, I feel similarly about the following, 'All I Really Need Is You'. And for as cheesy as the concept is behind it, 'Melody For an Unknown Girl' was just too damn cute. So yeah, pretty decent and harmless, but not something I'd revisit much in the future.

Maybe it's because I kinda hate Johnny Rotten and his shitty politics nowadays (though, admittedly, his PiL project is really cool) but I've never really liked the Sex Pistol's debut. I guess it's important for the "image" of punk - you know the posey Sid Vicious, powerchord, "fuck the establishment, we're going to swear on our album" image that I think actually encapsulates everything wrong with the genre. But even then, by this point, the idea of being anti-establishment was already treded by lesser-known groups who did much more interesting things musically than the Sex Pistols, but, y'know, without the costumes and mainstream attention. Sonically, it's your standard early punk music - nothing super memorable, but sort of annoying at its worst. This thing gets sorta grating in its final quarter honestly. I guess this album technically paved the way for what punk music *should* sound like with the group vocals, noisey power chords, and picked basslines - which many of my favorite bands I'm sure found influential. But I'll share the sentiment that many share about these guys which is that they clearly rode off their shock factor and not the quality of their music or writing. The song 'Bodies' may be the worst offender, clearly taking the piss out of the topic in the song instead of saying anything of substance - but hey there's nothing more Sex Pistols than that. In a way I admire the absolutely childish and edgy heights this album shoots for, but also, these guys were clearly capable of writing some decent songs like with 'God Save The Queen' and, especially, 'Anarchy In The UK' which has some genuinly solid guitar work and pacing. When it comes to the golden age of punk, I will rarely have the desire to throw this one on. Give me 'The Stooges', 'The Clash', or 'The Ramones' over this any day of the week. Its influence just doesn't translate to enjoyment for me, I'm sorry - and this is coming from a huge punk fan.

Honestly, a really cool album for the year it came out, it seemed very predictive of a lot of '90s alt rock sounds (just listen to 'White Girl') - and was also doing some really cool stuff with your more boilerplate punk rock sounds, sort of fusing it with more '60s hard rock and psychedelic adjacent sounds. So in a funny way, it sounds like it came out both 10 years before it actually did and 10 years after it actually did, neat. And to add in something random, the female vocalist here gave heavy PJ Harvey vibes. I really loved the song 'Adult Books', it has this sweet '60s pop-rocky rockabilly riff driving the whole thing, and the two vocalists work really well together whenever they're on the same songs together, which is quite a few on this record; the chemistry is there. The riffs, while on the simpler side of things, still pierce through the mixes here and are absolutely as memorable as the vocals. They range from your typical Ramones-styled early punk riffs like on 'I'm Coming Over', to Stooges-styled bluesy and proto-punk simplicity with 'It's Who You Know', to just good ol' rockabilly with 'Beyond and Back'. Lyrically, think the album generally deals with this topic of a troubled romance, though I'll need to dig into it more; a lot of the lyrics puzzled me on first listen. But I found the writing captivating nevertheless, especially with the imagery here on a song like 'Some Other Time'. Really enjoyed my time with this one - the genre fusions here just scratch so many of my punk rock itches. Definitely an album I see growing on me with future revisits, especially as I dive deeper into the lyrics here.

My first foray into ABBA's music. I was sort of under the impression that this would be a disco album, which the song 'Dancing Queen' (to the only song I've heard by them) was. But this seems to fall into a more traditional '80s new-wave style, which works shockingly well for the group, especially given the group's very interesting and addictive group-vocal drive style. But even the synth work here remains consistently interesting all throughout; they are European after all. The backing music gives off this theatrical vibe, sort of like you're watching the most dramatic part or coda of an opera show, with my favorite moments being the sort of ominous piano part in 'I Let The Music Speak' or the dramatic string-esque hits of 'Head Over Heels', my favorite song here. But let me just talk about the songs here - 'cause Jesus, this sounds like a greatest hits record. Every song here is so good in its own way - say, for maybe the opener, which honestly scared me because it really didn't click with me at all. But so many of the subsequent songs here were so earwormy, so heavy-sounding, so powerful, so ambitious and grand, and so unique from one another. If anything, it's a bit too much at times; I'd say overproduced, almost? But not quite, just super layered, and the group vocals are always so dense and textured. I don't really care, though, as long as the songs are good, and they are. It makes me overlook the over-sentimental and over-dramatization here that I would usually despise - it's just something about this album. Such a sweet album from these Swedish legends, I really did not expect to enjoy the songs here as much as I did. Will be listening to this bundle of absolute joy in the foreseeable future.

A bit torn on this one. Overall, I really appreciated many of the lyrical themes tackled here, especially in songs like 'Cult of Personality', 'White Way to America', and 'Open Letter (To a Landlord)'. But musically, I felt it was way too boilerplate for its own good. Not bad by any means, but it clearly leans too heavily into early '70s hard rock nostalgia, and the punk and funk fusions aren't particularly standout or deep. The '70s throwbacks work fine at times, especially on the soulful cut 'Glamour Boys'.

DO THE HUMPTY HUMP. God, that opener is such a classic, really one of the goofiest and most ridiculous rap songs ever that somehow just works. The whole album sort of falls in line with that one song - just laid-back fun and, at times, nonsense. The sound these guys stick to here walks the very fine line between distinctly '80s hip hop, ala groups like De La Soul, and the new sounds ushered in by guys like ATCQ that were maybe a bit more slick. But the album's personality isn't as finely curated as albums from those two other groups generally are. I'd say it certainly has (and sort of suffers from) a bit of that '80s hip hop clunk, in everything from the production to the rapping to the hooks. It's also a bit too long, and the songs drag on waaaaaaaay longer than they need to; there's a lot of dead air here. But there are quite a few funny standout moments that make this thing impossible to hate - I really meant it when I said this album falls in line with that ridiculous opener. The sort of tongue-in-cheek and comedic nature of it all gives off a Parliament/Funkadelic vibe (a group they were very influenced by), so that's cool at least. I especially liked 'Gutfest 89'' for that exact reason, a genuinely funny song with one of the better beats here. And then there's 'Freaks of the Industry', which takes this whole thing way too far - but I'm also glad it did. But we have to stop making moans a part of these hip hop beats, like it never works, ever (even though this seems to be a cleverly chopped sample that makes it sound that way, my point still stands). 'Packet Man' and 'Dowautchyalike' have these smug vocal rapped/sung bits that also get a chuckle out of me, and the latter has this really nice, and out-of-place piano solo in the latter half. It really makes you realize, this album is about the little moments. And the whole premise behind the psychadelic title track is so stupid, and nothing about it makes sense, but they somehow made me bob my head to it for 7 minutes straight - so they win. So yeah, this album just sort of does its thing for an hour, and then it ends. Don't know if it left an impact on me, but when it was all said and done, I felt oddly satisfied with my time, which is not how I felt at various moments throughout the record, especially in the second half. It's chill, it's cool, it's funny, it's sarcastic, and that's all it tries and needs to be. And it would hurt me physically to give this anything less than a 4 gadamnit - 'cause I'll be humpty humpty'ing till the day I die.

I've always wondered why this album, in particular, became so popular within this genre. Maybe it's because it's a culmination of all the burgeoning electronic-based sounds of the '90s - be it plunderphonics, or ambient techno from the likes of groups out of Warp Records, or trip hop groups like Portishead and Massive Attack. And even though I didn't think much of it back when I first heard it a few years back, I do think it does an exceptional job at capturing the magic of '90s electronic music, in all its aged glory. There's a bit of everything in this album, and it somehow still manages to sound mostly cohesive - comfortably lying in this very AIRy and chill space, giving the record the apt genre tag of downtempo. I do think they wear their influences on their sleeves a bit too obviously, but it's nothing too heinous; they do enough interesting things here that make it all worthwhile. For one, the shrieking noise bit (which I think is just an electric guitar?) on 'Sexy Boy' is such a cool sonic motif and honestly makes that entire track super iconic - it's my favorite here. And the orchestral bit in 'Talisman' is jaw-droppingly gorgeous and reminds me of something Daft Punk would go on to do on RAM, 15 years after this was released. And speaking of their contemporaries and fellow Frenchies Daft Punk, the whole vocoder thing on a few of these tracks is obviously super Daft Punk-y, but I quite liked the melodies generally, especially on 'Remember'. And I guess I didn't notice this the first time around, but the jazz and R&B influences are very subtly and nicely baked into these songs. Especially whenever Beth Hirsch is on vocals, sounding like a fusion of Beth Gibbons and Sade in the best way possible. Really solid debut with obviously high production value. To bring RAM by Daft Punk up again, this really does sound like the '90s version of that album in how it takes electronic music and pushes it to a completely different, pristine realm in not only a celebration of one particular genre, but music as a whole.

To say Bowie had done and would go on to do more interesting things with his music would be an understatement. While the production here is colourful and varied with the fusion of pop and art-rock that Bowie was renowned for, the songs left a lot to be desired. I think it's the sort of washed-out nature of the production, and the very unfocused nature of the songs themselves, constantly hopping between (mostly promising) ideas without ever settling or building on any of them. That's sort of always been an early-Bowie thing, I understand, but it was more noticeable and irksome when compared to the masterpiece he had released just the year prior. So while, by Bowie standards, this was nothing to cry home about, it still had its fair share of highlights. I really liked the rhythms and backing vocals driving the explosive 'Panic in Detroit'. 'Time' is the Bowie staple operatic album centerpiece, which really carries over that cinematic and theatrical edge that was put on full display in 'Ziggy Stardust'. The closer was also pretty great, with a build that's so subtle yet it hits you like a truck when it hits its climax.

For my personal taste, I'm a much bigger fan of pre-new-wave 'Hounds of Love' era Kate Bush - I just find her newer stuff is missing the alien weirdness that made her early stuff so amazing (aside from maybe 'Rocket's Tail' from this album, which reminded me of some of the most imaginative moments off The Dreaming). But Kate Bush is Kate Bush at the end of the day, and the talent speaks for itself - if anything, this album feels like a more mature, grounded, and sentimental take on her usual style. That idea really clicked with me on the lush, reverby, dreamy, and emotional 'Deeper Understanding', which sounded like the sonic encapsulation of a comforting hug. A good bit of this album, production-wise, sounds like this; it's all super warm and textured. And while I do think there's some of that '80s clunk here, especially on 'Heads We're Dancing', songs like 'The Fog' and 'Never Be Mine' fuse those sounds with the Celtic and Eastern influences Bush is known for. And the closer, 'The Woman's Work', is so unbelievably sad - the song feels so full in sound, yet so empty at the same time, like the crushing weight of the world you feel after losing someone special. Kate Bush once again solidifies her place, for me at least, in the art-pop hall of fame. It's a mature angle for this usually very striking artist, but it's an angle I can get behind and respect - especially when it sounds this freakin good.

An album I've been meaning to check out for a very long time, an early hip-hop staple that's considered to be revolutionary for the genre - and I'm not really sure how I feel about that sentiment. I do think golden-era hip-hop has a very unique and charming sound that wasn't translated at all into the '90s when the sounds of the genre shifted drastically, and this album partially encapsulates that. The beats here feel more deliberately programmed, clearly drawing from the sounds of rudimentary house and techno music that were growing alongside hip-hop at this time - especially on a song like 'Jam-Master Jay'. But the biggest thing is just the sheer lack of samples flying in and out on this thing, something that's usually an '80s hip hop staple that contrasts the more repetitive nature of '90s hip-hop production (which I love also, still). Run DMC deviates from groups like Public Enemy, De La Soul, and The Beastie Boys when it comes to sample selection. There's a satisfying level of simplicity behind the music here, and I'd say that Jam-Master Jay's production style falls more in line with the sounds of the earliest DJs and founding fathers of hip-hop like Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa. Some cool production moments here include the live-recorded electric guitar on 'Rock Box', the detuned, blaring synths and 808 of '30 Days', or those bright synth hits on 'It's Like That' - a super catchy tune. You'll still get samples and record scratching here, of course, most evidently on the closer 'Jay's Game', but it's certainly not the focal point here, with it taking a backseat to the keyboards and drum machines usually. The rapping is pretty basic, which is to be expected of this time, with the anthemic, bar-conscious, back-and-forth style that guys like the Beastie Boys loved. I enjoyed it for the most part, especially on the song 'Rock Box' which felt like a more slick and progressive take on that style. 'Sucker M.C's' was a nice break from the constant call-and-responses of the album, with the whole track spotlighting both MCs just going off on this simple drum-machine beat - it's an effective demonstration of how stripped-back this genre can get. Lyrically, it's pretty standard battle-rap type stuff, say for maybe the togetherness-anthem that is 'Wake Up' that I found only slightly annoying on the production front. So did I actually enjoy this? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I did, the album just flew by, for one, and for two, I do think this album sticks out in the golden age hip-hop era and really highlights a time where hip-hop wasn't afraid to heavily draw from many adjacent American subcultures. I'd say this album and 'Licensed to Ill' show two different sides of that same coin, and that's always super cool to listen to.

A chill-as-all-hell album, like genuinely this is some of the most inoffensive, mind-resting, wind-down jazz music I've ever heard. At no point was I really amazed at what was going on, but I'm kind of thankful that was the case. The album keeps itself huddled in this very small, warm, and feel-good space - never trying to leave it. The opening title track is one of those songs that I can just play for hours, and I wouldn't even notice, just super catchy and smooth in how it continues to loop in on itself. I guess maybe this whole album feels that way, like sitting in a hotel lobby at night, sipping a cup of coffee, and people-watching as you see different travelers walking in and out of the building. Feel-good music, if I've heard it, and just the type of thing I needed tonight. Brain music.

While I do think Rush is a pretty good band (proven by this album and 'Moving Pictures' especially), I don't think they're a particularly great 'prog' band, at least not in the traditional sense of the word. I was pretty excited when I saw the 20-minute titular opener, but was left very unsatisfied by the end of it, given its lack of an engaging progression and its more medley style, which felt like a bunch of unfinished ideas glued together. There are certainly some good ideas on that opener, especially the final very hard-rock driven part of the medley, but it all felt very unsatisfying as a single track. Luckily, Rush are better at writing these tighter 3-4 minute tracks, as proven by songs like 'Limelight' on their other album, and 'A Passage to Bangkok' and 'The Twilight Zone' off this album. The band's obviously immensely talented, Geddy Lee especially is an incredibly evocative songwriter, as seen on 'Tears', and an even more expressive bassist - just listen to that bouncy line on 'Lessons'. So yeah, certainly a talented band, but god I wish that opener didn't sour the rest of the thing FOR ME. But it is what it is.

One of the peaks of this, generally, oversaturated style of psychadelic folk rock of the '60s. It's immersive, moody, jarring, disorienting, and slick. It doesn't exactly stand out sonically, but the secret sauce is all in the execution here - the hypnotic acoustic arpeggios or the way the flat toms and snares give the whole thing this very tribal feel. The bass here is brain-melting, and the vocals remain hushed but undoubtedly melodic, especially when harmonies are introduced. I'm sort of on the fence about the hard panning in the stereo mix I listened to, but it sure as hell made every instrument pop out and sound super clear, especially with that bassline on 'The Daily Planet' or that brooding, woody cello on 'Old Man'. The songs themselves are great - I don't think anything tops the opener 'Alone Again Or', but the songs 'Old Man' and especially the fiery 'Maybe The People Would...' get pretty darn close. And the closer, 'You Set the Scene', was surprisingly positive, inspirational, and the most ambitious song on here, structurally speaking. But I do think it's the album experience that wins me over; it feels like winding corridors in your dreams, a raw stream of consciousness just flowing out like a river in a beautiful forest at night. I think it'll only continue to grow on me on subsequent listens.

I guess it was some pleasant cabaret music, and Ute's voice is very nice on the ears, but the whole thing felt hollow to me, like it was structureless and missing a sort of identity I want out of these kinds of albums. I think a good chunk of the songs on this thing are covers, which might explain it, but as grand as the production here yearned to be, it all felt like too much and not enough at the same time.

Didn't hate this as much as I was expecting to - it was ultimately just 40 minutes of Morrissey doing his Morrissey thing, for better or worse. That is: the melodic and earwormy angelic singing propped up against this very smug delivery with lyrics that try way too hard to be relatable and production that's very much akin to the colourful and lush playing of the Smiths and, thankfully, less tacky than the production on his later solo albums (particularly 'You Are the Quarry'). The acoustic ballads here were genuinely gorgeous, especially 'We'll Let You Know' and 'Seasick, yet Still Docked', where the very light and repetitive acoustic strumming gives off heavy 'Never Had No One Ever' vibes. The song 'We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful' is that classic witty passive-aggressive Morrissey song, and I enjoyed it for what it is. Can't say the same for 'You're the One for Me, Fatty', which reminded me why I hated this entitled prick so much. I think I ended up loving this because it felt more like classic Smiths than it does POS old-man uber-British Nationalist Morrissey (though that part seeps through a bit on 'Glamorous Glue', but in a seemingly well-intentioned manner). This album walks that fine line still - on the cusp of being insufferable. But I enjoyed it, and I hate that.

I mean, it's Michael Jackson's 'Bad', it's practically a greatest hits record during one of this legend's many fine hours. It's no 'Thriller', but I'd rank it on the same level, if not slightly above 'Off The Wall,' for nostalgia reasons alone. I remember having to sing 'Man in the Mirror' in primary school and how obsessed I was with that one song. And honestly, it's a pretty good song all things considered, a little heavy-handed, but the good intentions are clear as day. Some underrated gems here aside from the obvious bangers - 'Speed Demon' for one is relentlessly funky and I love those layers of synths that hang in the background in that second half. 'Another Part of Me', I feel similarly about. I love the way the vocal builds into the chorus and those iconic '80s horn blasts. And 'Dirty Diana' sounds like the 'Beat It' sentimental cousin production-wise, at least. The whole thing with MJ fighting off this temptress, while it does get a chuckle out of me sometimes, was clearly something MJ felt strongly about. But yeah, I'm sorry, the best song here has always been 'Smooth Criminal' for me, I don't care how overplayed and memed it is, the song remains absolutely iconic, one of the greatest in pop history. There's really something about the nature of the writing, it's so ominous, mysterious, but in a way, the music doesn't match that at all...if anything, the whole thing sounds kinda sexy. It always gave off this alluring effect despite the ugly story being told. The king of pop, the-king-of-popping, once more. No one can do music like this guy.

While I've never been huge on Britpop, this felt less like the traditional, repetitive, fuzz-rock styled music I'd expect out of that genre tag and more like just some cool alternative rock made by British people. It's genuinely quite varied, and the melodies don't make me want to turn it off immediately. It clearly takes more from the sounds of British punk and alternative, which is what made this more bearable than usual. Songs like 'Richard III', 'G-Song', and especially 'You Can See Me' had these genuinely great progressions and layering. Not my favorite song ever or anything, but I got through it feeling relatively good!

Some interesting new-wave, reminds me a lot of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, especially the song 'Uncertain Smile' which had this incredible piano-solo outro. The whole thing has this very optimistic vibe, like it's trying hard to pull you out of a rut and re-ignite a feeling of happiness that was always there. But it's also a pretty difficult read, in some ways, the songs are telling you exactly how to feel, and in another way, the meanings are completely left up to interpretation...is it optimistic or pessimistic? It can work both ways. I really liked 'This is the Day', which is a really upbeat track with some incredible, deep, smoky' 80s-style vocals, and it's a great demonstration of what this album does. It's obviously optimistic at the forefront, especially given the very gleeful melodies in the background, but I don't know, man, something about it feels almost cynical or sarcastic (Like an Outkast 'Hey Yeah' type song). I think it's the former, at least from an artistic intention POV, they literally sell a mug saying "This Is The Day" on their merch store, so I'm sure they intended it to have at least some sort of motivational effect. You also get songs like the title track here that seem to suffer with the listener, in a very pitiful way. This track also has this incredible but short breakdown with these gorgeous synth arpeggios. So I did find the concept neat, certainly unique, and it's nothing if not consistent. But the songs themselves, for the most part, just didn't land for me. The synth work was really cool, especially in those final two cuts (literally doing some cool predictive EDM stuff with the drums and synths, especially with that extended outro on 'Giant'), but I don't see myself revisiting the songs here as songs anytime soon. Still decent though, and I might return to it someday to see if I'd be more open to accepting it for what it is.

My first time listening to this pretty acclaimed and beloved band. And I don't know if I just need to sit with it for longer, but I really didn't get this album on first listen. It does the usual hard-rock and grunge thing, and there are some mean guitar passages here, especially with the entire song 'Why Go' or that second half of 'Porch'. And even though he's not my cup of tea, Mr. Vedder is a pretty charming lead vocalist, especially on the softer 'Black' where he's absolutely pouring his broken heart out, lyrically and vocally. Despite it being such a departure from the noisier sounds of the rest of the album, 'Black' really was the best song here. Because while I did enjoy most of the album, the songs tend to blend in with one another way too much. By the time this was done, I wasn't really able to pick out a unique switch-up, or a driving, memorable riff, or a sticky melody in the vocals. In a lot of ways, I'd say it's consistent to a fault - and to the point where I was already exhausted by the time I hit 'Jeremy', despite it also being one of the better songs here. So, I will say, I didn't love this on first listen. But I know myself and my relationship with these types of samey, consistent albums - I'm sure that it'll grow on me, at least a little bit, after just a few more listens, because it is just a really well-done rock record and much better than a lot of what was coming out around this time in mainstream rock and grunge. Something about it feels really down-to-earth and sincere. So I'll leave it at that.

More interesting than enjoyable, to hear this very influential band's debut album from all the way back in 1964. And with that, I can also say that it's just as rudimentary and drenched in the influences of its contemporaries as I'd anticipated. Just the ferocity of Rock N' Roll on some songs, and the chill laid back Blue Rock on some others, without really stepping into anything too interesting or out of the ordinary. The sort of tribal rhythms and fuzzy guitars driving the song 'Mona' were maybe the most instrumentally interesting here. The song 'Tell Me' had the sort of ominous demeanor I'd expect out of the band's later works; it was probably my favorite song here, really loved those messy harmonies. I didn't get much out of the rest of this thing, but hey, gotta start somewhere, I guess.

I mean, it's no 'Mezzanine', but Massive Attack does their specific flavor of trip-hop far too well for me to even bother drawing the unnecessary comparison. Mostly listened to this during a long drive home today, and it really chilled me the fuck out during that frustrating experience, something that I was already expecting before throwing this on. 'Five Man Army' was an early highlight. I really loved the back and forth between the two emcees here; it also made me realize that I've never really appreciated UK rap from the early '90s before. The bass sound on the song is paramount, but I'd almost say that's the case for most of the other songs here. All my comments about this song could just as easily apply to 'Daydreaming', which sounds like some lost UK-ATCQ track. 'Unfinished Sympathy' is maybe the grandest-sounding thing here, with the sweeping string section elevating these already emotive vocals to even greater heights. My ultimate favorite track had to be 'Hymn Of The Big Wheel' though, just an all-around motivational high-point on the album, and an immaculate closer. I wasn't familiar with Horace Andy, but the way his vocals hover over this droning instrumental on the verses before it all brightens up on the chorus nearly brought me to tears. As expected with these guys, it's a bit all-over-the-place, but I'd say that's pretty ahead of its time for '91 specifically. It really feels like the shape of hip-hop to come with all its interesting fusions.

It's alright, definitely enjoyed it whenever they were doing their Beach Boys harmony thing because, y'know, how could I not, but even with that, the whole thing felt fatiguingly derivative and one-note. The run from 'No Trophy' to 'A Minha Menina' was maybe the most I enjoyed this group's brand of Gorillaz-esque Neo-Psychadelic the most. But I find when it comes to this sort of sound, for me at least, if you're not constantly evolving it and varying the moods and emotions being put on display, you run the risk of drying out the well really quickly. Which is what this album did for me.

I'd group Method Man's debut solo album with ODB's debut solo album. In fact, I'd say both emcees are quite alike and have the same challenge for me: How can two emcees whose style is incredible in small bursts handle a full-length solo album? And while I do think ODB's debut solo album excels in showcasing everything that made him so incredible, Method Man (and the RZA) also manage to mostly play to his strengths on this album as well. The whole thing is intoxicating, bassy, fat, submerged. I attribute that to the sparse beats and the really low-end-oriented mix of the songs here. It's an acquired taste, and it creates a pretty surreal atmosphere, especially when unorthodoxly paired with some of the more cuthroat moments here, like with 'Meth Vs. Chef'. But you'll also just get some incredible classic Wu-Tang songs here, some of the very best. Starting with the obvious banger 'Bring The Pain', which in all its boom bap '90s rapisms, still manages to sound relentlessly Wu-tang in its production and in Method Man's lyrical style. 'What The Blood Clot' sounds clearer than anything else here, for some reason, and 'Release Yo' Delf' was pretty forward-thinking for the Wu-Tang Clan in the mid-'90s in general, given the cleaner production. The absolute best song for me has always been 'Mr. Sandman's though - not only because I just can't get enough of RZA's disjointed rapping style from around this time, but the whole thing is just so hilariously over-the-top and again captures everything I love about this group. Clearly, a bit of RZA's Gravediggaz sounds slip into this one as well. And shoutout to Street Life, he's one of these mostly unknown Wu affiliates, but he absolutely kills his verse on this song. It might be hard to believe, but this really is one of my LEAST favorite Wu golden-age solo albums, yet it's still so great.

Very much a Talking Heads-style new-wave band, with this big emphasis on groove and a tight rhythm section. It's also just super cute and feel-good, which is the impression I got from this album cover before even listening. So many little uplifting funky musical interludes and horn sections, with my favorites being 'Lemon Firebrigade' and that intro to 'Kingsize' is just perfect. Lyrically too, just listen to 'Fantastic Day'. And the bass on this album is to die for, so melodic and stated, the one on 'Milk Film' especially is infectious in its simplicity and playfulness. Maybe the only thing that I wasn't huge on here was the lead vocals; they're fine, but I enjoyed this album much more whenever they were pulled back for a nice saxophone solo or horn section. They're nothing special, but they get the job done - standard British new-wave and post-punk stuff, I guess. I like the Beach Boys thing in the vocals going on in 'Snow Girl'. The whole album is also just super cleanly produced, like absolute studio glitz and shine, and while I'm not usually super into that, I'd say it suits the album's aesthetic more than well. Like a field of sunflowers, super colourful, fun, and happy. I can't NOT like this thing. Apparently, they're releasing an album next year after like 40 years, which is neat.

A pretty down-in-the-dumps record even by Neil Young's standards. It just feels like a rundown gas station filled with unfulfillment and lost dreams, but with this tiny glimmer of hope in this aimless search for love. After the very depressing opening title track, a track about Neil's friend who'd tragically overdosed on heroin, you get songs like 'Mellow My Mind' and 'Speakin' Out' which capture those feelings of eternal yearning for some sort of release, while a song like 'Roll Another Number' sees Neil looking at the past, mourning a changing scene. 'Third Eyes' goes in this spoken-word direction and is maybe my favorite song here, about a drug deal gone wrong in this almost cautionary tale, as he mourns and humanizes, more than anything, the victims of addiction-fueled violence. "I mean, was he a heavy doper or was he just a loser? He was a friend of yours" is such a brilliantly sad line...left it a pit in my stomach. It's not all depressing, though: 'Come on Baby Let's Go Downtown' was a banger and a nice change of pace that goes in this almost hard-rock direction. Aside from that, though, most of this album sticks to the very standard country-rock that Young was doing in the '70s, and I enjoyed it more than usual here - it felt more varied and ambitious, with my favorite being the instrumental on the song 'Albuquerque', which really sounds like soaring above a large canyon at sunset. More great music from this guy. Not much needs to be said.

Man, entries like this on this list crack me up - largely unknown, not very well received (and in the case of this website, terribly received), sort of avant-garde, and obviously just a niche favorite of the list-designer's. I enjoyed this about as much as I enjoyed another dark cabaret album on this list, the one by Ute Lemper, except this one was less directly pleasant and more over-the-top, theatric, and kind of ridiculous in almost every way. So even though I felt like I was over this the second it started (it's just not my thing), I tried my absolute best to enjoy it. There's some charm here, and some of the instrumental ideas and general sonic direction are pretty neat, but it suffers primarily from the songs being way too short, like I just don't understand the choice behind that at all. There is zero breathing room for some of the better ideas here. 'Chanson Allemande' especially pissed me off with how short it was; it was a great ballad-type song that reminded me a lot of 'Alice' era Tom Waits in a lot of ways, and then it just ends like nothing.

Really neat, been meaning to check out M.I.A for a very long time now. My initial thought listening to this was "Wow this is so ahead of its time!" but honestly I wasn't even sure how, at least not right away. What about this was ahead of its time? I want to say it's primarily the production which is very grainy, disjointed, jarring, and uncanny that draws a lot from the world of contemporary EDM. The type of production that many experimental post-industrial hip hop and electronic artists in the 2010s would ride. The percussive work specifically stands out, it's all so subtly overdriven and chaotic like with 'Bucky Done Gun' or 'Fire Fire'. The song 'Bingo' was maybe the noisiest banger here, and my favorite song. The rapping well, it's certainly something. M.I.A is certainly unique and an acquired taste. It sort of sounds like all her verses are hooks. So her ACTUAL hooks are hard to distinguish in the mix, and the whole thing ends up feeling like this endless stream of bars, no structure in sight. That is unless she's getting melodic on the chorus like on 'Sunshowers'. This song and 'M.I.A' had maybe the most directly political messages on the album because, lyrically, M.I.A clearly favors getting her points across with the repetition of sticky lines. M.I.A, being a refugee herself, clearly holds that specific topic close, and opts to name drop it, and her home of Sri Lanka, in many of the raps here. After the first few songs, and especially in the second half, I found the album really clicked for me - there are some real head bangers here and MIA's style just starts to make sense for some reason. My brain just sort of melted into the nonsensical nature of it all. Good stuff, and again, really predictive and ahead of its time.

Did not expect this album to be so damn depressing, but here we are. Not super familiar with British Folk, say for maybe Fairport Convention, whom I like a lot. These two fall in a similar area musically as FC, standard folk-rock music fused with psychadelic and Celtic sounds. But it's really the lyrical content of this album that drew me in; it's super bleak, lonely, and almost hopeless. I'd say that comes to a head in the devastating 'The End Of The Rainbow', but earlier songs that yearn for escape, like 'When I Get To The Border' or the title track, also evoke a familiar sense of dread I haven't felt in a long time. And something about the song 'Has He Got A Friend For Me' made me so damn sad, just something about the way Linda puts together this piece about loneliness and longing for a significant other was so potent. So yeah kinda ruined my evening and all, but at least the music was damn good. Doesn't help that it's a Sunday evening right now.

My does this list love its '60s hippie, psychedelic albums. This is just another one in the mix for me - some interesting moments here and there, but ultimately too one-note and not very memorable. 'Sweet Martha Lorraine' I liked quite a bit because it reminded me a lot of the Doors' debut album...almost too much. The albums were only released a few months apart, but I'll leave it at that. The guitar playing is at its peak on the shorter 'Porpose Mouth', just a bunch of interesting tones and lines hanging in the background of this one, giving it this almost mystical feel - maybe the best track here. I was also really rocking with the jammy instrumental 'Section 43' until that harmonica came i,n which did not fit into the mix AT ALL. And while it was the most unpopular song on the album, 'Sad And Lonely Times' was pretty good, but I'm usually a sucker for these sort of gloomy '60s pop songs anyways. 'The Masked Marauder' had another great instrumental, some really cool, bright, and sinister tones and melodies on the guitar and keys on this one. So yeah, it's alright, I guess, definitely leans into the trippiness factor more than other albums in its lane, which is probably why it's considered more of an "Acid Rock" album.

A name I've heard before, but I wasn't actually familiar with Janis' music at all before this. It's your pretty standard hard and blues rock from this time in a lot of ways, not unlike groups like LZ or the Stones, but Janis is clearly also very inspired by the Soul (and a bit of funk) music of the time. She's certainly got more vocal chops than a lot of her contemporaries, 'Cry Baby' being an early and very soulful display of that. 'Me and Bobby McGee' is the sort of country blues song you'd expect out of your usual Stones album, for example, but I can't express enough how much Janis' vocals add to this otherwise pretty run-of-the-mill blues jam, especially in that final minute or so as the song reaches its climax. 'Trust Me' was maybe my favorite song here, just a super well-rounded track that really draws from the very best of '60s soul. I especially hear a lot of Aretha Franklin in this one. I also felt similarly about the closer 'Get It While You Can' which had an absolutely killer guitar solo. So yeah - this was pretty good, again Janis Joplin's music sits in a very interesting fusion area between some of the most iconic '60s and early '70s genres, Soul and Blues Rock. And she does a pretty solid job balancing them here I'd say.

I mean, one of the absolute greatest, right? Like is there any other song out there that captures the feeling of a warm, comforting hug more than the all-timer opening title-track? I can't count the number of times that this one song has gotten me through the absolute worst moments in my life. Garfunkel absolutely does this song justice, pushing his vocals to the absolute limits and elevating the song to galactic heights in that final go of the chorus with those strings. So many other incredible moments here, too many to list off. I own a Greatest Hits record by these guys, actually, it's the only record I own of theirs, but this might as well be their greatest hits record. So many good songs. The absolutely whimsical 'El Condor Pasa' paints this image of a young Victorian-era peasant child ruminating on his role in society by a small pond. And for as overplayed as it is, 'Cecilia' still works tremendously well as the upbeat switch-up here, ala 'Mrs. Robinson'. 'Keep the Customer Satisfied' is like aggressively good - just that sticky melodic vocal line, the intense horn build, and the slew of quotables ("I hear words I've never heard in the Bible" always gets a chuckle out of me). If you ever wanted a quick 2 and a half minute dopamine boost, this song is there for you. I'd equate it to junk food if I weren't certain that it's good for me. 'The Boxer' is up there with the title track for me, really capturing that feeling of a poor little boy in a large snowy New York yearning for something more, in this case to become a Boxer. Trying to conquer a world towering over him one step at a time. And, no idea what it means, but 'Lie-la-lie' is an impeccable way to interlude the verses - acting like these transitions between the various moments of the protagonist's life. This song makes me feel things I can't even begin to put into words. 'Baby Driver' is a weird Beach Boys styled pop-song that's honestly kind of ridiculous in every possible way, but, hey, it still *somehow* manages to work for me. Don't really want to ramble on about each song in this review, especially not for this album, because if you've heard this thing, you already know how good it is. I'd say it's almost too good if there was such a thing.

Some incredible hardcode pretty early into the genre's conception. There's an intensity here that still manages to remain composed and melodic throughout, be it in the riffs or the little vocal lines (loosely) traced by Darby. It's not as fast as many of the acts to come, per se, but there is something truly sinister about the lyricism, riffs, and mixing here. I'd say that's most obvious early on in 'Land of Treason,' - a song that feels almost apocalyptic in its commentary, and I love the little interludes with those faded guitar hits. 'Lexicon Devil' was maybe the most catchy and '70s punk rock-sounding song here; this riff wouldn't sound out of place on a Ramones record. The following 'Manimal' has my favorite intro on the whole album, easily, with this very sludgey progression before absolutely firing off. It's also a great showcase of how incredible the bass playing is throughout this thing; it's super tight and makes itself apparent at all the right moments. I even enjoyed the very noisy and sort of jammy closer 'Shut Down', the noisy feedback guitar just going off in the background felt remarkably ahead of its time. A pretty damn great hardcore album, one that's as addicting as it is horrendous. Some of the absolute dirtiest that the genre has to offer.

I only knew of this band because of their direct association with one of my favorite bands back in the day, LCD Soundsystem, specifically through member Al Doyle. But I don't think there's a point in comparing the two, even though they have a lot in common, especially on the production end, though Hot Chip is notably less eclectic. This was a great synthpop album - super catchy, groovy, and nice and warm on the ears, all while still managing to throw in a cool synth patch here and there to shake these mostly standard arpeggios and sequenced lines up. The slower guitar jam 'Look At Where We Are' also worked remarkably well in the sequence here and was a much-needed breather. But, generally, I never got tired of the sound palette used on most of these songs; at worst, they sound like your generic early '2010s pop bangers, but that's not necessarily a bad thing for me. The song 'Night And Day' may be the worst offender of this in sounding pretty dated, but these moments were few and far between. Songs like 'Motion Sickness', 'Ends Of The Earth', and 'Flute' are great takeaways and songs I'll be listening to for the foreseeable future. Good stuff here.