Mar 02 2024
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Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
I liked two songs from this (I'll Never Let You Go and Blue Moon) but not really my kind of thing
3
Mar 03 2024
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Back In Black
AC/DC
Dodge Ram commercial music... I hate this so much. I don't care if it's a classic it sucks. The weird rapey song that was like "don't you struggle don't you fight let me cut your cake with a knife" was ok though
1
Mar 04 2024
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Cheap Thrills
Big Brother & The Holding Company
Goes hard love u Janis u killed it
4
Mar 05 2024
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Smash
The Offspring
The first half of this was fun MTV pop punk and a 3/5... the second half was absolutely terrible zany ska-punk and a solid 1/5 so imma give it a 2
2
Mar 06 2024
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Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand
This album was my jam when I was 12/13 and then I found Wire... and Pere Ubu... still has some bangers and is still a solid album but doesn't quite have the bite of all the art punk bands they were influenced by... sorry Franz Ferdinand ur getting a 3...
3
Mar 07 2024
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Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme
Simon & Garfunkel
That "Patterns" song is a banger and so is "A Poem on the Underground Wall" but the rest didn't stand out that much to me. Nice though!
3
Mar 08 2024
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The Soft Bulletin
The Flaming Lips
Coldplay/U2 if they tried to rip off Pavement. This is SO shit. SO middle of the road. SO generic and whiny. Jesus christ the zany symphonic sound is awful. I can't believe how beloved this band was at the time.
1
Mar 09 2024
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The ArchAndroid
Janelle Monáe
I've loved this album so much since it first came out when I was 13! Easy 5/5 and started my love affair with Janelle Monae. Such a beautiful, ambitious, eclectic concept album that manages to do so much and feel so timeless in the process.
5
Mar 10 2024
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Liquid Swords
GZA
So smooth and effortless can't believe it took me this long to listen to this in full
B.I.B.L.E. especially is crazy good
4
Mar 11 2024
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A Little Deeper
Ms. Dynamite
It's pleasant enough but it's very dated and derviative and honestly sounds like a more hip-hop leaning version of something from an early 2000s girl group. This is like a Girls Aloud/Sugababes solo record, why is it on this list
2
Mar 12 2024
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The Downward Spiral
Nine Inch Nails
Cringe, but the good kind of cringe
4
Mar 13 2024
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Konnichiwa
Skepta
Corny.... Ludacris type bars..... why are we still doing skits in the streaming era can we not leave this shit in 2003??? I liked this but all the songs sound the same also Brits are just not as cool as Americans
2
Mar 14 2024
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Pink Flag
Wire
The most influential, timeless, essential punk album of all time.
5
Mar 15 2024
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This Nation’s Saving Grace
The Fall
I've loved post-punk since I was like 13 but it took me until my mid-twenties to "get" the Fall. They grow on you until you wish every band sounded like them.
5
Mar 16 2024
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At San Quentin
Johnny Cash
This was not a good introduction to Johnny Cash. This feels like a mediocre bootleg of a Johnny Cash performance.
2
Mar 17 2024
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Red Headed Stranger
Willie Nelson
First few songs are incredible but the rest of the album kind of sounds the same to me. It's a lovely sound but the songs don't stand out as much as the first three do! I'd like to listen to more Willie Nelson though, this definitely left a positive impression
3
Mar 18 2024
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Black Metal
Venom
Black Metal and Buried Alive are bangers but the rest of this kind of sounds the same to me. I will say I'm impressed by how fresh it sounds, it doesn't sound that dated that all and could easily be a new metal release today
3
Mar 19 2024
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Debut
Björk
Such a fun 'artsy girl goes to the disco' album. Not Bjork's best album but still good enough to be 5 stars.
5
Mar 20 2024
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All Things Must Pass
George Harrison
This feels like a collection of songs that weren't good enough to make it on another album. It's just far too long and only a few of the songs are strong enough to be remembered. I like the Beatles and George Harrison but find it absurd how every single mediocre b-side ever written by these people is treated with universal acclaim
3
Mar 21 2024
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Sweet Baby James
James Taylor
I could've lived without ever hearing this album and will never voluntarily listen to it again. 2 stars instead of 1 because he can definitely sing.
2
Mar 22 2024
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Rocks
Aerosmith
Genuinely exhausting to listen through. Rock for people who eat plain oatmeal every day for breakfast
1
Mar 23 2024
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That's The Way Of The World
Earth, Wind & Fire
I'm glad I finally listened to an Earth Wind and Fire record in full but the slower songs didn't stand out to me as much, and that's like 80% of the album. I'm glad I gave it a second listen through though, because I found more I liked by giving it a second chance. Still really nice but I'm just not a big ballad person.
3
Mar 24 2024
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Stripped
Christina Aguilera
Almost a perfect 5/5 if it weren't for there being a half dozen songs on this 20 song album that are really filler and are there to pad out the album. Some of the best vocals in pop history on some of the best pop songs of the 21st century weaving in and out of the occasional Radio Disney level filler. But I forgive it because the vocals are incredible and many of the songs could be hits today and haven't aged a day.
4
Mar 25 2024
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The Atomic Mr Basie
Count Basie & His Orchestra
Glad I got to hear it but not my kind of thing. I'll give it a 3 because it was actually great background music for cleaning the house
3
Mar 26 2024
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Moving Pictures
Rush
Basura
1
Mar 27 2024
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I’ve Got a Tiger By the Tail
Buck Owens
This is the kind of stuff I signed up for when I started this listening challenge, as I would've NEVER listened to it otherwise. I'm glad I did! I didn't necessarily find a new genre I'll be listening to all the time, but it was an enjoyable listen and it broadened my horizons
3
Mar 28 2024
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American Gothic
David Ackles
Unusual! Day 27 and it's the first artist I've truly never heard of, not even in passing. Very sappy at times, and a bit challenging, but I like it! It almost reminds me of '70s David Bowie at times -- I'm glad I finally came across an artist here I've never heard of!
3
Mar 29 2024
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Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Elton John
Some bangers on here I'll admit but homie is way too obsessed with sixteen year olds
3
Mar 30 2024
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Abbey Road
Beatles
It's a certified banger what can I say
4
Mar 31 2024
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Django Django
Django Django
Cannot believe this shit is on this list but Liquid Liquid isn't. This album would not exist without Liquid Liquid, even their names are eerily the same. This is a generic, car commercial, commercial landfill indie homage to no wave. It's fine but it's ridiculous and says a lot about the listmakers' lack of knowledge that this album made it, but the legendary band it is blalantly ripping off didn't.
2
Apr 01 2024
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The Joshua Tree
U2
Perfectly inoffensive. I was expecting to dislike this more, but the latter half of this record redeems it. The last three songs especially are quite good. I can see why this still sounds timeless, even though I'm not a U2 fan.
3
Apr 02 2024
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Stand!
Sly & The Family Stone
I wish I liked this more but it was kind of a bit tedious to listen to, especially the 14-minute Sex Machine.. I'm glad I listened to this record because it paved a lot of ways for what was to come in soul and rock and roll but I don't think it aged super well and sounds very much of its time.
2
Apr 03 2024
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Cosmo's Factory
Creedence Clearwater Revival
This is cool as hell. I'm so glad I listened to this. Will definitely listen to other CCR albums now, and will definitely listen to this again. I might even grow on me to get to a 5/5. This is just something that I managed to skip somehow as I never grew up listening to classic rock radio or anything. So so good, I got so much out of this. I enjoyed every minute of the 11 minute cover of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine".
4
Apr 04 2024
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Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde
The Pharcyde
Really wish these '90s albums had less skits as filler and wish the humor wasn't so middle school but no complaints cause it's still so good, will definitely put it on again.
4
Apr 05 2024
View Album
evermore
Taylor Swift
I like willow and no body, no crime. The rest of the songs are good songwriting but very bland and feel like music that plays in the background at Target, which is how I already felt about Taylor Swift. So this didn't really change my impression.
2
Apr 06 2024
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Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin
So fucking boring. Not a single track that stood out to me in the entire record. I can't believe how forgettable this was to me.
1
Sep 25 2024
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Pyromania
Def Leppard
I wanted to hate this even more than I already do because this is aesthetically against everything I value in guitar music. I really hate hard rock and prog rock and hair metal with a burning passion. I did like two songs from this, Too Late For Love and Foolin’. The rest was still actually painful to sit through. The kind of slop you only like if your formative years were in this era and you just have nostalgia from making out with a girl to it in a drive in or something.
2
Sep 26 2024
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Tonight's The Night
Neil Young
This was pretty cool. "Albuquerque" and "Tired Eyes" especially stood out to me. I saw Neil Young when I was 19 but wasn't really in a place at the time to fully appreciate what he was doing. Not all of this speaks to me but it doesn't ever drag on, and it's really good songwriting.
Honestly, Neil Young sounds so much like Stephen Malkmus to me, I didn't realize how similar their vocals were until this record. I listened to it twice and could tell I would really like it if I was in the right mood, so I'll revisit this later when I'm in a particularly melancholic self-pitying mood.
3
Sep 27 2024
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Leftism
Leftfield
I didn't get a lot out of this at all. The second half of this is definitely more energetic than the first but for the most part I found this to be incredibly mid-tempo and uninspired, and I can't tell if it's a Seinfeld effect type thing where maybe this was massively influential or if it is just straight up boring. It reminded me of generic runway show music, generic video game loading screen music, generic gay club music. I'm not surprised Leftfield doesn't like it either.
2
Sep 28 2024
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Either Or
Elliott Smith
Still hits as hard as when I cried to it in high school what can I say a certified hood classic
4
Sep 29 2024
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Like Water For Chocolate
Common
The first half hour or so of this was a drag (and this is too long of a record, it's an hour and twenty minutes long) but everything that comes after makes me get why it's a classic. The lyrics are pretty dated and homophobic but I'll still come back to this
4
Sep 30 2024
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Come Away With Me
Norah Jones
Generic Starbucks easy listening music but I unapologetically like it. It's some bullshit I can put in the background while I answer emails and that's fine, I enjoyed it as that. There were some pretty groovy bass lines in here too.
3
Oct 01 2024
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Brothers
The Black Keys
The Black Keys to me feel like Imagine Dragons with more indie rocker cred. But like more offensive because Imagine Dragons doesn't carry the pretense of presenting themselves as a good band. This was somehow both inoffensive and genuinely painful, I felt like I was listening to an hour worth of primetime TV spots. The soundtrack to the death of mainstream guitar music.
1
Oct 02 2024
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Electric Prunes
The Electric Prunes
Not bad but perfectly forgettable, I don't think I'll ever listen to this again.
2
Oct 03 2024
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Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
I love Nick Cave but this isn't his best. It's pretty indulgent with all the backup chorus vocals and in general feels mostly filler. I think this is an album only for the diehards, which is fine because I'm a fan of his but it begs the question why it's on this list.
3
Oct 04 2024
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Very
Pet Shop Boys
Very unapologetically annoying and cheesy and gay, but it's still a vibe
3
Oct 05 2024
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Tommy
The Who
God, this was pretty unbearable at times. I can't believe how hard I've forced myself to like Tommy. When I was in high school and was obsessed with bands like The Jam and The Specials (definitely flirting with punk without being outright fully into punk yet) and dressed like a little mod revivalist I really wanted to make myself like The Who in turn, I've even seen them live. And The Who Sell Out still is great to me. But Tommy can get really whiny and corny! Will never be someone who enjoys these big indulgent rock operas and I don't know why I forced myself to pretend I particularly liked this one. It has its moments though.
2
Oct 06 2024
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Supa Dupa Fly
Missy Elliott
Love Missy. Love Timbaland. Love Aaliyah. Love this era of avant-garde freak hip-hop production so much. It's a little clunky and it's not Timbaland's best production work, but it's weird as fuck and defined the sound of an entire decade of pop music that left a huge imprint on me, so it was a pleasure to listen to. Twice!
4
Oct 07 2024
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Djam Leelii
Baaba Maal
Finally something I would've never heard otherwise instead of fucking U2 and Aerosmith. I don't think I'd ever heard music from Senegal until now. This was kind of psychedelic, kind of blues-y, kind of... new age-y? I won't come back to it probably, but I'm glad I got to experience it. It is kind of long and droning and I just can't stand when any record is over an hour long, but I enjoyed the ride nonetheless.
I really liked the track "Djam Leelii" especially.
3
Oct 08 2024
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You Want It Darker
Leonard Cohen
I really got a lot out of this record. It's a record made by a man who's dying and who knows he's dying. If most of the songs were as strong as the title track or Traveling Light were it'd get a 5, but I still got a lot out of the few tracks that really spoke to me. It's very heavy, ambient and atmospheric. Leonard Cohen's voice sounds like pure gravel, Tom Waits on steroids.
It's a shame it came from being in a lot of pain and being very close to death but it's a very, very beautiful last work to leave this world with.
3
Oct 09 2024
View Album
Spy Vs. Spy: The Music Of Ornette Coleman
John Zorn
Cool guys doing cool guy shit I would definitely blow young John Zorn
4
Oct 10 2024
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Go Girl Crazy
The Dictators
All killer no filler. Dumb, snarky, sarcastic, camp, very danceable, everything that punk music should be.
5
Oct 11 2024
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John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
John Lennon
First three songs really made me think I would hate this because god John Lennon can be really fucking whiny but Working Class Hero is such a masterpiece of a song. I guess John Lennon is at his best when he's trying to sound like someone else because I love how Bob Dylan/Nick Drake that song is so much, it's incredible. And after that it picks up a bit and starts to sound more like a Beatles record, and I like the Beatles. I definitely don't regret listening to it, but it's also pretty forgettable too, save three tracks -- one of which left a huge impression on me, so there's that.
3
Oct 12 2024
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Power In Numbers
Jurassic 5
Being sincere on any level isn't cool in 2024 (it wasn't cool in 2002 either) but it doesn't make Jurassic 5 any less good
5
Oct 13 2024
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Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Very beautiful voice with so much range, doubt that it's something I'll realistically revisit. But I learned more about South African history through googling who she is, that counts for something. I also didn't realize she was the wife of Kwame Ture. Anyway, none of that has to do with the music -- I guess I'll file it under "glad I listened, but unlikely I will again".
3
Oct 14 2024
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Blonde On Blonde
Bob Dylan
I should give Blonde on Blonde a 1/5 but I am going to give it a 2 because I didn't actually like any of the songs but I do like his weird grating voice and his songwriting
2
Oct 15 2024
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If I Should Fall From Grace With God
The Pogues
No
1
Oct 16 2024
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Scott 2
Scott Walker
I actually love this so much. I was not prepared to like this at ALL. So melancholic, debaucherous, lustful, old-fashioned. Jacques Brel meets Frank Sinatra? I listened to it three times in a row and enjoyed it each time.
5
Oct 17 2024
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Clandestino
Manu Chao
Very boring but has good politics so there's that? Idk I don't care about this but maybe if I was European and an annoying lefty weed person in 2002 this would be my vibe
2
Oct 18 2024
View Album
Lazer Guided Melodies
Spiritualized
I listened to this a couple of times because it was pretty easy to let it mentally fade to the background and I wanted to actually notice it.
All I know from Spiritualized is "Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space", which I do like, so I guess that was my only benchmark for what I expected from this debut of theirs. There is a good amount of that sound in this one, but this is also decidedly more jangly and shoegazey. It reminds me a lot of the more mellow songs on Primal Scream's Screamadelica, particularly "I'm Coming Down". It was really pleasant to have on, and it definitely has an atmosphere around it, but apart from Shine A Light, which is probably the best Spiritualized song I've ever heard, the individual tracks are pretty forgettable. This is definitely an album you put on start to finish just for the mood it sets.
3
Oct 19 2024
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Boston
Boston
I wanted to not like this but it's a classic for a reason. I like the vocals so much. I likely won't come back to it but I enjoyed it beginning to end. Solid dadrock. I get why it's on the radio all the fucking time.
3
Oct 20 2024
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Elvis Is Back
Elvis Presley
The cover of Fever and The Girl of My Best Friend are both so fucking good. This didn't sell me on becoming a big Elvis fan but I enjoyed it a lot, I listened to it twice. Probably won't come back to the whole thing through hence the 3/5 but those two songs are fucking great. I like this a lot more than the more manic high energy classics I've heard like Hound Dog which I find kind of obnoxious, ballad-y crooning Elvis is where it's at.
3
Oct 21 2024
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The Clash
The Clash
Can you believe I've always claimed to love The Clash never listened to this in full? Such a poser. It's really good but I still have more of a taste for Sandinista! and Combat Rock, I guess I just love weirdo post-punk Clash best. But this is still pretty good. The bass lines are killer too. White Riot and Hate & War and What's My Name back to back to back is some of the best punk music ever written. I wish I liked it even more than I did but I guess the coolest thing about The Clash to me was always how eclectic their tastes were and I find myself missing that. Though I do love how much stripped down Clash reminds me of The Jam. Still good shit!
4
Oct 22 2024
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The Gershwin Songbook
Ella Fitzgerald
This is three hours and fifteen minutes long. Yes, I listened to the entire thing. It took me several days to get through because I enjoyed it that much. I guess there were like 7-8 tracks to me that were really standout and the rest were nice background music, but I'll definitely come back to it, mainly because it's really nice lounging/cleaning music to put on.
4
Oct 23 2024
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Who Killed...... The Zutons?
The Zutons
Apple Store indie (derogatory).
2
Oct 24 2024
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Trio
Dolly Parton
No.
1
Oct 25 2024
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Behaviour
Pet Shop Boys
Like a more Twin Peaks-esque, more mellow Depeche Mode. I just got another Pet Shop Boys from this generator literally a week or two before this but it was a lot more kitschy than this. And this is plenty kitsch and camp too, because its still the Pet Shop Boys, but this takes itself somewhat more seriously and feels more "adult" in like an '80s corporate elevator music way. It's pretty cool but it gets monotonous.
3
Oct 26 2024
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Ágætis Byrjun
Sigur Rós
Oh my god, what a pleasure to get one of the best bands I've ever seen in my life and an record that completely opened up my entire world when I first heard it in middle school. I guess there are a few tiny moments where I have to give twelve year old me credit for being extremely cool. It's one of the best ambient/post-rock albums ever made.
5
Oct 27 2024
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Ys
Joanna Newsom
This fucking rules. It's so maudlin that a lesser artist would have made this feel like it ventures into Disney girl territory but it's so fucking perfect that it never manages to toe that line. Real weird girl hours who the fuck is up
5
Oct 28 2024
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Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
OutKast
Almost all killer, very little filler. But there's enough skips for it to be a 4 for me. I just get annoyed by how many interludes and preludes and outros and skits older hip hop records have, and this is over two hours long so there's a lottt of that. I prefer The Love Below to Speakerboxxx it's way weirder and it's a more cohesive record. If it was just The Love Below I'd rate this a 5, but I still just really like both.
4
Oct 29 2024
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On The Beach
Neil Young
This was alright. The namesake track is good but the rest felt fairly monotonous. Pretty blues-y and cynical in this resigned man wiser beyond his years way so that's cool. I do really wonder if I'm just not a big Neil Young person or if he'll just take time to grow on me, so I'll give this one a 3 like I gave Tonight's The Night, because at least it's pretty short.
3
Oct 30 2024
View Album
Kid A
Radiohead
I am so sorry to be a cliché but unfortunately every fucking bit as good as everyone says it is and more. Bury me with this record. I've loved it since I first heard it when I was 11. I will love it until the day I die. My favorite record from this so far.
5
Oct 31 2024
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Band On The Run
Paul McCartney and Wings
There's some fun tracks here. I like the first half of this record a lot. The second half feels like filler bullshit that was scrapped from a Beatles record. But it's a fun and easygoing pop record and I do think it does that well.
3
Nov 01 2024
View Album
Celebrity Skin
Hole
I really like Hole, but I wish I liked this record as much as other people do. I just wish this was more aggressive. Because it could be if it wanted to be. I think Live Through This is "my" Hole album, for that reason. I blame picking Michael Beinhorn as producer, I'm really not a fan of his sound on anything he does and I think that post-grunge sound is dated in a decidedly uncool way. But I think the band was already starting to be at the end of its rope too. I don't know. Still technically a "good" record but doesn't have any of that magic for me.
3
Nov 02 2024
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Mothership Connection
Parliament
I bet this was INCREDIBLE to experience live. As it is, glad I heard it, but didn't change my life either.
3
Nov 03 2024
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Groovin'
The Young Rascals
Milquetoast sixties pop rock/blue-eyed soul. Both things I like but I did not find this to be memorable in any way, shape or form.
2
Nov 04 2024
View Album
Walking Wounded
Everything But The Girl
I really love Missing and I know Wrong is on this record so I was looking forward to listening to more of their output because I was hoping it would sound like that. Unfortunately this is a bit of a bore in comparison to their biggest hits and is just watered down elevator music drum and bass... I wish it did more with the cool breathy vocals but it really doesn't. This was sadly a bit of a disappointment but I'd give another EBTG record a shot, maybe it's just this one that isn't that special.
3
Nov 05 2024
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Joan Armatrading
Joan Armatrading
Never heard of her prior to this. Didn't really speak to me much but was cool to be exposed to a singer-songwriter I didn't know until now. Kind of a mix between funk, soul and folk rock, pretty cool.
3
Nov 06 2024
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Spiderland
Slint
Yes.
5
Nov 07 2024
View Album
The Who Sell Out
The Who
I thought I liked this record, but it's been a decade since I sat down and actually tried to listen to it beginning to end. It's just too fucking long. 23 songs? And there's five Who records on this list? Go fuck yourself.
2
Nov 08 2024
View Album
São Paulo Confessions
Suba
Never heard of this before until now. Really like it. Downtempo acid jazz bossa nova. It rules. I love it. Very good cleaning/focus music.
4
Nov 09 2024
View Album
Cloud Nine
The Temptations
Motown with a little bit of psychedelic flair. Glad I heard it I guess but didn't really speak to me. I'm guessing there's better Temptations records on this list.
3
Nov 10 2024
View Album
At Budokan
Cheap Trick
This was ok. Not my thing but totally fine background music. The bassist is handsome so I will give this a 3 instead of a 2. It's my rating system and my rules.
3
Nov 11 2024
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Abraxas
Santana
These guys fuck.
3
Nov 12 2024
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The Doors
The Doors
Tired of writing reviews. Who even gives a fuck about what I think about this. The Doors rule.
4
Nov 13 2024
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Fear Of A Black Planet
Public Enemy
Glad I heard it and has its moments but doubt it'll be something I come back to.
3
Nov 14 2024
View Album
Suzanne Vega
Suzanne Vega
It sounds like something that would play in a Starbucks twenty years ago but I kinda like it anyway. I think there's a part of me that would've likely been an earthy poetry slam person that attended Lilith Fair in 1998 so that part of me doesn't mind it at all. I don't know if it's very good or essential per se, at times it sounds like a mix of Taylor Swift and Barenaked Ladies? Which aren't very complimentary comparisons? But I don't know, it's kinda cool at times. I had fun listening to it. I might come back to some tracks it made me want to buy rustic Christmas decorations and like buy a bullet journal or something.
3
Nov 15 2024
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Violator
Depeche Mode
Absolutely perfect record. Not a single track that I don't enjoy.
5
Nov 16 2024
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1989
Taylor Swift
I got this for day 89. I just wanted to share how cool of a coincidence that is. Unfortunately, this absolutely blows and worse, this is the second Taylor Swift album I've gotten in 89 days. At its best it reminded me of Carly Rae Jepsen but with less personality. This didn't change my perception of Taylor Swift, I already knew she was a competent songwriter with not an ounce of personality to her. Musical chicken tendies, music for people who don't really like music.
1
Nov 17 2024
View Album
Movies
Holger Czukay
Not as good as my favorite Can records (this guy was in Can), but it's still fucking weird and I respect that. I enjoyed the ride. I think the reason this was on this list was because it was an early example of sampling-based work, he collected a lot of the elements just by listening to random things on the radio. Very weird and funky freaky experimental rock/electronic record, with Persian and African music. I don't know. I'm glad I heard it.
3
Nov 18 2024
View Album
The Boatman's Call
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
It was fine. I like post-punk Nick Cave so I don't think I'm the target audience for an all ballad effort from him. But it was fine. I really like his singing voice and his raunchy melancholia that his albums have, boring as most of the songs in this one are.
3
Nov 19 2024
View Album
Murmur
R.E.M.
Holy shit this took a few listens to click and when it did it REALLY did. I had this down as a 3/5 on first listen.
I never listened to early R.E.M. until now, despite knowing how important they were and all that just because I found their big hits from the 90s to be really whiny and annoying. I think there was a Seinfeld effect thing happening where so many bands took from this sound that the original is not as exciting to me but I gave it a second chance and it got really good. Sometimes it reminds me of Wire and sometimes it reminds me of Crowded House. There's some really great bass lines in here. The opening bass line in Pilgrimage that is played on bass, piano and vibraphone at the same time is insane. I like it a lot I guess it really is just more mellow and melodic post-punk which is exactly what alternative rock basically is lol
5
Nov 20 2024
View Album
Let's Get Killed
David Holmes
I like this record just fine, but the best part of it is just a remix of half of Gainsbourg's Histoire De Melody Nelson, and also another Gainsbourg standard, probably his most famous song -- Le Poinçonneur des Lilas. Which like of course samples can still be original works but it's less of a sample and more of a straight up remix album, or like just the actual songs but instrumental with some extra kick drum tracks added on top of it, unless there's something subtle I'm missing. I did like it but what I liked best about it was the part that Gainsbourg did. There's also a rework of the James Bond theme too? I don't know. It doesn't feel worthy of being on a list if you know the references it comes from, which aren't deep cuts at all nor is he really adding much of anything to them. It's a very derivative and half-baked album, and if I wasn't such a sucker for 90s electronica I would definitely give it a 2.
3
Nov 21 2024
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Teen Dream
Beach House
Another record that tween me really loved. My entry way into dream pop/shoegaze. Still very good. Definitely belongs on this list and easily one of the best albums of that decade. The last two tracks drag on a bit and aren't as strong as the rest of it, but about as close to perfect as you can get.
5
Nov 22 2024
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Orbital 2
Orbital
I think this record gave me a mild headache. The song \"Walk Now...\" sounds like a ten minute smoke alarm without batteries and genuinely gave me a headache. I like some noisy stuff but unlike the Zorn album from earlier this is very boring on top of being annoying. Halcyon On and On is very, very good. The rest of it though is like tinnitus simulator. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do with myself while listening to this kind of music. It feels like a dreadful sort of purgatory. It's not like, aesthetically offensive, but I know I decisively don't like it. I don't dislike it in the same way I dislike Rush or Aerosmith where it's not only boring but also something I feel in my gut should be nuked off the face of the earth, and Halcyon On and On is again an incredible song, so it gets a 2 instead of a 1, but yeah this is definitely largely irritating and a bore. First time I have an actual headache listening to anything on this list. With one very good song to make up for it. So I guess just listen to that and skip all the rest?
2
Nov 23 2024
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The Fat Of The Land
The Prodigy
So good. Gets repetitive at times for my infantile attention span (which is probably why I don't listen to this kind of music much, all the songs are like 8 minutes long) but it's very, very good.
4
Nov 24 2024
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Blue Lines
Massive Attack
Yes. Yes to literally anything Massive Attack. I want the two dudes from Massive Attack to eiffel tower me. I don't even care. I love this record and this band so much.
5
Nov 25 2024
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Here, My Dear
Marvin Gaye
This is both sexy and also a really maudlin and vindictive divorce album, it's like so messy that it's kind of awesome? Would be a 4 just for how unapologetically messy it is but I think I like earlier Marvin Gaye records more and also some of the songs just drag on and on. Worth listening to though, the backstory behind this record is crazy as hell
3
Nov 26 2024
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Reggatta De Blanc
The Police
A bit of a bore compared to Outlandos d'Amour (which fucking RULES) but there are some truly great songs here. I really liked The Bed's Too Big Without You, Bring On The Night, Walking On The Moon, No Time This Time and of course Message In The Bottle. The rest I could do without. A four for the half of the album that's very good and a two for the other half that is a complete bore.
3
Nov 27 2024
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Tidal
Fiona Apple
I wish I could give this a 6/5. I love this record SO much. I can't believe she was only 18 when this came out. I can't really explain how much this record means to me. Maybe to some people it's indulgent or tedious, to me it means everything in the world and more. I don't think I've ever felt so understood by a record or artist. I wish I could bury myself inside this record forever.
5
Nov 28 2024
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The Grand Tour
George Jones
I kinda like this kind of melancholic old school country. It sounds so much like Hawaiian music, which I never really made the connection until now. Why does country music sound like Hawaiian music? Is it just the steel guitar? Anyways, all the songs sound exactly the same but it's still nice. 2 because it's not bad at all but there were no songs apart from the title track that stood out to me and I just don't see myself realistically ever listening to this again. At least it was short at under 30 minutes.
2
Nov 29 2024
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Can't Buy A Thrill
Steely Dan
Hell yeah
4
Nov 30 2024
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Marquee Moon
Television
One of those albums that started my love affair with punk music, though I guess a lot of people who hear it might argue that it's not punk and that it's more of just a straight up rock record. I would argue that punk is kind of a meaningless descriptor anyway. It's just so awesome. It's both really urgent and agitated but also shows so much restraint and great musicianship. It's a really weird combination that I've been hard pressed to find before or since. If you don't get this band just keep listening to them until you do. Even their last album in the '90s is excellent. Such a fucking cool band!!!
5
Dec 01 2024
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The Yes Album
Yes
I thought I would absolutely hate this but it's actually alright. This is kind of like The Who if The Who were less annoying. Or Rush if they weren't literally the worst band of all time. It's still unrelentingly dorky because it's prog rock but it has its moments honestly, I'm genuinely surprised. 2/5 because, well, I still had to listen to Yes for 45 minutes.
EDIT: I spoke too soon. This should be a 3/5. 'A Venture' is so jazzy and also beautiful in a very Scott Walker way, another artist I found and grew to love through this 1001 album thing.
3
Dec 02 2024
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Calenture
The Triffids
Never heard of this band before. Apparently they were big in Australia. Good for them. I don't give a shit. Fuck man this was just so annoying and just feels like a lesser version of those eighties bands that rode the line between new wave and mainstream rock like The Cars. I really tried to get it because I do genuinely like all that "adult alternative" eighties stuff but I realized after a few tries I don't truly like any of the songs on this album and that I couldn't wait for it to finally end. It's like, not literary enough to be a "sophisticated" pop band like Prefab Sprout or The Blue Nile, not punk-leaning enough to be alternative rock or new wave, not catchy enough to be a good pop/rock band, I just don't understand who this is for or why it's seen as good. And then it started to sound like The Pogues after a while and it's like come ooooooonnnnnnnnnnnn... shut the fuck up........... I gave it a fair shot and listened to all of it more than once but yeah fuck off.
1
Dec 03 2024
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Deep Purple In Rock
Deep Purple
Waaaaaaaaaah!!!! Rock on duuude!!!!!!!!!!! \m/
1
Dec 04 2024
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In Our Heads
Hot Chip
If Babyshambles are landfill indie then I guess this is post-landfill indie. One is the sound of iPod commercials and one is the sound of having a UX design job at Apple eight years later. Like the landfill has been paved over and there's a Starbucks with a mural painted on the side of it now and this is what's playing in it. Really bad and just really resigned and flaccid sounding, it's millennial muzak.
1
Dec 05 2024
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Paul Simon
Paul Simon
No complaints, but didn't really speak to me either. Paul Simon is a very good songwriter that seems to be known for everything save putting his heart in what he does, despite making beautiful music. At least that's how he comes off to me. I remember listening to Graceland when I was 13 or 14 because my mom bought me an issue of NME or Spin or one of those magazines that wrote a retrospective on it, and being thoroughly confused by what the big deal was. Being older hasn't really changed that feeling, I guess.
2
Dec 06 2024
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Ocean Rain
Echo And The Bunnymen
I used to be really into Echo & The Bunnymen when I was in high school, but I wasn't able to connect the dots until now on exactly why I liked them so much. In a lot of ways they can come off as a more boring version of The Cure and The Smiths, especially in this record, but the vocals and "haunting" sound also feels a lot like The Doors too. And like it or not they're kind of the blueprint for bands like Radiohead and early Coldplay that I really liked in junior high. They don't sound far off from the rest of '80s jangle pop or even Madchester either. They're just somehow adjacent to... basically all of alternative rock music without sounding derivative of any of it.
This would've been a 5 for me once but I think my tastes changed. They're a very pompous and indulgent band, and I used to actually find that endearing in the same way I can find the flamboyant bravado of The Smiths endearing, but I guess the more into punk I got the more this record has started to bore me a little bit, particularly the slower songs. Now I like Crocodiles more because it's more angular and dark and more of a post-punk record, but this is still good too.
4
Dec 07 2024
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My Generation
The Who
Third Who record so far. Two more to go because there's FIVE on this thing for some reason. My big discovery from all this is that I don't actually like The Who much and thought I did for some reason. Like I somehow gaslit myself into thinking I did.
2
Dec 08 2024
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Chicago Transit Authority
Chicago
Five for Liberation and Free Form Guitar, but I think the rest of this isn't something I'll revisit. Way, way cooler than I thought, though. I had no idea how good Chicago used to be. Noisy funk rock jazz fusion chaos, I would've never in a million years thought that from their '80s music.
3
Dec 09 2024
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Ellington at Newport
Duke Ellington
This was cool!! I'm trying to listen to the original length of all these older records because I don't think I would like it as much if I would've listen to the whole bloated complete version that is on Spotify right now. I just listened to the original five songs that were on the LP. Because I don't care about a jazz rendition of the Star Spangled Banner or four minute long banter introducing the band. But yeah this was really nice, good house cleaning music.
3
Dec 10 2024
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Songs For Swingin' Lovers!
Frank Sinatra
I love Frank Sinatra honestly. This put me in such a good mood.
4
Dec 11 2024
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Africa Brasil
Jorge Ben Jor
Absolutely incredible
5
Dec 12 2024
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This Year's Model
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Boring and annoying... kinda like Joe Jackson but a lot less cool
1
Dec 13 2024
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Surf's Up
The Beach Boys
I thought the rest of this would be like the first track and got excited but it was just okay. I like The Beach Boys, but this felt more like a collection of songs (some of them better than others) than a cohesive album.
3
Dec 14 2024
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KIWANUKA
Michael Kiwanuka
Good but also sounds like NPR music in a way I can't really look past. It rides a weird line between being very beautiful and sounding like it was almost just made to be in the background of a Netflix series or HBO show and I can't unhear that. I even hate saying that because it has good musicianship and it's in good taste but it's still missing something, it's too pretty, like a woman that is too conventionally beautiful, maybe it's just that I need musicians to be dumb or angry or horny or neurotic but somehow he is none of these and therefore I can't say I connect with it. It has all the ingredients for a perfect cake but you're already full.
3
Dec 15 2024
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The Sensual World
Kate Bush
Hell yeah
5
Dec 16 2024
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Southern Rock Opera
Drive-By Truckers
Honestly, I didn't hate this and it had its moments. The second side of disc 1 is especially good. It's just too long... too fucking long.
2
Dec 17 2024
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Hot Buttered Soul
Isaac Hayes
Pretty good background music, can't say it did much more for me unfortunately but was still nice for what it was
3
Dec 18 2024
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Catch A Fire
Bob Marley & The Wailers
Didn't change my life but I enjoyed the ride.
3
Dec 19 2024
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Rust In Peace
Megadeth
Sorry but this is really annoying. Made me start to question at times if I even like metal at all. Hoe-scaring music
1
Dec 20 2024
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Real Life
Magazine
God I love this record so much. And now that I'm older I like it even more. I liked Magazine a lot in college but I think they're one of those bands you start really getting in the latter half of your twenties. Now I feel less like the object in one of Howard Devoto's songs and relate more to his point of view. It's cruel and cynical, it's sexy, it's sleazy, it's really self-centered and obnoxious, it's disaffected. Now being all those things in punk carries a lot of baggage, and maybe they did back then too. But it's something that punk is really missing. It's like nothing really ever stepped in to fill this void and everyone decided punk was just about hanging out and making friends. Anyway. Perfect record.
5
Dec 21 2024
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Highway to Hell
AC/DC
Another one I just really did not like. This is my second AC/DC album I got since I started this, the other one was Back In Black. Both of them have been 1/5 for me. But I've been told their early stuff is better so I'll give that a shot too.
So my actual problem with AC/DC is that it feels like they write songs about being jerks to women solely to try to impress other dudes and I like music that is about being jerks to women to impress no one.
Like the day before this I got Magazine, another misogynist band, and that band is cool because at least Howard Devoto doesn't write about it that would impress middle school boys. He almost talks about love in a way that a homeless man on the bus would give me an anecdote without me asking him. So that's why Magazine rules and AC/DC sucks. That and every AC/DC song sounds exactly the same to me. I don't like AC/DC.
1
Dec 22 2024
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Psychocandy
The Jesus And Mary Chain
Kinda sounds like The Stone Roses meets Suicide? I wish most of the songs didn't sound the same. I might have to come back to this or another record of theirs because it sounded cool, but I gave this two shots and it kind of put me to sleep both times, nice as it was.
3
Dec 23 2024
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Rubber Soul
Beatles
Definitely on the bottom half of Beatles records for me but still very good. I have a very boring stance on The Beatles, which is that I think they're great. I love early Beatles, I love late Beatles. I still really like mid-era Beatles, just not as much.
4
Dec 24 2024
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In Utero
Nirvana
I like this more than Nevermind. Tourette's is my favorite Nirvana song.
4