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.

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.

I liked two songs from this (I'll Never Let You Go and Blue Moon) but not really my kind of thing

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

Goes hard love u Janis u killed it

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

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...

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!

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.

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.

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

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

Cringe, but the good kind of cringe

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

The most influential, timeless, essential punk album of all time.

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.

This was not a good introduction to Johnny Cash. This feels like a mediocre bootleg of a Johnny Cash performance.

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

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

Such a fun 'artsy girl goes to the disco' album. Not Bjork's best album but still good enough to be 5 stars.

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

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.

Genuinely exhausting to listen through. Rock for people who eat plain oatmeal every day for breakfast

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.

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.

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

Basura

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

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!

Some bangers on here I'll admit but homie is way too obsessed with sixteen year olds

It's a certified banger what can I say

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.

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.

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.

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".

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Still hits as hard as when I cried to it in high school what can I say a certified hood classic

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

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.

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.

Not bad but perfectly forgettable, I don't think I'll ever listen to this again.

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.

Very unapologetically annoying and cheesy and gay, but it's still a vibe

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.

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!

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.

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.

Cool guys doing cool guy shit I would definitely blow young John Zorn

All killer no filler. Dumb, snarky, sarcastic, camp, very danceable, everything that punk music should be.

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.

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

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".

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

No

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Apple Store indie (derogatory).

No.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I bet this was INCREDIBLE to experience live. As it is, glad I heard it, but didn't change my life either.

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.

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.

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.

Yes.

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.

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.

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.

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.

These guys fuck.

Tired of writing reviews. Who even gives a fuck about what I think about this. The Doors rule.

Glad I heard it and has its moments but doubt it'll be something I come back to.

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.

Absolutely perfect record. Not a single track that I don't enjoy.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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?