I like the raw, unfiltered attitude and garage band vibe their early stuff has. You really get the sense that they're blowing off steam together.
Police & Thieves was a standout, being a reggae cover, so it's funny knowing that the creators of the song hated their punk rock interpretation (though Bob Marley was a fan).
The harmonica in the final song was a nice surprise and I would have loved to hear more of it.
The difference in sound from song to song really made this worthwhile for me and elevates it from sad indie rock into something more unique.
Solid funk album, All About Love slowed down the momentum a bit but I love the tracks near the beginning and end.
I was really into this one. Definitely varies in theming and how hard they lean into prog rock or folk, but it flowed really well for me. Love that flute.
I liked the A sides a lot more than the B sides. At a certain point they start to sound the same. Sunday Bloody Sunday and New Year's Day are the most popular ones and it's easy to see why.
Despite not being able to understand the lyrics, I really enjoyed the rhythm. Really nice mix and I loved whenever the horns came in. A small nitpick, but I wish they didn't fade out during the resolution of Taaw.
I've listened to drum & bass, jungle and breakcore that I've enjoyed quite a bit so I'm disappointed that I didn't get into this more considering the influence it had on fans of the genre.
Tracks drag on for too long without much variation, and I felt that the samples often didn't mesh particularly well. You can see the jazz and hip hop inspiration. The brief acapella track was a fun idea. I just wish I found it more engaging.
Fun soulful jams. Not the sort of thing I would listen to on repeat due to the track length but nice to vibe with for a while.
The 80s cheese was too much for me
Whiny and crass but in a good way! Definitely more of a Clash fan myself but it was cool to listen to a different early interpretation of punk. This album would rate higher for me if it was a little less samey.
Aside from the critical acclaim and controversy this album gained because of its cultural significance, I thought it sounded... alright. The collaborative element with South African singers is pretty interesting as a political statement. The overall message gets muddled a bit when Simon uses part of the album to vent about his personal problems (like his divorce with Carrie Fisher) or sing with Linda Ronstadt.
This is the type of moody, overindulgent alt rock I can get behind.
RIP Mildred Pierce
Yeah boyeeee! Hard for me to rate this one fairly as I don't have a ton of hip hop knowledge to compare it to. Chuck D has a really nice flow and depth to his lyrics. Dunno if I can quite say the same about Flava Flav but his presence is undeniably felt. Beats are pretty solid and funky.
Some of the beats sound nice, but Jay-Z talking himself up gets old pretty fast. You can't call yourself the Sinatra of your day when your rapping is just okay.
Catchy upbeat new wave pop. Love John Taylor's funky basslines and the slightly more experimental stuff they do with synths in the last two songs. Nothing life changing for me but I enjoyed it.
At its core it's technically just a bunch of looped samples, but I genuinely liked the sound of it. Admittedly listening to it for an hour can get a little tiring but for an EDM album it's not bad.
So dated I felt like they were gonna do the Macarena. No clue why this is considered essential listening, I just found it really boring to sit through.
B.B. King has a really strong voice, and the stereo mix combined with the cheers from the crowd really enhanced this performance. Blues songs may be structurally similar, which doesn't make it my ideal genre for an album, but at the same time it allows them to transition organically into each other without losing momentum (at least for some of it, there were some abrupt cuts later on)
Weird and experimental but charming even with its imperfections.
It's a good album that got overshadowed by the legacy of its title song. There is a bit of irony in some of the lyrics- which Steely Dan would criticize a year later in the song "Only a Fool Would Say That", and it is funny going from songs about peace and love and political protest to a Paul McCartney diss track. Separating it from the man himself though, it sounds pretty solid. I will admit there's not a ton here that I see myself coming back to.
Relatively short tracklist with some long guitar solos to pad it out, but I thoroughly enjoyed everything here. You can hear some country inspiration which I liked.
Slow and instrumental heavy, in a good way. The combination of instruments with the passionate vocals creates a soundscape that's easy to get lost in. Loved the additions of the organ, sax, harmonica, bongos, even steel drums at the end.
It took me a couple listens, but I ended up really enjoying this despite being put off at first by the addition of the synths and vocal effects. It has a melancholy vibe, as an intentional contrast to the band's history. The environmental messaging is honestly pretty effective and still relevant. Long Promised Road, Til I Die and the title song are all awesome.
Not entirely my thing, but not bad. I preferred the songs that lean heavier into bluesy wah-wah guitar rock than country, and there were enough of those to keep me from getting bored.
Probably doesn't come off as explosive as the cover would suggest nowadays, but this is a good time! Just hard for an entirely instrumental jazz album to stand out as a must-listen for me personally unless it does something really unique.
Pretty standard rockabilly song structure but the camp horror-themed lyrics help them stand out. I like their style, marking this album down for lack of variety though.
Their stuff is alright, not super memorable for me.
Not a metalhead but this wasn't bad!
I feel bad for rating this harshly because I did get some enjoyment out of it despite being extremely dated, but it's not the sort of thing I'd listen to unironically. Doesn't hold a candle to Public Enemy.
I'm not the biggest fan of grunge, but I gotta admit it's pretty cool seeing a lesser known pioneer of the genre straight out of Seattle's underground scene on the list. Can be sonically interesting sometimes like during the guitar solos in Mudride.
Bowie's music at its best! I love a concept album with a strong unifying theme, and in this case it's (of course) a space opera. Ziggy Stardust is a reflection of Bowie himself, so it's easy to see a personal element to his creativity.
Disappointed that I didn't get more into this one, it left me feeling kind of empty.
I'm a sucker for this kind of early experimental synth music so I thought this was awesome.
I liked this one quite a bit. The tone shifts organically between sentimental and groovy.
Should be commended for some of the interesting stuff she does electronically, but overall didn't really land for me. I didn't find the ambience as sensual as I think I was intended to.
I wasn't aware that this website covered modern editions of the book, so that should be interesting for the future.
In my eyes, this is pretty much a perfect soul album. Not a bad song on the record and each of them leave an impression.
Not familiar with this genre, but what I heard was pretty cool. I like the passionate microtonal singing and the rhythm.
Listening to this shortly after Innervisions, I definitely preferred that album but this one is still great. Bonus points for the cuica playing during Bird of Beauty.
Just comes down to personal preference, but I have a hard time getting into heavy metal. This didn't exactly win me over.
Joni Mitchell's music is breezy and relaxing to listen to, I like her poetic songwriting and especially the instrumentation.
I actually quite like the instrumentation, especially when the strings kick in, but the vocals and lyrics didn't do much for me.
Pretty long, especially when you take the extra tracks into account, but the quality and variety justifies it for me.
Femi carries on the musical and political legacy of his father with an awesome album.
This album is famous enough that even I had heard of it beforehand, and while it's certainly indicative of the 90s with all the r&b style embellishments in her singing, I did enjoy it. Nicely tied together with the classroom bits. Not my favorite of the hip-hop albums on this list though, sorry Ms. Hill.
Found this to be pretty uninteresting and empty feeling for the most part, sorry.
All kind of blends together for me, but some pretty good stuff in here.
Not exactly my genre, but there were some songs on here I enjoyed. Down in a Hole sounded the most interesting. Just gets a bit tiring after an hour of grunge; I think I prefer Nirvana overall.
I have a bit of a Bowie bias, but hey it's my opinion. This is my second one after Ziggy Stardust, and while I think that album is slightly better, this one is just as charming and inspired. I can't give it lower than a 5.
Great stuff, very relaxing!
Another Joni Mitchell album I enjoyed quite a bit!
Awesome rap album! Spreading positivity while speaking from the heart and staying true to the roots of hip-hop. This is from 2002 but it feels like a classic.
Hmm. While I didn't dislike this one, I have to question its inclusion on this list as it's the second Fatboy Slim I've gotten (in my first 100 no less) and in my opinion, the lesser of the two. It's fine but I probably won't listen to it again.
Great throwback album! Curious to see how this compares to the Arctic Monkeys album on the list.
Funky!
I love the psychedelic folk rock and early experimental vibes of this album. The track with the Moog synthesizer was funny but also kind of cool for the time.
Not too familiar with the Cure but I enjoyed this a lot!
I'm on a streak of albums I'm really enjoying. I wasn't sure how much I would like this at first but it ended up being really fun and creative.
Obviously Ray Charles was a hugely seminal artist, but I'm not sure if this album does a ton to demonstrate what set his music apart from similar jazz singers at the time. Still solid, even if I would have liked it to be a little funkier.
Not my thing!
Bob Dylan is certainly talented but his vocal style and harmonica playing isn't something I want to listen to for over an hour. Thankfully the b-side kicks in with a full band to mix things up. Interesting that a bootleg made it on the list.
I had never heard of the Dandy Warhols but I like them!
