Almost everything here represents a solid outing and excellent performance. The production is good, but nothing too exciting. I'm more familiar with Winehouse's legend than her music, and I found her reputation as a solid vocal reader to be well earned on this debut. I found the lyrical content to be pretty immature, though sometimes legitimately fun, like on "Fuck Me Pumps." I am well aware that, as an almost 50-year-old man, I am not the target audience here. I imagine others would connect with this music much more than I did, and I am hopeful that I'll enjoy her later releases even more. Three stars.

Kickass punk album, but not as good as its legend. It IS legendary, though, so four stars.

Hurts my heart, but I'm going to give Elvis three stars. The rockabilly is solid, but I think the songs that have been done better by black artists make these versions sound bland by comparison (I've Got a Woman, Tutti Fuitti). He just isn't the King here.

This is such good classic soul. I had only heard a few of the songs before, but pretty much every song on the record is awesome. Listened to the first Elvis album yesterday, and it pales in comparison (literally). Would love to have a good vinyl pressing of this one too. Four stars.

I listened to this album at least three times today. It was amazing the first two times, but I was considering rating it as four stars because I zoned out and got distracted from it. The third time I listened to it with headphones, and there is no way I can give this album less than five stars. It deserves more. It's in the pantheon. This record is as full, textured, and layered as any Pink Floyd or Genesis record. I had to read about the production of this album because I couldn't wrap my mind around how a "singer-songwriter" could put together a project with this level of production. I love it. Five stars.

Rockin'. Excellent Rolling Stones vibes. I'll listen to this one again. The record is just about perfect for what it's trying to do, but it's so straight forward that it doesn't really excite me. Four stars.

Not much to think about here, but a lot of fun. Felt really sincere. I see why this was revolutionary when it came out, but it was so influential that everything is pretty familiar now. Four stars.

Fantastic record full of standards getting the Nelson treatment. Love the story behind this record as well, another example of a legendary artist doing what they wanted to do despite label skepticism with brilliant results...and in ten days too! There were a few times I thought a reading would get corny, but I was happily proven wrong. Each new track greeted me with an earnest reading such that many will now stand right beside their more well-known recordings by other artists. Booker T Jones deserves a lot of credit for the production and arrangement too (and that organ work, so beautifully understated!). If I had any lingering doubts that Willie Nelson is a paragon of American Music (I didn't), those doubts have now been erased forever. This will be a five star record for a lot of people. Even though it is an album of covers, it's not a novelty. It is perfect, but it doesn't speak to me on the deepest level. Four stars.

Beautiful. Peak '90s female singer-songwriter vibes, a product of it's time for sure, and I don't feel like I was ever the target audience for this recording. Still, this album is worth a repeated listen. Simple arrangements, but very pretty and well recorded. I didn't dig into the lyrics too much, but what I heard of them was also lovely. Four stars.

A lot of fun. Experimental blues. And like make experiments, there are varying levels of success. Some of the material on this record is genius, but it's too inconsistent. Three stars.

Man what a banger. One of the best debuts of the 90s. Guitars, guitars, guitars, just like I remember it. It was always obvious to me that this record was more a hard rock 70s arena revival than the grunge that grew directly out of punk. For some reason I never got into any later Pearl Jam albums, but this one is perfect. Four stars.

I remember when this record came out. My buddy David got a promo from Coconuts Records where he worked and brought it back to the dorms. My opinion now is the same as then. This is very pretty music. The arrangements and singing are soulful and have still held up all these years later. The production is lovely. The mastering and dynamic range feel open and present without being over loud, even though the disc was cut in the heat of the loudness war. But. Apple's lyrics are sometimes awkward, and I can't get over it. Two months younger than I am, she made this record at 19. At the time, everyone was very excited at her precocious musicianship. And the record IS well written for someone that young. And just imagine how we young men felt about her videos! But this is the 1001. Kate Bush, Billie Holiday, and Joni Mitchell are on this list. There are no excuses or asterisks. This record just doesn't live up to that high standard of the legends of her genre. Still, this record is a great start, and I'm now quite excited to listen to her more mature album(s) on this list. Three stars.

I loved this record when it came out. I think I had it on tape and the CD singles, at least the ones for High & Dry and My Iron Lung. I had Seven Television Commercials, a compilation of music videos from The Bends and OK Computer, on VHS. To my knowledge, this is Radiohead's only true good rock album before they went full prog with OK Computer. It was a huge step up from Pablo Honey. In fact, I was so obsessed with The Bends for so long that I didn't get into any of their other albums for years, no matter how good they were. Listening again now, it's obvious to me that this record isn't as mature as their later efforts. It rocks out, and it does that excellently, but it doesn't have sonic and musical depth of the albums that came after. It also feels that it wasn't mastered as well either. It's loud. The dynamic range is pretty limited, but it helps that this is a distorted album already. Of course it's still an awesome record and a personal favorite. I still get goosebumps when Thom harmonizes with himself on Black Star. But it's just not Radiohead's best, no matter how much I love it. Four stars.

I definitely was not allowed to listen to this one when I was growing up as a fundamentalist Southern Baptist in the eighties, but even I was aware of this force of nature, and, of course I had to learn those two licks from One (the pretty part and the rockin' part) years later. I've never considered myself a metal guy, but I have to love this early Metallica stuff, even through the Black Album. And Justice for All has a lot of crossover appeal for broader music fans. It's metal flavored metal. It's all the good stuff about thrash, delivered in a perfect package. We have the classical influenced guitars played at blistering speed, the growling vocals, double bass hits, apocalyptic lyrics. It's all here, and it was never better before or since. Four stars.

This album was on Rick Beato's 40 greatest sounding albums of all time list, and I can see why. It is subtle, insightful, and beautifully recorded. It's flawless, just not my thing. Four stars for the genius though.

I don't know why I find neotraditionalist Americana to be so boring. I love all of the genres it borrows from, old country, blues, garage, folk. But I end up feeling like these bands just rotate the same three songs between them. It sounds like Exile on Main Street being played underwater, like if The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion was too depressed to roll off the couch. I've read a lot about how Jeff Tweedy is such a great song writer. Ok, but the vocals are buried under layers of haze, like they are too shy to come out to play. It sounds good, but it fails to grab my interest. Three stars

I need more time with this album. It seems like a great record to listen to with headphones. Solsbury Hill is a total banger. This album reminds me of Kate Bush, with a lot of quiet but interesting musical tidbits happening in the background. But the record isn't quite as good as The Hounds of Love. Four stars.

Ok. One listen and I've had enough. This record is pretty fun, and I think I get it. I probably won't listen again. The problem is that thumbing your nose as an artistic strategy tends to date your music. That kind of experimentation is valuable. It just doesn't tend to result in timeless music. Maybe timeless music isn't the point, and that's ok. Three stars.

I'm so happy to be reminded of how great Pink Moon is. Listened to this record over and over again yesterday. Every single song is a beautiful little piece of atmosphere despite being so simple. Nick Drake's ability to create such a deep, mellow vibe with so little is inspiring. I didn't connect with this record to the point of giving it five stars, but I will put this album back in rotation. Would love to have a good vinyl copy too. Four stars.

On YouTube, there is a video of Henry Rollins describing a years-long one-sided feud he had trying to outdo Iggy Pop on stage. In that video, he calls Funhouse one of the sexiest, most violent, genius records ever. I'm inclined to agree with him. This thing is a beast. No one would ever call this an audiophile record, but it is punchy, perfectly squeezed through the neck of a jar to that perfect point of immediacy and detail. It rocks the speakers hard; headphones reveal all of the menacing undertones. More rock than rock, more punk than punk, in the pantheon of music, Iggy Pop is the god of war. This is the beginning of his chaotic character arc. Five stars.

Killer. This was my first listen of this brilliant album, and I had a lot of fun. I heard shades of a number of prog alternative bands in this music, which almost led me to give it a five star rating. I hear Sonic Youth, Talking Heads, flavors of shoegaze, and even jam bands. Bel Air drags a bit but is a great car song. Will listen again and look for a vinyl copy. Four stars.

This concert is classic Cash, so awesome from the jump. Darlin Companion is a joy. The recording is ok but not great. His jokes for the inmates are a bit corny, but they seem to enjoy them. I'll listen to this again with pleasure, but it won't be a favorite. Four stars.

I don't think it's bad. I just didn't like it. I think I understand why people like Bruce Springsteen, but he's not for me. This music feels like how country music would feel years later. It's a collection of anthems for the working class. Very direct, no metaphor. I didn't hate it, but I listened only once and didn't feel like giving it a second go. Not interested. Three stars.

An interesting listen. It's the great Cohen, so the lyrics are brilliant, but I can't get past the 80s style arrangements. None of it sounds quite right to me. I listened twice and "liked" maybe two songs, but I'm not interested in playing this album in it's entirety again. Three stars.

So chill. So very, very chill. This is a nice session from the incomparable Jimmy Smith. It's pretty straight ahead, though. Many jazz albums from this era can work as background music but have enough detail that a critical listen is rewarded. That's not my experience here. This album is cool to listen to and very accessible, which means that it is never becomes challenging and is, frankly, kind of forgettable. I was glad to get a chance to listen to this album because I've seen it on sale from the Blue Note Classic reissue series. I haven't pulled the trigger because I feel that I already have a number of albums from that Blue Note series, including Smith's own Midnight Special from the same sessions as Back at the Chicken Shack, and I haven't seen much of a reason to add this one. My understanding is that Back at the Chicken Shack is the more important album, but I like Midnight Special better, and the Blue Note Classics reissue on vinyl sounds great. I'll probably just stick with that title from here on out. Three stars.

80s Prince through and through. Enjoyed this one but not aching to get back to it. Four stars.

What a surprise! My music knowledge is more wide than deep. I had never heard any of these songs, so I was thrilled to get an unexpected prog masterpiece. I will definitely be returning to this one. Four stars.

I think I got a vinyl copy of this record from a thrift store when I was in high school. It's big, bombastic arena rock. It is aggressive and even a bit obnoxious with the long, rocking, excessive solos, etc. The album definitely rocks, but it's too much area excess to match my tastes well. Three stars.

This is a fantastic record. Many times when I hear an album noted for how influential it is, I'll be a bit bored because so many people have copied it, that I've hear all of the jokes before. But not here. T. Rex doesn't sound like the bands it influenced. Those bands sound like T. Rex. I definitely hear some Bowie-like qualities here, but the sound is more like two artists channeling the same vibe rather than one following the other. Bang a Gong is the perfect example of an awesome song that has been totally played out. I've skipped it so many times in the past, but it sounds great on the tracklist here. Cosmic Dancer is a new surprise favorite of mine. I'm impressed with what Bolan was able to do here though I do wish the album was more consistent. Four stars.

This record was a lot of fun, unique in is blend of Irish folk music and punk attitude. Interesting for the first listen but then not nearly as exciting on subsequent plays. Good record, but it'll be rare for me to feel the need to come back. Three stars.

Slick, slick, slick. Too slick. This is alternative rock for normies. A little bit rockin' but with lyrics safe for sorority pledges and teenyboppers. It's totally cool to be as poppy as you want. I have nothing against it. But the super poppy "rock," especially alternative rock, does not do it for me. A delicious pile of plain white rice. The music is good as in well-performed and produced. Three stars.

Oh wow, what did I just hear? When I started collecting vinyl, I jokingly wished I liked certain artists more because their albums were so well regarded on LP. Neil Young is at the top of that list. But I had never heard this masterpiece before. And it's odd too because I am very familiar with the singles from this album, Old Man, Heart of Gold, Needle and the Damage Done. I've never considered myself a Young fan, but, of course, these tracks are canon classic rock, and I always thought they were great. What's unfortunate is that I wasn't aware that they were from this album or that they even were from the same album. When listened to together as part of a full album project, their magic opens up. I've only experienced this one other time, with Marvin Gaye's What's Goin On, and while Harvest didn't quite capture my heart the way that album did, it's still a masterpiece that I plan to get on vinyl and listen to over and over. Five stars.

Synchronicity is kind of a weird album. Stephen Thomas Erlewine described it as two EPs, "one filled with first-rate pop, and one an exercise in self-indulgence." I don't wholly agree with the "self-indulgence" label for the first half of the album, at least not in a pejorative sense. But it's true that the album feels disjointed with the first half being fairly experimental and the second packed with absolute bangers. "Every Breath You Take" is a certified classic of modern pop, and "King of Pain" gets better every time I listen to it (and, of course, the older I get). Three stars for the first half, five for the second, four for my rating here.

Except for maybe Abbey Road, I doubt that I have listened to any album on this list more than Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins. This was one of my stone cold favorites in college. I knew some of the songs, especially "Today" and "Disarm," but I really got into the Pumpkins and this album when Mellon Collie came out. I saw them twice on that tour, late '96 and early '97. There were a few amazing singles off of this record, but many of the tracks aren't just songs. They are spacey, anthemic, prog-rock compositions produced from the context of a 90s alternative ethos. So much of my music taste was introduced to me by this band and this album. Creativity must have been just pouring from Billy Corgan during this period. Every song ebs, flows, changes, spaces out, and dive bombs back in. I love this record. I have always loved this record. I will always love this record. Five stars.

Oh so good. This dude's voice is so warm, and his readings of these songs is just excellent. The music is deceptively morose despite the seemingly happy singing cowboy overtones. And the tales are mostly DARK AF. I've already ordered the vinyl and can't wait to hear this over and over. Four stars.

Could be nostalgia, as this record came out my junior year of high school and the singles were all over MTV for years afterward, but this album is brilliant. Like much of the best rock n' roll, it sounds completely of its time without sounding dated. Plus, Regina loves it, so there's that...

Well-executed psychedelic blues in same the vein of early Grateful Dead, but nothing that made me stand up and pay close attention.

Just fantastic blues rock from the '60s. The singles from this record are so instantly recognizable that I think I forgot how good they really are. Everything else was a very pleasant surprise.

Wow these are great songs. Bob Dylan is the master of the American folk ballad, and he shows it here. I wouldn't want to listen to The Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands every day, but it was epic this first time through.

Great '90s breakbeat.

Really beautiful acoustic/harmony classic rock. Some of the instrumentals almost reminded me of dark new age, almost like Dead Can Dance.

I've never listened to this record before, and I probably won't again. I don't really get its appeal. To me, it sounds like an album from a third-rate local band that won studio time with a talented producer. And Sheryl Crow can't sing! I don't understand how people could listen to "Leaving Las Vegas," with its tortured vocals, over and over again on 90s radio. I'm old enough to remember it. Most people can't sing, and that's ok. I'm a huge fan of early Smashing Pumpkins, for example, and Billy Corgan famously can't sing very well. But he uses his voice in a fitting way. Sheryl Crow can't sing but tries to sing like someone who can. I will grant that some of the harmonies are pretty good. I love the brief "lie to me" moment on "Strong Enough," and the harmony on the chorus of "No One Said It Would Be Easy" is nice too. And, ok, the last two songs "We Do What We Can" and "I Shall Believe" are pretty. I still don't like the lyrics, and Crow's vocals are deceptively good except for the parts where they definitely aren't. This record isn't so much a bad record as one that is solidly not good. The music isn't awful (other than the singing). And it sucks too. The album actually sounds like the people who made it worked really hard. The writing and singing seem earnest. I just don't think it's very good. There is some solid studio work from the musicians, but it's all an exercise in super safe paint by numbers. This album is so boring and stale that I can't even hate it properly. A quick Google search reveals that the album has sold more than seven million copies, so, clearly, Tuesday Night Music Club had some sort of mass appeal. It won three Grammys including Best Album and (gasp and shock!) Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. I just don't get it. Two stars.

I remember the first time I saw the video for Human Behavior. I was a teenager shopping in the young men's area of a famous department store at the mall. It might have been Belk or JCPenney. I don't even think the music was on, just the images of super cute Bjork sitting at a table in the red-shaded belly of a giant stuffed bear. I remember thinking that it was weird and interesting. I wouldn't hear the music until later, which was in line with how I discovered a lot of new music in the 90s, when there was still a lot of mystery surrounding enigmatic artists and no easily accessible way to learn about them. Post was a much bigger deal on MTV than Debut was, and my first college roommate was a big Björk fan, so we listened to her first two albums a lot. He even had her live performance on VHS. All of that is to say that I've heard this album many times over the years and have always found it appealing as an attractively raw first effort from an artist who was on an obvious trajectory of maturity from making poppy Icelandic alternative music with the Sugarcubes to creating some of the most unique music of the 90s. Even though I connect less with her output over the last twenty years than I did with her first three bangers from the 90s (Debut, Post, and Homogenic), I had become convinced that the woman is a genius who, in middle age, has come into her full power. I don't know if it was my teenage ears, my crappy stereo systems, or potentially poor 90s loudness war mastering of any album with a danceable beat, but I have a renewed and stronger appreciation for Debut after listening to it on a high-quality track streamed through my much-improved stereo system. A good master through a good stereo reveals this album to be far more nuanced and layered than I ever realized. For example, the environmental and incidental sounds that permeate most of the tracks and link them together were always there, but are now much more apparent and create an atmosphere of presence and immediacy that render some of the more fun, but gimmicky moments, such as the bathroom stall segment of "There's More to Life Than This," as more of a consistent artistic statement. Debut might actually be a low-key concept record detailing a wild, yet intimate party scene in a European city. Even her always deliberate vocal squeaks seem more purposeful now. No matter what her image in the media was in the 90s, I've always known that Björk was more than just a quirky manic pixie, but this listen brought into focus the impression that she wasn't a talented artist who grew into a genius. She was always a genius, expressing herself in a way that was authentic at any given moment. A critical listen to this album put me in the mindset of Kate Bush's The Hounds of Love, which, to me, is the bar for female-centered progressive pop-music-as-artistic achievement and studio wizardry. And while I don't think Debut quite reaches that level of brilliance, it's still a top-tier statement, and one that still has surprises more than three decades on. Five stars.

This is a good album from a band that was destined for bigger and better things. I missed this one because, by 1998, heavy rock in the grunge vein had mainly fallen off for me. I was actually working at an independent record store at the time, but I guess we were into other stuff. Until hearing this record, I had only listened to Songs for the Deaf after getting a vinyl copy on sale. I liked it, but I didn't love it. The same can be said for Queens of the Stone Age. It's cool, but I didn't really connect with it on first listen. Three stars.

This record is so hippy-dippy, flower-power. It is corny and naive. But I love it for that. Can't we love something because it makes us happy? I can. Four stars.

This is a beautiful, well-engineered album that didn't appeal to me personally on the first listen. I'm still going to add it to the collection. Maybe repeated listens will help me connect to the music.

Lush and mysterious, Dusty Springfield's opus has aged like wine. The orchestration is excellent too. This is solid A-tier vocal reading, though it doesn't quite reach the legendary S-tier status of a Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, or Aretha Franklin. Four enthusiastic stars.

I was so impressed by this record, an absolutely gorgeous example of British folkish prog rock. I listened to it twice in a row, beautiful on the hi-fi and powerful in the headphones. The creative power of this band is on full display here. I read online that the band wasn't happy with the original production, but I streamed the 2007 stereo mix, and the production and mastering sounded borderline perfect to me. Some purists online complain that the original mix is the way to go, but I don't have a history with this record, so I wouldn't know the difference. This record's legendary status is fully deserved, and this is one I plan to come back to again. Five stars.

This is one of the best albums in the history of rock by one of the best bands in the history of rock. Of course, it's a bit pompous. Of course, it takes me back to off-campus college housing, a room full of guys, knocked back on the couch, listening, mesmerized, or late nights, falling asleep to it after partying. I liked it then because it's perfect. I like it now because it's still perfect. Five stars.

I'm a solid Xenial. A few years ago, I had a girlfriend who was a youngish Millennial. I used to play downtempo music like this in the background when we were hanging out. She called it 90s coffee shop music, and she did not mean that in a good way. Even though this is an album from 2001, I think it would have certainly fit into that category. I enjoyed it, but it's best for the background, and maybe don't play it for anyone under 40. Three stars.

This album has such a fun, creepy, witchy vibe. I love it. I have a good version of this record on vinyl, but I listed to a high quality digital file with headphones for this session, and there was a lot of new-to-me detail that was revealed this time. I almost want to give this record five stars for its uniqueness, but I'm going to have to go with four. This record scratches a very particular itch, but it just isn't a legendary recording on par with something like Abbey Road, Dark Side of the Moon, or Songs in the Key of Life. Four stars.

This record is a strong Alt Country showing. Folks who are into that style of music will probably connect to it much more than I did, and I wouldn't argue with a four or even five-star ratings for those who are into this genre. It has some excellent moments, but I don't plan to listen to it again. Three stars.

This record was chaotic fun, but not really for me. I might listen to it again someday, but it didn't grab me after today's listen. Three stars.

Almost everything here represents a solid outing and excellent performance. The production is good, but nothing too exciting. I'm more familiar with Winehouse's legend than her music, and I found her reputation as a solid vocal reader to be well earned on this debut. I found the lyrical content to be pretty immature, though sometimes legitimately fun, like on "Fuck Me Pumps." I am well aware that, as an almost 50-year-old man, I am not the target audience here. I imagine others would connect with this music much more than I did, and I am hopeful that I'll enjoy her later releases even more. Three stars.

It's always difficult to rate a legendary album on its own merits. The Rolling Stones Aftermath contains several absolute classics (e.g, "Paint it Black" and "Under My Thumb"). It's obvious that The Rolling Stones were branching out both in their songwriting and their use of the studio for creative expression, though they are nowhere close to where they would be six years later when they released Exile on Main Street, which is a true masterpiece album rather than a collection of loosely related tunes. I listened to this record twice in a row. It sounds great, and the songs are all solid, but Aftermath doesn't quite reach the level top tier. Four stars.

There are some interesting tracks on this record, and I enjoyed listening to it, but it sounds a bit disjointed, like a compilation. Nothing made me stand at attention, but I do hear shades of bands that came before (Sonic Youth) and after (Hum, Smashing Pumpkins), and nothing sounds derivative here. I would probably have liked this record more if I had heard it when I was in high school, which makes me want to enjoy it more than I do now. It sounds like the indie rock that the slightly older guys I knew in college listened to. It sounds super 90s hip and cool college radio, and I was only ever super 90s hip and cool college radio adjacent. Three stars.

Scratching the itch of weird, experimental, low-fi, high-concept, garage execution of post-punk. A lot of jangly but druggy, ska/skank influence in the arrangements. B52s/Ono-like squealing sometimes. Production is quite muddy. Sounds like the bass is turned up. Reminds me of the dub production on the first Bad Brains album, which wouldn't come out for three or four years after this. I wonder if I could get a better copy on vinyl. I don't know why I like this album so much. Lots of post-punk creativity packed into short attention span, rough but poppy songs, much like the Ramones did. In the 90s, punk covers of old songs were a trend, and the slits contribute here with an awesome dubby version of "I Heard it from the Grapevine" that's not just a novelty. Unique, belongs in the rotation. Four stars.

I've been listening to this one for a long time. There was a time when Led Zeppelin was my favorite band, and this was my favorite album by them. I've always been a little disappointed in Page's production, especially on the opening lick for Immigrant song, which I've always felt was too weak for the tone of the song and needed much more chunky punch. I still feel that way, but I was surprised at the deep level of detail on the rest of the album when I listened to a good mix on a good system and then through good headphones. There's a lot more there than was evident on the speakers in the 1988 Datsun on which I used to listen to this record. Any way I slice it, this is an unappreciated banger. Five stars.

This record might be so weird that I have to like it just for the mental stimulation alone. I am deliberately not reading anything about it before listening to it, but I'm going to assume it's German (turns out the band is Slovenian and Yugoslav, but there's a lot of German language). The eyes on the cover image remind me of a Terry Gilliam cartoon from an animated Monty Python segment. The album opens with chants that segue into (is that blues?) guitar, followed by some Kajagoogoo-reminiscent 80s keyboard and then straight into early (or was it proto in 1987?) industrial beats, then horror organ into circus organ. It's a bit of a confusing mix to think about, but somehow it still works, and the songs always have melody. It's never just noise or aggression for their own sakes. There's a lot of cinema here, horns and driving rhythms which sometimes cross into the sublime. Is this a dark German celebration of life? There's even a brief reading of Churchill's "Never Surrender" speech. That speech was about fighting the Germans, and I can only speculate why it's used here. It's all a bit ridiculous, but I can't help but take it seriously in an absurd kind of way. I can't think of a time when I would choose to listen to this record again, but I kind of love it. Four stars.

This album is a personal favorite. From what I can tell, it's a bit divisive; people either love it as a '90s dark-pop masterpiece from a tortured personality or see it as corny fluff from an annoying drug addict. I tend to lean toward the former, but I'm prejudiced here. My friends and I listened to this album constantly when I was in high school. We even called each other "Drug Buddy," even though we were just quirky theater kids who never did any drugs and didn't realize that the song was about heroin. And our misunderstanding is indicative of how this album gets overlooked for the brilliant work it is. The songs have clear pop sensibilities that could easily appeal to high schoolers, but closer listens reveal a depth that isn't immediately obvious. The songs on this record express a deep sadness in the most mundane way, the way many of us experience it in daily life. Take the lyric "Guess I don't wanna die" from "Rudderless"; the whole of a man's will to continue to live, the sum of his entire existence, is reduced to a shrug. Life moves on. It can be a meaningless slog, but we don't want it to end. I like this juxtaposition between simple, happy-sounding songs that reveal a darkness beneath. I also like Juliana Hatfield's contributions on this album, too, especially her backing vocals, which lend a further innocence and sweetness to Dando's voice. She is by turns a companion, a literary foil, and a conscience. One more point. I don't like the latter addition of the cover of "Mrs. Robinson." I know it ended up being the biggest single from the record and probably helped sell more copies than any other song, but it was never meant to be part of the album, and it sounds tacked on, which, of course, it was. This album is not a masterpiece, but it holds a unique place in my heart and has stuck with me for decades. Four stars.

I was excited when I saw this album pop up, not because I have a personal connection to the music, but because I love the cultural background behind this release and, more broadly, the two-tone movement. My understanding is that two-tone refers to the connection between black and white working-class youths in housing projects in postcolonial UK. In the late 70s to early 80s, these kids had every social motivation to be racist against each other, but they chose to love the people they grew up with and, by extension, their music. Also, these kids looked super slick in their mod-revival suits! Even though the movement was ultimately small and short-lived, it represents one of the best things about cultural connections between groups: the immense creativity that comes from blending styles and influences. The music itself is inconsistent. Sometimes, it is really exciting; other times, it drags. A few of the tunes, especially those that address young marriage, while fun, can be too specific to their particular time and place to hit home with me. Ultimately, I had a lot of fun with this release. Four stars.

I have only a passing knowledge of Sigur Ros. I think I had listened to this record before, but I can't say for sure. I first played it on my hi-fi, which tempted me to call it the loudest quiet record I'd ever heard. Some of the bass notes went so low that they created standing waves that muddied some of the detail that form the textures that characterize Ágætis Byrjun. It was a bit of an uncomfortable experience. Figuring that there was more to this album than I could hear in the room, I listened again with headphones (streamed on my phone through a wired DAC), and the experience was completely different. Ágætis Byrjun is a beautiful album, beautifully executed. I'm curious, but I don't need to know what the lyrics say. I'm looking forward to listening again to a high-quality file, which I hope will reveal even more detail. This is a record that rewards critical listening. Four stars.

There is a reason that this is the best-selling album of all time. It's a masterpiece from start to finish. Every single song is perfect, though I don't like that one weird random key change in "Baby Be Mine." That brief moment is my only criticism of this record. If anyone reads this, please listen to the MFSL one-step master of Thriller, which opens up the compression and turns the compressed dance record into a detailed listener's record. Even an uploaded version on YouTube will reveal the biggest differences. Some don't like that the MFSL version naturally loses some of the original's punch. That's true, but I believe that both mixes have their place. Five stars.

This is a great post punk record that I'd never heard. There are elements of psych and county and 90s indie all over this thing. Really liked this one. Four stars.

The blessings from OAD continue with the Violent Femmes' first record. I've loved this one for years. I was six when it came out, and I probably only heard of "Blister in the Sun" when the song's appearance on the Gross Pointe Blank soundtrack created a short-lived revival of the Femmes' popularity. No, no wait, I think I first heard of the Femmes when Ethan Hawke sang "Add it Up" at Winona Ryder in Reality Bites. To me, this album, more than any other, captures the frustrated aggression, depression, and sexual frustration of older adolescent young men. Gordon Gano is not cool in the conventional rock star sense. Any swagger on this record bursts through in a messy wave of unmanaged testosterone. What else would we expect from an acoustic punk record written by a Milwaukee high schooler with arrangements hashed out by the band while busking? At least, that's the legend I'm allowing myself to believe. This is not the most artistic, important, uplifting, creative, or beautiful album in my collection, not by a long shot. Still, this is the one I wish I had written. Five stars. Side note: the Craft Records vinyl of this album, sold on Amazon, is fantastic. When you get your copy, make sure that it has an internal, thin black border on the red hype sticker.

For two years in the late 90s, I had the privilege of being one of the last people to work in the coolest used record store in the small North Carolina city where I grew up. It's hard to describe the pleasure of being twenty years old and having a job where people constantly ask for (and even respect!) your opinion on music. Even though we sold this album, I was aware of it, and I was listening to a lot of electronic music at the time, I have never listened to Homework. As I opened the OAD app this morning, I wondered how I missed it. Then I remembered how I thought the single "Around the World" was obnoxious and repetitive, which turned me off to this album. Knowing what I know now about Daft Punk, especially the fantastic Random Access Memories, I thought that maybe I had missed an opportunity. Unfortunately, no, I was right to skip this one the first time around, and I almost didn't finish it today. Mostly, I found it obnoxious and repetitive. There were plenty of times when the rhythms and production had me bobbing my head, but even those moments were driven into the ground, with little variety to carry me through the tracks, much less the entire record. I thought I might catch hints of embryonic development of the group that Daft Punk would become, but honestly, I didn't even get that. This album disappointed me, and I probably won't return to it. I'm not sure if Discovery is on the list too, but I promise to keep an open mind if and when it pops up. Three stars.

Today, Peter Gabriel's album So was the right record at the right time for me, and I was deeply moved by the time I spent with it, listening for the OAD journey we all share. I've heard it before, and, of course, I am familiar with the singles, but I wasn't aware of the record's popularity or cultural impact. One Discogs review I read said something along the lines of, "Every house has this album, and if you don't think you do, you should look again." I was nine when this album came out, from a small southern city with deep military and Bible-Belt influences. I was not listening to Peter Gabriel albums. In 1989, I was not watching Cameron Crowe films. Elementary age me did think that the video for Sledgehammer was one of the coolest things I'd ever seen (mostly in short clips from other shows or commercials. Remember, Bible Belt). Today was not the first time I've listened to this album, but it was the first time I listened to it critically. 67 albums in, and this is the best example of Artistic or Progressive Pop I may have ever heard, even surpassing other masterpieces such as Hounds of Love and The Joshua Tree. The music is layered and mastered beautifully. I listened to the YouTube Music-streamed version of the Deluxe Edition (including the live additions) and FLAC files of the SACD. I listened with earbuds, headphones, in my car, and on my hi-fi. The SACD files through a plug-in DAC from my phone over headphones were the best experience, but each version was a joy. The music is perfect, as are the vocal performances. Kate Bush's contributions are meaningful, made even better as she adapts her talents to Peter Gabriel's vision. I needed to hear her sing "Don't give up" today. In fact, today I was probably most impressed with the lyrical content of these songs, as wonderful and engaging as the music is. Of course, the massive hits are exceptionally catchy while showcasing both artistic ability and pop sensibility in a wonderful balance, especially "In Your Eyes." Many of you have known that for years, but I feel like I only appreciated the song for what it is today. But, sandwiched between the giangic bangers of "Sledgehammer" and "Big Time," is the triptych of inspirational, uplifting songs: "Don't Give Up," That Voice Again," and "Mercy Street." They each represent a unique dimension of an intimate personal struggle, written in a way that allows the listener to relate their own trials to those described here and, even more importantly, to feel emotional relief through the uplifting catharsis effected by the resolutions in the lyrics. The ultimate resolution to these three is the album's eruption into "Big Time," which I'm convinced, with no evidence and probable projection, is about Gabriel purging egotistical tendencies he observes in himself. This track progression is what elevates the album from a collection of great tunes to a cohesive experience. This is what provides the journey that we lovers of the album format crave. And it does it all in a package that is immediately accessible with a runtime of under 50 minutes. Peter Gabriel's So is as good an introduction to close, critical listening as any other record I can think of. It's up there with What's Going On, Rumours, Abbey Road, and Exodus. Finally, a brief plug for the live content on the deluxe edition. The concert's overall journey doesn't match the album's, but the readings of the individual cuts rival the studio versions in emotional impact. Youssou N'Dour appears on stage for his part in "In Your Eyes." You must hear it at least once. I was knocked on my ass by this album. Whatever hard times you are facing, consider spending 46 minutes listening closely to this record as a form of self-care. Five stars.