491
Albums Rated
3.4
Average Rating
45%
Complete
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1950
Favorite Decade
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56
5-Star Albums
16
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Yeezus
Kanye West
|
5 | 2.76 | +2.24 |
|
Will The Circle Be Unbroken
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
|
5 | 2.99 | +2.01 |
|
Live 1966 (The Royal Albert Hall Concert)
Bob Dylan
|
5 | 3.14 | +1.86 |
|
Deloused in the Comatorium
The Mars Volta
|
5 | 3.19 | +1.81 |
|
Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Fiona Apple
|
5 | 3.2 | +1.8 |
|
The Slider
T. Rex
|
5 | 3.28 | +1.72 |
|
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Wilco
|
5 | 3.31 | +1.69 |
|
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady
Charles Mingus
|
5 | 3.32 | +1.68 |
|
Figure 8
Elliott Smith
|
5 | 3.33 | +1.67 |
|
Ready To Die
The Notorious B.I.G.
|
5 | 3.36 | +1.64 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Stranger
Billy Joel
|
1 | 3.86 | -2.86 |
|
Hysteria
Def Leppard
|
1 | 3.2 | -2.2 |
|
The Rise & Fall
Madness
|
1 | 3.05 | -2.05 |
|
La Revancha Del Tango
Gotan Project
|
1 | 3.04 | -2.04 |
|
Suzanne Vega
Suzanne Vega
|
1 | 3.02 | -2.02 |
|
Exile In Guyville
Liz Phair
|
1 | 3.02 | -2.02 |
|
The Man Who
Travis
|
1 | 3 | -2 |
|
Steve McQueen
Prefab Sprout
|
1 | 2.99 | -1.99 |
|
Vauxhall And I
Morrissey
|
1 | 2.96 | -1.96 |
|
Very
Pet Shop Boys
|
1 | 2.95 | -1.95 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Radiohead | 4 | 4.75 |
| Beatles | 4 | 4.75 |
| The Rolling Stones | 5 | 4.4 |
| Nirvana | 2 | 5 |
| T. Rex | 2 | 5 |
| A Tribe Called Quest | 2 | 5 |
| Bob Dylan | 2 | 5 |
| Black Sabbath | 3 | 4.33 |
| Beck | 3 | 4.33 |
| Jimi Hendrix | 3 | 4.33 |
| Neil Young | 3 | 4.33 |
| Led Zeppelin | 3 | 4.33 |
| Miles Davis | 3 | 4.33 |
| Beastie Boys | 3 | 4.33 |
| Kanye West | 3 | 4.33 |
| Arcade Fire | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Everything But The Girl | 2 | 1.5 |
| Pet Shop Boys | 2 | 1.5 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Green Day | 5, 2 |
| Pink Floyd | 2, 3, 4, 5 |
5-Star Albums (56)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
James Brown · 4 likes
4/5
driving the ladies WILD
Baaba Maal · 3 likes
3/5
this is something my fourth grade music teacher probably made us listen to while she loudly clapped along and attempted to sing in Pulaar
The Incredible String Band · 3 likes
1/5
I sometimes wonder if this list of albums is just fucking with me
Peter Gabriel · 1 likes
3/5
Peter Gabriel has always been one of those guys that I’ve felt like I’m supposed to like. I get why he’s good, his rhythm section is impressive, it’s prog royalty, I get it. but I’m never sold. Also he sounds a LOT like Dave Matthew’s.
David Bowie · 1 likes
5/5
my brain hurts a lot
1-Star Albums (16)
All Ratings
Willie Nelson
3/5
Frank Zappa
4/5
Gorillaz
4/5
Was not expecting absence of rapping until Clint Eastwood and have a renewed perspective of this song in context of the whole album. Very surprising how little Del there is outside the singles.
I guess I knew the Gorillaz hits but hadn’t listened much outside of Plastic Beach. This album sounds more like trip hop Blur than what I expected. Standouts like “Double Bass” are more Dan the Automator focused than I knew the band got to.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
The transitions on this album are sick. Great album to listen to walking around the city.
Fats Domino
3/5
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
5/5
Iconic
Billy Joel
1/5
the musical equivalent of clapping when a plane lands
Snoop Dogg
3/5
I really like that west coast screechy synth sound he always uses that kind of sounds like a dentist’s drill.
Thin Lizzy
4/5
🤘🏻🎸⚡️🍆🤘🏻
Tracy Chapman
2/5
David Bowie
2/5
Think I’d rather go back to the day before.
Cat Stevens
4/5
A lil more antsy than I recall but loved it all the same.
Deerhunter
4/5
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Every time they blast into a song with a rippin harmonica, I recoil, but Bruce wins me back every time. Go, Bruce, go. You’ll bust outta that dusty old town one of these nights.
The Crusaders
3/5
Black Sabbath
4/5
The Who
4/5
The Young Gods
2/5
Felt like huffing nitrous in an airport security line - rad moments involved but largely tense, loud, disorienting, and in a foreign language.
The Killers
4/5
Hadn’t listened to this album. Pretty good! Definitely like the hits more in the context of the album as a whole.
Fugazi
4/5
Energy
Calexico
4/5
Supergrass
3/5
Butthole Surfers
2/5
Gillian Welch
4/5
Portishead
4/5
Beck
4/5
Personal classic. Two white horses in a line……
Carole King
3/5
Smooth sailing, Carole. Side B kinda stalled the boat, though….
Robert Wyatt
4/5
Yo. Wtf? Yes.
Wilco
5/5
Cohesion. A masterpiece.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Change Partners is a pretty fucked up song. Relax Frankie. The rest of this is alright I suppose. Swanky stuff. Whatever
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
✨🤘🏻✨
Beck
4/5
Big album for me when it came out. Incredible marriage of songwriting and production.
The Byrds
3/5
Groovy
James Brown
4/5
driving the ladies WILD
Pink Floyd
2/5
......they got better.
The Zombies
4/5
🌞
Songhoy Blues
4/5
RIPS.
The Sabres Of Paradise
3/5
would’ve been fun in 1994 on ecstasy in Europe.
Pulp
3/5
“If fashion is your trade, then when you’re naked I guess you must be unemployed”
Some ups, some downs, some hanky panky
Dead Kennedys
4/5
Elliott Smith
5/5
😭
The Cure
4/5
The Jam
4/5
Alanis Morissette
5/5
frustrated by your apathy
Neil Young
5/5
Led Zeppelin
5/5
I do like an occasional gong.
Jane Weaver
4/5
The Smiths
3/5
🙄
Saint Etienne
3/5
Otis Redding
5/5
immaculate
Pixies
4/5
Stereolab
3/5
Hole
3/5
Dinosaur Jr.
4/5
HOT FUZZZZZ
The Rolling Stones
5/5
CHIC
3/5
The Strokes
5/5
Seminal. Love listening to the UK version w New York City Cops included.
The Pharcyde
4/5
Awwwww shit
Love
2/5
One or two all timers but the rest is a fucking slog
Marty Robbins
3/5
yee haw?
The Black Crowes
2/5
🥴
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Baby, baby, baby
Living Colour
2/5
I think you had to be there
New Order
3/5
Miles Davis
5/5
Abdullah Ibrahim
3/5
Suzanne Vega
1/5
lady, enough already
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
3/5
Beastie Boys
4/5
Nine Inch Nails
4/5
🫨
Gang Starr
4/5
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
3/5
KISS
2/5
I think I’m officially not a KISS guy
5/5
my brain hurts a lot
Dire Straits
3/5
uneven. when it’s good, it’s great.
Teenage Fanclub
4/5
Who knew!
Incredible Bongo Band
3/5
ok boomer
The 13th Floor Elevators
4/5
Yes
4/5
The Notorious B.I.G.
5/5
Orbital
2/5
wtf fam
3/5
Badly Drawn Boy
4/5
Nice discovery. Always assumed this band was dogshit.
The Doors
5/5
Okay!
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
yeeeeeee
Dwight Yoakam
2/5
Nope
Soft Cell
3/5
‼️SEX DWARF‼️
half of this album is a 5 but the clunkers really clunk
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Jah
Deep Purple
4/5
Red Hot Chili Peppers
4/5
Lucinda Williams
3/5
that voice!
Cheap Trick
3/5
I saw Cheap Trick at a music festival in 2007. The guitar player was wearing a Cheap Trick hat AND a Cheap Trick shirt. Didn’t like that. Surrender is a good song.
Willie Nelson
4/5
Frank Ocean
4/5
The Stooges
4/5
(snarl)
Faith No More
2/5
If they had put up a “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Musical” on Broadway in the early 90’s, it probably would’ve sounded just like this.
Foo Fighters
3/5
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Sly & The Family Stone
5/5
Ok I’m standing
Aphex Twin
4/5
🧿🧿
👄
Talking Heads
4/5
stiiiiillllllllllll waiting
The Specials
2/5
You sound like you’re from London
Siouxsie And The Banshees
2/5
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
5/5
Nirvana
5/5
The White Stripes
5/5
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Tricky
2/5
Not sure how this is as boring as it is but here we are
Shuggie Otis
4/5
so fucking chill
Lightning Bolt
3/5
not very chill
Queen
3/5
The Offspring
3/5
Tom Waits
3/5
spooooooooky season
The Incredible String Band
1/5
I sometimes wonder if this list of albums is just fucking with me
JAY Z
4/5
for shizzle
Ramones
5/5
⛓️🤘🏻⛓️
AC/DC
4/5
CHVRCHES
3/5
Roxy Music
4/5
Always heard about Roxy Music. Never listened to Roxy Music. I really like Roxy Music!
Neil Young
4/5
3/5
The Prodigy
4/5
I owned this CD in 6th grade and it was my favorite album, haven’t listened to it since. Holds up!
Fela Kuti
4/5
Miles Davis
4/5
Tom Waits
4/5
Count Basie & His Orchestra
4/5
Hugh Masekela
4/5
XTC
3/5
The Dictators
3/5
David Bowie
3/5
Janis Joplin
5/5
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Peter Gabriel has always been one of those guys that I’ve felt like I’m supposed to like. I get why he’s good, his rhythm section is impressive, it’s prog royalty, I get it. but I’m never sold. Also he sounds a LOT like Dave Matthew’s.
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
2/5
British rock critics will slurp up any sludge that Damon Albarn pisses out in front of them.
R.E.M.
3/5
i really like the song without Michael Stipe
Dr. Dre
4/5
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
The Rolling Stones
5/5
Wild Horses is in the running for best song of all time. Can’t You Hear Me Knocking is in the running for best guitar riff of all time. Moonlight Mile - pretty sure it’s the best album closer of all time. I dunno if I’ve ever listened to this record front to back but it might be my favorite Stones album now that I have.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5/5
Repeatedly smashing the fifth star
Ministry
3/5
wooaaahhKAY
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
🫨🪩🫨
Ray Charles
4/5
Kanye West
5/5
Inspirations include 1980’s “acid house”, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and “a single Le Corbusier lamp”. I love this album.
Prefab Sprout
1/5
fookin shite
Little Simz
4/5
yeezus looking inward
Garbage
3/5
Another one that I owned on cd in middle school
Kanye West
4/5
“My presence is a present - kiss my ass”
Monster is a baroque masterpiece.
Black Sabbath
4/5
Paul McCartney and Wings
3/5
The White Stripes
3/5
The War On Drugs
3/5
Fatboy Slim
2/5
25% music video nostalgia bliss
25% pump me the fuck up dance music
50% “hey, want to hear the most annoying sound in the world?”
Wild Beasts
3/5
One minute into this album, I thought the list had illuminated a new hidden gem….. Then came the vocals. Can’t I just mute the vocals? late 00’s freak folk indie rock, Animal Collective on one side of the spectrum and….whatever this is on the other - it had its moments. Not this one. Gets a bonus point for when I could imagine it without any of the vocals.
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
Trippy. Songs just aren’t nearly as strong as his other two albums, at least on first listen. Hall of fame cover art.
Kendrick Lamar
4/5
Reminded again that I don’t really like skits on albums.
Iron Maiden
3/5
Fun fact: the monster on the cover is named Eddie
Radiohead
5/5
bout damn time
The Undertones
3/5
I’d rather not hear another word about the whizz kids
Jimmy Smith
4/5
Stan Getz
3/5
Radiohead
5/5
John Coltrane
4/5
Beastie Boys
5/5
the transition between root down and sabotage was a tectonic shift, the burning bush, my Rosetta Stone
Jerry Lee Lewis
3/5
couldn’t understand a word of this but at least everyone had a good time
Pink Floyd
3/5
Santana
4/5
Bonkers tone. Very psychedelic. Love old Santana.
Elliott Smith
4/5
David Ackles
1/5
I absolutely hate songwriting like this.
Various Artists
3/5
Holger Czukay
3/5
really oscillating between annoying chaos and incredibly chill vibes. reading that this is one of the main guys from CAN helped me understand this a bit more.....def prefer CAN tho.
3/5
I’ve never been a U2 fan, aside from a few months in like second grade when my sister and I became obsessed with the song Mysterious Ways (not on this album). U2 is serious in a way that I can’t be, or at least doesn’t align with the kind of seriousness I respect. Just look at this fucking cover art. U2 is leather pants serious. U2 is “we have our own signature iPod” serious. U2 is a guitar player earnestly referring to himself as “The Edge” and wearing a stupid fucking skull cap every day serious. I’ll give this album its due, even found myself singing along to I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For; but no, I do not like U2
Beatles
4/5
hot take: Beatles are great
Fiona Apple
5/5
Bewilderingly good songwriting. I think Dana and I listened to this in it’s entirety 400 times in March/April 2020.
3/5
they sure did kick them out
Public Image Ltd.
3/5
Beastie Boys
4/5
I got more stories than JD’s got Salinger
-
Definitely the album where they changed the game in terms of sampling with almost collage-like backing instrumentals. they’re still one album away from refining their vocal rhythm out of the 80’s; these songs aren’t quite as cohesive and diverse as what’s to come but we’ve got some bangers here nonetheless.
Electric Light Orchestra
3/5
….“too ridiculous to take seriously and too serious to be ridiculous”….
I love some of these songs, clearly a work of mastered craft - but there are too many divergent attitudes and ideas going on here to love this as a whole. The back half really saved it for me.
The Louvin Brothers
3/5
Peter Frampton
2/5
😴
Sabu
4/5
¡que rápido!
Steely Dan
3/5
Didn’t grow up with this, has always been something I knew of but didn’t really know. Knew about the production, the sound, etc and put on good headphones and listened carefully; it definitely sounds great. They got the best session players and it’s immaculately arranged, produced, recorded. I just don’t really like the songs. Some great moments, have had Deacon Blues stuck in my head and love the song Peg. the most important element of any music that’s new to me, though, is how it hits me, viscerally - this just didn’t do shit.
Eagles
4/5
Can’t believe it buuut…I liked this album a lot. I’ve always been a hater of the title track. Always. Was prepared w a Big Lebowski joke etc etc. But with good headphones on a plane with my eyes closed, the production sounds so dense and chill and inventive……I like the Eagles?
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
2/5
I like listening to this but 90 minutes is just too much devotion for one sitting.
Iron Maiden
3/5
I mean, pretty fun!
Joan Armatrading
3/5
this album is all over the place
Malcolm McLaren
4/5
woah. really wish he’d left that last song on the cutting room floor.
Lou Reed
2/5
Wow. I really did not like that. Lou Reed seems to speak to a subset of a generation that I am definitively not a part of and I find his smugness boring, annoying, and dated all at once. Giving it a courtesy point for the ripping guitar solo at the end of “How Do You Think It Feels”
Beck
5/5
so good, never gets old, will have this on repeat for the rest of my life
Elvis Costello
4/5
Duran Duran
2/5
I have a couple of Duran Duran songs on my “Death Scene Music” playlist. I guess outside of that context I think this blows.
Terence Trent D'Arby
4/5
what a title.
The Lemonheads
4/5
well bleach my jeans and call me Dando
Taylor Swift
4/5
love that this list keeps surprising me with artists I’ve never come across before
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
I give it a foi outta foive
Arcade Fire
5/5
this is just one of those albums that hit me at the exact right time and place. the suburbs came out the day that i moved into a new house in austin and i listened to it on repeat while i painted the walls. aside from being the right age at the time for the album's themes to hit me like a freight train, it just feels like a texas record. there's so much melancholy, nostalgia, big open space within. aimlessly driving around a hot, texan august - this represents my time there in my memories.
as a coda, the movie that ended up representing my time in Austin to me, Boyhood, which i briefly worked on, ends with Deep Blue.
"here are my place and time, and here in my own skin i can finally begin"
The Police
3/5
EEEEOOOOOEEEAAAYYYYOOOO
Miles Davis
4/5
v chill
Van Halen
3/5
no, I don’t think so. bonus point for some SLICK guitar
Sonic Youth
4/5
I’m a dirty boy I guess
Jazmine Sullivan
3/5
I really hate listening to skits. the songs are by and large incredible,though.
Jeff Buckley
4/5
holy shit that voice. I’m curious if he hadn’t died so young how his style would have evolved as time went on, this albums weakness to me really lies in its dated early 90’s pseudo-prog songs. I liked incubus a lot for a period of time, so I understand Jeff Buckley’s heavy influence on late 90’s rock vocals. glad I finally listened to him with more context than just “hallelujah”
The Verve
2/5
track 1: undeniable classic
all other tracks: boring knockoff oasis dreck
Johnny Cash
4/5
John Lennon
4/5
✌🏻
Amy Winehouse
4/5
Dustin’ off ma fuck me pumps
Dion
3/5
really grew on me as it went on. tbh it sounds like mr dion is really phoning it in most of the time but you know what - i kinda respect that. deducting a point for being absolutely too fucking long.
OutKast
5/5
Found the exception to my “no skits” crusade and it’s Andre 3000’s “I stank I can, I stank I can” bit
Funkadelic
3/5
Fun but not my favorite funkadelic
Marvin Gaye
3/5
definitely some highlights but nowhere near the best from Marvin Gaye
Janelle Monáe
3/5
It’s really good for what it is; I just don’t understand what it is.
The Kinks
4/5
Beatles
5/5
This is my favorite Beatles album, it lived in my car’s cd player for months in high school. To me the Beatles are simply the GOAT when it comes to recording in the studio and this one means the most to me.
Coldplay
3/5
“Ain't nobody got nothing to say about a 40-degree day. Fifty, bring a smile to your face. Sixty, shit…damn near barbecuing on that motherfucker. Go down to 20…get their blood complaining. But forty? Nobody give a fuck about 40.”
Everything But The Girl
1/5
https://youtu.be/uzidMPMhYiA
PJ Harvey
2/5
while it displays one of the greatest album covers of all time, it contains one of the worst bob dylan covers of all time. I also guess I like pj Harvey in theory more than reality.
cool look they’re in an airport
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
my dad bought me this cd the day it came out when we were on a trip to chicago. i never turned it off.
1000 stars. 30 years in and still in awe every time I listen to this album.
The Police
3/5
The Undertones
4/5
Pet Shop Boys
1/5
more like very BAD
(high fives, high fives)
Pixies
4/5
Talking Heads
4/5
More hit and miss than some of favorite TH albums but just an overall ripping experience laced with all time classics. Member of the cover art hall of fame.
B.B. King
4/5
i’d love to join the throngs of loud whistling fans of bb king
Sepultura
3/5
not sure how much room I have in my life for 90’s nü metal that is nü to me. That said, the percussion is excellent, the guitar tones are sick, and this generally holds up a whole lot better than say, Limp Bizkit.
The Chemical Brothers
4/5
😚
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
ONETWOTHREEFOUR
Deep Purple
3/5
this is not spinal tap
Supertramp
2/5
Steely Dan meets David Bowie or Yes in all the wrong ways. Not for me.
4/5
pretty sick as far as hokey concept albums go
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Anthrax
2/5
mehhh I guess Metallica and Megadeth on their own weren’t enough to sustain the genre. Anthrax is very clearly only for the heads.
Arcade Fire
4/5
big time college album for me. with some distance, realize it's a little uneven - the lows are almost parodies of themselves, not sure if this is because of time and a bigger catalogue or if they were reductive to begin with. that said, songs like windowsill, keep the car running, no cars go - bangers.
Green Day
5/5
Foundational text
T. Rex
5/5
possibly the coolest album of all time.
John Lee Hooker
2/5
as I’ve gotten older, i've begun to understand the desire that aging artists have to round up all their famous friends and make these cameo orgies - unfortunately they're almost always lame ass snoozefests like this fuckin thing
Mudhoney
2/5
🫤
Rush
4/5
First time listening to Rush. I really appreciate the musical trio and their technical progginess - I just can’t help but hate the vocals. Kept thinking of this lyric from Pavement:
What about the voice of Geddy Lee
How did it get so high?
I wonder if he speaks like an ordinary guy?
Rush
3/5
Some transcendent moments keep this at a 3 for me but I’m all Rush’d out
Nitin Sawhney
2/5
i suppose
Nas
5/5
knicks, pizza, illmatic
Os Mutantes
4/5
Coldplay
3/5
markedly better than their second album, which is markedly better than the next and so on and so forth. I still think Chris Martin is the reason people started using the word “cuck”
Nick Drake
4/5
lovely
Suede
3/5
proto-arcade fire vibes. i prefer the crispy cold braggadocio of oasis when it comes to 90s britpop but this, though uneven and overdramatic - it doesn’t suck
Nick Drake
4/5
🌒
Gotan Project
1/5
having a hard time figuring out why I had to hear this album before I die. whole thing sounds like it could’ve been in goldeneye n64 if the game had a porno level
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Michael Jackson
4/5
found myself focusing more on quincy jones’ incredible production than mj this time around. mostly in it for the hits here, which luckily make up 3/4 of the record.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Kate Bush
3/5
Goddamn Running Up That Hill is such a good opener wtf this whole album fucking rips
EDIT: wait wait wait I wrote that after 4 songs and the back half of this sucks
Travis
1/5
I’m insulted
Pink Floyd
4/5
very sweet of them to dedicate a whole album to their best friend who went insane
Television
4/5
Cool name, cool band, cool album - always hits
Slint
4/5
a classic for some, and of them i am one.
The Associates
3/5
Nina Simone
4/5
Incredible. I think it might be a 5 but probably need to listen to it more to appreciate this record to its fullest.
Depeche Mode
4/5
I assumed I would hate this. First off, I always confuse Depeche Mode with Duran Duran. Depeche Mode is significantly better, but they definitely occupy a similar space. There are a slew of bangers on this album, all of which already live on my Death Scene Music playlist. There are definitely some clunkers, but it’s a pretty cohesive vision with some all time classics. Violator - good album!
The Only Ones
4/5
can’t help but respect the forebears of many of my favorite 90’s bands
Basement Jaxx
2/5
we have Daft Punk at home
Pentangle
3/5
Some fine songs, some pretty moments; largely felt like homework.
Johnny Cash
3/5
Pink Floyd
5/5
Their most popular album is clearly the best in Pink Floyd’s catalogue. The daily album project has given me more Pink Floyd to chew on than I’d ever been interested enough to previously get into - I don’t love all of it but there’s no question this album kicks ass front to back.
Jacques Brel
2/5
I feel like there’s an insurmountable amount of context necessary for this to have any impact on me.
Sonic Youth
4/5
not always the most enjoyable listen from head to toe but at the end of the day, put on any misc moment from this record and it’ll wash over you like a tidal wave.
The Beta Band
3/5
At times Wilco. At times Pink Floyd. At times Panda Bear. At times Flaming Lips. I guess this is my issue w beta band - I like it just fine, but I can’t discern any cohesive identity to the music. It kind of just leaves me feeling like I just listened to a succession of trailers for music I’d rather listen to.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Definitely in the running for best opening track of all time.
ZZ Top
4/5
beer drinkers and hell raisers is right
Joy Division
4/5
cover art hall of fame top 5 candidate
The Jesus And Mary Chain
3/5
a perfect opening track - anthemic drums, incredible riff, transcendent first verse lyrics - hits me in a way that’s impossible to describe. the rest of the album basically repeats itself (like, literally in “sowing seeds”), but tjamc could’ve just recorded fart sounds after “just like honey” and I’d still like this record.
Barry Adamson
2/5
good music to listen to while working on the horror script I’m writing, bad music to listen to in literally any other environment
David Bowie
4/5
wow. can’t think of a swan song like this that both encapsulates an artists career
while adding something entirely new to it. very impressed, but not surprised mister bowie
A Tribe Called Quest
5/5
perfect soundtrack for a sunny Memorial Day in NYC
Lauryn Hill
4/5
🤩
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
wuh oh
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
The Clash
5/5
rock and rolllll
Air
4/5
sags a bit in the middle but just the most chill
The Doors
3/5
“the end” is mostly a pretty bad song. there, i said it.
The Go-Betweens
3/5
This album has some good songs and melodies but the arrangements are so drably dated that it really dulled the effect it had on me. I’ve learned through listening to all these albums that while the 80’s sound and style helped cement the legacy of certain bands, it brutally shortened other artists’ shelf life.
David Crosby
4/5
beauty
U2
3/5
ngl this is pretty good - definitely helping me understand where u2 came from. still a little overly serious for me but who am I kidding, I like Radiohead - this u2 album can stay.
Adele
2/5
incredible voice. not for me.
Minutemen
4/5
unruly and fun as hell
The Who
3/5
came to the realization today that maybe the who was its generation’s blink-182. half their songs are all timer ear worms while the other half are annoying and dated. their collective persona leans towards goofiness and their drummer is arguably the best musician in the band. really learning that I could go either way with this band.
The Beach Boys
4/5
RIPBW
Tears For Fears
4/5
Pretty good! Really well constructed, it flows between the hits thoughtfully and I didn’t feel like skipping much aside from the 6 minute saxophone solo in the second track.
Cream
4/5
with all due respect, cream has never really never done it for me. i can appreciate what it is and could imagine being obsessed with this if i were around in 1967, but today always feels like im in a museum, placing my finger on my chin and nodding to appear deferential. really more of a 3 for me but rounding up due to how influential it’s been on nearly every band I like.
Skepta
2/5
this is one click away from an Ali G bit
Yes
4/5
More like yasss
Common
3/5
🤷🏻♂️
Elvis Presley
4/5
oddly enough I think I prefer later Elvis when he’s real zonked out on pills, but the blend of country and soul with his voice here is so smooth.
Patti Smith
3/5
patti the poet is a genius, patti live is electric, patti's albums...just don’t quite do it for me
Judas Priest
3/5
Justin Timberlake
3/5
the non-hits really did not hit
Sonic Youth
4/5
Might be my new favorite SY
Keith Jarrett
3/5
epic squirming coil
Fleetwood Mac
3/5
while acknowledging this album is damn near perfect - impeccable production, quintessential 70s beachwood canyon vibes… I just don’t like Fleetwood Mac songs. the chain and dreams are the tunes that do it for me.
David Bowie
3/5
far out
Dolly Parton
4/5
my achey breaky heart
Khaled
3/5
ngl didn’t see that arabic “imagine” cover coming
Beatles
5/5
I want to tell her that I love her a lot but I gotta get a belly full of wine
Nick Drake
4/5
i think i like this even more than pink moon
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
come on Eileen is a certified all time BANGER
The Clash
4/5
half hour of power
fIREHOSE
4/5
a gem out of left field. never heard of these guys before and it’s extremely my shit. what this is all about!
Jurassic 5
5/5
Been a minute! All killer, no filler.
Fleet Foxes
4/5
pretty one note but it’s a pretty one note
Public Enemy
4/5
Goldfrapp
3/5
The Temptations
4/5
Johnny Cash
4/5
some stronger than others; goosebumps throughout
The Go-Go's
3/5
Black Sabbath
5/5
every black sabbath album I listen to in its entirety gets better and better. RIP ozzy
The Velvet Underground
3/5
I have a growing suspicion that anyone under the age of 50 who says they like the velvet underground is lying.
Dire Straits
4/5
“walking in the wild west end,
walking with your wild best friend”
beautiful stuff
Rage Against The Machine
5/5
when I was like 14, I had a sick Rage Against the Machine t-shirt. One day, I wore it to the dentist and he asked me “what machine are they raging against.” I think I responded with something along the lines of “uh you know like the political machine? Like the government and, uh, violence?” Anywho, 5 stars.
N.W.A.
4/5
hate cops✅
love butts✅
Randy Newman
2/5
i want so badly to like randy newman but i think the best i can say is that this is less annoying than billy joel.
Iggy Pop
4/5
the swagger
Kanye West
4/5
sense memories of college activated. tougher and tougher to rank these Kanye records in lieu of recent events but in all subjective objectivity- this still throws down.
Aretha Franklin
4/5
every song is spectacular. aretha's voice is just so incredible - in the running for the best ever. teetering on a 5 but i think i like the songs as singles, or listening to one side at a time, as opposed to the entire collection at once. incredible songs - not necessarily a compelling album imo.
Nirvana
5/5
Nevermind holds its place as their best, but I probably listened to this more. RIP Kurt, RIP Albini, this record fucking bashes bricks.
Cee Lo Green
2/5
I can’t exactly explain why but this album reminds me of what it feels like to waddle around the house after overeating on thanksgiving
King Crimson
5/5
a perfect album - it keeps growing and growing - sum exceeds its parts
MGMT
4/5
millennial!
Radiohead
4/5
a huge album for me but nowhere near their best. wolf at the door still gives me the willies every time
2/5
❄️
Spiritualized
4/5
mad fer it
David Bowie
4/5
The White Stripes
4/5
Paul Weller
3/5
The Sonics
3/5
Lou Reed
4/5
solid lou
Public Enemy
3/5
so much power, some real bangers too. just don’t see myself spinning this whole thing again.
John Martyn
2/5
ngl that last track really chilled me out. other than that this was a drugged out fart bomb.
5/5
first time listen for me. wow. i think this the first time im bumping an album to a 5 solely because its prestige is greater than the parts. the acoustic versions of many great blonde on blonde songs, the primitive live versions of studio bangers, the sheer weight of it all. very cool
Dr. Octagon
3/5
always heard about dr octagon but never knew the music. kind of like hip hop weird al? or ween? or some sort of rick and morty thing? funny enough, as well as some slick dj shadow beats, but not reaching back for it.
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
3/5
Metallica
3/5
i used to hate Metallica but started coming around a few years ago. this album has some real sledgehammers but i still hate songs like unforgiven and nothing else matters. at the end of the day, my growing appreciation mostly leans toward their earlier, faster metal.
Miriam Makeba
3/5
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
some great tunes for sure but relatively mid as far as Neil goes
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
2/5
let’s just say that’s not what I was expecting
Sex Pistols
4/5
Afrika Bambaataa
4/5
(continuous head bobbing to funky rhythms)
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
❣️❣️❣️
Janet Jackson
3/5
I like that rhythm nation sounds like we’re in a wet basement bangin on pipes and trash cans
ZZ Top
4/5
Can really hear the moment they enter their old man era during a song about getting indigestion from eating tv dinners
The Band
4/5
good god does The Band fucking rule. i do think 'music from big pink' is their only true 5 star album but how can you not love this.
Shivkumar Sharma
2/5
I’d like to buy the world a coke
Sufjan Stevens
5/5
yeah it's long and twee and peak millenial self-seriousness...but that was what was up! all 74 minutes still hit so hard for me, bringing me back to so many different moments in my young adult life. i'm glad he didn't actually devote his career to 50 different state albums, but would have loved to hear his take on Torrington, Connecticut.
Charles Mingus
5/5
he was the king of the tuck-tuck sound!
The Beach Boys
3/5
Feel Flows is such an evocative song, one of my favorites. this album, like many brian wilson joints, is pretty uneven.
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
2/5
It hurt my brain trying to parse “Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury by The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy”
Marvin Gaye
4/5
Baaba Maal
3/5
this is something my fourth grade music teacher probably made us listen to while she loudly clapped along and attempted to sing in Pulaar
Kendrick Lamar
4/5
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
Van Morrison
4/5
Radiohead
5/5
this, to me, is the best album ever recorded. even how they released it changed the music industry as we knew it. this is like 2001: a space odyssey, like ulysses, like the wire - dense, brilliant, altering the form forever. energizing to realize at the time it was released, a miracle to revisit over and over through the years.
Brian Eno
4/5
hell yeah dude
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
I wouldn’t hold out much hope for the tape deck, though. Or the Creedence.
The Mars Volta
5/5
it's not over til the tremulant sings
Belle & Sebastian
3/5
love B&S, this was nice, not gonna crack the repeat rotation though
Fun Lovin' Criminals
1/5
finally an answer to the age old question: what if limp bizkit sounded more like dave matthew’s band?
De La Soul
4/5
Little Richard
4/5
like im always sayin - wop bop a-loo bop a-lop bam boom
SZA
3/5
Muddy Waters
3/5
Pretenders
2/5
🤨
Eminem
4/5
really crazy to listen to this album with some distance. certain tracks are staggering - intensely wry lyrics spat out with that snide voice of his over earworm beat after earworm beat. 'stan', 'the real slim shady', 'drug ballad' - these and a few others have staying power I wouldn't have acknowledged without giving this a good relisten. that said, about half the album taps the well way past dry. the boy band bashing gets old, the self reflexive gay jokes annoyingly front and center, and holy fuck the song 'kim' should not have made it onto the release. jesus dude. all said though, a seminal album in which the quality sustains its influence.
Soft Machine
3/5
love it but might be a lil TOO MUCH prog
Metallica
4/5
🤘😈🤘
A Tribe Called Quest
5/5
Busta Rhymes coming outta left field to just torch the end of the album
Elton John
3/5
lotta hits. lotta skips.
The Who
3/5
as much as I want to love The Who, i still feel like you had to be there with most of their output.
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
Stephen Stills
4/5
heater! never heard this before - in fact really only know stephen stills by name and csny, not at all familiar with his solo work. the first few and then the last few songs hit the hardest, almost abbey road-esque in the sense that they are flowing sequences more than individual songs. definitely sags a bit in the middle but it’s a double album that shouldn’t be. manassas - yes!
3/5
maybe
Talking Heads
3/5
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
4/5
The Flying Burrito Brothers
4/5
rootin tootin
LTJ Bukem
2/5
it’s 1998 and I fell asleep w the main menu of 1080 snowboarding on a loop
The The
4/5
this is what I want all of these other 80’s post-punk bands on this list to be. some real moments on this album - “this is the day” is an all time classic and ending with “giant” - the whole thing is cool as fuck. also, clearly a top-5 in the band name hall of fame.
Solange
2/5
music for girls to put on makeup to
Morrissey
1/5
i guess I really hate Morrissey
Violent Femmes
4/5
Not just one hit! Im with this
Boards of Canada
3/5
some of these hit harder than others
Elastica
3/5
at its best im all about it, i just had a hard time with the vocals, especially in the early tracks
The Cure
4/5
height of their powers. I’m not a big enough fan of the cure to give it five stars but it’s close; this record is really evocative and a bolded, capital E Emo. gloomy stuff!
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
3/5
not my favorite in the capt beef catalogue
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
that one familiar song is good but i dunno, not too fond of echo or the bunnymen
Arcade Fire
4/5
🥁🪇🥁🥁🪇
WOAHHH OHHHH WOAHHH OHHHH WOAHHH OHHHH WOAHHH OHHHH
🥴
😭
😫
🥁🥁
WOAHHH OHHHH WOAHHH OHHHH WOAHHH OHHHH WOAHHH OHHHH
Pearl Jam
5/5
the first album I remember liking - as in, i owned the cd and realized this was a collection of songs by one band with a purpose. Kinda sunk in my bones I guess. Hadn’t listened to it through in awhile. Maybe it’s just the deep tissue muscle memory but this album is nearly perfect.
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
still don’t get the artwork here. glad they got back together though, saw them again the other night - good band.
Björk
2/5
who listens to this?
Big Brother & The Holding Company
4/5
Neu!
3/5
Franz Ferdinand
3/5
one of those albums where there’s one smash hit and then 10 mediocre tracks treading similar water
Bob Dylan
5/5
the sun’s not yellow, it’s chicken
Muddy Waters
3/5
it’s good! it’s muddy waters! how do i rate the blues? i don’t know. i like this. is it great? yes. would i put this on again? the questions are endless. it’s good? it’s muddy waters.
Faust
3/5
My really intense roommate in Prague was obsessed with this album and got me hooked on it too. Oddly nostalgic. Krautrock is great.
5/5
Probably my fourth or fifth favorite Beatles album yet still obviously a 5.
The Libertines
2/5
wow this record contains some BAD songs
Thelonious Monk
4/5
TV On The Radio
4/5
I definitely prefer their two earlier, nosier albums, but this one has a lot of staying power. A 3.5 that I’m rounding up bc of band loyalty.
Sister Sledge
4/5
Oh!
The Smashing Pumpkins
4/5
Oh wow haven’t listened in its entirety since the 90s I think. Damn.
Simple Minds
2/5
a bit late for this realization but maybe 1001 albums is too many albums
Bad Company
2/5
🆗
Green Day
2/5
This album sucked when it came out and has aged like room temperature milk
Neil Young
4/5
Neil Pining
Hot Chip
2/5
no thanks
The Shamen
2/5
😂
Scritti Politti
2/5
😖
The Slits
2/5
Les Rythmes Digitales
2/5
a lot of these beats are pretty sick! unfortunately the end result is offensively stupid
Throbbing Gristle
3/5
I guess I’m a sick fuck but I found this kind of relaxing, soothing even.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
3/5
wtf bonus point for being legitimately hilarious
2Pac
4/5
Leonard Cohen
4/5
robert altman’s cameron winter
David Bowie
5/5
Top tier Bowie; this one was never really in rotation for me but most of the songs are familiar and deeply felt classics.
Sheryl Crow
2/5
some nice moments but generally a little too mom-jeans for me; also the album title and cover art are fucking awful.
Hanoi Rocks
2/5
Talvin Singh
2/5
horny in the worst possible way
Van Morrison
4/5
wow, what an incredible backing band. Those horns! Those strings! Peak Van.
Stephen Stills
4/5
on a journey discovering how much like Stephen Stills’ solo output
PJ Harvey
3/5
PJ Harvey’s album art is always sick as hell. every album I’ve heard thus far is super underwhelming though.
Def Leppard
1/5
metal with the energy of Celine Dion. objectively speaking, on a technical level, this is musical diarrhea.
Tom Waits
3/5
tom waits tom waitsin’
Daft Punk
3/5
At the end of the day, I like Daft Punk but listening to an entire record of theirs is punishing.
Brian Eno
4/5
First time hearing this and I loved it. In different moments could hear many of my favorite bands, and it kind of reminds me of what I want Pink Floyd to sound like when I forget what Pink Floyd actually is.
Big Black
4/5
Albini always throws down so hard, loved hearing this early record in its entirety. Really torn on how to rate this…it just sounds so good. Bonus point for absolutely grimy, menacing clarity.
Small Faces
2/5
This crosses the threshold into “incoherently British.” I liked the first few tracks fine enough, even though I couldn’t understand a single lyric - but the bubbles and squeak looney toons at the end completely lost me.
Manu Chao
3/5
ngl loved the bongo song
Madness
1/5
This is one of the albums that makes “1001 Albums to Listen to Before You Die” sound like a threat.
Fairport Convention
3/5
woah. weird. cool.
The Thrills
2/5
as mid as it gets
George Michael
3/5
really came out swinging with 2 bangers and then abruptly fell off a cliff
Cowboy Junkies
4/5
swoon
Mylo
2/5
some bopping, some boring
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
2/5
Amy Winehouse
4/5
🖤
Jack White
4/5
just like his white stripes albums, gotta take the good with a handful of clunky cringey crap. never really gave any of jack white’s solo records any attention though and clearly I was missing out.
Madonna
1/5
“I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows“
-bart simpson
Machito
4/5
Super Furry Animals
3/5
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Mostly classic but just 🤏this much annoying boomer shit to keep it from my own personal top tier.
Jethro Tull
2/5
https://youtu.be/484A9Ju4F8g?si=P1SOs9x9PODTQ7te
Mike Oldfield
3/5
bonus point for critical contributions to The Exorcist
Liz Phair
1/5
i think this is my version of what Dana hears when i turn on Saves the Day
X-Ray Spex
2/5
John Cale
3/5
Kings of Leon
3/5
it’s easy to forget that before Kings of Leon decided to be dumb-U2, they tried to be dumb-Interpol, which was actually not half bad.
Justice
2/5
i wasn’t wherever this was
Britney Spears
2/5
good god this thing nosedives after the first 3 hits are over. bonus point for a solid entry in the opening riff hall of fame.
Fishbone
2/5
The Afghan Whigs
3/5
as a precursor to a lot of the emo music I listened to in high school, this is cool to discover. i really like the songwriting, and the guitar is great, but this dude’s voice just stinks. what’s special about Billy Corgan, or even Brendan Boyd, is clear in what’s lacking here.
Everything But The Girl
2/5
worse portishead
Chicago
3/5
Woah. First albums can be different.
Anita Baker
2/5
not a stretch to assume a sizable amount of my cohort was conceived to this
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
Ryan Adams
3/5
Ryan Adams always kind of sounded like something I would like but didn’t quite hit the right chord. This album confirms that for me.
Mekons
3/5
huh. great title!
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
2/5
kind of like all the worst parts of jack white's musical personality.
The Chemical Brothers
4/5
for some reason this was a big album in my household summer of ‘97. i specifically remember it at the beach, even more specifically my baby brother singing his own version of “block rockin beats” over and over. good times. still rips!
The Byrds
4/5
yee haw
Astor Piazzolla
3/5
I’ll give this a respectful golf clap for the technical wizardry behind the vibraphone performance. At times kinda interesting Danny Elfmann-esque compositions, at others the kind of goofy stock music I used to lay underneath “funny” scenes in Vice docs.
Klaxons
4/5
klaxons fit in the center of a wide category for me: 00’s indie bands whose names all kind of look the same and I never listened to. the hold steady, wolfmother, foals, klaxons. Good shit though! I really liked this.
Aimee Mann
3/5
felt like this was a cosmic blessing for PTA’s Oscar fortune
Ray Charles
4/5
Alice Cooper
2/5
it seems like it was much easier to
make millions of dollars as a rock star in 1972
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
4/5
this made me feel like that dude on a skateboard drinking cranberry juice and singing fleetwood mac
Elton John
4/5
blue jean babay
Buck Owens
3/5
sure did
The Cramps
4/5
listened to half of this walking on a dock in a foggy oregon town and felt like I was in a jim jarmusch movie
Screaming Trees
2/5
kinda satisfied a background noise grunge atmosphere in my office, but generally mid as far as this sort of stuff goes. i gotta dive deeper on mark lanagan but i kind of feel like he gets by on his vibe most of the time, which doesn't do it for me.
Jefferson Airplane
4/5
mind if i do a j?
Manic Street Preachers
2/5
i guess most britpop is similar to like, korn for me - it's what i grew up with and would be an impossible thing to come around to as a newbie in 2026.
Dagmar Krause
1/5
no, no, no, no, no
Queen Latifah
3/5
bonus point for queens named dana
Massive Attack
2/5
I didn’t care for most of the guest vocals and as far as background music goes it’s pretty mid.
Bebel Gilberto
4/5
pretty pretty
The Avalanches
3/5
this is the avalanches? i thought the avalanches were something different. this is ok.
CHIC
4/5
✨🪩✨
T. Rex
5/5
i slide
Pantera
3/5
first ballot entry into the cover art hall of fame.
i would love to hear a version of this album without vocals. some of these guitar riffs are just so sick and catchy as hell - the way the guitar interacts with the rhythm section has me movin an groovin. not really into the poor man's metallica vocals or most of the songwriting but i suppose they wouldn’t have sold many albums without a singer. as far as this era of heavy metal goes, though, dimebag darrell's guitar work is upper echelon.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
the big bang of contemporary rock and roll
Thundercat
4/5
wowza
Steely Dan
4/5
🤓
The Prodigy
2/5
I think the one other prodigy album was plenty of prodigy
Cyndi Lauper
3/5
hits! mixed bag! fun! I’d call some of the album a little problematic but at the time they went with “unusual”.