Masterpiece.

Peak 80s

I just don't like Paul Simon.

Rikki>Night By Night>Any Major Dude is an amazing opening run of songs, it drops off slightly but it's still great.

This is the first artist I've been assigned that I haven't listened to at all before. I quite like artists like Lucinda Williams and Tracy Chapman, or Adrianne Lenker, whose harmonies with Buck Meek sound a lot like Gillian Welch and David Rawlings here. I also love prolonged retellings of events like the Titanic sinking or the JFK assassination, interspersed with 20th century American musical history, i.e. Bob Dylan's "Tempest" and "Murder Most Foul". However, I found this album a little uninspired and plodding. I'm not American nor particularly steeped in country music, but my impression is that sonically and in terms of its clichéd references to Americana, it's not too distinct from a lot of mass produced country dross. Seven minutes into the final song, "I Dream A Highway", I'm beginning to doubt what I just wrote. I'll give credit for giving this song room to breathe, it's a great closer. Maybe the album would have flowed better for me with a few more energetic songs, bookended by the lovely languid "I Dream A Highway".

Millennials really cooked with this one.

Boomers really cooked with this one.

Those Swedes sure know how to make good pop songs.

I've never really listened to Nick Cave, I don't love this but it does make me want to listen to more of his output. He has a compelling personality and attitude.

Masterpiece.

Perfect, the first album I got on here that I had been listening to on repeat right before generating it. It also inspired me to watch Un chien andalou, which was pretty cool, so check that out.

Dreadful.

Cool concept, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

If not the best Radiohead album, the one I reach for the most.

Take Me Out and The Dark Of The Matinée are bangers, but the rest is pretty forgettable.

Fuck Off

First time listening to Beck other than the song Loser, me gusta.

Very cool, the kind of thing I wouldn't have come across without this list.

Not at all what I was expecting, having never listened The The but having vaguely categorised them as "post-punk" in my mind. I suppose that speaks to how amorphous that term is. The piano on Uncertain Smile and the percussion (and chanting) on Giant are the standouts.

Intro is great, don't care for the rest. I hate the breathy late 2000s/early 2010s vocals.

The greatest, and perfect for this time of year.

The generator gave me Disintegration by The Cure yesterday and Nick Cave today, feeling very goth in the lead up to Halloween.

Mannequin = catchiest song ever?

I had too much to dream last night is a good song title, but there's not much more to the album.

Enjoyed it more than I thought I would, it chugs along nicely.

Peak 80s

Great bass from Bruce Foxton, and I like the Kinksian social commentary.

It's no After the Gold Rush, but it's alright. The guitar on some of the songs stood out on first listen, I looked up the personnel and found out that Hendrix and Clapton played on this. That'll do it.

A pleasant listen, a charming time capsule of a 90s vision of globalisation, world music and polyglot vibes-based social commentary. The album flows well from track to track. Spanish textbook, Erasmus-core.

Tedious.

If you "don't like Bob Dylan's voice" you are weak.

Shit Pink Floyd. I like the outro to the last song, but it's a real slog.

George gets to be as indulgent as he wants, it's fine.

I don't get all the adulation for Queen. I think the maximalist, theatrical delivery rubs me the wrong way -- I can't connect with it emotionally at all. I think the cliché that Queen is the quintessential Greatest Hits band is right, no Queen song that I haven't heard ambiently a million times sticks in my head.

Smooth.