I don’t love listening to a whole album of essentially the same song. But it sounds like it was a lot of fun to be there.

The last gasp of American three chord garage rock. Went down kicking and screaming.

I can’t believe how many classics are on this album. The addition of Neil young gave CSN the edge they needed (for my taste). Just When they are at their most hippie (teach your children) they follow it up w a soulful rocker like almost cut my hair. Woodstock and helpless are my favorites, but this has more classics per album than almost any other american album of this genre

I thought mgmt was gonna be the biggest band in the world after this album. Huge at college parties in 2010 ish. There are three great songs and some other decent ones, a few misses. After this it seems like they turned their noses up at what made them famous (catchy dance songs) and tried to become something more alternative/psychedelic, losing some of their charm.

Had a bit of a replacements phase in college so fun to return to them. Many gems on here (unsatisfied, androgynous, answering machine, Gary’s got a boner) but a few too many songs that seem included just to prove their punk bonafides and don’t add to the whole. The rare band that is better when they deviate from their genre than when they try to exemplify it. Underrated in American music history for their impact on college / alternative radio.

Never particularly liked this kind of music , but it has aged better than a lot of stuff that came after.

I thought I hated jethro till but it’s really just the song ‘aqualung’ that sucks. Hymn 43 rocks and I was surprised that I liked some of the other deep cuts. They remind me of an English folkloric version of Rush. Very technically skilled and musically eclectic but also kind of soulless and overly cerebral, with dumb/ pretentious lyrics.

Most songs sound exactly the same. Ok to listen to in the background but not a lot going on

Probably more of a 4 but he died young so I’ll give it to him. Really nice sound and unique songs. Loved Hazey Jane 2 and one of these things first. Would be a true 5 if I liked his voice a little more. Would love to hear someone cover these songs.

Loved this. Instant 5 for me. Upbeat and catchy but also different. Lovefool is one of the best songs of the 90s but the whole album rips. Been it and your new cuckoo are great. Feel like an early progenitor of the theatrical art girl rock style mitski has gotten famous for

Maybe you have to be a teenager to like this. I found the whole album, outside of all apologies, which is a good song, to be a depressing slog. For the most part Kurt just seems to want us to know that he’s having a really bad time, not enjoying himself at all. Point taken.

Liked this more than I expected to. I’m a sucker for weird time signatures like the 7/4 in Spoonman and whatever is going on in Fell On Black Days. Especially in grunge, which otherwise can be dreary and monotonous. Cornell’s voice grates on me after awhile. The day I tried to live is another highlight.

Hell yeah. HE AIN'T GONNA DIE.

I don’t love listening to a whole album of essentially the same song. But it sounds like it was a lot of fun to be there.

Not really for me. Just don’t like country

The first true classic we’ve gotten. As fresh and original today as when it came out. Listening to this makes you feel like you’re losing your mind a little, but in the best way. Huge influence on so many musicians from all types of genres, from hip hop to Prince to (one of my favorite bands) Ween, who’s ‘a tear for Eddie’ I just realized is a tribute to Eddie Hazel.

What were all these guys in the 90s so depressed about? Get a grip dudes. Elliot smith is obviously really talented and writes some beautiful melodies that he ruins by being a whiny little bitch. Even with that criticism there are still some good songs on here. It just could have been so much better

Didn’t hate it but not really for me. Hasn’t aged that well other than hungry like the wolf.

There’s a fine line between relaxing and boring. This is right on the edge. I am both unmoved and unbothered by this album. Reminds me of the shins but less catchy. Where’s the beef?

I never knew I loved Elvis. This sound has not aged much at all. Catchy and soulful, rocks harder than modern music by far. I love the combo of the acoustic guitar, powerful voice, with occasional horns and female backing vocals. Also, I know he didn’t write the songs, but I love this style of story songwriting that seems not done any more.

It’d be nearly impossible to make an album this long that didn’t feel bloated. There are great songs on here but a lot of dross, and all that heaviness and melancholy starts to suffocate. If they’d cut out 15 songs this could have been a 5. Everyone needs an editor.

Fuck this album

Listening to Bonham play drums enhances and elevates the experience of being alive. My musical taste has not changed since I was 13 years old. Both these discs fuck so fucking hard.

This sounds like part of a whole subgenre within UK new wave music I just can’t connect with. Like moody, surly dance music? Im never in a moody dance mood. The smiths, joy division come to mind. Sounds like an early progenitor of schlock like Panic at the disco. these songs have no melodies and no choruses and so seem kind of flat and featureless after a while. I’ll give it an extra point for good rhythm and a hint of the avant- garde, even if it doesn’t work for me.

I’m a simple man

This was fine. Bowie might be my all time favorite artist, but have to honest, if these songs weren’t by him I don’t think any of them would pique my interest. It’s impressive to still make music 25 albums in, but nothing on here was more than fine.

Freedom 90 makes announcing to the world that you’re gay sound like a real blast. That’s a hard act to follow and the rest of the album doesn’t seem to really try. As a piece of art, the album itself is almost hindered by how infectious and upbeat freedom 90 is, because the listener can’t help but wonder where this energy is for the remaining fairly sedate 9 songs. Still, 3 stars for one of the best pop songs of the decade.

This sucks. Overwrought vocal style and overproduced sound. The songs all feel stiff and cerebral to me. Hard to engage with.

The only two songs I really like on here are covers. The rest I find kind of boring and repetitive, tho I’m sure the lyrics mean more to some people than they do to me. It might be a character defect in me that makes me not really like intelligent rap. Wish wyclef Jean hadn’t defrauded haiti to such an unfashionable extent. Not cool man.

I hate Metallica and I hate the whole concept of symphony cross-overs so I’m not listening to this and giving it one star

The last gasp of American three chord garage rock. Went down kicking and screaming.

This doesn’t rock. I understand how this kind of dissonant, naturalistic noise rock could have felt fresh and exciting as a reaction to overly manufactured, artificial 80s pop - but that only works for me on an intellectual level. When I actually listen to these songs, I just feel bored and faintly irritated. I need the songs to work as pieces unto themselves, not as a reaction to external influences, which are forgotten over time.

Have to be in the exact right mood to listen to this, and listening while on the elliptical was definitely not it. Still, I don’t love the combo of spare instrumentation and heavily reverbed vocals. Feels like a clash of aesthetics. Atlantic City is obviously a classic but nothing else really moved the needle for me.

Probably more of a 3.5 but I’ll round up. Had never even heard of them before this. This is the rare album that I like more in its entirety than I do at the individual song level. Pretty cool sound and I’m a sucker for high energy, fun loving rock. Highlights for me are English Rose and down in the tube at midnight, but a lot of the other songs are pleasant but unmemorable. Reminds me of one my favorite albums ever, my aim is true by Elvis Costello. Though not at the same level musically or lyrically, has the same snarl to it.

3 stars for the album, 1 for being a literal revolutionary (read his bio). I like Fela’s unique but accessible sound (mostly zombie) but am really excited to read Sean’s review. He is the biggest kuti guy I know

Sitting in my kitchen doing bullshit work on my laptop while listening and this makes me want to throw the computer out the window, quit my job, drive my car through my neighbors house, get out and seduce his wife. This is the opposite of Sonic Youth. Fuck yeah.

Raw charisma.

I liked this a lot. Upbeat and fun. Don’t know much about this kind of music so it’s tough to be too discerning, but I’ll return to some of these songs, especially the first two.

The samples are cool and they have a nice laid back vibe. Can I kick it is great, but throughout they album there are dumb lines like ‘wipe your feet really good on the rhythm rug’ so I can’t go higher than 3

I like the vibe here and the poetry is haunting and moving at the same time. It’s a lot of the same tone and sentiment and no songs really stand out to me. The songs are obviously very limited by the voice. Not 80 year old Leonard’s fault but it does cap the album at a 3 for me.

I also expected to like this more. Most of it was pleasant but not that memorable. Let’s stay together is obviously a classic but the rest was just ok. Maybe I would have felt differently if I hadn’t read his bio first and learned about all the times he kicked the shit out of his wife.

I find this album musically somewhat interesting and at times even innovative, but lyrically, aesthetically and maybe even spiritually embarassing. The songs are exuberant and misguided in equal measure. Still, I do appreciate how they ‘go for it’ on almost every song, even if what they are going for ends up being terrible. All in the family is probably the worst song I’ve ever heard, but freak on a leash rocks. The abject unholy awfulness of the former almost makes the latter feel like it must have happened by accident - or from another lens, by miracle? I dunno man. All I know is I respect an earnest, authentic disaster more than an aloof, pretentious one, which is to say I have to rate this higher than sonic youth. Fuck sonic youth.

I didn’t need to hear this before I died. This is just sitar karaoke.

This would be a five except there is maybe one too many songs that feel like filler. Peter gabriel’s voice is so emotive- plaintive, wry and powerful all at the same time. The opening trio of red rain, sledgehammer and don’t give up shows off his versatility as a songwriter, then the album meanders a bit, but he brings it home with in your eyes. There are dance songs and songs about not killing yourself that are equally catchy. And the sound is so unique - right in the border of intricately complex and overproduced. He doesn’t quite tip over to the latter side, which is why it all works.

Music to listen to when NPR goes to break. The grilled salmon of indie rock. Music to listen to while cleaning the kitchen with your wife. there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this album. It feels healthy - like I’m making a mature, responsible decision by listening to it. I wish I was the kind of guy this appeals to. I think I’d be a better, more thoughtful person. I’d have gone to grad school. I would compost. Unfortunately, I liked the Korn album better.

5 stars, obviously. Is Paul Simon the most accomplished American singer/ songwriter of all time? Who would it be between? Paul, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen?

I’d heard enough of this after like 3 songs. Then there were 14 more to go and they were all the same thing.

I liked this. Very proggy and over the top, so not my usual thing. But I liked it for what it was

I loved this album. Had never heard of these guys before, which shows my limited rap knowledge. I’ve always thought the reliance on samples was one of hip hops biggest limitations. But after this album I feel like I finally get it - here, they aren’t just used to evoke nostalgia or lift an already proven hook, but more like unique instruments that combine to create something new. “Good news coming” really drove that point home to me. Elsewhere, I just like the way these guys sound and how their rhyming patterns play off and on the beat. It’s upbeat but not corny. I also love whenever anyone unironically refers to their ‘funky rhymes’ . Don’t know why, just gets me.

I’m not too cool for many things. But I’m too cool for Common.

One of the great weirdo masterpieces. Normally a white dude playing funk would come off inauthentic or kitschy, but w/ Bowie the artificiality is part of the appeal, and he embraces it so hard that it somehow loops back around to feel authentic again. That plus every single song is a jam in its own right. I fucking love David Bowie.

Great music for a haunted house. Was gonna give 1 star (obviously) but then I saw a video of the crowds going nuts for this vaguely evil nonsense noise and I have to give them another star for the impressiveness of the con.

I wonder if the reason this album struck me as so bland, toothless and mediocre is that it came immediately after that Kollaps album. At the time, I hated that album. But two days later I can’t stop thinking about it. Now all I want to hear is scary machine noise that makes me question my entire conception of what music is, what art means, what life could be. I’m like a cannibal who has tasted human blood and can now only be sated by the most forbidden meats. 2 stars for Sarah vaughan’s safe, acceptable jazz. 2 stars for my safe, acceptable existence. Somewhere, far off in the distance, the sound of a mechanical drill whirs. It calls to me. I’m coming home.