I admittedly did not listen to this as thoroughly as I would’ve liked but I really enjoyed it and would definitely return to it. I like that I can hear the influence of jazz here; I know that jazz obviously was a precursor to R&B but I feel like on this album I can really Hear it in a way I haven’t been able to hear it before (specifically on “Yearnin’ Learnin’” and “Africano”).

This album is nostalgic to me because I used to listen to it when I was a kid a lottttt, it was one of my go-tos once my parents taught me how to use their record player. It holds up pretty well and I still really enjoyed it! I feel like a lot of his songs come really close to being great and then have one element that isn’t as good which prevents it from being truly great, but I still had fun. I definitely like the songs on the first half a bit better than the last few, although I am a sucker for the end of the album reprising the beginning so that was a redeeming quality of the last track for me. Favorite tracks: Movin' Out, The Stranger, Vienna

These are so technically well-made and I felt like the first ~half of the album was super compelling, but then it started to feel like the songs went on a little too long for me. I think an hour is a bit long for an electronic album for ME...but it was good music for the background while working. A lot of the songs were super interesting and I can see why this is such a seminal album for the history of electronic music for sure and overall I would say I definitely enjoyed it.

I liked it! I don’t have a lot of thoughts about it tbh and don’t really feel strongly about most of the songs. However the song about how amazing is was so funny what’s the deal with that were they being sponsored by Australia’s travel bureau or something Favorites: Brainwashed, Shangri-La

I love when someone that's been built up as such a legend actually lives up to the hype. This album had a lot more variety among the songs than I remembered and I really enjoyed the whole thing. I can't imagine what it would've been like to hear music like this when the record came out. Favorite tracks: Fire, May This Be Love, Stone Free

I was hoping that on another listen through, different songs would stand out to me than the last time I heard it, but that didn't quite happen. The same songs that I got hooked on last time were the standouts again, and all on the first ~1/2 of the album. I think the album gets pretty repetitive by the end, and even the songs themselves are a bit repetitive by the end of their runtime. Though it was a bit tedious by the end when listening to it together as a complete body of work, I think that most of these songs would stand out to me as fun and interesting if they were mixed in with other artists' songs, so I still really enjoy this album overall.

That was reeeeally good. I usually don't like albums longer than an hour but this felt so quick because of how much variety in the songs there is. The samples and features were great, the skits were entertaining even if a little ridiculous sometimes, and just overall really enjoyable.

this was pretty boring to me. it wasn't technically bad I guess...it just felt like a pastiche of other bands that do it better and this didn't really bring anything interesting or new to it.

I really wasn't into this album and about half way through I was actually going to call it quits because I just couldn't foresee the remainder being good enough to redeem it for me. I didn't really like the reggae/ska (?) elements and it felt hokie. This is already the second Elvis Costello album we've gotten despite only being on our ninth album in this challenge and while I enjoyed the other one we listened to, I wasn't sure if I was really getting why he was considered such a big deal. I was researching on his Wikipedia and saw this: "Costello's debut album, My Aim Is True, is widely considered one of the best debut albums in the history of rock music." I read on about how it influenced so much of punk rock and new wave, and read excerpts from a variety of artists across genres (and other professions within entertainment) who have been influenced by him. Suzanne Vega has said that he's one of the "melodic geniuses" whose music she listens to in order to "stretch [her] sense of melody". This shifted how I listened to the rest of the album; I appreciated the melodies and compositions a lot more, and I could see why this is technically a good, well-made album. I still don't think it's for me and I far prefer "This Year's Model", but I can see now why this has been influential and can recognize when something is good but not my taste.

I had no idea this was considered such an important album in music history but sure. It's hard to hear this for what it is since it's so strongly associated with a very specific Vibe from being a tween/teen during the time following its release but I can totally see how Music Appreciators could've found this to be a really interesting and pioneering album. I've listened to a lot of 60s psychedelic rock lately for one of my other ~listening challenges~ (specifically Jefferson Airplane, Love, 13th Floor Elevators, etc.) and hearing this album after those definitely makes me appreciate the evolution (or maybe even reinvention) of that sound for the digital age, and for a totally different audience. None of the non-singles particularly stood out to me. I think that's partially because it's hard to truly assess those songs when they're up against ones with which I have such a strong familiarity, but I also think the singles just had that oomph factor that made them so iconic that the others, despite being interesting, didn't quite have. Fav tracks: kids, electric feel

This album was really beautiful. I don't know a lot about Indian music, or what the Western cultural landscape was in relation to Indian music at that time so I don't know if I can fully appreciate this for its impact or craft, but I appreciated it nonetheless. It's wikipedia page explains "Conceived as a suite, the instrumental album follows a day in the life of an Indian shepherd from Kashmir, using ragas associated with various times of the day to advance the dramatic narrative". This reminded me a lot of how my piano teacher used to explain the storytelling in classical music I was learning, and now to understand an unfolding narrative in a purely instrumental body of work.

horrible. some fine political messaging but it doesn't matter because i can't listen to that

Ughhhh i don’t wanna listen to this I don’t care about these guys at all. I listened to half of it but it’s not my fault their albums are so long

I actually really enjoyed this. I like the band-like groovy sound with all the horns. I'm not sure it's something I'd return to as a whole album, and the songs were a bit long to throw into a playlist, but there were a few tracks I really liked. Fav tracks: Introduction, South California Purples

I reeeeally enjoyed this. The descent from the more energetic songs at the beginning into the meditative ones at the end was really impressive; I feel like I didn't notice a jarring shift while listening and then all the sudden I was at the last song and listening to something completely different from where I started. By This River is probably one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard also. Fav tracks: No One Receiving, By This River

This was so beautiful; she sounds so effortless when she sings. I love the moments where she's interacting with the crowd and worked self-deprecating lyrics into the song when she messed up -- an extremely natural performer and I'm sure seeing her live would've been so cool.

yeah that was good. not much else to say i haven't listened to this probably since high school but it still hits

this wasn’t for me. I’m not really into punk music so i feel like I can’t really judge this one because I don’t have a frame of reference or appreciation for it. but I can see why people would be been into this I guess

This is another one that just isn’t really my style, and exposure to this album didn’t really pique my interest in the band/genre. It sounds to me like a lot of the other indie folk that I’ve heard (through no effort of my own) throughout the last ~15 years and I’m not necessarily saying this to write off the album; I’m assuming it’s very possible that since this is considered one of the best albums of the 2000s / best debut albums of all time that it’s a trendsetter, and that so many things sound similar to it because of how influential it was. However it’s not something I’d ever reach for other than two songs at the end that particularly stood out to me as more unique sounding than the rest and very beautiful. Fav tracks: Meadowlarks, Blue Ridge Mountains

That was fine but not that special for me. I don’t think there was even one song I saved or wanted to add to a playlist but it wasn’t like actively bad.

This was so great!! Enjoyed basically every song. I’m not sure which part specifically to even say worked well because the whole thing just felt really well made and interesting.

Loved it

I really didn’t want to listen to that. I think I only listened to the first 2/3. Even a Kate bush feature couldnt save this

The first song was pretty. I wish the bridge over troubled water cover was just Fiona Apple and not Johnny cash with her in the background. The in my life cover would’ve been charming to me if someone’s old granddad or uncle sang it at a family gathering or something. I stopped listening after that song :/

Very beautiful!

I actually didn’t mind this too much. It felt a little too long which is maybe saying something because the album is less than 50 mins. It sounded a little dated to me but I did like the overall vibe of most of the songs - they felt kind of melancholic but uplifting like they’re from the part of a movie soundtrack where something poignant is happening which I do love… definitely won’t listen to this again though. Fav tracks: Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)

Sorry I only listened to one song

That was really cool. I don't know a lot of Animal Collective but their music is super interesting and I think I'd probably appreciate this album even more if I had been paying more attention for the first half (I was doing laundry and walking in and out of the room). This feels like an in-the-background album for me personally because I don't foresee a situation where I'd listen to any of the songs individually / out of context of the album, but I think it would be really good and stimulating music for focusing on another task because of the different sounds / ambient style of a lot of the tracks.

I think this is one of those times where I realize that there's some music that just isn't for me because I'm not someone who really listens to lyrics much. I was getting the vibe that it had good lyricism in the way that someone who doesn't know a lot of technical info about music might hear something complex and be like yes hmm sounds very impressive even if I don't know why... I know this is odd because I do in fact speak English and should be able to understand the level of intellect of lyrics in English but alas. I do feel like this is one of those cases where I’m close to being able to connect with the lyrics so maybe upon a relisten it would strike me more, and the last song was really great especially!! A really perfect album ending actually. The music itself was good although I struggled to adjust to how his voice sounds at the beginning. But by the end I didn't mind it as much and I was just happy he was expressing himself with what God gave him <3 so thank you mr. pavement that was overall a pretty enjoyable experience.

i'm sorry i just can't handle any more indie folk than what i've heard thus far in my life. im not demure enough for this

all the songs really sounded the same to me...maybe it's my untrained ear because I don't know much about playing electric guitar but it really did sound like the same kind of playing/accompaniment in almost every song. sometimes a new song came on and it literally sounded like the song that just ended. but i do think this would've been cool to see back in the day live. i can picture the crowd jumping around to it and going crazy just based on how the music sounds and i do think that counts for something.

I really enjoyed this!!! Just a really interesting sound with a lot going on throughout the album.

To me this sounds like a combo of British Invasion music and 2000s alternative rock like Franz Ferdinand or something...maybe I'm talking out of my ass but it reminded me of both (and I liked it!) I don't know if I get why this would be on a list of albums you need to hear before you die because it just feels like a very good iteration of the style I just described, rather than anything really revolutionary or shapeshifting or innovative. I still enjoyed listening to it, however the last song was so bad that it kind of spoiled it for me so I'm trying to channel how I felt during the rest of it up until that point in order to write this review.

I feel like I could really hear the source of so much rock music in this album. People often talk about the impact of soul and black artists on rock n' roll and I feel like this performance really made me understand that connection deeper. The live albums we've heard so far have a really palpable energy between the performer and audience that I really appreciate too. I like how even through a recording, you can feel that they were feeding off of each other.

This was really cool. I especially liked the second half; it didn't feel as old as the 70s, but maybe that's because a lot of modern music is reminiscent of this and that's why it's sounding modern to me. I also just think it has kind of a classic sound that doesn't go out of style so that's probably it too.

i just couldn't do it i listened for maybe 30 seconds

this was really interesting! it made me focus on the thing i'd had trouble focusing on all day so i feel like it must have some effective hypnotic quality so that's cool.

i guess it wasn't NOT enjoyable but it wasn't that interesting to me and i didn't really care about that at all...it's no thoughts head empty for me. bye

i like this album more and more each time i hear it! just so groovy and fun and beautiful, and has so many different kinds of songs while still maintaining such a distinct and cohesive style.

though not technically bad it was too hokie for me...kind of like joke music

WOWWWW that was so beautiful. i am not someone that typically pays attention to lyrics but i was very moved by the lyricism of this album, particularly Behind the Wall, Across the Lines, and Baby Can I Hold You. The political themes are unfortunately pretty timeless and universally applicable, and the music itself doesn't sound dated or trite -- it feels really fresh and different than anything else I've listened to -- so I see why this album is considered such a classic.

that was good but I wasn't like blown away or anything. although that last song was KILLER so it's leaving me with a good taste in my mouth.

girl what the hell. i guess i don’t really know the “use case” (for lack of a better/less-nerdy term) for this kind of music. is this something people are listening to just to chill in their house or is it oriented around industrious live performances? it feels too sprawling to be the former but not interesting enough to be the latter. i really don’t want anymore Yes albums… pleek….pleek…….…

that was awesome. and it was also crazy…

I didn't listen to the whole album but I listened to most and feel like I got the gist of it. It's easy listening and peasant enough but not super interesting to me.

hmmm I didn't really love this so much. it wasn't bad but I just got kind of bored because the songs blended together pretty quickly to me. I've enjoyed other Dusty albums so maybe this one just isn't for me.

i liked it but i don't really have any strong feelings about it. i love the song sultans of swing and was hoping something would give it a run for its money but none of these were as good :(

I really liked this too! I think I liked the other smiths album better but really enjoyed both. it’s a little late for my “you guys should check out the smiths they’re really good” phase because i’m not fifteen but alas here we are.

yeah it’s gonna be a no from me dawg…on the first track when he’s screaming “rome plows” i really thought he was saying “bob ross” so that was fun for a minute. but then i didn’t really like anything else

awwww I really like this album. i don't know a lot of the smiths but this is the only one I've heard before and I do think it's very pretty and melancholic and evokes a really specific kind feeling that i can't describe....

I liked this! I think it started off really strong and then got a little stagnant throughout but I really enjoyed their sound and it ended on a high note with a really beautiful final track. fav tracks: Quiet Life, A Foreign Place

That was fine; definitely not as bad I was expecting. It didn’t feel as “metal” as I expected and leaned more towards hard rock. It definitely reminded me a bit of Led Zeppelin so I can’t really say I didn’t like this without being a hypocrite…I still think some of the theatrics of this kind of music are a bit silly but I don’t think this music is bad or anything.

i enjoyed it! i don't know a lot of latin jazz besides bossa nova which feels more like jazz that has latin influence rather than this, which is more latin music that has a jazz influence. i basically think this kind of music is really hard for me not to like because i'm never going to think it's bad. yay!

i have zero thoughts on this actually. the only actual real thought is that it sounded a lot like Queen. i don't think i needed to hear this before i died

very lovely! i can't say it's something i'd really return to but it was really pleasant listening while i was working. i like the organ/clavinet/???? that was on a lot of songs, which definitely did make it kind of sound elevator-music-y but not in a bad way, just in a soothing way i guess.

I got the gist after a few songs. Not for me but it’s fine

obviously amazing. there is just SOMETHING in the music that even without hearing the lyrics makes me cry...to the point that when some songs start i get choked up even though NOTHING HAS EVEN HAPPENED YET but i know what's coming and i'm emotional just from the anticipation of it. that being said this is one of the rare cases where i do care a lot about the lyrics, and like any of the artists that penetrate my typical inability to hear lyrics, it makes them all the more special to me. there's something about the way the words roll off her tongue that feels so inextricable from the melody itself, like the words are begging to be sung a certain way rather than her writing lyrics to fit a tune. But also the inflections in her voice feel so natural and effortless that it's hard to tell which she came up with first, or if it was even a conscious process at all rather than an organic outpouring of emotion. it really is as good as everyone says it is.

This is not really for me but I can tell why people like it. There’s something about it that just isn’t very….interesting? to me? I feel like there’s a lot of music that I tend to find uninteresting to me despite it having a lot of raw energy and being very stimulating and I’m not sure how else to describe it or why it is I feel that way. Maybe I just don’t like listening to men sing…

I honestly didn't hate that. But I also didn't like it. I thought some of the music was catchy and kind of groovy even (Take the Power Back) but unfortunately the lyric delivery is a bit too silly sounding for me to take it seriously. It's like the silliness of beastie boys’ delivery but with the self seriousness of metal. I understand metal as a vehicle for political music because they want the energy and abrasiveness of the music to match their rage (ha ha...) expressed in the lyrics. Personally that isn't a necessity for me to connect with political music but I get the instinct. Unfortunately I think their style of singing/rapping feels too goofy and only works in a context where they aren't taking themselves so seriously which is not what's happening here.

loved ittttt. just very groovy and cool and catchy and interesting. there were some moments that made it feel like a precursor to Pink Floyd (1983…(A Merman I Should Turn To Be)) and it’s always fun to feel like I’m putting the pieces together to understand the broader context that famous music came out of, and to hear the sound evolve over time throughout movements/bands. fav tracks: Crosstown Traffic, Burning of the Midnight Lamp, All Along the Watchtower

me at the start of the other dire straits album: i don't want to listen to diuh stwaits. me at the end of this album (wearing dad jeans and a hawaiian-style tourist shirt and aviators): i think i'm stawting to like diuh stwaits...

i loved that. i've listened to tricky's solo music before but haven't heard massive attack so it was cool to hear the precursor to it. just very cool and fun....will definitely be coming back to a lot of these songs

sorry i have no opinion on this so i guess it was fine. historically im kind of no thots head empty about pere ubu but maybe i should google why they are included in this list

that was cute and fun. it sounds a bit dated to me though. it had a lot of leftover stylings of her 90s music but with some of the sort of early 2000s techno flourishes on it which made it really sound like a time capsule of that era in a way that i think did not age super well. i think that's typical of pop and it doesn't make it bad music, it just doesn't sound fresh in the way that some of her (even older) music still does. fav tracks: Runaway Lover, Gone, Impressive Instant

This one is really hard to listen to for what it is because it's so iconic and I've heard so many of these songs a million times, and even the songs I don't know have a really distinct ABBA sound that is so familiar. Regardless of the rest of my opinion on the album, ABBA is technically indirectly responsible for the grip that Swedish production has had on American pop music for the last ~30 years so it's totally logical to me that they have albums on this list. I think their music is actually quite well made even if it doesn't sound like the most interesting pop music to 2024 ears. There's something they tend to do with the chords, where they follow a super over the top, positive, happy-sounding section with a melancholic twist, which I love. This is also what I've always loved about Max Martin's early work as well, which I'm sure is no coincidence given that Sweden was inadvertently turned into a hub for pop music production because of ABBA's success. I remember in the episode about Stockholm in the docuseries "This Is Pop", they talked about the isolation of Sweden/Swedish people (they didn't really go into why, other than their physical distance from much of the continent), which is responsible for this melancholic twinge in a lot of otherwise upbeat Swedish music. I think regardless of dopey lyrics, that musical twinge is always going to get me; it just scratches an itch in my brain and it feels so good to listen to. The layers of accompaniment also create a fullness in a lot of their music that feels really robust, with a lot of fun bass lines balanced with twinkly flourishes. I appreciate that it borrows some of the successful aspects of disco music and turns it into something different (even if I still think disco as a genre is better). By the second half of the album I was getting a little tired of their voices (one of the women has pretty annoying vibrato if you listen for too long), but that's okay because I think this kind of music isn't meant to be consumed as a full body of work. Some music is just for having fun and dancing which is totally fine, and this definitely does a good job of that. Even though I started this by saying it's hard to separate the familiarity from the music itself, there's something to be said for a song like Dancing Queen having such strong cultural ubiquity that we're not even paying attention to the song but rather how it makes us feel! (Which is that it makes us want to dance! And I can't be mad at that!)

I enjoyed how cinematic this was, especially the instrumental tracks. I don't foresee returning to any individual songs from this because they feel really connected to the album as a whole; it doesn't feel like these were meant to be listened to separately. I think it's cool that he changed his sound so much throughout his career and I enjoyed learning about this kind of experimental ambient moment he had that I didn't know about. Fav tracks: What in the World, Speed of Life

I don't really have a lot of thoughts about this. I did like some of it and I felt neutrally about the rest. It somewhat reminded me of Led Zeppelin I think, but I'd probably just listen to them over this. But I don't think this was bad at all.

no thoughts head empty on this one. i didn't mind it but it was a little harder sound than i usually go for

UGHHHHHHHH!!!! (in a good way) every time i hear this album it's even better than i remember...just so many interesting things happening here. right off the bat opening with a song that says "are you gay?" and then calling him a ladyboy...and of course fuck me pumps is theee internalized misogyny anthem of all time ("without girls like you, there's no nightlife / all those men just go home to their wives" YEOWCH). like what a crash entrance into music for this to be the first thing people ever hear from you!! but also just musically there's so many interesting production choices -- In My Bed and What Is It About Men have such a sleek (hip hop inspired maybe?) 90s sound which is sooo different than the classic jazz sound of Amy Amy Amy or You Sent Me Flying. so many tender moments too (No Greater Love, Cherry, I Heard Love Is Blind)...like the range is just crazy on this album. every listen gives me new favorites and new thing to notice. I LOVE YOU AMY <33333

Idk that just wasn’t hitting for me. Kinda monotonous and not as interesting as I’d expected. Sometimes there’s only one big song from an album for a reason….

sure

"Emptiness is loneliness, and loneliness is cleanliness / And cleanliness is godliness, and God is empty / Just like me" oh shut the fuck UP!!! honestly the more metal songs were much more listenable to me than the indie whiny ones. emilia recommended putting myself in the mindset of a teenage boy when listening to this which i think is apt as i cannot take this seriously as an adult and/or beautiful woman...

I don't have too many thoughts about this I guess. I listened to it while I was working and it made me productive. It was also really pretty :D

I really like this album! Just kind of a weird but still very pleasant sound…I don’t know enough about production to describe what it is but it almost sounds like I’m listening to a band play in a very open warehouse or something. It had an airy/clangy sound to it? I already had about half these songs saved and I added more this time around. It’s the perfect length and has good variety. It also made for great background music to walk outside on a crisp autumn day so thanks for that you guys. Fav tracks: What’s Happening?; Hey Joe (Where You Gonna Go); I See You

so he was trying to be bob dylan or…?

LOVE!! Love Chain of Fools, absolutely one of the best songs ever....it's still definitely my favorite even after hearing the rest of the album (which I did like though). Not many thoughts about this I guess other than It's Very Good

Okay I wasn’t hating it as much as Emilia when I started listening, like it was a bit theatrical for me but not completely offensive. Then I got to “Your Dictionary” where he says “H A T E, is that how you spell love in your dictionary?” and I was like ohhh okay. ”F U C K, is that how you spell friend in your dictionary?” sounds like something you’d repost from a generic meme page on facebook in 2012 to subtweet your friend you were fighting with. The music isn’t completely awful, but this was very difficult to enjoy.

I don’t usually like punk but I enjoyed this. I’m not sure I can describe what it was that was different about this that made me like it. I guess I thought it was catchier? And the catchiness out-weighed the grating/repetitive aspects of punk that I usually don’t like? I didn’t love his voice at a lot of points; it reminded me of the scratchy kind of voices I don’t love in grunge music, but again the music was interesting enough to me that I didn’t mind it toooo much. *Fav tracks: I Will Dare, Androgynous, Answering Machine*

as paul says, "it's great, it's sold, it's the bloody beatles!" Love this album always. My top favorites will always be Drive My Car and I'm Looking Through You, but I really enjoyed Think for Yourself, Wait, and If I Needed Someone more than I remembered. Like REALLY enjoyed If I Needed Someone, like whoa have I been sleeping on that one for awhile (#don’t forget about GEROGE!). I love when you have period phases being obsessed with an album, and each time you get hooked on different songs, and over time you end up having had a Moment with every song on there. I feel like this listen was the final round for me that made that true of this album. Previously, I felt like there were some gaps between the real standouts where the album lags a bit for me, but those songs were the ones that got me this time??? So I guess the cycle is complete…. Fav tracks: Drive My Car, I’m Looking Through You, If I Needed Someone, Norwegian Wood, I’m actually going to stop myself because I can feel that I’m just about to list every song. (besides What Goes On…sorry Ringo) Actually no. I am going to instead rank the songs by category for an album like this that I know too well because I can’t bear the thought of not sharing my full opinions…. TOP FAVORITES (historically): Drive My Car, Norwegian Wood, I’m Looking Through You Also awesome to me right now: If I Needed Someone, Think For Yourself Also awesome to me (historically): Michelle, Nowhere Man Middle category: In My Life, You Won’t See Me, Wait, Girl Meh: Run For Your Life, The Word No: What Goes On (sorry ringo again)

i feel like if everything is special then nothing is special. this album feels like that because every song is so theatrical and bombastic that it all just feels like nothing. obviously as musicians they're very talented, and Freddie Mercury has one of the most impressive voices of all time. But it's just way too much to listen to all of this as one album.

This was fine. I didn’t mind having it on but probably wouldn’t reach for it. I liked it better than the other Peter Gabriel album we had so far because it was less corny and didn’t have that shmaltzy 80s gloss over it.

nice background focus music. reminds me a bit of chemical brothers but probably a precursor to that because of the amount of instrumentation and global influences involved here. i don't really have too many specific thoughts though...the songs with vocalists were nice too but i'm not sure i would return to any of it per se.

that was nice. very pretty

nahh i couldn't do it sorry im sure (well maybe not SURE) there's a smart explanation for what they're doing here and maybe there's a function for this kind of music but it's not for me

I enjoyed this! I had a heightened listening experience because I told two middle-aged white men at the co-op that this was my album today and they got soooo excited saying how it was such a classic and started singing "do you remember the days of slavery" so by comparison this album sounded much better than that. and also it was just good in general.

no strong feelings. it sounds very Of Its Time and a little dated but i didn't think it was bad. I think it's harder for me to judge the (small percentage of) albums that are from a time period where i remember music / have an association with that time so to me this just sounds very early 2000s and i can't separate the art from the 2000s-ness of it if that makes sense...

I listened to this while I organized my storage and it was kinda perfect for it because of how energetic it is. I loooove papa was a rolling stone and how long and drawn out it is….the beginning build up is so great and overall just loved the rhythms in the whole album.

that was really cool! i really enjoyed the sprawling instrumentals in a way that I usually don't on some of these other albums that have that (like the prog rock ones). this sounds like the kind of experimental music that was probably really cool to see live too.

that wasn't so bad. not as bad as other metal on the list. it was just not that interesting to me. there's something about the timbre of the guitars in metal music that is really ugly to me; it's different than the sound of a cool electric guitar riff in other music that i like and i can't pinpoint what it is that isn't as satisfying or interesting to me. but it makes up so much of the music that it's hard to look past even if the music itself isn't that unpleasant.

ummm john lennon is actually kinda good….. I’m realizing that I’ve never actually listened to a full solo album of any of the Beatles besides All Things Must Pass until now. It’s so interesting because this does not sound like another Beatles album at all of course, but it has such a distinct Beatles influence. Every song on here was beautiful or groovy or cutting (How Do You Sleep is straight up diabolical…) and it ended with such a beautiful ode to Yoko. I love that he talks about her so much despite being released during peak “yoko broke up the beatles” era. And Imagine IS A GOOD SONG. It’s so overplayed so in most contexts it’s hard to actually hear it for what it is, but it IS really beautiful. And in this context, I think it’s quite an effective opener for an album full of tender ballads and political messaging because it’s sort of a balance of both and sets the tone well. Fav tracks: I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier Mama, How Do You Sleep?, Oh My Love

beyonce after several songs of nasty comments: you take my kindness for weakness :) this is soooo fun and really does feel like a time capsule. the production is very very 2000 and the anger at their former groupmates is palpable.... but also you can sense the affection the three of them have for each other throughout the album and how much fun they're having together. I love that despite coming in HOT for the first half of the album, it evolves into a very loving and thankful sentiment by the end; the outro with them telling each other how blessed they are to be in one another's lives is so sweet. i don't know enough about r&b history to appreciate where this might fall on the normal/daring spectrum, but there were definitely some moments that were unexpected in this kind of album; the techno/laser sounds in the outro, the circus riff/motif throughout Independent Woman Pt II, and (this part isn't unexpected because obviously it's insanely famous so I guess I'm changing it to UNUSUAL) the stevie nicks sample in Bootylicious that works so well with the r&b beat. (also shoutout the random beatles reference in the outro <3 michelle ma belle <3 ) Trying to really hear the extremely familiar and ubiquitous songs on this album is really a challenge, but I do think my appreciation of the composition of the first three tracks has grown from this listen through. they really are masterpieces!! Fav tracks: Independent Woman Pt I, Survivor, Bootylicious, Apple Pie A La Mode

that was fine. not as exciting as some other 60s san fran psychedelic music i've heard but i generally find that genre pretty interesting by default so it would be hard for the music to be bad/boring to me. but i wouldn't say this exceptionally got my attention or anything.

no…..

Vinyls getting longer happened at the wrong time because it meant that the Doors could finally make a near-hour record of sludge. He reuses the same melody over and over, the lyrics are stupid, and most obviously he has a horribly unpleasant voice. He somehow drains blues of its signature emotion and rhythm and turns it into a dull slog. Really horrible stuff. I think if one or two of those things from the aforementioned trifecta (bad melodies, bad lyrics, bad voice) were decent then this could be good, so it has potential. I imagine there are probably a lot of great and colorful covers of these songs so the band gets credit for building music with strong bones but unfortunately in its original recorded form, it just sounds like a bunch of guys experimenting with what they thought was really innovative instrumentation but ends up as a cacophony with a drunk guy screaming over it.

I didn’t really love this. I love bossa nova but I think Frank Sinatra’s voice is too smooth for it; I think the richness and steadiness of his voice makes his vocal style go well with his usual big-band genre because the vocals function as another of the instruments, but in bossa nova I feel like there needs to be a little more texture or else it sounds like muzak. (Not that the vocals need to be edgy or crazy per se; I’m thinking of Astrud Gilberto’s voice for example, which is obviously still beautiful but it’s less flat/even-toned and provides a little more….intrigue to the music I guess.) The few moments where Jobim sang proved this theory for me, so I wish there was more of his singing on here.

Very cool and slick. Added it to the list of albums to put on when I’m milling about my house like a sim (complimentary).

I like the general sound of this album. It feels like the kind of music that would be playing in the background of a retro movie where some cool dudes are hanging out at a bar…maybe they’re playing pool…and smoking 😎 I absolutely LOVE Strange Brew and was hoping that on this relisten I’d find some other gems on here that I like even half as much as that one but unfortunately I did not. It gets a little samey for me after a few songs and I felt like I was listening to the same songs over and over (with the exception of the final track, Mother’s Lament, which was functional in that it reminded me he’s British which I for some reason always forget). Outside Woman Blues had such a similar groove as Strange Brew and it’s kind of weird those are on the same album (and I always thought the beginning of the riff from Sunshine of Your Love sounded so much like that of Cocaine, the latter of which I knew first as a kid and then was confused when I heard what sounded so similar years later in the former, but at least those are on different albums). I guess that’s just a signature rhythm and chord progression of the blues style but I do think there are artists who manage to have that distinct style without it all sounding like repeats of each other. It all ends up just sounding like Eric Clapton Flavored Sounds, which is not a horrible vibe to curate as I mentioned at the beginning, but the songs on their own aren’t distinct enough for me to care about as songs in their own right. *Best tracks: Strange Brew*

Radiohead is unfortunately one of those bands where all the annoying people who insist that they’re geniuses are actually right. You hear about how they’re soooo amazing and revolutionary and genre-defying and genre-defining and you figure there’s no way they’re actually worth the hype and then one day you finally listen to them and you’re like Oh. However I’m happy to admit to the mistake of having not listened sooner because a) I would’ve been the most unbearable person on earth if I’d gotten into them as a teenager, and b) I get to benefit from hearing this beautiful eerie music whose complexity and detail always kind of blow my mind as if it’s the first time I’ve ever heard music. But like seriously how did they come up with all that though… *Best tracks: 15 Step, Weird Fishes / Arpeggi, Faust Arp, Reckoner, Jigsaw Falling Into Place*

I listened to about half / 2/3s of this and intended to come back to it but I don’t feel like it. It wasn’t horrible and not as bad as I expected considering it’s metal from the 80s but I still don’t really care for it.

I enjoyed this but it didn’t really catch my attention so much. I remember really liking their 1995 album when I listened so I thought I’d like this more than I did, but I guess a decade makes quite a difference in their sound. I didn’t NOT like it, I just don’t really have any strong feelings about it, and also had to listen on Youtube because it’s not on Spotify so I don’t actually know the names of the songs I did like.

I really really loved that. It was so beautiful and did not feel sixty years old at all; if someone sent me this and said it was from sometime in the last ten years I would believe them. I liked that there was some variety in the instrumentation too; after the first few songs of arrangements predominantly featuring acoustic guitar, I was surprised to hear an orchestral piece next. I liked the continued use of other orchestra instruments over the acoustic guitar throughout the rest of the album, and the final piano-heavy song really got me…I’m a sucker for that kind of arrangement and it felt like a nice endcap to an album with such rich instrumentation. I wish I could see this album performed live. I have never listened to him until now but I definitely want to relisten to this and hear his other albums now. Fav tracks: Time Has Told Me, River Man, Man In A Shed, Saturday Sun

I liked thaaaaaat. I feel like prog rock is very hit or miss for me (see: Pink Floyd 😀 vs Yes 😐) but this was cool and experimental and interesting, and ultimately not too drawn out. The songs were long but they didn’t feel long because the different movements/”suites” within each one felt dramatic and necessary rather than overkill. The sound of this album has an edge to it that I really enjoyed. But at the end of the day I’m still biased and will choose the Kanye sample as my favorite track because I do think that stands out compared to the rest, even though the album ended really well. *Best tracks: 21st Century Schizoid Man*

This sound is so nostalgic because I looooved Someday in high school and their sound really is pretty distinct and associated with a certain period of my music taste, so it’s hard to hear this for what it is but I did try. I enjoyed the first half a lot but it did get kind of monotonous by the end because that distinctive sound took over and was all I could hear; it was like the whole album was painted over with a Strokes-colored wash. I think these songs would be great next to ones by other bands but all together they kind of blend together. *Best tracks: Someday, Last Nite, Hard to Explain*

That was cool but I’m bummed I didn’t find any tracks on here that I love as much as Immigrant Song. I think this skewed a little too folk/blues for me and I kind of like their usual harder sound actually, but I did enjoy hearing those influences in their music because it felt like connecting the dots between blues and rock and roll in a way I don’t usually hear. Fav tracks: Immigrant Song, Tangerine

Honestly I was procrastinating this one because I wasn’t excited for more 70s rock. But this was different from some of the other stuff we’ve had to listen to and I really enjoyed it. I particularly liked the opening, and some of the more pensive songs later in the album reminded me a little of Zeppelin. Probably won’t return to this besides that first song which was pretty *groovy* to me. *Best tracks: Glad*

I love bossa nova and Stan Getz so this wasn’t a hard sell for me. Don’t really have any more thoughts besides that. Just really easy and pleasant listening without being boring. I would love to be somewhere with this playing live in the venue like a classy restaurant or bar.

Yaaaaaasss. And also slay…. This was so beautiful and fresh. A lot of the songs from here do not feel like they’re from as long ago as the sixties (that’s the second time I’ve said that in a review this week…maybe they were onto something back then). Specifically “Save the Life of My Child” and “Fakin’ It” felt much more recent, maybe because of the production or non-instrument effects. I love the interlude in the middle, and I imagine back then that was less common and would’ve been a really special thing to hear in the middle of a record. Truly the original SZA’s grandma on Ctrl. I think I’ll have to relisten to this again to really process the life stages narrative and pay more attention to the lyrics; I’m sure my appreciation for it will only grow because I already enjoyed which lyrics I was able to catch. “No good times, no bad times / there’s no times at all, just the New York Times” probably went crazy in 1969. Side note: I love that “Punkie’s Dilemma” provided another addition to the already vast Paul Simon Wishing He Was An Inanimate Object cinematic universe. I need someone to make a no-context super cut of him saying stuff like that. “Wish I was an English muffin” “I’d rather be a hammer than a nail” “Wish I was a Kellogg’s cornflake” literally this man is always wishing he was a little object. Paul I think you should just be yourself <3 Best tracks: Save the Life of My Child, Fakin’ It, Overs

Pleasantly surprised by how many of these songs I really liked. The gospel and blues influences here are verrryyyy strong (I’m Movin’ On is really fun to me because it basically feels like it could be an Aretha Franklin song). However, it is far too long for this kind of music. I didn’t even know they were making 50 minute albums in the 60s — it’s too much. But a lot of these songs were very beautiful and fun and had a really infectious energy so I can get the appeal. Fav tracks: I’m Movin’ On, In The Ghetto, Suspicious Minds

That was really pretty! Honestly none of the songs stuck out to me until the last one, but they were all still good. Not something I can picture myself reaching for but I wouldn’t be upset if someone put this on again. Fav tracks: Raining In Darling

Really really beautiful. It was so short though! I could’ve had more of this, which I never say. It’s definitely interesting to hear what is the inspiration for so much indie rock/folk from my lifetime, because it’s not a genre I typically like but I really like this version of it. Fav tracks: Speed Trials, Alameda, 2:45 AM

I actually really enjoyed this. I liked hearing his interactions with the audience and the songs were charming to me.

The chorus of “Seedy Films” is sooo funny to me it sounds like an SNL bit making fun of the genre…the tongue twister “sleazy city sleepy people” is just a perfect opportunity for his sibilant S to be on full display (not complaining). But overall yeah very strange vibe to me but I’m sure this was great for its intended purpose and not for laying on my couch formatting documents on my computer for the Financial Times as I am doing right now. *Best tracks: Tainted Love*

that was enjoyable enough. nothing really stood out to me except the titular track which i obviously already knew....so i guess i didn't really get much out of this full album listen through. it wasn't bad though.

Obviously very technically impressive but just not really for me. This kind of jazz is too shmaltzy for me and feels like elevator music, and the saxophone is just way too in your face for me.

I was reminded of a conversation I had with my professor in college who was an old white gay man that said he didn’t like rap (classic), and when all the students of course were trying to clock him on his old white guy bias and ask him why he didn’t like it, he said the music that resonated with him was more oriented towards lyric melody than lyric rhythm. While that is, to this day, the closest thing I’ve heard to a valid justification for anti-rap bias, it did actually help me articulate what it is that draws me in about a lot of rap, particularly the era of *Illmatic* (and a lot of east coast hip hop). I don’t really have the language to describe what is so satisfying about the delivery on this album, other than he is obviously extremely skilled at rapping over a beat *on beat* (a low bar I realize, but a feat that many rappers nowadays cannot achieve), and his flow and the songs’ hooks are insanely catchy. I also am a sucker for any album about New York (he’s from Crown Heights 😎), especially with such vivid storytelling (even if some of the language has not aged well). It’s a time capsule without sounding corny and dated; even the songs that didn’t pop out to me as favorites are all still interesting and feel part of a cohesive body of work with no lulls. Fav tracks: N.Y. State of Mind, The World Is Yours, One Love (feat. Q-Tip), Represent

I started this a few times and then gave up sorry. It wasn’t horrible I just didn’t feel like listening to that

I do not like how his voice bleats.

I tend to find a lot of alt/indie rock kind of samey but I think that’s probably in large part due to the influence of bands like Wilco on everyone else’s sound, so I can’t really judge Wilco for that because it’s not their fault they’ve got Sons trying to be them. The sort of alternative/casual vibe of not hitting the exact pitch of the notes took some getting used to at the beginning, but I noticed it less as we went on. I also think pitch precision would make this kind of music a little bland and personality-less so I get the stylistic choice. A lot of these were so so beautiful (”Radio Cure”, “Poor Places”), and the more energetic ones quite catchy (”I’m the Man Who Loves You”, “Heavy Metal Drummer”). Many of these will be deposited into my new Autumn playlist. That’s a category that’s been kind of growing on me lately due in part to this listening list — cozy, relaxing but not sleepy, acoustic(ish). It’s a good blend and this album does it really well while also having some interesting production flourishes. Fav tracks: Jesus, etc.; Heavy Metal Drummer; I’m the Man Who Loves You; Poor Places

Oops I forgot to write my review and give it a rating when I actually listened to it and now I forgot. But I remember enjoying it very much and finding it very pretty. Fav tracks: Guinnevere, Pre-Road Downs, Everybody’s Talkin’, Teach Your Children

That was really interesting. I wasn’t paying such close attention to the spoken parts so I’m sure I missed some of the concept but I did enjoyed the variety of kinds of music on here and how well it all flowed together. I don’t always like more experimental tracks but they felt well-placed in here. I also loved the opener and reprise as a the closer. I was cleaning while this was on and I feel like that was kind of the perfect way of listening to it and I can see myself putting this on again while doing stuff around my house. Fav tracks: Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Pelvis (feat. Jarvis Cocker), Miles