317
Albums Rated
3.27
Average Rating
29%
Complete
772 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
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1970s
Favorite Decade
Metal
Favorite Genre
other
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
59
5-Star Albums
31
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Opus Dei
Laibach
|
5 | 2.39 | +2.61 |
|
69 Love Songs
The Magnetic Fields
|
5 | 2.84 | +2.16 |
|
Black Monk Time
The Monks
|
5 | 2.94 | +2.06 |
|
Crossing the Red Sea With the Adverts
The Adverts
|
5 | 2.98 | +2.02 |
|
Deserter's Songs
Mercury Rev
|
5 | 3.02 | +1.98 |
|
S&M
Metallica
|
5 | 3.26 | +1.74 |
|
A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Various Artists
|
5 | 3.28 | +1.72 |
|
Trout Mask Replica
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
|
4 | 2.28 | +1.72 |
|
British Steel
Judas Priest
|
5 | 3.3 | +1.7 |
|
Deep Purple In Rock
Deep Purple
|
5 | 3.33 | +1.67 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Illmatic
Nas
|
1 | 3.61 | -2.61 |
|
All Directions
The Temptations
|
1 | 3.46 | -2.46 |
|
Heaven Or Las Vegas
Cocteau Twins
|
1 | 3.37 | -2.37 |
|
xx
The xx
|
1 | 3.37 | -2.37 |
|
The World is a Ghetto
War
|
1 | 3.35 | -2.35 |
|
Channel Orange
Frank Ocean
|
1 | 3.31 | -2.31 |
|
Liquid Swords
GZA
|
1 | 3.28 | -2.28 |
|
Loveless
My Bloody Valentine
|
1 | 3.17 | -2.17 |
|
Fifth Dimension
The Byrds
|
1 | 3.07 | -2.07 |
|
Heartbreaker
Ryan Adams
|
1 | 3.03 | -2.03 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Led Zeppelin | 3 | 5 |
| The White Stripes | 3 | 5 |
| Nirvana | 3 | 5 |
| Beatles | 4 | 4.5 |
| Prince | 3 | 4.67 |
| Green Day | 2 | 5 |
| Jimi Hendrix | 2 | 5 |
| Metallica | 2 | 5 |
| Deep Purple | 2 | 5 |
| David Bowie | 5 | 4.2 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Ryan Adams | 2 | 1 |
| My Bloody Valentine | 2 | 1 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Radiohead | 2, 5, 2 |
5-Star Albums (59)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Some great harmonies and melodies and a surprising amount of variety track-to-track. Apparently I like Simon and Garfunkel?
2 likes
GZA
1/5
I very rarely enjoy any kind of music where the main drawcard is the lyrics and I didn't enjoy the beats on this album either since they were very straightforward, repetitive and not particularly interesting
1 likes
5/5
Amazing album. To me, the genre and instrumental variety in the track list makes it seem like a greatest hits album (which matches the Sgt Pepper concept), and I think just about any band would be proud of this track list on a compilation. It's hard to review the Beatles because their influence is so wide ranging and their hits are so well known, but this is still just a fun album with some great songs. The title track(s), With a Little Help from My Friends, and Getting Better are all top tier. But almost every track is great.
1 likes
The Adverts
5/5
Simple, full of energy and catchy. Punk can be a bit repetitive but I really enjoyed the first listen. One Chord Wonders, Gary Gilmore's Eyes and Bored Teenagers were my favourites but every track was great.
1 likes
Ryan Adams
1/5
Not very interesting, exciting or unusual. Just quiet and simple rock/country singer/songwriter music. The album is also way too long and multiple times I found myself looking at the track list to see how much I had left to sit through
1 likes
1-Star Albums (31)
All Ratings
Elton John
2/5
A bit too mellow for me. And the songs blend together a bit due to the piano parts having similar patterns around each chord progression. But I like the mix of instrumentation and how orchestral some songs feel as well as the different sections in each song.
Ramones
5/5
A classic album that spawned a whole genre. Songs are all very similar in structure but they're so short and high energy that it works. Would have been incredible to hear them live. Some real bangers on here but I'm not going to put the while album on regular rotation.
Neil Young
2/5
I'm not a country fan at all. This was inoffensive but not something I would listen to again.
Dire Straits
5/5
Smooth blues rock with some silky guitar work. Just listening to this makes me want to learn to play fingerstyle. What an amazing debut album!
Solomon Burke
3/5
Really enjoyed a few of the first songs but it started to drag a bit by the end.
R.E.M.
4/5
Not bad! Has all the ingredients of many of their later hits but missing a bit in the execution.
The Coral
2/5
A real mixture of rock influences on this, but overall a bit messy and unmemorable.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Some great harmonies and melodies and a surprising amount of variety track-to-track. Apparently I like Simon and Garfunkel?
Black Sabbath
4/5
Absolutely iconic album and an enjoyable listen. Taken in the context of when it was released and the impact it had on music since then it deserves a 5. But as a standalone listen today, it's great but not perfect. There are a lot of fantastic ideas on here but they're not really developed fully.
Judas Priest
5/5
One of my all time favorite albums and the one that was my introduction to Priest. I love the simple but hooky guitar riffs and soaring vocals. Every track on here is great.
The Monkees
3/5
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, but it's not something I'm going to return to.
Morrissey
2/5
He's a good singer and the music is fine but a bit boring. I enjoyed it more on my first listen when I wasn't paying attention to what he was saying. Overall this is listenable but not something I want to come back to.
The Smiths
4/5
I'd never heard the Smiths before but this was pretty good. Guitar, bass and drums are all highlights on different songs.
Kraftwerk
4/5
A lot of fun to listen to. It sounds so clean and strange but it's also quite catchy. I really enjoyed the contrast between the raw vocals and the artificial instrumentation, particularly in Neon Lights. Most of the songs last for a little too long though.
Eagles
3/5
It's easy to listen to, the songs are all fine and produced very well. But I find it to be a bit too unadventurous and unexciting.
Joni Mitchell
2/5
Interesting listen but not something I want to return to. On some songs it feels like she wrote the lyrics and music separately and then jammed them together even when the timing didn't match up. Maybe it's too high brow for me or maybe I'm just not a fan of this style of singer/songwriter folk music.
Ozomatli
3/5
Some great Latin rhythms and melodies with some other influences creeping in. But most of the tracks don't quite come together in a way that clicks for me.
Also really a pain to listen to since it wasn't available on Spotify for me.
Supergrass
4/5
Fun and high energy album with elements of pop-punk and 90s alt rock. I might come back to a few songs from this one.
Frank Sinatra
2/5
This is a bit hard to review. Obviously he's a fantastic singer, and every individual song on this is great, but the album as a whole is a slog to get through since there is no variety whatsoever and the songs are very simple. The production is also showing it's age since all the instruments other than vocals sound very thin and tinny, like they're recorded from another room.
Lupe Fiasco
2/5
A couple of songs were ok and a few more had interesting beats but otherwise I didn't enjoy this much at all. Ending with a 12 minute outro is a bold move.
Joanna Newsom
1/5
Good: I really enjoyed the lush harp and orchestral arrangements with their odd progressions and timing.
Mixed: The lyrics are written in a beautiful but dense poetic style that makes it hard to follow without paying full attention.
Bad: I did not enjoy the unevenly paced, baby-voice singing. And to make things worse, she drops in the occasional squeal that kept me on edge the whole time.
I get the feeling this might be the kind of acquired taste that turns into a 5/5 after a few more listens but for now I'm moving on.
The Verve
4/5
I'd never heard any of these songs before, but I enjoyed it more than I expected! History in particular is a great song.
Michael Jackson
4/5
Great album. I love this style of disco and funk even though I don't listen to it often. There were a few forgettable songs but also some that are amazing.
The Cure
5/5
Really enjoyed this! Eerie, atmospheric, crushing, but also patient and upbeat at points.
The Byrds
1/5
Some of the psychadelic tracks aren't bad but I found most of this pretty hard to listen to. It doesn't seem to have any cohesive genre or theme either, crossing folk, rock, country, psych rock and what seems to be an ad for private jets. It veers between too experimental and too boring with very little in between.
Dusty Springfield
5/5
Another huge surprise. She's an amazing singer and the songs are so smooth and lush. Son of a Preacher Man is fantastic but Windmills of Your Mind was a real stand-out too.
Country Joe & The Fish
3/5
Solid psychedelic rock from the 60s. Still pretty enjoyable to listen to today but it also doesn't really stand out.
Billy Joel
3/5
It's fine. There are a few good songs but I found it a bit boring.
R.E.M.
3/5
I didn't enjoy this as much as Murmur but it was ok. Orange Crush and Stand are head and shoulders above the rest of the songs on this album.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
2/5
It was ok but none of the songs really clicked with me
Orbital
1/5
I can't think of a time when this would be something I want to listen to. Not catchy or groovy enough to want to dance, not chill enough to put on in the background, not interesting enough to focus on. And some of the songs really drag on for way too long.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Much more enjoyable to listen to than Blue. Still a bit too folksy for me though.
The Temptations
1/5
The funk songs were fine but too long without going anywhere. I didn't enjoy the ballads at all
Beastie Boys
4/5
Such an interesting and inventive album. There are a couple of great songs on here that stand well on their own but this is an album that works better as a unit. It's not something I'd want to listen to all the time though.
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
It was ok but a bit boring
Green Day
5/5
This was a seminal album for me in my teenage years and brought back a lot of good memories. It still holds up well in my opinion, with a great mix of high energy punk tracks and slower ballads. I love how ambitious it is with the rock opera meta-story but most tracks hold up well on their own as well. St Jimmy and Holiday were my favorite tracks as a kid and upon revisiting the album I've learned that I had great taste.
Christine and the Queens
2/5
Smooth and sophisticated electropop. But way too vocal-focused for me.
Nas
1/5
A couple of the songs were interesting but the rest all blurred together. This is really not my thing
Paul McCartney and Wings
3/5
There are some good songs on here but it's a bit inconsistent. Very relaxed and easy to listen to for the most part
The Icarus Line
1/5
There were moments when it started to click, but those were outnumbered by the moments when I just wanted the noise to stop. Overall it's too unfocused. Also a pain to listen to since it wasn't on spotify for me.
Small Faces
4/5
The first half is a pretty solid psych rock / pop album, and the second half is an absurd fairy tale concept album with narrated sections full of nonsense words. I love a bit of dumb fun and really enjoyed this, although I don't think I will listen to it again.
Ash
3/5
Started off strong with a few good tracks but got boring by the end. There's some elements of punk, grunge and pop rock, which are all genres that I like, but it just didn't quite click.
Amy Winehouse
4/5
A really enjoyable listen. The music is interesting and the singing is fantastic, although the lyrics are a bit depressing. Sounds like a contemporary (ish) take on 60s style soul and R&B.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
I really enjoyed the upbeat funk songs but the rest didn't really click with me
The Go-Betweens
4/5
This feels strangely nostalgic even though I don't think I've heard it before. I really enjoyed this. Violin and acoustic guitar is a great combo
The Flying Burrito Brothers
3/5
It's textbook country rock, which is not a genre I typically like. But it's done very competently.
Motörhead
4/5
Loud and in your face from front to back. A really great live album, but I'd still prefer to listen to the studio recordings.
The Doors
4/5
This album has a few amazing songs (Riders on the Storm and Love Her Madly being timeless classics), a few middling songs that are just the basic blues, and then a few weird ones that didn't click with me.
Björk
4/5
Very interesting album. She's an amazing singer and there's some real variety in style between the songs. They each feel odd in their own way, which is great for a one-off listen but also probably means I won't be coming back to this.
Fever Ray
1/5
Electronica that's chill to the point of being boring. Didn't click with me at all
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
2/5
I enjoyed the funky beats in the first two tracks but the next four were tough to get through. The final track is obviously hugely influential and I love the beat but didn't enjoy the track as a whole as much as I thought I might.
Miles Davis
4/5
Pretty great to have on in the background. It's interesting and inventive and easy to listen to.
Frank Ocean
1/5
It's quite experimental and ambient, with lots of sound effects and slow repetitive beats. There were a few songs I thought were ok but this really isn't my thing
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected! I had Harvest a couple of months ago and was a little lukewarm but I found this a lot more dynamic and fun to listen to. It has an interesting sound due to the mix of live and overdubbed parts.
Elis Regina
2/5
I don't mind listening to music in another language when the instrumentation is really interesting, but this was a vocal dominated album. She seems like a great singer and it sounded like there were some diverse influences on the music (bossa nova, jazz, rock etc), but this was more inoffensive than enjoyable.
Also as other people have pointed out, there may have been a mixup when putting the book together since this is a posthumous compilation album with little to no information about it available online.
Mercury Rev
5/5
I really enjoyed this! It reminds me a lot of The Flaming Lips. Very cinematic and haunting
Traffic
4/5
The first side is fantastic and has some catchy songs but the second side was a bit of a step down. A bit of a varied album in terms of quality and genre, but overall pretty good.
Best tracks: Feelin' Alright, You Can All Join In.
Linkin Park
5/5
Another album that's hard to be critical of since I loved it so much as a teenager. To me it still holds up pretty well though, and I like the mix of influences from metal, rap and electronic music. I do prefer Meteora but Hybrid Theory is still fantastic
Booker T. & The MG's
4/5
The title track is phenomenal and I really enjoyed the whole first side of the album. The second side wasn't quite as good, but overall it was still pretty good for an instrumental album.
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
It started off strong with The Cutter but the strong reverb + delay on this album made the whole thing blend together and I lost track of where songs started and ended. A bit too boring and samey for me. I thought this was a bit worse than Crocodiles and at this point I'm questioning whether 501 albums would have been a better amount for the book.
4/5
The songs are full of energy and it sounds like they would have been a blast to see live. I'm not a huge fan of live albums though, and most of the songs are pretty straightforward. It was a fun listen but probably not something I'll return to.
Big Brother & The Holding Company
4/5
Pretty decent blues/psych rock album. Janis has a very distinctive voice and even though it was a bit distracting on some of the songs, she's obviously very talented and brings a lot of raw emotion to the music.
David Bowie
4/5
There are some iconic songs on here with Changes, Life on Mars and Oh you Pretty Things. But I thought the rest were mostly good but not great.
Earth, Wind & Fire
4/5
Shining Star is fantastic and I also really enjoyed most of the other upbeat songs on here. There were a few too many slow ballads for me but the highs are high.
Best tracks: Shining Star, Happy Feelin', Africano
Saint Etienne
1/5
Very 90s dance music that makes me want to relax and sleep more than dance. I can see why some people might like this but it's not for me
Various Artists
5/5
A fantastic Christmas album. Some great covers from a variety of artists but the cohesive production brings it all together. And it avoids most religious songs which is another pro in my books. I could do without the spoken message from Phil over the last song though.
Air
5/5
What a nice surprise! It strikes a really great balance between being chill and interesting. The tracks have a lot of variety but mostly share the same relaxed and cozy vibe. And I like that even though the synths and electronic drums are present throughout, there's also guitar, bass, strings and piano that take centre stage at various points.
Johnny Cash
2/5
A live album at a prison is a pretty interesting idea and this does a good job of capturing the performance and the crowd. But this style of simple country blues is really not my thing and I found the album a bit boring to listen to.
Queen
4/5
Very fun and heavy rock album. I hadn't listened to a full Queen album before but this was pretty good from front to back. Killer Queen and Stone Cold Crazy are the highlights for me.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
2/5
It's moody and atmospheric but something didn't really click with me. I think each song felt very long and drawn out because of the way the slow and dramatic vocals (with huge amounts of reverb) sit over the much faster paced tempo of the music.
Caetano Veloso
4/5
Even though it's in Portuguese and the recording quality isn't great, the music was really interesting with its mix of samba and rock and it was just plain fun to listen to.
Beatles
4/5
Lots of variety in the track list and even the songs I don't like are at least interesting. Clearly it deserves a 5 for its influence, but for me most of the track list falls into the category of "great but not amazing". Eleanor Rigby is fantastic though
Jimmy Smith
4/5
Great funky jazz album. Very easy to listen to
Dire Straits
4/5
4 of the tracks are phenomenal (So Far Away, Money for Nothing, Walk of Life and Brothers In Arms) but the rest are just okay.
David Bowie
4/5
A very strange album. The 5 rock songs on the first half are mostly good with Heroes being an obvious standout. Then the second half is 4 moody ambient tracks with a random funky rock song at the end (which is admittedly pretty good). Overall a pretty fun listen though.
1/5
Too slow and too repetitive for me. I didn't enjoy listening to this
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
Easy 5 stars. Almost every song on here is a classic. There's some nice variety too, with softer and moodier tracks mixed in with folk and upbeat pop tracks.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
3/5
It's fine but a bit too straightforward and unexciting for me
Radiohead
2/5
Slow, spacey and melancholy. I can see why people like it but it's not for me
Fleetwood Mac
3/5
The songs are mostly good but are a bit too soft and sparse for me. And as an album it's just too long. I love the title track though.
Isaac Hayes
3/5
This is a tough one to review. Even though I've never seen the movie the soundtrack does a great job of setting the scene. The main theme is great, but the rest of the tracks are made to be background music and I'm not sure I want to listen to any of them again.
LTJ Bukem
1/5
I got 30mins in before I couldn't take it anymore. It's too repetitive, not interesting enough and too chill for me. Most good music communicates an emotion or a feeling or a story, but I'm getting absolutely nothing from this.
The Prodigy
3/5
I love the energy but most of the songs are too long and repetitive for me. Breathe and Smack My Bitch Up are both great tracks though.
Bob Dylan
3/5
Clearly an important and influential album, but judging purely on how much I enjoyed listening to it today it gets 3 stars. Like a Rolling Stone is fantastic, but the rest are just fine. Overall the album is a bit too slow and vocal-focused for me, with most of the songs being pretty simple blues tracks.
The Beta Band
3/5
Pretty interesting and reminds me a lot of Beck, but a bit too chill for me. The opening track (Squares) was my favourite upon first listen.
Bebel Gilberto
3/5
Very chill Brazilian music that wouldn't sound out of place in a bar or hotel lobby. It was fine but not really my thing.
Scritti Politti
3/5
Very 80s sound. I kind of liked the mix of random instruments and sounds coming together to build the melodies, but I wasn't as much of a fan of the vocals. Also the instrumental break in Perfect Way reminds me a lot of one of the Mario themes but apparently this came out first?
The Police
3/5
Strange album that I liked more on a second listen. The two Synchronicity tracks were pretty good, and Every Breath You Take is good but overplayed.
Pretenders
3/5
Pretty straightforward rock/new-wave. It was fine but didn't really click with me. I knew Brass in Pocket before listening to this, which is the only song that stood out to me.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
It has a nice variety of genres and moods, with just about every song being fun and interesting. I liked Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme a little bit more though.
Tom Waits
4/5
I liked the mix of jazzy blues with ballads. He has such a distinctive voice it's really hard to concentrate on anything else though. Does he bring authentic sounding emotion to the songs? Yes. Did the absurdity of his gravelly voice singing a lullaby make me laugh? Also yes. At the very least it was an interesting and entertaining first listen, but probably not something I'm going to come back to.
10cc
4/5
I'd never heard of 10cc before but this was a lot of fun! Very Zappa-esque in the way they jammed a ton of ideas into each song, most of which feel unusual. And they also clearly didn't take themselves too seriously.
Paul Simon
2/5
Some great acoustic guitar work but a bit too slow and relaxed for me. I just can't see myself ever wanting to listen to this again. Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard is great though.
Steely Dan
4/5
My first time hearing Steely Dan and it wasn't bad. There are elements of rock, blues, jazz and pop mixed in. I also like the mix of instrumentation and the clean production.
The Cardigans
4/5
Very 90s and very chill pop rock. I love the drum parts and I love the mix of instrumentation across the album. The cover of Iron Man and the use of the Black Sabbath riff on Heartbreaker were unexpected but interesting. And Lovefool is a 90s classic of course.
Bob Dylan
3/5
Another album that is extremely important but isn't necessarily as impactful today. Blowin' in the Wind and Don't Think Twice It's All Right are both phenomenal and Oxford Town is great. But the rest of the album didn't really click with me.
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
Pretty good funk album. Some of the songs were a bit too slow and plodding for me though and overall it was a bit of a mixed bag. Luv N' Haight was great though, and I thought the funky yodeling on Spaced Cowboy was a fun surprise.
Eagles
3/5
The title track has been overplayed to the point where it's hard to judge. Life in the Fast Lane is great, New Kid in Town is ok, the rest weren't bad but were a bit boring.
Wilco
3/5
I like the way they used dissonance, and the complexity and rich instrumentation on some of the tracks. But I think it might take a few more listens to understand this one properly. The first track is the main highlight upon first listen (I Am Trying To Break Your Heart).
Herbie Hancock
5/5
Very funky and accessible jazz. Chameleon is an epic track, Watermelon Man is also fantastic and Sly is pretty great too. I didn't enjoy Vein Melter quite as much but I'm still giving this a 5 because the rest of the album already earned it.
Chicago
2/5
This has a lot of the elements of things I like, but it just doesn't come together into something that I enjoyed listening to. I think partly it's the horns, vocals, piano and guitar all fighting over the same couple of octaves and partly that the tracks are all a bit too long. I was very surprised to see this came out in 1969 though.
Prince
5/5
It took a second listen for me to get into this but I was really loving it by the end. I could do without listening to the slow love songs again but there's a lot of great tracks. And I loved the variety as well, with funky tracks like Housequake and It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night, and chill and intimate tracks like Starfish and Coffee mixed in with the soul and r&b.
Prince
4/5
There were some really good tracks on here but most went on a bit too long and the second half of the album wasn't great. This album definitely suffers from coming one day after reviewing Sign O The Times, which I think was better in every way. Delirious, 1999 and DMSR were the standout songs for me.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Fantastic album that I've listened to many times before. Just about every song on here is amazing and has something new to share. It's a long album but it shows the band spreading out creatively and bringing their own signature to a number of genres. But also, Bonham is such a beast I'd probably give an instrumental drum version of this album 5 stars as well
Talking Heads
3/5
I like Talking Heads but I thought this was good and not great. Life During Wartime was the only track that really stood out but maybe that's just because I already knew it.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
4/5
On the one hand, you would have to be insane to have this on regular rotation. But on the other, I respect the fact that it's completely unique as a work of art in music. I would definitely listen to Pachuco Cadaver, Moonlight on Vermont and Sugar N Spikes if I was in the mood for a laugh.
And the more I listen, the more impressed I am with the skill required to pull this off. Particularly from the drummer, who did a fantastic job to tie together all the disparate parts.
This would get a 5 for being so memorable but I'm subtracting 1 point because it's way too long, the mixing is terrible and the I don't like the sketches/poems/spoken word parts.
GZA
1/5
I very rarely enjoy any kind of music where the main drawcard is the lyrics and I didn't enjoy the beats on this album either since they were very straightforward, repetitive and not particularly interesting
The Stone Roses
4/5
Indie / psych rock album with a laid back feel. It was a pretty enjoyable listen but doesn't quite reach 5 star heights for me. Shoot You Down is the standout for me and I love the way it builds up to such a quiet and relaxed chorus.
Boston
5/5
Really enjoyed this! Yes it sounds a bit cheesy now but it's so much fun at the same time. I'd heard More Than A Feeling before of course but the whole first half of the album is excellent. Really short and full of energy with tons of guitar solos and soaring vocals, but also some great organ and clavinet sections.
Jeff Beck
3/5
Not too bad but a bit straightforward by today's standards. Also a bit of a strange album with so many covers (and covers of odd tracks like Old Man River and Greensleeves), although Jeff Beck does a pretty good job with them. This album definitely started down the path that Led Zeppelin would take, but I decided at the start I'm not giving extra stars for influence.
Hole
4/5
A great and consistent grunge album full of energy, anger and pain. I would have really loved this as a teenager. None of the tracks really stand out enough to elevate this to a 5 though
Waylon Jennings
4/5
It's short, it's simple and it's easy to listen to. I still don't think I like country music but this was fun.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
I loved this album as a teenager so it's tough to reevaluate now when I know just about every note on the whole album, but I like that it shows the breadth of Jimi's talent by tackling a wide variety of sounds and genres. I do think there's a bit too much experimentation with noise, feedback and strange effects. But there's enough hits on here to get a 5
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
Not bad but this didn't click with me as much as their other albums. I liked the more rock-influenced tracks on the second half more than the folk on the first half
The Prodigy
4/5
Loud, high energy and relentless rave/techno. I really liked Their Law, Voodoo People and No Good. But a whole album of 5-8 minute tracks is a bit difficult to slog through, especially when the music is so repetitive.
Holger Czukay
2/5
I normally like experimental music but this didn't click with me. Cool in the Pool was fun but I didn't enjoy the rest as much. It's interesting to see someone was experimenting with sampling so early on though.
Arcade Fire
2/5
Sprawl II is a fantastic track but the rest of the album was tough to listen to. The tempo might be decent but the melodies are slow, repetitive and boring. If they were trying to capture the feeling of living in the suburbs then I guess that's a success.
Nick Drake
3/5
I can see why people really like this because it's so stark, raw and emotional. The melancholy feel of the acoustic guitar and his haunting voice are beautiful but also really depressing. But I'm not sure I want to listen to this again. I think I just prefer more upbeat music
Creedence Clearwater Revival
2/5
Pretty simple blues rock. Proud Mary and Born on the Bayou were good but I didn't like any of the rest of the tracks. Graveyard Train and Keep on Chooglin' in particular rubbed me the wrong way, with each one being 8 straight minutes of the same simple melody. I don't think I can give more than 2 stars to a 33 minute album when I spent 16 of those minutes eyeing the skip button.
Dizzee Rascal
1/5
The very simple and repetitive electronic beats made this very difficult to listen to.
Destiny's Child
3/5
An album of high highs and very low lows. It gets off to a great start with the first 3 tracks, but then fumbles with a slut shaming song that completely goes against the theme of what we've heard so far. And the album ends with 25 mins of terrible ballads, an a capella gospel song and then 4 minutes of them thanking each other.
Deee-Lite
4/5
Very 90s dance music. Was kind of fun and had lots of strange sounds and samples scattered through each song. Groove Is In The Heart is an obvious standout, but the Deee-Lite Theme track was a lot of fun too and had a great beat. Not something I'd want to listen to all the time but it was a nice change of pace
The Beach Boys
4/5
It's hard to re-evaluate megahits like Wouldn't It Be Nice and God Only Knows, but the remaining tracks are mostly pretty good too without any other real standouts. I like the production style, and the way it jams so many instruments and sounds in at once without feeling overwhelming. But to me there's something a little too clean, upbeat and artificial about this album when listened to as a whole that keeps it from getting a 5.
The Who
3/5
The original tracks on here are mostly good high energy rock/pop songs, but the James Brown/Bo Diddley covers feel out of place to me. Keith Moon's drumming is the star of the show and the faster paced tracks show that off better. The title track is one of my all time favourites but I wish more of the album went in the same direction.
Dinosaur Jr.
1/5
The first song was going ok until the screechy guitar solo hit and I had to turn the volume way down. The guitar tone was a constant issue with the fast strumming, slow chord changes and lethargic vocals combining in a way that I really don't like. And the last two tracks legitimately gave me a headache with the loud and constant feedback noise.
Death In Vegas
3/5
Interesting mix of rock influenced electronica. The first song (Dirge) was great and I love the way it slowly built up. I also liked the backing track on Aisha (but the vocals on the back half ruined it) and the hook on Aladdin's Story. Overall the songs felt a little too long and meandering though.
Bonnie Raitt
4/5
An enjoyable listen. It had a great mix of rock, blues, ballads and country tracks. It sounds very 80s and maybe isn't quite as novel as some of the other albums on here but it has solid songwriting, production and performances front to back.
Adele
3/5
She's a phenomenal singer and this album shows that off quite well. But the actual backing tracks and instrumentation were a little bland to me. I can see why a lot of people like this album but I don't think I'll be coming back to it. Rolling in the Deep and Someone Like You are both great though.
Sister Sledge
5/5
So funky and so catchy, with amazing bass and guitar across almost every track. Again I'm not a big fan of the slow ballads, but the upbeat disco songs are all fantastic. He's the Greatest Dancer, Thinking of You, Lost in Music and We Are Family are all great. I'd definitely come back to this.
Harry Nilsson
3/5
An album of simple songs with solid songwriting without really much that makes it stand out to me. 3 cover songs feels like a lot for a 10 song album. Gotta Get Up was probably my favourite track, although I do enjoy a good novelty song like Coconut and now I understand the "beer in the coconut" joke from the Simpsons.
The Electric Prunes
2/5
Sounds like very early psych rock. A bit too simple for me, although there were songs that showed a variety of influences. The tremolo effect on the guitar is a bit much and became distracting.
ZZ Top
3/5
Enjoyable for a few songs but the whole album sounds exactly the same and it quickly lost its appeal. Every instrumental part is simple, repetitive and sounds artificial. They definitely bring a lot of energy which helps, but this is not something I want to listen to all the time.
Cocteau Twins
1/5
I found this boring and depressing. Not really my thing.
The White Stripes
5/5
I love The White Stripes and this is another album that I know so well it's hard for me to review. It's not as consistent as Elephant or Icky Thump but I still love it. Their music leans heavily on rhythm which I really enjoy.
Gene Clark
1/5
I'm not a big fan of singer/songwriter music like this. To me this sounds exactly like several other albums I've listened to on this list. The lyrics might be interesting but the music itself wasn't. It also had two cover songs that were just worse versions of the original, which is a pet peeve of mine.
Nick Drake
4/5
I liked this a lot more than Pink Moon. It's a lot less stark and emotional due to the backing tracks but it does make for easier listening. Northern Sky is an amazing track.
Ryan Adams
1/5
I'm not a big fan of this style of country/singer songwriter music. It's very minimalist and quiet but that also comes across as one dimensional and boring to me.
Radiohead
5/5
I enjoyed this way more than I expected. It's angsty, sometimes chaotic, and most of the songs swing between melancholy and aggressive, all of which are things that I love. Highlights were Just, My Iron Lung and Fake Plastic Trees, but the whole album is very consistent.
T. Rex
4/5
Guitar driven hard rock album with lots of blues influences. I recognized Mambo Sun and Get It On, but Jeepster was also great. I really enjoyed listening to this but it didn't quite hook me the same way some of the standouts on this list have.
Anita Baker
2/5
It's very 80s R&B/soul that kind of reminds me of soft rock in a lot of ways. Sweet Love is definitely the highlight for me. Even though the album feels very competently done, it's not something I found particularly interesting or enjoyable.
The La's
2/5
I guess this inspired a lot of later Britpop bands, but otherwise it's a pretty straightforward album with lots of simple catchy guitar riffs. There She Goes was the best of the bunch but maybe that's just because I already know it.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
2/5
Getting a reggae album was a nice change and I enjoyed the laid back vibes, but the instrumentation is a bit too sparse and simple for me to want to listen to this again.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
I don't normally like soul music but I like how smooth and jazzy the songs are. He's a fantastic singer and the instrumentation is lush and groovy.
Al Green
2/5
I thought the first song was ok but the album as a whole was a bit too samey and I didn't find it very interesting or engaging.
My Bloody Valentine
1/5
I appreciate that they're doing something different but I didn't enjoy it at all. The album is split into thirds with some stylistic differences between them, but they all feature droning distorted guitars and little in the way of traditional song structure, melody or understandable vocals. I can see why people like it but it's not for me.
Kid Rock
1/5
Paul Simon
2/5
It was ok but a bit boring. It leans quite heavily into pop but it's just a little too low energy and emotionless for me.
Paul Simon
3/5
This was very different from his other albums, and has clear African influences. I liked the guitar+bass riff in Graceland but Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes was the standout to me. It was an interesting listen but not something that's going to be on regular rotation.
The Who
3/5
I appreciate how different this is as an album, and a lot of the songs have interesting parts. It does indeed sound like the soundtrack of a musical or opera. On the negative side though, Pinball Wizard is the only real standout and from the perspective of someone listening in 2025 the tone of the songs doesn't always match the story or the seriousness of the topics that it covers.
Butthole Surfers
1/5
This list has taught me that noise rock is one of my least favourite genres. Most of this album was very tough to listen to and some of the songs were pure edgelord material.
Lana Del Rey
2/5
A bit too chill and boring for my tastes but it was relaxing at least. There wasn't a whole lot of variety between tracks either.
Kings of Leon
2/5
Pretty basic rock with a bit of a Pixies twist, but the vocals really ruin what would otherwise be an enjoyable album. They're mixed so high, he's often intentionally not in tune or in time and I can barely understand a word he's saying with the accent he's putting on.
Duke Ellington
4/5
It's a pretty good jazz album. Despite being a big band the songs give plenty of time to some of the individual members and let them shine.
I wish there was a more concise edition than the one on Spotify though, which included the recordings from between songs and two versions of some tracks.
MGMT
4/5
The singles from this album were so overplayed on release that I assumed I didn't like them, but revisiting this it's actually a great album. Well, the first half is a fantastic collection of trend-setting and catchy psychedelic pop songs and the second half is a bit of a slog.
Van Halen
4/5
This album has some great hits with Jump, Panama and Hot for Teacher. It's a fun little sugar rush but not quite good enough for a 5.
Don McLean
2/5
Apart from the title track and Everybody Loves Me, Baby it's quiet and reflective folk very much in the vein of the slower Simon and Garfunkel tracks. It's a little too slow paced and poetic for me.
Nirvana
5/5
Raw, intimate and emotional. A truly amazing live album.
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
I had a lot of fun listening to this and there are a lot of great instrumental parts but I feel like the first song was the only one with a chorus that was punchy enough to stick with me on a first listen. I get the feeling I would enjoy this a lot more over time but alas I must move on.
The Doors
5/5
Really enjoyable psych rock album. Ray Manzarek was a legend and I could listen to him play organ or keyboards all day.
Magazine
3/5
Never heard of them before but I can definitely hear the way they influenced new wave and post-punk. It was interesting to hear but it feels a little unpolished. Shot By Both Sides is a great track though
Janis Joplin
4/5
Consistently good blues rock album. Janis makes much better use of her unique voice on this compared to the Big Brother album I heard previously. Half Moon was my favourite track on first listen.
Elvis Presley
3/5
There are some classic covers on this album but also some bad ones. While it's a bit unfair to criticize an album from 1956 for bad production, the echo or reverb in some of the songs is a bit much (and clearly intentional). 50s rock and roll/rockabilly is a fun genre though and I did enjoy listening to it.
David Bowie
4/5
Interesting album that sounds very retrofuturistic due to the abundance of synths and processed drums on top of rock backing tracks. Just like Heroes the second half is moody, ambient tracks that aren't my cup of tea but the first half is great. Sound and Vision is the standout track, although the opening instrumental Speed of Life is also fantastic.
2/5
It's an ok alt rock / singer songwriter album but a bit too dull and depressing for me. I like that she played so many of the instrumental parts though.
Nina Simone
3/5
Very minimalist jazz and blues album that feels very timeless. The vocals and piano are both fantastic, but it's a bit too stripped back for me.
Metallica
5/5
More polished and less aggressive than their earlier albums and has some of their best songs. An all time great.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
There's a lot of variety across the tracks and it was an interesting listen. There are a lot of good songs but apart from Paint It Black, the only standout to me was Under My Thumb.
Pulp
3/5
It clicked a bit more on second listen but the tracks are very hit and miss.
Yes
4/5
Complex songs and talented musicians, but a little dense to dig into in a day. Clap is an amazing acoustic guitar track and was my favourite from the album but also sounds a little out of place when everything else is prog rock.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
4/5
Another enjoyable prog album with a ton of ideas crammed in. It's very piano/organ/synth heavy. The Tarkus suite is epic but not something I'd want to listen to every day. The rest of the tracks show some diverse influences and were all pretty good too.
The Sabres Of Paradise
1/5
There are some interesting rhythms and melodies scattered through the album, but it all feels incredibly slow and plodding. It was a real chore to finish the whole album. Just like the other electronic albums on here, I have no idea what situation or mood would lead to someone wanting to listen to this.
Sonic Youth
2/5
A little more listenable than some of the other noise rock albums I've heard, but still not my thing.
The White Stripes
5/5
Not their best album but still amazing. It feels like two people jamming in a garage, very personal and raw.
Steely Dan
4/5
Easy to listen to and the kind of rock that makes you want to sing along, but as the album title implies there are no thrills to be had here. Any song from this album could be played in a bar or airport and nobody would complain, but it's just so unadventurous that I can't give it a 5.
Beatles
4/5
A solid album with a lot of variety. Drive My Car and In My Life are highlights for me, but just like Revolver it's consistently great but not amazing. It was obviously an extremely influential album but I'm rating based on how much I enjoy listening to them now.
Stephen Stills
4/5
I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. Lots of genres and influences on different tracks that kept it sounding fresh all the way through. I was super impressed by the guitar on Old Times Good Times and Go Back Home, and then saw it was Hendrix and Clapton. Crazy that he got so many talented people to contribute. Another album that's one or two songs away from a 5.
Radiohead
2/5
Most of this album was a struggle to get through. Very depressing, slow, repetitive and minimalist. There are a few enjoyable tracks though. Knives Out was my favourite on first listen, but maybe just because it reminds of the much better Paranoid Android.
Alice In Chains
5/5
Another album I enjoyed a lot more than I expected. It has elements of grunge, sludge and metal but also has a lot of hooky songs and was very consistent. Them Bones and Rooster are maybe my favourites but half the album is in contention.
5/5
I hadn't heard this album in full before but it was fantastic. The guitar parts do so much with so little, and make the album feel very spacious and ethereal. It's all very easy to listen to, which I definitely appreciate at this point. Of the songs I hadn't heard before, Trip Through Your Wires and Bullet The Blue Sky were my favourites.
Laibach
5/5
One of the most memorable and different albums on the list so far. Listening to this in the car without any context was a lot of fun, especially when I got to work and found out the second song was a Queen cover (which made me appreciate it even more. Leben Heisst Leben and Geburt einer Nation are my two favourites (although Opus Dei is a slightly worse version of the first track but in English, which makes it a difficult decision). I was almost going to give this a 4 because the last 4 tracks weren't great, but apparently they weren't on the LP version so I'll ignore them.
Dennis Wilson
3/5
It was good but a bit boring. A few too many slow ballads for my liking. River Song is pretty good though.
R.E.M.
4/5
The folk influences shine through pretty clearly on this album and it took a second listen to really click. Drive, Man on the Moon, Nightswimming and Try Not to Breathe are all great tracks. Overall it's a bit too melancholy for me to want to listen to all the time, but it's the best of the R.E.M. albums I've heard so far.
Cream
3/5
Blues heavy psych rock. There are some great riffs on tracks like Sunshine of Your Love, but most of the songs feel a little plodding. The sound is so similar to Hendrix that I can't help but compare them and wish I was listening to Are You Experienced instead.
Deep Purple
5/5
Wow this was great! I've never really heard much Deep Purple but I love Led Zeppelin and this was very much in the same vein. Full of energy, with soaring vocals, drum fills and screaming guitars. And I always have a soft spot for rock songs with organ.
Paul McCartney
3/5
It has a lo fi aesthetic that makes it feel like listening to a band jam in a garage. That comparison extends to the songs, which often feel a bit half baked or like he included the first take. But it's also kind of charming just hearing Paul mess around and have fun, especially on the more creative instrumental tracks. Apart from Maybe I'm Amazed (which feels very out of place), Oo You and Momma Miss America were my favourites.
Lightning Bolt
1/5
There are a lot of genres I can appreciate even if I don't enjoy them, but this list has taught me that noise rock is not one of those.
The Beach Boys
4/5
Pretty good! I enjoyed the upbeat first half of the album more than the second half.
Bill Evans Trio
4/5
Another great jazz album. It's just drums, double bass and piano which means it's easy to listen to the instruments individually. Very relaxing
Depeche Mode
3/5
Dark, theatrical synth-pop that is also very hooky. Never Let Me Down Again and Sacred were my two favourites. Very close to being a 4.
Ryan Adams
1/5
Not very interesting, exciting or unusual. Just quiet and simple rock/country singer/songwriter music. The album is also way too long and multiple times I found myself looking at the track list to see how much I had left to sit through
George Michael
4/5
I can see why it was so popular. The songs are catchy and have great rhythms. The album sounds like something MJ or Prince would write. It sounds very dated but the songs are still great. Faith is a classic, but Monkey was the other standout to me.
Sufjan Stevens
3/5
This has a lot of qualities I like, such as a rich mix of instrumentation, influences from across several genres and interesting time signatures. But somehow it just doesn't quite come together and I found it a bit dull and pretentious. My favourite track upon first listen was Come On Feel The Illinoise Part I+II, but upon a second listen I realized that might be just because it has the same melody as Close to Me by The Cure.
Sex Pistols
4/5
Simple, high energy and enjoyable to listen to. I'm not a huge fan of the singing though. Holidays in the Sun was my favourite track on first listen.
The Allman Brothers Band
3/5
Decent blues rock with some fun moments but too much meandering jamming
Gary Numan
3/5
I liked the use of violin with synth on some of the songs and Cars is a great track. But the rest of the album is just ok. There were some interesting synth sound effects on some of the songs too.
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
Enjoyable but very 80s synth pop. I liked the mix of simple and hooky songs with grand and orchestral or emotional ballads. Also, It's a Sin is an absolute banger
The Thrills
3/5
Indie rock with country influences. Reminds me a bit of The Flaming Lips but more sad and serious. It was fine, but not something I want to listen to all the time.
Prince
5/5
Another excellent Prince album that cross genres from song to song. Just about everything on here is fantastic but the opening and closing tracks Let's Go Crazy and Purple Rain are my favourites. The album does sound a bit dated due to the amount of reverb and very 80s synth sounds, and for that reason I think I still like Sign 'O' The Times a bit better. But it's close!
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
Amazing alt-rock/grunge album. Cherub Rock, Today, Disarm, Soma, Geek USA, and Mayonaise are all fantastic. It's full of heavily layered bass and guitars and interesting drum rhythms but there's also the occasional string arrangement.
Bauhaus
2/5
Dark rock/post-punk. The melodies are very bass-driven, with the reverb-heavy, high pitched guitars mainly adding accents that contribute to the atmosphere. It doesn't come together into something catchy or interesting though.
Van Morrison
3/5
Kind of a blues / rock / singer/songwriter / soul vibe. I loved the backing band, with the strings, horns, piano, guitar, bass and drums. But I didn't like his stop-start singing style quite so much and some of the songs on the second half were a bit long and self-indulgent. Overall it was pretty easy to listen to and easy to like, but probably not something I'm going to return to.
N.W.A.
3/5
I like the beats, and the first few tracks get this album off to a good start. But the second half wasn't so great (except for Express Yourself).
Beck
3/5
Odelay is so unique and interesting to listen to, but in the end only about 4 songs on here are good enough to want to listen to again. I like all the quirky sounds and rhythms that are worked into each song, although there's a fine line between quirky and gimmicky and some tracks go a bit too far. I had already listened to this album a long time ago and Where It's At was a standout then, and is a standout again today.
Iron Maiden
5/5
One of my favourite albums. The songs are so operatic, epic and full of energy. It's hard to pick a favourite song out of Hallowed Be Thy Name, Run to the Hills, Number of the Beast and Children of the Damned. Easy 5.
Erykah Badu
2/5
A soul album that wouldn't seem out of place being played quietly in the background of a bar or restaurant. I liked how funky some of the backing instrumentals were, but as a whole I found it all a bit boring and the album really dragged on by the end.
Madonna
2/5
This style of dance pop just sounds very fake and tacky to me. It may have been ahead of it's time but I don't think it's aged very well. Not her best work. What It Feels Like for a Girl and Don't Tell Me are pretty good though.
Blondie
5/5
Really good rock/new wave album! I'd already heard Heart of Glass and One Way or Another, and after a careful listen I think they're both excellent. The real surprising part was how consistently good the album was. Sunday Girl is maybe the pick of the rest, but it's very close with just about any other track.
Funkadelic
5/5
Very funky, psychedelic and heavy. At times it's quite experimental, starting with a long, emotional guitar solo and ending with an epic jam. But both are enjoyable and the middle tracks are all fantastic too. Can You Get To That is the pick of the bunch, but it's close.
The Cure
3/5
Very minimalistic and haunting. I like the vibe and did enjoy it but it's a bit too sparse for me. Of the two albums I've heard of theirs, Disintegration was clearly better.
Pixies
5/5
This was already one of my favourite albums. I love the manic energy and how dynamic the tracks are. Apart from Silver, every song on here is fantastic.
OutKast
2/5
I like the range of influences they incorporated into their music but hip hop as a genre just never seems to click with me. I think this would have left a better impression if they got rid of the skits and some of the tracks in the second half.
Super Furry Animals
4/5
A fun and eclectic alt rock / britpop album. I like that it's full of energy (although there are a few slower tracks) and there were some pretty good hooks. But none of the songs really stood out to me. While I did really enjoy listening to it, it's overall quite forgettable.
Garbage
3/5
Very 90s rock. It was pretty good but doesn't really stand out. Stupid Girl and Only Happy When It Rains are the best of the bunch.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
For a band with a whole catalog of amazing albums, this is one of their best
Fela Kuti
4/5
It's funky, jazzy and full of interesting rhythms. As a live concert this would have been amazing and a definite 5, but for me listening at home it felt like they were jamming for a little too long on all of the tracks and each one had some dead spots.
Black Sabbath
5/5
A phenomenal album that laid a template for heavy metal. Every song is great in its own way and you can hear both the psych rock, jazz and acid rock that influenced them and the heavy metal, doom metal and stoner rock that this album would later inspire. It's hard to go past War Pigs, Paranoid and Iron Man as the 3 best tracks though.
The Auteurs
1/5
A pretty forgettable rock album. Simple melodies and simple rhythms with bland vocals, and all of the songs feel very drab and lack emotion.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
5/5
Funky, high energy and silly. The lyrics make me cringe and the vocals aren't great, but listen past that and wow the guitar, bass and drums are fantastic. The drums in particular just sound so good in the mix. I knew the hits already but The Power of Equality and Mellowship Slinky were my pick of the rest. I'm torn because my enjoyment relies on tuning out the vocals, but I can't deny I had a lot of fun listening to this.
The Band
3/5
Folk/rock/country album. It's all very competently done but not different enough from the other folk rock albums on this list to stand out so I'm not sure I'll revisit this. Rag Mama Rag and Across the Great Divide were my favourites.
David Ackles
2/5
Sounds like a collection of songs from different musicals. Very theatrical and often orchestral, with a variety of influences. It was interesting to hear and very different from a lot of other music on the list, but it's not something I'll come back to. From a first listen my favourite was the Ballad of the Ship of State.
The Magnetic Fields
5/5
Considered like a regular album, this is obnoxiously long and without enough standout songs to justify the runtime. But taken together, it's an amazing piece of art. Despite having the single theme of "love songs", there's tons of variety across the track list with folk, country, rock, pop, electronic, synth pop and even what sounds like a Gaelic dance. The breadth of different ideas explored by each song is also really impressive, and I appreciate the bits of humour thrown in. One of the most interesting and enjoyable albums I've come across so far. It took multiple sittings to get through but I'm glad I did!
My favourites were: A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off, Yeah! Oh Yeah!, I Don't Wanna Get Over You, and Papa Was A Rodeo.
The Cars
4/5
Pretty good rock/new wave album. All the tracks are great, but none of them quite punched through enough for me to give the album a 5. I did really enjoy listening to this though so maybe I'll come back to it later.
Just What I Needed was my favourite, but maybe because it's the only one I recognized.
The xx
1/5
Very minimalist, simplistic, repetitive and reverb heavy indie pop with vocals that sound like they're falling asleep. It reminds me of the sensation of being hungover and feeling tired and sad. Not enjoyable at all. I barely understood a word they said though so maybe I missed something.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Very bluesy and consistently good. Sympathy For The Devil is an epic opening track. Stray Cat Blues was the other standout to me.
Sinead O'Connor
4/5
Haunting and emotional. She has an amazing voice but it's the rawness and force of her performances that make this album so great. I like the mix of instrumentation, with some songs having whole string sections, a couple of rock songs, one with vocals and drums, a few with acoustic guitar and one a capella song. Nothing Compares 2 U is of course phenomenal, and Last Day of Our Acquaintance was my second favourite.
The The
2/5
Very 80s pop/post-punk that sounds a lot like Prince, but not as polished or catchy. The title track is pretty good but none of the rest stood out to me. There were some good moments but not enough for me to want to listen to it again.
5/5
Amazing album. To me, the genre and instrumental variety in the track list makes it seem like a greatest hits album (which matches the Sgt Pepper concept), and I think just about any band would be proud of this track list on a compilation. It's hard to review the Beatles because their influence is so wide ranging and their hits are so well known, but this is still just a fun album with some great songs. The title track(s), With a Little Help from My Friends, and Getting Better are all top tier. But almost every track is great.
Lou Reed
3/5
Vicious, Perfect Day and Walk on the Wild Side are all pretty good. I'm not a huge fan of his low energy deadpan singing style though. I had the weekend to think about this album and it stuck with me more than I expected given how unimpressed I was during the first listen. So maybe it'll keep growing on me, but for now it gets a 3.
Van Morrison
3/5
Not much to add that I didn't cover in the It's Too Late to Stop Now review. I enjoyed the instrumentation and it was pretty easy to listen to, but a little too slow and unexciting for me. The jazzy title track was my favourite from the album.
Faust
4/5
Spacey, psychedelic and experimental rock. On the face of it, this is right up my alley and there were lots of parts I really loved. But some of it felt slow and aimless, with seemingly intentionally grating bits thrown in here and there.
Highlights: Giggy Smile (especially the last section).
Rocket From The Crypt
4/5
High energy and fun punk rock. It has kind of a hard rock/grunge aesthetic too, and the occasional trumpet/saxophone part. But I wasn't a huge fan of the singing and some of the songs were a bit bland.
On A Rope is a banger, and Ball Lightning is also great.
Laura Nyro
3/5
Soul/pop with some folk and jazz influences. I like the inclusion of brass, piano, guitar, drums, flute and vibraphone with her singing. A lot of songs have complex structures that make it a bit hard to follow with a first listen. It also has that Joni Mitchell style where the vocal delivery and sentence structure doesn't always match up with the music that I find hard to follow. Eli's Comin' and Once It Was Alright Now were my favourites.
Gorillaz
2/5
Slow and trancey mix of electronica and hip hop. I found most of the songs to be too sparse and downbeat. 19-2000 is fantastic though, and Clint Eastwood is ok. But they were the singles I've heard a million times so maybe it's just familiarity.
Steely Dan
4/5
A bit funkier and jazzier than the other Steely Dan albums I've heard on this list. Just like the others it's great but a bit safe and boring. Peg and Black Cow were probably the best two tracks.
De La Soul
4/5
It's a very 80s/90s sounding hip hop album but also a lot of fun. You can tell they really enjoyed making each song and playing around with their wordplay and the samples to make the poppy beats, and the vibe is infectious. Just like every other hip hop album on this list I don't like the skits.
Favourites: Magic Number, Eye Know, and Me Myself and I.
Supertramp
4/5
Prog rock / pop album. I like how orchestral and epic it is at times. I enjoyed listening to this and it is pretty accessible as far as prog albums go, but I think it'll take a few more listens before it really clicks.
Favorites: Dreamer (which I'd heard before), and Bloody Well Right.
Jethro Tull
5/5
I'd never heard Jethro Tull before but this is fantastic! It's catchy, it rocks, there's lots of emotion, it's interesting to listen to and most of all it's fun. The songs have complex structures and sound very theatrical. The flute parts match really well with the acoustic guitar too.
The title track is 10/10, and I also really enjoyed the simple but extremely catchy Mother Goose. Just about every track is great though.
Bruce Springsteen
2/5
Very stripped back folk album, with just Bruce on acoustic guitar, harmonica and singing. I can definitely appreciate how raw and vulnerable it sounds, and I think it's very effective at what it sets out to do. But I didn't really enjoy listening to it. The melodies were very simple and repetitive, I didn't find that any of the songs had any great hooks, they mostly sounded the same, and there wasn't much that was interesting about any of the instrumental parts. Definitely not a bad album, but it's not for me.
The Cure
3/5
Dissonant, atmospheric and dark. I liked this marginally better than Seventeen Seconds but it's not on the same level as Disintegration. A bit too dreary for me. Siamese Twins was a highlight though.
Dusty Springfield
4/5
A really enjoyable listen full of fun 50s/60s pop songs. It's a bit disappointing that it's all cover songs though.
Joni Mitchell
2/5
A bit jazzier than her other albums I've heard but the instrumental parts are still very minimalist and delicate. I still have the same issues with her unpredictable vocal delivery not matching up with the music and randomly changing in tempo.
Merle Haggard
3/5
These are some of the most stereotypical country songs I've ever heard. It's simple, very easy to listen to and short. Not something I'd want to listen to all the time though.
The Velvet Underground
2/5
Very relaxing and chilled, with mostly simple melodies. It was fine but nothing really stood out to me.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Just a fantastic album. I've listened to it so many times over the decades that it's hard to review, but almost every song is a classic.
Common
1/5
The backing tracks are mostly very chill and clean, but they started to feel very samey before I even got halfway through and it was difficult to finish. I struggle with lyric-focused music and so hip hop is really not my thing. I liked the Afrobeat intro on the first track though.
The Police
2/5
This album has a clear reggae vibe. The strong reverb/echo and sparse arrangements make it sound very desolate. This isn't helped by the fact that the guitar riffs are also all on very high notes that overlap with Sting's voice and the high hats. I've heard Message in a Bottle and Walking on the Moon before, but I don't particularly like either track and there weren't any other real standouts.
Scott Walker
2/5
Theatrical pop album with an orchestral sound, but I didn't find any of the songs very exciting or interesting.
David Bowie
4/5
Jazzy and experimental with lots of dissonant and haunting sounds. None of the songs are hooky or catchy but it was interesting enough that I already want to listen to it again.
Curtis Mayfield
2/5
Soul is not really my thing. I found this to be simple, slow and very one note. It's easy to listen to though, so probably not bad as background music.
The Adverts
5/5
Simple, full of energy and catchy. Punk can be a bit repetitive but I really enjoyed the first listen. One Chord Wonders, Gary Gilmore's Eyes and Bored Teenagers were my favourites but every track was great.
Hugh Masekela
4/5
Very relaxing jazz with prominent horns and a bit of African flair.
Leonard Cohen
2/5
Singer/songwriter music just isn't for me. The lyrics and the melodies all seemed to meander, and the singing sounds very half-hearted.
Sigur Rós
5/5
Loved it! So peaceful, beautiful and emotional. The start of the album is quite sad and reflective but the mood really picks up in back end. It really took me on an emotional rollercoaster. The big uplifting crescendo on Olsen Olsen is a highlight, but Viðrar vel til loftárása was amazing too.
Nirvana
5/5
It's more raw and abrasive than Nevermind, but also has some of their best work. I've listened to this too many times to be impartial but I think it's an amazing album and an easy 5 stars.
Spacemen 3
2/5
At first I was enjoying the chill and spacey vibe but it quickly got boring. The songs have very few changes in chords or dynamics.
The Residents
2/5
Strange and experimental album. It's not always easy to listen to, but some parts are weirdly enjoyable and funny. It's clear this was an influence for Primus (a band I love) but I think this album functions more as art than as something I would want to listen to repeatedly. I'm glad something this unique is on the list though.
Air
4/5
The entire album has a haunting and melancholic vibe and the tracks were chill but interesting throughout. I haven't seen the movie, but this soundtrack does a good job of taking the listener through an emotional journey so in that respect it's a success. I did enjoy listening to this but I can't see myself listening to any of the tracks by themselves, both because I prefer more upbeat music and I think it's a case where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
The White Stripes
5/5
One of my favourite albums. Raw and full of catchy riffs, with some hard blues rock and quiet acoustic tracks. Easy 5.
Fatboy Slim
4/5
I'm glad to see the tracks I loved as a kid are just as great as I remember (Praise You, Rockafeller Skank, Gangster Tripping, Right Here Right Now). The rest are just fine, and not as terrible as I remember. Overall it's a lot of fun but its biggest flaws are that it's inconsistent and most of the songs are a bit too long.
Taylor Swift
3/5
A very cozy and intimate sounding album, with lots of reverb, piano and acoustic guitar. It's a bit too melancholy and slow for me though and I really don't like the drum machine. The stand out track was No Body No Crime, although maybe that's just because it's the only one with actual drums.
John Martyn
2/5
It has a strange mix of genres, with elements of jazz, blues, funk, electronic and folk-rock. The one consistent element between songs is the echo on the guitar. I enjoyed the variety and most of the music itself was decent, but I really didn't like his mumbly singing.
The Smiths
3/5
I enjoyed listening to this album and all of the instrumental parts were pretty good but I can't really point to any highlights that I'd want to put on a playlist for later. I liked it a little less than Meat is Murder, so it gets a 3 for that.
Lorde
3/5
I was surprised by how much of this sounds like Taylor Swift's more recent work, but maybe that's Jack Antonoff's influence. I'm not a fan of the synth drums, which means that for once my favourites were the more minimalist songs in Liability and Writer in the Dark.
Nine Inch Nails
5/5
Full of anger and depression, at times incredibly abrasive and at times soft and melodic. It's not something I want to listen to all the time but it's fantastic at what it does. One thing I noticed listening through this time is that every song has a different but interesting rhythm. March of the Pigs, Closer and Hurt are all 10/10.
Sonic Youth
2/5
Maybe a little better than Sister but still not very enjoyable, except for Sugar Kane. I can hear the grunge influences but the droning guitars is just too much for me. I guess I just don't like noise rock.
Nirvana
5/5
I hadn't listened to it all the way through in a while but it's still one of the best albums ever, with no bad tracks. I don't have anything negative to say and too many positive things so I'll just give it another 5 and move on.
The Monks
5/5
Really interesting and unique album that mixes 60s psych and garage rock with punk rock elements. I love the energy and the combination of guitar, electric banjo and keyboards. The music itself seems hyper-focused on rhythm (which I love) and the lack of cymbals with the drums just reinforces that. It was consistently great so I don't really have a favourite song.
The Flaming Lips
5/5
I started this list because of this album. I heard it for the first time last year and it instantly became one of my favourites. Then I saw it was on the list and thought it would be a great way to find other albums that were just as good. I think almost every track on this album has been my favourite at some point.
Rage Against The Machine
5/5
Easy 5. Some albums make you feel like dancing, some albums make you feel like crying, and some albums makes you feel like joining a protest and overthrowing the government.
2/5
Very chill electronica with strong Brazilian influences. A lot of tracks have a hotel lobby vibe. It was a bit too boring for me but it was interesting to hear the fusion of genres.
Elvis Costello
3/5
A collection of pretty good rock songs that borrow heavily from 50s rock and roll and pop. Judging without any historical context, it's great but I didn't find it particularly interesting or memorable.
Traffic
4/5
Rock with some inspiration from jazz. It reminds me a lot of Steely Dan and Jethro Tull. It was a fun listen but I'm not sure it stands out enough for me to want to return to it. Empty Pages was my favourite on first listen. Glad would come close if it was 2 mins shorter.
Iggy Pop
4/5
Solid rock album that's full of energy right out of the gate. You can definitely hear Bowie's influence on many of the tracks. It's not the most consistent album but it has some fantastic songs like The Passenger and Tonight.
George Harrison
4/5
There are some amazing tracks on here but there are plenty that should have been cut as well. I do love the wall of sound production, and the guitar parts are consistently great. I really enjoyed the jam tracks at the end, though they're definitely not gonna be on regular rotation. Other favourites: Wah-Wah, My Sweet Lord, I Dig Love, Art of Dying.
Primal Scream
2/5
Very chill psych rock / electronic music. It was ok as background music but I found it a bit boring.
Genesis
2/5
I generally like prog but this didn't quite grab me. I also found it really hard to understand the vocals so I wasn't following the story at all. Counting Out Time had a catchy hook but the lyrics were cringey, and Carpet Crawlers was the only other standout to me.
Janet Jackson
4/5
It sounds very 80s due to the electronic drums and synth. I like the interesting rhythms on each song and the music is very fun and upbeat, in contrast with the serious themes of social injustice tackled in the lyrics of many songs. Every song seems designed to be a chart hit.
Highlights: Black Cat, Escapade.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Pretty good! It has a surprisingly strong country influence, mixed with blues and rock. I can see why this is so loved because it's extremely consistent, a lot of fun and has a lot of variety in the track list while still sounding cohesive. Rip This Joint and Ventilator Blues were my favourites from a first listen.
Deep Purple
5/5
Apparently I've been sleeping on Deep Purple. This is just pure high energy fun.
Highlights: Highway Star and Never Before, but every song was fantastic.
Roxy Music
3/5
Very quirky rock music. The over the top, warbling vocals can be a bit much but I was enjoying it more on the second listen. I suspect that it might take a few more listens to really click. Virginia Plain was a clear standout.
Metallica
5/5
It's essentially a Metallica greatest(ish) hits album that has mostly live versions that are on-par or better than the original and two new songs that are both fantastic. They're not the first to do an orchestra album, and in some of the songs it adds very little. But I love this album.
Pantera
3/5
I like the thrash metal instrumentals but the screaming vocals are a bit much. It's a good album but I'd much rather listen to any of the early Metallica albums instead. Walk is the highlight for me.
5/5
The best of the Bowie albums I've heard so far. The opening track Five Years is epic and sets the scene well. Moonage Daydream is another highlight, as are Starman, Lady Stardust and Ziggy Stardust. Actually it's mostly highlights, with a surprising amount of variety from track-to-track.
Depeche Mode
4/5
Very similar but a bit more electronic than Music for the Masses, overall I like this album a bit more. The haunting vocals match well with the synth. Personal Jesus and Enjoy the Silence are the stand-outs to me but it's all pretty good!
Aerosmith
3/5
It was ok but nothing mind blowing. Walk This Way and Sweet Emotion are great songs but the rest are quite forgettable.
Emmylou Harris
3/5
Very stereotypical country music. The music is very simple and relies a lot on her singing. Probably not something I'll return to.
Fats Domino
2/5
A thorough exploration of a few chord structures and musical ideas. I do like this kind of mellow bluesy rock and roll and it would have been amazing to hear live, but the recordings are showing their age and nothing really stood out.
New Order
4/5
Melancholy post-punk / synth-pop that reminds me of both The Cure and Depeche Mode. I really enjoyed it but some of the more 80s elements haven't aged so well and I didn't really like the vocals. Love Vigilantes sounds really familiar and is great, as is Elegia.
Rush
4/5
I find prog always takes a few listens to really click, and this list isn't great for that. Still, it was an enjoyable listen. The title track is the highlight here, but I'm not sure how often I'll be in the mood spend 20mins listening to it again.
Boards of Canada
1/5
Ambient electronic music that to me sounded like a collection of rhythms. I don't hate it but I found it very difficult to get through the whole album. I'm not sure what mood or situation would be appropriate to listen to this because it's too lively for background music but not interesting enough to focus on.
Big Star
2/5
Slow, melancholy rock that is ultimately a bit forgettable. I like the raw emotional vocals but the songs just didn't quite hook me in. Femme Fatale was a standout but maybe that's just because I remember the original Velvet Underground version.
Fatboy Slim
3/5
It has the same song structures as his later work, with lots of sample-heavy build ups and crescendos but isn't quite as catchy. Still a lot of fun, but I don't think any of the songs stand out enough to go on the playlist.
Green Day
5/5
I don't think I've actually listened to the whole album before but every song is catchy and full of energy and makes me want to grab an instrument and play. There's not a lot of variety in the track list but it's not a big deal when it's so much fun.
Joy Division
5/5
Sparse, atmospheric and gloomy post-punk. During the first listen I had mixed feelings, but this album really stuck with me and all I wanted to do the next day was listen again and again. Disorder and Day of the Lords in particular are both fantastic but all of the tracks are great.
Soft Machine
1/5
Experimental jazz / rock. It sounded a bit too random and aimless upon first listen. The musicianship is impressive but I didn't enjoy listening to it.
Madonna
2/5
The title track is great and the mix of electronica and pop was obviously very influential. But this style of artificial electronic synth and beats sounds cold and sterile to me and is at odds with her emotional singing. I do like the mix of influences across the track list though.
Alanis Morissette
5/5
This album is just front to back hits with epic vocal performances over the top of some great 90s alt rock. Picking the best track is difficult, but I'll say All I Really Want. Out of the songs I didn't know, Not a Doctor and Wake Up were my favourites.
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
There are some great tracks but this album is just too long. There's a good mix of high energy songs and slower songs at least. Apart from the tracks I already knew (1979, Tonight Tonight, Bullet With Butterfly Wings), Zero and Jellybelly were the highlights. Maybe on another day this might have been a 4 but I was ready to move on after the first disc and my mood was a lot worse by the end of the second hour.
The Isley Brothers
4/5
There's a mix of slow soul songs with upbeat rock and funk. I can't help but feel a bit disappointed when I find out that the best tracks on an album are cover songs, but I do love the funky takes on Listen to the Music and Summer Breeze. Some of the songs are bit slow for my liking but it was overall pretty enjoyable.
Red Snapper
1/5
Electronica that sounds like decent background noise for a bar. I like the authentic sounding drums and bass, but there's not enough hooks elsewhere in the mix and the rhythms aren't interesting enough to carry the songs either.
Joan Armatrading
4/5
Pretty enjoyable album. It's got similar pop/folk rock/singer songwriter vibes to a lot of other albums on this list, but the instrumentation is a lot more rich and interesting. There are some bits of funk, jazz and rock across the track list too. Water with the Wine was the standout track to me, but Down to Zero and People are great too.
Lou Reed
3/5
There are some good moments, and even though his singing is a bit better here than on Transformer it still doesn't vibe with me. I like the drums and electric guitar though. Sad Song was the highlight of the album to me, although it reminds me of the Futurama joke about having characters announce their feelings.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
One of my favourite artists so obviously it gets a 5. Not every track is perfect but there are just so many bangers on this album. Purple Haze, Manic Depression, Hey Joe, Fire, Foxey Lady and Red House are all some of my favourite tracks of all time.
The Kinks
3/5
Pretty good 60s pop / rock. I like the variety in the track list with some folk, psychadelic, blues and baroque inspired songs among others. The production is a bit rough for my liking though. I really enjoyed the title track and the similarly named Village Green, but the rest ended up feeling a bit forgettable.
Happy Mondays
3/5
Alt rock album with strong dance influences. I liked how funky some of the songs are, with Dennis and Lois and Step On being the highlights for me. But the rest of the album didn't really click with me.
Le Tigre
4/5
Dance and pop influenced lo-fi punk album. I liked it when the songs leaned into the guitar riffs, but there were a few too many slower tracks that I didn't enjoy as much. Deceptacon, Let's Run and My My Metrocard were highlights.
Arcade Fire
2/5
There are some beautiful and orchestral songs on here, but I find it extremely annoying when there's one instrument really high in the mix keeping time by playing the same chord continuously for the entire song. And unfortunately that's almost every song on this album.
Electric Light Orchestra
5/5
Another really fun album! The influence from the Beatles is very clear, but I can also hear similarities with acts like Queen and Boston. I love the mix of guitars, drums, piano/synth and the string section. I really enjoyed the whole album so it was hard to pick which tracks to put on my playlist but I went with Turn to Stone and Sweet Talkin' Woman, since I've heard Mr Blue Sky enough.
ABBA
5/5
ABBA are just about unrivaled in their ability to make people want to dance and sing. Some songs are silly but between the basslines and catchy hooks they just commit to a premise and make it work. Half the songs on the album are instantly recognizable hits and the rest are pretty good too.
The Birthday Party
1/5
Chaotic, sinister sounding and intentionally abrasive. It was difficult to get through and I'd rather not listen to it again.
My Bloody Valentine
1/5
The songs are a wall of layered guitars with droning effects that proceed at a very slow pace. I can see what they're trying to do but it's a challenging listen and my first impression is that it's not enjoyable to listen to. Maybe with a few more listens it might click.
Blur
3/5
I liked it a lot more on a second listen. It sounds very 90s, but I like the variety of influences and vibes across the track list. None of the songs really stood out enough to want to put them on a playlist but it was an enjoyable listen.
Beatles
5/5
The more I think about this album the higher I rate it. A classic of 60s pop / rock and even though that era isn't my favourite, the track list is just so consistently great. The title track is a lot of fun, and I love the harmonies on If I Fell, and Tell Me Why / Can't Buy Me Love / Any Time At All is an epic three song run on the digital version.
Cat Stevens
4/5
One of the better folk rock albums on this list so far. The songs are mostly driven by acoustic guitar and piano, but his voice is very unique and easy to listen to. I really liked Where Do The Children Play and Longer Boats, as well as the two songs I already knew (Wild World and Father and Son).
Joan Baez
2/5
She is a phenomenal singer but I didn't really enjoy listening to this. The guitars were very quiet, the volume of her voice is extremely dynamic, the lyrics are poetic, and all of the songs sounded the same. The unexpected spanish song at the end was pretty fun though.
a-ha
3/5
Not bad but the 80s reverb-heavy vocals, drum machines and synth sounded a bit samey by the end. I don't think this album has aged very well. Take On Me is fantastic of course, but the next best tracks were good but not great
Happy Mondays
2/5
Indie rock with a psychedelic vibe. I don't mind the music but the whiny, slurred, mumbled singing is very off putting. The rhythms have some funk influences that shine best on the track Performance (which is basically the simple 12 bar blues at its core). Overall not particularly interesting or memorable.