My 1001 Albums Journey

It's boring, repetitive, and drags on. The lead singer sounds like she has a good voice, but its wasted on these terrible songs. To enjoy this album, you'd have to be stoned, to say the least. Took me several days to get through, and now I have a backlog of like 5 albums. Best song: Carnt Sleep

This is the blandest most boring album on the list so far. Most of the lyrics are like "I woke up. I brushed my teeth. I had a bagel for breakfast. Rode the bus to work. Saw a blue car. It was slightly raining." It might make good background music, which normally would land it squarely at a 2, but its just so long and pointless that I can't give it more than a 1. Jacksonville has some good guitar music, and Decatur trots along nicely, but that's about it. Best song: Jacksonville

Christina Aguilera has an incredible voice. I've been a fan of hers since she first dropped Genie In A Bottle. I like her self titled album better, but Stripped is still great. Can't Hold Us Down, Fighter, Beautiful, Dirty I've always loved. I hadn't heard the whole album before, there were some nice surprises. Especially the slower jams, like Walk Away, Infatuation, Cruise, and Soar. Absolute banger of an album, love it! Best song: Beautiful

My first foreign language album! Never heard of Ali Farka Toure before. Great music with a good beat and some wonderful twangy banjo. Not a single bad track on the album, with Yer Bounda Fara, Soya, and Soko Yhinka topping them. Definitely going to listen to more of him. The entire album just made me have a smile on my face, the whole way through. Love it. Best song: Yer Bounda Fara

This is probably going to be my favorite album on the entire list. Of Eminem's albums, I prefer The Eminem Show over this one, but this is still an incredible album. It was released at the perfect time for me. Just before summer, towards the end of my junior year of high school. I couldn't get enough of this album, I've listened to it so many times. This album pretty much defines my senior year. Eminem's vocal style is just a treat to hear. Yes, the content can be very juvenile and hateful. I don't excuse him for it. But the way he raps is amazing, the rhymes, the wordplay, I just love it. He has two styles I really love. One is the "I don't give a fuck about anything" voice which is fun to hear just let loose and go off rapping. The Real Slim Shady is a good example of this one. The other one is my favorite. It's where it feels like he's trying to stay calm, but you can hear the rage underneath. The Way I Am and Marshall Mathers show that one off well. I couldn't listen to this one like I usually do, just at home while working or whatever. Needed to crank it loud in the car. I had such a blast listening to this, brought me right back to high school, driving around with my friends. Almost every song is a 5. Not a bad song on the entire thing. (I'm ignoring the short skits, they're mostly whatever, not really a plus or a minus). I normally don't write something for every song, but I had to for this one. Public Service Announcement 2000: 5 Ok, I lied, I'm not ignoring every skit. This one is great, sets the tone for the whole album. Kill You: 5 One of my favorites from the album, the words just flow so nicely. So much good rhyming and wordplay. A bold one to start off with, the words are a bit, well, harsh. But a solid song. Stan: 5 Wow, what a song. The story he tells is sad and troubling, and it's something that could possibly happen. The word "stan" is even used today to mean a very avid fan of something. As the verses go on, you can hear the Stan character getting more and more unhinged, and then Eminem comes in as himself in the last verse and finishes it off. Love it. Who Knew: 5 More good wordplay and rhyming. The Way I Am: 5 This one goes so hard. The way he has to deal with both fans and critics loving and hating him. And the beat is just so good. The Real Slim Shady: 5 The song that really blew up from this album. So enjoyable to listen to. Pretty funny as well, this is just pure fun. Remember Me: 4 The only non 5 song on this album. It's still fairly good, just doesn't hit quite as nice as the other ones. Eminem's verse is great, of course, but the other two verses are mediocre. I'm Back: 5 Even more good wordplay and rhyming. Nice beat as well. Marshall Mathers: 5 A slower song, still goes hard. The music and beat are nice, and Eminem keeps up his wordplay. When I first heard it, couldn't get enough, played it on repeat. Drug Ballad: 5 Great sound, the music and beat are nice and the vocal flow is fun. And the words shed a light on drug addiction and how it can affect your life and be hard to get away from. Amityville: 5 Another fun song. Eminem's verses are great, more good wordplay and rhyming. Bizarre's verse is also fun, if a bit, well, explicit. Even more so than some of the other stuff on this album. Bitch Please II: 5 Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, and Nate Dogg? Hell yeah. Every one of them bring their own style to this track, and it all comes together nicely. Such a good microcosm of West Coast 90s gangsta rap. A lot of fun to listen to. Kim: 5 This is a hard one to listen to. I heard it when it first came out, and I listened to it this time for this review, but it's the only one I skip when normally doing a listen. It's still a good song, you can hear the pain and anger in his words. The scenario is unfortunately something that can and does happen, and this song is a window into that situation. Under The Influence: 5 Eminem's verse is excellent. All of D12's verses are good too, each member bringing their style. Fun song. Criminal: 5 Yet more good wordplay and rhyming. Ending out on a solid song. Like the way he starts off the song talking about how you need to separate the song lyrics from the man himself, but then ends the talk with him going right back into the Slim Shady persona. Best song was so hard to pick because there are so many good ones. Top three are Stan, The Way I Am, and The Real Slim Shady. I'll give the nod to The Way I Am, but on any given day it could go to any of them. Best song: The Way I Am