Jesus Christ. It’s like Godsmack and Insane Clown Posse collaborated to make a way-too-long album inspired by all the worst songs from the Tony Hawk Pro Skater soundtracks. The intro and the first 40 seconds of “Take a Look Around” are the only okay parts of this album. This is so goddamn bad. I struggle to articulate how much I don’t like it. If I ran Guantanamo Bay, this is the album I’d play on repeat to push inmates to their psychological breaking point and coerce confessions. 1/10

I love this album dearly. I first listened to it some time around 2007-2008, when “Rehab” was everywhere and I immediately wanted to hear more from Amy. I feel like this album is a close friend that has grown up with me, and there have been different times in my life when almost every song had its moment of reflecting exactly how I felt. It’s tempting to go song by song and expand on why I love each of them, but for 15 tracks that’s a bit much. On the other hand, it’s hard for me to single out favorite tracks or moments, but I will try: - the increasingly dizzying and desperate vocal expression on “You Sent Me Flying” - the sense of urgency that sets in immediately with the percussion of “Know You Now” - the biting satire in the lyrics of “Fuck Me Pumps” and “I Heard Love is Blind” - “There is No Greater Love” is, I think, the only track on the album she didn’t write or co-write, and it’s such a beautiful rendition of a jazz standard and a perfect inclusion - “Take the Box” is a perfect breakup song, no notes - “Amy Amy Amy” sounds like the theme song for knowingly making bad decisions - the two “hidden tracks” after the outro, especially the slinky and sentimental “Brother”, are such lovely parting gifts The whole album is sustained by Amy’s amazing voice - it is powerful, soft when it needs to be, has a beautiful rasp and a fantastic range. It recalls several of the jazz greats while being wholly unique. The musical blend of soul, jazz, and R&B is delightful and doesn’t sound dated by even a day, 21 years later. This is an album I have been coming back to consistently for nearly 20 years and will continue to, probably forever. It blows my mind that this was released when Amy was just 20 years old. It blows my mind that I’m now older than Amy was when she died, and still the genius of her music continues to give me so much. RIP my friend. 10/10

Deeply unpleasant from start to finish. Characterized by trite, repetitive and uninspired lyrics with instrumentation to match. The first 15-20 seconds of each song were almost enjoyable as a reprieve from the previous, but by 2:30 I wished that it, too, would end. Instead, every song rambles on far beyond its welcome. I suspect that copious drug use and terrible music were a bit of a chicken-and-egg dilemma for Oasis, and one I am entirely uninterested in cracking. Choosing a favorite song feels a bit like choosing the STD I’d most like to contract, but I’d have to go with “Married with Children”. 3/10.

An outstanding debut - from the first track, Quest tells us exactly who they are and what they’re about. They manage an album that is thematically sprawling but stylistically cohesive and wholly unique. No finer sampling work can be found anywhere. 8.5/10

This album to me is something like a mood ring - whatever feeling I bring into it, it reflects back to me in countless shades, and because of this it sounds new and different every time. At times frenetic, at times meditative, always cool as fuck. Timeless and unequivocal. 10/10

So much anguish, so much groove, so much soul. "Walk On By" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" are such fantastic songs and the way they have been expanded and reimagined here is some kind of magic covers rarely accomplish. I don't know what else can be said about this album that hasn't been said before... iconic. *chefs kiss* 9/10

I liked this album more as it went on. There are some interesting decisions with the instrumentation and heavy use of a mandolin which I appreciate. The lyrics vary from evocative - "I Remember California" stands out especially - to cryptic but retain a certain charm throughout. "Stand" and "Orange Crush" are the notable singles from this album and they hold up 36 years later. Tangentially, once it's pointed out to you that Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip and Michael Stipe kinda sound like each other, you can't unhear it. 7.5/10

I like ABBA but I don't think they are very album-oriented. The standouts on this album all did well as singles and the rest of the album is filled with forgettable, cloying tracks that get old quickly. 5/10

I personally don’t really care for their flow so 78 minutes of run time felt far too long for me. Don’t care for how crude the lyrics are either. Feels like a lot more swagger than substance. 4.5/10

With most albums from the ‘50s, I expect a couple standout tracks propped up by generic, forgettable songs that could’ve just as easily been recorded by anyone else. This is not the case here, I suspect because Domino wrote (or co-wrote) every track. Even the weaker songs are carried by the quality and uniqueness of Domino’s voice and beautiful, expressive, perfectly phrased work on the saxophone. Almost 70 years since its release, this album still shines, and serves as an excellent example of the way blues entered popular music and laid the foundation for rock n roll. Lastly, this album sounds so much like New Orleans, it made me very nostalgic. Fantastic overall. 8.5/10

Cee-Lo Green manages to invoke the classic sounds and feelings of soul and r&b while still serving up something novel and very fun to listen to. The lyrics aren’t particularly moving to me and sometimes verge on megalomaniacal, but they aren’t bad either. Great features from Timbaland, Ludacris and T.I. emphasize the southern flavor throughout this album. Favorite tracks: “Living Again” and “My Kind of People”. 7/10

“Welcome to New York” sounds like an AI generated song for a cheap promotional video for the city and is a baffling choice as an album opener. This turns out to be a recurring theme - the instrumental track on “Style” sounds like the royalty-free music that would play over a hastily assembled slideshow of services offered at a bougie suburban strip mall salon. “This Love” makes me feel like I’m watching a toxic couple’s reunion on a trashy reality TV show. There are moments of “Out of the Woods” where Jack Antonoff’s production almost shines through but it ultimately loses its battle against the many things working against this track’s favor. The same can be said for “I Wish You Would” - Antonoff’s fingerprints are immediately recognizable but even his pop genius can’t redeem Swift’s extremely grating vocal phrasing and unimpressive “pipes”. I was alive during 2014 so “Blank Space” and “Bad Blood” were already familiar to me and are the songs I dislike least on this album. They exhibit Swift at what she excels at: catchy, vapid, annoyingly self-effacing pop music, which is arguably less tiresome than everything she has done since. But this is about 1989. Sadly “Shake it Off” was also already familiar to me and it’s as terrible as it’s ever been. That spoken word interlude is truly laughably bad. “I Know Places” best exemplifies her style that I can only describe as ‘phrasing’ that is possibly my least favorite thing about her music. The timing with which she delivers the lyrics on this track in particular hit me like a shot of room-temperature bottom-shelf tequila. Actually made my face contort. Something that stands out to me listening to this album is how truly meh TSwizzle’s voice is compared to her worldwide megapopularity. Her range is exceptionally narrow and attempts to work on the upper or lower ends sound very breathy and effortful. Her lyrics epitomize “I’m 14 and this is deep” memes. How many times does she mention wearing red lipstick in the span of 45 minutes? Overall, Swift offers some of the strongest evidence for the idea that our society rewards mediocrity in white folk. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever listened to but it’s very grating vocally and lyrically and most of the production feels lazy. 3/10

The first word that comes to mind for this album is “moody”. I’m not sure exactly what the mood is but Dire Straits sets it very effectively. I think the opening track and “Money For Nothing” are actually the weakest parts of this album. “Walk of Life” feels a bit out of place here — it is jauntier and more playful than any of the other 51 minutes of the album — but it’s such a great track I don’t mind. The middle of the album is the strongest part for me. The horns on “Your Latest Trick” sizzle and simmer, followed by the sprawling “Why Worry” with its meditations on the ups and downs of life are, to my ears, the sonic and emotional heart of this album. The title track is a very nice ending. While some tracks on this album are a 8.5 or 9 out of 10, it unfortunately is a bit less than the sum of its parts for me. 7.5/10

Being that I generally like new wave and the handful of Depeche Mode songs I know, I expected to enjoy this album. I did not. It has the ambiance of a haunted house with none of the fun. I think Depeche Mode needs a higher tempo to work for me and this album is full of songs that just trudge towards their very welcome end. I found this tedious and tiresome. The lyrics throughout this album are simplistic and frankly kind of dumb. Lyrics don’t need to be complex or deep or clever to be good, but these come across like a writing assignment done by a moody teenager with no particular inspiration. Overall, I am glad this album was short and short though it was, I was counting down the songs until it was over. 3/10

My impression of Arcade Fire is pretty much entirely formed around “Keep the Car Running” and “No Cars Go”, both songs I like from a previous album. The title of this album gives me pause because the suburbs make me queasy and there’s a lot of art about the banality of suburban life and how hard it is that I just don’t like. But I’m putting all that aside for 64 minutes! On the title track, there’s a lot I want to like here, but it feels a bit long for how little it varies from beginning to end. An underwhelming but not a bad start. Unfortunately the first 10 songs all continue on this way. It’s not unpleasant but everything kinda sounds the same for almost 45 minutes. “Wasted Hours” and “Deep Blue” finally offer a little variation — I’m not sure if I actually like these tracks more than the other before them or if I was just happy to get a different sound. I like “We Used to Wait” as well… but I don’t love it. I also like “Sprawl” parts I and II. Overall, the last third of this album is definitely my favorite part. Setting aside the fact that the first ~45 minutes all sound the same and this 64 minute album could’ve just as easily been 34 minutes, it’s… fine. Indie rock of this era isn’t really my thing, but there are other bands of the time and genre that I like a lot more. I can see why people love this though, I guess. Meh/10

This album could certainly be called ambient, and it creates a lot of ambiance, but at the same time it refuses to fall into the background of whatever time and place you may be listening the way a lot of ambient music does. The feeling this album conjures is to be a small, intrepid creature exploring something vast and unknown and beautiful and scary, like the depths of the ocean or outer space, protected in your little vessel of some kind. It’s a strange album, triumphant and exciting yet subdued and peaceful. It has an orchestral quality throughout the album. I have no idea what the lyrics are about and I’m not sure if I want to. Overall, this isn’t something I will listen to casually but in the right context I think this would be perfect. It’s really quite strange and wonderful and charming. I’d give it 3.5 ⭐️ if I could but I have to round up here. 7.5/10

I am thrilled to see this as the AOTD. I am a huge fan of Stephin Merritt and all of his projects — I love his voice, and his lyrics have a certain sensibility that resonates a lot with me. I find them very clever and often hilarious. To begin, I love the concept of this album. It starts with one of the most, if not THE most, ubiquitous themes in popular music: the love song. By allowing, or forcing, himself to come up with 69 variations on this theme, we end up winding through the many forms it can take and feelings it can represent. Not every song feels fully fleshed out and the end result is something that feels like a three-hour brainstorming session on one of music’s—and life’s—biggest subjects. Although this album is thematically narrow, it covers a lot of ground musically. There are banjos and synths and show tunes and just about everything in between. It’s a wild and very fun ride. Favorite tracks: “A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off”, “The Book of Love”, “Time Enough for Rocking When We’re Old”, “Papa Was a Rodeo”… there’s so many. I can’t say I love every track on this album, but I can say I love everything about this album. 10/10

Frank Zappa is something of a solitary figure in the music of the last ~100 years. One could argue with good reason he is a musical genius... but the products of genius are not always aesthetic successes. That’s about how I feel about this album. I love the satirizing of late 60s counterculture and the apparent shots taken at Sgt Pepper’s (beyond the obvious with the album cover). The use of musique concrète and the structure of the album overall is interesting and feels ahead of its time. At the same time, the actual music here feels pretty dated and isn’t particularly enjoyable. I’m not really sure what to make of this as a result. It’s interesting and clever and I appreciate it as art, but don’t think it’s very “good” as a musical release. I also don’t think it’s Zappa’s best work. 4.5/10…?

In its first half, I thought this was pretty standard fare for 60s psychedelic rock, not bad but no standout tracks either. The lyrics were a bit stronger than I generally expect from albums of this time and genre and I was thinking it’s a generous 3 ⭐️. Things start going off the rails with “SWLABR”. This song is so, so dumb. I hated it. “We’re Going Wrong” was actually my favorite song on the album. The restraint from the band and the haunting vocals are a beautiful combination. I thought we were back on track but I quickly realized this track’s title was foreshadowing the remainder of the album. The next three tracks are absolutely terrible. While “Outside Woman Blues” teeters on being a tacky imitation of blues music, “Take it Back” dives head first into this territory. Everything about Cream’s rendition of blues on this track feels hokey and affected. When I thought I had heard the worst this album had to offer, they come in with the appalling “Mother’s Lament”. This is truly one of the most irritating 2 minutes of “music” I’ve been subjected to during this project. Because it’s last on the album, I think its inclusion was meant to be a joke, but it’s a cruel one. What a terrible taste to leave in the listener’s mouth. “We’re Going Wrong” is a lovely track. Take it out and what remains of this album is the musical embodiment of a saggy, stained couch that reeks of hookah smoke at its best. 4/10

This is the first album I’ve been assigned from a band I’ve never heard of, which was exciting! The album itself was… ehhhhh. There are several moments throughout the album that I enjoyed but I don’t really think I’d seek this out again. There’s obvious influence from new wave and punk but it feels like this album can’t decide what it wants to be and fails to forge its own voice. Kinda fun though. 6/10

Jimi Hendrix is obviously a virtuosic guitar player and overall, this is a strong debut album. I think it could be a little shorter, but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would considering my general feelings about 60s psychedelic rock. I think the way Hendrix incorporates blues into his rock n roll is both more creative and more genuine than most of his peers, which I appreciate. I also liked the more subdued numbers on this album, specifically “May This Be Love” and his rendition of “The Wind Cries Mary”. The favorite track by far was “Third Stone From the Sun” - it’s a bit jammy, quite jazzy, and the recurring melody is beautiful. The mixing on this album was frustrating throughout… it sounded almost like a live album and the vocal track sounded a bit muddy or just didn’t stand up to the instrumentals very well. I think there’s also just a couple duds. “Foxey Lady”, for instance, is a track I think could’ve been cut at no loss to the album. Overall, this is a cut above the standard for 60s psychedelia in my opinion with some small, interesting creative choices throughout. I waffled between 3 and 4 ⭐️ here, but considering “Third Stone From the Sun” is the only track I’d really seek out again, I gotta go with 3 ⭐️. 7/10

In what world is this essential listening? Asinine album from a band no one remembers 25 years later. This is a ridiculous inclusion on this list. “Daniella” is the only enjoyable track on what sounds like a demo from a pub cover band. Ugh. 2/10

Ray Charles is a peerless figure in american music. His genius for blending jazz, blues, country and performing with such genuine emotion and musicality is something I find so moving. Unfortunately, I don’t think this album entirely showcases the best of Ray Charles, and I hope this isn’t his only album on the list. Some of the big band arrangements on the first half of the album feel a bit schmaltzy and lacking in creativity. It’s still not bad listening by any means - I’d give the first half a 3 ⭐️ rating. The second half of this album, on the other hand, is flawless. It showcases Charles’s iconic sound and highlights his beautiful, plaintive vocals with instrumentation that always complements and highlights, and never detracts from or upstages, Charles’s performance. The latter six songs are easily 5 ⭐️. On the whole, I think the second half more than makes up for my gripes over the first half. If I didn’t know of Ray Charles beforehand, I’m sure I would’ve liked the first half more, but I am prejudiced by knowing how much more of his catalog is cut from the same cloth as the back half of this album. That being considered, I think it’s unfair for me to rate this less than 5 ⭐️. 9/10

Loud. Strange. Absurd. Kinda anxiety-inducing. Often dissonant. Weirdly fun? There is a lot of creativity in this album and it doesn’t take itself very seriously. A strange sense of humor permeates it. The opening track, “Sweet Loaf” oscillates abruptly between different sounds; the result is a lot of fun to listen to and one of my favorites on the album. “Kuntz” is the other favorite, an expected and delightful twist on a recording of some southeast Asian origin. “Pittsburgh to Lebanon” sounds like a blues track that marinated in a vat of toxic sludge. The weak points for me were “USSA” and “The O-Men”, which I found a bit grating. This album sounds like a bad acid trip but somehow uses that to its benefit and ends up a miraculous winner. There is some kind of black magic going on here. 7.5/10 would listen again

Jesus Christ. It’s like Godsmack and Insane Clown Posse collaborated to make a way-too-long album inspired by all the worst songs from the Tony Hawk Pro Skater soundtracks. The intro and the first 40 seconds of “Take a Look Around” are the only okay parts of this album. This is so goddamn bad. I struggle to articulate how much I don’t like it. If I ran Guantanamo Bay, this is the album I’d play on repeat to push inmates to their psychological breaking point and coerce confessions. 1/10

I was a huge White Stripes fan in middle school and then kinda forgot they existed, so this was a fun throwback for me. It’s not quite as good as I remember - things start to fall off after “Fell in Love With a Girl” - but it’s not bad. Lots of songs kinda sound the same. 7/10

Hell yeah. Is this… punk? metal? is this what thrash metal is? I don’t know exactly but it’s rockin 🤘 Is it formulaic, repetitive and simplistic? It is, but the formula works for Motörhead for no other reason than it feels like they really mean it. It is so formulaic and repetitive even that it makes it hard for me to pick out songs that stand out for better or worse… I think the title track and “Fast and Loose” were probably my favorites. “Jailbait” and “The Chase is Better Tahn the Catch” are uhh not songs that could be released today and were my least favorites cuz the lyrics are just a bit beyond what I can excuse in the name of hell yeah. Overall this is short and loud and fast and is just very… something. I’m not sure what it is but I appreciate it. I would listen to this again 7.5/10

This is in many ways a “great” album - ahead of its time and certainly very influential. But I don’t think it’s a “good” album. It’s shrieking and dissonant and musically it goes back and forth between trite guitar riffs and unlistenable noise. Lou Reed’s voice is annoying as hell and so are his lyrics. We get it dude, you do drugs. This album’s saving grace is Nico’s vocals, which are so strange and beautiful. There are also some interesting textures on some tracks. Overall, I find this irritating and will not listen again. Also, I don’t like Andy Warhol. 4/10

Does what it says on the box, and does it better than anyone. Just a delightful collection of tunes regaling you with stories of a bygone west. Marty Robbins has a beautiful voice. What’s not to love?

The opening track, “Introduction” set a tone very much in line with what i expect from Nick Drake - moody, beautiful, intricate guitar work. I was a little surprised by the quick tempo and relatively upbeat feel to the following track, “Hazey Jane II”. Why does this track come before “Hazey Jane I”? Cuz Nick Drake is an inscrutable artíste. In all seriousness, this is a beautiful album. I think I have only heard songs of his from ‘Pink Moon’, which is also a lovely, melancholy album, but makes the lush arrangements on ‘Bryter Layter’ unexpected. The incorporation of strings and brass is a stroke of genius and sets this album apart from the spades of other excellent sad-guy-with-guitar albums out there. My overall favorite track is probably “One of These Things First”, but I love the jazzy flair on “Poor Boy” and the lovely instrumental title and opening tracks. “Northern Sky” is also a beautiful approximation of a love song. Nick Drake’s musical and vocal style are unmistakeable, and the peculiar variety of folk music on ‘Bryter Lauter’ has to be among the finest I’ve ever heard. 9/10

Everyone on planet earth knows “Smoke on the Water”, or at least the central guitar riff, which is what my expectations for this album were based on. I was thrown for a loop. One of the first words that comes to mind to describe this album is flamboyant. It’s like rock n roll jazz hands. If someone were to write a broadway show about Ozzie Osbourne’s life, this is what I’d expect it to sound like. Which absolutely sounds like something I’d hate, but this was a pretty fun listen. It gets a lil groovy at points. I like the bass solo near the middle-end of “Pictures of Home”. Some good musicianship on display notwithstanding, this album strikes me as very silly. Not a bad silly, but silly no less. 6.5/10

I love this album dearly. I first listened to it some time around 2007-2008, when “Rehab” was everywhere and I immediately wanted to hear more from Amy. I feel like this album is a close friend that has grown up with me, and there have been different times in my life when almost every song had its moment of reflecting exactly how I felt. It’s tempting to go song by song and expand on why I love each of them, but for 15 tracks that’s a bit much. On the other hand, it’s hard for me to single out favorite tracks or moments, but I will try: - the increasingly dizzying and desperate vocal expression on “You Sent Me Flying” - the sense of urgency that sets in immediately with the percussion of “Know You Now” - the biting satire in the lyrics of “Fuck Me Pumps” and “I Heard Love is Blind” - “There is No Greater Love” is, I think, the only track on the album she didn’t write or co-write, and it’s such a beautiful rendition of a jazz standard and a perfect inclusion - “Take the Box” is a perfect breakup song, no notes - “Amy Amy Amy” sounds like the theme song for knowingly making bad decisions - the two “hidden tracks” after the outro, especially the slinky and sentimental “Brother”, are such lovely parting gifts The whole album is sustained by Amy’s amazing voice - it is powerful, soft when it needs to be, has a beautiful rasp and a fantastic range. It recalls several of the jazz greats while being wholly unique. The musical blend of soul, jazz, and R&B is delightful and doesn’t sound dated by even a day, 21 years later. This is an album I have been coming back to consistently for nearly 20 years and will continue to, probably forever. It blows my mind that this was released when Amy was just 20 years old. It blows my mind that I’m now older than Amy was when she died, and still the genius of her music continues to give me so much. RIP my friend. 10/10

Of all the albums released this millennium, probably very few have been written about more than ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’, so I won’t spend too much time trying to say what surely many others have already. It’s a fantastic, inedible creative album that’s as lyric-driven and contemplative as it is full of danceable bangers. Instant classic that will remain relevant for a very long time. 9.5/10

This is such a cool album, and it must have sounded even cooler to listeners in 1996 when this style of mixing and music-making was much more labor-intensive and rarer to come across, especially outside of hip-hop. It’s experimental yet catchy, glitchy yet polished, and so fun to listen to. It’s really just a vibe and a half. 8.5/10

About halfway through the first song, I thought to myself this album might be a hard one to get through, and I was more right than I could have known. This is so, so bad and weird. It’s such an extraordinary kind of terrible that at some moments it loops all the way around to kind of being hilarious. But mostly, it’s just god awful schmaltzy cabaret singing set to shitty music with bizarre nonsense lyrics. As a reward for making it almost all the way through the album, you’re rewarded with the last track, a nearly-11 minute masterpiece on composing the most unlistenable garbage of all time. Part of me thinks that surely, this is some kind intentionally terrible performance art - if that is the case, I’d have to rate it pretty highly for nailing what it set out to do. But with no evidence to confirm this idea I have to take this album at face value. Most of the albums from this project that I’ve given one or a generous two ⭐️, I at least vaguely understand why someone else would like it, but not this one. Not only is this album not for me, I’m pretty sure it’s not fit for human consumption. I almost respect how completely and entirely hateable this album is, but mostly I just completely and entirely hate it. 1/10

I could understand why someone wouldn't like this album - to say it's mostly a bunch of simplistic, loud guitar riffing with obtuse lyrics isn't entirely untrue. But the Pixies manage to do it in a way that no one else does and for me, it really works. Within the simplistic, loud guitar riffing there is a lot of interesting variation and I think both musically and lyrically they take inspiration from a wide variety of subjects. Mostly it's just a lot of fun. I love Kim Deal's bass playing and her vocals, though they aren't very prominent on this album they add a lot. 8/10

For most bands, an album like “Can’t Buy A Thrill” wouldn’t be super popular among their devoted fans: it’s their first album before they really cemented the heavily jazz-tinged sound they’re most loved for, and it’s full of commercially very successful tracks which can often be divisive among the fanbases of other bands. Steely Dan avoids all of this because their debut album is the best yacht rock album ever made and everyone loves yacht rock. Musically, there are hints here of the outsized influence jazz will have on later records, and there’s also a bit of Latin flavor, especially on “Do It Again” and “Only a Fool Would Say That”, which is a delight. The production also sounds distinctly like a Steely Dan record, and there are points where the musical phrasing is unmistakably Fagen/Becker. The lyrics, too, are in their trademark style. It’s not that it doesn’t sound like a Steely Dan record, it’s just made from a different mold. But it’s still a damn fine album and one of my favorites from the Dan. If I had to pick a fault, it’s that “Fire in the Hole” and “Change of the Guard” aren’t quite as strong as the rest of the album… but I don’t feel the need to pick a fault. 9/10

It’s nice to finally get something from outside of North America or Europe, and this album comes to us from Mali. It’s predominantly a rock and roll album tinged with blues and a clear influence from North African music. I enjoyed the experience of listening to this album, but it’s too much of a traditional rock n roll album for me to really get super excited about. “Wayei” was my favorite track. 6.5/10

I recognized the name The Divine Comedy as the band responsible for backing Ute Lemper on the astoundingly bad ‘Punishing Kiss’, so I feared this album was going to be on par with that garbage. I was pleasantly surprised to find this is mostly unremarkable, kinda weird acoustic-tinged chamber pop with a vocalist who I don’t like, but who isn’t nearly as aggressive as Ute. “In & Out of Paris & London” almost sounds like it could be a Magnetic Fields song and was my favorite on the album. I also liked the instrumental half of “Theme to Casanova”. Solid 4/10.

It was a dreary, drizzly, and gray November day today here in Georgia, which was the perfect ambiance for this album. This is the last of Nick Drake’s albums I hadn’t listened to before, and it’s much more akin to ‘Pink Moon’ than ‘Bryter Layter’. That is to say, it’s “sad-guy-with-guitar” music, which is a much more crowded field than whatever the fabulous ‘Bryter Layter’ counts as. To be sure, Drake does a beautiful version of “sad-guy-with-guitar” music. I love his unique voice and I love his lyrics. To consider that this album came out in 1969 is pretty remarkable - it sounds about 35 years ahead of its time. There was a time when every coffee shop singer-songwriter seemed to be going for Drake’s sound, which is unfortunate because it’s hard to not be somewhat desensitized to the genuine article. Overall, Drake does what he does and does it well. This album is a bit one-note for me to really fall in love with as a whole, but it’s a very fine product. 8/10

Being as super-popular as they are, I was surprised to find I hadn't heard of a single song on this album. This was apparently released about 10 years before the heyday of the Queen songs that everyone knows. Some of the trademark elements that define their later sound are evident here, but it hasn't been fully formed yet, either. I thought there were some interesting moments in the first five songs of the album - it occasionally gets considerably heavier than I expect from Queen - but the latter half kind of lost my interest. I'd give it 2.5 stars if I could. Meh. 5/10

A wonderful album. The title track is, of course, an all-timer and is just one of those songs. The rest of the album is mostly covers and a few original tracks, including the fantastic “Behave Yourself”, all instrumental. What I love about this album is the way the electric organ serves as the main melodic device and serves a role in each song that would otherwise by served by either vocals or perhaps a lead guitar. In some tracks, the organ is played more like an organ, and in some it’s used for fast licks; the licks give a very interesting effect because the particular organ used doesn’t allow the notes to “overlap”. The effect is a very digital sound that belies the 1962 release date. The vibes of this album are second to none. It’s summertime backyard cookout, after you’ve already eaten and twilight is setting in and the heat is starting to relent. Beyond the vibes it’s also just excellent musicianship and interesting production. I don’t have any negatives to report really. 9/10

A wonderful album. The title track is, of course, an all-timer and is just one of those songs. The rest of the album is mostly covers and a few original tracks, including the fantastic “Behave Yourself”, all instrumental. What I love about this album is the way the electric organ serves as the main melodic device and serves a role in each song that would otherwise by served by either vocals or perhaps a lead guitar. In some tracks, the organ is played more like an organ, and in some it’s used for fast licks; the licks give a very interesting effect because the particular organ used doesn’t allow the notes to “overlap”. The effect is a very digital sound that belies the 1962 release date. The vibes of this album are second to none. It’s summertime backyard cookout, after you’ve already eaten and twilight is setting in and the heat is starting to relent. Beyond the vibes it’s also just excellent musicianship and interesting production. I don’t have any negatives to report really. 9/10

I am loathe to donate whatever fraction of a cent of my streaming revenue goes towards Neil Young and whatever elitist, anti-scientific mumbo jumbo he’s cooking up next, but so demand the 1001 Albums gods. My personal feelings about the artist aside, this is a middling to decent… Americana? album? I’m going with Americana for this. I don’t have much to say about it. I liked the eerie violin solo on “Running Dry” although this was one of the weaker tracks overall in my opinion. The classic Neil Young sound is there, but the quality of songwriting is a step below that of what he would come to put out in the next several years after this album. I liked “Cinnamon Girl” best probably. 6/10

I think Brian Eno is one of the most fascinating and creative people in the music biz, so it’s a bit hard for me to be objective, but I think it’s fair to say this genre-defining ambient album is groundbreaking. It takes a certain stroke of creative genius to reimagine the way we interact with music - to say, in the height of the disco era, that music doesn’t need to be melodic or even phrasal but can exist as a texture to subtly morph our surroundings. I think the intent of this album is pretty contrary to the intent of the 1001 Albums project, or at least the way I like to listen to my album of the day, which is intently and carefully with minimal distraction. It’s hard to know how to rate this album because the content is hardly even musical. But I have so much respect for Eno and have in fact listened to this album several times in my life and always enjoy it, so I’m gonna say 8/10? I guess?

I’m a little stumped by this one because Griffith’s voice is very nice and the instrumentation is light and lilting and the two together feels like something I should enjoy… but it just lacks something for me. It feels kind of soulless. My impression from this album was that Griffith was discovered performing at open mics and whatnot, doing mostly covers probably, got a record deal with a label that shopped for these songs from the songwriters around Nashville, and was set up to record them with a group of studio musicians. It just feels like none of the performers have any emotional connection to these songs. Come to find out that 9 of the 11 tracks were written by Griffith. Hmm. I did enjoy “St. Olav’s Gate”, “One of These Days” and especially “Banks of the Pontchartrain”. The latter was easily my favorite track on the album and leads me to believe some of miss Nanci’s other work may be worth a listen. Apparently her earlier work was more folk and this album was early into her pivot into a more country style, which may explain why it kind of sounds like a cover album of Emmylou Harris tracks that died on the cutting room floor. Not an unenjoyable listen though. 6/10

You can’t spell Mick Jagger without “ick”, which is what I get from him and his lyrics. Musically, it’s derivative and repetitive. Ugh. 4/10

This is not my favorite Simon & Garfunkel album. I find the title track to be a bit mawkish, and there are a couple tracks that are neither here nor there. That being said, the good songs on this album are fantastic. Their rendition of “El Condor Pasa” is beautiful and it’s very cool that Simon translated the lyrics into English himself. “Cecilia” is so fun and exuberant and is one of my favorite S&G tracks. The harmonies on “So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright” are mesmerizing. “The Boxer” and “The Only Living Boy in New York” are some of their finest storytelling. I just really love Simon & Garfunkel and even one of their “worst” albums (in my opinion) is full of beautiful tracks with a lot to love. 8.5/10

I found this pretty unremarkable and I don’t have much to say about it. The general vibe is very boyish. It’s repetitive and simplistic. “Smash It Up” was my favorite track, mostly part 1. Will not listen again. 4/10

There are several tracks on this album that kinda have a fun, funky vibe, but the vibes are invariably ruined by asinine, off putting lyrics sung in a supremely annoying voice. I’m getting tired of this project recommending tasteless british drivel. 4/10

If I could only pick 10 albums to listen to for the rest of my life, this would be on the list. This is another album that love deeply and have listened to regularly for at least half my life. The very first strikes of the drum on “Sleep to Dream” are an immaculate start to the album, as is the entire track, which is one of my favorites. Most of the other relatively higher-energy tracks are among my favorites, namely “Shadowboxer” and “The First Taste”. When the full instrumental suite kicks in on “The First Taste” is just *chefs kiss*. My favorite track of all is perhaps “Carrion”. Which is not to say the slower, sadder numbers, of which there are many, are lesser songs. The songwriting and lyricism throughout this album astounds me every time I listen to it. To consider that Apple was a teenager when she wrote these songs is genuinely baffling to me. The maturity, emotional depth, and poeticism of her words is far beyond anything I could dream of writing as a grown adult or even what most professional songwriters put out. It’s a beautiful, devastating, flawless, no-skips album. I love every evolution of Fiona Apple’s style and every album she’s put out since Tidal, but for me this debut album is one of those lightning-in-a-bottle releases that achieves something that few albums can. 10/10

In the first 50 albums of this project, I’ve been served up many variants on the 60s-70s psychedelic theme and have come to realize I really don’t care for it at much. When I saw this album cover, I expected another slog through boring, distorted guitar riffs and childish lyrics. I was pleasantly surprised to find this album distinguishes itself in its field with a pretty unique and interesting sound. The bass throughout the album is especially cool, as well as the keyboard and organ. “Beechwood Park” and “This Will Be Our Year” are highlights, but it’s really a pretty good album start to finish. I knew the Zombies were responsible for some super-popular song of the era but I couldn’t remember which, so ending the album on the spooky season classic “Time of the Season” was a nice treat. The mastering on this album is noticeably bad, but I don’t feel it’s fair to demerit the artists for that. Solid 7.5/10, torn between three or four ⭐️ but I think I’d listen to this again in certain contexts and I’m feeling generous so I will round up. Not sure what the misspelling of odyssey is about but it’s a good enough record to look past that.

Missy Elliott and Timbaland are a funky fresh dream team. Sadly I think this album is considerably weaker than ‘Supa Dupa Fly’, and if there is only one Elliott on this last, I’m mad it’s this one over her debut. But this album is nothing to be mad about; it’s full of very fun, very funky, very fresh tracks. The first two are kinda sleepers, but the run of “Gossip Folks”, “Work It”, “Back in the Day”, “Funky Fresh Dressed”, “Pussycat”, and “Nothing Out There For Me” is just killer. The remainder of the album is a little meh until the last track, “Can You Hear Me”, which always makes me a little weepy. It’s a very touching elegy. The features on this album are really good, even if the Jay-Z verse is a bit goofy. Elliott’s rhymes are always so playful and light-hearted, they are really a joy to listen to. I have to dock this album though because even though it’s quite good, no part of it is really excellent except “Work It” and “Can You Hear Me”. Compared to ‘Supa Dupa Fly’, it’s a little disappointing knowing how much better this album could’ve been. 8/10

As a document and a piece of musical history, this album is really a gem. James Brown, 1963, the Apollo in Harlem… wow. The inclusion of the crowd noise really works here as well, and you can really imagine being there and practically see the sweat falling from Brown’s brow. The musical content is also delightful, with Brown more on the crooning side of soul rather than the funky side that would become such a huge part of his legacy. Still, his performance is electric and his talent seeps from every note he sings. I don’t think any single song really stands out to me above the experience of it all. What a wonderful record to exist. I only wish it were longer. 10/10

This album represents the Temptations' shift from the classic Motown sound to a funkier sound, and is obviously supported by "Papa Was a Rolling Stone", a massive song in terms of cultural legacy and sonically, clocking in at nearly 12 minutes. This song is a masterpiece. Their version of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is lovely and does justice to a beautiful, perfect song. Unfortunately, the rest of this album falls a bit flat for me. It's not unenjoyable, and there are moments like the opening of "Mother Nature" that I quite like. But if you dropped most of these songs on a tapestry of all the early 70s Detroit soul recordings, they would blend into the fabric so thoroughly as to be lost. 7/10, mostly for "Papa ...".

This album is OBNOXIOUS. Like "Death on Two Legs" and "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" might be the most grating one-two punch of opening tracks in the 1970s. It's weirdly twee with boring, big guitar riffs punctuated by just enough bizarre vocal harmonies and orchestral flourishes that it demands your attention. This trend just continues through the entire album. "Sweet Lady" is notably terrible and "Seaside Rendezvous" sounds better suited for musical theater than normal human listening. "The Prophet's Song" seems to go for a more proggy style and the first 4 minutes aren't that bad, but the crescendo of a cappella vocals in the round that goes on for two minutes is truly awful. A truly bizarre track that goes nowhere. "Love of My Life" is a comparatively sane track and a nice showcase of Freddie Mercury's undeniable vocal talent. "Good Company" would be a much better track without the banjolele. Then, of course, there is "Bohemian Rhapsody". On its own this is a delightfully strange, dizzying rock opera with such a massive place in pop culture that it's hard to hear for what it is. I think listening to it in its context on this album actually makes me like it less. The first ~half of the song is considerably more enjoyable than anything else on the album, but the operatic interlude in the middle is kind of ruined. The crescendo towards the return of the guitars after this interlude and the outro are, like the first half, still more enjoyable than most of the album. And rounding it out with the contemptible "God Save the Queen". Ugh. Admittedly, Brian May's arrangement isn't in itself offensive. Overall I liked this far less than I anticipated. I knew Queen weren't my favorite band and that they verge on a particular kind of over-the-top that I don't care for, but I guess I had never sit down and listened to a full album of it. Turns out "over-the-top" and "I don't care for [it]" are understatements. 3/10