426
Albums Rated
3.24
Average Rating
39%
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663 albums remaining
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1980s
Favorite Decade
Hip-hop
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US
Top Origin
Wordsmith
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56
5-Star Albums
20
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heaux Tales | 5 | 2.68 | +2.32 |
| Alien Lanes | 5 | 2.75 | +2.25 |
| My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts | 5 | 2.79 | +2.21 |
| Third/Sister Lovers | 5 | 2.79 | +2.21 |
| A Wizard, A True Star | 5 | 2.83 | +2.17 |
| 69 Love Songs | 5 | 2.84 | +2.16 |
| Only Built 4 Cuban Linx | 5 | 2.86 | +2.14 |
| Paris 1919 | 5 | 2.95 | +2.05 |
| Slanted And Enchanted | 5 | 3.03 | +1.97 |
| Germfree Adolescents | 5 | 3.04 | +1.96 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Stranger | 1 | 3.86 | -2.86 |
| Californication | 1 | 3.7 | -2.7 |
| Hotel California | 1 | 3.6 | -2.6 |
| Black Holes and Revelations | 1 | 3.59 | -2.59 |
| The Dark Side Of The Moon | 2 | 4.43 | -2.43 |
| 25 | 1 | 3.36 | -2.36 |
| Fragile | 1 | 3.32 | -2.32 |
| The Yes Album | 1 | 3.31 | -2.31 |
| Shake Your Money Maker | 1 | 3.29 | -2.29 |
| Close To The Edge | 1 | 3.19 | -2.19 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Beatles | 5 | 4.8 |
| The Beach Boys | 3 | 4.67 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins | 2 | 5 |
| The Velvet Underground | 2 | 5 |
| Pixies | 2 | 5 |
| Brian Eno | 4 | 4.25 |
| R.E.M. | 3 | 4.33 |
| The Kinks | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 3 | 1 |
| Tim Buckley | 2 | 1 |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 2 | 1.5 |
| Led Zeppelin | 4 | 2.25 |
5-Star Albums (56)
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Popular Reviews
Steely Dan
2/5
they're the best there is at what they do, and what they do sucks
2 likes
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
1/5
the worst part about being murdered by nick cave is that you'll die knowing he's gonna sing one of his little shitass songs about it
2 likes
Beatles
5/5
my favourite beatles record. the red canadian version was one of my first lps. this version has more songs, unfortunately including "you can't do that," one of john's spousal abuse anthems.
2 likes
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
i've been walking around shouting "THIS IS RELIGION!" in a johnny rotten voice all day. my wife is annoyed, my cat worried. has got to be one of the worst songs ever recorded; the spoken word version doubly so. a real twat, this guy.
the guitar on annalisa and public image is interesting enough to elevate the album to a 2, which really just means i'd take it over most 70s prog.
1 likes
1-Star Albums (20)
All Ratings
The White Stripes
2/5
PLONK PLONK PLONK PLONK PLONK
The Who
3/5
doesn't even have "Boris the Spider" on it
Nirvana
2/5
Yes
1/5
Willie Nelson
3/5
Otis Redding
3/5
Patti Smith
3/5
The Notorious B.I.G.
4/5
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Van Morrison
4/5
Tricky
2/5
Depeche Mode
3/5
never been a fan but i dig the mood of this album. "Agent Orange" is great.
Brian Eno
3/5
Pavement
5/5
pavement were my favourite band in jr high so this was fun
Cream
2/5
Taylor Swift
2/5
John Coltrane
4/5
Scott Walker
4/5
De La Soul
5/5
Foo Fighters
2/5
Weather Report
1/5
i get that jaco pastorius was the best bass player in the world. wayne shorter's 60s solo records and work with the jazz messengers are some of my favourite jazz albums. but goddamn if this isn't some of the worst shit i've ever heard
David Bowie
3/5
lifelong bowie fan but this wouldn't even crack my top ten bowie albums. doesn't do anything ziggy didn't do much better.
The Byrds
4/5
full of little surprises that reward close listening. "space odyssey", set in the far-off future of 1996, is the only misstep, and it's too goofy to hate. great album
2Pac
2/5
Carole King
2/5
i know she wrote 'em but there's no world where i would listen to these versions over the shirelles or aretha.
Jethro Tull
2/5
not as much fun as i remember jethro tull being. kind of a drag.
Tito Puente
3/5
always psyched to see something outside the pop/rock sphere on this list. i only knew tito puente from his brief stint as music teacher at Springfield Elementary. this is good fun.
Dizzee Rascal
3/5
maybe not my thing but its creative and weird. some big hooks and wild beats. "jezebel" sucks tho
Arcade Fire
2/5
UB40
2/5
American Music Club
2/5
was psyched to find something completely new to me (never heard of it!) but it just reminded me of better things (country feedback, evan dando's gram parsons obsession).
Marvin Gaye
4/5
one of his great "____'s G_____ On" records. this one's a concept album about a guy who likes to fuck. i like to imagine the look on the faces of the guys behind the console when marv dropped "stop beatin' 'round the bush."
the title track remains funny, horny, ecstatic, unimpeachable, even after so many bad movie needle drops have turned it into a cliché. funnier and hornier still is the reprise "keep gettin' it on" at the end of side a, reminding you that he is, indeed, still gettin' it on ten minutes later. fucks my shit up everytime.
love the drums at the end of "please don't stay." love the little red toque. love the pacman-ass typeface on the cover.
last record he told us "god is love" and here he tells us sex is love. law of commutativity. we're all sensitive people with so much to give.
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
loved it.
Kate Bush
3/5
despite years of recommendations from big boi and my friend jack, i've never latched on. still, i dig the invention and the self-consciously weird stuff even when the worst bits feel like performance poetry. and who could dislike a song about falling in love with a computer program from 1989?
Björk
4/5
Led Zeppelin
2/5
side three is pretty good. the rest sucks.
Peter Frampton
2/5
the talking guitar parts are corny as hell, but my heart sank even more when he pulled out the acoustic. how has he managed to convince us this was a rock record for 50 years? who can explain the staying power of this record? was it the wayne's world joke? lisa bonet and big mountain? spotify tried to sell me frampton comes alive keychains and throw blankets.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
try as i might, i've never been a fan. he gets a lifetime pass for his half of "shipbuilding" tho.
reading contemporary reviews of this record is a real lesson in how poorly we can predict what will become a classic. oh well. "a man out of time" and "you little fool" are among his best, i figure.
Nick Drake
4/5
not sure why kendrick has such a problem with this guy he seems chill
The Police
3/5
you just know he suggested calling it "stingchronicity" at least once.
andy's always been the star member for me, and he's got some cool guitar parts here. some fun synth across the board. "mother" is great and makes me wish the guys had let themselves had a bit more fun sometimes.
Metallica
3/5
i grew up in the napster/st. anger era so i've never known a world where these guys were anything but corndogs. coolest thing they ever did was help raise the alarm on the west memphis three, but it took the dixie chicks to find the real killers.
Soundgarden
2/5
kim thayil's a cool guitarist and i dug some of the psychier songs, but the rest is mid90s dross.
Talking Heads
4/5
yeah this is a lot of fun
M.I.A.
3/5
timbaland drops an all-time worst guest verse on the last song
The Flaming Lips
5/5
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
i've been walking around shouting "THIS IS RELIGION!" in a johnny rotten voice all day. my wife is annoyed, my cat worried. has got to be one of the worst songs ever recorded; the spoken word version doubly so. a real twat, this guy.
the guitar on annalisa and public image is interesting enough to elevate the album to a 2, which really just means i'd take it over most 70s prog.
The Black Crowes
1/5
there is no conceivable universe in which this is essential listening
Duke Ellington
3/5
John Cale
5/5
the beginning of a pretty incredible 70s run (don't skip the live album or the ep), even if it is the baroque outlier. this was my first time listening to the whole album in ten or fifteen years, and it was even better than i remember.
Steely Dan
2/5
they're the best there is at what they do, and what they do sucks
Sonic Youth
3/5
i had their poster up in my bedroom as a teenager and i loved Sister and Daydream Nation, both of which are better than this record (i also had Goo, which is probably worse). now i figure they're kind of a buncha jerkoffs. one of us hasn't aged well. either way, i'll never forgive 'em for being bullies to Nardwuar.
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
there was one summer i listened to this on my discman on repeat. i met a girl at summer camp who also loved it and she was the first girl i ever dated.
AC/DC
2/5
produced by mutt lange, so every song is a fiddle away from shania or a synthesizer away from loverboy. at least they sang about relatable things like being a woman or working for the weekend.
Beatles
5/5
my favourite beatles record. the red canadian version was one of my first lps. this version has more songs, unfortunately including "you can't do that," one of john's spousal abuse anthems.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
some cool production
Elvis Presley
3/5
https://youtu.be/t5Tg_-LDyfg?si=3b8QVwn8z2yul-c_
ABBA
3/5
coulda sent this up with the voyager spacecraft instead of those gold records. it would have served the same purpose. timeless but frozen in the seventies. universal but swedish as hell. even at their corniest ("the tiger," "dum dum diddle") they've got more hooks than a barrel of monkeys. if i had written "knowing me knowing you" i'd retire and die happy.
Gillian Welch
3/5
Bob Dylan
4/5
Chicago
2/5
these guys would call the cops if you offered them a joint
Cocteau Twins
5/5
i wish i could play this record for my the cure- and my bloody valentine-loving 16 year-old self.
Billy Bragg
4/5
Jimmy Smith
2/5
Eminem
2/5
he's got skills but you'd swear he invented internal rhyme according to the hype. the best rapper of all time if you've never heard rap before or you don't listen to black people. if only he'd used his powers for good. instead we get more gay jokes about nsync over some of the weakest beats in hip hop history. shit sucked when it came out and its just embarrasing now. best moment is the LFO parody.
Def Leppard
2/5
shit sucks
Raekwon
5/5
R.E.M.
5/5
one of the first cds i ever owned, but this was the first time i've listened to it in maybe 20 years, and though i'd reach for murmur, new adventures in hi-fi or up most days, i can't deny this might be their best set of songs, and the band never sounded better. but what struck me this spin was how formative and album this was for me in the late 90s. it not only acted as a gateway to lots of indie and college rock, but michael stipe offered a model of masculinity i could relate to and hadn't seen before. so yeah, maybe i am who i am in part because of this record.
Wu-Tang Clan
5/5
Sonic Youth
4/5
easily their best album
Lightning Bolt
3/5
years ago i heard jack black say he loved the idea of the show Battlebots but was bored to death watching Battlebots. i love the idea of lightning bolt, love the album artwork, love the song titles, but whenever i sit down to listen to it i'm bored outta my mind. i'll give it three stars cause the drumming's great, and i always hope some day i'll come around on it, and its abysmal ranking here bums me out when its still a million times more creative and fun than a lot of the records on this list.
Green Day
3/5
Roni Size
2/5
ps1 racing game-ass music
Various Artists
5/5
George Michael
2/5
Nine Inch Nails
2/5
so much of the 90s sucked in this exact way
Incubus
1/5
this shit was everywhere when i was in junior high - it's honestly much worse than i remember
Manu Chao
2/5
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
"all my friends" is fantastic. the rest feels like a joke i'm not in on
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
3/5
Supergrass
3/5
Adele
1/5
hated every second of it
Kanye West
5/5
sags a bit after runaway, but it wouldn't be the best album of whichever decade it belongs to if we lost "yeezy taught me." an incredible album all the more because of its flaws, meanderings, and self-indulgence. he err... reupholstered the game with this one.
The Cure
4/5
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
4/5
The Clash
5/5
kicks off maybe the strongest five-album run of rock history
Randy Newman
4/5
"rednecks" is still scathing, and "louisiana 1927" feels more prescient than historic in the wake of katrina. light-hearted and furious, often in the same song. human kindness overflowing.
Lauryn Hill
4/5
Primal Scream
2/5
a few interesting moments but it doesn't do anything that a truckload of other 90s albums didn't do better
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
Marty Robbins
4/5
Joe Ely
3/5
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
3/5
Gene Clark
2/5
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2/5
goth elrond
Butthole Surfers
3/5
remember that scene in high fidelity where two green-haired teens start a shitty band called the kinky wizards and their music blows john cusack's mind to the point that he reconsiders his entire life? this album sounds like the kinky wizards.
Beck
4/5
Cornershop
4/5
4/5
didn't think compilations and archival recordings like these would make it on the list. the bootleg (just a name) series has a number of bright spots i'd take over bobbadee's studio albums any day - the isle of wight concert on vol. 10, the piano demo of "i'll keep it with mine," all seven drunken hours of the basement tapes. this one is a good way to spend an hour and a half but won't set your world on fire.
The Band
5/5
were we a serious nation, we'd put rick danko's face on the loonie. "give me five timbits for a danko," we'd say. "sour cream glaze." levon got an elton john song, manuel got the stick shift, robbie got his screwdriver. garth got a twofer with the river AND wayne's buddy. it's only fair.
Beatles
5/5
a game i like to play with double albums: cut it down and resequence it to 45 minutes. any singles, demos, outtakes from the recording sessions are fair game. here's my tracklist for the white album:
1. Glass Onion
2. Martha My Dear
3. I'm So Tired
4. Sexy Sadie
5. Don't Pass Me By
6. Julia
7. Revolution 9
8. Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me & My Monkey
9. I Will
10. Cry Baby Cry
11. Why Don't We Do It In the Road
12. Happiness is a Warm Gun
13. Long, Long, Long
14. Hey Jude
alternatively cut "revolution 9" into a few short tracks and put it in between tracks, rap skit-style. if you won't let me have "hey jude," replace it with "rocky raccoon" 3 times.
Jacques Brel
3/5
Dire Straits
2/5
set your strats to "quack," boys
sure, some people miss that "money for nothing" is in character, but that doesn't change the fact that it's just a rich asshole making fun of working class people. at least the weird al version had a message we can all get behind (that beverly hillbillies was a tv show that existed).
3/5
Method Man
4/5
classic wu tang clan.
Arcade Fire
3/5
i bought this the day it was released, same as i did with funeral (not so much a brag as evidence of my being a dyed-in-the-wool pitchfork-reading piece of shit.) it was my 18th birthday. i remember being disappointed by Neon Bible at first but i still played it on repeat for months. at least it had a better version of no cars go than the original ep.
listening for the first time ages, just a few weeks shy of its 18th anniversary, i gotta stand by my gut reaction. no cars go might be their best song but the new material doesn't do anything that Funeral didn't do better. their records go downhill pretty hard after this one. years of the band's insufferable cornballism and rock star bullshit have revealed them to be as shallow and phony as every other rock band that came before them.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
Cowboy Junkies
3/5
Mike Oldfield
3/5
1/5
i hope everyone involved feels bad about what they've done
Elvis Costello
4/5
he's got better songs but iunno if he's got a better album. great musicianship from Clover and spunky production from Nick Lowe.
two cost'lo records down, only four to go.
Nas
4/5
Sisters Of Mercy
3/5
Beastie Boys
4/5
this was great! i could see it growing into a five star record for me over time
The Velvet Underground
5/5
i'd give this five stars for "all tomorrow's parties" alone. that song is a black monolith and i'm just a buncha stupid apes
Erykah Badu
4/5
OutKast
4/5
if you like speakerboxxx check out big boi's first proper solo album.
3/5
Funkadelic
4/5
Spiritualized
3/5
Lorde
2/5
woof
Ministry
2/5
Jesus built you a hot rod and this is all you've done with it?
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
1/5
Brian Eno
5/5
i bought this record on a whim as a teenager, an easy mark for the original artwork and the title, and having a basic idea of who the guys were. i'd still put it in my top 3 of the talking heads extended universe. it's still funny, danceable, and surprising after however many years. newer pressings have cut one haram track but it's not a major loss. cultural appropriation was always the point. hindsight is what it always is.
if the "psychedelic african" guitar hooks you, check out King Sunny Adé, who is shamefully omitted from the list to make space for three kings of leon cds, i guess.
Franz Ferdinand
3/5
sounds like 2004, for better or worse
Cee Lo Green
3/5
Iron Maiden
4/5
i usually skip pre-bruce maiden but this was great. the production's not as bad as its reputation. most of the songs hold up, but charlotte the harlot sucks.
Judas Priest
4/5
some headbangers and some buttwigglers
Crowded House
2/5
"chocolate cake" is one of the worst songs i've ever heard. and they made it the opening track and a single. unfortunately the rest isn't much better.
Led Zeppelin
2/5
cracks me up when plant gets all i'll-have-what-she's-having mimicking page's guitar. corny shit!
Liz Phair
3/5
4/5
Elvis Presley
3/5
Paul Simon
2/5
this was famously a simon and garfunkel reunion album until paul erased art's bits and claimed it for himself. hard to tell who came out on top there; maybe garf saw the writing on the subway wall. but there's a few high points: the magritte song is lovely and it's always great to hear nile rodgers pop up. cars are cars is stupid as hell.
David Bowie
5/5
a great album, more fun than they say and not as big a leap from his overlooked early 2000's work as they'd have you believe (compare "where are we now" to "heathen (the rays)" or "valentine's day" to the one about uncle floyd). overshadowed by blackstar, maybe. not a difficult record, but one that takes a few listens to unfold. sideman david torn returns with some excellent guitar work. i dig the artwork too.
Kanye West
4/5
too many skits, too many songs. but the highs are some of the highest of the decade.
David Bowie
5/5
bowie's best
John Martyn
2/5
The War On Drugs
2/5
the only drug they're gonna take off the streets is ambien. at least daft punk had the smarts to bring in nile rodgers to lively up their retrofetish horseshit. they worship a guy who said "don't look back" but make some Lot's wife-ass music.
Manic Street Preachers
2/5
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Talking Heads
5/5
take a drink every time there's a chord change
Beastie Boys
4/5
a blast
George Harrison
4/5
consider the third lp as bonus tracks (do the same for Sandanista)
Jungle Brothers
4/5
a document from a beautiful moment that seems like an alternate dimension now. the posse cut here is much better than the single version. but what good is a posse if they don't stop you from rapping lines like "her breast provides the nutrition for growth"
Cat Stevens
3/5
Can
4/5
Donovan
4/5
Led Zeppelin
3/5
Maxwell
2/5
Buena Vista Social Club
3/5
this album was inescapable in the late 90s. it was fun to revisit it.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
i dunno if this site will ever make a real fan out of me, but this was the most enjoyable of the three costello records i've heard
Isaac Hayes
4/5
Grateful Dead
3/5
Pretenders
4/5
The Who
3/5
The Doors
2/5
for gods' sake man, put on a shirt
Belle & Sebastian
4/5
i was introduced to belle & sebastian the proper way: a mix tape from a weird goth girl a grade ahead of me in the early 2000s. i liked salinger and mcsweeney's and wes anderson so this shit was catnip to me. unfortunately they never had the good graces to give it a rest; they grew into a parody of their worst tendancies and we just grew up. "we rule the school" is the high point here, but the real dorks know their EPs were always better than their albums.
Deep Purple
4/5
came for 0-3-5 but found jesus. lament the dearth, er, death of heavy metal organ.
Michael Jackson
3/5
Goldfrapp
4/5
Tim Buckley
1/5
Violent Femmes
3/5
Ryan Adams
3/5
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
3/5
helpless is great
Fiona Apple
1/5
some cool diy production can't save it
Solomon Burke
3/5
Red Hot Chili Peppers
1/5
kind of astonishing that you can have the most interesting guitarist of the 90s alternative rock scene, an incredible bass player, and a guy who looks like will ferrell and still be the worst band in music history. everything kiedis touches turns to trash.
Queen
2/5
Parliament
4/5
give the people what they want
Lucinda Williams
3/5
Sonic Youth
3/5
a big part of growing up is learning it's ok to not give a shit about sonic youth
David Ackles
2/5
Michael Jackson
3/5
Throwing Muses
2/5
i get how this woulda been cool in the 80s
David Bowie
2/5
title track holds up, the rest is mostly fine. but that across the universe cover is a war crime.
Coldplay
2/5
Paul McCartney
3/5
Khaled
2/5
always psyched to see something outside of the anglosphere on this list. this was fun, but unfortunately the late-90s-ass production really holds this back. it's introduced me to raï music though, and i'm looking forward to digging into the genre.
Beatles
4/5
i got this on the 55th anniversary of paul quitting the band. beep beep; beep beep yeah
there was a time this was frontrunner with critics for best record of all time. not sure how Abbey Road of all records made it to the top on this site, but i guess the people want "maxwell's silver hammer."
either way, some crackerjack tracks: "norwegian wood," "nowhere man," ringo's tune. love the sitar, the stratocasters, and the harpsichord. and it inspired at least one murakami novel and a short story. but paul is in an exceptionally corny mood, and john is particularly vindictive (i still reject the reading that he burns down the house though). that sharp inhale in "girl" is the kind of sin only someone bigger than the beatles could forgive.
Elliott Smith
3/5
The Prodigy
2/5
this sucks guys
Dolly Parton
4/5
Leonard Cohen
4/5
Miles Davis
3/5
The Electric Prunes
4/5
"Too Much to Dream" is an essential single from the wild west era of psych rock. Underground is probably the better album from these beleaguered boys, who remain a cautionary tale of record label meddling.
Those unconverted to goofy-ass early psych are best served by Nuggets or uh... the pack-in CD from the June 2003 issue of Uncut, both excluded by the list's bogus no-comps rule.
It's worth checking out the two lysergical, er, liturgical albums credited to the band but mostly performed by studio musicians, if only as a curio. They swap the late 60's silliness for late 60's self-seriousness, to a detriment. Free the Prunes!
Kate Bush
5/5
Joni Mitchell
2/5
John Grant
2/5
JAY Z
3/5
Joan Armatrading
4/5
joan's cool
Grizzly Bear
2/5
Anthrax
4/5
i only knew them from the tony hawk pro skater 2 soundtrack before this. not a big thrash guy but this is pretty great.
Adam & The Ants
3/5
this is pretty campy and fun but some of the songs go on too long and some of them just suck
Prince
3/5
yknow aside from the starfish it's a pretty unremarkable breakfast
The Associates
2/5
Bee Gees
3/5
even as a bee gees apologist and baroque pop fan, i can't recommend this in good faith. listen to the '69 best of instead.
Rage Against The Machine
3/5
Tom Waits
3/5
Billy Joel
1/5
he called it the stranger cause listening to it is an existential ordeal
Julian Cope
1/5
ever wondered what it would sound like if nick cave covered emf's unbelievable?
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
i love neil young as much as the next canadian, and he made some great records with crazy horse, but i've never really dug this one.
Sam Cooke
5/5
The Jam
4/5
this is good! i remember picking up a jam compilation as a teenager and not really digging it, too bad i hadn't found this record instead.
Aretha Franklin
4/5
Mj Cole
2/5
i know there are albums ranked lower overall but i don't think i've seen one with so few 5/5 reviews
The Crusaders
3/5
title track remains killer (i only knew it from the version on the jackie brown soundtrack) but the rest is a little too cool jazz for me.
Devendra Banhart
1/5
definitely the worst album i've been generated so far
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
pretty good for a ZWAN side project
The Everly Brothers
4/5
don't need to tell you about the harmonies but there's some surprisingly great guitar work here too
The Darkness
3/5
Elton John
2/5
levon's great but the rest of this is pretty overblown and silly. indian sunset might be the worst thing ever written
Led Zeppelin
2/5
mostly shit but i like it when they sing about gollum
The Who
3/5
a singles band who tried too hard to be an albums band. this is a cool cultural artifact with a few great songs but the same rule applies for all who albums: just listen to the fantastic comp Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy instead and have a great time.
Kings of Leon
2/5
remember that time a buncha pigeons shit all over these guys at a concert? good times.
Paul Simon
3/5
this list needs more african music but this ain't the way to do it
Thundercat
3/5
not really my thing but it's a lot of fun. pharrell is a buzzkill tho.
Hüsker Dü
4/5
Black Sabbath
4/5
great soundtrack for replastering the bathroom walls on a long weekend
Q-Tip
4/5
Fatboy Slim
3/5
ecstasy is a helluva drug
Living Colour
4/5
Pink Floyd
2/5
they shoulda packed it up when Syd quit, as Gilmour was a lousy replacement. they were a great space rock band but this album marks the beginning of a journey up their own ass. dull, painfully literal stuff. pick up Relics, a comp of their early singles and film work, instead.
The Modern Lovers
5/5
Marilyn Manson
2/5
i bet this is great if you're a 42-year old with a fetlife account
The White Stripes
3/5
i'm not a fan of the band or jack white's bullshit in general, but i do have a bit of nostalgia for this one - my best friend in high school was a big fan and a few of these songs were on mix tapes we traded- the whole first side was pretty familiar. the nurse is a stand-out track. but even the 35-second song feel too long by about half.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
2/5
Pentangle
4/5
Santana
3/5
https://youtu.be/VKvNn70m4PA
Simon & Garfunkel
2/5
my dad had s&g's greatest hits playing on an endless loop at home when i was a kid. i could no sooner rate the sound of our old dishwasher.
Jazmine Sullivan
5/5
i listened to it twice in a row and then the deluxe edition. can't remember the last time i had an album like that.
Beatles
5/5
what are your twenties for if not experimenting with drugs and hare krishna?
ZZ Top
3/5
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
less than a quarter of the way through the list and this is my fourth cost'lo record. it woulda been kinda cool to include some of his later experiments like his jazz stuff or his collab with the roots rather than include six of his pretty good pop albums. as always, there's a few very good songs and a few stinkers. i like the north american cover better.
Brian Eno
5/5
Os Mutantes
4/5
Nina Simone
4/5
Animal Collective
4/5
this album was huge when it came out. a few of my friends played it on repeat all of summer 2009. it holds up
Thin Lizzy
4/5
jailbreak is one of my favourite albums - this is an odd choice to represent the band, but it's still very good.
Ella Fitzgerald
4/5
The Magnetic Fields
5/5
Randy Newman
3/5
Brian Wilson
3/5
the legend is better than the songs, but there's something particularly ghastly about this late-career reenactment. yer better off listening to smiley smile, which is a better album than its reputation and a lot more fun than this. those unsatisfied can dig the smile sessions released in 2011, or dewey cox's masterpiece "black sheep" ("i want an army of digeridoos... fifty thousand digeridoos!")
Jorge Ben Jor
5/5
Talking Heads
3/5
The Libertines
3/5
Cyndi Lauper
5/5
bangerz
Nick Drake
4/5
Slayer
2/5
The Beach Boys
4/5
Earth, Wind & Fire
4/5
Björk
4/5
Massive Attack
2/5
honk shoo honk shoo mimimimimi
Arctic Monkeys
2/5
the oasis of the 2000s (both suck)
John Lennon
4/5
4/5
groovy shit
Super Furry Animals
3/5
Portishead
2/5
Dr. Octagon
4/5
advanced stuff
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
3/5
strong contender for worst album cover on the list lol
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
The Auteurs
3/5
presages britpop but not as good as a lot of the albums that would come in its wake. good guitar sound tho
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
1/5
the worst part about being murdered by nick cave is that you'll die knowing he's gonna sing one of his little shitass songs about it
The Cardigans
4/5
Black Sabbath
3/5
Todd Rundgren
5/5
Alice Cooper
4/5
they really were a killer group, and it's a shame vince's later shock-shlock eclipsed these records in the popular imagination. check out dennis dunaway's bass on bdb.
my older brother was crazy about all eras of alice, and indoctrinated me as a baby. a thrift store copy of this was also one of my earliest lps, unfortunately missing the $1000000000 bill.
Gorillaz
3/5
even as somebody who loved think tank and the solo albums, this is pretty self-indulgent stuff from damon. other gorillaz albums, especially plastic beach, are a better use of your time.
Stan Getz
3/5
Faith No More
2/5
it sucks, but it sucks in weird and creative ways
Rahul Dev Burman
4/5
hard not to like this one
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
america's a great song
X-Ray Spex
5/5
Bill Callahan
2/5
Rush
2/5
the little racist motif in "passage to bangkok" made me spit out my coffee.
The Adverts
4/5
The Beta Band
2/5
"i don't wanna be the type of guy / who lives alone, reading books / and never eats a pizza pie"
as someone who both reads books and enjoys pizza, i could not relate to their music
Bauhaus
3/5
MGMT
4/5
this came out right as i was starting university and my best friend at the time was obsessed with it. now i'm twice as old lol.
Megadeth
3/5
Serge Gainsbourg
2/5
at least it's only 27 minutes long
Pixies
5/5
pixies coulda wrote heart-shaped box but nirvana could never write tony's theme
Slade
3/5
Black Sabbath
4/5
B.B. King
3/5
Lou Reed
4/5
camp has never been trou lou, but this is a solid album by any measure and it bankrolled his career so i say god bless it. i too like to watch things on tv.
take coney island baby, street hassle, new york, blue mask, animal serenade, take no prisoners, or junior dad instead. our man's at his most generous at his most demanding. the glory of love, give it to me now.
Tom Waits
4/5
The Smiths
5/5
hatful of hollow and louder than bombs are more essential but this is their best studio album
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Fugazi
4/5
The Birthday Party
3/5
the band are cool but nick's desperate spooky man shtick is so corny
The Last Shadow Puppets
3/5
better than the arctic monkeys, but most things are
Nirvana
3/5
Sly & The Family Stone
5/5
King Crimson
2/5
R.E.M.
4/5
LCD Soundsystem
2/5
this man's music and character are repulsive to me
Madonna
2/5
shanti/ashtangi might be the worst thing she's ever done; at least american life embraced the inherent comedy of her billionaire buddhist schtick. the english lyrics here don't fare much better (candy perfume girl would be embarrassing for anyone to sing, let alone a 39-year old). the production still sounds pretty good, but the songs don't hold up well enough to bother unless you're a big madge fan
The Stooges
4/5
Garbage
3/5
gets points cause "queer" was on big shiny tunes 1
Creedence Clearwater Revival
2/5
sweaty ass
Sepultura
4/5
cool record
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Metallica
3/5
1/5
undignified
N.W.A.
3/5
it all rings a bit whacky whack coming from a bluetooth headphones empresario and the star of amazon prime's war of the worlds. i guess we got played like a poo butt. but the title track, fuck tha police, and xpress yself hold up. dig the closing cut as the missing link between 80s and 90s hip hop.
Pixies
5/5
Ian Dury
3/5
The Kinks
5/5
Common
4/5
Emmylou Harris
3/5
i like emmylou, and i like willa cather, but i can't abide dave matthews
Frank Sinatra
3/5
The Mamas & The Papas
3/5
Johnny Cash
3/5
the title track's cool, and he makes something great out of nin's pissbaby song. of the rest, the folkier numbers fare better than the pop covers. despite the sentimental production and the presence of some godawful guests (fiona apple, nick cave, john frusciante, don henley), i do have a soft spot for this. 'cause it reminds me of my dad.
covers i wish he had recorded before he died:
dan johnston's "speeding motorcycle"
smashing pumpkins' "bullet with butterfly wings"
jonathan richman's "pablo picasso"
roky erickson's "i walked with a zombie"
john lennon's "oh yoko"
White Denim
2/5
well it sure is white
Cypress Hill
4/5
The Verve
3/5
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5/5
not a perfect record (sail away is forgettable and welfare mothers regrettable) but it's one of my favourite neil albums
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
4/5
Gang Of Four
5/5
Blondie
4/5
Paul Weller
2/5
this sucks
Simply Red
2/5
Dusty Springfield
3/5
Stevie Wonder
2/5
Traffic
2/5
Machito
3/5
The Velvet Underground
5/5
3/5
The Flaming Lips
3/5
i was 13 when this came out and i loved it. it doesn't hold up as much as soft bulletin but its still fun
Hugh Masekela
4/5
this is cool
The Soft Boys
4/5
this is very good
Kendrick Lamar
4/5
Louis Prima
4/5
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
king curtis! popular opinion woulda put his 1970 solo debut here, but i like it when the lesser known albums are included.
Brian Eno
4/5
one of the surprises of this challenge has been learning that i am apparently a brian eno fan
The Kinks
4/5
Norah Jones
3/5
this record was huge when it came out. i knew every song despite never intentionally listening to it.
Madness
2/5
Baaba Maal
3/5
Big Star
5/5
one of my favourite albums since i first heard it in high school. the rykodisc track listing (which seems to be the one linked here, though many songs are missing on spotify) is the best one.
The Beach Boys
5/5
Billy Bragg
4/5
love you billy
Death In Vegas
3/5
nice surprise appearance by jim reid!
Aretha Franklin
4/5
wtf is that top comment man
aretha rules. Young Gifted and Black is also an essential record (not on this list)
Sparks
4/5
have you watched Annette, the Sparks musical starring Adam Driver? it rules
Marvin Gaye
3/5
The Residents
3/5
The Cars
4/5
yknow i always thought she was wearing a big hat but it's her arm.
Deep Purple
4/5
Ash
3/5
unpretentious 90s rock
David Bowie
4/5
grading this one on a curve a bit - it's great but it's nowhere near as good as Low so I gotta dock marks a bit
Pink Floyd
3/5
a good record when you're 13 years old, and 13 year-olds deserve their own good records. but it's tough to take it seriously as an adult.
OutKast
5/5
if big boi got hair, good album y'got there
if big boi be shorn, that album be borin'
Ice Cube
4/5
"today was a good day" is his second greatest achievement (after using amazon prime to save the world)
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
i listened to this at 6 am after my bachelor party. i don't remember much
The Psychedelic Furs
4/5
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Mudhoney
3/5
Cocteau Twins
3/5
The Youngbloods
2/5
Bob Dylan
2/5
i got this on my wedding day lol. not a great omen.
i like dylan a lot and have listened to all his albums but honestly i've never seen what others see in this record.
Peter Tosh
3/5
Supergrass
4/5
AC/DC
2/5
The Pogues
5/5
had this cd in my car stereo for most of high school
The Icarus Line
2/5
Elbow
2/5
4/5
Duran Duran
3/5
808 State
3/5
The Beach Boys
5/5
Quicksilver Messenger Service
3/5
Talking Heads
4/5
Amy Winehouse
3/5
Wilco
4/5
"jesus, etc" is one of the best songs of the 2000s but the rest of the record never grabbed me much. it was on my ipod for at least ten years but i mostly just listened to that one song.
Ray Charles
2/5
my introduction to ray charles was a pepsi commercial but this is a bigger artistic sell out
The Streets
4/5
this record made a huge splash when it came out. i didn't get it then but i appreciate it now
The Isley Brothers
4/5
ernie can shred
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Donald Fagen
2/5
one of the worst parts of growing up is watching your friends become steely dan fans
ABBA
4/5
surprising album
The Temptations
3/5
papa was a rolling stone is great
Badly Drawn Boy
3/5
TV On The Radio
4/5
Prince
5/5
hell yeah
Germs
3/5
Finley Quaye
2/5
i kinda liked the last track but the rest sucked
The Monkees
4/5
i love the monkees.
Elvis Presley
3/5
"suspicious minds" (his best song) woulda bumped this up to 4 stars, but it's a bonus track. i don't make the rules.
Astrud Gilberto
4/5
Eagles
1/5
i thought the title track was the worst song of all time, but they made 8 more that are somehow worse
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
Guided By Voices
5/5
in bob we trust
Magazine
3/5
Marianne Faithfull
3/5
not at all what i expected. kinda cool
1/5
the owl city to radiohead's postal service.
Hot Chip
2/5
pet shop boys for the terminally straight
Yes
1/5
if i've gained one thing from this website it's an appreciation for the things in my life that are not Yes records
The Police
3/5
this was the first vinyl record i ever bought (25 cents at a garage sale in 2000). i dunno if i ever listened to anything past the first song on each side though. the weirder tracks make you wish they'd cut loose more.
Public Enemy
5/5
hell yeah
Funkadelic
5/5
cool
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
5/5
great band. i was a teenager in the early 2000s and i kind of dismissed them as part of a wave of mediocre indie rock. i was missing out.
5/5
CHVRCHES
4/5
"the mother we share" is one of the best songs of the decade but nothing else really lives up to it
Suede
5/5
great record. i had the tape as a teenager but had to hide it from my older brothers cause of the artwork lol
Snoop Dogg
3/5
Ute Lemper
3/5
Frank Sinatra
2/5
Shivkumar Sharma
3/5
Drive-By Truckers
4/5
great band. for my money Go-Go Boots is their best record though
Tim Buckley
1/5
and i thought happy/sad was bad
Janelle Monáe
3/5
at its weirdest, it's cool.
George Michael
2/5
Steely Dan
2/5
To quote Richard Brautigan:
"I don’t care how God-damn smart
these guys are: I’m bored."
Burning Spear
4/5
Leftfield
3/5
kinda reminded me of Perfect Dark on the n64
Beyoncé
1/5
threw this on at my 9-to-5 job to hear "all these people workin' 9 to 5 just to stay alive"
beyonce net worth: $800 million
hey, fuck you!
Air
4/5
great book, great movie, good album but Sloan's songs were just as important to the atmosphere of the movie as Air's
The Replacements
5/5
the first time i heard these guys i stayed up all night listening to "let it be," "tim," and "pleased to meet me" over and over and over. one of those "where has this been my whole life?" discoveries.
4/5
The Saints
4/5
this is pretty cool
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
2/5
Tina Turner
5/5
this record rules. the production sounds like that MacGruff the Crime Dog anti-drug tape. the cover songs are bananas. i was already gonna give it a 5 before 1984 started and i spit out my coffee. don't be a coward - go for the five-hour remastered edition.
New Order
5/5
i'd take them over joy division most days as i am not a nihilist, but not all days as i do get sad sometimes. the frog noises on Perfect Kiss cheer me up.
i used to have a copy of this record with the nice obi. not sure where that went. i also have fond memories of listening to Brotherhood on my walkman. both good records, but their defining document is the Substance comp of 12" mixes.
R.E.M.
4/5
the least interesting of their IRS records but still very good