Hadn't listened to this album in its entirety and while the hits are hits for a reason and still hold up as true classics, I thought the album was a little slow at times. I still think "I just cant get enough" doesn't fit on this album - the mood is light and fun and the rest of the album is dark and moody. I did really like The Blue Dress and would add that one to a b-side playlist.

Really liked Changes (hadnt heard that before) and the rest of the album seemed pretty much like Black Sabbath -- killer guitar solos and wailing vocals from Ozzy. Good album

You wanna be starting something? Yes. Maybe it’s a dance party. Maybe it’s getting late after a cordial backyard bbq where most people have gone home to put their little ones to sleep. Maybe yours is asleep. But you — you’re far from asleep. Maybe you’re ready to start something….anything. and because you’re a good neighbor you corral the 10 stragglers left who also want to start something and don’t care about their little ones getting enough sleep into the garage where the music can be turned up without waking a baby or a neighbor. And maybe you drop the needle on side one of Thriller and hear that fucking beat and look around to see the hips start to shake. You shove strollers and wrenches and baseballs out of the way to make space on the dusty cement floor of the garage so web developers and writers and project managers can move freely. A whiskey bottle appears, more champagne, a beer bottle explodes on the floor but you just laugh. You hear Michael talking about babies “if you can’t feed a baby, then don’t have a baby” — “is he talking to me”? you wonder through the fog of booze and push the thought away to keep dancing, hoping the music doesn’t wake your sleeping kid. The beat is pulsing and urgent. “You're a vegetable” you sing along (can that be the right lyric?) and if feels like a brass band is in the room with you. It starts getting hazy and Michael’s frenetic singing makes you feel like if you keep moving you’ll stop time and tonight you want to make it all stop and just stay in this moment, listening to this beat forever. Sweat is starting to drip from foreheads, as you dance together in a hypnotic rhythm to the familiar beat that’s been in your collective consciousness for your entire lives —moving more freely now like you did when you were 5 dancing to this song in your best friend's bedroom. Maybe you look around and see your friends flailing their limbs — also pushing out thoughts of babies and middle age and waking neighbors and crushing responsibility. Because tonight we have one — to start something and have it never end. We move and shake and start to clap in a state of ecstasy as we all scream “hee ha” together. It doesn’t matter what song comes after, because this song — this moment — seems to last forever. It feels like my birth and the release of Thriller happened at nearly the same time. There were nights sitting at the top of the stairs when my parents had a party below, this album playing too loud for me to sleep. It was the 80’s and they were in their prime. They’d shout “hee ha” while downing vodka gimlets and giggling, no doubt also wondering if they’d made the right choice about kids, worrying about their own crushing responsibility (me) and no doubt hoping that that moment could last forever. Maybe it’s still going. We’ll never have an album so strange and so popular and so good ever again. This was it. Nonsense words (tenderoni), breathy “huh huh ugh” and “the funk of 40,000 years” spoken by a ghoul will never again be on an album that is as mainstream as this one. But it all just worked. (All except the girl is mine…that song should not be on this album).

This was a fun one to listen to on a Saturday morning while making pottery. I like this genre a lot but prefer some other albums of the era to this one. I can see where he influenced a lot of people. Not sure I would listen again in its entirety but would pick a song out to put on a playlist.

Nice jazz. His style is a little frenetic for me, but you can't go wrong with a classic jazz artist like Thelonious Monk. It's more accessible than some of his other albums.

My only exposure to The The was "this is the day" which is a killer song that I sing in my head when anything important is going to happen. Like when we push Folders live -- that song will be the anthem for the day! I thought this was a weird album and want to continue giving it some time to process. It sounds very of it's time (the intense saxophone feels so '80s).

This was the last album David Bowie made while he was dying of cancer. You could hear it in the music. It's a great final album from one of the best creative forces this world had to offer us. Not sure I would listen repeatedly (maybe I'll save find solace in it if/when I experience my own suffering). I really loved his words around being free like a bird -- he has a melancholy outlook on his fate. He's not ready to go yet but somehow imagining death as something other than an end. RIP to the best.

You know that moment in the party when the periphery friends leave and it’s just you and your forever bestie who you’ve known for a million years. You’ve had way more to drink than you care to admit and the energy mellows and the conversation wanders to the “old days.” You talk about who you were and how you got to be who you are now and how music has changed (or have YOU changed?) The playlist ends so you crawl over to the bookshelf and start riffling through the records. You find it. The one. You both sit on the carpet, directly in front of the speakers (it’s the only way to consume music properly) and you are primed to properly consume THIS album. The conversation fades to singing, because who can resist these goddamn harmonies. Some basic instinct kicks in and you let the vocals spring from you in a laughable attempt to harmonize at the loudest volume your diaphragm can handle. You Feel. Every. Word. Your bestie Feels. Every. Word. Your partners have long abandoned the two of you lest they feel left out of the singalong that only two old friends could truly participate in. You start softly rocking back and forth, holding hands, eyes closed, trying to harmonize after the many bottles of wine and only one of you really sounds like Simon. The other is off key and fucking up the words, but it doesn’t matter because this is poetry, man. Fucking poetry. 


Like the rough draft of Bohemian Rhapsody! I thought I knew every Queen song but this album was all new to me! It had a cool rock opera feel to it, which I really enjoy. I could see owning this on vinyl and listening to it again on a proper stereo system. Ogre battle was cool -- in fact the whole B side was really good.

I can imagine there’s a girl who’s 18 in 1993 and she’s checking out a show at a basement bar off-campus that serves up both vegan sandwiches and punk rock and this band is playing. She hits it off with a guy wearing a wallet chain and a hoodie under a jean jacket covered in Black Flag patches and they date for like 5 minutes. He’s 24 and lives way off campus and thinks Eddie Vedder can suck it. His room is painted jet black and he smokes unfiltered Marlboro reds in bed and drinks coffee all day and all night when he’s not drinking PBR tall boys. He’s aloof, slightly alcoholic and doesn’t return calls and he’s all she can think about. He ghosts her. She goes to the record store and gets this CD so she can wallow in her heartbreak. She listens to “I keep coming back” on repeat until the CD starts to skip. She walks around in a state of depression with “Brother Woodrow” playing through her walkman headphones. This album will get her through that painful first breakup. Sadly this wasn’t my first breakup album, but it should’ve been. If only I’d been born earlier I could see where this would’ve seeped into my psyche. I can also see how it can feel anachronistic to listen to it in 2024 when the angst-ridden patina of the 90’s seemed to wear off long ago. I still happen to love the jangly guitars, off-key vocals and weird indie cult mythology of this era so I'll likely listen again when I want to reminisce about my old love -- the 90s.

I love Nick Cave and admit that I hadn't heard this album. He is one of those artists who puts out an incredible amount of work that spans decades and so sometimes I can be overwhelming. I'm impartial to his early work that's dark and creepy and verbose, but some of the later albums are so beautiful (No More Shall We Part is incredible). This one starts with a bang and kind of ended with a whimper but I will still come back to it. The more you listen, the better it gets is what I've learned about Nick Cave. Seeing him again live in May. He's a force onstage and a true artist. (Also, funny side note: Nick Cave the visual artist is also amazing. Look him up!)

This is a solid album! It feels like an indie rock musical with themes that keep popping up throughout. I always love when this album comes on but I dont always reach for it.

I love Sound and Vision. The minute I hear the beat it makes me so happy. I hadn't spent much time with the full album and it's a little hard to get into. A lot of instrumentals I could probably do without. Not as great as some of his other albums in my opinion.

I actually really liked this album. The first track was really cool and some of the beats on various songs were great. A cool, quirky soundtrack that would be fun to have on at a party. I'll put a few of these on my party playlists (yes, my parties are fun)

I've studied French since 7th grade, spent several summers living in the French alps in high school and have a degree in french studies, so I knew Jacques Brel well. The stereotype of the french (he was belgian) crooner, talking about ships and drinking and the cold northern cost of europe really appealed to me. When I was given a mix tape with a Scott Walker cover of the Jacques Brel song "Sons of" years and years ago, I was again drawn to this wildly reclusive, stylish, overly bravado'd musician. (It helped that the mixtape was given by a guy I truly loved). We'd smoke cigarettes and fist pump to the overly instrumental earnestness of Scott Walkers delivery and pretend we lived in another time. I get that this is not for everyone, but damn, this man can sing. And digging into his life a bit, he has quite an interesting story (there is a cool doc about him making a record in the early 2000's) as a recluse and Brian Wilson-type genius. Anyway, I will gladly put this record on and revel in the melodrama.

The highlights here for me were the Neil Young tunes -- Broken Arrow, Mr. Soul, Learning to Fly...all great tunes. I happen to love Neil Young and this era of music. With an older brother who picked up the guitar at 13 and dove deep into the cannon of 60's and 70's guitar rock, I went along for the ride. There was always something I could connect to in Neil Young lyrics and voice -- maybe it was that he didn't have the polish of CSN -- but man, he had the soul. Where they built beautiful harmonies, he built tension. As an album, I thought it was little disjointed. I really liked "A child's claim to fame" and the Stephen Stills tracks. Generally a decent 70's rock album.

I love this album. The bravado, the anthems, the Britishness -- it's all there! Common People is a banger. Disco 2000 -- love. Sorted out for Es and Wizz basically tells the tale of being high without a cell phone in the 90's. Even after all this time, this album makes me happy from start to finish.

Can't go wrong with Frank Sinatra. Great listening for the fall to feel cozy and comforted.

This was a great album. I had only listened to Al Green's hits and as a full album, this really came together for me. I would 1000% grab this on vinyl and add it into heavy rotation.

70's, CBGB-era New York is my Marvel Universe. I listen to podcasts, read books, watch any movie about this particular era in music. I can't get enough. Imagine squatting in a 3,000 square foot loft in Soho making art in a leather jacket, then heading uptown to Max's Kansas City to catch a show and there's Lou Reed and Andy Warhol. Really cool time to be alive (I wasn't to my dismay). Blondie was always a peripheral in that universe -- not as punk as the Ramones and not as artsy as Patti Smith. But there was style. There was attitude. There were killer hooks. "While Heart of Glass" is a great tune, "One way or another" is where it's at. I enjoyed all of this album.

I have tried over and over to get into Blag Flag and it's just not for me. The manosphere is too strong to get through. I need my punk rock spiked with a little sugar and this was pure adrenaline all the time. I get why it appeals to people, just not for me.

I remember listening to Girlfriend in a Coma when I was 13 and fell in love with the Smiths. I loved the dark themes set to jangly guitars. I didn't listen to this full album until much later and there are some great songs here. Definitely not the best Smiths album in my opinion, and not a great album to start with if you dont know the Smiths. (That would be The Queen is Dead). It gets a little too "Morrissy" in some parts like "Unhappy Birthday" lol. But overall it's a solid album.

Again, 70's punk is my Marvel Universe. I eat up the lore around these bands. To be honest, Sex Pistols were not my favorite musically (New York Dolls and Richard Hell were wearing safety pins first and more interesting musically). But without Sex Pistols, we wouldn't have the Buzzcocks, Joy Division, the Fall, the Smiths etc. etc.

I stopped listening to The White Stripes after Seven Nation Army song hit so hard it was everywhere. I loved the first few albums by the White Stripes but as they became more produced the sound became more classic blues rock vs. sparse garage rock. A subtle distinction. That said, I did really like some of the less well known tunes on this album. And Meg White is a treasure -- seriously her drumming and singing is the best. If they removed the two massive hits (Blue Orchid and My Doorbell) I would listen a lot more. (I think Jack White got high and was waiting for pizza to be delivered when he wrote the Doorbell song.) Blue Orchid is far too overplayed at this point which can ruin any good song.

I like Fats Domino. So Long is a great song. This was more of a compilation of songs by a great artists rather than an album. He obviously influenced every soul and rock and roll artist of the 20th century so for that I'm forever grateful.

Embarrassingly, I hadn't given this album a proper listen and only really knew "I want to be adored". The influence of this album on Brit Pop, though, is so clear. I hear Oasis, Pulp, Belle and Sebastian, Blur. This album is the British version of The Replacements "Let it be" -- jangly, poppy, dancy, serious all at once. I love it.

Meh. I do like some Doors songs but there are so many better bands of this era and frankly better Doors albums. Jim Morrison was an inspiration for the early punks, so I have to give him that.

I didn't give it to close of a listen, but could not get into the slow saxophone. Maybe there is a better album to listen to, but generally a little too slow jazz for my preference.

Love the first song. The rest of the album was cool -- a bit Blur, a bit Yes, a bit all over the place but fun.

This was my first Wilco album I listened to and I loved it. The first half of the album has some amazing songs -- War on War, Ashes of American Flags, Jesus etc. The album looses a little luster toward the end, but I still think it's a top album for me.

I remember getting this album in the Columbia House CD racket (that my parents ended up paying for dearly) and finding it a little hard to grasp as a 12 year old. It's an ok album but not an REM stand-out for me.

Cry me a river is a good song. Too bad it destroyed another woman's career.

I went into this unenthusiastically but ended up enjoying it. Feels like a great album to have on while doing chores around the house or sipping coffee in the morning. It brought back memories of riding our bikes into Red Hook in Brooklyn and heading to the back room of Sonny's bar. Musicians would sit in a circle playing improve bluegrass. Anyone could participate, but you only would if you had actual talent. I imagine they covered some of the tunes on this album.

Jimi Hendrix can be overplayed but these songs are killer. May this be Love is a favorite and the Wind Cries Mary. You can really hear how he influenced punk rock later in the decade and guitar rock in general. good album.

I love Different Class by Pulp but could never get into this album. Feels like brit pop had hit it's peak by the time this came out. The song Dishes really feels like it's trying hard to find subject matter. I'd probably stick to the first two pulp albums.