401
Albums Rated
3.09
Average Rating
37%
Complete
688 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1980s
Favorite Decade
Reggae
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
41
5-Star Albums
40
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
KE*A*H** (Psalm 69)
Ministry
|
5 | 2.69 | +2.31 |
|
Damaged
Black Flag
|
5 | 2.87 | +2.13 |
|
Reign In Blood
Slayer
|
5 | 2.96 | +2.04 |
|
Porcupine
Echo And The Bunnymen
|
5 | 3.09 | +1.91 |
|
Rocks
Aerosmith
|
5 | 3.12 | +1.88 |
|
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
|
5 | 3.15 | +1.85 |
|
Ocean Rain
Echo And The Bunnymen
|
5 | 3.22 | +1.78 |
|
Closer
Joy Division
|
5 | 3.22 | +1.78 |
|
Emergency On Planet Earth
Jamiroquai
|
5 | 3.27 | +1.73 |
|
B-52's
The B-52's
|
5 | 3.29 | +1.71 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
|
1 | 3.32 | -2.32 |
|
Deloused in the Comatorium
The Mars Volta
|
1 | 3.2 | -2.2 |
|
The Boatman's Call
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
|
1 | 3.2 | -2.2 |
|
Close To The Edge
Yes
|
1 | 3.19 | -2.19 |
|
Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Fiona Apple
|
1 | 3.19 | -2.19 |
|
Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Spiritualized
|
1 | 3.15 | -2.15 |
|
Clube Da Esquina
Milton Nascimento
|
1 | 3.12 | -2.12 |
|
Henry's Dream
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
|
1 | 3.11 | -2.11 |
|
NEU! 75
Neu!
|
1 | 3.09 | -2.09 |
|
Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo
MC Solaar
|
1 | 3.09 | -2.09 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Echo And The Bunnymen | 3 | 4.67 |
| Joy Division | 2 | 5 |
| Bob Marley & The Wailers | 3 | 4.33 |
| Black Sabbath | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 4 | 1 |
| Scott Walker | 2 | 1 |
| Can | 2 | 1.5 |
| Spiritualized | 2 | 1.5 |
| The Mothers Of Invention | 2 | 1.5 |
| Björk | 3 | 2 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Radiohead | 5, 2 |
5-Star Albums (41)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
The xx
3/5
Solid Indie Pop album. I appreciated the Hall & Oates sample in "On Hold". Lots of powerful, emotional and raw lyrics.
3/5
2 likes
Badly Drawn Boy
3/5
More British pop/rock! This list is loaded with it. It's fine for the most part, but if we're really talking about albums we must hear before we die, I don't think these late 90's, early 2000's British groups are what are meant to hear. There are a ton of better options.
Oh well, on we go.
This is a group I've never heard of before, and I have to say, I was mildly impressed with their album here. It's not outstanding, drop-dead, MUST listen to, but it's pleasant enough. A lot of weird, force fed commercial-like, "we need to sound trippy!" tracks on it. I don't get it, that was played out in the 90's, dudes.
3/5
2 likes
Paul Simon
5/5
Both of my parents were big folk music lovers, so I've heard this album many, many times growing up. As an adult, hearing it for this project just made my day. Excellent work here. Paul Simon writes the words about emotions that I have but can't put to words.
2 likes
Slayer
5/5
SLAYER!!!! This is the penultimate Slayer album. Rick Rubin is a genius producer and made Slayer sound like they were playing in a studio and not in a garage like they did on Hell Awaits.
Raining Blood is the best song on this, but don't miss Angel of Death and Jesus Saves.
5/5 because SLAYER!!!! and this album was and may be one of the best metal albums of all time.
1 likes
Can
1/5
Ugh, stop sending me these horrible experimental krautrock albums! I hated this as much as that Holger guy.
1/5
1 likes
4-Star Albums (102)
1-Star Albums (40)
All Ratings
Big Black
2/5
Anthrax
4/5
Outstanding album, lots of energy and great riffs.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Perennial classic Led Zeppelin. Moved away from the heavy blues-influenced songs and went for more classic rock with blues-inspired riffs. Contains the masterpiece, "Stairway to Heaven", but the real bangers on this album are 4 Sticks, Going to California, and Misty Mountain Hop. Not a bad song on this album.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
I absolutely love Joni Mitchell and her work. I was raised hearing her early work and fell in love with it. I basically made it up to "Court and Spark" and was introduced to this album just recently. This album continues where 1974's masterpiece, "Court and Spark" left off and gives us the jazz-rock sound that was such a departure from her earlier work.
Overall, I love this album and can't understand how it was panned when it was first released, but it makes sense because Court and Spark was a masterpiece and a sequel to a masterpiece always falls short. This one has it's highlights too and can be considered an equal.
Highlights:
"In France They Kiss on Main Street":
The only single from this album that gained any popularity, and for good reason. It features Jeff "Skunk" Baxter on guitar who did a lot of work with Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers and lots of other L.A.-based musicians. Victor Feldman on electric piano (read Rhodes), who also contributed a lot to the Yacht Rock scene of Los Angeles later in the decade. James Taylor, Graham Nash, and David Crosby all provide backing vocals to this song which is catchy and gets you right into the mood. It reminds me a lot of "A Free Man in Paris" and could be considered a sequel to that song although the lyrics have nothing to do with Paris or France. Heh.
"Don't Interrupt The Sorrow" - Kinda funky, groovy and I love the guitar work on this one. Lyrics refer to a woman standing up to male dominance, which is just awesome.
"Shades of Scarlett Conquering" - I wonder if Taylor Swift has heard this. It's very woman empowering and standing up for women's rights. Great tune.
"Harry's House ⁄ Centerpiece" - Really good song, probably the best on this album. Love the bridge to classic jazz moving into the Centerpiece part of this song.
The Notorious B.I.G.
4/5
A must listen for any rap/hip-hop enthusiast. This is definitely east coast rap, not as funky as west coast. But still, this is an important album and very well done.
Buck Owens
4/5
Classic country album, by the master of the "Bakersfield Sound". I was originally going to list what songs I liked those most, but after listening to the entire album, there really isn't a bad song on this one! Check it out if you want to hear some great classic country and western music.
Don't miss/skip these tracks:
Let The Sad Times Roll On
Streets of Laredo
A Maiden's Prayer
3.5/5 if I could, so I'll go for the higher of the 2 and rate it a 4. :-)
King Crimson
2/5
Full Disclaimer: I know this album is very influential for other prog rock groups to come, but to be quite honest, this album is just a bit beyond my level of prog rock enjoyment. It goes way too wacky in too many spots.
It's a bit chaotic to start with 21st Century Schizoid Man, lots of noise and random bits of instruments thrown in there. I Talk To The Wind is a lot more mellow with a very nice flute solo to end out the song. I fell asleep listening to Epitaph and Moonchild.
The last track, The Court of the Crimson King, is a nice wrap-up for this album. Again, not my favorite stuff here, but I appreciate the influential nature of it. 2.25/5, so I'm rounding down to 2.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
Have heard of this group before because of the song "Maps", but really never listened to any of their full albums, this is my first full listen. This has a real garage band sound but so much guitar fuzz and awesome lyrics makes it approachable and I enjoyed it a lot. The song "No No No" goes a bit spacey and annoyed me. "Modern Romance" is a cool song but I had to give it a 1 star because they did the stupid "air of silence" to get to "Poor Song" which sucks.
Songs I dig:
Date With the Night
Tick
Black Tongue
Maps (best on the album)
Yeah! New York
After doing the math in Apple Music, I came up with a 2.75/5 rating, so I'm rounding up to 3. Good album!
Otis Redding
3/5
I really enjoyed this album. Not very long but filled with beautiful soul. Otis nails it perfectly. I really liked it, and recommend it to anyone who wants to experience a perfect soul and blues album.
3/5
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
3/5
I have never heard of this group, so this was a pleasant surprise for me. I liked this album a lot. Reminds me a bit of The Smiths, but less depressing.
Songs I like the most:
Rattlesnakes
Forest Fire
Four Flights Up
Patience
3/5.
Fishbone
4/5
I'm a huge Fishbone fan. This album is probably their best as an overall work although their other albums have great tunes on it. This one covers the entire range of music that Fishbone embodies. Funk, Ska, Punk, Rock. They are extremely talented musicians and it shows in all of the songs on here.
Top listens:
Bonin' In The Boneyard
Question of Life
One Day
Ma and Pa
Freddie's Dead (great cover)
Billy Bragg
2/5
Was a bit of a rough listen for me. Sounds a lot like a mixture of classic country with Irish folk/bar music. Not as innovative as My Morning Jacket, just blah songs one after another. I did enjoy "Birds and Ships" though.
2.33/5 according to my album rating on iTunes, so I'm going with a 2.
Aretha Franklin
5/5
A masterpiece of soul. The standard for which every soul singer should set for themselves. This is outstanding.
5/5.
Randy Newman
4/5
I grew up listening to this album, and grew to love it more and more as time has gone on.
Highlight songs:
Sail Away
Burn On
4/5
Everything But The Girl
4/5
I really enjoy this album. Much different than their 90's work, but still heartfelt and emotion in the lyrics.
Highlight songs:
These Early Days
I Always Was Your Girl
Oxford Street
Blue Moon Rose
4/5
The Mamas & The Papas
5/5
Classic California folk rock album. John Phillips is a brilliant songwriter and it shows on this entire piece of work.
Song Highlights:
Monday, Monday
Got A Feelin'
Go Where You Wanna Go
California Dreamin'
Spanish Harlem
4.5/5 which turns into a 5.
Nirvana
5/5
Fun story about this album for me. When it first came out, and MTV couldn't stop playing Smells Like Teen Spirit over and over, I disliked it. As I got older, I started to respect the album more and more. Now, I absolutely understand that is one of the best rock albums of all time. Generation defining work here.
Check out the bass line on Come As You Are and tell me it doesn't sound like Killing Joke's song "Eighties". Interesting!
Great album all throughout. 5/5
Christina Aguilera
2/5
Definitely one of her best albums. Goes away from the sugar pop music she had from her early releases and definitely hits more to home and she opens up a lot about herself. I enjoyed it, but it's nothing to write home about.
Beautiful is a great song, along with Dirrty, and I liked Loving Me 4 Me too.
2/5
Donovan
2/5
Not much that I like on this album. Lots of sitar music and it's like Donovan is on the cusp of the hippie psychedelic scene, but he's Scottish.
1.5/5 = 2 stars.
Fairport Convention
4/5
This is a very British folk album and I like it. Great drinking songs on here, even though I don't drink. ;-)
Highlights:
Come All Ye
Matty Groves
Farewell, Farewell
Medley∶ The Lark in the Morning ⁄ Rakish Paddy ⁄ Foxhunter's Jig ⁄ Toss the Feathers
4/5
Radiohead
5/5
When this album came out, I was worried that Radiohead would fall into the infamous sophmore slump that many bands do on their second album. Their debut was excellent, so I went into this album a bit weary.
Turns out, this is a great album, far better than Pablo Honey in my opinion and set that stage for their best album, OK Computer a couple years later.
Highlight songs:
(Nice Dream)
My Iron Lung
Fake Plastic Trees
5/5
Black Flag
5/5
Raw power hardcore punk music. Rollins is angry and he shows it through every song.
My favorites:
Six Pack
TV Party
Thirsty and Miserable
Room 13
Must-listen if you say you like punk music.
5/5
Heaven 17
4/5
I can thank the GTA series of video games to introducing me to Heaven 17. Penthouse and Pavement was in GTA Vice City Stories and I immediately enjoyed it. I went out and bought this album on CD not long after it and fell in love with it. It's by far their best album and completely envelopes the entire New Wave Synth-Pop song with some very funky bass playing thrown on top of it.
Bonus points: The lead singer looks like an adult Draco Malfoy in the video for the title track. lol
Must listen to songs:
(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang
Penthouse and Pavement
Soul Warfare (check out the awesome bass solo in this one!)
Let's All Make a Bomb
Essential New Wave album. Rating 4/5. Not a 5 because a few of the songs are boring and I skip them even after trying to make it through them a few times. (I'm looking at you Song With No Name.)
Richard Thompson
3/5
More pub drinking tunes from the Fairport Convention folks. It's got a few nice songs, but mostly it's meant for drunks in a pub.
3/5
Ministry
5/5
This album really changed how Ministry would sound going forward. Gone were the new wave synth and vocals. In comes a chain smoking Al Jougerson and heavy drum loops, samples and angry guitar riffs. This is my favorite Ministry album and it's not even close.
Song Highlights:
Just One Fix
Jesus Built My Hot Rod
Psalm 69
Grace
5/5
Cocteau Twins
2/5
So if you've never heard any songs by Cocteau Twins, this album is a good introduction, but it can be quite jarring at first listen because it's a bit disjointed in areas. The genre can be described as Dream Pop, just a bit wispy and floaty with the music and singing.
Speaking of lyrics, a lot of them are just thrown together with no real reason or meaning and they're often hard to understand. Overall, the album is OK, but it's not something I would listen to every day.
2/5
Song Highlights:
Lorelei
Pandora (For Cindy)
Aloysius
Cicely
Spacemen 3
1/5
Did not like this at all. Boring songs, can barely hear lyrics, just random feedback on the guitar. Just crap.
1/5
The Strokes
2/5
Good rock album for the most part. The songs sound a bit the same as I got further into the album. Hard driving drums, guitar and feedback vocals. Nothing really hit home as a masterpiece or outstanding track on the album. On the whole, it's fine, but just not my cup of tea I guess.
2/5
Highlight songs:
Soma
Someday
Fugees
4/5
Throwback hip hop and soul with a message that everyone should hear. I love this album so much.
Must listen songs:
Zealots
The Beast
Killing Me Softly
No Woman, No Cry
4/5
The Roots
3/5
This album gets really going with "Sacrifice" and gets better and better from there.
Great songs to check out:
Sacrifice
Break You Off
Quills (nice sample of Swing Out Sister's Breakout)
5/5
This should be mandatory listening to anyone younger than 30 for what real music should sound like. Perfect album all the way through.
Can't Miss Songs:
Five Years
Starman
Ziggy Stardust
Suffragette City
Bob Marley & The Wailers
5/5
You can't say you like reggae music and not have heard this album and rank it in the top 10 reggae albums of all time.
Must listen:
Concrete Jungle
Slave Driver
Stir It Up
5/5
The Yardbirds
4/5
Definitely have heard of The Yardbirds, but really never listened to any of their work. I've definitely heard of Jeff Beck who's guitar work on this album is outstanding. The blues influence is felt throughout mixed in with typical 60's British Pop. Great album, I enjoyed it a lot.
4/5
Fred Neil
4/5
I must have been sheltered growing up, because I've never heard of Fred Neil until today when this album popped up on my listen for the day.
I had no expectations going into this, but overall I'm liking this. Definitely folk music, but with some funky psychedelic guitar work. Very neat.
I had no idea Fred Neil wrote Everybody's Talkin', I love the Nilsson version, this one is excellent too. Best song on this album by far.
I rated a lot of songs 2 and 3 stars because of how I listen to music, but overall I understand the importance of this album and I believe it should be heard by more people.
4/5
Holger Czukay
1/5
Definitely not my cup of tea. I appreciate the free-form electronic music here, but I can't get behind any of it. It's all over the place.
1/5
Can
1/5
Ugh, stop sending me these horrible experimental krautrock albums! I hated this as much as that Holger guy.
1/5
The Libertines
3/5
Poppy bouncy Brit Rock. Not as good as The Smiths, but fun to listen to.
3/5
Ash
3/5
Reminds me a bit of Sonic Youth, with a bit of Foo Fighters. Nothing really stands out, but it's good overall.
Doves
2/5
Solid album, nothing standing out too much on it. Got kind of bored in the second half of it as all the songs started to sound the same. Not sure why this is an album I must hear before I die, I think I would've been fine never hearing it before. *shrug*
2/5
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
This is the one album that everyone should hear before they die.
Jurassic 5
4/5
Jurassic 5 came into my hemisphere in the late 90's with their first EP. It was full of quirky samples and songs, but nothing really cohesive. Power In Numbers is when they put it all together and delivered a great album.
Again, loaded with samples and old school rap references, but now with a more powerful message.
Great stuff here, don't miss out.
4/5
The Verve
4/5
I've heard Bitter Sweet Symphony way too many times to really enjoy it anymore. I do think it's a good song, but I'm still quite burned out on it. I was interested to hear the rest of this album.
Overall, I really liked this album and was going in expecting to hear a knockoff of Oasis or Radiohead and other 90's Britpop acts, but these guys are distinctly different. They remind me a lot of Echo and the Bunnymen in parts, and even older acts like The Beatles and Rolling Stones.
4/5
Echo And The Bunnymen
5/5
This is by far Echo's best album, although personally I like Porcupine on the whole better. This one has everything going for it, just amazing songwriting, and I pretty much love every song on it.
Pinnacle of their career and never made an album close to this.
4.5/5 which rounds up to a 5.
Metallica
3/5
When this album came out, I disliked it immediately. Mainly due to the fact that Enter Sandman was being played NON-STOP on every medium available to assault my ears. Granted, it's a good song, but overexposure caused me to really dislike this whole album.
I was big into Metallica and especially thought their Cliff Burton works (Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning, Matser of Puppets) were brilliant and probably their best work. I did like And Justice for All a lot as well, and thought it was their most polished piece of work, and they finally got attention from MTV with their video for the song "One".
When the Black Album came out, it was non stop hype. I bought the CD the first day it was available and listened to it all. I was impressed with a couple of tunes, but overall I hated it compared to their older works.
Over time, I've listened to this album more and more and have grown to appreciate all of it. It's not their best, nor is it ground breaking in anything other than putting a heavy metal band in the mainstream media's eyes.
Can't Miss Tracks:
Sad But True
Wherever I May Roam
Of Wolf and Man
Nothing Else Matters
3.25/5 which translates to a 3/5 on this scale.
Grizzly Bear
2/5
I get a lot of Crosby, Stills and Nash off this album. The opening track, Southern Point is really good.
Overall, it's a good album, but I highly doubt it's one everyone needs to hear before they die. 2/5
The Byrds
3/5
This is a big departure from other Byrds releases and it was a bit jarring to hear at first, but overall, it's a very good country and western album.
3/5
Ananda Shankar
1/5
Not gonna lie, the sitar versions of Jumpin' Jack Flash were a bit odd, but on a re-listen, I actually dug it a bit. The sitar being used as a vocal fill-in is a bit jarring but it works in this case.
Overall, this isn't my jam, but I appreciate it.
1/5
Dr. Octagon
1/5
Got about halfway through this album and realized I didn't like a single song yet. I skipped ahead and listened to about a minute of each song, and nothing was great or amazing. Sorry, this is not an album I must before I die. It's not great.
1/5
Soul II Soul
3/5
Just to make sure, I listened to the 10th Anniversary Edition as opposed to the original release in 1989, which did not include the radio mix of Back to Life. The original release just has the a cappella version which is kind of boring compared to the radio mix.
This album really gets you up and grooving, with a downtempo groove and smooth beats. Good stuff here.
3/5
The Black Keys
4/5
I've heard Black Keys songs on and off for quite a while now, but this was the first time I've sat and listened to an entire album. This one is pretty good. Fuzzy blues guitar, feedback vocals, with a throwback to the 70's Blues sound of Zeppelin in parts.
Overall, a good album and I would recommend it.
3.5/5 which translates to a 4/5 on this scale.
The Stooges
2/5
I've heard of the group and Iggy Pop of course, but never took a deep dive into their albums.
I recognized I Wanna Be Your Dog and it's kind of cool, sounds a bit like a Rolling Stones ripoff, but somewhat different.
I had to skip We Will Fall, it was boring as hell and really had nothing going on. Just incoherent rambling and chanting.
Ugh, the rest of this album is just boring and lacks anything interesting. I could have died and not heard this album and been just fine.
2/5.
Flamin' Groovies
4/5
I had never heard of this group before this 1001 album project and I'm sure glad they came up. I'm a huge fan of the Stones' Sticky Fingers which came out a month after this album and it's like you could merge both and have a perfect double album.
This is really good. I liked most of the tracks on this album, but don't miss out on City Lights and Yesterday's Numbers, and the title track. Just solid rock and roll blues here.
4/5
Malcolm McLaren
4/5
Pretty awesome album. Tons of samples used by later rap groups from World's Famous Supreme Team. Pretty groundbreaking for 1983.
Love the African music that Paul Simon came along and made super famous with "Graceland".
Must hear tracks:
Double Dutch
Punk It Up
Jive My Baby
3.5/5 which translates to a 4/5.
4/5
I really like this album. I'm a big Kinks fan, seeing how much they influenced later music and rock music in general. So underrated for their contributions.
4/5
The Replacements
2/5
Interesting album. I've heard a bunch of Replacements tunes over the years. My first introduction to them was off of the Say Anything soundtrack with their song "Within Your Reach", which was really good. This album came out after that song, and after listening to it, it definitely has it high points and some low points. Mainly, I didn't really get into any single song and say that's a masterpiece.
Overall, it's decent with some interesting guitar work. I dunno, something about this sounds like they're trying to be a punk band, but just lack the rage or creativity to get there. Maybe punk-light?
Good songs to check out:
We're Coming Out
Black Diamond
Sixteen Blue
2/5
Slipknot
4/5
I've always written Slipknot as some poser NuMetal band that wasn't worth my time back when they first came out. Wow, I have really matured with my music appreciation. This album is rock solid, and kicks ass! Reminds me a lot of Pantera at parts, with some heart and emotion (Snuff, Sulfur).
Overall, I enjoyed this album a lot.
4/5
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
4/5
Ahh yes, OMD before they became "mainstream" in the US. This is really one of their best albums. No, it didn't produce the major hits like their latter works did, but overall, this is album was so influential to other synth-pop groups that would come later in the 80's.
Sounds a bit like Depeche Mode and The Cure, mixed with New Order with more pop-friendly vocals. However, their sound is very unique.
3.75/5 which translates to a 4/5 on this scale.
The Youngbloods
3/5
The curator of this list REALLY music like Folk Rock, because a ton of these albums I've listened to are folk rock-related or 60's group finding their country rock roots or vibes. Whatever, I'm OK with it as long as it's enjoyable to listen to. Let's see how this one is...
Starts out with a banger, Darkness, Darkness which grows in tempo and power as it goes on. Love the guitar work on it.
And I knew it wouldn't take long, an instrumental on the third song in. It's decent, but runs a bit long. Same old pattern with these 60's folk rock groups. On and on...
OK, I've made it through and I thought it was a decent album. Pretty solid and definitely doesn't sound like it came out in 1969, maybe more like a 70's folk act. I enjoyed the guitar work on this a lot.
2.75/5 stars which is a 3/5 on this scale.
Neu!
1/5
Oh great, more krautrock. I'm not sure why the curator of this list thought that everyone needs to hear this music before they die. It's nothing special at all. In fact, it's boring. I turned it off after the first 2 tracks. Knew the rest was the same garbage.
1/5
Sufjan Stevens
3/5
I've never listened to much of Sufjan Stevens stuff before. I didn't really rate any of the songs on this list, because I imagined it needed to be heard as a whole album, not select tracks.
It's an interesting album, and has some good music on it. I get that this is a concept album of some sorts, but I dunno, it just didn't feel like it was all that cohesive around a theme, except for stuff in Illinois. I've never been to Chicago or anywhere in Illinois other than airports, so maybe I'm just missing out the appeal of this album.
Music-wise, it's fine. Lyrics, *shrug* I guess they're OK?
2.5/5, so I have to give it a 3, since we still don't have half ratings in the year of our lord 2024.
Peter Frampton
3/5
I'll be the first to admit, I really dislike live concert albums. There are a handful of artists I have that I actually own their live work.
Frampton Comes Alive! is actually one of my favorite live performance albums of all time. Is it perfect? No, but it's a good listen. I normally skip live songs when they come up on my playlist shuffle, but for the most part I stick with Frampton.
Highlights:
Doobie Wah - obvious rip off of the Doobie Brothers, but it's great.
Lines On My Face - Just beautiful.
Show me the Way - amazing song, the first song I ever heard from this album.
Baby, I Love Your Way - Instant classic.
Do You Feel Like We Do - Surprisingly, this performance doesn't end the concert, instead it's on Disc 2 at the #3 slot. Oh well, this song is perfect in every way. Amazing guitar solo to end it.
3.25/5 (Pretty good rating for a live album)
De La Soul
4/5
De La Soul was rap pioneers by using classic jazz,funk,pop, soul samples in their music and this album was groundbreaking in showcasing that.
Samples from everything from Steely Dan to Hall & Oates and Parliament and everything in between. This is a must listen album.
It does have a lot of filler material, which makes it almost an album you have to listen from beginning to end to get it fully. But here's some tracks you can't miss:
The Magic Number
Ghetto Thang
Eye Know
Say No Go
Buddy
Plug Tunin (original 12" version)
Me Myself and I (look for the 7" single version to get the one that they played on MTV and radio)
This is a great album, and must be heard.
4/5
Incredible Bongo Band
3/5
Wow, how many rap groups have sampled from this album? I'd say more than a few.
Good stuff here. I prefer lyrics more than just instrumentals, but it's fun to listen to.
3/5
Paul Simon
5/5
Both of my parents were big folk music lovers, so I've heard this album many, many times growing up. As an adult, hearing it for this project just made my day. Excellent work here. Paul Simon writes the words about emotions that I have but can't put to words.
MC Solaar
1/5
Yup, this is a no from me. Not that it's bad, it's just I have a hard time listening and understanding all foreign language albums.
What's worse is that I didn't even like the music that much, there wasn't anything that stood out as outstanding.
1/5
Caetano Veloso
1/5
Yeah. No. Not for me. I think I forgot to turn off all foreign albums in my preferences for this project. Oh well, moving on..
1/5
The Fall
2/5
Never have heard of this group until this album popped up today. Interesting album, it's definitely got the post punk sound, but there's this REALLY ANNOYING keyboard sound on all the songs that goes along with the harmony. I hate it. Just for that alone, I just couldn't get into this album.
2/5
Os Mutantes
1/5
I guess the 1001 Album Generator hates me during this holiday season. 3 out of 4 days in a row with foreign music. I listened to about half of this album and again, didn't understand a word and the music wasn't anything that made it special.
Just not my jam.
1/5
Various Artists
3/5
Good compilation of Motown Christmas songs. Merry Christmas!
3/5
Cream
5/5
This is a superb album. Love the blues riffs over the great drumming from Ginger Baker. Clapton is in his element here. Just perfect all the way around.
This is a must listen.
Highlights:
Strange Brew
Sunshine of Your Love
SWLABR
5/5
Tito Puente
2/5
Well, it's another foreign language album, although this one is a lot more fun to listen to. However, that being said, it gets too repetitive where all the songs start to sound the same. So -2 stars for foreign language stuff, and another -1 star for being boring.
2/5
Metallica
4/5
This is my favorite Metallica album. I love every song on it. Musically, this is a bit different than Kill Em All. Much longer songs and more melody to them.
Must listen:
Master of Puppets
Welcome Home
Leper Messiah
The Thing That Should Not Be
4/5
Sisters Of Mercy
4/5
I first heard of this group from their song "This Corrosion" which comes off this album, but I must have heard the radio edit, I didn't realize it was 10 minutes long on the album.
This album is really good, but a lot of the songs run long, especially the title track at over 12 minutes. Overall, it's a gothic masterpiece and has definitely influenced later acts to come.
3.5/5 which is a 4/5 on this scale.
The Who
3/5
I'm not a huge live album fan, but this one is decent, it feels a lot more intimate than other live albums. I love The Who and all of their early singles are done well here.
Again, not an album everyone should hear before they die, I'd say other Who albums are more vital than this.
3/5
Terence Trent D'Arby
3/5
Just found out that he no longer goes by Terence Trent D'arby and now goes by Sananda Maitreya. They even re-released this album with his new name, which is cool, but I had the original on CD. It's a good, not as great as he thought it was when it came out, but it's a good listen.
Does it need to heard by everyone before they die? Not at all, but it's decent.
Good tunes:
Wishing Well
Dance Little Sister
Sign Your Name
3/5
Mike Oldfield
2/5
The Exorcist music. Long and drawn out. Not good for car jams.
2/5
Sex Pistols
5/5
First punk album I ever heard growing up. Loved it then, and still do now. Influenced the majority of modern punk bands. Just mad, angry yelling and pissed off lyrics about a bunch of society things. Pure energy and raw power. Good stuff.
5/5
Spiritualized
1/5
Nope. Not even close.
I think the author of this list is realllllly biased to mediocre British Pop/Rock/<insert whatever genre here>.
Boring, nothing interesting here.
1/5
Mike Ladd
3/5
Chill hip hop. Space hop if you will. Never have heard of this artist or album, so it was a nice surprise. Lyrics are good, music is decent too.
Nice to listen to when cleaning the house or just spacing out.
3/5
Joy Division
5/5
Absolute classic from Joy Division. The whole album is 🔥 🔥.
Haunting vocals, amazing bass and guitar work. Everyone must listen to this before they die, especially if they claim they love New Wave 80s music.
5/5
Björk
2/5
I like some Björk songs, and have been a bit disappointed by others. Unfortunately, this album doesn't really get "going". It's really slow and doesn't get me moving in any sort or form.
2/5
The Police
4/5
A great Police album. It starts off great with Message In A Bottle, and ends it with No Time This Time, both solid songs. The album's title track is so, so good, even for being an instrumental.
In between are a great example of what The Police were doing, bringing radio-friendly reggae to the world. Even the album's title, translates loosely to White Reggae, or maybe that IS the translation. That's what their early sound was, white boy reggae. Not that it's cultural appropriation or whatever people call it these days, it's more of a tribute to a great genre of music and bringing it to the masses in an approachable way. I don't blame them for playing music they like, and made it radio-friendly. This was happening a lot in late 70's Britain. The Specials, Madness, etc.. were all making similar music. The Police just softened up the ska and reggae sound and sold a lot of records.
This album was followed up by Zenyatta Mondatta which is nowhere as good as this one. Their pièce de résistance would come a few years later with Synchronicity, which is on this list too and it truly is an album you must hear before you die. Is this album worthy of a must listen before you die title? Yeah....kinda.
Must hear tracks:
Message In A Bottle
Reggatta De Blanc
Deathwish
Walking On The Moon
4/5
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
Wasn't expecting much from this group, as I did a bit of research and saw it was yet ANOTHER UK rock band from the 90's who the author of this list seems to love and forces them on us.
I listened all the way through and actually didn't think it was all that awful. Nothing spectacular, but I found a couple of songs that worked.
3/5
Prince
4/5
I love Prince. A lot. He was amazing in everything he did. Sign ″☮︎″ the Times is a double disc masterpiece. A blend of rock, funk, rap, and just Prince.
Great album, can't miss.
4/5
Badly Drawn Boy
3/5
More British pop/rock! This list is loaded with it. It's fine for the most part, but if we're really talking about albums we must hear before we die, I don't think these late 90's, early 2000's British groups are what are meant to hear. There are a ton of better options.
Oh well, on we go.
This is a group I've never heard of before, and I have to say, I was mildly impressed with their album here. It's not outstanding, drop-dead, MUST listen to, but it's pleasant enough. A lot of weird, force fed commercial-like, "we need to sound trippy!" tracks on it. I don't get it, that was played out in the 90's, dudes.
3/5
The United States Of America
2/5
Never heard of this group. So, cool, a new experience. 1st song fires up. It sounds like a really bad cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, meh, it's not that good.
OK, let's try the next song... hmm, interesting in parts, but again, it's sounds like they're trying too hard to be "psychedelic" with weird sounds and senseless lyrics.
Alright, seems the whole album is filled with it. I like it when groups experiment with different sounds, electronics, and whatever, but in the late 60's the technology just wasn't there to make it sound good.
Hard no on this album.
2/5 (I give them a bit of props for messing around with electronic sounds before Kraftwerk mastered it)
The Mothers Of Invention
2/5
I respect Frank Zappa and his massive influence on all sorts of music. I just haven't found anything of his that makes me want to listen to more than 15 minutes. This album is the same. *shrugs*
2/5 for some funny lyrics and making fun of 50's Dop Wop.
Kanye West
3/5
Pretty solid album from Kanye.
Standout tracks:
We Don't Care
All Falls Down
Get 'Em High
Through the Wire
Family Business
The B-52's
5/5
Ahh yes, their debut album. Lots of feelings about this one. Obviously, everyone who's heard of The B-52's knows at least 2 or 3 of their songs, Rock Lobster and Love Shack, and maybe Roam. But, this album is the one that started it all.
It's one of the essential New Wave albums, and I consider it one of the pillars to show that genre off to people. Absolutely perfect.
5/5
Sepultura
4/5
This album is a lot different than other Sepultura's albums I've listened to. Much more NuMetal-esque, but still rocks. I enjoyed it.
Slayer
5/5
SLAYER!!!! This is the penultimate Slayer album. Rick Rubin is a genius producer and made Slayer sound like they were playing in a studio and not in a garage like they did on Hell Awaits.
Raining Blood is the best song on this, but don't miss Angel of Death and Jesus Saves.
5/5 because SLAYER!!!! and this album was and may be one of the best metal albums of all time.
Van Halen
5/5
Starts out with one of the best opening tracks for an album of all time, Running With The Devil and finishes with On Fire, which sums this album up perfectly. On Fire!!!
In between we have an amazing guitar solo that Eddie used to do to warm up, Eruption. A cover of the classic Kings song You Really Got Me, and then classic Van Halen hits.
One of the best debut albums of all time, and a standard. Van Halen followed up this album with solid work, and maybe 1984 was the only one that came close to how good this album is.
5/5
Suzanne Vega
3/5
Solid debut from a good singer/songwriter. I enjoyed this for the most part. A couple of songs stood out:
Straight Lines
Neighborhood Girls
The rest is pretty standard coffee house/college folk music.
3/5
Wilco
4/5
Wasn't sure where this album was going with the first track, Misunderstood. I was thinking it wasn't going in the right direction as I rated that song a 1/5. After that, it got better, shorter songs, more classic rock feel to them. Sounds a bit like Beck, Tom Petty, Rolling Stones, My Morning Jacket... just a good mashup of styles. I dig it.
4/5
Dizzee Rascal
1/5
Hahhahaahah what is this crap? Sorry, dude, it's fine if you push the mediocre British pop rock bands on us, but this is, what do you English call it? SHITE.
Listen to US rap more and you'll see why this is a complete joke.
0/5, even the god awful Krautrock was better than this.
Tortoise
2/5
This is yet another instrumental post-rock album, and I guess I don't like the post-rock music genre, as I've yet to hear one that's good.
2/5 (for at least having coherent music and not random sounds and bangs and electronic shit thrown in for weirdness).
Brian Eno
2/5
I'm a big time Brian Eno and David Byrne fan from their other projects, so I was excited to hear this album for the first time. Never have heard of it before I started this project.
Starts off with America Is Waiting and while I like the weird, funky electronic sounds and samples of what I assume is news media stuff, it didn't really strike me as amazing.
From there, the album is getting weirder and weirder. Just not my cup of tea. Random sounds and unincorporated samples and electronic keyboards just isn't music to me.
I liked their work with Talking Heads, but this is an album I didn't need to hear before I die.
2/5 because I like both of the artists a lot and I understand they're both a bit weird.
The Beach Boys
3/5
Definitely not like their older music. I actually like The Beach Boys acting more grown up and tackling modern day issues like the environment (still an issue), social issues (still an issue), and the overall contempt for the Earth that seems to be prevalent.
Obviously, it's not Surfin' USA and Kokomo or anything like that, but it is a good album.
Disney Girls is a pretty awesome song. Overall, I'd listen to this again.
3/5
Missy Elliott
3/5
A really amazing debut album from Missy Elliot. Raunchy and raw, it showed that a woman can rap about the same shit as male rappers (fucking, drugs, etc..) and do it with class.
Good songs:
Pass Da Blunt
The Rain
Hit 'em Wit da Hee
3/5
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
Echo and the Bunnymen's debut album is a lot different than their later works. I still maintain that Porcupine is their best overall album, with Ocean Rain not too far behind. This album is definitely a beginning to something greater. Lots of good music on it.
Top tracks:
Going Up
Pride
Rescue
Pictures on My Wall
4/5
Alice In Chains
5/5
Angry, raw, pure grunge. I like every song on this album, but these stand out even more:
Dirt
Rooster
Would?
Dam That River
Angry Chair
If someone who has never heard grunge before asked you what it is, you'd have them listen to this album and Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger as the best examples of the genre.
5/5
Lou Reed
4/5
I have a kind of love/hate relationship with Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground in general. I like some of their songs a lot, and some I absolutely think are garbage.
This album is really good overall. Obviously "Walk on the Wild Side" is the most popular song from here, but there are other gems too.
Check out: Vicious, Andy's Chest, Wagon Wheel.
Definitely a must listen before you die.
4/5 because a few of these songs sound like Bowie rejects.
ABBA
4/5
I imagine this album will get bashed heavily in the reviews because it's ABBA and Dancing Queen is so played out. It didn't help that Mamma Mia thrust ABBA back into popular culture, but with Dancing Queen, they've always been a popular group among party-goers and jukeboxes around the world.
Overall, this album is really good. It has their biggest hits, and I would say only the "Gold" compilation has everything in one album, but if you had to go with a studio album of must-hear ABBA tunes, it would be this one.
Must hear? Yes. Enjoyable? It depends on if the listener can get over the sappy bubble gum pop lyrics. Musically, it's very good.
Tracks not to skip:
Knowing Me, Knowing You
Money, Money, Money
That's Me
Tiger
Arrival (very good instrumental)
Fernando
4/5
Peter Gabriel
4/5
Big fan of Peter Gabriel's music. He's always a bit out there with some of his tunes, but he usually nails it.
This album is a classic and should be heard by everyone before they die.
Can't miss:
Solsbury Hill
Slowburn
Waiting for the Big One
4/5
Joni Mitchell
5/5
This is Joni at her finest. A must-listen, although I like Song to a Seagull more. But, you cannot go wrong here. She is amazing.
Top songs:
All I Want
Carey
This Flight Tonight
A Case of You
River
5/5 = Absolute perfection.
Ryan Adams
3/5
Pretty decent album. I liked a lot of the songs. Overall, it was a good 90 minutes of solid American alt-country music.
Standout songs:
La Cienega Just Smiled
The Rescue Blues
Gonna Make You Love Me
3/5
Björk
2/5
Yup, not enjoying this one at all compared to her 90's releases. Boring music. I giver 2/5 stars because she's got some decent lyrics, but that's about it.
Fela Kuti
3/5
This was a fun record to listen to. I appreciate the rhythms and jazz/funk stylings throughout. Not much else to say, but it's a good listen.
3/5
The xx
3/5
Solid Indie Pop album. I appreciated the Hall & Oates sample in "On Hold". Lots of powerful, emotional and raw lyrics.
3/5
David Bowie
4/5
Bowie is always a pleasure to listen to when it comes up on this list.
Another one of Bowie's mid-70's transformation albums. Much less rock, more pop/jazz sounding than previous work.
Highlights:
Golden Years
TVC 15
Stay
Not my favorite Bowie album, but easy to listen to.
4/5
The Mars Volta
1/5
WTF is this?! Frantic guitars, weird vocals, just things thrown in there for "depth". Also, super long songs that suck.
1/5
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
Amazing album. A great mix of funk, psychedelia rock, soul... just outstanding. Everyday People is by far the best song on this album, but don't sleep on Stand, and I Want To Take You Higher.
4.25/5 which goes to a 4. Sex Machine is a bit too long and boring.
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
2/5
OK definitely not my favorite style of music. It all sounds the same. But! Buddy Holly was a really good guitarist.
I enjoyed the main single from this, "That'll Be The Day" and "Oh, Boy!" was good too, but the rest sounds fairly vanilla and boring. I appreciate the music for the time. Is it an album you must hear before you die? Sure, but it wouldn't be awful if you didn't.
2/5
Elis Regina
1/5
I swear I didn't select foreign music for ratings. I like the music a bit, but can't understand a single lyric.
1/5
Tom Tom Club
3/5
Classic New Wave. A bit goofy at times, but Genius of Love is really really good.
3/5
The Crusaders
4/5
I really do enjoy jazz/jazz funk music. This album is 95% instrumental with 1 vocal song ("Street Life"). I like that song, however, it is over 11 minutes long. Grab the single version of it and groove out to that instead. The album version is a bit too long for enjoying on a daily basis.
The rest of the album is solid. You can hear a lot of Crusaders influence on more modern jazz fusion/acid jazz groups like Jamiroquai. Good stuff.
4/5
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
1/5
Hhahhahaha, yeah, no.
I guess I'm just not that much into Classic Prog Rock, or maybe I haven't heard an album that really caught my interest. This is just a bunch of sounds with a keyboard, trying to make some semblance of a song.
Hard No.
1/5
Beatles
4/5
I grew up listening to all forms of the Beatles, from the early, bubble gum pop songs, like the ones on this album, to the complicated and more deep tracks in their later work.
I appreciate both eras of Beatles, pre and post Sgt. Pepper's. This album is fine. No single song stands out as drop dead amazing, but it does what it was intended, make a lot of money. The music is tight, vocal delivery from Paul, John, and George are solid. Well worth the 33 minutes to hear the whole thing.
4/5
T. Rex
4/5
I really wish there was a Marc Bolan and David Bowie collab out there somewhere. Maybe there is and I'm just not knowing what it is.
T. Rex is just pure glam 70's rock and I'm all here for it. Although I imagine a lot of people will say this is just ripping off Ziggy Stardust, I find it to be much different.
Songs you won't wanna miss: Metal Guru, The Slider
CHVRCHES
3/5
Way back in the day, in 2013, Apple Music, or I guess it was called iTunes then, would release an up and coming sample song from various artists, and the lead single for this album, The Mother We Share, was the featured song of the week. I thought it was pretty solid, so I grabbed the entire album, and was fairly impressed. The pop vocals and voice of Lauren Mayberry really work well on the tracks, especially when they synthesize her voice. The beats are solid and the electronic mixing is good.
Stand out songs: The Mother We Share, We Sink, Lies, Recover
Good pop-techno overall. Nothing to get too caught up on.
3/5 (like 3.45/5, but we can't do that fine of ratings, it's almost a 3.5)
The White Stripes
4/5
I enjoyed this album, although I had to skip Seven Nation Army because it is WAYYYYYY overdone at sporting events. I like the song and even rated it a 4/5 stars on my Apple Music library, but just couldn't bring myself to listen to it today.
The rest of the album is great, lots of garage rock fuzz guitar, some definite blues influence and even a hint of Zeppelin on "Ball and Biscuit".
Going off of my Apple Music rating for the album, it got a 3.28 score, but I'm going to give this a 4 out of 5 because I'm definitely going to listen to it a lot more.
Gotan Project
1/5
Nope.
Kings of Leon
3/5
Enjoyed this album, having never heard it before. I've heard of the group but am not familiar with any of their songs.
This was a good listen. Greasy, grungy, fuzzy. Sounded like listening to a friend's band in a backyard garage party in 2001. No song really stood out as amazing, but overall it's a good album to have on in the background in your house party in 2025.
3/5
Tears For Fears
5/5
Probably the one, if not the most, definitive 80's albums of the decade. It has it all, great vocals, lyrics, new wave synth work, rock influences. Just a masterpiece of an album.
5/5
Depeche Mode
5/5
Yesterday was Tears for Fears - Songs From The Big Chair, and today it's Violator. Violator is my favorite overall Depeche Mode album. As a whole. There are other albums that I think are just as good or better, but this one on the whole is pretty awesome.
Dark, haunting vocals, amazing new wave synth. Stuff your goth girlfriend loved in the very early 90's.
Do not sleep on this. Listen to it before you die.
5/5
Violent Femmes
4/5
3 days in a row of classic albums. I love it!
This Violent Femmes album is a good mixture of alternative folk music, with some post-punk influences, with awesome lyrics.
Yes, you should listen to it before you die.
Also listen to these songs before you die: Blister In The Sun, Add It Up, Kiss Off, Gone Daddy Gone.
4/5
Leonard Cohen
4/5
This good folkin' music!
4/5
The Pharcyde
3/5
I had not heard of this group or album before this project, and I grabbed this album before it actually popped up on my feed today, so I listened to the album before I have to actually rate it today.
This is a lot different hip hop/rap during the early 90's. Much more on the lines of Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, but more raw. Great album, good for any throwback rap session.
Songs to not miss:
Oh Shit
Pack the Pipe
Return of the B-Boy
3.25/5
The The
3/5
Excellent post-punk / new wave music here. I enjoyed the whole album, but it's nothing super amazing that everyone needs to hear before they die.
3/5
Beatles
3/5
Early Beatles work here again. It's 30 minutes of pure 60's pop music. There are some gems on this album, all written by John and Paul. No George Harrison tunes on this one. :-(
Overall, it's a solid pop album for the 60's. There are Beatles classics here, and the movie with the same name was the same drivel you see from modern boy/girl bands. All light-hearted.
The Beatles true genius would not be realized until Rubber Soul and onwards.
3/5
Nirvana
3/5
I absolutely disliked the MTV Unplugged series when it was going. I really only liked Nirvana's and Alice in Chains's Unplugged albums. This one has a wide range of their own material and covers (Meat Puppets, David Bowie, yayyyy!).
It's fine, I do like the version of All Apologies off of this than the studio version from In Utero.
3.4/5 so it's a 3.
Alanis Morissette
4/5
Wow, lots of feelings about this album.
First, with the history. I disliked the lead singles from this album. I thought You Oughta Know was pretentious and sounded like a jilted lover or maybe the other girl in an affair. It was whiny and I avoided whenever I could. Hard to do when it was being played once an hour on MTV and radio. Ironic was stupid because none of the scenarios Alanis was singing about were about irony. Maybe that was the whole point? Also, her voice annoyed me.
Fast forward 30 years to 2025, and I appreciate this album a LOT more than I did back in 1995 when it came out. I guess that's a big part of getting older, you start to experience all the things that songs or lyrics are written about. And lord knows I've had my share of those.
Music is good, lyrics still a bit pretentious and cringey in 2025, but I'll take it over most of the crap out there today.
4/5
Leonard Cohen
4/5
It must be Canadia week here at the 1001 Albums Generator. I got Alanis Morissette and Leonard Cohen twice this week alone.
I liked this album a lot more than Songs From a Room. This guy gets the folk thing down pat. Not much to say, other than I wish he sang with more emotion like fellow Canadian folk singer/songwrite Joni Mitchell.
3.5/5 which means 4/5
ZZ Top
3/5
Classic ZZ Top here. This album broke it wide open into the MTV era. No way do these guys sell many of this album without MTV.
It's good solid guitar rock with blues-influenced riffs. Really tight melodies and simple lyrics. Got a bit repetitive after a bit.
3.33/5
Songs you can't miss:
Sharp Dressed Man
I Need You Tonight
Legs
Bad Girl
Rod Stewart
4/5
Really good album here. Lots of Rod Stewart classics on it, including the massive "Maggie May". But there are other gems as well. It's a good mixture of rock, country, blues, and soul.
3.35/5 so it gets a 4.
Don't Miss Songs:
Tomorrow Is Such a Long Time
Maggie May
(I Know) I'm Losing You
Reason to Believe
Fugazi
4/5
Fugazi kicks ass. This is their debut album, although others that would follow are arguably better than this one. This one is more raw and less polished than those. This sounds like a group of college guys who can jam got together and made some angry punk/rock/hard rock music.
Gives me serious punk vibes but I wouldn't call it that completely. Maybe post-punk if that's a genre?
Anyways, don't sleep on this, you'll like it.
3.75/5
Nick Drake
4/5
I had not heard of Nick Drake before this album popped up on my generator list. What a gem! I really like it. You can definitely tell that John Mayer was influenced heavily by this guy's voice and writing style, just more modern.
Overall, this is a great album and I'm glad I got to enjoy it.
Top songs:
Pink Moon
Place To Be
Which Will
Parasite
4/5
George Harrison
5/5
I have never hid the fact that George Harrison was my favorite Beatle and I loved every one of his songs in The Beatles. He was the true talent in that group, although John was right up there with him. Sad that him and George are no longer with us and we're stuck with Paul and Ringo.
This album is absolutely perfect in every way. Do not skip this. Listen to it. Enjoy it, Love it.
5/5
Milton Nascimento
1/5
Yeah, no. I am positive I checked no foreign language albums but here we are. I wish I knew what they were saying.
1/5
Kendrick Lamar
4/5
This album was my first exposure to Kendrick's music. I was pretty impressed on how well spoken he was in his rap. I really like the inclusion of recordings of (I would guess) real conversations that Kendrick had in his life.
Can't miss songs:
Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe
good kid
Swimming Pools
3.5/5 = 4 in this scale.
The Dictators
3/5
Another new album (to me). I could definitely see the influence these guys had on punk music. The biggest thing is that their songs are too long for punk, but the music and lyrics fit perfectly.
I liked it overall, a fun Friday listen.
3.1/5 = 3.
SAULT
1/5
Did not enjoy. Not even a little bit. Annoying if anything.
1/5
Janis Joplin
4/5
This is classic blues singing. Janis puts so much emotion into her words. This is definitely an album we all should hear before we die.
4/5
Tim Buckley
3/5
Not a terrible album, not a great one. Just right in the middle. I think I'd be ok not hearing this one before I die.
2.75/5 = 3 on this scale.
Big Star
4/5
Solid album here, and this group is new to me since starting this project. I enjoyed a lot of the music on this album. A few of the tunes reminded me of old Doobie Brothers with the harmonies and twin acoustic guitar work. Overall, glad I heard this one before I die.
3.75/5 = 4.
Can't miss songs:
The Ballad of El Goodo
In The Street
Thirteen
Don't Lie To Me
Watch the Sunrise (definitely Doobie-esque)
Radiohead
2/5
This was a big letdown for me when it came out. Still is today. Just does not even come close to how good OK Computer was. And maybe that was the whole point? I don't know with these guys. Lots of rambling lyrics, weird random noises. I'm not understanding why they made this album.
Also, the real music doesn't start until "The National Anthem". Everything up to that is nonsense.
Best song: "Optimistic".
2.33/5
Sigur Rós
2/5
I kind of get how people would like this. Especially if they're high out of their mind. Good music to chill and listen to. For that, they stay out of my 1 star rating. But, it's not my jam.
Iggy Pop
3/5
Not a terrible album, and it has a few good songs on it. Iggy Pop never really interested me with his music. But, I respect the album and it should be listened to at least once.
3/5
David Gray
3/5
Not a terrible album. Nothing to really write home about on this one.
Should everyone hear it before they die? Maybe.
2.5/5 = 3 on this scale.
a-ha
3/5
1985 was the year of Take On Me. Amazing video, great pop song, just an overall smash for a-ha.
The rest of this album has some highlights too. Is it end of the world, you must hear NOW music? No, but it's good.
3/5
Don't sleep on:
Hunting High and Low
The Sun Always Shines on TV
Love Is Reason
Dinosaur Jr.
4/5
Grunge before grunge was a thing. Lots of influence here passed on to later bands.
Great album, must listen if you value grunge or alt. rock of any sort in the 90's.
3.5/5 = 4 on this scale.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
1/5
What the fuck is this shit? This is awful.
0/5
Django Django
2/5
I know Waveforms from GTA, but the rest of the album is decent. Nothing outstanding, but not terrible. Middle of the road, 2.25 out of 5.
The Thrills
3/5
Nice album, I enjoyed it.
3/5
John Grant
2/5
It's OK, it's not something I would go out of my way to listen to, and to be honest, this list is a bit bogus with the bias towards random English musicians who really aren't ground-shattering in their music. Yes, the big names are covered, but this guy? Come on, I could live without hearing this album and be OK with it.
2/5 because it's not some god awful progressive rock opera shit.
The Byrds
2/5
I mean, I like The Byrds, but I felt this album fell short compared to their other works. Not terrible, but overall just....boring.
2.25/5
Motörhead
3/5
Solid British metal here. Aces of Spades is one everyone knows, but don't sleep on Shoot You In The Back or Fire, Fire. Album is good, worth a listen before you die.
3/5
The Modern Lovers
2/5
Meh. It's bland British rock where the guy can barely sing and rambles on and on. Annoying overall.
2/5
Dolly Parton
4/5
Dolly is awesome. This is a short 26 minute venture into many subjects. Great music and songwriting here.
3.75/5
Joni Mitchell
4/5
This is one of my favorite Joni albums. I actually like it more than Court and Spark.
Cannot miss tracks:
Coyote
Amelia
Hejira
The Jesus And Mary Chain
3/5
Mixed bag on this album for me. While I like the album as a whole, it's not something that I go back to and say, this is amazing. Actually, I like their 21 Hits compilation better, it's got more stuff that I like on it.
This is a good album though and deserves to be on this list.
3.25/5
Madonna
3/5
Heh, it's funny. I got this album on a Saturday and I don't rate stuff on the weekends. I've heard this album many times, so when it came up, I thought to myself, "This was sort of Madonna's Sgt. Pepper's album." Sure enough, the next day I got The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's. Kind of funny how that worked out.
This is one of Madonna's better albums after her insane 80's pop releases. I say insane, because she was cranking out album after album and while a lot of them were good and had great songs on them, none of them were what I consider a complete album. Erotica started the process of changing who Madonna was, Bedtime Stories was a weird divergent and was better than I thought the reviews gave it and then finally this album finished her evolution, and could be her best out of her entire discography. (The Immaculate Collection can't be considered, since it's a greatest hits album).
Can't miss tracks:
Swim
Ray of Light
Frozen
The Power of Good-bye
3/5
5/5
Wow, I know this album is going to get some mixed reviews. It's funny to me that people still refer to this album when another group makes a groundbreaking one, like OK Computer, or The Wall, Sandinista, or something that is so different than their other work that puts them on a different level.
Simply put, I love The Beatles and this album changed who they were completely and changed how traditional pop bands could evolve into something better.
Say what you will about The Beatles and their music, but this album infleunced far more than anyone is willing to admit.
5/5
Burning Spear
3/5
I love when reggae musicians really get into the political and social injustices that are still going on in this world in 2025 let alone 50 years earlier in 1975 and even well before that.
So for the social message, this album gets a 4.5/5, for the music sice, this album gets a 2.25/5, and mainly because there's nothing really special with the music, it's just the same jamming guitar riff over and over with similar lyrics.
So putting the 2 together, we have 6.75/10, which roughly translates to 3/5 stars on this scale.
Good album, just not one I ever need to hear again on a monthly basis. Maybe once a year?
Michael Kiwanuka
3/5
I had not heard of this artist before this list, so a nice surprise when I listened to this album, and enjoyed it a lot! It's got a psychedelic jazz, soul feel to it. It works.
3.4/5
Suede
3/5
I've been pretty critical of the Britpop groups on this list and questioned why some of them are even on the list, as opposed to different albums, but here we are.
Suede is a band I've heard of before, and have heard their songs, but never knew it was them. I guess Britpop was just a bit too much in the 90's and Oasis got way more popular here in the US than other bands.
After hearing this album though, I appreciate the music. Not bad, but not drop dead amazing as everyone says it is. *shrug*
3/5
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
The Pet Shop Boys are like fine wine. They get better with age. They're still out there in 2025 cranking out music, gotta love it. "Very" was album I was skeptical because I really, really liked Behaviour and thought on the whole it was their best work. So, going into this one back in 93, I was tepid with it at first. Over time, however, I've grown to like this album. Maybe not as much as their 80's work or even Behaviour, but it's not bad.
3.45/5 (just not quite there)
Primal Scream
3/5
Pretty long songs on here, but they're good. I wouldn't call this jawdropping, but great for a house party as background music.
3.25/5
Thin Lizzy
2/5
Yup, still not liking Live albums all that much. Very few have caught my attention. I like Thin Lizzy a lot, but this album would NOT have been the one that makes this list.
2.25/5
Def Leppard
4/5
Yes, this album definitely deserves to be on this list! This one changed everything. Just packed with amazing songs, great lyrics and a guy with 1 arm playing the drums. You would have never guessed by listening to it.
The album opens with "Woman" which, while a good song, would not have been the song I would have chose to open this album. Maybe the next song, "Rocket" would have been a better choice.
Anyways, I highly recommend everyone listen to this.
Can't miss songs:
Rocket
Pour Some Sugar On Me
Armageddon It
Hysteria
3.75/5
PJ Harvey
3/5
This is a lot different than her 90's music, and I like it. Sounds a LOT like Bjork which is probably why the creator of this list put this album on here. Dude has an obsession with Bjork.
Anyways, good album, nice and short songs, as her voice has always been a bit annoying. It gets annoying about halfway through this album, so I like the first half better than the second.
3/5
Weather Report
3/5
I appreciate good jazz, and this album fits perfectly for that. Did I need to hear it before I die? Maybe? I don't know. It's got some very solid music on it, great sax work.
Worth a listen for sure, but maybe not repeat listening material. Background music at a dinner party for sure.
3/5
The Vines
4/5
Wow, have not heard of this group before. Ahh yes, 2002 is when it came out and I wasn't really listening to new music or even getting into music that much. I liked a set of bands and that was it. At least this project is helping me get my groove back and discover new music (to me at least).
yeah, this album rocks! It's raw and power and some slower jams as well. Just good hard rock, maybe in the classic 70's Aerosmith realm. Less blues-influenced. More garage band type music. I dig it.
4.25/5, almost a 4.5, just was lacking a couple of songs to get it there. Great album though!
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
1/5
I guess I'm like the only person who absolutely dislikes Nick Cave. His voice is terrible and music isn't much better. *shrug* Not sure why people say he's one of the best and most influential musicians out there.
Did not enjoy a single song on this album.
1/5
Koffi Olomide
1/5
Nope.
1/5
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
Siouxsie and the Banshees are just timeless. This album sounds just as good in 2025 as it did the first time I heard it back in 1985. Album came out in 1981, but 1985 was the year I really started paying attention to what we called "alternative" back then.
Can't miss tunes:
Spellbound
Halloween
Monitor
Head Cut
3.75/5
Nightmares On Wax
2/5
Bad elevator music, or something that would play in the background when you're creating your Mii on your Nintendo Wii.
1.5/5, so it at least gets a 2 because some of the riffs and beats were decent, it just comes up so short compared to US-based DJs.
Maxwell
4/5
I have not heard this album before, but it's right up my alley. Love the jazz/funk/smooth soul music and the lyrics are perfect. Good "love-makin'" music here.
So after hearing this album, I went and checked out some of his later works and none of them really seemed to capture the magic on this album, so the fact that this one is on the list seems to make sense. Definitely worth hearing before I die!
3.5/5
Janet Jackson
3/5
I'm not surprised this Janet album made the list and not "Control", although personally, I think Control is a better album. But, this one is pretty solid as well. Janet covers a lot of new territory here and speaks out on a lot of social issues for the time (and to be honest, many are still happening today).
Overall, I like the album and think it's solid.
Is it something you must hear before you die? Sure, but make sure to check out "Control", you might dance to that one more.
Key tracks (the main singles off the album):
Love Will Never Do (Without You)
Miss You Much
Black Cat
But deeper cuts that are good:
Alright
The Knowledge
Rhythm Nation
3.49/5 (I just couldn't get it to 3.5 and have to rate it a 4 on this scale)
Lou Reed
4/5
Pretty good album. I was not expecting that when I read the description of it being a concept album, as most of those have been awful in my experience with this list so far.
4/5
Duran Duran
5/5
Best DD album by far. Bass work is on this album is so underrated. I like every song on it and that's rare.
If you want an album that defines 80s New Wave Pop, this is it.
4.5/5
G. Love & Special Sauce
3/5
I like Cold Beverage and a couple of the others off this album, but for the most part I got a big, "Best Friend's band plays at a house party" vibe. Not really awful but nothing great.
Seems I say that a lot with a bunch of these albums on the list. Not sure why this one was chosen to be an album that I had to hear before I die. It's nothing groundbreaking or amazing. It's just... there.
By my calculations, I came up with a 2.6/5, which puts it at a 3 on this scale.
10cc
3/5
10cc is a funny band to me. I had heard of Godley and Creme from their mega-hit "Cry", and I had heard of 10cc's "I'm Not In Love", but never really dug into their other albums and music.
So after listening to this album, I kind of liked it. It was definitely going for a prog-rock vibe but seemed a bit too glam rock for that. Overall, not terrible but just OK in my book.
2.5/5 = 3.
Joan Armatrading
3/5
I enjoyed this album. Very powerful voice and great lyrics. It jumps all over the place with various styles. I'm all for that. 3.25/5
Gillian Welch
3/5
Very mellow and folksy album. I like Gillian's voice and lyrics. A solid 3/5.
Suicide
2/5
I appreciate the music and the influence it had on other artists, who thought it might be better to actually put some rhythm and drums and bass together to make better music than these guys.
2/5 just because they influenced better bands.
Dwight Yoakam
4/5
I'll preface this by saying that you really do have to like classic country and western music to appreciate Dwight's version of it. It's not the pop country stuff that's on the radios today. This is classic honky tonk music. That being said, it's a really good album with a lot of throwback to Buck Owens and the Bakersfield sound. Obviously, he does a duet with Buck on his cover of Streets of Bakersfield.
Overall, I really enjoyed hearing this entire album, so many good tracks on it.
Can't miss:
One More Name
I Sang Dixie
Floyd County
Streets of Bakersfield
4/5
Frank Black
2/5
I love the Pixies, but do not like Francis without them. Stupid side project.
2/5
Ray Charles
4/5
Ray Charles was a treasure. This is a great album and should be listened to everyone.
Drive Like Jehu
1/5
I like San Diego rock a lot. This was just annoying yelling.
1/5
Love
3/5
Surprised that I liked this as much as I did. I went in with very low expectations, as most of the psychedlic rock bands ended up disappointing me with a ton of weird sounds and noise, trying to sound trippy or something.
Love was much better, showing off a variety of musical styles and cohesiveness.
3/5
The Everly Brothers
3/5
Solid do-wop pop. These guys made it short and simple. Nothing too complicated here.
Kings of Leon
3/5
Quick, simple, tight guitar. The only song I had to skip was "Milk". That was god awful. The rest was OK to decent. Nothing really stood out to me except "The Bucket".
3.25/5
Bill Callahan
3/5
I dunno, I can't get over this dude's voice. It sounds like my high school geometry teacher, Mr. Brown singing. I actually like the music, but if someone else was singing this, I'd give it a higher rating.
2.5/5 so it gets a 3 just because the music is good.
The Beta Band
3/5
Definitely an interesting listen. Reminds me a bit of Zero 7, but not as mellow and chill. Not bad, not amazing. Definitely not needed to hear before I die.
2.5/5 so rounding up to a 3.
Happy Mondays
3/5
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
1/5
I guess I just dislike Nick Cave. His voice sucks, and the songs are slow and boring funeral dirges. Sorry. Not impressed. 1/5
Scott Walker
1/5
Not a good weekend from the list generator. Nick Cave yesterday and Scott Walker today.
Not into this at all.
1/5
Sly & The Family Stone
2/5
Good early funk, and a solid listen. I liked Stand! a lot more than this one.
2/5
Incubus
4/5
I'm honestly shocked that the author went with this album over Morning View (which in my opinion is far better than this one). Oh well, I still like this one. It comes out of the gates with 2 bangers, Privilege and Nowhere Fast, the latter being impressive with the guitar and bass work especially. Brandon Boyd definitely has a lot of emotion in his voice and songs, and this album features it on a lot of songs.
Good Incubus album, but I highly recommend you listen to Morning View before you die, it's 1000x better than this one.
1/5
I like Yes, but I do not like Progressive Yes, so it's a No for me.
1/5
Led Zeppelin
4/5
I like this album a lot more than Led Zep 1. It's tighter, less of the long blues songs, and just overall a good album.
Top tracks:
Whole Lotta Love
What Is and What Should Never Be
Heartbreaker
Ramble On
Beck
4/5
So Beck made a major change from Midnite Vultures (his best album IMO), to Mutations to Sea Change. I would rather Midnite Vultures be on this list rather than Sea Change. This album is very slow, and includes some remakes of his early work (It's All In Your Mind, Guess I'm Doing Fine). I was going through my first divorce when this album came out and it helped a lot. For that alone it gets 4/5 stars.
top tracks:
The Golden Age
Guess I'm Doing Fine
It's All In Your Mind
Little One
The Stranglers
3/5
Had not really heard of this group, but did recognize the song (Get a) Grip (on Yourself), and I like that one. The rest of the album was just mediocre. Not great, but far from terrible. Good use of organ and you can see elements of new wave and punk.
3/5
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Excellent album, definitely setting the stage for stuff to come later. Games Without Frontiers is really really good, with Kate Bush providing backing vocals.
3.1 / 5 = 3.
Randy Newman
4/5
I grew up listening to Randy Newman, thanks to my parents for that. I can't imagine this album would go over too well in 2025, but for the time, it's excellent.
3.5/5 = 4 stars.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
2/5
Nope. I don't like live albums for the most part. This is one of them. It's not that the music is bad and sometimes concerts are fun to listen to, but 90% of the time for me, it's annoying.
2/5 because it's not terrible.
Sebadoh
2/5
No clue why this album is on this list. Built To Spill is better.
2.25/5
Oasis
3/5
When this album came out, I hated it. I still don't like Oasis or the ego they present to this day. It was really rich of them to come out and say they're the next Beatles and everyone should worship us. Neither one of these goons could even come close to writing a song as good as John Lennon or George Harrison.
Album is OK, Nothing special as they would want you to think.
3.05/5 = 3 stars
Kings of Leon
4/5
Having received 2 previous Kings of Leon albums before this one, I was very skeptical as neither really impressed me that much.
But yeah, this one is definitely way better than the other 2. Much more polished, and you can understand the singer. Good stuff.
4/5
Aerosmith
4/5
Really good Aerosmith here. This is one of their best and to be honest, one of the best straight up rock albums ever made.
Can't really find a fault on this one, other than a couple of weak tracks (Big Ten Inch Record, Adam's Apple)... Still gets a 3.75/5 in my book.
Can't miss tracks:
Toys In The Attic
Sweet Emotion
Walk This Way
Round and Round
Cocteau Twins
3/5
I liked this album by Cocteau Twins. It was a lot more coherent than previous works, you could actually understand what the lyrics were saying. That being said, the lyrics are quite dark, but dreamy. The whole album felt like I was listening to the soundtrack of a dream.
Pretty cool.
3.25 / 5
Brian Eno
2/5
Art Rock is just not my thing. I kind of liked some of the songs, but I could have died without hearing this and been OK.
2.25/5.
Van Morrison
3/5
I like some Van Morrison songs. His music is nice and pleasant, and I enjoyed listening to this album while I cleaned up the house. I think that's what his music is great for. Background happy music.
3.35/5 = 3 stars
Into the Mystic is a must hear.
Moondance is pretty good too.
Snoop Dogg
4/5
Classic G-Funk from the early 90's. This is a must listen alongside The Chronic from Dr. Dre if you want to know anything about early 90's West Coast gangsta/g-funk rap was all about. Lots of sampling, especially Parliament and Funkadelic. Good album.
Must hear:
Gin and Juice
Murder Was The Case
Who Am I (What's My Name)?
Doggy Dogg World
3.75/5 = 4 stars
Sonic Youth
2/5
I'm so glad Sonic Youth got better as they got older. This is pretty much random noise disguised as "music" by critics and thinking it's good. Critics say this album is punk music in spirit.
I love punk music, and pretty much every punk song has rhythm, hard driving beats, easy guitar riffs and usually politically charged lyrics. This shit has none of that. Just Thurston Moore trying to learn how to play a guitar. Awful.
1.77 stars out of 5 is what my ratings came up for this album. I'll be deleting it and keeping one song from it, (I Got a) Catholic Block, because it at least sounds like a decent song.
Iron Butterfly
3/5
I really like the title track, but I can't listen to more than about 10 minutes of it before I get frustrated. I also hate it when someone plays it on the jukebox at the local bar. Actually, the bartenders are now trained to hear that riff and skip it. Lots of complaining, but so be it. The rest of the album is pretty standard 60's fare music. Nothing special.
2.5/5 stars = 3 on this scale.
The Psychedelic Furs
4/5
Had not listened to this entire album, just have heard Pretty in Pink. I acutally like this original version of that song rather than the one used in the movie soundtrack. This is more raw.
Overall, I liked the album and am still a big fan of Psychedelic Furs music. Mirror Moves may be a better album though. Check it out.
3.5/5 = 4 stars
Aerosmith
5/5
My favorite Aerosmith album. It followed the awesome Toys in the Attic, and was even more raw and rocking. Much more more rock influences here than blues, but the blues riffs are still prevalent throughout.
4.5/5 = 5 stars for me. Really awesome album and should be heard before you die.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Such a good album. So many bangers on here. Jamming, Exodus, Three Little Birds, One Love / People Get Ready, Waiting In Vain... yeah, this one is solid.
3.75/5 = 4 stars.
The Kinks
4/5
I am just a huge Kinks fan, love their music. This album is not very long, and is full of good songs. Very catchy and pop like with that classic Kinks sarcasm behind it.
Can't Miss Songs:
Do You Remember Walter?
Johnny Thunder
Big Sky
3.57/5 stars = 4.
Megadeth
4/5
I have 2 copies of this, the original released in 1986, and the 2004 remaster with the Randy Burns mix versions in there. I actually like the original better than the Randy Burns mixes, so while I like what was done with them, the originals are what I'm rating.
This album has some killer tracks and some real duds on it. Kind of like Dave Mustaine himself. Hell of a guitar player, kind of a whiny asshole otherwise.
3.56/5 stars = 4
Killer tracks:
Wake Up Dead
The Conjuring
Peace Sells
My Last Words
Pretenders
4/5
Impressive debut from this group. So many good tracks on this one. I never thought The Pretenders had the magic that this album captured on anything after...I mean there were good songs and singles and what not, but as an overall effort, nothing came close to this.
3.67/5 stars = 4.
Can't miss tracks:
Tattooed Love Boys
Stop Your Sobbing
Private Life
Brass in Pocket
Screaming Trees
4/5
Screaming Trees has always been a mystery to me. Not anymore. Really enjoyed this album. Their earlier 90's grunge was sort of lost on the big 3 out of Seattle. They did have a nice tune on the Singles soundtrack, but this album sounds way more mature than their older stuff.
Good call on this one!
3.55/5 = 4 stars.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
1/5
I guess I just don't "get" Nick Cave or the author of this list's obsession with his music. I've had 3 or 4 of Nick Cave's albums so far and I haven't liked any of them. This one is just like the others. I don't like his singing and the music is nothing special.
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
2/5
I appreciate the experimental nature of this album and actually some of the music is very good. Is it my jam? No, and that's why music is very subjective. While others may enjoy this immensely, I did not. I do give them 2 stars for musical ability. Not much more than that to push it above 2 stars though.
Songhoy Blues
2/5
Music was good, lyrics are ???? because I don't know the language. Not that it's a bad thing, I just can't rate this higher than a 2 stars because lyrics often make up my mind about how good a song and album are. Since I don't want to take the time to get this translated, I'm going with 2 stars.
Silver Jews
2/5
Sounds like a (bad) Beck ripoff. No enjoy. In fact, I've got a bad streak going here where I've had 4 albums in a row of just absolute garbage. Hope it gets better.
1.5/5 = 2 stars because some of the music was enjoyable. But I'd rather just listen to Beck.
Justin Timberlake
4/5
JT's debut album after N'Sync. It's got some bangers on it, especially Rock Your Body and Cry Me a River. This album showed us the potential of JT, but it wasn't until later albums that he matured and really expressed his range. Take this album at face value. Not a masterpiece, but a catalyst to an amazing music career.
I'm sure the progressive rock guys will HATE this. I love it.
3.5/5 = 4 stars.
Jamiroquai
5/5
What a pleasure this was for me to see this album pop up on my daily rating! Jamiroquai is my favorite group, and this album is a perfect choice for this list. Some say The Return of the Space Cowboy or Traveling Without Moving would be a better choice, but this album is what started it all, and it's a good choice.
These guys were mere teenagers, or just out of their teens with this album, but you'd never guess it by how well they play their instruments and Jay Kay's vocals are so on point. Just listen to Stuart Zender's bass work on this and tell me it's not on point.
Do not sleep on this album. It's worth a listen.
Can't Miss Tracks:
Too Young To Die
If I Like It, I Do It
Blow Your Mind
5/5
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
4/5
"Relax" was my first exposure to this group. I imagine that's true of most Americans, and I literally thought that was their only song, as no other singles made it big here in the States. As I got older and developed a taste for New Wave and 80's music in particular, I found this album to be incredibly good. The intro takes a bit to get going but 8 minutes into the almost 14 minute intro and you're fully invested. The follow it up with "Relax" and boom, you're fully in the Pleasuredome. But, this version is different than the one released on MTV and the radio here in the States. Hmmm... Suprising they did so many covers on this album, but they're all pretty well done and definitely have their own flair put on them. San Jose is a particularly well done.
Just overall a great debut album and should definitely be heard from start to finish before you die. Make sure you check out the original "Relax" 7 inch single as that's the one you heard in America.
Must hear songs:
Relax (Come Fighting)
War (...and Hide)
Two Tribes
Wish (The Lads Were Here)
3.53/5 stars = 4 on this scale.
David Ackles
3/5
OK, I was a bit skeptical about this one after the first song, it was giving me PTSD of all of the god awful Nick Cave albums I've listened to due to this list, but this one has some really high points (Love's Enough, One Night Stand), but also some songs that bug the shit out of me (Montana Song, American Gothic).
I don't know where to put this one. So I think right in the middle works.
2.5/5 = 3 stars for this scale.
Simple Minds
4/5
Disclaimer: I really like Simple Minds, so this rating is a bit biased like my Jamiroquai review.
Overall, this is my favorite Simple Minds album. Pretty much every song is really good and well polished. The lowest rated song for me was the very last one, "King is White and in the Crowd", mainly because it's 7 minutes long and it drags on for 3 minutes too much with just the same melody playing over and over.
Well put together album overall though and definitely one should listen to before they die.
3.89/5 stars = 4 stars.
Can't Miss tracks:
"Colours Fly and Catherine Wheel"
"Promised You A Miracle"
"Somebody up there Likes You"
The Jam
3/5
Not bad, I enjoyed it. I found it better to be background music jamming along (see what I did there?), but not really grabbing my attention for any one particular song. Their later work in the 80's was a bit more polished and better.
3/5
Judas Priest
2/5
I will preface this by saying I've heard a lot of Judas Priest's songs and most of them off of this album and Painkiller. And... I'm still not a huge fan of them even after 30+ years or so of listening to their songs.
I do like Breaking the Law, and Grinder and United are decent, but the rest of the album is just repetitve and boring.
2/5.
Eminem
3/5
Yeah, I'm sure this album is going to be a very polarizing album. I liked a good chunk of it, and if you take it at face value and knowing that Eminem is really not killing women and stuffing them in the back of his trunk, you'd probably understand this album a bit more.
Good music, good samples, lyrics are a bit on the dark side to say the least. I liked it...mostly.
3.48/5, just couldn't give it 4 stars.
Brian Wilson
3/5
I think everyone got this the day after Brian Wilson died, 11-Jun-2025. This showed up the next day. I have heard this album when it was released and I felt at the time that it was incomplete, and had to be listened to as a whole, not individual songs. On the whole, the album is very good. Individual songs, not really. Even the version of Good Vibrations isn't that good compared to the original. I really understand why people say that Brian Wilson was a true genius when it came to song writing and melody and harmony, as that's why the Beach Boys were so popular.
This album probably would have not done so well if it were completed in 1967. Surf's Up from The Beach Boys which was released in 1971 was what I think came from this work.
It still feels incomplete to me. I love the direction it was going. I don't know if it ever got there.
3/5
Fairport Convention
3/5
I guess I'm an old now. (Like the folks on the cover). I like this. I liked the other Fairport Convention album that popped up for me on this list. I think it was my third or 4th total album. I'll say the same about this album as I did that one...These are songs I'd enjoy in an English pub with a slightly dusty smell and a tepid warm beer.
3 out of 5 stars for me, dog.
Genesis
3/5
I just couldn't get into this Genesis album. I totally get that they came from progressive rock roots and some of the songs on here are good, but are too damn long. If they were anywhere as good as long Pink Floyd songs, I'd probably rate this higher.
3/5
The Smiths
3/5
Seems like every Smiths album I hear has at least 3 or 4 really upbeat songs and then a bunch of slow crappy songs. I guess I like jingle jangle pop Johnny Marr guitar better than depressing Morrissey stuff. So it seems to be the case with The Smiths.
Good album, I just want one album with all of my favorite upbeat Smiths tunes on it. Maybe I should make my own compilation.
3.4/5, couldn't get to 4 stars.
Don't miss these songs:
Cemetery Gates
Bigmouth Strikes Again
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
George Michael
4/5
This album is so radically different than "Faith". I love them both in separate ways. Faith is my favorite, but this one has a different side of George Michael that was far more personal.
Freedom! 90 is an absolute banger of a song, and anyone who bashes it really should reconsider what a good song is. Also, Waiting For That Day / You Can't Always Get What You Want and the Waiting (reprise) songs are just magical. I love it. The rest of the album is decent, but nothing that stands out as much as those songs.
3.5/5 stars = 4/5 for this scale.
Bangers: Freedom! 90 and Waiting For That Day
Other worthwhile tracks: Cowboys and Angels, Something to Save
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
I really like a few songs on this album. Obviously the title track is the highlight of this album, and if I were setting the track order, I'd put it at the very end of the album, because having it at the very beginning kind of lets you down for the rest of it.
3.4/5
Highlights:
Bridge Over Troubled Water (this is the only version I like of this song)
The Boxer
El condor pasa
Cecilia
Frank Zappa
2/5
I appreciate the music, but it's not my jam.
2/5
Queen
3/5
Pretty solid album from Queen here. Getting away from their previous works doing progressive rock (thank god!) and more into pop rock. Killer Queen is the highlight song on this album, but Stone Cold Crazy and Tenement Funster are both solid tracks as well.
You can see the beginning of A Night at the Opera here, and this album is important.
3.23/5 stars = 3.
Crowded House
3/5
Crowded House did really well in the 80's and to be honest, I thought they went the route of most 80's 1 hit wonders and disappeared into the ether with nothing left to show for it. But, apparently they released this album and I didn't think it was all that bad. Nothing to write home about, but not horrible like some of the prog rock acts on this list.
3.18/5 stars.
Good tunes:
"Whispers and Moans"
"Chocolate Cake"
"Italian Plastic"
The Jam
3/5
Raw blue collar British music. I liked it.
That's Entertainment is excellent. The rest of the album has some highlights and sounds a lot alike. Not something I needed to hear before I die, but still enjoyed it.
3.36/5 stars.
Devendra Banhart
3/5
I mean this is decent folk music, but not groundbreaking nor do I (or anyone) needs to hear it before I die.
3/5
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
Decent. Not bad, not drop dead amazing (must hear before I die? no).
Britpop/rock at it's peak. This list is loaded with it. I'm tired of it.
2.75/5 = 3 stars.
Sinead O'Connor
4/5
So many good songs on this album. Her version of Nothing Compares 2 U is amazing, and just as good or better than the original from Prince. But, following up on that banger, is Emperor's New Clothes, Three Babies, I'm Stretched On Your Grave, Jump in the River...
This is definitely worthy of the title, Must Hear Before You Die.
3.75/5 stars
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
I really like 70's Neil Young when he was by himself and cynical and wasn't prone to playing 10 minute jam sessions. He's a mixed bag of work for me. I like some stuff, hate other. This album is more on the mildly dislike. Some of it is decent, but some is too long and boring.
2.75/5 = 3 stars.
Pink Floyd
3/5
What can I say about The Wall? It's going to be a very divided room on the reviews on this one. I know this is Roger Waters' opus-dei, and it's really all about him and his final tribute to Sid Barrett. There is some very, very good material on this album, let's not forget about that. But, the album gets too wrapped up in itself and you end up just wanting it to be over in the end.
I felt the same way about the movie as well. Just too much. Great animation sequences though.
3.34/5 (I only rated actual songs, not the filler crap in between).
Kanye West
1/5
Nope.
1/5
Booker T. & The MG's
2/5
I like the title track, the rest of it is OK, but I like lyrics a lot.
2.25/5 stars
Ice Cube
4/5
Excellent stuff here. Much more mature rapping than just talking about partying, sex, drugs, and violence towards women.
3.66/5 = 4 stars
Black Sabbath
3/5
A definite departure from earlier Sabbath, and I'm sure diehard Sabbath fans (I'm not) did NOT like Laguna Sunrise. A soft rock song on a heavy metal band's album!?!?! It's definitely going through Changes (I really dislike that song).
3.3/5 stars = 3.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
Literally fell asleep listening to this. It's not bad, just boring. I like older Boss music. I'm just not that into this newer Bruce music.
Todd Rundgren
3/5
Meh. I know, as a fan of classic rock, I am supposed to like Todd, right? I just found this album to be a bit boring. A few good tracks, but it sounds unfinished and just meh. Like variations of the same riff and song.. I dunno, I don't get the appeal.
2.62/5 stars = 3 on this scale.
Femi Kuti
2/5
Really good coffeehouse music. Not my jam.
2/5
The Last Shadow Puppets
2/5
I am baffled by the author's obsession with Brit Pop and why we should hear SO much of it before we die.
It's not that this album is bad or anything. It's just nothing earth-shattering or groundbreaking like a lot of the other albums on this list are. It's just bland BritPop.
2/5 because it's boring and nothing special.
Liz Phair
3/5
Starts off with pretty standard indie coffeehouse rage girl songs. Not terrible, but I've heard thousands of these songs growing up in Northern California. It gets better, but I dunno, I'm not sure how this album constantly gets rated as one of the best albums of the 90's or even on top 500 albums of all time lists.
*shrug* Guess it's just not appealing to me.
2.53/5 stars = 3 stars.
Beck
5/5
OK, I admit that when I first heard Beck from "Loser" fame and buying Mellow Gold on CD, I thought it was going to be another one of the infamous 90's one and done acts. So, so so many of them in the 90's when CD's got cheap enough to buy and forget that you only liked one or 2 songs on it.
But no... Beck came out with O'Delay and changed the game. This CD was strong right out of the gate with Where It's At being the lead single, and then following up with New Pollution, Devil's Haircut... it just got better and better. I was a solid Beck fan by this point.
Great album, it's hard to find a flaw in it. Great sampling in it from the most obscure sources.
Midnite Vultures will still always be my favorite Beck album but this is right up there.
5 stars, easily.
The Cult
3/5
I have no clue why this album was chosen instead of "Love" which is far, far better. In any case, this is big departure from The Cult sound that was developed over previous releases, including the masterpiece, "Love".
It's more raw, more hard rock/metal sounding. I like it, but it's definitely not The Cult album you need to hear before you die.
Do yourself a favor and listen to Love Removal Machine, it's the best song on this album and it rocks. Do yourself a favor and skip their god awful cover of Born to be Wild. It's terrible.
3.41/5 stars = 3.
Queen
4/5
This album is so fun to listen to. It's really like attending an opera. It has it's highs and lows and everything in between. So many bands attempted to do this after Queen, but nothing compares to the original.
The only real reason why I can't give it a 5 stars is that there are a few skippable songs on this album, and I usually only hold out for 5 stars for the albums that I think are perfect pretty much from beginning to end without any skippable songs.
Skippable songs:
Seaside Rendezvous
The Prophet's Song (way too long and boring)
God Save The Queen
4/5
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
I love this album, and I can imagine it not being a favorite of a lot because it is really long, and has some very extended jams on it. Compare the longest song on this album (Voodoo Chile at 14 mins) vs. the longest on the first album (Third Stone From The Sun at almost 7 minutes). This was Jimi's album that he always wanted to make. The first 2 were for the record company. This one was his.
Love it.
4/5 stars
Can't miss:
Voodoo Chile
Burning of the Midnight Lamp
Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
All Along The Watchtower
and the best song on the entire album:
1983…(A Merman I Should Turn to Be) and Moon, Turn the Tides…gently gently away
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
I first heard of LCD Soundsystem from the This Is Happening album, so I dived into the older stuff after really enjoying that album. This album is good, but I don't think it's as good as This Is Happening.
2.86/5 stars = 3 stars.
Good tunes:
North American Scum
Someone Great
All My Friends
Black Sabbath
5/5
One of Sabbath's best albums from start to end. It starts out powerful with War Pigs and Paranoid and then... WTF??!?! Planet Caravan completely destroys the mood. Switch Iron Man and Planet Caravan in track order and you have the best 3 song start in album history! Oh well, the rest of the album makes up for that gaffe. Hand of Doom is so good, it often gets overlooked on this album which is just loaded with good songs.
*headbangs to Iron Man's riff*
Yeah, this is great. I love it. It's a must listen to any heavy metal fan. Probably in my top 10 albums of all time too.
5/5
The Mothers Of Invention
1/5
Not a Zappa fan.
1/5
Gang Of Four
3/5
Decent post-punk fare from these Brits. I don't know if they stand out any more than The Clash or even non-post punk bands like Madness. *shrug* It's OK.
2.75/5
Christine and the Queens
2/5
This is way out of my lane for music I enjoy, but I gave it a try. I only listened to the english songs. I did not enjoy it and found myself skipping almost every song. The only song I listened to all the way through was Girlfriend, as it had some semblence to funk and groove. The rest sounded like boring pop. Add on top that they're French... yeah, no thanks.
1.5/5 = 2 stars because of the Girlfriend song.
Green Day
5/5
I was lucky to hear these guys performing as Sweet Children before taking the name Green Day and getting a way better drummer before releasing Kerplunk! which has the original version of Welcome To Paradise which is featured here on Dookie.
I imagine the majority of people first heard of Green Day because of this album and the song Longview ("oh my god is he talking about masturbation?!?!?!"). I like and hate that Green Day released this album. I don't blame them for going big time, like so many East Bay bands did back then, Operation Ivy being one of the first to "sell out". I dunno, is it really selling out? They made better music than the same 10-15 songs they'd play at their live shows. I don't blame them for going for more money and getting better. I consider 2 halves of Green Day. The first half was this album, Kerplunk and their original lineup. The second half started after American Idiot.
Is this album great? Yes. It's a masterpiece in what good, fun pop punk music should be. They mastered the ability to give it to the mainstream public without scaring the crap out of parents.
5/5
Good songs:
Longview
Having A Blast (except for that god awful high-hat)
Welcome to Paradise
When I Come Around
F.OD./All By Myself
Meat Loaf
3/5
OK, this album is pretty much porn for the drama club kids. It's a soundtrack to a musical, which makes sense since Jim Steinman did everything for it. Meatloaf was great in Rocky Horror and his singing style will always be that dramatic rock opera sounding voice. Not a bad thing.
Is this an album everyone should hear before they die? I think so. Will I listen to it often? No. I'm sure Paradise by the Dashboard Light will pop up on my shuffle every now and then, but it's just... I dunno, meh. Maybe I'd prefer something more hard rock. This one isn't there.
2.64/5 stars = 3 stars.
Paradise by the Dashboard Light is the star of this album, listen to that. The rest is just OK.
Bee Gees
2/5
Ugh. I like disco Bee Gees much more. I didn't think all of the songs were awful, but I audibly said, "what the fuck?!?!" to a lot of these songs.
2/5
Jethro Tull
3/5
I came into this as a not-a-big Jethro Tull fan. I think the song Aqualung is kind of cool. A bit too long, but the guitar riff is pretty sweet. *Beavis and Butthead head banging here*
The entire album is decent. I don't think I could rate this higher than 3. The flute stuff is neat at times, but I like how other bands have utilized a flute in rock music.
*shrugs* Sorry, not an essential album in my eyes.
2.75/3
Scritti Politti
3/5
Good synth pop album. A few bangers on it. Was this essential to hear before I die? No, not in my opinion, but I'm not going to say no to synth pop.
3.35/5 = 3 on this scale.
Fiona Apple
1/5
I read on the Wikipedia entry for this album that it was largely done in GarageBand. More like GarbageBand, amirite?
I like Fiona's older stuff a lot, but this is just trash.
1/5
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
I love all things Simon & Garfunkel and rated their previous album on this list a 3. I'm going with the same for this album, mainly because while it has some bangers, the second half of the album is really annoying and short songs with rambling poetry just can't hang. I really appreciated Paul Simon's solo work and I can see how these 2 would have never made it far if they didn't split up.
3.21/5 stars.
5/5
My favorite U2 album on the whole. I like songs on a lot of their work from the early days up until Zooropa. After that, I began to dislike their music more and more. Nowadays, I pretty much only listen to their early work. Zooropa was the last album that I truly liked.
The Joshua Tree is/was their best album in my eyes. They put it all together. Massive hits from this one. You can't deny Bono.
5/5
Black Sabbath
5/5
Pretty much defined what heavy metal should be. I know a lot of bands came before that were like proto heavy metal, but Sabbath did it right and scared the crap out of hippies. Gotta love them for that.
I type this with a heavy heart as Ozzy Osbourne passed away yesterday, July 22rd 2025 and I think everyone got this album on their list if they had not rated it already. I love it.
Great album, the beginning of a really solid run of amazing albums from Sabbath.
RIP Ozzy.
Queens of the Stone Age
3/5
Grungy, dirty, riff-driven hard rock. I like it. Didn't know much about this band until I heard Nobody Knows in Guitar Hero. Been a fan since.
3.45/5 stars. Should be a 3.5 but it got kind of lame near the end.
Cowboy Junkies
3/5
Enjoyed this mostly acoustic album. Very subdued and good choice of cover songs to include. I first heard this album via the Natural Born Killers soundtrack with the inclusion of "Sweet Jane". I love this version as well as the original and I appreciate the way they changed it up.
Overall the album is nice, but nothing I need to hear every day. But, I do agree that everyone should hear it at least once before they die.
3.38/5 stars
The Adverts
2/5
Good from a punk sense, but nowhere close to Sex Pistols, Misfits, etc.. Kinda repatitve and boring by the end. Same 3 chords over and over. Maybe it was tongue in cheek that the first song on this album is One Chord Wonders.
2.25/5 stars.
The Offspring
4/5
Album starts fast and doesn't stop or slow down. It's a masterpiece in modern punk/surf punk. Even some fast ska on What Happened To You? Good stuff here. I got sick and tired of Self Esteem and Come Out And Play when they were first released, but now as I've gotten older and have seen the exact events played out in Self Esteem with friends of mine, I respect it a lot more.
Come Out And Play is a good bar jukebox tune, everyone will sing along.
Don't sleep on this one, it's worth a listen.
3.93/5 stars
James Brown
2/5
I originally grabbed this album a while back and got rid of it. I like James Brown but in concert... meh. If you want to hear James Brown, grab Star Time and listen to all of it. You'll thank yourself in the end.
2/5 stars because it's James Brown. Other than that, it's a live album and I hate them for the most part.
The Flaming Lips
2/5
I feel like I'm supposed to like this album because everyone and their brother says it's a masterpiece. I guess I'm not hearing the masterpiece part of it. *shrugs* It's OK, but I don't need to hear much more from it.
2.3/5 stars after 2 full complete listens. I can't stand a lot of the songs, they're either just random sounds and what not or just annoying.
Elliott Smith
3/5
Meh. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't tickling my music itch. Must hear before I die? Probably not.
3 stars for the nice harmonies and what not. At least it wasn't some prog rock garbage full of noises and sounds.
Johnny Cash
4/5
I've said it a few times, I'm not a huge fan of live albums unless they're amazing. This one is amazing.
4/5 stars
Peter Tosh
4/5
It's sad that Peter Tosh didn't live long enough to see that we indeed did "Legalize It". This is one of my favorite reggae albums. The title track is a classic, but each song is different and has it's own hook. Minor grievance that some of the songs are bit too long, and repetitive but it is what is.
3.56/5 stars
Other than the title track, check out:
Ketchy Shuby
Till Your Well Runs Dry
Brand New Second Hand
3/5
X is such an interesting band. Rockabilly, punk, great harmonies and vocals? Sign me up. I'm getting more and more confused as I get deeper into the list why the author chose certain albums over others. "Los Angeles" should have been here instead. Weird.
Good album, but nowhere close to as good as "Los Angeles", do yourself a favor and listen to THAT.
3.19/5 stars.
Leonard Cohen
2/5
No kidding, I fell asleep listening to this. Not my cup of tea, but I can see how people enjoy his words. I don't consider him singing. Just rambling on and on in a monotone voice. Boring.
1.75/5 because some of the lyrics are good.
Dirty Projectors
2/5
Did not enjoy this. Something about all the songs was jarring and annoying.
2/5
Lambchop
1/5
I'm too old for this shit.
1/5
Cat Stevens
4/5
Enjoyed this album. I have Cat Steven's Greatest Hits album, but this one filled in some gaps.
3.65/5 stars = 4.
Marianne Faithfull
3/5
Not something I'd listen to every day, but I'm glad I heard it before I died.
2.75/5 stars
The Cure
3/5
Interesting choice from The Cure for this list. Seventeen Seconds isn't my favorite album by The Cure mainly because it's mostly instrumental. There are some stand out songs, but this is far from how good The Cure is or what they became. Yes, it's one of their earliest works, but it does not represent the band as they became, and that's why I find it odd why it's chosen for this list as opposed to an absolute MUST HEAR Cure album which would be Disintegration.
3.2 / 5 stars.
Stand out songs:
Play For Today
A Forest
M
Seventeen Seconds
Joy Division
5/5
Ahh yes, the Joy Division album that everyone has the shirt from because it's "cool". Well, I'm a huge Joy Division fan, and by that standing, a New Order fan as well. Unknown Pleasures is brilliant. Everyone needs to hear it before they die.
5/5
Butthole Surfers
1/5
I know Butthole Surfers have better albums than this. I tried my best to make it through but gave up.
1/5
Michael Jackson
3/5
It's safe to say that following up a masterpiece like Thriller would be a challenge for anyone, including Michael Jackson.
Put whatever thoughts you have about the person and focus on the music, this is a good album. It's a GOOD follow up to one of the best albums ever made. Is it as good? Not even close. But it's loaded with bangers and I was happy to hear the Bad 25 version with the second disc being loaded with outtakes and demos that became real songs (Al Capone becoming Smooth Criminal for example).
So after listening and re-rating all the tunes (I initially rated the entire album a long time ago, and my music ear is a lot better now than then), I came up with a 3.25 / 5 stars. Not many tracks really came up as amazing 5 star tracks that I need to hear all the time, unlike Thriller which has several 5 star tracks. It's just the consequence of a follow up album.
3.25 seems about right.
U2
4/5
So this album is the division bell for me with regards to U2. Every album before this one was pretty good, and The Joshua Tree is still my favorite U2 album, but Achtung Baby is excellent. Every album after this one got progressively worse in my eyes, and I think a lot of hardcore U2 fans can't deny that.
But enjoy this album for what it is. Excellent.
Way too many bangers to list on this one, but if you must listen to one song on this album, it needs to be "One".
and So Cruel. ;-)
3.83 / 5 stars.
Pink Floyd
2/5
OK, this isn't my favorite Pink Floyd album although hardcore Floyd fans say it's amazing. I'm so glad they evolved into what they became, because this is like music you'd hear walking and dancing with hobbits.
2/5
The Human League
3/5
You really have to be a new wave/synth-pop fan to appreciate The Human League. It's as simple as that. I am a new wave and synth-pop fan, and I love 80's music.
While I imagine this will get slaughtered, it is their best album by far and is very well done.
3.4 / 5 stars
John Martyn
3/5
This is fine and dandy, but was it really needed to be heard before I die? I don't think so.
3/5 stars because the music is fine, the singing is a bit mumbly and gives me a bit of PTSD from Nick Cave *shudder*
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
1/5
The obsession with Nick Cave has got to end. We get it, the author loves Nick Cave and wants everyone to hear his bland boring albums and music. Not happening for me. 3 songs in and I was done.
1/5
Magazine
3/5
Not too bad of an album. Lots of post-punk bands can be heard influenced by this one. 3/5 just for that factor. I enjoyed the album but I don't feel a need to hear it more than a few times in my life.
Isaac Hayes
3/5
I enjoyed it. Not something I'd listen to every day but really powerful messages in here.
Also, many many rap samples have been lifted from this album. Props to that.
3.4 / 5 stars
Talking Heads
3/5
I like a lot of Talking Heads music, and that's the case with this album. A few bangers, and a lot of just middle of the road songs.
3.36 / 5 stars
Top hits:
Memories Can't Wait
Paper
Life During Wartime
Air
Bobby Womack
3/5
This is good. I enjoyed the whole album. Again, as with a lot of the albums on this list, it's great for a listen or 2, but maybe not all the time. Maybe if the list was trimmed down to some essentials, you wouldn't end up with a lot of albums like this.
3.05 / 5 stars
Rush
4/5
40 minutes of great music. My favorite Rush album, by far. Great stuff.
3.75 / 5 stars = 4 stars
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
4/5
Love it. Bluegrass at its finest.
4/5
Alice Cooper
3/5
I appreciate the album, but outside of the title track and a couple others, it's not groundbreaking. Very performative work, solid guitar work.
Middle of the road. 3/5
American Music Club
3/5
An interesting album that I've never heard of nor the group. I really enjoyed the alt-country tunes on this album, but the rest of it was very whiny-sounding singing. Music was pleasant enough.
3.08 / 5 Stars
The Beach Boys
5/5
Everyone says this is America's answer to Sgt. Pepper's from The Beatles, and many say it's better than Sgt. Pepper's. I can't seem to compare them. I like both in different ways.
This album has an insane run in the middle of album of bangers:
Let's Go Away For Awhile
Sloop John B
God Only Knows
Just outstanding. This album should be heard by everyone before they die. It actually fits the whole project.
5/5
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Solid S&G album here. I keep having to remind myself that people listened to these on vinyl records and there was a side 1 and side 2, because the weird intermission part with "Voices of Old People" just thrown in there was ending the first side of the album, and Fakin' It starts side 2.
Overall I liked it.
3.5 / 5 stars
Tina Turner
3/5
I liked a few songs off of this when it came out in 1984. Wow, 1984 was a great year for music. Tina went on and dead Beyond Thunderdome after this, and it was nice to hear how this album got her career relaunched.
Solid album, couple of a bangers. Definitely should be heard before you die.
3 / 5 stars
Dire Straits
4/5
Awesome debut album. Classic blues rock with some country aspects mixed in. All from an English band (big surprise!).
Sultans of Swing is the best song on here, but the whole album was a pleasure to listen to.
3.56 / 5 stars
A Tribe Called Quest
5/5
Hip hop with classic jazz sampling and smooth lyrics? Sign me up. I was really hoping this album and their debut album are on this list and I'm not disappointed. This album is mandatory listening for anyone who claims they love hip hop/rap.
5/5 stars.
Talking Heads
3/5
One of their better albums. I still think Speaking in Tongues is the album everyone needs to hear before they die by Talking Heads, and of course Remain in Light. This one is solid though.
3.25 / 5 stars
Echo And The Bunnymen
5/5
Pretty much love every song on this album. It's their best by far, not even a contest. Post-punk at it's finest.
Best songs:
The Cutter
The Back Of Love
My White Devil
Heads Will Roll
Gods Will Be Gods
Pentangle
3/5
I guess as I approach 51 that I'm finally embracing my old English ancestry. I really enjoyed this.
3.4 / 5 stars (almost a 4 star, but just not as good as The Fairport Convention).
Cypress Hill
5/5
So when this came out in 1991, I actually bought it based on the cover alone. I was browsing my local Tower Records and saw this in the New Hip Hop section, and looked at the cover and looked at the tracks on the back of the CD, albeit hard to do because of the giant plastic theft protection device on it, but based on the name of the songs and the cover, I bought it. I was not disappointed.
34 years later and it still kicks.
5/5
Jorge Ben Jor
2/5
I've been consistent and rating non-English albums as pretty low. This one has decent music, and what I assume are fun lyrics?
2 / 5 stars
Joanna Newsom
1/5
Nope. Big nope. I couldn't make it past a few minutes into each song. She sounds like the Evil witch from Snow White singing.
Nirvana
3/5
I have a lot of thoughts on this album. Everyone said that Nevermind was their "sellout" album after the masterpiece that was Bleach. To me, this seems like the sellout record after the masterpiece of Nevermind. None of the songs are remotely as good. I think Kurt Cobain and gang did this just to make the record company happy. You can tell it by the disgust in the lyrics for many of the songs.
Heart Shaped Box was an obvious play for radio and MTV airplay, and All Apologies was Kurt's suicide note and is the best song on this album, hands down.
I would have loved if they could have done one more album without the pressure of the record companies. On their own terms... but alas. RIP Kurt.
3.38 / 5 stars
GZA
3/5
This is pretty good. It's completely loaded with samples from samurai movies and ninja shit.
Solid beats, rhythm and lyrics too.
3.42 / 5
Throbbing Gristle
1/5
Well, this was just a bunch of noise and random yelling. No thanks.
1 / 5
Spiritualized
2/5
I'm not saying this bad, but just not my cup of tea. Why are there so so so many English groups on here that really provide nothing to the overall concept of this list?
2/5
The Byrds
3/5
Not bad, not great, just kind of meh.
2.75 / 5
The Dandy Warhols
3/5
Not a bad listen. Once.. and that's about it, nothing really stood out for me. I see why they're called Warhols, they're obviously trying to be a Velvet Underground clone but without Lou Reed.
2.5 / 5
Neneh Cherry
3/5
This is pure 1989. Good, but frozen in time. I liked Buffalo Stance when it came out, and never heard the entire album. His brother did pretty good, Eagle Eye Cherry.
3/5
Shuggie Otis
3/5
This is a really good rainy day album to chill out and smoke some weed and listen to. Not something I'd listen to a lot, but just for those occasions, sure.
3/5
Laibach
1/5
I really don't know anymore.
PJ Harvey
2/5
I tried.. I really tried because everyone thinks this is a masterpiece. It has good elements, but for the most part I was just tired after every song. I just couldn't make it through the whole thing.
2.49 / 5 stars, I couldn't give it 3... it's just too exhausting.
Can
2/5
OK, better than the other Krautrock bands I've had to endure on this list. But...it's still awful.
2/5
Cee Lo Green
3/5
Pretty impressive album, CeeLo Green throws modern soul a twist with some hip hop and good sampling.
3.25 / 5 stars
Leonard Cohen
2/5
I don't know why the author of this list has such a boner for Leonard Cohen. I get that he's a poet or what not, but the man cannot sing. The words are good, the music is just mediocre, but no singing at all. It sounds like a soundtrack to some art noir private eye movie.
No thanks.
1.5 / 5
3/5
I really enjoyed early XTC. This sounds like XTC has become grandpas and just decided to throw a record out there. Not as quirky and fun as previous stuff. It's fine and all, but just kind of meh.
2.75 / 5 stars
Raekwon
3/5
Solid album. The author of this list really does love Wu Tang and everything that came out of that group.
3 / 5
The The
3/5
A very good post-punk album from The The.
3.3 / 5
Grateful Dead
4/5
It's all fine and dandy if I had a whole night to sit and trip out and listen to the Dead. Not terrible music, but just not what I'm into anymore.
3.5 / 5 because the music is really good, but not my jam.
Astor Piazzolla
1/5
I couldn't do it. You give me Live Grateful Dead yesterday and then hit me with this. Nope.
1/5
Bob Dylan
3/5
Middle of the road Dylan. I liked his early stuff a lot, but this started getting boring after a while. Still better than most of the BritPop 90's crap on this list.
3/5
Supergrass
3/5
Meh.
2.5 / 5
Arcade Fire
4/5
This album was my first introduction to this band. And for the most part I like it.
Intervention is probably the best song on here, maybe Keep the Car Running. Windowsill is interesting too.
3.65 / 5 stars
Miriam Makeba
2/5
This is fine. Not my cup of tea, but interesting to listen to.
2/5 because it's not my jam.
Lorde
2/5
Me: "Oh cool! A Lorde album I never knew she made! I loved her debut Pure Heroine."
(after 20 minutes of listening)
Me: "Wow, Lorde sounds exactly like Taylor Swift and has completely lost her unique sound and voice."
(reads notes on Wikipedia about this album)
Me: "Oh, she teamed up with Taylor Swift's writer."
*wonders why this album is on this list*
2/5
Skunk Anansie
3/5
This had a lot more high moments than low moments. The lead singer's voice can get a bit shrieky at times, but in a good way for the most part. I liked the emotion. The guitar riffs and music was kind of generic, but fit nicely.
3.38 / 5 stars
Turbonegro
3/5
Scott Walker
1/5
As this album went on, I got more and more angry. Scott Walker makes me angry.
1/5
Deerhunter
2/5
It's not terrible (better than Krautrock and Nick Cave and Scott Walker), but it's not very good. Again, yet another album on this list that really shouldn't be on this list. I would have been perfectly fine not hearing this album before I die.
Eurythmics
4/5
I absolutely love Eurythmics and especially Annie Lennox. This album starts off with a classic New Wave song, "Love is a Stranger" and is just solid throughout. The title track is probably in the top 10 best songs from the 80's.
Don't sleep on this one.
4/5
Shivkumar Sharma
1/5
Nope.
1/5
Red Hot Chili Peppers
5/5
It sound hipster-ish, but I was a RHCP before they really hit the mainstream with Mother's Milk and this album (this one being the big breakout). "Under The Bridge" every 2 hours on MTV and a bunch of college girls swooning over Anthony Kiedis. Flea with the amazing bass grooves...
This album is where they put it all together. Rick Rubin guided them to the flashing lights of Hollywood and fame and money.
It's hard to deny that this is their best album and it's not even close. I, personally, like other albums more, but I'm not going to say this one sucks because it was popular.
5/5
The Clash
3/5
Really awesome album. I listened to the USA version. None of the songs are super bangers, other than I Fought the Law, but they're all just solid proto-punk songs. Definitely can hear how they have influenced a ton of bands to follow in their footsteps. The Clash's later work is better, but this is good.
3.33 / 5 stars
Elastica
3/5
I got this album the day after I got The Clash's first album, and I pretty much have lumped Elastica's first album into that category:
This is the music I don't mind listening to between the music I want to listen to.
3.31 / 5
Interesting enough, I rated the Clash's first album at 3.33 / 5 so I find the two similar. I know that sounds sacreligious because THE CLASH, but comparing the 2 albums, it's true. The Clash got better, I've never heard anything else from Elastica, that's the difference.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
Good album. Couple of long songs, but I enjoyed the music a lot.
3.5 / 5 stars
The Stone Roses
3/5
Late 80's Brit Pop at its finest. Good debut album. My Stone Roses story:
My first year of college at San Diego State, 1992. Second day in the dorms, I meet a guy who says you got to check out these tapes. He handed me this album and Gish by Smashing Pumpkins. I loved the Smashing Pumpkins album and thought this one was cool, but nowhere as good. I still think that.
3.23 / 5 stars
The Damned
3/5
OK, I've had a bunch of British punk and Britpop in a row, so I'm probably not rating this very fair. I like some of the songs, but it's falling a lot into the "Music I don't mind listening to until I hear music I want to hear."
3/5 stars
Pantera
4/5
Deep Purple
3/5
Smoke on the Water is an all time top 100 guitar riff, the song is pretty good too. Highway Star is fine. It's a good background music album for a house party with a bunch of old ex-hippies like me.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
I didn't mind this album at all. It's not one I needed to hear before I die, but I'm starting to see that's the case with a lot of these albums. The author of the list has a massive hard-on for a lot of artists, Elvis Costello is one of them.
2.89 / 5 stars
Roxy Music
3/5
OK, I really like later Roxy Music stuff, especially in the 80's. I get that this early stuff was them expermenting and what not. But it's just not my jam. I appreciate the music though, so I'm not going to bash it. I just don't want to listen to it.
2.5 / 5 stars
Elvis Presley
3/5
Pretty solid Elvis album. Actually, it's probably the only Elvis album on this list that I enjoyed all the way through.
3.25 / 5 stars
Syd Barrett
1/5
Ugh. I'm not a huge fan of Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd, and this is just even worse, multiplied by crazy.
1.25 stars because it's better than Krautrock.
Public Enemy
3/5
Definitely different than previous PE albums, and it seems more, I don't know... mainstream. Some bomb tracks on here, and it's still better than most rap produced today.
Lots of political topics covered for the time, as always. Well done.
3.46 / 5 stars
Arcade Fire
3/5
*sigh* This was basically the last album I truly liked by Arcade Fire. Everything since has been really subpar. I mean, there are a few songs I like but overall it's been shit from them since this album.
3.1 / 5 stars
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
One of the better Bob Marley albums. I liked pretty much every song on here. A couple dragged on a bit too long (Rebel Music, Revolution), but all of the music and lyrics were great.
Top tracks:
No Woman No Cry
Lively Up Yourself
Am-A-Do (from the 2001 remaster release)
3.65 / 5 stars
The Charlatans
2/5
I have no idea why this album is on this list. Seriously, it sounds like yet another boring 90's Oasis-soundalike band. How many of these groups did the UK pump out and why do we have to listen to all of them on this list?
2 /5 stars because it's better than Krautrock.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
3/5
I like it. Not as much as other JAMC albums but I get this was their debut and everyone says the first album is the best. I like the noise, I like the raw emotion in the music, too bad the singing is monotone and occasionally changes pitch. Ground-breaking? No. Essential to hear before I die? Sure
3.25 / 5 stars
The Incredible String Band
1/5
They did a lot of drugs in the 60's.
1/5
Elbow
3/5
Never have heard of this group before, so props on this list to introducing me to yet another new-to-me group!
This reminds me of Peter Gabriel, mixed in with some Zero 7 and Coldplay (the non sucking aspects). I enjoyed it. I wish there were more songs like The Bones of You and Weather to Fly than Friend of Ours, but alas.
3.16 / 5 stars
Patti Smith
2/5
I guess I'm supposed to like this because everyone and their brother who is a music critic absolutely loves this album. I did not.
Sorry!
2 / 5 stars because it's not god awful like Krautrock.
Rocket From The Crypt
3/5
It's fine. I just started picturing Squiggy from Happy Days as the lead singer, and just started cracking up laughing. I can't unhear it now, it's Squiggy singing!
2.5 / 5 stars
Coldplay
2/5
I only have 1 Coldplay song in my 23,000+ song library, and it's "Yellow". Nothing on this album made me change that. It's OK. Much better than the drivel they put out after this. The pretentious hipsters who made this group a thing still bugs me to this day.
At least I've never been caught cheating on my wife at a fucking Coldplay concert. LOL
2.25 / 5 (better than Krautrock, but not by much)
Little Simz
2/5
Ok. Not sure why this is on here. It's fine and all, but nothing on it stood out? I guess I'm not hearing what the author heard and thought that this is an album we all need to hear before we die. But then again, the author is VERY British-focused so let's see:
Little Simz is British - Check
Hip Hop from Britain is kind of zany - Check
He ran out of crap to put on this list so just chose this - Check
There we go.
2.25 / 5 stars. I really only liked a couple of songs on here.
Björk
2/5
OK, I didn't realize this is the 1001 albums by Bjork that you have to hear before you die. Is every album of hers on this list?
I did not enjoy this album. Her early 90's stuff is the best. Leave it there.
1.5 / 5 (because it's better than Krautrock)
3/5
There's some good stuff in here, but in the end it's not really standing out from other 90's Britpop which this entire list seems to be made up of.
They get a star for not being Krautrock.Also, this group sounds more like The Kinks which is a good thing and keeps things tight. I like that. 1 star for effort. Less annoying singing than Oasis, so give them a star for that.
Other than those 3 stars, I can't seem to go higher on the rating scale.
3 / 5 stars
Bon Jovi
3/5
The Birthday Party
1/5
Uh. What the hell was that? I wasted 45 minutes of my life listening to what I thought was supposed to be post-punk music. That was just annoying noise making.
1/5
Steve Earle
4/5
Good classic guitar-based country music. Very much an influence to bands like My Morning Song. I enjoyed this album a lot.
Jimmy Smith
4/5
More albums like this, less Britpop. Really did enjoy this album.
4/5
Eels
3/5
I don't know what to say about this album. I liked it out of the gate and it just rocks for me.
3/5
Robbie Williams
2/5
I liked a couple of songs off of this album. (Angels and Let Me Entertain You). The rest of it is arse. Just bland, bubblegum flavored pop. Nothing about it is interesting, let alone needed to hear before I die.
2.25 / 5 stars
The Magnetic Fields
3/5
There's some good songs in here. Otherwise it's WAY too long. I admit, I didn't make it through the whole album because it got boring and the songs were all meshing together and nothing sounded good. Read the other reviews where others made it all the way through.
3 / 5 = If you take all the decent tracks and put them on one album, it would get a higher rating.
Joe Ely
4/5
Excellent honky tonk country and western album. I enjoyed all of it. If you're stuck on, "I just hate country music no matter what", maybe it's time to move on from middle school and listen to the music.
4 / 5
Minutemen
4/5
I'm just a sucker for short songs that mean nothing but sound cool. This album is great. I wouldn't consider it "punk" as the genre of the album says it is, but I'd say more alternative rock. Reminds me a lot of Camper Van Beethoven who were doing a lot of the same type of music as this around the same time.
Good stuff and essential if you consider yourself an "alternative" rock fan. These guys influenced a LOT of groups.
Nick Drake
4/5
I've become a big Nick Drake fan because of this list. This album is really good. Is it 5 star worthy? Nope, but it's definitely worth 4 stars because I like it.
Air
3/5
The French are really weird with their music. This album has some good stuff on it, and some real head scratchers. "Sexy Boy" sounds like a bad cover of "Stupid Girl" by Garbage, but maybe that's the point?
Best song on this album is Ce matin-la.
2.55 / 5 stars
Johnny Cash
3/5
Johnny Cash doing a bunch of covers of popular songs is kind of cool. I do like and respect his version of "Hurt", but sorry, it's nowhere close to as good as the original by NIN. Overall, I liked the album, but don't need to hear it again. Am I glad I heard it before I die? Yes.
3.25 / 5 stars
The Rolling Stones
5/5
My favorite Stones album. It's just good blues rock from start to finish. Moonlight Mile might be the best Stones song ever. Dead Horses is excellent, but the real gem on this album is Can't You Hear Me Knocking.
This is indeed an album you must hear before you die.
5/5
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
This album is really well done. So many good songs on it. My absolute favorite Creedence song, Bad Moon Rising is on it. Hard to rate this anything but 5 stars. It's perfect length too. It's amazing that these guys are from San Francisco, you'd think they were from Louisiana or somewhere in the south. Swamp Rock at it's finest. Nobody did it better.
5/5
Dusty Springfield
3/5
Solid debut from Dusty here. Is it essential listening for everyone? I don't know. I didn't think the album was anything outstanding. I like her singing and all, and appreciated the soul and R&B sound for sure.
3 / 5
Michael Jackson
5/5
Not sure why anyone would give this under 3 stars. It's the greatest pop record ever made, and nothing has ever come close to it's influence, it's reach, and superior production quality.
I reviewed this with the 40th Anniversary release, which includes some cool extras, like "Carousel" (an instant Yacht Rock classic) and "Starlight" (which became the title track). Check out this version if you get a chance.
The original 9 songs, however, go down as a pretty much instant 5 star album and everyone (who hasn't??!?!?!) should hear this before they die.
5/5
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
I first heard Smashing Pumpkins in my freshman year of college. A fellow housemate handed me a cassette copy of "Gish" and told me to check them out. I listened to the whole album that night and went out and bought the CD the next day. It was hard to find because it was buried away in the wrong section. They had put it in the pop section when clearly that album should have been in the Alternative/Grunge section which was growing prominently every day.
Anyways, this album rocketed Smashing Pumpkins to instant fame and MTV legendary status. Tons of singles including the disturbing but really well-done song, "Disarm". This entire album is really good, from the beginning song of Cherub Rock to the intense Silverfuck, to the ending and mellow and beautiful Luna. This set them up for their masterpiece Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Without Siamese Dream, Smashing Pumpkins would have faded into obscurity.
Essential listening for everyone.
5/5
Sepultura
4/5
My favorite Sepultura album. Riffs are tight, drumming is insane, and it's got that growling death metal voice but you can understand the lyrics.
3.6 / 5 stars
Stevie Wonder
4/5
One of my favorite Stevie albums. It's not his absolute best, but it's right up there.
Top tracks:
You Are the Sunshine In My Life
Maybe Your Baby
Tuesday Heartbreak
Superstition.
Just a great album.
3.5 / 5 stars
The National
3/5
Interesting group. Had not heard of them before this list, so it was a treat listening to something new to me that wasn't Krautrock or foreign music.
Overall, I liked the album. It brought back some memories of Joy Division mixed in with modern beats. Very interesting indeed.
The lead singer's voice reminded me a bit of the lead singer for Lord Huron. Interesting that The National is from Ohio, and Lake Huron is in Ohio. Just a weird coincidence.
3.4 / 5. I couldn't get it to 3.5 stars, but it's a good album and should be heard by everyone before they die.
Guided By Voices
3/5
I really really really wish I could give this 2.5 stars instead of 3 (rounding up) because it's not really a 3 star album. It's got some interesting stuff, but it's got 10-12 songs too many on here. Just a random sampling of stuff, and after a while it just blurs together. I didn't mind it, but I felt robbed of 40 minutes of my time for music that wasn't all that interesting to me.
Paul Weller
3/5
Really great music to listen while working. I feel like I accomplished a lot at work during the hour or so of this album. I know the singer from The Jam and The Style Council, and this is a pretty big departure from those groups. Overall, it was right in the middle of the road for me. A very solid 3.25 stars.
M.I.A.
3/5
I haven't looked at the reviews for this, but I would not be surprised if people are bashing it. Maybe not? Maybe they'll be like me and say I was kind of surprised that I was grooving with most of this album. It has some bangers on it for sure.
Solid 3.25 stars for this one.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
I liked this album a lot. I have heard bits and pieces of it over the years, but never really sat down and listened to it from start to finish. It's one of the better Stones albums. Not my absolute favorite (can't beat Sticky Fingers), but this is really good.
4/5 stars
AC/DC
3/5
Lots of feelings about this one. On one hand, it's an amazing comeback album from a band that lost their heart and soul and their lead singer. Very very hard to comeback from that. On the other hand, Brian Johnson is no Bon Scott and a lot of these tracks are boring or repetitive.
Hells Bells is a good song.
NOTE: I originally rated this at 4 stars (3.5 out of 5), but I'm going to drop it a bit because I was recently listening to older AC/DC and this is nowhere as good as that.
3 / 5 stars
Morrissey
4/5
I'm sure there will be plenty of reviews bashing on Morrissey because he's an asshole, and he probably is, but I'm focusing solely on the music on this album. I like it. I went into this album hearing lots of Everyday Is Like Sunday and Suedehead a bunch, and both songs are really good. Neither sound like a "lost Smiths song". Morrissey makes it quite clear musically on this album that this is NOT The Smiths in any shape or form.
Other good songs to check out (besides the 2 mentioned earlier)
"Bengali in Platforms"
"Late Night, Maudlin Street"
3.75 / 5 stars.