This is a fantastic album, and possibly my favorite rap album ever. The Bomb Squad evolves everything they've done over the last couple albums here, starting from their JB sample focus of It Takes A Nation Of Millions and widening it based on all kinds of sources to create a dense wall of sound rarely matched in this era. Chuck D pairs this with a wider range of social commentary that pulls no punches. This album may show it's age a little bit around the edges, but it remains massively impressive. I will never tire of this album.

I've never listened to this entire album before, though I've heard a couple songs from it, but I have also rarely listened to Coldplay on purpose, so here we go. On the plus side, it's clear this band can can construct a song, can layer parts, and sustain a build. On the down side this album feels like it's trying to say a lot and emote a lot, but it ultimately feels hollow, repetitive, and cheesey to me. I get the impression they were going for some kind of Radiohead vibe with the emotional manipulation knob pinned at 11, but they push the feels too far and rarely let up, so they are unable to have much emotional range within most songs, leaving them feeling obnoxious yet flat. "The Scientist" and "Clocks" are particularly egregious examples. "Green Eyes" feels like a bit of a respite from the overwrought, overproduced feel of the rest of the album, but it just feels bland and generic. "Daylight" was interesting for a second, until I noticed they were just ripping off "Tomorrow Never Knows" by the Beatles. Maybe I'll listen to that as a palate cleanser. This was the first album I got to review on this site. Ouch.

This album was new to me, and an absolute delight compared to the last one, some Coldplay slog. She's a great singer, I enjoy the instrumentation, and the songs are pleasant in a moody loungy sort of way. None of that really speaks to me, so I can't really see myself seeking out more Norah, but it was certainly inoffensive.

This is really a great album, and it's clear how massive it's influence is. I'd like to give it 5 stars, but this just isn't the type of thing I come back to much, despite it's mastery. I think I will catch up on the test of Nick Drake's work, though.

I enjoyed this album. Vocals are pretty cutesy, and some songs get a bit dark and meandering for my taste, but it's a really good sound overall. I think it's most effective when they aren't leaning to hard into the cutesy or the moody and find a really nice poppy middle.

I already love the first seven Zeppelin albums, and at least a couple are real masterpieces to me. II has shifted up and down over time for me, and where I stand now it's just not quite in the top tier. Don't get me wrong, it's got some great songs, and there are moments in "The Lemon Song" and "Bring it on Home" that still give me goosebumps every time, but as a complete album there's enough missing from some songs to bump it just a bit in my view.

There are two or three good songs on here, and a couple more listenable ones, but I still feel like the Smiths are the budget Cure, and Morrissey's whiny snark really doesn't help. The band is good though, which saves it from one star territory. Morrissey has a distinct voice that works on occasion, but mostly just grates. He thinks he's very clever, but really just needs to lighten up.

This album was great frenetic fun, and I really enjoyed it. It's all over the place and manages not too really do anything wrong, reminding me of genre benders like Ween or Electric 6. I had so much fun I almost gave it 5 stars, but while I liked most of the songs and didn't hate any, I wasn't in love with any either. Still, lots of fun, and I'm sure I'll come back to it.

I really like Björk, and I think that this is a very innovative, fun, carried album with a lot going for it. It also feels very much of its time and perhaps a bit dated. This is not my favorite Björk album, and maybe this gets 5 stars from me 20 years ago, but it is still quite strong.

There were a couple songs I liked alright but this album didn't do much for me.

I kinda casually listened to this and didn't think much of it, but then gave it closer listen and was pretty impressed. I don't love any of the songs, but it all works really well together and they're doing a lot of interesting things sonically and compositionally. I get the feeling this could really grow on me over time and would be more of a 4 star after a few listens.

I remember walking to The Warehouse after school the day the album came out to buy it, and I remember recording an interview with a couple members before that so I could listen to some songs before the album dropped. 14 year old me loved RHCP more than any other band. When it dropped I loved this album, and continued to loved for many years. As time went on, though, I became increasingly dissatisfied with RHCP, their sound, direction, energy, etc. I longed for rawer heavier feel of Uplift Mofo, Mother's Milk, and BSSM. One Hot Minute and Californication had moments I truly loved, but overall they felt weak and limp by comparison. I found some of their later stuff hardly listenable. I began to blame BSSM in my mind as the tuning point, the moment when they found their full artistic voice, pointing the way to the pandering softness to come, reaching to recreate the magic of Under the Bridge and Give it Away forever more. They'd sold out as far as I was concerned. None of that was fair or real, but that's what was in my head all the way up to this listen. I probably haven't listened closely to this album in at least a decade, maybe longer. It's brilliant. I'm right back to where I was in the beginning with it. There are maybe a couple throw away songs for me, but it's a fantastic album with a nearly perfect flow and cadence Even the weakest songs, The Power of Equality and Naked in the Rain serve their purpose. I love the feel, the production, the musicianship, the variety, the creativity, and the guts. This might be one of my very favorite albums of the 90s. I came into this album distant and jaded, expecting I might give this 3 stars. I listened with open ears and heart, and it has to be 5.

I think most of the songs I liked on here evoked other artists for me. There's some good stuff here, but most of it feels a bit monotonous just doesn't do much for me. This is a case of solid musicianship paired with forgettable vacuous songs.

This has never been my favorite Hendrix album, but it's a strong showing with at least a few of his best songs in "Spanish Castle Magic," "Little Wing," and "Castles Made of Sand." I always liked the sketch-like intro of "Exp" setting the tone even if it's not really a song and is entirely skipable, with its bookend of "Bold as Love" driving a gradual build to an almost epic finish. And I love listening for all the big and little engineering tricks being pioneered throughout. There are weaknesses, though. In particular I find "Up From the Skies"to be a wishy washy opening tune, though it might feel more at home in a different sequence. "If 6 was 9" seems a bit disjointed in the flow as well, or maybe the song just feels flat to me. The rest of the album is fairly solid, most of them with moments that do get their hooks in me, but not as consistently exceptional as the tracks on Are You Experienced.

This album has a couple ok songs, including "Promised You a Miracle," their greatest attempt at a Cure-esc new wavey Brit-poppy hit. Otherwise it's mostly forgettable despite their admonishment.

This album was never my favorite Clapton nor my favorite Allman, but I always kinda liked it. I've grown less tolerant of Clapton's wankery over the years, so my rating has fallen a bit. Still, if you're in the mood for some post invasion Brit blues spiced up with some Duane Allman, there's some good stuff here. "Anyday" and "Key to the Highway" were standouts on this last listen. I really just can't stand "Layla" anymore, speaking of extreme wankery. It took me four tries to get through that song this time.

Not really my thing, but this was a fun listen. Inventive and varied, it has a few songs I really liked and some I really didn't. I'm not a fan of the tremulous vocals that dominate much of the album so this knocks the overall rating down a bit.

I think I've been turned off by Kanye's crazy for so long I sometimes forget he's actually a really good producer and sometimes a good lyricist. This album has its faults and dips into a bunch of played out tropes, but it also shows seemingly effortless understated production on tracks like "Hold My Liquor," "I'm In It," and "Blood on the Leaves." It's been a long time since I listened to much Kanye, and I'm surprised how much I enjoyed this. Most days this probably gets a 3 from me, but today it's a 4.

Good stuff if you're into this brand of formative rock and roll. I had a much easier time getting past the person behind the music yesterday when it was Kanye.

I like this album more every time I listen to it. This time I got stuck on it and other T Rex all day. I think this is among the best glam albums I've ever heard, up there with Ziggy Stardust, Transformer, and Kimono My House. I can't get enough.

I have it a shot but this album has not aged we'll at all for me. The production is decent enough, but very dated. The songs are ok musically, the lyrics are juvenile dreck, and the vocals are atrocious. I didn't realize until today just how bad a singer Alanis is, but it's a bit jarring on a close listen.

I love this album. As a coherent album, it's among their best. Every song is where it should be and flow seems nearly perfect. "Hats Off to Roy Harper" is the only track the album could really lose, but it's still a fun closer. The transition from "Friends" into "Celebration Day" might be my one of my favorite transitions ever, and still gives me goose bumps every time I hear it. I also always loved the spinning inner cover sleeve too!

This was a great album. I liked it even more than Pink Moon. Really fun instrumentation and discordance.

Songs are at best poppy bubblegum, but are at least a bit varied. Production is pretty good. She can sing, but the lyrics are almost complete trash.

She's a very good singer, but most of her best songs were done better by her American counterparts.

This isn't my favorite Bowie, but it's close, and has a few of his best songs in "Changes," "Oh You Pretty Things," "Life on Mars?," and "Queen Bitch." For me the rest of the songs generally don't quite hold up, though it's a really strong well crafted album. On the right day, if I'm feeling those other songs, this could be a five star album for me.

Not the worst nu metal ever; a few songs are listenable, but still pretty bad overall. Decent production I guess, but the songs are meh, and the vocals are shrill, and nothing stands out as particularly interesting.

I've always really liked X and their brand of punkabilly. I don't especially love their songs or albums, but no one quite sounds like them. There's just something in their formula that works for me.

Early Beatles doesn't really do it for me, and at this stage their version of the invasion formula is still fairly generic, though I suppose they execute pretty well. That said, there are at least a couple good originals on this album. "It Won't Be Long" and "All My Loving" are standouts for me. Otherwise there are a number of ok to throwaway level songs and a bunch of Motown covers. Feels like a collection of singles more than an album.

It's been a while, but this is a pretty good album. Don't love it, but nothing bad on here either. It was nice to give a close listen to after so long.

This album was pretty meh overall. It had some ok stuff, but also some pretty bad stuff. Not much was really my speed.

This is great when you're in the mood for meandering psychedelia, and no one does it better. It's not really my thing, but it's great background music at least.

I remember this album as one of the first CDs I ever sold back cause I just didn't like it. I still don't really like Pearl Jam that much; I still think of them as bottom of the barrel grunge from this era, and this album hasn't really grown on me.

I like the feel of old ZZ Top. Just fun party blues rock. I'll also never tire of La Grange, and i think this album gets a star for that track alone.

I don't really know much Afro pop, and I know nothing of Olomide or Congolese music, but this album was a pleasant surprise overall. I found the production to be a bit sterile and almost every song started out with a very saccharine poppy sound that really turned me off, but surprisingly, each song morphed into a satisfying grove, no matter how rocky the start. I didn't love it, but I did really enjoy it.

This is not great, but just about as good as the Bee Gees get. There are some real stinkers in here, but a good bit of it is actually somewhat listenable.

I didn't love this, but I liked it more than I expected It feels like it's got some big swings, even if they don't all connect. She's got an intriguing style that I'm sometimes in sync with, and sometimes it rubs me the wrong way.

I'm not really into dance music in general, but this feels like kind of evolved Daft Punk. Not really my bag, but not bad for what it is.

I really liked this. It felt very coherent and complete with the arc of a full album. It reminded me of Outkast in a lot of ways. I didn't love all the music, but I liked most of it. The lyrics and musicianship were great. I'm coming back to this for sure.

I'm typically not that into Cohen albums, though I always love his lyrics, but I really liked this one. Everything about this album feels expertly done and effortless. I also love how much he sounds like Tom Waits on this album. This is very close to a 5.

There are some fun synthy things going on, and the songs and lyrics are ok, but I don't really like the music or vocals much. Feels like the new wavy edge of the disco era and this album doesn't know what it wants to be.

This was pretty fun, a bit better than a lot of the other very similar stuff that came out around this time.

It was interesting to pick out a couple bits that I've heard sampled, but there's not much of actually want to listen to here.

I guess it's been a long time since I've listened to this whole album, but it's better than I remember. I guess I usually think of it as the hours with some filler, but that's not really fair. The whole thing really works, and there's not much I'd lose.

This album was much more of a delight than I anticipated. The songs and music are great, the album has a wonderful arc, and there's humor woven throughout. This album reads almost like Zappa to me. I really enjoyed it.

This is a fun concept album with a few real bangers on it. I didn't really know this album before, aside from the hits, but it further reinforces my love for the Kinks.

This is a very strong debut album, and it's their third best album for my money. The range of subjects, lyrics, samples, and music is fantastic, and feels effortless and refined. I don't think this album is perfect, and I do have some minor technical and musical quibbles, but it's so strong I find it difficult not to give 5 stars. And they only get better over the next two albums. Also Q-Tip is one of my favorite rappers ever, so I'm just not gonna be too objective here.

He's got a great voice, and I thought it was interesting with some good compositions, it's was just a bit emotionally heavy for me in an exhausting sort of way. Glad I heard it though.

I'm not into Christmas music but this is about as good as a straight Christmas album can get. There are some really good versions of some traditional Christmas songs by some very talented artists here, and as deplorable a human as Spector was, this is a great example of his production prowess in shaping that presentation.

I like Pavement alright. No surprises here, I didn't love it, but thought it was some solid music.

I think this might have been the only Who album my parents had on vinyl when I grew up, and I always really liked it. I still think it's a really great live album, and a really great Who album.

I've always liked this album but I've never counted it among my favorite Zappa albums. I think now I have to. It's really great and I'm glad I had a chance to give it a close listen. I sometimes love orchestral meandering groove Zappa even more than pointed poppy satirist Zappa. Today is one of those times.

Another one I remember from my parents' vinyl stash growing up. The vocalist sounds like the poor man's Tom Jones. Musically it's ok, but feels like they're trying for somewhere between The Doors and Zappa and not quite getting there. The title track still cracks me up every time.

This had some ok stuff, but also some pretty bad stuff, and most of it was pretty forgettable.

This was nice. I enjoyed it, but it didn't blow me away or anything.

I love me some Cure, and they epitomize my ideal of the early 80's goth sound, with perhaps Siouxsie and Joy Division not far behind. This album has that sound, period, and for me it's among those that sets the goth template. It doesn't have my favorite Cure songs, though \"A Forest\" and \"Play for Today\" are great songs. All that said and despite all those strengths, this is just not one of my favorite Cure albums. It's lacking a bit of heft, has a few throw aways, and some of it just isn't that memorable. But I've always felt the tendency for this genre to kind of run together and get lost. I'm really glad to hear it again, but as important as it is, it's not one of my go-tos for the band or the genre.

This was pretty good, I liked it alright.

There's some really great material here including the title track, but some really tedious religious stuff too. Great overall soul style, though.

I'm a bit torn here, because this album represents a lot that I really like, including the overall electro style and references to Kraftwerk and such. But it feels dated now, and honestly felt dated then. The rhymes are often goofy and childish, and the 808 style was not long for the world with more sophisticated layered sample based productions right around the corner. As much as I truly like Planet Rock and Perfect Beat, this is just a collection of singles, and only about half are really worth while.

They are polished and have a few ok songs, but mostly its just monotonous and repetitive. They feel like a slightly less annoying version of Coldplay.

This is a fantastic album, and possibly my favorite rap album ever. The Bomb Squad evolves everything they've done over the last couple albums here, starting from their JB sample focus of It Takes A Nation Of Millions and widening it based on all kinds of sources to create a dense wall of sound rarely matched in this era. Chuck D pairs this with a wider range of social commentary that pulls no punches. This album may show it's age a little bit around the edges, but it remains massively impressive. I will never tire of this album.

This is a really fun and interesting album but not the most listenable ever.

Sounds like perfect background music for a hip coffee bar circa 1994.

The lyrics are sometimes clever and fun but then get a bit rapey, so that's not great. Some of the music is alright, most of its a bit tedious. The vocals are pretty annoying.

Overall this was actually better than I expected. Certainly not the worst funk influenced disco, just pretty boring and repetitive, even if there are a couple good songs in there.