280
Albums Rated
2.99
Average Rating
26%
Complete
809 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
2010s
Favorite Decade
Britpop
Favorite Genre
other
Top Origin
Perfectionist
Rater Style ?
2
5-Star Albums
2
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Strangeways, Here We Come
The Smiths
|
5 | 3.44 | +1.56 |
|
Darkdancer
Les Rythmes Digitales
|
4 | 2.59 | +1.41 |
|
Penthouse And Pavement
Heaven 17
|
4 | 2.61 | +1.39 |
|
Histoire De Melody Nelson
Serge Gainsbourg
|
4 | 2.75 | +1.25 |
|
Olympia 64
Jacques Brel
|
4 | 2.77 | +1.23 |
|
Want Two
Rufus Wainwright
|
4 | 2.84 | +1.16 |
|
When I Was Born For The 7th Time
Cornershop
|
4 | 2.92 | +1.08 |
|
Pet Sounds
The Beach Boys
|
5 | 3.92 | +1.08 |
|
Connected
Stereo MC's
|
4 | 2.94 | +1.06 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Led Zeppelin IV
Led Zeppelin
|
2 | 4.36 | -2.36 |
|
Made In Japan
Deep Purple
|
1 | 3.29 | -2.29 |
|
Led Zeppelin III
Led Zeppelin
|
2 | 3.96 | -1.96 |
|
Physical Graffiti
Led Zeppelin
|
2 | 3.92 | -1.92 |
|
American IV: The Man Comes Around
Johnny Cash
|
2 | 3.9 | -1.9 |
|
Sticky Fingers
The Rolling Stones
|
2 | 3.87 | -1.87 |
|
Roots
Sepultura
|
1 | 2.78 | -1.78 |
|
Vol. 4
Black Sabbath
|
2 | 3.75 | -1.75 |
|
Deja Vu
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
|
2 | 3.7 | -1.7 |
|
L.A. Woman
The Doors
|
2 | 3.67 | -1.67 |
5-Star Albums (2)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Arcade Fire
4/5
Wow, we're on a hot streak of modernity! I didn't realise Black Mirror (the show) was partly inspired by the Arcade Fire song.
So, I like indie, Canadians, and baroque pop, but somehow Arcade Fire never really hit for me: the vocals are a little too muddled in the music for my preference, I think. However, I adore 'No Cars Go'; it's one of my favorite songs (in general, not just on this album). On the strength of that track alone this album gets a '4'.
Other Highlights: 'Intervention', 'Black Wave/Bad Vibrations'
2 likes
Kate Bush
3/5
Wiki says Kate Bush's next album is called "Aspects of the Sensual World". How Chomskyan!
This feels extremely of its time and extremely Kate Bush, which are not bad things, but make me smile in that way that things that are extremely how they are do. I like that she says sen[s]ual, which is apparently British.
Highlights: 'Love and Anger' (my top 2 emotions), the first part of 'The Fog' that sounds like a 90s RPG 's town music.
I'm starting to have a crisis of faith about the consistency of my ratings. But I think this was solidly "fine".
2 likes
Pere Ubu
2/5
Never heard of this band before. I like the fonts on this album cover. Vocals are like Talking Heads but dialed up to 15 (and therefore pretty darn annoying). I cycled through {"I don't like this", "Wait, maybe it's OK", "I like this bit"} many times. The Sweet Home Alabama/Drunken Sailor song really took me out. '(Pa) Ubu Dance Party' was a high point, at least for a moment. What can I say? This sure is eclectic. But if I don't know if I like it, then I probably don't like it.
1 likes
Cornershop
4/5
This band was a recent discovery for me after I heard 'Brimful of Asha' a few years ago - I don't think they really "made it" here across the pond. But I like them. Bonus Punjabi content for the linguists!
Listening to this album all together, the songs are pretty samey, rhythm-wise. But I like the samey that they are ["sleep on the left side" = "brimful of asha" = "mar mar o'sharle"] and it isn't boring for me (yet), as I've only heard their songs a few times. Good, chill vibes. Some of the tracks were a little bit filler-y, but they were pleasant filler and not annoying skits (:)) so I won't knock it for that.
Highlights: 'Brimful of Asha', 'Good to Be on the Road Back Home', 'Norwegian Wood' (c.f. my earlier comments about Beginning Piano class)
1 likes
Iron Maiden
2/5
This album cover makes me lol. I don't know if I've ever heard an Iron Maiden song before this. They sound a lot like a lot of other bands, some of whom are on this list (Rush, maybe?). But are they the leaders or followers? (Probably leaders?) Anyway, it's not doing anything for me, but it's not actively offensive. Like Muse, while there are a lot of guitars, the guitar is so constant that it doesn't upset me. Very even coverage with their noise-making. The lyrics are just silly. I never know how seriously I'm meant to take this kind of stuff. It feels kind of like the music they'd put in the English dub of a sports anime. Actually, after framing it like that, I like it a bit more. But I would simply never sit down and listen to this, so it's a 2.5 rounded down for me.
Highlight: 'The Prisoner' (would fit right in to Sonic Adventure as a Sonic or Knuckles track!)
1 likes
4-Star Albums (51)
1-Star Albums (2)
All Ratings
Gorillaz
3/5
Better than I thought it'd be. Two radio hits -- feel good inc and 19-2000. Generally chill and jangly.
I like "Rock the House", it's got horns in. "Starshine" is kinda cool electro.
"Slow country" is like 311's Amber except with simon & carfunkel-esque toots and honks, which is hilarious.
on the other hand M1 A1 is freakin' annoying and triggers my misophonia bigtime. D: (and makes me wish I were listening to M1 instead, a much better song!)
Funkadelic
3/5
This isn't on spotify, so I had to go to YOUTUBE. That's a demerit.
I like the name Funkadelic. Alas, I am prejudiced against all 70s music.
Song #1 gets pretty hype like 4 minutes in though. I like that they say the title in the song. And the f word!? was this on the radio? no, wait a second... it's the word "funk". genius!
I googled george clinton and discovered he is NOT who I thought. I wonder who I was mixing him up with. Sorry, george.
In general, this was OK, some fun moments but ultimately I just don't love electric guitars.
Pink Floyd
3/5
A double album?! Really testing my motivation here. At least I know and (mostly) like Pink Floyd already. I think I saw some show on vh1 when I was a kiddo about their tragic dissolution and I thought "wow, that 'Money' song is fun". so there's your backstory.
'Breathe (in the air)' is a radio hit, or at least it's in a lot of sad movies. I like it OK. It ends very abruptly but I think that's Spotify's fault for leaving a small gap between tracks.
The next song sure is a lot of noises, which maybe I would think was more fun if I wasn't in the throes of a constant migraine. For now, not my bag.
Then 'Time' starts with even more noises. They sure made a lot of noises in the 70s, I tell you what. Alarms, triangles, creepy clocks, it's all here. Once the singing starts you're so grateful the noises are over! Maybe I should take a nap. But anyway, this song is a bit of a downer. It's fine.
'The Great Gig in the Sky' seemed promisingly mellow until the screaming started.
'Money' is still a straight banger. A classic bop that slaps.
'Us and Them's intro evokes Jimmy Eat World's 'Table for Glasses'. I am ready to weep, Pink Floyd, bring it on. But first, there is a saxophone. Apparently this was a single, but I've never heard it before. Or have I? I don't think I have, but let's be honest, it kinda sounds like Comfortably Numb with a saxophone in it. Which I like OK.
'Brain Damage' is fine. (lol). They say the album title!! They said the thing!!
I'm impressed by how similar the two singers sound since wiki tells me this is a different guy than the other songs's guy. Maybe they're just British.
'Eclipse' is a strong ender. And omg, they reference the title again!! We love to see it.
The 2nd disk of this album is just live versions, which is not my favorite due to the clapping and general muddling inherent in the medium. And they're probably not part of the original release (?) so I don't need to say any more about them here. But when did that ever stop me?!
I did like 'Time' more the second time around (perhaps because I knew the oppressive noises were only at the beginning), and even though live 'Money' had some sax in, it also felt much longer, so that was worse. and hey I know I've given everything a 3 so far, but this is really more of a 3.45, if that helps.
I wonder if there's a word limit on these notes...
Beatles
4/5
my god... for the first time, I've actually listened to this album before! but it's yet another classic double album, which is quite a time commitment. fortunately though, i'm in my second lifetime beatles phase (the first was when my college bff was obsessed with them + the movie musical 'across the universe' came out (which was mid, but the soundtrack was fun)), and am presently in the middle of watching Get Back because several friends are deep into beatles fandom as a way of escaping from the world (whereas i personally chose to do this album project instead). anyway, the beatles lore goes insanely deep, and i like that. also, the songs are poppy and short and distinct from each other, and i like that too. i do think disc 1 is much stronger than disc 2.
highlights: dear prudence, ob-la-di, ob-la-da (i never know this one had rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer-esque parentheticals), blackbird (#basic), piggies (legitimately one of my favorite songs; i like piggies-the-animal, harpsichords, and chamber-pop vibes), i will (on many a mushy mixtape), good night (wholesome)
ironic highlight: bungalow(!) bill
lowlights: glass onion (although I like that paul's name's in there), wild honey pie (i guess i've always hated songs with weird jangly noises), happiness is a warm gun (i teach at a quaker school after all), rocky raccoon (my college bff's most hated beatle song because of the accent, but it is kind of stinker in its own right. although it apparently inspired the MCU's rocket raccoon, which i like), why don't we do it in the road? (we already have the musically superior 'the bad touch' and anyway i don't want to contemplate paul as a sexual being), julia (zzz), everybody's got something to hide except me and my monkey (hate monkeys-the-animal!),
midlights/misc: 'honey pie' feels like it should be on a disney sing along songs compilation. 'revolution 9' makes me lol because i first experienced it via my parents saying 'number 9' a lot when i was a wee kiddo. not much of a "song", though, is it?
really even the duds are listenable, just a bit boring. a solid 4 for day 4!
bonus shameful confession: i have always struggled with if it's spelled 'beatle' or 'beetle' when i'm writing (for both the bug/car and the band) and i only just realised that they're... the beat-les. yes i am a linguist
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
3/5
this day 5 album cover is a 5/5. the "chirping" crickets? the guitars looking photoshopped? these guys squinting into the sun just like me? plus, every song under 3 minutes? amazing.
is 'oh boy' a secret gay anthem? i know that's an idiomatic non-vocative 'boy', but what a fun ambiguity for our modern age!
'not fade away' must be a single because i know it. it's just OK.
'it's too late' is a highlight. very chill. and "please don't make me weep" is an eternal lyric.
overall pleasant background music, i do like their sound but nothing especially grabbed me.
The Sabres Of Paradise
2/5
I have literally never heard of this group before. After a few songs I think I got why the album's called Haunted Dancehall. Not really my genre, but it's fine for what it is (straight-up electronica, I guess).
I liked "Bubble and Slide II" better than "Bubble and Slide (I)".
Even though there are a lot of noises here, they weren't noises that hurt my head -- just peaceful little clinklies and wooblies.
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
I know Jimi Hendrix is, like, a big deal, but even though this is from the 60s, it sounds like the 70s to me (full offense). Nothing particularly unpleasant, surely better than yesterday's weird electro instrumental, but for me this was just OK.
highlights: 'Wait Until Tomorrow', 'You Got Me Floatin'', 'She's so Fine' (idk why a British man is randomly singing this one, but I was like a baby doing one of those phonology experiments where they put in a distractor sound. my head was turnt!)
Bill Evans Trio
3/5
Ahh, this one is relaxing. Smooth jazz for a rough day. I barely even noticed it's live, which is a compliment. Unfortunately, it mainly all just reads as "Linus and Lucy" to me. I am not a discerning jazz listener.
Highlights: 'Solar', 'Gloria's Step Take 3' (Where is take 1? Also, these songs with the same name I would never match up in a million years, which either says something about jazz or something about me)
Sheryl Crow
3/5
Noooo my lengthy review got erased! I feel like a rube. Here were the main points:
-I like lady singers and the 90s, but Sheryl Crow is too country for my liking.
-A lot of these songs are about escape and running away, but I don't know if that's in reference to a particular life event in Crow canon (also when trying to find out via wiki, I learned that SC dated a co-musician (of the titular Tuesday Night Music Club) who died soon after this, in his 20s, and then later, Owen Wilson)
-One of the songs sounded like "Pinch Me" from the Barenaked Ladies, but I forget which one, but I liked it
-One of the songs had what I assumed was a deontic modal, but I forget which one, but I liked it
-One of the songs had an interesting syntactic construction, perhaps the 3rd to last song, but I didn't particularly like it
However, we shall not mourn what we have lost, we shall move ahead into the thrilling and will-aspirationally-remember-to-copypaste-my-reviews-into-my-notesapp-before-refreshing future!
PJ Harvey
3/5
Fun fact: when I first pushed play I thought "this sounds surprisingly similar to Sheryl Crow", but that was because I was accidentally still playing yesterday's Sheryl Crow album. The actual start to this album is much more my speed on first listen (quirky, unique voiced-singer, jingle-jangly, references to the UK). But it never reached "I love this" status, sadly. No bops!
Mild highlights: 'The Last Living Rose', 'In the Dark Places'
Talking Heads
3/5
Who knew I'd be so happy to get a 1980 Talking Heads album? But I really liked when that guy was on SNL recently. He's definitely got a unique voice, and there's some funny little noises here too. A little bit of a modern poetry vibe.
Highlights: 'Once in a Lifetime' (obvi), 'Seen and not Seen' (like, is this a Ted Chiang short story set to music?)
Lowlights: The last 4 songs are "unfinished outtakes" and mostly instrumental. They're less compelling. 'Right Start' is my favorite of the four, probably because it's extremely repetitive.
Nirvana
4/5
I have this album! This is the first one I have listened to in its entirety before. Yay. Now, the age-old puzzle: Is it good because I know it, or do I know it because it's good?
Well, I'm not sure. It's not my usual style (the lyrics are kinda ?? and there's certainly electric guitar), but I enjoyed listening again. As a youth there were certain bands that had serious mythos (aka they were on VH1 24/7), and Nirvana was one of those. Do kids of today learn about LFO and Amy Winehouse? They better >:(
Highlights: 'Lithium', 'Polly', the line "I don't care what you think unless it is about me"
Lowlights: 'Come as you Are' (always bored me), 'Stay Away' (same), 'Endless, Nameless' (I always hated hidden tracks, plus this one has a lot of yelling)
Stevie Wonder
4/5
This is Stevie's *seventeenth* album!? Good golly.
It starts off with a sudden burst of easy listening. Which is better than hard listening. Kind of like when one of your Sims turns on the radio and it blasts that Simlish pop. I liked it a lot more than I expected.
Highlights: 'Creepin'', 'Bird of Beauty'
John Lennon
3/5
"songs heavily influenced by Lennon's recent primal scream therapy"? Uh-oh, thinks I. But in fact, this just sounds, um, a lot like the Beatles (with a little bit of screaming at points, but it is 60s screaming, if that makes sense).
Highlights: 'Hold On', 'Love'
Lowlights: 'I Found Out' (it's giving Rocky Raccoon), 'Well Well Well'
The Smiths
4/5
I love The Smiths, despite (and also because of) lol Morrissey. Not only were they formative for Britpop, but they were formative for 2000s era livejournallers, and therefore, me. Lyric-heavy, unique voice, emo. As the Brits would say: tick, tick, tick.
One thing that stood out to me is the A-A B-B C-C kinda structure a lot of these songs have. The general theme of this album seems to be "punishment", broadly construed. Or maybe that's my internalized meat-eating guilt, idk.
Highlights: 'I Want the One I Can't Have', 'Nowhere Fast', 'Meat is Murder'
Fiona Apple
3/5
This is so recent! 2020 is basically right now. I like the idea of Fiona Apple, although the reality of Fiona Apple is more hit and miss. Regina Spektory with a few goat yodels.
Highlights: 'Under the Table', 'Relay' (relay-table), 'Drumset'
Lowlight: 'Cosmonauts' (don't yell at me fiona!)
Kendrick Lamar
4/5
Yes!! Yes!! I already know this one. Takes me back to 2012, which was a great year for me. When this came out, 106 & Park was still a thing (but not TRL or the Rock Countdown or the VH1 countdown). Anyhoo, I've still got it in the rotation.
Highlights: I mean, Kendrick's got flow. It's undeniable. Almost all of these tracks are great, especially 'Backseat Freestyle', 'Money Trees', 'good kid' (the line "from a function that tooken place"!), 'Swimming Pools'
Lowlights: 'Compton', the Jay-Z version of 'Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe', and, as you might expect from the genre, there's a lot of slurs* on this album, which is why I can't give it a 5. Imagine a (good) slur-free rap. I wonder if you can ;__;
*For the pragmatics fans out there, I admit I'm using "slurs" a little imprecisely -- this album really only contains the b-word (which many (IMO incorrect) scholars say is not a slur) and the r-less n-word (which I agree is not really a slur (see Smith 2019), buut I still don't like hearing it as a white). So as these things go, it could be way worse.
ZZ Top
2/5
Noooooooooo. OK, I have a gut reaction of dislike for ZZ Top (and what kind of name is ZZ Top, anyway? More like ZZ Bottom. Hmph), and this low-res MS Paint album cover isn't changing things for me. The wiki genres ("Southern rock, blues rock, boogie rock, Texas blues") are similarly unappealing.
I wonder if the "muddy water" lyric in 'Jesus Just Left Chicago' is a reference to Muddy Waters, who is I suppose like a slightly more enjoyable version of ZZ Top. And 'Master of Sparks' could almost be an Audioslave song. Heck, maybe 'Hot, Blue and Righteous' is about Gonzo from the Muppets (introduced in 1970). And I guess "I'll be where the big wheels keep on turnin'" in 'Move Me on Down the Line' is a CCR reference? Plus "I'll be ridin' on the bus 'til I Cadillac" is also an objectively funny line. So there are things to enjoy for me here, but the overall sound just isn't my style. The live tracks at the end don't help matters!
Kraftwerk
4/5
I had no idea Kraftwerk were from the 70s! That means I shouldn't like them. But of course I do. Unlike that Haunted Dancehall business, these songs are your (to me, prototypical) electro. The weirdest noises here are just, like, oboey synths. It's giving "early 2000s Sega Dreamcast soundtrack" and I mean that positively. What I'm getting from this album, thematically, is that these guys are really into trains. I now have learned all about the Trans Europ(e) Express (cool train) and that it now longer exists (sad).
Highlights: 'Europe Endless' (makes me feel like Girl Who is Going to Be Okay), 'Franz Schubert'
Lowlights: 'Metal on Metal' (can't argue with the name, but I don't like the vibe)
Steely Dan
2/5
I knew nothing of Steely Dan except that they're for dads. (C.f. this recent article: https://www.vulture.com/article/john-mulaneys-son-learned-to-talk-because-of-steely-dan.html). This sounds to me like the type of music that would be on during a dentist appointment. So, it's fine. Not offensive, but nothing comment-worthy, which is a demerit in itself!
Alice In Chains
2/5
Don't yell at me ;___;
I know this is acclaimed but it felt kinda generic. They sound a lot like someone else I can't put my finger on, but heck, maybe the someone is actually "Alice in Chains" and I just never bothered to learn their name. Maybe Soundgarden. Maybe Rush. Anyway, it basically sounds like what I'd hear on 105.7 The X, 20 years ago.
Some fun dam~damn wordplay, I guess.
I have heard 'Down in a Hole' before. It's fine.
The fact that there's a song called 'God Smack' made me wonder if the band Godsmack is named after this song, but apparently (although they were "aware" of the song), the band is named after what they called a cold sore. So now I like Godsmack less, I fear.
Maybe it's just because I'm thinking about Godsmack now, but 'Angry Chair' has a lot in common with Godsmack's 'Straight Out of Line'. Mashup potential!
'Would?' is a funny song title nowadays.
Curtis Mayfield
2/5
Funky. I like that there are some wind instruments. I like the album cover. I don't like the combo of a high voice and a slow tempo, even if the lyrics are good. Too operatic for me!
Tangentially, there are so many artists with songs called 'Blue Monday', including Curtis here, yet there is not a lot of online clarity re: where this term originated. Some say it's from a travel company in the UK in 2005, which is clearly not the whole truth. The dictionary tells me it's from the 1800s, re: sad laborers, and I guess that's the intended meaning here. A term that endures!
Paul Simon
3/5
I've heard of this album, at least, but I've never listened to it. Paul Simon is a likeable guy. I like his voice and the general vibe of these songs.
Highlight: Oh, this has 'You Can Call Me Al'! That's one of the first songs I downloaded when I first got my own computer some 20 years ago :D
'Homeless' has Zulu in it, which is cool. There are clicks!
Wilco
3/5
(Eek I'm so behind!!!)
When I hear "Wilco", I think of the webcomic Questionable Content. I feel like that dude was obsessed with them, which made me think "this is likely not a band for me". My read was accurate. The name Jeff Tweedy (=the singer) is perfect for what this music sounds like. This is the rare band where I like the (instrumental) music much better than I like the vocals.
Highlights: 'Monday' had good energy. I like that there is an 'Outta Sight' / 'Outta Mind' pair because it made me think "wait, I heard this one already". The strings in 'The Lonely 1' are pretty.
Spoon: 'Why Would you Wanna Live' sounds like Spoon's 'The Way We Get By' at first, and Spoon would be a more enjoyable quirky 5-letter band for this list than Wilco. I guess they're fine though.
Missy Elliott
2/5
This is one of the albums I was dreading; I never liked Missy Elliott and she was on the radio all the time in my peak radio-listening era.
Highlights: a sung "toot toot" always makes me smile. Taj from Survivor is in the video for 'The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)'.
Lowlights: Typical hip-hop slurs. And in general the lyrics annoy me -- IDK why exactly -- they're like, a bit cutesy/cheeky but not enough to commit. The noise throughout of the entirety of the background of 'Beep Me 911' sounds like my iPhone alarm, which is very stressful.
Queen
4/5
Supposedly this is Queen's best album. Seems like they're excluding Queen's "greatest hits" from that ranking, but OK, I'll allow it ;P
I like Queen a lot, obvi. But as is typical, I like the vocals a lot more than the (guitar-heavy!!) instrumentals.
'Death on Two Legs' is very Pink Floydy.
Highlights: 'Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon' (Mercury sure likes bikes, doesn't he), 'You're My Best Friend', '39 (love a good shanty), 'Seaside Rendezvous' (love a silly mouth trumpet)
Coldplay
3/5
This is actually my least favorite Coldplay era. I do like some of their songs, but 'Clocks' especially is so samey and boring. The tempo is just too sloooow (making the name apropos). I guess it's a little bit nostalgic now, but c'mon, 'Yellow' and 'Fix You' and 'Something Like This' are all better Coldplays than anything on this album.
Almost Highlights: 'God Put a Smile on Your Face' started very slow, but it picked up a bit. 'The Scientist' is my favorite of the singles. I like when they say the name of the album in the album.
Meat Loaf
3/5
I didn't know this was written to be a (Peter Pan??) musical, which is endearing. Also Max Weinberg played the drums on it! But even though they're fun, most of these songs sounded the same to me. Meat Loaf is a silly name and the songs are pleasant, but nothing especially struck me. (It's hard to be struck on a first listen, though, isn't it? I hope I end up giving something a 5 before this is all said and done!) Maybe it's just the word "bat" plus the idea of "musicals" but this kind of reminded me of "Bat Boy" the musical, which was similarly pleasant but ultimately I'd never buy that OCR, you know?
Highlights: 'All Revved Up With No Place to Go' is the most of a bop. 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light' is randomly a duet, and it's also boppish at points. And oh my gosh, it's where the Wand-Off intro is from (any RHAP fans out there???). The wiki for ‘Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad’ says that the title is “66% is good enough” in Japanese, which is the sort of translation fun fact people like. I am people. (That song is just OK. 66% maybe.)
Joan Armatrading
3/5
Never heard of this artist before! I like her voice; it's kinda like a British(/Kittitian?) Tracy Chapman. Some snoozers in the bunch, but overall pleasant.
Various Artists
4/5
Hooray! A Christmas Album...for me! (And everyone). I know a lot of these songs already, so of course I'm predisposed to like it more.
Highlights: 'White Christmas', 'Frosty the Snowman', 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer', 'Christmas' (mainly because it's on the SNL Christmas special every year), 'Winter Wonderland', 'Sleigh Ride' (hehe horse noises), 'Marshmallow World' (spelled wrong on the cover? I never heard this one before, but it's not even necessarily about Christmas, which I like)
Fun Facts I told my parents and now I will put here: 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer' was written for Montgomery Ward! 'Silent Night' is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Site!! Phil Spector says "thank" with a voiced interdental!
Leonard Cohen
4/5
I like Leonard Cohen; he's a lyrics-first guy with a distinctive voice. And this album is so sad, which is why I never listened to it ('til now). Still good though.
Wilco
3/5
This album cover looks like one I'd create. Good font. Not too visually complex. 5/5 album cover.
The tracks are eh. This album has mad acclaim, but I still don't like Tweedy's voice. It's too generic! How can I get into a generic voiced singer?! The lyrics are just OK. This feels a bit like a Death Cab for Cutie album but with worse lyrics, worse singing, and more creative (and usually better) instrumentation.
The line "there's a war on" always read as British to me, but now I've learned (thanks to American Wilco) that it's just old-timey.
'Jesus, Etc' is a good song title, I'll give 'em that.
'Poor Places' started strong and ended with an aural assault! More like Alpha Hotel Hotel >:(
The Strokes
4/5
Nostalgia intensifies! When The Strokes were all over the MTV2 Rock Countdown, I was 'meh' about them, but now I just like them for being on the MTV2 Rock Countdown. They have a pretty distinctive sound, which means that all the songs sound the same (aka like 'Reptilia'), but again... it's very nostalgic. And all songs are under 4 minutes, which I like.
Highlights: 'Is This It', 'Hard to Explain'
The Lemonheads
3/5
I haven't listened to much of this band before. They have good energy. Very "90s sitcom intro" vibe. I never noticed there's a "coo coo ca choo" in 'Mrs Robinson' before.
Highlight: 'Confetti'
Drive-By Truckers
2/5
The title "Southern Rock Opera" is like nightmare fuel for me. Add in "Truckers" and "1.5hr runtime" and I've really formed some rock-bottom expectations. And those expectations... were met.
The subject matter is respectable; the lyrics are engaging, but I just can't handle the presentation. They did a good job with the Lynyrd Skynyrding, but Lynyrd Skynyrding is like my anti-pizza (even when it's good, it's bad).
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
Evokes the feeling of watching an old Shakespeare movie in my middle school English class. Generally pleasant. The continued proliferation of musicians on this list referencing other musicians on this list makes me smile.
Highlights: 'Cloudy', 'Homeward Bound'
Alanis Morissette
4/5
Aw! I feel like I manifested this one since I've been talking about it a lot lately. I don't have this album, but my mom does, so I've listened to the whole thing before. It's got a lot of qualities I like: 90s, female singer, Canadian, unique voice, it's now a musical. Fun fact: Alanis (as God in Dogma) was the very first "celeb I was told I look like" (although I don't see it, I think we both just had very long hair). Speaking of long... this album is a little bit long. A little bit samey. But it produced a lot of hits, and I still like it.
Highlights: 'You Oughta Know', 'Right Through You', 'You Learn', the line "you held your breath and the door for me" (I have a draft about these funny half-idiomatic conjunctions waiting to be published.... waiting....), 'Ironic'
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
Weird to listen to this album now! It's almost quaint. I can definitely see its influence. The VH1 hype machine really talked it up in the 90s-00s. As a listening experience, it's mostly fine. Fewer slurs than Green Day, props for that.
Highlights: 'It's Tricky' (possibly due to SNL exposure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCUKya4gLFM ), 'You Be Illin'' (I'm always here for the lols), 'Proud to be Black' (satisfying rhyme scheme)
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Lenny, we meet again! This is so old it sounds like Simon and Garfunkel. Very peaceful. Not a top album cover. Also not my favorite Leonard Cohen era, apparently, although maybe I'd change my mind if I listened a few more times. But as of now, it's a little bit boring, I fear.
Highlights: 'Sisters of Mercy' (a bit like I'm playing a 90s RPG), 'So Long, Marianne' (classic)
Pere Ubu
2/5
Never heard of this band before. I like the fonts on this album cover. Vocals are like Talking Heads but dialed up to 15 (and therefore pretty darn annoying). I cycled through {"I don't like this", "Wait, maybe it's OK", "I like this bit"} many times. The Sweet Home Alabama/Drunken Sailor song really took me out. '(Pa) Ubu Dance Party' was a high point, at least for a moment. What can I say? This sure is eclectic. But if I don't know if I like it, then I probably don't like it.
Ray Charles
3/5
A lot more artists started in the 60s than I'd realised. Gosh. Despite the name, this sounds more "oldies" than "country" to me, so I liked it more than I expected.
Beatles
4/5
Got this one on annual "George quits the band" day! This album cover is the one that gave me the most trouble in college when I was trying to learn who was who, because hair is my major person-identifier. I think I've got it now though (Paul, Ringo, John, George, right? :p)
Unfortunately I fear my highlights are just "ones I've heard before (minus 'Roll Over Beethoven' and 'I Wanna Be Your Man')", which is all my brain can handle at this time. All the songs are relatively short and sweet though.
Highlights: 'It Won't Be Long', 'All My Loving', 'Till There Was You', 'Hold Me Tight', 'You Really Got a Hold on Me' (adverbs!)
Tracy Chapman
4/5
I have this album! (#2!) And I still like it just as much as I did when I got it*. After Luke Combs's's cover of 'Fast Car', I feel Tracy & this album are having a (small) renaissance, which is nice. The lyrics certainly still apply, which is not nice.
*When I first heard Fast Car on the radio, before my Internet era, it was one of those ":o I must learn what this is" songs (and luckily it wasn't too hard to find out because my parents knew what it was when I asked about it). She had such a unique voice compared to the other songs I was hearing on pop radio. It did take me a while to appreciate the non-Fast Car songs, since they're a lot more acapella (which I found boring at the time), but I got there eventually.
Highlights: 'Fast Car' (duh), 'Baby Can I Hold You', 'Why?', 'If Not Now...'
A Tribe Called Quest
3/5
This is another one that I've never listened to, not because I haven't heard of them, just because I'm not a big hip hop head. My friend Alex was a fan of these guys, though, so I do have a positive association. They sound 90s, which isn't terrible (listenable, not offensive) but doesn't compel me either (am I looking for more edge? idk). Lucien *is* a cool name. 'Bonita Applebum' is referenced or sampled in so many other songs. Thus concludes my thoughts.
Highlights: The line 'it'll take a minute rice', 'Can I Kick It?', 'Ham 'N' Eggs' (always here for the lols)
Spiritualized
4/5
This is a funny album cover. I liked this album a lot. The first song is very evocative of space, and Elvis. Two of my recent interests. The title is from a nice book quote.
I learned from reading about this album that Dr. John (neutral) is not the same person as Dr. Luke (bad). Also that "space rock" is an attested genre, and related to "shoegaze", which I always wondered about. I think I'm no closer to understanding it, but I do like space rock. The album felt very cohesive to me, which in theory is the point of albums, but in practice I rarely find to be the case.
Highlights: 'Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space', 'Stay with Me', 'Electricity' (I want a mashup of this and the Schoolhouse Rock 'Electricity, Electricity'), 'Broken Heart' (very orchestral), 'Cool Waves' (very electro-gospel)
Lowlights: 'The Individual' (most of the Noises on this album were acceptable to me, but all of the unacceptable ones were here, on this track, comprised of 4 minutes straight of BLRRRRRRZZZZ squeak squeak BLRRRRRZZZ)
Beth Orton
2/5
I was excited for this (90s British lady "electro-folk"!) but it did not particularly resonate with me. Like a country-infused Alanis Morissette at times, a slightly cheerier Sarah McLachlan at others. Maybe my problem is with (a) the tempo and (b) the drums, such as they are? I dunno.
Highlight: 'Couldn't Cause Me Harm'
Lowlight: 'Stolen Car' (gave me a very bad first impression)
Nick Drake
4/5
I always liked Nick Drake songs, from what I know of them. Which is not much, because I had no idea he died so long ago & so young (and from an amitriptyline overdose??!??!). Wikipedia never turns up good news on these [1001 album] people. So though you might think "ah, he's just famous because he died young", I had the benefit of ignorance, and point being I liked him before all that. Cheers to me.
'Hazey Jane II' has Belle & Sebastian vibes.
'At the Chime of a City Clock' does too, but it also has sweeping strings + jazzy horn*. B&S should take notes!
'Hazey Jane I' is one of the first Nick Drake songs I heard, so it feels very prototypical to me (and not at all B&Sey :)). Actually, listening now it sounds a lot like 'Orange Sky' by Alexi Murdoch.
Speaking of Sky, 'Northern Sky' is also a lot like 'Orange Sky'. Vaguely uplifiting, but not too peppy.
Nice album. Nice to hear a flute that isn't my neighbor tooting her little toots while I'm trying to sleep. Nice not to have any extraneous "bad" songs.
*I had a crisis of conscience about whether a saxophone counts as a horn, but Wiki says it does.
Jimmy Smith
3/5
This album cover is good. I've never heard of Jimmy Smith, but based on this, he's pretty cool. I like that there is a genre called "hard bop". If it were me I'd say these are more like "chill bops" though. Nothing super captivating, but I'm not mad at it.
Kate Bush
3/5
Wiki says Kate Bush's next album is called "Aspects of the Sensual World". How Chomskyan!
This feels extremely of its time and extremely Kate Bush, which are not bad things, but make me smile in that way that things that are extremely how they are do. I like that she says sen[s]ual, which is apparently British.
Highlights: 'Love and Anger' (my top 2 emotions), the first part of 'The Fog' that sounds like a 90s RPG 's town music.
I'm starting to have a crisis of faith about the consistency of my ratings. But I think this was solidly "fine".
The Police
3/5
I'm ashamed to admit that knowing Sting is in the Police is one of those things I think I've learned at least 5 times. They're just too firmly embedded as an "pre-me-listening-to-music" band, and inexorably linked with Genesis in my mind (because of an isomorphic "wait, really?" fact with Phil Collins, and, apparently, Peter Gabriel). I wonder if there are any solo artists who make it big and then go on to be a band, or if it's only the other way around.
Anyway, I know 'Message in Bottle' already, which is a mid-level bop. I also like 'Walking on the Moon' because it sounds very similar to the other Police songs I know (and it is reggae-y). 'Contact' too.
Lowlight: 'No Time This Time' (frenetic! not in a fun way!)
The Undertones
3/5
Is this the Offspring? That's my only comparison. Except they're Irish! Maybe that's why I'm somewhat compelled by this, even though the lyrics aren't doing much for me and the sound is, in some ways, generic. But they do sound to me like they're newer than they are, and there's some intriguing vowels. The 'Under the Boardwalk' cover isn't my favorite, but if I had never heard the song before, maybe I would like it.
Vague Highlights: 'Hypnotised', 'Hard Luck'
Vague Lowlights: 'What's With Terry' (just seems a bit mean, unless Terry is a famous politician I don't know about)
3/5
Like the Beatles, Oasis is currently having a major cultural renaissance in my peer group, so this is well-timed for me. Seeing 'Gary Glitter' as a writer for the first song was (yet another) 1001 albums "oh no" moment, but fear not, it was only the one song. I like the album cover. The songs themselves are fine, but I think Blur won the Britpop battle of my heart. Liam does sound remarkably John Lennon-y though, which is fun. Noel sounds more 90s to me. This has been my Oasanalysis.
Highlights: 'Wonderwall', 'Don't Look Back in Anger', 'Champagne Supernova' (duh), 'Morning Glory' (they say the album name !)
Frank Ocean
3/5
Flashback to Gossip Girl, which was my first exposure to this album. I don't usually like r&b much (too slow!) but this is a (mild) exception. I like the electro vibes. Plus Frank Ocean seems like a cool guy. (A cool guy who still drops a few slurs once he lulls you into thinking there won't be any, but nevertheless.)
Highlights: 'Thinkin Bout You', 'Sweet Life', 'Super Rich Kids', 'Pyramid', 'Lost', the fact that 'Forrest Gump' "serves as a metaphor for the feelings Ocean still harbors for his first love, the man he wrote about in his Tumblr post"
Fugees
3/5
This is a good one for me to listen to, because my priors were: I don't like Lauryn Hill (based almost entirely on one song that was popular), I don't really like 'Killing Me Softly', and therefore, I don't like the* Fugees. Even though I know they're highly acclaimed! I know! But I do like Wyclef Jean! Am I a huge sexist? I mean, the data speaks for itself.
Anyway, so I had the impression they were mostly slow jams, and they are not: they are mostly raps. For me, this is an upgrade. Also they make so many media references, and since this is 1995, I know them! The slur count is nonzero though, which is a (near-inevitable given the genre) downgrade.
Highlights: 'Ready or Not', 'Fu-Gee-La' (hearing the 8000 remixes actually made me like it more and not less, especially the ~global~ one), the line "lyrics fast like Ramadan", 'The Mask', 'No Woman, No Cry', the fact that 'Outro' is basically spoken credits
Retroactively obvious realisations: omg, 'Fugees' is short for 'refugees'!
*OK apparently there is no "the" in their name, which is something I always find grammatically difficult (I think we had another band like this, although I forget who it is -- (the) Talking Heads, maybe?). Anyway, if I had said "I don't like Fugees", now that I know "Fugees" is short for "Refugees", that seems open to problematic interpretation, so I put the "the" even though it's wrong. l a n g u a g e
Gene Clark
2/5
Nothing like some "country rock" to make you appreciate all the other genres, you know? This guy (from the Byrds, previously) has a little bit of a Bob Dylan warble. Unfortunately he also has those twangy guitars. He died in his 40s, too. What a downer this list is! Actually, these songs are not unpleasant to listen to - nice and mellow. But they are also boring. Even 'Stand By Me' is like, 200% worse here.
Highlights: 'One in a Hundred' (American Pie-esque)
The Beta Band
3/5
Never heard of them, so no idea what to expect with this one. The good news is that they aren't boring and the noises (though there are noises, beep bloop), lyrics, and singing are acceptable to me. Still, I bet there are jokes in the other reviews about them rightfully not being the Alpha Band. And those jokes would make sense, because they aren't really tops, they're just okay.
Highlights: 'Human Being', 'Dragon', 'Quiet' (the sun and the people DO blind me!!)
Lowlights: the rhyme scheme of 'Life'
Beatles
3/5
More Beatles! I bet all of their albums are on here. Lucky for me I don't actually know how many albums they have. Could be 900 more for all I know.
I used to like 'Eleanor Rigby', but it was the soundtrack for a presentation I did in college and I listened to it at least 50 times in the process of getting the timing right, so now I'm weary of it.
I do like the song with the sitar in it, but the title ('Love You To') is mysterious and despite the mountains of Beatles lore, I can't find a definitive answer to what the heck it means. George >:(
I like 'Good Day Sunshine'. That's a peppy little number. Same for 'And Your Bird Can Sing'. And 'Got to Get You into My Life' (there're horns!)
The rest of the songs didn't captivate me, which is possibly just because I haven't heard them before (except 'Yellow Submarine', which I do like, but if I heard it 50 more times I doubt that I would). So I think this is my least favorite Beatles album of the ones we had so far, although it's still a solid album, just not my style (=short poppy bangers).
Rush
3/5
I always used to mix up Bush and Rush. After listening to this album I don't think that'll be a problem for me anymore. Bush is the band I like, and Rush is the band who credited Ayn Rand in the liner notes.
OK, that's a bit harsh (even if it's true). I do in fact like 'Tom Sawyer', which is Rush-not-Bush, although that's not on this album. Plus Geddy Lee is my hairdo twin, whereas Gavin Rossdale was simply Gwen Stefani's boyf.
Anyway, starting off with a 20min guitar-heavy song here isn't really my idea of a good time, but I do find the mini-musical plot cute (and evocative of both Meat Loaf & Hedwig and the Angry Inch). They have a distinctive sound which is at the same time similar to other bands, but I bet Rush came before a lot of those bands, being from the 70s(!!). I appreciate that they aren't boring, but I also find it hard to take this kind of music seriously (and I'm not sure if I'm even supposed to). I never heard of "prog" before this website, and now it's font size 16 in my life wordcloud, but I still don't quite "get it". That's worth a 3 from me I guess.
Adele
3/5
Adele seemed much older than 21 to me at the time this came out, even though I was well aware of her age (which is indeed the same as my age). I didn't like 'Chasing Pavements', the single from her earlier album (too Norah Jonesy), but this is a big upgrade for me -- a quintessential "pop" album. Pretty catchy songs, solid voice, heavy media saturation.
Highlights: 'Rumour Has It', 'Set Fire to the Rain', 'He Won't Go', 'Someone Like You'
Lowlights: 'Take It All' (bit of a snoozefest), 'Lovesong' (hard to win me over with a cover, especially a way-smooth-jazzier one)
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Darn it, I accidentally lost my notes again. And this album was so long!! But as Rihanna's tattoo teaches us, 'never a failure, always a lesson'.
Anyway, I said something about how after Stevie's last album I was excited for this one, but the first song did not live up to the hype. Things picked up after that, but I didn't love this album as much as I hoped I would (even though it's never BAD).
Highlights: 'Village Ghetto Land', 'I Wish', 'Pastime Paradise' (!), 'Saturn' (someone's gotta make a SZA mashup)
The Only Ones
2/5
What a voice! Very British. If this is "power pop" I'll eat my hat. (Update: The wiki list of power pop artists is making me have to eat a lot of hats...) At first I thought I might like this, but it turns out I really don't. Too muddled.
Highlights: 'Creature of Doom', the absurd line "I love my mother but I wouldn't want to have sex with her", 'No Peace for the Wicked', rhyming "calm" with "harm"
Beastie Boys
2/5
Sometimes described as "the Sgt. Pepper of hip-hop", eh? Probably by Jim Shearer, former host of the MTV2 Rock Countdown! The main Beastie Boys association I have is "that man sure loves the Beastie Boys". For me, they're kind of nostalgic, I guess, but that feeling only sustains me for a few minutes, and this album is much longer than a few minutes. Not really my thing, Jim Shearers aside. Lotta egg talk.
Highlights: the phrase "bald feet".
The Cure
3/5
Uh oh, I was in a fugue state when I listened to this. I like the Cure, so it was pleasant background, but none of the songs snapped me out of my "MUST GRADE 50000 PAPERS AHH" haze, so I don't think it hit 4-territory, which it might have done if it were a little more good. More gooder. On the high end of 3 though, much better than Wilco, here's hoping they have another album later that I can appreciate a bit more.
Ice Cube
2/5
Childhood me mixed up Ice Cube and Ice-T all the time (not Vanilla Ice - he wasn't an actor!), just as adult me mixed up Rush and Bush. All that to say I was very much not in the loop when this album was happening. But I am now in the loop. Relatedly, I like that when you search for "Ice Cube or Ice-T" the preview of the top Quora result is:
"Are Ice-T and Ice Cube related?
Yes, as they both come from Japanese families where the family name (what Americans call the “last name”) comes first,"
:)
I don't have much to say about this album. It was good, ignoring the copious slurs (which is hard for me to do with music I don't already like). Pretty solid 90s hip hop, good beats. Was surprised to discover this album is the origin of the phrase "on like Donkey Kong" although NOT the origin of "eat 'em up yum" or "#1 with the bullet" (I checked). And 'Check Yo Self' does NOT sample 'Shoop'?! Nor vice versa? How!?!
'It was a Good Day' is a classic. Unfortunately this album is an hour long so I had a lot of time to think "nope, these lyrics are not for me" even while the non-offensive bits are solid.
Beatles
4/5
Another Beatles so soon! But I have it in my mind that this is one of my favorite Beatles albums... let's see if that's true.
I did not realise 'Drive my Car' is from the lady's perspective! Suddenly, a relatable bop. Beep beep, beep beep, yeah. Wait, she doesn't even have a car and the car is a metaphor? Don't make it weird, Beatles.
I first heard 'Norweigian Wood' from playing it in my "Beginning Piano" 2-credit fun course in college. After hearing 20 of us noobs slowly play our way through it, dozens of times? I still like it. I like all of their sitar songs so far! And ones with animals in? (birds, Octopus, Piggies...?)
I also like 'You Won't See Me' (even if the title is similar to 'You Don't Send Me' and liable to be mixed up with that by me, a master mixer-upper).
'Nowhere Man' and 'Think for Yourself' are just OK. 'The Word' is not great. This is the doldrums of the album.
I don't think I'd actually heard 'Michelle' before, but I like it. The idea of Paul McCartney singing in French makes me lol. 'What Goes On' is just OK. I like 'Girl', although that may be because it's in the lauded film 'Across the Universe'. 'I'm Looking Through You' is decent. 'In My Life' is great and makes me sad. 'Wait' and 'If I Needed Someone' are good. 'Run For Your Life' is of course lyrically bad, but honestly it's so jangly I kind of like it.
Long story shorter: yes! I do like this album! my favorite Beatles yet. It still feels like it'd be too big of a deal for me to give this my first 5, but it's like a 4.5. (It's hard to calibrate my ratings when I don't know what's to come! Maybe Wilco is actually a 5! Maybe all my bad days are actually good!)
John Prine
3/5
Here's a guy I've only heard the name of! I did not expect straight country.
For the first two songs, I thought: his voice + the plucky guitar sound is something I associate with kids music, albeit beloved kids music, and I just can't get into it for more serious topics. The lyrics are good though.
After a couple more songs, I got slightly used to it(?) and could appreciate it more. But then 'Paradise' was back into the 'Children's Favorites' style. I dunno. A bit of a (lowkey) rollercoaster all the way through, in this way. Never unpleasant, though. Big "it's not you, it's me" energy on this one.
Aretha Franklin
3/5
Some artists are so famous that it's hard for me to assess them with a fresh eye! Like, 'Respect' is great, but it's "BBC Proms" great, not "listening while I'm driving" great. (Although "sock it to me" is a funny little phrase.) And so I enjoyed this album, but in the way I like watching an old movie once in a while, not the way I like binging a reality show always and forever.
Highlights: 'Soul Serenade' (& learning that there is an instrument called the 'saxello'), 'Don't Let Me Lose This Dream' (like zippy elevator music)
Paul Simon
3/5
Look at you in your little coat, Paul Simon! Writing songs named after 親子丼! Making up guys called "Lincoln Duncan"! Singing the classic lyric "Went to my doctor yesterday / Aaaah"!
I like all of it, but other than 'Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard' (which is a 5/5 song), and 'Paranoia Blues', everything's just a little too mellow for my taste.
Astor Piazzolla
3/5
Hmm. Is this tango for the sake of tango, or is it actually good? Since I know nothing about tango, it's hard to say. But do I enjoy it? Eh, it's fine.
Pros: I like instrumental music with strings and piano. It's pleasant and sometimes interesting.
Cons: This is live (as you'd expect, I guess), so there's applause, which is distracting. And it turns out I am not a big vibraphone fan.
Gram Parsons
3/5
What on earth -- Emmylou Harris is this old!??!?! I thought she was like, 28. Maybe I mixed her up with the Vance Joy song 'Emmylou'. That's pretty bad if so. Well, this enterprise continues to be extremely educational.
As for the main man: I had never heard of Gram Parsons before. More country. But sad duet country! (With Emmylou!) That's the pinnacle of the genre. However, pinnacle of the genre still gets a 3. Sorry.
Highlights: '$1000 Wedding', 'Love Hurts' (another cover)
Megadeth
2/5
Well, I don't *like* the album cover, but it does look like a meme from Da Share Zone, so it has something going for it. Somehow I've avoided Megadeth until now. After listening, it turns out that was the right choice. But they honestly aren't that intense, just kinda... hard rock. I think I expected more growling. Either way, this much electric guitar is not for me. Not my scene!
+ Reading that the bass line from 'Peace Sells' (the song) was the intro to MTV news made me go "oh yeah!" but I don't think I would have noticed on my own. So, it's apparently not very distinctive (for me).
Songhoy Blues
3/5
As a linguist, I like this a lot, because - quote from the band - "We always try to sing in as many languages as possible. The languages we speak every day are Songhoy, Bambara, French, and English." How many Songhoy language albums are on this list? I bet not a lot! (Although maybe I'm wrong, since I never would have predicted this one, either.)
As a non-linguistic listening experience, it's chill & pleasant, but nothing that'll stick with me (even though the band's story is obviously compelling). A 3 with a side of respect.
Highlights: 'Irganda', "Petit Metier' , 'Desert Melodie'
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
I haven't even rated 100 albums yet and I'm still thinking "wait, didn't we have this one already?". But I sure feel like I had this one already. Classic sweater cover.
I was too tired to really focus on it, but this was pleasant. I liked the song about being a jam fan. And the hazy shade of winter one (don't tell me the title...). The zoo one is potentially good.
Yep: pleasant.
Isaac Hayes
3/5
This was also pleasant, although very hard to track down all the songs of online. I like the instrumentals better than the singing ones, but both are mildly enjoyable. I already know 'Theme from Shaft' because it's on some compilation CD (of movie/TV themes), so I particularly like that one, but whether it's due to familiarity or inherent bangerness, I cannot say.
American Music Club
3/5
They had indie rock in the 80s? Just kidding, kinda. This is so indie it wasn't on spotify!
Unfortunately, I like it. A little bit of a folksy/country voice, but definite indie guitar and lyrics. 'Western Song' apparently is Nick Drake inspired, and I hear it, as well as Pearl Jam inspiring, which I guess I hear also. Pleasant. A nice pleasant streak this week.
Elton John
3/5
I really know only the hits of Elton John, but I like them all moderately well. They do sound pretty same-y to me though. Pretty impressive that he managed to sound basically the same for so long!
Highlights: 'Tiny Dancer' (with thanks for giving us a classic mondegreen example), 'All the Nasties'
R.E.M.
4/5
Finally, an album that came out during my lifetime! I've never heard this one in particular, but I must have their first greatest hits (?) album, because I know a lot of these songs. Pretty, pretty good. Stipe also has such a unique voice that I know instantly these are R.E.M. songs, which actually isn't true of that many artists on this list for me. I find it comforting to know who I'm listening to. I like that there are lots of background strings. Feels very ~sweeping~.
Apparently REM later thought 'The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite' was too light for this album, but that is one of the saddest songs here to me! Anyway, I like that one. (Wiki says 'Call me when you try to wake her up' is misheard as 'Call Jamaica'? Umm, OK. I could imagine thinking it's 'Go and try...", but I don't know where the people are coming from with that one. Not making my mondegreen slides, let's just say that.)
On the other hand, 'Everybody Hurts' I guess is heavier(?), but is way more uplifting, at least lyrically. It's a fine song, but a little too sleepy for my preference. Feels like a spiritual counterpart to 'Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen', about which I have similar feelings.
'Ignoreland' is rough in every sense.
'Star Me Kitten'? What kind of a name is---oh I see.
Highlights: 'Sweetness Follows', 'Nightswimming' 🥺, 'Man on the Moon'
Arcade Fire
4/5
Wow, we're on a hot streak of modernity! I didn't realise Black Mirror (the show) was partly inspired by the Arcade Fire song.
So, I like indie, Canadians, and baroque pop, but somehow Arcade Fire never really hit for me: the vocals are a little too muddled in the music for my preference, I think. However, I adore 'No Cars Go'; it's one of my favorite songs (in general, not just on this album). On the strength of that track alone this album gets a '4'.
Other Highlights: 'Intervention', 'Black Wave/Bad Vibrations'
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
Siouxsie Sioux! My middle school friend Melissa was very into her, so I learned how to pronounce that name at an early age, but I never actually listened to a single track until now. It's OK. Not really my thing, but I don't hate it. This is like a 2.5, but I'll round up because a lot of my favorite artists (and Moso) seem to like them.
Highlight: 'Into the Light'
Linkin Park
3/5
Wow, I'm so happy to get all these artists I actually know! Finally, things are coming up Milhouse. Now to be clear, I don't really like Linkin Park. In fact I made fun of them many times in the 2000s. The yelly rapping is not something I enjoy. But at the same time, C.Bennie's voice induces some serious nostalgia, because they were all over the radio and the rock countdown at a very formative time in my music life. I know people will disagree, and they may be correct to do so, but I think Hoobastank does this style of music better. :D:
Highlight: 'In the End'
Cornershop
4/5
This band was a recent discovery for me after I heard 'Brimful of Asha' a few years ago - I don't think they really "made it" here across the pond. But I like them. Bonus Punjabi content for the linguists!
Listening to this album all together, the songs are pretty samey, rhythm-wise. But I like the samey that they are ["sleep on the left side" = "brimful of asha" = "mar mar o'sharle"] and it isn't boring for me (yet), as I've only heard their songs a few times. Good, chill vibes. Some of the tracks were a little bit filler-y, but they were pleasant filler and not annoying skits (:)) so I won't knock it for that.
Highlights: 'Brimful of Asha', 'Good to Be on the Road Back Home', 'Norwegian Wood' (c.f. my earlier comments about Beginning Piano class)
The Killers
4/5
Yay! I have this album! (#3). Now that it's been 21 years (!) I can admit that I mainly got it because I liked the video for Mr. Brightside, and I thought the rest of their songs were just OK. (I still think "Mr. Brightside" is the best song here - it deserves its Millennial wedding crowdpleaser status.)
This is also an aesthetically pleasing album cover.
It's a pretty good album, though. A lot of hits, and the last-half relative snoozers aren't too bad. They should have kept it in the book!
Also, reading that 'Mr Brightside' was played on & therefore overlapped with The OC is like those "the pyramids were built at the same time as the telephone" kinds of facts for me. How is that possible!? D:
Highlights: 'Mr Brightside', 'All These Things That I've Done' (&"I've got soul but I'm not a soldier"), 'Andy, You're a Star'
Soundgarden
3/5
Another 90s album! This one really sounds it, too. I don't have any Soundgarden albums, but I do have Audioslave album(sg.), so I was excited to hear this. This album cover is pretty unaesthetic though.
Well, turns out I like Audioslave more than Soundgarden. The electric guitar + drums combo is a lot stronger here... you could even say it's something like a garden of Sound! I do like that all the wacky time signatures were apparently accidental.
Highlights: 'Black Hole Sun', '4th of July', 'Like Suicide'
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
And back to traditional 1001 album fare we go. I like the album cover. This is my favorite S&G album so far, I think, in no small part because of 'Cecilia' (which is in no small part because of this beloved comedy video from my college era, 'Simon and Carfunkel' (bad for headaches though, honk): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5kBOZBxF5k ).
I'm a little too sleepy to pay proper attention to this album, but in my defense, some of these (non-Cecilia) songs are very conducive to a snooze. Pleasant little snooze though. Wiki also says a lot of these songs are secretly about Garfunkel, which is cute/weird/interesting/sad.
Highlights: 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', 'Cecilia', 'The Boxer', 'Bye Bye Love' (which we had before with Ray Charles!)
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
I know exactly one Echo & the Bunnymen song: 'The Killing Moon', from Rock Band 3. That song is not on this album, but its essence certainly is. I deem this genre "80s Brit-goth". Enjoyable enough, but not remarkable.
Buffalo Springfield
3/5
So many people I could mix Buffalo Springfield up with... Rick Springfield, Buffalo Bill from the Beatles song 'The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill', Dusty Springfield, etc, etc. But it turns out Buffalo Springfield is actually a band and not a person! And one of the Buffaloes is Neil Young! Also, Stills is there.
I don't know anything about Neil Young's whole deal (clearly), but this album did not make me want to learn more. It sounds old - not in a nostalgic way, but in a way I feel I must suffer through. Maybe the next 8 million Neil Young&co exposures will change my tune.
I like the album title though.
Highlight: 'Broken Arrow' (some nice elevator music moments in there)
Pixies
4/5
(the) Pixies are another one of those bands I'm vexed there's not a "the" in! I should have started a list of those. Anyway, yay, a band I like.
Maybe because I was negative years old when it came out, I never saw this topless lady album cover, so I wondered "was there a different version in the US?", but the answer is no. This makes the Strokes 'Is This It?' alt-US cover seem extra weird to me, but I guess it's more up to the artist & label than any album cover ~rules~. Also, going down this rabbit hole, I read that some scandalous albums were only sold in paper bags, something I just associated with alc 'til now. I wonder what other indecent things I haven't been buying that I could've gotten in a paper bag! Cigars?? Lottery tickets??
Anyway, speaking of things that are subjective, I enjoyed this album a lot even though I imagine someone else might think it's just noise. The tracks are short and nothing overstays its welcome.
Highlights: 'Gigantic', 'Where is My Mind?' (great, but overused in media), the line "soy playero pero no hay playa" (the spiritual prequel to "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier")
Lowlights: 'Something Against You' (OK, maybe this one is just noise)
3/5
U2 is a lot like Coldplay for me in terms of how I feel about them (vaguely annoyed, bored, well at least they're familiar). There are certainly a lot of hits on here.
Highlights: 'Where the Streets Have No Name' (only because one of my favorite songs is "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" and therefore I also like the Pet Shop Boys' 'Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)'), 'Running to Stand Still'
Serge Gainsbourg
4/5
Hey, I like an album from the 70s! How bout that. (And it's a much more aesthetic topless lady album cover than the Pixies one... modulo the, uh, 14-yr-old cosplay.) I can't remember how I first got into Serge Gainsbourg, probably via Placebo, but of course I'm gonna like trip-pop en français. Maybe best that I don't think too hard about the lyrics on this one, though.
The whole thing is like one long, chill song with pleasant string instrumentals.
also, relevant tweet (from @tomwalkerisgood)::
KOKO: Koko birkin bag. Practical Koko possession bag
RESEARCHER: No, Koko. You can’t have a Birkin bag.
KOKO: Good Birkin good Koko give beautiful Koko deserve gorilla
RESEARCHER: Koko, we simply can’t afford a Birkin bag. It is an unjustifiable expense.
KOKO: jealousy professor
:)
GZA
2/5
Yeah, you know I used to mix up GZA, RZA, and SZA. I've got SZA down now, but maybe this'll help me flesh out the paradigm. Liquid Swords is a cool name, but the album cover is a little much for me. Put that one in a paper bag!!
Anyway, on to the tracks. I would have sworn I've never heard this album in my life, but all the titles are super familiar, so maybe I've actually listened to it before, in college or something. Very clean flow, no songs I think sound *bad* - it's well-made, in other words - but there are plenty of slurs, which is still not something I want to listen to. I do kinda like all the Shogun Assassin samples, because it reminds me of a Robin Skouteris mashup. Lotta Medina talk.
Highlight: 'Gold'
Les Rythmes Digitales
4/5
I don't know this album, but it's 90s euro-pop, so I'm bound to like it. Turns out I've actually heard a lot of these songs before, and Jacques Lu Cont (who I do know, mainly in his remixing capacity) has an absurd amount of aliases. Now one of the great things about music is that it can burrow into your sense memory to take you back to the moment you listened to it, many years later. But that is also one of the terrible things, because sometimes the moment is bad! Anyway - that's not this album's fault.
Lowlights: 'Soft Machine' (bad lyrics!), the fact that a 'Juicy'/'(Hey You) What's That Sound?' mashup is gonna be stuck in my head for the foreseeable future
Highlights: all the rest ('About Funk' & 'Sometimes' especially)! yep, even the quacky 'Disco II Disco' :>
Kendrick Lamar
3/5
Kendrick sure had a star turn (Superbowl 2025) since our last album from him. As before, I really like these songs, with one major caveat (=good tracks, S.L.U.r city). I don't have enough mental wherewithal to separate the message & musicality from my instinctive "augh" reaction every few seconds, so, this one gets a 3. Maybe in the future it'd be a higher score. I do appreciate how naturally each song flows into the next one - you don't get that too much with albums anymore.
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
UCLA sucks! ✌️
This album cover does not suck. Somehow I've never seen it before, but I find it extremely compelling. Tiny diagonal lowercase text, dog, shoe. The cornerstones of any major work of art.
A double album is asking a lot from me, but this is actually just the length of a single album nowadays, so it's not too bad. I like Fleetwood Mac for many non-musical reasons (in addition to the album cover):
1. So much band lore!! (enough to inspire that bad(?) Amazon show?)
2. Multiple singers, including cool ladies
3. Classic Lindsay Buckingham bit on SNL
4. USC marching band plays many of their hits (and are literally on this album) ✌️
But as a listening experience, maybe it's not quite all that? I'm not sure. Folky pop-rock, occasionally feels like a proto-magnetic fields with fewer instruments. I think I actually like the Lindsay songs the best.
Highlights: 'The Ledge', 'What Makes You Think You're the One', 'Never Make Me Cry' (Shirley Simms-esque!), 'Tusk' (duh)
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
3/5
42 songs?! 2+ hours?! 70s?! country!? In this economy?!
OK, I'm gonna try to give it a fair shake. I like the idea of a compilation of a bunch of different artists, including at least, but I think also at most, one lady (Maybelle Carter). There are a lot of funny lyrics here; too many for me to list. I also burst out laughing at 'The Precious Jewel', which starts with some bants about how the first take is the best take, and then the singing is the most unlistenable warbly bay of all time. Took me right out.
'Dark as a Dungeon' is solid. 'Black Mountain Rag' is jaunty. Every Acuff song is an ironic delight. I mean, the vowels! I'm creishing out.
I think the second disc is all instrumental. Wait, no, there's some more warbly singing. Whew, this is a long album. It just keeps going. Towards the end is 'Will the Circle Be Unbroken', which is pretty good. A lot of these songs are religious in nature, but Circle feels more like a straight gospel track then whatever else is going on on this album (the aural inspo for Disney's Fox and the Hound, maybe?). Then comes a total blindside in the form of 'Both Sides Now', one of my top songs of all time and also #1 on my "please play this at my funeral" playlist (which is a normal playlist that I'm sure everyone has!!). I was terrified to hear the Nitty Gritty version, but it was actually just instrumental, thank god. Extremely acceptable, even nice. Following it up with 'Foggy Mountain Breakdown' is an upsetting tonal shift though.
Overall, this album was better than I expected, but that was partially because my expectations were rock bottom. Still, the rush of finishing it counts for a 3.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
This album cover really embodies my mental state these days. Like a goth precursor to 🫠 . It doesn't much match my perception of Peter Gabriel, who I know mainly from: the song 'Down to Earth' in the movie Wall-E, covering 'The Book of Love' in a sleepy way, and the romcom classic 'In Your Eyes'. This album starts off way more industrial and eclectic, which seems like a good thing, but I don't prefer it. Also, what's up with having 4 self-titled albums? Like you're trying to convey "I don't even care about album titles!" but of course everyone else bothers to use an album title, so what makes you so special, Peter Gabriel!? Things normalize a bit as the album goes on. He's got a unique voice, which I do like. I like the horns and the exact same drums on every track. Actually it's pretty good -- I started at a 2, but this is ultimately like a 3.5 for me.
Highlights: 'Start', 'I Don't Remember' (relatable, also would make a good mashup with 'Hot Blooded'), 'Games Without Frontiers', 'Lead a Normal Life' (pleasant electro bits)
Elliott Smith
3/5
Elliott Smith was extremely popular on fanmixes in the early 2000s. Basically the Snow Patrol/Death Cab of its time. Nothing bad here, but it's so mellow I don't get much out of it. Dashboard Confessional-y but not emo enough to evoke any real emotion. You get the picture.
Muddy Waters
3/5
To me this feels older than 1977. 'Mannish Boy' sounds a lot like 'Bad to the Bone', but it turns out there's a whole list of songs from the 50s on that use the same riff. (Guitar stuff isn't my area of expertise!) Anyway, if I were in the mood to listen to "oldies", this would fit the bill. There's something sociologically interesting about the first track being all "I'm a man, not a boy" (valid) and the last track being all "little girl! I want to be your man" (hm), but no need to muddy the waters with all that.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
My review got deleted again >:(
Crucial (er... well... sorta) points:
-This is the first parental advisory I noticed on an album cover on this site. They are rarer nowadays even though they were everywhere in my youth. Turns out that's because they only started in 1990 and are (apparently) optional!
-"If you have to ask, you'll never know" was actually in a Rugrats episode *before* this album came out, but you'd never know that if you google "where did this phrase come from".
-I do like the Chilis, but this is not my favorite album of theirs. It's kinda samey, and too much with the funk-rap for me. Also, and maybe this is just because I'm desperately behind, it felt kinda long. I'm between a 3 and 4.
Highlights: `The Righteous & the Wicked', 'Under the Bridge', 'Apache Rose Peacock' (I feel like if someone wrote a parody of a RHCP song it would be exactly this), 'They're Red Hot'
The Allman Brothers Band
2/5
This may well be "one of the best live rock albums in history", since I don't like any other live rock albums, either, but I sure don't like this one, too. Very southern guitary rock. I have heard of the Allman Brothers (Band?) before, so I know they're popular, but I have never heard their music before and I am now mentally sorting it along with ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin, and other Zzz-inducing artists.
Relative Highlight: 'In Memory of Elizabeth Reed'
Jane Weaver
3/5
I've never heard of Jane Weaver, although I have heard of her band Kill Laura (sorry Laura). This is so recent, too! I thought she must just be a British thing, except this album doesn't even have a wiki page, so maybe not.
It's OK. Not enough electro for me to find it interesting electro. Pleasant but boring, kind of like Elliott Smith in vibes even if not in style. I do like that the album 'Modern Kosmology' contains a song called 'Modern Kosmology' with the lyric "Modern Kosmology". (Although why is Kosmology with a K? German influence? Gnosticism?)
Highlights: 'Modern Kosmology', 'Slow Motion'
Pink Floyd
3/5
From the first hundred days of this project I learned that I like "space rock", but this first Pink Floyd album, though purportedly space rock, is pretty heavy on the rock and only medium on the space. Really it's more "eerie British children's programme rock", if anything. Relatedly, I like the song about a gnome and the song about a scarecrow. And 'Bike'.
What I really like is the Syd Barrett song 'Dark Globe' (not on this album), and that has a very different vibe, but maybe I just think so because I heard it much earlier.
Michael Jackson
4/5
I know there are MJ songs that I like, but they aren't really on this album (even though I do know the singles). I feel like Michael Jackson was a huge pop culture figure throughout my life, until he died (and I still remember the moment when I found out) but I never listened to his music all that much. It's not particularly emotionally evocative, I guess, or at least this album isn't, but the sound is extremely pleasant, the tempo is good, and it's marginally nostalgic. I'm at a 3.5 but I'll give it a 4 since it was better than I thought (and certainly a step above Wilco, my canonical 3).
Highlights: 'I Can't Help It', 'It's the Falling in Love', there's a song called 'Off the Wall' on the 'Off the Wall' album with the lyric "off the wall"!!
The Police
3/5
Wait, The Police is Sting? Why did I think the Police is Phil Collins?? Do I just constantly mix up Genesis and The Police??
[pause for me to look at my previous Police album review] Turns out: Yes. Maybe because Police and Phil both start with 'P'. They should be called Stinglice. I'll try to remember that in case they have a 3rd album on here. This album started unimpressively, but got better in the second half. It's like a... 3.25 (probably good there's only 5 star-options, I'd go nuts with more).
Highlights: 'Synchronicity II', 'Every Breath You Take' (definitely overplayed but still pretty good), 'King of Pain' (good emo character song for Me)
Lowlights: 'Mother', both musically and lyrically
Faith No More
3/5
I know 'Epic' and it's fine. The rest is similar. The album cover is nice; it reminds me of Green Day's Dookie. Lotta guitar and drums which isn't my vibe. Song called 'The Real Thing' on the album 'The Real Thing' with the lyric "the real thing" is very much my vibe. Feels more 90s than 80s to me, which is a compliment, but I still don't enjoy listening to it (too loud). I was surprised that I actually know 'War Pigs' too (presumably the Black Sabbath version). Feels like a 2.75 (I'll stop with the fractional ratings soon, I swear).
Steely Dan
3/5
Our second, and, hopefully, final Steely Dan album. Again, it's aggressively fine.
I think I've heard 'Do it Again' before, but it's so boring that I'm not even completely sure about that.
I have definitely heard 'Dirty Work' before! It's not terrible. Still excessively chill, but at least the lyrics provide some emotive contrast.
The fact that 'Only a Fool Would Say That' is about John Lennon is funny and good, but somehow the song itself is neither funny nor good.
Yep, overall it's not offensive or unpleasant, and more enjoyable than their other album, but nothing I'd ever choose to listen to myself.
R.E.M.
3/5
Of all the R.E.M. albums you could listen to, this is certainly one of them. I like how all the wiki descriptions are like "turns out this song is super vague and nobody knew what it was about... if it was even about anything at all". A real English major album. I found it very comforting background noise, kind of like a Steely Dan for moms without kids (me). But none of the songs stood out to me as ones I'd want to hear again and again, even though I guess there's a chance that could change if I listened more. The album cover is interesting.
Highlights: 'Laughing', 'We Walk'
Janis Joplin
3/5
I had never seen a picture of Janis Joplin before. She looks very different than she sounds! This is not necessarily my style of music, but it's the least boring album we've had in a while, and I like her distinctive voice. I may or may not mix her up with Janis Ian (less tragic) or Janice the Muppet (felt).
Cocteau Twins
4/5
I've only vaguely heard of them before, and I wasn't expecting a lady singer! Dream pop is a good name for what this is. I like it. Not very exciting, which is what I want right now. A nice short album, too. Good.
Highlights: 'Cherry-Coloured Funk', 'Fotzepolitic'
Santana
3/5
Didn't realise Santana was around this long, although I guess it makes sense ('Smooth' was 25 years ago, after all). Cool enough, but the coolest part was reading about the various theories on the etymology of "Abraxas" (one guy thinks it's Coptic for 'the word is adorable', which is adorable but probably not correct). Anyway, I enjoyed this, and it wasn't too loud or anything, but it also wasn't as jazzy(?) as I was expecting. Another nice brisk album though. Good but not great (or maybe, good but not my style, but not NOT my style...)
Album cover is a 70s monstrosity. Put it on a sofa and put that sofa in the trash. (Sorry Mati.)
Highlights: 'Oye Como Va', 'Samba Pa Ti'
The Adverts
3/5
Trapped in the 70s... the opposite of the land of milk and honey. This band is new to me. They're punk alright. They're British alright. Songs are short. They all sound pretty similar, but that's typical for a first listen, I suppose. The idea of eye(part) transplants always unnerved me as a kid (and adult?), so I guess they tapped into something with that Gary Gilmore joint.
Highlight: 'Bored Teenagers'
The Kinks
4/5
Sounds like the Beatles, but album cover looks like that weird long Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album. Confusing!
Generally short and poppy and nice. Also, this album title is hilarious. The only way to improve on it would be to use a different band name. I assume 'Harry Rag' is Cockney rhyming slang, which is of linguistic interest. 'Tin Solider Man' reminds me a lot of Masquerade from Phantom of the Opera ("Hide your face so that the world will never find you"). I think 'Waterloo Sunset' is the only song here I've heard before.
Not sure how to rate this one, 3 or 4. It's pleasant but the sound is so "old" that I don't think I'd ever listen to this on my own. Maybe we'll be generous in hopes of someday being able to give a rating of 5!
Prince
3/5
Practically modern after those last few albums! Well, the sound is extremely of-the-time(80)s, but the production feels more modern. And the depressing lyrics to 'Sign o' the Times', of course.
A double album with no hits on it, though... that's rough. 'Housequake' feels kinda like a Talking Heads parody. 'Starfish and Coffee' is very cute. I'm not generally a fan of the "slow jams about banging" genre, but among them, 'Slow Love' is pretty good. Also, the lyric "your face is jammin'/your body's heck-a-slammin'/if love is good, let's get to rammin'" in 'U Got The Look' has a certain charm - maybe I should use that when I teach about valid and invalid arguments (maybe not). It occurs to me that Prince does a lot of different little voices for different songs, which is fun. Some gender stuff going on. 'I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man' is a mild bop (with the good line "she knew he was gone to stay"). 'The Cross' is apt for this Good Friday/Easter weekend, and also pretty good. I dunno, feels like a 3 to me, albeit a good 3. Sorry Prince! You seem cool!
Beck
4/5
Somehow, I have the stereotype that liking Beck is kind of an annoying trait. But I didn't hate this. All of the songs are like: "I'm a bit mopey, here's a sad song, look at the moon? I think I will." Basically like 'Bitter Tears' from the Magnetic Fields, but a whole album of it (there's even a song called 'Lonesome Tears'!). He's got a little bit of that Alexi Murdoch/Nick Drake voice, especially on 'It's All in Your Mind'. Certainly more my speed than the other Beck stuff I've heard.
Highlights: 'Lost Cause', 'Already Dead'
Brian Eno
3/5
I have heard of Brian Eno before but had no idea what his deal was. His deal is apparently Phil Collins drumming with some electronic woobly noises mixed in and occasional uncaptivating vocals. I like the album cover -- did it inspire Conclave (2024)?
Highlight: 'The Big Ship'
Public Enemy
2/5
I thought it would be hard to take this seriously (because Flavor Flav is to me a goofy vh1 personality), but actually it wasn't. He hardly even says "Flavor Flav" (although he does say it)! The worst part for me is the frequent noise that sounds like a squeaky toy making an ambulance siren. What is that? A record scratch? A modulated kazoo? I don't know, but I hate it passionately. The actual lyrics are fine, but the beats are, imho, wack.
Speaking of beats, "Beat is for Sonny Bono (Beat is for Yoko Ono)" is a line that holds multitudes.
'Don't Believe the Hype' was inspired by Noam Chomsky, but I don't think it was "Syntactic Structures" that did it.
Slur count here is low (just one carefully deployed n-word, by my estimate). Fun wordplay in the song titles too. I didn't at all enjoy listening to this but I can respect it! But, this isn't a respect ranking, so it's a 2 from me.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Joni! This kind of looks like the Brian Eno album cover. Is that just what 1974-1975 was like? I like the Canadian vowel raising on "flags". To be honest, 'In France They Kiss on Main Street' is giving SNL's Garth & Kat. And 'The Jungle Line' Regina Spektor. But the rest is more Joni, who I like, but don't love, because it's all a bit too mellow for me (right now?).
Pixies
4/5
Yay, a second Pixies album. Surely Doolittle has got to be on here too, then? I guess we'll see. Anyway, the fact that these songs are so short makes the frequent loudness (which would otherwise bother me immensely) palatable. I like that they have so many songs with girls' names. Just some good ol' 90s nostalgia.
Highlights: 'Velouria', 'Is She Weird', 'Ana', 'All Over the World', 'Stormy Weather', 'Havalina'
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Noooo. But I knew it was coming; CCR are legit famous and also right in this project's wheelhouse. This album cover is moderately compelling and nicely symmetric. These guys sure like reduplication ('ramble tamble', 'ooby dooby'). They are one of the least objectionable bands in this style, I just really don't enjoy the style. But if you do, then you must love this! Lots of hits.
Highlight: 'Up Around The Bend' (I didn't realise that's what they were saying until now!)
The Doors
3/5
This is like CCR but a little more generic. Not really a win. I did, in fact, frequently mix up Jim Morrison and Morrissey in college (a lot of Jim Morrison posters in dorms, though not many Morrissey ones). Nowadays I know that one is bad* (musically) and one is bad (humanly). You can guess which this one is.
Highlights: 'Ship of Fools', 'The Spy'
*OK, obviously not bad, but really just not my style. When I think of 70s music I think of this stuff. Fine lyrics, fine human intrigue, but an awful lot of electric guitar. At least it's short and relatively non-objectionable.
Sigur Rós
4/5
Praise be. The great thing about the random album model is that just when you start to think "my god... will I ever enjoy an album again?!" they give you a classic like this. Thank you, website. Not loving the album cover, but everything else is a go. Apparently, this too is "dream pop". And unlike their later stuff, it's in Icelandic (mostly)! Ring-a-ding-ding.
I remember in the early 2000s 'Svefn-g-englar' was everywhere, and I didn't really appreciate it then, I just thought it was sad, weird, and kind of boring. Now I'm grown and I think it's sad, weird, and kind of captivating. Or maybe it's just a nostalgia boost. Either way, I like this album. Strings, piano, hardly any unpleasant electric guitar. Definitely mood music.
Highlights: 'Starálfur', 'Viðrar vel til loftárása', 'Olsen Olsen'
Alice Cooper
3/5
A very good pick for the last day of classes! Alas, would that school were truly out forever. It turns out Alice Cooper's views are pretty bad, but I always liked him as a vh1 talking head.
I feel like, as these things go, I didn't really dislike school, but nevertheless the song 'School's Out' always spoke to me. Also, nobody uses pencils or books anymore. Really makes you think. "School's out completely" is a wild last line. I did not expect the West Side Story interlude, but I like it. The album is cohesive and pretty good. Solid cover. To me, feels more recent than it is. It's a 3.5 -- not quite 4 territory.
4/5
Oh, hooray! This is like the Californication album cover but with some dudes sitting there. It doesn't scream "Muse". But the album is great. Peak college listening. Come to find out this too is considered "space rock"!? I mean, I guess several of the song titles suggest space, but who knew that was my secret favorite genre?
Although they don't shy away from an electric guitar, Matt Bellamy has both a unique voice and a 2000s-rock-countdown-coded voice. One thing I like about Muse is that their sound is very 'thick' -- no empty spaces at all. The orange juice of music. Also, the mashup 'Teardrop Madness' is one of my all-time favorites (although 'Madness' is not on this album).
Highlights: 'Starlight' (very good), 'Supermassive Black Hole' (ruined and revitalized by Twilight the Movie and college acapella, not necessarily in that order), 'Invincible' (cringey lyrics, but I appreciate the positivity, plus it reminds me of silly MCR)
Iron Maiden
2/5
This album cover makes me lol. I don't know if I've ever heard an Iron Maiden song before this. They sound a lot like a lot of other bands, some of whom are on this list (Rush, maybe?). But are they the leaders or followers? (Probably leaders?) Anyway, it's not doing anything for me, but it's not actively offensive. Like Muse, while there are a lot of guitars, the guitar is so constant that it doesn't upset me. Very even coverage with their noise-making. The lyrics are just silly. I never know how seriously I'm meant to take this kind of stuff. It feels kind of like the music they'd put in the English dub of a sports anime. Actually, after framing it like that, I like it a bit more. But I would simply never sit down and listen to this, so it's a 2.5 rounded down for me.
Highlight: 'The Prisoner' (would fit right in to Sonic Adventure as a Sonic or Knuckles track!)
Stereo MC's
4/5
No idea what I was in for with this one. Album cover is giving Aqua, but group name (with weird apostrophe -- is that meant to be plural or possessive?) is giving hip-hop. Wouldn't you know, it's kind of a mix of both. Electro-pop-hop? Trip hop? I've definitely heard some of these tracks before, but I didn't realise it because I was too wee and pre-internet. In retrospect, I love it. Very 90s. I actually considered giving this a 5, which is crazy for a band I've never heard of. Every song is so mellow but with a strong beat. And there's lyrics! And no slurs! I mean, if only everything could be as chill as this. On the other hand, it would fit in nicely as in-store music at a Payless ShoeSource, a store which apparently closed down 6 years ago. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Highlights: 'Connected', 'Pressure'
Eagles
2/5
Wouldn't you know, I wrote an undeservedly long review for this one (mostly about how I didn't know there were *two* Dons in the Eagles, one being Henley (no direct relation to the shirt) and one being some guy I've never heard of, yet somehow neither is Don McLean (who I like fine, by the way)) and my computer restarted and I lost it. But that's fine because the Eagles are bad. My main points:
- This is 70s country to me and IDK why everyone (wiki) calls it straight-up rock.
- Vocalist ranking (based on these songs): Meisner > Frey > Walsh > Henley
- Hotel California is probably my favorite Eagles song, but I still dislike it very much. Perhaps if they weren't as overplayed as they are, I'd give this a 3, but it is very overplayed and I've been hating the Eagles for a long time, so I give it a 2. Maybe I'm starting to get freer with the 2s. If there's another Eagles album (god forbid), maybe it'll be a 1!!
David Bowie
4/5
Another 70s album, but it's OK, Bowie doesn't feel like 70s to me. I have never actually heard any of these songs before, though. Kinda eclectic sound -- to me there are 50s elements (and apparently Bowie was a big fan of Elvis but never worked with him), 60s elements (at least in the sense that I'm like "oh yeah sure this is Beatlesy in terms of the backing music"), and modern elements (David Bowie still sounds basically like the David Bowie I know from my own era, even though he looks shockingly young at this time (somehow this is still his 10th album; they sure made albums fast back in the day)). Hardly any of that 70s rock here (although to be honest, there's a bit on the beginning of 'Stay', which I could do without!).
Lyrically, lots of religion & despair & girl getting eaten by a TV, which I guess are pretty eternal themes. A 6 song album seems like each song might be 20 minutes long, but they aren't. Good! Apparently he was in his pro-Fascist era during this one (ahead of the times!) but since none of that made it into the album, I continue separating the art from the artist and give it a nice 3.5 rounded up to 4.
Highlight: 'Golden Years'
Lowlight: 'Stay'
Lorde
4/5
Ooh, this has got to be the first "they're younger than me!" artist on here. I like Lorde, although I'm not convinced she's top-1001-album worthy. But as far as Jack Antonoff-produced pop girlies of the 2010s, we could do worse. 'Green Light' was already in my liked tracks playlist, but I'd never heard this album in full before. Lorde has a unique "husky falsetto whisper" voice, which ought to be a good thing, but for some reason (sexism? maybe) I find it kind of annoying. All the tracks feel samey to me because of it. This album is the rare case where I like the music a lot (pop electro) but the vocals are not my favorite! Kinda like if someone made a Macy Gray ~ Bleachers ~ Ben Folds mashup (D:).
I also thought this, from wiki (about 'Writer in the Dark') was hilarious: "the singer said she felt she made the song unique by implementing words such as "pseudoephedrine", which she said would work better in a hip hop song; she enjoyed taking standard forms and putting "spiky bits on them". Reminds me of my students trying to seem edgy :')
I realise it seems like I'm being pretty negative, but as a collection of singles, I like almost every song here. I just don't want to listen to them all at once!
Highlights: 'Green Light', 'Liability', 'Hard Feelings/Loveless', 'Supercut'
Yes
2/5
Maybe?
Nah. I liked the instrumentals, but the rest is too much in that Rush-Iron Maiden vocal/guitar-space.
Rod Stewart
3/5
I know what Rod Stewart looks like, and that he was famous at some point (before my time surely), but I guess I mentally classed him as a Fabio-type (that is, not serious). So I was mildly pleasantly surprised by this. Just sounds like generic "oldies". He's got a very raspy voice, but unlike Lorde, it isn't unpleasant. Hmmmm @ me. Nevertheless! Supposedly there are multiple covers on this album, but I couldn't tell, because they are all Old and Not Famous. One that seems to be a cover is 'You're My Girl (I Don't Want to Discuss It)', which is a hilarious song title on the surface (although somewhat insidious on a second thought). Album cover looks like one of my poorly rasterized middle school artworks. Overall this gets one big "I guess".
Le Tigre
3/5
This album cover *also* looks like one of my poorly rasterized middle school artworks (mixed with Spongebob). Being from the 90s, that tracks. I mostly associate Le Tigre with the alphabetically inclined hit dramas The OC and The L Word, but I never listened to them (or Bikini Kill) straight up, mainly because punk has too much yelling for me. Not my favorite genre. Lyrics are good though. And I appreciate that the songs are short. So I will round up to a 3 (although I will never listen to this again) :)
Highlights: 'Hot Topic', 'What's Yr Take on Cassavetes', 'Slideshow at Free University', 'Les and Ray' (all the non-yellers!)
Franz Ferdinand
4/5
Yay! Modernity! I associate Franz Ferdinand with my cousin Elaine and my friend Chyna, ergo I see them as a Scottish hipster band. I didn't like them much at the time, but with some distance, they've grown on me. I actually *have* listened to this entire album before, though I don't own it. Kind of like a less good, less-distinctive version of Interpol, although I do like a couple of the tracks. A real 3.5, but I'll round up for the nostalgia.
Highlights: 'Jacqueline' (I also only work when I need the money (all the time)), 'Michael' (in many a LiveJournal fanmix)
Lowlight: 'Take Me Out' (so repetitive and so overplayed - I never want to hear it again)
Radiohead
4/5
Yahoo! I have this album! (#4). I was never a big Radioheadhead, although I do also have "Pablo Honey" (thanks to liking 'Creep' like a million other normies, probably). My college friend Alex was super excited for this album coming out, particularly because Radiohead released it online under a "pay what you want" model (one of the first to do something like that). So I paid like a dollar and got my money's worth.
This didn't convert me to Radiohead fandom, but I like the album a lot -- I feel like it has more melodies than their other stuff; it's very chill, and although it's apparently not space rock ("art rock", says wiki), I feel it has a similar ethos (album cover included). Also they performed with the USC marching band at the Grammys later on, which was cool. Briefly considered a 5, but I really only love half the songs, so it's a 4.
Highlights: 'Weird Fishes/Arpeggi' (they had me at "fishes"), 'All I Need' (one of my top songs ever), 'House of Cards', 'Jigsaw Falling Into Place'
Derek & The Dominos
2/5
This album cover looks like a middle school doodle. Somehow the art sold for like 2 million bucks, though. Not a bad thing, but just sayin'.
I'm so over these 70s bands! What a snoozefest! And it's over an hour, too. I like the name "Layla". Nowadays the kiddos are calling their faves "Shayla", which is another 70s song, as I understand it. Anyway, many of the songs are love songs about George from the Beatles' wife, so that's fun I guess. A 2.5, but since it was so long I will round down.
Highlights: 'Keep on Growing', 'It's Too Late', 'Layla' (another rare song where the music is actually more enjoyable for me than the vocals)
Kate Bush
3/5
I could've sworn we already had this album, but no, that was "The Sensual World". At least this starts with 'Running Up That Hill', which is the only Kate Bush song I really know, even though I think it is inferior to the Placebo cover. Running up a building is a lot more impressive than running up a hill, you know, but nobody talks about that part.
I liked the album OK. It certainly has an 80s witchy vibe, which I appreciate, but it didn't particularly compel me on a first listen.
Highlights: 'Running Up That Hill', 'Cloudbusting'
Cheap Trick
2/5
As established previously, I do not like a live album. I do like Cheap Trick (or at least, I liked their singles). So, very mixed feelings about this one. As an album I would never listen to it, though, so I'll give it a 2. Does anyone even like live albums? (I guess they must.)
Highlights: 'I Want You to Want Me', 'Surrender'
Sam Cooke
3/5
2 live albums in a row!? I must be cursed. This one was a little more enjoyable than the Cheap Trick one, I guess because it's more jazzy which seems more inherently "live" (idk). Like, there's actual crowd interaction, which I don't want to listen to, but at least it makes sense what the appeal is. Feels 50sish to me, like Drifters vibes. If it weren't a live album I would like it!
Highlights: 'Cupid'
Beatles
3/5
Aha! The Beatles are back, after a long pause. This is one of the album covers I studied intently in college when I was trying to learn to ID each Beatle from pictures. It took me a while just to get that all of the ones in each row are the same guy. Of course, now I know that they're George, Ringo, John, and Paul, from top to bottom. :)
I actually watched this movie for the first time last year, and it was just as old and boring as I feared. But the songs are OK. Actually, on the Beatle scale, this is one of my least favorites. Still short and poppy, but no songs that I'm super into. (By the way, when we had Rubber Soul, I said I thought that was my favorite Beatles album, but it's actually Beatles for Sale, which possibly isn't on here. I feel like a lot of artists on this list have albums I like much more than the ones that are on the list! But maybe I just didn't get to those ones yet. We shall see.)
Anyway, I'm stuck between a 3 and 4 for this. It's better than the average album but not as good as the other Beatleses I gave 4s to, so a 3 it is. Sorry, Beatles.
Highlights: 'A Hard Day's Night', 'Tell Me Why', 'Any Time At All'
Hugh Masekela
3/5
Flugelhorn is pretty fun, but the sax parts here are my favorite. This is kind of a long album, but it's background-able, so didn't feel too long. Then again, it's background-able, so how great an album (on my personal ranking) can it really be? Thus... 3.
Highlight: 'Nomali'
The Prodigy
2/5
A 90s band I don't know?! I feel like I've seen the album cover before, but that might just be due to the popularity of crab memes among the youth. Anyway, I quickly realised I actually just intentionally memory-holed The Prodigy at a young age. This wiki quote sums the situation up:
<The National Organization for Women objected to the seeming misogyny of "Smack My Bitch Up", though the band maintains that its true interpretation is "doing anything intensely". Liam Howlett observed, "That record was for the fans. Only brainless people get some stupid message out of it…">
I have a lot in common with the National Organization for Women, I guess. Not that Liam Howlett is the first to throw some spuriously defended slurs in an acclaimed album ("it doesn't mean X, it just means bad!"), but it's a shame it had to happen to one with a crab on the cover. Other than that cursed single, I don't really even like the album that much. It's electro, but it's not chill electro, more like edgy rock-based electro, like if Linkin Park wanted to make a dance record (derogatory). I see there is some Beastie Boys & Pixies crossover on this album, which makes sense. 'Breathe' and 'Firestarter' are in a lot of media I've watched, so I guess they have a certain appeal. Not for me though! I'd rather listen to Wilco!
Highlight: 'Narayan'
John Martyn
3/5
Solid air, huh? Nice font. Very literary. The titular song was written for Nick Drake, and it sounds a little bit like him, so that's nice. Unfortunately, this album is sooooo mellow. Bit of a snoozefest. Found it hard to believe the line "can't get enough of sweet cocaine", coming from such an artist. I thought the second half was a bit stronger. I enjoyed taking literally the lyrics of the paean to a jelly roll baker.
Highlights: 'Dreams by the Sea', 'May You Never', 'The Man in the Station'
Big Black
2/5
Is this cosmic punishment for saying the last album was boring?
I've never heard of this band before. I do like some industrial, but this ain't it. Too much guitar, too edgy, not enough nostalgia. Maybe if I were 15 years older I'd like it? Probably not though. At least it's short.
Nick Drake
3/5
Nick Drake existing in the 60s is mindblowing. Maybe I subconsciously still mix him up with Nick Cave. Anyway, to be fair, this album is also extremely mellow. Some might call it a snoozefest, but I think his style fits right in to the 90s OC-soundtrack kind of music, and not just because it's very Alexi Murdochy. So I find it very pleasant and nostalgic.
Highlight: 'The Thoughts of Mary Jane'
Led Zeppelin
2/5
A double Led Zeppelin album was probably doomed to fail (in my rating) regardless, but I have a headache, so I *extra* don't like it. It's not that they're bad or offensive, but this singing style plus the looong guitar parts are two things I have never been into, and this long album with its very long songs is not changing my stance.
For a while I mixed up Robert Plant (this LZ guy) with Robert Smith (from The Cure), because I thought Robert Plant was a cooler name, so surely that would belong to the band with the music I liked. But it did not.
Highlights: The song name "In my Time of Dying" (but not the song), 'Kashmir' (because the USC marching band plays it)
The Beau Brummels
3/5
This is an eerie album cover. I've never heard of these guys, but they kept it nice and short, which is a virtue. Wiki says there were Bob Dylan comparisons, which I definitely hear (although maybe that's just all the "how do you feel"s in 'Are You Happy?'; like a rolling stone). David Duke plays French horn on this album.
Highlight: 'My Old Kentucky Home' (a song with history!)
Lowlight: 'Nine Pound Hammer' (nothing I like less than that hammer clinking noise)
SZA
3/5
I'm glad this is on here; SZA is one of my favorite current artists (although I like SOS as an album much more). I like her voice; I think it's very clear and pleasant. I also like this album cover, since it looks like something I would choose for an album cover myself. As for the album, it's a little heavy on the slow jams (and the slur count), so I don't particularly love it, but I am still a SZA fan -- just glad she moved to a more pop direction!
Erykah Badu
2/5
Neo-soul seems like it'd be cool, but turns out, I like regular soul better (just call me an [[old soul] fan]). Hate to be such a hater, but I didn't like Erykah Badu's stuff when she was popular 25 years ago, and my music taste hasn't really evolved much since then. The lyrics seem good (minus a few slurs), but they are too muddled up in the music for me. (Although I did catch the very meta lyric: "What good do your words do / if they can't understand you?") To be fair, the music itself is kinda cool and jazzy, but it's muddled up in the vocals! Much muddle.
Highlight: 'In Love with You' (thanks to Stephen Marley, Delawarean)
Talking Heads
3/5
A horrible album cover (unless this came out on Christmas Day), but a fine album. It sounds happy, which I like. According to Wiki, the producer (Jon Bon Jovi's cousin) was a real method-acting weirdo. It must be said: these guys really are into buildings.
Highlights: 'Tentative Decisions', 'No Compassion' (very relatable! also, are there still analysts even?), 'Don't Worry About the Government' (also very relatable! would make a good Severance fanvid)
The Beach Boys
5/5
I already liked the idea of this album even before I knew it had goats on it! What a delight. Also, "Pet Sounds" is a great name because both of those words can be a noun or verb. A lot of these tracks were the first songs I downloaded when I got my own computer, and they still hold up. I guess they're a little samey, and certainly old-fashioned, but also very poppy and harmony-y and, dare I say, emo, with some funny little instruments thrown in. In a way, it reminds me of a slightly more normie Magnetic Fields. I was not expecting 2 instrumental tracks -- the first one didn't really hit for me, but they're pleasant enough, and written-for-a-Bond-movie 'Pet Sounds' does seem like it was written for that. I don't particularly like some other Beach Boys hits I know ('I Get Around', 'Good Vibrations'), but this album was cohesively flawless. I was going to give it a 4, but looking at my highlights list, maybe it deserves a 5(!!)
Highlights: 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' (featuring a "12-string mando-guitar"), 'You Still Believe in Me', 'I'm Waiting for the Day', 'Sloop John B' (one of the most mysterious song titles of my lifetime; where's Sloop John A?), 'God Only Knows', 'Here Today', 'Caroline, No' (a mishearing of "Carol, I Know"! that's Mike Eindetitle), 'Hang On to Your Ego' (this isn't on the original version, but still)
Black Sabbath
3/5
In the 2000s when "The Osbournes" was a show, I found it very incongruous that Ozzy was in Black Sabbath because he seemed like a very unserious man. Not that I ever listened to Black Sabbath. I do not like an 8 minute song, but this album is mostly fine. Not my style but not the worst. I like that 'Paranoid' is Finland's 'Free Bird'.
Highlight: 'Iron Man'
Queen Latifah
3/5
I don't think I've ever heard a Queen Latifah song before now (other than her movie ones). She's more of an actress to me! This album is from when she was 19, which is adorable. No slurs, so all hail the queen for that one. I find the whole "I'm the best at rhyming" plot to be so boring and played out, but considering this was the 80s, it probably wasn't actually that played out yet. I'll round up to a 3 because I like Queen Latifah and the occasional background sax/horns, but this isn't really something I'd ever listen to.
Highlights: 'Come Into My House' (mentally dissertating about "What better off position can you be in?"), 'Ladies First' (likewise "I'm conversating with the folks who have no whatsoever clue")
The Beach Boys
3/5
I'm gonna choose to believe this is non-random because Brian Wilson just died :(
If so, I hope that other people who hadn't already had "Pet Sounds" get that one! Seeing everybody talk about how great an album it is really validated my giving it my first 5, so yay for that. (Of course I also enjoyed revisiting the classic Brian Wilson Norbit and Don Henley stories: https://bsky.app/profile/itsdings.bsky.social/post/3lrduzwv5e22s ; https://bsky.app/profile/margareteby.bsky.social/post/3lree6mui4227 )
But this album seems much less good, maybe because I never heard any of its songs before. Some of the lyrics are a little more perturbing. 'Help Me R(h)onda' made me want a song from R(h)onda's perspective (perhaps titled 'Help yourself, bucko'). There are no instrumentals, but it does end with what must be one of the first skit tracks. Kind of interesting just because it's so old now, but otherwise very mysterious.
Highlight: 'Please Let Me Wonder'
Lowlight: 'Good To My Baby'
Jorge Ben Jor
3/5
Not the usual 70s fare! Still got plenty of electric guitar though. Anyway, I appreciate the Brazilian Portuguese representation. This guy's really into history, alchemy, and futebol, huh? I enjoyed listening to this, more than I expected, but I'm not sure it quite reaches a 4, since it's something I view as more background music (probably because I don't speak the language). Chill and fun and pleasant, but the high pitched whistle-y noises are not my jam, and there are a lot of them. So that's a 3 for me.
Highlights: 'Hermes Trismegisto Escreveu', 'O Filósofo', 'Taj Mahal'
The Rolling Stones
2/5
I figured the Rolling Stones would be on here eventually. Alas. The best part about the Rolling Stones is 'Ruby Tuesday'. The worst part is everything else. Lots of (blues?) guitar, second only to the Beatles in popularity, some concerning lyrics. This is their ninth album, which doesn't bode well for how many albums might be left of theirs.
Lowlight: 'Dead Flowers'
The Smiths
5/5
The Smiths are so funny. No one will ever confuse Morrissey for anyone else, which, again, is in my mind a desirable quality in a singer. Fall Out Boy and Panic At The Disco surely owe a debt to The Smiths's silly, long, emo song titles. I was starting to question if I even liked music at all until I listened to this album. (Still do, whew). I think this is better than "Meat is Murder", and so now that I broke the 5 seal, I'm going for it! 5 stars!!
Highlights: 'I Started Something I Couldn't Finish', 'Death of a Disco Dancer' ("Love, peace and harmony?/ Oh, very nice, very nice, very nice, very nice / But maybe in the next world"), 'Girlfriend in a Coma' (I always like the incongruity of a jaunty island melody with unhappy lyrics. Almost sounds like 'Here Comes the Sun'), 'Paint a Vulgar Picture'
Lowlight: 'Death at One's Elbow'
Shuggie Otis
3/5
Never heard of this guy, but he is apparently an R&B nepo baby (not that there's anything wrong with that). Props to him for playing so many instruments. A perfectly serviceable album, but not very interesting to me. A bit sleepy at points. The Wilco of the 70s. The second half instrumentals felt very hold-music-esque (though perhaps the title 'Not Available' influenced that perception).
Black Sabbath
3/5
We had another Black Sabbath just last week! This one has the wiki genre "traditional doom metal", though, which sounds pretty cool. Lotta Satan and/or Gandalf talk, which I guess is (mount) doom-themed content. Unlike on "Paranoid", I don't think I've heard any of these songs before, even though one of the riffs is supposedly famous. But I don't know if there's any riff I'd recognise, to be fair. (By the by, for those wondering (future!me?), the etymology of "riff" is a mystery.)
Otis Redding
3/5
Who knew Otis Redding looked like that?
This album is mostly covers, which is good for me because it means I actually know the songs. Well, covers and songs that will later be covered, like 'Respect'. (By the by, there seems to be a lot of misinformation about where "cover" in the music sense came from; it came from "coverage", as in market coverage!)
Double by the by, what's the deal with naming albums by colors? There's the Beatles' White album, which I always assumed inspired things like Weezer's Green album, Metallica's Black album, etc. But this album is older than the White Album! Of course I don't know if anyone called it Otis's Blue album, but surely it could have played some role in this tradition? It's a hard thing to research because colored vinyl records were also a thing, which may or not have had some influence (c.f. Bobby Vinton's 1963 "Blue on Blue", which was on blue vinyl).
Highlights: 'My Girl', 'Wonderful World' (I also don't know what a good slide rule is for), 'Satisfaction' (only because it reminds me of Britney Spears, ha)
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
"Family Stone" is a weird compound word order, right? It's giving Sloop John. It's giving court martial. You get the picture. Anyway, this album isn't my genre of choice, but I do know it is a classic (at least according to the metric of "I listened to the best 500 songs as decided by Rolling Stone in high school and a few of these were definitely on there"). It is wild to see the n-word just in a title, uncensoredly (by the by, supposedly the euphemism "n-word" didn't come about until 1995!!! and now we've got r, b, c, f, gay f, simply all kinds of -words.) I like that there are multiple vocal-and-instrumentalists. I feel like 'Everyday People' would be a song I liked if only it weren't in a commercial I saw 50x/day at a critical period. Still, "I am no better and neither are you" is a linguistically interesting line. For that matter, so is "and they know what you're sayin' makes sense at all"! Did they not have negative polarity items in the 1960s?
Non-NPI highlight: the line "games are to be played with toys, et cetera".
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Someone save me from these old albums!!! This is nice and short, and has some big hits on it. But I don't like it. Even though 'Commotion' was in an episode of Parenthood. Fun fact: I used to use "there's a bad moon on the rise" being misheard as "there's a bathroom on the right" in my classes but I had to retire it because my students now have never heard of the song.
Venom
2/5
And I thought Black Sabbath had a lot of Satan talk! In this one, Satan gets they/them pronouns. Baphomet also receives several shoutouts. That's not why I'm giving it a 2, mind you; the lyrics are interesting enough. I just sure don't like this heavy guitar and this growly style of singing. Or the random foray into Literotica.com territory, even if it made me lol.
Highlight:
`[Countess Bathory]'s riff also bears resemblance to the intro of the 1991 Nirvana hit song "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Years later, Lant had the opportunity to ask Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, whom he collaborated with on Grohl's heavy metal side project Probot, if they had taken inspiration from the band's 1982 song. Grohl did not give Lant a response.' (from Wiki)
Sepultura
1/5
Tough week, man. At least this is *90s* screamy guitar stuff, so there's like, one iota of nostalgia since I've heard its ilk before. But mostly I hate it. Seeing Jonathan Davis from KoRn featured made me wish I were listening to KoRn instead, which is something I'm pretty sure I never wished before. This vs yesterday's Venom is a real tough call, but I think this might be even worse (to listen to, I mean, I'm not rating objective merit or anything). 'Ratamahatta' started out like it might be good for 20 seconds, and it's in Portuguese, so that's probably the highlight, but yikes. Oh, and the last track is 13 minutes of sparse vibra-noises, so that one is relatively fine. Still, I'm dropping my first 1 here, since if not now, when? So much screaming! Stop yelling at me!! >:(
Miles Davis
3/5
This must be the first 2-track album I've heard. After all the yelly albums earlier this week, 'Shh/Peaceful' & 'In a Silent Way' certainly seem promising titles. And this is comparatively peaceful, nice little snares/toots & strings, although 'Shh/Peaceful' is actually less peaceful than 'In a Silent Way', which I like better. Pleasant, but non-orchestral instrumentals are a tough sell for me.
Adele
3/5
HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE (of a bunch of half-century-old albums)! Although this extremely recent album is, er, 10 years old now. Hm.
I do like all songs called 'Hello', and Adele's is no exception. 'Send My Love (To Your New Lover)' is also good. 'When We Were Young' is decent. 'Water Under the Bridge' is decent. She picked the right singles. But they're all a little bit the same vibe. Maybe Adele's not for me. She's fine. A good singer, obviously. I wish that one song were called "Riverly" instead of River Lea (which is giving Family Stone!!!). I don't hate any of these songs, but I don't think I would listen to this again. So much for modernity.
Traffic
3/5
I imagine these guys on the cover are reacting to me saying "I hate old albums". "Oh you do, do you? Ha ha! How about this!" Touché, band I never heard of. This was actually more fun than I expected; the Dave Mason tracks reminded me of my beloved Disney's Children's Favorites* tape with Larry Groce. The Steve Winwood tracks reminded me of the old albums I hate. So it goes. But it's a good instantiation of the genre. Fun instrumentation.
*Shockingly I had this thought even before the songs 'Roamin' Thru' the Gloamin' with 40,000 Headmen' (which naturally evokes Dr. Seuss's "Yeoman of the Bowmen") and 'Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush' (self-explanatory)
3/5
So many Beatleses! I appreciate this cover primarily because all four of them are distinct looking for once, even with the funny mustaches. (The colorful ones, that is; no clue what's going on to the left there.) In general it's never a chore to listen to a Beatles's, although that's probably due to a combo of (a) short track length and (b) already knowing most of the songs, in addition to (c) being "good". For my personal ranking, I'd probably put this in the bottom half of Beatleses, even though that's not the received wisdom. A little too artsy for my taste.
Highlights: 'With a Little Help from my Friends', the line "if I'm wrong, I'm right / where I belong" (very poetic), 'Within You Without You' (long but good for my meditation era)
Lauryn Hill
2/5
This album used to be *everywhere*, to the point where I thought we had it here already. I dunno why exactly I dislike(d) it so much; it's nothing personal, really just not my style. Having tracks with Mary J Blige and D'Angelo makes perfect sense because I feel the same way about them! Too slow, and the vocals don't compel me either. Like opera in a way. The lyrics and subject matter are mostly fine. I do like the cute little hidden skits, they're very wholesome.
Coldplay
3/5
Wow, 2 Coldplay albums? OK, list. I do think this is better than their other album on here, though, or at least more Radioheady. Coldplay are just disappointing to me because I feel like they could be really great, all the pieces are there, but most of the songs fall flat for me (emotionally, musically, lyrically). Clearly other people like them, but I'm not here to grade on popularity or potential!
Miles Davis
3/5
Ah, another blue album! People call this the best jazz record of all time, which makes me think I really don't get jazz. Not that I dislike it -- I don't -- but I can't really differentiate it from the other jazz albums we had, which were also "fine". Chill. I think I'd like it better without the drums. And maybe... the jazz.
Sebadoh
3/5
A 90s indie band I've never heard of? Intriguing. It is delightfully indie, too. Perhaps they were some of the first to do it. Would have fit right in as one of the bands on Buffy. Like Neutral Milk Hotel, but about dating instead of Anne Frank -- right down to the "we recorded this on an old cassette" vibe. Unfortunately, and I mean this genuinely, the vocals aren't weird or whiny enough for me to find them interesting! Kind of Shins-y. In fact, my favorite part of this album is the guitar(?!?), which is somehow plaintive in that indie-rock-way. The beginning of 'Sacred Attention' even sounds just like Placebo's 'Special K' (if only the middle and end did too).
Lowlights: 'Elixir is Zog', 'No Way Out' (don't yell at me)
The Who
3/5
Very wild album cover font decisions. I think this is our first album from The Who, who I know very little about consciously, but somewhat more subconsciously. (Not quite enough to distinguish between Roger Waters and Roger Daltrey and possibly Roger Dalton, a Timothy Dalton-Roger Moore hybrid I invented, though.)
I first heard 'Baba O'Riley' from Jordis Unga on the great show "Rockstar INXS". (Actually, that's probably where I first heard of like 30% of the classic rock songs on this list.) The original does a decent job at living up to the cover. I like the jolly little ostinato and the fact that people mess up the song's title regularly.
Hard to take any song called 'My Wife' seriously post-Borat. I like the random horn part, but this song (and others) are a little too country-sounding for my preference.
I like 'The Song is Over' mainly because it sounds like a Disney movie soundtrack song. Like 'Down to Earth' from Wall-E or something from Tarzan. Genesis Does Disney.
I like 'Getting in Tune' because it's very repetitive, with interesting Americanized vowels.
I like 'Going Mobile' because of the synths and the "beep beep", although I don't agree with the song's message. "Watch the police and taxman miss me" is kind of a modern phrasing, though!
I first heard 'Behind Blue Eyes' from Limp Bizkit (and listen, I bet a lot of people my age did), and I did not like it at all. Apparently that was a bad cover, and I do like this original better, but it's a little too slow for me still.
I first heard of 'Won't Get Fooled Again' thanks to that classic GWB quote, "There's an old saying in Tennessee—I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, Fool me once, shame on...shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again." The song lives up to the quote. Pretty good; far too long.
Even though I wrote a novel here, this was like a 3.5 for me. I bet it's got a high average review, but other than Baba O, I probably wouldn't listen to any of these tracks on my own time. So another 3 for the pile.
The Verve
4/5
This is very 90s! I always liked 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' (I mean, the entire Cruel Intentions soundtrack is perfect) but not enough to look into what else The Verve were cooking. Turns out they were cooking a banquet of orchestration! I really like pop with strings, and Ashcroft has just enough of that cello-y vocal timbre to interest me. But this album is long, and started to lose its luster as it went on. I was waffling between a 3 and 4 by the end, but revisiting the first few tracks convinced me it's a 4.
Highlights: 'Bitter Sweet Symphony', 'Sonnet', 'The Drugs Don't Work', 'Velvet Morning'
Lowlights: 'The Rolling People' (it's fine, just a little generic/loud/stringless), 'Catching the Butterfly' (yes, it does sound like the Beatleses 'Within You Without You' ! except longer and with less compelling lyrics), 'Neon Wilderness'
Dire Straits
3/5
This album cover looks like every CD my parents own (even though I don't think they own this album). But I'm glad there are album covers, because at this point in the journey I'm losing track of what we've already listened to, and I would have guessed we already had this one. Are there multiple Dire Straits albums? (If so,,,, talk about dire straits.)
Nah, it's not that bad. Like a peppy Michael Bolton. There sure are a lot of songs called 'So Far Away'. I wonder what the most common song title is? Probably just covers of 'Hallelujah'. (A quick search reveals it's actually 'Intro'.)
I didn't know Sting was the "I Want My MTV" guy! Actually, I always thought this song was a famous mashup (idk where I got that idea -- Weird Al maybe?) but it turns out it's just a weird 8 minute song. With slurs in it >:( But also a good delivery on "microwave ovens". So even if it's not a mashup, it contains multitudes.
Wow, I know 'Walk of Life'! Actually, I think I just know the intro. It must be in a lot of media. It's fine. I like that the woo-hoo-hoos sound like Ducktales.
I like the random sax in 'Your Latest Trick'.
'Brothers in Arms' is a weird tone shift. Almost Poguesy.
Weird album altogether. Long songs with some catchy bits, but also some annoying bits. Add it to the 3 pile!
Ray Charles
3/5
Last Ray Charles we had, I was surprised he was around in the 60s. Now I learn he was around in the 50s! While reading about this album I learned a bit about the world of best-selling sheet music, as in the first half of the 20th century, successful sheet music(s?) sold millions(!!) of copies. I guess pre-radio people would, like, play hit songs on their own instruments?? That's some Jane Austen stuff. Anyway, Ray Charles didn't write these songs; most of them were decades old and have some very popular sheet music. Seems to have been a genius move on his part. I didn't particularly love the album, but I do like this style of music (aka "old") and I wish there were more 50s (or older??) albums on here!
Highlights: 'It Had to Be You' (used in not 1, not 2, but 3!! Looney Tuneses), 'Am I Blue' (perhaps only in a single Looney Tune)
Related queries: Where did the "deep (as a) river, high (as a) mountain" dual originate? Not 'River Deep – Mountain High', clearly, since it's in the much older 'Come Rain or Come Shine' here. Is that just a coincidence? Surely there are other natural features with measurements that could be paired together and aren't ("canyon so wide; valley so low", anyone?). There's an African-American spiritual called 'Deep River', but it makes no mention of mountains. There's a Bible verse that includes "go up on a high mountain", but no mention of rivers. Is the answer obvious? Or is there nothing to answer? Maybe future albums will shed some light.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
O happy day! I like both Nicks, but Cave > Drake, and this is probably his best-known album (at least by me). The cover brings me intense nostalgia, and I support the font decisions. Nick Cave is part of a Wainwright - Cohen natural class and I am glad to see him represented here.
Highlights: 'Into My Arms' (Not overplayed imo -- properly played), 'People Ain't No Good', 'There is a Kingdom' (feeling somewhat "Girl who has only heard 'Within You Without You'" about this)
Almost highlight: '(Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For' (I want to like this song, but it is too distractingly Hootie-and-the-Blowfishy)
Lowlights: 'Black Hair' (not much going on here; it's giving poetry reading), 'Green Eyes' (far too much going on here; put 'em together, it's the harry potter special (which I disavow))
Elis Regina
3/5
Is Portuguese the second most represented language on this list?! I guess Brazil is pretty huge, but I'm waiting for more Spanish language stuff (and not holding my breath for any other languages, let's be real).
Also, this album doesn't seem to exist! Or rather, it's a mix of 2 albums, and neither is from 1978. Where is your quality control, book guy!?
Meta complaints aside, this is pretty good. Good energy, good vocals, good guitarra. A 3.5, and maybe if it were a legitimate album I'd give it a 4.
Highlights: 'Só Deus É Quem Sabe' ("God Only Knows", if you will), with the silly little lyric "Eu não sei nada / Só sei que a vida nos prepara cada cilada" (I don't know anything/here's one thing I know...), 'Saudade Eterna', 'O Trem Azul'
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
3/5
Ha, I just said I wouldn't hold my breath for other non-English stuff, and here comes this. Another confusing album, since 'Devotional Songs' was a real release, but this is a reissue(?) called 'Love & Devotion' with probably(?) the same content? Hmph. At least it's something different. I never listened to qawwali before, and let's be real, I probably won't in the future. It's too opaque for me -- I don't know any Urdu, if I've even correctly ID'd the language here*, and the sound is pleasant, but I end up mentally relegating it to the background just because I don't know what the lyrics mean, and they seem like the main draw for this genre! I think I liked what I'm assuming is the Love half (first 6) more than the Devotion half (second 6).
*OK, it's both Urdu & Punjabi (and a tiny bit of Persian), and also: Jeff Buckley was a big Nusrat fan and even covered 'Yeh Jo Halka Saroor Hae'! That's more fun than 500 Hallelujah covers.
Highlight: 'Un Ke Dar Pen Pohchne to Payen' (seemed more energetic than the rest), 'Allah Hoo Allah Hoo' (mainly because of the transparent vibe)
OutKast
2/5
Ah, I remember my 8th grade art class being obsessed with this album, whilst I was sooo annoyed about it. Just one of those sets of singles I disliked from the moment I heard them, and the extreme repetition fossilized my annoyance (see also: Macklemore, Ylvis). I also consider OutKast to be in a natural class with the Black-Eyed Peas, who I disliked for more legitimate reasons. As far as I know, OutKast didn't do anything offensive, I'm just not into the vibe. But there's like 500 songs here, so maybe I'll like one of them!
Pros: Speakerboxxx is a grade A name, and they say it a lot. Even Ludacris says it! (I think there's also two "the love below" mentions.) 'Bowtie' has good energy/horns. Actually, Speakerboxxx has good energy throughout. The lyrics aren't really my vibe for the most part, but are technically competent, I guess. 'Happy Valentine's Day' is about the 14th and I like that. The track with R.Kelly on it is not good at all.
Cons: I did not particularly like any of the songs. There were 87 slurs (which is only moderate on the slur count considering how long this album is, but it's not 0!). 'Bust' (too loud). The Love Below is less energetic than Speakerboxxx and less good. It also contains 'Hey Ya' and 'Roses', about which I did not change my 8th grade opinion. Although I will admit the line "she's got a hottie's body / but her attitude is potty" is solid. Andre 3000 and Jeff Probst have the same taste for funny British-ish accents. Norah Jones.
I would probably give Speakerboxxx a 3, The Love Below a 2, but since I had to listen to both, we'll round down.
The Who
3/5
This could be an 80s album cover! Kind of a boring album, though. I don't remember what I thought about the last Wholbum, even though we just had it, so maybe that's just their thing. It was, overall, fine.
Highlights: 'La-La-La-Lies', 'Much Too Much', the fact that the dozens of takeoffs of 'The Kids Are Alright' all disagree with the central premise
Led Zeppelin
2/5
Oh nooo. I'll give them this: the album cover is fun and visually appealing. The album name, on the other hand, is vaguely threatening (if it's anything like Now That's What I Call Music III...). I never would have been able to ID it, but I know 'Immigrant Song' well from introducing a slow-mo action scene in like 5000 movies. As with many classic rock bands, they sound to me like a more boring version of Rush (slower, more guitar breaks). Not my vibe.
Relative highlight: 'Out on the Tiles'
Black Sabbath
2/5
Not too surprised to get this one today since Ozzy died yesterday*, but I am a little surprised since it means that there are 3 (or more) Black Sabbath albums on here! The first one had a lot of hits, the second one was about wizards, so I wonder what's the vibe on No.3 (aka Vol. 4)? Good album cover, anyway. Nice font decisions; fight on, Halloween Ozzy!
Well, I find the vibe kind of boring. Not actively unpleasant to listen to like your Led Zeppelins, but still a lot of Guitar Time. The very sleepy 'Changes' rhymes "way" with "way", one of my greatest music pet peeves. I also vaguely remember this song from Kelly Osbourne's album, lol. (A father-daughter duet is cute though; you don't get a lot of those, other than in rap when the daughter is like, 3.) This is probably a 2.5 for me, but since I'm mentally in knots about not wanting to be biased, I'll round down.
*Here's my favorite of the Ozzy stories going around social media:
❝I thought America was fabulous. Take pizza for example. For years I’d been thinking, I wish someone would invent a new kind of food. In England it was always egg and chips, sausage and chips, pie and chips … anything and chips. After a while it just got boring, y’know? But you couldn’t exactly order a shaved Parmesan and rocket salad in Birmingham in the early ’70s. If it didn’t come out of a deep-fat fryer, no one knew what the fuck it was. But then, in New York, I discovered pizza. It blew my mind wide fucking open. I would buy ten or twenty slices a day. And then, when I realized you could buy a great big pizza all for yourself, I started ordering them wherever we went. I couldn’t wait to get back home and tell all my mates: ‘There’s this incredible new thing. It’s American and it’s called pizza. It’s like bread, but it’s better than any bread you’ve tasted in your life.’ I even tried to recreate a New York pizza for Thelma once. I made some dough, then I got all these cans of beans and pilchards and olives and shit and put them on top—it must have been about 15 quid’s worth of gear—but after ten minutes it just came dribbling out of the oven. It was like someone had been sick in there. Thelma just looked at it and went, ‘I don’t think I like pizza, John.’ She never called me Ozzy, my first wife.❞
—Ozzy Osbourne, from ‘I Am Ozzy’ (Grand Central Publishing, 2010)
Beck
3/5
More Beck!? First, throw this album cover right in the trash. How dare they cover the doodly monstrosity with a fake sticker. Second, here's the return of the Beck I know and mildly dislike. Peak hipster.
Highlights: 'Girl' (I thought the lyric "my sun-eyed girl" was "My son, a girl", oops), 'Missing' (mainly because it sounds exactly like 'Cold Feet' by Lost Lander)
Lowlights: 'Qué Onda Guero' (Even though I too existed whitely on Pico and Vermont), 'Farewell Ride'
Booker T. & The MG's
3/5
This album cover has a certain appeal. Not only does it tell it like it is, but the text looks like MS Word WordArt circa 1998. Extremely ahead of its time!
Surprisingly, I do know the title song, which according to Wiki is "named after a cat known as Green Onions, whose way of walking inspired the riff". I like that. Probably a chonky cat. :3
OK, I guess these are all instrumentals! I like that too. Although I find it hard to imagine an instrumental finding commercial success these days. I wonder what the most recent one is. (Answer: Google says 'Harlem Shake' in 2013, but that is not what I'd call an instrumental. Anyway, lots of other people asked this question and had the same reaction as me, so that's nice.)
Overall, this was fine. Very middle of the road, but unique as an album.
Air
4/5
Ha, this album takes me back to the early 2000s. I actually didn't know they were French, so it's good the album cover filled me in. The album starts extremely mellow, so I see where the "lounge" & "chill-out" genres come in. Luckily there are some bleeps and bloops and rocket launching vwooshes to grab my interest ("space pop"). Also, the album is called Moon Safari. I am having an aha moment that space pop is 50% in the naming of things. Next you'll be telling me La Femme d'argent is a pseudonym for the moon! (I found no evidence of this, but I did check just to make sure.) Their big hit 'Sexy Boy' always reminded me of the Sneaker Pimps (surely "trip-hop"), but a bit less good. However I also never clocked that it had French in it, so I may not have been the most discerning 13 year old. I like it more now that I know about all these genres! The underlying beat is not original, but is one I always like. Also, I think French has probably overtaken Portuguese in the non-English-language album count, non? Someone should make a 'Kelly Watch the Stars'/'Andy You're a Star' mashup. Set phasers to Daft Punk. Etc.
Highlight: 'Ce matin-là'
Lowlight: 'All I Need' (just makes me wish I were listening to Radiohead's instead)
Heaven 17
4/5
A lot going on here. A political Human League (like actually, it's two of the same guys). I do generally like the music and lyrics, but it's a little bit maximalist for my preference. Hey la hoooo. Rounding up because they got their name from A Clockwork Orange, and because the final line "for a very long time" repeated indefinitely on the original vinyl album (and I love a gimmick).
Highlight: 'Soul Warfare'
Van Halen
3/5
Sure, this inclusion makes sense. I had exactly 0 Van Halen thoughts and feelings going in, and I have exactly 0 going out. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Highlight: 'You Really Got Me' (probably just because I know it)
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
3/5
Jah Wobble, now there's a British name. A very unaesthetic album cover. I never heard of him or his band(s), but he is indeed British, and has collaborated with a lot of heard-of people, including Sinéad O'Connor on the first track here. It's fine. Wiki calls it "world music", which is an interesting little phrase. Mostly it's chill electro with a little bit of chanting and Spanish guitar. And finally a song in Spanish! Sung by... an Egyptian-Belgian lady? Hmm. OK, you have my attention, Jah Wobble. But then, there's also some talk-singing over non-Spanish guitar. It's a pretty eclectic album, I'll give em that. But I think I'd prefer to just have an album of Natacha Atlas tracks (the aforementioned singer, who also sings in French on a different song). It's better than average, or at least more interesting, but I don't think it's quite 4 territory.
Highlights: 'Bomba', 'Wonderful World'
Van Morrison
3/5
This album cover made me gasp (and lol). It reminds me that Kyle Mooney recently released an album ("The Real Me"). Nice font though. Also, I do genuinely like 'Moondance' the song. Also, Wiki says Van Morrison's wife was named Janet Planet. Amazing. Perhaps the inspiration for "The Wedding Singer"'s Julia Gulia?
I'm not sure what my preconception of Van Morrison was (old? like Tom Petty but more old?) but even though this is kind of country-adjacent (as well as old), I kinda like it. Mellow, lyrical, some background horns (I'm calling saxes horns now, sue me). After the first few songs, it began to feel a little too dentist-office for me, though. (Apparently 'Into the Mystic' is one of the best songs to do surgery to, which is cool, but I don't want to imagine being surgeried during my music listening time).
Highlights: 'Moondance' (nice lil compound, implies the existence of Sundance... wait a second!), 'Glad Tidings'
Stan Getz
3/5
This album looks like a textbook. Portuguese takes the lead over French yet again! This is great for those chasing a chill, mellow, familiar sound (i.e. me, most of the time). No one but Astrud Gilberto can get away with rhyming "sea" and "him". Nice but not very exciting, and since I don't know Portuguese I can't reeeally get into it.
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
I have a fondness for Run DMC just because I watched a lot of vh1 countdowns and I-Love-The shows, and inevitably they all talked about how Run DMC started hip hop. (Seems a bit of an oversimplification, in retrospect, but hey, I wasn't there.) My vh1 recollection is basically like: "OK, so music was invented by Michael Jackson, Queen, Run DMC, and Madonna. The end." Oh, we had another Run DMC album 150 albums ago and I said the same thing. Time is a flat circle.
Anyway, this is good. The rhythm/stress pattern is so consistent that it's kind of like the album is all one big song ("my name's aMANda and i'm HERE to SAY, i'm likin' this ALbum in a MAjor way"). No slurs! I arbitrarily decided that 4 is for albums I'd listen to in my spare time, which is apparently a pretty high bar, but among 3s, this is one of the 3s-I-like and not one of the 3s-I-don't-dislike. It's tricky to sort a disc, to sort a disc that's just like this, it's tricky :(
Highlight: 'Sucker M.C.'s (Krush-Groove 1)' (it unlocked a core memory for me of the rhythm game(?) in Sega's Toejam and Earl 2, which I was terrible at but liked a lot), 'Wake Up' (nice dream. presumably "we weren't afraid to show our faces / it was cool to chill in foreign places" was meant about race, but now it applies even more broadly 😔)
Lowlight: 'Jay's Game' (the only break in the long song -- I also hate these short repeated loops (IDK if there's a DJ name for this thing); I think it's one reason I dislike Missy Elliott['s songs] actually)
Donald Fagen
3/5
Should I know who this is? His wiki is pretty long-- oh, he was in STEELY DAN. The Wilco of the 80s. More dentist office music. Maybe a little too peppy for a surgery, though. Better than Steely Dan, and I don't think I would have connected them on my own, but I still don't love it.
The "International Geophysical Year" concept is pleasant to learn about, so kudos to this album for introducing me to that.
I appreciate that this is an 8 track album. I bet people nowadays think that's what an "8-track" was (not me though! I looked it up long ago!).
This is more of an I-didn't-dislike-it 3. A snoozer but not quite a loser.
Highlight: 'The Goodbye Look' (if it were in Japanese, maybe it could be in a Persona soundtrack. Man, I'm really invested in video game music apparently!)
Jacques Brel
4/5
French tops Portuguese in our non-English count once again! What a thrilling competition.
Désolée, I've never heard of this man. However, he'd fit right in to the ancient Eurovisions I'm watching! The sound quality is not great -- what is this, a live album recorded in a can???! -- but it makes me a little emotional anyway (because I love Eurovision! And 'Amsterdam' sounds like Greensleeves, which is a very sad song. OK, turns out it's literally Greensleeves. Well, good.) 'Les Vieux' is surely copying 'Grandfather's Clock' (the saddest Children's Favorites song of all time). Also as a proud Delawarean I appreciate that 'Le Plat Pays' is about liking your stupid, flat country.
Highlights: 'Amsterdam', the triple rhyme time line "l'ombre sombre de leur ombre", when he said "À mon de[rnier repas]" I thought he said "Amande" 🥺
The Doors
2/5
The Doors again, eh? I know they're super famous, but it's not for me. The album cover reminds me of a poison control sticker, which is apt.
'The Changeling' made me think they're like the musical equivalent of the show "Supernatural". 15 seasons of these brunette guys who look the same and do the same stuff every time? Really? I guess so.
At least 'Love Her Madly' has an adverb in it.
I know the song 'L.A. Woman' because of Billy Idol (who cut the length in half, thank goodness), but I don't really like either version, even though I like songs about places generally. Supposedly this was ranked the best song about LA. Wrong. Here are 5 that are better: 'Ænema' by Tool, 'California' by Rufus Wainwright, 'California Love' by 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre, 'Come Monday' by Jimmy Buffett, 'Drinking in L.A.' by Bran Van 3000. I do like that they sing "Mr. Mojo Risin'" because it's an anagram of "Jim Morrison". The Doors > JKR (but we're low in the rankings as it is).
I assumed "L'America" meant "Lil America" because that's how I use L', but I turns out it's actually... Latin America. That's way worse.
Overall, this album isn't bad, but I don't like it, so I'm going to give it a 2. Sorry for them that it didn't come 100 albums ago when I was still doing grade inflation!
Crosby, Stills & Nash
3/5
I thought we had some sort of Crosby et al. album already, but it was actually Buffalo Springfield, which contains Neil Young, who is sometimes one of Crosby et al. Forget the Beatles movies, I need a CSN(Y)+BS primer. Except I don't want one because this album is boring.
I did always think "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" was a novel kind of song title; you don't get a lot of colons in popular music. I'm sure I've heard the song before (I think it's on one of those Billboard albums?) but it clearly didn't stick with me. The best part is definitely the do-do-do-do-dos at the end.
It seems to me that Morocco (and Northern Africa in general) is way more prevalent in the pop culture of the 60s than it is now. What's up with that? Maybe I should read a history book instead of the Crosby et al. wiki compendium. Did you know Nash was in the Hollies?? We're in a deeply tangled web here. And Crosby was in the Byrds. Wow wow wow.
I'm really sleepy and 'Guinnevere' is not helping. The best part is definitely the do-do-do-do-dos in the middle. This one sounds a little like Simon and Garfunkel. Maybe that's Crosby's vibe.
My assessment is that Stills is my least favorite singer. And I think Crosby is my favorite. But also if you asked me to tell the three apart I would have no idea. I didn't really enjoy this album; it was very sleepy, but I didn't quite dislike it either, so I guess it scrapes a 3.
Highlight: 'Teach Your Children' (me: hm, where do I know this from? wiki: "In 1985, the song was used with modified lyrics in a TV commercial promoting schools' use of the Apple II family of personal computers" me: aha, so it was)
Herbie Hancock
3/5
My vision is so bad that I thought the woodwind player on this album (Bennie Maupin) said Bernie Taupin and I was like, wow, there's just so much I don't know about this era of music. (Still true, but whew)
Anyway, this is fun! A lot different than the other jazz instrumentals we heard so far. Way more groovy.
Supposedly 'Chameleon' is "one of the most widely recognized jazz standards", but I didn't recognize it. There's an upsetting screechy bit around 5 minutes in that I could really do without, though. Oh no, it's happening for so long (~3 minutes). Well, that's a shame. Luckily the song is long enough that you could cut that part out and still have a healthy 12 minute song. But why stop there?? No, I kid... I kid...
I do know 'Watermelon Man' (it's a Pavlov in the Jeopardy sense: herbie hancock! <-> watermelon man!) and I like it fine, even though it's shockingly different from the version we played in band (I bet everybody says this). Giving some White Lotus theme song vibes at the beginning there.
I think 'Vein Melter' is actually my favorite track. It's got some electro bits that I like, and no screechy stuff at all!
This could have been a 4. It was compelling for a jazz instrumental. But the screechy bit kept it at 3.
Rod Stewart
3/5
Previously on Rod Stewart, we landed on "this sounds like generic oldies". The album cover tells the story "buckle up for more of the same". But actually this was more rock-focused than my recollection of his previous album, and that's a negative for me (though probably a positive for most people).
The track 'Every Picture Tells a Story' certainly does tell a story, but the story is boring. Consider The Decemberists -- they have a song, 'The Mariner's Revenge Song', which also tells a rambly story, and I like their sound and enjoy the song. But I still don't want to listen to it more than once every few years. So we're not looking good after track 1.
'Seems Like a Long Time'? Yes, that track sure did. As before, Stewart didn't write most of these tracks, which is probably for the best. But none of them are that great, except the 1min of 'Amazing Grace' leading into the Bob Dylan cover 'Tomorrow Is a Long Time' (which seems quite familiar, maybe someone else on here covered it too (not that I remember who)). I know 'Maggie May' is famous, but it's just alright with me (like Jesus in a way). Ostensibly it's a song about dating an old(er) lady (which I support), but in practice it seems a lot like that long story in track 1. (Maybe hypocritical of me to judge this, but my rambly album notes aren't in the "1001 reviews to read before you die", now are they?) Still, by this point on the album we've settled back into jangly oldies mode (vs rockin' guitar mode), which is a positive for me. 14 mentioned in 'Mandolin Wind'! Alas, raspy guitar mode comes back for '(I Know) I'm Losing You', another cover. Finishes with a decent mellow raspy pianoed cover of '(Find a) Reason to Believe'. Squares up to be a nice ol' boring 3.
+ Something nice about Roddy is that his prized model train setup was featured in at least 6 issues of "Model Railroader" magazine. It's good to have a hobby. 🚂
The Mars Volta
2/5
Ho ho! Most of these albums are too old for me to know if they're left-field picks or not, but this one really shocked me. The Mars Volta!? 's Debut album?! In 2025!? On a normie list of must-listens?! I haven't thought about them in at least 20 years, but for a solid block of time they lingered on MTV2's Rock Countdown (I think with 'Televators' and then later 'The Widow' and 'L’via L’viaquez') and I thought "ugggggghhhh -- who even likes this!?". Actually, a lot of my friends' older brothers liked this (shoutout John and Andrew), but not me. Now I know it's 'cause it's "prog".* Very much big guitar time. More music-focused than lyrics-focused. Plus unpleasantly screamy lyrics. Performatively goth. They probably bumped off some of my favorite bands, like Nine Inch Nails or A Perfect Circle!! (lol). Jim Shearer probably loved them because they're like the Beastie Boys (bad)!! Boo!! Hiss!! Even just seeing this album cover again gives me visceral rage! Why is that stupid guy's head there!?
That said, this is a delight because it reminds me so of peak-era Rock Countdown. I don't listen to a rock station on the radio anymore (shoutout to my old friends 105.7 the X and KROQ), and AT-40 (my only music listening other than this these days) hardly ever plays that kind of alt-rock stuff (with the exception of Shinedown, for some reason, who must be Ryan Seacrest's Beastie Boys), so it's a nice blast from the past. But of all the albums to represent 2000s rock!! Why The Mars Volta!? Probably because these book creators were prog-loving sickos!!
So, this is really hard for me to rate. If I just heard it out of the blue for the first time, it'd probably be a 2. Noisy! Terrible! But the nostalgic glee I felt when seeing this come up was like, a 4. The album was exactly how I remembered, which is both bad and great. I guess I'll try to be objective about my subjective rating and give it the 2 it deserves, but a 2 with a starry-eyed smiley face attached. Apparently they're still making music, which is nice. (And frankly I do like their 'Frances the Mute' album more than this one; I even listened to it on my own volition once, so I am -- yet again -- vexed by the per-artist album choices on this project!!)
*While I was looking at the Wiki list of prog artists (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_progressive_rock_artists), which was somewhat elucidating and somewhat baffling (The Decemberists? Tool?), I saw another rock countdown band I haven't thought of in 20 years: (the) Secret Machines! I heard "Nowhere Again" 1000 times in 2004 and then never again (until right now). Frankly, that song doesn't seem very proggy (i.e. bad). Ah, nostalgia.
Johnny Cash
3/5
OK, some real talk here: I've had an irrational dislike of Johnny Cash ever since his cover of 'Hurt' came out and 500000 people said "this is so much better and more meaningful than the original!", which of course I disagreed with because the original was super meaningful to ME and Johnny Cash, a guy I never heard of until then, meant nothing to me. Now I understand that (a) most people don't like Nine Inch Nails, so the cover was more accessible and (b) Johnny Cash dying soon afterwards added a lot of emotional heft to the song, especially if you already knew who Johnny Cash was (or maybe were a bit older than I was). Nevertheless, country music isn't my genre of choice, and I think it's natural to dislike covers of songs you imprinted on, especially covers that are more lauded/successful than the original (see also: 'The Book of Love'). Now, should I have carried this grudge with me for 20+ years? Maybe not. So, I'll try to give this album a fair shake.
But wait, it's a live album. How can I give it a fair shake!? Live albums are for people who already like the artist (or maybe for jazz). I like that they over-the-top bleeped the swears though.
So... is it cool that he recorded this at a prison and sang 'Wanted Man'? It seems kind of insensitive, but the crowd is clapping, so I guess they're into it. That's OK then. Unless they're being forced to clap. How does this prison concert thing even work? Can anyone do a concert at a prison? If so, shouldn't more artists be doing that? Maybe things were different in the 60s. Or maybe the prisoners would boo other artists who didn't have as many prison-themed songs. But they should play through the booing!
The crowd clapping for the country of England was funny. Cash's got that Hank Hill accent in the talking bits, which is fun. But also his whole "I'm not gonna do what they tell me to do, man" isn't winning me over, I tell you hwhat. Maybe I'm misreading the vibe, but it feels performatively "tough". There's a cool study (Kiesling 1996) of how frat guys swear(&etc) more in their frat meetings than in the rest of their dealings in order to demonstrate masculinity/power, and this feels a bit like that. I do like 'I Walk the Line' though. It's a bop. Having the same song twice in a row on an album is crazy. 'A Boy Named Sue' is quite a rich text. Sue shoulda just gone by his initials or middle name or something. Something tells me this version of 'Folsom Prison Blues' isn't the complete version, which is unsatisfying. Anyway, the songs were OK to listen to, but not good enough for me to start liking Johnny Cash. Maybe if he has a non-live album later.
Highlight: 'I Walk the Line'
Lowlights: Johnny Cash, prison
T. Rex
4/5
I know exactly one T.Rex song ('20th Century Boy') and it is not on this album. Luckily, these songs sound pretty similar to that one. Wait, never mind, I know exactly two T.Rex songs ('Cosmic Dancer')! Wait, never mind, of course I know three T.Rex songs ('Get It On')! In general, these songs have good energy, I don't mind this kind of guitar, and Bolan (what a name) has a fairly unique voice. Kinda Queenish (the band, not the gay thing -- although, that too (complimentary)). Apparently they at first went by "Tyrannosaurus Rex" but the execs thought it was too long of a name and/or difficult to pronounce (???). Perhaps this dinosaur was less well known in the 60s, at least in the UK - like pizza. Related fact I heard today: George Washington died not knowing about dinos, 'cause they were discovered in the mid 1800s. But 1971 is a long time after that (supposedly).
These song titles mention lots of space themed things (sun, planets, cosmos) and yet this isn't considered space rock(??). Instead it's called glam rock, which seems more about the appearance of the artist than about the actual music. Perhaps the genre flow chart is like:
Is the artist glam?
if Y --> glam rock.
If N --> do the songs mention astronomical themes?
If Y ---> space rock.
If N ---> categorize based on how the music actually sounds, I GUESS.
Turns out M. Bolan also had a pretty tragic death (he didn't drive because of fear of car-death, then he died young in car-death (alcohol)). I suspect the odds of a 1001 Albums artist having a pretty tragic death are like 500% higher than the average musician (to say nothing of the average person). Anyway, that doesn't change my rating. I enjoyed this album more than the average 3, although perhaps not as much as the average 4. The important thing is, it's better than average, and fun to listen to, which is a good quality in an album.
Highlight: 'Cosmic Dancer' (I like the background string arrangements), 'Life's a Gas', 'Hot Love' (this is a bonus track, but I love a hand-clap and a la-la-la), 'King of the Mountain Cometh' (I don't think I heard any songs about elves and wizards before starting this project; who knew there's so many!)
Lowlights: 'Get It On' (Maybe it's just been overplayed, but I find the chorus too simplistic in an annoying way (not the content (probably half of the songs on this list are about getting it on), but the form (Lavigne-esque?!)), 'Girl' (sounds like Pink Floyd (=sleepy), although I do like the do-do-dos and the horns)
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
2/5
All lowlights:
-Eric Clapton
- blues
- when I saw this album cover I thought it might be the Beatles, but it sure wasn't
- "colloquially known as The Beano Album"* ???
- 'Little Girl' is kinda creepy
*Beano is the comic mag pictured on the cover, the most successful outside Japan, and the longest running one (1938-present)!!! That's much more impressive than the beano I know about (1990-present).
This album is not my cup of tea. I'm sure it is important in Blues Albums, but if I die without hearing any more of those, I'll live. :P
Yes
2/5
More like The No Album (I hope all the reviews say that). This album cover looks cool, like I'm about to enter A-to-Z Video* for a fun VHS tape. But I didn't like Yes's other album, so I'm not hopeful for this one, especially starting off with a 10 minute track.
*I'm 90% this is what our local equivalent of Blockbuster was called, but it is seemingly impossible to find out via Google, like so many things I want to know D;
Well, this album was slightly better than "Fragile", maybe just because my expectations were low. Still, it's a 2 for me.
Highlights: "If the summer change to winter" is a rare subjunctive. Grammar win! 'Starship Trooper' has some good elements. I don't like it here because it makes the songs longer, but the concept of splitting a song into 2-3 named sub-parts (movements?) does appeal to me as a classical fan. I think Meat Loaf did this too, and maybe a few other 60s-80s artists, but it is something I haven't seen (yet?) in post 90s music, and would find charming.
Lowlights: So many guitar breaks; melodies are mostly boring.
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
Woohoo, an album I'm actually excited to listen to. Many of the Pet Shop Boys songs I know are remixes of other artists' songs, but I like all of what I've heard. However, it is becoming apparent to me that all of their songs sound very similar - nearly indistinguishable! Similar vocals, similar background music (wistful synths, fast-paced ambling), lyrics about nostalgia with a lot of chorus-repetition. I like all of those qualities, so I enjoyed every song, but I do think it could be better if they varied things a little more. Overall, this album was less good than I'd hoped, but I did still like it. Also, I think they should have a 'the' in their name.
Highlights: 'So Hard', 'The End of the World'
Lowlight: 'To Face the Truth' (a little slower than the rest, although that lax vowel in "truth" provides some enrichment)
Marty Robbins
3/5
This album cover is tilted, right? Right?!
I like Trail Songs OK, but I'm not so sure about Gunfighter Ballads. I've never heard of Marty Robbins but it turns out he was a pretty big deal. He has a good voice. The songs are Country/western as advertised ("old-timey cowboy stuff"). In some ways, I like the sound, because it's nostalgic (I'm becoming a broken record with this, but it sounds like Children's Favorites!!), but it's also not particularly inspiring, maybe because the cowboy life has very little in common with my life. I really wasn't expecting Utah Carol to be a guy's name. A boy named Utah Carol.
Highlights: 'Cool Water', 'The Strawberry Roan' (where Chappell Roan took her name from! (although not this version)), 'The Little Green Valley' (is the little green valley... heaven?? D:), 'The Hanging Tree' (D:)
Elvis Presley
4/5
Whew! I was kinda worried that Elvis wouldn't be on here. But I don't actually know any of these songs except 'Suspicious Minds' (which I like very much, it was my ringtone in college for a while). I was worried from the album title that this would be a live album, but it is not. I'm not sure why I'm so into (the idea of) Elvis; it was partly because of the recent weird Tom Hanks movie which I thought about for weeks afterward, but also I think I just like the songs. Maybe Elvis reminds me of Christmas. Maybe I like that I can understand the lyrics without looking them up. I dunno! But I enjoy it, even though I'd probably only listen to a few of the singles on the reg.
>New logic question for my students just dropped: if Only the Strong Survive and Only the Good Die Young, does it follow that Only the Good are Weak? More interestingly, is there a quantifier you could use instead of "only" that would mean that?
Is Kentucky rain cold?
Highlights: "the floor needs a touch of the mop" (how poetic), 'It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin', 'In the Ghetto' (I thought this was a Nick Cave song!), 'Suspicious Minds' (still a top track imo)
Lowlights: 'I'm Movin' On'
Count Basie & His Orchestra
3/5
I don't know what this is. "Big band"? Sorry, I only listen to small band.
Highlights: 'Flight of the Foo Birds', the name 'Splanky'
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Joni! Listen, I know this album is in a lot of people's top of the top, and she also wrote one of my top 5 songs ('Both Sides, Now'). But if I'm being really objective about my subjective ratings here, I don't love pitch variation, especially in the higher registers, and there's a lot of that going on here. And a very slow tempo. It's still very much in the Regina Spektor ~ Jewel ~ Sarah McLachlan space for me, who are all artists I really like at times and find either boring or borderline unpleasant to listen to at other times. Sorry Joni! You're still cool though.
Apparently 'A Case of You' is also mentioned in the hit TV show Parenthood. I'm starting to think a Parenthood superfan updated Wiki with every possible article mention, and I respect that.
Lowlight: 'River' (and all covers of it)
Public Enemy
2/5
This is a great album title. Like their last album, even though the raps/lyrics are solid, I don't like the beats! Too many annoying noises. Truly, what is music but a series of annoying noises? Maybe I should come back to this one when I'm less tired. But for now, it's another 2.
I bet nowadays some people think '911 is a joke' refers to 9/11 and not 9-1-1.
Pretenders
3/5
A very British album cover. I feel like I should know the Pretenders, but maybe there are just a lot of "The XYZers" bands out there. The Proclaimers? Maybe that's what I know. Oh, but the lady is Chrissie Hynde, and I have heard of her (because she's in the Pretenders). Whew. 'Precious' seems to be about Cleveland, which is not what I expected. Turns out Chrissie was born in Akron. That explains why "shut the light" is a lyric. I wonder if she knows Lebron.
Anyway, I've never heard any of these songs before, I'm pretty sure. They sound pretty 80s to me, like Heart or Hole or Blondie or any number of one-word lady-led energetic rock bands. Weird tempo variation shenanigans though. Glad I'm not wasting this super sleepy week on my most beloved albums, but this isn't doing it for me. It's not offensive or terrible or anything, but there's no real hook what hooked me. I think the second half of the album is much stronger. Good energy!
Highlights: 'Kid', 'Brass in Pocket', 'Mystery Achievement'
The Temptations
3/5
From one The XYZers band to another! This is also fine. Nothing really reaches the heights of 'My Girl', not that I particularly like 'My Girl'. The genre is "progressive soul". I probably like regressive soul better (is that what Elvis is?).
In theory I like the idea of multiple singers with really different vocal ranges (i.e. unlike the Beatles I can tell them apart), but in practice the variability might be a net negative. I like most of Melvin Franklin's deal (including the name "Melvin Franklin"), Dennis Edwards and Paul Williams are good-to-OK, Otis Williams is okay, and Eddie Kendricks in falsetto mode is my nightmare. So, a mixed bag. In general the sound is pleasant and old-timey, but none of the songs stood out. A 2 feels too harsh, but this is a low 3 for me because it's sooo boring.
The Yardbirds
3/5
Maybe it's just the Magilla Gorilla pose, but this album cover reminds me of the doodles in my dad's old board games (or, alternatively, the art on the "Navigator" card in Dominion).
OK, time to (re)learn about who the Yardbirds are (I know they're historically significant because my friend took a 60s music class in college and was always talking about the Yardbirds, but not enough for me to learn anything about them). Ah, it's Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page (plus other less famous dudes, sorry to those guys). Though only Jeff Beck is on this album. Eric Clapton also did like 50 other things, none of which I've liked. I know nothing about Jeff Beck. I wonder if Beck is named for him. Jimmy Page may have been involved with starting Google. Or Led Zeppelin. Two great evils.
The music, you say? The music is fine. A lot of guitar stuff. The songs are pretty short, which is a plus. I still don't know what a Nazz is, but I don't think it's a nickname for Jesus as Google suggests. Ultimately, this doesn't stand out. A Beatles-ified 70s rock supergroup (in 1966).
Someone should make a 'I'm Henry the VIII, I Am' x 'I Can't Make Your Way' mashup.
Highlight: 'Farewell' (but confusingly, not the last song)
Dolly Parton
3/5
This must have been the inspiration for the Powerpuff girls. Of course, Dolly-Bubbles is the fan favorite, but Emmylou-Blossom is the actual core of the team. It's cool that this exists since I had no idea they ever teamed up. Unfortunately, this album is country (boo), but I do like female country artists more than male ones (probably the only genre where I have that preference actually). The songs are slow, which isn't my vibe, but as these things go I thought it was good.
The line "what will become of the hobo whenever his time comes to die?" made me say (a) yeesh but also (b) omg it's the quintessential Southern punctual "whenever"!! That's the very first dialectal variation I noticed all on my own as a wee one.
And! Rufus's maman wrote 'I've Had Enough'! :')
Highlights: the line "I'm making plans to be lonesome" (so true besties), 'Wildflowers'
CHIC
3/5
Somehow I always imagined 'Le Freak' came out in the early 90s, but I don't know why I thought that since it sounds plenty 70s, what with the disco of it all.
The album cover looks cool, kinda like a soundtrack to a tie-in novel about the movie adaptation of the board game Clue. I always like a stylin' all lowercase track listing.
Overall the hit single is a good representation of how the album sounds. I like it fairly well -- good energy, no annoying noises (=more keys and horns than guitar), a healthy pace. A bit repetitive but that's not necessarily a negative. One of my favorites of the week; it's a high 3, but not quite a 4.
Highlight: Whenever they say the band name in the songs (which is often; Jason Derulo must have trained at L'académie Chic), the title '(funny) bone'
Lowlight: 'Chic Cheer' (really what is happening here? I'd prefer either no vocals or a lot more vocals. Hate a sparing vocal)
Boston
3/5
Things I like about Boston: the city they're named after, that's Shane Powers from Survivor's son's name, the song 'Amanda' :)
Things I don't like: 70s rock, the album cover (new info: space-themed album covers aren't enough to count as "space rock")
But good news, "arena rock" is pretty different from "blues rock" and "prog rock", and although I suspect it's a less esteemed sort of rock, it's got a lot more of MY esteem. I forgot they did 'More Than a Feeling'. That song is good! Sorry to the haters. I never knew they did 'Peace of Mind'. That song is good too! Huh. These guys were on to something. Wiki says this album was something of a pivot for rock stylings as far as production and melodies. Thank goodness because I feel like I've endured a lot of pre-pivot albums here (and I'm sure there are many more to go)! But hold the phone, 'Foreplay/Long Time' feels kinda pre-pivot. Blergh. Or is this two songs smooshed together? Whatever, they lost me in the second half of the album (many more guitar solos). This is still markedly better than most of the 70s rock albums for me, though, because there are actual hooks.
Highlights: 'More Than a Feeling', 'Peace of Mind'
Lowlight: 'Foreplay/Long Time' and everything after
Deep Purple
2/5
This album cover is sending me. It's like a LiveJournal icon I would have made in 2003.
All I know about Deep Purple is 'Smoke on the Water', which is the only song we learned to play on guitar in middle school music class. To be fair, I liked playing it. But as expected, they are pretty "70s rock"y, with a surprising amount of metal-y vocals. I do like the organ(?) part on 'Speed King'. I also like that they had a super messy history as far as membership, kinda like Destiny's Child. But that's pretty much where the liking ends...
Highlight: the lyric "Take the trouble to decide the things you do / will not be things that don't appeal to you" (good advice, bizarre syntax)
Lowlight: rhyming "lovin'" and "movin'"? Absurd.
Beastie Boys
2/5
No one can deny they have a unique sound! But as previously discussed, it's not for me. And I feel extra validated in my Beastie hating after reading they were originally gonna call this album "Don't Be a [f-slur]". Excuse me?!
Good album cover though.
"I'll steal your honey like I stole your bike" is a line in LFO's 'Summer Girls'! I didn't know it was from here! (I wish LFO were on this list instead of the Beasties.)
'Girls' is supposed to mock misogynistic rappers, but I think it suffers from the Borat problem (=people are gonna miss the mockery and keep the misogyny). Ha, and exactly the same for 'Fight For Your Right to Party', although that's about ~lifestyle~ instead. (Wiki quotes Mike D saying: "There were tons of guys singing along to 'Fight for Your Right' who were oblivious to the fact it was a total goof on them"). That's often a risk of mockery and big audiences, I guess.
I have a soft spot for 'No Sleep Till Brooklyn' because my favorite podcaster advertises Brooklinen bedding by saying "No Sleep Till Brooklinen". But that's not enough to save this album from joining the terrible 2s!
The Style Council
3/5
This is so unfamiliar to me I would have assumed the band is called Café Bleu, not the album (probably because I'd be mixing them up with Café Tacuba). But it seems esoteric, so they have my attention. And the genre is listed as "Sophisti-pop". Amazing, that's a new one to add to my genre lexicon. The sapiosexual of genres?
The sound is some nice instrumental jazzy stuff (which I like), but also some sleepy singing (which is fine but uncaptivating). Certainly a step above Norah Jones, but too mellow for me to really love it. There's a mid-album interlude that veers more energetic (and political), but not enough to save this from the 'it was fine' 3s.
Highlights: 'My Ever Changing Moods' (this one has a little vim to it!), 'Strength of Your Nature' (this too!), & the song titles overall, particularly 'The Whole Point of No Return' & 'Me Ship Came In!' (exclamation point included)
The Kinks
3/5
My review got deleted again! Rats! I think my main takeaways were:
-Party Lines sure are a time capsule.
-This album cover looks like an old board game, too (and I like it).
-I continue to generally like the Kinks; pop is top! Still sounds Beatlesy, pleasant, yet a little old (sound-wise). I think I'm too annoyed about the deletion so I'm rounding down to a 3. In another world, this coulda been a 4 maybe.
Highlights: 'Party Line', 'I'll Remember' (album bookends!)
Marvin Gaye
3/5
Another LJ-icon album cover!
This is interesting because I know exactly two Marvin Gaye songs going in: 'Let's Get It On' (zzz, thumbs down) and 'What's Going On' (thumbs up). So it could go either way!
Actually, maybe I was too strict about 'Let's Get It On' -- even though it's so overplayed (and hard to take seriously therefore, especially because it was featured in, yes, the hit NBC drama "Parenthood")), it's actually pretty good. Though I have never once considered Ed Sheeran's 'Thinking Out Loud' to sound similar (apparently there were some lawsuits on the matter). We ARE all sensitive people!
More subjunctive: "If I should die tonight / though it be far before my time"... maybe the subjunctive isn't as rare as I thought. Also, how am I so confident this is a subjunctive and not AAVE? The power of context, I guess.
These sure are slow jams. I like the sax and strings and MG's got a good voice, but it's all a little too chill for me. I like that there's also a song called 'Keep Gettin' It On'. A real concept album here. Thanks to 'You Sure Love to Ball', I learned that "ball" is (or, more likely, was) slang for getting it on, which makes a lot more sense in this context than the much more common modern meanings of "play basketball" or "be cool". Good to know so I don't embarrass myself in front of Marvin Gaye. (Just kidding -- he also died tragically.)
Good but sleepy. That's a solid 3.
Cream
3/5
Yes, this sure is a 60s album cover. As you might expect I have no idea which one of those guys is Eric Clapton. Is he the Mads Mikkelsen, Ringo, or Joe Perry? It took a lot of deductive googling, but I think he's the angsty Joe Perry. Now that that's squared away: I don't enjoy this. Guitar heavy, bop light. Would be a 2, but 'Sunshine' bumps it up to the 3 zone.
Highlights: 'Sunshine of Your Love' (Is it good because USC's band plays it, or does USC's band play it because it's good?); 'World of Pain' isn't terrible either; the album title comes from a malapropism ("derailleur gears")!
Lowlights: 'Outside Woman Blues' (Big yikes), 'Mother's Lament' (what is happening here)
Calexico
3/5
Of all the 2000s indie bands....Calexico?! This is like the indie version of the Mars Volta, except I doubt they were on any* countdown ever (*I don't watch CMT so maybe they made it there, although this doesn't really seem that country to me). Might as well throw in another Beck album. This behemoth of an album isn't even all on Spotify. Hmph, harumph, etc.
Ah well, the sound is fine. Not enough to make me want to listen again, but fine. I like the instrumentals more than the non-instrumentals, I think. No surprise they later go on to record with Iron & Wine, because this is very Iron & Wine-y. Not whine-y, although I wish it were, because then maybe I'd feel something!! I do like the sweeping theatrical turns in parts of the album, but they don't really lead anywhere. Shout out Payne County, though.
Highlights: 'Close Behind', 'Attack el Robot! Attack!' (but not the name), 'Across the Wire' (approaching Bright Eyes territory with this one (positive?!))
No serious lowlights, so I guess it wasn't all that bad. Better than your average 3, OK?
As an aside, I feel like we've already slogged through so many ho-hum albums that surely the next 800 are gonna be solid gold!! Ha ha...but seriously.
Killing Joke
2/5
(Per my last email: Well, this isn't solid gold. But that just means the next one is gonna be even better. Like Deal or No Deal.)
1980 seems early for post-punk. Maybe they should rename punk "proto-punk". Anyway, I don't know about this band. I do hear the industrial, but also the metal, and I guess the (post-) punk. It's not quite the optimal blend of those things, mainly because the singing is just not very beautiful, is it? I do like that Spotify has the lyrics to the first song written as "The Requiem/The Requieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeem". Lotta "e"s. That's fun.
Still, sitting at your classic 2. Too angry, but not angry in a way I can relate to, you feel me?
Highlight: 'Complications' (Sounded the most Britpop)
Lowlight: 'S.O.36' (cool namesake, yay German, but long, noisily repetitive track)
Bruce Springsteen
2/5
I love Bruce as a person, but to be totally honest, this isn't my vibe. The music is chill, but it turns out I don't like to hear too much harmonica. The lyrics are good, but the singing is too "country" for me (there's a fine line between country and folk, I guess). Bring back the band, Brucey!!
Highlight: 'Atlantic City'
Related fun facts: Bruce is also into model train sets. There exists a Wikipedia list of "List of 1980s albums considered the best" (this is on it).
John Coltrane
3/5
Modal jazz.... post-bop... every day kids are coming up with new genres !!
This is nice. I like a tenor sax, and there were no hidden unpleasantnesses. But does it rise above "nice"? Afraid not.
The Beach Boys
4/5
The Beach Boys? Creators of my first 5, "Pet Sounds"? This is a pretty dark album cover for those guys, based on what we've heard so far. I didn't know they took a detour into activism. It starts off with a bop, though ('Don't Go Near the Water'), even though there's an unpleasant lil interlude. 'Long Promised Road' is basically a proto-'Tubthumping' (mixed with 'The Heart of the Matter' - which I like). Then comes an 'I Can't Help Myself' style boppin' PSA about feet*. Sure, OK! You haven't lost me yet! 'Disney Girls (1957)' was covered by Eurovision superstar Alexander Rybak! I found it a little boring otherwise, though. Not sure what to make of 'Student Demonstration Time' lyrically, but musically I don't love it. Bring back the songs about feet! 'Feel flows' is pretty good. ('Feet flows'?) I like the alliteration, but I could do without the flute interlude. 'Lookin' at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)' is no good - the instruments overpower the vocals. But that guitar part is definitely in System of Down's 'Aerials', right??! Strong ending because I like System of a Down's Aerials. 'A Day in the Life of a Tree' is a delight. Very Magnetic Fieldsy. 'Til I Die' is OK, a little depressing. 'Surf's Up' is good; it's almost like a parody of a Beach Boys song, possibly somewhat intentionally. More good sounding lyrics, which is always of value. I had heard exactly none of these songs before, and it's no Pet Sounds, but it was a pretty good album. I didn't know they had it in 'em!
Highlights: 'Long Promised Road', 'Surf's Up'
*Wiki says:: Jardine explained, "It's cute, but come on ... for some reason Jack Rieley liked it too and said, 'It's got to be on the album. That's definitely an ecology song.' 'Ecology? A song about your feet?' It's personal ecology."
Rufus Wainwright
4/5
My long drought is over....I Have This Album (#5)!! An entire 90 albums have gone by since my last one, sheesh. Before listening, I gotta say, I love Rufus (and have seen him live 4 times, which for me is a lot of times), but of all his albums, I don't know why Want 1+2 get the bulk of the attention. I usually skip them because they're a bit snoozey and go for Poses, self-titled, or Release the Stars instead. When BBC Proms had him on for a concert last year (much to my delight!!) they disappointingly had him play the Wants back-to-back. And I thought, If Only This Were Poses. Since I pretty much never agree with the per-artist album picks of this thing, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I bet people rate this low, though, and that makes me sad. Anyway, time for the ol' deep dive.
'Agnus Dei'?? Rufus, my bro, what is this. I guess it's a chance for me to ponder Latin morphology, but oh my (lamb of) god. No wonder I thought the album is a bit snoozey! Belt something else, king!!! (Beautiful strings though!)
'The One You Love' starts out more promisingly. Well, the lyrics aren't that great. But it's got good energy. Unfortunately the energy goes nowhere. It's all bridges! No chorus! I do like the do-do-do part. (As ever).
'Peach Trees' is a slog!! A downright slog!!! It's a good title, but it's boring, and being 6 minutes long doesn't help matters :(
'Little Sister' is a bit better, because the strings are nice and frankly the music sounds a little the Beatles's 'Piggies'. Also, lil sister Martha Wainwright is a cutie (and sings backing vocals on some of these tracks, not that it helps them much). Supposedly this is also inspired by Mozart's little sister, which I support. So this one's alright. I like the "ave"s.
'The Art Teacher' is one of the singles from this album, such as they are (it gets played in concert a lot, etc). It's OK - good energy, and good gender stuff (although personally I can't imagine ever having a crush on an art teacher, quite possible the most uncrushable field of teachers there is). Some good lines though. It can stay. Why is there clapping at the end!? I never noticed that before.
'Hometown Waltz' is kinda boring in an upbeat way. But it's short and has some French themes (musically), so I won't knock it any further.
Despite having the extremely relatable line "I don't know what I'm doing", 'This Love Affair' is also boring!!!! It does have waltzing in it, so there's a nice connection to the last song which I never noticed before. But that is not enough to keep my interest!!
'Gay Messiah' is an actually good song. Hallelujah. It has a hook! It's unique!! It's about gay stuff, but that's not why I like it, although it doesn't hurt.
'Memphis Skyline' is a real letdown. I am sad to report it is not in my top 3 Memphis songs. Nothing is happening here; it is slow and it is sad. Beautiful piano though. Possibly the rare album where I prefer the instrumental breaks (even though I do like Rufie's voice).
'Waiting for a Dream' has got a weird echo-y vocal effect which I don't like at all. What I do like is the line "Yesterday I heard they cloned a baby / Now can I finally sleep with me?" which I would laugh at regardless of who sang it (feels like it'd fit in with some of that 80s new wave eclectica we had earlier). I guess I appreciate that musically something a little different is happening here, but this is also a snoozer in the end.
'Crumb by Crumb' is mildly more energetic. Vorp vorp vorp. Decent.
Does 'Old Whore's Diet' count as a a slur? Hm. I suppose it does. That's a demerit! But the real demerit is that this song is NINE minutes long. Certainly not getting anyone going in the morning -- wait, what's this, Anohni from Anohni and the Johnsons, who is apparently going by Anohni now???? OK, that revelation did in fact hold my interest for about four minutes. The song does develop a good energy, but I still think we could cut it in half, surely.
The bonus tracks aren't on Spotify, which is too bad because they're better than most of the actual tracks. Chelsea Hotel is great. In With the Ladies is great. Frankly every cover Rufus does is great. But I can't reeeeally rate this album a 5, I think, given how much I complained about it (even though I Want 2). It's just not a top album, even if it is by a top artist. Certainly I'd rather listen to it than 95% of the albums on this list so far, though!!
Highlight: 'Gay Messiah'!
Lowlights: 'Agnus Dei', 'Peach Trees', 'Memphis Skyline'
Things Rufus Loves to Sing About: Religion, Gardens, His family, Gay stuff, Cities
Earth, Wind & Fire
3/5
They gave us this one 2 days too late!!! (I must say, I have seen enough of the 'September' gif this year to last me a lifetime, but I do like the song. So I'm feeling positive about this album -- even though I know 'September' is not even on it.)
I love 'Shining Star', but that's because it's in "Muppets from Space", one of my letterboxd top 4. It is a bop though. Plus, Gonzo gets a happy ending!!! (spoilers). I'll be honest, I assumed some of the vocals in this song were dubbed in muppets, but no, it's just the original :'D
The rest of the songs are solid. Good energy, fun. The beep bloop robot ending of 'All About Love' made me chuckle. Could do without the falsetto of 'Reasons', but it's not the worst. I couldn't take my time with this one, so it's just a high 3, but it's very solid. I just don't think I'd listen to it outside of this (but I could see myself bumping it up to 4 on another day).
Highlights: 'Shining Star', 'Africano' (groovy)
Deep Purple
1/5
-Deep Purple again,
-70s,
-live,
-double album.
Yes yes, Japan is very cool, we all love the Budokan (apparently). But this was a slog. Some parts are way too quiet, some parts are straight up screaming. Every song is 6+ minutes. It's not even a single performance, it's a combo from different nights and venues. No thank you. The more I listened, the more I hated it. Started at a 3, went to 2, ended on a 1 (and I didn't even do the bonus tracks). Wait, but was that part of Holst's 'The Planets' in 'Space Truckin''?? Space rock?! OK... it ended on a 1.5.
Highlights: 'Smoke on the Water' (supposedly the main riff is an inversion of Beethoven's Symphony #5 dun-dun-dun-dun, which makes sense. similarly catchy & EZ to learn! (but unlike Deep Purple the rest of Beethoven's oeuvre is actually great :P)), the concept of classical music Easter eggs
Funkadelic
3/5
I know a lot of people like this one, because I see it in a lot of top rated lists (it has a memorable cover)! I don't know if I'll like it, though, because the first track is a 10 minute guitar solo (which wiki inexplicably classifies as "space rock").
Did I already say that this is definitely not who I thought George Clinton was?? Well, it turns out George Clinton (old white vice president) is also named George Clinton, but I didn't know there were two famous ones of them. So you can't really blame me for mixing them up, can you?
In other shocking revelations, 'Can You Get to That' is where the have-a-heart music in Sleigh Bells' 'Rill Rill' comes from! I had no idea that wasn't an original. And in turn, "I once had a life / or rather life had me" must be a reference to The Beatles' 'Norwegian Wood', right? We're all connected, man. The song itself is fine; it's no 'Rill Rill' (or Norwegian Wood) but it's groovy enough. The same is pretty much true for the rest of the non-10-minute-guitar-solos. I think I liked the other Funkadelic album better, but this is fine.
Lowlight: 'Maggot Brain' (the song - unpleasant title, unpleasantly long guitar time)
Stan Getz
3/5
Gosh, does Getz do anything on his own? And do all his album covers look like syntax textbooks? (I guess we know who's got cover art duty in his duos.) Kinda wild that 'Desafinado' is on this list twice (so far), but perhaps I'm underestimating the popularity of Desafinado. Anyway, this is a 30min album with 7 instrumental songs. Maybe it's confirmation bias, but they kinda all sound like 'The Girl From Ipanema'. Fine stuff. Among the upper tier of non-classical instrumentals -- it breezed by -- but still, not quite a 4, I think.
U2
3/5
Bono looks really young here.
I don't remember if we had any U2 albums yet, which is probably not a great sign. Are they really "post punk"? Well, I will credit 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' for teaching me that Bloody Sunday was a thing (in the past, I mean, not right this second). I guess U2 were the Derry Girls of my generation. And this album came out before they were super oversaturated, I guess, pre-Apple debacle and pre-'Sweetest Thing', so if I were around for it, I probably(?) would have liked it more than I like U2 now. In fact, I do like this album better than I like U2 now. It's pretty unobjectionable; the singing is a little more "generic britpop" and less "plaintive yodel". It's not that interesting to me but it's not bad to have on in the background.
Highlights: 'Sunday Bloody Sunday'
Raekwon
2/5
Some of my best friends are Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. I've never heard of (gestures vaguely) any of this, but turns out Raekwon is from the Wu-Tang Clan and this is produced by RZA. OK, now we're grounded.
Well, I genuinely went into it with an open mind, but the barrage of slurs put me off (slur count: over 100). Like, 'Knuckleheadz' is good in terms of musicality and flow, but the lyrics are horrible!! If I had a censored version maybe I'd like it. As a listening experience it's better (=less jokey?) than most of the other 90s hiphops we had here, but as a human experience I can't recommend it.
Sinead O'Connor
3/5
Ah, no slurs here, only affirmations. Sinéad is cool, but sometimes her songs are a little bit slow/boring for my preference. There's decent variety on this album though, more than your Jewels or Sarah McLachlans. A moderately pleasant surprise. Kind of like a St. Vincent predecessor.
Highlight: 'Three Babies' (lotta baby talk on this record)
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
Yes!! I don't actually own this album, but I do like it. It's had a few renaissances in my lifetime, the most recent of which is happening roughly right now, and it's always fun to see the kiddos getting into a classic. Lots of lore, good energy, multiple singers, what's not to like? (Well, I guess it's a little bit country-ish, which isn't usually my vibe, but it doesn't bother me when it's more upbeat and the lyrics aren't about murder and horses.) There's so many hits on here, but unfortunately that means I'm a little burned out on some of them ('Dreams', 'Don't Stop', 'Go Your Own Way'), even though they're good tracks. Some still have the juice, though.
Highlights: 'Never Going Back Again' (nice acoustic guitar! reminds me of my friend Lil' Alex), 'Songbird', 'I Don't Want to Know' (which was already on my "liked songs" playlist; a rare bird for a 70s track), the fact that Christine McVie told John 'You Make Loving Fun' was about her dog (lol)
Lowlight: 'Gold Dust Woman' (a little bit of a snoozer)
2/5
War... what is it good for? A good album cover, I suppose. Also, Wiki tells me they "transcended racial and cultural barriers with a multi-ethnic lineup", so I feel a little bit guilty for not liking this. But it's definitely more focused on (guitar-heavy) music than lyrics, which isn't my preference. Although "zoom zoom zoom (x5) / as I sit in my four-cornered room" should have been a pandemic anthem for academics everywhere!
3/5
This is an amazing album cover+title combo. Forget Jim Morrison, I want a poster of this in my college dorm room. Is Loretta who Lurleen Lumpkin from The Simpsons was based on? Gotta be, right? I've never listened to her before, but I feel like Loretta is basically the female Elvis. Short songs, old-timey country-pop vibe, and yet I am compelled. The vocals are extremely clear, which I guess is something I care about. 'I Really Don't Want to Know' has a good message for us all (don't ask questions you don't want answers to).
OK, I'm a genius, apparently Elvis covered a bunch of these songs (on an album called 'Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old)' -- me too, brother, me too.)
Anyway, this isn't quite a 4, but I did enjoy it. A happy day (albumly).
Syntax aside: what on earth is happening, structurally, in the lyric "A pretty boy Charlie's the name that you've been a given / And you act like the whole wide world all you were livin'"?! Is the name he's been given "Charlie" or "pretty boy Charlie"? People say *my* example sentences are weird and unnatural, but open your eyes! Weird and unnatural constructions are everywhere!
Memory aside: 'Making Plans' was also on the album "Trio"! No wonder it sounded particularly appealing (i.e. familiar).
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
Maybe this is the anti-War (good album, bad cover). I guess I don't have that much Bob Marley (or reggae) listening experience, but of the songs I already know, they all sound... a lot like these. I do like the song(s), but they definitely feel same-y. (Is reggae related to ska? It's also like that.)
Anyway, chill vibes, pleasant, decent lyrics. I'm a little sick of 'Jamming' but that's not the song's fault. Also not quite a 4 for me, but good.
Highlights: 'Waiting in Vain', especially the lyric "ooh girl, is it feasible", 'Three Little Birds'
Syntax aside: I like 'So Much Things to Say' because I also use "much" for countable nouns sometimes (so now I'm hyperattuned to it). Maybe it's dialectal and not just me being a weirdo!
ZZ Top
2/5
Eliminator? I hardly know 'er. I could have sworn we had this already, but no, that was a different ZZ Top. I think this one is actually better than "Tres Hombres", but even though it's 80sified, it's still not my style. 'Sharp Dressed Man' always reminded me of 'Money for Nothing' (mashup potential), and the fact that there's a song about TV Dinners* on this album is only reinforcing that link for me.
I feel kind of bad giving this a 2, but it's just so much guitar, you know? A high 2, let's say.
Syntactically unnerving lowlight: the lyric "i'm needing someone like you / that i just wanna do love to" (D:)
*About it, Wiki says "these servings of industrially processed foods are standard cuisine for lonely and culinarily challenged unpartnered gentlemen", which is a nice complex NP but also feels unnecessarily gendered. Let the lonely and culinarily challenged unpartnered humans of all genders enjoy their TV dinner song >:(
Dolly Parton
3/5
Hello, Dolly! We all love Dolly-the-human, but do we love Dolly-the-album? We think it's OK. Yet another album that evokes... Children's Favorites. Nice messages, very inviting.
Highlights: 'Coat of Many Colors', 'A Better Place to Live' (surprise surprise, I like the la-la-la-las)
Johnny Cash
2/5
Well well well. This may have been Johnny's last album, but he certainly lives on as my enemy. Compared to Leonard Cohen's last album, I feel nothing (except annoyance about 'Hurt', as detailed previously and probably a little bit forthcomingly).
However, I never knew this was an album of mostly covers. That makes me feel a bit better. And 'The Man Comes Around' reminds me of GenKill, so that's alright. It's still hard for me to get through this version of 'Hurt', though. I gotta listen to the original a few times after this as a palate cleanser. If it weren't a cover, I'd think "sure, this is a good song". But I can't disentangle! It's too precious to me! (The only other time I felt such a deep sense of musical wrongness is Nas's 'I Can', also from 2002 (rough year), which samples Beethoven's Für Elise. Luckily that song is nowhere near as acclaimed). Apparently Trent Rezzie himself is a fan (now), but if everyone can death-of-the-author this song then I can death-of-the-author the author's take on this cover >:(
After track 2 it's like the birds are singing sweetly in the trees, where the birds are Old Johnny Cash. The relief of not hearing 'Hurt' anymore is making all the songs better. Is this album good?? It's better than the live prison one. But I'm also annoyed about 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', although inherently less so because I like the song less. I like Fiona Apple but whatever they're doing here is not for me. Luckily I don't know the Sting song so I don't have any big feelings about that one. (Sting and Bono seem like a natural class to me. I also had to look up again that Sting=Police. It's so hard to internalize!!) I also didn't know 'First Time Ever I Saw Your Face', but I read with delight on Wiki that the writer "MacColl made no secret of the fact that he disliked all of the cover versions of the song"... until I saw MacColl died in 1989. Nevertheless I have faith he would be a fellow Cash-cover-hater. This version of the song is a real snoozer, anyway. All these songs are kinda the same vibe, which I guess is the point, and that's fine, but I actually hate it. OK, there's some variation: 'Personal Jesus' made me lol a little because it was done in such earnest, and it's not one of my favorite Depeche Modes (having already been somewhat ruined by Marilyn Manson), so I didn't mind the Cashification. And at least the keyboards added something. But I do really like the OG 'In My Life', so I hate this version!!!!! If this was just a personal project he did for himself, it's great, it's beautiful, but don't make me listen to it. 'Sam Hall' is new to me, basically a folk song, and fits a classic Cash ethos, so I'm fine with that one. Same for 'Danny Boy', which I do know, but as a sad classic, I'm fine with it being here. 'Desperado' is already a hated song, so that's a perfect choice to cover! JC should have done all Eagles songs; the only way is up. This cover is fine, possibly better than the original. Like 'Danny Boy', 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry' fits very well. What is Nick Cave doing here!? Everyone's endorsing this album...! Fine song though, thanks Nick. 'Streets of Laredo' (alas, "going gay" not enough to win over this listener) is a good fit, although I'm starting to feel the length of the album. The back 4 are also fine, though uninteresting. Can't believe I made it 36 years never hearing 'Big Iron' and now I'm hearing it twice in one year. Still prefer the trail songs. This whole project is like one giant memory challenge, and I fear I'm failing. 'Tear Stained Letter' is fine, and it's not a cover! See what could have been!! I could make a 10-track version of this album that would be totally acceptable, actually. Here it is:
/The Man Comes Around, Give My Love to Rose, Sam Hall, Danny Boy, Desperado, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, Streets of Laredo, Wichita Lineman, Tear Stained Letter, We'll Meet Again/
Nice 'n tight, poignant, evocative, no covers that fill you with passionate rage... what could have been!!! Whew, I worked myself into quite a lather. Anyway, glad to have gotten this one over with. 'We'll Meet Again' is a nice finale. Sorry to the Cashheads; this is a 2 because I hate 'Hurt' more than any other song, but my 10-track cut would have been a respectable high 3.
Highlights: 'The Man Comes Around', 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry', 'We'll Meet Again'
(to the tune of 'Personal Jesus') My Own, Personal, Lowlight (of the entire 1001+ albums): 'Hurt'.
Pere Ubu
2/5
I remember Pere Ubu being one of my first true clunkers of this list. No one does musique concrète like Cleveland's own Pere Ubu! (Or so Wiki tells me.) Ah, and it starts right off with some truly horrific high pitched alarm blee-ing. Singer Dave Thomas (not that one, alas) is the son of a professor, which makes me feel good about not having kids.
Highlights: the song titles are decent; 'This Modern Dance' (are they saying "manda manda"?!); the lyrics of 'Life Stinks' (for the lols)
Lowlights: the singing, the noises
Bob Dylan
3/5
Do geese see god?
Bob Dylan's 30th album is kinda like... jazz with vocals. It's okay. No hooks on a first listen. It's weird that 'Make You Feel My Love' was written by Dylan but Billy Joel's version came out 1 month before this one. I guess that's just the wacky kinda stuff you expect from Bob!
Cyndi Lauper
3/5
Cyndi Looper! One of those artists where I'm more a fan of the person than the music, although these are perfectly serviceable 80s bops. I knew the singles, but I never listened to the full album before. I like the bubbly synths. Good vibes, almost a 4.
Highlights: 'All Through the Night', 'Witness'
Lowlight: 'I'll Kiss You'
Carole King
3/5
This album cover reminds me of the pictures from my childhood bathroom, which were actually paintings, but I thought for the longest time that they were pictures of my mom. Anyway, good album cover. I must confess* that I had thought Carole King was black, not because I was mixing her up with Coretta Scott or Ben E, but I think because she was a solo female artist in the disco era. Anyway, I clearly don't have a lot of Carole King knowledge, but I did know lots of these songs already: 'I Feel the Earth Move', 'It's Too Late', 'You've Got a Friend', 'Where You Lead' (Gilmore Girls theme song -- not a positive association (it's no Parenthood)), 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow' (Re: the Shirelles' cover, Wiki notes, 'When first presented with the song, lead singer Shirley Owens thought it was "too country", but relented after a string arrangement was added' - Shirley Owens, you get me), and '(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman'. They're fine songs. I guess a lot of them have (more famous?) covers, but the covers aren't distinct enough for me to have known them as different entities. Overall this album was good but mellow; definitely pleasant but not quite zippy enough for a 4. 'Tapestry' the song also mentions a coat of many colors, so I wonder if something Josephian was in the air in 1971 (because Dolly P's 'Coat of Many Colors' came out then too).
Highlight: 'Home Again'
*Must I? Yes, because one thing I'm trying to do with this project is sort out all my misconceptions about famous musicians, and if I don't write them down I won't know if I've sorted them out when I go back later! Duh!
Led Zeppelin
2/5
This album cover represents my feelings about seeing "Led Zeppelin IV". O, the burden I'm about to bear. I do like the cover though.
Yes, I know 'Black Dog'. Yes, it's a unique guitar part. No, Robert Plant is not Robert Smith. Yes, I wish he were. Why couldn't Johnny Cash cover this instead? Yes, I know 'Rock and Roll'. I know all the genres. 'The Battle of Evermore' made me laugh because it's like the 5th LotR-related song on this list. Guitar guys 4 Gandalf. Yes, I know 'Stairway to Heaven'. If only I could take it to get away from this song. I always considered it part of a natural class with 'Candle in the Wind' and 'Knocking on Heaven's Door', though it's the worst of those three, or maybe just the most overplayed. It does have the least annoying singing on the album so far, but is still very long and slow. 'Misty Mountain Hop' is a Hobbit reference!? You can't make this stuff up. (You gotta copy it from Tolkien.) I also know 'Going to California', which is one of the more pleasant tracks on here, being acoustic. I wonder if the Mountain Goats (who have a whole 'Going to [place]' oeuvre) made it to this list (or at least the user submitted list). I only know A Perfect Circle's cover of 'When the Levee Breaks', which has very little in common with this version (sadly). Whew, we made it. This album might have more hits than their other ones, but it's still a prototypical Led Zeppelin album, with all that entails. Fingers crossed there's no Led Zeppelin V.
Highlight: the lines "it's been a long time since I rock and rolled", "you know, sometimes words have two meanings" (I do know)
Roni Size
3/5
I've never heard of whatever this is, but the name and album cover makes me think I'll like it. Roni size is very important when choosing a pizza. Pizza fans reprazent! OK, but what are we in for?
Huh, new genre unlocked. I would have called it "British hip hop/electro", but it's apparently "drum and bass". There is indeed drum. It's OK. Alternatively aggro and chill. Some space... bass. Which I like. The drum bits really evoke 'Let's Go (The B*Witched Jig)', am I right, B*Witched fans?! And 'Heroes' is another Sonic Adventure soundtrack kin. In the end, this (very long) album is more like jazz-electro. It was OK, but like jazz, not very interesting to me because it was so amelodious. Some interesting parts but a lot of filler for your weird art party.
Lowlight: 'Morse Code' (miss me with that high pitched beeping), 'Ballet Dance' (miss me with those WINDCHIMES)
The Byrds
3/5
Silly Byrds! (Silly Bob Dylan!) Sounds old-timey. I like it better than Crosby et al's stuff. Pleasant. Nothing outstanding, but I wasn't particularly looking to be outstood.
Highlight: 'My Back Pages'
Arcade Fire
3/5
A second Arcade Fire album, eh? I "have" this album digitally, but I never bought it because it didn't live up to the single that interested me - 'Rebellion (Lies)'. Still pleasant indie stuff, nice instrumentation (dare I say, orchestration), but the vocals are too muddly. And there are better songs about Laika, like Ireland's 2025 Eurovision entry!
Highlight: 'Rebellion (Lies)'
Iggy Pop
3/5
Whew, caught up just in time for an Iggy Pop jumpscare. It occurs to me although I've heard of him I have no idea what his deal is. Would have guessed 80s. Well, let's see. He's Bowie-adjacent. 'Lust for Life' is in a ton of stuff. But it does sound 80s! I'm validated! Some of the later songs sound more 2000s Rock Countdown (Arctic Monkeys-esque). Some are a little more guitar-heavy though. There is a guy named Warren Peace who wrote one of them, which I like, although that's not his real name. BUT it turns out there was a baseball player actually named (William) Warren Peace, which is better. Maybe I already learned this earlier, actually. Ah well. The album was fine. Didn't wow me.
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
Yay. I don't have this album but I DO have other Smumpkins albums, and 20-years-ago me considered them one of my favorite bands. The original cover is not this weird orange/purple monstrosity, by the way. One thing that kept me from maintaining them as one of my favorite bands is that I don't find the lyrics that interesting, and all the songs feel pretty similar. Corgan has a unique voice, which of course I like, and I always liked James Iha and D'arcy Wretzky (who isn't really on this album). There's a lot of guitar, which I suppose bothers me more than it used to. But it feels like wistful guitar! (Not just nostalgia talking; I always thought so even in the 90s.) It's also not secondary to the vocals; they seem roughly symmetric, which is nice. A lot of happy lyrics with sad music or sad lyrics with happy music, which is something else I generally like. You can see the Iha throughline to A Perfect Circle, imo. Also, if I never read on Wiki about the "wall of sound" again it'll be too soon. Like "prog" I still have no idea what it means. Isn't every song a wall of sound?? (I imagine someone reading this and shaking their first at the screen. But I'm just speaking my truth here, man.) The violin & cello on 'Disarm' are great, but that song (and 'Today') are kind of overplayed for me now. Gosh, is this a 3? A 4? I don't know!
For the record: My favorite album of theirs is 'Adore', which I'm sure isn't on here, being both more recent and less acclaimed.
Highlights: 'Disarm', 'Sweet Sweet'
Lowlight: 'Silverfuck' (loud noises at the end there)
Carpenters
3/5
They're SIBLINGS?! Why so many love duets? Very Folgers.
Anyway, here's another tragic death I didn't know about 'til now. Thanks a lot, album project. At least we'll always have this hilariously dated album cover. The singing and harmony is good, but it is also very old sounding, and not in a peppy 50s way, but a sleepy 60s way. 'Love is Surrender' is a little bit nefarious. I like that the saxophone is played by a Mr. Jim Horn. Our second go-around for 'Reason to Believe' (previously: Rod Stewart), but it sure didn't make an impression on me either time. Probably our second go-around for 'Help' (no exclamation here, for shame), and I don't like this version one bit. Sounds like a Casio keyboarded demo track.(However, it did reveal to me the Beatles' US "picture sleeve" for 'Help'-the-single where they are wearing funny outfits at the beach, and I enjoyed that very much.)
'(They Long to Be) Close to You' is great. Why do I like this one so much? Ah, of course, it was in the classic Simpsons episode "The Way We Was". (Also a plot device in the 1989 film..... Parenthood. Parenthood mention #5!?) It's a sweet song though. Even if it's about siblings.
This whole album really evoked being in a dark, empty department store in 1994. Of course that implies they're playing the hits from 2001 in dark department stores now, but that can't be right. Maybe I'll do some field work on this, since I just read that "Ames is in the process of a comeback, with the plan to reopen 35 stores starting in June 2026"! Sorry, I got a little off track here, but that's because the album is so boring. The small bit of pep on 'I'll Never Fall in Love Again' made me sit up real straight though. Easy Listening is the correct genre for this. Another group where I thought they had a "the" in their name but apparently don't. (That makes #10 after Beastie Boys, Pretenders, Pet Shop Boys, Beatles, Talking Heads, Eagles, Pixies, Cocteau Twins, & Fugees!)
Highlights: '(They Long to Be) Close to You', the song title 'Crescent Noon', 'Mr. Guder' (initially the title, but actually the song's relatively catchy also. Lil flute and acapella, plus silly lyrics!)
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
Never listened to this band, which seemed like an oversight by me (90s indie/alternative? that's my wheelhouse!) until... I listened to this band. I do like the vocals, especially Butcher's, but they are totally drowned out by unpleasant guitar. Much more "noise pop" than "dream pop". If this is what shoegaze is, give me some hatglance instead!! (Maybe part of this is my crappy laptop speakers, because I really feel like I'm missing something.)
The Coral
3/5
This Britpop sounds way too much like Ameri-rock. I guess it's OK. Maybe a few more listens would improve it, so I'll give it a 3. The middle third of the album is definitely the strongest third.
Highlight: 'Dreaming of You'
Stevie Wonder
3/5
I think I've been converted to a Wonderkin (as I assume Stevie's fans are called). 'Living for the City' was a USC acapella staple, but the non-acapella* version is better (imagine that!). Slur count = 1 though. 'Higher Ground' (well, a cover of it, which I also like) is in Center Stage, one of my most favorite movies, so I have liked the song ever since. It is a bop. This album isn't quite a 4 though.
Highlights: 'Higher Ground', 'Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing'
*Wik(t)i(onary) is strangely insistent that a one-word version of this is a mistake, which is unlike their usual descriptive approach to language change! (sad!)
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
2/5
Deja Vu is right. I've had quite enough of Bing Crosby, Stephen Stills, Wyatt Nash, and Neil Young. Or whoever. I guess it's better than another Led Zeppelin, but looking at this album cover is just like, ugh. I feel like we've already had this exact album. We definitely had 'Teach Your Children' on another album of theirs (?). Are these all redos of songs from their previous albums? Is this where Taylor Swift got it from? It's not clear to me. Anyway, maybe it's just because I'm in a bad mood, but this isn't quite a 3 for me. Terrible 2s. Sorry for you, CSN(Y), try me again with your next 10 albums on this list, I'm sure.
Highlight: 'Teach Your Children', 'Our House' (only because it's in the Simpsons)
Fever Ray
3/5
This is exciting: I really like what I've heard from The Knife, but I never looked into them further, so learning there's a whole associated solo act is cool. Unfortunately there's too many mouth noises happening in this first song and the rest are kinda dazey. So is the solo act better than the duo act? In this reviewer's opinion... no.
Highlights: 'Dry & Dusty', 'Keep the Streets Empty for Me'
Suicide
2/5
Maybe the song 'Don't Try Suicide' is actually about this album. Luckily I knew about all the 'Frankie Teardrop' screaming already, but that didn't make it any easier for my little brain (volume-wise I mean, the content is whatever (true about both the screaming and my brain)).
The first song is about a Marvel character, which is a nice change from all the Gandalf songs on this list. All the non-screaming songs are fine, but didn't thrill me. 3 in general, 1 for screaming, that's a 2.
Highlight: 'Johnny'
Lowlight: 'Frankie Teardrop' (don't yell at me!)
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
I got excited reading about this band until I realised it's the same band I got excited about (and then disappointed by) not one week ago! Fooled again! Reviews compare them to Nick Cave or Cocteau Twins, and I guess I can see the elements there if I squint, but this is just so *noisy* I could never enjoy it. I still don't know if that's in part because I listened to this on Youtube and the sound is worse there... but I'm not about to go buy the album and find out. Because it's bad.
The War On Drugs
3/5
More unknown-to-me recent indie? Hmm. Well, it's alright. Not noisy or annoying, but doesn't have any particular unique features (vocally/musically/lyrically) to draw me in. Maybe some unpopular things are unpopular for a reason. Also, all of the songs are 50% too long.
Prince
3/5
Hooray, an artist I've heard of! I've never actually listened to this album though. 'Let's Go Crazy' sure sounds like Footloose. 'Computer Blue' sounds like Kokomo at the beginning. The concept of the "Filthy Fifteen" (of which 'Darling Nikki' is one) made me lol. I knew about it (thanks to Eminem's 'White America') but I never looked at the list before. Let's just say my own "here are 15 problematic songs!!!" list would be a BIT different, even in 1984. This was a very solid album (and very 80s), but it's not quite a 4 for me.
Highlights: 'Take Me with U', 'When Doves Cry'
KISS
3/5
Cool album cover. Reminds me of BB Comics. That's probably the best part of this album, though. I was torn between a 2 and 3, but it has good energy and didn't drag, so I'll go 3.
Cat Stevens
4/5
Yay, all the songs sound like 'Wild World'! A little funny, but also comforting. I like it. Just very clear vocals, zippy but un-noisy guitar, folky vibes but the actual content is kinda fluffy. It IS a wild world. Dare I say, shades of Children's Favorites. But I wish I were having a wee nap right now and these charming lullabies aren't helping. Still I haven't given a 4 in forever, so let this be the one.
The White Stripes
3/5
Another rock countdown staple! They're not as hated-by-me as the Mars Volta, but not one of my favorites, either (I don't have this album, even digitally, and from 2005 I have a lot of albums). A lot of loud guitar/drum stuff, and the vocals aren't particularly appealing. Lotta shakers. I felt very defensive of Meg White because people made fun of her drumming so much, not that I know anything about what makes for good drumming. A lot of people also got confused about if Jack & Meg were married or siblings (a classic). And now they're neither!
'My Doorbell' deserves particular attention for being one of the most intrusive songs of all time. I think of it approximately once a week. One of my greatest song pet peeves is absurd repetition, which this has in droves (c.f. Avril rhyming "dead" with "dead" or the "sucking on a chili dog" youtube edit of Jack and Diane).
'Red Rain' sounds a lot like 'Blue Orchid', which I assume is intentional.
King Crimson
3/5
Aha, another album cover I recognize from being in a lot of people's top albums. The first true prog album, is it? And yeah, I hate it. So that tracks. It does sound more modern than it is (70s perhaps), I'll give 'em that. I've heard '21st Century Schizoid Man' before (because of Kanye, no doubt) but never knew those were the lyrics. Because the vocals are not crisp and clean! But at least the lyrics are interesting, I guess. And there are some interesting bits of jazzy instrumentation. I see why people like it. I don't like it, but maybe hate is too strong. It's fine. It's whatever. It's a low 3.
The B-52's
3/5
The album cover is compelling. I feel I have worn at least 3 of those outfits. Planets, Moon,...is this space rock? (Space art pop?) Like Cat Stevens, these vocals are kinda funny, but I think that's intentional (I assume that's what they mean by "kitsch"). Weirdly, I think the bass is my favorite part. There's a lot of listing in these lyrics -- listing girl's names, listing animals, listing planets. Some annoying noises at points though.
Highlights: pronouncing "Mavis" as [mɑvɪs], the song title 'There's a Moon in the Sky (Called the Moon)' (and honestly therefore the song, because that's just an insane lyric (in a good way), and they do say it in the song)
Lowlight: 'Downtown' (don't do Petula like that >:()
Barry Adamson
3/5
Never heard of this, but!, I was just talking about s(c)hm-reduplication in class last week, so it's nice to see it appear In Real Life (with the trademark dismissive connotation - something most of my students have reportedly never heard).
Now in a way, aren't all albums conceived as a soundtrack to an imaginary film? This particular imaginary film doesn't seem very good though. Like, it's not quite a musical, but surely way too much singing for a non-musical. Maybe the soundtrack to Emilia Pérez?
I don't want to be too much of a hater, because I like Atticus Ross. But I don't think this is his best work. Some nice atmospheric bits, but also some "what are we doing here" bits, and that goes for both halves of the album. I do like the variety of vocalists.
Highlight: 'Achieved in the Valley of Dolls'
The Verve
3/5
Not as good as the other Verve album... bit of a snoozer.
Talk Talk
3/5
I guess so. Very British: "take care of [clause]", [beɪ.bl̩]. Like Moby meets Depeche Mode meets The Bible. It's OK.
Highlight: 'Give It Up'
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
We meet again, Bob Marley. Not much changed with you since last time, I see. No worries. Keep doing what you're doing.
When we had The Fugees' version of 'No Woman, No Cry', I was surprised to read that according to Wiki,
<<The lyric is sometimes misunderstood outside Jamaica to mean "if there is no woman, there is no reason to cry" >>
but I asked around and indeed that's how many people interpret it! Are they just not listening to the rest of the lyrics ("everything's gonna be alright")? But I guess what's happening here is that exposure to Jamaican dialects is not that high, and we have a really strong grammatical filter for whatever dialects we know (c.f. me, marvelling at British pronunciations every few days), such that we don't even search for alternatives. Pretty cool if you think about it. Like, X makes no sense, but it's all I know, so it must be X.
Amy Winehouse
4/5
[tony vlachos voice]: this is huge; I needed this. Pleased to announce that I Have This Album (#6). I haven't listened to 'Rehab' since 2011 because I find it too upsetting, but 'Back to Black' (the song) is one of the greats. Amy has a strong jazzy voice that would be skilled-but-boring to me if the songs weren't zippy, but they (mostly) are, and that's why this album is a winner. Good job, list.
Kind of surprising to see the lyric "What kind of fuckery is this" in 2006, because it seems more modern than that (at least among whiteos). More validation for my "2006 was like, three years ago" mindset.
Highlights: 'Back to Black', 'Tears Dry on Their Own', 'Addicted'
The Jam
4/5
We love a British idiom one might find in housing advertisements. I've never heard of The Jam, but their stuff sounds kinda like the opening credits for a 90s TV show. Not a bad thing at all, just a little schmaltzy. I never would have pegged this as a 70s album, and that's a huge compliment.
Highlight: 'In the Crowd'
Jefferson Airplane
3/5
I think I considered getting this album a long time ago, because I really like the singles 'Somebody to Love' and 'White Rabbit', but then I learned the lead vocals weren't always Grace Slick and lost interest. I still like those songs, but the rest of the album feels fuzzy and old. Not bad, just not interesting to me. Also, what's up with (Jefferson) Starship? That's some confusing CSNY type stuff. Also, the one-two punch of 'Somebody to Love' - 'My Best Friend' is calling out for a double Queen mashup!!
Highlights: 'Somebody to Love', 'How Do You Feel', 'White Rabbit'
Nick Drake
3/5
Three Nick Drakes, huh? It's very peaceful and infinitely better than Wilco, but even so, we get the picture. At least this one is space rock. (A little joke for my fans.)
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Some of my best friends are Swingin' Lovers!
I assume there are no musical soundtracks on this list, so maybe this is the closest we'll get (based solely on the album cover). Not enough popular songs have a full orchestral accompaniment. Plus, such clear vocals! The songs themselves are whatever, but the performance is great. (Yes, I do have Michael Bublé albums, what about it?)
I could not believe there was a song on here called 'Makin' Whoopee', but it turns out the Newlywed Game meaning actually came *after* this song, not before, and it used to just mean "to enjoy oneself in a boisterous manner".
Highlight: 'Anything Goes'
R.E.M.
3/5
More REM! I'm not mad at it, although I am mad that the album called "Green" doesn't have a green album cover. Like with Sinatra, I like the overall sound a lot, but there are no standout tracks on this album. The people* want another 'Nightswimming'!
*me
Ice Cube
2/5
Good album cover; I'd read your 'zine, Ice Cube. But I won't listen to your album again, even though the tracks are perfectly serviceable... minus the lyrics, which to be fair, is at least half of this whole rap thing, surely? Not just the form (slur count = 113) but also the content is pretty offensive. It's too bad that all the "America is racist" tracks are so often combined with what feels like mandatory misogyny. The genre has evolved on this front (a little bit) since 1990, at least. The track with Yo-Yo ('It's a Man's World') almost makes things worse because it's like, yes, Cube is self-aware and happy about it. Apropos of nothing, he really like S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G things!
Non-slur lowlight: the high frequency hearing test noises throughout 'Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside)' !!
Linguistic intrigue: the line "if I look and see another brother/On the video trying to out-dance each other"; I always wondered where "mack" came from so I finally looked it up after hearing 'Who's the mack?', and it's a clipping of "mackerel" (meaning "pimp", not "fish")!
Vocal intrigue: the outro of 'AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted' (the song) and the Ricky Harris(?) bit on 'Turn Off the Radio' (which was supposed to be an "obvious imitation of Arsenio Hall" per some guy online) sound so much like the "Invocation For Judgement Against And Destruction of Rock Music"! Code-switching to the "laughable white declaration" voice??
Marvin Gaye
3/5
I don't know if I've ever heard this version of 'What's Going On' before, which seems insane, but it's not familiar to me! I've definitely heard something other than the A Perfect Circle cover, though.... maybe one of the charity ones? This version is way more peppy and wispy than what I'm used to. It's a good song, but not what I expected!
'God Is Love' has a weirdly abrupt ending.
I like that this album is so lyrically different (broadly: "global issues") from the other Marvin Gaye album we had (broadly: "getting it on"). Sometimes it's hard to tell if you're dealing with a concept album if you've only ever heard one album from an artist! Musically it's still, like, christian jazz(?), which is mellow and pleasant (modulo occasional weird percussion), but nothing all that revelatory.
Highlights: 'Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)', the title 'Wholy holy'
David Bowie
3/5
This Bowie guy sure has a lot of albums. Even though he has a unique voice (which I usually like), I kind of... don't love his voice? I feel like I'd like these songs more if they were sung by someone else. Maybe I'm just in a mood. Good energy, though, and interesting lyrics. I thought 'The Stars (Are Out Tonight)' was gonna be space rock but it was just celebrity rock. Overall I enjoyed it, maybe could be a 4 if I listened a few more times.
Highlights: 'Valentine's Day' (supposedly about a school shooter, but I assumed it was about a lil squirrelfriend), 'I'd Rather Be High', "remember the dead / they were so great / some of them"
Lowlight: rhyming "road" with "Road" and "night" with "tonight"!!
Moby
3/5
1999 is probably the year I paid the most attention to music. Maybe it's when I first got a radio in my room. Anyway, this album cover is very nostalgic. I hated Moby at the time, I think, although I assume that was based on very little -- probably the cultural conversation I was exposed to ("Moby is a vegan loser!!") or, apparently, the fact that my mom liked this album (thus, it was inherently uncool). But it's 90s electro/triphop, so I should like it!
Well, I actually don't like it that much. Maybe I only like Euro-electro. I don't hate it, but the sampling of gospel & other older tracks annoys me in the same way that covers often annoy me.
Highlights: 'Porcelain' (it's giving Pure Moods), 'Southside' (the single has Gwen Stefani on it! I like that version better but they're honestly pretty similar), 'Inside' (feels like it's about to ramp up to something good -- unfortunately it does not, but at least there's no singing)
Lowlight: 'Natural Blues' (I take back everything I said before, this song is the real reason why I hated Moby. I hate it so much. I do not want a "blues lyrics-meets-electronic pastiche"!!! I also hated this music video, it's so schmaltzy. And it was on The Box (my beloved) ALL THE TIME. Ugh, Moby.)
Thin Lizzy
2/5
Me, about to listen to an album called "Live and Dangerous": omg this is a live album!?
Ew though. I'm already way behind on my ratings, and you're giving me a live 70s rock double album? ;_;
I listened to the whole thing. It did a good job at what it is, sure, but it didn't change my perceptions of live albums, 70s rock, or double albums. They hardly even sound Irish!
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
3/5
These guys came to USC when I was there! I had never heard of them so it was a real surprise to find out they were actually famous after the fact. Anyway, I'm not gonna be mad at Zulu acapella (or technically, isicathamiya, which is a little more overlap heavy I think), but I also have no idea what they're singing about (though, probably religious stuff if Jesu means what I think it does) and I don't have time to investigate, so there's a certain non-English ceiling. If it's anything like the English lyrics, maybe that's for the best. Well, I say, that, but,
Highlight: when "hello my baby" and "i love my baby" merge into sounding the same as they're repeated enough (like my childhood favorite "it's eleven men/eleven minutes") :)
Oasis
3/5
Despite the charming double epistemic adverb title, I'm not that excited about another Oasis album. I feel I've already heard Oasis and therefore this album, being very similar (yet somehow louder and worse) to the last one, isn't anything I need to hear. Then again, if I were making this list, it'd be like: 10 Magnetic Fields albums, 5 Tool, 5 Placebo*, 25 musical cast recordings, 5 beethovens, and then a frantic panic to think up 950 other albums. So I guess I shouldn't be too judgmental until I make my own list of 1001 albums I like better (which will happen on its own if both I and the user album list persist long enough, anyway). Long story short I definitely maybe am not excited by this. 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' just made me want to hear 'Cigarettes & Chocolate Milk' by Rufus instead. I considered giving this a 2 because it made my ears ring, but the title saved it.
*Placebo have a song called 'Plasticine', and 'Shakermaker' from this album mentions plasticine, so I finally looked it up. It's a British brand of kids' modelling clay. Never would have guessed that in a million years. Sounds like an adjective!! Anthrocene... plasticine... langoustine...