Dec 13 2024
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That's The Way Of The World
Earth, Wind & Fire
4.5 Stars. Yearnin Learnin and Africano were my favorite tracks, but really not a bad song on the whole album. Love me some horns.
4
Dec 16 2024
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Disintegration
The Cure
Ehh, the album is a bit slow and depressing, but what do you expect from The Cure. Love Pictures of You & Love Song, but this one isn’t for me. 2.5 Stars.
2
Dec 17 2024
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Channel Orange
Frank Ocean
Pretty sure I am not this album’s target audience. Felt more like a poetry reading put to music and kinda weird music at that. Wish he would stick to singing like a normal person and not fluctuate between kind of nasally and high pitched like his balls were getting squeezed. You got a couple really short songs that end just when they were getting good, then BOOM….9 minutes of Pyramids. The whole thing was confusing. It was like failing College English Tests all over again.
1
Dec 18 2024
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3 + 3
The Isley Brothers
Loved this one. Great album from start to finish. Funky like an old pair of gym socks. Favorite tracks: That Lady & Summer Breeze. I can see this one being the soundtrack to a lot of pregnancies back in the day. 4.5 Stars.
4
Dec 19 2024
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Live And Dangerous
Thin Lizzy
I should probably like these guys more, but for whatever reason Thin Lizzy is still just sort of ok for me. Live albums can be hit or miss as far as production goes, but the sound quality was excellent here. Really enjoyed the guitar riffs on Suicide and Sha La La, and the surprise Huey Lewis harmonica on Baby Drives Me Crazy was great.
3
Dec 20 2024
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New York Dolls
New York Dolls
A fine little punk-ish album. I prefer the Ramones, but I found this to be a rather enjoyable listen.
3
Dec 23 2024
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Rock 'N Soul
Solomon Burke
Love me some old time rock & roll. It’s like I’m back working at the old Scoop Shop. Highlights: Can’t Nobody Love You, Cry To Me, and Can’t Love Em All. 3.5 stars.
3
Dec 24 2024
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Parklife
Blur
What a nice little 90’s album. Never really got into Blur back in the day. Probably because CDs were too expensive to take a chance on when all I knew was Song 2 from Q101 radio play, and I had MTG cards and comics to buy. Enjoyed the entire album, but the highlights for me were: Tracy Jacks, Parklife, and Badhead.
4
Dec 25 2024
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Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
First one of these I actually own a physical copy of. I’m not a big Neil Young guy, but when my pack rat uncle suddenly passed during Covid the family had to deal with his estate and clearing out his house FULL of stuff. I got the task of selling off his old record collection. A buddy of mine came down from Muncie to help sort and price them. As we sat in my garage pawing through bin after bin of old dusty albums and playing them on my little portable player, deciding which I was selling and which I was gonna keep as inheritance, we eventually got to the Neil Young’s. My buddy insisted I keep this one and Oyster Bay and give them a try. Still not a big Neil Young fan, but I do enjoy the memory of listening to records in my garage on a sunny Covid afternoon, drinking beers, talking music, and enjoying some company that wasn’t a foster pug or the guy selling contactless to go orders from Fire By The Monon for a change, and that memory alone is worth 4 stars.
4
Dec 26 2024
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A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Various Artists
Listened to this while making a ham. This is a hard one to rate. Sure, it’s a five star Christmas album, but I’m not going to want to listen to this one in June. We’ll call it a 2.5 ⭐️ album, but round up to 3 because it’s Baby Jesus’ Birthday.
3
Dec 27 2024
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Definitely Maybe
Oasis
A classic album that oozes 90’s vibes. Not a bad song on it. Live Forever is just a fantastic track.
5
Dec 30 2024
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Diamond Life
Sade
That saxophone on Smooth Operator was steamy as hell. Those horns here were oozing 80’s sex appeal, like this album could have been the soundtrack for an episode of the Red Shoe Diaries. 3.5 ⭐️
3
Dec 31 2024
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Stankonia
OutKast
Second one of these I own a physical copy of. Though like the Neil Young album, partial credit this time to my wife. It’s not often she makes a pick at the record store. I love the hits, but deep cut Outcast, for me, isn’t as great as other early 00’s rappers like Nelly, Ludacris, or Talib. Still a solid 4 ⭐️ for BOB, So Fresh So Clean, and Ms Jackson. Dig the song with Erykah Badu too.
4
Jan 01 2025
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The Genius Of Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Not sure if this is a R&B or a Big Band album, but if you can’t feel the soul oozing out of every track then something is wrong with you. I’ll bet this album would have been an even better listen in a dimly lit room, with a 7 & 7, and a fresh pack of unfiltered smokes instead of behind a desk, looking at insurance claims, and drinking a cup of coffee.
4
Jan 02 2025
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Eagles
Eagles
Ehh, it’s fine. Not a big Eagles guy, and I don’t get what Elaine sees in Witchy Woman. Take It Easy is a banger, tho. 3.5 ⭐️
3
Jan 03 2025
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The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
"How many roads must a man walk down before you can call him a man?”
"Seven!"
"No, Dad. It's a rhetorical question."
"Rhetorical, eh? Eight!”
Dylan is a hard pass for me. I get he’s a fantastic song writer tackling the big issues of the day, but these songs would be better sung be anyone else. I’m sure they would have still let him play his harmonica, but someone should have taken that mic out of his hand. Still gets 2 ⭐️ for his prolific lyrics, but buddy needed to take some singing lessons.
2
Jan 06 2025
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A Night At The Opera
Queen
Another album I own a physical copy of, but this one’s all me. I’ve loved Queen since Wayne’s World came out, so of course I was excited to find this gem in the used bin for $10. Bohemian Rhapsody is the star of this album…No question, but I really enjoy 39. I’m not normally a folksy guy, but when you got a folk song about space travel with a pounding bass line like this, woo boy. A delightfully weird album with a quirky mix of musical styles that somehow all fit brilliantly together.
5
Jan 07 2025
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My Generation
The Who
When The Who rock, they rock the fuck out. My Generation still hits hard today. However, I really enjoyed Much Too Much & The Kids Are Alright which were considerably more chill. These guys can do it all.
4
Jan 08 2025
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Music For The Jilted Generation
The Prodigy
Well there goes my high 90’s decade rating right down the toilet. Fuck this album. Full disclosure, I didn’t finish. I bailed after 6 tracks (which was still 32 lousy minutes of repetitive nonsense). I didn’t like Prodigy’s weird techno bull shit when they popped up in America in mid 90’s. I still didn’t like it when The Matrix came out and made industrial techno and those dumb long leather duster jackets popular again at the end of the decade either. I’ll bet this genre is a considerably better listen in a crowded warehouse rave at 3 am high as hell on ecstasy, but it’s god awful at 8:00 am behind a desk reviewing insurance claims. There had better be an Iron Maiden album down the road on this list, or I’m calling bull shit! 0 ⭐️🖕🏻🖕🏻
1
Jan 09 2025
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The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady
Charles Mingus
Solid Jazz album. A bit disjointed at the start, but that’s kind of to be expected from jazz. The later songs made me feel like I was watching an old timey black & white detective movie, where the smoke show blonde walks in on the half drunk private eye pleading him to take her case then he mumbles something about not working for no dames before an inner monologue starts in about how he needs the money to pay off Franky Fingers or some shit. 🕵🏻♂️💃🥃
3
Jan 10 2025
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Headquarters
The Monkees
“Ew! You like The Monkees?
You know they don't write their own songs.”
“They do so!”
“They don't even play their own instruments.”
“No! No!”
“That's not even Michael Nesmith's real hat.”
Ehhh, it’s a fine little Beatles knockoff. Not sure why this album is on the list, when none of the hits are on it and what is on it isn’t anything too spectacular. Solid 2.5 ⭐️ middle of road very ok album.
2