417
Albums Rated
2.8
Average Rating
38%
Complete
672 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
2010
Favorite Decade
Soul
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Critic
Rater Style ?
22
5-Star Albums
37
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Halcyon Digest
Deerhunter
|
5 | 3.05 | +1.95 |
|
Loveless
My Bloody Valentine
|
5 | 3.17 | +1.83 |
|
Wonderful Rainbow
Lightning Bolt
|
4 | 2.29 | +1.71 |
|
Live And Dangerous
Thin Lizzy
|
5 | 3.32 | +1.68 |
|
Be
Common
|
5 | 3.35 | +1.65 |
|
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Bruce Springsteen
|
5 | 3.41 | +1.59 |
|
Frank
Amy Winehouse
|
5 | 3.45 | +1.55 |
|
The Marshall Mathers LP
Eminem
|
5 | 3.48 | +1.52 |
|
After The Gold Rush
Neil Young
|
5 | 3.62 | +1.38 |
|
Born To Run
Bruce Springsteen
|
5 | 3.63 | +1.37 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
At San Quentin
Johnny Cash
|
1 | 3.8 | -2.8 |
|
Beauty And The Beat
The Go-Go's
|
1 | 3.39 | -2.39 |
|
Smash
The Offspring
|
1 | 3.37 | -2.37 |
|
Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs
Marty Robbins
|
1 | 3.33 | -2.33 |
|
Chirping Crickets
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
|
1 | 3.29 | -2.29 |
|
The Undertones
The Undertones
|
1 | 3.25 | -2.25 |
|
Close To The Edge
Yes
|
1 | 3.18 | -2.18 |
|
Here Are the Sonics
The Sonics
|
1 | 3.16 | -2.16 |
|
Dirty
Sonic Youth
|
1 | 3.11 | -2.11 |
|
OK Computer
Radiohead
|
2 | 4.1 | -2.1 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Bruce Springsteen | 2 | 5 |
| Jimi Hendrix | 2 | 5 |
| Led Zeppelin | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Public Image Ltd. | 2 | 1 |
| Yes | 3 | 2 |
| Sonic Youth | 3 | 2 |
| Johnny Cash | 3 | 2 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Radiohead | 2, 2, 3, 5 |
5-Star Albums (22)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Pentangle · 2 likes
1/5
All I see are folk-playing vampires
Khaled · 1 likes
3/5
Multiple varieties of liveliness
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds · 1 likes
4/5
Funereal, which I am into
Sabu · 1 likes
3/5
Was fully in the groove with the final three tracks.
Bonus points for the relentless bass that drowned out the jerk blasting music next to me on the train.
Johnny Cash · 1 likes
2/5
Bit conflicted about the premise. Some songs were nice.
1-Star Albums (37)
All Ratings
Willie Nelson
4/5
Willie!! I didn't realize!!
Incidentally, harmonica solos are my weakness 😍
Frank Zappa
2/5
Gorillaz
2/5
That song is called Clint Eastwood!
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Fats Domino
3/5
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
2/5
Billy Joel
2/5
Snoop Dogg
2/5
Thin Lizzy
5/5
FIVE.
What is it about the Irish?? I just can’t quit ‘em.
✅✅ Emerald
✅✅ Southbound
✅✅ Dancing in the Moonlight—hello, sax!
✅✅ Still in Love With You—guitar, from solo to heartrending harmony
I had ordered the CD for my mother by Suicide. May just quit my day job and proselytize the gospel of Phil Lynott full time…
Tracy Chapman
4/5
I’m always up for Tracy.
David Bowie
2/5
Cat Stevens
3/5
Deerhunter
5/5
My kinds of indie. Specifically the sound bath and acoustic-plinky-plonky-talking varieties. Perfectly of its time (2010), made me think of Parachutes and Eyes Open and In Rainbows and Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, hinting at Coast Modern.
e.g., Sailing, Desire Lines (Coldplay), Basement Scenes (Radiohead), Helicopter, He Would Have Laughed
This week. Was fire.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
The most infamous assignment of junior year at my high school was the spring term research paper for history class. I wrote mine about Bruce Springsteen, the man who raised me, musically.
Ideally, I would locate the paper and quote from it directly, as I recall Darkness being a focal point in my incisive portrait of the dark side of the American dream. Should my mother unearth a copy, I will present excerpts at the 250th album milestone party.
Anyway: in Darkness, the themes of Born to Run persist, as deflated promises. We’re still running—not from the banality of life in our hometown, but prolonged introspection. I’m unhappy, my girl is unhappy—thankfully, there are still cars, and racing, and the ghosts of our ambitions to keep us company in our heads.
Heady stuff. Oh, and the album rocks: sax on Badlands and Prove It All Night, harmonica on Promised Land. Bruce going toe to toe with the electric guitar in Streets of Fire. His voice is low, low as in m e l l o w. We’re several years still from Tunnel of Love and the advent of his current (still wonderful, but different) gravelly sound.
The Crusaders
2/5
Black Sabbath
3/5
Black Sabbath walked so Wolfmother could run
The Who
3/5
Automatic 3 for Baba. Won't Get Fooled Again is always welcome; it's giving Tommy (I saw the musical this past summer—w i l d stuff). Besides that, I liked The Song is Over.
The Young Gods
1/5
The Killers
5/5
My fan girl phase hit late, at 22, and the target of my obsession was the Killers. I played Hot Fuss back tonight because I remember thinking it was perfect then.
The starting lineup is extraordinary. I really like each of the first five songs individually—all in a row, they’re breathtaking. Then there’s Change Your Mind, and Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll, and the rest of the songs, every one completely aligned, musically and thematically, with the album as a whole. Insofar as an album is greater than the sum of its parts, this is indeed a perfect album.
The overall message: at a certain age, all of life is a rush, including: unrequited love, unhappiness, regret, suspicion, aimlessness, forbidden love, all Friday and Saturday nights ... and getting detained for the murder of a lady friend.
Flowers for Flowers, and justice for Jenny!
Fugazi
3/5
Here's to hoping every slip's not a slide!
The sound is excellent—but the vocals didn't keep up. Best was Merchandise, which was giving a kind of California twist on The Clash.
Blueprint was fun musically. The riffs in Reprovisional and Shut the Door were also very good.
Calexico
4/5
Really, really love the folksy songs at the top. Will definitely devote some time to the rest of Calexico's oeuvre in the future.
Supergrass
2/5
Butthole Surfers
2/5
Music inspired by the sounds of construction, what a choice.
Sweat Loaf had a pretty sweet riff, though.
Gillian Welch
4/5
✅ Everything Is Free
✅✅ I Dream a Highway
Hadn’t heard of Gillian before, and it’s been a pleasure! I love her voice.
Just wish the tempo were a bit faster—my stomach lurched slightly when I saw the 14-minute run time on I Dream a Highway. But it was extremely beautiful.
Portishead
2/5
Beck
2/5
Second try with Beck—went a tiny bit better than Odelay! Maybe we'll figure it out with Sea Change.
Carole King
4/5
Like Grace, I had some difficulty getting my bearings. 2 1/2 times through, though, and Tapestry has landed.
Robert Wyatt
3/5
Huh. I imagine this is a close to classical as we'll get, besides the jazz albums. Compelling, in its way!
Wilco
4/5
To date, Wilco is the best artist I had heard of but never got around to listening to.
The album cover is dope, too—Marina City FTW!
Frank Sinatra
2/5
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
"Fall mountains—just don't fall on me." A dazzling stance threaded throughout, equal parts tolerant, vigilant, and free.
Beck
3/5
Okay, okay! Took a minute, but three albums of Beck under the belt and we're finding common ground.
✅✅ The Golden Age
✅✅ Guess I'm Doing Fine
The Byrds
3/5
James Brown
4/5
Pink Floyd
2/5
Oh, ya weirdos—I really, really love Animals! This, less so.
The Zombies
2/5
Beach Boys, but sometimes medieval battle hymnal. Nevertheless, Time of the Season is a go ✅
Songhoy Blues
4/5
We're jammin'
The Sabres Of Paradise
2/5
Pulp
3/5
A grower. Too much fun to fade into the background.
Dead Kennedys
2/5
Elliott Smith
2/5
The Cure
2/5
The Jam
3/5
Our friends at Rolling Stone are not shy about their feelings towards Britpoprock. As we celebrate 250 albums on 4/11/25, there's been a whole lot Britpoprock played already and exactly 300% more to come. Some days I wish there was less.
The Jam were new to me (as were the Undertones), but a little all over the place—to surprising Effect.
Common
5/5
I loved this album at 14 without quite “getting it”, having had only a clean version, and being 14.
Still luminous, now powerfully nostalgic—remember when Kanye was only known for rapping?? Simpler times.
Alanis Morissette
4/5
Several of my TV heroines worship Ms. Alanis (Liz Lemon and Abbi Abrams come immediately to mind).
Still, until today, I hadn't heard anything but the obligatory karaoke rendition of You Oughta Know. It's a yes, y'all—her voice and the messaging lock down the fullness of that signature 90s girl punk sound.
Harmonica, too?? Fuggedaboutit.
Neil Young
5/5
This could be a greatest hits album. Love me some Neil any day.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Led Zeppelin is one of those bands—events?—that support simulation theory. How can something be both completely original and thoroughly likeable?
Jane Weaver
3/5
The Smiths
3/5
The Smiths are so smithy
Saint Etienne
3/5
Had me going “huh?” then “huh!” then “hmmm…”
But at the end of the day, Spring and Nothing Can Stop Us are bona fide bops!
Otis Redding
4/5
Respect to Otis for writing Respect, and respect to Aretha for turning it upside down, into an anthem
Ole Man Trouble ✅✅✅
I’d listen to Otis cover just about anything. Appreciate the open love for Sam Cooke and his rendition of A Change Is Gonna Come.
Pixies
3/5
Automatic 3 for Where Is My Mind
Stereolab
2/5
Hole
2/5
Ngl, a little screechy. But I liked Plump!
Dinosaur Jr.
4/5
These dudes rock.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Not even the line "you can cream on me" could diffuse the sheer greatness of Gimme Shelter and You Can't Always Get What You Want. What a difference from the self-titled album!
CHIC
4/5
C'est vraiment chic!
The Strokes
5/5
Best artist I had heard of but never got around to listening to (so far!)
The Pharcyde
2/5
Love
2/5
Some slick guitar that runs perfectly counter to the cutesy Cowsill-esque vocals—though the frontman sounded like Jimi Hendrix for just that one song(??)
Definitely maybe prejudged the album for the band name—Love is a bold choice
Marty Robbins
1/5
The Black Crowes
4/5
Hell of a debut album. That’s some good southern rock.
Knew the song Hard To Handle, but not its name or artist [that wrote it (Otis Redding) or popularized it].
This album also cemented for me that I fucks with an organ.
✅✅✅ Sister Luck
✅✅✅Seeing Things—particularly the slow bits
✅✅✅ She Talks to Angels
The Rolling Stones
4/5
- Under My Thumb is my favorite Rolling Stones song, which is maybe a hot take, given the Taming-of-the-Shrew messaging. As it turns out, it’s one of several strong statements about women on Aftermath. Mother’s Little Helper is a classic. Stupid Girl made me laugh despite myself.
The second half is decidedly Beatle-y—“baby, baby, baby, you’re out of tiiiIIIiiime"—but it's alright
Living Colour
3/5
New Order
3/5
This is the Cure for me!
Miles Davis
4/5
Sam Cooke
4/5
Abdullah Ibrahim
3/5
Suzanne Vega
3/5
Hadn't heard of Suzanne, but we had fun. Some Stevie Nicks magic here.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
4/5
Technically listening to this in the province of the Western Cape, not Kwa-Zulu Natal—really hits nonetheless.
Beastie Boys
3/5
Much preferred to Paul's Boutique. No sleep 'til Brooklyn!
Nine Inch Nails
4/5
If this is industrial rock, call me Rosie the Riveter
Gang Starr
2/5
Too smooth
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
2/5
Soft rock
KISS
2/5
Catchy, but I want nutterburger
3/5
✅✅ Suffragette City
Dire Straits
4/5
The song Brothers in Arms is an all-time favorite rock song of mine, and in great company here:
✅✅✅✅ So Far Away
✅✅✅✅ Walk of Life
✅✅✅✅✅ Brothers in Arms
As a West Wing fan, I will attest that the use of Brothers in Arms in the Season 2 finale brought me to tears. Would almost recommend that people watch TWW on the strength of that episode alone..
Incidentally, my mother bought the Brothers in Arms CD around the start of her prolific pancake-making era. It always timed out that Walk of Life was playing when the batter hit the griddle, and 20 years later, the song still makes me snacky
Teenage Fanclub
4/5
Really, really great sound. Some sweet shredding on The Concept and Is This Music? Especially loved the proto-Wilco vibes on Alcoholiday.
✅✅✅✅ Alcoholiday
✅✅ Is This Music?
Incredible Bongo Band
2/5
As advertised
The 13th Floor Elevators
2/5
Listened to this thinking it was yet more Britpop until I looked up the band—Austin-based.
Don't feel I need more Britpop, or emulators
Yes
3/5
Oops—thought Yes was new to me until my mother asked if Roundabout was their song. It took me three tries to listen to Fragile all the way, kept going straight through me.
This went better! These guys remind me alternately of Queen and Chicago, but I preferred their folksier stuff here. I've heard Your Move before (and twice on this album, for some reason #pinkfloyd) and it's wonderful, with some Cat Stevens shimmery appeal.
The Clap was nice, too, and the guitar riff on the back half of Starship Trooper. Fear not the instrumentals!
The Notorious B.I.G.
2/5
Juicy always hits
Orbital
2/5
Should a song on a capital A Album ever be 15 minutes long—or even 12? They're necessarily multi-phased, and I've forgotten the beginning by the middle middle part. I require hard stops and distinct song titles to cobble together musical opinions 5 times a week. I don’t even meditate for 15 minutes at a time.
Note Stairway to Heaven is a tight 8:02.
2/5
Modern Life is Rubbish is... not rubbish ... but a lil' shrill.
Blue Jeans was solid, but the pleasure was short-lived —the double-time piano in Chemical World was so irritating.
Badly Drawn Boy
3/5
Like Fun Loving Criminals/Come Find Yourself, which was so rock-heavy at the top, this kept morphing stylisticly. I find it somewhat disorienting and counterproductive to the album format—but who really cares when the songs are good.
✅✅ Once Around the Block
✅✅✅ Cause a Rockslide
The Doors
2/5
Let it roll, baby, roll
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
What nourishes like gospel soul?
✅✅✅ You Ain't The Problem
✅✅✅ Hero
Dwight Yoakam
1/5
You can put me in the country, but you can't put the country in me
Soft Cell
3/5
It's kind of ridiculously charming that David Grey would go on to cover a Soft Cell song (Say Hello, Wave Goodbye) so convincingly. The original is actual fire.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
Stir It Up is eternally divine
Deep Purple
4/5
Incidentally, I am a Leo, but I'm not lyin’ either—this is some whole-grain rock. Fibrous. That good ruffage.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
Lucinda Williams
3/5
Woman's got pipes!
The KLF
2/5
Disco electro
Cheap Trick
2/5
Willie Nelson
2/5
Frank Ocean
4/5
Don't change the station
The Stooges
3/5
I would have been obsessed with Iggy in the 60s. This had a fuller sound than the Doors and was a little less cerebral than Bowie.
Faith No More
3/5
Not Faith Hill, and not bad. Thought War Pigs was someone else and The Real Thing was good, too.
Foo Fighters
4/5
Dave is just the talentedest
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Madre, stacked. Hey Joe is lights out.
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
Velvet rich
Aphex Twin
2/5
Talking Heads
3/5
Music as drugs (compliment)
The Specials
2/5
Do nothing to Do Nothing 👌🏾
Dusty Springfield
3/5
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
Gimme that ladyrock—Siouxsie's in the queue
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
3/5
Nourishing. Went on long enough!
The Auteurs
3/5
✅✅✅ Idiot Brother
What I liked about Yankee Hotel Foxtrot I liked about this.
Nirvana
4/5
Saved this for a rainy day wowowowowow
The White Stripes
3/5
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
Tricky
3/5
Spooky good top half
Shuggie Otis
3/5
Loved The Brothers Johnson' cover of Strawberry Letter 23 since I was a kid. This album is quite beautiful.
Lightning Bolt
4/5
Uhhh, my perfect metal album, i.e., no frontman?
Queen
2/5
The Offspring
1/5
Tom Waits
3/5
Rounding this up for being his own man
The Incredible String Band
1/5
Spot-on album title in terms of piper vibes—and incredibly average strings. Cut it off in the middle of track 3.
JAY Z
3/5
Omg was NOT expecting Girls, Girls, Girls Part 2!!
"Put ya number on this paper/ 'cause I would love to date ya" – the kids will never understand
✅✅✅ Song Cry
AC/DC
3/5
#metal, totally, but would like some more darkness behind the eyes, whereas these dudes seem pretty well-adjusted. Still, Back In Black and You Shook Me All Night Long totally rock.
This is some of the best guitar ever, and the frontman isn’t cutting it by comparison
CHVRCHES
4/5
David Bowie
2/5
Kanye West
3/5
✅✅ I Am A God
✅✅ Hold My Liquor
Per Last Call, the man's bread and butter is mixing beats. Much different than College Dropout, but still puts me in a groove.
Kanye West
3/5
Kendrick Lamar
4/5
Knew the hits but had never listened to the album from end to end. Loved the back half of Dying of Thirst and Money Trees is a perennial favorite. Sets up To Pimp a Butterfly in big ways
Radiohead
2/5
Besides Climbing Up the Walls, a pass
Radiohead
2/5
It's giving "I don't care if you like it." Like being immersed in carbonated water. Fun listening experience.
Pink Floyd
3/5
Pulled this to the top of the inbox, for a side-by-side weekend comp with Wish You Were Here.
Lots here. No 13-minute tracks, but their defining proclivity for multi-part tracks makes me feel like I’m listening to the album version of a director’s cut, which is maybe (definitely) more of a deep dive into a single riff than I strictly require.
To that end, ✅✅✅ to “In The Flesh”—which is NOT to be confused with “In The Flesh?” How dare you!
Santana
3/5
Incident at Neshabur ✅
Samba Pa Ti ✅
Elliott Smith
2/5
In Rainbows meets White Ladder meets Mellon Collie ... and yet, didn't quite resonate. Angeles is pretty.
David Ackles
1/5
Though there were some stirring moments in Family Band and Midnight Carousel, I felt like I was listening to a musical theater recording. Too much emphasis/reliance on the lyrical sentimentality/profundity. Felt thematically antiquated and musically affected, even for 1972.
Various Artists
2/5
Darlene Love's voice!
Minus 1 star for the convicted murderer's production role, and the Silent Night signoff.
Holger Czukay
2/5
✅ Persian Love
4/5
The Joshua Tree!!!! Here we go!!!!
🚨Core memory alert🚨: This album was my exclusive soundtrack for playing Neopets on weekend mornings as a 12yo. 20 years ago, music videos were available on Yahoo Music (anyone else?) and I remember thinking Bono was quite sultry in I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. So much eye contact!
This album kicks off with three intensely longing and, yes, completely generic love songs—perfect for tweens with no real-world relationship experience coming off complete Disney saturation.
Special mention for Red Hill Mining Town, too. Scratches the same itch as All The Young Dudes and Salisbury Hill (which is more a specifically high school era itch, to be continued...)
Sentimental? Yes. Basic. Yes! But sometimes music needs to meet you where you are.
Beatles
2/5
The Beatles should not cover Motown hits. If I want to hear Please Me. Postman or You Really Got a Hold on Me or Money, I’ll listen to the Marvelettes, the Miracles, and Barrett Strong, respectively and respectfully.
Call me when Abbey Road is up.
Fiona Apple
4/5
Ladies, ladies, ladies, ladies ...
This lady is here for it, with way more fondness than when she started off, only knowing Under the Table before today
3/5
This guys rock pretty hard! Uncompromising on volume as well as sound.
Public Image Ltd.
1/5
The Cure-ish
Beastie Boys
2/5
Won’t be confusing these guys with The Beach Boys again! Not my preferred sound, but it was expanding.
Electric Light Orchestra
3/5
Zany and transporting
The Louvin Brothers
1/5
Justice for Knoxville Girl!!!!
Appalling songs of life, maybe.
Peter Frampton
4/5
I hear the opening chords over the screaming crowds and I see the album cover and I get it. That hair, those eyes! That Daft Punkesque foghorn(??) on the final track. We are mere mortals—take the wheel! Show us the way, Peter!
Sabu
3/5
Was fully in the groove with the final three tracks.
Bonus points for the relentless bass that drowned out the jerk blasting music next to me on the train.
Steely Dan
2/5
Was seeking more of a Reelin’ in the Years electric jolt.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Automatic 3 for Sir Duke and As. Enjoyed Black Man and Another Star, too.
The faster, the better for me, so the more spiritual songs were less engaging.
Kraftwerk
2/5
Pleasantly surprised. The first track was what I had expected from Kraftwerk—monotone chanting, synthesizer. But the rest was lovely accompaniment for the walk home.
Eagles
4/5
Well, well, well—it’s the greatest rock song countdown stalwart, Hotel California!
On the Jersey/Philly radio stations, it always seems to rank #4 all-time behind Stairway to Heaven, Freebird, and … something much less memorable, evidently.
The commentary is resonant, the metaphors incisive. Then the guitar solo! Hotel California earns its berth.
Wasted Time sounded a bit like Elton John—nice.
Try and Love Again was my other favorite; these guys really make the most out of harmony.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
3/5
I got halfway through Side B, then had to head home. But I hold a place for music with lyrics in languages I do not understand; they can be very meditative, like chanting or noise machines. This closed out the workweek nicely with me, and despite lack of understanding or familiarity with the music, I could detect the album's arc and through line.
Iron Maiden
4/5
Y'all, Hallowed Be Thy Name totally rocks!!!!
I had wanted to join this (4-year-long) project/challenge/???? in part as encouragement to move past pre- or misconceptions of bands I knew superficially. This week, 1001 paid off big!! Hallowed is the best new rock song I've heard since joining.
Generally, I thought it was musically terrific, with that hard-driving guitar. The lyrics are a little on the nose—and scream-y. But honestly I'm a bit enamored after Hallowed.
The solos in Prisoner and 22 Acadia are great, too.
Joan Armatrading
3/5
Woncha Come On Home has been a fave of mine for several years now. Love Joan's voice, too.
All said, this album felt a bit meandering on first listen, but I wouldn't be surprised if it grew on me over time.
Malcolm McLaren
3/5
Sparkling—I want to line dance to Double Dutch. Then I heard the Merengue/Punk It Up double play! It’s all foryoubaby, foryoubaby, foryoubaby …
Though the last track was ????
Lou Reed
3/5
My new textbook definition for concept album, for sure. Lou’s an acquired taste, but—after two attempts—I see the vision!
I liked Man of Good Fortune on first listen, and the guitar solo on How Do You Think It Feels it is really good. Oh Jim and Caroline Says II are particularly spidery, like Bowie or Kurt Cobain. Loved the steady, damning pacing of The Kids. By Sad Song, things had gotten quite orchestral, and i appreciated the fuller sound in closing.
Beck
2/5
Yes to the horns on The New Pollution!
Can I have a GameCube and a copy of SSX3 to go with Derelict??
Elvis Costello
2/5
Unmemorable. The opposite of love isn't hatred, but indifference.
Pay It Back was the strongest of the set, but bloodless nevertheless.
Duran Duran
3/5
*Whispers into phone on train platform* “Please be loud.”
Cut to: Hungry Like The Wolf crescendoing as the D cruises across the Manhattan Bridge. A jolt of musical adrenaline is all I ask for these wintry mornings. Put another way: “Darken the city, night is a wire/ Steam in the subway, earth is afire…”
Terence Trent D'Arby
3/5
I’m loving Who’s Loving You.
The Lemonheads
3/5
Chill, chill, chill, chill. I’m hearing Modest Mouse. Is this “punk pop”? Strong 3.
Taylor Swift
3/5
Look, the woman writes bops. Been doing it since 2008, since Love Story.
The people have spoken and I’m here for the radio singles: Blank Space .. and Style … and Shake It Off … and (the bridge into the chorus of) Bad Blood … and Wildest Dreams. I acknowledge the rest of the slate was AI-generated generic—though excellent house remix fodder!
Anyway, keep it up, Tay-Tay!
(I still will be rooting for the Eagles 🦅)
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
The only problem with the sheer likability of CCR, borne out of their distinctive sound (John Fogerty’s voice, hello 😍), is that you will be tricked into thinking that singing Bad Moon Rising at karaoke is a good idea. It was not.
Arcade Fire
3/5
Good fun. Regine's voice adds jeuje.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Funereal, which I am into
The Police
3/5
Got a little obsessed with the riff in Bring On The Night.
Is Sting man or instrument?
Madonna
1/5
Took a break after Candy Perfume Girl. Turned it off for good during Shanti / Ashtangi. It’s not me, it’s you, girl.
Miles Davis
4/5
No lyrics necessary
Van Halen
3/5
A rollicking good time. Beyond Jump (jump!), I really enjoyed Drop Dead Legs, Hot For Teacher, I'll Wait (esp. the guitar solo), and Girl Gone Bad.
The guitar is so distinctive, but the vocals are up to it.
Sonic Youth
1/5
That was a long hour!
Kept me guessing—do I actively dislike this, or am I merely ambivalent? The former: tiebreaker to that feedback on JC.
Jazmine Sullivan
4/5
Pretty and poignant and groovin'
Jeff Buckley
5/5
A whole album of anthems to love. Unpredictable, varied, and vibrating.
The stalwart Hallelujah clinches the 5.
The Verve
4/5
Yes, yes, YES to Closing Track Hall-of-Famer Bitter Sweet Symphony. The crushing desperation it triggered, the shot of Ryan Phillippe launching himself into traffic...teenage sublime. (Shout-out to fellow CTHOF for Fight Club, Where is My Mind?)
I was pleasantly surprised with the album as a whole, which had immaculate packing-up-at-the-end-of-a-trip vibes. Had heard some of the other songs before, but never really placed them.
Johnny Cash
2/5
Bit conflicted about the premise. Some songs were nice.
John Lennon
4/5
Bookended by two longtime favorites, the classic Imagine and plaintive Oh Yoko!
My upbringing in a resolutely pro-Lennon (if Beatles-indifferent) household secures the 4.
Amy Winehouse
5/5
Mhmmmm Amy Amy Amy!
Utterly damning, complex messaging (Stronger Than Me, I can't even) and somehow a one-of-a-kind sound to match
Dion
3/5
Elton John, de-spangled and unblinking—for the first half of the album, anyway. Initially quite taken with how Dion was leaving it all out on the field with that earnest, ‘60s belting and soaring brass, never mind the year 1976.
But the album kept going ... and going ... and ultimately became easy listening, in the indistinctive sense.
OutKast
3/5
They are for real
Funkadelic
4/5
Title track is an all-time best bop, alongside several other very good ones. Potent analgesic for the Monday morning commute.
Marvin Gaye
3/5
Janelle Monáe
2/5
The Kinks
3/5
The Kinks are kinked—like mean-spirited Beatles. Here for it!
Beatles
3/5
Another Beatles album!? What are the odds??
FWIW, Rubber Soul perfectly captures my relationship with the artist: it’s complicated.
I remember exactly when and where I fell in love with Nowhere Man (8th grade, on the bus to Six Flags, universal site of rites of passage). In My Life remains irresistible, supernaturally invincible in the face of overplay. Whenever Drive My Car plays in the car in summer: no notes.
And, also: I hate Norwegian Wood. Really hate it. You Won’t See Me, for some reason, personally offends. Michelle and Girl [*teeth-sucking sound*] are the two worst Beatles songs ever, thoroughly awful, and somehow both on here!
Two incredible songs will usually tip the 4, but the whiplash has tired me. Which is the occupational hazard of unprecedented musical experimentation/the-Beatles-changed-everything-blah-blah-blah, I suppose.
Coldplay
4/5
I used to have the Scientist music video memorized shot for shot, so...
Evident cohesion as a whole and standout tracks theoughout:
✅✅✅ The Scientist
✅✅ Clocks
✅✅✅ Warning Sign
✅✅ A Rush of Blood to the Head
Everything But The Girl
1/5
Curiously bad. The leader singer has a compelling voice, and does different things with it.
Knew I didn’t like it from the outset, but had to solve the mystery of why and play the whole thing back. I think sound mixing may be the crux of the issue—the guitar and drums wash her out, like live music at a restaurant not designed for live music.
PJ Harvey
3/5
👌🏾 Ladies who punch 🤘🏾
In a Little While makes it at least a 3 … and Beautiful Day is on here, too … but that New York song was plain insulting—guys, that’s my home!
The Smashing Pumpkins
4/5
Although I like some songs more than others, I always listen to Mellon Collie from the very beginning to the very end. Its sneaky, spooky sparkle hinges on the interdependency of its parts. The albumiest album, as such.
The Police
2/5
Did Disney consider the Police for The Lion King soundtrack?
Mother! +5 for surprise factor. Very Labyrinth.
Album art note: shirtless Sting and skeleton. Multiple sightings of each.
Every Breath You Take, a reflection: I now prefer stalker songs to be unequivocally menacing, i.e., #1 Zero.
The Undertones
1/5
This bleary-eyed listener thought the album cover was a piece of carved flint for the duration of the first three tracks. Didn’t take anything from the music.
Pet Shop Boys
1/5
What in the James Blunt vocals?
When this album appeared, I thought for a moment that this was the “Boom Boom Boom Boom” Vengaboys. Alas!
Pixies
2/5
Where is my where is my mind Pixies?
Talking Heads
3/5
Strange fun as always from the Talking Heads. Thrilled to play back Stop Making Sense.
B.B. King
4/5
Sepultura
1/5
Seriously, think I would give every heavy metal album a 3—minimum—if they were solely instrumental. The music is that good. But I can’t with the screaming.
The Chemical Brothers
2/5
I could draw a line to Daft Punk and Glass Animals, and that’s beautiful
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
Hey, my dad’s back!!!!
Had very much hoped to see Born to Run in 2025, which is 50 years old this August ❤️
Bruce and the E Street Band locked in with Born to Run. Yes, of course, that sax is dissolving—particularly on Thunder Road and Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out and Born to Run and She’s The One and Jungleland. But credit goes, too, to the piano and the guitars and the drums and even the strings … The total effect is cemented with that HOF album cover and testament to lifelong friendship—rest in power, Clarence Clemons!!
To quote my favorite book, High Fidelity: “in Springsteen songs, you can either stay and rot, or you can escape and burn.” Born to Run sets itself ablaze. I, too, self-eject when I hear the opening chords of Thunder Road. I am Bruce and I am Mary and I am Wendy and I am 18 in a swaying dress and yes, let’s blow this popsicle stand!
I walked down the aisle to Backstreets. Then walked out of the wedding ceremony to Jungleland. So you get it.
Thank you for a wonderful morning, Bruce, and see you back here for Born in the USA! (Or Tunnel of Love, you never know with Rolling Stone …)
Deep Purple
3/5
Supertramp
2/5
Good weird, but no Goodbye Stranger
2/5
Tore-ee-uh!
The Rolling Stones
2/5
Stones in suits!
Who are these swinging cats, and where are those slight deviants who gave us things we didn’t know we wanted, i.e., Under My Thumb?
Anthrax
3/5
Exactly what I expected an album called Among the Living by a band called Anthrax would sound like. Among the Living and Indians were good! I would describe this as a medium/medium-rare metal experience, which is 👌🏾
Arcade Fire
4/5
Introductions are never easy with Arcade Fire—some artists will always demand undivided attention across multiple playbacks. But do I ever love Antichrist…
✅✅ Ocean of Noise
✅✅✅✅ (Antichrist Television Blues)
✅ No Cars Go
Green Day
3/5
Aw, Basket Case! Green Day any day for the nostalgia
T. Rex
3/5
Backstroking in this sound bath
John Lee Hooker
2/5
Mudhoney
3/5
Come pokin’ around with that harmonica anytime
Rush
2/5
Trompe l’œil Zeppelin
Rush
2/5
This is the same guitarist from Moving Pictures?? I’m movin’ now!
There were nice moments in 2112 and A Passage to Bangkok, but the back half—and Tears especially—was a hard pass.
Nitin Sawhney
2/5
Nadia is a bop
Nas
3/5
Os Mutantes
2/5
Lively
Coldplay
4/5
Bring on the mems!
✅✅✅✅ Don’t Panic
✅✅✅✅ Sparks
✅✅✅✅ Yellow
Vibes to match the title: I am thoroughly adrift and also.somehow cocooned, in simple chords and committed falsetto.
Nick Drake
3/5
Beautiful arrangements and soothing vocals
Suede
4/5
Nice scale of sound and the choruses slap. Like if Berlin was written and performed from the perspective of Lou Reed still being high.
Nick Drake
4/5
Wait, I think I love this man? I definitely love the first half of this album. Went back to Bryter Layter after listening to Pink Moon, and again: Nick's a first half king.
Gotan Project
4/5
Oh, we had fun!
Y yo quiero paz, tambien 💃🏾
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Some kind of Stockholm Syndrome situation here. I don’t even like ballads!
Michael Jackson
5/5
My parents have Thriller on vinyl—12/10. Michael’s playing with a tiger cub in the centerfold and there are elaborate caricatures in the liner notes, including one of Paul McCartney and Mike pulling the high-heeled subject of “The Girl Is Mine” apart in their fervor.
Undoubtedly one of the 101 or even 51 albums to listen to before you die. Mama say, Mama saw!
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Didn’t know half these tracks before, but wouldn’t you know, this is one of the best albums I’ve ever heard. Zeppels, every time.
The Rover is now a favorite. Trampled Under Foot and Ten Years Gone are longtime loves—if only Chase Utley hadn’t co-opted Kashmir for his walk-up music. LGM!
Kate Bush
4/5
Running Up That Hill was rereleased a couple years back; I heard it for the first time then and loved it. I knew Kate Bush originally for her cover of Elton John’s Rocket Man, which will knock your socks off.
Like Maggie Rogers would, Kate’s doing her own thing here. It’s big and vibrating and shifting and compelling and more, please!
Travis
1/5
Cheesy, cloying: a cold fondue—curious what’s not working, as an enduringly proud fan of the 2000’s angst rock era popularized by Puddle of Mudd, Fuel etc.
Pink Floyd
4/5
Must have really been something to have Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd making new music at the same time.
Wish You Were Here reminded me of Animals, which I adore! Have a Cigar is a trip.
Television
3/5
✅✅✅ Marquee Moon
✅✅ Elevation
Reminded me at points of Led Zeppelin, the Stones, and Sir Elton. Really like the lead vocals, the guitar riffs, and the pacing. Sandy sunset beach concert vibes.
Slint
2/5
✅✅ Washer
I sense cool people like this. Thus I infer that I am not very cool.
Coldcut
1/5
Chaotic. I concede that the YouTube ad breaks only worsened the overall effect.
The Associates
1/5
Too niche a sound for me to make room for these guys when I already have the Cure and Bowie.
Nina Simone
5/5
I’m not crying you’re crying
Depeche Mode
3/5
Gliding on these beats
The Only Ones
3/5
Spectacular title track
Basement Jaxx
2/5
Solid on your phone on the subway music
Pentangle
1/5
All I see are folk-playing vampires
Johnny Cash
1/5
Twang twang twang no, I really don’t have to listen to two (2) Johnny Cash prison concert albums before I die. Folsom and San Quentin are both interchangeable and one-note
Pink Floyd
4/5
Prime cut—album as Event.
Best create a calendar hold; PF requests your undivided attention.
Jacques Brel
2/5
10/10 for French learners
Sonic Youth
3/5
Some pretty slick guitar holding down the top half.
The Beta Band
1/5
Erm..
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Since I’ve Been Loving You is one of the all-time (we should) break up songs, with Let Her Cry and Can’t You See. Loved the folk bent in the second half of the album, too.
ZZ Top
3/5
Enjoyably, resolutely guitar-forward. Still, didn’t find the individual songs very distinctive.
Joy Division
3/5
Putting Disorder on repeat.
Antecedent to LCD Soundsytem.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
2/5
They sound really “cool”
Barry Adamson
1/5
I mean, if we're not going to get into classical, I don't see why this gets to be on the table. Also, didn't move me.
David Bowie
3/5
Lazarus is big and slow and awesome—interestingly with horns reminiscent of Untitled 4, from pre-Beirut teenaged Zach Condon.
A Tribe Called Quest
3/5
I can kick it!
Lauryn Hill
4/5
Drop just one album as fire as Miseducation, and 20 years later people will still buy tickets to your shows *despite* your decades-long reputation of showing up really, really late—or not at all.
(“People” is my sister. She waited 2 1/2 hours for Ms. Lauryn in 2017 and is still mad.)
Public Image Ltd.
1/5
Looked up PIL’s Popular Tracks on Spotify halfway thru the first track, skipped ahead to sample Metal Box’s Swan Lake, and triumphantly turned this offffff
Fool me once, PIL!!!!
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
The Clash
4/5
Evident in its excellence from bar one, furthered elevated by sneakily staggering songwriting:
“I wasn’t born, so much as I fell out.”
WOW. YES.
Air
2/5
The Doors
3/5
Several classics here.
Personally, I prefer Doors songs in ones or twos—their sound is so distinct. Touch Me is welcome whenever.
The Go-Betweens
3/5
Bit Smiths, bit Fleetwood. Would not recommend for a sleepy commute, but that’s on me.
David Crosby
3/5
Chill chill chill
U2
2/5
Sunday Bloody Sunday is an epic track and the only playback here.
Bono the social activist is on the move! This is the stuff that gives U2 a histrionic reputation—heavy-handed in lyrical theme (War!) and musicality (screechy vocals ... and screechy guitar) and album cover (split-lipped child).
Adele
5/5
Watering eyes on the subway and it's only 6:13 AM.
Exquisite, for 14 years running.
Minutemen
3/5
In a set of 43, there's gonna be bangers and there's gonna be flops
The Who
2/5
The Who are a shade too mild-mannered to hold me here
The Beach Boys
2/5
Like eating sugar out of the bowl
Tears For Fears
2/5
Always thought the song went “everybody wants to move along”.
Moving along, Shout was very shouty. The lead has an incredible voice, but I’m not a ballad girlie.
Cream
2/5
Cutesy
Skepta
4/5
It’s a go!
Yes
2/5
The harmony at the end of The Fish is reminiscent of ... Eagles? CSN&Y? Mood for a Day was pretty, too.
Elvis Presley
3/5
-1 for cultural appropriation
Patti Smith
2/5
Not quite my taste but def see the vision
Judas Priest
3/5
Things were looking pretty tenuous, but the back half pulled me in. The Rage totally rocks and Steeler is positively jumping. Though Iron Maiden remains my preferred provider of 🤘🏾🤘🏾 …
Justin Timberlake
2/5
Production note: the shortest song here is 4:27—a choice!
-1 for Freed Britney
Sonic Youth
2/5
Really front-loaded Sonic Youth here. Feel like I’m one album short of a certificate.
Again, great snatches of sound, but the song format manages to detract from the experience. Therefore a definitively awful album?
How about no singing at all? My Need for Speed play would be off the charts.
Keith Jarrett
3/5
Jumpin’ jazz
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
Dreams is a desert island single, no question. Stevie is the original alien superstar.
✅✅✅✅✅ Dreams
✅✅✅✅ Go Your Own Way
✅✅✅You Make Loving Fun
David Bowie
2/5
Ears ringing from the feedback
Dolly Parton
2/5
I wanted to like it!
Khaled
3/5
Multiple varieties of liveliness
Beatles
5/5
I am a mere mortal.
Maxwell is the only bum note on possibly the greatest Side 1 of all time. I didn't think much of the medley format on Side 2, but more than anything I wouldn't care to live in a world without Come Together, Octopus's Garden, or I Want You/She's So Heavy.
Nick Drake
2/5
Mild
The Clash
4/5
Yes to these dudes doing their own thing—to Janie Jones & White Riot & London's Burning & Police & Thieves
fIREHOSE
3/5
These dudes rock
Jurassic 5
2/5
Chill vibes
Fleet Foxes
4/5
Lucid dreaming—don't wake me
Public Enemy
3/5
✊🏽
Goldfrapp
2/5
Real big ask for café beats to overcome a doll baby cover. Horse Tears is good creepy
The Temptations
2/5
Nice, but didn't grab me
Johnny Cash
3/5
Came around on The Man Comes Around
The Go-Go's
1/5
My ears are ring-ing
Talk Talk
3/5
Flutie tootie hootin n hollerin and I liked it
Black Sabbath
4/5
Canonical hits at the top—and also kudos to that B side, which put me in a spaceeee.
Didn't think I'd be repping a song called Rat Salad when I woke up today...
The Velvet Underground
2/5
I am as disappointed now as I was eager yesterday to dive into some best-of Velvet Underground. This was like listening to a smash-cut of the absolute roughest Bob Dylan scatting. Heroin secures the 2.
Dire Straits
4/5
Never not ready to put these guys on.
✅✅ Down to the Waterline
✅✅✅✅ Sultans of Swing
✅✅✅ Wild West End
Rage Against The Machine
4/5
Besides the powerful inclination to punch a stranger, that went really well. (Was playing Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails and paused it halfway through to Rage. Straight back to Downward Spiral now and I am all kinds of fucked up.)
N.W.A.
3/5
N. W. V. P. A. and V. P. stands for Very Positive! Express Yourself!
Emmylou Harris
3/5
Liked the folksy bend with Bluebird Wine and Before Believing, like Judy Collins or a chipper-er Fairport Convention. But things fully tipped country and things ran together a bit.
Randy Newman
2/5
Iggy Pop
4/5
I have an Urban Outfitters tank top that says Lust For Life across it. Trust they only honor the greats.
Kanye West
4/5
Kanye, you mad genius.
✅✅✅ All Falls Down
✅✅✅✅ Spaceship
✅✅✅ Jesus Walks
✅✅✅✅ The New Workout Plan
✅✅✅ Last Call
Aretha Franklin
4/5
Bow down
Nirvana
3/5
Re: Heart-Shaped Box—it's like the all the band members are trying to outdo each other, and it works so well. They're breathless, I'm breathless..
Cee Lo Green
3/5
King Crimson
2/5
In fact, my birthday theme this year was experimental prog rock Ren Faire opera! Not.
MGMT
4/5
Tenderest thoughts go out to my twin-plaited nerdlet self listening to this album at 17, fast-forwarding ironic detachment between Time to Pretend and Kids, then manifesting confidence with Electric Feel—
She got the power in her hand/
To shock you like you won't believe
Radiohead
3/5
Needed ~2 1/2 playbacks to rate, and likely another 3 to fully process. I think I'm a basic Radioheadhead (Nude, anyone??)
2/5
Loud
Spiritualized
3/5
A preferred provider of the indie soundtrack to my life.
David Bowie
3/5
Timeless detached cool
The White Stripes
4/5
Forgetting everything I thought I knew about rock duos and richness of sound. Also thought Jack and Meg were siblings, not wildly well-adjusted divorcés. (Did they inspire Lena Dunham to write Marnie and Desi—to their discredit?)
I can totally get why they feature so prominently in Meet Me in The Bathroom: equal parts ‘what’ and ‘yes’. Here's to a dozen more listens.
Bauhaus
3/5
oooo sparkly vampiric ... archi bros?
Paul Weller
2/5
Smooth like Johnnie Walker Blue
The Sonics
1/5
Underpinned with too, too many mediocre covers to be on this list
Lou Reed
3/5
Chill and fun and Walk on the Wild Side is obviously rock-solid but truly I was more transported by Berlin...
Public Enemy
3/5
Ya boyeeeeee
John Martyn
3/5
[Joke about enjoying soft back side here]
4/5
Listening to Dylan live turns the volume up on the music. And Dylan the composer—like Dylan the poet—is an absolute genius. I have never loved Like a Rolling Stone more.
Dr. Octagon
2/5
Guy's more of a proctogonologist??
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
1/5
Lack of variety made this a long 25 minutes
Metallica
3/5
Remembering this seminal study of our youth: "Metal Makes Ants Eat Faster, Science Proves" (9/4/14)
Metallica made me that ant today.
Miriam Makeba
3/5
Imma sucker for a choir and a hater for a cover
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
2/5
Mansion on the Hill has that epic Neil Young shredding. The album doesn't hold a candle to After The Gold Rush.
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
2/5
Fast then slow then fast then slow
Sex Pistols
3/5
Jumpin'
Bit sunshiny for my taste, but Anarchy in the UK is fun as shit.
Queen
4/5
Pink Floyd is Queen Unplugged and Uncut. Incidentally, my father isn’t a fan of either! (He *does* like the Beatles, so conclusively, his mild reprovals have been less influential than Mom's prosecutorial, attack-is-the-best-form-of-defense school of musical appreciation.)
I will never not sing along to Bohemian Rhapsody, and You're My Best Friend is a longtime fave. I'm in Love With My Car and ‘39 were first listens and also great. Freddie’s pipes and gusto elevates everything, even the gooier bubble gum bits.
Afrika Bambaataa
2/5
My Bloody Valentine
5/5
Like hearing Mellon Collie for the first time. Need at least three more playbacks to pick up my feelings...
Janet Jackson
2/5
Girl power comin' on strong
ZZ Top
3/5
Next time I need to go hyperproductive berserker, this album is up!
Oh, and Legs is a perfect rock song.
The Band
4/5
(The) Weight, there's more!
✅✅✅ The Day They Drove Old Dixie Down
✅✅✅ When You Awake
✅✅ Look Out Cleveland
✅✅ Jawbone
✅✅ King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
Shivkumar Sharma
2/5
Soothing
Sufjan Stevens
3/5
Concept album on paper/in the track listing, but very accessible sweetness. This threw me back into lovely sad boys Bon Iver and Ben Howard
Charles Mingus
2/5
Enjoyed the throughline and played it twice.
The Beach Boys
2/5
Would have played Surf's Up sooner had I known it was relatively somber for the Beach Boys.
But then again, I ultimately preferred Pet Sounds.
Sarah Vaughan
2/5
Cocooned me on 125th
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
2/5
Did Flight of the Conchords infringe copyright with Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros?
Marvin Gaye
4/5
Still missing you, Marvin
♾️ What's Going On
♾️ Mercy, Mercy Me
Baaba Maal
2/5
✅ Sy Sawande
✅ Minuit
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
Get it all, you deserve it, Kendrick!!
A paragon of the album format. Even greater than the sum of its parts, etc.
(But if you wanna talk singles—Blacker the Berry: sublime.)
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
That middle set was 🔥
✅✅ Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)
✅✅✅ Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock)
✅✅✅ So Jah S'eh
✅✅ Natty Dread
Van Morrison
2/5
I could probably listen to Van Morrison just scatting and find it nourishing. His voice is a sufficient stand-in for a narrative thread to tie everything together.
My parents have the Best of Van Morrison and unsurprisingly it's an excellent greatest hits compilation. Sweet Thing, Queen of the Slipstream, and Cleaning Windows are my all-time favorite songs of his, and it turns out they are all on different albums, none of them Moondance.
But really—and I know it's not in the spirit of this listening project—go listen to the Best of... There may not be time to listen to all of his albums individually...
Radiohead
5/5
Sometimes I regret hearing In Rainbows first because nothing else by Radiohead comes close for me.
✅✅✅ 15 Step
✅✅✅✅✅ Nude
✅✅✅✅✅ Reckoner
Brian Eno
2/5
Couldn't really get into it. I liked the more heavily instrumental pieces (The Big Ship and Becalmed).
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
Solid middle, particularly Blue Monday People.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
More like Hit Factory: Up Around the Bend, Who'll Stop the Rain, and Long As I Can See The Light are punch perfect.
I wasn't familiar with the extended songs, Ramble Tamble and the Grapevine cover, and they were also excellent. (R T is late Beatle-ly to great effect.) I still can't believe how good these guys sound when they only played together 5 years.
The Mars Volta
2/5
Muse-y metal. Some really good guitar.
Belle & Sebastian
4/5
A bit twee on the whole, but at the same time I, too, cry at endings. It's been a pleasure to meet B&S.
✅✅✅ Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying
✅✅✅✅ If You're Feeling Sinister
Fun Lovin' Criminals
2/5
Fun top half
De La Soul
2/5
Jaunty! PSA vibes.
Little Richard
2/5
That voice
SZA
4/5
We continue to suspend our disbelief that someone as sexy as SZA could possibly have been dogged just like the rest of us.
Sharp and shimmering—
✅✅✅ Supermodel
✅✅✅ Love Galore
✅✅✅✅ Drew Barrymore
✅✅✅ The Weekend
Muddy Waters
3/5
Cheating paranoia never sounded so smooth. (See also: Jimi Hendrix/Hey Joe.)
Orbital
2/5
Initially I at all enthused about a second Orbital album, but if Halcyon is good enough for the Mean Girls end credits, it's good enough for me.
Pretenders
2/5
Always ready for a Brass in Pocket playback
Eminem
5/5
Putting aside the talent and discipline for a moment—imagine having the fucking nerve to write this shit down??
Eminem doesn't give a fuck—the man is operating outside of society. He is at large; he is free.
Soft Machine
1/5
Too soft
Metallica
3/5
"I was born for dying."
Here's the thing about metal: the brief is crystal clear—and when executed to a T, enjoyable as hell, enduringly!
Play as fast and loud as possible, unless you're building up a killer guitar riff. Sing-scream. Combine two or more of the only acceptable narrative themes, i.e., epic ones, which include: killing, losing, lying, descending into madness, and Mordor.
A Tribe Called Quest
2/5
"Keep my bases loaded like the New York Mets" !!!!
1991 was the Mets' first losing season since 1983—so, sick burn, fellas! #gojays
Update: Hey, what—Dungeon Dragon is Busta Rhymes?? Nicki, cite your sources!
Elton John
2/5
Elton John is the soda of music, bottled sunshine that HITS when it hits. Things get just a liiittle darker in the eighties, with I'm Still Standing and Who Wears These Shoes—and that is my preferred Elton.
?? Jamaica Jerk-Off ??
The Who
3/5
I already like a concept album and I like this one especially, having seen the musical revival bring the absolute batshit plot to life.
Run-D.M.C.
2/5
Eyy Rock Box rocked
Stephen Stills
2/5
I believe Stephen Stills appears more often than any other artist on the original album list. Here's hoping you like him, too!
✅✅✅ Colorado
1/5
Three albums in, I do declare Yes is the squirreliest band here. Impossible to pin down, and I tire.
I enjoyed parts of the third and fourth movements(?) of the Close to the Edge suite(?)
Talking Heads
2/5
Pretty certain I'd follow David Byrne anywhere, The Book I Read was mostly ululating—and saved to Liked Songs
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
3/5
Always leaves me helpless
✅ Almost Cut My Hair
✅✅✅✅✅ Helpless
✅✅ Deja Vu
✅✅✅ Our House
The Flying Burrito Brothers
1/5
Bit trite
LTJ Bukem
1/5
AI does it better
The The
2/5
I think I kind of like jazz piano!
Solange
3/5
Cranes in the Sky will have you crying in the checkout line.
Morrissey
4/5
I like Morrissey even more de-Smithed.
The Vauxhall arrangements are quite varied in tempo, but that molasses voice goes with everything.
✅✅ Hold on to Your Friends
✅✅ The Lazy Sunbathers
✅✅✅ Speedway
Violent Femmes
3/5
Ohhh, these are the Violent Femmes?? I had an ex that would whisper-screech "day ... AFTER DAY... I get ANGRY..." Just as well.
Blister In The Sun is irresistible, as is Gone Daddy Gone and the Kiss Off chorus.
Tangerine Dream
1/5
Bookmarked for the next time I need a break from Lofi Girl
Boards of Canada
1/5
Not this music
Elastica
3/5
1001-A continues to expand my girl rock chops
✅✅✅ S. O. F. T.
The Cure
2/5
Peak wallflower energy
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
3/5
idk the captain may be magic tho.
All-in-one
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
Still a great band name
Arcade Fire
4/5
Grittypretty growlin' howlin' Arcade Fire have mastered the _drop_
✅✅✅ Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
✅✅✅ Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
✅✅✅✅ Rebellion (Lies)
Pearl Jam
3/5
My mother commented that they sound like Dave Matthews Band and I now can't unhear it—and I'd rather listen to DMB. Pearl Jam is a bit histrionic for my taste, excepting Black, which is a 5-star jam.
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
Who else but a sound engineer in a basement to usher in the age of paranoid android music?
My ears are ringing and tbh, worth it
✅✅✅✅ oh baby
✅✅ call the police
✅✅✅✅ american dream
Björk
2/5
Really not my thing, like music from a movie about a lounge singer. But her moxie shines through. Great album cover.
Big Brother & The Holding Company
4/5
Full-bodied
Neu!
2/5
Meditative
Julian Cope
1/5
Who turned down the bass?
Franz Ferdinand
3/5
Resolutely upbeat, Beirut energy. Take Me Out is an absolute banger.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Our boy Robby Zim is ballad or bust here! But plenty of deafening, screeching harmonica.(which I sincerely love) to leaven reams of verse.
No notes on Like a Rolling Stone.
Muddy Waters
3/5
Indeed the mojo is working
Faust
2/5
Turned it off after the sheer dizziness of Giggy Smile
3/5
Strong start, excellent finish. (But lol it's chaff in the middle let's be fr?)
The Libertines
3/5
Thelonious Monk
3/5
TV On The Radio
4/5
Bet Crying made my Wrapped this year.
I love absolutely everything about these dudes, starting with their sound. They're soooooo cool.
Sister Sledge
3/5
Her voice is bonkers: raspy, high, and note-perfect. We Are Family is undeniably catchy and Thinking of You is quite fun and sweet.
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
Simple Minds
3/5
Rounding up for the glitter
Bad Company
2/5
Green Day
5/5
Cold nostalgia plunge!
In 21 years my attention has shifted from the radio singles to the long-form ballads. My love is the same but different.
Neil Young
4/5
What in the Dylan??
This was excellent!!
Hot Chip
2/5
Motion Sickness ✅✅
The Shamen
1/5
Made it through Make It Minimal and I'm afraid that's all the time we have for this untz-untz-untz
Scritti Politti
2/5
Prince without the prrrrrr
Though this confirmed I really do like a Britpop reggae-style track!
The Slits
1/5
Spoke too soon about those Britpop reggae tracks
Les Rythmes Digitales
2/5
Based on what was available
Throbbing Gristle
1/5
Kick things off with 3 minutes of static and there better be peak Zeppelin on deck.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
3/5
Really fun
2Pac
3/5
More of a Biggie girl myself (East Coast Beast Coast) but this was cool
Leonard Cohen
2/5
Moo-dee
Todd Rundgren
2/5
Not really/no
David Bowie
3/5
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Sheryl Crow
3/5
Hot
Hanoi Rocks
2/5
✅✅✅ Tooting Bec Wreck
Talvin Singh
2/5
ok
Van Morrison
2/5
I really like Van, but this is the weakest live album assigned to date. Really did not like the Bring It On Home to Me cover, the existence of which I also kind of object to on principle...
Stephen Stills
2/5
♾️ Love the One You're With
PJ Harvey
3/5
Truthfully at times I don't know whether I want to listen to her or be her; regardless, still digging her sound. Yes to Dress.
Def Leppard
2/5
Starts high, ends high—but ya girl prefers a build
✅✅ Hysteria
Tom Waits
2/5
Nice mix of things on a bed of gravelly voice
Daft Punk
3/5
Homework indeed! Like liner notes for Alive 2007, which is at the top of my wish-I-were-there concert list.
Brian Eno
2/5
Prefer a sad boy Brian Eno, specifically the "after science"/back half
Big Black
1/5
Bazooka Joe 👌🏾
Small Faces
1/5
A lot to dislike here. Relentless skits, goofy songs, very occasional and misleading snatches of almost-compelling guitar. Like if Lovely Rita represented the Beatles' greatest musical accomplishment. Don't waste my time.
Manu Chao
2/5
Si quieres mejorar tu español y divertirte!
✅✅ Luna y Sol
Madness
2/5
Kinksy, i.e., like the Kinks. But the Kinks already exist, so—
Fairport Convention
2/5
Yipes.
Well, I can't give a 1 to the creators of Who Knows Where The Time Goes
The Thrills
4/5
Wilco whispering and Smashing Pumpkin sweetness. Cali set to harmonica, and pretend it's the 70s? What's going on with the Beatles haircuts on the album cover?
I am confused but pleased. Behold the fried peanut butter-bacon-banana sandwich.
George Michael
2/5
I would have loved listening to George Michael when I was a kid. He's got Elton John bigness and a big pinch of self-righteousness.
Also hard to be objective as an Arrested fan.
Cowboy Junkies
3/5
Effortless cool. Knew the name, but not the vibes! Melted my frozen heart.
Mylo
3/5
Chillll back half