199
Albums Rated
3.5
Average Rating
18%
Complete
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Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1970s
Favorite Decade
Post-punk
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
25
5-Star Albums
4
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kick Out The Jams (Live) | 5 | 2.91 | +2.09 |
| Felt Mountain | 5 | 3 | +2 |
| Tom Tom Club | 5 | 3.03 | +1.97 |
| Mermaid Avenue | 5 | 3.18 | +1.82 |
| B-52's | 5 | 3.29 | +1.71 |
| Horses | 5 | 3.31 | +1.69 |
| Ágætis Byrjun | 5 | 3.37 | +1.63 |
| Heaven Or Las Vegas | 5 | 3.37 | +1.63 |
| Blue Lines | 5 | 3.38 | +1.62 |
| Diamond Life | 5 | 3.42 | +1.58 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hybrid Theory | 1 | 3.39 | -2.39 |
| Liege And Lief | 1 | 3.1 | -2.1 |
| Hot Fuss | 2 | 3.74 | -1.74 |
| Exile On Main Street | 2 | 3.61 | -1.61 |
| Songs For Swingin' Lovers! | 2 | 3.52 | -1.52 |
| Penance Soiree | 1 | 2.5 | -1.5 |
| It's Blitz! | 2 | 3.49 | -1.49 |
| Antichrist Superstar | 1 | 2.48 | -1.48 |
| Abbey Road | 3 | 4.46 | -1.46 |
| The Dark Side Of The Moon | 3 | 4.43 | -1.43 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Black Sabbath | 3 | 4.67 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| The Rolling Stones | 2, 4, 5 |
5-Star Albums (25)
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Popular Reviews
The Youngbloods
3/5
This is what I was hoping to get out of this 1001 list...finding albums I either didn't know of, or knew of, but never really paid attention to. I found a copy of this on vinyl years and years ago back when you could still find interesting records for a dollar in a Goodwill bin. Probably played it once and forgot about it.
So today it got a second spin. And...it's nice. I like it. Nothing profound or out of the ordinary, but a perfectly fine late 60s psych/rock/folk mashup. And even though everything seems to fit into that mashup of a genre, there's quite a bit of variety on here as well. Pleasantly surprised.
They also seem to be having fun on here. Not taking these compositions all that seriously and allowing some silliness in. Also, TIL one of the band members was named "Banana" and played most of the instruments on this.
All of that said, I'm not entirely sure why this is on the list. I had to track down a copy of the book and found that it's mainly because the author liked a few of the songs? I guess is the author's prerogative. I do agree with the author that the last track on this album is particularly good (I am also a sucker for the vibraphone). Also noticed while flipping through the actual book: holy crap there are a shit-ton of albums on this list from 1969!
Anyways, that's my review. An OK album that somehow caused me to write the longest review yet. So there's that.
PS: What is that supposed to be on the cover in the foreground? A pile of elephant dung?
2 likes
Rage Against The Machine
4/5
This is over 30 years old!? Still scarily prescient. Rage has always been their own thing. No one has done it better (other than maybe Chuck D...which probably explains the later mash-up reincarnation as Prophets of Rage).
A masterpiece of focused anger.
1 likes
The Coral
2/5
This is the first one that has popped up that I don't actually own--nor have ever heard before. Weird how a seemingly popular album like that just can be completely missed out on.
As for my thoughts...I dunno. It's interesting. But not terribly so. It's...fine? I'm honestly not sure why this is on the list other than it seems England was particularly enamored with this one. Glad I heard it. But I doubt I'll bother ever giving it another listen. It's not bad. Just not all that memorable to me.
2 stars. It's not BAD. But for being one of the 1001, this is just pretty boring.
1 likes
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
In listening to this I realized I don't think I've ever heard the 'No Woman No Cry" studio version. The live version seems to be the one we've all grown up hearing. Which is a great version. This is fine but...the drum machine just sounds out of place to me.
Regardless, it's hard to find a bad song performed by Bob. And this album definitely foretold the quality of the rest of his 70s output.
I hope we get some more reggae on this list.
1 likes
1-Star Albums (4)
All Ratings
Nirvana
5/5
"All apologies" is a classic. The rest is good.
Blondie
4/5
What's not to like? It's Blondie. At their best.
Isaac Hayes
4/5
This is forcing to do a bit more digging than I typically do. TIL that this is Isaac backed by the Bar-Kays.
WhoSampled.com has 'Walk On By' listed 129 times. The one that immediately comes to mind is Hooverphonic's use of it. The number of other albums improved by the very existence of this one is immense.
Track 2 is 10 minutes long, but feels like 20, in the best way possible.
I don't have much to say about track 3. It's...fine?
And finally, the almost 20 minute finale is mostly just Isaac doing a spoken word preamble. But it works.
4 tracks of Issac doing his own thing. RIP, Chef.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
I haven't listened to this full album in probably 40 years. I wore it out as a kid, though.
I don't think it holds up for me. But that could just be due to it being so very very 80s and that was a period as a kid where my music world was rather narrow and what was in it got played to death.
But 'I'm On Fire' and 'Dancing In The Dark' are still great.
Sigur Rós
5/5
Forever intertwined with the appearance of the magnificent Jaguar shark. And that's OK.
The Coral
2/5
This is the first one that has popped up that I don't actually own--nor have ever heard before. Weird how a seemingly popular album like that just can be completely missed out on.
As for my thoughts...I dunno. It's interesting. But not terribly so. It's...fine? I'm honestly not sure why this is on the list other than it seems England was particularly enamored with this one. Glad I heard it. But I doubt I'll bother ever giving it another listen. It's not bad. Just not all that memorable to me.
2 stars. It's not BAD. But for being one of the 1001, this is just pretty boring.
Black Sabbath
5/5
One of the best opening tracks ever? Paired with one of the best closing tracks ever?
A regret I have in life is not really getting deep into Sabbath until much later in life. So many wasted years!
Dire Straits
3/5
If I were to grade this one solely on the cover art...it's 2 stars.
The music brings it up to 3, though. Good stuff. Not great stuff. But very good stuff. The opening track's guitar is a highlight for me.
I think I still prefer Making Movies as being their best (both in terms of music and album art).
Nightmares On Wax
3/5
I love me some trip-hop. This one is fine. But not anywhere near my top ten trip hop albums. I appreciate the production on this, though.
I think Nightmare's 'Carboot Soul' ends up being a more enjoyable listen.
Supergrass
2/5
Hmmm...I guess these guys were big in Britain?
I've always known of them. Can't say I ever sat down to listen to a full album. Confession: I still haven't. I couldn't make it all the way through this one. It's alright. But...nothing really hit me as being special. Maybe you had to be there.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
One of the best elephant-themed album covers ever.
And yea, it's a good album.
Thelonious Monk
3/5
I feel this album is more important than it is timeless. Definitely a good album and a milestone of the hard bop era but...just a good jazz album in 2025. Might have meant a lot more back then.
Sufjan Stevens
4/5
This album was unescapable for a period of time and yet, somehow, I never sat down and listened to the whole thing.
It's definitely it's own thing and deserves a spot on the list because of that.
For me, though, it sits on the fence between "overly precious" and "catchy".
It's good. Really good. But maybe a bit too much. It feels like the audio equivalent of eating a 3rd piece of birthday cake...when you know you really should have stopped at one.
Black Sabbath
4/5
More Sabbath? Already? Yay!
Hard to deny the impact of this album. The dawn of heavy metal.
Even more amazing is the fact that this entire album was recorded live in 12 hours.
Simple Minds
2/5
I feel this 5th album is *the* Simple Minds album if you are on the East side of the Atlantic. While those on the other side know them more for their 7th album.
Which means, I think I prefer their later 7th album over this one.
It's fine. Very 80s. Definitely a predictor of what was to come.
The Band
3/5
Always knew this hit off of this one (The Weight -- which is a great song) But didn't really know the album as a whole until much more recently. At which point I became completely obsessed over 'Chest Fever'. I can't get enough of that organ riff.
Also, TIL the cover was painted by Dylan, and the album jacket was designed by Milton Glaser.
Hugh Masekela
4/5
Not super familiar with Hugh's larger body of work and have never heard this one before. Not sure how to describe it beyond it simply being "a lovely album". I think I need to find a copy to add to the collection.
Taylor Swift
3/5
I forgot how great of a catchy pop song 'Shake It Off' is. Taylor deserves her success. She's good.
Christine and the Queens
2/5
Production is pretty amazing on this. Music is...fine? It's alright. Not entirely sure why this specific album is on this list though.
Harry Nilsson
4/5
I've never sat and listened to this album until now. Turns out I knew WAY more songs from this than I realized. I probably didn't even realize they were Nilson songs. While not a perfect album, it's really pleasant overall. Nice Saturday afternoon type of listen. I'm still not sure if coconut is so dumb it's good, or if it's simply just good.
Lou Reed
4/5
Perfect Day is a perfect song. The rest of the album is excellent.
That said, it's a little disappointing to hear the start of Walk on the Wild Side and not hear the snare jump in with Q-tip, but I suppose that's just a testament as to how influential this album was.
Joy Division
4/5
[this is good]
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
Legendary. And STILL a really fun listen nearly 40 years later.
Queen
4/5
Disclaimer: I was a giant Queen fan as a kid. If I had to pick the Queen albums to be on the 1001 list, not sure II would have been one of them. But am glad to give a Queen album a spin.
You do hear all the parts of "future queen" on this one...the multi-tracked voices, the ambitious range of genres and, of course, the pomposity of it all. This album is also quite a bit heavier than I remember.
And I will never tire of Brian's guitar tone.
(PS, if you are a Queen fan, Brian just remastered Queen I and it sounds pretty amazing...)
Bob Dylan
3/5
As Jack Black said "It's going to be ok..."
The Band
3/5
The Band, Dylan, The Band...all in a week? Seems we're stuck in a rut here of random selections. Not a BAD rut. But...hoping for a bit more variety next week.
Anyways...this album...I like it better than Big Pink. Maybe just because more of the hits are on this one. But...that's enough The Band for now. Let's something new going on...
Bob Dylan
4/5
My favorite Bob Dylan Album...cover artwork. I just really like that photo.
The Youngbloods
3/5
This is what I was hoping to get out of this 1001 list...finding albums I either didn't know of, or knew of, but never really paid attention to. I found a copy of this on vinyl years and years ago back when you could still find interesting records for a dollar in a Goodwill bin. Probably played it once and forgot about it.
So today it got a second spin. And...it's nice. I like it. Nothing profound or out of the ordinary, but a perfectly fine late 60s psych/rock/folk mashup. And even though everything seems to fit into that mashup of a genre, there's quite a bit of variety on here as well. Pleasantly surprised.
They also seem to be having fun on here. Not taking these compositions all that seriously and allowing some silliness in. Also, TIL one of the band members was named "Banana" and played most of the instruments on this.
All of that said, I'm not entirely sure why this is on the list. I had to track down a copy of the book and found that it's mainly because the author liked a few of the songs? I guess is the author's prerogative. I do agree with the author that the last track on this album is particularly good (I am also a sucker for the vibraphone). Also noticed while flipping through the actual book: holy crap there are a shit-ton of albums on this list from 1969!
Anyways, that's my review. An OK album that somehow caused me to write the longest review yet. So there's that.
PS: What is that supposed to be on the cover in the foreground? A pile of elephant dung?
Primal Scream
3/5
Screamadelica is an all time favorite. But somehow I never listened to this other one by them. Very different. Very late-90s. Very good. A little bit trip-hop, a little bit industrial. I did recognize the one track that made it onto the Trainspotting album. "Star" is pretty great, too.
But I still prefer Screamadelica.
The Rolling Stones
2/5
This has "Tumbling Dice" on it...which I would argue is the best song the Stones ever wrote.
And it also has 17 other songs that are all...alright, I guess. Is this the Stones album I put on when I have the rare urge to listen to a Stones album? No, it is not. But I will put on Tumbling Dice.
Steely Dan
3/5
I'm a 50+ year old dad. Of course I have this album. I think we all get the Steely Dan discography when we turn 50. Sort of like getting your first AARPA invitation.
I assume this is on the list mainly because the author was also a 50+ dad.
3 stars = 1 for being Steely Dan, 1 for being a passable album cover (something Steely Dan seems to have struggled with) and 1 for me being over 50.
Snoop Dogg
2/5
This was an album I remember hearing constantly for a period in the Sophomore dorms at college. So there's some nostalgia there.
Hard to deny Snoop's style and Dre's production. Incredibly dumb lyrics, though.
Rage Against The Machine
4/5
This is over 30 years old!? Still scarily prescient. Rage has always been their own thing. No one has done it better (other than maybe Chuck D...which probably explains the later mash-up reincarnation as Prophets of Rage).
A masterpiece of focused anger.
The 13th Floor Elevators
2/5
I like it for what it is and understand its significance. But...one listen was probably enough for me. I do love that album cover, though.
Suede
3/5
I guess this is considered one of the first Britpop albums. Which is why I guess it's on the list. I think this completely missed those of us on the other side of the ocean. (Is that a thing anymore? Are artists region-locked like they were back then?)
It's a nice album. I really liked "Pantomime Horse".
Had I heard this back then, it'd probably have stuck with me. As it is now listening to it for the first time 30 years later, it's nice, but not something I will likely revisit.
Kendrick Lamar
3/5
I'm not the right person to judge this. I do like the ambition on this album and really love some of the tracks, though.
Beastie Boys
3/5
Not unlike the Snoop Dogg album...a hugely popular and influential release in the history of hip-hop tainted by some ridiculously childish and misogynistic lyrics.
But the album does deserve it's landmark status, and gave us the Beasties, arguably one of the best thing to happen to music. And even they in later years made amends for the lyrics on this one.
RIP, MCA.
Crowded House
2/5
I don't recognize a single song off of this one. Which is kind of fun.
I suppose this just went under the radar in the US.
Music-wise it's alright. Nice enough.
Doves
2/5
I guess I have to just accept the fact that this list of 1001 albums is very "white dude from England"-centric.
I think I've heard *of* Doves, but can't say I've ever heard anything they've done. This sounds like U2 if U2 had started during the BritPop era.
It's OK.
I feel like I'm getting in a rut here. This is becoming "1001 OK albums" for me.
Elastica
4/5
So...I never knew Elastica was British. That likely explains why they are on this list. :/
I see a lot of criticism that they ripped off Wire and Buzzcocks. I don't undertand how that's something to criticize. That seems like two excellent bands to rip off.
I would have lumped them into grunge in the past but after giving this a new listen, they're definitely coming at it from a very different angle. And it's a good angle. I like it!
I've always like the singles that came off of this one and after giving the entire album a thorough listen, I like it!
Tears For Fears
5/5
"Everybody Wants To Rule The World" is simply one of the best pop songs ever written. And still gut-punchingly prescient.
(Oddly, the Wikipedia page for the song has omits any connection this song has to popcorn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1FMJdqqLiM ).
The rest of the album is solid, and surprisingly not as laden with 80s over-production as I thought it might be. 80s, for sure. But in a good way.
Sade
5/5
An album that, as it ages, seems to appeal more and more to those of us that are also aging.
I've never put on a Sade album and thought "nah, not in the mood..."
Good stuff.
Songhoy Blues
3/5
Desert blues! My favorite "new" genre I've discovered this past decade. I'm a big fan of Bombino, Mdou Moctar, and Tinariwen. I somehow never sat down and listened to these guys, though. It's good. And a touching story regarding their formation as, well, exiles.
I would't say this is my favorite desert blues album by any stretch, but it's a solid album.
Orange Juice
3/5
I knew the title track (and loved it). Didn't know the rest. The rest is as great as the title track. This is an amazing album. A very bad description would be "Men At Work" pretending they were "The Talking Heads".
Fairport Convention
1/5
I was expecting more folk, but got a bit more rock, which was a bit of a surprise, but this just isn't my thing. The album feels ambitious and well performed and produced. Just not something I will be returning to.
Sarah Vaughan
3/5
This was a nice one for the weekend. Good Saturday morning music...
Carole King
4/5
Not sure what's to say about this one. I think everyone is familiar with Carole's body of work. Amazing songwriter.
The Byrds
2/5
I suppose this is how we ended up with Wilco. Which I guess is a good outcome. It's fine. I understand it's importance as being that first 'alt country' kinda thing. Do I ever need to listen to it again? No.
Bonus star for the great album artwork, though.
Janet Jackson
3/5
For anyone of a certain age this album (or at least all the singles--the bulk of this album) is etched into their brain somewhere. For better or worse.
Which maybe makes this hard to objectively review some 35 years later. It's iconic, for sure. "Escapade" is still a great pop song.
Rufus Wainwright
2/5
This is maybe where I get petty. Or lazy. Or probably both. I didn't make it through this one. I really do not mesh with Rufus' voice. (Though for some reason I love Martha's...go figure.)
Super talented dude. But yea, just can't do that voice.
Booker T. & The MG's
3/5
Can't deny the importance of this band and this album (and the Stax label).
Some of the songs on here are great (as is the title track, of course). Some of it feels a little bit like filler, but that's how it was back then.
Solid album.
David Bowie
4/5
Bowie!
Marilyn Manson
1/5
I decided to pass on this one.
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
What's not to love about Sly and the Family? Glad to see the recognition he and the band has been getting as of late thanks to Questlove.
Fun, danceable album with some pretty heavy themes. And the 14min Sex Machine is epic, of course.
Pixies
4/5
History is going to look back on the early part of the 21st century and there will be a list of the biggest fuck-ups of the century.
On that list will be:
• Blockbuster not getting their shit together and laughing at an offer to buy Netflix
• America not getting their shit together and electing Donald Trump
• America not getting their shit together and electing Donald Trump. Again.
and, of course
• Black Francis not getting his shit together and running Kim out of the band.
This band was SOOO good with Kim.
T. Rex
5/5
Consistently on my top 10 albums of all time list.
And probably on my top 10 album covers of all time list.
So yea, 5 stars.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
In listening to this I realized I don't think I've ever heard the 'No Woman No Cry" studio version. The live version seems to be the one we've all grown up hearing. Which is a great version. This is fine but...the drum machine just sounds out of place to me.
Regardless, it's hard to find a bad song performed by Bob. And this album definitely foretold the quality of the rest of his 70s output.
I hope we get some more reggae on this list.
Slade
3/5
Without Slade there may never have been a succesful Quiet Riot. Without Quiet Riot we may never have had hair metal. And then what? Would the world have been worse off? Or maybe better off? I dunno.
Dumb, fun, rock n roll. AC/DC took this and ran with it.
Beastie Boys
5/5
The Beastie Boys' run of four albums--from their second (Paul's Boutique) to their fifth (Hello Nasty) with 'Check Your Head' and this one in the middle--is arguably one of the greatest 4-album runs of any band in history.
Keith Jarrett
4/5
I always grab ECM releases when I find them out in the wild. To mixed results. But always a fun gamble.
I don't know that this feels like jazz to me, but it's nice. Really glad I listened to this one. This is the kind of discoveries I was hoping to get out of this list.
The Wikipedia article is worth a read, BTW. Sounds like everything that could go wrong did go wrong with this concert and yet, he pulled off something pretty amazing in the end.
The Cars
4/5
What's not to love about this one? It was also fun to get reacquainted with "I'm in Touch With Your World". What a wonderfully weird song.
Foo Fighters
3/5
From one huge debut (The Cars) to another...both with gigantic hits as their first three tracks.
The big difference is the format era...The Cars being released at the height of vinyl, and this one at the height of CDs. I think the Cars win out here being forced to whittle down their output to a nice-sized 9 tracks, while the Foo Fighters had the need to fill up much more of a 80 minute CD. As such, this albums starts out great but tires soon after and I had to struggle a bit to get through all 12 tracks. To be fair, part of that is likely just due to the amount of times I heard this all through the latter half of the 90s. Maybe this is one of those albums that I just got burnt out on.
All that said, no doubt this is an iconic and important album of the era. Signaling that transition from 100% grunge into a more pop-song direction.
Pixies
4/5
WTF? Not a single bossa nova tune on here. I feel a bit robbed.
But what is on here is great, of course. Odd to have a second Pixies album already. 14 song is a lot. But in under 40 minutes, they're nice and short.
Weird Wikipedia trivia about the recording of this album:
"The three band members (while Kim stayed in the UK to record The Breeders album) lived in the Oakwood apartments (In LA), along with comic Garrett Morris and members of the band White Lion."
The Stone Roses
4/5
I have admittedly never listened to this entire album until now.
It's really great.
Not the album cover. I never did like that. (What is it? A cutting board? A Jackson Pollock?) Oh. Wait. Just read the Wikipedia article on the artwork. "The cover was named by Q magazine as one of 'The 100 Best Record Covers of All Time.'" Umm...no. YOU ARE WRONG, Q! WRONG!
But the music is really great.
Also, TIL, my favorite track from this album (Fool's Gold) wasn't actually on this album. It was a single-only release they tacked on to the end of this album in later reissues.
Parliament
4/5
It is funky.
Steely Dan
3/5
This is the 'band' Steely Dan vs. every other album which was the 'duo' Steely Dan. That's neither good nor bad. Just different.
"Rolling In The Years" is was of those songs I loathed growing up for whatever reason (likely it's constant playing on classic rock stations was pretty much the only exposure I had to music in my early years). But as a part of the broader album, I have an appreciation for it now.
More weird Wikipedia trivia (I think I'm having more fun just finding weird shit on Wikipedia for each album:
***
Sometime after recording Can't Buy a Thrill, Steely Dan wrote and recorded a jingle for Schlitz Beer that was rejected and never aired. Long considered lost, it was rediscovered in July 2023 by Cimcie Nichols in the archive of her late father Roger Nichols.[24] The 1 minute and 50 second jingle has a distinct Steely Dan sound with layered vocals by Fagen, after a spoken word introduction in Spanish by Baxter (in a squeaky inhaled helium voice), with Fagen speaking an English translation. Recording took place in Studio A at The Village in Los Angeles. At the session, a photo was taken of Fagen in reindeer sweater and Dias in overalls and sombrero while holding a tank of helium that subsequently appeared on the back cover of Katy Lied.
***
Beatles
3/5
This is the one with "Here Comes The Sun" which is the best Beatles song. Supposedly, the mixing of this song was the very last time all 4 Beatles were in the studio together. They left on a high note.
Prefab Sprout
3/5
It's...fine? Nice? Perfectly OK?
Lauryn Hill
3/5
It's kind of crazy this is the only solo album she ever released. I guess when you release a debut album with that level of success, there's no need to ty and top it.
Ella Fitzgerald
3/5
I like Ella. I'm not listening to this entire thing, though.
Radiohead
3/5
Even after all these years, I still don't "get" radiohead.
It's fine? "Light industrial droning"?
Oddly, I'm liking the recent incarnation as The Smile.
But yea...it's really hard for me to sit through an entire Radiohead album. I went looking for why this was on the list and...I dunno...it seems to be "because they made another album." There's 3 other Radiohead albums on this list, fer fuck's sake.
I'm getting the feeling this list is really the "1001 albums you must hear before you die (that were performed by artists from the UK or US only)."
Patti Smith
5/5
One of my all time faves. Perfect album. Her take on Gloria is up there with Cash's 'Hurt' where the cover version becomes the definitive version. And Redondo Beach is a song I will never, ever, ever get sick of listening to.
She was punk before punk, new wave before new wave. And the album still stands strong some (checks notes...yikes...almost fifty!?) 49 years later.
The Beta Band
4/5
Such a uniquely and wonderfully weird band. Looking forward to see them on their current tour this fall.
James Brown
4/5
Wikipedia trivia: "MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer cited Live at the Apollo as the inspiration to 'Kick Out the Jams'"
A fun time capsule.
Goldfrapp
5/5
oh! I like this one! I really only know some of Goldfrapp's later hits after they went in a more dance-music direction.
This particular album is very different from those later songs. I really like this. Feels like a natural progression from where Portishead left off with their first 2 albums.
Glad this is on the list. Something I wasn't familiar with that I ended up really liking!
Willie Nelson
4/5
If you have a Willie Nelson album in your collection, it probably should be this one.
N.W.A.
4/5
Ice Cube is one of the greatest MCs of all time. Not always a fan of his lyrical choices, but there's no denying he knows how to deliver them with, well, attitude.
PS: fuck the police.
3/5
If I had to explain what this album by XTC sounds like, I'd have to say this album sounds like XTC. And by that, everyone knows what that means. It sounds like Partridge. No one else sounds like him.
I'm not entirely sure why THIS XTC album is on the list. It's a 'lovely' album...nice acoustic/orchestral/brooding/meandering soundscape type of thing. Maybe this is Andrew's interpretation of Enya. I dunno. It's perfectly fine. But not really the XTC album I'd reach for if I wanted to listen to XTC.
Louis Prima
4/5
While I see where alex is coming from with the comparison to Gallagher, I don't think I'd go that far. I think a better analogy is with the person that took both his schtick and his songs...David Lee Roth. Gallagher's talent is...narrow. He can smash watermelons. I'm going to give David and Louis a bit more of a lane when it comes to their talent. Yes, perhaps still one-trick ponies, but it's a trick that feels more sincere--even if its not.
Plus, the musicians on here are pretty tight. Seems like everyone is having a bit of fun here.
I think I got my copy of this out of a goodwill and had grabbed it for the cover more than the music. But ended up being sucked in to the schtick. It's fun. Sometimes fun is all we need.
The Sugarcubes
4/5
We all know Birthday. Essentially Bjork's debut to the world. Has there ever been a debut song that has topped that? I don't think so. The 'Bjork growl' is uniquely Bjork. And the opening riff on the song is just [chef's kiss].
Perhaps the downside of the ubiquitousness of that song is that the album as a whole has been overlooked by many (though by no means everyone, given this is the album that put Iceland on the music map).
Also, I never noticed the genitalia on the cover before. Heh. Cute.
Funkadelic
4/5
Light a joint. Find a comfy chair. Put this on.
The Cure
4/5
Jangly goth attitude. Perhaps a bit repetitive but some may call that meditative. Nice background music to set a mood.
2/5
ummmmm...huh. Thrash-jazz, eh? I feel this is like modern art at the museum. It's meant to create a reaction, even if it is "WTF is this?" and I think it succeeds on that level.
But is it music I will ever listen to again? Nope.
Ali Farka Touré
3/5
Not my favorite desert blues album but he deserves a spot on the list for sure.
Cocteau Twins
5/5
Our second album consisting primarily of unintelligible lyrics (not that that is a bad thing). Not sure what to say about this one that hasn't already been said. It's just lovely. A sound like no one else.
Elliott Smith
4/5
If Major Depressive Disorder were a music genre. This would be it. And, well, maybe that is Elliot's genre. A lot of great art comes from really troubled minds. A moody, meandering overcast vibe of an album with brief moments of cloud breaks of power pop.
I struggle to make it through an entire Elliot Smith album the say way I struggle to make it through a Leonard Cohen album. It's great art. Just very heavy art. It weighs you down. Perhaps the sign of a great artist.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2/5
It's alright. A fine pop/dance/disco thing. It's fine. No real idea why this is on the list, though. Feels more like a "we need to update this list...toss in a few albums from the last couple of decades at random to make it look like this is something we keep updated."
I'm happy I gave this a listen. Will I ever need to give it a listen again? No.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
I can't do better than alex-v-cook's review. So...ditto!
Abdullah Ibrahim
3/5
I couldn't find this anywhere online to listen to. But did find the title track. So gave that a listen. It's nice. Features a Trombone(?). Always up for a bit of jazz trombone.
Ali Farka Touré
4/5
I like Toure, though would not go out of my way to find one of his albums as I find there are a lot of other desert blues artists out there that I simply prefer more. I like Cooder, though would not go out of my way to find one of his albums as I find there are a lot of other guitarists out there that I simply prefer more.
But I own this album. Because together, they made something great (not unlike Cooder's contributions to 'Buena Vista Social Club'.) Some artists are best as the main course. Others are better as ingredients mixed together.
As for the recording, it's has a wonderful live room sound. Sounds great. And the track 'Soukora' is simply heartwarming.
Pink Floyd
4/5
I suppose my favorite Pink Floyd album. Not sure what else to say about it.
B.B. King
4/5
A great sounding live album. Love that there is interstitial banter with the crowd on this one (something you don't often get on live albums).
And TIL where Primitive Radio Gods got their "I've been downhearted baby" sample from.
Gary Numan
3/5
I had no idea this is where Basement Jaxx got their sample from. Love it.
Not an album I'll probably play again, but I absolutely see the importance of this release foretelling what was to come in the world of electronic/industrial/dance music.
Aimee Mann
3/5
Donald Fagen
4/5
Fats Domino
3/5
The Killers
2/5
I still have no idea what "I've got sould but I'm not a soldier" is supposed to mean. Catchy, though. Aside from that track, though, not really sure why this album is on the list. It's fine. It's alright.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
2/5
Interesting. But not for me. I'm not entirely sure what's going on here.
Jane's Addiction
3/5
I really love some of Jane's Addiction's output. But I find a lot of it to be filler. This one feels 50% filler.
The Lemonheads
4/5
I did not realize Juliana Hatfield played bass on this. It's a good album. I don't think I ever gave it a full listen before.
Al Green
4/5
A classic.
Santana
4/5
Electric organ, noodling guitars, latin percussion, extended jams, yea, I really love early Santana. I also always forget how great 'Samba Pa Ti' is.
The Doors
4/5
LTJ Bukem
3/5
This is something different. A bit of DnB. Umm...never heard this comp before. It's good. What you'd expect from a DnB comp, I suppose. I'm not entirely sure it's significance in the world of music, though, as there seems to be DnB albums out there that left a much larger mark on things but, maybe this is another British thing.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
As a kid, this was the only Peter Gabriel I really knew. And it was fine. Maybe overplayed in my limited exposure to music at the time.
Later I began to explore a bit more of his work and eventually, a few decades later, I finally started understanding his full body of work. He absolutely belongs on this list. And this album sounds amazing even today.
The Stooges
4/5
This album sounds horrible--in the best possible way. No one would intentionally go into producing an album to have it end up sounding this way.
Yet it sounds perfect in all of its unbalanced, lo-fi chaos.
Long live Iggy.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
Haven't kissed the sky in a while. Was good listening to this again.
Bob Dylan
4/5
I have a lot of Dylan albums. Some good. Some not. I don't have this one for some reason. I probably need to remedy that.
Like a lot of Dylan's output, some of these songs suffer a little bit from repetition and not knowing when to end in a timely manner. BUT...then again, that's also Dylan and if you're listening to Dylan, you have to expect that.
The opening two tracks on this album are perhaps the finest Dylan has ever done. And there's plenty of great stuff scattered through the rest of it. Alas, at 50+ minutes...it's a tad long. A little bit of editing it down a tad wouldn't have hurt. I want to give this 3.5 stars.
4/5
We went from Dylan who can barely figure out how to make a song under 7 minute long to a band that decides to never overstay their welcome and rarely goes over 3 minutes. A nice contrast.
I know 'Los Angeles'--their previous album (I think)...but I have never listened to this one. It's great! Fun! And doesn't feel it's age at all. I can see a band releasing this today. I assume Amyl and the Sniffers are fans of this group.
Kate Bush
3/5
I like it. I don't think I love it. But there's obviously some great tracks on here. Maybe burdened a bit from 80s production. But that voice. There is no other.
Michael Jackson
3/5
I really hope Annie is OK.
Frank Sinatra
2/5
I like Sinatra well enough in small doses. But I can't do a full album. It's just way too much big-band orchestra and, as iconic as Sinatra is, he really is a one-note kinda artist.
3/5
Dumb dad-joke thought: ABC and Def Leppard should do an 80s tour called ABCDEF.
Though clearly this is as 80s as 80s can get...it doesn't seem to suffer as much as many other pop releases of the era in terms of overly 80s production. Yes, synths everywhere, but they sound appropriate here. Not just used for the sake of using them.
The Dandy Warhols
4/5
A bit surprised the Warhols made the list. They're not British!
Definitely in my top ten list of greatest band names ever. And Courtney Taylor-Taylor is probably on my top ten list of most pompous artist names ever. (Not sure I have a list for that but seems like Courtney would be a good place to start...)
This is as drone as drone can get while still being pop music. And as pop as pop music can get while still being drone. If that makes sense. I don't think anyone pulls that off better than this bunch. It could be taken as a criticism that nearly all of their songs seem "almost fleshed out ideas but not quite" but I think that's the actual appeal of their output. It's more of a vibe than anything.
Bonus being all the great electric organ on this played by Zia...who joined the band just to join a band and figured out how to play an instrument after the fact. Which is a great story.
The Go-Go's
4/5
"Our Lips Our Sealed" is one of the all-time greatest opening-tracks-on-a-debut-album. And that bass line. Just perfect. This entire album is bouncy, happy pop-punk perfection.
Rush
4/5
Here's where votes might get polarized. Rush, you love 'em or hate 'em.
Maybe hate is too strong of a word. These three were probably the nicest 3 people in music.
Anyhow, I'm a fan.
As with most of Rush's output: ridiculous lyrics, ridiculously good drumming (and guitar, and bass) = ridiculously fun.
Public Enemy
4/5
They brought the noise.
The Icarus Line
1/5
I've never heard of this band. And based on the play counts on Spotify, neither has anyone else.
This album is...OK? I feel the Strokes did this 00's garage/rock/punk thing better, though.
Drive Like Jehu
2/5
Whoa...2 in a row that I've never heard of. And also 2 in a row that just don't do it for me. *shrug*.
This is more interesting to me than the previous one (Penance Soiree). Not a genre I particularly know much about but I do feel this album had some thought put behind it. In the end, though, just not my thing.
The Beach Boys
3/5
Not sure I've heard anything from this album before. It's good. Some really interesting sounds on this one. Not sure if there's a direct connection, but I can see some audio threads connecting this with Dennis' "Pacific Ocean Blue" solo album release later in the decade.
Pink Floyd
3/5
Yea, fine. It's a great album.
But I think I prefer nearly any other Floyd album to this one when I have the occasional itch to listen to some Floyd.
Electric Light Orchestra
3/5
It already gets a bonus star for having a spaceship on the cover. The hits off of this one are the hits for good reasons. But...70 minutes...that's a lot of ELO in one serving. I feel this would have been stronger as a single album. Granted, I seem to say that more often than not so maybe that says more about me than the artist.
Small Faces
3/5
Another bonus star for having great album cover art.
I love the opening track. Psychedelic fuzz. And I think that's the pattern for the rest of the album for me. I really like the electric/psych tracks. The more folky/corny tracks, not so much.
Calexico
4/5
And thus ends our run of great album cover art. This feels like someone just learned Photoshop 3.0 and picked up a copy of Raygun.
Anyhow...the album cover is not indicative of the music...which is really well crafted. Seems to fit into that whole indie-alt-country-vibe of the era, albeit with some more interesting latin percussion going on here. And having a song referencing Stevie Nicks redeems the star they would have lost due to that album cover.
I really like this one. 'Across the Wire' is a lot of fun. 'Dub Latina' is lovely. This was a fun new-to-me listen.
Little Simz
3/5
What is that accent?...Can't quite pin it down...oh, right. BRITISH.
But I won't hold that against her. She's great. I'm certainly no hip-hop scholar but to my ears, she borrows heavily from more of the old-school and blends it with her take on things. Smart sampling. Groovy loops. Fun stuff.
R.E.M.
4/5
I don't think I have ever actually listened to this entire album. It's what you'd expect from R.E.M. Good hooks. Fun songs.
I want to hate "It's the End of the World..." but I can't. It's just a well written song. LEONARD BERNSTEIN.
We can save our hate for Billy Joe's version ("We Didn't Start The Fire").
AC/DC
4/5
Bon Scott went out on a high note. Or, rather, a raspy wail. RIP.
Are all the songs on this album perfect? No. They never are. That was never AC/DCs thing. But even the worst AC/DC song is still stupid fun.
ABBA
2/5
ABBA is one of those bands where I'm completely happy just owning their Greatest Hits release. They're talented songwriters, singers and producers. But I just don't need this much ABBA.
Solomon Burke
3/5
Umm...not much to say about this one. It's good. He seems to have influenced quite a few others, even if not achieving the same popularity as them.
Daft Punk
3/5
More ambient/repetitive than their later works but a really fun debut.
Van Halen
3/5
It's still hard to believe this came out in 1978. I can't imagine what people thought the first time they heard this. Definitely a band that is greater than the sum of it's parts.
OutKast
4/5
Andre 3000 feels like the rightful heir to P-Funk. So, yea, it's good. Weird. And good.
And B.O.B. is just great.
Neil Young
4/5
Crap. I fell behind. Gotta do a speed round of reviews.
Young: Any Young is good. Even bad Young is good. And he's prolific, so ya gotta take the bad with the good. But it's Neil.
Jungle Brothers
3/5
Radiohead
4/5
I've grown to appreciate Thom Yorke and Radiohead in my later years. Not that I didn't dislike them prior...I just never really paid them much attention. But yea, it's great stuff. And only Thom Yorke has somehow made art out of a whiny voice.
Duke Ellington
3/5
I like Ellington. I have Ellington in the collection. And maybe the only 'big band' stuff I do have in the collection. It's good. Probably great. I just don't go for the big band stuff very often when I want to put on some jazz.
Deep Purple
2/5
I appreciate their spot on the list but I never found Deep Purple to be particularly engaging. Always felt middle-of-the-road-not-quite-hard-rock-not-quite-metal stuff. It's...alright.
Tom Tom Club
5/5
I've never sat and listened to this entire album before. I don't love it. But Genius of Love is, of course, genius. So...album? 3 stars. Genius of love? 8 stars so...I guess that averages out to 5 stars. Given how we hear Genius of Love at least once a decade as new artists find it and repurpose it, there's no denying the impact of this album on music over the past 40+ years.
If it has a flaw, it's the dated 'early examples of white people trying to rap'. It took white folks at least another decade before they got the hang of it.
Grateful Dead
4/5
To be honest, I'm not sure I could discern one Dead album from another. But maybe that's their appeal. You always kinda know what you're gonna get with them.
Blood, Sweat & Tears
3/5
An amazing album? No. But not a bad album. It's a perfectly nice listen. Not something I'd purposefully grab off the shelf, but not something I'd turn off if someone else put it on.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
Like my previous comment about the Dead...with CCR you know what you're going to get. It's a great album. But the way CCR's output has been repurposed in every other Hollywood film that wants to make a lazy attempt at 'this happened at this particular time' by throwing some CCR on to the soundtrack, it's watered down the legacy of their work, IMHO. But I gave a fresh listen and... as an album, it still holds up.
Meat Loaf
3/5
Not sure where to go with this one. Is it good? Yes? Is it corny/kitsch? Very much yes. Does it hold up? I don't think so. But not sure it ever was meant to. It does feel very much of its time on purpose. And for that, maybe it deserves some credit. This album DGAF and just went all-in on being a rock opera. And rock operas being one of the goofiest things humans have invented as entertainment.
Then again, regular operas are pretty goofy too.
I also feel this album is so popular due to late 70s DJs needed an 8-minute track to toss on for a smoke break.
Eminem
2/5
I like Eminem way more than I like Eminem's music. And I'm not sure he's all that likable of a person. It's not a terrible album. Has some catchy hooks. But not entirely sure why this is on the list.
The Dictators
2/5
This is completely new to me. I have never heard of them.
Off the bat, + one star for having a sequined Manitoba jacket on the cover.
And I can see how this led to the Ramones. So + one star for that.
And...I'm out of stars. I do understand why it's on the and it deserves credit for what it led to. It's just that in and of itself, it's a pretty generic sounding proto-punk album in hindsight.
The Damned
4/5
I've never listened to this album, but I had a few of the tracks in my playlists. So I must like them on some level! This was a fun listen. Got better as it went. Messy punk. But with variety. Noise noise noise is a fun one.
Linkin Park
1/5
What was this genre called? Rap-metal? Nu Metal? Whatever it was it was a blip of something that seemed interesting at first that quickly proved to not be not at all interesting. It some how made both rap and metal worse. I lump these guys in with Limp Bizkit and early Kid Rock. Is that fair? Maybe not. They maybe found a sound, but never found substance. Maybe a fun listen while drunk at a party down by the river in 2000 but beyond that...nope. No need to hear this again.
Massive Attack
5/5
Given that this is considered the first official trip-hop album, I give it 5 stars. It's also a great album. Not the best MA album, IMHO. But perhaps the most significant one given it birthed an entire genre.
Plus Horace Andy is on it.
The B-52's
5/5
Fun!
Black Sabbath
5/5
Wait...what? Is this intentional? A bizarre random coincidence? Ozzy speaking to us from the great beyond!?
I listened to the record twice yesterday. And then on the radio while driving (KEXP playing solid Ozzy all day). And then on Spotify while driving home. Still not sick of it. So listened to it again today.
My favorite Sabbath album due to having two of my favorite Sabbath songs (Supernaut and Snowblind).
RIP, Prince of Darkness.
50 Cent
2/5
NINETEEN tracks? Alright, well, bonus for being prolific, I suppose. I wanted to hate this one but...it's alright. Some good tracks on here. But a lot of bland as well. There doesn't seem to be a lot of depth to most of the song structures here. Here's a loop, mumble over it, talk-sing a chorus.
Alice In Chains
4/5
Pulled my cassette copy out for this one!
Unfortunately, this cassette has seen better days. So kinda sounds like shit.
And yet, this album is still sounds great.
CHIC
4/5
Would be 5 stars if not for that corny album cover. This is a good headphone listen.
Portishead
4/5
This is the landmark trip-hop album for me. I don't think it's my favorite trip-hop album. But it's the one that got me liking trip-hop.
Traffic
3/5
It's a nice listen. Empty Pages is a great track. Not sure how profound or groundbreaking it is, though. Feels like the transition between "Winwood as a band member" and "Winwood as Winwood".
I like Winwood, but more as an ingredient in a band than as the main course. So with that, I like this this one.
The Afghan Whigs
3/5
I like this. Never heard this album before. It sounds 90s. But also not overly 90s. Bit rough around the edges in a good way.
Beatles
3/5
I really like the post-LSD Beatles. I can appreciate the pre-LSD Beatles for their mark on pop-culture, but the music just doesn't do it for me. Gonna save a few stars for one of their later albums.
Billy Bragg
5/5
I first heard this while working at my first large, post-college workplace back when CDs were still a thing and we'd all be constantly trading with each other from amongst the stacks of CDs piled on our desks. I miss those days.
At the time I was still somewhat musically naive so had no real knowledge of Wilco outside of their first album and really didn't know Billy Bragg at all.
This not only became one of my favorite albums of all time, but my wife even fell in love with it (a rarity as our musical tastes don't overlap a whole lot). And then this became one of the CDs-in-rotation for our kids' night-time-music-to-fall-asleep-too. So it ended up being a album firmly embedded in our entire family's psyche.
I've since developed a broader appreciation for Wilco and have many of their albums. But they never topped this and likely never will. It's an absolutely perfect album. I've probably heard this album many hundreds of times in my life (due to the aforementioned bedtime routine) and still enjoy it as much as the first time I heard it.
This album still makes me happy, still gives me hope, and still makes me feel that the world isn't entirely bad. Which seems to be an increasingly more difficult challenge as the years pass by. Woody Guthrie would have been more than proud of how Wilco, Billy (and Natalie!) set his prose to song. Keep killing those fascists, Woody.
Coldplay
3/5
Top-tier mediocrity.
That's not a bad thing. But I don't think there's anything groundbreaking to this album. It's polished pop music. That has done really well for them.
I admit it got more than a few plays back when it came out. But...I can't say I've ever had a reason to re-assess it. Until today. And I don't think anything changed. It's still perfectly cromulent. That's all.
The Fall
4/5
I know of the Fall. I haven't ever really given them a list, though. Which is odd given they've released...(scrolling...scrolling)...30+(?) studio albums!? Wow.
It's good post-punk fun!
The Rolling Stones
4/5
'85 me: Wow. Brown Sugar is an AMAZING opening track!
'25 me: Good song but...problematic lyrics.
'85 me: oh? I guess I never paid attention to the lyrics...
'25 me: Essentially told from the POV of a racist pedophile.
'85 me: Oh shit. Yea. That's bad. At least in 2025 you're not having to deal with racist pedophiles any more, eh?
'25 me: [blank stare...]
'85 me: uh...right?
'25 me: [blank stare...]
'85 me: 'doh!
'25 me: But that riff on "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" is just perfect!
'85 me: Nice!
Prince
4/5
The LP version I have has the 3 opening tracks on one side. One of those 'most perfect sides' ever made.
The rest of the album is fun. It's Prince. Prince is great. Prince was also prolific so maybe didn't always edit down as much as he could have but it's hard to not like a Prince album.
Goldfrapp
3/5
Very different than the previous Goldfrapp album that was on the list (which I loved). I don't like this one as much. Music seems fine, just not my thing.
Tracy Chapman
4/5
It's held up. A lovely listen.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
There are a LOT of Neil Young albums. I have a lot of Neil Young albums. I probably don't need a lot of Neil Young albums. But a few of them absolutely rise to the top. And those particular albums are scattered throughout his career. He's prolific, if not consistent. But that's probably why we like him.
This is one of the ones to have, for sure. If for no other reason than to have "Down By The River" (and if you like that, go get Buddy Mile's album with his version on it...even better!)
A Tribe Called Quest
5/5
Any list of albums can be improved by adding more Q-tip to it. Not sure what to say about this one that hasn't already been said. A perfect album.
As an aside, if you have not seen the 'Station Eleven' miniseries, I highly recommend it. 'Excursions' plays a fun role in it.
Eagles
3/5
It's the Eagles. *shrug*. They're fine. They perfected 70s FM soft rock. 2 stars + 1 bonus star for finally leveraging Joe Walsh.
But will I listen to this album ever again? No. Probably not.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Not just an LP. But a double LP. And not just a double LP. But a double LP + 7". Kind of nuts to pull that off. But he did.
And somehow made a song with a crying baby in it heartwarming rather than annoying.
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
A band that's always been on my periphery and reminds me that I really need to get the "Lost in Translation" soundtrack one of these days.
I guess this is shoegaze? But I always lumped it into that '90s drone' thing. Which I do love. A sound Smashing Pumpkins took and ran with it and made it a bit more palatable to the masses.
Alas, I have to downgrade this because I'm finding it really hard to listen to due to the 'tape wow' effect that permeates this entire album. It sounds like I'm listening to a shitty turntable that can't keep pitch. I know that shouldn't bother me and is intentional but...It really really bothers me! Sorry MBV! 4 star music but only gets 2 due to the pitch wavering.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
As time ticks on I find myself having more and more appreciation for Flea and less and less appreciation for Anthony. No hate for the guy but...in the end these RHCP albums were all about the music and Anthony's sorta-sung-sorta-rapped-but-not-really-lyrics were sprinkled on top to make it radio friendly, I guess? (That said the phrase "Young Kentucky girl in a push-up bra" will be forever lodged in the back room of my brain so, point to you, Anthony.)
Good guitar, bass and drumming on here.
But the album is a bit of a slog. Suffers a bit from the "hey, CDs have 80 minutes...let's fill it up if we can!" thing that was an issue around then. I feel this would have been a much better album if it were cut in half with some judicious editing. Not sure out of all the RHCP albums this one needs to be on the list.
The Police
3/5
This album is way weirder than I remember. Technically admirable. Musically...pretty good. Bonus star for the ridiculously unneeded number of album color variations. Synchronicity II is also a pretty great song.
5/5
FIVE STARS, MOTHERFUCKERS!
(also, how fucking prescient is that opening monologue!?)
Beach House
4/5
Oh. Zebra! THAT is the name of that song! I love that song. I never connected that song to a band name. Alright...good opener! (And now the lyrics "black and white horse" makes way more sense...)
I see the line between MBV which we recently listened to and this. A nice progression. I really love the keyboard sounds on this one.
I like this one. Happy I sat down to listen to the whole thing finally.
Neil Young
3/5
If you ever find yourself wandering around the Pioneer Square area of downtown Seattle there's an old, but mostly nondescript, building across from Occidental Park that, if you were to walk in the front door, you will find yourself in a national park. The Klondike Gold Rush national park is located in Alaska. But they have an 'outpost' in Seattle that's pretty great to stumble into. It has park rangers and all. Assuming it's still there in our now-fascist America, it's worth a stop if you find yourself in that part of the world and you want to learn more about what happened both before and after the gold rush.
Oh...the album. It's Neil. If you like Neil, you like this album. I like Neil. I like this album. It's not my favorite Neil album. But it's nice. A nice Neil album.
Television
5/5
An album that some how eluded me most of my life. I think I finally heard it on KEXP a decade ago and was 'whoa...what is this?'
No idea how I managed to avoid this for the majority of my life (well, growing up in the middle-of-nowhere-midwest-US was a part of it, I'm sure). Glad I finally found it, though. One of the best ever. Entire album is a catchy groove.
Blur
3/5
Song 2 is etched into my brain for no other reason that it was one of the first easily findable files on the internet when the MP3 first came along. It's also great riff and catchy tune.
Machito
4/5
Afro-cuban jazz gets 4 stars my default. So...
Sonic Youth
4/5
A solid Sonic Youth album. They make pretty solid albums.
Gorillaz
3/5
Blur and Gorillaz in one week. That's a lot of Damon. I like both bands but...it's also alot. I'm probably more of a 'greatest hits is fine' for both bands.
Green Day
3/5
Green day makes really catchy "punk" music that at first you like, then think maybe you really shouldn't like it as it's so mainstream, but then deep down you know you will always turn up one of their songs while in the car and sing along.
David Bowie
5/5
Bowie was always there in the zeitgeist floating around. I never bought a Bowie album the first 40 years of my life, but he was always there. It was always nice to know he was there.
As I got into my record hoarding/mid-life crisis/hobby I started to develop a new level of appreciation for his output. And even today I'm just kind of blown away as to how he shape shifted constantly and someone always remained Bowie. I don't have a favorite Bowie album because I think that's just a dumb idea in general. You either like Bowie or you don't.
That said this album obviously holds a special spot. Not unlike Ozzie's recent farewell concert, this is an artist still wanting to be an artist to the very end and contributing what they can before their time is up. It's a heavy album thematically. But just gorgeous.
I think this list is cluttered with way too many entries from the same artists. A lot of the artists on here could be better summed up with one record. But it's hard to sum up Bowie with one album. This being yet another example of that. It's nothing like any other Bowie album, yet it's definitely a Bowie album.
Van Morrison
4/5
He was always an asshole.
He's become an unbearable asshole as of late.
But damn could he write a song and that voice is like no other.
Not my favorite album of his but...Sweet Thing can put me in another space. A good space.
Metallica
4/5
"Enter Sandman" was the riff we all learned in our highschool "I'm gonna learn guitar phase!" and then became the song blasting out of every dorm room freshman year of college.
This was the last hurrah for hair and thrash metal's broad popularity before Nirvana jumped in. It was a fun time.
I don't know if I love this album. But I am having some fun listening to the forgotten tracks on here. I think they held up way better than the singles did.
Chicago
4/5
Chicago was always a greatest hits band for me (AKA Chicago 9). And that's OK. Some bands make really great greatest hits albums. This was one of them.
I don't think I ever sat down and listened to an entire Chicago album before (other than the aforementioned #9). This debut of their's is fun! Jam-band-ish. Bit of jazz-rock going on. Just a fun listen.
The horn riffs on "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" are just amazing. Such a great song.
I don't know if this album in and of itself is particularly profound or remarkable in the grand scheme of things but as for marking the beginnings of Chicago, it makes sense to be on the list.
Fugees
4/5
Another album that I feel suffers from the misguided CD-era desire to fill up the entire CD.
Some really great tracks on here. Some really mediocre filler on here.
3 stars for it being something different at the time. Bonus star for Lauren's fab cover of Killing me Softly.
LCD Soundsystem
5/5
Is this my favorite LCD Soundsystem album? Trick question. They're all my favorite LCD Soundsystem albums. I think I just love Jame's music making process...find a neat sound, loop it 1000 times, make a song out of it. It just works. Over and over again.
Saw them on their last tour this summer. They're true talent is how great of a live band they are.
Goldie
3/5
Oh! Something I know nothing about. I've never heard of Goldie before.
And wow...105:47 run time!? Fun album. Got my D&B fix for a while.
Steve Winwood
3/5
Went into this one reluctantly as I wasn't a huge fan of 80s power-synth Winwood.
But I liked it. Glad I gave it a chance. That said...I do think one can have 'too much' synth. I like an ice cream cone. I'd get sick after eating a tub of ice cream.
There's a few great ice cream cones on this one. But I don't need to sit down with the entire tub again.
(Maybe all of that's unfair. I just gave LCD Soundsystem 5 stars. Do they have too much synth? Perhaps Steve just had fewer synth flavors to work with...)
De La Soul
5/5
How can you not listen to this album without a smile?
One of the best.
Yea, the skits are corny. Maybe they didn't age very well. The music did, though. Still great.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
A ridiculously bad album cover. But I guess after releasing their fifth album in the span of 3 years, they ran out of steam in the album cover artwork department.
Also TIL "Run Through the Jungle"...despite being the cliche choice for dubbing into any war scene in film, is actually about the gun problem in the United States. Huh. Funny that. It's still a problem.
CCR's output of 5 album run over 3 years is extraordinary. This was a great way to end it. (The last two albums never really counted in my book as CCR albums. Tom always thought that *he* was the talent in the band due to his songwriting, but history seems to show that the real talent was in his songwriting WITH these 3 other guys backing him. It was one of those 'the whole is greater than the sum of the parts' recipes.)
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
I accidentally put on Band of Gypsies instead of this one. But does that matter? No, not really. It's Jimi. Anyways, I listened to that album and then put this one on. I don't think there's much to say about any of these that haven't been said already. Hendrix is always worth a listen.
I will say, while all Hendrix is great, Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) might be the single greatest guitar riff ever recorded. It's at a level that very little can compare to. And his version of All Along the Watchtower is up there with Cash's Hurt. Both took an existing song and made it theirs. No longer just a cover, but now their song.
The Police
4/5
I enjoyed this one way more than I thought I would. I think I like it better than the previous Police album we listened to. My vinyl copy also sounds remarkable just in production quality. Good record.
The Smiths
4/5
A wonderful sounding album. The Smiths deserve their spot in music history.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
Gimme Shelter is one of the greatest songs ever.
The rest is a solid Stones album. 40 minutes of fun listening.
And I always forget how great Monkey Man is.
Arrested Development
4/5
I really had fun listening to this one. First time I heard it start to finish. The non-hits are as good (if not better) than the hits. I miss this era of hip-hop. So much fun.
Beatles
4/5
I dunno what's to say about the Beatles anymore. Of course they are the list. This list likely wouldn't be here to begin with if the Beatles hadn't come along.
The White Stripes
5/5
It's the White Stripes. Pounding drum. Catchy riffs. Silly lyrics. It still works.
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
A remarkable voice. His style is both new and drenched in the past at the same time. Moody and swirling and just plain enjoyable. Good stuff.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
Confession: I own this album. I've never made it through it. I think I maybe got through Side A once. It's just such a HEAVY album. Dude had pathos.
PJ Harvey
4/5
Though she's certainly succesful it feels like she should have been even bigger than she was coming out with an album like this in 1992.
A British singer channelling both Riot grrrl and Grunge and whatever modern rock thing was happening and doing her own thing with it.
Noisy in the best ways.