267
Albums Rated
3.08
Average Rating
25%
Complete
822 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1950s
Favorite Decade
New-wave
Favorite Genre
UK
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
16
5-Star Albums
18
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Wild Gift
X
|
5 | 3 | +2 |
|
The Pleasure Principle
Gary Numan
|
5 | 3.14 | +1.86 |
|
Machine Gun Etiquette
The Damned
|
5 | 3.15 | +1.85 |
|
Figure 8
Elliott Smith
|
5 | 3.33 | +1.67 |
|
Ágætis Byrjun
Sigur Rós
|
5 | 3.37 | +1.63 |
|
Either Or
Elliott Smith
|
5 | 3.38 | +1.62 |
|
Locust Abortion Technician
Butthole Surfers
|
4 | 2.38 | +1.62 |
|
Murmur
R.E.M.
|
5 | 3.42 | +1.58 |
|
Unknown Pleasures
Joy Division
|
5 | 3.47 | +1.53 |
|
Illinois
Sufjan Stevens
|
5 | 3.5 | +1.5 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Californication
Red Hot Chili Peppers
|
1 | 3.7 | -2.7 |
|
Hotel California
Eagles
|
1 | 3.6 | -2.6 |
|
Stankonia
OutKast
|
1 | 3.55 | -2.55 |
|
Straight Outta Compton
N.W.A.
|
1 | 3.51 | -2.51 |
|
Hybrid Theory
Linkin Park
|
1 | 3.39 | -2.39 |
|
Doggystyle
Snoop Dogg
|
1 | 3.37 | -2.37 |
|
Deep Purple In Rock
Deep Purple
|
1 | 3.33 | -2.33 |
|
The Slim Shady LP
Eminem
|
1 | 3.29 | -2.29 |
|
Ritual De Lo Habitual
Jane's Addiction
|
1 | 3.19 | -2.19 |
|
Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
50 Cent
|
1 | 3.04 | -2.04 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Elliott Smith | 2 | 5 |
| Pixies | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Slipknot | 2 | 1 |
5-Star Albums (16)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Linkin Park
1/5
yes, we get it, school sucks and your parents don't understand you.
3 likes
Elliott Smith
5/5
It is the bane of the music fan to grow up with melancholy music that appeals to teens (the Smiths and the cure in my youth, doubtless something else for millennials) and then hear something that personifies actual pain and woe that you hear as an adult. Robert smith and Morrissey were born in 1959, Elliott Smith in 1969. Elliott is my peer, bob and morrissey are actually fucking Boomers.
Even if he hadn't died young and tragically, Elliott Smith made Sad Bastard music that doesn't embarrass me to listen to as an adult. So many excellent songs on this album. I love the gen x references that are now anachronisms like "food stamp dollar" and "coin-op tv".
A sadly beautiful record.
1 likes
5/5
One of the punk lps from my high school years that I can still listen to and enjoy. Solid.
1 likes
The Libertines
3/5
Yet another "its fine" record that somehow has elevated status in the UK for reasons I dont understand.
1 likes
1-Star Albums (18)
All Ratings
Nirvana
4/5
Blondie
4/5
A classic. Already owned this but nice to revist.
Isaac Hayes
2/5
I was not prepared for the length of these songs! Didn't love this one.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
I avoided this LP at the time because I didn't love the singles, which were played all the time on the radio. listening to it all the way through, I sorta get it, but its not for me.
Sigur Rós
5/5
A surprise. Really great.
The Coral
2/5
I had never even heard of this band. A bit derivative but okay.
Black Sabbath
4/5
I already know this record well but a fresh listen was fun
Dire Straits
3/5
Nightmares On Wax
1/5
Had never heard of this band. Not a genre I typically listen to. The sound of this record is good but after a while it was boring.
Supergrass
4/5
Didn't know much about this band, but liked this.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
Already knew and liked this LP. Don't think I'd ever heard the UK sequence with Sunday Best. I get the context, but the slur in Oliver's Army always makes me cringe.
Thelonious Monk
3/5
I don't know enough about jazz to evaluate this record. Not for me, though probably a great record.
Sufjan Stevens
5/5
Already own and love this one. "Casimir Pulaski day" always makes me cry.
Black Sabbath
3/5
Probably one of the first 25 to 50 lps
I bought as a teenager. Hard to evaluate now since I associate it with that time in my life.
Simple Minds
4/5
I only knew their monster hit "don't you forget about me" and it never occurred to me to listen to their lps. This was pretty good.
The Band
2/5
Sounds like the grateful dead but with precise non-noodling performances. I'm just not a fan of the vocal styles or the vibe, though I can recognize its a good record.
Hugh Masekela
3/5
I liked this mostly but a double Lp was a lot to take in at once. What a talented horn player he was. I hadn't idea.
Taylor Swift
3/5
Better than I thought it would be but not my thing.
Christine and the Queens
1/5
Why is this on the list? Forgettable lightweight pop. I only made it thru 4 or 5 songs. If you want good French pop try Air (which is on this list) or Les Rita Mitsouko ( which isnt)
Harry Nilsson
4/5
Aw yes, that's more like it. Already know his catalog pretty well but this is a pretty good representation. Coconut has not aged well tho.
Lou Reed
3/5
Never noticed the Bowie backing vocals on satellite of love before. This is a pretty decent record from someone who let's gave it doesn't have a great singing voice
Joy Division
5/5
Omg I listened to this so much in my 20s I can't not love it now. Would be interested to know what a tabula rasa experience with this lp is like. Gotta 10/10, sorry not sorry.
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
Oh yeah. I legit love this period of hip hop where things were gleeful and nobody was routinely called a ho.
Queen
3/5
This was a weird one. I've heard all their back catalog, but this is one without any obvious singles/hits on it. Kinda prog rock (in a good way) and you can definitely see how they go from this to bohemian rhapsody. This is fine but I feel like sheer heart attack, NATO, DATR are stronger conceptually and more fun to listen to.
Bob Dylan
2/5
over the last 30 years I've tried to get the Dylan mystique and it has not happened. Is Dylan a better vocalist than famously anti-singer vocalist Leonard Cohen? no. Is Dylan a better songwriter than Leonard Cohen? debatable, but I like Nick Cave and Jennifer Warnes covers of Cohen better than any non-Hendrix Dylan cover i've heard.
Maybe I'd be more sympathetic to Dylan's schtick if Brel, Cohen and Scott Walker didn't exist, but they do, and I still don't get why this dude became the standard bearer instead of, I dunno, Mimi Farina.
The Band
3/5
Like big pink that we got last week, I'm just not into this style of music. But this album was okay, though I'll never pick it up again. That last song, King Harvest, was my fave and I would have loved to see Queen cover it.
Dolly Parton
3/5
This was fine but I don't see it as a must hear.
Bob Dylan
3/5
Still don't understand dylan veneration.
The Youngbloods
2/5
I don't love this guy's voice, but I didn't hate this. A few cringy hippie rhymes. I've already forgotten about this record a few hours after hearing it.
Primal Scream
2/5
I think "Loaded" is one of the greatest singles of the 1990s, and the Screamadelica (1991) LP that single is one is on this list, so I guess we'll encounter that eventually. The other songs I know of theirs are "Rocks" (on the Give Out But Don't Give Up 1994 lp, not on the list) which is kinda a Black Crowes groove (vs the Madchester sound they are associated with) and "Movin on Up" (also in Screamadelica). So what I'm saying is I get why Screamadelica is on this list and I'll rate that one better than this, but I don't see why there are 2 primal scream lps here, especially this one.
While I'll admit this LP was a nice balm after all the Dylan/Band 60s stuff the algorithm has thrown at us lately, it was too long (no one wanted 53 minutes of this) and superfluous if Screamadelica is already here. plus the cover of Motorhead by Hawkwind (and later motorhead) was not needed at all.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
More bluesy than I'd expected. Tumbling dice was the only song I recognized. Will listen again.
Steely Dan
2/5
Okay I do not like this bandbut this was not as terrible as I thought it would be. I really liked the east st Louis instrumental.
3 more SD lps on this list, ugh.
Snoop Dogg
1/5
If I wanted juvenile misogyny and undeserved swagger, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are more radio friendly.
If I want a hip-hop group that samples pfunk/george Clinton a lot, digital underground did it better, without nBombs or bitch/ ho lyrics. Sex Packets by DU predates this by 2 years and is a masterpiece. This is machismo garbage, no matter how catchy the underlying groove might be.
Rage Against The Machine
2/5
I know these guys have progressive politics, but I didn't love it for 2 reasons: 1) the songs were a little too repetitive/anthemic. If I'd been 16 when this came out instead of entering grad school, maybe it would move me more. 2) I can't help but feel like these guys might be somewhat responsible for Nu Metal.
The 13th Floor Elevators
4/5
One banger single, and the rest of it is good, though i suspect this lp is on the list for its influence more than it's merits.
What is the background "bubbly" sound in most of these songs? Its prominent in "through the rhythm ". It could be a vocal or could be something run thru an effects pedal, but once I heard it, I couldnt ignore it and I liked the songs a bit less.
Suede
2/5
This was a big deal when it came out, and I didn't get it then. I know this came out a few years before Oasis but I can't help but think that Oasis is the much better band of this type and there's no need for this to be on the list.
Kendrick Lamar
2/5
Better than the snoop dogg record, but I'm just too old to see how "n***a wipe your ass" gets you a Pulitzer.
Beastie Boys
4/5
Okay, this is obviously on the list because the first rap lp to hit #1 on the billboard charts was by white dudes. But how does it hold up, especially knowing that Check your head ( #10 on the charts) is a more sophisticated and probably better album ?
It's hard to evaluate it now. I was 16 when this came out and "fight for your right to party" was -everywhere-. At the time this seemed snotty and brash and like it was maybe not cool for rich white guys to co-opt rap. The music is more minimalist than I'd remembered. The album is definitely juvenile. But it works.
Crowded House
4/5
A pleasant surprise! I wonder how many other jangly-pop guitar bands like this I missed out on at the time due to the Grunge Ascendancy. I will listen to this again.
Doves
2/5
Interstingly enough, in the 2018 print ed of the bk, the doves record is Lost Souls. Revision, or error?
This was pleasent enough but I don't understand why it is on the list.
Elastica
4/5
I think this is as good as classic Buzzcocks, even though it's borrowing heavily from other post-punk classics. "Waking up" is the Stranglers "No more Heroes", Connection is Wire's "three girl rhumba", etc. While relistening, I noticed "blue" is similar to siouxsie's "Mirage". there are likely other borrowings I can't place. BUT IT DOESNT MATTER because all the songs are catchy, not too long, and still sounds great 30 (?!) years later.
Tears For Fears
3/5
This was fine, but didn't leave much of an impression. I knew the 2 smash hits on this record already. Probably wouldn't play again but it was okay.
Sade
3/5
Oof, I thought this was old people music when it came out. Now I'm also old, but it still doesn't appeal to me. Technically proficient but just screams "early 1990s movie soundtrack" to me. Like I never saw Indecent Proposal, but this is what I imagine is playing during all the bedroom scenes.
I also feel like this sounds dated, but I don't listen to enough of this style of music to know who is singing like this in the 2020s and if they use so much saxophone.
Songhoy Blues
4/5
What a pleasant surprise! This is the type of thing I was hoping this exercise would point me to. Really liked this record and will check out more of their material!
Orange Juice
3/5
I feel this is another case of a band that was big in the Uk and made no impact in the US. Reminded me of scritti politti with a touch of Culture Club or Fine Young Cannibals. Today it sounds a bit over produced. Not really my thing, but harmless enough.
Fairport Convention
3/5
Not my genre, but much more listen able than Dylan. Richard Thompson is another musician that loads of musicians I like seem to adore, and it's just never clicked for me. That said, I'm ready to deep dive into Sandy Denny because she has a great voice.
Sarah Vaughan
3/5
This is a fine 1950s vocal album but I see no reason you need to hear this to understand contemporary rock and pop.
Carole King
4/5
Holy crap. I always assumed CK was like a proto Dianne Warren and never took her seriously. Turns out she's Harry Nilsson without the dying young part. Even "natural woman", a great song where Aretha's version is near perfect, sounds good and fresh. Im sorry to have dismissed this lp for decades because it is near flawless. Docking star for sax parts/solo in Way over yonder that did not need to exist.
The Byrds
3/5
I can see why this was influential and important but it is so not my bag.
Janet Jackson
2/5
I dont understand why this record is on the list instead of Control, the superior JJ album in my opinion. Production has not aged well, and I'm glad the 80s/90s hip hop trope of having skits or collage intros between tracks has died. While some of the singles on this are ones I remember (title track, black cat, escapade), theres also sincere but maudlin tracks like "Livin’ in a World (They Didn’t Make)" that I found embarrassing. "School shootings are bad" is not exactly a bold hot take.
I looked at the singles fron Control (nasty, when I think of you, what have you done for me lately) and it just made me want to listen to that record instead.
Rufus Wainwright
4/5
Gay Radiohead somehow escaped my notice but I actually really like this. I'm not sure it belongs on The List but I dig it a lot.
Booker T. & The MG's
3/5
This is fine but doesn't seem like a must. Nice background music. Bet a lot of these tracks have been sampled in hits over the decades.
David Bowie
4/5
This is a bowie record i return to a little, even without any huge singles. I think I might like it more than ziggy or diamond dogs.
Marilyn Manson
1/5
77 minutes. Geezus. At least most of the records on this list that originated as vinyl releases are over in 45 minutes (except for the rare double lp).
I'd somehow forgotten that MM was Trent reznors first signing/protege on his Nothing label. You can definitely hear the NIN influence, but NIN is a much better band. I can see how this appeals to a brooding high school mall goth who reads Camus more than say, Slipknot, but I haven't lived with my parents for 30 years, so I am not the market for this.
There are moments where the music interests me but on the whole I'm ambivalent. While a concept album/rock opera about the antichrist is appealing on paper, I'm afraid the prog rock LP 666 by Vangelis/aphrodite's child ( a double LP as long as this one, btw) is my goto in this category.
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
Some timeless singles and some egregious padding here. "Don't call me N$%&&, Whitey" did not need to be 5+ minutes when it only has one verse. I also didnt need 15 minutes of the Sex Machine jam. But you cannot deny how good their pop songs are when they stay in that lane.
Pixies
5/5
One of my biggest regrets when this lp came out was assuming that the Pixies were like the Sundays or the Blake Babies because I'd only heard Here comes your man and Monkey gone to heaven. So I ignored this band for way too long and I should have seen them when they played my crappy college town in 1990. Ah well.
HEY may be the best minimal ballad ever to repeatedly use the word whores.
T. Rex
4/5
When the mid 1980s bands like Duran Duran were new, they would list their influences as Bowie, Roxy music, and T Rex. At the time I'd never heard of T rex and when I finally heard them, I didn't entirely get it. It wouldn't be the first time a band was huge in the UK and virtually unknown in the US, and I guess Bolan had to be dead for 10+ years before Bang a Gong ascended to Classic Rock radio. What I'm saying is that T rex was kinda tabula rasa for me because I'd gone my entire life without hearing their material until I was 15 or so.
Anyway, I own this record. I like it okay. Probably more on the list for it's influence. Like a lot of glam rock, the records are never as engaging as the live performances and the LPs are never as good as the singles. One wonders if 50 year old Bolan would have ascended to Bowie levels of recording godhead, or burned out like Sweet or Slade.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
It's impossible to separate groundbreaking musical movements like this from the well meaning white college boy fans of the next 3 decades who ruined it for everyone. Also not my genre. 4 stars for white liberal guilt at only knowing the Wailers, Jimmy cliff and Steel Pulse as the stars of a genre way more rich than what I know about it.
Slade
2/5
Ugh , I referenced this band last week in the T rex entry but didn't know they actually had an lp on the list. The UK authors of the list seem to be desperate to find tolerable lps from bands that had a lot of hot singles (slade: 17 uk top 20s between 1971 and 1976, including 6 number 1s, according to the latest print edition of Dimery's book). So we get entries like this and THREE lps from dexys midnight runners.
I feel like a us based list would have ignored both dexys and slade in favor of something like Pinback's s/t lp because trying to squeeze a competent album from a singles band is a mugs game.
I still mostly know this band from the two Quiet Riot covers. I get that uk listeners may have a nostalgic fondness for this band that north Americans don't understand but I still can't give slade a 3 based on hearing this.
Beastie Boys
3/5
Think I ignored this when it was released even though I liked Check your head a lot. This is too long and has some filler but is interesting enough to warrant further listens.
Keith Jarrett
3/5
Pleasant enough but not my bag. Thought I recognized a variation on "Fly me to the Moon" toward the end but otherwise this was unfamiliar to me. Reading the backstory of this LP makes me understand its place in the canon more, but I'm too ignorant about improv to really get this.
The Cars
4/5
I knew the singles but never heard this all the way thru. Wow. Not a filler song in the bunch, really. Proof that if you avoid LPs full of hit singles for 3 or 4 decades, it can sound fresh then.
Foo Fighters
3/5
This was fine, but nothing that wowed me. Not sure why this is on the list.
Pixies
4/5
I played this so much back in the day. Is there even a filler track on here besides Stormy weather?
The Stone Roses
4/5
How many bands have put out a great debut and either broken up immediately, or followed up with something meh before breaking up? In the latter category, there's Elastica and the Stone Roses. This record holds up better than most of their contemporaries, and yet the goddam Happy Mondays, a shambling group with a few singles that don't hold up well decades later,manage to have TWO records on this list. At least Dimery had the decency to forget Inspiral Carpets on his list.
Parliament
4/5
The first 2 intro songs are a bit slow/filler, but once it gets going, unstoppable.
Steely Dan
2/5
After this record was done, Spotify gave me Peace Frog by the Doors. yep, seems about right.
Beatles
4/5
Fine I guess. How do you review this?!
Prefab Sprout
4/5
Unexpected! first track appears to be the inspiration for Walk like an Egyptian.
Good record. Sorry to have missed this one back in the day.
Lauryn Hill
2/5
Not my genre, but this was fine. I didnt know any of these songs. Docking a star for the in between song skits that were everywhere back then and have thankfully fallen out of favor.
Ella Fitzgerald
4/5
I like this material, but a 4 cd box set that you have to hear and rate in a day is like one of those restaurants that will give you the 96 ounce steak for free if you eat it in 60 minutes.
Even if you like steak/Ella, it's too much for one sitting.
Radiohead
3/5
This is no longer on the list, but FOUR other albums by this group are. I like this fine but it's optional for canon.
Patti Smith
3/5
Influential but not something I return to often.
The Beta Band
4/5
I like this record. Not essential but a nice cross between trip hop and pop.
James Brown
4/5
That horn section is so tight even a live record shows no flaws.
Goldfrapp
3/5
Reminded me of st Vincent, who i like better, but this was still pretty good.
Willie Nelson
2/5
It might be heresy to disparage willie, but I didnt like this. A standards album? How is this needed? To be fair i don't love the Nilsson or Dr John standards Lps either.
If you're going to do a covers lp, pick weird songs that never charted (siouxsie through the looking glass, martin gore Counterfeit EP) or a songbook (jennifer warnes doing cohen, ella doing gershwin, tho maybe not 4+ cds of it). If I know 95% of the songs on your standards record well enough to sing them myself, im likely not interested in hearing you do them unless your take is so new (devo satisfaction, most Residents covers) that i can't help but be in awe.
N.W.A.
1/5
No.
3/5
This was fine but I like their pre skylarking era LPs much more.
Louis Prima
3/5
I have many louis and keely Lps and think they are lots of fun. This was fine.
The Sugarcubes
2/5
There were a few weeks in college when this lp came out that it was my favorite thing ever. Saw them live in 1989 and remember liking the show.
A few months later I'd moved on to music I still love today. Hadn't heard this entire record in literally 30 years. I don't feel it's aged well and there's a lot of filler on a record thats only 33 minutes long.
But if the 1001 list says you have to listen to the whole lp so that you can experience the wonder that is Birthday, I'm okay with that.
Side note: has anyone ever attempted to sing this as a replacement for the traditional Happy Birthday to you? Next birthday party I'm at definitely gets "They're smoking cigaaaaars" to find fellow music nerds.
Funkadelic
4/5
I was unprepared for the scatalogical track, but other than that, a great listen.
The Cure
3/5
Imma call bullshit that the 3 Cure lps in the list are this, disintegration and pornography. Head on the door, boys don't cry or the singles collection, staring at the sea, could have replaced this or pornography.
Don't get me wrong , I like this record fine, but if you have multiple decades of cure lps to choose this is not where I'd have gone.
2/5
Not my cup of tea
Ali Farka Touré
2/5
This did nothing for me. Maybe if I understood the lyrics it would.
Cocteau Twins
3/5
Like the last record, if I don't understand the lyrics, I probably won't love it .this is fine for background music but not something that engages me.
Elliott Smith
5/5
It is the bane of the music fan to grow up with melancholy music that appeals to teens (the Smiths and the cure in my youth, doubtless something else for millennials) and then hear something that personifies actual pain and woe that you hear as an adult. Robert smith and Morrissey were born in 1959, Elliott Smith in 1969. Elliott is my peer, bob and morrissey are actually fucking Boomers.
Even if he hadn't died young and tragically, Elliott Smith made Sad Bastard music that doesn't embarrass me to listen to as an adult. So many excellent songs on this album. I love the gen x references that are now anachronisms like "food stamp dollar" and "coin-op tv".
A sadly beautiful record.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
This was fine, and Heads will Roll is a great single, but I don't see it as Important or Canon.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
Man this brings back so many baby bat/teen goth memories it is hard to objectively review this. Is this one of the first 50 lps I bought that I still own? Yes. Have I listened to it in the last 20 years? No. Do I know it almost by heart? Yes.
So in Siouxsie's own words from Spellbound "yah have nooh choicce" but to rate this 4 or 5.
Abdullah Ibrahim
3/5
Like the hugh masekala, this was fine but something I'm unlikely to revisit.
Ali Farka Touré
2/5
Liked this one a bit better than the last one by him, but still meh.
Pink Floyd
3/5
First, it's a shame that in the cd/streaming era, listeners won't see the amazing sleeve photos from this LP.
About the music: while I know how they are related, I always had a problem balancing the heartfelt tributes to their broken former band mate ("shine on you crazy diamond" and "wish you were here") with two largely throwaway songs about how the music industry is full of vapid cheats.
This was always the gamble with PF albums: if you dont like a song, you're stuck with it for 7 to 22 minutes. I like 3 of the 5 songs here and actively dislike the other 2, so how to rate this? Three it is!
B.B. King
3/5
I don't generally like live records but understand that with jazz it makes sense. With blues, eh.
Also I saw the film Sinners a few hours before we got assigned this record . It is the story of a blues musician in rural Mississippi whose family are cotton sharecroppers. Now I have to wonder if BB King's life was influenced by vampires.
Gary Numan
5/5
Already own this so hard to rate. Err on the side of Gary Numan is awesome and ahead of his time.
Aimee Mann
4/5
I like this record and don't think Aimee has made a bad record. I even like her moody xmas cd. But I'd have chosen Lost in Space or maybe Magnolia if she only gets one on The List.
Fun fact: Aimee was briefly a member of Ministry. Yes, that one.
Donald Fagen
2/5
I like this even less than Steely Dan. I didn't know that was possible.
Fats Domino
4/5
I didn't expect a rock record from the 50s to have a song that surprised me, but Honey Child with its AABCC rhyme structure did.
The Killers
2/5
I'd heard the two singles which are okay. The rest of this did nothing for me.
Also The Killers is one of the possible names considered in the Mountain Goats song "The Best ever death metal band out of Denton" and I can't hear this band without thinking that the Mountain Goats are a much better band.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
3/5
This was fine but I think Orange is better.
Jane's Addiction
1/5
I have hated this band since their debut record. Vapid lyrics, annoying vocals, trite songwriting. The "didn't wanna pay for IEEIT" chorus in Been caught stealing is one of the most annoying earworms of the 90s.
The Lemonheads
4/5
Better than I expected, though all the tacked-on demos of the expanded / anniversary edition added nothing.
This record came out when I was doing college radio , I remember playing a few cuts from it but not hearing the whole thing . Then they had a huge single hit with the Mrs. Robinson cover, which had to be tacked on to a re-release of this record soon after. Because I didnt think the cover was all that, I ignored this record at the time, which was a shame. Good songs, nice production.
Al Green
3/5
Pretty good. What a beautiful voice.
Santana
4/5
It's a lp of its time and not really my jam, but you cannot deny it's influence.
The Doors
4/5
I loved this band when I was 12 because I had only started listening to rock music and buying my own LPs. I thought this was SO DEEP because I was a preteen and didn't know any better.
The combo of organ and guitar still sounds fresh. Only The Stranglers did it better. The End is too much, but I still like the Brecht/Will cover.
LTJ Bukem
1/5
Sounds like slightly hipper Radio "production music". Or wallpaper.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Hadn't realized his 3 monster hits were on here. Idiosyncratic enough to not be a pure pop album, but he can write a hook when he wants to. I'm not a fan of the slick production but I think this has aged pretty well.
The Stooges
4/5
Is this the OTHER record that didn't do so well but everyone who bought it formed a band? Still holds up.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Still holds up even though I'm not into psychedelia much.
Bob Dylan
3/5
Better than other dylan lps we've had on the list but I am still immune to Mr. Zimmermans appeal.
5/5
One of the punk lps from my high school years that I can still listen to and enjoy. Solid.
Kate Bush
4/5
Like Peter Gabriel's so that we had recently, an idiosyncratic pop record with a few banger hits, some introspection, and some dated production choices (fretless bass, tape cutups). Nonetheless, still a good record.
Michael Jackson
3/5
If you told me in 1995 that "Thriller" had two #1 singles and "Bad" had five #1 singles, I would have challenged you to cite your sources, because I would not have believed you. Maybe its just because Thriller was fucking everywhere for years after its release that I assumed it had more #1s, but its interesting to me that something that sold so many albums only had 2 of 7 singles hit #1. Before now, I had never listened to a Michael Jackson LP in its in entirety; because I'd heard the singles so many times, there was simply no need to hear them in an album (and I was sick of them, even if I'd loved them, which I didn't).
While this LP had more #1 hits, I don't think they "stuck" as well as the ones on Thriller, and they certainly didn't get MTV play for as many months on end. 9 of the 10 tracks on Bad became singles (to be fair, at least two weren't singles in the US , including the terrible "Liberian Girl": Compare that to thriller's 7 singles from 9 tracks (which also has some clunkers- "The Girl is Mine" has not aged well, either) and the high expectations for this LP (how do you follow up a smash that is literally the best selling record of all time?) and it's hard to view this record without comparing it to Thriller.
That said, it gets a three because Speed Demon and Liberian girl are awful, and Dirty Diana is not great, either. But Smooth Criminal has one of the best riffs of all time, even if you aren't a fan of this kind of pop.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
I was prepared to rate this higher, but finding out that it came out thesame month and year as the first elvis Presley lp makes it seem hopelessly old fashioned for music that teenage girls once went nuts for.
4/5
I only knew the two hits from this one; like a lot of 80s techno pop, I seldom listened to LPs of bands that had giant hits on MTV that I'd grown tired of.
I'm now sorry I missed this one when it was new; its got that early Duran Duran slickness but some great hooks. I especially like the opener "Show me" and the lounge version of Poison Arrow at the end (which is apparently from a later reissue and not on the original 80s lp)
My one complaint is that the production gimmicks by Trevor Horn on this LP show up on many later Trevor Horn projects. This LP is 3 or 4 years prior to Frankie Goes to Hollywood's debut, which borrows bass lines, bridges, and general Trevor Horniness from it. "Date Stamp" and "Tears are not enough " are like ur-versions of the Two Tribes bass part. But ABC is a much tighter band than FGTH (which is also on the 1001 list, so I guess its good we got this one first).
The Dandy Warhols
3/5
This had some good grooves and in general I liked it, but both the album itself and the individual songs needed a 20% cut in length.
The Go-Go's
3/5
Better than expected. I learned from the recent documentary that what broke the group up was not drug or alcohol abuse by some members, but that some of the gals that didn't write many/any songs wanted songwriting split evenly 5 ways and Jane who did the heavy lifting for songwriting thought this unfair.
Rush
3/5
A Canadian Yes? Interesting mix of pop and prog, though not my bag.
Public Enemy
3/5
a little bit of filler but some bangers, too.
The Icarus Line
2/5
I listened to this without knowing anything about it and 8 hours later cannot recall one hook or bridge. My mental note was sounds like a band influenced by Spoon who has literally heard nothing else but can't write a catchy song. Inoffensive but forgettable and should not be on the list.
Drive Like Jehu
2/5
I dunno, I already have a Shellac record, so I think I'm set for math rock that is also angry.
The Beach Boys
2/5
A few great songs and a few horrid clunkers. I'd rather hear pet sounds and avoid this one, not sure why its on the list.
Pink Floyd
5/5
Ive heard this so many times I'm tired of it. But it still gets a 5.
Electric Light Orchestra
4/5
It's rare that a double LP of the pre-cd era isn't at least 25% filler. This one has almost no throwaway songs and has great pop hooks. It was cool to hate on this band during the postpunk period but I really adore them.
Small Faces
1/5
I understand this band is associated with Rod Stewart. That is not enough to elevate this ho-hum 1960s pop record. I'm deducting more points for the interminable spoken intros on side 2. Should not be on the list.
Calexico
4/5
Those was unfamiliar to me and I liked it. Not usually into Americana but these folks do it well.
Little Simz
3/5
Ive never heard a British hip hop record before (no, not even Mos def), but I liked this more thani thought I would.
R.E.M.
3/5
Just enough singles you remember to keep you interested but before they got too mainstream.
AC/DC
3/5
Is this band consistent, or one idea run into the ground? Either way, I guess this is the one to hear. I was not expecting a Mork from Ork reference at the end of Night Stalker. That did not age well.
ABBA
4/5
This LP answers the thought experiment "what if ABBA had some great songs that weren't on Abba Gold that you'd only heard 3 times in your entire life and never got sick of from overexposure"?
Solomon Burke
3/5
Pleasant enough for a listen but probably won't return to it.
Daft Punk
2/5
Okay as background music or in TV ads but kinda torturous as something I have to hear in one sitting.
Van Halen
2/5
I'm tempted to give this a 1 for influencing and spawning the dumbest hair metal bands of the late 1980s. The Eddie VH guitar acrobatics that inspired generations of wannabe soloists are impressive, but maybe don't hold up so well.
How to evaluate an Lp that was like crack for the kids on my Jr high school bus that had a boom box and 2 tapes? I Jamie's crying sounds like the dumbest Aerosmith song, but Little Dreamer is actually okay.
OutKast
1/5
If I dock every crossover hip-hop record for gratuitous n-word bombs and unneeded betwwen song skits, we get a lot of one star ratings. BREAK!
Neil Young
2/5
There are 7 neil young LPs on this list. That is too many, and I don't see what is so remarkable about this one.
Jungle Brothers
4/5
It seems I only like hip hop recorded prior to 1992. I'm okay with that.
Radiohead
4/5
There are 4 radiohead albums on the list and 2 that were but have been removed. This one and ok computer are probably the only ones you actually need to hear. Fake plastic trees still holds up.
Duke Ellington
3/5
This was a bit too long and too full of live LP chatter for me to really enjoy it.
Deep Purple
1/5
These songs all sound like demos or jams based on "Highway star". Not what I expected. Machine Head AND another DP record I've not heard are ALSO on the list, so I can say pretty confidently this one doesn't need to be.
Tom Tom Club
2/5
One banger single. Lots of filler and tracks that did not age well.
Grateful Dead
3/5
I did not hate this as much as I expected, but its still not for me.
Blood, Sweat & Tears
3/5
I had already seen the recent doc about this band that suggested that the band agreeing to tour the communist bloc as a State department deal for allowing their Canadian lead singer to stay in the us was the thing that killed the band. Other than the hits that was all I knew of BST. I will say they are like a hipper better Chicago, but I'm still suspicious of an LP that only has 2 originals and bookends with Eric fucking satie.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Fine I guess. Ready for a non Americana selection.
Meat Loaf
3/5
What a strange record. Bombastic Broadway style songs with a fake Frank Frazzetta style cover that doesn't belong on a record full of power ballads. Apparently this is the best selling lp ever in...Australia?!?! But you definitely should listen to this because it is unlike anything else that has ever been a multiplatinum record.
Eminem
1/5
One of the most nihilistic pieces of popular music I've heard in years. I understand its importance but this was not a pleasant listen.
The Dictators
1/5
The first song sounded like a Kiss outtake; that is not a compliment.
When I first bought the New York Dolls Lp when I was in high school in the late 1980s, I understood the context that the NYD were working with and that the LP could not hope to capture their live show. I can only assume this band has a similar unknown to me arc, because this is a pedestrian record that I cannot understand why it is on the list.
The Damned
5/5
One of my faves from them. This is where they actually learned songwriting and how to play their instruments after the first 2 punk albums.
Oh and the last spoken word part, which sounds like it might be a locked groove is "Nibbled to death by an okapi", not "Nibbled to death buying a coffee".
Linkin Park
1/5
yes, we get it, school sucks and your parents don't understand you.
Massive Attack
4/5
I like this record and think its a fantastic debut.
That said,1001 is tripping if they think that Protection belongs on the list but Mezzanine doesnt.
The B-52's
4/5
Quirky and fun but not something you'd wanna hear all the time.
Black Sabbath
3/5
Odd timing with ozzys death, but whatever. Will always get at least a 3 from me for supernaut, especially after al jourgenson showed us what a banger it could be.
50 Cent
1/5
When we do "1001 macho posturing recordings with multiple gunshot sounds you should hear before o threaten to kill you", I will be all over this. Until then, 1 star.
Alice In Chains
2/5
This has some moments of great vocalising and some okay songs, but I can't help but think its on the list because a talented musician died before his time.
CHIC
2/5
Sometimes LPs from the pre-cd era sounds like 2 singles and padding because there's no such thing in the 70s or 80s as a major label band who puts out a single that doesn't appear on a full length.
I was surprised that this is Chic's second lp, because the single to padding ratio suggested it was a cash grab for a band that would a few great singles and crap lps. I remember Le Freak at roller rink birthday parties when I was in primary school, and not a cocaine-fueled LA poolside party where everyone is wearing beige, so its hard to look at this 40+ years later and see it as essential.
Portishead
4/5
Still great.
Traffic
3/5
Did not know what to expect from this. Jazz rock done well (for the songs without vocals, at least) with becoming Steely Dan.
The Afghan Whigs
2/5
I didnt get this at all.not terrible but not for me.
Miles Davis
5/5
If you have fewer than 10 jazz records (like I do), this should be one of them. Not an unpleasant listen, and a great example of this artist/style.
Beatles
2/5
There is no way that 7 of 13 beatles lps are essential before you die. Especially this one thats more simplistic than Chuck Berry. I'm rating this low not because I hate the fab 4 but because this woo! Yeah yeah yeah era is so not essential even if they did eventually make Sgt peppers.
Billy Bragg
2/5
I love Billy Bragg, am indifferent to Wilco. I wanted to like this but some lyrics stay unmade into songs for a reason.
Coldplay
2/5
2 Coldplay records on the list, yet only one Monkees LP. Because Coldplay is the ersatz radiohead and I'm shocked it caught on.
The Fall
3/5
I like the Fall but had not heard this one ( they have a BIG discography). Not one of their best IMHO but still a solid effort.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
I only now noticed how much the guitar part in Brown Sugar before the vocal kicks in resembles Gimme shelter. On brand for the best recyclers of American blues since Led Zeppelin.
Prince
3/5
I'd heard the huge hits and some of the lesser hits.this could have been an amazing single Lp but Prince gonna Prince.
Goldfrapp
4/5
The British version of St. Vincent? A talented artist who mixes it up enough to be consistently interesting.
Tracy Chapman
3/5
I'd only heard fast car. This is sincere and nice but I don't think I'll revisit much.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
This guy again. It's fine.
A Tribe Called Quest
3/5
This record makes you think that pagers and arsenio hall would have a longer impact than they did.
Eagles
1/5
I had only heard the first 3 songs on this album. The rest was worse than I expected. String section and a song about native Americans? Just listening to this once turns you into a boomer dad one step away from a cocaine binge.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Knew the singles, did not expect a double Lp. Even the less good songs are not worth skipping.
Ryan Adams
2/5
I don't love alt country anyway, but this seemed super average to me. also starting out your CD with studio banter about Morrissey solo records is a weird move. Let hiphop keep the dumb tradition of interstitial skits between tracks, no one else needs to do this.
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
Belongs on the list for sure due to influencing shoegaze music. But is it any fun to listen to? I never got into them when they were new, now, I can appreciate it as background, but still not my thing.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
1/5
As white rappers go, I think we as a culture were too hard on Vanilla Ice when Anthony Keidis is still embarrassing himself into his 50s. Is that ding ding dong dong part in the first song supposed to mimic Chinese? Awful dreck.
The fact that there is another RHCP album on this list makes me hope I do in fact die before it comes up in the rotation.
The Police
4/5
I ignored this band in their heyday because they were so popular but actually this is pretty good.
3/5
Is this the first non-jazz debut that's a live album? Interesting choice. Good record, influence probably bigger than contemporary enjoyment i get from hearing it now.
Beach House
3/5
This was perfectly pleasing while I was listening to it, but a few hours later I couldn't remember one lyric, riff or hook. Then I listened to it the next day and had the same experience.
Neil Young
3/5
Hey him again. Its fine.
John Coltrane
4/5
Not a jazz fan but even I get this one.
Television
4/5
Another band who is more influential than fun to revisit.
Blur
2/5
I think I like the regular britpop Blur rather than this "we just discovered Pavement" record. Good thing there's another 2 Blur records on the list!
Machito
3/5
Tito puente is already on the list so I dont see why this is. Its fine but not life-changing.
Sonic Youth
4/5
Not as good as evol or daydream nation, but better than dirty and goo.
Gorillaz
2/5
2 pretty good singles does not make an album full of filler essential.
Green Day
3/5
Dookie is already on the list, so I don't see why we need that and this more mature/thematic album to get the gist. That said, Blvd of broken dreams has a great hook.
David Bowie
3/5
I -admire- this record as our last official work from Bowie, but I don't particularly -like- it . The first song sounds like a cut from Scott Walker's Tilt, a record I just do not get, despite repeated listens over 3 decades.
Basement Jaxx
2/5
Better than other albums of this ilk, but not something that rewards close listening.
The Libertines
3/5
Yet another "its fine" record that somehow has elevated status in the UK for reasons I dont understand.
Bob Dylan
4/5
I liked this one and bit more than the other zillion Dylan LPs we've rated.
Amy Winehouse
4/5
Great debut, hinting at the masterpiece that Back to Black would be.
Van Morrison
2/5
Absolute drivel. 5 of 8 songs are 5+ minutes long and the whole thing feels like an improvised in the studio project, with flute tacked on later.
I take back every complaint I've made about Dylan because this is so much more self indulgent and worse.
Metallica
3/5
I gotta give it credit for being a crossover metal record that rejected hair metal and hit concurrent to grunge. Not my thing but the singles hold up for what they are.
Animal Collective
3/5
It's twee AF but still isn't boring. Docking a point for grown ass genx men with stage names Geologist and Panda Bear, since they are old enough to have known of U2 before making music and didn't heed the warning that being a 50 year old man with a name like The Edge or Bono Vox is just embarrassing.
Johnny Cash
3/5
I like this when he does unexpected songs like Hurt or Personal Jesus, but less when he does Danny Boy. Nice shout out to Nick Cave (guest vocalist on one song) that Cash uses the biblical phrase "kicking against the pricks", which is also the title of a nick cave LP.
Depeche Mode
5/5
This may be my favorite Dm record. Not because of the hit singles, but the songs and the sequencing just work so well. No filler, either.
Chicago
2/5
Dad music for dad people. If you took the Blood sweat and tears lp we heard already and made it blander and stretched it to a double debut LP (who does -that-?!?)*, this would be the result.
*I know the Frankie Goes to Hollywood debut is also a 2xLp. Its also bloated.
Todd Rundgren
3/5
Like a combo of the Eno Rock Lps (which I love) and Zappa (which I do not love). I'll revisit him because I think he may have some material I would like but this was a bit uneven.
Fugees
3/5
If, as Chuck D said, rap is Black CNN, references to Newt Gingrich as a cultural opponent age as well as a weather report from 6 months ago. Hard to evaluate this so long after its popularity; it has some hooks, but also more than a few De La Soul scatalogical doodoo references that marr the talent on this record.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
The fact that liking Bob Marley is kinda a cliche in the US just shows how good the record is.
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
I'd heard this before when it was new. Its too cerebral for dance music but too dancy for pop music, so hard to know exactly what to make of it.
Goldie
2/5
There are only some artists with so much to say that their debut should be a double LP or CD. This is not one of them.
Fine as background but I dont need 100+ minutes of it.
Miles Davis
4/5
Yet another " i dont know enough about jazz to offer a cogent review, but seems to live up to the hype" selection.
Steve Winwood
2/5
Like a blander version of Steely Dan. I've already forgotten what was on this lp 24hours later (other than the lead single). I'm tempted to dock it another point for making me praise Steely Dan in comparison.
De La Soul
4/5
man I listened to this a lot when it was new. mostly harmless. may be responsible for the "skits in hip-hop" trend it took a decade to stamp out?
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
Hard to evaluate fairly since so many of these songs are classic rock staples.
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
Did this need to be a double LP?
The Police
4/5
I missed out on this band when they were literally the biggest band in the world, because I was tired of the over exposure of the singles. Turns out to be a pretty good lp after its top 40 days are over.
Richard Thompson
3/5
Not my style but I see why critics love this.
The Smiths
3/5
I support "the Queen is dead" being on this list, but you really only need one Smiths record to get the idea. This one isnt the one you need, not only because the title track has aged poorly but because this was the turning point where Morrissey went from sanctimonious to insufferable.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Gimme shelter may be the finest rock song ever
The Mamas & The Papas
2/5
Like the harmonies but still a bit schmaltzy.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
What needs to be said?
Joni Mitchell
3/5
The very forward in the mix bass makes it hard to see these as original pop songs and not jazz vocals. Strange record.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
2/5
Docking a point for the offensive Welfare mothers song and all the native American woo woo themes.
David Bowie
2/5
I love Bowie but like much of his post Let's Dance material, this was not memorable and there's no reason it should be on the list.
Giant Sand
4/5
I had never heard this band and was pleasantly surprised. Very similar vibe to Bill Callahan/Smog.
David Holmes
2/5
The list's enthusiast for drum and bass is baffling. The James bond cover was okay, but all the gritty NYC street samples were tiresome.
Justin Timberlake
3/5
This was fine but doesn't move me much.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
5/5
Have no review but really liked it.
Willie Nelson
4/5
Sublime.
3/5
Hmm. Dated but has some interesting ideas.
Arrested Development
3/5
like De La Soul in the positivity and clever samples, minus the humor and in-between song skits. I knew the hits but was pleasantly surprised by the rest.
David Bowie
4/5
Other than the unneeded Stones cover, a great peak Bowie lp. "Lady grinning soul "should be as overplayed as ziggy stardust is; it's a better song!
AC/DC
4/5
The one to have from the brian johnson era.
Stan Getz
4/5
Between this and brubecks Time out, I'm ready to embrace my inner Don Draper. I'll play this at my next suburban cocktail party, surrounded by mid century modern furniture and John Updike first editions.
Slipknot
1/5
There are 4 or so Nu Metal titles on the list. That's 3 too many.
Hot Chip
3/5
This was fine but I feel like Made in the dark (the one with Ready for the Floor) is the hot chip record on needs to hear.
Beatles
4/5
That happy medium between garage band moptops and psychedelic indulgence.
The White Stripes
3/5
Better than a lot of the 21st century stuff on the list.
Michael Kiwanuka
3/5
Had never heard of this artist before; it's rare that the List surprises me that way. This was pleasant enough soul but I'm unlikely to revisit it.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
To misquote Blixa Bargeld of Neubauten, it's not often that I want to listen to Leonard Cohen, but when I do, there's nothing else I'd rather hear.
Elliott Smith
5/5
Still breaks my heart to listen to his records because he was so talented. What an immense loss.
Steve Earle
2/5
Like Cher, Steve Earle is a mediocre musician who turned out to be a fantastic actor (Treme, The Wire). This record did nothing for me.
Cream
2/5
I had only heard the three hits. I liked the rest of it okay until that Music Hall song tacked on to the end. Ruined the whole vibe.
Pixies
4/5
Would be perfect without the "skit" style samples about field hockey players and touching Kim's amp.
Madness
2/5
This wasn't even released in the US at the time so I was not familiar with it, but why they picked this one and not One Step Beyond makes no sense to me.
Mott The Hoople
3/5
The paradox of this band is that if T.rex and Bowie didn't exist, they would have likely been huge, but had that had happened , there goes their biggest influences and they also never make it huge.
I also love the English pronunciation of "bew-ghee" for "boogie" from them and T.rex.
The Saints
3/5
Sounds like one of those punk albums that tanked at the time and later became influential in retrospect.
Buena Vista Social Club
3/5
a good listen but not really my thing.
Nirvana
4/5
Finally I have an answer to the question "how does spotify handle CD hidden tracks?".
As for the record itself, it was a breath of fresh air at the time, pounding the final nail into the hair metal coffin. It still holds up, but I listened to it so much at the time it's hard to evaluate it fairly.
Depeche Mode
4/5
I bought this record new and saw them on this tour, so I am biased towards loving this record because it came out at the exact perfect time in my life to hear it.
Def Leppard
3/5
Okay, I really, really wanna roast this record for being radio friendly lite AC/DC pablum but
1) it was everywhere in junior high and I have to respect the market share and how it was the soundtrack to my pre teen years
2) def leppard covered Jobriath's Heartbeat and a bunch of glam rock songs on their covers record "Yeah!"and the lead singer was in the Jobriath AD documentary praising his work. It's part of my Repo Code that I can't dis another Jobriath fan, so pyromania gets a 3, even if Thomas Dolby used a pseudonym rather than be associated with working on it.
Ray Charles
3/5
Its not particularly country by my standards, and it has that Frank Sinatra style overproduction typical of records from the era. But I mostly liked it.
R.E.M.
5/5
They influenced thousands of jangly college rock bands and still managed to get huge enough to play arenas when Stand was a hit. Influence is enough to get a 4, but the melodies still hold up as something unlike the other music being made at the time.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
There are 4 Stevie Wonder records on the list and this one has no hits on it. Its fine but certainly not part of the canon.
R.E.M.
4/5
Where they get hugely popular without selling out (too much). Only time i saw them live was on this tour. They closed with a cover of Cameo's "Word up".
The xx
2/5
Yet another "guess you have to have lived in the UK when this was a big deal to appreciate" album. It's fine. Didn't move me much and the singles that was obviously the single with the Hall and oats sample felt like a calculated lab-generated hit.
King Crimson
4/5
I was prepared to hate this because it's prog rock. I expected indulgent noodling a la the worst Rick Wakeman (Yes) or Keith Emerson (ELP) keyboard solos. Yes, its overworked, but there's precision and discipline to the songs. Kinda like Frank zappa; you can just hear the rehearsals embedded in the recording.
I appreciated its complexity and was pleasantly surprised by this. I won't listen to it often again, but like a 3 hour foreign film you're glad to be done with, it did stay with me hours later.
Iron Maiden
3/5
It is absolutely essential that there be a classic Maiden lp on the list, and there is: Number of the Beast. This one is pretty good for a debut but has the singer they ditched after 2 albums. I'll rate it for content and not for shouldn't be on the list.
Arctic Monkeys
3/5
Had heard this when it was new and the Next Big Thing. It's fine but doesn't really stick with me or make me curious about the rest of their catalog.
PJ Harvey
4/5
Great debut, holds up
Pavement
3/5
I like their earlier stuff better but this is the one that has the singles, so..
Adele
3/5
Like an Amy Winehouse you can play for grandma. Good singles and I dont hate it, but unlikely to seek her songs out.
Nick Drake
3/5
Like cat stevens for hipsters.
Talking Heads
4/5
Still sounds unlike most of the bands they influenced.
The Replacements
4/5
I kinda missed the boat on them when they were college rock darlings but at their peak, they were fantastic.
Death In Vegas
2/5
Dull and forgettable.
Slipknot
1/5
This one was slightly better than the -other- Slipknot record we endured, but not enough to raise the score from 1.
Fun fact: no longer on the list (but no one told the 1001 selection tool)
Led Zeppelin
4/5
For all the arena rock nonsense they spawned, zep is still a band thats pleasurable to listen to today.
Radiohead
5/5
Still sounds great decades later.
The White Stripes
4/5
Still holds up
Blue Cheer
2/5
That was way too much drum solo for a 32 minute LP.
Various Artists
2/5
Surely there are other phil spector Wall of sound LPs on the list so we dont have to sit thru another recording of Rudolph? Harmless but unessential.
OutKast
3/5
Way too long (couldn't these have stood alone as 2 separate lps, or did they think Hey Ya would be enough to get people to buy this), but mostly kept my interest.
John Lennon
3/5
I understand the importance of the Beatles, but was never a "fan". My feeling about the beatles is like Dickens; I understand why Charles Dickens is important for the birth of the modern novel, but I dont wanna read Dickens now.
So this Lennon record, I knew the title track and jealous guy. The rest did not stick. As a contrast, I listened to McCartneys RAM right after, since it was released the same year and was the second solo lp for each. Hate to say it but I thought Paul's was the better rexord.
Butthole Surfers
4/5
I own this, think they should be on the list, and think this was the right choice as representive of the band. That said, certainly not for everyone, but necessary to see just how weird American underground music could get in the 80s.
An aside: a Letterbox review of the movie Slacker has been making the rounds lately: "A beautiful snapshot of what life can be like when an entire city is mentally ill in roughly the same way.
You could show this to basically any human being from any era in history and -barring language barrier issues- they'd be able to correctly guess which member of this cast played drums for the Butthole Surfers."
Lucinda Williams
3/5
Not usually my genre, but I liked this okay. Halfway thru it felt like a geography lesson, though.
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
4/5
Fondly remembered from my college radio days, though I think Mainstream was the lp I had. The perfect singer songwriter of that age; not as inscrutable as REM, and nowhere near as polemic as Morrissey/Smiths. Maybe his normalcy kept him from being a superstar?
U2
4/5
Man, I remember when this was their breakthrough record and that looked like it would be their peak. Never thought they'd reach Rolling Stones level of fame, but I also stopped listening to this band after Rattle and Hum. Still, this is probably the record of theirs to hear.
Also, "Seconds" always sounded like a Police song to me.