Journey in Progress
Discovering music one album at a time
232
Albums Rated
3.36
Avg Rating
36
5-Star Albums
21%
Complete
857 albums remaining
Rating Speed
5
Per Week
323
Days Active
Reviews
231
Written
100%
Review Rate
vs Global
0.02
Avg Diff
3.36
Avg Rating
Rating Distribution
How you rate albums
Rating Timeline
Average rating over time
Ratings by Decade
Which era do you prefer?
Activity by Day
When do you listen?
Taste Profile
1970s
Favorite Decade
Jazz
Favorite Genre
other
Top Origin
Balanced
Rater Style
16
1-Star Albums
Taste Analysis
Genre Preferences
Ratings by genre
Origin Preferences
Ratings by country
Rating Style
You Love More Than Most
Albums you rated higher than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fear and Whiskey | 5 | 2.6 | +2.4 |
| Pictures At An Exhibition | 5 | 2.64 | +2.36 |
| Ctrl | 5 | 2.91 | +2.09 |
| Superfuzz Bigmuff | 5 | 2.93 | +2.07 |
| Ingenue | 5 | 2.94 | +2.06 |
| Duck Stab/Buster & Glen | 4 | 2.03 | +1.97 |
| Slanted And Enchanted | 5 | 3.03 | +1.97 |
| Ambient 1/Music For Airports | 5 | 3.07 | +1.93 |
| Miriam Makeba | 5 | 3.19 | +1.81 |
| The World is a Ghetto | 5 | 3.35 | +1.65 |
You Love Less Than Most
Albums you rated lower than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gorillaz | 1 | 3.53 | -2.53 |
| If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears | 1 | 3.42 | -2.42 |
| Aftermath | 1 | 3.39 | -2.39 |
| Bad Company | 1 | 3.26 | -2.26 |
| Bluesbreakers | 1 | 3.16 | -2.16 |
| Lost Souls | 1 | 3.15 | -2.15 |
| Who Killed...... The Zutons? | 1 | 3.15 | -2.15 |
| Billion Dollar Babies | 1 | 3.11 | -2.11 |
| The Libertines | 1 | 3.01 | -2.01 |
| Smokers Delight | 1 | 2.91 | -1.91 |
Artist Analysis
Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums and high weighted score
| Artist | Albums | Avg | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Led Zeppelin | 3 | 4.67 | 3.83 |
| Steely Dan | 3 | 4.67 | 3.83 |
| Talking Heads | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Nick Drake | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Black Sabbath | 3 | 4.33 | 3.67 |
| David Bowie | 3 | 4.33 | 3.67 |
5-Star Albums (36)
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Popular Reviews
Pentangle
2/5
Of all the albums that exist in the world this is certainly one of them. Yeesh.
3 likes
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
I had a LOT to say cause there’s a LOT of album but it’s 5 stars, holy shit, what a record.
While they will never admit it the band is absolutely throwing all those raw emotions in a blender and then sequencing them as though the fight is ongoing between everyone. The songs are on point, ranging from angry whimpering to gorgeously sad.
Lindsey Buckingham is an absolute asshole but his guitar and harmony are so on point, and he’s not attempting to hide that at any point. “The Ledge” and “I Know I’m Not Wrong” are totally on point for him, the latter sounding like something R.E.M. would be cooking up a few years later.
Stevie is absolutely in her witchy vibes here with some gorgeous tunes. “Sara” is the standout hit, and it’s easy to point to why, but “Storms” is easily my favorite. She’s deep in the vibes and bringing the raw emotions she always does.
Christine McVie gets a lot of shine too, with “Over & Over”, “Think About Me” and the absolute heartbreaker, “Never Make Me Cry”. She’s a perfect counterpoint to Stevie’s drama with thoughtful, direct lyrics and her stunning voice.
Also, there’s “Tusk”, which just explodes like a bomb right at the end. Just a total maniacal release of the infighting, the emotional aftermath, of everything that had occurred before and during Rumours. This is a band doing therapy through songs and my god did they put some good ones together.
It may not be perfect for everyone but it’s perfect to me. 5/5.
1 likes
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
Fuck, man. What a record. I remember this coming out, loving “Alright” and “Blacker the Berry” and kinda enjoying the rest of the record but never picking it back up.
A lot has happened since then. Namely that my whole worldview has shifted and perspective changed. And now, listening to this again, Kendrick is attacking on so many levels, on so many fronts, that it’s amazing that this album stays together and doesn’t explode under its own intensity.
There’s bangers aplenty, including “King Kunta”, “i” and the aforementioned hits. There’s more freeform explorations like “Wesley’s Theory” and “For Free?” There’s the haunting, arresting vulnerability of “u” that adds so much more exuberance to “Alright”. And there’s the absolute brilliance of “Mortal Men” and Kendrick digging through the archives to spend one brief moment with Pac.
Even if I wasn’t in love with a song, it felt part of a whole, a story that needed to unfold in its own way on its own time. And at 80 minutes this could be a slog. It’s not - it’s a masterpiece. Hail Kendrick.
1 likes
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
1/5
Ok for all our complaining about dad rock this might be the worst dad rock offender of all. Buncha white dudes just blues riffing while the blandest kids discover that maybe black music is cool but attribute it to Clapton and spray paint “Clapton Is God” on walls. Yuck.
Hey how do you make Ray Charles boring???? Asking for a friend.
1 likes
Steely Dan
5/5
Welp we’re back with the Dan and quite possibly their best album. Feels sacrilegious to say but hot damn is this all killer no filler from a band that wasn’t even sure if they could sing on their own songs yet. Sure, Steely Dan would refine their sound and reach absolute pinnacle of production later in the 70s. But this highlights their songwriting on a ton of different levels, and that’s not to mention what a bop all these songs are. And there’s never been an album that captured the malaise of the 70s beyond this one.
I have nothing bad to say here. Sheer perfection, even the songs that aren’t the greatest.
1 likes
1-Star Albums (16)
All Ratings
The Cure
4/5
Look I’ve only taken a spin at one full album by The Cure and there’s a reason this one is it. It’s so rich and tremendous in scope while the melodies and tones feel like a fragile flower. And yeah, it’s dated, but not in a way that hurts.
“Plainsong” and “Pictures of You” still hold as one of the best 1-2 punches to kick an album off, ever.
Whole album is shoegaze before anyone really knew what it was, which also, see The Cure. But still the arrangements going into this are so much deeper than anything they did before or after.
Lovesong is still such a sneaky great dark love song. Robert Smith had a way of making love songs or pop songs desperate, sexy and sinister at the same time. Annoying when they play it on the radio all the time but perfectly placed in the album.
Lullaby is a masterpiece of gothic horror, bless you Robert, you absolute weirdo.
Fascination Street is the closest to metal The Cure ever got but hot damn is it fantastic. One of their best.
Also the way that the album just continues to descend into darkness and loneliness and despair - yes there’s some same-iness but there’s a concept here and I dig it.
Someone could score a film to this album and it’d be pretty damn good.
OK I’ll admit once we hit “Same Deep a water as You” it’s a little samey, things moving a bit slow.
Second half drags though Robert is a desperate sad boy. “Homesick” is lovely though. And “Untitled” has its moments.
The first half is so solid; the second wanders off instead. But still some of the most lush, intricate arrangements The Cure would ever do.
AC/DC
3/5
HA. My father’s love of classic rock has led me to this moment.
First of all, AC/DC was always better with Bon Scott at lead vocal, so this album, while solid, doesn’t scratch the itch that the 70’s albums do.
First of all GOD the double entendres are a lot. It’s like Angus and crew wanted to make a whole album of “Big Balls” and then a couple of solid rock songs.
If you ignore the lyrics, the riffs are still really good. Angus Young is one of the few rock guitarists who had his own tone and feel, even if it was bar rock supreme.
“Hell’s Bells” is still a fucking great opener; “What You Do for Money Honey” has awesome riffs and chorus.
The second side has a lot more impact than the first though - starting Side 2 with “Back in Black” and “You Shook Me All Night Long” is inspired.
One thing you notice on listening deeply is they really beefed up the production - you hear a lot of buzz and noise on the Bon Scott albums and this sounds pristine. And for AC/DC, I don’t think it’s a good thing.
This just misses how propulsive and powerful the band was in the 70’s. Beyond just the hits, the band straddled the line between punk and arena rock, and this album firmly put them in the latter.
Still, “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution” remains one of my favorites of theirs and a consummate album closer. The slow build, the crowd effect - it’s a fucking awesome rock tune. And a fitting tribute to the lost rock legend at the front of the band.
I just wish the whole album had that vibe.
The Rolling Stones
1/5
It’s hilarious I’m listening to this after everyone has aired their grievances, lol.
Reading into this a bit it’s objectively hilarious that they picked this as part of the Stones’ canon. This feels like them desperately trying to find their voice.
I actually love “Mother’s Little Helper” as a satire of how much speed had saturated normal life, it’s genuinely good and a decent tune.
And then, abject idiocy. This band wrote some legitimately great tunes what are they doing with “Stupid Girl”?
“Lady Jane” is begging for someone other than Mick to sing this song. I feel like Brian Jones thought this was a good idea but Mick is the absolute wrong person to sing this tune. The music is kinda gorgeous though - almost gives the same impression as “Golden Brown” by The Stranglers.
“Under My Thumb” still slaps with the overfuzzed bass and the marimbas, which is the only saving grace cause yeah what in the actual fuck were you thinking, Mick. Some of this is almost worse than the more objectively criminal lyrics because it’s sung like it’s absolutely ok. Blurf.
“Doncha Bother Me” is just the Stones doing their early blues schtick with a few more bells and whistles but like - they did so much better just two years later, why is *this* seminal listening?
“Going Home” is a snoozefest after the first verse and there’s 11 minutes but OK. I’ll just go listen to Ten Years After jam on “I’m Going Home” for 11 minutes at Woodstock instead.
Anyway while they’re fucking around I will say - there is an element of this that is fascinating to hear a band figuring out their sound. However I would not call it something that’s required listening; just interesting for fans of the band itself. Brian Jones is doing so much heavy lifting here.
They’re still going with this bullshit jam god bless them. What trash.
“Flight 505” isn’t terrible, though it’s way overproduced with the organ - it’s indicative of a ton of the problems with overproduction on this album. They don’t have a George Martin to tell them “no that will sound bloody awful boys”. Also lol they just wrote a song about crashing a plane into the ocean. Cool, great ending.
The fucking rich irony of writing a song like “High and Dry” after being an absolute fucking monster the rest of the album.
“Out of Time” is the second legitimately good song on the record, the doo-wop skewering works and the harmonies actually work. Mick’s range is actually on display here. Even if it is about telling a woman she’s frumpy and bad because that seems to be the theme of the album.
Boys. The song ended a minute and a half ago. C’mon now.
Again THE IRONY OF SINGING THAT IT’S HARD TO BE ALONE. GEE I WONDER WHY.
I do love “I Am Waiting”, a genuinely beautiful song with incredible harmonies and a gorgeous sentiment.
“Take It or Leave It” is also incredibly solid, damn did you figure some shit out? Some legitimately great tunes here at the end.
Nope there we go with another gaslighting song. Fuck off man. I can think back to what a fucking sack of donkey shit you were the rest of this album.
Christ what a spiteful album, except for a handful of gorgeous tunes.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Hell yeah, the album where Zeppelin let loose for a bit. Led Zeppelin was the first band I was ever like “whoa you can do this with music?” band and they’re still an all time fave of mine.
This is a weird one since it’s an album and a half and then some rarities, but it’s a band who had burned so bright so fast and then just wandered down another path for a second half. This album is the peak of them just being like “hey what else can we do besides blues”.
Said a lot of this in the chat but this is an album of extremely high highs and extremely mid lows. The songs that I love from this album are some of the band’s best, and then there’s a lot where I wonder if it could just get released later on the box sets.
“In My Time of Dying” is still Top 3 of their work, just absolutely blasting blues better than anyone of their era. So dark, so hardcore, so punchy. John Bonham is KILLING it on the drums. It’s truly an incredible tune, one of my faves.
Also on my good list is “Houses of the Holy,” “Down by the Seaside,” “Ten Years Gone,” and “Black Country Woman.” “Sick Again” gets an honorable mention because what a fucking riff but yeesh the lyrics.
Down at the bottom are “Trampled Under Foot,” “Night Flight,” and “Boogie with Stu”, but that’s splitting hairs because I’m still bobbing my head to all of them.
Anyway, I can’t fully divorce the nostalgia and vibes of Zeppelin, but this definitely isn’t their peak, and I totally get some of the lower ratings that’ll come.
Deep Purple
3/5
The sheer level of Dad Rock™️ has been off the charts but the one note here is we have something a little different to listen to. Some origins of metal here even if it’s DEFINITELY dated.
First of all, shout out to the organ running through a rock amplifier. Such a good sound.
“Highway Star” is absolutely predicting Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, though with a slight prog twist with the organ going all over the place. The twin leads solo is super fun but a little sloppy (which means you know these dudes were doing it for real). Song rocks, even if it’s incredibly dumb.
“Maybe I’m a Leo” is…certainly a follow-up. They can certainly rip but this blues riffing is a) nonsensical and b) boooooooring. Real momentum killer here.
“Pictures of Home” gets back in the groove and sweeps me back. It’s missing the edge and deeper groove of the Sabbath greats but have real “Children of the Grave” vibes, with a prog twist. Much better, and should’ve been the second song.
Side note: some of these solos fucking rule; they’re not perfect, but that makes them all the more enjoyable. You feel like you’re listening to the cool older kids shred while you’re watching. It’s a neat vibe.
Sigh, and then we’re back to the blues funk stuff which is just not good. “Never Before” is just more boring generic dad rock. It honestly makes me wonder if this album is gonna be back and forth the entire time. Also, is this a song about their estranged mom? Cause it sure sounds like a whiny teen.
Ah, yes, “Smoke on the Water.” The first song anyone learns on an electric guitar. Though it should be an organ given this album. Anyway that fucking bass is DANK and the organ distortion is just perfect with the guitar riff. Plus, it’s a legendary rock story too. Classic song, perfect riff and a banger of a chorus.
Again - everything in this album sounds like dudes just fucking jamming out with little to no effort to refine. I kinda love it.
“Lazy” goes hard on the organ to start, which is always fun…and then it goes back to bullshit blues jamming. HOW DO THEY KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS!!!
Now I do know of “Space Truckin’” and I love it. Because it sounds like a song a trucker in space would love. Does what it says on the tin. Simple as.
I’m not including “When a Blind Man Cries” for my review but general notes: 🤢🤢🤢
This is a deeply stupid album that I somehow mostly enjoyed. A very dumb rock band but they know it and I appreciate that and love that journey for them. Keep it up boys.
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
1/5
Ok for all our complaining about dad rock this might be the worst dad rock offender of all. Buncha white dudes just blues riffing while the blandest kids discover that maybe black music is cool but attribute it to Clapton and spray paint “Clapton Is God” on walls. Yuck.
Hey how do you make Ray Charles boring???? Asking for a friend.
Jacques Brel
3/5
First of all, thank fuck for an album that isn’t dad riffs. Sure it’s dad jazz, but I’ll take it over everything else we’ve been listening to.
“Amsterdam” is worth the price of admission here, with such understated power arranged behind “Greensleeves”. It’s a stunning tune, with passion and swagger for days.
It’s hard to dive too deep into some of the other songs as they can feel a little same-y; “Les vieux” and “Les plat pays” are both excellent but some of the songs at a little chintzy. Still, there’s no denying the power here. I give it a 3 rounding down from 3.5; if there were more standouts I’d go higher. Breath of fresh air from where we’ve been though.
Steely Dan
4/5
God I love Steely Dan. This is definitely not their best but there’s still a ton of magic to go around.
High points are “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number”, “Any Major Dude Will Tell You”, “Barrytown” and “Charlie Freak”. Low points - look we can do without the Duke Ellington tune for no reason boys.
This is really a band in transition, moving from a rock band with jazz influence to a jazz band with rock sensibilities. They’d really hit their peak by The Royal Scam and Aja, but still a worthwhile record.
4/5. Not my fave of theirs but still so many good moments.
Nas
3/5
I pushed through this one quick and didn’t have a lot to say. Nas is…fine. He’s an incredible technical rapper and his beats are metronome precise but there’s always just a little missing oomph and this listen didn’t catch me. 3/5 on this one.
Yes
4/5
Yes is a band I haven’t spent a whole lot of time with but as I’ve kicked around the edges of prog now and then (and recognized their hits) I’ve felt like they’re a band I would enjoy. And here is a delightful example of that.
Yes, this is all very noodly and goofy and no I wouldn’t think everyone loves it. But the sound, the directions they’re pushing, the mix of folk, organ, rock, shuffle, metal - it’s a heavy dose, and it’s really, really solid. One of those few albums where you go “oh no dig deeper dudes, there’s a lot more to get to.”
“Yours is No Disgrace” has this funky country twang and picking under a truly fuzzed blown out bass, clean licks and a truly punchy organ. There’s a lot going on, but in a good way.
“Clap” is more folksy and a bit of an outlier. It’s pretty but it’s not doing a whole lot here.
“Starship Trooper” fucking rules, especially the last third. When the organ comes in at the end with a roar to back the riff, we’re deeply into prog metal and it’s absolutely perfect. Seminal tune.
“I’ve Seen All People” is the one song I definitely knew from this album. The first movement is honestly the better half, as the chorus, church organ and band builds behind the refrain and pulls together. The rest of the song runs more as an extended jam riff, but it’s not as powerful as the first half.
“A Venture” is a jazzy little number that’s got a lot of fun twists and turns, even if it feels a bit like carnival music sometimes.
BTW, among all of this, the lyrics are SOLID. There’s real poetry here among the prog, not just weird fantasy images that some attribute to the genre. These are real brainy tunes, but not in a way that’s over the top.
“Perpetual Change” is a little more ponderous and wandering than the earlier tracks. And then THAT part happens where the polyrhythmic split happens and…ok well now we’re into the full limits. This band knows how to BUILD.
Really cool album. Love digging deeper on these dudes, can’t wait for more.
Miriam Makeba
5/5
A beautiful and jazzy debut, full of fun and smirking nightclub joy. This feels like Miriam being brought to a nightclub to create whatever set she wanted, and her taking full advantage of the opportunity. It’s no wonder this is deemed a classic.
There’s really only one weak track, “One More Dance”, that’s taken over by an overbearing duet partner who laughs the whole way through. Without context, it just fees out of place in an otherwise perfectly cohesive set.
This one will be a return trip for me for sure. Belongs in the “perfect vibe” stack of albums. Really solid.
Lorde
2/5
Here we go - an album I have zero real conceptions to offer.
“Green Light” has a solid build, lots of good twists and turns. There’s a lot of that 2010s piano pop but with a disco beat building. Nice way to start.
“Sober” is fine, a little on the nose lyrically.
Also yeah I can REALLY tell this is a Jack Antonoff joint. That sound is so hit or miss, it’s though he is so committed to highlighting the artist that if the song is weak it only reveals that weakness and feels cheap. When the song is good, it adds a bright layer. It’s noble, but there’s very little that his production enhances.
“Homemade Dynamite” is better with a little more passion, but hoooooo boy that chorus is rough. I will admit, my initial blush on Lorde was always tied to “Royals” and how much whisper singing she did. There’s a lot more here, but her vocals still stay on a single level a lot.
“The Louvre” is also solid, but god these lyrics. Right when she has me hooked she throws in “broadcast the boom boom boom” and I’m lost again. Some of these songs seem allergic to a real cathartic build, for the sake of a dance breakdown. It’s frustrating, cause there’s a lot good but it’s always undercut.
“Liability” stands out perfectly because it’s fully stripped back. It’s not insisting in the production. She writes great songs, it’s just getting messy in the production.
Frank Zappa
4/5
I haven’t spent a deep amount of time with Zappa and have had it on the list for a while. And this album…look it’s jazz funk fusion wankery but god is it done well.
I think the thing that keeps me into all of this is how propulsive the tunes are. There’s a LOT going on, and that makes sense for Frank, but it’s always moving forward. It’s a continuous groove, which keeps you in the rollercoaster.
The first side is probably my favorite, with “Peaches en Regalia” as a perfect table setter for Beefheart’s cameo on the riff-fest that is “Willie the Pimp”. But “Son of Mr. Green Genes” is my favorite of the whole album - it just has a gorgeous groove and counterpoint, with the chorus feeling like a psychedelic big band.
The second half is a bit less cohesive, though “The Gumbo Variations” builds really well around the funky swampy vibe.
For an artist whose output is both prodigious and intimidating, this is a heck of a great album to dive into. Not perfect by any means but this is one I’d return to if I needed to just vibe out. And it makes me want to explore more of Zappa and the Mothers.
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
I had a LOT to say cause there’s a LOT of album but it’s 5 stars, holy shit, what a record.
While they will never admit it the band is absolutely throwing all those raw emotions in a blender and then sequencing them as though the fight is ongoing between everyone. The songs are on point, ranging from angry whimpering to gorgeously sad.
Lindsey Buckingham is an absolute asshole but his guitar and harmony are so on point, and he’s not attempting to hide that at any point. “The Ledge” and “I Know I’m Not Wrong” are totally on point for him, the latter sounding like something R.E.M. would be cooking up a few years later.
Stevie is absolutely in her witchy vibes here with some gorgeous tunes. “Sara” is the standout hit, and it’s easy to point to why, but “Storms” is easily my favorite. She’s deep in the vibes and bringing the raw emotions she always does.
Christine McVie gets a lot of shine too, with “Over & Over”, “Think About Me” and the absolute heartbreaker, “Never Make Me Cry”. She’s a perfect counterpoint to Stevie’s drama with thoughtful, direct lyrics and her stunning voice.
Also, there’s “Tusk”, which just explodes like a bomb right at the end. Just a total maniacal release of the infighting, the emotional aftermath, of everything that had occurred before and during Rumours. This is a band doing therapy through songs and my god did they put some good ones together.
It may not be perfect for everyone but it’s perfect to me. 5/5.
Thelonious Monk
2/5
I hate to say this for a legend like Monk but this album just feels so unremarkable. Nothing here really grabs me, no hook. None of the tracks particularly stand out, and though there’s some good moments, there’s nothing here that would really keep me plugged in. Just feels very generic, and not in a way I need to hear again.
Bad Company
1/5
OK now we’re in the real dregs of dad rock. Bad Company was always a band that just felt a little too safe and tame for me with classic rock radio. That said, I’ll soldier through a new listen here to see what comes up.
“Can’t Get Enough” is such a classic rock standard it’s almost cliche to play it now. Everything about this guitar tone is the most generic sound you’ve ever heard. This song is literally only for teenagers in 1978 smoking weed in their trans am outside the Dairy Queen. Because no one would actually be seduced by this song. Maybe make out to it. God this song is so unsexy.
“Rock Steady” loses any momentum immediately after the cowbell kicks in. These dudes think they’re so cool and they sound like such dorks. It’s pathetic. Led Zeppelin I’m ashamed of you for making this band part of your label’s repertoire.
“Ready for Love” is actually a pretty good song, which is funny learning IT WAS ALREADY A MOTT THE HOOPLE SONG. Gee, wonder if maybe you four shouldn’t have been writing songs.
Some of this hate is absolutely the production. It’s as though they recorded this album and said “let’s make everything sound like it’s played into a wall of carpets and make sure the guitars aren’t too loud so we don’t make our mom mad.” There’s no attack on the guitar, no punch to the drums, no nothing. It’s really frustrating for rock songs that should be dynamic to get absolutely leveled to nothing by bad 70s production.
“Don’t Let Me Down” is actually a solid ballad, would be better if the first couple of songs hit harder. Didn’t hate it.
“Bad Company” is the one song I actually love from the band. The structure and minor tones are cool as hell, and it feels super cinematic. Plus they actually let the guitars rip for once, which makes it the most rocking song. They’re redeeming themselves a bit after some rough patches to start.
Although, my god, there’s so much reverb. Please, stop the reverb.
“The Way I Choose” is…OK. I don’t really love it as a weird dudes in a garage ballad, nor with this guitar chorus. But as a song, there’s a lot good here. Would love a more stripped back version with less overproduction.
“Movin’ On” is the first song I’ve heard that feels like an actual early 70’s classic rock jam. Guitars are bright and up front, drums are tight and grooving. Rodgers voice is nice and pointed, and the mix is just a little rough around the edges. If this is what the first half of the album sounded like, this would be much more tolerable.
“Seagull” is here, a folky ballad that would’ve been better served for someone else’s album. This is the problem with supergroups - too often they’re just throwing shit at the wall because it’s dudes jamming and feeling good and not thinking about a cohesive product.
It’s not as bad as it could be but it’s not great. And mostly, it’s what sounds like a killer live band ruined by squashed production. I love “Bad Company”; hate “Can’t Get Enough”; and find the rest just kinda blech. 1.5/5 but it’s rounding down.
Teenage Fanclub
4/5
Teenage Fanclub dares to ask “what if Big Star had shoegaze guitar tones” and does it near flawlessly. Power pop of the highest order with slacker lyrics and vibes. These guys walked so Blur and Oasis could run, but there’s something about these songs that feels totally outside of time.
Some of the tunes can hang around a bit too long for sure. There’s some tunes that feel a bit like filler when we could have made a perfect 10 song record. But songs like “The Concept”, “December”, “What You Do To Me”, “Star Sign”, “Alcoholiday” and the shoegaze perfection of “Is This Music?” are triumphs.
Maybe not for everyone but this was a delight to listen to the first time. 4/5.
Big Brother & The Holding Company
3/5
Psychedelic, messy, raw, disheveled blues rock with a powerhouse belting on the mic. This one is a time capsule of the highest order, sounding like a blues band for an acid bar.
“Combination of the Two” goes on a real journey between acid freakout and blues band, all the while driving ahead. Janis isn’t as featured here but it’s a real fuckin’ stomper of the highest order and a great kickoff.
“I Need A Man to Love” is straight up blues and now we’ve got Janis in full feature. You get a sense of how sloppy and raw the band is here, but that’s kinda the point. They swing, they groove, even if the guitars and bass are drenched in reverb and sound like they’re being played through a wall. Janis’ whispering howls build and build, though this is a taste of what’ll come.
The arrangement of “Summertime” might be one of my favorite things ever. Cribbing greatly from one of the all time greats, Nina Simone’s version of “You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To” at Newport, the guitars perfectly frame Janis’ plaintive whispers for a gorgeous retelling of Gershwin’s classic. It’s an absolute powerhouse performance.
But it’s nothing compared to “Piece of My Heart”. Perhaps the most utterly vulnerable belting you’ll hear committed to record, Janis Joplin cemented her legend right here. Her voice reads pure desperation with the band at full power. The chorus is worth the price admission alone. It’s just an amazing tune and she’s absolutely incredible singing it. Godspeed sweet Angel.
Side 2 kicks off with “Turtle Blues” to keep things a little more mellow, and it’s not as great. Janis is in full bar singer mode here with clinking glasses but it’s a bit strange to kick things off with a stripped back blues song. But oh well, she’s good nonetheless.
“Oh, Sweet Mary” goes full freak-out which is probably to be expected, and while the guitar sounds great, this is just not a good fit all around. This band is better when they’re going full blues and then wrapping it in crazy colored LSD packets. Going psych rock just feels weird.
“Ball and Chain”, the only ACTUAL live song, gets us back where we need to be. The guitar intro is just face melting in the beat way possible, letting you know that yes, you are listening to a Big Mama Thornton tune, but no, it is not gonna sound like a normal backing band is playing. And if you thought Janis sounded desperate before, buckle your fucking seatbelt. She’s channeling all the energy of the women coming before, and her voice is perfect to match the song here. Her whole range is on display here, over all 10 minutes. It’s a fitting finale for a sloppy yet powerful record that birthed a shooting star.
This is not gonna make a top 10 of all time lost, and it might not be a must listen for everyone. But if you want to hear the blues done by a woman who ACTUALLY sounds like she feels them, you owe it to yourself to check this one out. The guitar shreds, way more than one can say for some of the rock gods of the era. And it’s a real document of the era. 3.5, but knocking to 3 for the dragging 2nd half and the messy production choices
Television
3/5
The bedrock of post punk to come in the middle of the fertile NY scene. And an album I just hadn’t gotten to spend a lot of time with.
“See No Evil” is a great album starter and sets the tone that a) yeah it’s a rock album but b) it’s gonna be so much weirder than that. I’m not a huge fan of Verlaine’s vocals here but he more than makes up for it in his guitar, which is as precise as it is wildly unique. The band has a fully formed sound and that’s always a good sign.
“Venus” is a great take on 50’s and 60’s rock, mixing in all sorts of angular rhythm around a pop song. It’s like they’re dismantling sounds and rearranging them altogether.
“Friction” isn’t my favorite but it’s fun listening to these art dorks try to be a cock rock band and failing in the best way.
“Marquee Moon” is the absolute highlight here, a sprawling, cinematic piece that has jazz, math rock, post-punk, and drama for days. It’s continually building on itself and echoes all the great post-punk jams to come. A real show-stopper that could have easily been the album closer.
“Elevation” is a bit of a letdown after that, though it’s a solid song. In fact I can say this - even if I don’t love the song, you can tell this is a band that’s operating on its own level of skill. They’re a fully formed band, reminding me of Wire in just how tightly coiled they are, ready to pounce.
“Guiding Light” seems like their attempt at a deconstructed ballad, which is…ok. It’s plodding along a bit and with Tom Verlaine just howling through it doesn’t quite work.
I do have to say - a different singer would work sooooo much better. I just am not a fan of his vocals. Hate to say it because his guitar playing is phenomenal.
“Prove It” is definitely better, might have been a better Side B starter to be honest to keep the momentum. I can also get some Pavement vibes from this, though it’s also harkening back to Verlaine’s days with Richard Hell. This one grows on you with its blend of angular riffs and swing beat.
Lastly we have “Torn Curtain”, which sits firmly between a torch song and rock anthem. This one’s another bit of a letdown, at least as an album closer. The musical power of Side A feels like it fizzles on the other side, dragging a bit.
It’s undoubtedly a solid album and Television is a great band, but there’s a lot I wish they had done differently. I’d do 3.5/5 but 3 feels right for a thoroughly uneven album.
Alice Cooper
1/5
I feel actively dumber and less alive for having to listen to this edgelord bullshit. I would spend an entire review blasting each song but honestly, fuck you Alice Cooper, you’re not worth the effort.
Dion
4/5
This album is on so many quaaludes and I mean that in the best possible way. Dion is the dude that gave us “Runaround Sue” and “The Wanderer” with a sort of Jersey edge to the 60s doo-wop sound. But here, he’s doing pop tunes at 3/4 speed with all the wall of sound reverb you need. It’s an absolutely bonkers combo that somehow works perfectly.
To be fair, there’s some songs here that drag things back a bit, but from the opening thunder of drums in “Born to Be With You” to the desperation of “Make the Woman Love Me”; from Phil Spector’s batshit production on “(He’s Got) The Whole World In His Hands” to the gut punch of “New York City Story”, this one is a real hidden gem.
Khaled
2/5
Look, there’s some solid music here, but unfortunately this is a victim of the “let’s fill the cd with music” era. Everything runs together and nothing really gets to stand out. There’s no flow or shift in dynamics in the album, and it leaves me less curious to know the background of the songs.
It’s a 2/5 for me; I recognize the skill but there’s just not a lot to love.
Iron Maiden
4/5
This album is a perfect reminder that all metal dudes are the biggest fucking dorks, and it’s a real fine line if that dorkness is the good and enjoyable kind or the icky kind. Somehow, Iron Maiden presents us with both.
First of all, I’m not a huge power or new wave of British metal fan. I like the Sabbath groove and octave down guitars; I love drone and doom and that’s where I like to live. But it’s fun as shit to rock out to classics and this record is certainly a classic.
The problem here is the lyrics, and particularly “22 Acacia Avenue” and “Run to the Hills.” The first is maybe the worst woman-hating, whore-Madonna complex ass song I’ve heard committed to tape. And the latter, which fucking RIPS as a song, can’t make up its mind if it’s a song about native atrocities or celebrating the way settlers attacked. It’s really a topic Iron fucking Maiden didn’t need to broach, especially with a riff that hard.
Still, the dudes shred, in every possible way, and Bruce Dickinson is a force of nature with his vocal range. Real highlights are “The Prisoner,” “Number of the Beast,” “Run to the Hills” (it fucking goes, I just pretend not to see the lyrics) and “Hallowed Be Thy Name”.
It’s gonna get a 4 from me, rounded up from 3.5. It’s more than influential, it shreds, and it’s harder than a ton of stuff that tried to imitate their sound. But god, please, fix your lyrics boys.
The Go-Go's
5/5
Girls fucking rule. The Go-Go’s write fantastic pop rock that could have come out of 1966 or 2076. They bring a pink edge to bubblegum pop that’s been the inspiration for tons and tons of acts after them.
Their two hits, “Our Lips are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat” are classics for a reason but there’s so many other gems on here. “How Much More” and “Can’t Stop the World” keep the beat rolling along while “Lust to Love”, “This Town” and “Fading Fast” take a darker edge with vibes of the Shangri-Las.
And it’s not just the songs - this is just an incredibly solid band, right on beat, always in sync, perfectly working together. Zero bad things to say about this album.
The Doors
3/5
This is…a rough listen. The Doors are already an acquired taste, and as time goes on Jim Morrison is deteriorating right into your ears.
Which is a shame because this is one of the most cohesive records they did, the band sounds great, there’s a good groove and mix of different styles. But Jim just sinks it with his mumbling. It’s hard to know how to feel about this one, but I’m going 3 because of how good the rest of the band is despite their frontman starting to sink into his own addictions.
Anthrax
3/5
This record undeniably rips, shreds, slays…and then Joey Belladonna starts singing.
Look I enjoy thrash metal as much as the next guy but the melodic singing is just not vibing, and the songs sound like they were written by a bunch of nerds in a basement. Which like, yeah that’s all metal bands but still.
The songs are still good, and a hard thrashing metal record still gets some recognition. “N.F.L”, “I Am the Law” and “A Skeleton in the Closet” get the most here. But if this is Anthrax’s finest moment I can do without more.
Steely Dan
5/5
Welp we’re back with the Dan and quite possibly their best album. Feels sacrilegious to say but hot damn is this all killer no filler from a band that wasn’t even sure if they could sing on their own songs yet. Sure, Steely Dan would refine their sound and reach absolute pinnacle of production later in the 70s. But this highlights their songwriting on a ton of different levels, and that’s not to mention what a bop all these songs are. And there’s never been an album that captured the malaise of the 70s beyond this one.
I have nothing bad to say here. Sheer perfection, even the songs that aren’t the greatest.
Supertramp
4/5
Sits somewhere in the intersection of Steely Dan, Yes, ELO and bar rock, with their own unique spin. Some of these songs wander off in ways that feel like a whimper more than a bang, but when the songs hit, they HIT.
“Bloody Well Right” and “Dreamer” are familiar, upbeat hits and rightfully so. But the rest of the first half is solid as well: “Hide in Your Shell” and “Asylum” bring the drama and dynamics to perfection. And there’s clarinet for days in “If Everyone Was Listening” that makes me swoon. I didn’t have time to look and see if this was a concept album but if it isn’t it’d make a hell of a musical.
I’d go 3.5 if I could, but I’ll bump it up to a 4. There’s a lot to dig into here if I had more time.
Jeff Buckley
5/5
nothing I could say here can match the love I have for this album. Every time I hear this it makes me feel good, sad, beautiful feelings. 5/5.
Scissor Sisters
2/5
Who allowed these annoying dipshits to make a shitty disco cover of Pink Floyd? Who is responsible?
What a boring album. Can’t utterly hate it but it’s just so boooooring.
Travis
3/5
It’s very funny having a connection with this album, having bought it based on a video I saw for “Turn” on impulse.
There’s nothing grand or incredible about this record, but that’s kinda ok. The songwriting is good, and when Coldplay burst on the scene in 2000 I remember feeling like they were just copying Travis. “Driftwood” and “Turn” are hits for a reason, and “Slide Show” is a gorgeous tune at the end. Nothing great, but also nothing terrible. Solid 3.
Haircut 100
2/5
This is the most generic album I think I’ve ever heard. Painfully so. “Love Plus One” is a decent song, but these dudes have zero direction and zero depth. I want to give them some credit for participation but this is just so booooooring. It’s a 1 for me dawg.
The Who
4/5
An album that absolutely should be a mess considering the backstory but wound up being pretty great. It was near impossible for The Who to follow Tommy, though Townsend had an even bigger concept album planned in Life House. They recorded a ton of the songs live, kept pushing, Pete had a nervous breakdown, the band tried to pick up and recover, and somehow put something together from the ashes.
“Baba O’Riley” is still maybe the greatest opener in rock history, an instant anthem for the teenage wasteland. Other standout hits include “Behind Blue Eyes” (accept no substitutes) and “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” but “Getting in Tune”, “My Wife” and “The Bargain” are classics too. Still, they left off some of the greatest songs like “Water”, “Pure and Easy”, and “The Seeker” to emerge as one off singles or rarities later.
Daltrey is in peak vocal form here, with some of his best singing. Entwistle is as grooving and brilliant on base as ever, and Keith Moon is able to take his madcap energy to different anthemic moments just as well as the rockers he’s been playing to this point. If there’s any weak link, it’s Townsend, who sounds every bit as strung out as he was in real life. Only in the highest moments of “Baba O’Riley” and in the powerful thrumming of “Won’t Get Fooled Again” do we really hear his signature sound.
They’d peak one last time after this with the mod opera Quadrophenia, but this was a band in crisis, and out of it made a hell of an album. It’s just not their best.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
There was a moment where Elvis Costello was sort of a personal hero, which is a bit dangerous, because the dude had a real rough go early on and was not the greatest dude to be around. Still, it made for some incredible music, including this punk-adjacent cynical vision of late 50s rock and early 60s British Invasion.
Costello’s a master of matching pop sensibilities with bitterly acid lyrics, and everything he touches on this album feels on edge, ready to unleash wrath at any moment. Only Costello does it with his words more than his music, though the mix of organ and guitar feels sneering and sinister.
While this lacking the raw energy of his debut and the refined songwriting of later albums, this album shows a master iconoclast at the peak of his powers, and a hell of a backing band. And it rocks, so that’s always a plus.
The The
3/5
Is this record good? Not particularly. Is this record funky and fun? Yeah, kinda.
I dunno, there’s a LOT going on here, and some of its great and some of its just mleh. Hard to get a handle on it. It’s too cheesy to be new wave, too funky to be New Romantic, and too jazzy to be punk, but it’s also not in any of those categories either.
I have a soft spot in my heart for “This is the Day”, but other tracks like “Giant” and “The Sinking Feeling” are truly great. Others have their moments, not particularly my favorite but still solid.
I’d go right down the middle but alas, this site won’t let me, so I’ll put this just on the positive side and go 3/5.
Keith Jarrett
5/5
In a word: perfection. I didn’t know how I’d feel as I both love ECM but sometimes want to fall asleep out of boredom. But this is a triumph.
To know that Jarrett was improvising all of this makes it all the more awe-inspiring on the soul and depth of his playing. It surpasses technical skill - these songs sway, swing, punch, lilt, and ultimately hover and linger in brilliant melodies and rhythms.
Part 1 is my favorite, but 2 grew on me more on a second listen, and I anticipate there will be many more listens to come. 5/5, no doubts.
Minor Threat
3/5
Somewhere between the ferocity of Minor Threat’s first seven inches and the melodic focus of Fugazi’s debut lies this oddball of hardcore. It’s not the best as the songs and lyrics don’t have the power just right; they’re still being mixed like a live hardcore band. But there’s a glimmer there.
MacKaye’s vulnerability is what shines through on this record, pushing beyond the straight-edge manifesto of “Out of Step” and into deeper feelings. There’s ambivalence where there was once dogma, and it’s like watching someone grow up on real time.
Unfortunately that means that the songs are scattershot in quality. “Look Back & Laugh” and “Out of Step” are classics, while “Betray” and “Little Friend” capture some of the hardcore vibes. But the value here is seeing a band in flux, and that’s not enough to get a ton of stars.
Rage Against The Machine
3/5
This should have been Evil Empire, because this is just Rage as they’re figuring things out. Half the songs are Public Enemy ripoffs, and the others are good but still sound like bad metal production. They’ve done better, and as influential as it is, there’s so much more these guys did that it feels cheap to put this on the list.
Elvis Presley
3/5
Enjoyable if predictable. I could’ve done with a few more hits but it’s fun to hear Elvis when he’s brand new.
Shack
1/5
I didn’t think they made Liverpudlian musicians more Liverpool than the Fab Four but here we are I guess.
Look I enjoy some damn Britpop but this is so utterly generic it’s almost impressive. The album starts pretty great with “Natalie’s Party” and I had some hopes for some good harmony. But then, my god, it just continues to dive further into mediocrity.
This is like if Oasis was somehow more strung out and less coherent. And that would be a real feat considering how rough those boys had it. Please give me something better than this unseasoned chicken breast of rock.
Leftfield
3/5
There’s nothing unique about this album, but it has bangers, and it gets wild. These dudes clearly have great production skills and an ear for great beats. They’re at their best when they’re pushing thumping four-on-the-floor beats, all with a bounce that makes you bounce with them.
“Release the Pressure”, “Afro Left”, “Black Flute”, and “Storm 3000” are the real highlights for me, infinitely danceable tracks that have a little age but still bang. And their sheer breadth of style is impressive. But their efforts in more conventional EDM or even more ambient pieces just don’t have the same punch, and feel more like song collaborations than original tracks.
This is a solid 3.5 for me, and I’ll ultimately side with a 3. When the beat hits it hits hard. But I wish there was a bit more consistency in this album than was there.
The Fall
3/5
Interesting addition of pop sensibilities and hooks to the most angular repetitive band on earth. I love them, I love this, but I also anticipate a bunch of people hating it. Also by the second half the album’s dropped off entirely. Still, I can see that Brix had a HUGE impact on them, and it’s cool to see an already hugely influential band shift direction to influence a whole new set of people.
Garbage
2/5
I had a suspicion Garbage would be a greatest hits band but I had higher hopes here. It’s fine, aggressively so, and Shirley Manson being sexy and angsty can’t save an overproduced mess of trip-hop and grunge. Butch Vig assembled a band of producers but there’s just no soul to it.
ZZ Top
5/5
Can I get a hell yeah? Cause that's what I was doing the entire time here. I thought I'd be mad about the blues but then the slide riff on "Jesus Just Left Chicago" hit and I was bobbing with stank face.
Even for the most blues averse, Billy Gibbons’ swampy shredding, Dusty Hill’s perfect bass matching, and Frank Beard’s absolute precision on drums are undeniable. And they bring a swagger bigger than Texas and a soul that Clapton and his ilk would kill for.
ZZ Top is everything I actually love about Texas, instead of the bad shit. Fuckin’ great record.
The Jam
2/5
Oh, brother. This one is a rough listen. Sounds like a garage band trying to cover Rubber Soul and doing a shitty job at that.
The album starts off fine, and they're clearly going for some new sounds, but everything that made The Jam great, their perfect blend of mod R&B and sneering punk, is being reshuffled here. As it goes along there's nothing tight or powerful about their sound. It's like they're disintegrating as we listen. And it doesn't help that every song trails off out of tune.
"That's Entertainment" is the one great song out of the lot, but that alone can't save this one. A right mess.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
3/5
The formula is simple: take simple 50’s and 60’s rock and roll, build it on the Phil Spector “wall of sound”, turn the reverb up to 90,000% while playing on a concrete bunker, and then distort the guitars to the point that they sound like chainsaws. There lies The Jesus and Mary Chain.
It’s a fun bit, and the early returns are impressive. But there’s a drawback, at least on their debut: everything starts to blend together. After about 5 songs I’m just lost in the sauce, and while there’s some standout tunes later on, it does all feel like a wash at the end of the day.
It’s not bad by any means; “Just Like Honey”, “Taste the Floor” and “Sowing Seeds” are phenomenal. But maybe a few less tracks, a really tight core, could have made this album feel just right.
Stephen Stills
3/5
The first 1/3 of this album is pretty great, and then Stephen just starts genre wanking, and then somehow lands the plane perfectly right at the end.
It’s an unfocused effort, despite Stills’ clear desire to be recognized on par with his fellow Canadian, Neil Young. He doesn’t have the same sense of how everything flows together, and he doesn’t capture a singular voice.
Still, “Love the One You’re With” is simply magnificent, capturing lightning in a bottle; “Do for the Others” and “Church” are both brilliant pieces; and “We Are Not Helpless” is on par with Neil’s work. And even some of the meandering works, like “Go Back Home”, capture something a little more dynamic. But it’s messy, and not in a fun way.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
Killer album, bangers all. Even if I didn’t know or love the song I was still grooving. It’s definitely of its time so there’s a little bit of the sheen worn off but that doesn’t make it any less great.
The Velvet Underground
4/5
If the Velvet Underground established cool with Nico in 1967 and destroyed rock and roll on “Sister Ray” in 1968 then 1969’s eponymous third album was a gorgeous garden coming out of the ashes of the wreckage. There’s some absolutely stunning numbers here, including “Candy Says”, “Pale Blue Eyes”, “Beginning to See the Light”, and “I’m Set Free”. It’s probably the band’s high point, despite it being their quietest effort. I personally love Loaded, but it was a commercial effort that signified the end of the absolute raw nerve the band had tapped into. But here there’s a transformation and one that produces some incredible pop music for us to enjoy.
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
I’ve always had a soft spot for the Bunnymen after hearing Ocean Rain and some of their hits, but I haven’t fully dug in to their other work, so this is a fun chance.
Just on the strength of the album’s 1-2 opener alone, the band is everything U2 wished it could be, and so much more. Sure, there’s a level of this that plays into Ian McCullough’s ego and persona that feuded with the success of the post-punk that got massive success; but it’s telling that U2 couldn’t match the epic sound that the Bunnymen created until Joshua Tree, and even then can’t match the sheer creative power of the instrumentation.
Ocean Rain is a more polished album for sure, and more pop-friendly, but this is also masterful stuff. The arrangements, the production, the ability to throw so much into each song without it all flying off the rails - it’s an incredible mix.
All of this with McCullough’s Bowie-meets-Jim Morrison’s delivery demands deeper listening. I’m gonna need a few more times to digest the heights they are pushing here. As with Ocean Rain, Porcupine is bound to be one of those records I come back to again and again.
Nina Simone
5/5
It’s a crime there isn’t MORE Nina on this list, but if we were only gonna put one on the list, this isn’t a bad choice. Nina Simone is a powerhouse singer, unique in every way, gorgeous and seductive and sad all at the same time.
“Four Women” is an absolute gut punch, as masterful as “Strange Fruit” and reflective the suffering of black women without match in music to this day. It’s the highlight, but it’s not the only great tune here.
“What More Can I Say?”, “Lilac Wine”, “Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair”; Nina travels so many genres, so many styles here and hammers it home. I’m writing this only 3 songs in and it’s a perfect album already. Bless.
Wilco
3/5
Considering Wilco’s masterpiece is also on this list, I was curious to see this album here. It’s a fine slice of mid-90s alt-country, along with some of the wild weird stylings the band would go to construct later. But unfortunately this is a double album that’s really only an album and a half. By the 4th side, it’s worn out its welcome and lost the plot. In fact the whole album is a slow run of diminishing returns; “Misunderstood” is an absolute classic, but by 45 minutes you’re starting to wonder when they’re gonna a go ahead and wrap it up.
It’s a fine album, some great songs in the mix, but sometimes you really really need an edit.
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
Fuck, man. What a record. I remember this coming out, loving “Alright” and “Blacker the Berry” and kinda enjoying the rest of the record but never picking it back up.
A lot has happened since then. Namely that my whole worldview has shifted and perspective changed. And now, listening to this again, Kendrick is attacking on so many levels, on so many fronts, that it’s amazing that this album stays together and doesn’t explode under its own intensity.
There’s bangers aplenty, including “King Kunta”, “i” and the aforementioned hits. There’s more freeform explorations like “Wesley’s Theory” and “For Free?” There’s the haunting, arresting vulnerability of “u” that adds so much more exuberance to “Alright”. And there’s the absolute brilliance of “Mortal Men” and Kendrick digging through the archives to spend one brief moment with Pac.
Even if I wasn’t in love with a song, it felt part of a whole, a story that needed to unfold in its own way on its own time. And at 80 minutes this could be a slog. It’s not - it’s a masterpiece. Hail Kendrick.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Let’s be honest: Highway 61 is more a vibe than a full record. Dylan is throwing off all the folk weights that were holding him down, with mixed results.
“Like a Rolling Stone” is an iconic moment that will stand the test of time, and rightfully so. Each time you hear it there’s something new that burrows in your brain, and even as Dylan might hide layers of nonsense in other songs, there’s no doubt about his singing to expose the hypocrites and fakes he sees all around him, real or imagined.
The rest of the first half is pretty messy, all blues and surrealism, though “Ballad of a Thin Man” still feels of a moment.
Side B is when Bob really gets going, with “Queen Jane Approximately” keeping the boozy vibes afloat in the closest thing you’ll get to a ballad on the record; “Highway 61 Revisited” takes a tin whistle to existential new heights as Dylan breaks down biblical suffering with sarcasm and sneer; and “Just Tom Thumb’s Blues Again” is a perfect expression of malaise and melancholy that plays as well on a hot, humid day as it does on a cold rainy one.
The whole thing wraps with the epic “Desolation Row”, firing images in all directions and showing that the folk music Dylan had played until then was always there; it never left. But Bob wasn’t going to do it for anyone but himself. It’s a mess, but it’s a great mess.
Grateful Dead
2/5
There’s guitar noodling, and then there’s whatever “Dark Star” was in 1969. I have always been real meh about the Dead and this doesn’t make me love it that much.
Not that there aren’t some decent moments, here. “St. Stephen” and “Eleven” work really well together and the “Feedback” jam is a real high point, gorgeously weaving noise in melody. But man this is a slog to get through.
Carpenters
3/5
It’s hard to listen to the Carpenters and not think about my mom, and rolling my eyes at the radio. Because she loves them, knows every word, was obsessed with them like I’ve been obsessed with lord knows how many bands.
Hearing it fresh now, I’m struck by just how fucking good Karen Carpenter’s drumming is, clearing Ringo by a country fucking mile on their cover of “Help”. I’m also struck by how bland Richard’s voice is and how chintzy their song selection is. There’s a ton of depth there, and when they’re really pushing the edges of their musical style it works. But it seemed like they never wanted to push that far.
Karen’s the star, obviously - her voice is perfect and her drumming is totally on point while also getting all sorts of fills and crazy combos. She’s so immensely talented, and it feels like they just didn’t have the voices in the room to push outside their comfort zone.
Still, the hits are there for a reason, and their arrangements are great. I just wish they had dug a little deeper, like in “Superstar”, instead of always chasing pure pop perfection.
Ali Farka Touré
4/5
Pure perfect vibes, chilling all day with two guitar geniuses just blissed out and jamming. It goes a bit long but it’s a great background album.
Pearl Jam
4/5
It’s hard to be objective about one of your favorite bands of all time. I fell in love with Eddie and crew as a teenager and though it comes and goes, Pearl Jam remains one of my faves.
It’s frustrating that Ten is their most recognized and acclaimed album, since it’s far from their best. It was made in a rush, the sound muted and rough, and the songs full of lore that may have been better served on an EP elsewhere.
And yet, even with that, the energy here is undeniable. The band is mixing classic rock, funk and punk into a potent mix that has so much going on in so many directions. Eddie is on fucking fire, hitting all sorts of emotional peaks and valleys. And if the band isn’t their best, they’ve undeniably got something special, something heavy but vulnerable, which would mark their work for years to come.
I’d love if the list included their stronger work but I have to give the dudes a solid 4 stars for this one which still packs a punch.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
I joked about this being as short as Out of Step but this really does feel like an EP of collected songs more than a true album, although it’s still pretty fucking great.
Simon & Garfunkel are at their best exploring melodies and occasionally rocking out - as amazing as songs like “Scarborough Faire” and “For Emily…” are, there’s full out rockers like “The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine” and pure pop greatness like “Homeward Bound” to remind you these two could kinda do anything.
There’s really only two missteps: the pure goof of “A Simple Desultory Philippic” and the way too on the nose “Silent Night”. But the rest of this is stone cold bangers, even if it doesn’t all fit together.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2/5
I will be the first person to shout at the top of my lungs how much I love the Bad Seeds. Why this list chose a rambling messy concept album instead of some of their incredible early work is beyond me.
Sure, there’s some incredible songs, especially his duets with PJ Harvey and Kylie Minogue. But this is such a weird one-off take on murder ballads, and by the end the whole thing just drags itself along, culminating in the absolutely mind-numbing 15 minutes of “O’Malley’s Bar.” Nothing has the haunting, neurotic yelps of “From Her to Eternity” or the terrible creeping fear of “The Mercy Seat.”
The whole time I’m here I’m just thinking of other good Nick Cave albums. Maybe, just maybe, we could’ve left this one off the list.
John Cale
4/5
I honestly missed the last few days of albums because of being busy but also because I really needed to listen to this like 4 different times. There’s some truly sublime music here and then some very meh music and it’s hard to tell which is which. Sometimes it’s in the same song.
I’m giving this a 4, really a 3.5, but there’s a chance on a 12th listen it’ll be one of my favorites of all time.
Malcolm McLaren
2/5
Oh look, the guy who fleeced the Sex Pistols tried to claim he brought hip-hop to the UK. Look this isn’t as terrible as I expected but it’s also not good. Maybe it’s an inspiration, but for fuck’s sake Malcolm, you’re so white. The Avalanches did it way better and the beats actually worked.
Tears For Fears
3/5
The entire first half of this album is stone cold bangers and then it just plateaus. I wish they’d kept jabbing on different directions but it’s like they ran out of songs. Still, impeccably produced and a real pop sensibility to the darker synths makes this the peak of New Romantic music.
Radiohead
5/5
It’s Dark Side of the Moon for disaffected millennials and I adore it so much. I could wax poetic but I’m just gonna rate a 5 and keep it moving.
Cheap Trick
4/5
Sometimes you just need big dumb rock and roll. This album satisfied that need. Good stuff that’s only a little downgraded by some age.
Black Sabbath
4/5
Hell yeah, this isn’t polished at all but fuck the tone and the sound is so good. Sabbath’s peak would come a bit later but there’s something to them not having great production or control over the instruments. Iommi sounds like he’s battling his guitar the entire time, the band is thrashing, and Ozzy is in full theatrics. Great fuckin’ album, but could do without the 14 minute jam at the end.
Gorillaz
1/5
There might, MIGHT be 3 good songs here. The animation was cool but this doesn’t feel like a cool supergroup. It feels like wankery for no good reason.
Songhoy Blues
2/5
Not nearly as strong as Ali Farka Touré’s work, and purpose built for a “world music” section at a local health food store. But, still a vibe - I’ll admit I danced a little. I like Malian blues more than any blues from the 90s onward (SRV excepted) so at least there’s that.
The Doors
2/5
It’s a real shame the band sounds as good as they do because nothing would save Jim Morrison from choking on his own ego. I actually like “L.A. Woman” and “L’America” actually works pretty well, but this is a real fuckin’ whimper from what could have been an amazing band.
Bert Jansch
3/5
Bart Jensch
Soundgarden
4/5
In retrospect this was a really good album but not Soundgarden’s best. Still, they had several of their biggest hits and at least 10 of the 15 tracks here are certified bangers. It’s a little over cooked as an album, missing some of that edge that made them the most metal of all the grunge bands. But Chris Cornell is incredible and I can’t give this less than a 4.
Randy Newman
3/5
Randy is the John Prine of piano jazz standards, with his penchant for irony and blunt storytelling. It’s hard to divorce the man from his Pixar scores though, and while there’s some great songs here a lot of it is really muddled in between. I get adding it here but Randy might just be a greatest hits guy for me.
Johnny Cash
4/5
Everything about this album is a real feelings moment. June would pass away in May the next year, and Johnny would follow her soon after. Even in the video for “Hurt” you could tell he was coming to grips with the fact that he had little time left. This collection is more proof - a legend saying goodbye, from all the possible perspectives. The choice of covers and a few originals is powerful, ranging from his faith to his pain, from his love of his wife to the adoration of his fans. It’s a beautiful record, though it took a spin or two to grow on me. It’s not his best and it’s not perfection, but it’s definitely essential from the Man in Black.
Queen
3/5
The Saints
4/5
This fucking rips. It’s like the Dead Boys and Stooges manifested an Australian stepchild and threw them out into the universe. These dudes should be in the punk pantheon for their creativity alone. It’s not a perfect album and there’s some strays here and there, but overall one I’ll come back to.
CHIC
3/5
Solid disco album with one stone cold banger, but overall it just isn’t my cup of tea. Still, brilliant musicianship and can’t be mad I spend some time with it.
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
2/5
Woody Guthrie he ain’t but there’s some occasional moments of brilliance here. Still, there’s no rhyme nor reason to the song selection. A neat artifact but that’s about it.
Little Richard
4/5
Slaps harder than Elvis, makes you wanna dance. Not every song is a stone cold banger but Little Richard absolutely stakes his claim of being the true king of rock and roll.
Arctic Monkeys
3/5
A perfectly good Little Rock album that nevertheless leaves something wanting. These dudes were hailed as the heirs apparent to Britrock and while they were great for a rave up back in the day it’s nothing groundbreaking. Still, there’s some certified bangers here and it starts and ends with a blast. Just wish there was a little more.
Pentangle
2/5
Of all the albums that exist in the world this is certainly one of them. Yeesh.
Depeche Mode
4/5
This isn’t their best but it’s their breakout album and holy shit does the first side hit like a bomb. Dance music meant to be played on the loudest possible speakers, with the band reaching for the height of their mix of samples, industrial and straight up synth pop. Still a classic album and worthy of being on this list.
Pretenders
3/5
There’s an attitude and a sneer that’s punk but it’s so smug that it’s hard to believe. I like a good amount of songs here but it doesn’t ever get to real punk energy.
The Velvet Underground
4/5
The band that permanently broke rock n roll, smashing windows with sonic bricks. The fact that whispery, serene “Sunday Morning” flows right into Lou Reed’s anthem to his dope dealer is one of the greatest 1-2 punches in music history. The tail end of the album kind of wanders off in a haze but they’re doing every genre and doing it with absolute disdain for all of it. Long live VU.
David Bowie
4/5
It’s like a soundtrack for a lost film that no one will ever see, just haunting everyone. The synthesizers are so deeply incredible, the production is totally bottomed out on heroin, and Bowie is almost a ghost floating in and out.
This one is gonna grow on me for sure. It’s so deeply 70s that it can be off putting at first but the more I listen the more I love it.
George Harrison
4/5
I needed a second listen of this one to really get my head around it. It’s clear George was both exorcising the bad vibes of the Beatles and letting loose all his creativity, which meant an album that is probably 10 songs too many. But it’s a pure testament to George at how fucking good all those songs are…right up to the “Apple Jam” segment. Guitar wankery is guitar wankery, even when it’s the coolest and loveliest Beatle, and if we could get rid of the third LP, this probably would’ve been a perfect record. Still, it’s phenomenal. Grade A stuff. Love you George.
k.d. lang
5/5
Somewhere between torch songs, singer songwriter, and a hint of country, with lang’s incredible voice backing things up. Somehow this is perfection, though it didn’t ring true right away. A perfect album, and one I need to own posthaste.
The Smiths
4/5
Oh Morrissey, my problematic fave. You’re an asshole but you wrote such great music. Hatful of Hollow is their best and the self titled is the best official record but this is definitely still up there in the pantheon.
Sly & The Family Stone
2/5
I really wanted to enjoy this one but I feel like this might have the laziest production ever. It sounds completely flat and missing all the power that the band had. It’s funky as fuck but it sounds like it’s in a garbage can. And “Sex Machine” might be the most pointless track I’ve ever heard on an album.
The Mamas & The Papas
1/5
Dire. Just fucking dire. Imagine thinking this was good music.
Tim Buckley
4/5
A father and a son, both with the voices of angels, both taken too soon. Tim branched out much further than Jeff, though he had some more time to develop his experimental tastes. This is yet another transitional album, and maybe not my favorite of his with Starsailor. When he’s sticking more to composition and folk, it works much better than a poppier sound. The two extended tracks are proof - “Love from Room 109” is a beautiful meandering path while “Gypsy Woman” almost feels like Tim doing a Jim Morrison impression, albeit with much better musicianship. It’s a really good record, just a bit uneven.
Neil Young
3/5
Once again, a transitional work from a great artist, but one with a ton of promise. The genesis of “Harvest” is here while Neil toys with some country in his compositions, and he’s keeping everything relatively short compared to some of the deeper jams with Crazy Horse. There’s some absolute gems on this album but it’s definitely not his best and leaves a bit to be desired.
Taylor Swift
4/5
There’s a reason Taylor has the absolute reign over pop music stardom, and 1989 is proof positive. All the way through the album there’s just incredible pop hits and her lyrics are the sharpest they’ve been. It’s very easy to pile on Taylor, especially for her more recent lack of editing, but this is a certified classic album, no matter how you slice it. Only knocked it down a star for some of the more derivative songs.
Talking Heads
5/5
Brilliant. Autism meets punk meets funk. Zero notes, an absolute classic for a reason.
Paul McCartney and Wings
4/5
It feels like McCartney and Wings have to be graded on a curve because as immaculate as his melodies are, Paul writes the goofiest lyrics on planet earth. He’s a total doofus, and yet his work is immaculate. Band on the Run suffers from a lackadaisical middle third for sure, but between the title track, Jet, Helen Wheels, and the unbeatable stank of Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five, the record is undeniable. It’s just real hard to take this dude seriously at all.
The Libertines
1/5
Sorry but “Heroin: The Album” is so shambolic and useless to be even briefly entertaining. These guys definitely think they’re rock stars, but they’re mostly just shit.
Ramones
3/5
Classic, if rough. Rocket to Russia and Leave Home are the real gems of their catalog but you can’t spell punk without Ramones.
Jimmy Smith
4/5
Pure vibes, all the way. Those vibes are a bit repetitive and so it all blends together, but what a great time it is. Special shout out to the cover of “Sunny Side of the Street” at the end.
The Band
3/5
Less of an actual album than it is an extended jam session. Still has some of their greatest songs, but this is a bunch of dudes still figuring out what they’re doing.
Fela Kuti
5/5
The Revolution has never been funkier. What a great record; meeses a second listen, but I get it now with Fela. The jams can feel daunting but it’s worth it for the punch. Awesome stuff.
JAY Z
2/5
Aggressively fine. Jay-Z gets away with corny lyrics with attitude and Timbaland beats. The beats shine through way more than anything Jay raps over them. There’s nothing outstanding here other than the background.
Brian Eno
5/5
First of all, I’m burnt out and stressed to the max, and this was precisely the balm I needed to clear that up. Secondly, how did Brian Eno take an album meant specifically for airports and make it one of the most ethereal beautiful pieces of music of all time?? Anyway, the GOAT of ambient music, 12/5 stars.
Queen Latifah
4/5
Is this the greatest rap album of all time? Not particularly. Is it chock full of stone cold bangers with perfect 1989 production and drop-ins by the most badass New York rappers of the scene? You bet your ass. Queen Latifah rules, and even if some of this is corny as hell it’s also an absolute jam.
Dr. Dre
2/5
I was hoping this would be quality entertainment; instead it’s just an immaculately produced mixtape that’s almost a Snoop album more than anything Dre ever did. I dunno, there’s just little to nothing here, not even for content but just for being boring as shit. Probably better when you’re high, maybe.
Bill Evans Trio
4/5
This sounds like Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood and that’s an incredible compliment. Thoughtful, breezy, effortless jazz that may be a little middle of the road but it does it so effectively you don’t mind. Perfect rainy day or morning coffee music.
Queens of the Stone Age
4/5
Was not prepared for this to rip as much as it does. It’s not a fully fleshed QOTSA album and I have a hard time enjoying those dudes for all their personal problems. But when shit rips, it rips, and Homme et al. have incredible tonnage of riffs and groove here to kick off a whole genre. It fizzles by the end but it’s a fun trip while it lasts. Just confused why Rated R or Songs for the Deaf isn’t here instead…
Quicksilver Messenger Service
2/5
Guitar blues wankery with a side of acid. It’s boring as shit, goes nowhere, and is mostly only impressive as an artifact more than an actual cohesive album. I don’t really know why we’re supposed to care but at least the guitars sounded cool.
Country Joe & The Fish
1/5
If Quicksilver had something, this record has NOTHING. Just absolute hippie horseshit from front to back. There’s no hook, there’s no melodies, there’s no talent from the players. If these were merry weirdos doing some wacky psych experiments I’d be into them but they might be the single best representatives of plastic flower power bullshit ever. I wish I could give it 0 stars.
The Stone Roses
3/5
The ur-Oasis, the origins of Britpop, the linchpin of extremely English dudes playing guitar music in the 90s. There’s a lot of muddled middle on this record but on a fresh listen there’s something unassuming and subtle about this one that keeps it apart from some of its contemporaries. These guys don’t sound like they’re desperate to be rock stars, they just have a sound and play it. But it’s not a fully formed sound at this point and I don’t know if it ever would have been.
David Bowie
4/5
It’s probably impossible to judge this album solely on its own merits given that it produced one of the greatest songs ever written in recorded history. The rest of the album is on par with Low, though perhaps a little less cohesive. The ambient section flowing from “Sense of Doubt” to “Moss Garden” and “Neuköln” is a totally new step for its time, and Fripp’s guitar is a breath of life to the work Bowie and Visconti had been up to prior. It’s an odd duck but it grows on you, even if it’s not my favorite Bowie.
Don McLean
3/5
Overplayed, overcooked, and overwrought, but damn if the title track still isn’t a great tune. In fact there’s a few great songs here, and a lot that’s trying (sometimes literally) to match those songs in quality. It’s eerie to hear how similar McLean’s voice is to Will Oldham; he’s only half the songwriter though. Still, when he’s on, he’s on, and songs like “Vincent”, “Winterwood” and “The Grave” stand apart a bit from the rest.
Elastica
4/5
Derivative as they may be, this band knows its sources and knows exactly how it wants to take it in a pop direction. Gone are the Situationist takes, in are tongue-in-cheek innuendo. It’s a strikingly good album, if a little bit too similar to its references.
Jane Weaver
2/5
This sounds like someone trying to recreate Can and Kraftwerk in their (admittedly fully geared out and well set up) basement studio. Unfortunately it’s doing so in the least imaginable way possible, putting the dreariest St. Vincent vocals over repetitive beats and using utterly generic pop chords and lyrics. It’s incredibly bland, if at least competent. But I’m scratching my head at why this is crucial listening.
Black Sabbath
5/5
1970-1972 may be, pound for pound, the most important years for metal, and all because of Sabbath. It’s a crime that Master of Reality isn’t also on this list, but we do have Volume 4, aka Snowblind, which only ups the ante from what may be their masterpiece. This is Sabbath at the peak of their powers, with the riffs, drums and Ozzy’s vocals in absolute lock step. Everything sounds incredible, and they may sound the heaviest they’ve ever sounded. Still, you can sense the piles of cocaine mounting, as opposed to the weed and liquor that had dominated prior sessions. The music is crackling and bursting with energy, along with different genres. Reading up on the album, it’s easy to tell this wouldn’t be sustainable, and Sabbath wouldn’t ever hit the same heights, but this is a pretty masterful cap to a run that redefined music forever, with more and more songs and riffs clearly influencing all sorts of metal to come.
Muddy Waters
4/5
These white people ain’t seen nothin’ like Muddy Waters at his best live, chugging along with a perfectly tight band. This is just pure workmanlike blues, and builds upon itself until the crowdstopper of “I’ve Got My Mojo Working” hits not once but twice, and you can feel the electricity in the audience. In short, it rips, and one hell of a set to show the folk set how real blues works.
Sam Cooke
5/5
I have very little to say because this is maybe one of the greatest live records ever committed to wax. I’m thrilled that the version that’s stuck around is the original, full of crowd noise and dancing, as much an instrument as the rest of the band. This whole set is killer, Sam is on point vocally, and the band is shambolic in the best way. It’s just pure fucking fun, and that sets it apart among a lot of live albums.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
Stone cold angsty bangers from the Prince of dysfunctional relationships. It’s a perfect album but marking down a point because, as Elvis, recognized, you can’t say the n-word as a white person, even if it thematically fits the song.
Brian Wilson
3/5
Ultimately this is Brian Wilson trying to reconvene and recover a lost album, and while there’s great music and concepts, it all mushes together after the first 1/3 of the album. It’s not that I wouldn’t listen to it again, but it clearly takes some dedicated time to enjoy each song as it is and also find the common threads. Unfortunately it’s just not there for me now, but at least there’s some killer tunes.
DJ Shadow
3/5
Kind of a meh album but the flow works really well and it has some amazing peaks, like “Building Steam…”, “Stem / Long Stem”, “Organ Donor”, and “Napalm Brain / Scatter Brain”. It’s more proof of sampling concept than a real album, but is a cool mix and worth going on the background albums list for working or chores.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
If their debut was reflective of their wholesale revision of blues rock, II showed they could come up with their own songs too, with a perfect blend of the blues that got them notoriety, the heavy riffs that made them huge, and the songwriting to come that would make them legends. In fact, the only real lowlights are the overlong and hacky blues medley “The Lemon Song” and the unnecessary if rock classic “Moby Dick”. Even then, this is the rocket launch showing one of the greatest bands to ever do it find their solid footing and punch a hole in the genre forever.
The Replacements
4/5
Perhaps the greatest example of a band in transition, and they laid it out directly on the record. The Replacements were firmly punk rock, as the early tracks on this album showed, but it was clear Westerberg and crew were already headed down a new path, far more influenced by Big Star than Black Flag. That said, even though there’s some pop-punk perfection and emotionally gutting tunes, it’s still fairly uneven and missing the focus that some of their later work had. That doesn’t mean it still doesn’t hold up as a killer rock record. Well worth the listen.
Kid Rock
1/5
An album that actively sapped my will to live by having to listen to it. But “Bawitdaba” still kinda hits I guess.
Janis Joplin
3/5
A much better representation of Janis’ talents than Big Brother, though it suffers from a real sameness through the tracks. A better mix of songs to show Janis’ range would be better. Still, it’s a refreshing album where you c an fully hear her.
Sex Pistols
4/5
Setting the manufacturing and art project element aside, this is still one hell of a record. For all his post-punk bluster and transformation into an edgelord asshole, Johnny Rotten was THE moment on this record and is at his peak of performance. Steve Jones makes a single guitar sound like an arena rock band without doing anything and Paul Cook is just perfect on the drums. Of course, the less said about Sid, the better. And even though it’s through a ridiculous sarcastic sneer, this one is still great to listen to every now and then.
Talking Heads
5/5
Just utter perfection. If ‘77 was a breakout of nervous energy, this masterpiece showed this band had depth, had craft, and had bigger dreams than CBGB. An utter classic among any number of classics from the Talking Heads.
Mekons
5/5
The more times I listened to this the more I fell in love. It’s like if Crass made Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and it’s no wonder this is widely cited as an influence on the 90’s alt-country scene. The back half really kicks things up with the country influences and it’s hypnotic in making me want to come back for more. This is one I’ll be coming back to fairly often.
Deep Purple
4/5
Hooooooooly shit. Machine Head looms so large and is such a mediocre album that it would make you think Deep Purple had to be consigned to the greatest hits pile. Then you throw this on and it’s some of the hardest shit north of Black Sabbath. This album is the real indicator of Deep Purple’s metal credentials, the real reason so many were inspired by them. They’ve got everything on this record, from arena rock to metal to prog and some straight up riffs that seeped their way into everything else that came in the 70s and early 80s. Plus they’re distorting that organ so much that it just acts as another guitar. This is some heavy, deep, good shit. Way better than the nonsense they’d throw out a couple years later.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
5/5
Was not prepared for how much I would enjoy this absolute prog classical fuckery. Three incredibly talented musicians taking on classical music in the most prog rock fashion possible. Keith Emerson’s synths and organs are mind-blowing now, let alone when this got released in 1971. Greg Lake is keeping things moving in the background. And Carl Palmer is a fucking madman on the drums blasting away on the wild rhythmic changes, sounding both like a metronome AND Animal the Muppet at the same time. Maybe the only problem is the encore, “Nutrocker”, which doesn’t hold a candle to the majesty of the rest of the work, but it’s a nice fluffy dessert on top and doesn’t ruin a magical performance.
AC/DC
4/5
You can hear the seeds of AC/DC going from the world’s greatest bar band to arena rock legends over the course of this album. It’s just a shame that Bon Scott couldn’t hold it together and would go on to die at 33 the next year. The band is tighter, precise, at the top of their game, with the kinds of riffs that would propel them to superstardom. And yet the key is Bon, who is slowly turning from raucous emcee to masterful frontman over the course of this one record. Honestly, AC/DC never sounded better than this, and as shown in the muddle of Back in Black, they never really would reach this height again.
The Beach Boys
4/5
Truly an album that grows on you with each passing listen, as Carl Wilson takes over during his brother’s decline. There’s hints of all sorts of genres to come, from yacht rock to indie folk, all encompassed in 10 tracks. And other than one absolute eye-roller, the music here is another step ahead of what anyone else did. Good album.
Mudhoney
4/5
It’s weird to consider a Mudhoney album “tight” and “well-produced” but this is clearly a moment for the band to grow up and take their garage grunge to the masses. That reads well through the album, and their songwriting is on point. Still, it’s lacking the power and intensity of the early stuff and makes it a really solid fuzz album instead of a titanic fuzz achievement. But you’ll still jam out to this one, worth the time listening.
The Allman Brothers Band
3/5
Look it’s blues wankery all around, and there’s probably no reason to sit through 20 minute jams, but I’ll be damned if the Allmans don’t keep it entertaining. Gregg Allman has such backwater Georgia running through his veins that this hopped up white boy can pass as a real blues man. And then there’s the guitar, the whole band, and the good vibes throughout. Their shift to jazzier and southern fried pop rock is more quintessential to me, and this isn’t really their best stuff. But it is a document of a band at their absolute damn peak and feeling every minute of it.
Heaven 17
1/5
Painfully 80’s, far too earnest for its own good, and despite the unique sounds very little songwriting here. Just a drag of a record.
Snoop Dogg
2/5
Snoop is cool as hell but undermines it at every turn with the stupidest childish jokes that ruin the songs. Would love it a lot more if Dre had realized the skits and jokes just weren’t funny.
Also, Snoop, why do you think about balls so much???
Fats Domino
3/5
I’ve always loved Fats Domino, just the chillest rock star ever playing New Orleans jazz with a backbeat. Still, as with a lot of 50’s artists, Youre a little better off with the greatest hits, but it’s a great early rock and soul record.
Roxy Music
3/5
It’s a perfectly fine record mostly for Eno’s brilliant soundscapes that suggest the genius to come. There’s some killer tunes that emerge, but it’s very uneven and drags quite a bit of the time. Intriguing, but left me wanting a bit more.
SZA
5/5
Rich, gorgeous pop and R&B that is at once stunningly crafted, thoughtfully personal, and has bangers throughout. It’s rare for me to want to dive deeper on a pop artist because it’s not usually my cup of tea but this album made me an instant fan. Zero complaints on this one, want to listen to more.
N.E.R.D
1/5
Well, I can say that I listened to this and it was an album. With music. It played and people sang and played instruments. But it was definitely not “good”, whatever that means. Now excuse me while I find copies of this to throw in the garbage so it can’t hurt anyone any more with it’s mediocrity.
U2
2/5
It’s the beginning of the end for U2 on this album. While the gang has some really good songs it’s apparent that their singles are far higher quality than the rest of the record. This marked the period where Bono thought he was deconstructing the idea of pop stardom only to find he really loved it and was devoted to it more than the music. From here on, they’re greatest hits only.
Nirvana
3/5
Classic, legendary, but so overproduced for what made the band great. It sounds dated now even as the songs still crackle with Kurt’s songwriting and turns of phrase (I’ll never get over “never met a wise man / if so it’s a woman”). Weirdly, because of the regional debut of Bleach, you could call this a sophomore slump, albeit one that flipped rock upside down and shook out its lunch money. Still, there’s a lot better to hear from the dudes - even the live stuff is better than this, there’s just too much polish.
Paul McCartney
3/5
It will never cease to amaze me how Paul can basically fart around and write 2 or 3 absolute killer, all-time great pop tunes. This album really takes a listen or two and some context to find its groove, but there’s definitely something there. Still, there’s a lot of rough edges, and while this album may have been the only thing saving his sanity, it’s definitely a work in progress more than a cohesive album.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
4/5
Having heard some songs here and there I knew OMD was a solid synth band but I was wholly unprepared for the immensity of their sound. This is the moment where Marvin Berry calls Martin Gore and Trent Reznor to help them find the deeper, moodier sound they’ve been looking for. If New Order created the synth pop sound, OMD pushed its darker overtones so The Cure, Depeche Mode, NIN and others could find their niche. It’s funny because OMD wouldn’t really keep this sound, but makes for a hell of a listen.
Ray Charles
3/5
It’s an ambitious project and Ray is up to the task, but the cycle goes on and on and on to the point of exhaustion. There’s 1 1/2 really great arrangements here but the switching of country background singers to big band background is just grating. But Ray Charles cannot be denied totally, so it’s still worth a spin.
Funkadelic
5/5
Only the mad acid genius of Funkadelic could come up with a song that uses synth bass to make fart sounds that also hit the groove. This is pure psychedelic nonsense and it’s fucking phenomenal. Zappa only wishes he had this level of creativity oozing from his pores. I knew I’d generally enjoyed Funkadelic but this made me an instant super fan.
MGMT
3/5
MGMT was very mucha flash in the pan and the songs are incredibly derivative, but these guys can write a goddamn hook. Not to mention that “Kids” and “Time to Pretend” hold a real special place in my heart because of how they coincided with my own coming-of-age out of college and into adulthood. It’s not the best, but it’s also not the worst.
Jane's Addiction
2/5
Before the Chili Peppers hit it big and before grunge destroyed everything, Jane’s Addiction had a moment as potentially the biggest band in the world. There’s something charming about the mix of skate punk, hippie imagery, hair metal licks and weird funk vibes that grows on you over time. No, it’s not good, and ultimately this is a greatest hits band. But you can sense the energy in the room as these dudes light everything on fire and shine really bright for half a second.
Black Sabbath
4/5
This one has their most recognizable hits, but the second half is honestly more intriguing with both Electric Funeral and Hand of Doom. But it’s still rough, and even though Fairies Wear Boots could contend for Sabbath’s finest moment, it’s just criminal that their best album is left off this list.
Jorge Ben Jor
3/5
A vibe, a real humdinger of a party where Brasilia, African rock, and a dose of dance and disco make for a fun listen. The middle gets a little muddled but this is a cool record with some real high points.
The Kinks
3/5
This one is definitely a rollercoaster and will probably benefit from additional listens down the road. It starts off amazing, sputters toward the middle, then casually drops a couple of amazing songs in between before it finally fizzles. Still, you can’t accuse Ray Davies of being boring, as he throws all sorts of styles into his mod rock blender and makes it sound pretty incredible and prescient for 1968. Even the Beatles, at the height of their experimentation, couldn’t hit the same consistency as the Kinks are here. It’s just not always consistently great.
Funkadelic
4/5
Not quite as tight as Maggot Brain, but the grooves are undeniable. I get it, I see the light, George Clinton is a trickster god sent to us to get funky as fuck.
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
One would think that leaving the corporate stuffiness of Sex Pistols and moving into experimentation would brighten John Lydon’s perspective and give him some freshness. No, Johnny Rotten is as snarky and cynical as ever, and it makes this album exhausting after continued repetition and hammering over the head. What salvages some horrid screeching is the band, which is great and powerful in its post-punk efforts, pushing a funk bass sound with tin guitars. But god is it annoying as hell to deal with Johnny Rotten.
Blood, Sweat & Tears
2/5
Look, I can kinda understand why people really love this album, and if I squint and turn my head and maybe lay down sideways I can maybe see how it’s good. But it has some of the absolute worst production values known to man, with everything so thinned out as to be unlistenable. The music is pure technique and zero soul, with absolutely no punch or drive whatsoever. As someone in the artist notes put, this is a band that can’t decide if they’re an ultra pretentious pop band with horns or a jazz section masquerading in pop circles, and that’s it’s biggest failure. It’s not the worst album because the music is incredible on point. But when everyone coming after you improves on your sound, maybe your sound isn’t very good.
Doves
1/5
What do you get when you mix mid-90’s Britpop, OK-Computer Radiohead, and a hint of My Bloody Valentine?
You get shit. This is shit.
PS: “Catch the Sun” is still pretty great tho
Led Zeppelin
5/5
I might be tempted to revise my opinion that while this may not be my favorite Led Zeppelin album, this may be in fact their masterpiece. 8 songs, no filler, impeccably sequenced and put together, and an incredible mix of the band’s sound, including anthemic hooks, straight up rock, folkier excursions, psychedelia, and some incredible blues. Not to mention the production, where everything is perfectly mixed from the thunder of John Bonham’s drums to the beautiful rasp of Robert Plant’s vocals. This one’s a true masterwork, front to back.
The Cure
4/5
The Cure could’ve just been a decent post-punk band and made a career from there but with this album they went full dark goth and instantly built a new style and vibe that would endure beyond the band. There’s a lot to love on this album, between swirling guitars, propulsive basslines, moody and brooding lyrics, and an all around vibe that can’t be beat. Really cool record and moment in music.
The Waterboys
2/5
I’m typically a fan of mixing rock with folk roots music, but this feels just a bit too shambolic to work. After listening to a little bit of their earlier music I feel like they should’ve stuck with where they were in a beautiful swirling pagan rock vibe. That’s not to say this is all bad; it’s coherent and sounds fantastic, especially for 1988. But it brings to mind too many bands that did this sound better: The Pogues, Big Country, The Mekons, and on and on.
Christina Aguilera
2/5
Hubris can come in many forms, and in many flavors. In this case, Aguilera is a victim of having a pretty great idea and then thinking that it required a double album. Even though it’s not particularly my genre, she’s got incredible talent and on some songs she both has massive hit potential and a fun, often dirty twist on pop hits of yesteryear. But then she just keeps adding songs, and especially ones that are to settle personal grudges or do bland boring shoutouts. The lyrics are rough when they’re not cheeky, and though the second half is a much better fit for her, it’s an odyssey that isn’t worth it in the end.
The Byrds
2/5
Yes, Gene Clark was a fuckup and addict but he was the real heart and soul of this band because oh man is this listless. Gone are the grand sweep of guitars and wistful harmonies, and in are weird pop touches to try to be hip for no good reason. If the bad rap on the Byrds was that they were just a Dylan cover band, this record doesn’t help because they only great song is their cover of “My Back Pages”. It’s not that this album is altogether terrible - it’s just that you expect a LOT more from The Byrds.
Stevie Wonder
5/5
I have literally nothing bad to say. Stevie kicked off a truly legendary run with this album, finding a unique sound that took synthesizers and infused them with warmth and soul far beyond their programming. Soul-restoring, life-affirming music that also makes you wanna shake your ass. Incredible stuff.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
I’m always wary of late albums from classic artists, particularly when it’s a “final album”. Invariably, what I’ve enjoyed of them before obscures the album and leaves me wanting what they had. While I’m not as familiar with a lot of Cohen’s work, I’m left with both an appreciation for the creativity he had in his final days and the same feeling of wanting something else. Having experienced a loss of a loved one recently, the songs here are poignant, and the stripped-back production fits Cohen’s vocal restraint really well, but after a few songs it unfortunately mushes together. This is a nice love letter to fans and admirers of an artist, meditating on his own mortality, and thats valuable, but ultimately a little unedifying.
Eagles
4/5
If you grew up with the Eagles you come to expect eye rolling at their constant never-ending hit parade. But hearing this fresh, it actually shows a band at the peak of their skills. Joe Walsh joining the band is a perfect decision, adding an edge on guitars they desperately needed to break out of the country-rock vibes they’d built on. The songwriting is definitely 70’s but earnest, and the technical skill is still unmatched. There’s still a few lulls - “Wasting Time” does exactly what its title says - but this is a really nice surprise of an album.
CHIC
2/5
It’s hard to separate listening to a disco album from envisioning what it’d be like to hear it inside a disco, and so while CHIC is maybe the quintessential disco group, there’s really only a couple songs that are just enjoyable as standalone songs. That’s not to say this is bad music - Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edward’s are master craftsmen and bring a smooth, level playing style to dance along to. It’s just that beyond the hits, there’s not a whole lot there to dig deeper into.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
3/5
The Explosion is very much a hit or miss kind of band, and this is definitely is a mix of both. There’s some absolute bangers of the band actually tapping into the “blues” their name suggests while still melting it with a flamethrower. But all too often they’re just riffing with no end, songs losing structure, and it meanders far too much. “Orange” is a much tighter album from a pretty cool group, and even if there’s some barn burners here, there’s also too much filler.
Kanye West
2/5
Kanye spends an entire 12 minute track at the end of this album talking about how he’s more than a producer and how hard he worked to prove he was a rapper and not just a huge talented beat maker.
The entire rest of this album is proof that he absolutely was not ready for an album. Cause his beats are great, but god his bars stink to holy hell.
The Police
3/5
There’s some certified hits here but it’s not as great as their debut or some of their later work. Still, you can’t deny one of the most technically proficient power trios of all time.
Queen
2/5
This album is hard to judge because the band SOUNDS incredible, they’re absolutely on point for what they were writing. But what they were writing was vague prog nonsense, not at the level of their peers. Queen didn’t really come into their own until A Night at the Opera, and this is still a band that’s not fully formed yet. The opener and the closer are killer, but this is a pretty meh album from a great band.
The Roots
2/5
This gives Funkadelic vibes with Philly attitude, but it is frustratingly overlong. The live band atmosphere is cool and there’s great tunes, but the whole album loses momentum after a while and just can’t sustain itself. Clearly this was The Roots getting their pop style working; you just wish it was half the length.
Circle Jerks
4/5
Absolutely has not aged well lyrically, but this is absolute fire from one of the best LA punk outfits. Keith Morris is on top of his game, the band sounds really tight, and the urgency is there in every song. Somehow this clocks in faster than the Descendents’ Milo Goes to College, but it’s a near perfect 15 minutes. Good shit.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5/5
Just utter perfection - garage rock raised to the highest level. Neil threw out the playbook, write a fistful of damn near perfect songs, and then jammed out with the dudes in the garage. Of course, the dudes in question were hugely talented session musicians who could jump in and improvise with him, creating a sound thats so effortless it sounds like it might just fall apart into messiness. But they never ever let it go. My vinyl copy is definitely well loved and scratchy, and honestly, it’s perfect for the sound of this classic.
Stan Getz
2/5
Technically proficient, richly produced, and utterly flavorless. There’s just nothing here that makes this poignant or useful. It’s the progenitor of Muzak and hotel lobby jazz and even though it sounds great it feels incredibly hollow.
The Who
4/5
A killer set from the kings of Maximum R&B. The only fault is when it meanders at the end through “My Generation” turning into an extended exploration of “Tommy” and possibly “Lifehouse” songs, but the “Magic Bus” jam redeems it all with the sheer force of the band. This is a band at the height of its powers, just after they become massive stars and just before they cemented their legacy as rock gods. Stick around on the 40th anniversary mix for the “Tommy” set and have a good time.
The Blue Nile
3/5
Neat hidden gem with intricate, quiet sounds that make for a jazzy chamber pop vibe, somewhere between late 70’s Bowie and early 80’s Talking Heads. I don’t love the vocal style and it gets repetitive, but for the time this is a pretty cool album.
The 13th Floor Elevators
3/5
I’ve tried a couple of different times with this record, but for the first time the songs really stuck. A band that was perpetually ahead of its time, with a fully fleshed sound that also happened to be completely drenched in garage reverb. It does get repetitive from time to time, as most psychedelic albums do, but its highs are way, way higher than any of its contemporaries. A really great artifact and a standard-bearer for bands to come.
Pink Floyd
4/5
I have a real soft spot for this album, maybe because it was the first Floyd album I really fell in love with. It’s a rock opera in every sense, with a story and take on stardom that actually develops over the course of the whole album. It’s definitely over baked, and looking back it’s far more Roger Waters’ vision of rock stardom than a true Pink Floyd record. But when it hits, this is a hell of a work, and its theatricality matches the skill of the band perfectly.
Al Green
5/5
All his sordidness aside (and that’s a lot aside) - goddamn is Al Green the best. The smoothest voice in R&B, hands down, instantly making any party perfect vibes for the night. You’ll wanna dance, sweat, make out, and chill out all at the same time. Sexy, sexy soul music and pure perfection.
Mudhoney
5/5
The unholy demon spawn of Black Sabbath, rockabilly, and garage punk bubbled up from Puget Sound in 1988 and changed music for fucking ever. The fledgling Seattle scene was still closer to Guns ‘N’ Roses than Nirvana, but this - this was the moment everything changed. Of course, the stories were all about Nevermind after it broke containment. But without Superfuzz Bigmuff, none of that ever happens. One of the dankest, dingiest, sleazy sounding records to ever hit your ears, including the early singles. Long live the true kings of grunge.
Ash
3/5
Is it incredibly generic? Yes. But is it enjoyable mid-90’s radio rock? Also yes. There’s nothing spectacular here, no real edge, but it’s a solid band and a real departure from the other Britpop of the time.
Radiohead
4/5
I’m forever a Radiohead fan, possibly too much, although their music hit its highs in my teens and 20s so had a huge impact. Amnesiac was a let down for me when it came out - the grand cinematic swirls of Kid A suddenly got a lot darker, murkier. It seemed a lot for Radiohead to throw out right after a masterpiece, and it’s definitely not their greatest work. In fact, it took hearing the “I Might Be Wrong” live EP to appreciate the songs more, as all of these songs needed a boost of energy. There’s still some devastating songs here and some brilliant turns - the band was still musically incredible. But this was the band working its way to another phase and that means it has its blemishes here and there.
Miles Davis
5/5
Classics are classics for a reason. It’s impossible to overstate how intricate yet subtle this is, with each player shining but never overpowering the song. Miles helped define the genre of bebop, but with this he’s perfecting it, taking the raw materials and crafting a Diamond. It’s no wonder that the rest of the players launched their own careers off the success of this album while Miles immediately headed for new frontiers of his own. But at the same time, this is a quiet, reflective album that is balm for the soul.
Arcade Fire
4/5
“Indie band makes Springsteen record” is a pretty cliche process today but back in 2007 it was a novel concept. The Arcade Fire were the most successful collective-turned-band of the era and this was in the prime of their run, before their leader was found to be a sex pest. But this still holds up remarkably well, a real meditation on the lies told during the Iraq War, the entrenchment of faith in politics, the growing global unrest at economics. It’s not particularly groundbreaking but the songs are expertly crafted and the album sounds magnificent for its time. But it is derivative, and the songs do start to bleed together by the end, but the band’s ambition and scale win you over.
PJ Harvey
4/5
Blistering, incendiary rock that sits right at the forefront of indie and post-grunge, but with Polly Jean’s particular brand of female-forward lyrics and poetry. Often the earliest works from distinguished songwriters is angrier, edgier, and this is no different. Yet this is the blueprint for bands like Sleater-Kinney and singers like Fiona Apple to come, and a springboard for even more exploration by PJ Harvey herself. It’s not perfect but it’s a hell of a debut.
Nightmares On Wax
1/5
POSTSCRIPT:
I wrote the below review after 1 1/2 songs. There was more than an hour to go.
This might be worse than Kid Rock. Legitimately.
A record you turn on, play on a phone, in another room, where you are not, and then do anything else. Just absolutely pointless.
PRESCRIPT
This is the blandest, flavorless trip hop I’ve ever heard in my life. There is almost nothing to redeem this utterly boring music. I’d gotten to enjoy some of NOW’s music but this just makes me want to run away. Commits the cardinal sin of being so uninteresting as to be unlistenable, and thats saying something given that Kid Rock is on this list.
Jeff Beck
3/5
In a lot of ways this is the album Bluesbreakers wishes it could have been - wankery, but with enough zest and flourish to make things listenable. The Jeff Beck Group itself is titanic, with Faces cohorts and legendary artists Ron Wood and Rod Stewart upping the ante on skills. Not to mention the star studded cast of “Beck’s Bolero” that would essentially become the nucleus of Led Zeppelin. In fact, most of this sounds like an early undiscovered Zeppelin album, albeit without the same production polish. It’s not mind blowing but it is good and has far more style than Clapton could ever muster.
Paul Simon
4/5
Out of the gate, Paul Simon is set to prove that his songwriting couldn’t be contained by the folk scene and pop success he had with Art Garfunkel. It’s got all the gorgeous restraint we’re used to from their production, but starting to explore other styles and avenues. But it’s the folksier tunes that are kind of incredible, informing the quiet indie singer-songwriters of the 90s and 2000s that make this shine. Not every song is a winner but it’s a deeply strong solo debut and a killer set of songs.
The Offspring
3/5
Sure, there’s bands that rode the wave from LA punk to radio more successfully, but The Offspring may be the one that kept things simple and “pure.” It’s big, it’s loud, it’s dumb, and it’s mostly pretty good. Nothing groundbreaking here, just solid punk rock with a few bona fide classics.
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
A soul album that contains a depth and breadth of actual soul and introspection. This one is really impressive, blending genres seamlessly while wearing its heart on its sleeve. Kiwanuka’s not a powerhouse vocalist, but it’s absolutely perfect for this album. From sequencing to the transition of songs to the warmth of the production, this is something special.
The Zutons
1/5
Do you know how hard it is to get me to loathe a band that includes saxophone with rock music? Congratulations to the Zutons for accomplishing that feat.
Purpose-built to make me want to punch a wall because of how utterly boring they are. Garbage music.
Brian Eno
3/5
You can feel Eno starting to shift from glam rock irony to ambient composition in this one, with short tone pieces driven by synths and droning guitars. He’s already playing with the forms he’d later lean into working with Bowie and Talking Heads. That said, it’s definitely a hodge-podge, lacking a real central theme or connection. Sometimes it feels weird for the sake of being weird, as opposed to his later compositions which all connected in their own way. But it’s a worthwhile listen all the same.
Cat Stevens
4/5
Of all the singer-songwriters that emerged in the 70s, Yusuf might have been the most earnest. He wears all his emotions in his songwriting, pressing toward a better, happier, cleaner world and always inspiring. His singing is just gorgeous, and he has a beautiful play with lyrics and dynamics that others have tried to imitate ever since. This isn’t a “complete” record by any measure, but it’s so poignant and powerful it makes up for most of its flaws. I’m a sucker for his songwriting, and he just feels like a friend in the darkness clawing toward a brighter hope.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
4/5
For a long time Tom Petty seemed like a classic rock figure relegated to radio, a greatest hits artist with massive hits. And to be fair, he’s a monster hit maker. But he and the Heartbreakers are also one hell of a band, taking swamp soul, straight up rock, blues, and honky tonk and masterfully blending them for a hell of a good time. This is a good fuckin’ rock album, and it has me seeing the light on how great Tom Petty was. Can’t wait to dive even deeper.
5/5
Sometimes the classics are classics for a reason. Because it’s not just the songs, the lyrics or the vibes here. It’s also the production and care George Martin is throwing into every second and beat of every song. It’s the massive influence felt in certain notes and how they’re played. It’s a band stretching its talent to the absolute limit without devolving into chaos. It’s a perfect record.
The Flaming Lips
3/5
This is one of those albums that I have a lot of respect for, admire its concept and ingenuity, and simply have zero connection to. Simply not my jam. But I respect Wayne and the boys for making it, so middle grade it is.
5/5
The funk soul album every white brass band thought they could make but didn’t have the skill or the soul to make. This is a killer record, making expansive jams into exquisite pieces of jazz and funk along with Top 40 bangers. This is a band that can write a massive hit like the “Cisco Kid” and follow it up with a beautiful jazz odyssey like “City, Country, City”. I honestly don’t have anything bad to say about this one, and frankly it might be one of my new favorite records.
Prince
4/5
The greatest party album of all time is, perhaps, a little too long. A double LP is just not necessary for this one, and there’s too many songs that are overly long for the record itself. That said - what a fucking moment. Prince captured all the amazing energy of a 60s house band while infusing all the energy of Funkadelic, along with a heavy dose of dirty, freaky sex. It’s a classic album, but maybe it could’ve been just a single album.
Metallica
4/5
Honestly, this is the best Metallica would ever be, and Cliff Burton is the biggest reason for that. Losing Burton was the biggest reason the band drifted from their unique spot in metal and into the ultra-loud dad rock they’ve become today. Lars is drumming the best he ever would on an album, which is hilarious, because the drums still suck. But Kirk and James’ guitars are so perfect on this record, full of menace and fury. They made the most approachable metal of the era, but they still made it hard as fuck. Blast this one with your friends while you go jump off the roof into the pool.
The Who
3/5
The Who were the first blue-eyed soul singers to pop up with more inspiration from James Brown and Sam Cooke than Chuck Berry. Which means that Roger Daltrey is doing his own take on James Brown on a song here, and also Muddy Waters. But what shines here are the hits: “My Generation”, “The Kids Are Alright”, “Much Too Much” and “The Good’s Gone.” In those are a band that has a ton more to say than the typical 60’s British newcomers. There’s an edge to the guitar, a nuance to the bass, and some massively wild drums. Because the band was already veering off the regular bar rock path into flights of fancy, and as the 60s wore on their pop sensibilities and composition would propel them. This is more an artifact than a great record, but it’s worth hearing to see the germ of something new.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
After Murder Ballads I was concerned maybe my love for Nick Cave had been misplaced. Thank god I was wrong. Cinematic arrangements of dark folk tales with carnival arrangements, including “Straight To You” as one of my favorite songs. This list strangely doesn’t have the best of the early Bad Seeds, but this is a solid return to form for them, and gorgeous to boot. After Tender Prey, this feels like the band pushing further into explorations of other forms, but instead of being too insular and single-minded, it feels like Nick and the band explored without straying too far from what made their sound so intense and powerful in the first place.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
2/5
Bob is unfortunately not beating the “Legend is the only record you need” allegations. There’s not a single song of distinction here, though it does sound great. It feels like this is still on the cusp of Bob finding his real stride as a songwriter so it’s odd that it’s even on the list. There is an element of “not for me” in reggae that will never make it a favorite, but this album in particular doesn’t have enough oomph to even clear that bar.
Sigur Rós
3/5
Yes it’s ethereal and yes it’s exquisitely crafted, and yes they’re beautiful nostalgic Icelandic fairies and elves. But there’s something lacking here, like it’s all a bit out of focus. It’s a hell of a way to break out as an artist but it’s definitely not their best, most focused work.
Nick Drake
5/5
I’m not even gonna try and quantify how perfect all of Nick’s albums are. But suffice to say this may be my favorite because it’s the perfect album to herald in autumn. Utterly sublime.
Electric Light Orchestra
4/5
Sometimes big dumb chamber synth rock is the exact right vibe. Because ELO is always a goddamn delight, even when it’s overlong and overblown. Sure, this has no reason being a double album, and there’s a bunch of filler. But damn can Jeff Lynne write a song, and when he does it’s almost always pop perfection. Good times with some classic tunes.
Donald Fagen
2/5
Too much Steely, not enough Dan. There’s just none of the lyrical punch and energy that came from Steely Dan’s work, and instead it just drifts into nondescript soft jazz territory. Fahey can’t turn the same phrases that hit so hard on their classic songs. Even if you see this as a follow-up to Gaucho, it still can’t get anywhere close to some of the skewering wit of that album’s work. A flawed, tired effort from an otherwise great songwriter.
The Residents
4/5
Dada pop songs at the forefront of weird, which is as advertised for these dudes. Still, what’s impressive is the actual craft put into the sound; it’s all weird and off but on purpose. This is a band that takes its pop craft as seriously as its experimentation, with songs at just the right amount of askew to be off-putting yet deeply listenable. This is a welcome introduction to a legendary band, and excited to dive deeper.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
Even today Jimi’s music is a blast of extraterrestrial noise filtered through hash smoke and fuzz amps. Every song here is totally different from anything you could hear at the time, more psychedelic, more soulful, and more strutting than anyone around. Unfortunately this record has suffered in its sound over the years - it sounds like it was recorded in a basement studio with the amps hissing all over the room, and the stereo mix is trying too hard for effects than sounding right. But it doesn’t change how mind-blowing it is to hear Hendrix blast into the stratosphere on a 5 year journey into immortality.
Sufjan Stevens
3/5
Exquisitely crafted and arranged, just like Sufjan’s singing, but this is definitely a case of less is more. Songs like “The Predatory Wasp…” and “John a Wayne Gacy” are soul-crushingly good, cutting to the bone lyrically and sonically. But a lot gets muddled in the composition, missing what makes his songs so good in the first place. It makes for an uneven listen, but one that at least gives me the desire to see where it led.
Johnny Cash
4/5
Like a shot of adrenaline from the moment Johnny opens his trademark introduction. This goes down as one of the bravest live performances ever, especially with the reputation of the Folsom prisoners and the genuine safety risk the show was for him, June and the band. Johnny isn’t perfect, which makes it all the more interesting - this isn’t seasoned performer Johnny Cash, it’s him finding The Man in Black and entering his new persona. He gets the giggles in the middle of “The Long Black Veil”, introduces some of Shel Silverstein’s wackier tunes, and closes with a song from a prisoner. It’s a show that could only be given by a man like Johnny Cash, and one we’re not likely to see again.
Nick Drake
5/5
All of Nick’s works are perfect in their own ways, this one in its darkness. Sadly, it’s as indicative of his mental state at the time as it is his ability to craft exquisite songs. The myths about this album sit alongside the very real anguish he was facing, but among the truths are his obsession with certain guitar lines and phrases, that show up in repetitive, circular songs that are evocative and melancholy. Music born from a dark night of the soul can heal or hurt in equal measure, but this has always been a favorite even if it’s also the last thing we would hear from Nick Drake before he was gone.
ZZ Top
3/5
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but someone gave Frank Beard a drum machine and threw together a synth chain for Billy and Dusty and made a whole new sound. Yes it’s aged a lot and yes the album is a bit thin outside of its massive hits. But this is still a really amazing reimagining for the Lil’ Old Band from Texas, losing absolutely none of their edge.
3/5
If Tommy was a deep exploration of Pete Townsend’s psyche, Arthur is the entrenched underbelly of Ray and Dave Davies’ upbringing. Yes, it’s a concept album, but one that feels more like biography and therapy than rock opera. The production leaves a bit to be desired, and the album feels a bit thin on actual material. But with tunes like “Victoria”, “Shangri-la”, and “Australia”, there’s more than enough to pack a punch.
The Strokes
4/5
It’s hard to overstate the cultural bomb this set off with Gen X’ers who thought rock was dead, with teens who had been fed a steady diet of late 90’s pop punk and boy bands. The Strokes dared to throw Television riffs into perfect radio songs and sing with a mid-fi production in a time where everything had to be boosted to the max. It was probably a bit pretentious but at the same time it was a breath of fresh air, and it still feels that way today. Granted, there’s about 1/3 of the album that feels like filler, and yeah everything kinda sounds the same. But this is still a damn fine record, and should still have “New York City Cops” on it.
The Teardrop Explodes
1/5
Imagine every 80’s post-punk trope wrapped into a single band and throw it in a bag, toss it around, and then dump it in a lukewarm bag of tea. That’s what this posh wankery sounds like, a total mish mash of angular rock, new wave and funk that makes a pretty flavorless gruel. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever heard but it is pretty insufferable.
David Bowie
5/5
It’s amazing that in the midst of his absolute lowest time, during a period he was desperate to escape Ziggy Stardust. Bowie created a real masterpiece. This is cabaret disco, mixing torch songs with funk and dance music in a real heady blend that makes you brood while you dance. There’s absolutely zero slips here, each song just enveloping you in the vibe. I’d say I would love to hear more but if The Thin White Duke had stuck around much longer Bowie might not have made it past 1976. This one is a bona fide classic.
The Mothers Of Invention
3/5
Maybe the single best skewering of the Summer of Love ever written. When it’s at its peak it flays open the hippies while hugging them for their sincere love and hope for peace - maybe. The band is bouncing off the walls a bit here and not always super focused which makes for an uneven experience. But this one is jam packed with the deconstruction of San Francisco music, like a bizarro Grateful Dead.
Björk
3/5
I adore Björk but this album is definitely showing its age these days. She’s at her best when she drops the house production and focuses on the electronic torch songs, with “Like Someone in Love” or “The Anchor Song”. It’s good but not great, and given what she would do on Post and Homogenic, it feels odd to put this one at the top of the list.
Muddy Waters
4/5
Two songs in and you feel like you’re front row at a club with Muddy just hammering you with the blues. The mix is so in your face, you can’t help but pay attention. The band is on point but loose; it’s not intricate or putting on airs, just full out, no holds barred. Really really good stuff.
Scott Walker
3/5
Walker is an undeniable talent and master of baritone excellence. The song choices are a little too repetitive here though to fully work for his vision. The arrangements are lush and beautiful but start to wash out the songs by the end. But his interpretation of chansons and cabaret songs lifts them into a distinct pop sensibility. It’s good, but I’m sure there’s much deeper depths to dive into.
Brian Eno
3/5
I’ll be honest I’d probably like this better if at least the second half was totally instrumental. Eno’s songs were better in diving into glambient experiments, full of noise and fury. This is yet again an example of an artist searching for a sound, but almost going backwards from Another Green World. It’s worth a listen but it’s definitely not something that needs to be on this list.
Massive Attack
2/5
Unfortunately I think I may just not like trip-hop, though that doesn’t hide the unique style of the band here. “Unfinished Sympathy” is absolutely great, and there’s some cool vibes, but overall it’s just a bit mushy and meh for me. Maybe one day I’ll find a trip-hop band I enjoy.
R.E.M.
5/5
It’s hard to find a band that was this fully formed right off the bat, no notes, with a fully realized sound. The only fault of this album is that it’s barely produced, but that doesn’t take away from what a great record it is. Not a wasted moment or filler song - except for “We Walk”, which is much better live.
Billy Joel
4/5
Billy Joel can be incredibly hit or miss, so it’s no wonder that this would be cited as his masterpiece - because it’s the album where he puts it all together. There’s not a truly weak song on the record, taking his Piano Man persona and interposing with lots of styles that still feel of a kind. It’s a concept album without a central concept, and incredibly powerful songwriting. Even his lyrics are coherent and cohesive here, which isn’t always a given. It isn’t necessarily amazing or groundbreaking but it is a classic for a reason.
The Jam
4/5
I’m glad to know Sound Affects wasn’t fully representative of The Jam, and to be fair I had inklings I’d love them. But this is such a perfect mix of 70s class snarl and the Who’s maximum R&B that it took me by surprise just how much I love it. You can hear the influence on college rock, post-punk, and indie rock all through here. Even if The Jam weren’t the biggest band in America, a ton of people were taking notes. This is a really great one if not perfect bangers.
Pavement
5/5
Impossible to be objective here, it’s just an amazing goddamn record that obliterates what you think rock can be and also happens to be catchy as hell. It’s by no means polished but dropping an atom bomb on “rock” “music” (whatever that is) shouldn’t be polished. Life-changing music that you can also jam out to. Love you Pavement.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
It’s definitely too long, it’s definitely a little overcooked, and yes, Nick can’t help but throw a cringey lyric in a few times. But this is maybe the most lush, beautiful I’ve heard him sound, in the sweet spot of his voice aging and softening into the styles he’s singing. The gospel choir works incredibly well for the ruminations here, and while Abbatoir Blues is a much stronger side than The Lyre of Orpheus, they both have a nice flow and style to themselves. This one is probably a 3.5 but I’ll bump to a 4 because it just sounds so good. Makes me more excited to investigate Nick’s more recent works.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Of the three seminal records Dylan released in the mid-60’s this by far is the best, with the highest hit rate. Al Kooper’s organ and the addition of brass sections builds a gorgeous wall of sound around some of Bob’s most beautiful turns of absurdity. Granted, he’s also a self-centered asshole, but he does so with a raconteur’s charm, his persona fully formed. One of the rare cases where a double album fits perfectly, even if not every song is the best.
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
4/5
It’s rare for a salsa record to make me want to do a deep dive on the lyrics, but this was so so good. The production is impeccable, but it’s the songwriting and flow that really shines here. This is one to revisit not just because it’s a perfect genre slice but because it elevates above the genre and takes some fun twists and turns.
Motörhead
4/5
Motörhead fucking rules. And this is the one time where the recording actually picks up on Lemmy’s bass rumbling. It fades a little near the end but a fucking killer set.
Maxwell
2/5
Really gorgeous and lush production that is also utterly forgettable. It’s unfortunate but it’s true - there’s just little to no substance here as it feels like a copy of better and greater artists. It’s a blech listen, and while I might be proven wrong sometime I just don’t get any good vibes from this. I’d rather sit with Marvin Gaye, Al Green or Curtis Mayfield.
Fatboy Slim
4/5
Solid dance moves with half of an all time 90’s playlist right at the top. No it’s not anything amazing but it will make you wanna shake your ass and that is worth it alone.
Steely Dan
5/5
The album where Steely Dan put it all together, as if they hadn’t done that out of the gate. There’s 5 absolute perfect songs here, 4 of them on the first half of the record. The production is immaculate, as perfect as anyone has ever made something sound in a studio. And the lyrics are so achingly awkward, stories of true losers and junkies. Fagen and Becker are at the top, and obviously couldn’t stay there. For a shining moment though they were the absolute peak of jazz fusion and for that they deserve their flowers here.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
This is the Family Guy Purgatory of Albums. It’s fine. It’s got some good stuff. It’s not that good, but it’s not that bad. Anyway on to the next one.
Meat Loaf
3/5
This is a rollercoaster ride of an album, because it’s exquisitely produced and written and Meat Loaf sings with his heart leaping out of his throat. But it’s a repetitive bit and its earnest approach often dives into silliness instead of truth. Steinman is an incredible songwriter and Meat Loaf is a killer performer. I just wish there was a little bit more meat on the bone.
Dire Straits
4/5
Fuck Clapton, Knopfler is God. Sure some of the songs here aren’t particularly memorable but holy shit between “Down to the Waterline”, “Sultans of Swing” and “Wild West End” the mood is perfect for the masters of sad dad rock. The guitar is so silky smooth, the riffs chug along, and while there’s some filler it’s never a bad listen. I’m fully Dire Straits pilled.
The Louvin Brothers
3/5
The high, lonesome sound of the Louvins is done in harmonies that could only be born out of blood relations - there’s no comparing this to anyone of the time because the resonance is so unique. And there’s some all time Appalachian murder ballads and tragedies here, even if it does start to run together after a while. It’s not the greatest thing ever but it’s good enough and a stellar example of bluegrass and mountain folk making its way into country music.