8/10 Damon Albarn lashes out at MTV by doing some real goofy shit. Still greatly appreciate the Hip Hop and Dub influences, you can tell how much respect and love he had for what he was doing on this album. Lot of nice middle and high school memories had listening to this album, not the most perfect album in the world but special to me nonetheless :)

9/10 By no means am I principally opposed to Prog music, but I am a skeptic, and do find a lot of records in the canon to be self masturbatory at times, many priding themselves on the technicality and grandiosity on a surface level. Where’s the pith??? Moving Pictures has mostly everything that makes the best Prog records actually have an impact, using the progressive elements as a texture to a rich and colorful Rock album. Phenomenal drumming, kickass riffs and bass playing, really eccentric vocals, the timbre of this record is so rich and fun, while being completely palatable at the same time. The second leg of the album is great though it can’t beat that first half which I don’t doubt I’ll be coming back to. Cheese to the max, but it’s that good shit

5/10 I wanna completely put aside the messy background of this record and talk about the actual outcome of the music. Using other people’s culture in your art is not explicitly black or white, while some instances can be exploitative cultural appropriation, others can be really beautiful, inspired, and respectful. Paul Simon’s collaborations with African (mainly South African) artists and their music certainly feels respectful, their contributions to the sound of this album are excellent, and I don’t really think I can say this isn’t the way to go when working with other cultures to create your art. My main issue is with Paul himself, where in the beautiful blend of influences from South African music, we have at its core, a pretty weak American Pop Rock album. Paul’s writing on this LP doesn’t feel like it really goes far enough to warrant an album of this nature, while there’s no songs that really come off as offensive, I can’t say I would go out of my way to listen to this album if it was stripped of any of its influences and it was a plain American Pop Rock album. It ends up feeling inconsequential, like the people on this album were just a means to an end, and while I don’t expect Paul or any artist to change the world with their lyrics, it did feel kinda weird to completely avoid any mention of what his collaborators were going through in their country. I can’t help but pin this against an album like Remain in Light by the Talking Heads where the African influences feel fundamental to the album, not only musically with their blends of Post-Punk and Afrobeat and Afro-Funk, but lyrically by those genres as well. Brian Eno and David Byrne were inspired enough to push themselves out of a deep respect for these cultures, going out of their way to urge their audiences to look into the cultures and writings from the countries they were influenced by. Paul just doesn’t seem to want to go far enough, and it kinda shows in his attitudes regarding the criticism thrown at him by anti-apartheid movements at the time. It’s nice while it’s on but there’s very few songs that really wanna bring me back to it. No “Go white boy go” for you Paul.

8/10 blah blah blah “greatest album” something something “wizard of oz” something something “who up floyding their pink” blah blah blah ok. You get to a point where you’ve seen this album cover as much as the McDonald’s symbol, and truthfully society is much better off having a piece of art this universal to be permanently etched into the canon of music. I can’t pretend that they aren’t letting their nuts hang on this album, it only makes sense that an album like this would maintain such a big reputation. We can talk about how maybe its acclaim is overblown or that they have better albums, but I ultimately can’t bring it down too much. Go to a Walmart and if you’re not seeing this on some zoomer’s shirt, a boomer’s shirt, a shirt on the clothes aisle, on 5 posters, on a cashier’s water bottle, enough vinyl copies to stack straight to heaven in the electronics aisle, you’re living on another planet, for a 50 year old “overrated” album, pretty impressive. Anyone have weird the urge to watch Paul Blart Mall Cop 2?

9/10 The defining 90s Rock album was a decade too early, while Indie Rock had been on the rise at the time, I don’t think the genre would have a real blueprint until Surfer Rosa (and Doolittle but we’re not talking about her right now). The eccentricities, brashness, and shamelessness of Indie is captured in this 33 min runtime, from the very ugly and noisy Post-Hardcore, Post-Punk, and Cowpunk influences, to the hyper-emotional Grungey Alt-Rock cuts that MK Ultra any unstable youngling into bursting into tears and starting a band. Thank you Latinas

8/10 Jazz is the closest thing to “spiritual” music that exists, not on a grander metaphysical scheme or whatever but on a visceral feeling. I couldn’t describe to you in technical terms what makes it work, for sure none of it is accidental, but what’s important is that I feel the music. For an album named “Home is Where the Music Is”, we travel all around the world musically, not restricted by any borders, which feels intentional, everything is beautifully arranged and performed, it’s aa if you’re exploring different parts of the planet on every song, with a catch, which is the very somber and melancholy core of the album. It’s no doubt apartheid had a huge effect on the artists in question, there’s a duality in pride and pain, culture and oppression, diaspora and home, and we see the whole painting in its beauty and its tragedy.

6/10 “It just makes sense” is the best way I can put it. This album manages to be appeal to every youth in the mid to late 90s. Dexter’s goofy ass vocals over really energetic Skate Punk soundtracks the adolescent who’s too high on discontinued energy drinks eating shit on concrete trying to jump a set of stairs, and the shithead nihilistic teenage slacker who punches holes in his wall as he resonates with the very angsty, witty, songwriting. It’s fun, and annoying a lot of the times but mostly fun, and I wouldn’t really be upset at the thought of having this album in their Mount Rushmore of Pop Punk or whatever. Maybe I’ll enjoy it more once I learn how to do an Ollie

9/10 Extremely lush and ethereal, can’t blame anyone for the avalanche of flowers this record has received. One aspect that especially interests me is the fake language that’s sung all over this album, I think some may disregard this album as purely surface level and aesthetics, but I feel that if they wanted to emphasize the sound above everything else, they would’ve either went into an instrumental direction or extremely but effective basic lyrics (mbv). I think singing in a made up language is very intentional, when we listen to music in a different language and don’t have a translation easily available or available at all, none of our appreciation for the music is diminished. You might gain a bit more appreciation for the sentiment of the song if you did know it, but not enough to disregard it entirely or lose your interest in what exists. You still feel that there’s something behind the words, and that’s equally as important as the understanding of them. The singing feels eerily uncanny to a real language, it’s not complete improvisational gibberish, there’s a very real rhythm, cadence, and repetition in some of the words, and at some point the vocalist sings words in English, almost as if the band is tricking you into believing there’s a legible meaning in the song, and frankly I don’t think anyone sincerely criticizes other Dream Pop and Shoegaze bands for having illegible lyrics behind the walls of vacuum sounds. It reminds me lot of Julia Holter’s Aviary, an album mainly sung in English but with no coherent connection behind the words, rather the emphasis of the them and the feelings of the sounds of them. This album is the musical manifestation of goosebumps, it’s feeling at a deeper level, and that’s pretty essential isn’t it? Gheuahs, jakwour heroula auie, “ericplaysbass” aioenrs “gay” whjedjaw?

8/10 Very much the “Alt-Pop” Bible, the best aspect of Melodrama by far is Lorde’s songwriting, not only do we obviously get some of the best Pop hits of the late 2010s from this record, we get some pretty evocative lyrics, she details extremely vivid scenes and emotions in each song, and while they do feel extremely specific in their situations, they feel universal to the sad girls who resonate with the emotions and tone of the record (shoutout women). While some of the production does feel like it’s a product of its time, we do get some pretty amazing and moody beats that remain fresh to this day, and of course her vocals and harmonies are phenomenal, sure it spawned hundreds of Lorde clones and forced many Pop artists to sing like her but that’s more of a mark against the industry. While I think a lot of Poptimism in modern Pop is overblown and astroturfed, Melodrama’s an album that deserves its love and influence over others. You like Lorde? Her early work was a little too “Alt” for my tastes, but when Pure Heroin came out in '13, I think she really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. She’s been compared to Lana Del Rey, but I think Lorde has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor. In '17, Lorde released Melodrama, her most accomplished album. I think her undisputed masterpiece is "Supercut", a song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the shortcomings of long-term relationships, it's also a personal statement about the Lorde herself! HEY ERIC! *swings shobon at eric* TRY DISRESPECTING WOMEN AGAIN YEW SCHTUPID BASTARD!!!

5/10 It’s fine. This is probably one of those records that was very influential to people before 1985, but in retrospect becomes less impressive as the years go on. The guitars and drumming are pretty decent, there’s a lot of interesting ideas on here that I guess you could say were fresh for the time, but I struggle to retain anything past the first track. If anything it probably does a decent enough job of padding out record sections at thrift stores. the glove didn’t fit!!!

10/10 Illinois is one of the extremely rare pieces of art that capture the human condition. This universal work stands shoulder to shoulder with albums like Songs in the Key of Life, To Pimp a Butterfly, Dark Side of the Moon, What’s Going On?, perfectly piecing together a portrait of humanity, history, spirituality, sexuality, life and death. Haha sike! This story is actually Sufjan inviting you to learn about the great state of Illinois! What about Illinois? EVERYTHING! This album uses its setting to brilliantly portray these themes through different eyes, cities, historical figures, and events. Everything from the great city of Chicago, the Chicago Cubs, Illinois ghost towns, the Sangamon River, Abraham Lincoln, to Superman. It’s a beautiful synecdoche of things that I have a tough time putting into words, but we’re shown an inherent beauty to this state that feels representative of a beautiful human experience. On the other hand we also have some pretty horrific tragedy that comes with this state, from the colonization and genocide of Native Americans to John Wayne Gacy. Despite us seeing this state through different eyes we also see some deeply personal and emotional stories from Sufjan himself like his struggles with his faith and sexuality and dealing with the loss of a partner to bone cancer. This is an extremely dense record with that crams as much as possible within 74 minutes, and the only way to match up with these vast subject matters is to present them beautifully with a grand sound across the whole spectrum of emotions. Sufjan’s pristine guitar playing spans across Indie Folk, Indie Pop, and Indie Rock, and very cinematic proggy fusions of Classical music, Big Band, and Jazz, and all fronted by his God given vocals. It feels strange to see this album as being anything more than what the title suggests if you don’t “get it” but it really is a masterful artwork that captures more than you can imagine. Only 48 more states to go Suf!

9/10 Your favorite rapper’s favorite rap album, and it probably should be your favorite rap album. At the age of 16 to 20, Nas wrote and released a lightning in a bottle Hip Hop album, being not just incredibly impressive for someone his age but would be a permanent blueprint for East Coast and Hip Hop as a genre. Even if you don’t like this album as much as other Hip Hop albums that you could debate are better than Illmatic, you’d be a fool to believe this record didn’t earn its reputation. We get a young and hungry kid from Queens already establishing himself as king of the game on here, and while for most rappers it seems like a typical premature statement to make, Nas’ energy, rhymes, and subject matter have set the bar for some of the best rap has to offer. His clever rhyme schemes paint a very grim portrait of New York, specifically through his life as a teenager subject to poverty and crime. We get crack deals gone wrong, bodies pumped full of lead, police confrontations that lead to an intense chase or a deadly shootout, an overwhelming exposure to violence and hedonism is what Nas puts the listener through on this record. And while most “Gangster Rap” records might dive deeply into the intensity and brashness of these themes, Nas offers a much more introspective and philosophical side to this kind of writing. What do we get to counter this intense and horrific lifestyle? Survival and “realness”. We get a duality of nihilism and perseverance on Illmatic that proved to be one of the most essential rubrics for “realness” in the genre, Nas reaps his glory and reputation not with temporary hedonistic desires but with a better way out of this loop of trauma and destruction, and better displayed with how Nas lives his life now. It’s a great “Hero’s Journey” soundtrack with a bunch of the most iconic Boom Bap and Jazz Rap beats of the 90s, most notably by DJ Premier and many other iconic East Coast producers. Unfortunately this album really does overshadow the rest of Nas’ discography, leading to many modern listeners believing it was a fluke, that’s until Nas would release a string of records with Hit Boy almost 30 years later consisting of some of the best rap albums this decade, establishing him as a noteworthy contender for the GOAT yet again. Woke Nas be like “My style switches like a f****t but I’m bisexual”

7/10 I’ll be honest the immediate thought I had when I first heard the vocalist was “wow this guy kinda sucks”, then I learned he was British and it all made sense. It’s undeniably a huge influence on British Rock and Pop music for the next decades, and it’s quite a nice and fun listen. This is completely bigoted on my part but I can see why this sorta turns off Americans and mainly gets its flowers from the UK, any music that doesn’t mask its Britishness and isn’t the best music of all time will be spat out by most audiences outside of the UK (as we can see from Robbie Williams currently having a $135 million dollar Biopic bomb horribly), and truthfully that’s my biggest bone to pick with this album. It’s pretty decent, but I can’t take anything from it other than “it’s a good time”. WHALE AT LEASHT ARE SHCHOOLS DOUN’T LOOK LOIKE COLL OV DEWCHY

8/10 It is sorta weird seeing this album get its praise from music nerds after a decade of acceptance from the mainstream and the many records it influenced, we finally see a French House album not made by Daft Punk be perceived as good by everyone including snobs. And on that note, because I’m a whiney bitch, I always kinda hated the Daft Punk comparisons, (“Human After All” exists, we already know what Edgy Daft Punk sounds like and it did not go well), I think Cross does a completely unique and innovative thing here. Well that’s not true, I’m a lying bitch, Cross is still indebted to they who shall not be named, but there’s a better comparison to be made in my mind. Cross is to Cyber Punk what Discovery is to Retro Futurism. Justice takes these sample based fundamentals to an extreme, fusing them with very noisy almost Industrial Electronic music, the sample chops are glitchy and almost synthetic, opposing Daft Punks soulful humanism. It very much embraces a very dark and futuristic aesthetic that soundtracks our humanity’s impending doom (but in a cool way, not in the microplastics killing us and us being smothered by CO2 way). The record does get kinda get samey after a bit, which is really good for an EDM album but I’d prefer some experimentation for a setting like this. All things considered, the best Christian EDM album of all time!

5/10 https://youtu.be/-JlmvtAHhnc?si=dREm-vFXzf1y500a

7/10 Definitely a record that I feel would have a much deeper impact if I had the context of British history and culture. From what I can gather in the songwriting we get some pretty harrowing and loaded subject matter regarding England’s history, on Linda Thompson’s side especially, and there are some pretty hard hitting images on every one of these songs. However I find the content of the record to maybe be a bit underserved by the instrumentals. They’re quite nice while they’re on but don’t really leave a bigger impact when it comes to the heavier thematics of the record, and I know most of that is due to traditions in English Folk music, but I do wish there was something more symbiotic here to my American tastes. I too would be depressed if I was British.

11/10 Paz-core Degeneracy, hedonism, and nihilism, The Velvet Underground & Nico defined the underbelly for the 20th century on this once in a lifetime album. The entire ethos of this record can be summed up by its cover, a provocative allure, tempting you to look beyond the surface and unveil its depravity in all its glory. Lou Reed and Nico’s forced collaboration by Andy Wahrol magically concocts one of if not the most innovative and forward thinking Rock album of all time. An album that set the benchmark for Experimental/Art Rock, making The Velvet Underground your favorite band’s favorite band. We get “proto” everything on here, Punk, Drone, Noise Rock, Goth Rock, Post-Rock, Glam Rock, so much shit on here is scarily predictive for alternative music on this nearly 50 minute run time. In the midst of this chaos we also get some of the sweetest and most delightful Pop songs of the 1960s, Sunday Morning possibly being the most beautiful opening to an LP ever recorded. These rich and stunning tunes about love and beauty neatly resting next to some of the most nihilistic, ugly, and avant-garde music you’ll ever hear feels painfully ironic, but it somehow works. Nico’s contributions to the album, while brief and not planned, are especially impressive for someone who had just started out. Femme Fatale, a wonderful and tragic tribute to Edie Sedgwick (a Warhol actress who struggled with addiction and metal illness, very fitting), I’ll Be Your Mirror, a heartbreaking and touching song about wanting to be seen (allegedly written from Lou Reed’s experiences post-shock therapy due to his homosexuality as a teen), and All Tomorrow’s Parties, a weird pre-cursor to Goth music, especially with the subject matter reflecting the feelings of being an outsider. Nico’s vocals are perfect, just as heavenly as they are eerie. The absolute highlight here is Lou Reed’s songwriting, he presents to the world the ugliness of the world, specifically underground of New York. His words aren’t abstract, they’re not cerebral, they’re actually quite easy to understand, but they remain intensely evocative, stark, brutish, and loaded with subtext. Dope dealings, prostitution, sexual masochism, queerness, and the nihilistic beauty of drug addiction. That last part is especially compelling to me as it’s been a pretty cathartic subject matter in a lot of my favorite pieces of art, especially on the track ”Heroin”, an overwhelmingly beautiful and horrific depiction of an overdose, this song explores meaninglessness and bliss in death in a way I’ve rarely seen in a piece of art, in a strange way it feels Lovecraftian in an indescribable way, it remains as one of the greatest pieces of music I’ve ever experienced. The Velvet Underground gave a voice for the unorthodox, the rejected, and the counter-culture, many of our favorite artists are permanently indebted to this record, and it’s only fair that we keep appreciating its legacy as we do our best to maintain progress today. “The Velvet Underground’s first album only sold a few thousand copies, but everyone who bought one formed a band.” -Brian Eno

9/10 Who knew Elliott Smith on a budget would sound like Elliott Smith on a budget. Pretty fantastic overall even if I do enjoy the subtlety and lonely feeling of an album like Either/Or more, we still get some phenomenal songwriting on here with a lot of interesting and grander performances. Elliott’s influences are on a bit more visible display here, mainly bands like The Beatles with Elliott getting more instruments and bigger arrangements involved. Some stuff isn’t gonna stick as hard on a full 16 tracks but I can only see myself appreciating his growth the more I listen to his discography. https://imgur.com/a/K3ug1Nv

8/10 FKA Twigs establishes modern Pop and R&B on LP1 in ways we’re hearing more and more of even after a decade. Even though I prefer her work after this point, I still deeply respect LP1 as a sort of foundation for innovative and avant-garde Pop music in the internet age. Not only is she a great Pop and R&B songwriter, making these some very memorable songs by themselves, she fuses them with Deconstructed Club, IDM, Glitch, and Dupstep in an extremely fluid and organic way. There’s nothing that feels synthetic about Twigs’ music despite it so obviously being so futuristic. It’s super organic, and precisely crafted, of course with help from some of the best producers in the game right now (Arca, Sampha, Clams Casino and many more). Her voice is insanely hypnotic, I think that’s just an objective factor to everything she’s done but you can’t help but fall for these very psychedelic and ethereal vocal deliveries. An incredible start and she only gets better from here, I already know Eusexua will continue to deliver. Thank you women (+Robert Pattinson)!