292
Albums Rated
3.31
Average Rating
27%
Complete
797 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
2010
Favorite Decade
Blues
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
53
5-Star Albums
18
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Yeezus
Kanye West
|
5 | 2.77 | +2.23 |
|
Happy Sad
Tim Buckley
|
5 | 2.78 | +2.22 |
|
Kollaps
Einstürzende Neubauten
|
4 | 1.91 | +2.09 |
|
Out of Step
Minor Threat
|
5 | 2.93 | +2.07 |
|
No Other
Gene Clark
|
5 | 3.18 | +1.82 |
|
Low-Life
New Order
|
5 | 3.29 | +1.71 |
|
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Wilco
|
5 | 3.31 | +1.69 |
|
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady
Charles Mingus
|
5 | 3.32 | +1.68 |
|
Channel Orange
Frank Ocean
|
5 | 3.33 | +1.67 |
|
Meat Is Murder
The Smiths
|
5 | 3.33 | +1.67 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
A Night At The Opera
Queen
|
1 | 3.95 | -2.95 |
|
Brothers In Arms
Dire Straits
|
1 | 3.74 | -2.74 |
|
Hotel California
Eagles
|
1 | 3.59 | -2.59 |
|
James Brown Live At The Apollo
James Brown
|
1 | 3.45 | -2.45 |
|
Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
|
1 | 3.45 | -2.45 |
|
My Generation
The Who
|
1 | 3.41 | -2.41 |
|
Ace of Spades
Motörhead
|
1 | 3.29 | -2.29 |
|
The Specials
The Specials
|
1 | 3.29 | -2.29 |
|
The Slim Shady LP
Eminem
|
1 | 3.28 | -2.28 |
|
The Stooges
The Stooges
|
1 | 3.26 | -2.26 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Bob Dylan | 3 | 5 |
| Johnny Cash | 2 | 5 |
| Simon & Garfunkel | 2 | 5 |
| Green Day | 2 | 5 |
| The Rolling Stones | 4 | 4.25 |
| Miles Davis | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Queen | 2 | 1.5 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Beastie Boys | 2, 5 |
5-Star Albums (53)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Green Day · 1 likes
5/5
Dookie, Warning, and Nimrod were so fantastic that Green Day had to release a greatest hits album only 10 years after their debut album. One of the best rock bands of all time with arguably 4 albums that could be 5/5.
Miles Davis · 1 likes
4/5
I really want to give this a 5 in defense of one of my favorite genres, but this is not one of my favorite jazz albums. Too often I find myself zoned out and forgetting it's playing. Yet it has done great moments and smooth songs, so it's still a 4
Solomon Burke · 1 likes
2/5
Some of these older albums that are selected are the "sound old but also sound modern" variety ... not this one, this old. We once again see the resurrection of "little girl" (*pukingemoji*). Also You Can't Love 'Em All is both problematic and wrong - of course you can when they all got the eyes for you like he says. 2/5
The Rolling Stones · 1 likes
5/5
This album immediately starts with a much more full-bodied sound and sticks with it. I was dancing through the airport listening to this and wasn't even bothered by the length. First time I've ever listened to it.
The Go-Betweens · 1 likes
4/5
This was really nice, I l liked the sound of it. A little jangle and a little chamber. 80s music doesn't have to be bad, it just chooses to be apparently. the Go-Betweeners aren't getting stoned by me today - 4/5
1-Star Albums (18)
All Ratings
Janelle Monáe
3/5
I've listened to enough Afro/Soul-Funk to know that I can only really enjoy about 25 minutes of it. But I can see both the inspiration and the novelty of this album. But Suite II Overture was my favorite part and it was obviously the only non-pop-funk song on the album lol
Depeche Mode
4/5
Led Zeppelin
3/5
Starts off strong, rocks hard, and then runs on for about an hour too long.
Willie Nelson
4/5
What a pleasant and optimistic lil album
The Go-Go's
4/5
On the first song, I really thought they were saying "Alex I see you" which creeped me out. This album breaks the stereotype of the 80s new wave pop album. Lust to Love is low-key punk? The fact that this album came out in early 1980s and yet boring 80s pop still dominated the decade baffles me.
Nirvana
3/5
The songs get a little too repetitive for me, but bonus points because sonically it has that signature Nirvana excitement. Also how does Nirvana have like 2 albums yet they still repeat guitar riffs?
Kings of Leon
3/5
I'm sort of shocked this made it into the top 1000 albums given that it's pretty generic rock. Not that they are perfectly comparable since Kings of Leon has more of a Southern spin, but aren't there like 3 Red Hot Chili Pepper albums better than this?
4/5
This album is actually one song too short, I'd love to have a little bit more. Great album artwork, I like to think that I'm the clown in the suit sitting with the pigeons in the gutter. Also listening to some of War's other albums this weekend, I discovered that they are the creators of the George Lopez shoe's theme song. I would've never guessed, the vocal distortion / lack of soulful singing in that song is a total shift from the rest of their work on TWIAG and Why Can't We Be Friends?
Bruce Springsteen
2/5
I apologize to vaasavi and the vaasavis and Bruce Springsteen and his family for my lack of professionalism. I did not direct my full attention to this album. Unfortunately, I find it far too boring to relisten. Springsteen is one of those artists where Americans are forced to listen to him in many situations, and while he has some really well written songs, listening to full albums can feel like pop-rock torture.
Joy Division
4/5
The influence of Joy Division on more modern music is incredible. I don't pick them up often because I think some of the bands they influenced down the line are more interesting, but I always enjoy diving back in. How good is 24 Hours? 4/5
Abdullah Ibrahim
3/5
I'm a big jazz fan yet I don't see why this in particular was recommended. There is a nice blend of smooth jazz, a little bit of bop, and a small tad of scooby-doo searching through an old creepy cellar music (Sameeda). I still enjoyed it (3.5 / 5), but I would like an explanation for why this was selected. Can I speak to the manager?
Oasis
4/5
Oasis may be a meme, but they can really rock. Supersonic and a few other songs are just flirting with that same early-90s space rock revival sound that the Verve were perfecting on A Storm In Heaven and A Northern Soul. Oasis just didn't lean into the distortion as much as other bands during this time which is probably why they came out of the decade as the most popular. 4/5
Stevie Wonder
4/5
I love Songs in the Key of Life, but this wasn't as enthralling for me. I do wonder if people who use to listen to Stevie Wonder all the time were just happier people. I always picture a group of people smiling and dancing next to the a record player when I listen to his albums. 3.5 / 5 rounded up to a 4 because I REALLY like Songs in the Key of Life
Arcade Fire
5/5
I effing love this album, it has so much excitement, passion, and a big sound. And that isn't just me being a nostalgic millenial because foremost, I am not a millenial. And also because I only started listening to this album in 2019.
John Lennon
4/5
I'm not gonna argue that this is in the same realm as All Things Must Pass - but I don't think they need to be compared (though the jab at George's religion in I Found Out is unnecessary). Both John and George are drawing great elements from late Beatles sounds. John has that funk-rock positivity that I love. This album rocks in simplicity.
Does anyone else think Remember sounds a lot like I Dig Love?
Van Morrison
4/5
I can't quite put my finger on it (though the album cover is a big contributing factor), but I find this dude creepy. Him singing about hooking up on moondance gives some serious pervert vibes to me. However, this album is infinitely better than Astral Weeks, I respect how much his sound and lyrics evolved from that garbage can. 4/5
Spacemen 3
3/5
if this inspired Godspeed! then I will acknowledge it's contribution. But listening to this out of context, it has moments of intrigue tempered by moments of blandness. 3.5 rounded to a 3
Supertramp
4/5
I don't have much to say, this was just really nice to listen to
The Rolling Stones
5/5
This is the only Stones album I listen to because it's got all you'd ever want on it. Gimme Shelter is an all time banger, the twang in Love In Vain, You Can't Always Get What You Want is a Glee Cast classic ... hit after hit 5/5
The Pretty Things
3/5
sergeant pepper wanna be. honestly though, there were some enjoyable songs on this album - when i was ready to move on with my life, Walking Through My Dreams pulled me back in. 3.5 rounded down to 3.
Sam Cooke
3/5
That's one manic cat singing up there, 3/5
Franz Ferdinand
2/5
Similar to the Killer's, there isn't anything bad here but by the end I'm bored 2/5
Deep Purple
4/5
This song rocks harder and is more engaging than other rock albums we've listened to imo, plus they bring in that the Doors-era psych spin to their music, so 4/5
The Rolling Stones
3/5
What was it about pre-00s male artists that love writing songs about "stupid" or "dumb" girls"? Rolling Stones, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Run-DMC... the only worse trend was referring to sexual partners as "little girl", i.e. in Going Home, he says "touch me one more time ... little girl". The ablum has some good jingles (Doncha Bother Me, Going Home), but some songs are just grinding to listen to (Out Of Time is a 5:30 song that is 4 minutes too long). Yet, I have to give this credit for sounding like the early 70s in the mid 60s. Clearly this album was influential to rock and roll. 3/5
Elbow
4/5
This sounds so much like the late 00s early 10s. You have your chamber pop songs (first few songs), you have your indie pop/rock songs (Grounds for Divorce)... all in the same vein as a band like Local Natives. An Audience With The Pope could be a B side Hozier song. There's something about this era that makes it sound like the lead singer is saying something really profound. Certainly a song from this era of indie music needed to make it on the 1001 list, and this is overall a pretty good listen. Not sure I see what was exceptionally special about this album vs. the rest of the genre, but solid 3.5 / 5 rounded up to 4
Slipknot
3/5
Not gonna lie I really enjoyed Gematria. It's a classic white man's account of the hardships of the American experience for so many: the country isn't leaving you behind or oppressing you because you're black, a woman, or any other minority, it's coming for everyone who isn't in power. And if your coping mechanism with the injustices of American imperialism or domestic failures of the American dream is religion, how will you cope if God doesn't even care? While it's an extreme opinion that overlooks actual structural racism or hardships for minorities, the overall sentiment probably resonates more with the working white poor.
I also am convinced that a Deftones album is on its way because songs like Gehenna are clearly influenced by Deftones vocals.
The album is definitely too long, I think it probably should've ended right before Snuff which just sounds like a A Day to Remember song which has that uninteresting teenage angst sound to me.
3.5/5, probably would've rounded this up to a 4 before Snuff but down to a 3 after because it was just too long to listen to metal.
Eminem
1/5
I understand why this album makes the list because it's a genuinely unique and creative album, but there literally isn't a single song/spoken word poem on this album that I would ever want to hear again. The beats are sub-par and unexciting (somehow it even misses the mark for a simple boom-bap beat), the subject matter is unappealing and comes closes but almost always misses the mark on meaningful introspection. The rhyme schemes are creative but wasted (imo) on bad songs. I seriously struggled to finish this, would've rather kept listening to the Verve. 1/5 as a musical album, 4/5 as an album that is probably worthwhile to make the 1001 list.
Buena Vista Social Club
5/5
This is legitimately one of my favorite albums; I've already listened to it twice this week but am happy to make it a third. Speaking as a relatively uninformed American, I recognize that there is something beautiful about modern artists bringing a fresh twist on classical / traditional music in Latin American countries. I think Natalia Lafourcade is the best modern example, but BVSC's inspiration from the dark yet musically rich days of Batista is beautiful. Now to the actually composition of the songs, I liken it to the rock n' roll days of Neil Young and Crazy Horse where the lyrics are simple but the jams are drawn out, sophisticated, and exciting. El Cuarto de Tula is one of my favorite songs of all time. 5/5
Elliott Smith
5/5
Wow, two of my favorite albums in a row. This album is as close to perfect as an album can get for me. The double tracked vocals over Elliott's complex yet effortless guitar riffs and the expert production of the album makes it seem like he's whispering his poetry directly into your head. The flow between upbeat and uplifting songs and heartbreaking downtempo songs is unrivaled. The fact that he wrote the lyrics and orchestrated the music, sang vocals, and played guitar, drums, piano and bass on this album blows my mind. I wouldn't even say this is his best album, but it's still a 5/5
Christina Aguilera
4/5
First off, at first I thought using Jay Z's Public Service Announcement to kick off the album was a cool idea with some cultural context that I don't understand, but doing some research I see no online discussions of the PSA sample, so I guess that's lost to history. Regardless, her voice is out of this world. Also the transition from Walk Away and Fighter is flawless. The album in general dragged on a little too long for me, so it's a 3.5 instead of a 4, and it gets the round up since this was better than a lot of other albums we've had. 4/5
Harry Nilsson
2/5
Why is this American dabbling in brit-pop? The highlight of the album was the unexpected entrance of the accordion and brass on the opening track, which was otherwise just a tired and uninspired reflection on growing up. I just didn't find this all that interesting but it's an acceptable 2.5/5 down to a 2
A Tribe Called Quest
3/5
ATCQ is always a good vibe, fun rhymes and good beats. But I tire of it by the end of the album. 3.5 down to a 3.
The Black Keys
5/5
This album is so fun and rocks hard. I don't listen to many blues-inspired artists but love the ones I do. I'm not sure I would go as far as to say I'm a big Black Keys fan, but I love this album. 5/5
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
So many great moments in this album that puts it at #1 on rym's top album of all time.
It undeniably has the best intro song of all time. It may be a 100-way tie with other incredible albums, but #1 nonetheless.
Sonically, the incorporation of jazz into the album and keeping the listener engaged through the funky interludes is masterful.
The use of the low strings and horns to build an ominous feeling as the "remember you was conflicted" unravels is so good. The first time I listened to Mortal Man and it's revealed that he's reading the poem to Tupac, my mind was blown.
The second verse on Blacker the Berry has to be one of the tightest verses in all of rap, and Assassin's feature verse is unbelievable.
The music video for Alright blew my 18 y.o. mind.
I also learned that if you leave a voicemail on a rapper's phone, good chance you make the next album or mixed tape.
This is also perfect evidence that 60+ min albums don't HAVE to be too long, but only the most perfectly curated albums can be 78 minutes and still capture attention the whole time.
The fact that the "single version" of i exists is so depressing.
Imagine listening to this album your main takeaway being "wow i don't like how he says the police want to see a black man dead." It's the same energy as watching an episode of Queer Eye and the main take-away being "why is that dude wearing a dress."
I hate revealing how white I am, but listening to these conscious rap albums from Kendrick and Vince after watching Menace II Society makes me respect these artists for sharing their art with the world so much more, recognizing that the average listener won't understand their lived experience.
It's impossible to pick out a favorite line, but I whimsically love "The devil wanna put me in a bowtie"
5/5 ofc
DJ Shadow
3/5
I'll take L'Orange over this any day of the week, 3/5
Devendra Banhart
2/5
This is like a really bad Bombay Bicycle Club
Fun Lovin' Criminals
3/5
Honestly listening to this album felt like we were just cruising with the top down shooting the breeze with these fellas, talking about rock bottom 3.5 rounded down to 3/5
Lynyrd Skynyrd
5/5
10 minutes in, I thought "woah, Lynyrd Skynrd has a song on the Happy Gilmore soundtrack! And it's actually really good!" By the end of my second listen through, I realized there is a lot of depth to this album. I love the southern spin and the intentionality of this album. A lot of these classic rock albums we've been listening to sound more carefree and effortless, like it was recorded off the cuff. But this sounds like a well curated final product which is really refreshing. I might have actually dropped the kings of leon album down another star had i listened to this first because this is a guiding star of southern rock. The only pause i have from giving 5/5 is the stupid southern toxic machismo of Mississippi kid, but ill still do it
The Doors
4/5
I love the Doors, but this is a second-tier album from them. That being said, it's still a 4.
Sebadoh
2/5
This album's lows are way too low, and that's coming from a huge fan of 90's alt and slacker rock. The highs are still there - the edge of the acoustic guitar on Happily Divided perfectly dabbled into a bit of slowcore style drab. But this ranks very low on my list of good alt slacker rock albums from the 90s, especially since it came out at the same time as Pavement's best albums. 2.5 rounded down
Le Tigre
2/5
I like slacker rock, but slacker pop walks the line between being carefree / fun and being outright annoying. Around 22 min in (My My Metrocard), the novelty of the late 90s/early 00s dance-pop slacker pop had run dry. 2/5
Solange
3/5
I don't like the actual music but the interludes are dope so I'll throw it a 3.5 rounded down
Derek & The Dominos
4/5
I really don't know how I feel about this album. Most of the songs were blues bangers, but the album played like a collection of singles more than an album. I'll throw it a 4/5 noting that I really need another listen
Beatles
4/5
This isnt even a top 5 Beatles album for me but it's still a 4
Big Star
2/5
I really didn't find this interesting, the lyrics are corny and sonically I was unimpressed. 2/5
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
I'm so shocked that I enjoyed this both lyrically and sonically that i'm gonna go crazy and say 4.5 / 5, but then go less crazy and round down to 4.
Ghostface Killah
4/5
The beats, production value, and bars blew me away even though it's what Wu-tang is known for. However, I struggle to get past songs like Three Bricks that are quasi-glorifying violence. 4/5
Black Sabbath
5/5
I'm shocked by how much I enjoy this album since I avoided it my whole life. It just rocks, it's a timeless album.
The Zombies
2/5
Wow this was BLAND. A few times I thought the album had started over because I was convinced I'd already heard the song. The Time of the Season is the only song that stuck out to me. 2/5
Guided By Voices
2/5
They may be one of the godfathers of slacker rock, but there's a little too little rock and too much terrible singing for me to get behind. More Striped White Jets, Blimps Go 90, and Alright and this gets a stronger consideration from me. 2.5/5 down to 2
The Band
2/5
While i did perk up a bit after realizing The Band played with Dylan on the Basement Tapes, it didn't overcome the fact that The Band is mostly bland. 2.5/5 rounded down to 2 as I expected more
Wire
4/5
Lowdown has a great sound to it ... and then a bunch of songs afterwards do too. I can get down to this, probs need a few more listens. If Vaas couldn't catch Elliott Smith's lyrics, not a chance she gets the lyrics from these punks. 4/5
Johnny Cash
5/5
This is such a haunting and rich album. I love that he picked Fiona Apple as a feature, and his song selection is top tier (other than Danny Boy, not a fan of that one). I do wish he had picked a Dylan song, but I can't projection my own wishes on a legend's last album.
Guns N' Roses
2/5
Is it just me or do these guys have nothing to say at all? Like, I know it's essentially just pop music mapped to "hard" rock, but how do they have nothing to say at all? At least one or two songs kinda rock, so I guess 1.5 rounded up to 2/5
Van Halen
2/5
This is more pop and less rock than I expected. It was actually better than Guns N Roses. Maybe it's being forced to hear these 80s pop songs on soundtracks, in grocery stores, and in commercials my whole life, but I find the sound of this album so tired. It's not 1/5 bad, it's probably 2.5 rounded down bad.
Bob Dylan
5/5
In my opinion, this is a top 5 album we've listened to so far, and remarkably, this isn't even a top 5 Dylan album for me. Maggie's Farm is definitely a top 5 Dylan song though. 5/5
Marvin Gaye
2/5
WAY TOO LONG!!! I thought the album was coming to a close around Sparrow, and the album was barely half way finished. Then A Funk Space Reincarnation really sounded like an outro. 2.5 rounded down
Otis Redding
5/5
Even if I didn't know what soul was, I would still listen to this and think "wow this guy has a lot of soul", so I think it's well classified. The instrumentation supports his soulful vocals so well, I loved the happy trumpet breaking through in Wonderful World. Ironically, I think Wonderful World has basically become a mantra in the US - I don't need to know much as long as I'm happy. The song plays better sung by a world-class musician who dropped out of high school due to economic disparities driven by racism tho. 5/5
Funkadelic
3/5
Funk always sounds so strange to my ear since I listen to it so rarely. I love the vibes and the intentional care-free style of it. "Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?!" is my favorite song with its cheeky lyrics and rocking sonics, "P.E. Squad / Doo Doo Chasers" was also a great jam song. I really liked how I was advertised nutrition bars during it since this album isn't on spotify and therefore requires an ad-filled listening experience. Like every time we listen to an album outside our usual genre, I'm gonna play this safe and give it a 3.5 because I don't have much to compare it to. Since I liked The World is a Ghetto more than this and that was a 4, I'll round this down to a 3.
Common
5/5
Finally some Chicago boys! Kanye on the beats and Common on the mic is a killer combo. If only this album could've come out 2 years later, adding Lupe as a collaborator would've completed the Chicago trifecta. The intro is one of the best of the era imo. Plus this album can have goofy verses like those on "The Food" and then drop flawless bars on Real People all supported by a light and breezy jazz beat. It blows me away how Common effortlessly addresses the traumas of living in south side Chicago, acknowledges his own temptation to pass on the trauma, and still challenges himself to humanize his abusers and the abused all in the same song.
"I wonder if the spirits of Bob Marley and Haile Selassie
Watch me as the cops be tryna pop and lock me
They cocky, plus they mentality is Nazi
The way they treat blacks, I wanna snap like paparazzi"
...
"Told to go beyond the surface, a person's a person
When we lessen our women, our conditions seem to worsen"
It's Your World is also one of my favorite outros.
Rap isn't my go-to genre, but no genre can amaze me lyrically as much as rappers. My dad argues that Sondheim is the best social commentator, but there's nothing that inspires me more than the most abused members of society challenging everyone to be better. 5/5
Black Flag
3/5
Seems like Pink Flag > Black Flag. I can see how Billy Joe Armstrong was influenced by these guys, but I'm a strong believer that punk can be more than fatalist or nihilist musings of angsty teams. I look for something a little more tongue-in-cheek and optimism in my punk which is probably why I like
pink flag more. Go figure that Rise Above is black flag's most popular song. Not every album can be Dookie, but albums that aren't Dookie aren't getting 5s. This one is getting a 3.
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
4/5
Apparently I listened to this album back in 2021 and rated it 4/5. It gives strong Magnolia Electric Co vibes, just a little less rock-heavy and more folk-heavy, but like all albums on this list, it came out a few years before the album it reminds me of. I'll throw it another 4 despite not having anything more to say on it. It sounds like something I'd like so no reason to dig too much deeper
Eagles
1/5
One of those bands where people think the writing is really deep and get a lot out of the songs, but I definitely don't. Songs like Life in the Fast Lane are just a waste of time for me, where's the intrigue? The writing is slightly more complex than the average pop song, but not by much. The rock songs with boring lyrics are blended in with boring ballads like Wasted Time which makes it that much harder to listen to. Plus you add in the plausibly problematic fact that these guys are consistently judging women "out in those bars" after a breakup. "I could be wrong, but I'm not, no I'm not" is also one of the most obnoxious things I've heard a boy band say after telling a woman how she feels. Even writing a song about environmentalism ain't gonna save this from a 1/5. I'll be curious to see what the rest of the group thinks, because I think the Eagles will be lost to time here in another decade.
Herbie Hancock
3/5
I listened to this 3 times and never came away with any discerning thoughts. I think I liked it, so let's give it a 3.5 rounded down to 3. Easily could be a 4.
Anthrax
2/5
The album cover is interesting, but I just struggle to get into thrasher music. The guitar sequences all sound the same to me. Why not add some distortions and just be shoegaze smh. 2.5 rounded down(?) because it really wasn't good, bad it isn't super bad
The Soft Boys
3/5
I genuinely don't know what I'm supposed to get from this album. It's quirky pop rock that could've been notable had it come out in the 60s, but it seems like pretty cookie cutter neo-psychedelia rock. 3/5 because it was a fine listen.
Steely Dan
4/5
Another day, another chance for me to not have an interesting review. The best part of the album is the album artwork. Musically, things are fine and interesting enough. The blues-y guitar is nice, and the vocals are only slightly tainted by that 70s pop jangle. A 3.5 rounded up
Nick Drake
5/5
Listen, it's going to be really challenging for me to give a Nick Drake album less than a 5. That's just how it is.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
She's got such a strange carefree way of singing in general that I struggle to enjoy her music. Like you can't just talk quickly without rhyming and call it singing. However, there were actually a few songs i liked (Raised on robbery, free man in Paris, twisted), so I'll give it a 3.5 rounded down
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Not gonna lie, I was pretty surprised when I thought my phone meeped out and failed to submit my rating yesterday, only to realize that it was in fact another Joni Mitchell album that the 1001 gods prescribed to me. This album has all the same flaws as the last. Admittedly I thought The Jungle Line had an interesting sound, kinda like Q*bert music 7 years before the game would be released. I guess this is a solid 3/5. If I was in a worse mood, i could've justified a 2.5.
Frank Ocean
5/5
It's crazy to think back to 2012. OF mixed tap Vol2 comes out and you realize that the ceiling is so much higher than Goblin, and then Frank drops cO and you realize these punks are going to actually produce great music. It takes Tyler 5 years to release an actual album, and here's Frank producing great work in 2012.
Now my white straight man take - this album also perfectly capitalizes on the chill-wave era in an unexpected way. You have bands like Neon Indian, Washed Out, and Starfucker creating really great bops but with slow-paced development. Even thinking about the xx coming out of this era, you have popular musicians incorporating sparsity in their albums, letting the lyrics trickle out over either an exciting or devastating backdrop. Frank never rushes into an album and there's so much more emotion in his music because of it.
Also random observation - doesn't Bad Religion have the same organ sequence as Jesus Lord off Donda? It's the same 4 notes on the same organ looped over the whole track ...
The Byrds
2/5
This sounds like what some old baptist woman queued up for us after she learned we were listening to songs about wet tits yesterday. I'd love to give this a 1 star because the whole album's lyrics must've been written in one afternoon, but I really didn't mind listening to it. 2.5 that was almost rounded up, but You Got A Reputation makes me round down. Singing songs shaming people for "running around" should tear the Byrds' reputation down.
Supergrass
3/5
The first half of this album sounds like an uncovered lost album from MGMT. Strange Ones to Sitting Up Straight was a high point of the album, that stretch sounds like MGMT and the Pixies collabed. I also loved the harmonica on Time and basically the rest of the album. The first half was nothing special, but the second half was strong. This deserves somewhere between a 3 and 4, probably a 3.75. We'll round ... down.
James Brown
1/5
I thought the sound of screaming fans was obnoxious in the Era's Tour movie, but this is on a whole different level. I would never listen to this again unless there is a remastered version that removes the crowd sounds, and that's coming from someone who loves live albums.
Korn
1/5
This album sounds like a band with nothing to say stole the vocals (and to some extent the sound) from a Deftones album that was released a year earlier. The fact that Korn had any fanbase by 1998 when people could've just move towards a much better Deftones doesn't make any sense to me. 1.5 out of 5 rounded down because the rapping is so lame on this album and All In The Family is just uncomfortable in so many ways. Also that's the worst outro I've ever heard. I don't even know why this album made the list, it seems like people generally like Korn's debut more.
Pantera
2/5
What is it about metal bands where they produce a completely homogeneous album and then throw in an actual song as the final track. The whole album blended together for me in a bad way, and my loyal fans already know that I thought it was 10min too long. 2/5 just to separate this from the Korn album.
The xx
5/5
I checked last.fm and I've listened to this album almost 100 times in my life (mostly from high school and college) and it still holds up. The xx taught me how valuable pace and sparsity can be in an album. When you aren't layering instrumentation, even silence starts to sound like an instrument. Every single song on this album is a 5/5 for me, and unless you start blending songs from Coexist into the track list, you would never want to shuffle the album. Now back onto my soap box about how too many of these albums are too long: this xx album is 38 minutes; 3 years later, they release their 2nd album which is 37 minutes; another 5 years goes by, and they release a 39min album. In 8 years, the xx didn't waste a single second of my time. That's the blue print for all these albums that are over 60 minutes with filler junk songs. I understand why Katy Perry is writing garbage songs to fill up space between her singles on albums, but why are these 1001 top albums trying to fill up so much space? Anyway, this is a 5
Bruce Springsteen
2/5
It's funny that Born in the US is the famous track of this album because the song immediately following it is so much better. In general, this has both that 80s sounds and country-ish vocals that I really dislike. But Cover Me really had a nice sound. 2.5 rounded down. You put a song like "I'm Goin Down" on an album and you aren't cracking into the 3+ stars.
Patti Smith
3/5
This album is weird, sometimes in a good way and sometimes in a bad way. One of the songs was a 4.5/5, a few were 3/5 and one or two were 2/5. So I will average it to a 3/5. That feels marginally optimistic, and if I did another listen it could be a 2.
U2
2/5
I never knew this was a cultural phenomenon until much later, but I still harbor unfettered hatred for U2 from their stunt with iTunes. Coercively listening to music is never pleasant and I can't overcome my disdain for their sound. Even if I try to be partial, this would never be greater than 3/5 because there's just something interesting missing from U2 - an edginess maybe? Stick to featuring on Kendrick albums, buddy.
Marty Robbins
3/5
There's something relaxing about simple gunslinger stories over soft acoustic and rhyme scheme. But I've never been a fan of the Johnny Cash / Nick Cave style of idealizing violence behind some masculine machismo. That being said, the whole album felt like a dark spin on something Andy Griffith would sing to Aunt B on his porch after dinner, and the vocals on El Paso were impressive. I can see me picking up this album when I need some light and breezy music. 3.5 rounded down seems reasonable.
Death In Vegas
3/5
Soul auctioneer sounds like a Gorillaz song, the others are just fine background music. Nothing contentious about this one, 3.
The Clash
4/5
A bunch of 5/5 songs. Hateful was my favorite. If this album was 5 songs shorter, it could've been 5/5. But it droned on about 15 songs too long without adding any differentiating bops, so 4/5
Beatles
3/5
A contender for my least favorite Beatles album, but it's still not a bad listen. 3/5
Violent Femmes
3/5
Maybe it's the era I grew up in, but many of these very early slacker rock/pop albums make me think the albums were genuinely prepared in a matter of hours. I want complexity that feels effortless and lazy on the surface, not simple carefree tunes. Nevertheless I enjoyed this album other than the song about drugging girls. There were some Pixie-esque vocals which was appreciated. 3/5
Buffalo Springfield
3/5
I prefer Neil Young rocking out with Crazy Horse. This slower soft rock/folk has a much lower floor and ceiling, but overall I found this to be a fine if not uninspiring listen.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Sinatra is always an easy listen, the horns and the plungered trumpet with the silky smooth vocals is vintage. Nevertheless, even though Sinatra does what he does really well, the ceiling for his brand of music is pretty low. There isn't anything daring or dazzling about perfecting generic mid-century tunes. Not sure Sinatra can crack above 3.5 for me, so he's rounded down 3
Sly & The Family Stone
2/5
I'm curious to know when the average Sly & The Family Stone listens to their music. Is this "driving in a car down the highway" music? Getting drunk with your friends and singing along music? I can't get into funk/soul and would just like to know how best to enjoy it.
The Band
3/5
I think the headline for this album is "Fun Twangy Instrumentation, Suspect Vocals". The Night is an interesting song, just a wood-chopping brother of a Confederate martyr who wishes those damn Yankees hadn't destroyed the local railroad and extracted all the local wealth, damn carpetbaggers. At least they left the wood. Guess this this song from 1969 was written before the South undermined the Reconstruction Era and prioritized Jim Crow laws.
Napalm Death
3/5
When I saw this was 28 songs I thought OH GOD NO. And then I saw it was only 30ish minutes and thought "sweet". Then towards the end of the first song I thought, wait are they saying words or just grumbling syllables and was genuinely shocked to learn real English words were being uttered. Apparently this album falls under the subgenre "Stenchcore" which is a first for me. I actually liked Siege of Power, they almost tapped into a bit of glitch-pop imo and could've been produced by MC Ride. The vocals are consistently obnoxious to me however, at least I can understand MC Ride. And on Control, why do they rhyme "head" with "death" when they could just have used "you're dead" instead of "your death"? I guess that's the fascist in me talking...
I also loved "You Suffer", it totally caught me off guard. Here's a blurb I found about it:
"The song has earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the shortest recorded song ever. It is precisely 1.316 seconds long. The song’s writer, Justin Broadrick, said: 'You Suffer was largely a comedy thing, one-second song. Utterly retarded. It’s ridiculous, but it was hilarious. We played that song in front of 30 local kids, like, every weekend. We played that song 30 times. It was a laugh.' "
I actually laughed at the mouth noises during Success lol
Also, kudos to anyone who picked up that both the lead guitarist and lead vocalist changed half way through the album. Apparently the core contributors of the band changed during the recording of the album and they just split the album into two, the old at the front and the new at the back.
Even though the vocals are grating at times, I can get down to some of these thrashes, again because they're glitch adjacent and cracked me up at times. 3.5/5 rounded down.
3/5
Listen, I'm not a big david bowie guy. And I'm just talking about musically, I'm not going to judge his cultural importance because he obviously was a vibrant character of the 20th century. But I don't think he has an album above a 3/5 star. His voice is reminiscent of an era of music where rockstars could get away with completely uninspiring vocals. That being said, I can see how this album is influential (musically) because I can see similar elements to The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here which came out 1 and 3 years later. If this album came out in 1975, I'd be giving it a 2. But since it seems to have had some influence on Pink Floyd and certainly others, and because the second half of he album is much stronger than the first (only Moonage Daydream is worth a damn the first half, but Ziggy Stardust and Suffragette City are good tunes), I'll throw it a 3 star.
Queen
2/5
Overall meh, not too much to celebrate here
The Temptations
4/5
Without listening to them too much, it seems like the Temptations dabble in a few different subgenres, and all of them are enjoyable to listen. I can't pick any specific standout songs on the album but I just bopped back in forth in my office chair throughout. Easy 3.5/5, will say 4 because I never wondered how much time was left.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
This album starts strong and sustains greatness throughout. Also an all-time album cover. The songs are sweet if not tantalizing at times (lol), engaging, and pleasant. I come back to this when people try to say that Paul Simon's solo work is superior, which is absolutely isn't. Baby Driver is a rare example where an American group builds off 60s Brit-Pop without being annoying. This is probably a 4.5 / 5, but I'll round it up today where I may round down another
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
2/5
I love long winding songs, and maybe it's because my water bottle was just run over by a campus bus, but I almost DNF'ed this album listening to Grey/Afro. I even took a break half way through it because my headphones died. I liked how this album had a completely different sound on each song for the first half, but I just wanted it to END the second half. This album is unequivocally not required to be listened to before dying.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
3/5
This sounds quintessentially 90s, like a slightly less edgy Mellow Gold. but by 96 this slacker sound had already permeated and this album isn't consistently interesting throughout, so I'm a little puzzled by its inclusion. Still an overall fine album, but I wouldn't rush to a relisten.
2/5
My first instinct was to designate this album artwork as the least inspiring cover of all time. But after finishing the album, now I'm questioning whether its actually satire? Because she looks like a prude preacher's wife, and the first half of the album sounds like a Taylor Swift album to me, where you have your songs about how your man is the most important thing in the world to you, and then you have your songs about being wronged by a lover/ex, etc, and willing to stick up for yourself when push comes to shove. But then as you work through the album, you realize that she isn't some hopeless romantic perpetuating the idea that women are only as good as their man - she's out on the town, cheating on her cheating man, and the whole works. And suddenly I'm wondering, is the prude on the album cover actually independent and fiery? Anyway, not the best music.
The Doors
5/5
The first time I listened to this a few years ago, I had never listened to any of the Door's albums. After even the first listen, I absolutely fell in love and am still blown away by this album, along with a few others. The fact that a debut album can be one of the best of all time and still hold up so well 50 years later is amazing.
ZZ Top
4/5
I've never listened to ZZ Top before and only know them because the one guy was on Bones and they had the theme song on Duck Dynasty. Pretty cool album, I liked the Blues inspiration, and the TV Dinner song was hilarious. Pretty easy 4/5 for me
T. Rex
5/5
I've listened to this album 4 times today and am confident that I find it to firmly be a 4.5/5. I find a really interesting diversity in the bands that I see inspired by this album - Wilco, The Black Keys, amongst others. I haven't studied the lyrics, but the sound is just interesting and unique. Will come back to this in the future. Round up just because it's the first time in a while that I listened to an album I haven't previously discovered and really enjoyed it.
William Orbit
2/5
I don't know about this one
Fugazi
4/5
Finally some jam songs from the 90s. Brendan #1 is excellently orchestrated, reminds me of some jam songs by Ride a few years later. I was expecting this to be more shoegazey since their big hit (I'm So Tired) is like a legendary song in the shoegaze community. While this album wasn't as good as I was expecting since Fugazi is so highly respected online, I still really enjoyed the sound of the album, and it sounded much more mid-90s than early. So 4/5.
The Smiths
5/5
My god, this has to be the best week of 1001 we've had. Only Morrissey can double track his vocals where one track is him just moaning and it sound so incredible. The way the Smiths are so ironic and tongue-in-cheek band yet evoke so much emotion is what makes them great. MiM isn't my favorite Smith's album (I'll even take the Hatful of Harrow compilation over it), but it's still a great album.
Jeff Buckley
4/5
When I listened to this back in 2022, I thought it was lame. But this time around, I enjoyed both the rock-oriented and softer songs. The lyrics and vocals are sincere and not cheesy like I thought the first time.4/5
Beck
4/5
Beck is always cool but never great imo. Most of his work is between a 3.5/4 for me. I'll round up because I'm just happy to be listening to music again after a week off
Dagmar Krause
3/5
Who doesn't enjoy some Cabaret every once in a while?
They give you their charity
with pious Christian prayers.
They look after the unwed young mother,
for they need every prole they can get.
They'll also provide the coffin.... (when he dies).
Proletarians!
Don't fall for this swindle!
They owe you more than you give.
They owe you everything: The land,
the mountains and the factories .....
They owe you happiness and life.
Take what you fight for. Don't take their lies.
Think about your class! And be tough!
Gene Clark
5/5
I've never listened to Gene Clark before, and again I might be riding the 8 day hiatus high, but I seriously enjoyed this album. Such a diversity of sounds and themes. After listening to Chapel Roan in the car the last few days, I'm just happy to listen to something that has more substance. 5/5
Television
4/5
This album must've rocked people's socks in the 1970s, it sounds so modern. The lead singer's vocals are mildly annoying but overall the album is enjoyable. Marquee Moon is an all-timer, especially 9min in when you think it's wrapped up and they come back in with the kick drum. Overall the album sounds like an earlier version of the strokes, and as a huge strokes fan I have to give this a 4, but I can see myself rounding down to a 3 on a different day
ABBA
2/5
I don't like ABBA, let's move on
Big Black
2/5
Obviously this album had some issues with it, most notably they kicked the album off with one of the worst songs on the album. Funny enough, I would listen to this over the ABBA album 7 days out of the week. SET ME ON FIRE, KEROSENE. Probably a 2.5 and I'll round down, but could be rounded up
New Order
5/5
I used to genuinely hate new wave music and I could never explain why. Then recently I listened to the Pet Shop Boys' "Introspective", which isn't even new wave, and it somehow unlocked my appreciation of late 80s synth-rock/pop. There's something about the contrast between the upbeat stretches of songs and the more somber rock-oriented stretches that brings the fabric of these albums together. This is a 4.5 rounded up.
Brian Wilson
3/5
This was OK, kind of obnoxious. It had some highlights though, Good Vibrations, slidewhistles and what not. 3/5
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Voodoo Child is so legendary, as are many of the songs on this album. It's amazing that for a funky, very unique sounding 1960s artist, Hendrix is almost universally loved by everyone. Including me. 5/5
The Strokes
4/5
Similar to Meat is Murder, while I love the band, this isn't my favorite album by then. I'll take Room on Fire, First Impressions of Earth, or Angles over Is This It. Nevertheless, this album is a fun listen and Last Nite is an awesome song.
The Pogues
4/5
Clearly I am missing something, why is Elvis Costello the producer on this album? And why did this album have a great sound to it while the Elvis Costello album we had was so damn bland? I really enjoyed this, likely because I rarely listen to Celtic rock and it's refreshing. Maybe there are better albums than this in the genre, but since it's my only point of reference, it's a clear 4 at min.
Marilyn Manson
2/5
Every other album from the 1990s is a social commentary about how terrible capitalism is, I get that. Even in 2024, my favorite album of the year was the same. However, you can write a commentary about the hopelessness of economic inequalities without resorting to nihilism-induced violence, where the only solution is to senselessly kill everyone. Why this album is so violent I don't know, but the great guitar work can't overcome it. The only truly redeemable song is Minute of Decay which doesn't cross the "kill senselessly bc there's no meaning" line.
TV On The Radio
3/5
My only real knowledge of TV On The Radio comes from how much I liked the song Happy Idiot back in high school. I also think their cover of Mr. Grieves is hilarious. But the one time I tried to pick up one of their albums in recent years, I absolutely hated it. This has some quintessential 000s sounds that I really enjoy, but ultimately there isn't enough here to keep me charged for an hour. To put it simply, it's too art rocky for me. But since it was a fine listen, i'll round up to 3.
Johnny Cash
5/5
I absolutely love this album. It isn't something I'll listen to every day, but I return to it once or twice a year because it's one of the most ingenious and charismatic live albums. I might give a slight edge to Live at San Quentin because I like the song selection more, but the interactions with the "fans" at Folsom are fantastic. Callback to that terrible James Brown live album, but this is evidence that you can incorporate crowd-sounds without it being grating to listen to
Willie Nelson
4/5
It's a fine reprise, but can someone explain to me why I just listened to Time of the Preacher 3 times over the course of 7 songs and then not again the rest of the album? But overall I really enjoyed the album, it was just a nice relaxing listen, the lyrics seemed meaningful, and Bandera was such a nice outro that it replaced my initial impression that this album was just a bootleg of outtakes with the impression that this album was purposefully crafted. 4.5/5. I'm feeling less generous this morning so I'll round down.
Kraftwerk
3/5
First half of the album: Even for someone who is usually pro-drone (musically, sorry Obama), The Hall of Mirrors made me hate Europeans. Legitimately, I started to think maybe we should exit NATO listening to some of these songs. And why does the album artwork for the German version of the album look like it unironically used a first grader to perform photoshop?
Second half of the album: I am starting to see what they are doing here. I feel like I'm trapped 20 hours into a 24 hour turn in the steel mills at the turn of the 20th century, with a villainous Manager staring down at me. The transition from Trans-Europe Express -> Metal on Metal -> Abzug was pretty sick. I was ready to hock a 1 on this album, but by the end I think it's (if a slight stretch) a 3.
Aerosmith
3/5
WOW Aerosmith is far superior to the ACDC album I've listened to through 1001, the vocals are much less grating. I don't see a lot of value in this album other than it's early release date, I guess 3? Could be 2.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
I need context for why, for the most recent year included in the list thus far, the creators of 1001 decided to selected Nick Cave's band's 17th studio album. To some extent, perhaps this is some magnus opus by an old-head rocker that sums of his career beautifully, like American IV. But from a legacy perspective, I would put my money on Igor or Alex G's House of Sugar leaving a more lasting impression on the music industry than this album.
After listening, this is admittedly my favorite album by Nick Cave, but I also have never been able to finish one of his albums before. A cohesive tribute to the dread, acceptance, and peace of the dead. A little monotonous, but I can get down with it. Might never listen again tho
The Offspring
5/5
My only conception of the Offspring is negative because my 8th grade math teacher assigned names of 80s/90s rock bands to each student as secret keys for us to see grades on our tests, and I was assigned Offspring because I'm a twin. He seemed like a dope football coach so I always assumed the band would suck. Now listening to them, it's hilarious to hear songs about revolution and sticking up against corporate and elite cronyism when I have no doubt that the dope eventually became a Trump supporter.
Musically, I loved this album. Songs like Genocide are high tempo and relatively strong lyrically with great guitar work, and the songs are much more sophisticated than your basic jam bands with multiple complex progressions on songs like It'll Be a Long Time. In my younger days, this would be my ceiling for how hard I want my rock to be. Songs like Self Esteem were clearly inspired heavily by Nirvana and Green Day.
Only downside here is that for the second time this year, I've thought I heard a line that I absolutely loved then after looking up the lyrics realized I misheard. On Genocide, I thought they were saying "On our fellow man we prey", and then turned it around with "For our fellow man we prey", the idea that the working class's oppressors are human, but since the working class does not individually have power, they also must rely on humans to save them. 4.5 rounded up out of surprise
Red Hot Chili Peppers
5/5
__________________________
Song title | ?/5 |
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Around the World | 5/5 |
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Parallel Universe | 5/5 |
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Scar Tissue - | 5/5 |
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Otherside | 5/5 |
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Get on Top | 5/5 |
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Californication | 5/5 |
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Easily | 5/5 |
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Porcelain - Fortunate it's the first track on side C so it can easily be skipped
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Emit Remmus | 5/5 |
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I Like Dirt | 5/5 |
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This Velvet Glove | 5/5 |
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Savior | 5/5 |
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Purple Stain | 5/5 |
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Right on Time | 5/5 |
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Road Trippin' | 5/5 |
____________________|_____|
Iggy Pop
4/5
I definitely need to listen to this again to have a good review, but I am confident it's not less than a 4. I hear similar sounds in Strokes songs as this album, an influence I never noticed before.
Sheryl Crow
2/5
This album was all over the place. I respect her as an artist for trying so many different sounds, but this has some of the defining obnoxious characteristics of 90s pop. The na-na song is just annoying and some of the songs are too repetitive (oh is she leaving las vegas?, fading out to "for you for you" for 30 seconds). But there are some songs where her voice sounds really strong (can't cry anymore i think?).
The The
4/5
This album comes shooting out the game with Infect Me With Your Love, it's got a banging beat and a great trumpet sequence. If sex ain't wiggling around like a lizard in a can, then I don't know what sex is. But how good was that harmonica ringing through the night in Heartland, that caught me by surprise. Heartland is both musically and lyrically really fun, I love the piano work too, plus this is the 51st state of the uuuuuuSA is a fun one.
Miles Davis
4/5
what a random album to pick, Blue Note was already in its heyday by 1957 and 'Round About Midnight came out the same year which is much better. Either way, still a good album. Starts off on an unimpressive note, and while none of the songs on the album are really memorable, Godchild and boplicity are highlights. 3.75 rounded to 4
Elvis Presley
4/5
I've never known much about Elvis other than Conan loving rockabilly more generally. This album was packed full of really enjoyable tunes and kept me awake during the sleepiest part of my drive. Thanks EP
Dusty Springfield
4/5
I found these songs stronger lyrically compared to the Elvis album other than some gymnastics to land the rhyme (Then he asked if he could walk my way, I hoped sweet things he'd say) but musically less exciting, but that's just a genre preference to rock. Strong showing by like the fourth female artist we've heard.
During the song Wishin' and Hopin', she ends the song with "do this and you will be his" which is a total unravelling of You Don't Own Me, so -1 down to 3
Madonna
3/5
This is good pop, I enjoyed the first few tracks and Dear Jessie, and the variety of topics discussed. Any pop artist that doesn't exclusively sing about boys is going to get a bump from me. Like any pop artist, I'm sure I would've been sick of these songs by 1990 if I was growing up back then just like I'm sick of Taylor Swift and Chappelle Roan now. But since this is fresh, it's nice. 3.5 rounded down
Gram Parsons
2/5
This is my analysis which is consistent across both listens:
Return of the Grievous Angel : too repetitive to the point of annoyance
Hearts on Fire : too repetitive to the point of annoyance
I Can't Dance : too silly
Brass Buttons - too repetitive and forlorn to the point of annoyance
$1000 Wedding - what is even going on
Medley - Now this has some legs, why isn't this whole album recorded live, 5/5 song
Love Hurts - Still a little too repetitive but the backup vocals works better on this song
Las Vegas - still too repetitive but pretty darn catchy
In My Hour of Darkness - is the first half of the album really so bad, because the second half ain't bad
Repeat
Wilco
5/5
There isn't a single miss on this album. Sometimes there are stretches of albums where you say "wow A to B to C is such an amazing span", but this alum is incredible from A to Z. I can understand why pop girlies and buddies could get lost in Radio Cure or Ashes of American Flags, but Jesus Etc, War on War, Pot Kettle Black , and Heavy Metal Drummer should be universally loved.
While the largest pleasure of this album is the beautiful ebbs and flows, ups and downs, etc, it is the small pleasures that keep me coming back to it year after year. The trumpets calling out on I'm the Man Who Loves You which gives this a classic late 90s/early 00s Ska sound, the double tracked vocals on Pot Kettle Black a la Elliott Smith.
5/5
Jack White
3/5
I love the white stripes, I think Jack White is dope, but his solo work leaves me mostly uninspired. Don't get me wrong, this is a solid album - the likes of Love Interruption and a few from the second half of the record are great. But the high points aren't so high and the album overall has some monotony issues. Great album artwork tho. 3.5 rounded down
The Byrds
2/5
I listened to the original release of this album (rather than a remastered version), and I think it desperately needs remixed. The use of only the L or R speaker throughout this album is so damn irritating. I almost DNF'ed on the very last song and it wasn't even 3 minutes long lol. This album was a snoozefest other than a few exceptions that still weren't worth relistening. 2/5
The Bees
3/5
Adding to the long list of "Alex's favorite song on an album is the one with the least # of scrobbles on spotify", I liked Zia. The rest of the album was pretty generic to me. My biggest gripe with this album is that i've listened to too much indie popneo-psychedelia in my life at this point. Does this 2001 album sound like a 2008 album? Sure it does, but in 2025 I've had my share of it. Still, while I'd rather listen to Starfucker over this, I respect that this Bees album came out 7 years earlier. 2.75 rounded up.
50 Cent
2/5
Every one of these songs could've been on my NBA Live 2004 PS2 game.
Phew, talk about an album that aged poorly. To be clear, I am not a huge Eminem or Dr. Dre fan, so the fact that their influence is all over this album is not a good start for me. It's not that this album is terrible, but the fact that this was the most successful album of 2003 is pretty embarrassing. 50 definitely has one of the best mixes of bravado and rich spoken vocals, but the flow and rhymes are so bad, and they're so bad for almost 80 minutes. A case to prove the point from the biggest hit from the album, "come give me a hug if you into getting rubbed" is cheezy as hell, and I always thought rhyming "club" with "bub" was so cringy. P.I.M.P. is like the only track with an interesting beat that matches the aggressive style of 50 Cent. 21 Qs works well from a softer smoother sound, but I credit Nate Dogg heavily for that. Funny enough, I felt throughout the album that 50 Cent sounded like a shitty Jay-Z, and apparently he struggled to get on a record label in the 90s because people felt he sounded too similar to Jay-Z. This album definitely set up Kanye for commercial success, because if people thought 50 Cent was clever, their heads must've fallen off during College Dropout. 2.5. rounded down
Nas
5/5
This is such a savage follow-up to 50 Cent, because here's a rapper from the same city who has perfect delivery, flow, charisma, and production - 3 of which were missing from 50's album imo.
30 years later, Illmatic is still consistently recognized as one of the best rap album of all time. Rappers are still saying their new albums will be the "illest", like shouting "Kobe" knowing you'll never compare but recognize that he's the standard. It's not even worth calling out the flows that blow my mind from this album because I wouldn't even make it past NY State of Mind. One of my favorite parts of this album is that it is not normative or prescriptive; it's descriptive, viscerally describing Nas's experience without glorifying what Nas and his disciples will ultimately critique and unpack in later works labeled as "conscious rap".
One bone to pick - anyone who says that Nikki's verse on Monster is the best rap feature of all time is completely misguided. AZ's first verse on Life's a Bitch is just about flawless, coming in on the hard boom-bap with "visualizin the realism of life in actuality" is so hard that it's still frequently sampled in songs today.
Maybe one more bone to pick - Listen to some of the top rappers that the 2020s has decided to embrace - Future, Drake, 21 Savage, Travis Scott, even Kendrick's last album - and compare the language they use to the language Nas is using. These artists are using the same language in every song, we've come to expect the same limited vocabulary to describe the celebrated lives of a rich rapper. Here's Nas with 30 years of less rap material to draw from using the most unique flows, drawing from his own life, experience, and vocabulary on his FIRST ALBUM. Why has the rap fanbase decided that they deserve less?
OK, I'll quote one verse that's the best and simplest of the album - "Life's a bitch and then you die, that's why we get high cause you never know when you're gonna go"
5/5
Cyndi Lauper
3/5
Wow that last note she holds at the end of Money Changes Everything is wild. After the first track, I thought "a little too poppy for me, but if there are moments like that, then I might end up enjoying this album. Let's focus on the positives, not the negatives today." And in general, this would be a really easy album not to like - "she's gonna say time after time time after time and I can't take it anymore ... who bops was it that was bopping again?" Plus her singing style is borderline annoying anyway (is she trying to be punk?), but you know what - I chose positivity, so I am going to stick to the strengths of the album. All The The Light had some awesome keyboard work that is reminiscent of Beach House, the synth was used to perfection, and the duet played perfectly. The very serious and intense back up vocals saying I'll kiss YOU" are hilarious. 3/5
** Biggest Millennial White Man Take of 1001": I would rather listen to STRFKR's cover than Cyndi's version. But hats off to Cyndi for creating a timeless gem, my 80 YO grandma was just saying yesterday that she dumped her boyfriend because she'd rather go out to the bars with her girlfriends than be at home with him lol
Grateful Dead
3/5
I didn't walk away from this experience with a deeper understanding of why some people are obsessed with the band, but I did find it a pleasant listening experience. 3.5 rounded ... ?down?
Black Sabbath
4/5
This deserved another listen, but on first rip I liked it. The use of the bell in the first song was pretty dope. 4/5
Motörhead
1/5
While listening to fast and loose I thought the song was on min 6+ at one point. Turns out the song is only 3 minutes long. That sums up this album, far worse than the ZZ Top album. I mean this band is just gross, the chase is better than the catch is so hard to listen to. I don't think it's cool to have to tell a woman to not be scared when you're fooling around, seems like a red flag, not sure why it's a point of pride for this dude. It's tough to pick whether this is worse than Eminem but they're in the same ballpark 1/5
The Rolling Stones
5/5
This album immediately starts with a much more full-bodied sound and sticks with it. I was dancing through the airport listening to this and wasn't even bothered by the length. First time I've ever listened to it.
Tears For Fears
3/5
Some of these songs are fun, but no decade could make music as boring as the 80s
Supergrass
4/5
This is up there with the Gene Clark album for faves from artists I haven't known before. The edge to the vocals and guitar every few songs really brought it home, and you can see some pre-Strokes and indie pop bands like Portugal the Man here.
Massive Attack
2/5
Anyone else find this really uninteresting?
The Incredible String Band
1/5
Fuck this literal hippy noise
The White Stripes
5/5
It doesn't get much better than this
Solomon Burke
2/5
Some of these older albums that are selected are the "sound old but also sound modern" variety ... not this one, this old. We once again see the resurrection of "little girl" (*pukingemoji*). Also You Can't Love 'Em All is both problematic and wrong - of course you can when they all got the eyes for you like he says. 2/5
Kate Bush
2/5
I know cool girls like art pop ,but this is where I tearfully admit that I am not cool, and am beginning to think i may never be cool. I love unique creative music (when are the Tom Waits albums coming?), but when it comes to pop my tolerance starts at a low level to begin with.
Little Simz
4/5
Not that I HAVE to make this about gender (i usually try not to), but Little Simz is hands down the best female rapper I've listened to, so kudos on that. Female rappers are a hard sell to me because they've mostly come onto the scene the last few years when I think creativity and thoughtfulness in rap has plunged into the red. To that point - rappers who carry on a rhyme scheme driven by the n word get bumped down a star off the bat because it's lazy af, so the ceiling on this album is a 4. And it met that ceiling because the album overall was really interesting and boppy. It has the thoughtfulness and creativity of JIDs work, with worse bars but better instrumentation.
The Stooges
1/5
Right off the bat, the song 1969 is stupid af. Maybe they're playing with some meta shit where they thought 1969 would suck so they made a sucky song, but I think it was just a flop of a song. I thought about changing what I was listening to like 10 times and remembered I had to get through it. There were some really nice sonic stretches, but the vocals and the lack of complexity or general intrigue in these songs was damning. 1/5
Sex Pistols
1/5
I'm confused why a punk counter-culture album from the late 70s is so grating. Even if you're going to buy Daniel's 3 rating on the Stooges yesterday because it was impressively counter culture, this came out a decade later, so there is really no excuse.
Dire Straits
1/5
Exceptionally run of the mill with incredibly dull lyrics. I accidentally restarted the song Why Worry with like 15 seconds left and I almost had a nervous breakdown before realizing I could just skip it. No one knew how to make boring music like the 80s artists. The only reason I considered making this is a 2 is because I see the promise in "brothers in arms", but it's still hamstrung by the limitations of band's writing ability. I mean, the best verse of the song rhymes "worlds" with "world". 1/5
Portishead
5/5
A 90s album is just what the doctor ordered after a rough stretch of 80s music for me. This album is close to flawless for me; my only hang-up is the lack of diversity of sound within the album, and I am bothered more broadly by how consistent Portishead's discography is. But they do the sound well. 5/5
Ice Cube
2/5
Half way through this I thought, "Are We There Yet"? In all honesty, Cube misses the mark on about every metric I check for rap albums. His flow isn't versatile, he isn't leaning fully into the descriptive world of Compton rappers because he's dabbling with some prescriptive themes, but also it isn't cerebral enough to fully lean into the conscious rap category. The inconsistencies of critiquing the state of law enforcement and white neighborhoods for not caring about crime in black neighborhoods but also playing the role of the villain consistently throughout his career is hard for me to reconcile. I think the strength of the album is the storytelling, but the number of logical inconsistencies in his reasoning is maddening. I'm not here to critique the man's thought process on his own lived experience, but also to argue that you shouldn't fuck with a woman from the projects because she got you arrested even though you admitted that you have a warrant out is just base level processing. Also why does Cube always complain about not being played by radios and then write music that could literally never be played on the radio? Like maybe if he was writing conscious rap that wasn't glorifying forced abortions. And how can he consistently judge these women for getting pregnant but have a song about rawdogging a girl?
These are the reasons why I don't listen to Cube - that being said, this album still has plenty to lean on, including some good old school beats, a good flow that just gets old after the first few songs, some clever rhymes, and some interesting observations about growing up in Compton. 2/5
The Divine Comedy
4/5
I don't know much about this artist, but this album somehow sounds both campy and earnest at the same time. Blending modern chamber pop with 80s ballad style music supports the premise well. I don't know if I'll listen to this again, but I did find it enjoyable in a quirky unique way.
Kanye West
4/5
I rarely listen to College Drop Out, and I have to observations reflecting on this album as the origin of his later works:
1) The production value has been strong since day 1. Without context, you'd think that the success of this album was driven by the producer collabs with the top artists of the day (Jay-Z, Mos Def, Jamie Foxx). But in context, you know that he got those collabs because they respected his talent so much.
2) The hard-to-look-away guilty pleasure characterized by Kanye's blend of wittiness and griminess on his overtly sexual songs that make up like half of Yeezus are marginally evolved versions of songs like New Workout Plan. Transitioning from recalls to his mom's involvement in the civil rights movement to calls for women using sex to strengthen their core to making a joke about michael jackson's skin color and landing on a sex -> rapping speed to introduce Twista is maybe the best representation of Ye as a polarizing figure.
Some highlights here but ultimately too long and too cringe, 3.5 rounded up
Count Basie & His Orchestra
5/5
I really appreciated the album's nuanced discussion of the ethical concerns of using a weapon of mass destruction to end a war and how it has changed the legacy of Japanese involvement in WWII from aggressor to victim.
Lol jk, this album was excellent though. I thought about going song by song in my review, but honestly I think "an incredible and genre-bending combination of soft, hard bop, and big band jazz that jumps out of the headphones." The interplay between piano and plungered trumpet is just what I need. 5/5
Astrud Gilberto
3/5
Pretty remarkable that the most famous bossa nova artist of all time was married to a bossa nova performer for a short stint. Coincidence that Astrud's career only took off after getting divorced?
I didn't enjoy this as much as other bossa nova works but there is a nice alternative spin on the genre in this album. I should knock this down a star because Parade was so annoying, and lyrically I wasn't drawn in much but also most of these albums aren't in English so for all I know, this is as good as it gets. But musically I found this fairly enjoyable, a pretty easy 3 star.
The Dandy Warhols
3/5
I really enjoyed the sound of this album, very cool and fresh. The distortion on Hard On for Jesus is top notch, the album plays with a lot of cool sounds. But here's another example of a band wearing me out with too many tracks. If they cut this down to a tight 8, maybe even 9 or 10 tracks, it would be a no brainer 4 or 4.5. But by the end I was just ready for something different, so 3.5 rounded down.
Tim Buckley
5/5
The first time I listened to the album, my impression after the first few songs was "hm, very tonal". But halfway through, I realized I was actually kinda enjoying the album, lots of passion being this tortured vocalist. So I listened to the album again and realized I actually really liked this, it walks the fine line between being a pseudo-earnest dad rock album vs. being a genuinely earnest album. I've decided it's the latter, so 4.5 rounded up!
Blondie
2/5
This album was actually less bland and tame than I feared, it had some real punk elements - gritty vocals, strong mic on the drums, some great bass lines and guitar work. But ultimately, too much ABBA comes through and the lyrics were so bad. Kudos to being essentially an 80s pop album and not being terrible tho.
Bob Dylan
5/5
Blood on the Tracks doesn't even fall in my top 5 Bob Dylan albums, but I still love it. This album does include one of my favorite Dylan songs, meet me in the morning. "Little rooster crowing, there must be something on his mind. Well I feel just like that rooster, honey you treat me so unkind..."
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
Overall, this sounds like so many other 90s punk albums, so it's hard to know the appropriate rating scale. Is it better than Smash? Or any of Green Day's 90's works? No, but it has a cool sound and seems thoughtful and contemplative, without diving into the lyrics too much. It almost sounded like a rock opera at times, particularly by the time we got to Faster. Honestly the album also plays very similar to Antichrist Superstar at times too, except I don't think Manic Street Preacher was blamed for causing Columbine.
I love the clip of the person saying they know they'll regret their entire lives and wish to relive it on their death bed, it's both the cause and the effect of punk. Unrelated note, I really thought they were chanting "freeball" during "Revol", and maybe that's the difference between US and UK punk - it's totally feasible that a US band could be shouting
FREEBALL
FREEBALL
FU FU FUCK FRUIT OF THE LOOM
BRING OUT THE PLATOON
PREPARING THE TOMB
AND SEND THAT SHIT TO THE MOON
FREEBALL
Also I went full Vaasavi on The Intense Humming of Evil, I couldn't understand a word that were saying
3/5
Joanna Newsom
4/5
30 seconds in, I thought "'Ys? How about Ns?" Honestly though, after the first 10min I was wondering if this was going to play like the Barbie movie: pretty entertaining for the first 15 minutes as a unique concept but terribly overdone thereafter. However, I really enjoyed the pace and structure of this album - segment the record with 5 10min cohesive segments. I can only imagine the amount of time it would take to write and record this. Gotta listen to the Muppet Show Theme Music later.
4/5
Public Image Ltd.
3/5
The difference between this and the Stooges (and definitely the sex pistols) is that this album actually rocked. You have the prominence of the kick drum and cymbols, an awesome droning guitar, and an aggressive vocalist. That being said, I don't think that gives them the freedom to play Religion twice and get away with it
Snoop Dogg
4/5
Apparently my review didn't save and it was very long, so I'll just say that this album was good but a little too raunchy for a frequent listen.
Radiohead
5/5
often referenced as one of the best albums of all time, I can't pick an album that's better. It's the flow and pace of this album that puts it in such rare company - no song will be considered as one of the best songs every written, but the construction of the album is an incredible feat of synergy. 5/5, 10/10, 100/100, it's perfect on every scale.
Destiny's Child
2/5
It's crazy how 20+ years ago, Beyonce was writing very similar lyrics - blending self empowerment with sexual freedom(?). I respect the craft and appreciate the empowerment, but I feel very neutral about the music. 2 star because it was a bit long
Quicksilver Messenger Service
4/5
Incredible album cover, pretty good jam band album. It sounded like if the Doors were like "let's do The End for an album". Will need a relisten before finalizing the opinion, but it is somewhere between a 3 and 4. Since I enjoyed it the first time, I'll throw it a 4.
Nico
3/5
This was a nice sister album to nick Drake's work which also has a bit of monotony and drone used as a strength rather than a weakness. However, even with it's famous collaborators and writers, Chelsea Girl has some pretty boring sections. Easy 3/5
Fugees
5/5
Remember the other day when I said there are no albums better than OK Computer but there are albums on par with it? The Score is on par, an absolute perfect album. There is something particularly beautiful about three large egos and personalities coming together and creating one of the most cohesive and well-constructed albums of all time. For an album with a lot to say, a ton of risks (walking the line between corny and genuinely funny), and so many different types of flows and beats, I don't know how any creative differences were resolved without affecting the final product.
The intro and the outro are perfect bookends. And amongst the silly skits ("not that michele leslie brown from 225th street that plays ball in the park, the OTHER michele leslie brown from 225th street that plays ball in the park"), they still have such impactful lines that pull you back to reality. People ask why Pulp Fiction and other Tarantino movies have such vile and punishing scenes that may it hard to watch, and it's because you're being punished for laughing at and enjoying a movie about gangsters and slaves. There has to be reality when you're making light of a serious situation, otherwise you have white people going crazy for mAAd city in the club having a good time talking about Compton turning a good kid into a killer. Contrasting a bopping banger like "Cowboys" , which is actually a really harrowing description of the culture of violent machismo amongst young black men in their hometowns, with the line "we crying for an afterlife while they just steal this one" is just perfect.
5/5, 10/10, 100/100
PS - Fuck Spotify for playing a clean version of this album for the first few songs, and mother fuck Columbia records for releasing a clean version. That's censorship.
Judas Priest
4/5
I was really surprised by this album, it was a great listen. Very similar to Black Sabbath. 4.5 rounded down
The Thrills
1/5
I knew right off the bat with Santa Cruz that this was going to be a grind, how repetitive can a song be my god. Dump whoever the songwriter is and this album has 4-star potential. I think the break between the final song and the hidden track was my favorite part.
Bad Brains
2/5
This wasn't really my thing, it was like art/alternative metal? At least it wasn't too long. 2/5
UB40
2/5
This was sort of a drag to get through. I wouldn't say I liked the pop spin on reggae and I didn't like the lead singer's voice much, so it just wasn't for me.
Queen
1/5
This was marginally better better than Van Halen. Queen struggles to make cohesive songs and struggles even more making cohesive albums.
Bob Dylan
5/5
Easiest 5 I'll give
The Go-Betweens
4/5
This was really nice, I l liked the sound of it. A little jangle and a little chamber. 80s music doesn't have to be bad, it just chooses to be apparently. the Go-Betweeners aren't getting stoned by me today - 4/5
Paul Weller
2/5
Unfortunately this failed the vibe check within the first 10 seconds. He says "I don't care how long this lasts, we have no future, and we have no past" and then proceeded to establish his history with the girl for the rest of the song. I can't stand when writers say something they don't mean just to land a rhyme. The vocals are earnest but I just didn't buy the writing. 2/5
Bad Company
2/5
Honestly, dope artwork. This was less tame than I was expecting but more tame than I would like. Decent blues work, but blends in with 70s/early 80s rock a little too much. Easy listening but not very exciting, seems unlikely I ever listen to this again. I'm also knocking them down a star for not doing Don't Let Me Down justice, the song did not translate to their blues rock sound well imo . 2/5
The White Stripes
4/5
This is my least favorite White Stripes album, but it's still worth listening to every now and again. I love Little Ghost. 4/5
The Who
1/5
I apologize if anyone here likes The Who, but I have nothing nice to say. The Who is so uncool; they're one of my "die the sweet death of the passage of time" bands
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
I had never listened to this artist before, but I really enjoyed the psychedelic elements. Songs like Hero almost have a Khruangbin-type element to them. Will definitely be listening to this again, this is a perfect blend of rock, soul, and pop that I would think is very accessible for many listeners. Also another great album artwork this week
GZA
4/5
I'm not a big Wutang guy, but I see the appeal of this. The skill is top notch, and I couldn't help but laugh thinking that Drake has argued that he is the greatest rapper of all time with a straight face. Probably a 3.5 but I will round up because the flow is excellent.
Incubus
3/5
I really liked the guitar work on this album, it is punchy and we'll crafted. But the vocals are subpar and don't match the intensity (or intentionality?) of the guitar work. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this so it's somewhere between a 3 and a 4. I do think it's funny that Spotify started playing Deftones after this album ended because both bands were active during the same period, but Deftones was vastly more influential to the genre than Incubus. So I'm going with a 3 rating.
Ray Charles
4/5
This was just really nice, what a legend.
B.B. King
3/5
Wow, what an incredible performance. Really enjoyable blues and jazz fusion. This is a 3/5. Now, remove 5 specific women from the audience, this becomes a 4. Remove maybe 20 specific women from the audience, and this is an immediate 5. I just can't take the high pitched screaming. Sorry BB, but you made them go too wild.
David Bowie
3/5
Without broader historical content, I walk away assuming this album didn't need to be on the list. I get that Bowie did big things for art rock, but this album was pretty bland when compared to Ziggy
Frank Sinatra
4/5
It's funny that we get to hear the Girl From Ibiza on two 1001 albums within a few weeks. This was a lot nicer than the average Sinatra album, arguably because the bossa nova inspiration elevates the sound.
The Monkees
3/5
This is like a more sterile, 4-years-behind Beatles and I won't listen to it again. Not as bad as I was expecting tho. 2.5 rounded up so I'm not a complete hater
Ray Charles
4/5
This was pretty good, didn't even sound modern for 1962 to me though
The Cure
5/5
I feel like in 1001's best stretch, this would have been a 4. But since it's been 3 weeks since we've had a really excellent album, this gets the boost. 5
Electric Light Orchestra
4/5
I definitely thought this band was an instrumental band - isn't it the group that plays the instrumental christmas shows? Anyway, this was way better than I was expecting and sorta did the Queen-type sound but better... and then I realized I was only half way finished with the album. But the best song on the album was Birmingham Blues which was right at the end, and in classic Alex fashion, that song is the least scrobbled song on Spotify which tells me that I'm not getting from this album what other people get. Nevertheless, this was a surprise enjoyment, so 3.5 rounded up even though I won't probs listen all the way through again
The Crusaders
4/5
I'd never listened to the Crusaders before, but I'll be listening to them again. 4/5
Green Day
5/5
I could write a book on the brilliance of Green Day, and I could certainly write a journal article about the brilliance of this album. Instead, I will say this: most of the 00s punk and emo scene is trying to tap into the experience of being a poor white kid growing up in a podunk town with either a broken home or an emotionally stunted family. However, most of the bands aren't cerebral enough to really document this experience, so you end up having Lincoln Parks, May Day Parade's, etc. who just seem like whiny white kids because their childhood was too boring. Contrast that to American Idiot which outlines a broadway-worthy epic of a kid who grows up hearing lies that their shitty hometown is the best it gets and finally "makes it out", only to realize that he wasn't given the tools to succeed outside his cage.
And I leave behind
This hurricane of fucking lies
I lost my faith to this
This town that don't exist
So I run, I run away
To the light of masochists
Beyond the story, this album has incredible songs. The Offspring may have punchier songs, but Letterbomb rocks as hard as any punk song imo. You change the last word of Whatsername and you have an absolute perfect album.
5/5
David Bowie
3/5
This album is pretty good, but there's no need to have this many Bowie albums on the list
Marvin Gaye
4/5
I know there's a double meaning in Keep Gettin' It On, but evoking Jesus's name when saying people need to start getting it on was an awkward choice for the more likely interpretation of the song. This album was way more enjoyable than the other one, really nice jazzy soul. I may not listen to this again, but I liked it
Love
2/5
Psychedelic rock without any edginess can be some of the most boring music recorded. Add in a heaping of the most bland vocals and lyrics and you have yourself a 2 star. A House Is Not a Motel at least has some good guitar work
Steve Winwood
2/5
A half-based opinion - his album might actually be better as an instrumental album. The vocals add nothing, but without them it could be like a cool spin on a video game mega man type album. I'm sure 80s fans can see inspirations of other 80s albums in this, but I just hear bad writing and meh melodies.
10cc
2/5
Maybe today is one of those days where I wasn't ready for something so whimsical, but I really struggled to get through this.
Pink Floyd
5/5
Flawless in so many ways. Some hard hitting lyrics too, I always liked the end of Wish you were here
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl, year after year
Running over the same old ground, what have we found?
The same old fears, wish you were here
Iron Maiden
4/5
This was far more interesting than I was expecting. I loved some of the more bass-forward stretches of the album, and overall it had a really exciting pace. I still don't fully understand the disconnect between how aggressive the album covers were for these 80s albums and how comparatively tame the music is to modern rock, but that's ok. 4/5
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
The flow and boom bap is top notch. The album could use a little more variety in sound and style, but since they're doing what they're doing so well, it's still a 4
David Bowie
2/5
The vocals were pretty rough on this one. I love the construction of the album as a few longer songs, but since I didn't really like the songs much, it solidified this as a 2.5.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
This was a similar listening experience as Exile on Main Street for me - I came into it expecting something a little more bland, and the instrumentation blew me away. Some of the songs were still a little too violent and the album was too long, but it continued to pull me back in.
Sufjan Stevens
5/5
Such a unique album, it's a 5/5 that I listen to like once every 2 years. It's probably a touch too long but really enjoyable.
5/5
This is probably a 4.9 for me, but we'll do a quick round up. An iconic and game changing album that has both really interesting and incredible songs .
Genesis
2/5
Given that this was a 90min album, I actually didn't get as tired as expected listening to it. That being said, it's probably a 2.5 rounded down, probably deserving of a 3 if I understood the concept behind the rock opera but won't be investigating that much rn
The Chemical Brothers
2/5
I suppose this was alright, maybe better than the other one. But it is unclear why this band has two albums on the list. I think I would like the album more if it was uploaded to YouTube with jellyfish dancing to it in Spongebob's house
Moby
3/5
This was probably my favorite house album we've had so far, still a little too repetitive for me though
Elton John
4/5
I'm not a big Elton John fan, but I actually really enjoyed this. It's a little too theater-kiddy for me, but the variety of instruments that made an appearance on this album was fun. Plus, seeing his MTV Unplugged performance this year has increased my appreciation of him. 3.5 rounded up because i was surprised that i liked this as much as i did
Green Day
5/5
Dookie, Warning, and Nimrod were so fantastic that Green Day had to release a greatest hits album only 10 years after their debut album. One of the best rock bands of all time with arguably 4 albums that could be 5/5.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
Such a lovely album. I can see inspirations for Elliott Smith, and I can hear Bob Dylan's influence (honestly though, a simple desultory philippic is so good)
Pixies
5/5
Wow are we in our Alex era - one of my favorite rock albums of all time
Einstürzende Neubauten
4/5
I really really.enjoyed this and was shocked to see the release date. The fact that so many interesting textures and industrial sounds were created during the early days of integrating computers into music is fascinating
Paul Simon
2/5
I feel like I should've liked this, but I find Paul Simon sort of annoying for some indescribable way
Deep Purple
2/5
I seed her is one of my least favorite phrases I've ever heard in a song
Dexys Midnight Runners
1/5
I am sick of this dude wailing in my ear, let this album come to an end posthaste ... oh good this is an 8min song
The National
4/5
I love the sound of The National - this album used a little too much repetition to be a 5, but not too much to be a 4.
Talk Talk
2/5
Another annoying male vocalist, 2/5
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
4/5
If I am going to pick up a Neil Young album, it's going to be one with Crazy Horse. But this had some really nice songs that almost match the Crazy Horse collabs.
Sonic Youth
3/5
I always want to like Sonic Youth more because it would be cool to like a band from the 80s and they are so close to being really enjoyable. It's great noise rock, but there are too many spoken word songs, especially by Kim - but I guess the fact that I don't like it makes it even more punk. I will give EVOL a 4 or 5, but Daydream Nation gets a 3.
The Flaming Lips
4/5
A fun and smooth concept album, worth a listen once every year or two.
Stephen Stills
2/5
I really don't know what he was going for with this album, but it also wasn't outright bad either. it's a 2.5 and i'll round down because i really don't want to relisten
Soft Machine
1/5
This is the kind of poop that gives jazz a bad name - way too freeform, laissez-faire, disjointed, whatever - it's poop and I didn't want to finish it. Leave it to some white brits to ruin jazz for me and waste 75min of my time.
Dusty Springfield
2/5
Funny, 1001 has the GUTS to give us an album by a woman!!
2 stars
The Beach Boys
2/5
This is such a disappointing album because the artwork makes it seem like it will have a much darker tone, and then goofy light-hearted beach boys starts playing. Also Student Demonstration Time is so hard to listen to. I actually went back and downgraded it on rym to 35 after listening to this
Afrika Bambaataa
4/5
I actually enjoyed this a decent amount, even more than the Run DMC album. 3.5 rounded up
Ian Dury
1/5
I really despised Billeriacay Dickie, and really most of this album. I could almost see giving this a 2, but I would dread listening to it again
Rufus Wainwright
4/5
Somehow missed this one. I ended up really enjoying this - he really sounds like Thom Yorke, and a random reddit page agrees.
Van Halen
2/5
The double-tracked backup singers on this album is so cute. It's not rock n roll though, imo. Listening to Eruption, I was reminded of when Michael J Fox rips off a shred in Back to the Future and says "oh i guess you won't be ready for that for another 20 years". Well I'm still not ready for it 40 years later, unimpressed. 2.5/5 rounded down to 2. Somehow 35 min was too long. I did like On Fire, which funny enough is the lowest listened to song on the album on spotify
The Notorious B.I.G.
2/5
Andre 3000 says the art of storytelling is to tell it like it is, then tell it how it could be. Biggie and his beats producer do a bang-up job at telling it how it is, but they don't never tell it how it could be which means this album is dinged down. Also, the interludes are terrible and the album is too long. Now we are down to a 2.5 and might as well round down at this point.
The Smashing Pumpkins
2/5
If you randomly select any 10 of these songs, we're looking at 3 stars. Handpick the best 10, we're looking at 4/5. But I absolutely cannot get through this entire thing again, I promised myself I wouldn't after my listen 2 years ago. Unabridged, this is 2 stars at best
King Crimson
5/5
The challenge with this album is that the interlude is such a flop, but the rest is so strong. The highs are higher than the lows are low. Kanye's such a genius for sampling this album
Tim Buckley
4/5
I typically don't enjoy albums that are 100% about knockin' boots, and I definitely don't usually enjoy songs about philandering. But across the Buckley albums we've had so far, this is some of the best psych rock I've heard. It has all the best elements of The Doors plus more interesting vocals and some more folk/jazz elements.
Get on Top really had some strong Doors parallels and also sounded dangerously similar to Gypsy Woman - which is hilarious because while Gypsy woman was my favorite song on Happy Sad and had the fewest # of plays on Spotify, Get on Top has more plays than most of this album. I guess I'm the only consistent one out here.
4.5 rounded ... hm ... down
The Beach Boys
4/5
I have to be in the right mood to listen to these chums. Today I was in the right mood, but let's try to make it a less lighthearted boys, it tries my patience
Gorillaz
3/5
This album has all the elements of a good Gorillaz project, including some songs that are easy to zone out during. An impressive debut album but not the Gorillaz album I'll choose to listen to when I get the itch. 3.5 rounded ... Down
3/5
I found myself zoning out to most of this, so it wasn't bad enough to spark alertness or good enough to tune back in. 2.5 rounded up.
Can
3/5
I can't imagine hating this as long as you are doing something else during it lol. The drums on Halleluhwah are very pretty cool, and I generally found myself nodding my head to the beat for the first half of the album. I'm not sure the screaming on Peking O has the same incredible effect as Kanye screaming on I Am A God. Can't say I really enjoyed Peking O - there was a long stretch in the middle where a high pitched tone was held for a minute, and it sounded just like when I would hold down a specific key on my grandma's electric organ and my grandpa would come and yell at me. Guess these poor chaps didn't have a grandpa, so i'll round up to 3.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
1/5
I despise Elvis Costello as a vocalist. And even I Want You was pretty poorly constructed as a song imo, 1/1
Garbage
3/5
We're the hex girls, and we're gonna put a spell on you . This was tragically 90s alt but not in a bad way. I loved Not My Idea as a concept and a few songs like Vow had a really cool sound. 3.5 rounded down
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
29 minutes is about all I needed from this album, and the fact that it's exactly what they gave me is remarkable. I am a little surprised that there wasn't a sprawling 10min jam song, but high marks anyway - 4/5
Slipknot
3/5
Well, I gave their MUCH less acclaimed 2008 album a 3, so it seems reasonable that this should be >=3.
This is going to shock everyone, but the Slipknot aesthetic makes literally no sense to me. I was reading an interview with some band members, and they said that more than experiencing commercial success and selling shows, all they wanted with their first album was for someone to hear this new fresh sound they created and loved. And to some extent, I get it - the detail and craftmanship sonically is evident. I just don't see a similar level of care lyrically. Don't just tell me that "life is too fucking hard", have some nuance. I feel like a lot of angry punk-rock is directed towards ex's which at least makes sense - their anger is just directionless. Idk, I guess I just don't get this as a complete product, but it's also not my style. The guitar, drum, and backing effects are enough to keep this at a 3.
Japan
1/5
A 60min new wave album? What could go wrong?
Why do 80s artists sing in such an annoying way? It maybe sounded cool back then, but it aged so poorly. You can sort of hear it in Tears for Fears, Bowie, etc. It irks me to a similar level as country singers adding that extra twang in their voice.
Norah Jones
4/5
Somewhere in my dad's months-long playlist was this Norah Jones' album, so most of the songs sound familiar. That being said, to be included in my dad's playlist actually biases me against it more than it biases me for out of some nostalgia, otherwise I'd be listening to showtunes before this and not modern ranchera. That being said, I really enjoyed this - relaxing and soft. It won't be played often since it has no edge whatsoever, but it's nice for a certain situation. 3.5 rounded ... up for jazz sake.
Miles Davis
4/5
I really want to give this a 5 in defense of one of my favorite genres, but this is not one of my favorite jazz albums. Too often I find myself zoned out and forgetting it's playing. Yet it has done great moments and smooth songs, so it's still a 4
Bruce Springsteen
2/5
What an absolute snoozefest, 2
4/5
Listening to this for fun is great - it rocks, it jangles, it moves along nicely and has Don't Look Back in Anger. But when you review it critically, it starts to fall apart - it's way too repetitive, the vocals are grating and annoying at times, and the lyrics are really lackluster and sounds like a try hard high schooler wrote them. But I choose to not listen critically and just accept it for what it is, which is a nice listen occasionally
Minor Threat
5/5
I noticed that some in our group gave this a pretty low rating before listening to it, but I really enjoyed this. On only 1 listen, I think this is my favorite punk we've had so far. The bassist was insane, and I love the 20-min framework for this album.
Dr. Dre
4/5
This was my first time listening to this album, and I am genuinely impressed with the creativity and uniqueness of this album. Dre's beats sounds like Dre's beats, but the back and forth bw him and Snoop, the flows, the features - it all comes together into a super interesting product. Not sure I'm going to get much from the subject matter - imagine how exhausting it would be to have to keep up this level of bravado and machismo... the double-edged sword of the patriarchy. But for an album that was over an hour, this feels really tight. Plus, "you are penguin-looking MFer" is a top-notch burn
4/5
I started listening to this over my computer speaker and was pretty underwhelmed. Then I booted my headphones and started over and enjoyed this a lot more. I'm not swooning over the lyrics, but the sound is really cool, and the Thom Yorke vocals complemented the album really well (but again, no swoon for the lyrics).
Michael Jackson
4/5
Very monotonous, most songs sound the same, but since it's about as good as pop gets, it's. 4/5
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
I previously discounted the last CCR album bc I was "a little surprised that there wasn't a sprawling 10min jam song". This album delivered just in time. Probably a 4.5 but I'll round up since it is better than the other 4's i've given this week
Stereo MC's
3/5
I feel like I don't like this sound, but also I never was ready to throw in the towel. So 3?
Charles Mingus
5/5
Similar to the Miles Davis album, this isn't usually in my highest tier of jazz albums. But there is an excellent plungered trumpet making appearances and the pace is right, so I am comfortable calling this a 5
Miles Davis
5/5
A great jazz fusion album, but jazz fusion isn't my preferred style of jazz. Guitar-led jazz generally isn't my preference, but this album really comes together as such a unique and conceptual project. I'll throw a 5
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
I honestly blame Tom for making my highly suspicious of Nick Cave because the recommendation to listen to his holiday album really turned me off from the band. But this album comes out punching with those cryptic and hallucinogenic lyrics, the fast-paced rock and roll, and the haunting vocals. Papa Won't Leave You, Henry and I Had a Dream, Joe were both great. The rest of the album just flows by neatly. A 4.5 rounded ... down?
The Velvet Underground
4/5
This album does not come out swinging like yesterday's. There are two paths to go down re: Velvet Underground. Either you accept that their down-tempo, often monotone sound is cool, or you accept that it is boring. I, being an avid fence rider, think it is a little of both. There are about 50 albums from the 60s I would choose to spin over this one, but it's a pleasant listen when I return to it. 4.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Wow, I was ready to totally bash this like the other 15 Springsteen albums to which we've been subjected. But this one really caught me off-guard. It wasn't boring, it didn't drone, there was some unexpected sonic and instrumentation choices, and honestly I really thought it was quite good. No higher than a 4, but a 3 undercuts how surprised I am at the quality of the album.
Eagles
3/5
This was infinity better than i expected partially because the last eagles album was SOOO BAD!!. This album generally wasn't as offensive as the last, but I wouldn't really want to listen again either.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
While the album as a whole doesn't have too many weaknesses other than a subpar intro, the album doesn't really kick into gear until Little Wing, If 6 was 9, and the rest. The strangest takeaway each time I listen to this is that Bold As Love is a John Mayer song to me, not Jimi. I wonder how Jimi would feel about that.
Beastie Boys
2/5
I gave it up for III Communication, but first-wave Beastie Boys is corny and too derivative of Run DMC. 2.5 rounded down.
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
I left this listening experience similar to leaving the Barbie movie - the whole thing was fine but the novelty ran off about 10 minutes in
The Cramps
2/5
Ah, another punk album that didn't quite hit the mark for me. I found it hard to stay engaged with this for 55 min. I probably should relisten because I definitely got lost halfway through, but a punk album should have an energy that keeps you engaged imo. I'll stick with the Cure or Joy Division / New Order.
Kate Bush
2/5
This album was surprisingly hard for me to get through. This style of art-pop-vocals are just really annoying to me. I actually had to stop listening during And Dream of Sheep because too much of this album sounded like someone butchering lullabies. In 1985, we had The Smiths, New Order, The Cure, and Tom Waits all releasing great albums, and the Cocteau Twins releasing Treasure a year before. With that backdrop, I'm genuinely perplexed why this is the album I'm listening to today. I apologize to the inevitable unanimity around 4/5 stars from the rest of the group - I know I'm the outlier here. Under Ice -> Jig Of Life saves this from being a 1 star.
Songhoy Blues
5/5
The bluesy rift to kick off the album sets the tone and doesn't let up for 39 minutes. I really enjoyed this one, 5/5
Dinosaur Jr.
3/5
I've always wanted to like Dinosaur Jr because they are suppose to fit so cleanly into my portfolio of 80s/90s slacker rock / indie rock trailblazers, often referenced in similar conversations as the Pixies, Built to Spill, Pavement, etc. This album is the best I've heard so far from them, but there are still some crucial elements missing. They don't have the lyrical mastery or riveting guitar work of Pavement or Built to Spill, the novelty or excitement of the Pixies, and the vocals are flat without being balanced out sonically like Pavement. Maybe this is too slacker for me, or maybe I just expect too much from one of my favorite genres/eras of music. - 3/5
Malcolm McLaren
2/5
This really seems like an album that you should either love or hate - but I somehow land at around a 2.5, I think I just don't understand it. The opening track was fantastic, it sounded like solid video game music. But then it goes down this strange concept of listening to a hip hop - Afropunk radio station, and the songs were sometimes interesting with good beats and variety, but also strange and disconnected? And there are moments of the album where I become genuinely annoyed, like certain repeated phrases on Buffalo Gals and Duck For the Oyster. What sounded like a very polarizing album is just a 2/3 for me
The Rolling Stones
4/5
I actually had to relisten to this because I'm still so enthralled with Exile on Main Street that it has been hard for me to hear Sticky Fingers or Let It Bleed. I don't know much about the Stones, but these three albums seem to be such a natural progression with EoMS being the final product in this "era", similar to Time Out of Mind -> Love and Theft -> Modern Times ending on a high note too. Ultimately, this lands at 4 because it doesn't pack the groovy punch of EoMS, but has some really nice slow jams and bluesy-rock.
Unrelated note - Spotify has these short reels that play in the desktop app for certain songs, and every time I looked at the short clips during this album, it was striking to me how uncool the Stones looked lol i only find that shocking bc they're known to be this incredibly cool band, but I only hear it - can't see it
Stan Getz
4/5
I like João, it's hard to look elsewhere when you're in a Bosa Nova mood. I really enjoy O Grande Amor off this one, but it strangely is the least listened to song off the album on spotify. Most often, if I am in a Bosa Nova-y mood, I look to Clube da esquina which is more influenced by more contemporary folk. 4/5 for G&G.
The Specials
1/5
"Just because you're a black boy
Just because you're a white
It doesn't mean you've got to hate him
It doesn't mean you've got to fight"
What a beautiful sentiment. 1/5 stars
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
I started really getting into this album after Overground, so much so that I relistened. While it hints at the pop punk and new age genres I usually pan, I see so much influence by this artist in modern music and really enjoy the edginess of the vocals and guitar/percussion (haven't analyzed the lyrics yet). Possible it's a 4.5 but I'll go with a 4 while I evaluate more deeply
Lambchop
2/5
Listened to this driving back from Cle at midnight last night, so on one hand, I was able to focus completely on the album; on the other hand, I had to listen over speakers rather than headphones which sucks. My takeaway is that this album was incredibly creative and unique with very engaging and enjoyable instrumentation. The vocals are inexcusable. I see elements of this in Sufjan and other late 2000s early 2010s artists, but the vocals drop this from a 4 to a 1.5 rounded up I guess.
KISS
2/5
I just assumed KISS was going to be lame. Starting off the album ... okay, Detroit Rock City is nostalgic for Guitar Hero, so a strong start. Then, the rest of the album was a snoozefest. 2/5 since Detroit Rock City wasn't a snoozefest.
The Cars
2/5
Listen, I don't enjoy the sound of late 70s new wave / glam rock. It just is what it is. I am going to dislike Van Halen, Japan, Guns & Roses (which is glam **metal**), and I am going to dislike The Cars.
That being said, I am going to bring my sunniest disposition to this jam sesh.
Right off the bat, Good Times Roll - for the love of god pick a 6th word to say during this 225 second song. The album has some reclaiming moments - Just What I Needed has some cool sounds here, even if it is annoyingly repetitive. Bye Bye Love has a nice transition from You're All I've Got Tonight and is danceable. Moving in Stereo has a nice bridge where they let the album just bop for a bit without vocals, and All Mixed Up has a really nice sound, even if the lyrics are again uninspiring. It's these small touches that bumps this to a 2.
Jefferson Airplane
3/5
JA relies on a nice back-and-forth between the two vocalists and an otherwise unoffensive sound. Today is the only song I save off this album, but it's a fine chill album otherwise. 3/5
Bert Jansch
4/5
Bert's looking at me like "who the hell are you?", and i'm looking back at him like "who the hell are YOU?"
This album needs another listen because the rating should be 100% dependent on the creativity and uniqueness of the guitar style, given that it's 99% of what's offered by the album. He has some elements of an early Elliott Smith playing style which I really enjoy. Whether that floats an otherwise static album to a 4 or 5 is harder to say... 4 it is
Big Brother & The Holding Company
4/5
I don't think ever listened to Janice Joplin but now I'm wondering, are the 70s and 80s classic rock singers trying to be Joplin? What a signature sound. The shock value of having never heard them before has this elevated to at least a 4.
Kanye West
5/5
This album is unironically and unapologetically one of my favorite albums of all time. Take that back, it is apologetically one of my favorite albums - the lyrics are so crass and emblematic of a man who was rewarded or forgiven for behaving like an abusive man-child his entire life, using the death of his mom as an excuse in the most perverted way.
Now that that's out of the way, somehow this abrasive schizophrenic metallic and overlooked project is arguably the most impressive piece of art from a generation of genre-bending hip hop artists. The layers of creativity are so thick that this album will never grow old. The transition from I'm In It -> Blood On The Leaves sends chills down my spine every time, and not even because using a song from the civil rights era to raise awareness about lynching as a metaphor to being chained to a gold-digging woman is the most distrusting use of sampling. But the pain and genuine emotion behind Ye's words (not something usually associated with the machismo of modern rap) and vocals on an otherwise ironic album cuts through the disgust and shame of liking the song. The tagline of Kanye's career is "too creative and masterful to not indulge", and Blood On The Leaves is the perfect example - a shameful song through and through, but somehow one of the best songs every created?
The Kinks
5/5
The standard issue with this generation of british boy bands is that they do funky annoying quirky songs that make the album totally unlistenable (@ the monkeys). But even when the Kinks try their funky shit, it's still listenable - All of My Friends Were There and Monica still have some nice elements and are pretty decent for the worst songs on the album. I really enjoy this album, it's uplifting and poppy. 4.5 rounded up bc it's been a while since I threw a 5 out.
Steely Dan
3/5
This album starts off very strong. Dirty Work has a nice melody, Kings is excellently led by the pianist and could be an Elton John Song. Reelin' In The Years was the first time when I soured on the album. The double tracked vocals of the 70s/80s is a hard sell for me, it sounds like a shitty Swiffer commercial (not steely dan's fault, but the victim nonetheless). Surprisingly listenable, 3.5 rounded down.
Sly & The Family Stone
2/5
This was sort of a slog for me, probably because I spent yesterday listening to A Day To Remember and Rosalía (i'm a true vaas now), so lo-fi funk was just not engaging enough for me to really enjoy it. A relisten in the right mood would likely bump this to a 3, driven by songs like Family Affair and Runnin' Away. But today, this is a 2.
Steely Dan
2/5
My optical nerves communicated a clear image of this picture to my brain, and my brain said "YES First Impressions of Earth!". The lyrics were unique when I checked them out, but overall this was another pretty boring album on the chopping block, 2/5
Pulp
2/5
This is a rough project, and that's coming from a big 90s guy. Pencils Skirt is shameless in a shameful way, Common People sounds like a terrible Arcade Fire song, and the rest of the songs sound like a band named Pulp. 2/5
Beastie Boys
5/5
It's amazing how much I dislike the other Beastie Boys album on the list and like this album. The rhymes are tight, the beats are sweet and frequently sampled in modern times, and the experimental aspects of the latter half of the album are bonuses imo. 5/5
Björk
3/5
I can never tell whether I vibe with bjork or whether she annoys me. I really liked One Day and in general the album, but since I literally never choose to listen to her, i gotta give it a 3/5
Arrested Development
4/5
This was cool and enjoyable, I should revisit some of the bars because I sense depth in the lyrics. The funk elements really elevate the album which is surprising for me to say given that I don't always like funk. 3.5 rounded... up?
Chicago
3/5
It took me over a day to finally listen to this bc I'm sick of 1001 making me listen to boomer shit. Fortunately, this isn't as bad as the Eagles which was my fear. They describe themselves as rock and roll with horns, and while they're often more pop rock with horns, I actually really enjoy the brass. Not as bad as I was expecting, a bit more soul and less cringe. 3/5 for surpassing my expectations. The album probably needs to drop some fluff and get under 50 minutes to really deserve 3 stars, but oh well
Talking Heads
4/5
I found myself really dancing along to this album, really enjoyable stuff all the way through. I hesitate to give it a 5 because it only scratches the floor, but it has potential.
Sarah Vaughan
4/5
Wow talk about a prolific artist, she has over 78 studio albums not including another 18 live recordings. This is a nice collection of sweet songs and imagining being at Mister Kelly's listening live with a good drink adds to the effect, even if it's hard to otherwise hear the live aspects of this recording. But short sweet songs have a ceiling, so this is like a 3.51 rounded up.
4/5