Jan 27 2025
Time Out
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
3.5, some decent tracks in there, need a bit more experience with the genre to appreciate it
3
Jan 28 2025
Van Halen
Van Halen
the well established radio songs on this album were of course great and lots of fun to listen to, can only imagine how innovative the instrumental work was at the time. Most of the other songs are pretty rough lyrically but I had to kind of laugh at the performative swagger.
Rating: 2.5
3
Jan 29 2025
Coat Of Many Colors
Dolly Parton
This one wasnโt really for me in instrumentation, musical texture or lyrics. Bit of a lack of diversity in the songs for me.
Rating: 2
2
Jan 30 2025
Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs
Derek & The Dominos
Seems like the pinaccle of boomer albums. Claptons ego is on full display. These are some pretty silly lyrics. I felt like the run time was too long for me, but I enjoyed many of the instrumentals and a lot of the guitar work.
Rating: 2.25
2
Jan 31 2025
Fear Of A Black Planet
Public Enemy
Great album, loved the high energy production and amazing performance. The lyrics are top notch and have sadly held true as our society continues to get dumber and more bigoted. But art like this album gives me hope that voices like Public Enemy can continue to reach the mainstream and educate.
I loved the texture of the production, gave the whole album a raw and immediate edge. This is one Iโll keep coming back to, thereโs great depth here.
Rating 4.5
4
Feb 01 2025
You Want It Darker
Leonard Cohen
This was a truly visceral emotional experience, sparse and simple keeping a perfect length for this retrospection on life. Itโs an album I can see myself coming back to periodically to take in its genius.
Rating: 5
5
Feb 01 2025
At Budokan
Cheap Trick
4
Feb 02 2025
At Folsom Prison
Johnny Cash
Pretty fun, can see why this is a seminal live album.
Rating: 4
4
Feb 03 2025
The Suburbs
Arcade Fire
When this came out 15 years ago I was a highschooler and I could not have been bothered, but listening now was a bit better than expected. There's definitely more compelling and timeless similar albums from this time, such as Helplessness Blues. With all that being said it does deserve at least another play.
Rating 3.5
3
Feb 04 2025
Bookends
Simon & Garfunkel
3
Feb 05 2025
Live 1966 (The Royal Albert Hall Concert)
Bob Dylan
This wasnโt nearly as bad as I expected it to be, I think most people find to cool to dislike Bob Dylan since everything he did here was aped to oblivion by plenty of other popular musicians in the intervening years.
I preferred the solo set, with its minimalist hypnotic vibes. I didn't really get much from the electric set, it just felt so generic.
I started to finally understand and appreciate the vocal delivery near the end of the album.
I do feel vindicated in knowing that I too can tunelessly dick around with a harmonica.
Rating: 3.0
3
Feb 06 2025
Tubular Bells
Mike Oldfield
Excepting the rote Exorcist passage this was quite compelling for me, just pretentious enough in that special prog rock way. This is nice long form music to soundtrack your day.
Rating 4.0
4
Feb 07 2025
Led Zeppelin III
Led Zeppelin
Yeah, what else can be said, this was amazing. Been a while since I listened to a full album from LZ and gladly, this is front to back bangers. Iโm in awe of the performances across the board, and thereโs such a great variety of sounds throughout the album.
Rating: 5
5
Feb 08 2025
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Iโve always found FF to be a bit generic for lack of better word, but there is catharsis here for Dave Grohl in getting out of the shadow of Nirvana. This album overstayed its welcome a tiny bit for me with a lack of diversity in songwriting. However, I believe that this is another case of fatigue due to Daveโs outsized influence on what would later be considered generic, radio friendly accessible songwriting. While this may not be a master work, it showcases a talented musician who changed the face of mainstream rock in the 90s and 00s. The album is solid with some standout cutting edge radio rock tracks.
Rating: 3.25
3
Feb 09 2025
Exit Planet Dust
The Chemical Brothers
This was pretty good, my experience with Chemical Brothers is that they usually have 2 or 3 real standouts per record and a lot of repetition. Iโd say this album follows suit, with the first three tracks establishing a great energy. Listened to the record twice and canโt really remember too much else about it, but I will certainly return to it again.
Rating: 3.0
3
Feb 10 2025
McCartney
Paul McCartney
3
Feb 11 2025
American IV: The Man Comes Around
Johnny Cash
Really enjoyed this one, and Iโll be returning to it, just a masterpiece.
Rating: 5
5
Feb 12 2025
1989
Taylor Swift
People will hate Taylor Swift and 1989 on principle and while I went in with said stance I will concede that the album is completely fine.
This is tightly designed pop music that is showing its age 10 years on. Ultimately the album references for me a time in popular music which I am not positively nostalgic of. 1989 targets a young audience and leaves a saccharine impression but at the end of it all you cannot completely deny the sweet tooth for catchy, massive choruses.
Rating: 3.5
3
Feb 13 2025
First Band On The Moon
The Cardigans
4
Feb 14 2025
Dookie
Green Day
Dookie held up pretty well honestly, this was a fun listen and more detailed than I remembered it to be.
Rating: 4.25
4
Feb 15 2025
Odelay
Beck
4
Feb 16 2025
Blur
Blur
3
Feb 17 2025
Safe As Milk
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
Wasnโt quite as wacky as I expected, and thereโs some decent tracks on here. Beefhearts performances are amazing. The instrumental back half dragged a bit for me.
Rating: 3.75
3
Feb 18 2025
We Are Family
Sister Sledge
This slapped what else is there to say
Rating: 4.0
4
Feb 19 2025
Live At The Regal
B.B. King
It was fine. The performances were next level.
Rating: 3.0
3
Feb 20 2025
Happy Trails
Quicksilver Messenger Service
Generic psych mindlessness. This is a much worse grateful dead
Rating: 2.0
2
Feb 21 2025
Night Life
Ray Price
The introduction monologue was so hilariously bereft of confidence that I was started on a good foot. The first track was really great and holds up well. As the album progressed it slowly became apparent that every song would feature identical instrumentation, singing and lyrics. I can see why this didnโt make it on the fallout soundtrack.
Rating: 1.5
1
Feb 22 2025
Tres Hombres
ZZ Top
This was a fun romp, this feels like it is a foundational album for future rock and even metal. Thereโs some nice heavy riffs in here that allude to the parallel sound of black sabbath or the later on High on Fire. This album will stay in rotation when I want something fun and immediate.
Tasting: 4.25
4
Feb 23 2025
Warehouse: Songs And Stories
Hรผsker Dรผ
I donโt know what to say about this one, it barely held my attention. Not to be completely unfair as I could tell there were some diamonds in the rough but finding them would require me to relisten which I have no desire to do.
As a band unit they definitely shone but the repetition in songwriting and production was too fatiguing.
I hadnโt listened to the band before and I will give them another chance with their earlier, more seminal work.
Rating: 2.0
2
Feb 24 2025
Abraxas
Santana
Solid groovy album, this is what virtuoso playing should be instead of unfounded wankery.
Rating: 4.0
4
Feb 25 2025
Queen II
Queen
Yeah plain and simple, Queen cooked with this one. I like that I didnโt know a single song here but could feel the reverberation of influence up to current prog music. The jacked up guitars and vocal harmonies were sick and I loved the heavy staccato riffing thatโs all over this thing.
Rating: 4.5
4
Feb 26 2025
Africa Brasil
Jorge Ben Jor
Lots of great groove to like here. Without being a complete coward I couldnโt get into the vocals due to the language barrier.
Rating: 3.5
3
Feb 27 2025
Home Is Where The Music Is
Hugh Masekela
Got about halfway through, everything I heard was pretty interesting, Iโll have to come back to this one.
Rating: 3.5
3
Feb 28 2025
Done By The Forces Of Nature
Jungle Brothers
This was great, and kept getting more poignant and enjoyable as the album went on.
Rating: 4.0
4
Mar 01 2025
Wild Is The Wind
Nina Simone
This is the best album Iโve yet heard from the list. Haunting, sorrowful and beautifully idiosyncratic, Nina clearly has been a persistent influence on a wide range of current music. This is one of the most personal feeling albums Iโve heard in a while, with capstone performances that stare directly through you.
Rating: 5.0
5
Mar 02 2025
Cheap Thrills
Big Brother & The Holding Company
On Janisโs singing alone this gets a 7.
Rating: 3.5
3
Mar 03 2025
Kala
M.I.A.
Pretty interesting album, just got locked in to the dense hypnotic layers. Iโll return to this one.
Rating: 8
4
Mar 04 2025
Ellington at Newport
Duke Ellington
3
Mar 05 2025
Faust IV
Faust
This was pretty great, I was fully onboard for a lot of this. In true krautrock fashion there were so many echoes of music to come in the 90s and on, really enjoyed that component.
Rating: 4.0
4
Mar 06 2025
Beautiful Freak
Eels
1
Mar 07 2025
Guitar Town
Steve Earle
3
Mar 08 2025
Definitely Maybe
Oasis
This one didnโt do much for me, since I kind of got lost in the drawn out repetition of the album around the third track. It is pretty sonically enjoyable so I canโt roast it too much.
Rating: 2.5
2
Mar 09 2025
Low-Life
New Order
3
Mar 10 2025
Basket of Light
Pentangle
Rating: 3.5
3
Mar 11 2025
Melodrama
Lorde
Rating: 2.5
2
Mar 12 2025
Ys
Joanna Newsom
This was a challenge for me, and I appreciate the artistry but doubt Iโll seek it out again.
Rating: 3.5
3
Mar 13 2025
Vento De Maio
Elis Regina
Rating: 3.5
3
Mar 14 2025
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Arctic Monkeys
This was pretty fun, not gonna lie.
Rating: 4.0
4
Mar 15 2025
Let's Get It On
Marvin Gaye
4
Mar 16 2025
Immigrรฉs
Youssou N'Dour
Itโs nice to get an album that solidly grooves, and with an overall bright tone. The more you lock in with this album the better it gets.
Rating: 4.0
4
Mar 17 2025
Talking Book
Stevie Wonder
The funk tracks singularly lift the rest of the filler out of the muck.
Rating: 3.5
3
Mar 18 2025
Brothers
The Black Keys
3
Mar 19 2025
Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
Mudhoney
Pretty solid, actually felt like this lifted far above the โinfluentialโ tag that everyone on here is using as an insult. Felt more like modern rock songwriting than 90s grunge in a way.
Rating: 3.5
3
Mar 20 2025
Fisherman's Blues
The Waterboys
4
Mar 21 2025
When I Was Born For The 7th Time
Cornershop
This just kept getting better the further I got into it, I appreciate how this wasnโt really limited by genre.
Rating: 4.0
4
Mar 22 2025
In Rainbows
Radiohead
This is an album I have a lot of nostalgia for, and am very familiar with. There was definitely a time when this was my favourite album and it certainly reaches very high to this day.
Rating: 4.5
4
Mar 23 2025
Dry
PJ Harvey
I liked it, itโs nice to have a grunge era album that actually tries to push against the dogmatic strictures of the genre.
Rating: 4.0
4
Mar 24 2025
If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears
The Mamas & The Papas
This album was a little too corny for me. With such a focus on the vocals you get these amazing harmonies and performances but are forced to suffer through the cornball hippy platitudes. The lyricism and production texture of the album just makes me think this was cooked up in a lab for maximum profits.
Rating: 2.5
2
Mar 25 2025
Dirt
Alice In Chains
Really solid nostalgic album for me. Dirt is a radio album that, for once isn't shit. It is chock full of harrowing vocals and epic riffs.
Rating: 4.5
4
Mar 26 2025
Phaedra
Tangerine Dream
If you ever wanted to enter the sewers with Mario for an hour, this is the album for you. It didn't resonate super emotionally for me, but I can appreciate how sick of a soundscape this is.
Rating: 3.5
3
Mar 27 2025
Since I Left You
The Avalanches
This was really fun and delightful to listen to, a good mix of many genres, per its plunderphonic origin.
Rating: 4.0
4
Mar 28 2025
Young Americans
David Bowie
Great album, can't really go wrong with Bowie. Top notch production and performances.
Rating: 4.0
4
Mar 29 2025
Are You Experienced
Jimi Hendrix
Jimi is goated for this one, that is for sure. Let's talk about the sound of this album as a whole: out of this world guitar and drum work that continues to be cheaply imitated to this day. This is a touchstone of modern rock as a genre, and a gem of an early psych album.
Rating: 5.0
5
Mar 30 2025
3 + 3
The Isley Brothers
3
Mar 31 2025
Closer
Joy Division
So fucking bleak, but compelling. A portrait of absolute darkness, in a way a pure state.
Rating: 5.0
5
Apr 01 2025
Paul's Boutique
Beastie Boys
Damn. this is actual trash.
Rating: 1.0
1
Apr 02 2025
GI
Germs
Wasnโt that bad, pretty definitive sounding early hardcore record. It just didnโt push the envelope for me in this day and age.
Rating: 2.5
2
Apr 03 2025
Back to Mystery City
Hanoi Rocks
2
Apr 04 2025
Movies
Holger Czukay
Weird but compelling. Will need to check back In with this on my own time, not the best soundtrack for work, bit too intricately produced.
Rating: 3.0
3
Apr 05 2025
Fragile
Yes
Solid nostalgic album. It was a fun listen to take me back to being a kid discovering this lite prog. I was fully invested about 80% of the time, but got some prog fatigue by the end
Rating: 4.0
4
Apr 06 2025
Crosby, Stills & Nash
Crosby, Stills & Nash
3.5
3
Apr 07 2025
25
Adele
The album really delivers on the concept that there are no surprises, but in a powerful way. The opener sets the stage perfectly for this melancholic tour de force. The lyrics donโt mean much to me, but I could listen to Adele sing anything.
Rating: 4.5
4
Apr 08 2025
Live And Dangerous
Thin Lizzy
This is good, but extremely boring haha
Rating: 2.5
3
Apr 09 2025
Walking Wounded
Everything But The Girl
I donโt have much against the overall sound of the album, but it was so mellow it became wallpaper.
Rating: 2.5
2
Apr 10 2025
Trout Mask Replica
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
3
Apr 11 2025
Ray Of Light
Madonna
3
Apr 12 2025
Axis: Bold As Love
Jimi Hendrix
Again blown away by how modern and truly unmatched Jimi is, this album is just a joy to listen to.
Rating: 4.5
5
Apr 13 2025
NEU! 75
Neu!
This is pretty tame as far as the genre goes, not bad by any means but overall just a bit more mellow than I wanted.
Rating: 3.0
3
Apr 14 2025
BEYONCร
Beyoncรฉ
Couldnโt do it.
1
Apr 15 2025
Disintegration
The Cure
Rating: 3.5
3
Apr 16 2025
Odessey And Oracle
The Zombies
1
Apr 17 2025
Meat Is Murder
The Smiths
4
Apr 18 2025
Tea for the Tillerman
Cat Stevens
Banger after banger
Rating: 4.0
4
Apr 19 2025
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Bruce Springsteen
This was exactly what I expected it to be, but very solid at that.
Rating: 3.5
3
Apr 20 2025
Untitled (Black Is)
SAULT
Damn, this is a haunting, powerful and also strongly optimistic album. The power of the albums words lie in the relative simplicity and monolithic power of the messaging.
Rating: 4.5
4
Apr 21 2025
Thriller
Michael Jackson
Not much for me to add to the discussion here. Thereโs the obvious mega-hits and then thereโs the rest of this.
Rating: 3.5
3
Apr 22 2025
The Clash
The Clash
Really enjoyed this, just a nice early glance at the Clashโs songwriting skills. It was angry where it needed to be and had a biting raw edge.
Rating: 4.0
4
Apr 23 2025
It's A Shame About Ray
The Lemonheads
Generic in a good and nostalgic way, like itโs a hermetically sealed time capsule from 1992. Itโs calming in a way that only this uptempo college rock can be.
Rating: 3.5
3
Apr 24 2025
Rum Sodomy & The Lash
The Pogues
4
Apr 25 2025
Revolver
Beatles
For many of these nostalgic albums Iโm at a give and take of memory versus objectivity. When I was 13, this was hot shit, but in 2025 it has substantially cooled off.
Rating: 3.5
3
Apr 26 2025
Document
R.E.M.
This is the first album in a while that I actually want to return to, I feel that there is a tonne of depth below the surface which was fantastic in its own right.
Rating: 4.5
4
Apr 27 2025
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Nice, unrefined version of iron maiden, I feel that every other album amps the quality on all fronts. The vocals are nowhere near Dickinsons power and charisma, but you can hear the raw early version of the band cooking.
Rating: 3.5
3
Apr 28 2025
Time (The Revelator)
Gillian Welch
4
Apr 29 2025
Joan Armatrading
Joan Armatrading
4
Apr 30 2025
461 Ocean Boulevard
Eric Clapton
Kind of annoying but much better than I expected. White British man rips off every genre.
Rating: 3.5
3
May 01 2025
Opus Dei
Laibach
Actually I dig this, self aware and different, comical and ridiculous.
Rating: 4.0
4
May 02 2025
Blue
Joni Mitchell
Really beautiful melancholic album, was an experience to just be in this realm for this short time.
Rating: 4.5
4
May 03 2025
Cloud Nine
The Temptations
Wasnโt really into this, but it was by no means bad. It just feels like paint by numbers via ChatGPT of an exploitation movie soundtrack.
3
May 04 2025
American Beauty
Grateful Dead
If youโre a newcomer to the dead, Itโs an alright starting point, but itโs easily trounced by the plethora of live tapes out there. The appeal of this band has always been the more free quality of their live output.
Rating: 3.5
3
May 05 2025
Surf's Up
The Beach Boys
2
May 06 2025
Channel Orange
Frank Ocean
3
May 07 2025
Damaged
Black Flag
2
May 21 2025
Ten
Pearl Jam
3
May 29 2025
good kid, m.A.A.d city
Kendrick Lamar
4
Jun 04 2025
Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs
Marty Robbins
4