295
Albums Rated
3.17
Average Rating
27%
Complete
794 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1950s
Favorite Decade
Metal
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
19
5-Star Albums
14
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Fragile
Yes
|
5 | 3.31 | +1.69 |
|
The Chronic
Dr. Dre
|
5 | 3.33 | +1.67 |
|
Fear Of A Black Planet
Public Enemy
|
5 | 3.34 | +1.66 |
|
A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Coldplay
|
5 | 3.44 | +1.56 |
|
Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water
Limp Bizkit
|
4 | 2.48 | +1.52 |
|
Illinois
Sufjan Stevens
|
5 | 3.49 | +1.51 |
|
Moving Pictures
Rush
|
5 | 3.59 | +1.41 |
|
Darkdancer
Les Rythmes Digitales
|
4 | 2.59 | +1.41 |
|
Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Wu-Tang Clan
|
5 | 3.61 | +1.39 |
|
Pictures At An Exhibition
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
|
4 | 2.64 | +1.36 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
New Wave
The Auteurs
|
1 | 2.86 | -1.86 |
|
Electric Music For The Mind And Body
Country Joe & The Fish
|
1 | 2.85 | -1.85 |
|
Brutal Youth
Elvis Costello
|
1 | 2.82 | -1.82 |
|
Histoire De Melody Nelson
Serge Gainsbourg
|
1 | 2.75 | -1.75 |
|
Medúlla
Björk
|
1 | 2.72 | -1.72 |
|
Cut
The Slits
|
1 | 2.71 | -1.71 |
|
Bubble And Scrape
Sebadoh
|
1 | 2.65 | -1.65 |
|
Chore of Enchantment
Giant Sand
|
1 | 2.64 | -1.64 |
|
Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room
Dwight Yoakam
|
1 | 2.6 | -1.6 |
|
Timeless
Goldie
|
1 | 2.53 | -1.53 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Pink Floyd | 2 | 5 |
| Metallica | 2 | 5 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Pere Ubu | 2 | 1.5 |
| Elvis Costello & The Attractions | 3 | 2 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Bruce Springsteen | 2, 5 |
5-Star Albums (19)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Metallica
5/5
I feel like I should've been listening to this while doing something useful like working out and not...working. But whatever, it was a kickass album. I feel like the only moments of chill were like the first 30 seconds or so of Battery before things go beserk. Master of Puppets is probably my favorite track (prob a boring take), but I also really love the instrumentals of Orion. Metallica is just the GOATed thrash metal whatever you want to brand them as rock band. Like everyone else...easy 5/5.
1 likes
Jazmine Sullivan
4/5
How about the Anderson .Paak feature?! That guy is so damn good and was a pleasant surprise to show up here. Price Tags was a banger and easily my favorite song here. Pick Up Your Feelings and Put It Down were really strong tracks too. Gotta say, this was a pleasant surprise. Obviously, Jazmine really shines through the album as a great artist with her vocals and songwriting.
On top of some quality music that balances R&B and Hip-Hop very well, I appreciate the structure of this album where you had a woman telling a story followed by a song hitting on that theme. The structure reminded me somewhat of what Kendrick did with Section 80, which is one of my favorite rap albums ever. I really enjoy albums that try to tell a story and integrate music with skits or other ways that connect the songs together (in this case it was tales), and I thought it was a really well-produced album in that regard.
Lastly, Heaux Tales is an A+ name. Strong 4 from me.
1 likes
1-Star Albums (14)
All Ratings
The Who
4/5
Out of all The Who albums, I've probably listened to this one the most. It is definitely the most unique and I love the story-telling aspect of this, following Tommy's life journey as a deaf/dumb/blind boy to adulthood. A tad ridiculous concept, admittedly, but I enjoyed it as a kid and still do as an adult.
Songs like Cousin Kevin, Acid Queen, Pinball Wizard, Go To The Mirror, and I'm Free can stand out on their own in any album. I always loved the instrumental Overture/Underture that set the stage for each Act. When I listened to this, it felt like watching a stage show or musical.
I can understand why this might be a polarizing album. It is pretty long, filled with arguably too many "skits", and can get a little repetitive. I know all of this and still really enjoy the album anyway.
My heart says this belongs in the 5 category, but I feel like my bias might be pushing that score up. This album has some flaws and I found it difficult giving this a 5 while overlooking those flaws on re-listening to this with a different perspective (and this being my first listen in maybe like 5 years or whatever). I'll put this as a High 4.
The Who
3/5
Really only know My Generation and The Kids Are Alright off this debut album for The Who. Out In The Street was a good opener, but honestly not much else stood out other than The Ox.
This one lands squarely in the 3 territory.
The Who
5/5
Without question the best Who album track-for-track. It's bookended by classic songs such as Baba O'Riley, Bargain, Behind Blue Eyes, and Won't Get Fooled Again (shoutout to CSI for using this as the theme song). Baba O'Riley is arguably one of the best openers on an album ever. It helps that it's my favorite song by The Who.
The middle stuff is less known but still plenty good. I enjoy the 3-song stretch between My Wife and Getting In Tune.
This is a classic rock staple album, likely a top-10 or even top-5 album of the genre for me. Pretty easy 5.
Pink Floyd
5/5
Easy 5 star. This is my favorite album of all time and I think there's so much to love about it thematically and musically. The cover art is an all-time classic and was definitely a poster on my dorm room wall. Everything just flows so well together from song to song. Time and Money are everyone's favorite tracks, but there's just something hauntingly beautiful about Great Gig in the Sky that gets me every time I listen to it. Us and Them is a song that encapsulates everything Pink Floyd is about to me and it's crazy how much hasn't really changed in the world when looking at this theme. Brain Damage/Eclipse wrap up the album perfectly and I've definitely spent too much time thinking about the meaning of the final audio in Eclipse: "There is no dark side of the moon, really. Matter of fact it's all dark." Perfect album that grips your attention from start to finish. Like what has been said already, I wish I could go back and listen to this for the first time.
Funkadelic
4/5
It was weird, I thought this sounded ok at first, but then on second listen I found it way more enjoyable.
The opener shreds and is awesome. Definitely something that stood out to me more on the second run-through.
Can You Get To That might be my favorite song here. Love the catchy instrumentals and then the mix of vocals. Hit It And Quit It is another fun one.
Really liked Super Stupid but the instrumentals sounded super familiar to me. Then it hit me. If you google the song Alive & Amplified (old Madden Soundtrack song) there's a pretty interesting resemblance between the 2 songs.
Pretty great album and I'm glad I went back to it since my first time through wasn't a very close listen. Solid 4.
Dion
3/5
Now this is some really easy-listening music. Was it great? Not really, but I can think of worse ways to spend 35 minutes. Mid-3.
Ash
3/5
I got excited when I first turned this on and heard the intro of a Star Wars tie fighter leading into some hard shredding. Goldfinger is a little more generic 90s rock, but I enjoyed it. Got some early Blink-182 vibes from that song. Girl From Mars started off cool with the fuzzy-ness of it, but then went back to the generic 90s well.
The rest of this didn't really stand out to me. It's kind of disappointing because the start of this was good. Needed some more hard-jamming energy. Low 3.
Japan
2/5
Starts off decent, but then falls off into boredom with Despair. Found most of the album to be dull considering this is supposed to be like glam pop.
High 2.
The Band
4/5
Feels like The Band missed a golden opportunity not naming one of their albums in their discography "The Album". But alas...
This album feels like distilled Americana with classics like The Night They Drove Down Old Dixie and Up On Cripple Creek. It feels super folksy but not in an overbearing way. The instrumentals and production are excellent throughout.
Might need a few more listens to get a better feel for this, but I do think it firmly belongs as a solid 4.
The Pogues
4/5
Great Celtic music that would be perfect for St. Paddy's day. I really enjoyed the title track, Fairytale of New York, and Metropolis.
Landed at about 3.5 stars, but with my Irish heritage it would be blasphemous not to round up to a Low 4.
Basement Jaxx
3/5
Definitely into the first half of this album. Loving Jump 'n Shout and Red Alert the most, but mostly just jamming along. I enjoy the hip-hop angle to this giving it the feel of something you'd hear in the club in the late 90s.
Starting with Always Be There, the rest of the album becomes less enjoyable and runs on way too long. Gets too bogged down with the electronica stuff, which is not my jam anyway. If the first half was at a 4-status then the second half was a 2, which drags this down right to a 3.
Aphex Twin
3/5
Very groovy music to throw on in the background but definitely not something I'd seek out. This was also just way too long. Just not my personal taste. Low 3.
The Coral
4/5
Despite the different genres featured throughout the album (rock, ska, folk, etc.), the psychedelic vibes were omnipresent the whole time. I've never heard of these guys, but I'm definitely into their sound. There were very few down points (Skeleton Key, Bad Man), however, for the most part this was a really fun listen. Songs I really liked off one listen: I Remember When, Shadows Fall, Dreaming Of You, Goodbye, Waiting For The Headaches. The first half was definitely stronger than the second half.
I think from an enjoyability standpoint, this sneaks into the low 4 tier. I can see myself coming back to listen.
Pixies
3/5
Velouria feels like a song I've heard somewhere before. Feels very 90s and I am here for it.
The rest of the album felt a little boring to me. It was pretty decent rock music, but nothing that really gripped me. Down-the-middle 3.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
This album is not going to blow your socks off, but will lull you into a relaxing state. I liked a lot of songs on here such as the title track, Cecilia, The Boxer, Baby Driver, The Only Boy Living In New York (might be my favorite track on this album).
Quick-hitting album that makes for some really easy listening. Not too many complaints from me. This is in the 4 territory, but maybe closer to a Low 4.
Pantera
3/5
It was pretty easy to overlook Pantera because they didn't have the same commercial appeal to Metallica and other metal bands. Also, I feel like I lumped them in with like Slipknot because their fans looked like a bunch of freaks. I had heard Walk before (shoutout the Madden 2010 soundtrack) and that song still is a standout here.
Pantera feels like a metal-head's favorite band because they didn't try to distill anything. This Love is probably the closest they get to sounding like Metallica. It is ironically my second favorite track from this album behind Walk. Everything else is not up my alley for music, but you got respect how much these guys shred.
Landed at a 3.5 here, but skew more towards a High 3.
The Monkees
3/5
This doesn't have my lone favorite Monkees song (Daydream Believer) and I don't recognize other songs, so I'm interested to see what this sounds like.
Got through a full listen and it felt like a lot of generic 60s pop rock. Not bad and probably sounded better during that time period, but there's a clear talent difference between them and other bands of that era (i.e. Beatles, Beach Boys, etc.). Or at least on this particular album.
Shades of Grey was probably my favorite song. Zilch was a standout in that it was super weird yet fun (did not know Mista Dobalina was a sample from this song!). I wish more of the songs had the sound like Early Morning Blues And Greens, which gave more psychedelic vibes.
I'd give this a High 3. If there is another Monkees album in here I hope it is better than this one. I think they sound pretty good, but this album definitely lacked a standout single like Daydream Believer.
Daft Punk
3/5
I'm not the biggest electro guy, but you gotta respect Daft Punk. I was definitely grooving to most of the album even though it ran on pretty long. Good work background music for sure.
The highlights for me were Da Funk, Around The World, Rollin' & Scratchin', and Alive.
This falls at a High 3 for me. The long runtime and the filler songs take away from the high points that would've made it a 4.
Ice T
4/5
I didn't think Ice T threw down gangster rap like this. Home Of The Bodybag sounds like a Dre beat. I'm already bought in.
Not going to do an in-depth breakdown but here were songs I enjoyed on my first run through: Mind Over Matter, New Jack Hustler, Bitches 2, O.G. Original Gangster, Midnight.
Ice T, I was not familiar with your game. Obviously everyone knows him now from SVU but for some reason I wasn't expecting him to goes this hard. He and Ice Cube are on the same level to me now and I probably wouldn't have said that before listening to this album. I think this is solidly a 4. It features a lot of strong songs, but does go on too long, especially after Midnight.
Rush
5/5
Love me some Rush (Slappa da bass, mon!). I'm pretty sure this is the only album of theirs I've given a listen to before though it's been a while.
The first side of this album is fantastic. All the songs are 5/5's, even YYZ which is just them jamming for almost 5 minutes. I feel like I don't need to expand on that further.
The 2nd side lacks the punch that the 1st side had, but the songs here are still good. Witch Hunt was easily the best of the 3 songs.
I felt pretty confident this would be a 5 heading into it and my expectations were met. Pound-for-pound, I'd put Rush up there with the best classic rock bands. Easily top-10 and maybe top-5 if I had to think about it. It's pretty incredible what these 3 men could create between them. This is a great record.
Femi Kuti
3/5
Wonder Wonder is such a catchy and fun opener. I think that's going to be stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
The rest of this was fun and enjoyable music, but did feel like it ran a tad long. It's in that High 3/Low 4 territory. I'm leaning more towards a High 3 because I might not return to this one much unless I want Wonder Wonder stuck in my head again.
Janet Jackson
3/5
I was into the beats on most of the songs, but with this being over an hour on runtime it did get kind of stale after Escapade. Rhythm Nation and Escapade were probably the best tracks on here. I think this clears the bar enough for 3...low 3.
Alice Cooper
3/5
There's some decent rock in here and was not as metal as I was expected out of Alice Cooper. Good album, but landed at a high 3. Not enough for a 4.
Robert Wyatt
3/5
The good was certainly good here. Enjoyed the opening song Heaps of Sheeps. Alien had the awesome guitar solo with the bongo drums in the background...super psychedelic. Blues in Bob Minor was on the fringe of weird, but it just worked for me.
However, there were plenty of oddball songs like The Duchess, Was A Friend, and Out of Season. Just terrible all around.
Between the good and weird, this lands at a 3 for me.
The Beach Boys
3/5
For me, The Beach Boys are palatable in small doses, so I'm glad to see that this album clocks in at under 30 minutes. Other than the catchy Help Me Rhonda, there is not much else that stands out. That said, I feel fine giving this a 3.
Shuggie Otis
3/5
There were some decent funky jams on this one, but not enough to push it to a 4 like everyone else. Still a solid 3.
Incredible Bongo Band
4/5
This album fucks! Immediately, Apache stands out (shoutout Fresh Prince of Bel Air). Last Bongo In Belgium is awesome. In A Gadda Da Via is a song that Nas sampled on Hip Hop Is Dead and I'm a little disappointed he took out the horns that make this song more fun.
I'm putting this one as a solid 4 that approaches 5-status.
The Zombies
4/5
Feels like a mix of the Beatles (Sgt. Pepper vibes) with the vocals of the Beach Boys. Had this on in the background so I didn't give it the closest listen, but it was mostly good. Really enjoyed the songs: Care of Cell 44, Changes, This Will Be Our Year (piano sounds like something straight out of a Beatles album), Time Of The Season (heard this one plenty of times).
Landed at 3.5 stars and willing to bump to a low 4.
Isaac Hayes
3/5
Hello there children! Crazy that the guy who voiced chef has an album on this list, so good for him.
I think I agree with the consensus that the first 2 songs (funky soul/jazz) are much better than the last 2 (R&B). All in all, that makes this one a solid 3.
Hookworms
3/5
Despite featuring only 9 songs, they all varied wildly. Lots of crazy synths, bass, and other funky sounds. I can't say I liked all of it, but most of the songs were good.
I feel like I'm landing at a high 3. Not quite a 4 in my book.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
2/5
Man, did they record this with a static TV blaring in the background? It started off fine, but Taste The Floor was hard to listen. Hated the mumbling vocals there. The following song was less intense, but then the fuzz returns in a bad way with In A Hole. Sowing Seeds was probably my favorite track of the album.
This album isn't all bad, but some of the songs here are brutally bad, at least in my book. It's enough to knock it down to a 2.
Klaxons
3/5
I feel like this one was a 3 through and through. Nothing off-putting and it was enjoyable to listen to. If it grabbed my attention more with one or two great songs, it could've gotten into the 4 conversation.
Suede
3/5
Another basic-ass British pop-rock album. The singer kind of sounds like a poor man's David Bowie. It was a fine though unspectacular listen. 2.5 stars...low 3 territory.
Count Basie & His Orchestra
3/5
Pretty fun jazz record. It was good background music when I worked. Solid 3.
Fever Ray
2/5
Pretty boring listen for me if I'm being honest. 2 stars that almost bordered on a 1.
4/5
Whomst among us did not have a short-lived Limp Bizkit phase? I have a vivid memory of 10-year-old me borrowing this CD from a friend and jamming to it on my Walkman while we were travelling for a ski trip. Good times...
My Way was and still is my favorite song in this album. Rollin' is a close 2nd. The next few songs kind of drag (even on the Xzibit feature!) until we get to Take A Look Around, which takes its riff from the Mission Impossible theme. Forgot how much I liked that song.
This is definitely a tough one to score depending on how seriously you take Limp Bizkit, but I actually thought this holds up better than I thought. It has its high points and low points, but for the most part jams fucking hard. I'd probably score it at 3.5 stars and bump it to a low 4 for nostalgia.
10cc
3/5
Wall Street Shuffle and Worst Band In The World were a great way to start the album. Then after Hotel it starts to get sort of weird. Then Clockwork Creep makes it very weird. Even with the weirdness, I thought the music and production were really good throughout.
Feels like a solid 3 and would've merited consideration for a 4 if I liked another song or two from the back half of this album.
Lenny Kravitz
2/5
Considering this was Lenny Kravitz, I was expecting more. The first 2 songs were good, but everything afterwards was boring or just sounded off. I'm pretty surprised I landed at a 2 with this one.
Radiohead
4/5
I was really into the first half of this album. The opening beat on Pakt was super intriguing and cool. Pyramid Song was dark and haunting with the piano and Thom's singing - beautifully produced. Pulk/Pull was a bit odd, but ended up liking it. I thought the back-to-back of I Might Be Wrong and Knives Out was one of my favorites in this album.
I don't know if the 2nd half of the album worked for me fully. I felt a bit disoriented and nervy listening to it. I feel like Spinning Plates could be background music for a scene in a movie where a character is hurdling back through time or something like that. Strange song.
Life In A Glasshouse was a strong finish though. It's bluesy with the piano and horns, and pretty haunting. I can't explain it, but I just liked it a lot better than songs like Dollars/Cents and Spinning Plates in the back half.
I think I'm landing at 3.5 stars after a couple of listens. Willing to round up to a 4 though since I can see myself coming back to listen to this again.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2/5
I was enjoying Oliver's Army until Elvis was out here dropping the HARD R N-WORD. The fuck?!
Kind of like the other Elvis Costello albums, the music itself is good enough to warrant a 3, but I feel like Elvis's vocals really drag the quality down here. 2 stars
Finley Quaye
3/5
I gather this is some new-age reggae, or a poppy take on it? I think there were a couple hits here. Sunday Shining is a cool jam and The Way Of The Explosive was more of a traditional reggae track that I liked. Everything else was either forgettable or not very good. I think this feels like a low 3.
The Birthday Party
1/5
From the album art to the music itself, this album is a fucking mess. How did this get critical acclaim???
1 star
Meat Puppets
2/5
Going from punk to bluegrass in the opening of this album was certainly a choice. Kind of represented just how all over the place this album felt. Oh, Me felt like the best song on the album, but that was about it for me. Don't have it in me to give this a 3. 2 stars.
Crowded House
3/5
The epitome of average 90s rock. Landing on 2.5 stars, but begrudgingly will give this a 3.
Super Furry Animals
3/5
Just an album that was truly all over the place. It was like 50/50 if I liked a particular song. No Sympathy was intriguing because I was digging the song and then it hard turned to a fiasco ending. I think there's enough I liked to give it a solid 3. Almost a 4...
Aretha Franklin
4/5
Can't say I've heard anything outside of the Respect before. That said, Aretha Franklin's voice is stellar here. The backup instrumentals are solid. Pretty hard not to give this anything lower than a 4.
Iron Butterfly
3/5
The title track is a classic, obviously. Everything else is pretty mid, but at least the album overall was short and easy to listen to. Feels like a 3 in total context.
Hole
3/5
I'm not going to pretend to know much about Courtney Love, but she's giving a lot of fuck you energy in this album. Very tough and gritty with some good headbangers. I think some it works for me, but not enough to get it up to a 4. Solid 3.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Zeppelin is one of my favorite classic rock bands of all time, so it's pretty hard not to give this 5 stars. However, I feel like this one doesn't have hit after hit like some other Zeppelin albums have. All my favorites - like Immigrant Song (straight jam), Since I've Been Loving You, and Tangerine - are kind of spaced out. The other songs in between are deeper cuts that I'm not as familiar with.
I agree with everyone that I'd put this one on the 2nd tier of Zeppelin albums. Strong 4.
4/5
This one surprised with some of the upbeat, funky tunes in the 1st half. I enjoyed Show Me, Tears Are Not Enough, and Look of Love Pt. 1. The rest of the album seems to lose steam once All Of My Heart comes on. I still rank this as a low 4 though since it kept me engaged and grooving pretty much throughout.
R.E.M.
4/5
I dig R.E.M. and have definitely listened to a few songs on this album before, but never the full thing. The obvious tracks like Drive, Everybody Hurts, The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite, and Man On The Moon are all great. Solid 4 from me.
John Lee Hooker
3/5
That first song with Santana...whew, that was nice. Also liked the George Thorogood feature. I'm not really the biggest blues guy, so I found the rest of the album just ok. Solidly a 3 in my book though.
Neil Young
4/5
Neil Young shows off his range with the folksy rock ballads here while also foreshadowing the "grunge" rock he became more known for. I like it all and really enjoyed this album. Southern Man is such a jam and a cool way to break through from the folksy/melancholy start. The guitar solo towards the end just slaps. Other than that song, there weren't many standouts that could push this to a 5 for me. I'll list Tell Me Why and When You Dance I Can Really Love as honorable mentions. Solid 4.
The Teardrop Explodes
3/5
Other than Sleeping Gas, I thought the first half of the album was enjoyable to listen to. Then the second half really dragged. I'm caught between a 2 and 3 here, but ultimately feeling like this deserves at least a low 3.
Miles Davis
4/5
Really solid jazz record. Miles Davis is one of the greats for a reason.
Morrissey
3/5
I think every Morrissey album is going to inevitably vary somewhere between a 2 or a 3. Too bad this site doesn't do half stars.
The music itself is good and I can take or leave the vocal stylings of Mr. Morrissey depending on the song. Low 3 for this album.
Frank Sinatra
4/5
Sinatra's voice is truly timeless. This album made me want to kick back, pour a glass of whiskey, and just relax. It was such a pleasant album to listen through. I don't really know if I had a favorite track other than the opener because I wasn't paying close attention, but all the songs sounded good to me. Solid 4.
MC Solaar
3/5
I enjoyed the first half, but the last half I felt kind of over with it. I don't really know how to appropriately grade something I didn't really understand. After googling MC Solaar and seeing his impact in the French music scene, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and just give it a 3 and move on.
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
Seeing as this was the debut album from Run-DMC and that this was the early days for hip-hop in general, I have to give this a 3 even though it was a fairly boring listen. Most of the beats sounded the same, but at least the lyrics were good.
Metallica
5/5
I feel like I should've been listening to this while doing something useful like working out and not...working. But whatever, it was a kickass album. I feel like the only moments of chill were like the first 30 seconds or so of Battery before things go beserk. Master of Puppets is probably my favorite track (prob a boring take), but I also really love the instrumentals of Orion. Metallica is just the GOATed thrash metal whatever you want to brand them as rock band. Like everyone else...easy 5/5.
U2
4/5
Solid 4 here. I don't love U2 necessarily, but I respect and like a lot of what they do. This album isn't on the level of Joshua Tree though still very solid. Mysterious Ways and One are classics. Love is Blindness was a nice closing song. I enjoyed listening to this one even though most of the deeper cut songs weren't really my favorite.
Les Rythmes Digitales
4/5
Honestly giving this 4 stars for Music Make You Lose Control and Disco II Disco alone. Fun, weird album
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2/5
Don't have a strong take on this one. I listened to this while working on something and tuned out most of the singing, but I thought the instrumentals were good. Agree that Shabby Doll was the best song on the album.
John Cale
3/5
Some good, some boring...that's a 3 for me. I thought the title track (Paris 1919) had a similar sound to an Electric Light Orchestra song, which I really liked. Graham Greene is a funky track. Last song sucked. Overall, pretty good classic rock album.
Radiohead
3/5
I really did not like this on first listen, but saw some of the other positive reviews and decided to give this another run at a different time when I could focus on it more.
On second listen, I think I got it more, but still didn't like the songs where Thom is mumbling the same lyrics over and over (Sit Down Stand Up and The Gloaming come to mind) or were just straight electronic-sounding (Myoxmatosis is another example). The shit just sounds so jumbled and creates a few down points on the album.
I much preferred the songs that had that a good blend of electro with rock like There, There or 2+2=5 or Scatterbrain. Sail to the Moon and We Suck Young Blood are really haunting tracks that sounded a lot better after a relisten.
All in all, some of this album worked for me and some didn't. Strong 3, but couldn't get it quite to a 4 for me. I'm glad I relistened to it though and might come back to it once I get more Radiohead albums under my belt.
Buck Owens
3/5
Half the songs gave the vibe like it was something you'd hear in a Coen Brothers movie (like O'Brother Where Art Thou) and the other half was sad country songs. I dug some of the upbeat songs enough to give it a 3.
Also, David Bowie definitely stole this guy's "Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am" bit for one of his songs. I hope ol' Buck got some royalties for that...
Sugar
3/5
I thought I listened to this band before when I saw the name come up, but I was really thinking of Pepper. Not too far off on the name/genre I guess. However I definitely prefer Pepper to these guys. They have decent sound and I like the track Hoover Dam, but nothing else really stood out to me. They sound very generic for 90s rock, imo.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
I almost gave this one 4 stars but I felt like the 2nd half of the album drags and doesn't have the same energy as the first half. I don't think I've ever listened to a Joni Mitchell song, much less an album, but I've definitely heard the name before. I can't describe exactly why but I get why people really enjoy Joni's music just from listening to this album. Great voice paired with really easy-listening music.
Jamiroquai
3/5
Really liked the vibe on this album. Had to look them up and their Wiki page had their genre classified as "acid jazz" which I did not know existed. Good enough to get a high 3, but I can't quite give it a 4.
Jazmine Sullivan
4/5
How about the Anderson .Paak feature?! That guy is so damn good and was a pleasant surprise to show up here. Price Tags was a banger and easily my favorite song here. Pick Up Your Feelings and Put It Down were really strong tracks too. Gotta say, this was a pleasant surprise. Obviously, Jazmine really shines through the album as a great artist with her vocals and songwriting.
On top of some quality music that balances R&B and Hip-Hop very well, I appreciate the structure of this album where you had a woman telling a story followed by a song hitting on that theme. The structure reminded me somewhat of what Kendrick did with Section 80, which is one of my favorite rap albums ever. I really enjoy albums that try to tell a story and integrate music with skits or other ways that connect the songs together (in this case it was tales), and I thought it was a really well-produced album in that regard.
Lastly, Heaux Tales is an A+ name. Strong 4 from me.
The Smiths
3/5
Very down the middle music.
The Chemical Brothers
3/5
This was a pretty wild ride. I liked a lot of the beats and it was great background music while I worked, but the songs themselves were also pretty long and dragged out the whole album.
Setting Sun sounds like a cracked out version of Tomorrow Never Knows by the Beatles. Not a dig, just an observation. I really liked the songs with the groovy bass like Blockin Rockin Beats and K-Hole. Solid 3.
Morrissey
3/5
Being new to this, I am not Morrissey-fatigued like the rest of you, but after the first 3 songs feature weirdness about America and Jesus, I get where you all are coming from.
After a not-great start, I think this does improve especially with the production and instrumentals. Morrissey's singing style can really ruin some songs, but does work elsewhere. I actually thought First of the Gang to Die was not bad, but that might've been because it was the most "pop" sounding, catchy song. Thought I wouldn't like How Can Anyone Possibly Know How I Feel based on the title, but kind of digged it.
The production value takes this from a 2 to a low 3.
The Flaming Lips
4/5
This was a really enjoyable listen. Definitely enjoy it's spacey/psychedelic vibe that keeps things fun and fresh through a long-ish runtime. The highlights for me were the opener Race for the Prize and Feeling Yourself Disintegrate.
Definitely a dense album that I'd really like to come back to. Feels like something you would appreciate the more times you listen to it. Solid 4.
Steely Dan
4/5
Steely Dan is one of my dad's favorite bands, but even though I do like a lot of music that my dad does, SD never really did it for me. This album changed my tune. I'm willing to say I probably enjoy these songs more now that I'm older.
I really enjoyed the smooth jazz instrumentals throughout the album. I felt like I was in the back of a 70s jazz club just vibing to these guys. Great background music.
I'm not sure I can quite give it 5 stars, but maybe like 4.5? Strong 4.
Caetano Veloso
3/5
For not being able to understand much of anything, this was better than I was expecting it to be. Really enjoyed the opening track. Low 3.
Beyoncé
4/5
1st half of this album is very strong, but with over an hour runtime it does feel a bit bloated. There are a lot of good songs on here (XO, Drunk in Love, Rocket, Pretty Hurts) and obviously it's Beyonce, so the floor of this grade is high to start. Low 4 feels fair to me.
Spiritualized
3/5
Maybe I was in the wrong mindset for this one because it almost actively put me to sleep. That's not really a knock on it and maybe more of a compliment? I hope that's how it comes across. This was a good listen, but can't say I really liked it. Solidly a 3 in my book.
Bee Gees
2/5
Haven't really forayed into the Bee Gees before, tbh. But boy this album (or I guess, double album) felt like a lot. That's the thing with concept albums (my favorites that come to mind from that era are The Wall, Sgt. Pepper's) is when they work, they can be great. When they don't, they sound a lot like this. I like to relisten to albums sometimes to get a better feel for them, but I just couldn't with this one. There might have been 1 or 2 tracks that I enjoyed and the rest felt like filler.
Country Joe & The Fish
1/5
It started off sounding like a knock-off Beatles album but then got worse as they went to the instrumental stuff. The 7-minute song that featured the synth and harmonica blaring sounds at the same time was rough on the ears. I literally had to skip over Section 43 and it really didn't get better after that. This shit was bad for my mind and body...
Bauhaus
2/5
I don't think the production on this was that bad, but all the music felt all over the place and erratic-sounding. Hollow Hills was a high point and didn't really like much after that. That song's baseline sounded so similar to Nirvana's Come As You Are. Low 2.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
4/5
I'm curious if anyone out there has a strong opinion on Tom Petty. Like if anyone has him as a S-tier musical artist. Because I feel like he's generally well-liked (like A or B tier) but don't think many people consider him as one of the great artists of his generation.
Anyway, that kind of encapsulates my feelings about this album. It was enjoyable listen at a tight 30 minutes. American Girl is a classic. Breakdown was another one I've heard quite a bit over the years. Also enjoyed Anything That's Rock n Roll and Mystery Man. Solid album all the way through.
Giant Sand
1/5
Stealing this from one of the global reviews: listening to this was a chore...
Radiohead
5/5
This was easily a lot better than the previous Radiohead album. Or at least this felt more cohesive, direct, and had just plain good rock music.
The thing I liked most about this album was the balance between the upbeat, heavy-guitar rock jams and the slower ballads. Throughout I thought the guitar instrumentals were top notch, especially on the songs Just, My Iron Lung and my favorite song from this album - the last one - Street Spirit. Street Spirit is such a banger: from the opening instrumental to the haunting vocals from Thom (If you want a laugh, listen to Ali in the Jungle by The Hours and tell me that it doesn't sound eerily similar in the beginning). The back-to-back between Just/Iron Lung was kickass and up my alley. In that same vein, Planet Telex was an awesome opening song.
High and Dry was my favorite of the more subdue/slower songs. Fake Plastic Trees and (Nice Dream) grew on me after repeated listens. There was something about both songs that made me feel a mix of emotions while listening to them.
Great album and one I'll be returning to again in the future. 5 stars
The Auteurs
1/5
I didn't actively hate any of the music by the band, but I did actively HATE the vocals. I think the best example of this is on American Guitars (ironically enough) where any absence of the lead guitar playing makes the song sound dull. I kept waiting for a song to come on that would change my mind, but it just never happened.
I don't know, if I take the vocals out of the equation, this is perfectly fine alt-rock music. Still nothing really that special though. Thought about giving it a 2 for the instrumentals alone, but I'm just left wondering why this generic album was included on the list when there is so much more interesting/better alt rock out there.
Wu-Tang Clan
5/5
WU-TANG CLAN AINT NOTHIN TO FUCK WITH
That’s it, that’s the review
Sabu
3/5
I got a fever and the only prescription is more bongos lol
This was fun to listen to and bang your hands on your thighs with the beats. If I ever need any good island music in the future, I might throw this on.
Deee-Lite
3/5
I would say I mildly enjoyed this one. A lot of the beats were catchy, funky, and felt like something I would enjoy in a club on 90s night or whatever. I did feel like it was dragging until Groove Is In The Heart came on, which was the obvious standout. Also liked the opening song and Power of Love. Low 3.
Wire
4/5
I wasn't really feeling this one at first, but as the album went on and I got used to the frantic quick hitters I started to like it more and more, especially once it got to the title track Pink Flag. From there I really liked it and then listened to it a second time and thought it sounded a lot better.
Very punk and sounded like it was recorded in someone's garage, which made it sound more raw and authentic. I really dug the track Strange, which added some spooky background noises to the grungy rock riff.
I think it did enough to earn a low 4 from me.
Solange
3/5
All due respect to Solange, Beyonce's younger sister, but I wasn't really feeling this album. Cranes In The Sky was solid and the track with the Lil Wayne featured I liked, but most of the other tracks sounded too similar and slow.
I know I said in a previous review that I like albums that have skits/interludes that enhance the album or help tell a story. I think here they really bog down the album, especially since there is one between almost every song.
All in all, I think I'm giving this 2.5 stars and I'll just bump it to a 3 because this was a pretty mid R&B album.
Can
3/5
I was into the first half of this album and even the 17-minute song Halleluwah kept me hooked. Then it gets weirddddd starting with Amugn. Listening to it plus Peking O feels like you're on a bad acid trip or something. I think this is firmly a 3 for me.
The Doors
4/5
I have heard Love Her Madly and Riders On The Storm here and there in the past since they were classic singles, but the rest of this was new to me.
Really digging their sound on this record. It's bluesy but features a lot of upbeat rock music. The title track L.A. Woman was a jam. I enjoyed all of the other songs too, maybe with the exception of Cars Hiss By My Window. I would put this solidly as a 4.
Tom Waits
3/5
I don't think the music is terribly bad or anything, but Tom Waits voice just isn't for me. On a track like Downtown that's bluesy, it works for me. On others like Saving All My Love For You or Til The Money Runs Out or On The Nickel, it doesn't. Jersey Girl is another one where it sounds like he's doing a bad Bruce Springsteen impression. In Shades feels weirdly misplaced.
There were more lowlights than highlights in this one and I landed on giving it 2.5 stars. I'll bump it to a low 3 since the music itself was good.
Hawkwind
3/5
Never heard of these guys. Definitely giving off a Yes (the band) vibe based on the song length and never-ending, sonic-inducing instrumentals. I SHOULD like this more than I did on first listen. But 2 hours is a long-ass time and I had to fragmentally listen to this album. Also it being live recordings made some of the lyrics hard to understand (in the first disc at least).
There are elements here I really enjoyed and I vibed to the songs Lord of Light and Space Is Deep, while the 2nd disc was more of a mixed bag. I couldn't quite get to a 4, but solid 3 though.
Dr. Dre
5/5
“This should be played at high volume. Preferably in a residential area.”
A true classic. This was Dre at the height of his producing prowess and Snoop Dogg's coming out party. Together they put out this West Coast rap sound that would define early 90s rap. My favorite beats from this album (no order in particular): Fuck Wit Dre Day, The Day The Niggaz Took Over, Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang, Deeez Nuuts, A Nigga Wit A Gun, Lyrical Gangbang, Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat.
Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang might be arguably the most timeless Hip-Hop/Rap song of all time. It holds up so well, especially when compared to some other stuff from the 80s.
If you've never blasted Lyrical Gangbang in your car on a nice day in Surburbia, you haven't lived.
Admittedly, it does lose some steam after the Doctor's Office skit. Enough for it to move it down from a 5? Nope. Even after multiple listens across my life, there are still so many songs I come back to.
Tim Buckley
2/5
Very meh about this one. 2 stars.
Magazine
4/5
Really interesting album. Sounds like they take a lot of elements of British rock and make it work. Lot of good guitar work here and some songs feature that synth/sonic sound with the keyboard. Drums and bass were good. I couldn't quite put a finger on who exactly they sound like. Maybe like David Bowie or Genesis influence? I don't know...
Anyway, I enjoyed it all the way through. Shot By Both Sides was one of my favorites, along with My Tupla and Burst. A lot of the album is upbeat and fun to listen to, but even on the change-of-pace songs I still enjoyed it. I can see myself coming back to this album again. Pretty solid 4.
Stereolab
3/5
I started off being into this album, enjoying the beat-building rides of both Metronomic Underground and Cybele's Reverie. Then I found myself getting bored with the middle songs. And in the back third there wasn't really song that grabbed my attention other than the title track. Even on a second listen, it didn't improve much in my eyes.
Probably would score this one as a low 3. Just wasn't totally feeling it.
The Bees
4/5
*Gob Bluth voice* BEEEEEEEEEES (any Arrested Development fans out there?)
Definitely an indie vibe straight off the bat with Punchbag. Sunshine is a fun, trippy instrumental. A Minha Menina is definitely the jam of this album.
There were a few good moments in this one and the various instruments used across the album are pretty cool. I need to make a reminder to listen this one when the sun is out...or the next time I get high. I'm giving this one 3.5 stars, but willing to bump to a Low 4 for future listens.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
3/5
I stopped at track #12 since the wiki page said tracks 13-19 were bonus ones. Just for the record.
This is pretty harmless blues music that is fairly easy to listen to. The opening song had some juice to it. Also enjoyed Yellow Brick Road. Nothing earth-shattering or anything. Fine = 3 stars.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
I've been loving all the classic 90s rap we've been getting lately. Haven't really dove into Tribe too much outside of their popular albums (Low End Theory, Midnight Marauders). And the only song here I know is Can I Kick It, so I'm excited for this album.
Pretty damn solid for their debut album. Not a lot of bangers outside of Can I Kick It and Left My Wallet (I also liked Luck of Lucien quite a bit), but most of the songs here are still fairly good. The beats throughout are laid back and cool.
This doesn't reach the heights of their later works, but it was enjoyable from start to finish. Solid 4 from me.
David Bowie
3/5
This one doesn't really get going for me until Sound and Vision comes on. Great song and the highlight of the album. The next song, Always Crashing..., was cool and had a really good guitar solo finish. Be My Wife feels like a very introspective song and one that resonates really well.
Everything after that feels so unlike Bowie, which makes sense once you read about the backstory behind this album. It is quite a bit of electronic-sounding instrumentals. Not quite what I was expecting at all. I like most of Bowie's stuff, but most of this album wasn't for me. Still a solid 3 or 3.5 at the end of the day.
Burning Spear
3/5
Definitely misread the artist/album thinking Marcus Garvey was the name of the artist only then to google that he was a famous political activist in Jamaica. Oof... felt like I should've known that lol
Anyway, I usually enjoy listening to reggae. This album seems to draw on a lot of Jamaican culture and history. All in all this was a good, not great album. It felt like the songs all carried the same vibe and theme, so nothing really stood out to me. Good listen though. 3 stars.
Adam & The Ants
3/5
I actually thought this one started off pretty good and was better than what I was expecting, but it definitely became less enjoyable as I listened. I don't know, I feel like just settling for a low 3 here.
Todd Rundgren
4/5
At first I was annoyed about having to listen to 25 songs, but then I saw that Todd was from Philly, so he gets a pass.
Gotta say, this was pretty darn good. I thought my favorites tracks were in the beginning (I Saw The Light and Wolfman Jack were jams). The second part of this album (which I consider after Intro) felt inspired by the Beatles or maybe some other British rock. Carousel was a highlight there. And then the back third, starting around Song of the Viking (really fun listen) featured a lot of piano.
Not all of the 25 songs were hits, but there were a handful of really good songs and then plenty of above-average songs to keep me entertained through the whole runtime of the album. Even Slut at the end was a better-than-expected song.
I'm willing to put this solidly as a 4. It's just full of music styles that I really enjoy.
Emmylou Harris
2/5
Few songs in and I can already tell I am not into the sad country/folk stuff.
Yeah definitely not my scene. Emmylou has a good voice, so this deserves at least a 2.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
4/5
Haha, very clever with the song titles in the first half of this. Wasn't sure what to expect, but I would say this exceeded expectations. Landing on a 3.5 stars and willing to bump up to a 4.
PJ Harvey
3/5
So much glazing about England (Is it me or does whoever made this 1001 albums list have a weird bias towards English artists?).
But seriously, this wasn't half bad. The vocals varied from song to song. They were enjoyable on The Glorious Land and Words That Maketh Murder, but were irritating on England and some others. Feel like this one was a low-to-mid 3.
Bobby Womack
3/5
Enjoyable, short-and-sweet album that kept me hooked the whole way. Firmly a 3, but didn't quite have enough to bring it up to a 4.
50 Cent
4/5
I feel like 50 Cent owned the early 2000s rap scene, especially on the radio. Heard so much In Da Club and Candy Shop growing up (could've sworn Candy Shop was on this, but it's on his following album). I've listened to about half of the songs on this album, but never did a start-to-finish listen before.
What Up Gangsta is a great opener, while Patiently Waiting (even with the Eminem feature is just ok. The back-to-back of Many Men and In Da Club is unmatched. Baller songs. Some other favorites were If I Can't, P.I.M.P, and 21 Questions.
For as much commercial success as 50 Cent has had, I've never thought of him as a top rapper or amongst the best of all time. He has some strong hits in his bag, especially on this album, but the other filler songs on this album feel like very generic rap. Overall, I would put this firmly as a 4 though.
Cornershop
3/5
One of those albums that was definitely all over the place. Some hits, some misses.
Good Shit and Candyman were favorites of mine later towards the album (I want to say Candyman was in a sports commercial...that beat sounds so familiar). Any song that featured the sintar was kind of fun.
I think overall there's not enough here to warrant giving it a 4, but I think it lands at a solid 3.
Frank Black
3/5
I got bad vibes from the album cover, so hopefully the music is decent.
I would say this is similar to the last album we had. Not in style of music obviously, but just my general feeling of the songs. Some were good, some were meh. I thought the music itself was decent throughout but sometimes the vocals made the songs worse. However, there wasn't many songs that I particularly loved, so I would say this was a low 3.
k.d. lang
3/5
I was a bit worried this was going to be chock full of slow jams based on Save Me, but luckily it got better from there.
Miss Chatelaine was a fun, upbeat song that I wasn't expecting after the mood from the first song. So It Shall Be was another one I liked. The rest of the songs were kind of forgettable, but I appreciate that it wasn't full of slow country and that there was some variety from song to song.
I would put this solidly as a 3.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
I agree with the consensus about the variety of music in this album. And since it was his debut album, maybe it was more about finding what works. The first 3 songs - headlined by Solsbury Hill (a classic I've heard a bunch over my life) - were really solid. I don't know if I really liked another song until Down the Dolce Vita and that one was so different from everything else on the album.
I like Peter Gabriel, so I'm struggling between giving this a low 4 or high 3. If half stars were a thing, it would just be a straight 3.5, but I'm willing to push this to low 4 territory.
The Magnetic Fields
3/5
Oh this is literally 69 songs...not nice. I guess what I'll try to do is just type out which songs I like per disc and just grade it from there...here goes:
Disc 1: All My Little Words, I Don't Want to Get Over You, I Think I Need A New Heart (heard this one before and it's in The Bear season 2 finale for anyone curious)
Disc 2: When My Boy..., No One Will Ever Love You, Epitaph For A Heart
Disc 3: Underwear, Bitter Tears
Out of the 69 songs, I only really liked 8. The rest were pretty good though, but I did hit skip on at least 3 or 4 (like I Shatter) that were bad. I don't know what to do with this one other then give it a straight 3.
Bruce Springsteen
2/5
Ok, so this is a tough one for me. I am a Bruce fan but have not kept up with him religiously. I think listened to one post-2000 Bruce album and it was pretty average. That's where this one falls for me.
Add in the context that this was written as a post-9/11 tribute and I feel like this was definitely a cash grab. Some of these songs were written in 90s and just re-recorded for this album. My City Of Ruins was originally written about Asbury Park and repurposing it here feels inauthentic. Countin' On A Miracle sounds like a song they'd play one of those celebrity telethons (when those were a thing).
Average + inauthentic cash grab makes this a lower than expected score I thought I'd ever give on a Bruce album. 2 stars.
Barry Adamson
3/5
I frankly do not know what to do with this one. There was some stuff here I liked (everything before Business As Usual mostly), but other parts dissolved into sounds that will become the soundtrack of my nightmares. The last few songs on here were pretty good too. I'm just giving this 3 stars and probably won't come back to it.
Elton John
4/5
Looking at the tracklist, I think I've only heard of Tiny Dancer - one of my favorites from Elton - and Levon. Interested to see if I can find some other songs I like here.
I think I've heard Indian Sunset in some movie or something else...but I can't place it. Those 3 songs carried the weight of the album, imo.
This may not be one of Elton's best albums overall, but I'd still grade it as a Low 4.
Public Enemy
5/5
I've never delved into this Public Enemy album, which feels like a miss by me.
The opening instrumental and then lead-in to Brothers Gonna Work It Out...fire. 911 Is A Joke...fire. Welcome To The Thunderdome...fire.
However, after a while all the beats feel like they run together and sound the same. Don't get me wrong I like this style a lot and you do get a huge payoff with Fight The Power as a closer, but you do get the same style of song and message over and over. Honestly it's more of a minor critique from my point of view and since I'm more of a 90s rap guy it doesn't bother me but I could see it being repetitive for other folks. Some of the skits and interludes helped break up the album pretty well.
This is a 5 for me. Maybe on the lower end of a 5 and behind some other great rap albums that are a better listen, but Public Enemy's cultural impact with this album can't be ignored here. And there are some straight heaters here too.
Moby Grape
3/5
Non-offensive 60s rock. Can't say I loved it or anything like that, but it was pleasant background music. 3 stars.
The Byrds
3/5
Wow I could almost copy and paste my review from the Moby Grape album.
I actually liked this album slightly better, but overall it still lands as a solid 3 for me.
Dagmar Krause
1/5
Pretty bad listening experience from having to track this down on Youtube (with ads!) and then trying to figure out what was going on in general. I think I made it halfway through before I called it quits. Sorry, but this is a 1.
Kings of Leon
3/5
Pre-"Sex On Fire" album from a band I've never been into. Feels like some other albums we've had where the instrumentals are pretty good, but the vocals drag down so many of the songs. 2.5 stars (lean closer to a 3).
The Mars Volta
4/5
Pretty impressed with this one off the rip. Ineratic ESP shreds. Also, pretty wild that Rick Rubin is listed as a co-producer and that Flea is on bass for this album. Random as hell star power pulls.
Ok, so I definitely had to give this a few listens because I felt like it was a lot to absorb after the first one. I'm into this style of prog rock, but I still felt like I couldn't pinpoint who these guys reminded me of. I also couldn't have guessed that this album was a story about "a man who enters a week-long coma after overdosing on a mixture of morphine and rat poison." Just a wild concept, but I'm here for it.
There weren't too many down moments for me on this record. Even the weirdness of This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed grew on me. Gotta say, this was a surprisingly great listen and I'll probably go back to this one again. For now, I'll give it a high 4, but it could hit a 5 for me on another day.
Justice
4/5
The opener Genesis was definitely used in some luxury car commercial...Mercedes I want to say? Whatever the case, it's a banger for sure. DANCE is a good track but I wasn't feeling super thrilled with this album until I got to The Party (was Ke$ha featured here or something?). From there it ends really strong. DVNO was a late standout. I think it helped that I was doing some work and it helped me get in the zone to actually get my shit done.
I was thinking this would be a 3 after the first half, but the 2nd half of the album helped raise this to a low 4.
Laura Nyro
3/5
Someone needs to play Eli's Coming for Drew & Katie immediately lol
Enjoyable, easy listen. Solid 3.
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
Not my jam, though there were a few songs that were ok (One More Chance, Heart). There are some songs here that stink out loud though like Shopping, Rent, and It Couldn't Happen Here.
I didn't fully hate it enough to give it a 1, but can't in good faith give this anything higher than a low 2.
Orbital
4/5
I got lost in the sauce with this a couple of times. Crash And Carry felt like I was under a trance. Philosophy By Numbers was trippy as hell, but I enjoyed the weirdness.
Quality Seconds is a WILD detour. It shreds, but double check your volume before that one comes on.
The 2 songs after get the album back on the psychedelic vibe, but it did drag for me towards the end.
I'm landing at 3.5 stars for this one. I was at a 4 before the end, so I'll just bump it to that.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
You really can't go wrong with the Stones. Gimmie Shelter has got to be up there with my favorite Stones songs and is a great opener for this album. Country Honk, I guess, is a different version of the more popular Honky Tonk Women (I like the latter more). It seems like they were going for a more bluesy or country sound in this record. You definitely feel that in the meat of the album.
Monkey Man was a song that was a late album standout and obviously Can't Always Get What You Want is a classic (overplayed in the mainstream, but still solid).
I would grade this as a solid 4. Doesn't quite reach levels of a 5 after Gimmie Shelter.
Judas Priest
4/5
Tricky review for me because I mostly have listened to bands like Metallica or Black Sabbath who moreso followed the lead of Judas Priest. They're stuff is good and probably kicked ass at the time, but it doesn't quite compare to a Metallica, who took this genre to another stratosphere.
That said, there were some really good songs here like Breaking The Law, Living After Midnight, and Steeler. But then you listen to a song like United and it just feels dull and dated.
Out of respect, this gets a 4 though.
Isaac Hayes
4/5
Had a review typed out but forgot to submit...
From my memory, I thought it was odd having a movie soundtrack included as an "album" but can you really go wrong with the combo of Chef and Shaft? Hell no.
Really fun, funky, and soulful collection here. I found myself enjoying the instrumental stuff quite a bit. There's just something about the classic sound of the funky guitar in this theme song that puts a smile on my face. Solid 4.
Ghostface Killah
4/5
Really strong album from Ghostface Killah, but ultimately it is too bloated. The music starts to lose steam after Jellyfish and there are probably too many skits. That said, there were a lot of high points.
Loved the beats on: Shakey Dog, The Champ, 9 Milli Bros, R.A.G.U., Be Easy. I could come back to those songs any day.
I think it's a low 4 though I came close to knocking it down to a 3.
Billy Bragg
3/5
Wilco being apart of this album was a pleasant surprise. Definitely enjoyed their vibe on California Stars and Hoodoo Voodoo. Some of the songs later in the album were not my favorite, but overall I found this enjoyable to listen to. Solid-to-high 3.
Gram Parsons
3/5
Was not feeling the first half of this album (not a big country guy), but I felt like the Side 2 songs were all really good, particularly Love Hurts and Ooh Las Vegas. Brought it up to the low 3 territory.
Love
3/5
Didn't get a great feel for this on my first listen but my initial reaction was that it sounded like a poor man's Beatles group. Second listen also felt pretty meh though I enjoyed it more.
Landed on 2.5 stars, but willing to go a low 3.
Harry Nilsson
4/5
Fun album. Gotta Get Up is a cool, upbeat opening song (Asher Roth had a good modern cover of this song). The three song stretch of Coconut, Let The Good Times Roll, and Jump Into The Fire was also quite enjoyable.
I'd put this on the lower end of a 4, but a 4 nonetheless.
The National
3/5
I struggled getting into this album. It has all the "bones" of music I like, but something just didn't click for me.
Terrible Love was a strong opener and I like other songs here and there (Sorrow, Afraid Of Everyone), but there were also some songs that just sounded bad (Lemonworld, England, Vanderlye).
I probably land at just a 3 here.
Nina Simone
3/5
This is some quality music. Not really my cup of tea, but I can respect the artist here along with the production. It's hard to describe but you can really feel the emotional weight in these songs.
Jay-Z sampled Four Women on one of his newer albums (Story of O.J.). Knew that sounded familiar.
I would put this as a solid 3. Borders near a 4.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Really enjoyed the vibes on this album. It was folksy but in a way that felt very serene. I thought the singing and production were top notch. Her voice is pretty unique, especially on a track like A Case Of You, and I think it works across this album.
I think I prefer this album to the last Joni album we had. That one was a 3, so I'll give this one a 4.
CHIC
4/5
I played this album while cutting the grass for the first time this year and it made it a whole lot more enjoyable. The funk was lively in this album.
Le Freak is one of those songs you've heard at a wedding or ballgame or cover on another song, but never knew the original. Pleasant surprise. I was also really into Happy Man and I Want Your Love as well.
The album takes a dive once the funk goes away on At Last I Am Free. It just doesn't match the vibe of the rest of the songs and goes on way too long. Like if they put this at the end and cut the runtime in half, it would be less egregious.
All in all, this is still a solid 4 that could've been in the 5 territory without that one song.
William Orbit
2/5
I found this one pretty boring. And I think if I were high while listening to this, it would put me to sleep.
John Lennon
3/5
I always wondered if the song Imagine would carry the same impact if Lennon had not been killed. Like his death amplified the song to classic status from being just very good (and a little cheesy).
How Do You Sleep is a late standout and one that I've never really heard before. I didn't think Lennon would be capable of writing a diss track at Paul McCartney but this was pretty fire.
The rest of the album was just ok. I don't think it helped bump it to a 4, but I feel pretty sure this was a high 3.
Jerry Lee Lewis
3/5
I am a sucker for Great Balls Of Fire. Just a fun, catchy jam. Sounded like a wild live performance overall and I hope those people got their money's worth for just 22 minutes of music!
Feels like I can't go with anything else but a 3 here though.
AC/DC
4/5
The opening to Hells Bells is iconic. It's such a killer opener followed by Shoot To Thrill. There are some other songs on here that are classics like Back In Black and Shook Me All Night Long (I don't really like this song personally, but you do hear it everywhere).
Even with all these songs packed in this short album (40 minutes), there's just something about AC/DC that just felt generic to me. They are obviously good and have plenty of classic songs, but I don't put them in the upper echelon of other rock bands (your Zeppelins, your Floyds, your Metallicas, etc.). You do know what you're getting with AC/DC and they are very good at that one thing, but it would be nice if there was a little more variety between the songs which all kind of blend together.
I would score this as a high 4. I definitely came close to a 5 here, but like I said, I don't think comes near some of the other classic rock albums I would consider a 5.
Erykah Badu
3/5
Was digging the first half of this album and enjoyed songs like the opener, Didn't Cha Know, and &On. Really enjoyed the upbeat pace and groovy instrumentals. Badu's vocals also standout really well.
It started losing me in the second half right around Orange Moon. Just felt slow and dragged out.
Felt as though I landed in a "liked it, not loved it" territory, so I'm going with a 3 here.
Queen Latifah
3/5
This album starts out with more fire than I expected. Liked the beat on Latifah's Law (the horns on the end sound like an instrumental from a Jay-Z song). The Pros had an awesome reggae beat, but the rapping over it went to shit kind of quick. Disappointed with that one. Ladies First and A King/Queen Creation were the high point of the album.
Although I found myself digging most of this album, I couldn't quite get to a 4. High 3.
The Beta Band
3/5
Funnily enough I think I liked just 5 of the 10 songs. Was either vibing to spacey jams like Squares and the 3-song run from Broke to Alleged, or getting bored with it like on Gone or Dragon.
Landing around a high 3 with this grade.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
3/5
Feels like we get a new jazz album just about every month. At some point most of these jazz albums sound kind of similar and I end up just giving it a middle-of-the-road grade. This album makes for good instrumental background music, but that's about it. I promise I did enjoy it! 3 stars.
Calexico
4/5
Gave this 2 listens and came away feeling really good about the album both times. I thought the first 2 tracks were really solid. It takes a drastic and dark turn at Black Heart, but in a great way that adds depth. I just love the way this album weaves between different styles of Western music, from your classic American influences to more Latin American stuff later that I found really cool. Attack El Robot was the highlight track of the album for me with its mix of instrumentals. Dub Latina or Quattro were up there too.
Really unique album. I have not heard of these guys before so this was a really cool discovery. The last 3 songs of the album end it on a boring note, imo. I think it keeps it from reaching 5 status. Maybe I'll get there on more listens, but for now I'm giving it a High 4.
Goldie
1/5
Knew going in the runtime would be long, but I ended up stopping at what felt like an hour. I paused it in the middle of Sea Of Tears, saw how many songs were left, and decided I had enough of this repetitive shit. Not my cup of tea. 1 star.
Michael Jackson
4/5
Not the peak of Michael's prowess as the King of Pop, but this album definitely has some bangers. I think the top songs for me were Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel, Man In The Mirror, Dirty Diana, and Smooth Criminal. Other than Liberian Girl, which was a dreadful song to listen to, I thought everything else was alright. I think this solidly lands as a 4.
Sufjan Stevens
5/5
Some of these song titles are the wildest I've ever seen. On first listen, I really liked Feel The Illinois, Jacksonville, Chicago, Casimir Pulaski Day, Predatory Wasp, and Tallest Man.
This version of Chicago sounds different from the one I've listened to in the past but I'm into the added strings and chorus towards the end. Still probably my favorite song on the album.
I read in the global reviews that this felt like listening to a Wes Anderson movie and I've never read a truer statement.
This was an album that took a few listens to fully digest but I enjoyed the music quite a bit. There are deep-rooted themes, intricate song structures, and a variety of different styles of music here. Even with juggling all of that, the result is a beautifully produced album. I feel like this deserves a 5. I plan on coming back to this one for sure despite it being pretty lengthy.
Can
3/5
Needed another listen after playing this in my car, not realizing there was only 4 songs, and feeling strange after it ended after 40 minutes. Also really struggled to get into the music.
On second listen, it was slightly better though I kept feeling like Bel Air was over before dragging on for a few minutes more. I would say this music is not far from stuff I really like, but other than Moonshake and bits from the other songs it was tough to get into the album fully. I feel like it's a right-down-the-middle 3 for me.
Yes
5/5
I know this one! My dad is a big fan of Yes and had most of their catalog on CD. Definitely remember this one though it's been a while since I've done a full listen.
Some of my favorite Yes songs are in here like Roundabout, Long Distance Runaround, and Heart Of The Sunrise. Forgot how much The Fish jams.
The other songs are fine, though admittedly not super special or memorable. This is going to be a 5 for me, but on the lower end of the 5 spectrum.
Blur
3/5
I guess we were due for another Britpop album...
A few hits here (Girls & Boys, Magic America), a few misses (Bank Holiday, Far Out, Trouble In The Message Center), and a collection of other middling songs.
Landing at 2.5 stars, but will round up to a low 3.
Portishead
2/5
This was a disorienting, anxiety-inducing listen. Songs seem to cut off abruptly, instrumentals feel all over the place, and the singing is pretty creepy. Feels like this skewed more towards the experimental side of things.
I don't know, I just couldn't get into this one. I won't give it a 1, but feels more like a 2.
Janelle Monáe
4/5
Wow, this was a highly enjoyable listen. On top of having some strong tracks that have good vibes (Tightrope, Cold War, Dance Or Die to name a view), there are also some interesting slower jams that work really well and add depth to the album (Neon Valley Street, Mushrooms & Roses). Just a great mix of songs here. Super well-produced.
I think this is a pretty solid 4 for me and might creep towards a 5 on repeated listens.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
I know this was Springsteen's most commercially successful album, but I'm not sure it's my personal favorite. Born In The USA is an all-time classic and criminally misunderstood song. It ironically sets the tone for the other Side 1 tracks which hit on a lot of sad themes you wouldn't expect after Bruce comes out hot in the opener. Other than Darlington County, I didn't really get pulled by any other song.
The Side 2 tracks are where this album is truly great. Glory Days, Dancing In The Dark, and My Hometown are my favorites but frankly all the songs are great in their own right. You definitely get away from some of the sadder themes on the Side 1 part and get more from the rest of the band here.
This one lands somewhere between a 4 and a 5 for me. I'll skew towards the latter since there are some downright classic songs in this album that are among the best the Boss ever put out (Born In The USA, Glory Days).
The Go-Betweens
3/5
Decent, palatable music. Can't say I'll remember anything about this a month from now, but at least it wasn't bad. 2.5 stars...round up to a low 3.
Joy Division
3/5
Didn't find myself enjoying the music here. The singer's voice was downright bad on some songs (Heart and Soul for example). The instrumentals varied between good and weird. The opening song was one of the weird points of the album, but Heart and Soul and Twenty Four Hours had cool-sounding stuff. The singing just is so dull that I couldn't get past it on most of the songs.
My favorite tracks were Passover and 24 Hours. Gonna give this one a low 3, mostly because it's a Friday and I'm feeling generous.
Michael Jackson
5/5
Coming into this review, it's going to be hard not to give this a 5 because this was truly a generational pop album. It still is (and probably will remain) the best-selling album of all time. I didn't realize that 7 of the 9 songs became singles, but that feels insane! The 3-song stretch of Thriller, Beat It, and Billie Jean might be the greatest of all time. They'd be #1 singles on just about any other pop album in their own right. Feels like having the LeBron Miami Heat on the song roster.
All the upbeat songs here are truly great and fun to groove to. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean, and PYT all are hits.
For me, the mixing of the slower R&B songs make me question if this is really a 5 in my book. I liked Baby Be Mine, but didn't like The Girl is Mine very much (also, redundant much?). Also didn't care for Human Nature sandwiched between the good stuff. Just a snoozer of a song and one I'd easily skip on re-listens. The Lady In My Life was a good song to end the album on.
This lands pretty squarely at like 4.5 stars for me, but I will bump it up to 5 status for all the positives I laid out above. This album wouldn't be in my personal top-10 albums of all time, but I understand why it is for most people (even though MJ was a pedo at the end of the day).
N.E.R.D
2/5
You'd think with some of the big names working on this (i.e. Pharrell, the Good Charlotte guys, Lenny Kravitz) that the result would be a whole lot better. It gives "background music you'd hear on a shitty MTV show" vibes.
She Wants To Move was a pretty solid song and one I've heard somewhere before. I think that saves it from 1 status to get into the 2's.
Joy Division
3/5
I didn't really like the last Joy Division album we had, but at least this one is off to a better start.
Ok now that I'm done I can say I left feeling the same as the last album. Some decent songs here (Disorder, Shadowplay) and some that aren't great (Candidate, She's Lost Control, I Remember Nothing). Probably won't return to either album if I'm being honest.
Low 3
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
I was really into the instrumentals of the opener Only Shallow, but my only gripe was that the vocals were so distorted that it was hard to understand anything. Well, it turns out that it actually gets worse as the albums goes on. Same deal on When You Sleep: catchy riff but can't understand a damn thing. Then you have other songs where the production makes the whole song sound so muffled. I thought maybe my headphones were not working right or my volume was low.
This would be a 3 or better because I tend to enjoy psychedelic/indie rock like this, but this falls down to a 2 for me. Really tough listen.
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
With the constant horns, I kind of felt like I was listening to a British version of Chicago. Not as good as Chicago, but pretty alright overall. There were some good songs in here like Tell Me When My Light Turns Green and Geno. There There My Dear was a strong closing song.
There were a couple of lowlights on this album. The beginning of I'm Just Looking gave me the ick, as the kids would say. The vocals in Keep It are also particularly annoying.
Maybe if this album had this band's most famous hit, Come On Eileen, we'd be pushing towards a low 4, but I think this just lands squarely as a 3.
Carpenters
3/5
This was a pleasant surprise of an album. We've Only Just Begun was just a lovely song. I really liked their cover of the Beatles' "Help". Thought that was a standout along with Close To You, which was featured in the Simpsons after googling where I've heard that song from before.
I would put this solidly as a 3. I liked most of the songs here, but none of them really put this at the next tier.
Lorde
4/5
I only really remember Lorde from her big hit Royals, so I was not familiar with this album heading into it. The opening song Green Light (I recognize this one and did not realize this was Lorde before) is epic, starting slow with the piano before building into a poppy house rave. I'm surprised Love Is Blind didn't pay out the ass for this song. It's a banger.
The beat on Homemade Dynamite feels like something you'd hear with Nelly Furtado or a similar artist. Another really strong song here.
Love the deep emotion on Liability. It's a short, simple, but powerful song.
Supercut gives Taylor Swift vibes...*checks the producer credit*....ah, that makes sense.
Wow, this was a lot better than I was expecting. Really solid structure and production. There's probably more depth to discover with some of the lyrics on songs like Sober and Liability. The hit pop songs are really strong. Based on 2 listens, I think this is safely in the 4 territory and a High 4 at that. There were a couple spots in this album that didn't work for me, but overall this was really good.
3/5
There were definitely some good songs here: Uncontrollable Urge, their cover of Satisfaction, Gut Feeling. Overall it was a zany and weird album, but fun for sure. Don't think it reaches 4 status, but it's a solid 3 for me.
Coldcut
3/5
I admittedly am a sucker for mash-up stuff (i.e. Super Mash Bros, Girl Talk...yeah not my best quality). That's the sense I get from this group, especially on the Party & Bullshit song (shoutout Biggie). Stop This Crazy Thing is a fun, wild song.
This whole album is pretty cheesy House/electro music with some decent mash-ups. I think it gets the lowest of 3s.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
I am here for more Neil Young. This album is as good if not better than the last one we listened to that I really enjoyed. Loved Cinnamon Girl as the opener. Down By The River is a really enjoyable listen for 9 minutes. Love the chorus/lyrics and really love all the guitar riffing. Cowgirl In The Sand is right on par with this song too. The rest of the songs are just alright.
Like the last album, I don't think there's enough to get this towards a 5, but would still grade is as a solid 4.
Haircut 100
4/5
Did not come into this album with high expectations based on a potential hour's worth of Britpop, but dare I say this was good.
The first 4 songs of this album were the strong points with Favourite Shirts being my favorite. Kind of like the start of Marine Boy stealing from The Who's Pinball Wizard. Kingsize is downright funky.
I enjoyed this album pretty thoroughly. A lot of the instrumentals were funky and fun. The singing was not super overt as we've seen on other Britpop stuff. This lands at a 3.5 stars for me and I'm willing enough to move this to Low 4 territory.
Jack White
4/5
Never listened to Jack White solo before, just his stuff with the White Stripes. Early on, I'm very into this sound especially on Sixteen Saltines. Blunderbuss is just a really cool song.
I thought the 2nd half of the album had some more unique sounding songs, but I was into it all the way through. Probably not enough to give it a 5, but a very strong 4 here. I need to come back for repeated listens.
Gil Scott-Heron
3/5
Right off the bat I noticed that Kendrick sampled Peace As You Go Brother in Section 80. Love the dreamy instrumentals in that one.
Back Home and The Bottle were other songs I enjoyed here. Pretty good jazz and background music while working. Giving this one a solid 3.
Dr. Octagon
2/5
Some songs here that are just whack like 3000 and Earth People. The beats aren't the issue here, but the flow and lyricism are just lame. Wastes otherwise strong production. Kept waiting for a song to come up that changed my mind about this record, but nothing ever came. Mid 2.
Coldplay
5/5
I never understand the hate on Coldplay until their newer stuff came out that just didn't compare with their earlier work like this album. The Scientist and Clocks are the songs I know best and really like both. I remember so many promos were cut using Clocks. It's such an epic and beautiful song that can leave you with goosebumps.
Others I enjoyed on this album were Politik, God Put A Smile On My Face (did not sound like a traditional Coldplay song, which was refreshing), Daylight, Amsterdam (I was just there!).
Honestly there aren't any low points here. And I feel like with repeated listens this could grow on me more and more. I'd score this as a low 5. The album has 2 strong singles (Scientist & Clocks), a lot of other good songs, and has an uplifting feel/theme to it. It's probably their best album and I think it is deserving of a strong score.
Sleater-Kinney
3/5
This definitely jams for punk. The singing gets a little grating on the ears, but it's not the worst I've heard when it comes to punk on here.
This gives middle-ish 3 vibes. I don't really see myself coming back to listen though.
Iggy Pop
2/5
Weird album that I don't know really worked for me, even after knowing that David Bowie had a role in making this. Landed at 2.5 stars and I usually I round up, but in this case I think this skews closer to a 2.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
I thought this was just ok. Spellbound was a great opener and I loved the guitars in that song, but everything after failed to catch my attention that much. Mid 3.
Talk Talk
3/5
I was into the first half of this album, specifically the song Life's What You Make It. The 2nd half faded to the background for me and was less interesting.
All in all, this lands as a mid-3.
The Police
3/5
First half of this album is pretty meh so far.
What do you get when you combine creep carnival music and someone with mommy issues? The song Mother. That song is trippy. I wouldn't say I hated that song, but it is certainly disturbing.
It took until the second Synchronicity song for this album to turn itself around. That plus the familiar Every Breath You Take bring some juice to the album.
The rest of the 2nd half feels closer to the music I'm used to from The Police. I thought this would be a 4 coming into the album, but I'm knocking it down to a High 3 range because of the subpar 1st half of the album.
Miles Davis
3/5
I really liked the last Miles Davis album we had, which felt like more classical jazz. This one is definitely more experimental or "free form" (if that's the correct term, idk. I'm just picturing the free form jazz bit from Spongebob rn). Also, the length of the songs and album as a whole made this difficult to listen through in one sitting.
I'm not sure this is the sort of jazz I would gravitate towards, but that doesn't mean it's not good. Just not my taste. I'm not sure what to give this, but low 3 feels right to me.
Deep Purple
4/5
I've heard some Deep Purple songs before but never anything off this album and certainly not enough to make an informed opinion on them. Have they always sounded this similar to Led Zeppelin? That's the vibe I got through the first 3 songs of the album at least. Love the back-to-back long songs Child In Time and Flight Of The Rat (the riff towards the end of this song sounds so similar to a Green Day song off American Idiot). The drum solo at the end of Flight kicks so much ass.
This album jams hard and was a fun listen. Pretty solid 4 that could creep towards high 4/low 5 territory on repeated listens.
Marianne Faithfull
3/5
Came in with no expectations because I've never heard of this artist, but felt like this was a good album. Brain Drain and The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan were among my favorites, but the cover of Working Class Hero was easily my favorite song. Love the bass. The guitars and organs come together well in the final song Why d'Ya Do It?, though the singing/lyrics were uh...odd (the "WHY D'YA LET ME SUCK YOUR COOOOOOOOCK" stands out in a bad way). This is an album you can throw in with the rest of the 3's.
Massive Attack
2/5
This one failed to grab my attention. Wasn't into many of the songs. The one song Heat Miser with the piano and deep breathing sounds was plain weird. Just wasn't my taste in music. 2 stars.
Queen
4/5
YAS QUEEN! The start of this album is killer (pun intended). Brighton Rock would probably not sound like a usual Queen song without Freddy's singing, but I love the riffing on the guitars in this song and the frenetic pace.
Killer Queen might be a top-5 Queen song for me. It has everything I think of when I think of Queen: quirky lyrics, opera-style background singing, catchy chorus, great production/instrumentals. You can tell Freddy Mercury had fun recording it.
I'm not super familiar with the rest of the songs, but enjoyed Flick Of The Wrist, Now I'm Here, Stone Cold Crazy, and In The Laps Of The Gods (Revisited version).
I love the mix of hard rock songs with the more opera-style rock they eventually evolved into. This gets a pretty high 4 for me, but don't think I can sneak it into 5-status.
Soundgarden
4/5
There are some straight classics here like Fell On Black Days, Black Hole Sun, and Spoonman. They really hold up a really strong 1st half of the album. The 2nd half (last 7 tracks specifically) gets away from the hard rock and more into the sludge/grunge rock. Not everything worked for me and it made the album really drag out. 4th of July was one song in particular that I was into, but not much else.
I might be a basic bitch for just liking the hard rock radio hits, but I think if they cut 5 or so songs from this album and made things tighter I might've been into the 2nd half stuff more.
I would say this is still a 4, but maybe on the lower end then it should've been. I'll still come back and listen to this one for sure.
The Slits
1/5
There's titties on the cover so at this album has something going for it. I just don't understand what kind of sound this group was going for here. It's like they mismashed elements of punk, ska, reggae, and rock. The first half was pretty dreadful. The music sounds so bad in Spend, Spend, Spend. And then the shrieking in Shoplifting made me almost want to turn off the album.
The 2nd half was slightly better musically, but my god the singing just sounded so bad. Typical Girls is a good example of this. I stuck around for Heard It Through The Grapevine and it almost swayed me to bump this to a 2. But alas, I just can't do it. High 1.
Gene Clark
3/5
Off the jump, I'd say this guy sounds like he's trying to do his best Bob Dylan impression.
The title track White Light is an enjoyable listen even with the harmonica mixed in, but the Dylan schtick is getting old.
The rest of this fell into the background as I was working, but musically it was fine. Nothing to write home about. Lands right at 2.5 for me, but will bump to a low 3 since it was palatable.
Sepultura
2/5
Look you gotta appreciate the diversity of this list when a Brazilian Metal band is included. No question about it, these guys make good head-banger music. I was jamming to the early parts for sure. However, it is extremely hard to get past the constant screamo shit. And with over an hour runtime, it gets old fast.
Putting this one as a 2 and would've went higher if the album wasn't so damn long. Now if you excuse me, I need to go find some shit to break...
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
You all seem to have a hard-on for this Nick Cave guy (or maybe just mention him a lot in other reviews). I personally have never heard of him before joining this group, so I'm intrigued to see what the fuss is all about.
Papa Won't Leave You Henry gives this a theatrical start, which earns points with me. Good start.
Brother My Cup Is Empty was another song I liked, however, it had the same beats and cadence as the first song. Maybe this was a creative decision to structure the story of the album? It's just weird to have 2 similar sounding songs.
I gave this a few runs. Overall I think it's a solidly produced album and gives the vibe of a dark/harrowing old Western story. However, it was difficult to discern what the actual story was. Just felt like a collection of different events that happened during his "dream".
This lands at somewhere around a 3.5 for me. If there were a song or two more that I gravitated towards, I could see myself coming back for more listens. I don't think that's the case with this one, so I'm leaning towards giving this a High 3.
Stephen Stills
3/5
Love The One Your With is a just a classic jam. The production on it is absolutely fantastic. The rest of the album does not come close to meeting the level of quality from the opening song.
There are a couple standout songs I enjoyed such as Old Times Good Times (enjoyed all the instrumentals and upbeat pacing) and Black Queen (love the crusty singing and the guitar work). That said, I think this just lands squarely in the 3 territory. Mid-to-high 3.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
4/5
Not related to the review of this album, but what is up with these English prog rock bands that just have names that sound like a law firm? There was a Yes related band with a similar law firm style name too. Anyway, time to settle in for a prog rock adaptation of a Russian composer's "piano suite". Ok then...
The Promenade pieces do sound familiar but I can't really say where I've heard it before. I like the piano and organ work here.
I enjoyed the slow play of The Sage before things open up with the heavy organ work in Blues Variation. Loved all the instrumentation here.
Maybe the live component made this sound wild, but I'm not sure I liked the Curse piece of this album. Same with Great Gates of Kiev, or at least a couple of portions in the song. The Nutrocker was kind of fun, but I have no idea why it's included in this album.
Kind of agree with the others that while I enjoyed this, I probably won't come back soon. Still, I'd give this a low 4.
Mercury Rev
4/5
I definitely enjoyed the way this one started with Holes. Endlessly continues this dreamy and melancholic feel to the album.
Goddess On The Hiway is probably my favorite track on the album and Opus 40 was a close 2nd. Both songs push the envelope with added instrumentals and the quality on the production is really good.
I gave this one a couple of listens and can see myself coming back to it much like some other 4's from bands I have not previously heard of. So, with that said, this gets a solid 4 from me.
Nick Drake
4/5
Very pleasant listening. I thought At The Chime Of A City Clock was beautifully produced with the soft guitar, sax, and violin mixed together to make a really soothing song. You could've convinced me this was John Mayer from Nick's singing style.
A lot of songs here had that same great production quality: One Of These Things First, Fly, Poor Boy, Sunday (when the guitar comes in after the flute intro...that was nice). I can't believe how well the orchestra instrumentals like flutes, violins, and piano all work with Nick's guitar work on these songs.
This was a great listen. I'm not familiar with Nick Drake so maybe I need to go listen to his other work. High 4.
Sebadoh
1/5
Off the bat, they sound like a poor man's Soundgarden or Stone Temple Pilots or insert your favorite 90s grunge alt rock band here.
4 songs through and this just sounds terrible. Telecosmic Alchemy has bad singing and disjointed instrumentals. Fantastic Disaster was a too-on-the-nose name for that song. Everything sounds like it was recorded inside a tin can.
8 songs in and finally a normal sounding song in Sacred Attention. Vocals still suck but at least we have coherent music that jams.
There were some songs in the 2nd half that were tolerable like Forced Love and Think, but the bar was so low by that point that average songs like those sounded good.
This shit sucked. How did this make the cut? 1 star.
Waylon Jennings
3/5
I am not a country guy, but this classic stuff is tolerable to most other country. I'll be nice and lean towards a low 3 here but don't plan to come back to this one.
Neil Young
5/5
Harvest has my favorite Neil Young song, Heart Of Gold. I get it's his most popular and well-known song, but I just find it really captivating and beautifully written.
Some other favorites of mine on here were the title track Harvest, Old Man (almost up there with Heart Of Gold), There's A World, and Alabama. I thought the meaning behind Man Needs A Maid was a bit strange, but I found that the word "maid" is not in the context of a working woman so now it makes more sense.
Although I prefer Neil's more grungy/hard rock stuff to this album that features more folksy/country songs, I found this really enjoyable and easy to listen to. This was really good all the way through. As for grading, this lands at 4.5 (high 4, low 5). I think the strength of Heart Of Gold and Old Man helps push this to low 5 territory for me.
Megadeth
4/5
The album art for this is freakin' awesome. I can't say I've ever listened to Megadeth even though I've definitely heard the name.
Wrapping up Five Magics and so far can say this shreds, especially with the guitar solo at the end of this song. Hangar 18 kicks ass.
2nd half didn't sound as good to me, which lead me to give this 3.5 stars. Will round up to a low 4 though.
Dwight Yoakam
1/5
Lots to loathe with this one even if you like/tolerate this style of country unlike myself. There's the multi-song narrative arc of killing his lover because she cheated on him, the ode to "rebel pride" in I Sang Dixie, and the closing song about how he found religion.
Hated so much about this even though the instrumentals weren't necessarily bad. 1 star.
John Grant
4/5
I feel like I need to a few more listens to fully absorb the lyrics because the themes of each song are all over the place, but musically this album is fantastic. Weirdly reminds me of Bo Burnham without it being overtly obvious that it's a comedic album. There are obviously signs of satire littered throughout this album, but there also seems to be a more serious/deeper message underlying the wackiness of it all.
Marz, Sigourney Weaver, Chicken Bones, and Jesus Hates F****** (JHF might have the most variety of old school slurs I've ever heard in a song) are examples of this. I particularly think the chorus of Chicken Bones is catchy and fun.
I also found myself liking the songs that were piano heavy the most like Marz, Silver Platter Club, Caramel, and Leopard and Lamb. The title track ends the album on a truly thematic note.
Pretty fun/unique album and very quirky in a good way. I found it really captivating, entertaining, and it left me wanting to listen to it more intently. I would put at a mid-4 but feel like I can get to a High 4 with more listens. I think it might be a tad too unserious to reach 5 status.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2/5
The vibe of this album is captured perfectly in the first lyrics when Costello blurts out "BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE". So cringey.
Costello's singing can be totally tolerable on some songs and then insufferable on others. Over the course of an album, it makes for an unpleasant listening experience.
Outside of a couple of songs (I Want You, Honey Are You...) this was a pretty dull listen. Mid 2.
The Sugarcubes
3/5
Well at least this 80s punk is from Iceland and not England like some others. Still sounds pretty similar and very Euro. I would say this album was a step up from the other punk albums we had and the singers were tolerable for the most part (Birthday was cringey though). Nonetheless I'm still not digging this Euro punk stuff that's been on this list. Low 3.
TLC
3/5
Outside of Waterfalls (LOVE the chorus in this song), I don't think I've heard other songs from this group.
Love the beat in Intro-Lude off the rip. Shame it's only a 1 minute song. Creep is just some solid 90s hip-hop/R&B. Loving the beat on Kick Your game. Into this so far.
Vibes dip from Diggin' On You until it gets to Waterfalls (DON'T GO CHASING WATERFALLSSSS). The horns and the funky bass give the song such a smooth flow. Such a jam. Unfortunately nothing else stands out until Andre 3000 comes on the last track.
This one was probably a little too R&B heavy for my taste. It's usually hit or miss with straight R&B songs and it was 50/50 for me on this album. It made the album drag slightly and the runtime is fairly long. I'd give this a High 3 (3.5 stars) that borders on a 4.
Liz Phair
2/5
Fuck and Run, and Flowers were probably the best songs here on an otherwise meh album. Mid-2.
3/5
Holy harmonica, Batman! The first half of this album certainly felt the most like folksy Bob Dylan between the nasally singing, blaring harmonica, and simple guitar. It was perfectly fine. Just fine.
The second half features more of a band assemble and is certainly move lively. But again, it felt just fine for me. I don't have strong emotions for Bob Dylan either way and this album didn't move the needle one way or the other, so I kind of just land square at a 3.
Peter Tosh
3/5
You had me at the Legalize It and the album cover.
However, after a full listen this doesn't really stand out from other reggae albums from anyone not named Bob Marley on this list. High 3 though.
Björk
1/5
One of those weird albums that is clearly for someone out there, but certainly not me. Brutal listen. Firmly in the 1's.
The Flying Burrito Brothers
2/5
Imagine my disappointment that a band with the name Flying Burrito Brothers playing a song titled Sin City could sound like some weak-ass, sad-ass country. Fuck outta here man.
Everything else on this in mid-3 music (the Hot Burrito songs were the only good-ish songs in my view), but I'm dropping them down to a 2 because I couldn't get over the Sin City thing even after listening to the full album.
Beatles
5/5
If you look at the Beatles discography, this seems to be the inflection point before they put out their more classic albums (and also did a buttload of drugs).
Other than What Goes On - a corny, poppy song that feels out of place - there are no down points in this album. It starts off strong with Drive My Car, then leads into the beautiful-sounding Norwegian Wood (is this the first time they break out the sitar?). Nowhere Man is another song that offers some dense lyricism on a catchy riff.
Michelle and In My Life feel like the emotional heart of the album. They're great songs on their own and probably underrated in terms of the top songs the Beatles have put out.
Run For Your Life is damn catchy. Great ending song.
It is ironic this album is titled "Rubber Soul" but features a lot of songs that feel more authentic then stuff from their previous albums. I would say I've probably slept on this album when comparing to the other Beatles classics. I think this deserves to be in the 5-tier, albeit on the lower end.
Cocteau Twins
3/5
Getting some prog rock vibes from this group, but I guess they don't fall into that genre? I had a hard time getting into this album fully because the vocals varied wildly from song to song. They either fit well and enhanced the song (Lorelei, Amelia) or stood out in a bad way, which was on most of the songs.
I kind of don't know what to make of this one really. It fell into the background while I was working, but I didn't have a strong desire to go back and listen to it again. The music was fine and the vocals were hit or miss. Probably land at a low-to-mid 3.
Slint
2/5
The music here kind of gave Indie version of Nirvana vibes (these guys are not near the same stratosphere as Nirvana for the record), especially on Washer. But almost every song ran on too long and was super boring, mostly during the spoken word portions. This honestly was pretty depressing. Low 2.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Coyote was a strong opening song, but not a lot else stood out. Don't think I liked this as much as the last Joni album we had. I'll put this as a mid-3 and keep it moving.
Serge Gainsbourg
1/5
Since this started off in French, I decided to look up what this album might be about since I wasn't going to understand anything and it definitely ruined the vibe when you find out that: "Its Lolita-esque pseudo-autobiographical narrative follows the illicit romance that develops between the middle-aged Gainsbourg and 15-year old girl Melody Nelson." OOF...
Kept listening until you get to En Melody and well...yeesh.
Without context, this might've been like a low 3 maybe. But I got no problem throwing this down to 1 status after knowing the creepiness of this album's premise.
Christine and the Queens
2/5
Very mid and boring pop. 2.5 stars but skew closer to a 2 here.
Pere Ubu
1/5
I cannot tell you how much I was laughing at Laughing during it's runtime. Just hilariously bad (it was good for like 30 seconds in the middle) especially with how terrible the first 2 songs were. Sigh.
We're getting back on the right track with Street Waves.
Ah, back on the random noises shit on Life Stinks (bass is good). Life stinks? Nah, this album stinks bro.
Wanted to give this a 2, but the last few songs of this are barely what any sane person would consider music. It literally sounds like a rubber chicken was used in the instrumentals of Sentimental Journey.
It's a 1 star for me dawg.
Justin Timberlake
3/5
The production on Justin's debut album is star-studded with Timbaland, Pharrell, and Scott Storch. Pretty insane lineup. That said the end product feels pretty bloated. Not many bangers outside of Cry Me A River and Rock Your Body. Like I Love You was lowkey good too.
There are just songs here that feel fake or inauthentic, like Senorita or Take It From Here, where Justin is trying to pull off this sensual singer vibe and it just doesn't land at all.
I land at 2.5 stars but think there's enough quality to bump up to a low 3 despite the overall blandness and bloat of the album.
The Velvet Underground
2/5
This sounds like it was recorded underground. I don't know what I got out of this album other than jumbled music noises and 17 minutes about getting blowjobs.
Here's to getting your ding dong sucked! 2 stars
Girls Against Boys
2/5
One of those albums where the music sounds pretty good but the vocals are just weak. Rockets Are Red is a head-banger except that the vocals over it sound so bland. Some other examples of this were Let Me Come Back, Learned It, Bullet Proof Cupid. It feels a little disappointing.
I can't quite get to a 3, so this lands as a High 2.
Le Tigre
2/5
Had low expectations knowing this was going to be another feminist punk album (seems to be a lot of them popping up on this list lately), but the first 2 songs were pretty good.
It falls off thereafter until you get to Let's Run. I can appreciate My My Metrocard because these girls were way ahead on hating Rudy Giuliani. Slideshow At Free University was also a change of tempo I didn't see coming.
I land at around 2.5 stars, but I feel like I enjoyed it as much as the last album we had so I'll give it the same grade: High 2.
The Monks
3/5
I lol'd when I read this from the album's description: "In 2017, Black Monk Time was ranked the 127th greatest album of the 1960s by Pitchfork." Well, as they say in the first song, it's monk time...
(Had to listen on Youtube since it's not on Spotify or Apple Music, bleh)
This was a fine 60s rock album. I don't usually agree with Pitchfork on much nor do I have the time/energy to cross-reference the other 126 albums from the 60s that may or may not be on this list and compare it to this one, so I'll take their word for it...
Low 3.
Soft Machine
3/5
My hopes were not high after the first song (a lot of noises going on here), but Slightly All The Time and Moon In June gave this better prog rock vibes. Also was very jazzy, especially on the last song. Pretty great album to have on in the background if you're working on something.
This was certainly interesting if you paid attention throughout, which felt impossible since each song is nearly 20 minutes long. The mix of jazz, electronic synths, and rock was hit or miss at different points, but overall was pretty good. I score this as a mid-3 that I'll come back to if I need some background music for work purposes.
Pere Ubu
2/5
Oh god damn it, these guys again...
Last album was a 1 so my hopes could not possibly be lower.
Oh great, I just learned the lead singer of this band is a Jehovah's Witness. As if this group couldn't get any weirder along with their music.
3 songs in and while the music still sounds weird, it at least has more flow and cohesion. Dub Housing kind of jams.
Alright well the rest of this stinks. It remains an improvement over the last album, so let's graduate Pere Ubu to the 2-star tier. A low 2 at best. If they appear on this list again I am boycotting them.
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
I def have listened to a decent number of Fleetwood Mac songs, but not an album other than Rumours (so many hits that it's gotta be on this list?). None really catch my eye on first glance.
This is a lot to digest but this is just really good music. Storms might be my favorite song on here though I will certainly find others on more re-listens. Feels like an album to put on during a somber day and I mean that in a good way.
I saw a comment comparing this to the Beatles' White Album and I agree with that quite a bit. That was a good album, but there were so many songs that it's hard to not look back at it like a "greatest hits" collection more than just an album. Tusk feels like that especially because there's almost an even split between Nicks, Buckingham, and McVie. It's like they all needed a quota for 6 songs a piece. I like it better when albums have a central story or theme to build off of. This isn't that.
Tusk is a bit bloated but with very little down points. You can turn this one on, kick back, and relax for an hour just pleasantly listening along. For that, I'd give it a solid 4.
The Mamas & The Papas
4/5
This is like being put in a time machine and transported right to the 60s once Monday, Monday comes on. Such a good song.
Fitting we get this on a hot summer day because all I can picture is the beach and sunny skies when listening along.
California Dreamin' is a classic. I wonder how often it's been used in movies or TV shows.
Other than the 2 songs I listed, none other stand out. Still a good listen overall. I land at around 3.5 stars for this, but will round up to a low 4.
Jorge Ben Jor
4/5
Couldn't understand a thing (language barrier) but the music had me grooving throughout. It was a superb fusion of samba and funk (love the bass in songs like Xica da Silva and Historia de Jorge).
I don't know if I'd come back to it per se, but the quality of the production and uniqueness of the music pushes this to a low 4 for me. This music is just good ass vibes.
The Stooges
3/5
These albums of the origins of punk kinda hit like early old school hip-hop, meaning they sound dated and muted compared to what it evolved into. Maybe it was jamming for its time, but I felt like it was the same sort of song playing over and over again.
It wasn't that bad, just not that great. Feels like a low 3.
Cee Lo Green
2/5
Another album with heavy Pharrell (and the Neptunes) and Timbaland production that was made around the same time as that Justin Timberlake album we had. Forgot how prevalent they were in the early 00s pop/hip-hop/R&B scene.
There are some songs with sick beats: The Art Of Noise, I'll Be Around, The One. However, early on we're getting way too much of Cee-Lo rapping and it's not landing.
Yeah this goes on way too long and doesn't improve much. Sticking this one with a 2. I'm sure if Cee-Lo saw this he would tell me FUCK YOUUUUUU.
The Darkness
4/5
I have listened to I Believe In A Thing Called Love before (fantastic song), but was unfamiliar with anything else this group has done.
Black Shuck is a great tone setter. Just straight good rock music right in the veins. Get Your Hands Off My Woman is equally as good. Others that stood out were Love On The Rocks and Makin' Out.
This album kicked ass. Solid 4.
Ryan Adams
4/5
Didn't necessarily get a country vibe from this though it was more on the bluesy/folk side of things. I didn't really know of Ryan Adams before this, but he doesn't seem like the world's greatest dude. That said, this album has some really good songs that vary between up-tempo (To Be Young, Shakedown On 9th Street) to slower solo stuff (Oh My Sweet Caroline, Come Pick Me Up). Good variety and good production. Not every song was up my alley, but there was enough that kept me entertained and engaged.
I land at about 3.5 stars for this one, but will round up to a low 4.
Taylor Swift
3/5
Fun fact: Taylor Swift dates Travis Kelce, who plays on the Kansas City Chiefs that lost the most recent Super Bowl to the Philadelphia Eagles 40-22 (also T. Swift is secretly an Eagles fan. Go Birds.)
I remember this album coming out during COVID because it was like a surprise drop and I think every Swiftie in America listened to it on a Friday.
Songs I liked: willow, champagne problems, gold rush, no body no crime
Leans into a folksy and somber vibe. I appreciate that it's not very poppy like her newer stuff and overall it just feels very mature. Outside of the first few songs that became singles, there wasn't much that stood out to me. Nothing was bad per se, but I guess sort of mid and depressing at times.
Leaning towards a High 3 more than a low 4.
The Who
3/5
I love The Who, but wish this live album didn't make the cut for this 1001 albums list. It features classic songs from their other albums that I am sure are on this list. They do rock hard in their live stuff but it doesn't really sound great. Don't get the rationale...
Ok so it's the only live album they ever recorded, but like, I enjoy their regular albums way more. Giving this one a 3.
Gonna throw on one of their actual albums and give it a review...
The Jesus And Mary Chain
3/5
Nothing really exceptional, but musically sounded alright. The vibe was brooding (I mean, there's a song literally titled Nine Million Rainy Days. WE GET IT GUYS!) which is not what I really want on a Friday. It picked up some steam at the end, but not much to change my opinion. Low 3.
Eurythmics
3/5
Knew where this was going based off the album title. This was a decent dance/pop album. The beat on I've Got An Angel gave me Thriller vibes (the vocals did not!). In fact we got a lot of 80s cheesy vibes throughout this whole album. Some beats work, others don't. Certainly a mixed bag.
The title track is pretty iconic and although nothing else here compares, I think it drags this album up to a low 3.
Throwing Muses
2/5
So I confused this with a 2003 version...I guess there's a 1986 version which is the correct one (also the 2003 version is a self-titled band album, which is so strange).
Anyway, once I got to the right album I was disappointed to hear yet another female-led punk group. Either we are getting all those bands lately or this list is just overpopulated.
I'd put this with the rest of the punk groups. Sounds pretty much like the same. 2.5 stars but skew closer to a 2.
Megadeth
3/5
Agree with the sentiment that this isn't as good as the previous Megadeth album. It's still good overall though. Peace Sells and Bad Omen were the standout tracks for me, but ultimately this runs on longer than I'd like it to.
Mid-to-High 3 is my score.
The Associates
2/5
Sulk...an apt description of my expression while listening to this album. I'm not really into the "New Wave" 80s scene. This had all the worst features of that. Low 2.
Ozomatli
4/5
I remember loving Saturday Night on the Madden soundtrack as a kid. Still slaps.
Other songs I enjoyed here were Street Signs, (Who Discovered) America? (another banger), Te Estoy Buscando, and Santiago.
Really was vibing to the Latin-fused hip-hop. Fun album and was better than I was expecting. I think I'm willing to go with a low 4 here.
Black Sabbath
5/5
RIP Ozzy, you goddamn legend...what a strange coincidence this pops up.
I have never really delved into Black Sabbath other than I know what their "mainstream" stuff is. This album offered things I completely expected would come from Black Sabbath and others that left me shocked.
Wheels of Confusion, Supernaut, and Snowblind are the highlights of the hard rock/metal anyone would anticipate when listening to Black Sabbath. Strong guitar riffs and Ozzy's vocals had me banging my ahead along.
Then along comes Changes, which catches you completely off guard and puts you on your ass (metaphorically). It's a beautifully sung, piano-forward anthem. I mean...how have I not heard this song before? It is wonderful, deep, and the last thing I would have expected on a Black Sabbath album. I also read the backstory behind how they created the song Changes and it's INSANE. Apparently the guitarist taught himself to play piano while they were recording and they built the song based on a riff he was doing. And they wrote the lyrics based on the drummer's ongoing divorce. I mean, what a story and you feel that emotion in Ozzy's singing. Just brilliant stuff.
Another song that caught me by surprise was Laguna Sunrise, which was a light and soothing instrumental. It's fitting that both this and Changes are in the middle of the respective sides of this album.
I was not expected to be blown away by this. I thought I would just be rocking out for 40+ minutes. Instead, you get this wonderfully complex album that you can also jam out to for most of the time. And they made this while insanely coked out the whole time (in case the meaning behind the song title Snowblind was ever in doubt).
This is solidly a 5-star album. I was genuinely shocked by how much I enjoyed this. I'll probably come back to this a bunch over the next few weeks.
Aerosmith
3/5
Hell yeah, some more great classic rock. This album has the some of the best Aerosmith classics like Walk This Way and Sweet Emotion, but I'm interested to see if any other songs here stand out.
After 1 listen...nope. Pretty generic sounding rock outside of the 2 singles. Actually feel a little disappointed. I can only get to a High 3.
Ryan Adams
3/5
I was into the first few songs (New York, New York was the best) but the rest of this felt really dull and slow. Slow music + over an hour of runtime really made this drag out for me. I still probably skew towards a low 3 here, but not by much.
Milton Nascimento
3/5
I was definitely into most of the first half of this album, but it also ended up just falling into the background as I got a little bored by it. Nice, easy listening though. Mid-3.
Hanoi Rocks
2/5
It was fine but I got bored about halfway through. 2.5 stars but skew to a High 2.
Fiona Apple
3/5
It didn't take long to realize this was a unique album. The piano playing on the opening song particularly feels strong, while the vocals feel raw and real. It took me a couple of listens to absorb it.
I felt like overall this was a powerful album in terms of production and emotion, but some songs just felt flat for me at different spots. I landed at around 3.5 stars though am skewing closer to a High 3.
Fats Domino
3/5
Learned that Fats was a pioneer on the New Orleans music scene and that he might've been credited for having the first rock-and-rock single record. Neat!
The music here was some solid fusion of blues, jazz, and old timey rock. No real complaints. Down the middle 3 for me.
Lou Reed
3/5
The first half of this was pretty darn good with songs like Vicious (the riff on this sounded so familiar to me but I don't think I've heard this song before), Perfect Day (simply wonderful, best song on the album), and Walk On The Wild Side (almost thought I was delving into Can I Kick It...love that opening).
The second half felt dull, especially right around New York Telephone Conversation.
All in all, this lands at a High 3. Probably could've gone higher with a better second half.
Pixies
3/5
I feel pretty similar about this Pixies as with the last album we had: good first half, but poor second half. Debaser, Wave Of Mutilation, Here Comes Your Man, and Monkey Gone To Heaven were highlights for me, but then I failed to like much afterwards. Another High 3.
Genesis
4/5
You're never going to hear me complain about some prog rock. And this Genesis album is so good. The opening of this is so epic, like something you'd hear before a big Medieval battle scene on a show/movie. But then it transforms into this really beautiful sounding song before barreling into a fast-paced middle section. Such a cool song.
Firth of Fifth might be the most pure prog rock song I've ever listened to. So good. Likewise, The Battle Of Epping Forest is another highlight despite a long runtime.
Unlike some other Genesis albums, this might not be among my favorites because it does run pretty long. Not the most re-listenable album. That's really only my minor critique and why I'd score it at 4.5 stars, but would skew closer to a High 4.
Turbonegro
3/5
This album is such a tease. It starts off in this really cool way and feels epic with the guitar riffs, but then the vocals and lyrics make it pretty mediocre. And the music is just various of the same sounding stuff over the course of a 50-minute album, which makes it get stale.
I'll probably just go with a mid-3 here. Not one I'm looking to listen to again in the near future.
Roni Size
2/5
This is the "i aint reading all that, i'm happy for you, or sorry that happened" meme in album form. I got a few songs before calling it quits. In the spirit of this experiment I'd like to have attempted to listen to the whole thing, but the length on this album is insane. Low 2.
Metallica
5/5
Nothing like Enter Sandman to get me hype for football season. One of my personal favorite songs.
You do get the sense listening to this album that Metallica feels more refined and geared towards a more "mainstream" hard rock sound. That said, so many songs here kick ass like Sad But True (underrated imo), The Unforgiven, Wherever I May Roam, Nothing Else Matters.
Front to back it's a really awesome listen. I feel like with Metallica everyone has their own personal tastes for what their favorite album is (...And Justice For All is mine), but The Black Album is always solidly in the conversation. I put it on par with Master Of Puppets, which I scored as a 5. Only feels fair to give this one a 5 too.
Ute Lemper
2/5
I can't explain it, but listening to this felt triggering for me. Like most of the album felt like I was stuck in a hotel lobby or elevator.
I guess the Tango Ballad didn't really sound like lobby music, but it also was just flat bad.
Nearing the end of this and the singing is getting on my nerves. Now we've transitioned to bad showroom singing.
Scope J. sounds like if A.I. tried to create the instrumentals for Severance but then halfway through the program froze. Pretty unpleasant!
I think this is solidly a 2 because at least the instrumentals were ok...at least on most of the songs.
The Residents
1/5
What are we even doing here...
These guys are just trying to be weird for the sake of being weird, which like...fine, but why is this album included on this list? Stupid.
Muddy Waters
3/5
Haha love the Hoochie Coochie Man.
One of the live albums on here that's actually good because blues/jazz just sounds better performed live. This was a solid listen. 3 stars.
Paul Weller
3/5
Extremely mid rock. 3 stars.
Sarah Vaughan
3/5
Lovely voice and really pleasant showroom tunes. High 3.
Ananda Shankar
3/5
I appreciated the covers on Jumpin' Jack Flash and Light My Fire in that they didn't solely rely on the sitar to make it unique. The rest of this was just pretty good and I enjoyed the psychedelic vibes. High 3, but not something I'd necessarily come back to.
Richard Thompson
4/5
This was pretty enjoyable folksy music that doesn't err too far into being country. The opening to The Calvary Cross was really nice, probably the highlight song of this album. Love the spacey/psychedelic feel of the background instrumentals. Withered And Died was good, especially the intro of the female vocals. The title track was also really catchy and fun. The rest fell into the background, but I was into it the whole time while I was working.
Landed at 3.5 stars for this but will skew towards a Low 4 since this was a reprieve from some of the shitty/mediocre music we've had lately. Plus, I might come back for more listens.
Otis Redding
4/5
Otis Redding is one of the great soul singers ever. It's probably not great that I best know him for getting sampled a bunch on that Kanye West/Jay-Z duo album (Kanye West: Piece of shit human, savant-like ability to recognize great music).
At least now I can say I have listened to his actual music and it's just great. You can feel his emotion in his singing on every song and it just makes you want to close your eyes and sway with the slow playing of the piano. Solid 4 for me.
PJ Harvey
2/5
More bland, garage-style UK punk. Awesome...
Ok this actually improved as I went on. Still doesn't have quite enough to get to a 3, but the least I can give it is a High 2.
Traffic
4/5
Really enjoyed the freeform style and instrumental interludes on these songs. I imagine when these guys played live back in the day they could jam out for 10-15 minutes on extended versions of the songs.
Empty Pages and the title track were my favorite songs, but I feel like there was some other stuff I really like throughout the album too. Just got lost in the sauce and never checked where I was in the album.
This is a mid-to-high 4 for me. I had not heard of these guys before, so I definitely want to come back to this one.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Listening to this on a dreary Monday at work, so at least it fits the mood. I didn't find this great, but this also certainly wasn't bad. Cohen's singing with the background chorus gave songs a real ominous feel. Those stood out to me more than the "love" songs. Feels like a mid-3 here.
The Soft Boys
3/5
Had some good jams, had some misses. It was decent rock. It fits that these guys were an influence to R.E.M.
Averages out to something like a low-to-mid 3. Not really interested to explore this one again though.
PJ Harvey
3/5
Not super enthused to strap in for another PJ Harvey album, to be honest. I'm also in football mode so I keep reading this as RJ Harvey.
Anyway, I think I was actually into the first half of this more than anything off the last album. O Stella and Sheela-Na-Gig were good songs that felt like they were cut from the same cloth as Nirvana. The second half (from Hair to the end) was not particularly my cup of tea.
I liked this slightly more than the last PJ album we had, so scoring this as a Low 3.
Lana Del Rey
3/5
Kinda interesting we've recently gotten 3 different modern albums in this female pop-singer/songwriter genre (Lorde, T Swift, and now Lana) all having the same producer, this Jack Antonoff guy. This album has a similar vibe to those other 2, but certainly closer to Taylor's Evermore.
I'm no expert on Lana, but I really found the first couple of songs off-putting with the breathy singing. The vocals improved a lot in the middle section of this album with my favorite songs being Let Me Love You Like A Woman and Wild At Heart. I also enjoyed the simplicity of Yosemite.
I would grade this similar to Evermore: solid album, but probably a bit too melancholy and lacks a true hit. High 3.
Jacques Brel
3/5
Oh man, this is SUPER French, huh? At least it doesn't seem problematic like the last French-speaking album we had.
I have no complaints here. I didn't understand much of anything, but you can't deny this guy Jacques can belt it. Solid 3.
The Byrds
3/5
Looked back at the last album review we had for the Byrds and didn't find anything memorable. I could say the same for this album though it was decent background music. Right down the middle 3.
FKA twigs
2/5
I think I can say that this is not my type of music, but I will at least recognize the production was pretty impressive. It sounded coherent at times and then messy/jumbled - at least to my ears - other times.
I'm going with a High 2 here.
Mekons
2/5
Album cover is giving Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas vibes. The music is giving all the guys dropped acid a la Hunter S. Thompson before recording vibes.
I was reading through the global reviews and found this statement that resonated with my thoughts exactly: "Most sounds like a band failing to be interesting but succeeding at being annoying." So in that respect, I can't give this anything higher than a 2.
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
This album was very hit or miss for me. I was into the opening song (oh baby), but then was getting bored until I got to "how do you sleep?". That kicked off a nice 3-song stretch that was capped off by a song I've heard somewhere before, call the police. That is a great song and by far my favorite.
The rest afterwards was pretty bland except emotional haircut, which just felt like a terrible song. I think this lands somewhere in the 3 spectrum, probably on the higher end if this was a little shorter.
Buffalo Springfield
4/5
More Neil Young, not gonna complain. Off the rip, Mr. Soul's riff sounds super familiar to the Rolling Stones "I Can't Get No Satisfaction". Kinda hard to get past that but it's still a good song.
Other standouts were Bluebird, Hung Upside Down, and Rock & Roll Woman.
It wasn't the most standout folk-rock album you'll ever listen to, but it had its moments and was overall good. I think I'll go Low 4 here.
Pink Floyd
5/5
Oh man, this is such a sentimental favorite album for me. I listened to it a lot growing up and distinctly remember watching a DVD version of a live show where they played all these songs + some of their other classics (pretty sure it was called Pulse, recorded and released in '06). My dad bought it and put it on multiple times. I always regretted not trying to see a Floyd show.
Both versions of Shine On, a tribute to the deceased Syd Barrett, are beautiful songs. Gilmour's guitar just stands out so well and then I love the lyrics. Wish You Were Here follows a similar theme. It's probably my favorite song from Pink Floyd and I try to listen to it when I'm having a tough day. I just love all the lyrics in that song.
It also wouldn't be a Floyd album without some railing against the system. Both Welcome to the Machine and Have a Cigar are just cool reprieves sandwiched between the more somber songs.
I love this album. It's just so accessible and easy to listen to. Easy 5 stars.
Dennis Wilson
4/5
Very much not a Beach Boys sounding record. You actually get more Elton John vibes from the opening track River Song. Other songs I really liked were Dreamer, Time, You And I, and Pacific Ocean Blues.
I probably land at a Low 4 here. Really cool listen on a summer day.
James Taylor
3/5
Not familiar with James Taylor, but this is really pleasant stuff. The vocals and songwriting are nice throughout and the guitar-playing really stands out on some of the songs (Country Road, Fire And Rain).
I've heard Fire And Rain before and it really is a wonderful song. It's easily my favorite track here. The next best would be the title track or Country Road.
While it was enjoyable, I struggle to get this to the 4 territory. There might be 2 or 3 songs that stand out where I want to relisten, while the rest fell into the background. Definitely right on the border, so I'm going with a High 3.
The Hives
3/5
There were a couple of decent songs here, but this was mostly mid-level Brit punk (seriously, how many more albums like this do we need on this list???). Low 3
Miles Davis
5/5
Feels like the soundtrack to any background music at a fancy establishment. I didn't really pay attention to which songs I liked better than other, but it all just blended together so well that it didn't really matter. Although I'm not a jazz guy, you can tell this album by Miles Davis is the standard for the genre. All the instrumentals go together so well, though Davis' trumpet stands out repeatedly. On vibes alone, this might be the most chill album of all time.
I'd say this is a pretty easy call for a 5 here. Now I have great dinner music for if I ever host a fancy party.
Screaming Trees
4/5
Definitely some pretty solid 90s rock from a band I've never heard of. One of the rare times where this list produces a good album that I'm glad I listened to before I die. Don't know how much I'll come back to it, but it was enjoyable. Liked the songs All I Know and Sworn & Broken the most. Low 4.
Nitin Sawhney
3/5
I felt pretty intrigued with the first half of this album. It sounded unique and was grooving to it. The Indian influences worked well on songs like Homelands and Pilgrim.
Somewhere after Nadia I started feeling sort of bored and stopped paying attention closely. My attention perked up at The Conference, but not for the right reason because it was super strange.
All in all, this feels like this lands in the 3 territory, but probably on the lower end of the spectrum.
a-ha
3/5
Outside of Take On Me, there's not much to write home about here. Pretty standard 80s pop. Let's mark this as a mid-3 and move on. Probably wouldn't have broken into the 3's without Take On Me if I'm being honest.
Lauryn Hill
3/5
This felt like a good mix of 90s hip-hop and R&B. In the first half of the album, I was into more of the hip-hop songs like Lost Ones and Doo Wop. Wasn't feeling as much of the slower R&B stuff.
In the second half I only found Everything Is Everything and Can't Take My Eyes Off You compelling. It's a pretty long album and while Hill is definitely a talented artist going between both genres seamlessly, I found my interest waning in and out.
I probably land at about 3.5 stars, but skew more towards a High 3. Good listen with a handful of standout songs.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Not as familiar with this album as Let It Bleed or others by the Stones, but I do know a good number of songs. Brown Sugar, Wild Horses, Can't You Hear Me Knocking, and Bitch were the high points for me. Wild Horses in particular is a greatly written song that probably doesn't get enough recognition as one of their great songs.
I don't know if I liked this as much as Let It Bleed or some of their other albums, but I can see it growing on me with more time to listen to it. I think it lands as a Solid 4 for me.
Big Star
4/5
This was a pretty good rock record all the way through. Didn't have many standout songs, but also didn't have any songs that I disliked.
I had to listen to Feel a few times because the riff at the beginning sounded similar to a Stone Temple Pilots song (Plush), but the vocals made me think of Zeppelin or maybe AC/DC.
In The Street and Thirteen were other favorites of mine from this record. I liked the variety of those songs contrasted with others.
I think this straddles the 3 and 4 line, but I'm willing to go Low 4 here.
The Dandy Warhols
4/5
I don't know why, but I knew from the start I would really like this album.
Am I crazy for thinking this band is giving Radiohead vibes through the first few songs (just from an instrumental standpoint, not vocals)? Definitely into the spacey vibe.
Loving the instrumentals in Whipping Tree...giving Pink Floyd vibes.
Cool As Kim Deal might be the most fun, upbeat song so far.
Alright well I'll be back for sure. Had some songs that I really enjoyed (Orange, Whipping Trees, Cool As Kim Deal) and others I think I would appreciate more on another run through (Last Junkie On Earth). Pretty high 4!
Beth Orton
3/5
Nice, easy listening that made for good background music. Can't say this is something I'll come back to, but it certainly was good for what it was. Solid 3.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
Ran through this and felt just ok about it, but after reading through some of the global reviews it seems like this was pretty influential in the British post-punk space. For that and considering the time period it was made, I'll bump it into the 3 tier.
Sonic Youth
2/5
Brooding and boring. 2 stars.
The Fall
2/5
One of those albums that's just hard to take seriously. At least there were some moments of actually trying to make music, so I'll go Low 2 here.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Certainly one of the least annoying Dylan albums we've had. The singing and songwriting here are really strong and the album just passes by in a pleasant way. The opening song, Meet Me In The Morning, and Shelter From The Storm were the highlights.
I was thoroughly surprised by how much of this was an enjoyable listen. That hasn't been the case on other Bob Dylan albums. I would grade this solidly as a 4, but it doesn't have the juice to get it near 5-status, even for the "legendary" Bob Dylan. Very good album though.
Baaba Maal
3/5
Somewhat entertaining and something I wish I could understand more of. Don't see myself coming back at all though. Low 3.
Nirvana
4/5
I don't think I've listened to another Nirvana album besides Nevermind (the one with the iconic album cover). I certainly know and like the classic songs here.
After a couple of runs I feel pretty confident this was the most hot and cold album I've ever listened to. By that I mean, the good songs hear were bangers and the bad songs were almost unlistenable. On the good side you have Heart-Shaped Box, Rape Me, Frances Farmer, Dumb, Pennyroyal Tea, and All Apologies. On the bad side you had Serve The Servants, Scentless Apprentice, and Tourette's. I didn't have an opinion on the other songs not listed.
The majority of the album was strong and the good songs here are among the best Nirvana put out, especially All Apologies which I think is my favorite song by them. If I come back to this album, I'll just skip the songs I don't like. Despite those poor songs, I still feel like this is solidly in the 4 tier.
John Prine
3/5
First impression is that this is the kind of folk-y country I don't really like, but I will give it a chance.
Ok, it was better than I thought and had me tapping my foot along. Still don't love the twangy, Bob Dylan style of singing, but I see the appeal for those that like the country genre. Mid-ish 3, which feels generous as a country hater.
Elvis Costello
1/5
1001 albums, but why did over 5 of them have to be from Elvis Costello? I am so confused. This is easily the most insufferable album by Mr. Costello from beginning to end, and the fact it's near an hour long was brutal (ha, get it, like the name of the album!).
Giving this a 1 star.
David Crosby
4/5
This was a pretty great ride all the way through. I'm not sure if David Crosby was influenced by others, or if he influenced other musicians, but this style of music felt so familiar to me. Can't quite pick out whose music this reminds me of.
My highlights were Cowboy Dance, Laughing, and Traction In The Rain. I also liked the trippy-ness of Orleans. No real down points or a song that I didn't enjoy on my multiple listens.
Strong 4. Ultimately there aren't enough elite-level songs to take this over the top for a 5 for me, but it was a very solid album overall.
Shack
3/5
More average Britpop...bleh. I'm not hearing the R.E.M. comps but I also don't have a good one myself.
This might be the most inoffensive, bland Britpop we've had. Like it didn't sound bad, but also wasn't super engaging. Landing at a Low 3.
Animal Collective
3/5
Trippy album cover, eh? Matches the music too. I don't know how I feel about this one. There just is a lot of...noise? Just a lot going on. It varies between good and bad, but I don't think I liked it totally for near an hour of runtime. I wished I was into it more because the beginning of this was pretty good. Low 3.
Steve Winwood
4/5
Holy shit, if you played this with no context, I might've guessed this was Genesis.
Felt like this was just ok sounding until I got to Spanish Dancer and Night Train. Those 2 songs really brought some juice to the album.
I think I can go Low 4 here despite the overt Phil Collins impression.