371
Albums Rated
3.25
Average Rating
34%
Complete
718 albums remaining
Featured Review
Unknown Pleasures
Joy Division • 3/5
I sat through 40 minutes of soul-sucking tedium and all I got was this lousy T-shirt
Rating Distribution
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Taste Profile
1950
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other
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Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
44
5-Star Albums
16
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
I’ve Got a Tiger By the Tail
Buck Owens
|
5 | 2.81 | +2.19 |
|
I’m a Lonesome Fugitive
Merle Haggard
|
5 | 2.86 | +2.14 |
|
Copper Blue
Sugar
|
5 | 2.97 | +2.03 |
|
The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers
|
5 | 3.05 | +1.95 |
|
Underwater Moonlight
The Soft Boys
|
5 | 3.06 | +1.94 |
|
Trio
Dolly Parton
|
5 | 3.13 | +1.87 |
|
Honky Tonk Heroes
Waylon Jennings
|
5 | 3.14 | +1.86 |
|
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo
Devo
|
5 | 3.14 | +1.86 |
|
Like A Prayer
Madonna
|
5 | 3.23 | +1.77 |
|
Sound Affects
The Jam
|
5 | 3.26 | +1.74 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Hot Fuss
The Killers
|
1 | 3.73 | -2.73 |
|
Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Red Hot Chili Peppers
|
1 | 3.49 | -2.49 |
|
Hybrid Theory
Linkin Park
|
1 | 3.39 | -2.39 |
|
Selected Ambient Works 85-92
Aphex Twin
|
1 | 3.21 | -2.21 |
|
Bluesbreakers
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
|
1 | 3.16 | -2.16 |
|
The Wall
Pink Floyd
|
2 | 4.14 | -2.14 |
|
Youth And Young Manhood
Kings of Leon
|
1 | 3.1 | -2.1 |
|
Aha Shake Heartbreak
Kings of Leon
|
1 | 2.97 | -1.97 |
|
Destroy Rock & Roll
Mylo
|
1 | 2.88 | -1.88 |
|
Greetings From L.A.
Tim Buckley
|
1 | 2.85 | -1.85 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Beatles | 6 | 4.67 |
| Fleetwood Mac | 2 | 5 |
| Bob Dylan | 4 | 4.25 |
| Led Zeppelin | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Kings of Leon | 2 | 1 |
5-Star Albums (44)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Youssou N'Dour · 2 likes
4/5
It's difficult for someone my age to hear this without expecting Paul Simon to jump out from behind a door, but it's a lot of fun, and nice to imagine dancing in Senegal rather than clearing six inches of snow from the roof of the car.
David Bowie · 2 likes
5/5
Can't argue with that
Mudhoney · 1 likes
4/5
If the goal here is to choose influential albums, this is a clear winner. I thought I was listening to a Nirvana demo.
Elvis Costello · 1 likes
4/5
I know all of EC's pre-1990 albums like my own heartbeat and this is nowhere near the best of the lot. What strikes me, revisiting it now, is that its main contribution is in the cleverness of the lyrics; the songs are straight-up rock & roll tunes (only Watching the Detectives, which was not on the original album, sounds like any kind of departure). Nonetheless, I have to give it at least a 4 for cultural significance and announcing a major talent, not to mention encapsulating my youth. (Also, do yourself a favor and listen to a remaster--the old one sounds like crap)
Nirvana · 1 likes
3/5
An exhausting glimpse into Kurt's tortured brain. On one hand, he wants nothing more than to make a cacophonic mess that sounds like it was recorded in a machine shop, and there's Steve Albini saying yes! We can do that! But on the other hand he knows he is capable of writing coherent songs, and he has a baby on the way so he should probably try to sell a few records, and along comes Bob Ludwig to make that happen. It's a lot, but the singles are pretty good.
1-Star Albums (16)
All Ratings
Dolly Parton
5/5
True story: my mother had Alzheimer's and was confused and agitated and this album calmed her (I never knew her to listen to music deliberately). The voices are gorgeous both individually and in combination, and I feel like I can hear Linda trying hard not to overpower everyone else, as she definitely could.
The Jam
4/5
I didn't actually know this one--Sound Affects is more my jam--but it's excellent, of course.
Blur
3/5
Julian Cope
3/5
Bill Evans Trio
3/5
Merle Haggard
5/5
The The
3/5
Crowded House
4/5
Charles Mingus
4/5
Iron Maiden
4/5
X-Ray Spex
4/5
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
2/5
The Smiths
4/5
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
4/5
Interesting choice, because most of it is pretty unremarkable. The two singles are as great as anything he ever did but the rest sounds like an ordinary band (unlike, say, the Cars or Van Halen whose first albums presented an entirely new sound). I'd take Damn the Torpedoes any day.
The Go-Go's
5/5
I've always loved this album, but it's probably hard for the youngsters to appreciate how revolutionary it was for a bunch of young women to write their own songs, play their own instruments, and make a #1 record. I see that it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it's an absolute classic, and you would not have your Bikini Kills or Best Coasts without them.
Youssou N'Dour
4/5
It's difficult for someone my age to hear this without expecting Paul Simon to jump out from behind a door, but it's a lot of fun, and nice to imagine dancing in Senegal rather than clearing six inches of snow from the roof of the car.
Mudhoney
4/5
If the goal here is to choose influential albums, this is a clear winner. I thought I was listening to a Nirvana demo.
The Fall
3/5
Didn't thrill me, sorry
Beatles
5/5
Not sure I've ever listened to it straight through. Good stuff.
Beatles
5/5
I confess I didn't have time to listen to the whole thing today, but I filled in the gaps in my memory, and even allowing for side 4 it's still totally solid
N.W.A.
4/5
I am not the audience for this album and my opinion is irrelevant, but I was prepared to hate it and I really didn't. Yeah, it was too long and some of it was offensive (no more so than Mötley Crũe, but that was a performance too). The groove is solid (although when I hear the samples I tend to think why don't we just listen to that?) and the rapping is skillful and the Library of Congress says it's significant, so I'm fine with it.
Jacques Brel
3/5
This doesn't particularly speak to me, but it's clearly influential and all that. I'm totally neutral on this one. And I don't know any French (although I generally ignore lyrics so that shouldn't matter).
Sepultura
2/5
I could not make it through 45 minutes of this, but it's nice to see that Cookie Monster has found a healthy way of working out his frustrations. We could all take a lesson from him.
Parliament
5/5
Solid groove, more jazzy than I remembered, definitely cures migraines and arthritis
Hugh Masekela
4/5
Exactly the beta blocker some of us needed today.
Aretha Franklin
5/5
John Lee Hooker
3/5
Kind of boring, frankly. Trying to reach a mass audience in the 80s was a losing game.
Cat Stevens
2/5
This is a hippie litmus test and I still don't pass. I have childhood memories associated with the big hits, of course.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
1/5
The only upside of this is that 20 minutes of something called Eruption sent me straight to Van Halen.
Björk
3/5
This is a truly impressive work of art but not necessarily enjoyable to listen to. I'll take Army of Me any day, but I'm kind of lowbrow.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
Meh, this sounds like everything else on the hipster radio station. Oh wait... seriously, I had other priorities (two little kids) in 2009 so I missed all the pop-punk action, but this is a gem.
The Smashing Pumpkins
2/5
Boring. Too many songs, each one is too long, and they all sound the same. The 90s were a musical sinkhole.
a-ha
3/5
Welcome to the 80s theme park! I had only ever heard Take On Me (and it amazes me that anyone can hear that as anything but the soundtrack to a video--it's barely a song) but the rest of the album is like a template for Europop.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
This could be a lot shorter but the good parts are very good and the lads are clearly having fun.
Astor Piazzolla
3/5
I can't say I'm familiar enough with the old tango to fully appreciate this, but it was pleasant enough. I'm straight-up neutral.
The KLF
3/5
Am I rating the album I'm listening to (not bad, if you like that sort of thing), the conceptual art project it represents (kind of odd) or its influence on the next generation of electronic dance pop (significant)? Did I even listen to the right version? I'd lean toward a 2.5 with an extra .5 for Tammy Wynette.
The Adverts
4/5
There's a lot more going on here than straight-up 1978 punk--a little power pop, a little glam, maybe even a little prog noodling. Whether they were hugely influential or just riding a bunch of waves I don't know, but I'm ok with it.
Cocteau Twins
3/5
Very pleasant
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
I believe the International Bureau of Weights and Measures uses this as the standard for 5-star albums.
Moby Grape
3/5
I like this better than the Dead, but it still strikes me as a bargain-basement Band (or Byrds). But I listened to 8:05 three times.
CHIC
3/5
How can you hear "FREAK OUT!" and not smile? Some of the album is disco perfection (crying out to be sampled) and some of it feels like very technically accomplished backing tracks.
The Killers
1/5
Abrasive, repetitive, grating, monotonous singing followed by shouting. Make it go away.
Rahul Dev Burman
3/5
Can't say I know enough about Bollywood music to judge this, but it was pretty entertaining.
Fishbone
4/5
Lots going on here; I'm sure they're great live. I'm rounding my rating up from 3.5 despite the fact that they are at least partly responsible for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Amy Winehouse
3/5
It's very hard to listen to this objectively, as Back to Black is so much better. But I can imagine being impressed with her in 2003 even if these songs aren't great.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
I am baffled. The Pet Shop Boys released 15 albums? And three of them are on this list? And Neil Tennant didn't come out until 1993? This album is a fine example of their output but nothing stands out for me.
Sugar
5/5
These reviews are an argument for listening to the albums in chronological, rather than random, order. Listen, kids, there would be no Nirvana or Pixies without Bob Mould. In my personal pantheon I rate Grant Hart a little higher as a songwriter and I therefore like Hüsker Dü a bit better than Sugar, but I'm not going to split hairs. Totally solid power punk.
The Strokes
3/5
Brighter and bouncier than most of what I think of as millennial rock. Perfectly pleasant.
Peter Frampton
2/5
That wah thing sends me right back to junior high. I didn't get it then and, having listened to the whole album for the first time, I am even more confused now: were all those junior high boys really into all this noodly meandering? Was Do You Feel Like We Do always 14 minutes long? Was it all about the hair?
Madonna
5/5
I bought the patchouli-scented album in 1990, I saw the tour (from the worst seats in the Oakland Coliseum), and I see no reason to back down now. Definitely Madonna's best album and its influence reverberates through several generations of women in pop. And hello there Prince!
R.E.M.
4/5
Listening to this for the first time in 40 years, I am noticing is how slow it is--even the relatively peppy tunes kind of drag, so I can see how newcomers find it dull. They were clearly a work in progress, but nothing else sounded like this in 1983. (But yes, this and Reckoning are their best albums, and I am shocked at how long they kept it up as they got duller and duller.)
Moby
3/5
Moby may have done more to promote the work of Alan Lomax to the general public than Pete Seeger; too bad they're all on X when they hear it. I'm somewhat seduced by its propulsive catchiness and then I listen to a couple of real songs and think nah, this is well-marketed trash.
Slipknot
1/5
Can't say I made it all the way through, but I got the gist. What did a bunch of dudes in Iowa in 1998 have to be so mad about? Did they invent the 90s thing of throwing in the little melody between the screaming to show they know what it is? No thanks.
SAULT
4/5
A nice album of 70s-esque R&B; I'd never heard of them but I can definitely see keeping this around. It is not surprising or bothersome in any way that an R&B album is infused with racial consciousness (maybe some people missed the 60s?) but the fact that this has a lower overall rating than Moby is truly disturbing.
Beastie Boys
4/5
A great achievement in both rapping and sampling; my only complaint is that it's hard to listen to both at once.
King Crimson
2/5
I can definitely listen to it, I might be able to appreciate it, but you can't make me like it.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Leaving aside the issues of Dylan's genius and his voice, there are some pretty good songs on here (and a couple of duds). I'd give it a 4.5 if I could.
Aphex Twin
1/5
If I'm going to listen to this for an hour I'd better get a plane ticket at the end
Leonard Cohen
4/5
This is very beautiful and wicked depressing
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
3/5
A little more chill than most jangle pop bands of the era (and by chill I guess I mean boring; I listened twice because I thought I missed something but it turns out I didn't). Reminiscent of The The, but not quite the genuine article. I'm giving it a 3.5.
Chicago
2/5
So before they were a soft-rock behemoth, Chicago was a tedious, meandering blues band. Got it.
The Notorious B.I.G.
2/5
I am not in a mood to rationalize misogyny today, so I just listened to a couple of tracks so I can confidently agree that his rapping is indeed deft and I don't need to hear the rest.
The Pretty Things
3/5
Wow, this is freaky--it's like I landed in an alternate universe where the Beatles, the Who, and Pink Floyd didn't exist. Maybe psychedelic rock operas are like lightbulbs or intermittent wipers--if one person hadn't invented them someone else would have, so you can't give anyone the patent. This one is fine, if you're in the mood.
David Bowie
4/5
Not being a huge Bowie devotee, I'm trying to understand what everyone loves so much about this one. Nice funky backing, true. And a funny reference to Fiddler on the Roof in Stay. But apart from the singles, which I like fine, nothing about this grabs me. Sorry.
Kings of Leon
1/5
There's nothing compelling about this album. It is from an era when I was really not paying attention to new music, so I might be tempted to discount it as being a product of a dull era, but I liked the Strokes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs albums when they came around, so I can only conclude that this is slop.
Elvis Costello
4/5
I know all of EC's pre-1990 albums like my own heartbeat and this is nowhere near the best of the lot. What strikes me, revisiting it now, is that its main contribution is in the cleverness of the lyrics; the songs are straight-up rock & roll tunes (only Watching the Detectives, which was not on the original album, sounds like any kind of departure). Nonetheless, I have to give it at least a 4 for cultural significance and announcing a major talent, not to mention encapsulating my youth. (Also, do yourself a favor and listen to a remaster--the old one sounds like crap)
Linkin Park
1/5
When we got Slipknot, everyone said at least it isn't Linkin Park. Now I'm thinking at least it isn't Slipknot.
Snoop Dogg
2/5
It's a paradox: you can focus on the groove to ignore the offensive lyrics, but if you focus on the groove you'll just go put on a Parliament album.
Bert Jansch
4/5
This is very lovely and clearly influential--I hear echoes of many British guitar dudes. It's interesting to me that guitar-picking tunes that hearken back to the agrarian past in the UK are called folk and in the US are called country, but someone else can figure that out.
Wire
4/5
21 songs, 35.5 minutes! Admirable. I like my punk a little poppier (I'll take the Buzzcocks any day) but this is a solid roadmap for a generation of British punk bands.
Sam Cooke
5/5
So much rougher and rowdier than the sweet-voiced crooner I was familiar with. Also notable that he wrote all these songs, which we hear now as standards (in the play and movie One Night in Miami his character gives a long speech on the importance of owning your copyrights). And finally I was delighted to learn that Def Leppard referenced Cooke in Rock of Ages. In short, this was both entertaining and educational.
Booker T. & The MG's
4/5
Hard to rate this album strictly on its own. Booker T and the MGs were the backbone of Stax and had a few great singles, but were primarily an unparalleled backing band. That said, this is fun to listen to, so I'm giving it a 4.5.
Dinosaur Jr.
3/5
I saw them once and it was the most excruciatingly loud thing I've ever experienced, so I played this very quietly. It had its moments, but I can see why they lean on volume. (And the Cure cover was a treat.)
Beatles
5/5
And Your Bird Can Sing is in my top 5 or so songs ever, so that's that. Listening today it occurred to me that if you heard these songs for the first time knowing nothing about anything you might not believe that the John songs and the Paul songs (never mind George and Ringo) were by the same band. If I knew my Beatles chronology better I might suggest that this album planted the seed of their eventual divergence. (I tend to think Paul's a sap but his beautiful songs are very beautiful, and For No One is one.)
Public Enemy
4/5
I would have to listen ten more times (which I guess I might) to really comprehend all the lyrics, but the fact that they used the samples to create a new, chaotic sound is enough for me.
Serge Gainsbourg
2/5
Nothing about this appeals to me, and I assume that if I knew French I'd like it even less. (I guess Tommy is a concept album about child abuse too, but frankly I never liked that all that much either.)
4/5
Bloated and overwrought, with too many Paul songs (and Paul at his music-hall cheesiest). It seems that many of the 5 ratings are rooted in nostalgia or basic respect, and I can understand that--this is the only Beatles album I listened to in full before age 20, as I inherited it from an uncle who died young--but I have never voluntarily listened to a single one of these songs since. I'm being generous giving it a 4.
Nirvana
3/5
An exhausting glimpse into Kurt's tortured brain. On one hand, he wants nothing more than to make a cacophonic mess that sounds like it was recorded in a machine shop, and there's Steve Albini saying yes! We can do that! But on the other hand he knows he is capable of writing coherent songs, and he has a baby on the way so he should probably try to sell a few records, and along comes Bob Ludwig to make that happen. It's a lot, but the singles are pretty good.
Supertramp
2/5
I'd never heard any pre-Breakfast in America (not on this list, shockingly) Supertramp, and you can see the roots of the irritating earworms in among the noodly prog. But all in all, no thanks.
Cee Lo Green
2/5
Very uninteresting
Frank Ocean
3/5
John Lennon
3/5
I suppose this is what I get for saying that Paul's a sap. John seems to be working out some issues here, and it produced a few good songs, but it primarily feels self-indulgent.
FKA twigs
2/5
Sounds like sanded-down Björk. Pretty voice, but goes right out the other ear.
The Crusaders
2/5
I miss a lot of things about the 70s but smooth jazz, or whatever you call this, is not one of them.
Blur
4/5
I wanted to like this more but I just don't think they had more than a couple of great songs in them. Their desire to be the Beatles, the Clash, and the Smiths all rolled into one is palpable. Beetlebum is their best song, but in reality they most closely resemble the Beatles in that their early and late work have nothing in common.
3.5
Pixies
5/5
OK, it disintegrates a bit at the end, but it's still a beautiful album. Kim's voice and Joey Santiago's guitar, with Black Francis just a suggestion in the background, are just gorgeous together. It's always good to be reminded to listen to the whole album and not just the songs you hear all the time (and know from that weight-loss ad, ugh).
Radiohead
4/5
There is absolutely an excellent album here. And a bunch of other stuff.
Os Mutantes
2/5
I listened to it twice and I still don't know what the heck was going on, and it wasn't the language that was the barrier.
David Bowie
3/5
A tad dramatic, no? It really seems like I haven't missed anything by only knowing Bowie's singles.
Dusty Springfield
4/5
I have no problem highlighting interpreters of other people's work, but why do we have two albums by Dusty Springfield and none by Linda Ronstadt? And why did she record You Don't Own Me after Leslie Gore? Nonetheless, this is fantastic. And I have to give a shout to Carole King, who is absolutely holding her own with the likes of Bachrach & David and Kander & Ebb, with a song she wrote at age 18.
Brian Eno
2/5
I think if I heard this in an airport I'd think some malign force was trying to control my brain, but as background for fairly stressful thinking and writing it was ideal. I'm not sure I would call it music, however; more like a nervous system intervention. No idea how to rate it.
OutKast
3/5
I'm not sure whether to rate this as one (bloated, occasionally self-indulgent, with flashes of brilliance) album or two albums, the first of which is interesting and fun and the second of which has one absolute classic but is otherwise kind of dull. I guess that all works out to a 3.
Air
3/5
Not bad when they actually sing a melody
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
There are no actual songs here, and I'm a big fan of songs, but there's a vocal here and a guitar there that appealed to me (the mix was really odd throughout--I have no idea what I was supposed to be hearing). I replaced my Bluetooth speaker while listening to it (one tiny channel wasn't working, which I discovered on Sgt Pepper day, because When I'm 64 had no vocal track) and frankly I liked it better on the busted speaker. Giving it a 3 because I'm told they get better.
The Soft Boys
5/5
Loved it then, love it now. Good reminder to listen to the whole album. I don't think this is a nostalgia rating but I guess the Gen Z daughter is the test.
The War On Drugs
2/5
Aural wallpaper. I can't imagine how they stayed awake for an hour recording it. And didn't they win a Grammy for Best Rock Album (I think it wasn't for this one)? This is not rock.
Carpenters
4/5
Those old melodies still sound so good to me as they melt the years away...This is not the Carpenters album I would pick, perhaps because it's not the one my best friend owned, but also because their greatest songs (Yesterday Once More, Rainy Days and Mondays, Superstar) are all elsewhere. Yes, this is schmaltzy, and I can totally understand how you'd be completely baffled if you were hearing it for the first time. But they recorded Reason to Believe before Rod Stewart and it's excellent, and that psychedelic showtune at the end, just wow.
I am also delighted to read that Hal Blaine insisted on playing drums for most of the album because Karen played too loud. She was a kickass drummer with a beautiful voice and, sadly, a controlling family; she was truly beaming in from the future and I'm afraid she knew it.
The Black Crowes
2/5
Utterly inoffensive and completely unnecessary
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Too hard for me. I'm going to listen to the Carpenters again.
Nirvana
4/5
I always assumed that Nirvana broke out in a way that their predecessors never did because Kurt was pretty (unlike, say, Black Francis) and was willing, at least at first, to play the game (unlike Paul Westerberg). But listening to this again now I realize that it's also because the album sounds so clean, with crisp drums and chiming guitars, so it goes down easy, and the masses loved it. Kurt hated that. I found it a little jarring as well. The songs themselves hold up pretty well.
Grateful Dead
3/5
I feel about the Dead as I do about Jesus--they're fine, it's their followers I can't stand. Perfectly nice album.
Kendrick Lamar
4/5
Dense, cohesive, impressive in all ways, and the hint of Prince at his most noodly was appealing. I'd have to listen to it a lot more to really appreciate it, though.
The Human League
3/5
Pretty bare-bones. I like Depeche Mode better.* But hey, points for "Johnny Joey Dee Dee"!
*so of course I had to listen to Speak & Spell, DM's album from 1981, to see if it was indeed better, and it was, although more lightweight than their later albums.
OutKast
4/5
I'm just going to start rating hip-hop albums by how much they remind me of/owe to Prince--this is a 3.5, bumped up for the actual backing band.
Grizzly Bear
2/5
Defanged Radiohead coffee shop background music. zzzzz.
But I looked up the island, and I think I've been there. I went to Naushon once as a young child (a family friend was a local politician and must have known someone) and I remember riding a horse there, which I probably never did again. It looks like you get to Naushon via Veckatimest.
Pixies
4/5
This is calmer and more tuneful than Surfer Rosa; it sounds like they're trying to apply their dissonant sound to standard pop-song structures, which works ok but I like them better when they just let loose.
Jeru The Damaja
3/5
Ah, the 90s, when the World Trade Center was still standing, there was a hole in the ozone layer, and the misogyny came with a disclaimer about respect for women. Pleasantly hypnotic, though.
Michael Jackson
4/5
This album has been inescapable my entire adult life, and Billie Jean and Beat It will be piped in to my retirement home. But I had forgotten, if I ever knew, how much of it is pure 70s cheese--I doubt even Sir Paul remembers The Girl is Mine (the first single!) It's as if the 80s arrive over the course of the album. I always liked Human Nature, though, and I have to give points for Eddie. That gets it to a 4, barely.
The Band
4/5
Still not particularly my thing, but I have to agree that it's flawless.
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
Pet Shop Boys are a singles band, with the good songs distributed across any number of albums; a Greatest Hits record would be pretty good. But we have three albums on this list and West End Girls isn't on any of them.
The Mars Volta
2/5
After about 45 minutes of what-the-fuck-is-this, Televators provides a bit of melodic, if grim, respite. I can't say I found most of this the least bit enjoyable, but I appreciate the effort and they definitely have the chops.
Grant Lee Buffalo
3/5
This is far more influenced than influential: it's Robyn Hitchcock! It's Bowie! It's the Waterboys! I remember Grant Lee Phillips' folky tunes in the early 2000s (Mona Lisa) and I think I liked those better.
Isaac Hayes
4/5
Masterful, but a little too chill for me.
Klaxons
3/5
Peppy and fun. I imagine that there are dozens of bands that sound something like this, but this one is pretty good.
3/5
OK, here I go trying to appreciate PJ Harvey...sorry, still tedious. Horses in her dreams, indeed; she's trying a little too hard to be Patti Smith. But I did like the Thom Yorke number.
The Rolling Stones
2/5
Yeah, not an auspicious debut. I'm sure at the time it was revolutionary for a bunch of kids in London to be playing this music, but it sure doesn't impress me now. Not only were they an uninteresting cover band, but the one original isn't especially original.
Public Image Ltd.
1/5
Migrainous
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
Kind of monotonous. Maybe all the songs just need to be shorter? I really can't listen to them without hearing all their influences (I was getting a lot of Spoon today) but I'm sure they'd sound better to fresher ears.
Jimmy Smith
3/5
I agree that this is the sax dude's show. I hear music like this and smell books and coffee, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. (And for the definitive version of When I Grow Too Old To Dream, see The Muppet Show episode 523, with Linda Ronstadt)
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
This seems to be the one without any hits. I wasn't able to pay much attention today; it was not bothersome but nothing grabbed me.
Sheryl Crow
2/5
A longish car ride gave me ample opportunity to contemplate my dislike of Sheryl Crow. For all its commercial monstrousness, the album is slick and dull, like all mainstream 90s music, but the really irritating thing to me is the opportunistic way a middling bluesy-pop band was packaged to highlight the frontwoman to get in on a Women in Rock trend, when there were plenty of other women (Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, et al) making much more interesting music. Run Baby Run is an ok song, and nothing about it is terribly offensive, so I guess it gets a 2.
Beatles
5/5
Sure, it's great, but it's so all over the map that I can't say it's better than Revolver (or Rumours).
Def Leppard
4/5
Such a dilemma. I love Def Leppard and I firmly believe that they are a power pop band at heart, as is clearly evident in the harmonies in the many choruses they throw into their overstuffed songs. The first side of this album is one banger after another; the second side peters out and the whole thing could easily be 20 minutes shorter, both by cutting entire songs and losing about 3 minutes of each of the longer ones. Nonetheless, I find their inability to edit, leading to seven-minute songs with meandering bridges, kind of charming, so I'll blame the album's faults on Mutt Lange and give it a 4.5.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
3/5
It's like a time travel machine that whisks you through 70s funk and soul and lands you in early-80s hip-hop, specifically in a particular dorm room in 1983.
The Beach Boys
3/5
RIP Brian Wilson, who seems to have had very little to do with this album. I liked his songs quite a bit but found all the rest extremely weird.
Marvin Gaye
5/5
I've never understood why people around here act like the mercury in the fish is news when Marvin Gaye knew about it in 1971. Come to think of it, all this shit was supposed to get fixed in the 70s. Five-star album, though.
Sebadoh
3/5
Funny, while everyone knew about the scenes in Seattle and Minneapolis, in fact indie bands were growing like asparagus in western Massachusetts; this is a solid example of this kind of thing. I like Lou Barlow's songs better than Eric Gaffney's.
The Verve
2/5
I'm plowing through this long, boring album and I finally get to the last song...and it's 15 minutes long! No thanks. One or two pretty tunes, though.
Green Day
3/5
I guess they call this pop-punk, but to me it's slickly-produced hard rock showtunes. It's even got a power ballad. I guess I see the charm but honestly it makes me laugh.
Sonic Youth
3/5
I've been determinedly not listening to Sonic Youth since the 80s, so I was surprised by how tolerable this was. It turns out they are capable of tunefulness and sometimes the noise is interesting.
Rufus Wainwright
3/5
If you were on an island ten miles out to sea and you lost power, would you devote your phone battery to this? I listened to about half of each song. I liked a couple of songs but overall it felt like a lot of caterwauling.
Prince
5/5
Not my favorite Prince album but so what.
Steely Dan
2/5
Ugh. The fact that this nonsense carries with it memories of 7th grade is just icing on the cake.
Stereo MC's
2/5
This is what passed for funk (or something) in the 90s? Much 90s music has a paint-by-numbers feel; all the pieces are there but the whole thing is just lifeless.
Duke Ellington
4/5
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
At the risk of divorce, I have to rate this one as technically impressive but still profoundly uninteresting to me.
Songhoy Blues
5/5
I really could listen to this all day. A little more bass-heavy than Ali Farka Touré, but just as hypnotic. (And when it was over Spotify gave me a song they did with Iggy Pop)
Tina Turner
3/5
Further evidence that the 80s killed music. With one exception (Prince), everyone who started making music in the 70s (or, heck, the 60s) got measurably worse in the 80s. This album provides ample opportunity to dissect that 80s sound--is it the wimpy drums? The tinny guitars? The unnecessary synths? Somehow, Tina's voice survives. 2.5
UB40
3/5
Pleasant soundtrack for making a pie (probably not its intended use)
Stan Getz
3/5
With a caipirinha, maybe
Cypress Hill
2/5
Get high or shoot people, but trying to rap about both is confusing (and actually kind of dull).
Mylo
1/5
The title song offers a comprehensive list of things I'd rather be listening to.
Fiona Apple
3/5
Impressive for a 19-year-old, and I think I can finally distinguish her from Ani DiFranco. The songs do kind of all sound the same, but that's understandable.
Super Furry Animals
3/5
This seems like something I should like, but after two tries, it didn't grab me. It seems like they were more concerned with their sound than with writing actual songs. Sorry, lads.
The Divine Comedy
1/5
Why?
Duran Duran
3/5
My opinion hasn't changed since 1982.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
America's on the ropes, but this is a nice album (but it's no Super Fly).
Tom Waits
2/5
I thought I was basically familiar with Tom Waits's oeuvre, but I guess I didn't know the half of it. No thanks.
The Pogues
3/5
It would have been 1988 when I saw them in SF, so it must have been this album. The album is enjoyable enough but I'm sure it was better live.
The Velvet Underground
4/5
It would not make me move to New York and crash on the manager's couch, but this is a pretty good album. It took me a while to appreciate Lou Reed's songs (apart from his voice and his sound) and most of these are very good and not especially challenging (except The Murder Mystery).
Pere Ubu
4/5
I really don't understand genres. How can an album from 1978 be considered post-punk? This is obviously the raw material for Talking Heads, Pixies, and everything else I like, so I am having trouble comprehending why everyone hates it. Yeah, some of it is grating, but it seems like it gave Black Francis permission to sing however he wanted, showed David Byrne how to combine rhythm and chaos, and demonstrated the uses of noise in the service of a song to a generation of punk bands.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
This is ok but it's kind of dull.
Eminem
2/5
It's too bad he can't use his powers for good. I've got a lot of throwing up to do too.
Rod Stewart
4/5
It always surprises me when I like Rod Stewart, since his hits in the 70s and 80s ranged from bland to dreadful to traumatizing, but this is great (although I still can't stand Maggie May).
The Doors
3/5
Surprisingly, this was not the Doors I know and hate; it was shockingly tolerable and even had a couple of songs I might consider good. I guess he hadn't gotten grandiose and ridiculous yet.
The Temptations
4/5
Some of it is kind of drippy, but Papa Was A Rolling Stone is such a perfect, uncluttered groove I have to give it a 4.
Joanna Newsom
2/5
Her parents didn't let her listen to the radio or watch TV to protect her from "stupid stuff," so she married Andy Samberg--there's a cautionary tale for you. Anyway, this was excruciating. Could she try writing an actual song? And maybe do a little less wailing?
Gorillaz
2/5
I think their later albums are better, but boy was this boring. I guess by "virtual band" they mean they make virtual music. Snooze.
Nanci Griffith
4/5
Nanci's legacy is so dominant on aging-hipster radio that it's hard to believe this was recorded in 1986--I may not have paid much attention to her back then, but the likes of Kasey Musgraves, Patty Griffin, Waxahatchee, and a slew of gals named Brandi sure did. This is a 4.5.
Solomon Burke
3/5
A little more gospel-y than I would like
Madonna
3/5
Would I (or anyone else) give this faux-confessional Europop knockoff mishegas the time of day of it weren't Madonna? Some of it is pretty nice, I admit, so it gets a 3.
Deep Purple
2/5
Oh for chrissakes
The White Stripes
2/5
Tedious, ponderous, soulless
Stevie Wonder
5/5
Such a relief to get a genuinely great album. I tend to neglect this in favor of Songs in the Key of Life and Talking Book but I'm not going to quibble.
Black Sabbath
4/5
This is now the second time that our non-random RIP disc has been a middling album. All the elements seem to be there, but there was no song that really knocked me out. But may his memory be a blessing all the same.
The Cure
3/5
This sounds like a first draft--Robert and his mates noodling around, laying down instrumental tracks with very quiet vocals because they hadn't really written the songs yet. (I listened on two different speakers to be sure I wasn't missing the vocals.) But nice to have on in the background.
U2
2/5
felt like a chore
The Cure
3/5
Kind of a downer, no? I guess if you were 16 and it was 1982...wait, I was 16 in 1982 and I was listening to Tom Petty and the Cars and they really cheered me up. Different strokes, I guess.
Janet Jackson
4/5
I have fond memories of dancing to the industrial-strength bangers, but I wasn't aware of the social justice angle. Sure, there's some filler (I kind of tuned out toward the end) and the drum sound is ridiculous, but it's still a 4 for me.
Little Richard
5/5
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
3/5
Another downer. I try to ignore lyrics but the tunes were so slow and low-key that it almost felt like spoken word. Nonetheless, I can see being mesmerized by this guy.
I tracked down the Johnny Cash version of I See a Darkness (another reviewer sent me to the wrong album--it's American III) and the song did work better with a harmony.
Beatles
4/5
It takes some chutzpah to listen to Little Richard and think "I could do that." This is no one's favorite Beatles album (and I guess it wasn't released in this form in the US at all), but it definitely showcases George as a promising songwriter.
Soul II Soul
3/5
The singles are fine; the rest is tedious.
Alice Cooper
3/5
The Smiths
3/5
One rainy day in 2019, when the Red Sox were no good, my teen daughter and I were at Fenway and the organist launched into Girlfriend in a Coma (followed by I Wanna Be Sedated). Teenagers love it when their moms randomly burst out laughing.
Apart from that song, this didn't grab me at all--it mostly lacked the jangle and pep of the other albums--except to inspire some soul-searching about why I boycotted Kid Rock on principle but not Morrissey.
Aerosmith
3/5
I guess it's Loathsome Human Beings week around here. Sweet Emotion and Walk This Way are unarguably great, Toys and No More No More are ok, and the rest is unremarkable jock rock and drippy power ballads.
Can
3/5
The Electric Prunes
3/5
Primarily an interesting historical artifact. These guys were basically the Monkees without a TV show, playing the songs of an LA songwriting team (of women). The songs are all over the map (everyone appears to be baffled by The Toonville Trolley, which sounds like a standard music hall ditty to me) but the band's contribution seems to be the psychedelic sound; maybe if they had more consistent material (or if they did write anything themselves) they could have been a real band.
Miles Davis
3/5
I guess I don't really know what jazz is because this didn't sound like anything I'd recognize as jazz, but I liked it.
Marty Robbins
4/5
Beautiful voice, but some of the songs are very Lawrence Welk-esque. Probably best taken in small doses, but obviously a major inspiration for all kinds of people. (Yet another rightwinger, unfortunately.)
Morrissey
2/5
Why would you want a Smiths album without Johnny Marr, in which Morrissey actually vocalizes his racism?
Common
4/5
Smooth beats, humanist lyrics--no complaints here.
Genesis
2/5
Most of the songs are short, so in theory it shouldn't have felt all that overwhelming, but it was a slog nonetheless. The one track with a tune (Counting Out Time) comes as a huge relief even though it isn't very good, and it's not even halfway through. No thanks.
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
Why is this shoegaze while Sonic Youth is noise? From the reviews I was expecting intolerable cacophony, and I was pleasantly surprised. They learned what a song is since Isn't Anything (and I think I missed Loveless), and I gave that a 3, so I might have to round up for this one.
Pixies
3/5
I had never heard this one, which is odd, but I can see why. There is nothing that this one does that the earlier albums don't do better. Now I really wish I'd given Surfer Rosa a 5, as Doolittle is a solid 4 and this is a 3.
B.B. King
5/5
I had no idea the blues could be so joyful. This is a lot of fun.
The Who
3/5
I can see how you'd hate it if you were expecting a rock album. I found it appealingly goofy, but I can't say that I love it.
Traffic
2/5
I guess it was a brave move in 1970 to go with the prog-folk-jazz sound in the face of ubiquitous blues rock, but that doesn't mean I want to listen to it.
Deep Purple
2/5
No thanks. 1970 was a tough year.
ABBA
4/5
Not sure why anyone else bothered to make pop music in the 80s when ABBA had the genre covered by 1981. I admire their effort to move on from dance tunes; I'm giving it a 4 because I don't love them all, but I am looking forward to One of Us coming up on my kitchen playlist.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
This is reminiscent of a good Elvis Costello album, but it isn't one. Blue Chair is excellent, though, and I'm always happy to listen to an album produced by Nick Lowe, since he's otherwise not on the list, grrr. Give me Imperial Bedroom soon, please.
The Jam
5/5
One of those albums where I'm not even sure why the singles were considered to be better than the rest of it--why isn't Set the House Ablaze a keeper? 5 stars, no question.
It's amazing how the brain retains every note of an album you haven't heard in full in 40 years, if you listen to it enough when you're young. Should probably have done that with Shakespeare's sonnets or the periodic table or something.
Iron Maiden
3/5
Devendra Banhart
2/5
Don't quit your day job
Soft Cell
3/5
Wow, Tainted Love, the ur-One Hit Wonder of the 80s, is actually the blandest song on the album. Not surprising, I guess, when you consider that the British electropop scene in the early 80s was dominated by dull albums like Dare and that Echo and the Bunnymen one. I can definitely see young Morrissey drawing some inspiration from the darker corners here as well--all of which is not to say that I liked it all that much, just that I found it kind of fascinating.
5/5
Can't argue with that
Willie Nelson
4/5
Willie Nelson's voice makes any song sound like it was etched in stone.
Massive Attack
2/5
4/5
I'm not at all a member of the cult, and the first half put me to sleep, so most of these stars are for the band.
Thelonious Monk
4/5
I liked it more the more attention I paid, which I sometimes find it hard to do with jazz.
Dr. Octagon
2/5
Treading the fine line between stupid and clever. I wasn't listening closely enough to be offended, but the grooves are pleasant and I can definitely see its influence on others.
The Psychedelic Furs
3/5
Probably not their best album, but really not bad for London in 1981
Deep Purple
4/5
The Beach Boys
3/5
I get that they were trying new things, but this did not grab me. But it was short!
Public Enemy
3/5
Not as good as the others, but worth listening to.
Massive Attack
3/5
This is better than Protection, and their pastiche game is strong (I always like a good Fiddler on the Roof reference) but the actual music made by them is still pretty boring. To wit, the best song (Be Thankful for What You've Got) is a cover. But overall I was pleasantly surprised. 3.5
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
4/5
The Muppets jug band has some serious chops
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Everything apart from the hits is standard southern blues-rock. Yawn. (It's never a good sign when the music improves when the album ends--I got Cinnamon Girl.)
The Mamas & The Papas
3/5
Those apostrophes will never cease to irk me, but California Dreamin' lives in my head for about half of every year. The rest is filler.
The Modern Lovers
5/5
This is an absolutely essential album. Yeah, it's basically a Velvet Underground knockoff (hey, he was young) but without the drugs and with a cheerful spirit, which of course he has honed to a fine point over the years. I can see how you'd wonder what the big deal was if you never heard anything else Jonathan did, though.
And if course Roadrunner is an anthem for those of us from Massachusetts--there was an effort a while back to make it the state rock song--so some of us are biased.
This is for the Brits: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/jul/20/popandrock5
Steve Winwood
2/5
The only reason you'd have to listen to this album is if it is 1980 and you possess a radio and you have no choice. Otherwise no thanks.
The Dictators
3/5
Silly, fun power pop
The Prodigy
2/5
I don't think electronic dance music is completely unnecessary but this is boring and annoying.
Sarah Vaughan
5/5
Her voice is gorgeous and I liked the spontaneity of the live performance. No complaints here.
Sufjan Stevens
3/5
I guess I knew the song Chicago, but I'd never heard this or any other Sufjan Stevens album. I do, however, have a passing familiarity with the art-rock gang Black Country, New Road, and I was under the impression that they were making new-sounding music. Turns out they sound a lot like this guy! It's too long and self-important, but it's possible that he really is making a contribution to music and it's pleasant to listen to.
Cyndi Lauper
5/5
Hit after hit after hit. Hits I'd forgotten about, hits on my kitchen playlist, hits you hear in the drugstore, hits I don't particularly like. The pinnacle of 80s pop, making the highest and best use of the synths and drum machines that plagued the charts. I'm particularly fond of All Through the Night, which will support the underappreciated Jules Shear for the rest of his days.
(For extra credit, to fully grasp Cyndi's artistry, listen to the originals of the 3 songs that had been recorded previously: Prince's When You Were Mine, The Brains' Money Changes Everything, and Shear's All Through the Night.)
Orange Juice
3/5
Oh, I remember that song! One thing that always strikes me about early-80s pop is how slow it is; it's hard to imagine dancing to it, but we probably did. The rest of it is pretty generic British pop of the era, and no, you do not need to hear it before you die but it won't kill you.
Minor Threat
4/5
It's the Replacements without a sense of humor, right? It's well executed and all that, and Ian MacKaye is an upstanding dude, but now I'm going to listen to Replacements Stink (which is even shorter and should be on this list).
Leonard Cohen
3/5
It is tricky to set Leonard Cohen's poems to music without making them sound like dirges (which they sometimes actually are), but this goes way overboard with the synths and drum machines. I'm glad we have several other examples so I can safely say this is nowhere near his best album, and it's not the fault of the songs, it's the damn 80s.
Foo Fighters
2/5
I didn't realize that the Foo Fighters started as a one-man band, which I guess is a little impressive. I will, however, stand by my position that they are the dullest rock band to emerge in my adult lifetime. Making boring music is a hell of a way to process Kurt's death.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
That's more like it: low-key, tuneful musical accompaniment to chronic depression. This one has a couple of classics too.
Joe Ely
4/5
Hey, hipster alt-country didn't come from nowhere; Joe Ely is obviously essential to the tattooed bearded dudes with guitars that haunt us to this day. This is the real deal.
ABBA
4/5
Happy birthday to me! This is like a big cake with maybe a little too much raspberry filling and the frosting turns your tongue blue, but who cares.
Gang Of Four
4/5
Not bad, but not as good as their later stuff and not as good as the Buzzcocks. 3.5
Black Flag
3/5
I get it, it's important and all that, but I really prefer punk bands that don't take themselves so seriously.
Talking Heads
5/5
It has been shown that people of all ages identify the era when they were 12-13 as the time when music was best; for those of us born in 1965 it's objectively true. My relationship with Talking Heads is complex, but I have absolutely no complaints about this album, and I think their oeuvre really does benefit from listening in order (and, like me, you will hate them by the end). But this album is all hope and promise and good ideas. (Good thing they abandoned the ska angle, though)
Tom Waits
3/5
Nice album for a long drive. Would have been a 4 if we'd been driving at night.
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
Tiresome, tinny, irritating. I guess I just wasn't in the mood.
Cream
3/5
This is not the blues sludge that I expected, but it still doesn't do much for me.
T. Rex
4/5
Ok, they have two songs, a slow one and a fast one, but they're both pretty great. Just imagine hearing it in 1971!
The Specials
3/5
Sonic Youth
4/5
There's too much of it and it gets pretty repetitive, but I found it surprisingly listenable.
Fela Kuti
4/5
Excellent album to cook dinner to, unless you include the bonus track and singe the potatoes.
Aerosmith
4/5
Starts out wicked strong then deteriorates, much like the band's career. I liked it better than Toys, which was a solid 3, so this is a 3.5.
Wilco
4/5
This is like one of those all-over-the-place Beatles albums with four different songwriters, except that there's just the one. I'm sure I liked this album a lot until the next two came along, and it still has some fine moments, especially on disc 1.
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
It's kind of remarkable that it took 40 years after Tusk was released for them to kick Lindsey and his self-indulgent weirdness out of the band. I love Lindsey but he's really not a team player.
But while everyone focuses on Lindsey and his bathroom, the real story is Christine's (and, sure, Stevie's) brilliance. If this were like that Outkast album and had one disc of their songs and one of Lindsey's, you'd have one album of gorgeous pop songs, some of them huge hits and some under-the-radar beauties that bring the 70s right back, and one album of experimental oddities that still sound fresh today.
Paul Simon
2/5
Cultural appropriation and boycott-breaking aside, I would gladly spend the rest of the day listening to Youssou N'Dour, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Linda Ronstadt and Los Lobos without Paul Simon's irritating voice and silly ditties.
2/5
The kind of music that makes me appreciate silence. No.
Suede
3/5
Supergrass
5/5
Finally, a Britpop band I can unironically get behind. Such a contrast with yesterday's Suede, which was too dull to even comment on. This is really fun.
The Blue Nile
2/5
Holy cow, it's the progenitor of Coldplay and Sting! Brits really have a high tolerance for noodly pablum.
Soft Machine
1/5
Of all the various kinds of nonsense in here I like the jazz nonsense the best, but the bar is very low.
Fats Domino
5/5
Ella Fitzgerald
4/5
Gershwins 5, Ella 5, but I have to knock off a point for Nelson Riddle and his overbearing orchestration.
Rage Against The Machine
3/5
Funny how technical skill, middle school political analysis, and volume (plus a Harvard degree) don't necessarily add up to interesting songs. Big meh from me.
Radiohead
3/5
I'm not sure why this is on the list (according to the index I've been using it isn't, but that must be outdated.) It's a bunch of atmospheric B-sides that surely appeal to the diehards, but I didn't need to hear them.
Miles Davis
4/5
I guess it's a measure of this album's influence that I can hear this as pleasant background music and not wildly experimental weirdness. I liked it, but not 90 minutes' worth, but what do I know.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
3/5
Pretty fuzzy for 1985. I liked the rest of the album better than the big hit, which I always found to be a snooze, but it still gets pretty tedious.
Iggy Pop
3/5
A couple good songs and a lot of Bowie's outtakes. I think I prefer the Stooges.
David Bowie
4/5
Seriously, where is the David Bowie jukebox musical? Can't you just imagine a series of actors in various wacky costumes flying around a stage to a loosely-constructed plot, accompanied by these raging showtunes? I'm giving this one a 4, between Low and Ziggy Stardust. Only 4 to go!
Carole King
5/5
It's a good thing this site doesn't use cookies or I would give some serious shit to the 1-star reviewer who said these were covers. This is some grade-A songwriting, and while many of the songs were the wallpaper of 1970s radio, even the ones that were not huge hits (both for her and for other people) are beautiful.
George Michael
3/5
There is definitely plenty of bland easy listening here, but a couple of songs held my attention. He never quite equaled the brilliance of Careless Whisper but he's making an effort here. Edit: hold the phone! The best song (They Won't Go When I Go) is a Stevie Wonder cover, oh well.
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
1/5
No thanks
Rush
2/5
I can't believe I made it through an entire Rush album. It gets a couple of stars for technical skill and Geddy Lee being a mensch and a big Blue Jays fan, but don't make me do it again.
Bauhaus
3/5
Crash bang moan groan
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
So sweet and innocent! And I loved Rock Box.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
This was less annoying than I remembered (although I did groan audibly at "hi there!"); the production isn't too overwhelming and the songs are ok. As monster albums of my college years go, I'd put it above Graceland and well below Cyndi.
Alice Cooper
4/5
Wow, this is fantastic. School's Out is just bait for the weirdest collection of tunes and styles ever, all expertly executed. I really hope Lenny appreciated it.
The Velvet Underground
3/5
Having seen Jonathan Richman just last night, I have to give VU credit for everyone they inspired, but I found this one pretty unlistenable.
CHVRCHES
3/5
Ray Charles
3/5
Genre is meaningless, but it's hard to find the country and western (or Ray Charles for that matter) under all that Big Band. But you can see how these could be good songs if they just let the guy sing them.
The Waterboys
3/5
Celtic roots music, why not
Billie Holiday
3/5
Maybe it's churlish to criticize a Billie Holiday album, but this is like listening to her sing the phone book (with an army of strings in the back). I guess she ran out of Gershwins and Ellingtons and Berlins by the time she made this, but these songs are just no good. Listen to any other album instead--I'm enjoying All or Nothing at All.
Wilco
4/5
I'm trying to remember why I liked this album so much back then--was it just Jesus Etc.? The noise is noisy, there are some good tunes, but it doesn't really cohere. I read the reviews and I kind of agree with all of them.
The Who
5/5
I'm not going to quibble, except to note that the best songs are not the ones that dominated the radio.
Little Simz
3/5
Joy Division
3/5
I sat through 40 minutes of soul-sucking tedium and all I got was this lousy T-shirt
Fatboy Slim
2/5
Great start! Just write some melodies and some words and you'll have songs.
Everything But The Girl
3/5
They had one nice song, which isn't on this album, and recorded it over and over, so it felt like it was.
The Clash
4/5
When your introduction to the Clash was Combat Rock, this comes as a pleasant shock. The first of the two records was such a rager that I was sorry I'd never heard it all the way through before (Hateful is especially charming) but it definitely started to drag by the end of side 3, so I have to knock off a point.
Eels
2/5
Boring 90s music.
Gang Starr
3/5
This is nice--retro beats, clever rhymes, one dude's from Boston. No complaints.
John Grant
2/5
I'd never heard of this guy, but I guess his contribution was that he inspired a generation of bearded guitar dudes to say jeez, I could make a better record than that with my eyes closed, and they did. Thanks from Bon Iver, Father John Misty, and all those guys, no thanks from me. (It would have been cool if he'd sung it in Icelandic, though).
The Cars
5/5
No matter how many times I hear them, those first chords of Just What I Needed put me on a beach on the Cape with my dance group in the summer of 1978 (the best year for music ever).
That said, this is not a nostalgia rating. The genius of The Cars is that they all grew up in different times and places with different musical interests--one was in the Modern Lovers and worshipped VU, one grew up listening to classic country--and created something that sounded totally new. That may not be evident to the youngsters who file them under New Wave, but they invented that sound. And while everyone goes on about Elliot's solo in Just What I Needed, it's his country jam in Best Friend's Girl that really gets me.
Michael Jackson
4/5
I've always liked this better than Thriller but it all goes to hell when Paul shows up.
Throbbing Gristle
2/5
Most of this is the kind of noise I associate with impenetrable art installations (but hey, even that had to come from somewhere), but then much of side 2 is positively listenable. It's a bit eye-rolling now, but nobody was doing this in 1978, so this is a high 2.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
1/5
Shoot me now
The Youngbloods
3/5
That was a strange collection of sounds, but they were all recognizable as music, so that's a plus.
James Brown
4/5
Not the energy level I was expecting from a James Brown concert, but that's a me problem
Waylon Jennings
5/5
So pure and classic. This is what all those alt-country dudes are aiming for
Sigur Rós
4/5
Radiohead meets BCNR on a lava field at the winter solstice. If that's your thing, this is it.
Heaven 17
3/5
I never knew they spun off from the Human League, but this is definitely an improvement over Dare, and Fascist Groove Thang has some staying power. Still not enough to push it past a 3, though.
The Go-Betweens
3/5
Perfectly nice pop album, but not essential if you're not Australian
Van Morrison
3/5
Heck, I can't rate this. It's always been there, and I guess it's good for what it is, but it does sound like one long song.
Beach House
2/5
what a snooze
Caetano Veloso
3/5
I guess this guy had a long career, as I remember buying an album of his in the 90s (back when I bought albums because some reviewer told me to), so I guess this was his auspicious beginning. It's pretty interesting, I guess.
Steely Dan
3/5
Still not my thing, sorry
Johnny Cash
4/5
KISS
3/5
This album is no good, but its influence is inarguable.
Oasis
3/5
I had to look up "shambolic" to be sure it meant what I thought it did and yes, it describes Oasis perfectly. This album is messy and chaotic, but it has a few good songs (I would appreciate a Gallagher-free cover of Live Forever)-- the rocking songs really rock and the ballads are unlistenable. I guess it demonstrates promise, I'm not sure of what.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
All over the map, but most of it is good. I really only knew Nick Cave to be lugubrious, so this was a nice surprise.
The Who
3/5
It's amazing that The Who ever convinced anyone they were a rock band. I haven't heard this in forever and man is it weird, even by rock-opera standards. But it's better than The Wall, I guess? (Can it be that Quadrophenia isn't on the list?)
Derek & The Dominos
2/5
Another double album? Another artist who turns out to be a schmuck? I just picked up Claire Dederer's book Monsters, about how to deal with art by terrible people, from a little free library and I haven't read it yet, but I think the answer is I'm supposed to tell Eric Clapton to fuck right off, which I am happy to do. (It gets one point above the absolute minimum for being a blues album that is not all covers.)
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
Queen
3/5
So interesting -- Brian May and Freddie Mercury are both completely unhinged, but in very different ways. It looks like Freddie's instincts took over for their later work (resulting in the big hits) but it's fascinating to see what happens when you let each of them loose.
The Charlatans
3/5
Pleasant Britpop with a bit of jangle, then it totally veers off into oddities
Lou Reed
3/5
I can see why I only know the singles. I think Bowie and Ronson were trying to make Lou Reed British.
R.E.M.
2/5
How boring can you get and still call it rock?
It's the curse of the Gen X aging hipster that we experienced the decline of our essential bands (yes, all of them) in real time, so we cannot evaluate each album independently. However, even if I weren't comparing this to Murmur or Reckoning I would still think it sucks.
Finley Quaye
2/5
Weak tea. Also I was distracted by the title because Raul Malo died today and I just wanted to listen to the Mavericks.
5/5
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeah yeah! 1978 was the best year for music ever. I'm sure I didn't appreciate it at the time.
The Stooges
3/5
The Stone Roses
4/5
The missing (by me) link between 80s indie and 90s Britpop. Very nice.
Tim Buckley
1/5
no thanks
Boston
2/5
I was brainwashed by the Boston-area radio stations of the 70s to think this was worth listening to. Turns out that the only local heroes they had were these guys and Aerosmith, at least until the Cars came along. It's not the harbinger of power pop, it's the last gasp of dinosaur rock.
The Smiths
3/5
Morrissey yodels, Johnny jangles, the songs meander. I'd like the Smiths a lot more if their songs were tighter, but you can't argue with that band.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
He has earned his gloom, but it's still kind of tedious. I like his voice better than Leonard Cohen's.
That said, I'm fond of him. I once spent hours at an art exhibit by someone named Nick Cave and had no trouble believing that our guy here, along with the music and the writing, made larger-than-human sized statues out of various forms of detritus called Soundsuits. Turned out it was a completely different guy.
Frank Sinatra
4/5
Once again, here's Nelson Riddle and his orchestra drowning out some solid (and some great) songs and a perfect voice. And this rendition of Anything Goes, a song that is dear to my heart, is way too slow and syrupy. It would dishonor my father's memory to give this less than a 4 but I didn't like it that much.
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
The singles are ok but the shtick is ridiculous.
Gil Scott-Heron
4/5
We got There's No Place Like America Today on July 4 and now this on the solstice? And he thought things were bad in 1974? Anyway, cool album. They don't make 'em like that anymore.
King Crimson
3/5
Perfectly nice if you weren't expecting songs, or even necessarily music. I actually liked it better than the usual prog noodling.
The Who
5/5
This album is why I liked The Who way back when, but the original version excludes all the weird Tommy stuff, which is why I don't like them much now. This rating is for the original vinyl:4.5
Elvis Costello
4/5
Well, yeah, if you don't like Elvis Costello you're not going to like this. By the mid-90s I had completely written him off and was shocked at what a solid batch of clever tunes this was, almost like the old days. (But I would gently suggest that the haters listen to Get Happy!!)
Santana
3/5
Fatboy Slim
3/5
Listened on a bus to Boston, so the bit from WBCN (it's real) warmed my heart. Good bus music, some great grooves, but I probably wouldn't have listened to an hour of it in any other circumstance. But since the Housemartins aren't on the list I did London 0 Hull 4 for the rest of the ride and that was great, so the stars are for Norman Cook's oeuvre generally. 3.5
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Metallica
2/5
It's boring and I'm not in the mood. I'm sure there are better Metallica albums and we will have to listen to them all anyway.
3/5
Holy music hall, this is the Britishest thing I've ever heard. I'd been craving a Kinks album after 5 Beatles, 4 Who, and 2 Stones, but I don't think this is the one. A couple good tunes, though.
Doves
2/5
Dull
AC/DC
3/5
Two great songs, all the rest is dreck
Bon Jovi
4/5
This album (or at least the hits) lifted my spirits in 1986 and it still makes me smile. A few thoughts:
1. They have hair, but this is not metal; it's pop rock. There was plenty of hard rock/metal out there in the 80s, but it had the disadvantage of alienating half the population. Bon Jovi's great contribution was to make rock music that was appealing to girls.
2. Don't blame Jon and Richie if you don't like the songs, blame Desmond Child.
3. If you are inclined to knock off a point when the artist is an asshole (Clapton, Morrissey, Kid Rock, et al) you could consider that JBJ is a living saint. Unlike certain other NJ denizens who talk a big game but don't do anything, Jon and Dorothea are out there building housing and feeding people.
All in all that's a 4. I know I'm in the minority among civilized people.
Electric Light Orchestra
5/5
Once you hear the resemblance between ELO and pre-disco Bee Gees you can't unhear it, but that just adds to its appeal. Brilliant, if a little bloated.
Blue Cheer
2/5
I'm not going to argue with what anyone fighting in Vietnam wanted to listen to, but I don't need this in my life.
Scissor Sisters
3/5
Fun disco album, I'm just surprised that they're American
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
5/5
That's more like it. The last time I saw Elvis he was playing with The Imposters, which is the Attractions without Bruce Thomas (so the band onstage had a combined age of about 467), they played nothing recorded after 1982, including much of this album, and it absolutely blazed. I vowed never to see him again because there's no point. If you don't like this, you just don't like Elvis Costello, and I guess I can live with that but I will judge you.
ZZ Top
3/5
pretty fun but they do all sound the same
Neil Young
4/5
Never heard of this (but what do I know) but now I get what those No Depression/alt-country dudes were going for. No arguments, and I don't care that he can't sing. It's actually kind of charming.
The Band
4/5
Arctic Monkeys
4/5
Hawkwind
1/5
WTF
Small Faces
2/5
Homegrown British culture does not have a lot to recommend it.
Bob Dylan
4/5
TV On The Radio
3/5
I tried twice, but I couldn't find anything interesting about this album.
Iron Butterfly
3/5
The first side is oddly appealing. The second side, well, you know.
Eurythmics
3/5
Their musical accomplishment notwithstanding, I was never a big fan of their cold sound.
Radiohead
4/5
Fela Kuti
5/5
The inspiration I need to get out there and protest ICE in my neighborhood, but it's a little alarming to get this today.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Kind of painful to listen to, but beautiful
Crosby, Stills & Nash
3/5
Big snooze. Lacks oomph. I have always liked Helplessly Hoping, though.
The Damned
4/5
Sure, it's a punk album, but with 5-minute songs and hummable tunes and dextrous solos, none of which sound very punk to me. The punk part is just in the attitude, I guess. I enjoyed it.
Stephen Stills
2/5
Couldn't possibly listen to an hour of this, especially not today when I did not have a spare hour. Inoffensive, though.
Jeff Beck
2/5
The layers of appropriation involved in white blues dudes covering a song from Show Boat are giving me a headache. I can live without this.
Bob Dylan
5/5
My father had this album, along with one by Joan Baez, despite having no interest in or knowledge of popular music after Sinatra; he probably wanted to know what the fuss was about. I think he had a secret sympathy for the folk song army (his favorite record was one of protest songs sung by Paul Robeson), but actual protest was a bridge too far for him. That may have been the ultimate function of this album: to drag centrist liberal economists along.
I'm not a monster, of course I'm giving it a 4.5, but I saw the movie and my favorite part was when the Kinks came on. Also I've been hearing a lot of Jesse Welles recently and while there would be no Jesse Welles without Dylan, Jesse manages to inject a little more Lehrer-esque wit into his biting political analysis. But of course I appreciate Bobby Z's contribution to the discourse.
Finally, just a note that our town is under siege by ICE and we could yet invade Greenland and this is at least the third album this week that has really addressed the moment. This randomizer is kind of creeping me out.
Dizzee Rascal
3/5
SQUIER!! I didn't know anyone actually sampled the vocals on The Big Beat, the most-sampled rock song ever, which is funding Billy Squier's retirement in the Hamptons.
My father would have been endlessly amused that there are musical subgenres called grime and grunge and they have nothing to do with each other.
I know nothing about British hiphop but I think this is pretty good. 3.5
Led Zeppelin
5/5
it's iconic and it's not endless, so sure
Nas
3/5
This is a little too low-key to keep my attention, but I'm sure if I focused on the rhymes I'd be impressed. I guess I'll try again.
I recently read Mark Ronson's memoir about DJing in NY in the 90s, which comes with a 19-hour playlist if you want to follow along. The World Is Yours is on it and I agree that that's a great track but I can't picture it on a dance floor. 3.5
Erykah Badu
3/5
I can't help comparing this to D'Angelo's Voodoo, which is not on this list but really is better. They sound similar (thanks to Questlove, I assume) but this feels more rambling and unfocused.
The Last Shadow Puppets
3/5
Never heard of this. It's Arctic Monkeys with an orchestra? Why?
Bruce Springsteen
2/5
So the first Springsteen album we get is one that no one likes, so I'm not in the minority. As I always say, I like everything about the guy except those damn songs. These ones are particularly hackneyed and tendentious, and we already have a Steve Earle.
Pink Floyd
2/5
Along with being tedious and pretentious, it's also just plain boring. Naptime for me.
Anita Baker
4/5
Hey, I own this one on vinyl! What a voice. Instead of the jazz career she could have had, she chose to make records that sold, so yeah, it's a little commercial-sounding, but it's still miles better than, say, that Tina Turner album of the same era.
Buck Owens
5/5
Sometimes you have to listen to the real thing.
Harry Nilsson
3/5
We get the theme song from Russian Doll on Groundhog Day? This randomizer is really fucking with me. As Felicia Anton (z"l) used to say, it's all linked up.
Why don't I appreciate Nilsson more? Because of Without You and Lime in the Coconut, that's why. I'm giving a 4 to side 1 and a 2 to side 2 for an average of 3, which feels low but the bad songs sure are bad.
Willie Nelson
4/5
I'm really tired of concept albums, but these songs are very lovely.
Todd Rundgren
3/5
A true weirdo. Sometimes I don't know what to feel.
Side 1: this is just nuts
Side 2: some of this is gorgeous (and wow, I really thought that was Daryl Hall on vocals) and some is nuts
The nuts:gorgeous ratio is fairly high, I think.
Kings of Leon
1/5
Nails on a chalkboard, but I made it through
Johnny Cash
5/5
Clearly this is one where the relationship with the audience is the point, more than the songs or the performance itself, and it is extremely moving. Hard to believe that Nixon invited him to play at the White House after this.
Koffi Olomide
3/5
I'm trying to figure out how many African albums (not "Afrobeat," not Graceland) are on this list--10? 12? and determine whether this is really in the top 10 or 12 African albums. I'm guessing the answer is no--there appears to be no Angelique Kidjo??
Perfectly nice to listen to, I guess
Ash
4/5
Barry Adamson
3/5
To be fair, I don't like movie music when it's in movies; many of my Letterboxd reviews start with CUT THAT AWFUL MUSIC! I'm not a big fan of Dogma either but they do have a point about background music that the characters can't hear.
That said, why not just score a movie? Or get your many famous friends to make a movie? I don't think this music would be too intrusive in this putative movie.
GZA
3/5
Neneh Cherry
4/5
Good lord, I still know every word of this; I must have played it a lot in 1989 (I still seem to have it). Also, one of my mothers-in-law was friends with Moki Cherry and babysat baby Neneh in Copenhagen in the 60s. All that said, much of it sounds a little cheesy now, but Buffalo Stance is still a banger, of course.
Blondie
5/5
While Blondie are worshiped now as punk icons, my first memory of hearing them dates from the summer of 78 (best year ever, once again) when my only source of music was top-40 radio. How did they pull that off? (The same way Nirvana did--accessible songs and cute singer.)
Totally holds up. Heart of Glass is a miracle, underwear ad notwithstanding, and I love 11:59.
The Incredible String Band
1/5
I am speechless
Solange
4/5
Led Zeppelin
4/5
A little more jamming and noodling than I would like, but you can't argue with The Immigrant Song.
Kelela
3/5
Pleasant background sounds, like listening to a babbling brook. (Brief detour while I consider whether Turn to Dust really echoes Taylor Swift's Style [resident Swiftie disagrees]).
Beck
4/5
Kind of groovy, kind of snoozy
Depeche Mode
4/5