Something I’ve circled many times in my musical lifetime yet never fully sat down to listen to, until now. Vastly prefer the instrumental stuff to the stuff with vocals, as it feels like a stand-in for a movie score (hello Sofia Coppola’s Virgin Suicides) as opposed to some adult-contemporary, ‘90s French neu-pop (hello track 3, “All I Need.”) I do realize that this record is a big deal and I’ll be spending tonight digging into the context of “why,” but it didn’t gel with me overall! I can still get it being on an essential list, but it’s not on mine.

After the first few songs the rest of this became fairly forgettable. Hard to pinpoint what it is about this one that makes it essential, though I do like the proto-Talking Heads pieces sprinkled throughout.

A classic. Every song is so precise and aware of what it’s trying to do. Stevens has a voice like no other - first time I heard Father and Son I cried. I cried every other time, but I cried then, too.

Never heard this one before, and was shocked to find an album majority-produced by Kanye appearing in front of me now of all times - modern-day context (Kan-text?) aside, Common has a good project here! The intro track is a banger way to start, with the way it all comes together with the strings. Whole album works, no skips. Not a Common fan but I’ve really mostly only seen him as either a feature or an actor. I’ll return to this.

Not super familiar with Stipe and co. but enjoyed this album, especially in the back half. Standout was probably Sitting Still, but 9-9 and Perfect Circle are strong contenders.

I had heard the big Sabbath singles and all of Masters of Reality prior to this but I had no idea their debut album was cooking this hard. Instantly went out and bought the vinyl today, so that’s evidence enough of how much I dug it. Maybe 2025 will be the year I get really into heavy metal, the genre formerly known as “bummer rock.” (We should reclaim that genre name!!!)

Hrrrm. Only ever knew that one big Elvis Costello song prior to this - never loved that one, and don’t really love this. Feels like he’s filling a boomer-sized hole long left vacant by Buddy Holly and soon-to-be-recently left vacant by The King (who died basically right after this album released, coincidence???) and while I love both of *them*… this nostalgia fuel is… not my thing. Highlight: The melody in Alison’s chorus when he goes “Alisooooon, I know- this world- is kill-ing you.” I like the way it sounds.

The UK release (the intended release? not sure!) features a ten-plus-minute track of Mick Jagger just riffin’, and boy did it get old! The US release has “Paint It Black” right at the top, which, sure, that works - I like the track but prefer the UK’s opener “Mother’s Little Helper” as an introduction to the album. Album is a little too long and aimless in either release, but there are some undeniable classics such as “Out of Time” and “Under My Thumb” - I’m going to go with “Lady Jane” for my standout since I prefer the strings-first cut of “Out of Time,” and “Lady Jane” was a solid discovery from this exercise.

First listen left me mostly shrugging this off as a 3 but there were some melodies and musical choices that stuck with me so I revisited and ended up looking into the companion album, and nearly watched the Pitchfork minidoc on the band and album. I’ve never been a huge Lips-head but grew up loving Yoshimi, and “Do You Realize??” is a song my mom showed me that has always stuck with me due to its existential lyrics. Not saying that The Soft Bulletin is going to start me off on my expanded FL journey but *this one* is an album that will stick with me.

So achingly 2013 - all that’s missing was some Bastille playing alongside it. Not for me, even with the Scottish accents slipping through, and it’s not by fault of the musicians. They’re competent and the music is well-made, but I just couldn’t personally latch onto any of it.

The beginning of this album didn’t really grab me but once it was a third or so through, something clicked and I found myself really enjoying PJ Harvey’s raw lyricism and tightrope of genre trends that came with the new century. Some stuff is very ‘90s - it rules. My standout track is “The Mess We’re In” because I’m a Thom Yorke shill, but this is an album that blooms when listened to in whole. Never gave PJ Harvey a try before this but I enjoy the vibes this one gives off.

Amnesiac popping up right after I typed out my review for PJ Harvey and said I was a Thom Yorke shill was funny. I guess it’s hard to be a shill and not have Radiohead’s discography at 100%, so fair enough album generator - this was a blind spot! What a nice surprise! This thing is grimy and filled to the brim with jazz. Really dug it and it wasn’t anything like I expected. “Knives Out” was a blast, “Pyramid Song” was spectacular, and what a finale with “Life in a Glasshouse.” Should be a 4.5, but alas.

“D’ya like jazz? 👈😎👈” Weird listen! The production was frozen in time, in all its 1999 glory - not really my thing but I can respect it. Back half is far more acid jazz and intriguing than the front.

I think this is good! Love a big band sound, love that this was his seventh album since debuting two years earlier. Not something I can see myself returning to consistently as the covers are only able to reach the heights of being well-done covers, but Ray Charles’ career overall has a substantial amount of hits that I love and this album showcases his ability to match several different energies across its runtime.

Not a fan! The lead single “Don’t You Want Me” is fun for what it is, but this genre isn’t sustainable for an entire album, at least as presented here. “Everybody needs love and adventure / Everybody needs cash to spend / Everybody needs love and affection / Everybody needs 2 or 3 friends.” When I was listening, I was constantly put off by the shallow lyricism, but that might just be personal taste.

Perfectly fine! It didn’t stick with me as much as I thought it would from the start, and faces the same problems I have with a lot of indie music from around the same time.

I mean, c’mon. It’s really good! BUT… Not even B-tier Beatles if I’m being critical (fine, it’s lower B-tier.) Still, With The Beatles *was* one of the first Beatles records I really grew on to as a teenager. Remember loving the stretch from “Till There Was You” to “I Wanna Be Your Man” growing up, in particular, but there isn’t a bad output on the thing. Best original composition probably goes to “All My Loving,” but typing this out I’m already second guessing myself. These guys aren’t half bad!

Another one of the albums on this list that has me reevaluating how I’ve gone this far with so little Neil Young in my musical oeuvre. For a 24-year-old Canadian former member of Buffalo Springfield, this is legendary stuff. Seven tracks, all killer, and he saves the best for last with “Cowgirl In the Sand,” an eight-minute guitar-fueled epic that he wrote in one day alongside “Cinnamon Girl” and “Down By the River,” all while stricken with a fever. Cool stuff. Undiluted rock’n’roll for the ages.

Just about as influential as they come, more or less perfecting a sound that would define a decade. Very fun album, will be checking out his discog more closely! My standout for this is “M.E.”

I love her vocal inflections; equal parts Bob and Paul Simon, and yet this music feels like an entirely new experience. For an album pretty much standing against the idea of a song having typical song structure by fully rejecting choruses, each song still stands on its own with some of the most beautiful lyrics I’ve ever heard.

Perfectly fine if not a little dated. Don’t really love the opening track or “Only Happy When It Rains” but the rest is a bit more cohesive. It does all kinda blend together by the end, though.

What a voice! Not generally my thing to just throw on, but this debut record has something special to it.

The raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops, the raindrops. Anybody else, or is it just me? “Sail To The Moon,” “Backdrifts,” “Where I End and You Begin,” “A Punch Up At A Wedding,” “Myxomatosis.” So many bangers!

Enjoyable rock that was abrasive and edgy, but ultimately hasn’t stuck with me! Will have to dig deeper into Captain Beefheart’s bag of goodies and revisit this.

Let’s goooooo - Tribe is a group I love, but I haven’t ever really dug into this debut record. It was (shocker!) an incredible first outing for the group who already had a rock-solid foundation to build and riff off of. There’s something really special about this era of hip-hop that groups like ATCQ perfected, and the albums are as timeless as ever all these decades later as a result. Wanna give this a 9/10 but again, no half stars, so this is gonna snag the often-wanted, rarely-achieved 5/5 from me.

Fun music to listen to while you do homework or something!

Pretty sure I’ve never heard a full Doors record prior to this but I know all the big singles and enjoyed the songs I didn’t know. For a debut to contain “Break On Through (To The Other Side)” and “The End,” that’s a crazy accomplishment!

Classic country is a formidable beast, and this album is a perfect showcase of why. Waylon brings the thunder, and like the best explosive thunderheads, it’s on and over before you even have time to wrap your head around it.

Something I’ve circled many times in my musical lifetime yet never fully sat down to listen to, until now. Vastly prefer the instrumental stuff to the stuff with vocals, as it feels like a stand-in for a movie score (hello Sofia Coppola’s Virgin Suicides) as opposed to some adult-contemporary, ‘90s French neu-pop (hello track 3, “All I Need.”) I do realize that this record is a big deal and I’ll be spending tonight digging into the context of “why,” but it didn’t gel with me overall! I can still get it being on an essential list, but it’s not on mine.

Never heard a full Jimi album but this didn’t disappoint! A lot stranger and full of consistent deep cuts than expected, and great enough to prompt me to check out the other JHE albums. Nobody could wield a guitar quite the way Jimi did!

This is fun and novelty and the name is cute, but it’s not my particular tempo. Can see it growing on me but it doesn’t have the immediate grip that, say, Waylon Jennings on Honky Tonk Heroes has. Not at all what I’ve lived my life expecting the Flying Burrito Brothers to sound like, might I add.

Woulda been crazy to be a fat guy in the past. Your name Harold? But you’re fat? Nah, you’re not Harold you’re Tubby Rollins. Fats Domino and Fatty Arbuckle really cornered the fat guy market, gotta respect it. The album isn’t streaming so I made it out of a makeshift playlist of Domino singles, and that did the trick. These are some high-grade ‘50s tunes. I do love that he had this album in 1956 and then released an album called This Is Fats literally a year later. Guy’s an absolute legend and one of the main driving forces behind the music we have today - no Beatles or Elvis without Fats!

Technically well-made but it didn’t stick with me; I’ll revisit and see if anything sticks with me further in the future.

It’s The Smiths! Not my favorite record from them but this is a 9/10 either way. Beautiful, and never overstays its welcome.

As much as Britney basically revolutionized pop music, an album musician she is not. I get why it’s an essential listen but… not much going on here just yet in the Spears career.

This was crazy! A little bit of Brian Eno, a little bit of early prog rock in that eleven-minute masterpiece. Scratches an itch I didn’t even know I had… love the weird experimental textures and beautiful musicianship working together in harmony.

As far as concept albums for a never-made TV film about a carpet-layer go, this is one of the better ones. (Magnificent. The biting cynical pop lyrics and song structure unwinding into impromptu jam sessions, and that late-60s rock instrumentation mixed with the brass section, chef’s kiss.)

Pretty good! I didn’t love it on the first listen but I came back to it, and the second listen helped me focus more on the production and harmonies than Simon’s lyrics, which can sometimes be a little goofy. The instrumentation is pretty good! Album is pretty good! “Cars Are Cars” is not!

Pretty good! Not as remarkable as the solo NY records I’ve heard but it’s nice for folksy rock, and offers a different side to what I thought Buffalo Springfield sounded like.

After the first few songs the rest of this became fairly forgettable. Hard to pinpoint what it is about this one that makes it essential, though I do like the proto-Talking Heads pieces sprinkled throughout.

Crazy stuff from the far off land of 1997. Not my typical beat but The Prodigy has a place in my heart, even if I’ve maybe aged out of it. Time is a flat circle, after all.

Why does music have to be so political these days??? 😒

Much more into the Sabbath doom side of metal than I am the Maiden flourishes but there’s no denying the influential nature of this particular release - it has a little bit of everything. My favorite flavor on display here is “Phantom of the Opera,” but it all works really well as a cohesive and coherent rock album front to back.

That track “Intro” reminds me of car commercials. This whole thing feels like something a YouTuber or podcaster would have adopted to be their channel’s theme music. I like the production on some of the tracks (“Crystalised” has a good drum sound, for instance) but the lazy vocals can only do so much in 2025.

Not really my thing!

*AJ Soprano voice* So what, no “Eminence Front”??? I kid. I went through a massive, massive phase with The Who when I was in middle school so I’m quite familiar with these guys. Never heard this live album, though! Did the original track listing here with six tracks clocking in at almost forty minutes, and it is far better at showing off why the band was held as highly as they were compared to the familiar studio cuts. Really love the extended jam sessions, love hearing those rollicking Keith Moon drum hits, that raw Daltry wailing. Now, do I think a live album should be on the essential list? I’m not sure… BUT I think there are certain live records that completely re-contextualize the original subject matter, such as Sufjan Stevens’ Carrie & Lowell live album, and I think the same can be said here. There’s something special about hearing The Who in their original state, right at the start of the 1970s, absolutely raring to go. Good band. I’ll allow this to be considered essential.

Really easy to talk at length even just about the crown jewel on this album ("Papa Was A Rolling Stone") but I'm trying to keep it brief; I love The Temptations, I prefer the wall-knocking funk they would show off compared to their '60s bubblegum pop, and this album is a good balance of both. It's a quick one, just over 35 minutes long with an 11-minute epic placed in the middle, and it works extremely well!

Had to find this one on YouTube; first song is three minutes long and has a minute and a half of preamble before the song even starts so the Ramblin’ namesake tracks. Overall, kind of a perfect example of what makes acts like Guthrie and Dylan so unique in a sea of friendly folk-singin’ faces. The music is good enough but the character isn’t really there and that was almost half the battle to get established as a crucial folk act, at least for me.

It’s fine! It’s dad rock, well-made dad rock.

Gonna be a perfect addition to my karaoke playlist. Hang on, I’m seeing here… A classic album that encapsulates everything I love about the early ‘90s when it comes to the music scene. It’s iconic, beautiful, and endlessly listenable — super difficult to choose a single standout track off of this one.

Really don’t like the weird ‘50s nostalgia thing this guy keeps doing. Second of his albums on this list and I’m still thinking non-essential!!!

Love some classic hip-hop; album is definitely top-heavy with hits but it’s still good across the board and has enough great tracks to make up for the weaker one or two.

One of those albums you know about before you even really know what music is. There are some incredibly great songs on here but the sequencing is something I wish I was more into. I think “Don’t Stop” is mostly just fine and kinda sucks the steam outta the engine between two stone cold masterpieces. “The Chain” is by far the best track on the album… might even be Fleetwood Mac’s best song, in general. Last third of the record after “You Make Loving Fun” is what knocks off a star for me. I’m a Tusk boy, is that gonna be on this list?

Cyndi Lauper is good! The album is a little front-loaded but I can’t hate on anything that has “Time After Time” on it.

One of the most talented voices in pop music history, with albums full of songs that don’t really shift dynamic from one to the next.

The musical whiplash of going from Mariah Carey to Ali Farka Toure is exactly why I love listening to albums off of this list. An astonishing spotlight on a side of blues that I had never heard previously!

I’m neither for or against prog rock, and I’ve never been out to the Czech Republic to check out their music scene so I’m not sure how I feel about Prague rock but… Was ready to just put “No.” if I ended up not liking this album but, unfortunately for my predetermined reviews, this is more of a “Yes.” Well, not a full “Yes” but perhaps a “Maybe?” Feels like 1971 in a can — groovy bass, deft guitar, lyrics about… science-fiction, or fantasy, or… something? Fun!

Some of the most danceable songs in the world here! Stevie Wonder is responsible for a majority of the world’s best songs, who knew!

I got absolutely nothing out of this album, sorry Steve!

I like Tina Turner, nothing but respect for my Acid Queen/Aunty Entity, but this music just doesn’t do anything for me — very 80s, but not in ways that the 80s sound has held up.

MGMT is one of my absolute all-time favorite bands so seeing this pop up on here was a nice surprise! I’m surprised to see this over Congratulations, but maybe that’s still yet to show up! OracSpectac is a pretty flawless album that helped the entire soon to be 2010s indie rock sound go mainstream, and while it isn’t a fiver in relation to the rest of the MGMT discography, it’s gotta be a fiver in relation to this list.

Great dinner party record that night grow on me with repeat listens. Love a sad cowboy!

I mean, c’mon — it’s just vibes! A great album with massive historical significance, and one I can see myself returning to plenty.