I liked: - Use of piano - Balancing melodrama without going overboard - Tasteful use of electronica - Still sounds like Lorde while definitely branching out significantly - Vocal overdubbing, painting a sonic landscape Favorite track: The Louvre

I liked: - Use of keyboard alongside the guitars - Commitment to grooves and motifs - Solos - Song structures and flow I didn't like: - Vocals and lyrics Favorite track: Free Bird

I liked: - Orchestral influences - Vocals and lyrics - Melodic lines - Experimental song structures - The way the rhythm section complements the melody Favorite track: Title Track

I liked: - Blues instrumentation and arrangement - King's voice and guitar playing - The performance of the rhythm section, especially piano and drums - Audience interaction I didn't like: - Live recording Favorite Track: Worry, Worry

I felt I couldn't appreciate the messages of the album fully due to the rock feeling overly hard and the lyrics difficult to understand.

I liked: - Use of piano - Balancing melodrama without going overboard - Tasteful use of electronica - Still sounds like Lorde while definitely branching out significantly - Vocal overdubbing, painting a sonic landscape Favorite track: The Louvre

While I wouldn't say this is at the highest tier of songwriting, I still thorughly enjoyed my experience with the album. Favorite Track: Us v Them

This is not yet the Beatles' best work, but I appreciate both the Folk and Baroque influences on their standard Rock sound. Favorite Track: In My Life

I'm not usually the biggest fan of Grunge, but I appreciated some of the classical rock influnces in this one. I'd say I enjoyed it more than I did "In Utero", so I think I'd give this a 3 out of 5. Favorite Track: Black

Definitely a step up from Rubber Soul, and I really enjoyed the string and horn arrangements by George Martin (I think). Feels a bit incoherent still, and only a handful of the songs I would still listen to, but definitely deserves four stars. Favorite Track: Got To Get You Into My Life

I definitely see the vision he's going for, and I think he executed on it decently well. It just felt inauthentic, and it got a bit tiresome listening to a full album of Costello playing this miserable character. Still enjoyed some of the songs however. Favorite Track: Waiting for the End of the World

I haven't listened to much hip-hop, but I'd say this was a solid introduction. Reminded me a bit of the "talking blues" stuff made by Woody Guthrie and the like. I appreciated having multiple different vocalists. Still felt a little "samey" to me, as someone who doesn't tend to focus on lyrics as much. Favorite Track: What?

Reminded me a bit of Age of the Understatement, although I didn't feel like it did enough with the orchestra in order to stand out. Favorite Track: Drive

I listened to this album multiple times, and it never felt too special to me. I tried to like it, but nothing stood out. Nothing was bad, and I definitely enjoyed the band's sound, especially on the guitar, but it felt a bit too generic to me. Favorite Track: Bullet the Blue Sky

This one was a hard album to rate. It’s certainly a good album, but I don’t think it’s as good as any of even the lesser Beatles work. I liked the arrangement and production, but I found the songs to not be the most interesting. The political aspects weren’t my favorite, not because I disagree, but because it felt kind of virtue-signally to me, like Lennon was against the Vietnam war just because being against the Vietnam was what artists did at the time. Favorite Track: How Do You Sleep?

Sounds very nice. Reminds me a bit of the Grateful Dead with their Americana sound and extended instrumental jams. Doesn’t go above and beyond in any particular aspect, but it doesn’t really need to. Solid four stars. Favorite Track: Down by the River

I find that singer-songwriters tend to be a little hit-or-miss, and how well they are appreciated depends more upon the listener than the artist. This album felt like more of a miss for me personally, but I can see how it would speak more to other people. Favorite Track: Soap Star Joe

Took me a couple of listens to feel like I understood it in the slightest, but this is prog-rock if I've ever heard it. I wasn't even all that surprised to learn that it was inspired by Sibelius. Choosing a favorite track is weird, because this doesn't really have tracks in the traditional sense, but I guess I'd just say Side A? Favorite Track: Close to the Edge (I. The Solid Time of Change, II. Total Mass Retain, III. I Get Up, I Get Down, IV. Seasons of Man)

I’m honestly quite sad that I haven’t listened to this one before. Reminded me a bit of Blue and Graceland. Some things I liked: - Tasteful production. The producer added enough to complement her singing and guitar, without overdoing it. - Chapman’s voice is beautiful and warm-sounding. - The lyrics feel warm and inviting, but then devastating at the same time. Favorite Track: Behind the Wall

This is one of the few times that I hear string arrangements in pop music and I don't cringe a little bit. I find that strings are well suited to the complex arrangements found in classical music, and when they're used in pop music, it's often to give the aesthetic of depth without actual providing any. However, this album felt like it mostly really used the string section to great affect. Other than that, the production was really top tier, but some of the lyrics were far too on the nose for my tastes. Overall, the album was really great at its best, and slightly cringe at its worst. Favorite Track: Atom Dance

I’m probably giving out too many 5s, and I can see the argument for giving this a 4, but this album is truly something epic, and I feel like the sheer scale of it is enough to push it into 5 territory. Favorite Track: You Don’t Love Me

I hadn’t heard of Arcade Fire at all until this challenge, but I definitely intend to explore more of their discography in the future. I really enjoyed this album, and it reminded me of Automatic For The People, which I expected, but also of Bruce Springsteen, which was a pleasant surprise. Favorite Track: Windowsill

This is the first album that I've already listened to, and the easiest 5/5 yet. Choosing a favorite track is hard because almost all of them are top-tier, and "Friend of the Devil", "Box of Rain", and "Truckin'" are all among my favorite songs. However, in the end, I don't think anything can beat the track I ended up choosing. Favorite Track: Ripple

Based on how acclaimed this album is, my expectations were high, but were somehow still surpassed by this great album. I expected the album to be good, but I didn't expect it to be so experimental, political, and full of songs that would be the highlight of almost any other album. Favorite Track: As

Certainly a fun album. Glad I listened, but likely won’t listen to again. Favorite Track: Night Train

Not very interesting to me, and not very memorable. I’ve already forgotten most of the album. Favorite Track: God Put a Smile upon Your Face

It's interesting listening to recordings from the Rolling Stones before they had many of the defining features that made them so special in the first place. I didn't realize how much the Jagger-Richards partnership defined what I appreciated about the Rolling Stones, but here we are. Another interesting observation I had was about how so much of the Stones' "hard rock" sound was just the electric blues being heard by White people for the first time. My favorite track was "Now I've Got a Witness", because the instrumental nature of it forces the band to really explore their own sound. On the whole, it's a fairly standard early 60's rock and roll album. Favorite Track: Now I've Got a Witness

This album sounds very nice. A lot of the major innovations from it sound fairly standard to my 21st century ears, but it's good to remember that the Beach Boys were the first to do many of these things. Solid 4 stars. Favorite Track: Sloop John B

Best swing album I’ve ever listened to. Favorite Track: After Supper

This was my introduction to punk music, and from what I’ve heard, this is a pretty appropriate introduction. I certainly liked the way they flip on its head the classic rock trend of trying to make the music into something more epic and grand than it needs to be. Favorite Track: Beat on the Brat

This one is right on the edge of being a 5 for me. Lovely music and a beautiful message. Side A was probably a very high 4, while Side B is just a standard 4. Favorite Track: The Heathen

IT’S THRILLER!!!!!!! Favorite Track: Wanna Be Starting Something

This one is a difficult one to rate, because it feels intuitively like a 4, but it reminded me a lot of My Aim is True by Elvis Costello, to which I gave a 3. In the end, I decided that this felt more authentic than My Aim is True, so I gave a 4. Favorite Track: In The Colloseum