Creedence Cosmo’s Factory 1970 I was 13 when these songs were on the radio and they were ubiquitous. I prefer rock over blues and I don’t like it when the latter is too heavily involved. Songs like Before You Accuse Me are an auditorial assault while Travelin’ Band is a favorite, a punchy rocker minus the heavy blues. Hard to rate an album with five songs I’ve known for 45 years, so I’ll give it a 3/5.

The summer this album was released, I was doing some serious yard work. As I scraped moss from the driveway cracks, a fuzzy drum heavy The New Pollution to the rambling Sissyneck kept me on my musical toes, or, in this case, knees. Along with DJ Shadow’s Entroducing, Odelay was my favorite albums of the year.

If I was a 16 year old stoner, I'd love this album. I'm not. When the kids grow up, they switch to real punk bands like The Clash, Sex Pistols, or Black Flag. This is a punk album on training wheels.

Years ago when I taught fifth grade I asked a student what his favorite band is and he said Korn. I thought, what a perfect band for a ten year old playing air guitar in his bedroom. That hasn’t changed. My god what awful music this is. To me it has zero musical value. Grinding, screaming, funk beats mix to create perfect mix of brain cell killing crap. Yes I know there’s a place for this kind of drudgery but I don’t live there.

Creedence Cosmo’s Factory 1970 I was 13 when these songs were on the radio and they were ubiquitous. I prefer rock over blues and I don’t like it when the latter is too heavily involved. Songs like Before You Accuse Me are an auditorial assault while Travelin’ Band is a favorite, a punchy rocker minus the heavy blues. Hard to rate an album with five songs I’ve known for 45 years, so I’ll give it a 3/5.

I bought his first three solo studio albums as they were released. I would place Imagine slightly ahead of Plastic Ono Band because of two songs, How Do You Sleep and Gimme Me Some Truth which I consider his best solo efforts.

I have a couple vinyl copies of this album since I first heard it upon its release in 1966. I found this album to be a mix of their earlier work, Scarborough Fair, combined with a more progressive sound with Dangling Conversation and Patterns. Simon’s sweet melodies shine on Flowers Never Bend and For Emily, my personal favorites which are a precursor to future albums Bookends and Bridge Over Troubled Waters. As a side note, Feelin’ Groovy, was a favorite of my Mother’s and it could be heard most mornings as I ate my Cheerios.

Having bought this several years go. I confess I don’t listen to it often. It’s not an album to listen to casually, but warrants attention. My favorite song, Untitled #3, is reminiscent of Part 1 of Keith Jarrett’s Kahn concert. Much of the album floats by unnoticed.

It was during my freshman year at high school that this album came out. Cisco Kid, a huge hit, overshadows the album, and is the only song most people remember, to their disadvantage. Four Cornered Room, my favorite, is a gentle freak out occasionally reminiscent of The End by The Doors. To my teenage ears the sound was cool, exotic and still is.

This is not the My Girl Temptations it’s edgy with searing social commentary, however, slower songs such a s Love Woke Me Up This Morning were bland and lyrically simple. The gold nugget is Papa Was A Rollin' Stone. A song seared into my brain from the age of 14.

Not going to spend much time on this review, due to my dislike of all things Stone Roses. Their biggest sins? Boredom, that seems to melt all the songs into one big droning mess. Blah.

I’ve attempted to like Porisehead many times through years, but nothing I heard pulled in. It’s electronic trip hop which I typically enjoy , but this album is a bit too gloomy, or downbeat, for my tastes. I suppose the biggest sin it’s its boring. As a huge fan of Bjork, the opener, Mysterons, is a favorite but not enough to keep this Dummy in rotation.

Wonderwall by Oasis and Waterfall by The Stone Roses ask the musical question, is she liquid or made of brick? Does anyone care?

The summer this album was released, I was doing some serious yard work. As I scraped moss from the driveway cracks, a fuzzy drum heavy The New Pollution to the rambling Sissyneck kept me on my musical toes, or, in this case, knees. Along with DJ Shadow’s Entroducing, Odelay was my favorite albums of the year.

Skylarking would be an excellent EP or drastically pared down album. Summer’s Cauldron, Grass, The Meeting Place, Dear God, Earn Enough For Us, and Another Satellite anchor an album that tends to drift in to mediocrity with its bloated middle. Look to their Black Sea album for classic hits like General Majors and Respectable Street.

This is my second favorite Cale album after Hobosapians. The first four songs plus Paris 1919 are the bedrock of this album, melodic and oddly complex in their simplicity. Hanky Panky Nohow has an effect that stops me in my tracks and puts me into a meditative state. I’m not always sure what the lyrics mean which lets the gorgeous melodies shine,

First off, not a fan of the Black Stripes. I find their songs to be a disjointed, tuneless, and incredibly irritating. To be included in 1001 need to hear albums makes me question the musical wisdoms of its creator. The piano and piano solos are heavy handed and simplistic. One way for me to appraise the worthiness of a song is if my toe taps. If there’s music playing, I’m tapping my toes. For this album? Not so much. My feet sat flat footed. Really, just horrid.

I’ll start out by saying I’m not a big metal fan with a few exceptions like Metallica, Motörhead, and Opeth, a fantastic Swedish death metal band. This album has everything I like in metal, grinding buzz saw guitars, a hint of melody and the inclusion of slower songs like Changes and St. Virus Dance which offer relief from auditory assault.

When I first saw the Material Girl video on MTV I thought, man, this is great…the beat, lyrics, the diamond necklace…then Borderline and I was a fan. That’s where it ended. Nothing after that, except Like A Virgin. excited me because I just wasn’t listening to that type of music back then. And I’m still not. 2 stars.

So much has been written about this album I have little to offer. I first heard it when I was eight years old and thought Elenor Rigby was the deepest song I’d ever heard. Face in a jar? Wow. Is it a perfect album? Take away Yellow Submarine the, then yes. Not a fan of the brassy Got to Get You Into My Life, but Here, There, and Everywhere is my favorite McCartney song. Better than Sgt. Pepper? I can’t be objective enough to offer an opinion.

No.

Without the piano solo in Layla, this album is chock full of tired blues riffs...the drudgery of Have You Ever Loved a Woman and repetitive descending blues chords of She's Gone. Yes Eric Clapton, like Keith Richards and others, helped integrate blues into 60's rock mainstream. Clapton held tightly to the blues roots while bands like The Stones went to a more experimental, hook heavy direction I prefer. Fittingly, the piano solo on Layla, was not written nor played by Eric Clapton, but was most likely stolen by Jim Gordon from Rita Coolidge. Thanks Rita. Eric not so much.

If I was a 16 year old stoner, I'd love this album. I'm not. When the kids grow up, they switch to real punk bands like The Clash, Sex Pistols, or Black Flag. This is a punk album on training wheels.

I’ve never listened to an Aretha Franklin album but this I enjoyed.

For me this album really took off at Everything Happens To Me, which had me mentally floating among billowy…never mind, I like it. The explosive Swinging Detective has these crazed Wagnerian screeches, fantastic. After you catch your breath comes Auto Destruction, screeching metal, doom drums, and schoolyard chants result in an excellent industrial freakout. Intensive Care gives you two minutes to calm yourself when boom! comes the swirling, pulsating, cartoonish The Most Beautiful Girl. Oh, don’t miss the Sounds From the Big House which creates impending doom by pounding big things while a jazzy organ dances in the background. Buy it, play it, love it.

Yes the record is universally acclaimed for some reason unclear to me. I’m clearly missing something so I’ll blame it on my musical ignorance and move on.

Aladdin Sane is one of my least favorite Bowie albums and contains one of my least favorite “hits”, Gene Jeanie. The real standout is his version of Let’s Spend the Night Together and a crazed Panic in New York, a cacophony of Bo Diddley beats and general mayhem. Time is Paul Williams inspired with a few too many lie, lie, lies. Compared to Ziggy, Honky Dory and Low and others, I find this album lacking in significance.

When this album came out, disco, thankfully, was on its deathbed. Great early 70’s disco songs like Rock the Boat and I Feel Love gave way to late 70’s disasters like Disco Duck. Two years had passed since the magnificent Saturday Night Fever. In 1979, Tom Petty was wearing a Disco Sucks button while punk and new wave were taking hold. Then came Chic. All I can say is wonderful. Ahhh, freak out! Yes, it’s a disco record but songs like Savior Faire, Happy Man, and At Last I’m Free break out of the mold giving the album a sophisticated twist. I enjoyed this album from start to finish. Even Tom Petty might have agreed.

I’m a huge fan of Colors by Jamie xx but this album pales in comparison. The opening track, Intro, a clomping beat heavy head bobbing wonder gives way to a functional but uninspiring VCR. The rest of the album was heavy on beats but left me cold. L

In 2004, I began my love of hip hop with the release of Madvilliany by Doom and Madlib. A year late came Fishscale, the Sgt. Pepper of rap with the dense Shakey Dog to Whip Me With a Strap, a J Dilla beat heavy testimonial, and Kilo, a stuttering, horn heavy masterpiece. A great entry for hip hop neophyte.

Suck my kiss? That’s a visual I’d rather not put into my brain but there it is. I found no enjoyment in this mess. Flea’s funky bass lines might have worked on a release less chaotic as this. If not for Under the Bridge this is a half star album.

I became aware of Kate Bush through the fabulous The Whole Story, a greatest hits compilation but had never heard a complete album. Big mistake. This was a time of creativity with the release of Avalon, Thriller, and Imperial Bedroom and this album fits right in. Heavy drum beats and Bjorkish vocals create an alternative to the horrors of 80’s music yet to come.

I’m offended I had to listen to this album. Years ago I listened to another grime album Boy in the Corner by Dizziee Rascal and was underwhelmed by the heavy staccato beats battering my ears. This is no exception. Ba ba, ba ba ba ba, boom! It wears me out. I can imagine hearing this on a sweaty dance floor after downing a dozen Ridley Brown Ales, but those days are far behind. This is an album someone might put on a list knowing there are far better rap albums in order to appear edgy and cool. It’s not.

Had never been a big fan of reggae until I heard The Harder They Come soundtrack and Bob Marley’s greatest hits record Legend. I prefer songs like Many Rivers To Cross and Sitting in limbo because they don’t have a heavy reggae beat, which I prefer. Except for standards such as No Woman No Cry and Lively Up Yourself and my favorite Them Belly Full, songs like Rebel Music and So Jah S’eh have me running for the volume button, to turn it off.

Listen to their album, It’s My Life, and everything on this album will pale in comparison.

I knew nothing bout Julian Cope when I heard this album. First off, it’s very long and a bit exhausting. The first song of interest to me was Promised Land, I enjoy how it slowly builds to soaring guitars. I’m not interested in type of music so I’m not to spend much time here.

What a burst of joy! I think it’s best heard as a whole, like a Mozart concerto, to fully grasp the sample heavy grandeur of this album. Frontier Psychiatrist is a perfect example of the groundbreaking mash of spoken word, celestial choirs, and old school scratching. A masterpiece.

In the late 70’s disco dominated the radio forcing disco haters like me to turn to other earlier forms of music like classic musicals and The Beatles hoping someone would come along to save us. They did, in the form of New Wave, punk and SKA. A landslide of new bands like The Clash, Elvis Costello, The Specials, and The Ramones arrived like a musical renaissance. Along with scooping up every new Ramones release, I saw them in concert in 1980 at a small Seattle venue. Hooky classics like Beat on the Brat and Blitzkrieg Bop had me jumping up and down like a pogo stick establishing the Ramones sound. While album is not perfect with more generic songs dominating the middle, this is a groundbreaking, disco crushing masterpiece. One, Two, Three, Four!

Years ago when I taught fifth grade I asked a student what his favorite band is and he said Korn. I thought, what a perfect band for a ten year old playing air guitar in his bedroom. That hasn’t changed. My god what awful music this is. To me it has zero musical value. Grinding, screaming, funk beats mix to create perfect mix of brain cell killing crap. Yes I know there’s a place for this kind of drudgery but I don’t live there.

I discovered Scott Walker’s solo work a few years ago with the release of The Drift, a meat slapping, duck quacking wonder. Scott 4, released prior, is the last of the his pop albums, popular in France, Scott released before his experimental phase. Filled with dramatic, grandiose songs like The Seventh Seal and The Old Man’s Back Again, it’s my favorite Walker album.

Classic

What the hell? I’m concerned when the first song sounds like the outro to Saturday Night Live. It’s as if the idea was to put all of Dion’s most mediocre songs in one album. One listen to his classic album Dion with Abraham, Martin, and John, Purple Haze and He Looks A lot Like Me has me scratching my head on why this excruciating set of strummers is worthy of a listen. Unless, god help us, there are more Dion albums on the list.

Not my thing by a long shot. If people enjoy this, great.

I really did not want to listen to this album but I made a commitment, so here I go. How anyone can listen to Hot Dog and keep listening stuns me. But I did. Limpy sings, “Fucked up Aids from fucked up sex” and follows up with “kiss my starfish”, an apparent contradiction. I don’t mind questionable lyrics, I listen to gangster rap, but this has no charm, cleverness or a friggin melody. No musicality. Check out Ten Inch Nails, they show how it’s done.

The title song is fantastic, the rest was fine.

I bought this album pretty much when it came out. It’s a masterpiece. Billy Jean and Beat It were played endlessly on MTV and the album sold a few billion copies. It’s one of the few 70’s albums you can still pick up at Goodwill.

This is an historical document. The roots of hip hop on this album are hardly recognizable today. No bitches, hoes, or calls to violence. The theme of the album is to rock it and shake it, so refreshing. Even today, it’s excellent music for a party or something to play at the business end of a chronic break. It’s not, however, something I’d play often, with its repetition and simple beats.

Not sure if I listened to it or not but not my style.

Big fan of 70’s 80’s punk but this was a bit generic for me. Great for cleaning the house or banging your head against the wall, but not something I’d listen to again. For me there’s better punk out there.

What can I say? I understand this is supposed to be a landmark album but there wasn’t a moment that caught my attention.

Great Quincy Jones album. Couple classic songs with filler. Girlfriend might be his worst song along with Ebony and Ivory, both involving Paul McCartney. Thriller is a five star album, this not so much.

Man that was long. There’s lots to untangle. What interested me the most was the orchestration, particularly the strings that danced along. This album needs more listenings to fully reveal itself.

Blues based music is not my thing and this didn’t change my mind. Strawberry Letter 23 is a classic but not on this album. He did play all the instruments which is notable achievement.

Solid CCR album containing my favorite song of theirs, Lodi. As with all CCR albums, there’s a mix of country rockers and songs that are more blues based. It’s the rockers like the title song and Bad Moon Rising, minor hits of their time, that I prefer.

It was better than I thought. Not great or even good but there’s a choral section I really enjoyed in the first song. Other than that, not so much. For that chorus I give it a 3.

I found this to be excellent background music for a wine tasting event in Napa Valley. Nothing grabbed my attention except for Summer Samba, which has been done by musicians from Andy Williams to Dizzy Gillespie. If you’ve heard the Getz/Gilberto album, you get the idea.

For me, a classic. The language is a bit dated and offensive but it’s an important rap album.

My third favorite Pixies album when they were at their primal nest.

2001 was a great year for music with Vespertine the clear winner. Heavenly choruses and Serge Gainsburg inspired orchestration create a musical euphoria. Currently it’s one of my top ten albums of all time.

Yes I understand he was a significant soul pioneer in the vein of Curtis Mayfield and Issac Hayes but he pales in comparison. Compare Across 74th Street to Shaft or Superfly, two far superior soundtracks.