293
Albums Rated
2.87
Average Rating
27%
Complete
796 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1970s
Favorite Decade
Punk
Favorite Genre
UK
Top Origin
Perfectionist
Rater Style ?
10
5-Star Albums
13
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Atomizer
Big Black
|
5 | 2.72 | +2.28 |
|
Rattus Norvegicus
The Stranglers
|
5 | 3.15 | +1.85 |
|
No Other
Gene Clark
|
5 | 3.18 | +1.82 |
|
Dub Housing
Pere Ubu
|
4 | 2.35 | +1.65 |
|
Marquee Moon
Television
|
5 | 3.5 | +1.5 |
|
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
|
5 | 3.55 | +1.45 |
|
In The Court Of The Crimson King
King Crimson
|
5 | 3.6 | +1.4 |
|
Pink Moon
Nick Drake
|
5 | 3.65 | +1.35 |
|
Blood On The Tracks
Bob Dylan
|
5 | 3.68 | +1.32 |
|
California
American Music Club
|
4 | 2.68 | +1.32 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Jagged Little Pill
Alanis Morissette
|
1 | 3.72 | -2.72 |
|
Kid A
Radiohead
|
1 | 3.71 | -2.71 |
|
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
The Smashing Pumpkins
|
1 | 3.68 | -2.68 |
|
Hotel California
Eagles
|
1 | 3.6 | -2.6 |
|
Eagles
Eagles
|
1 | 3.3 | -2.3 |
|
Tigermilk
Belle & Sebastian
|
1 | 3.22 | -2.22 |
|
Chemtrails Over The Country Club
Lana Del Rey
|
1 | 3.05 | -2.05 |
|
BEYONCÉ
Beyoncé
|
1 | 2.86 | -1.86 |
|
Alien Lanes
Guided By Voices
|
1 | 2.75 | -1.75 |
|
The Joshua Tree
U2
|
2 | 3.67 | -1.67 |
5-Star Albums (10)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
The Stranglers
5/5
Rattus Norvegicus is cock rock done right. I've always loved it because, in a time where every punk took itself seriously, these guys made an album that pokes at those who thought being a punk was akin to being the second coming of Christ.
And it's not like these guys were all bark but no bite. These guys could back up anything they say with an artistique brand of swagger whose backbone is the rhythm section, which is coincidentally (or not) in the forefront of the cover. They give songs like Peaches, Hanging Around, and Get A Grip On Yourself something highly memorable, an infectious beat to thump my restless legs to. Vocally, Hugh Cromwell's growl and sneer perfectly fit the M.O., and his way of expression is something many tried to emulate.
But just as they could poke fun at the punks by being vulgar, codeless, and sexual, they could also poke by incorporating musical styles that punks swore to hang publicly, blues on Princess of the Streets, and even prog in Down in the Sewer.
It's a favorite of mine in the punk genre, mainly because the mocking emulation of punk done by these 30-something year olds is done better than some youngsters who are "fed up" with society and "punk at heart".
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3 likes
Gene Clark
5/5
It rips. Combining the San Francisco psychedelic sound with the flavor of country and folk, and with the fertile, picturesque fields of the singer-songwriter genre proved to be a good idea, since this album was the result.
The whole album has this fuzzy, hazy quality that's unique. It isn't full country, but it's also not psychedelic rock. Psychedelic country? Sure.
It's full of spiritual allegories and old, folk inspired narratives, like the existential "Silver Raven", and the and "Strength Of Strings", the latter which has that George Harrison vibe of going epic and spiritual on us.
But it's not all story here. Look At "No Other", which evokes a raga-like trance, and the longest track "Some Misunderstanding" that really gives you an appreciation of the gospel-like vocal harmonies, if done right (and here, they are). It has more to it, like the funk influences of "Lady of the North" and the straight-up commercial shooter that's the opener.
I could go on about this album. It has a timeless quality you can see in a lot of today's artists in different genres, like alt-country, indie, and even some stoner and post-rock at moments.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
1 likes
Joni Mitchell
3/5
So far, im not seeing why Joni is so reveered.
⭐⭐⭐
1 likes
4-Star Albums (41)
1-Star Albums (13)
All Ratings
Radiohead
3/5
Decent and surprising, considering it's Radiohead. 3/5
Stan Getz
3/5
This is a soundtrack to a 30-minute elevator ride. It's quite similar to Getz/Gilberto, so why did I enjoy it, but not this? Simple, Astrud is on the former, and this is just cool jazz jamming.
É luxo só is dope, with an upbeat dance rhythm, and the opener Desafinado is really lush. It's definitely worth checking out. If anything, it's worth as background music.
Bob Dylan
5/5
It's my fav Dylan album. So beautiful in its execution and storytelling
5⭐
Marvin Gaye
4/5
The Velvet Underground
4/5
Lou Reed really outdid himself here. Probably his most emotional album album ever. So intimate and powerful
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Amy Winehouse
4/5
Blue Cheer
2/5
I bet this was amazing in '68 when it first got released, but in 2025, its a dusty remnant of the past. Summertime Blues is still cool, but the rest is a product of a time and didn't age that well.
2⭐
3/5
12 songs, 12 dreams. If you take the dreams and you divide them by the four seasons, you get three dreams per season, which is oddly related to the amount of stars I'll give to this album.
⭐⭐⭐
Supertramp
3/5
As 3/5 of an album a 3/5 album can be. Musically great with a lot of talent, but just not my thing. Asylum and Crime of the Century stand above the rest, though, but not enough to carry, sadly. The cover is majestic, tho.
⭐⭐⭐
Belle & Sebastian
1/5
The twee aesthetic still sucks ass. Also, None of them are named Belle nor Sebastian.
⭐
The Pharcyde
3/5
Alright. The highs are good, but the lows are boooooriiiiing
⭐⭐⭐
The Mamas & The Papas
2/5
Black Sabbath
4/5
Uuuuuh, one of the best metal albums of all time. Amatzing musicianship + great atmosphere. Plenty of space for improvisation, which they did live.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ryan Adams
3/5
Eeh, I think Ryan's fallout lingered around far longer than it needed to be, which may or nay not be due to his own actions as a musician (spoiler alert: it's due to his questionable ideas and ethics as a musician).
He started his solo career off well, with a collection of melancholic and introspective songs that are broken off with a few rockers here and there. Some characterize this one as overindulgent and a bit egocentric, but let's face it, who hasn't been a bit over the top when it comes to heartbreak?
The songwriting is decent to good, and the atmosphere is overall a net positive, but where he fails is the engagement aspect. You'll start the album, doze off, think its the fourth song, only to see you're at the back end of it. Definitely not bad, but God, does he sometime feel like a broken record on this one.
⭐⭐⭐
The Rolling Stones
2/5
Uuuuuuh, okay? Gotta start somewhere, I guess.
⭐⭐
Foo Fighters
3/5
It's good, but I'm trying really hard to find something specific to cling onto. The Foo Fighters debut is that prototypical alt rock album everyone would go on to copy in the 00s.
⭐⭐⭐
The Go-Go's
3/5
Uuuuuh, moving on I guess? Decent, but nothing spectacular
⭐⭐⭐
Cyndi Lauper
3/5
This is the epitome of a fun album throughout. Sadly, front-loaded with great tracks like the anthemic Girls Just Want to Have Fun and When You Were Mine (which has Prince's hands all over), but losing track by the end. Not bad, but definitely not amazing. Still, if this somehow found itself in my collection, I'd probably keep it and spin it sometimes when I just want to let my feminine side free.
⭐⭐⭐
Fugazi
4/5
Dude Repeater is such a banger of an album. I've widely dismissed it for some reason, which is a crime in itself, but what's even worse is that I DID listen to it a while back and STILL stood by that opinion.
At its core, rudimentary and angry punk, so to say, with some very passionate delivery, and tons of inspiration in each song. Turnover and Repeater have a memorable riff to them, with a great rhythm backbone, and songs like Blueprint and Shut The Door evoke the emotional side of punk.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Led Zeppelin
3/5
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
2/5
Booooooring.
⭐⭐
Aretha Franklin
3/5
Uh, really does nothing for me. Can't deny that there's passion in her voice, though.
⭐⭐⭐
ZZ Top
4/5
Mmmmm, the sweet sounds of the desert. If you're out here looking for some flashy playing, over-the-top singing, and theatrics, you've come to the wrong place.
Tres Hombres is a laid-back odyssey and a homage to the desolate American highways, featuring simple rhythmic playing and alternating sparse arrangements, like on " Hot Blue " and " Righteous, " or some heavy, rousing tracks like the first three songs.
Side A blows it out of the water with the infectious compositions, while the other side is a bit more meandering (even if it has La Grange). Still, a really great album.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Prince
3/5
Curse you Prince for creating some maestral pop composition and then following them up with a crap ton of dance fillers.
⭐⭐⭐
Paul Simon
3/5
Weird how the algorithm decides to recommend this:
a) Just a few days after Shaka Zulu, the music that inspired Graceland, and
b) Just days after I left for college, and by extension, my record collection at home, which had this LP
Anywho, this album was my father's childhood, and he often told me the story of how he worked on local fields (omladinske radne akcije, za moje balkance) whilst listening to this cassette on the deck, so I always felt obliged to write at least SOMETHING about this one, yet it never materialized until now, partly because it came and went so many times and I just had to sit down and write something.
Obvious historical snippets aside, this is a nice pop album that's very easy on the ears. Combining something that's relatively boring like indigenous South African folk with Paul's ability to create some worthwhile and timeless melodies is a recipe for success. Probably a weird analogy, but this one feels like the process of urbanization of a once rural outback area, where the body of modernization is rampant, but the rural spirit is still among the brick and the mortar.
⭐⭐⭐
Guided By Voices
1/5
I find this boring to the moon and back. As if these guys don't have the talent and knowhow on how to craft a proper 3-minute song, so they just make each song sound like the sounds coming from switching channels until you see there's nothing on, so you turn it off. Maybe if it was an EP of a few songs, but even then, it would be shoddy.
⭐
Television
5/5
A tale of two sides, or so many would point out. The A side is full of punk masterpieces, with the first three tracks being infectious guitar driven bangers that are essential pop songs with a punk edge, and capping it off with a 10-minute storytelling of epic proportions that details the nightlife of New York (but honestly, any town fits) with instrumental passages that avoke a lot of different feelings and that helped a lot of people like myself get over a tough period in life in a surrounding that didn't kindly treat the artistic kind (and still doesn't).
Side B is where most people find the flaws of the thing, and beside the opener it's usually regarded as the lesser part of the album. While yes, I'd agree with the sentiment, it's not that bad. It's still a lot better than most stuff that is peddled under the post-punk umbrella. Sure, Torn Curtain is typical pansy-rock that is maybe too long for it's own good, but the rest is very good. Prove It keeps the infectious edge with its guitar work, and Guiding Light has that intimacy factor that really works in its favor.
But still, even with all of its flaws, this is a very nice package of punk that I'd recommend to anyone, and am very proud to own.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Elastica
2/5
A beautiful thing about the "1001 albums you have to hear before you die" book is how you'll see an album and think "How did this manage to make its way here?".
I think the rating speaks the rest.
⭐⭐
N.E.R.D
2/5
Define it however you want, but that was the sound of the 2000s. And lord could it be cringe sometimes.
⭐⭐
Cat Stevens
4/5
God bless Cat Stevens for making this album. It has both great hits like Father and Son and Wild World, while also having some beautiful deep cuts like Sad Lisa and But I Might Die Tonight.
Cat has such a warm voice that cradles you through the instrumentals of this peaceful odyssey. I think this is his peak, as the next album, while having some great songs, shows cracks of fatigue, while the previous one shows of artistic insecurity. This one perfectly walks the line of a calm journey through themes of love and life's questions without getting too philosophical. Maybe it's a bit paradoxical too: it's both intimately fragile, yet confident in its stride.
I'm glad to have this in my library. I have the greatest hits, but this one has a lot more meat than usually stated when talking about Cat's musical portfolio, which is always great in the musical journey aspect.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
2/5
Jesus Christ, he really did write the same song 11 times and concluded by playing one more.
⭐⭐
The Stranglers
5/5
Rattus Norvegicus is cock rock done right. I've always loved it because, in a time where every punk took itself seriously, these guys made an album that pokes at those who thought being a punk was akin to being the second coming of Christ.
And it's not like these guys were all bark but no bite. These guys could back up anything they say with an artistique brand of swagger whose backbone is the rhythm section, which is coincidentally (or not) in the forefront of the cover. They give songs like Peaches, Hanging Around, and Get A Grip On Yourself something highly memorable, an infectious beat to thump my restless legs to. Vocally, Hugh Cromwell's growl and sneer perfectly fit the M.O., and his way of expression is something many tried to emulate.
But just as they could poke fun at the punks by being vulgar, codeless, and sexual, they could also poke by incorporating musical styles that punks swore to hang publicly, blues on Princess of the Streets, and even prog in Down in the Sewer.
It's a favorite of mine in the punk genre, mainly because the mocking emulation of punk done by these 30-something year olds is done better than some youngsters who are "fed up" with society and "punk at heart".
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Isley Brothers
3/5
Uh, good for vibing I guess. They still haven't found their place in the funk genre, so it feels kinda unfinished.
⭐⭐⭐
Miles Davis
3/5
Weirdly... awesome! Comparing this to his later opus would probably place this at an unfavorable position, but as a standalone compilation, this really bops.
Really effortless to listen, with a great easy quality to it. Everyone is on top of their game, and they really bring out the cool in it. The only bad thing is that nothing stands out, but the plus side is that everything is good.
⭐⭐⭐
Dr. Octagon
2/5
At one hand, it has some decent beats, while on the other, the rapping technique of just spewing out stuff with no flow or anything decks it down a few notches. Ehh...
⭐⭐
The Triffids
2/5
Annoying with its bombastic ass sound. Their previous two albums are much better and nicer sounding with sparser arrangements, and with songs that are present here, but done much better. Literally, Jerdacuttup Man is a leftover track from In The Pines, albeit more rockish, while the former is more melancholic and desolate, like the outback of Australia where they based their sound from. And much better.
Especially sad that this is in the 1001 albums list :/. They have better releases, people!
⭐⭐
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Despite what some people say, Bruce Springsteen is great, and he shows it here. Such a mature display of song craftsmanship and energy. It's hard to hate this one.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
2Pac
3/5
I was thinking between a 3 or 4 stars, but the album starts falling off by the end, so 3 stars it is. Still, a lot of good songs here, but a bit too long.
⭐⭐⭐ 1/2
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
3/5
Safe. Too safe. Also bland, and predictive. The only nice thing is the uncommon time signatures, and if that's the only part of an album that actually raises an eyebrow in surprise, then sheesh. Not my style.
EDIT:
Well, I admit I was a tad bit wrong about this album. I'll bump it up a star because I find it to be very good study music and Take Five and Three to Get Ready is good, but that doesn't give it more than a 3-star rating.
⭐⭐⭐
Steve Earle
2/5
I've already listened to this, but I'm giving him a relisten since I like some of his later stuff.
Yep, it's still meh.
⭐⭐
Jurassic 5
3/5
Surprisingly good, honestly. Love the flow of most tracks, even if sometimes it can get a bit tacky, unnecessary, or just plain bad. Still, a good experience overall.
⭐⭐⭐ 1/2
Electric Light Orchestra
3/5
Good album, but tedious to get through.
⭐⭐⭐
Best track(s): Mr. Blue Sky
David Bowie
4/5
The epitome of blowing your brains out with cocaine. But y'know, it's Bowie, so he took it ten notches above what any regular person could do strung out on coke.
Bowie took the sound of Young Americans and put it under a microscope and dissected it to such lengths, that he made a new dystopian sound with vigor and power of a charismatic dictator.
The opener is marvelous, with its multi facetted suite approach that gives some progressive rock tracks a run for their money, but I want to talk about my favorite track off here, the cover of Wild is The Wind. It's probably the first track where you can feel Bowie's mutilated personality come off and reveal the detached genius truly struggling. Everything in between is nothing short of amazing in a haunting, concerning and frightening way.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Best track(s): Station to Station; Wild Is The Wind
Stan Getz
4/5
Benign as it gets, but that's exactly why it's so revered and enjoyable.
This is exactly how I love my jazz: calming and charming as fuck. None of that phallus waving, virtuosic, instrument jerking stuff. Just pure mind wandering with great musicianship, as it's displayed here.
Its approach can be enjoyed by those who dislike the instrument jerking that jazz can sometime be, but can also be approved by those into more intricate stuff due to its simple nature and how much it conveys with just a few simple licks.
Best track(s): Girl From Ipanema
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Eagles
1/5
Oh, for the love of God, please shut the fuck up.
⭐1/2
Massive Attack
3/5
This one surprised me. Coming in here, I thought this one would be a slight detour from Blue Lines, and also act as some kind of prelude into Mezzanine, but honestly, after listening to it, it at points it might be better than both.
The sound is lighter, and more pop oriented, with good vocal work on most track. The trippy hip hop instrumentals are on par with some of their best work, and their style is more refined into a well oiled hit-making machine. The only gripe I have is the closing cover of Light My Fire, which should have never seen the light of day in any circumstance.
⭐⭐⭐1/2
The Kinks
4/5
This is really Something Else! And it's by the Kinks! Which makes it Something Else By The Kinks! Splendid and straight to the point.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Elvis Presley
2/5
Being historically important can only get you so far, kid.
⭐⭐1/2
The Who
2/5
Oh, this one is boring. What a great start to the year.
To me, this has nothing amazing, and only a few real standouts. Tommy is a double LP rock opera with a story about a kid gone blind and his life and challenges he faces. The story is a weird way of getting Pete's thoughts on enlightenment and youthful alienation, and ultimately, like a bad movie, it's full of something that's mostly nothing.
The songs are also really inoffensive, which is the Who's studio motto. They're cut from a different cloth than their hard rock colleagues, obviously, but everything here is far from good, other than maybe Pinball Wizard. No song has that oomph or fire that makes me want to return to the album. It also doesn't help that, being a rock opera, having good standalone tracks is a hard task in itself. The instrumental -tures are a showcase of their ability to play, which are good, but what is their ultimate purpose?
Overall, anemic and bleak, despite its size.
⭐⭐1/2
Small Faces
2/5
Ogden's Nuts is one of the albums where a song appears that's decent and catches your ears, so you perk em up, listen a bit more, go through 3 mid songs, forget about the album, only for another decent song to appear. Rinse and repeat.
⭐⭐1/2
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
Being historically important can only get you so far, kid. (but slightly better)
⭐⭐⭐1/2
Led Zeppelin
3/5
Very good one, but suffers from Led Zeppelin-ism: Few great songs, and a bit of filler inside. Glad I found it for 2 bucks on vinyl tho.
⭐⭐⭐1/2
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
A rollercoaster. I've already heard this, and in my remembrance of it, it's a bit overrated. But listening to it again, I find more parts of it to enjoy. Obviously, the lyrics, but also the gritty guitar work and the commanding drum sounds, are immediately apparent. But as it goes on, the quality starts to falter a bit, and we arrive right where we started: a 3.5 album, that borders on 3.75, but cant quite make it. Maybe some day.
⭐⭐⭐1/2
The Undertones
2/5
At least they're having fun eating.
⭐⭐1/2
Coldplay
3/5
Okay, but the falloff from their debut is noticeable. Still, there are a few good songs in here, the hits.
⭐⭐⭐
The Verve
3/5
Not really a huge step down from their debut, more so a metamorphosis. Still good, but long beyond that it needs to be.
⭐⭐⭐
The Vines
2/5
The album your mom likes and thinks it will make her hip with the current generation.
⭐⭐1/2
Michael Jackson
3/5
Great music, but not my thing. Still, I'll keep the LP for the occasional spin
⭐⭐⭐1/2
Britney Spears
2/5
Weak stuff
⭐⭐
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
Good vibes, and nothing more. It just cements my thoughts that PSB is a great singles band.
⭐⭐⭐
Blur
3/5
Decent, but nothing to write home about. Overall, nice sounds, but nothing over the top.
⭐⭐⭐1/2
Johnny Cash
3/5
Decent, but no cigar.
⭐⭐⭐1/2
Gene Clark
5/5
It rips. Combining the San Francisco psychedelic sound with the flavor of country and folk, and with the fertile, picturesque fields of the singer-songwriter genre proved to be a good idea, since this album was the result.
The whole album has this fuzzy, hazy quality that's unique. It isn't full country, but it's also not psychedelic rock. Psychedelic country? Sure.
It's full of spiritual allegories and old, folk inspired narratives, like the existential "Silver Raven", and the and "Strength Of Strings", the latter which has that George Harrison vibe of going epic and spiritual on us.
But it's not all story here. Look At "No Other", which evokes a raga-like trance, and the longest track "Some Misunderstanding" that really gives you an appreciation of the gospel-like vocal harmonies, if done right (and here, they are). It has more to it, like the funk influences of "Lady of the North" and the straight-up commercial shooter that's the opener.
I could go on about this album. It has a timeless quality you can see in a lot of today's artists in different genres, like alt-country, indie, and even some stoner and post-rock at moments.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Wu-Tang Clan
3/5
Good, but for me, not as amazing as many put it out to be. That's mostly due to how uneven it sounds. The first half is blurry, with only the opener and maaaybe Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber that go hard, and then you have the second half from 6-11 which are a collection of songs that put to shame most rappers careers. Because of that disparity of quality, I find it hard to love the album, but easy to like it.
⭐⭐⭐1/2
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
Another 70s 5-star album!
I kinda swore into the whole idea that Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac is the superior era for the longest time. Might just be my middle finger shaped brain doing the rounds, but I genuinely thought that no way some pop was to dethrone the prince of blues.
I still do think they're neck and neck, but Rumours surprised me quite a lot when I heard it in its entirety. Of course, the songs everyone and their grandmothers know like Dreams, The Chain, and You Can Go Your Own Way are instantaneous classics that took personal turmoil and turned it into catchy hooks and great guitar solos, but the other tracks on here stand high among them. Songbird and You Make Loving Fun are examples of deep cuts (if you can call them that, in an album every track is famous and well known), that I'm always in a mood to listen to, especially the latter. The funky bass line with the intimate, uplifting and optimistic feeling is a recipe for a great melody.
It's an essential. This is what a pop album should sound like: diverse, simple sounds with a lot of thought put through them, and the emotion presented in such a way that it does feel like a document of a tough period, but does not feel like airing of dirty laundry, which is a quality I think is ofter overlooked when talking about this album.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Radiohead
3/5
Huh, who thought Radiohead could be decent.
⭐⭐⭐
Joni Mitchell
3/5
So far, im not seeing why Joni is so reveered.
⭐⭐⭐
Suede
2/5
What do people see in this band that gives them such acclaim?
⭐⭐1/2
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Besides the openers on both version, something about this album never managed to snatch me. No aspect of it bothers me, but nothing sticks out. It also doesn't help that Goin Home is 11 and a half minutes long, and turns into an unnecessary jam session. The rest is decent RnB. Maybe the US version, which is more condensed (at least that's what they tell), is better?
⭐⭐⭐
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
2/5
I like ELP when they're more rock than classical, so his one is meh to me.
⭐⭐1/2
The Beau Brummels
2/5
What's the reasoning behind this being here? Absolutely nothing noteworthy.
⭐⭐1/2
Miles Davis
3/5
I just cant go higher. It's good, but it doesnt move me like some of his other works.
⭐⭐⭐1/2
AC/DC
3/5
It's AC/DC. What more do I have to say.
⭐⭐⭐1/2
Fiona Apple
2/5
I listened to this one when it first released. I didn't quite like it. On a relisten, I respect it a bit more.
Still not a huge fan, however. The idea is there, but in execution, it lacks. Maybe it's the overall raw production that hinders it for me.
⭐⭐1/2
Pere Ubu
4/5
This one might be better than their debut. Much more refined sounds.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Arcade Fire
3/5
Much better than I anticipated. Still, a bit lacking for a higher grade.
⭐⭐⭐1/2
Steely Dan
4/5
As great of a continuation of a great debut can get. Nice maturation of the sound.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Clash
3/5
Historically significant, musicaly... not so much. Still ok tho.
⭐⭐⭐
Little Richard
3/5
Laura Nyro
2/5
meh
the tags had all the things going for them to make me like it
but i listened to it, and its nothing special
its like listening a combo of LIza Minelli, Carole King and Joni Mitchell
vaguely present, but forgettable
Calexico
2/5
In one ear, out the other
Metallica
3/5
The lack of bass kills most enjoyment I get from this otherwise amazing album
Fela Kuti
3/5
Good stuff
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
Good!
Mike Ladd
1/5
I wanna know how much he paid to be in this
Beatles
3/5
Putting aside the at the time, "avant-garde" production, the Brahmaputra Eastern influence, the forward-thinking instrumentation, and the discovery of ...weed you're left with... not much really. It's an above-average album when you see what people put out even today, but it's not an album that stands the test of time as much as people would make you believe. When they actually try to write songs, they're amazing. When not, they're just... meh. Rating is subject to change though.
Listen to: Taxman, Eleanor Rigby, I'm Only Sleeping, She Said She Said, For No One, Dr. Robert, I Want to Tell You, Got to Get You Into My Life, and Tomorrow Never Knows for a good experience, and skip the sunshine pop.
ABBA
2/5
Biggest shrug in the history of shrugs
Cream
3/5
Minor Threat
3/5
Queen
3/5
Kanye West
3/5
Wherez the uuuh, hip hop? All I hear is edgy industrial wanking
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
3/5
Sadly, it falls off towards the end. The first few tracks are bangers tho.
The Doors
3/5
I kinda forgot that this one falls off a bit past the beginning.
R.E.M.
3/5
I wanted to love it more, but I couldn't.
Spiritualized
3/5
Decent, but nothing overtly special. Some songs bang, others not so much
The Beach Boys
4/5
The melancholy is amazing here!
Thelonious Monk
3/5
Crowded House
2/5
The Shamen
1/5
Cheesy, dated and bad.
The Police
3/5
Really good!
Janelle Monáe
3/5
Would be a great EP
Girls Against Boys
2/5
Third tier boring Nirvana
Sinead O'Connor
2/5
Booooriiiiing.
Bob Dylan
4/5
His peak, maybe? Even if dont agree, it still bangs.
Blondie
3/5
Madonna
2/5
Music feels like an album that's not necessarily a miss, but rather an album that's geared toward surface-level listening rather than immersion. It more so feels like an obligation to follow up a hit like Ray of Light, as all the songs on here follow early 2000s tropes of trippy electronic beats and autotuned vocals.
It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. If Madonna stays faithful to the sound that made her famous, she risks being labeled a one-trick pony, but keeping up with the trends, like here, makes the album soulless and uninteresting. Just listen to the opener and that weird sexual energy combined with a lack of sense of direction, or Nobody's perfect where Madonna uses gimmicky autotune even if she has proven she has the vocal chops to deliver. Breathy vocals and recycled slow beats are tailor-made for the masses. Maybe suburban moms will like it, but not me.
Pretenders
2/5
Boring and annoying
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
3/5
The Go-Betweens
3/5
Meat Loaf
3/5
My father isn't a person who likes to talk about music a lot, which may be a product of our dismissive avoidant personalities, but hearing him say something nice about an artist (or person in general) boosts my thoughts on that person or album.
Bat Out Of Hell is not anything special or out of the ordinary, but it does the simple things well. It's theatrical and fun, and really accessible.
The xx
3/5
Oddly soothing, considering how monotonous and bland it is.
Adele
3/5
I imagine this is what Connie Francis sounded like to people in the 50s.
Love
3/5
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
The moody atmosphere hits like a truck, but I find it hard to return on an individual track level other than the first few ones.
Definitely a great night listen front to back, especially on my record player with a few crackles here and there, but past that, not really.
Beach House
3/5
3/5
Beastie Boys
3/5
Decent, but most of it sounds dated.
Michael Jackson
3/5
It falls off after the first two songs. but picks up near the end. Worse than Thriller, but still ok.
Beastie Boys
3/5
Much better. The funky production still sounds fresh, with the massive load of plunderphonics not sounding gimmicky and the raps sounding like a delicacy.
Jimmy Smith
3/5
Barely just misses the mark for me. It's good, but its missing a key factor that makes other jazz albums more memorable to me.
The Stone Roses
3/5
Their singles are top-notch, but the entire album gets boring after a while
The Chemical Brothers
3/5
Kanye West
3/5
Kings of Leon
2/5
Uh, no.
Ray Charles
3/5
Simply Red
2/5
Simply Red being simply meh and simply redundant.
2/5
You add the good and the bad and you get a 2/5
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Screaming Trees
2/5
It's ok. Like any rock album from the 90s: 3-5 minutes of rocking + solo + chorus and whabam, you get a 2 star album.
Common
3/5
Well, I've listened to all of his bolded album, I and can conclude this one is his best.
The overly optimistic energy of Be irked me a bit. I'm not saying this album is The Infamous levels of gangster, but it's much more rugged than what Common is famous for. Of course, it wouldn't be good without the signature brand of conscious, optimistic, neo-soul, boom bap rap, which is what makes it unique. Common threaded between sappy and real really well here.
The production is also great, with a lot of heavy hitters like Questlove, J. Dilla, D'Angelo and Common himself. What also pops up is that beside the well-placed sample, we have a live band laying it down.
The only minus I have is the length. Somewhere around the 12th track it loses steam and I zone out. But until then, it's a great combination of grit and storytelling.
Elliott Smith
2/5
Not my jive.
Depeche Mode
2/5
Music for the masses, but it sounds like music from the asses.
Paul Simon
3/5
Metallica
2/5
This one clogs up my intestines.
Booker T. & The MG's
3/5
The first track is 5 stars. Rest is 2
Buck Owens
2/5
Being a pioneer means diddly squat when the music you made sounds like donkey balls.
Black Sabbath
5/5
One of the GOATs, hands down. RIP Ozzy and thanks for the music!
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5/5
Neil walks in, says "we're doing this in that-and-that way", Crazy Horse nods, they play, and make one of the best albums ever. A simpler time when there was no inner conflict, no emotional turmoil, and no visceral hate. Just pure talent on display.
The two closers on each side are the creme de la creme of this album. The jammy grungy guitar interplaying between Neil and Danny is what makes this such an enjoyable listen (also what makes them such easy inclusion into any live set). Cinnamon Girl is a grandiose entry into a prolific era, and the duo of The Losing End and Running Dry is a foreshadowing of Neil's talent in penning songs that make your heart swell with emotion. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere is a quick song that was once a favorite of mine, due to its simple nature and the longing for, well, a retreat to a simple way of living.
Overall, it's an album full of anger and bitter emotions, a staple of Neil's career, but compared to what's to come, a very tame effort, and commercial at that. A fun combo that yielded amazing results.
It's stupid to say, but this is what a bucket of gravel would sound like. Will I end it with that? Of course I will.
Green Day
3/5
Country Joe & The Fish
3/5
Tom Waits
4/5
Depeche Mode
3/5
Adele
2/5
A step down from 21.
Dion
2/5
Dire
Def Leppard
2/5
Steely Dan
4/5
Rahul Dev Burman
1/5
And here I was thinking that Yugoslavian music sounded dated...
Brian Eno
3/5
Radiohead
1/5
So apparently, people dig this? All I hear is moaning behind some meh instrumentations.
Fleet Foxes
2/5
Arcade Fire
3/5
OutKast
3/5
Bleh... too long
Talking Heads
3/5
John Martyn
3/5
He really did peak with Solid Air. Spotify fucked over this one with the track listing. The first four tracks should be the last, and vice versa. Still, even with that, a bit more to be desired.
Youssou N'Dour
3/5
Pulp
2/5
Primal Scream
3/5
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2/5
It's not Blitz, it's shitz!
The Byrds
3/5
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Mercury Rev
3/5
Norah Jones
2/5
Exactly the shit you'll hear in a café at 9pm
Sigur Rós
3/5
To get the real experience out of this, this has to be played on some high-powered speakers, and not some kind of DMV office speakers I have.
Besides that constatation, this album gets boring quickly after the first few tracks. It's overly long, with a lot of repetitiveness to it. The only redeeming factor is how much it sooths. A nice listening experience for a cold and dark night, when you want nothing extravagant, just something to pass through the ears and kill the deafening silence.
Also, you can hear where some bands took inspiration, instrumentally. Coldplay's early ventures into the more alternative side of rock have a lot of atmosphere that can be attributed to Sigur Rós, and this album.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
I can see the appeal, but the whole thing is not for me. It has its shining moments, like the opener and Head Cut, which are more upbeat than the rest, which is not my cup of tea. Really like the tribal thumping of the drums, though.
Fleetwood Mac
3/5
Haircut 100
3/5
One of those albums where you just nod your head and afterward, turn it off and forget about it.
Jethro Tull
3/5
So close to a 4, yet most of the B side lowers it down to a 3
Queens of the Stone Age
3/5
First song sets the tone, and the rest of the album follows the same path from beginning to end.
Donald Fagen
3/5
Alice In Chains
3/5
The Teardrop Explodes
3/5
Slipknot
3/5
The Psychedelic Furs
2/5
Other than the first two tracks, really forgettable
Tears For Fears
4/5
The singles from this album are massive, to say the least. Anthemic thumps highly infectious to the ear, to the point where they even get annoying to some people, but for me, the real beauty lies in the final three songs, which seemingly flow in each other, making a sort of hybrid, studio/live, medley that combines dream pop, sophisti-pop and new wave in all the right places.
It takes skill to take a well commercialized movement at the time and make something worthwhile, but these guys have done just that.
4/5
To some, the apex of Bowie. For me, not quite, but still good nonetheless. This album has it all. It has a story that's to be respected, and the musicianship is a benchmark on how to create an album with a timeless quality mixed with a lot of memorable riffs and passages.
It perfectly mixes being an album with a lot of mainstream ease to it, but also being admirable from a “musical wanker” standpoint with the reinvention of the psychedelic sound on Moonage Daydream, rock n roll on Suffragette City, or because of the sheer amount of depth it possesses.
From any point you look at it, a stone-cold classic.
The Beta Band
2/5
It serves no purpose
AC/DC
3/5
Richard Thompson
4/5
Intimate grandeur is the name of the game here. This album sounds like a living room concert of a newlywed couple who were doomed from the beginning.
To me, this album sounds like a broken family. Richard is a stern father with his piercing voice, and Linda plays that haunting motherly figure, and the content backs that up.
At first, the hits were my favorites: When I Get To The Border and I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight, but as years passed, I came to love the slower tempo, and straight melancholic songs such as The End Of The Rainbow, The Great Valerio and The Calvary Cross. All flavors of folk are here for your choosing, and all of them are performed nicely.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Bauhaus
3/5
Lorde
2/5
Faust
3/5
The opener, aptly titled Krautrock, is a textbook composition that brings the template of the genre Krautrock into play: driving motor-esque rhythms mixed with a bag of psychedelic and drony passages. Sad Skinhead is a fun take on pop by avant-garde, and Jennifer is a cool pulsating number.
Other than the closer, which is similar to Sad Skinhead in that it's a shorter pop oriented song, Side B is more of the same, with a slight twist and addition of a folky twang to its suite like feel.
My krautrock knowledge is limited, but Faust IV is to me, the perfect blend of accessible and the autobahn-driven motorik that adorns the genre. Faust IV is one of the albums you seek when you look into Krautrock, no doubt.
TV On The Radio
2/5
The Smashing Pumpkins
1/5
So you're telling me that you take 2+ hours out of your days to listen to this regularly, and call it great? I dunno man.
Gil Scott-Heron
4/5
Coldcut
2/5
Nina Simone
3/5
Soundgarden
3/5
Jane Weaver
2/5
Flamin' Groovies
2/5
3/5
Pearl Jam
3/5
Alanis Morissette
1/5
90s teen drama finishes, You Oughta Know starts playing in the credits.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
CURTIS. CANT. MISS. (so far)
Yes
4/5
Parliament
3/5
Grant Lee Buffalo
3/5
Radiohead
2/5
The La's
2/5
It's as the Beatles got back, wanted to make an album that's going to be hip with the kids, realized it wasn't going to work, and just split. Not nearly as deserving of the praise it's being given. There She Goes gives it a little bump in quality, but it quickly dips back down to huge mediocrity. Maybe even being downright disappointing, and bad. On the bright side, there isn't a follow up album, which is good.
Isaac Hayes
3/5
I like Isaac more as a musician who sings and croons his way through my ears than a guy who makes a movie soundtrack.
But can I dig it?
Yeah. Those vocal tracks slap, and Do Your Thing is an amazing acid face melter. Rest is good for background listening to make you feel free and funky.
PJ Harvey
3/5
The Rolling Stones
4/5
2/5
So, this EP recorded by... wait, hold up. Whatcha say? It's not an EP? It's a full length album?! I'm afraid I don't understand you. All I see is tracks 1-4 and that's it. You must be mistaken.
Faith No More
2/5
Yes
4/5
I've not listened intently to albums before this one, but even without listening to them, The Yes Album feels like a band that finally struck gold: epic instrumental passages that radiate confidence with cheerful and joyful singing. All landmarks of a critical moment of everything clicking together. An "Eureka!" moment, if you will.
"Yours Is No Disgrace" and "Starship Troopers" are the main highlights, but an underrated song in my opinion is "Perpetual Change," which showcases the band's elation. It's a grand finale that unites the entire band as one. I can only imagine how the studio must have felt after recording each passage. Probably only a tenth of the joy I experienced while listening to this.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Waterboys
2/5
Who told these guys they can include multiple 7+ minute songs?!
Mj Cole
1/5
Album so good it has 4 lines of text about it on Wikipedia.
Yes. 4 lines.
Kendrick Lamar
3/5
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Jamiroquai
3/5
Beyoncé
1/5
Oh fuck this.
4/5
Deep Purple
3/5
Man I've sooo outgrown these guys
Joan Baez
3/5
Can
3/5
I don't think i've ever said this for any album:
This all sounds a bit too much for me.
And it's not the music, because it's good. It's the godforsaken length of it. Paperhouse is an amazing psychy tune, and the transition and switch to a more krautrock, and even industrial oriented, Mushroom always makes me stand and think: "Not bad." Halleluwah is a behemothic, funky motor carriage of a song, and Oh Yeah is what every krautrock song should strive to be.
And then we get to side C and D, two sides I can go without. Aumgn and Peking O. are some dissonant long tracks with heaps of experimentation across all boards, with most missing the mark, sadly. Bring Me Coffee or Tea is alright.
Overall thoughts are this: listen to the first four tracks, the rest is meh.
Nirvana
4/5
Much has already been said about this album, and has been dissected to end and back in reverse. I'd say even more than Nevermind.
In Utero combines the pop backbone of Nevermind and adds the noisy touch Kurt was free to add and Albini was happy to oblige. The result was an album that proudly stands shoulder to shoulder with one of the best albums of the 90s. To some, even above it.
Part of what makes it great is how they created songs in the same vein as Nevermind (Serve The Servants, Dumb, Very Ape), but then adding an experimental touch to others (Tourette's, Scentless Apprentice).
What also stands out is how much this album feels like a letter to a psychologist. Kurt's mental health was at a downswing on Nevermind, but on In Utero it feels like rock bottom. Songs like Heart Shaped Box, Pennyroyal Tea and All Apologies show this.
If you were to ask me to name me which album I like more, I'd struggle. Both of them are good in their own right, with each highlighting different things, which means I enjoy them in different times. In Utero is for the moments where life brings you down, something i'm all too familiar with.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Fishbone
2/5
The Undertones
3/5
Better than their second album, for sure. Still, there's better pop punk.
Dire Straits
3/5
Prince
3/5
M.I.A.
3/5
Ramones
3/5
Talking Heads
3/5
Elvis Costello
2/5
Genuinely, why did we need another Elvis Costello album? We already had five of them, and this one isn't even one of the good ones. I'm sensing an agenda here.
Drive-By Truckers
3/5
R.E.M.
3/5
Roxy Music
4/5
American Music Club
4/5
Folk rock flavored slowcore, on the more upbeat side as opposed to the more popular anemic, droney subgenre.
A lot of songs tell some kind of story, with a lot of them having a bittersweet quality about the breakdown of the human spirit to the different burdens in life. Eitzel's voice sometimes seems directly broken with only a faint whisper to convey the message, but sometimes jovially depressed. His tone to some is annoying, but I find his voice comforting in a sense that it's familiar and not bombastic or unique, which fits the aesthetic of an everyday man down on his luck in a world that's changing in an unfathomable speed.
I think it's the best AMC album. Mark easily paints pictures of the world, and the songs flow seamlessly into different moods.
Meat Puppets
3/5
I wish I could rate it more, but it has a few duds sprinkled in
Pixies
3/5
Beastie Boys
3/5
Heaven 17
3/5
Starts off well, falls off midway. That leaves us in the middle.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Whoever doesn't like this album needs to get their ears checked. I was skeptical when I first heard LZ IV thinking they're overrated shams, but then I heard their first album which piqued my interests, and then this left me shocked at how great these guys are.
To be honest, if they kept it a single album with the A and B sides, it would be one of the greatest albums of all time, but some filler gets in the way. Night Flight and Boogie with Stu being the biggest culprits. Still, the highlights outshine any dirt you find on this. Kashmir is the obvious highlight, but also Down by the Seaside is beautiful, Black Country Woman is a cool blues tune and In The Light feels like an ode to happiness. Pure swagger!
Simple Minds
2/5
Sebadoh
3/5
The Magnetic Fields
2/5
Yep, it's a fad massively carried by it's concept.
Garbage
2/5
CHIC
2/5
Slipknot
2/5
You're really going to put All Hope Is Gone instead of Iowa and Vol. 3? The writer is a full blown idiot.
Massive Attack
4/5
I like this more than Mezzanine. Astonishingly beautiful album. Exudes concrete soul. I actually enjoyed every song on here. You got the heavyweights in "Safe From Harm", and "Unfinished Sympathy", but the tracks in between don't drop that far in comparison to them, so it doesn't become a chore to listen to them. I love the vocal deliveries on this. A perfect mix of nocturnal lurking of trip-hop on some tracks (on which they would build their sound on later records), and sunshine soul. Even the lyrics are good if you get into that part of the album.
I believe there isn't a single person on this planet who listened to this album that found every track boring. The only gripe I have is that Five Man Army is an amazing track that gets stale because of the length, but trip-hoppers will like that prolonged instrumental.
Madonna
2/5
A slog.
Eagles
1/5
Much better live. And I mean, much, much, better.
Jorge Ben Jor
3/5
Talking Heads
4/5
A really great album. To each their own, but I prefer it to their "masterpiece" Remain in Light. It sounds straightforward yet so fresh and quirky with lots of great songs played in their characteristic angular and precise way of riffing through them, accompanied by David Byrne's idiosyncratic and complementary vocal chops.
This one is less of that funky jive Talking Heads would be known for. Some might find it uninspired, but that concrete sound of the urban east coast jungle is just what I'm looking for. New Feeling and Pulled Up is that colorful, funky NYC sound that was brewing in the cracks of the CBGB stage.
David Bowie
3/5
The Byrds
3/5
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
Music to pick herbs to, which is in the name I guess.
Lana Del Rey
1/5
Do you love Lana Del Rey, or do you just love the laid back hoe energy she brings?
Lightning Bolt
2/5
Big Black
5/5
Even if it's abrasive as shit, it's still very accessible and likable. Love Durango's and Steve's driving guitar, Roland plays the drums like a damn machine. The bass sounds beautiful. Also, Steve's delivery is spot on and the lyrics, even if they're simple in nature, when paired with the music, want me to punch a hole in the wall in sheer rebellion, anger, and hatred towards the world and the state we're headed.
Oh, and it was recorded in 1985, some 35-40 years ago, and it still feels like it was recorded yesterday.
Holy shit.
A landmark in music. Fucking recommended the whole way.
Also, Steve, if you're ever reading this, I love you and everything you do.
Earth, Wind & Fire
3/5
Ride
4/5
Really spectacular musicianship. I'm usually not a fan of shoegaze, but what Ride created on Nowhere is nothing short of great. Nice melodic guitars reinforced by some really amazing drumwork, courtesy of Loz Colbert. I'm fairly certain that because of him, I've started to pay more attention to individual instruments when listening to albums.
To me, it's a perfect mix of mainstream pop and the hazy shoegaze. The lyrics are your standard moody teenage angst, but at the end of the day, who's here for the lyrics? Just sit back and let the reverb wash over you, man.
Jack White
3/5
I wish this was just a bit more. it feels like a safe way to start off your career imo
The Smiths
3/5
The Beach Boys
3/5
The Fall
3/5
Deee-Lite
2/5
... - ✨
GROOOVE IS IN THE HEAAAAART ✨
- ...
Metallica
3/5
Christina Aguilera
2/5
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
4/5
I hesitated whether to choose this album, because technically it is not chamber music, but some combination of jazz, classical, and ambient music, and only at the end chamber music. Anyway, I'm very glad that I chose this particular album. The entire album is amazing, but what I truly love about it can be summed up in two compositions.
Zopf is divided into several parts, so it can be characterized as the first larger and more grandiose composition here with a lot of influence. "From The Colonies" has a krautrock feel, "In a Sidney Motel" skillfully uses vocal performances to create a soothing folk atmosphere, "Surface Tension", as the name suggests, initially creates a tense atmosphere with synth manipulation, but gradually returns to that minimalistic lulling, and "Milk" then appears with experimental avant-folk. "Coronation" is perhaps the most boring part of the whole composition, but it continues beautifully on "Giles Farnaby's Dream" which adds... classical music with calypso inspiration? That's what I'm talking about! Listening, you never know how the next composition will blow your mind, but they all perfectly hit all the notes and all the feelings on any of them without becoming too ambitious for their own good.
The second composition I want to touch on is "The Sound of Someone You Love Who's Going Away and It Doesn't Matter". At first, it looks very, very pretentious, but it really isn't. It lives up to the name. Without giving much away, the composition is centered around one chord passage that repeats itself, lulling you to sleep, gradually being suppressed by the violin, keyboards, and other wacky instruments, creating a heavy and tense atmosphere, only to later return again, like that love that is difficult to keep on living without.
Amazing musical achievement! Peaceful, yet thought-provoking. At times angry and confused, yet absolutely soothing. Recommended!
King Crimson
5/5
OK, you know the deal. One of the head honchos of the prog sphere right here, for a host of very good reasons. The instrumentation are clean and well thought of, song structures and songwriting are poignant, inspiring with just the right amount of complex to not make a fool of itself.
What I love most about this album is how captivating it is. Almost every time I listen to it, I leave what I'm doing and just stand there life a 50yo dad with my hands on my hips and think, "Damn." And that's honestly amazing, because I've never had that kind of experience with any album I've listened to.
Not going to go into each song, but I will highlight the band member's contributions. Lake's vocals perfectly fit the medieval aesthetic, the sound of the drums are crisp and sharp, and the whole thing is gelled up by Fripp's "chess game" guitar work. Can't praise it enough. Interesting and captivating all throughout
One of the ways you can determine the worth of an album is by how well it has stood since its release, and even though the tides of the musical world have vastly changed since its inception in 1969, In The Court of the Crimson King has always been well above the water. That alone should put it above half of the albums ever created.
Now that I read this, these paragraphs have no sense and connection to each other, but fuck it, I'm too drunk to do a revision. It's a good album, check it out.
Willie Nelson
3/5
Big Brother & The Holding Company
3/5
Mylo
2/5
Too repetitive.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
Pavement
3/5
3/5
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
Aerosmith
2/5
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
3/5
This album is an audio representation of a person throwing paint at a wall and making a Dali masterpiece.
Punk in its attitude, and blues in its playing, Trout Mask Replica is an album with a set goal of representing the underbelly of the art crème by mashing and cramming a lot of things into itself and puking out a magical rainbow of lyrics that sound like a religious preacher, instrumentation that sound like what falling down the stairs, high on drugs of all kinds while having an aneurysm. In a good kind.
Don Vliet, of course, succeeded in his endeavour, whatever that might've been. You can say he wanted to express himself as an artist, giving a middle finger to the mainstream, make a pop album, which is a serious take, as there are some really catchy and progressive moments that would find themselves in music of 2023, but you can also interpret this album is an attempt to break apart whatever you deem that is music.
And that's the beauty of it. It's like taking a Rubik's Cube and trying your hardest to solve it by throwing it against the wall, breaking it, and using the pieces and making a sculpture.
It's probably stupid and cliché to say, but this album is hard to get at first, but once you connect that mainline, it's a trip to Neverland where the cool kids hang out.
The Cramps
3/5
Van Halen
3/5
Donovan
3/5
Good, but overall, loses steam a bit. The raga psychedelic parts hurt the album, and the backside doesnt bring anything new. It DOES boast a few heavy hitters tho, which we all know.
The Slits
3/5
Beatles
3/5
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
2/5
This neither takes the floor, nor shits the floor. It's Jack does nothing substantial on the floor, thus leading to a middle of the road two rating... on the floor.
Orange Juice
3/5
Prototypical modern indie. Shame I don't like that sound, past nor present.
Johnny Cash
3/5
David Bowie
4/5
Digital Underground
2/5
Black Flag
4/5
It's not an album I like to play often, but it's an album that matches the feeling and desire to get out of the house and start some shit. If today's Ritalin babies could do something like this with their energy, we'd already have an express line to the moon, I'm telling you that.
In my opinion, you don't need to be an expert musician to make a good hardcore album. There aren't many points that you need to touch in order to make a HC album that turns out well. Maybe that's why I was never too excited to enter that world, but Damaged is perfect as a starting point. Even if you are not a fan of that fast sound, there is that noisy and energetic atmosphere on this album that will soften some people who swear to avoid hardcore due to "lack of musical variety and artistry". And in my opinion, that's a stupid take to make, mostly because underneath the hardcore way of playing lies a love for the deeper groove, something along the lines of sludge and doom metal. Especially at the end in Life of Pain and Damaged I.
Everything that is stated as a minus can be stated as a plus. Very simple playing, with the energy of hymns present everywhere. In addition, the subject matter is very simple, in the sense that all the songs revolve around simple things in the daily life of a twenty-year-old: anarchy, beer, sex, drugs, and rock and roll, without any trace of any deeper pretentious songwriting.
I like My War more, but Damaged is better.
The Black Keys
2/5
Silver Jews
3/5
Rod Stewart
4/5
Ugh, this album is one of those "I hate I like them" albums, but what can I do, it's excellent. I think people criticize Rod too much based on his 80s output, and don't give credit for his earlier, more rocky, period. Realistically, every 60s and 70s star was in the gutter in this period, but Rod seems to get more tomatoes thrown at him for taking a pop route and actually succeeding.
This album is great. It reminds me a lot of the late 60s/early 70s Stones, with the rootsy atmosphere and the murky, less polished production. Rod's raspy vocals are an acquired taste, but to me, his smoky delivery is what sells it, alongside great instrumental work. He really gave new life to some of the songs present here, as most of them are renditions.
I also like the subtle Brit folk added to it, something that the Stones were never keen on doing. The mandolin only adds to the lushness of the album, like on the track Mandolin Wind.
Fatboy Slim
3/5
The opening one-two of Right Here, Right Now and The Rockafeller Skank is like a one-two punch to the nostalgia gut, and at the beginning, I had a feeling it would feel as if the rest of the album would drag on and be a chore, but it's quite the opposite: a fun album, full of playful rhythms and passages that reveal more than meets the eye.
Other than the first two songs, Build It Up - Tear It Down rocks, and Praise You is a beautiful song that almost feels like it belongs in Madchester.
Can
4/5
At this point, Can is mostly interested in dabbling with the arcane art of making ambient soundscapes that they flirted with on earlier releases. Is it a successful endeavour? You can say so.
It starts with the self-titled track, which already tells us that these guys aren't here to fuck around. Future Days is a proto-Stereolab ambient banger, with a good use Damo's vocals, who have now been reduced to a part of the instrumental collage across the entire album, rather than being a main point of emphasis.
Spray is a funky percussion heaven. The use of multiple percussion instruments weave this tribal rhythm into Jaki Liebezeit's phenomenal tour de force performance.
Moonshake is the shortest, and the most faithful track to the original formula of the early music of Can. Here, Czukay's bass shines bright, with its metallic twang and murky, deep sound.
Bel Air is the longest track. Touching on the main characteristics of ambient music with a dash of experimentation in a "Can way" (even managing to sound like The Rolling Stones and The Velvet Underground at moments), it's a blissful experience to listen to. Claustrophobic and wide open, with a lot of optimism inside it.
Can successfully pushed the envelope on this one, with Future Days now being hailed as a benchmark album most artists only dream of making. It's a shame that the band's future days weren't as prolific though.
Belle & Sebastian
2/5
The Specials
3/5
The Divine Comedy
2/5
Queen
3/5
Various Artists
3/5
The Cure
3/5
Nick Drake
5/5
I usually take the time to listen to an album before I rate and review it, but Pink Moon always has a certain chair reserved in the first rows of the theater of my brain, so I always see it and Nick Drake wandering around in different times of my day-to-day life.
Nick Drake went balls out on Bryter Layter wanting to make a commercial hit, sadly failing, so now for his next outing, he pretty much sat in front of the microphone stand, and hurtfully sang the outro credits of his own movie.
While he didn't leave a suicide note, I believe whatever he wanted others to know about him and his feelings that drowned him, is on here. Nick mused about a plethora of things that were breaking him apart: his vices, growing apathy and alienation from others, and his disillusionment with life and people. A silent scream for help, if you will, belched in a way only Nicholas Rodney Drake could: with a guitar in his hands, shattered in a million pieces, and drenched in a million little metaphors and signs, that mostly end up being blown into the meadows, never to be seen again, but one day blooming into these beautiful fields.
(Also, Nick has the rare accolade of being one of the key influences in my own writings back in high school. Just wanted to put it out there)