293
Albums Rated
3.07
Average Rating
27%
Complete
796 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1950
Favorite Decade
Hip-hop
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
31
5-Star Albums
19
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Tragic Songs of Life
The Louvin Brothers
|
5 | 2.58 | +2.42 |
|
Sail Away
Randy Newman
|
5 | 2.97 | +2.03 |
|
Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
50 Cent
|
5 | 3.06 | +1.94 |
|
Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde
The Pharcyde
|
5 | 3.13 | +1.87 |
|
Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
|
5 | 3.23 | +1.77 |
|
It's Too Late to Stop Now
Van Morrison
|
5 | 3.25 | +1.75 |
|
Entertainment
Gang Of Four
|
5 | 3.26 | +1.74 |
|
Horses
Patti Smith
|
5 | 3.31 | +1.69 |
|
The College Dropout
Kanye West
|
5 | 3.31 | +1.69 |
|
My Aim Is True
Elvis Costello
|
5 | 3.35 | +1.65 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Tea for the Tillerman
Cat Stevens
|
1 | 3.68 | -2.68 |
|
Play
Moby
|
1 | 3.46 | -2.46 |
|
Parachutes
Coldplay
|
1 | 3.46 | -2.46 |
|
Odessey And Oracle
The Zombies
|
1 | 3.42 | -2.42 |
|
Ágætis Byrjun
Sigur Rós
|
1 | 3.37 | -2.37 |
|
OK Computer
Radiohead
|
2 | 4.11 | -2.11 |
|
Suede
Suede
|
1 | 3.1 | -2.1 |
|
If I Could Only Remember My Name
David Crosby
|
1 | 3.07 | -2.07 |
|
Back To Black
Amy Winehouse
|
2 | 4.02 | -2.02 |
|
Nighthawks At The Diner
Tom Waits
|
1 | 3.01 | -2.01 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Van Morrison | 2 | 5 |
| The Rolling Stones | 2 | 5 |
| Miles Davis | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Tom Waits | 2 | 1 |
| Coldplay | 2 | 1.5 |
| Radiohead | 3 | 2 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Beatles | 4, 2, 5, 3 |
5-Star Albums (31)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Faces · 2 likes
2/5
This is just ok. I like most of the music and "Stay with me" is one of Stewart's better songs. This is brought down by the other singer. I'll never listen again but it's not awful. 2/5
Barry Adamson · 1 likes
3/5
This list is fantastic. I would have never been aware nor sought this out but for this list. This is my second soundtrack although the previous one was for a movie that does exist. I was entertained throughout and made my own visuals to keep with the music. 3.25/5
Talvin Singh · 1 likes
2/5
Electronic music is very hard for me to rate. I do not have much experience with this genre and have never heard an album that was what I would consider great.
This album is definitely interesting and I enjoy the "softer" parts but like other electronic music it sounds very formulaic to me and sort of blends together.
Patti Smith · 1 likes
5/5
This is phenomenal. Of the Television, Lou Reed, Velvet Underground, New York Dolls, et al bands coming out of that scene in New York this is the true master work.
Smith manages to be sexy, poetic, and also a real rock and roll act. I only wish I had heard this a long time ago.
4-Star Albums (82)
1-Star Albums (19)
All Ratings
Pixies
3/5
I was a Breeders and Kim Deal fan before I ever heard the Pixies. I really like this album and want to rate it higher but the second half does not match the beginning. It's still worth listening to again after not having heard it for 3 to 4 years.
Stan Getz
5/5
I have heard of Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd but until today had never listened to either men unless it was something that had been sampled in hip hop. I have not listened to much jazz so I may have to revisit but this is a beautiful album and gets my highest regards.
The Cure
5/5
This is an all timer for me. I know that this list will make me tired of 80s English bands and synthesizers but this album is so good.
Even if there were no lyrics I'd rate this a 5 for the music and the bass lines. 5/5
Beatles
4/5
This is an all time album. I've probably heard Come Together over a thousand times but had not heard the album in it's entirety until today. I can't give it a 5 but it's a 4.5 for me any day.
Lauryn Hill
4/5
I did not listen to this other than the singles when it came out because it was everywhere and unavoidable. I always loved "To Zion" but until now have not heard the entire album. It is a solid 4. I wish she would have released more music.
Green Day
4/5
This album came out when I was in Iraq. My memories of this will always be when I got back listening to it with my friends. I don't know if multi platinum records released by major companies can be political but this tries to be and it is catchy as hell.
Wu-Tang Clan
5/5
My list started with a lot of albums that I am very familiar with the only exception being "Jazz Samba" by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd. Of all my albums so far I have not listened to any as much as I have listened to "Enter the Wu-Tang."
It is very cliched that I as a 46 year old white guy love Wu-Tang but I will have to lean into it. I have loved this album since I was 15 years old and it is an absolute masterpiece. What people say about Illmatic, To Pimp a Butterfly, My Twisted Dark Fantasy, etc. is probably undeserved but this is one of the top albums of all time across genres.
Spiritualized
2/5
I.had never heard of Lazer Guided Melodies before listening to this album. The first half of the album is more interesting to me as the second half is much more meandering. It's not offensive in anyway but also not worth listening to again.
Def Leppard
3/5
I'm just young enough to remember this but not old enough to have listened to the album in it's entirety until.today. It's way over produced and at least twenty minutes too long. I would give it a 4 on the strength of the singles if it didn't seem interminable for the last 4-5 songs.
Bob Dylan
2/5
Another 60s classic that is never heard in its entirety until beginning the 1001 list. I've listened to a lot of Dylan over the years and appreciate his song writing more so than I like to hear him sing more than a few songs at a time.
The Bees
3/5
This was my album after "You want it Darker" so it was a refreshing change of pace. That being said the first part of the album is almost generic bordering on background in a video game. The latter part of the album improves as more piano is introduced. I am unlikely to listen again but its ok 3/5.
The Pogues
2/5
I have heard of the Pogues and have listened to "Fairytale in New York" before listening to this album. I really enjoy the "music" but will likely never listen to this album again. It is not offensive and is well done just not what I am into.
Pink Floyd
3/5
This is the first time I've listened to Wish you were Here since probably 1995 in its entirety. My Dad was/ is a big fan so I heard this album and the radio edit singles all the time as a kid. It's a great album but I can't go over 3 stars.
My main criticism is that for all its jazzy pretensions ithe playing doesn't really blow you away. They were a great band and I appreciate their work but this doesn't hold up well for me.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
This was hard for me to get into at first and my initial impression was "Old man , whispering." But as I listened with a more open mind I found myself getting over those first thoughts.
My favorite track is "On the Level." I doubt that I would listen again given the gravity of the album I still rate it a middle of the road 3/ 5.
Steely Dan
4/5
Until today I had never listened to this album. Steely Dan is in my opinion properly rated/ derided. As a person born in 1978 little was less cool to me than jazzy rock when I was a teenager.
In the last two decades the band has undergone a reexamination and become a darling to people who are or consider themselves to be hipsters. With that in mind and having listened to "Aja" several times in the past year or so I was not super excited to when this was next on my playlist.
After listening I am glad that I gave this a chance. To me this is superior to "Aja" and has no real weak songs. The lyrics are cynical if that is your thing but what makes the album great is the music and how it all comes together. 4/5
Sufjan Stevens
3/5
I love the concept, the music, most of the lyrics and the way this comes together. I have never listed to Sufjan Stevens prior to this album and I find him to be more pleasant than not. However that is outweighed by the run time of this album. I give it a 3/5 but would have been almost to a 4 if the album were not 65 minutes long.
4/5
I love this album. The singles do most of the work but they are capable of carrying the entire album. I wish we had quarter stars because it's really a 3.75 but I will give it a 4/5.
Stan Getz
3/5
I love the Stan Getz "Jazz Samba" record and gave it a 5. This one is really good but only a 3/5.
4/5
I have always been put off by the Bowie love as someone who was not around when he was at his peak and knew him more as a personality. That being said this album is worthy of the hype. I can't give it 5 but it's a 4.25/5 for me.
Fela Kuti
4/5
This is a great album. I'd never heard of Fela Kuti and have never been interested in Cream as I've always considered Clapton as an Eddie Van Halen for people who didn't know that they weren't cool.
Be that as it may I was really impressed with this and love the horns and rhythm. I wish I knew what he is singing but it doesn't distract from enjoying the wonderful music. 4.25/5.
Lightning Bolt
3/5
This took a little.time.to.get used to but it grew on me. Excellent drumming.
Moby Grape
1/5
Very vanilla, not terrible but nothing stands out for me.
Rahul Dev Burman
3/5
As a commenter states on the reviews page albums like this are what make the list so invaluable. I would have never sought this out but for this list.
The highs are why I give this a three. The lows being it down from a four or above.
Supertramp
3/5
This really grew on me. I wouldn't consider myself a fan of easy listening or however else this could be defined as, but this album has a nice groove and the horn playing holds it all together. 3.25/5.
Jane's Addiction
3/5
James Addiction was always hard for me to get into because I couldn't separate the antics from the music. I am familiar with their big singles but this is the first time I've listened to this album in its entirety.
My feeling is that this is a perfectly fine record. I think there are 3-4 really good songs and the rest are not noteworthy good or bad.
3/5
Donald Fagen
2/5
I really like the music. You can hear that the musicianship and production in every song. The problem is the lyrics. It's just a lot of yuppie melancholy and that's not for me. I'd love to have a version that had no lyrics as is this is not for me. 1.75/5.
Nirvana
5/5
I got into this list to listen to music that I am unfamiliar with in the hopes that I will become a more well rounded person. So far 27 albums in I have been exposed to new to me music and have enjoyed the majority of the new albums.
This album is as familiar to me as maybe any album that could conceivably be on the list. I was an enormous Nirvana fan as a teenager and this was unavoidable in 1993/ 1994.
I have not listened to much Nirvana in the past 5 or 10 years. I do from time to time listen to Nevermind and In Utero, but usually just my favorite tracks from those albums, however the reason that those are the songs I go back to are because of MTV Unplugged in New York.
This is a 10/10 album for me and is in my top 10 or top 20 albums of all time. I know that Nirvana gets overrated and underrated at the same time and that old people (people my age) get really touchy about their sacred cows unless they are the ones making the critiques but the truth is the truth and this album is unfuckwithable.
Neil Young
2/5
I have not heard much Neil Young. I am familiar with the hits that were standard fare on the classic rock stations but have never listened to an entire album by him.
I find this ok. The music is pleasing especially the acoustic guitar playing. The lyrics on the majority of the songs are just so-so to me.
2.25/5
Beatles
2/5
This is my second Beatles album in 29 days. I know that there are more to come and I welcome them.
I have heard the singles on this album many times. This album sounds great (I listened to the 2009 remastered version) and I appreciate that at least.
There is nothing on here that I need to hear again. 1.75/5
The Teardrop Explodes
2/5
The first 40 minutes are a slog. At best the songs sound like soundtrack filler from a forgettable 80s movie. The back 1/3 is much better as it shifts into slower less synth based songs. I'm glad I listened to it but never again.
Adele
3/5
This is a good album. I had heard some of the singles before but had never listened all the way through. I give it a 3.25/5.
Nick Drake
3/5
I do not hate Drake's voice and I like the music especially the songs that have strings and horns. My complaint is that this sounds like music that would be better served as a score for a movie instead of as an album. 2.75/5
Jeff Buckley
5/5
I was a Rolling Stone subscriber as a teenager and I remember this album getting great reviews. Despite this I didn't listen for many years because I incorrectly believed he was some kind of Harry Connick Jr crooner type.
I was right about Buckley being a crooner but I was wrong to go 31 years without listening to this album. "Hallelujah" and "Lover, you should come over" are my favorites but there are no bad tracks on the album.
The incredible part for me is that he sings in "his" voice on every song. Buckley doesn't adopt any "grungy" howl on the more up tempo songs nor does he have an affect on the ballads. I am sad 28 years after the fact that he died because we didn't get to see where he would go from this debut.
4.75/5
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
3/5
This is my first time listening to all of these songs or this "album." I really love the guitar playing and Holly's voice. 3.25/5
Sonic Youth
4/5
I don't know why I have always avoided this album. Moore and to a lesser degree Gordon's singing is excellent and my trepidation re this being "noise rock" was very misplaced. I will never listen to a single song on this album again but I will definitely listen to this in its entirety again. 4.25/5
The xx
3/5
Another band I had never heard by in this case a band I had never heard of. I love the randomness of the list at least 36 albums in.
This reminds me in a way of Portishead and also Evanescence. This is a positive and not a negative for my tastes.
I'm impressed with the females singers voice and would listen to this again. 3.25/5
Johnny Cash
3/5
I've heard this many times as part of compilations but am more familiar with At Folsom. Cash is an all timer but this album is not on the same level as "Live at Folsom Prison" or some.of his other albums. I love "America" and the majority of the American recordings. I can't go below 3 because it's Johnny Cash. 3/5
LCD Soundsystem
2/5
I can understand if you have a nostalgic love of this album because you were young and partying a lot when it came out. My favorite Outkast album is like that for me (it is not on the list and should be as it is a lot better than the two that are) but I don't have that attachment to LCD Soundsystem.
This is pretty blah to me and only the final song and "North American Scum" stand out. 2.25/5
Jeff Beck
2/5
I know that this is an important album for what it portended for rock.music moving forward. But to me it just sounds like blues karaoke. The piano playing on the 2d to last song save it from being a 1. 2/5
Gram Parsons
3/5
I would give it a 2 but for Emmy Lou Harris and the steel guitar playing. 2.5/5
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
I love this album. The first 3/4s are a 5 but the last 3 or 4 songs bring this down to a 4.25/5 for me. If I could sing I would want to sing like Paul Simon or Sam Cooke. Great album and I will add Patterns to my permanent playlist. 4.25/5
Bobby Womack
4/5
I really love this style of singing. I came into this with no knowledge of "The Poet" and only limited experience with Bobby Womack. This is a very solid album with tremendous basslines and a superb bass player. 4/5
Fred Neil
2/5
This is ok. There are 2 or 3 songs that stand out "Dolphins" being my favorite. I'm also partial to the acoustic instrumental. 2.25/5
Dennis Wilson
2/5
I really like the synthesizer and arrangements. Wilson's voice is great but lyrically there isn't much to recall. 2/5
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
4/5
Wow. I'd only heard the two singles prior to listening today. I like Full Moon Fever, Damn the Torpedoes and Wildflower more as Petty is singing like himself and not alternating between Vam Morrison and Mick Jagger but this is still a great album because of "Breakdown" and "American Girl." 3.5/5
Buck Owens
4/5
I've listened to a lot of Buck Owens but have never heard this album in its entirety. Wish it had more of the brass that made the "Bakersfield" sound but it's still undeniably a great snapshot of his music. 3.5/4
Milton Nascimento
3/5
Really interesting compilation that encompasses different styles of music. I really enjoyed this but due to not speaking Portuguese it's hard for me to remember the standout tracks. I'm glad for this challenge for putting me into music like this record. 3.25/5
Ella Fitzgerald
4/5
This took me a long time to listen to. I put two of my later albums "Toys in the Attic" and "Suede" in at approximately 1 hour intervals.
I really appreciate this list/ generator for provoking me to listen to an album like this even if it's 3 hours long. Fitzgerald's voice is incredible. The music sublime. The fact that this sounds so well and is so old is a testament to the craftsmanship of those who put this album together. My favorites are "Of Thee I Sing" and "Stiff Upper Lip." 4.25/5
Aerosmith
2/5
I was introduced to Aerosmith by Run DMC and the wildly popular "Walk this Way" video. I used to play that song on a jukebox where my Mom worked.
My next experience with the band was 2 or 3 years later when they put out Permanent Vacation. They then became a very prominent MTV band before becoming a caricature of an MTV band.
This is ok. "Pump" is a lot better. 2/5
Van Morrison
5/5
When many British/ Irish or white Americans sing "soul" music it can sound to me false. I have encountered some of that already only 51 albums in: Aerosmith and Gram Parsons (albeit singing "Country") come to mind.
Van Morrison does not come across this way to me. I think that it is a cheat that this live album is included as it is also a "Greatest Hits" album sans Brown Eyed Girl and It stoned me. That cheat aside it is hard to find any fault in this perfect sounding album. Morrison's voice is as always impeccable and the band sounds excellent too. 4.5/5
Suede
1/5
I recently listed the the Bandsplain episode about Suede so I had high hopes for this album. Unfortunately it sounds like a cross between bad REM and The Smiths.
I can't go over 1.25/5. Bland jangly Britpop.
Cocteau Twins
2/5
This is the definition of middle of the road for me. I like the singles and I love her voice. However one song (I could have misheard) sounded like she was singing about "The Gremlins." 2/5
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
This is an excellent album. I have heard so much of it before either by sampling or interpolation. I can't go 5 but it is a solid 3.5. The stand out track to me is "Sex Machine." 3.5/5
Ali Farka Touré
4/5
I am happy to be exposed to this music due to this list. Fantastic instrument playing by all involved. 3.5/5
Pulp
4/5
This is such a fantastic album. From song 1 through the rest of the album there are no skippers. 4.25/5
Dead Kennedys
4/5
A classic that I am happy to revisit. Great singing, great lyrics and great energy. 4.25/5
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
I think VH1 Behind the Music soured me on Fogerthy and that is a shame. This is such a great album. John one of the greatest singers of all time and the rest of the band was just as tight. I can't believe it took me this long to listen in its entirety. 5/5
R.E.M.
4/5
Pretty unassailable REM album. You can argue for their later more jangly or more epic albums but this is hard to beat. 4.25/5
Eminem
4/5
I believe that I bought the "Just don't give a fuck" cassette single when it came out in October 1998. If I did not get it the day it came out I am certain that I bought it within weeks of its release.
I was and am a big hip hop fan and 1998 was an interesting year because Tupac and BIG had both been shot the the preceding two years and the biggest hip hop artists in 1998 was either DMX or Master P at least that was the case in the Southeast. I listened to what was on the radio but was put off by the shiny suit rap that was played the most and listened to a lot of mixtapes when I was able to get them.
88.5 FM in Atlanta played "underground" hip hop on the weekends. They played not only local Atlanta artists but also artists from elsewhere and if memory serves me correctly they played either with permission or without the Stretch and Bobito show from New York. I did not hear Eminem on Stretch but I did first hear "Just Don't Give a Fuck" from a recording of this radio station.
Sorry to ramble but a little context is needed as I get into my review because there is a version of Eminem and also this album that could exist potentially without "My Name is" and the MTV of it all. That version is to me much better but the argument can be made that this album without MTV and "My Name is" already existed and it is the "Slim Shady EP " or "Infinite" and no one or least certainly not 10 million people bought those albums.
Both then and now I prefer the nasally/ underground/ battle rap produced by the Bass Brothers Eminem to the more catchy made for a large audience Eminem.
When listening to this album again for the first time in more than 20 years I found myself waiting for the second half which contains my favorite Eminem songs and is less controversial (in comparison) than the first half which contains the three singles.
In 1999 I would have given this a 4.5. It is not his best album and is probably the weakest of the first 3 but it is the last time that he sounded nasally (which I like) and tracks more with the "underground" style that I liked both then and now. 4.25/5
Sonic Youth
4/5
I feel dumb for ignoring Sonic Youth. This is the second albums that I have had of theirs on this challenge following "Daydream Nation." I do not like this quite as much but this is a really great album, "Tom Violence" is a great song and will be added to my playlist. 4/5
Fleet Foxes
2/5
To me this kind of music just blends in. I don't necessarily mean this style of music as it is characterized by this list but rather music with these vocals, this tempo and subject matter.
It is not poorly done as far as I can tell it is just vanilla, boring and instantly forgettable.
2/5
The Rolling Stones
5/5
This is my second or third favorite Rolling Stones album and has my favorite Stones song "Let it Bleed." My favorite is on this list but I will have to listen to "Some Girls" to see if it is still number 2.
It is hard to not give this a full on 5, but if I quibble and deduct a quarter star it would be for the Keith song that sounds like a bad Bob Dylan ripoff (but with better singing). 4.75/5
ZZ Top
2/5
The singles are ok. The other songs either sound like the singles or are about TV dinners. Not my cup of tea.
The Velvet Underground
3/5
I really want to like this. I think "Run" is a good song and I like the songs with violin le sitar. The rest of the album is ok. This is a 3 but I will listen again. 3/5
Britney Spears
1/5
I will have to go back to my other albums that I rated a 1 and give them a bump up to 2. This sucks. The first three songs were all singles and are either ok or at least I've heard them so much that at least tolerable.
The album goes downhill from there. If you like psuedo dancehall but done by Britney Spears or the Swiss then there is something for you. Throw in some songs rejected by Mariah Carey sung by someone with a much lesser voice and you have "Baby one more time."
Miles Davis
5/5
This is a beautiful album. It's a 5. Listen to it three or ten times in a row.
Arcade Fire
4/5
This is a really good album that would be great if it were a little shorter. 4/5
Derek & The Dominos
2/5
I may be guilty of an anti Clapton bias and that colors my rating, but this is really tough to listen to. It's just guitar assing off for the entire runtime. The only part of the album that deviates is the piano part in "Layla" but that comes at the end of the song near the end of the album. If you want to hear a pure Strat sound then this is for you. Otherwise skip it.
The Isley Brothers
2/5
I really wanted to like this and parts of it are good. The guitar playing complements the music when it's allowed to. Unfortunately this just drones on and blends together.
Kelela
2/5
Her new album "Unplugged at the Blue Note" is much better. This strays so far from r and b and hip hop that to.me it just becomes bland pop.or dance pop.
Michael Jackson
4/5
It's not a 5 because of the Paul McCartney song. It's a tremendous album and objectively it is a 5 I think I can't get there because so many of these songs are so ubiquitous that I can't imagine not having heard them 1000s of times.
Jurassic 5
2/5
The production is good. This is evidenced by how good Big Daddy Kane sounds on the song he's featured on. The problem is that the back and forth "old school" rap style gimmick wears thin when the rappers don't really have anything to say. I've heard Charli 2na on other stuff and have liked him albeit in limited doses. Neither he nor the other guys have "it" at least inasmuch to make a better more interesting album.
Television
4/5
I first listened to this album years ago based on a recommendation from a friend. I enjoyed it much more this time and am impressed by how well it's put together. 4/5
Incredible Bongo Band
4/5
I love this album. I have heard Apache a million times and even if I had not heard it before I would be familiar due to how much it was sampled in disco and hip hop. I will definitely listen again. 4/5
This is just ok. I like most of the music and "Stay with me" is one of Stewart's better songs. This is brought down by the other singer. I'll never listen again but it's not awful. 2/5
Dusty Springfield
3/5
I first heard of Dusty Springfield when the Pulp Fiction soundtrack came out and it had "Son of A Preacherman." I had never heard the song but knew it from it being sampled on "Hits from the Bong" by Cypress Hill.
This album does not reach the highs of "Black Sunday" for me but it is still pretty good. Springfield has a beautiful voice and the musicianship on the album especially the strings and Spanish guitar is impressive.
I would rate this a 4 if there were more variety of songs. The vast majority of the tracks are very similar and can blend together. 3.25/5
Pantera
3/5
I am not the biggest Heavy Metal fan. I like some of it. The dividing line for me in terms of how fast it can be for me to like it is oddly enough Pantera. I can handle Pantera, but when it gets much faster (with some exceptions) I don't care for it because the music makes me anxious.
This is a good album. The guitar playing, drumming and even the bass playing (which you can hear here in contrast to other metal albums) are all excellent. This would be a 4 but for the terrible singing and lyrics. The lyrics may not even really be that bad and would be neither a positive or negative if sung by an even semi decent singer. 2.5/4
Stephen Stills
2/5
This is too much of a same sounding thing for me. I like "Love the One You're with" but the rest of the album is not as good. After reading the wikipedia I was shocked how highly this was thought of by critics at the time as it seems very indistinguishable from many other albums that were released in the twenty year period before and after this album. 1.5/5
The Beach Boys
4/5
Until I was in my 20s all I knew about The Beach Boys was from cameos in bad movies, the "golden oldies" station and "Kokomo." I bought "Pet Sounds" after seeing it referenced for the 500th time by either a critic or musician as an example of a perfect album. After listening I agreed.
This is my second Beach Boys or Beach Boys adjacent album after Dennis Wilson "Pacific Ocean Blue." While I thought that was interesting musically it was not at the level of The Beach Boys best.
This album is not at the level of "Pet Sounds" either but it is closer especially the second half. I had never heard "She knows me too well" and have heard the Ramones version of "Do you wanna dance?" more than The Beach Boys version. While the latter song is very much in the vein of the music I heard by the band on the "Golden Oldies" station the former is a much more modern song for the time and sounds like a song from "Pet Sounds" or a Beatles album.
This album isn't a 5 but it is a solid 4 and I will listen again.
Bill Evans Trio
2/5
Jazz without horns. I love the bass playing. This is not bad but it's far from memorable. 2.25/5
T. Rex
2/5
This is just ok. Ziggy Stardust for the skating rink. 2/5
Stereo MC's
2/5
Not great rapping, singing, or lyrics. Sounds like any of the nameless Native Tongue copies from 89-94. Despite that this is not unpleasant and may reveal more on a future listen. 2/5
Billy Joel
4/5
Great album. It would be a 5 if not for some of the schmaltz. It's still a 4/5.
Massive Attack
2/5
Bland. The middle of the middle of the road. 2/5
Barry Adamson
3/5
This list is fantastic. I would have never been aware nor sought this out but for this list. This is my second soundtrack although the previous one was for a movie that does exist. I was entertained throughout and made my own visuals to keep with the music. 3.25/5
Prefab Sprout
2/5
This is well made but nothing stands out. I'm ignorant as to British pop that didn't really cross over into the US so this is my first and last listen. 2/5
CHIC
3/5
I love the groove and tempo of this record. I'm probably more into the vibe than any one song so it's only a 3 but worth listening to again.
Jane's Addiction
4/5
Mountain, Ocean, Had a Dad and Jane Says are classics. It's close to a 5 but I'll just give this a 4.25/5.
Tito Puente
4/5
Great album. I love the rhythm and brass. 4/5
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
When I started this list I would have said that "Nebraska" was Springsteen's finest album. Listening to this today makes me have second thoughts. This may be Bruce at his best as it has both incredible lyrics and gorgeous music. I look forward to when "Nebraska" appears on my list so I can compare and contrast the two. 5/5
Talking Heads
4/5
I really enjoyed this album. I love the bass line and playing. Will listen again.
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
This grew on me as I listened and it seems well recorded. However overall this was still very boring to me and I will not listen again.
Gang Of Four
5/5
I have recently received Talking Heads 77 and Television which came out around the same time as this album and are loosely characterized as being a similar genre. I really enjoyed both of those albums but this is even better.
The bass lines and maybe odd time signatures coupled with the great lyrics and subject matter make this a 5 for me.
Elvis Costello
5/5
I will likely regret this as there are so many Costello albums on this list but if there are 50% the quality of this then I look forward to all 1000 of them.
This is a great album. Costello jumps across genres or sub genres and combines them all into a super well crafted/ well played album. I have no choice but to give this a 5.
Iron Butterfly
2/5
I listened to this once before in the the Spring of 1994. That was enough. This is very bland and at least when listening on headphones sounds poorly recorded. 2/5
Iron Maiden
3/5
This is my first Iron Maiden record. I've long been familiar with their logo but had never listened before today. This is not my favorite style of music but this is well.done and there are good songs on here. 3/5
The Cure
4/5
This grew on me. I would have rated this a 3 but for the last three songs which pulled it up to a 4.
Devendra Banhart
1/5
Bland acoustic guitar music with nonsensical lyrics that would underwhelm if played at a dentist's office.
Radiohead
2/5
This is not a good or interesting record by Radiohead. Admittedly I am not their biggest fan but I can appreciate their other works.
This is just boring and I guess angst filled while not really having or at least making a point or statement. I read the Wikipedia and see what it was supposed to be about but I don't hear that. Instead it just seems whiny.
The Monks
4/5
Wow. This was totally new to me. I don't even recall ever reading about this band.
Organ, electric banjo proto beach pre punk music? Sign me up!
The Smiths
4/5
This is a fantastic album. Morrissey is an assholes asshole but there is no bad "Smiths" record.
fIREHOSE
3/5
Great musicianship and varied styles/ genres. Will listen again.
50 Cent
5/5
This is the last gangster rap classic as in being highly anticipated, selling tons of copies and being critically acclaimed. I have listened to this so many times that I'm unsure if I can be objective but I have to rate this a 5 in the style of "The Source." It's far from perfect as it's too long , recycles songs from "Guess Who's Back?" but despite that it's still a classic.
Muddy Waters
3/5
I really enjoyed this album.
Incubus
3/5
This got a really bad rap iny review group. I had never heard the entire album but have heard the singles and maybe a few other tracks many times. I am not surprised that I liked this album. It is labeled as Nu Metal but is much more mellow and has some Sublime vibes but doesn't sound like Sublime.
Leonard Cohen
2/5
I love Cohen's voice but I would love to hear something accompanying it. To.me this album is like Bob Dylan albums of the same era where after a time the lure of the poetry wears off and everything begins to sound like stream of consciousness nonsense.
Joe Ely
3/5
This album grew on me. I'm sure that Ely influenced a lot of artists that I enjoy more and hold in a higher regard i.e. Yoakum, Robert Earl Keen , and Steve Earle. It's arguable that they are better song writers and or performers but at least for me their voices are much better sounding.
That being said this is a solid album that I will listen to again.
Beatles
5/5
This album is too long but it is still an all time classic. 5 stars very enthusiastically.
James Taylor
4/5
I may be a sucker for this kind of singer songwriter music as my Mom had the James Taylor greatest hits record on repeat at my house, but even if so this is a classic.
The Modern Lovers
3/5
I really liked this album. I think that the sameness of subject matter and the singer's voice make it fade a little towards the back half of the album.
The organ and pace of some of the songs make it sound somewhat like the Doors (who I don't always like) but it is done in a different way.
I will listen again.
Neil Young
2/5
Mournful Muppet Music.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
This is my second Elvis Costello record and I really enjoyed it. I love the variety of musical styles and appreciated how clean everything sounds.
The Beta Band
2/5
I really liked the first song because a great Lupe Fiasco and Jill Scott song samples the same song that this one samples. Other than that the album was not bad but also not noteworthy. I like rock music that uses samples and even music that is sometimes sorted as "phundephonics" so it stands to reason that I would like this. However I couldn't really get into it and even listened to some of the songs 2 or 3 times. 2/5
Miles Davis
4/5
Very solid jazz album. I like Davis' more experimental stuff more but this is still very good I mean it has "Venus de Milo" so I can't go lower than 4.
Electric Light Orchestra
3/5
I had never heard this album in its entirety before today. I've heard "Blue Sky" and remember seeing this LP as a kid because the cover looks like a board game/toy that was popular when I was a kid. Just as the name of the toy escapes me so too will this album. There are 3 or 4 really great songs but the rest are kind of everything all at once and so they don't really stand out.
Don McLean
2/5
American Pie is a great song. I believe that the radio version is superior to the 8+ minute album version but both are great.
The rest of this album just meanders and doesn't stray into any interesting territory re music or lyrics. That is not to say that it is unpleasant or even boring just that it has a sameness to it that may just be this genre to my ears.
Living Colour
4/5
This is an album that had one song that I was super aware of while having never heard the rest of the album. "Cult of Personality" was seemingly inescapable when it was released and is still a song that I hear from time to time.
I thought that this album would be more of the same but it isn't and that is a good thing. The remainder of the album has songs that are definitely rock or even hard rock but it also has songs that sound somewhat like 1988 R&B and even Terence Trent D'Arby (in a good way).
The musicianship is great and that extends to the bass playing which is front and center on almost all the songs on the album. I will listen again.
Elliott Smith
2/5
I believe I've listened to part of this album many years ago after learning about Smith through a friend. This album is not Smiths best work which I believe is XO.
Smith is an artist that meets many of my requirements as a great artist: he has a great voice, makes attempts to vary how his music sounds, and is an excellent writer. Maybe I am judging him too harshly but this album doesn't live up to his best work because in my opinion he doesn't do enough to meet my aforesaid requirements.
This album does get better towards the middle but it's too late to overcome the overall blandness. Every song to that point sounds the same either in how he sings, subject matter, or musical.style.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
Sticky Fingers is my 2d Stones album and I have to give it a 5 even though prior to this listening I would not have considered this one of their top 3 albums. This album is incredible. Even without the big singles and country songs it would be a great album. I listened to it twice to be sure that I wasn't grading this too high based on the relative low average of my last weeks worth of albums and in my opinion it is a well deserved 5.
Black Sabbath
4/5
Like everyone else who was eligible for a Black Sabbath album I received one the day that Ozzy' s death was announced. Of all the Black Sabbath albums this is the one that I have the most familiarity with as I bought this album when I was 15 after hearing "Paranoid" on the Dazed and Confused soundtrack. Prior to that my experience with Ozzy was his solo stuff (mainly ballads) that were popular on MTV in the late 80s and 90s.
After listening to this yesterday for the first time in several years I am torn between a 4 and a 5. It could be a 5 just for War Pigs through Iron Man. But I am rating it a 4 because of the remainder of the album as it falls off a bit. The remainder of the songs are good but not great and slightly take away from the highs of the first part of the album.
Neil Young
3/5
This is my 3rd Neil Young record in 121 albums. Unlike "After the Gold Rush" and "On the Beach" I found this album interesting and not so repetitive. Young's voice is not my favorite but on this album it is so raw and even cracking at times that it got over the "muppet" quality that made "After the Gold Rush" nearly unlistenable for me. This album also has more variety in song than the other two albums so I am giving this a 3.
Talking Heads
4/5
Wow. This is my 2d Talking Heads album after getting their debut a few weeks ago. I can't believe popular music used to be able to sound so weird.
I can't wait to listen again. I love the musicianship and odd rhythms.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
I liked this. The singer's voice is very clear. There are some elements of early REM here but with strings on one song while also having a kind of Talking Heads rhythm,
The Sabres Of Paradise
2/5
This is ok. I have listened to more electronic music in the past years than I had ever listened to before but the majority of that music has been new so it sounds different than this and is more up tempo and/or interesting. I liked the song remixed by Portishead because it had more of a late 80s early 90s Hip Hop bass feel with bigger and older drums than the rest of the album. Towards the end there is a track that sounds a little like the Halloween theme but slightly sped up that is worthy of mentioning.
David Bowie
5/5
This is my 2d Bowie album after "Ziggy Stardust." I gave that a 4 and I think this is better. Not only are the songs great but the way the album is sequenced is pretty perfect.
Slipknot
2/5
This would be a 4 for the drumming if not for the terrible rapping (sometimes) and singing. Seriously great drumming when it's allowed to be the focal point of the music.
Soft Machine
4/5
This is not perfect. Nor is it the kind of music that I would seek out. However it is very interesting and well done.
More jazzy than jammy but a bit of both. This is very experimental and well done. There is a lot of drumming that sounds "trip-hop" to me and maybe this was sampled by the trip-hop bands.
This is an old album and this group tries and succeeds in making a well played, creative and experimental album. This is not meant to be pop or easy listening (even though with some of the horns and grooves it has a "Chicago" feel to it).
The only real flaw is on the 3rd track where there is some singing. This detracts from the album but not enough for me to rate this lower than a 4.
Dinosaur Jr.
2/5
Dinosaur Jr is just not for me. I have had this album (actually the tape) since probably 1994. Unlike Sonic Youth which I always avoided until this list I did try to get into this album.
I know that they are important because of who they influenced and what they were doing in contrast to the state of music in 1988, but this sounds too much like all the million bands who imitated them in the 90s.
John Lennon
3/5
This should be on the list. Imagine is a great song and so too is How do you sleep? The rest of the album sounds good but nothing stands out.
Tom Waits
1/5
Yuck. Hollering. Gibberish.
Duke Ellington
3/5
I liked this album. The musicianship is incredible and while this is very straightforward Jazz it's very well done. This album deserves to be on the list.
4/5
I love this album.
Beth Orton
2/5
This album is new to me and but for this list I would have been unaware of its existence. With that said this album is not great. It grew on me some but the lack of variety and maybe my bias against this style of music (folk/ electonica/ pop) leads me to give this a 2.
Parliament
3/5
This is pretty good. If you were a fan of 90s hip hop then you have heard most of this album already. Deserves to be on the list.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
3/5
This would.be a 4 or even a 5 for me if the second half of the album were as good as the first song/half / title track. Sadly the remaining songs are more or less piano blues and not that interesting.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
2/5
But for the three hits on this song and the one song where the singers just kind of hum or say nonsense as the lyrics , I would be unable to pick any songs that are distinguished from the others. It's not terrible just very much what you'd expect.
Ryan Adams
2/5
Everything all at once. This is Adams before he became a guitar shredder so there are lots of variety of song on here. The majority are ok with New York being slightly better and the second to last song being much much worse. This is to me a very overrated album by a talented guy who just never really put it together in my opinion.
Joy Division
2/5
I appreciate this for how different it was from the prevailing sound of popular music at the time. That being said this is not necessarily to my taste.
Van Morrison
5/5
Two Van Morrison albums and two 5 reviews. I don't mean to be common and care so much about the singers voice but for him I will make an exception.
This is such a beautiful sounding album and I have loved listening to it for 20+ years. Morrison, Sam Cooke, Dean Martin, Paul Simon, Vandross and a few others can sing almost anything and I will love it.
4/5
I really enjoyed this album. Great bass lines, weird lyrics and interesting music.
Air
2/5
The two songs with Beth Hirsch are good. The rest of the album is just there. It is not bad per se , but there is nothing that stands out about it.
Yes
3/5
This is hard for me to rate: on one hand I really like the musicianship and the parts that just "groove", on the other hand the singing really detracts from the aforesaid parts. This could be a classic like most of the WAR albums if the artists would just hang out in a space instead of moving to something else in the effort to show off.
Be that as it may there are 3 or 4 really good songs on here and the album should be on the list as an example of great keyboard and bass playing if for nothing else.
The Black Keys
3/5
The first half of this album is great. The hits are all back to back and if the album were 20 minutes shorter I think I would rate this a 4.
The second half really drags and detracts from the overall experience and my feelings about the album. Too much fuzz, too much feedback and too much same same makes me give this a 3.
Peter Frampton
2/5
There are three good songs that you've probably heard too many times. The remainder of the album is just fuzzy guitar fluff.
The Monkees
1/5
This is a well done ripoff of not only the Beatles, but also Simon and Garfunkel, Little Richard and Peter, Paul and Mary. It sounds ok and this album provided the sample for Del The Funky Homosapiens "biggest" hit, but that is all it has going for it. Does not deserve to be on the list.
Al Green
5/5
Coming after Peter Frampton and The Monkees this was a very welcome change of pace. Al Green is one of if not the best singer of his generation. Like George Jones he can enunciate and make a single syllable sound like two words. Combine that with the excellent musicianship and varied sounds of this album and you have an all time classic. Only a 5 because the rating doesn't go any higher.
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
I can't give this a 1 because it seems like the artist is at least sincere in making this album. Instead I rate this droning, uninteresting, and unintelligible album a 2.
Pavement
4/5
I have always avoided Pavement as music for hipsters and cynics. The beginning of this album did not do anything to dispel my thought. But at 5-4=Unity, the album changed for me and I absolutely loved the remaining songs.
The Crusaders
4/5
I really loved this album. I have heard "Street Life" before- not the 11 minute version, and and have heard that song sampled by rap artists. The rest of the album is even better. Great bass playing, horns, organ, synth, this album a little of everything.
Herbie Hancock
4/5
I really loved this album. Very well played and different. I'm going to listen to more Herbie Hancock.
Shack
2/5
The title track is something like a sea shanty and it is a pretty decent song. The rest of the album is a mix of Mid 90s REM, Oasis, James Taylor and some folk. The folk is not bad, but the other songs are too muddled and sound too much like the artists they are copying to stand out. 2/5 because this is a group I have never heard of and would not have ever listened to but for this list.
Paul Simon
4/5
I can't objectively rate Paul Simon because I love his music too much. I could rate this a 5 but I will give it a 4 as the "lesser" tracks here do not stand up like the "lesser" tracks on some of his other albums.
The Band
4/5
I love The Band and all of their albums are excellent to me for the mixture of musicianship, singing and lyrics. Easy 4 out of 5 with all the tracks being standouts.
Pixies
4/5
This is the best Pixies album. I love the bass playing, and every song is very catchy even the "lesser" album tracks.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2/5
This is too weird and interesting to dismiss outright. Weird and interesting does not equal good, though parts "O'Malley's Bar" and the songs with PJ Harvey and Kylie Minogue are better than the others where Cave sings in a voice befitting a ghoul on Scooby Doo. I am glad for this list or I would have never heard this album. I am torn but I think it belongs on the list.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
3/5
Prior to this list I had never heard of this band though I have heard "Who do you love" but a different version than the two versions here. I enjoy the musicianship and like the blues/ jam/ mix.
I don't think I'll listen again but this is a fine example of this kind of music from an unknown (to me) band. 3/5
Stevie Wonder
4/5
I love this album. I was familiar with the hits but had never heard the "lesser" tracks which are wonderful too. Definitely deserves to be on the list and I hope there are many more Stevie Wonder albums to come
Mylo
1/5
Electronic music is maybe number one on the list of genres that I am unfamiliar with as until a year ago or so I had never listened to an entire electronic album. Despite that I can say that at least in my opinion this album is not really interesting. It may be "good" if you are super into this kind of music and can differentiate this from other electronic music. To me the songs on this album sounded like they could be from the loading screen on a video game and were more or less undistinguishable from one another and other music of this type.
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
This really grew on me. It's got a kinda Jane's Addiction/ LA Metal (non hairband) sound while also being at least thematically like "American Idiot."
Red Hot Chili Peppers
4/5
Many of the lyrics are gibberish, the album is too long by 20 minutes, and the second half is not as great as the first half. But this is still a fantastic album. 4/5 with side 1 being a 5/5.
Robert Wyatt
4/5
Robert Wyatt is a new discovery for me thanks to this list.
This is a really eclectic album that has jazz , pop and even ragtime elements. The musicianship is stellar and the songwriting and singing excels too. My favorite song is "Free Will and Testament." I will listen to the other Robert Wyatt albums now that I've heard this one
Steve Earle
4/5
The only problem with this album is that some of the songs in particular the ones that I assume the record company thought would be bigger singles have a kid 80s "tinny" country music sound like a Ricky Van Shelton.
Steve Earle is not Bruce Springsteen. He is his own artist and as great as this is he probably has 5 or 6 better albums.
MGMT
3/5
This is not my first listen of Oracular Spectacular, but my first full listen in sometime. I want to like this more. These guys are great so writers and we're definitely in line with the vibe of pop music when this album came out.
I guess I think this is a perfectly OK album and deserves to be on the list but doesn't reach any new highs or get out of its own comfort zone.
Kate Bush
5/5
Weird, beautiful and varied. This album starts hot and keeps it up the entire way though. I can't wait to listen to more of her albums.
Coldplay
2/5
The title track is ok. The rest is the answer to the question: What if U2 made music for when you are on hold?
I can't believe these jokers have two albums on this list.
George Michael
4/5
This is a great album. Full disclosure when I was 9 years old this was my favorite album and I wrote a letter to George Michael's fan club. I don't believe I got a response but I won't hold that against George.
This was my first time listening to the album since I had the cassette tape and it holds up really well. I was unaware at the time how horny Micheal was during the recording of this album but I certainly take more of it now.
This would be a 5 if not for a few filler tracks but it holds up well and is expertly produced.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
This is my 4th Neil Young record since I started this list and is by far and away the best of the bunch in my opinion. I really enjoy the musicianship and his voice which is often so "muppet" like is more than tolerable here.
Animal Collective
3/5
I had never heard this before. The first half is excellent. The album drags towards the end and is less interesting and makes this feel longer than it is.
Einstürzende Neubauten
2/5
If this is music it tries really hard to not be music. If this is not music it tries hard to be music. I'll give this a 2 because at least it is uniquely whatever the hell it is
Minor Threat
3/5
I haven't heard this in a long time. It holds up well and gets in and out quickly while making a lasting impression.
Depeche Mode
3/5
This is my first Depeche Mode listening experience. They were definitely a band that was the butt of many jokes when I was a kid and alternative music became popular music.
This is a good album. I listened to the Deluxe version and liked the instrumental songs after "Nothing" as much or more than the rest of the album.
The Louvin Brothers
5/5
Gospel. Bluegrass. Mandolin. The Louvin Brothers. 5 Stars. I only wish this were twice as long.
Lupe Fiasco
4/5
This is a hell of an album. A great example of conscience hip hop on a major label.
The album picks up at Daydream and maintains a great pace until the last sing which is just shout outs.
American Terrorist and Daydream are two of the best songs of the last 20 years.
N.W.A.
5/5
I hadn't listened to this in it's entirety in a long time. It's probably a 5 just for cultural significance but it also deserves it for 1988 Ice Cube and to a slightly lesser degree MC Ren.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
2/5
This is an album that I had never heard of by an artist that I did not know. It is just weird enough that I can't give it a 1, if I knew for certain that he was not being serious I could get this up to a 3. Also there is a song about a gang bang, which was something I did not expect even after reading the name of the song.
Talvin Singh
2/5
Electronic music is very hard for me to rate. I do not have much experience with this genre and have never heard an album that was what I would consider great.
This album is definitely interesting and I enjoy the "softer" parts but like other electronic music it sounds very formulaic to me and sort of blends together.
Randy Newman
5/5
Sappy, sad, funny and extremely serious and poignant. I can understand complaints about Newman that he is formulaic and writes jingles, but this is a wonderful album. Sail Away, God's Song, Son of Mine and Old Man are really hard to listen to and come away not appreciating Newman's skill.
Charles Mingus
4/5
Beautiful and immersive. This album makes you feel like you are in a Walter Mosley novel.
Kate Bush
3/5
This is my second Kate Bush album. I like this album but it lacks strangeness and beauty that I loved about Hounds of Love. The computer song and "Woman's Work" are the only examples of both to me on this album.
Crowded House
2/5
I've seen Crowded House in magazines forever but had never listened to any of their music. This was pretty good, lots of love songs, but not produced in any ground breaking way.
The Zombies
1/5
One great song, two ok songs and the remainder just sort of drivel.
Lana Del Rey
2/5
This is ok. I like two or three of her albums to include "Born to Die" much more. This isn't bad but its nothing special.
Mudhoney
2/5
This reminds me of Dinosaur, Jr. but with a bit more punk influence. Just ok.
Hanoi Rocks
2/5
This picks up after the "Toot" song but this is not a style of music that I enjoy.
Beck
2/5
This is what you would expect from a Beck album. I was unfamiliar with this album except for the single(s). All in all this is ok.
Mike Ladd
2/5
Disclaimer: The last song is excellent
There is really something off with this list and how it views hip hop music. Arguably hip hop is the most influential and successful form of popular music for at least the past 25 years yet it is under represented by this list.
When there are hip hop albums on the list they are either extremely obvious or too obscure. This album is an example of the latter. Were this a list of alt hip hop that was not as well done as Company Flow/ Def Jux/ hip hop releases in the late 90s early 2000s then this should be on that list.
This album is not that great or interesting . Some of the production is ok. There are trip hop elements on a few songs and the instrumentals are solid. The rapping is so average especially for this type of album that it detracts from the parts of the album that work.
If anyone reads this and likes this album please listen to Cannibal Ox, Company Flow, and Google alt backpack rap and you'll find many better examples.
Lou Reed
3/5
This is the best Lou Reed or Velvet Underground album I've heard. It's not my favorite style of music but he is great at writing songs that make you feel bad.
Radiohead
2/5
I have tried so many times to get onboard the Radiohead train. I just cannot get there. I love other critical darlings but this just isn't for me.
Richard Thompson
3/5
This was better than I expected. The title track is especially good.
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
This is my 2d My Blood Valentine album and i like this much more than mbv. This album is still unintelligible to me but the music is more interesting and i can hear parts of other albums i like that are copying parts of this album.
Kings of Leon
1/5
I only know of this band as a one hit wonder from the album that came out after this album. The music is ok. The singer's voice is an affectation and bad. At least when other singers adopt a singing voice it is not to the detriment of their songs. Listening to this makes me really hope that there is a Black Crowes album on this list.
Queen
3/5
I have heard the hits of this album on classic rock radio. Apart from those 3 or 4 songs I had never heard the rest of this album. I love the production and enjoy that the band was going for it so much on this album.
The Pharcyde
5/5
This is an all time album for me. You can argue that their second album is just as good and it too should be on this list.
These guys were kids and some of that shows both for better and worse. To a new listener it may not jive with their sensitive ears but any objectional part is more than made up for with the creativity displayed both in the lyrics and production.
It's a shame that The Pharcyde didn't have more staying power or ever really have the hits they deserve.
Thelonious Monk
4/5
I really enjoyed this album. I love the clarinet and mood of it.
Keith Jarrett
3/5
I came into this album totally cold. I read the Wikipedia to get some idea about what kind of music this was and to see the running time.
While I am not a fan of this style of music and even more so feel incapable of eating this in comparison to its peers, I can rate it with the other almost 200 albums I've heard on this lost thus far.
I am really impressed. I like the spontaniety and the parts where you can hear Keith grunting and stomping make this more than I would have anticipated. Really well done album with a cool backstory.
The Undertones
3/5
This is a well done easy to listen to album. I wouldn't say that it is ground breaking but I think it's interesting and fun.
Adam & The Ants
2/5
I don't know what Glam Rock is but I do not like it. At least this album is short and there are a few songs where the bass playing is prominently featured. The lyrics are gibberish and Ant lacks any charisma.
Pink Floyd
4/5
This is a great album. If i had jever heard it before especially the singles I would.like it more. Even though im biased by hearing the same songs on this album too many times its inarguable that Pink Floyd were a a great band worthy of their reputation and success.
I cant go past a 4 because of the length of the album and because the singles while great have at least to me been overplayed.
Moby
1/5
This really sucks. It is an example of the power of MTV at its zenith in the late 90s early 00s that Moby could have such success with this lazy and predictable dance music album.
Eagles
4/5
In the mid 1990s my Mom had a 1987 Lincoln Continental that in addition to having a air shocks problem that made the backend sometimes drag like a much cooler car that you would see in a Compton's Most Wanted video, also had a Panasonic CD player (that loaded the CD upside down) with Eagle's Live stuck in the player. For some reason or another whenever you turned the car on the CD player would come on and start blaring "Hotel California." You could turn the CD player off once the car was started but if you wanted to listen to any music this was your choice as the FM/ AM radio also did not work.
Sometimes we would choose to listen to this CD despite being subjected to it any time we started the car. Other times we rode in silence.
Based on the above and being the perfect age to dislike the Eagles based on The Big Lebowski/ alternative music/ the ascendance of hip hop , I have always had a complicated relationship with the band.
It is undeniable that they were too popular. However, it is also undeniable that they were really talented at making the kind of music that made them so popular.
This was my first time listening to the album in its entirety and the 200,000th time listening to Hotel California.
I can't let nostalgia make me denigrate this finely recorded album that contains in addition to the three huge singles at least 3 or 4 other songs that would have been the best songs on many of the artists on this lists catalog.
Bebel Gilberto
3/5
Prior to this list I had never listened to any Bossa Nova except some in passing. This is my 3rd Bossa Nova album and I really like the genre and this album. It does not reach the heights of Stan Getz but it is very good musically and the touch of electronic music makes it stand out.
Neil Young
3/5
This is my 5th Neil Young album and I am 200ish albums in. I'm glad that there are only 4 albums left to be hopefully spread out more over the next 900 albums.
This is a good album. I would listen again but I don't believe its extraordinary and probably benefits from having 2 or 3 classic rock radio staples that obscure how average the remainder of the album is compared to other "all time" albums.
Van Halen
4/5
I wanted to hate this album. Van Halen and David Lee Roth are/were prima facie what was uncool about popular music and what the alternative movement was going against.
However, this is actually really good. For all of David Lee Roth's horniness he is still a great rock Singer. Eddie's pop guitar playing means that the songs are good and catchy.
I would have never listened to this album without the list and I am glad that I did.
The KLF
3/5
Listened on Youtube:
Really good album that grew on me. I will listen to this again
SAULT
3/5
This is pretty good. I enjoyed the singers voice and message. The musicianship is really great in particular the drumming.
U2
2/5
This is not my favorite U2 album but it has one of their best songs "One." The rest of the album is ok and I would listen to it again.
FKA twigs
1/5
I enjoy her voice but this is not interesting or memorable in any way.
Sepultura
4/5
I really liked this album. I have heard of Sepultura but am not a huge metal fan so i never listened before today.
The band is really talented and this manages to be very "heavy" but intelligible and more varied than i would have expected.
Dolly Parton
3/5
This is good. I want to like it more. I believe that Coat of Many Colors and The Mystery of the Mystery are two of her best songs. I would rate it a 4 but I can't quite get there and believe that to rate it that high would be being subjective due to my feelings about the paucity of country music on this list.
3/5
I really enjoyed this album and look forward to hearing this bands other album on the list.
Black Sabbath
4/5
Really great album. Lacks the "big" singles of Paranoid but has more variety of songs. Really good album.
Klaxons
2/5
Parts of this album are really well done and I get a MGMT vibe in a good way. Other parts sound very generic and seem like background music in a video game.
Funkadelic
5/5
So so so so good. I like almost anything George Clinton has ever done but this is his best work. While his later works are weird for weirds sake this is more varied despite being more traditional based at least to my ears. Maggot Brain is probably my favorite guitar based song of all time and i wish it were 20 minutes longer.
Pretenders
4/5
Great record. I had never heard this album before except for Precious. Great bass playing and the lead singers voice is very clear throughout.
Roxy Music
2/5
I really enjoy the music in particular the bass lines. The singing can be good but it can also be grating and repetitive.
Portishead
4/5
I wish I would have heard this when it came out in 1994. I first heard this album in 2000 or so. By that time other (lesser) bands had adopted this style and this was passe in a way.
Despite my late arrival to Portishead I am a big fan of both albums on this list. This album is a 5 if you account for how influential it was/is.
On its own merits it is a 4. The singing is excellent and the rest of the music fills in around her voice very admirably. The samples are very common for hip hop music at the time. That is not to say they are common samples i.e. James Brown or Apache, but rather how they are used is as you would expect. This is not a detriment as DJ Premier did the same on the first Jeru the Damaja album, he even used much more common samples to equal success.
Khaled
2/5
I would have never heard of this album but for this list. This is very melodic and varied in as far as i can tell.
Joanna Newsom
3/5
This album sounds like someone Joanna made it. I mean that in the best way possible. I would call this Reni Fair(e) folk with excellent singing and more variety of sound than my description would entail.
Digital Underground
3/5
Hip.Hop is my favorite genre and I had heard "Humpty Dance " no.less than 1000 times. Prior to today i had never heard this album in its entirety.
This album is a great example of hip hop in 1989/1990. There are sex songs (this one more so than others not made by 2 Live Crew or Too Short), a song about the perils of crack , a (great) dance song, and the rest is just rapping about rapping.
I.love that period and i like this album. Its a shame that Digital Underground doesn't get more acclaim. I love the weirdness, the 8 minute songs and the influence (to my ears at least) that this had on some.of.my favorite artists.
AC/DC
2/5
I have heard the singles on this album more time than I have ever wanted to, with the exception of You Shook Me - which is a great song.
This is a very well made, clean sounding album. The problem is that every song is more or less like the song that preceded it. Maybe I am a snob but this is not nor will ever be to my taste even though I can appreciate the guitar licks and sound.
Belle & Sebastian
2/5
This is more varied than I would have anticipated from the first song. I like the songs with horns and appreciate the melodies.
The Shamen
1/5
This is not for me. I do not enjoy the majority of electronic music and this sounds very very dated. It is like C & C Music Factory but less catchy and with the cat from the Paula Abdul video "Opposites Attract" singing. One of my least favorite experiences 222 albums into this list.
Patti Smith
5/5
This is phenomenal. Of the Television, Lou Reed, Velvet Underground, New York Dolls, et al bands coming out of that scene in New York this is the true master work.
Smith manages to be sexy, poetic, and also a real rock and roll act. I only wish I had heard this a long time ago.
Ice Cube
4/5
I bought this the day it cane out. I was disappointed at the time because this album was not at the same level as Amerikkas Most Wanted, Kill at Will, or Death Certificate..
When i listened today at first I was surprised because the first 4 or 5 songs are so good and better than i remember. The remainder of the album made me remember why i was somewhat disappointed in 1992. They are good but there are lulls when compared to Ice Cube's earlier work .
I want to rate this higher due to the lack of hip hop on this list but this is a 3.5/5 album.pery interpretation of the old Spurce.magazine ratings and I will bump up to a 4 here.
Tom Waits
1/5
Just pure shit. The band sounds good behind this cartoon character.
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
Some of this was interesting.
Pink Floyd
4/5
My 3rd Pink Floyd album after having The Wall and Wish You Were Here. I like this more than Wish You Were Here and slightly less than The Wall.
Very impressive musicianship which makes these songs ubiquity on classic rock radio/ critica list make sense. Not a 5 for me but an excellent album.
Tina Turner
3/5
This album was inescapable when I was a kid. Despite having heard "What's Love.." a million times and being familiar with the other singles I had never listened to the entire album until today. (I realize that if you take out the big singles there are only a handful of songs left on the album).
I liked this., The production is very 80s and the majority of the songs don't let Turner really use her voice, but the great songs are worthy of their reputation and make me rate this a 3.
Billy Bragg
3/5
I liked this a lot. Pro Union, Anti Thatcher , acoustic rock with a heavy English accent. Steve Earle but not as good.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
2/5
One really great song. Not overly Neil Young singing like a muppet. Decent.
King Crimson
2/5
This is ok. The violin parts and the "drum" song stand out from the rest.
Marianne Faithfull
2/5
The bass lines are great. The rest is unspectacular.
The Icarus Line
1/5
What of Audioslave did not have a great singer? The answer to that question is this album.
Coldplay
1/5
Not my favorite style of music. Coldplay was the biggest pop band around during their heyday but I was not following that style of music then and it has not aged into something that I like. They seem like a competent band that makes more or less the same song or style of song over and over. Sometimes the songs are catchy and sometimes they are not. Its not quite elevator music but it is somewhere between that and the music U2 made post 2000 but with a far less accomplished singer than Bono.
Taylor Swift
3/5
This is my first Taylor Swift album. Perfectly acceptable pop music that does a good job of varying sounds amd themes.
The Cult
2/5
The first few songs are by far and away the standouts on this album. Its not bad per se but nothing stands out.
Beatles
3/5
Other than Eleanor Rigby, and Taxman and some studio experiments there is nothing to note. Its the Beatles so the "floor" is still above average.
The Who
3/5
Until today I had never heard this album. It is great that The Who were able to conceive of something so grand even if it is not executed as well as some of their other albums.
I think that the rock opera album is an interesting genre and this may not be the best one but is the first or among the first, and that coupled with the first half of this album is why I rate this as a 3.
Kraftwerk
2/5
This is decent. The titular track and last track stand out.
Sebadoh
2/5
I realize that this is a very influential album by an influential."grunge"band. Despite its bonafides, this album doesn't do anything for me. I enjoy some of the songs but feel like the more commercially viable grunge bands did a better job of crafting songs as opposed to Sebadoh's skill at creating a vibe.
Cat Stevens
1/5
One long singer/songwriter acoustic slog.
Pearl Jam
5/5
This is one of the seminal albums of my youth. I'd give this a 5 even if it only had "Oceans" and "Black."
Rush
4/5
I used to think "Ton Sawyer" was a Heart song because of the singers voice. All the musicians on this album are excellent especially the bass player. This album really took me by surprise.
Arcade Fire
4/5
I really love this album. The "shuffle" kind of style they had on this album is tremendous.
D'Angelo
4/5
This is a great album. I never realized how much D'Angelo sounded like a certain era Prince.
Peter Gabriel
5/5
I love this list. I was only familiar with Gabriel from the big singles that had the iconic videos.
This album.is a masterpiece and has to be considered one of the great albums of the 70s. Great album!
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
4/5
I wish i had heard this when it came out. Super well done dance/ blues/ whatever album.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2/5
This is ok. The last song is the best on the album. Very dancey but in a predictable way. They leaned too far away from their earlier work.
Christine and the Queens
2/5
This is ok. I like the singers voice even if disco/dance music is not what i am into.
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
I believe this is my 2d Echo and the Bumnymen. I find this very bland. The title track is the standout but mainly because when it begins it sounds like music from a Western. I do enjoy the bass playing but the rest of the music is indistinguishable from many other albums/acts from this time period.
AC/DC
4/5
I would never consider myself a fan of AC/DC. Everyone i knew as a teenager had the Live CD and Back in Black. They were never my choice when it was my turn to play music.
Be that as it may this album is really good. Beyond the title track the remaining songs are well produced and sound good.
Paul Weller
2/5
I thought this was ok. I am not familiar with Paul Well or The Jam but he is a great guitar player. I liked the instrumentals especially number 3 more than the other songs.
Orbital
3/5
In its best moments this makes you want to dance. A well done electronic album.
Motörhead
4/5
I was only familiar with Ace of Spades so today was my first time listening to Motorhead.
I am impressed. The songs are all similar in sound and theme but are still well done. I like Lemmy's voice and the guitar playing.
This album reminds me in a way of the Misfits when they were at their best. This is a well done, and enjoyable album.
Simon & Garfunkel
2/5
I love Paul Simon. While this is a good album it does not meet what this group or Simon on his own is capable of. There are good even great songs on here but in total its average for people with this amount of skill and talent.
David Crosby
1/5
Somehow the instrumentals are a better use of Crosby than the songs that he sings on. The entire album seems to meander and run together and its very difficult to tell what if any point Crosby was trying to male.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
I grew up on Zeppelin but had not listened to this album in a long time. I don't know if this is their peak, but if it isn't it is pretty damn close.
I was not alive when the band was together but they were a staple of rock radio and one of my Dad's favorites.
An excellent.album.by an excellemt.band.
Sigur Rós
1/5
This album is on par with Tom Waits. People who say that they enjoy this are either lying or are somehow greatly inferior or superior to me. Coldplay but worse with a little music from a Disney ride thrown in.
KISS
2/5
This is my first Kiss album. I was familiar with a few of the songs. I came into this with the opinion that Kiss is more or less Bon Jovi but uglier and with fewer good songs. I come away more or less unswayed from that opinion.
Hole
4/5
O did not.loatem to this album when it came out except for the lead single which was on MTV all the time. I have to rethink my opinion of Courtney Love because this is a really well done and musically varied album. I look forward to the other Hole album on the list.
Nine Inch Nails
3/5
This is much better than i remember. I find this kind of music monotonous but this is more varied than i remembered and "Hurt" is a fantastic song.
Amy Winehouse
2/5
I like the production. But her accent is embarrassing. I can't believe Winehouse has two albums and Mary J. Blige does not have any albums on this list.
Hüsker Dü
3/5
This album is just too long. If this were only the first 12 tracks this would be in contention to be a 4 for me. Unfortunately this really meanders and the lesser songs take away from the first two sides of the LP.
Country Joe & The Fish
2/5
I like the instrumentals more than the majority of the songs which contain singing. The guitar player is in particular a standout. The gibberish lyrics take away from the album but this is still ok.
The Offspring
3/5
Good mall/ pop punk. The big singles do most of the work but I also liked some of the other songs and the bass player.
Radiohead
2/5
The last song is excellent. There is good music here its just drowned out by the same mopey delivery time after time.
The Mamas & The Papas
3/5
Three really great songs and some great harmonizing.
4/5
The solo side of the album drags this down at least in my estimation. It is uninteresting and is too long at over 48 minutes including an 11 minute version of Desolation Row a song that underscores the problems that many have with Dylan the songwriter i.e. the speak n spell poetry that he engages in on some of his songs, while also giving great credence to his limitations as a singer. 11 minutes is too long for anyone to sing, especially Dylan.
But the recordings with The Band aka The Hawks are really great and I would be tempted to rate this as a 5 if there wasn't 48 minutes of solo Dylan with the harmonica to get through.
As it is I will rate this a 4 because in total the second half of the album is what I last heard and it is so good.
The Killers
5/5
For all of the obscure (to me) music that this generator brings me, and for all the repetition , looking at you Neil Young, Bob Dylan, et al. the generator also has an album like "Hot Fuss." By no means obscure to the public writ large due to the sales of the album, this album was new to me. I remember the singles in particular "Mr. Brightside" but aside from that I had never listened to this album until today.
That was my mistake. This is a great album. The big singles deserve their fame but of the 12 tracks on the album there are no songs that are not good, and after listening I just wish I would have heard it sooner.
Madonna
4/5
Madonna is a cornerstone of my introduction to music. My aunt who is 5 years older than me pulled the Columbia House scheme when I was 8 or 9. As part of her haul she got several Madonna albums, the Violent Femmes, and some others.
She would babysit us and ruled with an iron thumb. Because of this I listened to a lot of the early (pre Vogue) Madonna on a loop. Of this I did not complain. Her other treatment could be cruel but at least she had good taste.
Ray of Light is a really solid album . I am shocked that this was only her 7th album, as by 1998 she had been one of the most popular musicians in the world since the early 80s.
This is a great album The title track is the biggest hit but I love "Little Star" the most. The production is incredible and while Madonna certainly did not create this style of music she was still a taste maker as this is much more well done than the albums released at the time that are in the same vein.
Miles Davis
4/5
I really enjoyed this album. This is my 3rd Miles Davis album and all are excellent. This is the soundtrack to a super cool persons life.
Bob Dylan
2/5
This is my 3rd Dylan album 272 albums in. I enjoyed the "bootleg" more than this. Dylan becomes too meandering and sounds the same to me after 10 minutes or so.
Aphex Twin
2/5
This is not my favorite genre but I think this is executed fairly well.
Kanye West
5/5
I have listened to this album at least 200 times. I had not listened to it in its entirety for many years until today. I hate his politics and am sorry for whatever mental health issues that have caused him to become the way he is now but Kanye is a genius and this album which is probably his 3rd or even 4th best work would be the crowning achievement for almost every other artist on this list.
This album has too many skits and is maybe too long but there is not a bad song on the entire album and the skits only serve to break up runs of excellent songs that as stated in my first paragraph would be other artists best work but here are just another song on this album.
10 out of 10!
Fugees
3/5
While i had listened to the singles on this album hundreds of times this was my first listen all the way through. The singles are excellent and hold up even if they were overplayed 30 years ago. I wish the Outsidaz were on here more I have always liked Pacewon and he and Lauren are the best rappers here in a conventional sense.
The Verve
2/5
A handful of good songs.
U2
4/5
Based on the two U2 albums I have had on this list; War and Achtung Baby, I think that U2 is a singles band that make albums. But the singles are really good. So good that this gets a 4 off the strength of Sunday, Bloody Sunday and New Years Day.
The Temptations
4/5
This is a really well done album. I had never heard any of these songs except Papa was a Rolling Stone and The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. I have heard the drums off the first track before but as a sample I believe. Love the musicianship and spirit of this album.
Justin Timberlake
1/5
Ho hum. This is definitely what Pharrell sounded like when Chad was still helping and that is better than what came after , but that is not enough to overcome Timberlake's MJ and Usher impressions.
The Specials
4/5
I have never listened to much ska music due to the ska music that i have listened to being pretty awful. This album makes me reconsider my opinion of the genre.
This is a well made album with great singing from both singers, excellent songs and a great groove.
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
I really enjoyed this and will be looking forward to their other albums on here.
Meat Loaf
5/5
This blew me away. I know Meatloaf from his 90s album and its video to say nothing of his appearance in Fight Club.
This is so over the top, theatric and fun that anything less than a 5 would be based on my previous opinion of him.
Common
3/5
I have this CD but this is the first time I've listened to it since this cane out. Common is really good. He is so good that generic rappers of a certain bent all inevitably sound.like him. Combining his ability and presence with Kanye's production and this is a very solid album.
James Brown
4/5
This should be a 5 just for impact. If it were 5 or 10 minutes longer that would seal it for me.
I love Brown as the young R&B singer. Before he became an Eddie Murphy character or a "Crack Smoking Wizard." His tale t and the skill.of his band is undeniable.
Beastie Boys
4/5
This is probably one of the first albums I had. I think I had a white flea market bootleg tape when i was 7 or 8 years old. Its hard to negate the impact this album had on what was or would become hip hop music.
David Bowie
3/5
I really love parts of this album while other parts are either too experimental or hint at what Bowie would do later to greater effect. This is still a very solid album by one of the most important artists in popular music.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
3/5
I listened to the expanded 2003 CD version. I enjoyed this much more than I would have anticipated going in. I had never heard of this band and doubt that I had ever heard anything off this album. That being said I do like synth music because I associate it with action or better said it can be like a score to whatever you are doing at the time when you hear it.
This is a good album. "The New Stone Age" is probably my favorite but I like the two Joan of Arc songs a lot too.
New York Dolls
3/5
This is my second time in the past year listening to this album and I liked it much more this time around. You can tell that the Dolls were a good bar band by how this album sounds. I am also able to hear the influence they had on the other groups that came out of NY especially the Ramones.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
2/5
This is pretty good. I like the bass playing and singer's voice. It does wear out its welcome for me towards the end, but all in all a solid album.
Lenny Kravitz
2/5
I am far more familiar with Lenny Krazitz as a figure in popular music than I am with his music. I have only heard his 90s and early 2000s big MTV songs. This was my first time listening to any of his music other than those 4 or 5 songs.
This is a well made album and I especially like the more R&B type songs. Kravitz as a guitar forward artist must have been a later development.
Some of the songs are a bit overwrought and sappy but all in all this is an ok album, but one that I will likely never listen to again.
Pere Ubu
4/5
A gem from this list. This compares favorably with Talking Heads and I even like the lightbulb song.
Prince
3/5
I think i like late 80s Prince more. I al rating this a 3 because of the last 2 or 3 songs that pull this up for me.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
Fogerthy's voice really does it for me.