This is an intriguing group I've never heard of. Electronic-hip-hop? Interesting combo. Lets see if it pans out. My first thought as I start listening is that the title track kinda goes on too long. After the first few tracks, I noticed the trend seems to be some slow-to-medium rapping over a kinda slow beat with some female backing vocals. There are some occasional flutes. Some record scratches. Oh, a couple notes on a guitar? Predominantly drum and bass. It screamed early to mid 90s to me, and its an electronic dance type thing so that tracks at least. The whole album continued in this fashion. This album didn't really pump me up, or bring me down, or really do anything to move me one way or the other. Was it phoned in? I' m not really sure how this album landed on this list. Even going through the band's wikipedia, there's just not much about them. Was this some super influential UK hip hop deal? I'm in the dark here. Standouts for me were: "Connected," "Step It Up," and "Creation." Honestly I added them as highlights as I was going through, but every song sounded so similar to every other song it was hard to pull these apart. Overall, I could do without this album. It wasn't like some horrible experience, it just didn't feel like it had any soul. Just some mediocre raps that all went on for way too long. I got to the end, fittingly titled "The End" and I was happy to stop listening and go about my day. There wasn't enough variety in any of the songs to make any part of it compelling. I don't really want to listen to any of it again. This is probably like a 1.5 out of 5, rounded down to a 1. At the end of the day it was just boring ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So much jazz recently! I keep prefacing these reviews with "I'm not the biggest jazz fan. But I can appreciate it." This album is no different. Yeah, I mean, it was pretty good. It's just kind of background music for me at this point. Pleasant but not super engaging. Nothing Earth shattering for me. I feel like I need to listen to it again to process it more, but to be honest I just don't really want to. It feels like blasphemy rating Coltrane 2/5 because the man is a legend and obviously super talented, but it's just not my bag, baby.

Big fan of Radiohead so this is a great start on my 1001 journey. I have somehow never listened to this album. Great opening track. The vibe starts out great. Very machine-y and robotic with great beats and electronic parts over the traditional rock vibe. Tracks tend to swell with intensity: highs then dips in tempo and mood. That falls of quickly though with the back half of the album seeming more "human." "You and whose army?" had notable piano piece and cowboy-esq vibe going into "I Might be Wrong"s guitar riff - pretty cool. "Dollars and Cents" has such an interesting style, lyrically very relevant to the world 24 years after this album came out. "We're gonna crack your little souls" might be one of my new favorite lines from a song ever. Overall fantastic album. I think it drops a bit during the end, which may keep it from top ratings in my book, but that's a minor nitpick. The end of the album is such a different mood/vibe from the beginning (the style of which I absolutely love), which I'm sure is intentional. Going from a tech heavy imperfect world to "Life in the Glasshouse," poor and destitute and old-timey sounding musically after politics, money, and war get their way. That's my initial read on the album, which is pretty cool conceptually. The album is cool, that is, not my take on it. As a last note: I dont know how much I'll pay attention to analyzing lyrics while doing these 1001 albums, but this album has some interesting, classically radiohead, lyrics that will probably warrant a re-listen to dive deeper into at some point. What a great start!

Never heard of Michael Kiwanuka, he's got a great voice and is a skilled rock guitarist. Album seems a good mix of topics: love, politics, instrumentals, etc. "I've been Dazed" and "Final Days" were standouts for me. The tracks were warm and seemed very grand and floaty, for lack of better words, and I did enjoy that sound. The guitar parts were catchy. Not my typical type of jam, a little slow, but I wouldn't change it if it came on. Everything was executed well but nothing really floored me to move this one away from the average "great" album. Glad to have listened!

This is the first Talking Heads album I've listened to front to back. Dont know how it took me this long. Byrnes vocal style is iconic. Even from the beginning the Talking Heads signature style is obvious and upfront. I really liked"Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town" with some cool drums, "Tentative Decisions" and "No Compasson." While the album was fun to listen to, I'd characterize it as very good but I probably wouldn't listen to the whole thing through again. Talking Heads certainly have an energy that holds your attention and makes you want to listen though.

This album somehow sounds shockingly modern while also retaining its 1970s groove. You could have told me this album came out in 1971, or lied and said 2010 by some band like Wolfmother or Greta Van Fleet and I'd have believed either one. Standouts for me were "Jeepster" (lyrics were dumb-ish but the guitar and song itself are just fun), "Lean Woman Blues," and I never knew "Get it On" was T.Rex, but it's a hit for a reason. This was a great album, well produced, sounded sharp, had some slick guitar parts and mostly just plain catchy tunes! Nothing really really special but I had fun listening to it. Tough to choose between 3 or 4 stars for this one, would rate this probably a 3.5 if we had more granularity.

This is my first foray into Iggy Pop. I've heard "Lust For Life" before but not much else. I honestly didn't get much from this album. It kind of failed to hold my attention. Maybe it's just the mood I'm in at the time of listening, but I found the majority of the album forgettable and I wouldn't really revisit any of it besides "Lust For Life" and maybe "Neighborhood Threat" because it had some decent guitar riffs. The album was not unpleasant to listen to, but didn't really offer anything to keep it even an average level of interesting I would hope for from one of the 1001 albums to listen to before my untimely death.

I'm not a big rap or hip hop guy so this will be a trip out of the norm for me, but with Kendrick being literally everywhere these days I'm excited to give this a listen. Standouts were "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe," "Backseat Freestyle" - absolutely loved this track for the beat and vocal style - "m.A.A.d. City" was powerful, "Swimming Pools." Also really enjoyed the Janet Jackson sample playing under "Poetic Justice," it complimented the song nicely. This is an album to be experienced as a whole and to really absorb the lyrics while you listen. Considering Kendricks upbringing, the whole package packs a punch. My only negatives are that the recordings interspersed into the songs were interesting snips of Kendrick's life, and I get that they help tell a story, but they kind of threw off the flow for me. Some of the songs switch styles/tempo partway through or after being divided with a recording like 2 songs mashed together, which I can't say I loved. Also I thought the album was on the longer side, 10-15 minutes shorter would have been perfect. This was a hard one to rate. I think you have to incorporate all the background and life experiences that were put into it because it's so personal. But, that can be said about a lot of albums. Musically, a lot of it is interesting, but probably not my favorite. It's a great origin story and piece of art, even if a little rough around the edges, and I'm glad to have listened and gotten a glimpse into Kendrick's life but I think this juuuust misses being a 4/5 for me.

In theory I should have really liked this album. I read up a little on War, having never really heard of them and love the concept of the band, but something didn't click for me with this one. I liked the use of so many unique instruments and sounds, but found the whole album kind of aimless. I think wrapping so many genres and styles into one album kind of hurt them in the end. A huge chunk of it was just very slow and almost purely ambient noise, which isn't always bad but in this case didn't help. Standouts were the first half of "City, County, City" - I found parts of its 13+ minute track length a little grating - "Four Cornered Room" - had a really cool western vibe but again dragged in the back half. I think this has to be my first 1 star album; it's just not my style and I wouldn't listen to any of it again. It's an album out of time for me and I didn't really enjoy my time with it.

Man, this project is blasting me with 70s albums! I'm not familiar with Peter Tosh so let's dive in! Right off, I'm not a pothead or into drug culture, but this is a fun album in spite of the topic. Reggae has such a distinct style that always sounds a little upbeat and laid back to me despite the lyrical content. Standouts were "Legalize It," "Burial" - brutal to listen to considering Tosh's murder - "Whatcha Gonna Do." All in all, the album was ok, had a couple nice jams but seems like pretty standard fare for the genre although I don't have a lot of experience in it. Like a lot of albums, I think the second half suffers a little and falls into the sounding somewhat "samey" bucket. This would probably be a 2.5/3 for me, but as I'm rating things pretty harshly it'll have to round down to a very solid 2. Maybe 3 in another life.

More 70s! Bowie this time, let's go! I've not listened to this album all the way through before and I have high hopes going in because, well, it's Bowie. Standouts are "Changes," "Eight Line Poem" - I really liked the slide guitar and the interesting lyrics - "Life on Mars," "Quicksand," and "Queen Bitch" - has some killer guitar. I could almost list each track here, they are all very good, but these were my tops if I had to pick. The piano in this album is incredible and Bowie's lyrics are unmatched. Each track is a great little story. The themes are varied and interesting. Each song is light and airy feeling yet has so much substance jammed into it, instrumentally and lyrically. Hunky Dory flies by, the album was over before I knew it and it definitely doesn't overstay its welcome. I really vibed with this one. It's hard to find any flaws and I could see myself playing this record over again. This is easily my first 5 star album here.

It's the title track and the only Marvin Gaye I know, but Let's Get It On! Gaye's voice is obviously fantastic and this album wraps you up like a warm blanket. It's a little slow for my taste but it's definitely a nice listen. Instrumentally this is a nice album as well. It's got tight drums, funky wah-wah guitar riffs, sax, and piano parts a-plenty. And clocking in at about 32 minutes, it's a perfect taste of everything. Standouts for me were: "Let's Get It On," "Keep Gettin' It On," "Distant Lover," and "You Sure Love To Ball." Honestly, any of the tracks could be standouts on this one with the exception of the final song, which was kind of a slow bummer at the end of a very good album. I went into this listen thinking it would be a straightforward 3 star experience: very likeable with some good fun tracks that I enjoyed but probably wouldn't revisit too much, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had with it. Enough that I think it's a clear 4 star album. I would definitely put this whole album on again, but I'd have to be in the right sorta mood...

If these are the pioneers of industrial rock, let's just say I'm glad the genre has evolved away from whatever this is. I'm going in with an open mind though and will give it a thorough listen. I'm a huge fan of later industrial acts like Nine Inch Nails, so I was interested to experience some Throbbing Gristle but I found this album devoid of anything really interesting. Right off the bat, I thought the intro "I.B.M." had some interesting sounds to reel me in, but then as it transitioned to "Hit by a Rock" my interest faded, as did any semblance of order and beauty. The album devolved into seemingly random noises, samples, and voice recordings. The songs are really slow paced and full of ambient noises and, honestly, pretty creepy. I wish there had been more variance in the tracks. The second half of the album showed promise as it rolled into "AB/7A" and I had hope that something cool would happen, but sadly it returned to harsh, eerie muck. But yet, it's weirdly haunting even though it lacks any sort of musical IQ. Standouts for me, if you can call them that, were "Dead on Arrival," "Weeping" - had a weird but catchy little guitar part over some creepy man and eerie thuds and creaks - "AB/7A" - this one actually sounded good! I'm all for experimentation and doing something unique and this album is certainly off the deep end. In the end, it's performance art, not really an "enjoyable" music album. As I kept listening, something stirred in me. Just a little. I am actually torn whether to rate this 1 or 2 stars, because of how unique the album is. There are glimmers of **something** in a few tracks, but does that really redeem how almost unlistenable most of the album is? It certainly made me feel **something** at a few points throughout my listen. And the fact that I'm thinking about it so much after I'm done listening to it makes me think I have to break my normally pretty harsh rating system and give it 2 stars just for being what it is because its wild and bleak and yet somehow still captivating in that moment you're almost held captive listening to it. I can't explain it, but it exists and it's been built upon. I'm glad I listened exactly this one time and will probably never again cross paths with TG unless there are more albums lurking in this project. I will say there is most likely nothing else nor will there be anything else quite like Throbbing Gristle. I think these would be great songs to commit a murder to if I were into that sort of thing.

This is an intriguing group I've never heard of. Electronic-hip-hop? Interesting combo. Lets see if it pans out. My first thought as I start listening is that the title track kinda goes on too long. After the first few tracks, I noticed the trend seems to be some slow-to-medium rapping over a kinda slow beat with some female backing vocals. There are some occasional flutes. Some record scratches. Oh, a couple notes on a guitar? Predominantly drum and bass. It screamed early to mid 90s to me, and its an electronic dance type thing so that tracks at least. The whole album continued in this fashion. This album didn't really pump me up, or bring me down, or really do anything to move me one way or the other. Was it phoned in? I' m not really sure how this album landed on this list. Even going through the band's wikipedia, there's just not much about them. Was this some super influential UK hip hop deal? I'm in the dark here. Standouts for me were: "Connected," "Step It Up," and "Creation." Honestly I added them as highlights as I was going through, but every song sounded so similar to every other song it was hard to pull these apart. Overall, I could do without this album. It wasn't like some horrible experience, it just didn't feel like it had any soul. Just some mediocre raps that all went on for way too long. I got to the end, fittingly titled "The End" and I was happy to stop listening and go about my day. There wasn't enough variety in any of the songs to make any part of it compelling. I don't really want to listen to any of it again. This is probably like a 1.5 out of 5, rounded down to a 1. At the end of the day it was just boring ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This album is definitely a product of its time. It's very 60s, filled with sitars, light drumming, with light airy tracks like listening to a fairy tale in song. There's some very hippy-dippy love and nature themed songs, such as "Springtime Promises." All stuff I'd associate with that era. There were some clear medieval and religious themes throughout the album, which it sounds like the band was partial to and pulled inspiration from. I'd say it wasn't my type of thing when I started my listen but it totally grew on me and I actually enjoyed most of it by the end! I was very impressed with the guitar and other stringed instrument skill throughout the album. Same for the female vocalist, Jacqui McShee, who crushed her parts and made several of the songs hauntingly beautiful (see "House Carpenter"). Standouts: "Light Flight," "Once I Had a Sweetheart" - the sitar solo was great! - "Sally Go Round the Roses" - had a cool bluesy sound, and "House Carpenter" - the sitar parts in addition with McShees solo folky vocals were phenominal. Overall this album was very good. Had some definite highlights and I wouldn't mind hearing more. Props to the band for putting out a solid effort and the vibe of the album was pretty cool, if not something I'd actively seek out. In the end I enjoyed it a lot, and it's a very solid 4 out of 5 for me just because a few songs were kind of meh on an otherwise pretty unique album.

I had a hard time getting into this one. While I liked the guitar parts and some songs had a good groove going, the vocals were not my thing. Didn't love Hynde's style and I struggled to make out what she was saying a lot of the time. Outside of that I don't really have a lot to say about it. It was all pretty average rock with some good guitar parts and a few catchy jams. Standouts for me were: "Tattooed Love Boys, " and "Private Life" - had some great moments Maybe this was a hit back in the 80s but I don't think this would hold up as well today. Musically it was pretty decent so I don't know why this one didn't win me over when on paper it should have. I think this is a completely average 3 star album that had some pretty good moments, some kind of boring moments, and some moments that somehow irritated me in a way I can't completely explain.

This is one of those super catchy, fun, upbeat sounding albums that actually goes way deeper as you listen on and pay attention to whats being put forth, lyrically and musically. For being "dance/punk/electronica/rock/whatever" its certainly not shoehorning itself into any one genre, and it has a lot of fun instruments and sounds and lyrics and does a good job of being pretty varied in its sound (track to track, some of the tracks themselves might put people off who dont want to listen to some repetitiveness for 5 - 9 minutes, but for me it was interesting sounding enough to not care). "Get Innocuous!" is a great opening track that slowly builds and the album doesn't really let up until the last track (until that picks up too!). The catchy synth on "Someone Great" flowing into the frantic piano in "All My Friends" really caught me as a great moment. Standouts were "Someone Great" - the synth is fantastic and the lyrics are heavy - "All My Friends," and "Sound of Silver" - just sounds so unique, I loved the synth throughout. I think I've found a new favorite with Sound of Silver. I could see myself putting this on in the background or to chill to, or to jam along to again and again. My only criticism if I had to have one is that "Us V Them" goes on a little too long. Small nitpick though since its a good jam. I really want to dig into more LCD Soundsystem. This album is freaking amazing and gets a pretty easy 5 stars after my first listen through.

So I'm not the biggest jazz fan in the world but I can appreciate it. My goal with this one was to let it roll and soak it all in. I dont really have any standouts on this one; the album as a whole is nice to listen to and all the musicians are of course very good. Jazz kinda blends together for me and I like the experience but picking out one song from another is a little harder on something like this than albums from most other genres. I enjoyed listening to the album in the moment but this kind of stuff I don't see myself actively trying to revisit, which puts this at a 2/5 for me. It makes for very good background music when trying to get stuff done though. All in all, for me, this was a slightly below average, but enjoyable listen.

This album has a cool, unique sound. Some great guitar pieces, chugging drums, and spacy synths permeate the tracks. And it still had a pretty punk rock soul. I can see why this album could have been influential to a lot of people in the 70s. The synth in the opening track "Definitive Gaze" reminded me almost of old video game music. I thought "Burst" went on a minute or two too long, but then "Motorcade" picks back up with some cool synth and a big tempo swing and guitar solo. Gotta say, I really hated "The Great Beautician In The Sky" though with its deranged circus-ass sound and the grating vocal delivery was just kinda ugh. The standouts for me were "Definitive Gaze," "Shot By Both Sides," "Motorcade" - this gets so frantic and I love it. This was a cool listen from a band I'd never heard of before. In the end it had a couple tracks I really like and a neat vibe, but I think for me it lands in the average 3 star zone of existence. Some highlights, some lowlights, mostly solid.

This album is so beautifully 80s. The synth, the drums, the sound effects, vocal styles, everything. Is it my favorite kind of sound? Eh. But it hits the spot sometimes. I really likes the transition from upbeat pop to the slower, dreamlike ending of "Hit Music." In a different vein, "It's A Sin" felt really grand and stadium-rock like. So lots of good variation and depth to this album. There is a lot of gloom under the pop and synthetic music which is an interesting juxtaposition. Standouts on this one were: "One More Chance, " and "Its a Sin" While I liked my listen I'd put this album as an average 3 for me. I liked the vibe in the moment but wouldn't come back to this over and over.

What a hell of a debut album. Usually I don't love the spoken, barely considered singing, style lyrics but it really works for the Violent Femmes. Their style is so unique and so catchy you just can't stop listening. The bass in "Please Don't Go," and the rest of the album, is fantastic. The whole album is full of cool ups and downs in tempo and in emotions. Highlights are "Blister In The Sun" - of course legendary - "Add It Up," "Prove My Love," and "Gone Daddy Gone" - that xylophone solo is peak I'll admit I've never listened to this album and I feel like I should have, like, 20 years ago. I'm sad that it took me this long. It's got so much feeling and character and just good tunes. I think this is very close to being a perfect album. The back half of the album lags a little and the vocals don't really change up enough and that makes a couple songs feel kind of flat (like "Promise" and "To The Kill"). On my first listen though I'd put it at 4.5 stars but I think this is an album I truly will listen to again and will probably be a favorite after a few listens.

The debut album from The Go-Go's, this thing is full of catchy melodies and solid, steady rock songs. Its a fun album. There are songs about life, love, and kicking ass. The guitar parts are pretty notable on this album; I really liked the guitar riff on "Lust to Love," and there's a nice slower solo on "This Town," for examples. Anyone who hasn't lived under a rock knows "We Got The Beat" and maybe because I played it so many times in one of the Rock Band games it's kind of lost its luster for me, but its easy to see why that one was a hit single. It holds up. My standouts are "Our Lips Are Sealed" - it's so damn catchy - "Automatic" - loved the stop and go style - and "You Can't Walk In Your Sleep (If You Can't Sleep)" - such a catchy jam, although rhyming sleep with sleep so much is sending me. This is a pretty solid album. A few of the songs don't really do a whole lot for me, but its still a fun listen through as a whole.

This album punched me in the face. I listened to it way too early in the morning. I'm awake now. Spoilers: this album kinda slaps and if you can't see that, I dont know what to tell you. The album is rough around the edges. It sounds a little raw, the lyrics are pretty wild and raunchy, it's in your face old school rock and roll. These guys probably would have been wild to see live. My standouts on this one were "Faith Healer," "Giddy Up A Ding Dong" - sigh.... it's a jam though... - and "The Last Of The Teenage Idols." I went into this not knowing what I'd get, and it ended up being pretty entertaining. It's like a deranged Scottish AC/DC and it works. Most of the songs were actually pretty likeable and had some highlights, enough so that this is a 4 star album for me.

I've established that jazz is not entirely my thing. I can get into it but it's not something I seek out. This is my first Afrobeat album though (of which Kuti is credited as the creator of), and it's really tight. Reading up on it, this album had a huge impact, causing the Nigerian military to raid Kuti's commune and kill his mother. Researching this guy was wild, he had some... interesting beliefs, but no doubt this criticism of the government and military took some balls. Politics aside, I think this album is pretty good for not being really in my wheelhouse. The sax and trumpet work is obviously great and his lyrics hit hard. The songs are long, however, and mostly just jamming so it got a little tiresome for me, but that's jazz and the beats were nice! The highlight was definitely "Zombie," and with only 4 tracks on the album I don't think another piqued my interest like that one did. Solid influential album that, while I liked reading about it more than listening to it, gets a 2/5 from me because I probably wont revisit any of it.

This album was a lot more subdued than I was expecting. I was hoping for a psychadelic jam session, and there is some of that, but this one was a quieter, more melancholy trip to the 60s. It was kind of a refreshing listen. Not a lot to get you pumped up but I got invested in the lyrics and the stories being told. The lyrics are arguably better than the music here. Standouts were: "Brief Candles," "Changes," "This Will Be Our Year" - loved the piano and lyrics - "Time Of The Season" All in all, a pretty good listen and a solid 3/5 album because it didn't do much to move me from neutral, but it was enjoyable and I wouldn't complain if I listened again some day.

Apple's debut album starts with a dark tone, very intriguing, and that's the mood for the album. It's brooding and introspective. It's full of self loathing and spite at ex-lovers. Makes sense with some of the events that occurred prior to her recording this album, and you can tell Apple is pouring some of those thoughts and feelings into her work. She is a great pianist. Her vocals are not perfect, often raspy and rough, but that's what makes each track intriguing and I like that. There's also some really cool synth under some of the tracks (e.g. "Criminal") and nice guitar parts on others ("Carrion") and I'm all about that. I want to sit in a dark bar and have a whiskey and listen to "Slow Like Honey." "The First Taste" is very exotic and a nice departure from the previous mood. There are a few songs that are forgettable on the second half of the album. Highlights for me were: "Sullen Girl," "Slow Like Honey," "The First Taste," and "Carrion." I actually really liked this album. It's dark and gritty and would be great to put on when you're kinda down on the world but want something approachable and smokey and smooth to seethe along with. Pretty strong 4/5 for me. If the album hadn't let up a little down the homestretch and had veered a tad away from being a bit one dimensional, I'd be really tempted to put it at a 5.

I'm a CCR fan so I'm going into this with some bias. Even so, this album is very good. So bluesy and rocky and you just want to jam to it. I don't even have much to say about this one. It's so good. Easy 5 stars. Would listen to this album over and over. Highlights: "Ramble Tamble" "Lookin' Out My Backdoor" "Run Through The Jungle" "Who'll Stop The Rain." It's like all the hits. And all the other songs could fit here. They still slap. The whole album is a highlight. Just put it on and rock out. Did I mention it's good? It's good.

So much jazz recently! I keep prefacing these reviews with "I'm not the biggest jazz fan. But I can appreciate it." This album is no different. Yeah, I mean, it was pretty good. It's just kind of background music for me at this point. Pleasant but not super engaging. Nothing Earth shattering for me. I feel like I need to listen to it again to process it more, but to be honest I just don't really want to. It feels like blasphemy rating Coltrane 2/5 because the man is a legend and obviously super talented, but it's just not my bag, baby.

Alright I have to admit that I already love this album. I had this baby on repeat all through college and the days beyond. I'm going to take a more critical listen here, but Gorillaz holds a special place in my heart. The vibes are immaculate. I dont know how to describe it well, the music is so chill but attention grabbing; rocky, distorted, chugging at times and slow, clear, and melodical at others. The lyrics overlay the music perfectly. It's a fuzzy engineered lo-fi dream. I legitimately love every song on here, but for the sake of picking favorites, lets go with: "5/4" "Clint Eastwood" - it's freaking iconic - "Sound Check (Gravity)" "M1-A1" and "Left Hand Suzuki Method" Yeah, this holds up so well for me. I think it would do just as well if it was released today. If I had to criticize something, I do think a couple songs could have been cut to shorten the track list a bit ("Man Research," "Punk," "Dracula"), but I like them all anyway. Also the lyrics are kind of slurred or hard to understand at times, but eh, didn't bother me. Easy 5 stars, and I'll probably listen to this album dozens more times before I die.

I like R.E.M. fine enough, they've got some bangers but the band as a whole never really hooked me. This album is doesn't change that; it's pretty solid and an enjoyable listen but didn't really sway me one way or the other. Musically, the band is tight here and Stipe is iconic, but it's not really anything you've never heard before. Standouts are "Finest Worksong" "The One I Love" and "King Of Birds" Overall, pretty standard. Not the best I've heard, not the worst. If you've ever listened to the radio for a day in your life you've probably heard "It's The End Of The World As We Know It" and "The One I Love" so that speaks to the legacy of R.E.M. and I respect the hell out of that, but this is a pretty solid 3, almost a 4 for me.

Yikes, this one is going to be hard to listen to with an unbiased perspective in light of all the crap our favorite unhinged, bipolar nazi has pulled the last few years. I was dreading this album making an appearance, and here it is. At least it's come early in this project, so lets get it over with. I listened. I cringed a lot. I didn't want to give him any listens but I did it anyway for the sake of musical enlightenment. Yeah, I'm still biased. Now for my scathing review: I think Kanye is a clown with a persecution complex fueled by mental illness and an inflated sense of self-importance. That aside, I don't like his flow and I don't think his rhymes are all that great. None of it is clever. The man just throws in an object or person to get the rhyme so much, it bothers the hell out of me. The man is not a singer. The best parts of most of his songs are arguably the featured artists. Musically this album is actually pretty ok, at least Kanye incorporates a lot of instruments and styles in his tracks and the beats are good. I just wish I didn't have to hear his whiny voice over top of it all. Lyrics I thought were subpar, going on and on about Kanye's lifestyle and how great he is. Here's an example of his exemplary (read with heavy sarcasm) storytelling: "Ah, put the pussy in a sarcophagus, Now she claiming that I bruised her esophagus." Here's another: "My presence is a present, kiss my ass." Ugh. Both from the same song, "Monster." Its all just so played out and exhausting after the first 10 minutes. "Hell Of A Life" might be the most annoying song on the album, with stupid lyrics autotuned to imitate Sabbath's "Iron Man" over top a cowboy clip-clop track with digital harpsichord. Just awful. Standouts if I had to pick them are "Power" - I think this is honestly the only Kanye song I've heard previously - "All Of The Lights" - for the drum machine and Rihanna, honestly - "Runaway" - the second half was instrumental and was a nice break. I'll admit I very badly wanted to give this album 1 star from the go ahead. I wanted to not even listen, give it 1 star, and wait for my next album. But I gave it a shot. I even toyed with rating it 2 stars for having some catchy beats at times, but man, I would never listen to any of this again and I can only listen to Kanye beat himself up for so long. Poor guy with such a great life and money and power doesn't need any charity stars from a guy like me. So might as well pile on the Kanye pity party and go ahead and give it that 1 star. If this is Kanye's best, lord help me if I ever have to listen to his worst. People love it, I just don't get the hype. Punch Nazis, kids, and stop making stupid people famous.

Oh a live album! This one is actually really weird sounding (but in a good way) in that there's virtually no crowd noise over the songs so you're just getting the band. Pretty unique for a live recording. Live stuff isn't usually my go to, with a few exceptions of course, but this sounds pretty tight. Lots of good solos, the recording is actually pretty good and you get to hear everything. This is as naked and pure as rock and roll gets. I don't know why, but somehow this one didn't really really grab me like I though it would. I like The Who, but maybe I just didn't find the songs too interesting? I mean, they were good, but didn't really hook me all the way in. I don't think these are their best songs. Standouts were: "Tattoo", "Young Man Blues" - that bass line is insane - "Happy Jack," and "A Quick One, While He's Away" Live At Leeds is a really solid, cool album. I probably wouldn't re-listen to the whole thing on purpose but there are some really cool songs and to hear such a pure live performance is a rare and cool thing. This one gets a strong 4 out of 5 for me.

The first thing I thought when I queued this album up was "Jesus it's over 2 hours long, I hope it doesn't suck." Well, I listened to both disks and while it wasn't horrible, it was a slog that I felt like I needed to be on drugs to really appreciate. So this album is classified as garage & house on Wikipedia. Not something I've dabbled in much. You can definitely turn your brain off and just kinda vibe or lock into work or some tedious task with this on. There are some good beats, but nothing crazy. Hope you like those beats, though, because this thing goes on forever and can get grating after a while. The whole thing also feels very dated. Standouts were "Tired Games" - just for that weird funky guitar bit - "Sanctuary" - had some nice vocals and guitar - "I See," and "Strung Out" - aptly titled with some nice string pieces. Shoutout to "Bandelero Desperado" for those sweet sweet whale noises. I'm a little confused how this album got on the list. I guess this album was some sort of garage/electronic breakthrough or something? There's nothing really offensive here, but nothing great either. Just an album to put on where all the songs kind of blend together as you attempt to chill out. It's 2 stars for me. And also, yeah, what the hell is that album art?

This is some extremely hippy stuff right here. Like, if you took a bunch of drugs and wrote down some nonsense, you could probably write this album. But here's my take after a listen: I didn't love it. My first issue is that the singing is not particularly great and got on my nerves after a couple songs. The attempts at chanting and droning were almost physically painful at times. The lyrics are all nonsensical and I don't think it's worth trying to interpret anything for any deeper meaning other than "I saw this in a drug induced haze and wrote it down." It's like, about nature and life and religion, man. Guitars, sitars, organs, and sounds effects abound, it for sure sounds like the 60s, but in the worst way. The guitar is generally fine enough, but a lot of this album sounds very amateurish. I dont really have any standout songs on this album. If I had to pick something, the opening part of "A Very Cellular Song" was okay - they should have ended it there. "Nightfall" was ok too. I didn't think I'd have such a strong reaction to this album but it's left me almost irrationally angry. There's just too much hippy bullshit and forced symbolism in every single song that i didnt enjoy it. I can't in good faith give this any more that 1 star & would actively avoid in the future.

This is a nice short album full of soulful love songs, but it's kind of one dimensional. Some jazzy guitar parts, some background organ and horns. Vocals and backing vocals are all nice but kind of bland sounding. There's nothing bad here but nothing that really got me going either. Not really my style, but was a nice easy listen. I dunno, just didn't do much for me. A solid 2.5 down to a 2, wouldn't revisit.

So has some cool synth and drum parts. I've always liked Gabriel's voice as well. The album has a weird mix of darker toned songs that are intriguing intermingled with poppy sounding 80s jams. Lyrically it didn't do much for me. Standouts were "That Voice Again" and "In Your Eyes," which is a classic and I love it and I will unabashedly belt it every time it comes on. Overall, the album was kind of slow for me, but I liked the mood. It was a good length too, any longer and I think it would have dragged and overstayed its welcome. So was cool sounding and it was a good listen but didn't really move the needle away from an average 3 stars.

The Temptations are solid. Cloud Nine is a great funky soul album. It starts off upbeat and really gets you going. This album has a lot: up-tempo beats, some slower ballads, etc. so some good variation. I appreciate The Temptations for putting their 9.5 minute long "Runaway Child, Running Wild" track, which is largely instrumental, up at the front of the track listing. Many bands put their "freeform" solo stuff towards the end of an album when the vibe is running thin, so I enjoyed it hitting earlier in the experience and I liked it better for that. All the other songs are pretty short and keep the album moving so the pacing was good, although I think it suffers from some "samey" songs in the back half (I will say this about a lot of albums). Standouts were "Cloud Nine," and "I Need Your Lovin'." Overall, the album is good. I had some issues with the mixing at points and some of the lyrics weren't coming through very well. It's light and easy to listen to. A solid effort, though nothing earth shattering for me. I've been trying to find that funk/soul album that really makes me go "Oh yeah, I get it now" and I had high hopes for this one, but it didn't quite get there. I'd still call this a pretty strong average 3/5 on my scale.

As I'm listening to this album I have a pretty bad head cold so I thought it might influence my experience with it, but luckily it still sounded great. Off The Wall starts out hot with "Dont Stop Till You Get Enough" and "Rock With You," both classics. The rest of the album I'm not as familiar with, but it doesn't let up! I've only listened to Michael Jackson's other albums Bad and Thriller outside of his greatest hits, but this is a pretty cool look at some earlier MJ! I do think his other albums are much better though. Standouts for me were "Dont Stop Till You Get Enough," "Rock With You," and "It's The Falling In Love." This album was still enjoyable even with me hacking a lung up during the whole listen. Outside of the few hits though I don't think I'd go back to listen to this the whole way though as the back half is not as strong as the front. Solid 3 stars, probably a 7/10 album for me.

Don't know how I feel about later Bowie stuff. This one has some good jams, but you can feel a different kind of energy from Bowie. This was his penultimate album, the album Bowie recorded in secret and was critically acclaimed on release. It's pretty good and at first i thought it wouldn't hold up against his older work, but it kinda does. Bowie is older and has been through the fire. Its different. This is also fine; different era, different Bowie. The lyrics are grimmer and more introspective. You have to really focus on this one. But it's still classic Bowie storytelling. Standouts for me were "Valentines Day," "If You Can See Me," "I'd Rather Be High", "(You Will) Set The World On Fire," and "Heat." All in all, I really liked a lot of the guitar parts and interesting lyrics. At first I wasnt quite sure how this would go, and I danced between 3 and 4 stars for most of my listen. Some of the album is quite catchy, and the good songs are really good. As I went I liked it more and more. I think we're lucky to have gotten more music from Bowie before his death, and while this isn't my favorite Bowie or even the best Bowie, the compositions are so tight that I'd give it 4 stars. Really neat album.

This is a very solid, outstanding quality live album. It's crisp and clean while also sounding raw and that's everything you want in a live album. Standouts were "Feel It (Don't Fight It)" - kinda creepily titled, considering the events surrounding Cooke's death, but good song - "Twistin' The Night Away," and "Somebody Have Mercy" I quite enjoyed this listen actually. I'd have killed to be in that audience. All the songs were swingin' and the energy is great. This is like a 9/10 album for me. The only thing holding it back I think is the lack of variation; everything is very good, but also kind of the same type of song and I got a little tired of it by the end.

This album is an absolute powerhouse. This review is going to be too long but I have to gush about this album. The instruments all sound so good, and Morrison's voice and lyrics are so captivating. The guitar is clean and the organ that is so integral to The Doors and actually sounds good on a 60s album!! And this is their debut album, like, that's mind boggling. There are so many good songs and hits on this album, it's kind of staggering. There are a million good moments to experience. "Break On Through" comes in strong, the wild/weirdness of "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)," coming out of the solos and back to the catchy-as-hell organ groove on "Light My Fire" all the way to the thumping bassline of "Take It as It Comes" and into the brooding darkness and chaos of "The End." It's a journey. Standouts are almost every song on this damn thing. How can I pick? Special shout out to "The End" as I remember hearing it for the first time while watching Apocalypse Now, probably way younger than I should have been, and being blown away by it. That was my first memory of being aware of The Doors and I think about it any time I hear one of their songs. My one semi-issue at first was the mixing on the original album. It's not really a problem but drums and bass out of one ear, guitar and organ on the other kind of did my head in until I got used to it, which was thankfully quickly. It is kinda neat to be able to more easily focus on one instrument at a time whenever you want, so that's cool. Easy 5 stars on this one. I just finished my listen and might go right back in to try the mono mix.

I'm very much an early Beatles fan and pretty strongly dislike their later stuff. So I figure this will be the start of one of my controversial artists. It's a good start. Love this album. Its easy to see why the Beatles got so famous based on their first few albums. All the songs on A Hard Day's Night are great. It's hard to find much fault with the album as a while. It's just good tunes to jam and sing along to. Standouts are "A Hard Day's Night," "Tell Me Why" "Can't Buy Be Love" and "Things We Said Today" I think this album is an 8 or 9 outta 10 for me. Some of the songs are more forgettable, but they all still sound good while you're listening and this is a great album for sure!

This album didn't do a whole lot for me. There were some interesting musical bits, but as a whole it didn't really catch me. Didn't care for "John Barleycorn", personally. So yeah, lets get him! Highlights: "Stranger To Himself" and "Every Mother's Son." Really liked these two. The rest of the album was pretty standard. 3/5 for me.