275
Albums Rated
3.15
Average Rating
25%
Complete
814 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
2000
Favorite Decade
Metal
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
27
5-Star Albums
14
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Nowhere
Ride
|
5 | 3.02 | +1.98 |
|
Pump
Aerosmith
|
5 | 3.11 | +1.89 |
|
Permission to Land
The Darkness
|
5 | 3.13 | +1.87 |
|
Deloused in the Comatorium
The Mars Volta
|
5 | 3.19 | +1.81 |
|
Daydream Nation
Sonic Youth
|
5 | 3.29 | +1.71 |
|
You've Come a Long Way Baby
Fatboy Slim
|
5 | 3.33 | +1.67 |
|
Blunderbuss
Jack White
|
5 | 3.39 | +1.61 |
|
Sound of Silver
LCD Soundsystem
|
5 | 3.42 | +1.58 |
|
Guero
Beck
|
5 | 3.45 | +1.55 |
|
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
|
5 | 3.48 | +1.52 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Frank
Amy Winehouse
|
1 | 3.46 | -2.46 |
|
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Kanye West
|
1 | 3.41 | -2.41 |
|
The World is a Ghetto
War
|
1 | 3.35 | -2.35 |
|
Songs From A Room
Leonard Cohen
|
1 | 3.16 | -2.16 |
|
The Nightfly
Donald Fagen
|
1 | 3.02 | -2.02 |
|
The Dreaming
Kate Bush
|
1 | 2.99 | -1.99 |
|
Connected
Stereo MC's
|
1 | 2.95 | -1.95 |
|
Let's Stay Together
Al Green
|
2 | 3.76 | -1.76 |
|
Nixon
Lambchop
|
1 | 2.74 | -1.74 |
|
Dr. Octagonecologyst
Dr. Octagon
|
1 | 2.7 | -1.7 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Black Sabbath | 2 | 5 |
| Radiohead | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Leonard Cohen | 3 | 1.67 |
5-Star Albums (27)
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Popular Reviews
Stereo MC's · 4 likes
1/5
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)_/¯
David Bowie · 2 likes
3/5
What is this, Bowie album #5 for me? They've been all over the spectrum rating-wise, let's see where this one lands.
Low lives in the world of mediocre Bowie. It's a very ok album. Nothing in this album really hooked me and it was a pretty quick in and out adventure. Low lacked the really good lyrical songwriting you see in other Bowie options, and it felt a little phoned in. I get the whole Berlin Trilogy thing, and this is a "piece of art," but it's not doing it for me. It's an album split down the middle and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Standout tracks were "Sound and Vision" and "Weeping Wall"
I really don't think this list needs 5+ (because I'm sure there are more) Bowie albums. Damn. It does sound a bit ahead of its time, but that doesn't pull it up from an average 3 for me.
John Coltrane · 2 likes
2/5
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.
TV On The Radio · 1 likes
3/5
Interesting sound. The album takes a couple songs to pick up, but I started to get into it. I really liked when the band leaned into the industrial/electronic. There are a lot of genres mashed into their sound; you'll have some like alt-rock/electronic/doo-wop a capella all in one track.
I wasn't super impressed with the drum machines. Wish they had gone a little more complex with the beats, as they are a bit tedious. Same with the vocals. They were often times all over the place and very discordant in places, I assume purposefully, but I didn't dig it.
Standouts were "Dreams" and "Poppy."
Overall, neat sound but the album didn't really hold my attention the whole way through. The vocals kind of sound the same on every track so it gets a bit boring coming down the homestretch of the album. I didn't vibe with it as much as I wish I could have because I think there's something really cool here. I like the unique-ness of it, and didn't love it but didn't hate it, so 3/5 for me.
P.S. I could have done without the bonus track "You Could Be Love" - holy God whoever chose to include that on an album should not be taken seriously. Almost lost a star for that track alone.
Tracy Chapman · 1 likes
3/5
This is a politically and socially charged album. Sad that a lot hasn't changed since the 80s when this dropped. Chapman isn't really my thing, but she's a great singer and guitarist. I appreciate her and what she's put forth.
The music is on the more simplistic and low key side, but I was pretty engrossed in the lyrics. The pace is slow but the subject matter is heavy. Chapman is just interesting to listen to.
Standouts were "Talkin' Bout A Revolution," "Fast Car," and the a capella "Behind The Wall" hit hard.
I'm probably not going to relisten to much here, except "Fast Car" because it's everywhere and inescapable these days but this is a pretty good 3.5/5 for me.
4-Star Albums (64)
1-Star Albums (14)
All Ratings
Radiohead
4/5
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!
Michael Kiwanuka
3/5
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!
Talking Heads
3/5
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.
T. Rex
3/5
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.
Iggy Pop
2/5
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.
Kendrick Lamar
3/5
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.
1/5
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.
Peter Tosh
2/5
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.
David Bowie
5/5
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.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
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...
Throbbing Gristle
2/5
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.
Stereo MC's
1/5
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)_/¯
Pentangle
4/5
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.
Pretenders
3/5
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.
LCD Soundsystem
5/5
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.
The Crusaders
2/5
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.
Magazine
3/5
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.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
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.
Violent Femmes
4/5
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 Go-Go's
3/5
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.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
4/5
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.
Fela Kuti
2/5
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.
The Zombies
3/5
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.
Fiona Apple
4/5
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.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
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.
John Coltrane
2/5
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.
Gorillaz
5/5
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.
R.E.M.
3/5
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.
Kanye West
1/5
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.
The Who
4/5
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.
Mj Cole
2/5
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?
The Incredible String Band
1/5
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.
Al Green
2/5
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.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
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
3/5
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.
Michael Jackson
3/5
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.
David Bowie
4/5
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.
Sam Cooke
4/5
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.
The Doors
5/5
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.
Beatles
4/5
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!
Traffic
3/5
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.
2/5
That was crazy. I have to be honest, I didn't hate that as much as I thought I would going in. If you can make it through the first couple of songs, there's some interesting stuff here. I listened to this on a YouTube playlist so I'm not sure if all the songs were there or if they were in order.
So, props to Zorn, he's clearly talented and can play sax with incredible speed. I was less impressed with the drums. A lot of this album seemingly formless noise, but there are some cool moments where everything comes together and sounds really good. This is my first foray into avant-garde jazz and it actually might be more my thing than your standard jazz, somehow.
Notable tracks were "Good Old Days," "Ecars," and "Broad Way Blues." These actually had some good hooks and substance that you can come back to.
It was an interesting listen and experience, but I wouldn't revisit. 2/5 for me.
Soft Machine
1/5
Oh boy, when you open an album up and see 4 tracks with over an hour long runtime, you're either in for a great time or a miserable one. My experience was mostly the latter.
This album lives somewhere in between the areas of prog rock, psychadelic rock, and jazz. It's a lot, and it's a slog if you're not into it. I hope these guys stuck to instrumental work though, the lyrics and vocals on "Moon In June" were... pretty bad. That whole song rubbed me the wrong way to be honest. I really liked the beginning of "Out-Bloody-Rageous" but then the horns came in and killed the whole vibe.
There are some good instrumentals in parts, and sometimes that guitar comes chugging in with some nice distortion and I have hope but then nothing truly epic ever pans out. I have to give this 1 star. Its just not good enough in my opinion. There are just so many jarring sounds, and these guys needed to learn how to self edit their stuff down a little. It's way too much.
I heard this before I died and wish I had that time back.
Louis Prima
3/5
This was a really fun album. I took a more passive listen to this one in the background but it was still engaging.
Didn't do a lot to make me want to relisten, but if youre looking for just a fun old timey jam, slap this on.
Radiohead
5/5
This was my first Radiohead album and the one that got me into them back in the day so there's a real nostalgia factor here.
I love this album. So many good songs. Everything comes together on this album and sounds really good. I think this is one of Radiohead's less "weird," more approachable albums. Thom's voice is great, the instruments are tight, the lyrics are interesting. Can't ask for much more.
I'll go there and say I think this is Radiohead's best album. It's tight, right there with OK Computer, but I think The Bends edges it out in my book.
Standouts: "Planet Telex," "The Bends," "Fake Plastic Trees," and "Sulk." This is one of those cases where most songs are standouts, with a couple being ok-ish but still really good.
Another absolute banger and another 5 star album.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
This album is like a cozy warm nap. It's just full of life and the songs sound great for a 70s recording. The melodies and instrumentals are really good and catchy. The music seems ahead of its time.
Standouts for me were "Heaven is 10 Zillion Light Years Away," "You Haven't Done Nothin'"
Yeah, really solid! This one's like a 3.5/5 for me.
X-Ray Spex
2/5
I've never heard of these guys. Right off the bat I really liked the guitar, but strongly, strongly disliked the vocalist and sax.
There are some catchy riffs in places, like "Warrior in Woolworths" (which might be one of the dumbest song names I've heard) but all of it mostly sounds like a bunch of kids' first punk album, which I suppose it was. I'm not against what they're about, by the way, I just think it all sounds kind of cringy.
Standouts were "Warrior in Woolworths," and "I Live Off You" - I guess had some better parts.
Overall, this wasn't doing a whole lot for me. The lyrics were almost indecipherable and hard to listen to. Like physically painful. "Germfree Adolescence," the song, was alllmost good melodically but damn, the lyrics and breaking vocals just hurt. The guitarist is the only redeemable aspect of this record for me, and for him it gets 2 stars.
Ryan Adams
3/5
This album has some good moments with really solid guitar and lyrical performances with a little country vibe. I'm a sucker for harmonica, so that paired with some guitar makes for a nice listen. The songs are mostly slower but they're all pretty catchy to be honest and are fun to listen to.
Standouts are "To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)," "Amy," and "Shakedown on 9th Street"
All in all, not a bad album! The last couple of songs are forgettable, but I enjoyed my listen. There are a couple songs I'd come back to. I think this is a 3.5/5 for me.
The guy's a piece of shit apparently which I didn't see until after I listened, so this was a pretty untainted experience. I don't pay attention to the country music world, so I don't really give a damn.
Norah Jones
3/5
Norah Jones has never crossed my radar. She's just not my musical taste. I knew I'd be in for a very relaxed, soothing listening experience. And that is exactly what I got. And it was kind of glorious. It put my 4 month old to sleep twice.
Jones obviously has a really nice smooth voice, no denying that. This album was her debut and won Album of the Year, so, like, it clearly didn't fly under anyone else's radars.
Instrumentally theres some nice loungy piano pieces with some guitars. It's very low key and bluesy.
Standouts were "Don't Know Why," "Seven Years," "I've Got To See You Again" and "Nightingale"
This is a 3/5 for me. Its just a little too chill to keep me engaged for a whole album unless I'm trying to fall asleep or something. I was a little bored by the time I hit the end of the album, but it's a nice one to wake up to in the morning or end your day with if you're trying to relax.
Eagles
4/5
I haven't listened to this one in a hot minute. The Eagles are for sure a greatest hits kind of listen for me. The first 3 songs are absolute bangers. Then it sort of lets up in the middle, before coming back strong for the close.
If they had kept up the pace set at the start of the album, this would be a 5/5 no brainer. But "Wasted Time" through "Pretty Maids" just brings the album down for me. That being said the guitar throughout the album is amazing, and the vocal melodies really hit when they hit.
Standouts are "Hotel California," "New Kid in Town," "Life in the Fast Lane," and "Try and Love Again."
Big Lebowski jokes aside, Hotel California gets a pretty solid 4/5 for me, it's always a good listen but isn't a perfect album.
Frank Black
2/5
This was a weird one. It's kind of generic-sounding rock tracks with quirky lyrics. The vocals are kinda whiny. Not my favorite. There's some pretty solid guitar work throughout, but that's the only real positive I'm finding. It seems like an album full of self indulgent bullshit.
The delivery of the lyrics was a real issue here. I just really don't like Black's vocal style. It's more talking at various speeds than singing. His pacing is weird and off-putting. I'd prefer to just hear the instrumental tracks without him to be honest.
Standouts for me were "(I Want to Live on An) Abstract Plain," "The Vanishing Spies"
"Fiddle Riddle" made me actively angry.
I really didn't get this one. It meanders all over the place. It's far too long. It's spectacularly standard. The best parts were the times when Black isn't even singing. 2/5 stars. Not the absolute worst but a far cry from the best.
Emmylou Harris
4/5
Man, I love Harris's voice. Mixed with the guitar, echoey and delayed at times, hard and electric at others, it just works so well. Goddamn I love that electric slide guitar sound. Wish she had it on more tracks.
Her lyrics are interesting and meaningful. Even though this album isnt straight up country, it's where I wish more of the country genre would have headed instead of the heap of overproduced pop crap a lot of it is these days.
Standouts were "The Pearl" "Michelangelo" "Red Dirt Girl" "My Antonia"
This is a really strong album. I'd put it somewhere between 8 or 9 out of ten for me so it gets an easy 4 stars. There are a couple songs I could have done without, not bad though by any means. I'd like to go listen to some of Harris's older stuff.
Brian Wilson
3/5
Fitting I got this the day after Wilson's death :(
RIP Mr. Wilson.
This album has such crazy lore behind it. I'd been vaguely aware of Wilson's issues with the Beach Boys but was never really into them or his solo work, so this was an interesting album to read about and dive into.
BWPS is a wild ride. It's full of crazy rich sounds; it's truly a Beach Boys fever dream. There'll be a banjo strumming one second then a slide whistle layered with some crazy harmonies the next. It's really interesting and chaotic. The best example is how Nelson Bragg is credited with playing the celery in the band, then the song "Vega-Tables" rolled around and... yeah, there's some chomping.
Standouts for me were "Our Prayer/Gee," "Heros and Villains," "Roll Plymouth Rock" and "Good Vibrations" (duh)
This was a fun, weird album but I probably wouldn't listen to too much of it again. There were some really good highlights and some songs I'd skip, so this one is a 3. I'm glad it exists.
Beck
5/5
Guero has a cool vibe. I've heard some of the songs on it before but never the whole thing through. It's classic weird Beck lyrics set to what I would call "chill" poppy rock and roll. Slide guitars abound!
"Missing" gave me Chris Cornell vibes for some reason, but it was cool. Also "Broken Drum" might be a new favorite. Love the dark, subdued, spacy mood of it.
Standouts were "E-Pro," "Girl," "Black Tamborine," and "Broken Drum"
I like this album a lot. There's a lot of cool, interesting, diverse tracks to go back to and absorb. This is like a 9 or a 10 for me and I struggled a bit with whether to give it that perfect rating or not. I'll end up giving it the 5 because it's a really solid effort and I vibed with it enough to want to listen to it again.
ZZ Top
4/5
My first foray into ZZ Top! They've always been one of those bands I've perpetually meant to get around to someday, so I'm ready to do this.
Eliminator has a nice, almost slow at times, smooth classic rock feel. All the things you'd expect, you get. All the guitar parts and solos were really good. Lyrically, nothing to write home about. Good 80s vibe. Some slap bass!
Standouts were "Gimme All Your Lovin'" "I Need You Tonight" and "Legs"
This was a fun listen. Musically it's great, but a little samey by the end. A solid 4 stars for me!
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
It's Bruce at home! Apparently recorded in his home in NJ, it does sound like a really subdued acoustic performance album. Guitar, harmonica, and vocals - it's as raw a performance as you can get.
It's mostly slow and grim and personal. You've got to be invested in the lyrics. I wouldn't call this a particularly fun listen, but it is a good one.
Standouts for me were "Johnny 99" "State Trooper" and "Open All Night"
There were some cool sounding songs. Some of the lyrics hit. I'm not a huge fan of the whole folky Americana genre, but it was an interesting listen. Probably wouldn't come back to much of it, but certainly don't hate it. 3 stars for me.
American Music Club
3/5
Never heard of these guys, but not bad! This album was 1988 but it sounds like something from a decade later.
Lead singer was kind of off for me, not bad but didn't quite hit the mark. There was some genre-smashing too: some folkier stuff, some harder rock sounding.
Enjoyed the slide guitar in "Firefly" and wish there had been more. The beginning of the album hooked me but then lost me a bit by the end.
Standouts were "Firefly" "Somewhere" "Lonely" and maybe "Bad Liquor"
There were a couple slower songs I didn't quite gel with, but some others I really liked. Hard to chose between 3 or 4 stars on this one but it's gotta be 3. It all just needed a little more. But the bones of this album I think are really nice.
Ananda Shankar
3/5
I actually quite liked this. It seems to have been trying to capitalize on the craze of incorporating sitars into everything during the 60s, but in this case you obviously have a trained sitarist and it definitely shows compared to some of the psychadelic nonsense I've been exposed to this far.
Does it work as Indian/rock fusion? Yeah, a little. If you're in the mood. If you don't like the sitar you'll kill yourself trying to get through it, but I don't mind it. The synth was used rather lighthandedly and was pretty cool.
I dont know how I feel about the two covers on the album; they were ok, but not among my favorite tracks. My favorites were "Metamorphosis" with the raging sitar leading over some tight drumming, and "Dance Indra."
The 13 minute centerpiece of the album "Sagar" did not really hit with me, unfortunately. It was way more free-form and improvy than the rest of the album, and just seemed to wander forever.
It's a cool piece of history but doesn't have a whole lot of relistening value. I liked my time with it and it would be a 6 or 7 out of 10 for me, so a solid 3 stars.
Miles Davis
4/5
Ok, I get it now. This was the jazz album I've been waiting for. I sat in the dark, put my feet up, and tried really hard to just get lost in this one and it paid off.
The whole band sounded tight on this album. The pianos were wonderful, the drums sharp and crisp, and the brass blaring with purpose. I think that's what I liked most about this album: it felt like it had a point. It didn't meander all over the place, leaving the listener exhausted and frazzled. It felt thoughtful and a bit more structured while still playful.
I'll keep this one in my back pocket for a great album to put on when I need a relaxer, or entertaining, or maybe just feeling kind of blue. Jazz in general isn't something I turn to frequently, but this one definitely got to me, so it's an easy 4 stars.
Elvis Costello
3/5
This one was kind of mid for me. Some nice jaunty tunes, but they were all just kind of good. Nothing was super mind blowing. Elvis Costello has never really been my jam anyway.
Standouts for me were "No Dancing, " "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes," and "Mystery Dance"
My Aim Is True is certainly not bad, just pretty average in my opinion. Wouldn't really revisit much of this. 3 outta 5 for me.
Lupe Fiasco
3/5
This is anti-gangster rap. It's kinda refreshing to be honest, if not a tad preachy, but not wrong either. This is one where you need to really listen and process lyrics. Harder to casually have on if you're not already familiar with it.
This album has some nice shifts in style and tone, for example, the second "The Instrumental" started playing I knew it was produced by Mike Shinoda and it was a nice mix up from the previous couple songs. Same with "Pressure" and "American Terrorist." There are some stretches of "sameness" though.
Standouts for me on this one were "Just Might Be OK" "The Instrumental" "Daydreamin'" and "American Terrorist."
This album is pretty long, I was fatigued by the end of it. The 12 minute "Outro" just thanking people was certainly a choice. Most people just put that stuff in the liner notes because, shockingly, I know, no one wants to listen to that. The rest of the album was a pretty ok listen for me though. Not my usual forte, but not too bad! I liked the varied use of samples and instruments. 3/5
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
This sounds like 90s video game elevator music. It's upbeat, full of drum machine beats and light, airy vocals. I want to hate it but I don't. Not completely.
Its full of catchy choruses and hooks, and I noticed that I enjoyed those parts quite a bit but didn't really like any other parts of the songs. The album just kind of wore me down by the end though. The cool electronic beats and synths got old and weren't enough to carry the whole album.
Standouts were "Can You Forgive Her" and "A Different Point of View"
I was pretty over this album by the end. Very has some interesting moments but equal amounts of repetitiveness. Some songs just annoyed me coughcoughGoWestcough. It's a 2/5 for me.
Sonic Youth
5/5
I'm ashamed I've never listened to a Sonic Youth album, so this is my first. They have such a cool sound. I love how they make their distorted guitars sound so clean. I can hear echos and the inspiration of Sonic Youth in a lot of later bands.
The lyrics are more spoken than sung and it works well with Sonic Youth where a lot of times with other acts it's something that bothers me.
The songs are all beefy with substance and variance that keeps them all interesting. There are a lot of cool buildups and shifts and twists and turns. There's not a bad song on this beast of an album.
Standouts: "Teen Age Riot" "The Sprawl" "Total Trash" and the ending trilogy.
Overall, really cool album. It was an experience. I can see where people dont like some of the noise, but damn I want to live in it. Daydream Nation is a new favorite. I'm excited to go listen to more. 5 stars for sure.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Bobby D is the man. A wordsmith and a beast with the guitar and harmonica. Love it. This album is a powerhouse of Dylan hits.
That said, though, I probably wouldn't put this on repeat or listen to often. Its a good listen every now and then but not my idea of a perfect album. If you just get around to the hits, you aren't missing much more, musically. Lyrically, you're missing a lot, however.
Standouts were "Subterranean Homesick Alien Blues," "Maggie's Farm," "Mr. Tambourine Man," and "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" all the hits essentially. They're hits for a reason.
Dylan is still as socially necessary today as he was in the 60s. This is a great listen any time. The songs lull you into a soft, gentle trance but the lyrics are important and meaningful. I think this is worth 4 stars for sure.
Talking Heads
3/5
Maybe I'm not as into the Talking Heads as I thought I would be. This is my second album of theirs on this project. Its ok. I love Byrne and his style, but I just wish the songs were more interesting. This is the Talking Heads' second album, and I think the first was better.
I found it pretty hard to hear the lyrics on a lot of this mix actually. The guitars are pretty good, baselines rock, as usual, but not much else really stands out to be honest.
Standouts were "Found a Job" "Stay Hungry" "Take Me to the River"
Overall, its not like its bad, its just totally average in my humble opinion. There were some good tracks on the back half of the album, but nothing to really sway me away from an average rating, so another 3/5 for me.
Silver Jews
2/5
I ask this sincerely: how the hell did this album get on this list? The fourth studio album of an indie band I'd venture to say virtually no one has heard of - what? I guess that's the joy of this project though; now I know way more than I wish I did about this band.
The front man bothered me, using a country twang on some tracks and not others. I can't say I enjoyed his voice much either. Like, I think I could sing this equally as well as he did. But I suppose its the lyrics and art we should look at because there are droves of popular "bad" singers out there.
The guitar melodies are actually not bad. There's some good piano occasionally. Lyrically it is kind of interesting. Reading about Berman, he was clearly going through a lot of shit with drugs and depression and this does seem like an outlet for him.
Standouts were "Room Games and Diamond Rain" - for the guitar bits - "I Remember Me" "Transylvania Blues"
It's just a strange album. Obviously a lot went into the lyrics, but the music itself felt left behind and was just kind of standard and uninteresting to me. Honestly, Berman seemed like a trainwreck of a guy his whole life and maybe if you followed along with his career in real time you'd be tempted to put one of his albums on this list for the spectacle of it all, but I sure am not one of those people. I wouldn't listen to any of this again but some of the music was ok. The singing bothered me almost throughout. 2/5 stars for me and it's kinda lucky to get 2 at that.
Johnny Cash
3/5
This was a mostly solid album, but generally forgettable. That's just how most Cash is for me though. I like his style in small doses, and his hits are great. The live format works well and sounds really good for Cash.
I liked Johnny's banter with the crowd between (and during) songs.
Standouts were "Folsom Prison Blues" "Cocaine Blues"
Pretty standard 3/5 for me here. Nothing great, nothing terrible.
Orbital
4/5
This was a pretty cool album. I put this on while gaming and it was a good vibe. Lots of unique beats and sounds and some occasional vocals to keep things varied and interesting. Some techno gets boring after a while but I was engaged the entire listen.
Standouts were "Sad but True," "Crash and Carry" "Kien Trink Wasser"
A solid 4/5, just the right amount of weird and techy/spacy sounding crap. A couple songs were a bit long and grating, keeping this from a 5, but I liked most of it a lot!
Queen
3/5
This was an odd Queen album. A kind of concept album with other members taking lead vocals and Freddie, noticeably more subdued in the front half of the album, playing a bit more of a background role (not the whole time, he still obviously absolutely destroys his parts).
Queen II does have all the signatures of Queen that you'd want: May's amazing guitar work, cool lyrics with layered vocal tracks, and I actually kind of enjoyed hearing May and Taylor's voices on their songs.
Standouts for me were "Father To Son" "The Loser In The End" "Funny How Love Is" - I'd never heard this one and it is probably my favorite on the album - and "Seven Seas of Rhye"
It's a fun album, but is it their best? I don't think so; it sounds to me like they're still trying to find their place in the world, which they very obviously will, and this is a really cool part of their origin story. 3/5
Leonard Cohen
2/5
I was just not into this at all. It was slow poetry set to some low key guitar and occasionally some other instrumental music in the background. The lyrics were ok, I just couldn't get invested in the storytelling.
Standouts were "Suzanne" and "So Long, Marianne" "Teachers" - the guitar is really nice in this one.
In the end, it was just kind of boring. There were a couple of ok sounding tracks, but nothing really that captivating musically. This could have been an email. 2/5
Morrissey
4/5
Never listened to Morrisey before. I really like his style. His voice is a nice mid-range and smooth and over the musical arrangements the whole production sounds nice, with a harder rock edge on occasion. The lyrics were nice and cynical and gloomy, often a scathing review of humanity (see Lifeguard... and Lazy Sunbathers). I'm all about that, and those songs were my favorite on the album.
Standouts were "Now My Heart Is Full," "Billy Budd" - featuring some dope wah guitar - "Lifeguard Sleeping, Girl Drowning" - freaking poetry
I really liked this album. It took the "singer/songwriter" genre to another level for me. The guitar work was very good. Despite being pretty rocky, the songs do sound a tad samey and sleepy after a bit, but this didn't bother me too much. There are a lot of good jams here. Easy 4 stars.
Amy Winehouse
1/5
I could tell from the first minute of the album that this one was not going to be for me. I don't like Winehouse's style at all. Her scatting, over the top embellished vocals and falsettos just put me off.
I shouldn't speak ill of the dead but I don't ever want to hear this again. The lyrics are shallow and tasteless. I'd have kicked you to the curb too, Amy. Even the music itself sounds like crappy video game pool lounge music. Just not my vibe. It's uninteresting after several minutes of listening. Only four songs in and I felt like I had been listening for an eternity. The album drags on, I wish it had been edited down a bit.
I dont really have any standout songs off this album. They all blended together and while I tried to sustain interest throughout my listen, I just wanted it to end. I'm irritated. 1 star for me. I'm sure Winehouse's other album is on here, so we'll see if that fares any better than this one if and when it comes around. If that is the case, I'm shocked both albums made this list because this one wasn't it...
The Fall
2/5
Ehhhh I don't know about this one. The lyrics were indeterminable and the music itself didn't make up for the lack of coherency. It mostly consists of repeating loops with some noises placed over top. I've found that these post-punk bands are all just very mediocre sounding to me and this falls in family.
Standout songs were "Vixen" - it got a little bluesy here and the music didn't sound like absolute crap - "Rollin' Danny" - which is a cover.... and "Cruiser's Creek"
I don't think I needed to hear this before my death. I really don't like the vocals or the lead singers voice/style. It sounds very rough and goes on for way too long. Really flip flopped between a 1 or 2 star rating on this one but went with a 2 for some ok moments and not being totally irredeemable, but I won't be revisiting any of it. It was weird, they were trying to be weird and that's cool but its not my favorite.
Dolly Parton
3/5
This album is very quaint. That's the best word I can think of for it at the moment. Just kind of old-timey little country vignettes that are short but pleasant to listen to. It's your typical old school country fare. You know what you're getting with Dolly and it's pleasant and doesn't overstay its welcome.
Standouts were "Coat of Many Colors," "Traveling Man," "She Never Met A Man (She Didn't Like)" and "The Way I See You."
I enjoyed this album, but probably wouldn't listen to too much of it again on purpose. Wouldn't complain if it was on though. 3 stars for me but really really close to a 4.
Iron Maiden
4/5
A metal classic. The guitar and bass work are outstanding. The vocals are growling and harsh, yet flighty. This is what I think of when I think of 80s metal power hitters. Even though I was never really into Iron Maiden, teenage me would probably give this a 5 without even thinking, but I'm digging into this album harder this time around.
Lyrically these songs are pretty neat, evil little buggers. Invaders pillaging and plundering, children of evil hellbent on razing the land, escaped prisoners getting a new lease on life, prosititues etc. and each one has a story to tell. It's all on brand. A lot of these songs have some cool tempo changes midway through. They're all fresh and fun.
Standout tracks were "The Prisoner" - this one is almost downright pleasant to listen to! - "The Number Of The Beast" - YEAHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhh that guitar riff is a classic - "Run To The Hills" and "Hallowed Be Thy Name"
My taste has definitely changed as I've gotten older. I still had a lot of fun listening to this, but whereas when I was a teen I'd have blasted this out the car with open windows again and again and again, I'm satisfied now with a listen, a couple headbanging air-guitar sessions, and calling it quits for a while. It pummels you. But for its 45 minute run time I was a kid again. I was fully engaged for the entire listen. It's very good, but not perfect. It just lacks a certain, something, for me that I can't quite put my finger on. A couple tracks are a bit lackluster and after a lot of soul searching and flip flopping, The Number of the Beast is 4 stars for me; it's got those great classics and heavy metal history behind it that makes it a standout album, but it falls just short of amazing. It's an 8 or 9 out of 10.
Lenny Kravitz
2/5
I get that Lenny wants peace for everyone out there, but parts of this album make me want to choose violence.
Lyrically there's nothing to write home about here. Musically it's fine. Some funky guitar here and there. Kravitz playing most of the instruments on the album is impressive. Some of it does sound amateurish. It even takes a religious turn in "Rosemary," which is annoying and I kinda wanna knock a star off just for that.
Standouts were "Freedom Train" for the guitars, and that's kinda it honestly. None of the songs really got me going.
This album didn't do a whole lot for me. Very forgettable. It seems empty and fake. Mostly average tunes that annoyed me more and more as the album went on. 2/5 stars for this one.
Bob Dylan
3/5
This is my second Dylan album in a fairly short amount of time. I don't think this one is as good as Bringing It All Home. It's also quite long. Dylan's signature singing style seems so much more exaggerated on this album.
Musically, it's standard Dylan, if a bit more rock and roll than what you usually think of. I actually found the harmonica a little much on some tracks, and I usually love a harmonica.
I just wasn't in the mood for this album at the time, but it hit just fine, landing squarely in the average range for me. 3/5
Miles Davis
2/5
A beast of an album. It feels so futuristic, and this was recorded in 1970, so I can see how this was so groundbreaking at the time. But, it's jazz, it's free flowing and goes off on tangents and it's just a long album that's more of a soundscape than anything coherent most of the time.
Some of the horn lines are really catchy. Ill give Disc 1 ("Pharoah's Dance" and "Bitches Brew") to the horns. Other than that not much caught my interest. On the second disc of the album, some other stuff begins to shine. The electric guitar on "Spanish Key" is fantastic. Drumming is great throughout.
It's a cool experience to listen through once, but I can't say I want to listen to it again. I much preferred Kind Of Blue. I think I have to give it 2/5 though, because I was very much done with it by the end and there's no one song that I'd want to listen to again in my spare time.
Oasis
3/5
This is a pretty solid album. The songs are all pretty good and catchy, but a couple are forgettable. Oasis seems to have trouble ending some songs when I think they should and they drag a bit.
Standouts were "Rock 'n' Roll Star" "Up In The Sky" and "Cigarettes & Alcohol"
All in all, pretty solid. I'd say nothing to write home about but a good collection of fun tunes. A pretty good effort for a debut album! 3/5 for me.
The Smiths
3/5
This was a super entertaining album. It's not really rock and roll, but it's musically, I dunno, kind of weighty when paired with Morrisey's lyrics. Guitars and bass are really good throughout.
And the lyrics, man, they're good. They all feel meaningful. Morrissey wailing "Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head" was a peak moment for me.
Standout songs were "I Know It's Over" and "Cemetery Gates"
It's an album I probably wouldn't add individual songs to a playlist, but could see giving a spin when I'm in a certain mood for it. Pretty cool! 3/5
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
3/5
Moreeeee 80s Brit rock! Never heard of these guys. This one is actually weirdly good. Its got a fun vibe. The guitar is bright and chipper sometimes and fuzzy and grungy other times.
Vocal style kind of boring and the guy does some weird stuff with his voice. I could go either way on that. The lyrics themselves seemed a little tryhard, like they were trying to be edgy and didn't really pull it off.
Standouts were "Speedboat" "Forest Fire" and "Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken"
Neat little album. I kinda vibed with it. 3/5, pretty good but nothing groundbreaking.
Black Sabbath
5/5
RIP Ozzy, you legend.
I'll keep this one short. Truly one of the best, this album kicks ass from front to back. Guitar riffs are iconic.
"Planet Caravan" is a masterpiece. It makes me feel alive. Every song is great. Easy 5 stars. I'll be mainlining more Sabbath today for sure
Beach House
3/5
Baltimore represent! Never heard of these guys though, so interested to give it a listen.
While this isn't my favorite style, there's some cool stuff here. It's a bit subdued for me, but I like the dreamy synth sound in general. I really like stuff like the weirdly discordant "bendy" sounds in "Norway."
Standouts for me were "Norway" and "Better Times"
Overall, it's a little sleepy for me. Nothings really bad here, but nothing pushes it up above average. 3/5 stars.
Beatles
4/5
I generally like earlier Beatles over their later stuff, but we'll see how this fares on a relisten here. I know the Beatles are extremely influential and you can't take that away from them, but I'm a firm believer that a lot of their work is extremely overrated.
Musically, sure it's good, and some stuff is catchy, but a lot of it is just pretty average. The guitar work carries this album, it always sounds slick and engaging.
I have so many conflicts with songs on this album. I really like songs like "Come Together" "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" "Here Comes The Sun" "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window" and "Carry That Weight"
but I strongly dislike others like "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" "Octopus's Garden" and "Because." All the others I could take or leave.
Thankfully Abbey Road is less weird than some of its predecessors. But I still don't love it, not completely. Its got moments of brilliance interspersed with stretches of mediocrity. A lot of people regard it as one of the best albums of all time but I just don't get it. That said, I'm torn between 3 and 4 stars here. I suppose a 4 is fitting since none of it is really bad, and there are quite a few hits here. Guess I came around a little. I think I could learn to love it given enough time and listens.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
I've never been big on the Stones. I'm only really familiar with their hits.
This was a pretty good album! It's got some classics like "Gimme Shelter" "Country Honk" and "You Cant Always Get What You Want." There's something about the Stones though that keep me from "loving" them. Maybe its Mick's voice. All the instruments are pretty good. But outside of the hits I'm probably not going to listen to too much of this again. 3/5
Elton John
4/5
I've never been an Elton John fan, but I may have to change that. This album rocks. Elton is obviously a force on the piano, but the rest of his band is tight too.
This album is absolutely frontloaded with hits.
Standouts for me were "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" "Candle In The Wind" "Bennie And The Jets," yeah yeah all the hits. They're good!
Solid, fun album. The second half is definitely slower. It's packed with good tunes, but it just lost me a bit. The album could have been shortened a bit to be honest, but there's so much good music here this easily hits a 4 out of 5. Not 100% my shtick, but pretty damn close!
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
Another hell of a debut album. Its short but its loud and fun and it will blow your ass off.
I like Karen O's style and shes much easier to listen to than singers from a lot of these punk and punk-esque bands. The songs are diverse sounding and interesting. A lot of the songs are not repetitive - they're not really long enough for that - but they contain repetition in the lyrics that kind of ground my gears. Some of the guitar riffs are short but grating too. The album starts strong and ends strong, which is nice.
I really liked "Black Tongue" "Maps" - a classic - "Y Control" and "Modern Romance."
This is a cool album where the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are definitely finding themselves (yeah yeah yeah its a debut, soooo, duh). It's a really good starting point, but there's nothing on here that pulls this album up off an average 3/5 rating for me. There are some good jams to rock out to though!
Aerosmith
5/5
I hadn't heard of this Aerosmith album by name before, somehow, but seeing how many of their hits are on it, it makes sense that it showed up here. Damn it, it rocks. And it's pretty deep into their discography to boot.
"Young Lust" is a perfect opener and just a great track, as are "Love In An Elevator," "Jamie's Got A Gun," "The Other Side," and all their opening "sub tracks." So many hits on one album.
Pump is the perfect length, sounds great, and goes pretty hard. There really isn't a terrible song on here. Pop it in and go for a drive. I tend to like Aerosmith too so this one hit for me. I grew up with them and it reminds me of learning about rock and roll. They were the first band I saw live, with Cheap Trick. Maybe Aerosmith has kind of a sketchy rap today, but let's be honest, anyone who can't find something good in this is a snob. Whatever, I'm a sucker for this... 5 stars.
Michael Jackson
4/5
Overall this is an objectively great album. A lot of hits came out of it, and you have the "Thriller" "Beat It" "Billie Jean" run in the middle. I love those tracks, and along with "Wanna Be Starting Somethin' " those are definitely the standouts.
The rest are good and memorable but in a class just below the hits. The guitar and bass is great throughout, and the poppy drums and synth really do still sound great today.
The conversation in "The Girl Is Mine" is... pretty wild.
There are a couple songs that just aren't as good here. So I think Thriller clocks in a 4 out of 5 for me. Still a fun listen to this day.
Little Richard
3/5
Woooo! This album is a wrecking ball of energy. This is the kind of album that I love listening to and I enjoy it in the moment, but as for staying power I don't really gravitate towards this stuff.
All the tracks are exactly the same vibe though. Hope you're ready for this swingy bluesy rock for 40 minutes straight, because that's what you're getting! It's fun though, just a lot. A lot of songs just repeat the same word or phrase over and over which is a peeve of mine.
Standouts are "Tutti Frutti" "Long Tall Sally" and "Rip It Up" buuuuttt honestly they all started blending together after a bit.
This one's a 3/5 for me.
Fairport Convention
3/5
Unhalfbricking took me a minute to get into. This is a pretty chill album. It was a lot slower than I was expecting, but that's not a negative comment. Once it finds its footing, it's a great listen.
Sandy Denny has a really captivating voice (and I learned that she is the female vocalist on Zeppelin's "The Battle of Evermore" which is maybe common knowledge, but that's awesome) and it's a shame that the world lost her far too soon.
Standouts for me were "Autopsy" and "A Sailor's Life" - this one really blew me away.
This album has some really good highs, and some more mediocre moments. It's a nice listen. I think its a 7/10 for me, so just barely misses out on 4 stars.
Barry Adamson
3/5
This is certainly a unique album! I had no clue what I was in for with this and it sent me on a journey. I love this kind of weird experimental stuff. Is it great music? Not always. But this straddles that line. It's pretty wild
"It's Business As Usual" was almost viscerally horrifying. The creepy recording going right into the jazzy lounge-piano track "Miles" and beyond was hilarious. Lots of cool ambient tracks. Jazzier in general than I thought it would be at the beginning.
Standouts were "The Vibes Ain't Nothin' But The Vibes" "It's Business As Usual" and "The Big Bamboozle"
Overall, cool album. Would I listen to it again? Probably not really. But it was an interesting different listen. 3/5
Leonard Cohen
1/5
This is my second Cohen album, and I liked this one even less than the last. He's just not for me. "But he's such a great storyteller!" Yeah, I'm sure his storytelling is great if you get into the lyrics, but you have to care about what he's talking about and this one just bored me to tears so quickly I never got that far. And that's saying a lot since the music is so tame and quiet, like how could you not process the lyrics? It's just so utterly uninteresting to me. Probably great if you want to listen to some lullabies though.
Songs From A Room was a 35 minute album that took an entire summer to play through. I could literally, right now, go play 3 chords on my guitar for 3.5 minutes and spout gibberish and I'd prefer to listen to that than to most of this album. Please, no more Leonard Cohen, I beg of you, please. 1/5
The xx
2/5
I wanted to like this album. "Intro" is pretty solid and the only The xx song I've heard before. It sets a cool tone that the rest of the album just doesn't match. It's rather straightforward angsty indie fare with simplistic beats and didn't do a whole lot to keep my interest, and that's a shame.
The thing that bothered me most were the very breathy, nasally, vocals that were off-putting to me. I also wish there had just been more energy poured into this album. It falls flat for me. The synths and a very distinctive guitar tone are the saviors here and I caught myself just latching on to those sounds to try to pull something interesting out of the tracks.
Standouts were "Intro" and "Basic Space."
Struggling with whether to give this a 2 or 3. It probably falls between that, but I think it's a 2 for just being not that interesting or musically impressive.
The Allman Brothers Band
4/5
Seeing the Allman Brothers Band live must have absolutely melted faces. This is just great blues rock and roll. The album is fire, energy, and incredible skill.
That said, it is the closest thing to a jam band you can get without I guess technically being a jam band. The songs are long. I enjoyed them, but can see where it'll drag for others who aren't into this style.
Standouts are "Done Somebody Wrong" "You Don't Love Me"
This album is a very strong 4 for me. Not something I'd throw on often, but really good for a listen through every now and then. I feel like I need a break and a shower when I'm through with this one.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
3/5
This was a surprisingly pleasant album to listen to. Just pure old country/bluegrass. I like the variety of artists that helped record this and everyone was masterful on their instruments.
Some tracks are really good instrumentals, some are hokey old fashioned "simple country folk" themed, some are about the country itself. It's got a little of everything. The album really proves that in this genre you really can just look out the window and write a song about whatever you see as long as you make sure to tie it to God somehow.
My gripes are that it's just a beast of an album, I don't want to listen to this for 2+ hours. I dont want to listen to anything for 2+ hours. Nothing sounds good for that long. I had to take a break before the second half to ward off old men's twangy voices from haunting my dreams. Next, I didn't love all the snippets of conversation before many of the tracks, its just distracting and takes you out of it. When your album is pushing 2.5 hours, I don't care what key your song is in and who should come in when, just get on with it. Finally, did I mention the twang? It's real twangy vocally. It just gets on my nerves after a bit.
My favorites were the instrumentals like "Black Mountain Rag" "Avalanche" "Orange Blossom Special" "Both Sides Now" and a lot of the stuff on the second disk really.
Get yer banjos, fiddles, and harmonicas out, it's a looooooooong but mostly enjoyable ride. 3/5
David Bowie
3/5
This is some weird Bowie! There's some synth in this album that will make you question decisions that were made. Heroes is just a different style than you'd expect. There's a very 80s almost industrial sound even though this came a few years before. There were even some kinda cool ambient noise tracks.
Standouts were the title track "Heroes," I kinda liked "V-2 Schneider" and "Moss Garden" was nice and contemplative and had an old school sci-fi vibe to it.
I didn't love Heroes, but I didn't hate any of it, which puts it squarely in the 3 star realm. I appreciate Bowie trying something a little different here and it was probably pretty out there for the times, but this is not my favorite Bowie by any means.
Teenage Fanclub
3/5
What in the fresh MS Paint hell is this? Oh, it's Scottish alt rock. Seems like mostly softer vocals over some wailing guitar, a classic recipe for success. It's not bad. Not very novel, but not bad. Maybe pretty cool for 1991.
Standouts were "The Concept" "I Don't Know" - had some really nice guitar riffs - and "Metal Baby."
"Satan" was not it, I hate noise tracks for the sake of noise.
My big point of issue with this album is the vocals. They all just fall so flat. There's so little passion in it that the singers come across as bored. The guitar and drums are so full of energy and sound interesting, the vocals just don't match.
It was a pretty decent listen from a band I've never heard of before, but there's nothing really classic here in my opinion. There are some good grooves that'll get your toe tapping, so it's a solid 3 for me. It's fun to listen to in the moment, but a bit forgettable in the long run.
Radiohead
4/5
My relationship with this album has evolved over the years. When I was younger I remember not loving it so much. It just seemed so different from the older rockier Radiohead that I had listened to for years. That's what I thought, even though now I see it as a natural evolution of the band and another great entry in their discography. I've always loved some of the tracks on In Rainbows, but the album as a whole never seemed to click with me.
Well, this time I sat down with the lyrics to really focus on the album as a whole to see if my views had changed. And it has. I get it now. It's one of the albums that I think does best when you can listen to the whole thing. Thom's voice is pretty lofty and often slurry and hard to decipher at times, but damn, musically and lyrically this album hits it. I dont know what it is about Radiohead's sound that just draws me in completely.
Standouts are "Bodysnatchers" - it's so scathing and catchy melodically, I love it - "Weird Fishes / Arpeggi" and "House of Cards" - one of my favorite Radiohead tracks in general
This one's hard to rate. I feel like it's so close to perfection. I think it ends up a 4 for me, there are a couple of songs that throw this off a perfect rating and Thom's delivery of a lot of the lyrics irks me in places. Fantastic album though.
Beatles
3/5
This is the good old Beatles, back to where it started. I like this stuff a little more than when they start to get weird. It's crazy how many bands in the early 1900s walked so the Beatles could run on their first few albums, and then how many bands exploded because of the Beatles and you can really hear that on this album.
With The Beatles is a fun listen, quick, and full of jams. There are a couple hits here and a fair bit of more forgettable songs. It is a good album to just play through in its entirety though. It's a bit formulaic for the time period and has a lot of harmonies and catchy guitar riffs and hooks that just make it a good time, even if not a particularly novel one.
Standouts for me are "It Won't Be Long" "Please Mister Postman" and "Roll Over Beethoven"
I do think this is one of the Beatles weaker albums, and it's still going to come in at a 3 for me. There are only a couple of songs to really keep coming back to here, but in the moment it's pretty solid!
David Bowie
2/5
Man, I did not mesh with this album much at all. From the dated sound to the backing choirs, to even Bowies exaggerated vocal style, Young Americans didn't really work for me. Conceptually, I get it, but in practice I don't love it.
The album has a saxy, soulful vibe that I associate with seeing 70s sitcom reruns on TV Land at my grandparents house. It gives me an eerie uncanny feeling (I don't know why) but that's the vibe I had for my listen.
Standouts were "Across the Universe" - didn't love the cover as a whole but had some good parts - and "Fame"
This is my least favorite Bowie album so far. It's just kind of a snoozefest and I couldn't get really into. 2/5
The Electric Prunes
3/5
Another new band to me. The Electric Prunes have a very fuzzy delay guitar effect prevalent on most tracks, along with distant faraway sounding lyrics. Of course there's a lot of organ. It sounds very 60s. It's funky. It's groovy. Is it any good?
I'd say yeah, actually. The songs were all pretty short but interesting. Some nice guitar ditties and solos. The sound, while very of-the-times is kind of unique and fun to listen to. The lyrics are, meh, not much to write home about but ok.
Standouts for me were "I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)," "Are You Lovin' Me More (But Enjoying It Less)," and "Get Me To The World On Time"
There's a frantic energy to The Electric Prunes (god I hate their name though) that's actually an asset of theirs that I wish showed up more. Some songs are kind of lackluster. Some are a little too carnival-y for me. Embrace the chaos. It was a fine listen but the album levels out at a 3/5.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
3/5
Really liked the guitar and lyrics throughout this album. It was a little slow for my taste. I dunno, this just doesn't do a whole lot for me outside of a handful of songs, but I appreciate the musicianship. I don't even have a whole lot to say on this one, it was pretty good but nothing that's going to stay in my head for a while. It probably gets better with multiple listens though.
Standouts were "Carry On" "Deja Vu" and "Country Girl"
3/5
The Clash
5/5
Finally, the pinnacle of British punk. This album transcends punk and ventures into many genres but maintains that "I don't give a shit" socially charged attitude.
London Calling is a damn fine album. All the instruments hit and are so well played. Strummer's vocals are iconic.
Standouts on this listen were "London Calling," "Rudie Can't Fail," "The Card Cheat," and "Train In Vain" - one of my favorite songs just in general
This album has such good replayability too, either as a whole or with individual songs. Its fun, it's jammable, its top notch. It's gotta be 5/5
Bob Marley & The Wailers
2/5
I respect the hell out of Bob Marley and really like some of his songs, but this album as a whole didn't do a lot for me. Maybe it's just that I only really enjoy reggae in smaller doses? Everything sounds so similar after a while. The vibes are nice though and it's a cool listen.
It's weird how "small" Marley's vocals sound on some tracks, almost tinny and far away. Would have liked more substance to the recording.
Standouts were "Lively Up Yourself" "Bend Down Low" and "Talkin' Blues"
Overall, this one is a 2/5 for me, it was pretty decent but dragged on a bit for my taste and I wasn't really into it as I'd hoped to be.
Ride
5/5
Nowhere might be one of those sleeper albums that is an absolute diamond in the rough that I didnt even know existed and would never have sought out. I've never heard of Ride before, and this was a really cool album! I liked the intensity of the music all while it maintained a certain chill aloofness (ala shoegaze). I often like the drony, noisy type stuff already though. Plus the rhythms and melodies were all pretty catchy.
I loved the moments where the lyrics switch off into some hard af guitar riffs then back again. That gets me going. The vocals are all a little gloomy or muddled sounding and I wish that wasn't always the case.
Standouts were "Seagull" "Polar Bear" and "Dreams Burn Down"
I really enjoyed my listen to Nowhere. Pretty much every song hit for me and I would for sure listen to this again. For a kind of lengthy album it certainly didn't feel like it was too long. This one is a nice surprise and deserving of 5 stars.
Faust
4/5
Faust IV was a wild album. It starts out with a pretty hard sounding ambient wall of sound, but then dives into are some wacky tracks (see "The Sad Skinhead" with its badass xylophone and the repeating lyrical ditty from "Jennifer" which will be stuck in my head for days).
It's a very schizophrenic album, and I mean that in the best way. I never knew what would come next or, sometimes, how a song would even end because they rarely finished in the same fashion (or even genre) that they began in. It's weird and it kept me on my toes. I like that. Some of the riffs and recurring themes within songs are so catchy.
Standouts were "Krautrock" "Jennifer" and "Lauft..."
Full of weird sounds and good times, I don't even know how to rate this album. I had fun with it. It's unique as hell. But how much would I really relisten to? I dunno, maybe a song or two. But it's really cool and I can't stop thinking about it, and the musicians are actually pretty talented. It's getting a 4
The Monks
3/5
This, to me, sounded like some bizarre mash up of The Doors and CCR but before both of those bands were putting out music (barely). Lots of organ and guitar and good drumming. The vocals were pretty wild and all over the place which works most of the time but is kind of irritating in spots. As I listened I kind of liked it more and more, however, for its sheer unique-ness. The yodeling is crazy but catchy!
The history of the band is cool, and this album makes more sense with that perspective. A few soldiers stationed in Germany decide to form a proto anti-war punk rock band in the 60s and only releasing a single album is some wild lore.
Standouts while listening were "I Hate You" and "Oh, How To Do Now"
It's an interesting album, but do I was to listen to 45 minutes of it? Probably not again. Super cool though, this one deserves 3/5 stars
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Finallllly time to let the Led out. Zep III is probably my least favorite of the first 4 self titled albums but that in no way means it's bad or I dislike it. They're all freaking gold, this one included and I've listened to it many times.
Every single song has something new and good to offer. Some of the things I really pulled out of this listen are: the bassline in "Celebration Day" is absolute filth, how immaculate Page's shredding is in "Since I've Been Loving You," Bonham's little shuffles in "Out On The Tiles," and Plant delivering some pretty beautiful lyrics on "That's The Way."
All the songs are standouts but the cream(s?) of the crop for me are "Immigrant Song" "Since I've Been Loving You" "Gallows Pole" and "That's The Way," but almost every track really could be on the best-of list.
There's just nothing like Zeppelin and their ability to deliver a great experience on a record. This one's an easy 5 outta 5 as I'm almost 100% sure all their others that must be on this list will be.
Aretha Franklin
3/5
Aretha was such a powerhouse! Of course this album is outstanding vocally. The music is slower in tempo and soulful, but nothing really groundbreaking.
It's not really my speed but it's a pleasant listen, and it's great listening to one of the masters.
Standouts were "Respect" "Soul Serenade" and "A Change Is Gonna Come"
A solid 3 for me
Van Morrison
2/5
It's Too Late To Stop Now sounds really really ridiculously nice and clean for a live album. However, I'm not really a fan of Van Morrison's vocals, they're very choppy and barking.
I just didn't feel this one. The band sounded good, no one would argue that they're anything short of incredible, but I wasn't into the performances. It was a little slow overall, kind of nice relaxing, kind of bluesy, background music but not much here really got me going. It's also pretty long, so it drags if you're not into it.
Standouts were "Domino" and "Caravan."
I'd give this a 2/5. The music is pretty solid but looks like I'm not much of a fan of Van Morisson.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
Costello's singing style just bothers me sometimes. Its probably a bit of an aquired taste. That said, there are some good little jams on this record. That tinny little organ/synth/whatever gets on my nerves sometimes too, but that's like one of Costellos signature sounds.
Standouts: "The Beat" "Pump It Up" and "Living In Paradise"
Overall, not great but not bad. Didn't move me one way or the other. There are aspects of this album that just set me off, but then there are others that I really like. I think if I gave this a couple more listens though I'd come to like it much more, but the vibe was just off on this one. 3/5
SAULT
3/5
This feels like an intensely personal and passionate expression of life and anger and experience as a black person living in the world that I honestly can't relate to but it's painful to know how many millions do. The album has a lot of unique styles/tones/genres represented and it's a very cool blend. It's not my usual cup of tea, but it's attention grabbing. It did kind of fade into the background for me after a while.
Standouts were "Wildfires" and "Bow"
Cool listen but I won't really go back to any of it. Pretty solid 3/5 and it's important that people keep making this kind of music but I wish they didn't have to.
Jack White
5/5
Jack White is a legend. His guitar playing is just so interesting. The drums and piano are also phenominal on this album. Blunderbuss is a super strong debut solo album.
White is really good at mashing hard rock with blues. Throw in the piano (which I actually think is the star of this album) and the vibes are great. Loooved the piano on "Hypocritical Kiss." Even his slower tracks have a good groove to them. I think White is an incredible musician and he does a lot of good for the industry.
Standouts are "Sixteen Saltines" "Love Interruption" "Weep Themselves To Sleep" "Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy" and "On And On And On" - I love the vocal and piano melodies on this one.
At first, I thought something about Blunderbuss is just missing to make it truly great. It's a really good album, but nothing about it is like holy crap, yeah thats 5 stars. I dont know why but it fell just short for me. Maybe its the weird filter White puts his voice through sometimes, although i dont mind it. But sitting on it for a bit, I came around. A lot of the songs are just damn catchy and fun. It's pretty great, and I want to listen to it again. I bet it gets better every listen. It's a Friday album so maybe I'll have the chance to! It's a 5 for me!
Fats Domino
3/5
This was a fun listen. It's always cool going back in time to rock and R&Bs roots. The music is kind of simplistic nowadays but was probably so groundbreaking at the time. I don't love Fats's vocal delivery, it's not my favorite, but he's got a fun swingy vibe and he's obviously great on the piano.
My favorites were "Blue Monday" and "So Long"
Probably wouldn't listen to much of this album on repeat, but I enjoyed my brief time with it. The piano and sax really shine on this album and Fats is a legend but for me this is a solid 3/5.
Aerosmith
4/5
Another Aerosmith showing, their 4th album this time. My previous was Pump. I'll say upfront that I liked Pump better. This is still a pretty solid old rock and roll album though. The guitar is fun as hell. Lots of solos and nice riffs.
While this Rocks has some classics, it didn't completely sell itself to me. A couple of the songs were kind of weird. It's pretty short and felt like the songs had less substance. Yeah the guitar is always good, but the album still fell short for me.
Standouts are "Back In The Saddle," "Last Child," and "Combination"
I wouldn't play the whole album on repeat, but I think it's solid enough to get a 4/5 for me. Pretty groovy and a fun listen but not an all time classic.
TV On The Radio
3/5
Interesting sound. The album takes a couple songs to pick up, but I started to get into it. I really liked when the band leaned into the industrial/electronic. There are a lot of genres mashed into their sound; you'll have some like alt-rock/electronic/doo-wop a capella all in one track.
I wasn't super impressed with the drum machines. Wish they had gone a little more complex with the beats, as they are a bit tedious. Same with the vocals. They were often times all over the place and very discordant in places, I assume purposefully, but I didn't dig it.
Standouts were "Dreams" and "Poppy."
Overall, neat sound but the album didn't really hold my attention the whole way through. The vocals kind of sound the same on every track so it gets a bit boring coming down the homestretch of the album. I didn't vibe with it as much as I wish I could have because I think there's something really cool here. I like the unique-ness of it, and didn't love it but didn't hate it, so 3/5 for me.
P.S. I could have done without the bonus track "You Could Be Love" - holy God whoever chose to include that on an album should not be taken seriously. Almost lost a star for that track alone.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
4/5
I'm here for funky time. I was skeptical after the first couple of songs, but was hooked at "Wail." Never heard of these guys but they certainly are fighting for your attention. Loud guitars and never knowing what volume the lyrics will hit you will do that.
There is a very interesting style at play here. Never quite blues, rock, punk, or electronic at the same time (at leave I've never seen them in the same room together!) The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is definitely unique. Maybe a little psychotic, but in the best way.
Standouts on this listen were "Wail," "Can't Stop," - a banger for both the piano and guitar pieces - and "Eyeballin" - that slide guitar riff will be in my head for a while.
The downsides of Now I Got Worry for me are the "yelling into a megaphone" style vocals present on most tracks kinda piss me off after a while. But it's their vibe, I get it. Some of the songs get a little annoying though. The lyrics can be pretty dumb too.
I had fun with this but struggle to rate it. It's dumb fun. The music is decent. The lyrics and content matter are meh. There are several songs that could have been left off the album to die. Do I want to listen to more of this again? Yeah, kinda. Maybe I'll check some of their other records out. I'd give this a 7 or 8 out of 10, so it can have 4 stars here. I've given dumber shit 4 stars, so why not?
Pink Floyd
4/5
I've never been super into Pink Floyd and I'm sad to say this is my first full listen through this whole album from front to back. Dark Side Of The Moon is a concept album through and through and I do think the album needs to be listened to straight through (obviously the singles can stand alone, but a lot of the other tracks don't).
It is a really great album. The flow of the songs is great. Everyone knocked their respective instruments out of the park. Its one of the all time greats for a reason. Lyrics are dark and meaningful. It's almost a relaxing, contemplative album (outside of some sick shredding) that I think warrants a bunch of listens to really absorb.
Standouts on this listen are "Time," "Money," and "Us And Them"
The album certainly has its high points but out of my favorite tracks listed above and maybe "Great Gig In The Sky" I've already forgotten most of the others. This is a strong 4 for me, it's one of the greats, but not one of my greatests.
The Strokes
4/5
The Stokes have a very distinct style. Solid guitar and drum work with vocals sounding like they're being shouted afar through a railroad tunnel. It works though. There are a lot of catchy tunes on Is This It. It evokes a faintly old-timey rock and roll sound but is still grounded in the modern age (well, 2000s modern...)
All the songs just make you want to dance and shout the lyrics. Standouts for me were "The Modern Age" "Someday" "Last Nite"
The Stokes remind me a lot of Interpol, formed around the same time also in NYC. They're weirdly similar. Have we seen the two bands in the same room together before? I jest, both are pretty solid.
This is undeniably a good debut album. It gets a but samey towards the end. I dont know much of The Stokes discography so I'm invested to check it out and see how the band evolves. 4/5 stars.
James Taylor
3/5
I dont have a whole lot to say about this album. It was pleasant, some nice guitar and singing. Nothing mindblowing or super interesting. A bit bland. A completely average 3/5 for me.
Standouts were "Lo and Behold," "Steamroller Blues," and "Suite for 20 G."
Brian Eno
4/5
I put this album on and caught up on 2 weeks of work I needed to get done. It soothed my fiery heart. It quelled the mountains of rage that had grown in my soul. It saved my family from existentially deathspiraling. It repayed all my debt. It sent me back in time to kill Hitler.
Very chill. Put it on in a dark room and just exist. 4/5, will add 1/2 of it to an ambient playlist.
Le Tigre
3/5
Le Tigre is a freaking fever dream with some catchy songs. I despise the screeching vocals but thankfully not every track had those. Most did though. In spite of that I found myself enjoying the album. It's full of cool sounding music made from traditional and non-traditional instruments and it's definitely unique.
Standouts were "Hot Topic," "Phanta," and "Les and Ray"
It was pretty cool but I probably won't listen to this again. 3/5.
Dr. Dre
3/5
Nahhh man. I'm not the target audience for this album. I probably would have liked this way more as a 13 year old piece of shit than I do these days. There are arguably some really good beats on here. It's got that sound you instantly recognize. But I'm not gonna touch the social issues with a 20 foot pole.
Lottttta rapping about guns and dongs. Death Row should have just banged it out together to get over all the sexual tension. It all just gets tired after 4 or 5 songs. Also is this a Snoop album or Dre? Dre absolutely hooked up a young Snoop.
That all aside, The Chronic is alright. The beats will hold your attention even if a lot of the lyrics are eye rolling these days. I can see how this was everywhere back in the 90s. "Let It Ride" and "Stranded On Death Row" are bangers. The Chronic is a solid 3/5 for me and the influence it's had.
Dire Straits
4/5
Damn good album. Lotta classics on this one. Knopfler slays on guitar. There's some surprisingly top notch sax and some really cool sounding songs. Brothers In Arms is a beefy album, each song containing a lot of substance. No slackers on this album.
Standouts are "Money For Nothing" "Walk Of Life" and "Why Worry?"
This is a really solid 4 for me. It falls just short of a 5 for a couple songs just missing the mark for me.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
Really liked the guitar on this album, some songs were pretty catchy. Some were slower and harder to get through. I think this is pretty middle of the road.
Standouts were "Cinnamon Girl" and "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere."
Solid 3/5 for me. The album started off strong but I felt the energy level drop off. Not bad but not exceptional. Listen for the guitars then probably never again unless you're a bit Neil Young fan.
Elvis Presley
2/5
This was my first Elvis full album experience. It was pretty fun! Not my usual type of thing but cool to listen to.
The backing band music is pretty standard, some tight drums and orchestral instruments included, but you're listening for that signature Elvis voice. You won't be disappointed here, even if this album is less "raw" and more of a production than I was hoping for.
Standouts are "I'm Movin' On," "In The Ghetto" - although all I can think about is Cartman singing it - and "Suspicious Minds."
2/5 for me, I wouldn't really listen to much of this again. Outside of a couple catchy grooves, this didn't offer too much that I really really liked. It was more of a novelty "Ooohhh its Elvis!" kind of listen that I got a little tired of by the end of the album.
Tracy Chapman
3/5
This is a politically and socially charged album. Sad that a lot hasn't changed since the 80s when this dropped. Chapman isn't really my thing, but she's a great singer and guitarist. I appreciate her and what she's put forth.
The music is on the more simplistic and low key side, but I was pretty engrossed in the lyrics. The pace is slow but the subject matter is heavy. Chapman is just interesting to listen to.
Standouts were "Talkin' Bout A Revolution," "Fast Car," and the a capella "Behind The Wall" hit hard.
I'm probably not going to relisten to much here, except "Fast Car" because it's everywhere and inescapable these days but this is a pretty good 3.5/5 for me.
The Notorious B.I.G.
2/5
Ahhh more songs about committing crimes and dicking chicks down. Biggie's probably my favorite of the rappers of the era, but Jesus Christ some of these tracks are so stupid.
The album is ok, not my type of thing. I dont hate it but I don't love it. Although I like Biggies style, I really didnt click with any of this album. Maybe one or two of the songs really drew me in, but I lot of it didn't hit.
Standouts are "Big Poppa" and "Respect."
Gotta give this one a 2, it was below average for me. I don't really want to revisit any of it.
Dusty Springfield
2/5
Gettin' Dusty in Memphis! It sounds pretty dusty and old timey, for sure. The album was fine though. Nothing super exciting but Dusty has a nice voice.
The album has a lot of breathy singing but it's easy listening. Not really my thing and won't listen to much of it again, but a couple of the songs were pleasant surprises.
Standouts were "Son Of A Preacher Man" "Breakfast In Bed" and "The Windmills Of Your Mind"
2/5, left me a little bored.
Lou Reed
4/5
I had high hopes for this album after the opening track, but it allllmost fell off a cliff for me shortly afterwards. Almost. I dont really like Reed's vocals. It's stylized talking and it's off-putting to me. That said, there are some cool songs here, I just kinda wish they were instrumentals. The only spot the vocals hit for me was "The Bed," and damn that song hits hard and instills feeling of dread.
The upsides: The piano on "Berlin" is wonderful. Jack Bruce crushes his basslines. Guitars shred and drums are pretty tight throughout.
Standouts for me were "Berlin" "Men Of Good Fortune" "How Do You Think It Feels" and "The Bed."
In a surprising turn of events, I actually ended up liking this album more than I thought even in spite of the terrible vocals. The concept of the album was good and depressing. It's haunting. If I enjoyed the singing a little more this would be a 5, but as is it's a 4 for me. It actually made me feel something by the end. I do think it deserves a listen.
Kings of Leon
3/5
Im an ultra-casual Kings of Leon fan and have never listened through this album. Being their second, it is very much proto-Kings of Leon and I think they get much better on their next few albums. This is still pretty fun, though I am a little surprised this made the list.
The singer is often hard to understand and pretty annoying in places but most songs are catchy. The album is a few songs too long. All in all it's an ok listen, there's some repeatability here but too many things are not good enough to really give this more than a 3 in my book.
Standouts were "Taper Jean Girl" "Pistol of Fire" "Rememo" and "Where Nobody Knows"
Megadeth
4/5
Thrash time! This stuff just doesn't really hit the way it used to as a young impressionable teenager. It's fun but honestly a little tiresome. I was a Metallica kid, but I dabbled in some Megadeth in my time so I'm excited to jump into Peace Sells....
This is classic Megadeth: Mustaine's snarling vocals, crazy guitar solos overtop palm-muted distortion, and rapidly chugging drums. It's technical and fast and occulty and very on brand. Damn, some of the solos are just so good even if the sound is a little dated and the themes are cheesy.
Standouts are "Peace Sells" "Good Mourning / Black Friday" and "My Last Words"
I do think later Megadeth albums are better than this one as they mature a little and find their groove, but this is still a really solid choice. I think it's a 4 but probably a weaker 4 than some others on this list.
Fleet Foxes
4/5
Man, this album was pretty good. Fleet Foxes was always one of those bands that I wanted to get around to, and I'm glad I finally have now. I love a good harmony and electric/acoustic stringed instruments playing off each other is a welcome aspect (although I wish there was more!).
I like the nature-themed lyrics, they're a nice change of pace from a lot of other music I've listened to lately. I really felt like I was in a snowy forest or mountainous landscape during my listen.
I wish the album kept up the pace and tone it set in the first few songs; I don't know why but I felt really excited about it at first then things just got... samey? really quickly. I think this is an album that needs several listens to really digest each song and find each one's strengths.
Standouts were "Sun It Rises" "White Winter Hymnal"
All in all, pretty good! It's a slower paced contemplative piece. I put a few songs on a playlist and would listen again. Fleet Foxes gets a solid 4, a little more variety throughout, and maybe change up the echoey vocals every now and then, and this would be an easy 5.
CHIC
3/5
I'm really glad I didn't live through disco. You already know exactly what this album is going to sound like before you put it on. Let's leave it relegated to the realm of furniture warehouse commercials.
But seriously, C'est Chic is ok. It's definitely not my style, but it's fun. The guitar playing is pretty nice and the basslines are funky. Lyrics are cheesy and mostly peppy but I guess that's what you want in disco dance tracks. The album shines on its instrumentals and when the tempo is high; their slower jams didn't really do it for me (looking at you, "At Last I Am Free").
Chic is responsible for the few disco standards you have absolutely heard many many times over the years, so they were certainly influential in the genre.
Standouts for me were "Le Freak," "Savoir Faire" - a really nice instrumental - and "(Funny) Bone."
I came into this listen fully expecting to give this a low rating, but it surprised me a little. I wouldn't really listen to much of this over again, but it's a solid 3/5 album.
Marilyn Manson
2/5
Aha, the guy playing the creep character who turned out to be a super creep in real life, who would have thought!? Alright, let's do it.
Antichrist Superstar is a wild ride in 2025. Right off the first track my thought was "Damn he's trying so hard to be edgy." Did we really fall for this back in the 90s? I guess so. The whole album is a slog to listen to now and the act is washed up and tired.
Its a bit of a shame, I generally like the industrial/electronic sound but goddamn Manson is just so unlikeable. I was never a depressed angsty teen, so the lyrics are super cringy to me but I like the sound, minus his creaky croaky voice, which is not good by any means, but put him on the map. Guitars are nice and heavy, a lot of the ambient electronic effects could probably have stood to be edited down or out a bit.
Standout tracks were "The Beautiful People" - Stockholm Syndrom from rock radio jamming this down our throats for decades still has me kinda liking it - "Mister Superstar," and "The Reflecting God" - I listened to the whole song and I didn't want to kill myself! Take that, Committee on Government Affairs!
My summary: Antichrist Superstar did not age well. It's really goddamn long. Some of the music is cool sounding, but some of it also sucks and along with the over-the-top pissy, angsty, "I am become death!" lyrics makes this a pretty unpleasant listen in this day and age. Can't deny Manson's cultural impact though and he hit the nail on the head with some of his political views. It gets a 2/5 from me and I'm content to leave this album in the past.
Mekons
1/5
This was a weird album. I dont know what I just listened to. Having absolutely never heard of The Mekons I was like "OK maybe this will be a cool surprise" and I was so horribly wrong. Then I looked them up and saw they just pump out albums that, if I had to guess, are more "art pieces" than well executed music and it started to make sense. That works sometimes, but not in this case.
Musically there's nothing to write home about. The fiddle didn't seem well integrated with the songs, which was such a disappointment because I like hearing a fiddle or violin when done well. Random flute and harmonica notes everywhere. Weird talking. This is a concept album about war or something? The guitarist is halfway decent but is usually just drowned out by nonsense. Everyone else seems to have just learned their instruments a year or two ago and ascribe to the "fake it till you make it" way of life.
Standouts were probably "Darkness And Doubt" and "Flitcraft" if I had to pick.
I dont know what I'm doing here. I dont think they know what they're doing here. I dont give a lot of 1s out, but this certainly deserves it methinks. Mekons. Whatever.
Drive-By Truckers
2/5
This was a slog of a double album to get through. It just wasn't particularly exciting or attention grabbing. Musically it's fine. Just fine. I Don't love the vocalists. Their voices are harsh and accents on the annoying side. I absolutely don't care about the southern way of life and clichéd country-rock lyrics so most of the subject matter fell on my deaf ears.
In spite of the pretty ok music, this album just did absolutely nothing for me. I almost quit at the start of the second disk. Almost.
Shoutout to "Three Great Alabama Icons" for being one of the most annoying things I've listened to in a while. But props for the history lesson, I suppose. As a song, it's not one I want to listen to on a rock album, though.
Standouts were "72 (This Highway's Mean)" - really liked the guitar on this - and "Cassie's Brother"
The verdict: Southern Rock Opera is much too long without any real payoff. I dont think it's bad enough for 1 star, the guitar is quite redeemable, but it didn't really do anything for me to keep it at an average 3 rating, so 2 stars it is.
Blur
3/5
Parklife is a vibe. It's funky, rocky, carnival-y? and a bit oddball. I think this one needs a couple listens to really absorb. It's got a lot of meat on its bones to digest. It feels like it captured the feeling of England back in the 90s. I can't explain it because I wasn't there, but I feel it somehow. I actually get Porcupine Tree vibes from several of these songs, and they're from the same-ish time frame, so that was an interesting pull in my brain.
The album features some great basslines and some catchy guitars, also the styles used by the songs keep things moving and interesting. It is a long album, though, but I don't feel it overstayed it's welcome.
Standouts were "Girls & Boys" "Parklife" "To The End" and "This Is A Low."
Overall, I had fun but I think this is a 3 star album, very very close to a 4. Parklife is fun but things kind of blend together after a while. There are some standout songs though that will go on a playlist. I'd have probably rated this higher if I grew up with the album, but as a Blur outsider I thought it was good but not exceptionally great. I do want to listen to some more Blur though!
Coldplay
3/5
Coldplay has an ability to make grand, lofty sounding songs that really grab your attention and pull you in. Their piano/strings compositions are really nice. They may have lost the plot in more recent years, but it's kinda nice going back and listening to some of their older stuff.
A Rush of Blood to the Head has a laid back feeling. It's not going to pump you up but it's good for a nice quiet listen. Lyrically, sure, it's a little bland. I guess it's supposed to be introspective. The music is interesting enough to listen to a couple times and enjoy, but I don't know how much repeatability this album has.
Standouts for me were "In My Place" "Clocks" "A Whisper"
All in all, pretty solid. Deserving of at least a 3 in my book. A little more variance on the tracks would have been nice.
PJ Harvey
4/5
Interesting one. I can't say I love Harvey's voice, there's a lot of deep talk-singing and jarring falsetto, but it is sort of captivating. I like the transitions between the open, loud, chugging guitar and drums to the quiet palm-muted riffs almost like you're waiting for the songs to pounce on you out from the dark.
I also love off-beat instruments and you'll hear things like snare hits and vocals swerve off the main path quite a bit on this album. Shout out to the fuzzy bass. Makes for a cool sound. Some of this actually is reminiscent to me of early Tool. The guitar sounds great on this album.
Standouts were "Missed" "Rub 'Till It Bleeds" and "50ft Queenie." The Dylan cover was kinda cool.
I hope Harvey sought out therapy after this album. Or perhaps recording this was the therapy? Either way, it's dark and gritty and raw and I kinda love it. It's a strong 4/5 for me, I don't love the vocals all the time but this album has such a cool sound, it's really close to a 5.
Manic Street Preachers
4/5
This is pretty rad. I love their sound and the fast paced, often hard to decrypt, Welsh accent on my unaccustomed ear made for an interesting experience. It's an album full of scathing political commentary and they really swung for the fences with it.
I was reading about the band and the disappearance of their lyricist/guitarist Edwards and you can definitely hear his struggles in a lot of the lyrics, but he was obviously a crazy talented writer.
The songs themselves are catchy and well executed. There are some nice guitar riffs and solos and the beats are fast paced and in your face. The drumming is really tight and can be subtle when it needs to be (see "This is Yesterday", love it). Every song has something fascinating to listen to.
Standouts on this spin were "Archives of Pain" "Revol" and "This is Yesterday"
This album is conceptually heavy and weighs on you. They went way in on global politics, which is fine, but I think if they had leaned more into their personal struggles this album would have been amazing. Those were the tracks where the band really shined. Cut a couple tracks too; the back half of the album drags a bit. As is, it's a really strong 4/5 for me, a really pleasant surprise, and I'll have to listen to this one again.
LTJ Bukem
1/5
Oh boy, gotta really settle in for this one. Staring down the barrel of 2+ hours of drum and bass is not exactly what I had in mind for my day, but we press on.
I'll say that I don't think compilation albums or greatest hits collections should be on this list. Sure, all these songs may be influential in their genre, but this is like cheating. If an artists own album can't hold up, that's on them. So that's one strike against this.
The album itself? It's fine. It didn't change my life. One or two of these songs by themselves would be fun to listen to, but for two hours while I'm just sitting listening is not a great time. It's so repetitive even between songs. You really gotta be in the mood for this.
This didn't do it for me. 1 star for being a compilation, and an uninspiring slog with the exception of maybe 2 tracks. But even then I didn't enjoy really a single minute of this listen, so I'm glad it's over.
Yes
4/5
This is psychadelic prog rock at its best. The instruments are flying and the lyrics are crazy and it's a complete trip. I liked the album. It's weird, wild, and fun to listen to. From distorted rock guitars to classical arrangements to acoustic jams to organs and synths just going off, there's a little bit of everything.
Standouts were "Roundabout" "South Side of the Sky" and "Heart of the Sunrise."
Honestly pretty solid album. Very strong 4, with some more listens and time to digest, this could be a 5.
Arctic Monkeys
3/5
On paper I should really like this album but in practice it just didn't do a lot for me. It was fun and fast paced but it just kind of went by in a blur. It felt like waking up the morning after getting pissed on a grimy British pub-crawl, which is the intent I'm sure.
Favorite tracks were probably the first two "The View From The Afternoon," "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" and "From The Ritz To The Rubble."
It's a solid debut album, just didn't resonate much with me. Not the best but not bad, a solid 3.5 for me.
Stephen Stills
4/5
My first foray into solo Stills work. This album surprised me. The songs were all pretty rich and full of interesting warm sounds. I was expecting a kind of generic sounding singer/songwriter type record and came out of my listen a bit impressed. There's nothing overly inventive here, but it sounds pretty good.
Some heavy hitters appear on the album too: Hendrix, Clapton, and Ringo among them so that was a pretty neat bonus.
Standouts are "Love The One You're With" - loved the deep background sounds on this one - and "Old Times Good Times"
The album has a lot of backing choirs and organ which I've never been a huge fan of, so I wish he had gone lighter on that but I guess that's an easy way to add depth to your sound that, honestly, Stills doesn't really need. He's already got a good sound. But I love a rock organ solo, so at least we got that.
I think, shockingly, this album is a 4 for me. There are a couple snoozers on the track list, but it's mostly pretty good. The back half kind of lost the plot a little for me but the first half is very solid.
Bob Dylan
5/5
Acoustic guitar, harmonica, and Bob. That's the best Dylan. It's iconic. The songs are musically simple but so poignant. Love him or hate him, you can't deny that this album has so much soul and feeling. It's folky and bluesy and it's still relevant.
Usually when I get an album with just a guy and a guitar, I prepare to be a little bored (I know, I shouldn't pre-judge an album before listening) but that's never a concern with Dylan. The man's an icon for a reason, and he still holds up 60 freaking years later.
My favorite moment of the album is Dylan so coldly delivering these lyrics: "I hope that you die, and your death will come soon.... and I'll stand over your grave 'til I'm sure that you're dead" from "Masters of War," and it's so hardcore I can't praise it enough. I feel this in my bones about so many ghouls that walk the Earth in 2025 and Dylan nailed the feeling way back in the 60s. Nothing changes.
It's really hard to pick standout tracks here because they really are all so good. The whole album is standout, so I'll leave it at that.
This might be one of the lowest-key albums sound-wise that I give 5 stars to, but Freewheelin' just hits so well that it deserves it. It doesn't need anything else other than the man, his instruments, and his ideas. It's haunting and every time I hear it, it grips me and makes me stop in place and just shut up and listen.
Cat Stevens
3/5
Album was ok. Had some interesting melodies at times, some catchy-ish songs. Not really my thing, but pretty good. A pleasant listen but probably not anything I'd revisit much.
Standouts were "Where Do The Children Play?" "Longer Boats" and "Father and Son"
John Lennon
3/5
I went into this album expecting not to be impressed. I was pretty much correct. I think Lennon is incredibly overrated, but Imagine as a whole wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Its got some catchy moments and some good grooves.
Standouts were "Imagine" - I mean, its the only song on this album anyone knows - "I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama " - although its about twice the length it needs to be - and "How Do You Sleep?"
I probably wont re-listen to too much of this, but it was solid and I'm glad I finally gave it a listen through. 3/5
Arcade Fire
3/5
I am very on the fence about Arcade Fire. Some of their stuff I really like, and I've listened to some songs where I just don't get it. I think this is my first full album listen through of theirs.
To me, a lot of this sounds very over-produced. It lands some of the time. Others it just seems all a bit much. I wish the vocals came through a little clearer. I haven't really moved from my spot on top of the fence. There are some cool sounds here, but also some really kind of dull tracks that just don't do much for me.
Standouts were "Black Mirror" and "(Antichrist Television Blues)"
I think I'll stay a casual observer and pick and chose the tracks I like. Overall the album was pretty decent. Nothing super captivating for me. 3 stars.
Black Sabbath
5/5
Another great Sabbath album. These guys just put out good tunes. Vol. 4 seems a little less heavy than previous entries but it's no less fun. It starts strong and carries through the whole album.
I can't find much to fault on this album. The ambient track "FX" is kinda dumb, but it's so short who really cares? The songs are all catchy, the lyrics are pure Black Sabbath, the band is killing it, it's all great. The piano/acoustic guitars/mellotron are a really cool change of pace and work well with in the slower songs.
Standouts were "Wheels of Confusion" - those verses are just, chefs kiss - "Changes," and "Supernaut"
Another 5. It's a cool metal album with a lot of nice variance track to track. The whole thing feels well thought out.
RIP Ozzman
Dr. Octagon
1/5
I... I dont know what to feel. What did I just listen to? I inherently like the concept of an alien doctor murderer, but as a rap persona.... ehhhhh I don't know how it works out. It's a bit rapey isn't it? It's out there. It should probably stay out there, far, far away.
A lot of the lyrics don't even make sense, they're just mashed up sci-fi-sounding concepts. Beats are pretty low key and dated, but fine. Theres a sci-fi feel to them thats kinda cool and interesting, but every song follows a pretty similar formula and the actual raps and rhythms become indistinguishable after a while. Also were the porno skits supposed to be funny? Cause they weren't really. But I'm not 12 so....
Standouts - maybe "3000" and I liked the instrumental back half of "Real Raw" and "Blue Flowers" if I had to pick.
I just.... I dont want to hear this again. Any of it. It irked me more and more as I kept listening and the shtick became overbearing. The DJ was pretty slick, but that's the only redeeming feature I pulled out of my listen. Interesting concept but a total letdown. 1 star; I refuse to give it 2 just for cool "sci-fi noises"
Slint
2/5
My initial take on Spiderland is that I can't hear the goddamn lyrics and the guitar is actually kind of annoying and shrill sometimes. This seems like more of an atmospheric album. Ok, thats all fine and cool. But it seems to me that the band just picked a kind of weird lane and stayed in it for the entire album.
It's not all that bad though. I like the distorted guitars and a bit of the droning, chugging rhythms. It's still a little slow and uneventful. The album just feels like a lot of missed potential.
Standouts were "Nosferatu Man" and "Good Morning, Captain."
I feel like I should like this album because I'm usually into weird/dark ambient stuff, but I really don't think I do. The all spoken serial killer style vocals were just disappointing. I'm kinda stuck between a 2 and 3 star rating because there are glimpses of something cool here, but the band never gets there for me. It's gotta be a 2.
Beatles
3/5
Ready for this hot take? I think The White Album is one of, if not THE most overrated album of all time. Sure, it's got some undeniable Beatles hits on it that are great. And now the big BUT: there's so much crappy filler on here that drags the album into the mud. At least half of it could be trimmed out and this could have been one of the greatest albums of all time. Half of the album is iconic and sprinkled in around all the good stuff are all the demented 60s fairy tale sounding crap.
Alright, the good parts of the album? You already know all the standouts on this album. There are too many to list. Some moments during my listen that really stood out to me this time: the sick bassline on "Dear Prudence" - I tried to focus on the bass on the whole album more this time around and it really is quite good - the guitar on "Blackbird" is the peak of the album - and "Helter Skelter" still absolutely slaps.
People will automatically rate this a 5 because it's the freaking Beatles and they've been told this album is a masterpiece and they must like it. Hard disagree, it's a 3. A 4 could be justified if you really like a lot of the dreck. Its way too long and, yeah, sure, there are a few great songs but you have to dig them out from under piles of rubbish. There. I said it. Get wrecked White Album.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
This album brings the damn funk. That wah wah pedal must have been smoking after recording these tracks. It's smooth and it makes me want to be surrounded by orange and brown shag carpeting taking a drag off a cigarette. So, yes, me and the wah pedal are both smoking now.
I'm not usually a big funk/soul guy, but this was damn pleasant. I can't really find any fault with it and would gladly listen to this over again.
Favorite tracks on this listen were "Little Child Runnin' Wild," "Pusherman," and "Superfly."
Superfly is a very strong 4 for me. I have to be in the mood to listen to it but when I am, yeah it's great. Best soul I've had on this project so far.
Aphex Twin
4/5
Rrally cool album that shows how you can do so much with a few noises and create such an interesting atmosphere with so little. I'm always amazed when ambient tracks like these have so much character and can hold your attention.
This is really good to chill to or work to or game to, or whatever. It feels so alive. I really enjoyed my listen, and I've had some pretty rough goes with some electronic/house stuff on this project so far. Aphex Twin is one of the greats of the genre and this album proves it.
Not what I'd want to listen to all the time, but really fun to dip into every now and then. 4/5 for me.
Kate Bush
1/5
It's not often that I hear something I really hate, for the entirety of my listen, but this has done it. I think you'll be hard pressed to find a more irritating album than The Dreaming on this list. Every song was just a mess, vocally, instrumentally, you name it. They say if you can't say anything nice to not say anything at all, so I'll leave it at that.
Sex Pistols
3/5
Pretty solid 70s punk. Nothing crazy standout, but there are some classics here. For one of the "heavy hitters" I feel like the songs are a little samey. Good to jam to, but compare it to something like London Calling a couple years later and it's missing that variety and character.
Standout tracks were "Holidays in the Sun" "God Save The Queen" and "Anarchy in the UK."
Overall a fun listen but it didn't do much to move the needle for me. 3/5
Jurassic 5
3/5
Musically and rhythmically, Power In Numbers had been my favorite rap album on this project so far. The beats are good, the raps fast, there are some cool instruments and samples utilized; yeah, its got a lot going on! It's lyrically dense too, and I wish I had more time to sit and digest it.
Favorite tracks were "Break," "High Fidelity," and "Acetate Prophets"
This was a cool album and a pleasant surprise from a group I've never listened to before, although it's not totally my style. I really liked the instrumentals and breakdowns though. With more time and listens this would probably bump up to a 4 but for now it's a solid 3.5/5 from me.
Pearl Jam
5/5
I don't really trust anyone who says they don't like Pearl Jam. Ten is one of the best of all time. I grew up with this album. I love it. There is just hit after hit on it and it all holds up really well.
Pearl Jam can write great rock songs that sound so goddamn good but are so freaking sad. "Black" and "Jeremy" might just be the most fucked up pair of songs on any album, and for such different reasons. "Black" just wrecks me every time I hear it. "I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky. But why can't it be mine?" is such a brutal line. Gets me every time.
My one critique would be that sometimes Pearl Jam doesn't really know when to end a song and they can drag a bit, but I'm not complaining.
I can listen to this whole album front to back, over and over, and it always hits. The guitar is so unique on this album and Vedder's voice is iconic. Ten showcases the best of grunge and is probably the easiest 5 stars I've given.
D'Angelo
3/5
Hmmm, I have mixed feelings on this one. It's pure cheese. The lyrics on all the songs are pretty overtly sexual with a slow R&B/Soul feel, delivered passably. Lots of falsetto. The music is decent enough, very chill.
It's a little slow, not really my vibe. I looked up D'Angelo because I'm not familiar with him and was pleased to see he's a multi-instrumentalist and played a lot of what is laid down in the album which is always nice to see.
Standouts were "Me and Those Dreamin' Eyes of Mine" and "Cruisin'."
In the end, this album was exactly like how I imagined it would be. Nothing super special or unique, but nice low-key ballads. Smooth listening, but I didn't hate it. 3/5
Janelle Monáe
3/5
The ArchAndroid is an interesting kind of genre-bending album that made for a really nice listen. It's poppy, rocky, soulful, and full of surprises. It isn't really what I expected at all, and I'm glad for it.
A lot of the songs were catchy and I liked the string arrangements strewn throughout. It gives the album a weird vibe though; you never know quite where it's trying to go or what its attempting to achieve. Some sort of classical steampunk futuristic pop scene? It's a bit disjointed. There was an almost Beatles-like feel to a few of the songs. There's maybe a little twist of James Bond-esque spy thriller thrown in. It's interesting though, I'll give it that.
Standouts for me were "Cold War" "Oh, Maker" "Mushrooms & Roses" and "Say You'll Go."
Overall, this was a refreshing dreamy album that made for a fun listen. The album cover is a little cringy but it does kind of encapsulate the vibe of the album. I'd gladly listen to some of this again if it came on, but it's a little too poppy for me for regular listening. I think this is an album that would for sure grow on you with more listens. It's a pretty good 3.5/5 for me.
Derek & The Dominos
3/5
Well, Clapton is a huge chode and we should all call him out on his bullshit, but that said this is a solid album. They're kinda generic 70s rock songs, but you're really here for the guitar laid down between Clapton and Allman. It's damn good and that can't be looked over.
The downside of this album is its length. This thing is chock full of tracks and some of them are meaty, but in a draggy way. The "Little Wing" Hendrix cover kinda pissed me off.
Standouts were "Bell Bottom Blues" "Key To The Highway" and "Layla"
I really wanted to love this album. It's got all the ingredients but for some reason it just didn't move me. Sure the guitar is very good, but it wasn't really gripping. I found myself bored a few times so I think it's a 3.5/5 for me.
Harry Nilsson
4/5
Oh, hey, it's the "Gotta Get Up" song guy! While I find that song kinda annoying, the rest of the album was interesting. It has a weirdly uneasy, melancholy kind of vibe hiding under its pop sound. I like don't even know how to categorize what this album is. It's weird, but oddly... good?
I've never heard of Nilsson before this, but he's got a nice voice. He's got a bunch of songs on here that I've heard and didn't know were his. The piano and other arrangements were all really quite good.
Standouts on this listen were "Early in the Morning," "Coconut" - it's fun the first few times you hear it, then could probably be used as a torture method if you press it too much - and "Jump Into The Fire."
Overall, I like the weird feel of this album. Its a good one from a guy I've never really heard of. It's a bit manic and does it's own thing and that gives it all its character. Nilsson Schmilsson is a surprise 4. There are some duds on the album, but they are made up for by how interesting some of the really good tracks are.
Robert Wyatt
3/5
Shleep is an interesting piece of work. All the layered sounds give a nice full feeling to these songs. Wyatt's voice itself is hit or miss, it works in a couple songs but not well at all in others, enough that I'd say the vocals are definitely the worst part of the album. Some of this is too "arty" and goes off the rails but its not as big an offender as some other albums on this list, and lets not pretend it is.
Wyatt uses sound in such an interesting way. Some of it is discordant and a bit off-putting but when you get some really nice moments when it all works (see the back half of "Maryan").
Standouts "Heaps of Sheeps" "Maryan" - loved the violin - and "Alien"
Overall, kinda surprisingly solid and worth a listen. Definitely won't be for everyone. I had fun with it but will probably leave it behind as a food memory. A solid 3.5.
The Mars Volta
5/5
God I love The Mars Volta. Been following them for a while, seen 'em live, they're chaos incarnate. They are an experience and you just need to surrender and go along for the ride.
Deloused and Bedlam in Goliath are my favorite Volta albums, so this listen is a pure victory lap with an old friend. The frantic Latin twisted guitar and drum beats, the nonsense (yet still somehow enthralling and absorbing) lyrics, and the fun vibe of this album just make it a pure jam.
To me The Mars Volta always used lyrics as a vehicle for a catchy melody. Don't think about the words too much and you'll have a much better time picking up themes and buzzwords that inspire ideas more than any single coherent whole. Enjoy all the sounds as an entire unit. Thr album morphs and has a life of it's own offering a slightly different experience every time you listen. It's pretty unique and something I love about this band.
Standouts are "Inertiatic Esp," "Drunkship Of Lanterns," and "Televators" but every song is great and worth a listen.
It's 5s all the way down.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
Like a party at a haunted carnival but you didn't have as much fun as you thought you should. On paper I love this band but in practice this was a pretty average listen. I wasn't as enamored with the vocals as so many people seem to be and while there were some pretty good riffs here and there a lot of it blended together for me.
Standouts were "Spellbound" and "Monitor"
Pretty decent overall but nothing that blew me away. Id be more than willing to check out some other Banshees albums though to see if anything else tickles my fancy. 3.5/5
Deep Purple
4/5
This album is juicy. It has heft and depth. It's a heavy fuzzy ride back to the 70s. The guitars are crushing and the drum beats are tight. It's still a fun album!
Highlights are "Highway Star" "Pictures of Home" and "Smoke on the Water" with a shoutout to "Lazy" which is a semi-instrumental journey that I was having a really good time with by the end.
Overall I'd give this a 4, it's fun and got some classics on-board that still hit hard today.
Girls Against Boys
2/5
Very random album to show up here. Never heard of these guys. Pretty mediocre singing/growling thats scratchy and garbled most of the time. Musically, it's fine-ish: some of it was interesting, most was not. It's all just pretty harsh sounding and not in a good way.
Standout tracks were maybe "In Like Flynn," "Learned It," and "Billy's One Stop" although nothing really stood out, nor would I really want to listen to any of this album again.
My main problem with this album is just how utterly forgettable it all is. I kinda feel that way about all the post-whatever genres. It's just kinda dull in the end. This one gets a 2 from me because I'm very much not in the mood for it today.
Jane's Addiction
4/5
This album is such a banger. I had never listened to the whole thing through until now and I'm glad I have. Perry is a colossal douche but his voice is iconic even if it is pretty grating a lot of the time. No one else sounded like Jane's Addiction and there will never be another.
The vocal melodies always hit me hard on top of their flighty but hard guitar riffs. It's crazy that Dave Navarro could lay this down while on heroin. These dudes had rough lives; that they could channel that into this kind of music is phenominal.
Standouts are pretty numerous on this album but "Stop!" "Obvious" and "Been Caught Stealing" lead the pack for me.
The back half slows down after "Three Days" - another terrific track - and that's really the only fault I can find with it. I get that the two halves of the album are their own little movements, but it very much peters out which is a shame. If they kept the energy up I think this is an easy 5. But it's 4 stars for me, very very solid album to throw on.
Culture Club
2/5
Culture Club is very much not my thing. This is some pretty soft 80s stuff right here. I don't really love the cheesy sounding reggae and soul influences. The standout was "Karma Chameleon" as the only song I've heard before and even then it's not really my jam. The rest of the album was pretty boring to be honest.
Maybe this was super big in the 80s but it does nothing for me in 2025. It's not like godawful, but it's not anything I really want to spend time on. 2/5
The Who
3/5
The debut of The Who! It's got that absolutely classic British 60s feeling because obviously that's what it is. It helped set the bar for that sound. That said, how does the whole album hold up?
I would say it held up adequately. It's fun and short, but didn't really do a whole lot for me. My Generation had a couple hits on it but outside of that, the rest kind of fades into the ether.
Standouts were "The Good's Gone" "My Generation" and "The Kids Are Alright." Honorable mention to "The Ox" where everyone just slays their respective instruments (Damn, Moon was great).
Being their debut album, it's fun to see where the band came from, but they definitely got better with age and experience. My Generation isn't The Who's best, but it's a pretty great start. 3/5
4/5
One of my best Never Have I Evers is "Never have I ever been a colossal douche enough to learn how to play Wonderwall on guitar and subject other humans to it at parties in an attempt to look sensitive."
But seriously, What's The Story Morning Glory is a nice evolution from Oasis's debut album, which was also a pretty solid showing. This album has more depth and isn't afraid to try some different styles. They slow things down a bit while maintaining their energy and it works out well.
Standouts on this listen were "Don't Look Back in Anger" "Some Might Say" "Morning Glory" and "Champaign Supernova." And, I mean, sure, "Wonderwall." It's a meme at this point so why not?
Overall I like the album, even more than their previous record. It's got some really good jams. I didn't quite grow up with Oasis but I like what I hear when I listen to them. This would have absolutely been on repeat in my teens if I had gotten into it earlier. Very solid 4/5, would listen again.
50 Cent
4/5
I hate that I like this as much as I do. 50 has style, man. He's a lot more melodic than other rappers and the songs are, I dunno, pop-ier and catchier than a lot of rap out there.
I've criticized other rappers for being stereotypes in the past and this album is really no different (plenty of guns, barking, drugs, and bitches to be had), but it inexplicably does feel different. Like it's not as obscene somehow. The lyrics arent anything groundbreaking, but they are bolstered by how good the actual songs are. Maybe I have a soft spot for it.
Standouts were "Patiently Waiting" "Many Men" "In Da Club" - it's iconic and I listened to the hell out of this as a kid - "P.I.M.P." and "21 Questions." It's pretty much all the hits.
As I was listening I was surprised by how many of these songs I'd already heard before. This album truly permeated early 2000s radio, and I drank it in at the time. All in all I had a good time listening to this and didn't mind its runtime (although a couple of the later songs could be cut and you'd never miss them). 50 gets a strong 40/50. Good work Mr. Cent.
3/5
I had absolutely no clue what I was walking into with this one. The one thing that surprised me was the incredible recording quality. The album sounds so crisp. I have no freaking idea what it's about, but it sounds great.
Where have these guys been hiding since the 70s? They've got a great sounding guitar (wait hold up, this dude played with Hendrix as a teenager!? Good god) and a lot of wonky 60s/70s sound effects going on that I think take away from how good they sound without all that. There's a lot going on though: psychadelic rock, jazzy horns, space themes, dreamy lyrics, it's a lot to take in. It's a bit overambitious, like they never really found their lane.
Standouts were "Animal Zoo" "When I Touch You" and "Life Has Just Begun"
I can't quite pin down my feelings on this after one listen. I think it requires more to digest. I like it. Maybe I really like it? But, alas, I have many albums to listen to before I die, so a revisit will have to happen later. These guys have a lot of talent, but this album is a 3.5/5 for me and I need to dig deeper into Spirit!
Taylor Swift
3/5
With as much as Tswift has been shoved down our throats the past decade, I'd never heard of this album. There were probably other more important things happening that year. Is this an all time great though? This album? Out of all of her stuff? Why? (Side note, this is my first Tswift encounter in this project and now I'm sure that her entire discography will be on this list because if this album is, surely all her others will be, right?)
Anyway, these songs are mostly Taylor monologing to some quiet music. It's not really folky, it sounds incredibly produced. Calling any of this "indie" is just laughable, but sadly this is apparently what indie means these days. Songs themselves are all just... fine. All slow with spoken lyrics that always felt to me like Swift was trying to cram as many words into each song as allowable to still stay somewhat in time with the music. Sometimes less is more. Swift sticks to her breakup/love/longing for home/nostalgia shtick. There's just nothing new or particularly exciting here. I dont really enjoy wallowing in self pity or bad memories, but maybe that's just me?
I have an incredibly hard time empathizing with Taylor on any level. The length of the Wikipedia article on this album shows how much smoke we collectively blow up Taylor's ass. I didn't identify with any of these songs, and thats kinda important if the main focus of your album is the lyricism.
Standout songs on this listen were "long story short," "marjorie," "evermore" and my favorite was "closure" - the only really musically intriguing track I came across; I really liked that discordant drum machine. I actually think the back half of this album is much stronger than the front.
I'm not the target audience for this album. It's purely fine, easy listening. It's got some nice lyrics and some nice arrangements, but that's it. Let's not pretend it's groundbreaking or influential. I do like a lot of Swifts older stuff, but this isn't really something I'd put on again. Evermore hovers somewhere in the 2-3 star range. Nothing's wrong with it, it's just not exciting.
Carole King
3/5
Carol King is a songwriting legend. Her style isn't really my thing, but she's undeniably great, proven on this album with just the sheer number of songs that everyone has heard that came from it.
Standouts are "I Feel The Earth Move," "It's Too Late," and "You've Got A Friend."
I don't have too much to say other than it's a pleasant listen and these songs will persist for eternity. 3/5 from me, and much respect to King.
Metallica
5/5
I listened to this album so many times as a young impressionable teen. Metallica has long been part of the soundtrack of my life. Say what you will about them nowadays, this album absolutely slays. Learning the "Master of Puppets" riffs on guitar was like a rite of passage for any young guitarist interested in metal. I hope it still is.
MoP is hard, fast, and fun. Lyrically it's got some poignant themes, very war driven which is pretty commonly explored across their discography. Face meters? Gottem. I think this album is around the time Metallica started to mess with more melodic stuff, like the breakdown in "Master of Puppets," "Welcome Home," and "Orion." It's so well blended into their sound, it's Metallica at their best. The band also plays with tempo changes and every one of those hits hard when you come across them.
Every song is good, this is a front to back listen. The one that I always forget just how good it is is "Disposable Heroes."
Master of Puppets is one of the classics. Instrumental in developing my music tastes when I was young. It was really nice to go back and get a listen of this in, it's been years. Absolutely a 5/5 album.
Joan Baez
3/5
This was an interesting album. Baez has a really nice voice. It's very minimalist but it would have been so much less impactful with more. Much like Bob Dylan, a voice and a guitar is all you really need, especially when you are as talented as Baez.
I don't often love the singer/songwriter type genre, but Joan Baez really sucks you in with some outstanding lyrics and melodies. It would take several listens to really absorb all the stories being told here, but on a first listen, it's a strong album.
Standouts were "House of the Rising Sun," "All My Trials" and "El Preso Numero Nueve." "Girl of Constant Sorrow" off the reissue tracks is pretty great too.
Pretty cool album. Not the kind of thing I listen to often, so I'd give it a 3 because I love her voice and Joan Baez is a legend. It's pleasant and I'd not shy away from listening to more of Baez's work.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
I don't know why but I can just not get into The Rolling Stones. This album is objectively pretty good too. It's bluesy and has some great songs. I don't know, it just doesn't do it for me. Maybe its Jagger's delivery: I swear I listened to the album but I'm not sure of a damn thing he said.
Musically, I like it. It's good solid tunes, but it doesn't do much to hold my attention much. It just blends into the background a bit. It's a great album to put on when you're just hanging out somewhere.
Standouts were "Rocks Off" "Ventilator Blues" "All Down the Line" "Shine A Light." There are a lot of songs on this beast of an album and if you like the blues and good old rock and roll you'll have a good time. The back half of the album is pretty solid.
All said and done, it's like a 3.5/5 for me. Pretty good and a well known Stones album, but it just doesn't have the staying power for me to want to listen to it over and over. A revisit every now and then would be great though!
Various Artists
3/5
A compilation full of good renditions of Christmas classics. It's a fun listen during the Christmas season, but obviously not really going to be touched any other time.
At this point I'm so Christmas-ed out that I'm listening to this in a sort of stupor. But it's solid. It's all-female 50s-60s rock groups produced by everyones favorite murderer/producer Phil Spector! You know what it's gonna sound like.
Best songs are "Sleigh Ride" "Winter Wonderland" and "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" which is featured in every Christmas movie you've ever seen. I'm a pretty vanilla Christmas person myself. Love the classics.
Solid 3/5, fun for the season. And never forget, boys and girls: Phil Spector shot a lady in the face and killed her. And to all a good night.
The Mamas & The Papas
4/5
This album (IYCBYEAE for short, of course) was actually way more fun that I thought it would be. I recognized a few tracks and enjoyed all of the others. It sounds a little dated, but all the harmonies still sound great of course. This was a debut record, and a pretty great one at that.
Its crazy how prolific these guys were for only 3 years, but sounds like strong personalities and talents cut them short in their prime (I gather from doing minimal research).
Standouts on the album for me are "Monday, Monday" "Go Where You Wanna Go" and "Somebody Groovy." There are great vocals/lyrics, decent sounding music, but there was something catchy about most every track on the album.
It's a surprising 4/5 for me, I would love to give this another listen or two and soak it in.
The Band
2/5
Didn't love this one. It did nothing for me. I'm not really into old time folk/country and old Americana often grosses me out. There's nothing really standout here or interesting.
Standouts are "Rag Mama Rag" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and that's a stretch.
2/5, next...
Don McLean
3/5
This was a much chiller album than I was expecting. Aside from the title track, the songs were mostly soft acoustic jams, which were not bad just a but unexpected based on absolutely nothing at all.
Standouts are "American Pie" "Till Tomorrow" and "Winterwood."
I enjoyed my listen. Nothing crazy here, but it was nice relaxing driving music. A standard 3/5 for me
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
This is a damn good album. One of the things I love about reggae is how harsh and brutal the lyrics are compared to the absolute chill vibe of the music. Exodus is no different but it does have a softer side to it that makes this album very approachable.
I like the album and reggae is always fun to listen to for a time, but it doesn't really stick with me. I can appreciate how good this album is, though it doesn't have that staying power for me. Exodus is packed with hits though that have obviously stood the test of time.
Standouts are "Natural Mystic" "Jamming" "Three Little Birds" and "One Love."
A solid 4.5/5 for me. Marley was truly a legend.
Run-D.M.C.
5/5
God damn this album is so good. It starts off so hard and just doesn't let up. Just catchy rap after rap and the music is phenominal. I love their style. Rock/rap just works so well. I learned today that I'm all in with Run-D.M.C. I've of course heard some of their well known tracks, but this was my first time listening to an album of theirs.
The sound is so 80s but it's still amazing whereas a lot of other 80s music sounds so crappy and didn't age well at all. The beats are fantastic and catchy. It's old school and pure and special shoutout to the almost endearing beat boxing on "Hit It Run."
Standouts are "Peter Piper" "It's Tricky" "Walk This Way" and "Raising Hell." The whole front half of the album is sublime.
I knew I'd have fun with this one going in, but I wasn't expecting it to be this good. 5 stars for am iconic album.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Funky synths, ahoy! Coupled with Wonder really giving it his all vocally, you've got a pretty good album on your hands. Soul isn't really my jam, but it's easy to see why Stevie Wonder got so huge. Innervisions is fun, meaningful, and talent all on display.
Standouts on this listen were "Living for the City" "Higher Ground." "Golden Lady" grew on me and "All in Love is Fair" has an incredible vocal performance.
Even though I don't usually listen to this kind of stuff and may not revisit this much, I can't deny this album's 4 star worthiness. It's pretty great all in all.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Didn't like this one as much as some of the other CCR on this list. Songs are more low key and meander a bit. It's still the classic CCR sound and it's a fun listen but not as impactful as other entries in their discography.
Standouts are "Born on the Bayou" "Proud Mary" and "Keep on Chooglin'."
It's a solid jam session, probably a 3.5/5 for me, narrowly missing out on a 4.
Lauryn Hill
3/5
I've never listened to this album but I've been hearing about its iconic status forever. Time to change that!
I like the use of guitars throughout the album. The musical arrangements in general are all really nice. Tons of cool unique instruments are utilized and it sounds very rich. Hill's voice is nice and deep and powerful, and her flow is great.
Standouts on this listen for me were "To Zion" "Final Hour" and "Every Ghetto, Every City."
Overall it's a solid album. A bit on the longer side. Easy listening with some great lyrics and sound. Not my exact cup of tea but I appreciated my listen. Easy to see why this album crushed when it debuted. I probably won't listen to much again, but for folks who love R&B it's a good one for sure. 3/5.
Stephen Stills
3/5
This album is stylistically all over the place. Rock, bluegrass, folk, country, Latin, you name it. It's a bit schizophrenic. Overall it sounds pretty decent. It's that folky rock you always associate with CSNY records.
This is a long double album. It didn't really hold my attention the whole time, but there's some good stuff here. Nice for background listening.
Standouts are "Jet Set (Sigh)" "Colorado" "Move Around" and "Blues Man"
An average 3/5 for me.
Björk
4/5
Bjork is one of those artists that has always been around and you never have much interaction with outside of people's impressions of her and her style. So this is my first experience with her work. It's really cool! Obviously very personal for her.
The album is slow paced and has an overlaying feel of gloom and hurt (I read the background around it, makes sense, and it definitely comes across) and is basically mourning her family structure's death. I love the use of electronics here; the ambient noise is great and potent and underlines the point.
Standouts were "Stonemilker" "Family" and "Atom Dance"
My one knock against the album is the pace of the vocals - like, yeah, it's Bjorks thing, but most songs vocally sound very similar. Some variance would be cool. This is a tough rate because I really really like the sound and lyrics, but I think I can overlook the vocals, so it's a 4 for me.
Arcade Fire
3/5
Still can't figure out if I like this band or not. There are some really cool sounds and moments, but they need to edit their albums down more. There are a lot of boring runs leading up to the good parts.
The issue I have with Arcade Fire I think is that they try to be really deep and conceptual with their lyrics but all my favorite parts are when I'm ignoring the lyrics and just listening to the melodies and rest of the band. If it was an album full of nonsense vocalizations and harmonies along with the music I think I'd like it better than trying to focus on whatever is being presented for an hour +. The lyrics are never quite clear and kind of mumbly. Sometimes I don't want to sit and focus on what's being said for that long.
Standouts are "Modern Man" - I really liked that weird extra beat they'd throw in a lot of lines - "Empty Room" "Month of May" and "Sprawl II."
It's an average 3 for me. Good but nothing lasting in my memory really
Thin Lizzy
4/5
Live albums are so hit or miss, but if they're on this list I assume they will be great or at least unique. Reading up on it I saw that parts of some of the tracks were dubbed over in production of the album.... so not quite all-the-way live, I guess.
Live and Dangerous starts off strong and just keeps going. It's pretty good. I don't even listen to Thin Lizzy, but this is a quality album. I'd expect it to be if I'm picking and choosing and dubbing from a selection of live tracks, though. Its got everything you want in a classic rock album. Lots of face melting solos. Good pacing. Nice energy. Yeah, it's really solid.
Favorites are "Jailbreak" "Rosalie/Cowgirls Song" "Massacre" and "The Boys Are Back in Town" - everyone likes a classic.
It's a double album. It's long, probably a bit too long, as it starts to drag after "Warrior." Some really good old school tracks though. A definite 4/5 for me.
Adele
3/5
Adele obviously has a phenominal voice. She can belt it but also has a great raspy lower range. This style of like pop-ballads or whatever you call this genre isn't for me though. Its just forgettable outside of the couple singles that the radio played on repeat a decade ago.
Musically there's not much going on - just your standard studio band playing some slower tunes. Adele is the star: you came for her and you get her singing love songs very well. But somehow there's a piece of the puzzle missing here, like she's kinda just singing for the sake of it. I found a couple tracks to be missing some emotion, or oomph, or something.
Standouts are "Rolling in the Deep" "I'll Be Waiting" and "Someone Like You."
As a side note, I really wish people would stop covering "Lovesong."
My summary: kinda boring, Adele is solid but just not super engaging. I'm probably not the target audience for one of the bestselling albums of all time. 3/5 for me.
Boards of Canada
4/5
This is a really cool album. I'm so here for this weird experimental electronic stuff.
There's a cool blend of sound and digitally altered voices that causes an uncanny feeling throughout. The whole thing has an eerie, ethereal feel to it that I love. Even with some pumping lofi beats at times the album has a pretty relaxed flow to it. There's some nice synth work.
Standouts are "Telephasic Workshop" "Aquarius" and "Open the Light"
It did go on a bit long, but most tracks were pretty cool and catchy and it's nice to listen to something different. 4/5
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Talking Book just didn't do it for me like Innervisions did. It's plenty funky with synths abound, but I don't think Wonder's voice shined as much as it does on other albums.
Standouts for me were "You and I" and "Superstition"
A standard 3/5 for me, not really my thing but a pleasant listen.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
4/5
Oh man, more CSN in some combination has appeared, oh boy! That's what I was thinking going into this. I was pleasantly surprised though. I liked a lot on this album. There are a couple stinkers (going from "Judy Blue Eyes" into "Marrakesh Express" is an audio crime and someone should be held accountable), but overall I liked this album.
Standouts on this listen are "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" - guitar and percussion is fantastic - "Pre-Road Downs" and "Helplessly Hoping."
In the end I think this album is a solid 4. I thought parts were a little slower, but nothing really dragged and all the songs were pretty pleasant and engaging in some way. Some classics. I get it.
Eagles
3/5
Pretty average 70s rock. Some good tunes and nice grooves. I think I prefer Hotel California over this. Eagles is pretty average, a bit on the forgettable side outside of the couple hits present. Goddamn bird sounds on "Earlybird" pissed me off.
Standouts on this listen are "Take It Easy" "Nightingale" and "Peaceful Easy Feeling."
A solid 3/5. I dont have anything against the Eagles like a lot of people seem to do.
Blondie
4/5
This album is stacked. I don't know much Blondie but the ones I do know are all on this album. Debbie Harry has such a great presence and slays every song. And there are a bunch of bangers on Parallel Lines.
I didn't love every song, some felt a little old school and a bit clunky, but overall this is a solid listen. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
Standouts on this listen were "Picture This" "Fade Away and Radiate" "Sunday Girl" and "Heart of Glass."
A really solid 4/5 for me, and I'd love to listen again!
Paul Revere & The Raiders
2/5
This one just didn't really engage me at all. Not that it was even bad, it just disappeared into the noise for me. It's pretty generic 60s rock; guitars and organs and all. 2/5, next.
N.E.R.D
2/5
This album cover is dumb as hell, but the music kinda slaps. Well, the first track did anyway. It fell off a cliff into utter boredome for me right after. Cool to see these guys in such a random band though. Also really cool that they learned the instruments to be able to play all of it.
That said, the music, while catchy at times, is pretty simplistic and unassuming. But you're probably here for the grooves and not so much a crazy musical awakening.
The standout on this listen was "Don't Worry About It" and that's kinda it. I was pretty bored with the rest of it. It just wasn't anything. Took me forever to get through. 2/5
Michael Jackson
4/5
I listened to this album so much as a kid. My parents had it on all the time. Weird Al's "Fat" is burned into my brain.
Trying to focus on the actual music this time, Bad is much more synth heavy and electronic than I remember. Guess I was way closer the the 80s back then than I am today. Like, "Speed Demon" is so wild. It's still fun but not quite the masterpiece I remember it being when I was young. I liked several of the songs that I had kind of glossed over as a kid, and some of the ones I used to love didn't do it for my anymore.
Standouts are "The Way You Make Me Feel" "Liberian Girl" and "Smooth Criminal"
Overall I'd say Bad sounds a little cheesy today. Still full of classics, but it's definitely aged. A very solid 4/5 for me.
Metallica
4/5
Another mainstay album from my teen years. Definitely not as strong as Ride the Lightning and MoP, and still pretty solid, but ...And Justice for All was always kind of a black sheep Metallica album for me. I never clicked with it as much as the others even though it was part of my rotation.
It's a long album and does get a little tedious in the middle. The old Metallica thrash and speed is there, but the album kind of drifts into the background a bit. The lyrics were less poignant on a lot of the tracks than they are on previous albums, but there's some good stuff here. The intensity is there. Lars even tried pretty hard on this album.
Standouts are "Blackened" "One" and "Dyers Eve."
It's very solid, but not the best of the best. 4/5.
The Replacements
3/5
This album kinda flew by and I already don't remember any of it. It sounded good but wasn't memorable for me.
Standouts are "I Will Dare" and "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out"
It's got a cool sound and I'd like to probably come back to The Replacements at some point in time, but for now it's an average 3/5 for me.
Wilco
3/5
First time Wilco listener here after years of hearing their name. Wilco is a lot country-er than I expected (having now looked into them more, yeah, duh...) with more of an indie rock vibe, but their roots show through with some twangy guitar and fiddle sprinkled in throughout.
Being There has a raw unpolished quality that adds a lot to the overall feel of the album. It sounds really good, more heartfelt and intimate. That said, it's a long double album and I was kinda tired by the time the second disc rolled around. But there are a few good tracks lurking back there too.
Standouts for me were "Red-Eyed and Blue" "I Got You" "Kingpin" and "Dreamer In My Dreams."
Overall, this is a 3. It's cool and got some really good moments but not enough to keep me coming back for more than a couple of the better tracks. Would be interested in checking out more Wilco though!
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
2/5
This album didn't do much for me. Wasn't a fan of the vocals really at all, but I do appreciate the raw, almost under-engineered sound of the album. It really does sound just like a solid jam session.
Songs are overly long, though, and the album drags. It's just not interesting enough. No variety in the songs and the lyrics are boring and uninspired. I dont get the appeal of these guys and their hookup with Neil Young. They just sound like a college desert rock garage band.
"Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)" is the only really solid track on the album. On the other hand, "Farmer John" has to be one of the worst songs I've heard in a long while. It's gotta be a joke right? This is satire, right?!? Oh dear God, it's a spontaneous cover they did in one take. Shoulda left it off the album.
That's all I got. This one gets a 2/5. I almost gave it a 1 because it pissed me off more and more as it went on. But some of the guitar is solid. Pretty disappointing overall.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
It's Blitz! has a much more experimental tone than previous Yeah Yeah Yeahs works, and I'm here for it. Love the electronic aspects integrated with a really solid rock album. Overall I don't know if the whole album gels for me as well as I really wished it would, but it's got some great tracks and cool moments.
The album is uptempo and gloomy all at once. It's a unique feeling that I don't know quite how to process after only one listen. Lyrically and vocally it is restrained and I wish Karen O had let it go a little crazier like how it began with "Zero." The band goes hard and the synth is dying to be unleashed, wish we had gotten a tad more of that.
Standouts are "Zero" - this one has been a favorite of mine for years - "Skeletons," and "Hysteric."
Overall this is probably a 7 or 8 out 10 for me. Pretty strong, and it's growing on me the more I think about what I just heard. Definitely want to go back for more, and got a few good tracks for my daily playlist.
The Cure
2/5
Yeahhh, I don't think The Cure is for me. I don't really like Smith's vocal style. I have nothing against depressing nihilistic lyrics but I'm left wondering why the band is even here; this album would be better served with just Smith doing spoken word poetry backed by weird ambient synth noises.
There's just no variance to the songs either. It's a very monotone noisy album with a one track mind about suffering through life. I guess that's the point and helps drive the narrative home, but jeez. Its hard to imagine the band getting more "poppy" and mainstream after this album. Must be terrible.
Standout tracks are "One Hundred Years" and "The Hanging Garden" - easy to see why this was the only single off the album, the bassline actually kicks pretty hard in this one.
It's a weird self-portrait of depression with a couple redeeming qualities, so it's a 2/5 for me, but wouldn't listen again.
Frank Ocean
2/5
Not really for me. Some cool sounds and beats, and Ocean has a good voice when he wants to use it but I didn't get anything out of this album. I thought a lot of the vocal delivery and lyrics seemed kinda phoned in and uninteresting. Not terrible but nothing really great.
2/5 for me.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
3/5
This actually wasn't as weird as I was expecting it to be. It's kind of a blend of all sorts of old rock/blues/soul. It hops from one genre to the next.
I much preferred the tracks where the weird stage persona/voice doesn't make an appearance. Its always kinda there, and I get that that's his whole thing. Eh, at least it's unique. The range of vocals over the whole album is pretty wide. It's over the top but at least he sells it, and the band is good.
This one's a tough rate - I appreciate what's laid down here, but is it something I'd listen to a lot? It's eccentric and catchy in a lot of places, but doesn't 100% gel with me all the time. 3/5
Suzanne Vega
3/5
I came right from a Captain Beefheart album to this, and the difference is sending me right now. This album is mostly quiet and contemplative, focusing on Vega's vocals and guitar.
It's a pleasant listen with bright, clean guitars and nice vocals, but it gets pretty samey by the end. This would be a nice album to spin on a bright snowy winter morning, but it's not one I'd listen to normally. Very much coffee-house soundtrack vibes.
Standout tracks for me on this listen are "Marlene on the Wall" and "Undertow."
For a debut album, pretty good, but definitely has room to grow. I love "Tom's Diner" and that sounds much more evolved that what's presented here, so it would have been more interesting for me to get a later Vega album I think. Solid though, a 3/5 for me.
Milton Nascimento
4/5
The depth and breadth of instrumentation on this album is pretty fantastic. It's got everything. Particularly full of bright strings and upbeat percussion, Clube Da Esquina feels vibrant and alive. You can hear so many influences, Latin, Mexican, African, European, jazz, even classical; it's really far reaching. I thought I was listening to The Beatles a few times in there.
I'd not head of Milton Nascimento (or Lo Borges) before this, but the man is prolific. He's got a great, haunting voice. This album is a fun listen. I dont know Portuguese so without knowing the meaning of most of the lyrics the vocals are essentially another instrument for me, but they feel really good in every song. It was fun reading about each track on Wikipedia while listening along (and Spotify's lyrics translation feature was actually really clutch here). Songs are all pretty short but they all just work.
Standout tracks are "O Trem Azul," "Dos Cruces," "San Vicente," and "Os Povos."
This is one of those really cool gems you find hidden in this project. It's a bit lengthy as a double album, but it honestly moves and flows so well you almost don't notice. It's not the kind of thing I usually listen to, but this is undeniably at least a 4 getting really really close to a 5. Would love to go listen to more from these two.
Nick Drake
3/5
Pink Moon is a very relaxing contemplative acoustic album. This is my first listen to Nick Drake although he's been on my music to-do list for a while.
I like his very pared down simplistic approach to the album. You focus on the lyrics, which all have intruige, and because the songs are all guitar and vocals they flow really well into one another. It's a short album, clocking in at less than 30 minutes but it makes its point and exits without becoming tiresome.
Standout tracks for me were "Which Will" "Things Behind the Sun" and "Free Ride."
Overall it's a 3 for me. Pretty and attention grabbing, this one needs more listens but it's solid.
Elliott Smith
3/5
There are a lot of really great guitar hooks in this album. Smith was a really interesting singer/guitarist/pianist, all the parts are intricate and sound great.
Gets kind of repetitive by the end though. That's what's holding this back from being pretty great for me, it stays in its lane too much.
Standout tracks are "Somebody That I Used To Know" "L.A." - the only Elliott Smith song I'd heard previously - and "Stupidity Tries"
Overall a solid 3/5 for me. Worth the listen, maybe spending some more time with it would elevate it and give you a chance to absorb the lyrics.
The Band
2/5
I didn't really like the last The Band album that showed up for me, and its more of the same this time around. Don't know what it is about these guys but I just can't connect to them. I will say I liked this debut album a bit better than their second album, The Band.
Standouts on this listen were "The Weight" - yeah, you've heard this one - aaaand that's kinda it. Nothing else grabbed me at all. Shoutout to the really subtle horn on a couple tracks that absolutely sounds like a giant slow fart. Lovely.
Big Pink is just slow and clunky for me. I dont love it. Didn't really enjoy any part of this listen that much. 2/5.
Duran Duran
3/5
Rio has a quintessential 80s feel but it's a lot tighter than other albums of the era. This makes it seem to have aged really well.
The bass is great and was the highlight of my listen. Synths were on point, and the rest is kinda take it or leave it. Really liked "Rio" but the rest of the album all blended a bit together. I've heard "Hungry Like the Wolf" so many times I'm numb to the song, but obviously it's a hit that has stood the test of time.
I'd give this a 3/5, nothing bad and overall on the better side of things, but nothing really getting me going.
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
This going to be tough competition going up against the other Run D.M.C. album I've hit here so far, Raising Hell, which I loved. This self-titled debut album definitely doesn't have the same pull, but it's still pretty good. It's cool to see the progression of the group.
Songs are fun and have good beats but there's a lot of similarity between the tracks that makes this album drag a little. Run D.M.C is so good at making these little ditties and sounds that fit into their beats that just live in your head forever, and I love that. Their back-and-forth rapping style, bouncing off each other, is very much present from the beginning.
Favorite songs were "Hard Times" "Rock Box" and "Wake Up." Some songs had an almost industrial/electronic sound to them that I enjoyed.
Overall, a fun listen but this one didn't have the staying power or oomph as other offerings from the group. 3/5 for me.
Nick Drake
3/5
Wow two Nick Drake albums in the same week. After listening to Pink Moon, Five Leaves Left was pretty much what I expected. There were more unique instruments on this debut album, like strings and drums, and I think I liked it a bit better. It gives it more life, volume, and variance.
Five Leaves Left suffers the same problem as Pink Moon, or vice versa. It's still too samey throughout. Drake's lyrics are all delivered in the same sleepy style and it doesn't hold me for more than a few songs. It's not bad, it's just not that enthralling.
Standout tracks were "Three Hours" and " 'Cello Song"
It's another 3/5 for Drake from me. It's simply fine. Pleasant songs and lyrics, but doesn't do much more.
Queens Of The Stone Age
4/5
Effin love QOTSA. They're always on point. Crushing guitar riffs. Grooves for days. Love Homme's voice and style. This early stuff is great and throws me back into going out and seeing these guys back in high school.
This album is a little rough around the edges. It is the start of something great though. Its a transition, a blend of Kyuss/Desert Sessions/future Queens of the Stone Age, and it lays some crucial ground work.
Standouts are "Regular John" "The Bronze" "Mexicola" and "You Can't Quit Me Baby"
This is a really solid debut album and I love some of these songs, but QOTSAs next few albums really step it up. So self-titled gets a 4/5 for me, and I hope Rated R, Songs for the Dead, and Lullabies show up on here too. Those are 5s.
Lambchop
1/5
I had no idea what to expect going into this. But I think I hate it. After feeling like I had been listening for about 40 minutes, I saw I was only on track 4. This is not doing it for me.
Nixon feels like being given the ability to time travel, then only choosing to go back to the early 90s just to stand in department store customer service lines; each track a different store, a different line of faceless nobodies waiting hours to return shit they don't want, just bleak and boring, immeasurable amounts of time spent circling the drain.
The music is so unengaging and generic. It feels like it's trying to evoke a sense of nostalgia and tenderness and just fails at it miserably. It's overly cheesy. Unsufferably cheesy. The vocals are barely singing, just kinda weird whisper-talking most of the time (and cringy indecipherable falsetto other times) and in a way that just irked me constantly.
Nixon gets a rare 1/5 for me. Don't bother me with this nonsense today.
Dirty Projectors
2/5
I'm just pasting my notes in as I wrote them down during my listen. For such a weird album, I feel like not organizing or cleaning up this review is what Dirty Projectors would have wanted:
This is a weird discordant album. Bitte Orca is a dumb name that doesn't mean anything and I irrationally hate it even though lots of bands do it. I can't help it.
"Temecula Sunrise" is just chaos, and not necessarily in a good way. "Everyone do your own thing!" doesn't work for a reason. This theme persists throughout the album but to a lesser degree.
The male singer started to piss me off pretty quickly. But a lot of the lyrics are at least interesting. Harmonies are nice but off-putting sometimes.
Seems like a band trying to do too much, or cram too much into each song. Could stand to tone it back a little.
It's at least unique, I'll give them that. There's something to be said about at least standing out in a sea of the same old shit.
Standout tracks were "Temecula Sunrise" - it kinda bothered me so much that I keep thinking about it, so it definitely stood out. Dammit they got me.... and "No Intention" - really liked that little guitar theme throughout the song.
I dont know quite how to rate this, but it's got me thinking. It's an interesting listen, but one I'd probably not do again. Enough on the album kinda bothered me that it's probably a 2 out of 5, maybe a 2.5.
Pavement
3/5
This was a cool album. Not a great one, but the vibes hit on some tracks. Slacker rock sounds about right. It's messy and loud and definitely unpolished and that's what makes it interesting.
It was cool, but if I had listened to this as a kid I'd have liked it a lot more now. This wasn't something I grew up with and I don't super identify with it too much now, but if I had I know I'd have dug this really hard. It needs some time to marinate with me.
Standout tracks were "Stop Breathin" and "Unfair."
A solid listen, but an average 3/5 for me.
Steely Dan
3/5
I've listened to Steely Dan before and couldn't really get into it. This album was a little better for me, but still didn't totally grip me. There are some flashy instrumentals and some nice melodies, the lyrics didn't all hit me, but some of it was good.
Standout tracks were "Do It Again" and "Reeling In The Years" which, crazy enough, I found out are the singles from the album. The rest was pretty standard.
All in all, a very "fine" album. Gets an average 3/5 from me.
Depeche Mode
3/5
Music For The Masses has a cool industrial electronic pop feel. Easy to see where some bands like Nine Inch Nails drew some inspiration.
I thought the songs were a little slow paced though and the album as a whole didn't keep me fully interested. It's very cool to see how this type of sound has evolved over the years though.
Standout tracks were "Never Let Me Down Again" and "I Want You Now"
A solid 3/5
Tom Waits
2/5
This is some gritty, grimy, kinda-blues, kinda-rock, kinda just ballads stuff. Waits's voice is crazy. I liked the music itself, but the vocals are definitely an acquired taste.
Standout tracks on this listen were "Heartattack and Vine" "In Shades" "'Til the Money Runs Out"
I think this is not for me. I wouldn't revisit any of it and my favorite track was the instrumental. 2/5 for me.
Solange
2/5
Slow, low key R&B isn't really my thing. There are some more interesting sounding tracks on the album, but all together I wasn't really into it.
The lyrics and messaging are good and will resonate with some. I'm not the target audience here. It's nice pleasant listening overall, but not anything I'd seek out.
I generally hate spoken word interludes on albums as they tend to throw off the flow, and that kinda irked me here, but it actually wasn't too bad; the segues between songs were pretty well done.
Hate to bring it up but it's the elephant in the room: I wonder if this album would exist without the Knowles name attached. That's all I got, 2/5.
Sleater-Kinney
3/5
Dig Me Out took me a minute to dig into. The first few songs didn't do much for me, but about half way through I was digging it. Ok, I'm done digging.
The vocals are the big point of contention for most people I imagine, and I think they do sound a little samey over every song on the album, but that's like the band's whole identity. That's my point of contention on the album: the variance from song to song is pretty low. But the energy is there, and that goes a long way.
Standout tracks were "Heart Factory" "Words and Guitar" and "Little Babies."
While punk and post-punk aren't my favorite genres, this album was pretty solid and fun to give a once-over. 3/5
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
Don't know what it is about Springsteen's music but I'm just not that into it. Maybe I need to spend more time with it. There's nothing about it I particularly dislike, it just doesn't do anything for me.
Standouts were "Born to Run" and "She's the One."
I think the back half of the album was better than the front. An average 3/5 for me.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Another pretty decent bluesy entry from The Stones. It was alright, nice to listen to, nothing mind boggling.
I listened to the UK version apparently and it didn't have Paint It Black on it, so what the hell?
Standouts on this listen were "Mothers Little Helper" "Under My Thumb" and "Doncha Bother Me"
Can't give this any higher than a 3. It was fine. Not bad, not great.
Justin Timberlake
2/5
This album is cheese. JT singing about banging for an hour doesn't do it for me. He's kinda whiny on this album and I dislike parts of tracks where he talks to the audience.
I know this was a big album back in the 2000s, but I don't think it's aged particularly well, nor is it anything I really want to listen to again. Everyone knows "Cry Me a River" but everything else on this album has rightfully faded into obscurity.
2/5
Abdullah Ibrahim
3/5
This was more "composed" jazz than some other jazz entries on this list. It was nice, but overly horny (har har) for my taste. I tend to like my jazz featuring more piano and strings up front (I say as if I really ever listen to jazz).
This is pretty inoffensive for jazz though, so it was a pleasant listen. Not my favorite genre but it's good for some background listening while working or relaxing.
3/5
Super Furry Animals
4/5
I really liked this one. Coming from out of the blue, no idea who these guys are, it landed with me. The album was a real genre-bender, and it was interesting and fresh!
There are a lot of different sounds and styles on this album. It sorta lacks cohesion at first, the tones and tempos are pretty bipolar, but none of the songs are bad and it all mostly works pretty well. The mash of rock and electronic is pretty neat. "Run! Christian, Run!" was damn near a country song. The album sounds clean as hell too and I just found it engaging.
Standouts on this listen were "Sidewalk Serfer Girl" "[A] Touch Sensitive" "No Sympathy" and "Run! Christian, Run!"
Rings Around the World was a pretty wild time, and I really enjoyed it. A strong 4/5 for me, and I'm interested in hearing more from this band.
Charles Mingus
3/5
Ah, my first Mingus. You know, listening through a lot of these jazz albums on this list is starting to bring me around. I actually really really dug this. This album feels alive and has a soul.
All the instruments were lively, the tempos were unpredictable and change often, and the mood felt good throughout the listen. The runtime is very manageable too, making the album pretty approachable for an outsider.
Overall, it's not the kind of thing I listen to regularly, but I enjoyed the experience. It's a strong 3/5 for me, I wouldn't complain if I had to listen to some more.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
Pretty standard reggae. Pleasant to listen to, really no different than past Marley albums I've listened to on this list. I think Exodus beats this one out.
Standouts were "Baby We've Got A Date" "Stir It Up" and "No More Trouble"
Pretty standard 3/5. Not amazing, not bad.
Everything But The Girl
1/5
Woof, this album was rough to get through. Just boring old school sounding mom pop. Just soft and boring. Sure, the vocals are very pleasant and well done, but that can only get you so far.
I feel bad giving this 1 star but it was honestly torture to get through this album. Vocals were nice but that can't save how utterly boring this was. Idlewild was just not for me.
Ozomatli
3/5
Never heard of these guys. You're hit with a nice blend of sounds and styles right off the bat: rock rap in several languages and cool latin/middle-eastern style themes. They're boy-band sounding at times.
Even with all that going on, I kinda got bored pretty early. I was expecting similar types of fusion throughout the album, however, it quickly settles into its lane and stays there. Some of the vocals are a bit whiny. Some songs are pretty discordant at times.
Standouts were "Believe" "(Who Discovered) America?" and "Ya Viene El Sol."
Overall, Street Signs is pretty ok. It's fun. It's not anything crazy or memorable though. 3/5.
Butthole Surfers
2/5
My life has always been Butthole Surfers - adjacent. I know of them and have heard a bunch of their stuff. But never Locust Abortion Technician. After listening, well, this is pretty par for the course. Classic serial-killer rock album.
It's hard to argue that this is a good album. It's less noisy than it is mostly just noises. There are a couple real songs interspersed in between the weird ambient tracks. There are some nice guitar parts and instrumentals buried in there if you can find them.
This album is attention grabbing for sure, but I wouldn't say it's good or influential. I tend to go for the weird stuff, but this was pretty beyond anything I'd want to listen to again. I've heard worse and more boring though. Gonna be a 2/5 for me.
The Clash
3/5
Solid enough album. For sure not as great as London Calling, but a good effort. An average 3/5 for me. Not great, not bad.
Standout songs were "Janie Jones" "I'm So Bored With the USA" and "London's Burning"
Adele
3/5
Copied from my Adele - 21 review, because I still feel pretty much the same about 25:
"Adele obviously has a phenominal voice. She can belt it but also has a great raspy lower range. This style of like pop-ballads or whatever you call this genre isn't for me though. Its just forgettable outside of the couple singles that the radio played on repeat a decade ago. Musically there's not much going on - just your standard studio band playing some slower tunes. Adele is the star: you came for her and you get her singing love songs very well."
I will say, this album starts out so strong. The first few songs are very good, then it just kinda melts back into the same song over and over. The last song is a banger too, so thankfully it ends on a high note. I was hoping to give this album a better rating than the last, and I do think it's slightly better, but it's still a 3 for me. Pleasant, but outside of the singles, not really my jam.
Standouts were "Hello," "Send My Love," "Water Under the Bridge" and "Sweetest Devotion"
Guns N' Roses
5/5
Ok, every knows Appetite for Destruction is an all-time great. It was (and still is) played absolutely everywhere. Not surprised to see this here, and I haven't given it a spin in a long long time, so I'm excited to give it another run through.
The one thing that hurts this album is the overexposure everyone's had to it. I know a lot of these songs like the back of my hand. That said, it's just good classic hard rock, if a little bit dad-rock at this point. Sure I'm sick of some of it, but to be fair they're still good songs.
Standouts this time around that aren't the absolute hits are: "It's So Easy" "Mr. Brownstone" and "My Michelle" - I hateee the lyrics but the chorus is stupid catchy.
Sure the lyrics are a little cringy and gross these days, but this is a pretty great and influential rock album. Slash's guitar work is iconic, and Axl is, well, Axl. It's a front to back listen and I got a lot of time with this one in my youth. I think it's gotta be a 5.
Neu!
4/5
This is a really cool album! Didn't know anything about Neu! going in, but I dig their style. This album is mostly ambient tracks, and I like when they dug into that better than their "rockier" songs ("Hero" and "After Eight").
They take the droning, steady, beats and can throw some really nice melodies over them to create really cool sounds that sound alive. I'm here for it.
Standout tracks were "Isi" and "Seeland"
I dont think the album ended as fantastically as it started, so this one gets a 4 from me, but was very interesting and I might go seek some more from these guys.
Soul II Soul
2/5
This album is way too long. It's got a couple interesting songs, but overall isn't enough to justify every listening to it ever again. It's very 80s electro-soul, but the beats are pretty generic. The male vocalist on a few of the tracks was not very good, but he was trying really hard to sell it.
Standouts were "Keep On Movin'" and "Feel Free"
It's a 2 for me. Not my thing. Was very repetitive and I was glad when it was finally over.
Prince
2/5
My main problem with 1999 is that while I really like a lot of the melodies, they're completely marred by the "futuristic" synth and crappy drum machines. I really dislike the dated 80s drum machine sound and clap tracks so a lot of the songs fell flat for me.
Standout tracks on this listen were "1999" "Let's Pretend We're Married" and "Automatic"
I dont think Prince is my thing. I respect the hell out of what he did and he was an incredible guitarist, but this album fell a bit out of my taste profile. Overall 1999 made me more angry than not, so its gotta be a 2 from me. There are glimpses of greatness, but a lot of this album is just really annoying. It's quite long too, which didn't help it out. Bummer.
Earth, Wind & Fire
3/5
This album sounds great! It's rich and varied in sound, it's funky, soft, soulful, and raucous as you move through each track. It's pretty short and sweet, and would be fun to listen to if you're in the mood for something jazzy with wah-wah guitars, synths, and organs abound.
Standout tracks on this listen were "Shining Star" "Africano" and "See the Light.c
It's a fun listen, not my usual thing but I liked it. A solid 3 for me.
George Michael
3/5
I know how huge this album was in the 80s. It kind of held up. It's a fun, sexually charged listen, and some of the songs still sound pretty good today. There are going to be a lot of Michael Jackson comparisons, and it's hard not to hear the similarities in some of these tracks.
Synths are really cheesy sometimes, but usually the songs are catchy. "Faith" is an all time classic.
Standout tracks are "Faith" "Hard Day" and "Kissing A Fool"
Overall it's fun but a little too pop/ballad for my liking. Some great songs though. 3/5 for me.
Green Day
5/5
Love Green Day. As a teen I binged their entire discography and when this album dropped it was thrown right into the mix. Back then we used to listen to the radio all the time and I'd love when "American Idiot" was playing. I remember walking to the mall after school to pick up the album when it came out.
All that to say I really like American Idiot. Every track is unique and cool (but, but, but it's all just power chordzz hurrr durrr!!). Drums and guitar are tight as always, and BJAs vocals are iconic. I tried to pay closer attention to the drumming this listen, and it can't be overstated how good and fitting for the album Tre's drumming is.
Best tracks are literally all of them. It's a front to back listen. You can't go wrong. It's all non-stop energy and spite and rock and roll.
Definitely a 5. Maybe the last Green Day 5 banger. Gonna go back and listen to everything else up through this album again. Nobody likes you, everyone left you, they're all out without you having fun. Peace.
fIREHOSE
4/5
Never heard of these guys. It's pretty raw sounding, just the essential band pieces. But it's not bad, mostly pretty quick little rock tracks. I really liked the guitar work on the album, and some of the vocal melodies were super solid.
I was skeptical at first but by the end there were quite a few songs that I liked! Standouts on this listen were "In My Mind" "Time With You" "If'n" "Some Things" and "The Softest Hammer"
This was a surprise album for me, I think it's a definite 4. Really cool sound that I think will only grow on me with more listens.
The Velvet Underground
3/5
This album has cult-classic status these days. I've never listened to the whole thing through before today, and I just don't get it. Well, ok, I get it a little more, but I'm still not all the way there.
It's dissonant and cacophonous but still fuzzy and smooth and it works. The guitar often works against the droning rhythms of the songs but it's somehow fitting, and it's the sound that defines the band ("Heroin" being the most extreme example). I get kind of a feeling of dread and anticipation listening through the album. I can only imagine how it would sound if I was listening in the 60s and 70s and high as a kite.
My dislikes are 1) Nico's vocal parts. She kind of kills any momentum the band had picked up between her appearances and 2) ending the album on "European Son" just sucked. Absolutely killed any vibes I got from the album. It was like bleaching your brain in a bad way to forget everything good you just heard and sending you off with a kick in the ass.
Standout tracks on this listen were "Sunday Morning" "Venus In Furs" and "All Tomorrow's Parties"
I'll have to sit with this one for a minute, but I think it's a 3/5 for me. It certainly doesn't deserve any less, but I don't know if I think it's that great. There were too many things that irked me.
Foo Fighters
5/5
Dave Grohl is a beast. The man played everything on this album and recorded it in 6 days. It's a little rough and raggedy, but mourning your friend while playing everything by yourself almost off the cuff in 6 days will probably do that to you, so it's to be expected. And it's damn impressive for it to sound as comprehensive and good as it does.
Standouts tracks for me are "I'll Stick Around" "Big Me" and "Floaty"
For me, its a really solid album. I like the rawness. Now the question is: is this a 4 or 5 star album? A lotttt of people bitch that Foo Fighters is boring. Some of it, sure, could be better. I'd like to see anyone lay down 12 songs on an album in a week playing every instrument yourself and do better. Factor that into this and how big Foo Fighters got, this is a crazy starting point.
It's hard to judge this album based on other FF offerings in their catalog. They have "better" work. But considering this standalone, I think I'm going for a 5. It was just a fun, fuzzy listen. It's an insane origin story.
Paul Simon
3/5
Hearts and Bones was not at all what I was expecting going into this listen. "Allergies" really sets a pumping, drum machine and guitar solo filled 80s tone. It would have been great to continue like that, but alas it's a one-off. "Hearts and Bones" brings it back more to the Paul Simon sound I'm used to. It bounces all around after that before settling into a typical Simon lullabye on the back half of the album.
Standout tracks on this listen were "Allergies" "Hearts and Bones" and "Think Too Much (b)"
I like Simon's voice. Songs were interesting and didn't drag too much. The vibe was weird on this album though. It hopped genres a lot, the second half was a little slow. This one gets a solid 3/5.
Suicide
3/5
What a wild album. It gives major 70s & 80s slasher flick vibes. The use of synth and very lofi electronic beats really makes these songs foreboding and evil sounding.
Vocals are mostly spoken with heavy use of effects. This gives the songs a schizophrenic feel, but because every song is exactly like this, it gets a little tiresome. The music is interesting, but the lyrics are pretty bland. I get it's all social commentary, but it gets pretty off-putting hearing a guy whisper about Johnny and Frankie for 40 minutes. Speaking of, "Frankie Teardrop," just... holy shit.
The standout track was really just "Rocket USA" for me this time around.
At least it's not a long album. I like the use of the droning repetitive synths giving the album a creepy vibe, but it's all a little too samey. It's bleak and, sure, it was a trailblazing album, but it's gotta be a 3/5 for me at best, and I appreciate the uniqueness of it.
Fatboy Slim
5/5
God, this album encapsulates the 90s for me. It's full of earworms and it's a fun listen. Some of these songs were everywhere when I was growing up.
So much nostalgia here. But is it good? Outside of some repetitiveness, I'd say hell yeah, it's very good. Cook has assembled some banging beats and quirky electronic accents and vocals that mesh really well together. The songs build and swell and its kinda everything you want out of this genre.
Standout tracks on this listen were "The Rockafeller Skank" "Gangster Trippin" "Kalifornia" and "Praise You"
I think its gotta be a 5 from me. A couple songs were a little lacking and "Fucking In Heaven" was pretty cringe-worthy, but it's all kinda forgivable considering how catchy the whole album is. I'd pop this back on any day.
David Bowie
3/5
What is this, Bowie album #5 for me? They've been all over the spectrum rating-wise, let's see where this one lands.
Low lives in the world of mediocre Bowie. It's a very ok album. Nothing in this album really hooked me and it was a pretty quick in and out adventure. Low lacked the really good lyrical songwriting you see in other Bowie options, and it felt a little phoned in. I get the whole Berlin Trilogy thing, and this is a "piece of art," but it's not doing it for me. It's an album split down the middle and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Standout tracks were "Sound and Vision" and "Weeping Wall"
I really don't think this list needs 5+ (because I'm sure there are more) Bowie albums. Damn. It does sound a bit ahead of its time, but that doesn't pull it up from an average 3 for me.
Pink Floyd
5/5
First listen: This is such an underwhelming album for me. I honestly don't get it, and it makes me think something is wrong with me because I usually go for this stuff. The only song I enjoy is "Wish You Were Here." I actually might give it another try tomorrow just to give it one more fair shot because this is such a huge album.
After my second listen: ok, must have been my mood yesterday because this kinda slaps. The guitar and synth and bass is way lusher, and I'm way more into the slower sound and solos. I think listening method and mood totally make or break this album.
Wish You Were Here is a conceptual tribute album for a friend and bandmate, but it feels like a sci fi rock opera about the world using you and chewing you up and spitting you out. It's minimalist in a sense but so full to the brim of great sounds and feeling, and it really sticks the landing conceptually. It's actually kinda perfect and I don't know what you could change to make it better. That's probably why it's an all-timer, huh?
I've done a total 180 on this album. My first time through I was ready to rate this a 2 or 3, but Jesus I'm glad I gave it another spin. This is a front to back listen; all the songs work well together, although the middle the tracks work as singles. Damn, I think I'm giving it a 5.
The Darkness
5/5
Permission to Land is fucking chaos in the best way possible. They are very much a deranged glam rock version of ACDC. It's fun, often shallow, stupid, and overindulgent, but fun, and you can tell the band loved doing this and that's huge.
Guitars are blazing, drums chugging, vocals screeching, everything's firing on all cylinders. The melodies are a really strong point on the album, and the songs are just catchy and to the point. Hawkins's voice is somewhat annoying to listen to for the entire album, but that's kind of the only downside here for me. Even then it's not bad, c'mon. He's got a vibe and he goes with it.
Standout tracks were "Growing on Me," "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" - duh - and "Givin' Up"
Goddammit I think it's gotta be a 5 for me. I'd like to see anyone else having as much fun as these guys in this day and age. Great debut album that I'd listen to all the way through again happily.
Common
2/5
Pretty standard hip hop album. Nothing really jumped out at me. Nice easy listening, a little boring.
If the whole album blends together for me, it's a 2. I just listened and already can't remember any of it. Not bad, just not... anything.
Donald Fagen
1/5
This is probably what's playing on the elevator on the way down to hell. It makes me think of a department store full of recirculated perfume-scented air and fluorescent lighting. Ugh, it's boring, cheesy dreck in audio format.
At first I was thinking this is an easy 2 star album because, ok, theres a couple nice guitar pieces and some instrumentation but I don't like it. By the time I got through "The Nightfly" and "The Goodbye Look" I knew I hated this. It's just so offensively nothing and stupid I think I have to take it down to a 1. I don't want any part of this. I was never here. I'll deny everything.
Talking Heads
4/5
Remain In Light is a zany experience. It's really interesting. It takes a hot second to get really firing and then it's off to the races.
First half of the album is great, then the last few songs kind of go off the rails in a strange, creepy, ambient stream-of-consciousness monologing kind of way. It's like the album devolves from a happy mixed-genre funky mish-mash to a slow, dreary, psychadelic contemplative place. I'm here for it.
Favorite tracks on this listen were "Crosseyed and Painless" "The Great Curve" and "Once in a Lifetime" - an absolute classic - this trio of songs is incredible.
I like the twists of electronic influence, love Byrne's style, and it's overall a really cool album. I dont know if it's an all timer though. With some time to sit with it and more listens, maybe. A very strong 4 for me.
Elvis Presley
3/5
Elvis's debut! This is pretty quaint rock and roll these days, full of cheesy love songs and ballads, but it's still kind of fun to listen to.
For me, Elvis's voice is kind of annoying at times. It's interesting to hear how different he sounds from track to track too with 50s recording equipment. It's a short and sweet album, not bad but something I'm probably not going to go back to. A solid 3.
Miriam Makeba
3/5
Cool album, Miriam's voice is really nice and can be powerful or subtle depending on what effect she's trying to achieve. She nails it in several languages, another impressive aspect of the album.
Standout tracks for me were "Mbube" and "Nomeva."
It's not really my style, but there's no denying the talent here. Overall it reminds me of an old movie soundtrack a little. It's a solid 3 for me; very cool and glad I got to give it a listen!
Big Star
4/5
Very solid album. The first half is strong, but the second lags a bit unfortunately. Still, some really good rock and roll. It shows it's age a little bit.
Standout tracks were "Feel" "In The Street" and "Thirteen"
I think #1 Record gets a 4 for me, pretty good and I'd love another listen sometime.
The White Stripes
4/5
Big fan of Jack White but I was never really into the White Stripes. I'm excited to give this a proper listen through.
The album has a haunted feel to it that I like. They play with tempo changes and melodies and rhythms that shouldn't necessarily go together, but do really nicely. There's a varied use of instruments, which is cool and makes the album seem like it has many more than two musicians. The fact that they recorded the whole album in their house is really dope too.
The negatives: I don't like Meg's voice. Sorry. Thankfully she's not the main focus. I can't really rag on her without also saying that Jack's vocals are also kinda whiny a lot of the time. The drumming definitely shines through when it comes into play, but its often overshadowed by the wealth of other instruments present on the albun. Get Behind Me Satan just doesn't quite click with me all the way through, but I really like most of it.
Standout tracks were "The Nurse" "My Doorbell" and "Little Ghost."
There's a lot to unpack here and I feel like there will be something new to discover each time you listen. It's a 4 for me.
Eminem
4/5
I remember sneaking listens to this album as well as the Eminem Show when I was a kid. I've been a fan forever, and this album is dope.
I feel like the Slim Shady persona was for sure an artifact of the times, and I'd argue it was a necessary one. Every kid in school knew this LP, and every parent was, predictably, against it. Eminem plays up the age old argument that art causes violence by hamming it up to the extreme and calling out the hypocrisy of, well, everything. People claim the lyrics are horrible and violent and childish, and sure, they are, but look at most every other rap album (and a lottttt of rock albums) in existance; there's really very little difference.
Musically though the beats are heavy and Eminem's rhymes and flows are freaking pristine. It's just a cool album, playing up a "horror" aspect of music which is not widely explored territory in the industry.
Standout tracks are "Kill You" "Stan" "The Real Slim Shady" and "Amityville"
I dislike the skits and I assume they are as bad as they are because he's making fun of skits that appear on most rap albums. Either way they bring the album down like they always do. The album's also too long.
Overall I can put aside my nitpicks as there are a lot of bangers on the album and it's a major hit of nostalgia. It's a 4.5 for me, almost perfect but there are a few songs that need to be chopped and in spite of what it is some of it is pretty cringe-worthy today.
Leonard Cohen
2/5
Oh goddammit more Leonard Cohen. I begged for no more and the universe did not listen.
Alright, so we've jumped forward to right before Cohen's death, and we now have raspy old man Cohen talking at us. The music is more produced, and I actually like it better than the older stuff, which is not saying a lot because I have no love for Cohen's music or style.
Standout tracks for me were "You Want It Darker" "On The Level" and "Traveling Light"
I liked the subject matter of the album, it's grim and personal; the thoughts and words of a dying man reckoning with his fate. But Leonard Cohen is still just so boring to me. Every song is mostly the same. It's a bit better than some others of his, but not by much. It's fine to experience once, but I don't see myself ever revisiting this. The music itself is more fleshed out and interesting, but it's still 2 stars for me.
The Damned
2/5
This was a mediocre punk rock album for me. Not bad, but nothing really exciting. You can hear a lot of influence of some of these songs in later bands though.
Nothing really thrilled me about the album. I kinda feel this way about most British punk and post-punk. Negative points for the demented circus song "These Hands." I freaking hate when bands do crap like that.
It's a 2 for me. Just didn't get anything out of Machine Gun Etiquette.
Garbage
3/5
Solid enough debut album from Garbage. It's a bit on the forgettable side though. The vocals fall pretty flat for me, guitars sound generic and there's nothing truly adventurous here. I mean, it sounds good, but not terribly exciting.
Even the singles off this album are just "ok." This one gets a 3, some ok songs but I'm really just not interested.
PJ Harvey
3/5
I didn't like this album as much as the other PJ Harvey I've heard on here. The music wasn't as deep, dark, or harsh which was my favorite part of Rid of Me. Let England Shake was more simplistic sounding and the lyrics way more politically focused (which is fine and not an issue here, just not what I prefered), but theyre very attention grabbing.
The whole album seemed more childish or playful in style, which is kind of weird to me in relation to the subject matter of the album. If there was any time to be dark and gloomy on an album, I'd say it would probably be the concept album about war. Maybe it's this juxtaposition that makes it a bit intriguing though?
Still, cool album, was an interesting listen. I'd have probably liked it more if I was British, but it's a solid 3/5. Solid idea, decent-to-well-done execution, but far from perfect to me. I really like PJ Harvey though and can see how people love this album, but I think her other work suits me a bit more.
Standout tracks for me were "All and Everyone" "On Battleship Hill" and "Written on the Forehead."
Billy Joel
3/5
Billiam Joel ain't for me. He's a weird nostalgia trip for a life I never lived. My parents never listened to him so neither did I - this is actually my first full Billy Joel album listened to all the way through - and I just have no attachment to it whatsoever.
The songs are pretty richly told stories, but they just sound dated and campy. It's all a bit overperformed. But still, there are some pretty decent tracks on here.
Standouts are "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" - I both kinda enjoyed and cringed at it, I dunno, it's complicated - "Only the Good Die Young" "She's Always A Woman" and "Get It Right the First Time"
The second half of the album picks up, but then "Everybody Has a Dream" brings it back down to end in mediocrity, which is a shame. I just wish the songs didn't sound as cheesy as they do. There's a lot thats good about The Stranger but a lot that bugs me. It's a 3/5 for me.
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
3/5
Ah man, listening to salsa at a desk at work is not really doing it for me. You gotta be in a bar or restaurant or club or something to really get into this one.
It's a good album but not really what I'm gonna go seek out. But I can't deny it's catchy and you just want to have a drink and dance to it. It's a 3/5 for me. Hit me up with this again on a Saturday night with drinks and dancing, though, and we'll talk....
The Only Ones
2/5
I knew exactly what this album was going to sound like from the cover art. Its rock with some tracks dabbling a bit on the jazzier side, and it's just kind of meh, I'd say.
The lead vocalist bothered me, definitely not my favorite. The whole thing was just kinda boring, outside of a few guitar parts that has some flair.
Standout track was "The Beast." There were probably one or two other decent ones but I don't know the titles and won't be going back in to figure it out.
It's a 2 for me, The Only Ones were not the ones for me. Liars.
Wire
2/5
Highly annoying album. I'm growing pretty weary of British post-punk stuff. It's alright in small doses, and thankfully all the songs on Pink Flag were short, that's one positive.
Every time I thought there was a song that I liked, the band would do something to make it annoying. The vocals were jarring, repetitive organ chords, repetitive lyrics, etc. etc. I actually really liked the guitar tone on most of the tracks, it just couldn't carry the rest of the band.
I guess the OK tracks were "Pink Flag" "106 Beats That" "Strange" but I don't really want to listen to any of them over again.
2/5. At least it was quick.
The Icarus Line
3/5
Pretty solid album from a band I'd never heard of before. A bit too much "noise" for my taste to hold me through an entire album, but man, I've heard worse on this project.
There's some nice fuzz and hard guitars. Penance Soiree gets better as it goes on. I was skeptical after the first couple tracks but the album ends strong. I added a couple bangers to a playlist.
Standouts are "Getting Bright at Night" "Seasick" and "Party the Baby Off."
A pretty decent 3/5 for me. Prooooobably won't check out any more of these guys, but definitely wouldn't turn away if I heard more.
Air
3/5
Cool ambient, relaxed album. It was excellent background listening, and I didn't get pissed off or annoyed by any of it. I didn't get a whole lot of excitement either, but it wasn't bad.
3/5, pretty inoffensive, was maybe groundbreaking at the time but doesn't do a whole lot for me these days. Would listen again though!
Santana
5/5
Abraxas freaking rocks. I grew up with a lot of these songs and I had a great time jamming to them again. Santana's a legend. This is a perfect latin/rock fusion album, not a bad track on the damn thing.
Standout tracks are "Black Magic Woman" "Oye Como Va" and "Hope You're Feeling Better."
Its a pretty solid 5 for me. I could listen to this album any day.
Morrissey
3/5
Ah, the lord of doom and gloom is at it again. I think I liked the last Morrissey album I got on here a little better than this one. It was ok, would hit the spot if you were in the mood for some brooding and seething.
Had some good rock tracks, and didn't overstay its welcome, but its a 3/5 for me.