Bluesy, country-influenced rock.... Flashy guitar passages..... Visions of Mick Jagger..... Much like all past Rolling Stones, this album was sadly doomed to a 2....
What the hell was that??? Straight garbage from beginning to end. The vocals are a drunken, mumbling mess, with "L.A." being a highlight in how annoying Mark E. Smith's singing can be. The backing instrumentations aren't much better - at their best they're basic and repetitive; at their worst they're competing with the vocals in being as annoying as possible (the harmonica on Couldn't Get Ahead somehow wins that one). I didn't pay attention to the lyrics, muffled and slurred as they were, but I don't think I'm missing much if Spoilt Victorian Child is anything to go by. Dogshit. Just pure, concentrated booty.
A surprisingly strong example of politically conscious rap. It does dip into #im14andthisisdeep territory now and then, but I suppose his heart is in it, and it's a rawness and honesty that I can respect - if nothing else, at least the pen game behind it all is consistently impressive. The album does also benefit from great production, not just from the excellent jazzy beats, but also its storytelling through the use of samples. On that note, my personal highlight on this album is the intermission track INS Greencard A-19 cleverly evoking some of the alienation and red tape immigrants face through sound design alone. Sad to say that the hysteria on illegal immigration has only gotten worse since. Overall it's far from perfect, but I think it treads ground that not many hiphop albums do, and I think that does deserve some recognition. Standouts: Satanic Reverses • Language Of Violence • INS Greencard A-19 191 500 • Music and Politics
FIRST LISTEN - Vocals really didn't gel with me, and they stopped me from appreciating the instrumentals. Might have to listen again just for that. Standout tracks were LETS GO AWAY FOR A WHILE and PET SOUNDS, precisely because there were no vocals. These reminded me a lot of Masayoshi Takanaka, in that tropical summer dreamy vibe. Other than that, kinda meh for me. 2/5
Classic My least listened to album of his from that era The synths are on point on this one Liberian Girl is still a standout to me
Louis Prima somehow has a different style for each song, from a call-and-response big band track in The Lip, to some slower but still fully jazzy tracks like Body and Soul. This came out of left field as a type of music I rarely explore, but it absolutely delivered. This album is so much fun, and on top of that the musicians behind it are GOOD. Giving this 5 ⭐ because of the listening experience
Nutty guitar all the way through Wish I could dive deeper into some lyrics Petit Metier stood out in particular
The vocals constantly distract from some legitimately banger arrangements 💀 -Standouts- Venus as a Boy was genuinely pretty, reminded me of a Little Dragon song Come to Me: the instrumental really shines here. Felt almost nostalgic for some reason 2⭐ only because these two songs did make me go back a few times. The rest of the album was a hard listen tho
Good fuckin album The bassline on Josie is 🤌✨ Very strong 4⭐ - nothing life changing, just some banger music EDIT 3 days later and just about every song is on loop in my head. This is more than a banger
Listened to it while cooking and had a fun time. Once my food was done, I still had 1h30 left. At that point I tapped out, it was too much of the same. To me then this album is great in adding a classy, old-school soundtrack to life. But as front to back, critical listening deal? I couldn't even do it for the challenge. In the end though, my carne adobada came out delicious as fuck, and maybe I have Ella to thank for that.
👋 Jazz 👋 This whole album feels heavy in experimentation - no minute goes by without a total switchup in the song structure. Maybe this is the zoomer in me, or maybe it's just a style of jazz I'm not used to, but as an album experience it felt absolutely disorienting. With so many different ideas every second, though, you do end up with a lot of very cool individual moments. Standout track was Bemsha Swing
This album fucked me up. My ass is not made for noise rock. Standouts: When You Sleep, Soon
The first two tracks were okay, but had me thinking this was going to be a bit of a generic rock album. I'm so glad I was proven wrong - everything that followed was weird, psychedelic, funky and fun. Some instrumental tracks (such as Butter the Soul) had me thinking, "this would go hard with Damon Albarn vocals and a guest rapper" - well damn if Candyman didn't deliver on that exact vibe later in the album🔥🔥 Lots of different genres at play here, but all around it was an enjoyable listen
An overall cohesive and energetic listen, but not much stood out to me. Certainly a refreshing listen in this challenge. Standouts: The Day I Tried To Live, Kickstand
I really dug the instrumentals, most tracks have a lot of layers to them. Other than some fuckass lyrics here and there (the dictionary song has straight stinkers from line 1) there really is a lot to enjoy here. 2.8 ⭐
Keep the Streets Empty For Me has a cinematic atmosphere that I enjoyed. As much as I tried to appreciate the album's production, I cannot give it more than 1⭐ when I actively despised the singer's voice on every single track.
As a big fan of hiphop I was excited to finally see some representation in this list. This album was a first listen for me, but being familiar with the members' later work, it was super fascinating to hear them at this very early stage of their career - notably Dr Dre's production and Ice Cube's rapping. Unfortunately, I don't think the album has aged terribly well, and don't see myself coming back to it much. Definitely a prime choice for this list nonetheless, and I appreciate its huge influence on everything that would come after it.
Absolute banger from beginning to end. Layered, jazzy, funky, with some fresh latin flavor and a dash of psychedelic. Easy 5⭐on first listen.
I found the vocalist to be really grating on first listen, but the rest of the band sounded really fuckin great so I gave it a few more tries over the course of the day. Eventually I warmed up to the vocals and everything clicked. Today, the British won.
I see the potential in Dog Man Star. This album had a couple of outstanding tracks (highlights: We Are the Pigs, Asphalt World), however they were usually followed by one or two duds that took me out of the album.
Some good jazz tunes, the vocals have some oldie recording quality that really adds to the charm. Standouts : Blueberry Hills, Blue Monday
It was..... Okay. Decent instrumentation throughout, but nothing that stuck with me. Sounded like background bar rock. One track did stand out as pure garbage, and it was ironically not "Trash" but rather "Frankenstein" with horrendous vocals that go on for 6 minutes??? Not all of the album is like that, but it IS just about the only thing I can recall about the album by the end of my listen. Actually, no, "-Ah, how you call your loverboy? -TRASH" did stand out as a great line. Perhaps I was too harsh.
From the moment I saw the album cover I knew this would be a fun one, and it did not disappoint. Every song has a different mood, the slower moments feel classy, and they always pick right back up with some type of fun and energetic (dare I say 💥 explosive) swing. This is some of the best jazz we've had on the list. Bravo Mr Basie 👏
Nothing clicked for me on this album. The very last track had some interesting drumming, but that's about it.
I have many memories with RHCP, and always enjoyed their bigger hits but never really bothered to sit down with their albums. This record has an insanely good run from tracks 1-8, and proceeds to shit the bed for the rest of its runtime. I'm fairly used to the band's questionable lyricism, and yet I Like Dirt still stood out as particularly awful writing. The last song, Road Trippin', is at least a real breath of fresh air to close the album, genuinely good song. Overall this is a bad album with some absolute banger tracks. Even the bad songs have some great instrumentations that are soured by Anthony Kiedis' weird-ass singing/rapping.
Now I'm a sucker for soul and disco, so I was very easy to please with this album. Some of the sounds are pretty dated by today's standards, and from a critical listening standpoint, a lot of the songs overstayed their welcome by 1-2 minutes. None of this stopped me from 🕺 BOOGYING 🕺 though. The 6-minute pan flute track hit me by pure surprise, and was ironically one of the few songs that never got old/repetitive - banger the whole way through. Highlights: Holdin' On, Feeling Free, African Dance
Ehhhhh *muffled guitar noises (Live)*
A lot of rock with country influence which I personally am not a fan of, but I wouldn't totally discredit it just for that. I at least appreciated the variety here, with every track trying something a bit different.
On first listen, this was pretty horrible. The music is messy and the singing sounds like rambling. It was once I read up on the album's context that I saw it in a new light. A close friend of mine was once admitted under very similar circumstances to Spence's. He's better now, but visiting him on those days he was unlike himself in ways that I see reflected here, on tracks like Weighted Down, Broken Heart, and Grey/Afro. Isolation, confusion and spirituality are prevalent throughout. Of course, I can't possibly claim to truly know what they were going through. I did however end up approaching and reflecting upon the album in a way I didn't expect.
Going in blind for this one was a bad idea. I did two first listens without looking up lyrics and was very confused, as this is a VERY narrative-focused concept album. This took me by surprise since my only true experience with Pink Floyd beforehand was Wish You Were Here, a much more straightforward, instrument-forward album. I could tell I was missing something though, so I sat down and did a full dedicated third listen with lyrics and a cold one in hand--- All I can say is DAMN. What a hard-hitting cinematic experience. The Trial + Outside The Wall was an incredibly cathartic ending (somehow even when I didn't understand the lyrics!). To truly give it a 5 I'd have to warm up to some of the songs a bit. Especially during the middle I felt that the pacing was a bit slow, though it did make for a great buildup to bigger moments like Comfortably Numb. 4.5⭐️ EDIT - 3 days after this review, The Wall has remained on constant loop in my head. The depth of this album is unbelievable. Now being familiar with the songs, the production and details stand out a lot more. Absolute cinema - 5 star experience
Another bit of a miss from the Rolling Stones, for me personally. At least it had some interesting moments like Can't You Hear Me Knocking and Moonlight Mile!
FUNKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK ( 益 )
The first half of the album was forgettable. Every review was revering the final track, the 17-minute legend, the one and only title track, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. ....Shit, I think everyone gets misled by the runtime into thinking it's a masterpiece. I waited the entire duration for something interesting to happen and it just *never came*. It's all a series of instrumental noodling sections - if you were to separate each section into its own track, nobody would talk about this. It's just not that good I'll give it its props - Termination and Are You Happy were very decent, and the bass guitar throughout the album was pretty fucking great! With that said, maybe it's my fault for getting baited by the reviews, but my disappointment is unmeasurable. This is not an album I'd come back to either way, so for that reason I exercise my right to be a hater 😭
Pretty good music! Some of the earlier tracks were a bit on the weirder side, but the album really picked up after Tick. I especially enjoyed the singer's voice, I'd be interested in exploring some of their other material in the future. Standouts: Black Tongue, Maps, Y Control
Against all odds, the Stones have rolled in for a third time this week, and I am once again underwhelmed. 3 tracks out of the first 4 were pretty decent, but everything that followed was ehhhh. Special mention to the bad trip that is Gone Home: the 11 minute experience of Mick Jagger grunting. Even if I were to rate this by the US version, which has Paint It Black (🔥) and an all-around tighter tracklist, this is once again a miss from the Rolling Stones.
With such an iconic opening track, I felt a bit let down that the sound never built up or shifted in any surprising way. Instead, it’s *ei o let's go* on repeat, and nothing particularly revealing or adventurous past that. Still, it's certainly impressive how consistently fun this album is all the way through.
Very talented band, but the vocalist got on my nerves by the end of the album with constant voice cracks and angsty delivery Standout: The Hives Are Law, You Are Crime
First Hendrix experience here. As daunting as the runtime was, this album offers so many bangers that I can't quite complain. Phenomenal guitar playing all around that makes you wonder if this is even from the 60s - by this point in the challenge I thought that era was all roots and blues. No wonder this guy's a legend!
Once again an album where the vocalist gets massively carried by a phenomenal band. At times the singing sounds like bad karaoke underneath layers of reverb. This put me off enough that I can't *quiiiiite* justify a 3. Solid project otherwise!
Talking Timbuktu was very refreshing at this point in the challenge. Laid back and full of warmth, it had me in a good mood with just its first few songs. Although some of the middle tracks felt a bit drawn out on first listen, the overall vibe was strong enough to briefly make me consider a 5⭐️. Definitely one I will keep in the rotation and could see growing on me with time.
It's funny, the beats here are heat, the flow is acrobatic, and anytime I checked the lyrics I was impressed by Jeru's skill with the pen. And yet, I feel like it somehow fails to stand out much compared to other similar albums from this era. As technically impressive as it is, I don't see myself coming back to it much, though it is some good fuckin boombap.
This is some jazz that anybody, from the turbonormies to the jazzheads, can enjoy 🔥 Bravo Mr Davis
A couple of times I thought to myself, "perhaps this is the album that gets me to enjoy the folk genre". Songs like Over the Hill were very enjoyable, and mixed with some more jazzy elements on other tracks consistently kept it fresh. Ultimately I'm not quite there yet with the genre, but this was one of the better examples of it I've had. Not a bad listen!
I was expecting something groovier and more latin influenced from the band that brought us Low Rider. Heartbroken to say that this fell flat for me.
Hella funky, hella groovy, tons of variety from song to song. I don't quite see this one making it into my rotation, but for the purpose of the challenge it was a banger. Standouts: Rockafeller Stank • Gangster Trippin
What surprised me here was the production, which absolutely SHINED and complemented Madonna's voice beautifully. Lots of musical details - like the little guitar riffs all throughout Skin - make this a very fun and textured album that will be great to revisit. Standouts: Skin • Nothing Really Matters • To Have and Not to Hold
One must not be fooled by the name "Cowboy Junkies"; this defied my expectations of what country music could be. It's slow but never boring, with beautiful instrumental work and a very pleasant singing voice. Super chill 52 minutes. Standouts: Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis) • Dreaming My Dreams With You
This one wasn't really my thing. The slower songs to take up most of the album, and I felt they didn't do anything very interesting in that time. At least when the pace does pick up, on songs like You Can't Have Me and Till The End Of The Day, it does get pretty good.
Excellent basslines and synths. They are really good at setting an ambience! The run from Fascination Street to Disintegration was absolute 🔥 on my first listen. Somehow that enjoyment dwindled past that first experience though, and that same run of 5-9min tracks was feeling a tiny bit stretched out by the end of my second/third listen. I respect the talent so much, but I don't think it quite makes it into my rotation!
Short and sweet listen. Bangin instrumentals. I can see how the singer's voice could be polarizing, but it never took me out of the songs too much. Standouts: Oh, Me • I'm A Mindless Idiot
The concept behind this album is pretty interesting for its time, I'll give it that. I liked some of the humour and lyricism here and there. Musically, I don't think I enjoyed a single song. The commercial jingles were the high points on here, ironically enough. I suppose it's an era of Rock that continues to elude me. 1.5/5
The arrangements here are so so so gorgeous. "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!" was so beautiful on first listen that I had to take some time to process it. And then once more after "Chicago". The storytelling is another of Sufjan's strengths, though it does take some digging on Genius to fully understand it. Still, it made Casimir Pulaski Day one of my favorite songs here. With such high highs, what does end up bringing the album down a bit is its 74min runtime. It feels harsh to say because the Illinois concept is genuinely so fun and unique, and every track an important contribution to that.... it just ends up diluting itself a bit by the end.
A 1986 album that mostly sounds 20 years older than its contemporaries. Elvis puts a "modern" twist here and there, but when it's riffing off the worst era of rock music to begin with, it's just not very appealing.
"En garde, I'll let you try my Wu-Tang style!" RZA's production is a fucking treat - dark, grimy beats that get your head bopping, as it should be for this sort of rap. And the use of martial arts movie samples? Absolute peak 🔥 This is, however, a Method Man joint, and good production only gets him so far. His energy and delivery are great, but his flow and rhymes are nothing mind-blowing or deep.
This gave me occasional flashes of The Cure, but poppier. It's a bit weird that a 2005 album sounds 15 years older than it is, but it's pretty alright.
First Bowie experience. He has an uniquely theatrical vocal style. The accompanying instrumentals are very layered, very fun. Dirty Boys has a sax and guitar combo that goes pretty hard. It would probably take more than a few listens to really get this album. Nothing has me immediately coming back to it, though I doubt that an album this late in his career is an appropriate entry point for a first time listener. Still some solid music tho
Bowie does two sides really well: the all gas no brakes first half, and the slower, provocative, soundscapey second half. There is no transition between the two. What context calls for an album sequenced like this? .....I don't have an answer. I'll instead choose to see it as two very different but delicious cakes, and in that sense this is an excellent music experience. Highlights: Sound and Vision, Subterraneans
PRIMAL, ENERGETIC, MENACING, NOISY, MATHEMATIC. MUSIC TO RAM THROUGH A FUCKING BRICK WALL 👹🐂 Standouts: Luau, New Intro, Sinews
Pretty good grungy textures and atmosphere all through the album, contrasted with Shirley Manson's absolutely beautiful voice. I think my one gripe is that at a certain point, all of the tracks start to feel the same. They're all technically good, but even the standouts don't have very memorable moments. Solid experience nonetheless! Standouts: A Stroke Of Luck • Fix Me Now
Now, I considered myself a Certified ’60s Hater, having had a rough time with other classic albums from that era (Pet Sounds, My Generation, etc.). Somehow, The Everly Brothers totally sidestep that hate and deliver something genuinely fun. In concept it's laughably basic - all of it's just kind of dated songs about love and girls - but it manages to be really charming in its simplicity. By the end of the record I was ready to go out and buy my girl some flowers. Very unexpected 4 from me, in a rare W for the 60s. Standouts: It's Always You • Donna Donna
Lots of weirdness but none of it sounds very good. It's so dramatic and flamboyant it makes me want to set myself on fire
Pet Sounds was my very first album on this challenge, and my feelings toward Smile are much the same - I love the production, but the cotton-candy sweetness of their singing wears thin real fast. It feels really silly to dislike something so cheerful and whimsy in sound, especially given the sheer ambition on display. It's all the more a shame to not fully enjoy the project in light of Brian Wilson's passing yesterday. Try as I might, though, I just can't seem to vibe with the music. Standout: Heroes & Villains
Fat fucking riffs Standouts: The Straightener • Changes • Snowblind • Laguna Sunrise
Sort of bland... I somehow expected this to be a quirky '90s alt-teen experience. Instead the whole thing just kind of came and went. Standout: Hannah & Gabi
Did Bitte Orca NEED to be on the list? Questionable... I didn't fall in love with the album, but it's a unique, quirky experience and a welcome breath of fresh air through the usual early rock stuff on here. I put this on the speaker, and looking past the sometimes overbearing vocalizations, it was a decently fun vibe. Standout: Useful Chamber
What can I say, this is one of the R&B GOATs. The songs are ear candy, with some incredibly evocative storytelling if you care to dig deeper. And I just have to mention my love for the ending track, the sound design just puts you straight into that scene, and there's something about it that makes it a comforting, if bittersweet, end to the album. I remember it taking me a while to get into his music, so had this been my first listen, it might have been rated lower. By now though, I have had many years and memories with it, and it deserves nothing but the fattest of 5s. Standouts: Sierra Leone, Sweet Life, Pyramids, Lost
I want to say I liked this, but at the same time almost nothing stuck with me. A lot of it sounded like a other stuff I've heard before. Maybe that's a testament to its influence? I don't know. It was fine. Standout: If I Can't Change Your Mind
You can never know what to expect on a foreign album with a language barrier, but the vibes completely won on Lam Toro. These guys know rhythm!! I also noticed some remarkably clean production, and I highly recommend listening to Sy Sawande with headphones on - it's a simple track, but the way the guitars were recorded is ear candy. Had a lot of fun with this one! Standouts: Hamady Boiro • Daniibe • Sy Sawande • Ndelorel • Minuit
Neil Young was sadly not the vibe today. Now, the instrumentations and atmosphere were actually pretty great! I just don't think they were unique enough to warrant tolerating Young's singing style, which felt more like rambling than anything else. For The Turnstiles was an especially rough listen. I'm sure I could eventually warm up to this album and enjoy it, because it certainly had some cool stuff going on. Maybe a future Neil Young project will win me over, who knows. Standout: On The Beach
These German dudes were fucking around with synths in 1977 and truly ended up in the future - a lot of this sounds like electronic music from much later that I enjoy now. Now that's cool and all, but the listening experience here is just ok. I didn't totally vibe with the robot voice.
The energy was on point from track 1, but it was only until No One Has that I really started ROCKIN. There's some very good stuff on here, but there's also a lot of ehhh which holds it back from a 4. Standouts: No One Has, If I Think, In 'n' Out Of Grace
This album is fun as hell. It's super goofy - there's a 4min track of yo mama jokes; at one point they smoke a blunt with a 4yo kid - but the beats are good and they're all rapping their ass off. Just don't mind the dated lyrics here and there.
Van Halen cooks some absolute guitar riff wizardry here. If Electric Ladyland hadn't come up earlier on the list, this is what I would have imagined Hendrix to sound like. I debated giving this a 5, but I'm not sure how well it's gonna stick with me long-term. I'm 3 listens in, and I can only really recall You Really Got Me. That said, I do know what to put on when I want to hear some sick riffs in the future. Standouts: You Really Got Me • Jamie's Crying • On Fire
The first listen was very fun. Zuton Fever is an instant earworm and sets up the vibe of the album pretty well - a kind of wacky vibe that's also present in the cover art. I liked that every song feels very different from one another, while staying coherent with the sound of the band. Unfortunately a lot of the weirdness and wackiness that was fun and interesting the first time around, got real old on further listens. I found myself skipping a lot. It's a tough one to review then, because I truly enjoyed it a lot at the beginning. Standouts: Zuton Fever • Havana Gang Brawl • Not A Lot To Do
What the hell was that??? Straight garbage from beginning to end. The vocals are a drunken, mumbling mess, with "L.A." being a highlight in how annoying Mark E. Smith's singing can be. The backing instrumentations aren't much better - at their best they're basic and repetitive; at their worst they're competing with the vocals in being as annoying as possible (the harmonica on Couldn't Get Ahead somehow wins that one). I didn't pay attention to the lyrics, muffled and slurred as they were, but I don't think I'm missing much if Spoilt Victorian Child is anything to go by. Dogshit. Just pure, concentrated booty.
There's a bit of everything on this album, lots of different moods and genres. It's clear the band was having a hell of a time, so even though I didn't love all of it, the vibes were consistently good. Fun listen! Standouts: Do Nothing, Holiday Fortnight
What a freaking journey, man. This album takes you through so many moods, at times switching them up all rapid-fire like, but with a real sense of narrative behind it all. I could not tell you exactly what the intended story about - all I know is it's a ballet with a black saint and a sinner lady somewhere in there - but the emotional beats, the musical callbacks, the cathartic fuckin ending, they're all pretty evocative even without any lyrics. Hell, I'd consider the Spanish guitar as its own character the way its appearance (and later reappearance) had me hyped the fuck out. Incredible stuff that goes beyond just jazz here. Love the way everything comes together. It'll need a few more listens to fully digest, especially the more cacophonic parts, but I feel good about a 5 given the peaks it had on these first two listens
Oof. I think my appreciation for Kraftwerk starts and ends with admiring their role in early electronic music. Some of the sounds here reminded me of classic video game soundtracks, which is pretty cool. But man, the actual listening experience is *rough* by today’s standards. Most tracks feel like 90-second ideas stretched way past their welcome. Their robot voice I didn’t love on The Man-Machine is back, and I still don't care for it much. It was only until Frank Schubert that I really started vibing… and of course, that’s right about when the album ends. Overall, it's far from being bad, but I didn't care much for it. Much respect for their appreciation of public transport though 🚆 Standouts: Frank Schubert • Endless Endless
I'm a very visual guy. Metal albums tend to put me off because of their cover art looking like dick. Ironically, I do usually enjoy the genre a lot, so I'm aware that this dumb prejudice has kept me from experiencing many great albums. I'm glad, then, that Iron Maiden popped up on this challenge, because I know I never would've checked them out with this ugly-ass ghoul thing on the cover. And I would have missed out on some sick fuckin shredding and nonstop bangers. The songwriting caught me off-guard with how melodic it gets at times. Goooood stuff. Standouts: Prowler • Phantom Of The Opera
Great variety of beats, with the bass and drum selections being a frequent highlight across the album. The low end on Changeling had my apartment shaking, it's so fire. Overall it's an album that I'm sure to revisit for the vibe. Standouts: Changeling • What Does Your Soul Look Like, Pt. 4 • Napalm Brain / Scatter Brain
This has to be among the most interesting '60s rock albums we've had yet. There's a lot of experimentation and effects that sound ahead of their time, like the reversed guitars on Thoughts and Words. It's still a 60s rock album though, so 3 is the best I can do. Shoutout to Glorp on track 3. Standouts: Thoughts and Words • Time Between
Bluesy, country-influenced rock.... Flashy guitar passages..... Visions of Mick Jagger..... Much like all past Rolling Stones, this album was sadly doomed to a 2....
The falsetto voice suuuuuucks, and the lyrics aren’t helping. Right from the opener, you’ve got bad lines like “disowned us daddies like the poopers of the party,” delivered with an off-putting cadence that plagues a lot of the album. Thankfully, tracks 8-10 save this from being a total disaster. This Is Our Lot actually cooks, and the transition from Underbelly into Empty Nest was genuinely a cool moment. Standout: This Is Our Lot
None of these songs were in lilo & stitch 🤔
I was wondering when the first Beatles album would show up on the list. As unfamiliar as I may be with them, I know how iconic and revered Sgt. Pepper is, and I’m glad to have gotten the chance to hear it and learn about its context. Historic importance aside... it’s fine. Some of it’s catchy (I like both title tracks), and I totally see the vision with the big ending. But honestly, the meat of the album was only OK for me, aside from a few standouts. Definitely an album to hear before ☠️, but not one I’d return to. It’s far from '60slop, I’ll give it that! Standouts: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (both versions) • With a Little Help from My Friends • When I’m 64 • A Day in the Life
A surprisingly strong example of politically conscious rap. It does dip into #im14andthisisdeep territory now and then, but I suppose his heart is in it, and it's a rawness and honesty that I can respect - if nothing else, at least the pen game behind it all is consistently impressive. The album does also benefit from great production, not just from the excellent jazzy beats, but also its storytelling through the use of samples. On that note, my personal highlight on this album is the intermission track INS Greencard A-19 cleverly evoking some of the alienation and red tape immigrants face through sound design alone. Sad to say that the hysteria on illegal immigration has only gotten worse since. Overall it's far from perfect, but I think it treads ground that not many hiphop albums do, and I think that does deserve some recognition. Standouts: Satanic Reverses • Language Of Violence • INS Greencard A-19 191 500 • Music and Politics
The front half of the album is EXCELLENT - near 5⭐️ territory. But starting with Round The Bend, the album shifts into a more ambient-oriented sound that sort of loses me, although I can see the thematic significance behind it. Idk, maybe I'm not heartbroken enough for it. Tentative 4 because the front half is that good. It might need to grow on me some more. Standouts: The Golden Age • Paper Tiger • Lonesome Tears
Great energy, I loved the live ambience with the brief spoken transitions between tracks. Giving it a 3 because much like an actual jazz fest show, I don't think it quite makes it into my rotation, although it was a good experience and I'm happy to have listened.
Even before Freddie starts singing, the guitar is so Queen in sound, it's awesome. INSANE production quality. The songs are full of theater kid energy that would normally put me off, and yet.... If there's one complaint I have, it's that it's really not structured like an album, more just a collection of songs. Thus, as incredible as Bohemian Rhapsody is, it comes out of nowhere in the context of the album. At least it has a cute outro in God Save The Queen. Standouts: Death On Two Legs • I'm In Love With My Car • You're My Best Friend • Seaside Rendezvous • Bohemian Rhapsody
Felt a lil nostalgic sometimes, but mostly generic...? Idk, I don't think I'd return to it. I kept thinking about the Queen album the whole time. It had some cool drum and guitar parts though! Standouts: Race for the Prize • The Spark That Bled
These guys are insanely talented at playing the same song for 57 minutes. Sometimes they would have an interesting idea at the start of a track to have you think it's finally gonna be a good one - and then they go back to the exact same sound you've heard for the past 7 tracks. Not terrible, not enjoyable. Standout: the sick nasty bass groove at the start of Rain When I Die (that got promptly replaced by some bland shit)
For such a revered album this was kind of a dud... Without nostalgia, the acoustic songs did nothing for me, and the rest sounds like sports bar music -- "boomer anthems", as one reviewer put it. Stairway To Heaven is good but really doesn't live up to the hype, or even to its 5 minute buildup. I haven't lost hope for Led Zeppelin though. This last track is awesome. 2.8/5 Standout: When The Levee Breaks
GREAT instrumentation and variety, the energy is great, and although it often has some rambling and slightly off-key vocals, it somehow kinda works. Good! Standouts: Pablo Picasso • She Cracked • Modern World
The one and only. The classic. The blue-tinted masterpiece. Moody atmospheres. Motherfucking John Coltrane? Can't get any classier. Bravo Mr. Davis!
Compared to Disintegration, the shorter runtime on this makes it a lot more palatable. The instrumentals are once again fantastic and set a dark, dramatic, and texturally rich atmosphere. I really like that side of it! Robert Smith, on the other hand, sounds tortured and depressed as always. I get that that's the whole point, but musically I just find him kind of grating, and three listens in I still can’t seem to appreciate the vocals. It’s hard to go higher than a 3 when I struggle with the most central part of the band. Great album, just not going into my rotation. Standouts: One Hundred Years • The Hanging Garden • Cold
Beautiful collection of songs, I think this is exactly my type of vibe. It's got a bit of every mood, slower songs work great with Elis' beautiful voice, and when the rhythm picks up you just wanna 🕺 It's got some parallels to City Pop as one reviewer noted, but that Brazilian flavor really makes this its own thing. Great vibes 🇧🇷 Standouts: Só Deus É Quem Sabe • O Trem Azul • O Medo De Amar É O Medo De Ser Livre • Aprendendo A Jogar
It started off weak with the first two tracks, but everything that follows is absolute GAS. The instrumental side is so fire that I don't even mind some grating vocal performances (due apologies to the late Ian Curtis). Standouts: Passover • Colony • A Means to an End • Heart and Soul • Decades
I vibed. This is peak "live band at the bar" music, maybe even a notch above that. Love Chrissie Hynde's vocals and attitude. No real standouts to speak of, but everything's pretty good.
This did nothing for me other than a couple of nice harmonica and twangy guitar solos. I've heard better folk albums on this challenge, and I'm usually a certified folk hater. Not offensive or anything though.
So the Gorillaz comparisons aren't entirely wrong, and I was excited whenever some trip hop elements popped up here and there.... But it's mostly pretty bad in execution. Lots of blandness and repetitiveness. Standouts: Human Being • Gone • Alleged
Country is such an easy genre to trash, and yet I can't imagine anyone actually *hating* this album. Johnny Cash is charismatic as hell, has the least twangy voice in the game, and is giving a heartfelt performance to an audience that is having the time of their lives. That energy is absolutely contagious. This won't really go into my rotation, but I had a good time and I'm sure even a Country hater could appreciate the live atmosphere here. Standout: 25 Minutes To Go
There's 0 chance I listen to this again, but to their credit I could see this going crazee hard in '72. Standouts: I Won't Let It 'Appen Agen • Gudbuy Gudbuy • I Don't Mind
How is this a DEBUT from *1970*? It holds up so incredibly well! There's less songwriting variety than later albums, and yet I could listen to this one over and over again. Constant transitions between parts and variations in the grooves keep the music fresh and moving. Also, you know, fat fucking riffs. RIP Ozzy. Standouts: Black Sabbath • Bassically • N.I.B. • Wicked World • A Bit Of Finger
Kraftwerk walked so Depeche Mode could fly. Much respect to the German dudes for their experimentation, but it's successors like THIS album that really make their electronic sound shine. DISGUSTING synth instrumentation with Gahan's iconic voice -- this is the blueprint for the 80s-90s synthwave aesthetic that's still inspiring artists today. Standouts: Personal Jesus • Halo • Enjoy The Silence • Policy Of Truth (!!)
Absolute curveball of an album. You go in expecting some 'Roxannes' and 'Message In A Bottle's, but instead they keep hitting you with experimental cuts that don't always succeed in being super interesting. Sting randomly unhinges on 'Mother' which sounds straight out of Disc 2 of The Wall, except that without any narrative buildup, it's just kinda jumpscares you for no reason. When 'Every Breath You Take' finally shows up it's a breath of fresh air, finally a familiar sound out of these guys. idk, this was honestly a fairly enjoyable listen, but I AM disappointed that their deep cuts really don't hold up to the strength of their greatest hits. Standouts: O My God • Every Breath You Take • Wrapped Around Your Finger
I have nothing nice to say about this album. Here goes a low-effort joke instead: Horse of shock and astonishment mfs when Pagan Poetry comes on : 😳🐴
Man, the music isn't bad but who is this rage directed at? "Society"? These edgelord lyrics are just so painfully corny, and give off the same vibes as the terrible Joker memes you might see on Facebook -- "don't mess with me I'm so sick and twisted" type shit. Slipknot's masks only double down on the 'why so serious' energy. This might have resonated in 1999, but hearing it fresh today...... 😭
Everything sounds solid, with standout trumpet moments and killer bass throughout -- but other than that, it somehow kept slipping into background music for me. Maybe it just needs a relisten, but for now it lands as “pretty good” and not much more. Also, Bono weirdly sounds like Robert Smith from The Cure. I can't explain it. Standouts: Like a Song... • Two Hearts Beat As One • Red Light
This was a challenging listen as someone who usually prioritizes vibes/instrumentals over lyrics. Fiona demands full attention here, and while I usually find it distracting to read lyrics while listening, here it felt essential (and rewarding!). Her delivery is so erratic at times that if you can’t follow by ear, you’ll miss the core of what makes this album work: the storytelling. And that storytelling is great! The production complements her voice beautifully, with little musical details that feel like responses to what she's saying. I won’t revisit this album often, but it did make me reflect on the value of lyricism in a way few albums do, and I have to appreciate that. Standouts: Ladies • Cosmonauts
Absolutely brilliant set of funky and hypnotic beats, full of texture, and consistently engaging, even in the longer tracks. The basslines are phenomenal. This could be a 5 on production alone! What holds it back slightly is that it doesn’t reach for much beyond being a great collection of beats, though it's absolutely entering my regular rotation. Just great music to vibe out to, and does great justice to the title. Standouts: Nights Introlude • Pipes Honour • Rise • Rise (Reprise)
I thought, “No way I'm listening to two hours of DnB, I’ll stop when the remixes and bonus tracks start.” Well, goddamn. When the album “ended”, I was still craving for more. This genre has a hypnotic quality that has you fully locking in to whatever you’re doing while listening, so it's straight up perfect background music -- but Timeless goes well beyond that, because it's also properly structured as an album. Tracks flow well, stay pretty varied, and offer cinematic moments like on "Sea of Tears", where we're transported to the oceanside for a little breather in-between drum and bass barrages. It just does an excellent job at keeping the sound fresh and bangin the whole way through. If you're looking for a tight and focused album experience, stop at Jah the Seventh Seal and it's peak. If you're hungry for *more* restless drums and funky bass by then, Goldie's got you! Keep listening for 2x the runtime of exactly that. It's got bangers. It's got atmosphere. It's got structure. If it accomplishes everything a DnB album strives to do... how can it *not* be a 5-star? Standouts: Timeless • Sea Of Tears
ahhh as much as I enjoy the Wu-Tang concept and personas, 36 Chambers wasn't the all-time classic I was expecting. The Low End Theory dropped two years earlier, and to this day feels like a way more cohesive and timeless NY album. My enjoyment here comes mainly from RZA's production, plus the charmingly lofi recording quality typical of early 90s east coast rap albums. That raw sound, plus the group's energy, make for ideal workout music -- so I guess it DOES have a place in my rotation. In the broad hiphop landscape though, it's far from my fav pick. Standout: CREAM
A lot of the album has "we have Nirvana at home" energy, but to their credit they do a pretty good job at it! The drummer especially is locked tf in. Standouts: Zurich Is Stained • Our Singer
The way she erratically switches between singing and screaming is really grating, though I'm sure it's awesome for the fans. Mind you I do like the attitude and respect the themes that she's singing about -- even the repeated 'milk' bar works in context -- but I think I'm just really not a fan of grunge.
God, what an album. Obviously the megahits here are incredible, but the deep cuts are what really surprised me -- the album does not drop in quality for a single second, and every track is strong in its own way. My personal standout is Planet Caravan, a meditative bass and bongo groove and perfectly placed breather in-between the face-melting Paranoid and Iron Man. I THINK I still prefer the rawer, darker atmosphere of their debut album -- but who are we kidding, this is a 5 star all the way. Standouts: War Pigs / Luke's Wall • Paranoid • Planet Caravan • Iron Man • Hand of Doom • Rat Salad • Jack the Stripper / Fairies Wear Boots
Don't expect any conscious rap here -- the focus is all on vibes, production, and the rapid-fire flow of UK Grime. Said style is easy to dunk on as a first-time listener, but very fun if you can get used to it. More importantly, Skepta pulled off something rare here: a full-on genre innovation, putting Grime on the global map, and defining a style for the UK in the greater rap landscape. It's a shift I didn't even notice consciously at the time, but looking at it now, it's clear Konnichiwa was the turning point. You don't often get to see genres evolve in real time like this. As for the album itself -- there's only one true stinker in the tracklist, and it's Ladies Hit Squad. It goes for a Hotline Bling-style hook that was all the rage in 2016, but has aged terribly. It's followed by one of many phone call skits that really should've been separated into their own track. But what I find ABSOLUTELY CRIMINAL is what comes after: the most beautiful beat on the whole album, completely buried after the skit....... and it lasts all of 30 seconds. What was Skepta thinking??! Standouts: Corn on the Curb • Numbers • Man • Shutdown • That's Not Me
I've always liked Common! On this album he finds himself with some BEAUTIFUL production, on top of his usual flavor of conscious rap. He tends to opt for a more peaceful attitude, and that never stopped him from having good rhymes! ..Wait, what was that slur just now? Standouts: Cold Blooded • The Light • Funky For You • The 6th Sense
One of those albums where you really have to pay attention to the lyrics to appreciate it. I don't really care for this flavor of stripped-down acoustic folk, but the storytelling is just something else with Bruce. Even with just two listens I kept finding little lyrical callbacks and connections between the stories that felt pretty rewarding. Musically, I want to point out how he makes the harmonica SING whenever he pulls it out. Standout: Johnny 99 • Used Cars • My Father's House
For every good idea this band has, they somehow have an equally annoying part to balance it out. Tell Her Tonight achieves the perfect split of great and awful within a single song! My takeaway is that Franz Ferdinand is best enjoyed in moderation. They have some excellent songs, but as an album it gets old real fast. Standouts: Take Me Out • Auf Asche • This fffire - New Version (technically not on the album, but it's way better than the original)
I can actually see the vision here? The instrumentals are fire and perfectly match her dramatic delivery and storytelling. Birdland and Land:Horses were certainly unique experiences, feeling almost like full-on theatre plays. ..Unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of theatre, and nothing was particularly engaging outside of that novelty. Standout: Free Money
A fairly enjoyable album from the 60s? Crazy! Very fun piano and organ parts on this one, which give it an almost jazzy feel. I had a good time. Standout: Lonesome Suzie
What an absolutely stunning performance. I was constantly floored by how much depth and variety Keith Jarrett can achieve on improvisation alone, under a heap of shitty circumstances, for an entire 66 minutes. Bravo Mr. Jarrett!!!
Ambient music relies very heavily on the setting you listen in, which makes it a bit tricky to review. It’s not ideal for full, attentive listening, but it's also very easy for any distraction to break the atmosphere it’s creating. If you can strike the right balance and give it the space it needs, though, Music for Airports offers some gorgeous soundscapes to completely sink into. I could imagine this pairing well with a chill Minecraft session, or some fully locked-in solo office work. Looking forward to keeping this in rotation! Standouts: 1/1 • 1/2
I'm not a fan of shoegaze or its adjacent genres, but the production on Psychocandy feels particularly harsh and sloppy. For most of the album I was willing to set that aside and give it a 2 for innovation and creative merit, but it truly managed break me in its final minutes with 'It's So Hard', with distortion clipping into oblivion and incoherent rambling vocals that would make Mark E. Smith proud. It's as if The Fall discovered reverb and feedback noise, and I mean that in the most insulting way possible. To its credit, this band did make me see My Bloody Valentine's Loveless in a new light -- I still don’t “get” it, but it sounds like heaven compared to this bullshit.
I have been Jonipilled!!!! Who knew having vodka at 3 years old could make you such a genius Standouts: Help Me • Car on a Hill • Down to You • Trouble Child • Twisted
I can tell there's some heartfelt material here, but outside of some nice instrumental passages the record feels very bland overall. Unluckily for Van Morrison, it also happened to show up on this list right after Court and Spark -- where by pure RNG, Joni Mitchell mogs this man with more variety, sharper instrumentals, harder cover art, and infinitely more charisma as a folk/rock singer-songwriter with jazz inflections. I have no clue why Moondance is the one with the higher rating, because this really ain't it. Standout: Crazy Love
60slop and some jugs Standouts: Roller Coaster • Reverberation
Pleasant listening with some nice instrumentals, aaaand that's about it. I struggle to say much more about it. Standouts: Slow Motion • I Wish