193
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3.38
Average Rating
18%
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31
5-Star Albums
5
1-Star Albums
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You Love More Than Most
Albums you rated higher than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cut | 5 | 2.71 | +2.29 |
| The Sounds Of India | 5 | 2.85 | +2.15 |
| Electric Music For The Mind And Body | 5 | 2.85 | +2.15 |
| Stripped | 5 | 2.87 | +2.13 |
| Os Mutantes | 5 | 2.98 | +2.02 |
| Future Days | 5 | 3.01 | +1.99 |
| Real Life | 5 | 3.06 | +1.94 |
| Tubular Bells | 5 | 3.1 | +1.9 |
| Blood, Sweat & Tears | 5 | 3.16 | +1.84 |
| Rain Dogs | 5 | 3.2 | +1.8 |
You Love Less Than Most
Albums you rated lower than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hot Fuss | 1 | 3.74 | -2.74 |
| Entertainment | 1 | 3.25 | -2.25 |
| I'm Your Man | 1 | 3.1 | -2.1 |
| The Stranger | 2 | 3.86 | -1.86 |
| Violator | 2 | 3.7 | -1.7 |
| White Blood Cells | 2 | 3.68 | -1.68 |
| Ramones | 2 | 3.58 | -1.58 |
| Jazz Samba | 2 | 3.56 | -1.56 |
| So | 2 | 3.55 | -1.55 |
| Definitely Maybe | 2 | 3.53 | -1.53 |
Artist Analysis
Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Radiohead | 3 | 4.67 |
5-Star Albums (31)
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Popular Reviews
The Slits
5/5
Wow, I loved this. I expected not to, because punk might be my least favourite genre, but this album is so relentlessly interesting. It genuinely sounds like nothing I've ever heard before. This is what punk should be - an anarchic rejection of musical norms as well as social ones. Female musicians have to rock twice as hard to be taken seriously, and they clearly managed to do that, even with some of them still only being teenagers when this album was released.
2 likes
The Who
4/5
Made me understand why people rate The Who as musicians and live performers, something that never really came across in their other albums. The songs aren't my favourites but the energy is good.
1 likes
Beatles
3/5
I like weird music, and The Beatles were excellent at writing weird music. An album can be weird and still feel coherent, though, and for that reason I prefer Sgt Pepper to this one. This is just very inconsistent in quality, and that's interesting in a meta way as it reflects the discord going on between band mates behind the scenes, but it doesn't make for a hugely satisfying listen. While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Blackbird are all time greats. Helter Skelter is really interesting and innovative, Back in the USSR is satirical and fun. But is anyone seriously listening to half of the other songs on this record?
1 likes
Holger Czukay
4/5
Didn't recognise the name so went in totally uninformed. It was great. Weird in quite a unique and fun way, and unexpectedly comic at the beginning. Look up the artist and realise it's the guy from Can - no wonder I liked it!
1 likes
Marvin Gaye
4/5
No song other song on this album is as stand out as Let's Get It On but it all sounds very sophisticated and accomplished, if a bit samey.
1 likes
1-Star Albums (5)
All Ratings
Arcade Fire
3/5
I don't love this kind of whiny, tremulous vocal style - it's objectively quite similar to things like Bright Eyes that I loved when I was younger but nowadays I find it a bit overly fey and annoying.
The music is good, very competently composed, but feels like it's designed in a lab to be uplifting and appear on tv adverts. It doesn't feel very organic or interesting. But I don't tend to like indie songs that have multiple guitar parts all strumming a single note over and over like that.
Track 2 (Neighbourhood #2 (Laika)) is a bit more interesting and punky. But of course I don't generally like shouty punk either. The guitars just sound very thin. A lot of small lines of colour on a blank background.
A general issue I have with this genre is there's no standout "bit" in the song that it builds to and you get a sense of intense joy and satisfaction from when it finally happens. Like the really brilliant guitar or vocal part or lyric towards the end of the song. It's just stuff happening all the way through and then it's over. So I just fundamentally prefer the structure of, for example, rock or blues songs.
Track 3 (Une Annee Sans Lumiere) is very dull to me. I'm not sure why I would be interested in this bland vocal or guitar picking. Although having said that the fast bit at the end is more interesting.
Track 4 (Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)) is just nothing to me I'm afraid. Apparently it's one of their singles. I don't know how they choose a single as nothing stands out.
Track 7 (Wake Up) is more interesting - like the aaah aaaah aaah chorus. Rhythm guitar is slightly more interesting, with some chords appearing. Still hate the guitar tone. According to A this was one of their big singles. This one did have my foot tapping a bit. And some almost cool lead guitar licks. Like the change of pace at the end of the song.
Feels very white and very early 2000s. Which it is, so fair enough.
I don't like the vocals, guitar sound, instrumental sound in general or the structure of the songs. I would never choose to listen to this again and don't think it will grow on me with repeated listens. Although having said that it does pick up towards the end of the album. Wake Up and Haiti are better (I like the switch to the female vocalist and the bass line in Haiti). Rebellion is decent too in that generic uplifting 2000s indie way. In the Backseat (the last song) was pretty good and vocal was a bit Bjorky, which is cool. Like the strings. The back half of the album bumps it up to a weak 3 stars overall.
I assume everything on this list is going to be competently made so I will rate based on subjective enjoyment and likelihood I would ever listen again.
I'm just not sure I like indie much.
Pearl Jam
5/5
Great vocals, great guitar. An incredible debut album from a new line up, that feels fully formed and hasn't dated all that much in the last 30+ years. They had their own sound from the start, that blended a whole lot of influences and was obviously very influential in turn. One of the reasons I've shied away from Pearl Jam in the past is that there were so many "Vedder-style vocalists" in 90s music and I developed an aversion to that whole subgenre of vocal style. But this was the original Vedder-style vocal, and so well-executed. The rest of the album doesn't quite live up to Alive for me (I have simple tastes), but what a song Alive is. That transition from the "yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah" to the solo is top tier. And what a solo. And the rest of the song. Just brilliant. The second solo is possibly even better. I'm not surprised they let it go on for half the song.
Imagine being there in 1991 and hearing this album, alongside all the other incredible new music coming out at that time. I don't usually listen to songs like Porch or Garden when I listen to Pearl Jam, but they are also very, very good. McCready's guitar is such a standout throughout the entire album. So raw and beautiful. The whole thing is grunge, obviously, but so melodic and pleasing to listen to in a way that a lot of other grunge wasn't.
Nirvana
4/5
Oh man, I wasn't that excited to see this pop up today. I'd just had Pearl Jam, Ten generated yesterday and reflected on how much I actually preferred Pearl Jam to Nirvana. It's just difficult to have a clear view of Nirvana as a musical prospect as they are SO famous and I know their songs so well. Cobain certainly had a knack for writing catchy vocal melodies and memorable lyrics. Nirvana must have had the highest clear hits to album tracks ratio of any of the grunge bands, and even though this is mostly B sides and covers you can hear why. It is so easy to hum the melody to most of their own songs here, I could probably have done it without just having re-listened through it. Their sound just isn't as interesting to me as most of their peers. It's a very stripped back and basic sound, really, more obviously punk influenced than some of the more "interesting" grunge, even stuff like Pixies. So I suppose the mostly acoustic set works well because it lets the vocals, the catchy hooks and the excellent construction of the songs really shine through. The choice to include so many covers, and some interesting instruments, also made this a much more interesting unplugged set than it might otherwise have been. And they are all very well-executed covers.
I don't tend to love live performances but Nirvana were a brilliant live band. Cobain's vocals were so distinctive, technically competent and beautiful to listen to. Novoselic was a of course a great bassist. Of course Grohl was acknowledged to be a pretty competent drummer too. All the parts work together seamlessly here.
No surprises today, just a procession of well written pop songs.
Beastie Boys
4/5
Background music in the bar at a local arthouse cinema (not a criticism). It works really well as "vibe" music. I really like the overall sound and instrumentation. But I wouldn't sit down to listen to this because I was desperate to hear any particular song (Sabotage aside).
It's interesting listening through this randomly generated list as I haven't listened to Beastie Boys albums closely before and am jumping in a bit in the middle of their career with this. This seems like a more mature sound than their earlier stuff but it's hard to say without having much context.
Bobby Womack
3/5
Not a great dude, it seems, but which musicians were in this era?
I enjoyed it. I don't know enough about soul to really rate it or know how influential it was, but I like the fusion of soul, funk and blues here and it's all very well performed and produced. No especially catchy or memorable individual songs for me.
Dusty Springfield
2/5
Dusty's voice was generally lovely, no question, although it also sounded shrill to me at times on this album, which started to annoy me. That's probably just a stylistic choice I don't personally like, though.
Overall this wasn't my thing. Too many mawkish ballads. Dusty's hits - Son of a Preacher Man, Spooky, Windmills - were great songs that I always enjoy listening to. An entire album, less so.
George Harrison
3/5
Can
5/5
John Cale
4/5
I like orchestral pop that's a bit experimental and get the impression there's a lot of depth to the lyrics here. I wished it was a bit more experimental, overall, but Paris 1919 is a fantastic song and most of the rest were interesting and enjoyable too.
The xx
3/5
Not as bad as I expected - I had the idea I disliked this band. This was pleasant sounding stuff, just nothing that interesting either. I still have a song from the album before this in my head but that won't happen with these songs as I forgot them all immediately after listening. Still, they were nice, chill songs.
Air
5/5
Lovely album. Everything sounds so pleasing - the tones of the instruments, the vocals. Nothing is discordant but nothing is boring or predictable either. It's not my usual genre but I can't imagine enjoying low key electronicy jazz-influenced pop more than this.
Oasis
2/5
Difficult for anyone who lived through the 90s in the UK to be objective and this. It hasn't aged that well and doesn't have most of the hits. The overall sound isn't great and the whiny Gallagher vocal is like nails on a chalkboard, mostly. Other Britpop has aged better.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
4/5
Elton John
3/5
Wow, this started on such a high, not at all what I was expecting. The rest of the album doesn't live up to the opener and I found some songs quite annoying (the Jamaican one) but still, a good listen.
Grant Lee Buffalo
3/5
Brian Eno
3/5
Probably as much as I could like an ambient album.
Alanis Morissette
5/5
Feels like a greatest hits album when it isn't, there are so many classic songs on here.
The mix isn't great and some songs didn't work for me - the vocals on Perfect sound pretty out of tune at points - but not enough to lose points.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
I have a few problems with Jimmy Page. Having a child as a girlfriend might have been overlooked in the 70s but it leaves a weird taste in the mouth now when listening to his music. He looks exactly like Geert Wilders, which isn't anyone's fault, but is a bit disconcerting. I also don't love him as a guitarist or producer. I know that he was very talented, and in the context of the time was doing great things, but Zeppelin's sound is small, tinny and underwhelming to me, and a lot of Page's guitar work just sounds sloppy. Hendrix, Deep Purple etc predate this and managed to have none of these problems, so it isn't a technological limitation.
And so this album. As with all of their music, I feel it would have sounded vastly better if it were recorded a decade or two later, with a fuller, more epic rock sound. I much prefer the Kennedy Center live version of Stairway for this reason. It sounds like what the song should have been. There are obviously classic songs on here. Stairway, naturally, is one of the best rock songs of all time, even if it was plagiarised to some extent. Levee is brilliant, Black Dog is brilliant. I appreciate the Tolkien nerdery. I don't understand why this is seen as one of the best albums of all time, though. There's a fair amount of folky filler on here too, that is less effectively integrated into the overall than it was in Led Zeppelin 3.
I don't hate it, I just also don't get the hype. Yes, it's bluesy, folky rock, and that's good stuff. Zeppelin's sound just doesn't do that much for me, ultimately, and their album tracks can verge into annoying territory, if anything.
Queen
4/5
Billy Joel
2/5
I can't give more than two stars to an album that has so many cynical, middle of the road radio ballads on it. Not from somebody with the talent and potential to make good music. Two stars for general competence and the semi-decent stuff songs like Only The Good Die Young.
Snoop Dogg
3/5
I'm with Dionne Warwick about the misogyny in 90s rap lyrics. And Snoop to this day doesn't seem particularly apologetic about it. Still, the sound of this album is impeccable. Three stars. Could've been five without all the "bitches" and objectification.
Radiohead
4/5
Lots of really interesting things going on. Lots of boring sections and annoyingly dirgey vocals. A curate's egg for me. It warrants repeat listens, I appreciate that about Radiohead.
Madonna
2/5
Some catchy songs but feels so cynical and that cover of American Pie is a travesty.
Peter Gabriel
2/5
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
An easy five stars today
The Rolling Stones
3/5
I don't know whether I'm supposed to be listening to the US or UK album here. Paint it Black obviously elevates this but I do like some of the more straight bluesy numbers like Doncha Bother Me. Under My Thumb is pretty gross. Overall it's quite samey, especially the UK version.
Little Richard
4/5
Banger. Classic rock and roll. Classic entertainer.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
4/5
A classic from my teen years. Ok, I understand the criticisms. The lyrics are often puerile. About half the time they're wildly immature, at other times completely pretentious. But it slaps so hard. I never loved Frusciante's guitar more than on this album. Musically it goes from extremely funky to really quite beautiful and melancholic. I Could Have Lied, My Lovely Man and, of course, Under The Bridge, are gorgeous songs and not at all in the "teenage boy obsessed with sex" mould. And yeah, Suck My Kiss and Give It Away might be a bit stupid at points, but they are so fun to dance and sing along to.
Four stars because Keidis's grossness does make some of the lyrics yikes in retrospect, and I do think it's too long. But still a great album overall.
Paul Revere & The Raiders
3/5
I'd never heard of this band but I quite like it. It's extremely 60s, but that isn't a bad thing. Some cool instrumentation going on with the brass section in All I Really Need is You.
Emmylou Harris
2/5
I dunno, it just sounds like Lurleen Lumpkin to me.
Boards of Canada
3/5
This felt long. I had to keep forcing myself to come back to it. It's good for what it is, but not something I'm going to seek out to listen to again.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
I like Springsteen but this didn't do much for me. Might benefit from repeat listens.
3/5
Three stars for the good songs (She's Electric, Don't Look Back In Anger, Champagne Supernova are all great). A lot of the rest is unremarkable "lad" stuff and so musically basic it's difficult to love.
Miles Davis
5/5
An album that really made me appreciate the purpose of the rhythm section at holding everything together. This is such chaotic and rich and exciting music, yet it never loses that thread that makes it music and not noise. I already liked this album but it's a treat to have a reason to listen to it in its entirety again. It feels like there's something new to get from it every time.
Bob Dylan
3/5
Not my favourite of his. I understand it's all about the storytelling but Dylan's relationship woes aren't that interesting to me and my favourites Dylan songs have catchier vocal melodies and more memorable musical arrangements than this.
The Triffids
4/5
I'm not sure why so many are hating on this. Maybe I'm not able to discern between decent alt pop/rock and otherwise, but I liked it. It reminds me a bit of Lloyd Cole, a bit of Echo and the Bunnymen. It isn't my favourite genre but I don't get "Christian rock" from this, I don't find the arrangements terribly dull and I don't find the sound overproduced. Not many standout songs but an enjoyable listen overall, and McComb was a charismatic vocalist.
Radiohead
5/5
A masterpiece. One of a succession of masterpieces that managed to top the achievement of the last. I used to think I didn't like this album that much, as it marked Radiohead's turn away from the experimental, chaotic rock sound that I loved so much on the Bends, into desolate electronica that is just the sound of depression and madness. But really that turn didn't happen until Kid A. And Kid A is still objectively a great album.
Whiny vocals, overly-complicated compositions, pretentious lyrics, there's a lot of stuff that shouldn't work. But it all comes together perfectly. My favourite individual songs are still largely on The Bends, but OK Computer is such an impressive listen in its entirety.
Barry Adamson
3/5
There's good stuff in here but it feels more like a parody of a film noir soundtrack than the actual "soundtrack to a film that was never made".
The Who
3/5
I expected to like this more, as I liked the film when I saw it years ago and am generally a fan of concept albums and rock operas. It is just so notable that Pinball Wizard is the standout track here, with most of the rest being quite musically forgettable.
Maybe not a popular opinion, but for my money the original Jesus Christ Superstar album with Ian Gillan and Murray Head, which came out around the same time as Tommy, is so much more interesting and sophisticated as far as rock operas go.
Hawkwind
4/5
Lemmy on bass! I had no idea he was part of Hawkwind, so that was a nice surprise. And completely obvious when you listen to the recording.
Inject this directly into my veins, honestly. Space nonsense, chaotic psychedelic rock, it's great. Four stars because the live recording isn't great sound-wise, and this isn't exactly a tight album, but it's really fun.
Jazmine Sullivan
2/5
It isn't terrible but I wouldn't listen to any of it again. Just not my genre, not much going on musically that I find interesting. I can respect that it's a woman saying interesting things about the modern female experience, and the vocals are great, so two stars for that. Also doesn't outstay its welcome.
Pixies
3/5
It's difficult to review albums I already know really well.
Overall, this isn't something I'd ever feel the need to seek out as an adult. It's very lyrically and musically simplistic. So many catchy songs on here, though, and there's always the nostalgia factor. I do find the Pixies' overall sound unique and mostly quite pleasant, even if it's punkier than I would like at times. Three stars?
Ian Dury
2/5
I did not enjoy this. My parents loved punk and I wanted to like it, as Ian Dury is a legend etc etc. And I like his irreverence. But this kind of crude, cockney/Essex nonsense is just not for me. Two stars because it isn't horrible musically and I don't think it's totally lacking lyrically either. It's easy to forget how uptight the UK was a few decades ago, and how scandalous this music was to a lot of people. So it deserves some credit for offending so many people with a stick up their arse.
The Shamen
1/5
Sounds like music Jez from Peepshow would make.
Bee Gees
3/5
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
R.E.M.
4/5
R.E.M are like Springsteen or Dylan for me. I don't stan them like a lot of people do, but it's obvious why they're an all time great.
Ramones
2/5
Tempted to give one star as apparently The Ramones invented a lot of the "punk sound", but it isn't that painful on its own. I only like punk when it has overtly political lyrics and/or decent musicianship though, so dnf this and went to listen to Bad Religion instead
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
3/5
Holger Czukay
4/5
Didn't recognise the name so went in totally uninformed. It was great. Weird in quite a unique and fun way, and unexpectedly comic at the beginning. Look up the artist and realise it's the guy from Can - no wonder I liked it!
Terence Trent D'Arby
3/5
It's VERY 80s but I like a lot of the songwriting here and the vocals are excellent. Clearly a lot of talent on display. The production just isn't my thing and hasn't aged well.
Gorillaz
3/5
A very three album for me. It's good, but I'm not going to seek it out to listen to again.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Such an underrated Led Zeppelin album. The folk guitar here is much stronger than most of Jimmy Page's other stuff, Since I've Been Loving you basically sounds like a blues standard and it's just generally very musically interesting and beautiful
The Clash
3/5
Yes, one of the best punk albums ever, but that's not saying much. The music is generally good, as is some of the songwriting. I really do not like Joe Strummer's vocals, though. It took ages to get through this because I kept finding myself wanting to turn songs off, mostly for that reason. I just have a visceral reaction to it. I wouldn't ever choose to listen to a Clash song outside of a small handful (e.g. Rock the Casbah, which isn't on this album).
AC/DC
4/5
AC/DC albums are always just fun. I was very happy to see this come up in the rotation. Obviously nothing artistically deep is going on here but meh, I'll take that over something that's a chore to get through.
Thin Lizzy
4/5
Just a great band. I don't really like live albums but this one is a pleasure.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
I'm not a huge fan of Mick Jagger's vocals.
Joan Baez
3/5
The Beach Boys
4/5
Sam Cooke
5/5
A perfect soul album and a really fantastic live album (the sound is great, which I generally think is rare in live albums, and so much energy).
The White Stripes
2/5
I just really don't like it and they were so popular. Why? Subjectively it might be a one star
Donovan
4/5
Frank Zappa
5/5
Zappa was a genius. Always an enjoyable listen.
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
This was really great. A nice surprise for me, having never listened to Kiwanuka before. The production feels very of its time (2010s-2020s) in a way that makes the overall thing feel a bit less distinctive than might otherwise be the case (apparently this is the Danger Mouse sound). It's classy and brilliant and layered, though, and I will listen to it again.
SZA
2/5
Does absolutely nothing for me.
Bad Brains
2/5
Some good riffs but life is too short to engage with this artist's unhinged brand of homophobia
Supergrass
3/5
Punkier than I'd expected.
Elvis Costello
3/5
I like Elvis Costello well enough but nothing on here wowwed me.
Kraftwerk
4/5
Not my genre at all but this was fun in a very Classic Doctor Who soundtrack way. Would listen again.
The Mamas & The Papas
3/5
Some classic pop songs. Cass Elliot was great. The Philipses seemed terrible, though, so I dunno how to feel about this band overall. The general sound of this album is very pleasant, if unremarkable.
Digital Underground
2/5
Not terrible, exactly, but this was pretty weird and I couldn't get away from the feeling I was listening to some guy detailing his very specific fetish in great detail.
Elvis Presley
3/5
Difficult to rate this objectively. It isn't as good as the best rock and roll records (Little Richard) but it isn't total manufactured slop either. Blue Suede Shoes is obviously great. Elvis was a distinctive singer and a fantastic performer. He genuinely had the rock star je ne sais quoi, so it isn't surprising he became mega famous. He wasn't just an attractive white face being used to market Black music to middle America. But that was an inescapable aspect of his success. He was also yet another person on this list who had questionable relationships with girls who were much too young. On its merits, this stands up relatively well, so I guess it's a 3.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
If you asked AI to generate a Springsteen album, I imagine it would sound like this. It isn't bad, but it isn't very interesting either.
Elton John
4/5
Possibly my favourite Elton John album? I am an absolute sucker a gospel choir, big bashed out piano chords, bluesy vocals, there's a lot to love here. Indian Sunset hasn't aged well, but the rest is solid.
Magazine
5/5
What a weird album. I love it.
Sebadoh
3/5
Fairly interesting. Not unpleasant to listen to. Just very much an American alt album of its time. Nothing here stands out much.
Beastie Boys
4/5
A really fun album that is also pretty historically important, being as far as I understand it the first significant record to combine hip hop and rock. A couple of weaker songs but overall a great listen.
Eric Clapton
2/5
Difficult to look past his racist rants from this era, especially for blues this mid.
Bert Jansch
4/5
Lovely!
Gang Of Four
1/5
I found this unlistenable. Just seemingly random noise and annoying shouting. I don't like punk much anyway but at least The Clash or The Ramones had some material resembling music
ZZ Top
3/5
It's ZZ Top, you know exactly what you're getting. To be clear, that's not a bad thing.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2/5
I can imagine Karen O being an entertaining performer but this isn't very pleasant to listen to. Some of the guitar bits have a decent energy.
Blur
3/5
Beetlebum and Song 2 are great. Pretty nostalgic for me, having just been at the age to discover "proper music" when the album came out. The rest is bitty, though. Some interesting experimental elements. Too much discordant, quite unpleasant sounding lo fi.
Bob Dylan
4/5
It's a Bob Dylan album and sounds much like all the other pre-electric Bob Dylan albums to me. The first three songs make it a four star album, the rest is a bit more samey, but it's still an enjoyable listen.
Jack White
3/5
I find Jack White to be a pretentious wanker and The White Stripes utterly overrated, so I'm a bit loath to admit that I quite liked this. The guitar is still too lo fi (read: poorly played) but the organ parts are nice and there's some cool bluesy stuff going on here in general.
Pulp
5/5
As others have noted, remove the hits from this and you still have a fantastic album. Bar Italia might be my favourite, Common People aside (which is not only Pulp's magnum opus but probably the defining song of the entire Britpop era, so not a fair comparison for anything).
The class politics and feelings of alienation, anger and confusion running through this album either really resonate with you or they don't, so I understand it isn't everybody's cup of tea. I absolutely love how those themes are explored with both ire and humour throughout, and even though I don't get the male sexual frustration part - and can see how that can come across as creepy, although I don't think that's really the point - it is still deeply relatable.
Ute Lemper
1/5
This dark cabaret stuff was a favourite of several annoyingly pretentious people I used to know so I'm predisposed not to like it, but this was genuinely difficult to get through regardless. Ute Lemper seems to be a very talented performer and I usually really like The Divine Comedy, Nick Cave and several of the others involved with this album, but the music itself just feels rambling and self indulgent.
Kraftwerk
4/5
Wtf, I love Kraftwerk? I used to think I disliked this band, because 80s synthy stuff is usually a hard sell for me, but this is the second of their albums the generator has thrown out to date and I've loved both of them. It feels more like 70s experimentalism than 80s reverb dross, which is one of my favourite musical vibes.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
Another one of those albums I'd never heard before, where the famous single I am familiar with turns out to be the standout anyway. Good album, I like their sound, but nothing hugely memorable outside of The Killing Moon.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Joni Mitchell is a reliably intelligent and inventive songwriter and this album is frontloaded with interesting material. It descends into bland jazz at times towards the back half, but is still a good listen overall.
Beatles
3/5
I like weird music, and The Beatles were excellent at writing weird music. An album can be weird and still feel coherent, though, and for that reason I prefer Sgt Pepper to this one. This is just very inconsistent in quality, and that's interesting in a meta way as it reflects the discord going on between band mates behind the scenes, but it doesn't make for a hugely satisfying listen. While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Blackbird are all time greats. Helter Skelter is really interesting and innovative, Back in the USSR is satirical and fun. But is anyone seriously listening to half of the other songs on this record?
T. Rex
3/5
I like glam, I like the T. Rex sound. There's nothing that stands out as exceptional on this album, though, although it's all pleasant enough to listen to.
Slipknot
3/5
I have a distinct memory of being about 12 years old and hearing Wait and Bleed for the first time. It was by far the heaviest song I'd ever heard and it honestly mostly just sounded like noise. But it opened my eyes to a whole genre of music I was barely aware existed. As a metal fan, I can't rate this album too low for that reason alone. On its own merits I still think it's decent enough. The rap and DJ parts sound extremely dated and the general sound is pretty basic, but Corey's vocals are excellent and there are some catchy songs in there.
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
I quite like it overall. Love a ska brass section. The vocal performance is just... a lot. Why did this particular style of punk vocal have such a chokehold on the British music scene for so long? It's genuinely unpleasant to listen to.
The Band
3/5
I know someone who is going through this list in chronological order and perhaps it is necessary to do that in order to really appreciate The Band. I just cannot understand how Roger Waters called this band's first album the second most influential in the history of rock and roll, because to me their material is the most basic American rock imaginable. It's not bad - I actually like this kind of thing - but it makes The Eagles look exciting. This album postdates Hendrix. It's really hard to see it as particularly exciting with that context in mind. Also, when I think of folk rock, I think of British folk rock (Jethro Tull), and that is for my money a wholly superior subgenre to this one.
Butthole Surfers
4/5
This band comes across as either really intelligent or really stupid. Locust Abortion Technician is puerile and ridiculous and mostly emulates the sonic experience of hanging out at band practice rooms as a teenager and hearing about 20 different musicians tuning up and widdling around simultaneously. But I get the impression these are songwriters who could do more conventional material if they wanted to and have just kind of evolved beyond that, like comedians who end up circling right back around to dick jokes. They might be geniuses.
I feel it's missing the point to even attempt to review this, tbh.
Tim Buckley
2/5
Self indulgent
David Bowie
3/5
Bowie was obviously a genius but this is a pretty weird album. And that's speaking as somebody who has given five stars to Can and Zappa so far during this challenge.
Soft Machine
2/5
This is the kind of meandering stuff that gives prog a bad name. If an album is two hours long and has four songs, it has to do quite a lot to be worthy of the level of listener investment required. This record didn't at any point rise to that challenge. At times in the first song it sounded like they were riffing on Larks Tongues In Aspic, which unfortunately just reminded me how much I'd rather be listening to King Crimson.
Black Sabbath
5/5
Oddly, despite being an absolutely massive band, I feel like Black Sabbath are underrated. At least by my generation, who know Ozzy primarily as the funny granddad figure from reality TV. But listening to their two 1970 albums, and thinking about their history as a band, they're incredibly impressive. For my money they were as creative, revolutionary and influential as The Beatles, but their material has held up much better and they were much more consistent. There are no duds on this album. War Pigs is maybe the best metal song and the best anti-war song of all time. Iron Man and Paranoid go hard. The dark blues stuff like Electric Funeral sounds great. And the fact they were about 20 when they wrote and recorded this stuff, coming from the opposite of privileged backgrounds, is even more impressive.
The Killers
1/5
The existence of Mr Brightside on this album meant it was unlikely to get more than one star from me.
Objectively it's probably two stars, but this album and this band represent the absolute fucking cultural nadir of the Millennial generation and if I never have to hear a drunken crowd tunelessly shouting along to these songs again it will be too soon. With some exceptions, this is "music" for people who don't like music.
The Beach Boys
3/5
I only really like one Beach Boys song (Good Vibrations) and it isn't on this album. I can appreciate how influential this is, and that it's the pinnacle of pop music and all of that. It just subjectively leaves me cold. It sounds *aggressively* 60s in a way that my favourite Beatles songs don't, and I really don't like the intense use of reverb on the vocals. Just, not for me.
R.E.M.
3/5
Not bad, I guess, but very low energy and kind of depressing. The lyrics are supposedly a stand out here and that's an aspect that definitely loses out for me when listening to these albums - I'm not necessarily able to pay close attention to them on a first listen so albums that have the lyrics as their main selling point don't stand out so much.
Silver Jews
4/5
Very Pavement-adjacent, but with some deeper themes. Very nice.
The Doors
4/5
More straight up blues than I was expecting from a later Doors album, but this slaps.
Merle Haggard
2/5
Look, I tried. I just don't get Country. It all sounds the same to me, outside of a handful of artists like Johnny Cash. The second the pedal steel started up on this record I was pretty much out.
Miriam Makeba
4/5
A really lovely album.
John Martyn
4/5
Finally, some good fucking guitar.
Janis Joplin
4/5
Not a perfect album (songs like Cry Baby are a bit too overwrought and 60s pop sounding for me) but Janis was an incredible singer and performer and songs like Me and Bobby McGee and Move Over are classics. I've spent years - many years now - wishing I could sing like Janis. Both the husky quality she had at such a young age and the complete fearlessness with which she was able to perform. She was an all time great front woman, one of my favourites, and extremely influential. Four for the album, although Janis herself is always 5/5.
The Band
4/5
I wasn't overly enamoured with The Band's brown album but much prefer this one. There's clearly so much experimentation going on here and the result is a record that feels full of ideas and energy. I still don't understand how it was *as* influential as it apparently was, but it's an interesting album with a lot of depth that I will happily return to.
Derek & The Dominos
2/5
This would have had to be pretty good to make up for the Eric Clapton of it all. It was not. Layla's a great song but the Little Wing cover before it was actively painful to sit through and the rest was aggressively mediocre.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
No song other song on this album is as stand out as Let's Get It On but it all sounds very sophisticated and accomplished, if a bit samey.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
3/5
Over TWO HOURS? 42 SONGS?
I thought maybe this was one of those deluxe edition albums with a load of live performances and outtakes padding it out (does anybody actually enjoy those?). But it turned out no, this is the album.
I quite like bluegrass (in moderation!) and at times this was a lot of fun. At its best it made me think of O Brother Where Art Thou. At its worst, though, it felt more like Deliverance-level hillbilly material. They're clearly talented musicians and I can appreciate the value of what they were doing here, and all the collaborations they were able to include, but it's still a LOT of bluegrass for one day.
Tom Waits
5/5
I already knew I loved this album. Weird and complicated, a bit cabaret, a bit macabre, but not in an embarrassingly shlocky "Amanda Palmer" kind of way. And what a voice. A lot of people try to do this kind of thing, but very few do it well.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2/5
I used to think I liked Elvis Costello but this album challenge has disabused me of that notion. I think I mostly just like Oliver's Army, which isn't on this album.
The White Stripes
3/5
Greater than the sum of its parts (although not by loads). Listen to any individual part on this album - vocals, drums, guitar - and it's just not very good. They're far from virtuoso musicians. But on some tracks everything comes together to make something pretty cool-sounding. There's definitely a certain something to their sound on this album, and Seven Nation Army is a good song (if criminally overplayed). They're cool, and they have a unique sound and a very distinctive look. Their visual branding is their strongest suit, come to think of it, and perhaps obscures the basicness of the music, but still. It's not bad.
I wanted to hate it, because I find them annoying and felt at the time that their massive fame and wealth were mostly unearned. But it's not bad overall.
A Tribe Called Quest
5/5
I was only really familiar with The Low End Theory before but this is similarly top tier.
The Style Council
2/5
Oh boy, I did not enjoy this. It started off well with a boogie woogie piano number but by track four I found myself listening to the most awful kind of easy listening lounge jazz. Not for me.
Pink Floyd
4/5
Pink Floyd are one of the best bands of all time so even a weaker album - which by their standards this is - still has an all time great song like Comfortably Numb on it. The Wall is too long and self indulgent but the worst it ever gets, really, is a bit boring. At other times it's as interesting and creatively rich as their best work. The conceptual theme is ambitious and engaging, most of the time, and was certainly influenced a lot of other great work. So, not perfect, but pretty great overall.
The Smiths
3/5
Ugh, finally it's happened. My first Morrissey album. I absolutely could have just listened to one song and extrapolated from that what the rest of the album would sound like, it's hardly varied. And his vocals are whiny and fey and kind of annoying. And I don't understand why this band was so popular and influential. And Morrissey nowadays is a certified cunt.
Yet still, these songs are actually alright? Quite pleasing to listen to, some wry humour, and quite pleasant sounding vocals. I'm not going to rush to listen to it again, but I have to admit it wasn't *that* bad.
The Byrds
3/5
It's just... 60s pop (where's the rock? I can't hear it). It's fine. It's pleasant. I suppose it was influential. It doesn't particularly excite me - all the songs blend together and I won't be rushing to listen to any of them again.
The Slits
5/5
Wow, I loved this. I expected not to, because punk might be my least favourite genre, but this album is so relentlessly interesting. It genuinely sounds like nothing I've ever heard before. This is what punk should be - an anarchic rejection of musical norms as well as social ones. Female musicians have to rock twice as hard to be taken seriously, and they clearly managed to do that, even with some of them still only being teenagers when this album was released.
Bob Dylan
4/5
My mum had this album on vinyl so I remember listening to it quite a lot as a teen. It's definitely a fun Dylan record, for people who like such things.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
5/5
I'm a simple person. I hear jazz polyrhythms, I give five stars.
Music theory never clicked for me when I was learning the piano. Albums like this make me wish it had.
Bob Dylan
4/5
I'd like to listen to all the Dylan albums on the list in chronological order and historical context, as it's difficult to fully appreciate his progression as a songwriter or his influence this way. This album has a few classics on it and I generally like the sound, but it's hard to really distinguish it from Blonde on Blonde, which the generator gave me a couple of days ago.
Fatboy Slim
3/5
It's good dance pop. I'd never choose to listen to it nowadays but it has its place in the ecosystem, as it were.
Nas
3/5
I just don't know. I didn't particularly like or hate this. I can appreciate it's probably good, and I know it was influential. It's just not my genre and I feel underequipped to assess it.
Machito
5/5
Sublime.
Fiona Apple
4/5
Brilliant for 18. It gets a bit ponderous in the back half so isn't a subjective five for me, but there are some great songs here and she's obviously a talent.
Stan Getz
2/5
Did absolutely nothing for me, I'm afraid. Smooth jazz just isn't something I'll ever enjoy listening to, no matter how well played and composed.
The Flaming Lips
3/5
Not my favourite "humans battle evil robots" concept album but it's alright. The Cat Stevens "homage" is the best song, and unfortunately also the first one on the album so it's all a bit downhill from there. I'm not quite sure why this one is so popular, but at least it has an interesting subject matter, I guess.
Ravi Shankar
5/5
He was a wonderful musician and teacher and it's unsurprising he had such an influence on the Western musicians of the 60s. Not the best produced album or anything, but I enjoyed his instructional bits at the start of each song and the music itself was excellent
David Bowie
3/5
I feel I should have liked this more than I did.
Sleater-Kinney
3/5
I know some people who probably really like this. I'm lukewarm on it. It isn't as intolerable as some out of tune, lo fi punky stuff on this list, and it has a good energy I can enjoy, but it isn't spectacularly interesting either.
TLC
3/5
Nostalgic. Some good sounds. Very of its time.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
An easy five stars. This album doesn't even have several of their best songs on it, and yet still manages to feel like a greatest hits. They were just a great band on every level.
4/5
I'm not a U2 person so had never listened to this album. The first three tracks are obviously wildly famous, and the whole thing is solid, honestly. Not my favourite music ever and I don't think they "deserve" their mega fame and riches, and I know they're not well liked in Dublin. But all that aside, they have a very distinctive sound here and this is an impressively cohesive record.
Brian Eno
2/5
The more annoying end of glam.
Hugh Masekela
3/5
I tried, and I can tell this is high quality music, but it mostly sounds like very well-played muzak to my ears.
The Who
4/5
Made me understand why people rate The Who as musicians and live performers, something that never really came across in their other albums. The songs aren't my favourites but the energy is good.
Anthrax
4/5
A very solid thrash album. Thrash isn't my favourite genre as it's the punkiest end of the metal spectrum, but this is good.
Blood, Sweat & Tears
5/5
A really great surprise. What a great mix of genres. Sounds incredible for the 60s. I keep coming back to it!
Les Rythmes Digitales
2/5
Dnf. I'm sorry, this one is just excessively long (that's what she said).
It started off as a one star, as my brain didn't even really parse it as music, but a few tracks later on were more enjoyable. Not something I'm going to seek out again, though.
Radiohead
5/5
I know this isn't objectively Radiohead's most monumental album, but it's my favourite. It's just really very good moderately experimental rock. I don't love the ballads as much as the heavier songs, but this whole album is still rock solid. I understand why they did the electronic stuff, and why it's good for MusicTM that they did, but I personally regret that they didn't stick with this sound for longer.
T. Rex
3/5
Just fun glam rock
The Stooges
3/5
Realistically this band is so famous because of their live performances. Still, I like Iggy Pop's vocals and the heavy guitar sounds here. Good for the 60s.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
I really believe Hendrix was a musical genius and prodigy on a par with somebody like Mozart. That might sound like typical rock music-brained hyperbole, but hear me out.
Mozart died - too young - at 35 years old. Hendrix was famously almost a decade younger, at 27. Mozart continued to mature as a composer right up until his death. If we like to image what Mozart could have achieved if he had lived as long as somebody like Bach, that lost potential is even more the case for Jimi.
Hendrix only picked up a guitar for the first time at 15. Mozart, of course, was practically born playing the harpsichord. Mozart was also intensively coached as a youth, and enjoyed patronage to pursue his art throughout much of his life. Hendrix had nothing of the sort, and even served a stint in the military during the 12 short years of his guitar playing life. It's possible such "helicopter parenting" would have dulled Hendrix's spark, but equally, it's surely the mark of a true prodigy to come from nowhere to produce music as exceptional as this.
Because that's the thing about Hendrix. It would be easy to give this album a default five stars because of course, he was the best guitarist of all time, right? And that wouldn't quite be fair, because on a technical level there have of course been many people who have surpassed him since. It would be a nod to his incredible legacy as a performer and composer, but would risk overlooking the actual quality of the record itself. Because Hendrix wasn't just a revolutionary, he was a genuinely prodigious musician *and* composer. Even nearly 60 years later, these songs still sound exciting. Sure, they changed the landscape of rock music forever, but on a basic level they are also wonderful, energetic, beautiful pieces of music.
Hendrix opened my eyes to the joys of guitar music as a kid, and I still struggle to think of anybody who has matched him as a triple threat performer, musician and composer. Van Halen and Satriani were almost as revolutionary, but do Eruption or Surfing with the Alien come close to matching Hey Joe or The Wind Cries Mary as actual songs? They do not. Tom Morello might come close as a guitarist - there's still nobody else out there doing what that guy does - but as a composer and performer he's not in Hendrix's league.
In short, this is a wonderful album, and while I usually think these things are a matter of taste, I'd make the case for this being an essential five stars. It's both too important and too good to be anything else.
Jimmy Smith
5/5
I felt very sophisticated listening to this. A really lovely album. I'm a sucker for an organ and it was well utilised here.
Mike Oldfield
5/5
The caveman section was my favourite part. It was actually a piece of "lost media" for me as a friend played it to me years ago and I mistakenly thought it was by Genesis, so could never successfully find it again.
This album might have been a four, but he was nineteen years old and did basically the whole thing himself, and that's very impressive. So much creativity and intelligence on display here.
Ray Charles
3/5
High quality easy listening. Not really my thing, although nothing objectively terrible about it.
The Prodigy
4/5
Stands up pretty well, especially if you were alt in the UK in the 90s/00s.
Heaven 17
2/5
Had its moments, there were shades of Talking Heads at times. Not my thing, though.
a-ha
3/5
Not my genre or my era, but I liked this more than I thought I might.
Arcade Fire
3/5
I can tell that this is good but it's also boring as fuck, I'm sorry, I just can't. The pipe organ is the most exciting instrument to me and they managed to make it dull. How?
Beatles
5/5
I've been conflicted on this. I initially wanted to give it four stars, because Maxwell's Silver Hammer and Octopus' Garden are misfires and the back half of the album is definitely weaker than the first. But then I thought about the overall quality of the thing. Come Together, Something, Here Comes the Sun? And Oh Darling, I Want You, Carry That Weight? I've given out five star ratings for less since I started doing this.
I think my initial instinct was to hold Abbey Road to a higher standard than the other records on this list, because it's The Beatles and because it's - according to the users of this site - the greatest of all time. But that isn't particularly fair. It probably isn't my favourite Beatles album, and it certainly isn't my favourite album on this list, but the songwriting here is frequently incredible and it is pretty stacked with excellent pop songs. Sometimes all time great ones.
Five stars it is.
CHIC
4/5
This is good music but it's also one of those albums where I knew exactly where it was going by the second track. It's disco. It's very well played and produced. It has an important place in US cultural history. But I wouldn't choose to listen to it.
Faith No More
4/5
Mike Patton is a really talented guy. Several classic bangers on this album. It sags a bit in the middle but finishes very strong, and the whole thing still sounds pretty fresh and interesting to me
Beastie Boys
3/5
Not my favourite Beastie Boys album. The samples are as clever as ever but the vocals are particularly one note on this one.
Christina Aguilera
5/5
The most surprising five stars I'm likely to give. I almost audibly groaned when this popped up, but it turns out it's a fantastic album. I always knew I liked Xtina, she was the most talented vocalist of her pop era by far, but I didn't appreciate how ambitious she was with her music. There was a message here, and it was largely ahead of its time. And the songs are just really good. I was just too much of a teenager to appreciate them at the time.
The Smashing Pumpkins
4/5
Look, they're a great band. There are so many hits on here. It feels unnecessarily long, though. Did this really need to be a double album? I feel it would have been a stronger offering overall if they'd cut half of the REM-esque filler tracks. I prefer The Smashing Pumpkins when they go hard and experimental with their guitar work, it offsets Corgan's vocals better. Here, they're often kind of annoying.
Depeche Mode
2/5
Incredibly dull. Personal Jesus is good. Most of the rest of it is just... drab. I can tell it's objectively good, but it's not something I can ever imagine being in the mood to listen to.
The Zutons
2/5
It has it moments, but I generally really dislike this era of British indie, having lived through it.
Motörhead
3/5
Musically and lyrically it should be a straight one, but it's pure id music and Lemmy was an icon. It's fun. It's the epitome of hard rock. And Ace of Spades (the song) is a classic for a reason
Red Snapper
3/5
Not terrible but kind of unmemorable. It's definitely of its time and probably not worthy of inclusion in this list, but there are worse albums.
N.W.A.
3/5
I honestly don't think I'm familiar enough with the genre to rate this.
The Yardbirds
3/5
Mid 60s rock. Not bad, by any means, and at least it's post-Clapton, but no standout tracks
Living Colour
4/5
LOVED THIS. How had Living Color passed me by? Much lead guitar, catchy riffs, it's simultaneously so of its time and still fresh and exciting? The rest of the album doesn't live up to the first track but that one is a solid 5/5.
Pixies
3/5
Not their worst. It's just a Pixies album, they all sound broadly the same. Less punky and unpleasant to listen to than their early stuff, at least.
The Beta Band
2/5
I concur with the consensus here. There are plenty of musical elements that are interesting in this album but the overall effect is oddly boring? I think it's the vocals.
Willie Nelson
2/5
I don't get the appeal, I'm sorry
Nirvana
4/5
There are certainly some great songs on In Utero (particularly Heart Shaped Box). It's probably my favourite Nirvana album. Still, their sound is pretty basic and samey, and now I'm past my angsty teenage stage it's difficult to love these lyrics as much as I once did.
OutKast
4/5
Surprisingly good. I didn't know OutKast were legit.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
4/5
I don't think this kind of music works best as a live album, but this is a classic and I mostly love it.
Country Joe & The Fish
5/5
Thoroughly enjoyable bluesy stuff. Love the whole vibe of this.
Rush
4/5
It's a great album but I have to deduct a star for Geddy Lee's vocals
Roxy Music
3/5
A weirdly inconsistent album. Like a knock off Bowie at times, musically interesting at others. The vocals do nothing for me and some of this barely sounded like music.
Leonard Cohen
1/5
Just boring drivel and Jazz Police. Maybe some of the lyrics are good, I don't know. Maybe "guys like me are mad for turtle meat" has poetic depths I can't comprehend.
The Zombies
3/5
Just very 60s. I get the impression these were the indie softbois of their day.
Duran Duran
2/5
I've learned from this challenge that some people are lyrics first vs music first listeners. I'd say there are also vocals, guitar, bass etc first listeners. Bass first listeners seem to like this album but I'm a vocals first listener and I was not impressed. It was already on the back foot, being so very 80s, but I just can't see the appeal of these shrieky songs.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
The upbeat material here is very, very good. I can see the influence on a lot of the funk artists I enjoy. The slower, easy listening stuff can be a bit of a slog. Still, this is clearly a very high quality album
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
This is probably my least favourite CCR album, and it's still excellent. It just has fewer hits than the others. Also, HOW MANY albums did they release in a two year period??
Sly & The Family Stone
5/5
Fantastic funk album, more of this please
The Lemonheads
2/5
What is the point of this. Music this absolutely bland and should should at least have a good vocalist.
Deep Purple
5/5
It's hard to beat the combo of Ian Gillan and Ritchie Blackmore. Amazing energy, brilliant riffs, a great listen all round.
Metallica
4/5
It isn't perfect but a few of these orchestrations eclipse the originals and they're generally already fantastic songs.
Queen
3/5
I don't know. Obviously it has its moments but it's all a bit silly.
Eels
3/5
This is one of those cases where I thought I loved a band but had mostly only heard their singles, and the rest of the album just doesn't excite me that much. It's not bad, I just clearly prefer their sound in small doses.
Billy Bragg
3/5
Legitimate politics but terrible fucking vocals. I guess that's a three stars? I don't understand the mindset of people who cannot sing at all and decide to become a professional singer. Just be a poet or a writer or something.
Pink Floyd
2/5
This sounds like that bit at the beginning of Spinal Tap when they're an embarrassing flower power 60s pop act for some reason.
Tori Amos
4/5
A bit meandering, but I do love her overall sound and her creativity. It just lacks bangers.
The Stone Roses
3/5
The singles are the standouts, and they are fantastic, but over an entire album I started to get a bit bored. It's a very dated sound.
Os Mutantes
5/5
This is what the album challenge is for.
Aretha Franklin
5/5
This album could never be anything but five stars.