263
Albums Rated
3.45
Average Rating
24%
Complete
826 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
2010
Favorite Decade
Hip-hop
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
60
5-Star Albums
19
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
You're Living All Over Me
Dinosaur Jr.
|
5 | 3.08 | +1.92 |
|
In Our Heads
Hot Chip
|
5 | 3.1 | +1.9 |
|
Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde
The Pharcyde
|
5 | 3.13 | +1.87 |
|
Dear Science
TV On The Radio
|
5 | 3.16 | +1.84 |
|
The Bones Of What You Believe
CHVRCHES
|
5 | 3.17 | +1.83 |
|
Pink Flag
Wire
|
5 | 3.21 | +1.79 |
|
Bitches Brew
Miles Davis
|
5 | 3.29 | +1.71 |
|
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Wilco
|
5 | 3.31 | +1.69 |
|
Nebraska
Bruce Springsteen
|
5 | 3.32 | +1.68 |
|
Channel Orange
Frank Ocean
|
5 | 3.34 | +1.66 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Since I Left You
The Avalanches
|
1 | 3.28 | -2.28 |
|
Better Living Through Chemistry
Fatboy Slim
|
1 | 2.99 | -1.99 |
|
A Night At The Opera
Queen
|
2 | 3.95 | -1.95 |
|
More Specials
The Specials
|
1 | 2.95 | -1.95 |
|
Music Has The Right To Children
Boards of Canada
|
1 | 2.91 | -1.91 |
|
Rattlesnakes
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
|
1 | 2.9 | -1.9 |
|
Electric Music For The Mind And Body
Country Joe & The Fish
|
1 | 2.84 | -1.84 |
|
Olympia 64
Jacques Brel
|
1 | 2.78 | -1.78 |
|
A Short Album About Love
The Divine Comedy
|
1 | 2.77 | -1.77 |
|
Grace
Jeff Buckley
|
2 | 3.74 | -1.74 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Led Zeppelin | 5 | 5 |
| Radiohead | 4 | 4.75 |
| Bruce Springsteen | 3 | 5 |
| Nirvana | 3 | 5 |
| Beatles | 3 | 4.67 |
| Talking Heads | 3 | 4.67 |
| Miles Davis | 3 | 4.67 |
| Joni Mitchell | 2 | 5 |
| David Bowie | 4 | 4.25 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| The Divine Comedy | 2 | 1 |
5-Star Albums (60)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Bruce Springsteen · 3 likes
5/5
A lot of idiots in the reviews really didn't understand what this album was about huh?
The Cure · 2 likes
2/5
Disappointed in this one. I like a lot of Cure songs but other than A Forest there's not enough going on here. Almost too moody and atmospheric even.
CHVRCHES · 1 likes
5/5
My wife and I saw Chvrches a while ago and the couple next to us perfectly timed their beer run for when the guy sang his 3 songs in the middle of the show. Anyway this album is synth-pop perfection.
Favorite tracks: The Mother We Share, Gun, Lies, Science/Visions
Nirvana · 1 likes
5/5
I think time has been kinder to this album than Nevermind or In Utero. A raw and emotional spin on their original songs and the covers are all bangers. One of the best live albums - truly a Performance and not just a live show running through their hits.
Standouts: About a Girl, The Man Who Sold the World, Lake of Fire, Where Did You Sleep Last Night
Crowded House · 1 likes
2/5
Before this I knew one Crowded House song, Don't Dream It's Over. It's a pretty good, catchy anthem. Unfortunately that's not on here. Unmemorable stuff here mostly.
1-Star Albums (19)
All Ratings
Red Hot Chili Peppers
4/5
Some great tracks but too much filler on side B. Could've easily been 10 tracks instead of 15. Such was life for albums in the 90s.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Led Zeppelin has always been one of my favorite bands so I'm biased but this is truly the most Zeppelin album. Epic ballads, hard rock stompers, Welsh folklore, Blues basics, just a blast all around. The first disc has 6 of the band's best songs.
Fela Kuti
4/5
Okay now albums like this are why I signed up for this project! All 4 tracks have the same structure (long instrumental followed by short call and response) and I'm not sure if the lyrics pack the same punch as they did in the 70s, but the music still is a trip and the sax solos bang.
Fatboy Slim
3/5
The 4 hits from the album still stand the test of time. The other tracks are kind of repetitive and dull. And the Praise You music video is still a work of genius from Spike Jonze.
Deep Purple
3/5
Have it on vinyl so was nice to listen to that way. Highway Star is a classic and you can hear the inspiration of every Motley Crue song in there. You all know Smoke in the Water too. The rest of the album just doesn't do it as much.
Beatles
4/5
Doesn't reach the levels of greatness as their later albums but very pleasing 1960s pop songs nonetheless.
The Cure
2/5
Disappointed in this one. I like a lot of Cure songs but other than A Forest there's not enough going on here. Almost too moody and atmospheric even.
Jeff Buckley
2/5
The bones of a good album are there but a lot of it is very meh. Sad we never got a chance to hear more from him. Eternal Life is a banger though.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
3/5
Not sure it will crack my regular rotation but good intro to a band I had heard about but never listened to. April Skies is a standout.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
UK version is missing Paint it Black which is probably the best song on there. Man I love the Stones but some of these early songs did not age well. They didn't really hit their stride till Beggars Banquet.
The Verve
3/5
Bitter Sweet Symphony is one of the best songs of the 90s. Unfortunately the rest of the album doesn't hold up.
Radiohead
5/5
A life changing album when I first listened to it and remains incredible
Mylo
4/5
Never heard of this artist or album before but this was a lot of fun! This guy was doing synthwave electropop in 2004, several years before it really became mainstream. Too bad he never made another album after this.
Slipknot
1/5
I knew a few Slipknot songs from the MTV nu-metal days and know that they're a 9-person band from Iowa so I was curious to hear this one. There is some impressive instrumentation on here (the drums are really good for example) but the lyrics are indecipherable, the production is bad, and like most 90s albums it runs too long. Not for me unfortunately but I'm not gonna yuck anyone's yum if this is their jam.
Meat Puppets
4/5
Another gem that I wouldn't have found without this project. I knew of their Nirvana connection but never really listened before and this album rips. It's a little uneven but overall it answers a question I never thought of asking: What if "Nevermind" had been left out in the Arizona sun instead of the Seattle rain?
OutKast
5/5
In retrospect Speakerboxxx is the superior album but I'll never forget the first time I heard Hey Ya! Easily still a 5/5 album 2 decades later, a lot of the songs still feel fresh and even the skits are hilarious.
Standouts: Ghettomusick, Bowtie, The Way You Move, Hey Ya!, Roses
Electric Light Orchestra
2/5
Just not much going on here. Other than Mr. Blue Sky it's not that memorable. And this was a double album.
ABBA
3/5
ABBA is one of those bands where the hit singles are better than the albums. This one is fine and it's fun but not really my thing. I do want to thank ABBA's music for inspiring some of my favorite pop stars of the 2010s though.
Tim Buckley
2/5
Like father like son: Neither Tim nor Jeff Buckley's albums did it for me. There are some interesting ideas in here but every song meanders to get there.
Al Green
4/5
The title track is a classic and it was fun hearing some of The Rev's lesser known songs. Perfect music for a rainy Thursday.
Talking Heads
5/5
I'm a longtime Talking Heads fan but I don't listen to this album as much as Remain in Light or Speaking in Tongues, but this is typically great stuff from them. The band is really hitting its stride here, an energetic album start to finish.
Standouts: Cities, Life During Wartime, Memories Can't Wait
T. Rex
4/5
I only knew Bang A Gong before listening to this but it is an enjoyable album. Singer tries too much to sound like Bowie at times but overall the songs work.
Stan Getz
3/5
I bet this went hard after your third martini of a Wednesday afternoon lunch in 1962.
Emmylou Harris
4/5
This is what real-ass country music used to be, now it's all bros from the suburbs with a giant truck and an oversized hat.
Sarah Vaughan
3/5
Surprised they went with a live album as opposed to a studio album here. Her voice is great but overall I don't think I'll be coming back to it.
John Lennon
3/5
There’s some interesting songs in here as he’s working through his life post-Beatles… but there’s also the title track which has become a parody of itself over the years.
Violent Femmes
5/5
A classic that was ahead of its time. Raw, emotional, fun stuff.
Standouts: Blister in the Sun, Add It Up, Gone Daddy Gone
Foo Fighters
3/5
I like a lot of Foo Fighters songs but the album on the whole is just fine I suppose. The first half of the album has some bangers but it loses steam halfway through. "I'll Stick Around" still rocks 30 years later.
But I'll be honest I don't know how this one made a 1001 albums list. Maybe it's to show post-Nirvana Dave Grohl but it's not the band's best work. Grohl played all the instruments and sang on this album so you don't even get Taylor Hawkins, whose drumming was really integral to the band for years before his untimely death. I'm surprised they didn't go with The Colour and the Shape (which has "Everlong" and "My Hero," two timeless songs) or There Is Nothing Left to Lose (first full album with Hawkins). Missed opportunity here to showcase the band here.
Lenny Kravitz
2/5
Another one where I'm like is this really in the top 1001 ever? Lenny has had some good hits over the years but too much of this meanders. We get it man you built the garden.
The Triffids
1/5
Bury me deep in crud
Just listen to Tears for Fears or Level 42 instead
Duke Ellington
4/5
Adding a star for historical significance. Damn, people went nuts for the Duke! They broke a curfew for him!
The Who
4/5
60 years later and this still rocks. Fun debut album and of course the title track is a classic.
The Jam
3/5
It's perfectly fine if unoriginal rock songs. I guess I am not British enough to care about "mod revival" music in 2025. Oh well.
The Pharcyde
5/5
An album about having fun and hanging out with your friends. What a blast.
Hot Chip
5/5
Look I'm biased but I've loved these guys for a while now and seen them twice. A synth jam band is a funny concept but they pull it off. Glad this was on here and surprised it's on the lower end of scores - come on not everything has to be guitar-driven or moody dreck from the 1970s.
Standout tracks: Night and Day, Flutes
ZZ Top
3/5
Some good bluesy stuff in here but kinda fizzles in the middle. A much different sound than their radio hit era of Legs or Sharp Dressed Man.
Elton John
5/5
Gotta respect how Elton John decided he would open this album with an 11-minute prog rock ballad and there's nothing anyone could do about it. I guess Jamaica Jerk-Off hasn't really aged well but the double album of it is good enough to overcome it.
Standouts: Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding, Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting, Bennie and the Jets
Fever Ray
3/5
I love Silent Shout by the Knife (probably a 5/5) so I'm surprised this solo debut from one member of the Knife was on the list and not that one. This feels like a B-side compilation of Silent Shout.
Fugees
4/5
A lot of great beats and clever lyrics. The career trajectory of this trio after this album is fascinating.
Brian Wilson
3/5
RIP Brian Wilson and I’m glad 1001 albums listeners got his albums yesterday. Rating this is an impossible task. On the one hand I’m glad he got to finish Smile and be at peace about it. On the other, it feels like an unfinished product or a collection of outtakes. Good Vibrations still a classic though.
Boston
4/5
This album makes me feel like I'm 15 years old again. All 8 of these songs still get played on classic rock radio. It's nothing groundbreaking but it's 70s arena rock at its most enjoyable and the production is great. This is the only Boston album worth listening to.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
Still goes hard 50 years later. The Boss's first masterpiece. An incredible ode to being young and wild in New Jersey. Title track has to be one of the best rock songs ever recorded.
Standout tracks: Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, Born to Run, She's the One, Jungleland
Booker T. & The MG's
2/5
The title track is a classic blues song that still sounds incredible. But the rest of it sounds like baseball game organ music. Also it's a bad sign when you're already doing a reprise of the title track in TRACK FOUR.
Adam & The Ants
2/5
Felt like they were trying to do too much here. Another “not for me” late 70s/early 80s album.
The White Stripes
5/5
I learned about the White Stripes from the Michel Gondry Lego video for Fell in Love with a Girl. I enjoyed the rest of White Blood Cells so I was very excited when this album was released, and it has not disappointed over 20 years later. But I didn't fully know the reach of this album until I was in Sweden at a soccer game 4 years after the album's release and the crowd started doing a chant to the tune of Seven Nation Army. There's so much good stuff in here from 12-bar blues to chilling ballads to legendary riffs to a cameo from longtime Detroit newsanchor Mort Crim. This is Jack and Meg at their peak.
Standouts: Ball and Biscuit, Seven Nation Army, The Hardest Button to Button, In the Cold Cold Night
Pink Floyd
5/5
Dark Side may have the most memorable songs, The Wall may have the most memorable story, but I think this is Pink Floyd's best album. The songs are long and slow but they never meander and always feel like thy have purpose. Shine On You Crazy Diamond is a psychedelic adventure that bookends everything but Welcome to the Machine, Have A Cigar, and the title track all stand alone as well. Gilmour and Waters obviously have hated each other for 4 decades (and Waters has gone to the loony bin himself) but I'm grateful we got 4 classic albums out of them over 7 years.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
A few classic songs but also some filler... the Stones didn't really put it all together until the album after this. Regardless, when Jagger and Richards are pushing themselves out of their comfort zone you can see glimpses of what the band would become just a couple years later.
Fatboy Slim
1/5
What do you mean there are TWO Fatboy Slim albums on this list. I'll admit I enjoyed You've Come a Long Way Baby but this one is just repetitive and boring. Get out of here with this crap stuck in the 90s. Why are we doing this.
Sigur Rós
3/5
I bet this would hit hard on a 10 degree winter day when you're surrounded by a foot of snow. On a 90 degree day in June? Not as much.
Wire
5/5
I was a little hesitant at first because this was Yet Another British Album From This Era, but actually this was a banger start to finish. I listened through it twice in a row I liked it so much. Sounds like something you'd here at a tiny record store or a college town dive bar. Hell yeah.
Standouts: Ex Lion Tamer, Mr. Suit, Manequin, 12 X U
Nirvana
5/5
I think time has been kinder to this album than Nevermind or In Utero. A raw and emotional spin on their original songs and the covers are all bangers. One of the best live albums - truly a Performance and not just a live show running through their hits.
Standouts: About a Girl, The Man Who Sold the World, Lake of Fire, Where Did You Sleep Last Night
Moby
3/5
It's hard to explain this album in 2025 terms. This was inescapable in the early 2000s - every song seemed to be in every commercial. Looking back some of these are great (Porcelain, Honey, Natural Blues) but others (South Side, Bodyrock) feel remarkably dated. And then the second half of the album takes a right turn away from the blues samples into some moody electronica. Very strange experience overall.
Public Image Ltd.
1/5
How are there so many "post-punk" albums from the UK around this time on this list? Every song sounds like it was recorded in a cave and they're all like 10 minutes long. I guess the bass playing was good.
Sade
4/5
Smooth Operator is the best Steely Dan song that’s not a Steely Dan song
Garbage
4/5
Perfectly solid 90s rock album. Have always loved Shirley Manson's vocals.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
Still a classic all these years later. Art Garfunkel had his moments here but Paul Simon was definitely carrying the duo at this point. No wonder Simon is the one dueting with Sabrina Carpenter on SNL 55 years later. Also, the band Fun owes these guys royalties because "Some Nights" is a complete ripoff of "Cecilia."
Standouts: Keep the Customer Satisfied, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Cecilia, The Boxer
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
(Flea lays down funky bass line)
(John Frusciante plays melodic guitar riff)
Anthony Kiedis: BIG BALLA, MEGAFAUNA, MET A GIRL SHE WAS FROM CALIFORNIA
For years I thought this was a better album than Californication but I think it's the other way around now. Give It Away and Under the Bridge are classics but there's a ton of filler on here.
Neu!
2/5
It's kind of interesting but also not really my thing.
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
Look I love LCD Soundsystem. Sound of Silver and This is Happening are two of the best albums of the 21st century. Their live shows are incredible. James Murphy is his generation's David Byrne. But like, why did this album, their comeback after a breakup and long hiatus, make this list? It's not their best and it's not even the best intro to the band for new listeners.
That being said it's still better than most albums out there, even if it does feel like late career Lionel Messi playing in the MLS. Oh Baby, Tonite, and Call the Police are standouts.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
Look the guy knew what he wanted
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Some bangers on here like Mrs. Robinson, Hazy Shade of Winter, and America... but also did we need an entire track of old people talking? It's more like a 3.5 but I'll be generous because the standouts are such classics, but still it's not even close to Bridge Over Troubled Water.
3/5
Influential for sure but not exactly the most interesting album. Why are there SO MANY late 70s albums on this damn list.
Metallica
3/5
Weird combo of Metallica and a giant symphony orchestra. Interesting concept that starts to wear thin on disc 2. Works more than it doesn't but is it essential in the way Metallica's late 80s/early 90s output is? Probably not.
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
DJ Shadow
2/5
Queen
3/5
This is my first Queen album on this list and yeahhhhhhh let's say there's a reason people mostly know their greatest hits. Killer Queen is a bop, Stone Cold Crazy still goes hard, but much of this album just isn't as memorable over 50 years later. Did we really need two tracks of In the Lap of the Gods?
John Lennon
3/5
“God” probably rocked people’s worlds in 1970 but today it just sounds like an annoying social media post. Second Lennon solo album I’ve gotten and again it doesn’t hit the way Beatles albums do.
Black Sabbath
4/5
RIP Ozzy. Not as complete an album as Paranoid but that Supernaut riff makes we want to run through a brick wall.
Dinosaur Jr.
5/5
Oh this is very much in my bag. Thank you 1001 albums for blessing me with this lo-fi classic.
Paul McCartney and Wings
4/5
There's some boring whimsy in here but overall it's fine and more accessible than the two Lennon solo albums I've gotten so far.
Paul Simon
4/5
Fun seeing him branch out from his stuff with Garfunkel. Not as complete as Graceland but I'll definitely be coming back to it.
Muddy Waters
5/5
Pure raw unfiltered Chicago blues and a great comeback album. You can hear Muddy’s influence in so many other bands and albums I’ve loved over the years.
Standouts: Mannish Boy, Jealous Hearted Man, The Blues had a baby and they named it Rock and Roll
The Stone Roses
3/5
Maybe you needed to be there in late-80s Manchester to get the full extent of its influence I don't know. There are some good tracks on here (I Am The Resurrection is a clear standout) but this doesn't do it for me the way it does for seemingly every music critic ever. Sorry :-(
Wilco
5/5
Incredible stuff. Never really listened to it in one sitting before now but it's damn near perfect. Standouts: Heavy Metal Drummer, Jesus Etc., I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
Black Sabbath
5/5
This album has Iron Man, Paranoid, and War Pigs and that's only on the first side. RIP Ozzy
Supertramp
2/5
The real "Crime of the Century" is that this album filled with generic lite-prog 70s rock is on this list over a different Supertramp album, Breakfast in America (which is at least a 4). Much like with Foo Fighters, the guide got this artist wrong and could've given them much better representation.
CHIC
3/5
Nile Rodgers has produced some of my favorite music but this album feels a little dated overall.
Joni Mitchell
5/5
Yeah there's a reason this one is universally lauded as a classic. Never had really listened to it through before but the writing is incredible and so is her voice. You can see the through lines to current stars like Lana Del Rey and Lorde in this work. Incredible stuff.
Standouts: Carey, California, A Case of You
Happy Mondays
1/5
"Henny Penny, Cocky Locky, Goosey Loosey
Turkey Lurky, Ducky Lucky, Chicky Licky"
Wow so bold and inventive thank you sir.
Nick Drake
3/5
I always get him and Nick Cave confused. Ehh this is fine, not my cup of tea
Curtis Mayfield
5/5
A classic that still holds up. Man imagine hearing Freddy's Dead for the first time in 1972.
The Kinks
4/5
Fun Britpop album. "Picture Book" is definitely the genesis of Green Day's "Warning."
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Maybe it's not fair to grade Stevie Wonder on a curve here but this doesn't quite hit the same heights of his other classic period albums. "Boogie On Reggae Woman" and "You Haven't Done Nothin'" are great of course.
Miles Davis
5/5
Not my usual genre but greatness is greatness and there's a reason why they call this the best jazz album ever.
The Cure
4/5
I got 17 Seconds as one of my first albums on this list and I was bored most of the time. This was much better, they're hitting their stride here.
ZZ Top
2/5
Commercialized and watered down but the solos save this from 1 star. The songs that aren't hits are a drag. Tres Hombres was a much better blues record.
The Police
3/5
You hear some punk and reggae influences here but it never quite comes together. Message in a Bottle still rocks though
Cowboy Junkies
2/5
I wanted to like it but it wasn't my thing
Merle Haggard
3/5
All I could think of is how contemporary country music sucks in comparison.
Beatles
5/5
This is really when they started to get good. I think I'd put the next 4 Beatles album ahead of this one but who knows when I'll get to them on the list.
Cat Stevens
5/5
Everyone knows Wild World and Father And Son but there's a lot of surprising depth and emotion here outside of those two songs as well.
Pixies
3/5
Hole
3/5
The songs are fine and Courtney Love was a figure of that era but I'm not sure how this album made the list. It's not groundbreaking or remarkable or really that influential, but still some fun tracks if you liked 90s alt rock. Doesn't hit as much as it did when Love was in the tabloids or on MTV all the time.
Steve Earle
2/5
I've liked other country albums on this list better
Queen
2/5
There’s a reason why we only know their greatest hits. Bohemian Rhapsody and not much else!
Led Zeppelin
5/5
This is probably in the bottom half of Zeppelin albums for me. Don't care still a 5.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
A lot of idiots in the reviews really didn't understand what this album was about huh?
The Chemical Brothers
2/5
Every Brit who is like “you just had to be there when they were big” about a nondescript techno group from a city the size of Kansas City, Missouri now probably supports Nigel Farage
Gillian Welch
4/5
Surprisingly poignant. Runs a little too long (especially that last track) but overall a good listen.
Manu Chao
3/5
This was enjoyable
Herbie Hancock
4/5
First two tracks are stone cold classics and I'm not even a big jazz guy
Miles Davis
4/5
Cool to see him incorporate some more modern sounds but it doesn't quite reach the heights of Kind of Blue
Alanis Morissette
5/5
A 90s classic. We saw her perform the album live in 2021 and every song still sound great. You Oughta Know and Ironic remain classics but some other standouts include All I Really Want, Right Through You, and Forgiven.
Orbital
1/5
Total crap
Japan
3/5
Perfectly fine but unremarkable new wave album. Cover of All Tomorrow's Parties was interesting.
Radiohead
4/5
Radiohead goes back to guitars after the Kid A/Amnesiac experimentations and makes a foreboding album with classics like 2+2=5, There There, and A Wolf At The Door. I think it's my 5th favorite Radiohead album.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
Another classic from the Boss. Favorites include Atlantic City, Johnny 99, State Trooper, and Reason to Believe. Incredible how he can record a stark, chilling classic like this and then have the anthems of Born to Run and Born in the USA.
Madonna
3/5
I think I slow danced to Power Of Goodbye in middle school. Gets an extra star because of the title track but overall not sure why this mid-career Madonna album is on the list.
The Bees
2/5
Meh
Beastie Boys
3/5
Some of this hasn't aged well at all but others are timeless. Real mixed bag here
The Allman Brothers Band
3/5
It's great when it doesn't meander but unfortunately it meanders a little too much
Radiohead
5/5
Not quite at the level of OK Computer/Kid A/In Rainbows but still a 90s classic. And the songs straight-up Rock unlike some of their later albums. Fake Plastic Trees is a beautiful song and my other favorites include High and Dry, Bones, and Just.
The Yardbirds
3/5
The vocals suck which is a shame because Jeff Beck can shred.
The Divine Comedy
1/5
Nicest thing I can say about this album is that it's not very long
Fiona Apple
4/5
In April 2020 this album came out and it really captured the mood of being stuck at home during a pandemic. 5 years later the music is still good but it's not the instant classic that everyone declared it to be. Apple's best album, When The Pawn..., isn't even on this list which is a shame.
Ramones
4/5
It's one song over and over but it's also one very fun very good song
Deep Purple
3/5
Child in Time is a pretty solid jam. These guys are fine. Machine Head slightly better overall.
Astor Piazzolla
2/5
Not bad, just not for me.
Neil Young
4/5
Need to listen to more Neil Young, this is good stuff
Dusty Springfield
4/5
Extra star for Son of a Preacher Man
Iggy Pop
4/5
The Passenger still goes hard as does the title track. You can definitely feel the Bowie influence. Enjoyed this one.
5/5
What a year for music 1995 was. Radiohead made their mark as the next great alt-rock band with The Bends, Alanis Morissette captured the angst of the era with Jagged Little Pill, and then there was (What's The Story) Morning Glory.
I'm not a big enough Oasis fan to justify spending several hundred dollars to see a reunion show, but there's no denying the greatness here. A bunch of midtempo rock and roll ballads that you can belt out after a few pints with friends or alone in your room, and haven't lost their appeal 30 years later. Favorites are Hello, Don't Look Back in Anger, and Champagne Supernova, but really anything on here rules.
Anyway, here's Wonderwall.
The Prodigy
3/5
After suffering through other 90s British electronica like Orbital, Chemical Brothers, and Fatboy Slim's first album, I was very skeptical of this one, however it turns out it's... not that bad? Most of the songs badly need an editor but they have beats and are catchy, Breathe is a banger, and Mindfields was a key song on The Matrix soundtrack that I listened to nonstop in middle school. You couldn't get away with that title of the first track in 2025 though.
10cc
2/5
Diet Queen
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
Rap music used to be fun!
Ray Charles
4/5
Cowboy Carter of its era
Kraftwerk
2/5
Daft Punk did it better years later
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
1/5
They sound like AI-generated John Hughes soundtrack songs. Waste of space on this list
The Specials
1/5
More like Less Specials am I right! What is the point of this album? This sounds like a bunch of commercial jingles. It should be fun but it's not! And yet there are 3 albums on this list by these guys.
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
A masterpiece and up there with The Wall and Ziggy Stardust for best ever concept albums. Kendrick of course is now one of the most respected and well-known rappers around but 13 years after its release I still think it's his best work. He's an incredible storyteller and the beats and lyrics all work.
Favorite tracks: Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe, Money Trees, Art of Peer Pressure, Swimming Pools (Drank)
David Bowie
4/5
Nice to finally get a Bowie album on this list. It's a solid album at the height of Bowie's glam era but I also think he has other albums that are better that I'll get to eventually.
Billy Joel
5/5
Billy Joel has always been a favorite but I mostly just knew his greatest hits albums growing up. Yes he has been derided over the years for having overly literal songs, but all his hits are crowd pleasers and this album is no exception. The storytelling and instrumentation is great here, as he moves from straight-up rockers to ballads to sagas. Don't have a heart attack-ack-ack-ack-ack just enjoy the ride.
Favorites: Movin' Out, Italian Restaurant, The Stranger, Vienna
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
1/5
Insultingly dumb and stupid
Peter Gabriel
4/5
It's no "So" but few albums are. Biko is a haunting closer. Gets an extra star for that.
Queens Of The Stone Age
3/5
I've seen QOTSA live and they're awesome. But much like the case with Foo Fighters I don't know why their debut album is on here when there's much stronger albums (Songs for the Deaf, Era Vulgaris) in their arsenal.
Common
3/5
An okay 2000s rap album from the guy who's now better known for those Microsoft commercials. Nothing bad about it just doesn't stand out.
The Residents
1/5
This was bad and unlistenable and the reviews on here reflect that (worse than even Kid Rock or Trout Mask Replica). But I will say one thing in its credit: it never aspires to be some work of high important art or anything. The record simply is what it is. Still sucks though lmao
The Who
4/5
The first 2 songs and the last 2 songs are legendary classic rock staples and still hold up. The middle of the album doesn't really do it for me.
Kate Bush
3/5
Took me a while to get into it. Very strange at times but it grew on me.
The Clash
4/5
Good solid punk rock and a nice preview of the legendary album they'd put out 2 years later.
Cream
4/5
Clapton is a grumpy old anti vax curmudgeon now but you gotta separate art from the artist here and he could shred back in the day when his most problematic act was “stealing George Harrison’s wife.” This is mostly good psychedelic blues and SWLABR is hilarious. Sorry for liking this!
David Bowie
5/5
Bowie's first great album. Changes and Life on Mars are two of his greatest tracks.
Daft Punk
3/5
Another artist where you wonder what the hell the listmakers were thinking. This album is standard mediocre 90s techno with a few standout tracks like Da Funk, and not a good representation of this duo. Discovery (a solid 5) would've been a much better addition, or even Alive 2007 would've been great, hell we had that Metallica live orchestra album on this list at one point. Definitely a missed opportunity to showcase a great French electronica duo.
Portishead
5/5
Was not expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. Lovely trippy James Bond type music. Glory Box is a great album closer.
Sonic Youth
4/5
There's no denying this album's legacy or influence, and Teen Age Riot is an incredible track... I just think some of it devolves into noise rock and it's not as cohesive as some of the other classics on this list. Still, there's a lot I loved here.
Frank Zappa
2/5
Finally some Zappa. Most of it is perfectly fine jazzy prog rock but it loses a star because of Willie the Pimp which is incredibly stupid and long. I don't get the obsession with this guy sorry!
CHVRCHES
5/5
My wife and I saw Chvrches a while ago and the couple next to us perfectly timed their beer run for when the guy sang his 3 songs in the middle of the show. Anyway this album is synth-pop perfection.
Favorite tracks: The Mother We Share, Gun, Lies, Science/Visions
The Avalanches
1/5
Did I miss something here? This "Oops! All Samples" album is lifeless and dull, and feels like it was made with ChatGPT. You can make an all samples album pretty fun (i.e. anything Girl Talk did in the late 00s/early 10s) but this really wasn't hitting for me.
Miles Davis
5/5
Might be even better than Kind of Blue. You can hear the evolution in his sound.
Blur
3/5
Song 2 still bangs. The rest of it is just okay 90s Britpop. Oasis won the war.
CHIC
3/5
Shoutout to Good Times for being the sample for Rapper's Delight. The other songs all start to drag around the 6 minute mark.
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
There's a limit to how much shoegaze I can handle
The Pretty Things
3/5
Interesting concept album, not terrible but also I get why it's not as well remembered as Tommy or Quadrophenia. The main riff in "Balloon Burning" kinda sounds like the riff in Zeppelin's "Kashmir."
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5/5
Second Neil Young I've gotten on this list and it's great. Having the full backing band really gives the songs depth here. Standouts include Cinnamon Girl, Down by the River, and Cowgirl in the Sand
Beach House
3/5
Good dreamy pop but hasn't aged as well as other albums from that era
The Strokes
5/5
Perfect garage rock album. Truly defines the early 2000s for me.
Standouts: The Modren Age, Someday, Last Night, Hard to Explain
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
not as good as Superfly but it's still Curtis and we love him
Green Day
4/5
Most influential album when you're in high school and you think Bush will be the worst president you'll ever have to put up with, nice try kid.
The Go-Betweens
3/5
Perfectly cromulent 80s rock. Fine but doesn't stand out. Textbook example of a 3/5 album on this list.
Badly Drawn Boy
3/5
Interesting mix of genres on here, not a bad early 2000s entry
Manic Street Preachers
4/5
Wasn't expecting much but this was surprisingly fun. Extremely 90s but I'm down with that.
The Beach Boys
3/5
It's no Pet Sounds but "Beach Boys political protest album" works more than you think it would.
Beastie Boys
5/5
Starting 2026 with an absolute classic. Some of the other sample-driven albums on this list have left me cold but this one just works throughout. The lyrics are still kind of juvenile but the rapping is much improved over Licensed to Ill, which had some downright embarrassing moments. Favorite tracks: Egg Man, The Sounds of Science, Hey Ladies, Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun
Orange Juice
2/5
What if Talking Heads were Scottish and boring?
Gang Starr
4/5
I have a soft spot for late 80s/early 90s hip-hop I think. Pretty good overall
MGMT
3/5
The first half of this album is full of great memorable 2000s indie rock tracks like Kids and Electric Feel. The second half is boring psychedelic rock.
Elvis Presley
2/5
Man I don't know the late 1960s was a time of great experimentation in music and a lot of cool stuff was happening and here's Elvis doing a Vegas lounge version of the stuff that had made him famous over a decade earlier.
George Harrison
4/5
I don't know if it's a hot take to say that George had the best solo work of any former Beatle (even the much-derided Got My Mind Set On You is a sweet little pop song), but that's always been my opinion. This is his solo magnum opus, a fascinating reflection of post-Beatles life. The third album (aka the Apple Jam) seems superfluous, but standout tracks like My Sweet Lord, What Is Life, Let It Down, and Awaiting On You All make up for it. At over 2 hours long it needs an editor but it's still probably the best solo album from a ex-Fab Four guy.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
First half is some soulful reggae, the second half is filled with classics that liberal arts college students would get high to after putting plastic bags over the smoke detectors in their dorm rooms.
Bon Jovi
3/5
The hits still stand the test of time. The rest of the album.... does not.
Klaxons
2/5
I listened to so much indie rock in the 2000s but this doesn't do it for me like other acts of the time.
Franz Ferdinand
5/5
One of the best 2000s indie rock albums. Pure energy from start to finish. Favorite tracks: Take Me Out, Auf Asche, This Fire, 40'
Beatles
5/5
One of the best albums ever and my personal favorite of the Beatles. The whole second side is brilliant and the first side contains some of the best pop songs ever. Truly a masterpiece. Favorites: Something, Octopus's Garden, I Want You (She's So Heavy), Here Comes the Sun, the whole damn suite at the end
Roxy Music
4/5
Pretty interesting and ahead of its time. Didn't love all the songs but the vision is there. Re-Make/Re-Model was neat.
Jethro Tull
3/5
It's hard to rate this one. I'm supposed to not like these guys because they won the first ever Heavy Metal Grammy over Metallica, a decision that's more baffling than Crash or Green Book winning Best Picture. However, they are doing some interesting prog-rock stuff here for 1971. The title track is a classic rock epic and Locomotive Breath is a banger. But overall? A lot that I didn't really care for or care about.
TV On The Radio
5/5
Perfect album when you're 22 and there's a global financial crisis and you have no idea what you're gonna do with your life.
Favorite tracks: Halfway Home, Golden Age, Red Dress, DLZ
David Bowie
3/5
Bowie is incredible of course but not sure why this one gets on the list over Let's Dance or Scary Monsters or Diamond Dogs.
Joni Mitchell
5/5
Okay I didn't know much about Joni before starting this project but turns out she owns. I already got Blue, which is of course fantastic, but this hits in a much different way. It's jazzier and looser and a different side of her. Laurel Canyon in the 70s must have been so cool.
Standouts: Help Me, Free Man in Paris, Car on a Hill
AC/DC
3/5
Some solid headbangers from down under. The perfect music when you're 13 years old. But other than the title track and If You Want Blood (You've Got It) these don't reach the heights of AC/DC's other famous album that came after tragedy a year later.
The Divine Comedy
1/5
ANOTHER Divine Comedy album. I didn't like the first one I got and I don't like this either. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Sisters Of Mercy
3/5
Feels like The Cure but with heavy metal, which is fine.
Frank Ocean
5/5
Odd Future was a bizarre early 2010s rap collective but their members went on to make some great solo stuff. Of all their solo works this is the magnum opus. Lo-fi chill synth soul to disassociate to on the beach with some epic stories and tender moments. Frank has only made one other album (Blond, which isn't as good) and has been dormant for a decade now, but like Rihanna I'm holding out hope he's got one more in him.
Standouts: Thinking Bout You, Sweet Life, Super Rich Kids, Pyramids, Lost, Bad Religion
Depeche Mode
4/5
For years I thought he was saying "reach out and touch base." Anyway I enjoyed this but the two hits I already knew were the best.
Boards of Canada
1/5
More like Boreds of Canada
Nirvana
5/5
It's crazy how Smells Like Teen Spirit isn't even on the top 5 songs on this album. Generationally important album that still sounds fresh 35 years later.
Standouts: In Bloom, Come As You Are, Lithium, Lounge Act, Something In The Way
Willie Nelson
4/5
Telling my kid that Willie Nelson was the Snoop Dogg of his day
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Me: Wow the world isn't a great place right now
1001 Albums: Here's a sad brooding album from a guy on his death bed to cheer you up
Fiona Apple
4/5
Fiona Apple is an enigmatic performer with complex and challenging music but most of the time it works for me. Both Fiona Apple albums on this list are good but I still think When The Pawn… is her best work and alas that’s not on here. Tidal is a strong debut and Criminal stands the test of time.
Death In Vegas
2/5
Mostly another forgettable 90s British electronic album on here. But it's saved by Aisha, a great track with haunting Iggy Pop guest vocals. Thank you Iggy for rescuing this album from a 1.
Thin Lizzy
3/5
Still don't understand the rubric for live albums ending up on this list but it's fun enough. See you at Dino's Bar and Grill.
1/5
Look I tried to approach this one with an open mind. And some of the instrumentation isn't bad. But man, Fred Durst's voice and rapping just is grating and relentless. And the lyrics are insane - Rollin' is basically a nu-metal version of hokey pokey and that's one of the better tracks. Limp Bizkit has mellowed since their heyday and Durst seems like an alright dude now, but unfortunately this album is still too excessive and over-the-top for me.
Nirvana
5/5
3 Nirvana albums on this list and all 3 are 5's. I think this one is even better than Nevermind. Steve Albini produced an incredible punk-grunge album here and they blacklisted him for it.
Standouts: Serve the Servants, Heart-Shaped Box, Frances Farmer, Very Ape, All Apologies
Eagles
3/5
How the hell did he end up in Winslow, Arizona of all places
Paul Revere & The Raiders
2/5
Guys from Boise, Idaho wearing Revolutionary War costumes trying to be a British Invasion band. Okay then.
The Beta Band
2/5
It's not bad enough to give a 1 but also not memorable or interesting. Weird inclusion on this list.
Johnny Cash
5/5
Fantastic stuff. A quintessential live album, Cash at his best both musically and bantering with the crowd. Must have been a hoot to watch on TV.
Standouts: San Quentin, Darling Companion, A Boy Named Sue
Jurassic 5
3/5
Decent early 2000s hip-hop. I liked the voice of the baritone guy (Chali 2na) and started getting annoyed when anyone other than him was rapping.
The Pogues
4/5
Ready to fight 1000 Unionists outside an Ulster pub. We got a foot of snow yesterday so good timing for Fairytale of New York!
Skunk Anansie
2/5
They actually put an interesting diverse band from 90s Britain on here for once so I was briefly excited, but unfortunately the music does nothing for me.
Cheap Trick
3/5
I came into this knowing 2 Cheap Trick songs and it's clear why we know those and not the rest. Still it's a fun enough album.
Elvis Presley
3/5
Historically significant because it was released right after his army stint, but when I think of Elvis I think of the energetic guy who caused a moral panic by shaking his hips, and a lot of these songs are downers lmao
Sister Sledge
4/5
Say what you want about Will Smith's rap career at least he had some pretty good samples, including using the "He's the Greatest Dancer" riff for "Gettin Jiggy With It." The Nile Rodgers guitar on here is slick and the hits are good, less filler than the Chic albums I already got on this list.
Van Morrison
5/5
Classic 70s album. Van Morrison doesn't seem like a guy I'd wanna get a beer with but the music slaps.
Standouts: And It Stoned Me, Caravan, Into the Mystic, Everyone
Nina Simone
5/5
What a voice. First real exposure to Nina Simone and it was incredible.
Standouts: I Love Your Lovin Ways, Four Women, Break Down and Let It All Out
Arcade Fire
5/5
It's 2010. Obama is President. A sweeping healthcare law has just been passed. You're at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland on a sweltering August night. The best band in the world at the time is taking the stage. It doesn't get much better than this.
The Suburbs is Arcade Fire's 3rd album, a genre-spanning epic concept album about loneliness, growing up, and finding meaning in a vapid world. After Funeral and Neon Bible, expectations were high for this one and they hit it out of park. The album includes some "Wake Up" style anthems (Ready to Start, City With No Children), some punk rock (Month of May), more contemplative ballads (Deep Blue, Half Light I), and a disco-style banger to end things (Sprawl II).
I thought Arcade Fire was in position to dominate music for the next 10-15 years after this album and that epic concert. But they went into a weird dance-rock phase, Win Butler had some unsettling allegations, and their music just stopped mattering. But we'll always have those first 3 albums.
Syd Barrett
1/5
Syd Barrett was the north star for all those great Pink Floyd records but his own music is barely tolerable. Not much going on here sorry! A lot of it feels unfinished and even decent tracks like "Octopus" sound at best like Beatles solo outtakes. No reason for this to be on here.
Soundgarden
4/5
The hits stand the test of time. This is just good clean 90s grunge rock. RIP Chris Cornell
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Great bands don't make the same album over and over. Zeppelin III showed the group going out of their comfort zone with some acoustic guitars and folk rock, while maintaining their blues-rock core. This album gets overlooked in between II and IV but it's quite lovely. Immigrant Song makes we wanna run through a wall everytime I hear it, and Tangerine is one of their best ballads.
Standouts: Immigrant Song, Gallows Pole, Tangerine, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
3/5
Don't know a lot about salsa but this was pretty fun
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
3/5
Title track is legendary, the rest of the album doesn't match it but you do see the roots of over 40 years of hip-hop that came after it.
Snoop Dogg
4/5
Wild to hear this in 2026 now that Snoop is an avuncular caricature of himself who goes to Olympic events and hangs out with Martha Stewart. But the beats are good and Snoop's flow is unmistakeable. A classic West Coast rap album.
Blondie
3/5
Carole King
4/5
A lot of good stuff here. I Feel The Earth Move is an all time opener. Thought some of the middle tracks lagged but you can't deny the album's impact.
Johnny Cash
4/5
Fascinating album of covers near the end of Cash's life. We get a weird selection of Cash on here (two live albums from jails and one late era cover album) - would've liked to see some of his more normal studio albums on here. But no doubt these covers are affecting and heartfelt.
Elliott Smith
3/5
Gets more interesting the more instrumentation is used. Still not entirely my vibe.
Beck
3/5
This is the first Beck I've gotten on the list and I'm surprised as to why it was on here. I don't think people would place it up there with Odelay or Sea Change, and my personal favorite (the Prince inspired Midnite Vultures) isn't even on the list. The tunes are pretty good but this isn't exactly groundbreaking.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Hearing Zeppelin songs makes me wish Tolkien allegories were still in rock songs instead of the names of evil tech companies.
Led Zeppelin II is classic rock at its finest, a step forward from the blues-rock of their debut album and every track has an anthemic quality. IV might be their classic, and Houses of the Holy is my personal favorite, but I'd introduce the band to a new listener with this one.
Standouts: Whole Lotta Love, Heartbreaker/Livin Lovin Maid, Ramble On
Jimmy Smith
3/5
The dog on the album cover seems cool
Led Zeppelin
5/5
A triumphant, monumental classic rock album. Led Zeppelin IV takes all of the sounds from the band's first 3 albums and combines them into 8 masterful tracks. You probably have heard many of these songs but even the lesser known tracks like Four Sticks are incredible. Album goes from hard rock to LOTR-inspired mandolin ballads to stadium anthems seamlessly. The album ends with When the Levee Breaks which might be Zeppelin's best song.
Favorite tracks: Black Dog, Misty Mountain Hop, Going to California, When the Levee Breaks.
Country Joe & The Fish
1/5
Total stinker. Psychedelic rock that isn't really psychedelic. Protest music that isn't really protesting anything. No thanks!
Donald Fagen
4/5
Doesn't quite reach the heights of his Steely Dan stuff but still some solid jazz-rock. Still waiting on that 90 minute flight from NYC to Paris to happen.
Queen
3/5
This is now the 3rd Queen album I've gotten and it's pretty clear this is a greatest hits band not an album band. There are a few gems in the midst of this where you begin to see their sound take shape but there's a bunch of crap you gotta wade through to get there. Still it's better than Night at the Opera.
5/5
Absolute cinema. Bowie's magnum opus. A great concept album that never lets up start to finish. Every track rocks but if I had to choose favorites I think I'd go with Moonage Daydream, It Ain't Easy, Star, Ziggy Stardust, and Suffragette City.
Talking Heads
5/5
A masterpiece of an album. The first 3 tracks are so energetic and frenetic and that's before you get to the band's signature song. The second half of the album is more moody and contemplative but all the songs still groove. This is the best Talking Heads album - they take a lot of risks but all of them work. The end of Great Curve makes me wish they had more guitar solos.
Best tracks: Crosseyed and Painless, The Great Curve, Once in a Lifetime, Seen and Not Seen
Beth Orton
3/5
Type of music you'd hear at a college town coffee shop
Joy Division
3/5
Didn't move me or keep me interested as much as I was hoping.
Talking Heads
4/5
Another one of those bands where I have to grade on a curve because their best albums are so good but even though this has their cover of Take Me To The River, Found a Job, and Thank You For Sending Me an Angel, it doesn't quite reach the heights of their other albums.
Radiohead
5/5
This might be the best album of the 90s and I'm always glad to revisit it. As AI rapidly becomes more prevalent in society the album is more relevant than ever. I think this barely beats out Kid A in my mind as Radiohead's magnum opus and every track is a whole mini-opera unto itself.
Standouts: Paranoid Android, Let Down, Electioneering, No Surprises, Lucky
Grizzly Bear
4/5
If you liked indie rock in the late 2000s this is a tentpole album and most of it still holds up. While You Wait for the Others is haunting. Two Weeks is a bop. Drags at points in the middle but most of it was fun to listen to again.
Adele
3/5
Despite all the changes in music over the years people still love a singer of Standards. Adele at her peak was a throwback in the face of all the other pop stars in the 2010s. We're getting this now again in 2026 with Olivia Dean (another Brit, of course) - but it's proof that if you have a powerful voice and are singing catchy, booming songs about love lost and found there will always be an audience.
25 is not an improvement on its predecessor and doesn't really break new ground but it shouldn't be surprising that the best song "Send My Love to Your New Lover" is Max Martin produced. But still, it's an Adele album. I don't love it but it's hard to be upset if you hear it in a grocery store or a waiting room either. Sometimes inoffensive background music is perfectly fine.
Fela Kuti
3/5
Would love to be as enthusiastic about something as Fela is about introducing Ginger Baker. Last track drags it down but otherwise love the energy.
Pixies
5/5
I got a different Pixies album earlier in this list and wasn't impressed but man this one has the goods. Steve Albini was a production genius. Basically influenced a decade of rock music.
Standouts: Bone Machine, Gigantic, Where is My Mind
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
Gets a little repetitive but good music to chill out to. Exodus was better.
Astrud Gilberto
2/5
Is this what 1960s businessmen listened to while they were cheating on their wives
Drive Like Jehu
4/5
Pleasantly surprised here. When I hear "post-rock" I think of long inaccessible sprawling epics like from Sigur Ros or Godspeed You Black Emperor, but the riffs were solid here and the songs kept me engaged throughout. Underrated 90s gem.
Crowded House
2/5
Before this I knew one Crowded House song, Don't Dream It's Over. It's a pretty good, catchy anthem. Unfortunately that's not on here. Unmemorable stuff here mostly.
The Doors
3/5
A little too keyboard happy but Break On Through is a classic. Coppola changed how I felt about The End after he put it in Apocalypse Now.
Michael Jackson
4/5
Following up Thriller, one of the best albums of the 20th century, is an impossible task but MJ comes close to doing it here. There are some absolute classics on here (Smooth Criminal, The Way You Make Me Feel) and some underrated gems (Speed Demon), and it doesn't feel as bloated as Michael's later albums. But you can start to sense his general weirdness coming out overall ("your butt is mine" still is one of the corniest opening lines), that would soon overtake his career. There's not as much magic on here as Off the Wall or Thriller but mostly it holds up.
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
Good range of stuff here from Everyday People to a funky 13-minute instrumental
Giant Sand
1/5
100% Chore, 0% Enchantment.
The Prodigy
2/5
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
3/5
Tom Petty made great bar music and had some timeless hits over the years but this album doesn't really represent them other than American Girl or Breakdown. Much like Daft Punk, Foo Fighters, or Supertramp, the list only having one Tom Petty album doesn't truly reflect his whole career which is a shame.
Tito Puente
4/5
Fun and energetic! The Bad Bunny of his time
The Louvin Brothers
2/5
Not really my thing. The harmonies aren't bad
Bill Evans Trio
3/5
No frills jazz piano. Probably not one I'll seek out over and over but makes me wanna dress up fancy and get an overpriced martini at a jazz club
Jefferson Airplane
3/5
Two absolute classics in White Rabbit and Somebody to Love then a bunch of filler. Album suffers when Grace Slick isn't singing.
Big Brother & The Holding Company
5/5
Funny to get this right after Jefferson Airplane, another band straight out of the San Francisco psychedelic rock scene, but I enjoyed this one a lot more. Janis Joplin's voice is electric, what a talent.
Standouts: Piece of my Heart, I Need A Man To Love
Dead Kennedys
4/5
Protest music that was controversial and shocking over 40 years ago can seem tame today and the lyrics feel silly in retrospect but the music still goes hard. A lot of similarities with the Pogues despite the musical style being different. Jello is a funny name
Bad Company
2/5
I love classic 1970s arena rock but these guys somehow make it sound boring. The hit song has the same name as the band and the same name as the album, very creative!
Van Halen
5/5
It's clear that by 1984 David Lee Roth's horny showman personality and Eddie's synth experimentation were driving the band in different directions and it wouldn't hold. But for 33 minutes, Van Halen put together their best album, a hard-driving rock and roll classic that never lets up for a moment. This was the last VH album before Roth left and Sammy Hagar replaced him but I'm glad the guys reconciled with Roth for one more album 30 years later because the band was never really the same without him.
Standouts: Jump, Panama, Hot For Teacher
Pearl Jam
5/5
A 90s grunge classic. Vedder's voice is towering, the guitars are incredible, and the songs stick in your head for days. Amazing that this was their debut.
Standouts: Even Flow, Alive, Jeremy, Porch
Harry Nilsson
4/5
"Tapestry" but for men
Bob Dylan
4/5
My first Dylan album on here. Look I know he's a legend but his music has never really been my thing. That said this is pretty good overall especially the "electric" first half.
Jacques Brel
1/5
Sacre bleu! C'est merde!
Antony and the Johnsons
2/5
Anohni has had a fascinating career and I respect what she's trying to do here but much like Leonard Cohen this falls in "not for me" territory. A lot of misgendering in the reviews here unfortunately!
U2
4/5
Growing up I thought this was the superior album to Joshua Tree but in my old age I think I am mistaken. There's a lot to love on here, as it was U2 trying to modernize its sound for the 1990s after ending the 80s with the disjointed Rattle and Hum project. But despite more electronic Eno/Lanois influence and some harder riffs, this is still unmistakably a U2 album. Zoo Station sets the tone early but the next song is just a worse version of it. The highlights on here (Zoo Station, Who's Gonna Ride, The Fly, Mysterious Ways) are incredible, but the lows (Even Better, Throw Your Arms, Ultraviolet) seem like worse versions of songs already on the album. There's some Bono preachiness that's to be expected on here, and overall I had fun relistening to this, but if you trimmed this to 8-9 songs it would be a classic.
The Smiths
4/5
We all know Morrissey is a prick but this album is pretty solid. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out is an all-timer.
Fugazi
4/5
I never got into the DC punk scene when I lived there so this was new to me but this is all very fun and energetic. Good stuff.
Rod Stewart
2/5
Meh. I know that Rod is beloved and he's got some songs I like but this does nothing for me. He was 25 when this was released and his voice already sounds like a 65 year-old. Songs about a country boy on country roads from a guy born and raised in North London. Come on man.
Little Richard
4/5
Honestly this bangs! Had no expectations coming in but yeah this is the genesis of so much American blues rock for the next several years and so much more energetic than the Elvis albums I've gotten so far. The music itself starts to get repetitive halfway through but you can't deny its influence.
Side note: I remember Little Richard on a musician episode of Wheel of Fortune (with James Brown and Weird Al) when I was a kid and Little Richard might have been the worst Wheel player of all time.
R.E.M.
4/5
Interesting to hear the start of a band that would obviously help define alt-rock later in the decade and become an MTV juggernaut by the early 90s. They're finding their footing here, but the songs don't grab me the way their later work does.
Amy Winehouse
5/5
Yeah, this is the good stuff. Amy Winehouse's tragic short career and becoming a victim of the 27 Curse have been well documented but for 35 minutes it all came together on an incredible R&B album. Her voice is mesmerizing and the backing music is perfect as well. The obvious parallel here is Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - both are genre-defining albums that unfortunately never had appropriate followups.
Best tracks: Rehab, You Know I'm No Good, Back to Black, Tears Dry On Their Own
Aphex Twin
3/5
Honestly fine. Good background music