I was ready to give this a 3. Nothing that impressive to me, lacks structure in most of the instrumental sections, but certainly not unenjoyable. Then “feedback” hit. It’s not often that one song can sway a rating by a full star, but 7 minutes of literal feedback did the trick!

Sorry Shane :-( good songs and great instrumentation but it’s a voice thing

I made too many people listen to Jeff Buckley in college. Sorry Shane.

Banger. Glam rock perfection. No bad tracks. Was supposed to contain “All the Young Dudes” but Bowie gave it to Mott the Hoople because he wanted to throw them a bone.

I’m not sure exactly what it is about these types of 90s rock bands that I hate so much. The instrumentation can’t be both loud and chaotic but also really fucking boring. Combine that with mostly unintelligible singing (mumbling?) and you’ve got yourself a tough listen. The song about the junkie saved this from potential 1 territory.

Banger. Glam rock perfection. No bad tracks. Was supposed to contain “All the Young Dudes” but Bowie gave it to Mott the Hoople because he wanted to throw them a bone.

“I… don’t like that”- Annika, regarding “Fuck me (interlude).” Really good but the messaging sure didn’t age well

I understand the merit here but I don’t like punk, I don’t like indie, and I don’t like the British. Three strikes you’re out

Love this album and love Nick Drake. Pretty unique blend of folk, classical, and jazz. This is a 5 star collection of songs that ultimately coalesces into a 4 star album.

Boy was I ready to absolutely hate this album. By “John Wayne Gacy Jr.” I was intrigued. By “Jacksonville,” I was smiling and toe-tapping. Weird album but very authentic and hey, that’s worth three stars even if it’s not in my lane.

From the hills of the misty mountains to the Mississippi delta, this album rips. I was traveling and didn’t have time for a lengthy review but I wanted to pop back in and make it clear that this may be the best rock album of all time and maybe is my favorite ever. The big 4 get all the love but evermore, misty mountain, four sticks and especially going to California are fucking awesome. Ok back out.

A few years ago I tried to rank the songs on this album because I love ranking things and I was dismayed to find out that one of them had to be last.

I don’t like being growled at. There is some interesting instrumentation in some of the songs but it just isn’t my thing.

This album might be for you if you are a 90s skater boy with a bleached Mohawk and an inclination to sit on the stoop and say “oh shoot girl! Sick fit!” to passerby. Alas, I am not this.

A couple clunkers but the glimmers of Paul Simon’s writing excellence are here. Homeward bound in particular is fantastic.

Kind of tough rating for me because there’s some fun stuff on here. The only problem is I don’t think any of it is very good and it doesn’t feel like this album belongs on this list to me.

This is a really good album and it’s one of the better new wave synth albums I’ve heard. It’s just not a genre I really like that much. All through the night rips though.

Good pop gives it a 2. Go west is a banger and that gives it a 3 Upon further reflection, go west is not enough for a full ‘nother star. But great song.

Listen, there’s nothing wrong with this album, unlike some other bottom feeders of my rankings. But god damn it is unforgivably boring to me.

Not always huge on Prince and this album is way too dance-synth-pop for me. I like the couple big songs on the album but the rest do absolutely nothing for me. Sorry.

Pure undistilled rock and roll, baby. Don’t mind the double album here, even the less memorable songs fit well.

This could have been from the 70s and it could have been from 3 years ago

Great album. Some awesome hooks, licks, and solos.

There’s some interesting moments but the songs all kind of meander along. Need some structure or something with a little more pop

I made too many people listen to Jeff Buckley in college. Sorry Shane.

I don’t know what irks me about Bono’s voice so much. Maybe it’s the way that every note he sings is drawn out longer than it should be and it sounds like he’s moaning. One extra star for some interesting instrumentation on some of the songs

Far too angry. Once upon a time perhaps we could have danced but that ship has sailed

Really liked a lot of the rapping. However, a lot of the beats were mind-numbingly repetitive. Hard to keep much momentum in most of the songs

I don’t think I had ever heard a Cure song. Not too bad! But that’s about all I have to say

Some really awesome stuff. The first two thirds is really strong. Sex Machine kills the album. Can’t be having 13 min jams that don’t really go anywhere.

Long live Bowie. There is some fucking awesome instrumentation in this album. Dude was pushing the boundaries up until the end

I thought I was really over the songs on this album. I almost always skip them when they come on BUT in album context, they had fresh breath. The couple I didn’t know were really good too. Great album.

There is very little redeeming here for me. Can’t even appreciate the vocals because of how whiney it all is. I’m sure divorce is tough but this sounds to me like a teenage fanfiction on divorce. Sorry.

Some really awesome stuff in the first half. Lost me a bit in the second half but still an enjoyable listen

Need to listen a bit more but this could easily become a 4. Some real head bobbers

This was a real treat. I did not realize how varied of music the white stripes put out. Thought it was all garage alternative rock stuff. But this was delightful

This was good pleasant listening but nothing grabbed my attention very well. Instrumentation was pretty great but I think the vocals kind of smoothed everything over and not in a good way (but good voice)

I was ready to smoke this album early but it grew on me. Not bad. Not bad.

Adele certainly has a wonderful voice and it’s pretty impressive how many huge hits were on this album. Unfortunately, I found the songs themselves to be pretty bland. I was between 2 and 3 stars and settled on 2 because naming your albums after how old you were is so fucking stupid

That’s good listening. Sometimes I think jazz songs can lose the plot. Not the case here

Fun album with plenty of toe-tappers, but I’m afraid that as of now, that’s mostly what the Talking Heads are to me. Nothing that stands out as particularly strong

Is this the most one dimensional popular band of all time? Quite possibly. When that one dimension is this good? Keep on Chooglin’ indeed

Very pleasantly surprised. This straddled the hip-hop/pop line pretty well for me. Was close to a 4 but some of the lyrics were tough and it’s just too damn long

This is simply a delightful listen. Every song carries so much momentum and variety. The WALL OF SOUND is spectacular, always so much going on and different things to listen for, including the occasional bike horn. Perfect harmonies. Perfect instrumentation. Masters of the art of the Coda. 10/10 no notes RIP Mr. Wilson and I wished more bands included timpani in their recordings.

Powderfinger is as good as it gets. Don’t get many songs with stories that good. Rest of the album is definitely a good listen but towards the end loses a little steam

This is maybe my 5th favorite Led Zeppelin album and still an easy 5. Not much to say here

WE ARE THE PRIESTS OF THE TEMPLE OF SYRINX the opener rips pretty hard in spots. Rest of the album is just fine

I’m not sure exactly what it is about these types of 90s rock bands that I hate so much. The instrumentation can’t be both loud and chaotic but also really fucking boring. Combine that with mostly unintelligible singing (mumbling?) and you’ve got yourself a tough listen. The song about the junkie saved this from potential 1 territory.

Definitely fine! Pretty easy listening and certainly sounds of its time

Fats is fats baby

I know next to nothing about the Smiths. So really pleasant surprise here. Probably closer to a 3.5 but some of the lyrics made me chuckle and it sounds like a pretty unique record to me.

What a weird album. Some of it didn’t age suuuper well but most of it hit pretty well for me. Some sweet heavy, spacey riffs

This album is awful and truly difficult to listen through. I like some Zappa and I’m not above enjoying good satire but this sounds as insufferable as a 26 year old undergraduate student ripping a bong and bemoaning the current state of affairs.

Not much to say here. Complete classic

Smooth as silk. One of the better singers we’ve ever had the pleasure of sharing the earth with. Found some of the arrangements to be a little lacking but this is spiritually a 4.5

Somehow made it to 30 without hearing most of this album. But I love The Who and I am an absolute sucker for goofy rock operas, so this should have been a home run. Alas, uncharacteristic of The Who and of goofy rock operas, I found this is be very boring musically. And far too many songs about rape. If only the makers of this list had the courage to replace this entry with a far superior rock opera of a similar era about a religious superstar figure and his followers.

The album starts off inoffensive yet uninspiring. Then with the introduction of some bluegrass instrumentation, we had a nice run of several good and interesting songs. Unfortunately, the album ends as it begins and it is too damn long.

Minus one for mostly covers but what a voice

I recognize the merit here. It’s not just doing much for me. Maybe if it was Saturday night this would be a different story. Also way too many grunts and oohs and gasps. Never liked that and never will. Sorry Michael

I thought I disliked Costello but i found this to be a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed hopping around from the 50s to the 90s and everywhere in between, including shades of Bruce?? My main complaint with the album is that our boy does not know how to end a song. Just kind of repeats himself for 30 seconds as the song fades out. But still! A success.

If this album ends with Swimming Pools it’s a stone cold 5. Even so, it’s still very close. I think his best stuff is here

Ska and British punk is kind of a nightmare genre combination for me. And yet there were still a couple songs here that I found enjoyable. Not enough to save the album but I thought I would despise it. So small victories.

I got to feel like the star of my very own bad 80s movie! Most of this was quite enjoyable, but I found the couple slow songs to be borderline unlistenable.

I’m not sure that this is a good album but it’s a perfect trap album for me. Hints of prog rock but not an onslaught to the ears and kind of silly. Not every album needs to be Pulitzer worthy. This was good fun and a perfect album to mow the lawn to, which I was doing.

This grew on me quickly. Really unique sound that evokes early America, nods to past country greats, and yet sounds fresh. Songs have some real weight and force to them. Lots of animal mentions. Winner.

I was ready to give this a 3. Nothing that impressive to me, lacks structure in most of the instrumental sections, but certainly not unenjoyable. Then “feedback” hit. It’s not often that one song can sway a rating by a full star, but 7 minutes of literal feedback did the trick!

Dude is an insanely talented player. This album is more impressive than enjoyable to me though. Maybe I just need more time with it

BOOOOOORING

This is a funny one. As with many debut albums, you can hear the band experimenting with some sounds that they quickly moved away from. The lack of cohesion here is where the deduction comes, there are songs that are good listens but kind of come out of nowhere. This is more of a 4.5 though

British rap sounds bad and the arrangements are waaaaay too much for me, feels very overwhelming at times. But those are both personal preferences and not enough to drop this to a 1.

No one sounded like these guys at the time and no one has really sounded like them ever since. As the years went on metal became really loud and chaotic and busy but this is just fucking heavy. The entire band played (and sang) like John Bonham drummed. Then some really nice interludes with changes and Laguna Sunrise. Bravo. Fare thee well, Ozzy.

Perhaps could have been a 3. I appreciate the idea of a quirky, mostly instrumental album but I just found this to be a bit too boring. Don’t think I’ll be revisiting, hence the 2

Gah. White reggae vibes are just kind of tough for me. Nothing terrible here but it’s just all… eh.

Gah this was so close to a 4 because some of the music really does rip. But fuck me I just hate when singers growl at me. This album isn’t super egregious but just when I’m getting into a song, that little creed “uhh yeaaah” yanks me out

The Magical Mystery Tour stops in Brazil! What a whacky, enjoyable listen. Minus 1 point for Portuguese. I hope it doesn’t make me racist to prefer to understand the lyrics.

That was grooooovy. Herbie had been a bit of a blind spot. A lot more funk to that than I was expecting. The first two numbers in particular were spectacular.

Fun little album. Nothing groundbreaking here but nothing unenjoyable either.

This one stayed on my radar but unlistened to for a lot longer than it should have. What good fun

I fucking HATE Creep and thought I hated Radiohead. I was expecting lots of angst on top of a droning background. What a pleasant surprise! A lot of these songs are really well structured with some beautiful melodies. Didn’t love when things got distorted but otherwise this is a huge success.

I unapologetically think wonderwall, champagne supernova, and especially don’t look back in anger are great songs. I remember disliking the rest of the album more, but on this listen I found most of it fine. Still not a fan of their heavier distorted sound but still, a good album. Minus one more point for overt Britishness.

Sorry Shane :-( good songs and great instrumentation but it’s a voice thing

Rock solid. Nothing groundbreaking but such a pleasant listen

Very enjoyable but slightly aimless. That and the length of the songs is what keeps this at a 3 but it sure is a rock solid 3

This is like my 5th favorite Dylan album mostly because of that fucking harmonica. Rolling stone is one of his best songs no matter what the hipsters may tell you. Desolation row rips