Album #1 Not a jazz or big band fan. Still, some of this was great. The rest was technically good, and I see why this is a highly regarded album, but I lost interest multiple times. Until the squealing trumpet brought me back. Highlights: Black and Tan Fantasy Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue

I never heard of them before this. My first thought is that they wanted to sound like the Beatles, updated to the 80s. It's good enough that I added it to my library, but not an all time great. The 8+ minutes songs are too long and repetitive. Favorites: I Wanna Be Adored Bye Bye Bad Man This is the One

I never bothered to listing to Jimi Hendrix. I thought I wouldn't like it. I was wrong. Favorites: Spanish Castle Magic, Wait Until Tomorrow, Little Wing, Castles Made of Sand

My thought process before listening: Oh, Paul Simon. This will be ok. I've heard a few of these. There's not a bad song on here. It seems I like the African rhythm. Favorites: The Boy in the Bubble, Graceland, Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes, You Can Call Me Al, Under African Skies, All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints

The first album I got on this site where I already had something from it in my library. This should be something I like. It's ok. Nothing bad, nothing great. Maybe that's because all the songs sound the same. It's good background music.

So I probably just don't like jazz that much. There is obvious talent here, but it's just background music to me.

First thought: Weird. But it's Bowie, so that's not surprising. I've heard Bowie's hits, but nothing from this album. It started as a 3 for me, then moved to a 4. I needed a second listen, and now it's a 5.

So I got this right after Bowie's "Low". Coincidence? There was definitely influence from "Low" here. Too bad none of the talent came over with it. This sounds like an AI tried to copy Bowie. There's no emotion here at all. Unless vaguely unsettling is an emotion. Cars saves this from getting a 1. It's actually a decent track.

I haven't really listened to a Tribe Called Quest before. I'm a bit surprised I missed out. It's groovy fun hip hop. The album is too long, though. It drags at the end. Favorites: Luck of Lucien, Bonita Applebum, Can I Kick It? It's a 3.5, but the great outweighs the ok, so I round it up to 4.

Early Coldplay is great. Yellow has been in my rotation for years. Trouble and Spies are favorites too. It's all good mellow pop/rock. 4.5, rounded down to 4.

Dark, broody rock with a gospel choir and some blues influence thrown in. It's also a bit pretentious Nothing here is bad, but none of it is particularly interesting to me either. Ok, now it'd dark broody ballads with piano. Worse than part one, but not by a lot. Again, nothing particularly interesting. O Children isn't bad, it's just not someone I'm interested in. In the end, not one of these songs made me want to add it to my library. But none of them made me want to turn them off.

I got into R.E.M. with "Automatic For The People". I've only listened to the hits from the 80s albums. So I knew Stand and Orange Crush are great. It turns out most of the album is great. It's not quite "Automatic" though. 4.5 rounded up.

Bitter Sweet Symphony is incredible. The rest, not so much. I took a break after 5 songs where I thought everything after Bitter Sweet Symphony was uninteresting. The next day - Bitter Sweet Symphony - awesome. Everything else - meh. Nothing here is really bad, it's just forgettable. I also got the feeling that every track is about 2 minutes too long.

This just isn't for me. The music isn't bad, and there are some good guitar riffs, but the vocals are just bad.

What the hell did I just listen to? I'm really regretting my decision to listen to all of each of these albums. Waits is not funny, and I hate every moment he is talking (and singing, but there is much more talking). +1 for the decent bluesy/jazzy music which I could probably like as an instrumental. +2 for the bassist who is way too good for this. -100 for the talking (and singing).

Another late 70s/early 80s experimental mashup of different genres. The experimental isn't too far out there. It actually works. I've heard of Talking Heads, but never paid attention to them. It seems I should have. Of course, I've heard Once in a Lifetime many times before. 4.5 - I think this get rounded up. Once in a Lifetime is that good.

Never heard of them. I wish I could continue to say that. Obscure indie rock. Boring, but in a loud, in your face, obnoxious way that means you can't just leave it on as background music. Why is it even on this list? 1.5 - Golden Skans isn't too bad, and there is a minute here and there with decent music and no noise. It gets rounded down to 1 because, while not completely terrible, the annoying parts are VERY annoying.

This album is so very early 90s. Not that that is bad. I learned my musical tastes in the early 90s. The title track is great. Then the album goes into a bunch of mediocre dance music with rap that is on the bad end of mediocre. None of the tracks are bad separately, but put them all together, and it's just too much.

The first album I got where I knew it would be a 5 before I started. Automatic For The People was my introduction to REM back in the 90s. I knew it was great, but a fresh listen makes me think it's probably the best REM album and maybe the best on this list. Drive to Everybody Hurts is the best start to an album I've heard in a while. Man on the Moon, Nightswimming, and Find the River may be the best ending to an album ever. The middle drags a bit, but it's relative. There isn't a bad track on the album. I get some of the lower ratings. You have to be in the right mood for this. It's slower, emotional, and somewhat depressing at times.

Another "experimental" album. This time at least it's weirdly different. The number of times I've used the words weird and experimental in these reviews is way more than I thought I would ever need, and I'm only 20 albums in. This time sci-fi hip hop. That's new. The first few tracks had a decent beat at times, but nothing else good. Then I zoned out and the rest of the tracks blurred together. I guess that means nothing was terrible enough to stand out.

I thought I didn't like most 70s music. It seems I just never gave it a chance, especially bands like T.Rex that didn't last into the late 80s/early 90s when I started figuring out what I liked. I've never heard anything on this album before. It's surprisingly good. There's some filler too, so it's not perfect. Favorites: Metal Guru The Slider Rabbit Fighter

So, the cocaine album. Yeah, I hear that. I had not paid much attention to Bowie before starting this. I was only familiar with some of his hits. After getting Low as my first Bowie album, I started looking at the rest. I think Station to Station may have sounded better if I heard it before Low. After the first listen, I was debating on whether this is a 4 or a 5. Like Low, I needed a second listen, and now I'm convinced it's a 5. It's not as good as Low, though.

It's not really what I like, but it's not something a would turn off either. Her voice is great, though. Son of a Preacher Man is a keeper.

Bland is the best description I can come up with. Forgettable background music. Like other albums before it, if it fades into the background but isn't offensive enough for me to notice, it gets a 2.

This is interesting. I thought I hated most music before about 1977. I was pretty sure I couldn't stand 60s/70s folk/soft rock. I've already decided that I haven't given 70s music a chance. I guess now I have to do the same with folk. Rating this is a bit difficult. I already knew I liked Fire and Rain at least a little. It's actually much better than I thought. Sweet Baby James and County Road are great too. The tracks I didn't like, I really didn't like, though. Oh, Susannah? Really? It's a 3.5. So 3 or 4?

My first Pink Floyd album on this list, and it's the one I'm supposed to like because it's the greatest album of all time. I've never listened to The Dark Side of the Moon before. I have heard some of The Wall, and I don't hate Pink Floyd, I just never bothered to listen to them before. It's good. This might be the first album I have listened to that had to be heard as an album. That alone ups the rating for something on an album list. Time and Money are the only tracks that do well without the others. That may be why I liked them the best. Best album ever? No Will I listen to it again? Yes, but not often. It's not background music. It demands attention. It is worth giving a 5? Yes

I seem to be getting a lot of 70s art rock and prog rock lately that need multiple listens just to get an idea of what to rate them. Aqualung has a couple of great tracks, a couple of clunkers, and a lot that is just good. It's about a 3.5, but I'll round up because the flute somehow fits in well.

I guess I'm a Pink Floyd fan now. This is why I started going through this list for. I found a masterpiece that I had never heard before. The only bad thing I can say is that I liked Welcome to the Machine a bit less than the rest of the album.

The music isn't terrible, and the harmonies are kind of nice, but this album is terribly dated. I guess it is possibly to be sappy and misogynistic at the same time. It's short at least, and it feels like every song cuts off early. I guess I can hear some of what influenced music later in the 60s here. It doesn't keep this from being boring, though.

That voice is incredible. I don't care for jazz all that much (or live albums either), but the vocals carry this album. It's can see myself listening to it again if I'm in the right mood. The scat singing on the last track nearly knocked it down to a 3 though.

An artist/album I haven't heard of. It's interesting, but just average to me. It kept my attention for the most part, so it's not boring. None of the tracks caught my interest enough for me to want to listen to it again. I have no idea why it's on the list.

This is so very much the 60s. Sunshine Superman is pretty good, and I was surprised by how much I liked it. Then it all went downhill. Renaissance faire lyrics with what sounded like only bass and sitar for music. I don't guess the music was all that bad, but for almost every track? Too much. The lyrics were definitely not my thing, though.

Well this is a surprise. I haven't consiously listened to Cat Stevens before, but I have heard of him. I've heard Wild World before. I had to listen to this twice. The first time, I'm deciding between a 3 and a 4. Then I get into the second listen and it goes right past a 4. There's a not a bad song here, and the worst is still above average. Maybe I'm just in the right mood for this at the end of the day. It's a 4.5, but Father and Son alone makes me round up.

Rap is not my favorite genre, but I don't hate it either. Eminem is probably my favorite rapper, but it's the Eminem more than 10 years in the future of the one that created this album. The older Eminem has mellowed a bit and exorcised a few of his demons. This Eminem, hiding behind a Slim Shady mask, is way too full of anger and hate for me to enjoy any of this. There is certainly talent here. Eminem has a way with words that is unique. My Name Is was everywhere when this album came out. By itself it's pretty good, but not quite up to what Eminem would do later. Guilty Conscience is more cringey than shocking. 97 Bonnie and Clyde is disturbing, but I don't think I'm finding it disturbing in the way it was intending to be. The rest is bass, rhymes, misogyny, and shock value with no point. So this is another instance where I wish there was a 10 point rating scale. I reserve 1s for albums I don't think have any redeeming qualities, and 2s for albums I don't like that I can at least see some talent in. There is talent here, but it's way overshadowed by the shock and hate. 1.5, and I'm rounding it down because I don't think I enjoyed a second of listening to this again.

Do I like Radiohead? I honestly don't know. The few hits I've heard are good, but nothing on this album is doing anything for me. There are a few tracks that are above average (not great) and a few that are annoying (but not to the point of skipping them). The whiny vocals got to me after a couple of tracks too. It's a 2.5, but I'm rounding down because as an album it wears out it's welcome less than halfway in.

It's strange. I generally hate sappy late 50s/early 60s doo-wop style albums, but The Beach Boys are pretty good. This album, though, isn't their best. The harmonies are there, but the album is just uneven and didn't really catch my interest other than Help Me, Rhonda. RIP Brian Wilson

It's the single biggest influence on 90s music (and probably beyond). It's at least in the top 5 most influential albums of all time. It's a 5 just because of that. But beyond that, it's just an exceptional album. Every single track is amazing (let's just ignore Endless, Nameless). I was 17 when this came out, so it's impossible to be unbiased, though.

There is so much great music from the UK. Even with the author's UK bias, why is this on the list? Because it influenced arguably better bands in the 90s? I'm getting sick of Britpop pretty quickly. Yeah, I've heard There She Goes. It's good, not great. Everything else ranges from fades into the background to actively annoying.

Too long. Way too long. This is another one of those albums I'm not turning off, but I don't really care to listen to again. There are a few good to very good tracks, and a few that are annoying. Nothing great, nothing terrible.

There's a little of everything here. Grunge, alternative, metal, prog, 60s psychedelic influences. I love the layered guitars and wall of sound. It's not quite perfect, though. Silverfuck is too long and nearly derails the album. It's one of the top 10 albums of the 90s. I got Nevermind a few days ago, so I guess there must be a comparison. Nevermind is more influential, but I think I personally like Siamese Dream more.

I don't really get jazz that much. This, though, is pretty good. Maybe I just need a good rhythm to go with the jazz. I'm going to have to listen to more Afrobeat. Digging into the Wikipedia articles on this album and Fela Kuti was really interesting. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I don't think it was protest music you can dance to. Fela Kuti was an influence on The Talking Heads "Remain In Light", which I (re)discovered on this list last month. Well that makes sense why I like this, then.

What genre is this exactly? There's country, blues, rock, folk, and this doesn't really fit any of it. I guess it's more country than anything, and I'm not big on pre 90s country. This album is frustrating to listen to. There's some great stuff here if you are in the right mood (and as I'm listening to this it's as close to in the mood for this as I'm ever going to get): Misguided Angel is incredible, Blue Moon Revisited has great vocals even if it's too slow, Sweet Jane and Walking After Midnight are good covers. The rest is just so, so slow. It's too slow even if you are in the mood for slow. That completely overshadows the good to great vocals on most of these tracks.

This is terrible. After reading Wikipedia, I get it. Give an amateur a drum machine and this is what you get. I can't point to a single thing I like here.

Blitzkrieg Bop is pretty good. At least a 4. Wait, I've heard this before. Is the track looping? Yeah, every song is the same, just with different nonsensical lyrics. Then it slows down (I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend) and it somehow gets worse. Oh, good, we're back to Blitzkrieg Bop with different lyrics.

The music is maybe a bit above average, but nothing special. Who thought having this guy be the vocalist was a good idea? Is he trying a fake accent or just intentionally mumbling everything? I had to pull up the lyrics to understand what he's singing. They also need a new songwriter.

2.5 for the music. As an instrumental, it wouldn't be bad in the background. 1 for the creepy guy whispering French words I don't understand in my ear. Seriously, don't listen to this with headphones (or at all). -1 for the explanation of the French I got from Wikipedia.

I'm not even 50 albums in and this is my 3rd REM album. What I have discovered is that I love REM more than I thought I did. All 5 stars so far, but Document is below Automatic for the People for me.

There is way more overdubbing than live here. It feels more like audience noise was dubbed into studio recordings, but with the quality of live tracks recorded in the 70s. So not great. The music is generic 70s rock. Not great, not bad. I don't mind listening to it, but I wouldn't choose to listen to it.

One thing I have leaned with this list is that I absolutely hate Tom Waits voice. Without the "singing" this may be decent background music. This is better than Nighthawks at the Diner, but that's really not much of a compliment.

4 for the guitar. I enjoyed the instrumentals more than the singing. 3 for the rest. Folk isn't my favorite genre. It was good, but not anything I would choose to listen to.

Paranoid is the only song I've heard before. I've been missing out apparently. I love 80s Ozzy but didn't go further back. But I still instantly knew the riff in Iron Man. This album sounds more 1985 than 1970. It's an easy 5 as the blueprint to every metal album of the 80s and 90s.

It started off pretty good with Kicks, but everything else was just an average 60s pop album, which I don't like too much as a genre. 2.5, and I'll round it up to 3 because the grade bacd sound is a step above normal 60s pop.

It's good. Not great, not bad. There are a couple of very good tracks, then a whole lot of the same thing, average 90s rock. 3.5

Not great, not bad. I feel like I keep repeating myself. It seems I'm getting a string of average albums, and I really shouldn't on a list of albums I must listen to. I'm not turning this off, but no, I don't have to hear this. Take Me Out is the best thing here, but it's still just above average. At least they managed to make each track sound different.

My expectations were low and it met them. It wasn't terrible, but it's just not anything I would want to listen to again.

They have one trick, but it's a really good trick. This is just great metal. But it's live, and from the early 80s, so the quality is terrible. Even with that, you can feel the energy.

It's different at least. I enjoyed the music on about half the tracks, the other half were either annoying or boring. I really don't like his voice. It bothered me even on the tracks with good music.

I love RHCP. I'm not sure if I like this album or Californication the best. So this is a 5. It's not perfect. Like most early CD era album, this is too long. Cut the last 4 tracks and it would be nearly perfect. The white guy rap/rock is really dated and juvenile. This is better than most of it from the early 90s, though. So 4.5/5. Still I have to round up. I lovbass, and Flea is the best.

Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that. Folk is generally not something I like (although this list is testing that somewhat). There is folk here, but also rock, gospel, maybe a little blues. The first half is quite good. Love the One You're With has great backing vocals. Church (Pt. of Someone) has a gospel-like feel that works pretty well. Old Times Good Times and Go Back Home made me think this may actually be a great album. I suspect that's mostly because of Hendrix and Clapton. Then the second part comes and it's average at best. Nothing was terrible, but none of it caught my interest. So 4.5 for the first half and 2.5 for the second half. 3.5 rounded up.

I think this is too 80s. There's a lot of new wave that still sounds good today, but this isn't it. I'm sure I would have loved it if I heard it in the 80s. Dumb Waiters caught my interest, but the rest is average.

Side 1 is great. I'm really not sure if I like Funk, or if I just like The Temptations doing it. It was also nice hearing a cover of I Heard it Through the Grapevine that wasn't trying to sound like Marvin Gaye. 5/5 Side 2 is standard Motown soul. Nothing wrong with it, and The Temptations are definitely near or at the top of my list of favorite Motown acts, but as a genre, it's not something I listen to often. 3.5/5.

Judy Blue Eyes and Long Time Gone are good. Very good even. There's a bot too much hippie and folk in the rest for me to like it. I'm not coming back to the album, but will probably play a track again at some point.

I'm confused about how to categorize this. Punk/post punk/new wave? All 3 at once? The first 3 tracks are more punk, I think, but with better guitar than the punk I've heard so far. I don't particularly like punk based on what I've heard on this list so far, but this is above average. Marquee Moon (the song) sounds more prog to me, although that may just be the length. It's incredible. The second half sounds like art rock mixed with 80s alternative (or rather 80s alternative sounds like this album). Again above average, but not incredible. This album evidently inspired multiple artists I have already rated as a 5. I can hear that, but other than the title track, this is more of a 4 to me.

What the fuck was that? This is the 3rd time I have found the worst album on this list (so far). I suspect there will be something worse later though. There were a couple of flashes of music that accidentally made it on this album. If I go out back and stab a duck, will it sound like this album?

Rikki Don't Lose That Number is great. Any Major Dude Will Tell You is good. The rest of the album is either forgettable or too jazzy for me.

Raw and jarring are what come to mind when I try to describe this. I feel like I might enjoy this more if the guitar wasn't hurting my ears. The drum and bass parts sound great. I enjoyed Damaged Goods.

More British Folk Renaissance Faire music. It's not bad, but it's not anything I'd listen to again.

Bono has an ego that can blot out the sun. But he can sing. This is the first time I've listed to this entire album in probably 20 years. It's better than I remember. Not a single bad track here, and most are incredible. Easy 5.

This is much more Country/Soul/R&B than it is Rock. Elvis can certainly pull this off, though. There is too much country filler here for a 5. Elvis makes the average sound great though. Still, I was getting bored until In The Ghetto and Suspicious Minds. Those 2 songs are incredible.

Raw, angry, unsettling. It's obvious in hindsight that Kurt Cobain was in a bad place when this was recorded. It's hard to rate this. The best tracks (Heart Shaped Box, Dumb, All Apologies) are easy 5 stars, as good as or better than what is on Nevermind. Everything else ranges from uncomfortable to unlistenable.

Socially concious rap. The message is good, I suppose, but the delivery is too preachy. The beat is generic early 90s hip hop, so nothing special there either. 4 tracks are unavailable on every service I looked at, but I don't think I'm really missing anything.

Yes, every song sounds the same. That just means every song sounds like Highway to Hell, which is an all time classic. The rest of the tracks run together, but it's all good. Back in Black is better. 4.5

No. Just no. There's a bit of a riff and some mumble talking on top of it. Rollin Dany is the only thing here that sounds like a song, and it's a cover.

That's not quite what I was expecting. Immigrant Song is the best here, everything after is a slight letdown from that. I'm impressed that so many different genres are on this album, and they are all done well. 4.5

So what is this? Prog pop? I'm surprised. I was expecting a below average to average album. This is somewhere around a 4. It's interesting how a lot of the reviews mention who Supertramp sound like, and there's quite a variety. For me it started at Pink Floyd, then Elton John, maybe a little Rush, and finally Genesis. Only not quite as good as any of those.

It's ok. All I Need was pretty good. Everything else was standard early 90s rap and blended into the background.

It took me too long to really listen to Black Sabbath even though I've liked Ozzy's solo work for a while. A whole lotta cocaine can make a great album, I guess. It's not quite as good as Paranoid, but very close. RIP Ozzy

It started off reasonably well. Not great, but not bad either. It started going off the rails with Rene. I have no idea what was going on with side 2. Side 1 - 2.5 Side 2 - 1.25

This is another one of those completely average albums. Nothing stood out, and nothing was terrible. The guitar was solid, but I found the singing slightly annoying.

Interesting. That was better than I thought it would be. It's definitely a product of the early 80s, and maybe a bit too experimental and pretentious, but it somehow works.

Really nice improv piano. Jazz usually leaves me bored, but this was easy to listen to. Maybe because the improv part is jazz, but the sound is more modern (contemporary?) classical. I'm not sure it's something I will come back to, but I enjoyed it.

Dark, broody, depressing. I believe I like this more than I thought I would. It's not something I would want to play all the time, and there are some duds on the album, but I do like it overall. I think it's the drums that drew me in.