Talking strictly about Bowie's songs without everything else his persona/career encompassed is a bit reductive, but here we are. This just reinforces my view of him as a "greatest hits" kind of artist. Album opens and closes with a couple bangers, does OK with a Beatles cover and then shuffles through whitesy funk a lot with a bunch of songs I've already mostly forgot about. I think it's the "I'll forget about this" that makes this seem so flat as an album.

I was surprised this album was included on this list, but then again, there's probably not a record that epitomizes the execrable early '00s hard-rock era like this one. After hearing many of these song a bazillion times on the radio during that era, it's hard to separate it from one of the most mookish spans of music. I hadn't listened to this end to end since I reviewed it on original release. I remember then thinking that it was a successor to PWEI, and, man I sure was optimistic (stupid?) in that regard. These days, it comes off just like a slightly less idiotic Limp Bizkit, and most of non-stupidity comes from the fact that Bennington seems unable to sing about anything other than his feelings - no context for them, no situations, nothing but emo, emo emo. Yeah, someone else has probably already pulled on that rather uninteresting thread since his suicide. There are dozens of other albums from his epoch that are probably worse if you're going to go back and listen, but why would you? Millennial tough-guy-with-feelings hard rock is something we just need to let go. Forever.

Even though I never really listened to Deep Purple before, I always figured that if I gave them a chance I would hate them. I was right! Unbearable '70s hard rock at its douchey-est.

Talking strictly about Bowie's songs without everything else his persona/career encompassed is a bit reductive, but here we are. This just reinforces my view of him as a "greatest hits" kind of artist. Album opens and closes with a couple bangers, does OK with a Beatles cover and then shuffles through whitesy funk a lot with a bunch of songs I've already mostly forgot about. I think it's the "I'll forget about this" that makes this seem so flat as an album.

Nope.

I was surprised this album was included on this list, but then again, there's probably not a record that epitomizes the execrable early '00s hard-rock era like this one. After hearing many of these song a bazillion times on the radio during that era, it's hard to separate it from one of the most mookish spans of music. I hadn't listened to this end to end since I reviewed it on original release. I remember then thinking that it was a successor to PWEI, and, man I sure was optimistic (stupid?) in that regard. These days, it comes off just like a slightly less idiotic Limp Bizkit, and most of non-stupidity comes from the fact that Bennington seems unable to sing about anything other than his feelings - no context for them, no situations, nothing but emo, emo emo. Yeah, someone else has probably already pulled on that rather uninteresting thread since his suicide. There are dozens of other albums from his epoch that are probably worse if you're going to go back and listen, but why would you? Millennial tough-guy-with-feelings hard rock is something we just need to let go. Forever.

This is one of those albums that have been reviewed 99 million times in more than 50 years. Yay for listening notes. As an album it's good - just not my thing unless I'm in a very precise mood. It's good, but not quite sure why this is heralded as one of rock's pinnacle achievements.

Getting this the day after "Exile on Main Street" was weird. Hearing this right after that one, it really struck home how when the Stones weren't trying so hard to be the kind of band Alan Lomax recorded, they had some good songs. These were, invariably, the least American blues/roots influenced - "Gimme Shelter," "Monkey Man" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want" - that really makes me wonder why they spent so much time chasing the blues and not working toward their strengths.

So seemingly primitive on its surface, this is one of those albums that just haven't been replicated since it was recorded. I'm sure having Bowie at the decks helps, but this is raw atmosphere. A classic.

This will always be the sound of the dorms to me.

Awful taste, good execution. I have no idea if I'd ever heard any of these songs before in my life. If I hear them again, I don't know if I'll remember them when it happens.

The song that epitomizes this album is "Music for the Last Couple." It's musically interesting and took a lot of skill to put together. Also, it's just not all that fun to listen to, nor is it particularly immersive. I'm a decently big fan of The Jam - have all the albums on CD and pretty regularly listen - but "Sound Affects" is a weird one for me. On one hand, it has some of the band's best tracks - "Start" and "That's Entertainment," the latter being arguably their best song ever, at least lyrically. It also has songs that probably didn't need to see the light of day ("Pretty Green" and maybe "Set the House Ablaze"). This album was where The Jam hit the point of diminishing returns: All the albums before this were better, and "The Gift" is even less interesting. (Or maybe "Setting Sons," the album prior to "Sound Affects," is better seen as the band's artistic zenith?) It's a shame, as the band's mix of Northern Soul and Motown into its London (Woking, actually) could produce some of its best, most interesting songs, it came with a tradeoff of more clunkers.

Even though I never really listened to Deep Purple before, I always figured that if I gave them a chance I would hate them. I was right! Unbearable '70s hard rock at its douchey-est.

With more than 20 years of perspective, this really does seem to capture the Pitchfork bro vibe of the early '00s. It's sad and melancholic and easy to listen to. Its use of strings screams sophistication, if you're the kind of person to confuse a large studio budget for sophistication. It was also a transformational record - something those hipsters really got on board with - as Hansen seemed to stop fucking around with the party sound and get down to serious biz. It captured the timber of the self-important early aughts, but, man, it's just another folk-thing chronicling the unbearable pain of being white and boring. These songs are fine enough, but are they worth making room in your life for? Not really.

An immediate and unfiltered look at teenage loneliness and lust. Punk’s promise is shaped into a different form on a record that still seems amazingly modern.