May 14 2025
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Sheer Heart Attack
Queen
A lot of Queen songs I've never heard before. Showcases a variety of musical thematic switches and storylines fading between songs. 1st album of this journey, and a pretty great one to get to start on. I think you might have to be pretty biased to think this is not a "good" album.
4
May 15 2025
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Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
The Flaming Lips
Pretty sure this is my first intentional listening of anything by The Flaming Lips. This was definitely a unique album but full of talent and insane creativity. A couple of songs that I didn't love listening to but they served a proper narrative purpose. Really cool. Not sure yet if I'm going to be rating these on the album as a piece of art or my personal opinions of them... This would be high as a piece of art but my opinion was maybe a 3.5
4
May 16 2025
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Dookie
Green Day
A lot of bangers I didn't realize were on the same album, and didn't realize this was Green Day's major debut album. Definitely an introduction of a unique sound to the scene. Some of the harmonies and vocal patterns sound Beach Boys reminiscent sometimes.
4
May 19 2025
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American IV: The Man Comes Around
Johnny Cash
Four solid albums in a row. Really enjoyed this one, felt like a good mix of Cash songs and Cash covers. Just sort of an iconic figure in country/rock. Older Cash but I think his voice aged well for the style most of this sounded like.
4
May 20 2025
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White Blood Cells
The White Stripes
Interesting album, I wouldn't say my favorite ever. Very "White Stripes" and by that I mean I think they are very good at making noise very musically. I don't think anything necessarily stood out to me on this album except one or two of the popular songs.
3
May 21 2025
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Deja Vu
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
I liked this one. Great musicianship, tight harmonies, enough variety that you can tell different people were the lead writers for each song. A couple of the big ones stood out to me, but heard the title track for the first time and most of the others. I really enjoyed just about everything on this, but not sure it would become part of my regular rotation. Did add to library.
4
May 22 2025
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LP1
FKA twigs
Didn't super love this one, kinda sounded like well-crafted noise to me for a lot of it. Don't get me wrong, I recognize the artistry and the talent it took to create that, and it really was all cohesive and musical, but it was just too noisy for my general taste.
2
May 23 2025
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Copper Blue
Sugar
I think grunge, and grunge-adjacent, is something that I can listen to but I wouldn't necessarily choose it. A good album overall, nothing that really blew me out of the water but generally solid.
3
May 26 2025
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Let's Stay Together
Al Green
Liked this one. Mostly some pretty easy listening, but made it really enjoyable. An album I wouldn't mind just popping on to start off the morning or to start winding down just before sunset.
4
May 27 2025
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Songs From The Big Chair
Tears For Fears
Pretty decent album. A couple of big hits on one album, and good to hear the context for Broken fully. I don't think anything super stood out to me re: style or composition or music, but maybe I just don't know the specific history about this album.
3
May 28 2025
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All Mod Cons
The Jam
This is the sort of underground garage stuff that I don't really like but I can kind of tolerate. This kind of stuff would be on in the shop all the time. Very nostalgic for that reason but not my favorite album. Very "of the genre", and did have some cool sound switches.
3
May 29 2025
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Guitar Town
Steve Earle
I quite liked this one, and reading about Steve Earle as I listened I liked it even more. Good country, very naive of the life that was about to follow him. It was a good mix of up-tempo and more ballad style, and I particularly enjoyed "Little Rock 'N' Roller"
4
May 30 2025
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Close To The Edge
Yes
Progressive rock like this is cool, but I can only listen to it in small doses. This was very exemplary of that genre and I did enjoy it for that but I don't think it's one I would put on again. But then again, I do put on the Dead...
3
Jun 02 2025
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Green River
Creedence Clearwater Revival
CCR, not much else really needs to be said. Very distinctive sound and kind of a mix between rock and country. I enjoyed hearing some stuff beyond their big hits and how the tones changed throughout but the sound stayed the same.
4
Jun 03 2025
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You Want It Darker
Leonard Cohen
What a way to put out your death album, I suppose. Nothing on this album really spoke to me, but go off, Leonard Cohen, I was unfamiliar with your game. Really interesting stuff and aptly named album, it was a... unique listen for sure. Very just sort of gravely and dark.
I originally gave this album a 2 when I first listened to it but then I read more about it and I was inspired to give it another go. It's pretty damn good, actually. I didn't much care for it musically but the dude is talented and this actually was quite a beautiful description of a man, facing death, battling with his understanding of god and religion. At least, that's how I re-listened to it. Yeah, great work.
4
Jun 04 2025
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Wonderful Rainbow
Lightning Bolt
I don't think it will be an unheard opinion to say I wasn't a fan of this one. It was musical and it was complex, and it took some insane talent and practice to create this. But, just not for me.
2
Jun 05 2025
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Dare!
The Human League
This project is really showing me what songs I've heard but don't know, and this album had a couple. Cool to see where they've come from and I think this was a nice album, don't have much other experience with The Human League to compare but the article mentioned they had a membership change, so interesting to see they had such a massive hit with that and then placed it as the last track of the album. Good overall, but not one that'll be entering my favorites most likely.
3
Jun 06 2025
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evermore
Taylor Swift
I really enjoyed this one. I felt like a lot of the intro tracks brought Taylor back towards her country roots but showcased a more mature songwriting than previously. This album was a great example of emotion into music, and did an excellent job switching between styles inside each song to explain that journey. I don't think I've listened to much of Taylor's stuff past like 2018 so this was a nice one to hear.
4
Jun 09 2025
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Brothers
The Black Keys
Hell yeah, The Black Keys. I have loved this group since I heard Lonely Boy for the first time, and Brothers is so quintessentially them. Bluesy, rocky, muddy, skunky, all things I would say make The Black Keys a band I could listen to all the time and they always make me feel real cool.
5
Jun 10 2025
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This Is Fats Domino
Fats Domino
I don't think I've spent much time listening to Fats on purpose, but I do know the classics. Is it a copout to use a compilation album as an example? I digress.
He was one of the greats, and had such a good sound. I'm surprised they didn't choose a compilation with "Ain't That a Shame?" on it, though. I don't think this necessarily sticks with me as anything exciting but I'm not overly well versed on him. It was pretty good and some great rhythm and blues.
4
Jun 11 2025
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White Ladder
David Gray
I really liked this album, right from the first song. It immediately made me sentimental for England and I remember listening to that track on the tube and just thinking how perfect it was.
The album as a whole was a great journey. So, so talented and expressive and communicative.
5
Jun 12 2025
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The Idiot
Iggy Pop
I enjoyed this one a fair bit. Yet another one I'm not sure I've ever listened to before, but it was very unique and interesting to hear. Quite a bit of that early like rock-into-pop crossover but a good bit of some of the, for lack of a better phrase coming to mind, the like "spooky trippy" kind of sound? Which makes sense seeing it was produced by Bowie.
3
Jun 13 2025
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Smile
Brian Wilson
This one was pretty interesting, very Beach Boys but I can also see how this strayed from "their sound". With Brian Wilson's death I think we all got one of his albums which was a unique experience. I read the entire Wiki article on this album and it was riveting, and then I went and read the one for "Smile" as well. Crazy.
This was a masterclass, though. So much artistry and talent in the songwriting and overall composition.
5
Jun 16 2025
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Diamond Life
Sade
This was a pretty good album, with a really strong start, but to me it kind of blended together towards the end. Frankie's First Affair really stood out to me for the time signature changes, and a couple other songs had some memorable bits.
3
Jun 17 2025
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Eliminator
ZZ Top
Pretty solid album from the men with the big old beards. Has that sort of badass bluesy/country rock type feel. Really tight-playing band and all the tracks keep that move on. Will say that towards the end a lot of the tracks sounded similar to me, but I liked it overall.
3
Jun 18 2025
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Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Definitely 'Foo Fighters' enough to be a self-titled album. I enjoyed hearing some songs that, showing what I don't listen to a lot of, I'd not heard before. Great range across the album with a mix of very hard, almost metal, sound with some lower down and more mellow songs, too.
3
Jun 19 2025
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Cheap Thrills
Big Brother & The Holding Company
Pretty decent album, but I don't really think it was my favorite. I wonder if I'm not the biggest fan of Janis Joplin but overall it was a good rock and roll/blues album. Eh nothing really memorable stood out to me, though I did know one song that I didn't realize was by this group.
3
Jun 20 2025
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Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin
I just pretty generally enjoy listening to Led Zeppelin. Exceptional classic rock, so much talent and the ability to switch between that carnal sound and something soft.
4