Extremely agreeable music, no more no less
Incredible flow between songs, multiple genres covered and blended together seamlessly. Catchy af. Slightly disappointed with the of Montreal collab, would have sounded a million times more at home on an of Montreal album.
Favourites - Dance or Die, Cold War, Oh Maker, Locked Inside
Least Favourites - Make the Bus
Well crafted songs, dragged a bit but caught my attention more than Electric Warrior did. Probably would have been a 4 if I had a cousin.
Absolute classic. Its fun, its funny, it does things that other rappers couldn't attempt without sounding corny or straight up shit, and it does them well.
Favourites - She's Crafty, Fight For Your Right, Brass Monkey
Eh it was alright, didn't really grab my attention much. Some of the production was neat, some of it was dog. The dissonant guitar on Intruder sucked ass.
Favourites - I Don't Remember, Not One Of Us
Least Favourites - Intruder
Some of the songs were nice indie pop tunes, some of the ambient bits were ace. Really nice mix of electronic indie.
Favourites - She’s Leaving, Souvenir, Georgia
Yeah its pretty nice, would feel right at home backing a room full of cured meat, rum and cigars. Didn't grab my interest much but probably due to personal taste. Where all the distortion at??
Favourites - Pueblo Nuevo, Veinte años
Jack White doing what Jack White does, missing some of the punky flavor of the Stripes in exchange for some classic blues rock with probably too many musicians. It works, its good, it feels like an extension of the Stripes Get Behind Me Satan, but without the charming rough edges that make Satan a great album, this one falls slightly flat. Sixteen Saltines is a White Stripes song with too many guitar fx. Freedom At 21 vocally sounds like Yuno Miles lol, but the production is class. The delay on the drums after the first chorus is ace, however the guitar solo is an abuse of a whammy pedal (despite being a sick solo). Im Shakin was pretty okay until he started pronouncing noi-vuss like that, sounded like a fucking cartoon character lol.
Favourites - Sixteen Saltines, Freedom At 21, Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy
Least Favourites - I'm Shakin
Funky af, silly and fun and everything that makes for an enjoyable listen. Head was bopping the entire time. Not the greatest album of all time but definitely one of the most fun. Some exceptional Moog stuff on the last song from Bernie Worrell.
Favourites - P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up), Mothership Connection (Star Child), Handcuffs, Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker), Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples
If I was on mandy it would be a 5
Favourites - Leave Home, In Dust We Trust, Chemical Beats, Life Is Sweet
REM are an interesting one for me, I think my favourite thing about them is how much I hear their influence in so many bands I love. But when it comes to REM themselves I find them incredibly hit or miss. Green is alright, the songs I like I do like but the ones I don't were a drag. Honestly this felt way longer than an hour by the end of it.
Favourites - Pop Song 89, You Are The Everything, Stand
Absolute fucking classic, incredible production, catchy hooks and Chuck D's best bars and performance.
Favourites - Bring the Noise, Don’t Believe the Hype, Caught, Can We Get A Witness?, She Watch Channel Zero?!, Rebel Without A Pause
I am not the biggest fan of bluesy rock n roll for the sole reason that every single song (or at least 90% of them) have the exact same chord progression, and so you already know what to expect you every time you listen to it. It becomes stale, boring and repetitive so quickly that it just does nothing for me. I get that its dance music, me listening to it while cooking isnt the intended setting for it. On the other hand, I wasn't at a rave when I listened to Exit Planet Dust and yet I loved it. But when its the same instruments playing the same chords and the only change is the lyrics, key and tempo, it falls flat for me. Credit where its due, apparently this was the first real use of 8th note piano in rock n roll and that is obviously now a staple of the genre. The performances were good and Little Richard has a fucking cracking voice. It just aint for me.
Praying we get a Daydream Nation or Doolittle tomorrow so we at least get some different chord progressions lol
Favourites - Can't Believe You Wanna Leave, Rip It Up
Similar to you I had never heard this one before, honestly feel much the same way. Looses some of the jangle pop in turn for some nice surprises in production and instrument choices, but definitely not their best work.
Favourites - A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours, I Started Something I Couldn't Finish, Girlfriend in a Coma, Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before, Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
Was pleasantly enjoying the first half of this album way more than I thought I would but by the second half I felt like there wasn't enough going on to keep my interest. A shame but honestly not a bad listen.
Favourites - Tell Me Why, Only Love Can Break Your Heart
A decent mix of Pop Rock, Punk, and New Wave. Nothing in particular caught my attention but it was enjoyable and didn't drag on like so many of the other albums lol.
Favourites - Precious, Brass in Pocket
This album made me reconsider Post Punk as a whole, as well as killed my enjoyment of a lot of other bands. Because this sucked. Mark E Smith is a pretentious cunt and the vast majority of the music on this couldn't save his horrendous vocal delivery. It kills me that I could hear so many bands I love in this album and rather than like the album I instead questioned my love for other bands. I will give it this, some of the production choices I liked. That was about it. I didn't hate it, but I certainly didn't like a lot of it and as an album it really fell flat for me.
Favourites - I'm Going to Spain
Least Favourites - Lost in Music, Glam-Racket, It's a Curse, The League of Bald-Headed Men, Past Gone Mad, Light / Fireworks
Probably my favourite G-Funk album, some absolutely quality beats and bars and just a really cohesive Hip-Hop album. Top notch performances all over this thing, absolutely Snoops best work imo. Gz and Hustlas is one of my favourite beats of all time, it is just funky and hard af. Nate Dogg's "licked my balls" line in Aint No Fun always fucking sends me.
Favourites - G Funk Intro, Gin and Juice, Who Am I (What’s My Name)?, Ain’t No Fun (If The Homies Can’t Get None), Gz and Hustlas
First of the albums I nearly gave up on mid listen. To say it is excessive would be a huge understatement. To its credit, it is a live album, and this quality of live album being produced in 1972 is crazy. But the sheer amount of time given to solos is wildly obnoxious and makes for an extremely dull listen. Again it was probably hype af in a live context, some of the performances are pretty stellar (some not all, the drum solo was mid at best and far too fucking long), But as an album over an hour long with just 7 songs and much of that time given to wanking off guitars, drums, keyboards and not to mention the typical classic rock screeching, its just too much.
Instant positive of this album is it gave us one of the greatest Weird Al songs of all time, The Saga Begins. I would honestly put it above American Pie as a song, firstly because it shaves off 3 or so minutes, but also it is about the best Star Wars film, The Phantom Menace. So yeah big ups Mr McLean for that.
Nah but this is a class album, I had never heard it before but was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. While American Pie itself is a classic song, I really enjoyed the more sparse arrangements of songs like Till Tomorrow and Empty Chairs. The album did feel like it lost a bit of steam in the latter half but no major complaints here. Good album Don.
Favourites - American Pie, Till Tomorrow, Winterwood, Empty Chairs
Ill be honest the highlight of this album for me was when I accidentally misclicked halfway through Word on a Wing and The Saga Begins started playing. I was honestly tempted to leave it on but hey ho we ride.
Yeah idk its alright I guess. The first song I kinda liked, the rest I wasn't massive on, none of it really grabbed me. I can appreciate the elements that went into it, and can hear its influence all over Post-Punk and Art Rock albums to come. But it was just a bit eh.
Favourites - Station to Station
Another album where its influence far exceeds the album itself. Maybe the 2nd ever punk album after Raw Power? Definitely ahead of its time. The production is superb and the energy of the performances is great. Unfortunately I didn't find any of the song writing particularly good or memorable. A lot of standard rock n roll stuff just played with a bit more carefree youthful spunk and rage.
Favourites - Honestly there wasn't a single stand out song on this for me rip
I feel like I'm giving every album the same review at the minute lol. It's good, but not much particularly jumped out at me in terms of songwriting.
The big however for this album though is the production, the tape looping and general Brian Eno goodness that influenced so much of modern music is here in its early forms. And I fucking love it. The end of In Every Dream Home A Heartache where everything fades out and comes back SUPER phased is disgustingly good. The long outro to For Your Pleasure is one of my favourite outros I have ever heard. Tape loops just echoing and warbling out, getting super weird and spacey while the other instruments just jam out over the top until you are left with nothing but loops and delay oscillation. Its the kind of experimentation I love in music and made me feel like this was an album I am glad I heard before I died.
Really enjoyed this one, the opener is a real head swaying bop of a folk rock song. The harmony vocals in the chorus between the hits of guitar over the kick drum hit so hard. The little break before the second verse is exceptionally good. Love the wurlitzer and slide guitar on the second track, theres a bit around 50 seconds where they play together in such a satisfying way. Then the closing three tracks are a real nice string of slower paced songs that just have this lovely heavy drift to them, you just get lost in the worlds they create. Will definitely be listening to this again in the future.
Favourites - Walk On, See the Sky About to Rain, On the Beach, Motion Pictures (For Carrie), Ambulance Blues
Herbie Hancock walked so Shoji Meguro could run, specifically when he released what is universally considered the greatest Jazz album of all time, thereby ending the genre and any further contributions to it altogether, the soundtrack to Persona 5.
What did I stroke while listening to this bloke?
SHAFT!
Damn straight
Absolutely cracking album, wish I had heard it in my late teens when I was getting into Hip Hop as this would have been in constant rotation. The production is insanely cool, definitely shaped a lot of beats to come and the rapping is smooooooth, absolutely the right group of people came together to make this.
Favourites - Buggin' Out, Check the Rhime, Jazz (We've Got), Scenario
Yeah idk I like Jazz but this wasn't it. It did some interesting things but honestly the parts I liked most were the most basic parts and that was disappointing. Hoping we get some more redeeming Jazz albums as the list goes on. Hoping we get some Doolittle by the Pixes soon bc im in dire need of a 5/5.
Favourites - Pannonica, I Surrender, Dear
Never listened to the Yardbirds before, always wrote them off as being another the Who but with one racist guitarist, one overated guitarist, and one nonce guitarist (Oh I guess that last one is like the Who too). Oh how I was wrong. Not about the guitarists that still holds up. But this was a pretty interesting album. Some very uniquely questionable production choices especially on the first song, but I mostly enjoyed this album. The backing vocals doing weird chants (apart from in the last song where they just say money lol that made me cringe), the guitar solos, the interesting song structures and break aways from the blues chords, yeah this was really cool. Especially love the early use of Fuzz on He's Always There, sounds thick af.
Favourites - Lost Women, Hot House of Omagarshid, Jeff's Boogie, He's Always There
Given how much this guy sounds like Thom Yorke I was surprised to find out he wasn't english. Unsurprised to find out his parents named are hyperlinks on wikipedia lol its that kinda music. But its good, well crafted songs, some excellent production choices, yeah just a good chamber pop album.
Favourites - Vicious World, Movies Of Myself, Pretty Things, Go Or Go Ahead, Beautiful Child
Apart from the obvious singles, I think this is my first proper listen to The Beach Boys. Gonna take a wild stab that this wasn’t the best album to start with. The songwriting is good, but did not live up to the hype I have endured over the 29 years of my Beach Boys-less life. I wonder what Don’t Go Near The Water is about? If only the lyrics had been more obvious. Credit where its due because some of the production is absolutely sick on this, and being that the band self produced I think that’s where a lot of their influence on popular music lies.
Favourites - Disney Girls (1957), Feel Flows, A Day In The Life Of A Tree, ‘Till I Die, Surf’s Up
Listened to it on the train back from a punk festival with a banging headache and little optimism going in. Its not the Beck I am used to but a Beck I was pleasantly surprised to receive. Its slow, and nice and introspective and well written. A bit of a drag? Sure but not enough of one to make me dislike it. I didn't know Beck could write like this, I enjoy his genre-mashing 90s output, to know he can also craft something like this has massively upped my opinion of him. A talented man for sure.
Favourites - The Golden Age, Lonesome Tears, Lost Cause, End Of The Day, Already Dead
I’m not the biggest Queen fan, idk what exactly it is about them but I kind of die a bit inside listening to them. I think they are fantastic song writers but this album didn’t seem to include much of that. The echoplex guitar solo section of Brighton Rock was cool but didn’t really add anything to the song. The vocals and guitar being hard panned on Misfire was an insanely dumb decision. Brian May is a fine composer but I felt his guitar work on this album often ended up being what was putting me off the songs. Overall another mediocre Rock standard with a lot of waffle and not much actual substance.
Favourites - Killer Queen, Stone Cold Crazy
A really solid classic blues rock album. Great songwriting across the board with multiple highlights, and some excellent performances and production choices throughout the record. Brown Sugar as an instrumental is impeccable, it's a shame the lyrics are so questionable but hey ho. Wild Horses is a top 5 Stones song, maybe even the best they did, just a beautifully written and performed song. Really enjoyed Moonlight Mile closing out the album, great build up throughout the song and when the strings kick in it really comes together as a great closer.
Favourites - Brown Sugar, Sway, Wild Horses, Dead Flowers, Midnight Mile
Hard to judge this based on over half of the songs being rock 'standards'. That said the performances are fucking incredible, proper garagey proto-punk. That drum sound is fucking insane for 1 microphone, super hard hits driving everything into that lovely crispy saturation. The originals are okay, by no means bad, but the real highlight here is the Have Love Will Travel cover. Its just groovy as fuck, such a hard riff. The cover of Money is also pretty standout, though I will say the Flying Lizards version is head and shoulders above any other. Also gotta praise the 29 minute length, perfect length for punk music.
Favourites - The Witch, Boss Hoss, Have Love Will Travel, Money, Strychnine
Really interesting pop album. Not at all what I was expecting from ABBA, some really well crafted and thoughtful songs, it sounds nothing like their earlier hits and yet you can tell its the same band. Suffers from a lot of the same pitfalls of 80s pop in its lack of diverse sounds and what are now considered somewhat cheesy synth sounds, but even then theres a lot of depth and intrigue to some of the songs, some great production choices.
Favourites - Head Over Heels, One of Us, Two For The Price Of One
ew coldplay, honk shoo mimimimimi
I don't wanna be too hard on it bc I don't want my opinion to come across as just hating for the sake of it. That said this was kinda boring. Don't Panic was a solid opener, Shiver had a very cool open, then just like taking a piss, it was all yellow. In fact I've definitely had more memorable pisses than listening to this. Was it awful? No. Did I need to hear it before I died? Absolutely fucking not.
Favourites - Don't Panic
A perfectly encapsulated 2000s summer night in audio format. It raves and wriggles and has tension soft enough to hold but ready to explode. Two steps above other indie dance synth punk of the time, it is weird and experimental, and its complete lack of squeaky-clean radio-ready-rock production makes it feel deeply intimate. Nick Zinner's guitars roar and hiss with noisy intricate layers forming massive sounds, yet his exploration in to synths is what forms the bedrock of this album. Peak Karen O vocals all over this thing, every performance fully intentional and filled of emotion.
Favourites - Zero, Heads Will Roll, Skeletons, Dull Life, Shame And Fortune, Hysteric
Yeah this is alright, some bangers in the top half but the bottom half becomes a bit of a snooze. Some great performances but feels more like mainstream appeal rap than actually bringing anything to the genre. That said we get the precursor to Nu-Metal here so can't trash it too bad. Solid show of things to come for rap but lacking in the beats for my taste.
Favourites - Peter Piper, It's Tricky, My Adidas, Walk This Way (though I am loathe to fucking say it, heard that song enough times for one lifetime)
What a fucking voice this guy has god damn, absolutely incredible. This album did feel a bit top heavy but I did enjoy it, the instrumentals were fine but the real highlight here is the lyrics. The guy was a poet, and as someone who rarely gives a shit about lyrics I was completely immersed by him. Will definitely be seeking out more of the Cohen back catalogue.
Favourites - You Want It Darker, Treaty, On the Level
Really cool art-pop kinda record. It's got a vibe and flow to it that is pretty distinctly unique but makes you feel like you are in some sort of dreamy haze for the duration of the album. The instrumentals change pace and key effortlessly but never take away from the narrative of the songs. Honestly hard for me to pick favourites because I felt like this truly was an album that was meant to be listened to front to back as one piece of music.
Favourites - Luckie, Sweet Blindness, Lonely Women, Emmie
I agonized over what rating to give this, it is by no means a no skip 10/10, but what it is is a bunch of fantastically written and executed power pop songs. With the exception of Don't Cha Stop, I thoroughly enjoyed this entire album. The production, the catchy vocals, the synth and guitar lines, the whole package is perfectly thought out and delivered. Just nugget after nugget of pure sing along pop rock joy.
Favourites - Good Times Roll, My Best Friend's Girl, Just What I Needed, You're All I've Got Tonight, Bye Bye Love, Moving in Stereo
It was inoffensive, I enjoyed the guitar tones but nothing particular stood out to me.
Apparently this is referred to as "The Brown Album" but I didn't think it was that shit. Didn't particularly hold my attention by did have me tapping my toes. 3/5 seems fair.
Favourites - Across The Great Divide, Up On Cripple Creek, Rockin' Chair
Love it when half the tracks are removed from spotify and the album has a million different track listings. Also love a good mid pace pop power record so I guess it was worth it. Nothing massively noteworthy here but definitely laid the ground for a lot of 80s/90s college rock, REM, Yo La Tengo, etc.
Favourites - Femme Fatale, Holocaust, You Can't Have Me, Take Care
Reminded me of a lot of OST stuff I like, but as an album itself it isn't particularly anything special. Considering Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works dropped a year before this I don't think theres even an argument to be made for it being groundbreaking.
Made me miss smoking fat zoots, like waking up and rolling straight smelly wad into a yuge scoobert doobert and firing that shit up, just piffing on that reefer all day and doing nothing but playing games and beating my shit.
Favourites - The Chronic (Intro), Nuthin' But A "G" Thang, Deeez Nuuuts, Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat, Bitches Ain't Shit
Considering this is one of the latest releases on the list and one of very few post 2010, this albums inclusion on this list is beyond me. Its fine, it's a cleanly produced and written pop album with decent cohesion, but we are really going with this to represent new music worthy of holding up with multiple albums worth of bands performing 'standards'. The metric for this list is an absolute fucking joke.
Charli XCX's Pop 2 came out a year before this. SOPHIE had already dropped Product 3 years before this. So much interesting and innovative new pop music had been released prior to this album, yet here we are with a milquetoast safe pop album as the choice to hear before I die and for what reason. Because its well written? It's bland 80s inspired pop exploring themes of gender and vulnerability. of Montreal were doing that shit since 1996 to far greater effect and with a healthy dose of artistic merit.
It's fine, it's not bad. But fuck me the 2010's have a million better albums on offer.
To say this is a standard 80's pop album feels somewhat derogatory, however compared to the unique styles and genre clashes often heard in modern pop music this does sound intrinsically 80's. Maybe that is because this is one of the biggest 80's albums and it had such an impact, I don't know I wasn't there, but this is a good album. Fantastic vocal performances, catchy songs, nice production and instrumental choices. Yeah nothing bad about it to be honest, probably would have been more enthralled by it at the time but now I can listen to 100 Gecs and feel the same way right?
Favourites - What's Love Got To Do With It, I Can't Stand The Rain, Private Dancer, Let's Stay Together
Some killer riffs here but ultimately outmatched by a fair amount of mediocre thrashing and not being the other big M metal band. Wake Up Dead is okay but it has way too much going on for a song under 4 minutes. Peace Sells is alright, but it ain't their best single by a long shot. The three tracks that immediately follow it however had me captivated. Fucking ragers. I Ain't Superstitious completely ruined it but the last track was fairly decent. Again, some great riffs, some excellent soloing, the pacing and overall speed of the album is right up my alley, just not quite enough there songwriting wise to make it a fully excellent metal album.
Favourites - Devils Island, Good Mourning/Black Friday, Bad Omen
The older I get the less I like Muse. As a young teen I loved them, and by my late teens I found them to be cringe worthy. I always held onto my belief that this was their last good album, however when I saw this pop up I instantly feared that belief would be put to the test.
It is pure dog shit. Absolute radio ready over polished conservative parent approved rock music. Every single lyric on this album is a vapid statement about "the man", though never going in depth enough to reveal which "man" they might be talking about. Guess Matt Bellend was smart enough to sell himself to both sides of the political spectrum and only complain when right wing people liked his music after the money was made. The synths are budget stock sounds with an absolute lack of interesting sound design, the instruments are quad-tracked and quantized beyond any semblance of human playing. Yeah this is just souless corpo rock. When Assassin started playing I thought "Oh I remember this, it gets kinda heavy right?" followed by a neat System of a Down riff and then straight back to average rock land. When we finally got the Knights of Cydonia I was relieved, the one song I thought was going to bring this album back for me, but after enduring the slog of shit proceeding it all the joy was gone and my love for that goofy prog rock banger turned into grating rage.
It is bland. It is safe. It is boring.
Thank fucking god we have Yank Crime next.
What this list lacks in At The Drive-In, Refused, Polvo, Unwound, Q and not U, Sunny Day Real Estate, etc etc it makes up for with Drive Like Jehu. I don't really consider this emo but fuck it if theres no My Chem on the list this is the next best thing.
This absolutely fucking rips, its from 1994 and you have all the best bits of noise rock, math rock, hardcore, and post rock all fused together in a tense and unforgiving hour. And best of all, it sounds like you are in the room with them and they are just hammering it out in front of you. The drums are barely holding the ramshackle chaos together, the guitars either blending seamlessly together or squealing like hawks, the bass, my fucking god the bass, it is fucking heavy as shit and holding the whole operation down.
Rome Plows is one of my favourite punk songs ever. Right off the bat we are in 5/4 with a ripper of a bass line and straight in the guitars are fighting for air over separate dissonant lines. It is relentless, the only breaks when it switches to 6/4 while the guitars climb and a build section later in the song. Masterfully crafted energy that is holds between 10 and 11 the entire near 6 minute track length.
I'm not even gonna bother listing favourites, this is a near 10 for me and I think its all essential. Without this album nearly all of my favourite bands wouldn't exist. My crime has been yanked thank you very much.
I was tempted to give this a 4 but I think its just too cheesy. It is stilton, it is wensleydale, it is thick fucking cheddar. Cheese all over. Pretty good though I must say, most of the chorus lyrics had me cringing the first time and singing along the second. It is catchy if nothing else. The songs are decently written, it flows smoothly and the production is just straight up 80s pop. One late album song had some incredible slappa da bass but I didn't check the title bc I was too busy grooving or cooking or whatever I was doing (it definitely wasn't grooving, I am white I have no groove).
Favourite songs - Many Happy Returns, Tears Are Not Enough, The Look Of Love Pt.1, Date Stamp, All Of My Heart,
Its not 100% my cup of tea but its definitely a groundbreaking new sound for electronic music and hip hop. Bridges the gap between a lot sounds and in turn would influence an entire generation of producers to come. The songs are mellow, the vibes are there but it just didn't quite do enough for me. I feel bad giving something this innovative a 3 but yeah it ain't Mezzanine just yet.
Favourites - Safe From Harm, Be Thankful For What You've Got, Unfinished Sympathy
Embarrassingly, this was the first time I have ever sat and listened to an OutKast album front to back. Coming in at over an hour long (usually enough to put me off anything), Stankonia is a massive album full of beats big and small, insanely clean and at times experimental production, a metric tonne of solid gold bars, and some of the catchiest hooks ever laid down on wax. It covers so many bases in its run time without ever overstaying its welcome, honestly dare I say a masterpiece of an album. If I had to make one criticism, I don't think the interludes bring enough to the table, but they also don't stick around long enough to take anything away and do provide a breather between an album full of insanely well crafted songs. This is an easy 5 and I cannot believe I have lived for nearly 30 years without this album in my life.
Favourites - Gasoline Dreams, So Fresh So Clean, Ms. Jackson, I’ll Call B4 I Cum, B.O.B., We Luv Deez Hoez, Humble Mumble, Red Velvet
A pretty solid rock record with decent performances and okay songs. What Noddy lacks in spelling ability he makes up for in a catchy chorus I'll give him that. I do feel like theres gonna be a lot of these, its not bad by any means but there is nothing stand out about it whatsoever.
Over the past few years I have developed a massive love for this kind of sparse jazzy/bossa nova style, mostly in the form of asian electronic music, so hearing this was wonderful. The songs are beautifully written and performed, nothing feels out of place or overplayed and the minimalism makes the album feel intimate and cozy. I really enjoyed it and was somewhat sad to have it end so quickly.
Beyond disappointed in myself for never listening to him sooner but glad I finally had a reason to. This album is great, it's so much of what I love about 90's american indie/folk/lo-fi music. Well crafted songs presented in an authentic package with no big studio production, just intimate performances and excellent song writing.
Favourites - Speeds Trials, Alameda, Ballad Of Big Nothing, Pictures Of Me, Rose Parade, Punch and Judy, Angeles, Cupids Trick, Say Yes
The first time I heard Big Black I thought they were one of the worst bands on the planet. I thought Steve Albini sounded like an edgy teenager and they were purposely trying to sound bad to make a point. A few years later after getting into recent noise rock bands with much tighter production I decided to go back and reevaluate. I am so glad I did.
This is one of the most punishing albums ever recorded, the guitars cut like razors and the lyrical content is among (if not) the bleakest things ever put to paper. The electronic drums are pummeling and set the foundation for the metallic clang of the rest of the instruments. Steve sings and screams like a manic, fully embodying the characters he portrays, often representing the worst of humanity (some based on true stories ie. Jordan, Minnesota). It is edgy, but it is cutting and scathing and while brave might be the right word, you would be hard pressed to find many people willing to sing from the perspective of a paedophile. Countless shock rock bands came after this trying to one up each other with edgy and often "offensive" graphic content, not a single one has ever come close to the bleakness of this record. It is a record that backs up my belief that noise rock is heavier than metal, the unchained chaos after the tense build of kerosene goes far harder than any open string cleanly produced chugging breakdown (case in point, the lamb of god cover of kerosene) Not to mention the guitar tones on both kerosene and passing complexion are insane, truly warped and inimitable, crazy to believe this was recorded in 1985.
When I saw this come up I thought I was going to give it a 4, I've heard it a hundred times and I thought that after all these years its novelty would have worn off. Nope, it reminded me how much I love heavy music and I was truly glad to have revisited it. Steve Albini's best work as a musician, crazy to think he would then go on to produce multiple albums I consider better than this. Kerosene might be a top ten song for me.
Favourites - Jordan, Minnesota, Passing Complexion, Big Money, Kerosene, Bad Houses, Stinking Drunk
I listened to this while cooking but the dish took longer than I thought so once it ended I looped the new Geese track Taxes over and over and tbh now thats all I remember. That new Geese track is probably song of the year. Honestly how tf are these kids out here making the weirdest yet most accessible music going, the singers solo album last year was so good and its the most talking heads influenced stuff I've ever heard. It's super ambitious but it always hits its mark, probably the greatest 'rock' band going rn. God I love them.
I had high hopes going into this as a lot of people I know have told me Pulp are the best brit-pop band by a mile. Those people are wrong.
A lot of this album comes across quite frankly like a horny british teenager wrote it. However unlike Panic! at the Disco's Fever You Can't Sweat Out, its clumsy attempt at suggestive lyrics come across bordline incel and cringey. I don't think you can even call the lyrics suggestive, its straight up the audio equivalent of sending unsolicited dick pics. Not to mention the instrumentals and songwriting often fall slightly flat (again unlike Fever, that albums instrumentals are impeccable).
However, when this album is on, it is fucking on. Mis-Shapes is an absolutely fantastic opener and excellently crafted song. Common People might be the best Brit-Pop song, if not its certainly in the top 3, it perfectly encapsulates what the rest of the album feels like its trying to. Disco 2000 again coming in with a great sing-a-long chorus, its a real shame the rest of the album couldn't be consistent with these songs.
Im gonna give it a 3 almost purely based on how good those 3 songs were, the bad songs were genuinely bad but I can't deny its influence on music to come. When it works it works incredibly well. I would still say Blur, Suede and (yuck) Oasis are better than Pulp tho.
Favourites - Mis-Shapes, Common People, Disco 2000, Something Changed, Bar Italia
Least Favourites - I Spy, Live Bed Show, Underwear
First time ever listening to Zappa by choice. Mainly bc I never wanted to be one of those Zappa guys who swears by everything he does and can't go two minutes without mentioning his name.
On one hand, Peaches En Regalia is one of the greatest pieces of music I have ever heard and I loved every second of it. On the other, I was 6 minutes into Gumbo Variations before I started to enjoy it and then it just kept fucking going. So idk, its massively excessive and wanky, but somewhat captivating and well put together? I don't know if I can give it a 4 as an album but there is a lot here I like. Will probably find my way back to it at some point in the near future.
So I don't remember much of this bc I forgot to review it after listening, but I do remember thinking it was better than I expected considering that there was no Brian Eno on this record.
My only prior exposure to FNM was the song Epic which I have known since I was around 10 and I have never known quite where the song sits with me. On one hand I find it a bit of a mishmash of multiple cringey parts. On the other, the performances and writing are so good that it works surprisingly well. I was also until today under the impression it was two different people singing, and upon watching the video before I started the album gained an immense amount of respect for Mike Patton as a vocalist and performer. The verses sound like a muscley hype man, the choruses sound like Jaret from Bowling For Soup, its wild to me that he can pull of that call and response so flawlessly.
I actually really enjoyed this. The genre blending is excellent, the performances are great. I particularly loved a lot of the guitar work on this, some fucking ace riffs. Mike Patton is an incredible vocalist and yeah this whole thing just came together really well. I was prepared to find it cringey and irritating but I am pleasantly surprised.
Favourites - From Out of Nowhere, Epic, Surprise! You’re Dead!, Underwater Love
Another album I have been looking for a reason to check out for years. The song Chicago popped up on my discover weekly not to long ago and I felt bad for enjoying it so much without the context of the album.
This is an absolute masterpiece in songwriting and production. The wide variety of instrumentation used across this sprawling epic makes the run time feel less intimidating, and though most of the album is interconnected it gives you plenty of room to breathe. It is lush and dense and Sufjan knows how to paint a picture and fill it to the brim with emotion. The melodies are great, the vocal harmonies are plentiful, the instruments are gorgeous. I don't know what else to say about this other than I throughly enjoyed it and this will become a regular in my rotation. Oh and the song titles are long and emo af haha, hits a soft spot for me.
Favourites - Concerning, Come On!, John Wayne, Jacksonville, Chicago, Casimir Pulaski Day, Man of Metropolis, Predatory Wasp, Night Zombies, Out of Egypt
Look, Jamming is a good song, but I fucking cannot stand reggae, it does less for me than any other genre of music and this completely killed my vibe. It just ain't for me, I find it offensively boring and samey and tho I get the message behind it, I think its vapid and thoughtless.
Went in dreading it, came out a fan. Its proto-OK Computer. I didn't like all of it but I think the variety of genres here and how seamlessly they sit together on this thing is a real testament to Jeff's ear as a songwriter. While not my favourite song that gets white people turnt, there is just some magic to his cover of Hallelujah that makes it an extremely special song.
Yeah it's alright. Some cool riffs here and there. Not really my cup of tea but it wasn't a total slog.
I truly do not know what to make of this. A few times while listening I found myself feeling grooving with it. Other times I was absolutely not and wishing I wasn't only halfway into the damn thing. Felt long for its run time. But the bits where it clicked it really did, and I especially loved the last track, super ambient and chill. Giving it a three as I think it was pretty balanced between good and bad but it was not consistent in quality.
God knows I have controversial takes on a lot of bluesy boomer rock, but this album straight up fucks hard no rubber. Loses a bit of steam towards the end as we shift into slightly more common blues territory, but the entire first half carries it and then some. The performances are great all round, the musicianship on show on this album is nothing short of excellent. And the originality in the songwriting can't be understated (at least when they aren't just bluesing it up). But the main focus here is the fucking riff master Tony Iommi absolutely tearing it up. I mean the riff to Black Sabbath alone would go on to spawn countless sub genres. RIP Ozzy you zionist nazi fuck.
Favourites - Black Sabbath, The Wizard, Behind the Wall of Sleep, N.I.B.
FUCK what is wrong with my brain why did I enjoy this so much.
Probably won't surprise you to learn that this is not my first rodeo with the band Can. However this is the first time I have actively enjoyed a Can album. It is weird as fuck. I love the repetitive droney jams that cover the first half of this album. I love the creepy ass sound manipulations that cover the second half. I caught myself genuinely smiling, even at one point laughing at how much I was enjoying this thing. Can hear its influence all over multiple genres of music I love. Damo is a fucking weird ass front man but I love his improv completely fearless singing/yelping/screaming.
Long time lover of the Pixies, heard Doolittle when I was like 11 and its still one of my favourite albums today. Going into this I only knew Gigantic and Where Is My Mind?, which to be fair I still feel like are the best songs on this album, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it on the first listen. Its everything great about Doolittle but a bit less, more unfocused and not quite as catchy. That said, its brilliant. I love Frank and Kim's vocals, the songs never go where you expect them to, the guitars are either comically classic or noisy as all hell, it's a great album that sounds like a bunch of kids having fun. Also one of Albini's best production credits, the loose feel and live sound perfectly capture the energy of the music. I think the thing I love most about the Pixies is they can scream and yelp and get weird af in an enjoyable way, and then the song will be the poppiest catchiest earworm imaginable, and they dance between the two so effortlessly. Where Is My Mind? obviously a classic song, massively influential introspective banger, but for me personally Gigantic is the song of the album. The bassline is great, the single note guitars in the pre-chorus building up the tension into one the most catchiest and cathartic choruses of all time. Where I would (and will in the hopefully near future) give Doolittle a 10/10, I could comfortably give this an 8. I imagine upon going back to it a few times I could come to give it a 9. But since we are locked to 5 its getting the top marks.
Favourites - Bone Machine, Break My Bones, Broken Face, Gigantic, River Euphrates, Where Is My Mind?, Cactus, Tony’s Theme, Oh My Golly!
Accidentally listened to the 44 minute version instead of the 35 minute one. FML. Anyway I was shocked by the amount of this album I recognised while listening, clearly a sign I watch too many american sitcoms. Not much to say, its very one note lol but its not bad. Made me want to buy a gun, shoot the man my girl is cheating on me with and get hunted down by johnny law.
Started strong, I was surprised how much I was enjoying it. Very quickly got bored and continued to be bored until Sultans of Swing, and even then apart from the main guitar line its pretty boring. And the song afterwards was offensively boring. Clearly not the target audience here, guys a good guitarist but good guitar playing ain't enough to make a good album. Boring/10
Albums like this are an oddity on this list, because they feel less like a traditional album and more like a piece of music. It is also a good argument for why some albums work well as commercial listening and others like this probably benefit from a particular mood or setting, in this case after comically sized joint in an empty field at night where you can lay back and stargaze, or close your eyes and drift away. Pretty mad I heard this during my sober arc™ bc stone man Myles would have loved it.
Considering the year this was made, its sound design and exploration is revolutionary. It is at times both beautiful and mesmerizing. Where it falls is that it often falls into boring passages between these blips of lush sounds. You need the between parts to tie it together but theres not enough in the between to keep your attention. I also listened to it on an extremely hot sunny morning while cleaning my flat so completely unoptimal listening experience. So idk, its got its moments, its pretty incredible for its age, and while I'm glad I heard it I don't think it belongs on this list.
Really good mix of influences tied together in this electronic package that works more often than not. Some of the beats and production choices are great, some nice experimental work while remaining accessible and enjoyable. The opening 4/5 songs are pretty excellent, sets the tone for the album very well. Falls a bit flat as it goes on but some of the later albums cuts like the stretch from Sereia to Abraço keep it from dragging. Great use of percussion throughout the entire album, love how densely layered and experimental it gets. Honestly really enjoyable.
Absolutely incredible, songs are poppy and catchy and the instrumental palette is wonderful. Wistful and whimsical, playful yet with a tone of morose. Had only heard Lovefool before but never properly listened to the layers and depth to the song, it is incredibly well crafted and executed. The cover of Iron Man could not have worked on any other album ever, Im almost sad its a cover as the instrumental is fucking beautiful, but its so funny and sweet and completely recontextualizes the song. I have no bad notes, I really enjoyed this start to finish, its so much of what I love about a lot of Japanese Indie and Shibuya-kei but in a western package. I wouldn't say its the greatest album of all time, but very well deserving of a 5/5
Could probably write a paragraph about every single song on this album but I won't. My personal favourite RH album, the ambience is incredible, it's bleak and cold, muted and embracing, subtle and discrete. It doesn't try to say anything because it doesn't need to, it just exists, never quite breaking into the release you'd expect from an album so tense. The sound is dynamic, the range of early electronic instruments, modular synthesis, orchestral passages, pedalboard playing and DAW riddled vocals keep the album interesting, and the reserve on certain songs versus the maximalism on others is masterfully executed. The basslines all over this album too, National Anthem obviously with its post-punk groove, but the wonderful wandering on How To Disappear, and the chorus climb on Optimistic are all fantastic. I love the lyrical content too, often repeated phrases in a collage style help keep with the albums cold and almost inhuman mood, however the refrain of "I'm not here, this isn't happening" from How To Disappear is probably one of my favourite lines ever. At times weirdly danceable, trance inducing, oppressive, depressive, this album strikes a tone and its one I personally love. Not gonna bother listing favourites bc I think every song on this album belongs here.
This would have been a definite 4 when I was in my early teens and first discovered it. Now as an adult revisiting it after listening to hundreds of other punk records I'm not sure how to rate it. The good songs are by far some of the best punk has to offer (Cambodia, California) but theres a lot of stuff i'd now consider filler. It can't be lower than a three, I enjoy the speed and energy, theres no doubt Jello writes a catchy chorus and East Bay Ray's jazz influenced guitar lines are ultimately what puts this above many others. Yet Damaged by Black Flag came out 1 year later and I find Rollins chorus' more catchy and Greg Ginn's jazz influenced guitar lines far more effective. I'm going to give it a 4 with the understanding it is a low 4 and while definitely containing some of punks best songs, is not representative of punks best albums.
Realllllly good, great flow, songs were smooth af and very easy to listen to. Didn't once feel like it was dragging or getting boring, if anything I feel it ended too soon but I'm not going to mark it down for that, it wasn't particularly missing anything. Felt a bit one note at times, could have possibly done with some more variety but ultimately a good collection of great songs.
I have always considered Blur to be a great singles band but never a solid album band. The first half of this had me convinced I was wrong, everything after To the End helped me realise I was right. The thing is, there isn't a bad song on this album, but there are a lot of songs that feel like waffle or haven't stood the test of time. On the other hand we have some of the greatest pop rock songs of all time here. Girls and Boys is one of the greatest songs ever written, super basic synths, a bass line on the cusp of being too busy, some of Graham Coxon's best guitar playing and fx usage, all tied together with an absolutely droll performance by Damon climaxing with one of the catchiest choruses of all time. Tracy Jacks, great song. End of a Century, great song. Parklife, I never need to hear it again in my life but absolutely great song. Bank Holiday was a pretty enjoyable little punk tune. Skip along to To the End, one of the first moments in the Blur catalogue where they aim high and deliver on a beautiful ballad, some of their best songwriting. Everything after is eh to mid level enjoyable. So not quite a 5, but a strong 4 and enjoyable listen.
1001 Middle of the Road Rock Albums to Hear Before You Die: No Foo Fighters Edition
Hate myself for saying this but pure vibes. Just a really nice chill dance/indie record. Great range of influences went into this thing, really satisfying use of samples and some great basslines. Vocals are dreamlike. Really reminds me of The Radio Dept who I guess must have been heavily influenced by this.
Favourites - Carnt Sleep, Girl VII, Spring, Nothing Can Stop Us, London Belongs to Me
At a point in my life now where I can comfortably admit that I am not particularly a Bowie fan. I always thought I was, he has some good songs, but the more of them I hear the more I realise I don't actually care for much of his output. Rarely are they offensively bad, theres a quality to his songwriting that is excellent, but I don't find it gripping at all and so I wonder if maybe its just not to my taste. I will say I actually enjoyed the second half of this LP more than the first, Changes and Life On Mars being two of his singles I do not care for. Everything from Quicksand on I enjoyed a bit more.
Less personal than Either/Or, however his songwriting doesn't miss and the increased budget and production serve the album well. Started to drag in the second half but some of the later songs were still good, it just got a little bloated.
At its best is very reminiscent of blur. But it’s not often at its best. Some mid indie rock with chirpy synths, it’s kitschy and not bad but sometimes drags in the after song interlude moments. A lot of the more experimental parts feel like they fall flat, which is a shame as those are usually my favourite parts of the albums. Receptacle was one of the songs I was particularly enjoying but the ending completely fucked it. some of the lyrics are very cringey, receptacle is pretty bad but juxtaposed with u was straight up awful.
A rare record where nearly every song is strong enough to be a single. Catchy and often irreverent, the kind of boundless "eh don't worry about it" joy that has lead so many to believe that things aren't what they use to be. I think if released today this wouldn't stand a chance, but it came out at just the right time to wash away all the miserable american music and renew british peoples love of not thinking deeply about anything. The music itself is fine, songs are well written and produced, again most of them are catchy. I don't think theres a single dud here, infact the only songs I don't think are great are Columbia and Bring It On Down. Rock 'n' Roll Star is a great opener, super catchy and great progression throughout the song into the murky and hypnotic ending. Shakermaker is one of my favourite Oasis songs, stupid as fuck but catchy enough to find yourself enjoying it. Live Forever just a classic great song, not much else to say, first guitar solo I ever learned. Up in the Sky again just a great dancey rock song. Skip along to Supersonic, great mid tempo riffs into a really nice major chorus. Cigarettes & Alcohol is one of the more blatant rip offs being lifted straight from T Rex's Get It On. And yet I prefer this, I don't know if its the bleak Sex Pistols esque verses but theres something so uplifting and nihilistic about them, its such a funny juxtaposition but it works so well. Digsy's Dinner is just pure dumb fun, the drawn out way he sings lasagna is hilarious but I don't think anyone else could make it work. Slide Away another great mid tempo rock classic. Married with Children is a great closer, love the one take tape feel to this song, really gets the mood and the writing is top tier Oasis. I am loathe to say it but this is a great album, not quite a 10/10 but almost definitely a 9.5.
I listened to this last night and already have forgotten the entire thing. I remember enjoying it enough for it to not feel like a drag but thats about it. Sorry Willie but its a 2 for forgettability.
Extremely strong start, first three songs are all excellently dreamy. The sparse production really sets the tone while the progressions and beautiful singing keep it mesmerizing. Hit a huge lull in the mid point with a very needless 8 minute song, followed by a near painfully repetitive 7 minute song. The remaining tracks are enjoyable but none worth sitting through the 15 minute mid point.
Favourites - The Fairest Of The Seasons, These Days, Little Sister, Somewhere There’s A Feather
Went into this somewhat depressed and immediately realized I needed to get on board with it or it was just going to being really fucking annoying. And to be fair, its pretty fucking good. Really cool instrumentation and percussion in the beats, first 4 tracks are back to back pretty solid. Hit a slight downward slope toward 20 Dollar which I didn't particularly enjoy, the Pixies interpolation did nothing for me especially when it sounded out of time over what sounded like a bass boosted Blue Monday. The Turn brought it back and obviously Paper Planes is an absolute gem of a song. Overall pretty good stuff but not 100% my cup of tea.
hahahaha meme song.
I don't consider myself a prog rock guy, I went through a huge math rock phase in my late teens/early twenties but even that has mostly passed. However I think more recent bands, especially those trying to escape the UK Windmill/Post Punk label (Black Midi, Squid, etc.) have embraced and breathed new life into the genre, albeit under the label of art rock but the influence is definitely there. Five per Cent of Nothing is straight up proto Black Midi.
Upon reaching the end of this album I don't really have a lot to say about it other than I really enjoyed it. It didn't feel as bloated or excessive as I expected, it had its lulls but there were a lot of moments were it really shined. Incredible musicianship too.
Favourites - Roundabout, South Side of the Sky, Five per Cent of Nothing, The Fish, Heart of the Sunrise
An interesting one, definitely too long but an album I think is entirely mood dependent. If I had been listening to this while doing nothing it would have likely grated me. Luckily it caught me in a good mood as I was cleaning so the first half at least was a vibe, but it did start to drag. Some interesting stuff, would definitely say it was ahead of its time but can't say its effect on the musicsphere was incredibly positive with the amount of trash euro-pop that came after. Soft Machine is an underated tune though, really cool beat and interesting production on that one!
This album walked so of Montreal's Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? could run.
And I'm glad it did bc honestly this fucking dragged. Started kinda interesting, I was enjoying the pomp and self indulgence of it but quickly fell off and became grating. I appreciate it was probably somewhat groundbreaking but theres just not enough there to call it a great album. It's influence is undoubtable, but what came after massively overshadows it.
Consistent. Good blend of dance and indie. Nothing massively noteworthy, just a fine album.
