May 17 2025
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Green Onions
Booker T. & The MG's
One of those albums where I didn't know what to expect when starting but within moments exclaimed, "oh it's *this* song" from the title track. All blues progressions, lots of quality tracks I think a beginner could play along with but would take additional effort to master. The final song of Comin' Home Baby is surprising with how different it is while still belonging on the album. It is more open and allows itself to meander away from the standard I VI, I V VI I chord progression, ending with a fade out that leaves it almost unresolved. Overall, good album
4
May 18 2025
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Crime Of The Century
Supertramp
Pretty good album, it took several songs to get used to it but overall a memorable prog rock entry I hadn't listened to before. Notable tracks that stood out to me were Asylum for the stage show feeling presentation, Rudy had elements that felt ahead of its time, and the title track felt like something I should hear on the radio more but don't. I enjoyed it, but I don't know if it will be in my constant rotation.
4
May 19 2025
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American Idiot
Green Day
An unavoidable classic for someone who grew up in the 2000s. It is surprising how many double tracks there are in the album, I am curious to figure out why they felt having 9 songs on the track list with 4 being 2 songs in 1 was important for the discography. Ultimately great pop punk
5
May 20 2025
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Cloud Nine
The Temptations
Solid album. Listening with headphones was a little harder because of the panning of instruments to a single ear (drums exclusively on the right, guitar exclusively on the left, etc.) but on speakers it won't be an issue. It is a good recording detail to seat you in the middle of the whole group, but it is jarring for the whole album to be set that way.
Song standout for me was Runaway Child, Running Wild. A nine minute and thirty seven second track, pretty long in an era of singles and hit chases, while being a striking warning to not take what you have for granted by illustrating runaway regret. The usage of wailing was chilling and impactful, it'll leave a stronger impression than the majority of love songs on the album.
4
May 21 2025
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Jazz Samba
Stan Getz
A very smooth, easy going sound throughout
5
May 22 2025
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The World is a Ghetto
War
My schedule didn't let me listen to this as much as I should have, but I appreciated the raw emotions throughout. It is on my list for a re-listen to better immerse myself
4
May 23 2025
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Halcyon Digest
Deerhunter
It took me a full listen to understand the tone the group wanted. I kept expecting something closer to a Radiohead/Deftones, but the mood stayed pretty consistent throughout. I didn't connect with it too much, but it wasn't bad in the background
3
May 24 2025
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In Utero
Nirvana
Good Album. I have heard the singles before but I hadn't listened to tracks like Scentless Apprentice before. It was supposedly the only song not written by Cobain, so all the decisions like a chromatic crawl upwards during the verses was really surprising. I'll certainly revisit it at a later day
5
May 25 2025
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Chris
Christine and the Queens
Not bad, but not really to my taste. I didn't realize I initially was listening to the double album of both English and French versions, but the French version was my preference. I think it is the same effect as watching a sub vs dub, where when you aren't picking up small surprising bits of audio you didn't expect, you will smooth over any imperfections because you don't notice them. A solid background album for the right audience.
3
May 26 2025
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What's That Noise?
Coldcut
Really cool album, though it was hard to find a full listing through official videos. It blended a lot of samples into the house genre in a way that was likely novel for its 1989 release, where it doesn't feel as standard as most house music I have listened to. Loads of fun
5
May 27 2025
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One Nation Under A Groove
Funkadelic
I only listened through once, I usually have the time for multiple listens for a better opinion. However I did enjoy everything I heard, so I appreciate this album a lot
5
May 28 2025
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The Fat Of The Land
The Prodigy
Pretty good, not a huge favorite but still an easy listen
4
May 29 2025
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Let It Bleed
The Rolling Stones
I have heard some of the hits before, but in general I thought the album was more of the same? I must not be a huge Rolling Stones fan or I misunderstand their hype, because it wasn't bad, but not exceptional to me
3
May 30 2025
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In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
Iron Butterfly
Pretty good, I enjoyed listening to pretty much the whole album. Longer songs are always a fun journey, but it's interesting that all the other tracks don't exceed 5 minutes when the title track is over 18. The contrast in neat but did blur the others together because they didn't stand out as much separately.
4
May 31 2025
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From Elvis In Memphis
Elvis Presley
I recognized a couple of tracks off the rip, but most weren't singles I had heard before. It had that expected Elvis sound throughout, which isn't too surprising when it was this 9th studio album. If anything, I was most shocked by the mix balance, where I assumed Elvis would always feel front and center, but he generally was woven into the sound at the same level. For example, while in my car it was a struggle to hear him over the sound of the drums on several tracks or he would blend into the chorus behind him on others, which for a single artist's work, is a little strange.
3
Jun 01 2025
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Among The Living
Anthrax
Oh baby, it's Anthrax time. I haven't listened to this whole album before, but I am quite familiar with the group as a whole. As a teen, I wouldn't have considered Anthrax to be heavy metal based on the vocalist's delivery, but with time and a greater context of the album as a whole I can't think of it as anything else. Caught In A Mosh is the main single that people would recognize, but I recommend Imitation Of Life as a personal favorite. Something about the tone that accuses the listener of not thinking for themselves was more pointed than the usual recommendations of freewill you usually hear
5
Jun 02 2025
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Night Life
Ray Price
The introduction track from this album is sort of a funny footnote in the history of the music industry. I can imagine it being commonplace to have a message for fans right there in the vinyl, but looking back at such a track with a 2025 mindset it is something more expected for a social media outlet. That said, it flows beautifully into the first track and the album was great all around. The more bluesy western country is almost nostalgic for a time I didn't experience, but the themes of desire, sins, heartbreak, and substance abuse are as current as anything today.
5
Jun 03 2025
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Illmatic
Nas
I am conflicted on the album, which is probably a good thing. Musically it is cohesive and flowing, with a variety of beats and soundscapes to give each track their time to shine. One listen gave a general chill feeling to the whole work, if a little repetitive in the backing tracks.
Listening in, I just don't connect with the lyrics on a personal level. I am fully expected to not get certain references and generally being dissociated from a black city gang experience, but there's a layer of overly manly professing that I don't gel with. I am sympathetic to loss from gang violence, the ideas of living your best life, the lessons to fight for yourself and supporting your social network. I think the rub was the idolization of climbing the ladder within a gang. Rationalizing crime as a need vs as a desire is an uncomfortable, and hey, that might be the intention all along in which case, they succeeded at all levels.
4
Jun 04 2025
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Truth
Jeff Beck
I had saved a detailed review before but I just lost it as I refreshed on my way for work, so here it is condensed.
Great album, the guitar is the major standout with more expression than I have noted in the past. With no expectations, the technical skill was impressive but muddied with passion which I now view as a bigger boon than I would have just a few years ago.
Two instrumentals on a debut album is bold, a cover of Greensleeves is even bolder, and for that bravery I have to give the utmost respect
5
Jun 05 2025
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Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Overall, good album. I started it thinking I was going to hear hit after hit, because the first 3 songs were all nearly instantly recognized. It did tail off a bit after that, but I enjoyed all the songs I heard. The most interesting track for me was Alone + Easy Target, simply because that *felt* like a Nirvana song minus Kurt. From the singing style to the instrumentation, it had all the hallmarks of being a Nirvana song that might have been left on the cutting room floor before Kurt's untimely passing.
4
Jun 06 2025
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Ingenue
k.d. lang
I am surprised how much I like this. Searching for the artist and seeing "Canadian Pop and Country" was worrying as someone who doesn't like a lot of the popular country I hear in passing. But this album was very smooth and a solid work, with rhythms I am unaccustomed to hearing in a country setting (but perhaps I neglected the pop pillar too much).
All in all, good album
4
Jun 07 2025
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The Wall
Pink Floyd
I have done this listen through before, so I doubt I'll have a lot of surprises. That said, it's a good album.
I paid the most attention to the non-singles of the album, especially the interstitial tracks that are admittedly quite strange. Songs like The Show Must Go On, Stop, and Goodbye Cruel World are all cool in the tone setting for the rest of the albums bigger hits. There are the most obvious repeat songs with Another Brick in the Wall (Parts 1, 2, and 3), but the repeat of In The Flesh? and In the Flesh, one for our first introduction of the character and the second being the drugged up performance of the show going on is a great contrast. The statement of the second, when it is sort of the "true face" saying what comes to mind with no filter and full of prejudice, makes for a fun contrast to the start where he jeers that you aren't seeing the full picture.
Lots of fun, I wonder if in another world, the Trial hits the same operatic popularity that Bohemian Rhapsody did. Probably not, the works while similar have different scopes and production behind them and the Trial is much more off putting to the average listener
5
Jun 08 2025
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Heavy Weather
Weather Report
A surprise new favorite, it was a great jam. I had never heard of them before but it all grooved and sounded awesome
5
Jun 09 2025
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Sound Affects
The Jam
A fine album, but it didn't wow me in any particular instance. Everything felt like an 80's brit rock group and I think that was a the sound through and through. I don't dislike it, but it did not feel seminal to me.
3
Jun 10 2025
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Different Class
Pulp
A bizarre album only in the vocal line. The instruments other than the voice felt classic 80s/90s soft rock which worked extremely well in highlighting just how depraved the lyrics came off during certain songs. The highlight was Common People for me where they really go on a winding story of showcasing the different mindsets of (as the title says) classes of rich vs poor. Bringing a woman in to deal with rats, see a supermarket, or find a "normal" lover, showed how even if she saw it firsthand the impact of those living situations is fundamentally different when you have a rich father lifeline to just pull yourself out at any time. I really appreciated that song and what it brought to the table, but a lot of the album came off as quite creepy. Many songs feel drenched in angst and from a controlling personality both lyrically and in the delivery, which against the softer rock backing gives off all the more of an uncomfortable vibe.
So good album, but I wouldn't recommend it to many people
4
Jun 11 2025
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Live And Dangerous
Thin Lizzy
Good live album, but I am glad that I have listened to most of the Thin Lizzy hits before. Like a lot of concerts, I enjoy knowing what the song sounded like in the studio and contrasting it with their live abilities. The energy was high, the audience interaction was fun, and the extended sections were great. I want to give the studio version of Sha-la-la a listen because of how slowed down and open that song was live, one of the few I hadn't heard before
4
Jun 12 2025
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Document
R.E.M.
I started to listen to the album just hearing the R.E.M. sound, not really thinking about the lyrics at all, but the second song "Welcome to the Occupation" made me rethink my approach to the record as a whole. I hit restart and opened up the lyrics to try and read in a bit more, and was met with a general cry against the American government machine. I don't know why I didn't initially catch that "It's the end of the world as we know it" came from this album, but it was an instant recognition, as well as "the One I Love".
Fireplace was cool with the saxophone addition, but I think I need a second listen to the album as a whole with more time.
4
Jun 14 2025
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Who's Next
The Who
Good album, quite a few recognizable hits. It was funny to realize that a lot of the songs are simply not named what I would have expected. The lead track, "Baba O'Riley" is a great example, I have gone my whole life thinking it was called teenage wasteland. "Behind Blue Eyes" I would have anticipated being "No One Knows What It's Like" based on the refrain, but the music itself is all well done. There wasn't a surprising track on the list, so it is thoroughly classic The Who
4