A collection of songs that aimed to be great, but alas.

Witty lyrics, but the music sometimes fails to sell the story. Strong 3*

Beautifully tragic

In 2025, the Boss' words resonate more than ever.

Pretty fun, but can be more musically developed(?)

🍌

Where the parts are greater than their sum

Funny and funky

Seminal punk

Surprisingly fun album that gets better deeper into the tracks... might check out the expanded release

Magic in a bottle (album)

The sound aged well, the content less so

An unfortunate swan song that could not live up to a legend's legacy

Solid jammers

Straight Outta Compton seems to be the album that aged the least well amongst the "Golden Era" cuts; but it's still damn great when it hits

Actually better than I remembered

Daydream Nation feels very much like haphazard punches from Sonic Youth -- but they work

Ray Davies is such a damn fantastic writer he made me care about a bygone England

It is a Bowie album alright; "Fame" is a choice cut

Nothing awful, and nothing praiseworthy

Surprisingly fun album -- would warrant a closer listen

Cheesy lyrics, but gosh the hooks are effective. Won't pull this out usually if I want to listen to music, but a karaoke night? Heck yes

Queen is clearly a talented band, but they spend most of their talents on ecletic "experimentations" that more often than not misfire. Sheer Heart Attack is... not one of those albums; it's more like a musket... a novelty today that served its place in history, but should not be anyone's top choice of firearm.

I wasn't sure what to expect going in, and wasn't too sure what I listened to afterwards.

When you prompt the AI: "Make me complex rock music with deep lyrics"

If we review albums by starting at a 10 and then subtracting points from it with every misstep, Aja would be the world's best album. Good thing we don't do that. Aja is good album, but it offers little beyond its "perfection" (Deacon Blues being the one outstanding exception, possibly the best among Steely Dan's catalogue).

Leonard Cohen was at his best when singing about sex, God, and death. He didn't always do that.

I... like it? The music and singing are "not good", but that only makes it better

"Patiently Waiting" and "In Da Club" are the two clear highlights for me; by the second half, 50 Cent is die tryin'

Almost a parody of itself

A very clever album. I am not too sure if I agree with it.

Credit where credit is due: witty, snappy, angry, nasty -- all rolled up into one album

Cash had the charisma, charms, and singing chops; but the album is too thin for him to work with.

Haunting tunes, marred by baffling arrangement choices and subpar production

A Bowie classic heralding music to come

A collection of CSNY's middest hits

Too British to be good, too anti-Thatcher to be bad

All in all, a solid worthwhile rock and roll album

I don't think I hate it, but the suaveness just lingers in my mind long after I've heard the album

The greatness of Lennon's songs is inversely proportional to how much of a prick he is in them.

Beautiful and magnetic

Good: the definitive 80s hard rock album Bad: the definitive 80s hard rock album

A convincing performance

An album that represents Nick Cave well, perhaps too much so

Visceral

Fuck songs, if the "fuck" was screamed out loud.

There is no dark side in the moon, really. Matter of fact, it's all dark.

Everything in its right place

A tour de force

The frustration with Gaye's album is how singles-focused they are -- when they're good, they're GOOD

A pleasant welcome. Dusty delivers a convincing performance, though the songs and production may not always be up to par.

The Police has the wits and charms and self-indulgence

"Harvest" is a pretty album, but it might also be the least substantial of Young's classic 70s outputs.

Powerful and angry

Maybe about 60 minutes too long, but the remaining moments are surprisingly decent.

Inconsistent, but pretty fun album overall

I think there is some inherent expectation for albums on this list to be influential and game-changing. Modern Kosmology may not be one of these albums, but it is still very much an interesting listen I'm glad to have discovered.

The album's biggest fault is that it can be better (which CCR pretty promptly resolved)

Some great tracks at the start but tapers off towards the end

Rough and polished; blunt and charming.

Banger

A collection of songs that aimed to be great, but alas.

Probably the album that turned R.E.M. from a good band to a great band.

Thought I would hate it reading about the album. Honestly, more enjoyable than I expected with some creative bits (beats).

So messy and so great

This would probably be a crazy experience if I actually saw them live; an album just can't quite do the same.

Well-written, but inconsistent

More confident and unapologetic than it has any rights to be -- and it's pretty decent anyway.

It's an album you listen on repeat for one month and then never listen to it again.

Kinda cheesy, kinda cool

An album of angst and melodrama that Sinatra pulled off with unbelievable maturity.

A fun album -- that said, I might be more impressed by its technicalities than musicalities

Track for track, Apocalypse 91 fell short of Public Enemy' previous albums. That said, as a complete album experience, I think Apocalypse 91 competes with its predecessors.

I want to like it. And there are some great songs here (particularly sides one and four). But does it have to be a double album?

The elements of greatness are there -- but they come too performative altogether.

It was quite challenging to find translated lyrics for the tracks, so my thoughts will be largely based on the music alone --which is fine. I do think the music somewhat struggles to keep itself inventive as the album goes on. As a collection of presumably dance/mambo tracks? Perfectly serviceable. But I hoped for more as an entire album.

I don't get it. What are its messages? Who are its audience? It's not even actually shocking, if that's what the album was going for. Sure, it's influential -- unfortunately.

A little slow to start, but the second half is pretty good.

Likely the epitome of classic hard rock

Solange is not breaking new grounds when it comes to her music, but her reflexivity and vulnerability elevate the songs to a higher level.

I do think this is Arcade Fire's best album: grand, ambitious, and unafraid. But alas

If 'The Room' were an album, this would be it. It's fucking terrible, but I don't hate it.

If there was any album that I wished I could have made, it's Sgt. Pepper.

There was some good humour on the first half that wore down towards the end.

Following up Ziggy Stardust is no easy task. And honestly? Aladdin Sane is a pleasant surprise for me. Perhaps not enough to be a Bowie great, but somewhat neglected in the public conscious (save the iconic album cover).

Some fun, quirky tracks sprinkled here and there made the album sufficiently enjoyable

I must admit, I have a soft spot for country rock, and especially the Burrito Brothers. Some beautiful storytelling here

Springsteen's songwriting is sharper than ever, although the music here lacked the "Boss energy" that elevated some of his other albums.

There are some great moments here among electronic music's best. Unfortunately, it drones on boringly for much of its runtime.

There are signs of a great album to come. But for now, it's mostly uninspiring rock music.

If the Motörhead were gamblers instead of musicians, they would be awful because they kept nothing up their sleeves. A bulldozer of an album, nuance be damned.

I am both disappointed and impressed? Sade may be an one-trick pony, but it's a good trick (+ variants) to keep the whole album enjoyable.

GREY Area is somewhat in an awkward spot -- bold and confident, but its potential not fully realized.

A pop classic limited by its insistence in being radio-friendly

Great idea but less so the execution. Lauryn Hill's singing did not always hit the mark and the album as a whole was dragged down by some superfluous skits.

The tracks might not always hit but they stayed interesting enough throughout

A mix of lovely and dull writing

Number 9 Number 9 Number 9 Number 9 Number 9

Thin Lizzy's greatest hits with an extended jam -- a fine listen but not breaking any new grounds

Nebraska is Springsteen's attempt in creating an American folk classic album. He's good enough a songwriter to make this a solid output, but the record lacks the bite that characterises Springsteen's best works.

Crime of Supertramp: far too cheesy, unserious music discordant with the subject matter. And the songwriting is not good enough to pass it off as "urggg Bri'ish humour".

Some really solid blues track with Muddy Waters putting on his A-game

I am slightly disappointed? There are some stand-out tracks but the album seems divided between its punk and industrial influences.

TIL it's Megadeth and not Megadeath

Free Bird (it's just alright) being the most recognizable song is a disservice to the rest of the album.

Masterpiece of music and playing

Some great moments here clearly influential for many future folk musicians. However, even for this relatively sparse album, these moments are few and far between.

Haircut 100 came up with one great musical idea and squeezed it dry

PJ Harvey's most complete album -- might be a bit tad too long, but sometimes that excess is justified.

A solid rock album more challenging than the music suggests

Bitches Brew is monumental -- so tremendous it struggled to carry its own weight.

Captain Beefheart is not a captain and his Magic Band is not magic.

Some brilliant synth-pop sections here limited by its excess

Some of the most rhythmic music set to Paul Simon's writings

I get the (sex) appeal. Nice songwriting coupled with a smooth voice, but I am not convinced of anything more.

For an album titled "On the Beach", that was kinda bleak.

The only real value of this LP is probably the words ELP set to Mussorgsky's piano suite -- and the value is probably close to 0 anyway. Everything else is kind of atrocious. Also, Ravel's orchestration literally exists.

Truth to be told, there were some gems buried under this monstrous album, though most of the tracks -- especially the vocal-focused ones -- were lacklustre.

Lou Reed charms but does not transform

Unseasoned chicken breast-ahh music

Solid album from a solid band that's somewhat overrated

Anita Baker has a nice voice, but the tracklist became weary before the halfway mark.

Bill Evans, Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian were not pushing any boundaries musically. But the interplay between each instrument and improvisations on each other made this a fascinating listen.

James Murphy's lyrics made him sound like an arse but his music is class

It's weird. Some great beats with interesting musings on top -- but still weird. Runtime might be a tad too long. Did I mention it's weird?

Well crafted, but it's not going to blow your mind

Consistently strong vocals in an inconsistent track list.

My streaming service crashed in the middle of "4th Dimensional Transition", which was coincidentally where the quality of song nosedived.

The Cure's appeal is clear -- technically adept music and highfalutin lyrics -- but I cannot muster enough interests in their nothingness.

A genuine pleasant surprise -- earworms that dig far deeper into your brains than they should

"Oedipus Schmoedipus" presents more like a collage than a true album -- some good, theatrical moments mixed with less inspiring muzak meant a somewhat disappointing listen.

An electronic album that stayed appealing, though not impressing.

A solid rock record that unfortunately never reached the height it promised

Paul Simon has his way with words, but 'Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme' is still clearly a novice work.

How I expect an album by a band with the name "The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion" to go

Competent

Unpolished? Perhaps. But otherwise, a compact album full of energy and vigour.

Ocean of emotions encapsulated in a little over half an hour