Took a couple listens not to feel like this was some of the cheesiest county I'd ever heard, like he was parodying himself. One you get past the self-satisfied smile in many of the songs, you can appreciate some of the pathos that the humor is covering up. Still not one I expect to return to, but I can appreciate why some of his stuff was influential.

This doesn't have to be your favorite music, but something may be wrong with you if you don't find it irresistible.

Kind of a electro Gothic vibe with at times almost belligerently repetitive, almost monotonic melodies. Feel like I can hear the seeds of acts as different as The Pretenders and The B-52s.

Musically really interesting, feels very personal while still exploring the medium itself. A little uneven in that it starts strong but flags towards the end.

Less an album of songs than a series of soundscapes for an Alex Garland run of Black Mirror. Evokes a sense of fragmentation, disarray, and paranoia.

I mean, c'mon. Just a great album with so many great hooks and drum fills.

Fun and upbeat

This one didn't do much for me. Lots of soft vocals and mellow moods, but I never felt hooked. I liked some of what happened musically on "Little Bird" and"Monster Love ."

I can see the musical talent, but this wasn't my thing in the 80s, and it's not my thing now. The first couple tracks were all right, but for the just pay the melodies didn't do it for me.

I don't know much about lang or country music from the 80s, so I was surprised at how old-fashioned this sounded. Maybe it makes more sense in context. She's got a great voice, and there's some fun stuff on here. I'm open to hearing more from her, but it hasn't quite made me a fan

Starts really strong but gets a little long by the end. Like a lot of punk, a lot about a vibe as much as the music, but there's also plenty of good rocking happening here.

Gave it two listens and can't get past the campy lounge act quality. If the lyrics weren't so banal, they may have saved it for me.

While there are certainly several great songs on here, this isn't the kind of thing I would choose to listen to, normally. But it's also clearly a different kind of album; it's like you can feel it's significance even today.

There are, like, five great tracks on here and four cringey ones.

I was just fighting with my girlfriend about how irritating synths were in the 80s, and then I get this album. Doesn't totally redeem the aesthetic, but it feels less manipulative and melodramatic. Nothing here sticks out, exactly, but each track has something interesting going on, and it was enough to get me to explore more of their stuff.

I didn't realize so many of her iconic tracks were on this one album. But, then, there are a lot of tracks here. I don't hold her up against my favorite female vocalists, but a lot of these tunes are lodged in my head, and I don't mind.

The first track is more of a soundscape than a melody, though it also has movements, and you're either going to go with it or resist it. The title track is easier to settle into and is really beautiful. Not the easiest thing to get into, but reading reviews and appreciation of this album confirms some impressions and gives language for others: psychedelic, fusion, minimalism, negative capability. One guy compared it to Dylan going electric. Like so much of Davis's work, this album deserves to be listened to on vinyl on a hot night with a bottle of wine. It grows on me every time I hear it.

I don't know that I've ever listened to this straight through, but it's so good.

That first track is majestic; the rest is a ton of fun.

This album stood back so much of what makes his music exciting and let's the storytelling shine through. Even when he gets sentimental or slows the tempo down farther than seems necessary, he's so tapped into the dynamic of hope for redemption versus wandering through purgatory as described in the idiom of the American Dream that it's still always poignant.

I never really listened to Cohen other than heading songs here and there. I've always liked him, tho listening to a lot of him in a row reveals how much he likes certain song structures. Still very good storytelling, and many some are compelling while you hear them even if it's hard to remember the melodies, such as they are.

Took a couple listens not to feel like this was some of the cheesiest county I'd ever heard, like he was parodying himself. One you get past the self-satisfied smile in many of the songs, you can appreciate some of the pathos that the humor is covering up. Still not one I expect to return to, but I can appreciate why some of his stuff was influential.

I've known this album for years, and it took me a lot of listens to really appreciate. It's one of those albums that I don't necessarily choose, but when I hear it, it always takes me on a journey.

Okay, this is the first one I feel I have enough context and familiarity to wonder why it's on this list. I liked it fine in H.S., but even then "Only Hair When it Rains" felt a little disingenuous, or at least like a lyric that's trying too hard and also not hard enough. It brings back some memories, but I don't know that I feel one *must* listen to it.

Found a lot of this interesting and fun, some of it was a little meandering. Liked "Supreme I Preme."

I feel like this was a band the "real" music kids were into. This album wasn't enough to help me understand them; they should have gone with Loveless, which is more accessible. M b v feels like an album you like if you already like the band. Also, do the lyrics actually matter, or are they just more texture? I don't think I understood a single line.

A lot of fun stuff on here. Doesn't grab me quite the same as Burns Vista Social Club, say, but someone I'll keep exploring.

I don't think of The Byrds as a band I love, but they are uniquely able to put me in another state of consciousness, wch is not nothing.

A strong album, and it led me to a few other acts like The Frightners.

This is a guy who's really got his own thing going, and sometimes it's fun or poignant, and sometimes it feels rambly. It's never something that has grabbed me when I'd I can appreciate it conceptually. I liked "Louisiana, 1972."

Maybe not a perfect album, but the first half is so strong that I don't really care. I didn't grow up with but came to it in college, so the nostalgia factor is not strong. It made an impression then and still grabs me now.

Today I learned I don't care at all about Steely Dan. Literally skipped thru every song. Just felt so cheesy.

There's nothing on here that hits me as hard as his Beatles stuff, but I still find it a powerful album. Possibly his most personal, but still with his characteristic sense of the absurd.

Lots of great energy here, and you can see why he was popular. It's a different side of him than I know from the radio, for sure. I didn't really love any of the arrangements, tho. It felt like a lot of show without real emotion. I'm sure it was fun to be there, and it's interesting as a document, but I guess it's not what I enjoy about Sam Cooke.

This album has some great music, though it doesn't have a lot of my favorite Cash sounds even from that era. But it's about the performance and the immersive feel of it and the way he connects with his audience. However edited it may be, it still feels like a moment, an event, and it's iconic.

Was not into metal growing up, do I learned a lot today and was pleasantly surprised.

This was fun and unexpected in the way they explored so many different sounds.

I know people love these guys, but I had a hard time connecting with this one.

I actually appreciate some of the musicality, here, but this is the music of a deeply hurt person who is shrieking his pain at the universe. It's too dark for me to listen to.

Light and playful, and it led me to Return to the Valley of the Go-Go's, which had more interesting music.

Her debut album, which was on this list earlier, was fun, but this album has some of that same joy plus more depth and range. You can hear how much she has matured as an artist in a few years. That said, some of the later tracks on the expanded edition feel like she's casting a wide net, searching for something that will connect.

I like this side of Beck.

I think I could get into these guys if I can just figure out what to do with those vocals.

Some good stuff, but it doesn't show off his real talents.

This doesn't feel like an album; it's a whole soundscape, a cinematic experience. You don't even have to "like" all the songs; they just take you somewhere that only they can take you.

I was willing to hang with this for the first couple tracks, the grandeur, the bombast -- it didn't strike me as different in spirit from a lot of metal. But after 15 or 20 minutes I had had my fill.

Not my favorite album of hers, but still a lot in here that showcases the best of what she can do. Worth the listen if only for "Boulder to Birmingham" and "For No One."

"Angeles" & "Pictures of Me" stood out most to me on this very mellow collection of tunes. I can imagine having been really into him if I had found him in college, but I wasn't able to give it a close enough listen to really connect with anything. That said, I let it play off and on all day because it really creates its own world, which is a unique achievement.

The Byrds have always been an interesting novelty to me without ever really connecting. I can appreciate all the genre mixing and experimentation, but none of it really elevates any of the songs, wch on this album probably play better stoned.

I think one has to be in the right mood to give this a real shot. Otherwise it's very chaotic and hard to find the melody that's holding it together.

I like a lot of Stevie Wonder songs (how can you not?) but often find the albums as a whole are not as captivating. This one has a lot of highs if not a lot of real earworms, but if only for "Superstition" I feel I have to give it a 4.

This is a sound it would take me a long time to get into. There are moments that I start to get it, like "Mr Blue Skies," but so much feels corny to me.

I know there are Eagles haters out there, and I'm not going to die on that hill, but they could write a catchy song and, when they had a mind to, a good guitar riff.

This doesn't have to be your favorite music, but something may be wrong with you if you don't find it irresistible.

I have a feeling this guy would irritate me if I saw him perform, but as recordings it's a lot of fun.

I like the concept for this concept album, and I'd like to like Willie Nelson more, but while this grew on me after a second listen, I still had trouble connecting with it.

These guys were new to me, but they found a groove in my brain and were really working for me. I just hope he wasn't saying anything important, cuz the vocals were not easy to hear.

This album is like a force of nature.

I can appreciate this, but I feel like it's the kind of thing that you have to find at the right time in your life.

Liked this a lot more than Byrd Brothers and helps me see how people got so into these guys.

You can't go too wrong when half the album winds up on Chronicle.

I can appreciate the technical skill, but it's hard not to feel like all the songs sound alike. I guess it's not for me.

Prolly not a group I'll spend a lot of time with, but I enjoyed the encounter, especially the way they are more than just a punk middle finger to whatever but show their genuine appreciation for bubble gum pop.

This album feels more mature and sophisticated than the other one we had, tho I'd have to listen more closely to figure out why. They're the kind of group I like in moderation, but they get so much radio play when a new single drops that I think it turns me off. Anyway, I enjoyed the chance to spend time with this album.

I've never really listened to these guys, but I found them really entertaining in a similar way that Louis Prima was -- not really connecting personally but still fun to have on while driving or making lunch.

It's the guy from every third NYT crossword! I don't know that I've ever actually heard him, but I think I'm going to be exploring more. I appreciate his sense of melody and the meditative quality of much of the album.

I suppose anytime a group has internal friction it's hard not to take sides, wch is what a lot of the reviews seem to do. But however you may feel about each individually, you can't really separate them musically -- and that can energize the music with a fruitful tension, or in the case of The Smiths, emotional contrast. Marr's energetic, often bright or effervescent guitar wants to be pop punk, but Morrissey wants to be a subculture troubadour, and together they stretch the canvas of each song across a broader range of emotion than they could if they were more in sync. For me, it's compelling and interesting even when a song doesn't quite take form, making them unavoidable regardless of how you feel about them.

You can call it tight harmonies if you like, I guess, but to me the vocals just sound blurry. In fact, the whole sound feels like you're listening to them behind glass at a supper club. There's wood paneling on the walls and everything looks like it was filmed directly onto VHS.

Technical skill aside, something about their vibe feels like a schtick, wch I guess is fair enough -- all performers have stage personae -- but I guess I'm not buying.

I dunno, I thought they were interesting enough to let Spotify run and play me other stuff.

Liked the blues-iness of this and generally enjoyed it musically, but it feels like something I'd need to give closer attention to to really appreciate.

Part jazz concert, part stand-up, part performance art, entirely a good time with a an intelligent entertainer.

This is truly music from a different era; it feels difficult to imagine ever being this innocent as a culture -- and of course, we weren't, we were in denial, but if you can settle into a certain pop music space, the energy and the harmonies here are still compelling.

Every time I hear Fleet Fixed, I imagine then trying to come up with a concept for the band and someone going, "How about ethereal male harmonies?" and everyone else going, "Yes! That's what the people have been waiting for!" I do actually like their sound, but I've never locked in with them or their quivering forests. Hard to say why -- maybe it's a little feeling that the whole thing is a schtick. Like, they're not exactly exploring the style so much as showing off that they can do it?

"Immigrant Song" is, of course, awesome, and there are lots of hints at what's coming in IV, but this stands on its own really well with great energy and range.

It's been years since I've listened to this, and I was a little worried it would feel like an album that had served its purpose and was more a document than an experience. Well, it does feel of its time in places, but in others, Jones's thoughtful piano playing and probing voice still pulled me out of myself.

Kinda fun to see where Rod Stewart started, and I liked some of the blues influence. Did not turn me into a Faces fan, tho.

Like so many artists, I didn't really find Björk until college, at wch point my first inclination was to think she was trying too hard to be weird. But it's clear she's not just hitting random notes to be provocative; she's in control of whatever it is she's doing, wch on this album sounds like some kind of techno jazz? I spent the most time with "Post," but this is still challenging and compelling in its own right.

Do I understand this album? No. Do I groove with each of its tracks? No. Do I even feel touched at an emotional level? Not exactly. So why the hell do I like this album so much? I think it's because of its ability to create soundscapes that, even more than 50 years later, feel unexplored and possible. There's an optimism and curiosity and boldness and ebullience to this album that keeps me coming back.

I feel about Steve Winwood the way the Korean family felt about Frank Costanza: "This guy... This is not my kind of guy." I saw him and Clapton at the United Center once, just the two of them jamming in acoustic guitars, and frankly, it was boring. Listening to this album, I felt like Elaine telling Jerry about all the things she had asked with him, with the appropriate modifications: "Skip, skip, skip, skip, skip." Sorry, Steve, no soup for you. Next!

You're killing me, Smalls.