I didn't expect to hate this. While KOL has never done much for me, and I really don't like "Sex on Fire" song, I don't have hostility toward them. At least I didn't until today! I couldn't wait for this to end. They're clearly good at what they do, but what they do is not my thing.

This is pretty great, not that I'll pretend it's something I'll put on regularly. But it's surprisingly melodic and easy for my brain to follow.

Does anything else need to be said about the Beatles?

I don't think I've ever listened to this album. When these guys blew up, I was at the peak of my punk stridency, and Oasis' rockstar bullshit was anathema to me (and I didn't think their songs backed up their egos). I also was also on Team Blur during the completely-invented-by-the-British-media rivalry between Blur and Oasis. I've softened since; I listened to the 20th anniversary edition of (What's the Story) Morning Glory a bunch of times when it came out, though I haven't gone back to it. All that said, this album still gets a shrug from me. The songs are too long for what they are—"Live Forever" would be so much better if they chopped a minute off—and the lyrics have no shortage of clichés. It's totally fine mid-'90s Britpop. I don't say this often, but 1994 me was on the right track.

To paraphrase what I wrote about the Revolver, what more can be said about Rumours?

To paraphrase The Onion: Humanity still producing new arts as though Metallica’s ‘...And Just for All’ doesn’t already exist

I've often wondered if I missed the boat on this band. Maybe not!

Well, it's easier to listen to than anything else with "Ono" in its name.

These dudes were huge among the cool indie set back in the ‘90s, but never really hooked me. Like the other album of theirs I own, this is fun but not something I seek out.

Whoa, first time I've listened to a song on my own that popped up later on the day's album selection. (My daughter played "Deceptacon" in the car in the morning.) I like Le Tigre a lot, but this album's hit or miss. Among the cred-conscious, this will be a controversial take, but I think their major-label album (This Island) is better.

I bought this on CD 20+ years ago, listened to it once, found it boring, and haven't touched it since. Now I think it kinda rules?

I think my affection for "Money for Nothing" and "Walk of Life" is due more to their ubiquity during my childhood than really LIKING those songs, because I found this album to be a SLOG. The songs are needlessly long—"Why Worry?" into "Ride Across the River" is just brutal—with production that makes no mystery of when it was made. That's doesn't have to be a bad thing, but it didn't help this, either.

I respect Bonnie Raitt as an artist, but this does nothing for me.

This started slow for me but hooked me (?) with the shattering loss at is center. I remember this album coming out and hearing about its inspiration, but it's even more brutal than I expected. Songs like "Ghosteen Speaks," "Ghosteen," and "Hollywood" are almost unbearably sad, particularly "Ghosteen Speaks." The first songs, which reference Jesus and Mary, etc., felt laborious, but the rest cuts like a goddamn dagger.

This could be about five songs shorter & a whole lot stronger. The best songs are great ("Connection," "Stutter," "Never Here") but there's plenty of forgettable stuff on here. And they only wrote "Connection" by shamelessly ripping off Wire's "Three Girl Rhumba," then having to pay that band for doing so. FUN STORY: I bought this in the summer of 1995 at Best Buy with Sponge's Rotting Piñata. When the clerk looked at my ID (I must've paid by check?), she goes, "You used to be so cute. What happened?" Then proceeded to talk to me about Jesus.

I typically hit my limit with the Smiths (or, specifically, Morrissey) pretty quickly, but I pretty much enjoyed this from start to finish. While Moz is an icon, he's one who seems intent on tarnishing his legacy as much as possible. At least Johnny Marr has only burnished his legacy with interesting projects and music, and the guitar sound he created in this band set the template for so many who followed.

Growing up in the punk scene, I always thought these guys were buffoons. (The "Breaking the Law" video didn't help.) I'm less judgmental these days, and this album is fun, though probably not something I'd return to much.

Let me know when Rock for Light is the choice of the day.

Man, why have I spent literal decades thinking the Stone Roses weren't my thing? Especially because I love bands like Ride, the Charlatans, etc.? This album is great.

This is very pleasant. The bluesier stuff didn't land for me, but there's a lot to like on here—especially the opening track, "Sunflower." I need to dig into Weller's discography.

A lot of groundbreaking albums can sound a little flat when you go back to them decades later. This is a foundational text in my beloved punk rock, though I always respected the Ramones more than I actually liked them. "Blitzkrieg Bop" is an undeniable classic, and "Judy is a Punk" is awesome, though I can more or less skip the rest of this album and stick to the hits.

As iconic as this album is (particularly the cover), I remember it dragging. I still think it drags a bit, but it's essential listening (and cohesive if nothing else). "Disorder" is probably my favorite, though "She's Lost Control" and "Shadowplay" are among their greats.

I'd forgotten just how much this falls off a cliff, but what struck me most this time around was how old-fashioned it sounds—not in 2025, but even in 1988. Songs like "Something Like That" sound like straight-up crew party rap from the '70s. (Compare this to what the Bomb Squad was doing on Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, released two months earlier.) Then there's whatever "Something 2 Dance 2" is, and they smartly bury it at the end of the album. "Straight Outta Compton" is an unimpeachable classic, and "Fuck Tha Police" is right up there too, but you can stop listening after "Gangsta Gangsta" (or, if you're feeling generous, skip ahead to "Express Yourself," then stop).

Me in 1991: "Can't wait for the RHCP show!" Me in 2025: "JFC this album won't end." These guys have been at it a million years and are good at what they do (well, Kiedis is debatable), but what they do grates on my nerves. "Give It Away" doesn't bother me as much as the rest, so that's something, I guess.

This was an instant sensation when it came out in 2005, and I always appreciated its artistic ambition. (Stevens planned to give EVERY state the album treatment.) I've only returned to a handful of songs over the years, though, probably because the album's a little twee. "Chicago" is chief among them, not just because it's my home, but also because it's the best song. This album is such a big swing, and I appreciate it more as a cohesive artistic work now than I did back in 2005.

This is the kind of dopey—literally and figuratively—hard rock my punk forefathers rebelled against in the '70s. You could call it clichéd, except this album helped establish those clichés! All that said, I've got no beef with this. It gets wanky and deeply silly ("Space Truckin'"), but the classics on here have endured for a reason.

Bob Dylan's an icon who's adored by millions of people and has influenced generations of musicians. I'm not among either group. I appreciate what he's done and where this album stands in music history, but it does nothing for me.

I like big band music quite a bit, though I have to be in the mood for it. (I used to whip out my four-disc Glenn Miller Orchestra collection during stressful times at my first job.) The more staid tracks on here ("Tea for Two," "Take the 'A' Train") are fine, but I loved the ones where the band is really hot, baby, hot ("Diminuendo in Blue," "Skin Deep"—that drum solo, dios mio—"Tulip or Turnip"). This is a formidable performance by an icon and a neat time capsule.

I'm starting to realize I should've been listening to Sabbath a lot more all these years.

I think I like this a bit more than Strangeways. Enjoyable from start to finish. But I find it perplexing that Johnny Marr found Kirsty MacColl's original backup harmonies so "weird" that he instead pitched up Morrissey's own vocals for something that sound distractingly weird. Have some respect for the woman behind "Fairytale of New York," dude.

I was surprised by how much I liked this. Although it gets a little same-y as it progresses, there's plenty to enjoy here.

Just like with the Sugar Cubes, I appreciate Björk for than I actually like her music. She's a singular artist across the board—her voice, her art, her personality, all of it. There's no mistaking her. It's just not my thing on an album level. I'll pop "Big Time Sensuality" on a playlist & be good. (That said, I started listening to 1995's Post after this one finished.)

This is first time I've listened to an album a second time because it seemed like it should be my thing. While James Dean Bradfield's vocals aren't my favorite—maybe because they're in a higher register?—there's so much to like here. The second listen confirmed that I liked this, particularly the stretch that starts with "Australia" and goes through the end of the album. This was a lovely surprise. I'm now following Manic Street Preachers on Spotify, just a year before they celebrate their 40th anniversary. Better late than never.

This is the classic reaction album, zagging where Rumours zigged. I like the subdued mood, but some songs sound incomplete or unfinished. (Double albums are dangerous.) The ones that feel fully fleshed out—like "Sisters of the Moon"—are pretty great, though.

I always like being introduced to noteworthy artists I've never heard of, even when their music is far from my thing. And Shleep is most definitely not for me. I found it relentlessly laborious, though it picked up at the end with "Blues in Bob Minor" and the ambient closer "The Whole Point of No Return." I actually kinda liked (or at least disliked less) a track from another album Spotify started playing after this one, so maybe I can find some Robert Wyatt stuff that's closer to my thing.

Well, it was worth giving this another try, even though the verdict hasn't changed: not my thing. "Gloria: In Excelsis Deo" is great, though it's partly a cover. Shout out to my younger self, who bought the two-disco deluxe version of Horses, listened to it once, then never played it again.

Revisiting this for the first time in, like, 15 years made one thing crystal clear: Big Boi's side is much stronger than Andre 3000's. It's kind of crazy that it takes the latter 3 tracks to really get going, and even then it's in no hurry. "Hey Ya!" sticks out for being a concise, focused pop song, because the Love Below is otherwise meandering and loooong (21 tracks?!). Speakerboxxx has lots of bangers and its own share of artistic flourishes, whereas the Love Below basically has "Hey Ya!" That was a nuclear bomb of a song, so maybe it all balances out?

Chrissie Hynde has never done much for me, though I recognize the Pretenders' place in rock history (and Hynde's role in the early punk scene in the UK). That said, I liked this more than I expected, probably because it's much closer to punk and post-punk her later stuff. While the songs blend together after a while for me, it was nice to be introduced to songs other than "Brass in Pocket" that I may return to in the future. ("Mystery Achievement" is great.)

Norah Jones is clearly very talented and good at what she does, but what she does has no effect on me. Well, that's not true. I find it tedious. To my brain, this album sounds like different versions of the same song repeated over and over. It's not a bad song—I liked "Nightengale" most—but it's not my thing.

I haven't listened to this in a while, but it's as charming as ever.

I find Radiohead's music to be pretty bloodless, especially post-Kid A/Amnesiac. OK Computer is where they started veering in that direction, but it feels more human to me. I've never been much of a fan, and the hype that followed this album (and the lead up to Kid A) was a turnoff. That said, there's a reason OK Computer is such a landmark, and I found it more enjoyable this time around.

Funny enough, I listened to this a couple months ago on my own volition, and I've been meaning to watch the new docuseries about Billy Joel. Although I loathe "Piano Man"—thankfully not on this album—I'm not reflexively anti-Joel. "Only the Good Die Young" is great, I like "Movin' Out," and "Just the Way You Are" may be sentimental, but it works. That summarizes Billy Joel in general. There's always a good amount of cheese, but he makes it work for the most part.

There are nearly 1,100 albums on this list, so why do we need to cram so many Smiths ones in so early? This one is fine. And the song "Meat is Murder" offers a glimpse into the insufferable prig Moz became.

This is pretty great. I've never had anything against Jimi Hendrix—I got the greatest hits from BMG a million years ago, for what that's worth—but I really appreciated the deeper cuts and other songs I haven't heard a million times.

The title track is still great, and the rest of this is...fine. It feels much longer than an hour.