Pleasant indie rock that's enjoyable enough, but Deerhunter has never been one of my favorites from this era of indie. The first half is sometimes jangly and sometimes hypnotic, with the jangly songs not sounding different from other artists and the hypnotic songs not making an impression. Things turn around with Desire Lines, which feels more immersive than the other tracks. The album continues to be much better after it; Coronado has some great horns and there's cool drumming on the closer (though that one does kind of overstay its welcome by getting repetitive by the end). Would get a lower score if it didn't pick up by the end.

8 or 9 nicely written pop folk songs with a few more songs thrown in. While the songs are nice I can't help but find them a bit schmaltzy, even Father and Son. Stevens also doesn't have much, lyrically of musically, that makes him unique, and I find the louder moments with drums to mostly not work. An exception to all of that is the opener, Where Do the Children Play?, which I like quite a bit and which climaxes nicely. Otherwise it's mostly forgettable. (I also can't help but agree with folks who say that Wild World comes off as condescending, and even if that was intentional it doesn't make me like it more.)

Incredible funk and soul album. What I like most about this album is how it mixes some great pop tunes with longer funk rock jams like Don't Call Me and Sex Machine. The ending run is especially great, with the 5/5 song Everyday People giving way to the disgusting (in a good way!) extended jam of Sex Machine. Just when you think the album has nothing left to offer besides that guitar and harmonica it hits you with one last solid pop song as a parting gift. Throw in some social commentary and this still holds up as a hard hitting album over 50 years later.

Arcade Fire were part of a wave of bands that brought large line-ups and chamber music to indie rock, and they inspired many more such bands. But few if any did it as well as they did it on this album. The piano and strings perfectly compliment the guitar and drums, resulting in an album that's lush but still rocks at times. "Wake Up" is the big hit, but the first three "Neighborhoods" and the closer are even better. Speaking of the closer: the lyrics on this album can have a beautiful subtlety to them, something that's missing from the band's later albums. At no point does this show better than "In the Backseat," where metaphors hide the themes of growing up and taking control of your life as your parents and relatives disappear.

You likely know two or three songs from this one even if you haven't heard it, but all three of those songs already have major flaws. "Jump" and "Panama" are both catchy but a little too simple, while "Hot For Teacher" is less a song and more a show of the band's instrumental prowess over some hastily written lyrics. I might like "I'll Wait" more than any of those songs, but all of it is pretty standard 80's hard rock fleshed out with some synths. A little more variety or better lyrics might save this a bit. As it is this is the same so-so formula repeated for pretty much every song.

There's more variety here than the piano ballad "Hello" would initially lead you to expect. The next track does kind of an alt pop thing (though even that sounds pretty much like any other alt pop you'd hear on the radio), and there are a couple other left turns throughout. But there are still a lot of piano ballads with dramatic vocals. It wouldn't be such a drag if Adele didn't seem allergic to injecting any kind of personal touch to her lyrics. Everything is vague concepts and ideas, no specific details of break-ups or love, which is universal yes but also uninspired. The vocals? They're good, if a little overdone at times, but they don't make the music more compelling.

There are a lot of great Irish folk instrumentation on this album. There are also a lot of mid-tempo drinking songs that kind of crawl by. When the band really lets it rip like on "Billy Bones" it's a great time, and even when the songs are slow the backing music and vocals are always great. The highlight is probably the closer, where the story and emotion makes up for the slower pace. With a little more energy this could have been a great album, but as it is there are definitely some songs worth skipping.

The main word that comes to mind while listening to this is "safe." When Ms. Dynamite gets more assertive, like on "Put Him Out" or "Now U Want My Love," her songs have a lot of personality. But on other tracks, that personality doesn't shine through, resulting in songs that feel anonymous. On those songs, the lyrics feel more played out and the laid back singing can make for forgettable songs. The beats don't change much during the course of a song, which can make them tiring, especially when the drums sound a bit thin. When the songs get funkier or try new things, like the reggae influence on "Now U Want My Love," they're much more engaging. Unfortunately that's just not always the case.

Delightfully smooth. While the sax and piano are great my favorite part of this may be the lazy, rhythmic percussion. Nowhere is that demonstrated better than on the closer, which is my favorite song on the album. I love the pace at which the song moves - it feels like a slowcore song to me - and I think it has Sade's most longing vocals on the album. Sade's music got more nuanced after this but this is my favorite album I've heard from them. It's great for late nights and puts a lot of 80's sounds in a more refined, relaxed package.

When this albums rocks - like on the title track or "Keep on Growing" - it rocks. When it moves in a more bluesy direction, it suffers. This is partially because I find Clapton's voice a bit weak for conveying these emotions, and partially because while the guitar is great it doesn't have the soul of the best blues I've heard. I'd also be lying if I said it wasn't hard to take the songs about love being so hard and his woman cheating on him seriously given the album's most well-known song is famously about wanting to sleep with his friend's wife. Even then it would all be fine if this album wasn't 76 minutes long; after the first four songs the only new sounds on it are the title track's second half and the short (and limp) closer. A forty minute version of this with the best material might get a 4.

This album is exhilarating. And somewhat exhausting. My ideal house music has bouncy drums and something light over the top with cut up vocal samples. The tracks on here that sound kind of like that - like "D.A.N.C.E." - are great. But most of the others put way more emphasis on the synths than the percussion, and when the beat primarily comes from those distorted synths it's harder for me to get into. The first track is a good example of that - I'm not sure how I'm supposed to dance to that mid tempo synth line. By the end the noise overwhelms me, especially on "Stress." And I'm someone who likes noisy sounds in noise rock and other genres! I just done want it in my dance music.

For the most part, the playing on this is great, especially Keith Moon's drumming. But it suffers from the lengths to which it goes to tell its story. The choruses on so many of these songs are simple and lame, presumably to make sure you know what's happening. The pacing suffers from multiple minute-long interludes and a 10 minute one that seems to only exist for the "Underture" wordplay. The story ranges from goofy to hard to take seriously. The worst moment is when we hear about abuse by Tommy's uncle in the painfully annoying "Fiddle About" chorus, which is quickly followed by a song about how Tommy is super good at pinball. Talk about tonal whiplash; there are themes here that are worth exploring, but they aren't treated with any care. The biggest problem is simpler though: none of the songs, even "Pinball Wizard," are really all that good.

Slickly produced to within an inch of its life, even compared to earlier Steely Dan records. And I think it fits the laid back nature of the songs. The songs are mostly long and expansive, leaving room for those impeccable guitar parts, drum fills, and horns. But it still leaves me cold, and I think it's because of the songwriting. The Dan's earlier work was tighter, which allowed for more hooks and grooves. Here the grooves are looser and the hooks more spread out. While the instrumental flourishes sound great, I find myself wishing there was less space between them. "Peg" is the outlier, and the best song, as the melody continues during the verses and makes the song interesting throughout. I like parts of "Black Cow" and "Deacon Blues" too, but I find myself wishing the songs were shorter and hookier.

Less energetic and freaky than the Animal Collective albums that came before it, but the many layers of synths still give this a ton of complexity. There are a lot of different sounds, from the watery to the bouncy, that wash over each other and provide a lot of melodies to follow. I'm most immediately drawn to the poppier songs, especially "Summertime Clothes," and sometimes I wish there were more moments like the chorus of "Daily Routine" that really popped. But I also know an entire album of that would get tiring, which makes me appreciate the more hypnotic moments of songs like "Guy's Eyes" and "Brother Sport" more.

I absolutely love "We Will Not Be Lovers." I love the bassline combined with the folk instruments and the momentum it carries throughout. It's a really interesting mix of folk tradition with modern (at the time) rock. I wish there was more like it here. I like the opening track and the "Sweet Thing" cover quite a bit too, but the straight folk songs don't do it for me. This includes most of the second half of the album, as well as what seems to be the centerpiece in "And a Bang on the Ear," which goes on for too long for me. I think it's at least in part because I don't love the vocals. It's a pretty interesting throwback, but an album with more songs like "We Will Not Be Lovers" might get a 4.

Rap has come a long way since the 80's, and a lot of once-classic albums sound a bit weaker next to what came out even in the 90's. This is not one of them. Yes, the rhyme schemes are pretty simple, but the energy the MCs bring is top notch, and they're even able to sell a song about nursery rhymes. The beats hit hard too, they're very percussion-heavy and sometimes fairly complex. A few of the tracks mix in some rock elements, and it feels more seamless than some rap rock tracks made 30 years later. There are a lot of fun ideas here on tracks like "You Be Illin'" (let's forget about "Dumb Girl" though, yeesh...). This definitely sounds like an 80's rap album but turns those elements that are no longer in fashion into something great.

Ryan Adams can undoubtedly write a song. Most of the songs here have a pleasant hook or melody. The problem is that he's written too many on this album, and too many of them are ballads. "Firecracker" has some great country twang and the kind of hook that makes Adams's best songs great. But it's the only song of its kind here. So much of the rest of this album is slower, aiming for a kind of melancholy or nostalgia that just doesn't come through. "Sylvia Plath" is the worst example for me, there's almost nothing there musically and the lyrics are weirdly parasocial. There are some rock songs that get things going a bit, but they all feel like they're cut from different clothes and don't belong on the same album. A prime example of an album being less than the sum of its parts.

Impeccably played jazz funk, but to what end? The title track, the only one with vocals, puts you in a world of a late night in the big city, down on your luck or worse. The whole album feels very nocturnal, but the title track is the only song that makes full use of that feeling. The other tracks fade in and out without sounding all that differently, and while they sound good I can't call out anything that differentiates them from other jazz funk tracks. They mostly play it safe; the funk isn't that deep, the solos are short, the grooves nice but not challenging. I do like this, but there would never be a reason to put this on over similar albums.

Raucous folk punk celebrating life in the face of death. If you just listened to the music while ignoring the lyrics you might think this is a happy album, but far from it. There are lots of songs about death, dying, and uncertainty. But the joyful music adds to the lyrical nuance about celebrating one's culture and family in the face of tragedy. It starts with a bang with the terrific first two tracks, "Fairytale," and "Thousands are Sailing." After that I do think the new ideas wear a bit thin, but the upbeat folk sounds mean it's never boring.

Great performances by all three MCs here, especially Lauryn Hill. There's urgency behind their rapping, and I enjoy the conscious lyrics. That consciousness sometimes slips into a holier-than-thou attitude though, which means this isn't always a positive album (and it's thus a bit ironic when stuff like that Chinese restaurant skit is included here). And speaking of urgency: I wish that was reflected in the beats. These beats are laid back, almost to a fault. The sung covers switch things up, but those songs are also pretty subdued. I think this could use some more energy or variety - there are two MCs here who excel at both rapping and singing, but they rarely do so on the same song. For an album lacking in hooks, that seems like a missed opportunity.

Bog standard blues rock, but that doesn't mean it's all bad. If I was at a state fair and I had a couple beers in me, I'd be super into this. But I don't think it rewards a casual listen that much. If there was something more to this, like more keys or more variety, maybe it would. Though maybe not on the variety front, since the acoustic-heavy "She Talks To Angels" is actually one of my least favorite tracks; the singer's voice seems more suited to rock songs. "Sister Luck" was probably my favorite song, it's slower too, but more of a power ballad. I kind of wonder if this would be as loved if it came out in my the 70s and wasn't seen as a throwback, because I don't think there's any doubt this is inferior to bands like The Rolling Stones.

Of the New Order albums I've heard, this is the most consistently engaging and upbeat, and also the best. The songs have a lot going on, but it's never overwhelming. The opener almost gets to that point, with all the synths and guitars flying around in the beginning, but the way it moves from one set of sounds to the next keeps it moving nicely. Elsewhere the bass thumps, the synths sound bouncy, and the guitars compliment everything well without taking the focus off of the grooves. The lyrics are mostly ignorable, but lyrics have never been a strong point for the band. It's hard to pick highlights as it's so consistent throughout, but "Run" and "Vanishing Point" are definitely two of the best songs. All in all just a fun album that brings together a lot of different influences well.

A swirling ocean of immaculately produced ethereal post punk. It surrounds you with feelings of longing that almost drown you. The lyrics are dripping in that melancholy, but they never feel overly dramatic or inauthentic. They feel real and honest. Each song feels carefully crafted, with intricate synths and guitars that compliment each other perfectly. And there's so much range here: the regret of "Pictures of You," the sinister "Lullaby," the pulsing, desperate "Fascination Street." On a different album "Love Song" would be a thoughtful pop tune, but here you begin to second guess whether it's also somehow a downer. Whenever the album gets to those last 5 long songs I always think they're going to drag by, but each has such a lovely, enthralling melody that I feel disappointed when each song ends.

Super smooth and enjoyable R&B, but I can't help feeling it would be better if it tried more things. The most well-known songs are great: "Creep" has a nice and funky vibe and "Waterfalls" is the catchiest song of the bunch (not surprising since it was the big hit). There are a few good rap verses, both from TLC and also from Phife Dawg and Andre. Outside of those moments, it's largely filled with slow jams. These songs aren't bad, but there's also not much to separate them from similar songs from the era. Like "Red Light Special" is a good song, but it sounds like a song many other 90's R&B artists could write. Definitely has a nice vibe, but there's also not enough unique about it to make me want to come back.

I like the driving basslines on this. I like the guitar tone, although on some songs like "Halloween" it's a bit too high pitched. And most of all I love the thudding, tribal drums. Yet put it all together and it sounds a little...thin? That bone dry guitar tone may be one reason. I also kind of wish it was more menacing? "Spellbound" is basically a jangle pop song and "Arabian Knights" feels like a standard post punk song. So is "Sin in my Heart," but it's faster and more urgent. "Into the Light" is a good example of a more interesting song, the angular guitar on that one is incredible. And the closer is a nice way to end - very drawn out and climactic - but it also feels like it's missing something. I think that as dark and gothic as certain elements of this are, it doesn't feel meaty enough to really get that atmosphere across.

A mix of good songs and songs that aren't good enough to overcome the 80's production. Most of them are good though! "Man in the Mirror" is my favorite Jackson song not named "Billie Jean," "Smooth Criminal" has those sinister verses and big climaxes, and "Dirty Diana" has some great guitar. There are three other #1 hits on this album, but of those I really only care for "The Way You Make Me Feel." The rest of the songs suffer more from the percussive synths that are all over this. "Speed Demon," is the worst example, it sounds so clunky. Compare that to "Man in the Mirror" and the smoother sound. The vocals are great throughout, but they can't change the fact it doesn't always sound as full and lush as dance pop should. Worth a listen for the best singles, but there's not much more to it than that.

Hell yeah rock out man! I'm not always the biggest fan of hard rock, but when it nearly borders on garage rock like this does I can get into it. I like the vocals and how keeps its foot on the gas until the end. My two favorite songs both have "Crazee" in the title; I especially like the keys on the second track and how they flesh things out a bit. Now, the fact that this doesn't let up also means there's not a whole lot knew thrown into the mix once you've heard a couple songs, and like all but the very best such albums I suspect that means I won't be coming back to it much. But it's a fun listen for sure.

I don't mind sloppy music. Sloppiness can make a ramshackle song sound more cathartic; if the energy is coming through, I don't mind if you miss a few notes. But this album is the bad kind of sloppy. As in, it sounds like the two guitarists aren't on the same page about which song they're playing. I do like the rawness and energy in places, but it's often hard to discern any kind of melody because one guitar is kind of trying to play some chords and the other is noodling over in the other channel. I'm not asking for this to be a pop album, but a catchy riff would be nice - even the garagest garage rock usually succeeds because it's catchy. It feels like the band thinks that rawness is enough to carry them despite the weak songwriting. Given that you hear nothing about this band's legacy or influence these days, I think it's clear that's not true.

A live album where you can really feel the energy of both the performers and the crowd. I struggle with the blues because the focus is on the guitar chords and vocals instead of the songwriting, which typically follows the same formula. I do like the sound of electric blues guitar though, and here it's accompanied by raucous drumming, a piano, and a harmonica, the last of which sometimes steals the show. Waters's vocal performance is fantastic; I especially like his word-less ad libs on "Mojo." I do find myself wishing for a bit of variety at points, but the playing is so good and the energy so high that those thoughts quickly go away. This isn't rock music, but it certainly has the swagger of it without losing what makes the blues great too.

As far as no frills, not hardcore, just straightforward punk rock goes, this might be the peak. There are all kinds of great melodies on this to enhance the snotty vocals and fast, simple songs. And there's political and social commentary, but it's not overwhelming. Despite all that my favorite song may actually be "Police and Thieves." It hints at the band's later work with its not-reggae-but-definitely-reggae-sounding-ness. There's only so much you can do with the simple punk formula and while the rest of the album is also great, it's nice to have a groovy left turn in the middle of it.

There's groundwork for an interesting album here. But for an album inspired by witch trials and which tries a lot of things, it's also surprisingly boring. The vocals sound emotionless; on the first track the singer drones "blood" a bunch of times - are these witches scary or not? Musically there's a lot of empty space here between the noise that makes me wish there was more happening. There is some cool stuff! But it's very fleeting. An abrasive noise on the 3rd track gives way to a super simple beat. There's a nice vocal melody on the last track that fades into nothing. The 8th and 9th tracks have the most interesting, rhythmic percussion, and the 8th track pairs it with hard hitting noise to create what's easily the best track. But so much of the album is atmospheric without getting any kind of eerieness or dread across, and more engaging moments may have helped.

There are a couple interesting left turns on this, but the majority of it is a kind of country-pop-rock thing that sounds very similar to other artists with this sound. Her voice fits the songs well - it's authentic and not over-polished. The lyrics are a mixed bag; I like the chorus on "Strong Enough" and the specificity of songs like "All I Wanna Do," but "The Na-Na Song" and it's we-didn't-start-the-fire-ness is a bit grating. The melodies are nice, but rarely better than nice, which is the biggest problem. My favorite songs are the ones that are more daring, even if they don't always work. "Solidify'" is my favorite with its funky groove. "We Can Do What We Can" doesn't work as well, but I still appreciate the jazzy night club vibe it's going for. Replace some of the slower ballads like "No One Said it Would Be Easy" with more adventurous songs and this would be a better listen.

If you can get past the over-singing and the often inane lyrics, this is an enjoyable heart-on-its-sleeve rock album. When I can get past those things, like on "Slide Away" (the best song) or "Live Forever" (the best hooks, even if I hate how the lyrics react to Cobain and his music), I'm right there in the pit singing along. When I can't, like on "Shakermaker" (with it's clunky melody) or "Supersonic" (the worst lyrics of the bunch), it can get a bit tiring. This is right on the edge of a 2 and a 3 for me as an album full of brash songs that are almost too much to take in all in a row. The guitars sound great, but they're so loud the songs have very little room to breathe. It doesn't help that some of them, like the opener, go on for way too long. In the end I can't get past the lack of depth and loudness, though I can't deny it's catchy.

An album that sounds great but isnt very enjoyable. The instruments really pop - I love the thumping of the drums, and the addition of organ, harmonica, horns, and especially flute really gives this a lot of life. But the songwriting is full of moments where the pace of the song changes suddenly, which can be jarring. And then a harmonica or organ will be thrown in, but not in a way that really matches the rhythm. It reminds me a jazz album a bit. "Feelin' Alright?" avoids this and is the most immediately enjoyable song. Then again, it also sounds like a generic 60's rock song, so I guess you have to pick your poison there. The worst thing about this is the lyrics, they feel like they were written because they had to be and are full of forced rhymes and psychedelic rock cliches. Key examples are the goofy opener and the sun/fun rhyme on "Pearly Queen."

A fun party album from a band that sounds like they're still finding their footing. While I like the atmosphere here, it is a bit one-note and the songs blur together a bit. The grooves on songs like "Wrote for Luck" are great, but other tracks feel a bit anonymous. If there were more hooks or things were tightened up I think this could be great. The closer feels like an early sampledelia track with its Beatles interpolation, but it's the rare track with a real memorable moment. I don't hate the vocals, but I don't feel that they contribute much. Sounds like they're going for a drugged out haze but they just sound sloppy. I do like the lyrics on the first track though, sounds like a defiant party anthem aimed at the upper class.

This starts off well with "Mother's Little Helper," one of the best songs from their early period. It's perfectly dark despite sounding cheery. And then it goes straight into a goofy pop song that almost sounds like a joke and a sappy ballad. At least after that one "Under My Thumb" has the catchiest melody on the album (if you can ignore the lyrics). From there there's very little that's worthwhile. The main problem is that it's too long, both because of the interminable, unchanging "Goin' Home" and because there are too many songs on the second side that don't add anything new in terms of songwriting. If this was trimmed down it might be pretty good, because the additions of new instruments and inclusion of some psychedelic elements make even the least interesting songs listenable.

I was vibing to this during the first three or so tracks. I would definitely prefer to listen to all of these styles and genres separately than as a mishmash like this, but I liked the percussion and vocals enough to get enjoyment out of it. However, it gets less interesting as it goes on. This is partially because I prefer the house-influenced beginning to the dub-influenced end. But as it goes on it also feels more and more half-baked, with the genre influences being used in predictable ways. Ironically it may be more interesting if there was less variety and a smaller number of sounds were explored in more different ways.

Mitchell's previous two albums incorporated jazz into a mix of folk and pop. On this one the jazz is the centerpiece, and it's a sparse collection of guitar, bass, and drums. It sounds good, but it leads to a collection of songs that end up blending together a bit, as it lacks memorable choruses of instrumental lines. I like Mitchell's vocals on this a lot; it has a reputation of coming out at a point where she had ruined her voice a bit but it fits the music well even if it's not as technically impressive as her earlier work. The lyrics I've heard are quite good, but I find it a bit hard to focus on them given the subtlety of the music. This is definitely an album I want to like more than I do, but I've found it difficult to crack so far.

I've always thought it would make sense for The Black Keys to make raucous garage rock like their two-person band counterparts The White Stripes and Japandroids. Which makes these mid-tempo, safe songs sound pretty jarring. Even once I adjust my expectations, it's hard for me to find anything special about this. The production is clean enough to remove most of its edge outside of the vocal effects that make it feel "old." It lacks memorable riffs and impressive instrumental moments are rare. And the songs mostly stick to the same formula. Which to be fair, is also true of the blues this is emulating, but this lacks the passion, grit, and vocal emotion of blues. I'm not even a blues fan and I'd rather listen to any classic blues over this.

Like most people, I like listening to Jimi Hendrix play the guitar. Unlike a lot of people, I don't like listening to his songs. Pretty much every guitar solo on this sounds great, but many of the songs are held back by clunky choruses or verses. It's telling that the song that's the most immediately enjoyable (though not the best!) is "She's So Fine," the only one he didn't write. Hendrix's songwriting is less polished, like he didn't know how best to work his guitar into the songs. The first few songs especially suffer from this, but the second half is much better. The closer succeeds as a psychedelic jam where precious songs failed, and "One Rainy Wish" is another highlight.

A fairly standard early 80s post punk album that's elevated by the horns and noisier elements. The angular synth that opens the album is one example of the sounds that give this a bit more edge than you'd expect if you'd just heard "Pretty in Pink" (which is still quite good!). The highlights are "Into You Like a Train" and "All of This and Nothing," with the former being one of the catchiest songs and the latter the lushest and most expensive. I don't love the vocals though, as they don't really fit the music. They feel too harsh, which is weird since I like the harsher musical elements. It doesn't help that the lyrics aren't very good either, with a lot of moments when they should rhyme but don't. I don't mind that if it's done for a reason, but the ones on "I Wanna Sleep With You" just make the lyrics sound lazy.

This is a tough one to rate as an album given it wasn't written to be listened to on its own. As a result the majority of songs are really just sketches, many based on the same theme with the same mood. The opener works best as a "real" song (probably because of the vocals), though "The Word Hurricane" and a couple songs near the end also exhibit some evolution throughout. The rest mostly just build on the same melody until they end. Of course there's a reason for that, so the question is how much should my rating account for the fact you're missing something by just listening to this. In the end I'm going with a 2 because I wouldn't want to hear this again, though I can't deny that it sounds lovely and is well produced.

Like always, the duo bring some pleasant folk harmonies. They also attempt a song cycle about aging on the first side. It's a shame it doesn't work; the sequence is too short and not obvious enough to feel like a progression. The sound collage experiment with old people's voices also doesn't add anything. However, "America" is a beautifully devastating song and "Old Friends" is lovely as well. They play the hits on the second side, and the ones that aren't about breakfast foods and zoos are great. Overall it's a bit uneven, but there's some good stuff here and the experiments make it more interesting than their contemporaries.

A fantastically written pop rock album. It tries a lot of styles, both old and modern (for the time), and pretty much nails them all. There isn't a bad song in the bunch, and the lyrics range from nostalgic to the cutting satire of "Yes Sir No Sir". And yet, it leaves me a bit cold. Despite the consistency there are no exceptional songs - "Victoria" or "Australia" are probably the closest. It's almost as if the album is too well-written. This sounds ridiculous, but sticking so tightly to its formula of crafting a distinct sound for each song makes it feel a bit too calculated. There's no room for these songs to breathe, and the tightness turns into stuffiness. It doesn't help that outside of "Some Mother's Son" most of the topics seem approached from a distance rather than feeling personal. This is about as close as possible to a 4, but the fact I don't really care to hear it again keeps it at a 3.

The album on which Bowie took what made Ziggy Stardust great and made it rock. When it works, like on "Watch that Man," it produces some of the most infectious rock songs he ever wrote. When it doesn't, like on the Stones cover, it sounds like someone who has no business writing rock songs. But it works more often than it doesn't. The horns and piano add a ton to these songs; the horns really flesh out the opening song and the jazzy piano solo on the title track is my favorite moment on the album. It still has the grand concepts of prior albums on songs like "Drive-In Saturday" and "Time." The last three songs dip in quality a bit, but overall this is still an important part of Bowie's glam rock period. Apparently critics didn't like Bowie taking influence from American rock, but he was always a chameleon and this is just another style he took and made his own.

There's a sharp contrast here between the lush, lively folk tunes and the stark, slow ones. It's a contrast that works well; many of the lively songs have a depressing undercurrent as well, and it makes for a more interesting album than if all the songs were of the same variety. It's all very intricate and well-played, with moments where the guitar is allowed to shine as well as some where other instruments take center stage. Both vocalists and great and their interplay adds even more variety. The best songs are the most strikingly sad ones, "Has He Got a Friend For Me" and "The End of the Rainbow" especially.

If Aladdin Sane was Bowie building on Ziggy by turning everything up to 11, this was him carefully exploring the ideas that would become it. Of his classic albums, it's the most playful, having an almost twee sound at times. But it's also one of the sparsest, being dominated by piano and acoustic guitar with some string flourishes. This formula usually succeeds; "Life On Mars" is a top five Bowie song, "Changes" and "Quicksand" are highlights, and his Dylan and Velvet Underground impersonations near the end hint at the range he'd display later in his career.. But a few tracks, like "Kooks" and "Fill Your Heart," feel a bit too light and airy. It all comes together into a transitional album that exhibits his best qualities without the variety or excitement he'd showcase later on.

There are some cool sounds on this album. But there aren't enough sounds. Not even cool sounds, just sounds. "Cars" is the highlight, a bold minimalist synth pop song. But "Observer" sounds so similar you expect the "Cars" chorus to start in the middle of it. Elsewhere, the synth sound from the opening track pops up fairly frequently throughout. There are probably other albums that use a consistent sound palette like this, but the fact most of these songs run their simples melodies into the ground makes it stand out a lot here. Most of the songs are good - "Conversation" stands out as one that does evolve as it goes - and the synth sounds are lovely, but by the end the similarity and simplicity of it all becomes a drag.

Some of the songs here are lush or psychedelic, and those are the best songs. But they're the exception. The majority are simpler pop songs centered on the acoustic guitar. There are traces in those songs of all the genres and influences that inspired this album, but they're pretty subtle. Or, like on "Dos Cruces," they take too long to show up. If you enjoy acoustic guitar and appreciate those subtle influences, this is probably an enjoyable album. If you don't, the hour run time becomes a slog. If it wasn't obvious from my rating, that's the side I fall on. I can't help but wish there were more upbeat songs on this. There's also definitely a language barrier here, but even incredible lyrics wouldn't make it more enjoyable.

This is the band's highpoint, a perfect balance of raw guitar scorchers and experiments. The rock tracks rock, whether it's because of the riffs ("Expecting") or the general rawness ("Gentleman"). "Fell in Love With a Girl" is the song every new throwback rock band have been trying and failing to write for the last 20 years. The attempts to switch things up, like the beautiful "Friends" or the upbeat "Hotel Yorba" provide a nice respite from the rock tracks. The band tried these kinds of detours on other albums but they never worked as well as they did here. The quality dips a bit by the end and I think it could have been even shorter than its brisk 40 minutes, but it's good enough to not feel feel like it overstays its welcome.

Some of the most beautiful songs ever written, from the danceable to the devastating. Some of the most clever and touching lyrics. Really just one of the best albums, period. Some of these songs are just transcendental, and some are just really dumb. But so is love. Stephen Merritt claims that this album isn't about love, that it's about love songs. And a lot of these songs do feel like they're mimicking love song tropes or even specific love songs. But you can't pretend to write about love songs and not know anything about love, and that leaks out in all the gorgeously relatable moments on this album. I would never claim it's too long, though it does drag in places. But even then that's crucial to the concept here - there need to be lows so you can recognize the highs. And you need 68 other love songs to help you realize that the 69th is the one that was meant for you.

The Dandy Warhols are an American band, a fact that could be missed if you'd only heard this mix of Spiritualized and Oasis. It's a good mix; the guitar tones are interesting and there's a good balance of spacier moments and straight up rock. "Every Day is a Holiday" is a standout. The songwriting is a mixed bag though. There are too many songs like "Orange" that are slow and spacey without being interesting, and ending on 10+ minutes of instrumental noise is kind of a letdown. It's enjoyable but it doesn't use its influences in an interesting enough way to be memorable.

Classic rock filtered through the lens of turn-of-the-century indie rock. The horns on this are a real treat. This is at its strongest when it leans into its quirkiness, like the angular riffs on "Long Time Coming" and the percussion and jaw harp on "Nightmare Part II." When it hews closer to classic rock riffage and vocals like on "You Will You Won't," it's weaker. It's a fun listen, but even the more interesting moments don't quite have the hooks to fully sell this sound.

The Police's final album is a tale of two sides: eclectic, rhythmic post punk on the first side and sleek, 80's pop on the second. Despite the musical prowess of their members, the second side is much better. On the first side, "Walking in Your Footsteps" has really satisfying percussion but awful lyrics, from asking a brontosaurus if we'd be dumb for using the atom bomb to the creature/future rhyme. Tracks 3 through 5 aim to push the band past their usual sound, but they either don't work or don't fit into the album. The second side however is beautifully written, with four essential Police songs. Yes it has their Big Hit, but "Wrapped Around Your Finger" is been better. Altogether it's an album that's more interesting than their previous work but which still confirms they're a singles band.

Riffs and solos...but no songs? Ok that's a bit harsh, but there's some truth in it. The playing on this is great, but the songs can be structured in odd ways. The opener is a good example: short verse into a riff that repeats for way too long into a solo, then a riff switch at the end that makes it sound like another song has started. The title track is a good example of when a song flows well and you can sit back and head bang to it. Now, thrash isn't exactly a genre known for songwriting and the messiness is kind of the point, but this is also lacking in memorable riffs and the vocals and lyrics are bad. So I think better structured songs would make up for those deficits. As it is, the music is heavy and fast but hard to get into.

One of the lesser great Radiohead albums, but still a great album. The band brings back the guitars here and mixes them in with the electronics, though it's rare that the two really get going at the same time ("Where I End and You Begin" is one song where they do). It ends up being a nice set of songs that rock while still having a lot of little details in the background. "There There" and the closer are the major highlights, but "Sit Down. Stand Up." and "Myxamatosis" are great too. It's main problem is it's length and the number of subpar songs on the tracklist, with "We Suck Young Blood" chief among them. There's an exceptional 40 minute album in here somewhere, but even as it is it's still great.

In retrospect this feels like a build-up to the album that followed it, with the groovy jams and African influences on tracks like "I Zimbra" sitting next to the quirky new wave of their previous albums. Despite that, the songs here are strong enough to stand on their own. The jams - "Cities" and "Life During Wartime" - are the highlights, tracks that could be double their length and not get old. But the other highlight is "Heaven," which is much more subdued; the band's lyrics were always good, but this one shows they could carry a song. The last three songs are a bit weak ("Drugs" is ok as a closer, less good as a song), but everything before it is good enough for this to get a 4.

Miles Davis pushes the limits of both jazz and listenability on this album. He breaks the former (in a good way) but not the latter. There's 90 minutes of music here, but it doesn't feel too long. There's so much going on - piano, electric guitar, horns, drums, bass - but it never feels chaotic or overstuffed. There are subdued moments, but there's always enough going on that you're not waiting for the next loud moment. It's a true jazz odyssey...I'm just not sure it goes anywhere. Having been stitched together from live sessions, it feels like a long jam that doesn't build from or to anything. It's just 6 great jazz tracks. Which can probably be said of many albums, but I think I need to rewire my brain for jazz before this goes from being an album I admire to a personal favorite.

There's an easy comparison to Jarvis Cocker here, both because of the vocal style and because the third track is about the middle class. But it's not quite apt - Neil Hannon's performance here feels much more like a stage show. I don't know how much of this is tongue-in-cheek, but at least 50% of it is, maybe 100%. Combine that with the lavish horns and strings, and on tracks like "A Woman of the World" you can practically see him strutting around on stage. "Middle Class Heroes" may be the highlight, it's dark but still a bit funny. Your enjoyment of this likely depends on how much you can stand the smarm. I usually can, but the spoken transitions between tracks and high brow literary references sometimes make it too much. Combine that with songs that all play with similar sounds and this just falls under a 4 for me.

If this isn't The Beatles' worst album, it's at least their most inessential. The original songs aren't much of a step forward from their debut or early singles. The best of them, "All My Loving," doesn't do much that "She Loves You" didn't already do. There are also quite a few covers, which don't do much to transform the source material. Despite all that, the album is well produced, and the first few tracks are catchy and punch. As the album goes on though it gets more and more tiring as you long for something new to happen. It's never bad, but it gets at least a little annoying. It's hard to fault the band given they were probably being asked to make more hits, but this is proof that even the most celebrated discographies aren't always free from duds. And if this is your dud, you're doing something right.

Heroes follows a similar structure as it's predecessor, and my unpopular opinion has always been that this is a better album than Low. Both sides are better on this. The rock side contains some of Bowie's most sonically interesting material, with rhythmic songs that grind away and so many cool things going on at once. That includes his best song, the title track; that piercing synth that permeates the whole song and those beautiful lyrics ("cuz we're lovers, and that is that") build to an amazing climax. The second side is mostly ambient-adjacent electronic, bookended by a Kraftwerk-sounding song and a rocker to close things out. I like that ending - it makes the album sound more like a rock album with an ambient interlude and less like two albums smushed together. Overall it's not one of Bowie's very best, but the highlights are enough to push it to a 4.

This album never achieves the haunting atmosphere it seems to be going for, instead settling for a kind of monotonous darkness. Every track follows a similar formula: take a drum beat, add one or two elements over it, and repeat until the end. A few of the tracks add new elements (the guitar during the chorus of "Glory Box" is the most effective example), the drums sound nice, and the occasionally jazzy elements are welcome. But it's not enough for the tracks to feel like they're progressing, and this becomes more obvious the longer the album goes on. The vocals also don't help - they feel detached and uninterested, rarely communicating the emotions of the lyrics. The chorus of "Sour Times" is one of the exceptions. This was definitely meant to be a drag, but I find it to be a drag for a different reason than intended.

Drenched in the rave music of the early 90's, and detractors will point out (rightly) that it never reaches the heights of the best acid house. But this isn't just an acid house album. It's also heavily influenced by classic rock and gospel, which makes for a very interesting set of sounds. Heck, the first song is basically a Rolling Stones song. The second, the best one, is a 13th Floor Elevators cover that shows off the hypnotic trippiness that's present on the more low key songs. "Come Together" combines all these influences, even clearly referencing the Beatles in its title. The slower moments aren't always as interesting as the ones that are full of keys and gospel vocals, but the album is rarely truly boring. It admittedly may not work great on an actual dancefloor, but it's a unique enough mixture to be a blast in other settings.

While maintaining the elegance of Behavior, Pet Shop Boys bring back the house beats. The result is a combination of dancey and subdued songs that give the album a lot of depth. Songs like "A Different Point of View" and "The Theatre" have so much going on, but they never sound cluttered or overdone; the vocal flourishes on the latter are some of the best moments on the album. The lyrics are great too - Pet Shop Boys were always an introspective group (no pun intended), but songs like "To Speak is a Sin" demonstrate the way they can subtlety pack a lot of emotion into a song. The highlight is probably "Young Offender," a lyrically detailed song that's also one of the catchiest on the album, though in a more restrained way. And it ends on a triumphant Village People cover that's one of the few upbeat moments on the album not backed by cleverly dark lyrics.

This is a perfect example of a rapper doing exactly what his beats required. Common's performance on this is not incredible. It's very good! But his lyrics are pretty standard conscious rap stuff, despite some great rhymes and a very good flow. It doesn't matter, because these beats are incredible, and Common putting on a good but not otherworldly performance on top of them lets you soak them in. The opener may be one of the best hip hop beats ever, and that's just the intro! The entire thing is incredibly smooth, with hooks and earworms everywhere. It's also a very joyful album, for the most part, both because of the lyrics and the lush beats. And the incredibly optimistic and heartwarming closer ties a nice bow on it at the end.

Bratty, snotty, and (intentionally) annoying. Beyond that style though, there's very little substance. Musically it's the same chords bashed out again and again; it takes until "Submission" and "Pretty Vacant" for interesting chord progressions to appear. This might work if the lyrics had a purpose behind them, but they're only vaguely political and more often confrontational just for the sake of it. The antichrist / anarchist flip is really clever and the most effectively rebellious moment, but very little else comes close to it. Elsewhere things are more tiring than exhilarating - by the 10th time Lydon has snarled "problems" you just want him to shut up. In a way this rocks, with the overwhelming vocals and simple loud songs. For the same reasons, it's hard to get through all twelve songs in a row.

This is a cool mix of power pop and 50s rock, it feels like it could be playing at a diner in an old movie despite obviously sounding more modern than that. Costello's voice really sells the songs and his cutting lyrics. I've never quite understood Costello's reputation as a lyricist though. As far as I can tell, he's just really sarcastic and make a lot of sexual innuendos on this one. There are some great lines ("there's no such thing as an original sin"), but it wears thin by the end, especially on "Mystery Dance." It wouldn't matter as much if there was more musical variety, but as much as I like the style the actual songs are fairly straightforward. And a lot are pretty similar; "Sneaky Feelings" and "Pay it Back" are almost identical. Some songs sound a bit different, in a good way ("Alison") or a bad way ("I'm Not Angry"). A fun enough listen, but in the end there aren't enough surprises.

Smooth, lush beats that sound ahead of their time, with elements of funk, jazz, and house. The album just slides from one song to the next. The rapping is more obviously from the 80's. The rhymes are good, but pretty much every song has the same flow. That, combined with the similar beats, means the album kind of stays in the same lane for an hour without a whole lot of memorable songs. The one with De La Soul, Tribe, and Queen Latifah is quite good, and the Afrocentric lyrics on a few other tracks show this is a smart, fun album. But because it's so laid back it can be hard to engage with it. Good for a few songs, less good as a 60 minute album.

Alice Cooper straddles the line here between a hard rock album and a campy theatrical album. Musically, it works better as the latter. The songs mostly settle in the medium-hard range, with some good guitar solos but a dearth of interesting riffs and soaring choruses. The most over-the-top tracks, like the closer, are more effectively sold. But therein lies the biggest weakness of this album. It seems to strive for a goofy horror vibe, but it's surprisingly tame in most places. There are songs about such shocking things as...performing on stage, running for president, and not helping ladies across the street anymore. And then the closer pushes things way too far in the other direction; it's definitely gross, but not in a funny way. Maybe when this was released it was more shocking, but listening to it now, most of the things it tries don't quite work.

The Tribe's emerged nearly fully formed on their debut. Q-Tip's lyrics are smart and focus on the positives. His storytelling can be a bit awkward - see "I ordered enchiladas, and I ate em" - and his flow doesnt vary much, but his performance is still very good. The beats are tinged with jazz and hit well on a track by track basis, but there aren't enough surprises for the hour of music to not drag a bit. Despite that there are some classic tracks, with "Can I Kick It?" and "Ham n Eggs" chief among them. That latter track shows the biggest thing the album is missing: Phife Dawg. "Ham n Eggs" is a playoff back and forth between Phife and Tip that shows the way they can play off of each other. Outside of that song, Phife has only 3 verses on this. More variety, from beats, flows, or rappers, would elevate this, but there are enough great tracks to make it worth a listen.

Maybe the heaviest album from the Seattle grunge scene, if you can even call this grunge. A song like "Dam That River" just crushes you with its riffs, while the slower songs feel like wading through waist deep mud. The lyrics are intense, with stark descriptions of depression and drug use. The imagery on the title track has to be some of the most shocking on a mainstream rock album. Despite all this its biggest strength is that it's actually quite accessible. As uncompromising as they are, these songs are still catchy, from the melodies of "Down in a Hole" to the hooks of "Would?" Layne Staley's voice is a pleasure to listen to and it really sells moments like the soaring chorus of "Rain When I Die." The heaviness of the album is impossible to miss, but it's still always a pleasure, not a drag, to listen to.

Even if this wasn't released between two masterpieces, I think it would still be a bit overlooked. It seems to be aiming to perfect a single sound rather than tackling a bunch of them. It's a very smooth, soulful record, with no bad songs but certainly some anonymous ones. Tracks one and three are a little sleepy despite having great vocals. "Boogie on Reggae Woman" brings a funky groove to show the infectiousness that Wonder is capable of, but even it feels a little restrained, burrowing into your ears instead of bowling you over. "You Haven't Done Nothin" brings in the horns and it's like wow, where have those been this whole time? The whole album seems to alternate between smooth and funky songs, and I'm left wishing there were more of the latter. A good album, but a rare one from Wonder that sounds like something another soul singer could have made.

It's hard to find anything to complain about for any one song on this album. Sinatra's voice is of course very good, and the perfect fit for these swinging songs. He's loose and able to make the songs feel effortless and airy. The music is jazzy and light. The lyrics are quite good, with the opening lines of tracks 4 and 5 especially standing out. A couple tracks near the end feel a bit quaint 70 years later, but the music otherwise doesn't sound dated outside of inspiring a subconscious association with old movies. So the songs are good, but as an album? A little variety would certainly help, as by the end it feels like you've already heard these songs before. This would be great to listen to in an elegant ballroom at a party. But just sitting down to listen to on its own? It doesn't work quite as well.