Smooth and sexy. Portuguese Bossa Nova/Jazzy vibing by the pool kind of music. Did just that. Saved to listen again. Not exact album but close, it’s a weird pick apparently.
I could almost smell the cigarettes and martinis from this live recording. Smooth and sultry. Even though I’ve never listened to her she sounds like I picture every jazz singer SHOULD sound like.
Wow. Not a big jazz fan but this hit differently. African vibes with an almost improvisational feel. Trumpeting is pretty low on my list of favorite instruments but he allows the other instruments to thrive and drive. Killer drumming on Blues for Huey.
Haven’t listened to this album in years. It’s heavier and sludgier than I remember. Chris Cornell’s voice always stands out but on this album surprisingly I didn’t grow tired of it. A few of the guitar riffs could have been lifted off a Tool album.
I was in a bad mood when I listened to this so may warrant another future listen. Not a big funk fan but there were some parts with great jamming that caught my attention. Other parts I just glazed over because I didn’t feel it, even though it was interesting and sounded good.
I had a vague familiarity of the Pixies and knew how influential they were to other artists I like, but didn’t think I would love this album as much as I did. Ended up listening three times through in a row. Surprisingly catchy tunes for this genre.
I feel like I should love The Smiths … They check most boxes of what I like musically. Solid production and instrumentation back Morrissey’s clever lyricism. I just don’t feel it. Had a found them during my younger and “edgier” years this may have been one of my favorites.
Let me start by saying I think Loveless is a masterpiece. I think this is also a remarkable piece of music but during and after I realized I didn’t really enjoy. Loveless took me several listens to appreciate so I will probably go back and revisit this one.
Heavy metal with blues riffs and harmonicas? Sign me up. Interesting to know the story and hear the origins of heavy metal in this album. Sort of strange to go from a pure doom metal song (the first ever!) to blues heavy tracks but I loved it. Glad I listened to the origin album now.
First album where I’ve literally never even heard the name of the artist. Had no idea what I was getting into. Soon I was slipping in a weird acidy jazz trip hop world disoriented as hell. Felt like I was in a rave from a Guy Ritchie movie. Unhinged Massive Attack vibes and I loved it. At the final track I was so anxious I had to turn it off for a few before finishing. Surprised in the best way, and an album like this is the reason I started this challenge. Never would have found it otherwise.
Perfect album title. Found it interesting there are two versions, the Bowie Mix and the Iggy Mix that sound so different. Punk doesn’t do it for me much as a grow older but I respect what the Stooges did for the genre. The guitar work here is the standout for me even though I feel like it should have been Iggy’s moment.
Definitely a classic. Amazing that this is a soundtrack - it feels more like a fully fledged concept album. I’m sure I need to watch the movie to fully grasp this one.
Bowie! So many bangers. Practically flawless.
Disliked this album from the start but by the end I had a slight appreciation. For an album that came out in the 90s it feels hopelessly lost in the 80s. The weird village people cover at the end was the icing on the cake.
Based on the band name, the album cover and the description of the band as "art rock" on Wikipedia I assumed I would hate this album. It's nice to be wrong. The perfect kind of album that makes you want to get up and dance but it's too weird to do so without looking like you are having a seizure.
Classic album, but I really struggled with how to rate it. It’s not my favorite Who album, or even my favorite rock opera by The Who, but in the end it’s hard to deny how important this album became in pop culture and to the development of the band. Not all the tracks are bangers but they all hold together as an album flawlessly. The success of the weird concept album in and of itself warrants 5 stars.
Aka Papa was a Rolling Stone and some other songs. At 12 min it takes up 1/3 of the 36 min playtime and it was the only thing memorable. Maybe Motown just doesn’t do it for me.
Neptunes/Timbaland production is what makes this album shine. The main singles are pretty great for what they are and the era, but the rest was almost painful to listen to. Timberlake is definitely talented but nothing about his vocals stands out on this album to me.
So freaking good. This is their White Album. While they sound the best together it’s amazing to see their individual styles and compare them to their masterpieces Aquemini and Stankonia. Equally brilliant in their very different ways.
Can’t believe this is the same band that made Revolver. Good for the time and place but nothing like what they would become.
This is the direction I wish “punk” had went. No thrashing three power cord songs for two minutes here. The entire album felt epic. Especially loved the guitar work.
Album filled with sugary songs about love with grade school lyrics. Without the obligatory cutscene of 1960s Venice Beach in the backdrop California Dreaming is about as boring as it gets. Very much feels like the product of its time and place.
The Beatles never clicked for me until the first time I listened to the White Album. It’s so musically disjointed in the best way. Blackbird is beautiful, Helter Skelter is rough and abrasive, yet it all somehow works together. While My Guitar Gently Weeps is my favorite Beatles songs and high up there for any artist.
Really interesting. That Pet Sounds wall of sound is amazing. I’m not a musician but I can tell it’s an amazing feat to produce and engineer an album with this much going on. Should be a 5, but I rate off of my pure enjoyment factor.
I like everyone else my age had this album when it came out and loved it. I haven’t listened to most of these songs in 25 years. I now get the experience of listening to it as a middle aged parent and I’m mortified that my parents let me listen to this music.
A mentor of mine a long time ago told me his favorite band was Steely Dan and I laughed out loud. As I’m getting older I realize that I really like Steely Dan now. There is a subtleness to them that requires maturity. While not my favorite album by them, it’s hard not to appreciate their technical abilities and album production.
This was the first Arcade Fire I heard when it was first released. The critics and other musicians went NUTS over this band at the time. I played Keep the Car Running on repeat and I could still do it today. Not as quite as good as Funeral or the Suburbs overall but still fantastic.
POWER CHORDS! Post grunge was a weird time in music and I feel like this album would have been forgotten if Dave Grohl wasn’t behind it. A couple of staple PopRock songs prevented it from fading into obscurity.
Don’t judge an album by its single. Not that There She Goes is a bad song, but after a thousand listens over the 90s including that saccharine cover by Sixpence None the Richer I expected the album to be the soundtrack to a Freddie Prince Jr movie. Instead I got a quirky Britpop album that feels like it’s out of place in time. While the US was ramping up on grunge this band was doubling down on the Beatles and Kinks. No filler just great classic sounding music from beginning to end.
I was already very familiar with this album. Balances precariously from brilliant to boring old white peoples music, depending on the day and mood when listening. Today blasting Caravan it was brilliant.
This was the first Nick Drake album I listened to after Garden State. It’s hard to believe this is the same artist that made Pink Moon. It’s like listening to Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac and then listening to Rumours. Heartbreaking to hear the life and optimism that’s gone on his following record.
My ears would have been just as happy replacing the vocals on this (especially the falsettos) with a chorus of dying cats. Couldn’t even focus on the rest of the music long enough to appreciate it.
This is peak grunge for me. Layne Staley’s voice is so abrasive one moment then switches to beautiful harmonies. It’s unique in the most positive way. “Would” is my favorite grunge song of all time.
This is the first album on the project that I didn’t listen to. Not because I don’t like it, but because I’ve played this album from the beginning to end so many times (including recently) that there is no need. James Murphy’s brilliance and uniqueness is infuriating because nothing else before or since has sounded like peak LCD Soundsystem … and I want more!
I almost DNF’d this. It started off as bad 80s music, then quickly slipped into bad techno/house music. I’m sure this was a landmark album in the Dance world but all the people that it influenced ended up making music that I enjoyed. Paul Oakenfold mixed a couple of tracks! I’d forgotten about him as easily as I’ll forget about this album tomorrow.
I simultaneously loved and hated this album. There was a song that used smashing plates as an instrument for god sakes. I also have no desire to ever hear it again.
I wasn’t as familiar with this era of Dylan. I saw the year and expected electric. Instead it was a soulful throwback to his folksy roots.
I had the unfair bias of having to listen to this album immediately after Blood on the Tracks. Dylan’s best albums are so great that unfortunately his other really solid albums pale in comparison.
80s hair band music before the 80s. Sounds great for what it is, and it’s incredible compared to the bands it inspired, but it’s just one genre that I could go the rest of my life without ever hearing again and I’d be content.
This has been my least favorite The Who album that I’ve listened to so far. The songwriting and instrumentation as always were top notch, I just found it a bit dull in comparison to the standards that the band set.
Reading the backstory about Robert Wyatt’s paralysis and then listening to the album helps with context. It reminds me of Bitches Brew in that it’s almost intentional unlikable on a first listen. Did I enjoy it? Nope. Did I hate it? Not at all. Did it captivate me enough to listen again? Not sure yet.
Hadn’t listened to this album in years. I like the genre less as I get older. Halfway through battery I wasn’t feeling it, so I rolled down the windows and cranked up the volume till my ears hurt. Could barely hear by the time I got home and it was totally worth it.
Really good. Felt like a game changer album when it first came out and still holds up well, just doesn’t feel as special or unique as it felt at the time. I can hear the Danger Mouse production much more today then I did at the time.
There was a time when there was a 50/50 chance that during a party scene from a movie that a song from this album played. I’ve heard clips of these songs so many times through so many different medias that I was shocked at how long they actually were, and when I paid attention how good they still are. I then listened to a Crystal Method song to compare to that era/genre and it felt massively dated. Really solid from beginning to end.
The album was perfectly vanilla and 100% forgettable up until they started rapping. After this I had to pay attention to how much I disliked it.
Pretty sure the only thing I’ve heard by Deep Purple before this was “Smoke on the Water.” I had pretty low expectations from a band that created the easiest song to learn on a guitar. Five seconds into track one I realized I was wrong.
The Residents’ Duck Stab is the kind of album that makes you wonder if pretension can be weaponized. Listening to it feels like being trapped at a dinner party where the host proudly displays an untouched copy of Finnegans Wake on their shelf—because, of course, they “get it.” Musically, it’s the equivalent of handing a toddler a kazoo, a xylophone, and maybe a broken accordion, then clapping politely while they screech for 40 minutes. The only faint silver lining is the vocalist’s sounding like Les Claypool—if Les Claypool had no rhythm, no bass, and no talent. It’s a record so bad it almost circles back around to genius, but only if your definition of genius is punishment for your ears and possibly soul. I would highly recommend this album for torture if you are feeling like waterboarding is too humane.
Great music transcends countries, culture, and language. No idea what was being sung but it was sung unique and beautiful. My son liked it, said it had: “Lion King vibes.”
Even if Steely Dan’s music isn’t your thing, Aja demands respect for its immaculate production and musicianship. The sound is pristine, every session player nails their parts with precision, and nothing feels out of place. As the pinnacle of Yacht Rock, it’s hard to imagine the genre getting any better. Personally, I find the singles from “Can’t Buy a Thrill” more enjoyable, but there’s no denying that Aja is the more flawless and fully realized vision and record.
Good, but it’s a just not for me album. That Lady is a classic, and maybe I would have been more hyped to hear it if I hadn’t had years of being trained to associate the song with women shaving. So many cover songs here, songs which you can’t improve on from the original. Why would you try?
Tangerine Dream’s Phaedra is tough to rate because it’s more of an ambient journey than a traditional album. It doesn’t work blasting in a truck at the beach—I tried—but in the right setting, like lying in the grass with a bowl watching a laser show, it could feel like the greatest music ever made. What’s impressive is how difficult this was to create in 1974, long before computers made electronic music accessible. Every sound was carefully shaped from analog gear - making this album was arguable much harder than the classic rock albums at this time. It deserves a 5, but for me, in the wrong environment, it’s a solid 3. Will settle at a 4 and possibly revisit later.
I’ve reviewed just over 50 albums so far, and while I’ve doubled up on artists like The Who, Bob Dylan, and The Beatles, this is only the second rap album I’ve come across—and it’s by someone I’d never even heard of before. That hardly feels like a fair sampling of the genre, but rant aside, I thought this was excellent. Rap is usually one of the harder genres to hold my attention for an entire album, but this one succeeds. The beats are strong, and the distinctly British flavor adds something fresh. It’s a reminder that, unlike rock or pop, rap doesn’t seem to cross borders as seamlessly between our countries.
Classic. It’s not often that Clapton isn’t the star of the show. Of course, he still is, but until this listen I never paid attention to how fantastic the bass and drum work in this album are. I prefer Clapton when he stays closer to his blues roots.
A good kinks album has no filler songs. First listen I found it boring in comparison to my favorite kinks album. 2nd listen I found it subtler and more polished. It’s probably a 5 with subsequent relistens. May need a revisit later.
A truly stunning album. I went in not knowing what to expect, having never heard anything from it before, and was blown away by how good it sounds. The acoustic guitar work is excellent, layered beautifully with orchestral arrangements that create a near-flawless wall of sound. I’m genuinely thankful for this project for introducing me to such an incredible record.
2 bangers and then BORING. I don’t get it, you have one of the most talented guitarists in the world in the world, and you have him playing smooth jazz. Even the bangers on here compared to Sultans of Swing makes me hate the direction the 80s took this band.
This album is the reason I paused this project for so long. It isn’t bad, but it isn’t particularly good either — it’s ultimately forgettable. It blends in with so many other albums from the era. The guitars have a slightly janglier edge, and the vocal harmonies are a bit nicer than average, but that’s about it.
Ninety-five percent of this list feels like an endless stretch of peace-and-love, vaguely interchangeable music made by boring white people, and you have to push through ten albums before you find something that actually feels worth the effort.
I suppose I’m unpausing now, hoping the next record is one of the ones that makes it worthwhile.
