I’m not the biggest rap fan but this was still really good. It’s a fun album overall but I think it could do without some of the shorter tracks and skits. As far as early rap groups go, I still prefer A Tribe Called Quest but I’m glad to have finally listened to a full De La Soul album
The only thing from the Byrds that I’ve listened to before was Sweetheart of the Rodeo so I was expecting more of a country rock vibe and this wasn’t that. It was still a good album. Pleasant and mostly fine 60s rock with a few bits of weird psychedelic music included. Nothing too special that stands out here and I probably won’t relisten but not bad
26 minutes of pure bangers. Buddy Holly really was one of the best to ever do it
I have a soft spot for this one because I had a phase where I was really into Deep Purple when I was in middle and high school. I still enjoy this album but my tastes have changed somewhat and I don’t really have the patience for an albums worth of plodding repetitive guitar solos anymore. Cut out like 2 minutes of each song and it’d be perfect though
I’ve only listened to Black Sabbath’s first two albums. I’ve really enjoyed those two, but Vol 4 didn’t seem as good to me. It’s ok with a few standout tracks.
I already know and love The War on Drugs so this is an easy 5 for me. This is the perfect music to listen to while driving through the woods
This was one of the first cds I got as a kid, so I listened to it repeatedly and the whole thing is burned into the back of my brain. Not really the stones best work but still enjoyable and I have some personal nostalgia for it.
It can be fun to be this angry toward white people and cops for an hour
So a side project from the Talking Heads without David Byrne is still full of funky fun
There are some pretty great tracks on this album. But there’s also plenty of filler that isn’t really interesting. Cut it down to a single album instead of a double and it’d be pretty solid
I’m just here for a funky fun time
It’s Rumours, of course it’s 5 stars
I didn’t know of this album or band, but it’s some pretty solid British 80s pop. A delight!
I could listen to Aretha sing about her breakfast and still give it 6 stars
A decent little British jangle pop album. I do think it’s an era and sound worth representing on the list, I’m just not sure this is the album to do that. The top review for Rip It Up is someone complaining that this album is included but Tool is completely omitted from the list, and I just have to say I’d still much rather listen to this
My first jazz album on the list and it’s one I haven’t listened to before. I tend to like more experimental and avant garde jazz, but this was still very solid and enjoyable
A pleasant little jazz record but nothing too memorable or anything that stands out. Even if this was on streaming I probably wouldn’t revisit it
Club/dance music really isn’t my thing. I’m sure this is fine if you are in a club and want to dance to it. But listening to a whole album’s worth in one go is a bit much
Very surprised at how much I enjoyed this. Emmylou Harris’s voice is fantastic and so many of these songs are haunting and beautiful. Another case of I don’t know why this was included in the list, but I’m glad it was
2+2 actually equals 4 and that’s all the stars you’re getting. Do better next time Thom
I got this album on cd when I was in high school and haven’t really listened to it much after that. So for better or worse this feels very much like a high school album to me. Pretty fun synth pop though
This is very close to being a 5 for me. It’s just missing that something special to put it over the top. Very very good though
Originally came across the Koln Concert when I was going through a list of the greatest jazz albums, and it was a standout and instantly became a personal favorite. Such a fascinating listen
I’ve listened to a few Willie Nelson songs randomly here and there but never a full album. It’s a pretty laid back slower paced album that I need to be in the right mood to enjoy but plenty good when I am in that mood
There are other Arcade Fire albums that are 5 stars; Neon Bible just misses out on that. But Intervention and My Body is a Cage are the two best songs they ever made
I don’t get the appeal of this at all. I’ve never understood why Mr. Brightside is so widely loved. Before this project, I would’ve said I didn’t have any strong feelings about the Killers, but after having to listen to an entire album I just really dislike them. It sounds like bland corporate rock. Knowing they’re both from Las Vegas really cements that these guys are the precursor to Imagine Dragons
I used to have a neighbor who spent nearly everyday working on his car in his driveway. His garage was filled with other random stuff. This was a middle aged man with kids, and he had a Scarface poster in his garage. If he listened to music while he was working on his car, I imagine it would be this album
I’ve known about Bandwagonesque for a long time. I’ve tried listening to it before but never made it past a song or two. Listening to it now, I have no idea why I struggled before. It’s fantastic. It’s like a combination of Big Star and Jesus and the Mary Chain.
I’m giving this 5 stars in hopes the little guy on the cover will stop crying
I love not knowing a single thing they’re singing for a whole album
This is a really good album but I still can’t listen to We’re Going to be Friends without thinking of the intro to Napoleon Dynamite
This is the kind of music that makes you want to fall in love with a 79 year old woman
I’ve only heard the title track before, and if the rest of the album had been as good as that song, it would be an easy 5. Unfortunately the other songs aren’t that good. It’s still a fine album, but it really only has one stellar standout track
https://youtu.be/I79YNDYrUno?si=5nalfrFM0uOlUVpy
Very dark and moody. File it under I can appreciate what it is but also don’t need to listen to any of it again
I love this album so much that I know all the lyrics to every song
I listened to this while mowing the lawn and that’s the most Dad thing I’ve ever done
This was one of the first cds I got as a kid so I’ve listened to it repeatedly. Needless to say I love all of it, even the longer meandering songs I grew to love and enjoy every second
Ok Bono, you’ve won me over for now
I do really like the title track, but that’s about it. Just more dad rock dadding along in the world
To be fair, the only way I’d join a cult is if it was led by a blind deaf kid who played pinball
Based on the other reviews I thought this album was going to be bad or at the very least boring. But it was surprisingly pretty good. A subdued and mellower album to be sure, but enjoyable nonetheless. I’m actually disappointed this isn’t on streaming so I can’t add some of the songs to my regular playlist. I will be checking out some of American Music Club’s other stuff to see if it’s as good as California
Ska is the one genre that will bring us all together
Surf’s Up would get 5 stars for the cover alone, but the music is fantastic too. After Smile failed to coalesce into an actual release, the Beach Boys would include an occasional song from those sessions on their next few albums. Surf’s Up was the last song to appear from Smile until the release of the full Smile sessions in 2011. It feels fitting as the last song from that era to come out. This whole album feels like the true end of the Beach Boys. They’ve moved on from surfing and girls to larger concerns about the environment and death itself. A progression the band was always working towards and became fully realized here. Bittersweet but a wonderful listen nonetheless
I’ve listened to some of Siouxsie’s singles before but the full length album is just as good. A pretty underrated band
I just like little weird boy music
There’s something almost genius to how stupidly fun this is
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is my favorite jazz album and one of my favorite albums of all time. Charles Mingus was the first jazz artist that fully clicked for me. I had listened to some jazz before him and enjoyed it, but his music was the first that I felt like I connected to and really fell in love with. This album is so unique and perfect. It returns to the same motifs and themes and sucks you down deeper into it. It feels almost hypnotic. It’s a full experience in a way that the best albums are
One of the few albums I’ve gotten where I didn’t know the album or even the band. It was quite good and a worthwhile discovery. A good reminder of why I’m doing this whole project
Crime of the Century is more rough around the edges than Breakfast in America. It also doesn’t really have any standout hits or anything. But it was pleasant enough for one listen. I’ll probably forget it entirely in a week though
I have the sneaking suspicion that this guy isn’t actually Japanese
I’m not super familiar with Madonna’s discography, but I know she has plenty of albums better than Music. Most of it is just bland generic pop. The couple songs I did enjoy were funnily enough the ones that were more country inspired. The version of this album on apple music did not include her cover of American Pie, but based on some of the reviews here I had to check it out anyway. It’s a good thing that it’s left off the album, because it alone would drag this down to a one star
Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard is like a Top 10 song of all time. The rest of the album is solid too
I might’ve just been in the perfect mood, but I really enjoyed this. Techno is very much not my genre but I was bopping to every song on Orbital 2
I too prefer my sadness to be drenched in over the top gothic dramatics
One of my favorite albums of all time. Obviously there’s a lot to take in here and repeat listens reveal more and more each time. I’ve known about 69 Love Songs for years and there are still songs that jump out and become new obsessions that I never gave much thought to previously (Grand Canyon was that song on this listen).
When I first listened to this album, I didn’t actually sit down and listen to all 3 hours. I found a used cd of only the first part. Months later I found a copy of the second part, and then even later I finally found the third one. I’m glad I discovered 69 Love Songs this way. It allowed me to spend more time with each part and not get overwhelmed by its size. As expansive as it is, the true beauty of this album is all the small details that make up each song. Certain tonal changes inflections, the rough and raw production, how specific the lyrics are. Each song feels like it’s telling a small part of larger story that exists somewhere out in the world.
I also feel like 69 Love Songs doesn’t get the recognition it deserves for being such an openly queer album. Every song was written by a gay man. They’re sung by both men and women with all combinations of pronouns. It’s accepting of all sexualities. Some songs are clearly straight, some gay, some bi, and some left unclear. But they’re all treated as equally valid ways to love
Maybe little squirmy wormies in my head wouldn’t be that bad
Whoever decided to let Leonard Cohen have access to a synth deserves a raise
This was a solid 2 star album until the pedophile song
This album cover could be a gay couple’s wedding announcement. Do you think Simon and Garfunkel ever explored each other’s bodies?
For when you want to have a bad time, but also a funky time
I’ve listened to Fever Ray’s later stuff, the ones after she shaved her head and started looking like a demon. I enjoy those later albums but this one might actually be my favorite. A much darker mood and more sleepy (in a good way)
For as much 90s indie that I’ve listened to, I really should have listened to Exile in Guyville much sooner. Very solid indie rock album. It has the potential to be bumped up to 5 stars on repeat listens
I already like Sam Cooke’s studio stuff, but live is just that with the energy turned up to 11. Amazing
All live albums should include whooping and hollering from the crowd
Man, country music used to be good. We had songs actually about the working class, anti war songs, ones mocking superficial patriotism. RIP to John Prine, a songwriting legend
Real men sit down and listen when Kate Bush begins to sing ethereally about, well whatever she’s singing about
So the revolutionary meaning is pretty lost when you don’t speak the language. A very interesting album to listen to, but I really only found myself enjoying about half of it
I understand that some music on this list isn’t going to be for me, but damn this album was rough. I can enjoy some country, but this crooning one note stuff is bad. I try to give every album an honest try, but I ended up skipping most of these songs after about a minute. BUT THEN the last song is actually really good?!? What the hell? How did this one good track manage to sneak on to the end of this album? It’s the only thing that saved it from being a one star
Yes, Roundabout is genuinely fun and the rest of the album is interesting enough to make a listen through decent. Probably don’t need to hear it again though and I know there are two more Yes albums on the list and I fear they won’t be as palatable as Fragile
This was a reminder that I really need to listen to more New Order. I hadn’t heard a single song from this album before, but they were all great. Feel like I’m potentially missing out on a lot from them
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is one of those albums I discovered at a pretty formative time so it’s a personal favorite. I remember listening to it on youtube late at night, and some of these songs really hit different at the right time. Something like I am Trying to Break Your Heart or Radio Cure are just devastating when you’re alone in the dark with nothing else but the music and your thoughts
Big Star is a major “what if?” in the history of rock. They put out two very good power pop albums and then one really emotional downer album that reflected Alex Chilton’s personal decline. Would they have ever made it big if they kept turning out more pop oriented records? Maybe not. Maybe they only had those two in them anyway. They’re still great fun to listen to, and Third is fantastic if you’re in the right mindset for it. Oh well, Big Star is a solid cult act worthy of discovery by music nerds
I always assumed Tom Petty was a Greatest Hits artist. If you’ve heard his bigger songs then you’ve got it. But this was pretty delightful from beginning to end. Not a bad song on the whole album
I have some reviews here where I acknowledge that an album just isn’t for me. It’s not something I’d regularly listen to. So even if I try to appreciate the album for what it is, it can still get a low rating because I just didn’t enjoy listening to it.
I feel like that’s still a fair way to approach these ratings because some music that isn’t for me can still win me over. Ctrl by SZA is an example of that. Based on the other reviews I thought I was really going to dislike it, but it won me over in the first song. It’s an almost hypnotic album and SZA’s singing is really damn amazing. The entire thing just works so well
I recognized the name Supergrass but have never actually listened to them before. This is perfectly fine serviceable britpop, but I can’t for the life of me picture a scenario where I would choose to listen to them over one of the bigger britpop bands like Oasis, Blur, or Pulp
https://youtube.com/watch?v=waGN1kBVh9Y&si=j_2lf00Mt23BXT-B&t=2m12s
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an indie band I just never bothered with too much before. I liked Heads will Roll but didn’t go any deeper into their discography. I think the reason why is that they released their album Mosquito right about the time I was getting into more indie/alt stuff and that album has one of the worst album covers of all time so I basically avoided them entirely. Anyway this album has an ok cover and is actually pretty decent overall
Debbie Harry leads her harem of men to make some great classic rock
I always assumed Gary Numan was just a one hit wonder, but this was a pleasant surprise of an album. Solid all the way through. Although Cars still clears every other song here by a lot
I’ve listened to a fair amount of Simon and Garfunkel but the only two songs I’ve heard from Bookends are America and Mrs. Robinson. I get it because the rest of the album isn’t really filled with hits. Although the other songs are absolutely beautiful. Paul Simon has a way of evoking vivid images and deep emotions in only a line or two. Very good album, except for Voices of Old People. That was a pretty weird one
I’ve listened to every Neil Young album (studio and live). It’s hard to pick a favorite but Harvest is a strong contender. It was the first album of his I heard and the one I’ve listened to the most. Just a perfect laid back vibe. It makes me want to be a stoner in California in the 70s
The backing instrumentals are pretty interesting but I just don’t care for Erykah Badu’s singing. It’s pretty monotonous throughout. 90s/00s soul has never appealed to me. I can only appreciate this so much before getting a bit bored
The Rolling Stones’ best album. It doesn’t have any of their big hits, but it has some of their best songs because they play with different sounds and styles. One of the big criticisms of the Rolling Stones is they just followed others and never really did anything new; Exile on Main Street is the one time it felt like they tried to be original
Bowie is like the one white man who can do soul
Wait a minute, this sounds like rock and or roll
Not as good as Different Class but there’s no way it ever would have been. Still great. Pulp might just be my favorite britpop band
Definitely the best country album I’ve gotten so far. Laid back and so pleasant
I can see why this was influential. The production is very interesting and it is pretty aggressive in its sound and lyrics. But I still found it repetitive and kind of meh before too long. Punk is pretty hit or miss for me, and this one was a miss
I really don’t understand the overwhelming number of negative reviews for this album. The instrumentals are beautiful and Nico has an enchanting voice even if she isn’t the best singer out there. This kind of baroque chamber pop is really cool and there isn’t enough of it out there
Yep, that sure was an album’s worth of reggae
Pretty chill for a rap album. Would probably weirdly work as background music while you’re doing something else
It’s called the blues but it makes me feel so good
Kinda silly and a bit cringe, but I still enjoy it. Sometimes you just need dorky music
Paul Simon has much better albums. Hearts and Bones is ok but feels like leftovers from his better work
Always cool to discover a new band through this project. This is the kind of punk I enjoy. Fun, catchy, borderline silly
As a white man I can’t sing along to any of these songs
Love to see a bit of variety on the list and some world music too. Call of the Valley is such a pleasant calming album
A very middle of the road 2010s indie rock album. It tries doing a few different things but doesn’t do any of them particularly well so the whole album just ends up being pretty forgettable
Johnny Cash was one of the most based musicians to ever live actually
A few decent tracks in the vein of classic dad rock. The rest of the album is just ok. It’s kinda there. Not really doing anything. You don’t really need them
I think like 90% of assumptions and dislike toward vegans comes solely from Moby. I know he’s become uncool but I still like him. The dude is kinda weird and very much in his own lane, but he’s still entertaining to me even when he’s annoying. Play is a pretty fun and interesting album too. I have no affinity toward whatever techno scene so him “selling out” means nothing to me. I can just enjoy the music for what it is
Look, I don’t dislike Elvis Costello. He’s perfectly fine. Listening to this album was a pleasant enough experience. He’s got some fun little songs. But why oh why are there FIVE more albums of his on this list?!? I know there’s worse stuff on here but plenty of good music was left off so we could listen to six full albums from Elvis Costello
What’s wrong with wall to wall funk?
This is one of the albums that reminds you that a British person made this list. This album seems to have made no impact outside the UK. This random mumbling is really necessary to listen to? Really? Admittedly I’m not a big rap fan but I can still find stuff to appreciate about it. I couldn’t find anything here
Much better than the other Byrds album I got. A good mix of 60s folk rock and psychedelic
https://youtu.be/X_tFkXgRgQc?si=rOpIvW6MhEnLgG8-&t=1m15s
Unknown Pleasures is a personal favorite of mine. I’ve listened to it a lot and it was one of the first albums I ever bought on vinyl. For some reason I just never got into Closer as much and haven’t listened to it nearly as much. I really don’t know why because relistening to it now, I realized it really is great and a worthy follow up to Unknown Pleasures. I guess this is another good reason to do this project, not just to discover new music but to give a second chance to stuff that I didn’t connect with as strongly before
So did people like just party nonstop in 1999 or was Prince a liar?
I’ve listened to the Pixies’ first two albums a lot but haven’t ventured too far into their stuff beyond that. Bossanova is really solid and probably about the best you could hope for. It’s not as great as those first two, but it’s still quite good from beginning to end. I’ll keep listening to it and who knows, it may just end up becoming a favorite too
When I bought this album at a record store the guy working there said, “what a choice huh? Heaven or Las Vegas!” And I just replied, “ya, what a choice,” and nothing else because I have no social skills and can’t hold a normal conversation.
Anyway, great album 5/5
Took me about halfway through before I started vibing with this album. It’s pretty good once I was on its wavelength. But I still have no clue what defines Madchester music. Is it just kind of scuzzy britpop? Who knows
The combination of a symphony and metal worked better than I thought and I did enjoy a lot of moments on this album. The problem is that I struggle to listen to 2 straight hours of Metallica and in most cases I still would’ve preferred the original studio recordings of most of these songs.
I’m also going to sound like a huge dork by pointing out that Deep Purple did basically the same thing 30 years prior
I get to pull my hipster card and say I actually did know this album before starting this project. Which seems to be uncommon given how many reviews state they’ve never even heard of Michael Kiwanuka before.
I’m sure there’s something recency bias to a pick like this, but it’s a really solid r&b album and better than a lot of other stuff I’ve gotten so far
This is basically a David Bowie album minus some of his flair. I really wasn’t expecting Iggy Pop to sound this good
In the right mood this is the perfect album. Just laid back easy African jams. It probably helped that I listened to it while pretty sleepy
Look I love Tom Waits. His music is weird in such a perfect way. It sounds like something a carny would sing after selling their soul to a huckster, which coincidentally sounds like the subject matter of a Tom Waits song. It sounds very abrasive but there is a heart and soul in there. I get why most people wouldn’t get into his music, but I think it’s pretty damn amazing
Now this is the kind of white boy rapping I can get behind
I don’t know why but Daft Punk is the one techno/club band that I really enjoy. Maybe it’s because every second of their music feels intentional instead of aimless beeping and booping. Maybe it’s because they’re French and most other club music I’ve heard is British
I don’t know why there’s a second Specials album on the list but I’m glad it’s here. Probably the best album that includes a mickey mouse impression
Johnny Cash basically said ACAB over 50 years ago
I can appreciate the energy and emotion and anger of Fear of a Black Planet, but I’m still a little too white to fully love and understand this album like many others do
The best live albums should make you feel the energy of a live show and not just sound the same as the studio versions. Live at Leeds does that excellently. It’s way more energetic and aggressive than the Who normally sound
LCD Soundsystem feels like the stereotypical Pitchfork band to me. Pretty fun indie music that Pitchfork seems to think literally changed the world. Going in with that expectation made them seem underwhelming, but over time I’ve grown to like them more. I still don’t think LCD Soundsystem is that groundbreaking or anything, but they make some pretty dang good music
Kinda rare to have a double album where every song goes this hard. First time I ever listened to London Calling was pretty mind blowing
Terrible band name. Terrible album cover. Pretty decent music
This is basically a gimmick album that mashes up rockabilly/early rock sound with horror theming. The music itself is fine, but you really only need a song or two of this at most
I don’t really understand playing music while having sex, but this feels like the stereotypical album to play during sex.
I love Curtis Mayfield but I don’t really know why this album is on the list. It’s good but it’s not essential. I think his self titled album would’ve been a much better pick.
What a bland nothing album. The wikipedia summary basically only talks about its sales because there’s nothing of note in the music itself. David Gray also has mentioned that White Ladder’s success paved the way for Ed Sheeran, so I guess we can blame him for that too
An album entirely just about murder stories is bound to be entertaining. It also just fits Nick Cave’s energy and he shouldn’t sing about anything else
According to some of the other reviews it’s considered cringe or uncool to like Billy Joel. Well it isn’t to me. C’mon, he’s a good songwriter. You don’t feel something while listening to Movin’ Out or Vienna or really any song on the Stranger?
Surprisingly good to have on as background music. Low key enough to not be distracting, but enjoyable enough to not just fade away and ignore completely. I like it but it’s also something I’ll probably never listen to again
A perfect album. The more I listen to R.E.M. the more I like them. And I think A Man on the Moon might actually be their best song
It feels odd to describe an album as a minor masterpiece but that’s what On the Beach feels like. I’ve listened to every Neil Young album and most of his stuff from the 70s are 5 star albums, On the Beach included. He has some all time classic albums from this era, so although this one may pale in comparison, it still stands on its own as a great bluesy album. Not exactly feeling like a summer day on the beach but a nice break from the rest of the world anyway
Very middle of the road and just fine. It’s alright enough to just kinda have on, but it’s also not very interesting. I made the mistake of listening to an Abbey Lincoln song halfway through to remind myself how other actual jazz singing is, and it made it nearly impossible to come back to Norah Jones. She just isn’t anywhere near the same level
I absolutely love Pavement and Slanted and Enchanted might be my favorite album of theirs. It’s a bit abrasive and odd at first but once you get on its wavelength, then it’s pretty perfect. The lyrics seem nonsensical but have a sort of poetry to them. The music is similarly off putting but becomes quite pleasing and captivating
Bouncy, fun, and psychedelic. Also I seem to be the only one who remembers that the title track was used in the trailer for GTA 5. A really dumb way to discover music, but here we are I guess
It’s fun to occasionally check in on Beck and see what weird stuff he’s up to now
I enjoyed the second half of this album much more than the first. I actually didn’t care that much for the two big songs, Lust for Life and Passenger. They kind of feel lifeless compared to the other songs
I’m glad this album is included in the list because I feel like the Lemonheads are underrated. At least nowadays they’ve been kind of forgotten and lost among their peers of 90s indie/alt rock. But the Lemonheads are really good and worth remembering!
I got to see Patti Smith perform Horses in its entirety a few years ago. She played some extra songs too, including a cover of Purple Rain (this was in Minneapolis shortly after Prince died). She also recorded the entire audience singing Happy Birthday to send to John Cale. This is a great album to listen to and one of my favorites (Gloria is also a contender for my favorite song of all time), but the experience will always pale in comparison to hearing it live
I’ve listened to other sitar music and enjoyed it. This album on the other hand was… well a bit odd. The songs that were more straight forward and traditional were pretty good. The ones that tried fusing Indian music with rock were clumsy. I’m all for experimenting and trying new things, but you have to accept that not all experiments will work
I’ve come to realize I like slower rap a lot more. It can be interesting to listen to rap like this that’s just a constant attack of words, but I prefer having space to breathe. Another album that I can appreciate it for what it’s doing more than I can personally enjoy it
This album feels like poetry mixed with punk music. Either that sounds like something you’d absolutely love or absolutely detest. Also it will depend on how much you like/can stand Mark Smith’s singing. Personally I thought the whole thing was riveting
I do think Bruce Springsteen is a pretty decent songwriter. He captures the sort of restless angst of living in a small town. His characters and approach to stories in his songs reminds of like a juvenile Raymond Carver. The actual music is quite over produced though. It would be better off toning down the Phil Spector wall of sound approach and taking out a few instruments. Also his voice is quite garbled and makes understanding his lyrics much harder
So turns out the only song I knew from And Justice for All (One) is because it’s the only really great song on the whole album. The rest of the album is fine, but it kind of blends together and Metallica has made similar stuff that’s more worthwhile
