285
Albums Rated
3.25
Average Rating
26%
Complete
804 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1990
Favorite Decade
Hip-hop
Favorite Genre
UK
Top Origin
Curator
Rater Style ?
27
5-Star Albums
13
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Aha Shake Heartbreak
Kings of Leon
|
5 | 2.94 | +2.06 |
|
Youth And Young Manhood
Kings of Leon
|
5 | 3.09 | +1.91 |
|
Your New Favourite Band
The Hives
|
5 | 3.12 | +1.88 |
|
Live 1966 (The Royal Albert Hall Concert)
Bob Dylan
|
5 | 3.14 | +1.86 |
|
Crooked Rain Crooked Rain
Pavement
|
5 | 3.24 | +1.76 |
|
Me Against The World
2Pac
|
5 | 3.25 | +1.75 |
|
A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Various Artists
|
5 | 3.3 | +1.7 |
|
The Chronic
Dr. Dre
|
5 | 3.31 | +1.69 |
|
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Wilco
|
5 | 3.31 | +1.69 |
|
Blur
Blur
|
5 | 3.33 | +1.67 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes
|
1 | 3.43 | -2.43 |
|
Smash
The Offspring
|
1 | 3.36 | -2.36 |
|
Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus
Spirit
|
1 | 3.04 | -2.04 |
|
Stripped
Christina Aguilera
|
1 | 2.88 | -1.88 |
|
You Are The Quarry
Morrissey
|
1 | 2.86 | -1.86 |
|
I Am a Bird Now
Antony and the Johnsons
|
1 | 2.84 | -1.84 |
|
Ys
Joanna Newsom
|
1 | 2.8 | -1.8 |
|
Next
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
|
1 | 2.71 | -1.71 |
|
All Hope Is Gone
Slipknot
|
1 | 2.7 | -1.7 |
|
Cee-Lo Green... Is The Soul Machine
Cee Lo Green
|
1 | 2.66 | -1.66 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Blur | 2 | 5 |
| Kings of Leon | 2 | 5 |
| Radiohead | 2 | 5 |
| Bob Dylan | 2 | 5 |
5-Star Albums (27)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark · 1 likes
4/5
Amazing album that balances industrial sounds with delicate melodies, creating a poignant and influential sound that demonstrates depth and emotional resonance.
David Bowie · 1 likes
3/5
The “Plastic Soul” album. It stands because it helped introduce soul and R&B to a much larger audience, but it’s also clear that Bowie was wading foreign waters. ‘Fame’ is an all-time favorite of mine, the cultural significance is there, the songs are largely middling.
Blur · 1 likes
5/5
Classic BritPop with London swagger
The Cars · 1 likes
4/5
Fun listen drenched in 80s vibes
1-Star Albums (13)
All Ratings
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Better than I expected. Fun and a little more loose vs what I was anticipating.
Blur
5/5
An all-time great album.
Khaled
2/5
Only able to listen to a few tracks that are available in the US. Chill
The Smiths
3/5
Birth of EMO
A few genre defining songs
Black Sabbath
3/5
The birth of heavy metal. Heavy guitar and lyrics that haunt.
Bee Gees
2/5
Heavy on ballads and a clear focus on vocals. More yacht rock pop vs disco, but the disco roots are starting to take hold with the thick drum and bass lines. Uninteresting at best.
Moby Grape
2/5
Album is only partially available in the USA on Spotify. It was a mix of 60’s HAIR mashed with telecaster sparkle guitar licks.
Nick Drake
2/5
An album that I know is a classic, but I just can’t get to it. The melodies are gorgeous, the lyrics are undoubtedly beautiful, but for some reason - I can’t reach it.
Tom Tom Club
4/5
Helping alt-kids dance since 1981. Alt-Dance was born with this album, and that cannot be denied. The songs are maybe on the long side and might benefit from additional mixing, but it’s classic status and importance cannot be denied.
King Crimson
4/5
All time prog-rock classic.
Samples by hip-hop royalty and covers by rock gods only cement the importance of this album.
The Zombies
3/5
When this was recorded, guitar rock/pop music was only 10 years old. They are caught somewhere between wanting to sound like early Beatles and Sgt Peppers Beatles. Time of the Season is a classic, but This Will Be Our Year is a personal all-time favorite.
The Human League
2/5
A classic. Just not for me.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
A really fun listen. No tracks shined brighter than the others, but as a whole, it’s a great album. So In Love seems to be the most popular song from this record and it’s a jam for sure. The horns!
Kid Rock
1/5
No.
Pantera
3/5
Unexpectedly fun listen.
Kings of Leon
5/5
A classic alt-garage-southern rock album. Literally every song on this album is worth a listen on repeat.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
An all-time great album with songs that will be played forever.
The Doors
4/5
It's been a really long time since I last listened to this album. Its alchemy cannot be denied. The magic of music is that it can transcend time and place. Listening to a song can instantly transport you from whatever mundane middle-aged moment you're experiencing and place you right back in the middle of an exciting memory that you haven't thought about in 30 years...
The relationship between this album and me personally - that's exactly the problem - too many memories... When I hear the brooding music and the mysterious lyrics, it places me dead center of so many dumb antics from my teenage years that it's a tough record for me to listen to...
Attempting to separate myself from my memories, this album is the culmination of a lot of great rock bands that preceded it, as this album also gave birth to exponentially more bands and even more want-to-be front men.
I don't know how you give this album anything other than 5 stars. Every song triumphs (except for maybe 20th Century Fox.) I just really wish I wasn't such an idiot teenager.
Taylor Swift
3/5
As a proud dad of two amazing daughters, I’m comfortably in my Swiftie era. Evermore is a slow burner and offers a more mature take on her song writing…
Crosby, Stills & Nash
3/5
A classic, but didn’t capture me on this listen.
Destiny's Child
3/5
An album that celebrates women is always a great thing, and this album is arguably one of the best at doing so.
1/5
If the animatronics from those 80s kids’ pizza party places cut a record…
Santana
3/5
Spiritual experience.
The Stone Roses
5/5
Seminal! A timeless blend of shimmering guitars, hypnotic rhythms, and swaggering vocals. After all these years, its infectious melodies and psychedelic groove still feels fresh, cementing it as one of the most influential British albums ever made.
Radiohead
5/5
A masterpiece that trades guitars for glitchy beats, haunting synths, and atmospheric textures without losing emotional depth. Its daring experimentation and otherworldly beauty reshaped me as a young adult.
I learned of my grandmother’s passing while listening to this album, and this album helped get me through that time.
OutKast
4/5
Stankonia is a kaleidoscopic burst of creativity. An all-time classic and a major part of the soundtrack to my college experience. Break!
David Bowie
4/5
A dazzling glimpse into a mind unafraid of theatrical excess and razor-sharp songwriting. The mix of glam swagger, surreal lyricism, and Mike Garson’s wild piano runs - it all feels like a fever dream.
Napalm Death
2/5
Minute long songs are ideal in the world of streaming, but this isn't my jam.
The Adverts
4/5
This is a great find, just wish I would’ve found it 27 years sooner…
Dead Kennedys
3/5
The music, the lyrics, the vibe = I love it all. It’s the heart of punk.
I just can’t (I know this is lame) can’t do the vibrato…
Said another way, I just wish the lyrics were sang the same way as “Stealing People’s Mail” on every song.
Badly Drawn Boy
4/5
I really enjoy this album. The music-scapes are gorgeous and the lyrics are beautiful.
My only hang up here is in the production. It’s almost as if they attempted to make it low-fi by “dirtying” it up digitally. The highs are really high, the middle is muddled and the lows don’t exist. The production seems to steal from the multiple instrument layers, where it could be so much more.
Queen
3/5
Theatrical and fun listen
Fleetwood Mac
3/5
Interesting listen. Moody, emotional and wide open
Pixies
4/5
I love this album. It’s punky beach vibes hit just right. In my mind it rounds down to a 4.5, but I can’t give it a 5 because there are a couple of weaker moments (Cecilia Ann, Blown Away) and 5’s should be reserved for masterpieces.
Robbie Williams
3/5
I have a soft place in my heart for late 90s Robbie Williams. So many fond memories. The happy pop music and entertaining lyrics equal a big fun listen!
Iron Maiden
3/5
Straightforward metal
Tori Amos
3/5
Deeply personal and very raw. It’s a statement piece. I view this more as a self-portrait, and it’s beautiful and a little broken; just like all of us.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
Punk goddess and gods. They punch, they sore and they come back for more!
The Hives
5/5
An all-time great. The Hive’s introduction to the USA.
The Everly Brothers
3/5
Birth of rock and rock and exploring what magic a guitar and an amp can make
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Great album and Nick Cave at his most raw
2/5
Not my jam.
Sonic Youth
4/5
Wonderful noise jangle rock
Jerry Lee Lewis
2/5
Birth of rock, but can’t get past the personal stuff…
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
Great record and wonderfully produced. Cinnamon Girl is an all-time favorite of mine.
Ministry
2/5
Blistering album
David Bowie
3/5
Amazing album and the birth of the Thin White Duke, and the springboard album to move production from LA (where this album was recorded) to Germany - where the Berlin trilogy will occur.
Lenny Kravitz
2/5
I wasn’t aware that this album existed until now. It’s proto-Lenny and a fun listen. Straightforward in its pop rock approach, but glimpses of what’s to become shine through.
3/5
War is a wild ride - never quite settling in but always having fun.
Weather Report
2/5
The birth of yacht rock? Maybe.
Jazz deconstructed with funk bass lines and a desire to lay low and chill.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
4/5
Amazing album that balances industrial sounds with delicate melodies, creating a poignant and influential sound that demonstrates depth and emotional resonance.
Don McLean
2/5
American Pie holds a very special place in my heart. It was the first karaoke song I ever did with friends... JMK Nippon's in Rockford for a high school dance dinner.
Outside of that song this album is boring. It's honest and emotional, but ultimately just boring.
Butthole Surfers
3/5
Aimless and rudderless with loads of imagination. Absence of melody makes it difficult to approach, but there are glimmers of great. Wish the production / mix was more coherent.
Bobby Womack
2/5
Bass lines are real
Van Halen
3/5
Seminal record!
Marianne Faithfull
2/5
Similar voice inflections to the mom from Mary Poppins.
The The
3/5
Fun album to listen to.
The Isley Brothers
3/5
A few gems, but literally thousands of samples
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
Iconic album, full of hits, but not in my window.
Fela Kuti
4/5
Original LP was 2 songs that were over 12 minutes each. The reissue doubled the tracks to 4 and clocks in at a whopping 53 minutes! The godfather of afrobeat!
Booker T. & The MG's
2/5
Undeniable talent and thousands of samples have been ripped from this album, but it doesn’t move me.
Grateful Dead
3/5
Classic album with a handful of all-time great songs.
Kings of Leon
5/5
One of the most important albums to me personally. Every track is great!
Great album.
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
Classic album with so many great tracks!
Gang Starr
3/5
Classic.
The Clash
5/5
I prefer the US version of this album, but this is my teenage years. This cassette was literally stuck in my car and the only thing we could listen to - and we listened to it over and over and over again! Happily
Jungle Brothers
4/5
Van Morrison
3/5
Fun live album - jam packed
Radiohead
5/5
One of the greatest albums of all time, but even more than that - one of the most important albums to me personally.
The Go-Go's
3/5
Classic Songs and a Fun Listen
Mike Ladd
4/5
Very interesting listen. Amazing to hear the vision and insight
Shack
2/5
I love britpop more than most, and this is another good album.
50 Cent
3/5
A great pop record and set the stage for his pop takeover.
Talking Heads
4/5
Heaven is all time favorite
DJ Shadow
4/5
It feels at once hypnotic and fragmented, drawing the listener through shifting textures, layers, and emotional tones. There’s also a melancholic, almost spiritual undercurrent — a sense that Shadow is archiving forgotten cultural fragments and giving them new life.
JAY Z
3/5
Seminal album and a pivot point in all of hip hop
The Byrds
2/5
Maybe not the right day mood for this listen, but fun.
Depeche Mode
3/5
Classic album and perhaps the official sound of the transition from 80s to the 90s. A few tracks that have stood the test of time and forever will.
Foo Fighters
4/5
An all time great. Rising from the aftermath of the untimely end to Nirvana, Dave gives the world this masterpiece.
Flamin' Groovies
4/5
First time hearing this album. They are clearly influenced by The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and blues soaked British Invasion. This is an amazing album! The American version of Dr Feelgood
Kate Bush
3/5
Pioneer. Genius.
The xx
3/5
Didn’t know this album existed. Fun listen
N.E.R.D
4/5
Amazing album and I’ve loved it since it landed in 2004.
Beck
3/5
Sad. Depressing. But amazing!
James Brown
3/5
An amazing look into the energy, emotion, creativity of a legend and his band at the top of their game.
1/5
Shite.
Depeche Mode
4/5
Dark 80s pinnacle record.
Cee Lo Green
1/5
Lame
Cheap Trick
4/5
So good.
ABBA
2/5
Yeah.
Pink Floyd
4/5
Great album and so many tracks that are loaded with meaning. An album that worthy of a full weekend experience to listen to the album, watch the movie, digest and discuss.
The Undertones
3/5
16 tracks in under 35 minutes. What could be better?!?
Lou Reed
3/5
Interesting point in time performance. Love some of the unique takes on the songs.
Carole King
3/5
Genius album of self exploration
The Offspring
1/5
💩💦🚽
The Smashing Pumpkins
4/5
Fantastic album open to close
Lorde
4/5
Somber Happiness
The Divine Comedy
3/5
More than the sum of the songs. A good listen.
De La Soul
5/5
All-time great album and means a whole lot to me personally.
Hanoi Rocks
3/5
New find and a great proto-metal album
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
A couple of all-time great songs mixed in with classic Elvis Costello jams.
Alice Cooper
3/5
Theatrical concept album that’s both pure 70s and pure Alice Cooper. Couple of standout tracks with the biggest being ‘No More Mr Nice Guy’
Franz Ferdinand
3/5
The UKs response to NY’s 2000s Post Garage. Filled with happy dance pop music
Germs
4/5
The USA answer to Nevermind the Bollocks. We win.
The Fall
2/5
Proto-punk
Sepultura
2/5
Loud. Very loud.
The Beach Boys
3/5
Great album
Muddy Waters
3/5
Classic
Holger Czukay
3/5
The link between prog rock and techno. A really fun listen.
TLC
3/5
Soundtrack to youth
The 13th Floor Elevators
3/5
Great 60s rock
M.I.A.
4/5
Early 2000 soundtrack
The Police
3/5
80s classic
Bad Brains
2/5
Place and time
Antony and the Johnsons
1/5
Just can’t get to it.
Saint Etienne
4/5
Wonderful album that was off of my radar. A touch BritPop, a touch Twee, a touch Serge Gainsbourg. Really surprised this wasn’t on my radar before now.
The Last Shadow Puppets
4/5
Continuation of great form from the Arctic Monkeys leading man.
Cornershop
3/5
Everyone knows ‘Brimful of Asha’ - especially the Norman Cook mix, but it’s all worth a listen. This album has always reminded me of the 60s party albums. So to me this is the BritPop party album - it’s a little disjointed, a little rough, but fun all the way though.
5/5
With the crowd jeering and pleading for him to go back and continue the acoustic set - Dylan instead turns to his band and says “play it fucking loud!” we witness the birth of punk rock! Another stand out moment is when a crowd member calls Dylan “Judas” - but the band continue on and play their plugged in jams.
Ramones
4/5
All time classic!
Marvin Gaye
3/5
There’s nothing more smooth than Marvin’s voice. Nothing.
Snoop Dogg
4/5
I loved this album when I was a kid and still love these songs. Listening to it again now - there are a lot of skits and interludes. Just a fun album!
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Classic rock classic
Dusty Springfield
4/5
A few all time classics packaged in a blue-eyed soul masterpiece
Rod Stewart
2/5
Just can’t get there
Pavement
5/5
Zeitgeist Of the slacker 90s
Paul Simon
4/5
Melodic and purely Paul Simon at his finest.
The B-52's
2/5
It’s a me problem but I just can’t get there…
The Zutons
4/5
I loved this album when it came out and turns out I still do. I always felt they were the happier version of The Coral and love how they weaponized the saxophone.
Dr. Dre
5/5
Perfection.
Eric Clapton
3/5
Blues, cocaine, reggae and weed =
Jack White
4/5
Modern Guitar masterclass!
Sinead O'Connor
2/5
Undeniable beautiful voice. The late 80s/early 90s music is a trip down memory lane.
Fugees
5/5
Lauren Hill’s voice shines, the production is solid and the vibe is legendary. Still wish Pras had more bars, but amazing album!
Aerosmith
2/5
Just not able to find my groove here.
Joan Baez
2/5
I just can’t get here. I have nothing but love and respect for Joan Baez - especially her song writing, but it’s just not me.
Gram Parsons
2/5
Just not my personal cup of tea, but interesting backstory.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Mixed results, but the blueprint is clearly in place.
Alanis Morissette
3/5
Seminal mid-90s album.
Jane's Addiction
4/5
Fantastic late 80s album that helped usher the world into the 90s.
The Doors
4/5
Haven’t listened to this album in a LONG time and it was well worth the spin. The bluesy - straightforward rock sound is vintage Doors.
Muddy Waters
3/5
A wonderful recording of a seminal time in music.
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
Interesting to listen to this album - a departure from their more popular songs, but found myself enjoying this much more!
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
Terrific album to round out the aughts!
Janet Jackson
2/5
80s pop gold
Sleater-Kinney
4/5
Grrrl Rock goddesses
The Young Rascals
3/5
60s pop at its height.
Richard Thompson
3/5
70s male female duet bliss
The United States Of America
3/5
Jefferson Starship sister from another mister.
Various Artists
5/5
Amazing Christmas album and stacked with Phil’s wall of sound.
Nick Drake
2/5
Just can’t get to Nick Drake. I try, but can’t get there.
Mott The Hoople
3/5
I love glam rock but I can’t shake the feeling that they’re trying to be something that they are not. The songs are strong and production is great.
Metallica
3/5
Every song is too long, however, the energy is undeniable.
Elliott Smith
3/5
I do like this album, just didn’t hit at the right time for me. For me, this is for late winter. The songwriting and milieu are both somber, but the faint glimmers of hope come from his innocent sounding voice.
Aretha Franklin
4/5
Legendary album from the queen
Bonnie Raitt
2/5
No denying her talent, but not for me.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
Masterpiece in song writing
The Undertones
3/5
A solid album / but not my favorite from them
The Who
3/5
Important Brit invasion album
The Beau Brummels
2/5
Unimpressed. Late 60s pop-psych-drudgery.
Aretha Franklin
4/5
The Queen at her best
David Bowie
3/5
The “Plastic Soul” album. It stands because it helped introduce soul and R&B to a much larger audience, but it’s also clear that Bowie was wading foreign waters. ‘Fame’ is an all-time favorite of mine, the cultural significance is there, the songs are largely middling.
Bob Dylan
5/5
I’m a Dylan guy and this my favorite Dylan album. 5 Stars
Ozomatli
2/5
Pass
The Velvet Underground
4/5
An all-time classic
The Cure
4/5
The beautiful place somewhere between industrial and early 80s pop and shoegazer. No clear singles. No obvious melodies. Yet it keeps hold of your ears the whole way through.
Motörhead
3/5
Act of Spades instantly brings back hours and days if playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 in my college dorm.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
Several legendary tracks but this album has always felt uneven and perhaps a little disjointed.
Throwing Muses
3/5
Was only able to find this album on YouTube - it was a recording from a cassette. Throwing Muses is always fascinating, and this album lives up to that.
Aerosmith
3/5
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
Derek & The Dominos
3/5
Blue eyed blues at their best
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
This is what I’d vote as the most punk ECA album
The Kinks
4/5
A seminal album that brought the Kinks into the next phase of their greatness. This is arguably the first concept album - various takes on the thought of what it meant to be British. With multiple influences (American, European, Indian, etc) shaping new parts of the British life - the songs work as windows into that shapeshifting.
Kate Bush
3/5
I have never been able to go all-in Kate Bush. I have all of the respect for her music and appreciate how avant garde her stylings are and certainly were. I’m thankful for her experimentation and dedication to taking risks. She’s amazing and incredible.
Sister Sledge
3/5
Classic.
Carpenters
3/5
Solid.
X-Ray Spex
3/5
Fun, punk excitement
Deerhunter
2/5
A couple of great tracks here, but I just can’t get to it.
Janis Joplin
4/5
Beat posthumous album - maybe ever. Stacked album that was only beginning to show where she was taking the industry.
Beyoncé
3/5
2000s queen
Kendrick Lamar
3/5
Great album.
5/5
Perfection.
OutKast
4/5
My first ever musical ringtone came from this album!
Beck
5/5
A stacked, all-time great album!
Meat Puppets
3/5
The 80s bad that Kurt Kobain saved!
Green Day
5/5
An all-time favorite of mine and loved it from the first listen - bought this the same day as the police slow motioned chased OJ’s white Bronco down the Los Angeles highway system.
Herbie Hancock
4/5
Funky grooves that melt into the next movement - what more could you ask for?!
Tom Waits
4/5
The best execution of a concept album of all time.
Nick Drake
3/5
I’ve tried really hard to get to Nick Drake, but I just can’t get there. This is my favorite of his 3 studio albums. The songs are pretty and the melodies float gently around the lyrics. I think this album and its production offers the best visage of his music.
Death In Vegas
3/5
Crunchy industrial meets flowing pop and for the most part it works
Arcade Fire
4/5
I loved this album from the first listen back in the middle aughts.
Stephen Stills
2/5
Showing his knack for creating great melodies and building strong song structure.
Van Morrison
4/5
The more I listen to this album the more I continue to find new things I love about it.
Christina Aguilera
1/5
Just can’t get to it.
a-ha
4/5
I lived this album as a kid - mostly because I loved the video for Take on Me. Still one of my all time favorite videos. Several great songs here, a couple stinkers too. Loads of nostalgia
Björk
3/5
Emotional journey through the lens of the Icelandic goddess
Joanna Newsom
1/5
Not available on streaming.
Beastie Boys
5/5
An all-time great album stacked full of bangers
R.E.M.
4/5
An amazing early 90s time capsule. Many of these songs continue to stand on their own by taking new shapes and covering new ground by being timeless and fitting culture in ways that couldn’t have been considered in 1992.
Neu!
3/5
Sounds like the soundtrack to an 80s movie about temptation and regret.
Frank Ocean
3/5
I’m certainly not as high on this album as the press was when it landed. Over the years it has grown on me a bit more. It’s a good album and the storytelling is great, the beats are spacey and the mood is impossible to escape.
Raekwon
3/5
Raekwon is a master
Beatles
4/5
The best album title of all time.
One of the best covers of all time my time.
Jam packed with done if the best songs of the Beatles catalogue.
Paul Simon
3/5
Mellow and sentimental.
Wire
4/5
Punk greatness
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Great album
The Go-Betweens
3/5
Fun album
The Beach Boys
5/5
I’ve only recently connected with this album. The sonic layers are amazing and the lyrics are so personal
Heaven 17
3/5
Timing of this album couldn’t have been better
Ray Charles
4/5
The genesis of rock
2Pac
5/5
My personal favorite 2Pac album because of how direct and personal the lyrics and feelings are here in every song.
Frank Black
3/5
Uneven, but that’s part of Black Francis’ charm.
Tina Turner
3/5
Golden
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
1/5
Nope.
Happy Mondays
3/5
Late 80s party
The Cramps
3/5
Great early 80s punk
Grizzly Bear
4/5
A couple of real gems on this album and the melodies are class throughout.
Blur
5/5
Classic BritPop with London swagger
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
Classic greatness
Girls Against Boys
3/5
The 90s grunge/rock/pop prototype album - in every way
Ice T
4/5
My favorite NYPD Blue rebel cop
Love
3/5
Good vibes
Le Tigre
3/5
Always pushing the envelope of melody
Genesis
4/5
Masterpiece
Jane Weaver
4/5
Fascinating journey
Marvin Gaye
3/5
It’s tough to hear Marvin not be happy. It’s not typically the vibe you’re looking for when you put Marvin on, but the album is strong and no doubt about it being pointed.
But the cover art is awful.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
80s doing 80s
The Verve
5/5
All-time great classic stacked with songs that have only grown more and more popular through time
Aimee Mann
4/5
Fun 90s listen
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
Epitome of 70s funk with a message. All time great and culturally important record.
Jane's Addiction
4/5
A great album. A bit disjointed in moments, but it’s greatness cannot be underestimated
Sufjan Stevens
4/5
I was obsessed with this album when it first dropped. I even have the OG Superman copy. Lol
Wilco
5/5
So good they made a documentary about it! Genuinely a personal favorite and one of the most important albums of the early aughts.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
4/5
Shoe gazer greatness!
The Boo Radleys
2/5
Conflated. This album is ambitious, but would’ve benefited from additional production and a heaping of artistic focus.
You can hear the shoegaze, the pop sensibilities, the reggae influence, the orchestral swell, but they’re all very much individual and just kind of smooshed together.
Liz Phair
4/5
90s gold
Isaac Hayes
4/5
What you say about Shaft? You’re damn right.
Earth, Wind & Fire
3/5
Get some culture!
Soundgarden
4/5
One of the last truly great grunge albums.
Laura Nyro
3/5
An interesting and captivating album from the late 60s.
Jacques Brel
3/5
French showmanship at its zenith.
Megadeth
3/5
Classic metal
Ice Cube
4/5
Greatness
Beck
4/5
A solid album - with an even better companion album!
Mariah Carey
2/5
90s pop happiness
The Teardrop Explodes
3/5
Loud and ambitious!
The Darkness
4/5
Greatness!
Marilyn Manson
1/5
Hot teenage shock garbage
Skepta
4/5
I have always loved that Skepta’s first album was called Greatest Hits. Just amazing!
I’m team Dylan Mills, but Skepta’s grim is always worth the jam!
The Streets
Neil Young
3/5
Easy, breezy Neil!
King Crimson
3/5
Prof Rick champs reign supreme
Talking Heads
5/5
An all-time great album that is a building block for music to this day.
Adele
4/5
So much goodness!
Mudhoney
4/5
80s garage rock giving birth to grunge
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
The home of Proud Mary
Nico
2/5
Art world darling
Iggy Pop
4/5
Amazing and in your face!
Tom Waits
4/5
This album scared me as a kid, and is one of the most textured albums of Waits’ catalogue
5/5
One of the most important albums to me personally. The storytelling, the melodies, the attitudes, the character / all amazing!
Living Colour
3/5
I’ve heard Cult of Personality hundred - if not thousands - of times before, but pretty sure this is the first time I’ve listened to the rest of the album.
It’s still very late 80s, but some of it is way more Huey Lewis sounding than I expected. I hear the mid-80s melodies and late-80s bass drums.
I certainly appreciate their impact on 90s music much more after listening to the complete album.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
I love Nick Cave. His imagery and characters are always so vivid. I would hate to be inside his mind.
Morrissey
1/5
I say no to Morrissey
Brian Wilson
3/5
The sound and melody Brian always wanted the world to hear.
The Libertines
4/5
A great early 2000s masterpiece
The Velvet Underground
2/5
The songs are too long, the production is too compressed, but there’s no doubt that the distortion is where punk found its anchor.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
2/5
Art rock experimentation that confounds. Don Van Vliet pushes the boundaries and sometimes stumbles upon something interesting, but most of the time it’s just aimless.
Kanye West
4/5
Great album by a troubled dude
Janelle Monáe
3/5
Dance pop is always fun
Kate Bush
2/5
I appreciate what Kate Bush is and her approach to her songwriting. She pushes when others pull. She zigs to the industry’s zags.
I love that a whole lot folks discovered her with Running Up That Hill found second-fame in Stranger Things. Well deserved.
The samples and tones she employs here were truly avant guard when this was released and that’s worth celebrating. Her song craft has been directly and indirectly ripped off a million times over since.
I just can’t get to this album. I’m the one who’s too thick and shallow to fully appreciate.
Electric Light Orchestra
2/5
My dad had this album when I was a kid. I remember holding it and thinking the colors were cool and the space shuttle pulling into the giant SIMON game was neat.
It was “old people music” to me then and it’s “old people music” to me now.
The melodies are contagious and the lyrics are often thoughtful, but unless you were born before maybe 1970 - it’s probably not that interesting. It’s quintessential 70s radio pop - complete with too much production and it’s overly layered with orchestral strings and vocals.
Dancing with my mom in the living room to Mr Blue Sky is a happy memory.
The Bees
3/5
Summery. Light. Floating. Enjoyable.
The Cars
4/5
Fun listen drenched in 80s vibes
Elvis Presley
4/5
The birth of rock and roll for white people. Elvis never wrote a song and never used original material, but he knew what was great and brought it to the airwaves and radio waves.
Minor Threat
2/5
While the world needs more 22 minute albums of pure punk - I can deal without the straight edge tude. (Embracing people where they are is the win.)
The Cure
3/5
The jangly guitars, the emotion and the styling is all here - the part missing is arguably the melodies.
Donovan
3/5
Donovan’s albums have always struck me as disjointed. There are invariably layers of extra production cluttering the mix - sitars, orchestral strings, harpsichords, additional percussion, and more.
The overall impression is of an artist who set out to make an early-60s British folk record in the vein of Dylan, only to have the label get their hands on it. You can almost hear the notes being passed down: make this one feel more like Revolver, give this track a Stones edge, polish this one up for radio. The result is an album that never quite settles into its own identity.
The Avalanches
4/5
Soaking wet layers of samples snipped and snapped together to create soundscapes that take you away
Jeru The Damaja
4/5
An all-time great
George Harrison
5/5
An all time great and possible the best triple studio album release ever.
Slipknot
1/5
Nope.
Cypress Hill
4/5
Vibe and cgeck
Fleet Foxes
1/5
I remember when this album dropped and Pitchfork and the burgeoning music blogs all collectively loved it.
I didn’t get it then.
Still don’t get it.
I promise I’m trying.
Roxy Music
2/5
I love glam, and have always had Roxy Music as a band to “explore more” but haven’t ever really committed to making the time.
Took this opportunity to really listen to the album. All of the ingredients are there for me to love it: layered guitars & synths, punchy lyrics, driving percussion, and inventive melodies. However, I do feel that the horns are often more distracting than additive.
It’s clear to hear their influence on other acts that I love: Talking Heads, Nick Cave, Pulp, the broader Cool Britannia scene and many more.
There’s just something keeping from really being able to connect.