I can see why people say they like this, I can see why it's important. It's not "good." It simply is not one of the best 1001 albums, or an album you'd need to hear. I'd never say to someone, "oh shit you gotta hear this album!" 2/5.
So cool, just so cool. "Pusherman" might be the coolest song ever made. This is what you want when you're after an album with a social justice lens. The music can also be good! 5/5.
Had never heard this before. Minimalist soul. Low volume soul. I really love how you can hear the whole band. "So in Love" is really really good. Overall, it's a nice album, but it's not capturing me in the way I'd expect for an album I "need" to hear. 3/5.
I enjoyed listening to this. It makes me sad thinking of the shitty music that this (helped) inspire, but Black Sabbath are a great band with some great songs. I don't know if this album in particular is the one I needed to hear, but I'm glad I did. 3/5.
I understand why this is good, but it's also just not for me. I don't like the psychedelic-rock-infused funk as much as the pure funk. George Clinton and Bootsy are obviously legends, this just isn't grabbing me. 2/5.
The first album that's completely new to me! Really intriguing, low-volume electronic music. I like the vibe more than I like the songs themselves, but in places it's very cool. The opening track especially. 3/5.
It's good. I like some of it, I don't really care for some of it. Like a lot of hip-hop albums, it should be 10 songs instead of 27 (!!!!!!). I can see that it's influential, and I love the musicality of it. If this were tighter, and there were 4 or 5 great songs on a 10 song album, it'd be a 5/5. As it is, 4/5.
20 songs! It's so haphazard, could have been really good with half as many songs. I wish I hadn't read the stuff about how Dion came to regret the Phil Spector production by the time it was released. But I can see how the lack of cohesion happened. 2/5.
Three complete classic songs (Cherub Rock, Today, Disarm), but the rest of it just doesn't grab me. I agree that it's an essential album, and is a much better representative than their contemporaries in the "rock, alt rock, whatever you want to call it" scene of the early 90s. On the strength of those 3 songs alone, 3/5.
I appreciate this, genuinely, for what it is. Honest, authentic 90s music in an era when there was so much bad music. This isn't bad, but it's also not very good. 2/5.
I really didn't like this. I don't like live albums generally, and this one just doesn't sound good. 1/5
Well this takes me back. The music holds up incredibly well, the content, uhhhhhhhhhhh, does not. But the hits are so good, and the talent/intelligence is just as evident now as it was back then. 4/5.
Fine, kind of boring. 2/5
I had never heard of this band or album before, and none of the songs sounded familiar. I really like it though, even though none of the songs individually really grabbed me. Really good late 80s stuff going on. 3/5.
What a voice, what an album, just incredibly good. 4/5.
Chris Cornell has an amazing voice, Black Hole Sun is a stunning song. I wish they didn't decide to make such shitty music most of the time. 2/5.
It's nice to be reminded that not all music from the "alternative music" era of the early 90s sucked. 3/5.
Really a pleasant surprise. I had never heard of this band before, and when I saw them described as "Finnish heavy metal" I was really worried I would hate it. Quite the opposite! Really good rock and roll stuff here. 3/5.
WHAT A BAND. Gadson on drums, David T. on guitar, Nathan East on bass. Had never listened to this whole album before, this is exactly what I'm looking for out of this project. Incredible, perfect. 5/5.
Some glimpses of greatness, but overall pretty sloppy and forgettable. 3/5.
I actually listened to this album not that long ago. I don't really find myself getting into Liz Phair at all. A few of the songs are really good, but I'm not the target audience for this. 2/5.
Not for me at all, it's not bad, but not for me.
I can see that it's influential, but listening back it doesn't feel essential at all. You can listen to a song or two, understand the influence it had on The Beatles, Beach Boys, etc. and then move on to when the music got better. 2/5.
Righteous rock and roll. Sounds really good, but doesn't do anything at all to overcome my general disinterest in live albums. 3/5.
Another one that I'm really grateful to have found because of this. Never gotten into the Velvet Underground really, had no idea that John Cale was a founding member. Had no real idea who John Cale even was, but this is an incredible record. 4/5
Now we are TALKING. This came out in 1959, so when I hear stuff like the Everly Brothers from 1960, and it does sound like the stuff that influenced The Beatles, etc, it is BABY STUFF. ACTUAL STUFF OF BABIES. People were capable of this in 1959, what's your excuse?? 5/5.
The songs that are good are INCREDIBLE. Timeless classics like Someday and Last Nite. The problem is that the bulk of the record is pretty boring and forgettable. 3/5.
It's bad, and I dont like it. But I was prepared for it to be BAD and to HATE it. I don't appreciate or need music like this around, at all. But I think it's fine that it exists. It shouldn't be anywhere near this list though. 2/5
Too weird. I can understand that it was of its time, and I can certainly hear that it was influential. But man, this is just not essential in the slightest. 1/5
Proper blues. Not my favorite genre, and gets a bit repetitive for me, but this is the real, real good stuff from it. 3/5.
There is nothing interesting, memorable, or essential about this. 1/5.
It's almost unfair how good "Take On Me" is, because the rest of this is pretty forgettable 80s stuff to me. That one song though, makes the whole thing worth it. But they really poured it all into just that one song. 2/5.
This was genuinely bad. Like, I don't understand the point of it, or why it was selected for this list. I'm not even upset to have listened to it, just mystified who thought this was a good idea. There's 100,000 albums better and more essential than this one. 1/5.
Say what you will about Coldplay. I have. Many others have too, a lot more than me, too. This is a great album. Of its age, but also timeless. 4/5.
Pretty good, I really enjoy "hard" or "heavy" rock music that's also actually good. "Run to the Hills" is an all-time classic. 3/5.
I wish I could give this 0/5. Horrible, an emblem of one of the worst eras of music era. I'm so mad at this publication for even considering this as essential, much less actually claiming that it is. 1/5.
I don't understand why anyone likes this. Not interesting, not groundbreaking, not influential as far as I can tell. 1/5.
It's not bad, and there are some good songs, but overall it fell flat for me. Especially the first half. "Wake Up" is really good. I remember hearing about this band in the mid-2000s era, but never got into them. Listening back to this, I can see why - pretty uninspiring overall. But they are at least capable of something special. 2/5.
I can see that it was very influential, and I liked it in places. "Sunday Morning", the opening track, probably my favorite. Some of it though, unlistenable. 2/5.
