Really engaging and warm hip-hop! The old-timey Kanye production is just the right backing for Common here, creating a very lively and dynamic record. I've never listened to Common before but he has a light and deft touch here that definitely makes me interested in more of his work. I give it four stars here only because this is the kind of album I respect technically more than I "love" it, strictly speaking. But that could change as I listen more!

I've known some of these songs since getting the "Blue" compilation album as a child, so it felt strange to hear the album as a whole knowing some of the songs so well and not having heard many others at all. So I was surprised at how well it all still works together! The songs I knew somehow seemed perfectly contextualized within the album. I try not to buy into the Beatles' "mythos" too much [though I think it's easy with music having this much care and craft in it!], but the general feeling of this record as a sort of "parting gift" from the tired, but grateful, greats is still hard to avoid, as it's deeply felt and earned.

Very pleasant and smooth hip-hop here! While they tend to have superficially similar-sounding beats on a lot of the songs, which leads them to blend together a little if I'm doing something else while listening, there's always some individual hook that gives an identity to each song in my head. "Smoke 'em if you got 'em"..."free John Gotti"..."running around robbing banks", it goes on. I had never heard of this one, really happy to find it!

Really engaging and warm hip-hop! The old-timey Kanye production is just the right backing for Common here, creating a very lively and dynamic record. I've never listened to Common before but he has a light and deft touch here that definitely makes me interested in more of his work. I give it four stars here only because this is the kind of album I respect technically more than I "love" it, strictly speaking. But that could change as I listen more!

I don't tend to get uncomfortable due to the subject matter of music much...lyrics have seldom been the "main event" of any song for me. So I was surprised by how much Eminem was really able to get under my skin with these songs [particularly on 'Stan' and 'Kim'] and actually make me feel shocked. It's frightening how vividly he's able to evoke the emotions backing up the horrible things he talks about; and he does it with a sardonic sense of humor that adds a grimly realistic personality on top of it all. On the more laid-back tracks, it's much easier to admire the technical backbone of his skills as a rapper, so I'm grateful it's not a horror show the whole time! Four stars here; not exactly an album I "love", per se, but I respect the craft SO much here.

This is a tough one for me to rate. I really like the craft and the production techniques here, and fundamentally I would say the songs are all "good". Honestly though, it feels far too long for me. All these songs hang their hats on a couple of cool-sounding ideas but never develop enough new ones to hold my interest. So for as energetic and lively a record as this is, it was ultimately kind of a slog for me to get through.

Really good one! Dark and hard-rocking, with the thin production retaining the 'punk' element of post-punk as the songwriting and goth attitude pushes the rest of the record toward the 'post'. "Into The Light" almost sounded like a Brian Eno number to me, with the contrasting moods of the two main riffs. Only downside is that the songs do kind of blend together for me, lending the record remarkable cohesion but also making the songs somewhat less memorable on an individual basis. Post-punk is one of my favorite types of rock music; it was really cool to hear one of its foundational works!

I've known some of these songs since getting the "Blue" compilation album as a child, so it felt strange to hear the album as a whole knowing some of the songs so well and not having heard many others at all. So I was surprised at how well it all still works together! The songs I knew somehow seemed perfectly contextualized within the album. I try not to buy into the Beatles' "mythos" too much [though I think it's easy with music having this much care and craft in it!], but the general feeling of this record as a sort of "parting gift" from the tired, but grateful, greats is still hard to avoid, as it's deeply felt and earned.

I arrived here already knowing "Time" and "Money" only, so I was listening to the rest of the record pretty fresh. Honestly, the most intriguing thing about it to me was: how the heck did this thoughtful, slow, avantgarde thing connect with so many people to become one of the best-selling albums of all time? I think it's good, even great, but I just don't understand how it got to be such a universally adored classic! Anyway, I think the music is good enough to warrant all the critical respect at least. For all its experimental leanings, the band did a great job contextualizing all the weird stuff within a surprisingly accessible package.

It's funny to me that a concept album like this, with recurring themes and a strong narrative thread, would also have such a consciously stripped-down and rootsy approach; I'm used to 'concept albums' being necessarily grandiose, maximalist affairs. The concept in this case didn't engage me much, but I'm grateful that Nelson was able to deliver such a cohesive and influential reminder of how country music is really supposed to sound. This one's reflective, mournful, and stern, full of dust and rust.

Credit for the inventive production and consistent songwriting craft here, but I was really disappointed with this one. With hardcore experimentation being the word of the day when this record was made, it seems as though the people in charge of this project knew they had to make something experimental but had no idea why more successful records in the same mould were so good. These songs superficially inhabit psychedelic clothes but don't take that sound to heart.

I don't hear this as a proper "punk" album like I've read, but I can hear plenty of influence on the punk scene here for sure! Sounds more like glam rock to me, with the over-the-top theatrics and fat guitar tones; love that sustain at the end of each verse in their great cover of 'I Got You Babe'. The arrangements are overall much too careful and polished, perhaps oddly, for me to feel that this really prefigures punk like the big critics say, but it just makes for a really lovely glam experience instead!

Very pleasant and smooth hip-hop here! While they tend to have superficially similar-sounding beats on a lot of the songs, which leads them to blend together a little if I'm doing something else while listening, there's always some individual hook that gives an identity to each song in my head. "Smoke 'em if you got 'em"..."free John Gotti"..."running around robbing banks", it goes on. I had never heard of this one, really happy to find it!

I think my opinion on this one may have been spoiled ahead of time by the hype! Although this is a good, solid pop-punk record with its concept reliably contributing to its unity rather than getting in the way, I think the baggage of its mythic critical status is going make a lot of new listeners feel disappointed. For me, 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' will never lose its 2000s school-slow-dance shine, and 'Homecoming' is the big highlight of the album...an unpredictable mashup of the album's most exciting ideas.

Very sunny and uplifting slab of old-school hip-hop. Prince Paul is the main hero of this record for me, as lyrics will often float by me on the first few listens with rap records; still, I appreciate the craft and accessibility of the words here too. The biggest downside of the album, for me, is the skits. They really got tiresome for me the more I listened, and I never found them that funny to begin with. If I give myself permission to skip tracks, though, this is a perfectly fine record.

I believe I spoiled this one for myself a bit by listening to Fulfillingness's First Finale years earlier, so I got into Stevie Wonder's sound in a different order from the way the rest of the world discovered him. Talking Book is just as good, although it seems as though he was creating templates for himself here that he'd continue to exploit for a while. Nonetheless, this one's full of warm, heartfelt funk & soul that can't help but be pleasant! My top tracks are the immortal 'Superstition' and album closer 'I Believe'.