1001 Albums Summary

The first song is a mission statement. The new direction is apparent. When the album veers into heavy R&B, I like it less than the "scary music" they intended to make. There are plenty of other good moments but Black Sabbath (the song) is straight up bad ass. It sounds great echoing down my street in the darkness on Halloween. Beware children!

I don’t remember her voice being this grating. Production suffers as a product of the mid 90s. Most lyrics are super facile and it’s not just Ironic. Not entirely useless given its part in the acceptance of women’s sexual agency, but I didn’t enjoy re-listening to this.

Beautiful voice but the album does not really do anything for me.

Pretty and chill. Impressive that’s it’s all improvised as I understand it.

This is pretty much why I’m here. Revisiting Boston is fine, but this was cool. I’m a fan of Brazilian music like Astrid Gilberto and Os Mutantes but don’t have a particularly deep well to draw from. Liked this record a lot and the samba soul sound. O Filosofo was a particularly great cut.

One of my favorite albums of any time and certainly the 90s. It still sounds great and pretty timeless to me. Ballad of Big Nothing is my favorite slacker anthem. My 21 year old daughter, who loves Elliott Smith, was born on the same day he died and likes to imagine some piece of him was reborn with her. :)

I had heard this album a couple times but I am more familiar with the latter-day side projects than the source, so I’m glad this came up.

I don’t have enough death/trash metal depth to distinguish this from other acts or say if this is particularly good, but I didn’t hate the experience.

New to me and I enjoyed the party the first time through.

I’ve been a big fan of this album for years. As a nascent cynic, this one spoke to me when I first found a used copy. Memo to My Son is probably my favorite Randy Newman song.

I need a few more listens and this might go up to a 4. Has a Peter Gabriel feel to me - art damaged orchestral pop.

Funky and fun.

Never really explored the Waylon discography much despite having multiple Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, etc. albums. I don’t like his voice as much as the others I mentioned, but this is a fun listen with lots of good songs. Happy to be exposed to it.

My Mom loved this album but it still doesn’t do it for me despite loving early Dolly Parton. 80s era country is not my favorite.

I hadn’t listened to it in 20 years and enjoyed the experience pretty well. They are not all great songs, but there are enough good and great ones to make that album better than I remembered.

Pretty, but the crooning got to me eventually.

I missed the years he was decent, so I just associate with his mostly terrible 80s stuff. And Maggie May. This is probably not going into regular rotation but was a lot better than I expected.

I have some small level of affinity towards the 70s hard rock and prog rock sound, but mostly don’t like this album. However, I’ve Seen All Good People is their best song, and it’s not close IMO. Toward the end of part A (around 2:50) the bass and organ finally come in on the last chorus and it’s a glorious moment in pop music. It raises this album from a 2- to a 3. That song is written around the vocal hooks and most of the others are not, so the virtuosity comes off as self- indulgence.

Muscular riff work and aggression, I just don’t have enough interest in the genre to fully appreciate it, I think.

This album shows up a on a lot of best lists, so I’ve tried getting into it a couple of times before. Got a little closer this time, but I’m not a full convert yet. I’ll try again in another 10 years. I really like Faron Young, though.

Happy to add context to my 80s-flavored perception of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and I really liked a few of the songs, including Keep on the Sunny Side, You Are My Flower, I’m Thinking of My Blue Eyes, and Both Sides Now. I’m a Carter Family and Doc Watson fan, so most of their songs resonated. Roy Acuff not as much. While the title track is pretty good, it doesn’t crack the top three versions of that song, IMO. For me, bluegrass is the speed metal of country music, and I have limited patience for it. This gargantuan collection exceeds those limits.

I’m a big fan of the song Kimberly, and I like most of this album. The song Birdland probably moves this from a 4 to a 3 for me. Too long and too much warbling.

The album covers a lot of ground from drill-ish songs to jazzy arrangements that remind me of Jamila Woods. This might be a 3 in reality if I had enough listens but I was intrigued enough to spin it 3 times. I will probably listen more times to this.

My favorite Bob Marley album has always been Kaya but that’s only because that’s the one I bought in freshman year of college. Then I bought Uprising and stopped. I stopped too soon. The amount of hits on this record is nuts.

It’s not even in my top 5 Beatles albums but it’s great. When I’m Sixty-Four, A Day in the Life, Fixing A hole are all kick ass songs, and none of those probably are considered a “hit” from this album. It’s hard not to grade on a curve for the Beatles, but the 5 years from 1965-1969 are the most fertile period anyone has ever had in pop music, and so even though this album exists next to Revolver and Rubber Soul and Help and Abbey Road and the White Album and Magical Mystery Tour, it’s still great.

It’s inconsistent like all Sebadoh albums, which is a reflection of how they’re organized and a sort of Minutemen-ish ethos. You’re going to get ballads, noise rock, tongue-in-cheek songs and more. It’s kind of amazing that I had never listened to this album considering I really like III and Harmacy and I’ve listened to every other album. I really can’t explain how I never got to this one, but I’m glad I did. Soul and Fire is super great, and I like a whole lot more. That said, I feel like there are better versions of some of these archetypes in their catalog. Take Think (Let Tomorrow Bee) - it’s a very pretty love ballad. It’s also not as good as Truly Great Thing from III or Willing to Wait from Harmacy.

Forty years later, it sounds pretty rudimentary. Still some bangers on there and middle schooler in me was very happy to hear Son of Buford.

I’m a big fan of the Kinks and this is probably my second favorite album. I’m a sucker for British cultural commentary pop from this era. Australia and Shangri-La take some time to get to, but are the heart of the record for me.

I listened to this several times through, enjoyed it and rounded up to 4 stars. I am an easy mark for this one because I like Digable Planets and Tribe Called Quest which they seem to have modeled their sound on. My main criticism is that they haven’t really pushed anywhere beyond their influences, but it’s a fun listen nonetheless. Incidentally, before listening to this, I kind of thought this was a jam band which is pretty funny. I had heard the name before but never listened to them…probably because I thought it was a jam band. :)

Probably would have been 4 stars to 20 year old me, but that ship had sailed. I will need to be satisfied with Local H and Primal Scream to scratch this itch. Love the filthy grooves and while I don’t mind his growl, it doesn’t do enough to push this farther into my rotation. Glad to hear it on balance, though.

I’ve had the vinyl of this album for years and there are six songs on it. It’s fine, but includes some of the more self-indulgent numbers including Young Man Blues and 15 mins of My Generation. I was surprised and delighted at the 14 songs on the expanded version including some on my Who favorites like Tattoo, Happy Jack and a Quick One. There’s a good mix here of pretty things and raw aggression. Btw, if you’ve never seen A Quick One from The Rolling Stones Rock n Roll circus, it’s worth your time. It’s also live and you can see what this looked like live. As I understand it, the footage was supposed to be turned into a BBC special, but the Who blew The Rolling Stones off the stage and they changed course. https://youtu.be/RJv2-_--EY4?si=Ie-MA3FelDjmHV02

Does anyone need my opinion on this album? I still have the vinyl I bought as a grade schooler and enjoy Beat It, Billie Jean, and Human Nature.

The rapping doesn’t measure up to his contemporaries and seems really OG like Run DMC. The album is mostly notable because the extreme content.

I have always really liked the first two albums of this band where they were grimy, son-of-a-preacher-man mirrors of the Strokes. This album smells like a rock n roll dive in a very good way. They even cover some ground from sleeze blues to tight indie rockers to sort-of ballads. Everyone needs to pay their rent, so I don’t begrudge their turn to arena rock, but that band isn’t for me.

Maybe I would get more on repeated listens, but I’m pretty ambivalent about this album on one listen. They kind of remind me of the Mekons.

I’m a fan of this album and It rewards multiple listens. Even though it is weird and uneven, there’s a lot of breathtaking stuff and new discoveries around every corner.

Meh.

Some of that lyrical content is red flag material, which is especially unfortunate for Under My Thumb. The back half is way stronger than the first half. I don’t care for most of it besides the opener. Out of Time is great, along with I Am Waiting and Take It or Leave It.

Similar to many Smog/Bill Callahan albums, I liked it but not every song and don’t feel like I need to acquire more. That sounds maybe too negative since I enjoyed the experience.

I think this album suffered from our group due to the obvious similarities with Bill Callaghan - baritone and sing/talk vocals plus generally slow tempo music. I listened to this maybe 10 years ago when it was on some other beat of list and my opinion hasn’t changed. I liked it pretty well, but there is not enough to get me to go deeper. Let’s hope the National isn’t the next album.

I liked this way more than I was expecting. Songs about F$&king didn’t make a huge impact on me 25 years ago when I was introduced to it, but maybe I was just not ready to hear it then. Now I will need to revisit that. Lots of interesting songs here, and I especially liked Kerosene, Bad Houses, and Bazooka Joe.

I rounded up because I appreciate ambition in art, but this is not my thing. I think I prefer Rush when they sell out and are more economical.

While nothing really offended me on this album, it’s way too long and uniform.

I’m not going to say this is punk AF, but it was more punk than I remembered. I feel like it got marketed to me as pop, but it’s pop punk with 80s stylings.

I liked more than I didn’t.

Most Byrds albums I’ve listened too are uneven. This one is too, but more solid than most.

I enjoy this album, but I do think from London Calling on they found their voice whereas this album seems more like someone else’s voice and more typical of British punk music. That said, it has tons of great songs including Career Opportunities which is an all time great.

Some probably find this too precious but I’m a sucker for orchestral pop. I was introduced to this album by This Will Be Our Year which is the best song by a fair margin. Some of the tracks took time to grow on me but did with the exception of only a couple. Colin Blunstone has one of my favorite rock/pop voices of any era.

I don’t have bad word to say about Willie Nelson. This is a great album and a favorite of mine.

After the first two songs, I really wanted to like this, but I really didn’t. In the 80s I dismissed Wham! as a limited, manufactured, corporate entity. I really enjoyed the recent Wham! documentary and that helped me realize how talented George Michael was. The guy knew his way around a pop hook and obviously has an incredible voice. This album covers a lot of styles but mostly badly. We have piano ballads, guitar ballads, folky tunes, jazzy numbers, and, um, a reggae song. The album is saved from 1 star by the first two songs, especially Freedom! ‘90. That’s a real banger.

I went through a pretty good classic rock phase in high school, so I’ve heard this before. I was curious to see if I maybe I was more ready to hear it now. Not really. This is not my thing, and I rounded up for the definitive version of Me and Bobby McGee. Cool rock/blues voice but the whole leaves me cold.

The 9 song original album is pretty good. I definitely didn’t need the 2 disc set version, or two versions of Suicide. I like the idea of the homage to Suicide more than I like the results. I have listened to and like a couple of Spiritualized albums but it was fun to hear this and how that band grew out of the shoegaze scene. I like a fair amount of the genre, so this was an easy sell to me, but not sure how much I’m ever going back. Really liked Lord Can You Hear Me.

I feel like production held back my enjoyment of a lot of Leonard Cohen’s albums beyond the very early stuff. This one seems like the production well matches the content of meditations at the end of life. It doesn’t have a ton of spotlight tracks but definitely gets the message across so I’ll round up to 4.

It’s got Hyacinth House and Riders on the Storm and I really like both of those. When they start blues jamming, I lose interest quickly.

I like this style of music and have listened to some Ali Farka Toure records and Mdou Moctar. It was cool to hear a different take on desert blues, but no tracks really grabbed me and I’m not super sure I will revisit this.

This is the best Smiths album in my view. I can’t quite pull the trigger on 5 stars since my ceiling for the Smiths/Morissey isn’t quite that high. The run on this album from Cemetry Gates through There Is a Light That Never Goes Out is pretty great.

I rounded up to two stars due to the wit, but I really didn’t like his voice or the production. There’s an element of theater or melodrama that I like in the Magnetic Fields, but I would rather hear about electric eels under the covers rather than riding your lover like a horse at dawn.

Initially I had a strong negative reaction to the production on this album and the first song, which sucks despite being very real for Paul Simon. I listened twice and liked it much more on the second listen. I’m not choosing to listen to this over Graceland or There Goes Rhymin’ Simon, but it was pretty interesting to see how some of the songs would transmute into songs from Graceland. You Can Call Me Al is a dumb, catchy song that bears resemblance to Cars Are Cars which is a very dumb song. Similarly, Hearts and Bones sure has things in common with Graceland, especially when he says “are traveling together.” The melody and phrase is really close to “my traveling companion is nine years old”. Train in the Distance has elements that sound like Under African Skies. Glad I heard it but not sure I will go back.

This was an interesting album to listen to since I’m not sure I even really like it but I definitely appreciate it. I really, really like the drums/beats used. All the instrumentation is creative and evocative. I actively dislike the vocals. I think her voice is perfectly fine but the vocal lines aren’t my thing and irritate me. I think they are going for haunting/creepy but I just find them overwrought and grating. I really like The Rip which I already knew and Magic Doors which I didn’t already know.

Not a ton of depth beyond the two hits and 40. It turns out Under a Blood Red Sky really is a better “early” U2 document and there are other U2 albums that have a more cohesive and distinct idea rendered.

I bought this when it came out on the strength of The Concept. It’s solid and without waste tracks, but when I want something in this era of power pop I tend toward Lemonheads, Matthew Sweet or Weezer.

I hadn’t listened to this album as a whole in at least 10 years. My memory was of an album with great singles but also filler. As a 30 year Flamingo Lips fan, I’ve admired their ability to push their ramshackle psychedelia to different places, and that always made Soft Bulletin a bigger step for me and a near perfect album. This album and the one that follows, kept playing in the same sandbox that got forged by the boom box experiments and then Zaireeka. There are a lot of good songs here besides the big three (Fight Test, Yoshimi 1, and Do You Realize) including Are You a Hypnotist?? and In the Morning of the Magicians and that got me to 4.5 stars. It’s not Revolver but it’s a really good record and it has the state song of Oklahoma (Do You Realize), which is probably the coolest thing Oklahoma has done in the last 30 years.

I slightly prefer the darker energy of There’s a Riot Goin’ On but there’s a reason half the greatest hits album comes from this one. I hadn’t listened to it before and so I’m glad it’s on this list even if it is a bit uneven.

Not enough hooks besides the title track to get me interested.

This band has 52 million Spotify listeners, so I’m obviously missing something. I couldn’t wait for this to end.

I’m glad this was on the list since I’ve never heard of this band but liked a fair bit of contemporaneous bands like Grizzly Bear and the Dirty Projectors that mixed prog rock with indie. White Denim introduces some southern rock elements that at times reminds me of My Morning Jacket and even the Allman Brothers. I was really between a 3 and 4 and might regret the score I gave this, but I don’t see myself going back to this a ton.

When I first bought this album in the 90s, it had this little extra on it which helped me understand the melodic universe that lived in Brian Wilson’s head for a little while. This is a background song on this album and it touches God. https://youtu.be/scIncjf0y0E

Weird and wonderful. I’ve been a fan of this album for a while along with the 60s garage rock, proto-punk stuff from the Nuggets compilation more generally. I like the primitive, drum/rhythm forward sound. I also appreciate their strange back story. The front half is stronger than the back half, but still very glad this exists in the world.

If I rated this purely on the likelihood of me listening to it again, I would have rated it a 3. For some reason I have never really loved Alice In Chains despite them ticking a lot of boxes. However, I recognize this album is very good. It’s full of great metal riffs, big hooks, authenticity, a unique soundscape and production.

Starts off on a heater but loses steam after the first 3 tracks. I’m a bigger fan of two other Prince albums at a minimum.

I appreciated this more than I thought I would. Had not listened to it in 30 years and it held up well.

There are very few songs over 6-8 minutes that I really like, so I was pretty skeptical starting off on a four song album with an average track length over 13 minutes. The first two tracks are tight, funky and fiery. They carry this to a 4 for me. There’s nothing wrong with the latter two tracks, but the horns in the first song blew my mind.

I’m a fan of Fiona Apple. This album has her vocal style, themes and aesthetic represented with the vocal jazz-inflected pop, torch singing, etc. I think she has two better albums - When the Pawn… and Idler Wheel - and that’s probably why I’m having trouble adding another star because I’m unlikely to spend a ton of time with this one despite a fair amount of really good songs like Shadowboxer, Criminal, Pale September and Carrion.

This was a fun and pleasant way to spend 48 minutes. The big single totally dominates this record. There aren’t a bunch of other big missed singles here.

It’s a great record from a super cool time and place in music that undoubtedly influenced many of my favorite bands. Tom Verlaine’s vocals are polarizing, but I really like them. The song structures are particularly strong so it’s not just kick ass guitar licks. The “hits” are front loaded but there aren’t any bad songs in my view.

It was hard to take this all in through one listening. I probably would have given it 2 stars but I feel like with more listening a some favorites would emerge given the musical terrain covered. I also rounded up for having a maximally idiosyncratic guest list that included both Kendrick Lamar and Kenny Loggins.

While I like two Radiohead albums better than this, it’s a massive change from the previous album and I love a band that doesn’t rest on its laurels. The opening of this album is wonderful. The very first noted let you know what is coming.

I was happy to listen to this since I knew the name but had never really listened to her music. Until yesterday, I didn’t even know she was British. With that said, most of the songs that I knew are better in other versions, like the Shirelles’ Will You Love Me or Georgie Fame’s Do Re Mi. I rounded up to 3 stars on the strength of Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa. I had never heard that and loved it.

I was a fan of this album when it came out but have realized over time that I like fewer songs than I did 20 years ago. His flow still sounds great, better than most current rappers. The original album was 16 tracks and that was probably too long, so pushing this out with 5 additional tracks was a poor decision.

I’ve always admired the very odd song structure of the title track. Jet is fine for me as are a few others. I liked Mamunia and it really sounds like a John Lennon song. That kind of makes me like it more, thinking Paul is channeling something he is missing. I had never listened to this album. I had owned Ram for awhile as a thrift purchase and really didn’t like that album. This one was much better to me so I’m glad it came up.

I’m between a 4 and 5 on this album, but I will round up. All three of my kids (22, 19 and 11) know and love It’s the End of the World… completely independent of me. That’s kind of amazing, and fitting for what you could argue is their best song. I don’t really like the late album run of Fireplace to King of Birds. I appreciate them trying something outside their comfort zone with Lightning Hopkins, but that one in particular work. That said, lots good ones on this record and Distrubance at the Heron House is a personal favorite.

I’m not a Texas Blues fan, and certainly not this commercialized, antiseptic version of it. The last song with different production could be a Motörhead song, but that’s not enough to get this album out of the basement.

Pleasant voice, reasonable melodies, but not a ton to grab me.

I’m a big fan of the record, even if the party kind of stops after the first half. I like the contemplative and atmospheric second half, even though it doesn’t have a Crosseyed and Painless or Once in a Lifetime. When I think of this album, I now think of this Onion article which, ummm, hit home. I have this album on vinyl and I’m pretty sure I’ve made my daughter listen to it. https://theonion.com/cool-dad-raising-daughter-on-media-that-will-put-her-en-1819572981/

Better than I expected given what I knew of Muse. It’s too melodramatic and perfectly engineered for the arena for me to like it without reservation but I suppose I admire their craft.

I have a great deal of respect for Bjork. I don’t think it’s very easy to maintain a commercially viable life in music when you are so incredibly idiosyncratic. She has an absolutely unique sound, and I like it reasonably well. That said, I’m not sure I’ve ever truly liked an entire album of hers, including the Sugarcubes, but rather I like some individual songs. The closest to liking an album is probably Vespertine, not this one.

I could probably accept the twee nature of this band, but I just don’t like the vocals. The guy’s voice bugs me. The name checking of various California locations gets tiresome, too. I listened to this back when it came out as I recall it being pretty well reviewed. I didn’t get it then, and things haven’t changed despite a few nice moments.

Sweet riffage. I like the soloing a little less, and I’m not a huge fan of Dave’s voice. The subject matter is kind of dumb but charming in a metal way.

If most of pop and rock are portraits or still lives with clear subjects, Sonic Youth is doing William Turner landscapes - moody and indistinct. They don’t sound like much else before them, and definitely bridged the early indie bands of the 80s to the 90s indie scene. That’s probably a good thing given their incredibly pretentious name. This is one of my favorite records of theirs, including the Gerhardt Richter cover. Teen Age Riot, Total Trash and the Trilogy are great. I even like a throwaway like Providence which manages to be funny and sad at the same time.

This was a pleasant surprise and something I had never heard before yesterday. As I mentioned in the chat, the fact that Eminem referenced Buffalo Gals blew me away. My favorites were that song, Double Dutch, and Punk It Up. As far as the cultural appropriation goes, I will outsource my thoughts to the Robert Christgau review from 40 years ago: I wish he'd thought to mention which specific Africans contributed to which specific tracks. Culture may be collective, but (in this culture) wealth ain't.

I kind of assumed I would like this more since I bought Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 when it came out in 2009 and liked it quite a bit. This one just didn’t have enough interesting instrumentation/sampling. It’s pretty one note, even though I like Raekwon and Ghostface Killah’s rapping styles.

I like three of Nick Drake’s albums, but I’m not sure I would go so far as to call any one of them great. There isn’t a lot of range going on, that’s not what he does. My favorites from this one are Way To Blue, Saturday Sun, and especially Cello Song.

I wanted to hate this album after reading their Spotify “about the artist” narrative. It was so self-congratulatory, it was Trumpian. It starts off, “Arguably one of the most acclaimed and loved bands of the time,” and it goes downhill from there. I was familiar with Dry the Rain, which is great, but not a lot else. The first time through, I thought it was fine but it didn’t really grab me. I liked it better the second time and appreciate the range of sounds and influences. They are mostly atmospheric indie pop but sometimes head directly into the party and occasionally even get funky.

Sometimes I wonder why this project picks some albums by artists I like - Hearts & Bones by Paul Simon, I’m looking at you! Not in this case, though. We’ve gotten two SY albums in a week and they are my two favorite SY albums. Schizophrenia is probably my favorite song of theirs since I think trying to capture mental illness in pop music and largely succeeding is a real achievement. The story is terrifying. Going to a friend’s house and his sister is dealing with something so scary, and her brother is dismissive. It’s incredibly real. Then at the 1:45 mark the music becomes exhilarating and haunting. Kim Gordon is perfect here. Tuff Gnarl, Stereo Sanctity, Catholic Block are all great. I like finishing with a sense of humor and looseness too and really like Master-Dik.

This is a collection of one line drawings. There are plenty of great melodies, even if they aren’t fully worked out. There are plenty of great lines, even if they are mostly insincere. They overcome a somewhat limited sonic palette with multiple voices, musical styles, and sexual orientations. You’re bound to have some clunkers and numbers that feel like cleaning up after a brainstorming session with this quantity. That makes me want more editing but 35 Love Songs doesn’t hit the same. I’m going to round up for ambition.

It was a cool, grey, damp week in Chicago, so this warmed me up at the end of it. I have no frame of reference for this music and I don’t speak the language, but enjoyed the experience. The disco to salsa transition in the first song was pretty sweet and I liked Maria Lionza a lot.

The music is better than their name, and I realize that is probably damning with faint praise. The instrumental arrangements were pretty interesting with a cool mix of styles, and often funky bass lines. I preferred the moments when you get hooks or actual rapping rather than the sermonizing, but I know that misses the point of what they are doing.

I have very specific memories from high school related to this album. I had a friend who liked them and this conjures detailed memories of sleepovers at his house. He played Mother’s Milk a lot, and then this came out and changed their trajectory. I don’t really like RHCP, but I will give anyone props that is able to make a durable life in music while being this unusual. Why don’t I like them? Flea and Anthony Kiedis don’t do it for me, and that’s a big part of their identity. Drummer is fine, and I really like John Frusciante’s guitar playing. I rounded up because Give It Away was a milestone music video, legitimately cool and unusual. While I like other songs better, that song would be a good way to summarize what the band does well.

I don’t totally hate Supertramp and their prog pop sensibility. They have some singles that I like, but I’m not revisiting this album. Meh.

I liked this just fine. Enjoyed a couple songs in particular I had never heard including Every Night. I feel like two solo Paul McCartney albums is at least one to many, but I would take three albums if it meant I didn’t have to slog through Linkin Park. I’m preparing myself for the Lennon solo records. I know it’s coming.

I’m a big fan of this record. I appreciate the jazz freak folk soul mashup that really pushed the limits of soul music. It’s very organic music to me, and many props to his band on this record, especially the bassist, Richard Davis. A lot of great songs but the buildup in Madame George to the crescendo at 3:35 is probably my favorite part. His phrasing at the climax is just incredible, even if he’s a giant asshole.

I enjoyed this a lot. It may have something to do with the fact that Chicago is cold and supposed to get a bunch of snow tomorrow. I may be coping here. At any rate, nice mix of arrangements and tempos, so it kept my interest, and transported me somewhere warmer.

I hit my Parilament/Funkadelic jag about 10 years ago and did a deep-ish dive. This album is a great choice for this list. I don’t love the last track, but I’m on board right up to that, including the windswept guitar heroism of the first track. There are tracks that sound like Sly, and one that sounds like Jimi, and then there’s Can You Get to That, which gets a place in my pantheon.

There were at very least a couple of better hip hop records in 2016, including Coloring Book. I feel like hip hop is where you most feel the author’s predisposition toward British artists. I liked a couple of tracks but the production and flow get repetitive to me. I appreciate the relative economy of the 44min runtime.

One thing I’ve noticed about my vinyl collection is that I own a lot of second or third best records of bands. This is an example. I bought this in the mp3 era and I don’t own Loveless for some reason. Someday I need to trade quantity for quality because I don’t listen to this record. That preamble makes it seem like I don’t like MBV but this is an interesting album because it feels like it is roughly divided into thirds. The first third sounds like Loveless 2.0, and sure, I’m going to like that. The middle third is more subdued and while it is not unpleasant, it is a little boring to me. The last third sure seems a lot closer to EDM, and maybe even jungle. I know Shields has liked that scene for years and this seems like what MBV sounds like fused to heavily percussive electronic music. It’s sometimes grating, but definitely an interesting new direction.

Superstition is so good it gets the album a four stars virtually by itself. The horn arrangement is mind blowing. The funk of the bass/keyboard riff is extraordinary and pretty weird if you listen to the tone of it. The first and last songs, Big Brother and Maybe Your Baby are good, but a lot of it falls into the category of inoffensive but meh. This is another album I own on vinyl that I never revisit so I enjoyed this. I bought it at the same time as Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life and I go to those more.

This was pleasant throughout, but my interest is limited by the fact I didn’t really like the vocals - her voice and the vocal melodies. I like the fact these songs seem to be created by a bass line-driven song writing process, regardless of electric, acoustic or keyboard bass. That is a strength. If I was a club guy, maybe I would have memories of doing ecstasy and dancing all night to this record, but I don’t have that rating multiplier.

This may be the only record where the untitled track is my favorite song. I like more than I don’t, but can’t go all the way to 5 stars given that this is probably my 6th favorite REM album, and it really makes me wonder exactly how many REM albums will be on this list. I feel like this is a strange choice because it is a transitional album. They maxxed their rock band phase on Document, and haven’t gotten all the way to the art folk country pop of Out of Time and beyond. The Wrong Child is a song I don’t really like, but may give me the strongest visceral reaction on the record. I don’t buy the story they’re telling but I think the concept is an interesting one. It makes me sad, but also a little annoyed.

Seems like an Icelandic take on the Minutemen, but more artsy and annoying. I’m ok with the Bjork parts and there are a couple of songs I enjoyed on this. I was familiar with Birthday before. When the guy starts singing, I check out.

This was much more fun than I expected. I’m pretty sure I listened to this album 30 years ago and didn’t like it, so my expectations were low. Also, maybe I’ve been softened up by Bjork

I saw this band in 1993 at Le Bataclan in Paris. U of I had an exchange program there. The Verve opened for the Smashing Pumpkins. James Iha came on stage with a paper bag on his head and baguettes coming out of his sleeves and slinky danced. He said his name was Baguette Man. I bought the Storm in Heaven CD. I smoked weed with friends and listened to it. I listened to this album less. I’m sure I like that first album because it was my intro to the band. It’s less about Richard Ashcroft’s singing and the melody writing, and more about hazy dreamy psychedelic rock. It also didn’t have any mega hooks like Bittersweet Symphony. I’m glad the guy finally got paid for his efforts. There are a few tracks on here I like beside it as well.

I knew California Uber Alles and Holiday in Cambodia, and liked both, especially the latter. It turns out I like a few more than that, and I like the cover art to boot. The guitar tone is great, and they are tight. The main thing that tempers my enthusiasm is I don’t really like the vocals most of the time. It kind of feels like what Jello Biafra thought punk was supposed to sound like, kind of aping Sex Pistols whine and warbling.

I love Velouria, Ana, and Havalina. I like quite few more than that on this record. They kind of perfected their sound on this album, but it kind of makes me miss the less engineered feeling of the previous records. While they are not my favorite songs on their respective albums, I like the slapdash nature of Tony’s Theme or Hey. This album is more intentional. I also think that my introduction to the Pixies went Doolittle, back to Surfer Rosa and then Bossanova and that is affecting my perception of the relative value.

Dookie is a little one note, but a heck of a way to announce yourself to the culture. The hook writing is kind of crazy since some of the “throwaway” songs have pretty good hooks that would have been radio material for other bands. When they occasionally stray from the formula, their results are mixed at best. They got better at that over the years.

The guy’s got a really cool voice, and they write pretty good hooks. They remind of Supergrass a little bit. Liked the title track a lot along with some others. Might get another Star if I spent more time with it, but I gotta move on…

I’ve been revisiting this album every five or ten years since it came out, wondering what is wrong with me since I can’t really get into it. I like the guitar tone, the uncomfortable sex/violence/gender subject matter, the live sounding production (mostly), and I like her voice. After listening again, I think I just don’t get enough hooks, either guitar or vocal melody. It makes it so I enjoy the experience of the album but I couldn’t sing a single line back to you. I have two smaller gripes. First, is that I think this bassist sucks. For the most part he just plays the guitar line and rarely engages with the drummer, leaving him on an island and burying the bass in the mix under the guitar. Second, the mix sounds very live, and I like it generally, but I don’t think you can hear the kick drum and the compression/mastering is bananas especially on the first track. It’s probably intentional to get you to turn it up and split ears, but it’s crazy low. Favorite is 50ft Queenie and least favorite is Rub ‘Til It Bleeds for all the reasons I listed

There are a lot of well written songs on the record including the title track. I’m allergic to the production, but I grew up in the 80s, so there’s baggage with that sound. I think it’s mostly the snare I’m reacting to? I’m on Fire is probably my favorite track and I don’t think it’s an accident that the production is very different on that track, so I’ll won’t question the implications of the lyrics. It’s western music, and I like it. Dancing in the Dark leans into the 80s fully and that works pretty well, too. No Surrender would sound fine next to Thunder Road. The production on I’m Going Down is different too but that song sucks.

It’s sometimes almost purposefully annoying but occasionally feels like a breathtaking new kind of music. It’s got a collage feeling, emphasizing the global south but also borrows from Modern Lovers, New Order, the Pixies, and the Clash. Like a lot of self-obsessed pop figures (see West, Kanye), she seems like a paranoid, conspiracy-obsessed creature, and ultimately kind of a tragic story of fame.

I was in college in architecture school when this album came out. This album was super popular and a bit artsy so it was played a lot in architectural studios of the era. I spent a lot of time in those studios listening to it. I saw the Zoo TV tour. Normally, I would say nostalgia would be weighing heavily on my rating, but I had completely forgotten about this album and haven't listened to it in at least 20 years. I'm sure I've heard One or Mysterious Ways on the radio, but I had erased a bunch of songs on this like So Cruel, Acrobat and The Fly, which I'm pretty sure was a single. I guess having four producer/engineers involved was a good choice because the album sounds great. I like that they tried something different, apparently in large part because the Edge was listening to Nine Inch Nails and KMFDM, as well as Eno understanding the mission. If you told me you hate this album because of Bono's bombastic, over-emotive singing, I would get it. It's kind of interesting how they embraced a libertine Berliner aesthetic and got less pretentious and forced in the song and lyric writing but the singing went the other way.

I like this one a lot. Mostly folky with a little rawk to spice it up. This and Rust Never Sleeps are my favorite two of his eleventy thousand albums. If you can't get past his voice, though, this is gonna be a slog.

I had never listened to an Adverts album but I knew a couple songs from a 70s punk compilation called No Thanks! That compilation included Gary Gilmore’s Eyes, the charming story of a man that receives an eye transplant from a serial killer. That was on my Halloween mix for awhile. I enjoyed this album and liked Bombsite Boy especially, but if I’m going for this era and groove I’m probably still listening to the Buzzcocks.

The title track is a allegorical miracle. It's hard to think of another 8.5 minute song that I've heard as much on the radio. It's really a cool, rollicking song and I think Don made a mistake by putting the money shot in the first frames of this album, though I get it. Especially in those days, if you were an unknown, most people or disc jockeys wouldn't get to the 3rd or 4th or 5th track if the first few were duds. As it is, having American Pie first really sets you up for disappointment the longer the album goes on. The next two are pretty but downtempo and the 4th track hits turbo-snooze. The 5th track, Winterwood, would have made a good opener. By contrast, you can tell that Everybody Loves Me, Baby is gonna be lame from the way he counts in. I would be interested to know if he wrote that before or after American Pie, because it bears some resemblance and if he wrote it after, it is particularly tragic. Most of the rest of the songs are pretty and inoffensive, but I'm much more likely to listen to Paul Simon or Bob Dylan or Nick Drake if I want that.

I only knew the two songs by this band that appeared on the Nuggets compilation. That is a pretty well known compilation of 60's garage/psych rock and totally worth a spin if you like garage/surf/spy/psych music of that era. I like that stuff, so I was happy to listen to a full Electric Prunes album. I'm more likely to revisit the Sonics or the Creation, but this album spans a fairly wide landscape of sounds, tempos, subjects. I'm not sure I totally liked them, but Sold to the Highest Bidder, The King Is in the Counting House, and The Toonerville Trolley were completely bananas songs that I was not expecting. Some points for taking wild swings at the prize, despite some whiffing.

This album definitely heralds a new branch of metal/hard rock. It’s brash and dumb and cool. I’m not a maximum guitar solo guy so this has a ceiling for me. I’ve been building an ice rink in my yard for 6-7 years, and made friends with a goalie in the neighborhood who does music writing for the Chicago Tribune. He has an extensive record collection and an audiophile setup with 300lb speakers, and $10,000 a piece components. He had us over for pizza, beer and loud music - he plays his music live venue loud. Running with the Devil was the first song he played and it was bitchin’.

I’ve always liked her voice but I’m ambivalent about the Sinatra-style orchestral treatment.

I had listened to this album before maybe ten years back and liked it alright. I Wanna Destroy You made a big impression. It's a great song, and if you told me that was Cheap Trick I might even believe you. I liked Positive Vibrations but lost interest after that. A second chance through gave me more to like including Tonight and The Queen of Eyes. I'm generally a sucker for jangly pop done well, so that tracks. There are too many songs that bug me like I Got the Hots and Old Pervert to go to five stars for me. Also, the metaphor for love on Kingdom of Love has to be one of the creepiest used in pop music. I saw Robyn Hitchcock in concert in college because Matthew Sweet was the opener. He was touring Girlfriend which I was infatuated with at the time.

It’s pretty great, even if it feels a little like a marketing stunt. An all time intro. Ultra badass. I think it gets a little sleepy in the middle, but I’m always happy to hear this!

This is another album that demonstrates the British slant of the list. I liked it, especially on my second pass, but I would need more listens to go to more than 3 stars. While squarely R&B, there is some spoken word, gospel, Afro beat, hip hop, dance components that make it rich for re-listening. The timing of the holidays is making it hard for me to dive deeper.

One of two or three Christmas albums I wouldn’t mind listening to out of season. It’s starts off well enough, but by the time you get to Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, it’s full gas. The drumming is awesome and propulsive, bass lines are without flaw. It’s hard to separate this from Christmas dreck since it serves as the backbone to virtually all Christmas playlists, but you will be rewarded if you can.

Like with Sonic Youth, they have have picked my two favorite Talking Heads records. It’s not a perfect album but it has a ton of cool songs and you get a glimpse into where they are eventually going.

I’m preprogrammed to dislike Rod Stewart, but this was pretty listenable.

There are too many Mercury Prize winners on this list that are questionable. I mostly enjoyed this album but I think it is a pale version of Lauryn Hill, the Fugees, and Erykah Badu. We already saw Lauryn Hill's record, so maybe the author just likes this R&B mashup style and time period a lot. We are probably going to see more of them. I might have rated this 3 stars but it was way too long. I would have cut 4 or 5 songs.

Donovan is really more of a singles artist. His greatest hits I can recommend unequivocally and you can find it used and inexpensive on vinyl. I have a pretty high tolerance for his hippy dippy bullshit, but this album really pushed that. I have a double album called A Gift from a Flower to a Garden which is more listenable than this when he goes Raga. Celeste was a nice discovery beyond the singles here and The Trip was pretty good. The lows are too low and obsessed with production. Strings, now clarinet, triangle?, bang, motherfucker, HARPSICHORD!

I bought this album used years ago and sold it back awhile later because it didn’t stick. I didn’t expect much. It exceeded my expectations. I like the instrumental they open with. Winwood has a nice voice and the drummer is good. There are also not a ton of tracks that have deep hooks.

Not my normal thing and I was completely unfamiliar with this but I liked it especially when she does things that are jazz inflected rather than jazz. I had to listen a lot for the hooks to get to me but I really like the complete vision. It is distinctly 70s and that adds something for me.

I've really liked, maybe loved, probably half a dozen Beck albums, including this one. I'm a sucker for Dadaism, I suppose. A cool thing that I got from relistening to this album this time was how much these tracks foreshadow things Beck is eventually going to expound on. There's the sexxy funk happening in Hotwax that he's going to explore at length on Midnite Vultures. Lord Only Knows feels like it could have been on Mutations. Jack-Ass has long been my favorite song on the album, but that probably has something to do with it not being a big single so it's my own little "secret".

It’s kind of funny that when this list includes an American rapper from this century, it’s an ex-pat that lives on the continent. I only listened once which really isn’t enough to understand the record. I liked the musical ambition with a pretty cool range of beats, synths, samples, and acoustic instruments. His flow is pleasing but not particularly distinctive. The cover art is cool. Right down the middle on this one. The Britney reference to begin the album made me laugh.

I mostly like the Cure for their singles and have never been really taken by an entire album. I liked the more obviously goth feel of this early record. There weren't enough songs that I came away in love with, so while I like the grey sky aesthetic, it's missing an ingredient for me.

I guess I'm officially a Joni Mitchell fan now over the course of the last week. I knew and liked California from this album, but added a few more tracks listening to this album including Carey and This Flight Tonight. If this came up on its own instead of in close proximity to Court & Spark, I might have given it a higher rating. I liked that one better since it had a pretty singular vision and a very specific place in time. This seems like a good folk record and I'm less likely to revisit it. Her lyrics are consistently great.

I only really knew the Damned song Neat Neat Neat before this from the No Thanks! compilation. It looks like they referenced that one on track 8 of this record. Unfortunately, that song is better than anything on this album. I like this style and time period but this record doesn't do that much for me. I liked the first track and Plan 9 Channel 7 but most of it slid by without me really noticing.

I'm not going to have any perspective reviewing this album. I saw Smashing Pumpkins 3 times on this tour, twice in Chicago at the beginning of the tour and once in Paris while I was on an exchange program. My daughter still wears my falling-apart tour t shirt. I bought all the singles individually. From Gish to Mellon Collie, I was a super fan. Then I wasn't. While I don't know that this has aged as well as Gish, it's pretty great. I will say this was the height of Jimmy Chamberlain's considerable powers.

This was pleasant enough, though maybe not enough to appear on this list. Be Yourself definitely references Everyday People. I don’t think that was an accident. I liked Cafe Regios too.

The first two tracks give this a nice, noir opening. There were a few things beyond that I liked but a number I didn’t. I have trouble getting past the fact I don’t really like the vocals on most songs.

Predictably, I really didn’t like this album. Buffalo Stance nearly made me think I was going to get surprised. I kind of like that song and faintly remember it. That might have earned this 2 stars but the shallowness of the beats and songs erased that goodwill. I think it’s telling that this was 1989 and it sounds like mid-80s production. This album was retreading ideas. Finally, why on earth is every song 5 minutes long?

I have a pretty high tolerance for dumb and fun in my music. For instance, I like Motorhead. This was a little too much for me since probably a good 25% is gibberish and the whole thing is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what a gynecologist does, but I guess I don't really know what alien gynecologists from Jupiter do. The music is ok, but not breaking down any walls. I'm not a big fan of his flow. I was able to listen to it twice without hurting myself, so I won't give it 1 star.

Yep. It’s dumb and great.

The first song was a fairly straightforward R&B song, and I thought, oh, maybe this won't be as bad as I was prepared for. There were only a couple of those and I really can't get into the pop ballads or gospel pop songs that followed.

I think I was beaten down by the string of records that ended with Mariah Carey, but I enjoyed my trip with this album, especially Santa Cruz and Going Out of My Head.

I’m not entirely sure how these guys fit into Nu Metal. To my ear they sound like Tool with a sense of humor. It’s heavy and weird and I generally liked it.

I like Afropop, so I'm always happy to be exposed to another corner of it. There are a couple of tracks on here I didn't like but mostly enjoyed the ride minus the in-your-face 80s production touches that didn't age super well.

It's hard not to grade Beatles albums on a curve. It seems like we are going to see most of their discography and solo albums too. The hits on this one are good, but not my favorite. I'm a big fan of If I Fell, And I Love Her, and Tell Me Why. The second half is not nearly as strong.

As a Chicago resident, I probably shouldn't have such a surface knowledge of blues music, but I do. I had never heard this and I thought it was a rollicking good time. He's got a super cool voice. Like the Stones album we listened to earlier in this list, that first song hasn't aged well.

I had heard him back in the day and spent maybe 15 minutes listening to him one year at Lollapalooza, but this is the first time I really tried listening - twice to the album. He has a talent for vocal hooks without a doubt. I think his voice is good, too. If I was grading purely on his ability to write vocal melodies, this would no doubt get a 4 or 5. I just can't get away from the fact that I'm not sure I got surprised by a single thing on this album - lyrics, song structure, production, etc. It is kind of just of maddeningly normal.

This is my favorite Bjork album, though maybe I’m in for a surprise in the next 3 Bjork albums I assume we are going to hear. I like it for a few reasons. First, she achieves a complete vision. It sounds like winter, cold and crystalline. The last song kind of hints at Spring in the offing. Second, in addition to the weird meandering you would expect, there are hooks that let you establish a toe hold. Take, for instance, It’s Not Up to You. I’m not sure I could sing the verse even with an hour of study. Then the chorus hits with the simple melody and hallucinated, layered vocals and propulsive bass line. It’s pretty great. Third, this seems very much of an era, tucked between Kid A and another Icelandic band I liked, Mum. In fact, if you swapped out the vocals for Thom Yorke, I’m pretty sure you have a Radiohead album.

I had never heard it besides the big single. I liked the heaviness of it and the bassist and drummer made me happy. I needed a few more moments on it for it to make a dent in me, and I thought the production was very weird. The guitar is super reverb’s and far away with drums and bass WAY more present. It was distracting. Enjoyed it overall.

I had listened to The Tenement Years and Terminal Tower, so I had some idea of what I was getting into, but I'm still a little punch drunk. I listened to this album twice, but I'm pretty sure I would need to listen to this 3 or 4 more times to really accurately understand it. I'm ok with the warbling vocals and the general weirdness, but probably could use some more hooks somewhere. I really liked (Pa) Ubu Dance Party, in particular, and generally that they bring elements of the 70s to 70s post-punk music which often sounds entirely outside of its era. Also, listen to On the Surface and tell me Modest Mouse sounds like it does without Pere Ubu.

I listened to this back in the day when it came out. I'm not sure I was fully ready for it then. I like the chill of most of the album with some injections of spirit in there. Enjoyed the reimagining of Pumpkins and Public Enemy. I would revisit this.

This was a very pleasant discovery. I love the way it sounds - it’s really well produced. There are a lot of different styles here and while I might have cut a song or two, I rarely found myself bored, and the last 5 or so songs are great. I really prefer the songs that have florid structures to the few that start/finish with a theme then spend five minutes of passing solos from player to player, but that’s a minor quibble. I will revisit this album.

I like the doom and gloom. Guitar riffs are great. If I'm being critical, I think they become better players later. Iconic album artwork is worth a mention, too.

It’s overlong like most double albums, but I like his ode to black culture, and it comes in many forms on this album. I think if I had to introduce Stevie Wonder to someone, I would choose Sir Duke. It’s the best side of his genius. It has an incredible chorus hook, the descending pre-chorus is badass, and the post chorus horn solo/riff defies explanation. It is incredibly complicated and long, yet if you’ve heard the song a half dozen times you can probably sing along with it. That’s the good side. Sometimes he over thinks things like taking the subject matter of Village Ghetto Land and rendering it in strings. That was certainly a purposeful and political statement. It doesn’t land for me. So was following that song with the jazz/funk of Contusion. Then he pays it off with Sir Duke. I think you can learn a lot about him by listening to those songs in sequence. It also is a great recording - excellent production.

I had a cassette tape of this album and absolutely wore it out. It sounds great to me even if Lee Mavers never felt it properly represented. As a squarely mediocre musician I guess I get having musical ideas you can’t quite fulfill. Glad they got paid eventually. It’s just a shame it took Sixpence None The Richer to get that done.

I probably shouldn’t like this since he’s playacting a cowboy, but I love it despite the lack of true emotional depth. I end up in a mid-century fantasy world and I’m cool with that. El Paso made a nice cameo in Breaking Bad. In fact, the last episode is titled Felina, the tragic love interest in the song. No doubt they liked that it made an anagram of “finale” too.

I bought this CD in the late 90s or early aughts. I like it pretty well, but if I'm wanting to hear Elvis Costello, I'm going to listen to This Year's Model. Until Saturday, I didn't realize that (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding was a Nick Lowe cover. This maybe deserves 4 stars because he writes good songs and his band is tight, but I really don't plan on spending a lot more time with this album in my life.

The singles, or at least the songs with commercial potential, are all on the first half, but I like the second half, too. It’s loose and unpolished. It probably approximates Black Francis’ ideal form: unhinged and unconcerned with form, production, or commercial viability. Also, the cover b(.)(.)bs are outstanding.

This was my introduction to Kendrick Lamar. In my mind that was 5 years ago, but now I realize this is a classic at this point. He's released a lot of good music in between now and then, so I hadn't revisited it that much. Besides feeling really old since this is "new music" to me, I loved going back to this. The whole concept album (or short film per Kendrick) really works, including the polaroid artwork. I feel like the last track sticks out like a sore thumb, and doesn't fit on the album, but that's minor quibble. The album sounds great, his flow is awesome, and he has things worth saying. I had completely forgotten that Drake shows up on this album. I guess familiarity breeds contempt.

I like a fair bit of electro pop acts like CHRVCHES or La Roux. I had never heard this and generally liked it. I felt this fell off the table after the first half or it might have gotten 4 stars from me.

If an alien gynecologist from Jupiter asked me what 80s music sounded like, I might suggest Rio or Hungry Like the Wolf. In an era that included Michael Jackson and Madonna, these guys were the biggest thing in the world for awhile. I was looking for hidden gems, and while the other tracks were fine, I didn't find them.

I listened to this when it came out since he’s a Chicago guy and the album was well reviewed. Kick, Push is super great but doesn’t really have anything close to an equal.

I probably dismissed this as music for pussies when it came out, but it turns out I'm dumb. I like the general hazy, proto-shoegaze aesthetic and there are some great songs I had never heard. The fact that she sang in gibberish also fascinates me. It could be a whole Sound Opinions episode.

Worth hearing but besides the title track and one or two others there isn’t enough to bring me back. There are too many stinkers.

He gets some points for musical ambition on this album, but for the most part it allows him to suck in a variety of musical styles.

The content is generally dumb and frequently regressive, but it is a different take on hip hop that is very west coast and, well, laid back. There are some things to enjoy besides the songs you've already heard, and since I'm Old Skool, I appreciated the Slick Rick cover. I'm surprised I had never listened to this front to back.

It's fine. It sounds like the Pet Shop Boys which doesn't immediately move me either way. I didn't hate it nor was I moved to become a fan.

I've tried this guy before with similar results. I like moments and a few songs, but not enough to put up with the bullshit. I legitimately liked the first song and wondered if this album was going to be the moment I got him. Poughkeepsie definitely set me straight - that is an annoying and lazy song. It lets you know you are going to get a lot weirdness for no purpose. I also don't like that whenever he hits up bluegrass or legacy styles, etc. it's always delivered with a sneer.

I'm reminded of Father John Misty if he were gay and lived in Iceland instead of LA. They both even use the term honeybear. I can't quibble with the lyrical content which was human, and sometimes pretty funny to boot. He writes pretty good songs. I don't like the production choices. As an example, in TC and Honeybear, the operatic backup singing kills it for me. I think that sort of kitchen sink maximalism is the part I react negatively to. The album art is kind of creepy, and I like it.

These are good songs tarnished a little bit by the production, but not fatally so.

It was a pleasant enough experience, but I was a little bored. I feel like it’s Amy Winehouse with a little less flava. The voice gets it over the finish line, but I wouldn’t mind some more chances taken.

Pretty sleepy, but it was a pleasant enough experience. I was all ready for EDM which is what I thought Goldfrapp did. If I knew their other stuff, this might have had more impact in terms of showing another side, etc.

Not my thing, but I heard a fair bit of this album when it was released since a lot of my cohort liked it. It's aggressive and sounds good, so I get it if you like this. I'm sure people thought the first track title was funny 30 years ago. Hard to imagine that.

I had listened to 4 or 5 of his albums but never this one. It didn't add a lot to his cannon for me. If I'm going to listen to him it's probably going to be Rain Dogs or Mule Variations. This one has a lot of the same elements - gravel voice, klink/klank percussion, alternating between pretty and challenging songs but not many that broke through for me.

This was headed right for the 1 star pile, but the last two songs had moments that made me feel something. Moon in June had psych/prog rock vibes that even if I didn't out right like creeped me out a bit. The last one made for an enjoyable 8 minutes that started slow and overstayed it's welcome.

I guess this means we are getting a minimum of three White Stripes albums since this can't be the only choice from their discography. It's a better record than I give it credit for and I enjoyed revisiting it since I never listen to this album. While I think they hit their peak a few years earlier, I appreciate that there are a lot of different styles and ideas here. The Nurse is a very strange song, at least from an arrangement standpoint - marimba and art metal guitar. Pretty unusual, especially leading into the single from the album which is straight from their playbook. That was an intentional pairing. There are a few too many misses on this album but I appreciate swinging for the fences.

I was only familiar with two songs on this record, so I'm glad it came up. I enjoyed the ride but didn't find a ton of discoveries on this record besides Success. Really enjoyed that one. This is a soft 4, but I would listen again.

After Disc 1, I was ready to go to 2 stars on this, but Disc 2 and its collection of old timey pop styles drove me crazy. It was at that point that I started questioning why I spent an hour and 18 minutes with this album. Way too long.

I like Glam generally, but this sucked. The hooks aren't great. I find his voice annoying - listen to the last song and tell me it doesn't sound like Adam Sandler is singing in character. There's a part in Spinal Tap where Rob Reiner is reading reviews of Intravenous de Milo and it reads: they are treading water in a sea of retarded sexuality and bad poetry. Exactly this!

The first track is on my very short list of favorite Stones songs. The last song is great, though tarnished by my association of it with Trump. I know they don’t sanction his use but it still sucks that I can picture him “dancing” when I hear it. I don’t like Midnight Rambler at all. The rest all have things going for them. In between a 4 & 5 for me.

This album made me feel things at least. Sometimes it was like I was watching the scene in Dumb & Dumber where Lloyd and Harry are driving in the van with the hitman and Lloyd says, "Do you want to hear the most annoying sound in the world?" Sometimes it was pretty exhilarating. It's no shock that I liked the close of the album (the last three songs best), with Hold Hands and It Will Happen Anyway best. That was pretty bad ass. Those three songs are the most like typical songs. My biggest complaint is that sometimes they smother the momentum they create with weirdness - maybe on purpose. Take There's always Room on the Broom, if that song has actual drums and bass, not the thin little hi hat crap, more like caveman pounding drums, that might be pretty rad. In general, this music would benefit from real drums.

This is pretty peak 70s light rock - at least sides 1,2 & 4. I liked that he had a different theme on each record side. It's impressive he recorded 3/4 of this by himself. All that said, while I generally was fine with the experience, it didn't convert me to a follower.

I had heard this when it came out and enjoyed revisiting it. I have a soft spot for English "white trash" music, and this was on the early side of that genre dipping into rap. I would probably go to 4 stars for their previous album Original Pirate Material for sheer brashness. This album is more considered and purposeful but I think loses some verve.

Beyond the big singles of Walk on the Wild Side and Perfect Day, there are a lot of great songs full of NYC weirdos. There are a few good rockers like Vicious, but I even like the songs that go farther afield of VU like the New Orleans jazz of Goodnight Ladies or New York Telephone Conversation which is almost musical theater, I guess. I really like Street Hassle, but I think this is probably his best solo record.

I'm kind of a Louvin Brothers stan. I own 4 of their records on vinyl. Of those, this is the one I think is weakest, but I still could listen to pretty much all day. I think they are better the more religious fervor they bring, and this album falls into their "commercial" content. I heartily recommend Satan is Real and The Family That Prays. They very clearly are moved by the spirit even if they were hypocrites and fallen in a few ways. I love their harmonies, they absolutely tickle my balls. The tenor harmonies are what conjures the magic. Knoxville Girl is probably the classic murder ballad. It's been performed by a ton of people and originated hundreds of years ago from the old country as Wexford Girl. The words are sociopathic. If you don't like this version, check out the Lemonheads version. It's pretty faithful, actually.

I really wish the 70s weren't so chock full of double albums. That said, this album has a lot of depth beyond the singles, the reggae song not withstanding. The title track is my favorite Elton John song, so the album has a head start from my perspective. I can quibble about the cosplay of Saturday Night or the saccharine sweetness of Candle in the Wind, but there are a lot of good songs here. If Bennie and the Jets is good enough for Tribe Called Quest, it's good enough for me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L400S6Flz2I&list=RDL400S6Flz2I&start_radio=1

People really loved this album when it came out and I didn't totally get it. I liked revisiting it and found more to like. His lyrics are generally solid and while it hews pretty closely to the dreamy dad rock vibe, there are enough tracks that take the tempo enough to provide a little caffeine - Red Eyes, An Ocean in Between the Waves, and Burning especially.

This was a favorite in the late 90s architectural design studios. I never owned it but heard it plenty of times. It's incredibly pleasant.

I have a compilation of Brazilian psych rock called Tropicalia. It has a few Caetano Veloso tunes on it including, you guessed it, Tropicalia. It has other acts like Os Mutantes and Tom Ze who I prefer to Caetano Veloso, but I was happy to listen to a whole album which was a first for me. Pretty enjoyable, but there weren't a lot of songs that really broke through for me. I will round up for groovy album art.

While it has the haziness associated with Shoegaze, this album isn't particularly sleepy. Also, it contains Vapour Trail which is an all time great song in my view. The four songs at the end were new to me. They were all decent and I liked Today especially. With that said, I appreciate the economy of the original album.

His voice is so incredibly great. I thoroughly enjoyed most of the songs I didn't know on this record. My only complaint is the choice to record versions of prominent songs already recorded by people with great voices. These versions of My Girl and Wonderful World didn't do much for me. Satisfaction is fine but not better than the original. I was familiar with this arrangement of Respect and it is great, albeit menacing. The Aretha version takes on so much meaning when you stack it up against this.

Updating Brazilian jazz with some electronic elements seems like a worthy-enough endeavor. I listened twice and mostly enjoyed it twice but didn't really come away with a lot of memorable songs and moments.

I had never heard of this band and like this style pretty well. I have a hard time seeing what this band does that X doesn't do better. The lyrics to Jack on Fire are legitimately scary.

I'm not sure why but I don't generally love the big band sound. Ray Charles has an incredible voice, but I was kind of bored.

I'm really somewhere like a 3.5 but I'm rounding up for the album art and chance taking. There are a few songs on this that really irritate me, but more that stand up. I don't think it is just a fluke that Running Up That Hill saw a gen Z resurgence, besides being a great song, the production still sounds great on that song and this record. The title track is really good as well.

This was better than I expected and had a few songs I had never heard that I liked including Billy Budd and Why Don't You Find Out for Yourself. The single is a good one too, but I had heard it before.

This is not the first Dylan record off the shelf for me usually, but it's full of incredible songs, and I don't mind the more tailored sound of the record instead of free wheeling folk stance, My favorite track is Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts. That's an all-timer for me.

I really liked the last song and enjoyed the songs with PJ Harvey and Kylie Minogue. The heavy gothic flavor is up his alley, and he’s trying to add flavor by genre jumping a little, but there are too many clunkers here.

This was fine. I didn’t hate anything, but I didn’t feel much of anything either. It seems really slight to be included on this list.

This is a real melting pot of a record, and I was not fully expecting this. Even the first song is a mashup of spy, Indian, jazz, 70's music and more. I really liked that one as well as Naag Devta. Not entirely sure that I'm going back a ton to this but it wasn't what I was expecting and opened up my musical borders.

I own this on vinyl and have been a fan for awhile. I like that the Monkees set a bit of a template for boy bands. They were selected for screen tests and didn't play the instruments on the first two albums or write anything. They wrestled creative control on this one and it turns out they were good. And interested in country music flavor. It kind of set a path forward for later "products" like Justin Timberlake or Harry Styles to push the boundaries of the genres where they made their fame. Also, I'll Spend My Life with You is a great song.

How did we make it to the 2010s without a band of note being called The Bees? I liked the combo of jazz, reggae, psych/garage.

Not my favorite Public Enemy record, but still very good. I think Flavor Flav is better as a hype man than MC, but I get why 911 became the single. But my heart belongs to Welcome to the Terrordome.

Too many disparate musical ideas on top of each other. Give me At The Drive In instead.

I like Cyndi Lauper and glad this album happened. There are some great pop songs on this but the stinkers stink. She Bop is one of them. While I was glad she covered one of my favorite Prince songs, it’s not a great cover. Great album art. I’m very ambivalent about this one.

I like the bass-led song writing. Safe From Harm & Hymn of the Big Wheel Stood Out. The faithful cover of Be Thankful For What You've Got was fine but did not really add anything to that song. The original is an all time great song and perfect for the summer.

Better than I expected, but after listening to it twice, I'm still not sure what to make of it and I need to move on with my life. There's definitely a lot of different styles. Some songs sound like the Grateful Dead, some of it is ass-kicking guitar rock. There's psychedelic, art rock, prog rock, and even jazz present. Definitely pretty interesting.

The music and rapping is definitely above average for the era, but the relentless and empty sexual content is pretty much incel shit before we exactly knew what to call it. I could have gone as high as 3 stars given the Humpty Dance, but it starts the album and I got beaten down by the end.

Street Fighting Man is a favorite Stones song of mine. I listened more critically to Sympathy for the Devil and appreciate it for how unusual it is. Hand drums, bass, a little piano, and vocals for most of it. There is no guitar until the absolutely badass solo. They get points for making an extended reference to the Master and Margarita, too. In general, there is a lot of variety and chances taken and I appreciate it. No Expectations, Jigsaw Puzzle, and Factory Girl and a few others are all good depth.

Despite having incredible highs like Slight Return and Crosstown Traffic, and Burning of the Midnight Lamp, this album is completely bloated with mediocre jam shit. I've owned this since high school and barely revisit it. The guitar between 0:30 and 1:00 on Slight Return is probably the pinnacle of rock guitar. It's haunted, loose, sexy, and badass. Even this can't save the album.

I saw him on this tour and he was surprisingly great live. Compared to a couple of his other albums, there are a few tracks on here that don't totally grab me. Somebody That I Used to Know is a personal favorite of mine.

This is my favorite Nirvana album despite the fact that the hooks on Nevermind are unquestionably better. This is more visceral. The production marries flawlessly with the content. It's furious and beautiful.

Wow. That was completely bananas. I liked very little of it, but it did pick up structure and interest for me from Feet Music on. The drumming is unrelenting, messy soloing, mixed way too loud. I think that is supposed to make it punk, but I think it is just distracting. The bass is buried. I'm never going to be a fan of this music, but it is absolutely distinct and takes a position.

It's a little over long, and there are several songs that don't really move the ball forward, but there is so much to love on this record. First, Black Futurism is cool and I like a lot of branches of that tree. Second, the fact she can make dance club bangers like Cold War & Tightrope but also a super cool dreamy 50s era track like Sir Greendown or Stevie Wonder-esque folk/soul/pop like Oh, Maker is pretty amazing. I was between 4 & 5 and rounded up for the ambition and kickass album cover.

There are too many songs that pass by in a blur to give this a 5, but it's a very enjoyable record with some great songs. I've liked this band since college. I have Counting Crows *gasp* to thank for introducing me to them. I saw CC play an outdoor festival in Chicago and Adam Duritz, in a moment of immature fame rejection at the height of his fame, changed the lyrics of Mr. Jones to say he wanted to be Alex Chilton instead of Bob Dylan. I did some research and suddenly the Replacements song titled Alex Chilton made more sense. I eventually got to this record from that moment. Thank You Friends is fantastic. I love Big Black Car and O, Dana. I have Jesus Christ on my Christmas Mix. The VU cover is good, but not great.

I've listened to this before and left the experience unimpressed. The first couple songs made me think I had prematurely dismissed it. By the time I go to minute nine of Key To The Highway, I had calibrated my feelings.

I'm into Reverend Al Green. I like bedroom soul/R&B and this is very of its time, as well. There are not enough bangers beyond Let's Stay Together to climb the mountain, but I really like the ride.

There's not a lot of fat on this record. There are cool and daring arrangements. Sometimes I wonder how amazing it would have been to wander into a jazz club in SF in the late 50's and hear this music. It would have been dizzying and felt like anything was possible.

A little long for my taste but it has half a dozen bangers at least. The guy is inventive and meaningful.

I preferred the Hounds of Love over this one. It probably has a lot to do with the production which is the worst of 80s era in my opinion.

My 21 year old self probably couldn't imagine giving this a 4, but my current old man self sure can.

Boulder to Birmingham and Queen of the Silver Dollar are my favorites. I can quibble with the high 1970s country production, but it wouldn't kill my enthusiasm for the song writing. She does an earnest and faithful cover of my favorite Dolly Parton song, but it doesn't outshine the original. It is such a profound and sad song, I will take it in almost any format.

I really like Plainsong and Lovesong. Plenty of other good tracks. This album definitely defines a mood and sticks with it.

I liked this pretty well despite and because of the intentional ugliness. It kind of sounds like second wave industrial music like Ministry. The bass especially fits that category. My favorite was probably The Dim Locator which sounds like lo-fi Television.

I like a lot of branches of the psychedelic tree, including this one that includes EDM and art rock components. It's a shade too long and they might not be as profound as they think they are, but when 3:17 of My Girls hits, you realize that they might make you work for it but definitely can pay it off. Summertime Clothes and Bluish are other favorites and I like more than I don't on this one. Panda Bear continues to make interesting tracks currently.

The run from Visions of Johanna through Stuck Inside of Mobile is unbelievably good. The band sounds great. I've listened to this one a lot.

I like electropop, so I've tried these guys out before. It is all pleasant but I don't find myself going back.

I listened to this several times and can't decide if I like it or hate it. If I had to guess, these guys would be a real drag at a cocktail party. I appreciate the range of their music which seems kind of emo to me, like a British version of Sunny Day Real Estate that takes themselves very seriously. I would like to listen another time or two but I need to move on with this list.

I acknowledge that this music is insincere and schmaltzy, but I feel like this is toward the end of the golden era of country music when the Nashville machine was purring at its optimal frequency. I had listened to his greatest hits but never made it to an actual album and that's too bad. I will revisit this one.

I've liked the retro-futurism of Air for awhile. The soundtrack to the Virgin Suicides is really good too. This album definitely executes the vision. There are probably a few too many background songs to get to 5 stars, but Remember, Kelly Watch the Stars and Sexy Boy are all standouts.

I was not looking forward to this but it exceeded my low expectations. I would listen to it again, but it didn't blow me away.

I liked a few songs on this. Boston Rag has a crazy song structure and some good hooks. Teeth of Gold and My Old School were pretty good, too. At the same time, I'm not sure where noodling guitar solos are part of eastern philosophy. I'm not exactly a superfan at this point, but this list has improved my view of this band.

I was in 8th grade when this came out and even then I could tell this was ridiculously inauthentic. Bad, Smooth Criminal, Dirty Diana are beyond my ability to suspend disbelief. This would get a 1 if it weren't for The Way You Make Me Feel. I like that one.

I first loved this album in high school and I still do. That's no mean feat. While I think Kim Deal is the durable talent in the band, having the unpredictable counterpoint of Black Francis makes magic, see Debaser et al. I think it would be a fun thing to make a playlist of songs with perfect screams in them. Monkey gets included in that playlist for the moment when Black Francis screams "THEN GOD IS SEVEN!"

Her voice is polarizing and there is a bit too much torch singing on this, but I like several tracks a lot and I have since it came out in 2005. At that time, I was pretty ignorant on transgender issues. On Hope There's Someone, she expresses a very basic desire that she not die alone. It moved me. Incels notwithstanding, I don't think most heteronormative young people have a deep-seated fear that they are unlovable freaks, destined for a lonely end. The cover art is on point, too.

It was fine but I'm not going back.

This was super pleasant to listen to. There's a limit to how high an album of pop standards covers can get. Incidentally, my favorite cover Willie Nelson has done is American Tune from Paul Simon off the Across the Borderline album. It improves the original which is pretty great already.

This flirted with 1 star but I almost liked Trick if the Light, so... I don't like the voice, songs or production for most of these. Meh.

The three song group from North American Scum to All My Friends is his high point. Love NY too. There are too many forgettable songs on the back half to climb the mountain.

Very little offended me. Very little surprised or delighted me. Columbia seems like a poor man’s Three Strange Days.

I try this album once every ten years. Thus far, the results are the same: I like it well enough, but I don't love anything besides A Message to You Rudy.

I get that they were an early example of the sound the Byrds would explode, but this isn't essential. Are You Happy? was the one song that I genuinely liked.

This is a rare album where I hear the premise and I think, "this is a terrible idea," and I'm totally wrong. His voice is a lot better than most people thought, including me - this is a one take record. They picked the right songs of theirs to play, and pick some really interesting covers. Where Did You Sleep Last Night is the heart of the record. What an incredible version.

This album came out right in my biggest hip hop blind spot. I was a bit too invested in indie in the early 90s, so I missed this album and pretty much every other rap album. I'm glad it was on the list and I got to hear it. Very, very solid.

This kind of blew my mind. I didn't realize that Duran Duran followed a VERY specific blueprint to the point of completely copying this band. It makes me like them less. This is definitely ahead of schedule in 1979.

I'm all aboard on this album. Some parts remind me of Stereolab and some remind me of Cate Le Bon. I listened to it 3X and will be back. Slow Motion & The Lightning Back were my favorites, but I liked almost everything.

Is he smoldering? Is he sulking? I've been trying to figure that out for awhile now. He has an objectively good voice, has a pretty unique formula, and interesting song structures. And yet, I don't feel it in my loins with the exception of the obvious choices. However, I would not begrudge anyone who said they were moved with the spirit. What a completely brilliant cover. It's almost always a good choice to cover Leonard Cohen since he rarely maxxxed his undeniably great songs, but this is inspired and revealed the song in its full glory. Nearly a 4 on the strength of that one.

I like Low a lot, so I was surprised that this didn’t do more for me. I would rank at least 4 or 5 Bowie albums above this.

I think this is their high point. It covers a lot of musical ground with indie, funk, R&B, electropop elements. I saw them on this tour and they were incredible live. Every one is doing cool things if you listen. There are a couple of songs that I’m ambivalent about but love the album, especially Halfway Home and Family Tree.

This was a bargain bin buy for me 35 years ago and I got my $2 out of it for sure. I like glam well enough and there are enough good songs on this one to put up with the bad ones. All the Way from Memphis and Honaloochie Boogie are my favorites.

I’ve tried this a few times before and it found me more receptive this time. I like the beginning of this record especially. I’ve always liked Jump Into the Fire, but added a lot more to the list this time. Even the more sentimental numbers didn’t bug me that much anymore.

This was better than I expected and I might even revisit it sometime. I listened to it 3 or 4 times. Didn't have enough that I loved but it didn't have anything I hated. Home is Anywhere You Hang Your Head was my favorite.

One of the best albums of the aughts. Balls out rock with songs about teenage balding and erectile dysfunction. The syncopations and grooves vary widely. I think Velvet Snow embodies the album in 2 minutes. It’s awesomely frantic and they pack a change in at 1:20 and an outro at 1:50. Economical rocking to the max.

Pretty fun ride. This is not a genre I listen to much, but as young adult in the 90s, I had definitely heard the hits. There is plenty of stuff to listen to beyond the singles but I have a dance music ceiling, I guess.

Return of the Grievous Angel is a great song. There are a few others, but too many pass by in a blur.

I liked it to start, but liked it less and less as it went.

I kind of struggled with this one because I like probably 5 or 6 Radiohead albums better than this. It's hard not to grade on a Radiohead Curve. With that said, there are still a lot of really good songs like Pyramid Song and Knives Out. I enjoyed revisiting it.

I liked this WAY more than I expected. I had not appreciated that they at some point kind of sounded like Blue Oyster Cult or Thin Lizzy.

I love most of their albums, including this one. I absolutely understand people who think it is needlessly "cool" and weird and don't get it. In fact, I married someone who does not tolerate this album very well. For me, it is just the right mix of rock, pop, and boundary pushing.

This is an album that I've been enthusiastic to listen to for 35 years.

There are so many good songs on this record, but the one I really want to listen to over and over is It's Too Late. I like most of the rest of the tracks but they don't move me enough to get to a 5.

This is one of their better efforts, and stands in well as a representation of their music. It's ramshackle, doesn't say much, and contains too many foreshortened musical ideas. I may like Mag Earwhig better, but it doesn't really matter. You are going to get a few great rock songs; in this case, that includes Motor Away and My Valuable Hunting Knife. You are going to get too many dumb songs that never needed to get committed to media; in this case, that includes The Ugly Vision, (I Wanna Be A) Dumbcharger, and more. The greatest hits record is probably the best way to experience this band. BTW, I've seen them twice, kind of accidentally. I'm not sure how Bob Pollard is alive. The first time I saw him chug at least 8 beers, maybe as many as 12, over the course of a 60 minute +/- set. He did not seem changed in any way. It was remarkable and scary.

I listened to this a bit when it came out. I like his voice/flow but I have limited interest in these songs and they wear out their welcome pretty quickly.

I had never heard of this group or this album and that's a shame. It's very obvious that they had influence on Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. I would listen to this more but since I had to find it on YouTube, it's going to be hard to do it. I hope it becomes available on streaming.

It's not an album that I'm going to revisit much, but what else can you give this album. Also, Going to California is my favorite Led Zeppelin song, along with Bron-Yr-Aur.

There are a couple of VU records I like a little more than this, but this is a great. Despite Lou Reed apparently being a grouch and a jerk, he writes an empathetic song about a trans woman in 1969. The first 7 songs are better than the last 3 but I still like those, including The Murder Mystery. Listen to Fame Throwa by Pavement and it's clear that Pavement liked that song too.

There are a few tracks that I'm not in love with, but it is such a unique vision I'm not sure I care. The tracks I do love, I love a lot. I also remember the exact place I was introduced to this band and it most definitely changed what I was willing to listen to. When I was maybe like 7th grade (so picture 1986) I went to a public North Shore beach with my friend. A hot, artsy, college-aged girl next to us was playing Add It Up pretty loud. The mixture of taboo, coolness, and desire probably changed my musical life forever.

I enjoyed it. It was exactly as I thought it would be. He has a great voice and yet I have a hard time feeling a lot about it.

Super weird music designed for the Renaissance Faire. I'm somewhere between a 2 and 3 but can't imagine going back to this after one listen.

I've had this record for 25 years and never realized it wasn't Cosmos Factory. I liked that misunderstanding better. :) Up Around the Bend is in my top 5 CCR songs. There are many solid tracks on here, including Ramble Tamble and Lookin' Out My Back Door. I tend to like the originals more than the covers.

It has their ultra-bangers but feels a little disjointed which is probably a legacy of how the album came out well after they had made Time to Pretend. I prefer a couple of other albums for a whole album listen, but there are a lot of tracks on here that are worth the time. This is a solid document of the time, for sure.

I bought this at the time it came out since it was pretty hyped and he's from Chicago. I liked it but have slept on it since. I really appreciated it this time through and probably listened to it 3 or 4x over the last several days. Sometimes it is hard to figure out how much Kanye is driving these arrangements versus Common but I appreciate the range of vibes, and especially like the pieces that have a Curtis Mayfield flair. I like the continuum of Chicago dudes and Curtis was amazing.

I heard it when it came out but it didn't break through to me like their previous record. It's a lot better than I gave it credit for and enjoyed listening to it a couple of times. The first half is stronger but the back half gets buoyed by Hysteric.

So much talent and production in service of too many bad things to say. Not every song or skit has the most objectionable content, but between the really offensive ones, there's a lot of paranoia and feeling sorry for himself. He makes Kanye seem reasonable sometimes. It's a shame. He's so good.

It's hard not grade on a curve. Maybe I'm doing that, not sure. The album sounds great. It has a ton of great songs like Try Not to Breathe, Nightswimming, New Orleans Instrumental No 1, Sweetness Follows and more. I really don't like Ignoreland and there are a few that leave me ambivalent like Sidewinder. I feel like there is more emphasis placed on Michael Stipe and his voice on this record and I prefer the full REM experience.

I've been a fan since it came out. It's cartoonish and runs right up to, and sometimes over, the line of being annoying. I like that they swing for the fences and there are enough hooks to keep me coming back.

I really liked their first record which would have made a better addition to this list. With that said, there are a handful of strong songs here but also too many that are decent but fade into the background. This has a stronger dance feel which seems to be where Jamie XX true passion lies. Replica and On Hold are probably the best tracks here.

I am a casual fan of Wire and this album I really like. It's kind of crazy that they don't consider themselves punk since it sounds like they invented post-punk and hardcore at the same time. Plenty of my favorite bands owe a piece of their music to Wire. Good album.

It's early and they are very much explicitly ripping off blues musicians. I like Kids Are Alright and the title track especially. The former is a Beatles ripoff and a good one. The latter is indicative where they are going.

I like a fair amount of Spiritualized but don't find enough hooks to ground me in space. I can't argue with the ambition or epic quality here. Great album title, too.

I hated this album for an entirely different reason than I thought I would, largely because I thought Incubus sounded like Linkin Park. I was surprised to find Tool run through a 311 filter. Gross. The album art also offends me.

I've never listened to this record before, probably because I really don't like the title track. That made it a fun trip since I like Fleetwood Mac on balance. I found a ton to like on two listens and will take more spins to unpack it. Seems to me like Lindsey is the person most ready to turn the corner. The fact that they barely ever sing together on this record seems very real to me.

I have a hard time feeling much of anything when I listen to this, but they do get a lot of rock n roll out of a pretty accoustic instrument setup. 22 min album is crazy.

I had to listen to this 3 times to really figure out if I really liked it. I’m not a Doors fan by nature, so I was surprised to like this pretty well. There are two things that stand out to me: 1. Indian Summer is a great song. Hippie bullshit at its absolute finest. 2. The transition from Peace Feog to Blue Sunday is perfect. I guess this is my favorite Doors album.

Coming after Neon Bible, which was a pretty heavy album (see Intervention), I was pretty afraid of an Arcade Fire album called The Suburbs. I was figuring a joyless screed about late stage capitalism and gloom everywhere. To me this album is way more about nostalgia, coming of age, and a personal experience of growing up in the suburbs than a political one, even if there is some of that. And the songs are great. I think it's their best album.

Not my thing at all. Sounds great. The guitar is especially pristine.

The first half with Santana and friends feels pro forma to me. It was not my thing. But My Dream is most definitely my thing. The last two songs do a lot of redeeming and upgrading on this one.

Better than I expected since I really don't have a deep well of appreciation for Alice Cooper. I did meet him in the Detroit Airport once. He was a nice guy. The album covers a lot of ground, so I appreciate that, but his shtick has a ceiling for me.

The first half of this album is pretty great but I really didn't find much in the second half to celebrate. Several keepers on that first half. I was only familiar with A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours, but the run from Death of a Disco Dancer to Stop Me... is really good.

I fell off the Radiohead wagon for a bit after Hail to the Thief, so I missed this record when it was released. When I reconnected on Moon Shaped Pool, I went backwards and discovered this record. It's become one of my favorites of theirs. Reckoner and House of Cards are tops for me, but I'm happy/sad anywhere on this album. Jonny Greenwood is basically playing jazz and that pushes them somewhere new.

Enjoyed the experience, and I really liked Samba Da Bencao which starts the ride. Too much of the rest faded into the background for me and I didn't love the tracks that most mixed in modern music components.

This album is behind Funhouse and Raw Power in the Stooges discography. They haven't fully unlocked what makes them great. Still, it contains I Wanna Be Your Dog and No Fun.

All these years I’ve been melellow like yelellow and cool like lemonade, and then the Beasties voiced it for me. It’s their best record and a good time throughout.

Though he has a great voice and I like sad music, I felt virtually nothing throughout this.

I don't have a lot of love for ambient electronic music, so there is going to be a ceiling of appreciation for me. I liked this pretty well and it travelled some musical miles. If I weren't behind like ten albums I would probably listen a 3rd or 4th time to really form an opinion.

There has always been some distance between Rush lyrics and the music. Maybe that's the drummer writing them, or just Neil Peart's personality. It's not true in every song, just most of them. Go read the lyrics of Vital Signs. How is that ever going to feel like anything? I can't deny the hooks of Tom Sawyer or Limelight, and I still like those songs and some others on the record. I appreciated YYZ more than I have in years. The best lyrics on this are probably Red Barchetta since it seems personal and inhabitable, even if I don't really care about it.

I would gladly listen to most P Funk records a dozen times. Other than Give Up the Funk, I didn't have a lot of songs that cut through for me. Still, a very pleasant funky ride to space.

Solid. Good transmission from the 70s.

I was familiar with his early stuff - Runaround Sue, the Wanderer, etc. I had never heard this. I think the backstory on the album is more interesting than the music itself. Phil Spector being a madman drunk and shelving it. Dion rejecting it. I would watch the documentary on Netflix, I think.

I think I got this from Columbia House. Definitely had a cassette. I still like Panama, Hot For Teacher, and to a lesser extent, Jump. I had never noticed that Drop Dead Legs is a rip off of Back in Black.

I had the greatest hits in high school and have had this album on vinyl since my 20s. What can I say, I'm a nerd. The flute solo in Locomotive Breath is a remarkable achievement: a flute solo that is bad ass.

I own this on vinyl and gave it a spin this weekend. I think Jason is right that 3 albums by one artist probably is a good limit for this exercise, even if that's Bob Dylan. Especially if it's Morissey.

What? Am I gonna be the asshole that gives this record 2 stars. No, I'm not THAT asshole. I've had this record for 25 years or so. It probably took me 10 of those years to fully appreciate it, but I do, and it lives up to the hype.

White Winter Hymnal is a all-timer for me. I slightly prefer their follow-up to this but plenty of haunting harmonies and great songs on this one made it a pleasure to revisit. They were one of the best of this era of folk/pop revival.

Part of the early 90s hip hop I slept through as I became too indie for my own good. I know the hits and I'm fine with listening to Dre and Snoop take turns. It oozes west coast rap in production and verse. With that said, I probably missed my window to fully appreciate this.

This album has been a favorite of mine since it was released and I never tire of it. This was one of the very few records both my Dad and I both loved, so it has even a little extra juice for me.

His voice might be polarizing, but I didn't mind it. It's overstays its welcome, but I liked it minus a few songs I found grating.

There's nothing at all wrong with this album, but I find myself totally bored and stopping after 3 songs. It took me forever to run through it once, and I don't see myself getting through a second time to figure out what is going on. I like plenty of Damon Albarn's music, so I can't really explain it.

This was fun. Good band, fun grooves, and I liked the girl/boy vocals.

I'm a fan of this record. Trash, Jet Boy, Personality Crisis are standouts, but there aren't many bad tracks here. One of my favorite moments on the album is on Trash when they reference Love is Strange by Mickey & Sylvia. It would be fun to put a playlist together of great songs that reference (not sample) other great songs.

I liked this way better than other Chemical Brothers records. This is not my scene but the mixture of energy and psychedelic flourishes made it worth the listen.

Like most of his albums, the production is a weak link. It's really weak on this one. It sounds not only dated, but like it never made sense. The backing vocals are tragic. It's a shame because Everybody Knows and Tower of Song are really great songs. In another universe where he works with Rick Rubin or Jeff Tweedy or someone else this is probably great.

This was way better than I remember. I may have been experiencing Beck fatigue at the time since I loved a bunch of his albums before this. Broken Drum is an incredible song. Lots of distance travelled on this album. The first song could almost be a Fugazi song. Broken Drum is a minimalist masterpiece. I will be back.

It was fine, maybe even better than I expected, but it's too long and needs a higher rate of bangers.

I had a cassette of this in high school. It might have been the last cassette I ever bought. Not sure. I never really liked Mike Payton’s voice. I find it grating. I like the range of the writing and the idiosyncratic vision, though.

If you said this is too one note, I would get it. He likes doing a pretty album every 3 or four albums, but this and Morning Phase are way more thematic than something like Mutations. It’s not perfect, but I like it a lot. Sunday Sun and Lost Cause are among my favorite Beck songs.

There are great stories and melodies throughout. Every once in awhile there is a production choice that I don’t love, but those are overwhelmed by how real everything on this record is. Her voice, what she is saying, and how she is saying it all work together. I revisit it maybe once a year and I’m always glad that I did.

Tribe tickles a lot of my spots. A fair amount of the flow has not aged super well, but the production has held up for sure. A bunch of good tracks on this one including Check the Rhime, Vibes and Stuff, and Scenario.

I had never listened to this album. It was not what I was expecting, in a good way. I had to listen to it 3 or 4 times to figure out my thoughts on it. Usually that is a good sign. There were songs that resonated immediately, but not all or maybe even most. It's continued to grow on me. Glad it was on the list.

This and Hunky Dory are my favorite Bowie records. There are a ton of great songs and everything sounds so good. The drums are dry and sharp sounding. Bass sounds great. The guitar tone is immaculate.

I kind of skipped my way through this today because as a young male during the time of this release, it was everywhere. Radio, TV, friends, etc. I hate the dated production which I think is the zenith of the 1980s perhaps. It wasn't just them, there were 20+ bands whose drums/guitars/vocals sounded like this. The lyrics cause brain damage and/or manosphere sympathies. The lyrics should be avoided. The only reason this doesn't get 1 star is that they are really good at writing pre-choruses which set up their arena choruses. Almost every hit of theirs has one. I've always kind of liked Pour Some Sugar on Me despite myself.

I like a good amount of French pop so I had lofty and unfulfilled expectations. He's a little too theatrical for my taste.

They are little sharper and more dangerous than a lot of their pop punk contemporaries. I like the vocals and the guitar sound. I think this was intended for listeners younger than me, and it didn't catch me in real time, but I don't turn these songs off when they end up on the radio.

So many huge hooks. There is something so professional about the arrangements and production that it creeps me out. I need some warts, surprises or weird decisions to get to 5 stars.

I was a fan of the band well before this record. They were a guitar-centric indie band for the previous decade and I liked a lot of it. I saw the Boombox Experiments which proceeded this and Zaireeka. It made me physically ill. This album probably doesn't happen without both of those experiments, mixed results though they were. I didn't immediately love this album. I probably mourned the guitar band. After about two weeks, I was converted, confirmed, and evangelizing. I love the dirty drums and the prominence of the bass. Hell, I love the beatboxing. The album is propelled by the drums and bass with equal parts of orchestral pop, piano and guitar filling out the openings left over. They embrace production as art and marry it to great melodies, even if the lyrics lean too cute and silly.

Angular, political guitar music to the maxx. Along with a few other acts, they define post-punk to me. The guitar is almost impossibly trebly and dry. It is made for the hairpin turns in the music. I'm a fan especially of Natural's Not in It, Return the Gift, and I Found That Essence Rare.

I like the peak 70s aesthetic. Plenty of different things to listen to and it's well produced, but there are some stinkers on here.

I appreciate the Pogues probably more than I like listening to them. It's a cool mashup of trad music and punk and some tracks definitely grab me. I heard this record in high school and had no idea what to make of it. I'm not sure I totally do now.

Lanegan has a cool voice and they write good songs. I can't explain it, but very little sticks for me. It took me three days to listen to this record even though I liked a few songs on it.

I can tolerate a lot of Talking Heads. This one is not high on my list of favs, but still has a handful of great songs. I left this as a 4 despite Animals which was incredibly annoying to me. It would be in the top 5 annoying Talking Heads songs for sure.