Muddy was insanely influential. So influential that I think he's got a bit of the "Seinfeld isn't Funny" phenomenon going on this album, for me at least. I don't think it's bad at all. I like it quite a bit, actually. However, it doesn't strike me as something profound enough to transform music. Probably because the impact is so ingrained in the music that came after that it's lost some of that dazzle. I love Muddy's voice and his band kicks ass. It's a cool album that might be a little repetitive (as the blues tends to be, in my opinion) but it's done well enough that I kind of don't give a shit.

I've heard much about Aphex Twin prior to this, but hadn't heard much Aphex Twin. I understand this is some seriously influential music in a realm I don't have much interest in, at least currently. I'm not huge on instrumentals or purely electronic stuff, but I'm always open to changing my mind. Did this album change my mind? Eh, nah. Don't get me wrong: I was kind of down with the mostly chill mood this stuff evokes. It made me feel nostalgic for, like, late 90s 3D platformer games. It would actually make an excellent soundtrack for that shit, but as far as the pure music goes, none of it stuck with me. Maybe I'd throw it on during the home stretch of an unendurably long drive when my mind needed something, but not too much something, to hone in on while I gutted out those last miles. Other than that, though? I don't know, man. People really LOVE this shit? There's nothing really to latch on to here. No story being told or ideas being shared or connection to humanity at all. Maybe that's the point, though? It's another side of music that's purely the sound of decorated time? Sounds more like a dude having a lot of fun with new music tech in his bedroom, though. I think it stands higher as a musical artifact than as actual music. A gateway to a time when the art form was expanding beyond the confines of metal, wood, simple electricity, and people. If I'm off here, let me know. I'll be playing Tomb Raider for PS1.

Early rap is something I’ve never really dipped my toes in, let alone dove in to. The structures are wildly similar and straightforward with that “My name’s Pat and I’m here to say…” on the 2 and 4 flow. It sounds very dated to me….but I don't know…Run DMC kinda cooks with it. Their delivery packs heat and the unified, emphasized rhyming is fun. I like their crossing over into rock territory, not just on the famous Walk This Way cover, but on the title track, which is my favorite on the record. It’s not quite a 4 to me, but I couldn’t give it a 3. I totally understand how these dudes influenced so many.

I’m no big Bruce head, and in fact I’ve always struggled to appreciate most of his stuff…but wow, yeah, I get it with this one. 4-5 iconic hits and every other song on it is pretty damn good. I love “I’m Goin’ Down” the most of the tunes I’d never heard before. Great album, man.

The rating here was already decided well before I was given this album. I mean, who the hell is giving this one less than 5 stars? Plenty of people, I'm sure, but those people are wrong...and bad! Rotten to the core, I suspect. I can't be the first person to make this connection, but I've always looked at Strummer and Jones as the Lennon-McCartney of punk music. Strummer brings that rock & roll edge and Jones brings masterful pop. Paul Simonen can be George if he wants. That combination peaked with this immaculate collection of diverse, beautifully constructed tunes that flash all kinds of influences and yet ultimately sound like nobody but The Clash and anyone who ever tried to imitate them. London Calling may be the most all-killer-no-filler double album of all time, and even though I've listened to it many times before, this listen still revealed new brilliance to me. "Lover's Rock" and "I'm Not Down" hit different this time around, and fucking hell, "Train in Vain"? Better than ever. The only negative here is that there ain't no way the next album I get will compare.

Nothing mind-blowing, but fun, solid, and with a few bangers. Missy can spit, man. Favorite track: Slide Least favorite: Pussycat

I’m no big Bruce head, and in fact I’ve always struggled to appreciate most of his stuff…but wow, yeah, I get it with this one. 4-5 iconic hits and every other song on it is pretty damn good. I love “I’m Goin’ Down” the most of the tunes I’d never heard before. Great album, man.

Early rap is something I’ve never really dipped my toes in, let alone dove in to. The structures are wildly similar and straightforward with that “My name’s Pat and I’m here to say…” on the 2 and 4 flow. It sounds very dated to me….but I don't know…Run DMC kinda cooks with it. Their delivery packs heat and the unified, emphasized rhyming is fun. I like their crossing over into rock territory, not just on the famous Walk This Way cover, but on the title track, which is my favorite on the record. It’s not quite a 4 to me, but I couldn’t give it a 3. I totally understand how these dudes influenced so many.

I am not a fan of Van Halen, really. I can't get into David Lee Roth's whole squealing party boy shtick and I've never been a fan of Guitar God-style playing with all the crazy million-notes-per-minute shredding. That said, I completely understand how this album made this list and why a lot of people really love it. Eddie blends that Guitar God stuff seamlessly with some really tight, catchy pop songs with great choruses and all that. This album had like 7 songs that are still in the cultural consciousness today. That's one of the greatest debuts in the history of 'em. I didn't hate it at all, and I can appreciate the prowess, even though I'm not enticed to return.

Elvis Costello has long interested me, but I'd only really checked out My Aim is True and a handful of other tracks prior to this one. I can't say I've been totally swept off my feet by him like I may have hoped, but I do really enjoy the company of his tunes and I'm open to taking things slowly to see where they go. This album felt sort of like my feelings towards a number of King Gizzard albums: I quite enjoy the overall sound and approach, the musical gifts are evident, and pretty much every song is at least kind of good, but almost none of them really struck me as GREAT. At least not upon a single listen. Not all music needs to do that to be great, though, and I've realized relatively recently that I'm definitely a big power pop guy, so I'll be sticking around with Mr. Costello to see where it takes me for sure.

Of all the big bands that have had a seismic impact on the history of popular music, R.E.M. is probably the one I get the least. I've never gotten too much out of anything I've heard by them (except maybe "It's the End of the World" which, ya know, is fun), and although I don't HATE what I've heard, it just doesn't connect with me, like, at all. I find that upsetting because I absolutely love the indie/alternative music they massively inspired in the years following this album's release and SO many people worship this band. Even more upsetting? This album did nothing to change my views on them. I mean, it wasn't bad at all. I had some moments where I was pretty engaged and intrigued, but ultimately I remember almost nothing specific from any song. It's just sort of flat to me, even if the overall sound is kind of cool. Points for sounding way ahead of their time in 1982/83, and also not sounding dated at all during an era where almost everything sounded insanely of its time.

Man, The Police have a lot more tunes that regularly get radio plays and make playlists to this day than I realized. I mean, fucking hell...that one tune is called Synchronicity II!?!? Who knew, man. This was one of my favorite albums so far. Not that it was perfect (what the hell is going on with the song "Mother"?) but it's got a fantastic sound, super tight playing, and a number of beautifully catchy tunes. I feel like absolutely nobody sounded like these dudes when this dropped in '83. I'm not sure anyone sounds like these dudes at all.

Proggy, heavy, psych rock freakouts all blending seamlessly into one another for well over an hour, interspersed with spoken word sci-fi madness and the sounds of deep space...all performed live. It definitely kind of kicks ass, but I can't say I'm feeling too inspired to return and listen again. I'm certainly curious to listen to more Hawkwind, though.

Bad ass, heavy ass rock from top to bottom. No frills, no pretense, just bangers. I've always seen Deep Purple included in discussions of the progenitors of hard rock and metal, but the tunes I was aware of didn't fully illustrate exactly why they belong there. I get it now. Just a slight demerit because the vocal parts (while impressive) don't have the tight form or hookiness I'm personally looking for in my bad ass, heavy ass rock. Whack ass album cover, by the way. They really thought they were cooking with that one.

My knowledge of Harry Nilsson prior to this was mostly centered around his time spent with John Lennon during the lost weekend and his cover "Without You" by Badfinger. I've dipped a bit into his stuff before but didn't really get much of an impression, I guess, because I don't recall my impression. That said, I thought this album was beautiful. Harry's voice was remarkable. Tons of texture and depth and character, insanely dynamic. The songs themselves are mostly pretty great, too. "Jump into the Fire" is the best new song I've discovered on this journey so far. I'm totally interested in listening more and diving deeper.

Elliott Smith has crossed my radar here and there over the years. I love that clip that pops up on social media from time to time where he's playing on "Clementine" on some goofy ass morning zoo radio show and everyone, even the puppets, is dead silent, rapt by his obvious talent. That said, his whole thing is not my whole thing, really. Thin-voiced sadboy acoustic stuff doesn't quite connect with me a lot of the time unless you're Nick Drake. Well, okay, and maybe Elliott Smith, too. He had a strange way of singing, and an unusual sense of melody, but both are pretty captivating, delicate, and beautiful. There are some cool chord progressions going on in there, too. Reminded me of the Beatles from time to time. Then there were some songs with cool ass guitar playing and some great instrumental bits altogether. I much preferred the stuff drums and a full band, and found some the slower acoustic stuff relatively forgettable, but I only gave those one listen. I'm open to more.

This album has given me more trouble than any other I've listened to so far. When I first threw it on, I was immediately gripped by the size and clarity of the production. I thought, "Wow, this one might knock me on my ass." Then one of the singers came in with a silly voice that sounded like a child imitating the school principal and I wasn't so sure anymore. That was a microcosm of my experience with the entire album, really. Brilliant sections of pristine pop melodies and harmonies crossed with inane goofball carnival music crossed with some cool rock & roll sections crossed with some wacky vaudeville shit you wanna throw tomatoes at. I listened through twice, bopping my head and scratching it in equal parts. By the end, I still could not decide whether I enjoyed it or not. However, I can tell you for certain that this is a talented, interesting band that had the stones to go for it...whatever the hell "It" is. In fact, they went for many "its"--sometimes several at once. I give them plenty of credit for that. I may have even liked the album. Who the hell knows? 3.5/5

This was the first one that really didn't hit for me at all. I mean, was it terrible? No, definitely not. It was just...not much of anything. I kind of liked the big, pristine synth pop sound to start, and figured maybe I'd find my way into a genre I haven't explored much at all, but what I got from that first few seconds was literally everything the album had to offer me. I don't remember a chorus, melodic line, musical section, or lyric that stood out to me, let alone an entire song that did. I don't want to be a hater, man, but I'd be lying to give this thing anything higher than a 2.75.

The rating here was already decided well before I was given this album. I mean, who the hell is giving this one less than 5 stars? Plenty of people, I'm sure, but those people are wrong...and bad! Rotten to the core, I suspect. I can't be the first person to make this connection, but I've always looked at Strummer and Jones as the Lennon-McCartney of punk music. Strummer brings that rock & roll edge and Jones brings masterful pop. Paul Simonen can be George if he wants. That combination peaked with this immaculate collection of diverse, beautifully constructed tunes that flash all kinds of influences and yet ultimately sound like nobody but The Clash and anyone who ever tried to imitate them. London Calling may be the most all-killer-no-filler double album of all time, and even though I've listened to it many times before, this listen still revealed new brilliance to me. "Lover's Rock" and "I'm Not Down" hit different this time around, and fucking hell, "Train in Vain"? Better than ever. The only negative here is that there ain't no way the next album I get will compare.

I said the next album I got after London Calling could never compare. Folks, I spoke too soon. Exile is on the short list of my all time favorite albums, and whenever I'm actively listening to it I start thinking it may just be #1. The pure, unbridled rock & roll perfection on this album is god damn astounding. The whole band plus several others are just in pure lockstep, taking simple but powerful tunes and elevating them into something that has simply never been, and can't be, imitated, though countless many have tried. These are the kinds of recordings that can sound great when covered, but they'll just never have that warm, organic magic the Stones captured here. It sounds like the band is playing live in some dodgy dive bar, only they're hitting a transcendent high that only a select few others have ever touched. I see a fair amount of negative reviews here, and I'd just like to say: this one's a grower. It takes time for it to all fall into place. It wasn't even well-received upon release. I mean, there really are no songs on it that the average person is familiar with. I didn't get the hype upon my first few attempts. When it clicked, it cooked. Maybe that's how it'll go for you, too.

As widely appreciated as Creedence Clearwater Revival is, I still kind of think they're underrated. In about 2.5 years from their debut in May 68 to (the crazy underrated) Pendulum in December 70, these dudes churned out like a dozen or so stone-cold classic tunes that people still connect with and crank up to this day. The collection of jams alone is remarkable, but the pace at which they constructed that all-time great resume is absolutely staggering. Bayou Country is not the band's best album, but it's awesome without a doubt. It's got some of their biggest bangers in "Born on the Bayou" and "Proud Mary" but this band was not strictly singles, man. Far from it. Their "Good Golly Miss Molly" cover and "Penthouse Pauper" are some sparkling deeper cuts from this one, for a small example. However, I have to say that I have absolutely no idea why "Graveyard Train" needed to be eight and a half minutes long. It's a fun enough tune, but no way should it have taken up 1/4 of this album. For that, I must dock it a star.

Big arena-sized, commercialized, sidepipe-packing rock & roll isn’t exactly the way I personally like it, but there are always exceptions. I find that with the styles of music that don’t interest me or that I don’t quite get there’s often a proto version that I quite enjoy. It’s true about emo and metal for sure, and I think it’s kind of true about cock rock because I fucking love this Boston album, which I believe is something of a precursor to bands like Journey, Foreigner, and then all the 80s hair metal stuff. This debut smokes most others out there in both quality and quantity—or at least the ratio of good songs to bad. There may not be many tracks, but there are no bad ones. Every single song but one is an all-time radio classic, and the one (“Hitch a Ride”) that isn’t all over the classic rock stations is not dud. In fact, it’s just about as good as any other. It’s an all-time monster of an album, even if I’m not into super polished production, perfect instrumentation, and soaring high-note vocal climaxes.

3.5/5 The second half of this album saved it for me. I enjoy some of the raw acoustic Dylan stuff, but I don't think all of the tunes here are as well-suited to it as something like "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" or "Blowin' in the Wind." 9 verses with no changes to the music doesn't work for me too well. However, I also didn't have the time today to sit and read every lyric as I listened, so that surely didn't help. The second half, though, sounded great, man. The Band was just straight up cooking on it. They gave Bob so much more depth and feel. Yeah, I don't think I would have been booing at the Newport Folk Festival.

I knew a few tracks on this one from back in the day, and liked them all. I shouldn't say I'm surprised that most of the other ones were pretty damn good, too, but I will say that I'm surprised it took me this long (and this generator) to finally hear it all. Maybe my biggest takeaway is how melodic and lovely the vocals can be among the loud, banging rhythms and big old riffs. I never noticed that.

I've heard the name, but never heard the band. Well, actually, I think I've heard them in a number of bands that came after them, if that counts. This squad had one wild, sometimes wacky, always distinctive sound. World beats and weird voices and unusual hooks. I felt similar to this as I did about Sheet Music by 10cc: it's inarguably wildly creative and the band is undoubtedly talented, but I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it. Well, I do know how I feel about "Antmusic": It may be the best new discovery I've made on this journey. That song kicks ass. Some others are definitely good, but then others I just wasn't all that sure on. It had some wild sea shanty type stuff, wacky sounds, silly deep voices, jarring intervals and rhythms, and some strange almost lo-fi new wave production. That's a heady mix. However, sounds like music that grows on you for sure, so I think it needs more spins. I'm willing to do that, but that doesn't help me give this thing a rating right now... Call it a 3.25/5, I guess, but don't quote me.

Morrissey is an all-time douche in the history of popular music, which makes enjoying this band a tall task for me. Instrumentally I found some great stuff about this album, particularly in "Barbarism Begins at Home." Then there's Morrissey sort of whiny ramble-singing over it all. Sometimes he locks into something cool, sometimes he's got interesting lyrics, and all the rest of the time he's kind of just a dick. And the title track...I respect the message, but good lord is the delivery pretentious and douchey.

I love a bunch of Yardbirds tunes, but I've found that whenever I look into the deeper cuts they don't do as much for me as I'd expect. This album was a bit like that. The music wasn't bad, but almost none of it really stood out. Jeff Beck's guitar playing isn't nearly as prominent as you'd expect, and a fair number of tracks have little to write home about in that department, which is strange. Don't get me wrong: there's some cool ass playing in there, but with a fucking wizard like him you'd think most songs would be a lot more centered around the guitar. "Rack My Mind" and "Jeff's Boogie" are two obvious exceptions there. Yeah, I liked this album enough to give it some more time, but the first listen and a half didn't do much for me.

The King's music definitely sounds more of its era than a lot of the other transcendent artists to follow him. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it may even be a good thing depending on your particular sensibilities, but it definitely led me to pigeonhole the dude a bit. I don't dislike his tunes, but I'm not always in the mood for pure time capsule music. This album has me thinking differently about him, though. I knew Suspicious Minds. That one's a banger, and it's not the only one on this record. I kind of liked the whole damn thing, actually. I think it has a lot to do with the band. They fucking rip. Some beautiful, soulful stuff that complements the King's cartoonish crooning. Actually, is it THAT cartoonish, or are we just accustomed to the billion impersonators and parodies that have come after him? Who the hell knows, man. I love this album, though.

Muddy was insanely influential. So influential that I think he's got a bit of the "Seinfeld isn't Funny" phenomenon going on this album, for me at least. I don't think it's bad at all. I like it quite a bit, actually. However, it doesn't strike me as something profound enough to transform music. Probably because the impact is so ingrained in the music that came after that it's lost some of that dazzle. I love Muddy's voice and his band kicks ass. It's a cool album that might be a little repetitive (as the blues tends to be, in my opinion) but it's done well enough that I kind of don't give a shit.

Who else makes hip hop like this? Nobody! It's just Outkast. I'm sure some people who are balls deep in underground hip hop will read that and start shouting the names of a dozen rappers who've pushed the boundaries of their medium, blended a wide range of genres, and created real art. Listen nerds, I'm not talking about some dude who made one mixtape in 1997 then jumped in front of a train and wasn't discovered until suburban teens started sharing his shit on Kazaa several years later. I mean mainstream, world-renowned hip hop artists who have taken the medium to a higher plane, then went number one twice over, went DIAMOND, and won a Grammy doing it. It's just Outkast. This album has so much to take in and think about, so many interesting ideas, so many weird left turns, so many unique soundscapes, so many....fucking...songs.... It's a little long, guys. The level of quality is pretty consistently remarkable, but it's definitely still a little bloated. Like, I don't need skits, man. No skits. Stop it with those. This thing is supposedly an album a piece for either member (cool idea, by the way) but it's really a double album each in terms of length. That's god damn crazy! I enjoyed it a whole lot, but I can't give it the 5 knowing how many times I looked at the list of songs I had left and went "god DAMN!"

(3.5/5) I'm pretty sure this is the first band I had never heard of prior to the generator. I'm sort of surprised because they're pretty cool. I'm also learning that their sound is somehow "space rock"? I imagine some more Hawkwind type of intergalactic psychedelic shit when I hear that term, not the ambient, moody, patient stuff on this album. My music education continues, I suppose. Anyway, at first I thought this might be the first random album that blows me away, but it never quite got there. I like the sound, I like the production, I like the overall mood, but none of the songs really took me to the higher plane I anticipated. I'll keep checking them out for sure, though. Also, I've seen some scathing, angry reviews about this album on here. What the hell? What about this music elicits anger? It really makes you scathe-y? Calm down, pal. We've bigger fish to fry.

I've heard much about Aphex Twin prior to this, but hadn't heard much Aphex Twin. I understand this is some seriously influential music in a realm I don't have much interest in, at least currently. I'm not huge on instrumentals or purely electronic stuff, but I'm always open to changing my mind. Did this album change my mind? Eh, nah. Don't get me wrong: I was kind of down with the mostly chill mood this stuff evokes. It made me feel nostalgic for, like, late 90s 3D platformer games. It would actually make an excellent soundtrack for that shit, but as far as the pure music goes, none of it stuck with me. Maybe I'd throw it on during the home stretch of an unendurably long drive when my mind needed something, but not too much something, to hone in on while I gutted out those last miles. Other than that, though? I don't know, man. People really LOVE this shit? There's nothing really to latch on to here. No story being told or ideas being shared or connection to humanity at all. Maybe that's the point, though? It's another side of music that's purely the sound of decorated time? Sounds more like a dude having a lot of fun with new music tech in his bedroom, though. I think it stands higher as a musical artifact than as actual music. A gateway to a time when the art form was expanding beyond the confines of metal, wood, simple electricity, and people. If I'm off here, let me know. I'll be playing Tomb Raider for PS1.

Why is every song 5 minutes long?

Pleasantly surprised by this one. Coldplay right after U2 is not my idea of a party, but this was actually quite a nice-sounding album. I'm really not much for the pale, wistful loverboy genre, yet I felt like I had tousled hair, a Henley shirt, and great teeth the whole time this was going. Pretty-sounding production, well-written tunes. Impressive debut. I can see how they went on to kick the world's ass, become one of the biggest bands of their generation, and foil the best laid plans of ultrawealthy adulterers.

I like the mood and the production on this one, but it could've done with some more variety. It's quite easy to mistake the intros of several of these songs for one another, and with, like, a Stevie Nicks tune, too. Just a moody, arpeggiated acoustic guitar part every time. I only really know Suzanne Vega from the Tom's Dinner remix (that absolutely slaps) but I'm really intrigued by here. Something of an 80s Joni Mitchell, maybe. The sound she's got going on this record seems like the blueprint for, like, a dozen melancholy female acoustic pop songs that would come like a decade later. Maybe like "Sunny Came Home" by Shawn Colvin or "Stay" by Lisa Loeb. "What I Am" by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians was only a few years later, but certainly sounds influenced by Suzanne. Pretty cool.

Somewhere between punk and industrial, and far enough away from either end of the spectrum that it sounds fresh and original even 40 years old. Yeah, it's noisy and abrasive with some fairly edgelord lyrics, but it's got enough rhythm, melody, and insight to steady the ship. Pretty fucking cool album.

It’s fun, and sometimes a bit deeper than that, but will I be returning? Eh.

I was thinking about giving this album my first 1-star review for a while. It's not like it was sonically offensive--and I couldn't understand the lyrics to know whether they're saying anything unspeakably ghastly or anything--but it was really just boring the absolute shit out of me. Every song like 8-10 minutes, all of them sort of quiet and moody and meandering, nothing managing to compel me along on a journey. Knowing I had something like 8 more tracks like that was enough to turn me against it in a serious way. Then I finished work, night fell, and I started listening with headphones. It's still not blowing my mind or anything, but the whole mood of the album is without a doubt best suited for quiet, pensive, nighttime listening, in my opinion. It definitely changed up on me and saved itself from a truly dubious distinction.

Easily the weakest of the Nick Drake trilogy, but still Nick Drake. (3.75/5)

In many ways this album got its reputation for things that had nothing to do with music. It was more about the image and the attitude and the ethos that catapulted it into worldwide infamy than it was about the quality of the songs themselves. However, that doesn't mean the songs aren't fucking awesome. Tons of punk bands have tried to deliver this same attitude, energy, and irreverence in their music, but few, if any, have succeeded on this level. And Johnny Rotten? No other soul on earth could've brought what he did to the band. Absolutely unmistakable. The perfect example of someone who can't sing for shit, yet towers over most others who actually can. It's a damn good album.

Finally, an entire album of music to sleep with older women to. I guess every good list of all the most important albums ever made needs at least one good Skinemax soundtrack...???

I've long believed The Rascals to be among the most underrated bands of their era. These dudes had a ton of pop chops with a decent flair for rock. I think one thing that holds them back from the acclaim they deserve (other than this, and multiple other, absolutely ghastly album covers) is the fact that they may be more of a Greatest Hits type of band. They've got a bunch of great tunes, but I'm not sure they have any one great album. I can't say this listen changed that opinion for me, but you won't catch me giving them even a mid rating when I know how much these boys cooked.

It’s a masterpiece, but it’s also too long. Not necessarily in terms of the number of songs, but in terms of their length. The average tune is like 4:30 something, which seems to me like Billy wasn’t having it with any editing advice. Several of these tunes didn’t need to be so long, but dammit if a vast majority aren’t still really god damn good…