204
Albums Rated
3.36
Average Rating
19%
Complete
885 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
2010
Favorite Decade
Hip-hop
Favorite Genre
UK
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
21
5-Star Albums
2
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bright Flight
Silver Jews
|
5 | 2.69 | +2.31 |
|
Rain Dogs
Tom Waits
|
5 | 3.19 | +1.81 |
|
The College Dropout
Kanye West
|
5 | 3.31 | +1.69 |
|
The Chronic
Dr. Dre
|
5 | 3.32 | +1.68 |
|
Blue Lines
Massive Attack
|
5 | 3.39 | +1.61 |
|
Hail To the Thief
Radiohead
|
5 | 3.45 | +1.55 |
|
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
OutKast
|
5 | 3.45 | +1.55 |
|
Five Leaves Left
Nick Drake
|
5 | 3.46 | +1.54 |
|
Frank
Amy Winehouse
|
5 | 3.46 | +1.54 |
|
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
The Flaming Lips
|
5 | 3.57 | +1.43 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Want One
Rufus Wainwright
|
1 | 2.9 | -1.9 |
|
Van Halen
Van Halen
|
2 | 3.62 | -1.62 |
|
Jazz Samba
Stan Getz
|
2 | 3.56 | -1.56 |
|
The Wildest!
Louis Prima
|
2 | 3.53 | -1.53 |
|
Africa Brasil
Jorge Ben Jor
|
2 | 3.37 | -1.37 |
|
Home Is Where The Music Is
Hugh Masekela
|
2 | 3.35 | -1.35 |
|
Live And Dangerous
Thin Lizzy
|
2 | 3.32 | -1.32 |
|
Bongo Rock
Incredible Bongo Band
|
2 | 3.25 | -1.25 |
|
Rum Sodomy & The Lash
The Pogues
|
2 | 3.25 | -1.25 |
|
Rust In Peace
Megadeth
|
2 | 3.24 | -1.24 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Beatles | 4 | 4.75 |
| Radiohead | 3 | 5 |
5-Star Albums (21)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Lou Reed · 1 likes
2/5
didn’t really get through it, not a fan
Throbbing Gristle · 1 likes
1/5
This album asks important questions. Questions like, what if Revolution 9 were shitty and four times longer?
1-Star Albums (2)
All Ratings
Ozomatli
3/5
Not my genre, but very listenable and super catchy, particularly (who discovered) America which also happens to be an excellent allegorical, satirical take on the European colonization of America. Giving Santana with more of a political bent. A good start to this journey and a taste of what’s to come!
Queen
4/5
Gotta love that Freddie Mercury falsetto and theatricality!
Massive Attack
5/5
Patti Smith
3/5
Good punk. Not my genre but informative and edifying to listen to.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
Not really my thing but maybe I’d need to listen a couple more times. Well-written though!
The Who
3/5
Some great songs but a little too classic rock radio for my ears
Snoop Dogg
4/5
Tom Waits
5/5
Edna Million in a drop dead suit, Dutch pink on the downtown train
Fatboy Slim
4/5
Crosby, Stills & Nash
3/5
Beatles
4/5
Adele
3/5
Defined elementary school for me. Someone like you is the most 2011 song in the world. Set fire to the rain is one of the first songs I ever memorized.
Eminem
4/5
Franz Ferdinand
4/5
Iron Maiden
3/5
My parents’ music
The Velvet Underground
4/5
Didn’t expect to like it so much!!
Holger Czukay
4/5
Good vibes. Persian love and Hollywood especially good
Lou Reed
2/5
didn’t really get through it, not a fan
The Notorious B.I.G.
3/5
The Cars
4/5
My parents’ music but it happens to be super awesome. Sounds amazingly modern despite being from 1978.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
So light and deft while also being socially conscious - and interesting mix
3/5
Very ahead of its time lyrically. You can tell Loretta means it. Lots of cheating so you know it’s country
Madness
3/5
Couldn’t listen to the whole thing because it’s not on streaming. They sing with too strong British accents for it to be available in America, I guess. But I liked what I heard.
Cheap Trick
2/5
My parents’ music
Kate Bush
3/5
I like certain songs on here a lot and they’re very interesting and experimental in many cases but I just can’t get into a lot of it for some reason.
Sister Sledge
3/5
Good disco/dance. I really liked lost in music!
Pere Ubu
2/5
Experimental but not in an appealing way
Peter Gabriel
2/5
My parents’ mysic…interesting and good but not for me
Robert Wyatt
3/5
atmospheric and british
MGMT
3/5
Contains my favorite song from high school. These guys are good at making songs
Red Hot Chili Peppers
4/5
so the Red Hot Chili Peppers are actually good…noted
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Good jams
Count Basie & His Orchestra
4/5
Beatles
5/5
Michael Jackson
4/5
Smells like goat to me
Hugh Masekela
2/5
Jazz, not much more to say
Brian Wilson
3/5
A good bunch of bops from the beach boy
David Bowie
3/5
Life on Mars is one of the greatest songs of all time. Oh you pretty things similar. The rest is good too but doesn’t connect as much with me
Red Snapper
3/5
Considère me satisfied. Also the clit song 👀👀
David Bowie
4/5
The starman’s last album. The greatness is palpable. I really like girl loves me for some reason.
Coldplay
4/5
This is a good album - and not just the hits, which have gotten repetitive anyway, but songs like daylight and a rush of blood to the head, which are fresh and original and remind you the hits are no flukes.
The Icarus Line
3/5
Is definitely above other noisy rocky punky albums of its kind. But ultimately not my genre exactly - might require relistens to fully appreciate
William Orbit
3/5
I’ll have to listen to more of it but could deserve four stars. Sounds like massive attack instrumentals
The Flaming Lips
5/5
Weirdly hadn’t enjoyed this album until now. Banger after banger. Ego tripping at the gates of hell is a perfect song with a perfect title
Neil Young
4/5
Black Sabbath
3/5
Not bad. Vocals have a haunting, gothic quality to them that I like. But it just doesn’t really connect with me
Bee Gees
2/5
A couple good songs but mostly not my thing
Deep Purple
3/5
Good stuff, but not really my stuff
AC/DC
3/5
My parents’ music. Would be a lot more badass if I hadn’t heard it so many times
The Cure
4/5
You can really hear the influence on mcr in the song lullaby. Badass
Bebel Gilberto
3/5
Calming, pretty, pleasant
The Slits
3/5
Love their voices and cover of I heard it through the grapevine
The Police
3/5
Listened to it on my drive to New Jersey from Pittsburgh. Not bad driving music or music in general
Beatles
5/5
Manic Street Preachers
4/5
More of a 3.5 but there a few very cool songs that put it in 4star range for me
The Style Council
2/5
Not really for me except the song The Paris Match. Random weird 80s rap song in the middle.
Eminem
4/5
Like a Shakespeare comedy written by the human id
Supergrass
4/5
Some of the middle is a little too boring (read: punk meh-lodies) but the rest makes up for it, particularly Alright and the last 5 songs, of which Sofa is my personal fave. 3.5 stars rounding up to 4.
The Chemical Brothers
2/5
More like a 2.5 stars. Good but not really something I’d see myself listen to a lot. Except when I need to freak out, maybe
Gene Clark
3/5
Folsky…and gospelly? Definitely not British. I like it.
Neil Young
3/5
Beautiful but I don’t think I was in the mood for it - I will come back one day and try it again! Obviously heart of gold is always a banger tho
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
More of a 3.5 - I really like a couple songs (nocturnal me and the killing moon) but the rest are mostly meh. But it gets rounded up to 4 on the strength of those highlights
The Band
3/5
Not my normal thing, but it’s good stuff - I’d need to return to it to appreciate it better, but for now this rating will do. I particularly liked whispering pines.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
I loved no woman, no cry! The rest wasn’t that exciting to me
Radiohead
5/5
The xx
4/5
Listened to this on the way back from penn state. Real good vibes, my type of dreamy, haunting sounds. Feels ahead of its time.
Spacemen 3
3/5
One really good song (lord can you help me) and a bunch of good-to-meh songs. Not really my thang. But moody, atmospheric, and interesting. Because of the lord, 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
Does this guy only sing in falsetto or is that his real voice? Either way he’s an incredible vocalist. The songs are vibes and I like the minimalist percussion (is that an intelligent thing to say? Me sais pas).
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
4/5
Good vibes. 3.5 rounded up. Love the international feel of the songs, where the language would be Spanish but the sound would be middle eastern. Also a Tom Waits vibe to certain songs.
The Byrds
4/5
The folksy ones! This was pleasant and bucolic. 3.5 rounded.
Joy Division
2/5
Have just never been a big fan of joy division. I guess they’re just not melodic enough for me. I did like a couple of these songs (24 hours and the eternal) but not enough to like the album.
Willie Nelson
4/5
Feels like a foundational country album, as well as American album. Beautifully spare with the instruments given room to shine. Blue eyes is my favorite - although I’d heard it before. Crazy that Willie is still alive and smoking weed by the bushel
Nick Drake
5/5
Yowzah! I loved this album so much, I listened to it on repeat like seven times in one day. It is so beautiful and haunting and gorgeously written - reminds me of Elliott Smith, but this one is from 1969, which is super impressive. My favorites are River Man, Way to Blue, Thoughts of Mary Jane, and Saturday Sun. Also, like all of my favorite things, it has an excellent name. Bellisimo!
Doves
4/5
Will have to listen again but haunting and interesting.
The Who
4/5
Obviously great, but I’m personally not super into it and respect it more than love it myself.
Dusty Springfield
3/5
Dusty’s got a nice voice. I loved the song Summer is Over; an excellent example of one of my favorite genres of music, last songs of albums.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
If I were born in 1965 Britain like my spiritual mother who shall not be named, this would probably be my favorite band. I really like a couple of these songs like spellbound and monitor (especially), but as a whole a little too dated to go all in.
Rufus Wainwright
1/5
I found it! My first one star album. What an unending snooze fest. An hour of slow piano and whiny male vocals. So boring.
Arcade Fire
3/5
It’s good and well-made and complex and all that, but not really my thing. I did like the random French though. Benefit of Montreal bands.
Tina Turner
3/5
The great Tina Turner and her incredible voice. Hell yeah.
Sisters Of Mercy
4/5
Deep voice, depressed hearts, can’t lose.
Metallica
4/5
This is the soundtrack to my childhood. My 30 or 40 something parents are working out in the basement on Saturday and I’m trolling around lifting one pound weights like I’m Arnold S. Good stuff. Nothing else matters.
Incredible Bongo Band
2/5
Listen…bongos are great. What an important percussive instrument. But a whole album of bongo music? Rock on, but it’s not getting a rave from moi.
Gary Numan
3/5
Not really my thang - I did not receive a lot of pleasure from it. An early example of my mom’s music taste, though, which is cool. And these songs are objectively cool as hell. Hence the 3 stars.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
This is a 3.5 rounded down to 3. I like the instrumentation and the vibes, and lyrics are obviously genius, but I think I’d need some time to get into it. Also, what’s with the boinging in the background of every song?
Johnny Cash
4/5
Incredible songs, amazing banter with the crowd, a legendary performer giving a legendary performance.
Wild Beasts
4/5
Great lyricism, awesome falsetto
Joe Ely
3/5
Good clean country fun! Nice to listen to on the six hour drive back to Pittsburgh. “Boxcars” was my favorite.
Linkin Park
4/5
So much fun! Combines my metal and emo past with current interest in rap. My mom’s fave too. Love the complete lack of irony. I’ve felt this way before…SO INSECURRRRREE
Genesis
3/5
Extremely British (in a good way). I’d have to listen to it a couple times to appreciate it though so a 3er it will be for now.
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
Genius etc. but unfortunately not my thing really (60s psychedelic rock). Loved the lil documentary at the end - all these extremely British white dudes and Jimi. Cultural hybridity!
Bob Dylan
4/5
The Mamas & The Papas
4/5
Like the Beatles if they had mixed gender vocals. I really liked Got a Feelin’.
Blur
4/5
A lot of great songs and a real rock spirit and attitude.
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
Love the rap rock thing. A lot of classic tunes. Big for my mom. Not my personal fave, but good.
The Black Keys
4/5
Not exactly my thang, a little too traditional soul for me to immediately get all the way into it, but very pleasing to the ears, especially all the instrumentals.
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
Goated for a reason. Incredible writing, rapping, and mixing. King kunta was the fist real rap song I ever liked. The rest is just as great.
Pink Floyd
3/5
I am not a stranger to this album. I feel it gives you an idea of what it would be like to trip acid with four of the most intensely British men you have ever met. In the end I find it doesn’t excite as much as their deeper, more emotional/literate work (even versus stuff from the early period from relics like biding my time and paintbox).
The Flaming Lips
4/5
Great modern psychedelic rock. I liked the pink robots more but this is quite good. “When you got that spider bite on your hand / I thought we’d have to break up the band” - lolz!
Gorillaz
3/5
Clint Eastwood is one of the best songs of all time. The lyrics effing rule. Probably the only full rap I have memorized and can drop on command. I will say I wasn’t as into the rest of the album. But the gorillaz are rad as hell.
Megadeth
2/5
Soundtrack of my childhood, I’m sure. Great metal, I’m sure. But not really my scene.
Amy Winehouse
5/5
One of a kind, frankly. Funny, vulnerable, full of pathos. The great Amy Winehouse on full display.
Beck
3/5
Really liked Lonesome Tears. Quite good album. Didn’t get more than 3 from me because it cleaves a little too closely to the sensitive man with guitar genre that bores me
Arcade Fire
3/5
A couple songs make this more of a 4 - call it a 3.5. But I still just can’t quite get into arcade fire - there’s something about them I find pretentious/boring. Maybe I just require another listen. Til then!
Can
3/5
Quite good! Some gnarly prog rock.
5/5
Perfect blend of eccentricity and rock genius.
The Zombies
3/5
A Rose for Emily felt just a little toooooooo personal. The piano throughout the album reminded me of a lot of hits in the 2000s like bad day and nine in the afternoon. Time of the season remains one of the sexiest goatiest songs ever.
The Pogues
2/5
Celtic fun! Not something I’ll be going back to but a good time while it lasted
Randy Newman
2/5
Socially conscious folksy piano ballads - you know, like all the rest. Kidding! You don’t hear a lot of words like cocaine and the n word in a lot of songs that sound like these. It’s pretty good but I don’t see myself coming back to it much.
The Smiths
4/5
Both times I’ve listens to well I wonder I have teared up. That is how achingly beautiful that song is. This album’s most entrancing, haunting moments of beauty come when Morissey’s falsetto suddenly appears to break a song open with no warning. Another example is meat is murder, which I’m sure has had a big life outside this album but that is also just so gorgeous, and the ridiculous lyrics only serve to emphasize its aesthetic qualities.
Yes
3/5
A good example of its genre. A lot of great instrumentals. I particularly liked a venture. But in the end probably not going to stick for me.
Living Colour
3/5
This is the band my mom saw when they were beefing with like axel rose or some hair band jerk. They’re pretty good, interesting, pointed lyrics and unique songs. Not going to become my go-to music but still quite good
Various Artists
4/5
I assume this is the best Christmas album ever, because it sounds like it.
Thin Lizzy
2/5
2/5
Atmospheric
Nico
3/5
Recognized a couple. Enjoyed a few.
Aretha Franklin
4/5
Pentangle
2/5
I can see how this would be foundational 60s folk. I found it good but not that exciting.
3/5
3.5 rounded down to 3. A clearly very good live act which would have been diminished slightly in a studio album. The whole revolution thing with the emcee was a bit annoying though, but what are you going to do with it being the 60s!
Deep Purple
3/5
Actually some interesting stuff going on here in a lot of songs despite being, of course, my parents’ music.
Kanye West
5/5
From front to back, clearly a masterpiece. Incredible lyricism and creativity, like the song where he’s pretending to rap through a broken jaw. The guy on this album is confident without being arrogant and talks about women in a non-gross way. I.e. he’s likeable. And the album is incredible.
Billy Bragg
2/5
Not bad, but a bit boring. Wilco’s here which I think you can really tell from the first song. My heart wasn’t really in it, maybe because it was a little to traditional for me
Jethro Tull
3/5
Pretty good album, I liked the mix of genres. Locomotive breath and aqualung are both very familiar from rock radio and parents, and are great songs. Perhaps deserves a relisten down the line.
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
This is obviously a master musician. I am a little bored of this era and genre, though. Perhaps another time, guitar god.
KISS
3/5
Beth is sooo goated. Also great expectations was real funny and enjoyable. I think you really need the visual element of Kiss to really enjoy them though. Detroit Rock Citay!!!
PJ Harvey
4/5
Loved this one - beautiful voice, great lyricism, dark, haunting instrumentation. Appropriately beguiling for an album about England. The first song is an all-timer, an immediate main playlist add.
The Stooges
3/5
3.5 rounded down. Pretty good! One of the best rock albums with a sneering, punkish energy from the 60s. Not exactly my kind of music but very good nonetheless
Norah Jones
3/5
Lovely voice, beautiful songs, the best thing that could be playing when you walk into a coffee shop. What else would you expect from ravi Shankar’s daughter?(!)
Bob Dylan
3/5
A good album. Bob’s lyricism is so literary and poetic that I finally get the Nobel Prize. I found this one a little boring after the middle, but maybe it was my state of mind. Anyway. 3.5.
The White Stripes
3/5
I listened to this album as a kid but I don’t remember it that well. Obviously Jack White is a rockstar and this album is pure rock divinity. Seven Nation Army is an insane song. However, I’ve had issues connecting with traditional-sounding, pure rock albums like this, and I had the same problem with this one. 3.5 rounded down.
Radiohead
5/5
A 4.5 rounded up. I need to listen to it a bunch more to really solidify my opinion, but I found I really liked about half the songs, was transported by 2-3 in that way that Yorke’s falsetto and harmonies do, and found the rest a little less accessible but interesting. Is the rounding up rather than down determined by my respect for Radiohead? Maybe. But this album is still real real good.
Radiohead
5/5
This is an obvious masterpiece. Not my first rodeo with Radiohead, and this one is the crown jewel. Has aged incredibly well despite being a product of its era - computer paranoia is here to stay.
The Beta Band
4/5
This thing has some really dreamy, beautiful songs, which I wouldn’t have expected from its title or name. I will definitely return to this one.
Mike Oldfield
3/5
3.5 rounded down. Quite enjoyable as background music; I added tubular bells part 2 to my instrumental playlist. I probably won’t listen to the album in full again, but it’s a great bit of eccentric, experimental orchestral pop.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
3/5
King Crimson
2/5
Meh. I like court of the crimson king but this was pretty meh to me.
Beatles
5/5
What is a great album? Sometimes, it’s when the song list is bop after bop. This is a prime example of that. It’s not super deep or experimental, but each song buries into the deepest folds of your brain and lays a clutch of eggs that, if activated, would turn you into one of those screaming girls from the height of beatlemania. Just a poppy pop masterpiece popping off.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
Some of it is just the 60s/70s guitar music I’m just kinda over, but Led Zeppelin was always more than that. Down by the Seaside proves that and elevates the album to something beyond its era and genre.
Incubus
2/5
The dudliest dude rock of the early 2000s. Some of the gnarliest lyrics penned upside down while chugging a keg. Also, there’s a random hit in this that snaps you back to being 15 in a Kohl’s in a very real way.
Gillian Welch
3/5
Great voice, good vibes. It’s a 3 because I respect it and could envision myself putting it on while recovering from pneumonia or childbirth.
Miles Davis
3/5
Jazz is good. I particularly liked the second one. I’m no jazz connoisseur, though, so this didn’t mean what it was probably supposed to mean to me.
Sam Cooke
4/5
Sam Cooke and a lot of 50s/60s R & B singers came up in clubs with demanding, working class audiences who wanted their hard-earned money to buy them as exciting and high-quality a show as possible. This live album is proof of that pedigree, from the impeccable vocals to the raucous energy to the charismatic banter. No dead air, just R & B and soul mastery.
Lou Reed
4/5
I like his quiet, late night-sounding rock. So chic, New York, and transgressive. Perfect Day will always remind me of that movie. I really like the last song, a paragon of the genre of last songs. There’s enough in the middle/towards the end that I’m meh about to take it down a star, but plenty to elevate it beyond 3.
The Streets
4/5
Very interesting British rap concept album. Could be a very fun thing to randomly encounter on a rap playlist.
James Brown
4/5
Another amazing 60s R & B, rock & roll live album. This one felt like a Beatles precursor with the screaming girls and screaming pop vocals and tight harmonies (in some songs) - I’m pretty sure they were huge fans and probably heard this record at the time. But he is a legend all of his own. Brown earns his crown here, and more.
Queen
5/5
Jorge Ben Jor
2/5
Talvin Singh
3/5
Super interesting Indian-flared electronica.
Fats Domino
3/5
A foundational rock n roller singer with a name and personality to match.
Aerosmith
3/5
It rocks.
Anthrax
2/5
It’s metal. Something my mom would like. But it all kinda sounds the same to me.
Elvis Presley
4/5
I’m probably not going to listen to it over and over. But Elvis had a voice of butter and a musical awareness superior to most. That is clear on this album, and it is a gem.
Silver Jews
5/5
A pretty important day for me, an important realization, and maybe this album played a part in it. You never know. Either way, it’s a great album made by a prophetic lyrical genius. It made me listen to American Water which is even better, a 6-star album.
Jacques Brel
3/5
The first album I’ve gotten that is in French. Also probably the most stereotypically French “chanson” album I’ve ever heard. I like Edith Piaf and Charles Aznavour better. This guy was good but his lyrics were a little manipulatively depressing.
Slipknot
4/5
Not nearly as heavy as I expected! I thought Slipknot were a bunch of depraved devil worshippers based on the album covers from mom’s slipknot collection, but this reminded me of a pure metal version of Lincoln Park. And it was better than Anthrax (which mom said she doesn’t like either, despite what I said in my review).
Ella Fitzgerald
4/5
Ella is one of the greatest singers of all time. These songs are good to have on hand to create a certain mood, the dominant vibes being elegance, nostalgia, romance, and mischievousness.
Todd Rundgren
3/5
I really liked a couple songs, like the first one and Black Maria, which hit nicely post-run. There was a certain shrewd, rapscallion sensibility tinged with a hint of misogyny which I found interesting and irritating in equal measure. 3 stars!
The Yardbirds
3/5
Not bad, with some incisive lyrics on spurned love and greed. But just a bit too boring for me.
Solomon Burke
4/5
Great voice and emotion, interesting arrangements. A great example of the genre.
Throbbing Gristle
1/5
This album asks important questions. Questions like, what if Revolution 9 were shitty and four times longer?
Aerosmith
4/5
This is objectively a totally fun, entertaining album that is better than average, hence the 4 stars. I will probably not come back to it because it’s not my vibe, but I do enjoy it enough to recognize its quality.
Otis Redding
5/5
Some of the best rnb songs sung the best they’ve ever been sung
David Bowie
4/5
I really like this album, and I’ll call this is a 4.5. Some it sounds a bit too typically Bowie/of its time to be a 5 for me, and some of it is transcendentally beautiful and timeless, like Wild is the Wind. The lyrical content, particularly in that song, is also amazing.
Al Green
4/5
I very much liked the Beegees cover and enjoyed his light, vibey soul.
Green Day
5/5
A classic from my adolescence. So much energy in it, sometimes when you’ve just put it on in the background you have to stop what you’re doing and spaz out to a song.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Parliament
3/5
I can definitely recognize a bunch of places where this album was sampled by modern musicians, which is super cool. The whole thing is super cool.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
Didn’t really like the first song, but the rest were the essence of Neil Young.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
For me, the whole album is Paint it Black (what’s with the unnecessary comma?) and maybe a bit of the last song. Paint it Black is so goated lyrically and musically that it justifies the whole record’s existence. But the rest is meh American pastiche to me
Dr. Dre
5/5
This was a great experience for a number of reasons. First of all, it’s an amazing album, with beats and sounds that still feel fresh and edgy. Second of all, it has connections to multiple albums in this book/generator, and recognizing those connections make this experience even more satisfying. It is obviously basically a companion piece to an album from months ago, Doggystyle by Snoop Dog, AND it samples a song from an album from just TWO days ago, Mothership Connection by Parliament, in the song Let me Ride (which I of course recognized while listening to that album because of the famous Dr. Dre song, although I didn’t know it was his song yet). Five thumbs up!
Tim Buckley
3/5
Some really cool songs, some rather good I would have to return to. 3 as a placeholder, but leaning towards 4.
Alice Cooper
4/5
Surprised to find that this was actually pretty good - most of these 70s rock albums are samey to me, but this one stood out. Rounded up from 3.5.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
This album, purportedly his best, confirms what I have long suspected: I simply am not a Bruce Springsteen fan. I find his rootsy folksy jazzy rock boring aside from his voice, which is pretty good, like Paul McCartney on Golden Slumbers. But I tuned out a lot of this album, unfortunately. To me it was on the better side of average but still average.
Rod Stewart
3/5
Like Springsteen, what a great voice! I prefer Stewart’s songs, so call this a 3.5 to Springsteen’s 2.5, but I rounded them the same because I probably won’t relisten to either. But with Stewart it’s more likely.
Madonna
4/5
The great, great Madonna. Not just my lady, but our lady. I will never forget her masterful Super Bowl performance in which she sang the opening song of this album, which was stuck in my head all day after I listened to it on my morning commute. A powerful album against which I have very little.
Harry Nilsson
3/5
Did not know that coconut came from this album and artist but it makes sense. This was decent with some memorable moments like the first song which was used prominently in Russian Doll. But all in all not exciting enough to wow me
Stan Getz
2/5
Not really a jazz head but this album was pleasant. I’m not discerning enough to judge its quality, so I’m just going with a noncommittal 2.
Neil Young
4/5
Not my favorite Neil Young album - I prefer On the Beach and Everybody Knows This is Nowhere - but it still has that Neil Young magic and beauty which sets him apart from the rest.
Gang Of Four
3/5
There’s something special in the first song. The rest are good but not as special. Definitely an interesting mix of genres and sounds though.
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
Jimi Hendrix is obviously legendary, I just can’t get into his music. I just can’t extract pleasure from his lowkey, discursive voice. It just doesn’t do it for me. 2 stars personally upgraded to 3 out of recognition for his greatness (and I can tell the music is very high quality).
Laibach
3/5
Fun and just sub metal. The first German album I’ve gotten, although it got progressively less German throughout
Van Halen
2/5
Important to know about historically. Over-the-top rock that is leaning towards metal. My parents’ music. For me, though - good but nothing terribly special. I’d listen to it on the radio.
Fleetwood Mac
3/5
The pinnacle of soft rock. I could see a soft rock fanatic ascending to the dulcet tunes of Sara or Think About Me. It kinda has the sounds of dream pop but without the exaggerated dreaminess that I love.
Louis Prima
2/5
Quite good for what it is, but I don’t imagine myself revisiting it. It has some unhinged lyrics, though, that I rather dug, like “A glass of water for me, a banana split for her.” What does that mean??!?
The Crusaders
2/5
The jazz albums mostly go over my head - I like them, but they all similar to me. This was good but I don’t understand what separates it from the rest.
Dr. John
2/5
He got a voice on him, that man. Giving Tom Waits in rain dog but leaning a little more into witch doctor. But it wasn’t really my thang. Accompanied me to and from the Carnegie library though. Merci pour your service.
Jeff Buckley
4/5
I totally get why women were obsessed with this man. He is alarmingly beautiful with a voice to match, talented, and in touch with his emotions. Unlike other male artists’ badly disguised sex songs, his is ethereally gorgeous (and actually sexy). I would have been obsessed too, although his music is not my genre or area - it’s a 5 in quality but a 4 for me personally. Love that he was with Elizabeth Fraser btw - wish she had stayed with him instead of her eventually baby daddy shleimazel of a band mate. Anyway…RIP Jeff.
CHIC
3/5
Very enjoyable disco
Bill Callahan
3/5
Kinda reminded me of Silver Jews, but a little more experimental. I will have to reserve a little judgement since I think this one is a relistener. Pretty good though. The way he says “My friend” on My Friend…ugh!!
OutKast
5/5
Yoooooooooooooo so good. Haven’t actually finished it because it’s so long but it’s clearly a masterpiece. Speakerboxx!
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
Pretty great soundtrack, makes me want to watch the movie. Pusherman was a highlight. 3.5 rounded up.
4/5
Vibes! A bit of bossa nova mixed with electronic and alternative. I see myself returning to it.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
I was nervous for my informational interview yesterday morning and this was the perfect album to listen to on the way to work. I particularly loved Babe I’m Gonna Leave You with the pounding drums and guitar. An album that rocks.
Traffic
2/5
Not my favorite of the lates 60s rock classics. They were doing such a specific hogwild American blues pastiche à la Rolling Stones that I looked up if they were British and Lo and behold, they are indeed. Good for those chaps. My favorite part of the album was some of the song titles (“Medicated Goo”, “Shanghai Noodle Factory”.)
The Jesus And Mary Chain
3/5
I’m on the fence with this one because it’s on the border of new wave and gothic rock, and I like both of them, but it’s resisting the hopeless, unashamed emoness of an album like Floodland (which I love and return to constantly), and that is clouding my perceptions of this album. It’s like if the sisters of mercy went on Prozac and started sounding like verve or the goo goo dolls. With Floodland in my mind, I just can’t respect their inability to go all in on the gothic vibes. So it’s a 3.5 or 4 that I’m forced to round down to a 3. I’m sorry.
Super Furry Animals
3/5
Fun, but I didn’t pay super close attention to it.
Black Sabbath
5/5
Of all the parent-favored albums, this one is possibly the best. Really great staticky early metal with the perfectly placed “Planet Caravan” giving a little space to let your mind wander.
Tracy Chapman
4/5
Great voice and masterful storytelling. Particularly Fast Car. Also, a social justice thread throughout which gives it shape and meaning.
The Who
3/5
A real cool band that wears its influences on its sleeve. I enjoyed a couple of these songs very much, like On my Mind and the Heatwave cover.
Alanis Morissette
4/5
Such an iconic album, with iconic lyrics and an iconic voice of all time. The biting snarl of her voice on You Oughta Know cannot be replicated. I can’t believe that song in general - it would be just as shocking nowadays. The unadulterated hatred!! If I were David coulier I’d have gone into witness protection. Also Head over Feet made me nostalgic for the 2000s.
The Cure
3/5
The Cure rocks!! The best goth/early emo for miles. Their lyrics and production stand out.
Ali Farka Touré
2/5
Listen, am I ever going to be obsessed with Malian blues singing? Probably not. Was this a good, enjoyable album of Malian blue singing? Yes, I’d say so. I have no point of comparison but I found it interesting and stimulating. Now to look up its significance…
Ute Lemper
2/5
Not surprised this lady did cabaret. This album shows off a theatricality mixed with an impressive vocal ability. So much of it is hilarious and raunchy. Not sure why this one in particular was chosen out of Ute’s repertoire, but it’s good.
Pulp
3/5
This is a pretty great album, with cheeky lines, constantly sky-high energy, and clever social commentary. There’s a slight tinge of the Fountains of Wayne, but British. Common People is not only a pop anthem but also an insightful take on class and privilege. Thumbs from me.