Was not my jam at all. I like Mr. McManus' early output (My Aim Is True, This Year's Model) and a few later albums here and there, but this was way too sterile for my taste. Also, his singing always reminds me of Quagmire from Family Guy, so it's really difficult to take him seriously when he tackles serious subjects in his lyrics. It's nuts for me that anybody thought this album has a place among the 1001 I should listen to before I die.
I love this album. It's sexy, it's cool, it has a weird tension bubbling just below the surface, all the way through the album. It has one of my favourite bass+drum sounds of all time. I love that pixie weirdo Marc Bolan. His trembly singing that Devendra Banhart ripped off wholesale. My only gripe is the album title and artwork. Iconic as it it, it's grossly misleading. It promises an erupting guitar monster and what you get instead is a laid back, subdued chill record. It reminds me of those horror-ific Iron Maiden and Helloween album covers after which hearing what amounts to rock opera was a real head-scratcher.
I was dreading this one since the few songs I've heard from Jethro Tull before did not inspire me to delve deeper into their work and It did turn out to be very difficult to get through. It actually took multiple tries. It is really not my type of music at all. While I acknowledge the stellar musicianship, if I was a douchebag music journalist, I'd write this is folk rock played by horndog fratguys. I get arrogance and cockiness wafting from every pore of this album. Mother Goose and Wond'ring Aloud were tolerable. I'll stick to Fairport Convention and Trees if I crave this kind of music (which I rarely do). I wouldn't even mentoin them in the same league as Pentangle.
Yes, I also love this album, just like everyone else in here, apparently. I was on the fence about Bowie's voice for the longest time (same thing with David Byrne), but I grew to like it and once that happened, the floodgates opened :)
I think I'm partial to Station To Station, but this one is a close second favourite. Just like with Electric Warrior, I love the drum sound. I can't put it into words. Somehow, certain albums from this era have that punchy-and-crisp-in-equal-measure thing going on. Lou Reed's Transformer is another example.
I was grateful for this album. I've never heard one of Smith's records all the way through. Only random songs here and there. I always liked what I heard, though. I understand this is one of his more rocking affairs. It brought to mind early Fiona Apple at times. I didn't have a problem with his hushed, "almost whiny" (according to somebody's review) delivery, either. I actually prefer this male singing style to cocky belting. I'm definitely going to play this again an will check out his other albums as well.
I was never into Madonna's music. Ray Of Light had some fun tunes, but her 80s output was always the bad kind of 80s music for me. Love Song seemed like a wholesale ripoff of Prince's sound, so I wasn't surprised to learn he featured on it. Although I'd rather put it the other way around: i's a Prince song that features Madonna on vocals.
Another chore of an album to get through. I recognize the musical talent that went into creating it, but it's just not my kind of music. Too grandiose and theatrical for my taste, which I'm ok with on occasion, but this was not one of those occasions. "When Do I" actually sounded like a parody: whichever Gibb brother was singing, putting on an exaggerated comedic singing voice. We've been through this already, but I think this album would definitely fall by the wayside, had the authors of the book/list ever made a revision that went further back than the 2000s.
He's one of the artists whose music makes me feel dumb. I listen, but I just don't get it. I know it's very smart, but it goes right over my head. Not sure if that's the reason it never clicked with me. I'm not crazy about the sound, either. This one is still OK, I guess, but when he started REALLY leaning on that f**king Fairlight synth on later releases, it all went to shit for me.
I used to listen to gnr in the early 90s, during their Use Your Illusions ubiquity. I told myself I liked it, but as soon as britpop came along, I knew it was really not my kind of music. Still isn't. Listening to this album I can't help but conclude Guns n Roses were a singles band: it has a ton of filler. If I had to pick a song I liked, it'd be Mr. Brownstone, with its borderline funky rhythm, but even that is ruined by that jock guitar sound. It's just not for me, you guys. Sorry.
I've never heard a Pixies album in full before. I only knew a few songs here and there (the famous ones). They were OK, but not really my kind of music. However, they are still a lot closer to what I actually like than some of the previous entries of this project.
The album started out worryingly for me: I had to wait a full three songs to hear something I associated with Pixies. That hair metal opening song was a real doozy and the thundering 80s drums in the second one were also a major turn-off. That drum sound is something I actually had to force myself to tolerate in order to start getting into 80s music (The Cure, R.E.M., later albums of Blondie, etc.) and it still keeps me from enjoying most of the 80s albums that otherwise contain good music.
Having said that, in the end this album actually grew on me. I liked it more and more as it went along. It's definitely not "have to have on vinyl" category, but I hear a ton of later bands I like in there that were clearly influenced by Pixies and I'll probably listen to it more. And I'll DEFINITELY go back to check out their other albums.
Also, I 100% agree with Jon on Kim/Breeders > Frank/Pixies :)
This is the furthest from my wheelhouse yet. I even considered skipping it altogether but decided giving it a try.
Did not like it even a tiny bit. I just couldn't take it seriously. The musicianship and even the physical prowess of the players is admirable, of course, but the music felt like ridiculuos posturing to me.
That Bongo Bong song was so ubiquitous in Hungary back in the day that when I saw the album cover pop up, I let out a heavy sigh. Luckily, this was a lot more fun listen than I expected. Still not really my thing, but the lo-fi sound was very charming and infectuous. I also liked the mix of genres and languages. I probably won't listen again, but I did not mind it as much as some of the previous albums.
This is a great album! I love the nervy/nerdy energy of early Costello. Such tight playing, too. I kind of backed myself in a corner giving Electric Warrior 5 stars, so here we go.
This album is from the time of my second major musical awakening. The first one was Britpop in the mid 90s and the second one was the indie rock boom of the mid 2000s. This album was one of the flagships. I listen to it sooooo many times, and was on board until album #3 (Tonight) abd then stopped. I still like some albums from that era (The first Bloc Party album, the first The Zutons album, the first Maximo Park album, Interpol's first three), but this one did not hold up for me. It's still a fun listen, but it's the textbook example of mediocrity for me: OK songwriting, OK playing, OK songs, OK sound. I'll listen to it if I have to, but I'd never seek it out.
Again: not my kind of music.
However, it was a lot more enjoyable to listen to than the Anthrax lp. There was none of that album's ridiculous, embarrassing eighties-ness here. Some parts of some songs I actually enjoyed. Also, I have no qualms about this lp being in the list. It is iconic and deservedly so.
Ooof. This was super exhausting. I admire the musicianship, but this brought up a strange dilemma: why am I going crazy for almost the same thing as Fripp & co are doing here when it's The Decemberists or MGMT or other modern prog-y bands that clearly have inferior musical (and often also lyrical) abilities to Yes while at the same time I'm just unable to open up to this album? I have the same feeling I did with the Peter Gabriel LP: I'm too stupid for this. Anyway, one fewer thing to want to have on vinyl, at least :)
I still love this album. Had been a fan ever since it first came out. One of the fun-est bands of that early-mid 2000s indie boom. They look like Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem. I love the Sly & The Family Stone-iness of some of the songs and I can even tolerate the occasional country leanings. The lyrics are good, too.
However, I'm surprised this (and Franz Ferdinand) is till in the list when so many 2000s albums were dropped after a few years passed.
This kind of music is difficult for me to listen to. I occasionally like it when the musicians of Buena Vista Social Club are playing, but in general those high frequency instruments just make my ears hurt. Also, I cannot differentiate this album from literally any other in this genre, so I don't know based on what the author picked it to be on the list.
I used to listen to U2 a lot in high school and early university. Up until Pop. I used to like those albums. I don't anymore. This was a weird experience. I though some of the positive feelings would come back, but none did. Looks like I'm off U2 for good.
Wow! This was so 80s I couldn't believe my ears. Roger Daltery has a very off-putting jock singing voice and the whole thing was way too bombastic for my taste. Keith Moon's drumming is aces, though.
Not my jam. Couldn't even finish.
This was a lot goofier than I expected. I have a hard time taking Morrissey seriously. The playing is excellent throughout, even the echo-y 80s drums don't bother me that much here, but his voice... oof.
This album was very surprising to me. I only knew the one hit off it. I imagine people buying it on the strength of Every Breath You Take back in the day being just as surprised by the boudless experimentation, unusual chord progressions and sometimes borderline dissonance of the rest of the songs. The musical adventurousness is admirable, but I don't think I'll often return to this album. I might check out their other stuff, though.
The easiest 5 stars I'll probably give out during this project. This is one of my favourite albums of all time. My favourite by Radiohead for sure. I love every second of it. Those drum sounds, the super melodic bass playing, the Robert Kirby-esque strings on Faust Arp, Thom's beautiful, clear falsetto all the way through everything! Truly a perfect album for me. My only gripe is that the LP is too big for the picture inner sleeve, so it was hard to remove but I replaced it with an antistatic MOFI-like one, anyway.
Ah, the foghorn lady. I don't like her voice. The music is sometimes OK, but mostly too sterile. This is not for me, but now I understand why it's so popular: it's bland and inoffensive. Vanilla music.
I feel bad even giving this one a rating as I could not get myself to listen to one whole song. Just skipped through it. Absolutely not for me.
I love the sound of the music on here, but I was never a big fan of Aretha's singing voice. Too high-frequency for my ears. Almost like an alarm or siren (not the one in greek myth, but the one on a police car or ambulance)
Not my kind of music. Mike Patton has a great voice, but his phrasing makes him sound like he's always making fun of what he's singing about. As if he was always goofing off.
This one sounded closer to what I like than Meat Is Murder. Morrissey's singing was a lot more tolerable, and the music a lot less 80s sounding, but in return it lost a lot of the other album's character and uniqueness. Looks like I'm not much of a fan of The Smiths. If The Queen is Dead (I'm sure that one's also on the list) is coming sooner than 20-30 entries, I'm skipping that one altogether.
This was a fun listen. I liked the one mic live immediacy of the whole thing. However, this was waaay too politely played. I mean, I get it that they didn't want the housewives to get scared or overly excited, but still. This can't even hold a candle to a Chuck Berry or a Little Richard. White people, eh? We ruin everything.
I'm not a country guy and ery much not an 80s guy, either, but this vas very pretty. She has a gorgeous voice.
This was the first time I ever listened to this album. I never had the urge to check it out before. It's very good, but something keeps me from really liking it. I don't know what.
You can almost SMELL the cocaine on this one, can't you?
Sounded goofy. Like a parody album.
Oof. This was a bit tiring. I prefer Lemon Jelly.
I liked this one more than Rumours. It's closer to my taste. Still prefer David Crosby's first solo album to anything CSN or CSNY, though.
This was a tough listen. Very boring and uninspired. Soulless, overlong computer programmer noodling. I listened to some similar stuff in the late 90s, early 2000s, but more sample-based and I quickly realized it was the music those people were sampling that truly intetested me, so off I went to 60s and 70s funk, soul, jazz and library music and never looked back.
This was ridiculous, cocky, awesome, goofy fun. I like that they don't take themselves seriously for a second. This is how you do it without that off-putting hipster irony a lot of 2000s bands employed.
A very elegant album elegantly written and elegantly performed.
I prefer their other two albums, but this one has its moments, too.
Great songs, fun harmonies, lovely instrumentation.
This is my kind of hip-hop. Cool samples, head-nodding beats, great bars.
I love Wilco, they are one of my favourite bands, but this is not even in my five favourite albums of theirs. I'm on the opinion that they only truly found their voice with Summerteeth. These are still great songs performed extremely well, it's just that they have better albums than this.
