1001 Albums Summary

I got to see Method Man perform with the Wu-tang Clan. He definitely aged better than the rest of the group. I enjoy his very distinct voice and style that he brings to his raps.

You know this one

Great cloudy day music to hang out and get things done at home. Callie was bopping to it while eating her quesadilla for lunch.

Absolutely perfect

What a flashback this album is! Listened to it a ton as a kid. Had the cd in my car. My closeted gay friend absolutely loved the album and would sing along to every song.

Another wicked trip down memory lane. My late roommate from Minneapolis played this album on the regular!

Wasn’t too familiar with Paul Simon’s music other than Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard. Listening to this album in Hi-Res at breakfast was quite the enjoyable experience. Chill vibes with well mixed audio.

Decent album. A couple of classics but nothing that gets me super into them.

Classic that inspired the posthumous release of Mac Millers Ballonerism. I’ve done quite the deep dive on both albums and would recommend comparing the parallels of each. Both leaning into the more experimental side of their music portfolio.

Was not actively listening to this album. But I enjoyed what I paid attention too.

Later into lunch we tuned into Wild Gift. Callie still plugging along with her quesadillas and started to make them dance on the high chair tray to the music. Incredible punk album. I’m happy that I got to experience this at least once before I die. Hopefully many more times in my future.

Never heard of Nina Simone but I loved this album

First time for Napalm Death. Not much of a grindcore fan personally. Cool that this album was one of the first for the genre.

This album is so iconic to my childhood. I probably bought this album shortly after it came out. Then jumped around on couches in my friend’s basement rocking out to it. The lyrics for the time filled with angst, fit right in with so many other artists of the day. Potentially masking Chester’s struggles with mental health (RIP) . As much as I have deep nostalgia for this album, and play it somewhat regularly. Musically I don’t think it holds up to many other great albums. Linkin Park carved out a very unique sound in an emerging genre of music.

Wasn’t too familiar with Louis Prima’s music. I enjoyed this whole album though. I’m sure if I played this for my grandma she would be loving it too.

Another nostalgic throwback to high school for me. Cool see they are still making music these days. I’ll have to check out their newer work. Musically they bring a lot of fun complexity to this album. Personally I find the vocals too shrill for my liking but it works. Great listen after forgetting their existence.

Excellent listen for a colder evening staying cozy at home. I wasn’t aware of Bill Callahan’s music but it will make its way into the rotation from time to time.

Decent album not likely to check it out again.

This was great! I was familiar with Isaac Hayes album Black Moses which I’d recommend checking out. He’s a fairly iconic artist for a lot of musicians that grew up in the black community in North America. I’ve never heard of the movie Shaft but listening to the music for it I’m interested in checking it out.

“He has a scary voice kinda, he makes me feel kinda scared” - Kerri. I really enjoyed this album. I have listened to the odd song of Leonard Cohen mostly through the radio. But it was dark, moody and worth a listen for sure.

We had a kid in high school that was quite the Elvis impersonator. He would always perform a few songs at talent shows or whatever they were called. Basically he introduced me to Elvis. I didn’t really appreciate it at the time and just thought it was funny how much this kid loved Elvis. But Elvis is one of the greats for a reason. His ability to push entertainment to places it had never been, and move his hips in a way that entranced so many people is impressive. The fact that early video recordings of Elvis’s music purposefully only recorded above the waist is hilarious to reflect on. I wonder if we will ever see a modern day equivalent of how Elvis revolutionized music. I guess twerking is maybe the modern day equivalent of dance moves breaking the status quo.

Wasn’t a huge fan of this one. Very typical sound for the decade imo.

While I was cleaning the kitchen with the windows open in the morning listening to this album a contractor walked up and could hear the music from outside. He said “Is this Björk?!? Björk is god. Like there’s Prince and Björk is above that. I have all her vinyl (apparently one of them was $500, plus a handful of other special copies he was proud about but I don’t recall exactly). When Björk says she’s doing something all of Iceland listens. I don’t even care that you’re in a robe right now. Anyways I’m here to take care of your yard. You enjoy Björk and watch your baby I’ll take care of the rest.” Upon the end of his work Jason recommended checking out Alicia Marie and claimed they would be the new Amy Winehouse. I listened to her album and I think he has a point. Check it out. He also suggested Ren. I’ll see him again in a couple weeks. So I hope whatever we are listening to then he has something to say about it. I didn’t know much about Björk but I learned a ton from Jason and really enjoyed this album.

Cool to hear something quite different. Apparently Koffi is also quite influential to Congolese people pushing what was done in music at the time.

Was fairly certain I had never heard of The Verve. Then after the opening track bitter sweet symphony I knew I had at least heard one song many times before. The vocals sort of remind me of local artist JP Hoe.

Haven’t managed to listen to the whole album yet. But this is great!

I enjoyed this album. Would love to learn about it.

Never heard of this guy before. He made for some nice evening listening.

I laughed when this album came up as one of the essentials. Remembering sweaty school dances and kids screaming “G-UNIT!” at school in the halls. At the time I wasn’t into hip hop or rap at all, so I never understood why people cared about 50 cent. But I’m impressed with this album. The album art and style of the album inspired Tyler the Creators most recent album Don’t Tap the Glass. Which is a great 2000s style dance album I’d recommend checking out. Learning that 50 cent was mentored by Jam Master Jay from Run DMC. Also signing a joint venture with Eminem is a huge deal. Probably a big part of why he made this list. 50 cent may not be the best rapper out there. But he is iconic and brought a very fun style played regularly in clubs and parties. 50 cent also famously claimed bankruptcy later into his career. Then apparently later became a bitcoin millionaire by finding 700 Bitcoin that he accepted for payment for an album release. Likely the best thing he has ever forgotten about in his life. Which he totally denies years later.

Classic for a reason! Nate’s parents were probably 5 when this album came out and watched their older brother dress up as Bruce Springsteen

Pretty chill rainy day listen. Very typical 80s music imo. Stereo mixing was fun but nothing overall complex. Probably won’t ever listen to this again.

Great album! I wasn’t too familiar with any of their music other than Last Nite. A quick play through of the album was followed immediately by another start from the beginning of the album.

I don’t know…it was alright. I enjoyed most of it but won’t go out of my way to listen to it again. The sound production was quite well done and fun to listen to on a stereo.

Harps kinda neat.

One late night in high school I was hanging out at my friend’s house. His parents were sleeping and we didn’t want to piss them off. So we listened to the radio outside in my friend’s driveway smoking dope. Listening to late night CBC radio, the only station that came on in High Bluff with anything good to listen to at the time. The song “those are not my bongos” by the band fuck played. When I saw today’s album included bongos, I was hoping it was that random band I heard nearly 20 years ago. Alas, The Incredible Bongo Band is not fuck. But fuck those bongos from The Incredible Bongo Band are the backbone of so much iconic music. I don’t think I have ever listened to the original source of so many samples that are all over music history. I guess drums are pretty universal to music samples so it makes sense The Incredible Bongo band is so widely sampled. The first notable sample to me was Apache which obviously is a main sample for Jump on It. Turns out Sugar hill Gang sampled incredible bongo band for the same track title Apache. Then sir mix a lot sampled sugar hill gang to make jump on it 🤯. Fun fact the same track was sampled by Nas, Jay-z, and Kanye. But this album alone was sampled with various other artists including The Beastie Boys, Fat Boy Slim, Buck 65 (another CBC throwback iykyk - likely the radio host that late night evening in highschool), N.W.A, Massive Attack, The Chemical Brothers and more! I really enjoyed this album and absolutely agree you should listen to it before you die. If possible a late night listen with friends having some fun.

Listened to this with my Grandma. Asked her what she thought of it. She responded with an unrelated answer because she clearly can’t hear anymore. So I guess we’ll never know what she truly thinks of Deerhunter. Overall this album was pleasant to listen to. Your stereotypical indie album imo.

I’ve heard of this guy Beck before. I can’t say I’d know any of his music. I enjoyed this album. It’s very chill and well mixed.

Sounds like a typical folk fest act. Clearly lots of potential Shameka is correct. I can appreciate the music and hate it at the same time somehow. The first song reminds me of Swift when she chitters at birds through the window. I found this album overall ebbs and flows between annoying and enjoyable listening throughout. Okay is this dogs now or is that coming in from the window? What are you screaming for? Hey this sounds great ah…. a step back again…. rinse and repeat. I debated turning it off many times but somehow I’m still glad I played through.

The fact I had to hunt around for this album makes me enjoy it more. Not on Apple Music, Spotify or SoundCloud. I found it on YouTube. Considering this was Throwing Muses compilation of early music. They have a lot of music later than this album on streaming services. It makes me want to check out some of their later work. Musically I enjoyed it. A bit of a punk vibe to it.

I feel like love is more of a primary emotion that rules them all. People do dumb shit for love, Tina. So I’m more in the Beatles camp on the love subject. This album is great though. Enjoyed listening to it this morning.

I knew I probably was familiar Jethro Tull’s music. But I couldn’t tell you a single song of theirs I had heard of before playing this one. When the first guitar riff played in the album title track Aqualung, I was ready for a fun classic rock experience. The album art is thematic to the album experience. Which was apparently inspired by photographs of unhoused people along the Thames and drives the story more around that.

Honestly wasn’t super attentive when I listened to this one.

Another Lenard Cohen album! Quite different from the You Want it Darker album. This paired well with the rainy weather outside. I do like it darker personally. But this was a moody vibe for a gloomy fall Sunday morning.

Bangers only

This is my first time listening to a full album from Simon & Garfunkel. The sound mixing was really fun on this album. The instruments were distinctly separated creating a cool live music experience. I listened to it on my walk to La Maison du Pain near our Airbnb in Samois sur Seine. So that added an element of fun exploring a new area.

“This music sounds so boring. It all sounds exactly the same.” - Kerri This album would be a great one to listen to while crying yourself to sleep. Clearly some people enjoy it but I agree with Kerri.

The whole time listening to this all I can think of is Toy Story.

Different Class by Pulp was quite mellow and easy to listen to. I was trying to figure out some of the more unique sounds on it. Apparently one of the instruments is a mellotron invented in the UK. Fitting name for an instrument with the mellow sort of vibes. They also played a few other instruments I had no clue that existed like a synare (which appears to be an early version of an electric drum pad), and a vocoder which essentially distorts vocals into synthesized musical sounds.

Not sure I truly understand jazz. I’m sure there is something unique about this album. But it sounded like good jazz.

Never heard of this one. This album leans a bit on the ethereal side imo. Pairs well with our rest day/lazy day in France with not much going on. Feeling like you’re in limbo for the next day to arrive fresh and ready to explore again.

Back in university one of my coworkers in the kitchen tried to sell me his tickets to the Pixies show in Winnipeg. He claimed it was the last tour they were going to play to try and drive value in his tickets. I didn’t fall for his tricks seeing as they are still touring today. Maybe I was just too poor to justify going to live shows for bands I’d never heard of. Listening to this album today, I wish I went to that show. The Pixies are definitely a style of music that I’ve been to many other similar artists shows live. So I’m sure I would have had a blast rocking out with them in ~2009. The track Where Is My Mind? Is the only song I’m aware of listening too. This album is very nostalgic for me of an era of time in my life. Despite not following the pixies closely I’m sure much of the music I listened to may have been inspired by them to some degree.

Wicked album! I had heard a small amount off his music before. But I’ll definitely be playing this one again. Muddy Waters inspired a lot of the Rolling Stones music and sound. Kenny Rogers specifically wrote in his book about how Muddy Waters inspired his music. He also wrote a lot about how he would obsess over details of the sound by recording in cellars, etc. I’m not too sure about Muddy Waters specifically. But heroin use grew quite heavily in the US around the blues music origins. It’s was speculated that the Mafia used blues musicians to make the drug popular. Which then addicted much of the black community. The drugs and music have always had a lot of crossover.

Sally go round the roses was alright. Otherwise hard pass for this entire album for me. Boring and annoying if you ask me. I hope it’s not the last album I listen to before I die.

If you ever want to hear my dad who is on the spectrum spew off a bunch of “facts” about a band. Just play some of The Who and you won’t be able to stop him. Every time The TV show Crime Scene Investigation would play the opening theme music of The Who. My dad would say the same story about The Who which I can’t seem to remember the details of today. I’m sure nothing has changed if you want to have deeper understanding of my Dad’s knowledge of The Who. Overall this album lives up to my Dad’s hype of The Who. I listened to this album in pieces on the plane back home from Paris. Mostly between trying to entertain our daughter and waiting in line for the bathroom. Which I’d say improved a my overseas flight experience.

Great fireside album in the evening. Some unique sounds Moog Raga was especially weird and fun.

Pleasant listen for a colder day. Cooked some pizza to this album and then ate dinner. Would recommend this pairing.

This is so funky! Opening track Chameleon is sampled or in a set list I frequent with The Funk Hunters and Chali 2na rapping over the track. I kept waiting for it to build into the song I know but can’t find it atm (suggesting a dj set instead of a recorded song). I wonder if the album title Hear Hunters has some inspiration for The Funk Hunters moniker as well. Regardless I love that this album essentially is the mainstream origins of jazz-funk fusion. Super fun vibe and sound.

Tons of nostalgia from this one. When I was in university one of my roommates Robyn loved playing single songs heavily on repeat. Tbh it ruined some songs for me. Especially since most popular songs you already hear everywhere without even trying. So when she became a huge fan of the popular song at the time Paper Planes. I tried to overplay it for her as a ploy to ruin a song for her. Well instead it formed a deep love for the song for both of us. So now every time either of us hear the song we think of the fun times as roommates together. Years later MIA became quite popular in the outdoor film scene. Likely due to the song Bad Girls being used in an all female film. Which made me circle back to her music and dig into her discography. The album Kala overall captures MIAs style well IMO. But out of all her music I tend to visit and play more music off the albums AIM and Matangi. They tend to come off a bit harder and genuine She is also very well known as a filmmaker herself. So make sure to check out her music videos. She has a documentary that I’ve had recommended to me before as well. But I haven’t made the time to watch yet.

Started this album not knowing much about Syd Barrett. I thought it had a lot of sounds similar to the Beatles or Pink Floyd. Later learning, that Syd was formerly part of Pink Floyd and he was kicked out of the band due to mental health challenges, erratic behaviour, and heavy psychedelic drug use. Apparently inspiring the popular song in tribute to him “Shine on you Crazy Diamond”. I’m sure he was a big part of the band and it was a difficult but necessary decision to move on without him. The remaining members of Pink Floyd clearly showed their support and respect for Syd as they would collaborate with him on his solo endeavours. Though I’m sure the writing was on the wall and the members of Pink Floyd knew they were not going far with Syd remaining a key figure of the band. So as expected Syd’s music career faded away and apparently he faded away from the public. He is said to have picked up a life of gardening and painting. Which sounds quite nice if you ask me. I’m sure with royalties from his early career with pink Floyd supporting his lifestyle he is in a much better place to manage his mental health. Overall I’m sure his musical talent and crazy ideas helped kickoff what we know of Pink Floyd today. He was probably super fun to party with until he wasn’t. I’m sure we all know someone like that in our lives that we have either distanced ourselves from or rebuilt our relationships so that we can stay connected but in a way that doesn’t drag everyone else down. I hope a life of gardening and painting brings calm and peace to Syd’s life.

I’m not a big fan of Nirvana’s music overall. I appreciate a few of the more popular songs. But sound wise it’s different and I can see why it stood at the time.

More jazz. As mentioned before I don’t know what to tell you about Jazz. It’s good though.

I’ve been semi-familiar with Jurassic 5’s music for a while. I’ve never really intentionally listened to Jurassic 5 but I always enjoy it. Learning that Jurassic 5 was one of the more prominent groups to make art rap or conscious rap and stray away from gangsta rap is cool. Many of my friends 5-10 years older than me grew up listening to their music at parties, etc. So they have a ton of nostalgia in regard to Jurassic 5. Which makes sense if they are one of the first bigger name groups to push away from more traditional gangsta rap creating broader appeal for folks that may not relate to that style. They are a classic posse cut rap style. Where four or more artists take turns trying to out rap each other. This style is less common these days for whatever reason I don’t know. The style in my opinion can lead to some very fun and playful rhyme structure and many of the OG rappers started in a posse that eventually split apart. The song What’s Golden is the only song I could say I truly knew. But Chali 2na is featured on so many songs in the modern day Canadian west coast edm scene. His vocals are so unique that you only really need to hear one bar to know who it is. So it’s fun hearing more of his origin work.

Franz Ferdinand was the eldest son of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria, the younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. His last words were, "Sophie, Sophie! Don't die! Live for our children!". When asked about his own injury, he repeatedly said, "It is nothing". He spoke these words as he was dying after being shot in Sarajevo in 1914. Franz Ferdinand was shot because the Black Hand decided to assassinate him because of his perceived threat to Serbian independence. The more I learn about this Franz Ferdinand guy I didn’t see the bands origin name connecting to the archduke. Turns out the band is named after a race horse that was named after Franz Ferdinand and the band liked the alliteration. Overall an enjoyable Sunday morning listen making pancakes for a bunch of neighbours.

Do you realize?? Was the main track I was familiar with from The Flaming Lips. I don’t think I could identify their music otherwise. General easy listening imo. Some fun experimental sounds leaning into the weird side. Yoshimi battles the pink robots pt 2 was a fun audio depiction of a cartoon battle. I went back for a second play through today and would recommend it.

Jazz is jazz

“Don’t you just feel like you’re at a social and drunk” - Kerri This album was Def Leppard’s bridge into more of the pop genre as their 3rd album. Inspired by Thriller they were wanted to make a bunch of pop hits. I just assumed this was what all Def Leppard sounded like because it’s heavy play time at socials, etc. So I guess I only know the mainstream version of Def Leppard.

Some good jazz vibes

Cool to learn that this album was mostly a spiritual rebirth for Pete Townsend getting tired of making only singles to gain radio play. The rest of the band just accepting their new spirituality and to roll with it. Some of the classics like Pinball Wizard will also get my dad telling you verbatim stories about The Who. That you will hear every time the song plays. Seems to be a trend in my Dad’s music listening history. Though personally this album had some great tracks on it. Overall it was somewhat repetitive sounding and I doubt I’ll go out of my way to listen to it again.

Very inattentive listening to this one due to a late night before. Can’t really tell you if anything stood out.

Southern Rock Opera was quite the journey. I was expecting to not care for it personally. But it grew on me as it continued to play through. The Drive-By Truckers did a great job of creating a rock opera with story telling that took you along for a ride.

I’m fairly certain I’ve never intentionally listened to Norah Jones. I’m sure it’s been force fed to me in a coffee shop or something before. However, I probably didn’t really notice it since it’s meant to be more of a background music in those settings either way. I’ve heard people reference her as an artist many times. So I was familiar with her name. I found this album pleasant to listen too. She’s got a nice voice and makes for a great coffee shop vibe or a chill time.

Loved Deep Purple when I was in high school. Was ready for this album to be over though.

Kerri has been waiting for this day to come. Hopefully she doesn’t loose interest in this group afterwards. This album is in top 100 of listens before you die imo for a good reason. We own this record because Kerri hunted it down in marketplace. So I picked it up from some random dudes porch and left cash inside. I probably hear it weekly at home at least and I don’t think it will get old that way.

I really liked the bass and percussion side of this music. The vocals were not my jam personally. But the music was quite good apart from that imo. It gives me a bit of a goth Swans vibe. So I know one person that would likely be a fan.

A long, long time ago. In a small town not that far away. A younger version of myself had an iPod. Imagine…. It was a time before smartphones and music subscriptions. It’s romantic to think of a time without constant notifications and updates. At the time you primarily learned about music from the radio, friends or family. Then one day a deal made through U2 and Apple forces a download of their newest album onto every single iPod in existence. No consent was given at all. It was like a virus that found its way into your iPod the moment it was plugged in to your computer. You at first think cool a free album… But then you listen to it and realize that you don’t really care for U2. Then if you shuffle your music it ends up embedded in your life whether you like it or not. So you think whatever I’ll just delete it. Then you find out you can delete are your own personal music but not U2. This violation of user choice made apple release a tool to remove the album and forced an apology from U2. I was not a fan of U2 then and continue to not really be into their music. But I cannot deny that I sang along to many of the tunes on this album either way.

I’d give this 0 stars if I could. Country music is so bad

The album art on this is wild. I wasn’t super awake and ready for the high energy of this album. It’s hard not to get into Celtic - sea shanty styled music though. Callie was bopping to the beat while smashing toys. Was a fun morning.

This was fun I liked this!

Wow! I now understand why the Grateful Dead have some die hard fans. This was a virgin listen for me and I was very impressed. The music production and mastering were a total delight to listen too. I drank my morning coffee and just sat down experiencing the music. Would recommend hearing this album before you die.

Move outta the way Taylor Swift! I’ve never heard of an album that consists entirely of love songs let alone 69 of them. With the idea generated in a gay piano bar and showcased at a drag show. I imagine Stephin is probably a pretty entertaining person if he essentially runs with an idea to troll love stories in the most loving way. I Love it! Super fun idea and well executed! I listened to at least 69 percent of theses songs.

Wow! This is music! I think I’m a Santana fan now.

Kerri cued up this album while I was making her coffee. Callie started bopping to it immediately as it came on. So Callie gives it a 5 stars. Great morning coffee vibes in my mind too. Soul music is underplayed if you ask me. More soul less country please

I was entertained by this album.

When I was in grade 5 or 6 we went camping as a family somewhere in Manitoba. Likely hecla or birds hill park. But I’m not certain. I remember running around and biking around this campground and this group of young adults had a stereo playing music all weekend. They didn’t have much selection so they kept playing this one popular artist at the time. Having the song stuck in my head. I mockingly sang along and my mom thought I loved this song. So later that year for Christmas, she went shopping for gifts at a bunch of music stores trying to figure out this song. Singing it to the staff until she finds someone that recognizes it. My mom I’m sure very excited buys this CD from the store and wraps it up for me to open Christmas Day. When I unwrapped it, I wasn’t sure who the artist was and didn’t recognize the track list either. So I played the music either way and overall it wasn’t really my thing. Since I was mocking the music in the summer and not enjoying it. Later that year my sisters friend Michelle is flipping through my music collection and she sees the album my mom bought for me. She was so excited to play it. Then I mentioned that I didn’t really like it and she offered to trade some music for it. So in the end, I traded for her brothers scratched CD of Follow the Leader by Korn. I was so psyched to have some music I was into at the time. Even if the CD was in rough shape. I played that album a ton and it likely was one of my first metal/numetal albums of many. My mom was quite disappointed I traded her gift for Korn. Especially with all the work she had put into finding that other CD. But one way or another I think the fact that it lead to me getting this album was way better. I doubt I could have purchased it myself being a minor at the time. Since it likely was rated parental advisory. But I played that album so many times and thoroughly enjoyed this throwback. The album is so gritty and dark and at the early end of their genre. The bass and drums really shine through imo and it brings back many good memories.

Fleet Foxes sounds sort of floaty and transcendent bringing a pretty unique sound. Personally I find this style of music boring. It’s great if you don’t really want to notice it playing in the background.

First time listening to a complete album from MGMT. If you haven’t seen their famous YouTube video(link below) just before they went big. You can tell these dudes love making music. https://youtu.be/vNC1W2m4Uug?si=ufvYfUyveZxwWN8S

Sounded like your typical 80s pop to me.

Ambient music is not something I expected to be on this list. In the right mood this would be awesome.

I had a friend who was a die hard RHCP fan. So I’ve listened to this album a ton. Probably had a few jam sessions playing their music. Most memorably one spontaneous jam session where we went to my house at the farm to pick up my drumkit and drive back to his place. His parents were gone so we could jam all night. It was likely after midnight when we actually got setup at his house. Then we jammed until the wee hours of the morning. It was a wicked jam session that just flowed for hours. Then we packed up my drum kit to go back home. My friend who gave me a ride must have picked up a screw in the driveway because he got a flat tire on the highway like 5 minutes into our drive. He didn’t know how to change a tire. So I swapped it out on the side of the highway while the sun was just starting to set. RHCP have always had a very unique sound and re-listening to this album was nostalgic in many ways. I do think guitar hero and generally high radio play time has overplayed them though.

You know what? I didn’t expect to actually like this album. Not a big Coldplay fan at all. But it must pair well with doing payroll and timesheets. I don’t know how pairing two things I’m not a fan of made both more enjoyable.

First time for me. This album paired well with cooking dinner for the next few days.

Listened through YouTube. I’d classify this as stressful jazz. Not your typical coffee shop jazz for sure. The term avante garde as far as I’m aware just means we didn’t want to fit in your boxes definition of the genre. Kerri didn’t want to listen to it. But I listened with Jessalyn while delivering the Christmas Cheer Hamper to the family. Would I listen to it again? Probably not…. But this is different from all the other jazz, so I’ll give it that. It was a fun listen but definitely not first thing in the morning. When my family said to shut it off.

The history on this album is super interesting in how the artist avoided censorship while recording in a military dictatorship in Brazil. Also how they switched styles from acoustic to electric guitar for this album too. The afro-Brazilian sound was very well done. Listening to it without really knowing the title of the album or artist. I figured it was some sort of cultural fusion.

Love this album! Solid all the way through imo. I wasn’t certain why I had listened to it a ton. My sister who was visiting claimed it was her doing. Regardless my old iPod had a lot of Yeah Yeah Yeahs in rotation. Probably not the entire album but most of the tracks were familiar. There also must be a remixed Heads Will Roll track that I’ve listened to on a dj set on heavy rotation.

This was mastered really well. It was a joy to listen to while eating supper.

I’m fairly certain I’ve only heard a few songs here and there from Massive Attack. I feel like I’ve missed out not diving deeper into their work. This album was really good to listen to with bigger speakers. The low end sounds come out really strong. I feel like you’d miss a lot of the sound otherwise.

Apparently this dude almost shot John Lennon and actually killed someone. Most famous Christmas murder. Album was enjoyable for a Christmas album though.

Home sick yesterday and listened to the whole live album too. Sounded like a fun concert to be at. Judas Priest definitely knows how to entertain

Sat on my couch feeling like absolute garbage while listening to this album. It was very well mixed. So that was fun to listen to. The percussion elements came out really clear and added a fun effect.

Starting to feel less sick today! So you get a more in depth review from me today. I have always enjoyed Led Zeppelin. But I wasn’t too familiar with the history of the band. Apparently this is the first album of theirs to gain broader mass appeal. Even though their first album is still quite popular among fans. This album was created with a more collaborative process from the band and less of the Jimmy Page led directive. The music industry wanted more single tracks from rock artists and Led Zeppelin insisted that the album format is better than a popular single. This album was seen by many as an “unhinged and elaborate deconstruction of American blues”. Learning that Led Zeppelin was also one of the first artists of the genre to move towards big stadium and arena shows is not surprising with their huge fame. Which is wild to consider the experience of being at one of those shows. Though these shows were not always run successfully. Since you’re bringing a defiant and angsty genre of people into large crowds that had hardly been seen before. While simultaneously introducing widespread use of psychedelics and inexperienced venue hosts. Notably the Rolling Stones at this time also pushing the genre into stadium shows. Hired the hells angels to be security at their 1969 Altamont Concert. The Hell’s Angels obviously saw a secondary opportunity being present to traffic drugs to fans and were paid in beer. There is a documentary called Gimme Shelter documenting this wave of counterculture. I’m sure many crowd control measures and other lessons have been learned from these early days of large venue concerts. Ensuring better overall spectator safety, sound quality and overall total improved experience. But man would it be cool to be able to experience one of the early days of Led Zeppelin playing live in a huge arena or stadium.

I was able to see Nas perform live in 2023 on the NY State of Mind Tour with The Wu-tang Clan and De La Soul as a special guest/opener. At the time, I wasn’t familiar with much of Nas’s music. I went mainly to see the Wu-tang Clan. I knew Nas was and still is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of this generation. The concert opened a bit slow to be honest. But Nas and Wu-tang were definitely worth the wait. The show centred around the history of hip hop since 2023 was the 50th anniversary of the genre. Which was wicked to see some OG big names on the stage giving their best performance co-headlining. Yet still wanting to wrap the show up for a respectable time to get home and to bed. They also paid respect to a large list of hip hop artists who have lost their lives over the years. Highlighting the systemic oppression that many hip hop artists were raised in. With some of the artists using music as an avenue to escape the struggle. Even if it was a temporary relief from everyday life. Of course many others not being as lucky as the few who have made it big and survived. Since Illmatic is one of the top 100 albums listed by Apple Music. I have played this album heavily in the past year or so and quite enjoy it. Being fairly new into the genre I’ve managed to grow a strong appreciation for the evolution of hip hop and the history as well. Also TIL this album is famous for being the first rap album using a first person narrative and breaking away from single producer albums. Was pleased to give this one a listen and a bit of a deeper dive into the history of its significance.

I was expecting more of the Seven Nations Army vibe. This was quite different though but you could still tell it was The White Stripes. Fun short album! The White Stripes played a secret acoustic set on a Winnipeg Transit Bus back in 2007. I’ve yet to meet someone who was there to experience it. But I’m down with artists doing random pop-ups. They of course played the wheels on the bus.

“First song is good. It’s sort of well known” - Kerri Lyrics lean into SA territory and caught me cringing a few times. So hard to give it a strong review as a result. Musically otherwise it was decent.

No complaints here really.

The first time I had heard the Beastie Boys my friend’s older brother was playing a song that he downloaded off Napster. Napster had just become popular starting one of the more widespread eras of music piracy. Not that people didn’t make physical copies of music before digital piracy. This just really disrupted the music industry so Napster ended up being sued by artists like Metallica and Dr. Dre, etc. Though Napster truly paved the way for digital music to make it into the mainstream. All these streaming services should pay their respect to Napster. That first time hearing the Beastie Boys was very memorable. I had never heard anything like it before and I really liked the groovy, hip-hop, punk rock style. IMO they really carved out their own genre. I’ll always remember that moment in my friends house hearing the Beastie Boys for the first time and continue to frequent their discography from time to time. Fun Beastie Boys fact is that if you want to sell a commercial product. They will not let you use their music. In Adam Yauch’s will, it even discloses the prohibition to use their music or images for advertising.

Well Callie was grooving hard to the two opening tracks of this and so was I. It made for a fun Saturday afternoon. From what I recall, this was quite different from the first Beck album we listened. I don’t remember it that well but I think this one stands out a lot more.

This was cool! Fun to learn the early work of Neil Young and Stephen Stills. Also that even though he is not credited on the album but David Crosby popping in to support here and there. This band formed in the most Canadian way by seeing another Ontario license plate driving by in California. Then turning around to catch up to them to say hello. Learning about Bruce Palmer getting deported while in the recording process. Also that he left Jack London and the Sparrows before it became Steppenwolf. Bruce Palmer clearly sounds like the guy you want to get you started in music. Since when he leaves everyone’s career seems to take off.

If I would have gotten a tattoo when I was a teenager. It probably would’ve been a Metallica tattoo. Well I’m glad I didn’t do that. I still really enjoy their music. The black album is full of classics that I found sent me back in time. I owned this album on CD and would have played it on my school bus with my friends with my disc man and portable speakers many times. Personally I’m a bigger fan of their albums that were released before this one. But you cannot deny the mass popularity of practically every track on this album. I look forward to listening to the other three albums Metallica has on this list with you all.

They were wrong, so we drowned is quite unique. The Wikipedia article puts it in the genre of noise rock, experimental, and dance punk. I liked it and had fun listening to it. Dance punk and noise rock seems appropriate for the genre.

I’m a sucker for soul music. It’s a pretty failsafe genre (imo) for a chill evening. Cleaning the kitchen up after dinner or cooking always pairs well with soul. I’m not sure it is a relief or sad that the lyrics of this album talk about how the world is dying physically and emotionally. With the hatred, and suffering of people. As well as, fish being poisoned with mercury, radiation in the sky, etc. Since this album was recorded in the early 70s and it still rings true today. Marvin Gaye is trying to find ways to make people care about the world and each other. Yet nothing seems to have changed. Does this mean that the world is not doomed and it just always feels that way to some extent? Accepting that no matter what timeline you live in. There always seems to be some sort of atrocities happening. Maybe the world just needed Marvin Gaye to stick around on this planet a little bit longer RIP. Maybe the world just needs more soul.

I was fortunate to be able to see Rush play live in Winnipeg with some friends that were die hard fans. So I got to learn about all the details of their performance history. Like the addition of rotisserie chickens replacing the space on the stage of where bass amplifiers used to occupy. Which they apparently use to feed the crew after shows too. Plus the laser show was to this day still one of the best I have seen. This show was likely in 2008 when it was less common to see high quality laser shows. I recall getting to the MTS centre early and hearing my friends geek out about the band. When I didn’t really know much about their music. As we are sitting there before the show starts about 6 laser/light technicians ascended ropes to their laser stations in the rafters. The technicians just stayed there the entire show too. So I hope they were comfy up high in some sort of hammock. Knowing the attention of detail Rush puts into their work made the show extra special. Listening to this album years after made me appreciate the music even more. The sound mastering is very clear and takes you on a journey. Overall, still not my main jam but glad I got to experience Rush live. They are a classic for a reason.

Callie is apparently a big fan of Arcade Fire. She was bopping to pretty much every song. We all realized that since we typically listen in the morning or the evening when she turns three. She will have listened to most of the 1001 albums.

Staying at a cabin with Kerri’s family This one brought back memories for Kerri’s dad. First time listening to a full album black sabbath. I can get why ozzy became famous.

This was neat.

Neat but I wouldn’t have missed it f u never heard this album.

“ Ridin’ in my GNX with Anita Baker in the tape deck, it’s gon’ be a sweet love” - Kendrick Lamar This album and Kendrick Lamar’s newest album GNX were both quietly released. They both performed very well regardless of the lack of promotion. We will see if they both collect multiple Grammy awards tomorrow evening. Where the album GNX is nominated for nine Grammys! I’m sure Kendrick’s inspiration of the idea came from Anita in showing dominance over the music industry. Not allowing labels, marketing and promotion to influence or control their art. Listening to Anita Baker and knowing the influence she has had on one of my favourite artists brings another level of appreciation for her music. I wish I had more time to appreciate this album today and listen to it more attentively. But Speed Climbing Nationals kept me busy from 6am till 9pm. So at least I managed to play through the album before doing it again tomorrow.

Ooooo

I think I like this better than the last one. Great album and happy to know it exists now.

Listened to this on my way to Montreal. I’ll take this over The Byrds any day but it definitely sits in more of a generic pop genre imo.

First time listening to Steely Dan. At times this feels like hold music or elevator music. Really clear audio mixing with the hi-res lossless creating a pleasant listening experience. Overall enjoyable easy listening with no standouts imo. The album plays as if it was intended to play entirely in the background and not be a “pick-me” album. I bet this sits at the back of many peoples record collections collecting dust.

Listened to this one after a long day preparing for Para-Climbing Nationals. Almost opted to skip it due to the long day of work. Figured I could make sometime for it and get it in still though. So I listened to it in the shower and while I got ready for bed. I’m very glad I did! Probably the best music I’ve heard from CCR and I had not heard most of the tracks and it was refreshing from their more heavily played classic tracks.

For me, the title track is really the main attraction here. It’s very well produced and a classic for a reason. But the rest of the album sort of fell apart and lost my attention. Could have been the long day at a competition. But I doubt I’ll make my way around for a second listen. I do have a core memory from folk fest one year. Where three groups at a workshop played a French reggae version of Hotel California and it was hilarious.

Cool to learn this was recorded in a single 8 hour session. Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs paired well to sitting waiting on a couch for the routesetters to wrap up their day at Para Climbing Nationals. Prior to heading back to the Airbnb to watch the Bad Bunny concert in the football game. The sun was shining in the gym and the event was over. So I managed to just chill and listen to the music. While reflecting on a busy weekend.

I think every 90s child grew up to many of the B-52’s songs at sock hops or random kids events. With the obvious tracks including rock lobster as well as love shack. I like how they lean into making pop music that’s just a bit weird. In the Flinstone’s movie, some of the band members formed the BC-52’s for the movie theme track and bedrock twitch. The Flinstone’s movie even though it is rated poorly, will be a core memory in my brain connected to the B-52s. It’s probably best I don’t rewatch that movie to preserve my rosy memories of my childhood. From my memory the entire soundtrack was the BC-52s and that’s wrong. So I’ll just never watch it again and remember it as a fun movie from my childhood.

Decent morning coffee music.

Wow! Frontline is incredible! Probably helps to play this album on big speakers imo. The rest of the album was also quite enjoyable but I found it didn’t hold up to the initial track. The production on this is very impressive overall.

Callie approved! She immediately danced around the living room to Connected. The album art Is fun I’d love to see it on something larger than a phone screen to fully figure out what’s going on.

“Wait! This sounds like rock and or roll.”Milhouse is a snitch and the only reason I know any of Iron Butterfly’s music is because of Bart Simpson. I respect that In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida was made to be the complete side B of this record when released. Which I guess is what artists did back in the day to be edgy. Otherwise this album sort of seems like all they cared about was making one long song.

Probably the best album name of all time.

I used to own this album on CD and would play it frequently. I’m still a pretty large fan of RATM but I don’t listen to their music as much anymore. So it was fun playing this in car with Callie on the way to daycare and see her rocking out in the backseat to bombtrack. Seeing RATM live is on my bucket list and I was convinced it would never happen. Then in the magical year of 2020 they announced a tour with Run the Jewels and I was stoked. I bought two tickets not knowing who was joining me yet. So did my friends who wanted to see RATM haha. So as we’re waiting for the tour to start we were trying to find other people to join our spare seats. Then this like global pandemic thing happened. RATM postponed their tour for a whole year and we thought they were crazy. This will be over in a couple weeks…. So June of 2021 it is. Then you know how that story played out. The tour gets postponed again. They finally kick off the tour in 2022 again. My hopes and dreams were about to come true. Then Zack de La Rocha had a severe Achilles tendon tear during a show. He played a few shows seated until a doctor told him he required surgery and a lengthy recovery. So RATM canceled the remainder of the tour and refunded everyone’s tickets. I’m still patiently waiting to hear when/if they will tour again. Also if you don’t already know Tom Morello misses the smaller days of RATM where they would talk to fans in the parking lot about politics. He has a Harvard education and many bigots get mad when they realize the music is very political.

Did Elvis ever leave?

I was only introduced to the Boards of Canada a couple of years ago. I like their sound. Though I rarely listen to their music.

Great stuff!

Still not a country fan. But I will admit this one was better than most country I’ve heard. Either way I’d be happy for this genre to vanish.

Huge Gorrilaz fan over here! The fact they created a virtual comic book band just to break away from the mold of the music industry. Allowing them to create something entirely different than what their fans or colleagues would have wanted. This album is loaded with nostalgia for me, with songs like Clint Eastwood being popular when one of my childhood friends first started smoking weed singing “Sunshine in a bag”. The line in sound check “Gravity will never let me down” sticks in my head often too. Overall I’ve listened to this album countless times and still enjoy it every time. It’s made it into my road trip music rotations. So chances are anyone who has sat in a car with me for many hours on a climbing trip has listened too. Callie was bopping along to it this morning and Ben tried to grow more skin while listening to a few of the first tracks.

I disagree with Karen and Kerri on this one. Missed this one last week due to HDS. But this morning while recovering from a cold and parenting Callie from couch. We were vibing to it and causing chaos(Callie not me) in the house. While Kerri sat in a meeting.

Fantastic! I enjoyed the whole album while enjoying my morning coffee.

So this one will always have a salty place in my heart. I bought this record used and it taught me a hard lesson. You should always pull the record out of the sleeve and look at it before paying for it. Anyways I bought it and brought it home and it the record was warped enough it wasn’t playable. So I read online that you can flatten it under some heavy books. This is not true for how bad this record was. So some people suggest putting it in the oven on the lowest temperature between two sheets of glass. Well this flattened it but it made the 3d waves 2D so it was still unplayable just flat. Now Callie gets to play with it until we eventually throw it out I guess. Other than the lesson this album has taught me. I do really enjoy the music on it. So many great tracks on this one. It would have been nice to spin it on the turntable once in a while. I won’t go out of my way to find a working copy of it. But if I see one someday for a reasonable price. You know I’m gonna get it.

So the Wikipedia article says he played everything on this album. I think that’s pretty cool.

25 Grammies, married to Beyoncé and the first hip hop artist to become a billionaire. This album is where Kanye got noticed for being a producer. It’s probably the best snapshot of the early 2000’s hip hop scene.

First time listening to the kinks as far as I’m aware. They sound a lot like the Beatles and pink Floyd did a joint project.

“This sounds like a drum and bass album” It makes you do this (proceeds to demonstrate someone looking like they have a brain injury)” “Is this still the same album?!?” - Kerri Personally I think it’s cool hearing some of the early days of drum and bass. Knowing that as a sub-genre it expanded into multiple other branches of EDM today. There was some familiar aspects that I think I only know because it’s mixed into some of those branches of music today.

Great Sunday morning tunes if you care about my opinion. I’ve never actively sought out their music. Somehow I’m still bopping along and know the lyrics to many of their songs though.

When I was young teenager I went to Manitoba Summerfest with my family. It was a classic rock festival in one of the best outdoor venues in Manitoba imo. They had an amphitheater hill around the stage set-up. The campground was entirely treed in and shady letting you sleep in. Plus you could pick blueberries and put them in your morning pancakes. A short drive to go to grand beach for a swim. The smaller festival overall made it so most acts didn’t start until mid afternoon which gave you time to chill and for people to get rowdy in the campgrounds. There were only two stages a main stage and a side stage. One night I recall, seeing a Jimi Hendrix cover band on the side stage and it was an incredible performance for a small act. The Hendrix impersonator knew how to put on a show and play guitar. I want to say they called themselves purple haze. But I can’t confirm that with my internet sleuthing. What I loved about this festival is that the closing acts were always following the main stage event. So they had to bring the energy to keep the party going. These guys delivered! Even setting their guitar on fire! The festival only lasted for 2 or 3 years before someone got screwed over or tired of all the work it is to put in large events for marginal to no returns. But I think there has been a few folks trying to start festivals on the same grounds. So I’m hopeful something cool will come out of that space. This album is a solid 5 stars and sometimes a good tribute band can be more fun with a small crowd than you would expect.

I was fairly certain I was new to The Cardigans. But I was familiar with their popular track Love fool when it came on. When the Ironman cover was playing I couldn’t pick it out right away. Then I mentioned it to Kerri it sounded familiar like it was a cover. She agreed then looked up the track title and we both had a good laugh about it. Fun to hear that version of Ironman. Overall I’m happy to give this one four stars

I started listening to Miles Davis when I was first testing out our new stereo. Since he came highly recommend as one of the albums to do that. Thanks to internet strangers for the recommendation.

Cool to learn that this album is one of the main origins of the famous Roland 808 bass. Also the origins of Renegades of Funk! Some pretty big historical significance coming out of this album

Fun learning about the origins of this one. Being the first rap album to top the Billboard 200 charts. The early days of Rick Rubin as a producer still living in a NYU dorm. The album title being a James Bond pun and the album art all show the goofy style of the beastie boys. Some of the lyrics didn’t age super well. But I’ll always enjoy this one.

This guy is always going to make me think of toy story

Alice in Chains is Callie approved. She started stomping her feat and head banging.

Callie is a fan of disco apparently. She started dancing and swinging her arm side to side. It paired well with making waffle for breakfast.

I’m disappointed that there is two more U2 albums on the list. I’d rank U2 higher than country. With either of them playing, I’m just waiting for it to be over.

Callie approved.

I found Wild Beasts album Two Dancers quite pleasant to listen to. It was a first listen for me. From beginning to end it was perfect for a morning espresso chilling with Swift. While watching the chickadees outside.

I don’t know why she has to sing so much. Just too much for me.

Not gunna lie. I liked this better than Adele. I think we should all start a “boy” band. Iain and James clearly have a lot of opinions about singing so they’re probably better at singing than me. So I’ll just bring vibes or something the rest of NSYNC brought to the group. Karen, Kerri and whoever else is still around can all play some sort of musical thing or work on a k-pop like narrative to sell to the masses. You guys in? I think the album could have been trimmed down a bit imo. But the Clipse feature on Like I love You is a cool find. If you haven’t listened to Clipse’s newest album Let God Sort Em Out (LGSEO). I highly recommend it, LGSEO showcases more of Pharrell’s production seen on this album. It should have won rap album of the year at the Grammy’s. But Bad Bunny won AOTY so Kendrick Lamar ended up with Rap AOTY but could have easily been AOTY making space for clipse to win the rap category. Either way without the award LGSEO is still a great album.

I was fortunate to be able to see The Smashing Pumpkins live with some friends Dan and Claire in Vancouver. Dan claimed they had an extra ticket to convince me to join them. Turns out once I confirmed I could make it. They just bought an additional ticket at the pub while we had supper. So the extra ticket was a lie but I was happy to join them either way. The extra ticket they bought me was in a seat near by and thankfully the seat neighbour was fine swapping with me. So I could sit with my friends. Turns out Claire is a die hard fan. So it’s always cool to get more details about an artist from a fan like Claire. I don’t think I would have ever called myself a large smashing pumpkins fan. But I did enjoy the show and this album.

Fun to learn that Massive Attack is recognized as the first trip hop album. What a pleasure it was to listen to this album this morning and learn more about them. Five Man Army gives me some Sublime vibes. I love that Del Naja has been accused of being banksy. Since he is also a graffiti artist from Bristol and banksy art would often appear around massive attack shows. But he denies this claim and mentions that banksy has been to their shows. It would be fun if you were a mysterious graffiti artist and you trolled your famous friend to make the world think they are you. Reuters recently claimed to prove who Banksy truly is. Overall the public response was to reject the narrative and let the secrecy of the banksy name continue on. Anyhoo this tangent on banksy has made me want to check out the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop.

Fun! First time hearing about DJ Shadow. Impressive to see some more original roots for DJing using vinyl samples. Apparently the early days of mixing music with vinyl was a pain to haul all the physical media around. Hauling milk crates full of records and all your gear to play at a dingy bar instead of just bringing in your laptop these days.

I managed to catch Iron Maiden play at the MTS Centre at The Somewhere Back in Time tour. This was my first time seeing a concert where the stage design was quite involved. Seeing their giant mascot Eddy pop out for the first time not knowing this was a thing they did was incredible. Great music, artists and performers if you ask me.

I’ve been looking forward to this day! Justice one of my earlier introductions to electronic music. With songs like Stress and the overall style being a wonderful bridge from my heavy metal influenced youth. I’ve listened to this album hundreds of times and always enjoy coming back to it.

LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver is very well mastered. The sound design really allowed for the percussion to stand out. I unfortunately only listened to the last half of the album with headphones and it was incredible. The first half I listened off my phone speaker in the morning prior to heading to the gym to prepare for youth western regional’s. Half paying attention while connecting with my colleague who arrived in the middle of the night. I’ll have to see if I have time to return to the entire album in one play through in the near future. Winding down the busy day of competition prep while listening to this at the Airbnb was fantastic.

When I rode the bus in high school I used to bring my discman with 90 seconds of skip free play. To play music on the bus with some small portable speakers that plugged into the headphone port. I’d bring my book of CDs and some friends would bring theirs. Which helped make the hour long ride to school and home everyday a little more fun. There were these two sisters that rode the bus. That always requested Jefferson Airplane. Not really knowing the band, I thought it was odd how they always requested it. Especially since I wasn’t like a radio station with all songs in my CD book. But I guess they must have listened to them at home with their parents and were familiar with them. Anyways Jefferson Airplane was okay. I’m not crazy about them. But won’t complain if their music is playing.

Not a very focused listen to Hot Buttered so tbh. My review is subject to change.

This gave me beach boys crossed with the Beatles

It was alright.

Could be a higher or lower rating. It was on in the house. But I was very distracted hanging with Callie.

Top notch from start to finish.

I was excited to see Frank Sinatra’s Songs for Swingin’ Lovers because I thought I had a vinyl copy of this. Turns out I have the sequel to it - a Swingin’ Affair. So naturally I had to listen to both today. Frank Sinatra’s music was a great pairing for the moodier weather and dinner.

I was expecting to enjoy A Grand Don’t Come for Free. But it fell short imo with better rap operas and UK rappers out there.

I really enjoyed listening to this one sitting in the sunshine drinking some tea.

I know lots of folks rave about Radiohead and I’ve tried to give them a listen here and there. But I’ve never actually made it through an album. Kid A for me was pretty decent overall. Some of the tracks sounded a bit like U2 to me. But the others were wicked. I’m sure if I did a deeper dive into their music it would grow on me.

I’ve never intentionally listened to Lenny Kravitz. I accidentally listened to the 20th anniversary of the album so we had hours of this album yesterday. It was great Saturday background music to play.

Listened to this while changing a lock and various other Sunday tasks. Tired of the renovation hustle that I’ve been on lately. But I loved this album.

Too country for me. But I respect Dolly Parton’s fight against misinformation and promotion of public health.

Handsome Dick Manitoba isn’t even from Manitoba WTF! These New Yorkers cosplaying as someone from Manitoba. How’d they get their own official Manitoba jacket.

When I saw Thundercat made this list I was pretty excited to listen. Since I wasn’t too familiar with his personal projects. But I appreciate Thundercats work as a producer and collaborator with some of my favourite artists. Most notably his collaboration with Mac Miller in his Tiny Desk concert. If you haven’t watched it you definitely should. It’s one of the most viewed Tiny Desk performances for a good reason. I did listen to Drunk a few times after learning it was on the list. So this was nice to come back to after a bit of a break. I’d recommend checking out his newest album released this April called Distracted if you enjoyed this one. He has a track that was recorded with the late Mac Miller on that album among many other enjoyable features.

My late roommate from University was a performative fan of Bob Dylan. I’m not sure he actually liked his music that much. They were just both from Minnesota. I traditionally didn’t care much for his music but a I really enjoyed this album. Maybe it was nostalgic memories of my roommate and university days. Also maybe it is due to the fact that I’m coincidentally reading this book at the moment that highlights Bob Dylan’s path to success. The book mainly focuses on Bob Dylan’s intense dedication and passion studying every aspect of the genre. Bob Dylan dropped out of college, moved to New York, and relentlessly studied his craft. Including deep dives on all the artists that inspired him. He moved to New York with little to no money, a guitar, and a suitcase. He wanted to immerse himself at the center of the folk scene. I think a lot of people assume big musicians get this lucky break. But Bob Dylan’s dedication to learning the craft and maybe going all in on some bold dreams led to his success. Bob Dylan was dedicated to finding work he loved and avoiding career regret experienced by 60% percent of workers. Since everyone knows if you love what you do for work. You never get a day off. Fun fact Bob Dylan changed his name legally from Robert Allen Zimmerman and famously avoided speaking to the media or doing interviews because he didn’t want them to over simplify him.

Once again sounds like all the rest of their music. Is this the last U2 album on the list?

I’ve listened to this album on many road trips. I find The Black Keys sort of hit this vanilla music preference for many folks. It’s also just great road tripping music.

Too much twang for my ears

Loved this album. Never really a die hard fan of NIN but I’ve always enjoyed their sound. I don’t think I’ve listened to more than a few songs. Johnny Cash’s version of Hurt will always be the best imo. I thought initially that NIN covered Hurt when I was younger. But it was cool to learn it was the other way around. Trent Reznor apparently was a but miffed that Johnny Cash “took” his song. But Trent learned to accept that it is now Johnny Cash’s song since he did such a great job with it recreating it.

I’m not sure if I just wasn’t in the mood for this one. I’d typically love a funky soul album. I still enjoyed it overall I think. But I couldn’t quite get into It.

This is great essentially an Indian music for dummies album. Callie and I definitely had fun with this one at breakfast. Maybe she was remembering our friend’s wedding she attended at 5 months old.

Listened to this mostly sitting in traffic dropping off Callie at daycare. It seems to pair well with a sunny day. Khaled brings some great energy to his music. I loved the cover of Imagine. Though my favourite cover of that song will always be by A Perfect Circle. It did catch me off guard hearing Kahled’s version.

Frank Ocean is an artist I’ve wanted to dive deeper into. Since my favourite podcast Dissect did a season on his earlier discography. I tried listening to the season a while back. Not really knowing what his music sounded like and couldn’t get into it at the time. I’m mostly just not into the pop genre. But after listening to the Channel Orange intentionally, I’ll have to go back and revisit that season. Maybe listening to the albums before diving into the podcast season. I found Channel Orange

Callie is apparently a huge fan of Run-DMC. Dancing to the beat and having a great time. Was a fun Saturday morning album to get going for the day. I have always enjoyed their music. But have never really sought out their music to listen to it.

I’ve always been a fan of Fatboy Slim’s music. I know I likely had Right Here, Right Now pirated off limewire on my iPod back in the day. That late 90s electronic style is iconic. That track will always get me hyped up. I love learning that this was cooked up with floppy discs on an Atari ST computer. Not featured on this album but the music video of Weapon of Choice with Christopher Walken is one of the best music videos of all time. If you haven’t seen it already you should watch it now. If you have seen it already you should watch it again. If your interested in watching some core late 90s/early 2000s history check out the Woodstock 99 mini series on Netflix. It captures the epitome of event planning failure and denying any responsibility. The set list for the festival seems like an all time dream set list. There is an interview with Fatboy slim about his set where he witnesses the crowd start to descend into pure chaos with an ambulance overtaken by the crowd. It’s truly nightmare fuel for Karen I’m sure. Watching from your couch as much as it looks like a pure hell experience. There is a piece of me that wishes I was present not as the 10 year old I was at the time but as a young adult accepting the chaos as a ridiculous series of events.

As if this was Janis Joplin’s second and final album! Being released posthumously and becoming one of the top 500 albums of all time! Not knowing much about her career or the history of her losing her life to overdose. I had always just assumed her career spanned a longer period of time with her name being well known. Turns out she just sang her heart out and left this world too soon.

Fell asleep to this one on the plane home from Montreal. Not because the music bored me. It was just early and I hadn’t slept much.

Busy few weeks on my end. So this was nice to return to my routine and chill in the morning while drinking coffee. Great coffee shop vibe music.

I went on hold to this music and then put the call centre person on hold when they picked up.

When this album came out, I had a roommate that listened to Sex is on Fire on their phone on repeat. After numerous days of this, I made a comment that we could listen to other songs in the house too. Apparently that song was their coping mechanism for going through a break up.

This turned out to be a surprising gem imo. Never heard of anything about it before. Made for greasy Sunday morning breakfast tunes.

You know why

I was quite distracted listening to this one tbh. But it was good.

Turns out this album was the perfect pairing for driving someone with frontotemporal dementia to long term care. It was weird and perfect at the same time. Track titles like ‘Dazed and Confused’, ‘Your Time is Gonna Come’, ‘Communication Breakdown’, and ‘How Many More Times’ all represent the theme of the day. My sister and I both realized this when Your Time is Gonna Come played and it was hard not to laugh in the strange situation. With your father is in the backseat trying to play familiar music for him to ease the transition from one care home to another. When he doesn’t recognize his first born child and constantly repeats the same questions. How Many More Times Will you ask if we are driving East. Watching his Communication Breakdown is a bit tough. But at least since he is so Dazed and Confused he seems pleasant and generally happy with the time he has left.

I was shocked to learn that Blur was the fifth studio album from Blur. I had always assumed that the self titled album was a debut and they faded away from the spot light afterwards. I guess with a change in style from Britpop it is a bit of a debut of sorts for this style of Blur. One of my high school bands often played Song 2 at community shows. One of our friends who had recently shaved his head of his long hair sang for us. Not knowing that the lyrics were actually “I got my head checked” instead of shaved. We mainly recruited him entirely off the notion that he shaved his head. He spent the time learning the song to play with us either way. We had a ton of fun playing it at random shows for practically nobody at weird small town events. Those exposure bucks were so much fun to earn and look where it took my music career. Song 2 is the only song I knew from the album. It was popularized from some Labatt Blue beer commercials showing feral youth racing shopping carts, etc. Nostalgia aside the rest of the album is actually what I enjoyed most today. Though Song 2 will always have a special place in my heart.

I definitely was confused with this one. I Thought I missed the album yesterday. Then I checked and it was Blur. So I thought, maybe I had already listened to it and forgot. But I was sure that wasn’t the case. Then I saw it was just back to back Blur albums. Knowing the history from the day before it’s cool hear how different this album is from their self titled album.

First time listening to Killing Joke for me. They reminded me a little bit of the Ramones but in their own way still. The history of the album art is cool to learn about. Callie would rate this highly with a wiggle and a dance to most of the songs.

Best part about listening to this album is that there is one less country album on the list to listen to.

Psyched for this one! Definitely a top tier hip hop album. Nice to get a break from that two day run of country albums too. Hopefully that doesn’t happen again. Callie immediately danced around and screamed with joy with the intro. You can tell she gets to listen to a fair bit of music in the hip hop genre. I’m actually surprised OutKast’s album aquemini did not make the list. Since it’s considered one of the top 500 albums of all time and one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. Either way the fact they have two albums on this list, truly demonstrates how André 3000 and Big Boi really put the South on the map for rap and hip hop. Both Stankatonia and Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below are excellent albums as well. Aquemini would have likely helped pave the way for their recognition on a broader audience too. I appreciate how this double album gave each individual artist of the duo the opportunity to shine on their own solo portion of the album. I also enjoy that our garage door lock key tone rings to the tune of how they sing “Speakerboxxx”. So I’m regularly reminded of this album every time I go into the garage. André 3000 more recently has released a flute album and another album titled 7 piano sketches. Fun to listen too but not my typical genre of music so I can’t tell you if they are high quality. Despite large success, André 3000 found it hard to be inspired to continue making hip hop albums due to social anxiety disorder and hypersensitivity to criticism of his work. I’m happy to see that he found a way to continue to make music on his terms though. It’s evident he is a very talented and introspective musician.

Great tunes to drive down the trans canada

I know one person in our household that was screaming with excitement for this album. It wasn’t Callie or I. However, Callie definitely enjoyed dancing to it too. So I assume she’s heard Taylor Swift a fair bit. As much as Taylor gets criticized for being popular. You know she knows how to entertain. She is a showgirl after all.

I know Prince is a legend and I’m happy to listen to a complete album of his now. The story of Prince’s cameo on the show New Girl is what I like to see famous people do with their fame. Apparently he always watched the show on tour and was a huge fan. He wanted to be the reason Nick and Jess end up dating. So he asked the show if he could be on it to facilitate that. They of course accepted and he played himself in the show where he gives Nick and Jess relationship advice at a Super Bowl party. Apparently on set he only called Jake Johnson by his character name Nick.

Just found this one kind of boring.

Really enjoyed listening to this one in the morning after a late night out at a my cousins wedding with the fam.

Kerri said she would be fine if we didn’t listen to this album. When Jack started yodelling she shot laser beams from my eyes across the room at me.

The silliness of this album increases its aura.

This album brings a lot of nostalgia. Especially Number of the Beast from playing Tony Hawk pro skater and unlocking the ability to play the game as Eddie.