Never have given the Grateful Dead a fair shake, and I enjoy lengthy jams (Allman Brothers, Neil Young) so I thought this album being my Day 1 generated on this 1001 album run was some type of fate. I don't think I will ever understand the Grateful Dead hype if this is what it sounds like. Long, uneventful slogs of songs with like maybe 5% of their runtime actually being interesting, with the occasional cool line, riff, improvisation. I'd be bored out of my mind if this is what the average Grateful Dead live concert sounded like - no wonder everyone was on acid. It's not offensively bad, or awful. It's just boring.

Solid album - own it as a record (for like $2). Improvement from their first album, and the big songs (Message in a Bottle, Walking on the Moon, Bring On the Night) are some of their best. Nothing exceptional, however, and the style of the album tracks kinda blend in with each other and I forget which one's which. A solid 3. Don't know if it's quite a 4? This is only my second album, so leaving room open for 4s and 5s.

One of the best straight-up classic rock albums. Behind Blue Eyes? Banger. Baba O'Riley? Banger. Won't Get Fooled Again? Banger. Love Ain't For Keeping? Banger. Bargain? Banger. The Who have better albums (namely Tommy and Quadrophenia), but like Who's Next is still very good, and their best non-concept one. Was going to go 4 because it's not their top album, but I maybe I should be less picky and more joyous. So we'll go a 5.

It's kinda hot. Big band swing and all that. Some of it blends in with each other and fades into background music, but that isn't necessarily bad. I do like me some jazz and this had some really nice passages. Very enjoyable album - not the best in the world, but a solid 4.

Very good rap album. Acclaimed for a reason. Let it be known that I was a Kendrick Lamar fan way before the Drake feud and allat, which gives me such a musical superiority complex that simply may never go away. I wouldn't call it a straight 5/5, but a solid 4. The theming throughout, interspersed with narratives and spoken-word passages, is captivating, and never sacrifices the actual music/content. It all flows well. It's not his greatest album, but a quite good one.

Solid country album. We enjoy some classic country. The common issue, however, through most of them is that all the songs kinda sound the same-y. I guess back then, country artists didn't like straying from the formula too much, and lots of the album tracks (including on this one) follow the same structure, the same major chords (in occasional differing order), and the same instrumentation. That being said, I still like country and it's a good album. Just nothing spectacular.