Having never listened to them before despite hearing the name over the years, once the album starts I'm immediately struck by the influence on Weezer this must have had.
And Your Bird Can Sing is a beautiful song. Always liked Eleanor Rigby.
Nothing prepared me for how schmaltzy this gets. Terrible lyrics, jarring and dissonant passages that come out of nowhere. Their harmonies never really did anything for me but I wasn't expecting to loathe this as much as I did.
Cross-Eyed Mary and Hymn 43 are bangers. Locomotive Breath is pretty good too. I can do without the forest sprite ballyhoo.
Nothing is really sticking to me but I don't exactly hate it. Just sort of washed off of me.
2.5/5
Side A is perfect. Side B has its moments but it's noticeably weaker. Still a great record. I get goofy to this.
The hits still hit. The rest not so much, although Exit was a cool little surprise. Driving, propulsive, claustrophobic. Trip Through Your Wires sounds like The Frames (who I love) took some influence from them. A 2.5/5.
sure why not
Killer bass tone. They've got some good ideas here and interesting parts even if I'm not completely sold. Knew none of these songs prior to this listen (there's gotta be at least one other R.E.M. album on this list, I imagine.)
Would this be the first Sinatra album I reach for when I'm in the mood to hear him? No, but it's enjoyable enough.
A two-hour, three-LP album sounds like a daunting task but this is such a rambunctious and at-times heart-tugging body of work that the length just doesn't matter to me. Sure, just start a bunch of songs chatting or plotting out what you're about to record. Take your time! Their interpretations of these Hank Williams tunes and various other traditionals feature incredible finger-picking and fiddling. The songs with Roy Acuff are real standouts.
I make it a point to listen to these albums the way they were initially released (no additional songs added on later reissues) but got some faulty information and wound up listening to a few songs more that were not on the original. Oh well. I had a blast.
Highlights: The Precious Jewel, Wreck on the Highway, I Saw the Light, My Walkin' Shoes, Foggy Mountain Breakdown (later reissue)
What can be said? The king.
Was wondering why so many people were complaining about the UK bias of this list when encountering truly outstanding works. Well, I get it now. This is aggressively fine. Sounds more akin to American country music than folk music from a Scot, to be very honest. I'm being charitable with the 3.
Almost becomes tolerable when he stops rapping...ALMOST.
Hey man we need you to soundtrack this 90s teen comedy/hacker movie from the late 90s/early 2000s. You got anything for us?
I've seen this described as Elvis going more of a "sophisticated pop" route but it's uneven. Recorded and released after his return from the army, it's clear that they just wanted to pump as much material out of this guy as quickly as possible. His record label even kept releasing old unreleased tracks during his military service.
Side A is so sleepy outside of Dirty, Dirty Feeling which is a scrapped King Creole track but it's a nice jolt. Such a Night is a great vocal performance and arrangement. The three bluesy songs out of the last four tracks are serviceable. All told, if you're not sold on Elvis, I don't think this will sway you, but it's got some juice.
This was a nice surprise. Really solid folk with an absolute heater tucked away in the middle, Cajun Woman, that sticks out like a sore thumb but is a rollicking good time, sporting some cool lap steel (I think?)
3.5/5
I've heard the hits so many times. Too many times, one could say. But the album tracks are really excellent. There's really no reason to give this less than a 5. The overplaying of radio hits, in this case, doesn't diminish how great those hits are.
Prince lets out a piercing scream towards the end of 3 songs in a row (The Beautiful Ones, Computer Blue, and Darling Nikki), there's ripping solos, and then some killer double-bass happening on Darling Nikki that I've never noticed.
Recording in a church under false pretenses is the coolest thing you can do in a church, but with a vocalist who sounds like she can be the moody member of your choir, the officials shouldn't sweat it too much.
This basically stays in one gear the entire time and could use a bit more variety. But the playing is cool, the sound they got out of the environment works, and Margo Timmins's voice is aces.
No mixes, edits, or overdubs. Your fave WISHES.
Talk Talk ditches the synths. May not be as immediately catchy as their earlier stuff but it's really well-produced and grooves nonetheless. I could do without the children singing on Happiness is Easy.
3.5/5
Tears for Fears have written two of the greatest pop songs of all the time- Everybody Wants to Rule the World and Head Over Heels- and two others on here really grabbed my attention but unfortunately that's all.
Mothers Talk and Broken really bring the goods. I wish Broken was longer but I can see it being used as a transitional piece in a live setting.
3.5/5
My only exposure to Portishead was being 12-years-old and seeing them on SNL. It was most definitely not in my wheelhouse at the time as I was firmly lodged in my Korn/Limp Bizkit/The Offspring fandom. Looks like I have been missing out on something amazing. Beth Gibbons' voice is so entrancing. Their samples are otherworldly and produce such a haunting effect. Not a weak track in the bunch.
Highlights: It Could Be Sweet, Numb
My brother and I shared a room for the first 18 years of my life and he's a major Beasties head. I was absolutely tortured with their music for many of those years. Hearing this today, it isn't too bad. I dig the two hardcore songs. It could definitely be trimmed down a tad.
A case where I can respect the obvious talent on display but I have my limitations. Lots of wanking. I appreciate when they can cut through all of that with a hard-charger like Stone Cold Crazy. There's a playfulness I can't hate too much. Bring Back That Leroy Brown sounds like ragtime and wouldn't be out of place in a Broadway musical.
I really can only deal with Joplin in small doses and this is already a short album (not counting the reissue) but still too much. I like it even less when the guy is on lead vocals.
Pretty inoffensive, well-produced. Cool guitar on Sham. Type of music I'd have on in the background.
This is one of my "nope, no can do" artists. Satellite of Love just makes me fondly recall Ron & Fez (particularly Fez's final broadcast.)
Occupies a weird space in the zeitgeist. They were obviously at the peak of their success at the time but it's hard to trace their handprints beyond this era. Bullet With Butterfly Wings is the only single that demonstrates their penchant for aggression but the album's actually got a surprising heaviness to it. The ballads are interwoven fairly nicely with the harder-rocking tracks.
I'm not even dinging the record it for its length, but I don't find much interesting beyond what I list below. Porcelina of the Vast Oceans doesn't have enough going on to justify the 9-minute length, however. Tales of a Scorched Earth wouldn't be out of place on a Deftones record (their debut came out the same year as this.)
Highlights: Bodies, An Ode to No One, Muzzle (some cool drumming by Chamberlin at the end), all the singles
Nothing sticks. It's not horrendous but you can see the influence on those crappy grunge-lite bands that came after.
Lots of noodling and jamming and Ian Gillan wailing. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. It certainly rocks but doesn't feel like a cohesive album.
The epitome of Starbucks music. I never patronize that place nor have I worked there but I have a feeling you'd get sick of hearing this if you had the displeasure of working there circa 2002. Turn Me On sounds a lot like Please Come for Christmas. There's some nice melodies, but I can't imagine throwing this on as anything more than background music.
If this doesn't get you moving, you have no pulse. Propulsive rhythm, catchy guitar, drummer is sick. First non-English album on this list after 32 days. Hope there's way more.
Highlights: Meus Filhos, Meus Tesouro, Taj Mahal, Xica da Silva, Cavaleiro Do Cavalo Imaculado
You can't deny the toe-tap. I can be hating a piece of music, staring blankly ahead, zoning out. But if a song comes on and I start a-tappin', I can't in good conscience write it off completely. Well that happened by the time I reached the fourth song, Dum Dum Diddle. And the rest of the album is pretty good too. Just need to get around the cloying creepiness of When I Kissed the Teacher, the omnipresent dentist drill of Dancing Queen, and the Catholic Mass-sounding My Love, My Life.
The rest of the songs are pretty catchy but I can't see wanting to throw this on again.
Rare instance where the back half of an album goes harder than the first half. Great cover of Ain't That a Shame. The end of Need Your Love really rocks. Have heard I Want You to Want Me a million times but it still rocks. Clock Strikes Ten is an excellent closer.
3.5/5
Elvis is our foremost culture vulture and his debut album features the kinda scattershot output you'd expect from someone grown in country music but with a foot in rhythm & blues. He's my first repeat artist on this after a mere month but I found this lacking.
This was released firmly in the era when everything actually rhymed so I don't know how the laziness of Just Because passed muster. There's some great piano on One-Sided Love Affair. There is never a scenario where I will reach for these versions of I Got a Woman and Tutti Frutti over Ray Charles and Little Richard.
Know this one forwards and backwards. Masterpiece.
The breakdown in Can't You Hear Me Knocking >>>>>>
Once I realized I was in for a Zappa album I steeled myself for grating wackiness. I'm struck by how accessible this is. For something that is satirizing popular music genres, it executes those genres very well and I can imagine if people heard some of these songs in isolation, they could have earnestly enjoyed them without realizing he was taking the piss.
Random thoughts:
Go Cry On Someone Else's Shoulder sounds like the beginning of that Crystals song
Any Way the Wind Blows is cool. Who Are the Brain Police? creates an interesting atmosphere
They lift the melody from Sherry Baby for the end of Wowie Zowie
Help, I'm a Rock is hypnotic
It's too kooky for me by the last two tracks, It Can't Happen Here and The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet but it's solid up til then.
This is a hard-and-fast 3.5 out of 5 for me. Quite solid. I don't want to undersell it, because I do enjoy it, but I hit a wall with this stuff.
Merecedez Benz is a cute, little song. I much prefer the instrumental of Buried Alive in the Blues over the actual Joplin tracks. Her voice just doesn't do it for me.
Despite my regular indifference to Leonard Cohen's music, it would be rather insulting for me to indulge my instincts and knock this, considering the circumstances. This album is still quite an admirable achievement. There are some nice arrangements; very spare. Dana Glover's backing vocals on On the Level really elevate that song. I barely registered her and Allison Krauss on Steer Your Way. String Reprise/Treaty is quite the devastating closer. You could do worse.
Blues for Billy Whitecloud is a good, jazzy track. You can absolutely keep the rest.
Nothing tops Suffragette City and I was ready to be wowed but this is a solid 3.5. Five Years and Soul Love are a great 1-2 opener. I can hear Tedeschi Trucks Band lifting heavily from Soul Love on their Midnight in Harlem.
If you were to ask me when this album came out, my memory would tell you it had to be exactly a week after 9/11/01. Color me surprised that it was nearly a year later. I have memories of Bruce debuting My City of Ruins on the television tribute a week after 9/11 with Little Stevie, Patti, and a group of other background singers. Once The Rising did come out, the title song was fairly ubiquitous. I never delved further and I am not going to be deferential just for the sake of being deferential when I don't outright hate an album.
The album addresses that day on a number of tracks such as Empty Sky and more effectively on You're Missing. Lonesome Day is a good opener. Let's Be Friends sounds like he raided his soul 45 collection. Mary's Place is a spiritual successor to Meet Me At Mary's Place by Sam Cooke without actually being a direct cover.
This goes on for too long and if it were trimmed down I'd be more inclined to give it a 3. It's hovering at a 2.5 for me.
The real measure for whether these classic albums really are as good as people say is if the deep cuts measure up to the (good) hits I've heard a million times And here, they really do.
Great acoustic playing on Love Ain't for Keeping. My Wife has a cool turn from Entwistle on vocals. Getting in Tune simply rocks. Going on Mobile is catchy. I don't see myself returning to The Song is Over, and Behind Blue Eyes never did it for me.
You know that part in Spinal Tap where they're showing the different stylistic iterations of the band before they became a well-known cock rock act? Well this is that grating, twee folk version.
If I were to judge this based entirely on whether it actually belongs on this list, I'd be harsher. As a body of work it's fine to have on in the background.
The opening of Green Light blatantly bites the Dancing On My Own melody, so that got things off to a rocky start.
What you know about this? Not holding my breath for there to be a ton of punk on here. The best-known song is also the weakest one, Holiday in Cambodia, but I don't care. 5 stars.
Highlight: Let's Lynch the Landlord
It's a vibe at times, but ultimately not my thing. Keep the Streets Empty for Me is haunting and wish more of it sounded like that.
I really like the overall vibe of this album, even when the songs don't hit for me. If You Can See Me sounds like Rush.
It may lack the strangeness of Bowie's peak, as lots of these artists once they are older tend to aim for an inoffensive middle ground, but the lyrics are really cool. Panicked, grieving, wistful. It keeps things interesting.
Highlights: The Next Day, Valentine's Day
I get it, man. I, too, like the Rolling Stones.
Their influences may be on their sleeve, but they do this kinda thing really well. I'm rounding up with the 4 but I don't do so begrudgingly.
Highlights: Jealous Again, Stare It Cold
First time hearing a song in this generator that made me go "oh, that's them!" I feel like I've heard This is the Day in movies and commercials a bunch. Immaculately produced. Cool piano playing on Uncertain Smile. Get into it.
This was/is not my NYC. I was going to hardcore shows in the basement of the Charleston, 538 Johnson, etc at the time. I may contain multitudes but these two things are too diametrically opposed to be reconciled. Started out promisingly enough because Get Innocuous has a cool groove.
As an Oasis skeptic, this surprised me. Not enough to rave about it but it was a pleasant enough listen.
I mean yeah, it rocks but it's hard to shake Steven Tyler's predator shit when he's singing about jailbait.
Just about what I expected. I don't find her music to be all that interesting. She's obviously a very talented singer but even the belting can be a bit grating to my ears at times.
What I would give to be a teenager in 1970 hearing the song Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath on the album Black Sabbath for the very first time. What can be said that hasn't been said a million times. Tony Iommi created all the best riffs. Bill Ward's jazzy flourishes and Geezer Butler's bass-playing make it clear that this isn't simply heavy music. And yet the heaviness seeps through everything.
What a talent. Managing to make an album sound this good that was recorded in no fewer than four locations, while you play all of the instruments. The production is crisp yet raw. Love the guitar tone.
This is a clear improvement on the twee folk they were pumping out prior. Although the playing is great, it still strikes me as relatively soulless when it's not Gram Parsons doing vocals. Playing at country more than it is playing country.
We come to this place for magic. The air raid siren Bruce Dickinson. The guitar harmonies. Lyrics about battlefields. This is Maiden.
Had no idea Michael Franti ever had a rap career. It's like if Furious Styles did rap. I appreciate the message here but not really the music.
Really enjoyed it when it did the dancey electronic stuff, and cooled on it a bit more with the other tracks.
Highlights: Afro Left, Black Flute, Space Shanty
Getting 3 albums in the span of one week that I've known inside and out since my teens >>>>>
I'm going to try and not let nostalgia color my review of this album. So although I know this one inside and out, The Offspring are not a band I still listen to. However, Smash is still among their best (I'd guess Ignition still holds up too) and they hadn't really gone deep into novelty song territory yet. Sure, "What Happened to You?" is a sillier vibe than the rest and it's nestled in the clearly-weaker Side B, but it's not exactly a song about picking up poop (like on the follow-up to this) or Pretty Fly (For a White Guy).
I don't love the production, but the songs are anthemic and hooky as hell. Bad Habit definitely makes you feel like a rebel when you're hearing it for the first time as a kid and all I can say in 2025 is "wow I'm just glad there's no homophobic slurs in that climactic cursing streak" (there is some ableism though.) Having this on cassette meant skipping was a royal pain so I didn't fast-forward through any tracks back then, but now I'd probably skip Killboy Powerhead.
An exercise in knowing your audience. Many of the songs are either about serving time, killing, doing drugs, or staring down your execution. Cash's voice starts cracking by the fourth song, he intermittently coughs from there and then finally asks for a glass of water by the seventh song. It fits perfectly with the panicked nature of Cocaine Blues and the helplessness of 25 Minutes to Go. Jackson, the duet with June Carter, is also a highlight.
The inmates hang on every word and respond enthusiastically to every song and bit of banter. Cash cracks up multiple times throughout, whether at the reaction of the crowd, something said by someone in the crowd, or the lyrics he's singing. It is the platonic ideal of a live album, and reminds me of Sam Cooke's Harlem Square Club recording.
This is when Rundgren admittedly started dabbling in psychedelic drugs. Huh, couldn't tell. He doesn't go full Zappa and that is for the best. Where Zappa was prone to mine genres like doo-wop via parody, when the R&B influences come through here, Rundgren is playing it straight like he did on his previous albums. Sure it gets a bit weird, but I didn't find it to be overindulgent at any point.
You Don't Have to Camp Around retains the straightforward melodies of his earlier hits. Zen Archer has a cool sax solo. Just Another Onionhead is cool (not so much the back half called Da Da Dali.) Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel and Hungry for Love are cool as hell.
The medley of soul covers ends with a riff on Cool Jerk that has a weird time signature which differentiates it from the original. Album really caught me off-guard (complimentary.)
"I guess I'll have to spank my monkey", ok man
I've been pleasantly surprised that aggressive music has been covered on this list. I usually don't expect it. Don't let the meatheads who come for "fuck you, I won't do what you tell me" distort the overall message.
Cool harmonies. Likely won't revisit but respect it from a distance. It says something that this is on the list likely because Paul Simon opened them up to a larger audience and not because, y'know, people who aren't white make music too and it's frequently not co-signed by legends.
I'm not a Dylan guy, but I've softened on him over the years. Masters of War is a masterstroke and maybe the best anti-war song of the 60s.
Other highlights: Don't Think Twice, It's Alright, Corrina, Corrina
I had the pleasure of seeing Booker T. and Steve Cropper perform Green Onions at an Otis Redding tribute at the Apollo a number of years ago. It is an undeniably classic song. This is the first time I've listened to the full album. Mo' Onions makes me laugh at its transparent ploy to capitalize on the success of Green Onions. These are solid covers but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't rather hear them in their original glory with the vocalists: Mary Wells, Jackie Wilson, Ray Charles. Titans, all. The organ stands in for the vocal melodies and they get a nice groove going on these songs. Booker T & the MG's carved out their space in the soul/R&B world, but I can see why people may not warm to this instrumental album since the songs do adhere to a similar pattern.
Highlights: Green Onions, You Can't Sit Down
White boy stuns waiter by speaking flawless Spanish
Crisp, absolutely perfect production. Every instrument rings through so clearly and there isn't a weak song in the bunch. Elegia sounds cinematic.
I'm not an Anthrax guy, hadn't heard the songs outside of the well-known ones but this goes hard. When they groove, it really snaps into place like on the title track and Medley: A.D.I./Horror of It All. Songs go on a bit too long at times. I'd sooner reach for Slayer than Anthrax ten times out of ten, but this is still a good representation of 80s thrash.
Purple Haze, Manic Depression, and Hey Joe are an incredible opening salvo but it falters as it gets into the aimless jams of the following three tracks. Fire and The Wind Cries Mary never did anything for me. Third Stone from the Sun doesn't get weird enough to warrant its length.
I only review the albums as they were originally released, so I don't count songs from later reissues, but Stone Free and Highway Chile would have been nice early additions.
Clearly well-produced but this simply lacks the juice. I prefer the songs where Romy's on lead vocals a bit more. Islands and Shelter are improvements over the others. Islands is a quietly propulsive, hooky tune. Shelter has a desperate ache to it. I understand people were over the moon about this album when it came out, but it mostly didn't land for me.
The Band is everything and now there are no more members remaining. Even if every song isn't a 5/5, this album is a 5/5. I can't in good conscience give anything released before Moondog Matinee less than a 5. It's quite a feat to have a band where technical vocal power isn't really the point, and yet have three great singers (Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel) each bringing something different to the table. Took me way too long to learn that it's Richard Manuel's voice (a rare falsetto turn from him) on I Shall Be Released, as opposed to Rick Danko, who just sounded like that normally.
Tears of Rage has that Danko ache and is the perfect opener. Other highlights are We Can Talk, Chest Fever (Garth Hudson's playing!), This Wheel's on Fire, and of course The Weight and I Shall Be Released.
I Shall Be Released is a religious experience and I've turned to it in difficult times before, and will probably do so again.
I love Fats Domino's voice and piano-playing. Just pure rhythm & blues.
Brian Setzer really ripped off the melody from Trust in Me for his Jump Jive n' Wail, huh.
Started out promisingly enough with Riddle of the Eighties and In My Mind. Of course the bass sounds good because it's Mike Watt. And upon re-listen, I feel less harshly towards it than I did on the first go. I'm rounding up with this 3. I can appreciate the playfulness when it occurs: two different drum solo tracks, their penchant for genre-bending.: jangly power pop, anthemic 70s arena rock (The Softest Hammer), some reggae-ish vibes on In My Mind. Sure, have at it.
Just great hooky punk. And they're Irish!
