I've only listened to a couple of Muse songs before, but this album was eye opening. Take a Bow is a mission statement and works as this album's opener. Starlight catches you immediately, with the piano giving the song a sense of airiness that's hard to explain. If Starlight is romantic, then Supermassive Black Hole is lustful. Map of the Problematique is amazing. Soldier's Proem, echoing Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling In Love, almost gives the listener whiplash with the rolling guitars and lofty background vocals. Invincible builds from a slow march into a fantastic guitar solo. Assassin is an aggressive BANGER. Exo-Politics has a western vibe to it but pales in comparison to the rest of the tracks. City of Delusion has a dramatic Iberian flair. Hoodoo feels like the end is nigh. Knights of Cydonia is the album's dramatic climax replete with a horn section. Glorious is a beautiful closer. The whole album feels like a theatrical show, replete with emotional gravitas and instrumental virtuosity. Incredible stuff, really.

This is an album to put once the sun sets and let the rhythm take you on a ride. The first song and the album's most famous export, Let's Start, is groovy and effortless. The music beckons your spirit to sing along. Black Man's Cry is a jam session that simmers as Fela's voice soars. Ye Ye De Smell is the album's hidden highlight as a musical manifestation of a train marching at full speed. Egbe Mi O carries the swagger and confidence of a midnight stroll. The ending benefits of a live audience that somehow makes the album feel present, even decades after its recording. The finale is a decadent drum solo, or rather, a duel between two masters of their craft. If you haven't been dancing like possessed throughout the runtime of this album, you're not listening.

If Earth, Wind, and Fire had only released this album, it would have been enough to cement their status as Soul & Funk pioneers. It's difficult to overstate the impact Shining Star has had on music. The first opening bars are iconic and work as the album's thesis. That's The Way of the World might be one of the most moving songs ever composed. Happy Feelin' is as full of joy as the title suggests. All About Love has the most lush instrumentation of the album with a horn section that elevates the song. Yearnin' Learnin' is the exemplification of the band's signature sound. Reasons is another album highlight, that encapsulates what the sunrise must sound like. Africano and See the Light propel the album into the African rhythms that are foundational to the genre. This was Earth, Wind, and Fire six albums deep into their career, and they were just getting started.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is many things, except straightforward. I Am Trying To Break Your heart is disorienting but melodic. Kamera was likely interesting at the time but sounds as standard indie fare nowadays. Radio Cure ironically reminds the listener of something Radiohead would produce. Jesus Etc, the album's best known song, manages to be dreamy but earthy. Ashes of American Flags was surely poignant in the direct aftermath of 9/11. Heavy Metal Drummer is fine. I'm the Man Who Loves You might be the albums hidden gem, emotive but laidback. Pot Kettle Back might be the least memorable one. So boring that Poor Places and Reservations melted together. This is an album you can listen to in the background, but it doesn't stick.

Usually I write a review for each song but I played this album and didn't realize it was over until I was welcomed with silence. I like instrumental jazz but vocal jazz in particular suffers from monotony and sadly this album is no exception. I can certainly put this on for a cocktail party or a lazy evening. But I will not be seeking this out anytime soon.

This was a listenable album. See the Sky About To Rain, For the Turnstiles, and Motion Pictures were the most interesting songs for me. You can enjoy however every song on this album and not feel bored. Neil Young does have better albums, namely After The Gold Rush, which leaves an impression.

I've only listened to a couple of Muse songs before, but this album was eye opening. Take a Bow is a mission statement and works as this album's opener. Starlight catches you immediately, with the piano giving the song a sense of airiness that's hard to explain. If Starlight is romantic, then Supermassive Black Hole is lustful. Map of the Problematique is amazing. Soldier's Proem, echoing Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling In Love, almost gives the listener whiplash with the rolling guitars and lofty background vocals. Invincible builds from a slow march into a fantastic guitar solo. Assassin is an aggressive BANGER. Exo-Politics has a western vibe to it but pales in comparison to the rest of the tracks. City of Delusion has a dramatic Iberian flair. Hoodoo feels like the end is nigh. Knights of Cydonia is the album's dramatic climax replete with a horn section. Glorious is a beautiful closer. The whole album feels like a theatrical show, replete with emotional gravitas and instrumental virtuosity. Incredible stuff, really.

It is not difficult to see why this album entered the cultural zeitgeist in the 80s. Red Rain opens the album with the vigor of a raging storm. Sledgehammer needs no introduction: seductive, playful, and endlessly groovy. Kate Bush elevates Don't Give Up with her heartbreaking vocal performance. That Voice Again balances complexity with pop appeal. Mercy Street is pensive but rather boring. Big Time picks up the tempo again but doesn't reach the highs of Sledgehammer. We Do What We Are Told is an interesting interlude but doesn't work as a standalone song. This Is the Picture is exemplary of Gabriel's more avant garde work. In Your Eyes is nothing short of euphoric with Youssou N'Dour lending his voice like a ray of light piercing the sky. What a listen.

For only having the run time of 28 minutes, it feels like a drag. The vocal performance is good but uninspired and tired for the modern ear. For a better cover of Baby What Do You Want Me To Do, listen to Elvis Presley for some real vocal prowess that injects an animalistic appeal into the song that is simply missing in the Everly version. The songs in here tend to fade out, and this album will surely fade from my memory too.

A huge part of this band's appeal rests on the shoulders of the frontwoman Skin who is PHENOMENAL. Charlie Big Potato sets the stage but On My Hotel TV really kicks the ante up, with provocative yet pensive lyrics about the power the media has on creating public perception around race, gender, sexuality, etc. We Don't Need Who You Think You Are is heavy and Skin's vocal are fantastic in this one. Tracy's Flaw serves as an anthem for toxic relationships. Skank Heads is rather forgettable. Lately provides some softness in the album's runtime. Secretly manages to be operatic but alternative and might be the best song on this album. The rest of the songs are all good but this genre isn't for me. The first half goes hard though. Give this album a listen if you're into conscious alternative music.

Paul McCartney is the most artistic Beatle, and this album should be proof enough if his entire solo career can't convince you. Band on the Run might be the album's opus. Jet is heavy but not memorable. Bluebird might a well work as a more layered sequel to the minimalist Blackbird. Mrs Vanderbilt somehow predates the stump and ho of the 2010s indie era. Let Me Roll It is an unconventional love song à la art rock. Mamunia is a feel good track and while I don't know what it is saying, I am into it. No Words has a stunning intro but the rest of the song doesn't live up to its promise. Picasso's Last Words is cool, with the second portion recalling the earlier song Jet with a small chorus. The closer of the song also recalls the first song, making it seem as if this entire album is an ouroboros.

Stevie has a wonderful voice and I really enjoyed a handful of songs such as Sir Duke, Isn't She Lovely, and As. But this album simply didn't catch my attention for whatever reason. I can tell this is a great album, but it isn't for me.

This album isn't music as much as it is a vibe. Waitin' for the Bus is a modern re-imagining of the haunted rockabilly classic Mystery Train. Jesus Just Left Chicago is laidback and effortlessly cool. Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers has a rare but very welcome vocal contribution by the bassist. Master of Sparks and Hot, Blue, Righteous don't stand out by themselves but work perfectly fine within the context of the track list. Move Me on Down the Line injected some energy. Precious and Grace feels like a filler track. But La Grange is the crown jewel of this album and instantly recognizable. Sheik has got a nice rhythm but doesn't quite live up to La Grange. I kind of wish the bassist sang more, he sounded better than the lead singer. Otherwise, this is the type of album that ends up on a show like Sons of Anarchy.

I'd usually review each song but something tells me this is an album that finds you when you are ready. I wasn't, but I thoroughly enjoyed a handful of songs, such as In My Time of Dying and Ten Years Gone. Then, there's the towering achievement that is Kashmir. It's up there, with Mozart and Elvis, music so primordial that it touches upon something that lies beyond the reaches of grammar alone. The 8 minute track is part fantasy, part desert mirage. I will listen to this album again in a few years, and hopefully then, all will be revealed.

MGMT might as well have provided some of the essential tracks of my childhood: Kids, Time to Pretend, and Electric Feel. Now that I am older, I can appreciate the sardonic humor laced with psychedelia reinvented for the 21st century. The other tracks are good but the trifecta of tracks above make everything else pale in comparison. Future Reflections, the closing track of the album, was a welcome surprise. Overall, there's a playful sense of mutiny present in this album, toying with musical conventions and tropes just for the sake of doing something new. This is a landmark in the indie music landscape, for good reason.

There are albums that intrigue, there are albums that bore, and then there are albums that consume you whole. Pornography is the latter. The opening notes don’t just set a tone; they suffocate. It’s Paradise Lost rewritten as a post-punk requiem, a descent where the angels are gone and only hunger remains. At its core, this is music as both punishment and pleasure. It’s rough, it’s erotic in its violence, it’s the sound of needing more pain just to feel alive. There’s a narcotic quality to the repetition, the droning basslines and pounding percussion that feel claustrophobic, hypnotic, and perversely addictive. Even the cover art, blurred faces bleeding into one another, mirrors the sound within: amorphous, disorienting, a portrait of identities dissolving. Pornography is the sound of the fight lost, and the strange beauty of giving in. For anyone who has felt themselves breaking and stayed just to see where the pieces would land, this album is for you.

I've known this album cover for as long as I can remember. The Next Day, the opener and album's namesake, is a dizzy but triumphant return to form for Bowie who had not released anything in over a decade at that point. But being familiar with the rest of Bowie's catalogue doesn't help here, because Bowie isn't reinventing the wheel anywhere on this album. Arguably, the next and his last album, Blackstar offers a far more fascinating and perhaps melancholic entry into his career. The Next Day is perfectly fine, but it inadvertently foreshadows what was Bowie's next masterpiece.

It's honestly surprising how I considered myself a jazz enthusiast but I put this one on and could barely tell apart each track from this album. It's nice to put in a cafe or as background work music.

This is the first artist I didn't know from this list and I am glad I discovered it. The guitar work is impressive, not necessarily groundbreaking but it is singular. All the songs are short, under 2 minutes, perhaps a reflection of the singer's equally truncated life. Place to Be and Things Behind the Sun were my favorite. And although I wish the artist was part of a band that had more instruments and a better singer, I can still appreciate the minimalist approach of only using a guitar to carry you throughout the entirety of the album's runtime.

Another artist I have never heard of before and now I know why. I liked one song, Elvis Presley Blues, not because of the musicianship but because of the subject matter. I tried checking out her other stuff but I wasn't impressed. I'm glad I discovered this artist though. Should I ever hear them, I can now impress people by saying I know this random Americana artist.

Björk is one of those avant garde artists that manages to make strange music listenable. Stonemilker is a stunning opener but I wish the electronic elements weren't there although I can see why some would like it. For me, these songs work best when they are minimalist in their composition. Lionsong might be my favorite and you can hear Arca's, the producer, fingerprints. Notget is another highlight, disturbing and evocative of the bleakness present in Iceland's volcanic landscapes. I much prefer the orchestral release of this album.

This album was pleasant, especially as a more sanitized and family friendly version of Nick Cave's masterful Murder Ballads album that came out several decades later. The rhythm in Gunfighter Ballads can get quite repetitive but the songs are evocative and the singer's voice is easy on the ears. The tracks themselves don't stand out much but it's an album that can be put on without skipping the songs. The opening track, however, Big Iron is the best and contains truly beautiful choral performances as well as some really great songwriting. I'd give this a 3 if it wasn't so generic, but it is closer to a 3 than a 2.

No notes. Great, even if it was very long since it is a musical anthology of the Gershwin songbook. Not giving it a four because it didn't have stand out songs but very well made.

So this is where that Shrek song is from! I played this album twice, from start to finish, and fell asleep both times. Not sure if that means this is a 1/5 or 5/5. I already knew Nick Cave though and he has far better stuff in other albums so I'll have to go with 1. Great find though if I need to fall asleep.

This album marks the moment music slipped its leash, no longer the domain of the trained, the tidy, or the tuneful. The Velvet Underground is experimental for the sheer audacity of being so, an act of art-for-art’s-sake: pop art recast as sound, by the masses, for the masses. It follows no lineage but its own pulse, existing not from necessity but curiosity because someone, somewhere, might find truth in it. The best track, Heroin, aches like a confession whispered through static, while Femme Fatale shimmers in contrast. Nico’s voice is distant, glacial and turns detachment into beauty. The lo-fi grit of the production isn’t a flaw but a manifesto: art made from nothing, for everyone. By the final track, the album collapses into pure noise: an act of destruction that feels like creation, form melting into formlessness. It ends not with resolution, but with the revelation that art, like life, is truest when it refuses to behave.

I grew up to this album and remember it being quite good. It still holds up even after discovering in my adulthood that I'm not a fan of R&B. But this album is well made even when the lead singer has such a deep voice it can become distracting. The lead single "Sweet Love" is the album's zenith but everything else is solid. Overall, very strong album in a genre I don't typically enjoy. No skips.

I don't know much about early hip hop history but this was very enjoyable, especially since the MCs rap without flair and vocal acrobatics like modern rap. The samples are all classics, put on loop but never feel repetitive. There isn't a single weak track. I'd give this a 4 if there was a stand out track, but this really is a solid album by Gang Starr from the golden age of hip hop.

Man, and I thought this band was good. Suppose I liked Song 2 and Death of a Party because I've heard them before. The rest is a snooze fest. Actually couldn't get through most of the songs. Much prefer their album "The Magic Whip" from the 2010s.

I couldn't tell you what each individual song was like mostly because this might be the first recommendation that only works as an album. The whole thing is atmospheric and would be fitting for a Halloween party. Strong overall and had me checking out Black Sabbath's other stuff. For this being a debut album, it doesn't feel like it at all. This is a band that knew its signature sound from the get go and only perfected it over the years.

I know Marilyn Manson from his later stuff like the Pale Emperor but I enjoyed this album. The Beautiful People, Mister Superstar, and Angel with Scabbed Wings were all great. I wouldn't listen to any of these songs individually but they work together very well. I like the conceptual aspect of the work and the fact that it wasn't unlistenable.

This was a very surprising listen. Ive never heard of this band before and found the first half of this album highly enjoyable. Birdland is the band's most famous song, with its urgent percussion. A Remark You Made is another strong track but the albums highlight for me is Teen Town. Rumba Mama is straight up hilarious if you understand the lyrics, which are rare in this album. The best way to describe this is as soul and jazz fusion à la Bitches Brew. Great album and love the cover art too.

This album is pure delirium. It hums with heat and highway dust, with pretty girls and reckless boys chasing something half-divine, half-destructive. There’s madness here, but it’s a charismatic kind, the sort that grins while it burns. There’s no denying too many chemicals fueled this record. It’s almost too much to bear while sober. Yet amid the haze, three songs stand firm: Love Her Madly, L.A. Woman, and Riders on the Storm. These are the lucid moments in the trip. Jim Morrison wasn’t completely gone then, his voice still had that priest-of-the-void gravity, still enough breath to guide us toward the end. This is California music through and through: sun-drunk, strange, and sublime. What a listen.

Technique sounds like a party held in the ruins of something beautiful. Without Ian Curtis’s haunted gravity, the band trades darkness for gloss, grief for glitter. The album glitters, yes, but like sunlight on broken glass. It’s the sound of a band living again, even if the joy sometimes feels borrowed. Then there’s “Round & Round” which is the album’s quiet revelation and best song. Its euphoria doesn’t come from volume or grandeur, but from precision: every note placed just so, each rhythm pulsing with contained light. In those few minutes, New Order distills a song that is ostensibly about a toxic relationship but it dances at the edge of absence. Everything else on the album pales in comparison.

Maybe this is because I have modern ears but this feels like most 70s slop that sounds like a bunch of rejects from the Rumours album by Fleetwood Mac. I liked "Our House" from this album but I had already heard it before. Meh.

This album feels like the sound of Starbucks before the concept ever existed, the premonition of a genre yet to be named. Norah Jones’ voice drifts with a soft, nasal haze, as though she’s forever on the verge of clearing her throat and revealing something truer beneath the polish. The production, though, is immaculate. It has the kind of quiet perfection jazz so often hides behind, especially since Blue Note released it. But this album never stumbles, never strains. It would make perfect company for a dinner party: polite, unintrusive, and safe. And that, perhaps, is the most damning thing I can say. 'Come Away With Me' never dares to be more than pleasant.

Melody A.M. feels like morning captured in sound: soft light, quiet optimism, and the calm between dreaming and waking. It drifts between pure instrumentals, songs sung in half-light, and others suspended in a kind of wordless reverie; vocal cues that shimmer and dissolve before they can fully form. “So Easy” opens with a sleepy grin, jazz-tinged and weightless; “Sparks” glows like meditation; “In Space” dreams of tomorrow’s horizons. By the time “40 Years Back Home” closes, the sun has fully risen. Released in 2001 yet still sounding ahead of its time, Melody A.M. remains Röyksopp’s purest vision as an ode to the future, sung from the quiet heart of morning.

Yikes

This is a fine Country album but not for me. Side note, Dolly Parton is an incredible singer.