Goated album. Didn’t realize how many of Aerosmiths greatest hits came from this.
This is an interesting one - California Dreamin' is one of the all timers - but I think that the issue here is that the rest of the album just doesn't hold up to it in a consequential way. Quite frankly, I imagine that this is a product of its time - if I had the sensibilities of the a person living in the 60s, I might find this album to be more transformative. I'm sure that during the time period, this was quite revolutionary. In 2025 however, it feels a little middle of the road. Ultimately, I think some albums transcend time, but this ain't that.
I love the Foo Fighters, this is an easy 5/5.
I think this album was pretty solid, but nothing special. The last two songs were a massive tonal shift and feel like they represent some early murmurings of the alt downtrodden sad music that would become more mainstream in the mid 2000s.
I think this was alright. I’m glad I was exposed to it and it’s clear this was an influential honky tonk album. But I found many of the songs to be relatively similar, and I didn’t really feel like any particular tracks stood out to me.
Honestly I think that being exposed to Mariah Carey once she had her larger than life public facing persona is a disservice. This album is fantastic, deeply “down to earth” and shows me not only her insane vocal range but some of the earlier works she produced in her career. “Whenever you call” was a particular highlight.
This is undoubtedly one of the best albums of all time. Thriller contains some of the biggest hits in pop music that have transcended time at an extremely concentrated level. There isn’t much to say that hasn’t been talked to death with this album, but it’s a banger.
This was pretty much alright. I didn’t think of it in any particular direction. I’m sure that when it came out it was particularly transformative but I just think that there’s music that hits the same vibe but better.
There’s something to be said about the fact that I thought this came out BEFORE two of Billy Joel’s major albums. There was some merit there in the fact I was under the impression this may have been influential to that. Unfortunately for Paul Simon, this is not the proto-Billy Joel inspo album. It’s fine, but largely uninspired and missing the kind of charm and songwriting that makes Simon & Garfunkel great. Thankfully, the next Paul Simon album swings heavy in the other direction - go listen to that instead.
This was absolutely fine. It really ramps up in the back half and the final song is as an artistic decisions is really funny. With that said, I can’t really say it stuck with me much past that.
This album was too situational and specific to broadly classify as a “great album”. It felt like most of the music could he enjoyed in the background - but to truly appreciate the album it almost feels like you have to be on acid or smoking a ton of grass. Angel Sigh was a particular highlight though.
This album captured the exact vibe I was on in high school. It feels like it was plucked straight out of my rotating playlist of alt-pop/rock music from that time. It speaks to a simpler time, when we were hopecore pilled and looking forward to the future. I truly enjoyed listening to this, the beats were fun and they made me want to listen to them more. Not sure what else to say - when an album makes you feel something when you listen to it and puts you in a certain headspace from the first track, its pretty solid.
This shit hit for me. Not in a way that I'm going to listen to Super Furry Animals all day every day for the next 2 months, but in a way that I can appreciate the amount of effort and musicality that went into crafting this album in 1996. I'm glad to have been exposed to Super Furry Animals and I can say I genuinely enjoyed most tracks on this album.
I think it would be naive to insinuate that this album hasn’t survived countless years and that the individual tracks within haven’t entered your brain space before you probably even knew what the band U2 was. Its pervasiveness in an era of music abundance deserves its flowers alone. The songs are fun. I understand that Bono is Bono and U2 ran a psyop with Apple to dump their album on iOS devices but come the fuck on With or Without You/I still haven’t found what I’m looking for are legendary songs.
Count Basie is not only an icon in jazz, but one of the major players in advancing and promoting big band to the world. This album is clearly a powerful and diverse trek through a wide range of vibes that can be evoked with jazz, executed beautifully with excellent playing from the brass and percussion. I don’t know where jazz would be without Count Basie’s influence, and I’m glad this came up on our trek through music.
An interesting folksy romp from an artist I’ve literally never heard of. This is one of those situations where you listen to an album and recognize it’ll probably live on in your music taste for years to come. The songs were very well written and only further asks why I hadn’t heard about Nick Drake before. Turns out, he died relatively young. It’s always interesting to see art live on past the artist and the way people engage with it change.
Elton John is an absolute legend. So many good songs on this album (Candle in the wind, Bennie and the jets, GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD, Saturday night’s alright for fighting…). I love Elton John and most of his discography, I just think this album was a little on the longer side and some of the tracks in the middle third didn’t feel like they necessarily needed to be there. Really wish there were fractional scores here because I’m definitely in the 4.5/5 camp here.
It's clearly their first album - lots of experimental tracks I wouldn't necessarily lock in to listen to again. Obvious highlights are the collaborative songs with the guest features (which later becomes an iconic part of Gorillaz music). I think that the blueprint is there and looking back it's clear they knew it too. Not to mention they were incredibly forward thinking with the features they did have on this one - Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuban jazz icon in a Gorillaz album? Again, wish I had a 3.5 here. I love Gorillaz, they live on my Mount Rushmore of music creators, and I am so impressed by where their discography went from here.
I’m going to preface this review by stating that “Life in a Glasshouse” may be one of the most me-coded songs I’ve ever heard. Quite frankly this is one of the best pieces of music I have ever had the privilege of listening to. The brass section was doing things in 2001 alongside this sadboy ass music we haven’t heard SINCE 2001. What the fuck. HOWEVER, I think the rest of the album is alright. Nothing particularly stood out to me in a strong direction one way or another. I’m going to give this a strong 3.5. Leave your strongest creep cover in the comments.
I fear this was simply okay. I’m lowkey disappointed cause everyone glazes this album (as do the global reviews). However, there is one absolutely true thing: The Avengers theme is Kashmir at a faster bpm.
Elastica was an interesting album - quite frankly not because of the album itself, but because of the day in which it was "dealt" to the group. As of this week (October '25), The Last Dinner Party released their second studio album "From the Pyre". Listening to these two albums back to back has been a surprising delight. You can clearly see the influences of this early britpop/alternative on a band that's making and producing music in 2025. For that alone, this was worth a listen. The album itself - I thought it was fine. I enjoyed it overall, but didn't find it particularly memorable. I take away from this an experience of listening to pioneers pave a path from which new British outfits (like The Last Dinner Party) can walk. We stand on the shoulders of giants etc etc.
“There are no kings inside the gates of eden. “
Legendary lyricist Bob Dylan pulls up to drop a tight album where he has departed from his traditional acoustic tracks in favor of electric for half of it. What stuck with me here though, was his acoustic work. “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” are clear highlights.
Hello! It is your local MGMT evangelist here to talk about my lived experience. This album, and MGMT as a whole would set the tone for my music tastes between 2012-2018ish. I owe their music quite a bit as it was a pipeline to other bands I really enjoyed during my college years.
In the 2010s, MGMT had a CHOKEHOLD on my generation. Their music was literally everywhere, and with good reason. Oracular Spectacular is a delightful album with some certified all timers. Many albums exist that can claim one, maybe two songs that transcend the album to become iconic. MGMT puts up three here with Time to Pretend, Electric Feel and Kids. To be able to even get close to, much less achieve temporal transcendence is enviable. MGMT were way ahead of their time here. I love this album.
There’s not much more that can be said about the obvious influence that Run-D.M.C. would have on hip hop. Their rhymes were slick, their beats were great. The walk this way aerosmith collab is legendary. I don’t really have much negative to say about this album. Unfortunately it’s a product of its time - it doesn’t necessarily transcend the period it was made in. It’s good, it’s impressive, and we have to put respect on Run-D.M.C., but I don’t think Raising Hell is timeless.
This was fine. I enjoyed the combination of folksy jazz and I thought it was well executed. It just didn’t really do much for me otherwise. It wasn’t particularly memorable. Maybe I just hit it on the wrong day, idk.
I’m once again asking the universe to put me in the headspace that makes me pierce the veil that is Radiohead of the early 2000s. I think this album was cool - sonically interesting, extremely well played instrumental, interesting, some would say spooky even vibes. But I keep coming back to this nagging feeling in the back of my mind - I’m not in the headspace to really internalize/receive this album. I wish I could really ride for this (and amnesiac) and scream from the hills why actually it’s a 10/10 but I can’t! The tracks aren’t drawing me into their world the way they should under other circumstances. This is a solid 3/5 with the possibility of being a 5/5 if I my mind was somewhere else.
The overlap between people are that are really into jazz and really into prog rock should be a circle. When I first fell in love with this genre a few years ago, it was largely driven by an appreciation of the complex melodies and polyrhythms that dominate progressive rock. You don’t come knocking on this genres doors expecting masterful lyricism, but god fucking damn it is it doesn’t sound like the guitar is actively engaged in a call and response saxophone solo with itself 8 times over, YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING WRONG. I come to progressive rock for the same reason I come to jazz, masterful instrumentalists that are pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved with their instrument.
Massive preamble aside, The Mars Volta did something here. Dubbed revivalists of what was (apparently) a dying genre, they contributed to a new era of prog in the early 2000s. The playing on this album is absolutely spectacular, well executed, complicated and interesting (and they didn’t have a regular bassist, so they got FLEA). The worst thing you can be on music like this is boring, and they certainly are not. This album has single handedly reignited my flame for obsessively listening to prog rock, and if it can do that then it’s deserving of my highest honors. 5/5.
I was prepared to dislike this one to be honest. The songs sounded somewhat samey at the start but I was pleasantly surprised to find some versatility as the album went on. It was quite enjoyable in the back half particularly. I don’t think it was revolutionary by any means, but it was a good 36 minutes.
WHY IS THIS TWO HOURS LONG
The title track, "Maggot Brain" really starts the album off on a high note. It's an interesting, lengthy and complex guitar solo. It truly feels like you're being lifted off the ground while you listen to it. However, I don't really think that the rest of the album can keep up the momentum. I was really excited going into this, but my excitement didn't last in what I would say is a relatively short album to begin with. That said, for being 1971 this was clearly ahead of it's time. 3.5/5.
Basically all instrumental. You can’t deny Zappa’s prowess in guitar playing. It was a good experience, but niche enough I can’t put it up above a 3.5/5.
I thought this was extremely forward thinking for 1987. It sounds like it could have come out in the mid 1990s and been right at home with the swellings of that alt rock movement. But I don’t think it’s super duper omg amazing. Solid listen, 3/5.
This album is transcendental. Not only for its transformative nature defining the years that Kendrick Lamar would have to come, but just as a good album that tells an extremely cohesive story. I hadn’t listened to this in full, I fee like I didn’t really get into Kendrick until the DAMN. era. But this is such a good tracklist. The sequence of Money Trees through m.A.A.d city is absolutely golden.
One small note: I tend to read the reviews as I take in these albums and see what other people are thinking, and the reviews on this are oddly polarized in a way that doesn’t seem particularly critical of the artist. I don’t think your 16th Led Zepplin 5/5 is going to change anything in the grand scheme of things, maybe consider toning down the racism and taking an album in that’s slightly outside of your wheelhouse. Really show’s that things haven’t changed as much as we thought. Do better.
Weirdcore altrock space shit? Sign me up. Weirdcore altrock space shit in 2002??? Wow. That’s some transformative stuff right there. In all honesty, I’ve lived on the fringe of The Flaming Lips’ music many years. Their particular brand of music (which they clearly helped in championing) was the exact kind of music that defined my late teens into my early twenties. This is the first time I’ve sat down and listened to this entire album. It’s a banger. It really feels like you’re taken on a cohesive journey. I don’t have much to add - go listen to it.
