As it's my first album, I can't quite say yet whether it deserves to be on this list. It definitely has some enjoyable tracks on it, but very few that I would think would be remembered for all time.
I'm really questioning who put this list together. It seems like the albums are less of a concern as opposed to the few songs that are on them that are timeless. Achtung Baby has massive hits like One and Mysterious Ways, which are all-timers, but the album as a whole is a noise machine, filled with vague lyrics, electropop backgrounds. I know U2 is an all-time band, but I also know they have better than this.
Whomever curated this list was a big fan of jam bands, and I gotta tell you, they really freaking suck. As a concept, they're cool, but in execution... not so much. This was an eye-opener in just the sense that I thought for the longest time that the Rolling Stones were a rock band, but here they sound like Bluegrass Hick music. It was loud, obnoxious, and not pleasant to listen to in the slightest. This might've been fascinating to listen to as a kid growing up in the 70s, but it is well past its prime, and should no longer be included in a list like this.
This is the Kanye I fell in love with. Smooth delivery, clever punchlines, smart artistry. I even thought the trashing of higher education was funny before I graduated high school. This album still holds up today. The music does anyway. "Jesus Walks" is still an all-time banger. "Through the Wire" and "Workout Plan" are still hits, but even the album cuts had some true gems on them: "Two Words", "Never Let Me Down" , and "Family Business" all make you remember how good Kanye used to be. The features on this album were top notch. You could tell everyone put their best foot forward to make sure this project would be a success. Shame we didn't realize then that we probably shouldn't be taking any advice from an admitted college dropout, but who ever thought that would be a bad idea?
It's no secret this is not the kind of music I would typically seek out, but I can see why this particular album is on this list. Aside from just having a more global focus on music, Fela Kuti's Live album which only features 6 songs, but most of them range from 7-16 minutes in length, and each one is sensational for its rhythmic tunes, but also the way the instrumentation itself can tell a story. Each song is given a small introduction and then we're off to discover what a Black Man's Cry sounds like. Hearing this live was a transporting experience. A masterclass on what you can do with rhythms, sounds, and instruments when you understand the feel they are supposed to provide.
You definitely get the sense of Americana behind the sound of this album. It feels very lived in. Like getting a glimpse into a stranger's story, and you feel closer to them because of it. While I can't say it's an album I'll continually revisit, there are some tracks on here that are more than satisfying. Mostly what works on this album is the instrumentation and the lyrics. The songs are incredibly poetic, and the rhythms ride the line between pop and rock and roll that they sort of blend into the background. That's both the good and bad of the album. It's not distinct enough musically, but the storytelling is. It's not an album you can just listen to; it's one you have to pay attention to, and that's good in substance, but maybe not so much in style.
Pfffffttthahahahahaha, now I know y'all are f***ing with me. There's no way y'all put this album on this list and got people genuinely praising it. Hahahaha, that's comedy.
This might've been good if she actually sang on a track, or at the very least stayed on beat, but neither of those things happen. For the entire album. People saying how this was the album during COVID, so what? Covid is over, bro. And the lockdowns weren't that severe that you had to be locked up listening to this weird shit. Bo Burnham's Inside came out around the same time and is a way more introspective and social commentary project about that time, the time before it, and what was to come after. This thing barely aged past the first week without feeling like a choppy throwaway project.
The only good thing that will come out of this album is randomly playing Shameika in the car to startle my friends and get a good laugh. Other than that, this was not worth anyone's time and y'all should be ashamed of yourselves for trying to pass this off as anything other than noise.
Definitely a soulful album but also made at a time where cohesion wasnt a priority on albums. Papa Was a Rolling Stone and Run Charlie Run definitely fit a theme, but everything else around them, while soulful and easily great music, feel tacked on. That isn't to say these songs are bad. Quite the contrary, they're pretty good. They fit the early sound of the Temptations as a soul group with jazz stylings while the standouts feel like true R&B and Pop records, respectively. Still, this was a good listen. Would revisit multiple times.
Not bad but not terribly memorable either. It's got the hits on it, and that's about it. Everything else feels like filler. There's few albums here that are likely to grab you from start to finish. This feels like an album I might appreciate more as I get older, but it doesn't have an urgency to it that would command my attention today.
