First album on here and such a solid start..you can tell the historic importance of this album for future sounds. Does it stand out in history of pop? Not really, but not a bad way to start.
bloviated bloated self centered
Ingredients:
Lyrics- Diary of a 15 yr old girl intoto tech theatre.
Rhythm- 90s producer who made a shit ton of money using the same drum machine.
Melody: 15 yr old girls older sister who listens to the rent Cd over and over again.
A dash of harmonica to make it alternative.
=A ton of radio hits
Do we even make “baby making music” anymore? Second half is way better than the first.
A little generic but also jazzy and jam like in that 80s steely Dan way which I can appreciate.
Would be three stars but Mike Hamptons Guitar freaking sings!
Also, is it mandatory that 95% of funks lyrics have to be the word funk over and over again?
Blue lived on the radio so this could live in the Smokey club. Beautiful melodies, flowing piano and jazzy pop tunes to stand with the best of them. A way to sing poetry that reminds you of Patti Smith without the spit.
I understand it's legacy - and help create a sub-genre...but so so so much better 90's hip hop out there that this isn't. From Tribe to Jurassic 5 this aint it. Ramblings of a super horny 16 yr old boy into weird science fiction - idk, i'll pass.
Maybe the best LZ album?! Immigrant song to the deep blues of since I’ve been loving you…to the acoustic jams and pure dedication to real delta blues style rock. Everything I love about LZ in one album.
If I’m floating for eternity out in space and need to boom sound waves reverberating out to the endless galaxy- this ain’t a bad option at all.
Wall of sound any and every day.
Love hate relationship - love the driving guitars - hate the timepiece that is the cringe inducing falsetto.
What is left to be said about Muddy- he’s the greatest. One of the foundations of every rock album that came after him. The guttural soul of his music can’t be and never will be matched.
As high as I’m gonna rank hair metal. A little annoying and want to punch David Lee Roth every time I hear him but Eddie’s guitar is so good and it is a good amount of fun..
A classic that a full listen through made me a radio head fan.
High school memories, High school anger. Maybe it’s all nostalgia but hey what music isn’t.
The jump into production quality is kinda nuts. The first half is a great drum driven blues rock album way more than the opener would make it seem. Still 3.5? It’s just a bit of a slog. It gets a 4 because of the final and title track
There she goes might be the best jangle to ever jangle? Some other good ones in here that pave the path for Gin Blossoms and the other jangles to come.
I mean...what is there more to say that hasn't already been said....I WANT to give it 4 stars for Number 9 and a few others...but when 90% of Disc 1 are just literal classics that will never get old including Blackbird - how can you not rate 5?
Maybe the greatest punk album of all time. A true classic, an automatic 5 star..rise above, doc pack, tv party.
The essence of hardcore it’s all there. Anyone looking to know what hardcore punk is- this is its bible.
This isn’t a punk album- avant garde hardcore. So ppl who compare this to the clash, Ramones etc- completely off.
Same sound on every song- I like the sound don’t get me wrong. But every do g this band out out was just created to later be used in a montage of the Vietnam war/late 60s.
I also kinda was to punch Fogertys all American cockiness.
It's just, its so hard to on a normal sunny day to turn this on. It's so great for when you need it - but dreaded listening to it today. Though Say Yes, might be one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
What else is there to say...lyrics might be a time piece but the beats are timeless.
One of the albums that started it all- going from Sunday AM to I’m waiting for my man…the French 60s sounds with Nico’s baritone German accent.
Huge fan of Lou Reeds solo work but to see the amount of musical movements that came from this…
Only issue…the heroin addicted John Cale/Lou Reed and their monotone trances - def a rougher listen.
Some good jazzy beats but nearly nothing memorable about this album at all.
Pretty milquetoast McCartney but I do like his discovering the synth and you can see the seeds for albums later albums.
Bluebird makes me want to stab my ears though. Ban the guiro in all western rock/pop.
East coast/Zulu beats and sampling with 90s Gangster lyrics…oddly works incredibly well. The sampling on this is timeless. Oddly though, way more socially conscious than Common…can’t believe how socially conscious the album is.
This album changed my mind forever about ice-T
Innovative indie punk - those lyrics though…oooof brutal…sound has B-52s with distortion?
Where is my mind onward in the album though is where this album thrives.
You know when modern artist painters take a white canvass and throw three squiggles of paint on it - and try (and often do) sell it for millions.
Yea, not buying it...the difference between schizophrenic and creative might be pretty thin....but i know which one this one lines up on.
Is it the worst of pretentious 2000s hipster indie…maybe not…but just leaves no impression what so ever- just bland goop.
Need more of this in my life! That brass swings!
Some other reviewer noted, there is absolutely great Radiohead and then there is unlistenable falsetto draining on Radiohead
Back when country spoke about real
Human emotions and not weird ass faux nationalism.
A little jazzy, a little bluesy, a little rockabilly. Slow, sad and oddly beautiful.
Pretty repetitive though.
An absolute timeless classic of poetry- both stunningly beautiful and haunting.
No Elliot smith or Phoebe Bridgers without Nick Drake and this album.
Maybe Willie Nelson just inst meant to do covers...of soul classics? Kinda bland - odd how you can take the Ray Price album and has a lot of soul and feeling and this feels cheap?
The album that was on the forefront of it all. So many emcees all owe it to the native tounge/zulu. The perfection of socially conscious rap, the perfection of boom bap.
They might of walked so Tribe could run but this album never gets old. De La Soul to laugh Tribe to be political.
Fun new wave perfection - a little repetitive but a lot of fun.
Not meant for me, but for 5 years you couldn’t escape Hello and Send My Love- and maybe there is a good reason why.
When we were young makes me want to gouge my ears out though. First half way way stronger than 2nd.
This is the album where you get to truly u stand Cobain as a vocalist and lyricist. The covers show the creative possibility of the band if they had more time.
The cultural significance of this album would make it a 5…only hard piece is the repetitive one trick of his music…means every song of his is the same.
The covers more than make up for it.
I mean…what is there more to say that hasnt already been said. Wow that first half is a classic...39 mins on the shorter side but just so classic.
Beats are great - but man those lyrics and vocals are rough. As others said here…is it house, hip hop…maybe both but neither really well.
The reggae vibes and sampling for the time is excellent though. Unfinished Symphony earns its stripes though
The ability for this list to have both some of the greatest hip hop ever created and the worst all at the same time is impressive.It really is a spoken word album not a hip-hop album.
I’ll give the album credit through- If you give it a listen the storytelling is well done. That’s the only redemption.
Did you know that the come on Eileen band was a ska band, me neither.
Solid post punk but nothing that screams super unique. All songs pretty much ran into one another, sounded like one long post punk song?
Oh, only one of the top selling albums of all time and the definition of a no-Skip. The album that made Fleetwood Mac.
Beautiful guitars and of course power vocalist- just as a western trained listener hard to really know/fully enjoy sounds like Qawwali.
I thought i liked shoe-gaze....maybe i dont.
No Women No Cry- not be my #1 album. But name a Marley album that isn’t fantastic
The roots, the blues-y guitar and the production value is great. A preview of what was to come.
Why is it when you turn into a father you just understand Steely Dan. Is it magic, hypnotism in the smooth saxophone?
Legit though- maybe not the greatest album ever written but up there with the greatest ever mixed/produced/sounding.
I know why the weird theatre girl in high school was into Kate Bush, I don’t know…both weird and leaves no lasting impression.
As an odd comparison as this is - sometimes the "i want to say something art-y" conecept album becomes blovated crap...so with the Wall by Pink Floyd so goes The Dreaming.
Solid post punk- anything that separates it out from others? Not really
I’ll take that mojito in a dark Havana night club any day.
Man...it's hard to take Prog Rock seriously. But I'll give the other reviewers creisdt here - the muscianship is extensive, even if its not osmething i'd come back to often.
The opening track is one of the best dance songs ever made…the opening track!!
Some funky beats on here that would make parliament blush. If there is anything to critique it’s how much disco doesn’t hold up and how much weaker the 2nd half is (you can tell how much he was listening to Stevie though).
Besides video game and sci fi movie soundtracks not sure who this is for...what a slog.
Miles really redefines what jazz can be- jazz is hard, not sure how often I’ll come back to it, but the groovy-ness is of this album is fantastic, especially how early it was and how great it sounds.
Have had some slogs on the list recently, this ain’t one of them. It flew by!
While the mix isn’t great- which is understandable- the king of soul’s ability to still makes you swing 60 years later.
Feels like artist like madness and social distortion perfected the sound more than a decade later.
But it’s cool to both see the outlaw punk and it’s early farm and post punk bands actually be a little - punk, even with a fiddle.
Mostly great spots with a few very weak response but that’s on last dance makes up for all of it.
Sounds like a bunch of Swedes wrote what they thought American hip hop was?
I know they were going for Paula Abdul more than tribe called quest- but just kinda sounds like a suburban mall talent competition.
Freaking love this band- best thing to come out of post-punk and 2nd best thing to come out of CBGBs.
Not their best album imo but so solid as always.
Take the more pop side of The Clash and mix it with black flag and throw in the absolute classic of androgynous…easy 5
U2 has always been Coldplay?
Rock's Schmaltz
I have always had a hard time with Wilco because i could never pinpoint what they are. Are they alt country? indie rock? folk? just Chicago...?
This album definitely did not help - but whatever they are...i like it.
Sorry miss jackson...less interludes!
But legit, when they are on...they are ON...when they are not, meh.
But Miss Jackson + BOB = 4/5.
If I’m ready to go back to the mid-80s
Grow out my hair, put in some glitter and pop some pills with a bottle of vodka.
I know what I’m putting on.
Here’s the thing…I like Metallica…but this is my least fav Metallica.
Love the thrash/punk vibes- the weird gothic doom ballad metal, not my thing.
I want my funk pure and uncut!
Legit though, why is it required that every other word be funk?
While the first half had some redeeming qualities, the second half made Trout Mask Replica sounds like the white album. Maybe if i was also dealing with the physiological pain of what my parents and grandparents just did in the war i also would make "Peking O"
Bland late 90s adult contemporary barf.
It’s not for everyone- but fuck yea! Folk punk royalty.
It's def an uneven album with the first half much stronger and growing a little weary by the end..but when the sound is done right. It's really right.
A tiny bit uneven but just such a great capture at the Talking Heads. Once in a Lifetime is a near perfectly written song.
Maybe a 4 but the rhythms are so so tight.
Dark as hell and of course he’s a hard listen but MY word he can write a song!
I understand the cultural/historic significance
But unless I’m trying to have Lofi electronic music to work to or make a pretty boring sci-fi movie. I don’t understand why you would re-listen to this.
Really solid classic rock with an ear towards either influencing or being influenced by Bowie. It was a little boring at times though.
In hindsight way more disco should be on this list - as we look back on it and the movement it actually was vs the racial homophobic backlash. This album should be up there with others like Donna Summer and EWF.
Here’s the thing about west coast “dinner party” jazz. It won’t mow your face off but it’s very enjoyable.
A nice snowy day outside, this album and a hot cup of joe. Perfection.
I know this album gets mixed thoughts from fans- but the epic wall of sound that is this album will never be able to be touched by another one of their albums or metal band. A truly unique album that sounds fantastic and presents the full 2+ hour concert rather than just 35 mins cuts.
So every white British boy in the 50s/60s just sat around listening to blues and Phil Spector records?
My generation might be the best rock ever written though…if the rest of the album sounded as intentional.
Two hits surrounded by uninspiring forgettable songs.
Would be a 5 if it had a bit more of the artistry of spiritulized or less moody/whiney vocals.
But still the guitar driven multi layered wall of sound…miss you in modern rock!
Man I miss boom boom bap.
Not as fun as De La Soul or as Revolutionary as Tribe- but still great.
The 2nd half of this album sums up the Oughts hipster moment more than maybe anything else. Give me Wake Up and Lies anyday with some skinny jeans, a PBR and a mustache.
The album as a whole is a bit weaker than i remember.
Not offensive but just generic cheesy early 70's empty uninspired folk.
boring bland and someone who thinks they are being avant-garde but actually just cringey?
Another reviewer pointed it out- why are we so captivated by Bowies voice? Idk, but I can’t help it.
There is still something about this album that doesn't grab me the same way. Just doesnt have the same spark.
I just dont understand how anyone could not consider this album some of the most beautiful 30 mins of music ever recorded?
It is also just mastered and produced so perfectly.
Okay, out of all of the things I’ve learned in this so far- it’s that I was wrong about “gangster rap”.
Crazy in hindsight how much MORE socially conscious it is than 99% of hip hop today.
That all being said…this one is a little bit of a one trick…it’s great but just kinda the same note.
Cover Art 4
Music/Melody 4
Lyrics+Vocals 1
I mean of course it’s Miles but man Joe Shulmans bass lines!
Well that’s the horniest album on the list.
unremarkable and oddly grating
There are some highs here - but the lows are VERY low. The highs come nowhere near their debut which is one of the best rock albums ever released...sigh
I mean if Sam Cooke doesn’t make you feel good, nothing will. If this album doesn’t want you to sit by a fire in a wood cabin with your partner, I got nothing for you.
Of course it’s dated and yet at the same time - a timeless snapshot of good feeling love. An American classic.
Well that just about sums up the empty droning sound of the hippie. It is atmospheric but also pretty bland.
Always had a hard time with the Pixies and the gloomy mood.
But Bossanova's consistency of solid indie rock is mad impressive - maybe its more accesible than others (like surfer rosa) but each track just hits the right tone.
First Side:
Eno + Bowie + Heroes (maybe his best song)= A fun listen that feels great and maybe a bit to much like Talking Heads. Not Bowie's best album but a fun one none the less and with Heroes on it...how can it be anything less than 4.
2nd Side- Ummmmmmm
Not sure why this one was so hard for. The first three-four tracks turned me off so much and honestly i think its because i hate when Stevie tries to write social commentary. It just comes off as forced and out of touch.
BUT as far as love songs, funk and musicianship - i mean, the album is this highly rated for a reason. Yes its long (to long), yes some of the tracks (IMO the first three in particular) are weaker - but look..."Contusion" to "Isn't She Lovely" on its own - would make the greatest album ever written.
I like it just fine...my last album was so ha in the key of life so this just feels - not special.
This was one long song...right?
Def not the only one on this list - but for sure an album where right away you go..is it bad? Not really. Did i need to hear it before i die? DEF NOT
What an amazing gift for my 100th album!
Yes, I’m a Big Dylan fan so I’m biased but this kicks off the three run of albums that is the greatest run of any artist in pop music.
From the first whistle of Subterranean to the final note of its all over baby blue, music would never be the same.
I know this album gets hate but truthfully I don’t know why. Dad Rock, sure but who cares it’s such a fun classic rock album.
If it’s a guilty pleasure, fine so be it! It also did for quite some time to sell a shit ton of records! So…
So it’s new wave? No it’s adult contemporary soft rock/pop? It’s neither?
Who wrote these lyrics? This should have been buried with Maggie Thatcher and Regan.
One long jam- I like the jam but it’s still just one long blues jam. Not much of an “album”.
Weather a hot cup of coffee on a winter morning or a glass of scotch at the end of a long day - this album apparently needs liquid to go along with it.
Here's the thing - after the drink is done, so is all of the fun with this one.
I mean what more is there to say - of time/place/feeling - this is untouchable. It is of course, the same song over and over again and doesn't have the same musicianship of pop music that comes later.
Close your eyes, it's 1987. Regan is president, the wall still stands and you're in the mall sipping an orange julius...this is what is on your walkman.
Solid jangle with annoying 80s vocal. Makes me appreciate the gin Blossoms vocals way more.
It's not the Black Sabbath of Paranoids and and Masters of Reality but MAN what a incredible 70's rock album. They just dont make rock like this anymore, i know how that sounds, but legit. There just inst a weak track on the album!
As someone who loves Lou Reeds solo work so much - you can see the origins of it here way more than Nico.
And look I get it. No one is gonna listen to The Gift more than once - but still feels so important for me what rock and roll could be.
One of those albums you have to admit that it wasn’t made for you and you are not the target audience one bit.
So sure, out of ignorance it I just don’t get it.
Look, i dont care what Wikipedia says, this is NOT Americana. This is overproduced acoustic pop with bad lyrics and no soul. Jack Antonoff should never try writing Americana ever again.
Going in blind thinking ive only heard OF Bjork but never heard her music....and cant decide if im intrigued or not.
The pure dance hits are bangers - the avante garde stuff is pretty brutal.
I know it's supposed to be funny - just not sure it actually is?
I might hate this but hey at least you gotta give the musicianship is tight.
I wonder har far back we can push the mids in the mix? But Legit, this album is GREAT. Every song flows, pogos, jangles and jams.
Funky, powerful, popy..is what's love one of the best songs ever written, of course!
Some feel a bit drawn out, the title track as the perfect example. But the sould of tina doesnt get better.
The fact this was 71 is pretty crazy early and with an opener of one of the greatest rock songs in history!?!
Feels like a totally different band than a few years ago and ahead of its time.
The mid section is a little weaker but wow the bookends are incredible.
Look, is it as groundbreaking as Tommy, prob not. Is it them at their best, i think so!
Been a fan of desert blues for awhile through artists like Bombino - but this is a whole new level.
To listen to these guys and not see how all of rock and roll came from the traditional rhythms of Mali and west Africa!
The blues, the rock, the funk - I know the gene is based in repeating sections, but the sound is hypnotizing in the best of ways
Whatever it would take to get punk like this back, I’ll do it, pay it or whatever. Bring it back please!!
Of course not the target audience - but look, no this album could not (and for the most part nearly 15 years later) still cannot be escaped from in pop culture. Taking the mantle from Winehouse - there are very few if any weak points on this album.
Is it pop replayed on radio to an annoying point, yes...is it as good as pop gets...maybe?
I like the atmosphere of the mood- the whisper hipster vocals I could go without.
Love the vibe - and not a slam to say the perfect music to work to. Not sure i needed to listen to it before i die, but im glad i did.
CREAM is an all time classic - look, i like this time period of hip-hop, hell i gave Ice-T OG a 5...but this album just feels like a random mix tape, with little real thought? Idk, maybe im missing something.
3rd floor please- legit, I mean elevator music has a place but the vocals are cringey. Another I def dont need before I die. It was 2 stars until the rap…just please no.
Look is it up there with the greats, no. Is it a really solid vibe of blues rock that just gets the feeling right? 100%
Automatic 5! Was so far and ahead of everything else at the time.
Listening to this album I feel like Lester Bangs going on a tirade about that THIS is what a rock and roll is all about.
From the White Stripes to Van Halen from Black Flag to Metallica - they all owe it to Iggy who w/o they would not exist.
The first notes happened and i wanted to hate this, - the first song ended and i didnt hate it but thought ok...generic synth pop. How was i wrong.
Beautiful Melodies, perfect amount of experimentation and a sound WAY ahead of its time. The fact this was in '81 is crazy. The fact synth pop hadnt been run into the ground yet - might be why i loved it so much.
I mean, this list has given me several 5's recently so it was about time for one of these. I don't know, why? Just why?
Is it the worst album on the list, probably not. But does it deserve an hour of literally anyone’s time, not one bit.
Pitch Meeting:
Let’s take hit soul songs by black Motown artists and give them to a pretty soulless white hot blonde British women and make a ton of money!
It’s a snowy day outside, you wake up early and get yourself a cup of coffee. Is it Charlie Brown Christmas or do you want to pretend you are somewhere warm but still fits the mood just right- you turn it on.
I don’t know much about Bossa Nova but I do know I like the vibe. That all being said, it did feel pretty limited for me personally to the vibe.
To all of the Europeans not willing to spend 5 mins to google, listen and understand how complex and the DBT commentary is here, i got nothing for you.
This record is not only a shining example of the powerful sounds of blues and southern rock + the muscle shoals history but tackles the complexity of southern history, music, vulture and politics with such careful regard and thought.
I do not come from or live in the south, but someone who loves the sound of that slide guitar and appreciates when real political thought is expressed in music in a nuanced way, this record does it perfectly.
Tipper Gore can lick these balls.
Ohhhh, art rock… there is a very small subset of people this is meant for. And for them, I hope they enjoy it. For the rest of us, we just want it to stop.
Okay a bit torn, i do like the genre/style and i love me some country slide...but still feels a bit one note and boring? They are all covers, right?
I’m not the target audience and the lyrics are written so clearly by 21 yr old rich white women- but the production for EDM and the piano songs are solid.
Maybe its cause im listening 36 years later- but man this sounds hokey?
Just a little late for old school and a little too early for gangster- it sits in this awkward spot.
Social Conscious of Zulu, nope.
Life of poor upbringing of gangster, nope.
Just kinda feels like trying to be both while being nothing.
Sonically great, lyrically pretty rough.
Has the potential of someone if they could have hung on in life a bit longer could have made great music.
It’s also just pure uncut 70s.
The "My Girl" guys got some FUNK.
The first half slaps, the second half i fell asleep through.
Holy moly this rocks hard. Sure is the prog falsetto cringey 40 years later..yes.
But damn do those drums drive and guitar shreds. It’s all gas, no breaks.
Man this sounds good even for today! Are Irish/British folk dirges something I'd go to all the time, you know what maybe! Man, i oddly enjoyed this!
Holy Indie Rock Batman! Why hasn’t this band been in my life before?!? Is there a weak second or note on this album? No..there is not.
Quote from the wiki.. “For me they were good days. The simple focus of writing and recording that album; no personal fuck-ups or problems, I was in a good place. We were just in it riding the wave – enjoying the act of making music – so simple!"
You can absolutely tell it’s a band on top of their game just letting all flow out easily. No filler.
Look, sometimes I really wanna be a contrarian and hate what everyone loves and is so popular.
And while I have my gripes (EX…We get it. You’re high as hell, take your damn finger off the slider) and that I still think the drumming on Jimi Hendrix records vastly outshines Hendrix.
There is just no denying how good and classic and revolutionary this record was.
Super solid driving punk/alt-rock. No weak tracks, nothing that also jumps out to to blow me away. Just a solid album.
Look, I love the sound, I love atmospheric space layered …whatever you want to call it. I just wish this one didn’t sound like the same 7 min jam for an entire album. Otherwise, it’d be up there!
I don’t think there will be a faster 5/5 on this site. The album that changed the genre forever.
Normally when the word “electronic” comes up on this list I groan and prepare for two hours of weird sci-fi movie soundtracks.
At least this had SOME melody!
When you listen to ELP you realize how poppy and catchy Steely Dan actually is.
Look, I’m not sure who the first track is for? Honestly.
The only reason this gets a two and not a one is “are you ready eddy!”
Started out pretty hooky but kinda lost its way. Not bad 90s rock but ehh nothing special.
Hey honey,
Candles are lit, steaks are done, lights down low and the cab franc is open and ready to pour. One sec just have to put on this album.
There are days I really wonder if this project is a good use of my life. Today is 100% one of those days.
Okay, title track….Is it endearing or eye rolling pandering? Honestly, no idea. Either way, weakest on the album?
Traveling Man…picks up so much. The ability for old country to tell a story in 3 mins!
Look, all you British Gen X’ers on this site. I’m truly sorry BritPop did a number on your psyche and apparently truly hurt you, I really am. That sucks, but not my problem.
This album rocks and was the perfect album at the right time. Leave your hangup at the door, pick up an acoustic guitar in 7th grade and play wonderwall for your crush.
