Fantastic album with a few songs that didn't grab me as much. Elton John can write a hell of a hook. 3.5-4 stars

Absolute banger after banger! The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is so I can give In Utero a higher score.

The opening track of this album is perfect. From it's groovy bassline to the jazzy keyboard it sets the bar for the record enormously high. Unfortunately the rest of the album then fails to reach that bar. While the closing track is strong is well, most of the middle of the album felt like it was trying to put me to sleep. There were moments that stood out, but overall I found the repetitive vocals weak and most of the instrumentation just became background noise. Overall 3, maybe 3.5. There was enough there I may have to give it a relisten though.

Definitely one of those albums that I can imagine was absolutely mind-blowing at the time. Janis definitely has a unique and impressive voice. 3.5/5

I can see why this album made the list, I can really hear the influence it had on singer/songwriter and indie music, especially among the Jack Johnson's of the world. The most striking thing about the album was how modern it sounded, it wouldn't sound out of place if I stumbled upon it on a random Tiny Desk concert or heard it on modern college radio. I found the instrumentation on the album really pleasant. The way the piano, strings, flute, etc. play off the guitar is really cool, and Nick Drake is an impressive guitar player. Unfortunately, that vocal style is nails-on-a-chalkboard to me. It sounds like he invented the "indie accent" so many artists today copy, and those whispery soft-spoken vocals drive me insane (in a bad way). I also found the "cute" lyrics grating. I really wanted to like this album, but unfortunately the vocals bring it down to a 2-2.5/5 for me.

I thought the hits on this album were decent (Sunday, New Year's), but the rest were forgettable to downright bad. I must say, The Refugee was impressively bad, the worst song I've heard in a while. I busted out laughing when Bono starting doing his "Uh, HUAHs". I actually relistened to this song after I finished the album to see if it was as bad as my initial impression, and it was even more hilariously awful the second time. 1.5/5.

Aerosmith is just simply not for me. While I can recognize the talent of the bandmembers and see that this is a very competently made record, to my ears it's just vapid lyrics interspersed with impressive guitar solos. The album lacks any substance underneath the surface (that I can detect at least). It's not actively bad, so I can't give it a 1/5, but after the first couple songs it just became a chore to get through. 1.5/5 ->2/5.

While Moby may overuse his gimmick of finding old samples of soulful vocals, I do think this album holds up quite well. I really enjoy the classic hits from the album like Honey and South Side, while also finding joy in some of the softer passages. I thought most of the songs had a good amount of depth to them and liked the layered instrumentation throughout. That said, there were a number of forgettable tracks in the mix as well. I'm not big into the electronic music scene, but it does seem this album continues to have a large influence on this style of music. Also, I somehow didn't realize (or forgot) that South Side is a Moby track! 3.5 -> 4

Definitely my least favorite of the major Hendrix records. While still full of some great tracks and amazing guitar playing, I never felt it reaches the soring heights his first and last records do. 3.5 -> 3/5

I don't have a whole lot to say about this album, it is clearly very competently made and full of talent. That said, it's just not really my thing. I did like some of the more atmospheric instrumentals. 3.5 -> 3/5

I really wasn't excited to listen an out-of-context soundtrack to a movie I've never seen, especially given how underwhelming I found Moon Safari, but I was pleasantly surprised! I really liked this album. It creates a really nice, often disconcerting atmosophere, and I found that it went to some more interesting places than Moon Safari did. I especially liked the track Dirty Trip. Definitely one I'll be throwing on again while working or studying. I just listed in my car, so I'm excited to revisit it with a solid pair of headphones. 4/5.

Contemporary country definitely isn't my thing. I actually recognized one of the songs from the album though! It wasn't absolutely terrible, but definitely won't be revisiting. Did a couple of interesting things musically here and there. Lyrics were generic and god-awful throughout -> "I'm not wonder woman, I can't lasso the truth out of you". 2/5

When I was in high school, I had a few friends who were way into Ska. They would try and convert me, often playing records by bands like Streetlight Manifesto and Reel Big Fish. To me, these songs were always a bit too much, featuring constant aggressive use of horns over upbeat raggae-inspired rhythms that I would find exhuasting to listen to. It always just sounded like punk with a gimmick to me. Because of that, I wasn't at all excited when I looked this album up and saw it was classified as "ska". To make it worse, I couldn't find it on streaming so had to rely on a fairly low-quality Youtube playlist to listen to it. I quickly found myself pleasantly surprised. I found this record to be an interesting blend of many genres and influences, and I found the horns and other less conventional instrumentation was used in a way that complemented the music as opposed to overpowered it like on the previously mentioned ska albums. This made it so when they did take centerstage, like at the end of "Primrose Hill," it made for interesting and powerful moments. I didn't expect to recognize any tracks, so was surprised to hear "Our House," a track that I've heard probably thousands of times before but never knew the origin of. There were still a few misses on the album. I found Blue Skinned Beast kind of irritating, and New Delhi, while an interesting idea, felt a bit out of place. Overall, definitely an interesting and ambitious record that I'll likely return to. I'd say a 3.5 or 4/5.

While I can see how this album could have been absolutely life-changing hearing it for the first time in the 60s, to my modern ears I found it to be a small handful of amazing tracks interspersed between a lot of very forgettable ones. I find Venus in Furs and Heroin brilliant tracks that still hold up very well. I thought European Son was a unique and ambitious closing track as well. I otherwise found the album to be fairly dull and forgettable, and I've never really been able to get too into Lou Reed or Nico's vocals. 3/5.