211
Albums Rated
3.43
Average Rating
19%
Complete
878 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1950
Favorite Decade
Blues
Favorite Genre
other
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
24
5-Star Albums
5
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Hejira
Joni Mitchell
|
5 | 3.14 | +1.86 |
|
Lady In Satin
Billie Holiday
|
5 | 3.23 | +1.77 |
|
Sunday At The Village Vanguard
Bill Evans Trio
|
5 | 3.31 | +1.69 |
|
You Want It Darker
Leonard Cohen
|
5 | 3.32 | +1.68 |
|
Siembra
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
|
5 | 3.33 | +1.67 |
|
If I Should Fall From Grace With God
The Pogues
|
5 | 3.33 | +1.67 |
|
At Mister Kelly's
Sarah Vaughan
|
5 | 3.37 | +1.63 |
|
Aqualung
Jethro Tull
|
5 | 3.43 | +1.57 |
|
1984
Van Halen
|
5 | 3.49 | +1.51 |
|
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
Ray Charles
|
5 | 3.5 | +1.5 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Urban Hymns
The Verve
|
1 | 3.36 | -2.36 |
|
You've Come a Long Way Baby
Fatboy Slim
|
1 | 3.33 | -2.33 |
|
Arular
M.I.A.
|
1 | 2.84 | -1.84 |
|
My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts
Brian Eno
|
1 | 2.79 | -1.79 |
|
Stankonia
OutKast
|
2 | 3.55 | -1.55 |
|
Hail To the Thief
Radiohead
|
2 | 3.45 | -1.45 |
|
Ready To Die
The Notorious B.I.G.
|
2 | 3.36 | -1.36 |
|
1989
Taylor Swift
|
2 | 3.26 | -1.26 |
|
Goo
Sonic Youth
|
2 | 3.24 | -1.24 |
|
Exit Planet Dust
The Chemical Brothers
|
2 | 3.15 | -1.15 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Jimi Hendrix | 2 | 5 |
| Joni Mitchell | 3 | 4.33 |
| David Bowie | 3 | 4.33 |
5-Star Albums (24)
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Popular Reviews
Jimi Hendrix · 1 likes
5/5
Overall Rating - 4.50/5 (9.00/10). Absolutely incredible.
4-Star Albums (74)
1-Star Albums (5)
All Ratings
The Flying Burrito Brothers
2/5
Christine's Tune - Interesting Rock/Country fusion. Other than the instrumentation, it's somewhat forgettable. 6/10.
Sin City - Good musicianship, not my favorite genre. 5/10.
Do Right Woman - Good musicianship, not my favorite genre. 5/10.
Dark End of the Street - Excellent guitar work, pedal steel is very nice. Lyrics are repetitive, mostly a forgettable song. 6/10.
My Uncle - Excellent guitar work, pedal steel is very nice. Lyrics are repetitive, mostly a forgettable song. 6/10.
Wheels - Interesting instrumentation. 5/10.
Juanita - Formulaic Country song. 5/10.
Hot Burrito #1 - Good musicianship, just not my style. 5/10.
Hot Burrito #2 - Forgettable. 4/10.
Do You Know How It Feels - Meh. 4/10.
Hippie Boy - Sounds like a hippie's parody of Gospel music. And not a good one. 2/10.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Looking forward to this, because I love Joni Mitchell.
Court and Spark - 7/10. Very solid, typical of Ms. Mitchell's work, rich vocals, simple harmonies.
Help Me - 10/10. Rich, velvety sound. This song is one of the reasons I love Joni Mitchell.
Free Man in Paris - 8/10. Very pure vocals, simple melody and harmony.
People's Parties - 8/10. Nice bass work, excellent guitar, vocals use a lot of nice changes of pace.
The Same Situation - 7/10. I would have liked this song better if it had stayed nothing more than Joni Mitchell and a piano (like the beginning).
Car on a Hill - 7/10. Very much the same as the other songs on the album.
Down to You - 8/10. Captures the feeling of being lonely well. A little over-instrumented in places.
Just Like This Train - 8/10. Very similar to the rest of this album.
Raised on Robbery - 8/10. More upbeat than I'm used to from Joni. Feels very 1950s rock to me.
Trouble Child - 7/10. Good, but not great.
Twisted - 10/10. Jazz feel. Not at all what I expected, and I like it.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5/5
I looked at the track list for this album, and knew this would be a banger.
Cinnamon Girl - 10/10. Classic Crazy Horse.
Everybody Knows this is Nowhere - 9/10. More restrained than Cinnamon Girl, but that's no complaint.
Round and Round (It Won't Be Long) - 8/10. More pure folk rather than folk-rock. Neil Young does this well, but he's better when he embraces the rock fusion.
Down By The River - 10/10. One of Neil and Crazy Horse's best. I can't believe anymore that I once didn't care for Neil's singing.
The Losing End (When You're On) - 8/10. Elegant in its simplicity.
Running Dry (Requiem for the Rockets) - 8/10. Great tune, chord progression sets the mood VERY well. Excellent composition, good instrumentation, Does Neil Young ever miss?
Cowgirl In The Sand - 10/10. Great guitar work, Classic Neil Young vocals, incredible guitar solo in the middle. This is what truly great music sounds like.
Pink Floyd
5/5
This is one of the great albums (although I actually prefer Dark Side from Floyd).
In The Flesh? - 10/10. The guitar intro is iconic. The vocals are tight. A perfect track to start an album.
The Thin Ice - 8/10. Impeccable musicianship. Very simple.
Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 1 - 10/10. Sets up themes of loss and loneliness.
The Happiest Days of our Lives - 10/10. Another Brick in the Wall Part 1.5.
Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2 - 10/10. If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat? Great chord progressions, and that guitar outro is one of the most recognizable riffs in the history of rock music.
Mother - 10/10. The cool-down piece needed after the peak of ABitW 2. Perfection isn't when there's nothing left to add, but rather when there's nothing left to take away.
Goodbye Blue Sky - 10/10. The ominous synth in the bass really puts a jarring contrast to the simple guitar line, but it fits the lyrics. That juxtaposition speaks to me as a veteran, having seen the cost of war in real-time.
Empty Spaces/Young Lust - 7/10. Putting these together because they belong together. A great pair of songs on their own, but actually weaker when placed in the context of the album. Fills the same story purpose as Acid Queen from Tommy, but, in my opinion, not as well.
One of My Turns - 8/10. As someone who struggles with depression, this song definitely hits me hard. Roger Waters understands depression so very well.
Don't Leave Me Now - 8/10. Welcome to the depths of what depression does to someone.
Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 3 - 10/10. This is exactly how depression feels.
Goodbye Cruel World - 9/10. Retreating behind the wall. Heartbreaking in its simplicity.
Hey You - 10/10. I always liked this song, I always thought it was a call out to the lonely and depressed, but placing it in context with the rest of the album, it's even better and is bringing me to tears.
Is There Anybody Out There - 9/10. My thoughts ask this question every time I get a depression flare up.
Nobody Home - 9/10. That piano intro is amazing. Somehow the music is triumphant, but the lyrics are still mired deeply in despair.
Vera - 8/10. Solid, but on the weaker side of the album.
Bring the Boys Back Home - 8/10. Solid, but on the weaker side of the album.
Comfortably Numb - 10/10. Only because I can't rate it higher. One of the top 5 guitar solos of all time (Sultans of Swing from Alchemy Live, Stairway, Don't Take Me Alive, Little Wing by Hendrix).
The Show Must Go On - 6/10. An interlude that seems to have little connection with the previous song or the next song.
In The Flesh - 9/10. Same intro as the opening of the album, but this is longer. from 2:34 it sounds like what's happening in the US right now (October 2025).
Run Like Hell - 10/10. A great song that gets even better in the context of the album. After the overtly Fascist lyrics of the last song, the urgency of this song is even more fitting.
Waiting for the Worms - 9/10. A background of goose-stepping Fascist Stormtroopers undergirds the lowest point in "The Cult of Pink." Very effective piece.
Stop - 8/10. And the main character's morality awakens. Again, the simplicity comes through.
The Trial - 10/10. Even more than anything that has come before, this is exactly what Depression feels like. TEAR DOWN THE WALL!
Outside The Wall - 10/10. Oh. Oh. That must be what the people who love people with depression feel like.
The Verve
1/5
This is not my usual style of music. The whole album sounds like pretentious, overmixed, coffee-house hipster music.
Bittersweet Symphony - 8/10. I mean, I liked the accompaniment better when it was The Last Time by The Rolling Stones. That said, this is a great song. Only gets an 8 because they ripped off The Stones (although there are worse bands to rip off).
Sonnet - 5/10. "Don't sound like no sonnet." Neither does this. Good musicianship, lyrics are OK, if a bit repetitive without a reason.
The Rolling People - 3/10. Forgettable mid-90's grungeish rock. Not terrible, but not great either. Should have been about half the length.
The Drugs Don't Work - 1/10. Save me from early 20's angst from the late 90's.
Catching the Butterfly - 2/10. Forgettable and overly long. Solid musicianship, just not to my taste.
Neon Wilderness - 3/10. At least it isn't too overly long. Not a fan of experimental 90's music.
Space and Time - 5/10. On the stronger side of this album, good musicianship.
Weeping Willow - 5/10. Decent. Not good, not bad, just decent.
Lucky Man - 3/10. Meh. Much like the rest of the album.
One Day - 3/10. Meh. Much like the rest of the album.
This Time - 3/10. Meh. Much like the rest of the album.
Velvet Morning - 2/10. Pretentious, overmixed garbage.
Come On/Deep Freeze - 2/10. On par with the rest of the album. Four minutes and still no "bonus track."
Overall rating - 1/5
U2
4/5
This is another one I looked forward to getting. I haven't listened to a lot of U2 outside of the biggest hits. This is early U2, and I can hear a lot of the foundations of their later work.
Sunday Bloody Sunday - 10/10. Iconic drum fill to start it off, young Bono has a great voice. I am familiar with the "Bloody Sunday" protests, one of the reasons why my generation can't solve the Irish Troubles. The cry for peace and understanding is deep in my heart.
Seconds - 8/10. Early U2 has a very unique, simple sound (not a bad thing). Another song calling for understanding and peace, in this case against Nuclear War.
New Year's Day - 10/10. Such an incredible opening. This song never gets old. The keyboard work is phenomenal, the vocals are haunting, and the guitar is iconic.
Like A Song - 8/10. The opening drums sound like someone pounding on a door, which fits well with the theme of the album. Young Bono still crying out for peace. "Angry words won't stop a fight." So very true.
Drowning Man - 8/10. Very much a change in feel from the first part of the album. The repetition in the lyrics makes sense thematically here.
The Refugee - 7/10. Not the sound I'm used to from U2. Good but not as good as the rest of the album. Thematically it fits, though.
Two Hearts Beat As One - 7/10. I like the introduction. Good melody, not as thematic with the rest of the album.
Red Light - 8/10. I can hear some of the foundations of later U2 in this song.
Surrender - 7/10. Great guitar tone, good vocals, solid song.
40 - 9/10. This would be a 7, but in the context of closing this particular album with a song this peaceful, it is elevated.
Overall Rating - 4/5.
De La Soul
3/5
My first foray into Hip-Hop in this journey. Very much not my usual genre.
Intro - X/10. Not rated, played like a gameshow introduction.
(3 is) The Magic Number - 8/10. Nice beat, a bit meta and very intelligent lyrics. I like it.
Change In Speak - 7/10. Good beat, I like the backing music. Solid groove.
Cool Breeze on the Rocks - X/10. Not rated. Gameshow Interlude.
Can U Keep a Secret - 7/10. Good groove, lyrics fit with the title of the song.
Jenifa Taught Me - 7/10. Another nice groove.
Ghetto Thang - 7/10. Surprisingly, I find a lot of similarities between this and Elvis Presley's "In The Ghetto."
Transmitting Live From Mars - 5/10. Not bad, but not as good as the previous tracks.
Eye Know - 9/10. Smooth groove, and they're sampling Peg by Steely Dan and Sitting on the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding. These gentlemen have taste.
Take It Off - 4/10. Not a fan of this one.
A Little Bit Of Soap - 6/10. Nice sample of Stand By Me.
Tread Water - 6/10. Another smooth groove, which they seem to specialize in.
Potholes In My Lawn - 8/10. This has me doing a little dancing in my chair as I listen. I like it.
Say No Go. - 7/10. Another smooth groove. Using the words almost as another instrument.
Do as De La Does - 6/10. More of an aggressive groove here than what's come before. Not bad.
Plug Tunin' - 7/10. Back to the smoother grooves, and I like it.
De La Orgee - 4/10. Significantly more ... explicit than what's come before. A bit jarring.
Buddy - 6/10. More on the explicit side, but also more subtle about it, so I don't mind it.
Description - 7/10. Smooth and back to the fun of the early part of the album.
Me Myself and I - 6/10. Very nice groove, mix might be a little too heavy on the music, lyrics aren't as easy to pick out as I'd like.
This is a Recording 4 Living in a Fulltime ERA - 6/10. Very typical of this album.
I Can Do Anything - 5/10. Meh.
D.A.I.S.Y. Age - 6/10. Smooth and simple.
Overall Rating - 3/5. Solid album.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
While I haven't listened to the whole album before, It's Hendrix. Also, I found out looking at information, that three of the four members of Traffic are playing on this album. Yowza!
... And the Gods Made Love - 3/10. Weird, experimental, and psychadelic. Not a fan.
Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland) - 8/10. This is what I expect from the softer side of Hendrix.
Crosstown Traffic - 10/10. One of the classic Hendrix songs. incredible guitar work, very good singing, tight from the whole band.
Voodoo Chile - 10/10. Classic Blues progression and style, but with an electric, psychadelic edge. Insane guitar solo in the middle. Of course, I could sum up all of that with the two words "It's Hendrix."
Little Miss Strange - 9/10. This song cooks! A little off-mix to my taste, though.
Long Hot Summer Night - 10/10. Classic Hendrix sound, and I love it.
Come On (Let the Good Times Roll) - 10/10. Another insane Hendrix cover, this time of Louis Jordan. Hendrix with a guitar is something more than human. If I allowed myself higher than 10/10, this would get it.
G**** Eyes - X/10. I won't rate this one because of the ethnic slur in the title and lyrics. Outstanding song otherwise, though.
Burning of the Midnight Lamp - 9/10. Classic Hendrix sound, mix is a little vocal light for me.
Rainy Day, Dream Away - 9/10. Simply beautiful, blues style with a Hendrix twist. Virtuoso playing.
1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be) - 9/10. Love the guitar intro. Atmospheric and beautiful. This is the REAL Hippie Jam Band music.
Moon, Turn the Tides ... Gently, Gently Away - 3/10. Not sure what the point of this is.
Still Raining, Still Dreaming - 7/10. More of the classic Hendrix sound. Basically, Rainy Day Dream Away Part 2. Solid and tight.
All Along the Watchtower - 10/10. One of the few covers that is better than the original. Up there with Johnny Cash's cover of Hurt, Aretha Franklin's RESPECT, and Joni Mitchell's cover of Both Sides Now.
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - 10/10. So crunchy on the guitar. This has always been the definitive version of this song in my mind. The only other version that comes close is SRV.
Overall Rating - 5/5. This was close enough I had to average the ratings out. The two really weak tracks almost dropped it to a 4/5, but it ended up EXACTLY 9/10 average. Two insane covers and a lot of iconic Hendrix sound. We lost you too young, Jimi.
Bebel Gilberto
4/5
I've listened to her father, Joao Gilberto a bit, and I tend to like Bossa Nova style music, it reminds me of the old-school Cool Jazz I used to listen to growing up. I'm sure that I would have more detailed notes if I understood Brazilian Portuguese.
Samba de Bencao - 9/10. Smooth and silky with a little bit of a 21st century touch.
August Day Song - 9/10. Not much to be said beyond silky smooth Bossa Nova.
Tanto Tempo - 8/10.
Sem Contencao - 8/10. Upbeat and peppy while still being simple and clean.
Mais Feliz - 8/10.
Alguem - 8/10.
So Nice (Summer Samba) - /10. This one's in English, and it's ... so nice.
Lonely - 8/10.
Bananeira - 9/10.
Samba E Amor - 10/10. I would point someone to this as an introduction to Bossa Nova.
Close Your Eyes - 9/10. Bossa Nova can be a little repetitive, but it works in the style.
Overall Rating - 4/5. When I saw the name "Gilberto" I knew what to expect. I was not disappointed.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
I've been listening to Creedence for most of my life.
Born on the Bayou - 9/10. Great guitar intro. This is a classic. Maybe not quite at the level of Fortunate Son or some of their other greats, but it's close.
Bootleg - 7/10. Solid song. Great tone, the singing we expect from John Fogerty.
Graveyard Train - 7/10. Some really good blues rock. Nice walking bass line, very simple.
Good Golly Miss Molly - 8/10. Nice sound on this one. Classic cover. Nice guitar work in the Bridge.
Penthouse Pauper - 8/10. Nice guitar work, good overall tune.
Proud Mary - 10/10. A real classic. No notes for improvement.
Keep on Chooglin' - 8/10. A bit long, but I like it.
Overall Rating - 4/5. Solid album from CCR.
Aerosmith
4/5
A lot of songs I'm not familiar with on this album.
Back In The Saddle - 8/10. Very recognizable intro. Classic Aerosmith sound. Great outro.
Last Child - 8/10. Didn't know the title of this one, but as soon as I heard the intro, I recognized it. More classic Aerosmith.
Rats in the Cellar - 7/10. Solid classic rock. Hadn't heard this one before, but it's good.
Combination - 6/10. Not the strongest, but not bad.
Sick as a Dog - 7/10. Solid. Classic Aerosmith musicianship. Nice bridge.
Nobody's Fault - 7/10. More of that typical Aerosmith sound. Not a complaint.
Get the Lead Out - 7/10. Nice intro. Solid song.
Lick and a Promise - 8/10. This one kinda cooks.
Home Tonight - 6/10. Not the best, but not bad.
Overall Rating - 4/5. Definitely a solid album.
Spacemen 3
3/5
No idea what to expect here.
Honey - 6/10. Interesting intro. Not a bad song. Experimental Euro-pop isn't my usual taste, but I can appreciate the work of it.
Come Down Softly To My Soul - 6/10. Solid work here. Mix is a little light on vocals, but interesting music. Good composition.
How Does It Feel - 4/10. Good, if a bit repetitive, music with poetry spoken over it. Has a little bit of pretentious, coffeehouse feel (but with better music).
I Believe It - 5/10. Weird, not bad, just weird.
Revolution - 5/10. A very different feel from what has come before on this album right from the top. Again, not bad, but definitely different.
Let Me Down Gently - 5/10. Weird. Not bad, just weird.
So Hot (Wash Away All of My Tears) - 6/10. Something of an old-school, simple feel. I like it.
Suicide - 5/10. Disconcerting at the beginning, but that fits with the track title. Strange jam, but not bad.
Lord Can You Hear Me? - 7/10. A moment of peace which is definitely needed after that last song.
Che - 7/10. Reminiscent of the better psychadelic rock of the last 60's and early 70's.
May The Circle Be Unbroken - 6/10. An interesting take on the Gospel classic. Flying Burrito Brothers, THIS is how you do Hippie Gospel music.
Overall Rating - 2.82/5. This whole album sounds like music I'd hear in Earthbound.
Muddy Waters
4/5
Old-school Blues? Count me in.
I Got My Brand On You - 9/10. Classic Blues music. They style is a bit repetitive, but it fits the style. Great Blues by one of the all-timers.
I'm Your Hooche Coochie Man - 10/10. I've heard covers of this that are more upbeat, but I prefer this one.
Baby, Please Don't Go - 9/10. Simple and clean. The simplicity gives the musicians nowhere to hide a mistake. But these guys don't need to.
Soon Forgotten - 8/10. Incredible piano playing in the background. I want to make sure that gets noted in my listening notes, but the rest of it is so good that it might get missed.
Tiger In Your Tank - 8/10. More upbeat and jazzy. Damn, but this man is outstanding.
I Feel So Good - 9/10. There's not much more I can say than to say that I know how much effort it takes to sound this effortless.
I've Got My Mojo Working - 10/10. Classic Blues. Muddy Waters is one of the best at it.
Goodbye Newport Blues - 8/10. Clean and excellent.
Overall Rating: 4.44/5 (8.88/10). Perfection isn't when there's nothing to add, it's when there's nothing to take away.
U2
4/5
Mid-career U2. This should be fun.
Zoo Station - 7/10. Harder than a lot of what we heard on War. Solid musicianship, as we expect from U2. Even mediocre U2 is good.
Even Better than the Real Thing - 7/10. Interesting start to this song. This has the smooth vocals and slick instrumentals I expect from U2.
One - 10/10. This is one of the all time great U2 songs.
Until the End of the World - 7/10. Good stuff. Not much to say, it's typical U2.
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses - 7/10. I hate to put it like this, but it's generic U2. It's exactly what you would expect from U2 outside of the big hits.
So Cruel - 6/10. Solid U2. Good music, good vocals, nothing to really stand out. Could stand to be about a minute and a half shorter.
The Fly - 8/10. This is a hidden gem. I like this one. A little more edge to it than the "generic" U2.
Mysterious Ways - 9/10. This is one of the songs I think of when I think of U2. That said, it's a step beneath songs like Sunday, Bloody Sunday, or One, or Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.
Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World - 7/10. Smooth and silky.
Ultra Violet (Light My Way) - 7/10. Solid.
Acrobat - 7/10. Again, it's good "generic" U2.
Love Is Blindness - 7/10. Solid, but not standing out.
Overall Rating - 3.71/5 (7.42/10).
Suzanne Vega
3/5
Don't know what to expect here.
Cracking - 5/10. Not bad. A little bit of coffeehouse poetry vibe, that I find slightly unpleasant, but the music is decent. When she sings, it's not bad.
Freeze Tag - 6/10. Simple instrumentation, basic chord structure, no-frills music. I like this better than Cracking.
Marlene On The Wall - 7/10. Again, simple, no-frills music. I like it.
Small Blue Thing - 6/10. Nice and simple.
Straight Lines - 8/10. Nothing left to take away.
Undertow - 6/10. Simple and clean.
Some Journey - 6/10. Clean and simple.
The Queen And The Soldier - 8/10. Very well done.
Knight Moves - 6/10. Clean and simple.
Neighborhood Girl - 6/10. More complex and layered than the other tracks on the album. Good, but not exactly what I was expecting from the rest of the album.
Overall Rating - 3.20/5 (6.40/10). A solid album. Not sure I'd listen to it again, but I don't regret listening to it.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Definitely won't object to more Joni Mitchell.
In France They Kiss on Main Street - 8/10. The sound I expect from Joni Mitchell. Simple and clean.
The Jungle Line - 4/10. This is a little out of the usual Joni Mitchell lane. I'm not a big fan.
Edith and the Kingpin - 8/10. This is what I expect from Joni Mitchell.
Don't Interrupt the Sorrow - 7/10. Solid.
Shades of Scarlett Conquering - 8/10. Rich and velvety sound.
The Hissing of Summer Lawns - 8/10. Not much to say beyond that this is very typical Joni Mitchell.
The Boho Dance - 8/10. Jazzy and smooth. Very enjoyable.
Harry's House / Centerpiece - 6/10. A bit more experimental than I'm used to from Joni Mitchell. Not bad, just less of my preference. I like Centerpiece better than Harry's House.
Sweet Bird - 7/10. Classic Joni Mitchell.
Shadows and Light - 7/10. Love the vocal harmonies. Less of a fan of the synths, but this is good.
Overall Rating - 3.60/5 (7.20/10). Another solid album from one of the Queens of folk.
Miles Davis
5/5
Day 17 - Birth of the Cool by Miles Davis
I've heard some of this album before. My father had this when I was growing up.
Move - 10/10. This absolutely COOKS. I wish I could ever have played trumpet like this.
Jeru - 10/10. Silky smooth and tight Jazz. No notes.
Moon Dreams - 9/10. The only word I have for this is "cool."
Venus de Milo - 10/10. Outstanding. Great harmonies with the doubled instruments.
Budo - 9/10. Back to the more up-tempo music, and it's still great.
Deception - 9/10. Top-class musicianship from the whole nonet.
Godchild - 9/10. A different feel than the first side of the album. Still great, though.
Boplicity - 10/10. As smooth as it gets.
Rocker - 10/10. Perfection.
Israel - 9/10. Smooth and sophisticated.
Rouge - 9/10. Subdued but still truly great.
Darn That Dream - 8/10. The only track with vocals, and the vocals detract a bit, but not much.
Overall Rating - 4.67/5 (9.33/10). I love the "Cool" school of Jazz, and you can tell that this is one of the foundations of it, because you can hear how the rest of its practitioners take their inspirations from here. Everyone in the group gets a chance to shine... and takes it.
M.I.A.
1/5
I have no idea what this is going to be like.
Banana (Skit) - 1/10. Repetitive and not enjoyable.
Pull Up the People - 2/10. Not my style of music. Electronica under repetitive, hard to understand hip-hop.
Bucky Done Gun - 4/10. Better than the first two tracks. Still not my taste.
Sunshowers - 4/10. About the same.
Fire, Fire - 2/10. I like this less than the last track.
Dash the Curry (Skit) - 2/10. Not a fan.
Amazon - 3/10. Unpleasantly repetitive and unbalanced in the mix.
Bingo - 3/10. I just don't like it.
Hombre - 3/10. Not a fan.
One for the Head (Skit) - 2/10. Haven't liked the shorts.
10 Dollar - 3/10. This is a track on this album.
U. R. A. Q. T. - 4/10. One of the better tracks on the album. Not terribly good, but better than most.
Galang - 2/10. Not a fan.
M. I. A. - 4/10. Solid lyrics. Not my style, but the message is there.
Overall Rating - 1.39/5 (2.79/10). Not a style I particularly like.
Metallica
4/5
Haven't really been a big Metallica fan, but this looks like a good one.
Enter Sandman - 10/10. Iconic guitar intro. I'll try to ignore the flashbacks to Mariano Rivera walking in to this intro throughout the 90's. Exactly the hard, uncompromising sound I expect from Metallica. Nice guitar solo in the bridge. Not my taste in music, but it is almost perfect.
Sad But True - 8/10. Again, the hard, uncompromising, simple sound of Metallica, but with some interesting rhythmic refinements at places.
Holier Than Thou - 6/10. Feels very generic hair metal. Well done, but generic.
The Unforgiven - 10/10. A very different feel in the intro, and I like it. This has always been one of the Metallica songs I liked. Great musicianship. No notes.
Wherever I May Roam - 6/10. Generic Metallica song about touring. Not bad, but not great, either.
Don't Tread on Me - 7/10. I like the West Side Story callout in the intro. Little things like showing that the band is more than just knuckle-dragging hard metal players makes songs better.
Through the Never - 6/10. Generic Metallica.
Nothing Else Matters - 10/10. Great tune. Somehow Metallica doesn't feel out of place playing a slow, waltz-time Power Ballad. This, more than the thrashing of other songs, showcases how good the musicians are in this band.
Of Wolf and Man - 7/10. More variety than the generic thrash metal of the worse tracks on this album.
The God that Failed - 8/10. Good. I can hear some deep pain in the lyrics. I don't know what happened, but it elevates the song.
My Friend of Misery - 6/10. Generic.
The Struggle Within - 6/10. Generic.
Overall Rating 3.75/5 (7.50/10). Nothing really bad on this album. Couple of real greats, but it was spotty (probably because thrash/hair metal isn't really my preference).
Cyndi Lauper
4/5
This is my first foray on the list into 80's Pop. I like some of Cyndi Lauper's work, so this could be fun.
Money Changes Everything - 5/10. One of the anthems of the "Me" Decade. A fun pop song, except that I HATE the lyrics, which is a major knock on the rating.
Girls Just Want To Have Fun - 8/10. So hard not to sing the Weird Al lyrics on this one. Girls, they want, they want to have Lunch! Happy, up-tempo 80's Pop. Good stuff.
When You Were Mine - 7/10. Fun 80's Pop. This is the music of my childhood.
Time After Time - 9/10. A great ballad style song, and, unlike the first track, the lyrics elevate the rating.
She Bop - 7/10. More fun 80's Pop. Somewhere in-between the ballad style of Time After Time and the other tracks that have come before on the album.
All Through the Night - 8/10. This tune sounds seriously familiar, but I don't necessarily know that I've ever really listened to it. Good verses, GREAT chorus.
Witness - 7/10. I like the stylistic choice in the introduction. Solid track.
I'll Kiss You - 8/10. Nice reference to Love Potion No. 9 in the lyrics. Including connections to past songs in a similar style always wins bonus points from me.
He's So Unusual - 6/10. Has a bit of a Tin Pan Alley feel to it. otherwise almost too short to rate.
Yeah Yeah - 7/10. Solid track. Very much that early 80's vibe.
Overall Rating - 3.60/5 (7.20/10). Solid 80's Pop. No objections.
Radiohead
3/5
Don't know what to expect here.
Planet Telex - 6/10. Interesting. Good singing, mix is a little instrumental heavy.
The Bends - 6/10. Similar to the first track. Solid.
High and Dry - 6/10. Solid.
Fake Plastic Trees - 6/10. It's OK.
Bones - 7/10. This is a different sound from anything before it on the album.
(Nice Dream) - 6/10. Repetitive, but that was the style of mid-90's navel-gazing pop.
Just - 6/10. This was one of the tracks on the album.
My Iron Lung - 4/10. Jarring transitions between sections. Not a fan.
Bullet Proof ... I Wish I Was - 6/10. Back to the mid-90's navel-gazing sound. I'm not a huge fan of it, but Radiohead does it well.
Black Star - 7/10. Decent song.
Sulk - 6/10. Decent.
Street Spirit (Fade Out) - 7/10. Decent to good.
Overall Rating - 3.04/5 (6.08/10). A lot of that 90's, navel-gazing sound.
Metallica
4/5
More Metallica. Probably should be decent.
Blackened - 7/10. I like this intro. Bit screamy for my usual taste in the verse. Solid musicianship.
...And Justice for All - 8/10. Love the intro. This is classic metal that I can listen to and enjoy. That guitar solo around 5:20 SHREDS.
Eye of the Beholder - 7/10. This is pretty solid. Nothing really outstanding here, but no weakness, either.
One - 8/10. Nice intro. Metallica doing a power ballad is different. Not bad, just different. It's good.
The Shortest Straw - 8/10. Back to the heavy, hard metal of the rest of the album. These gentlemen can SHRED. That chord progression around 4:25 was NOT what I expected.
Harvester of Sorrow - 7/10. Solid metal music.
The Frayed Ends of Sanity - 8/10. I'm surprised to say, I like it.
To Live Is To Die - 8/10. Definitely has a Prog feel to it.
Dyers Eve - 7/10. Solid.
Overall Rating 3.78/5 (7.56/10). Most of this album felt very Prog Metal. Not like Dream Theatre level, but more musicianship and composition focused than "traditional" metal.
Weather Report
4/5
Growing up, we had Domino Theory by Weather Report, so I have an idea of what to expect.
Birdland - 8/10. Pretty solid "new-wave" Jazz. I think I may have heard Manhattan Transfer doing this song before. I like it.
A Remark You Made - 8/10. Smooth and silky Jazz. But what do you expect from Jaco Pistorius?
Teen Town - 7/10. Good late 70's/early 80's Jazz style.
Harlequin - 7/10. Really smooth. I dont like the synth as much, though.
Rumba Mama - 4/10. Not something I cared for.
Palladium - 7/10. This is more like it.
The Juggler - 8/10. Good late 70's/early 80's Jazz style.
Havona - 9/10. Very good, especially Jaco Pistorius on the bass. I think this is the best track on the album.
Overall Rating - 3.63/5 (7.25/10). Really good Jazz Fusion.
The B-52's
3/5
Haven't listened to a lot of The B-52's, but I do know that they're a lot of fun.
Planet Claire - 5/10. Weird, new-wave stuff. Not bad, just ... odd.
52 Girls - 6/10. Fun new-wave pop.
Dance This Mess Around - 6/10. More fun new-wave pop.
Rock Lobster - 9/10. Iconic bass riff. It was a Rock! LOBSTER! This is one of the most fun tunes in New-Wave.
Lava - 6/10. This sounds kind of like R.E.M. Fun tune.
There's a Moon in the Sky (Called The Moon) - 6/10. Definitely the fun, quirky, slightly absurdist, New-Wave sound.
Hero Worship - 4/10. A bit unpleasant.
6060-842 - 6/10. Back to the more fun New-Wave sound.
Downtown - 6/10. Is this a Petula Clark cover? Absurdist cover of 60's music is certainly a choice. Not necessarily a bad one, either, but a bit unexpected.
Overall Rating - 3.00/5 (6.00/10). My usual New-Wave preference is Devo, but The B-52's are also a lot of fun.
Aerosmith
3/5
Aerosmith is usually a solid choice in my book.
Young Lust - 5/10. Not bad. Nothing special about it, but not bad.
F.I.N.E. - 5/10. Not bad. Nothing special about it, but not bad.
Going Down/Love in an Elevator - 8/10. Much more of the classic Aerosmith sound.
Monkey on my Back - 6/10. More classic Aerosmith, but I can see why this one didn't get as much play.
Water Song/Janie's Got a Gun - 8/10. Aerosmith in ballad mode is pretty great. Also, that guitar solo in the middle cooks.
Dulcimer Stomp/The Other Side - 8/10. Dulcimer Stomp is a really fun opening. It's too bad that it gets cut off of the single so often. This is fun and the musicianship is class.
My Girl - 6/10. Not bad, but not on the same level as Janie or Other Side.
Don't Get Mad, Get Even - 6/10. Interesting to have a Didgeridoo at the beginning. Again, not bad, but not as good as the top tracks on the album.
Hoodoo/Voodoo Medicine Man - 6/10. Not bad, but not on the same level as Janie or Other Side.
What It Takes - 8/10. Again, Aerosmith in ballad mode is excellent.
Overall Rating - 3.30/5 (6.60/10). It is absolutely a fair criticism of Aerosmith to say that they are a Singles band not an Album band.
Foo Fighters
4/5
I know I've heard stuff from this band, but I don't know that I could pick anything out without help.
This Is A Call - 8/10. Really good musicianship.
I'll Stick Around - 8/10. Excellent grunge rock.
Big Me - 10/10. I didn't know this was the title of this song. Almost perfect grunge tune. No notes.
Alone + Easy Target - 8/10. Excellent.
Good Grief - 8/10. Also really well done.
Floaty - 8/10. Again, just a great song.
Weenie Beenie - 6/10. I don't like this one quite as much as the tracks that have come before it.
Oh, George - 7/10. Solid.
For All The Cows - 8/10. Slick groove, solid musicianship, great tune.
X-Static - 7/10. This is really solid grunge rock.
Wattershed - 7/10. Harder grunge. Not the strongest tune on the album, but not the weakest, either.
Exhausted - 6/10. The mix seems a little off on this track, which is mildly unpleasant.
Overall Rating - 3.79/5 (7.58/10). I feel stupid. I didn't realize (or maybe just didn't remember) that this is Dave Grohl's project to get over Kurt Cobain's suicide. Outstanding musicianship, only a couple of places where I didn't care for something in the songs.
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
I'm not a huge fan of Fleetwood Mac, but this is known as a great album.
Second Hand News - 7/10. Not bad. Good musicianship.
Dreams - 9/10. Silky smooth and slick.
Never Going Back Again - 7/10. I like the instrumentation. Pretty solid song.
Don't Stop - 8/10. Very good. Not as good as Dreams, but still very good (despite the association with Bill Clinton).
Go Your Own Way - 9/10. Excellent tune. Everything fits well in this song.
Songbird - 10/10. This is absolutely beautiful.
The Chain - 10/10. Incredible song. This is Formula One!
You Make Loving Fun - 9/10. Slick and smooth, with rich vocals. Outstanding.
I Don't Want to Know - 7/10. Very solid, but not up to the standard of the last couple of tracks.
Oh Daddy - 7/10. Again, very solid, but not to the standard of the best of the album.
Gold Dust Woman - 8/10. This is Gold Dust Woman? I never knew the title. This song feels like it's been stripped down to the essentials, except for the end, which feels a little out of step with most of the song.
Overall Rating - 4.14/5 (8.27/10). Wow. This is absolutely a great album. So many songs that deserve the description of iconic.
Fun Lovin' Criminals
3/5
No idea what to expect here.
The Fun Lovin' Criminal - 8/10. Fun and lighter hip-hop. Good lyrics, well crafted track.
Passive/Aggressive - 7/10. Smooth and well-crafted.
The Grave and the Constant - 7/10. Solid and slick.
Scooby Snacks - 7/10. Pretty slick.
Smoke 'Em - 5/10. Not as good as what's come before this.
Bombin' The L - 6/10. Slick.
I Can't Get With That - 7/10. I like it.
King of New York - 7/10. Smooth and slick hip-hop.
We Have All the Time in the World - 8/10. Pretty sweet track.
Bear Hug - 5/10. A jarring change from the previous track. Not bad, but would be better in a different slot on the album.
Come Find Yourself - 7/10. Smooth and well crafted.
Crime and Punishment - 6/10. Decent track.
Methadonia - 7/10. Relaxed and smooth track.
Overall Rating - 3.12/5 (6.23/10). Not my usual taste. Very smooth and slick, well crafted and well produced.
Fatboy Slim
1/5
I've at least heard something from this album before.
Right Here, Right Now - 4/10. Meh. Repetitive and not appealing to me.
Rockafeller Skank - 5/10. I actually recognize this one, too. It's OK, but the middle part (where it went super slow and distorted) was unpleasantly weird.
In Heaven - 0/10. Deeply unpleasant.
Gangster Trippin - 4/10. Meh.
Build it Up, Tear it Down - 4/10. Meh.
Kalifornia - 1/10. Unpleasant.
Soul Surfing - 1/10. Not to my taste. Not fun in any way.
You're Not From Brighton - 3/10. Better than many of the tracks on this album, not that that takes much.
Praise You - 5/10. Decent. Still things that just grate on me (long holds that feel like a CD skipping), though.
Are We Having Fun Yet? - 2/10. Much like the rest of this album.
Acid 8000 - 2/10. Again, unpleasant and repetitive.
Overall Rating - 1.41/5 (2.81/10). Unpleasant and repetitive. Unpleasant and Repetitive. Unpleasant and Repetitive.
Bill Callahan
4/5
Jim Cain - 8/10. Very relaxing and smooth. Almost more lilting prose than lyrical.
Eid Ma Clack Shaw - 8/10. Smooth and very pleasant.
The Wind and the Dove - 8/10. Feels almost like Psychadelic Country. Very interesting.
Rococo Zephyr - 7/10. Relaxing, almost fades into the background, but well done.
Too Many Birds - 6/10. Feels a little more forced than the others.
My Friend - 8/10. I like this track.
All Thoughts Are Prey to Some Beast - 6/10. Interesting metaphors. There's a fine line between deep and pretentious, and this goes back and forth over it.
Invocation of Ratiocination - 5/10. Just weird.
Faith/Void - 8/10. Smooth and simple, not the message I would expect from this style of music, either. I like this one.
Overall Rating - 3.56/5 (7.11/10). A very different sound, and very pleasing to my ears.
Marty Robbins
4/5
I know who Marty Robbins is. I do like some old-school Country/Western music.
Big Iron - 9/10. Storyteller song. Good musicianship, clean voice.
A Hundred and Sixty Acres - 8/10. Simple and clean tune.
They're Hanging Me Tonight - 8/10. Great lament.
Cool Water - 7/10. I like this a little less than the other tracks.
Billy the Kid - 9/10. Interesting chord progressions. Subtly sophisticated and smooth.
Utah Carol - 9/10. Simple, clean, and beautifully sad.
The Strawberry Roan - 8/10. A Western Waltz is certainly a choice, and it fits the lyrics.
The Master's Call - 7/10. A story of redemption makes for a good song.
Running Gun - 7/10. Solid.
El Paso - 10/10. This feels like a short movie, and I can see it playing in my mind. As perfect as a storytelling song gets.
In the Valley - 9/10. Beautifully simple.
The Little Green Valley - 8/10. He captures very well the feeling of coming home from some kind of journey.
The Hanging Tree - 8/10. Simple and clean, well composed with the key changes for each verse.
Saddle Tramp - 7/10. Clean and well done.
Overall Rating - 4.07/5 (8.14/10). Marty Robbins has such a clean, recognizable voice. I wasn't expecting this album to be this good. I expected something solid, but this was better than I was expecting.
The Undertones
3/5
No clue what to expect here.
More Songs About Chocolate and Girls - 5/10. Typical early 80's pop.
There Goes Norman - 5/10. Typical early 80's pop.
Hypnotised - 5/10. Typical early 80's pop.
See That Girl - 5/10. Typical early 80's pop.
Whizz Kids - 6/10. More fun than the tracks that came before.
Under the Boardwalk - 3/10. Not a good cover.
The Way Girls Talk - 5/10. Meh.
Hard Luck - 7/10. This is better than anything that's come before it.
My Perfect Cousin - 6/10. Good, but not quite as good as Hard Luck.
Boys Will We Boys - 5/10. Meh.
Tearproof - 5/10. Not bad, but not great.
Wednesday Week - 6/10. On the better side of the album.
Nine Times out of Ten - 5/10. Average track for this album.
Girls that Don't Talk - 5/10.
What's with Terry - 6/10. Better than average for the album.
Overall Rating - 2.63/5 (5.27/10). This almost feels as though it's trying to be Pop, New-Wave, and light Punk all at once, and, in doing so, doesn't really do any of them terribly well.
Joy Division
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.65/5 (5.30/10). Overall not bad, but nothing really stands out as particularly good either.
Gorillaz
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.03/5 (6.06/10). Another solid hip-hop album.
James Taylor
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.36/5 (8.73/10). One of the great folk singers of the 20th century, and this album shows why.
Dr. Octagon
3/5
Overall Rating 2.53/5 (5.06/10). Probably the worst of the hip-hop albums I've gotten so far.
Aretha Franklin
5/5
Overall Rating - 4.70/5 (9.40/10). Albums like this are why Aretha Franklin earned the title "The Queen of Soul."
Paul Simon
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.95/5 (7.91/10). Good introduction to Paul Simon's solo work.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
5/5
Overall Rating 4.60/5 (9.20/10). All killers, no fillers.
Buzzcocks
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.00/5 (6.00/10). Nothing particularly memorable on the album, but solid musicianship, and a classic punk sound.
The Who
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.29/5 (8.58/10). Great album. If the content is disturbing, so is a lot of Classical Opera. They structured it like a Classical Opera, and it works.
Goldfrapp
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.67/5 (7.33/10). The whole album sounds like a catalog of James Bond themes. Which is a style choice, and one that I like.
OutKast
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.09/5 (4.19/10). Not my taste, but obviously skillful.
Van Morrison
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.10/5 (8.20/10). To quote the closing credit song from Cowboy Bebop, this is The Real Folk Blues.
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.00/5 (8.00/10). When Lennon and McCartney heard "Pet Sounds," they heard the gauntlet being thrown down. This was their response. The couple of weak songs in the middle dragged the rating down lower than I thought it would be.
Brian Eno
1/5
Overall Rating - 1.45/5 (2.91/10). I'm sure this is foundational, I just don't like it.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.20/5 (8.40/10). I didn't know any of these songs, but they were really outstanding. Top-shelf work from Stevie Wonder.
ABBA
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.79/5 (7.58/10). Not my taste in music at all, but I am trying to rate these albums objectively and not let my personal tastes into it as much as possible. Very well executed, even though I don't care for Disco/70's Europop.
Elliott Smith
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.29/5 (6.58/10). Nothing really great, but nothing bad, either.
White Denim
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.05/5 (6.10/10). Overall very solid album.
The Notorious B.I.G.
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.30/5 (4.61/10). One of the things I rate on, in genera that I don't usually listen to, is "How relatable or accessible is the album?" Much of this album is not relatable, but the tracks that are are superb. Biggie has taken the time and effort to master his craft, and I respect that.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Overall Rating - 4.50/5 (9.00/10). Absolutely incredible.
The Velvet Underground
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.92/5 (5.83/10). You can tell that they were influenced by Andy Warhol and William S. Burroughs. A weird album, but neither great nor terrible.
Circle Jerks
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.00/5 (4.00/10). It's punk, but not enough to it. Would like to see each of these songs fleshed out more. 14 tracks, ranging between 0:32 and 1:34.
Jefferson Airplane
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.30/5 (8.60/10). Tight, entry-friendly psychadelic rock with some blues twists. Nothing bad, but some tracks I would classify as "filler."
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.40/5 (6.80/10). Not my usual preferred style, but still well done and fun music. Enjoyable album.
Elbow
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.27/5 (6.54/10). Pleasant, a bit of the mid-2000's angst, which I don't particularly like, but a solid album.
The Triffids
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.32/5 (6.65/10). I don't regret getting this album, but I'll probably never go out of my way to listen to anything on it again.
The Band
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.67/5 (7.33/10). Well done music. Country-ish, folk-ish, rock-ish.
N.E.R.D
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.63/5 (7.25/10). Solid album. Kind of a hip-hop rock fusion, that's very pleasant and fun.
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.00/5 (6.00/10). Nothing that was necessarily awful, but not really anything good, either.
Frank Zappa
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.91/5 (7.83/10). This is about what I expected when Frank and The Mothers came up on my feed.
Metallica
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.02/5 (8.05/10). Absolutely incredible album.
Daft Punk
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.22/5 (6.44/10). Not my usual style of music, but this is good House music.
Various Artists
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.35/5 (6.69/10). Love the production sound, good arrangement, very good musicianship.
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.50/5 (7.00/10). Good album. No idea what to expect, and it turned out to be very jazzy and pleasant to listen to.
Buena Vista Social Club
5/5
Overall Rating - 4.54/5 (9.07/10). This album scratches an itch I didn't realize I had.
The Waterboys
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.08/5 (8.15/10). I do enjoy Celtic Folk styles.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.41/5 (6.82/10). I knew a couple of the tracks on this album. Never really listened to RHCP in my youth, but they're not bad.
King Crimson
5/5
Overall Rating - 4.60/5 (9.20/10). Great album. No notes.
The Who
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.25/5 (8.50/10). Great concert recording of The Who near the height of their skill and powers.
The Damned
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.41/5 (6.82/10). Solid Punk feel, good album overall.
Wu-Tang Clan
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.92/5 (5.83/10). Good flow in all of the tracks I completed. It's not my style, but these guys are clearly skilled, and I can appreciate the artisanship involved in making this record.
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.83/5 (7.67/10). Excellent album. Straddles the line between Alternative and Traditional rock, excellent musicianship, solid lyrics, good composition.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.76/5 (5.53/10). Decent album. Probably won't listen to anything from it again, but I don't regret listening to it.
Rush
5/5
Overall Rating - 4.64/5 (9.28/10). Incredible album. Goes from face-melting instrumentals to SF to observational ballads.
Portishead
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.73/5 (5.45/10). This being definitely out of my usual musical genera, I don't have a great concept of how to rate it, but it wasn't awful, though I'm unlikely to listen to it again.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.56/5 (7.11/10). A bit all over the place, but still a good album.
Björk
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.17/5 (4.33/10). What the f@%$ did I just listen to?
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
Overall Rating 2.83/5 (5.67/10). Solid album. Probably won't listen to it again.
The Thrills
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.95/5 (5.91/10). For a band called "The Thrills," there were sure a lot of easy listening and forgettable ballads. This album feels like a 90's idea of what 60's pop.
Van Halen
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.91/5 (7.82/10). As a first album, this is insane. These guys absolutely shred. Even where it's not as good, it's still high quality hard rock.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.85/5 (7.70/10). Another banger of an album from one of the greats.
The Smiths
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.10/5 (6.20/10). Just a middle-of-the-road British Rock album. Nothing great, nothing bad.
Radiohead
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.46/5 (4.93/10). Forgettable. Not my kind of music.
Mariah Carey
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.00/5 (6.00/10). She's a very talented singer with excellent range and a very nice voice. I just don't care for the style.
Sigur Rós
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.90/5 (5.80/10). Odd and atmospheric. Mostly pleasant.
Incubus
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.65/5 (7.31/10). This is very good hard rock. I didn't know what to expect, but this (and a couple of other albums I've gotten on this journey) are starting to shift my opinion of genera I turned up my nose at in my younger years.
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
5/5
Overall Rating - 4.50/5 (9.00/10). I do love me some Latin Jazz.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.17/5 (8.33/10). Great album. Born in the USA captures the lived experience of me and a lot of other veterans when they come back from the service. Change a few words and it's WWII, or Iraq, or Afghanistan. Shows the litany of broken promises of America to the working class people.
Big Star
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.17/5 (4.33/10). Most of this album sounds like anesthetic feels. A couple of good tunes, but more of a miss than a hit.
Neil Young
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.44/5 (8.88/10). Not quite an "All Killer, No Filler" to get to 5 stars, but really excellent. The 90's bands need to listen to this to learn how to do melancholy without being angsty. Couple of standout songs to comment on. Southern Man: Why do we need to continue having this fight? It's still necessary today, and it shouldn't need to be. Only Love Can Break Your Heart: Brought me to tears, because I feel its truth in my soul. After the Gold Rush: So close to perfect that I can't help but get tears.
Aerosmith
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.61/5 (7.22/10). Very much a singles band not an album band. Outside of the title track, those songs that aren't the big singles are fairly forgettable.
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.29/5 (6.58/10). Solid album. Probably won't listen to it again, but I don't regret listening to it once.
The Incredible String Band
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.30/5 (4.60/10). Weird and vaguely unpleasant. Not much else to say.
Suede
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.61/5 (5.21/10). Mostly forgettable, mid-90's rock.
Janelle Monáe
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.81/5 (7.61/10). Not necessarily something I would think I'd enjoy, but this turned out to be very enjoyable, very well done, and richly produced.
Paul Revere & The Raiders
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.25/5 (6.50/10). Definitely falls off after the two singles.
Justin Timberlake
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.46/5 (4.92/10). Forgettable, White-Boy Rap, mostly.
Elvis Presley
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.78/5 (7.56/10). There's a reason he's regarded as one of the greatest of all-time, and this is part of that reason.
Beatles
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.25/5 (6.50/10). A surprisingly forgettable Beatles album.
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.75/5 (5.50/10). Not bad, but not great, either.
T. Rex
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.41/5 (6.82/10). Well done album.
David Bowie
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.93/5 (7.86/10). In a lot of ways, this is classic Bowie. Never quite what you expect, but always well done and experimental. You can tell that he knew he was dying when he recorded it.
The Yardbirds
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.32/5 (6.64/10). The guitar work is uniformly excellent, but it's Jeff Beck, so that's pretty much expected. Some albums sound like the time they're from. This is definitely one of them.
Steely Dan
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.09/5 (8.18/10). I consider this one of the weaker Classic Steely Dan (up to Gaucho) albums. That said, it's exactly the kind of tight, jazzy, slick rock music with nothing out of place that you expect from The Dan.
Linkin Park
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.58/5 (5.17/10). Just not my taste. Screaming, distortion to the point of unpleasantness, just not what I enjoy.
OutKast
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.92/5 (5.84/10). Long, at times weird, but overall good.
Saint Etienne
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.54/5 (5.08/10). Not really my taste.
MC Solaar
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.04/5 (6.08/10). I'm sure I would like this either more or less if I were fluent in French. It can be a bit repetitive, but that is a feature of the style, and it's not at all unpleasant.
The White Stripes
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.04/5 (8.08/10). This feels like early 80's Punk meets Pop meets Blues-Rock. Obviously, I had heard Seven Nation Army before, and it deserves its place as the showpiece of the album. But the rest of the album brings me to appreciate the simplicity and musicianship of Jack and Meg White. I like this album, and it surprises me a bit.
Prince
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.94/5 (7.89/10). Mostly a very good album. Prince is a great guitarist. This album sound like the mid-80's.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.95/5 (5.90/10). Solid album, if a little weird at times.
Orange Juice
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.80/5 (5.60/10). As with several other albums on the list, this sounds like its time. It's neither particularly good not particularly bad, but I can see how 80's Britpop took cues from this to evolve itself. Remember, it's not necessarily the 1001 *best* Albums, it's the 1001 Albums You Must Listen To. This is a bridge between the 70's British Rock and the 80's Britpop.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.81/5 (7.63/10). (8 Tracks) This is the classic case of trying to separate the art from the artists, because the artists embrace (or, at least, do not denounce) symbols of racism and treason. The music is excellent, the band themselves, less so. Ultimately, for this reason, I have to downgrade the overall rating by 1 star. Tuesday's Gone, Simple Man, and Free Bird all shred hard.
Bauhaus
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.47/5 (4.93/10). (15 Tracks) Had no idea what to expect. It was weird. Not going to listen to it again, but I don't regret being exposed to Bauhaus's music.
William Orbit
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.50/5 (5.00/10). About half of the album sounds like rejects from the Earthbound soundtrack. And rejected for good reason.
Sarah Vaughan
5/5
Overall Rating - 4.67/5 (9.33/10). The crowd noise and the couple of extraneous noises and flubs add to the atmosphere of feeling like I'm at a Jazz Club, listening to one of the greats.
Travis
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.30/5 (6.60/10). Very Oasis like sound. Solid album.
Booker T. & The MG's
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.88/5 (7.75/10). An all-instrumental, Memphis Blues album with slick musicianship and solid work. Great album, would absolutely listen again.
Country Joe & The Fish
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.86/5 (5.73/10). Just weird and psychadelic. Not bad, but not something I'll listen to again.
Michael Jackson
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.82/5 (7.64/10). Where it's good, it's among the best. Where it's bad, it's pretty forgettable. For all of the hype, this is hit-or-miss.
Adam & The Ants
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.46/5 (4.92/10). Is this Adam Ant (of Goody-Two-Shoes fame)? It sure sounds like him. Yet another example of why I'm not a big fan of most New Wave.
The Chemical Brothers
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.41/5 (4.82/10). I had a very difficult time telling where one track ended and the next began. I just don't like most electronica.
Common
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.36/5 (6.73/10). I like this better than most of the hip-hop I've had thus far.
Kanye West
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.65/5 (5.31/10). Not a fan of the style, but I have to admit that, before he went completely insane, he was pretty good at this.
John Prine
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.31/5 (8.62/10). (13 Tracks) Absolutely an outstanding album. I knew I recognized the title Angel from Montgomery (I had heard Bonnie Raitt cover it), Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore is even more relevant 55 years later.
Genesis
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.43/5 (8.86/10). (7 Tracks) I've been told that early Genesis was very much a Prog Rock band. I hadn't really listened to early Genesis, so this was new to me. Prog-era Genesis is AWESOME.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.94/5 (7.89/10). This has most of the Peter Gabriel tunes I recognize on it. I like this album a good bit. It's my brand of weird and fun.
Dusty Springfield
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.00/5 (8.00/10). Very good album. I've always liked Dusty Springfield's voice, so this was an easy and pleasant listen for me. Son of a Preacher Man is absolutely perfect for her voice and style. Well produced, well orchestrated, and everything fits together.
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.86/5 (5.73/10). Not bad, but not great, either. Very middle of the road.
Jethro Tull
5/5
Overall Rating - 4.68/5 (9.36/10). Incredible album from start to finish. The perfect mix of rock, prog, and just a dash of British Folk. So many iconic songs, incredible guitar work, great lyrics, over a solid beat. Also, as Ian Anderson was known to say, the flute is a metal instrument.
The Everly Brothers
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.38/5 (4.75/10). Other than Love Hurts, this album is extremely forgettable.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.80/5 (5.60/10). Not bad, but he doesn't have the lyrical voice he has in his other works.
Pere Ubu
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.35/5 (4.70/10). Definitely a miss. Not one I'll listen to again.
Björk
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.82/5 (5.64/10). Not quite as out there as Vulnicura, but definitely weird, Euro-Pop. Not necessarily *bad,* but definitely weird.
John Grant
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.46/5 (6.92/10). Except for the one track that was so jarringly out of step with the rest, decent album. Marz was not easily describable.
The Doors
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.00/5 (8.00/10). From beginning to end, a great album.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.29/5 (8.58/10). Paul's simple Baritone paired with Artie's ethereal Tenor is a match made in heaven. Scarborough Fair/Canticle is an all-time great, as is Homeward Bound. Silent Night/7 O'Clock News is heartbreaking. Outstanding album, beginning to end.
Röyksopp
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.70/5 (5.40/10). Not bad, but I probably wouldn't listen to it again.
John Lennon
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.35/5 (6.70/10). Not as good as I would have expected of Lennon's solo work.
The Young Gods
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.15/5 (4.30/10). Just not really a fan of industrial, and making it in French doesn't really improve it.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.44/5 (8.89/10). An all-around classic.
Billie Holiday
5/5
Overall Rating - 4.63/5 (9.25/10). Ms. Holiday has a stunningly beautiful voice. This album is exactly what I expected from Billie Holiday.
Talking Heads
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.95/5 (5.91/10). Fun, but forgettable. I like the style of Talking Heads, but this particular album is nothing special.
Beatles
5/5
Overall Rating - 4.65/5 (9.29/10). (17 Tracks) I struggle to figure out how to fairly rate this, because of Side 2. One of the all-time great albums. Gold from beginning to end. I am not ashamed to say that Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End brings me to tears. Here Comes the Sun is nearly perfect.
Astrud Gilberto
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.25/5 (8.50/10). Solid Bossa Nova album. The cover of The Lovin' Spoonful was definitely a choice. Parade was also a choice. Love her voice.
a-ha
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.20/5 (6.40/10). Very 1980's synth pop. This is another one of those albums that sounds like its time.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.13/5 (6.25/10). Better than most synth pop that I've heard. Go West is incredible. The Canon in D chord progression, super catchy, fun, and well done. On top of that, releasing that song as a means of coming out, at the height of the AIDS epidemic, is a choice.
Deep Purple
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.43/5 (8.86/10). This album is uncompromising, hard, and absolutely banging from start to finish. Crunchy bass riffs, the overdriven Hammond is perfection, and it is exactly what I expect to hear when I see Deep Purple.
Elastica
3/5
Line Up - 7/10. Mid-90s Alternative Rock.
Annie - 5/10. Too short, felt abrupt.
Connection - 8/10. I like this one. I think I've heard it in Ted Lasso.
Car Song - 7/10. Slick guitar work. Solid tune.
Smile - 5/10. Again, a bit short and abrupt.
Hold Me Now - 6/10. Good.
S.O.F.T. - 7/10. Again, pretty good.
Indian Song - 6/10. Good use of Indian themes and feel.
Blue - 5/10. Not bad.
All-Nighter - 5/10. Short and abrupt.
Waking Up - 6/10. Solid.
2:1 - 6/10. Nice.
See that Animal - 5/10. Meh.
Stutter - 6/10. Good.
Never Here - 7/10. Good alternative rock.
Vaseline - 6/10. Good, but short.
Overall Rating - 3.03/5 (6.06/10). This sounds very much like its time period. Good guitar work, good bass work, solid music.
Lucinda Williams
3/5
Right in Time - 5/10. Not bad. Not particularly memorable, though. Not a big fan of the vocal style.
Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - 6/10. Decent.
2 Cool 2 Be 4-gotten - 5/10. Not bad, but not great either.
Drunken Angel - 6/10. Solid.
Concrete and Barbed Wire - 5/10. Not bad.
Lake Charles - 6/10. Good use of Cajun themes in the instrumentation and structure.
Can't Let it Go - 5/10. Not bad.
I Lost It - 5/10. Not bad.
Still I Long for Your Kiss - 5/10. Decent.
Metal Firecracker - 5/10. OK.
Greenville - 5/10. OK.
Joy - 6/10. Bluesy and fun.
Jackson - 7/10. Very pretty.
Overall Rating - 2.73/5 (5.46/10). Not my style on the vocals. Decent folk-country, though.
Queens Of The Stone Age
3/5
Regular John - 6/10. Good.
Avon - 7/10. Awesome drum break in the middle.
If Only - 6/10. Solid.
Walkin' on the Sidewalks - 7/10. Good.
You Would Know - 5/10. OK.
How to Handle a Rope - 6/10. Not bad.
Mexicola - 4/10. Didn't really like this one.
Hispanic Impressions - 4/10. Vaguely unpleasant.
You Can't Quit Me Baby - 4/10. Vaguely psychadelic in a late 90s way, but the unpleasant kind of psychadelic.
Give the Mule What He Wants - 5/10. OK.
I Was a Teenaged Hand Model - 3/10. Was OK until the last part. The last minute or so was an assault on the ears.
Overall Rating - 2.59/5 (5.18/10). This album absolutely sounds like 1998.
1/5
Broken Witch - 2/10. I don't like it.
Steam Rose from the Lifeless Cloak - 3/10. Dissonant and unpleasant.
There's Always Room on the Broom - 2/10. Ugh.
If You're a Wizard then Why do You Wear Glasses? - 2/10. Ick.
We Fenced Other Gardens with the Bones of Our Own - 3/10. Less unpleasant than most on this album.
They Don't Want Your Corn, They Want Your Kids - 1/10. Deeply unpleasant.
Read the Book that Wrote Itself - 4/10. Just noise.
Hold Hands and it Will Happen Anyway - 2/10. Dissonant noise.
They Took 14 for the Rest of Our Lives - 2/10. Ugh.
Flow My Tears the Spider Said - 3/10. Ehhh.
Overall Rating - 1.20/5 (2.40/10). This feels like Experimental Period Tom Waits, but not as clever.
The Bees
3/5
Punchbag - 7/10. I like it.
Angryman - 6/10. Pretty cool.
No Trophy - 7/10. Nice.
Binnel Bay - 6/10. Fun.
Sunshine - 6/10. Solid.
A Minha Menina - 7/10. Lots of fun.
This Town - 6/10. Fun.
Sweet Like a Champion - 6/10. Weird, but not bad.
Lying in the Snow - 6/10. Nice.
Zia - 7/10. Very nice.
Sky Holds the Sun - 6/10. Good.
Overall Rating - 3.18/5 (6.36/10). Fun, but musical chewing gum.
Machito
4/5
Wild Jungle - 8/10. Great Latin Jazz.
Congo Mulence - 8/10. Awesome.
Kenya - 9/10. This tune rocks.
Oyeme - 9/10. Great trumpet lines, awesome percussion.
Holiday - 8/10. Smooth and fun.
Cannonology - 9/10. Too cool for school.
Frenzy - 9/10. This one cooks.
Blues a la Machito - 10/10. Bad-ass.
Conversation - 9/10. Slick and cool.
Tin Tin Deo - 9/10. Great tune.
Minor Rama - 8/10. Great.
Tururato - 10/10. Swinging beat with tight horns. No notes.
Overall Rating - 4.42/5 (8.83/10). Jazz, and especially Latin Jazz, will always be a favorite of mine. This album really swings.
Leonard Cohen
5/5
Overall Rating - 4.69/5 (9.38/10). Heartbreakingly sad, reminiscent over a long life of music, and a farewell from one of the great poets and composers.
The Allman Brothers Band
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.42/5 (8.86/10). A Blues style jam band is a choice. A good one, in my mind. In Memory of Elizabeth Reed is incredible. Whipping Post must be heard to be truly appreciated.
The Killers
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.42/5 (6.83/10). Very mid-2000s. Good tunes, well done.
John Lennon
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.73/5 (5.45/10). What the fuck happened to John Lennon when he left The Beatles? Or was Paul McCartney the real songwriter in that band? This is a collection of early scream, late 60s/early 70s philosophical navel gazing, and forgettable pop. Also, it sounds like he's trying to justify leaving The Beatles and his first wife.
The Flaming Lips
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.55/5 (5.09/10). The first couple of songs were fun, but then it went weird and unpleasant.
Hugh Masekela
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.15/5 (8.30/10). This is exactly my jam.
Cowboy Junkies
4/5
Mining for Gold - 10/10. Stunning voice singing about the life of people from my home (Coal country). Perfection.
Misguided Angel - 9/10. Beautifully simple.
Blue Moon Revisited - 8/10. A very different take on the Rogers and Hart standard. Again, beautiful.
I Don't Get It - 8/10. Very nice.
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - 10/10. A voice like this covering Hank Williams is a choice. It's perfection.
To Love is to Bury - 9/10. Hauntingly beautiful.
200 More Miles - 8/10. Very nice.
Dreaming My Dreams With You - 7/10. Very pretty.
Working on a Building - 8/10. Simple and clean.
Sweet Jane - 8/10. A very nice Lou Reed cover.
Postcard Blues - 9/10. Incredible.
Walking After Midnight - 9/10. Love the intro. Again, a Patsy Cline cover is a choice, and her voice gives it an almost sultry feel, which is not a thing I knew I needed, but, apparently, I did.
Overall Rating - 4.29/5 (8.58/10). How have I never heard of this group before? Not only are the arrangements stripped down to the minimal essentials, but the blend is perfection. This almost sounds like country music projected through a lens of David Lynch.
Alice In Chains
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.92/5 (5.83/10). Ultimately, a very forgettable album. Early grunge, and not bad, but not that good, either.
Ramones
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.43/5 (6.86/10). This is the kind of early punk I really enjoy.
The Cars
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.67/5 (7.33/10). Didn't realize so many classics of early new-wave were all on this album. Good album.
Mike Ladd
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.42/5 (4.85/10). Weird, vaguely unpleasant at times, but also decently fun at times.
David Bowie
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.75/5 (7.50/10). This is very definitely David Bowie in the late 70s. Good, other than Heroes, which is one of the best David Bowie songs of all time.
Ali Farka Touré
4/5
Overall Rating - 4.04/5 (8.08/10). I never knew Malian Blues was a genre, but I'm totally here for it. It's the right mix of familiar and exotic (to my white-bread, American ear) to be exactly the kind of music I didn't know I wanted to listen to. This is exactly why I think this is a great challenge. Fusion is awesome to begin with, but this is North African, Sub-Saharan African, and American Blues all fused together, and it's exactly what I didn't know I needed to know about. Great album from start to finish.
Big Black
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.30/5 (4.60/10). Not the kind of punk I particularly like.
Iggy Pop
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.50/5 (7.00/10). Good album. I can tell he was working with David Bowie during this timeframe.
Queen
5/5
Death on Two Legs - 10/10. One HELL of a diss track. Insane keyboards and guitar.
Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon - 8/10. Cute and fun little ditty.
I'm in Love with My Car - 9/10. Weird lyrics, but insane musicianship.
You're My Best Friend - 10/10. Stripped down to the absolute basics. One of the greats. Dr. Brian May kills it on the guitar.
'39 - 10/10. Incredible guitar, and lyrics that touch the soul *and* the mind, describing the effects of time dilation. An underrated great.
Sweet Lady - 8/10. Lyrics are OK, guitar is insane. Still an outstanding diss track.
Seaside Rendezvous - 8/10. Very good, fun, and cute.
The Prophet's Song - 10/10. Rich arrangement, excellent and understated guitar, great harmonies, awesome production and mixing, almost a fugue in the middle portion purely done with overdubs of Freddie. Intricate and experimental in the best way. This may be one of the top 25 rock songs of the 1970s, and it's not even the best track on this album.
Love of My Life - 10/10. Perfect in its simplicity. Brings me to tears. You forget until you listen to this song just how great a piano player Freddie Mercury was.
Good Company - 8/10. Even the throwaway tracks on this album are high quality. Feels like if Queen wrote a Tin Pan Alley tune.
Bohemian Rhapsody - 11/10. Insane open harmonies, ethereal opening, awesome piano, operatic lyrics. Every member of the band gets a chance to shine. Dr. May's guitar solos are crazy. This one definitely goes to 11.
God Save the Queen - 9/10. A very different take on this traditional song, but very Queen, and excellent.
Overall Rating - 4.63/5 (9.25/10). This one album runs through so many different styles. Every member of the band gets to shine, and the whole album is an all-time great.
The Sonics
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.13/5 (6.25/10). It's definitely 60s garage band music. But it's *good* 60s garage band music.
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.42/5 (4.83/10). If you made all of the songs instrumentals, I'd like this album a lot better.
Blondie
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.83/5 (7.67/10). Feels very Punk-Adjacent. Excellent musicianship, and I can understand why the two hits on this album are the two hits.
Faith No More
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.86/5 (5.72/10). Middle of the road, mostly. If you're going to cover Sabbath, you need a vocalist much closer to Ozzy, not someone who sounds whiny, thin, and reedy.
R.E.M.
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.17/5 (6.33/10). R.E.M. has a very distinctive sound, and you can tell that this is the early days of creating that distinctive sound. This definitely fills the role on the list of "Not the best album, but an album you need to hear because it's the start of something unique and great."
Van Halen
5/5
1984 - X/10. Introductions rarely have enough to them to get a rating.
Jump - 10/10. Absolutely iconic intro. David Lee Roth's vocals and EVH's guitar mesh perfectly. Insane guitar solo in the bridge. Pretty much perfect.
Panama - 10/10. Once again, EVH's guitar is awesome. DLR is fun and right on target. This is a classic of mid-80s hard rock.
Top Jimmy - 8/10. Very good.
Drop Dead Legs - 9/10. Again, EVH and DLR making a great, fun tune with an edge of 80s hard rock. Awesome guitar outro.
Hot for Teacher - 11/10. Crazy drum fills at the start, also great guitar from EVH (a surprise, I know). DLR is also silly, fun, and outstanding. All of this together means this one goes to 11.
I'll Wait - 9/10. I didn't recognize the title. Then I heard the keyboard intro. Another killer tune on this album which is full of great rock.
Girl Gone Bad - 9/10. Not as well-known as the rest of the album, but another absolute banger.
House of Pain - 8/10. Not quite as good as the rest of the album, but still awesome.
Overall Rating - 4.63/5 (9.25/10). EVH is one of the top 10 guitar players in rock music, and this album is a showcase of why. He starts hard with Jump, and never lets up. DLR is also a perfect fit with the sound of the band (and he's a total goofball).
Sonic Youth
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.05/5 (4.10/10). Early 90s alt-noise rock. Not my jam.
The Beach Boys
5/5
Wouldn't it be Nice - 10/10. Classic open harmonies, with great musicianship underneath. Outstanding. No notes.
You Still Believe in Me - 9/10. Excellent example of The Beach Boys Sound (tm).
That's Not Me - 9/10. Awesome tune, great singing, virtuoso musicianship.
Don't Talk - 9/10. Smooth, and distinctive in sound. Excellent.
I'm Waiting for the Day - 9/10. Subtle instrumentation choices (and a different percussion sound) sit underneath the classic Beach Boys sound.
Let's Go Away for a While - 8/10. Surprising instrumental. Very good.
Sloop John B - 10/10. Great harmonies, great musicianship, and that a capella part at 1:45 is *chef's kiss* perfection.
God Only Knows - 11/10. I can't hear the beginning of this song without getting goosebumps. Carol Kaye's bass is exactly what the rest of the song needs, the harmonies are outstanding. Everything about this song screams "perfection." This one absolutely goes to 11.
I Know There's an Answer - 9/10. Excellent vocals, great musicianship, excellent arrangement.
Here Today - 9/10. Excellent.
I Just Wasn't Made for These Times - 8/10. Great.
Pet Sounds - 8/10. A little psychadelic, but still great.
Caroline, No - 8/10. Excellent.
Overall Rating - 4.50/5 (9.00/10). To be fair, I've always enjoyed The Beach Boys. The harmonies and musicianship are outstanding, and The Wrecking Crew (the studio musicians on the album) are phenomenal.
Super Furry Animals
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.21/5 (6.42/10). Solid album. Nothing special, but nothing bad.
Amy Winehouse
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.46/5 (6.92/10) Smooth, jazzy tunes which are definitely in my wheelhouse, though with a very modern sensibility.
Wild Beasts
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.86/5 (5.73/10). Everything sounded the same. It's not in any way memorable.
The Psychedelic Furs
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.10/5 (6.20/10). Nothing spectacular, nothing awful. Overall a solid album.
Ray Charles
5/5
Bye Bye Love - 9/10. Jazzy and slick. Big fan.
You Don't Know Me - 10/10. Goosebumps as soon as Mister Charles's voice kicked in.
Half as Much - 10/10. Jazzy, slick, and smooth. Love the Big Band sound mixed in with the old-school Country/Western tunes. That saxophone solo alone gets this track a 10.
I Love You so Much it Hurts - 8/10. Very good.
Just a Little Lovin' (Will Go a Long Way) - 9/10. Nice Big Band arrangement, and Ray's vocals are outstanding.
Born to Lose - 8/10. Very good.
Worried Mind - 8/10. Very good.
It Makes no Difference Now - 9/10. The horns cook, and Ray's voice is smooth. Great tune.
You Win Again - 8/10. Great, bluesy tune. Backup vocals are rich and full, strings are well arranged.
Careless Love - 9/10. Smooth and slick, just like the rest of the album so far.
I Can't Stop Loving You - 11/10. One of the iconic Ray Charles songs (even though it's a cover, I know). This one goes to 11.
Hey, Good Lookin' - 10/10. Somehow, Ray Charles covering Hank Williams doesn't feel like it would work, but it definitely does. This tune cooks.
You Are My Sunshine - 9/10. This is a very interesting version of this standard. It's great, but it's unusual.
No Letter Today - 9/10. A bluesy, Big Band swing beat under a pure, old-school Country song? I'll take more of this, please.
Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You) - 9/10. Great.
Don't Tell Me Your Troubles - 9/10. This one absolutely swings.
Midnight - 9/10. Cool and outstanding.
Oh Lonesome Me - 9/10. Outstanding tune with a swinging Big Band style.
Take These Chains From My Heart - 9/10. Awesome arrangement and great vocals.
Your Cheatin' Heart - 11/10. Once again, Ray Charles singing Hank Williams is a choice, and this is incredible. As good as the original. This one goes to 11.
I'll Never Stand in Your Way - 8/10. Very good.
Making Believe - 9/10. Great.
Teardrops in My Heart - 8/10. Very good.
Hang Your Head in Shame - 10/10. Nearly perfect.
Overall Rating - 4.54/5 (9.08/10). I would not have thought Ray Charles covering old-school Country songs would be this good. Country with a Big Band Swing is crazy. Absolute killer album.
Randy Newman
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.10/5 (6.20/10). Bit of a weird feel to this album, Randy Newman writing and singing songs about people and places in the old South. A Wedding in Cherokee County and Back on My Feet Again had me cackling with laughter.
Nick Drake
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.18/5 (6.36/10). Very simple. Just a man and his guitar. Nothing necessarily earth-shattering, but very good musicianship and simple melodies and harmonies. My kind of music.
Youssou N'Dour
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.75/5 (7.50/10). Lots of fun. I'm really liking African and Latin music. It's definitely a jam I didn't know I had.
The Police
4/5
Synchronicity I - 8/10. Frantic, with complex, layered harmonies, and excellent musicianship.
Walking in Your Footsteps - 7/10. Good rhythms, very good vocals.
O My God - 7/10. Good, excellent saxophone.
Mother - 6/10. Weird, but not bad.
Miss Gradenko - 6/10. A bit repetitive. Still excellent musicianship, but less to my liking.
Synchronicity II - 9/10. Incredible guitar riffs. Complex, layered musical lines, with slick vocals. A classic of mid-80s rock.
Every Breath You Take - 9/10. Another classic of mid-80s rock. Not a note out of place.
King of Pain - 10/10. This is one of those songs that I always hear the Weird Al lyrics in my head. It is my destiny to be the King of Suede. That said, this is pretty much perfect.
Wrapped Around Your Finger - 9/10. Smooth, slick, and very much in keeping with the rest of the album.
Tea in the Sahara - 8/10. Very good.
Murder by Numbers - 9/10. This song always makes me think of the movie Copycat. The dissonance fits well with the theme of the song. Well constructed, well played, and smooth.
Overall Rating - 4.00/5 (8.00/10). This album sounds like the mid-80s. It's outstanding, everything is slick, smooth, and well constructed. Sting's voice is very distinctive, and the guitar and rhythm work is all top class.
Japan
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.06/5 (6.11/10). This has all of the hallmarks of late 70s/early 80s British New Wave. It's fun, but nothing necessarily great.
Depeche Mode
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.89/5 (5.79/10). Not really my style of music. These guys are good at it, but I'm just not a fan.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
Little Child Runnin' Wild - 8/10. Great brass lines, slick beat, excellent lyrics and very good singing.
Pusherman - 9/10. Smooth and slick. Great bass riff. Almost a Steely Dan level of a smooth song about a terrible person.
Freddie's Dead - 9/10. More slick music about an awful person.
Junkie Chase - 7/10. Cool.
Gimme Your Love - 7/10. Very good.
Eddie You Should Know Better - 8/10. Awesome beat and music, and the lyrics are good, too.
No Thing on Me - 8/10. Great tune.
Think - 7/10. Very nice.
Superfly - 10/10. Awesome brass lines, funky beat, great beat, and top-notch from beginning to end. No notes.
Overall Rating - 4.06/5 (8.11/10). Full-on 70s Soul, and I'm absolutely here for it.
Baaba Maal
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.45/5 (6.91/10). This has a feel, through a lot of the album, of a fusion of late 80s/early 90s Pop and African music. I liked it.
Taylor Swift
2/5
Overall Rating - 2.12/5 (4.23/10). This is the definition of Bubblegum Pop. Partially because it makes me want to stuff bubblegum into my ears to block it out. It's undeniably catchy, and undeniably devoid of anything I can recognize as thought or memorability. So much Autotune.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.08/5 (6.17/10). Whoever put this list together really loves British Post-Punk. This is decent, but nothing necessarily great.
David Bowie
5/5
Changes - 10/10. Iconic Bowie tune. Everything fits together perfectly.
Oh! You Pretty Things - 9/10. Excellent. Classic Bowie sound.
Eight Line Poem - 9/10. Excellent, and more of the classic Bowie sound.
Life on Mars? - 11/10. Goosebumps from start to finish, especially when the strings come in on the pre-chorus. Rick Wakeman on the piano and David Bowie vocals? This one goes to 11.
Kooks - 9/10. Excellent tune, but not up to the quality of Life on Mars? before it.
Quicksand - 9/10. Excellent.
Fill Your Heart - 9/10. More of Rick Wakeman on the piano. What's not to like?
Andy Warhol - 8/10. Weird, but in the Bowie style.
Song for Bob Dylan - 9/10. Outstanding.
Queen Bitch - 9/10. This cooks. Great guitar work, Bowie switching between low and high energy, all-around banger.
The Bewlay Brothers - 8/10. Very good tune. Folk-ish rock. Well done.
Overall Rating - 4.55/5 (9.09/10). This album features the collaboration of two of the all-time greats. David Bowie and Rick Wakeman. This album is definitely Bowie becoming Bowie. I hear the start of the Glam-Rock, over-the-top, Ziggy Stardust version of David Bowie. Awesome album.
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.54/5 (7.08/10). Absolutely the kind of music I expect from The Kinks. My kind of fun.
Dinosaur Jr.
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.50/5 (5.00/10). Mostly decent for forgettable early grunge style alternative. A couple of songs were unpleasant.
Tracy Chapman
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.50/5 (7.00/10). This has a very folk country feel. I like it.
Joni Mitchell
5/5
Coyote - 10/10. I never knew this was the title of this song. This is exactly what I expect when I see Joni Mitchell. Just awesome. I first heard this song in the Movie "The Last Waltz."
Amelia - 8/10. My GOD, but Joni Mitchell has a stunningly beautiful voice. This is incredible, except that some of the guitar is a little jarring.
Furry Sings the Blues - 9/10. Another killer from one of the Queens of Folk.
A Strange Boy - 9/10. Absolutely beautiful.
Hejira - 11/10. Goosebumps. Incredible clarinet in the background, perfection in the vocals, mix is well balanced, and everything fits amazingly. This one definitely goes to 11.
Song for Sharon - 9/10. This song tells a very interesting, stream-of-consciousness story. Outstanding song.
Black Crow - 9/10. Awesome. Great guitar lick on the fade out, too.
Blue Hotel Room - 9/10. Smooth, a little jazzy, great sound, great vocals,
Refuge of the Roads - 9/10. Absolutely awesome. I've run out of words to describe how this music makes me feel.
Overall Rating - 4.61/5 (9.22/10). This is the exact sound and feel I expect when I see a Joni Mitchell album come across my list. Such a pure voice, great musicians backing (Larry Carlton, Jaco Pistorius, Neil Young, among others). All killer, no filler.
Maxwell
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.45/5 (6.91/10). R&B that's as smooth as good whisky. Definitely up my alley.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
3/5
Overall Rating - 2.79/5 (5.57/10). I don't know if I'd call them "spectacular," but the Alex Harvey Band is at least good.
Elvis Costello
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.50/5 (7.00/10) Pretty much the whole album had me dancing in my chair while I was listening.
ABBA
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.35/5 (6.69/10). It's clearly obvious that this is ABBA. The harmonies and music are very distinctive. That said, this is a more sophisticated, darker, more melancholy feel than the ABBA I've heard before.
The Pogues
5/5
If I Should Fall from Grace with God - 9/10. Awesome Celtic Folk/Punk.
Turkish Song of the Damned - 9/10. I have no idea what I expected. It wasn't this. Absolute banger.
Bottle of Smoke - 10/10. Shane McGowan (may he rest in peace) in full Patter Song mode is exactly the thing I didn't know I needed to hear. Over top of full Celtic Punk is incredible.
Fairytale of New York - 11/10. One of the first songs of this challenge (205 albums in) that I can't help but sing along to the whole thing. It's completely perfect in hitting every emotion I have, and it absolutely goes to 11.
Metropolis - 10/10. Once again, I don't know what I was expecting, but this isn't it ... in the best possible way.
Thousands are Sailing - 11/10. I started ugly crying about one line into the song and kept on through the song. Because my own ancestors are part of the Irish Diaspora this song memorializes. This song is for you, Great-Grandfather Tim, one of the thousands who sailed.
Fiesta - 8/10. Celebrating Latin immigrants in the way that only an Irish Punk band can. Great musicianship, if a little jarring a change from Thousands Are Sailing.
The Recruiting Sergeant/Rocky Road to Dublin/Galway Races - 9/10. Relentlessly Irish.
Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six - 10/10. The voice of Irish sorrow and pain at the treatment by the English. Incredible.
Lullaby of London - 9/10. Smooth and simple. Awesome.
Sit Down by the Fire - 9/10. Relentlessly Irish and awesome.
The Broad Majestic Shannon - 8/10. Not hopeful, per se, but almost defying sorrow and pain to find out.
Worms - 5/10. Weird and not like the rest of the album.
The Battle March Medley - 9/10. I love it.
The Irish Rover - 10/10. Absolute perfection. The Dubliners are the perfect addition.
Mountain Dew - 10/10. A great rendition of this classic Irish folk song. Again, possibly the two most Irish bands ever together.
Shanne Bradley - 9/10. Great instrumental. Love it.
Sketches of Spain - 8/10. Fun and really good.
South Australia - 9/10. You knew there had to be one, last shot fired at the English for all of the Irish Diaspora in Exile.
Overall Rating - 4.55/5 (9.11/10). Celtic Folk Punk is a very specific musical space. The Pogues are its pinnacle. Awesome album from beginning to end.
Bill Evans Trio
5/5
Gloria's Step - 9/10. Awesome piece of music.
My Man's Gone Now - 9/10. Slick jazz. This is totally my jam.
Solar - 9/10. That bass. Seriously, that bass.
Alice in Wonderland - 9/10. Loving this smooth, cool jazz.
All of You - 10/10. Scott La Faro on the bass here made my jaw drop. Perfection.
Jade Visions - 9/10. Simple, smooth, and excellent.
Overall Rating - 4.58/5 (9.17/10). Not a lot to say other than this is about as good as Jazz Trios get.
Slipknot
2/5
Overall Rating - 1.61/5 (3.21/10). Just unpleasant from start to finish.
Harry Nilsson
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.75/5 (7.50/10). Harry Nilsson, you crazy bastard, following Without You with Coconut only works because you've written such a catchy album. No two songs on this album have a similar feel. If they weren't so damned catchy, it would feel jarring. The album kinda feels like a day with your highly eccentric neighbor. You never know what the next thing is going to be, but it's probably going to be interesting.
Miriam Makeba
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.43/5 (6.86/10). I like this album. I had no idea what to expect, but it was very pleasant to listen to the whole way through.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Overall Rating - 3.64/5 (7.28/10). Very much the Stones playing what feels like Country/Southern Rock. It's a choice, and the musicianship and skill of Mick and the lads definitely pull it off.
Paul Weller
3/5
Overall Rating - 3.07/5 (6.13/10). Nothing particularly memorable, but not bad. A pleasant listen.