1001 Albums Summary

A lesser version of what its predecessors were doing, what its contemporaries were doing, and what future bands inspired by this album were doing. None of the elements come together for a satisfying album. Favorite track: Burning Wheel Least favorite track: Kowalski not adding to collection

It's a shame about basically everything that happened after this album, and in retrospect you can kinda hear some of the things in her performance that would pop up later in that MTV Unplugged performance. The interstitials disrupt the album's flow. Rating on this one could fluctuate depending on the day honestly but after sitting with it for a while I feel ok with where I landed. (It's also hard to not side-eye some lyrics knowing "Neurotic Society (Compulsory Mix)" exists but) favorite track: Forgive Them Father already in collection

Absolutely a scenario where I rate this five stars but I think I settled on a four. Nearly perfect album, loved every track on it. I avoided anyone involved with Odd Future forever because Tyler is not a good dude and unfortunately that kept me from Frank Ocean. Plan to listen to this one a lot more. good enough that you're even willing to ignore John Mayer shows up Favorite track: Super Rich Kids, Pyramids, Sweet Life, all of them really added to collection

Another four that could have been a five on a different day. This was another minor blind spot for me - I knew the reputation, and I knew a lot of artists I like a lot cited him as an inspiration, but I probably wouldn't have gotten to this without some kind of outside impetus. I can see the throughline from here to things like AFI, Abandoned Pools, Silversun Pickups, Beabadoobee, the glut of indie sad boys, and a bunch of other artists in entirely different genres. There's probably not a bad track on the album but Everything Means Nothing To Me just kind of breezes away, and Lost And Found (Honky Bach) makes an argument I'm receptive to. added to collection

The album suffered for listening to it after catching up with the previous day's album, and I'm factoring that in here because I was leaning more to a three than a four on first listen. On my first listen I was disappointed that none of the songs hit as hard as Criminal. (I still sort of feel that way.) The second listen made me realize that Criminal was the star of the show in visible, obvious ways but there were parts of other songs that hit me just as hard in subtler ways. added to collection

I thought for sure I'd be the one in the group rating this highest. It's a vibe I love in one of my favorite genres but it never comes together for me beyond something pleasant to have in the background or something to write to. (I think my problem is that it's firmly in the shoegaze zone for goth bands, not my favorite kind of goth music, and I'm probably being pickier than I should because it's a genre I know and like so well? and maybe I'd rate it higher on a different day too. oh well.)

this would be a 5 if it were just the instrumental tracks (I am probably not being fair to this album) undecided about adding to collection

The Temptations are delightful and I could listen to these harmonies all day, but the album’s carried by Papa Was A Rollin Stone. The last six albums have all been slower indie bands and it was so nice to hear something with real bass in it. Already in collection

hell yeah man (the singles are the standout on this one, which is a shame, but I had a good time the whole way through)

if every song they made was like Lovesong they would a) just be The Mission* b) maybe I would like them but instead they were the band that taught me not every cool influential goth thing people talked about was good and sometimes waiting for a song to download on limewire ended in disappointment not adding to collection * this is my official petition to add Masque to this list instead of Disintegration. thank you.

this originally had something meaner but I felt bad about it. this feels like it should be for me but it super isn't. the only beck I recognize is the mongolian chop squad not adding to collection

It's fine. Not my favorite of their albums, but it's fine. They're stuck in this weird kind of place between the delightful dreariness of Dead Can Dance or Nick Cave and the fun goth rock The Cult would be doing a couple years later. Mostly it feels awkward and I always liked them better in their poppier Killing Moon / Lips Like Sugar groove than this one. Anyway, it's fine. already in collection

now this is fantastic - I never would have listened to this without some kind of prodding and it was great. Exactly the kind of experience I wanted from this site Will I listen to it a lot? maybe not? but it was a pleasant way to spend 45 minutes or so. gave me fond memories of seeing big band performances on an old CRT when I'd stay up too late at my great aunt's house. could see throwing this on in the background when I'm cooking or cleaning or working on something. is it like, by my usual standards, a four after I sit with it a while? probably not. it sure felt like a four while I was listening to it though and I'll gladly award an ephemeral four. adding to collection

I don't think this is bad necessarily. There's a road less traveled where I'm a huge fan of this, it hit at the right formative moment, and I got super into it instead of A Perfect Circle or the Crüxshadows or another similar band that took a different left turn on this album's path. It's a three but I really, really hated every second of the 10:06 in Svefn-g-englar.

Fun times. I don't know that I'd listen to it again, I'm not a huge blues person, but Mannish Boy nearly had me shouting along with the Yeahs in the background. It's really getting a four more for appreciation of the craftsmanship and the artist than how much I personally, subjectively liked it, but I can live with that. (Also didn't know about the Johnny Winter connection and late career revival. Neat!) probably not adding to collection but might listen to it down the road

I feel like I owe U2 an apology but I refuse to allow Bono in the room while I deliver it already in collection (but had not listened past the singles)

I recognize this is more a failure of approaching a foundational work with the knowledge of what will come next, how people took what was original and expanded on it or altered it, and I'd ideally approach this album in a vacuum. But I don't like the folksy rock that spawned from this so I'm not loving this either. I think it's fine, but I know it leads to things like Clapton, Eagles, the less good parts of anyone involved in Crosby Stills Nash (sometimes) Young, so on. I'm also never going to get that excited about something with this much Dylan in it but at least he's not singing 2 or 3, won't be sure until it's time actually time to rate it. not adding to collection (but might revisit it later)

I think this is really neat! I mostly don't want to listen to it but it's neat I think it's a better in the background album than a sit with headphones kind of album, mostly, but I also don't think it entirely comes together. I want more of something *like* this but not quite this. After sitting with it for a night I decided to bump it to a three. I really feel like there's something here that I'm just not getting and I know some albums suffer from the once a day format here. added to collection, but mostly because I'm hoping it grows on me one day

this sucks

eleanor rigby is arguably the only good mccartney song but I'm open to also including carry that weight the rest of the songs range from unlistenable (yellow submarine) to kind of forgettable (almost everything else)

I want to rate this five for Hide In Your Shell alone, Supertramp’s best song and one of my favorite songs in general. already in collection

At first I thought this was a pleasant nothing of an experience, complimentary. Atmosphere music to leave on in the background and enjoy the vibe. Then Hang On To Your Love grabbed my attention and I started listening actively. Great album, Sade sounds amazing, and even if it's sometimes understated the bass and piano and saxophone are doing some great work here. added to collection

Talented musicians, and also Sting, who can feel free to continue not making music together. I never want to hear On Any Other Day and its tween-Offspring-cover-band ass, sub-Camper van Beethoven sounds again. not adding to collection

someone please rescue those poor synthesizers and give them to people who can treat them better there are some amazing bass lines wasted on some of the most obnoxious songs you’ll ever hear paul mccartney shouldn’t be allowed to write lyrics. morally or legally helen wheels is an atrocity, like some kind of experiment to find out what happens when you drain all the charm and talent out of a Joe Walsh song it’s annoying because I think mccartney has a wonderful voice that excels in harmonies but I also think when he does music it is a crime band on the run is an entire album of songs that should sound pretty but are instead irritating in ways they didn’t have to be

there's a band called The Hunger. they had one real hit ("Vanishing Cream") and only one CD I ever spent any real time with (Devil Thumbs a Ride). they aren't what I'd call essential listening and I wouldn't think of them right away for my favorite music, but I've got a fondness for that album that is maybe disproportionate to its actual impact. these are honestly some of my favorite kinds of bands. That's what this album feels like. I like it! it's neat! I do not understand why the beta band has two albums on this list.

"separate the art from the artist" is the understanding of a child. it posits art as this magical thing that exists independent of the person or people who created it. it's an intellectual dead end and the act of a coward. I respect people who cut these tainted elements out of their life and people who sit with the struggle of accepting someone who made good art is a shit person equally, but I will never respect a "separate the art from the artist" person. if you think this album is great it's because it is so identifiably of and about the artist. my appreciation for this album exists, has to exist, in the knowledge of the person kanye was (not great!) and is (so much worse!). unfortunately, this is a great album weighed down by the godawful Chris Rock skit during Blame Game. and Rick Ross being on it. and with the current knowledge that the kanye making this music will eventually become a nazi, a trump supporter (redundant), and someone who clearly needed someone who cares about him to intervene a long time ago. there isn't a weak track on the entire album and Lost in the World / Who Will Survive in America is one of the greatest album closers in music.

Call this a low three, was nearly a high two. I liked it more than I expected but my expectations were rock bottom. I’m just never going to like metal that much - my tolerance for it ends at something like Type O Negative or Lacuna Coil. The second I get those gruff manly man yells I lose interest and wander away. Enjoyed the parts of it that were more melodic and tuned out any time it sounded like Walk.

it's not bad but it's not very good either

It's weird but not in an interesting or experimental way. A lot of repetition, elements that never quite come together, and a lot of repetition. was leaning toward a generous 2 before I heard giggy smile

I like the music but I have discovered I do not particularly like the sound of Bowie’s voice. Purposely ignoring the whole persona thing because I think it would encourage me to rate the album lower. not adding to collection

I can understand why people wouldn't like this and I think the things they'd dislike are part of why I enjoyed it. there are days and moods where this is probably a four instead of a high three (and it might be a four when I actually have to rate this, I like to keep myself guessing). I know it's sacrilege but I really do like what came after her better - that sort of Tori Amos, PJ Harvey, Poe kind of era, I guess - but I love the guitar and piano here. and the dulcimer. added to collection

it's fine. I'd jump the score up an entire point if there were no vocal tracks. probably not adding to collection

I'm sure they are having fun playing their instruments together but nah that said I was prepared to hate this and I didn't entirely. it was a fine, if sometimes tedious, way to spend a little over an hour. (I can't really complain about "Feedback" like everyone else because I have listened to too many type o negative albums and that would make me a hypocrite) not adding to collection

I don't mind giving a messy album a high rating as long as it's interesting this isn't interesting. critics got it right the first time.

it's like a 5 and a 1 made an album together even if we ignore the misogyny and homophobia and so on: some real highs and some awful lows, sometimes even within the same song. probably 20 minutes longer than it needs to be. the good parts are so good though. call it a parabolic 3, on the low end.

Radiohead doesn't need six albums on this list. That's too many dang Radioheads. At minimum we can drop Hail to the Thief and In Rainbows. Probably Amnesiac too, even though I love Like Spinning Plates Anyway, Kid A has some of my favorite Radiohead songs (Everything In Its Right Place, The National Anthem, Idioteque, Morning Bell), some ok tracks, and a couple that go nowhere. Overall I still prefer weird sad Radiohead over electronica Radiohead but Kid A is great already in collection

The thing is, I think this is good and her voice is fantastic but I can't get that excited about an album full of covers of standards. it's a high two or a low three on a more charitable day.

this is a band I know almost entirely from singles and radio play. man I know this is true of every album, and true of everything basically, but my rating for this feels more indicative of how I approach it than the album itself. There's a review of this where I get irritated by the jingle jangle honkey tonk posturing and Jagger's half-lazy half-too-much vocals. There's a review of this where I'm on the right wavelength and sink into the scumbag lyrics and it hits just right. I don't think either of those are wrong! I think I'd even argue the Rolling Stones are more interesting when they're in creep scumbag mode (under my thumb is a more captivating song than a lot of their singles even though it is completely repellent) the "this sucks" camp has a strong argument when you listen to the lyrics for Let it Bleed though. or listening to monkey man at all. it's a little disappointing the singles are the standout tracks here. more fun when the album cuts surprise you.

I died a little inside when I saw this started with a 20 minute instrumental but Djed builds on itself in interesting ways. I didn't love the glitch section around 14 minutes in but the drums that followed after make up for it. Mostly. What it reminds me of, surprisingly, is Akira Yamaoka. Glass Museum and A Survey and Along the Banks of Rivers have that melancholy guitar you'd hear on something like End of Small Sanctuary or Promise. Back half of the album is stronger / more of what I like but this is a great album to listen to in its entirety added to collection

i had a phase like this in high school too i just didn't insist on making it everybody else's problem

I never had any idea where this album was going from track to track and it rules it shifted from alt rock classics to the pogues hanging out with bad religion to genderqueer billy joel to a kiss cover (of all things) to soul asylum to the guitar shredder about that young man's problem Look, I knew this was one of those "this is your favorite band's favorite band" kind of records I had never bothered checking out and I thought I knew what to expect from that. I was wrong. this was so much weirder and more interesting added to collection

this starts out so strong with Mis-Shapes, immediately stumbles with Pencil Skirt, and the pattern continues every time the band veers off into anything about women or sex Weird album to rate. Leaning more positive than negative, and on an individual level some songs are great, but as a holistic album it's hard to recover from an initial fumble like that if I rate this lower than a 3 it's because I got too annoyed at F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E for having an irritating title with irritating spoken word parts that marred a song I liked otherwise

anytime I see the words "psychedelic rock" and "jam band" I should just prepare myself anyway, I liked this better than the grateful dead and I am sure they are having fun up there making noises on their instruments but I don't think I will ever enjoy this outside of a live setting

Big Boi is right

I don't think every track on this album is perfect but I do kind of think it's a perfect album in how the songs flow together, how the pacing works, how the energy shifts

no thank you

I think this is fine but not great, like I will probably not listen to this again and I found Coyne's vocals grating in a way I don't remember on the tracks of theirs I like. but it's not bad? I do not feel diminished for having listened to it. the back half of the album is much stronger than the first half. mostly. I bet Feeling Yourself Disintegrate is a nice song without that awful rapapap in your ears. probably not adding to collection

this is a perfectly ok album that I don't understand being on this list over so many other albums, but then again I think I wouldn't object if the list didn't fall over itself to both include so many britpop albums *and* overrepresent artists like dylan / the beatles / bowie / everyone in CSNY / morrissey / elvis costello / etc. like I would be way more open to this as a pleasant surprise if I didn't know that we had three steely dan albums too many crowding out other albums you actually should listen to before you die. so you know what actually, I take it back. I'm fine with this album being on the list. no point getting mad at these dudes when the real problems are running around with nine full albums anyway this is fine. I'd listen to it again. call this a high three.

It’s fine. Not impactful. Hadn’t listened to it in a while and it was a reminder I’d found bands I like better with this as a starting point. High two. already in collection

I dunno man I realize this is foundational but sometimes it's good that things get refined

genuinely flawless, no notes already in collection (of course)

I think I prefer War? Sunday Bloody Sunday is my kind of U2 moreso than With Or Without You. Still giving this a four but please, in your heart, know this is a lesser four than War's four.

my christmas present to Justin is that I didn’t leave the very mean review I initially wrote I love you justin sorry about music

1. I don’t really need to hear a collection of christmas music before I die. It’s christmas music. I’ve heard it 2. and there’s a reason we quarantine it to a specific time of the year 3. we particularly do not need a standards compilation “gifted” to us by an abusive murderer, we can grapple with his involvement in other better albums but i respect myself too much to do that for fuckin christmas music this rating is in no way a slight to the musicians and entirely about the existence of christmas music on this album list

I’m so torn on this. Half the album’s a five. The other half, the tracks 3-6 half, is a generous three. Do I let my enthusiasm for Baba O’Riley and Going Mobile and Won’t Get Fooled Again and Baba O’Riley win out here? Nobody’s ever suffered the way I do rating these albums. nevermind I watched Joe Pera Reads You The Church Announcements again. It gets the four. already in collection

Unexpectedly I liked this better before I listened to it for the list. It's really just Sweet Child O' Mine and maybe Mr. Brownstone that hold up to what I remember and the rest is...pretty bad outside the singles. Went in expecting this to get a high rating but I don't think it will. this is unfortunately not trying too hard Guns n Roses, it is sewer people Guns n Roses already in collection

I think we've extended far too much grace to Pharell Williams based on his Random Access Memories appearances, and by we I mean me specifically because this is probably not a widespread problem. at any rate he needs to be stopped the reviews on this site for this album are so smug and pretentious I kind of want to bump it up a point it is not a good sign when Rock Your Body is the best song on a CD and wow it gets even whinier and shittier than Cry Me A River I know everybody waited until Man of the Woods to clown on this dude but we waited too long

outside of Sixteen and Turn Blue and Fall In Love With Me and the album cover I mostly did not hate this but I did not like it a lot either I will probably not listen to it again

Rack My Mind is such an unpleasant song to listen to but this is otherwise fine, reasonably forgettable music to spend an hour with. This album list is making me (correctly, rightfully) racist against the white british but this one slides ever so slightly into a three. might be a little generous. rhymes are bad.

oh cool the website isn't saving my notes anymore anyway, this was fun! repetitive but that would bother me more if the songs weren't all two minutes long.

I discovered this off...kazaa? limewire? one of those back in high school. I was talking to online friends from the gamefaqs message boards and searching for "sad music songs" online. Keep in mind at this point that I think sad music is like stabbing westward or something equally kind of embarrassing to think about now. I can't remember if it was a friend or a search result that recommended Pink Moon but I downloaded it and it hit me in an area of emotional maturity I don't think I fully appreciated yet. At any rate, I discovered this as a teenager grappling with something I felt would one day crush me beneath it (and it did) so there's no way I rate this as anything but a five. I'm not approaching it rationally even though I think it's genuinely fantastic in its seeming simplicity and listening to it today made me realize that I do still like it even for what it is, not just what it was. It's good! music is good!

fun! not a lot else to say about it but maybe fun is enough

Steely Dan? more like Really Dan g bad

my dark secret is I don't have strong feelings about Talking Heads one way or the other despite being a band weird and influential enough that they should provoke some sort of strong feelings. I don't even have terribly strong feelings about how Byrne can't sing. A grating voice is not necessarily a deterrent to me enjoying a band; sometimes it's even a selling point. at any rate this isn't quite weird enough and it's just kind of good and I don't understand why they didn't either restrict the list to just Remain in Light (which would have been a fine decision) or used what I'm calling the Cheap Trick Cheap Trick and put Stop Making Sense on here the way it's apparently ok to include At Budokan. (Which is the correct choice! it's fine!) Three for music, doesn't really need to be on the list for either the purpose of getting to know the band or knowing the music scene. Actually liked this a lot more than I expected. he really loves those ayayayayas huh

An exciting and unusual pop album that I've loved for a long time. There's something interesting about many individual tracks that I don't think she gets enough credit for (outside of everyone universally recognizing Time After Time as flawless). also her vocal range is amazing and she has strong control over it, switching what seems like effortlessly between not just notes but different attitudes and expressions. and this is her debut album! anyway, individual tracks rewriting two misogynistic songs (money changes everything, girls just want to have fun) into feminist anthems, particularly girls just want to have fun time after time making a Prince song (when you were mine) even *more* gender queer and ambiguous not through making changes, but just by how she sings a single word made a genuine pop hit about masturbation (and with a better song than Frankie will a few years later) pulled from not just obvious sources like some of her new-wave/synthpop contemporaries but folk music (all through the night) and somehow made these covers still cohesive with her original work, they don't feel out of place unfortunately the album gets weaker around witness/i'll kiss you but Yeah Yeah is a fun closer

my only real complaint is that songs about how cool music is are generally not good and Words and Guitar is unfortunately yet another example this is a formal request to add Veruca Salt to the album list and to replace Garbage's debut album with Version 2.0. thank you for your consideration.

torn on this. Not in a "do I like it" kind of way because I like it, but I don't know if it's a high 3 or a low 4. The vocal samples on this album never quite worked for me back when I actively listened to Orbital back in the day and that hasn't changed. The instrumentals are great, though. if I end up rating this a 3 know it's a high 3. if I rate it a 4 know it's a low 4. please also know I'm not entirely satisfied with either decision.

I hate this because it comes so close to being something but it never is.

it isn't just that the songs are good or that so many of the songs are good (all of them), or that this is one of those flawless debut albums alongside Boston or Pearl Jam or Daft Punk or Nas, or that it contains the lyric "wisenheimer brainstorm". I can't easily think of another album where the instrumentals so perfectly fit together. Even "I'm In Touch With Your World"'s weird samples mesh with the synths, guitars, bass, vocals, and drums. These are layered and intricate songs that somehow sound like simple catchy pop songs. It's one of those albums that demands headphones but sounds just as good at full volume on the radio.

This was a delight because I’d never heard of it before and I can see how it’s influenced more recent artists I like. Also not what I expected to hear based on its release date. Laura gets a five from me but the album unfortunately just gets a three. I liked it but didn’t love it.

this album solidified for me that my hatred for the beach boys is good and righteous and noble

What's Love Got To Do With It is flawless, Private Dancer is godawful, and everything else is fine to good. Steel Claw grabbed my attention in particular for some reason.

they just kinda gave up after the first three songs

It is difficult to approach "Everybody Hurts" as an actual song instead of a punchline. That's how it feels approaching a lot of albums like this really, the ones by Important Bands or that have outsized pop culture presence or are foundational to other groups, so on. Ideally(?) you approach each album as its own thing independent of anything else and rate it on its musical merit alone. That's not easy. You've got this weight bearing down on you, pretending it doesn't influence how you rate the album. Listening to "Everybody Hurts", it is absolutely that overly sincere song so easily used as a punchline. It's also kind of beautiful as you focus on the strings and gentle melodies, how the song crests and falls. That's why I'm enjoying the album list even though I've spent as many hours complaining about its inclusions/exclusions as I have listening to the music. Even something I know as well as Automatic For The People can feel like a new experience with proper listening. Anyway. It's good! I don't think I ever properly appreciated how good the string work is here or that John Paul Jones was involved with the album. I don't think REM's ever going to quite hit a 5 for me on an individual album and it definitely wouldn't be this one (Man on the Moon is godawful, like anything associated with Andy Kaufman) but it's a confident 4.

I liked this more than Blue, the other album we had, but the back half lost me

I like this more than I don't, mostly. Kind of odd to cover David Watts and then basically do it again in Billy Hunt?

each track is only 3 minutes long but unless you are listening specifically to the fantastic horns section you are not gonna be able to tell when one ends and another begins it's fine. it's good even! the band is great, the voice is great. I'd probably even rate it higher individually but as an album it just bleeds together and is less than the sum of its parts

maybe being a little generous here but it's dreamy and pretty

was worried this would be some Dylan-y nonsense but it was at least close to bluegrass and not entirely unpleasant, even if it's being warbled out by a cosplay cowboy musicians really love cocaine huh

I always feel like I should like The Pixies more than I do this comes real close to working for me but something still leaves me at a distance. Like, I like it but something is preventing me from loving it

I think I would have liked this better if it was just slightly different but I don't feel like elaborating

high three

I can hear how other, better bands built on this sound to create better music but I'm only so willing to grade on a curve here

much like all things gothic punk it's better when it leans more into the gothic and less into the punk (Plan 9 Channel 7 leading into Noise, Noise, Noise is honestly kind of depressing) every time the list is all "here is yet another British band from the 70s or 80s" I go into fight or flight mode but this one was good if this ends up being a 3 it's a high 3, if it's a 4 it's a low 4

bold adventures in making albums where only one song is good

it was fine. I don't have a strong opinion.

it is a shame for Prefab Sprout that we can't award partial credit because if they just turned in the first four tracks this would rate higher. Unfortunately it continues

I was really liking this for a while but man the skits drag it down and also Drake's on here? nah

one of my favorite new experiences from the list, absolutely loved it. Listened to it pretty much all day

real torn on this one. giving it a coward's three

Portrait of an angry young man devoid of depth and interiority his flow is so good, the beats are great, and there is no substance. absolute waste of talent. there's a reason this album was an immediate red flag back when it came out. the only kind of person who could see themselves in this were either just as vacuous or genuinely found the violence and bigotry aspirational. either way you didn't want to be around them. the casual, extreme misogyny and homophobia might give you the mistaken impression there's some kind of transgression here, something interesting even if it's vile, but no actually. other artists have explored that ugliness in interesting ways or with a critical eye but you aren't getting that here. I don't just hate this, I think it's an active waste of time and talent. Fuck me I'd rather be listening to my bottom ten all in a row than spend another second with this.

illustrative of just how much of a difference the right frontman can make. some of this is bad to mediocre (Charlotte the Harlot, Running Free) and some of it is fantastic (Phantom of the Opera) but there’s just something missing. Feels like Dio without Dio, Priest without Halford, AC/DC without the inexplicable two different guys who sound weird in the exact right way to make their band work still pretty good but man nothing on here makes me feel like Run to the Hills or Flight of Icarus

note to self: copy and paste review from previous Pulp album, remove any references to "Common People" it's almost interesting but never gets there

that is a fantastic Greensleeves but I can't get past Rod Stewart, sorry the context around this album is way more interesting to me than the music

I really like the first half of this album but, and I know this is the least cool opinion in the world, I don't really get into Metallica until they shed some of the thrash metal and get more melodic first four tracks are about in the sweet spot and the rest loses me a bit

corny as hell (complimentary)

there are other country albums I would rather have on here but it wasn't bad overall

808s should be on the list instead

the thing about Steve Albini and the rest of Big Black is they are cowards. They want to write transgressive material without the conviction to stand behind their lyrics or their context. At that point it’s not even offensive - offense requires substance. it’s annoying because the other noise is good. this could be an easy 4 if it was just noise or if it had anything to say (this will also lead to some real shitty bands like Ministry or Jesus and Mary Chain but we can suffer through that another day)

the only listenable Steely Dan album and it’s entirely because of how badly it’s biting Santana on the decent tracks

I am the target market for this album. I knew some of their songs beforehand and I was expecting the synth-heavy goth rock Siouxsie sound but I wasn't expecting to be reminded of bands like Splashdown or Metric or Eisley (especially in Hysteric).

went in expecting another of those one good song on a full album kinda listens but it rules actually

I wish a three didn’t feel so noncommital. This is an album I kind of like (especially the horn section) in a genre I kind of don’t but whether I like it doesn’t feel like the right metric to judge this by? I do think this is interesting. I hear elements of Nine Inch Nails and Sponge in here along with contemporaries like Social Distortion or even The Offspring. It almost sounds like a noisier version of the punk ska bands that were either about to hit big or just had with the horn section going. So it’s weird. Did I like it? kinda but I’m not going to listen to it again. Was it a great list inclusion? I think so, I listened to it actively and got something from it, helped me draw some interesting connections between other bands of its era and its precursors/successors. Call it a three with an asterisk because I did get more from it than just an album I liked well enough to listen to once

I thought it would have more bongos anyway this is a fun one, nothing amazing, a little more interesting in its historical context than the actual album

like, ok, it’s basically Green Day doing a worse Bad Religion, and it can be overly earnest, and it’s still obviously a big political rock opera concept album from the guys who got big writing a song about the tedium of masturbation but I’ve got a soft spot for Green Day. I like when bands are probably reaching a little too far, ambitions over honest appraisal of their abilities. I love concept albums (that aren’t Tommy or Kilroy Was Here or Music From the Elder). It’s hard not to like an album trying this hard, when it jams basically a summary of itself into a nine minute song with five acts like some kind of concept album inception. There’s also just some great tracks on here. Holiday, Whatsername, Give Me Novacaine. Holiday in particular feels like an old sneering Green Day song with some Bad Religion edge to it. They’ve also got one of my genuinely favorite bassists. Mike Dirnt has been putting out secretly killer bass lines since Dookie, punching way above the band’s weight class, and that does a lot for this album. Is this a real four or am I being a little too charitable? Man, I don’t know. 100+ albums in I’ve given up on caring about how objective or consistent I am in my review criteria. Sorry other albums that are probably better than this and still got threes

I don’t know what I expected from pre-disco Bee Gees but it wasn’t Lethargic Elton John or Uninspired Jethro Tull It’s fine I guess. Barry’s voice grew on me over the course of the album, Robin’s voice less so, actually like the instruments a lot, do not understand what it’s doing on this list. There’s a version of this review that gives it the weakest of threes

Flawless album, even the song where they let the guy sing

This was getting a three with a “it didn’t grab me but I don’t think it’s bad” until I got to the godawful duet with a child Nobody wants to hear children singing

Everyday People has been a commercials song for so long that it took listening to it four times to rewire my brain. the sha shas are musical perfection

If this had made different decisions, made a few left turns, I’d have really enjoyed it. If it doubled down on the harmonies and the instrumentals, gave more CSN&Y, I’d have been on board. If it had been more stomp clappy like Mumford or The Lumineers I’d have enjoyed it. If it had more traditional folk like the great Irish folk bands or an edge like the punk folk bands I’d be so on board. If it were poppier with the same vibe, like Foals or Rogue Wave, it would be great. If the piano got more focus and this was more Supertrampy I’d love it. Hell, if the entire album sounded like the track “Your Protector” it’d probably be a four. Unfortunately it didn’t do any of those things and felt like at every turn it made the less interesting decision. Is it bad? Nah, not really. It’s just aggressively ok.

kind of a weird one to rate because I think this is an extremely good version of what it is, but what it is I don't rate that highly the singles are great except when they aren't (Ice Cream Man sucks) and the album being a weird mix of guitar wanking and doo-wop influences and blues and pop metal and everything else genuinely is interesting but in my heart this is a three also sorry but I prefer Sammy Hagar over Diamond Dave any day

Confession time: I actually think Free Bird kinda sucks, I’ve always thought Free Bird kinda sucks, it is the spectacle of a song without much substance Tuesday’s Gone is alright in my book though, Simple Man has some odious politics (the entire band is odious politics) but musically it’s what I want from a band like this Gimme Three Steps is a difficult one because it’s partly a great entry in the country music story song catalogue and partly half a step removed from a Ray Stevens album The non-hits are kinda whatever

the repetition gets irritating and then comes back around again somehow, you pick up on these little variations high three though

real torn between a four and five on this but I think I’ll round up because it’s a debut album

It’s really going to bother me until I remember where I know Wild World from

just earlier today I gave Van Halen's Van Halen shit for being a great execution of a thing I don't particularly care about, and here I am about to give AC/DC a four for doing basically the same thing but I'm sorry, I love this, Bon Scott's scumbag warbling rules for all the same reasons I hate Diamond Dave and I am living so comfortably in this cognitive dissonance there are other better albums that are getting a lower score than this. I can't defend myself and I'm not even going to try, I'm just gonna listen to Touch Too Much again

I don’t think this is bad necessarily but I’m pretty sure even fans of the album would acknowledge it’s on the list because of the Nirvana connection

Almost gave this a higher rating out of a sense of, I guess, potential? It feels like something I could get more out of in the right mood. I even tried. Listened to it like I do everything else on the list, headphones on, undivided attention, lights low. I opened a window to let the cold in a little bit and listened to it twice trying to find that thing I missed about it. I don't know, man. I don't love the drone of it, the writing isn't strong enough to make up for a pleasant but weak voice, and it's not got much variety to it. None of those are bad on their own but I felt like I was meeting the album 75% of the way the entire way. Also the song where he's lusting after a Nazi really didn't work for me? but to be fair I'm going to find someone involved with the Velvet Underground annoying even outside of the nazi thing anyway, could have been a three or maybe even a four in the right mood and circumstances but instead it's a two. dude's got four more albums on the list (please stop including so many albums by the same artist) so maybe one of us can redeem ourselves here

This breaks every rule I have for music I like and somehow it's perfect. Have I been wrong this entire time? (no. let's not get carried away here. my opinions are still good and correct) songs about how cool music is are almost always bad but Sir Duke is flawless Isn't She Lovely is a plague sent to ruin singing contests and karaoke nights but here on the album it's delightful double albums are usually a sign the artist can't self-edit but I wouldn't skip a single track I don't do religious songs but I'm willing to overlook it here just so good. also how is this someone's eighteenth album, how are you still creating good music after seventeen other albums

I don't understand the people who are all "oh gosh gee I don't like rap!" who are starting this project what are you even doing here man why is your world so small and why are you ok with that

honest to god the only difference I see between this era of The Beatles and The Monkees is The Beatles never wrote a pop song I like as much as I'm A Believer don't see any reason this belongs on the list outside of "oh but these guys eventually do more interesting things" which, a) debatable b) then just include the more interesting things

I kind of hated the other album they have on the list but I kind of love this one and I have trouble distinguishing exactly why might be a low four but it's a four

this is fine but does not feel fully formed, would be way more interested in hearing a later album of theirs. not sure why this is on the list honestly

since the day we began the album project I've been excited to finally confront the red hot chili peppers and make a decision: are they a terrible band I enjoy or are they just a terrible band they are a terrible band. not even the outlier singles are saving this from a 1/5. flea, frusciante, and Big Cat can't make up for how bad kiedis is, and kiedis is kind of what makes the chili peppers the chili peppers so it's bad times all around

this is the vibes-iest 4 I will ever give an album and I don't think I could defend it if someone called me on it, I just listened to this at the right time it's probably a 3. it really should be a 3. the part of me that super cares about every review being correct is so mad I'm not giving this a 3

this is probably blasphemy but sometimes Kendrick's flow on here sounds like Gmcfosho half the time on Money Trees I just hear imdabes

I do not care for this but I see what it's doing and can imagine a person it is working for

I think Biz Markie should be on every album,

I love that flute playing bastard

I don't think everything on here works as well as Roundabout and Long Distance Runaround (best track on the album by the way) but I love this

honestly I think this and ill communication suffered from getting them within like two days of each other

I hear in this a lot of artists I like more - Poe, PJ Harvey, Siouxsie, Tori, so on - but it is, unfortunately, Poetry. Music gets worse the closer it gets to Poetry. I'm glad I gave it another listen because I do like it more than I did on my initial attempt but a track like Birdland makes me want to give it the two I originally planned

toilet sounds etc music doesn’t have to be pleasant to listen to. it can be difficult, abrasive, off-putting, unsettling, or any number of other things. the problem with this album isn’t that it’s unpleasant or discordant. it’s just not very good

the first track, Song of Joy, sets the stage for the entire album: it listens more like the soundtrack to a stage musical than a traditional record. It feels like you’re missing some kind of connective tissue between songs, you’re not seeing the actors on stage acting out their parts while the weird looking guy sings what’s happening. And that’s what makes it work. It’s some gothy theater kid nonsense in the most complimentary way. Cave does sound kind of monotone in that initial track, it does drone on a bit, but in my head I can see people setting the stage for an anthology of murder ballads while Cave’s voice plays from the dark. Then the album ends with Death Isn’t the End, the big closing number where each of the album’s guests steps out for their individual verse. Nick Cave’s voice isn’t the most versatile but I think it’s largely put to good use here. He also benefits from some fantastic duet partners (I’m upset we don’t see Kylie Minogue on the list again after this and I love love love PJ Harvey, and though she’s sadly only on background vocals on Lovely Creature I hadn’t thought about Katharine Blake or Miranda Sex Garden in *years*). It doesn’t always work. I don’t think Nick Cave is the right guy for Stagger Lee (Shane MacGowan is on the closing track, why not use him here?). He does pull off that energy better later in The Curse of Millhaven. It’s slightly missing something for the 5 - I could use a little more guitar jangle maybe, something a little folkier, and a song like Crow Jane drags the album’s pacing down - but it’s a solid 4. Another strong duet or something less repetitive between Crow Jane and O’Malley’s Bar might have made the difference? Nearly 15 minutes of O’Malley’s Bar is a big ask for a list of murders that aren’t all that poetic or clever. It just builds and builds without ever going anywhere.

Disjointed album that doesn’t flow at all and is mixed terribly. I don’t think I actually like Fleetwood Mac a whole lot unless they are at the absolute top of their game. The increased emphasis on solo songs isn’t great for the band either. Christine McVie’s vocals on their own don’t do a whole lot for me, Buckingham only works for specific kinds of songs, and Stevie Nicks (who I otherwise love) sounds understandably checked out of the entire experience Albums after the band’s explosive success are always tricky too. This one desperately needed an editor or a critical eye to cut it down and instead it’s a dual album. You already want it to be over and then you find out the first album isn’t even done yet Lindsey Buckingham‘s really getting on my nerves. This is a 2 but the same way sometimes vibes make a 3 a 4, this has me looking real closely at the 1

unfortunately nothing on here lived up to how much I liked the song Helpless. like it's not bad but it's extremely Another 90s Alt Rock Album

Less than the sum of its parts and I’m not sure why. Love love Chrissie’s voice, love the bass lines, feel lukewarm about the actual music. I really wanted to like it more if that helps? like I do like it, a two is not a low score for me necessarily. maybe I bump it up to a three. who knows.

I hate everything about Perry Farrell’s whiny nasal ugly voice

sometimes terrible people make great music and you have to grapple with the incongruence of morality and artistry thankfully this braying warbly pedophile had the decency to make bad music and we can sidestep the discomfort

music about music is deeply embarrassing; especially when it tries to present a guitar as some kind of magical or alien device. music inspired by ayn rand is both deeply embarrassing and morally reprehensible. and yet 2112 rules there are a number of things that don't work here (that orientalist jingle that plays a few times during A Passage to Bangkok in particular) and the album unfortunately peaks at the transition from Overture to Temples of Syrinx but this is still excellent Rush. would it have been better if the whole album committed to the 2112 rock opera thing? probably yeah. none of the "normal" tracks on the back half compete with the best of Rush - there's no Limelight or The Spirit of Radio or even Fly by Night here in the back half - but the last two tracks in particular have some beautiful guitar work. it's weird, Rush is a five of a band but looking at individual albums I think they're all fours? except moving pictures. funny how a long career can work out that way. anyway it was nice to listen to this a few times today and think about my dad.

I have a soft spot for bands with strings and singers with grating acquired taste vocals and a kind of operatic vision they probably aren't talented enough to meet but they're doing it anyway? (to an extent. like when you reach the point where you get My Chemical Romance or Panic! At the Disco then something has gone very wrong and I am off the train) the biggest problem with Mellon Collie, aside from the title and wrestling with the weight of how much you dislike Billy Corgan vs the understanding Smashing Pumpkins is Smashing Pumpkins in large part because Billy Corgan is involved, is that it's a double album. More isn't always better, especially when you're judging something as an album rather than just a disparate collection of music, and the score for this would be meaningfully higher if it were trimmed down to the good parts. Unfortunately I like this album quite a bit. unfortunately it is a million hours long and needed to be cut down considerably. either a high three or a low four depending on my mood when I press the rate button

I have a lot of affection for this but yes the reviews are right it's dated in a way that's hard to overcome. That said, it *is* interesting in a historical context and benefits from the unclear boundaries of the genre. I love Rock Box's fruity loops-ish guitar. Something like Jam Master Jay is so like...it's just dudes so excited for everyone to meet their friend. If you are willing to meet the album about 70% of the way and get on the wavelength of the dated flow it's genuinely charming. call this a 1980s five and a 2026 three.

what if Dead Can Dance was bad I’m probably being overly harsh to this album but the heart wants what it wants, and the heart wants cruelty

I don't think this actually sounds all that dated. I hear the 90s elements but some of it's definitely pulling from before then and I can hear a few things where she's ahead of the curve. The album's more varied than it gets credit for. Hearing righteous anger like You Oughta Know and then a perfect little pop song like Head Over Feet is a nice range, especially from an artist barely out of high school. The only thing holding this back for me is that it's...is overproduced the right word? Mixed oddly? I'm looking through Glen Ballard's production discography and I don't think the approach works here. The instruments kind of muddle together and her voice gets lost in some songs. Also still not really a fan of Ironic. A lot of the reviews left for the album on here are absolutely from dudes you wouldn't trust around an unguarded drink

this album tricked me with the three opening tracks before becoming another "well at least they're having fun playing their instruments, I'm happy for them, but I'm not sure why I need to be here for it" kind of album that said something about this works for me in a way a lot of the other albums we've had like it so far. like I don't love it but it's not just people making noise someone else's problem

what a pleasant surprise this was

I have never felt less cool rating an album

the hero worship around this dude is exhausting and I've always kind of hated him. is that fair? well no, obviously, but in my defense his fans are so annoying that makes it all the more irritating that this album is fine. it's competent folk rock by a dude who can just barely sing and I enjoyed it a normal amount. I went into this hoping it would either be revelatory and I'd realize that I'd deprived myself of excellent music all this time, or I'd be vindicated for my unfair assessment and could carry on in my righteousness. but it's just fine. I even want to be kinder to it because it's the closest we get to real representation of some classic country on this list I dunno man. one thing I always thought, but this whole project reinforced, is that we fucked up by idolizing a handful of musicians when there's so much beauty in music everywhere. this album is fine. the issue with bob dylan isn't that he's received so much attention necessarily but more that so many other musicians are hidden in that shadow the critics and fans created. absolutely no reason this dude needs seven albums on a list of 1001/1089. christ are his fans insufferable though

I think I’d rather listen to their live albums that I like less because they’re more interesting. Like, their live stuff is emphatically not for me but I can at least try to get past that and see if I can come round the other side. that’s fun and challenging and rewarding. This is smoother and less rambly and more controlled and easier to listen to and those qualities are not wholly positive It’s ok.

I don’t know why I don’t respect Van Halen much. I grew up with it, sure, and I probably take it for granted, but there are other classic rock bands I respect and take seriously. Van Halen is kind of just standard arena rock, but so are AC/DC or The Scorpions and those guys rule. Their songs are childish and creepy but again, so are 75% of these dudes and I have uneasily accepted that as an unfortunate part of the atmosphere. Even at its best Van Halen is just kind of dumb but I am counting the days until I can rate The Darkness a 5 so like Van Halen’s even good! Sammy Hagar is way better than Diamond Dave but all of this works, the technical proficiency is there, and this is solid classic rock but it does not speak to me the way other bands do. There are some excellent songs on here - I’ll Wait is a fantastic song despite/because of how creepy and pathetic it is, Panama gets me hype every time - and I can even overlook how Hot For Teacher is one of the worst songs ever written. (And not just because of the content! we have already established this! it just cold sucks) but even then it’s just Van Halen I’ve been grappling with this since we got their self titled and I think I am going to grapple with this again when we get to Def Leppard, an arguably worse band who also sits in this kind of classic rock foundation / cheese but who I enjoy way more

not bad, kind of inconsistent

I saw another review mention they heard The Jesus and Mary Chain in the album thank you other reviewer for helping me pinpoint exactly why I didn’t like this I love a good vibe of an album even more than the next guy but the instruments are barely doing anything, the vocals and lyrics actively detract from getting into it, and I kept waiting for it to be over

couple thoughts about megadeth: Dave Mustaine is such an asshole that even Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield couldn’t put up with him. Lars Ulrich! babies are born knowing how to cry and that Lars Ulrich is a complete asshole. how bad must Mustaine be? (pretty bad man) back in 1999 or so for reasons I don’t remember I bought whichever Megadeth album had the song Crush ‘Em. Bad song, bad album, but it came with this huge CD sampler full of songs by 20-some other bands. That sampler got me deeper into Type O Negative, a band I’d be giving so many fives if this ridiculous list included them, and introduced me to System of a Down. (Also Puya, Full Devil Jacket, and to a much much lesser extent Chevelle) At any rate Type O Negative rules and if I had to pick one of their albums for the list it would probably be October Rust even though it would more likely be Bloody Kisses Megadeth sucks

I do not like this at all

I fundamentally do not trust anyone who creates a mythology around themself or allows one to be created, and damn if Jim Morrison isn’t both of those things. He’s always given me an ick that the fun blues rock/precursor to goth bands thing and his interesting voice have to compete with also he fancied himself a poet and that never bodes well either album list is confirming for me that most songs about drugs are like hanging out with high people when you’re sober: endlessly fascinating for them but boring as shit for everyone else (weirdly all the songs we’ve listened to about heroin make it sound fun as hell, which is probably bad for health but good for music) probably gets a two on a night when I’m feeling less vulnerable. three mostly thanks to Light My Fire nearly pulling it up to a four and The End trying just as hard to drag it down to a one.

couple things keeping this from a four really: there are as many songs where the vocals detract from the music as songs where they improve it it's too long and repetitive I remember not liking Underworld much/at all back in the day when people recommended them based on liking Daft Punk, Orbital, Etro Anime, Front 242, etc but I guess something shifted, I'm into this

the name rings a bell I can't quite place. I think an internet friend recommended a song from these guys? nothing on the album is connecting unfortunately so I think this is one of those half-remembered things that wears at me for weeks until the right neural connection sparks. oh well. anyway it mostly sounds like if Duran Duran were forcibly infected with The Smiths-itis and they weren't fun anymore, or if Dead Can Dance had an ill-advised Bowie period, or if someone engineered an unfortunately coherent version of The Pogues and gave it depression there's a version of this album I'm into but this isn't it

hovering between a three and a four because these are great songs and I love her but it’s also an album of the same sound. For songs that’s not a bad thing but for an album it can kind of fold together after a bit also a bit of an adjustment listening to so many songs I know but largely from covers by other artists or have been overplayed by tv/commercials it’s good! I like it! it doesn’t quite gel as an album but maybe that’s ok

holy shit this sucks

This is fine. I like it. The Vines weren’t even the best version of what The Vines were when this album came out though and I have no idea what it’s doing on here. like it’s not bad, this is my kind of band, but even I’m like it’s ok if someone dies without hearing this

couple quick notes: - I have the decency to be embarrassed about liking The Smiths and having that teenage Smiths phase - Johnny Marr is the brilliant one and Morrisey sucks - Demi Adejuyigbe's Morrissey impression won't leave my head - three Smiths albums and FOUR Morrissey solo albums is everything that's wrong with this list man - Morrissey sounds like Quentin Tarantino looks at any rate I like my The Smiths mopey and depressing, not Morrissey trying to play rockabilly, so outside of a track or two this really isn't my thing

wikipedia has this quote: "Someone was asking me about what I was listening to and I was saying "Oh, Dirty Projectors, I love the new album," and they were like, "Well what kind of music is it?" and I just stopped dead in my tracks and literally didn't know how to describe it. At first I was embarrassed because I didn't know how to describe it, but then I was like, this is what's so amazing about a lot of music now. There are so many different things and there's so much going on and Bitte Orca is so distinctly Dirty Projectors that I didn't even know how to begin to describe what genre it is, you know? " - Ed Droste and some of the reviews on this site are taking the same angle. Confused by that. This is clearly a poppier version of a lot of prog rock acts - you can hear Yes, Jethro Tull, Triumph, so on but heavily mixed with what indie rock / pop was doing at the time like Bon Iver or Tune-Yards. Anybody doing this list might have also been unlucky enough to be inflicted with a Prefab Sprout album and what they were doing isn't terribly far from what Dirty Projectors is doing. It's not nearly so incomprehensible, on either the Good or Bad end of the scale, as people are making it out to be. So is it good? Well, sometimes. The falsetto works for me on a song like Cannibal Resource and is godawful on something like Temecula Sunrise, but that song cold sucks. On The Bride there are sections of the song where it works and sections of the song where you consider devoting your life to damaging the dude's vocal cords. Same deal with relegating Angel Deradoorian and Amber Coffman to the sort of backing vocals thing they're doing. Both are better singers than lead dude but sometimes they are a fantastic accompaniment. Stillness is the Move and Two Doves are by by by far the best songs on the album and even then they make some weird choices I don't think entirely work Right, but is it good? I think overall it falls just short, but I went into this album expecting to absolutely hate it based on the description and kind of liked it instead. if this gets a three it's because I'm rounding up, if this gets a two it's because I get bad vibes from Longstreth

I actually liked this a lot. It came closer to a five than you'd think. edit: I never planned to use the edit feature, I told myself I gotta live with the consequences of my actions, but I've listened to this album so many times since leaving the initial review. It's a five, I can't explain why, I just love it

enjoyed it enough to nearly give it a four but I still don’t understand the cult of personality around this guy that said I’d take him over Dylan any day so he has at least won the dudes I found repellent due to their fanbase championship

this is almost certainly a three of an album and I'm being overly generous but it caught me in the right mood and I found it charming

not nearly as bad as I was expecting / hoping, pretty decent actually

what a pleasant way to spend 35 minutes or so

man, I remember buying this the day it came out and being absolutely sucker punched by Blood on the Leaves this one has some real high highs but even before we knew about the whole Kanye Loves Nazis thing it was obvious this was where things were going downhill. I don't love this one the way I loved MBDTF or 808s but I do find it fascinating. giving this a four with some reservations. I was hovering around a three but the highs on this one won't let me. now back to not listening to Kanye; we've done the three list albums, I'm mad all over again he had to ruin his legacy, and I am ready to leave him buried in the past

this is a fairly inoffensive album I'd probably give a two or three but Coconut is such a godawful song I'm docking it down to a one I dunno man this just isn't for me. a lot of what I hate about solo Beatles, some novelty songs, some crooning, gets a little Randy Newman in places, very singer-songwriter-y but with no real emotional heft or a hook to grab me actually you know what, it's not just Coconut. I don't like this. it'd still be a two probably because yeah, he sounds great and the music is technically competent, but we put the lime in the coconut and the score goes down

I still kinda think the live albums are cheating but I also keep giving them fives. I'm part of the problem. This is pretty much perfect though

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started listening to this, but I really wasn't expecting it to remind me of the French-Canadian band Harmonium. (Their debut album would be fantastic on the album list, by the way) Anyway this is gorgeous, loved it

it took nearly a month to finally get through this one and I don't feel enriched for putting in the work

this is the platonic ideal of a three

I think I might have outgrown Jurassic 5 a bit I dunno man I was never into them the way I was Blackalicious or De La Soul or A Tribe Called Quest

Only one The Who album needs to be on the list and we already listened to it (Who's Next, specifically). There are a lot of artists on the list who are overrepresented but fuck me if The Who aren't the most egregious anyway the gimmick here isn't nearly as cute or as funny as they think it is, I can think of at least 1001 other albums I'd recommend someone to listen to before they die before I'd even accidentally remember this one. it sucks. even the big hit off this is low tier The Who. I genuinely hate this

I really flirted with a five for this one. It’s so far ahead of its time while still feeling of its era. I love the variety of instruments, the harmonies, really everything about it.

An album like this is hard to rate because I recognize it’s good, I do think people should listen to it, and Janis Joplin is a fascinating artist. I also really, really don’t like it. There are elements of things I like in here and I do think it belongs on the list but I actively disliked listening to it. It’s not like Venom’s Black Metal where I resent it for existing or something like Steve Albini’s work where I find it so cowardly and lacking substance, this is genuinely good music I don’t enjoy listening to. So should you listen to this before you die? Absolutely. In terms of “does this belong on the list” and “is it good” this is an easy four or a five. I’m glad I listened to it and can form a full, informed opinion but unfortunately it is a personal two.

this is another one of those where I think I enjoy it more in its historical context than to actually listen to but it was a fine time Small Hours punches above its weight class here though

it just kinda goes on and on huh settled on a two largely because I like the bass in this. other bands will eventually make better music that kind of sounds like this* so it's not entirely without merit but johnny rotten sucks and I don't think this ends up on the list without the sex pistols connection sorry I listened to it again and it's a one actually * it all sucks until they realize the missing ingredient is goth rock

this is a weird one to rate, but in the opposite direction as my last weird one. I think the music is fine-ish but it does not even remotely belong on the album list by the list criteria. We can't get the correct Bee Gees album because it's a soundtrack but we can get this? it's also annoying, and very accurately British, to have the album's sole Indian music representation come from some random-ass soundtrack. Naag Devta is great though. so what am I rating this? I genuinely will not know until I press the button. if I'm being consistent it has to be a one but I'd feel bad. I want to personally confront whoever put this on the album list and demand answers

I am really torn on this because I think in the right mood this is so up my alley, I would love this when I listened to it I found it kind of irritating but that feels more like a transitory reaction than a real reaction so for now I am giving it a three to split the difference between the two I am feeling and the hypothetical four I think I might give it otherwise. if you want rating rigor you are sadly in the wrong place

contains the second best performance of Bennie and the Jets

I could listen to The Cisco Kid all day. Rest of it isn’t grabbing me quite as much but still a solid four

I am only mildly ashamed to admit I think ABBA is one of the all time greats. this album falls just short of the five because Two For The Price of One is a godawful song and, worst of all, a punchline song. There's never been a good punchline song! stop making them! otherwise this is a lovely album with beautiful vocal harmonies and fantastic instrumentation. I could listen to Agnetha and Anna-Frid sing together all day. ultimately I think this slot on the list should have gone to Voulez-Vouz or Super Trouper but it's fine, we love ABBA here, good four of an album

a decent to good triphop album that doesn't really gel as an album or have any standout tracks you want to grab from it it's not bad but this feels like an easy drop from the list to grab something more interesting from the genre

I love a classic country album as much or more as the next person (likely more, considering how many reviews are some form of "I don't listen to country or rap" nonsense) but while each individual song is great on its own listening becomes a bit of a slog through 12 tracks. I'd probably have placed Coal Miner's Daughter over this, maybe Entertainer of the Year, maybe Back to the Country. I'm glad this isn't one of her duet albums with Conway Twitty since I always thought they worked better separately than together. A three? a high three? four sounds off but three isn't quite right either. a three.

It genuinely bugs me that I don't like The Cure. All the parts are there. I like some considerably worse bands that sound a lot like The Cure. The Crow is still one of my favorite movies and I have owned an unhealthy number of World of Darkness books. I still don't like The Cure. This is better than Disintegration, mostly, and I don't think it's even a bad album. It's just not something I enjoy listening to.

I think I am running out of things to say about nice records from this era aside from "this was a pleasant way to spend 40 minutes" but it was! nothing worldchanging but I was happy

nobody needs to hear a KISS album before they die. You are not missing out on anything vital or irreplaceable. If you want scumbag rock you’re better served by the much, much more charming AC/DC. For arena rock you should be listening to The Scorpions, a band that deserves a place on this list way more than KISS. If the makeup does it for you go listen to GWAR. Hell, you’d be better served by unironically listening to the Spinal Tap discography. Nobody needs to listen to KISS! Even if we somehow ignore how the world would be a better place if Gene Simmons fell down a well there is absolutely nothing this band does that a dozen other bands don’t do better. Even their specific combination of those things is done better by much worse bands. This is the “good” KISS album and man the non-singles are dire. And what makes me angriest of all is I still might end up giving this a three because I’m weak to this kind of guitar rock and the singles are very competent hits. Probably a two though because the gulf between the singles and the album cuts is wiiiiiiiiide For real though why are we wasting our time on this instead of one of the solo Ozzy albums? We could have had Diary of a Madman in this spot

I’ve been excited to get this because I had the inverted version of most experiences with this album - I really, really hated it in high school and am hoping my opinion changes as an adult. It wasn’t a particularly informed opinion. I was vaguely aware of their politics and would probably have liked it better if I knew more but I always associated RATM with the kind of bands the biggest assholes listened to. You know, these guys, Sublime, Limp Bizkit, Korn, Slipknot, that kinda music. Every dude you knew who was super into Sublime was also five seconds away from calling you three different homophobic slurs. That kind of dude also latched on to RATM because it was loud and aggressive. Anyway. Listening to it now as an adult I don’t hate it. It’s a little adolescent (“Some of those that work forces / Are the same that burn crosses” is a fantastic line, chanting “fuck you I won’t do what you tell me” shortly after is kind of embarrassing) and there’s a part of me that recoils from rap metal but I totally get the appeal of this band now. It’s a shame I didn’t get a chance to connect with this as a teenager but I’m just as on board with the politics now and I’m happy I got a chance to have my reckoning with the band. Still probably a three but a happy three. It is so, so, so weird that on an album list compiled by elitist music nerds this is the closest we get to Tool being anywhere on the list

A slightly qualified five because Harm of Will is so much worse than anything else on the album, enough that I had to stop and look it up to figure out why. Made all the sense in the world when I saw Harmony Korine’s name. What an unpleasant stain on an otherwise nearly perfect album.

super torn on this one. It’s kind of amateurish, with a lot of early days metaphor songs, weak rhymes, simple structures. I kind of want to give this a two like I would any other album that isn’t *bad* but needs more work or more polish. It’s also pretty catchy. The drums and bass are a lot of fun and there are some specific vocal flourishes that make me want to rate this a (low) four. It’s still more of a stepping stone to similar bands I like better but there are specific things about it I love. so it’s probably getting a three? But there are good arguments in either direction and a three feels like giving up.

gotta be honest I respect this more than I actually enjoy listening to it but I went in expecting to hate it and didn't so that was nice

I first heard Clint Eastwood on this music on demand channel we had with the family cable package. Watched Clint Eastwood really - there were about ten music videos available on the entire thing, many of them were bad, but it was a fun little thing to do back before the internet made all this easy. My brother agreed it was weird and then we watched it again, and a few times more. Something about it stuck with me and I had to get the full CD. I didn’t and still don’t care about the whole cartoon band thing or any of the weird mythology of the project but man, I loved this CD. I remember being impressed by how different every song was but how they still all felt of a piece, all from the same band, and I loved the overall vibe of the album. A lot of songs (Punk, Double Bass, Starshine in particular) are evocative in a way I find hard to describe but they’re like aural mood pieces that I’d listen to multiple times, catching new little instrumental bits or things to like about them. Also man Del the Funky Homosapien is so good here. I was already getting into in rap around this time but Gorillaz pushed me to explore it further, grab whatever Limewire could find for me. I’m pleasantly surprised to discover the album holds up. Haven’t listened to it in its entirety in a while. There was a part of me worried about trying to separate the nostalgia from the actual music (not that I would bother, I am not here to be objective) but I like this as much as I did back then. Fantastic album, yet another high score that threatens to pull my average rating above a 3

Absolutely nothing about Jamiroquai should work. - by this point in the album generator I’m wary of anything British no matter the genre - but the idea of “British funk” should particularly set off alarm bells - Jay Kay has like ten different Oh No vibes about him (the wrong kind of hippie vibe, the seconds away from some kind of racial appropriation vibe, the why does he keep dressing like that vibe, car guy vibe, thinks he’s Bono vibe, don’t leave him alone near your drink vibe, etc) but I love this ridiculous band and I have for a long time. I’d argue maybe for A Funk Odyssey or Dynamite in place of the debut but the debut has more didgeridoo so I can’t really complain. As a full album it might only be getting a three though. Hard to ignore how many songs feel like Stevie Wonder cover band performances and I don’t think they’ve quite figured out the band identity that creates songs like Canned Heat, Corner of the Earth, or even Virtual Insanity

lotta strikes against this album. it's a triple album. a third of it is another entry in the I'm Glad They're Having Fun Playing Their Instruments But I Don't Need To Be Here For It jam band annals. it's overtly religious. Worst of all it's another Beatles entry on this album generator that's just here because oh my gosh you guys The Beatles! even more irritating that this would be an easy three if it had been edited down to the good songs. Harrison at his best was more interesting than the other Beatles and you can see glimpses of that here. Maybe I'd be throwing less of a fit if this was on the list *instead* of one of the Beatles albums rather than having it *and* everything else they ever released *and* everything Lennon/McCartney touched. (Not even the music nerds putting this book together could pretend Ringo's solo work needed a listen and we can be thankful for that small mercy.) better than Wings though! I'd rather sit through three hours of the jam band portion of this record before listening to Wings again

This is the worst album on the list. It's actively insulting to place this alongside To Pimp A Butterfly or Me Against The World. It's a meandering, sing-songy waste of an hour from a guy with no flow, no pitch, and no way with words. I have grown to love it the same way you love a bad movie. This was a fun experience and I am oddly glad to be exposed to this but if I could rate this lower than one I would.

I don't respect this but I also can't pretend like it's anything but a polished, solid version of what it is

this mostly does not work for me. it has the foundations of a thing I like but not the other necessary elements. I am probably rounding up to a three because there are some nice moments and a couple pretty songs on here but it’s a low three if I do.

I think this album rules *because* it’s the album where Metallica sold out and got poppier. The further metal bands stray away from being metal bands the better they get. this is one of the reasons why, despite both bands having All-Time Assholes in the form of Lars Ulrich and Dave Mustaine, Metallica is fun and Megadeth sucks anyway I listened to this religiously in high school, there’s this fun depressing dark tone to all the songs on here,and I love everything about this album that isn’t Don’t Tread On Me. or the band members because let’s face it they are all kinda turds yes it is kind of adolescent but we were all young and overly dramatic and super into The Unforgiven once, it’s ok for music to be a little embarrassing that way

it’s fine but I’m not a fan

I thought for sure this would be a five during Stolen Car and then everything slowed down, turned into a coffee shop album. A good one, sure, but every time I get an album that starts out strong and then drops right away it's hard to recover that momentum.

This should have been Folklore. There's no reasonable argument for including evermore on the list instead of Folklore. Folklore felt like this fun, weird, unexpected experiment. It was clearly a Taylor album but there was something more there. It was exciting to see a popular artist both kind of go back to their roots and also try something so removed from the recent big hits. evermore doesn't have any of that. It's polished and confident in a way that Folklore wasn't, and that's not a positive quality. It feels like another Taylor album. A good one, sure, and there are some great songs on evermore, and it's far better than most of what we got on Midnights or (god forbid) Tortured Poets Department, but Folklore was something special. Out of all the things that irritate me about this list I think this one might irritate me the most.

this is a perfectly decent folk rock kind of album that doesn't sound wildly different from CSN, Neil Young, or other similar artists in the genre. Most interesting thing about it is the context surrounding it. Liked it ok, don't feel like I was missing out

New Order is just in this awkward transitional phase where this kind of music will eventually become something I love, and that gap between what is and what isn't there yet probably makes me harsher on it than it deserves

this album suffers greatly from MTV Unplugged also being on the list. Most of the best songs are also on there and far, far more impactful in the live performance.

it's like if a Portishead song never started

I think this is probably really a four star album, and its spot on the list probably maybe should have gone to Houses of the Holy (though I'd be sad not to hear Houses of the Holy, which is on this album instead), but for personal reasons I will be rating it five stars. The highs are really high but you could easily cut five songs off here and have a much better album. There are some nice things I would like to say about growing up with led zeppelin and the connection it has with my dad but I think I am going to save that for Zeppelin II or Zeppelin IV

This is pretty and I love this genre but there are so many other albums like this I’d choose over this one

it is an honor, of a sort, to be the most overrated artist on a list that includes so much of The Beatles and Bob Dylan On paper Bowie should work for me and I’m actively trying to change my own mind but with every listen I like it less. Why do I hate this when I otherwise love this kind of oddity, bands with singers who can’t really sing, concept albums, androgyny, convoluted backgrounds, etc? Bugs me to no end that I can’t sort this out.

you know, I don’t love this and I generally don’t care for Beck (at all) but I still found this kind of charming. Something about capturing a particular point in time, and an unpleasant one, in a way so far removed from his usual music style humanized the guy for me. Probably wouldn’t listen to it again, still not a Beck fan, but a pleasant surprise this morning

Deep Purple is a fascinating band and I love the hammond organ here. Ian Gillan has one of those voices where I don't know if I'd really say he's a good singer but it works pretty well here. (I think it works better in the second iteration of this lineup, when they were doing the creepy songs like Perfect Strangers and Knocking At Your Back Door, which is also the kind of Deep Purple I like more than this Smoke on the Water run, but that album isn't on here so whatever) That's not even getting into Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore, and man could we talk about Blackmore for days. Anyway it is a shame they are more interesting than good. I liked this a normal amount. More bands should have cool organ sections.

If we’re going to do some kind of Scottish indie-ish rock can we please have Idlewild’s The Remote Part instead of this? Travis is like some bizarre transitional period between Radiohead and Coldplay instead we could be listening to You Held the World in Your Arms or A Modern Way of Letting Go and having a good time

Freak On A Leash is the funny song everyone knows, Got The Life is the one that's actually kind of ok, and everything else is godawful The thing is, I don't think this is getting a one because it very much sounds like itself. Even the Korn imitators never quite sounded like Korn. This is both praise and insult. It might still get a one. I'd give the album after this a three probably. Issues should have been on here instead of Follow The Leader even if Follow The Leader is the one everybody knows.

All the oi oi oi albums feel like a stepping stone to better music, historical oddities before someone else added new elements to make better genres. This is fine for what it is though, even if it’s a bunch of cosplayers

I listened to the first song and thought this couldn't be that bad I wasn't prepared for the breathy, grating falsetto

I don't think shoegaze is bad but I do think my bloody valentine is bad three albums for this band on the list man

I think it's right to have exactly one Offspring album on this list and this is the correct one. Ixnay has their best song (Gone Away) but is a pretty weak album otherwise and Smash at least has their second best song (Gotta Get Away). This is not an amazing album either outside of the singles. it gets a three entirely for nostalgia. I remain irritated Bad Religion is not included in the album list.

now this was a good list experience. I've got so many conflicting opinions here I bought this CD when it came out and kind of wrote off Speakerboxxx. Outkast without the weird cool interesting guy? No, I listened to a ton of The Love Below but ignored Speakerboxxx. I was wrong. Listening to both made me realize I not only missed out but I'd never given Big Boi enough credit for what he brings to the group. It also made me realize Outkast is so much better together - while both albums are interesting, and the solo aspect is a core part of what makes them interesting, the tracks that include Big Boi and Andre have this electricity to them. So I'm torn on how to rate this. The double album and solo album nature is, again, a key part of why this is so fascinating. It wouldn't be as interesting if it weren't so uneven, highlighting what makes each artist individually interesting and what's missing when they aren't working together, so are the flaws really flaws? Speakerboxxx being consistently good and The Love Below hitting way higher highs and way lower lows only improves the experience. Four? Five? Gotta be a five. It has to be weird getting this before Stankonia for anyone doing this list that doesn't already know Outkast

I like this a fair bit but I don’t think it’s anything special and there are too many albums by The Byrds on the list. Nice to get something that sounds like country music but this album list is sorely lacking in country albums and iconic country artists. Wouldn’t mind less of this (and less Dylan!!) for more of that.

If we can all agree to pretend Ooby Dooby doesn’t exist this is CCR’s best album. Long As I Can See The Light is probably their best song, too, though I could argue for others. There are a couple tracks that don’t work here (Ooby Dooby, Before You Accuse Me, Ooby Dooby, Ooby Dooby) but the highs are just so high. You could build a greatest hits album from this album alone. I saw Fogerty in concert five or so years back and the man has so much energy. One of the all time best concerts I’ve seen, right up there with The Roots.

I think I could find this album irritating in the right mood, and I think I would probably dislike Brandon Flowers on a personal level but I love his voice here. The line between good music and bad music (internally, for me, in my opinion, etc) is so interesting. Lot of little elements that if they were slightly different I'd be looking at a two instead of a four here. We've had other bands that sound similar that I rated low for the same things The Killers are doing here but it mostly works on Hot Fuss. 243 albums into this, plenty of others I've listened to on my own time, and I'm not sure I'm any closer to any kind of big understanding. Oddly satisfying.

Maxwell's Silver Hammer is one of the worst songs ever written. This is a recurring theme for Paul McCartney, a man responsible for some of the greatest crimes in music and who deserves his day in The Hague. It is the only thing saving the Raffi-ass Octopus's Garden from being one of the all time worst things The Beatles ever did. Or Mean Mr. Mustard, or I Want You (She's So Heavy), or Polythene Pam, or Because, or Sun King, or or or There are about four good songs on this album. Some of them are great even (Here Comes The Sun, Carry That Weight), some are a little better than good (Something, Come Together). The Beatles remain overrated and hiding better, more important artists in their shadow

this website is convinced the blues/jazz is my favorite genre of all time but like a) there are so few entries for each genre that they have legitimately selected only the good ones, there is actual curation here b) there are SO MANY dogshit bands clogging up the rock genre so yes this is yet another 5 for a jazz record but my score for rock would be way higher if we didn't have thirty Steely Dan albums or every British alt-rock band that sneezed during the early 2000s

I rolled my eyes and expected the worst when I pulled up the wikipedia page to figure out why this was on a list otherwise not known for its depth or awareness of the world outside the UK. "George Harrison, David Crosby, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and Roger McGuinn are fans of the album". Oh, right, delightful. This is going to be garbage. It's not garbage though. It's very good actually.

I could probably see liking this more than I did. I could also see finding it more irritating than I did. wobbling between a two and a three.

this is good - of course it's good, even people too snobby to like country music like Johnny Cash - but man it suffers from comparison to At Folsom Prison. I think we really only needed Folsom Prison on here. other album slot could have gone to someone else or hell even a different Johnny Cash album. four for content, yet another frustration at the list

been surprised to find that I actually do like Neil Young quite a bit. Wasn't sure I was much of a fan before sitting down to listen to the albums. Still irritated he takes up so much of this list though. Not as irritated as I am about someone like Bowie but y'know pretty irritated

starts strong and ends strong, but everything in between is just pretty good.

flirted with a five for this. It feels like an apology for all the unnecessary CSN albums on the list and is a reminder the album list cold sucks when it comes to adequate country music representation

you know, I thought I'd like this one more

what an odd album. I couldn't decide if I liked it or if I found it intensely offputting, and I think the answer is both in equal measure. I ended up comparing it to a similar band I like unequivocally (The Heavy, and specifically their album The House That Dirt Built). Brothers felt like 15 tracks of the same song and I didn't react strongly to any of it. The first time I heard How You Like Me Now, I told everyone I knew they had to listen to it. I sent that Letterman performance out on every social media site I was using at the time. fuck man I FELT something. ran out and bought that CD the very next day. Every track on there felt like the band but none of it sounded the same, you know? Brothers just kind of existed. I enjoyed it well enough but my time with it begins and ends with this album review. it's a fine album. I should probably be giving it a three but comparison is here to steal joy, sorry

I really, really wanted to like these guys but they are too british and there are a few too many off-key warbling songs like I don't mind a singer who can't sing, especially in a ska band, but you gotta make it work

what if Dead Can Dance wasn't very good I don't hate this because I can see how it eventually becomes Nick Cave, Brendan Perry, Julian Cope, Peter Murphy, so on but it feels emotionless, dreary in a way that isn't properly and pleasantly depressing.

this isn’t outright bad but it is worse than the other two Beastie Boys albums on the music list and I am irritated that we got what is basically the same album three times instead of leaving those slots open for the album list’s many, many, many, many blind spots

damn fine bluegrass anyone who reviewed this with a blanket "I don't like country" is weak and will not make it through the winter

grew on me the more I listened to it. maybe more of a three than a four but I'm in a good mood

no

I think this is fine but I'm irritated about getting three Neil Young albums in less than two weeks so I would like to use this review to recommend overrepresented artists (David Bowie, Neil Young, The Beatles, the other parts of CSNY, Elvis Costello, Elvis Costello, and Elvis Costello to name a few) have fewer entries on the list so we can make room for others. It's a shame that we don't have Silversun Pickups on here, or Veruca Salt, or a bunch of deserving country artists, or that some bands are on here but with the wrong album (Garbage should have Version 2.0), and in an attempt to be relevant to Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere I would specifically like to bring attention to Type O Negative. Type O Negative's cover of Cinnamon Girl is both a joke and a fantastic cover. The album it appeared on, October Rust, would probably be my pick for the album list but I think you could make an argument for Bloody Kisses too. If you are also irritated by the amount of Neil Young (an artist I like! there's just too much on the 1001 albums!) then please go check out October Rust. thank you.

had a better opinion of The White Stripes when they were a band I kind of knew and was pretty sure I liked. Increased familiarity has not been to their benefit. to be fair I do think this is a good version of what it is. I just don't particularly like what it is.

went in hoping for Swans, Joy Division, PJ Harvey got The Jesus and Mary Chain or Ministry so I hated this

Snoop is oddly charismatic and I think his flow is fun but man even attempting to ignore the homophobia and misogyny Dre and The Chronic might be the worst thing that ever happened to rap

one of the uncomfortable realities of this album list has been realizing I actually like U2, and not just a few singles I recognize from the radio. thankfully I am not as into this one as the other albums we've had so far. a little order is restored to the world. if more of the album sounded like mysterious ways I would give this a shameful four.

bless him, his voice sounds like that and he isn't letting it stop him for even a second (I quite like his voice once you get used to it and can look past how it sounds to appreciate how it sounds) The album list's insistence on overrepresenting certain artists hurts this album though. This is my third Neil Young album in less than two weeks. All that's done is make me fatigued and less likely to appreciate what's good here. After The Gold Rush I think had a dark horse chance at a five, and very comfortably a four, but my initial response was "there are 1089 albums on this list, how do I keep getting the same guy" instead of any kind of enthusiasm. And that's for an artist I'm discovering I actually like! It's only made me hate David Bowie or Iggy Pop more, made me more critical of how overrated The Beatles are, and I can only imagine how bad it's going to be when I get to the mediocreocalypse of a hundred Elvis Costello albums. So After The Gold Rush. I think it works better when it's angry, kinda like Neil in general, and I'm less on board with the love songs. Not sure it's going in my regular rotation but I have discovered I like Neil Young better than I thought and if I had any kind of spacing between these albums I'd probably be more excited.

went on a real journey with this album. At first I kinda hated it, then I noticed it growing on me, then I kinda hated it again, then I decided any affection for it is probably from other bands I like better that sound kind of similar. Maybe? I don't know. Probably gets a three if it ended ten or so minutes sooner. Unfortunately I had time to ride the cycle again and wind back around to finding it irritating.

I can’t be assed to care about musical “plagiarism” outside the most egregious cases, and even then man it’s difficult to get all that worked up. There are a finite number of notes and chords and progressions, bigger dude bands get endless passes for this shit, and the cited “plagiarized” works are often transformative enough or bring something new to the song Also Wire sucks and they never made a song nearly as good as Connection, the 2 I gave them was generous

save me, George Lowe

I can’t stand Randy Newman’s voice or general vibe, he strikes me as a smug little vaudevillian shit not even getting into whether this is an effective satire of racism (it’s not Newman is way too clumsy working with material this volatile)

I hate the song, I hate this album, and I hate this band The only good thing Eagles ever did was lose track of Joe Walsh and let him wander away to make better music. (Note specifically that the only semi-decent song on this entire album, Life In The Fast Lane, is the only one where Walsh has songwriting credits.) There are less technically competent albums on this list(1). There are musicians I hate more than Glenn Frey and Don Henley on both a personal and artistic level, if only just(2). There are Steely Dans on this list making worse old dude rock than Eagles. I still think I hated listening to this more than any of those. (1: the noise bands are at least kind of interesting, and A Grand Don't Come For Free may be the most amateurish waste of time I've ever heard but it was charming how bad it was so I can't be too angry) (2: even setting aside the morally reprehensibles, the Steve Albinis and Gene Simmonses and Morisseys and such, the list is making me even more frustrated with the overrated artists like Bowie or The Beatles. Frey and Henley (3) aren't quite on the Paul McCartney end of the Musical War Criminal scale but they're pretty close!) (3: check out the "Legal Troubles" section on Don Henley's wikipedia page, actually, so let's bump Henley up the list of music dudes to hate about a thousand spots higher. it's not just his godawful voice)

I have no idea how to rate this. I don’t care for this vocal genre. The instrumental genre though? Love it. The strings in the background are heavenly. Billie Holiday is a five star artist but maybe not on this album; it’s painful to hear the damage she’s done to her voice and she’s certainly missing notes. Then again, that same vocal quality is fascinating partly because of how rough she sounds here. You can still hear her talent and that damage is a like an aural biography. In the context of an artist near the end of their career and life, both too short, it’s a masterpiece. But also I’d find more personal enjoyment if this were just the backing band playing instrumental jazz and the entire album sounds the same through its 45 minute run time. It’s a one. It’s a two. It’s a five. There are compelling arguments for all five numbers on this scale and I think all of them are wrong because rating this album on a single numeric score is wrong. That’s true of all albums really, this entire list is an exercise in futility and the true merit is in individual personal growth from committing to the exercise and exposing themselves to new experiences, but it’s hard to pretend otherwise here. I’m giving it the conflicted three and having a pleasant little existential crisis about it

the album list helped me discover that I actually do like Neil Young, and then did its damnedest to make me change my mind by giving me six of his albums in less than two months

I am so, so tired of the "how sincere is this fascism intended to be" game. it happens a lot on this album list! more than you'd think! (as best as I can tell the answer is, like also often happens to be the case, these guys aren't quite as clever as they think they are and shock isn't the same thing as impact. but ultimately their muddled attempt is an anti-fascist one. I think. anyway.) this is ok. I don't hate it.

conceptually and historically interesting but not something I need to listen to it's fine

Kinda pretty, kinda boring in equal measure? I think in the right mood I’d either be irritated by this or find it more charming than I do. There are bands kind of like this that I like more and I don’t think it’s bad by any measure but I feel no urge to listen to this again. It’s a three but a disappointing one. There are albums I’ve rated lower that I’m still thinking about and this will remain the “oh right that guy was in a couple episodes of Parks and Rec” album

this is big and stupid in the best of ways. like yes it drags on and yes the orchestra is superfluous in about half the songs and yes by the album list’s own rules this shouldn’t be eligible for entry but I love this big stupid album. probably a four but I’m bumping it up an entire point because I had it in high school and No Leaf Clover is great

another shitty Bowie album taking a spot on the list from a more deserving artist, only this time he's transformed himself into a (somehow) worse version of The Rolling Stones nine albums of this

this was extremely ok. I want to bump it up to a three because it’s a Welsh band but by my standards this is too much of a two for me to live with that I think it’s fine, I don’t hate it, but man the “the most important band since The Beatles” takes from critics are kind of hilarious. I don’t even think the beatles are good and that is an obviously silly reaction

this is almost very pretty. Five or six different decisions and I think I would have liked this a lot. Unfortunately it's hard to unhear the issue with the drums. It's also unpleasant to hear the Dylan-ish delivery. Everything kind of flows together but in that everything feels the same way, not the lost in an album kind of way. I really wanted to like this more than I did.

torn between a four and a five here. I think I ultimately settle on a five because I decided this was a four, wrote this sentence, and realized that I typed five instead of four. Clearly I knew something I don’t.

I am almost certainly bumping this up to a four because I love Vernon Reid and the sound of Corey Glover’s vocals but also, let’s be honest with ourselves, Cult of Personality is a six star song

I am absolutely bumping this up to a three because it's charming

One of my favorite bands. Genuinely believe Shirley Manson is one of the all time great musicians. If we’re only getting one Garbage album on this list it probably should be Version 2.0 instead of the debut but I’m happy they’re here regardless