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
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
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
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 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
