160
Albums Rated
3.31
Average Rating
15%
Complete
929 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
2010
Favorite Decade
Jazz
Favorite Genre
other
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
10
5-Star Albums
3
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Beyond Skin
Nitin Sawhney
|
5 | 2.76 | +2.24 |
|
The Trinity Session
Cowboy Junkies
|
5 | 3.08 | +1.92 |
|
Protection
Massive Attack
|
5 | 3.24 | +1.76 |
|
Stand!
Sly & The Family Stone
|
5 | 3.43 | +1.57 |
|
Blackstar
David Bowie
|
5 | 3.48 | +1.52 |
|
Playing With Fire
Spacemen 3
|
4 | 2.55 | +1.45 |
|
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
The Flaming Lips
|
5 | 3.57 | +1.43 |
|
Hounds Of Love
Kate Bush
|
5 | 3.62 | +1.38 |
|
Bright Flight
Silver Jews
|
4 | 2.68 | +1.32 |
|
Dr. Octagonecologyst
Dr. Octagon
|
4 | 2.69 | +1.31 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2112
Rush
|
1 | 3.37 | -2.37 |
|
The Wall
Pink Floyd
|
2 | 4.13 | -2.13 |
|
461 Ocean Boulevard
Eric Clapton
|
1 | 3.11 | -2.11 |
|
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
|
2 | 4.08 | -2.08 |
|
Apocalypse Dudes
Turbonegro
|
1 | 2.89 | -1.89 |
|
Sticky Fingers
The Rolling Stones
|
2 | 3.86 | -1.86 |
|
Highway to Hell
AC/DC
|
2 | 3.64 | -1.64 |
|
Amnesiac
Radiohead
|
2 | 3.41 | -1.41 |
|
Crime Of The Century
Supertramp
|
2 | 3.4 | -1.4 |
|
Shake Your Money Maker
The Black Crowes
|
2 | 3.27 | -1.27 |
5-Star Albums (10)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Led Zeppelin · 4 likes
2/5
The macho masturbatory guitar solos, the lyrical content, and the well known behaviour of the band members all combine to make me feel that this is what toxic masculinity would sound like if you turned it into music. And all the wailing and moaning just sounds risible to me. Very much not my cup of tea.
Nitin Sawhney · 2 likes
5/5
I have heard bits of this before, but I don't think I've listened to the whole album.
This is the kind of concept album I can get on with - thoughtful reflections on a theme, rather than a bombastic opera about the random interests of coked-up rock stars. The mix of 90s trip-hop beats with world music is very much my cup of tea.
Sigur Rós · 1 likes
4/5
I knoew and liked this already. It's beautiful, and listening again made me want to look up a translation of the lyrics. Hopefully that will help me listen again a bit more deeply - with very dreamy/ambient music like this, I tend to let it wash over me and don't really engage with it actively.
Curtis Mayfield · 1 likes
4/5
As with the previous Curtis Mayfield album on the list, the smooth sexy style isn't entirely my cup of tea. But this is clearly great, love the anger and the political message, and the style is growing on me.
1-Star Albums (3)
All Ratings
Van Morrison
4/5
Buena Vista Social Club
4/5
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
More trad blues/rock than I expected. I thought Creedence were psychedelic hippies. Not bad.
DJ Shadow
4/5
Great, I'll be listening to this again.
Fela Kuti
4/5
Brilliant. I'd heard some Fela, but never this, which is clearly a very important album in all sorts of ways.
Solomon Burke
3/5
First one that I had never heard of before. I enjoyed it but wasn't blown away - suprising mix of influences from country, jazz, crooner, soul, rock and roll. I knew one or two of the songs from parody versions but not the originals.
The Monkees
4/5
Cocteau Twins
3/5
Another one that I've always meant to gove a listen. Unfortunately it easily becomes wallpaper if you just put it on while working , like I did. Interesting though.
Massive Attack
5/5
The first one to come up that I already know well. Love it.
Iron Maiden
3/5
Didn't manage to listen to this properly but maybe I'll come back to it
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Not my usual sort of thing, but he does what he does very well, and I found this quite moving despite it feeling a bit sentimental at first. Some dreadful rhymes though.
Beck
3/5
Interesting. I had only heard Beck's more experimental stuff before. For me, this suffered from coming the day after Frank Sinatra. I am much more the intedned audience for Beck, and I think this record is more creative and interesting in lots of ways than the Sinatra. But Sinatra somehow communicates melancholy and loss in an elemental, archetypal way, and this feels a bit wan in comparison.
Fishbone
3/5
I genuinely had no idea what I was listening to at first. Amazing creativity and mashup of genres, and I like the politics. The music didn't connect for me personally though.
Sugar
4/5
Another one I already know and love, but it really rewarded a more careful listen.
Surprised to see it on this list though. I would have guessed something by Husker Dü would be included, but if anything by Sugar was on here I'd have guessed it'd be Beaster.
Elton John
3/5
For whatever reason, Elton John's music has always pretty much left me cold, and this hasn't changed my mind. I was surprised by 'Indian Summer', which seems like well-meaning but clueless cultural appropriation - and even more surprised to learn that he was still singing it live in 2011.
Kendrick Lamar
3/5
Not confident rating this, as rap really requires careful listening and this is a monster of an album, so I dind't have time to do it justice. Clearly a very ambitious piece of work - not my usual style but I'm glad I gave it some attention.
Meat Puppets
3/5
Nice to have finally heard the originals after knowing some of these songs from Nirvana Unplugged, but nothing grabbed me especially.
Fever Ray
3/5
Nice to have finally heard the originals after knowing some of these songs from Nirvana Unplugged, but nothing grabbed me especially.
Al Green
3/5
This kind of smooth soul washes over me and all the songs feel a bit samey. I realise this is because I'm not familiar enough with the genre to appreciate the nuances of arragment and performance properly. Hopefully this project will educate me a bit.
The The
4/5
Another gap filled in my musical education -never heard any of these songs before. I liked it musically but often found the lyrics and singing style hard to take seriously.
Faust
3/5
Great to properly listen to some Krautrock, having been generally aware of the genre vand a bit familiar with Kraftwerk. Very interesting how this switches, often within the same song, between electronic noises that feel decades ahead of their time and much more conventional seventies psychedelic rock.
Cat Stevens
3/5
I kn ew some of the songs from this but it's nice to hear the album. I'm in two minds about Cat Stevens - I like the music but for some reason a lot of the lyrics slightly give me the ick. I think they feel a bit smug and condescending.
Sly & The Family Stone
5/5
Love it! The combination of funk with a sixties wildness is great.
Stan Getz
3/5
Nice but nothing stood out about it for me.
Fatboy Slim
3/5
First time listening to a whole album by Fatboy Slim, even though I love big beat. When it came out I had a bit of a hipsterish dislike of it because it was so popular. But having listened properly I'm still not taken with it. It doesn't have the playfulness of Bentley Rhythm Ace or Propellerheads, or the transcendent euphoria of the Chemical Brothers. It just feels emptily hedonistic, a perfect soundtrack for the mad-fer-it laddishness of Cool Britannia.
Jorge Ben Jor
3/5
Brilliant! The mix of funk and Latin styles is so much fun. I found myself dancing to this more than any of the other albums I've listened to on the list.
Lana Del Rey
3/5
I've been meaning to listen to more Lana Del Rey. This is clearly very good but I'm still finding what I have before - I find it hard to connect with the songs emotionally, a lot of it feels a bit detached and artful to me. I think that's a me problem though. I'll give this another listen at some point.
Scott Walker
3/5
I've been meaning to listen to more Lana Del Rey. This is clearly very good but I'm still finding what I have before - I find it hard to connect with the songs emotionally, a lot of it feels a bit detached and artful to me. I think that's a me problem though. I'll give this another listen at some point.
Sister Sledge
4/5
Not my kind of thing but it's clearly very good and I can see how influential it's been. I really like 'Lost In Music'.
Frank Ocean
3/5
Modern R&B is not my thing but I was surprised by how creative the production and use of samples etc is on this. If anything, the production is a bit busy for my taste, with lots of layers of stuff going on.
Moby
4/5
I already knew and loved this. I think it holds up, but I'm less comfortable these days with a white artist making millions off samples of Black artists...
Various Artists
3/5
Santana
3/5
Queen
3/5
While Freddy Mercury was cool and Queen are clearly incredible musicians, their grandiose theatrical style has never appealed to me. Singing nonsense doggerel about ogres and fairies doesn't help. Pompous, po-faced, showy and ridiculous.
The Only Ones
3/5
I was curious about this, having only heard 'Another Girl Another Planet'. It was pretty much as I expected - post punk with a Velvet Underground influence, although there were some surprisingly jazzy bits. 'Another Girl Another Planet' is very much the standout track, I would have liked more like that.
Dolly Parton
3/5
Dolly Parton is, by all accounts, an amazing person, and has written some great songs. But nothing on this album grabbed me much. The wisdom on offer is a bit too simple and folksy for my taste, and none of the songs stood out much for me
The Gun Club
3/5
Not really my sort of thing, but a fascinating listen. You can really hear the blues and rockabilly elements meeting the punk rawness, and see what an influence this must have been on Pixies.
The United States Of America
3/5
This is fascinating. Everyone goes on about the innovations in Pet Sounds and Sergeant Pepper, but this came out a year later and sounds way more modern and pioneering in a lot of ways. The content of the songs doesn't have the slightly conservative nostalgia that I think you find in those other records, either.
Not an easy listen though, very spiky and strange.
Bob Dylan
4/5
One I know and love already. It was good to give it a closer listen. In the context of the other albums on this list, it stands out for having relatively simple arrangements, with the emphasis very much on the lyrics and songwriting.
Pink Floyd
2/5
I tend to think concept albums aren't strictly the same kind of thing as most of the other albums on here, and need to be listened to differently. This has more in common with a musical or an opera than it does with a rival rock album. And I'm not very interested in any of those things.
Added to that, the theme and style put me off. A rich famous rockstar can certainly make interesting music about his personal angst and suffering, but when it's delivered in such an epic, theatrical style, it feels self-absorbed and pretentious to me.
Goldfrapp
3/5
Beautiful. I've never properly listened to Goldfrapp before, and I was expecting chilly electronica, so I was pleasantly surprised at how warm and human this is. I'll be listening again.
Solange
3/5
The subject matter sounds great, but I remain unfamiliar with R&B as a genre so it all sort of washes over me. I did figure out that R&B sounds terrible through tinny phone speakers though - I'll listen to future R&B albums through hewadphones or decent speakers. I enjoyed it much more once there was some decent bass.
The Isley Brothers
3/5
Musically great, love the guitar and it had me boogying in the kitchen. Lyrically it felt a bit repetitive, I can only take so many songs about beautiful ladies and lonesome nights one after another. I think I'd enjoy the songs individually more than I did listening to the whole album. But it grew on me as it went, and I might enjoy it more on a second listen.
Radiohead
3/5
I have tried quite a few times to listen to and appreciate this album. I thought maybe this time would be the charm, but sadly not. I love all Radiohead's albums up to OK Computer but have always been ambivalent about their later work. I respect their decision to be more experimental and leftfield and, mainly, less commercial. But I have never really enjoyed any of the music.
This is so dour and dreary that it eventually started irritating me.
Incubus
2/5
I'm baffled as to how this made the list. I'm not a fan of nu-metal anyway, but surely there are much better and more influential examples of the genre. Utterly uninteresting to me.
Mercury Rev
4/5
I liked this a lot. I know 'All is Dream' but hadn't heard much other Mercury Rev. To me, this sounds a bit like they're developing the dreamy, soaring-strings sound that I love on that album, but haven't quite got there yet. Still great and I'll be listening again.
Sigur Rós
4/5
I knoew and liked this already. It's beautiful, and listening again made me want to look up a translation of the lyrics. Hopefully that will help me listen again a bit more deeply - with very dreamy/ambient music like this, I tend to let it wash over me and don't really engage with it actively.
Eric Clapton
1/5
This is the first one I couldn't be bothered to finish. I can normally spearate the art from the artist, but a known racist profiting from uninspired cover versions of songs by Black artists makes that impossible. Naming the album after the fancy house he was living in at the time just adds to my disdain for this man. A good guitarist but none of the performances on here interested me at all.
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
I'm afraid I had this on in the background and let it drift over me a bit - which was easy to do because the orchestra/strings seemed to be as prominent as the funk. I think it sounded good though!
Rush
1/5
20-minute prog-rock epics about the priests of Syrinx are very much not my thing. Neither are screamy metal songs featuring offensive Orientalist stereotypes. Self-indulgent, dreary nonsense. It would have been 2 stars but then I learned it's somehow based on Ayn Rand. Fuck this shit.
Public Enemy
4/5
This was great. Amazing power, anger and focused message. I'd only heard It Takes a Nation of Millions before, but I think I'll be looking up their other albums now,
Pink Floyd
3/5
This was fun but as I grow older, I have less patience for the more whimsical bits of psychedelia - I'm more aware these days of how much of it is just privileged white boys pissing about. This is a better example of it though, I like Syd Barrett.
Spacemen 3
4/5
I love Spiritualized so I should have listened to Spacemen 3 a long time ago. I was expecting it to be spikier and more electronic, but found I really liked it. You can really see the through line from this to early Spiritualized, and in fact Spiritualized still play some of the songs live.
Charles Mingus
3/5
This felt like the jazz equivalent of The Fall for me. I'm glad I've heard it, I like to know that people are pushing aginst the boundaries of a form and being genuinely experimental, but it's absolutely not the kind of thing I would listen to normally. Without a strong interest in avant-garde jazz, it's hard not to find that bits of this sound like cats fighting in a bag.
Sonic Youth
3/5
Sonic Youth are another band I always meant to pay more attention to. The bits I've heard didn't grab me much. I enjoyed this a bit more, but I can't help thinking that Nirvana listened to this and went, 'This is great, but what if it had actual tunes and the vocals weren't drowned in guitar soup?'
Bee Gees
2/5
I've never liked what I've heard of the Bee Gees and I've learned to dread the appearance of a concept album on this list, so this was not off to a good start.
Musically I didn't hate it, but the mix of styles and subjects felt all over the place and incoherent. Why are pieces that sound like film scores sitting next to country music and faintly psychedelic songs?
Led Zeppelin
2/5
The macho masturbatory guitar solos, the lyrical content, and the well known behaviour of the band members all combine to make me feel that this is what toxic masculinity would sound like if you turned it into music. And all the wailing and moaning just sounds risible to me. Very much not my cup of tea.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Liked this a lot - but my unfamiliarity with reggae means it all washes over me a bit, and just gives me a warm mellow feeling rather than inspiring critical opinions. On this listen, nothing leapt out as being a classic like 'Redemption Song' or 'Get Up Stand Up'.
Blondie
4/5
Short and sweet, and really good. I knew the famous Blondie songs but had never listened to them properly before. Love the guitars, and her voice is amazing.
Love
3/5
I liked this. Nice arrangements and orchestration. Avoids being twee like a lot of psychedelia, or macho and pretentious like the Doors. None of the songs grabbed me especially though.
Miles Davis
3/5
I'm glad I've heard this because it's so influential. It was a less difficult listen than other experimental jazz I've heard on the list, but still not entirely my cup of tea.
Ray Charles
3/5
Nice. I enjoyed the second half more than the big band stuff in the first half. I think there's other stuff by Ray Charles that would appeal to me more, I should seek it out.
The Doors
3/5
I haven't listened to the Doors for ages, and I enjoyed it more than I expected to. I like Riders on the Storm, and I also liked the gentler bluesier bits.
Queen
3/5
Queen are still not my cup of tea at all, but this was better than their previous appearance on the list. It hangs together surprisingly well for an album with such a mix of styles, it has a sense of humour which felt sadly lacking in the previous effort, and there are no ogres this time. An extra star just for Bohemian Rhapsody.
Dr. Octagon
4/5
One of the things I'm enjoying most about this project is getting to know more hip-hop. I like this, and I think it must have been influential on other stuff I've heard. The constant rectum jokes were a bit much after a while though.
Liz Phair
4/5
Not sure how it's never heard of Liz Phair before, as she's very much in the same area as artists I'm a fan of like Ani DiFranco and Jill Sobule. I enjoyed this and immediately listened to a couple more of her albums.
Nitin Sawhney
5/5
I have heard bits of this before, but I don't think I've listened to the whole album.
This is the kind of concept album I can get on with - thoughtful reflections on a theme, rather than a bombastic opera about the random interests of coked-up rock stars. The mix of 90s trip-hop beats with world music is very much my cup of tea.
Talking Heads
3/5
Never really listened to Talking Heads before, so it's good to get a sense of what they were about. I like their use of Afrobeat influences, to create something new rather than just stealing. But it's a shame that it all feels a bit detached and doesn't have the groove of Fela Kuti.
Jane's Addiction
3/5
I'd heard a couple of tracks but never a full album. Interesting to hear what a big influence this must have been on Vent 414, a band I am familiar with.
Duran Duran
3/5
Not really my thing but the hits are fun. I felt there wasn't much variation in style, and the other songs tended to feel a bit samey.
Beastie Boys
3/5
I'm afraid I had this on in the background while working, so it didn't get my full attention. No tracks leapt out at me, but I may come back to it some time.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
I liked this - I definitely enjoy the rhythms and humour in New York hip-hop like this and De La Soul.
Tom Waits
3/5
As with other Tom Waits I've heard, I'm glad I heard it, I'm glad someone is out there doing this kind of weird stuff, and it isn't something I'd listen to regularly.
Eels
4/5
I want sure I knew any Eels tracks, then it started and I was immediately hit by a rush of nostalgia for mid-90s student days. I really liked this, there's something about the style and arrangements that just appealed to me.
Kate Bush
5/5
Of course I already knew and loved this. Listening carefully reminded me just how strange and varied it is.
Embarrassingly, it's also only now that I realised how few women there are on this list. Shameful.
David Bowie
5/5
Good to be removed if this and give it a proper listen. An amazing piece of work.
Turbonegro
1/5
Listened to the first couple of tracks, and I was bewildered how this uninteresting nonsense got to be on the list - especially given my discovery a couple of days ago that less than 20% of the albums on here are by women. Is there really no album by a woman that deserves a place more than this?
I looked up the band to see if I was missing something, and learned that they used to regularly play in blackface because they thought it was 'edgy' or something. So I'm done here. Second album on the list that I haven't bothered finishing.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
As with the previous Curtis Mayfield album on the list, the smooth sexy style isn't entirely my cup of tea. But this is clearly great, love the anger and the political message, and the style is growing on me.
Hugh Masekela
4/5
Loved this. Nice to hear some jazz that isn't experimental and wilfully difficult.
The Black Crowes
2/5
The original 70s blues rock that this is imitating already felt derivative and dull to me, and I'm definitely not interested in a copy of the copy. As with Led Zeppelin etc, the macho posturing is ludicrous and there's a strong hint of toxic maculinity.
Bebel Gilberto
4/5
Very smooth and sexy.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
Brilliant. The production is amazing, it's as though Leonard Cohen is whispering into your ear in a confined space. Probably a coffin.
I have to confess this is another concept album I actually like. Reflections on a theme. I think you need to listen to the album on its entirety, no songs stood out especially for me.
M.I.A.
4/5
Interesting. The hip hop and south Asian weekend work really well together.
Alanis Morissette
4/5
Heard this loads of times. Listening again, I was stuck by how much angrier and more immediately accessible it is, compared with her wordy and introspective later albums.
Janelle Monáe
4/5
I'd listened to this before but it was nice to pay more attention this time. I think I may be getting converted to the idea of concept albums, which is surprising. Quite an achievement to make something this wildly odd and geeky and creative, and make a commercial success out of it.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
4/5
Nice! I've listened to Neil Young a bit but never too CSNY. I like the politics and the harmonies and the country flavour.
Soul II Soul
3/5
Interesting. I'm afraid I listened on my phone and didn't give it enough attention, busy morning. I was surprised by the odd spoken word stuff on it.
Wilco
3/5
Nice. I love Mermaid Avenue and have never got round to listening to more Wilco. Nothing stood out hugely though, and sadly, double albums that come up in this project always feel like a bit of a chore.
Fats Domino
4/5
Nice, fun to listen and groove along to. It's a shame but I think it's hard to get a sense of how exciting this music was in its time, because it's become so fundamental to a lot of other things we listen to.
Todd Rundgren
2/5
This was a bit of a rollercoaster ride.
At first I was extremely skeptical. A double album of seventies blues rocks did not appeal. It sometimes feels like there are more seventies blues rock albums by bearded men on this list than the total number of albums by women.
Then I grudgingly had to admit that there was more interesting stuff going on with the production and musical styles than I'd expected.
Then he started singing about loving teenage girls and calling women sluts.
The Smiths
3/5
I once owned all the Smiths albums but didn't listen much to any of them apart from 'The Queen is Dead'. Partly it was because they're tainted by the knowledge that Morrissey is a fascist prick. But this reminded me of the other reason - the killer tracks are really great, but for me the rest of this really is filler, nowhere near as good. And this album doesn't have many of their best songs on it.
Talking Heads
3/5
Angular art rock is not really my thing, but this doesn't sound quite like anything else I've heard on this list, and that's good.
TV On The Radio
3/5
Never heard them before, and I genuinely couldn't figure out what I was hearing at first, in a good way. Really interesting blend of genres and influences, but the songs didn't grab me.
Girls Against Boys
2/5
It was OK but I'm not sure why it's on the list. A bit like Sonic Youth but not as good.
Incredible Bongo Band
4/5
I enjoyed this a lot, and I imagine it would be even more fun if I knew enough hip hop to spot all the bits that have been sampled. I did spot something I knew from Bentley Rhythm Ace.
The Kinks
3/5
I enjoyed this. It's was almost good enough for me to overlook the fact that it's partially to blame for the abomination that was Blur's comedy Cockney phase.
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
4/5
Lots of fun. Had me boogying in the kitchen.
Red Snapper
4/5
I'm not sure this is really influential or significant enough to be on this list, but I enjoyed it because electronic music from this era makes me nostalgic. The one track I already knew was from the Spaced spundtrack.
The Rolling Stones
2/5
70s blues rock by rich white men continues to be the thing I reliably dislike most on this list. Musically, I actually enjoyed this, though. It's much more about the groove than about macho posturing guitar solos etc. Lyrically, however, it contains some of the most eye-watering misogyny and racism I've heard in this project so far, which is really saying something. 'Brown Sugar'is absolutely not something anyone should have to hear EVER, let alone something everyone needs to hear before they die.
The National
3/5
I enjoyed this but nothing stood out for me, the droney style isn't my thing. I liked the drums a lot though.
The Cult
3/5
Not my cup of tea, but it's refreshing to hear some hard rock that isn't wildly misogynist and/or racist.
Tim Buckley
3/5
It was OK - the electric guitar and arrangements set it apart from other 60s folk rock a bit. But his voice is too nasal and mannered for me, and the lyrics... I enjoy twiddly hippy nonsense when it's got a sense of fun and whimsy, but this felt utterly po-faced. He actually sings 'Oh whither has my lady wandered?' and doesn't seem to be joking.
The Cars
3/5
I was surprised to find something that's so well regarded critically that I've genuinely never heard before. Like most art rock / New Wave, I thought it was nice enough but it didn't connect with me emotionally, no songs stood out especially.
Scritti Politti
3/5
Interesting stuff that I'd never heard before. The style is not for me though - it felt too precise and controlled, over-produced and kind of tinny. It was a huge relief when some proper bass and drums kicked in on one of the later tracks.
Herbie Hancock
4/5
Fun. Unfortunately I listened to it on a train ride, otherwise I would have been boogying around the kitchen.
Radiohead
5/5
Part of me wants to mark this down just to rebel against the dull middle-aged rock critic consensus of this list, because I know it's going to be one of the ones everyone rates highly. But I just love it and it was great to give it a proper listen again.
The Mothers Of Invention
3/5
Really interesting. It made me think of 'they're selling hippy wigs in Woolworths' in 'Withnail and I', or the bit in 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' about the wave of sixties optimism breaking and receding.
Not the kind of thing I'm likely to listen to again, but I'm glad to have heard it.
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
Loved this. Sly & the Family Stone are one of my favourite new-to-me discoveries if this project.
Elastica
3/5
I like this much more than Blur or Oasis. Really distinctive sound.
Elton John
3/5
Still not my cup of tea, but it's OK.
The Clash
4/5
I like this. I'm not a huge fan of punk in general, but the Clash are definitely my favourite punk band.
Motörhead
4/5
First live album on this list for me! And bloody hell, it's quite something. Undeniable power and energy and speed. For me, it eventually became relentless and a little bit samey, but still. Bloody hell.
Bob Dylan
4/5
An old favourite. Listening to it with more attention, it's hard to believe that the limited and tasteful use of electric instruments was controversial (although that's partly a myth and the anger was more about Dylan shifting away from political songs). But I have to say that some of the lyrics don't quite manage the surreal poetry they're aiming for, and veer dangerously close to the Oasis school of writing down any old nonsense if it fits.
Isaac Hayes
4/5
Great piece of work, and I enjoyed learning about why it's so significant.
ABBA
3/5
Not my thing really, and I think I prefer the earlier poppier stuff, given the choice. But it's very distinctive. Listening to it in the context of this list really highlighted that this is unusual in being full-on pop music that isn't really rooted in rock n roll or R&B.
Yes
3/5
I expected to hate this - pretentious, noodly, soulless prog. But it had some nice moments when they stopped showing off and noodling about.
Radiohead
2/5
I'd never heard this one before. I'm afraid it marks the point where I finally give up trying to appreciate Radiohead's post-OK Computer albums. I couldn't honestly pick out anything to distinguish this from Kid A or Half to the Thief. Every song feels like the same tempo, the same mood, the same musical style. I enjoy a lot of dark and melancholy music, but I can't understand how anyone can listen to this funereal meandering for pleasure.
Grizzly Bear
2/5
This REALLY feels like an example of recency bias, where some critic in 2010 or whenever just nominated their own favourite album from the previous year. I've never heard of the band or the album before, and I don't think it's had the impact or influence to merit a place on this list.
It was nice enough, especially the harmony singing, but there was nothing especially memorable about it for me. They seem to have two modes - quiet indie like a less lively version of Badly Drawn Boy, and cacophonous noise. Neither of them particularly appeals.
MC Solaar
4/5
I've always liked listening to rap in foreign languages, because when I can't understand the words, it's easy to focus on the rhythmic, percussive way the language is being used.
This was great. It reminded me of De La Soul a bit - bouncy and clever.
Willie Nelson
3/5
Latest episode in my evolving relationship to concept albums. This is a fundamentally different kind of thing to most of the other albums on the list. I enjoyed the story it tells but I can't imagine listening to it more than a couple of times. It's beautiful and elegantly made. The cowboy stuff does all feel a little silly to me, though.
X-Ray Spex
4/5
I loved the sound of this, except for the vocals, where I'm torn. I can absolutely see how the screechy, ugly feel is a deliberate artistic choice that gives this its unique identity. But it's a bit much for me. I think I could handle it better in a live performance than listening to it at leisure. Which is quite fitting for a punk record, I guess.
Public Image Ltd.
3/5
Not my thing particularly but I can see how influential it was. Knowing that Johnny Rotten is a bit of an arsehole doesn't help me enjoy it though.
Cowboy Junkies
5/5
I loved this. My favourite new discovery of this list at far. Just gorgeous.
The White Stripes
4/5
Never listened properly to the White Stripes before, and I was surprised by how much I like it. The punky simple drums work so we'll with the bluesy guitar.
The Temptations
3/5
I enjoyed this a lot, especially the more political/social comment stuff on the first side. Not a great version of 'I Heard it Through the Grapevine' though.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
I think I liked this, but I can never decide whether Nick Cave's obsession with Southern Gothic and his funereal delivery are cool, or very silly indeed.
AC/DC
2/5
Christ, I'm only 10% of the way through, and this list already has way too many hairy white men wailing about how much they like sex while accompanied by blues guitar solos. I honestly cannot understand why anyone thinks I need to listen to SO MUCH of this shite before I die, or what is supposed to make this particular album stand out from all of the others.
It's not openly racist or as horribly misogynist as some of the others I've had to endure, which is something.
The Smiths
4/5
This is great, but Morrissey is such a terrible person these days, openly fascist, that I rarely think to listen to it. So this project was a good excuse to give it one more chance.
ZZ Top
3/5
Nice enough. I enjoyed the boogie/blues feel of it.
The Offspring
3/5
It's like Green Day but not as clever, funny, catchy or well produced. The famous tracks are a lot better and really stand out from the rest.
Marvin Gaye
3/5
It's good but not really my thing. I can't imagine listening to this except for sexy times, and that would feel like a cliche at this point.
Traffic
2/5
It's bewildering how each song switches to a new style and genre. I like the folk song and the last track of the album, the rest do very little for me, and it feels inconsistent and weird.
Haircut 100
3/5
I I can tell it's an impressive debut album but it's not my thing. Like most of the New Wave I've listened to, it feels tinny and artificial to me.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
3/5
Buying a sandwich from a supermarket while being a vegetarian can be deeply frustrating. There are usually 15 different variations of chicken sandwich, and one or two bland vegetarian options.
That's how this list feels sometimes, only instead of chicken sandwiches I'm being offered endless minor variations on 'white men performing bluesy rock', and everything else gets squeezed out. I'm no more interested in consuming all of this than I am in the chicken sandwiches. It's very hard for me to see what distinguishes this from the ZZ Top I heard last week, or the Black Crowes before that, or all the many many other similar things on here. And all of them are occupying space that could have been given to much more interesting albums by women or artists in different traditions and genres.
Silver Jews
4/5
I was skeptical at first but found myself rather liking this. I often enjoy lo-fi alt-country, but I admit I'm not sure what makes this special enough to be on the list - I'd never even heard of the band before.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
I always feel as though, as a 90s indie kid and John Peel fan, I should like post-punk more than I do, but I just can't warm to it. I think it's the production values, all echoey vocals and scratchy guitars.
I'm glad I've given this a proper listen, as I've always meant to get to know the band, but nothing on it grabbed me hugely.
The Flaming Lips
5/5
I loved this. Apparently my reservations about concept albums don't apply if they involve kungfu fighting giant robots.
Jefferson Airplane
4/5
One surprise with this list has been how most psychedelic stuff hasn't really grabbed me. But I loved this. The mixture of soft folk and harder blues works really well, and the vision and creativity on tracks like White Rabbit are brilliant.
Metallica
2/5
Putting a double live album on this list is cruel and unusual. It took me all bloody day to listen to this thing.
I'm not a fan of Metallica but I thought this would be interesting. Unfortunately, the orchestral arrangements didn't work for me. Music this brutal and fast demands something spiky and modernist, or like a horror movie soundtrack. What we get is more like a generic action movie soundtrack, it just doesn't fit for me.
Listening properly to Metallica for the first time, I felt the same way about James Hetfield's vocals. You have this heavy Satanic music, then this ordinary-sounding American guy starts yelling about puppets and werewolves, occasionally lapsing into something like Vic Reeves' club style. For me, this kind of music demands a vocalist like Lemmy, or the guttural shrieking that death metal singers do.
Supertramp
2/5
Embarrassingly, I was yesterday years old when I realised that Supertramp are not an American soul/funk band, as I had always believed before for some reason.
I rather wish they had been though. I already knew that I don't like prog when it's pretentious and complex. Now I know that I also don't like it when it has a cheesy pop sensibility. Nothing on here grabbed me at all, although I did realise that I'd actually heard 'Dreamer' before without knowing it was by them.
The Band
3/5
Oh lovely, yet more country/blues/rock made by hariy white men in the seventies, or CBRMBHWMITS as I shall know it henceforth.
This actually isn't too bad, I might have enjoyed it more if this list wasn't so stacked with this kind of music. Except for the one song that verges on being pro-Confederate, of course.
T. Rex
3/5
I enjoyed this. Nice to hear something that's very rooted in rock n roll but doing something fresh with it, after all the very conventional stuff I've heard recently.
Of the directions rock was taking oin the early seventies, I definitely prefer glam to prog. It's still not really my thing though. I'm glad punk came along not long after.
John Grant
4/5
I thought this was completely new to me, but I'd heard one track before, on a mixtape from a friend who's much more of an indie hipster than me.
I really liked it. I thought at first that it was just quirky indie folk and I liked the funny lyrics, but the second half is wildly varied, with gay disco electronica and Kraftwerk pastiches and a moving epic rock track at the end. I'll definitely be listening again.
Guided By Voices
4/5
I've never heard anything quite like this. Some Lemonheads albums maybe had a slightly similar feel.
Most of these tiny songs have more creativity and energy in them than 75% of the stuff on this list. It's quite something.
R.E.M.
5/5
I listened to this so much back in the day that I kind of overdosed and rarely revisit it now, so this was like catching up with an old friend. It is just brilliant, with genuinely moving reflective songs alongside some of their catchiest pop songs.
The Go-Go's
4/5
I'd somehow never heard of this, and I'm surprised how much I liked it. Together with Blondie, it's definitely the best of the New Wave / post-punk stuff I've heard on this list. 'Skid marks on my heart' made me smirk though.
The Young Rascals
4/5
This grew on me as I went on, and I quite enjoyed it. The soul influences lift it above other similar stuff a bit, but I'm still not entirely sure why it belongs on this list.
Beatles
5/5
I've loved this for a long time. But this project helped me to see what's so special about it. The creativity genuinely does stand out from other records of the era I've heard, and listening closely helped me to appreciate how good the production is.
The Streets
3/5
I quite enjoyed this. The storytelling was fun and some of the tracks are good, but I was surprised by how clumsy and ugly a lot of the rhymes and rhythms are.
I guess that's deliberate at least to some extent, but it doesn't work for me. Kae Tempest does similar things a lot better, reflecting real lives and patterns of speech while being poetic and musical.
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
I want grabbed by anything on this. I guess it's an important and influential album, but I've enjoyed their later stuff more.
Pere Ubu
3/5
Interesting. I liked the energy and attitude of this more than most of the New Wave and post punk things I've heard on this list. But as with most avant-garde experimental stuff, I found it easy to admire but hard to enjoy.
Green Day
4/5
When Green Day first appeared, they were a bit too poppy and commercial for snobby 19-year-old me. It's been strange to see them become elder statesmen of rock. These days, I like their politics and I can see that they make an impressive noise for a simple three-piece punk band. I enjoyed this, but only the singles really stood out for me.
Elliott Smith
3/5
I didn't like this as much as I expected to. Gentle acoustic music is kind of my thing, but I do like it to have a little bit of passion, energy or a catchy tune. This just felt like wallpaper.
The Mothers Of Invention
4/5
I was aware of Frank Zappa before this project but hadn't really listened to his music. I've been surprised by how dark and cynical it is.
I quite liked this, the mixture of styles and ideas is impressive.
Funkadelic
3/5
This was more laid back than most of the funk I've heard. It was interesting but I prefer something more upbeat, I think.
Bobby Womack
2/5
I think I'd have enjoyed these songs if they were on a sixties soul album, but like apparently everything in the early eighties, the production and arrangements do nothing for me. Tinny, artificial and cheesy. Most of the songs felt as though they could have been the soundtrack to an embarrassing sex scene in an eighties action movie.
Pixies
4/5
Good to hear this, as I've listened to other Pixies albums but not this one. They're a bit heavy for my taste - I like the melodic tracks better than the screamy ones. But it really is a unique sound and the good tracks are great.
FKA twigs
4/5
This was interesting. It reminded me a bit of Susanna and the Magical Orchestra, but it's not like anything else I've heard on here. It gets an extra star to compensate for the sexism that's got to be a factor in so many people giving it a 1.
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
Nice enough but not for me. The New Wave influence, with chilly production and mannered vocal delivery, doesn't appeal to me.
Dion
2/5
Uninteresting, I've never heard of Dion and I'm not sure why it's on the list. There opening songs treat paedophilia and stalking as romantic.