Soothing, repetitive, sad early concept album. Musical sleeping pill for sad boys.
80s sound. Heavy drums, guitar, synth, nasal vocal lead. Multiple samples of random noises. I suspect it's influential to the decade. Not my fav sound. It's fine.
First full album listen and second full Miles Davis album. I don't regularly listen to jazz but Davis makes me think I ought to. An excellent vinyl spin for evenings.
A classic rock station plays quietly in the background at work. You're not paying much attention, you have things to do. After your second cup of coffee you realize...are you listening to another Tom Petty song? You can't clearly remember.
There's no way you could have been listening to the same artist--maybe even the same songs--for the last four hours, right? Then again, you can't distinctly remember any of what you've heard.
You try to pay attention to the current track but lose focus within the minute. You put the question aside, irritated at the distraction, and get back to work.
Hours pass. The coffee wears off. You're sure the songs are repeating but still can't pin them down exactly. The music has gone on so long you can't grasp it anymore. The parts that make it have melded into the fabric of your existence at your desk, impossible to pick out. The sounds are nameless, formless, shapeless. Or perhaps you are becoming so. Maybe you are now one with the classic rock. Maybe, you are becoming Tom Petty? Maybe, his voice is the only thing standing between you and the ceaseless ringing of tinnitus.
Every now and then American Girl plays, shaking you out of your classic rock fugue state just long enough to remind you that you are in fact alive, and aren't Tom Petty, and you will maybe hear something new someday.
Band and music are mostly new to me, excepting the title track (thanks XPN!).
This debut album made a much more positive impression than the previous one (Tom Petty). A fun listen, with great musicianship on display. Tight drumwork, multiple great guitar riffs and solos. Verlaine uses a whining affectation to his vocals which seems to be popular in this era of rock. He doesn't go full Dylan and it suits the punk attitude, so it stayed interesting rather than obnoxious.
It's always a treat to hear new-to-me "old" music that still sounds fresh and offers interesting discoveries. Vinyl worthy.
Another debut album! The first 21st century album I've listened to in this collection.
Gritty guitar, droning backing tracks. The band went big on distortion.
Thought the vocals sounded familiar--I've heard Tunde Adebimpe's Magnetic quite a bit on XPN this year.
I'm finding it hard to rate this album because it's contemporary to my teenage years. I didn't listen to Linkin Park other than when their single came on the radio, but all the same, it's been part of the musical soundtrack of my life.
Listening now, it's reminding me of what a great record this is for a teenager who's struggling with something. And as an adult who's had their downs, 'In the End' still hits.
I appreciate the musicianship and genre mixing. A great album for processing bullshit.
The best part of this album generator is when it follows up something like Linkin Park with Paul McCartney. Not knowing what comes next makes this an adventure!
I didn't know the history behind this album. As someone who has a longstanding annoyance at the levels of reverence The Beatles are held in, it's funny to me that an album like this could help break up the biggest band in the world.
I give credit to McCartney for taking a chance rather than waiting around moping. His super popular boy band was breaking up and he decides to hard launch a lofi collection of guitar strummers. That takes some courage.
Not much to say about this one. Mixed responses to the tracks. Some of them I enjoyed very much, others came across as noise. It's very British.
So many debut albums!
I can't connect to this. Anger spills out of these tracks. This album is built just as much on hatred as it is on anger.
This is the first rap album on this list I actually enjoyed listening to. If Killer Mike's in it, I'm probably going to enjoy it.
Still stupidly misogynistic. I've heard the word bitch thrown out about 200 times more than I've listened to any Albums by Bitches on this list.
There have been a lot of debut albums so far on this list but this is the first 11th album I've listened to.
This is good jawn. The music reflects the confidence of a group that is approaching 20 years. The tracks are a mix of originals and covers. The vibe is fun. The jams are consistent. Throw this record on at your next party.
Another debut album. (And Richard Thompson in the backing band!)
I have an affinity for this kind of folksy music. Already familiar with Cello Song from this album, which is still the standout track after a full listen. He sounds like an indie Beatle that left the band early and more successfully pulled off McCartney's solo album thing.
Orchestral touches to some tracks, and a recognizable singing voice without affectation. His voice reminds me of Laura Marling and at moments, Nina Simone. Something about the vibrato.
I did not know Drake lived such a depressingly short life. RIP.
This album sounds like the glee club discovered a vocoder and decided to crash orchestra rehearsal. Admirably high energy levels. Also indulgent and overly long. I would classify this album with other albums where the hit single was sufficient and I didn't benefit from listening to the rest.
This is fun metal. Killer guitar, great riffs. The vocals and lyrics are not as strong as the work on the instruments.
I can't say I've ever listened to a full disco album before. An impressive number of artists have been influenced by this band, and here I am not knowing their name! What a groovy pick for a Friday. And after 17 albums, there are women present!
For all my ignorance, the second I read the name of the album, I didn't just see the words. I heard *le freak...c'est chic!*
Fun, iconic, though longer than I would have preferred. While this record is a bit before my time, hitting play brought my Millennial self right back to middle school, New Year's Eve 1999, and counting down to the namesake of my generation.
I'll never have a pinky-full of Prince's charisma, but this music makes me feel it for a while.
I can see why people would appreciate this but I'm encountering the same barriers to my enjoyment as with previous rap and hip hop albums. Overall, this album was more immersive, cleverer, and less antagonistic toward women than the average. Rounded up to 3.
As far as Christmas albums go, pretty great.
Some of the best blues I've had the pleasure of listening to. I especially love the higher energy tracks. An excellent musical genre and musician for a live album. The live setting brings life to what could potentially sound stale in a studio recording, and also highlights the skill of the band.
One of the older albums I've listened to so far. The changes in music and recording are clear when the clock is turned back. This music is simpler. It's not a live album, but it sounds more real and present than many live albums today, which have the ability to process music in vastly different ways on stage.
This record sounds like you're in the dance hall and the band is right there and Louis and Keely are doing their thing while you swing.
A timely pick by the musical machine in the cloud. White's in the news 12-30-25 for not being a fascist boot licker.
I know The White Stripes' music much better than Jack White's solo discography. This is solid, though I miss the intensity of the Whites as a duo, which gave Jack's blues-rock riffing an edge. He's a musician who's very much himself. Consistent and authentic. Great stuff if you're in the mood for it.
I'll happily listen to a complete jazz album, and I enjoy funk, and I appreciate crossovers. This fusion was just...fine? No doubts about musicianship. Some of the instrumentation on the tracks sounded silly or was downright irritating.
If a fax machine could make pop music.
Kind of nostalgic for this sound and this moment in time. Reminds me of watching the movie Holes as a kid.
There's a reliance on the strength of the samples. Moby deep dives into each one, juxtaposing them with late 90s electronica to create a trance-like atmosphere. But it's just...so...repetitive. I don't think this music rises above the sum of its parts. One song was enough.
A double feature with Moby's Play for Albums That Didn't Garner Immediate Commercial Success But Won the Licensing Game. Leans more towards "sleeper" in the "sleeper hit" category for me. This is the sort of music I'd hear underneath the noise of a Starbucks between classes. Which does not mean I dislike it. The hand claps, intimate vocals, and simple backing tracks are comfortable like a pair of plain white sneakers.
FINALLY A LADY ALBUM. It only took thirty! (Really though. Who's going to update this album list? Mr. Dimery's choices are myopic.)
There's relief in finally hearing some of my own voice in the music. I can sing along to this. Even the album cover is relatable. Barefoot in blue jeans, hanging out with the cat, seeking out the sun.
Her unpolished voice is charismatic. King can claim singer-songwriter credit, and beyond that, major hit-writing credits. Listening to her music strung together in a complete album is surprisingly not boring. The songs I didn't already know were solid and the subject matter went beyond romance.
In a thousand albums, this one clearly earns its place as a high point in Carole's contributions to the American music catalog.
I mainly know Deep Purple by way of listening to Ian Gillan on the original cast recording of Jesus Christ Superstar every Easter. (If you're a fan of that show, it's worth looking up Lindsay Ellis' supercut video of the Gethsemane "why." Gillan jumped the octave on that bit and everyone who's sung the song after him has been chasing the high of his insane falsetto.)
The question I'm asking myself now, is Whhyyyyyyyyyyy haven't I listened to more Deep Purple before this?! I don't know, sometimes people are stupid.
This is epic. I already knew Gillan was from another planet, but the entire band shows their quality in this album. While I don't listen to or particularly enjoy today's heavy metal, it was super interesting to listen to an early example of the genre and get a sense of its roots.
Smooooth. Steely Dan makes a jazzy argument for sax in music.
I didn't realize until listening to the album that the Gallaghers sing and play guitar with the same oowAAhh tone. If that makes sense.
A 90s nostalgia album with a Beatles influence, especially on Don't Look Back In Anger. Also similar to the Beatles in that the song lyrics are "open to interpretation."
A debut punk album on the cusp of the 80s. There's a Northern Ireland lilt and attitude, though the musical content stays youthful and focused on lowercase troubles.
Billy Joel is one of those musicians that will be impossible for me to rate objectively. I have a lot of nostalgia for his music from childhood.
Joel is great at storytelling, with Scenes From An Italian Restaurant exemplifying this ability. It's a seven minute musical with characters that are instantly recognizable from real life. A lot of his hits have that personal element, where it's clear he's talking from specific experience. That makes it easier to connect with his cast of characters, as compared to a broad and vague lyrical approach. I've known Brendas and Eddies and I've been a Virginia.
This is probably his best album. On this listen, Vienna is the song I connected with most.
Like with previous electronic albums the repetition is grating. The runtime could have been cut by half. It is relatively fun and works as background music for gaming.
When I first started listening, I wasn't feeling it, but the further I got into the album, the more I enjoyed it. It's nice to hear a female lead singer on this list, even if the vocal conventions of punk aren't my favorite. Fun music with interesting influences to pick up on, both retrospectively and looking into the future.
The tunes are good, if unremarkable when listened to with hindsight. Many of the lyrics sound like they were composed with fridge magnets.
I've existed on the planet for decades, listened to lots of music, and I've never heard of this band before this album popped up on this site. There's a reason for that.
Meh. Maybe Dimery wanted to hit a quota for glam rock albums and couldn't add another Bowie.
Marley "is a vibe," as the kids would say. A Jamaican antidote to the darkness of the world. I can't help but feel better by the end of the album than I did at the beginning.
Not a genre I normally listen to. It evokes a specific feeling and puts me in the same head space that listening to classical music does. A very smooth production.
Went into this completely blind, unfamiliar with the band or their music. The opening track snuck up on me and drove steadily upward. I was thinking "I like the female singer's vocals," and then on track 2, "Wait a minute!"
I appreciate that Icelandic musicians are on this list. Unlike other albums from past decades, this one held up better to my 2026 ears. So much of it is what you'd expect, with many of the musical conventions of this time and genre present. The composition, relentless drums, the cheesy monologuing thing, it's mostly unsurprising. Except there's Bjork shouting about "delicious demons" over cowbell, and it's clear no one is supposed to be taking this seriously. I love a good satire. It's a fun listen.
Papa Was a Rollin' Stone elevates this album (it is a cover, like several of the tracks, but they own it). The first few tracks are so solid, but the album becomes stodgy in the second half.
It would be easy to hate this based on the opener alone, but it is honest. Garage band with some catchy hooks dragged down by dumb lyrics and pointless noise.
This album list has its flaws, but it is developing an appreciation in me for older live albums. Each time they've been a party. (This album was unreleased for 22 years for being "too gritty"?!)
This album is a party, and it also reinforces the fact that American music would be nothing without Black musicians.
Enjoyably chill. Don sunglasses and linen and pretend you're somewhere far away for a while.
Nick Cave is a natural at evoking gloom. What an ideal concept for his voice. He sounds convincingly like he's muttering his stories at you from the other side of a jail cell. (No wonder his romantic songs come across as creepy.)
A reflective, rambling, pleasant road album. Memorable for a feeling rather than a hook. Mitchell is excellent at musical narration.
A really solid debut. A great voice and production. Thematically and musically consistent. I appreciate that D'Angelo wrote and/or produced every song. The one cover he did include fit seamlessly.
