This album is a classic, perhaps, Peter Gabriel's most well known album. Peter Gabriel is a master craftsman working with top-notch musicians to create a masterpiece. The only thing keeping this from being a 5 are two songs I'd skip toward the end: "We Do What We're Told" and "This is the Picture." Every other song is still a delightful surprise. Just listening to the bass lines alone, gives insight into song structure.
The bass slaps all through the album. The opener, "Good Times," should be on every dance party playlist. Top-notch musicianship all the way through. Disco was unfairly maligned back in the '70s.
Some great songs: Heaven, Life During Wartime. Tina Weymouth's bass lines contribute so much to the songs. There are a few skips here.
Classic teenage angst. So many memories of singing this entire album on long car rides.
The technical chops to play metal at this level are completely insane.
The guitar solos sound like they are not part of the songs.
The songs all blend together as one.
I've never been a fan of Willie Nelson's voice, but his authenticity often makes up for it. The songs on this are solid and Willie is a national treasure.
Kinda hard to listen to an album that's not on your streaming service - listened to it on YouTube.
This is the sound of early rock & roll. I think we overlook how influential Fats Domino was.
Blueberry Hill is certainly a foundational song.
I enjoy discovering a band and album I have not heard of before. Have I been out of touch, or did this one escape my attention for a reason. (The year it was released I was the busy parent of a 1-year-old)
At first glance, it's a decent album. Probably one I would like with repeated exposure.
No stasnd out songs
A true classic that catapulted the Boss into superstardom. Listening to this record is to appreciate the rich storytelling he brings to his songs.
It's also interesting that the chorus to a song about a dispossessed Vietnam veteran could be stripped of its meaning by people who only hear "Born in the USA" as an anthem of pride.
The songs on this record are heartbreaking ("Downbound Train", the title track), full of desire ("I'm on Fire"), funny ("Darlington County," "Glory Days").
Great musicianship. It sounds like a relic of its era in the opening number with its heavy disco influence.
Not something I would have discovered on my own.
I rate this only through "Las Vegas Basement" where the original album ends.
A great album. I listened to this a lot in my college years in the 90s.
"Soldier Blue" is so pertinent at this moment in time with all of the atrocities ICE is committing.
Good variety in their songs. Nothing immediately stands out, but a solid effort.
When listening to music in a language you don't understand, you can either find a translation, learn the language or go with the vibes. Caetano Veloso has god some vibes. Great voice. The music, and the album cover are a product of its time, but it still holds up.
If they removed any attempt at singing this would be a halfway decent album. This is a product of its time and will hopefully stay there.
Tight songwriting. Well-told stories. Great voice. Everything a country record should be.
Not as incredible as "OK Computer" or "Kid A" but this album has some great songs:
Planet Telex
The Bends
High and Dry
Fake Plastic Trees
Just
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
Typical late '90s alt-rock. Loud guitars, so-so singing. Nothing memorable.
I'd forgotten how many memorable songs were on this album. The Cars were a pretty solid band.
Kate Bush needs to be listened to multiple times. Her songs diverge from what you think a pop song is supposed to be. She's a true pioneer of the artform.
Bowie was never complacent. He would often explore new territories and personas with each album.
The ending jam on this album is phenomenal. Had to listen on YouTube unfortunately.
This could be an album I could really get into with repeated listening. I like the interplay of the instruments, particularly the traditional sounds.
This is a delightful surprise. I only knew of Youssou N'Dour from the Peter Gabriel song "Shaking the Tree." The music and the rhythms are excellent.
I'm not the best judge at evaluating what is "good" rap. Sure, I have my preferences, but rap is not a genre I ever fully committed to. That said, evaluating a rap album seems anathema to me. Knowing that Illmatic is not necessarily the style of music I would listen to, how should I judge it? Lyrical fluidity: the best rappers can amaze you with their rhyme schemes. Nas scores highly here. Choice of music: again this scores highly here. Window into an experience removed from my own: again, scores highly.
Led Zeppelin was one of my favorite bands in high school. When I started playing guitar I wanted to play like Jimmy Page. Zep II is a true classic and often considered the "heaviest" Led Zeppelin album. John Paul Jones is so underrated: the bass lines add so much depth to songs like "What Is And What Should Never Be," "Living Loving Maid," and "Ramble On." This album has everything a teenage boy could want: sex, Lord of the Rings references, sloppy guitar solos, killer riffs, and utter bombast.
A true disappointment. The Casio-like synth arrangements sound incredibly dated. When You See A Chance and Night Train are great songs. The rest grew on me upon a second listen. Except for Dust, which is a treacly way to end an album. I'd love to hear these songs played with a real piano or Hammond B3 organ.
Talking Heads is a band I want to, but just can't quite, love. They have a catalog of great songs. This album got better with a second listen. The musicianship is fantastic. Tina Weymouth is an underrated bass player; she adds so much depth to these songs.
Everything in it's right place here. An absolute masterpiece.
When I want to get an earworm stuck in my spouse's head, "Karma Chameleon" is my go-to track. It's such a well-crafted pop song. I'm old enough (b. 1972) to remember when Culture Club burst onto the scene. Boy George's cross-dressing queerness was anathema to an era of hyper-masculinity. In many ways he paved a path for, if not acceptance, then visibility. Mostly passable pop; nothing spectacular.
Kids has a memorable hook. Other than that, this is pretty forgettable.
The best live albums and best concerts aren't note for note recreations of an artist's catalog. They reimagine the songs and explore the possibilities of the music. Sometimes that disappoints fans who go to the concert expecting the hits, or people who like "songs" but don't really care about "music." Made in Japan is an epic exploration of music that transcends the actual "songs" in Deep Purple's catalog.
When do we separate the art from the artist? How could the person responsible for this sublime record be such a contemptible jerk? There isn't a skip on this record and every song is the work of a craftsman in peak form.
Pure classic. The production, the songs, the cultural impact.
Nothing special. Listenable rock. It occurs to me that someone could write speculative fiction about a world in which the brothers Gallagher had murdered each other before becoming famous, but then the only change in this world is that Oasis would not exist. Everything else would be the same, and no one would be aware of a giant void in their life.
There is no denying the outsized cultural impact of this album. When the "Thriller" video was released on MTV it was an event. Michael went from a superstar to a mega super star. The good songs on this record are good. There are some forgettable tracks, but the Michael Jackson phenomenon was more than just the music: it was the whole aesthetic.
My first experience with The Pogues was seeing them open for U2 on the Joshua Tree stadium tour in 1987. Shane McGowan had bad teeth and swigged from a bottle between shouting incomprehensible lyrics. Traditional Irish music with an edge that tells a story. The music tends to run together.
Abrasive for the sake of being abrasive. It has its moments, but seems to revel in irritating the listener.
Perhaps my favorite Beatles album. This album that proved to the Beatles they could get away with anything. A transition between the pure pop of the early years, and the more experimental records to follow. So many great songs on this one, and one of the best closing songs of all time ("Tomorrow Never Knows"). I often wonder how fans of the Beatles viewed this album. Were they repulsed at first? Or did they go along with it? Every song feels like a different experiment.
This has not aged well. I used to listen to this quite a bit back when it came out. I can't believe I used to think I liked it. Everything sounds like mud: the mix, the vocals, the lyrics. Even the cover leaves a lot to be desired. "The Rooster" and "Would?" are this album's saving graces, but they aren't enough to overcome the unrelenting sameness of the other tracks.
This album was a constant for me in the mid-90s. There are a lot of great songs - "Hummer" and "Mayonnaise" are standouts. But there is also some filler.
Every song on this record is a gem. Neil Young is such a great songwriter, as well as experimenter with sound. The shift from acoustic to fuzzy electric captures his full range as a songwriter and performer. This does what a live record should do: reimagine the songs instead of flawlessly re-create the album versions.
"She's got legs/She knows how to use them/She never begs/She knows how to choose them" is pure sublime poetry. How have these lyrics never been collected in book form?
All kidding aside, it's decent straight ahead, competent blues rock with insipid lyrics. Nothing groundbreaking, except for the beards.
Neil Young is an incredible songwriter. He's always been an icon and an iconoclast.
Love bluegrass. This album is a bit long, but a true deep dive into what makes this music so great. Could do without the confederate flags on the cover, although that was not such a divisive issue in 1972.
Indistinguishable from a lot of music from the era.
This album was groundbreaking. None of the songs could be played on the radio but it still sold because it tapped into the simmering anger at a system that viewed young Black men as a problem to be aggressively managed. This album also fueled the debate about who is allowed to say the N-word - to this day mediocre racist white people WANT to say it because "rappers say it all the time." Sure, some of the lyrics are misogynistic and homophobic, but rap goes in a different direction without this record.
Any record that starts off with "Gimme Shelter" is an instant classic. There are a number of great songs on this one: the title track, "Midnight Rambler," "Monkey Man," "You Can't Always Get What You Want." There are some skips, though.
It's wild that more people don't talk about how influential Lou Reed was. He had a mirror on the true counter-culture.
Decent. Nothing groundbreaking.
A lot of effort went into making this record. The finished product sounds like it was meant for a musical. One has to appreciate the artistry, if some of this falls short.
Not Petty's best. Some decent songs.
This record contains perhaps the tightest song Rush ever made ("Limelight"), my favorite Rush song ("Red Barchetta"), an instrumental named for an airport ("YYZ"), a truly propulsive opener ("Tom Sawyer"), and ultimately a collection of music that highlighted the instrumental range of the band. The back half of the album does drag a bit, but imagine it's 1981, you would buy the vinyl, cassette or 8 track - and only listen to the first side.
This album asks us to question "What is the purpose of music?" Mostly because on it's surface this album is not enjoyable and it's not danceable. So many of our reactions to and enjoyment of music comes from when we were teenagers. Then we come to this project confident in our belief that we know what music is and rate these albums accordingly. This album has its moments and is full of frenetic energy. No, I'm not going to put this on when I'm in the mood for love or a dance party, but it challenges my assumptions of what is "listenable." That said, the drummer often seems to be playing a different song than the rest of the band, and many of the songs sound like extended versions of the endings of rock songs where the instruments are on a collision course with each other.
In 2026, we would not use the N-word even in the service of satire. And that's probably as it should be. 1974 was a much different time. "All In the Family" featured and satirized Archie Bunker, an overtly racist protagonist living in Queens. 1974 was also soon after the Civil Rights era of the 1960s when white racists were still feeling free to use the N-word as a demeaning epithet. Now, in 2026, with the Trump back in the White House, in part because young white men wanted to be free to say the N-word, Randy Newman's satire seems more fitting than ever. The music is classic Randy Newman.
Are the Doors a band you just outgrow as you age? Or do they have some decent songs, but then a lot of filler? Is what made the Doors unique the organ sound of Ray Manzarek paired with the dorm room poetry of Jim Morrison? Is Jim Morrison mailing it in on this record? Was he a good front man with limited vocal range? Had Jim Morrison lived, would the Doors have become another classic rock band paying tribute to its past? Did Jim Morrison grow and change as an artist over the time the Doors were making records until his untimely demise?
It's jarring listening to Metallica and a symphony orchestra AT THE SAME TIME. Normally when a symphony takes on popular music, the music is arranged for the symphony only. The fact that the SFSO would take this project on is a testament to how good the musicianship of Metallica is. Sure, the SFSO could have seen the commercial potential of this project also. The songs are great, but the mix sounds like when you're listening to music and looking at instagram, and instagram is playing music as well.
Electronic music is often a relentless drone of sameness. Which is perfect for the club. Or for those times you want to focus and let the music exist in the background. The music on this record create a propulsive sense of anxiety.
90's alternative was just a whole lot of blah. Not horrible, not great, just melodic heavy guitars not doing anything particularly interesting, and paired with moody lyrics. It was a formula that worked okay on the song level, but led to albums that were competent but not great. Record labels saw $$$ in repeating this formula. "Alternative" was mainstream, not like the 80s where college radio stations played bands that commercial radio saw as having little potential. Not to pick on Garbage, there are some decent songs on this album, but it fits this 90s alternative formula to a tee.
Herbie Hancock is one of the most influential musicians. This record explores and obliterates the boundaries of "jazz."
Sometimes the universe conspires to prevent you from listening to a record. I started listening when I took the dog for a walk, but the music kept cutting out. Then, I started listening when I got home when the internet went out. This seems like the perfect record for needing to jump through hurdles (okay, minor inconveniences) to listen to it. It's odd, but somehow accessible.
This collection could be called "Murderous Cucks," or "Cucks Prone to Domestic Violence." Country music, at its best, is about storytelling, and Yoakam spins some decent stories, even if the murderous cucks need the salvation of Jesus (See "Hold on to God," the last song) in the end. The musicianship is quite good. Overall, not my cup of tea.
Jazz is exploration into the limits of music. The best jazz artists shatter those limits. Miles Davis made a career pushing the boundaries of music. He could have settled in and kept making "Kind of Blue" but he didn't. That's only part of the reason that Miles Davis is one of the most important American musicians ever.
A bloody mess. There's no consistent musical vision
Is it possible that Paul Simon is an underrated lyricist/musician? He has a knack for finding the right people to work with.
Do people who like this like jazz? Do people who like jazz like this? I need a venn diagram of people who like jazz and electronica. Where is the overlap? All kidding aside...the music on this record sets a mood.
I saw Soundgarden on tour for this album. The venue, Tsongas Arena in Lowell, MA, was hot and sweaty and Chris Cornell was understandably peeved about people throwing their sweaty t-shirts on the stage. But the band was on fire. Chris Cornell was a generational talent who could sing while playing complex guitar riffs. The songs on this album spoke to a darker part of him.
Loud, aggressive, fast. Punk before the word was used for marketing purposes.
Nick Drake was a genius. His guitar tunings were nothing short of spectacular.
This music is giddy and infectious. It's a whole vibe, as the kids say.
This is terrible. The idea that supposedly talented people worked on this is proof that sometimes teams are weaker than their individual contributors. An all-around embarrassment of a record.
Almost no one sounds like they put more effort into singing than Otis Redding.
Can we stop having albums that aren't on streaming platforms?
A sign that not everything complex and difficult is necessarily "good."
The "Finnegan's Wake" of records.
I have these neighbors who destroyed a perfectly good portion of their lawn to create a prairie garden. While they may understand that a prairie garden provides more biodiversity, they expended a lot of effort to make their yard look like garbage. This album is the musical equivalent of that: a lot of effort for a "what the f*ck are you doing?" response.
This sounds like something I'd make up when I'm goofing around and want to annoy my family. I think I'll use it to wake my kids up from now on.
One of the groups that unlocked hip-hop. The songs are infectious and fun.
This was the second album I ever purchased. It opened my eyes (and ears) to lyrics that went beyond partying and being horny.
How many people would use the term "synchronicity" if it weren't for this record?
Most of these songs hold up all these years later. "Synchronicity II" hits home after you've spent some time commuting for a BS job.
Some don't hold up as well ("Mother"). And then there's the expertly crafted ode to stalking ("Every Breath You Take").
I saw Nanci Griffith in concert in the early 2000s on her Clock Without Hands Tour - my girlfriend at the time really liked her. We're now married.
Nanci Griffith seemed like a delightful and lovely person, but her music has never done much for me. This collection is no different. She tells compelling stories, but her voice (to me) is uninteresting.
If you love her music, great!
If you hate her music, you probably punch Girl Scouts when they try to sell you cookies.
If you think, "This is fine, but I probably won't spend too much time listening," I get you.
When I'm mowing the lawn, I'll often listen to Iron Maiden. I appreciate the technical precision of the music as well as Bruce Dickinson's operatic voice.
In high school, I wasn't into Iron Maiden, that was the purview of the waistoid headbangers who seemed permanently concussed from said head banging.
Also, in high school, in history class, another student brought in lyrics to "Alexander the Great" (not on this record), and the history teacher was impressed.
In college, I met the guy who would become one of my best friends...he was wearing an Iron Maiden hat and Metal Church t-shirt.
What does any of this have to do with this record? Everything (to me) and nothing (to you). Iron Maiden was a great band with well thought out music and lyrics.
The 90s were full of bands, and the record execs who signed them, trying to recreate Nirvana with a formula of loud guitars and impenetrable lyrics. What they often missed is that Nirvana was doing its own thing, not relying on a formula.
In 1994 this was a near-constant listen. A lot of it still holds up, but the "screaming tracks" as I call them are best left to the dustbin of history.
We want to assign the label of genius to troubled people. Kurt Cobain sure had a knack for melody and writing lyrics that hinted at a deeper meaning.
Aerosmith is second-string classic rock, never reaching the heights of many other bands - I'm talking their output in the '70s. As a precursor to '80s hair metal/pop metal, this record is fine. "Back In the Saddle" and "Last Child" are a great 1-2 punch, but the record just fizzles from there.
When did Country become not a music evocative of a place (the American South), but of a whole worldview of a subset of white Americans? Rhetorical question, I know.
This record stands firmly outside of what I thought of country music at the time it was made: sequined leisure suits and helmets of hair held in place by hairspray. It's refreshingly different from the era in which it was born, and a great listen.
