1001 Albums Summary

Easygoing all the way through, with a very simple draw: incredible guitar mixed with an uncharacteristically melancholic roots rock sound and very easy to listen to vocals; unquestionably one of the best standalone albums I have ever heard. 9.7/10.

Final thoughts: a very well-made, well-produced, well-played album that is waaaaay too long and it all kinda blends together in a way that isn’t the most enjoyable at the end of the day. Incredible for the most part, it’s just that albums like this are a complete slog. A good double album is a sprawling manifesto, and should serve a purpose. This is… quite good, but does not do that. There are many great songs on here (let me drown, mailman, superunknown, black hole sun, spoonman, limo wreck, the day I tried to live, etc.), but it never amounts to an experience that isn’t at best a lil bit tiring. Great but with a heavy asterisk. 8.5/10

I’ve already heard this one! I like it a lot. Some of the best PPR passages of that movement, standout songs (most notably I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor and A Certain Romance, in which the latter is one of the better closers of all time), and a very cohesive style that makes it a great experience all around. Great album. 8.9/10

When this was generated for me to listen to, I decided to go through Neil’s entire discography up to this point, and while I won’t go into too much detail about my opinions on his larger discography, in case another one of them gets generated for me later down the line, what I will say is that this was by far the best one and is a certifiably tremendous musical accomplishment. Every song is beautiful, awesome, and adds something great to the greater experience of the album. Literally every song is a favorite of mine, though the best song must be Ambulance Blues, at least for me. Currently my favorite album that this site has recommended me. 10/10.

Linkin Park’s debut is kind of like the better parts of RHCP’s catelogue and the worse parts of Cage’s catelogue if you smashed them together. Songs like In The End, Points of Authority, Papercut, et cetera are all great examples of this album’s greatness, and its high points. Additionally, the very apparent Eminem influence (at least it sounds like Em’s brand of rapping, I’d have to check whether he was a direct influence though) combine with the very consistent production provides this album’s greatest strength: its consistency. The entire experience feels very cohesive, and even when it’s not great it still feels like it adds to the larger album experience. I really did not expect to like this very much but I honestly really quite like it!!! I will definitely return to this. 8.2/10.

Pretty great but suffers from a serious lack of personality. See, I thought this was pretty great, especially the first side. However, as it went on, I just started to realize that this album really isn’t… great. See, every good album has something good about it, and that’s what this album really is, good! But every great album has something interesting about it, and this album lacks anything truly interesting that sets it apart from any other glam stuff from around that time. Some of the best glam had already come out by the time that this came out, just look at New York Dolls. Every great album has something interesting about it, and every interesting quality comes from personality. This just does not have that. 7.4/10

Finally something other than white guy rock!!! And it’s incredible too!! I think I’m just doomed to give way too many jazz records really high scores, but… like. Just listen to that piano solo on the title track - my jaw dropped. Or the glockenspiel on track 3, which I initially wasn’t too crazy about, really grew on me by the time the song ended, because of how dynamic the song itself became. I love the piano solo of I Surrender, Dear, just because of how much it highlights the absolute beauty of the piano as an instrument, with those incredible tone clusters, and dynamic melodies… it’s one of my favorite songs on the album. And that absolute triumphant, bombastic closer! Perfection!!! All in all, this is some of the most incredible, innovative hard bop that I’ve heard ever. The use of the different instruments is masterful, and the album is both a masterpiece and a masterclass in jazz. What an absolute delight of an album. So so sooo good. 9.8/10

I was already highly familiar with the biggest song off of this album, Two Weeks, an indie masterpiece in every right, and while it is definitely the best song here no question, the rest of the album is pretty awesome too! A really great collection of really beautiful, psych-tinged indie songs, with some really awesome highs!! It’s certainly not a masterpiece by any extent of the word, and is actually a great example of how an album with 10/10 level track ratings can end up an 8, as it’s a bit too long, not the best sequenced, kinda samey at the end of the day, and doesn’t really add up to anything greater as an experience, but it’s still an awesome album that has highlight on top of highlight. Lovely album! 8.0/10

And here we get to a classic example of an album I already know intimately getting generated for me on the 1001 albums generator. I love this album dearly already, to the point in which I own it on CD and have listened to it many times both on CD and on Spotify. All this to say, it is an incredible album. From the opener all the way to the closer, this album is a beautiful, masterful suburban art piece of longing, love, loneliness, and growing up. Not a bad song on here, and not even a single song that isn’t incredible. The opening 5 songs are the perfect introduction to the album, going through flavors of art rock, PPR, and indie pop all while maintaining the indie rock center, anchored by Win Butler’s incredible, emotional lead vocals (fuck that guy but he’s a great frontman). After that is an assortment of different songs, each nothing short of breathtaking, ending on one of the most beautiful and emotional songs of the 00s, that being “In The Backseat.” This album is spectacular in every single aspect. 10/10

Oh wow!! The Beck breakup album!! Haha, I did NOT expect to get this one. Or to ever even listen to this one actually. But now that I am and I have… this is a real doozy. Because it’s obviously very breakup-ey but… none of the emotions are actually that big. Much of the album’s merit comes from its attitude of crushing resignation. Beck doesn’t sound devastated, or distraught, he just sounds broken. There’s no passion behind his emotion, it’s all replaced with a bitter surrender. Just listen to the lyrics: “I don’t even try” “it’s only you I’m losing, guess I’m doing fine” “I’m done fighting for a lost cause” “there’s no other ending,” I could go on. Furthermore, listen to the chord progressions, they’re all formulaic… to a weird amount. “Golden Age,” the clear stand out, is a simple 1-2-4, and the rest of the album follows suit. Even Round the Bend, a song noted to sound much like Nick Drake’s River Man, one of his most famously complex songs, reads as a pale imitation in its much hollower, less dynamic chords and arrangements, but that’s sort of what makes it work. He doesn’t even try. He shoehorns the occasional psychedelic touch here and there, but it only ever serves to push the listener into more of an inattentive stupor, as they become the music, and feel nothing but the reluctant acceptance of a bleak personal status quo. Even when the music crescendos, in songs like Sunday Sun, or Lonesome Tears, it never feels like the crescendo of Beck’s emotion, but the weight of the situation itself bearing down on him. Even on the cover, it feels like he’s just looking into the distance, baffled by his own circumstance, a sentiment that feels like it lingers on the closer, where Beck just sounds bewildered at everything in his life. It occurs after the 5 stages of grief, as a mumbling, exhausted acceptance period, in which Beck accepts that his life is fundamentally worse following his breakup. It’s an incredibly original, beautiful, and masterfully made work that I will definitely return to frequently. 9.6/10

Really disappointing. I wasn't expecting an incredible masterpiece, but really?? This is barely even acceptable. If not for the superb closing 6-track run (superb other than the last song which is kinda annoying) this would be like a 5.8. Even with that being said, please don't let anyone tell you this is anything other than a very inconsistent, kinda taxing, vaguely enjoyable album. It still gets a passing grade, don't get me wrong, but LAWD. First of all, Seven Nation Army is kind of a shit song. It's not powerful, it's not cool, it's annoying, it's only really good for 9-year-olds to scream and spit into microphones at School of Rock. It also gets immediately overtaken by Black Math, which is a much more frenzied and insane song that I like a lot better. That being said, the entire first half of the album is pretty bad. No Home is boring, Cold Cold Night is kind of fun if not unimpressive, Mother's Heart is just awful other than that awesome guitar solo, and Pocket is just kind of embarrassing. I ain't gonna hold you though, I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself... is incredible. Love it. After that, opening up the second half, we have a song that I just cannot stand, and also that I kind of like, that being Ball and Biscuit. It's so annoyingly devoid of any genuine effort that I hate it, but it also has some pretty cool moments, so I like it. It did happen to be the song that made me start disliking the album. Too bad it's just the longest one here. Thankfully we get a 5-track run of incredible songs after that, just banger on banger. I love every song after Ball, except for the last song, which is kind of annoying. This album is a very irritating experience that just happens to have a few really great songs that keep it from totally sucking. It is a major deficit, however, to my ultimate opinion of The White Stripes as a band. Maybe I should listen to White Blood Cells instead, I have that in a logic somewhere. 6.6/10

Imagine listening to an a-ha song other than Take On Me. Like I know people also like the sun always shines on TV but actually shut up. Who cares about this album?? Well... It's obviously not worthless. The synth tones are really quite incredible across the whole project, and Morton Harket is an exemplary performer. Take On Me is also the first song, so I'll talk a little bit more about it. Take On Me is a perfect song. We all know it. It has infinite value and worth as a song and piece of art, as well as a Pop culture moment, and even has a simply legendary music video to its name as well. It's one of the best songs anyone will ever hear. And then the other songs on side 1 are pretty great too!! This brand of synthpop will never truly be my thing, I actually happen to really despise the 80s aesthetic as a whole, unless the songs are actually really great, but this is respectable for sure. Train of Thought has an incredible Harket performance, the title track feels like the lite version of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time," which really isn't necessarily a bad thing. The Blue Sky isn't too bad either, and I adore the synths and vocals on Living A Boy's Adventure Tale, even if the falsetto at the end is a little bit grating at times. Side 2 starts with another pretty awesome song, that being The Sun Always Shines on TV, which, well, it’s no Take On Me, but it’s still an absolutely breathtaking song. A driving instrumental, some of the best vocals on the album (and that’s REALLY saying something for this album) and just a great song all around. And that quality (despite the comparatively dismal track ratings on rateyourmusic.com) keeps up across the second side too. The only real objection I have is I Dream Myself Alive, which has some drum tones that are a little bit more disagreeable than on the rest of the album, but it's not necessarily bad or anything. This is a pretty fun album, and even though I definitely wouldn't buy it, I would recommend it! I got a good deal out of this, even if it's not my preferred style of music. 8.0/10

I mean is anyone actually surprised that I loved this album? I was halfway raised on like Ani Difranco and Sufjan Stevens, two artists who obviously found this album very impactful. Either way though Joni absolutely came through with some beautiful music here. There's not a bad song, and every single one individual feels like the basis for someone to start their own musical career. The songwriting is probably the platonic ideal for 1970s singer-songwriter material, like this and like on the beach really do come the closest from most anything from that decade to transcending the time period they were created in. Overall, I really really enjoyed every single song, especially All I Want, My Old Man, Carey, California, This Flight Tonight, River, and The Last Time I Saw Richard (though every song here is a clear favorite off of the album). I love the folk pop touch Mitchell adds across this whole project, it really gives it both a sense of heightened variety, but also a lot of sustained consistency. Mitchell's voice is also outright beautiful, and while that's not necessarily something that always matters (just look at the 10/10 rating I gave to Elizabeth Cotten's "Freight Train and Other Folksongs," which for all of its endless merit and influence, doesn't necessarily have the most beautiful vocals), it absolutely contributes to the atmosphere here, in the same way that something like some of Joan Baez's early works might lend to. The difference between a classic Baez recording and this is that this has better lyrics, more dynamic playing, and is just significantly more interesting than, say, the original "Joan Baez" from 1960, due to the variety in the musicality, lyrics, and instruments used. Overall this album does a pretty awesome job in proving that it is worth listening to!! It's a near-perfect album and I definitely will be listening again. 9.5/10

Well, I honesty don’t know how to feel about getting this recommended to me; I have this one on vinyl, and adore it to pieces, and I’ll get to that in a second, but I would hope to get more new albums in a second. Like wouldn’t it be so cool to get like a kinks album recommended? The typa stuff I wouldn’t normally listen to. This… I’ve already heard. Whatever though. I got like more than 900 albums still to go. Something like 986 I wanna say? One day at a time. But anyway this album is flawless. Shhh/peaceful is one of the most masterful pieces of jazz I’ve ever heard in my life, what with the way the guitars and organ interact in the track pan… I fell in love with music production because of that. And in a silent way is one of the most beautiful pieces of ambient-jazz type music I’ve ever, and probably single-handedly invented nu jazz. And it’s about that time… I mean have you heard that trumpet riff at around 13 minutes in?? It takes a titan to do something like that. And that’s what Miles Davis was, a titan. Uhh I don’t really got much more to say. This is like maybe the best jazz album ever though so it’s got that going for it 10/10

Now THIS is the typa shit I wanna get recommended!! I tried to listen to this album before, so to know now that I HAVE to, it’s nice. But enough talking about stuff that don’t matter. This album is pretty great. Tom Verlaine is a very interesting frontman, and that’s not all necessarily good interesting, but he really gets the job done, and he also plays some great passages as a musician. See No Evil is a wonderful little song, the title track is absolutely astonishing, and the b-side is just some great old art rock. I’m not necessarily interested in returning to this one, but I would be remiss if I didn’t say it was one of the better albums I’ve ever heard. 8.7/10

Blur!!! Always hated them because of how they treated nardwuar (same reason as to why I never ended up listening to sonic youth all that much), but I always knew deep inside of me… they’re pretty great. And in this case, “pretty great” means Oasis if they were lo-fi. I mean that is literally what this is. Pavement but Oasis. Oasis but with slacker/post-hardcore influences rather than shoegaze influences. It’s weird and not necessarily bad, but even… even that “pretty great” that I talked about earlier has an asterisk already, that being that I really will only return to Beetlebum, or maybe you’re so great (song 2 is great but like it’s not entirely my thing lmao) much of this album is, while intriguing, much less capable than it wants you to think, especially in songs such as theme from Retro, or Country Sad Ballad Man, which even as I enjoy that song, I must admit a lack of genuine merit all the way through. Not to mention the closer is a dubious host for any easily detectable reasons to like this album. Basically what I’m saying is you CAN like it and I’d agree with you, but… you can also dislike it and… I’d agree with you. 7.0/10

Eh. It mostly feels like African-tinged commercial music. Which like sure. Some of the songs are pretty good. It just doesn’t really reach me. None of the songs really stick out, even the pretty great second song is just a little too bland to love. Like, believe me, I don’t speak this language, but that is NOT the problem. If this was good the language barrier wouldn’t matter. Eve when they kinda lock in toward the end, it’s just too bland and unimpressive to give a passing score. 5.3/10

Incredible album. Just the album cover alone is cause for you to really take in everything about this album, and it has the songs to back it up. Billy Jack, Jesus, Hard Times, and my personal favorite, Blue Monday People, are all incredible examples of the type of political, soulful mastery across this album. 9.3/10

Soooooooooo it’s a metal album. I don’t really do metal in general, but I’m not against it. I’m just more of a punk gal than a metal gal, ya know? So when I hear “666 hahahahahaha!!!!” I’m like “WEAK!!! YOU SOUND LIKE PROTO-RITES OF SPRING BITCH!!!” Which they are and they do. But it’s more than that. There are some great songs and performances here, especially the closer, but to be honest the closer is the only one that really rises above “very cool but not interesting enough to be my thing.” Because the closer is incredible!! It’s one of the most impressive musical experiences I’ve ever heard, and it’s honestly probably the only song from here I’ll readily return to. Seven minutes of pure insanity. But it’s not the only really great one here!! 22 acacia avenue is pretty awesome, run to the hills is great, invaders is very good too. I like this album a whole lot. 9.0/10

My goodness, this site is a joke. Not RYM, which I'll be posting this review to on Saturday the 7th, but the 1001albumsgenerator site. I love the function, but the fact that this is rated at a 3.66 over Brilliant Corners, Blue, Sea Change, Funeral... IN A SILENT WAY FOR FUCK'S SAKE??? I mean, okay. It's not bad at all. It's just really... like we've all heard little child, right?? We've all heard roll over beethoven, right??? These are bad songs! And even the album's more undeniably spectacular cuts (All My Loving, Hold Me Tight, You Really Got A Hold On Me) are still obviously indebted to their influences. There's a lot of energy here, and SO much personality, but nowhere near enough actual quality to back any of that up! Like there is NO justification for little child and we all know it. Roll over beethoven is one of the dullest, most nothing tracks ever. Everything else is pretty passable but when I say that, keep in mind that sooooo much of this is ripped straight from better (almost always Black) artists. Y'all it's alright but please. 7.3/10

I wish I’d gotten wildflower. I still actually have to listen to that but you wreck me is one of the best songs ever. Also it’s such a beautifully dreary day out and this website gives me some random sunny rock album???? Guys!!! Why!!! That being said this is a pretty good album. I love breakdown obviously, and American girl is excellent. There are some other noteworthy cuts too, like the pretty fun opener, the very nice hometown blues, wild one forever, which has a great performance from Tom… honestly most of these songs are really great. There’s no real problem, it does exactly what it’s going for, it just happens to be incredibly derivative and not very influential. It’s just your good ol’ run of the mill -very great album- ya know? It’s very very good, very very great even, even though it doesn’t technically reach the peak of an album that should be remembered reaches. 8.9/10

YES, BABY!!! I’ve wanted to listen to this one for a LONG time, and in fact started to last year, but never ended up making it very far for some reason. Anyway super glad I got this one because we all know it’s absolutely awesome. The first three tracks are some of the better tracks of all time, and fast car is nothing short of perfect. Some other highlights present are the striking a capella break track behind the wall, why?, for my lover, if not now…, and for you. Chapman brings a very existential, somber air to the whole album, and I absolutely adore it. 9.3/10

I’m not finishing this, I’ve decided. This is so boring and annoying. This bitch is not a poet. He is not a singer. He is not even a competent personality. It is preposterous that I should have to listen to drivel like this during international women’s day. I’ma go listen to Lily Allen. 3.1/10

You know what I hate? Gentrification. Colonization. Cultural appropriation. Every negative thing that people ever say about this album. But you know what I love? Graceland by Paul Simon. I mean I’m Jewish and Paul Simon’s Jewish so that might be it? The big thing though is just that Paul Simon the singer-songwriter is probably the most appealing singer-songwriter I know of, at least for me. Abstract, but cohesive and flowery, and very enjoyable. This is pretty cool outside of that too though, just as a fusion of the elements it tries to fuse, though even saying that it's more like a doorway to all the bad fusions of these genres, which I don't appreciate as much. There's not a bad song here though, so that's saying something. Something else? This is some of Paul's best writing. I mean have you heard the lyrics in the title track? How immersive and reflective they are? Or the absolute abundance of one-liners on this thing? "Don't cry, baby, don't cry." "Who'm I to blow against the wind?" "I can call you Eddy, and you can call me Al!" And the production and playing is a whole other thing. How sweeping and momentous the title track's instrumental is? The overpowering horns on "Call Me Al"? That jangly guitar near the beginning of "Diamonds on..."? There's so so much to like about this album, and I'm so glad to have heard it today! It was just what I needed on a day like this. 10/10

Do I care about this album? Like really? No. No, I don't. But I'll listen to it! The beats are pretty cool and I'm very open-minded to the idea of listening to an album like this for this list. Especially since most of this site just seems to be awful about it, when it's pretty great! As I already said I like the beats a lot, and the flow's fun. The lyrics in general are pretty mediocre, but it's still an enjoyable experience. Some noteworthy songs: Lyrics has a very fun chorus, and I enjoy Skepta's contributions. The feature is pretty alright, it's like passable. Crime Riddim is great, I absolutely love the beat. The skit's a bit too long but what can ya do. I don't feel no way about any of it. I really loved Man, a really good beat, infectious chorus, and that bar about the wife… I had to do a double take. Everything about that song is actually so awesome. Shutdown immediately after is also incredible, one of the best beats here, and really good verses. Immediately after that, we have That’s Not Me, one of the best songs here. I mean… I could talk about it but you should just listen to it honestly. It’s really great. Detox is also great, and its focus on addiction and vices is approached really well, and the beat’s real dope too. Text me back is a really great way to end the album, even if it’s kinda basic to have the “introspective sentimental closer.” Some songs I didn't love: I really despise a lot of aspects of numbers. Weak ass beat, bad flow, annoying chorus. Not a fan. Some songs I thought were like in the middle: the opening track is a bit disappointing as far as opening tracks go but it's not too bad. I don't love the feature on Corn on the Curb either. I also really hate songs that are like "HAHAHAHA WE HARDCORE GANGSTAAAAAAAAS" when you're friends with Aubrey Graham and that's kind of exactly what It Ain't Safe does. It's like well rapped and I like the beat though so it gets the passing score. Ladies Hit Squad is absolutely hilarious, but the chorus is actually awesome and Skepta's verse is legitimately awesome and I don't care what anyone says. Overall this album really picked up on the second half, and I really enjoyed it as a whole! This site’s buggin so hard with that score. 7.7/10

Like bro I guess… I hate the takes that the 1001 albums site has most of the time, especially their negative opinions, but they lowkey gotta point with this one. If there is anything noteworthy, or interesting, or particularly incredible about this album I struggle to find it. Boooooring. 5.4/10

Here’s my review from RYM: a lot of super nice cuts off of here! The first three songs are probably the best, though the last three are also great. The only song I really go back to at this point is The State I Am In, which might still be their best song to me. Expectations is a pretty nice song that does what pretty much only their songs do for me, which is tell a story that definitely describes something in my life, but a little bit more left-of-center than others (same thing with Like Dylan In The Movies). She's Losing It has some really well-written moments, and is a pretty fun song at its best. Other noteworthy moments are electronic renaissance, My Wandering Days Are Over, I Don't Love Anyone, and Mary Jo. Best song is still State though, and frankly the only one that should really matter to someone who cares less. 9.4/10

Oh nice. I like The Beach Boys. Love ‘em actually. Pet sounds, forever, heroes and villains… all phenomenal experiences. So I was glad to get this one! And I enjoyed it plenty. Even when the political stuff kinda gets in the way of the overall enjoyment, because, it sucks, specifically that annoying student demonstration song, but the lush air of the whole thing is still very enjoyable, especially the fantastic b-side, culminating in one of the best tracks of the Boys’ careers. Overall it’s pretty alright. It left AN impression on me. I like it! It’s pretty great! 8.6/10

Imagine giving me a Fiona Apple album. Imagine giving ME. A Fiona Apple album. I have listened. To every single Fiona Apple album. She is my fourth favorite solo artist of all time. She does not have an album below a 9. This album is especially good though, so let’s talk about it. First of all, the entire first side is straight-up spotless. The first five songs are five of the best songs ever made, and that’s said confidently. Sleep to dream, sullen girl, shadowboxer, criminal, and slow like honey are all like insane highlights. It’s like weird and kinda unfair that all five of those songs are on the same side of the same album. The second side is definitely worse, however, it’s still great! The first taste was a song that initially I was kinda lukewarm on, but L-rdy it’s so well produced. Those guitars… what. Never is a promise was always a favorite, though my enjoyment of it has waned since I first heard it. Idk, just sounds more dull now. It’s the same with the following two songs on the album. However the closer is great, even if I prefer the switchup to the rest of the song. Anyway this is a fantastic debut and Fiona Apple is so awesome. 9.5/10

Acid house, huh? Like that one LCD Soundsystem song? One touch? That’s a dope track. Let’s see what this jawn’s all about. Well, the first obvious problem is how samey it is all the way through. That’s kinda it for the problems though. It’s very well-produced and it flows well, and… how do I say this? It sounds like the cover of an Alvvays album. Or perhaps it sounds like it exists in the same universe as Alvvays. Alvvays is like the Twee pop version of this, and this is like the lighter, funner, acid house version of this heat’s self-titled. Don’t @ me bout that either. Anyway the obvious standout here is pacific 202, but there are other good songs. My favorite part about this album as a whole is its use of contrasting textures, like those vocal lines and the synths in donkey doctor, or the saxophone in pacific 202. It’s just a really really pleasant experience all around. 8.0/10

Isabelle’s gonna be psyched as fuck for this lmao. Anyway I’ve decided to make this a diary type thing as well as a review. So what did I do today? I had lunch at Potbelly, the second best restaurant I have easy access to. I had a pretty good day all things considered. The quality of this diary will one day increase once I know what to say. For now let's talk about this album I listened to today. All you really need to know is it's a 10. That's for sure. I don't know the best song, or anything like that, just that it's a 10/10. There isn't a single moment in this album that isn't a fiery scream of absolute devastated rage (ha) at everything awful in the world. Every song feels like a separate doctrine against every billionaire, landlord, and oppressor ever. If you haven't listened to it please do, it's one of the best albums I have ever heard. 10/10

What is this and why am I getting it. I am not interested in this. This album has a song on it called “krazy krush.” What the fuck. I’m going to London today in other news. Uhh I’m not finishing this. This is insanely boring. Just like I cannot even stand how boring this project is. I’m not finishing this, no. Disappointed in this site. 3.4/10

I’m in London and am in the middle of a pretty strong yet latent mental breakdown!! This album’s pretty cool though. Idk. Synthpop’s obviously not really my thing, especially when it relies so heavily on this mechanical darkness that in this album’s case most of the time ends up more of a detriment than anything else. Numan sounds like Tom Verlaine but David Bowie, and omg I’m in some random fucking Airbnb I didn’t ask for this get me out of here oh my fucking actual G-d. Sorry about that this is getting to me. 5 more days. 5. More. Days. Anyway uhh the vocals are incredibly unimpressive and when they’re actually good it just makes the bad ones stand out even more. None of the songs are necessarily bad they’re all just so robotic that they’re just kinda standing there. Obviously a lot of them stand out to an extent, and the monotonous style of the album does actually give it a lot of consistency, even though it’s fairly unimpressive most of the time. Additionally, certain songs, such as the absolutely spectacular “Conversation” (which stands out for all the right reasons, being the longest and also the most personally resonant song on this album) help this still stand above the line of mediocrity, even if just barely. AKA it’s pretty alright now I’m gonna go listen to the Lex Walton jawn like Isabelle’s been telling me to do. 7.0/10

44 minute garage punk jawn? I didn’t think those existed. Whatever let’s see how this is. Well, I’ve listened to it now, and let me tell you, it’s exactly what you’d expect. It’s… too long, too samey, not crazy enough at times, and kind of just like if white stripes were way punkier. Which that’s not bad at all, it’s just not really my thing, especially if you’re going to make it more than like 25 minutes long. This is 20 minutes more than 25 minutes, and that is its problem. Anyway I had a nice time in London today, it was pretty cool. I saw “my neighbour totoro” in theatre. This album is alright. 7.1/10

HA! WELL WELL WELL! I’ve been meaning to listen to this for a second now so I’m glad to get it! Obviously I first had to listen to the new underscores album, which if you were wondering, is a 10/10, and also I was out on the town today, looking at some historical London things, which was actually quite boring, but this is pretty good too, even in comparison to the current aoty. Obviously the first 3 songs are just some of the best ever, some of just the most exceptional jazz playing I’ve ever heard, and even more so, incredibly soothing and atmospheric too! Like, chicagoans especially know what I’m talking about when I say this album sounds like being inside the Adler planetarium, or the art institute. Or like, look up the video for “de-dah” by Tigran Hamasyan, that’s a good example of what the best kinds of these albums sound like. It’s simply one of the best albums I’ve ever heard, and in many ways it is nearly perfect. 9.8/10

The fact that this is at a 2.86/5 is atrocious. No it’s not some sort of incredible masterpiece, but it deserves some level of recognition for what it did for the music landscape as a whole. Y’all ever pull your heads out of your asses long enough to notice that shit doesn’t get released on a Tuesday anymore like it did back in your prime (RYM I love you, these insults are directed at the pricks who log on to 1001 and give this pretty alright album a 2/5)? Anyway this is pretty good yeah. Pretty hurts is a wonderful song, and there are a couple other great songs too, such as Blue and Heaven. I’d actually already heard this one but it still brings good memories. 7.6/10

This! This is the good stuff. A good metal song imo is one of the peaks of music, and almost every song here is GREAT. Just absolutely fantastic. From the window to the wall just absolutely insane performances. Feels like a precursor to a lot of the stuff rites of spring would go on to do, and every song just fucking rips. Every. Single. One. Not much more I can say. Just listen to it. 10/10

HOT DAMN!! Woulda preferred perhaps a different Fleetwood Mac album but I can’t be too picky. It’s still iconic and great. And great it really is. Some of the most impressive vocal performances from the band members, ESPECIALLY Stevie. Even though its intense eclecticism leads to a few straight duds (most notably the incredibly annoying “what makes you think…”), there’s a surprising amount of what I assume are new sounds to the band that actually work insanely well, even in the context of a soft rock album, including two cowpunk songs that are actually incredibly good, and a new wave song that I WILL defend fiercely. Very little filler too, even with its impressive 74 minutes of runtime. The only real filler I’d say exists here is the song “you’ll never make me cry,” and even that is pretty half-decent. The peaks of this album though (“Sara,” “Angel,” “Brown Eyes,” “I Know I’m Not Wrong,” “Tusk,” “Never Forget,” etc.) are too many and too incredible to not look at this album for what it really is: an exceptional soft rock album with some true experimental and forward-thinking tendencies. 9.2/10

ABBA really deserves the flowers they get nowadays as a truly incredible force of music at their best. Dancing Queen, Money Money Money, Gimme Gimme Gimme, all absolute classic bangers. Now obviously this album only has two of those absolute classics, but it is still a very quality album. Especially when you have one of the best songs of all time, Dancing Queen, in the second slot. Obviously there are SOME duds, but there’s still some really great standouts, and by the end of the A-side it’s a really great if slightly flawed (it would be very flawed if I didn’t think dum diddle was the funniest thing ever) album! By the end of the B-side, it’s a similar story, even though it mostly rides on the afterglow of Dancing Queen. Even so it’s a great album with a couple of fantastic songs. 8.4/10

Well!! My second dire straits album. And wow they’re way less cool now! I mean the concept isn’t necessarily bad, so far away alone should justify the switch to this softer, poppier rock landscape, but the second I saw the genre tags I knew this wasn’t going to surpass their debut (which, fun fact, was the first album I ever got on this site, which I awarded a 9.7/10, or on this site’s more restrictive rating scale, a 5/5). Money for nothing is cool but then mark says the f-slur so it’s less cool. He also tries to have this swagger that he just cannot pull off realistically. Actually his voice is pretty annoying throughout this whole thing, like really annoying. Also why is every song like a billion years long? This thing is fifty-five whole minutes. It should not be that long. I don’t even know the point of this. In fact I don’t even think this is a good album. There’s one actually good song and everything else is worthless. 5.2/10

Well, twist my arm! I’ll listen to dollar store TPAB any day. So this album, “Untitled (Black Is),” is a celebration of Black identity, that much is clear. It’s from 2020 so obviously it’s VERY politically conscious, and it’s got some nice vibes! The problem? Nothing stands out. I’ve listened to many a musical celebration of Black identity, from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (the best soul album of all time, as well as the best hip-hop album of all time, argue with a wall) to To Pimp A Butterfly itself (you know it. If you don’t, you’ve been living under a rock and it’s time to accept that) to Black Messiah, and honestly D’Angelo’s entire career. I don’t intend to pit different celebrations of Black culture against each other, especially as someone who IS NOT BLACK, but when you draw the comparisons between those albums and “Untitled,” the quality of the latter is evidently lower. The big problem is that a lot of the time the album just repeats mantras, which certainly creates a vibe, and I can surmise the intent behind all of the songs without passing it off as merely pleasant background noise, but I can’t quite justify it as the transcendent piece of art that it obviously wants to be. Certainly it’s beautiful, and rousing at times (especially on the album’s best interlude, “Us”). At the end of the day it’s pretty good, even if too inoffensive for how political it’s trying to be. 7.9/20

Hot damn this white girl has a blaccent. Like a legitimately insane blaccent. It's not that big of a deal, I mean it's a 1960s pop soul album, of course she has a blaccent. It's just very noticeable, y'know? Anyway "Mama Said" is a pretty great song, and the rest of the album follows suit. The only problem is the “suit” is pretty okay covers of songs of varying quality. She has a pretty cool voice but not much further, and as the songs’ qualities begin to decline as the album progresses, it begins to get pretty old. The highlights (mama said, nothing, pretty much any of the straight-up rhythm and blues cuts) are enough to give this a tentative passing score but it’s certainly not anything special. 6.6/10

OHHHH FUCK YOU. Ehh it’s not that tragic that I got this album. I just don’t love this album like I do his other work. Love and Hate is to this day one of the best albums ever made in my opinion, and his debut is pretty incredible too. Both are leagues ahead of this. Bird on the Wire: not only overrated, but Johnny Cash did it better anyway. The real highs of this album lie in “Story of Isaac,” “The Partisan,” “Seems So Long…,” and “The Butcher,” but even then it’s too unremarkable to stick like it wants to. 7.4/10

AYYYYY!!! I’ve wanted to listen to this for a second but not enough to, y’know, actually listen to it. It’s great though. Not entirely sure why the Spotify track listing was wacked to fuck, but nothing a bit of queueing up won’t fix. Anyway this album is awesome! Just a bunch of really nice tracks, with some really good standouts, most notably the beautiful “El Paso,” and a few other great ones. Robbins’ voice, though easily likened to better artists such as Cash or Campbell, is still a sturdy and well-used voice, and across the album the performances are great. 9.0/10

WOOOOOO!!!!! Obviously I’ve heard this before. I own this on vinyl. All this to say I'm glad to get an album of such obvious quality today. So the album itself! Starting off with one of the best a-sides ever, including such classics as "Moonage Daydream," "Five Years," and most obviously, "Starman," and finishing with maybe the best closer ever in "Rock n Roll Suicide." Ridiculously consistent and well-produced as well, I mean... y'all have seen the score. One thing I did want to really understand for myself though is the story that the album goes through, so that I could truly understand the entire work. So, what seems to happen is, Ziggy Stardust comes to Earth as a messenger, after people find out that Earth is "really dying." So Ziggy becomes accustomed to Earth, and Earth responds with adoration and fame. The first disc ends with "It Ain't Easy," which as a cover, demonstrates the comfort Ziggy has attained on Earth, and in his newfound fame. Side B opens with proof of Ziggy's fame, and then goes on to demonstrate the way that fame is now increasingly important to him, and the Spiders urge Ziggy to, uhh, y'know, "hang onto himself." In response, Ziggy pretty much fires all of them and lashes out against them. This represents Ziggy's fall, and as the final song comes in, both Ziggy and the world are completely doomed: Ziggy's ego was too much to genuinely help him or those around him, and then I'm pretty sure the world ends. Which yeah that's what I'm talking about!! This album is incredible. I didn't realize how incredible it really was until today, but it deserves all the praise it gets. 10/10

what is this. I'm not displeased but why did it have to be 58 minutes? Whatever. Very pleasant but very background. Some standouts, I like all the songs enough, just very indistinct. It was very vibey though! There was a house song somewhere in there that I really loved. I think it was called " Tríptico." The album had some very interesting textures too, especially on that particular song. The more I listened to it, in fact, the more I started to fall into the textures of the album, and I began to really enjoy myself! Sadly I couldn't love it, just because of how long it is. I like it a lot though! 7.2/10

Weird artsy glam pop rock? Sure. I've seen this album around, can't say I'm not excited. Having now listened to it, I must say that I was incredibly spot-on. "Weird Artsy Glam Pop Rock." The only way that I could possibly make it more accurate is if I added "Prog" in front of "Pop." "Weird Artsy Glam Prog Pop Rock." Yeah. The falsettos are nice, even if they're not my thing personally, and the songs are VERY good. Very colorful, glammy, layered, and not infrequently revelatory, especially in the case of the opener. My personal problems are just that maybe... it's TOO consistent? Nothing especially stands out, it all sounds the same. Also, I'm just not the biggest fan of this specific strain of music, even if I'll still champion the merit I find in it. Some general standouts are as follows: "This Town Isn't Big Enough..." is a masterful song, as is "Talent Is an Asset" (weird-ass capitalization on that song, by the way). Even when it gets to the end and I can't quite tell every song apart from each other, I still come out of this listen liking it a lot! 8.9/10

Awwwwwww, WHAT? Symphonic prog???? Ewwwwww!!!! I jest of course. I don’t like prog in general very much but this is only 38 minutes so maybe it’ll be alright! Let’s see. Well, I wasn't incorrect about how much I would like it, that's for sure. Thank fuck this is only 38 minutes, it would be downright torturous were it any longer. Well maybe not torturous, because the big sin here is that it's really fucking boring. The entire first side is really just not anything very good at all. Nothing awful, but just so boring and detestable. Obviously I really don't love this type of music, and easily the best thing that this album ever did for the world was supply the excellent sample for "Katz" off of Lice, which to this day is probably my favorite EP of all time (Solace by Dar Qness is close behind though). The sample play for 10 seconds from 50 seconds into "The Curse of Baba Yaga" to the 1 minute-mark. That REALLY threw me for a loop though, wow. I like froze for a whole 5 seconds and then paused the song and then went to whosampled and realized. Anyway so most of this album is more or less worthless until it gets to the Baba Yaga part in which it's kinda interesting for like 3 songs... I'd like it a lot more if the guy didn't sing, but whatever. I don't dislike "The Great Gates of Kiev," in fact it's pretty good! I like the places where it goes, and it's... y'know it's an acceptable prog rock song! I honestly also like the outro with the super feedback-ey guitars and stuff. And then the transition back to the actual song... my man can't sing, but it's fine because the song's still dope. Then it goes into some bullshit about “death is life” though and then it goes into a prog version of… nutcracker… I… the only good this album ever did for the world of music was that Katz sample and that’s it. Sorry, not my thing. 4.5/10

YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I put this off because I knew I’d get it on here eventually and now I got it!! And I’m just like sooooo excited omg. Well, I’ve now finished it and I can confidently say that it’s one of the best albums I’ve ever heard. Every single moment is just absolutely incredible, Courtney Love is one of the best vocalists for this genre, and just… it’s all so insane and raw. The vocals especially, and the way that they break, and the way that Love obviously does not care, adds a surprising amount to the album’s quality.The guitars are incredible, the lyrics are spectacular… everything about this album blows me away. I’ll be listening to this one a lot. 10/10

What!? Hm. Well, I guess this is somewhat fitting, I just had an Arabic presentation. It was on how to make shakshuka. It was incredible and I did very well (for like one of the first times ever I actually understood what I was reading, which was really nice). But this is 78 minutes so why should I listen to it??? Well I do this every day. I’ll listen to some of it. Well I listened to a couple of songs and it’s really boring. I love this style of singing, but I much prefer it when it’s chanted, say, in the Qur’an or something similar. Not bad but not really my thing. However there are some good songs! “C’est la nuit” is quite nice, and there’s a lovely cover of Lennon’s “Imagine,” but like really at the end of the day it’s a 78-minute album with not much structure or complex artistic intent. It’s just not very interesting. 6.1/10

Well, it’s garagey and it’s 27 minutes… sure! I should’ve guessed that this was an American band… seeing that they’re called “Paul revere…” but they sound so British! And that is absolutely to a fault! They seem to be some sort of Herman’s hermits types, super huge in their time, but no one remembers them now because what is there to remember? I mean, “I’m Not Your Stepping Stone” is pretty awesome, and “There She Goes” is very pleasant, but for every stroke of interest there’s a song that just feels… eh. This album also really doesn’t do that much novel stuff anyway, to the point where it makes one wonder why it’s seen as something seminal. However, even though I don’t intend to return to this much, the garage elements end up cutting through some of the more elementary parts of the music and lyrics to the point where I can say it’s at least not bad. 6.9/10

Hahahaha. Okay. Nice. So, I know way too many people who just outright hate Steely Dan, but this album's actually so awesome! I tend to really hate progressive rock (as you may know if you read my recent review of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's "Pictures at an Exhibition"), but the touches of the genre displayed here are some of the best examples of it that I've ever heard! The best way I can describe it is that it feels like looking at "decalcomania" by Magritte. It's so weird and abstract, but it still conjures up ideas and concepts in your head that make sense to you, so you don't quite notice how surreal it is. There's a quote that I found doing some research on this album that says "they wrote complex, mysterious songs disguised as catchy pop tunes," and that's exactly what happens here. It feels like you're listening to Fleetwood Mac, but when you listen closer, the aesthetic is closer to that of This Heat's self-titled, or Alvvays's. It sounds like... this is going to be a stretch but look up "Otto: a palindrama." That's what this sounds like. Weird, tropical, completely nonsensical at times, and perhaps even childlike in a way, but incredibly beautiful and weirdly potent. "Deacon Blues" especially is a good example of this trend, with its jazzy chords and long sax breaks, and that beautifully written last verse ("I cried when I wrote this song... sue me if I play too long!") and the perfection of its arrangement... the biggest ask when someone creates a super long song, which this album has two of, is this: "what meaning shall we assign to this abnormal use of your time?" And that's what this entire album is, really: it's a bunch of vaguely sentimental, surreal nonsense that's so beautiful that it demands you to assign genuine meaning to it. I assign a lot of meaning to it, and I adore it. 10/10