Better than expected, with more of a proggy hard-rock edge in parts than most of their biggest hits with which I'm familiar. Much prefer when they are in that mode (e.g. Flick of the Wrist) rather than the bombastic, musical-esque stuff (e.g. Now I'm Here) which I typically associate with Queen and am not really a fan of. There is also some slightly ploddy, ponderous moments (e.g. Lap of the Gods, Dear Friends, Misfire) which are an absolute slog to get through.
Overall, a somewhat pleasant surprise with some real standout moments but probably not an album I will return to in full.
Never listened to this before but I expect great things. We'll see how this goes...
Not off to a good start. This is kinda so "indie" it hurts. "Always thought there was a virtue in being cool"? Yikes.
I thought I'd at least get good songwriting with this but the melodies aimlessly meander and the songs are utterly devoid of any real dynamics.
Holy shit this is dull as dishwater. Almost impressive that an album could be so boring as this. I don't think I've ever heard anything so instantly forgettable. Awful. I hate it.
If I was rating purely objectively this would probably get another star, as it's objectively "not bad" music, but I just find disco/Motown/funk etc deeply unenjoyable. Too upbeat, happy, exuberant...and who wants that from music??
Also this feels a bit pedestrian even as far as disco goes. "Somebody Loves Me" and "You're a Friend to Me" are absolute drivel, and the album just doesn't seem to have as many hooks as I'd expect from top-tier disco. 2 stars is a fair average of an objective (3-star) and subjective (1-star) rating I think
Decent enough songs and perfectly fine to listen to but a bit too MOR for my tastes.
Halfway through, yeah this is boring as shit tbh
4 songs left, just want it to end now, this is painful. Picked up a bit with Long Black Veil and Chest Fever, then back to an absolute dirge with Lonesome Suzie.
Oh it's the Ab Fab song, but a way worse version than the one that was in the show.
Want to give this 1.5, but I want to be positive so going 2. But it's a low 2
This guy's pretty good, I wonder why he never made it big
Not bad*, but ultimately this is just another boomer folk rock album. Kinda funny that the generation which berates everyone else for wanting "safe spaces" absolutely love this kinda bland, inoffensive shite. (No, going on about how much you like smoking hash does NOT give you edge).
*Except the first guitar solo in Wooden Ships which has a couple of super eggy notes in it
Opening track is icky AF, but fine, I guess this album is nearly 40 years old. And boy, can you tell from the simplistic rhyme schemes and grandad-esque flow patterns.
Production is great though, and really is what makes this a classic (although some of the lyrical schemes are pretty good tbf). But I still can't stand the monosyllabic rhyming and stilted flows in 80s hip-hop. I can almost deal with it here because the beats are so expertly crafted. But as much as I wanna give it a 4 for creativity and execution, the prehistoric flows will stop me returning to this, or any other Beastie Boys albums, unfortunately.
This is incredible, I love it so much, instantly became obsessed and then immediately slightly disappointed when I realised they never made anything this weird sounding again in their career because they got signed, became better musicians, maybe got some mental health treatment or something which, like...I'm glad about, but at the same time...I wish they kept making music this creative and chaotic. Can be broadly described as alt-rock weirdness ala early Pixies, but so much more deranged, intense and with a punk-rock fury...proper "lightning in a bottle" recording.
Absolutely banging, this is 80s pop perfection at its most unorthodox. Neil Tennant manages to wrangle both sublime pop hooks, despite lacking obvious technical singing ability, and emotional heft, despite a deadpan, almost monotone delivery. Meanwhile Chris Lowe provides a musical backdrop which always somehow sounds both huge and lush, yet sparse and simple at the same time. It's a strange sort of alchemy that on paper shouldn't work anywhere near as well as it does, but this album is absolutely a vibe. Awesome.
It's...fine. A pleasant enough listen, and the songs are decent enough, if not a little rudimentary. I can see how it would seem exciting in a pre-punk world, but in 2026 its not something that I'm particularly interested in revisiting
Oh it's the music from the gambling adverts on TV. I have many questions primarily...why? Why was this made in the first place? And why is it on this list?
Not really my thing, but this is pretty undeniable
Decent riffing, sounds pretty heavy and energetic for 1970. Not sure I'll return to it much, but it's good stuff.
Hmm...why is this 68 minutes long? Why does she rap like it's 1988?
Ok this is actually quite varied and interesting. I'm not convinced it's actually good, though it's really hard to tell on first listen given the sheer amount of 'stuff' and ideas. It's an album that clearly takes multiple listens to adequately dissect, but I'm not sure I really want to invest the time to do so.
It's ok, just really not my thing and gets pretty repetitive pretty quick
Ploddy and dull, lacks any of the stuff which made Sheer Heart Attack somewhat enjoyable
I'm a big Zappa fan but this was never an album I held in much esteem and listening to it again in 2026 hasn't changed that. It lacks many of the things I enjoy most in Zappa's music, notably his unique lyrics and vocal delivery, and the complex, musically-unorthodox and virtuosic compositions. Hot Rats is paradoxically overly structured and yet meandering, carefully curated yet half baked. Nearly every song devolving into aimless noodling but never steps outside of its tightly constrained parameters. While it seems uncharacteristically unimaginative, there's some high points for sure. Little Umbrellas is wonderful, some of the licks in the guitar solo on The Gumbo Variations showcase Zappa's trademark guitar stylings at their best, and Captain Beefheart's verses on Willie the Pimp make for a great opening few minutes, before it nosedives into a loose jam that doesn't really go anywhere.
It's still Zappa at the end of the day, so it's not bad. But I've never understood the hype for this album and I don't think I ever will.
Oh for fuck sake, do I really have to listen to this?? Surely it can't be as bad as I remember it being when every cunt bought it after Babylon was played on the radio 40000 fucking times a day. Can it???
Not actually terrible music, just really, really boring. Which is actually like the worst thing that music can be IMO. It reall is just music for people who don't really like music. Like Coldplay.
Halfway through the first song and I'm struggling. I'm happy to just give it a 1 and move on with my life.
This is so fucking silly...cringe opening skit, "lyrical murderers", he takes a piss at once point, which means that presumably some studio intern had to find or make a sample of the sound of a bloke pissing?? References to pooper scoopers and "burying his bone in a booty". And that's all in the first 5 minutes or so.
However, production's phenomenal, and this is as much a Dre album as a Snoop one, though there's some decent hooks ("rolling down the street, smoking endo, sipping on gin n juice") and straight-up bangers ("For All My Niggaz and Bitches"). Lyrically it's aged terribly. Technically the rapping's not great (but not bad for the time). Overall a mixed bag, but better than I expected, especially after the terrible opening.
Kinda cool, reminds me of a less interesting Arab Strap. Definitely not bad, but not something I'll go back to
Definitely the most interesting boomercore album I've heard while doing this. It's pretty varied, musically-accomplished, sounds good. Yeah, can't complain really. Not sure I'll go back to it a lot but an enjoyable listen
Was quite looking forward to this but it's a terrible opening couple of tracks. Slightly picks up on the third track, and Macbeth injects some energy, but it's mostly boring ploddy shite. Its such a huge disappointment, as I thought John Cale is like, a classically trained musician? So I expected at least good musicianship but the compositions are so basic, I don't understand what its trying to do, and I don't understand why this list is so full of these boring, boring albums??
Maybe as a British millennial I'm just not qualified to comment on this sort of music, and I know country is not exactly renowned for it's experimentation but...this is so unbelievably dull, it's just the same fucking thing. Over and over. Songs (or the one song which is repeated as nauseum) is not bad, but it gets the lowest possible rating just for how lacking it is in scope, ambition, dynamics.
Is this entire list just white people with acoustic guitars??????? Guy who wrote this had a record collection so un-eclectic it could give Swifties a run for their money. Anyway, this album, for as boring as I find this type of music, is actually not bad, for what it is. But what it is is still dull
I am a big fan of a lot of progressive rock and metal, but this veers way too far into the cheesy territory for my tastes. As for so many others, I find the vocals to be off-putting. Overall I quite enjoyed a lot of this but not enough to return to or dig into the rest of Rush's back catalogue.
I recently had another 1993 hip-hop album (Doggystyle) which I thought had aged really well (in terms of production, not lyrically!)
36 Chambers is, of course, even more solidified as a classic, and it also stands up pretty well, even if the rhythm of many of the flows sound very much of their era. It's interesting that the production and beats in hip-hop seemed to evolve far more quickly than the rapping. That's not to say this has the same trademark "dinosaur flow" which makes much of late 80s hip-hop unlistenable to me - clearly there was significant evolution around the turn of the 90s - even if it is still sounds somewhat primitive in many ways to modern ears. Rhyming "diarrhea" with "gonnorhea" for example, is something that I wouldn't necessarily expect to hear in contemporary hip-hop. Although maybe a bar like that is more compatible with the brainrot music of 2026 than I'd like to acknowledge. Everything comes full circle huh.
Anyway, despite showing it's age, it's easy enough to see why 36 Chambers is revered as a classic. The sheer number of different characters who get on the mic keeps the flows from sounding too stagnant, the kung-fu movie samples make the beats sound unique (even if I expected more of these samples tbh, they largely disappear after the first track). But at the end of the day, this is rap from a time before the technical evolution of the late 90s, with the trademark tedious skits and some questionable bars spat over dusty, boombap beats.
I can see why it's so revered, and it's a good time, but this sort of thing is just not something I have any real affection for or desire to return to.
Ok I was gonna give this 3 stars and then in 'Method Man' they start talking about how they're gonna apply torture techniques to a guy's balls, dick AND asshole. Like, that's weird AF, why was this scene so simultaneously homophobic and obsessed with penises? Odd behaviour honestly. So there you have it, I prefer Doggystyle to 36 Chambers I guess? Mad.
Don't think the songs are quite up to scratch, though there's some decent ones (The Sound of the Crowd, Do or Die). Textbook definition of "fine". It's not bad by any means, but it's pretty bang average IMO.
Thank fuck, something a bit different from white American boomers with acoustic guitars. This is a lot of fun, musically varied and interesting - really nice to listen to, and what a fantastic voice Regina has.
Immediately listened to it again, this is glorious.
Dark, menacing, confrontational, uncomfortable...and that's just the first track. This is surely about as harsh and punishing as jazz gets while retaining some semblance of musicality. Undoubtedly brilliant, only not giving it the full 5 stars because I'm not sure how much I actually enjoy listening to it, at least on first listen. Although I somehow get the feeling that this is not music made with the listeners comfort or enjoyment in mind...
It actually gets much more melodic towards the latter half, with some very interesting composition and instrumentation (e.g. flamenco guitar). I think this will become a firm favourite in my jazz listening rotation, so bumping it up
Somebody to Love is an absolute all-time banger, and is the only reason I feel somewhat favourably to this record. The rest is unfortunately pretty mediocre boomercore with only the odd moments of hilarity (Comin' Back to Me) to break up some long periods of tedium. Disappointing, but far from the worst example of this kind of music.
I absolutely hate this, I think it's complete shit. Sounds like novelty music. Would be funny if it wasn't so annoying.
Oh my fucking god will the boomercore slop ever end?????? I'm so fucking sick of this shit, may have to skip these albums next time I inevitably get about 5 in a week
Clearly a supremely gifted singer with a very interesting story, but this is not something I would choose to listen to. The instrumentation is too sparse for my tastes, and while Makeba's voice is incredible, it is almost TOO powerful- I find this a very intense listen, and actually kinda unpleasant at times.
Never really listened to Bjork so I'm curious about this one.
I love the instrumentation and production. This is a beautiful sounding album. I think it perhaps gets a little same-y at times but I really enjoyed it, and I'm excited to explore Bjork's back catalogue more.
I have a lot of thoughts about this album. I had always assumed, probably uncharitably, that Hole's music was primarily Billy Corgan and Kurt Cobain throwaways. I was soon dispelled of that myth because holy shit, I don't think either of those guys would be physically capable of writing songs this poor (well, maybe Corgan could now, but not in the 90s). This is not second-rate Nirvana. It's not even second-rate 'There is Nothing Left to Lose'-era Foo Fighters. Calling it second-rate 'Lindsay Lohan's band from Freaky Friday' is probably giving it more credit than it deserves.
I've never heard a professionally recorded album with someone so clearly devoid of talent as Courtney Love. Considering how simple the melodies are, the struggle she has navigating them is unbelievable. I honestly have haard yowling cats that seem to have a better grasp of melody than Love shows here. If Kurt Cobain had to listen to her singing in the shower (insofar as I can believe she did shower), then no wonder he blew his fucking head off.
Make no mistake, this is bad music. Like, I've developed a bit of a guilty pleasure of watching compilations of bad music from the internet (shout out chatatonicyouth), and there's moments of this album that would fit seamlessly alongside some of those clips. But worse than that, there's something so cynical about all this. Taking a line from Kurt Cobain's "suicide" note and twisting it, a line about "taking over the world with a song". It just seems so inauthentic, which is ironic for an album whose title track seems to be extolling the virtues of authenticity.
A completely worthless and weirdly disturbing "album". Truly terrible.
This is great, a bit of a slow burner but it's full of atmosphere and there's enough variation in tone and vibe across the album's 4 tracks to keep things interesting. I especially like Spray for it's slightly eerie feel, and Moonshake sounds like post-punk played in a smokey jazz bar.
Never listened to early REM, it's pretty interesting how much their sound is already fully formed on this album.
Definitely not my favourite flavour of 'alt-rock' (it's too conventional for my tastes), and the songwriting here is miles away from their later output (an unfair comparison as they'd go on to write some truly era-defining songs). This is still a good enough listen, though it's a bit samey and at its worst, a bit dull. But it's interesting to hear where it all started for one of the most important rock bands of the last half-century.
The best album by the most important guitar band of the last 40 years.
72 minutes are you fucking kidding me?
I don't care for this at all. I hate harmonica and there's absolutely fucking shit loads of it here. Vocals are really bad. Not a melody in sight. I guess it's not bad for what it is, but my tolerance for folk music is loooooooooooooooow. Actually might be my least favourite genre of music.
Oh look another white boomer with an acoustic guitar playing shite boring music. Why do I expect anything else from this fucking list
Yeah a good listen
Sonically I like this a lot, and there's some nice turns of phrase and clever lyrics, as you'd expect. But then he mentions spending $15 on a prostitute in what is ostensibly a love song, and the growing sense of silliness and hilarity boils over. Also find a little lacking in dynamics, where songs don't have a lot of progression. But that doesn't matter too much, the music, as great as it is, just exists to serve Waits' musings, which is fine as his vocals are pretty undeniable and the lyrics generally good, and pretty funny (presumably intentionally so). Which makes it all the more jarring when he tries to be emotionally sincere, with hilarious results (Jersey Girl and On the Nickel are a weird kinda of cringe). Overall decent but just a little too "one-note" for me to strongly want to return to.
Really boring, don't care for this at all
Pleasant but slightly milquetoast jazz. Still, after the endless barrage of boring boomercore shite I will HAPPILY take this
Butt rock blandness
Enjoyed this a lot, loads of fun. Maybe just gets a little bit same-y though
David Bowie's paedophilia and fascist sympathies don't get spoken about nearly enough
