Favorite tracks: Part III - Pursuance, Part IV - Psalm
Soulful and enchanting, you could get lost in these sprawling compositions for hours.
Favorite track: Levon
Very subpar 70s piano rock. It has nice string arrangements and the classic bombastic production that was the style of the time, but it's brought down by a handful of overly long songs, unceremonious endings (a cardinal sin in piano driven rock and pop music), and poor lyrics and storytelling.
Favorite tracks: Blowin' in the Wind, Girl From the North Country, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
Very chill folk record with some really strong highlights. Some of the talking blues moments do lose me, not one of his strongest suits here. Regardless, I am super partial to records that are just a musician and their guitar.
Favorite tracks: Cry Baby, My Baby, Me and Bobby McGee, Get It While You Can
So empowering and lovely, her voice could probably carry any project it was on.
Favorite tracks: Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, Rock With You, Off the Wall, Burn This Disco Out
Endless grooves and bangers with generational basslines.
Favorite tracks: Greenlight, Hard Feelings/Loveless, Supercut
Pure charisma in a perfectly produced pop record.
Favorite tracks: Don't make me choose
Genuinely, this is pop rock madness. Ziggy is full of unreal melodies, creative chord changes, the greatest rocking guitar parts, dense but crystal clear arrangements, an unending well of wit in Bowie's lyricism... there are dozens upon dozens of aspects of this record that people could only dream of attaining. Very few songwriters can write music as dynamic and endlessly enjoyable as David Bowie.
Favorite tracks: Take on Me, Hunting High and Low, The Blue Sky
Some great tunes and catchy hooks on this one, very cool synth choices as well.
Favorite tracks: Blackened, Harvester of Sorrow, Dyers Eve
Heavy freaking metal.
Favorite tracks: So Fresh So Clean, Ms. Jackson, I'll Call Before I Come, B.O.B., Gangsta Shit
OutKast have been unstoppable since the mid 90s, simple as. The duo of Andre 3000 and Big Boi deliver some of their hottest bars and most invigorated performances here, and the beats similarly do not disappoint.
Favorite tracks: Smooth Operator, Hang On to Your Love, Frankie's First Affair
Absolutely stunning and emotional record. Sade's voice is as beautiful as always and pairs very well with the smooth shimmer of 80s production.
Favorite track: Open Up
Pretty decent record, though it's nothing I haven't heard before. The John Lydon feature on Open Up worked really well, however.
Favorite tracks: Luckie, Sweet Blindness, Eli's Comin, Stoned Soul Picnic
An unsung pop classic from the late 60s, blending together the pastiches of counter-culture music of the time with soul and the occasional jazziness that gives this record its own familiar but singular sound. I absolutely love Laura Nyro's performance on here, she has one of the greatest voices period.
Favorite tracks: Let's Go Crazy, When Doves Cry, I Would Die 4 U, Purple Rain
Endlessly excellent, Prince and The Revolution are firing on all cylinders here. Purple Rain is as playful and party-centric as it is sensual and romantic, and dear god do his insane screamed vocals give me goosebumps.
Drab and uninspired dreck with the most obnoxious traits of 2000s indie rock amplified by 100.
For 1991, this is actually such a weird standout record. This is the kind of electronically driven record that you'd hear more of coming around the mid 90s with how liberal they are with sample usage, the downtempo beats and the production choices present here. It has some lesser moments, but overall it's pretty damn solid and unique.
I've found more enjoyment in listening to his singles than I do his full records, as this album doesn't have a definitive standout track to me. That being said, Ray Charles was a powerful musician that you can't help but love, and I really appreciate this album's cultural status of breaking down racial barriers of popular music way back in 1962. I also dig the vocal arrangements on here, they always added a little bit of oomph and emotion.
Favorite tracks: Dear Prudence, Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Happiness Is a Warm Gun, Blackbird, Rocky Raccoon, Yer Blues, Helter Skelter, Savoy Truffle
Against all odds, an incoherent grab bag of 30 tracks ends up being a generational record. But we all knew that cause it's the fucking Beatles and they were amazing songwriters.
Favorite tracks: The Man Comes Around, Hurt, I Hung My Head, We'll Meet Again
You almost inevitably feel a lot of dread for a man with so many flaws and bad deeds throughout his career on this record. It's a haunting and funereal experience, boasting all of Johnny Cash's most emotive performances with a strong tracklisting to boot.
Favorite track: Herculean
There were some pretty nice sounds here, and the underlying dub influence all throughout the record along with Tony Allen's drumming makes this thing subtly groove, but this album doesn't really have a lot of standout tracks.
Favorite tracks; In the Flesh?, Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2, Mother, Comfortably Numb, The Trial
I've grown so disillusioned with a lot of these old rock operas, as I feel like they more often than not have enough strength in the compositions to justify their usually pompous concepts. At least with The Wall, it's more grounded in reality and there's a lot more to take away in its themes than say Tommy. I just can't stand Roger Waters on this album, some of his theatrics fall flat. That being said, some absolutely phenomenal moments on here; do I need to tell you that Comfortably Numb is an all-timer?
Favorite tracks: Mambo Sun, Cosmic Dancer, Jeepster, Bang a Gong (Get It On)
The loudest rock and roll album that is almost always soft-spoken.
Favorite tracks: Thalassocracy, (I Want to Live on An) Abstract Plain, The Vanishing Spies, Headache
Has such a great first half, but definitely runs out of steam and does not need to be an hour long for what it provides. It is Frank Black just after the Pixies' prime though, so it can't be too bad.
Favorite tracks: Tuesday's Gone, Simple Man, Free Bird
Rock and freaking roll.
Favorite tracks: Gloria, Birdland, Free Money, Break It Up, Land
Her endless charisma, her ever-fascinating and poetic lyricism with vibrant storytelling, her voice like a bolt of lightning that sunders the land, the peak of rock and roll musicianship with especially noteworthy guitar work... What is there not to love about Horses? This makes me love being a woman.
Finally, powerless pop.
Favorite tracks: Bridge Over Troubled Water, El condor pasa, The Boxer, Baby Driver, The Only Living Boy in New York
Favorite tracks: Breakdown, American Girl
