Fav Songs: War Pigs, Paranoid, Iron Man, Electric Funeral
Least Fav: Rat Salad
9.6/10
Fav Songs: Straight Outta Compton, Fuck Tha Police, Gangsta Gangsta, Parental Discretion Iz Advised
Least Fav: Compton's N The House - Remix
7.2/10
Fav Songs: Our House, Almost Cut My Hair, Woodstock, Teach Your Children
Least Fav: Deja Vu
8.0/10
Fav Songs: Xica Da Silva, Taj Mahal, Cavaleiro Do Cavalo Imaculado, Hermes Trismestigo Escreveu
Least Fav: O Filósofo
9.0/10
Fav Songs: Big Me, I'll Stick Around, This Is A Call, Alone + Easy Target
Least Fav: X-Static
6.4/10
Fav Songs: none, they all sound the same and they're all ass
Least Fav: all of them
1.4/10
This is far from my favourite Floyd album but this is still as iconic as it is for a reason. Plenty of fantastic songs on here, several of which stand as some of the best in this band's entire catalogue and a very forward thinking concept too.
Fav Songs: Time, Money, The Great Gig In The Sky, Us And Them
Least Fav: On the Run
9.5/10
Fav Songs: Mirage, Helter Skelter, Carcass, Nicotine Stain
Least Fav: Overground
7.6/10
Fav Songs: Kid, Brass in Pocket, Stop Your Sobbing, The Wait
Least Fav: The Phone Call
8.2/10
Fav Songs: The Light, The 6th Sense, Nag Champa (Afrodisiac For The World), Geto Heaven Part Two
Least Fav: A Film Called (Pimp)
8.9/10
Nick Cave is an artist who I've always heard really good things about but have never gotten around to checking out. I was a little weary of the length of this going in with this being 17 songs long over 2 discs and over 80 minutes in length, but after listening to this I can safely say that it more than earns that runtime. I think that mainly comes down to both sides of the album being so different sonically, so I didn't have a chance to get tired of the album's sound before it moved into something completely different.
Abattoir Blues is the first and the louder side of the album, being made up of 9 anthemic, bluesy alt rock songs with super catchy choruses and a lot of gospel-esque backing vocals. I wasn't too familiar with Nick Cave's style going into this but I loved his vocals here, and I thought he brought so much character and personality to all of these songs, even the ones towards the end which didn't hit as hard instrumentally.
The Lyre Of Orpheus is the second disc and far softer in its sound than the first disc, with a huge focus on acoustic guitar and keys. I thought this was a bit more consistent than the first side, even if I thought that Abattoir Blues had the higher highs. Some of the album's lyrical highlights are found on this side too, with the song "The Lyre Of Orpheus" being a huge highlight for me, showing off Nick's ability to tell an engaging story throughout a song whilst not sacrificing any of the charm or catchiness found on the other songs on the album.
Overall, while I didn't know what to expect from this going in, I came out of this loving a majority of what I heard. While there are a few songs that don't hit as hard as others, I thought pretty much every track here brought something interesting to the table and despite the lengthy runtime, I thought this actually flew by and didn't drag at all. This definitely has me interested in checking out more from Nick Cave, because this was pretty fucking amazing.
Fav Songs: There She Goes My Beautiful World, O Children, Get Ready For Love, The Lyre Of Orpheus
Least Fav: Fable of the Brown Ape
9.1/10
Fav Songs: Debaser, Here Comes Your Man, Monkey Gone To Heaven, Hey, Gouge Away
Least Fav: Silver
9.4/10
Wasn't sure how much I'd get out of a live album from a band I'd never heard of before but I ended up having a very good time with this. Super infectious, high energy rock music which is simple but works super well in this setting. Not sure I'd put this in the conversation for best live album ever, but this is still pretty great nonetheless.
Fav Songs: Surrender, Need Your Love, I Want You To Want Me, Clock Strikes Ten
Least Fav: Goodnight
8.4/10
I'm a bit conflicted on this one. I'd say I enjoyed this a lot and the best songs here are amazing but I can't imagine that this is something I'll return to frequently. Most of that is down to the fact that this is a very slow album with extremely personal and heavy lyrical content, inspired by the untimely death of Nick Cave's son. Because of that, this isn't exactly something that I'm gonna be itching to throw on even if the music here is very good.
I think they would go on to perfect this sound on their later albums, but I think this perfectly lays out the foundation for what metal music would become. Some absolutely fantastic tracks on here with the title track and N.I.B in particular still standing up there as two of the best songs in the entire genre. The other songs here are all varying degrees of good but there's nothing here that matches the heaviness of those two. This is far from my favourite album from these guys but this is still a super impressive debut that holds up against most of what modern metal has to offer.
Fav Songs: N.I.B, Black Sabbath, Warning, Evil Woman
Least Fav: Sleeping Village
8.8/10
Another one of those album's that I like but would never really return to unless I put it on in the background. In order to fully appreciate this you need to really pay attention and that's not something I want to do all the time while listening to music. The musicality on display here is otherworldly and there are a number of songs here that I found to be quite hypnotising but I think because of it's length and quite demanding nature, this isn't going to be something I'll fully re-listen to again even though I do think this is pretty great.
Fav Songs: Miles Runs The Voodoo Down, Pharaoh's Dance, Spanish Key
Least Fav: John McLaughlin
8.1/10
This was good but I can't say I fully loved this. I was more of a fan of the more stripped back songs than I was the ones with the more symphonic production. The vocals were also a bit iffy at points. They were mostly pretty good but on a few tracks they did kinda grate on me a bit. Wouldn't return to this in full, but there are a number of tracks here that I would definitely go back to individually.
Fav Songs: Australia, Enola/Alone, Kevin Carter, Interiors
Least Fav: Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky
7.4/10
I don't think this is ever gonna be my style of music but I can respect this more some other albums in this style because at least Richard has a unique voice that brings a lot of energy to all these tracks. This still has all the problems that i have other early rock n roll albums have with a lot of the songs here sounding very similar or the exact same in some cases and I'll literally never return to this but I can appreciate the vocal talent on display here and see why this is as influential of an album as it is.
A solid album. The title track is the clear highlight here. It's a song that I'm pretty sure everyone has heard a million times before but that's because it is just a genuinely great, catchy pop song. There's some other solid songs here, especially in the first half but nothing comes close to the quality of that song. I wouldn't return to this in full, but I still think this is quite good overall.
Fav Songs: Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), Wrap It Up, Love Is A Stranger, This City Never Sleeps
Least Fav: Somebody Told Me
7.0/10
Fav Songs: Ex-Factor, Doo Wop (That Thing), Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You, When It Hurts So Bad, Lost Ones, To Zion
Least Fav: Nothing Even Matters
9.5/10
I had never heard of this band or this album before, so I'm surprised at how much I loved this. Super high energy and endlessly catchy all throughout with only one song that I can say I didn't fully enjoy. Alright is the clear standout here for me, I had actually heard that somewhere before but had never actually known the name of it until now which is a mistake on my part because it is a genuinely fantastic song. Every other track here though is also very good though, with the exception of We're Not Supposed To, which tbf, doesn't sound like it was made with the intention of being taken seriously anyway. Overall though, this was a surprisingly great album that really took me by surprise. Idk if I'll check out anything else from this band but I'll definitely be returning to this a lot.
Fav Songs: Alright, I'd Like To Know, Mansize Rooster, Lose It
Least Fav: We're Not Supposed To
8.8/10
This is the second Miles I've listened to for this project. While I enjoyed the, at times, hypnotic improvisation on Bitches Brew, I found myself enjoying this one far more. This isn't as demanding of a listen as that album as this one offers a much calmer atmosphere with much more digestible compositions. Jazz is still a genre that I don't fully get yet, but this is definitely the most I've ever enjoyed a jazz album before and I can definitely see this growing on me with repeated listens.
Fav Songs: So What, Blue In Green, Freddie Freeloader
Least Fav: idk
9.3/10
A landmark hip hop album. Despite some poorly aged lyrical content and some questionable interludes I think this has actually aged quite well. The production on here is absolutely fantastic, with Dre providing beats that perfectly balance being funky and hard hitting at the same time. In terms of rapping, id say Snoop is easily the star of the show in that regard, as he provides some fantastic verses on basically every song he's on, especially on Nuthin but a G Thing and Lil Ghetto Boy. There's a few other great performances across the album from The Lady of Rage, RBX and Dre himself but Snoop was just on a different level here. I do have one complaint about this album and that's that the second half doesn't hold a candle to the first. There's still a fair amount of good tracks to be found there but a lot of them are broken up by interludes and don't back the punch of the first half which was literally just great song after great song. For the most part though, I really enjoyed this album, perhaps a bit more than I expected to as well. Fantastic production, great rapping across the board and a few incredible songs which stand as some of my favourites in the entire genre.
Fav Songs: Nuthin But A G Thing, Lil Ghetto Boy, Deeez Nuuuts, Let Me Ride, Fuck Wit Dre Day
Least Fav: The Doctor's Office
9.0/10
Joni Mitchell is another one of those critically acclaimed artists that I've never really checked out until now. That was clearly a huge mistake on my part because this was pretty great. I can see why some people may not have liked this because of how repetitive and minimalistic the instrumentation is here, but I think that allowed for greater emphasis on Joni's incredible songwriting. A lot of the songs here a pretty dense lyrically, but thought they were able to paint a lot of really vivid imagery that kept me interested in these songs even despite the lengthy nature of some of them. I do think this album is a bit too repetitive at points and there's a song or two on here that do overstay their welcome slightly but overall, I still very much enjoyed this.
Fav Songs: Coyote, Hejira, Song for Sharon, Blue Motel Room
Least Fav: Furry Sings the Blues
8.6/10
Great pop rock album. Most of the songs here do sound kinda similar but i didn't mind it too much. Loved the contrast between the super up beat sound of the songs and the lyrics which are mostly about how much life in America sucks. Can't imagine i'd return to the whole album in full but individually, these songs are great and there's definitely a good number that I will be returning to.
Fav Songs: No Surrender, Dancing In The Dark, Born In The U.S.A, Cover Me
Least Fav: Working on the Highway
8.0/10
Obviously this is incredible. I've heard this album numerous times before and I've pretty much always considered it to be incredible. This time was no different. Granted, this isn't my favourite Radiohead album, I'm much more of a Kid A guy personally, but the amount of fantastic songs on here is just absolutely insane. Karma Police, Paranoid Android, Let Down, No Surprises, the list just goes on and even the lesser famous tracks like Lucky and Climbing Up The Walls are just as good too. I do have a few small issues with this, like how Thom's singing can be maybe a bit too melodramatic at points and how the overall message of the album is maybe not as impactful now given some of the statements made by some of the band members in years since, but musically this album is still phenomenal and deserves all of the praise that it gets.
Fav Songs: Paranoid Android, Karma Police, Let Down, No Surprises, Subterranean Homesick Alien, Exit Music (For A Film)
Least Fav: Electioneering (still a great song)
9.6/10
Lenny Kravitz has like 2 good songs and neither of them are on this album. No idea why this is even on the list tbh because you really wouldn't be missing out on anything if you never listened to this. There's two OK songs here but a majority of this was impressively boring.
This fucking bangs and that's all there is to it. Sometimes music really is just that simple.
Another great jazz album. They apparently do some interesting stuff with time signatures on this but I couldn't really care less about that stuff if the music doesn't sound good. Thankfully, the music here is great. Very chill sounding and the instrumental work here always managed to keep me engaged, even if I did think this got a little samey towards the end.
I'm more of a Massive Attack guy than I am a Portishead guy but this is still no doubt a great album. Some of the songs here do sound maybe a bit too samey at points but this is still a very good listen overall with some absolutely ridiculous highs on it.
Fav Songs: Glory Box, Roads, Wandering Star, Sour Times
Least Fav: Numb
8.8/10
Didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did but this was really good. Super tight gothicy post punk that slowly gets darker the further you progress into the album. I'd say i enjoyed the second half more than the first but this album is still ultra consistent and pretty much every song here is great.
Fav Songs: Night Shift, Head Cut, Monitor, Voodoo Dolly
Least Fav: Into The Light
9.2/10
Some good 90s alt rock. Does sound a bit dated at times but some of the production and instrumental choices set this one apart from other albums in this vain.
Fav Songs: Drive, When It Comes, Stellar, Pardon Me
Least Fav: I Miss You
7.8/10
If it's riffs you want then it's riffs you're gonna get with this album. Vocals are a bit crap but what can you do. They're not the main focus here so they didn’t take much away from this for me.
Fav Songs: Holy Wars...The Punishment Due, Tornado Of Souls, Hangar 18
Least Fav: Dawn Patrol
9.2/10
I mean come on. This was the first metal album I ever heard and even to this day it stands as one of my favourites. Great riffs here as you'd expect from a thrash album but it's the song structures and songwriting that sets this apart from other albums within the genre. A lot of these song are very lengthy and progressive with a lot of extended instrumental sections that are really well crafted. Lyrically this album touches on a lot of things, whether that be drug addiction, mental illness, war and, of course, Cthulu. Despite the varying topics of all of these songs, none of them feel out of place and are all well written and respectful to the subjects they relate to. There's also not a bad song on here either. With only 8 tracks they couldn't really afford to miss so they went all out on every single one. Even my least favourite song here could probably stand as the best track if you were to put it on any other album. I can't really say enough good things about this honestly. Some of the best, most replayable metal music you're ever likely to hear and one of my favourite albums of all time regardless of genre.
Fav Songs: All of them but specifically Master Of Puppets, Disposable Heroes, Battery and Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Least Fav: none but if I had to pick, probably The Thing That Should Not Be
9.7/10
Glad to see some LCD on this list. Say what you want about them now but that initial 3 album run is absolutely generational and this is easily the best record to come out of that. This is quite possibly the best mix of dance, rock and electronic music that there's ever been. Every single song here is great and there's a few which are among the best songs I've ever heard. I love how varied this album is too, with there being a strong mix of the endlessly groovy danceable tracks like Time To Get Away, Us v Them and Get Innocuous and the slower and more introspective songs like Someone Great and All My Friends. Despite the lengthy run times of some of these songs I never found myself bored or ready for them to end. One thing I've noticed when listening to LCD, especially on their first 3 albums, is that they're able to craft these really long songs that just lock you into a catchy groove for 7 or 8 minutes and they do that multiple times across this album on some of the best tracks. Overall, I think this album is basically almost flawless. There's perhaps one song here that's not as good as the rest but this album is so consistently phenomenal outside of that, that i don't think it's too big of a deal. A near perfect album for the most part and one of my favourites ever.
Fav Songs: All, but specifically All My Friends, Someone Great, New York I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down, Time To Get Away and North American Scum
Least Fav: None but if had to pick, Sound of Silver
9.8/10
This was fun as hell. Super weird but never in a way that felt overbearing or forced and several absolutely banging songs too.
Fav Songs: Rock Lobster, Lava, 6060-842, Hero Worship
Least Fav: Downtown
8.6/10
A very simple but enjoyable folk record. Baez's dynamic voice is easily the star of the show here and I thought the stipped back acoustic instrumentals served as a pleasant backdrop for her singing. This does get a little bit samey as it goes on, but I never really got bored of the sound of which is quite impressive considering this is basically just 40 minutes of a woman and her guitar.
Fav Songs: Fare Thee Well, House Of The Rising Sun, All My Trials, Silver Dagger
Least Fav: Little Moses
8.4/10
This was great. Good mix of jazz, folk and pop with some obviously brilliant songwriting. I did think this was a bit all over the place when it came to the sound and I definitely preferred the poppier songs to the more stripped back ones but I still think this is s great album for the most part and I could definitely see it growing on me with more listens.
Fav Songs: Car on a Hill, Help Me, Raised on Robbery, Free Man in Paris
Least Fav: The Same Situation
8.3/10
I've listened to a lot of great jazz albums for this project but this one is definitely my favourite. For as much as I love the chill, lowkey sound of a Kind Of Blue or a Time Out, the loud, chaotic nature of this album is really what grabbed me about this, and what set it apart from other jazz projects that I've heard. The playing here is otherworldly too, with constant changes in tempo and time signature which keeps things interesting across the lengthy runtimes of some of these songs. Even though I'm still new to jazz, I had a really great time with this and with more time, I could definitely see myself enjoying this one a lot more than I already do.
Fav Songs: All
Least Fav: N/A
9.5/10