1001 Albums Summary

I do not have the musical skill, knowledge, or aptitude to speak on the craft here. As a listener though, I dig a bluesy electric guitar just jamming out, that is a mood I could sit with for a while.

Before this listen my only engagement with Van Morrison was hearing Brown Eyed Girl on many a summer playlist. While I really enjoy that song I’m not sure this album is going to be my go to choice for chilling. I appreciate the folk/soul sound, but it failed to win me over. This feels like an album you listen to while spending time with someone special or to remember spending time with someone special. So maybe in that specific situation I’ll return to a few of these tracks.

Not familiar with Frank Ocean, a musician I’ve heard of thanks to being a critical darling but I’ve never listened to yet. So I’m going to just jot down the notes as I go along. Early part of this album indulges in too many tangents. It’s distracting. When he finds his groove, though, the tracks improve. Appreciate the theme of frustration with affluence and proximity to wealth, throughout the album, though it is at times a bit muddied. Are we observing or participating? I can't decide. The complaints also feel a little halfhearted. Okay! The Track "Pink Matter" has a wonderful, if sincerely misplaced Dragonball Z reference. Mentions of Majin Buu earn points from this reviewer. I'm an easy mark. Also , I see you there Andre 3000. Finished. The second half of this album is high quality. Polished production, expected given the names associated, that gets labeled as neo soul. Matching storytelling with the R&B beats. I dig it.

"It doesn't matter if we all die." This is the opening lyric to the opening track, "One Hundred Years" and captures the reputation of the The Cure. It is also the nihilistic tone that permeates this entire album. An album of intrusive thoughts, repeating repetitively, exhausting and animating in equal parts. Robert Smith is trying to get these thoughts out of his head, if they end up in yours, well that’s just collateral damage. Sorry you entered the blast radius. Beware of bleakness. "I will never be clean again." According to the tales of the the recording of this album there was heavy drug use, confrontational episodes, and an all around depressive atmosphere. Well, you've got an album that reflects such origins. The result is a singular sound, with one track blending into and sounding like the next. "Is it always like this?" It is an album of messed up rockers playing music despondently because what else are they going to do? Be respectable? This wasn’t meant for you. It was never meant for you. You’re just peaking in. That sound you hear. It’s a sound that rises from the haze, the middle of their mess. It is the sound you get when you point a camera and microphone at that mess to record the degradation. It is, in a word, pornography. "Waiting for the death blow."

My first 90s album of this exercise! Yay! Green Day has always been a favorite of mine, though never in my absolute favorites lists. This album was my introduction and remains my preference of their discography. Full disclosure, Dookie was one of my initial 10 albums from Columbia House back in the day. Remember them? It has been a minute since I listened to this album in full but I was pistoning my hands with every Tre Cool mini drum-fill like I was 15 again. This album runs on juvenile energy ("Welcome to Paradise" & "She") and wild unfocused anxiety. ("Longview"; "When I Come Around" ; and "Basket Case"). I recall all of it. Do you have the time to listen to me whine? As a teenager who lived through it too, it is hard to convey how this energetic sound, coming right on the heels of grunge, just popped. It was like hearing color. And I love grunge. It was just nice to also have some pop punk back on the menu too and Billy Joe Armstrong and these guys were everywhere in 1994. I’m not sure the album truly merits a “5”. It’s a solid 4, but personal history and 90s nostalgia bump it up to a 5 for me. So I was glad to come back to this albun. A reminder of another time. A time when I was young enough to laugh at poop jokes. "hehe...dookie”

Yep, this is music that could potentially be played at and get you moving if you’re at the club, however, I’m not at the club and if I was I’d probably be a wallflower. Beyond that it is an album that fails to achieve escape velocity from the club for me. One track I knew, the “Back to Life” hit. Less than a handful I would return to, “Keep On Movin’” & “African Dance”. The rest… If this is still on the list come the next edition, I think it’s a fine candidate to update with a newer album.

“How we live in his existence just being English upbringing, background Caribbean“ New listen for me. So an odd thing happened as I listened to this one. I initially bounced off of it, just not for me, but something kept nagging the back of my mind. Then halfway through the album, around the track Five Man Army, it started hitting for me. And by the end I wanted to start it over and listen to those first few tracks again. Ah there it is, that start to “Safe From Harm” put me in mind of 311’s “Beautiful Disaster” and that brought the whole album into focus. The beat heavy sound with bits of electronic, reggae, and rap. Wouldn’t be surprised to find out Massive Attack was influential on them. (Upon reading the Wikipedia on this album I see that this album and band are a massive (pun not intended) influence on many artists.) Trip hop. That makes sense. I dig it. A 3.5 that I don’t feel like rounding up to a 4. I’m probably adding these tracks to the playlists: Safe From Harm Blue Lines Five Man Army Daydreaming Lately.

MGMT missed me. Completely. Their sound. There timing. I’d never heard of this band until last year (2025). Now I know that probably says more about me and my disconnect from popular music at the time than anything else. They hit at a time when I was not listening to anything new and most of my music listening time was given to things like audiobooks. To my ears, this is an unfocused mess. Just a mishmash of influences being tried out to see what sticks. I can see the appeal in the approach but it does not work for me. One intriguing track and the rest sounds like an EA Sports Menu screen . I’ll find my chill music elsewhere. How? How is this included on Rolling Stones 500 greatest albums of all time? Now, I feel like I’m the one being punked.

First impressions: This sounds like the Thursday night band at the local roadhouse. They're trying things out but don't have the energy to be the weekend act. There is potential though. Just let them jam for a bit and they might get there. The Southern rock sound. Blues with bits of Appalachia, Bluegrass, and folk in it. I dig it. The first half of the album (A double album divided into four parts) was stronger for me than the second half. Part 1- The Raven sounds like a live music jam. Fun and inviting. Part 2- The Wilderness has that slowing down from the jam sound because we need to go to church the next morning. See they're practicing to be that Saturday night act and need a few songs to soften the end of the night. Part 3 - Consider & Part 4 - Rock & Roll is Here to Stay must be the midweek brainstorms for next week's set. Again, this is the weaker half of the album for me and where you find a lot of the bloat. A few of these songs are keepers. Conclusion: A bit bloated, however, understandably so. Seems like a side project, a space for these musicians to indulge in what catches their interest. More of a 2.7 for me that I'll round up to a 3.

“Music is my savior…I was maimed by rock and roll.” It was raining the day this album showed up on my project. I listened to it walking through the rain with the dog before the sun came up. It was still raining when I was listening to this album during my morning commute. It added to the introspective ambience. I wish I had found this album earlier in life. I wonder if my entire life would’ve turned out different had I found this album during my teenage years when it came out. Like that Jim Belushi movie where he gets to see what it would’ve been like if he had hit a home run instead of striking out in a high school baseball game. Would’ve it have been a parade of fashionable lovers, a garage full of cars, and the career fast track? Okay, probably not. What I do know is that my mind wanted to manufacture years, decades, of nostalgia for this album as I was listening to it for the first time today. I can imagine hearing this on a college rock station. I can hear this on a NPR’s Rock & Roots alternative rotation. It is infused with this certain 90s sensibility, a yearning to experience the epiphany that figures life out and the disappointment when it doesn’t occur. And it is all soundtracked by pure uncut 90s alternative rock country. Needless to say, I loved the album. Solid 4.

New listen and going in blind. Never heard of ABC before. Bombastic opening track, that really has big Phantom of the Opera energy. As the album proceeds from there I can tell they are going for over the top self-importance. A certain Broadway presentation. However, as I reached the track, “Tears are Not Enough” it started to get me laughing. It was difficult to take it seriously. Yes, this is how part of the 1980s sounded! That said, I can appreciate indulgent spectacle, even this one, and found myself enjoying stretches of this album. Maybe stretches is too generous. When I forgot myself I enjoyed fragments of this album. Everything has a very disco sound meeting the 80s on top of a synthesizer. As a child of the 80s the synth-pop will always feel familiar though I never developed a deep love for it.

What a voice! I'm more familiar with her other album, "Back to Black" but still enjoyed seeing this one pop up on the list for today. Listening to Amy Winehouse is like hearing a shaman access the spirit world, she communes with good spirits and evil spirits where none of them act predictably. She displays such an array of emotions you feel them reflected back at you. Late night hope, future regret, snide cattiness, frustration, complaint, playfulness, desire, or musing. A voice brimming with charisma and songs written with deep character. I just wanted to press play and let this album burn all the way down like a cigarette left in the ashtray.

There was that window of time in the 1990s where a bunch of people got into layering beats with traditional cultural music. I always kinda dug it. I was a fan of Enigma which William Orbit was a contemporary of as well. This album came out the same year as The Cross of Changes. The next year an album of Chanting monks from Spain would go double platinum. It was a thing at the time. So whatever you call it EDM, ambient, trip hop, new age world beat. This is an album I wouldn’t mind throwing on to work to or just vibe with.

"No, it's just more lock-jawed pop-stars, Thicker than pig-shit, Nothing to convey, They're so scared to show intelligence, It might smear their lovely career" Whenever I get my album for the day I always note the release year. This being a 2004 album makes perfect sense when the first three tracks are so overtly and clumsily political. I'm not going to fault an artist for earnestness, but damn, if these lyrics weren't painfully cumbersome. That continues throughout the album even as we move from broad political topics to more personal losses and complaints. In fact this whole album has a whiney-ness to it. Along the way, however, I found some narrative threads worth pulling on for brief moments. "The World is Full of Crashing Bores" and "First of the Gang to Die" both earned back enough of my attention to see where they were going. After the album ran out of steam and thankfully ended. I'm told The Smiths are worth checking out but Morrissey on his own is burdened by trite songwriting and a milquetoast rock sound. I think this is what the kids call Cringe nowadays.

Kids, as you get older you're going to find that you need to listen to good music. This is good music. I'm halfway through the first track and I can tell I'm going to like this album. The music is full of warm tones and lifting solos. I could feel the breeze off the ocean hitting my face. I could taste a splash of spiced rum in my drink. Where did this drink come from? Don't worry about it. I listened to this album on repeat twice before I even thought to stop it. I listened to it throughout the day. It was a welcome addition to the day. Reading up on this album afterwards tells me that Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd's Jazz Samba kicked off the bossa nova craze in America. Well for that I thank them. This whole abum was a delight.

"When I wake up in my makeup, Have you ever felt so used up as this? Album opens with the propulsive mania of the title track "Celebrity Skin". Its got enough wild confidence to throw its name into those "Best Side 1, Track1" arguments. I don't know how well it would fair overall, but any tracks on the other side of the argument probably don't want to get in a tangle with this one either so who knows. "Awful" loses some of the wild mania to put a glib smile on female rebellion while "Hit So Hard" brings out the distortion in sound and life. "Malibu" and "Reasons to Be Beautiful" grapple with disenchantment settling in. Now we're faded somewhere in Hollywood. "Dying" - This is my surprise face to find out Billy Corgan hand his hand on this track. It could've slotted neatly in on "Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness." In fact Corgan got involved on a handful of tracks I see. Back half of the album is a bit more muted. "Northern Star" is a haunting lament in context "I knew I'd cherish all my misery, alone." that is well paired with proximity to the track "Boys on the Radio" on the album. By the time you reach the end of "Petals" you feel a little fatigued but that maybe going outside and getting some rays of sun would do you good. Final Thought: There is something about that 90s alternative rock sound. I grew up with it, I still love it. Enjoyed this one. A deep through line of how the pop culture fame machine chews through young hopefuls. Given Courtney Love's position in rock history, perhaps she is one of the few voices that should be heard less as pretentious to on this topic and maybe a little more experienced.

My body was actively rejecting this album as I listened to it. I had to immediately put on my high energy playlist when it ended. I was quite surprised to see I had a "liked" song on my Spotify from this artist. It was "The Wanderer" from Dion and The Belmonts. Guess I enjoyed the Doo-wop / Rock and Roll era much more. Apparently Dion was not happy with this album and called it "funeral music." I agree. Let's just bury it and not speak of it again.

"First of all, we'd like to thank Jethro Tull for not putting out an album this year." - Lars Ulrich opening Metallica's 1992 Grammy acceptance speech. So I get Jethro Tull is known as the prog rock band with the flutes, but for most of my life I've known them as that old-not-really-"Metal"-band that beat Metallica for a Grammy back in 1989 for Best Hard Rock/Metal performance. Thus, here I am nearly forty years later about to listen to a Jethro Tull album in full for the first time. I've heard a few songs here and there over the years, just FYI. ...And I enjoyed it. There is much to chew on here. This is one of those pieces of art that I think age has helped me appreciate. I would not and did not have the patience for an album like this in my younger days. Now, I'll sit with those guitar riffs and wait for that flute to drop. Musing about "God and Religion" and throwing you hands to the sky in frustration with the whole affair. Okay, make your argument. I'm listening. This is the type of album you want to have discussions about, good or bad. Whether you enjoyed it or not. Still think Metallica got robbed in 1989.

“I lost myself in a familiar song. I closed my eyes and I slipped away.” Every track ended with a booming radio voice declaring “This is Classic Rock!” Was that just me? Hell Yeah! Seriously, one of the load bearing pillars of 1970s rock that was already classic when I was old enough to start listening to music on the radio. I came of age in the MTV era though so I have limited nostalgia for Boston. Still, this album rocks. The first side is 100% top tracks. “More than a Feeling” will take you away. There’s a reason the cover has a spaceship. And “Peace of Mind” is the perfect companion track to bridge to the top shelf classic that is “Forplay/Longtime.” Second half of the album is a slight dip in enjoyment for me but only as compared to side one. All in all, it made for the perfect Friday drop.

“When you believe in things that you don’t understand, then you suffer.” This is my first time listening to this full album. I’d heard Superstition but that was about it. I’m having trouble thinking of words to describe how this album is making me feel. It’s smooth and funky. In a single word, groovy. The instrumentation is high quality craftsmanship and Stevie Wonder’s voice is something to behold. My single complaint is some of the repetition within the individual songs reached a point of annoyance for me. (Thinking of the line “Maybe your baby done made some other plans.” On the second track “Maybe Your Baby”) It’s a small annoyance, because overall this album is the fix for what ails you. I can see myself getting in a mood to return to this album.

“It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn’t matter. It doesn't matter.” This feels like a You-had-to-be-there album. You had to be at the club when this kicked in. You had to be on some chemicals to pick up what the Chemical Brothers were laying down. You had to be there when John Wick murdered his way across the entire rave dance floor. The Chemical Brothers were heralds. The sound of EDM would come to influence all of pop music, or at least seemed to to me. And it’s hard for me to assess that. If competently done, it sounds…fine enough to dance and trip to, I guess, but beyond that. I don’t know. For me I'm not sure how this music transcends that simple functionality. Block Rockin' Beats went hard and I can see it soundtracking a good action scene or sports highlight mix tape. but again, that goes back to the you had to have been there of it all. As far as the EDM type music goes this is electronica that seems to have less charisma that say a Daft Punk, or am edge like the Prodigy. I dig it well enough: it’s fun. Fun for a night, just not forever.

Alright! Going in I know this album already has two all-timer tracks for me in "One" and "Mysterious Ways." The rest of the album is mostly uncharted territory that I'm eager to discover. I think i mentioned in a previous review from this project that I will not fault an artist for being earnest. I appreciate earnestness and that is probably why I have a higher tolerance for U2 that the average person who is not already a big U2 fan. They tend to be a polarizing group as I understand. Zoo Station - loving that distortion on both the vocals and the electric guitar. Inject that 90s sound right into my ears. Even Better Than the Real Thing - Okay, I remember this track too. These first two tracks put me in mind of "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" which came a few years after this but was one I really liked and I'm digging the proto-versions here. One - Like I said, this one is an all-timer for me. The quiet pleading, the punctuating outbursts that attempt an understanding. Bono pulls off all the vocal musings. It also contains one of my favorite lyrics, "Have you come here for forgiveness? Have you come to raise the dead? Have you come here to play Jesus, To the lepers in your head?" That'll sit in my head all day. Until the End of the World - I'm loving this track too. Am I contemplating a 5 here? I think I'm contemplating a 5 here. Wild! Lets see how the back half of the album hits. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses - First track that made me somewhat impatient. Attempts to achieve soaring lyrics and guitar parts, but the title is too much and its repetition within the track does not bring it back around. So Cruel - Keeping the pace slow here. Not a bad thing, per se, we'll see how it plays out. The Fly; Mysterious Ways: Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around the World After the lull of the previous two tracks we pick back up with a great three track run here that really puts that 5 in sight for me. Ultra Violet (Light My Way) & Acrobat keep the energy going with Love is Blindness bringing it all to a definitive conclusion. So what i thought might've been some minor pacing problems turned out to be solid deep breath between two great stretch of tracks. Overall this was a solid hour of music. U2 has always been a omnipresent part of the rock landscape during my life. So I was never surprised to encounter them, Live Aid, award shows, Super Bowl halftime, unasked for in your iPod. They're just there. Now maybe I need to listen to some more deep cuts. I think I enjoy U2 more than just in passing. Color me shocked. This whole listening project has demonstrated to me all the music I've missed in my life so far. I'm glad I'm doing this.

An album that almost got lost in the shuffle. I’ve got no special affection for Otis Redding. I know his voice from a few unavoidable songs that get included on various playlists. Ones that usually mentioned oldies, you know. So when presented with an album of covers from the mid-60s my enthusiasm was muted. It was the morning. I listened to the album. Slowly, a few of the tracks started to grow on me. If I had only given this album a once over listen I might’ve forgotten it quick and moved on, but I didn’t. I had the time today, so I gave a second listen. I took a mulligan on my initial take. Redding’s voice does the majority of the work, he can pack a lot of emotion into single verses. The guitar and horns, though, bring an understated enjoyment to this album that I didn’t catch at first blush. Really good stuff there. They elevate even the fun frivolity on tracks like Shake. Highly enjoyed the tracks: Ole Man Trouble A Change is Gonna Come My Girl Wonderful World Also found some of the music more suited to later evening listening. Something to consider for the rest of the project.

Sounds like a college movie scoring project. Hope the guy earned that MFA in Sound Design off this. I'll give a point for keeping a coherent thought throughout the entire album. It does evoke an action movie atmosphere. But seriously, how does this merit inclusion as one of the 1001 slots?

"Sittin' on the bed and I'm lyin' wide awake There's demons in my head and it's more than I can take I think I'm on a roll, but I think it's kinda weak Sayin' all I know is I gotta get away from me" Oh man! It makes me so happy to talk about The Offspring. This band and particularly this album hit me at the age of 14 and they were a musical pillar of my teenage and high school years. Dexter, Noodles, Greg K., and Ron Welty (the classic band make-up) sure knew how to appeal to goofy teens like myself. As I've aged they have slid down from a top 3 personal to more of a legacy top ten band of mine. Still, I could probably do this rating from memory. A lot of these tracks remain on a few of my playlists, but some have grown hazy from disuse. Track Highlights I appreciated the running gag of the hoity-toity listener which is juxtaposed with the crashing noise that follows it. It never gets old to me. Nitro [Youth Energy] - Is a 2 and a half minute opening mission statement full of piston drum kicks and relentless riffs. Keep up loser! Bad Habits - Road Rage build up to one explosive punchline. Gotta Get Away - Best track on the album. Has aged the best. Playlist staple of mine. Come Out and Play - Punk rock that descended from surfer rock. The Offspring show off that Southern California flavor with a Dick Dale inspired riff. Was ready for radio and MTV from the first moment. Probably helped too, when Quentin Tarantino reminded the world of surfer rock by opening 1994's Pulp Fiction with "Misirlou" by Dick Dale himself. 1994, we remember you well. What a year! Self-Esteem - May be the track that has aged the worst, honestly. At 15 this was a perfect expression of my own awkwardness and disaffected self. Now it is much too whiny and contains more self-flagellation than I want to indulge in. Part of me can still relate to this song, but like a bad memory of a situation you eventually resolved. Conclusion.: My god this album remains a helluva lotta fun to listen to. Heavy but playfully-in-your-face-riffs that bring boundless amounts of nervous energy. A reminder that "Smash" unlike its 1994 Pop Punk counterpart, Green Day's "Dookie," was made while The Offspring were on independent label Epitaph. Sidenote: Smash is the best selling independent label album ever. There is less polish on this production; it still brings the heat. Its got all the elements of punk; blowing off steam catharsis (Nitro [Youth Energy], Bad Habit), an abundance of anxiety (Gotta Get Away; Self-Esteem, Not the One), simply expressed sincere concerns with social issues (Something to Believe In, Come Out and Play, It'll Be a Long Time), and bouts of hyperbole (Genocide, Killboy Powerhead). It makes me feel quite old to know that The Offspring have been an active band for 4 decades. Sometimes that youthful punk energy burns out quick, but sometimes it keeps you young by being a constant source, a reminder, of youthful energy you can return to over and over, over the years. Solid 5 from me.

Common is a name I’ve encountered on other rappers album, but never listened to any of his own stuff. This album is…serviceable. It’s good-not-great mid-2000s rap album. The hooks worked and the rap flows well enough. Yet nothing stood out to me. And honestly I don’t have much more to say about it than that.

This album gets a 5. For me this album would get as high as you can rate. 5. 500. 5000. 5 million. Infinity. This album gets infinity from me. This one is quite personal. I may go long on it. I don’t know. That is because this album long ago ceased being an artifact of music for me and became maintenance medication. I need regular doses of this album to properly function. This album hit me at age 20 like a revelation. It is not hyperbole to say this album got me through college. It got me through my 20s. It got me through my 30s. Its getting me through my 40s. I listened to this when I had a bad day at work, when I needed the rush of adrenaline to pull an all-nighter to finish a paper, on my way to and from game nights with my buds, when I was lonely, when another romance flamed out, when I lost my job, when I landed an even better job, when the wife or kids are stressing me out, or whenever I just need it. I’ve listened to this album on repeat for over a quarter of a century now. I've listened to it 5 times today at the prompting of this project. It is the cosmic background radiation of my mind. I daresay if you put a needle to the grooves on my brain it would play this record. I was already a fan of the rap-rock sound that would be forever known as Nü-metal. Korn was a prominent band for me in college. Linkin Park seemed to perfect this in 2000 with Mike Shinoda as the hip-hop guy and Chester Bennington as the rage-screaming rock guy. Seriously, I could hear Chester scream about anything and feel it. He had as much pain in his voice as anybody since Layne Staley to me. The chemistry these two, MS & CB, achieved in the way they handed off tracks to each other was immaculate. Inevitable. Like a binary star system circling each other until the collision explodes releasing supernova force. Add to this mix persistent towering guitar riffs from Brad Delson, Rob Bourdon’s drum mastering, and timed under the hand of Mr. Joe Hahn on turntable mixing. Its perfect. The Tracks. This album defines no skips energy for me. Each track is awesome. I get it though if it’s not your thing. I do. It’s hard for me to argue on the merits of musical craft. I just love the way this album sounds. I would love their sound almost as much on Reanimation and Meteora. Here is my ranking of them in order of personal enjoyment: One Step Closer Crawling With You Papercut Runaway Forgotten Cure for the Itch In the End Points of Authority Pushing Me Away A Place for My Head By Myself One Step Closer is my go to "I'm angry song" and has been my most listened to song on Spotify every year I've had a subscription. In conclusion, there is a lot more I could say, however, I probably don't need to go on. Im afraid I will descend into florid repetition if I haven’t already. I’m sure I will hear more great music to come on this project, but I can definitely say I will not love any album more than this one.

Second The Chemical Brothers album in a week. My enthusiasm is muted. So is this album it seems. This blended into the background, mostly, seamlessly. Nothing stood out to me. Yes, these guys know how to design sound. That said there is little I can add to my previous review. It’s difficult to rate these albums. It’s like the bathroom music for The Matrix. It will get you to nod your head for a while, but for what? 3/5 - Inoffensive and ambient.

“So I get into the game, but always keep it the same And I’ll be using’ your name, but they’ll be yelling’ at me, “Poor boy, poor boy!” Jack White has always been a personal enigma to me. I like The White Stripes and his other projects when I hear them on the radio. On the other hand he is also a musician I’m told I’m supposed to like by lots of people and critics with loud opinions on music. And me, well I’m sometimes a contrarian. So I can’t say I’ve ever given a Jack White album (and by extension The White Stripes) a full listen. So this will be a new listen for me. Surprising, that’s the word. That guitar forward rock that tilts and lilts from one moment to the next. I can hear the mastery on display. White will show you his chops, and he has plenty, before he changes it up. He earns your trust and then says, what if we we went over there? You coming? I found that usually, I was. In another timeline, I could see myself giving this a 5 because I’ve spent a decade with it. I haven’t though and something unseen is keeping it at arms length from me. I’ll give it a 4.

"I've been drawn into your magnet tar pit trap." I was barely 13 years old when this album dropped. When Nirvana was on top of the world I was still in the process of aging into my teenage angst. Now I'm the one who is old and bored. Being the tail end of Generation X means I still have a claim to Kurt Cobain being a spokesman for my generational cohort if only just. However, outside of what MTV fed me (and believe me when I say they fed A LOT of Nirvana), it wouldn't be until college that I truly embraced this band. Of the big four grunge acts I gravitated toward Soundgarden and Alice in Chains more early on and later more toward Pearl Jam. Why? Don't know. Nirvana was just omnipresent and it felt like they were too big to be claimed as "your" band. Again, maybe I was just a year or two shy of truly "getting it." Upon reflection, In Utero has to be listened to as a reaction to how big Nevermind and subsequently Nirvana, grew. This is the band's response to the phenomenon of one of the best selling and most influential albums ever made. That response ended up being a question by Kurt Cobain as rock god asking you: "What will you put up with?" "How much can I get away with and still be your rock god." How much will the label let me do?" On the lead radio/MTV video single we’re going to talk about eating cancer when it turns black, that cool? We're going to take the catchiest pop guitar part on the album and put it on a song called "Rape Me" and Kurt is going to scream the title as the chorus, okay? Are you cool if we just title one track "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter" and have an intro that is the most god-awful anti radio screech we can imagine? How about calling being happy dumb? How about if one fourth of the album is abrasive noise, yeah? And the world said yes. A resounding yes for all of time. The world loved it. In Utero may outclass Nevermind. It’s loud, noisy, and at times intentionally distasteful. It is nearly perfect. It was the follow-up that confirmed the talent, vision, and artistry of Nirvana. An album by a group of guys coming to the realization that they are now rock gods and are expected to behave as such. Well, they're going to see how much the label and the audience will let them get away with. It is difficult to convey to anyone 5 or more years younger than me how the 90s felt truly. How the concept of "selling out" was at all times to be avoided. In Utero may be an ur-text on this. Nirvana became the biggest band in the world off of Nevermind and Kurt Cobain immediately wanted nothing to do with it. Reportedly said, "I'm embarrassed by it now. It's closer to a Mötley Crüe record than it is a punk rock record." So the next album, this album, was intentionally provoking. Provoking both his label and his audience. Who were we to gainsay the voice of a generation? And I'm going to end on "All Apologies." The last track on Nirvana's final studio album may be my favorite Nirvana track of all. It serves as a fitting goodbye, though we didn't know it at the time. It was so good that it would also be the last Nirvana song played on the Unplugged set list. "All Apologies" was the send off, "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" was the final encore, but we'll get to that another time, I'm sure. Yeah, this album is a solid 5 for me. Not for nostalgia, not for musical perfection achieved, but for recognition of commitment to the vision and refusing to completely sand down the rough edges. Also, it’s good. "All in all is all we all are."

“I try not to say nothing, the DA might want to play in court.” I saw another review say this and I’m going to steal that line, “Not all 5s are created equal.” This album is long and I was never bored. Not once. Never grew tired of it. That’s only happened with Eminem, Jay-Z, and Wu-Tang as far as rap albums go. Rare company there. Now I do have a history with this album. 2003 was near the end of college for me and is probably the last time I was really “In Da Clubs.” Also, my roommate at the time was really into rap, especially anything off Shady Records. I remember a weekend when this album was on loop for hours. Maybe my enjoyment of it is a form of Stockholm Syndrome. Who knows. First it is a meeting of West Coast gangsta rap and R&B heavy New York rap produced by Eminem and Dr. Dre. The pedigree couldn’t be better. That blending of East Coast/West Coast was still something to behold in 2003. These are prime grade A beats in our ears. And 50 Cent brings the vulgar bravado of a charismatic heel. He’s a villain in his own story, I’m not rooting for him, but damn I’m intrigued to see what happens next. And he beefed with everyone! Nas, Ja, Jay. He would eventually purchase Puffy’s own documentary away from him and produce a diss documentary. Someone observed that is a biblical level of hate. So yeah, highlight tracks Patiently Waiting Many Men (Wish Death) In Da Clubs High All the Time If I Can’t Last note, one final time: G-G-G-G-Unit.

“To sexy rock critics, Slanted and Enchanted might as well be Thriller or the Dark Side of the Moon. Pitchforks Perfect 10 review of the Slanted and Enchanted reissue was so intimate and rapturous the guy wrote it out longhand.” – Rob Harvilla on his podcast “60 Songs that Explain the ‘90s” on the episode for Pavement. Listening to this album made my hand itch for a Sega Genesis game controller. Not because of any associated memories, I didn’t listen to Pavement in 1992, but because damn if the whole of this sound doesn’t instantly transport me back to the early to mid ‘90s. Pavement is the perfect example, the quintessential, indie rock band noodling around in the 90s. They are probably the 90s indie rock band you imagine the slacker love interest to be in. You know the one representing artistic authenticity. They make lethargic slacker rock on indie labels, feud with The Smashing Pumpkins, play Lallapalooza, and get loved by rock critics at every publication. Not to give the wrong impression, I did not listen to Pavement in the 1990s. I wasn’t that cool or underground. I lived in remote Appalachia. They didn’t play Pavement on the radio there or much on MTV. I might’ve had a few brief brushes with them on 120 minutes or something, but have no memory of it. No, I was not aware of them until I listened to Rob Harvilla’s podcast in 2021. And I discovered I love their sound. I truly do. But I still can’t seem to get into them. “I’m tryin’, I’m tryin’, I’m tryin’, I’m trying’, I’m tryin’, I’m trying’, I’m trying’ and I’ll try.” So here I am at the prompting of this project once again listening to Pavement to see if they stick. “I’ve got one holy life to give.” It may all sound the same, but that’s not a complaint when I’m enjoying it. Summer Babe – Winter Version is a catchy opening. The repeating bass contains a decade of undirected malaise in of itself. “Every time I sit around I found I’m shot.” The titles on this album are pure indie rock: “Trigger Cut/Wounded Kite at :17”, “In The Mouth a Desert”, “Jackals, False Grails: The Lonesome Era”. Yep. So maybe this time, Pavement and I will mesh. Maybe I will be that cool. Or not. Whatever.

Albums like this one are when I feel out of my depth. You have such a well known artist with a reputation for producing great music, but here I am ignorant of the vast majority of it. Paul Simon is a known name to me and I loved the “You Can Call me Al” music video back in the day when I saw it on MTV. The thing is when I first encountered the goofy music video with the comedian from SNL I was too young to know any of Simon’s back catalog. Even now I only know a few of the hits from Simon & Garfunkel. (Hey, but that’s why I’m doing this project isn’t it?) So, I’m interested to see what this album beholds. Its airy and light. Simon concerns himself with wordy almost-monologues. He is quite the storyteller on this album. Then sets about populating the tracks with folk and world music experiments. And here I don’t know if he is just dabbling or if this is what one should expect from a Paul Simon album. I particularly enjoyed the accordion on The Boy In the Bubble and the Cajun ditty “That Was Your Mother.” A few of the tracks fell flat, however, and Simon leans on musical aptitude to try and refocus but fails to bring the necessary energy. The entire album, even the better tracks, seem possessed of a meandering wanderlust. Road trip to Graceland, ride the river down the bayou, or a stroll through an African Markert. I can get on board with that though and enjoy it.

“Everything is either too tame or there's too much anger I didn't like the beat, so I hated, Might Delete Later" You nerdy pricks would find somethin' wrong with 36 Chambers.” Eminem, “Renaissance” from The Death of Slim Shady Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) is a muthafuckin’ masterpiece! Don’t think about it too hard. Just bring the muthafuckin' ruckus. Oh yeah, this entry might have some strong language. Give it a five and start nodding your head. You've got eight guys here letting loose with the flows inspired by a love of kung-fu movies and a gritty urban existence. What witty criticism can you provide that is going to make any difference. You're bringing a pen to a sword fight. Here's my counterargument: A guy named Ol' Dirty Bastard rapping about slicing shit like a samurai. I guess if you had to get intellectual you could talk about how influential this album was and became even more so over time. How it reestablished the East Coast hip-hop scene even as the G-Funk West Coast sound was becoming ascendant. One might be tempted to examine the cross-culture aspects more in depth. Why bother? Spin "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" one more time. Or "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing to F'With." Or "Protect Your Neck." Or any track from "Bring Da Ruckus" to the Conclusion. Then spin it again. Listen to Inspectah Deck pass the mic to Raekwon to Method Man to U-God to the Ol' Dirty Bastard to Ghost Face Killer to The RZA to The GZA. The rotation may be long, but its damn cool company. Tiger Style!

A new listen for me as I was not aware of this band until they popped up as today's album. This first track, however, had me do an actual spit take. I don't want to spoil it for anyone out there, but listen to the lyrics. I hope I don't laugh through this entire album. Some of the middle tracks recover, and it ends better than it begins. First, the album does good work creating a dreamscape of sound. The music is low and dreamy, but then the spell is continually broken once the vocals start. Look, I get that an operatic voice may be an acquired taste, but this one wasn't exactly for me. Add in relentlessly horny lyrics that occasionally drift into unintentionally hilarious territory and you have this album. 2.5/5 that I wouldn't round up to 3. Tracks that I might return to for curiosity's sake: When I'm Sleepy... We Still Got the Taste Dancin' on Our Tongues Through the Iron Gate

"It doesn't make any difference what city. All cities are alike. That's why I'm out here now...cause I'm from the city, a long way from the city - and that's where I want to be right now." The Stranger on the Highway, Easy Rider (1969) Given the year, 1968, my first thought was this sounds like a band that played at Woodstock. Looked it up and sure enough, there they were. This album had all the range I wanted for a Monday morning commute. A touch twangy, a touch bluesy, with a good dollop of gospel to remind you of church when you’re out there on the road between Sundays. The band name, album title, and cover art brought no recollection to mind. The first few tracks provided some folksy strumming and I thought it was alright. Then we hit "Caledonia Mission" and followed that up with "The Weight" and boy did my ears perk up then. Not gonne lie, I rode that wave until the end of the album. It meanders like an old man talking, telling stories, voicing regrets and weariness. I didn’t want to interrupt the old fellow. This music sits too far away from me in time to claim, but thankfully that time is behind me and I can listen to most of these old tales anew. Also, hindsight shows itself in what came after. I mean I can hear a little Deep Purple in “Chest Fever” or a touch of Cream in. “Long Black Veil”. Take those old records off the shelf. I’ll sit and listen to them by self like Seger. Also, I guess when you spend a year touring behind Bob Dylan and become known as his first "electric" band then you get to call yourself "The Band" and expect people to know who you are. Generic name aside, I was digging what The Band was putting down. A solid 4/5.

“Well, I'm back, da-na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na-na Fix your bent antenna, tune it in, and then I'm gonna Enter in and up under your skin like a splinter“ Eminem - “Without Me” So the first thing I noticed about this record was that the artist was stylized as an "impresario." Not a musician or singer. Weird. Made me scratch a little bit more on the Wikipedia article before I went any further. Found out the hip-hop well on this album is deep. This album's downstream influence looms large. And none of that save it from being fucking terrible. The first track was so ambiently aimed world music I felt like I was playing a game of Sid Meijer's Civilization. Just needed to automate my workers, build a wonder, and research agriculture. That fond memory of a game I loved would be the highlight of the album. It was all downhill from there. This is a pirate radio broadcast of an album. On paper, I can see the vision, I just can't, or don't want, to hear it.

This was exactly the type of album I look forward to on this project. A completely new to me experience that is good enough to think on for a bit. I didn’t bounce off of this at all, but at the same time it never really captured me. I liked songs on this album, but the overall experience failed to fully achieve lift off. Perhaps that is due to the slower paced methodical delivery of the vocals. The thick bluesy bass mixed together with that delivery of coarse lyrics gave the album a feel of walking through a dank and grimy apartment. Come for the superb guitar riffs, avoid standing under the water stain on the ceiling. I can see why The Stranglers accumulated such a reputation. And seriously, at nearly fifty years later, I’m not interested in debating punk or not punk. We are so far removed from that time and place that all of the distinctions have been too far smoothed over to tell. At least I think for anyone that didn’t live through it and I didn’t. To me they are a 1970s punk-ish British band. I might check some more of their stuff out. The Track Highlights Hanging Around (Get A) Grip [on Yourself] Ugly

"Test your might, test your might, test your might, test your might. MORTAL KOMBAT!" Techno. That was the term I knew all of this European house music by in the 1990s. Techno was the big bucket every beat centric rhythm focused electroniclly made thumping sound got put into. Oddly enough like many Midwestern/Southern/Flyover white kids of America I was introduced to this music from yes, the 1995 soundtrack to the movie Mortal Kombat. IYKYK. I'm having memories of the Mortal Kombat soundtrack because in that same year, 1995, Daft Punk released "Da Funk" which would later be included on Homework. "Da Funk" is awesome. It is the low growl of a club, before my country ass ever had a notion of what a club was, building collective anticipation and then just holding the audience at that moment for 5 minutes. It was exotic in a way nothing in my immediate vicinity was. Daft Punk was about the best example of House music for me. Who knew how to structure instrumental house better than these two French guys could? That said Homework is not their best album. There are a few good tracks beyond "Da Funk". "Around the World" is a journey in three words and a beat. "Revolution 909" is a dream of an evening. This album descends into annoying repetition in too many spots and runs about 15 minutes too long on its play time. "Rollin' and Scratchin'" & "Rock n'Roll" are both seven and a half minute disasters. Remove both of those and the album tightens up very well, in my opinion. I'm just a little annoyed that their second album is not on the list, because Discovery is a far better album in my opinion. I even have the DVD of the Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem movie. Watch that if you ever get a chance, that's my recommendation.

This is the second encounter with Morrissey on this project, but the first with The Smiths. Let's see how this one goes. I can see that I will likely enjoy The Smiths a lot more than Morrissey's solo stuff. Johnny Marr pulls from a deep well of musical influences to craft a rock sound worthy of the name. These first tracks are reminiscent of early 60s rock. Jangling guitar forward upbeat songs that seem to be at odds with the angsty lyrics. The intros and outros on these tracks are great. Its the 80s' but not a synthesizer in earshot. I dig it. When the second half of the album decreases the pace it still delivers. And for most of the album we see a great fusion of the vocals and the musical arrangement. All of the music on this album works for me. My fingers never itched for the skip button. Yet some of the vocals and songwriting approached annoyance for me near the end of the album. Morrissey at times sounds like he is singing into a can from another room. Maybe the rest of the band put him in timeout. I called the first Morrissey album I listened to for this project cringe. I wanted to give The Smiths an honest chance, however, since a band is often more than just the lead singer. This album was not that so I'm glad I was able to hear it with open ears. The rock sound was much improved and Morrissey was restrained enough to not detract from it. A 3.5 that I'm rounding down. Track Highlight Rusholme Ruffians What She Said Nowhere Fast Well I wonder

This is The Beach Boys and the album is titled Surf’s Up, so I thought I was in for some youthful California sound. I was mistaken, in a good way. Because the 60s are over here on this album. The band that survived the British invasion now has to live in the 70s. This is a new listen for me and I’m glad The Beach Boys didn’t let themselves be completely captured in the amber of 1960s California sunsets. This album has a weird dark earnestness to it, coming across as schmaltzy in many spots. This feels like an emo record 30 years before emo. Early on we get the point that this is a different Beach Boys album. “Don’t go Near The Water” is a warning to the listeners to tread forward carefully. “Long Promised Road” is full of contemplative lulls before bursting forth with defiant determination. The band would never reach the heights of Pet Sounds again, but honestly how many albums that followed would? I can appreciate trying, and even failing, at new directions. This one is a psychedelic mess, but surprisingly quite a few interesting points worthy of attention. It lands on the 3+ side for me but not enough to reach a 4. Track highlights Long Promised Road Student Demonstration Time Til I Die.

Elvis Costello is another name I am aware of without being able to name any of his music. I’m not even 50 albums into this and that is a sentiment I’ve encountered quite a bit. My musical knowledge may not run deep but my enthusiasm and appreciation do. Leaning into those a lot. And there is much to appreciate on this album. That’s because Costello musical knowledge does run deep. Reading up on it seems like this guy loves everything! At first the year of 1986 threw me because I could’ve of heard much of this album on any random 1990 indie movie soundtrack. Something from Miramax or New Line Cinema. But the more I thought about it the more that actually tracked. At that moment in time these movies would’ve pulled from this exact time and this sound. More studied ears may hear a bit of The Beatles, Rolling Stones, or The Byrds but being a teenager of the 90s I’m hearing notes of Gin Blossoms, Sublime, and Radiohead. It’s funny how these musical lineages branch out. Anyway, I enjoyed this album well enough. Track Highlights Tokyo Storm Warning Home is Anywhere You Hang Your Hat I Want You Crimes Of Paris

"A lot of people who are cynics have completely abandoned the idea that music can affect political change, abandoned it entirely as a product of cultural cynicism. That's completely defeatist. Music will always be able to engage people." Zach de la Rocca, to Rolling Stone magazine, November 1999 Sorry, this is a band that requires citations. Or not. You need context. Or you don't. Sorry, I’m going to borrow part of Rob Harvilla’s shtick from his episode on “Killing In the Name” for the “60 Songs that Explain the 90s” podcast. Highly recommend it. The conundrum of Rage is that as an act the art they produce carries forward their political views and message with every song, but the musical style is one that co-ops (don't call this a co-op) the thinking part of your brain and has you thrashing about. Yes, you can rage against the machine (whatever you think the machine is). You can be filled with the momentary energy to shout "Wake Up!" or "Fuck You! I won't do what you tell me!" I wasn't suburban, but I was still a rural Midwest/Southern white teen that would bounce off the walls when RatM came on, but did I know all the of the political shit they were talking about. No. Didn't need to to enjoy the heavy hip-hop/rock sound. But maybe I would think about it later, or maybe I wouldn't. I found Evil Empire in the wild before I ever heard this album. This was one I had to go back to once my mind had been taken over by heavy metal and hip-hop music. I love it, on a visceral level. "Bombtrack"; "Killing in the Name"; "Take the Power Back"; Settle for Nothing"; "Bullet in The Head"; "Know Your Enemy"; "Wake Up"; "Fistful of Steel"; "Township Rebellion"; "Freedom". Put on any track and I’m fist pumping and screaming. Fuck Authority. But now I'm middle-aged with an office job I commute to. How do I Rage Against the Machine now? This album can awaken a teenage revolutionary sentiment in me, but then I wonder did I fail 17 year old me. Would he be disappointed in me? Should I care what my ignorant 17 year old self thinks? He's a little shit with no understanding of responsibility. Fuck you, do what I tell you! Okay so I got a little too existential there. Rage seemed like an important band who made important music. To a 90s teenager (me) they seemed necessary. Their music seemed transcendent. For me that was thanks to Tom Morello. 90s and beyond rock guitar god. I was also quite a big fan of Audioslave. "No samples, keyboards, or synthesizers used in the making of this recording." This was in the linear notes for this album. All that funky soloing was Tom and his guitar. I thought this guy was a wizard. The album cover, the messaging the early influence on what would be the combination of hip-hop and heavy metal. this album is an artifact of my youth and one that continues to seem relevant as I age. Or not. All of which are American Dreams. All of which are American Dreams. All of which are American Dreams.

This one might just not be for me. Quite a lackluster album to contain seven Top 100 Billboard hits Solomon Burke's "Rock 'N Soul" sounds like a paint-by-numbers production of a 60's soul record. Burke dutifully croons on sorrow, regret, and missed love. It gets the job done. It even peppers in a a bit of gospel, upbeat, jazz, and Latin. Maybe some will appreciate the subtlety in this approach. I, however, don't see myself returning to this album ever. Track Highlights Hard, Ain't it Hard

"Only the desert was clean." Frank Herbert's Dune What a little peyote trip of an album. Between the Western deserts of Firewater, the beaches of "Life's a Beach", and the sound of "Skies Over Cairo" we are treated to a journey of arid locales. My mind was filled with sand. It made me think what if Damon Albarn had been more into westerns and country music instead of anime and hip-hop. A friend made the comparison to Lord Huron which seemed very apt. This album dreams of the desert in the same way Lonesome Dreams does. Come to think of it, both are 2012 albums. What a convergence. All in all, i enjoyed this album. Django Django create an atmospheric sound worthy of the art rock name. It experiments, every time I thought I had this album pinned down it mixed itself up. My wife over heard some of it and said it reminded her of Adventure Time. Gotta say, I agree. A quirky sound that could be from the Land of Ooo for sure. I may add a track or two to the late night playlist. For me its a 10PM to 3AM type of album. Track Highlights Firewater Waveforms Lover's Dart Skies Over Cario

“Slow your roll and know your role.” The Rock, probably. My first impression was this album is only six tracks, but then I saw the runtime, 43 minutes. So I knew right away I was in for some jam sessions. 14 minute tracks are not a chore when they groove like “City, Country, City”. What a journey that track was. Album may deserve a 5 off of that one, alone. Given some of the albums I was getting, I was afraid I had no soul. This one though, confirms there’s still some of it there. It hasn’t all been blasted away by loud distorted rock. The World is a Ghetto delivered. Slow, funky jams. It’s telling you to slow down. Life’s hustle can get the better of you. Slow down. The cover has a Rolls-Royce with a flat tire. How many more signs do you need? Slow down and reset. Listen to some refreshing funk with a bit of jazz and soul blended in for good measure. The World is a Ghetto and we’re all here. It’s a good reminder. Track Highlights The Cisco Kid City, Country, City Four Cornered Room The World is a Ghetto.

What an iconic album. A Side 1 of War Pigs, Paranoid, Planet Caravan, and Iron Man. That is up there with the best Side 1s of all time. And Side 2 ain't no slouch either. Yeah, this one is a 5. Its influence on Metal is primordial and Metal is my primary listening genre. An album full of deep thick guitar sounds that seem weighted down with overwhelming gravity. Tony Iommi brings a new perspective to guitars that is matched by Geezer Butler's bass lines. Ozzy makes a perfect band front man, and would own that space for 30 plus years. I can't wait to encounter all the other Black Sabbath albums on this list. I am woefully unfamiliar with much Black Sabbath beyond this album. My evangelical family had concern that I listened to Bon Jovi and Poison. Metallica was near a bridge too far. A band named Black Sabbath was absolutely too taboo for me. I have a memory of visiting my uncle's place and finding War Pigs on a radio station out of Louisville. I turned the volume very low so I didn't get caught. That static-y song might have been the most transgressive thing I had ever heard up until that point in my life. Its been quite the journey from that to metal fan. Thanks to these guys, because the world needed metal.

Yeah, this album was like riding a wave that didn’t get too high and crested too early. Was digging it for the most part though. May need to revisit at some point.

"Sex is natural, sex is good. not everybody does it, but everybody should." I'm pretty sure the first time I encountered the concept of sex was this album in early childhood. A staple of MTV, a channel that was nearly outlawed in my home and was strictly forbidden at both of my regular babysitters, these music videos let me know that adults had being naked on the brain a lot. And George Michael was here to sing about it. Creepily (Father Figure), educationally (I Want Your Sex), or maybe just aspirationally (Faith). The first half of this album is fixated on the act of making love. Once the lust is sated though, the album settles into a pretty good pace. "Hard Day", "Hand to Mouth", and "Kissing a Fool" are all good crooning opportunities. George Michael stated that he was shooting to be like Michael Jackson or Prince but I think he lands a little closer to Freddie Mercury. Still some good company and this album ended up being one of the best selling albums of all time. I had forgot about the track, "Monkey" though and I am so glad I did. That was such a wonderful surprise tucked away there at the end. Its absurd. A reminder to all the aspiring songwriters out there. Go for it! Whatever your idea is, with enough determination you can make those words in front of you, no matter what they are, into a hit pop song.

There is nothing new for me to say about Elvis Presley. I'm gonna try to cobble together a review, but really this artist casts a shadow so large and so dense it has its own gravity. Most of the words that could be said have already been covered. The landscape of music has changed so drastically since the 1950s that this one is an artifact from the before times. Before the Album era. There's only one album on this list that is older that this Elvis Presley album. And here so near the beginning you can see it. This is young Elvis. He's got energy, he's got talent, he's got charisma. He also has other people's songs. Elvis brought rock and roll to the mainstream of culture. He is a focal point. He was a competent enough musical talent that happened to come of age at the perfect time for his blend of talents. And so the fame and success came with it. All the arguments about the origins of rock and roll, the segregation of music reflecting the segregation of America at the time, and the exploitation of teenagers as a new economic force to market to also all get focused on Elvis Presley. And the album is fine. It tops out at a 3/5 for me. It is a sound that is so foundational and ubiquitous that is nearly impossible to hear with new ears. It is, however, a revelation to go back and listen to the original artists versions of these songs as well. This album clocks in under 30 minutes, and its easy to find "Elvis: The Original Artist" type playlists on most streaming services so you got the time and opportunity. It was for me. I hadn't really done that before and did so today. It was like breathing new life into each track. Highlights for me were Roy Hamilton's "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry" & Ray Charles "I Got a Woman." Both have so much more life in them. I still appreciate Elvis, he ain't coming off a few of my playlists, but his versions will always be heard with an asterisk.

Well, that was certainly...interesting. Hey, I started this project for a sense of musical exploration. Today our adventures take us to India. The best compliment I can give is that this album sounds like the soundtrack to a movie from the 1970s. Its got love in its heart and a "cha cha" in its step. I'm not a big of the disco-esque sound, but again seems of its time. Didn't hate it, didn't love it. Some days I guess we just get the stamp in our address book and move on. I'm not lingering on this one. 2/5.

I have little to no musical aptitude. I can't keep time with a clap. There is an abundance of appreciation, though, and a growing well of knowledge. So when I listen to these jazz talents, to me, what they are doing is pure sorcery. It is magic to hear a master of his instrument in a solid flow state. The trumpet, like the guitar, is a great instrument on which to solo. With Miles Davis as bandleader we are treated to relaxed tempos and laid back arrangements. This here is the birth of cool jazz. From my limited understanding it is a sound some jazz artists would be chasing for the next 70 years. Smooth silky horns trying to match pace instead of outgallop each other, a bass and percussion that never distracts simply blending every sound in the air into the moment, and the space for it all to just play. There were so many moments on this album that just reached out and grabbed me. The primal initiating energy on "Move", how "Venus De Milo" seems to be a dream of the inanimate springing to life for conversation, the uplifting sound of "Budo", and ambush of the piano at the end of "Boplicity." This album makes me want to be at an urban nightspot, martini in hand, pondering the hazy cigarette smoke drifting toward the ceiling. There is no tomorrow, the dawn is too shy to appear while the horns play on. Give me just one more song, please.

God what a time capsule back to my early 20s. This album dominated. Outkast ruled. Speakboxxx - I think of the two albums this is my preference. I fall on the rap and energetic hip-hop side of the fence. And my good Big Boi leaves it all on the records. Tracks that do not mess around. "GhettoMusick" is a spinning tutorial into what you're about to get with the rest of these two records, but will give you whiplash with how it stops on a dime. Masterful opening track. "The Way You Move" is so much fun then you get to follow that up with "The Rooster" and Bust (Feat. Killer Mike)" You have little time to catch your breath between the fine production and the revolving door of "Featuring..." appearances. Seriouly, Sleepy Brown, Killer Mike, Jay-Z, Lil'Jon and Ceelo Green just to name a few. The Love Below - This thing is so experimental and spacey and raunchy. Like "Spread" may be one of the raunchiest songs I've ever heard. "Hey Ya!" will forever have us all shaking our Polaroids. And "Roses" is a song that everyone needs to hear. "My Favorite Things" was a surprising highlight for me. Andre 3000 fills every word on his side with an audacity few can equal. This is the same guy that in the middle of the East Coast / West Coast rap beef of the 1990s reminded an audience booing Outkast and everyone "The South got something to say!" He does not lack confidence. Its no wonder Andre 3000 made Eminem's list in "Til I Collapse." Early on in The Love Below I was leaning toward 4/5 because while the majority of this is top shelf musical craft, it was running LONG and seemed to be too indulgent in both directions. Final Thoughts In retrospect it seems obvious that these two were on exit velocity trajectories here. Pulled in different directions by the inevitable gravity of their own interests. Big Boi uses his space and time to bombard with a progressive flow and energy then the album switches over to allow Andree 3000 to luxuriously slow jam across his turn. And both are such talents and together they work so well together. Separate's always better when there's feelings involved, but man... There was a moment right around the Hey Ya! & Roses back-to-back that really hit me in the gut. I was overcome with a strong desire to be young again. I was missing those halcyon days of my early twenties. As awesome as these two records are, you could see that these two artists were on separate trajectories. When SB/TLB came out, the best days of Outkast were behind them, already memories. Are my best days behind me, I wondered. I started this project for the sense of discovery, maybe what I discovered today, even with an album I was familiar with, was the reminder to cherish when you are in the now, "If what they say is "Nothing lasts forever." Great music will engage with you like that. Yeah, its a 5/5.

Bowie. The artist has a reputation that precedes him that may only be matched by his output. He has nine albums on this list and this the first one I'm encountering. Nine albums gifted to the race of Men, doomed to die. This is also my first album exposure to Bowie. Thus far in life my Bowie experience has been limited to The Little Drummer Boy video he did with Bing Crosby, Under Pressure with Queen, and that time Flight of the Conchords did a song about him. So let's see how my introduction went. I was told by friends in my group this isn't the best Bowie album or era to get acquainted with him. I trust their judgement and they told the truth. Some solid tracks on here, but it is all over the place. I can see myself really liking "Heroes" and "Sons of the Silent Age" the longer I sit with those songs. The back half of this album is a mismash of strange soundscapes. I loved "Moss Garden" though and "Neuköln" was interesting. I look forward (or I'm told backwards in time) to other Bowie on this list. 3/5

"When you have insomnia, you're never really asleep, and you're never really awake. With insomnia, nothing's real. Everything is far away. Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy.” - narrator, Fight Club. Its Late Night Channel Surfing: The Album. Seriously, this album was fueled by the same insomnia driven compulsion to cycle through 57 channels when nothing is on. It is full of music that sounds like the last 30 minutes of syndicated programming before station sign-off. Needless to say I vibed with this immediately. Most of the electronic and techno albums I've encountered have all been 3s. Its hard for me to rate this type of music. This one, however, hooked me. Its a sleep deprived sonic stream of conscience composition. I was reminded of those Adult Swim bumpers or old Toonami music videos, the ones that sampled the shows and made short themed music videos. Look up Broken Promises (Dreams) for the best example. Since I Left You is like that in you have a "track" that is meticulously arranged samples and loops riding an ambient backbeat. "Frontier Psychiatrist" is going to be a playlist mainstay while "Avalanche Rock", "Flight Tonight" and "Electricty" also caught my attention. And that bring us to the end of the review. Time to sign-off. See you tomorrow.

Good album. It showcases rap skill without descending into vulgarity or sacrificing authenticity. A Tribe Called Quest have the ability to drop serious bars and they do so rapping about hanging out with friends. It stands in sharp contrast to its contemporaries that may include serious skills but be burdened by provocative vulgarity (N.W.A -1989) or be dismissed as novelty (Ice Ice Baby & Can't Touch This - both 1990 as well). A Tribe Called Quest reward your curiosity with a fresh jazzy sound. This album was perfect Sunday fair. In 1990 rap was just a novelty to my young Midwest self. When I gravitated to rap a few years later (and older) it would be the raw and coarse gangsta rap that caught my barely teenage attention. So I missed out on cool laid back beats and fun little stories that populate the tracks of "People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm." How sad for me. Its an album I never went back to, until now. Yeah, I'd heard "Can I Kick It?" but little else. I was missing out. This album is full of curiosity and jocular comradery. Imagine a world where this became the dominant rap success of the decade.

Reading the story that she moved from country music to soul music after being exposed to it while on tour in America softened my view of this record. I can respect that, I moved on from country music myself after growing up around it and then finding something more my style. I was not high on this album today at all and I don’t anticipate returning to it for any reason. She is a competent enough vocalist and I enjoyed some of the tracks slightly. However, I am still perplexed as to why this album is included in the project. That lead to me being consumed by a “Why this album and not X?” Or “why is this artist represented and not another?” That’s never a fun game or one that ends in resolution. All that said though I can see why she became such a popular icon. She’s got a voice for the masses. It is a pleasant and bouncy thing and you get the sense she enjoys singing these songs. Lots of folks were putting out albums full of curated songs. I’m learning that was just a product of the music industry at the time. Can’t fault her there. I’m told her Memphis album is worthy of inclusion. When we get to that one I will give it an honest measure. This one gets a 2/5 from me.

A day late, huh generator? Giving me Bob Marley and the Wailers on April 21. The slow tempo made you late. The image of Bob Marley in pop culture overshadows the fact that Bob Marley and the Wailers put out some of the best reggae music around. Its Jamaican origins will forever bring to mind the Caribbean. However, it’s also a music that makes me feel like a tourist. I enjoy it, but only for the short time I’m around it. In my mind, it’s a music for warm nights, full of contemplation and conversation. We can talk about the far past or we can just talk about tonight. This album is a mood. One I’ve sat with all day and not wanted to disturb. It’s a good mood. I like this mood. It’s soothing even when the conversation gets heavy. But that’s not for me to get into right now. Still, it’s a 4/5.

This will be a new listen for me. I’ve never heard of these guys. A quick glance at the Wikipedia for this album tells me it was critically beloved. Early on I was puzzled by how straightforward it sounded. I was digging it, but not going gaga eyed for it. It’s a fun garage punk sound. Another youthful debut full of teenage drama. Was this fresh and new in 1979? I wanted to try and hear what made this a critical darling. Then I stayed with it a bit and started to get into it. The guitar isn’t as crunchy as I usually prefer, but I grew up in the 1990s. when heavy distortion reigned. This is stripped down and impatiently refusing further production out of adolescent spite. The stretch of songs in the middle; "Jump Boys" -> "Here Comes the Summer" -> "Get Over You" -> "Billy's Third" really won me over. This falls on the “enjoyed it a lot” side of the 3 rating. 3.5/5 that I’m rounding down out of the same adolescent spite.

This is the type of record that made me glad I’m doing this exercise. I’d have never found this on my own which would’ve been my own loss. It is full of adventurous beats and exploratory stretches of music. That piano on the second track. The infectious pride of Black Man's Cry. I didn't know I needed a 16 minute drum solo track in my life until now. That thing was hot fire! Go Ginger Baker go! Furthemore, Fela Kuti's bio was worthy a dive into as well. All in all and interesting day of music.

Here in 2026, the first thing I'm going to say is that it is hard to reckon the appreciation I had for this and the next two Kanye West albums at the time with his increasingly erratic and disturbing behavior over the years. I'm only going to discuss the album itself. A close friend had this album and we listened to it A LOT in 2004. Those first three Kanye albums were really good, my preference being for Late Registration, which is the only one I bought. In retrospect though I think this one may be the better album. Honestly though, I stopped listening to him after Graduation. There are moments of pure brilliance on The College Dropout. When the sound production, beats, and the vocals merge into a shining sound. For me it is the tracks, "All Falls Down", "Jesus Walks", "Never Let Me Down", , and "Two Words". "Through the Wire"is a talent showcase novelty. On these tracks the album rides high. However, while a talented musician, West is also quite a flawed one too. He indulges in far too many bad and provocative skits. A few of the tracks are reaches too. Overall the album could've been trimmed by about 20 minutes. The New Workout Plan is atrocious. So is School Spirit. Slow Jamz misses the mark as well. And as for "Last Call" I originally heard it as a chest banging defiant outro story of perseverance and now I just hear it as a whiny and petty airing of all grievances. Its a sad turn. He was never a "genius" just very musically gifted and his debut album is the very definition of a 3.

This was a progressive rock band going full progressive rock band. And me, well, I am a sucker for classical music done by rock bands. I enjoyed this. That acoustic guitar on “The Sage” was a nice piece. The “Live” nature of the recording also added a layer of fun to the whole album too.

Those Norwegians know how to chill. This placid album is a 45 minute unhurried morning walk. The music fells detached from any thing. Be careful you don't float away. I enjoyed it, but these ambient downbeat albums usually have a ceiling of 3 for me.

"I feel the Earth move under my feet" Carole King, in the parlance of our time, let me just say, I apologize because I was not familiar with your game. This is the type of record that needs to come with an advisory sticker, not vulgar rap records. Its needs notice from the Surgeon General, "All listeners should proceed with emotional caution. For Mature Listeners Only." I was unprepared for the gut punch this album gave me on my morning commute. The songwriting on this album is immaculate. There are tracks that will break your soul down, (as "Its Too Late" & "Home Again") others that will build it back up, ("I Feel the Earth Move" & "You've Got Friend") and still a few more that'll do both (Way Over Yonder). Furthermore I enjoyed the folk rock tracks like "Tapestry" & "Smackwater Jack." Kudos to the backing musicians as well. Acoustic guitars are always welcome additions to any song and the piano parts on this will set you right. All around great album. Worth spending a day with way over yonder. In a garden of wisdom from some long ago dream. Oh, yeah!

I just wasn't feeling this one today. Sly and the Family Stone have quite a reputation, and I went in curious, but there was something... distant, about the album overall. Then I read that most of this album was recorded by Sly himself, alone in his house, locked in a room, lying on his bed, recording his vocals into a wireless microphone and using a drum machine to lay down beats. Well that certainly checks out. I get that the result is a half-hearted overdubbed funk album. Yes, musical critics, it is dripping with drug fueled cynicism but at what cost. Is the artist reflecting the disillusionment of the times or just contributing to it?

What a disappointment this album was. I was going in blind having never heard it, however, I am quite aware of The Neptune's reputation. Also, a friend mentioned being high on 2002's "In Search Of..." which lead me to believe there would be more quality on here. After listening to a few select tracks from "In Search Of..." I could hear the Warped Tour energy at work on that album. Those tracks had a rebellious enthusiasm to them. Full of alternative rock riffs that could swallow the vocals when needed to keep the party going. "Fly or Die" seems to leave all of that behind for a more juvenile experience. The sound on this album is boring. Also, the songwriting and vocals add nothing or at worst are a net negative. Maybe on a few of these tracks you could extract the vocals the underlying instrumental sound would be worth jamming with, but its not worth effort. There is certainly a polish to the sound, but ultimately it is an album devoid of any wit, in the songwriting or music.

"Lord they get off so much / They pick me up when I'm feelin' blue, now, how'bout you?" Reckoning with my own Southern Heritage and any associated pride for the region has been a life long journey for me. Being from the rural South I grew up around a lot of Lynyrd Skynyrd. It may not have been 'Bama South, but Appalachian Eastern Kentucky was still lousy with Skynyrd posters, Confederate Flags, and trucks playing Call Me the Breeze at loud volumes. My high school graduating class, even in the late '90s, selected "Free Bird" as our class song. True story. Not me, I voted for "N.W.O." entrance music, also because it was the late '90s and I was into professional wrestling. That one may or may be not a True Story, my memory is fuzzy but I want to remember the N.W.O. entrance music on the ballot for our class song. Of course my best friend ended up leaving Eastern KY and attending the University of Alabama, became a convert in the church of "Roll Tide!" so I got to learn about Bear Bryant too. I enjoyed the Southern Fried rock music of it all, but as I grew older I came to detest the full throated Southern Pride that Skynyrd, and others like Hank Williams, Jr. seemed to represent. It irked me in ways I couldn't articulate at the time. I got into rock music not celebrating Southern-ness. Skynyrd didn't like Neil Young. Well, you know who did like Neil Young, Fucking Pearl Jam. I left Lynyrd Skynyrd, and country music, and Southern Pride behind. I let MTV rescue me away to Seattle, or Southern California, or wherever. Just as long as it was away. Then I did leave. I left for college, I explored a bit. And a funny thing happened out in the world. Whenever I encountered people who wanted to put down the South, or Appalachia I'd grow angry. Yeah, I've got lots to complain about the region I grew up in too, but you're never invited to share your real lived complaints, often you're just invited to mock as well. "To the fuckin' rich man all poor people look the same." So, you find yourself defending the South. Defending Appalachia. So when the Drive-By Truckers speak about the Duality of the Southern Thing it hits home. HARD. Surprisingly, I'd never heard of these guys until today. It kicked off quick, and kicked ass, in my opinion. The first disc resonated with me a lot! Southern Fried rock riffs, raspy voiced bar singing, and a few self-hating naval-gazing anecdotes thrown in. I felt like I knew all the characters that populated these tracks. I'd met them at church dinners, high school ball games, and family reunions. Who cares that the guitars sound the same on most of these? And if the album had only been that first disc, this review might have flirted with being a solid 5 for me. No joke. But it went on to disc 2. It ran out of juice early on disc 2. We lost the plot here. The album lingered long enough for you to be annoyed by the long-winded stories and personalities. "Plastic Flowers on the Highway" was the breaking point for me. I know they were going for a serious sentiment, but the songwriting fumbled the handoff, which the album failed to recover. All in all, I'm glad to have listened to this one. It provided more language in my toolbox for talking about my Southern Pride. Again, "The Duality of the Southern Thing" is a phrase I will employ. That said, it did not end on a high note. These guys played way too late into the evening. Its a (3.5) that I'm going to round up to a (4) for how much I enjoyed that first disc. Also, I'm going to end with a page out of a friend's playbook and give a Further Listening recommendation. For reckoning with being Southern but can't abide the embarrassing performative Southern Pride go listen to: Tyler Childers Yeah, he's a Kentucky boy so I'm playing home favorites here. Still highly recommend.

It’s just not happening. These songs are not landing in my head. Like little thought bubbles slowing forming over my head that are being popped before a complete image appears. I gave this album multiple listens over the day and forgot if I had heard a song yet. “Catching the Butterfly” and “One Day” are the worst offenders. The hit song up front was good for a bit of nostalgia. I wasn’t high on that song at the time. Now, it conjures up 1997 so clearly I can taste the Jolt Cola. Funny how time compresses all your experiences into these associated sensations. The rest of the album drafts in the wake of post-Britpop, which I have no nostalgia for. It wasn’t my music at the time, and The Verve are just not going to be the band that sparks a keen interest in revisiting it for me. Track highlights Bitter Sweet Symphony The Rolling People The Drugs Don’t Work Weeping Willow

Let me honest upfront, I'm a sucker for pleasant voiced lady with a guitar in her hand. Kacey Musgraves has a beautiful voice. I recall enjoying a few tracks off her 2013 album, Same Trailer Different Park, but don’t know much about this one. Country music has been off my radar mostly for nearly three decades now. Also, country music radio doesn’t play female artists, haven’t you heard? Seriously, it’s criminal what happened to female country artists on country radio. "Slow Burn" and "Lonely Weekend" set the pace early on, this one is going to stretch out, be a mellow mood. We’re in for a quiet tender day here. Later tracks "Golden Hour" and "Rainbow" will confirm this. Remind them of what you told them is a longstanding writing rule, I guess. "High Horse" was an interesting turn and maybe the lone standout from the gentle tunes surrounding it. "Happy & Sad" - "Velvet Elvis" - "Wonder Woman" was the weakest stretch of the album. I enjoyed most of the rest in a gentle way. This album was aggressively nonabrasive and non-offensive. Sometimes that is what you need, I guess. I was wanting to hear more of the progressiveness that permeated her debut album- seriously, "Merry Go Round" is an outstanding track- however it was not trying to be that. Oh well. I was surprised to read "Golden Hour" won Album of the Year for 2018. What I heard was an artist transitioning out of country and into pop. Like Shania Twain and Taylor Swift before her, here was a female country artist moving to a pop sound out of some survival instinct. One story I read mentioned that female country artists received less than 10% of radio play in 2024. Nashville has a problem. I can see it though. This was a pleasant 45 minutes. 3.5 that I'll round up to a 4 because like I said, I'm a sucker. Track Highlights Slow Burn Lonely Weekend Love is A Wild Thing Space Cowboy

I enjoyed this album quite a bit. It was full of easy to grab straightforward hip-hop punctuated by sections of more experimental sounds. You can explore those parts if you want to or just wait around until the rapping returns. Black Thought is a damn dexteritious rapper and when he gets going clear out. His flows are tight, clean, and efficient. And unlike many other rappers, he’s got actual instrumentation behind him, not just a turntable and some samples ( though don’t worry, the Roots didn’t do away with those altogether, there still there). Questlove and the band are providing a sonic playground for Black Thought and the rest to go wild in. The result is an album designed to measure your head. Do you have enough space for The Roots? If not they’re gonna make some. Clear out. Track highlights Rock Out Thought@Work Water Quills

Nina Simone is one of those names that looms large. She is a name I have often heard but have never spent much time with listening to her music. Once again I’m in need of some schoolin’. Her’s is one of those legacy voices that truthfully you need to experience yourself. Well her command and presence came through my ear buds as masterful as anything this list has offered so far this morning. I've been thinking about this album all day. There is such life in these vocals. She refuses to sand down the rough textures that appear. This woman has capital “P” - Power in her voice. The opening track “I Love Your Lovin’ Ways” is a bluesy rocking start to the album. The good times are early and short though because after that there much heartbreak to ponder on this album. “Four Women” knocked me on my ass. “Lilac Wine”, “Breakdown and Let it All Out”, “Wild is the Wind”. She’s singing about harder shit than any metal band out there and complaining less. There is an abundance of heartbreak to ponder on this one but it refuses to fall into mopey-ness. It’s vulnerable and defiant. What a shame this is the only entry we get from Nina Simone.

I’ve heard it before. Of course, I’d heard it before. I grew up in the 80s, was a teenager in 90s. The Beastie Boys were an institution during the 1990s. Their music, the political activity, headlining Lollapalooza all of it is because they knocked it out of the park on their sophomore album. It’s no easy feat to replicate success when your first album is one of the first rap albums to top the charts. But these three goofballs did it. With The Dust Brothers producing, along with their library of music samples, the Beastie Boys turned in a lyrically dense wonder performance. This is a “Wall of Words” and yes some of them are juvenile. I was young once when the world was young so I remember being a teenager. This album is for teenagers and those that remember being teenagers. Let’s remember being young. Everything is tight. These guys are finishing each other’s lines. The energy and chemistry just pop! The samples just keep coming! Rap truly is a young man’s game. The Beastie Boys would go on to be less juvenile, grow, mature. As must we all. But every now again we can return to a street corner we once knew and just crack wise about the locals and the girls. Hey ladies!

People remember how you start and how you finish. This album starts with a Best “Side 1, Track 1” of All Time Contender and finishes with an even better track. And beyond that the songs themselves start and end so memorably. The little coda parts on each of these tracks are mini-victory laps. The album was a gem to listen to. It sags ever so slightly in the middle (the tracks “My Wife” and “The Song is Over” are the two weakest IMO) but never enough to drag. Man, the landscape of 1970s rock is quite something to behold. 1971 is up there with 1991 as such an outstanding year for music releases. What The Who achieved here is stunning, one of those landmarks of rock that will forever be referenced. Seriously, some bands are lucky if within their entire career they add one phrase or idea to the long lexicon of music and culture. The Who gave us three or four on this one album. And to think it is the by product of a failed rock opera idea. On this listen I really got into “Bargain”. “Behind Blue Eyes” remains my favorite track. I still find it haunting in a way. And “We Won’t Get Fooled Again” will still be played in 100 years. Meet the new 5-star. Same as the old 5-star.

“And then all my bands, Skid Row and all of them, were gone. And it was just these sad guys singing about being under a bridge and not being happy. And I’m like, ‘What happened to nothing but a good time and ignoring all your problems with cocaine, right?’ Like, that was all over.” _ Comedian Bill Burr lamenting the death of hair metal and ascendancy of grunge during a story about Eddie Vedder. On March 25, 2003 Linkin Park released their second album, "Meteora." I loved Meteora, and would listen to it constantly. As a consequence, most everything that came out in 2003 got lost in the shadow of Meteora. This album came out, "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" charted on the US Rock Charts for a moment, and I missed all of it while I was living through it. I was still listening to the last embers of Nü-metal, bits of post-grunge alternative rock, and Eminem. Metallica put out St. Anger in 2003 and I barely touched it even though they were ostensibly my favorite band . I'm sure I changed the station the moment I heard any of The Darkness. As I was cloistered away with my sad guy music, it seems like I was missing a party. This cheesy performative glam act was enthusiastically attempting to either revive sleaze rock or revel in an abandoned space no one was occupying at the time. You can throw a hell of a party when no one is around. So now, here I am in 2026 wishing I could enjoy a party like this while being in my early 20s again. I miss being young, you know. The Darkness are here to rock and wail with the vocals of a party banshee. They do both with much aplomb. "Get Your Hands Off My Woman" was a fun mess. "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" is a hoot. "Love on the Rocks with No Ice" is a picture of that falling down drunk part of the night. And like any good sleazy night, were going to end "Makin' Out." This isn't a sustainable lifestyle for every night, but the stories will be epic. 3/5

On the December 1, 1997 episode of Raw is War, at the dawn of WWF's Attitude Era, Stone Cold Steven Austin drove his black pick-up truck into the arena to interrupt a match between The Rock and Vader. It had Austin 3:16 painted on the side and it was blasting AC/DC's "Back in Black". It was fitting because Stone Cold Steve Austin may be one of the few acts that has filled arenas the world over as much as AC/DC. This album is a testament to that popularity. Only Micheal Jackson's "Thriller" has sold more records than this Monster of Rock. And the music has the personality to match, it pounds you with the grandiosity, spectacle, and stagecraft of professional wrestling. This band is big, loud., and means to rattle you, your parents, and your dog! Then spend the rest of the night with the ladies. Shoot to Thrill! Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution! Rock and Roll Will Never Die! This album is chock full of badass opening riffs (Hells Bells, Shoot to Thrill, Back in Black, You Shook Me All Night Long, Have a Drink on Me, Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution). From the opening bell of Hells Bells you know this album is about to fall like a hammer. And it never lets up. There are at least seven all-timer rock songs here, and the rest will have you headbanging as well. Another entry in the no-skips catalog. This album kicks ass!

This is a new listen for me. Not really familiar with these guys. Another act that I have missed completely over the years, I guess. Yeah, I’m just not feeling this. There are parts that caught my attention. The galloping opening to the album. The band would return to this type of progression a number of times throughout. It made for some spirited music. Sometimes they would threaten a jangling guitar part only to go off in a wild direction. The vocals were a mess to me as well. Most of the early tracks seemed low and far away. Talking Heads seem like an acquired taste and at our first introduction here, I’ve not had enough time to develop that taste.

In 2017 Judy Garland’s “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” was selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” That same year this N.W.A. Album, “Straight Outta Compton” was also included on the Registry. Talk about strange classmates. Both deserve this accolade. They are part of the fabric of American culture. I heard once on a podcast this album described as The Big Bang of Gangsta Rap. Its an apt term, because to listen to this seminal work here in 2026 is to contend with everything that it has wrought in its explosive origin. Gangsta rap in totality, the soon to be ascendancy of the West Coast, West Coast vs. East Coast, the in-fighting, the feuding, the diss tracks, Doctor Dre, Beats by Dre, Ice Cube, Ice Cube's movie career, Ice Cube internet memes. All of it. "Straight Outta Compton" contained all of this at the beginning and exploded, scattering the atoms of this sound and style throughout the pop culture universe. We would all be witness to the strength of street knowledge. And there is little I could add to this creation myth that hasn't already been said. N.W.A. reached even the dorky white kids like myself. I grew up in the early 90's era of gangsta rap that was downstream of this album. Among my CDs I had The Chronic, Snoop Dogg's debut, Warren G's CD, a bunch of Tupac in addition to my friends that had Ice Cube and Cypress Hill. This album holds up. It is full to the brim with creative energy and confident swagger. Rap seems to achieve its highest forms when it is competitive. Diss tracks and antagonism are part of the language. N.W.A would emphasize the "Attitude" part or their name. And as you listen remember that this is being preserved for future generations as an esteemed piece of culture.

This is a new listen for me. Fleetwood Mac is one of those bands from the past that has only ever existed on classic rock radio and playlists for me. Gave this one a morning listen and kinda mentally checked out right around "Sara." The somber opening number "Over & Over" followed by the atrocious sounding "The Ledge" as well as the annoying sounds on "What Makes You Think You're the One" just did not immediately capture my attention. Also, I wasn't in the mood for discovery listening. Maybe I needed more sleep, who knows? I hit "Storms" though and that one landed. It was a highlight. So did "Sisters of the Moon" And by the end of the album "Beautiful Child" choked me up and "Tusk" was interesting enough to be worth revisiting later in the day. In the end this was truly an album that was dependent on my mood and not one that imposed its mood on me. That's the neat thing about music, I think. Sometimes you can just hear the muse at work and the artist can conjure the right emotions and reactions and sometimes they're only good enough to reflect back to you what you bring into the listening experience yourself. There is competent musicianship within this album, but too few occasions where Fleetwood Mac took me with them. At least for my tastes. Also, I can respect an artist that stretches their creative freedom after such a monumental success. Even a novice like me can hear the experimentation going on here. I can respect it but, I may not always enjoy it.

"The imitation picks you up like a habit." This is a new listen for me. I’ve never heard of this guy even though the 2000 release date puts it right in my college years when I was the most connected to popular and new music in my life. I can "hear" in this an album a younger version of myself would've enjoyed a lot. Its full of angst and guitar strumming, even if it falls on the emo side of what I usually prefer. Which is why I'm surprised I'd never encountered it back in the day. On the other hand, bleak and/or gloomy music for disaffected youth is a crowded space. The Cure, Nirvana, and Wilco are all acts I've already encountered in just the first 80 albums of this project. Looking through the reviews of this album, though, shows that it landed with many people, but it is understandable if for some it landed outside of their radar. That is where it landed for me. And I'm finding its not an easy album to latch onto in my forties. With Wilco I found I wanted to fabricate long years of nostalgia upon hearing it for the first time. Mr. Smith is not working the same kind of magic. Very little of it is sticking. Another album in the collection of those that found me at the wrong time in my life. Highlight tracks Junk Bond Trader.

As I proceed on this exercise there is always the tension, whenever I encounter an act I know nothing about, between do I just press play and go blindly into the breach or read a little bit before hand. My instinct is most always to just jump in and see how I react. Today is one of those days where I wonder what my reaction would’ve been if I had done it the other way round. This was a chore to listen to today. There was a constant, persistent across most tracks, annoying to me synth whine. The longer I listened, the more it became the only thing I could hear and it shattered whatever vibe the group was trying to achieve. As described, this album sounded like something I would vibe with. Scottish dreamy ethereal soundscape. Unfortunately, I did not.

In listening to this I heard a decades early precursor to those "chill beats to study by" trend, as one friend in my group put it. I certainly use music like that when necessary but it is background noise. This is brain scrubbing music. It’s a cipher of sound that lets the listener bring whatever thoughts they want to bring to the experience. My personal speculation is that is its appeal and why a great many people enjoy it. Myself, I could only muster indifference. I don't hate it, but neither does it excite me even to contemplation. Or did it? It certainly prompted a bit more thought than I expected this morning, I guess.

About a week ago the generator gave us The Who's 1971 album "Who's Next" and having that all-timer before "Tommy' but so recent really highlighted how bloated and indulgent this double concept album is. "Who's Next" was the highlights of this album, "Tommy", trimmed and polished to shine. "Tommy" is an over reach of narrative for the format telling the story. The audience will get lost with few signposts to guide them. Meanwhile our storytellers here in the band get quite distracted for long stretches and wander away from the plot. All that said, I kinda loved spending a day with this album. The classic rock sound mixed with such a weird concept tickled the part of my brain that loves B-movies and bad cinema. Perhaps that comes from having very little familiarity with the album. Yeah, I've heard "Pinball Wizard" as much as anyone who spent many hours listening to classic rock radio. Beyond that, the album was a mystery. All the better for me. I even watched the 1975 movie. It was a parade of baroque tableaus that enhanced my album listening experience. It was also a bad movie, just one with great visuals. So yeah, "Tommy" is a mess, but ultimately one that I'm glad got released from The Who. 3/5