1001 Albums Summary

like how fast it starts, you jump right into it very disco on sweet talking woman, and yet very ELO love the horns on Across the border slows down by Starlight the album is kinda hopecore ngl second half of Summer and Lightning sounds like The Joker by Steve Miller Band Mr Blue Sky is just hopecore holy shit nikad nisam slusao kraj od MBS, kad krene DUNDUNDUNDUN the whale sort of sounds like what the 90's thought the internet would sound like, very futuristic in that regard from retrofuturism to classic rock honkytonk on Birmingham Blues love the vocal only part on Wild West Hero, before coming back to a sick guitar solo album kinda ends abruptly-ish, but overall it went by so quickly, in a good way

uh what was that Anne Frank attic bar nice bassline on ms jackson why does this album have so many interludes ok spaghetti junction is fire S.J. so good it requires an interlude before AND after b4 I cum is making me realize I can't relate to this album and therefore my experience is lessened i figure this album requires more attention than I'm honestly willing to give yeah honestly I felt nothing and the album barely entertained me the whole way through

finally a 40 minute album after two double LPs I can't get over the vocals, I get they're genre defining and iconic, but it's not for me Like the melody on What She Said Second half looks much more promising with The Joke Isn't Funny Anymore and Nowhere Fast being tracks I like Well I wonder continuing the track, but the rain sound at the end is making me wanna go pee Again me with the bassline on Barbarism Title track kinda makes the ending unceremonious, overall hit or miss album imo

i am only vaguely familiar with this record, excited for this one due to that vague familiarity also the album cover matches my aura 15 seconds in ok I can tell ima like this one curse my weakness towards blonde haired rocker chicks with an attitude just fast paced enough this album is just so quality, I didn't get bored of a single track

ooo movie soundtrack I get a feeling this is one of those I heard before without hearing before and that's just part of the influence i feel like pusherman overstays but that might just be my genZ cooked attention span the instrumental is giving buddy cop movie chase scene energy, probably because it's called Junkie Chase Is this album the reason chase scenes in those old movies have that sound? Think Instrumental is amazing ok I KNOW I heard the title track before very entertaining, I feel cultured for having listened to it

oh hell yeah this appeals to my 60's careless non-drafted american nomad fantasy which will never happen not crazy about these slower paced tracks but it might be just me right now wth are they doing on Down by the River, I was expecting the track from baldurs gate not this absolute shredding why does running dry sound so much older than the rest I was expecting a much higher tempo album from the opening track, overall I might just not be in the mood for it right now yet I must rate it

Look, ZZ Top is great. But this sound is just so iterated on to so it ends up middle of the road today. Not something I'd listen to critically in the future, but wouldn't mind hearing on the radio.

from one album where I only know the main single to another the first track becomes funky outta nowhere what is that saxophone jezus EWTRTW still sounds futuristic and yet so very eighties 40 years later Ironically I don't really want to listen to Listen the last album should have been a 3, this is a solid 4

Thoroughly impressed by the whole album. I always was told Jimi Hendrix was important but now I hear it. He feels like he just goes out and channels all the gods of music into his performance. Hats off.

first album from this that I have no idea who the band or the album is or any of the songs on it 2 tracks in this album sounds like my dream wife would be deliberating whether this was her favorite album or something from oasis or like, something from blur, britpop in general getting a bit of (midwest?) emo from this too ngl uh is there gonna be music in this outro? - oh there is and the hidden outro is the best part of the record Immediately after this I went into The Invisible Band and that one just impressed me more, sorry but this is meh

now this is something totally different barely started and I already feel woefully underqualified to rate this feels neoclassical in a way, like a modern building with Corinthian pillars i could do without the random man-noises starting around the 7 minute mark, but such is the nature of the live album as if I didn't want to get a piano before this :c i might not be musically literate enough but what part of this is jazz apart from the improvisation? goes to show how against preset genres in music I am kinda lost me in part 2, and I feel this needs to be enjoyed live/on vinyl/focused (neither of which I did), but overall you can still sense the virtuosity given the context that this was entirely improv and the troubles they had recording it

I've been writing notes but honestly I've fallen so in love with this record I'll write an actual review. I get the Bob Dylan hype, this is hopeful, it's depressing, it's rock n roll, it's blues, it's country, it has plenty of harmonica. It's the first record from this app that actually gave me inspiration to make some music of my own. tho this is the 2nd record from the 60's i've rated 5/5 so far, so I might be a hidden boomer despite being roughly a third of the age of this record

generator please give me something newer despite me loving the past few 60s and 70s records ok this gets heavier after the start why is cheap day return so short :c getting more than slightly whimsical in a medieval bard way on Mother Goose my God what is happening in My God Ends on a high note and there are bangers, I guess I was just expecting something harder from the album cover and from an album that existed after King Crimson, The Rolling Stones, and Hendrix

ngl I thought this was a single not an entire album the title track rocks as hard as it ever did (I know it's a protest song) Cover Me also goes hard Darlington County almost sounds mythical in an American way but I don't know how sarcastic it's being you can hear the 50's nostalgia they had in the 80's through Highway and I'm not sure how much I like that i have no idea how I'm On Fire is as popular as it apparently is album gets a bit repetitive by the end Dancing in the Dark still sounds very eighties, which I mean, it came out in the eighties my hometown sounds pretty meh, just padding out the runtime overall hit or miss album, starts off pretty strong then comes back and goes away in waves

yay, another 60's album... It may be the fact that I'm really tired of the 60s sound at this point, but this album just bored me the whole way through. Not saying it's bad, but being unentertaining is worse than bad. I spotted nothing I could take from this record.

I literally had Born in the USA 2 days ago, what is this Badlands not making an impression, vocals truly bad on that track The album gets better, already prefer this to BitUSA Wait Silvio from the Sopranos is involved with Springsteen? Definitely more enjoyable for me than USA, I liked Adam Raised a Cain and the Promised Land. The tonal whiplash between the sorrowful ballads and rock n roll tracks is not as bad as on USA. I don't know which of the two records is more "Springsteen", but I'd definitely recommend this over that one.

The list/book gets a lot of criticism for overrepresenting old 60s and 70s records, and I'd like to join in. Really wish future editions give more representation to significant records from the 21st century such as this one. As far as guitar centric music goes, my suggestions would be Weezer's Blue Album (90's, but cmon), The Black Parade, Enema of the State, Bleed American, and A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (yes really if you think about it) As for the album itself, it's fun and you can hear its influence if you keep in touch with modern rock. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this record years before knowing about this website and I still do.

I listened to it while assembling furniture, so I was partially distracted but I feel as if that's kind of the best way to listen to the album. I'm not familiar with the tracks because of it, and most of the vocals went through me, but the instrumentation was good and the vibes were immaculate.

It's fine I guess. The tracks are better listened to as part of a playlist rather than as an album - it gets kind of repetitive. You won't really find any thought provoking, groundbreaking metal here either. Just straightforward power riffs and headbanging.

I wish I had more time with this album - I'll probably be revisiting it. Overall I liked the somewhat theatrical cabaret vibes, and the slight spice of Disney villain theme song. Not gonna be for everyone I assume, but I enjoyed my time with it more than I didn't.

It started off so strong but gets so drawn out by the title track onward. I suspect they wanted to do less but needed to pad out runtime due to a vinyl release. I'll definitely be listening to 3-4 tracks from this album again, but I don't suspect I'll be playing it back to front again.

The production is immediately striking. It sounds like what people in the 80s thought the future would sound like. I think I get why this is our dads' favorite band Very good, almost otherworldly. It left me speechless and I'll definitely be revisiting it.

It's one of those "I can't take your music opinions seriously unless you've listened to this album" albums. I don't care if you're not into rock and metal, it's a piece of art that transcends that. Still as good as it ever was more than half a century later.

Started off sort of simple, but won me over in the end. Missing some of the personality and "unprofessionalism" I typically enjoy in a live album. Probably won't be revisiting this and I'll just listen to the studio versions of Cheap Trick if I'm in the mood. Might be on the lookout for a second hand vinyl of this record - I'm a sucker for live albums on vinyl.

Goes much harder than I expected - I was expecting something Beatlesesque like most of what you get from this list. The guitar work is masterful and I get the sense that a lot of music I enjoy today stemmed from this. That being said, the production kind of comes off same-ish across the entire album leading to a bit of weariness at about the mid point of the album. Unexpectedly We Will Fall was a great listen and nice reprieve after I Wanna Be Your Dog. 4/5 since because the middle of the album didn't quite stand out to me.

I was really into hip-hop close to 10 years ago. I remember listening to this album then, but I couldn't remember a thing apart from NY State of Mind. Now, my tastes and preferences have changed - and the first (and to this record last) hip-hop album the generator gave me when I started this is Stankonia, which I did and still do consider to be a bit meh. There was something there, but it wasn't for me. It gave me a bit of anxiety in the sense that "did I outgrow rap entirely"? No, I didn't. I still enjoy rap. This is a seminal album worth the hype. The lyricism and storytelling on display is phenomenal, and the production is beautiful and yet still grounded in a way that ties the atmosphere together. The only reason I was debating giving this a max grade is that this would be my third 5/5 this week, but who cares. The generator gives what the generator gives. I'm sure I'll be served many more weeks of mediocre 90's Britpop and 60's psychedelic rock, but for now I'm taking leave to be generous with my ratings.

I never really got the hype with Eminem. He was fine for a few singles to sing along to at a party or in the car, but musically I didn't get what the hype was about; let alone from where and why he comes off boasting he's Gods gift to music and his fans constantly perpetuating that. He came off as only a bit more restrained in that regard than Kanye West but at least Ye makes good music. This is the mindset I had going into this album. But when I started with this website I decided everything gets a fair shot, we're grading on a scale of 1-5 but realistically all these albums should be in the top 5% of at least all western music, right? I wish. I barely got through the album. Angsty teenager rap appealing to the lowest common denominator that goes on for way too long. The best parts of the album had nothing to do with Eminem and more to do with actual compelling artists involved with the project, such as Dr. Dre. I was hoping for something more grounded, introspective and mature from the album cover and considering this is his 3rd album, and considering the talent that was involved with making it. All in all the ethos of the album is just Eminem's singles stretched over 72 minutes- if you like that it's fine, but I'm just gonna keep assuming you're only 14 years old in either a physical, mental or spiritual way. This all being said; deserves a place on this list similar to Chocolate Starfish and Hot Dog Flavored Water. This (along with Tarantino, South Park and others which I do actually love) perpetuated the early 2000's edginess and shock value going on in pop culture at the time. One star for the content of the album, 5 stars for importance. Listening notes: First off; which one am I supposed to listen to? Spotify has like 4 Marshall Mather LPs with a different tracklist Funny how Eminem personified and mocked his fanbase on Stan and his fanbase still stans the guy- I assume since most Em fans I met are children in one way or another Honestly, the more you listen to Eminem the more you notice that his way of getting out of a lyrical corner is mostly just throw an edgy obscenity and hope enough people are shocked enough to not notice he's doing that Funny how he disses Fred Durst like he didn't get popular making almost the exact same music Kim verges on being snuff music- and not in a good, compelling way either And it ends on Eminem kind of pointlessly LARPing as a bank robber, ugh.

My original review for this was a long winded review about how trash this album is. I handily gave it a 1/5 at the time of scoring. But the album has persisted in my mind for weeks now. I've become obsessive over it. How does it not work, but work so much? Why is it appealing to me from the depths of the first impression it left upon me? Why am I still talking about it with my group? Is this what art is? I regularly come back to it to cleanse my palate like a bitter drink paired with a rich dinner. After all, you need some bitterness to enjoy the sweet things. It managed to crawl out of the most rotten 1/5 I've given so far to at least this rating, and I can't even promise it won't go up even more. Baby steps I guess. I still feel like the enunciation is forced, the accent doesn't work, the vocals sit on top of the music instead of it all working together, none of which is supposed to happen with hip hop but even with all that i'm still left wondering every time I start this album: Where did he leave his £1000?

Inoffensive to the point of being a bit bland. I only had a few notes to write so I didn't bother including them. Don't get me wrong, it was refreshing after 2 albums I found borderline unlistenable so at least this has that going for it, but not likely to be one I'll be revisiting.

Has a few places where some fat could be trimmed, but overall I enjoyed my time with it. Very fun listen. Safesurfer is an amazing track that's both dark and psychedelic and takes you on a journey all by itself. Head stood out for making me imagine stereotypical little green aliens playing the song on futuristic sci-fi instruments. Las Vegas Basement was great to end off the album. The Spotify description for Julian Cope being a "musician, writer, historian, and cosmic shaman" made me giggle. Not sure why the reviews for this album on this website are leaning negative (apart from people listening to the longer deluxe version - always check the track listings on Wikipedia people!) - I didn't find anything egregious enough to warrant it.

Not bad by any means, just not my cup of tea and I get the distinct feeling there's better Isley Brothers music than this just knowing how much they were sampled. Some guitar parts were parts where borderline virtuosic though, with Summer Breeze being a personal highlight, so I'll definitely be revisiting that at the very least.

Honestly, just a bland record carried enormously by Adele's singing. Definitely a product of its time; at some point I had to check if I still had ads disabled, that's how some of these songs sound to me. The best parts of the album for me was where there was minimal instrumentation and she was allowed to showcase how she's capable of carrying a song alone, like in Million Years or All I Ask. Regardless of my opinion though 25 deserves a place on the list. I was in the dead center of its targeted age demographic (if not social demographic) when this album came out, and even describing this album and Adele at the time as inescapable feels disingenuous - she was downright pestilent. Millennials can have this album on this list for that reason, but I'm gonna go with my gut, be a bit cheeky and give 25 a 2/5. Listening notes: Well just going by Spotify listeners this is by FAR the most popular album I'm supposed to listen to so far 2 tracks in, this would and did kill at millennial parties Damn, Adele can sing but I'm not gonna pretend that was a mystery to anyone including me Water Under the Bridge made me do a double take to check if I still had ads disabled I like Million Years Ago, but it feels iterative, like I already heard the same song before from someone else All I ask is another one I like simply due to the vocal power

I had a great time; pulls you into it, especially in the first half. Second half is a bit all over the place for my liking and definitely feels more experimental than the first (which for this record is saying a LOT), but I was more than able and willing to get through it. The story of how this album was made is also enviable and aspiring, and I'm not usually one for that kind of sentiment. I'm docking a point from a perfect score since this would be a really hard sell for anyone that isn't a total music nerd and due to those aforementioned experimental parts (which don't always really grasp you, despite the whole arrangement of the album by some miracle or plain talent and vision working the whole way through). Listening notes: Talk about an instantly recognizable first 10 seconds, holy shit Love part I around the 12 min mark Okay part I is done and I freakin' loved it, especially at the end as he's naming the instruments as they come on, I found the whole arrangement very cool I like how halfway through Part II we get the predecessor to Korn out of nowhere in a song that was up to that point more-or-less ambient music Very much starts rocking again Closes up too soon after rocking out, there was more space left :( I was not expecting this whimsy jingle at the end, but it feels familiar, like I heard it before

One of the albums of all time. Can't even tell you what I liked and what I didn't and under normal circumstances would be a 2/5 under my precedents. That being said, I have a soft spot for 90's alt rock so some tracks did get saved, and that bumped it up a point.

A "Balearic beat acid house electronic dance rock album recorded on the island of Ibiza" seemed so antithetical to the kinds of music I prefer, that I was dreading sitting down to listen to it. Someway and somehow, I found it great - especially the more dancey-electronicky parts of the record. For the most part, I preferred them to the more rock sound New Order and especially Joy Division are known for. I'm just flabbergasted to be here looking up what records are more dancey in New Orders and others discography, and just avoiding the post punk altogether. It's not a 5/5 since I don't consider it a perfect "album experience" (would need more cohesion track by track to me for that), but nevertheless a great listen as a collection of songs.

Completely acceptable prog-ish rock. I liked some bass and guitar parts, but the constant harmonizing of the voices got old pretty quick. I admit I did a little peek ahead and saw that Yes has 3 albums in the book. Will they deserve the 3 album placements? Who knows. Going middle of the road for now, this album is subject to either stay the same or go down in rating in the future depending on how the other Yes material sounds.

I don't know, I was expecting to hate it - turned out to be an unexpected bop. I was dancing and smiling like the lad on the cover the whole way through. Kind of lost me in the last third but not enough to detract from the first two. It's just a fun and carefree album that doesn't require much concentration or even inebriation, which isn't a given considering the genre this album resides in. Listening notes: well this is a long one it's long cause the songs have to be long, this is a DJ album after all F-ing in Heaven sounds straight out of an old Guy Ritchie movie it just sounds like everyone involved had a lot of fun making the album and I appreciate that Kalifornia does something to me, not sure what, I'll get back to you Soul surfing and Brighton are kind of whatever at this point, let's see if it comes back to me It does, Praise You has a much more traditional melodic structure to get you back to familiarity on top of a magnificently funky bassline Can we also take a second to appreciate that album cover? I know nothing about it but I want to be as happy and as carefree as that lad Last couple of tracks probably require more "chemical pick-me-up" than I'm willing to have on this moody Monday at work, but the album overall made it less moody than it needed to be

I can tell what's the appeal, I can tell what they influenced and how that includes some of my favorite artists and bands, I can tell how groundbreaking this kind of sound was at the time, but I just can't bring myself to rate this any higher. Entirely and completely competent, but not all that captivating for me personally. That being said, it piqued my curiosity for the rest of The Cure's catalog on this list, whenever that comes.

A bit of preamble before I've even listened to this album - this is my second Eminem record even though I'm only 40 or so albums into this project. The first one was The Marshall Mathers LP - A record I found dull, childish, and lacking any real meaning or artistry at least from Eminem himself. To me when you get through the shock value of his lyricism, it was just Eminem using angsty teenage obscenities not to spice up the substance of the album, but to replace them entirely. Like, they're fine to use, but only if you put them onto something I can chew on in the first place. The Wikipedia summary for The Slim Shady LP states the following: "The Slim Shady LP contains cartoonish depictions of violence and heavy use of profanity, which Eminem described as horror film-esque, in that it is solely for entertainment value." which honestly, sounds like more of what I hated on MMLP. That being said, I'll keep in mind this is a satire album and see if that makes it any more excusable compared to MMLP, a record that by all accounts was Eminem treating himself as seriously as he could at the time. Looking at the tracklist, the length and the song titles of this LP and my previous experiences with Eminems other album on this list, it is safe to say that I'm not leaning optimistic. Now for the actual review: You can see from my listening notes later that I did actually enjoy some parts of this album, as opposed to the MMLP. It feels like there were some parts where Eminem had actual ideas to write songs about and ran out of his daily allotted uses of curse words, and managed to turn out some decent songs. Another high point as always is the production, courtesy of Dr. Dre of course. That being said, the parts I hated I REALLY hated. It also aggravates me that this came before the Marshall Mathers LP in the sense that- we could have been in the timeline where Eminem expanded on the ideas that were actually compelling here, instead of appealing to teenagers who listen to him only as a protest against their parents, which is what the Marshall Mathers LP felt like. At least I'm done with Eminem for the next 1000 or so albums I'll be listening to but he hasn't made a fan out of me and his enduring popularity will forever be a mystery. Listening notes: I'm so done with skits in hip hop albums The best part of "My Name Is" after you go through puberty is introducing you to "I Got The" by Labi Siffre Alright so I have to admit; I relate to Guilty Conscience. I've had a few experiences where I've had the devil and angel on my shoulders. That being said, it ends with the good guy agreeing with the bad guy? It lost me there since that isn't how it works - people always have an internal struggle to the very end of and even after making any kind of moral or ethical decision. I'll be curious to see if this resolves by the end of the album, even though I get a pretty distinct feeling this "plot" will be dropped right about now at the start of the next song... We get it Eminem, you got brain damage, I didn't want to say anything myself I can relate to If I Had too, I'm also tired of this music Bonnie and Clyde are not people a father and daughter should relate to in ANY way By the way this album feels like Eminem is saying “this is chaotic and shocking… but take it seriously… but also don’t… but also do...” I can see why parents didn't want their kids listening to this but it wasn't the obscenities. The consequences are apparent today - there are people that think this is good music My Fault is the first song I can stand since it does feel like just a guy telling a dark story funnily, but it could have ended just on the punchline instead of the snuff audio at the end Rock Bottom is also good, it's almost as if adding a point to a song adds up to a good song Just Don't Give a Fuck too, this is a nice roll and the roll is over, As The World Turns returns to the painful Eminem status quo style Did he just say "by the way I have herpes and do drugs" just to say it? Eminem, I get that you don't give a fuck that I don't like you, I just want you to know it's not because I'm offended, you're just not as deep as you think you are. Seriously, two "Don't Give a Fuck" songs on one album? Enjoy your money and fame and whatever you want if it comes at the cost of making the musical equivalent of cold McDonalds fries.

I don't know, I feel I have to love it and respect(!) it more than I actually do. It's nice as a sort of proto pop record, but there's not a lot of bite or pizzazz, and there isn't any riveting musicality apart from Franklin's singing (which I find to be good-sometimes-great and a bit overrated as controversial as it sounds). I'm also not too keen on a record full of covers. That might be a strength though - I don't expect anyone being very much upset with listening to this record. I'll also say the mix could've been done differently and perhaps better. I hate using decimal points in reviews but just to contextualize this is like a 2.51/5 album for me, so I'm only just marginally leaning more towards a higher than a lower grade, hence the 3.

You can hear the genre-melding and you can hear why it's a critical darling. While I enjoyed the same parts as most critics did, it is to a lesser extent- personally I find the album a bit too avant-garde. Nevertheless the musicality here is excellent from everyone involved, and you can hear the influences on later works. Not for me, but I can absolutely see how some might regard this higher than me.

I can't really place my thoughts with this record. Would it be fair to say that it feels a bit too much like a "we're popular now so we can do no wrong" kind of album - y'know, self induglent? This is my first Radiohead album even though I know they're borderline mythical, and on a technical level the album is brilliant - I just don't care for it. That being said, made me very interested in their other work, I'm looking forward to discovering the myth.

Y'know when you kind of recognize an album, but not really? This is one of those. Anyway, holy shit how strong it starts! With the boogieing and the musicality and the experimentation in the first two thirds of the album I thought I was listening to an easy 5/5 if it could be kept up. That being said, it devolves into a bit fine but generic blues by the end. Still, I imagine will definitely be replaying the first seven or eight tracks from the album.

Well, the album that broke my streak. I had a headache the entire day I was supposed to listen to this album and from the first track I knew I was really not in the mood for near enough 58 minutes of bling era gangsta rap; especially knowing this was influenced by Eminems first few albums which I already listened to as part of this project and really didn't like. Anyway, giving it a shot now it's infinitely more tolerable than those. 50 Cent is much more charismatic and his voice is much more palatable and while the album is a bit dated, it still holds up in a nostalgic way. It loses some of its intended edge cause realistically even when this came out it was department store music- I don't imagine this really existing in a world that didn't allow for commercial gangsta rap, the kind that scrubs bad words from the lyrics to allow for radio play. This isn't really a knock against the music as much as it is the environment that encompassed it, but it still bears to say. Worth a listen and a spot on the 1001 albums list just due to how persistent it is all these years later, but best enjoyed one or two songs at a time once in a while.

I knew I wasn't gonna love this, but I did end up liking it. It definitely goes for an atmosphere it does end up creating - especially through the instrumentation of the bass, guitars and synths which was simply enthralling. I typically prefer more expressive vocals but they were definitely not as bad as what some people here are saying. I also have to say, you can hear the just tad slight honeydrop of New Order in this album, which is interesting to pick up on for me personally considering I had a New Order album through this website before any Joy Division.

Well it was certainly good. Warm, comforting. There's some great instrumentation here that's interestingly used, like I heard something like a rock guitar in the first track. Isaac Hayes kills with vocals but I was expecting that considering what I know from South Park (I'm part of that generation that knows about Isaac Hayes). All this said though, sadly I am a straight man so Hayes' seductive charm falls a bit flat for me. I'll tell you what though, if I was a woman, he'd probably make me forget that he's singing about cheating in One Woman, despite the song title.

A decent jazz record. I feel like I lack the understanding to truly appreciate it as it should be. Also I know it's a compilation record but the tracks really worked together as a whole, but I kind of feel that's just the nature of how the genre sounds to me. Looking forward to the other Miles Davis entries on this list as this was my first one.

I liked it. It yee'd my haw. The vocals could have gone a bit deeper and I feel that would fit it better with the music. Instrumentation was great though, and the church ambience made everything feel big with all the reverb going on. Will be revisiting a track here or there.

To the people that don't agree or didn't understand the albums messaging: This guy is singing the same shit we're still dealing with, only he did it near 35 years ago. If we're still complaining about this stuff, it might be valid to complain about. To the people that DO agree with the album, including myself: Do we seriously think hippies like this are actually gonna convince right wing neocon populist lovers to look at things from our side? I'm not saying this shouldn't be taken seriously but at this point we can't expect media literacy from those people, they should be made fun of, called chuds, and whatever else they have already done. If they go low, we shouldn't go high, we should kick them in the teeth. Anyway, that's my soapbox over, I just felt like this album warranted it. As I stated in that preamble rant, the ideas here are still poignant three and a half decades later, the sampling and instrumentation is great (especially the basslines), and Michael Franti's reverberating voice is very attention grabbing. It's gonna be divisive probably due to the politics attached, but I happen to agree with these politics for the most part, if not the way they're presented to the masses. I'm also not likely to be revisiting this one apart from a few tracks here and there since the politics are front and center here and not something I'd listen to in leisure time.

Well that was a marathon, but I wouldn't say it needed powering through. It's kind of impossible for it not to blend into the background in it's whole ~2 hour runtime but luckily I enjoy this kind of music even though I'd never seek it out. It's kind of like that one dish you'd never order yourself but would happily eat if it was on offer in a non-committal way, such as at a buffet. I also appreciate the fact this was a sort of Avengers level come together for country artists at the time so that's also impressive. Anyway I'm giving it a slightly higher grade than I usually would since it was something new and different that I did enjoy, but if asked in the future I'll probably just remember this album by "long, banjo and fiddle", which isn't so bad when it's so consistently good for such a long time.

Absolutely, thoroughly, positively mind blowing. The amount of genre melding, how cohesively the album flows, the influences heard here, the atmosphere it sets up, it all works perfectly for its entire runtime. Janelle Monáe has made an easy fan of me for this album alone and I'll definitely be checking out her other material.

So I had Highway 61 Revisited about a month or so back, and I absolutely loved that record. One of the things I loved about H61 was how it seemed like Dylan pulled all these genres and pieces of music and glued them together with his charm and songwriting. Now I was ecstatic to see this record, but after listening it this just feels not like a melding of different sounds but just Bob Dylan as a genre for over an hour; which I guess proves you can have too much of a good thing. I certainly was not annoyed by any of it including the voice and the harmonica which many seem to complain about, but it does become a bit overbearing over the course of a double LP. This album also didn't really have any stand out tracks either compared to H61, at least to me personally.

Well here's a group and album everyone in my close and extended family probably knows about including my famously "allergic to western music" grandma - which can't be said for 99% of other artists on this list save for maybe The Beatles and the other disco pop staple in Boney M. (which now that I look them up aren't even on this list? Daddy Cool, Rasputin, Rivers of Babylon, hello?!). I think the popularity of ABBA is lost for anyone that's not European; they've been inescapable for going on more than 50 years and I'd bet if we were just looking at Europe they'd give MJ a run for his money in a popularity contest. Literally anyone younger than that still can't remember a time they didn't know about Dancing Queen. Anyone that performs at Eurovision still gets compared to Waterloo. This is all to say that this likely isn't an objective rating, I have memories tied to this group and anyone I know also does. Sure it's a bit of its time as all disco is, but the instrumentation is still great at what it's trying to do and the lyricism and singing still more than holds up. If I were listening to this for the first time it'd likely score a bit lower, but I can't bring myself to do that when I'm still, even after listening to it probably thousands of times, belting out YOU ARE A DANCING QUEEEEEEN! any chance I get.

Well that took me a good 4-5 sittings to get through. I wouldn't say it's bad, it's certainly unique but I feel disadvantaged in recognizing its uniqueness- playing Dungeons and Dragons with a Bard player in the party somehow feels the same as listening to this album. To describe it better, it's that mix of idealized medieval folklore and fantasy themes with 21st century convictions. The purpose of the album feels like it's trying to introduce and welcome you to this weirdness, which might work for someone not used to this kind of music but it falls a bit flat for people that are already nerdy weirdos. Me belonging to the latter camp this is a bit of a skip album for me. PS. Nothing from Joanna Newsom is available on Spotify so this album made me finally make the move to another streaming service. I chose Tidal, but seriously if you care about music at all, get off Spotify.

It rocks, but for some reason didn't really leave an impression. Very in one ear, out the other; even if without much friction. Bjork is an amazing singer though and you can hear some creative ideas here that might have influenced later alt rock- I'm specifically hearing some garage rock undertones which I like. Nonetheless, I think this probably wouldn't have been on this list if it weren't for Bjork's later superstardom.

This one is kind of tough to rate if I'm being honest. On one hand, it is melancholic, thought provoking and quite dark at points. The instrumentation is great and Cohen has some great deep singing if you're into that kind of voice. That being said, I had this album on a Friday, listened to it then, and haven't thought about the album since I listened to it. It is now Monday and I'm struggling to come up with stuff to say about it simply because it doesn't have that staying power to me. Feels more like an album for people who are already Cohen fans rather than someone getting introduced for the first time, like me.

It's almost as if the generator knew I wasn't in the mood for something too different to what I'd generally listen to. In comes good old Nirvana with In Utero - an album and band that really shouldn't need any introductions and something definitely up my alley. I tried to judge it on it's merits even though I do have personal connections with the group and the album, but honestly even without taking those into account this rocks. Definitely noisier than Nevermind, but on some days like this one, I prefer that. This trio delivered two amazing generational albums I have no reservations putting near the top of my favorites.

Well that was interesting. I'm certainly not surprised by what seems to be a W shaped rating curve, seems like an album you'd love, hate or not feel one way or the other about. I fall into the latter camp, however there is certainly something here- it definitely achieves the desired atmosphere, it has payoff for me which is something people here lament the lack of, and it probably is influential but I'll defer to everyone else on that. Other than that its weirdness in the time signatures and the tones used make it feel like walking on a tightrope between genius and trash much like most indie math rock bands you'll probably find at your local indie dive bar on a weekday. Despite the grade I feel I'll be mulling over the record more in the coming weeks because it did leave an impression on me.

What a fun album! Admittedly some songs were hits, some were misses, but I really loved the style of the album. God bless 90's record execs greenlighting artists like this looking for any alternative weirdness in an effort to find the next Nirvana. Anyway, all I knew from Beck was Loser before this, admittedly a track I don't really love and some tracks here follow in that same tone, but others more than make up for it. Will be revisiting this.

Much less metal than I was expecting, and not just because of its age. This plays much more like hard rock, punk and prog album than classic metal. This is not a criticism by any means, I enjoy the record it's just surprising knowing what Iron Maiden later molded into. Everyone does a great job here with and the album is worth listening to even to the extent of digging into it and dissecting the evolution of Iron Maiden, and heavy metal and 80's metal in general. The only dig I have is that these sounds aren't really unique as they were already done, and in some cases already perfected even before this album came out.