I liked listening to this album and appreciate how influential it has been. but because of its age/the sound quality etc I probably wouldn't just put it on. still glad i got to listen to it.
took me back to the Napster era. Chris Martin has a beautiful falsetto, Spies is a cool song. Their sound is a little polished and emotion free for my taste but there are some fun and lasting pop songs on this album. Everything's Not Lost sounds like a billy joel song.
totally full of bangers, can't believe i've never heard this record. SO much fun. I would be stoked if I were out dancing and any of these songs came on.
there is no option to give this a 7 but i would if i could
don't know tons about jazz, loved the bluesiness of this album and enjoyed learning about the music it influenced.
This album had some tracks I really liked but also a couple of pretty annoying ones. I enjoyed especially Second Head, Bouncing Babies, Ha Ha I’m Drowning and Use Me, which is more acoustic. Mostly very danceable/upbeat, surreal lyrics are fun. I’d have to be in the right mood for this.
It’s like Queen and the Beatles (magical mystery tour era) had a baby and that baby was a rock opera… sounds good on paper but this was not for me for the most part. Too theatrical, some of the blues-influenced tracks feel like parody. Might be a good guilty pleasure album for a person who is not me.
Beautiful and perfect
This is such a fun and joyful album, with such a diversity of influences from across funk/jazz/rap. I really loved Big Boi's side, especially Bow Tie, which is a hilarious song. Unhappy is also a great track. Crazy trivia that Rosa Parks sued them over this album. Takes me back to high school.
Beautiful harmonies and lyrics, so nostalgic. They were some of the best of the folk rock revival. Found songs I had never heard/forgot about including Meadowlarks and White Winter Hymnal. Album sounds like it was composed by medieval bards and performed in a clearing in the woods by a barbershop quartet. Easy and enjoyable listen, also good length.
I love Tina Turner and enjoyed listening to this. Some of it hasn’t aged that well (like the title track). The production is super eighties and a little too much for. Her voice is raspy and beautiful. The stand out for me was her cover of Ann Peebles’ I can’t stand the rain, which i had to immediately listen to three more times.
I have been listening to the Beatles since before I could speak, know less about their solo careers, really really wanted to enjoy this. I did enjoy some of it— mostly the blues rock tracks, even I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama. How Do You Sleep? is honestly a banger, amazing diss track, can't believe I've never heard it before — it's SO petty. But overall this felt kind of disjointed as an album. Doesn't help that the title track is truly bad. Also minus points for not crediting Yoko for her writing.
Really enjoyed this. Standout track is obviously Papa Was A Rollin' Stone.
First track is dedicated to Nick drake
The slurred vocals are apparently a style?
Cool eclectic influences, love the jazziness
Learned also one of his later albums, which is also on this list, is patient zero for triphop which is awesome
incredibly energetic live album, Sam at the peak of his powers. Can only call this secular gospel music. Hearing his connection with the audience is so exciting. Vocals are absolutely perfect — but it's a totally different side to him as a performer than what you hear in studio recordings. The history behind this album, how it was held from release until the mid eighties for fear of ruining his pop star image, is also fascinating.
Listened to this after a night out, walking along the canals in London while the sun was coming up. Easy 5 for me. Spacious, otherworldly, but still very melodic and emotional. Bowed guitars! Seeking out more of their music now.
cool album, not my personal favorite of what i've heard of Miles Davis
enjoyable, super fast, extremely stupid, would be super fun to see live. someone else commented it would be ideal music to speed clean your apartment to.
haven't listened to any hardcore since college probably and it was kind of fun to come back to.
didn't expect to like this so much, but actually his sound feels really pure, especially the vocal delivery. I think Johnny Cash isn't normally associated with the Bakersfield sound but to my ears it's not dissimilar to some of his earlier recordings (mainly because of the backbeats, and because of Owens' range in his low register)
Love Ali Farka Touré's music but had not heard this particular album — was absolutely mesmerizing. His use of loops (not the electronic kind) create completely hypnotic patterns within the music. It's incredible how well blues fits into this style of music. would listen to this over and over again.
Totally fine Beatles album and love the first iteration of Lennon/McCartney songwriting
There’s so much Elvis and Johnny cash in his sound. Only knew the hits off this record, enjoyed it a lot more than expected. Not totally my cup of tea but great songwriting and very listenable. I understand why he’s so beloved. The energy and upbeat vibes of the whole album are in complete contrast to its narrative and subject matter which is fascinating, and maybe explains why so many people misunderstand the title track.
Would like to listen again
I binged this album (and the 2 follow ups) a ton when it came out and then didn't come back to the Mars Volta for a long time. I was young then and it blew my mind — the crazy guitar riffs and unhinged lyrics. Coming back to it now after having heard a lot more different kinds of music, I hear the jazz fusion in it, the inventive shifts in time signatures and punk rock influence. It's the ultimate maximalist album. There is so much going on, and there's something new every time you come back to it. To me right now it feels like sensory overload. But that's part of what's great about it. It really works.
points for cool album cover and for being their last album with Brian Eno. I can hear the Velvet Underground influence a little but some blues rock too. In Every Dream Home A Heartache which I've just read is about a blow up doll is probably the standout track for me. Also enjoyed Beauty Queen and Grey Lagoons. Would probably take a few more listens to really digest this. Also so much saxophone!
Love Jack White but his non-White Stripes projects have never hit me the same way. He's a good songwriter but I much preferred the rawness of the White Stripes' first 3 albums and have never loved what he did in his later career quite as much.
Simple, energetic, youthful. I only knew Alright from Clueless. Think I might be too old to enjoy this.
beautiful, super chill, love the blues inflections. there's such diversity of style and subject matter here, want to go back and read the lyrics in greater depth.
I guess this was fine
not too bad, I guess Britney is on this list so why not the Monkees?
Praise You is one of my favorite songs ever and was so excited to have an excuse to listen to it! The whole album is so much fun, and must have sounded so cool when it first came out. It definitely feels of a particular time and place now, but will always love Fatboy Slim (and the iconic music videos)
I feel slightly devastated that this type of music isn't popular anymore.
more of a pop/pop-punk turn from their earlier work. but still love it.
so psychedelic. you could get lost in this album, in the best way. it's like nothing else. can't imagine how groundbreaking it must have sounded at the time as it still sounds crazy today
It is totally shocking that Oldfield was basically a kid when he composed this, that he played all the instruments himself, and absolutely incredible what an impact the lead track has had. I have seen the Exorcist one time and had never even heard of this album, yet the song was totally familiar to me as if I had heard it a thousand times before. An almost mystical feeling.
Having said that. I don't know how much I loved the rest of the album. Still very cool, and would put on again, but maybe in the background.
What to say? It's amazing to have an excuse to listen to music from this era. It's so spacious, so warm, uplifting. Love the way this album blends country into soul and R&B.
Says Wikipedia: "The album's integration of soul and country challenged racial barriers in popular music at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. In the process of recording the album, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to exercise complete artistic control over his own recording career."
So fascinating that this was influenced by Neu! and other Krautrock bands. Also insane that Bowie was taking so much coke while recording this in LA, working for days at a time, that he couldn't really remember recording it at all. Cover of Wild is the WInd is great. Looking forward to getting deeper into his discography in this challenge.
I mean come on. Some absolute classics (of course Mr. Tambourine Man, also Subterranean Homesick Blues, Gates of Eden, She Belongs To Me)
Interesting from wikipedia that he wrote this mostly drunk on red wine, staying up all night long. Also the Beatles influence (which was returned in Norwegian Wood), impact on the folk rock genre.
really fun and upbeat. It's kind of shocking this came out in 1978, I feel like I can hear their influence in a lot of 90s/2000s pop punk. I liked a lot of it but "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" is a standout track, unexpectedly political. Will play it next time I'm.... down in a tube station at midnight. Fun cover of the Kinks' David Watts also.
Scottish band I would listen to this again but I felt that it was really hard to get into this album. Felt it was forgettable
jazz/funk fusion album, so awesome, can't believe i've never heard this. The second track reminds me of the White Lotus theme tbh. absolutely going to look up more of his music now.
My only experience with Van Halen is finding one of their albums in my dad's record collection and being completely shocked. love my dad but I can't help but feel this is music for to numb the mind (or for strip clubs, or for 80s movies) . Panama actually includes a recording of Eddie revving his Lamborghini, taken near the tailpipe. I might be past the point in my life where I could have appreciated this.
Listening to this album in 2026 acted on me the way a pack of sour patch kids acted on my fragile amygdala in 1999, the first time I listened to this album. The opening chords flooded me with a rush of euphoria which dissipated very quickly after the first few songs. By the time it gets to E-mail My Heart I had reached full sugar crash.
Leave Britney Alone etc., and love to her forever, but IMHO this album is a moment in music history rather than a piece of art to be enjoyed on its own terms.
Also all the middle aged men complaining on here they can't be seen listening to this, GROW UP
Honestly really enjoyed this. Love the R&B/soul flavor, and of course the psychedelic style. Would like to listen again.
I need to learn more about what the hell they were doing in this album
OK I've listened to the A side about a billion times, to the point that I can't even really review it accurately. The B side not as many times.
I don't know what some people on here are talking about. This album is fucking amazing. Basically every track is unique, mindblowing — the musicianship, the songwriting, THE MUSICIANSHIP. I look forward to the day my daughter is old enough to enjoy Led Zep for the first time (and hope will have her mind blown, like the rest of us mere mortals)
R.E.M. so yes
End of the world is one of my earliest music memories
I love folk and I love picked guitar. I even still love the (now terminally uncool) folk revival of the 2000s. I should like this album, but there's something kind of unsettling about some of it that I can't quite put my finger on — either the vocal inflections or the weird nonsensical lyrics. I'm not surprised to read one of these songs was used in a horror movie soundtrack. (Insect Eyes, which actually I like.) I some of what I love about folk music is its connection to cultural heritage and the natural world, and its storytelling quality. Some folk music can be unsettling (see the murder ballad traditon), but still I think divorcing this style of music so far from those roots results in something that's not that pleasing to listen to. for me.
One point for Vashti Bunyan cameo on the title track.
totally fine alt rock album with 70s/psychedelic influences. i would listen again when in a better mood. sorry but this isn't groundbreaking so 3
I try to be respectful on here because every one of these albums is someone's favorite — but I just really really do not like this. Irish folk music and punk do not go together. It's cheesy. It's kitsch. It's like a band you'd see at a pub in Leicester Square, or at a pirate-themed restaurant in Disneyland. Why is there a spaghetti western instrumental track? Was this sound considered fresh in the 80s?
Also makes you think — there's lots of great cocaine music (Fleetwood Mac for one) and acid/mushroom music. Even weed music. I'm not sure if music so closely related with alcohol can really be any good.
sidebar I'm pretty sure the intro to one of these songs is directly cribbed, like note for note, from Woody Guthrie's "Ain't Got No Home"
lemme revisit as i dont remember this
As a Tamil person, there just weren't that many of us getting famous in the west at the time this album came out. Enter MIA. great musician, most embarrassing public figure. Still, I salt and pepper my mango.
Fast forward to 2026. MIA has new music out it looks like, and is somehow EVEN MORE EMBARASSING.
I want to write her off I really do. But Paper Planes is still a banger, and if I'm really being honest so is the rest of this album. There are zero songs on here that I would not dance to. The Timberland track — which I had completely forgotten about — is also such a bop.
What can I say? Maya is our Kanye?
loved revisiting this. His songwriting is so funny and personal, and the orchestration makes it such a cinematic listen.
Graceland is maybe a perfect song. Amazing album, amazing story behind it. Love the South African influence/collaborations.
super enjoyable. I prefer the repetitive/hypnotic side of this album to the more rock-oriented tracks.
sublime. i feel lucky to have been born into a world where this music already existed.
I prefer psychedelic Doors to blues Doors (most of the time) but Waiting For The Sun is great.
apparently I like Jane's Addiction? who knew
Insane this is a debut album. I knew some of their music but not the whole history. Every track rocks, so many different kinds of sounds. I feel like they took the best from the post-punk sound, but cast of the taboo against also resurrecting some of the psychedelia/noodly guitar vibes of the 70s. Incredible that this album came YEARS before the alternative music of the 90s. Also paved the way for Oasis etc. stunner of an album, easy 5
absolutely stunning. listened in the DC metro. story behind the album is also absolutely incredible. easy 5
sorry this came out in 1991?? Sounds vaguely Beatles (but add harmonica, and better production values)
Maybe I'm being grouchy but like... think of all the amazing world music we lost to have this totally forgettable australian pop rock album on this list?? how about all the WOMEN. There is ONE Nina Simone album on this list. That's the same number as Crowded House
look it's fine
minus a point for creepy album cover
Oh man oh man. because of the age I am, my primary relationship with RHCP is Californication era. I knew this hits from this album but never listened to the whole thing. honestly, lots of greatness. unexpectedly. I feel like they were still playing Under the Bridge on MTV years later. What a nice surprise.
But gotta minus points for the rock rap and it's soooo long
Also insane that this was released the same exact day as Nevermind!
not the best radiohead album but still a radiohead album so 5. foreshadows some of their future work. Street Spirit (fade out)
the album that made me fall in love with the smiths. i probably downloaded it on napster. such diversity of sound. so danceable. barbarism begins at home.
fun (for hits) but not my fav 90s diva
Not what I expected at all (i guess I just expected ambient) I listened to this right after a talking heads album and I now kind of understand why he produced the talking heads. there's a throughline — though this is still so novel/experimental/art rocky for 77. Love the noise/punk elements here. super interesting listen, really enjoyed
Inoffensive and boomerific …. Bits of R&B and jazz conveniently separated from all the politics of the era. So dull
would give absolutely anything to go to a club and hear this kind of music today. LOVE the chemical brothers. beyond energizing, inventive, fresh.
enjoyed this way more than i expected. what a wordsmith. fave tracks — 9 milli bros, be easy, jellyfish. I am not sure why this is on this list and not Supreme Clientele though?
Iconic
proto-punk. fun listen
the story behind this album made me feel really sad and i can't quite listen to it.
classic. god only knows
I'm not sure about this era of Bowie. some of it feels like Elton John at a cabaret. I guess that's part of what people like about him? hard to connect with this, for me. But I would never have listened to this on my own so I'm glad I was now forced to.
fav tracks — Life on Mars? Quicksand and Queen Bitch
Love the Talking Heads and this is a great album. Fav tracks — the first two (uh-oh love comes to town and new feeling) as well as pulled up and of course psycho killer) learned — fela kuti was a big influence, also that they hardly charted in America (other than Burning Down the House). They met at RISD. Also learned that Eno didn't produce this album.
I think I prefer their afro-beats/funk influenced sound that came after this but still love
I'm not crying you're crying
How’s it possible I got this on this day?
The last track tho
Can’t believe I used to love them. it's so angry. i kind of can't even listen anymore
Definition of pablum, sooooooo boring can’t believe I forced myself to finish this monstrosity of boomer excess. Upset that Spotify might think I enjoy this. This is ONLY acceptable at 3 am karaoke or on guitar hero, no other context
The number of people who gave this album 5 stars just tells me everyone doing this challenge is a boomer (grand)dad
actual boston lyrics
Playin' for a week in Rhode Island
A man came to the stage one night
He smoked a big cigar
Drove a Cadillac car
And said "Boys, I think this band's outta sight"
Sign a record company contract
You know I've got great expectations
When I hear you on the car radio
You're goin' to be a sensation!"
I got this back to back with the Stooges which makes sense. Loved this album when I found it (a bit late circa 2009) and I still love it today. immediately transported back to my first trip to Amsterdam at age 19
Epic, I think I actually prefer this to Raw Power? Just incredible this was made in 1970. What an iconoclast.
Had never listened to this though obviously had heard of it. this came out two years before Screamdelica which is the album that immediately springs to mind. Super silly, light, fun sampling, danceable. I think my kid would love this
