Well, this is the first album on my project. I’m not very well acquainted with this genre, but I enjoyed my time listening. I thought it was very interesting that the lyrics carried so much sadness, regret, etc. but you really didn’t “hear” it in the instrumentals. The music was, in my opinion, too relaxed and often even a little energetic to convey the idea on its own. Despite that, I came away from the album thinking, “wow, that was pretty sad.” My only gripe was that sometimes the songs really felt like they were dragging it out when I already got the message. Maybe that’s the brainrot talking, but I’m going to trust my gut on this one; not long enough to be seriously egregious, but just enough to make me think, “okay, this is taking a while.” That’s probably a part of it, though: maybe sadness takes a little longer than you’d like. Maybe you put on a happy face when the emotions beneath are anything but. Maybe your voice is choking up, but you still need to get something out.
Favorite Song: Last Dance
Least Favorite Song: Lullaby
I liked this album. Even though they were experimenting with longer compositions for the album, it felt like it went by fast. When it was over I was like, “aw man, I could’ve gone for another song or two..” but all good things must come to an end, I guess. Just some plain old good music here.
Favorite Song: Deacon Blues
Least Favorite Song: Black Cow
I typically do some pre-reading when diving into an established book, album, game, etc. to get necessary context and set my expectations. Somehow, all of my reading failed to bring up that Prince would climb out of my speakers and fuck me, but I don’t think it would’ve helped me even IF I had known that. I had to stop and stand with my jaw agape multiple times because this album is just absolutely nuts man… just so blatantly horny that when it was over I couldn’t help but laugh…
Favorite Song: Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)
Least Favorite Song: Free
I understand why people like this. I enjoyed a lot of the songs… specifically, in isolation. I think the songs work well as singles, but as an album experience it felt monotonous. By the time I got halfway through, I started craving a greater range of vocal expression that never arrived. The music and mixing is good, and the lyrics aren’t bad, but there’s only so much I can endure from the monotone vocals before I start wanting something else.
Favorite Song: Halo
Least Favorite Song: Waiting for the Night
Just some incredibly fun and well-done music here. I think the live aspect actually helps elevate the album in a certain way; the moments Kuti has with the audience help make the album feel more like a musical experience and reinforce the mood of the album. Let’s Start put a big grin on my face and that atmosphere just kept up throughout the entire album.
Favorite Song: Egbe Mi O (Carry Me)
Least Favorite Song: Ginger Baker & Tony Allen Drum Solo - Live at the Berlin Jazz Festival - 1978
This is NUTS for an 18th album. The first two tracks were a little weak for me so I was worried I was about to sit through 2 hours of some weak sauce but no… Village Ghetto Land hit and then things just kept getting better for the album’s entire runtime. This is such a cool album man…
Favorite Song: Another Star
Least Favorite Song: Have a Talk with God
Beautiful album that displays a large range of expression and nails everything it goes for. It’s like a culmination and celebration of the human experience. It’s just so well done.
Favorite Song: Nightswimming
Least Favorite Song: New Orleans Instrumental No.1
Nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said… it was novel to experience something I never would have heard otherwise but I started to go a bit crazy with how long and repetitive the album is.
Favorite Song: Ko Wone Mayo
Starts and ends strong, which really works in the album’s favor. It has a nice funky feel with great energy… but the songs around the middle and a little after lose that feeling and that did stick with me even when the energy came back. I enjoyed the album overall.
Favorite Song: Hey Girl
Least Favorite Song: Why Did She Have To Leave Me (Why Did She Have To Go)
Once you've heard hip-hop this clean, this well-written, this PERFECTLY aesthetically crafted… it’s hard to listen to anything else. I’m not a hip-hop historian, and I didn’t have much of a listening history with it before this project, but I 100% believe it when they say that Nas changed the game with this one.
Favorite Song: It Ain’t Hard to Tell
Least Favorite Song: Life’s a Bitch
I found most of the songs to be nice but mostly unremarkable. A couple of the tracks in the middle of the album even caught my interest, but the first two tracks gave me a really bad first impression to The Smiths. I have never heard a real person growl when singing. I thought it was just a fun little thing VOCALOIDs could do sometimes, but I hope I never have to hear a human do that again.
Favorite Song: Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before
Least Favorite Song: A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours
GOD I love Steely Dan. Album speaks for itself, my words aren’t adequate enough praise for this album.
Favorite Song: Fire In The Hole
Least Favorite Song: Kings
It’s called porn because even if you found some moments of worth in the experience you mostly just feel sad afterwards
Favorite Song: The Hanging Garden
Least Favorite Song: Pornography
I couldn’t finish this album… it sounds like nobody really cared about what was happening, but the pay was good so they slapped something “good enough” together. Like, it’s passable at a glance, but when you listen to it it’s lacking the intangible “soul” that most of the albums on this project have put into them.
This was probably crazy in 2000 but in the big 2026 it had a hard time latching on to me. Maybe I was just bored but it felt like it kept covering the same ground tonally. Maybe I’ll come back to it with a more open mind but as of writing this it doesn’t strike me as anything special.
Favorite Song: The National Anthem
Least Favorite Song: Kid A
When I look at the reviews for this album, I see a lot of whining about how all the songs sound the same. I get that you can’t control what you listen to on this project, but at least enjoy what you’ve got. If someone tells you that all you get to eat today is a big ass waffle, are you going to be happier savoring the waffle, or are you going to be happier thinking about everything else you could be having? Rock is about having fun and expressing yourself… you can hear that these guys were having fun when they made this album. Just enjoy it.
Favorite Song: Beating Around the Bush
Least Favorite Song: Love Hungry Man
Great background music for Crazy Taxi but as its own experience it starts to feel a little uninspired. “All the songs sound the same” gets thrown around a lot in reviews but it REALLY applies here. I liked it but it didn’t really inspire anything in me.
Favorite Song: Come Out and Play
Least Favorite Song: Self Esteem
This isn’t the worst thing I’ve ever heard… but that’s about the highest praise I can give it. I spent most songs wishing they would end sooner and often felt that there was a lot of potential that was far from realized here. I’ve heard good things about Frank Ocean, and I know it’s the debut album, but I’m not hearing what’s so special.
Favorite Song: Sweet Life
Least Favorite Song: Thinkin Bout You
I know I’ve got something good on my hands when every song has me both sad to leave it but excited for the next one. Great energy and composition. The variety of dynamics and style was really great. I love it!
Favorite Song: Going Out
Least Favorite Song: G-Song
I love a good live album. I’m always charmed by the interactions the singers have with the audience between songs (and even during the songs!). It helps me remember that even decades ago we’ve always been the same old humans with the same whimsy and fun. This album was fun the whole way through, Vaughan was very pleasant to listen to and the music was always great. Lovely.
Favorite Song: Stairway to the Stars
Least Favorite Song: Just One of Those Things
Never heard a lot of this stuff, Mr. Brightside was really great and had me hopeful for the rest of the album but most of it was just okay at best. That shit they did in All These Things That I’ve Done was unacceptable though and probably deducted a point from my score just for that one song.
Favorite Song: Mr. Brightside
Least Favorite Song: All These Things That I’ve Done
Cool ass cherub smoking cigarettes… just jamming out without a care singing about being cool… it’s hard to hate Van Halen. Even though I remember Jump as the overused pop culture song it’s just so hard to hate it when you hear it. Cool and fun. It’s the simple things that make life worth living.
Favorite Song: Top Jimmy
Least Favorite Song: House of Pain
I don’t hate disco. I find it pleasant to listen to and dance to, but it doesn’t exactly leave much of an impression on me. I respect the emotion, sense of fun, and technical skill in the album, but it just doesn’t sink it’s hooks into me in the way other albums do.
Peter Piper gave me some hope but I just couldn’t truly love this album. The way that they sing and randomly pick up the other’s lines is kind of cool but after like 11 tracks of that it gets old really quick. There was potential here but there needed to be more variation in style. The Walk This Way remix and Raising Hell are a sign that they could’ve done that but just… didn’t. Oh well.
I found Harris’ voice to be rather nice at first, and I hoped the rest of the album would be as good as The Pearl. I was very upset to find how quickly the album devolved into that acoustic, uninspired slop that modern southern baptists call music. Seriously disappointing.
