1001 Albums Summary

Pre listen: I didn't know the Ramones were a 70's band, I always thought they were 90's. Knowing they are 70's now is very interesting, their punk-sound was very ahead of their time. I always thought The Clash inspired The Ramones, but now I think it may be the other way around. Notable tracks: Blitzkrieg Bop - Absolute classic, used at least once in every sporting event in a stadium ever. Chain Saw - The loud chainsaw sound at the start hurt my ears :( I had my volume too high. Also points off for pronouncing Massacre "Mass-ah-cree" Now I wanna Sniff Some Glue - Me too kid. 53rd & 3rd - Probably my favorite track on the album. Good lyricism, varying tempo, vocal distortions, and good vocal harmonies make me like it. Post Listen: Overall I'd give it a 2/5. I think too many of the songs sound similar, to the point there was a few instances I didn't realize one track went on to the next. The tempo they play at is the same for like 80% of the songs on here, and the backing guitars/drum rhythms sound way too similar between songs as well. The lyrics are really good in many of the songs, but there were a few I couldn't understand what they were saying due to their THICK Impoverished Islander Accent. I would describe the album as Punk-Rock boiled down to it's most essential components, but just like boiled water, it needs some flavor. Remarkable album for being foundational for Punk music though, and again, very impressed it came out as early as it did.

Pre Listen: I have no idea who this band is. The only Franz Ferdinand I know was assassinated in 1914, so I have no expectations for this album going in. Notable Tracks: Take Me Out - Hey I know this one. This is the one that made them popular I think. Classic. The Dark of the Matinée - Rather catchy, I like the melody a lot. My favorite track on the album. Cheating on You - Kind of repetitive, my least favorite song on the album. It has a fairly ugly melody as well, but I guess the ugliness fits the message? This Fire - I know this one too, another hit. It's pretty good. Post Listen: I did know more of their songs than I realized, and even the songs I didn't recognize were catchy and overall well made. I enjoyed the swings in tempo that a lot of the songs have and how quickly their lyrics and melodies will change along with it to fit the mood. I give the album a 4/5, I don't think I'll add any songs to my playlist as I'm not much a punk enjoyer, but I appreciate the music for the quality it has.

Pre Listen: Despite knowing how influential Bob Dylan is, and despite my affinity for music out of the 60's and 70's, I've never really given any of Bob's album work a good thorough listen. I'm looking forward to giving it a try, resultingly my expectations are higher than usual. Notable Tracks: Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again - Just like the title, this song goes on for wayyyyy too long. Easily my least favorite on song on the album. It's repetitive in a bad way. Fourth Time Around - Reminded me of the Beatles' Norwegian Wood. Would be a great track and playlist worthy if it didn't go on for too long. Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands - My favorite track on the album, good enough that I'm adding it to my playlist. The piano is a nice touch. It's repetitive in a good way. Post Listen: What an interesting album. I had a lot of comments for a lot of tracks I felt were notable, but they all essentially boiled down to a few key feelings I had about the album; Bob Dylan's lengthy drawn-our pronunciation of words, intentionally slurred lyrics, random harmonica breaks, and jumbled verses works in small doses, but becomes grating after back-to-back tracks. The actual content of the lyrics, especially in his songs relating to women or relationships, make him come off as a creep. Whether that's intentional or not I'm uncertain, but it's unpleasant regardless. That being said I did enjoy a few of the songs, but I won't be listening to this album in it's entirety again. It's too long and Bob got on my nerves after the 4th or so song. I give it a 2/5.

Pre Listen: Talking Heads my beloved :D Notable Tracks: I Zimbra - What a jubilant way to start an album. Absolutely love it. Life During Wartime - My favorite track, already on my playlist before this listen. Heaven - The 'Nothing Ever Happens' theme song. Huge for those who subscribe to the nothing ever happens line of modern philosophy. Animals - My least favorite track. Even though it's my least favorite I still enjoy it. Drugs - Adding to my playlist. The lyrics are not my favorite, but the actual music behind it is so ethereal and smooth. I've overlooked this song too many times. Post Listen: I've already listened to this album on multiple occasions, and have been a Talking Heads fan for maybe a decade at this point, so I'm absolutely biased. I love David Byrne's goofy nonsensical lyrics that occasionally have something poetic hidden in the noise. The band has such a unique sound, with lopsided guitar and bass melodies pulled along by grooving synth, and kept in check by sleek drum-play. I love this band. All that said, I'm giving the album a 4/5. The Talking Heads have stronger albums in my opinion, and while this one is great, they've demonstrated better. I think my bias also plays a roll in how much I enjoy this album, if you're brand new to the Talking Heads, 80% of the songs on here probably sound like doo-doo to you.

Pre Listen: Who? I like green onions in my food, and I like the album cover, and I like the release year, all telling me I'll likely enjoy this album. Notable Tracks: Green Onions - Ohhhh shit it's these guys. I couldn't tell you how many pieces of media I've heard this bit in. Very cool, also my favorite track. Mo' Onions - A reprisal to the song they clearly recognized is a banger? Brave. I applaud it. Twist and Shout - Love me Beatles. Love a good Beatles cover. Simple 'as. Post Listen: Call me Shrek but I'm digging these Onions man. Classic 60's rock, it's smooth, it's inoffensive, it's foundational. Got me tapping my foot and and humming along. The songs have a decent variety in sound too, I'll be adding a few to my playlist perhaps. A unique thing about this album is that there really wasn't a 'Least Favorite' track I encountered, it's all quite good. Giving the album a 4/5. Took my expectations and ran with it to higher places. While the whole album is solid, I wouldn't say there's anything exceptionally special however, which is why it isn't a 5/5.

Pre Listen: I listened to this album once a long time ago. I remember Money for Nothing, and I remember somewhat disliking the album. I haven't listened to much Dire Straits since, so I'm going in to this with minimal expectations. Notable Tracks: Money for Nothing - Yup, certified classic, banger. Adding it to my playli- wait hang on. He can't say that word. MFW Dire "Straights" or something. Walk of Life - Completely forgot this was one of their songs. Another certified classic, a real foot tapper. Why Worry - Snoozefest, least favorite song on the album. One World - Honestly sort of a hidden gem. Very funky, my favorite on the album. Post Listen: I enjoyed this album a lot more than I remembered, a lot of the lead guitar and keyboard work remind me of Pink Floyd. While it was better than I remembered, the album frustrates me somewhat. I think this band is at it's strongest with faster paced groove and vibe sort of songs, songs you can bop to. The fact this album then is mostly slower songs hurts. It feels like the musical equivalent of going up to a dog, hyping it up by jumping around and acting manic, then immediately leaving it alone in a room. I'm the dog, and I'm left confused and wanting more of that hype. I give it a 3/5.

Pre Listen: I get this band confused with Journey sometimes. I've heard this album before on many occasions, Boston's songs have unfortunately been included in every single classic-rock radio station or default rock playlist since their debut. Due this this, I feel their songs have been overplayed to the point where any merit they held individually has sort of worn out their welcome. Despite that I'll do my best to scrub my brain of every time I've heard their songs in a public space or on a long car ride, and keep an open mind. Notable Tracks: More Than a Feeling - Yup, that's More Than a Feeling alright. Despite my best efforts it's just a song I've heard 100s of times. It has merit as a real classic, but man I wish it wasn't included on everything. Peace of Mind - Yup, that's Peace of Mind alright. Yup. Foreplay/Long Time - Would be my favorite track, if it cut off right around the 2:30 minute mark. Certainly the most unique sounding track on the album in my opinion, until the aforementioned point, where it loses it's identity, and picks up the same sound as most other songs on this album. The acoustic bits in this track are great as well, I wish they let them shine more. Post Listen: In the time between listening to this album and uploading this review, a time period of ~18 hours, I went and got some groceries and got a haircut. While getting a haircut, "More Than a Feeling" came on over the ceiling speakers. I can't make this shit up. This album is solid. The instrument work is solid, the vocals are solid, the mixing is solid, it's a very clean album. The problem may be that it's too solid..? There's nothing in it that really sticks out to me, neither inherently amazing, nor abhorrent. It's the musical equivalent to that one B+ kid you knew in high school, who was really nice, decently smart, but painfully average. You wish them all the best, but ultimately don't keep up with them after you graduate. 3/5

Pre Listen: YES Notable Tracks: Yours Is No Disgrace - Putting your anti-war song front and center, right at the height of the Vietnam War, is incredibly respectable. I'm happy this band was part of that movement. Song is a banger too. Starship Trooper - Tied with the song mentioned below as my favorite track. The lyric "Loneliness is a power that we possess to give or take away forever" lives in my head rent free, and I try to keep it in mind on a daily basis. The ending "Würm" of this song is such an amazing piece of psyche-rock. I've Seen All Good People - Tied with the song mentioned above as my favorite track. A song about Chess making me feel things about the greater world and myself as a whole? The lyric "Don't surround yourself with yourself" is another one I try to keep in mind as much as I can. Amazing. Catchy too. A Venture & Perpetual Change - Listening to this album again reminded me these songs aren't on my playlist. I will be downloading them post-haste. Post Listen: This is one of my top albums of all time. It's the sort of album you can listen to over and over again, and it stays fresh. It has the sort of lyricism that leaves varying interpretations upon each person, have generally positive messages behind it, and just overall leave me feeling good. The changes in tempo, mood, instrumentation, and overall direction throughout the album makes it feel almost cinematic to me. The only critic I have is that the band struggles to stick the landing on a few songs, resulting in some awkward endings to a few tracks. I relate completely. Yes' sound is unbelievably unique, I can't say I've found another band that even comes close really. I would kill to have Steve Howe's skill on a guitar, electric or otherwise. I want to gush more about this album, but I'm trying to keep all my reviews around a similar length. 5/5. Perfect Album.

Pre Listen: I've not listened to Rush at all really. If I've heard one of their songs at some point, it's been entirely incidental. I'm excited to listen to their work, the last album reviewed on here was by Yes, and quite a few reviews with a negative opinion of them said how they favored Rush as a Prog Rock band active around similar times. So we shall see. Notable Tracks: YYZ - My favorite track on the album. Has some weaker points, especially the intro, but overall is some good ol' rockin. The Camera Eye - My least favorite track. Sort of a nothing-burger song. Goes on for much too long and is much too repetitive. Post Listen: It's an album, it's prog-rock. I don't know man, it's just sort of...music? I'm rather ambivalent to this album, more so than others I've listened to up to this point. There wasn't really anything unique I noticed about the sound. Some songs bordered on boring even. I bet it would be awesome to hear this album live at the very least? I think this is the most "Dad Rock" album I've heard in a long time. The bass player has more talent than anyone else on the band methinks. This is the first album covered on here where I didn't recognize a single song from. Understandably so. I don't really have much else to say outside of that. 2/5.

Pre Listen: Haven't heard of these guys before, but this will be the first rap/hip-hop album reviewed on here. For that reason, I'm looking forward to listening to it. Notable Tracks: Bring The Noise - Incredibly solid start to the album. I dig it. It's funky, the sample mixing is solid. BRING THE NOISE. Caught, Can I Get a Witness? - My favorite track. I love the beat, I love the samples, and most of all I love the lyrics. Good shit. Night of the Living Baseheads - Weakest song on the album. Solid lyrical work, good beat, but whatever sounds like a broken clown horn in the backing track got to go. Slightly headache inducing. Post Listen: YEEAAAA BOOOIIII. I absolutely loved this album. It was a fun listen, the sample work is incredible. The lyrics got several laughs out of me, and has some decent political commentary too sprinkled about. Nothing crazy deep, but I always appreciate a good call to action. Terminator X is a clown, one I can appreciate. This is classic Hip Hop, and I can recognize their influence in several more modern artists I like, that I never knew was there. I'll definitely be revisiting this album, and will likely add some tracks from it to my playlist. I may revisit this review and bump the score after a couple more listens. I believe the hype, 4/5.

Pre Listen: Another group I haven't heard of, not even in passing. I can't tell what genre this might even be based on the album cover. Going in completely blind. Notable Tracks: N/A - I'm putting N/A as the whole album is a live recording of what's essentially a jam/jazz session. Songs mesh and flow from one to the next, with only 5 breaks or so. If I had to choose a "favorite" part, Egbe Mi O (Carry Me) was pretty nice. I like the melody he had everyone singing. It was nice. "Black Man's Cry" was my least favorite, it felt a bit tacky...? I don't really know how to describe it. Post Listen: Certainly the most free-form album I've been given to on here to date. I feel somewhat conflicted about how to even go about rating it. It's music, but it's unlike anything I've heard on here yet, seeing as how it was a live recording of free-form Afro-Jazz and rhythm. It's like judging free-form expressionist dance at an olympic sporting event, where does one even start? The beats, guitar, keyboard, occasional brass were all well played, consistently. I felt like the vocals fit well sometimes, but felt as though they were out of place othertimes. I appreciate the artists and feel more cultured after listening to this, but I don't see myself coming back, nor adding anything to my playlist. 3/5.

Pre Listen: I've got a few Steely Dan songs on my playlist, so I have some familiarity with them. Growing up I never heard them, as my mother considers them her #1 pick for the worst band on earth. I didn't inherit that opinion, but we'll see. Notable Tracks: Rikki Don't Lose That Number - Absolute classic, catchy start to the album. East St. Louis Toodle-Oo - A classic blues styled song? On a 1974 album? And it sounds immaculate? Easy favorite track on this album. A cool little jive. May add to my playlist. Charlie Freak - Least favorite track on the album. While I respect trying out unique instruments in songs, Jingle Bells do not belong on anything other than Christmas music. I looked at the comments under this song and people were calling it a Christmas song, which comes off as a massive cope to me, considering nothing on the lyrics or theme is remotely holiday related. Post Listen: The A-Side of this album was much better than the B-side in my opinion. So much so I would rate the A and B side seperately, if I could. The instrumentation, lyrics, and flow work together for some real bangers through the first 5 tracks, but drop off steeply over the last 6. The vocals specifically become more slurred and intrusive over the last few tracks, to the point I wish some were instrumental instead. Perhaps it was a mixing issue, but some songs felt as though every instrument was working against each other to have the spotlight, fighting against the vocals which consistently held that spot. It wasn't an offensive album by any means, most tracks would service completely fine as good background music for any day-to-day moment. I would have given this album a 4/5, but the latter half bumped it down to a 3/5. Got me feeling *steely*.

Pre Listen: Yet another band, album, and artist I have no knowledge of off the top of my head. No expectations going in on this one, absolutely blind. Notable Tracks: Viscous - The best song I heard on this album. I say best, but I wasn't really a fan of anything on here, it's just this was the only song that wasn't absolutely terrible. Satellite of Love - I quit listening to the album on this track. Trash. Post Listen: So I guess this an early example of Emo Rock? Half the time Lou Reed's vocals make him sound like he's about to fall asleep. He looks positively bored in the album cover. The music they've produced left me bored as well. They sound like a Walmart-brand amalgamation of The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and a hint of the Kinks, but without any of the fun, creativity, or raw talent. Songs about sex, drugs, and other adult themes without any talent in the actual sound of the music or lyrics might've been unique in the 60's and earlier, but by the 70's it's so played out. I guess they could be applauded for some positive themes about queerness in a time when that kind of thing could get you exiled from your community, but their music sounds so terrible, it may have contributed to LGBTQ hatred unironically. This will be my first album I couldn't finish because of how grating it sounded. 1/5 Stars.

Pre Listen: Never heard of em! But I quite like the album art, goes hard, would have as a poster in my room. Notable Tracks: F.I.A.T. - Sounds like a track from a 90's boomer shooter or cyber-themed arcade shooter cabinet. I dig it, favorite song on the album. There's a sound like a creaking rocking chair in the background that's a bit goofy though. Trans-National - Very torn on this track between loving it and hating it. The sample works range from pretty cool to genuinely unhinged. The beat and guitar are solid, the vocals are solid. It sounds like something from Venture Bros. Left me feeling disoriented, leaning towards disliking it. Herze-Felde/Laibach (Skin) - My least favorite songs on the album. They're just too experimental, just kind of noise. The Revolution #9 of this album. Post Listen: First Non-English album I've reviewed on here, and the definitely the heaviest to date. I can feel the veins popping on the vocalist holy moly. I enjoyed the addition of non-traditional rock instruments, violins, brass, expanded percussion, etc. The experimental compositions with wild sampling were pretty cool too. The vocals are fun, the synth work is cool. The album feels very cinematic, or like it could be used in an early 2000's medieval RTS game involving demons, knights, and time travel. These songs go hard. Head nodding, steel gaze, clenched jaw kind of hard. That being said, it's not exactly my style, and I probably won't listen to this again. If I do it'll be with other people, so we can experience the madness together, and we'll probably be drunk off ale or mead. The second half of the album also becomes a bit too experimental. Despite that, they've got a very unique sound, and I enjoyed that a lot. I'll keep an eye out for the album cover to get as a poster, just so I can remember the experience of listening to this album. 3/5.

Pre Listen: Ah, Ella Fitzgerald. Back when I was first really getting into exploring my musical tastes, the first genres I found I adored were Big Band, Swing, and Jazz. Resulting I became well acquainted with Ella's work pretty early into my life, and while I don't believe I have any songs from this collection on my playlist, I'm sure I'll enjoy this music. Disclaimer, due to the length of the full collection, I decided to only listen to Volumes 1 and 2. Notable Tracks: They All Laughed | They Can't Take That Away From Me - Both songs are tied for 2nd place as my favorite songs. Energetic rhythms that I can hum along to. Would be fun to sing along to as well, if I took the time to learn the lyrics. Clap Yo' Hands - My least favorite track in the first half of the collection. It sounds fine, but it's really missing a lot of the poetic lyricism in much of Ella's work. Fun song, just feels out of place amongst the rest. For You, For Me, For Evermore - My favorite song on the collection. This song just strums the right heart strings for me. Maybe it's the soft guitar at the start, leading into a more dreamy swing with the rest of the band. It gives me that rosy feeling of nostalgia more than any other track on here. Post Listen: Ella Fitzgerald has been celebrated to the moon and back from her incredibly expansive works. Her voice is absolutely Golden, and the Big Bands she often worked with compliment her talent incredibly well. They all elicit images of a romantic past from a bygone time, where things were a bit classier, and life was brighter. Of course such a time is only fantasy, and looking in to the true stories from Ella's career shatter those nostalgia goggles. It's nice to pretend things were perfect once upon a time though, and this album transports you to such a fantasy with ease. Love ya Ella. 4/5

Pre Listen: Haven't heard of these guys before, but the band's name goes kind of hard. "Scritti Politti" just kind of roles off the tongue. I think they were ahead of their time with a name like that, especially the "Scritti" part. Inspiring. Notable Tracks: Small Talk - Favorite track on the album. It's fairly catchy, the bass is thumping, the electric guitar sounds great. I'd argue this song is where all musicians playing synergize the most, creating the best harmonies and melody. A Little Knowledge - Least favorite song on the album by a wide margin. Almost skipped it. Why is he whispering in my ear, why is his voice poorly layered with a female singer, why are both of their voices vaguely distorted? This song is one pitch-shift down or slight distortion away from feeling demonic. Perfect Way - I could've sworn I've heard this song before. Maybe it sounds really similar to Michael Jackson, or maybe it's the keyboard part that sounds like a Mario song, idk. Feels very familiar. Post Listen: Overall it was alright. The highlight through all the tracks was the electric bass for me, absolutely groovy. The synth work was fairly solid, but had some random shifts in quality, both good and bad. The sound effect additions in several songs were more distracting than complimentary. The lowest point was the vocalist, his breathy-singing and high-pitched voice just made him feel like a Michael Jackson cover singer to me. This album overall feels like foundational 80's Girl Pop. Regrettably I'm not a girl, nor was I growing up in the 80's, so I don't think I was the target audience here. It's decent enough quality I can see some women in their 60's grooving to this in the modern day. Scritti Musik, 3/5.

Pre Listen: I've listened to the odd Alice in Chains song now and then, mostly in playlists others have made where it's been included. I've never really gone out of my way to listen to them, but I've been assured by trusted sources that they're a goated band. Notable Tracks: Sickman - Least favorite song on the album, opinion solidified after about 1 minute. Annoying refrain, pacing is all over the place, the instrumentals range in quality wildly. Almost skipped this one. Rooster - Oh shit I actually know this one. I didn't know they made this song. Easy favorite track on the album. The slow start, the catchy refrain, the overall sound. Very enjoyable, absolute banger, may add to my playlist. Dirt - Surprisingly solid track that really stood out to me, for similar reasons as Rooster. If Rooster wasn't on this album, this would be my favorite song. Untitled - I like this one. No further notes. Post Listen: Listening to this album really makes me *feel* like I'm off the Dizzle. Good album overall, the lead guitarist deserves a gold medal for some of his solos, and overall consistency. I'm not a huge fan of the vocalist. I don't think the lyrics really resonated with me at any point, and his vocal range sort of boils down to "soft singing" into "LOUD SINGING" and then back again. That being said, when it works, it works, and there were some real bangers on this track I've listened back to several times at this point. The issue I really felt about the album was the banger songs were the only good parts. Every other song was either kind of mid to downright bad, and all sounded a bit too similar. The bulk of the songs don't all sound the same, just similar. Very HIGH highs, but rather mediocre lows. I'd give this album a 3.4/5, but out of respect to my trusted sources, I'll round that up to a 4.

Pre Listen: Based on the name of both the band and album, I assume in order to fully experience this album, I need to put my waders on and get fishing. Will do. No idea who these guys are. Notable Tracks: This Land Is Your Land | Dunford's Fancy - Tied for my favorite tracks on the album. I'm a massive fan for this style of folk music. The sort you hear live in a local pub by chance that cements itself in your head as a cherished memory. Jimmy Hickey's Waltz - Another highlight, not quite my favorite due to the slower tempo, but great nonetheless. The Stolen Child - Not a big fan of what I'd call "Story Rock" typically, and this one falls into that. Not a big fan of the refrain, the whole song just feels like a wet napkin. Least favorite track. Fiddle work is solid tho. Sweet Thing - Beatles referenced oh my goodness gracious oh my good heavens. Post Listen: Definitely wasn't what I was expecting. I have a massive soft spot for Scottish/Irish Folk Music, as I live in the Appalachian region of the U.S., where immigrants from those countries played a huge role in shaping our folk music. When the first song played, I got quite excited and went to look where this band was from, and understood everything when I found out. That said, the album isn't entirely traditional folk. I enjoyed it the most during the more folkish songs, and the least when it was closer to traditional rock. The fiddler is great, the acoustic guitar is pretty good, the vocalist harmonizes well sometimes. I'm incredibly torn on giving this album a 4 or 3. I think I'll give it a 4 for now, but I might come back to it once I've listened to more albums, and I've had time to sit on it. EDIT - Sat on it, giving it a 3 ultimately. The more folkish songs were all I remembered after a while, the rest just really isn't as great.

Pre Listen: What the fuck is going on in the album cover. Looks like something I'd see on a wall in the greasiest pizza/burger restaurant in town, before eating the worst food ever. Slightly low expectations from the album cover alone. Notable Tracks: Blast Off - Heart sank progressively deeper every second the track played. Low expectations weren't low enough apparently. This is the kind of music a teenager plays to intentionally piss off their parents, and look back on with embarrassment. She's Hit - Skipped halfway through. This might be it. Dead Joe - Stopped listening to this about 20 seconds in. I've heard enough. The Dim Locater - Came back and listened to this one after taking a break. Quit listening about halfway through. Post Listen: Fastest 1 out of 5 to date. Might be the fastest for this whole project. This shit sounds like elementary schoolers got access to a recording studio. I know the band is doing it intentionally, because the lead singer keeps doing shitty voices and making shitty noises. The audio mixing is shit, the guitar work intentionally dirty and unpolished. It's an intentionally shit album, you'd be hard pressed to convince me otherwise, it's literally called "Junkyard". That's what this sort of punk-rock is, stylistically. Some people enjoy that kind of thing. I call them masochists. Not a great introduction to the esteemed Nick Cave. At least the album cover gives an accurate impression to the shitfest that is this album. 1/5.

Pre Listen: First album on here that's actually been on my radar as something I want to listen to, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I got a few of Marvin's songs on my playlist already, and if he's consistent, I'm sure I'll enjoy this. Expectations higher than usual. Notable Tracks: What's Going On - Instantly pulled me in to the album, I love the beat, love the crowded sound, everything harmonizes incredibly well. Super sweet message too with the lyrics. What's Happening Brother - Favorite track on the album. The lyrics resonated with me the most out of any track. Wholy Holy - Least favorite track on the album. Still musically very solid, I just dislike the lyrics. They're rather lazy, simply making short statements about your religion's most surface level messages to a slow jive isn't very compelling. Felt out of place too, considering his "God Is Love" felt much more fitting with the overall album, and had essentially the same message. Inner City Blues - Incredibly close to being my favorite track on the album. The last minute of the "Mother" part took it away, it should've been a separate track methinks. Post Listen: What a cozy little album, I enjoyed it a lot, and struggled to find a favorite song due to the high quality each track held. The violins were my favorite instrumental group throughout, the flute very close behind. The percussion too, with the chimes and various drum types were much appreciated. Marvin's vocals were incredibly consistent, had good range. The lyrical work especially deserves praise I think, they mostly had messages I can get behind, and felt relevant. Considering this album's from 1971, and the lyrics still feel relevant, I'd call them timeless. I love when albums create a flow from one track to the next with minimal breakage, it makes me want to get it on Vinyl. The majority of songs on here will likely make it to my playlist, they all had so much soul behind them. This will be the first 5 I'm giving on here to an album I haven't heard before. Glad I found out exactly What's Going On, 5/5

Pre Listen: Another band I've not heard of in the slightest, to my knowledge. I like the album cover, it's pretty. No expectations. Notable Tracks: Gloomy Sunday - First song that's popped out to me. The instrumental work specifically stood out as pretty cool, but the vocals suck. Nude Spoons - Can you stop shouting and wailing? In my ear? Thanks. Ulcragyceptimol - Least favorite track. So bad it made me want to clobber the vocalist with a baseball bat or shove him into a locker or something like that. Post Listen: Even though I said I had no expectations, this really wasn't what I was expecting. I guess I thought it was going to be typical 80's British Radio Pop. Unexpectedly, I got something a lot...darker, and Scottish? I probably could've seen that coming with the title "Sulk". It wasn't awful, at their best they sound almost like a blend of The Talking Heads and New Order. At their worst though, it's damn near unlistenable. I couldn't pinpoint a favorite song, as all of them have genuinely awful moments. I didn't appreciate the vocals 9/10 times, all the other instruments varied in how much I enjoyed them across the board each song. The album goes on for longer than I'd like. There was absolutely potential for a banger album here, like having 5-star ingredients for the world's coolest cake, but then they baked the cake out of order, then dropped it all on the floor. 2/5

Pre Listen: Led Zeppelin? Based as fuck. I haven't listened to this album in full in quite a long time. I know I took songs from it and added them to my playlist back when I did, but my memory's fuzzy on the songs I left behind. I'll soon either remember why, or will likely be adding a few more. Notable Tracks: Good Times Bad Times - Iconic way to start the album. Absolute hall-of-famer right here. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You - First song that I didn't add to my playlist from way back when. Not making that mistake twice, COMPLETE banger. Dazed and Confused - Least favorite track on the album then, least favorite now. The moanin and groanin part of the song just isn't pleasant. Communication Breakdown - Another classic, though I don't like this one as much as Good Times Bad Times. Post Listen: I remember now why I don't really have as many songs from this album as I thought I might; it's a fairly short album, and the songs that are great I already have. Everything else is pretty good, but the stand-out songs almost make them pale in comparison. Robert Plant's vocals are iconic, but they range from feeling heart-felt to just kind of grating. To me the biggest stars of the band are the lead guitarist, Jimmy Page, and the drummer, John Bonham. Their work is the main course throughout the whole experience. This is classic, foundational Rock. Despite that I gotta give it a 4/5, Led Zeppelin made better albums as they matured together further along.

Pre Listen: Never heard of this fella. I read the Wikipedia article as I couldn't gleam anything at all from the guy's name or the album cover, sounds like an interesting concept album. I dislike the cover art though, so slightly lower expectations than usual going in to this one. Notable Tracks: Tides - My favorite song by a pretty large margin. I'm a sucker for piano jazz, and this song was both smooth and soothing as hell. Felt like I was in a Jacuzzi. Nostalgia - Least favorite song, but by a thin margin against "Pilgrim". Pilgrim just got annoyingly repetitive (yes I know what a mantra is), but Nostalgia's vocal work was horrible. I have a deep personal distaste for breathy, whispery vocalists, and this woman wouldn't cut that shit out. Beyond Skin - This sounds like it was taken straight out of Metal Gear Solid 4 or something. Nitin should play that series if he hasn't yet, I bet he'd enjoy it. Post Listen: This thing was somehow exactly what I expected and not what I expected at the same time. Should've been called something like "Beyond Genre" instead, because each song was kind of it's own thing, tied together by a somewhat shared theme? I liked the start of each song being something about nukes. I didn't understand half of the lyrics for obvious reasons, but I think I got their vibes. I honestly preferred the non-english songs, as every song with english vocals fell flat for me. As a more political album than anything I've seen on here yet, it was cool. The vocals were solid, the instrumentation was solid, everything about this album from a musical structure perspective was solid overall. I can appreciate it for what it is, it's just not my style? I won't be coming back to anything other than Tides, and I wouldn't say anything outside of that song is especially amazing. It's a bit more political art than music I feel, which is fine, but left me feeling sort of 3/5.

Pre Listen: Another band I've heard nothing of in my life. Cool album cover art, poster worthy. No expectations. Notable Tracks: Voodoo Dolly - Least favorite song on the album. Goes on for way too long, is way too repetitive, and becomes just noise after about 2 minutes. Skipped around the 6 minute mark. Post Listen: This was like....maybe the most nothing-burger album I've heard on here since the Ramones. The tracks all blended together for me, nothing really shined, hence not 1 favorite track. This project is teaching me that I really dislike punk music. It's just noise man. The electric guitar is guitaring. The vocalist is vocaling. The drums are drumming. It's rock alright. It's about as interesting as a rock too. If you're into Geology maybe you'd like this album. Boring, 2/5.

Pre Listen: Anthrax? I sure hope not! Another band I've never heard of. I'm begging for it to not be punk or even punk-adjacent, I don't know how many more of those I can take. Notable Tracks: Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.) | A Skeleton In The Closet - Tied for my favorite songs on the album. Both tell neat little stories with the lyrics, have shredding guitar work, and stellar drum work. Medley: A.D.I. / Horror Of It All - I like the intro, I was actually hoping for a more acoustic song around track 4 because of how much I was enjoying the lead guitar. The fade in from acoustic to electric did not disappoint. Post Listen: Thankfully I did not contract Anthrax listening to this album. I actually quite liked it. Nodded along to most songs, head banged a bit even to my listed favorites. They remind me a lot of Metallica, but without the painfully slow and boring parts that I don't like. I already enjoy Metallica a good bit, so seeing as how they're like Metallica but better, I thoroughly enjoyed this album. Everything from a musical standpoints gets high marks from me. The vocals are complimentary to the music, the bass keeps tempo well. The highlights (rightfully so for the genre) are the guitar riffs and drums. They absolutely shred, amazingly electric. As much as I love the lyrics for some fun rhymes and interesting subject matters, they sometimes give off school-shooter vibes, kinda cringe. Another critic I have is that some of the songs do blend together. This resulted in not one least-favorite song, as most songs not listed kind meshed together a wee bit. This wasn't as damning an issue as it is on other albums, because the overall sound from all tracks left a positive impression on me. Overall, this album's a robust piece of rock. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. 4/5. EDIT - Damn, I *really* enjoyed this thing more than I thought I would. I've listened to this album front to back several more times since I reviewed it, and it hasn't gotten old or stale, and I've grown fonder of other songs on it. Bumped to a 5/5, will be adding more songs to my playlist.

Pre Listen: Please not another punk album. I'm so tired of punk albums. The guy in the middle of the album cover looks like he needs to be shoved in a locker. Incredibly low expectations going in. Notable Tracks: Rich - Oh, that's not a guy on the album cover. The locker-shovening is still happening regardless. Exactly what I expected ( ´_ゝ`). Date With The Night - I'm tired, boss. Tired of these punk albums. I don't know if I can finish this album. Man - My thoughts exactly. Man. This sucks. Not subjecting myself to anything further. Post Listen: Yet another album that further leads me to believe that punk-rock fans have brain damage. Maybe the damage was caused by all the alcohol their mothers drank when they were still fetuses. Maybe it's from all the shit they smoked as teenagers. Or maybe it's from prolonged exposure to god-awful music over the years. "The messy and distorted instruments are intentional!" Oh, so it's shit on purpose? "The ferral vocals are part of the style!" Oh, so it's shit on purpose? "It breaks societal norms and conventions of music, it's unique, that's what makes it cool!" Every punk album sounds the exact same, it is one of the least unique genres of music out there, it's about as cool as the singers probably smell. Look if you'd rather eat Waffle House or McDonalds over a home-made meal, by all means. Go eat shit, if that's what you prefer. I'll stick to things with substance however, thanks. 1/5.

Pre Listen: Ah, another album I listened to in full ages ago. I remember adding Starman to my playlist, but that's about it. I got a good number of other Bowie songs on my playlist, so I'm glad to give it another listen. Notable Tracks: Starman - My favorite on the album, how can it not be? The flow of the song is so perfect, starting with simple acoustics, and having more instruments join as the song progresses. I adore the violins most of all. Lady Stardust - I didn't remember this one, but man do I love it. That piano is great, adding to my playlist. Star - My least favorite on the album. I didn't really enjoy the stop-go-stop-go melody they had going on. I get how it fits the lyrical message about being a super-star, but I couldn't get in to it. Rock And Roll Suicide - Another banger I didn't remember. Debating on adding it to my playlist, I'll have to sit on it. Post Listen: This album was a lot better than I remembered. The songs overall ranged from a bit boring at worst, to certified classics at best. I got this album after dealing with what felt like a deluge of Punk albums where everything sounded the same, so having more than 3-4 instruments over the course of the album was like getting a much needed breath of fresh air. Bowie's voice is so unique, but his lyrical wordplay also ranges from a bit bland, to absolutely poetic. I have complicated feelings with Bowie's works, I've always loved a handful of his songs, but generally but feel ambivalent about the rest. This results in feeling as though I really cherish Bowie as an artist, but I don't cherish any of his albums. Because I enjoyed it a lot more than the last time I listened to it, and for Starman alone, gotta give this piece of work a 4.

Pre Listen: Never heard of these fellas, but that album cover would look really cool if someone didn't doodle all over it. Lower than usual expectations going in. Notable Tracks: Here - The best track on the album methinks. I don't really love it, but I think it has the best sound compared to the rest, especially from the vocalist. Conduit For Sale | Chesley's Little Wrists - Tied for my least favorite tracks on the album. Messy punk-babble. The vocalist keeps saying "I'm Trying!", but I'M trying to see how. Post Listen: About what I expected. This album really tiptoes the line of Alt Rock, Punk, and Emo Rock. I occasionally enjoy 2 out of those 3 genres, so I have somewhat mixed feelings about the album as a whole. The instrumentation is pretty good overall, serviceable on average, pretty cool at best. The songs are all about the right length for what they're going for, and the melodies are ok. The sound mixing was wack on some songs, but my big gripe with this album comes from the vocalist. The vocalist sounds incredibly similar to Lou Reed in my opinion, specifically from Lou's 'Transformer' album. I gave that album a 1/5, mostly due to Lou's vocals sounding bored, apathetic, or even drunk at times. I feel the same way about this band's vocalist. What's perhaps worse is I *know* the guy can sing, from songs like "Here". Unlike Lou's album, I did like the instrumental works here. The vocals drag it all down, to the point I'd be embarrassed if some of the songs on here played on my playlist. Many such cases, 2/5.

Pre Listen: I think I've seen this album cover and heard this guys name somewhere before. Maybe he's just got one of those names and one of those faces. Based on the album cover and release date, guessing this is gonna be some old-fashioned Americana. Notable Tracks: Cocaine - My favorite track on the album. The guitar melody sounds so sweet an innocent, while the lyrics are anything but. Mule Skinner Blues - Least favorite track, not a fan of yodeling. Walmart Yodel Kid was more than enough to last a lifetime for me. Post Listen: Oh yeah, them's was some cowboy music. For old South-Western American styled folk music, it was alright. Kinda thing you'd hear at a sleepy bar in the middle of nowhere that wraps up your day in a nice little bow. Jack's voice sounds scarily similar to a guy I know, gonna send him this album and see what he thinks. His guitar work ain't half bad either, pretty solid throughout the album. I don't really have any major gripes with the album. It's a good length too, I guess it's just missing anything particularly good or even great? It's a bit formulaic for American Folk music of the region and time. You could compare this to other artists from the same genre, time, and place, and I wouldn't be able to pick it apart. I feel very comfortable giving it a 3/5.

Pre Listen: The album cover intimidates me. I feel like I shouldn't be here. Never heard of this group, no expectations, etc. Notable Tracks: Our Lips Are Sealed - Ohhhh shit I do know this group. This is a classic. Excited to hear what's in store from here. Lust to Love - My favorite track, I like the lyrics a lot. Catchy too. We Got The Beat - Another classic. Got stuck in my head for a while even after I finished the album. Automatic - Maybe the weakest song on the album? It's very different from the rest, but still I enjoyed it. Post Listen: I enjoyed this album more than I could've anticipated. It's classic bubble-gum Pop, mixed with a bit of what I think is Surf-Rock. I really love the lead singer, her voice is a great blend of joyful peppiness and softer harmonies with the other vocalists. The guitar is incredibly clean, and the bass compliments every song very nicely. The drums too are very solid, keeping the beat. I'll be adding a few songs to my playlist, really blew my expectations away. I have no criticisms, really just a phenomenally well put-together album. They absolutely got the beat. 5/5 EDIT - Came back after re-listening to the album. I think my initial score could be described as a "Sugar High" with just how bubble-gum their sound is. On subsequent listens, it wasn't quite as sweet as I remembered it. I still love it, I just don't think it's perfect-score worthy. Changed to 4/5.

Pre Listen: I only know of The Band from Jojo's, they got a Stand named after em in Part 4. That's it. Notable Tracks: N/A Post Listen: I listened to this album while driving through the countryside, and it's the strangest thing. I think the album was intended to be listened as such, and yet I can't recall a single song standing out to me. It wasn't bad per say, but it was painfully boring. I'd peg this sort of music as Biker Rock. Towards the last 3 or 4 songs I was more than ready for it to be over. Nothing offensive, but nothing good. I had no favorite track, no least favorite track, nothing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxK_nA2iVXw The band's music is about as generic as it's name. 2/5.

Pre Listen: Merle Haggard and The Strangers are complete strangers to me. The album cover doesn't give me the vibes of something I'd likely enjoy, but I'm keeping an open mind. Notable Tracks: Life In Prison - A stand-out song to me as one I enjoyed more than the rest. Not my favorite, but for the overall country sound that most of the album has, this one does it best. If You Want To Be My Woman - My favorite track on the album. It stood out to me from the rest as being closer to classic rock than country. Reminds me of Elvis. Good sound. My Rough And Rowdy Ways - Least favorite track on the album. One of the few that felt like it realllyy dragged. Boring lyrics about being useless. Post Listen: It was pretty much what I expected with little exception. I do prefer this sort of classic-country to modern day pop-country. The lyrical work of this album compared to today's country songs which without fail talk exclusively about either guns, girls, god, beer, or trucks, is great. The lead singer's voice is consistently good, and he strikes great harmonies with the other vocalists. The sliding electric guitar throughout the album is another highlight, I love that nostalgic feeling it carries. Sadly this is another such case where the songs start to really blend. No least favorite track, nothing terribly offensive, just nothing amazing again. The album felt like it was dragging towards the end. I can absolutely see how anyone could enjoy the sleepy melodies, it is quality music, it's just too sleepy for me. Sounds like something I'd hear in Fallout New Vegas. 3/5

Pre Listen: I have a...complicated relationship, with Frank Zappa. He's like that one friend who has so much potential, and you really love hanging with him for like 30 minutes. Then suddenly he does something so despicably cringe, it makes that Pickle Rick kid look like a comedic genius. The album cover being a parody of Sgt. Peppers doesn't fill me with hope. The Beatles are one of my top bands. You come at the king, you better not miss. I had a music professor my freshman year of college who's favorite artist was Frank Zappa. I respected her a lot as a teacher, but I can't fathom why she likes Frank so much. Every new album I encounter from him, I try and put myself in her shoes. My expectations for this are the lowest to date, but I'm trying to put myself in that professor's headspace. Notable Tracks: Who Needs The Peace Corps? - Song raised my expectations for the album somewhat. Funny little critique of hippie culture. Doesn't sound horrible. What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body - My favorite track on the album, it parodies the Beatles the best I think. The harmony they hit is so fucking spot on. The "All your children-" verses made me laugh pretty hard. **NOT** including the Reprise. Nasal Retentive Calliope Music | The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny - Tied for the worst tracks on the album by a fucking landslide, holy shit. This is exactly what I was talking about in my Pre Listen. If this is music, then dogshit is food. Post Listen: It's an early shitpost in audio form. If this album was supposed to be a statement of some sort, it's about as deep as a 9gag meme. The Zappa experience here is identical to every other encounter I've had with him. A lot of songs have really, *really* great instrumentation on occasion, only to be interrupted by the worst shit you've heard in your life. The lyrics are funny or briliantly satirical, only to be quite literally interrupted by burps and audio cuts. Zappa takes something nice, and ruins it before your very ears. He's like those Turkish ice-cream guys, but he never gives you the ice cream. Instead he flashes you and gets away with it. I told a friend I'd not give this album a 1/5 before I finished it, since he is a big Zappa fan. I can't do it. I just can't. I never want to hear any of this again, 1/5.

Pre Listen: Sam Cooke is unknown to me, but I'll let him cook. I see the saxophone on the album cover, and I know I love jazz, so I have slightly higher expectations than usual. Notable Tracks: Chain Gang - Oh, I know this one. I've heard better iterations of it, specifically from the studio versions. Classic song on every oldies radio station thought. Bring It on Home to Me - Not a big fan of this one, least favorite song on the album. I've never really liked sing-talking type songs, and this one goes on for too long. Post Listen: Ehhh, wasn't quite what I was expecting. This album has sort of solidified how I feel about "Live" albums. They aren't great. Live music is excellent to hear when you're actually there. You can record it on your phone, and listen back to it, but it'll never sound right. Recording devices just don't capture the atmosphere, the energy, the acoustics of the room, the visual spectacle, any of it. The audience's hoots and hollers are just annoying. Plus live-recording devices are almost always inferior to the level of sound quality a studio recording gives you. After listening I visited some of Sam Cooke's studio work, and man his voice is so different in this recording from his prior stuff. It sounds a lot worse, strained and drained. I'm not a fan of his little quips between lyrics. That being said, I enjoy the overall sound for most of the songs, there's nothing bad about his actual singing and his bands instrumentals. Just a very forgettable album, that would've been a lot better if it wasn't live. 3/5

Pre Listen: I don't have the greatest history with Brazil as a nation. https://youtu.be/1WpbhrzZJrQ?si=3LXOXcIHTTbzsO2_ The album cover would be beautiful, if that doofus got his face out the way. Lower expectations than usual. Notable Tracks: Tropicália - Very weak start to this album. After finishing it, this was my least favorite. Lowered my expectations even further. Onde Andaras - My favorite track on the album by a wide margin. If every song sounded like this, I may have given this thing a 5. Has a very nostalgic feeling to it. Anunciação - Another low point, has my least favorite vocals on the album. All the instruments feel like they are fighting each other to play different songs. Superbacana - Another highlight, has my favorite vocals on the album. The brass plays well here too. Post Listen: Wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I did enjoy it more than anticipated. Every song felt distinct, some were good, some were bad, depended on how well everything harmonized together. Generally I liked the addition of the violins, but disliked the addition of the occasional flutes. The keyboard sounds varied in quality, both from a melodic and actual recording quality point of view. Caetano's vocals were inconsistent too, sometimes his voice elevated a song, other times it dragged it down. I think his voice worked best in the more classic psyche-ish rock-ish sounding songs, but fell flat in Bossa Nova sounding songs. Just a quirky, odd little album that was all over the place. Disappointed there wasn't more of a Samba sound to it, that's like my favorite sound out of Brazil. 3/5

Pre Listen: Haven't heard of these gents, but based on the "H.M.S." in the title, I reckon it's a UK band of some sort. No expectations. Notable Tracks: Daniella - My favorite track. The simple acoustic guitar contrasts the overdone nothing burger songs that fill this album. I really like the distortion effect at the end of the song, very unique. Lend's Some Dough - Least favorite track. Embarrassing. I would say this is AI Generated, if it wasn't for this album being from '99. Post Listen: UK Band of some sort indeed. It sounded rather generic to me. Like a watered down R.E.M. mixed with something else. I already dislike R.E.M. so I was pretty bored by this album. I don't have anything particularly negative to say about any one element, it just sounded meh to me. I couldn't understand the vocals from time to time. I normally enjoy albums with wide instrumentation, interesting vocal effects, harmonies, etc. This one though, it all felt almost corporate in a way? Hard to explain. This is background music you'd hear in a restaurant you'll never return to, not because it was bad, but because you were only passing through. Even still, if you were to pass through again, you probably wouldn't go here. 2/5

Pre Listen: Title sounds like an album Bender from Futurama would listen to. I've never heard of them, but the cover art is pretty. No expectations. Notable Tracks: Split Myself in Two - Fastest intro song to date that's instantly made me feel as though I'll either absolutely hate this album, or really love it. The distortion effects are bodacious. Aurora Borealis - At this time of year! At this time of day! In this part of the country! Localized entirely within your album?! I like it. Teenager (s) - Least favorite track on the album. My eyes almost rolled clean out of my head. "Guys, being a teenager is so hormonal and depressing!" someone sure got bullied growing up, I just know it. Skipped after 1m 40s. Post Listen: The vocalist cannot fucking sing holy shit. Frustrating as fuck. I think I would've given this album higher, but the vocalist is so amazingly awful, it bumps it down to almost a 1. I've heard some bad, some meh, and some intentionally bad vocals on this project, but this might be the first one where I think he's actually trying and sucks this bad. I've heard children crying on airplanes that sound better. To be fair the instrumentation is also inconsistent. Some songs I really did like, others sounded generic or boring. The psyche rock leaning songs were best, the folk leaning songs were never quite bad, but not good either. Despite that, a purely instrumental song was so, so much better than *anything* including the vocalist. For both issues with this album, many, many such cases, and more to come I'm sure. If it weren't for the fact that this album was composed by more than just the vocalist, and leaving a 1 because of him alone would leave a bad taste in my mouth, I have to leave a 2/5.

Pre Listen: I dislike Green Day. My parents used to be obsessed with them for a period while I was growing up, and even as a child I thought they sounded like piss. The title of the album isn't abating those feelings. Low expectations. Notable Tracks: Burnout | Basket Case | When I Come Around - All tracks I was non-consensually subjected to throughout my youth and into the present. I've heard these probably at least a hundred times. Trash. Chump - My favorite track on the album by far. I appreciate the heavier sound it has. I appreciate the break from the vocals. I appreciate it a lot. All By Myself - Joke of a song. Least favorite track on the album, normally an acoustic break from everything is a staple of Punk albums, and normally they suck. This one is making fun of the trope, so it sucks extra hard. Post Listen: Yeah, I hated this as much as I remembered, if not more. This IS dookie. Their drummer is the best member of the band, the vocalist needs to blow his nose. I contemplated writing a big long review about how lame and boring Green Day is. Something along the lines of "Green Day is one of the most NPC bands out there and every song sounds the same" Instead I think I'll just say every Green Day song sounds like the intro to Johnny Test. I liked Johnny Test and its intro, because the intro is 1 minute long, and the show is funny. Johnny Test is also a children's show, and most people grow out of it. Green Day fans never grew up. https://youtu.be/P1zHcompfNI - 1/5.