5/5 Transcendent. I had never listened to Nina before today and was very moved by this album. Especially loved her rendition of Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair.
4/5. Strong first half, but the second half lost me a bit. Never realized how much Bowie sounded like Syd Barrett!
Felt a little bloated as an album, with several of the songs blending together sonically for me.
I like the cycle of life segment on the first half or what would be side 1. A lot of the songs sound the same, however.
Super fun record! I didn’t realize how many hits it had.
I generally like The Cure, but this one was too dark and discordant for me. Maybe I just like their later work better. I can see why this was credited for creating goth rock, because it definitely has the darkness in spades.
The sound is definitely ahead of its time and I can see why it inspired a lot of bands just to try music as a group. Some of the songs in the back half lost me a bit; never have been a big fan of discordance. But others would definitely be growers on another listen.
Really enjoyed this one! Had never heard of the artist before, but I liked the grooves and the guitar playing. Reminded me a lot of Joni Mitchell, but with a huskier, funkier turn and better guitar playing.
I thought this would sound more like rock ‘n’ roll. It mostly sounded like R&B. Still very good, but I am having a hard time understanding why he is regarded as the beginner of rock ‘n’ roll.
Great songwriting. I don’t love Neil’s voice, but no question that he has lyrics that stick with you.
Enjoyed this! Lots of fun riffs and struck the right balance between playful and heavy. I’m still not sure what any of the lyrics mean, though.
Decent. I like the jammy and bluesy nature of several of the songs, but the singer's voice is grating to me. Otherwise I'd rate it higher.
Hard to believe this was only their second album. It pales a bit in comparison to Can’t Buy a Thrill, which has to be one of the best debut albums ever. There’s still plenty to love, though - slick guitar playing, jazz influence, and tight timing.
Had to listen twice to better appreciate it, plus situate it in the historical context. Once I did those things I understood it and enjoyed it more. To modern ears it sounds sloppy and a bit disjointed, but the riffs and sound were ahead of their time, and I can see why Jeff Beck was so sought after as a player. As a side note, I really don’t like the old mixing style where most of the band is tracked on one side and the rest on the other - glad that fad went out of style.
I really liked this! With it being their first album, I assumed it might be different from their later stuff, but turns out they’ve just always sounded like that. I think REM is a polarizing band, as in you like them or you don’t, but I like them. Strong debut for sure.
This was one of the first albums where I expected something very different based on the name, band name, and artwork. I was pleasantly surprised! The music itself kind of defies categorization: alt rock, trance, acid house…it’s all here and blended up. I think I’ll definitely return to this one for more listens.
Solid early indie/alt rock. A little sloppy but that’s part of the charm!
Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for Queen the day this was assigned, but I found this self-indulgent and kind of same-y throughout. There’s solid guitar and keys work, and obviously Freddie sounds great, but for whatever reason this was a slog for me to get through.
Just good, solid thrash metal with sound lyrics and high-octane rage. I needed this one after pushing through the saccharine repetitiveness of Queen.
It’s background jazz. It gets 3 stars because the musicianship is very good, but…it’s background jazz. And my version (Apple Music) had multiple takes of the same song, so I skipped those.
It’s new wave, it’s fine. Interesting vocals and the singles stand out, but a lot of the background music blends together.
I don’t know why I’d never listened to this band with intention before, but I loved this journey through the darker sides of the comedown. I’m told online this invented trip hop; all I can say is thank you.
If you like house, you should like The Chemical Brothers. It’s well-produced and sounds fresh, but I think a lot blends together toward the end. 3.5/5
I’m just not really into the troubadour/medieval weird folksy thing that was popular in this era, and I still don’t care for Buckley’s voice. It does have a lot of whimsy, at least, so there’s that.
Really makes you think of what could have been. She had such a voice!
I love the Philly sound Bowie brings on for this album, with the horns and backing vocals. I think it’s a more coherent effort than Heroes, which dragged in its second half. Definitely will return!
I’m sure it’s not a lot of peoples’ cup of tea, but I thought these were quaint. Definitely a lot of nostalgia in hearing Marty’s rich voice and imagining the “romance” of the west, where the bad guy gets shot and the good guy saves the girl. It’s all a little samey, though, which is maybe to be expected.
I liked this era of U2 - when they still seemed excited by their own success and before ego pushed its way into sounding the same as every other big arena band. Sunday Bloody Sunday is an obvious standout, but I liked “40” as well, and I’ve been jamming to New Year’s Day for years. Strong 4.5 for me.
This one benefited from a close listen. Initially I thought it was kind of maudlin and corny, but then I decided to listen with headphones and be more focused, and it was better that way. Went from a 3 to a 4. I liked Drive, Sidewinder, and Monty. Probably content never to hear Everybody Hurts again, but that’s because it’s overplayed - no fault of the band. Definitely will return.
I didn’t know funk and psychedelic could sound so good! Some fantastic grooves and guitar on here. However, I hate having to go to YouTube to find music.
This is one of the ones where I think the Anglo influence/bias shows up in this list, although I admit I wasn’t aware that Robbie Williams was the one to bump the Beatles off of the top of the all-time UK top-played artists. Musically, I found this pretty blase. Catchy at times and cloyingly corny at others. 2.5/5
I know how iconic this is, so I know I “should” rate it higher, but it’s smooth R&B soul jams that make you think of silk sheets and Sunday mornings in bed. Not very much revolutionary - at least for me. 3.5/5
Very complex and interesting and moving. I want to come back to it.
I don’t know how to classify this. Weird, esoteric, occasionally catchy? But music that, if my date put it on in the car, I would immediately expect to be either killed or bored to death while he told me about the characteristics of various IBM calculators from the 80s.
It’s fine for what it is, which is that version of samey pop music that was ubiquitous in the early 2000s. Christina has pipes, but it also sounds like she’s trying too hard a lot of the time. 2.5/5
I’ve always liked Nick’s gentle voice and guitar playing, and in particular I liked the addition of strings, flute, and horns to this album. 3.75 rounded to 4.
Fun and cool jazz. I like how lively it was. And it made me feel like an intellectual while reading my book
I liked the more mellow side of these songs, but overall this felt very uneven. The rougher songs had a punk feel to them, which was probably intentional, but I found a few of them borderline unlistenable. But, on the nicer side, the more mellow ones are reminiscent of the indie rock that was to come, so seeing that influence was cool. Overall though, 2.5/5
Probably sacrilegious to say, but I’m a bit tired of Bowie, and I think I still have 3-4 of his records to go. As with the others, I like the singles because they’re familiar and pretty much everything else is solid but didn’t stick with me. So, 3.5/5. Sorry, David.
Wow. I had been in an album slump, feeling like I kept getting meh at best picks, and then this came along and reminded me why I’m doing this to begin with. I can’t believe that all the musical algorithms I’ve been prey to up to now missed the fact that I’d love this album, and I’m mad that I could have been listening to it for years now. I loved it. Broken Heart might be one of the most moving songs I’ve ever heard, and you can hear Radiohead in some of the instrumental interludes. And it has a gospel track?? Man. I’m glad I get to live in a world with music like this.
RIP Tennessee Queen. Always had a lovely and distinctive voice.
A fun throwback. I like Missy’s attitude, and I actually kind of appreciated her spoken bits between songs. The guest spots from Jay-Z and Beyoncé were standouts, and the song Pussycat is honestly hilarious. 3.5/5
It’s wild to think that Otis was in his early 20s when he recorded this. A shame we didn’t get to hear more from him.
I didn’t find much memorable about this album, which was kind of a bummer as I know Adam Ant is considered influential. Ah well.
This was fun. Cult of Personality might be one of the best album openers out there, and in general there’s just a lot of energy and swagger on this record. I like the funk influence, and the guitar playing is hard to top. Strong 4.5/5
This is my second Amy album on this journey, which I think means I’m done with her - and much like her own sadly foreshortened life, that feels too soon. This was a more complete effort than Frank. Tons of swagger but with tighter songwriting and a better backing band. Easy 4/5.
The younger Beatles have an undeniable charm to them, and it’s fun listening and imagining the crowds, the squeaky clean images, and just four dudes pal-ing around. Musically perhaps not as interesting as their later work, but still undeniably good.
I’ve finally gotten to the age where I can appreciate jam, so I liked this. The addition of a flute was fun! And the title track was a standout for me, despite being more of a traditional ballad than a jam. Solid 4/5
Man, what can be said about Radiohead that hasn’t been said before? I’ve always liked them, but Amnesiac is probably the album I’ve listened to least for whatever reason. The first half is so strong, and Pyramid Song alone is worth 5 stars, but there’s too much filler/drag in the second half to justify the full 5. Still, though, Pyramid Song might be among the best tracks Radiohead ever recorded.
Ugh. I don’t really know why this is on this list. It’s joyless, bloated, and it sounds like a worse imitation of Bob Dylan. It only gets a 2 for the album artwork. Surely there are other works deserving of its spot…
I really liked Purple Rain, and there were definitely flashes and glimmers of the same awesome funk-pop-rock fusion on this album, but the length of several of the tracks took me out a bit. If songs like Automatic had been shorter, then I'm there for a 5/5, but as it is, it's a 4.
