Zeppelin 3 sounds like a summer break when you’re a kid to me. Right off the bat, the rattling chaos reverberating off of the guitar, drums, and lyrics feels as chaotic as a final dismissal of a teacher. Friends and Celebration Day are similar to friends and the 4th of July (USA). Since I’ve Been Lving You is the midsummer slow song that musically represents the dog days of summer. Towards the back half you get mellow thought provoking tunes like That’s the Way and Tangerine; two songs that feel like wishing things in life went slower and re-dos were real. That feeling of wanting things to reverse track is what all teens feel in August and these songs emotionally represent that. A roller coaster of emotions, that’s what makes Zeppelin so great. They can make us feel a season of emotions in just one album. Since it makes us feel hopelessly optimistic, it’s only right that it’s a season like summer. Of course, this is subjectively presented and objectively not right, but it was fun… like a Zeppelin album.
Finished the album…
R.E.M. suffers Nickelback syndrome for me… nasally singer, repetitive melody, great sound production but not songs that move me in any way.
Pre-listening: I’m a Stones guy. But, I am excited to listen to a Beatles album because I know I’ve never given them a fair chance. Hopefully, it doesn’t awaken the Beatles fan in me and I have to go back on my morals.
Drive My Car: Good album starter, but I feel like there’s too much of a disconnect between the chorus and the verses.
Norwegian Wood: Beautiful sound! Love the guitar/sitar combination.
You Won’t See Me: If I was heartbroken, I think this song would resonate with me a lot more, but I see its value.
Nowhere Man: What I like about this song is that is that the lyrics match the tone. It feels like driving down winding roads aimlessly.
Think For Yourself: This is one of those songs that could be daggers to one person and butter knives to another. It feels like they wanted to throw punches but wanted to do it softly.
The Word: Feels like a swinger anthem.
Michelle: Runner-Up: Beautiful song. Simple and repetitive sure. But says more without saying much.
What Goes On: Feels like a sped up version of Walk the Line.
Girl: Sappy and feels much longer than 2:31.
I’m Looking Through You: Really captures that feeling of running into an Ex or a breakup song.
In My Life: Favorite Song. Universal. Relatable. Cheers.
Wait: The verses aren’t saved by the chorus for me, but the chorus is good.
If I Needed Someone: The sitar intro is soooo strong!
Run For Your Life: What an odd way to end this album on so many levels. Like the tambourine incorporation.
Post-listening: I can see why this Beatles album made the list. I felt like it showed a deeper side from the pop-hits everyone knows. I liked the songs that tried to be profound more than the story songs that felt kinda pieced together. I understand then, but I’m still a Stones guy.
Pre Listening: Al Green… I can’t say his name without thinking about Let’s Stay Together, Pulp Fiction, and that in the 5th Butch’s ass goes down!” Unfortunately, Let’s Stay Together, is where I stop my catalog with Al Green. So I know I need to develop my ear for him more.
Best: Let’s Stay Together — No way that was going to change. It’s a classic, and man it’s good. Great album starter but also a bold starter.
Runner-up: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart — The control of his voice is amazing. He really shows his ability to sing in this one and really matches the tone of the song of someone really going through something. Another song I knew before this but had forgotten it’s quality.
3rd: I’ve Never Found a Girl — I love the horns in the chorus. It’s definitely one of those songs that capture what it feels to find someone unique.
Post-listening: Every song is enjoyable in its own right. Every song has great quality and showcases Green’s singing ability. However, every song is struggling to live up to the album opener, which might be it’s biggest flaw.
Pre-Listening: I’ve loved Sam Cooke since the first time I watched Animal House, and listen to him and old 60s soul music more than expected, so I knew most of the songs listed but I’m curious how it’ll come across live.
Best: Feel It (Don’t Fight It) — I can’t imagine being at this concert and not absolutely buying in after this song kicks in.
Runner-up: Twistin’ the Night Away — Obviously one of his better songs but the fact that he holds back very little for the concert was rewarding.
3rd: Having a Party — Interesting choice to end it on a song that makes it feel like the party will never end, but it leaves you craving more and longing for the next performance.
Post-Listening: What an amazing performer who keeps a balance between entertaining the crowd and showcasing their talent. We need more performers and experiences like a Sam Cooke concert. No quality was lost in it being a live performance in terms of listening quality and his ability to improvise to make it feel unique was something else.
Highly encourage this live album.
10/10
Okay Deep Purple (Live);
Pre-Listening: after my Sam Cooke Live experience I was more excited for another live album. Then I looked at the track list and realized it’s 7 songs and lasts 1 hr. 16 minutes! I knew it was gonna be a stretch on my ability to care. To be honest, I’m not big on jam bands, but I wanted to give them a shot.
Best Song: Smoke of The Water.
Runner-Up: Highway Star
3rd: Tie for the rest.
Post-listening: It was what I thought it would be. A lot of long jam sessions and epic solos that were hard to maintain appreciation for. They’re obviously an essential band to the history of rock, but I can’t say if I was alive in the early 70s that I would want to see out their concerts, especially after hearing Live in Japan.
5/10
Foo Fighters
Pre-listening: I got really into Foo Fighters when they were really hitting their stride (1998-2005). But fell off as a fan in the 2010s in search of new styles of rock, but man what a time that was…The iconic Learn To Fly video. The phenomenon that still exist with Everlong. The power of All My Life and The Best of You. All from the creative mind of David Grohl. I had listened to this albums lesser known tracks without truly listening to it, but will be curious how it sounds when I seek it out and dive in.
Best: I’ll Stick Around. “I DON’T OWE YOU ANYTHING!” The big middle finger to Courtney Love resonates with me each and every time I remember that Cobain is no longer with us. Thank you, David.
Runner-Up: Floaty. A very repetitive and vague song that leaves the mind to wonder while having a catchy but driving sound to seek an unknown answer.
Third: Exhausted. After the fast pace with 9 of the 11 previous songs, it’s easy to feel exhausted by the final send-off to the album and the sound of it really captures it. With lots of reasons to feel exhausted, it’s a perfect way to make the fans know it’s time to hit stop on the cd changer and come back to the album when you’re rejuvenated.
Honorable Mention: Big Me. Any ironically upbeat song about letting a loved one go and the most easy song to throw in a late 90s movie soundtrack for transition shots has to at least be mentioned.
Being the Nirvana freak I became in my teen years, you can hear the transition from the sound of Nirvana come through in this album as if trying to recreate yourself and break your old habits along the way but it’s recorded. Given that it was 95, you can tell Grohl is trying to move on from Nirvana’s tragic end while not forgetting his loyalty to the band. It feels like what would have been Nirvana’s 4th album had Cobain been alive. It did and didn’t surprise me to find that Grohl recorded all the instruments himself, wrote all the songs, produced the album, marketed it out, and then found musicians to make up the band after its success called for it. Haters will always say FFs are generic and lazy. I’ll just call them great and not let jealousy get the best of me.
9/10; 4/5 Stars.
Pre-Listening: my understanding of Missy Elliot began I. The early 2000s with hits like Twerk It, Gossip Folks, Lose Control, etc. I knew she was a rap icon but I figured that was the beginning of it. This album was never one I knew of, but I was interested to see what I would find with it.
Best Song: Best Friends
Runner-Up: The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)
Third Place: Izzy Izzy Ahh
Post-Listening: what I was most intrigued by with this album was the guest starring list and the producer. Aaliyah (RIP), Busta Rhymes, Ginuwine, Lil’ Kim all of course produced by Timbaland. The beats are infectious, and the sound quality is as smooth as Rolos in your mouth. Missy Elliot was establishing herself in this debut album as a weird settle between TLC and Lil Kim. Too dirty for radio but not quite sex on music. Most the album is NSFW, but I get why it was so impactful. To have a women rapping with equal misogyny as male rappers were in 1997 had to be a lookout world moment. While some people hate that projection of music, I find it to be aggressively progressive. It’s a reality check for those that didn’t want someone like Missy to succeed and a slap in the face to those that fail to realize they’ll blare Master P, Snoop Dogg, and Jay-Z for equal lyrics but turn off Elliot for the female version.
Not my favorite album and not one I’ll soon revisit, but I get why it’s important.
2.5 Stars
5/10 (for me)
Pre-listening: I’ve always known The Weight and The Night They Drove Dixie Down, so I was hoping to expand the amount of loved songs by The Band. Hopefully, the album will succeed in that category.
Best: The Night They Drove Dixie Down.
Just one of those songs that you can find so many reasons to play. Drinking with friends, cruising through the night, cleaning the house… just one of those perfectly chill songs.
Runner-Up: across the great divide. Because this song just has a great way of opening up the album. It does a really good job of setting. The tone for the rest of the album is gonna be like it helps you kind of understand that idea of independence through the lyrics of the song through the message of the song is one of those really good songs that kind of makes you feel like you can kind of tackle the world on your own, but you might be lonely at times. That’s just great message with the song.
Third: unfaithful servant. Just has a way of making you feel sad but also weirdly making you feel like everything‘s gonna be OK. It just has that down in the dumps but you know what we’re gonna be all right kind of a feel to it and I love the melody. I love the town. I love the pianos, always present the song. It’s really good song and kind of sad that it’s on the back end of the album cause it’s like you have so many moments where you’re positive in this album but I think it ends the right way. It’s kind of like it come down at the end at the end of the album.
Post listening; the album definitely helped me understand why this band known as the band is so revered I would be curious to know what the reception was when the album dropped like it kind of has that question of like do we count this as rock ‘n’ roll is this Americana is this country is it blues and maybe that’s why they’re called the band because you can’t really categorize them. The album does a really great job of helping showcase how talented the band is but also how lovable the band is the whole time I was listening to it. I kind of wanted to just hike up my jeans go find a dock on a river tie a string to a line cast a worm and see if I catch something. It’s just one of those albums that makes you feel like you can be alone, but it’s an even better album to enjoy with people really just a good album worth listening to for those that don’t know anything about the band.
Rating; nine out of 10
Stars; four out of five.
Pre-Listening: one of those bands that us millennials hear a lot about, but don’t get a lot of chances to actually listen to them. It feels like more and more people want us to listen to many bands from our parents generations, but then the only time that we actually do is when we hear the music randomly, and then we ask, “hey who sings this song because I kinda like it?” and the response is, “oh, Crosby stills and Nash. How have you ever heard of them? So, I’m actually looking forward to listening to this album and finding my own experience with them.
Best Song: Pre-Road Downs. I felt this song had a lot of creativity with the sound considering the time it was recorded. Also thought it was interesting that Mama Cass recorded some vocals for this song when I did some research about it.
Runner-Up: Wooden Ships. Who doesn’t love an anti-war post-apocalypse song about finding peace and new beginnings?
Third Place: Suite: Judy Blue Eyes. Honestly, feels like three songs in one. Gotta love the scatting at the end. Reminds me of summer drives and optimism.
Post-Listening: I wish more bands tried to make a sound like this now. I love the harmonizing vocals and the layers it creates to the music. I appreciated their ability to make music that is extremely pleasant to listen to while not sacrificing their ability to drive home a message.
Rating: 9/10
Stars: 4/5
Frank Ocean — Channel Orange
Pre-Listening: Avoided this album for 14 years because I got sick of hearing how I needed to listen to it. So, I guess we’ll see what all those hipsters were talking about at UNI a decade ago.
Best Song: Pyramids. Really good beat to just mosey around to. Then you look down and realize it was 9 minutes long! For that alone, it gets the top vote.
Runner-Up: Pink Matter. Love the subtle guitar in the background. Really love Andre 3000’s feature. Interesting sample sounds in the background make me wonder if this is really a sad song or a fallen warrior song.
Third Place: Super Rich Kids. Honestly, thought that I was listening to a Chance, The Rapper song. I love songs that do little but do a lot and this song is that.
Post-Listening: If you’re into this style of hip-hop/R&B, I can see why you’re amping it up to everyone else… personally, I’m glad I avoided this song over the years. Ocean’s a great artist, but not for me.
Rating: 5/10
Stars: 2/5
Elvis Costello and The Attractions
Imperial Bedroom
Pre-Listening: I’ve always loved Elvis Costello. First memory of him was his cameo on Austin Powers 2. Loved his version of Pump It Up that I first heard from the PCU soundtrack. I never really listened to a full album of his so this should be enlightening.
Best Song: Man Out of Time. What’s not to love about this song. Great lyrics. Drums that float below the lyrics and melodies like a magic carpet. Interesting blend of guitar and piano that makes for a disconnected harmony that’s hard to explain. Love it though.
Runner-Up: You Little Fool. Gotta love a song that uses a Harpsichord (needed Holly’s ear to actually know what it was). What I like about Costello is that he’s not afraid to go outside the norm. There’s a lot of that in Imperial Bedroom and I appreciated it.
Third Place: Either it’s Shabby Doll or Human Hands. Both do a great job of being explanatory tracks for the elements of pub rock, but it depends on what mood you’re. Optimistic? Go Human Hands. Pessimistic? Go Shabby Doll. Either way, it’s the e elements of the song that sell it. But I would say Human Hands has better vocals and lyrics, personally.
Post-listening: “Can a mere song change a people's minds? I doubt that it is so. But a song can infiltrate your heart and the heart may change your mind.” — Elvis Costello. That’s how I felt about the songs on Imperial Bedroom. They didn’t change my life, but they were so enjoyable to listen to as I held Ellen on our porch feeling the mist of rain all around us. Perfect Sunday listening music. Worth revisiting this album again. Only knock is that you can tend to forget you’re listening to music with this album if you’re not listening intently. It doesn’t really grab hold of you, more so it dances around you.
Score: 9/10
Stars: 4/5
Smash — The Offspring
Pre-Listening: I grew up as a child in the 90s and all throughout that time, there was a The Offspring song that was on the charts. Self-Esteem, Pretty Fly, The Kids Aren’t Alright, all the way until high school with You’re Gonna Go Far Kid. With them always being an earshot away, you didn’t really have to buy an album to enjoy them. My goal for this is to find the deep cuts. For that sake, I will keep Self-esteem, and Come Out and Play from my rankings because they would undoubtedly be 1 and 2 otherwise.
Best Song: Nitro (Youth Energy). I first learned this song from Varsity Blues after Mox makes his big speech and the team comes out fired up on adrenaline and it was a perfect montage song for fast clips of high octane high school football. Listening to it with an analytic ear now, I get why. The song promotes realizing that tomorrow is taken for granted and that today is all that matters. Harder to appreciate as a dad of 2, but still valuable given the same context.
Runner-Up: Genocide. Probably the most satirical commentary on society from this album, but a song that’s made to point out what the 90s felt like. It wasn’t a time of peace, although there were less wars. It was a time of competition, arrogance, and narcissism. The dog-eat-dog lyrics refer to how we are committing our own genocide by forgetting about Democracy in the United States… will someone make that opinion in 2026, please?
Third Place: Not the One. An unheard anthem for Gen Xers everywhere. A reminder that youthful generations are only making up for what they were handed. Universal for all young generations as they enter adulthood, but at this time that was Gen X and early Millennials.
Post-Listening: best decision I could have made is waiting until I was doing cardio to listen to this album. The songs alone will get your heart rate above 85 BPM. It’s unfortunate that only two songs were commercially recognized but that’s the beauty of the album. The Offspring has that quality of when their song comes on, you know it’s The Offspring, but this album shows that although the songs are similar, they each impact the album in their own way. It’s fast-paced, it’s vulgar, it’s to the point and it kept grunge/punk rock going in the wake of Cobain’s death. The Offspring aren’t supposed to be everyone’s cup of tea. They’re supposed to be that kick in the teeth you need with your cup of coffee in the morning.
Rating: 10/10
Stars: 5/5
The Undertones — Hypnotised
Pre-Listening: I’m not even gonna pretend like I know anything about this band. Apparently they’re from Derry, which I’m guessing is why they’re lesser known for me. Just gonna dive in.
Best Song: Hard Luck. One of those songs with an idiom title, digestible drums and then letting the guitar do its thing. Pretty hard to mess up the lyrics, but they didn’t. Really catch post-break-up tune.
Runner-up: Under the Boardwalk. They had me with the opening base line. Odd but tolerable cover for the album. Feels rebel and pub rockish.
Third Place: My Perfect Cousin. According to Spotify this is their flagship song. It’s catchy but kind of a strange premise to write a song about. Basically, a ‘you don’t know him like I do’ kinda song.
Post-listening: I hate being negative, but this album just didn’t do it for me. I feel like this kind of band walked so a band like The Kooks could run. While I love The Kooks, The Undertones were just too oddball for my taste. The first half of the album feels like something Poindexter from Revenge of the Nerds would listen to and then the second half feels like a band Spicoli would love. It goes from nerdy Undertones to surfer Undertones and all the while featuring lyrics that feel like Irish drinking songs. I’m glad I listened to it, but let’s leave it at that.
Rating: 5/10
Stars: 2/5
Chic — Risqué
Pre-Listening: I knew little of Chic before today. Mainly, I knew they were responsible for The Freak and that they were a funk-disco band. Should make for an interesting day.
Best: Will You Cry. I thought this song was beautiful and the least like the others but that’s what made it phenomenal.
Runner-up: Good Times. I mean, cmon. Infectious. Uplifting. Iconic.
Third: My Feet Keep Dancing. That choppy guitar strum mixed with subtle melody guitar at the beginning is so unique. Loved it.
Post-Listening: Listening to Good Times while my toddler screamed over having to put her shoes on this morning was such an ironically perfect way to start the day. Still, it was hard to let a long day bother me when I put on this album intermittently throughout the day. Just a lot of fun and you can see why this group had a major following. What I found most remarkable about listening to it was their impact on modern music. I can’t count on one hand the number of samples I picked out that I recognized from modern rappers from this 7 song long album. Really enjoyable album. That said, not my forte, but I respect it for sure!
Rating: 7/10
Stars: 4/5
Teenage Fanclub — Bandwagonesque
Pre-listening: I know nothing of this band. I am just going to dive in.
Best Song: Alcoholiday.
Runner-Up: I Don’t Know.
Third Place: The Concept.
Post-listening: They sound like a lesser known Gin Blossoms. Or a mixture of Goo Goo Dolls and Weezer. As I listened, I couldn’t help but think, “why didn’t this band become more popular?” Google to the rescue! Turns out, they never wanted to suck-up to record labels so they were never pushed. Their second album struggled to maintain the same sound as grunge took over, so they lost their first album fans. They were a cult band for a time where cult bands got promoted but they remained just one of the cult bands which I found interesting. All of their music was likable, but nothing so phenomenal that it needs to be revisited. I did however save Alcoholiday to my liked songs, so I got something out of it.
Rating: 7/10
Stars: 3/5
AC ⚡️DC — Back In Black.
Pre-Listening: uggggggggghhhhh. Fine.
Best: You Shook Me All Night Long.
Runner-Up: Back in Black.
Third: Have a Drink On Me.
Post-Listening: onward.
Rating: 6/10 - due to overkill.
Stars: 4/5 - I’ll give it its flowers.
Not for me.
Pre-listening: never heard of him. Do not know what to expect.
Normally don’t listen to country. So, we’ll see.
Best: Silver Raven.
Runner-up: No Other.
Third: Strength of Strings.
Post-listening: I felt like the front half of the album was strong and kept me around for more. The back half became too slow and disappointed me, but I understand how influential Clark was. There’s a lot of soil in his country and not a ton of twang which makes it very tolerable to me. The songs have a hint of Americana with their ability to weave a narrative and I appreciated that from Clark. After reading that this album was shelved by the record company due to a dispute, I felt justified that I was listening to an album that needs to be shared, even if it’s posthumously.
Rating: 4/10… not my kind of music.
Stars: 3/5
Pre-listening: one of those bands I’ve been meaning to get around to for some time. Should be interesting.
First: Asylum
Runner-up: Bloody Well Right
Third Place: If Everyone Was Listening.
Post-listening: Supertramp feels like Pink Floyd if Billy Joel was their lead singer. The joys of the guitar mixed with the meaning of the vocals made for an intriguing listen. Although listening to an entire album consecutively wasn’t easy, I found the album worth my time. I can’t say I’m huge on ST, but I’m glad I finally gave them some time to see if I like them.
Rating: 6/10
Stars: 3/5
Machito — Kenya
Pre-listening: I’ll listen to a jazz album any day of the week!
Best: Wild Jungle
Runner-Up: Tururato
Third: Congo Mullence
Post-listening: I love listening to jazz. Do I have any idea what I’m really saying about it? No. And I won’t pretend to. But this album reminded me of the jubilant of this journey. Machito’s music was fun and enjoyable. Chaotic, disjointed, and somehow, harmonious. It was an invigorating listen that I would suggest to anyone. It may be the only time I listen to the album, but I was glad I got to.
Rating: 8/10
Stars: 4/5
Duke Ellington — At Newport Live!
Post-listening. I mean, cmon! It’s Duke Ellington!!! It was phenomenal, but I wasn’t actively checking the song titles so I can’t tell you which one was the best.
The Kinks… not for me.
Bored through most the album.
3/10.
2 stars.
My Friday Review of “Are You Experienced”— Jimi Hendrix
Def Leppard once popularized the saying, “It’s better to burnout than fade away!” While some agree that that is true with Jimi Hendrix, I can only beg to differ. With such talent on the guitar and such a unique voice it would have been fascinating to see what he could have become. At least he left us perfection with his few albums he produced. I thoroughly enjoyed this album once again and focused more on the deep cuts. I really loved Stone Free, Are You Experienced, and Love or Confusion. It’s still a 9/10 because the acid rock of the album does take over at times, but that is its only flaw.
RIP Jimi. Thanks for not fading away!
The Go-Betweens — STA
Pre-listening: No clue on these guys. But an Aussie indie band from the 80s??? Should be interesting.
Best Song: Was There Anything I Can Do?
Runner-Up: Streets of Your Town
Third: You Can’t Say No Forever
Post-listening: I can see if this was YOUR band that that YOU discovered that this would be a great album. However, as someone who was given an assignment to check them out, there just isn’t as much there. It’s good. They have a great sound. They show great musicianship. It’s just nothing that you hear and think, “HOW HAVE I NEVER HEARD OF THIS GROUP BEFORE?” I’m sure they inspired 90s/00s indie bands I love, but nothing here worth revisiting for me.
Rating: 6/10
Stars: 3/5
Pre-listening: All I’ve ever really known about Erykah Badu is that she’s Andre 3000’s baby mama. Her music was just never exactly presented to me, so we’ll see what we find here.
Best Song: Orange Moon
Runner-up: Didn’t Cha Know
Third: Cleva
Post-listening: insanely talented. A lot of really beautiful songs. Definitely a switch-up from my usual listening habits and worth my time. She really pushed her soul into the lyrics and no songs really felt repetitive. I see why she was a big influence.
Rating: 8/10
Stars: 4/5
P.S. — I did have to still listen to Ms. Jackson by OutKast after this album was completed. IYKYK.
A Rush Of Blood To My Head — Coldplay
Pre-listening: “You know how I know you’re gay?…
Best song: Whisper Song
Runner-Up: In My Place
Third Place: Clocks
Post-Listening: I really enjoyed Whisper Song. It’s mellow Res Hot Chili Peppers mixed with Duncan Shiek lyrics. It was the only surprise for me. The rest was like a Nickelback experience. It sounds how it should. Good album. I get why they’re loved. Just not my style.
Rating: 5/10
Stars: 3/5
