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Latest Reviews (56)

From the last 10 minutes
Aftermath album cover

Aftermath

The Rolling Stones

3/5

I really wanted to love this. These songs occasionally sound like something Lennon/McCartney would have wrote. However, the production is significantly worse and Mick’s voice just isn’t that great. There are some good tracks here, but I wanted to like it way more than I did.

My Aim Is True album cover

My Aim Is True

Elvis Costello

2/5

This is my second Costello album of the project(This Year's Model was first). Given that This Year's Model was incredibly mediocre, I didn't have high expectations for this. Even so, it didn't surpass them; it sounds like a worse, less punchy version of This Year's Model. Lyrics are just ok, and the vocal timbre of Costello really isn't good at all. It feels too basic and devoid of a distinct sound to really warrant being here at all. And if this, one of Costello's best works, isn't essential listening, then he sure as hell doesn't need six albums spanning three decades on this list.

Imperial Bedroom album cover

Imperial Bedroom

Elvis Costello & The Attractions

5/5

I feel like the whole band is firing on cylinders here. It’s where Elvis Costello is channeling his inner jazz standards pen. “Almost Blue” sounds like something Chet Baker would’ve recorded in his prime.

The United States Of America album cover

The United States Of America

The United States Of America

1/5

I respect the hell out of this album. I’m glad it exists. It caused me physical pain to listen to it though and I couldn’t recommend it to anyone.

Want Two album cover

Want Two

Rufus Wainwright

3/5

I liked this album. My favorite track was The One You Love. There really isn’t much more to say about it lol.

My Aim Is True album cover

My Aim Is True

Elvis Costello

3/5

I think this was better than the last Elvis Costello album we had, but I still feel pretty lukewarm about it.

All Things Must Pass album cover

All Things Must Pass

George Harrison

4/5

Damn it's long. And while I did enjoy it, it was also a slog to get through. However, it is definitely worth 4 stars.

Suzanne Vega album cover

Suzanne Vega

Suzanne Vega

5/5

Based on my prior ideas about Suzanne Vega, I expected to rate this a 4 or even a 3. I liked her pretty well and put on her greatest hits about once a year, but also kind of slotted her into the category of music made by people who listen to NPR for people who listen to NPR. Which is me of course, but I also expected it to be sort of cerebral and narrow in the way NPR can be. Nope, she fooled me. When you pay closer attention, her lyrics are dark and savage, yet still delivered in that relatively narrow range. It disarms you. I had heard an undertone of menace before in her more popular songs like “Tom’s Diner,” and obviously “Luka” has its sublimated violence. But sit with this long enough and you realize you are listening to a poet who takes no prisoners in her portraits of others and herself. I have to give the self-titled a 5 for convincing me she is a dark genius and deciding to check out all her work. There may be a longer essay in me somewhere about the sound and the lyrics and where they fit into my impressionistic history of folk music. I don’t have the energy to make the whole case tonight, but I feel like her sound is a sort of yin companion to the yang of Paul Simon. Paul Simon adopted various sounds after S&G but they all make you feel positive about most anything, even if it’s whatever the hell happened to Julio down by the schoolyard. Suzanne Vega also has this quasi-commercial 80s folk sound, but she somehow twists it in a way that everything she says is a little bit unsettling, even though it sounds perfectly lovely. It’s how I felt the first time I heard “Tom’s Diner” without the dance beats… you think, “Oh, maybe this isn’t the cheerful slice of life that I thought.” I think so many of her songs here do that, even though by all accounts she’s a perfectly lovely human.

The Seldom Seen Kid album cover

Hatte die immer positiv assoziiert, gestern hat mich das Album über weite Strecken ziemlich umgehauen. Tendenz zu 5 Sternen, werde ich mir nochmal geben.

Black Holes and Revelations album cover

YEAHHHHHHH it’s temu radiohead time. and can i say that i actually quite enjoy muse as a radiohead fan or is that against the law? but anyway here's a 5 for you. mister Bellamy, for your works that are not as radiohead as people think and how you improve upon thom yorke's trademark falsetto and artistic composition. 5/5

Quiet Life album cover

Quiet Life

Japan

4/5

Kind of a slow burn for me. Definitely just felt very 80s pop at first, then realized it was very much the original of that sound gave me some appreciation. All in all just sorta grew on me. Super solid.

Sweet Baby James album cover

Sweet Baby James

James Taylor

4/5

Chill and sweet easy listen. Fav songs title track, fire and rain, anywhere like heaven, and oh baby

Boy In Da Corner album cover

Boy In Da Corner

Dizzee Rascal

3/5

Okay then. Once more out of my comfort zone. Skittering beats that seem to be on the verge of falling apart under a UK rapper. Held my interest.

Eagles album cover

Eagles

Eagles

3/5

I only thought they wrote hits. This shows that they do write boring songs too.

Foxbase Alpha album cover

Foxbase Alpha

Saint Etienne

3/5

Dub-y and chill. Such an early 90s feel. Carnt Sleep, Girl VII, Spring are the songs I like best.

Siembra album cover

Siembra

Willie Colón & Rubén Blades

3/5

TLDR: I appreciated this listen upon closer inspection. This was a quick and easy listen. If I had a single dancing bone in my body I may have appreciated it more, but alas I do not. I appreciated the West Side Story reference in Pedro Navaja and the little I was able to recognize from the Spanish lyrics. Took the time for a second listen and lyrics translation and got a lot more out of the album, most notably the lyrics of Plastico and Pedro Navaja. The style of Maria Lionza was also a standout for me.

At Folsom Prison album cover

At Folsom Prison

Johnny Cash

3/5

Some great songs and moments on here. Love the country/blues sound and of course love his voice. Personally, I prefer his later stuff when it got deeper and out of the short blues tunes era, but still a strong and historically important album. Top Songs: Folsom Prison Blues, Cocaine Blues, Jackson

Fifth Dimension album cover

Fifth Dimension

The Byrds

3/5

Enjoyable album. Outside of Turn Turn Turn and Mr Tambourine Man, I'm not too familiar with their back catalog. This definitely utilized stereo production as drums were on one side and guitars on the other.

Scissor Sisters album cover

Scissor Sisters

Scissor Sisters

4/5

Wow, I really liked this! Great upbeat danceable music that feels like a party.

Lust For Life album cover

Lust For Life

Iggy Pop

3/5

Iggy makes fine music that for whatever reason RARELY grips me (Tonight, success and fall in love with me are great). Its cromulent outside of some ‘concepts’ that haven’t aged well.

Tarkus album cover

Tarkus

Emerson, Lake & Palmer

1/5

So many 1970s prog rock synths. Sigh. To me, this sounds like a bunch of disparate notes thrown together with little to no concern for musicality (or repeatability - there's no way they ever managed to duplicate all the notes played on this album). I would say, at least it's short, but it REALLY doesn't feel short while you're listening to it. I don't think that's at all helped by the a-side being a singular track in 7 parts. Also, the lyrics! Good god, the lyrics! "Can you believe god makes you breathe? Why did he lose six million Jews?" Also, when he sang "Sleep in a dream of butter milk cream, You dance on a beam, dancing on a beam" I genuinely thought he was singing dancing on a "bean". How the first track and last ended up on the same album is baffling. The album cover is genuinely astonishing though. 1/5

Gentlemen album cover

Gentlemen

The Afghan Whigs

4/5

This was very good, really enjoyed it. Instrumentals were visceral at times and the lyrics (what i registered of them) were the same

Funeral album cover

Funeral

Arcade Fire

4/5

Альбом открывает песня с нарастающей мотивом, что, как по мне, является идеальным началом для альбома. На фоне инструментала вокал кажется небрежным и грязным, что так же играет в лучшую сторону для альбома. Вцелом создаётся атмосфера, что данную музыку играют "одарённые бездари", так как вся грязь играет только в лучшую сторону альбома. Такие песни как wake up звучат, как гимн альбома.

En-Tact album cover

En-Tact

The Shamen

1/5

Just boring, uninspired, monotonous electronic dance music. Amongst the worst included on this list.

The Real Thing album cover

The Real Thing

Faith No More

2/5

They get a catch a lot of hate for the bands that follow after. I don't think that's particularly fair or relevant. 1. That's not their fault. Just because they were a little ahead of the zeitgeist doesn't mean they should be blamed for all the bad songs that put mediocre rapping over guitars. 2. Yes there is a bunch of terrible nu-metal, but there is a lot of terrible music of all kinds. I don't blame De La Soul for Vanilla Ice. Still, I don't like it. The singers voice is not pleasant. The rapped parts are not catchy or clever. The music is Guns and Roses coded, but without Slash, so a bit disappointing. A few decent bits here and there, but not one I'll circle back to. 2 Stars

Green Onions album cover

Green Onions

Booker T. & The MG's

3/5

I think I like their work as a backing band better, but I like the mellow funky vibe this has.

Blunderbuss album cover

Blunderbuss

Jack White

4/5

just like his white stripes albums, gotta take the good with a handful of clunky cringey crap. never really gave any of jack white’s solo records any attention though and clearly I was missing out.

Live At Leeds album cover

Live At Leeds

The Who

4/5

I've never been a big fan of those typical "classic rock" bands like Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, etc. and I've vowed to really give them a chance as their albums have appeared in this project. Turns out, in most cases my initial feelings have been confirmed... however, if there is one band from this era has risen above the rest for me it's The Who. This album was really good. Loved the music and loved hearing a little bit of their personalities in the between song banter.

En-Tact album cover

En-Tact

The Shamen

1/5

If the Scottish youth found a Casio Keyboard and thought he could both sing and rap. This is god awful. 1 star is a gift

With The Beatles album cover
5/5

The Beatles defined a decade, revolutionized music, and still sound amazing today. This album is 5/5 as part of the band’s origin story but, really, it also stands on its own when you consider… In 1963, bands rarely wrote their own songs. And albums were filled with…well, with filler. Yet The Beatles wrote 8 of these songs, with one tremendous song by George Harrison. Each of those songs stands on its own. A foretaste of things to come. Also, compare this with any other rock n roll album from 1963. Most have to do with surfing. You seriously won’t find anything that holds its own against what the Beatles are doing here (and on their earlier release, Please Please Me). Go ahead, check out all the top rock n roll albums of 1963. Then imagine what THIS sounded like in that context. 
You WILL find some great folk music (Freewheeling Bob Dylan!) and Motown. The Beatles were clearly soaking in those sounds as well. But what they accomplished here and in the years to come… just plain remarkable.

Searching For The Young Soul Rebels album cover

Searching For The Young Soul Rebels

Dexys Midnight Runners

3/5

before listening: i think "tell me when you're light turns green", which i love, is the only song off of here I'd heard before. hadn't ever listened to the rest as I kind of wrote these guys off as the "Come on Eileen" band (being on mainstream radio was a cred killer back then lol). Expecting a solid three star "uk new wave with horns" experience. after listening: several skips on here where the singers weird tortured delivery is the only notable thing, but I'd also forgotten about "Seven Days Too Long" another song I'd heard previously and quite like.

Roger the Engineer album cover

Roger the Engineer

The Yardbirds

3/5

Overall Rating - 3.32/5 (6.64/10). The guitar work is uniformly excellent, but it's Jeff Beck, so that's pretty much expected. Some albums sound like the time they're from. This is definitely one of them.

Band On The Run album cover

Band On The Run

Paul McCartney and Wings

4/5

I feel like early 70s Paul could either completely knock it out of the park or get too much in his own way. This feels like him finally trying to seriously breakthrough, and break free. So many classics on this album it’s hard to believe they’re all here

London Calling album cover

London Calling

The Clash

5/5

One thing that makes London Calling great is how it effortlessly fuses global genres with punk rock. But a more important factor is how it does that. There's so much variety in how those genres, mostly ska and reggae, are used. There's the groovy "Rudie Can't Fail" and the sinister "Guns of Brixton." The huge "Right Profile" and the loose jammy "Revolution Rock." And of course there's the fierce, snotty punk of the title track, which puts an exclamation mark on the themes of punk in the 70s. With all this variety each song is a new world to explore, and while there are definitely a few I wouldn't miss there are no bad songs. It helps that the whole thing is a blast - "get that cheese grater going!" - and it ends on its strongest song with that irresistible riff. One of the best, if not the best, punk albums ever.

Suede album cover

Suede

Suede

3/5

This album grew on me as time went on. I didn’t really have any favorite songs, but I like the way their voice sounds. If they had other albums, I might check them out. But this appears to be a one and done. Rating: 3/5

Raw Like Sushi album cover

Raw Like Sushi

Neneh Cherry

2/5

Didn’t do much for me. The opening song was catchy enough but the whole album just had me thinking Madonna/Spice Girls-wannabe and not a very good one at that. Sorry, not for me

Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches album cover

This was...interesting. For now I have to give this 3 stars (and far too many drug references) but it wasn't bad. I found that this kind of just faded into the background rather than jump out at me in any way, but was not atmospheric enough in any way to go on a chill playlist. 3/5

In Rainbows album cover

In Rainbows

Radiohead

4/5

I’ve only ever heard their first album back when it came out and I liked it enough that I saw them play in a small club. For some strange reason I’ve managed to never hear any of their albums since even though I’ve heard all the praise over the years. Sometimes it seems that exposure to music is all about the company that you keep and I guess I just never knew anyone who was really into their later albums and showed them to me. It sure was great to finally get to one and this listen was great! This is absolutely great, creative, pop music. I’m assuming there’s a few more of their albums coming up but I’ll likely get to them soon now that I know what incredible recordings I’ve been missing!

Hot Reviews (12)

Top reviews from the last 30 days
Graceland album cover

Graceland

Paul Simon

5/5

BuT iT's CuLtUrAL aPpRoPriATiOn!!!!!111 Does anyone fucking think on here? Does anyone know what they're talking about? Does anyone know anything about music? There's a certain type of idiot on here (and in life) that hears something like Graceland and sprints, whistle in mouth, to declare Paul Simon guilty of "cultural appropriation." These are the people who were hall monitors in high school and continue to look for infractions anywhere and everywhere in life. According to these assholes, Paul Simon didn't collaborate with musicians in South Africa, he only extracted their music and their culture. And they constantly ignore (or don't want to bother to look) that the music that's on this album shined a light on artists like Barney Rachabane, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Hugh Masekela and Clifton Chenier. They don't want to take a minute to understand that this album brought these artists some notoriety and that these artists were appreciative. They don't want to admit, by these artists accounts, that the album was a joy to make. And these assholes just never want to acknowledge the most obvious point, that music has always been a conversation across cultures. Genres exist because cultures collide...rock music exists because of Black Americans. Elvis didn't appear out of thin air fully formed, he was drawing from Black gospel, blues and R&B. The Beatles were borrowing Chuck Berry riffs, girl group harmonies, basslines from Motown, American R&B, Indian sitars and the list goes on and on. Jazz is a mix of african rhythms, european brass band instruments, carribean influences and blues scales. Country is a blend of scottish and irish ballads, Black blues structures, mexican influences on Western swing and African banjo classics. Hip Hip was built on sampling funk, disco, rock and whatever else they could find. But the "cultural appropriation" assholes never worry about nuance. As long as they can plant their flag on some moral hill, they'll ignore everything else. They'll ignore the musicians that wanted to work with Paul Simon, the breaking of a cultural boycott in an effort to collaborate on music and the positive feedback from everyone involved. These "cultural appropriation" assholes have one argument, and it's this: Paul Simon shouldn't have made one of the best and most innovative albums of the 80s because it violates my sensitivities. In doing so, these "cultural appropriation" assholes flatten the South African musicians into props for a moral lecture. And in thinking they're somehow protecting them, it reduces them to passive objects rather than creative artists who wanted to collaborate with Simon and brought the world some fucking awesome music. The "cultural appropriation" assholes just ignore that music isn't pure and it's not supposed to be. Humans borrow from each other and cultures mix and to ignore it is to willfully ignore the way culture actually works. They want rigid boundaries when it suits them and they want rigid boundaries in art when art doesn't obey boundaries. So fuck the cultural appropriation warriors, this album absolutely slaps. If you want to downgrade it for farty bass lines and lyrics you don't like, that's fine. But if you want to get on your high horse and write a review about "cultural appropriation" while ignoring all the music you've 5 starred on this site and think you're some sort of a fucking genius you might want to sit this one out.

The Boatman's Call album cover

The Boatman's Call

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

1/5

I guess I just don't get it. I don't know why we have so many Nick Cave albums on here. Is he interesting? At times. Murder Ballads was ambitious and intriguing, a worthy inclusion. That said, he is very far from great. Want proof? He is revered by a good amount of critics (mainly English), as evidenced by having 5 albums on this list. And yet, here in the States, he has had one album that has sold more than 100k copies. One. That's incredibly hard to accomplish. Is he a complicated artist that is just misunderstood in the US? Perhaps. Or maybe, just maybe, he's a relatively uninspiring/bad signer, who is a lackluster song writer. Some examples, just from this album: "We'd buy the Sunday newspapers and never read a single word." "I don't believe in an interventionist God but I know, darling, that you do." "In a colonial hotel, we fucked up the sun and then we fucked it down again." He's incredibly trite throughout this record. Him trying sing layers about a "twinkling cunt"? Huh? Worse yet, this collection of songs are very basic with zero real musicality to them. The only bonus is that I've now burned through more than half of his albums on this countdown. Only two more to get rid of. While he hasn't supplanted Amy Winehouse as my least favorite artist on this countdown, I realize now I would rather listen to her than him. At least Amy had an excellent voice and talent, even if she totally wasted both. This dude is predominantly just a waste of time.

Music album cover

Music

Madonna

5/5

When this came up as my album of the day I was less than thrilled. This isn't what I want for Sunday morning dog walking in the cold rain and snow. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong. This is outta sight. Who knew I would enjoy downtempo electro dance pop so much? Quick aside, I try to not call people out for their reviews but come the fuck on, comparing her cover of American Pie to war crimes and human rights violations. It's a 4 minute version of a folk rock classic, not dropping bombs on women and children. Criminy, take a breath and actually listen to what you're saying. But anyway, this is another prime example why Madonna has been one of the most successful artists of all time.

Rage Against The Machine album cover

Rage Against The Machine

Rage Against The Machine

5/5

This shit slaps, just like I heard it when I was in high school. I remember I had a cassette tape someone burned for me, it was like 74 minutes on each side. One side was this album, the other side was Evil Empire. But plant me smack in the middle of the group of people that didn't pay attention to their politics or care about them. I just liked the anger, the guitar...it is music to have on while you're lifting and working out. It's just hard to take their politics seriously and it was hard to take their politics seriously back in the day. I remember some magazine article where these guys were out golfing...the hypocrisy was just evident from the start. And while I'm sure these guys really believe the shit they're yelling about, they're just cartoons, especially Morello and De La Rocha. They built their identity and messaging on anti-capitalism and anti-corporate power while becoming hugely profitable, major label stars that sold out arenas. They Raged Against corporate exploitation and then sold tickets through Ticketmaster and Live Nation at prices that the working class couldn't afford. Yeah, they've donated money, yeah they protested Ticketmaster at one point but at the end of the day they used the system. They signed with a massive corporation in Sony and always claimed some bullshit along the lines of "we're using their money to spread anti-capitalist ideas" which was just fucking hysterical. Sony didn't sign these guys because of their ideological messages, they did it cause RATM made them a shit ton of money and you don't subvert capitalism by becoming a platinum selling band inside of it. Morello lives a really comfortable, elite life. The rest of the band members do, too (De La Rocha's house that went up for sale a few years ago is very nice but not over the top extravgent, I will give him that, but it was still 3 million) but Morello's a bit above the rest. It doesn't invalidate their beliefs but it's hard to take their moral high ground seriously. There's no personal sacrifice here. In their own way, they're completely safe. They felt somewhat dangerous in the 90s and were always loud and angry about US imperialism, capitalism and policing. They are consistently quiet on authoritarian left-wing regimes, labor abuses in countries that are aligned with their preferred politics and censorship when it comes to their side. I will admit that they've donated millions to activist causes they believe in, they've platformed radical politics since the start, they've never pretended to be neutral on anything and I think they've read the books they put in their albums instead of pretending to have read them. That all said, the self awareness is lacking. They exist inside of capitalism but they think they're morally superior while they rage from the penthouse that overlooks the machine. It's a band that rallied around being dangerous to power but always embraced it, especially when it suited them best. Now... what they should have done was adopt the philosophy of Ian MacKaye. MacKaye didn't just say anti-corporate things, he designed his entire life and career around never having the message and behavior be in question. MacKaye is the anti-RATM. No major labels. Ever. He never had to explain that contradiction because he never got there to begin with. He capped ticket prices for decades. Never gave in to festivals...it was always 5 bucks. It was a moral obligation and he never strayed from it....and he never needed Ticketmaster. Yet, he still sold hundreds of thousands of records. Toured a shit ton. Influenced a lot of bands. He never went to sell out arenas, he never made the luxury leap, he never bought the big house and the fancy car. MacKaye's politics weren't slogans that he tapped into whenever he felt like he needed to...it was DIY or don't do it, keep prices low for all ages shows, no corporate sponsorships, no gouging on merch. He just opted out of the system/machine instead of trying to play some sort of a game that RATM did. RATM chose maximum exposure, mass culture reach...MacKaye chose sheer autonomy and limits. Neither of these ways are invalid or bad, but one avoids hypocrisy completely. If RATM went the MacKaye way, fewer people would have heard them, they might not have been icons and they wouldn't have filled arenas. But no one could roll their eyes at them. So...yeah, I hate their politics. I'm not reading Howard Zinn, I'm not reading Marx, or Guevara or Alinsky or Chomsky. And a big reason why I never wanted to, even as an idealistic teenager, is that in 1996 when I saw RATM's reading list inside of Evil Empire, I just rolled my eyes. So why am I giving this a 5? It's music to lift weights to. As much as they don't want to be lumped into this category, it's music for football players and they had to have known that when they were making it but they did it anyway. It's great rock music, maybe even slightly innovative rock music, it takes me back to a time where I'd blast this album, not give a shit about their politics, understanding that the guys were making the music were hypocrites and realizing that most people are. And that's the lesson to be learned from RATM, it's not revolution, it's not anti capitalist politics...the lesson to learn from RATM is that most people are hypocrites.

The Band album cover

The Band

The Band

1/5

"I started to play the song yesterday, and stopped myself. Again, I was angry. Again, another story about the blues of Pharaoh, and the people are invisible. The people are always invisible. "These motherfuckers," I mumbled to myself." -Ta-Nehisi Coates, about 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down'

Songs For Swingin' Lovers! album cover
5/5

This is a really great album. Frank has a lot of really great albums. Music is magic. Back in the days of paper maps me and a buddy would go find undeveloped hot springs in northern Nevada. I drove, he navigated. Lots of road trippin' listening to Van Morrison, Tom Waits and Frank. If you're ever around Austin, NV and you're so inclined, take an evening to visit Spencer hot springs, crack open a Sam Adams Summer Ale, light up a cigar and listen to Frank's Summer Wind for me. Like I said, music is magic and this album swings.

Abbey Road album cover

Abbey Road

Beatles

3/5

The most widely misunderstood, and overrated, Beatles album. Something I think captures Abbey Road in a nutshell... They originally wanted to name this album Everest, and the cover photo was going to be the foursome on Mt Everest. Instead they named it Abbey Road and took a photo outside the front door of their studio. Despite its recent critical reappraisal, Abbey Road is not the sound of the Beatles at their creative peak. It's the sound of a band running out of gas, suing each other, and lowering their standards. The Beatles were not trying to make any profound artistic statements, they were trying to fulfill their contractual obligations as quickly as possible so they could move on. All 3 songwriters released better solo albums a year or so after this album came out and, clearly, they were saving their best material. I should mention I am a Beatles fanatic (not a hater) and can acknowledge the positives here. There are a handful of remarkably great recordings on this album, best of which is "Something." "Something" is an all-timer love song and one of the most mature, elegant miniature morsels the band ever made. "Come Together" is also quite unique -- a post-psychedelic reinterpretation of 50s rhythm and blues with a signature rhythm track unlike anything the band (or really anyone else) had ever done. But alongside these merits are serious problems. "Because" is a virtuosic piece of work, overshadowed by the corny Moog sounds. (The Moog generally does not work on this album, in my opinion.) Similarly, "Here Comes the Sun" is a great song at its core, but it gets bogged down with its overblown prog rock arrangement. The B-side medley is probably the best example of their misfire and it still shocks me to read reviews from people who think it's some kind of masterful experiment in songcraft. They took unfinished scraps of songs that might have really had an impact if they took the time to work on them (e.g. "Golden Slumbers," "Mean Mr. Mustard"), threw them in the pot with a bunch of other crap, added a Moog and an orchestra, served it up and said bon appetit. John acknowledged many times in many interviews that the medley was pure lifeless junk. And there's a scene in the Anthology documentary where they are re-listening to studio masters of some of the medley orchestration; Paul is absolutely high on his own farts and George looks straight into the camera to say "a bit corny, init?" Yes! It is very very corny. When the theme to "You Never Give Me Your Money" returns as a horn section during "Carry That Weight," I get a full body cringe. John is only half-present on this album and it clearly shows. There are a number of songs he didn't touch, and he didn't even bother showing up to the final recording sessions. He's also, clearly, not sharing his best work -- most of what he wrote on this album had been kicking around since the band came back from India, and Plastic Ono Band (which is a MUCH better album than Abbey Road) was recorded shortly after this. "I Want You" is the closest thing to a proto-Plastic Ono song on Abbey Road, and it pales in comparison to others in its style (like "Yer Blues" or "Don't Let Me Down"). What we're left with is Paul's ego unchained. The medley has his fingerprints all over it, and "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is legendary in how badly it pissed off the rest of the band. "Oh Darling" is fine, but it's a weak pastiche at a time when a zillion musicians (including John) were doing a much better job of playing with roots rock n roll revival. It's been quite surprising to see this album get reevaluated in the past couple decades by younger audiences who have elevated it to "masterpiece" status in the same way the Boomers latched on to Sgt. Pepper. I'm not entirely sure why this is the highest rated Beatles album on this site, but it probably has to do with the cleaner production standards compared to their earlier 60s albums; in the end, I think most people just want easy listening. All in all, Abbey Road showed the way to the future in 70s rock radio, but mostly by influencing its worst tendencies, i.e. corny prog pop and soft rock. This doesn't sound like a band at the cutting edge of popular culture, it sounds like ELO or Wings or any number of yacht rock bands. But hey, I suppose that's also why a lot of people like it -- ELO sold a lot of records.

The Dark Side Of The Moon album cover
5/5

Album No. 0125 on my list. There it is. Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side Of The Moon". THE album. My hypothesis is that if you ask people to think of a music album, this may well be the one that's mentioned the most. It is certainly one of the most iconic albums of all time, and possibly the greatest rock album there is - certainly the greatest progressive rock album, and maybe the greatest album of the 70s. I have to admit that it's also one of my favorite albums (what a cliché, I know). It's just not possible for me to judge this objectively in any way, but I guess based on the other ratings of this album on this page, many others seem to like the album as well. I guess "The Dark Side of the Moon" perfectly hits the sweet spot between a complex, progressive, artsy work on the one side and a groovy, catchy, enjoyable album on the other side. It is more than a collection of 10 songs, they all fit together just so nicely. And even more than 50 years later, the album still sounds incredibly great! For nostalgic reasons, I didn't even listen to any of the remasters but to the original, and it still sounds very good. The prodcution was really aehad of its time. The album really has everything. You've got some or Roger Water's greatest lyrics on this ("Time", "Money", "Brain Damage"), some of David Gilmour's greatest guitar work ("Time", "Money"), and singing ("Breathe", "Time"), some of the greatest Pink Floyd atmospheric sound layers ("Time", "Us And Them"). In addition, you got one of the greatest album covers of all time, possibly even the most iconic one ever made. You got some progressive elements (odd time signatures, some extensive instrumental parts), but it really never gets boring. Everything is perfectly nuanced, everything is timed to perfection. To avoid adding the full album to my playlist, I'm leaving out the instrumentals, but will still add "Breathe", "Time", "The Great Gig In The Sky", "Money", "Us And Them", "Brain Damage", and "Eclipse" to my playlist. If any record is a hallmark record, it's this one. I can't praise this enough, would have given 50 stars if I could. 5/5 stars - of course!

Most Popular Reviews

All-time top rated reviews
Be album cover

Be

Common

4/5

I can’t believe the top review for this record (as of Dec 2023) is from someone trying to use their PhD in Mathematics as justification for not liking hip-hop. Weak.

335 likes View Author
Kollaps album cover

Kollaps

Einstürzende Neubauten

4/5

Oh fuck yeah, now we're talking. Wait no, I swear I'm not being pretentious. This is the lowest rated album on this site because I guess mostly people aren't very fond of German people smashing metal plates together - who would have guessed. But halle-fucking-lujah, this is something this list needs more of. Albums that make you go "well, that was an experience and now I'm a changed man". Nobody is lying on their deathbed wishing they heard more crappy 80s post-punk or late 60s psychedelic rock. THIS is what we all deserve to be listening to as we embrace eternal oblivion. I'm giving this a high rating not only because I genuinely really love it, but also to help Kid Rock move to his rightful place as the actual worst album on this list. Together we can make a difference. Save the turtles.

270 likes View Author
Scum album cover

Scum

Napalm Death

3/5

Brings back vivid memories of when me and my mate Ray went on a trip to Dresden. We met this rotund goth in a bar, head to toe with tattoos and piercings, real filth and after a while took her into the disabled bogs for a spit roast. We were both pumping away in her with Napalm Death on in the background and her wailing "MEIN GOTT" at the top of her lungs. I remember spaffing all over her back just as Siege of Power kicked in. As i shoot over her, she takes Ray's cock out of her gob and says "do you want fries with that?" in a faux American accent. Anyway, we go outside and there's this gammy little geezer in a wheelchair sitting there furious, giving me daggers, because he's had to wait so long, so I lean into him and I go "I hope you have as much fun in there as we just did you little cunt".

253 likes View Author
Rust Never Sleeps album cover

Rust Never Sleeps

Neil Young & Crazy Horse

5/5

Back when I was in college I used to go to a bar and listen to Neil tunes and do magic tricks for women. There was a bartender there, he was the best. I loved that guy. Some of the best years of my life.

190 likes View Author
Shalimar album cover

Shalimar

Rahul Dev Burman

4/5

Shit like this on the list is both refreshing and infuriating. Refreshing because it is good, fun, interesting, and also not something I would regularly be exposed to! It's why I started this project and keeps me coming back. It's infuriating because the fact that it is included here means that Robert Dimery, the original author of the 1001 albums list is aware that music like this exists. He's clearly aware that there is an entire world of music out there. SO WHY HAVE I LISTENED TO 200 80s BRITISH NEW WAVE ALBUMS AND 200 SCOTTISH ROCK ALBUMS FROM THE 90S??!!?

189 likes View Author
Rust Never Sleeps album cover

Rust Never Sleeps

Neil Young & Crazy Horse

2/5

Back when I was in college, there was this dude who would come into the bar I worked at on a Friday night and play fucking 10 Neil Young songs in a row. He would also hit on girls by doing magic tricks. I remember how angry I got every time he made me listen to an hour of Neil Young because I was just trying to have a good time, and he fucking made me listen to this sad, soppy fuck who writes nothing but songs that sound indistinguishable from each other and never seemed to enjoy a happy moment in his entire like. Fuck that guy, and fuck Neil Young. 2/5

189 likes View Author
Melodrama album cover

Melodrama

Lorde

5/5

Sorry Boomers/Gen X, I was like 20 when this came out so it's one of the best things to ever happen to me. Sorry it's not King Crimson or whatever.

157 likes View Author
Be album cover

Be

Common

5/5

Rap isn't my preferred genre of music. But I'm a shitty mathematician so I enjoyed this.

149 likes View Author
Be album cover

Be

Common

1/5

I really don't get rap, and I am completely aware of why. I'm a STEM guy, specifically a Ph.D. student in mathematics. Although my verbal intelligence is quite high, it's still about a standard deviation below my quantitative intelligence. Therefore, it should not be too surprising that I prefer melodies to lyricism, and that a genre based on the latter doesn't wow me. I know I'm pretty far out of step with public opinion on this one, but that can easily be attributed to the fact that hipsters with humanities degrees (i.e. extremely verbal-dominant people) are considered the ultimate arbiters of taste for some reason. (Side note: this also explains why prog rock is seen as being for losers.) Best song: Be (Intro), which had a decent instrumental part at the beginning. Everything else just sort of ran together.

147 likes View Author
Scum album cover

Scum

Napalm Death

1/5

The only enjoyment I got from this was reading the review about the brothers in Dresden and their lovely and talented tattooed friend.

143 likes View Author
69 Love Songs album cover

69 Love Songs

The Magnetic Fields

2/5

i ain’t listening to all that i’m happy for u tho or sorry that happened

139 likes View Author
Duck Stab/Buster & Glen album cover

Duck Stab/Buster & Glen

The Residents

1/5

The only reason this is here is because it’s from before streaming, when if you bought a shit album you had to convince yourself you liked it.

139 likes View Author
If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears album cover

If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears

The Mamas & The Papas

3/5

Most 60's groups had three choices: copy the beatles, copy the beach boys, or sexually abuse minors. These guys changed the game and did all three- Four stars!

138 likes View Author

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