Album Reviews

It’s just OK so many of the sounds don’t really seem to be coherently mixed

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Deep purple verrast mij toch elke keer. Dit is nu het derde album die ik luister uit de lijst en elke keer keek ik er tegen op. Nu ook weer bij Machine Head vind ik het toch wel weer heel leuk. Ik moet echt mijn mening over deep purple bijstellen en zeggen dat ik het echt wel heel leuk en goed vind. Dat maakt het luisteren van deze lijst toch ook wel heel leuk.

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Phenomenal. What a range.

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5/5 - No doubt boosted by the timing of Dolly's passing, but this was also exactly what I needed to listen to. Definitely belongs on this list. Sincere and beautiful.

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Fuck you Michael Jackson for making such a banger of an album. I want to go back to having your music on my Spotify blocked in peace...

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so psychedelic. you could get lost in this album, in the best way. it's like nothing else. can't imagine how groundbreaking it must have sounded at the time as it still sounds crazy today

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DOLLY 😭 are you kidding I CAN'T GIVE THIS LESS THAN 5 STARS THIS WEEK But also this is literally the first time I've listened to any of her music other than the classics everybody knows. When I was a baby music snob embarrassed by my small town life, I hated this style and would've written it off as "my country grandma's music." Now I hear these songs and feel a compassionate connection to my family and the land that raised them. Am I getting soft and sentimental in middle age? Sure hope so. Thanks for being a light Dolly. 👑

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Nah das war garnich meins diggi

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Too soon

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Lovely

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NOT THE DOLLY ALBUM THE DAY AFTER SHE DIED OMFG 4

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Pour one out for the queen <3

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emocionada de ter ouvido esse nesse dia. sou familiarizada com a dolly por ela ser a cantora favorita da minha mãe então até que escuto bastante country. vocais imaculados!!!

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Three beautiful voices that play so well together. I thoroughly enjoyed listening through it. While it's not an album I'd regularly revisit it's a thing of beauty to enjoy (possibly influenced by the utter nonsense that was yesterdays album and also because of Dolly's passing).

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cock rock: 😐 cock rock, japan: 🤯

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It is like Scooby Doo music, but only okay Scooby Doo music. Not the top tier of Scooby Doo music.

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The album was lovely I haven't really listen to country, especially old county music I added every song to play list, 10 out of 10

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I don’t care for country music. But darn if I didn’t listen to this twice, all the way through, when it was served up to me today. Not because I finally heard country music I enjoyed (I didn’t) but because Dolly died yesterday and I truly believe this earth is a worse place without her. Thanks Dolly.

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i like the black keys in doses and can respect the craft. blues rock isn't always for me but these guys kill it Would I listen again: yes Deserves to be on this list: absolutely 4.1

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Med risk för att häda, men det här är tyvärr ingen bra platta. Låtmaterialet är oerhört svagt och det blir bara sällsynt magisk samverkan mellan tre så starka röster. Tycker faktiskt t.o.m. att Linda och Dolly inte gifter sig så bra ihop (Emmylou funkar förstås med allt och alla), nåt skaver för mig där. Skivan är bäst på mitten, med Linda Thompsons "Telling me lies" som överlägset bästa spår. Vilket i sig kanske inte är nån bubblare men inget annat är ens i närheten säger en hel del om bristen i låtmarerialet. Omslaget är dock fantastiskt Fredrik, med tjenerna som klippdockor i innerknovolutet i bara underkläder som man ska klä i passande countryoutfit. Slätstrucken tvåa

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More less.

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#1033. I'm actually quite glad all of this is anonymous, because I'm pretty sure I don't want to know any of you anyway. Brian Eno, Tom Waits, all the shitass britpop you can find, and that criminally bad 2020 Fiona Apple album get good ratings from you, but this is where you draw the line? 4/5: excellent

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Je pense qu'elle a un problème avec sa maman

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Here's what I've determined about 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. There aren't 1001. Oh, sorry, did that disappoint you? Well, sorry, not sorry. You're going to spend three years listening to all of these and most of them just aren't some earth shattering, legendary, changed music forever type of album. You're going to wade through a ton of crap. Terrible folk music, more brit-pop than you want, unremarkable 60s rock. So when something comes up that's just purely enjoyable, it's nice. Sure, we can debate how much they ripped off Wire. Or that their sound isn't something wholly original. But it's good. It's a enjoyable listen. And frankly, I'll take that in my music library any day over yet another folk album that nobody listens to.

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Dolly was a saint. A wonderful human being. An example how you should use your wealth instead of hoarding it. Someone who made the world a better place. My daughter received her first Imagination Library book this month. Reading it to her I teared up, thinking about all of the quality time we will spend reading over the next five years. Not to say we wouldn’t be reading without the IL, but because we’ll always have new books to look forward to. Thank you, Dolly. Your legacy will live forever.

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3/5

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True story: This album cover was the inspiration for the powerpuff girls.

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Fatigue

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it's good. didn't take listening notes. some serious songs, some sillier songs. weird choice following coat of many colors with traveling man. i would put this more in 'collection of songs as album' category than in 'total unit as album' category. which, the songs were good so really i'm just splitting hairs. EDIT I listened to this on Aug 24, 2026, and Dolly Parton died Aug 25, 2026. To pay my respects, I am changing my rating from a 4/5 to a 5/5. - 8/25/26

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Hot take I guess, but pop is way overrated, unless it's truly phenomenal in composition and execution. Forgot this the moment I listened to it, and before that it was mildly annoying. Really, just, like... Whatever. Give me dadrock or buttrock any day over this.

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I think it‘s not up to debate that Dolly is one of the best people to ever be alive. AND she‘s a great musician! This album is just lovely. She is really good at story telling in song. Songs like the title-track, Traveling Man or She Never Met A Man are such great character pieces that paint detailed pictures of their subjects. All that performed by a sweet and string voice that‘s full of emotion. Musically, it‘s a bit monotonous for me but i guess that‘s also a question of genre preference. All in all, how can you not love Dolly?

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The soundtrack that is playing in the robot factory whilst robots are making new robots (whilst humans starve and burn in wildfires outside the factory). After their week-long shift (without breaks), the robots take their Royksopp CDs home and place them carefully upon their coffee tables next to Moby and the Buena Vista Social Club, dusting and polishing the plastic cases so that when their robot friends come for dinner, they can admire their impeccable taste in music. A heartwarming view of the future - and possibly the only realistic scenario in which the world hasn't actually been destroyed by rogue AI by 2030.

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(4/5) I've always had mixed feelings about 'glam'/'hair metal'. I was a child when it was at its peak and was a teenager in the 90s, so its inglorious exit was fine by me. If a guitar didn't have a distortion effect on it I wouldn't give it the time of day. My flannels all had holes in them. That's how '90s' I was. Time has passed however and so much of that which I dismissed out of hand, like Bon Jovi, has all come back to haunt me. I got really, really tired (with a few exceptions) of pretentious, self-serious music. Some bands stuck with me but a lot was sloughed off like a skin rash. On the other side of that I re-discovered that this big, dumb music from the 80s was really.. *FUN*. I slowly realized not all of my music needed to be some deep, introspection into the mysteries of the human psyche and nature. I wasn't sad all the time, so why did my music have to be? It was OK to chant along with a power chord chorus. I am allowed to smile at a song and bang my head to a catchy tune. This album is a good encapsulation of some of those feelings. Teenage me would be really disappointed in middle-aged me, but I don't give a shit. I want to have fun now and I could do worse than put on this album.

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In the early 90s I was in a short-lived band called 'Stuttgart Factory'. We had intended to play in the Sydney Uni band competition but never made it out of the rehearsal room. We had some old keyboards and a crappy drum machine and produced a few songs somewhere between homage and parody of The Man Machine-era Kraftwerk. The only songs I remember were 'Gimme Gimme Valium' and 'Deutsche Auto'. The lyrics were something like: "Ist das ein Deutsche Auto? Nein, das ist ein Amerikanishe Auto. Ist _das_ ein Deutsche Auto? Nein, das ist ein Japanische Auto. Deutsche Auto (breathy whisper voice) Deutsch-aaahh." Heady stuff. I wish I still had a tape somewhere... All synthpop is, in some way, a response to Kraftwerk; either embracing the cold "we are all robots" vibe (Gary Numan, for example) or reacting against with hyper-emotionalism (eg. Soft Cell or Depeche Mode). Kratfwerk's move from the ambient, musique concrete approach typical of synth bands of the 70s (Tangerine Dream, et al.) towards an embrace of pop forms was unexpected but genius. There are catchy tunes and jaunty beats and plenty of hooks here. You certainly couldn't accuse Tangerine Dream of those features. The influence was surprisingly widespread and deep. I mean, who would have predicted Kraftwerk would be so central to early 80s hip hop? You can find elements of Kraftwerk in almost all popular music these days. The Man Machine and Computer World are Kraftwerk at the height of their pop powers. Electric Cafe (an album I secretly quite like) "flopped", and they have basically rested on their well-deserved laurels ever since. But this is absolutely seminal, and a great listen.

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Damn she passed away right after I listened to her for the first time, RIP

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I am only a few weeks from finishing this project. The end is in sight, and it can't come fast enough. I found this album absolutely exhausting. It's like a cross between Daft Punk and the Chemical Brothers (both of whom I really dig), so I can't explain why I find this so wearying. It's shiny and loud and funky and a bit noisy and energetic, but I just want to put my fingers in my ears and gently beat my forehead against the tabletop. Please make it stop.

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Mind blowing

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Now THIS is how your rebound from a bad record! Bringing the funk, the soul, and a marvelously extended version of Papa Was A Rolling Stone (over a third of its overall run time), this one was a breathe of fresh air that didn't overstay its welcome and left plenty of time for a repeat performance. I'm going out on a strong limb saying that the mentioned track alone earns this one three stars, but the remainder (while groovy and eminently listenable) doesn't quite garner it two more. Still manages a very respectable 4.5/5 that I'm hesitant to round up without a good deal of revisiting and an improved estimation of its other tracks.

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I am a record fiend from way back and I spend a lot of time trawling for bargains in dusty record stores. I have a special place in my heart for classic records that you commonly see for $1. Willie Nelson's Stardust is one of those records. It sold a bazillion copies back in the day but has fallen a bit out of favour, so it is common to find vinyl copies languishing in the bargain bins. It is an under-appreciated gem. Willie Nelson might dress like a country outlaw, but secretly he is a jazzbo -- he always liked a clever chord, a surprisingly complex solo, and 'jazz' cigarettes. Especially the 'jazz' cigarettes. Willie obviously loves American popular song, and so do I. These are some of the greatest songs of all time. Willie knows and loves these songs and he deeply understands them. I love the modest and tasteful arrangements from Booker T. Jones, thankfully avoiding over-egging the pudding with strings or backing choirs. Willie's regular band plays with sympathetic and understated restraint. I like the road-weariness in Willie's voice -- it makes everything seem heartful and honest. It is a welcome opportunity to hear these classic songs with fresh ears. Many artists have copied this concept with a late-career tribute to the American songbook, but few attempts approach the sincere beauty and warmth of this album. This is an evergreen album I can happily listen to any day.

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I was interested in what you said yesterday about Bitches Brew being treated and effected in the studio, making it more of a rock record than a jazz document. It did more than just capture the performance in the room. There is certainly a little of that going on here, but, still, I don't think that Kollaps is a record in that sense. Up until this point, Einstürzende Neubauten had been a notorious performance art group, banging sheet metal and miking up industrial tools. It was a ritual of extremity and, at one early London gig, they dangerously undermined the foundations of the venue. There is nothing in that musical approach that really belongs on a record and nothing much about it that needs to be recorded. Kollaps suggests that the estranging, shamanic nature of the performance cannot be replicated in a studio and that, while the group may add a few effects here and there, or bewilder the listener with a meandering tracklist, to simulate the psychodrama of the live experience, this is not the real deal. It is, in fact, quite a soft, spare, gentle record for the most part. Most of the tracks have a clear 4/4 pulse, so, unlike Bitches Brew, you can follow along and you could quite easily dance. It would be a primitive, animalistic form of dance, but that's appropriate. With the record, you can set the volume yourself, so it won't be overwhelming. It is genuinely the safer option than seeing the group live. But the recording is hardly the point. Making records is just what groups did back then. Like many great live acts (I use the work great advisedly, as I've never seen Neubauten live), the record is just a byproduct, another form of merc that supports the group in their actual goal. Who really listens to albums by Crass or Boredoms or Acid Mothers Temple? No one. Who went to see Crass and Boredoms or Acid Mothers Temples? Loads of people. Well, I've never seen Crass, but I've seen the other two and they were great experiences. Their records cannot replicate that greatness, but the records are a necessity of the business. They are a token by which listeners can demonstrate support of the band's artistic vision and mission. Ownership of a Crass record communicates your endorsement of the band's ethic. Ownership of Kollaps communicates your comfort with their live extremity, your hardiness, your wearwithal. No one expects you to listen to any of these things often. Indeed, the neutered, conservative quality of Kollaps might kill the whole thing for you. Without this context, it is unfair to present Kollaps for assessment by randomers. The one star and five star reviews are equally hyperbolic, barely grappling with the flickering ghost content of this partial field recording. This is a solid three star record, whether or not I'm listening to it, because it has to be. Good for Neubauten. Keep it up! 3 “All music after Mahler sounds exactly like that.” Captain Raymond Holt The most striking thing about this (almost) most-despised of albums on this list of over a thousand, is how conservative it is. 4/4 dominates. Beats repeat in loop. The singer sings the title of the songs with rhythmic regularity. Most of the tracks are 2-3 minutes long. ‘Found Instruments’? John Cage was doing this on television in the 1950s. Stockhausen is on the cover of Sgt Pepper’s. I don’t mean to put down Einstürzende Neubauten by any of those observations - I credit them for folding their interest in sound experiment into the pop format with as much discipline as they do. I don’t know that the results are all that worthy of celebration - although I did quite like some of this, particularly the title track. I am puzzled that listeners are so intolerant of it however. What do you people want? More Neil Young probably. So I’m giving a wee extra half mark to poor Einstürzende Neubauten in reparations. 2.5/5

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great stuff. rip to a legend.

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Surprised to see this on here. I say this as someone who bought this as soon as it came out and probably listened to it 1500 times. But Nonsuch is the late period XTC album that should be on this list. Go listen to that. A lot. That record deserves A LOT more attention. The world would be a better place if everyone spent more time with it. Go. Now! The musical craftsmanship here is stunning. Truly. Rewards a close listen. Listening to it again today on headphones, my mouth is agape. And Colin Moulding's musicianship particularly should be claimed by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site. But the content here was not worth breaking up the band to bring it to life, as was the case here, with much budget induced stress. Fuck capitalism and the horrible forces of reality! But real they are, and if your art requires a big budget, you are making a choice to prioritize that and I'm not sure I agree with the decision here. This gets four stars from me because it is in the top 40% of albums, but it isn't in the top 60% of XTC. My friends and I used to jokingly, and lovingly, spread a rumor that Dave Gregory is living above a laundromat in our hometown. I will still get the occasional text. "I think I just saw Dave G at the Big Y deli counter." I pray those messages outlive me, and I pray XTC's music outlives its makers.

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(sigh) This album confirms to me that Dimery knows NOTHING about non-Western music. Yeah, it's a got a sitar in it, but this isn't a meaningful fusion of Indian and Western music; it's a fucking joke. It cheapens and demeans traditional Indian music. It's a novelty record, akin to Moog Plays Bacharach or the Beatle Barkers. And it wasn't even the first to try this concept; Harihar Rao's Raga Rock (an equally terrible record) predates this by 4 years. I wonder about Dimery's 'world music' inclusions on this list. They often seem to be the examples most geared towards Western audiences, often to the point of pandering. The most extreme examples are a world music mélange, whipping a random combination of disparate influences together over some canned beats into an indistinctly tasteful 'international blend' suitable for a dinner party or an afternoon set at a Womad festival. I can only see this record on this list as an example of an 'exotic' novelty album, a genre commonly found in bargain bins, charity stores, and your grandparents' record collections. As an example of shit novelty records that you will commonly see in your travels as a vinyl collector, this rates two stars for being vaguely listenable (the covers, at least, which are kind of funny). But as serious music? Get real, what would be next? James Last? Klaus Wunderlich? Hammond A Go Go? The Baja Marimba Band? Fuck off! 1.5 stars, rounding down.

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Meh. Add in the pedo shit and I'm gonna go ahead and give this zero stars.

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Ladysmith Black Mambazo had 25 years performing and more than a dozen albums under their belt by the time they cameoed on the Graceland album. I have strong feelings about Paul Simon's relationship with collaborators (*cough cough * serial plagiarist and musical colonialist *cough cough*) but will concede that he did strong-arm Warners into giving wide release to a full album that he produced. Simon had the good sense to keep himself relatively out of the spotlight -- no cameos, don't muck around with the formula -- although the liberal application of reverb and delay in the mix have dated the production a bit. And Ladysmith won Grammys, sold a bunch of records and have built a career touring the world ever since, even if Warners couldn't be bothered sustaining their interest for more than a couple of records. There are some concessions to Western audiences here - four songs in English, a translated lyrics sheet, the aforementioned mix -- but Joseph Shabalala and his well-honed choir did what they had always done. You could potentially accuse them of being a one-trick pony, but it is a really good trick. Frankly, you could happily swap this out for almost any one of their many albums and get a great representation of what is wonderful about the group.

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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.

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.

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".

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.

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.

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

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

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??!!?

Rage In Favor Of The Machine.

Music for incels to wank furiously by

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.

The beauty of music is that it is subjective. It’s typically great for a certain group of people, though it’s never right for everyone. Some for the masses, some more niche, but it all has its place. Meanwhile, with lists like this, there’s always artists or records that anyone would have put on in place of what actually made it. Personally, I would have included Queensryche’s Operation Mindcrime, Live’s Throwing Copper, Joe Satriani’s The Extremist, Sara Bareilles’ Little Voice, or John Mellencamp’s Scarecrow album on a list of must hear records. Others would put totally different albums on and that's awesome. What someone likes vs. dislikes is truly subjective. Again, that's the beauty. With that said, this album objectively sucks. I mean truly horrible. Something had to be the lowest rated album on the list, and this was a place well earned. There is nothing redeemable about this record. To quote my wife, “they should have stopped at 1,000.”

I am definitely not the target demographic for this album, but I still thought it was very good. There's a lot of skill and artistry put into these tracks, so much so that it is almost invisible. 4 stars for me, plus an extra star just to spite the mathematics PHD guy.

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

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