238
Albums Rated
3.18
Average Rating
22%
Complete
851 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
2010
Favorite Decade
Blues
Favorite Genre
UK
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
25
5-Star Albums
12
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Feast of Wire
Calexico
|
5 | 3.29 | +1.71 |
|
A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Various Artists
|
5 | 3.29 | +1.71 |
|
The Yes Album
Yes
|
5 | 3.31 | +1.69 |
|
Urban Hymns
The Verve
|
5 | 3.36 | +1.64 |
|
A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Coldplay
|
5 | 3.43 | +1.57 |
|
Reggatta De Blanc
The Police
|
5 | 3.44 | +1.56 |
|
Imagine
John Lennon
|
5 | 3.45 | +1.55 |
|
It's Blitz!
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
|
5 | 3.48 | +1.52 |
|
Arrival
ABBA
|
5 | 3.52 | +1.48 |
|
Document
R.E.M.
|
5 | 3.55 | +1.45 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Smash
The Offspring
|
1 | 3.36 | -2.36 |
|
Ready To Die
The Notorious B.I.G.
|
1 | 3.36 | -2.36 |
|
Horses
Patti Smith
|
1 | 3.31 | -2.31 |
|
System Of A Down
System Of A Down
|
1 | 3.27 | -2.27 |
|
Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black
Public Enemy
|
1 | 3.24 | -2.24 |
|
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
|
1 | 3.14 | -2.14 |
|
Pet Sounds
The Beach Boys
|
2 | 3.92 | -1.92 |
|
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
Raekwon
|
1 | 2.84 | -1.84 |
|
Appetite For Destruction
Guns N' Roses
|
2 | 3.71 | -1.71 |
|
Slipknot
Slipknot
|
1 | 2.68 | -1.68 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Beatles | 4 | 5 |
| Simon & Garfunkel | 2 | 5 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| The Rolling Stones | 5, 2 |
5-Star Albums (25)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
John Zorn · 1 likes
1/5
This is the Napalm Death of jazz. No wonder this isn’t streaming anywhere.
Jerry Lee Lewis · 1 likes
4/5
It’s like this guy has the energy of a 14 year old.
Paul Simon · 1 likes
3/5
Despite what Paul Simon says, I think this would have been so much better as a Simon and Garfunkel album. Instead, it’s overlooked.
Kate Bush · 1 likes
3/5
Getting her Yoko on.
Simon & Garfunkel · 1 likes
5/5
Ya gotta love an album from a band that’s hitting their stride of being one of the greatest bands of all time.
1-Star Albums (12)
All Ratings
2Pac
4/5
very excellent, if very dirty, lyrics. He has a lot to say, and it's very well done
The Zombies
2/5
Influential for sure, but it doesn’t belong on this list.
Cypress Hill
1/5
Probably better than the ilk of its peers, but I don’t know why this made the list. Waste of time.
Sarah Vaughan
3/5
I’m sure you had to be there. Three stars.
Nina Simone
4/5
I never understood why everyone is so crazy about Nina Simone. I get it now.
Beastie Boys
3/5
Not as bad as I feared, but as overhyped as expected.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
2/5
Worth listening to but not essential. It’s two songs.
Sheryl Crow
4/5
I dismissed it when it came out, and never listened to it again. The Globe Sessions is a nearly perfect album, so it's surprising to see this one on the list. But this album does deserve a listen, even if it's not the best in her catalog. Four stars.
The Who
5/5
Finally an album worth being on this list.
The Temptations
3/5
Worth a listen.
David Gray
4/5
Better than I ever could have thought. I listened to it twice and look forward to revisiting it again.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Eurythmics
3/5
Great closing track. But otherwise, stick to the greatest hits.
Kate Bush
3/5
Getting her Yoko on.
The xx
4/5
Atmospheric
Coldplay
5/5
Their best album has one of the best album sides ever.
The Doors
4/5
Practically a greatest hits.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
Merle Haggard
2/5
A stereotypically bad country album.
Big Star
3/5
Some songs sound like Material Issue. Most sound like Elliot Smith. A good album to hear but not necessarily revisit.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
2/5
Another Groundbreaking record that doesn’t hold up as much as people think.
The Velvet Underground
2/5
The murder mystery is an incredible song. Everything else is unlistenable. Lou reed may have done some things first, but everyone else does those things better.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Incubus
2/5
Just because it's a good Incubus album doesn't mean it's a good album. But what other band before them had a turntable scratcher?
Duke Ellington
4/5
Radiohead
4/5
Todd Rundgren
2/5
Nobody needs this much Todd rundgren.
The Offspring
1/5
The stupidest album ever made. This band is even worse than I thought, and they’re already my least favorite band.
Patti Smith
1/5
There’s nothing here that I’d ever want to hear again.
John Lennon
5/5
The Rolling Stones
5/5
Finally, a Stones album that you can almost listen to all the way through.
T. Rex
3/5
I had higher hopes for the album tracks, but it warrants another listen.
The Stranglers
3/5
I’ve never heard of them, but this album seems to pave the way for Joe Jackson’s debut album.
The Roots
2/5
It’s not the worst hip hop album, but it cannot pretend to be essential listening. How can a band that good make an album this bad?
William Orbit
4/5
This is the missing evolutionary link between Enigma and Moby, and it explains why anyone who was anyone in the early 90s had a William Orbit remix as a B side.
Ramones
3/5
They’re not as one-dimensional as I thought. But all they’ve got is a red guitar, three chords, and the truth.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
4/5
Oh Gritty, Where Art Thou?
Keith Jarrett
3/5
Definitely needed a better piano. I see why he almost didn’t perform.
Beatles
5/5
The greatest album by the greatest band. I don’t leave home without this album. It’s on my phone. It’s in all of my cars. It’s on my computer at work. It’s in my soul. On the list of 1001, this is #1.
The Style Council
4/5
Not what I expected at all. Where jazz meets pop.
Weather Report
3/5
It’s like Joe Jackson’s “Night Music” album but without the Joe Jackson.
This album needs more Joe Jackson.
Eagles
5/5
Not a perfect album but a damn good one.
Eminem
4/5
He’s the Bob Dylan of rap. I mean, look at all of the things he got to rhyme with “Amityville”. And he actually has something to say and you can actually understand what he’s saying and the backing tracks are put together with rock sensibilities.
Flamin' Groovies
4/5
Rocket From The Crypt
3/5
not bad, but not good either.
Yes
5/5
another album worthy of this list.
R.E.M.
5/5
And it isn’t even their best album. That’s how good they were.
David Bowie
4/5
I’m still discovering new things on this album.
The Magnetic Fields
3/5
Ever wonder what it’d be like if The National put out a three hour album of quirky pop indie love songs? Me neither. This is the answer to a question nobody asked.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Stick to the greatest hits.
Isaac Hayes
3/5
Probably the only film score worth listening to.
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
This is a really great album with zero hits. I’d give it five stars if I could remember half of the songs.
The Notorious B.I.G.
1/5
A notoriously BIG waste of time.
5/5
And it’s not even their best album. But if you weren’t alive before this came out, there’s no way to fully comprehend the way this record shifted the trajectory of rock and roll.
Adam & The Ants
2/5
This album isn’t good enough to make anyone who isn’t into new wave give a shit. I despise most rap, but the first album this list generated recommended was Tupac, and it was definitely worth hearing. Adam Ant, like every artist, has no less than one good song. Sadly, he also has no more than one good song, and it isn’t on this album. Next album please!
Ute Lemper
2/5
The Aldi off-brand version of Kate Bush
OutKast
4/5
Very surprisingly good
David Bowie
4/5
No hits, but a solid album
Bob Dylan
4/5
Very good. But I see why he went electric.
Blur
3/5
I think i like it better now than when it came out. I’d revisit it.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Getting his Leonard Cohen on. Funny thing is the song he contributed to the I’m Your Fan compilation would be completely out of place here.
Antony and the Johnsons
2/5
So after Tiny Tim got married on the Tonight Show, he put a band together and started singing about Tiptoeing Through the Gender Fluidity? Seriously, what the hell is this? And yet I’ve heard way worse from this list.
The Waterboys
4/5
Good!
Kendrick Lamar
2/5
This revolution cannot be televised, because every fourth word is fuck, nigger, dick, or shit. Pity, because this album is Gil Scott Heron with incredible production value. Check out the last two songs. But after 20 minutes, it’s just tiring and pathetically stereotypical.
Pere Ubu
3/5
If you told me this was TV On The Radio’s first album, I’d believe you. And then I’d tell you that their other albums are better.
Mike Ladd
2/5
Better than the average hip hop album, but the average hip hop album sucks.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
I never liked Joni Mitchell until now. Her songs always seemed annoyingly out of place when they come on the radio, but as a cohesive album, songs I thought I hated make perfect sense. Maybe it’s the strong opening track that explains what a court and spark is. Maybe I’m just ready for her now. Maybe I’ll listen to her other albums. Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
a-ha
3/5
I haven’t heard this since 1988. It holds up. Not sure why it’s on this list though.
Aretha Franklin
4/5
This is what this list is all about. Listen to the rest of the album that contains some of the biggest hits by a legend. What a treat for the ears.
Underworld
3/5
You haven’t heard electronica like this since the last time you heard electronica like this. Or the last time you were shopping at the Limited.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
5/5
I’ve been meaning to listen to this album, and damn it’s good.
James Brown
2/5
I don’t get what makes this a classic, other than it’s James Brown. It’s not even a greatest hits set list.
Public Enemy
1/5
The last track doesn’t suck. Good luck making it that far.
George Harrison
5/5
I’ve been a beatle fan my whole life, but George Harrison’s nasal accent and complex melodies didn’t taste as sweet to my young ears as Lennon and McCartney. Adding slide guitar and Phil Spector didn’t help things. I came to love this album later in life, even the self indulgent third album of Apple jams. It’s a near perfect double album and a bittersweet time capsule.
Calexico
5/5
Quattro is an all-time favorite, and I forgot that the whole album is filled with songs nearly as good, making for an excellent listen. Every Los Lobos fan should check out this album, because it is Los Lobos adjacent. But every millennial who doesn’t know who Los Lobos is should check out this album. Calexico is your generation’s Los Lobos.
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
4/5
I only know him from the I’m Your Fan album, and this was very good as I would have expected.
Various Artists
5/5
You already know and love half of this album.
Jorge Ben Jor
4/5
Where samba meets rock. Too bad it’s in a foreign language.
Ride
4/5
Where pristine 80s jangly alternative meets 90s grungy alternative. It’s both of its time and ahead of its time. Worthy of a repeat listen.
Richard Hawley
4/5
Hipster listening, Leonard Cohen with an English rockabilly vibe. There’s no twang, but it’s implied. Check out the expanded 20th anniversary edition, which has a cover of my dad’s favorite Everly Brothers song “I’m Just Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail.”
Metallica
3/5
Half of this album is actually listenable. “Hey everybody, Metallica wrote some songs that don’t suck! You gotta hear them! Put it on the list!”
Sonic Youth
2/5
In the movie Juno, Ellen Page’s character describes Sonic Youth as “just noise.” This is better than described, but just because it’s a good Sonic Youth album doesn’t mean it’s a good album. If it was ahead of its time, it doesn’t hold up; dumb songs are dumb songs regardless of the decade.
Belle & Sebastian
3/5
Ahead of its time. Every hipster Brooklyn band owes a lot to this album.
The Smiths
2/5
Listening to this album drives home the point that Morrisey can sing no more than four notes. It makes listening to any Smiths album tedious.
The Rolling Stones
2/5
Hey I really like that Under My Thumb song. I think I’ll buy the whole album. Oof. There isn’t one album track I’d ever want to hear again. And that, students, is the difference between the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. You must own every Beatles album. You only need the Stones greatest hits.
Klaxons
4/5
Like Wilco with a pulse. Or something. I like it.
Pere Ubu
1/5
Ever wonder what it would be like if Captain Beefheart made a punk album? Me neither. Another answer to a question that nobody asked. Sit, Ubu, sit. Good dog.
The Verve
5/5
It’s been almost thirty years since I’ve listened to this album and boy have I been missing out. It’s aged well, and as each song played, song after song, I couldn’t see a reason not to give it five stars. It’s that unexpectedly good.
Violent Femmes
4/5
Come for “Gone Daddy Gone,” stay for the rest of the album. I never liked it that much until right now.
Beatles
5/5
A close second place to Abbey Road.
Ray Charles
3/5
I’m surprised that this is only the second album I’ve encountered on the list that isn’t on a streaming service. The other one is Captain Beefheart. Ray Charles is better.
Foo Fighters
4/5
It’s annoyingly decidedly lo-fi, but now that I’m over it (and many of the albums after Wasting Light have been a Waste of Time), this album is quite good in retrospect. I wasn’t impressed at the time, but this album holds up very well and even improves in retrospect.
The Vines
4/5
It’s what Oasis would be if there were no Beatles: a very good rock band. I want to hear this album again.
Radiohead
4/5
It’s hard to describe Radiohead’s post-modern progressive rock. Is it jazz? Techno? Ambient noise? Rejected ideas from Yoko Ono? Yes, and it’s fantastic. Nobody does what Radiohead does and nobody else should. We really don’t need any more of this.
Earth, Wind & Fire
3/5
It’s Shaft-errific! Perfect music for your Boogie Nights theme party.
Raekwon
1/5
Wu-Tang for never!
Boards of Canada
3/5
This is perfect background music for a time lapse film of sunrises and traffic zipping through a city center. If you told me this was the soundtrack to Koyaanisqatsi, I’d almost believe you. Mercifully, nobody on this album is chanting “Koyaanisqatsi”
Jeff Buckley
4/5
I bought this CD used back in the day and hated it because no other song on that album came close to being as good as “Last Goodbye,” which is a masterpiece. But listening to it again for the first time in 30 years, I hear how his vocal style (which annoyed me in 1995) influenced Radiohead. And once you compare him to Radiohead—who I like but they are difficult to listen to—well Jeff Buckley sounds as sweet and as accessible as Harry Styles. This album demands to be listened to and not just heard. If you give it your full attention, it will reward you. Prior to today, I would have described Grace as a single for Last Goodbye with ten B sides. But now that I’ve really listened to it, I appreciate how good his band was and how i think i could discover something new with every repeated listen. It’s not a five star album but it’s close.
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
I expected more.
Joy Division
3/5
It sounds more like a rejected Doors demo tape (but without the indulgent spoken word poetry) than New Order in utero.
Miriam Makeba
3/5
Wow. I feel so worldly after listening to this. The album cover says it all: a mature South African black woman singing South African songs.
David Bowie
3/5
Bowie’s albums are usually better than his singles. This one deserves repeated listening.
The Beta Band
4/5
They took a walk among the flowers for a couple of hours and came up with a pretty good album.
Youssou N'Dour
3/5
This album is better than when I saw Youssou N’Dour open for Peter Gabriel.
Jungle Brothers
3/5
Another hip hop album that doesn’t suck, because it’s rooted in good grooves and groovy samples, sprinkled with good, if not always discernible, lyrics.
Pink Floyd
5/5
Elvis Costello
3/5
I’ve been meaning to listen to this since it came out. Some of his most energetic work in a while.
Bee Gees
4/5
Main Course is their best album. It’s a perfect album. This is the Main Course of their early period. But know that their early period wasn’t as good.
Guns N' Roses
2/5
I had no appetite for this album when it came out, and it’s aged about as well as a head of cabbage. You know where you are? You’re in one of the circles of hell if they’re making you listen to this. Thank god grunge rendered this laughably cheesy band obsolete. But Axl Rose is a good follow on social media.
Eminem
2/5
This album is the reason I used to hate Eminem.
Billy Bragg
3/5
It’s like a Very Special Wilco album
Ice T
3/5
Another talented badass who’s been embraced by TV watching grandmas everywhere. It’s a shame you can’t listen to this album in public because it is worth hearing.
Buena Vista Social Club
4/5
When you get Ry Cooder to sing your eulogy at the hundredth meridian, make sure he brings the Buena Vista Social Club
The Beach Boys
2/5
We owe a debt of gratitude for their pioneering use of the studio as an instrument. Unfortunately, they brought more drugs than good songs to the studio. God Only Knows and Wouldn’t It Be Nice are timeless, but the rest of the album is filler, and this band is still overrated.
The Damned
4/5
Worth hearing and getting to know better
Big Brother & The Holding Company
2/5
It’s Piece of My Heart and ten B-sides. Stick to the greatest hits. Great album cover though.
Paul Simon
3/5
Despite what Paul Simon says, I think this would have been so much better as a Simon and Garfunkel album. Instead, it’s overlooked.
Supertramp
3/5
The album tracks are good but forgettable. I was not expecting elements of prog rock. Worth another listen.
Portishead
5/5
I’ve been meaning to listen to this album since it came out. It did not disappoint.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
The good songs are very good, and the album tracks are very dull. But this is half of his greatest hits right here.
Aerosmith
4/5
This is a favorite that I haven’t heard in a while.
The KLF
2/5
It sounds like everything else that sounds like this.
The B-52's
2/5
There’s no surprises here: the album tracks you haven’t heard before sound exactly how you’d expect.
Neil Young
3/5
Half of this album is greatest hits. The other half is meh.
Fairport Convention
4/5
Lorena McKinnett, Nickel Creek, and every band in every Irish bar owes a lot to this band for paving a path to the mainstream.
Frank Sinatra
4/5
If you were wondering if this is Frank Sinatra’s bossa nova album, The Girl from Ipanema is on here four times.
B.B. King
4/5
He’s been downhearted babe.
Laura Nyro
2/5
I see why people really thought she’d be the next big thing and I see why she went nowhere. She simultaneously checks all the boxes while being largely unlistenable.
Bert Jansch
4/5
Unexpectedly good. Be sure to listen to the last song on the album.
Janis Joplin
4/5
Once you get past her annoying voice, this is a pretty good album.
Ravi Shankar
4/5
It’s better when the Beatles do it, but this is a very enjoyable album.
Iggy Pop
3/5
I didn’t know piggy pop went through a Bowie phase. I didn’t know he wrote China Girl. This was a pleasant surprise.
Bon Jovi
2/5
Dead or Alive is one of the best songs of the 80s. Unfortunately, everything else this band has done is pure garbage. I love Bon Jovi as a person. The band is talented. Like a Toyota, it checks many of the boxes on paper but I just can’t stand it.
Queen
3/5
This is the best Queen album I never heard. There might even be a few tracks I go back to. But Queen was never high on my list.
Ryan Adams
4/5
This guy is underrated. I never knew this album existed and I’m already in love with it.
Beastie Boys
4/5
It took me a long time to appreciate the Beastie Boys. I’m glad my first listen to this album was now and not back when I was a hater. This deserves repeat listens with the lyric sheet nearby.
Pixies
3/5
I don’t dislike the pixies, but I don’t get excited about them either. This wasn’t as annoying as I feared, and it deserves another listen.
The Police
5/5
Better than the first album. This one has more Stewart Copeland songs.
N.E.R.D
4/5
I judged this book by its cover and avoided it for decades. Big mistake. This is Pharrell Williams. This is rock, flavored with soul and a hip hop backbeat. This is what OutKast should have been. This is a band with a name worse than Toad The Wet Sprocket.
Syd Barrett
1/5
So what did Syd do after Pink Floyd? Oh. Well, it’s still more accessible than anything he did with Pink Floyd.
Pearl Jam
5/5
Billie Holiday
2/5
I respect her more than I enjoy her.
Leonard Cohen
2/5
Moby
4/5
Good then. Great now
Happy Mondays
4/5
Another Oasis-adjacent band, but dance-y and with some songs you know and forgot about.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Yet another Nick Cave album that is quite well crafted, different from the last album of his I heard, and yet it’s not something I’d put into heavy rotation.
David Bowie
3/5
A consistent album with a cohesive sound, best known for Life on Mars and Changes.
The Doors
3/5
It’s not bursting with their best hits, but the songs are strong and make a cohesive unit. Almost four stars.
Taylor Swift
4/5
Listening to this again and paying attention to her lyrics, I realized this is a great breakup album. It’s easy to dismiss her work because there’s not a lot of melodic or musical hooks to draw you in. She forces you to really work, but once you really hear the song as a whole, the discovery is very rewarding. This would be a five star album if she could write melodies like McCartney. But she’s more of a Leonard Cohen.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
2/5
A significant album that is little more than a museum piece now.
5/5
A near perfect album that nobody’s been able to touch, not even them.
Van Morrison
2/5
There’s not much to like here: his awful voice, this isn’t a greatest hits setlist, and this version of Into the Mystic—his only good song—is phoned in. But his band! Oh, his band. So is this the “Frampton Comes Alive” of Ireland? Asking for a friend.
UB40
3/5
I didn’t know this album existed and thought this band did only terrible covers. (Although “Sing Our Own Song” is an amazing track that isn’t on this album.) The band sounds incredible on this album and hey—no terrible covers.
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
It’s all here: bongos, flutes, guitars with wa-wa pedals that go wicka-wacka-wicka-wacka. Listening to that album, you can see the earth tones.
Meat Loaf
2/5
This meatloaf has a lot of cheese, but “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” ain’t bad. The rest of the album is laughable but not enjoyable.
2/5
Listening to this album is like driving a 1984 Dodge Caravan: I appreciate its place in history, but I don’t really want to drive it.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
Ya gotta love an album from a band that’s hitting their stride of being one of the greatest bands of all time.
Pixies
2/5
If it wasn’t for “Gigantic” (and the Swell Season’s cover of it), this album of unlistenable noise would warrant only one star. The naked chick on the album cover is way better than anything found inside.
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
Yet another band I’ve heard of but never heard. You can never have too much great 90s power pop.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
If your Elvis is dead, try ours. The anniversary edition has a boatload of live performances.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
Outside of his work with sir Paul McCartney, this is the best sounding Elvis album I’ve heard. Great album cover, too. Imagine how much better this album would be if anybody else was the vocalist.
ABBA
5/5
Ok, hear me out. This is a four star album, not a five star album. ABBA didn’t make albums; they made collections of songs. I haven’t heard this album since I was about ten, but I knew it well. And I loved many of the album tracks, like Tiger, Why Did It Have to Be Me, When I Kissed the Teacher, and Arrival. But the hits on this album were hits for a reason: they’re simple but clever and sonically layered. Pop perfection. Knowing Me Knowing You is a devastating song about divorce that masquerades as a disposable pop song, and then you realize how many layers of guitars are on this track. But five stars? This is a four star album. Indeed. But I could not stop listening to this album all day. It filled the hole in my soul. No other album on this list had that effect on me. It seemed insulting to only give it four stars.
Little Richard
3/5
It holds up quite well for being one of the first rock albums ever. The guy has chops and the band plays like their life depends on it. The Beatles and Elvis both ripped him off.
Massive Attack
3/5
Very good trip-hop if a little forgettable.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
I’ve been dreading listening to this album my whole life. I’m not a Springsteen fan (people cringe when I say his best album is Tunnel of Love), and this album has zero hits on it. But I’m a fan of the Ghost of Tom Joad, and that song would feel at home here. This album features sparse acoustic arrangements of sad American stories. It’s still longer than it needs to be; nobody wants that much sad Bruce and piercing harmonica in one sitting. This is the kind of album artists make late in their careers. Bruce totally Benjamin Buttoned it.
Britney Spears
3/5
This is what you’d think it’d be: a pop album with some rock sensibility, although some tracks sound they were fished out of Mariah Carey’s trash bin. A cover of Sonny & Cher’s “Beat Goes On” is a nice surprise.
Hanoi Rocks
3/5
I cringed when I saw this band influenced some of the worst bands of all time: poison, guns n losers, etc. But then I remembered how many bands the Beatles influenced and none of those bands are anywhere as good as the Fab Four. Hanoi Rocks is a good band, and this is a good album. I just don’t need it.
The Coral
3/5
For all we know, these are all Guess Who or Grass Roots album tracks.
Rage Against The Machine
3/5
Raging against bill Clinton? Oh buddy, you don’t know how good you had it. These songs are more relevant now than ever. But I fucking hate the squeaky guitar. You lose a star for that shit.
Mariah Carey
2/5
Other than her piercing vocals and a good song about being on a rooftop, this sounds like everything else that sounds like this. Stereotypical baby making music.
Guided By Voices
3/5
These are all very good song ideas. Somebody should really finish them. Seriously, call Wilco.
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
Talented, yes. Enjoyable, yes. But why can I only take this band in small doses? Is it the over fuzzed guitars? The nasal whine? The repetitive formula of every song? Yes.
Suicide
3/5
So many people ripped this band off, and I never heard of them until now.
Tina Turner
4/5
An old favorite from a legend.
Super Furry Animals
3/5
A more accessible but more forgettable Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips
4/5
I forgot about all of the pre-1973 Pink Floyd influences. These guys do it better.
50 Cent
2/5
Madonna
4/5
My wife happened to buy it the day it came out. It was the first Madonna album I had liked since her first three albums. It’s the only one worth revisiting unironically. This and U2’s Pop make a good set. Cast your opinions of Madonna aside and listen to this without prejudice. It’s a great album.
Elvis Presley
3/5
I was amazed how much hate this album got—fat Elvis, overproduced, cheesy—and yet it has three of his best songs: In the Ghetto, Suspicious Minds, and Kentucky Rain. Is it the last good Elvis album? Yes. Are those the only three songs on the album worth hearing? Sadly, yes. There’s a reason why I’ve always stuck to his greatest hits. That said, long live the king.
Elbow
3/5
The best album Coldplay never made.
Alice In Chains
2/5
Better than I remember, but Jar of Flies is one of the best albums ever. It better be on this list. But you should hear Dirt, if it only to track their progression to their magnum opus jar.
Elvis Costello
3/5
This list really likes Elvis Costello. But this strong 1977 debut paved the road traveled by the great Joe Jackson in 1979. My Aim Is True is the only Elvis album that I can listen to in the same sitting. How much better would this album be if it had Lipstick Vogue? Alas, that’s on his follow up album.
Elvis Presley
3/5
This is an impressive debut by today’s standards. Can you imagine how world changing this was in 1956? Long live the king!
David Bowie
3/5
He’s good, but Peter Gabriel is so much better.
The Specials
2/5
This album makes me feel nothing. That’s not how music is supposed to work.
Beatles
5/5
Don’t let this band’s iconic albums overshadow the gems on this one: If I Needed Someone, Run for Your Life, Norwegian Wood belong on every best of list.
Donald Fagen
3/5
A decent steely fan album.
3/5
Enjoyable but mostly forgettable.
Sugar
3/5
The brilliant “Workbook” was my first exposure to Bob Mould, and unfortunately it’s an outlier compared to his otherwise noisy and distorted body of work. Copper Blue is a little more palatable, but if he wasn’t always setting his dials to 11 one might realize a wonderful song buried under all that noise.
Joan Armatrading
3/5
The Tracy Chapman of the 70s. But this album needs a Fast Car or a Baby Can I Hold You or some good catchy pop tune to anchor the album. Pity because she’s a fantastic songwriter.
Alice Cooper
3/5
I fully expected to give this two stars but it’s actually pretty good.
Napalm Death
1/5
Funny for all the wrong reasons, but mostly because it defines the stereotype and takes the garbage that it is so seriously. The band can’t play its own songs, but didn’t take the hint and played them anyway.
Kraftwerk
3/5
A more accessible Kraftwerk.
Big Star
3/5
1/5
This is the Napalm Death of jazz. No wonder this isn’t streaming anywhere.
Television
3/5
This is a much stronger debut than Talking Heads 77. So what happened to Television?
The Doors
2/5
The doors don’t deserve two albums on this list, especially if this is the second one.
Todd Rundgren
3/5
Finally a Todd Rundgren album worth hearing!
U2
4/5
The first of many of their great albums
Duran Duran
4/5
One of the first albums I ever bought on vinyl. Still very damn good.
Ministry
2/5
Why listen to White Zombie when this exists? Also, why listen to this?
Ash
3/5
Where britpop meets garage band. The collectors edition has covers of abba and Star Wars songs.
LCD Soundsystem
2/5
No surprises or anything memorable
The Mamas & The Papas
4/5
It’s pretty much a greatest hits album.
Sigur Rós
3/5
The Scandinavian version of Massive Attack. Are those song titles or IKEA catalog items? There’s no way to know. But it’s got a cool vibe.
The Stooges
2/5
The Iggy mixes are better than the Bowie mixes but the songs are still mediocre. Billy Idol owes a lot to Iggy for the trail he blazed.
Harry Nilsson
2/5
I remember this being a lot better. Also, I was five, and putting the lime in the coconut made me laugh like a mental patient for hours.
American Music Club
4/5
I thought I was the only person who remembered this band (except for all the hipster Brooklyn bands who stole this sound. Here’s looking at you, National.)
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Imagine if Superstition was on this album. This album would go from legendary to mind blowing.
Bee Gees
3/5
Impressive and almost enjoyable. I love this band, but a concept album about a fictional 100 year old shipwreck is a bridge too far.
Electric Light Orchestra
2/5
Stick to the greatest hits. This double album is mostly a tedious waste of time. The band is great live (it’s the prettiest concert I’ve ever attended, thanks to the lights—go figure) because, well, they stick to the greatest hits.
Jerry Lee Lewis
4/5
It’s like this guy has the energy of a 14 year old.
Radiohead
4/5
They turned the corner and never looked back. I’ve been struggling to describe their brand of inaccessible but somehow enjoyable music. I guess it’s just Radiohead.
Kate Bush
3/5
Better with every listen.
Van Halen
4/5
This is a lot shorter and a lot better than I remember.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
This album grows on you. “Days That Used to Be” is one of his greatest songs.
Dire Straits
5/5
It’s one of my favorite albums, but it isn’t exactly top of mind. I forgot how good this is from start to finish. The Man’s Too Strong and One World are among their finest.
Louis Prima
4/5
Where has this album been my whole life? And yet I already know half of it.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
I can only imagine how groundbreaking this album was. If Motown didn’t want to release it, you know there was nothing else like it. And that’s kinda still true.
Ananda Shankar
2/5
Unless you’re painting it black, nobody needs this much sitar.
Frank Sinatra
4/5
You gotta love a concept album from Frank Sinatra. It’s not as good as the album of downers he recorded after Ava Gardner dumped him, but the Chairman rarely disappoints.
The Jam
3/5
Where has this album been hiding? I didn’t even know I liked The Jam!
Koffi Olomide
2/5
“…but you LOVE Ladysmith Black Mambazo!…”
Soft Machine
2/5
If a band like Yes made this stupid album, I’d be like, “whoa, what a genius concept and execution.” But if Yes made this album, it would be so much better because it would have genius execution. Instead, this is a four song double album of self indulgent jazz drivel. Good, but forgettable.
Steely Dan
3/5
It’s hard to put one Steely Dan album on this list without putting all of their 1970s albums on this list. My favorite is The Royal Scam. Or their Decade Of Steely Dan collection.
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
Avant garde punk? Why, Johnny, why?
The Mothers Of Invention
3/5
Wowie zowie indeed! Makes me think of my high school friend Jon Davenport, who turned me on to this album.
Miles Davis
3/5
Yeah, side two has a very cool vibe. Repeated listening will reward you.
Slipknot
1/5
Slightly better than all of the other crap that sounds like this because—every now and then—they’ll fool you by sounding like Linkin Park. But then it goes back to Cookie Monster vocals and just stupid obnoxious forklift driving music.
Primal Scream
3/5
I’m surprised I’m finally just getting around to listening to this band.
System Of A Down
1/5
Every now and then they sound like Tool but mostly they sound like shit. Again with the laughable Cookie Monster vocals. And these are the people who will tell you disco sucks. Hot chicks are into disco. Meth chicks are into this drivel.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
3/5
And here I thought all I needed was the greatest hits.
Janelle Monáe
4/5
Every musical genre is on her debut album. She is incredible. Glad to see her recognized on this list.
Ghostface Killah
3/5
Finally a wu-tang project actually worth listening to.
Snoop Dogg
2/5
I remember now why I dismissed him when he first arrived on the scene. This is nowhere near as good as the album he did with Martha Stewart. That bitch got bars.
Alice Cooper
3/5
This album is more than just No More Mr. Nice Guy and a bunch of B-sides.
The Clash
3/5
Good, but I’ve already forgotten it.