essential mom type album (complimentary)
When I was younger I preferred 2001 but I think I’ve flipped on that now. Some all-timer hard beats on here (some examples: “Fuck Wit Dre Day,” “Lil’ Ghetto Boy,” “Lyrical Gangbang,” “Stranded on Death Row”); G-funk doesn’t get much better than this.
Blue is appropriately one color, but it’s the multicolored mid-70s Joni of Court and Spark, Summer Lawns, and Hejira that is my favorite. The Fleetwood Mac-esque pop production can be over the top at times, but mostly it elevates Joni from a singular voice to a sonic worldbuilder. “Car on a Hill” is an all-timer.
First three tracks start this one really strong, capping off with the excellent classic “All My Loving,” but after that this album quickly devolves into one of the Fab Four’s least essential albums. They were brilliant hit-makers at this point, but it’d take the following A Hard Day’s Night to prove that they could sustain that excellence across an album’s runtime.
Probably the most agreeable new wave album of all time. That comes with its pros and cons - sure, The Cars have undeniable hits like “Just What I Needed,” but it’s kind of missing the edge that the rest of the scene had, no?
It’s the summer of 2007. In six months the banks will fold in on themselves and times will get tough, tougher than these millennial kids have probably ever seen. They’re going to need to D.A.N.C.E. to make it through this, and Justice will be right there with them. Right now though? It’s the summer of 2007. Party on.
Here we have an essential hardcore album I’ve read about in passing but just never got around to. Revolutionary for its time, these are Wire’s short songs taken to their logical extreme; this 15-minute format would end up enduring in hardcore, especially in its more extreme offshoots (grindcore, anyone?). Fun, breezy, rebellious. Perfectly cromulent punk.
One of THE ‘80s albums, and probably my favorite solo Gabriel. Packed with huge hits (“Sledgehammer,” “In Your Eyes”) and awesome deep cuts (“Mercy Street” is quietly one of the best-produced songs of this decade, or maybe ever). Simply essential.
Surely an interesting combination of sounds for its time. Now, a few decades after the heyday of jazz fusion, it can sound shockingly familiar. Still, it’s impossible not to have fun listening to this.
Essential new wave, obviously. “Heart of Glass” is one of the best songs of the ‘70s.
The crazy thing about Prince is that this is one of the most essential pop albums of the ‘80s, but it’s only like the third best Prince album of the ‘80s.
Was never one of my favorite ‘60s albums, but definitely a great representation of the aesthetics of the Summer of Love.
An odd little artifact and a favorite of Elton John, apparently. Critically acclaimed and commercially forgettable, and I may have to agree with the commercial reception. It’s got nice moments and his voice is great, but I’m not clamoring for another round.
Music designed to make you feel like a million bucks. But it only really reaches its full potential when George Clooney and Brad Pitt are explaining how they’ll rob a casino blind. And, well, you don’t get that part here.
Kanye is a deplorable person but a few of his records before he went off the deep end are essential to understanding the evolution of rap and are admittedly pretty damn fun. This era of Kanye is him at his most sane and his funniest, and this album in particular is one of the most consistent, stylistically interesting rap albums of the 2000s. Gorgeous, colorful soul samples everywhere. Skits that are actually pretty funny. Not a single bad song! Impossible for me to hate on this; if anything, it makes me a lot sadder about how he’d end up. Probably easier for me to like since I started listening to Kanye before his heel turn into bigotry - I get it if you have to skip this one.
There’s a very good case for Bollywood soundtracks (or any Indian music, really!) to have several entries on this list. Some of them are surely essential and would introduce me to pop cultural artifacts I would’ve otherwise ignored. But from my quick research, Shalimar was a critical and commercial flop. So why is it here?
The answer is that it’s a kind of fusion album, I guess. Mixed in with the more usual Bollywood soundtrack stylings are a bunch of scattershot Hollywood soundtrack styles. It mostly feels random rather than coherent. Bollywood is admittedly a blind spot for me, but this didn’t do a lot for me. Just an odd selection, more of an interesting curio than a must-hear.
An important cultural artifact, but I can’t help thinking: how much did the organist pay the producers to get his part mixed that loud?
the ultimate cock rock experience
I feel like that one clip of Kanye talking about the Lady Gaga Polaroid collab.
“I like some of The Beta Band EPs, but why the fuck do I have to hear their last album before I die?”
Awesome, essential hardcore album. Not my favorite from them so I have to dock it a star but their whole discography is under an hour and everyone who likes punk should listen to it.
When they play it live, they play it LOUD.
One of Elton’s finer outings. Gotta love “Tiny Dancer.”
Classic disco record, but not one of my all-time favorites or anything. Everyone knows the title track.
One of the most interesting records to come out of the late ‘60’s psychedelic wave. Deeply experimental, massively influential, basically an early example of electronic music. Like The Silver Apples, but they integrate those new strange sounds into more familiar (and sometimes parodic) forms. Glad to revisit this one.
clapton doing clapton things. it’s good! not really my style though
An album I want to love more than I do. Those first few songs are incredible, total classic material, but the second half of the record is weirdly forgettable. But it’s got “Fast Car,” and that’s a hell of a win.
Morally and aesthetically bankrupt. Not in the way that a stuck-up contemporary reviewer describes rock in the 50s or rap in the 90s that makes that music somehow sound even cooler, no, there is no *cool* angle here because there is nothing cool here. I thought it couldn’t get any worse and then Eminem showed up. Then Kid Rock dropped the N word. Morally and aesthetically bankrupt.
One of the best soul albums ever. Complex longform songwriting, production that still sounds gorgeous nearly sixty years later, and that voice. Undeniable.
Has never been my favorite Stones record, but like the Stones in general I’ve come around on it over the years. I think we (or at least I) take these guys for granted, they are deeply subversive and fun musicians and songwriters. I mean, just look at Led Zeppelin (their contemporaries) or the future cock rock bands of the ‘70s and ‘80s and it’s a world of difference. Fantastic record, but their legendary run wasn’t over yet…
The Replacements are one of the platonic ideals of alternative rock - ramshackle, a little punk, emotional, and very catchy. This is rock music equally for the yearners (“Unsatisfied,” “Answering Machine”), the weirdos who don’t fit in (“Androgynous” is one of the essential queer liberation songs, and it’s penned by an ally), and those who just want to play it loud (“We’re Comin’ Out”). Equally inspired by KISS and Big Star, this is one of the classic alt-rock blueprints. It hasn’t left my rotation in years, and it probably never will.
Iconic cover, but was never one of my favorite Bowie records. This decade may as well have been an eternity for Bowie with how many eras and sound shifts he went through, and this might be his most recognizable persona of those many lifetimes. Glam rock was never my style, though, so these early ‘70s Bowie records (minus Ziggy) have always been tough for me to get into - the Berlin era might be my favorite Bowie. Happy to have given this another spin though - I enjoyed it more this time!
very effective anti-smoking ad. smoking has never seemed more uncool!
I’m starting to think these guys like Lynyrd Skynyrd.
These guys do pretty classic garagey pop rock songwriting, and it’s fun but for some reason Coral Island is the only album I’ve heard from them that’s really stuck with me. Glad to finally have gotten around to this though.
Lenny ain’t one of my favorite artists for the simple fact that I don’t think his music is that interesting. But he is such an obvious master of songwriting that I find myself eventually returning to his albums anyway. Here, he’s middle aged and funny, and it’s a good time. Not much else to say, it’s Leonard Cohen. Great writing.
I don’t care what kind of music you make, you’re not living up to that cover.
Their most capital E Essential album. Nails down so much of what makes indie rock what it is. As a bonus, it’s got all those noise freakouts! “Teen Age Riot” is probably one of the one hundred best songs ever or something.
One of those albums I respect more than I like. To be honest, I’m here for the punk and the feminism, but I have a hard time getting into reggae. It’s a me problem.
ZZ Top are one of my least favorite rock bands of all time. I can’t fault anyone for enjoying them, because there’s nothing truly *wrong* with them. I just find everything about their music and aesthetic to be totally lame and insufferable. Maybe that just makes me lame and insufferable, who knows? Uh huh huh huh huh.
Famously Tom’s first album in his signature weirdo style. He’d get better at it on future outings, but you can’t deny the freshness of it here. He cultivated this new sound with the help and encouragement of his wife, Kathleen Brennan. Now that’s a love to aspire to: someone who encourages you to be your weirdest, most interesting self. Hell yeah.
There’s actually some pretty good songwriting on here (especially smash hit “Babylon”) but the production is so weirdly muddy and bad. I’d much rather just put on some Coldplay.
Really fun melodramatic melancholic 80s synthpop. Great example of the style, and very catchy. Will definitely be coming back to this.
One of the greatest achievements of (post-)modern music. Brings pre-Turtles hip-hop sampling culture (3 Feet High and Rising, Paul’s Boutique, etc.) to its logical conclusion - *every* sound is a sample. Is it trip hop? Is it a beat tape? Is it ambient music? Truthfully, it doesn’t matter. It’s the sound of midnight in a perfect world.
John Zorn is that crazy ass white boy
Folks, this is what a rock band sounds like when the musicians are three times as good as the vocalist.
“Capital has the ability to subsume all critiques into itself. Even those who would critique capital end up reinforcing it instead.” - Joyce Messier, Disco Elysium
Arguably the first sellouts in punk.
Pretty chill, fun Britpop in the same vein as Oasis. I’d rather just listen to Oasis, though. “One to Another” and “How High” are great!
Well this was a little delightful slice of Americana. Not my usual style but I enjoyed it quite a bit. Thanks, Willie.
African music is a one of my bigger blind spots so I’m glad to listen to more of it. I’ve listened to some Malian music in the past and loved pretty much all of it, such wonderful scales and hypnotic rhythms. This fuses all of that with more familiar blues; really soulful, beautiful stuff.
Reminds me of that time I had to explain to my mom what AOR was and realized I might be beyond saving.
yeah that’s grindcore alright
The Floyd at their goofiest. I respect it but I’ve never loved it.
Never fails to bring me right back to high school.
The trip hop blueprint. The best albums of the genre (including Massive Attack’s best) were still to come, but the groundwork is all right here. Delivered to you straight from the backstreets of Bristol.
I love Isaac Hayes, and this music would obviously be really great in a movie. But does it really stand up on its own as an essential album? Maybe not. Cool listen, though.
Definitive proof that Germans can be funny, too.
The album where New Order found their sound (the single where they found it was, of course, “Blue Monday”). All about groove and layering and texture, wonderful stuff. On the right day, “The Perfect Kiss” is my favorite song from them.
I’ll pass on this one, give it to a stepfather or a 10 year old who really needs it. You can thank me later.
Just timeless songwriting here. A 2000s update on the ethos of Frank Sinatra or Scott Walker. Not afraid of some alt rock drums or more modern layerings of sound. What a wonderful little discovery.
I really wish I liked Amy Winehouse more. Clearly one of the most talented singers to ever do it, and I *like* all of her music, but I’ve never found myself *loving* it. Glad to have listened to this though; I can now say I’ve listened to all of her (tragically small) discography.
Undeniable classic. I’m one of those chumps that thinks the AZ verse might be the best one here, even though Nas is the better rapper on the whole. I guess I’ve been through a lot with this album now, and I’d like to reflect a bit on that now. I’ll stick to just three stories.
I spent the summer before college getting into a bunch of big hip hop albums for the first time, and Illmatic was always my favorite of the bunch. During those first few weeks of school, I made a new friend because I mentioned that Illmatic and 36 Chambers were some of my favorite records. He’s one of my best friends to this day. Thanks, Nas.
Around a year later, I started figuring out that I was bisexual, which came with all sorts of eye-opening realizations. “Halftime” might’ve been the first song I knew that directly attacked my newfound identity with that corny awful line, “I’m not bisexual, I’m an intellectual.” Here was a song and an artist and an album I loved to death, and yet it was actively insulting me. My relationship with Illmatic became complicated: I began to dread hearing that song every time I listened to it (I’d even skip it sometimes), but I still loved the album as a full package. That line helped me realize how many callous microaggressions towards minorities exist throughout pop culture; it was a strange, memorable step for me towards greater empathy.
For the thirtieth anniversary of this album I saw Nas perform Illmatic live with an orchestra. Once again, I dreaded hearing “Halftime,” but when the time came I noticed he’d swapped out the bisexual line and I smiled. I smiled because clearly Nas had learned some empathy over those thirty years as well, shedding away the casual homophobia and misogyny rampant in ‘90s rap culture. In that moment, I could recognize that we had something in common, even though he was a fifty-year-old rapper from the projects and I was a twenty-something white kid from the suburbs; we’d both taken the time to mature and understand other people better. It was a nice thought. I smiled, and I haven’t dreaded hearing “Halftime” since. Thanks, Nas. One love.
For the record, Nas is no fluke. Go listen to King’s Disease III, the peak of his late career resurgence. Man’s still got it.
Well this is just real nice, ain’t it? Price’s voice is lovely and his songs are real pleasant. Glad to hear this; old school country has some real gems I tend to overlook thanks to whatever the genre’s morphed into. This would go hard on the radio in Fallout.
Orange is my favorite color and Channel Orange is my favorite Frank Ocean album. So many all timers on here, especially “Pyramids.” One of the great albums of the ‘10s.
It’s Sinatra! You probably already know how you feel about him. What do you need me for?
Björk’s first four albums are essential for me. They’re such a bold vision of what pop and electronic music *can* do, and very few people have followed through on that promise - including, at times, Björk herself. She’d never stop taking risks throughout her career, for better and for worse, but she’s just getting started here. A whirlwind tour of wondrous nightlife. An escape into city backstreets you always passed by. A vocal talent and a songwriter like no other. On the right day, “Venus as a Boy” is my favorite song of hers.
Lots of music critics like to refer to the sophomore slump, but just as often an artist will only find their sound after their debut. The Bends is an astronomical improvement on Pablo Honey, blending elements of Britpop, grunge (check out Thom basically doing a Billy Corgan impression on “Planet Telex”), and ‘80s alternative rock with weird, progressive chord changes that would come to define their writing. It’s those chord changes that give The Bends (and Radiohead by extension) such massive crossover appeal - they’re moody enough for the emo kids and technically interesting enough for the progheads, and everyone in between seems to love ‘em too. The Bends is not the sound of Radiohead at their peak, but it is the sound of Radiohead coming into their own. Most people will point to singles “High and Dry” or “Fake Plastic Trees” as highlights, but I’d rather direct your attention to the stunning closer “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” which foreshadows the rest of their catalogue more than anything else here with its softly crooned vocals, twinkly guitars, and understated drum groove. Coldplay probably owe their entire career to this record. It’s a good one, but the best is yet to come.
One of the all time great grunge albums, but one that doesn’t stick with me much outside of the singles. It’s a lot of that macho hard rock energy updated for the brooding ‘90s. Chris Cornell was an excellent frontman, but the songwriting can get a bit samey for me. I like this one, but I’m always going to reach for Nirvana or Alice in Chains first.
The best way to listen through Big Star’s short discography is to do it in order, which makes this the perfect starting point. Years ago I was introduced to the band via Third, which I found kind of annoying on first listen, although I like it now. #1 Record is more obviously palatable, full of variety and some of their greatest songs. Opener “Feel” lets you know immediately that you’re in for a treat, starting with huge guitars and stadium vocals before giving way to that tender chorus with Beatles harmonies and, for lack of a better word, emo lyrics (“feel like I’m dyin’, never gonna live again”). And then, of course, a saxophone solo. You’re not gonna hear anything else like this in 1972. So much rock and folk music pulls from this: look to the big power chords of Cheap Trick and Weezer, the alt-rock bliss of R.E.M. and The Replacements, the confessional songwriting of Elliott Smith…all of these artists owe certain aspects of their sound to Big Star and Alex Chilton. “The Ballad of El Goodo” and “Thirteen” are the obvious all-timers, but you won’t be disappointed by the rest. Brilliant stuff.
Selling someone on Kraftwerk in the 2020s without using the word “influence” feels impossible, given the infinite quotes of their music littered across rock, pop, rap, electronic, or basically anything since, but I’ll try my best. The first time I heard The Man-Machine years ago, I thought it was kind of lame and corny, filled with clearly outdated synth tones and goofy German futurisms. Those things are still kind of true, but Kraftwerk have endeared themselves to me over time for a few reasons.
First, they are masters of groove. They came from the German prog scene alongside other masters like Can and Neu! and so they got their start writing addictive motorik grooves. They realized early in electronic music’s life that you need a strong rhythmic core to make something catchy, danceable, and hypnotic, just like in rock and roll. Second, they are masters of texture. I’m a big fan of unique, memorable, clear timbres, sounds that add a lot of color and intrigue to a song without ever muddying anything up. Kraftwerk’s synth tones sound cheesy on first listen, but soon you realize how uniquely tactile each one is; a smooth vibrato here, sharp pins and needles there, a sparkling wash of sound over there, all perfectly balanced against each other in some synesthetic tapestry. It’s head music and it’s body music. And third, they are masters of melody. I have found myself humming their tunes, from “The Model” to “Metropolis” to “Computer Love” countless times. Kraftwerk songs will get stuck in your head, it’s inevitable.
Funnily enough, it was not The Man-Machine that made me finally get Kraftwerk, but rather its successor Computer World (which I still slightly prefer). On hearing the raw emotions of “Computer Love” it all clicked, and on returning to The Man-Machine I found more of that same genius. An essential record; not just great for its time but great for all time.
One of those albums that serves as a great litmus test for comparing music tastes, like Loveless or Lift Yr. Skinny Fists; if you don’t enjoy this one, we probably look for very different things in our music, and that’s fine. It’s not my favorite Radiohead album but it’s probably the one I’d pick to show someone the band for the first time (OK, maybe I’d play “Paranoid Android” first). Might be their coolest, most laid-back record, filled with complex mathy grooves, twinkly waterfall guitars, some harder songs showing they can still rock, and some of Yorke’s finest crooning moments. “All I Need” was a favorite of mine years ago that’s become weirdly big in the TikTok era; I always loved how it layers two separate chord progressions on top of each other, synthesizing them into something much more complex and weird. “Reckoner” seems to have fallen out of favor recently, but I still view it as a career highlight…”like ripples on a blank shore” indeed. The melodrama of “Videotape” has always been one of my favorites as well, and it might secretly have the most complex beat on the entire album (the lore is deep here). Fantastic record, been listening to it for a decade now and I’ll probably still be listening to it a decade from now.
One of the first albums I heard when I first tried getting into jazz, and the one that convinced me that I love the genre. Probably a top ten album ever. A monolith, an explosion of vibrant color quite unlike that slick cover art, a display of raw emotions that had stewed and finally bubbled over, a groove you can not only live in but thrive in, a testament to the human spirit, a man singing into a saxophone, A Love Supreme.
There’s times where Frankie Goes To Hollywood are doing a sort of ‘80s update to disco, even going as far as to have an overly controlling producer, and those parts are pretty awesome. But then there’s like 30 minutes where they turn into a mediocre cover band or are just doing voiceover over a pretty standard groove. It’s a tale of two albums here and I wish we got more of the greatness of those singles and the title track. Relax!
Good, no-frills, bluesy folk album. I kind of wish it had some frills. I can now say I’ve listened to a Stills solo record.
When I was seven or eight years old I had a Lightning McQueen MP3 player loaded up with classic rock songs. “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Sweet Child o’ Mine” were probably the coolest songs I’d ever heard. Put enough drinks in me nowadays and I still might sing along. But the rest of this album sucks, man. Pure white hot drug-fueled rock ‘n’ roll excess. Macho in all the wrong ways. Maybe that’s your thing, but it ain’t mine.
I mean, the guy’s legendary. What a voice! Hard to hate any of this, although I think I prefer the slower second side.
I like punk, I really do, but I’ve always struggled to connect with the big proto-punk records, whether it’s The Monks or The Modern Lovers or Patti Smith or even The Stooges. I respect all of these artists and I think it’s cool they were making music like this at the time that they were, but eventually you gotta be honest with yourself, throw up your hands, and say “I don’t get it.” There is no band that sounds like The Monks, true, but the combination of those yelps and that electric banjo and those cymbal-less drums just gets exhausting over a full album’s runtime. Truly a fascinating record but unfortunately not for me.
Some really unique, cool ideas on here, albeit with mixed results on the execution. Some of the rapping gets a little corny or backpacky but the beats and the instrumental (ambient?) sections are pretty consistently cool. Would be a fun listen while high.
My dad is a good man. I’d trust him with my life. For some reason, he can’t stand Stevie Wonder. If you don’t like this album, you’re either my dad or I don’t trust you.
Not my personal favorite Twins record (that’d be Treasure) but the first one I heard. Liz Fraser is probably a top five most impressive vocalist I’ve ever heard, so expressive and dreamy, her voice just flies around every note. She conveys so much emotion even if you don’t understand a word, and you probably won’t; you wouldn’t guess on a first listen but she’s using much less glossolalia than usual here. By this point in their career, the band was so drugged up and committed to *the sound* that it fully takes over, every synth and guitar swirling around in a coating of cherry-colored haze, with the dark gothic undertones of their earlier work almost completely erased. After this, the drugs and the toxic relationships would take over and the band’s sound would get less interesting, but right here they’re still in top form writing some of the best pop songs of their career and of all time; I guess you could say Heaven or Las Vegas is kind of like an indie Rumours in that way.
Neat little indie pop record from New Zealand! Very tuneful, 80s style songwriting with more updated 90s production. Really straddling the line of that pre-Nirvana wave before everything in rock got heavier and edgier.
Willie Colón always brings the good stuff. This’ll brighten up any day for you, easy.
Such a massive influence on my own writing and the majority of indie folk music coming out today. So honest and emotionally vulnerable without coming off as too whiny, and Smith’s tuneful ear and penchant for unexpected chord changes make every song stick. I still remember hearing “Speed Trials” for the first time, feeling that chill run through my body as I heard the line “when the socket’s not a shock enough” and knowing that I’d never heard anything like this before. True all-timer from one of the true all-time great songwriters. Still my favorite Elliott.
