Rated 6/10
I remember when this album came out, and Babylon hit, and everyone was all gaga over it, and thinking this guy was a one hit wonder. My thought still stands. Sure, folky electronica would be fine, but this isn't all folky electronica.
My rating: 3/5
Rated 8/10
A defining blend of '90s R&B and hip-hop that still sounds smooth and effortlessly cool today. The interludes and skits contribute very little and mainly serve as skippable filler, but the actual songs range from good to excellent. The hits are deservedly famous, and the album's deeper cuts proved stronger than I expected. Revisiting it now, I find myself wishing I'd given TLC more attention when this was first released.
My Rating: 4/5
Rated 10/10
It's rare for a pop album to be produced in a way that still sounds fresh decades later. There are songs on Ray of Light that could be released today and still find an audience. While I wish more of the album had become widely known, I suspect the deeper cuts wouldn't carry the same impact if every track had been played into the ground.
People love to hate Madonna for being Madonna, but part of her appeal has always been her willingness to push buttons. The controversy gets people to the table, but the music is what keeps them there. Her edginess brings you to the table to see what zaniness she's cooked up today. On Ray of Light, she pairs that edge with some remarkably enduring electronic pop, resulting in an album that holds up far better than many of its contemporaries.
My Rating: 4.5/5
Rated 10/10
Ambient music lives or dies by whether it accomplishes its intended purpose: creating a mood and an atmosphere without getting in the way. Selected Ambient Works 85-92 passes that test with ease.
This album sits at an interesting point in electronic music history. The ambient elements are here, but so are the soft techno grooves and trance-like rhythms that would help define the genre for years to come. Some of the sounds show their age, but "dated" doesn't mean "bad." If anything, it adds to the charm and serves as a reminder of just how influential this record was.
What surprised me is how natural it still feels to listen to today. Rather than feeling like a historical curiosity, it remains an effective ambient album in its own right. I put it on during my morning drive and found it created exactly the kind of peaceful atmosphere that ambient music is supposed to create.
It's rare to find an album that works both as a historical document and as a genuinely enjoyable listening experience decades after its release. Selected Ambient Works 85-92 manages both.
Rating: 4.5/5
I had never heard of this duo before. I looked at the reviews for a hint of what I was in for and saw the tag "Fairport Convention," which filled me with dread because I am never in the mood for RenFaire ponciness outside the RenFaire. Once I got into it, though, I found something closer to Fleetwood Mac-ish rock without all the cheating. The music is masterfully done, the singers bounce off each other and play to each other's strengths, and the songs are catchy. I found myself singing along at times. Well done. I don't know if this is truly essential listening, but I'm glad I heard it.
My Rating: 4/5
Rated 4/10
Having grown up when this album came out, I can say that it's so highly overrated I have no idea why it's on the list. I get that it may have been influential, and that The Psychedelic Furs were part of the New Wave movement with one foot still in punk, but I'm just not impressed.
The heavy accent doesn't help. Maybe they weren't leaning into it, but it's so thick at times that it becomes distracting. Even today, I don't remember hearing any of these songs on the radio.
Sorry, Dimery. This should have been a pass.
My Rating: 2/5
This is one I could have done without. I generally like electronica, but this one descended into proggy weirdness at the end, and didn't go anywhere. It didn't make me want to dance, and didn't give me a good atmosphere for thinking.
I'll pass.
My Rating: 2/5
Rated 8/10
This is wonderful music, where the performer's voice becomes more of an instrument than a vocal layer over the music. The lyrics are more suggestions than actual words, because he was extremely hard to understand at times. That doesn't mean it's bad, just hard to pick out individual words. If I were in a 70's proggy/jazz mood, this would be something I'd reach for,
My Rating: 4/5
Rated 8/10
This was a difficult album to listen to following Nevermind. It's almost as if Kurt said, "You like us? Here's what we really sound like live." The hits are here, but they're hiding within the rough scaffolding that holds the band together. Even "Rape Me," one of the album's better-known songs, isn't an easy listen.
Throughout the album, Nirvana embraces dissonance and sour notes rather than smoothing them away. Personally, I think this record leans more toward punk than grunge. I never claimed to be a hardcore Nirvana fan, though.
My Rating: 4/5
Rated 8/10
Awesome album. We've all heard the hits by this point because they've been played on rock and pop radio for twenty years. By now, you're expecting the entire album to be banger after banger, and it isn't. But we're all numb to those songs through familiarity and nostalgia, so let's just keep rocking, okay? If this was supposed to be a concept album, the concept is mostly lost because I'm too busy listening to the hits I already know. If this is supposed to be a rock opera, I got to the end of it not even realizing a story was being told.
They're too edgy to be pop and too polished to be punk. The production is remarkably economical. Every note is perfect, every beat lands exactly on time, and there isn't a flaw to be found. The decision to blend multiple songs into a single track prevents the weaker sections from standing on their own. Instead, they're permanently shackled together, creating uneven amalgamations where several of the individual pieces would have benefited from being separate songs. They opened with the best song, which is always a downer for me. You can't open with a song like that and keep that energy up.
My Rating: 3.5/5 safety pins
Rated 10/10
We need to take a step back and pay attention to what Laibach is doing here. This is less an endorsement of authoritarian aesthetics than an exploration of why they're so effective. Halfway through the opening track, I could feel the toothbrush mustache growing and felt a sudden urge to organize a march through the Sudetenland. The entire album feels like music to stage a putsch to.
That's the point. Opus Dei is a study of how music, spectacle, and emotion can make people hand power to ideas and philosophies without stopping to examine them. The songs aren't asking you to agree with anything. They're asking you to notice how easily you're swept along by certainty, strength, unity, and pageantry.
Pay attention, people. This is a remarkably deep album wrapped in something that sounds profoundly wrong to modern ears.
My Rating: 5/5
Rated 2/10
I get that The Velvet Underground is highly influential and routinely held up as essential listening. That didn't help me enjoy this album.
The music feels relentlessly experimental. The songs don't have hooks, and there's very little emotional payoff to pull me in. Then, after about thirty minutes, comes the audio onslaught known as "The Murder Mystery."
If this song had occurred earlier in the album, I might have tolerated it more. Instead, it arrives after the album has established a completely different rhythm. You've got different people saying different things in each ear, and I completely lost the plot. Who am I supposed to pay attention to? Is any of it important? It's just noise, and I can't grasp either side because I keep worrying I'll miss something on the other. By the time it's over, there are only two tracks left to recover before the album ends.
I really didn't like anything about this album. Quit mythologizing.
My Rating: 1/5
Rated 6/10
Not a bad album, but not an excellent one either. They sound a bit like a modern interpretation of The Grateful Dead. It's fun and boppy, but nothing sticks. There's no big hooks to bring you back.
My Rating: 3.5/5
Rated 4/10
It's alright music, but it goes nowhere for me. The music is meticulously crafted, wonderfully slick, and completely fails to hook me. It's like the artists came up and said "Sorry, but could we borrow your attention for an hour?" when they could have said "Dude, you gotta hear THIS!" All filler, no killer.
My Rating: 2/5 broken tubes.
Rated 4/10
This was like having Brunehilde sing British folk tunes. She's got a nice voice, but it was all too severe. Because of the disconnect, nothing connected with me.
My rating: 2/5 horned helmets
Rated 8/10
I'm always on the fence about Alice Cooper. You see the pictures and think "death metal." The album covers definitely lean that way too. Then you hit play and get catchy glam rock and heavy metal instead, leaving you wondering if he found an exorcist on the way to the show and got his head on straight.
The music works, honestly. There's more to this album than just "No More Mr. Nice Guy" which, to be honest, is one of the tamest songs here. The deeper cuts hold up surprisingly well and make a good case for why Billion Dollar Babies remains one of his most celebrated albums.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to listen to some Korpiklaani to scratch the death metal itch Alice Cooper accidentally gave me.
My Rating: 4/5 rhinestones.
Rated 8/10
Awesome album, but they shot themselves in the foot by putting the best song up front. Or maybe it's only the best because we've heard it the most. It's the musical equivalent of showing up to a potluck with the world's greatest casserole. There are plenty of good songs here. I think this album got shorted and deserved more radio play the first time around.
My Rating: 4/5 nodes
Rated 6/10
It's Stevie Wonder. He's a soul and R&B genius. The problem is that his reputation gets there before the music does. You already know it's going to be good, so he loses the opportunity to surprise you with just how good he is. You brace for impact, and he delivers in spades. That said, his tendency to slur and hum his way through lyrics sometimes leaves me struggling to catch what he's actually saying. "Boogie On Reggae Woman" was the low point for me. Once Stevie hits the chorus, he seems more interested in gliding over the words than singing them distinctly, and I found myself fighting to understand the lyrics.
My rating: 3/5
Rated 6/10
FKA twigs has a lovely voice, but LP1 uses it like a synthesizer patch. The production is so polished and layered that she often feels more like a Vocaloid than a singer. I kept imagining a live show where a hologram appears, an instrumental starts playing, and everyone applauds the software. Impressive craftsmanship, but I'd rather hear the human underneath.
If this album came out today, everyone would say it's generative AI. All the way down to the album art. As a matter of fact, I think it would be easier to create a prompt to recreate this album. In all the technology, the artist got lost. She predicted the future, and she's not better off for it.
My Rating: 3/5 bits
Rated 10/10
I loved this probably more than I should have. This felt like it should be the soundtrack for driving mode in Cyberpunk 2077. Every track feels like it belongs somewhere in Night City, including one that seems custom-built for the red-light district. I wish I'd heard this when it came out, and I'll definitely be checking out more of their catalog.
My Rating: 5/5 headlights
