Rated 6/10
Beautiful music but belies the pain that is supposed to be communicated through the music. I love the fusion of the Indian these and stylings of the music with electronica, and the samples included are interesting and thought provoking. I don't know if this is one of those I NEEDED to hear, but I'm glad I heard it.
My Rating: 3/5
Rated 10/10
Rarely do you find an album where it's more hits than filler. The Who dropped an album that, in itself, is a Greatest Hits album. How many bands can say that they had two songs adapted to TV theme songs, let alone two songs on the same album? This album is just solid. I don't know if there is a more perfect rock album, and I'm sure that it's not entirely on purpose. While you might have heard the individual songs, hearing them all in context matters for something.
Yes, it's classic, or "Dad", rock. Get over yourself, kids, this one is important.
My Rating: 10/5
Rated 10/10
I needed a cosmic concerto in my life today.
My first encounter with Jean‑Michel Jarre wasn’t through these recordings at all — it was a chiptune cover of “Oxygène II” on my Commodore 64 in the late 80s. It came from one of those floppy‑disk music compilations kids traded like contraband.
And unlike the usual pop‑song transcriptions, this one was Oxygène II.
Hearing Jarre’s cosmic glide rendered through the SID chip’s buzzing waveforms was a revelation. It wasn’t disposable; it was architecture, melody as machinery, space rendered in square waves.
Oxygène is weird, floaty, semi‑ambient — but not in the “new age wallpaper” sense. It feels more like chamber music reimagined as electronica, a suite of movements that breathe and expand like a living organism. Jarre’s analog synths wobble and shimmer, giving the whole thing a tactile, human warmth.
This isn’t essential listening for everyone, but it’s absolutely key to electronic music. It’s one of the albums that taught the world what synthesizers could feel like, not just what they could imitate.
My Rating: 5/5
Oh yeah, the "Come On Eileen" band!
The rest of the album feels like a band trying on the big shoes of a global market and failing to fill them. They might have been local sweethearts in the Midlands, but in the States and worldwide, they're mostly a one-hit wonder. The Celtic Soul thing feels weak and overdone for its impact, and the whole thing is forgettable.
Sorry Rowland, this is a swing and a miss.
My Rating: 2/5
Rated 2/10
Nope. Couldn't do it. The band? Decent enough. That singer? He cant carry a tune in a five gallon bucket strapped to a skateboard. When you hear other punk and post punk bands that can't sing, like, oh I don't know, The Violent Femmes, they at least have some energy and anger and feeling. This guy sounds like he's singing while hailing a cab. Come on man, at least try! Fuck off with this shite.
My rating: 1/5.
Rated 10/10
One of the best country albums ever. Just solid. Listen to it straight through, no shuffle, because the crowd noise is part of the experience. Johnny gets up, plays for people who are living a life he's experienced, banters with them, reminding them that there's hope for outside. There's no better way to close this album than how he did. Everything goes to show that, even under that outlaw costume, there's a heart of gold. Honest, fun, soulful.
My rating: 10/5
Rated 10/10
Awesome. If they were still around, I'd go to the bar they're playing at, drink far too much, probably get into a fight, and not remember any of it, and do it again the next night. This is a spiritual ancestor to AC/DC. Solid fun.
My rating:5/5
Rated 8/10
Not a good album to work to, because it needs attention to truly appreciate. The music is beautiful, and it's not all pseudo-poppy. There are a couple of tracks that remind me of Music For Airports. All in all, decent for lo-fi electronica. I don't know if that's what he was going for.
My rating: 4/5
Rated 10/10
It's delicate and intricate, which you don't always expect from an electronica album. And Björk has a voice that's much bigger than her body. I always come away from one of her albums a little calmer. This one might not be essential to hear, but I'm glad I did.
Rated 10/10
Loved the blues/rock here, and how almost pirate or underground the album felt. No hits, just solid fun. I get people wanting the hits from the Stones, but if you want hits, listen to a hits compilation. This is quirky and fun and solid rockin'.
My Rating: 5/5
Rated 4/10
I get that the band was in a transitional state, and that they wer big in the UK, but this is... not good. You can't open up with that sludgy stuff, and then give me an hour of, let's face it, sub-average Britpop. There's a reason this band is relatively unheard of here in the States. The guy sings way above his range half the time, and it's just not remarkable. You can hear the band falling apart in real time, and the album never recovers from that fracture. There are moments where the music is beautiful, but then the singer starts up. And "Still Life"? Get off the stage, you ponces. You're not that good. Dimery, go suck eggs.
My Rating: 2/5
Rated 6/10
Musically, this is awesome. I could listen to hours of Jaco Pistorius on that fretless bass. It's velvety and wonderful. Joni Mitchell, though.... She sounds like she's trying to sing the entirety of "War and Peace" in three hours, AND not miss any details. You know that tree? That's important. You gotta know all about that tree. And ... here, cook up this excuse that you can't go somewhere and stay with me. Tell them you have German Measles. Specifically. Come on. It's too much. Slow it down, let it breathe.
It’s a beautiful record, but it’s like trying to meditate while someone reads their travel diary out loud.
My Rating: 3/5
Rated 10/10
Solid techno album! Bouncy, steady, no let down on the vibe. Dance or vibe in for some deep technical work.
Rated 10/10
These boys kick more ass than a donkey! I want them at my next party. This is solid non-stop rocking stem to stern. Definitely going on the repeat list. Maybe not essential, but very fun.
Rated 6/10
I'm not so big on the psychedelic soul portions of the album. The back half of solid Motown soul is what you expect from the band. Having the kid crying for his mom in the middle of "Runaway Child, Running Wild" was a decision, and made me just wanna scoop him up and hold him. The cover of "Heard It Through the Grapevine" lent a gravity that took it away from the fun Marvin Gaye tune into the department of "why you wanna do that to me?". Not a bad album, but I won't be back.
My Rating: 3/5
Rated 4/10
Not only did I not need to hear from this band, I did not need to hear this album. It's a decent enough rock album. There are no hooks. You're never going to hear this on the radio. This is not commercially viable. I'll bet this album sold like mad in their hometown. Outside of Ohio (I assume that's where they're from), this is obscure and forgettable. Dimery, you suck. This isn't an essential album in any sense of the word. The Minutemen weren't important for music as a whole, and this album even less so. Quit mythologizing people. If I need a music history lesson to understand why an album of band is essential, then IT'S NOT ESSENTIAL.
My Rating: 2/5
Rated 10/10
Kraftwerk gets too much grief for being the weird German techno wizards. They were ahead of their time by decades. Without THIS album, we don't have techno and house and Goa and Dubstep. Hell, maybe not even new age. Yes, Autobahn goes on WAY longer than it needs to. Is this a perfect album? No. Does it deserve respect? Hell yes. Just strap in and take the drive. Go down a back country road and get hypnotized by the looping. Let it flow.
My Rating: 5/5
Elvis Costello always sounds like he thinks he’s the cleverest guy in the room, and at this point in the list I’m numb to the act. Blood and Chocolate is more of the same: dense, self‑satisfied, and convinced its wordplay is more profound than it is.
The one exception is “I Want You,” where he finally drops the smirk and sounds genuinely raw for once. But then you get “Battered Old Bird,” which plays like he’s trying to do Springsteen without understanding why Springsteen works. Come on, man. You’re not that good.
My Rating: 2/5
Rated 8/10
Wonderful listen. For the 70s, I can see how this was pretty groundbreaking. I'd never heard anyone else sound like this. Today though, there's not much special about a female artist defining her own sound. She's a remarkable musician, though.
Rated 8/10
Public Enemy at their finest. Flavor Flav wasn't so much of a chaos monkey as he was a force in here, contrasting Chuck D. Amazing album.
