Reviews by gingerninja155

Someone please for the love of God, get me off of this elevator already. I have things to do today. It’s been almost an hour… Is what I was expecting to say. You probably thought I was going to be negative towards this album. That’s fine, I did too. After all, I still can’t stand Jazz, no matter how hard this project tries to gaslight me into enjoying it. However, this was so different from the usual disorganized, hard to listen to Jazz that I typically get, and I actually ended up enjoying the album because of it. Especially “Operation Tango”, that was my favorite song on the album. It still very much incorporates some Jazz components. Clearly the songs aren’t rehearsed or traditional, but for some reason I just really like these weird instruments. I guess we can mark “Tango” on the list of Jazz styles I genuinely enjoy. I’d say that this is the only Tango album on the list, but there are actually 2, so we’ll definitively see if me liking this one is a fluke or not. But I don’t know man, the xylophone just goes kinda hard, I won’t even lie to you. This album is right at the cusp of being an hour long, coming in at 58 minutes, and I managed to have it loop a few times before I was ready to move on. And for a record like this, that does say a lot to its quality in my eyes. While I may not return to this one, I still thought it was great for what it was. For a genre like Jazz that is supposed to entirely be comprised of structure without solid planning to make every song sound unique, all of the Jazz I’ve heard so far has for the most part been samey and boring. This, however, this actually did something for me. And it’s got to be because of that damn xylophone. It just stands out, makes every song better, and it’s pretty cool. If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times, don’t judge a book by its cover. I went into this album looking at the reviews, the genre, the score, and made the immediate guess that I’d end up detesting it. Happy to say I was wrong on this one. The New Tango by Astor Piazzolla, whoever that is, is actually pretty damn good. It’s a 3/5.

The most memorable thing about this album to me going forward is that it was album 400 for my project. Also the album art is kinda fun. Besides that, it is utterly forgettable in every meaningful way. I just had a very similar album yesterday that contained both Rock and Electronica elements. While the one yesterday was slightly more Rock focused, this one appears to be the same, with just a bit more Electronica. And let me tell you, when I’ve got 2 painfully generic albums in a row that are just ok, it makes it difficult saying anything about them. Doubly difficult for the second one. Listen, the beats are fine on this album. It’s all painfully acceptable 90’s beats, which were full of fun but overwhelmingly simplistic beeps, boops, and repetition. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But as a whole, it’s just so bland. I listened to this at the start of the day and had to listen to it again at the end of the day just to remember what anything sounded like at all. And the album is over an hour long. You could shave 40 minutes off of this thing and it would be all the better for it. Worst of all, my favorite song is the opener, “Movin’ on Up”, but I’ll likely forget that by tomorrow as well. Meanwhile, I’ve still got my favorite from yesterday on the top of my dome, while this one is already halfway out of my subconscious. These are the kind of songs that just go on for 5 minutes longer than they have any right to go on, unless you’re dancing in a club. And even then I’m positive that you could put on something better in the 90’s at the time. I think I’m just numb to these generally decent but otherwise unremarkable 3 star albums at this point. I’ve ranked over half of my 400 albums a 3, and I’m going to continue doing so. At least this project has given me the knowledge that I at the bare minimum can enjoy most music. But it takes something special to get me to love it. For everything else, especially something like this, it’s just going to be defaulted to a 3. 689 albums to go. If the rate I give 3’s keeps up, I’ll probably have about 550 of them by the end of this long and sometimes arduous journey. This album isn’t terrible. It’s not even a bad album. But man does it not impress me in the slightest. I’m wondering if the site counts this as “Other” since it’s Scottish. I also wonder if that’s the only reason it’s here to begin with. If so, understandable. I get it. I don’t love it, but I get it. Scotland has some goated performers like Franz Ferdinand and Garbage, both of which I’ve given 5 star reviews for already during the course of this project. Here’s the part of the review where I pull the rug right out from under you though. That album from yesterday consisting of the exact same sounds but slightly better, was another indie band hailing from Scotland, Django Django. I’d never heard of either of them before, and both were just unrelentingly average at best. The only difference is that this album has nothing that’s going to stick in my mind. It’s a very low 3 out of 5, and unbelievably it’s the first of 2 Primal Scream albums I’m getting to review for this project. Buckle in for what I can only assume is going to be yet another riveting 3 star performance whenever I roll the second one. Ok, that’s enough of this album for now. I’m ready for album 401, I say, unfurling the monkey’s paw I keep handy at all times. You really just never know with this site.

First things first, seeing the words Django Django by Django Django is a funny visual. Only thing that would be funnier is if they also had a song called “Django Django”. Missed opportunity really, but I digress. Hey, for a band that I’ve literally never even heard of, even in passing, this was a pretty great album, I won’t even lie. The website lists it as Rock, but I would argue it’s actually secretly an Electronica album with Rock songs thrown in. I mean come on, the intro, “Introduction”, and the repetitive but still goated song “Default” are clearly more Electronica than Rock. But the songs where the singing is more heavily focused like “Hail Bop” are still pretty good as well. Not the best things in the world, the lead has a very passable “2010’s - 2020’s” voice, but still good enough to warrant me saying I enjoy them as a whole. Where I want to fault this album is on the amount of filler. All the songs I’ve mentioned so far in this review, sans “Life’s A Beach”, are my favorite songs on the album. But they’re all at the very beginning of a 48 minute album that by the third song, you kind of get the point. After that, the album quickly loses any interest it warranted, and fades into the background. I get that fading into the background isn’t always a bad thing, I’ve said so about many of these albums, but for one claiming it’s pure Rock, you’d hope the album would draw your attention more, or have even one memorable thing on it. I suppose “Default” is the catchiest song here, but I don’t really want to listen to it on repeat again after today, it would get old very fast. I’m not going to pick the intro as my favorite either. That just feels like cheating for some reason, even though it shouldn’t. Man, surprisingly I can not decide what my favorite song on this album is today, and that’s a pretty good song to have. None of them are going in my day to day playlist, but I still had a great time with this album today. For the bands I’ve never heard of, I genuinely never know what to expect, and love going in blind without reading the reviews on the first listen through. That way the album has a chance to really jump out, take hold and surprise me. This album to its credit managed to do that, but I’m still giving it a 3, as I just don’t think it’s going to stick with me after today. If I had to pick, I guess my favorite song would have to be “Default”. Being the most memorable song on the album really is the biggest perk at the end of the day when I have 1089 in total to get through. Unless a song stands out for being unmitigated trash garbage, it has a good chance of being my favorite song on the album. Luckily this time was for good reason. And speaking of 1089 albums, today marks album 399. Tomorrow I’m getting 400!! Hoping it’s a good one, as always. Until then, this album was alright. Giving it a 3/5.

When I started this project, now almost 400 albums ago, I did a bit of a deep dive on all 1089 albums currently included in the book and its many updates over the years. Very few albums initially excited me to see their inclusion on the list, and even fewer bands in general drew my interest. Before diving in to album 1, I thought I was pretty well versed in music going in to this project, but looking at this British man’s list of 1089 albums that I “NEED” or “MUST” listen to, I started to think otherwise. Most of these bands I don’t even know, or they pick an album I haven’t heard of before from bands I actually really do like. Usually, and I’ve said this on like half of my reviews so far, if they pick a band I know or like, it’s always the wrong album, almost without fail. So ultimately, my question is this. Do I just have no ball knowledge when it comes to music, or is the cultural difference in importance so vast between a millennial American like me, and a British gent who is probably 2 to 3 times my age, that as a whole, we just listen and prioritize different music?? I simply do not know. But here’s what I do know. There are 4 Metallica albums on this list. For any other band, he would have made us listen to something like LuLu or St. Anger because they were “Bold, different, and really pushed the envelope on what the band as a whole could accomplish”. In other words, they’re absolute trash. Now, I would have accepted something like Load, Reload, or a more recent Metallica album like Death Magnetic. That actually would have been fine. Now, he couldn’t help himself, and did put S&M on here. That’s a bit of a weird one to include, but still a great album in general. But here’s the thing, with most other bands, that would be the only album included on the list, and it would have frustrated me. This is a very, VERY long way to go to say that Metallica is my favorite band. Always has been, likely always will be. Master Of Puppets is in many ways their all time hardest, heaviest, thrashiest album, and it’s one I have played front to back virtually 1000 times now, and I’ll gladly listen to it 100000 times more. Dimery, you did very good to include this album, and thank GOD you did. That is the lasting legacy of Metallica to me. They have fans all around the world, and constantly break boundaries when it comes to being a band. They’re important to me, and this is one of the most important pieces of music that they ever put together. Master of Puppets as an album is 54 minutes of balls to the wall, adrenaline pumping, heart thumping, “HELL YEAH” inducing badassery of the grandest degree imaginable. It’s one of very few albums on the list I’ve already heard from top to bottom before, and belongs on this list more than most other albums. When it comes to what my favorite album is on the site, it might be a close race between this and Ten by Pearl Jam. There’s not a lot about this album I can say that you haven’t already heard before. So I’ll just say that it’s perfect. The singing, guitar playing, drums, bass, vibe, all absolute cinema. And yes, “Master of Puppets” is my favorite song on the album. The lyrics have been stuck in my head since the very first time I heard them, and that intro. Man, when you hear that first riff start up, oooooohhhhhhh boy you know you’re in for something truly great. This is my third of four Metallica albums I’ve reviewed and listened to for this project, with only S&M remaining. Almost 700 albums left to go in general, and I’m left with the unfathomable sadness of having already listened to most of the Metallica albums on the list. It’s going to be a sad day when I get to the last one. To wrap this one up, this album is perfect. A true one in a billion, flawless from top to bottom, and I’m so happy it’s on the list. Whatever album I roll tomorrow is going to have to be perfect, or it’s going to look like trash when it comes to Master Of Puppets.

This may be Stevie Wonder’s lowest rated album on the site, but at the end of the day, it’s still a Stevie Wonder album, and this guy simply does not miss. The most unfortunate part of this album is that it’s sandwiched between what may just be the 2 best Soul albums ever made. While both of those albums have copious amounts of hits that most people would recognize, Fulfillingness' First Finale is severely lacking in the recognizability department. However, as previously stated, it’s still Stevie Wonder, and I’m still going to give it a 4. It’s catchy, it’s soulful, and every song is still a banger that had me singing along every step of the way. My vote for favorite song came down to “Please Don’t Go” and “You Haven't Done Nothin'”, with the ladder taking the crown. Both songs are great, but the beat on “You Haven't Done Nothin'” is simply more ear wormy, as is the general progression of the song. It’s really good. Even at his most average, Stevie Wonder produces incredible music, it’s no wonder he’s so beloved by everyone. Loved listening to this album for the entire day. It’s an easy 4 from me. This is my second of 4 Stevie Wonder albums I’ve rolled for this project so far, following the 5 star album Innervisions. 2 albums left, and you know I’m going to rate both of them very highly as well. This one might not have many traditional hits, but it’s certainly got all bangers. And they’re really, really good. I could always listen to his music, I sincerely believe he never had a miss in his career. It’s fascinating that this has an above average rating on the site, but none of these songs are in his Top 10 on Spotify. It just further speaks to his greatness, and how consistently he put out good music. Every song is a masterpiece. If this was his only album on the site, which obviously it wouldn’t be, I would probably give it a 5. But I know he can do even better, which is why it’s getting a 4. Ok, enough gushing about Stevie Wonder for now. You already know how good he is, I’m just expressing myself as a big fan of his, and I love listening to his music, especially if it’s something like this that I haven’t heard most of before.

Alright, yeah. It’s fun. It’s catchy. It’s pretty vibey. I can get down with this. ABBA is one of those weird historical meme bands that you probably either love or hate depending on your exposure with the band, and Pop/Disco music as a whole. Personally, I think it’s alright. It’s at least a 3, but I can’t say I would seek this out tremendously often, and after enough time with it I really get the point. But it’s still good. Everyone is familiar with “Dancing Queen”, that’s just a fact. It’s an all time classic and ABBA’s most well known song for good reason. It’s fantastic, I love that song. Beautiful singing, and just a great song overall, with each note just being executed flawlessly. But my favorite song on this album is actually “Money, Money, Money”. I believe it’s catchier, and the hook just makes me want to dance. It’s more fun to sing in my opinion. Disco is such a weird genre in general. It was a flash in the pan phenomenon that was immensely popular for a very brief period, and then phased out just as quickly for the next big thing. Over time, some less lucky bands who relied entirely on Disco as their sole gimmick got instantly phased out and just kind of exist in the annals of time as something that people remember that they either loved or hated, depending on their personal preferences. For everyone, myself included, who didn’t grow up with Disco, a lot of it comes off as homework. But the kind of stuff it evolved into is fascinating. This album is one of such instances, where it’s more Pop than Disco, but you can tell there’s still some of that Disco feel deeply rooted in the heart of the album, with the Pop aspects taking center stage. And I really think that that’s why people love, or hate for that matter, ABBA as a band. They were experts at crafting albums with the kind of sound that was popular at the time, but making the sound unmistakably theirs at the same time, often making it as catchy as they possibly could. And yeah, this album is very catchy. I would assume this is the one that people know the most, and I know for a fact that their sound subtly evolved over time into whatever was popular at that particular moment. For instance, this is their fourth album. It’s the first of 2 albums for this project that I’ll get to listen to. The other album is their 8th album a few years later, and I guarantee it’s going to sound pretty different than this one. I’m much less familiar with it. But Arrival is probably the bands magnum opus, and it’s pretty good for what it is. It’s a medium 3 out of 5. I like it.

Drugs the album. Very hard and very heavy drugs, and I want whatever Todd is having. Ok, so Todd Rundgren is a name I’m positive I’ve heard of before, I just don’t know how, or for the life of me where I’d have heard it. I didn’t recognize a single song on the album, and it’s got a very low rating. I’m going to be an outlier and give it a 5. This had good Rock, Electronica, Prog, and more all in what may have amounted to the best hard trip Todd Rundgren ever produced in his life. As of writing this, he’s still alive and kicking at 78 somehow. By God, he still performs today even. So yeah, if the constant references in this review to drugs weren’t a tip off, they were cited as a big source of inspiration for why this album even exists in the first place. It also sold horribly and apparently “Cut his audience in half”. It’s one of those albums that wasn’t even popular at the time with the intended audience, but becomes something of a cult classic as each year passes. And I gotta tell you this, I never expected to be giving it a 5, but that’s exactly what I’m doing to do. This is the first of 2 Todd Rundgren albums I’ll get to listen to for this project. The other album, which came out a year prior, apparently is monumentally different from this one, so I can’t wait to roll it, but likely won’t enjoy the more Pop sounding beats half as much as I do this unorganized, drug fueled mondo extravaganza. Speaking of, I just keep adding songs from this album to my personal account. It’s just so catchy and good. But what really makes it stand out to me the most is that the songs when played out of order just sound completely crazy. They work so well in order, that listening to them out of order is still a fun experience, but it makes me want to listen to the entire album again to hear it as Godd Rundgren intended it, and yes that typo was intentional. I’m a fan now. It’s weird, it’s Proggy, it’s perfectly long, and it’s just really something I could find myself listening to from top to bottom over and over again. Didn’t see this album coming today, but man am I glad to hear it. That’s 2 5 star albums in a row, after hitting a massive dry spell of bangers for the past couple of weeks. Ultimately, if you put a gun to my head and made me chose, my gut instinct for favorite song on the album is going to have to be “Zen Archer”. I’d name the other 5 I added, but chances are good I’m not done adding songs, so I’ll save the unneeded review space. Damn, this album just further proves to me that anything even remotely resembling Prog may just be my favorite genre. I’ve still got a ton of Prog albums to get through that I know will be 5’s, and I wasn’t expecting this one to come out of the woodwork swinging, but here we are. Yeah, I’m going to give this one a 5. The weird matches my personal favorite kind of weird, and I dig it a lot.

Ah, yes. Cincinnati Ohio. The birthplace of both Bootsy Collins, known for such bands as Parliament and Funkadelic. But Cincinnati is also the birthplace of The Isley Brothers. What an absolute powerhouse duo of Soul, Funk and even Disco music. I’m sure Cincinnati has produced many more prominent artists of the genre, but clearly it’s proven to be the Mecca of this specific sound. And speaking of the sound, just wow. This is really good. Like, REALLY good actually. 5 star good in fact. I was familiar with “That Lady”, mostly from movies, TV shows and commercials, but in all of those, it generally only plays the vocals, usually to draw attention to a promiscuous woman on screen. And while that’s usually a funny gag, the lyrics to the song alone don’t do it justice. “That Lady” also features a shredding electric guitar that I NEVER get to hear, until now that is. I just can’t believe this masterpiece of a song was hiding in plain sight like this. I mean damn, every song on the album is like that. Soft, relaxing, sexy voice that could put you at ease, and then that aforementioned shredding electric guitar that just sends a shiver up your spine. I’ve already given a 4 star review for Parliament, and a 5 star review to Funkadelic, as well as Stevie Wonder, even if the ladder isn’t from Cincinnati. So yeah, this is my jam. It’s right up my alley and I’m going to give it a 5. Added songs to my Spotify are “That Lady, Pts. 1 & 2”, “Sunshine (Go Away Today)”, and “Summer Breeze, Pts. 1 & 2”, with the intro, “That Lady, Pts. 1 & 2”, of course being my favorite. My God, I could listen to this album all day. I love that most people listening to this give it 4 stars, but I’m a little surprised that more people don’t give it a 5. It’s really something special, and for the only Isley Brothers album on the list, they did pick a really good one. Great album today and my first 5 in quite a while. Probably my longest stretch so far without giving a 5, but this album deserves it. Phenomenal stuff with this one, more of this please. If you keep giving me heat like this, I’m going to keep giving it 5 stars every day of the week.

What a delightfully weird album. Let me just say what’s already been said about that first song though, because it warrants being said again. It’s a total filter. The screaming is a bit torturous, but it’s the only song on the album with that gimmick and if you can get past that, you’re rewarded with a refreshingly unique album. First of all, this sounds different from most of the other Punk Rock albums on the list that I’ve heard so far, and that’s a good thing. This album has an almost charming garage band feel to it that makes it very interesting to listen to. You kind of feel like you’re in the garage listening to these guys play their hearts out. And they really can play well. I didn’t even hate the first song after the first listen honestly. It’s not bad. Interestingly enough, Spotify was down for a good bit of the day, and only the Deluxe edition was available. I tend to avoid the Deluxe edition of albums, but was forced to listen to this one today, and I didn’t even hate that. If it wasn’t a bonus track, I might even say that “Let’s Smerf” was my favorite song on the album. There are also 4 funny “Radio Ads” at the end, and they’re delightfully weird. And that’s something I really like about this guy. He’s a passionate weirdo. But once again, it’s in a charming way that compels me to listen to it. He’s got a great voice sans the screaming in the first song, and the guitarist can absolutely shred the heck out of that guitar. My favorite song on this album was “Wail” for the same reasons. Great singing and great guitar playing. Overall, I almost want to give this album a 4 because it stands out. Standing out in this context would turn most people away from the album, and I completely understand why that is. It’s different. A little too different for most people. But when you’ve heard the same generic sounding British Punk album 100+ times now for this project and then something like this comes on, it’s just refreshing, and I truly appreciate it. Overall, I would return to this album, and added 2 songs from it. It’s a 3.9 out of 5, and I’m glad that I gave it a shot. I was rewarded for my patience after the first song. Good stuff.

4 Miles Davis albums down. This is the last one on the list. Thank God!!! I have been trying with each and every Jazz album to find something, anything, that will grab me or change my perspective on this genre of music as a whole. The first 3 certainly didn’t do it, I gave all 3 of them a 3 star review. While I did not outright detest Bitches Brew, and it’s closer to a 3 than a 1, I still think this is the worst album of the 4. Reason being is that Jazz is pretty hard to get through by itself, but when you make it an hour and forty five minutes long, it becomes a form of water torture. Every song is around 20 minutes long of just free from Jazz and while it’s not terrible, it’s just not good either. I don’t hate it, but I don’t understand it, and I don’t like it at all. My favorite song if I had to pick one would be “Miles Runs the Voodoo Down”. If Jazz is all about vibes, I guess I vibed with that one the most. The opening track is just ear piercing though, as well as distracting. That’s for sure my least favorite song on the album. Now, I have a good friend who loves this album and therefore, I was at least interested to roll it. I figured I wouldn’t love it, but I can still appreciate it based on the context surrounding this album that she gave me. Apparently, this is a collab with pretty much every big name in Jazz music at the time. A legitimate who’s who of musicians. And the fact that they all came together and made a Jazz album is at the bare minimum pretty cool, even if I don’t love it. So the final Miles Davis album on the list still didn’t really do it for me. Yeah, Jazz is still just never going to be my thing, and that is more than alright with me. We weren’t born to love everything, that’s what makes us unique. I’ve spoken to death about how I don’t like random, seemingly unorganized, distracting Jazz. This album fits that bill and then some. No rhyme or reason to any of it, and it bugs me. I can see why people do enjoy it, but I’m not one of them. It’s a 2 out of 5 for sure, if it was literally 75% shorter it might have been a 3, but that playtime is just insurmountably tough and makes the album a chore to get through. Sorry Miles, I tried.

Imagine my surprise when I rolled this album today and the very first thing I noticed in the credits is that Robert Mapplethorpe took the cover photo. One of the genuinely coolest artists to ever do it. What a treat to discover that out of nowhere, I don’t even normally look at the album art credits, so to discover that completely naturally was very cool to me. That got me excited to listen to this one for some reason, I don’t know why. I think it just told me that to swing Robert for this must make these guys some really cool people in general who know ball. According to what little I researched before diving into the album, this is one of those bands who are generally unheard of by most people, but are “Your favorite bands favorite band”. I love bands like that personally, so again, I knew this one would be fun. A lot of signs early on told me this was going to be a good album, and the signs were absolutely correct. Least appealing aspect of this album is the singer. He’s not amazing. A little whiny, but otherwise he’s passable at best. He doesn’t do a whole lot to impress me as a whole, but it’s hardly a dealbreaker. At the bare minimum he’s catchy, and I like his voice more than I dislike it. The real intrigue in this album comes in the guitar playing and drumming. Even the production and just overall sound is really good. Each song has a killer riff somewhere that usually comes out of nowhere. Meanwhile, the drums are extremely prominent and you can tell he was hitting the hell out of them, which is awesome. At 45 minutes and only 8 songs, they’re also easy to tell apart, which gave me an easier time picking a favorite song. That’s also in general just a great length for an album. Silver medal goes to their big hit, the titular “Marquee Moon”. Crazy good song with another awesome solo and ok singing, but it goes on just a little too long for me to say I enjoy every moment of it. Still added it to my library though. My gold medal is going to go to the closing song “Torn Curtain”. It’s catchy as hell, a little softer than the other songs, and actually does a great job of using the singer. And for someone that always picks the songs that rock the hardest as his favorite, this was somewhat of an easy pick for me today. The little solo towards the end of the song sells this one for me. It’s the hardest solo on the album, and it shreds. Fantastic song. This album in general is fantastic. If the singer was better, this might be a 5, but it’s still a very high 4 overall. I can see why this band is popular with other famous musicians. Fun late 70’s time piece, and still to this day it definitely holds up. Loved this one. 4 out of 5 stars.

Dude wants to be Bob Dylan so bad and it really shows. From what I’ve heard about this guy, exclusively with the reviews of the site, he’s apparently a massive douche canoe and allegedly engaged in a bit of noncery. So that’s not great. I’ve never heard of him before so it’s a little easier to separate the art from the artist, as opposed to someone like Kanye, who I just can’t even listen to anymore in general. They categorize this as Country first and Rock second, but it just sounds like more of the same generic indie rock I’ve been listening to all project long, and will very likely get more of soon. His voice is alright. I like it more than I dislike it. The guitar playing is just alright as well. The most intriguing part of the album is the circumstances behind “New York, New York” being made, but that has nothing to do with the actual album itself. He filmed the music video for that a few days before 9/11, which is interesting, but not the most surprising considering just how massively popular New York is as a state. But the lyrics “I’ll always love you New York” come off as a little haunting now to be honest. He couldn’t have known what would happen, but it’s just such a weird happenstance. Anyway, there’s some more kazoo playing, and I’m slowly realizing that the kazoo is used in more albums than I originally realized. Now, the best thing I can say about this album is that it doesn’t sound like Country. It definitely is on the more Rock end of the spectrum. And thank God for that, because at one hour and ten minutes, I was so excited to be done with this one. Not because it’s bad. It’s fine. I want to establish that this album is perfectly fine. It’s just so boring. We’re getting to the point in this project where I’m not going to hyper analyze these albums and listen to them each 100 times each. They get a solid 2 listens each. 1 to take it in, and 1 to pick my favorite song. And if I really like them, I’m very likely to keep listening to it. This one had some things I enjoyed. Again, the singer is fine. He doesn’t bother me. But making it through the entire album is a lot to ask for. There’s even a random Gospel song thrown in there with “The Rescue Blues”. My favorite song on the album this time and luckily it wasn’t even close, was “Nobody Girl”, which sounds different from every other song on the album. When I heard it the first time I knew it would be my pick. It’s beautiful, has a great vocal and backing track, a really good guitar solo, great drums, just a really solid song that came out of nowhere and legitimately kind of blew me away. So that’s going to be the only thing I remember from this album, but I’m glad I listened to that song specifically, because I surprisingly love it a lot. This is the first of 2 Ryan Adams albums I’ll listen to for this project. Who knows how the other one will go, but I’m guessing also a 3. But for being surprisingly easy to listen to as a whole even with the ludicrous playtime, and giving me “Nobody Girl”, I’m giving this album a 3.2/5. It’s not all that bad.

So, here’s the good news about this album. It’s not bad. Why am I starting a review by saying that?? Well, you see, there’s not a lot that I can really even say about this album that I haven’t said about multiple other similar sounding albums before it. Instead, I’m going to choose to focus on the fact that this is an Irish band that doesn’t sound exactly the same as the other few Irish bands I’ve listened to so far. So while yes, it manages to sound like multiple other Indie Rock albums, it doesn’t sound like the other Irish albums, and that’s a very good thing. Listen, I’m down to vibe with my heritage every now and then, but the traditional sounding Irish songs just do nothing for me. They usually irritate me actually. This, however, is really refreshing. Hearing Indie Pop coming out of Ireland is cool, and I am actually glad it’s on here. I understand the representation getting some notice, and I agree with it as well. Bonus for the fact that it’s from the 2000’s, it’s nice. It’s also got the funny “hidden song” gimmick that was briefly popular at the time. Seeing how Spotify plays those is always interesting. There’s a slight pause during the last song while this one plays, which is a much better way of doing it than making you listen to like 5 minutes of silence. I dislike when Spotify does that a lot. The singer is ok. Not my favorite, but I do love that he’s Irish and can really tell, but he’s not overbearing about it. It’s not the focal point of the album. The instrumentation is usually pretty light and not noticeable, but the production and overall vibey nature of this album make it very fun. As for my favorite song. Damn. Good point in favor of the album that it’s between a few of them. If I had to pick though, I guess it would have to be “Don't Steal Our Sun”. Sounds like a King Gizzard song, which I think is awesome. Plus the little riff around the 2 minute mark is the coolest thing on the album. Alright, this was a fun little album from the homeland. It’s nothing special, but it was a nice little peaceful album and I’m glad I listened to it today. Thanks boys!! 🇮🇪🇮🇪

I’ll be completely honest here. I don’t know what to rate this one exactly. Initially, I let out a bit of a confused sigh when I saw that this was my album for today. Weird album cover, indie rock is always a bit of a mixed bag, and I don’t even remotely have a clue who PJ Harvey is. Like, I’ve never heard of her in my entire life. So it was a bit stacked against her already in my mind. Then I saw that she somehow has 4 albums on here. That being said, naturally, this is my first of 4 PJ Harvey albums I will be reviewing for this project. And as always when I initially doubt something based on just looks alone, I am so very, very wrong. Now, I still don’t know who PJ Harvey is at the end of the day. I haven’t done a deep dive on her yet. I’ve got 4 albums to do so, so I’ll save that for another review just so I have something else to talk about. For now I’m fine not knowing anything about her. What I do know is that the general consensus of her 4 albums on here is not great. For what it’s worth, Dry, her debut album, is the second highest rated of the 4 albums on the site. And my personal opinion?? Wow. Refreshingly different. I love a good female artist who just unapologetically kicks ass, and I think PJ Harvey might just kick a whole bunch of ass. This is one of those albums that clearly isn’t perfect, and you really kind of get the point even after the very first song is finished. It’s a little samey and formulaic through and through. She’s got a BADASS grungy voice, and based on the Spotify Credits, she’s also playing the freaking guitar as well?? OK, seriously, why have I never heard of her, this is right up my alley. It’s like a female Nirvana. What the hell, I actually love this. Picking a favorite song too is also difficult, and that’s unfortunately because all of these songs sound the damn same to me. Noted, it’s the same really good song, but they’re very similar. On memory alone, I think the song that stands out the most, besides the killer opening track “Oh My Lover”, which instantly had me going “Oh” myself, has to be “Sheela-Na-Gig”. That song was the perfect bland of catchy singing and killer, shredding guitar solos. Dude. Actually, I love this album. Didn’t see that one coming based on the rating, but I’ll never complain about being caught off guard by any of these albums and artists that I’ve never heard of before. It’s been quite a few days since I added anything to my regular Liked Songs playlist, but this album is getting a few inclusions added to the list. And for that, as well as everything else I already mentioned, I’m going to give this one a 4.3ish out of 5. It’s really freaking good. Love the singing, the grungy, angry guitar, and everything else is just right up my alley. Both interested and a little nervous to hear what she sounds like later in her career with her 3 other albums on the list. For now though, first impressions are quite good!!

The Who is a very important band to me and my family. I’ve mentioned that before, probably multiple times. So to hear their first album in its entirety is very special to me, as I don’t generally listen to albums as a whole in general. At least, I didn’t before I started this project. Now, it’s the default. Even for some of my favorite bands of all times I don’t normally listen to complete albums. For instance, I’ve heard a good bit of The Who songs. Probably more than most people, but I still haven’t listened to My Generation from top to bottom, and it had some stuff that I’d never heard before that surprised me. Songs like “The Ox” are really fun and unique, even for The Who, and listening to them start figuring out their identity as the album goes on is very fun. This isn’t the best The Who album, not even on the podium. It’s pretty Poppy, it’s a little generic, it doesn’t have a ton going for it. They’re clearly trying to find their sound, and haven’t really done so yet here. It’s very traditional as a whole. But even at the start of their careers, it’s still a The Who album, and it’s got more bangers than misses. I don’t even think it has any outright misses as a whole, just not a ton of songs that really hooked me personally. But they knew what they were doing with the title song “My Generation”. That’s a classic, and it’s hard to imagine with how prominent it would become that it was on their first album. It’s my favorite song on the album for multiple reasons, but I do also think it’s also just objectively the best song on the album. Runner up goes to “The Kids Are Alright” which is the other classic song on their debut album. Hard to imagine I’m almost at the end of The Who albums already, but this is number 4 out of 5. The only one left is ironically their last album chronologically on the list. And by then, of course, they found their sound. So it’s going to be really fun going from this one to that one and comparing them. I do know that that one is a 5, but I don’t know if this one should be a 3 or a 4. If I give it a 4, I feel like that may be giving a bit of favoritism, but 3 also just feels too low. For the billionth time, I wish I could give half stars, because this is a 3.8, way closer to a 4 than a 3, but I rate these to the letter, and don’t round up. So man, I don’t know. It’s The Who, and I still love it. But I don’t LOVE it. You know what I’m saying?? I’m going 3. That seems fine with me.

God damn. This is a seriously good album. I’ll admit, I don’t know anything about the Eagles as a band. Much like “Free Bird” with Lynyrd Skynyrd, I’ve heard “Hotel California” probably just as many times, and it’s one of my favorite songs, even though it’s the only song by them that I actually know. That being said, I should have figured that the band was more than just that one hit, and they absolutely prove it here. This is the first of 2 Eagles albums I will be listening to for this project, and it’s probably going to be the best one as well, I am fairly confident in that prediction. This album has some great, slower ballads, but it’s also got songs with a much faster tempo that focus more on shredding guitar solos. Then, there’s “Hotel California”. It’s still got to be my favorite song on the album at the end of the day. I don’t know how it couldn’t be. The solo at the end, the imagery, it’s one of my favorite songs for a reason. The best part about art is that you’re free to interpret it in ways that the original creators themselves don’t. For instance, I have always imagined this song is about purgatory. Lines like “This could be heaven or this could be hell”, “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave”, and “Still I hear those voices calling from far away” have always made me think the concierge is talking to a new resident in “Hotel California”, a temporary stay between your current life, and the next life. For some reason, the song has always just meant a lot to me because of that perceived imagery, and I like it a lot. “ Life in the Fast Lane” is another song worth mentioning. I want to say I’ve heard of it before, but I’m not sure. The twangy but still pretty cool beat is very, very catchy, and something I found myself singing multiple times while enjoying the album. Overall, it’s really good. Still, much like most albums I enjoy, I don’t think every song packs quite the punch I’m looking for, but this album is still pretty close to perfection as a whole. For that reason, it’s getting a high 4 star review from me today. Excited to check out their self titled debut album as well to see if it even remotely comes close to how good this album is.

Janis Joplin was one bad ass bitch, and she had an incredible set of pipes to match. Perfect example of rockstars living their lives fast and dying way, WAY too young. One year she’s the lead singer of Big Brother & The Holding Company having a modest but passionate fan base. The next, after a few years with the band she breaks out into stardom in a huge way, goes solo, and releases a solo album. Finally, she writes one more, Pearl, which releases after her death. Drugs, obviously. Her dealer gave her as well as others a dose way stronger than they were used to. At age 27, she could have been the biggest name in music, but tragically, she died instead. This mirrors so many others who either died of a drug overdose, suicide, or any other reason really at the exact same age. I’m sure you’re familiar with the 27 club popularized by Kurt Cobain, but Janis was a founding member of said club. It’s so weird how patterns can form like that and then become the stuff of haunting urban legends. Now, there is a reason I’m mentioning all of that, and it’s because the knowledge of Janis’s death at a young age is felt when listening to this album, knowing she wasn’t even alive to hear it when it released herself. Pearl is full of raw energy, and it once again proves that if she was still alive, Janis would have only risen higher and higher in popularity. The parallels between her and Kurt are very easy to see. This is the second and final album featuring Janis that I’ve listened to for this project, following her work in the previously mentioned Big Brother & The Holding Company with the album Cheap Thrills, which I gave a 4 star review. Now, I’m going to do the same thing with Pearl, because her singing and the guitar playing are something truly special. There was only one Janis Joplin because no one else could possibly sound like her, and match the electric energy she provided. My one downside to this album is her final song “Mercedes Benz” is pretty bad. It’s not the last song on the album, but it was the last thing she recorded, which does make it special in a messed up sort of way. My personal favorite song on this album was the opener, “Move Over”. I think the album opens on such a badass note that it gets you hyped for the rest, and you probably will remain hyped if you like that first song too. To wrap this one up, Janis lived and died as a rockstar. She was here and then she wasn’t, and that’s probably the way she would have wanted it. Just look at that album art. Look at that cool legend just hanging out, not having a care in the world. That is one bad ass bitch!! Great album, I’m going to give this one 4 out of 5 stars. More of this type of sound would be very welcomed.

The inevitable rise of Iggy Pop has been very fun to follow through the history of his music while participating in this project, and the help of one David Bowie, who’s name I’ve likely uttered more than any other in these reviews, more than any other artist, was a big part of what made him successful in the mainstream. Before his solo act though, there was The Stooges. As far as albums are concerned, this is pretty much just a run of the mill 60’s album. It’s got some sick chords, some filler, a nice and tight 34 minute playtime, and a singer that sounds an awful lot like he’s doing a Jim Morrison The Doors impression. That is to say, it’s definitely a 60’s album. A super high amount of bands were understandably trying to sound like either The Beatles or The Doors back then, and more often than not it was a pretty cool attempt, as the music was still pretty new at the time. Now, listen. I understand why this album is on here. It was the first album by The Stooges, and I agree it has a place on here. My favorite song was the only one I’d heard previously, “I Wanna Be Your Dog”, which should be used as an OP/ED for the anime Chainsaw Man, but that’s way off topic. Those who know, know it would be absolutely perfect. Now, there’s a major caveat with this album that I have a bone to pick with. Of the 34 minutes, nearly 10 of them are taken up by “We Will Fall”. It’s a total filler song with very little going for it. If that song was cut in half, I might honestly consider giving this album a 4 star rating. As it stands though, that’s nearly a third of the album. The other songs on the album all have killer guitar shredding that kicks ass, but that single song really does slow the album to a crawl for me. Now, earlier I mentioned that this album belonged on the list, and I still agree that it does. However, this is the second of 5 albums to feature Iggy Pop that I’ll be listening to for this project. Iggy Pop has 2 solo albums, and The Stooges have all 3 of their original albums on the list. For the fun historical origin of Iggy Pop, one makes sense. This one has the biggest hit and everything, so it’s the logical choice. But I question the inclusion of 3 separate The Stooges albums. I’m still likely to give them all 3’s, but I’d argue that just this one is more than likely enough to have on a must hear list. I also have a feeling Iggy didn’t really evolve his style all that much until he met Bowie, but hey, I’ve still got 2 more The Stooges albums to get through, maybe they’ll surprise me. After all, this one was pretty damn good, and the guitar playing was stellar, even if I wish it was a bit more pronounced and stood out some more. Great album overall though. It’s a high 3 out of 5.

The description for Sex Packets calls it a concept album, but it’s only the last couple of songs on the album that even mention the things. So I guess I learned something new today. Thank you 1001 albums generator. I learned that only a few songs on an album need to be part of the concept to be classified as a concept album. As for the album itself?? Sure, I enjoy it a lot actually. Personally, I’m more of a hardcore gangster rap guy myself, but to have a band like this instead lean in on the comedy aspect and not take itself seriously in the slightest is actually kind of charming. I love bands like this as well. And to base it off of Electronica/Funk bands like Parliament, a band I previously gave a 5 star rating to, is also just as charming. Let’s talk about some negatives real quick. Sure, this album is hella dated. I might have even guessed this was from the 80’s it’s so dated. It’s also over an hour long, after opening with the best song in the album, “The Humpty Dance”. So the album goes slightly downhill from the banger opener, and in my opinion it should have the length cut by at least 30 minutes to maybe even around 45, and it would make it tighter, better, and more memorable. As it stands right now, I’m only going to remember that first song, and then the songs at the end of the album that the concept is based on. But the guys can sing, and it is catchy. So all that being said, I don’t mind the length all that much, because this is very easy to listen to as a whole, even if it’s not all that memorable or groundbreaking, even for the time. Having something that anyone can listen to though with the opening song is pretty cool though. Even my Mom has heard of “The Humpty Dance” and thinks it’s hilarious. Now on to the topic of Sex Packets as a product. Yeesh. I mean, it’s funny. I’ll give it that, but you couldn’t exactly make the same joke today without someone trying to cancel you. I thought the skit of the guy trying to upsell them was genuinely funny, and that’s probably the main thing I’m going to take away from and remember on this album. As a whole, yeah, I might even return to it. It doesn’t do anything spectacular, but it’s pretty funny and interesting for what it is, so I’m going to give Sex Packets by Digital Underground a mid to high 3 out of 5 star rating. That seems like a very fair rating for this album.

This is the second of 3 Pixies albums I’ve rolled for this project, following Bossanova, which I gave a 4 star review. Surfer Rosa is the first album by the Pixies, and it’s still really good, I just don’t think it grabbed me as much as Bossanova did as a whole. It does some weird, experimental things that I just didn’t love in some of the songs, like the lead singer just screaming and making weird noises. The guitar playing as a whole on all of these songs is quite good, and the album is the perfect length at 33 minutes long, with 13 songs, most of which are a little forgettable but still different enough that you’ll have a good time listening to them. Also on this album, is “Where Is My Mind?”, which is their best song from their entire discography, bar none. It’s one of those songs that just manages to somehow be in all of my favorite things, and I’ll always be happy listening to it. It’s likely to be the only song I recognize from the Pixies off rip, and for those reasons, it’s by far my favorite song on the album. It’s not enough to raise it to a 4, but it’s a phenomenal song that would make it very far in a head to head matchup with my other favorite songs. As far as debut albums go, this is quite good. The guitar playing is the signature noise here. It’s trippy, and surfer-rocky, but not quite as much as their later albums. It just didn’t hit me as hard as a whole for some reason, and I listened to it probably 30+ times. I don’t know, maybe it is a 4. I don’t have a lot of criticisms for this album. Let me listen to it one more time, because I really want to give this one a 4 as well. Update. Can’t do it. Most of these songs just don’t do it for me enough, but they’re still pretty good as a whole. It’s a 3.9 out of 5. I have one more Pixies album to listen to now, and it’s the highest rated on the site, so that’s exciting. Perhaps I can have a 3, 4 and 5 star rated album for this band. Until then, I’m going to compare this to Bossanova and try to justify a 3 vs a 4. I could come back and change this to a 4 later. I don’t know if I’m quite done with this one yet.