Reviews by guggmo

I’m at a 10.

I’ll start by being a little mean to it; I actually don’t think it’s as good as “Sheer Heart Attack” was. It might just be because “Bohemian Rhapsody” has been diluted for me after first hearing it on YouTube in like, 2009, along with “You’re My Best Friend” being in rotation for years, but this didn’t leave me as blown away. Honestly, it might not even be as good as “Queen II” was, but I’d have to really relisten to that one. All of that said, it just means Queen makes fantastic albums, even if they’re still more of a singles band to my mind.

We don’t need to harp much on the band; Brian’s guitar is great, Freddie’s vocals are heavenly (if a little held back on this album, honestly), Roger’s drums have a great kick that helps explode each track from section to section, and John Deacon fills out the rest nicely. They’re all on point, as usual. I admire the hell out of the experimental / high concept stuff here; it makes for a bit less consistency than I’m used to from Queen, but when it hits, it really fucking hits. My sci-fi brain loved “‘39” & “The Prophet’s Song”, with the former winning me over on the Planet of the Apes-esque time dilation stuff & the latter winning me over as a prog rock take on the biblical flood. The acapella section in that track is mesmerizing, by the way. The quirkier stuff feels fun too; “Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon”, “Seaside Rendezvous” & “Good Company” are the key examples, with “Seaside Rendezvous” as my favorite of the 3 due to the ragtime feel & Freddie’s charisma just making it work far more than it should.

If I have any minor complaints, it’s that “Sweet Lady” is probably the weakest track among any of the 3 Queen albums on the list. It’s not bad at all, and I did like it, but there’s something a bit too plain about it, even against something kinda silly like “I’m in Love with My Car” or ending in a guitar rendition of “God Save The Queen”. I also think it could’ve had at least one cleaner transition, as the album just feels a bit more like a collection of tracks this time around as opposed to a more solidified project. That said, it’s an undeniably strong set of tracks, and while it’s not going to hit for everyone (I can genuinely see the case for a 4 if enough little annoyances pile up), I think it’s too damn good to give it anything but a 10, at least for me. I’m sad this is the last Queen album on the list, but it’s a good one to go out on.

I’m at a 3.5 that I’ll bump up to a 4.

I think I understand the 2.15 on the site; it’s a hassle to find it on YouTube, there’s practically no lyrics online, it’s quirky Baroque music, and it’s a German lady singing English translations of tracks written about Germany between World War I & World War II. It’s a lot. To top it all off, I think it just doesn’t make a great impression through its first 4 tracks, and with this being 22 tracks long, if nearly a fifth of the album already feels iffy, it’s probably very easy to give up and ignore the rest.

This album finds a bit more of its footing with “Ballad of the Sackslingers” being loosely about telling the working class of farmers being pimped around from country to country to make profits to rise up & burn the system down that’s oppressing them. It’s a mistake to follow that up with something as unappealing as “Mother Beimelin”, but for me, it recovered again by “The Rat Men - Nightmare”. I dunno, it just felt funny to me.

From that point onward, a lot of the tracks just have something more present to them that’s easier to sink one’s teeth into, including more engaging soundscapes & lyrics. “Song of a German Mother” is where this album solidifies itself more, and after that, it’s honestly a pretty good listen. If you’ve gotten that far, you’re more used to the awkward cadence of her translated vocals, but there is a bit more melody & structure to everything. It’s a lot easier to feel the plight of Germany during that time, especially if you already have some knowledge of the economic failings that led to the rise of Hitler. These tracks feel humanizing towards those who suffered. Hanns Eisler, a remarkably prolific composer, is the brainchild behind all of these tracks, and I’d say he captured the anti-Hitler opposition of the period well.

This album came out 43 years after WW2 ended, and here we are 38 years later. It’s so strange that a lot of these tracks still feel kinda relevant. Yes, it’s a long album, yes, some tracks could’ve been cut, but at the end of the day, I think there’s something here, especially if you can see it as a time capsule. I wish it were on streaming with proper lyrics, as it would probably have a slightly higher rating. It’s definitely not one of the worst 10 albums on the list, not by a long shot. To me, it’s a 3.5 bumped up to a 4, and I’m glad it’s here.

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll pretty easily bump up to a 5.

It took a little bit for me to adjust to 50 Cent’s more deliberate flow early on in this album, just because I’m not as used to his style, but once it clicked, it all felt pretty good. Even in his spoken word approach at times, he’s just got a voice tailormade for rap beats & a natural cadence that glides on any beat you can give him. He sounds great & he sounds authoritative, giving a lot of credence to the “I will pop a cap in your ass, I promise” attitude that permeates the entire album.

If there’s any obvious complaint about the album, it’s that 50 Cent just acts like way too much of a hardass at times that makes his real experience feel too much like a caricature. This man is constantly on somebody’s ass about shooting them with a TEC or a .9, and it’s a well he goes back to way too often. “Blood Hound” is the first one that started to really bite at me, and after that, both “Like My Style” & “Poor Lil Rich” felt a bit too braggadocious for my tastes. I thought the beat was weird on the former & I just don’t think 50 Cent plays the rich guy role too well on the latter. He feels far too materialistic. When Biggie did it on “Juicy”, he kept a humble perspective that humanized him a bit.

If anything, that’s my biggest complaint here; I don’t think 50 Cent really humanizes himself enough past the gun-toting man on a mission to get rich or die trying. The closest the album gets to showing his lighter side are on “In Da Club”, “P.I.M.P.” & “21 Questions”, all of which were obviously the biggest hits. “Many Men” is up there too, and it rules because it spells out his mission in a way that makes you want to root for him. There’s just some tracks that feel a bit over the top in a way that still shine through sheer charisma & talent alone (along with great beats), but I wish he got just a bit more vulnerable. Even when he tries just a bit on “Gotta Make It To Heaven”, it just kinda disappointed me as an album closer.

All of that said, I still think this is pretty damn good. I’m easily bumping it up to a 5 because it’s that enjoyable, and the tracks that didn’t bite at me feel like a barrage of hits. If you trimmed this album to just those, or if you replaced those with the trio of bonus tracks, it would be even better than it already is. I hope nobody drops “Don’t Push Me” though; that should’ve been a big hit. Overall, I’m glad I finally listened to this in full, and while it didn’t blow me away as much as I was hoping, I feel like this is still an essential piece to early 2000s hip-hop. Only a madman would come in & take shots at Nas & Jay-Z on a debut album right after they traded bombs, and that’s just how 50 Cent operates. I admire the audacity, even if it manifests in ways that feel like parody at times. When it doesn’t though, it fucking rules. Hence, a 4.5 bumped up to a 5.

I’m at a 5.

I’m very easily charmed, what can I say? It’s just some good rock & roll with a blues lean. Elvis sounds fantastic here, and his delivery is remarkable for a guy who just came back from the Army. The Jordanaires fill out the lower half of the soundscape nicely with the harmonies, the band behind him can really play (including Boots Randolph who kills on sax), and with everyone so locked in, there’s just the confidence of a hit record here. Yes, the lyricism is rather straightforward & a lot of it is about the ladies. That’s just how everyone was writing in the late ‘50s. Elvis & friends just make them feel important, and the variety of matured soundscapes on this album is a welcome change of pace from his ‘50s work. Being in stereo helps a lot.

I don’t think there’s too much more I can add; it’s a well-paced album, it doesn’t shy away from alluding to his Army service (namely on “I Will Be Home Again” & “Soldier Boy”), and when everything carries a lift in his vocals & the band to push the song up, it hits practically every time. It’s easy to see why this dude was the biggest star in the world at one point. I get that it’s a bit cheesy, and there is a light air of overemphasis in the ballads, but with headphones in, it just worked for me. I think it’s a really nice listen & a good pick for the list. Hence, a 5.

I’m at a 5.

I’m impressed as hell by the Pharcyde. Yes, they’re a bit juvenile. Yes, some members are a bit hornier & more aggressive than others. Yes, Fatlip is probably the very best wordsmith of the group & he’s lyrically outshining them almost every time. I just wanted to say that last one. If you’re frustrated by the juvenile stuff, the hint of transphobia in the main opening track, and the mildly possessive approach towards women that pops up from time to time on the album, you’re probably not going to like this. I think that’s fair. Without necessarily dismissing those concerns, I just think they miss the overall vibe of the album; these guys are just having a ton of fun.

For all the people saying this isn’t a gangsta rap album, I’d say they’re correct to a point, and it feels a lot more like the vibe Ice Cube captured when he wrote Friday. It’s a semi-stoner album, and it just feels like a pretty vivid look at life in Los Angeles from a quartet of black dudes having fun in their mid-twenties. It doesn’t necessarily negate everything that Ice Cube & Dr. Dre & Public Enemy were bringing to the forefront at the time; there’s lots of tracks that have these guys adjacent to it, namely the excellent “Officer”. It’s just not the focus here. Let those guys fight the power & try to change the world, as they should. The Pharcyde are here to try to rizz up the ladies, make yo mama jokes, and then smoke some weed. They’re the side characters. They are the Chris Tucker to Ice Cube’s… well, Ice Cube. Just like Chris Tucker, they feel like a star in the making here.

I can’t really say there’s a bad track on the album. The only one that left me a little “eh” was “Soul Flower”, and even then, it’s still a fun track. The production work is cool as hell for 1992, infusing some East Coast energy to the west side, sounding nothing like the G-Funk that Dr. Dre was making famous. There’s lots of cool sample work, but the jazzy soundscape to each track really makes them all pop, especially on the interlude skits. J-Swift did a hell of a job here. These guys can rap their asses off, and even when I found the lyrics a little goofy, there’s something in the delivery that keeps them credible. Fatlip & SlimKid 3 are the two best in the group, especially in their lyrics, but Imani & Bootie Brown do pretty good too. You can tell they’re not taking themselves that seriously; they are fine being the butts of the jokes in their own tracks, and it just keeps the whole thing pretty light-hearted. Ice Cube was being misogynistic as hell over on “AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted”, but these guys are getting burnt by the ladies on a lot of tracks and just shrugging it off. The album literally ends on getting burnt so badly that they need their weed dealer before getting way too high for their own goods, and then going into an ‘80s rap tribute track that does Run-DMC better than Run-DMC does. You can’t tell me that’s not funny.

Overall, it’s just a super enjoyable 56 minutes, and I’m really glad it’s on the list. As far as the whole album goes, I think it’s a 5. The floor should at least be a 3. Much like “Doggystyle”, even if you can’t get down with the lyrics, there’s just something in the beats & delivery that carries a natural charisma. If nothing else, listen to “Passin’ Me By”. That one rules.

I’m at a 5, if not higher.

“The Chronic”, for as good as it is, has a point where it just kinda falls down after “The $20 Sack Pyramid”. Snoop’s solo debut here doesn’t have that at all; this thing just keeps going & going & going, and it is a barrage of great rap tracks. Snoop’s voice is made for this shit; even if you have no interest in hearing the lyrics out, the man’s flow is silky smooth with the precision of a machine gun on this album. He sounds fantastic. I understand the misogynistic gangsta rap lifestyle isn’t palatable to everyone, but I honestly don’t think he takes it that far on this album; at the very least, it’s not as blatantly hypersexist as Ice Cube was on “AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted”. Kurupt takes it a bit far at times, and I do think he could’ve toned it down, but when he comes in on some of these tracks, it’s like a needed battering ram to balance out Snoop’s laid back energy on this album.

There’s hit after hit after hit after hit after hit here, including “Gin and Juice”, “Tha Shiznit”, “Lodi Dodi”, “Murder Was The Case”, “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?”, “Doggy Dogg World”, “Ain’t No Fun (If the Homies Can’t Have None)” & “Gz & Hustlas”. I know that “Ain’t No Fun” is by far the most objectifying track on the album. It blatantly calls the ladies bitches & hoes that are practically being passed around from man to man like a blunt while the guys practically beg for oral. It is so absurdly misogynistic that I understand people hating on that track. I personally think it’s one of the funniest on the album. I’m sorry; I can’t take it that seriously. Nate Dogg sings every line in that first verse with such soul that I can’t help but laugh. Snoop’s first lines are “Guess who's back in the motherfuckin' house / With a fat dick for your motherfuckin' mouth?” – like, come on. That’s objectively funny as fuck. Warren G fucking comes in near the end like he’s doing a guest star spot on a sitcom, and the whole thing is so over the top that I can’t possibly imagine anyone being that taken aback by it. It’s catchy as hell, I’m sorry.

“Gin and Juice” might be the best West Coast party anthem ever. “Tha Shiznit” has one of the most underrated Dre beats ever with Snoop’s charisma flying off the charts; if it’s a full freestyle, that’s genuinely incredible. “Lodi Dodi” is a great flip of a Slick Rick track & a great homage. “Murder Was The Case” has some of Snoop’s best storytelling work. “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?” is a killer single to start a solo career with. “Doggy Dogg World” has a trio of super dynamic verses that are all centered really nicely by the chorus. “Gz & Hustlas”, if it really is a full freestyle like “Tha Shiznit” apparently is, might be one of the best freestyles ever put to tape. Every verse on that track kills & the beat is one of Dre’s best.

The other tracks all range from good to great; “Bathtub” is a solid skit to start. “G Funk Intro” has Rage absolutely killing it on her verse. “Serial Killa” gets a little violent in the chorus & RBX’s verse, but it’s still good. “For All My N****z & Bitches” is a little inconsistent from verse to verse, but it’s still a fun listen. “Gz Up, Hoes Down” suffers from a pretty bad mix that takes a lot of the attention from Snoop’s flow, but I still think it works. “Pump Pump” is a way better closer than I remembered, especially with Mr. Malik sounding like New Edition-era Bobby Brown going full gangsta on his verse. I don’t know that I would’ve ended on that track, given the 8 tracks I mentioned earlier all being that damn good, but it’s certainly not a bad choice.

Overall, the entire album is 55 minutes of G-Funk that just flies by. Everyone is on their A-game here, whether it’s a hungry Snoop with something to prove, a seasoned Dr. Dre taking his production to an even higher level than on “The Chronic”, and a multitude of guest artists who all feel like they fit in perfectly. It is even better than The Chronic, it’s probably a top 5 rap album of the 1990s, and one of the best solo debut records ever in hip-hop. It’s an easy 5, if not higher. There is a chance it can get to a 10 someday. It more than earns its spot on the list.

I’m at a 5. Maybe just a little higher.

Look, I’ll be the first person to tell you it’s pretty damn straightforward power pop. Almost every track is about the ladies, including the Fats Domino cover about a lady leaving him, they repeat a lot of lyrics, and if this weren’t a live album, I suspect the vibe would be incredibly different. This fucking crowd elevates everything, and while I could knock them for reacting to literally anything & everything, I just don’t think it matters. Cheap Trick feeds off of their energy in a way that just makes each track pop. It could obviously be mixed better; I think the vocals could be more present to give Robin Zander even more credit, but doing too much of that would probably take away from feeling the presence of that crowd.

The music, for as fun as it is, almost feels secondary to putting headphones in & just feeling the experience of it all. They captured a live atmosphere perfectly here. The only track I could nitpick at is “Need Your Love” for going the full 9 minutes without a bigger dazzling solo, but they make up for it when they occasionally go kinda crazy in the back half of the album. Seriously, it’s a killer run for the final 5 tracks. “I Want You To Want Me” is that good by the way, and yet I think my favorite is “Surrender”. There’s not a bad track here though; some people may call me dumb for saying that, but being straightforward does not automatically make it bad. It’s safe, sure, but I’d prefer a tight 42 minutes that they could safely kill as opposed to a dull & meandering 73 minutes a la the Grateful Dead.

Ultimately, I think it’s a 5, if not just a bit higher. I’m very glad it’s on the list. The last 5 tracks really pulled it all together for me, and there’s just a good energy coming off of this album that makes it super easy to listen to. It is one of the breeziest albums we’ve ever gotten on the list, and yet it rocks all the same. I really enjoyed it, and while I think a lot of the complaints about the tracks themselves carry some validity, if you were actually in that crowd that night, you’d probably be calling Cheap Trick a great band too. Either that, or you’d be deaf from all the screaming.

I’m at a 5.

I mean, sometimes it’s just that simple. If you sound good, you sound good. The Everly Brothers sound good, and I can hear some of the DNA of the Beatles & other pop stars of the ‘60s to come in this album. Their harmonies are nice, their vocals feel dynamic enough to switch tempos pretty easily, and while the album is a bit one-note about relationships (like most 50s/60s albums), I’d say they still get in some good lines on the 4 tracks they wrote. The only track that didn’t really work for me was the opener, if only because it’s a bit simplifying towards a woman’s purpose, but also, their dad was born in 1908. I can’t hate on the advice of a guy who’d be 118 today. It’s literally an entirely different era.

I think my favorite one here is probably “Always It’s You”, just because the backing xylophone gave it a really warm vibe that just clicked for me, but “Cathy’s Clown” is a very close second. You can practically feel the spark in Paul McCartney light up on that one. The rest all range from good to great (“Lucille” is a pretty good cover), and I’d say there’s not really a miss. It’s a super breezy 27 minutes, and the remasters make the tracks feel especially crisp. If I have any minor complaint, it’s that there’s a lot of fadeouts, but that’s practically nitpicking. I think it’s a 5. I’m glad it’s on the list.

I’m at a 2.5 that I’d prefer to keep there. I think I have to go down to a 2.

Just a frustrating one, really. Dwight Yoakam is not a bad storyteller; his writing makes sense, it’s decently fluid, and his original tracks here aren’t really all that bad. He just tells bad stories. This album alienates early on with how clingy he is to his woman as the only anchor keeping his already broken world from totally crumbling on the opening track. It continues to alienate with him being extremely paranoid about being cheated on during “One More Name”. It escalates with “What I Don’t Know” where he’s practically threatening to shoot a woman if she cheats on him, and culminates with the actual fantasy of shooting a cheating woman straight in the head on the album’s title track. These are all decently told stories. They’re just bad stories. I don’t know what the fuck happened to Dwight to write those out, but they feel wholly inappropriate for 2026.

This album is at its best when Dwight is not trying to fantasize the worst case scenarios about his partners, most of which are in the form of covers. “Home of the Blues” is a good Johnny Cash cover. “I Sang Dixie” is fine, though I wholly disagree with the romanticization of the Confederate south. “Streets of Bakersfield” is good, especially with Buck Owens’ twangy voice in the mix. “Floyd County” is probably Dwight’s best original track here. “Send Me the Pillow” is just kinda sweet (if a little clingy), and “Hold On to God” is a fine enough religious closer (though incredibly ironic given the sin of Murder earlier in the album). The vast majority of this album is really not THAT bad.

I just wasn’t really pulled in for most of it, though. Out of 11 tracks, I only truly enjoyed 4 of them, and with 5 of the first 6 tracks being about him dealing with cheaters in various threatening ways, along with a trio of totally mediocre ones, I just don’t think it’s a great album experience. It’s not a bad listen at all, and I’d say you could probably throw it on if you pay no attention to the lyrics. There’s a good updated honky-tonk sound to the whole album that feels nice to the ears, and doesn’t overdo anything for 1988. If it were just a little better, or had a few more lifelines along the way that don’t make me think Dwight Yoakam kinda hates women (or at least, wouldn’t seriously overreact if one did him dirty), I’d probably be willing to bump it up to a 3. They’re just not there.

As it stands, I just think there’s an air around the album that doesn’t reconcile the tracks I enjoyed or found passably OK with the ones I found rather misogynistic. I suspect there’s probably a Dwight Yoakam album out there that doesn’t feel quite as mean, but I also suspect that if you wanted more 1980s male country on the list, you could’ve just gone with a Randy Travis or a George Strait or something, you know? Hence, a 2.5 bumped down to a 2, no matter how much I’d prefer to keep it at a 2.5.

I’m at a 5.

I was pretty sure this would be good going into it, based on what little I knew of De La Soul & their reputation, and let’s just say that I’m De La Sold on these guys. Great flow from Plug One, Two & Three, great lyricism across the board for a number of these tracks, and some super unique production for 1989 that you quite literally could not get away with nowadays. I do think it’s a little heavy on the skits in a way that makes the overall flow of the full 63 minutes a little muddy, but the skits are all pretty entertaining, so it balances out. I think the only “main” track that didn’t really work for me was “Potholes In My Lawn”, but even still, I think it’s not bad at all.

My favorite one here is probably “Ghetto Thang” – it feels like a Tribe Called Quest cut in the best way, & I do wish a few more tracks focused on the serious side instead of the loose ‘hip-hop hippies’ energy they so desperately try to avoid for most of this album. That said, I really like that energy; it’s just an infectiously fun album, even when they decide to pull a De La Orgee out of left field. You can tell they had fun making it, and the D.A.I.S.Y. ethos that permeates the whole thing puts the “soul” in De La Soul.

It’s one of those albums where having the lyrics in front of you & following along will help immensely, and they really are saying a lot here. Granted, they’re also saying you smell a lot too, so be sure to use your soap. If you let it all wash over you & cleanse your ears, you’ll get what feels like a hip-hop classic, and certainly one of the best rap albums of the 1980s. For my tastes, I do think “Done By The Forces Of Nature” & “It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back” are ahead of it, but this is a close third; that’s fine by me, since 3 is the magic number after all. I could easily understand it being someone’s favorite 80s rap album though. For me, it’s an easy 5, and I’m glad I finally got around to it. Thank goodness this is on the list.

I’m at a 10.

I mean, it just kicks ass. I think it’s fucked up that it took us 1,013 days to get to our first Deep Purple album on the list (0.034% odds!), and while I assumed they’d be good, I wasn’t expecting them to be this technically mesmerizing. It’s just a dazzling whirlwind of energy with drum solos, organ solos & guitar solos as far as the ear can hear & along with Ian Gillan’s absurd vocal range, it’s just impossible to not feel the energy from it. “Child in Time” might be one of the best prog rock songs I’ve ever heard in my life, & following that up with “Flight of the Rat” really solidified this album for me. Everything after those two tracks is a welcome bonus, and while it’s not as energetic as the 4 preceding it, I think it still works within the flow of the album.

I don’t think there’s much more to say. It’s one you just gotta hear to truly get it, and I’m very glad we’ll get two more rounds with these guys before the list is done. It is a remarkable album, and while it’s pretty much just doing a combination of what Black Sabbath & Led Zeppelin were doing, they still manage to carve out their own identity by just being that goddamn good at it. I loved listening to it, and if “Machine Head” is supposed to be even fucking better (it’s got Smoke on the Water, after all), I’m extremely excited for it. As far as this one goes, it’s an easy 10.

I’m at a 3.5 that I’d like to keep there, but I’ll bump it down to a 3.

This album feels like an interrogation. It is not trying to be your friend. It’s repetitive, it’s a bit harsh, it’s not very melodic, and it includes every little awkward thing that would come with trying to make someone actively feel uncomfortable. Yes, that includes whatever the fuck “Girl” is. I think that man is by himself in that song. Poor guy. One’s rating of this album is likely to be influenced by how willing they are to accept being interrogated.

I think it’s an album that succeeds in its atmosphere, especially in the final 2 tracks, but I think the execution in the first 5 just needed a little more of an organic bend as opposed to relying so heavily on synths. “Rocket U.S.A.”, for example, just doesn’t capture the intended tension to my ears, as telling the story of a high speed car crash should be a little more dynamic. If there was a guitar following the lead melody, I think it would add a bit more. “Johnny” feels like middling storytelling compared to something like “Frankie Teardrop”, and I couldn’t get the Donkey Kong 25m music out of my head. “Girl” is… kinda useless? I mean, it’s definitely uncomfortable, but not in the same way the last 2 tracks are. It just feels like I’m being forced to listen to this guy get himself off without evoking anything more claustrophobic or interrogatory.

Even on the tracks I liked, I think “Ghost Rider”’s looping bassline is too noticeable & I think “Cheree” gets a little pitchy part of the way through, mostly from the reverb. I have no complaints whatsoever about “Frankie Teardrop” or “Che” though; the latter especially worked for me as a closer because there’s something that feels really confrontational about it that just immersed me. “Frankie Teardrop” being as abrasive as it is & as long as it is really works in its favor; I didn’t really enjoy listening to it, but I just admire the hell out of how intentionally disregarding it is, especially for 1977.

Overall, it’s a 3.5, and why I briefly thought about going up to a 4, I just think “Girl” is the tipping point that leans me towards moving back down. I just don’t think it enhances the album at all. I’d prefer to keep it at a 3.5, if only because I think I understand what the album is trying to do & I really do admire it. I think people SHOULD listen to this as an exercise in uncomfortability. It’s musically compelling due to that uncomfortability, and I imagine a lot of artists who heard this could take pieces of it & incorporate a bit more darkness into their own soundscapes. It seems like Bruce Springsteen certainly did. As it stands, I’ll bump it down to a 3. It’s definitely not as bad as a 2.46 would suggest, though. Just a bunch of scaredycats.

I’m at a 5.

Imagine if you will, two little spiders. They’re looking up at the sky. They can’t hear anything. Their purpose, for that night, is to produce a web so they can try to catch one fly. And yet, when they sleep in the morning, whether they’ve successfully caught that fly or not, they dream of something bigger. They dream of a ship, sailing a thousand miles away. Imagine if you will, that very ship. There are two people there, looking up at the sky. They can’t hear anything. Nobody’s passing it. Nobody can see it. Nobody’s picking up on its radio signals. They’re left to wonder if they’ll ever be seen again, or if time will leave them all alone to be forgotten. And yet, somewhere out there in the world, are two little spiders that can see them so vividly in their dreams.

Brian Eno manages to make a world driven by ambition on this album. It’s got every side to that ambition. Some people totally lack that ambition & find themselves stuck in a bored rut. Some people lose their ambitions & find themselves only able to live in the past. Some people’s ambition is through pledging themselves to a religion that may never pay off. It’s a fascinating look at the world, while also managing to mix in some of Brian’s eccentricities to represent his own ambition – there’s a song that anagrams to “Talking Heads” that makes no sense, a song driven by the sounds of his vocals as a driving force, and a pair of instrumentals that feel like medieval noir & a walk through a barren wasteland. It seems like even the title itself references ambition, seemingly referring to the world before & after science. I think it’s a little fair to say that for most people, we’ve gotten so comfortable with the world at large that it’s hard to find the spark to keep innovating. And yet, somewhere out there in the world, are two little spiders that have that spark just to catch a single fly. It’s something we need to keep.

It’s a miracle that Brian Eno managed to get that out of my brain, but I think scaling it down so effectively in the last track really framed the entire album for me. It feels like a perspective we all need. It also helps that it’s so nice on the ears to listen to. It’s 40 minutes that explore ambition in a way that I happened to really enjoy, and I’m so very glad it’s here as our final solo Brian Eno album on the list. I think it’s a 5, and frankly, a bit higher.

I’m at a 1.5 that I’ll bump up to a 2.

What do you do when a man with absolutely no credibility to back up anything he says portrays himself as the most credible man in the world? Well, I guess you elect him president based on current events. In this case, CeeLo Green tries to call himself the soul machine. He is not the soul machine. I don’t know what the fuck he is, really. Is he sent from God? He’ll tell you he is. Is he sugar sweet & just wanting to smoke dope with the people? He’ll tell you he is. Is he gonna pull out the box cutter & shoot your baby mama in the stomach just to make sure there won’t be another bitch like you? He’ll tell you he can do that too.

CeeLo Green is everything & nothing at once. He is apparently a man of several faces, all of which you can see in the reflections of his glasses in that album cover, along with his big ass face taking up 70% of the whole thing. He is a man who needs a cavalcade of producers far more talented than him with a set of samples & interpolations from performers much more talented than him, at least on this album. I had little experience with CeeLo Green going into this other than his two biggest hits. I had hoped this would be good. CeeLo Green has shattered my faith in him.

He’s hopping onto beats nobody’s ever conceived of before, bragging about himself in ways nobody’s ever said before or since, and if you truly listen to the batshit things he’s saying, there’s a track here where he claims it is the right of the people listening to this album to promote it since CeeLo is ordained by God himself as a messenger for peace & love. This is directly done behind a GoldenEye-sounding beat, following a track where he claims he’s for the Saturday morning kids, and 3 tracks before threatening to shoot a pregnant lady.

To be fair, there’s a handful of tracks I did like, an unbelievable amount of mediocre tracks, & a handful of tracks where I would think of a million other artists who could perform the tracks with more credibility based on the lyrics. I don’t think CeeLo has shooters like that, I don’t think he’s thieving like that, nor do I think he’s actually gonna shoot a pregnant woman in the belly. CeeLo’s at his best here when he’s leaning into the actual ‘soul’ he tries to claim he’s the machine of, and even then, his songwriting has absolutely no charisma behind it. “All Day Love Affair” is the least romantic love song I think I’ve ever heard in my life. He literally just calls her a friend while talking about the most basic date ideas I’ve heard in my life. Stevie Wonder was freakier on Songs in the Key of Life, for fuck’s sake.

Look, I could keep tearing into this album, and it deserves to be torn into, but I can’t spend another 5 paragraphs about CeeLo’s immense ego being carried by guest features & fun production. Don’t even get me started on “Childz Play”. Ultimately, there is little to no cohesion here whatsoever, and I don’t think CeeLo makes a single good case to keep calling himself the ‘soul machine’ by the end of it. I don’t think he can keep a consistent rap flow like that. It really is one of the worst albums on the list. That said, for as tempted as I am to give this a 1, I genuinely think there are some fun moments here, and if nothing else, the absolutely batshit unhinged flow of this album manages to keep it entertaining, no matter how abysmally bland it gets at times. Hence, a 1.5 that I will bump up to a 2. Barely. It’ll probably get that low someday.

P.S.: Fuck him for those allegations & his take on rape too.

I’m at a 4.5, and I’d love to leave it there, but I think I’m gonna bump it down to a 4.

I mean, you can’t say it’s not entertaining. I love the flow of this album, as it demands your attention for the full 46 minutes. It’s nearly seamless from track to track, and it keeps up a pretty good pace. It’s a surprisingly cohesive album for as many topics as it touches on, as many languages as it’s sung in, and for as wildly differing the production is from track to track. It’s hard to believe this is from 1998, since it usually feels like a ‘70s album. By all accounts, it shouldn’t really work, and yet it just kinda does.

However, I’m bumping this down to a 4 because I think it loses some of that glue near the tail end of the album. I loosely understand the idea of this being the tale of a roaming, wandering traveling musician who’s going around & just soaking up everything the world has to offer. It’s sort of a biographical album, and I admire the ability to capture that so well. I just think it starts to peel apart around “Día Luna...Día pena”; either that, or I simply lost track of where we were with this guy. There’s definitely a narrative of searching for love & community throughout the album, but I think it shrinks a little too much to just his perspective. It feels like the album strips too much agency from the larger world he’s crafted & built, focusing on his people, his loves, his wants & his desires, along with an inability to grab them. Granted, I’m going off of Google Translated lyrics here, so maybe I’m just entirely wrong about that.

For the record, I think it’s a great album. I just think the experience & the immersion of it takes a hit when it seemingly shrinks to his world view taking center stage. It also might just be the repetition in some of the shorter tracks finally piling up to a point of mild frustration by “Minha galera”, which is probably the most ‘eh’ track here. When he’s looking at things more broadly, with a greater showcase of the world he’s traveling throughout this album, there really is something kinda special here, and embracing that through multiple languages & musical styles is something I haven’t heard before. I just wish it stuck the landing all the way through. Hence, a 4.5 that I’ll begrudgingly bump down to a 4, no matter how much I admire this. It is absolutely something people should hear before they die though, and it’s very deserving to be on the list. Maybe with a bit more time, this could go back up to a 5.

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll obviously bump up to a 5.

There’s not too much to say, I think. You can hear Little Richard pushing the tempo, pace & sex appeal of Rock & Roll forward with this one. His vocals have a gritty wail to them that feels like it’s touching the sky, his lust is evident (yet not too crazy for 1957), and his energy is undeniable. Yes, it’s a bit same-y throughout, and it’s the only reason why I’m at a 4.5, but it’s impossible to ignore the foundation for a slightly harder rock & roll (& a slightly harder tone of music, in general) being laid here. Even the big band jazz in the back feels like they’re playing at a pace unheard of for the time; the closest analog I can think of is Elvis Presley’s rendition of Hound Dog, and even still, it’s not as fast as some of the tracks on this album.

Little Richard just feels like a force majeure on this album, and everyone else followed in his footsteps. The tree of influence here spreads very far & very wide, and perhaps more than I even know. Hell, I’d argue this might be the catalyst for the end of the ‘traditional’ songbook period, given Little Richard wrote most of these himself. It’s a landmark piece of music, and while it’s not the greatest album experience in the world, you probably can’t tell the story of music itself without this one. It’s more than worthy of being on the list. Frankly, it’d be criminal if it wasn’t. Hence, a 4.5 bumped up to a 5.

I’m at a 3.5 that I’ll bump up to a 4.

It’s jazz. I think it’s one of those jazz albums that makes you realize there’s levels to this; at the technical level, this isn’t really matching up to a John Coltrane or a Miles Davis. You can hear the breaths between notes, the slower flow of each sax run, the little hesitations in the bass & drums that make it less smooth, and overall, just a litany of little things that don’t encapsulate the slick grooves that the best jazz musicians can hide with ease. It makes you appreciate those who can. There’s also little things in the production biting at me; I think the bass & drums are quietly mixed. As such, they don’t fill out the bottom of the soundscape enough, leaving an emptiness in the ears that you can feel. It leads to higher instruments not being contrasted well, and there’s something just a little off about that.

This album’s biggest hit is simply in the lack of a more potent atmosphere to each track; the best jazz music gets the brain thinking of the scenarios it can fit in, and early on in this album, it just doesn’t paint the strongest pictures. It gets better by “Mannenberg Revisited” onward, but stumbling out of the gate with some tracks that are just Okay kinda muddies the perception of the album. There’s also really only 3 or 4 of the final 6 tracks that nail it. “Water from an Ancient Well” feels like one that should’ve nailed it, but the length of that track just kinda drags out too long. “The Wedding” & “The Mountain” might be the most succinct ones here, and the latter is probably my favorite on the album.

All of that said, I’m at a 3.5 that I’ll bump up to a 4. It’s still nice jazz, and when it does roll, it rolls well. I just think it could be a little better; tighter runs, tighter execution, better mixing, and ultimately, just a more imaginative atmosphere (maybe with titles that help more too). I don’t know if it had to be on the list, but I’m not too judgmental about it.

I’m at a 10.

I mean, it just kept getting better & better throughout the album; ironically, I think the weakest point is the title track, and only because it’s just a little long for what it is. Going into this, I was a little skeptical it would be THAT great; I knew it would be good, but my initial thought was surprise that “I Am” wasn’t one of the picks on the list, in favor of an album that only had one track I knew (Shining Star). After listening, Shining Star isn’t even the best track on the album. Hell, it might not even be in the top 4 for me, which is crazy to say. I think every track here is good to great, but from “Happy Feelin’” onward, it just keeps growing & growing & making you feel it – every sax run, every keyboard hit, every bassline, and every pitch of their harmonized vocals. When they preach, you listen. There is an otherworldly positivity radiating from this album that, when combined with their musical prowess, feels like a musical hit of serotonin I so desperately needed in the middle of a rainy & dreary week.

If anything, my biggest complaint is that it’s too damn short. I think “Africano” & “See the Light” could’ve gone another 5 to 10 minutes, and I almost never want tracks to go that much longer unless there’s something THAT infectious in the groove. It’s crazier to say that on an album where almost every track is 5 minutes, but it’s almost impossible to feel that length as a burden. It is unbelievable how good they are on this album. I don’t know why I was initially concerned about this album, and if anything, I think it’s shown me that I need to listen to way, way, way more Earth, Wind & Fire.

I’m actually out of words. It’s just that damn good. If you can feel it, you’ll know why. I hope everyone can feel it. It’s a 10.

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll just barely bump up to a 5, on the strength of “You Set the Scene” as a nice closing track.

I mean, it’s a pretty well done album across the board. There’s a baroque/psychedelia mixture that permeates throughout each track, and while it occasionally gets a little too flowery or a little too muddied in the lyrics, it doesn’t take away from the instrumental & vocal delivery. These guys know what they’re doing. If this had the benefit of a mono mix, I’m sure a lot of my minor nitpicks about drums & vocals feeling a little buried at times would be nonexistent. It may be one of those albums that just feels far better on speakers than with headphones.

That lyrical floweriness is most of what has me at a 4.5; as a lyrics guy, some of these are just harder to parse, even if I usually got there. I think there’s some great lines throughout, but for every handful of clearcut lines, there’d be a metaphor that went over my head or zoomed by too fast to really capture. That might just be my fault, really. The only one that I had to listen to twice was “Live and Let Live”, just because the reincarnation of the native guy into a bluebird never came to my head, and it recontextualizes the whole track. Of course, focusing solely on the lyrics would deprive the instrumentation at hand; there’s some solid complexity here for 1967, occasionally dipping into pseudo-prog rock at times, or a bit of a ska lean with some of the brass. It's a good variety, and while it does mess with the flow of the album, I admire the swings a lot, since they usually deliver.

I especially admire it on “You Set the Scene”, which is 7 minutes of reaffirming that life is what you specifically make it. You get what you give, you make your own destiny, and you have to put in the effort to do what you want to do. If you’re happy, you’re happy. If you want kids, give the lady your best. If you don’t want to fight your dad’s wars, don’t fight them. You set the scene. It’s good affirmations about crafting your own destiny, while a very cool instrumental happens in the back that occasionally carries the same energy as the Rocky theme. It’s a pretty good closing track, and it’s what’s gonna bump this album up to a 5 for me.

I can kind of hear why people would hold this in incredibly high acclaim; personally, I think it’s just consistently well done in a way that’s kind of undeniable, but nothing that’s too insanely special. I’ve only listened to it once though, so maybe there’s something that unlocks the more you listen to it. Perhaps it’s the way it addresses some of the turmoil of the ‘60s with a more honest & self-aware look than the happy-go-lucky attitude brought upon by some of their contemporaries. Eventually, the summer of love ended. I guess that’s why “forever” changes. Like I said, it’s kind of undeniably good. The floor is a 3, but for me, it’s a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5. I’m glad it’s on the list.

I’m way above a 5. It’s not quite a 10, but it’s pretty damn close & it’ll probably get there someday.

Let’s address the big elephant in the room first & foremost: the modern-day Ship of Theseus version of Lynyrd Skynyrd that’s touring around without a single original member of the band is racist as hell for continuing to fly that fucking Confederate flag. I have absolutely no love for them, and I suspect, based on the lyricism here, perhaps Ronnie Van Zant would hate what his band has become. I mean, he’s bringing light to inner city issues on “Things Going On”, as well as calling out the Vietnam War, the excess spending of the vanity affair of the Space Race (it was probably worth it though), a quick line in there about climate change, & a callout against lazy politicians. I’m inclined to think he’s about as simple as he proclaims to be on “Simple Man”. I feel like if the plane wreck hadn’t happened, they would’ve probably dropped the flag down the line & he’d have made his stances a bit more clear past “Watergate does not bother me”. Either that, or I’m just naive. Ultimately, I think it’s fine to listen to classic Lynyrd Skynyrd like that. Not the new guys, though.

Now that that’s been addressed… yeah, this fucking kicks ass. No mincing words about it; the only thing stopping this from being a 10 is a little paranoia about “Mississippi Kid”, & a few tracks that aren’t as dazzling as the big 4. They’re still good, & rooted in classic Southern blues standards, but they’re just a little softer on the energy. Regardless, this is an album that wears its inspirations on its sleeve with a band that can fucking play. They don’t miss a single note or beat here, and Ronnie’s got some good range in those naturally twangy vocals of his. He can somehow feel like Jimi Hendrix & Neil Young at the same time, and I don’t know how he does it. A lot of these tracks are very straightforward, leading to the instrumentation & delivery to take charge of the show, and… you just gotta hear it, really. It’s quintessential classic Southern rock that’s far better heard than described.

Hence, something way above a 5. Not quite a 10. It’ll probably get there though. There’s something about “Mississippi Kid” & the weird threatening nature of a character that’s dragging guns with him to Alabama that just has me a bit iffy. I don’t know, maybe I’m just paranoid about the implications. Even past the lyrics, it’s just a little slowly paced compared to the rest of the album. I can’t compliment the entire package enough though; it’s 43 minutes that mostly knock it out of the park, and even with “Free Bird” ending on a fadeout, I can’t complain. It’s very deserving to be on the list.