Reviews by john

The redeeming quality of this album is how whimsical and silly it gets in its second half. As memorable as the narrated sequences were, it’s still something of a gimmick that only took the record so far.

“Rene” was an early peak into how goofy everything would eventually get.

Shoutout to the drum full at 1:08 in “Rollin Over” I feel like I’ve heard that as a sample a lot of times.

The closing “HappyDaysToyTown” is the best song on here, for how it goes for the full-on parlor chant anthem.

Even though I had a lot of fun sitting with this project, I don’t think it deserves a spot on here, nothing about the music itself is unique or exceptional

I have no doubt that this album was way ahead of its time. It sounds like something that came from 1986, not 1976. For that alone, Oxygene deserves its props. Beyond just being an innovative synth album, there are moments throughout the project that still sound massive and impactful by today’s standards - I think that can be attributed to a tasteful balance of quiet passages or near-silent moments.

I also have no doubt that there are moments on this record that have locked its sonic aesthetics in a time capsule.

“Part 2” was a song I liked a lot, cool synth arp at the beginning. Then some laser sfx throughout that reminded me of the ones on “Superheroes” by Daft Punk.

I loved the phased out chords on “Oart 4”. Pretty indistinguishable from an Air track, really impressive.

The first 3 minutes of “Part 5” soften things up with those delicate, twinkly suspended chords. Feels like the very stereotypical introduction of the love interest in a sci-fi movie song. But it kinda breaks away from that into something more progressive with some white noise hits that sound kinda chiptuney.

This album is SO French-electronica, and “Part 6” probably did a whole lot to lay the groundwork for the region and subgenre as a whole. It’s got a beachy, waiting-room drum machine loop. It’s got swells of white noise and synth pads heavily rinsed in a phaser/flanger effect again. I may not have been around for the advent of the cassette player or the giant laser disk, but I know the quintessential synth wave / electronica sounds when I hear them. This was a really good way to end the album.

Good music to put on in the background at night while doing something mellow. 3/5.

The speed and energy at which this album operates is spectacular. The lead singer stays at an 11 out of 10 energy level that gets at the essence of what English punk was all about.
“Obsessed With You” is such a great example of this constant energy.
What’s really cool is that this album doesn’t sacrifice instrumental variety or melodic ideas for that high level of energy. “Warrior in Woolworths” and “Let’s Submerge” introduce a really nice saxophone, as an example of this variety.

How cool it must’ve been to be young in the British punk scene to hear albums like this on their release. So much emotion fueling these performances.
“Identity” for sure is my favorite off this project. It’s got such a cool start, the lead singer totally sells out with some super infectious screaming/singing. And the crazy, spectacular horn section!!! So fucking good. The little electric guitar refrains that pop in and out super quickly are a little cherry on top of this song which is genuinely one of the better songs I’ve been able to discover this far in 400+ albums on this whole list! Can’t say enough good things about “Identity”. Whatever platform this song did or didn’t have in its time, it deserved tenfold.
“Plastic Bag” specifically is such a cool concept because it goes from something that sounds like a Black Country, New Roads sax jam (for all the 20-something’s out there) immediately into an explosive, speedy punk song.

The only real change-up on this album is the title track, and it’s really nice! Cool processing/playing on the rhythm guitar/synth? It’s hard to tell if it’s one, or the other, or both.

STRONG 3/5, but I could totally see if this was/is your punk opus. Lots of fun listening to this one!

When I was a kid, I had this PlayStation game called “Sled Storm” which was a hyper-stylized snowmobile racing game. On of the races was this multi-level track that would wind through a demented, slightly surreal, nighttime circus world. Lots of misfiring pyrotechnics, evil clown obstacles, and some sort of race announcer yelling through speakers suspended around the track.
This album reminds me of that experience.

Much like I do for baroque pop, I locked the fuck in when the opening song started out with a demented circus style loop and a raspy, belty lead singer. Total personal bias, these things just always grab my attention. But I think if you’re willing to wait out the slow first half of the opening song, almost any listener will be super engaged with how the track transforms into a crazy, noisy collage.

I think my highlight on here is “Longue Route” for how much is sells out with the loudness and noise, a couple cool airy sound effects, and a very good loop at the first half of the song.

But honestly it’s hard to pick out one favorite, as this one of this albums best qualities is how well all of its pieces work together - songs different enough to stand out from the others, but all very cohesive in creating a very specific ambiance.
I’d love to see what the production and recording process was like for this record. There’s such a unique mix of looped instrumentation and samples, almost all with some reverb or post-processing effects added to make it all sound like it came from the same centralized recording location.

Lastly, this album leaves me wondering about a few things. Would I have enjoyed this as much as I do now if this were one of the first albums we had on this list, or if I listened to this at a much younger age? Maybe, but probably not as much. This does require some active listening ears.
Did the language barrier help or hurt here? I don’t think it hurt, but I’m not sure it helped either.
Am I giving out too many 4’s lately? Also maybe, probably. I don’t intend on listening to this record ever again, at least for leisure. But I really did get a lot out of this album. I have a tremendous amount of respect for this album, for using instrumentation we are all familiar with in a completely unique way. The Young Gods interpretation of how to make music, and their composition/production process, all deserves a 4/5.

Is this the third Beastie Boys album already? Is it justified?

I have very split feelings on this album.

On one hand, the production & sampling work is UNREAL here. Every beat is so well put together while still sounding so loud and reckless. Tons of little bits of samples and sound effects, fantastic drums and low-ends. The opening “Rhymin & Stealin” sets the tone with the Led Zep sample and caveman rhyme schemes (or screams).
The guys have excellent chemistry too! I don’t know if this was around the time of the “jock jam” but this has to be up there in terms of quintessential jock jam albums no? It’s like if LMFAO were 3 white boys in the 80’s, it’s just all about partying and fun and being up to no good.

Which brings me to the part that split my feelings on this record. The lyrics. Over and over and over again I’m jamming out and having a great time then *BOOM* an awful word then another song goes by then *BOOM* a problematic sentence. I get it, it was a different time and we are all better now, but it was really bringing an otherwise fun time down a lot. Like, near the two minute mark of “New Style” about being Jimmy Page and liking underage girls…I don’t know if that’s a self-aware lyric or not but cmon. Just cmon.
I have a theory that “Fight For Your Right” isn’t just popular because it’s an incredible party anthem to easily scream, but because it’s the song that has potentially some of the least problematic stuff in the lyrics.
I’m gonna say my favorite is “Girls” for how silly it is, but I do cringe in admitting it, because the lyrics aren’t good.

It’s really nice to know that these guys got a bit more heady and a lot more experimental as time went on, I remember really liking “Bodhisattva Vow” from Ill Communication.
If youre looking for anything that isn’t mindless, loud, reckless, sometimes problematic party music - you aren’t gonna find it here. But if you are looking for that? I’m not sure you’ll find a better album for it.

The softest 4/5 stars I can give

I wish I could say I got more out of this personally, but for me it was just a bit too downtrodden/mellow, even at its high points. Not that this record is bad, I’m grateful this list included it, as it’s sooo outside of my realm of music. Just not my taste.
My favorite is probably “Death To Everyone” for its measured perspective on life.
Really hard to listen to something this smooth/tame when that new Skrillex album is lighting up my world rn.
A respectful, I’ll never listen to it again 3/5 stars.

What a good day. 400 album checked off, this album was a pleasant surprise, AND we got the Skrillex album/mixtape full of unreleased music. Can you believe I took the time to listen to AVV1 before the Skrillex project? I did, and I loved it!
By the time “Id Like That” came around in the track list, I had an inkling that I’d like the whole project. Then “Easter Theater” came on and I KNEW I’ll be loving this whole project. Nothing gets me locked tf in like some baroque/art pop done well. Such a fantastic song, by far my highlight of the record and will be replayed many times over.
“Frivolous Tonight” continues the theme of fun, silly, unique art pop that keeps the spirits high.
Big fan of the quirky, arabesque instrumental on “Greenman”, which kinda feels like when a sonic game sends you into the ‘desert level’.
Even the misses on here like “Your Dictionary” are very harmless and campy at worst.
I love the portrait of a man “Fruit Nut” paints, how he’s so happy to just go about his hobbies. Big big fan of that.

My goal of being more attentive since the beginning of 2025 paid off big on this album. Having to go to YouTube for this one was no big deal. Am I giving more 4’s as a result of this, or are we just on a hot streak? Time will tell, but this album earned its 4 with some timeless production elements, art pop, and fun vibes.

The appeal of this album comes almost completely in the form of what Johnny Cash is saying between the songs, not singing. He was clearly very engaging and had a super attentive crowd.
My highlight is the midway point through “A Boy Named Sue” where he gets super riled up about the part where Sue meets his dad.
Not much else to say for this short live album. If there’s the Folsom county live performance on the list, then I don’t really see a need for this record to be here.

Malcom McLaren doesn’t make music here as much has he orchestrated a surreal collage that demands you just have an open mind (and hope you like South African & tropical & Caribbean music).

Didn’t really go into this expecting anything specific, and was quickly hit with one of the nicest, sweetest, most calming song openers I’ve ever heard - right up my alley in how calming and almost ambient it is.
Then “Buffalo Gals” comes on and the placid state Ive been lulled into is quickly shattered and I’m now expecting the unexpected.
It’s the type of surreal sampling technique that really sends the listener into a feverish dream state.
If you like this album but have never heard anything else like it, I IMPLORE you to listen to some newer surrealist stuff. Deaths Dynamic Shroud, Nmesh, or even some Oneohtrix Point Never kinda took this surreal formula and ran with it. I am also reminded of Apex Twin in the way this album also goes from the most frenetic mess of sounds to something twinkly and beautiful in the span of a few minutes.
I’m such a sucker for albums with radio interludes and radio dj’s as pseudo narrators - especially here where it provides a little through-line in the otherwise nonsensical sound collage craziness.
This is an incredibly demanding listen, and probably was even more hard to stomach for it’s time, before the advent of internet media overload made something so surreal kinda normal. If this wasn’t/isn’t for you, I completely understand.
But a song like “Punk It Up” mashed into everything going on here, especially given the context of its creator? So, so cool.
“Song For Chango” is another highlight for me, if there even a way to sort and organize my thoughts on the track sequencing.

This album ending with some sort of reverb screaming sound is so perfect. I really thought about giving this a 5/5 stars. I can’t and won’t, it just isn’t quite there, but it’s damn close. I had SUCH a good time listening to this album, and probably won’t listen to it many more times. So frenetic and fun. The dancing monkey in my brain is activated and satisfied.
Everybody should listen to this album just once. You can hate it, but you have to experience it!

Fun, straightforward, upbeat punk (if ever that was a thing), with a little west coast surf influence at times? Like, I really hear it on “Adult Books”, with those guitar chords and strum patterns.
“Universal Corner” highlights the man and woman sharing lead vocal duties super well, they have an excellent vocal dynamic. In fact, everything this band does on the album comes off with such ease, it’s really impressive.
“Some Other Time” is my highlight for how distilled and catchy the whole vocal is!
But the guitar melody on “White Girl” is a close second highlight too.

This one really snuck up on me! There’s just no misses here. Fun jam after fun jam. Really had a great time with Wild Gift!

Few albums are accompanied with more baggage than this one. This is not the best Kanye record, though it makes its case for one right out of the gate, “Dark Fantasy” has such a sweet refrain from Alicia Keys.
A few songs later, “Power” insists that Kanye is a corrupted, greedy, highly flawed narrator for this whole project. This songs little vocal chant lead was so pervasive that it dominated everything from radio stations to edm festivals. Just as much can be said about the following “All Of The Lights” with its simple horn lead.
“Monster” and “So Appalled” have the most 2010 instrumentals of all time, they’re beats that could’ve belonged to Lana Del Rey as much as anyone.
“Devil In A New Dress” is the old Kanye in a new album, backed by a slow, string-laden soul sample.
Then comes “Runaway”, when Kanye pulls back the curtain to let a rare sense of true self guide him to making this opus. It’s the type of rambling honesty that makes you want to take your 2025 Time Machine and go back to have an intervention with THIS Kanye.
“Hell of a Life” follows as a lowlight, with a clunky interpolation of the Iton Man melody.
“Blame Game” goes on to sample one of my favorite songs of all time, with mixed results. The bit with John Legend singing right along with the melody is catchy, but I think everything else going on here kinda muddies the serenity of the piano melody. It also sort of weaponizes the same honesty on “Runaway” for evil instead of good.
“Lost In The World” is such a peculiar collaboration that managed to happen well before rappers openly admitted they listened to alternative artists like Tame Impala or Mac Demarco. This is the best slice of production work in my eyes, even if it’s just a bit different with those more upbeat drum break samples and colorful bits of chorus vocal processing.
It ends off with a vocal sample that leads to the last track which is all a bit hard to take seriously as a message Kanye really meant from the heart, all things considered now. It now comes across as shallow and tokenistic, ruining an otherwise powerful speech and important message.
But I suppose morally ‘shallow’ is apart of the Kanye experience from this record onward. I always felt a sizable tonal shift after “Graduation, when his mom passed. Not attempting to humanize someone who’s gone off the inhumane end, just tracking the events that presented this albums sense of grand tragedy. Soft 4 stars.

Maybe about as good as it gets in terms of classic rock before the total takeover of electric guitars propelled the genre into its new age. Jim Morrison has a huge vocal presence, his performances here kinda convince the listener that he was born to be a frontman.
As always, there’s so much black cultural/musical influence on a rock records of this time, and it gets really hard to overlook as soon as “Been Down So Long” in the track listing here.
It goes without saying but the title track has such a cool tempo pickup in its second half and probably could’ve only been done so well thanks to the treasure trove of drugs available to the Doors at the time.
I really like the hypnotic keyboard playing on “L’America”!
Then I really really liked the lead vocal melody right after on “Hyacinth House”.
I will say, you better like Jim Morrisons tone and vocal delivery, because he kinda stays within a certain range the whole time - I could see it being hard to get through if you don’t dig his voice. “The WASP” may be your only bit of changeup for his voice, and thats also mostly due to how it was recorded and processed differently. In fact, this cut might be my non-obvious pick for the record! Great storytelling.
L.A. Woman sticks the landing by ending with “Riders On The Storm”, tying the bow on an album full of character, keyboard, and just the right amount of psychedelia.

Another instance of me being so happy to be born when I was, I don’t think I would be as open or receptive to how beautiful this album is if I were much older.
The amount of sonic textures and different things happening on each song is amazing. BT-style stutter edits of Chester Bennington & Mike Shinodas voices. The heavy guitar powerchords. All sorts of bitcrush, lowpass and highpass filters. It’s all perfectly busy and full.
Both “Crawling” & “In The End” are generational anthems with iconic choruses and lead melodies.
“Forgotten” is my deep cut pick on the record.
“Cure For The Itch” is incredible because it sounds like it for sure was made for the matrix movie, in a very earnest, cool way.
“High Voltage” is a sweet bonus track, notable both for how it talks about what the numetal wave was experiencing in its newness at the time, and also admittedly being a bit campy. And that brings me to my only pitfall of this record - how campy, angsty, and slightly cringy it can be. I totally get it! Those things haven’t deterred me from enjoying the hell out of it, but I get it if that puts up a wall for you.
Chester Bennington had such a one-of-a-kind voice, and he had it from the very start. Say what you will about Mike Shinoda’s whiteboy style of rapping, but the two for each other like a glove, such a perfect dynamic.
A most respectful 4/5 stars

I have taken everything into account, including this albums background/inspiration, as well as how well I’ve been actively listening & engaging with albums this year — and I just want to say:

They named the band after the rating this album gets.

Any Bowie day is a good day! And this one has its good qualities. David Bowie, as always, was ahead of the curve - this time digging into funk/soul influences well before more other non-black musicians would do so.
“Young Americans” is awesome, but my highlight here has to be “Fascination” for how much it stuck in my head and how forward-thinking it was. Bowie shows the Beatles a lot of love on this album as well, the cover of “Across the Universe” is super solid, and yet another shining example of how much he sells out on his vocal performances.
At the same time, I had a hard time grasping some of the melodies and ideas in this record. All the pieces are there, excellent performances left and right. Just not the most memorable/sticky Bowie albums. I hold him to a very very high standard.
Great by any other artists standard, good by Bowie standards

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Björk is a generational talent whose vocal presence completely demands your attention so much that you forget there’s a band performing with her.
The music is solid here though!
Love the horn section on “Motocrash”, love the guitar and drum groove on the following “Birthday”. It all lies somewhere between influence of the Police/Sting, the success of Siouxsie and the Banshees, the vocal dynamics of the B52’s, and just a hint of the advent of whichever wave of ska-rock was happening then.
I think my personal favorite in here is “Sucj for Toys”, it’s really fun and I love when a guy who’s second language is English sings/speaks in English on songs (see: all of the white MC’s on 90’s and early 2000’s Eurodance songs).
It stays really fun and gets more strange on “F***ing in Rhythm & Sorrow” with that Ballroom Blitz snare drum pattern and crazy story.

Come for the Björk & Icelandic band, stay for the cooky fun of it all / 5

Just a very fun, colorful, clear-eyed record.
It really started to come to life with “Come Om Feel The Illinois! Pt. 1”.
Evo with a sing as grim as “John Wayne Gacy Jr”, this whole album feels like floating through a twee, shimmery dream state. Like if “Eleanor Rigby” was more spread out and happy.
Son 7 & 8 give you that indie mandolin/banjo fix (the titles are just too long to type out).
The intro on song 12 almost shook the belief I was starting to form that this album is perfect to put on and just daydream to. That’s the highest compliment I can pay here, it’s just perfect daydream music.
Song 15 might be my personal pick for Illinois, not just for how good it is, but for how it kicks off a string run of back half tracks.
A twinkly, dreamy record that functions well as one cohesive listening experience!

Culturally ubiquitous. Likely the best pure, succinct classic rock record. If you got rid of “Four Sticks” or swapped it out for something a bit more experimental, this is the perfect album. I have no more to say because there is no more to say

While this isn’t even close to his best record, I still had an instant popoff seeing this one generated for me this morning.

You ever just say fuck it we’re making a goddamn pop album? Because the advent of MTV pushed Bruce Springsteen to do so. It seems a little hollow-hearted, given his previous album was this super stripped back, depressing set of portraits that reflected the bad mental state he’d been in for a bit. All of this can be heard in the music on this album.
The opener / title track is likely the best protest song of the 80’s and maybe top 10 pop songs of that decade too. Iconic melody front-loads the track, anthemic choruses throughout, all to potentially divert your attention from Bruce lamenting about the domestic and foreign tragedies of the Vietnam war.
The next 3 songs are kinda just reskins of each other, which is my major gripe for this record, it’s just song after song trying to be a pop hit with various amounts of success. Most of the topics and even the language he uses stays the same (I don’t like how much he uses the term ‘little girl’ to talk about a girl he likes). Stuff about working union jobs and traveling through county lines.
But “Downbound Train” is a little bit stickier and more self-serious, it kinda feels like a holdover from Nebraska, that aforementioned dim last album. I’m pretty sure Born In The USA is too!
“Bobby Jean” has an instrumental that takes it back a few years to prime Springsteen days, but the lyrics on this one are painfully rigid honestly - same with “I’m Goin Down”. I also feel like this one specifically has the super typical pop chord structure, I could be wrong on that?
That’s ok, because this is a pop album and “Dancing in the Dark” is such a stellar reminder of that! Maybe the most electronic and dancey Springsteen will ever get, and it’s soooooooo good. Just such an ear worm of a melodic progression. A pop song thats about struggling to write a pop song. Fun!

Much like Dark Side Of The Moon, I think iconography plays a big part in this albums long-term success. Simple album cover, simple pop hits help you get through some of the pop misses on this one. Bruce takes his great showmanship and ability to paint a picture to the arena rock stage and TV screen all once.
A soft but anthemic 4 / 5 stars

A lot to say and dig into here!
I think the way this album addresses tragedy and loss is really beautiful. On the other side of the coin, I think the way this album addresses love and romance is often shallow and dull. Even with that in mind, the opener “Bury Me Deep In Love” is still memorable, and establishes the singers super powerful vocal presence. That vocal presence impressed me throughout, he has a very full, grand voice.
“Hometown Farewell Kiss” is completely an Aussie take on something Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band we’re doing a while before, but it’s still super fun and punchy. Also, it’s so sad! I wonder if this pulls from the same inspiration/tragic events “Beds Are Burning” pulls from.
“Jerdacuttup Man” was so cool that it led me down the rabbit hole of this songs inspiration coming from a museum visit. Also that chorus! So good. Sooooo so so good. This is probably my highlight on the record. The way it transitions into the gothic piano interlude on the next song is fantastic.
This album isn’t perfect though.
“Baby Can I Walk You Home” is a good example of the cheesy, more boring parts of this record.

So happy I get to listen to albums like these because of this list. Would never have known about them otherwise.
Hidden gems, almost a 4, strong 3 / 5 stars!