Rated 8/10
Overall: 8/10
This album opens with such a huge banger that the next couple of songs didn't leave much of an impression on me. With that being said, the second half is a masterpiece. The guitar work is what impresses me the most, but I also love that organ. It adds such an interesting flavour to their music. I think more hard rock bands should include organ in their music.
Fav Song: Highway Star
Rated 4/10
Overall: 4/10
I'm gonna concede that this one just isn't my cup of tea. I had to listen to it twice cause I zoned out the first time and it became background noise that I was paying zero attention to. I think her voice is fine and the music is fine but I don't feel that it's something I'll ever want to listen to on a regular basis. Son of a Preacher Man is an absolute banger though.
Fav Song: Son of a Preacher Man
Rated 8/10
Overall: 8/10
Pretty great punk album with hints of heavy metal and reggae! I've always heard of Bad Brains, they're one of those bands that is considered legendary but a lot of people don't listen to them. That's a shame cause I thought this was pretty great and I'm gonna be checking out the rest of their discography as well.
Fav Song: Re-Ignition
Rated 8/10
Overall: 8/10
A real toughie to get into. On the one hand, I love Tom's storytelling, his gravelly voice and the weird experimentation. On the other hand, it can get a little TOO experimental and a lot of it feels sort of "stream of conciousness". I think it's a grower. I also think it's a borderline masterpiece but I won't give it a perfect rating cause it's just too tough for me to fully embrace at this point.
Fav Song: 16 Shells from a 30.6
Rated 8/10
Overall: 7/10
I enjoyed this one quite a bit! Kiwanuka has a pretty great, soulful voice and he can convey a lot of emotion in his music. There's a lot of variety in the sounds that keeps everything interesting. There was never a specific hook or song that grabbed me but the entire experience was worth a listen.
Fav Song: Final Days
Rated 8/10
Overall: 8/10
PJ has become one of my favourite artists lately. Her voice is just incredible and I love how she's able to paint a picture of her experiences through her lyrics. I think this album takes a bit of time to get going but the second half is perfect.
Fav Song: 50ft Queenie
Rated 10/10
Overall: 9/10
Damn, what a beautiful album. An incredible mix of pop, soul and country that really shouldn't work but somehow it does. It's albums like this that keep me coming back to this list.
Fav Song: What Else Could It Be?
Rated 8/10
Overall: 8/10
The thing I like most about this album is the amount of acoustic guitar used in it. I find a lot of the songs very pleasant and relaxing to listen to. I wasn't incredibly aware of that side of the Stones until I started doing this challenge. With that being said though, Street Fighting Man is my favourite song cause it rocks so hard. It's the best use of Mick's voice and I'll never get sick of it.
Fav Song: Street Fighting Man
Rated 4/10
Overall: 4/10
My rating would truly be higher if it wasn't for his lyrics cause the beats and flow are actually pretty entertaining and remind me of Wu-Tang a bit. Unfortunately, I find him to be an abysmal lyricist. I don't understand misogyny in any capacity and there's lots of it here. I just don't think he has the talent to pull it off and I found myself getting uncomfortable on multiple occasions.
Fav Song: Brooklyn Took It
Rated 4/10
Overall: 3/10
I'm the farthest thing from a Britney hater. If something like Blackout or Circus was included in this list the I would be a very happy camper. However, this just ain't it. That's not to day I don't understand why this one was chosen, as it was obviously a big deal at the time and very influential. It's just aged so horribly and there's too many tracks that made me physically recoil. Thankfully, the title track is a banger and there were a couple other tracks that kept things interesting. I find it hilarious that almost every song has a key change.
Fav Song: ...Baby One More Time
Rated 6/10
Overall: 5/10
As a King Crimson fan, I have to admit that I've never really been a fan of this album. I find that there's just not enough going on for me to latch on to for a majority of the runtime. There will be these big moments of fun that are almost always immediately followed by a bunch of nonsense. I would have rather had Discipline on here to be honest.
Fav Song: Easy Money
Rated 10/10
Overall: 10/10
My tastes have changed a lot since I first heard this one, but it will always remain a classic in my eyes. If people want to call it overrated, that's fine...but I'll always disagree. It's not even my favourite album by The Beatles, but it's probably their masterpiece.
How did a band that essentially started out as a boy band make so many incredible albums???? It's so inconceivable to me. The concept of the album is so unimportant to how good it is either. Music just didn't sound like this before this came out. I don't even fully know what to say, I just can't believe these guys existed.
Fav Song: Getting Better
Rated 10/10
Overall: 9/10
And the award for Most Misleading Album Cover goes to....
This is a crazy album. It's so over the top that its boiling over. Extravagant and wild. I always knew Meat Loaf from movies like Rocky Horror Picture Show and Tenacious D but for some reason never had any interest in listening to his music. I regret that now. So glad to have this in my life now.
Fav Song: Paradise by the Dashboard Light
Rated 4/10
Overall: 4/10
I wanted to like this a lot cause it's nice to see some queer representation, but I found it kind of boring. There's much better pop artists out there. The vocals were nice and I appreciate that there are french and english versions (the french version is better). I'm sure some people will really enjoy this but it's not for me.
Fav Song: Doesn't Matter (that's the name of the song, I'm not being rude lol)
Rated 10/10
Overall: 10/10
This one was a big one for me in my teen years. I've always loved these guys and the style they bring to their music. It's strange, but I find them kind of relaxing to listen to. Julian may be one of the coolest singers to exist.
Fav Song: Soma
Rated 6/10
Overall: 6/10
I find this more interesting than enjoyable. There's a lot going on at all times and it begs for your full attention. I really love that it's trying to do something different and weird while still being something that people can latch on to. It doesn't always work for me but I'm glad I had the chance to experience it.
Fav Song: Hollywood Symphony
Rated 8/10
Overall: 7/10
Potential hot take incoming: this is the worst Beatles album. There's too many covers, the originals aren't mindblowing and the making of the album isn't entirely interesting. With that being said, it's still The Beatles. There's great love songs here like All My Loving, Till There Was You and You Really Got a Hold On Me. I also really like George's first song that he wrote, Don't Bother Me. You may find yourself skipping about half of the album but there's still lots to like.
Fav Song: All My Loving
Rated 10/10
Overall: 9/10
Well, I'm not even a year into this journey and I've now gotten all 3 Nick Drake albums. I've fallen in love with his music over the last year and the discovery of him has been mt favourite thing about doing this project.
In terms of this album, it's sort of somewhere between the sparse instrumentation of Pink Moon and the overproduction of Bryter Layter. It's noce to hear how his music was originally intended to be. There's acoustic guitars, piano and lots of strings going on here. I think it all goes perfectly with his uniquely beautiful voice. I still think Pink Moon id my favourite but this is a very close second. RIP Nick.
Fav Song: The Thoughts of Mary Jane
Overall: 9/10
I've always enjoyed Simon and Garfunkel's music but never thought I'd ever love one of their albums until now. This is a treat, honestly. The songs range from slow, beautiful ballads to straight up rockers in a way that I hadn't known them to pull off. Their harmonies are perfect and both members get their moments to shine. I might have found my next vinyl purchase with this one.
Fav Song: Flowers Never Bend With the Rainfall
Rated 8/10
Overall: 8/10
I don't care how cheesy it is, I love Donald and the music he creates. It's like having an extra Steely Dan album to listen to, and I'll be honest...I LOVE STEELY DAN! WOOHOO YEAH STEELY DAN HELL YEAH WOOHOO YEAH
Fav Song: Maxine
