Rated 6/10
Overall: 6/10
This album is basically one incredible song and a bunch of good/mediocre ones. I guess a lot of people really love this group but they just sound like most of the other synthpop groups of the 80s to me. The female vocalist is pretty great though, and she keeps this album from being boring.
Fav Song: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
Rated 10/10
Overall: 9/10
Years ago, I absolutely hated Anthrax. It's strange to think back to that time because I absolutely adore them now. This isn't my personal favourite Anthrax album, but I understand why it's the one that was included in the list. I love Joey's voice so much, I think Scott is such a great guy and fun personality, and then you have the uncle/nephew combo of Benante and Bello just tearing their instruments apart. I would go so far as to say that Anthrax is one of the best live bands I've ever seen in concert. I'm so glad I came around and learned to love them, because my life is better for it.
Fav Song: I Am the Law
Overall: 7/10
I appreciate this album for how different it feels. I feel like there isn't another band that sounds exactly like this, and that uniqueness is something that we shouldn't take for granted. I don't love everything about this album, or the band as a whole, but I'm glad they exist and I think both of their albums are worthy of this list.
Fav Song: Poppy
Rated 4/10
Overall: 4/10
I didn't like the way this album sounds, and the songs are truly uninteresting to me. Such a bland, forgettable album that I genuinely have nothing to say about.
Fav Song: About a Quarter to Nine
Rated 8/10
Overall: 7/10
I find this album to be a fascinating look at a band that was about to break out in a big way. There's a lot of fun, proggy stuff here that I feel like the band would expand on in the next few albums. They were obviously still finding their way here, but Freddie sounds amazing as always. They would go on to do better things, but I think this is worth listening to (not an essential before you die though).
Fav Song: The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke
Rated 6/10
Overall: 6/10
Could be worse, but I still feel like these guys are trying too hard to sound like David Bowie and not ever really getting anywhere close. I do have to say that Common People is an absolute banger, and this is better than the other Pulp album I heard.
Fav Song: Common People
Rated 10/10
Overall: 9/10
This album is a genius example of the power of sampling. Every song im here is the equivalent of Frankenstein's monster, using every sound they could pick out of any random song they heard and turning it into something completely new. On top of that, the 3 Boys are on top of their game lyrically. I find myself laughing at so many lines on this album. There are definitely moments that make me question why they felt the need to put them on the album, but for the most part this is a masterpiece and something that everyone should listen to at least once in their lives.
Fav Song: Shake Your Rump
Rated 4/10
Overall: 4/10
This is depressing sounding music from a man who's voice I genuinely don't enjoy. I can see why others may like this, and the instrumentations were fine, but I won't be revisiting this any time soon.
Fav Song: Duchess
Rated 10/10
Overall: 10/10
Incredible.
Genesis have become one of my favourite bands in the last few years, they were so strange and creative and otherworldy in their presentation. I actually prefer Foxtrot, but I'm happy with this album being in this list because it's sort of a continuation of the themes and instrumentations from that album. I enjoy the later Genesis stuff with Phil on vocals, but Peter Gabriel is my guy.
Fav Song: Firth of Fifth
Rated 6/10
Overall: 6/10
Kind of generic but the songs become little ear worms after a certain point. I may not have had the greatest time listening to it but I was jamming along anyways. I think the vocals kept this interesting.
Fav Song: Mr. Jones
Rated 8/10
Overall: 8/10
I feel like this is a good starting point for Stevie Wonder. I love the funky stuff and I love the slow stuff. I don't have much to say, I just think Stevie is great.
Fav Song: Superstition
Rated 6/10
Overall: 5/10
I'll have to agree with the reviews on this website that the majority of this album is pretty boring, but there's a few gems on here that I actually love. The vocalists voices go well together and they're pretty chill. I prefered the first xx album, and I won't be listening to anything else by this band, but this album wasn't the worst thing I've ever heard.
Fav Song: Dangerous
Rated 8/10
Overall: 7/10
This album feels like a dream. The instrumentation is weird and experimental, but it all blends together really well. John Martyn's gruff voice also goes well with this style of music. I think I might prefer his folk stuff to this, but this was such an interesting album to listen to.
Fav Song: Dealer
Rated 4/10
Overall: 4/10
I'll never understand how The Black Keys got to be as big as they have gotten. I find this style of blues rock to be generic, bland and boring. Honestly, I don't really know anybody else who enjoys these guys either, they just kind of got forced upon all of us and now we have to hear Howlin' For You in every car commercial for the rest of eternity.
Fav Song: Tighten Up
Rated 8/10
Overall: 7/10
Quite honestly, I wish I loved Nine Inch Nails more. I have a huge amount of respect for Trent Reznor, and I think his film scores are some of the best from the century, but there's something about his band that I just can't connect with as much as I'd like. I still think this is a really great album, even if I prefer Pretty Hate Machine.
What I love about this album specifically is that there's a beauty in it's aggression. His screaming seems to come from the heart. The big problem for me is that I find it so easy to just zone out and forget that I'm even listening to an album at all. Again, I wish I could connect to it more than I do. Great album, but not as great as I want it to be.
Fav Song: Hurt
Rated 6/10
Overall: 6/10
It's okay, it's old school blues so it's kind of repetitive. Add in the live album aspect and it's something I can enjoy, but not really love.
Fav Song: I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man
Rated 6/10
Overall: 6/10
The influences are strong on this album. There wasn't a single song on here that didn't make me think of another artist. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the last thing I want out of an album is to be wishing that I was listening to someone else. These guys do what they do very well, but the songs could have been trimmed down a bit to make for a more pleasant experience.
Fav Song: An Ocean in Between the Waves
Rated 8/10
Overall: 7/10
This is a pretty good imitation of The Beatles, but these guys never had the talent that the Fav Four do. The one thing I'll give The Monkees is that they're weird as hell, and I love that about that. There's just somethinf fun about these guys that is a different kind of fun compared to other groups at the time.
Fav Song: Randy Scouse Git
Overall: 6/10
Not the type of music I usually go for, but there was interesting instrumentation here that I enjoyed. I was actually at a multicultural festival this weekend and there was music similar to this being played there.
Fav Song: Pitche Mi
Rated 4/10
Overall: 4/10
Ryan Adams has a nice voice, and I think that's something that even his biggest haters can admit. It's just a shame that the songs he writes are completely uninteresting, not to mention his controversial life. A pretty voice only goes so far, and I think he had his time.
Fav Song: My Winding Wheel
